Posts Tagged ‘Private imports’
MWG January 10th tasting (4/7): Two Pinot Noirs
Beaune 2010, Lulunne, Château Genot-Boulanger ($36.50, La QV, 6 bottles/case)
100% Pinot Noir from 40-year-old vines. The estate practises lutte raisonnée (manual weed control, organic fertilizers, etc.) and has been experimenting with organic “treatments” since 2007. The grapes are destemmed, macerated 15 to 20 days in temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks, pneumatically pressed and fermented with indigenous yeasts. Matured eight to ten months in barrels, 20% new. 13% ABV.
Classic red Burgundy nose: red berries, beet, wood, background spice and forest floor and a whiff of barnyard. Medium-bodied. Fluid. Intensely flavoured with fine astringent tannins and bright acidity. Dry, especially on the finish. Pure, clean, droit. Accessible now but will probably benefit from a year or two in the cellar, though it’s not a long-keeper. Would be a good addition to a restaurant wine list. (Buy again? A bottle at this price; a case if it were $5–10 less.)
Pinot Noir 2011, Willamette Valley, Montinore Estate ($30.25, La QV, 12 bottles/case)
100% biodynamically farmed Pinot Noir from various vineyards. Spent ten months in French and Hungarian oak barrels, 20% new. 13% ABV.
Red berries, slate, faint flowers and, with time, spice. Supple and medium-bodied. Ripe but shy fruit, minerals and a little smoky wood. It’s more astringent than outright tannic and is marked by an acidic streak. Fresh, alive and not without appeal if not exactly full of charm, at least at this young stage. The farthest thing from the West Coast cherry Coke-style of Pinot Noir. More of a food wine (cedar-planked salmon!) than a tasting wine. A recently opened bottle of the 2010, which at this stage of its life tasted very similar to the 2011, had evolved into a fragrant, silky-fruited wine. (Buy again? A bit pricey but sure.)
MWG January 10th tasting (3/7): Pheasant’s Tears
The spark for the January 10th tasting was the recent arrival of several wines from Pheasant’s Tears, a young winery (established in 2007) located south of the Greater Caucasus mountain range in the Kakheti region of eastern Georgia. In contrast to the modern-styled Georgian wines we usually see, Pheasant’s Tears wines are made using traditional Georgian techniques that stretch back many thousands of years (most wine historians consider the region to be the birthplace of wine-making). The grapes – some of the hundreds of indigenous varieties found in Georgia – are picked and trod. The resulting must is transferred, along with the skins, ripe stems and seeds, to large qvevri, clay jars (lined with organic beeswax in Pheasant’s Tears case) that have been sunk into the cool ground, where it ferments (with indigenous yeasts) and matures. No sulphur is added, yet all three wines of the wines we tasted are as stable as they come.
For more background, see this YouTube clip from Hugh Johnson’s vintage Vintage series, globe-trotting Julien Marchand’s report (the last photo is of Julien in the Pheasant’s Tears tasting room), the Wikipedia article on Georgian wine and, of course, the Pheasant’s Tears website.
Chinuri 2011, Kakheti, Pheasant’s Tears ($27.25, La QV, 6 bottles/case)
100% Chinuri. 12% ABV.
Hazy gold. Unique nose: pears in syrup, saltwater taffy, slightly rancid butter, the ground under a cedar tree. On the light side of medium-bodied. Fluid. Very dry, even savoury. Crisp acidity. Delicate flavours tending to citrus, herbs and minerals. A bitter, faintly astringent note on finish. Hard to pin down – elusive, ephemeral – and all the more interesting for it. (Buy again? Done!)
Rkatsiteli 2010, Kakheti, Pheasant’s Tears ($27.25, La QV, 6 bottles/case)
100% Rkatsiteli. 12.5% ABV.
Amber-coloured – definitely an orange wine. Bouquet of honeyed yellow fruit and spice, not unlike some late-harvest whites. The palate is totally at odds with the nose and totally unlike modern-styled Rkatsitelis I’ve tried: bone dry, medium-bodied, structured and surprisingly tannic, with fruity overtones (dried apricot?) and a walnut skin astringency. Mouth-filling and long. Unique, involving, fascinating. (Buy again? Done!)
