Category: Wine of the Week

Raro rufete

Published 15. September 2023 by Vidar Kenneth Johansen

I have tasted two varietal rufete wines from Sierra de Salamanca, both from producer La Zorra (meaning: the fox) and both in the 2018 vintage. Ituero is an ambitious, well-made paraje wine from a paraje (single site) called Itu. Here I chose Raro as this week’s pick, a very fresh fruit-driven wine.

Owner Agustín Maíllo is one of several that is currently recovering the winemaking traditions in the area and its indigenous red grape rufete.

The name La Zorra is inspired by the fable The Fox and the Grapes, written by Félix María de Samaniego,. At first, Agustín planned to make wine just for the family restaurant, but the current production is 50,000 bottles. They grow 20 hectares of vines, seven are their own and located in and around Mogarraz. Bunches are destemmed and fermentation takes place with indigenous yeasts.

Raro 2018 (La Zorra)

Cherry red. Fresh, fruit-driven, smells of cherry, raspberry, herbs, some licorice, there is also an earthy note. Fruity in the mouth, with fine tannins, decent concentration and a fresh acidity.

Price: Medium

Leave a Comment

Wine of the Week

Brilliant bobal

Published 8. September 2023 by Vidar Kenneth Johansen

This brilliant varietal bobal from Manchuela is one of the finest that exists. The producer Bodegas Ponce is described in several posts, such as this one.

The grapes for Ponce‘s Pino come from a one hectare farm with 35 years old vines, planted at an altitude of 900 metres above sea level, cultivated organically. After a careful maceration and treading of the grapes, fermentation spontaneously in oak vats. Then it spends 11 months in used French oak barrels of 600 litres.

Pino 2021 (Bodegas y Viñedos Ponce)

Dark cherry red. Cool fruits, red and dark, herbs, a mineral component. Medium-bodied with concentrated flavours,, good acidity, expressive and energetic.

Price: Medium

Leave a Comment

Wine of the Week

A Grüner at Grünerløkka

Published 1. September 2023 by Vidar Kenneth Johansen

I’m in Oslo for the Skin Orange wine fair. In the Grünerløkka neighborhood, named after Friedrich Grüner in the late 19th century, what could be more appropriate than to open with a magnificent grüner veltliner? Mr. Grüner lived 250 years earlier, by the way, and served as town administrator and master of the mint.

Anyway, at Skaal Matbar I was surprised to see a wine from Stagard (or Stagård). They have been in Kremstal for 10 generations, and it was the father of Urban, one of the current owners, who introduced the family name to the business. I remembered them from my time as an importer and tasted all their wines many years ago. Since then they have taken on a biodynamic approach. This wine is a blend of two vintages, I think 2018 and 19. It’s unfiltered and bottled with only minimal added sulfur.

At Skaal you can enjoy tasty small dishes to a selection of wines by the glass. At the moment they serve oysters, schnitzel, charcuterie and more, and the wines are a little bit of everything, thankfully not the same as offered by everyone else.

Medusa N/V (Lesehof Stagård)

Light yellow. Fresh aroma of citrus (lemon zest), baked apple, a light peel character and also a mineral touch. It’s immediately appealing, but it also dense and tasty and has a certain complexity. Slightly spritzy, with a stimulating citric acidity.

Price: Medium

Leave a Comment

Wine of the Week

Goyo’s Valdeolmos 16

Published 25. August 2023 by Vidar Kenneth Johansen

This is one of three single vineyard wines that Goyo García Viadero makes from centenarian vines. The three fincas are premium examples of the concept of terroir, that in many ways has been neglected in Ribera del Duero.

In the cellar all grapes are destemmed by hand, pressed gently, and fermentations are slow. in cold, ancient cellar. He uses very finely grained barrels from Bordeaux, most often taken over from Bodegas Valduero, where his sister is winemaker. Sulfur and other additives are never used. This results in honest and elegant wines with a strong sense of place that also fit any definition of natural wine.

Finco Valdeolmos has always dark fruits (blackberry), a touch of licorice; gentle tannins and some minerality.

