Category: Wine of the Week

Castaño’s Hécula

Published 20. January 2023 by Vidar Kenneth Johansen

This Christmas I visited Bodegas Castaño in Yecla, Murcia, for the first time in more than 20 years. They are in conversion to organic farming. And if I remember right, all wines will soon have the seal, except for some wines where part of the grapes are purchased. One of their slogans is “the art of monastrell”, and through their various lines they showed what can be done with this emblematic grape of the Levante coast.

Daniel Castaño shows an ancient Roman track. Herbs contribute to the wines’ aroma

This week’s pick is one of my favourite monastrell wines. Hécula is an ancient Roman name for the town. The wine is a pure monastrell, and was also featured last year (read here). It can be considered their entry-level monastrell, but it’s not simple. It comes from a 750 meter altitude vineyard on limestone, with an average of 50 year old vines. It’s certified organic, made with spontaneous fermentation and got a few months of oak treatment (mostly French), with malolactic in steel. It’s very Mediterranean and very good.

Four historic labels, the actual to the left

Hécula Organic 2020 (Bod. Castaño)

Dark cherry red. On the nose it shows ripe berries (morello), plum, aromatic herbs (thyme, rosemary) and a hint of coffee. Full in the mouth with mature tannins, an earthy note and a fine acidity.

Price: Low

Food: All kinds of meat, stews, salads with meat (such as Caesar), murcian paella…

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Wine of the Week

Flowery Fleury

Published 13. January 2023 by Vidar Kenneth Johansen

This was one of the very best from a recent tasting of pure chardonnay extra-dry grower champagnes.

Maison Fleury was established in 1895 in Courteron, in Côte des Bar, southern Champagne. The 15 hectares are all cultivated biodynamically. In fact Fleury was the first producer in Champagne to be certified biodynamic. Jean-Sébastien Fleury has since 2009 been responsible for both vineyards and cellar. He introduced plowing with horses in the vineyards, and today half of them are cultivated in this way. It was also Jean-Sébastien who introduced the first sulphur-free vintage champagne.

Near to Chablis, the grapes are grown on Kimmerigian calcareous clay soils. Most of the vineyards are located on steep slopes facing south and south-west, where the grapes get a lot of sun and thus high ripening. The grapes are hand-picked, and the wines are spontaneously fermented in steel tanks and in 6,000 liter old oak vats, where they also ripen. Cuvée Cépage Blancs Extra-Brut 2011 is elaborated from 100% chardonnay. 35% is vinified in oak barrel.

Cépages Blancs Extra-Brut 2011 (Maison Fleury)

Straw yellow, careful mousse. Lovely complexity on the nose: citrus, green apple, white flowers, brioche, and a touch dried fruit. Persistent acidity, almonds and lovely fruit throughout; and even if it’s a dry wine there is a hint of honey in the finish.

Price: High

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Wine of the Week

Gsellmann’s Blaufränkisch

Published 6. January 2023 by Vidar Kenneth Johansen

Pannobile is the name of an association of wine growers in Burgenland, Austria. Pannonia was the region’s name during Roman times (thus underscoring the importance of origin), and nobile means noble, rich or generous.

In their own words, they were “a group of winemaking friends and colleagues meeting regularly in Gols, a wine village on the northeastern shore of Neusiedler See. Their aim was neither to be ‘modern’ nor ‘international’, but to be committed to the soils, the character, and the climate of their region so that premium wines made from local grape varieties could be created”.

Hans Nittnaus was the one that suggested the name. Here on this blog we have said hello to Gernot Heinrich, also one of the founders from the 1980’s, and Gerhard Pittnauer and Claus Preisinger, who joined later.

Also among the founders was Hans Gsellmann, whose son Andreas started to work in the winery in 2005, and has been in charge since 2919. Andreas says that his goal is “to harmonize traditional winemaking with the biodynamic way of working and living”. They cultivate 19 hectares of vineyards.

Gsellmann has a wine that carries the name Pannobile on the label. We will come back to this. Today we present his Blaufränkisch. The grape variety here is obviously blaufränkisch, that grows on quartz and gravel. The fermentation was spontaneous, and the maceration lasted two weeks. The wine was raised three months in used 500 liter oak barrels.

Blaufränkisch 2021 (A. Gsellmann)

Dark cherry. Dark fruits (blueberry, blackberry, dark cherry), a lactic note, herbs, and also a touch of dried fruits. Juicy in the mouth with some structure, some spice and good acidity.

