Category: Wine of the Week

About flowers and bees

Published 10. July 2015 by Vidar Kenneth Johansen

Ribeiro is one of Galicia’s inland DO’s. Coto de Gomariz overlooks the river Avia, and counts nearly 30 hectars on schist, granite and sand. The land is mainly steep, and the yields are naturally low. Gomariz has surely come a long way since Ricardo Carreiro’s father founded the estate a few decades ago, and has been one of the leading estates in Galicias Ribeiro for several years now, one of the major awards so far is «best white wine of the year» by Spanish wine website ElMundoVino. Many good wines mainly from treixadura and sousón have emerged, terroir based wines full of expressive fruit and a great deal of minerality.

Ricardo Carreiro in the Gomariz cellar

Ricardo has introduced biodynamic techniques. Recently, together with his winemaker Xosé Lois Sebio, he has also added some new wines. I think the main reasons for this were to secure some quicker income, and at the same time improving the grape material for the top wines. A basic white was released. Then there are the two varietal wines called The Flower and the Bee. There is a treixadura white, while this week’s special wine is red, and the one grape being sousón. This variety is thought by some to be an original Galician grape, but it is in fact the same grape known as sousão or vinhão over the Portuguese border.

2015-06-15 19.57.34 Unpretentious, lovely wine for a simple, tasty tapa

The Flower and the Bee (La Flor y la Abeja) Sousón 2013 (Coto de Gomariz)

Dark with a blue rim. Vivid aromas of blueberry and raspberry, some balsamic notes (mint), and a touch of sweet spice. In the mouth juicy, slightly carbonic, and very easy to drink. The 2013 has settled and is maybe at its peak right now.

Price: Low

Food: Salads, a variety of tapas, light meat and -why not?- bacalao

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Wine of the Week

White SP68

Published 3. July 2015 by Vidar Kenneth Johansen

Here is another delight from «natural woman» Arianna Occhipinti. She makes two wines named after the local road SP68. Read about the red one here. Near the town of Vitoria and Mount Etna Occhipinti dispose of about 18 hectars of vineyards.

The white SP68 is made from albanello and moscato di allessandria, from a vineyard 280 meters above sea level. The plants are just over 10 years old, and they are not subject to any chemical treatment. The fermentation is done with natural yeasts, the maceration 10 days with the skins, and the wine is then aged 6 months in inox and bottled unfiltered.

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SP68 2013 (A. Occhipinti)

Light golden orange colour (appearance almost like a fino sherry). Big aromas of white flowers, almonds and orange peel. In the mouth it is quite full with a touch of dryness, some tannin from the ten days with the skins, moderate acidity and dry finish. Just a little more skin-contact, and I would have called it an orange wine.

Price: Low

Food: Some cheeses and salads. Think of it as a moscatel wine when pairing with food.

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Wine of the Week

Mountain wine off Granada’s tropical coast

Published 26. June 2015 by Vidar Kenneth Johansen

We took a trip from Almuñécar on Granada’s tropical coast and found Bodega H. Calvente in the village of Jete just 15 minutes inland. Here Horacio Calvente and his wife Josefina makes organic red, white, rosé and sparkling wines from two main vineyards in the sheltering mountain ranges Chaparral and Almijara. They ferment them with natural yeasts, and they play with the temperatures to achieve the desired qualities. The lights and whites are simply delicious. The reds are on the oaky side, but I believe that they have the power to come around.

When we were there on San Juan, a public holiday, they obviously had other plans. Still they kindly opened the doors for a brief visit. It’s wonderful actually that everywhere you turn there are small scale producers like these who love their land, their work and their wine.

The wine of this week is their signature white wine. Made from 50-120 years old moscatel de Alejandría grapes in the Guindalera vineyard at 750 to more than 1000 meters in the Sierra de Chaparral.

Calvente Guindalera (mountain wine) 2014

Light straw yellow. Expressive aromas of peach and pineapple, white flowers, some tropical fruit (chirimoya). Full on the palate, a slight hint of bitterness, and with moderate acidity, all this typical of the grape.