Saperavi 2010, Kakheti, Pheasant’s Tears ($29.85, La QV, 6 bottles/case)
100% Saperavi. 12.5% ABV.
Saperavi is a red-fleshed grape, which may explain the wine’s nearly opaque black-red colour. Nose of dried blueberries, sweat, skim milk, bay leaf. Rich and earthy in the mouth but not heavy. Intensely flavoured: dark fruit, spice, slate. Grippy tannins and a lingering astringency. Less dry than, say, a Bordeaux but not in any way sweet. Great breadth and length. A wine with real presence and a dark magnetism. (Buy again? Done!)
MWG January 10th tasting (2/7): Two cool-climate whites
Sancerre 2011, Sur le Fort, Domaine Fouassier ($26.40, 12 bottles/case, La QV)
100% biodyanmically farmed Sauvignon Blanc from ten- to 20-year-old vines. Manually harvested. Destemmed. Fermented with indigenous yeasts. Work in the cellar is based on the lunar calendar.
Classic Sancerre nose: gooseberry, kiwi, grapefruit, chalk and flint. Ripe and extracted though bone dry and surprisingly unfruity. Superficially soft and round but possessed of a strong acidic undercurrent. Long, extremely saline finish. Less immediately dazzling than some Sancerres, this grew on me. I suspect it’s quite food-friendly; the producer suggests Thai-style shrimp or seared tuna with sweet potatoes (!) as pairings. (Buy again? Sure.)
Chardonnay 2011, Alto Adige, Peter Zemmer ($24.50, 12 bottles/case, La QV)
100% Chardonnay. The estate’s vineyards are located on the valley floor around Cortina, one of the southernmost villages in the Alto Adige. Zemmer’s website refers to “natural” wines but doesn’t go into specifics; La QV labels the estate’s viticultural practices as raisonné (sustainable). The grapes are given a short maceration before being pressed. The resulting must is clarified by settling. Fermented with selected yeasts at 19ºC (66ºF). 13.5% ABV.
Discreet nose: pear, mineral, smoke and white flowers evolving into lemon. Medium weight, fresh and very dry. The fruit is ripe and clean but could use more oomph, more zing. Turns a little sour on the minerally finish. Not a ton of depth or character, leading one taster, a look-on-the-bright-sider, to describe it as “linear.” (Buy again? While it’s a decent wine, probably not, especially when knock-out Chards can be had for $6 less.)
MWG January 10th tasting (1/7): Fleith’s Crémant d’Alsace
The MWG recently spent an enjoyable evening with La QV’s Cyril Kérébel tasting through an impressive and wide-ranging selection of the agency’s new arrivals, all of them private imports. We wet our whistles and whet our palates with an Alsatian sparkler.
Crémant d’Alsace, Domaine Fleith ($30.75, 6 bottles/case, La QV)
A blend of biodynamically farmed Pinot Blanc and Auxerrois (65%), Riesling (20%) and Pinot Noir (15%). The producer’s website appears to indicate that the grapes are botrytized, though I can’t say I detected any botrytis aromas or flavours.
Pale yellow with electrum glints and a fine bead. Yellow apple, yeast, lemon, chalk and a white floral note. Bright in the mouth, dry, complex and pure. Soft, caressing effervescence. Long, lemon-pithy finish. Delicious and refreshing: light enough to serve as an aperitif, substantial enough to accompany the first course if it’s something like coquilles Saint-Jacques. (Buy again? Gladly.)
MWG December 14th tasting (4/4): Cornas × 4
The final flight featured three private-import Cornas from a young, up-and-coming producer with a decade-older bottle from another winemaker thrown in for comparison.
