Archive for the ‘Tasting notes’ Category
MWG October 17th tasting (4/5): Poor man’s Priorat?
Montsant 2011, Cellers Can Blau ($22.95, 11034644)
A new project started by the owners of Bodegas Juan Gil. Carignan (40%), Syrah (40%) and Grenache (20%) from vines averaging 40 years old. Manually harvested. Matured 12 months in French oak barrels, 30% new. 14.5% ABV according to the SAQ; 15.5% ABV according to the label. This flight’s Cellier New Arrivals wine.
Oak, spice, vanilla, slate and eventually toast. Grew in interest as it breathed. Rich and chocolatey on the palate. Fruit (black and blue) marks the attack, minerals the mid-palate and spice the finish. Hides the alcohol well but the combination of soft structure, low acidity and ultraripe fruit makes for a wine that’s more flaccid and lethargic than ideal. (Buy again? Meh.)
Montsant 2010, Vespres, Celler Dosterras ($23.90, 11667361)
A blend of Grenache (80%) and Samso (aka Carignan) from 20- to 50-year-old vines that are farmed organically, though the estate doesn’t appear to be certified. Manually harvested. Macerated and fermented in stainless steel tanks, then transferred to oak barrels for malolactic maceration. Matured 11 months in 300-litre French oak barrels. No clarification or stabilization until bottling, when it is very lightly filtered. Bottle-aged at least three months before release. 14% ABV.
Appealing nose: leather, old wood, dried earth, slate, blackberry and raspberry. A tasty if concentrated mouthful of spicy red and black fruit with redwood and spice, structuring tannins and enlivening acidity. Very dry for such a juicy wine. Long. The best of the three. (Buy again? Quite possibly.)
Montsant 2011, Jaspi Negre, Coca i Fitó ($18.50, 11387351)
Jaspi is the label for the estate’s entry-level Montsants. The red is made from Grenache (45%), Carignan (25%), Cabernet Sauvignon (15%) and Syrah (15%) from organically farmed 15- to 90-year old vines. Manually harvested. Matured three to four months in French and American oak barrels. 14.5% ABV.
Candied cherry, marshmallow, hints of cinnamon and licorice. In the mouth, it proves relatively simple, dry but intensely fruity. Saved from bombdom by a sour/bitter current, dark mineral substrate and sufficient if subdued structure. The fair finish brings some roasted coffee and chocolate but not the expected alcoholic flare. Would probably show better at the dining – not the tasting – table. (Buy again? Maybe.)
Ilico presto
Montepulciano d’Abruzzo 2011, Ilico, Azienda Agricola Dino Illuminati ($15.95, 10858123)
100% Montepulciano. The grapes are sorted and destemmed, gently crushed, macerated and fermented in stainless steel tanks at 28ºC. Upon completion of malolactic fermentation, the wine is transferred into 250-litre Slavonian oak barrels for ten months’ maturation. Bottle-aged three or four months before release. The cuvée’s name, Ilico, is Latin for “on the spot” and these days is usually spelled illico. 13.5% ABV.
Sawdust, roast beef, dried herbs, black pepper. An hour or so after the bottle was opened, the fruit (black raspberry) and some sweet spice begin to emerge (so carafe it already!). Medium-bodied and supple, with ripe but not heavy fruit, bright acidity, lightly raspy tannins and some background old wood. Fair finish with that typically Italian bitter note and drying astringency. Not memorable but not bad, especially with food, though I kept thinking that a natural version (organic, spontaneously fermented, unmanipulated, unsulphured) would be a lot more fun. As it is, a decent enough weekday dinner wine. (Buy again? Sure.)
MWG October 17th tasting (3/5): Bierzo @ $20, $25 & $30
Bierzo 2008, Men de Mencia, Pago del Vicario ($20.55, 11962715)
100% Mencía. Matured 12 months in French and Caucasian oak barrels. 13.5% ABV
Closed nose: earthy-verging-on-muddy plum and spice. Dense but fluid, with supple tannins, sleek acidity and dark minerals. The nose’s plums taste a little stewed. I’m not getting any oak and that’s a good thing. One-dimensional but not without appeal. (Buy again? Maybe.)