Price: Low/medium

Food: Fish, shellfish, chicken, fruits. The picture is taken at Almuñécar’s Los Laureles restaurant, where we had a blue cheese and cured ham salad, and it also went well with the chicken main and a strawberry, cream and peppermint dessert.

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Wine of the Week

Serious Beaujolais

Published 19. June 2015 by Vidar Kenneth Johansen

Jean Foillard was one of the disciples of Jules Chauvet, one of the fathers of modern natural wine. Foillard’s Morgons are from nearly 100 year old vines from the family domain grown on granite and schist soils. They are made according to strictly organic principles and with very little SO2, but there is nothing «strange» about them, and I suppose anyone can like them. Though accessible and delicious when young they have an ageing potential of several years too. They undergo a traditional whole cluster beaujolais fermentation for 3 or 4 weeks. Then are aged in old barrels, but oaky is clearly not a word to describe these wines.

Jean Foillard Morgon 2013

Young red colour, dark for a beaujolais. Lovely perfumed scent of raspberries and cherries. Delicious, juicy taste, still good concentration and just a slight touch of tannin. Good length. Complete finesse – Serious fun!

Price: Low

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Wine of the Week

From the wine oasis

Published 12. June 2015 by Vidar Kenneth Johansen

Château Musar is quite popular these days. But the Hochar family has made high quality wines from high altitude vineyards in the Bekaa Valley since its foundation in 1930, organic before organic wine was «labelled», and natural before natural wine was «invented» – all this despite wars and unstableness. The blend is French because of its founder’s fascination for Bordeaux –and his son Serge Hochar’s studies there– and the grapes are hand-picked by local bedouins.

2011 was a very dry year in the beginning. Heavy rainfalls compensated it in april and may, but the result was one of the latest ripenings in the history of Musar. I appreciate the variations in vintages, that comes partly from Hochard’s approach to winemaking.

And I particularly like the version that comes from younger grapes, that I feel is somewhat between youthful fruitiness and more complex seriousness. The grapes are French (in 2011 50% cinsault, 35% syrah and 15% cabernet sauvignon), but the wine is also unmistakably «foreign», with a warm touch. In a sense it parallels its multicultural place of origin. It’s made from natural yeasts, the vinification has been carried out in cement tanks, and the wine had 9 months ageing in steel before it was bottled, unfined, unfiltered.

Musar Jeune 2011 (Ch. Musar)

Deep red. Aroma of red fruits, blackcurrent, flowers, plums, some spice. At first some barnyard, but it disappears with airing. It has a raisiny character from the many long days of sun, but also some coolness from the breezes and the snowy mountain ranges. The taste is fresh and fruity, with round tannins and a spicy aftertaste with a touch of warmth.

A serious tax-free wine!

Price: Low

Food: Red meat, game

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Wine of the Week

Gold on the Costa Blanca

Published 5. June 2015 by Vidar Kenneth Johansen

Interesting things are happening at the unlikely place of the Costa Blanca, the most heavy tourism and holiday home strip along the Spanish coast. From head-quarters in Bigastro, between Oriuhela and the infamous Torrevieja, Rafa Bernabé makes wines from grapes sourced from a rather big area from the coast and towards bordering Murcia.

This week’s special wine is aged in clay jars (in Spanish called tinajas) made in La Mancha. Perhaps more sensational, it is grown within the borders of La Mata national park in the municipality of Torrevieja. Bernabé is one of the many who have left their respective DO’s lately, so the wine is classified as a table wine (Vino de Mesa). The vineyards are situated near sea level, and they are organically treated. They have a high proportion of sand, so the vines are also predominantly pre-phylloxera, ungrafted. The ageing has been carried out in jars, without stirring, no SO2 has been added, the yeast are all natural, and there has been no filtration.