Farmed organically since 2001 and biodynamically since 2002, Domaine du Coulet is a 13-hectare estate run by 30-something Matthieu Barret, who says his aim is to make vins 100 % raisin (100% grape-driven wines). His Cornas vineyards are terraced and face southeast. The soil is mainly old, decomposed granite locally called gore. The vines are pruned to produce low yields (no more than 25 hl/ha). The harvested grapes are fed to the fermenting vats by gravity, with a single daily punching down of the cap. After fermentation (with indigenous yeasts), the must is gently pressed to avoid extracting hard tannins. The wines are allowed to clarify naturally, without filtration or fining. Barrels are large (400 or 500 litres) and neutral (having been used for at least eight vintages). Since 2006, a little less than a third of each wine is matured in egg-shaped concrete vats. Sulphur dioxide (a mere 2 g/hl) is added only at bottling and only for bottles that will be shipped.
Alain Voge has been growing grapes on his family’s farm since 1959. In Cornas, the 6.5 hectares of Syrah vines are rooted in decomposed granite. Harvest is manual and on a parcel-by-parcel basis. The grapes are destemmed, then fermented in small stainless steel vats, with daily or twice-daily punching down of the cap. The resulting wine is matured from 14 to 24 months in barrels.
Cornas 2009, Billes Noires, Domaine du Coulet ($108.00, La QV, 6 bottles/case)
Like all Cornas, 100% Syrah. The vines here are, on average, 55 years old and located at the top of the Arlettes slope. The grapes were fully destemmed before fermentation, which lasted two weeks. Clarified by settling, then twice-racked into barrels. Maturation lasted 24 months, 12 of which were in 10-year-old 500-litre barrels and 12 in vats. 5,500 bottles made.
Deep nose of slate, blueberry, char, smoke and a hint of rubber. Rich and chewy in the mouth, the texture poised between velvety and silky. Spellbinding tension between fruit and acidity with sleek tannins in a supporting role. Tangy, slatey finish. Long, balanced and complete if a little austere at this youthful stage. A beautiful bottle. (Buy again? If I were a rich man…)
Cornas 2010, Brise Caillou, Domaine du Coulet ($57.50, La QV, 6 bottles/case)
The estate’s entry-level Cornas, designed to be more immediately accessible than traditional Cornas (should peak at around four years of age, according to the winemaker). A blend of old- and young-vine Syrah from all the estate’s vineyards except the tops of the slopes. Maturated 13 months in 400-litre barrels and egg-shaped concrete vats. 8,000 bottles made.
Bright nose of red and blue berries, spice, animale, polished leather, earth. More understated on the palate. Soft, smooth texture. Fine, faintly astringent tannins and vibrant acidity. Long, graphite-edged finish. (Buy again? Yes.)
Cornas 2009, Les Terrasses du Serre, Domaine du Coulet ($81.00, La QV, 6 bottles/case; a very few bottles of the reportedly graceful and accessible 2007 are available at the SAQ for $78.75)
The Syrah is from vines averaging 45 years of age and grown in the Arlettes, Reynards and Patronne vineyards. Fully destemmed before fermentation, which lasted three weeks. Clarified by settling before transfer into barrels. No racking. Matured 15 months in six- to ten-year-old 400- and 500-litre barrels and 600-litre egg-shaped concrete vats. 10,000 bottles made.
Fruit tending more toward cassis, slate, a hint of marzipan. Singular – the closest thing to an odd man out in this flight. Medium-bodied. Velvety yet supple texture. Pure, intensely flavoured fruit. Crunchy acidity and round tannins. Lingering smoke, slate, blackberry. The driest of the three Coulets. Initially seemed more about the surface but gained depth with an hour in the glass, so it may be passing through a phase. (Buy again? Maybe, though if making the investment, I’d be tempted to throw in another $25 bucks for a Billes Noires.)
Cornas 1999, Cuvée Vieilles Vignes, Alain Voge ($55.00 in 2004; a few bottles of the 2007 are available at the SAQ for $67.50)
Made from manually harvested grapes from various hillside parcels. The vines are at least 30 years old and rooted in old, decomposed granite. Vinified in temperature-controlled stainless steel vats, macerated four to five weeks, with daily punching down and pumping over. Matured 18 to 20 months in barrels, 20% new.
