Category: Wine of the Week

A new chapter at Ainé

Published 18. August 2017 by Vidar Kenneth Johansen

It was some thirty years ago that I wandered through the legendary Chapelle vineyard in Hermitage. Little did I think at the time about the level of organic practice. Since then I have tasted an occasional wine, and to my taste many have been good, especially during the latest years.

And it was around ten years ago that the Frey family purchased the property, and Caroline Frey took over as the new oenologist. They started converting the estate vineyards to biodynamic principles.

This Côte du Rhône has its background from 40 years old vines of grenache 55%, syrah 35 and mourvèdre 10. The yields were low and it was finally raised in steel tanks.

Biographie 2015 (P. Jaboulet Aîné)

Dark purple red. Fruits from garden and woods (raspberry, black cherries, blackberry), and an amount of typical spices. Quite fresh with decent acidity.

Price: Low

Food: A variety of produce, from meats to tasty salads, hard cheeses…

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Wine of the Week

This is not Cava

Published 11. August 2017 by Vidar Kenneth Johansen

Much can be said about Cava. The Spanish wish for not to be compared to the more famous and more glamorous Champagne will be left aside this time. But Cava is not a wine DO (meaning designated area) like others, in fact the map is a real labyrinth denoting production method rather than geography. During the last couple of weeks we saw both the Rioja contigent announce that they would leave DO Cava and label their sparkling wines under their own geographical name, and the Cava council has declared 12 vineyards to be of an extraordinary quality. It remains to be seen what effect this can have.

The vineyard where this wine comes from is not among them. Why? Manuel and Pepe Raventós, father and son, decendants of the founder of Spanish sparkling wine, left DO Cava some years ago. One can maybe say that this was to get away from the general poor reputation of Cava, but surely they wanted to focus on the positive side: To create an interest in the river basin where the wine is born. It’s called Conca del Ríu Anoia, which is different from any other sparkling wines.

The estate totals 90 hectars between the Montserrat massif and the coastal ranges, where respect for the existing biodiversity is paramount, and the land is worked biodynamically.

The Textures de Pedra is an expression of the local black varieties xarel.lo vermell, bastard negre and sumoll, the Penedès climate and a stony soil, and the result of long ageing on the lees. The name suggests the stony origin in the vineyard called Vinya Més Alta (‘the highest vineyard’) that is found on top of the Turó del Serral, which is the highest point of their estate. Raventós explains that the roots have to dig deeper into colder layers, thus the concentration and structure in the wine. The wine was aged 42 months on fine lees.

Textures de Pedra 2011 (Raventós i Blanc)

Deep yellow. Clear evidence of autolysis (toasted bread and nuts), baked apples and a citric note. Concentrated fruit, completely dry and with inspiring and food-friendly acidity. Talking about textures, it has a dry mouthfeel and the expected stony minerality.

Price: Medium

Food: Light meat, lamb, carpaccio, a variety of fish dishes, and the best serrano ham

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Wine of the Week

From the dramatic interior Galicia

Published 7. August 2017 by Vidar Kenneth Johansen

From the steep slopes of Ribeira Sacra in the interior of Galicia comes this charming white wine. These canyons are some of the most dramatic you can think of.

The Carballocovo vineyard by Doade (Sober municipality) overlooking the river Sil (photo: Algueira)

Amandi, one of the five subzones of DO Ribeira Sacra, is essencially a small canyon by the river Sil. It has schist and slate-rich soils, vines planted on “solcacos”, small terraces and an extreme Atlantic climate.

Fernando González and Ana Pérez run 11ha of old vines in Amandi. And so they have done for more than 30 years, but it was only in 1998 that they started to bottle their own wines.

I have tasted the wines of Algueira at a few occasions, and I like their reds and whites, all from autoctonous grapes. This one is from godello, hand-picked, spontaneously fermented, and treated in inox tanks.

Brandan 2015 (Adega Algueira)

Light yellow with some green. Stony, perfumed aroma, citric notes, some herbs. Full in the mouth, with yellow fruits and good level of acidity.

Price: Low

Food: Fish, shellfish, cheeses…

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Wine of the Week

Chénas for shorter ageing

Published 28. July 2017 by Vidar Kenneth Johansen

This is a wine that my local dealer said I must try. And I am glad I did!

Chénas is one of the northernmost crus of Beaujolais, it sits on sandy soils on granite, and like its neighbour Moulin-à-Vent it stands for quite structured wines.

Paul-Henri Thillardon, and his brother Charles (who joined his team some five years ago), come from a family of growers in the south of Beaujolais. The 13 Chénas hectars are all certified organic, and some biodynamic techniques are also employed. Always macération carbonic. The grapes for Les Blémonts grow on clay, and will always give a fresh taste to the wine.

Chénas Les Blémonts 2015 (Paul-Henri Thillardon)

Purple colour. Cherry fruit, a light touch of orange peel, some earthy notes, mushroom, and a bit reductive. Good weight in the mouth, young tannins.

Price: Medium

Food: Veal, game, stews, hard cheeses

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Wine of the Week

AmByth, a biodynamic Californian estate

Published 21. July 2017 by Vidar Kenneth Johansen

Paso Robles, named after the town El Paso de Robles (“Pass of the oaks”) is regarded as something of the wine industry’s wild west, not only for its landscapes, but for the creative spirit (tendency to break rules, if you like). In fact this is the fastest growing AVA in California, with over 200 wineries, as opposed to 50 only fifteen years ago.