Bierzo 2008, El Castro de Valtuille, Bodegas y Viñedos Castro Ventosa ($25.60, 11155569)
100% Mencía from 70- to 80-year-old dry-farmed vines. Manually harvested. Fermented partly in French oak barrels. Matured 14 months in French oak barrels. Unfiltered. 14.5% ABV
Reeking of ethyl acetate, with a strong lipstick aroma. That slowly receded, allowing plum, black raspberry, pomegranate and some dried sweat to come through. Concentrated and fruity but not heavy. Tangy acidity, gritty tannins and a dusting of graphite and spice give the wine energy. Long and surprisingly fresh for such a high-alcohol wine. Seemed to strike a balance between the Men de Mencia’s plainness and the Carracedo’s high polish. Absent the EA, this would have been my wine of the flight. (Buy again? Assuming ours was an off bottle, yes.)
Bierzo 2007, Mencia, Carracedo, Bodega del Abad ($30.00, 11963478)
100% Mencía. Manually harvested. Macerated for ten days prior to fermentation. Ferementation lasted 12 days. Not subjected to harsh treatment. Matured 12 months in superfine grain Allier oak barrels with medium toast. Unfiltered. 14% ABV. Another of the Cellier New Arrivals wines.
Dark fruit, slate, spice, vanilla and, as our resident dill detector pointed out, a hint of that herb (in its dried form). Smooth and elegant. The whirl of fruit and earthy minerals is lifted by acidity, textured by velvety tannins. Sweet and spicy oak is definitely present but not overwhelming. Long, chewy finish. (Buy again? Maybe.)
MWG October 17th tasting (2/5): The naked and the clad
Rueda 2012, Bodega de Los Herederos del Marqués de Riscal ($14.35, 10270725)
100% Verdejo. Destemmed, cold-soaked on the skins and clarified through settling and fining, then fermented at around 14ºC for 20 days. After a short stay in barrels, the wine is bottled, usually in the winter that follows the harvest. Screwcapped. 13% ABV.
White grapefruit, cat pee, granite dust and barely audible lychee and dried herb high notes. Light and bright, very dry yet intensely fruity with a faint nut skin-like bitterness. Not deep but quite long. Yes, it’s a bit faceless. But it’s also clean, fresh and refreshing. As the French say, correct, especially at the price. (Buy again? Sure though not in preference to Ijalba’s similarly priced Genoli, which is made from organically farmed Viura grapes.)
Rueda 2008, Naiades, Bodegas Naia ($29.95, 11962707)
100% Verdejo from old vines, some of them centenarians. Manually harvested. Barrel-fermented then transferred to new French oak barrels for eight months’ maturation. Attractive label. Ridiculously heavy bottle. 13.5% ABV. One of the wines in the Cellier New Arrivals release.
Fragrant bouquet of tropical fruit, vanilla and coconut with background minerals and char. While you could say the dense fruit is balanced by the grape’s naturally high acidity, to my palate the wine is sweet and cloying. And if the oak doesn’t exactly mask the fruit, it certainly envelops it. Broad and long, this is far closer to a buttery New World Chardonnay – albeit one with some minerals and muscle tone – than to traditional Ruedas like the Marqués de Riscal or, for that matter, Naia’s own eponymous cuvée. Not at all my style though some people will love it. (Buy again? Nope.)
MWG October 17th tasting (1/5): Albariño duo, Alvarinho solo
The October 17th tasting focused on Spanish wines, including five from the day’s Cellier New Arrivals release.
Rias Baixas 2011, Albariño, Adegas Morgadio ($20.35, 11962686)
100% Albariño. Made using free-run juice from estate grown grapes. Fermented for 15 days at 16ºC. If this sees any oak, you can’t taste it. 13% ABV. One of the Cellier New Arrivals wines.
Fresh, crushed seashell and lemon nose with peach and floral notes. Dry and tense. The crisp acidity is softened by the extract, which is surprisingly dense for such a fleet wine. Light but complex set of flavours, including underripe pear, citrus zest, white spices, maybe some powdered ginger. Long minerally finish and a lingering tang. Balanced and refreshing. (Buy again? Yes.)
Vinho regional Minho 2012, Alvarinho, Colheita Seleccionada, Quinta de Gomariz ($21.00, 11895225)
100% Alvarinho from 12-year-old vines. Manually harvested. Fermented with indigenous yeasts for seven to ten days. Matured for two months. Prevented from undergoing malolactic fermentation. Sees only stainless steel. Fined and filtered before bottling. 12.5% ABV.