The most evolved and complex bouquet: forest floor, violet, animal, obsidian dust. Still vibrant, the dark fruit is tart and juicy, cloaked in tertiary flavours, pointed by fine acidity, underpinned by resolved tannins. Long, sourish finish. In a good place now. (Buy again? Moot but yes.)
A lovely flight. As a group, the Coulet wines were remarkable for the purity and clarity of their fruit. They’re also elegant, showing none of the chunkiness often associated with the appellation’s wines, especially in youth. At the tasting, it seemed to me their only downside was their relatively high prices. Yet in the days that followed, I found they had a rare length: I could – can – still taste them on my mind’s palate. Like only a very few wines, they’ve stayed with me – thinking about them causes my mouth to water – while in retrospect the Voge Vieilles Vignes seems less characterful and less memorable. So, I’m not so sure the Coulets are overpriced after all. And I’m convinced the estate is one to keep an eye on.
oenopole trade tasting (4/4): La Stoppa
Located south of Piacenza in westernmost Emilia-Romagna, the 58-hectare La Stoppa estate was acquired by the Pantaleoni family in 1973. Daughter Elena took the helm in 1997. She and winemaker Giulio Armani (who also bottles wines under his own label, e.g. the Dinavolino reported on last spring) are both committed to organic farming and the notion that wines are made in the vineyard, not the cellar. The 30-odd hectares of vines are planted to local varieties as well as Bordeaux red varieties and Pinot Noir (in contrast to Tuscany, the international varieties have been in the region since the 1800s).
Since, after the blog’s name, La Stoppa Guttunio is the search string that most often brings visitors to this site (with gutturnio La Stoppa and Gutturnio also among the top ten search strings), I should mention that, as of the 2010 vintage, La Stoppa has stopped making Gutturnio per se. (I’d meant to ask Elena why during her visit but didn’t have the opportunity to speak with her.) Apparently, both the frizzante and still versions have been replaced by an IGT Emilia dubbed “Trebbiolo” (see below).
IGT Emilia 2010, Trebbiolo Rosso, La Stoppa ($18.90, 11896501)
Barbera (60%) and Bonarda (40%) from three- to 20-year-old vines. Macerated on the skins for about 20 days. Fermented with native yeasts. Made and matured in stainless steel vats. Unfined, unfiltered. A little sulphur is added on bottling. 13% ABV
Intriguing nose: red fruit and sweet spice with earthy and savoury aromas only just beginning to unfold. Medium-bodied. Ripe fruit over an inky substrate. Structured by acidity as much as tannins. Turns a little astringent on the finish. Intense, pure, long. Great QPR. A wine to buy by the case.
Colli Piacentini 2004, La Stoppa ($43.75, oenopole, NLA)
Cabernet Sauvignon (40%), Merlot (40%) and other minor Bordeaux varieties such as Petit Verdot. Macerated on the skins for 30 days. Fermented with native yeasts. Aged 14 months in neutral barrels and two years in bottle. Unfined. 14.5% ABV.
Bordeauxish nose of cassis, tobacco, mint, graphite. Intense and heady. More extracted than your average Bordeaux but retaining an Old World balance and austerity. Ripe tannins and acidity provide structure, the layered flavours depth. Long, savoury, dark-minerally finish with cherry overtones.
IGT Emilia 2008, Ageno, La Stoppa ($39.00, oenopole, NLA)
Malvasia di Candia Aromatica (60%) with Ortrugo and Trebbiano. Macerated on the skins for 30 days. Fermented with native yeasts. Aged 12 months, 50% in stainless steel vats and 50% in used French oak barrels, followed by another two years in bottle. Unfined. Lightly filtered but no added sulphur. 13% ABV.
Complex nose: flowers, white and yellow fruit, citrus zest, spice and more. Pure, fresh and equally complex in the mouth: dried apricot, straw, minerals, herbs. The lively acidity, light airframe structure and rich extract give the wine a real presence. A light tannic astringency appears on the finish. In contrast to many other orange wines, as kaleidoscopic on the palate as on the nose. A treat.