Price: Medium

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Wine of the Week

Castro Ventosa’s La Cova de la Raposa

Published 30. December 2022 by Vidar Kenneth Johansen

We continue to explore the parajes of Bierzo, a denomination that sets the standard in Spanish wine.

La Cova de la Raposa was the first plot developed by pioneer Raúl Pérez. It is a southfacing 0,2 hectare paraje with 6 owners, located in the outskirts of Valtuille. The soil is sandy and somewhat clayey with steep slopes. Some of the vines are over 100 years old. This paraje is known for making mineral wines.

The producer here is Castro Ventosa, which is Raúl Pérez’ family bodega, and where his nephew César Márquez is also involved in the winemaking.

Mencía is here complemented by 10% garnacha tintorera and 5% others. The harvest was manual. It is often the first plot to be harvested in Bierzo. Whole grapes were deposited in open 500-litre barrels. Fermentation was carried out naturally without adding yeast and without temperature control. The wine macerated inside the barrels for 60 days, soaking the hat once a day by gravity, without the intervention of pumps. Then it was taken out, pressed, and the wine was resting for a couple of months. It was aged 12 months in used 500 liter barrels (as opposed to 225 liters in the past).

La Cova de Raposa 2019 (Castro Ventosa)

Dark cherry. Open, aromatic and concentrated, with red and dark fruits (cherry, raspberry, blackberry), mineral notes. Medium-bodied, with fine tannins, earthy hints and a marked acidity.

Price: Medium

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Wine of the Week

Fragile verdejo

Published 23. December 2022 by Vidar Kenneth Johansen

Ismael Gozalo has proved that he can take the verdejo grape to new heights. With basis in the family vineyards of Nieva, Segovia (averaging 180 years old, around 900 meters altitude) he has various takes on that grape.

The grapes for the wine Frágil were pressed and fermented naturally in 16-litre demijohns. The wine was further matured in the same glass containers for a further 7 months before being bottled, unfiltered. It is not sulphured and has only been kept in glass after harvest. 670 bottles made.

Frágil 2021 (Ismael Gozalo)

Light yellow, slightly cloudy. Aroma of ripe citrus, white flowers and yellow apples. Creamy lees character, some dryness, taste of ripe stone fruit, mineral, good acidity and good length. It’s a delicate, subtle wine yet with a strong varietal character.

Price: High

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Wine of the Week

Beaujolais revelation

Published 16. December 2022 by Vidar Kenneth Johansen

Even though I recently have come across a few good nouveau wines, this is probably the Beaujolais revelation of the year for me.

Romain des Grottes has since 2001 run his domaine organically, and it has been biodynamic certified since 2006. The soil is granitic. In the vineyard he does not use any synthetic substances, and very little copper. He prefers herbal teas and fermented extracts. Trees and hedges are planted to contribute to biodiversity. The domaine has been welcoming volunteers for more than 10 years to transmit their values and allow them, in Romain’s words, “to bring down into reality our dreams of a world of sharing, exchange and respect”.

Here is a super low-extraction red beaujolais made without sulfur and without filtration. It’s obviously made from solely gamay. The natural carbonic maceration lasted for 5 days.

Brut de Cuve 2018 (Domaine des Grottes)

Light amber, almost currant coloured. Lovely scent of raspberry, currant, white flowers and a touch of apricot. Super, cool fruit in the mouth, lovely acidity.

Price: Medium

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Wine of the Week

Kinki from Bierzo

Published 9. December 2022 by Vidar Kenneth Johansen

Bierzo is classified according to the so-called Burgundy model, as a pyramid. The highest level is parajes, that means specific sites, like a vineyard. Verónica Ortega’s wine Kinki is made from the paraje called La Llamilla in Cobrana (commune of Congosto). The vineyard has an altitude of 750 meters, and a soil composition of blue slate combined with some clay. The vines are 90-100 years old. Like most bierzo wines the main grape is mencía, here assisted by small percentages of palomino and godello, both white grapes.

The grapes were destemmed and poured into stainless steel tanks for spontaneous fermentation with native yeasts and a short maceration of about 10 days. The wine was then aged in a combination of French oak barrels and an 800 liter clay amphora.

Kinki 2020 (V. Ortega)

Light red. Intense aroma, complex with red fruits (wild strawberry, raspberry), currants and menthol. Fresh in the mouth, with a light texture. Electric, uplifting, elegant and saline.