Aromatic: lime, peach, white flowers, white sand. A notch sweeter and tarter than the Spaniards and possessed of a light spritz, this was clearly the ringer. Fresh and flowing. The fruit is balanced by tangy acid and sits on a chalky substrate. The long, tart, dryish finish has a white pepper note. It could be the different contexts, but this didn’t strike me as memorable as the 2011. Still plenty good though. Would make a great match for fresh crab. (Buy again? Yes.)
Rias Baixas 2011, Albariño, Legado del Conde, Adegas Morgadio ($19.95, 11155403)
100% Albariño. Made from first-press juices. Fermented in temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks. 12.5% ABV.
A sterner nose, more about minerals than fruit and with a clean sweat-like component. Dry and fruity on the palate with chugging acidity, a quartzy undertow and a sour-edged finish. Enjoyable on its own but coming across as a little tighter and simpler than its stablemate. (Buy again? Sure though not in preference to the only-40-cents-more-expensive standard cuvée.)
oenopole workshop: charcuteries + uve italiane (3/3)
The tasting ended with a gorgeous orange wine, the first to be sold at the SAQ.
Sicilia IGT 2011, Ramì, Azienda Agricola COS ($27.25, 12024237)
Biodynamically farmed Inzolia (50%) and Grecanico (50%) from vines averaging ten years old and growing in calcareous soil. Yield: 50 quintals per hectare. The grapes are manually harvested in 12 kg cases, destemmed, soft-crushed and macerated on the skins and pips for ten days. Temperature-controlled fermentation (with indigenous yeasts) and maturation take place in concrete tanks. The wine is filtered before bottling with a 2-micron filter. No sulphur is used during the wine-making but a small squirt of sulphur dioxide is added at bottling. 12% ABV.
Another beautiful, wafting nose: straw, spice, beeswax, hints of dried apricot and sandpaper. The texture is smooth and full, while the sweet and savoury fruit has overtones of dried orange peel, nuts (more almond or pine than hazel) and faint, faint gingersnap. Bright acidity and ghostly tannins add firmness and tension. Long, balanced and remarkably fresh. A haunting beauty. (Buy again? Most definitely.)
As was noted at the tasting, orange wines’ savour, weight and structure tend to make them vins gastronomiques – wines that show best with food or even demand food. Yet while the Ramì proved to be an excellent pairing for the porchetta di testa, it was equally delicious on its own. Its freshness, lightness and barely noticeable tannins mean it’s a far from radical example of the style – a beginner’s orange wine, as it were – but on its own terms it is wholly satisfying, a testament to the winemaker’s craft.
oenopole workshop: charcuteries + uve italiane (2/3)
The workshop’s raison d’être was the second flight and its centrepiece, a long board covered with an impressive array of charcuterie made by Ségué Lepage of Le Comptoir charcuteries et vins: buttery pork liver mousse, dried sausages flavoured with fennel seed or cumin, coppa, soppressata, porchetta di testa (slices of a large rolled sausage, the Italian take on headcheese), pâté de campagne, chorizo and a couple I’m forgetting. Accompaniments included cornichons, pickled fennel and Le Comptoir’s irresistible cumin “mustard,” though the quality of the salumi was so high they seemed unnecessary, like gilt for a lily.
Sangiovese di Romagna 2011, Scabi, San Valentino ($18.00, 11019831)
The 28-hectare estate is located just inland from Rimini on Italy’s Adriatic coast. 100% Sangiovese from decade-old vines. Manually harvested, destemmed, macerated at low temperature for eight days then fermented with indigenous yeasts in temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks. Half the wine is matured in stainless steel and half in second-fill oak barrels for six months. Sulphur is added only at bottling. 14% ABV.
Dired cherry, spice, background leather, turned earth and terracotta and a kirschy high note. Velevty texture. Fruit forward but not a bomb, thanks in part to the coursing acidity. Dark minerals and just a hint of oak add depth. Fine tannins lend an astringent edge to the finish. The best vintage of this wine to date and a definite QPR winner. (Buy again? Yep.)