IGT Emilia Malvasia Passito 2008, Vigna del Volta, La Stoppa ($51.00/500 ml, oenopole, NLA)
Malvasia di Candia Aromatica (95%) and Moscato (5%). The grapes are partially dried on sheets and pressed in a wooden press. Aged ten months in French oak barrels and two years in bottle. 13% ABV.
Fragrant nose: raisiny and candied but fresh. Sweet but not saccharine, rich but not heavy. Honeyed fruit flavours are layered over a savoury, dry substrate. Long finish with just a hint of bitterness and astringency. Another treat.
oenopole trade tasting (3/4): Arianna Occhipinti
Based near Vittoria in the province of Ragusa in southeast Sicily, just-turned-30 Arianna Occhipinti has been making wine and olive oil on the family estate for more than a decade. She farms organically, ferments using indigenous yeasts, adheres to a non-interventionist approach in the cellar and bottles unfiltered, unfined and with minimal sulphur dioxide. In the five years since the MWG had the pleasure of hosting her at a tasting, she has gone from being a virtual unknown in North America to something of a rock star, with regular mentions in the New York Times and wine magazines.
IGT Sicilia 2011, SP68 Bianco, Arianna Occhipinti ($25.90, oenopole, NLA)
A 50-50 blend of Albanello and Zibibbo (aka Muscat of Alexandria) from ten-year-old vines. Macerated 15 days on the skins. Aged six months in stainless steel vats. 12% ABV. Albanello is an obscure but ancient grape variety grown in the Ragusa and Syracuse areas. At the private import expo, Arianna told me she feels it has the potential to make very fine wine and is experimenting with a varietal bottling.
Fragrant nose of muscat grapes, sour apple and white flowers with minerals in the background. Less perfumy in the mouth. Dry and a little disconcerting because the nose has you expecting something sweeter. Soft, fragrant, delicious. Not super fruity but pure and fresh with just enough acidity. Lingering sour chalky finish and a faint astringency. One of those wines that keeps you coming back for another sip.
IGT Sicilia 2011, SP68 Rosso, Arianna Occhipinti ($22.70, 11811765)
A 50-50 blend of Nero d’Avola and Frappato from ten-year-old vines. Macerated 30 days on the skins. Aged six months in stainless steel vats. 12.5% ABV. The wine will be sold through the SAQ for the first time as part of the November 22nd Cellier release. Unfortunately, the SAQ decided to order only 900 bottles for the entire province (it was offered more), virtually ensuring a stampede by wine geeks anxious to score even a bottle or two (versus the case or two they could get when it was a private import). The monopoly moves in mysterious ways.
Lovely nose: cherry and red berries with hints of flowers, slate and old wood. Soft, supple, pure. Lightly tannic and acidic. The fruit fades leaving minerals, earth and herbs. The drying finish is kissed by bitterness. A joy.
IGT Sicilia 2010, Il Frappato, Arianna Occhipinti ($38.25, oenopole, NLA)
Arguably Arianna’s flagship wine. 100% Frappato di Vittoria from 50-year-old vines. Macerated 50 days on the skins. Aged 14 months in large 25 hl Slovenian oak barrels. 12.5% ABV. Quebec’s entire allocation was snapped up by restaurateurs, leaving even us longtime innamorati empty-handed.
Fragrant nose of dried rose, sour red berries, slatey minerals and spice. More tightly wound than usual with some tannic astringency. Still medium-bodied and beautifully balanced. Turns minerally on the long, caressing finish. The structure makes this more Burgundy-like than ever. Will probably benefit from a year or two in the cellar but plenty delicious now.
oenopole trade tasting (2/4): Camerlengo
Trained as an architect, the ebullient Antonio Cascarano switched to farming in 2000 in order to save his grandparents’ three-hectare estate, Camerlengo (“chamberlain”), which is located in the commune of Rapolla, near the village of the same name, on the northeast flank of Monte Vulture in northern Basilicata. There he grows grapes, chestnuts and olives (for reportedly excellent oil) in volcanic soil that’s rich in silica and potassium. The relatively high altitude (400–500 m) ensures a large difference between day and night temperatures, one of the keys to maintaining acidity in grapes. All farming is organic and practices in the cellar are as non-interventionist as possible.
