Press "Enter" to skip to content

Month: January 2021

Wine of the Week

Flip, flop & fly

Published 29. January 2021 by Vidar Kenneth Johansen

Conceito has been a long time favourite. And if you search these pages you will find a lot, such as this take about a white wine, and this report, that tells a bit about their range.

It is Rita Marques who is the driving force behind this -in my opinion- leading eastern Douro estate.

This wine is new in the portfolio, a fresh, dark red from touriga franca 40%, and touriga nacional and tinta roriz, each 30%. Harvested by hand, destemmed, spontaneously fermented and matured in steel.

Flip 2019 (Conceito)

Dark blueish red. Aroma of red and dark berries, lickorice and pepper. Fresh and charming, quite easy, but serious enough with some dryness from the skins, and just enough acidity.

Price: Low

Leave a Comment

Wine of the Week

Mlle. M from Mr. Bain

Published 22. January 2021 by Vidar Kenneth Johansen

This part of the Loire is infamous for its use of added yeast to “secure typicity” of grape and place. Alexandre was Bain (along with friend and neighbour across the river in Sancerre) is different, as he lets the grape, here sauvignon blanc, do the job.

He runs an estate of 11 hectares, where he uses natural methods to work the land. As we mentioned, without added yeast, also without chaptalization, or filtration – and with the help of the lunar calendar. This cuvée comes from the type of limestone called Kimméridgien.

Mademoiselle M 2015 (A. Bain)

Golden colour, clear. Concentrated, rich, mature yellow fruits, hint of pineapple, beeswax and honey. Full in the mouth, good integrated acidity, very long.

Price: Medium

Leave a Comment

Wine of the Week

Biodynamic Bordeaux

Published 15. January 2021 by Vidar Kenneth Johansen

Château Peybonhomme-les-Tours is found in the village Cars, just outside Blaye. Here they have 64 hectares in the hills by the Gironde. The soil is predominantly chalky clay, and the vineyards themselves have a sustainable ecosystem, with grass between the rows and nearness to woods and water.

Credit: Fam. Hubert

Catherine and Jean-Luc Bossuet Hubert run the estate with their children Guillame and Rachel, and they also make wine at Ch. la Grolet in Côtes du Bourg. Both places they apply biodynamic techniques.

This wine is made up of 60% merlot, 10% cabernet sauvignon, 30% malbec – and is matured in amphorae for 12 months. They use double Guyot pruning, and soil tillage in spring. There has also been used small quantities of Bordeaux mixture with herbal teas, such as horsetail or nettle. The use of sulphur is limited (50mg/l). No fining, but two careful rackings.

Energies 2016 (Ch. Peybonhomme-les-Tours)

Dark cherry colour. Aroma of black fruits (blackberry and blueberry), plums, herbs. Quite full, but lots of energy, with fine-grained tannins in the mouth, a mineral touch and a fine acidity. A very fine bordeaux, completely without oakiness, and with elegance rather than power.

Price: Medium

Food: Red meat, light meat, poultry, tasty dishes with mushroom, hard cheeses

Leave a Comment

Wine of the Week

Dangerously drinkable South African red-rosé

Published 8. January 2021 by Vidar Kenneth Johansen

Jurgen Gouws makes cool, fresh and focused wines in Swartland, South Africa. An earlier assistant winemaker under Craig Hawkins at Lammershoek, he soon established his own label Intellego.

The rented vineyards and the wines are managed with least possible interference. He was one of the first in Swartland to experiment with skin-contact for Chenin Blanc, very lightly in the fabulous (almost) orange wine Elementis.

The vines used for the Pink Moustache were planted in 1988 and 2001. The grapes are syrah 59%, cinsault 33% and mourvedre 8%. Whole clusters are pressed before spontaneous fermentation four days in used barrels. The wine matures 5 months, also in used barrels.

The Pink Moustache 2020 (Intellego)

Light ruby ​​red. Aroma of dark and red berries (raspberries), flowers, herbs and pepper. Luscious, juicy, with a light tannin touch, and just enough acidity. Lovely glou-glou, best lightly chilled.

Price: Medium

Food: Light meats, pizza, pasta, salads and cured meats.

Leave a Comment

Wine of the Week

Clandestina

Published 1. January 2021 by Vidar Kenneth Johansen

Clandestina travels from Catalunya to new destinations with accordingly named labels, such as Blanc Fugitiu (fugitive), Orance Censurat (censored), Ancestral Confiscat (confiscated). Read more about these here in an article from the cancelled Rawfair this March, where I met winemaker Ferrán at wine bar WineO in London.

This week’s wine, Blanc Sense Papers 2019, has made it all the way to my northern local wine shop. It originates from a more than 50 years old xarel.lo vineyard. The grapes from the three plots were harvested seperately at different times to ensure perfect ripeness, the different harvests are fermented in steel and aged in demijohns for different periods of time, and the last harvest kept in oak for 4 months, before blending it all and bottling unfined and unfiltered. -I base my wines on acidity, says Ferrán, -and I like Bourgogne Aligoté, he answers to my question what he tries to achieve. And acidity he has managed to retain. It really is acidic. I am not sure if it has the body to match, but time will show.

Blanc Sense Papers 2019 (Bodegas Clandestina)

Yellow with green and grey hints, slightly turbid. Aroma of green apricot, flowers and grapefruit. Fresh and luscious, dry, good acidity, good length.

Price: Medium

Leave a Comment