The wine has an orange colour one can expect from a «white» wine that has spent a prolonged time in contact with the skins (30 days maceration), but it has also a red hue. Why is this, I first asked myself, especially when the only grapes listed are the white merseguera 60% and moscatel 35%. But then, there are also 5% «others». So I asked the producer the same question. And yes, the wine also includes five red varieties that already existed within the old vineyards, and they are esclafacherre, plantamula, forcayat, valensi and parrell. (Say them one more time, as fast as you can!) Rafa says the old folks liked the colour that red varieties in small quantities gave the white wines. But he says that he also thinks the higher proportion of polyfenols adds to the ageing potential to the wine.

Tinajas de La Mata 2013 (Bernabé Navarro)

Golden orange colour, with a light touch of red, and with «long legs». Aromas of flowers, white fruits, orange peel, and with a salty tang; some barnyard at first, but it disappears with airing. It’s quite full, with some tannin, and a mellow citric acidity. All in all a lovely, stimulating wine.

Price: Medium

Food: Fish and shellfish, foie, a variety of cheeses, and – why not – paella

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Wine of the Week

Handmade in Menfi

Published 29. May 2015 by Vidar Kenneth Johansen

There is more in Sicilia than Etna, much in fashion these days. The southwestern coast faces the ocean, and there are beaches with beautiful sand dunes and a fresh breeze. On these beaches there are flowers, and there are beetles, turtles, and all sorts of birdlife. And close to the ocean there are vineyards that take in the salinity from the ocean breeze and warmth of the Mediterranean sun, and the temperature changes between night and day brings both ripeness and a cool acidity to the grapes.

The small town of Menfi is located on this coast, some 3 kilometres inland, and not far from the Marsala growing area. And here is Cantine Barbera, that makes wine from local and regional white grapes like inzolia, grillo and zibibbo, and reds perricone, nerello mascalese, nero d’avola, and some occational international intruder like merlot (in fact a very interesting wine, and the first one I tasted from this winery around 10 years ago).

Bilderesultat for cantine barbera menfi

Marilena Barbera has a “more than organic” approach to winemaking, these wines are made in an artesan way, handmade. This week’s special wine is just that: handmade and truly special. Ammàno means handmade in local dialect. But it’s more: In Marilena’s own words, “it’s totally hand made, and by totally I mean it”. This statement implies that no electricity operated machines are used, the grapes are hand harvested and hand crushed, and all winemaking is carried out only with manual tools. Bottling and corking is also manual, and even the labels are handwritten by Marilena herself (as you may want to see here).

It’s made from old zibibbo grapes. There are no industrial additives, the wine is not filtered, and bottling and corking is done manually too. No industrial additives are used during winemaking, and sulphur is used only to disinfect the barrels. Free SO2 is a mere 13 mg/L.

Ammàno #2 2014 (Cant. Barbera)

Light golden with a greenish hue, bordering of being unclear. Extremely aromatic with strong tones of grapefruit, and some rhubarb, gooseberry and a salty touch. Full in the mouth, cidery. Yes, it has grapefruit taste too, but it’s a well-rounded, almost ripe and highly attractive bitterness coming through towards the end. Great personality!

Price: Medium

Food: White fish, cooked and grilled, tuna and sword fish, light meat and, I believe, many of the Arab influenced dishes of western Sicilia

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Wine of the Week

Bearable lightness

Published 22. May 2015 by Vidar Kenneth Johansen

One of the most memorable wines from RAW fair a couple of years ago was this one. Emilio Foradori of Trentino, Italy presented it at a kvevri seminar. I had serious trouble to describe it, but the title of Kundera’s famous book came to my mind, in the opposite meaning though, because this was absolutely bearable, not to say “uplifting”.

This one was different from the other wines presented. It was lighter, it had another texture – and it was aged in a clay container – from Spain! I had to investigate this further, and I will tell you more about this soon.

Nosiola is a grape variety without a very distinct character of its own. The name is thought to have something to do with hazelnuts (‘nosiol’ in local dialect), and it sounds likely. In the past it was usually made with long skin-contact, and it’s associated with the production of dessert wines. I imagine that this is a grape variety that is applicable for expressing terroir. More about the producer and the techniques behind the wine later. Here is a brief description.