IGP Basilicata 2011, Accamilla, Camerlengo
The first vintage of Antonio’s first orange wine. A blend of Malvasia (70%), 10% Santa Sofia (aka Fiano) and 20% other local grapes, fermented with native yeasts and made like a red wine, with extended maceration on the skins and pips. Aged in chestnut botte. 12% ABV. This sample was drawn from the barrel a couple of days before the tasting; the finished wine will be available from oenopole this spring.
Hazy tawny yellow. Nose of straw, sun-baked stones, yellow fruit and dried flowers. Lighter and more fluid than expected. Savoury and dry, with summery fruit and sprightly acid. Soft tannins and a floral note emerge on the long finish. Delicious.
Aglianico del Vulture 2009, Antelio, Camerlengo ($25.95, oenopole)
100% Aglianico from 30-year-old vines. Manually harvested in late October and early November. Fermented with native yeasts, macerated 25 days. Matured in a 50-hl Slavonian oak botte. Unfiltered and unfined. Lightly sulphured on bottling for stability during transportation. 13% ABV.
Rich ruby maroon. Initial rubber blows off leaving red fruit, slate/graphite and hints of dusky flowers and spice. Medium- to full-bodied. The fruit is rich and sweet, devoid of heaviness, rooted in earth and minerals. The tannins – just a little raspy – are especially apparent on the finish. More upfront, less layered and long than the Camerlengo; then again it’s $12 cheaper and available. The wine’s refined rusticity made it a great pairing for lamb breast braised with tomato and white beans.
Aglianico del Vulture 2006, Camerlegno, Camerlengo ($37.75, oenopole, NLA)
100% Aglianico from 40-year-old vines. Manually harvested in late October and early November. Fermented with native yeasts, macerated 25 days. Matured in a mix of second, third and fourth vintage French oak barriques. Unfiltered. Lightly sulphured on bottling for stability during transportation. 13% ABV. Unfortunately for us, oenopole’s entire shipment has been snapped up by local restaurateurs.
Unusual, delicious nose: red fruit, spice, floral (musk rose?), stones, hints of tobacco. Smooth, medium- to full-bodied. The slim core of sweet fruit is underpinned by mostly resolved tannins, giving the wine a supple, velour-like texture. A faint astringency marks the lingering, savoury finish. Lovely. Among the most elegant Aglianicos I’ve tasted.
oenopole trade tasting (1/4): Jacques Lassaigne
In the run-up to the Salon des vins d’importation privée, oenopole held a couple of trade tastings led by their visiting winemakers and was kind enough to offer non-trade me a seat. Unfortunately, Arianna Occhipinti and Elena Pantaleoni (La Stoppa) were detained by hurricane Sandy, though they did make it to town in time for the various other activities.
The tasting began with three champagnes from the house of Jacques Lassaigne and presented by Jacques’s son and the current winemaker, Emmanuel. Planted to Chardonnay and a little Pinot Noir, the approximately five-hectare estate is located in Montgeux, a chalky hill in the southernmost part of the appellation. A small quantity of grapes is also purchased. All the grapes are organically farmed and the wine-making is as natural as possible. Disgorgement is performed monthly, surely one of the reasons why all the wines taste fresh.
Champagne, Brut, Blanc de blancs, Les vignes de Montguex, Jacques Lassaigne ($55.00, oenopole)
Always a blend of wines from two successive vintages and several parcels. The vintages here were 2008 (27%) and 2009 (73%). 15% is matured in cask. Emmanuel Lassaigne describes it as an aperitif wine, a role it performs supremely well, though it also makes a killer accompaniment for sushi.
Electrum to the eye. Pleasing nose of lemon, green melon, minerals, yeast and a lactic note. Super fine, tingly effervescence. Quite dry. Light lemon over a chalky substrate. Lingering savoury note. Clean, bright, refreshing.