Finca Valdeolmos 2016 (Goyo García Viadero)

Dark cherry. Ripe wild and red fruits (blackberry, cherry), sun-dried tomatoes, a touch of licorice. Compact fruit on the palate, fine tannins, integrated acidity. A youthful natural wine with many years ahead.

Price: Medium

Leave a Comment

Wine of the Week

Ribera Rosé

Published 18. August 2023 by Vidar Kenneth Johansen

This is a Ribera rosé with lots of character, from a classic winery that is steadily improving, or should we say: modernizing. This wine however has an inspiration from the rosés from earlier times. This can also be seen in the name and the label, porrón being the traditional drinking vessel.

It’s made from predominantly tempranillo (a small part is a historic field-blend). The grapes grow in east-facing plots at an altitude of 800-900 metres. The climate is continental with mediterranean features.

The cultivation is organic with biodynamic methods (Demeter certified). The grapes for this wine are harvested twice, the first one for freshness and the second -also relatively early- for more body. The first harvest undergoes a pre-fermentation maceration for 5 days, the second for 8 days. After a separate malolactic fermentation, the two wines are blended in February and continue their journey together in old barrels and concrete vats where they rest for 11 months. The wine is bottled without filtering, clarification nor addition of sulphur.

El Porrón de Lara 2021 (Peñalba López)

Garnet red. Fresh aroma, ripe red fruits (blueberry, cherry), flowers, earth, a balsamic note. Medium-bodied, juicy and savoury, silky tannins, red berries fruit, good concentration, mineral. Improves with air.

Price: Medium

Leave a Comment

Wine of the Week

Great Garnacha from Rioja

Published 11. August 2023 by Vidar Kenneth Johansen

Carlos Sánchez has a background from Sierra de Gredos (4 Monos). But he had early on fallen in love with the Sonsierra area of Rioja. And here he is. Since 2019 he has used the facilities of the former cooperative in Labastida.

This is a wine from a single plot (0,3 ha.) in San Vicente de la Sonsierra, on 100% garnacha. It’s spontaneously fermented with a high percentage of whole bunches, and kept in large oak barrels. Not clarified nor filtered. A modest production of 1.700 bottles.

Buradón Las Plegarias 2020 (Carlos Sánchez)

Cherry red. Good ripe fruit, red plums, cherry, some strawberry, and a layer of dried herbs and lavender. Good volume, soft and fleshy, fine tannins, integrated acidity. It’s rooted in its landscape, yet has a noble air to it. Really good.

Leave a Comment

Wine bars and restaurants and Wine of the Week

Classic classico

Published 4. August 2023 by Vidar Kenneth Johansen

I have been a couple of days in Grimstad, Norway, the beautiful seaside town of my childhood. The most inspiring restaurant these days is Smag & Behag. They have also opened another restaurant in neighbouring Kristiansand. But this is the original. The wine list is not very extensive, but they have a magnificent underground cellar, high ambitions – and the selection is well-crafted and consists of organic and natural wines of good quality.

Hans Petter Klemmetsen, founder and chef
(Credit: Smag & Behag)

For a four course meal I selected four wines together with the waiters. The three first wines -young and beautiful- were Brocard‘s saline Chablis Sainte Marie 2022, Domaine de Nozay‘s flinty Sancerre 2022 and Olivier Merlin‘s raspberry-scented Bourgogne Pinot Noir 2021. Instead of going for a dessert with a sweet wine I chose a selection of cheeses and this week’s wine, a classic style Chianti

Castell’in Villa is located in the south of Chianti Classico, just outside the village of Castelnuovo Berardenga east of Siena in Tuscany. The farm is run by the Greek-born Princess Coralia Pignatelli della Leonessa, who lives in a medieval tower on the property. Out of a total of 300 hectares, 54 ha are vineyards that are all grown organically.

The sangiovese grapes are grown in old river deposits with pebbles and sand, in a vineyard planted in the 1960’s. The grapes were picked by hand and spontaneously fermented, before 3 weeks’ skin maceration. The wine is aged in large oak barrels. Unclarified and unfiltered, and low sulfur (<40 mg/l).