Fontanasanta Nosiola 2012 (Elisabetta Foradori)

Light yellow. Aroma of flowers (jazmine), orange peel, peaches, nuts (closest to hazelnuts, in fact). Quite dry texture, integrated acidity, and an unbelievable combination of lightness and concentration.

Still in the same vintage as presented at the fair, but there’s no wear and tear about this true, true wine.

Price: Medium

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Wine of the Week

Passionate Australian post-punk

Published 15. May 2015 by Vidar Kenneth Johansen

The organic wine movement (not unlike the musical scene) can be said to have two extremes: one comformist/opportunistic approach that seeks to meet the demand of growing consumer groups and to obtain the certificates, and the punks who wants to rock the establishment. There is, as always, a way in the middle too. Here we are in an artistic landscape that borrows from punk, call it neo- or post punk, but Some Young Punks follow the rules, and they behave. So there is no anarchy in Australia, though they don’t care about the stamps of official recognition either.

I have tasted many of their wines over the last months. They have all real character, marked by the hot Australian climate, but why shouldn’t they? Many of us want the wines to express local landscape and weather conditions, so these wines should not be burgundies. But they have also moved away from our Australian cliché: over-extracted, over-oaked, and generally boring wines in appealing packages.

Nic Bourke, Col McBryde and Jen Gardner are the Punks’ names. Their focus is in the vineyards, and they want their old vines, many of them pre-phylloxera, to be used in personal quality wines in-stead of ending up in the big players’ blends. In 2005 their first vintages of «Passion has red lips» and «Naked on roller skates» were released, then followed wine titles like «Quickie», «Monsters, Monsters attack!» and «The Squid’s Fist», all with labels inspired by old cartoons and paperbacks.

This passion-wine is made at Nic’s winery in McLaren Vale, south of Adelaide, South Australia. They use natural yeasts, quite long maceration with skins, short oakageing, and many vineyards are treated biodynamic, not by religious conviction, but because they see that it works.

Passion has Red Lips 2013 (Some Young Punks), McLaren Vale, South Australia

Shiraz 76%, cabernet sauvignon 24%.

Dark, deep purple. Warm, almost jammy fruit, with dark berries, spice and some balsamic «after eight». A rich, silky texture, nice acidity.

Price: Medium

Food: Excellent with grilled meat, roasts and casserole dishes.

A PS from the Punks themselves: -Turn, splash and savour. Unfiltered confessions follow as the sin glows red and passionate like those lips.

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Wine of the Week

Meaty mencía

Published 8. May 2015 by Vidar Kenneth Johansen

Raúl Pérez is one of the dynamic, driving winemakers in the Spanish wine landscape. But here he is at home at Bodegas Castro Ventosa in El Bierzo, towards the boarder of Galicia where the mencía grape reigns. I could name numerous ambitious wines from famous bodegas in celebrated regions beginning with R that never “came around”. Here the fruit-oak balance works fine already, and it will continue to evolve.

It’s made in the village of Valtuille de Abajo, as the name implies, from a hundred year old vines. The mencía grape is native to this part of the country. While it may have a more slender character and more acidity over in bordering regions as Ribeira Sacra, here in El Bierzo the wines are often rounder, more ripe and with a bit more power. The content of slate and granite in the area helps to give some minerality, much in demand nowadays.

The grapes are harvested manually. It’s given a very gentle pressing, and after fermentation in stainless steel it has spent some months in French oak. It’s not filtered, nor cold-stabilized.

Valtuille Cepas Centenarias 2011 (Castro Ventosa)

Deep purple, not showing much age. At first closed, compact and concentrated, with plums, dark berries, some balsamic notes – and a slight touch of vanilla. In the mouth it has a silky texture, and some acidity. Will evolve positively during the next 4-5 years, and will keep for many more.

Price: High

Food: Would pair well with heady dishes, such as the stews from the Spanish inland, and with tasty meat-dishes of many sorts. Game too.

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