Champagne 2005, Jacques Lassaigne ($105.00, oenopole)
No barrel or dosage. No sugar added during disgorging.
More golden. Richer, sweeter, winier nose redolent of yellow apple. Soft effervescence with bigger bubbles. Mouth-filling but not heavy. Comes across as less acidic and mineral-driven than the Vignes de Montguex, though that’s due to the richness of the fruit, not to any lack of minerals and acidity. Excellent balance and complexity of flavour. Broad, deep and long. Beautiful now but also capable of improving with time in the cellar. My favourite of the three.
Champagne, Extra Brut, Blanc de blancs, La Colline inspirée, Jacques Lassaigne (price to be announced but probably over $100, oenopole)
A blend of 2007 and 2008. Vinified and aged on the lees in used white Burgundy barrels. In the past this has been bottled only in magnums, though this year oenopole will have some standard 750 ml bottles.
Bronzer. Complex bouquet: golden apple, citrus, chalk, toast, brioche, a faint floral note and a hint of souring milk. The softest and fleshiest of the three. Some sweetness on the attack but dry on the finish. Oxidizing sour apples, candied citrus zest and lingering crystals. Long, round and layered. Less structured than the Millésime 2005, but no less appealing: a deluxe vin plaisir.
MWG October 2nd tasting: report (2/2)
A Belgian transplanted to the slopes of Mount Etna, Frank Cornelissen is a natural winemaker’s natural winemaker. For background information and an explanation of why the wines’ high prices are justified, I can’t do better than link to Jamie Goode’s reports here and, more recently, here.
As some of the wines are blends of more than one vintage, Cornelissen numbers the productions of each cuvée sequentially.
I find the wines hard to describe as they’re quite unlike any other I’ve encountered and the regular descriptors don’t necessarily apply. But that uniqueness only adds to their appeal.
Rosso del Contadino 8, Azienda agricola Frank Cornelissen ($31.88, Glou)
A blend of local grapes, white and red, from the difficult 2010 vintage. 13.5% ABV.
Beautiful nose: spice, spruce, lava sand, pomegranate. Barely medium-bodied with bright acid and just enough tannins. Tingly, juicy, minerally, bittersweet, fruity (cherry and more pomegranate). Not very deep but what a surface! Am looking forward to trying this lightly chilled with a Sicilian rabbit stew. (Buy again? Yes.)
MunJebel Rosso 7, Azienda agricola Frank Cornelissen ($65.95, Glou)
Nerello Mascalese from various vineyards and the 2009 and 2010 vintages. 14% ABV.
Complex nose: funk, leather, red plum, gravel. Rocks, berries and herbs on the palate. A tense balance between acid and fruit. Tannins are there if you look for them. Gained pomegranate and slate in a way that reminded me a little of Occhipinti’s Siccangno (Nero d’Avola). An involving wine. (Buy again? Yes.)
Magma Rosso 8, Azienda agricola Frank Cornelissen ($185.90, Glou, NLA)
A super selection of usually single cru ripe Nerello Mascalese grapes, these from the 2009 vintage. 15% ABV.
All of the above plus leather, ephemeral spice, tar, mineral, funk, leather, dried meat, tea. Richer in the mouth but not heavier. An acidic undercurrent runs from start to finish. The intense core of fruit is wrapped in a complex matrix of minerals. Quite structured, though not in ways I’m accustomed to. The alcohol is not apparent. Exotic and beautiful. (Buy again? If price were no object, yes.)
MunJebel Bianco 7, Azienda agricola Frank Cornelissen ($45.50, Glou, NLA)
An “orange” wine (a white made like a red, with extended maceration on the skins) made from Carricante, Grecanico Dorato and Coda di Volpe from the 2010 vintage. 13% ABV.
Complex bouquet: initial funk then minerals, oxidized pear, hints of dried orange peel and herbs. A bit blurry on the palate. Soft texture and medium weight. Animated by an undercurrent of acidity. Straw and minerals dominate the flavour profile. Some tannins and a bitter almond note creep in on the long finish. Intriguing. (Buy again? Quite possibly.)
Brett happens 