Price: Medium

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Wine of the Week

Torremilanos for the future

Published 2. December 2022 by Vidar Kenneth Johansen

Torremilanos of Ribera del Duero is a traditional bodega that is currently taking interesting steps into the future. I have during the last months re-tasted several of their wines, and I also visited their hotel and wine shop during my last trip to the area.

The winegrowing tradition of Finca Torremilanos, or officially: Bodegas Peñalba López, dates back to 1903. It was in 1975 that Pablo Peñalba López acquired the estate and the brand. This was seven years before Ribera del Duero was even recognized as an appellation. He immediately began producing estate-bottled wines, moving away from the former practice of selling bulk grapes to the local cooperative.

By the early 2000’s, the eldest son, Ricardo, had become responsible for the wines. He began investigating organic and biodynamic farming methods, including horse-plowing, hand picking, and native-yeast fermentation. Since 1988 they have even produced their own barrels of French and American oak at their in-house cooperage.

Hotel Torremilanos, now a part of the bodega

Finca Torremilanos currently has 195 hectares of vineyards, surrounding the winery by the national road 122, outside Aranda de Duero. The site is varied in terms of land composition, orientation, altitude and microclimate. The vineyards are all located on the southern margin of the Duero river at an altitude of 800 to 900 meters. The vines grow in a range of soils -sand, rounded river stones, clay, limestone- and the parcels experience a number of different sun exposures. At Finca Torremilanos they practice dry farming cultivating the vineyards without herbicides or insecticides following the criteria of biodynamic agriculture. In 2015 they became the first producer in the appellation to be Demeter certified.

The Montecastrillo is made from mainly tempranillo and some 3% cabernet sauvignon. It was macerated between 5 to 7 days and fermented at 19-24° in stainless steel tanks with indigenous yeasts. After malolactic fermentation in steel the final coupage was carried out. Aging for 6 months in French and American oak barrels from their own cooperage (20% first and second use barrels). Lightly filtered.

Montecastrillo 2020 (Bod. Peñalba López)

Dark cherry red. Aroma of red and dark fruits (blackberry, cherry), over a layer of spice (cinnamon). Fruity in the mouth, with an earthy tone, good tannins and a fine acidity.

Price: Medium

Food: Suckling pig and other roasts, casseroles, tapas and charcuterie

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Wine of the Week

Dumenge Calling

Published 25. November 2022 by Vidar Kenneth Johansen

No, it’s not a cheap joke, but the name of the wine. I am told it was made for the Garage Bar of Barcelona, in a tiny quantity of 100 bottles. I bought it from the Bendito bar in Madrid. (Read a short article from Garage here and a review of Bendito here.)

Dumenge Calling is monovarietal xarel.lo produced by Celler Dumenge in a garage in Penedès, Catalunya. The winery calls it an “ancestral”, or a pét nat. All their wines are made with a deep respect for the vineyard, seeking the highest possible expression of the grape and the soil. They opt for natural agriculture, always with minimal intervention, which results in original and true wines.

This wine has been aged in amphora, which allows it to perfectly preserve the freshness of the varietal, and at the same time it adds to the complexity.

Dumenge Calling 2017 (Celler Dumenge)

Light yellow, slightly turbid. Fruity aromas of pears, white flowers and grapefruit. Fresh fruit on the palate, vibrant acidity, quite full and with a long finish.

Price: Medium

Food: Shellfish, white fish, tapas, and many Asian-style dishes

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Wine of the Week

Thivin’s new Beaujolais

Published 18. November 2022 by Vidar Kenneth Johansen

This year I haven’t tasted as many of the new Beaujolais as usual. It’s the first time I have tried Thivin‘s Nouveau, though I already knew several of their other wines.

Thivin is one of the top domaines in the Côte de Brouilly, Château Thivin is built on an ancient volcano back in the 15th century, thus one of the oldest. Claude and Evelyne, third generation of the Geoffray family, are now managing the estate with their son Claude-Edouard. They encourage biodiversity planting herbs and flowers between the rows of the more than 50 years old vines, plowing regularly and using natural composts to keep their vines healthy.

The vines for this cuvée are trained in goblet. The grapes are handpicked. Semi-carbonic maceration is used for extraction of the fruit, and the vats are handled by gravity to ensure gentle production.

Gamay Noir Vignes d’Ecussol 2022 (Thivin)

Red with blueish hint. Very much raspberry, plus some currant, fresh and young, with some structure and a nice acidity.

Price: Low

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