> Handled the crazy delicious pork liver mousse better than any other wine in the flight. Ditto the chile-spiced sausages, probably due to its juicy fruit. Still, this food-friendly wine is arguably even better suited to fare like grilled meats and vegetables and savoury, tomato-based pasta dishes (spaghetti with meat ragu or pesto rosso, for example).
Langhe 2011, Nebbiolo, Produttori del Barbaresco ($23.10, 11383617)
100% Nebbiolo from young vines, all of which are located within the Barbaresco DOC. Fermented with selected “Barolo” yeasts at 28ºC in stainless steel tanks. Macerated on the skins for 24 days. Matured six months in very large oak barrels. No fining, light filtering, minimal sulphur dioxide. 14.5% ABV according to the label; 13.5% ABV according to the SAQ (I suspect the label is closer to the truth).
Cherry, underbrush, slate, old wood, hints of truffle and kirsch. Smooth and silky, with clean fruit, bright acidity and fine, supple tannins. Underlying minerals give depth. Good length and beautiful balance. As predicted, this has come together in the months since it first appeared on the SAQ’s shelves. Unbeatable QPR. (Buy again? Of course.)
> Best with the very fresh-tasting pâté de campagne and coppa. It also played interestingly with the spice in the cumin saucisson, whose saltiness brought out the wine’s fruit.
Cerasuolo di Vittoria 2010, Classico, Azienda Agricola COS ($33.75, 11577391)
Biodynamically farmed Nero d’Avola (60%) and Frappato (40%) from 25-year-old vines. Temperature-controlled fermentation with indigenous yeasts in concrete vats. Aged in barrels for 18 to 24 months. Bottled unfiltered. 13% ABV.
Beautiful wafting nose: dried cherry and cranberry, garrigue, sun-baked earth, air-dried beef. Medium-bodied with a silky, almost Burgundian texture. The fruit, as savoury as sweet, glows with a soft acidity. Slatey minerals and fine but lightly raspy tannins add texture and interest. Long and, above all, remarkably fresh. (Buy again? Yes, despite the 15% price increase from last year’s 2009.)
> Probably the most versatile wine of the bunch. Didn’t clash with anything, was relatively unfazed by the chile-flavoured sausages but went especially well with the fennel sausage.
Barolo 2009, Serralunga, Principiano Ferdinando ($39.75, 11387301)
Principiano’s entry-level Barolo. 100% Nebbiolo grapes from 3.5 hectares of young vines. The hand-picked, crushed grapes ferment with indigenous yeasts and no added sulfur for about a month. Matured 24 months in 20- and 40-hectolitre barrels and then in bottle. Bottled unfiltered and unfined. Vegan-compatible. Annual production: about 20,000 bottles. 14% ABV.
Cherry, a bit candied (PEZ if you must know), mowed field, old wood, iron dust, hint of vanilla and violet. Medium-bodied. Richly flavoured but fresh, a mouthful of satiny fruit with soft spicy overtones, lacy if drying tannins and sleek acidity. Elegant, complete, a pleasure to drink. A second bottle opened two days later came across as a little less special (bottle variation? different context?) but still attention-worthy. Not a long ager though it won’t suffer – and may well benefit – from a year or two in the cellar. Another QPR winner. (Buy again? Yes.)
> Achieved synergy with the superb prochetta di testa. Surprisingly good with the liver pâté. Handled the cumin and fennel sausages with aplomb though the coppa let more of the wine come through.
Barolo 2008, Fratelli Alessandria ($41.25, 11797094)
100% Nebbiolo from six vineyards. Manually harvested. Fermented and macerated from 12 to 15 days in temperature-controlled tanks. Matured 32 to 34 months in large Slavonian and French oak casks, two months in stainless steel tanks and six or more months in the bottle. 14% ABV.
A nose more tertiary than the Principiano’s: coffee and cherry with hints of chocolate, licorice, raw meat, truffle, fresh herbs, tomato. The richest and roundest of the Nebbiolos though still medium-bodied. Savoury fruit, plush, firm tannins, chugging acidity and a long, vaporous finish. In contrast to the nose, still a bit primary on the palate, though far from inaccessible. (Buy again? Yes.)
> Worked best with the mildly flavoured dried sausages, the porchetta di testa and the cured meats. The chile-spiced sausages brought out the tannins and the liver mousse give it a faintly metallic taste. Would probably be more at home with a rabbit and mushroom ragu served over pappardelle and showered with Parmesan.