Chianti Classico 2018 (Castell’in Villa)

Dark cherry red, with a beginning hint of brown. Aroma of red berries, herbs, leather, mushrooms. Firm and fine-grained tannins, good acidity, notes of tea and plums, with a decent concentration and length.

Price: Medium

Leave a Comment

Wine of the Week

Lancelot’s Champagne

Published 28. July 2023 by Vidar Kenneth Johansen

At Raw Wine Copenhagen I met Philippe Lancelot, maker of natural wine in Champagne. The estate was created by his parents who both inherited some vineyards, then bought new ones together. Philippe had introduced biodynamic practise for all vineyards by 2012. He wants to express the individuality of each cru and village, almost always completely dry and in most cases without any added sulphur. He showed five magnificent wines, among them Le Fond du Bâteau 2018, from the lieu-dit (named vineyard) of the same name in the surroundings of Choully, a grand cru village in Côte des Blancs. 100% chardonnay, no dosage and zero added sulphites. Light golden, aroma of green apples, citrus, chalk and brioche, concentrated, mineral, long, pure.

The oldest wine he presented was the 2014 vintage of Les Bas des Saran 2014, also pure chardonnay, with no additions. This one comes from four lieux-dits of various grand cru villages, among them Cramant (his home village). It’s vinified in oak barrels and vats, and spent 5 years in the cellars before launch.

Les Bas des Saran 2014 (Phillipe Lancelot)

Light yellow. Discreet floral nose, expressive citrus, brioche. In the mouth it has a dry and tense attack, but develops both creamy and fruity. Concentrated, long, salty.

Price: High

Leave a Comment

Wine of the Week

Noble Zweigelt

Published 21. July 2023 by Vidar Kenneth Johansen

Maria and Sepp Muster of Südsteiermark I met a few years ago at a wine fair in London. I was hugely impressed by their range, and the orange wines I regard as some of the best there is. Last Saturday I visited a new wine bar in the unlikely place of my hometown (sorry, Sandnes!). And this masterpiece of a zweigelt was served blind by Pål, managing director of Tempo vinbar. The bar takes its name from the historic bicycles that were once made right in the same quarter.

Maria and Sepp Muster make vital and beautiful wines in Gamlitz of Südsteiermark, Austria. The soil is composed of stony clay and silt over calcareous marl subsoil.
The grapes for this wine were harvested by hand, de-stemmed and gently pressed. They spontaneously ferment in 2,400-litre wooden barrels. The wine is then stored for approx. 2 years in old wooden barrels. Unfiltered. Nothing added.

Graf Zweigelt 2019 (WeinI. Maria & Sepp Muster)

Cherry red. Aroma of cool red and black fruits (raspberry, blackberry), cranberry, fresh herbs and some earth. Medium-bodied, fine-grained tannins, a lovely integrated acidity, and a long finish.

Price: Medium

Leave a Comment

Wine bars and restaurants and Wine of the Week

Asturianos revisited

Published 14. July 2023 by Vidar Kenneth Johansen

Last evening in Madrid: I haven’t been to the Asturianos restaurant since many years, when I had a tasting of Gredos wines with Belarmino Fernández. Belarmino’s family runs this restaurant in the Chamberí neighbourhood, and he is also in charge of Bodegas Canopy in Méntrida (Toledo province, at the foot of the Gredos mountains) together with his friend Alfonso Chacón.

I had celebrated and good wines like Esporão Reserva Branco 2021 (Alentejo) and Predicador 2020 (B. Romeo, Rioja), of which the restaurant is a distributor, and also Canopy’s varietal syrah Malpaso 2021. Still, when sommelier José Antonio offered me a tasting of their garnachas, this was unquestionably the highlight of the evening.

Belarfonso is put together from the names of the two owners of the bodega. The wine’s origin is in El Real de San Vicente where old garnacha grows in granite soil. It underwent a pre-fermentative cold fermentation, before a malalactic in oak, and spent a short time in French barrels of 500 and 700 liters.

Castillo de Belarfonso 2019 (Bodegas Canopy)

Garnet red. Cherry, herbs, scrubland and a typical ethereal note. Fresh in the mouth, well-integrated tannins, some earth and a hint of coffee and black pepper.

Leave a Comment