The wines’ lively acidity and savoury character meant they all paired well with these fatty, salty foods. For me, the most unexpected aspect of the tasting was seeing how the different Nebbiolos worked – or didn’t – with a given charcuterie, in particular the pork liver mousse. That said, I couldn’t shake the feeling that the higher-end wines were a bit out of place, that, however convincingly, they were slumming a little. A fascinating exercise, then, but one I’d love to repeat with more rustic wines, like certain Barberas, Dolcettos, Pelavergas and Ruchès.
oenopole workshop: charcuteries + uve italiane (1/3)
A group of wine writers, bloggers and broadcasters were recently summoned to oenopole world headquarters for another of the agency’s workshops devoted to food and wine pairings (previously: oysters, Greek wines with non-Greek dishes). This atelier focused on charcuterie and Italian grape varieties. As the group assembled, a nearly Italian white was poured to wet our whistles.
Corse Figari 2010, Blanc, Clos Canarelli ($40.00, 11794660)
Based in Figari, the southernmost wine-growing region in Corsica and the sunniest in France, Yves Canarelli today has 28 hectares of vineyards in production and makes his wines in a spanking new gravity-fed facility. His white Corse Figari is 100% organically and biodynamically farmed Vermentinu (aka Vermintno). The grapes are manually harvested, fermented with indigenous yeasts and allowed to undergo partial malolactic fermentation. Matured six to eight months on the lees in neutral foudres and barriques. Lightly filtered before bottling. 13% ABV.
Waxed lemon, crushed rock and a hint of herbs. Smooth and satiny, dense but balanced and fresh. Acidity streams quietly beneath the sleek surface. A faintly bitter vein snakes through the mineral substrate. The long finish is inflected with preserved lemon and salt. Perhaps even finer than the 2011. Though this worked surprisingly well as a aperitif, it’ll really sing with fish or Corsican cheeses. (Buy again? Yes.)
The grape that came back from the dead
Langhe 2012, Anas-Cëtta, Elvio Cogno ($24.15, 12034591)
100% Nascetta (Anas-Cëtta is an archaic form of the name) from the Novello commune. Langhe’s only native white grape variety, Nascetta was nearly lost after the phylloxera plague (for the back story, see Christy Canterbury’s post “What in the world is Nascetta?“). Recently revived, Nascetta has been eligible for the Langhe DOC designation only since 2010 and, even today, a mere handful of estates make a version. First produced in 1994 on a limited-run basis, Elvio Cogno’s take on the grape is fermented in stainless steel tanks (70%) and oak barrels (30%). Matured six months in stainless steel and another six months in French barriques. Total time on the lees: 180 days. Aged three months in bottle before release. 13.5% ABV.
Subtle, complex nose: apple, white apricot, dried hay, dried lemon peel and a faint medicinal ping. Viscous mouthfeel, like in some Vermintinos – rich in extract but not fruit. Very dry and quite broad, with soft but sufficient acidity. A bitter thread runs throughout. The long finish is redolent of dried herbs and ends on a salt and white pepper note. Food-friendly: handled a broccoli risotto and a salad of mackerel and lightly pickled beets with aplomb. Said to be a good ager (up to a decade). More than a curiosity, this is a very fine wine. (Buy again? Yep.)
MWG October 3rd tasting (7/7): Blue moon
IGT Toscana 2010, Luna Blu, Fattoria di Caspri ($28.50, La QV, 6 bottles/case)
There’s hardly any information to be found on this wine. It appears that two versions are made: one a standard white, the other an orange wine. This, the latter is a blend of organically and biodynamically farmed Trebbiano and Malvasia that have been macerated on their skins (standard procedure for red wines, not whites), which extracts colour, aromatic compounds and tannins. 13.5% ABV.
Gorgeous nose evocative of spiced peaches, dried herbs and straw. Smooth and fluid in the mouth, with light tannins, pronounced, almost biting acidity and a sweet-and-sour quality to the fruit. Not as hard core as some orange wines but yum… uh, what was I saying? Olif of the eponymous blog has, of course, not only tasted the wine but spoken with the winemaker, whom he reports as recommending that it be cellared until 2017. While you can’t but wonder how much better so accessible and delicious a wine can become, it’ll be fun checking out whether he’s right. (Buy again? Yes, yes, yes.)
Brett happens 