AmByth is the first and only biodynamic certified estate here. Their vineyards are dry-farmed and head-trained in steep hillsides in Templeton. In the cellar only native yeast are employed, and the wines are unfined and unfiltered. No additions, no corrections, they use themselves the term “natural winemakers”.

Proprietor Phillip Hart is Welsh, and AmByth is a Welsh word meaning ‘forever’. Phillip and his wife Mary see this as a legacy; they give honour to the past, but they farm with the future in mind, so they can hand over a land in healthy condition.

Being eager cooks, they make wine with food in mind. Here they are going against the stream, as the typical Paso wine is rich, alcoholic, with a slightly sweet fruit. The dry farming (the practice of not irrigate, the term most often used for warmer climates) helps to keep the alcohol down. This week’s wine, a 54% sangiovese / 46% tempranillo, has 12,4% alcohol.

Venustas 2011 (AmByth Estate)

Cherry red, shows signs of development towards rim. Aroma of red berries, herbs, a bit earthy, mushroom, some dried fruits. Full in the mouth, some cherry stone, good acidity. Mature, but will keep.

Price: Medium

Food: Red meat, lamb, game, hard cheeses…

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Wine of the Week

Plácet, the white Rioja Baja

Published 14. July 2017 by Vidar Kenneth Johansen

I must admit that I am a sceptic when it comes to oak, whether it is ageing or fermenting. But it is a question of knowing how to use it, a controlled oxygenation, or balance if you like.

This white wine has been one of the region’s white wines of choice for many years. Now when Álvaro Palacios of La Ermita fame has returned to his native Rioja Baja it hasn’t faded.

The Plácet is a white fermented viura aged on oval casks, once made by Álvaro’s younger brother Rafael in the mid-90’s. This was his debut as a maker of white wine, ten years before he became a godello expert’ in Valdeorras.

Plácet Valtomelloso 2013 (Palacios Remondo)

Light yellow. Lightly spicy aromas, hay, wax, with yellow fruitiness. Quite full on the palate, medium acidity and slightly bitter finish.

Price: Medium

Food: Smoked fish, light meat

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Wine of the Week

Table wine from sherry grapes

Published 7. July 2017 by Vidar Kenneth Johansen

A trip to Jerez de la Frontera is likely to include a visit to Bar Juanito. It was Juan Rodríguez who opened the bar in 1943, and this Jerez gastronomy and flamenco classic is now located just off the main square, Plaza del Arenal, and the city hall.

It was here, with a few half “raciones” such as squid in olive oil and red tuna from nearby tuna heaven Barbate, that we had the delicious and highly original white from Bodegas Forlong. (Read more about the winery and its proprietor Alejandro here.) Made in the Tierras de Cádiz, between Jerez and Rota to be more precise, of the sherry grapes palomino and pedro ximénez. With a composition of 90/10% it could well have been a cream sherry, but it’s not. This is a dry white table wine from organically grown grapes.

The grapes are picked early, and by hand, and a selection is done both in the vineyard and at the selectiontable. After the pressing the must is cooled down to 6-7° for 36 hours, before the fermentation starts once the temperature is brought up to 15°. The two varieties are treated separately, then blended to make the finished wine.

Forlong Blanco 2016 (Bodegas Forlong)

Straw-coloured, green-ish tinge. Aromatic, hints of fresh fruits, yellow apples, some almond. Full in the mouth, lightly oily texture, a salty minerality, moderate acidity and a slight bitterness as the almond sensations return. Very original and very good.

Price: Low

Food: A variety of fish and shellfish, light meats

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Wine of the Week

Still British

Published 30. June 2017 by Vidar Kenneth Johansen

Being a musician I had visited the superb saxophone shop in the village of Crowborough, East Sussex many times. It wasn’t until I prepared to go to the Real Wine fair that I realized that Britain’s leading organic wine estate was only five minutes away. (Read more about the sparkling wines of the fair, including Davenport here.)

And it’s maybe “fizz” that is leading the way for British wine. Nevertheless, more and more good still wines are made.

Will Davenport makes use of natural methods when possible. Natural yeasts, no fining, racking instead of filtering, these are some of the key elements.

Will Davenport at the Sussex farm

The winery is located in Rotherfield, Sussex, but he started out in Horsmonden, just over the border to Kent, with 1993 as the first vintage. The wine that bears this name is ,a blend of five aromatic, mainly German crossings: Bacchus, faber, siegerrebe, huxelrebe – and the rare ortega (named after the Spanish poet), that is particularly associated with this winery, not least since Will makes the wine for Forty Hall, who grows it in Enfield, London.

The wine clocks in at no more than 11.5% alcohol

Davenport Horsmonden dry white 2015 (Davenport Vineyards)

Straw yellow. Aromas of white flowers, lychee, peach. Quite full in the mouth, acidity amidst the fruitiness, with a tiny amount of bubbles that add to the freshness.

Price: Medium

Food: A variety of fish and shellfish, cheeses, light meat

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Wine of the Week

We are going on a summer holiday…

Published 23. June 2017 by Vidar Kenneth Johansen

Retsina may evoke memories of sunny days, white-washed walls and lots of meze. This may also be one of the wines that taste good on a summer holiday, but maybe not as appealing back home.

Ρετσίνα is a Greek resinated wine with more than 2000 years of history. In ancient times the wine vessels, particularly amphorae, were sealed with pine resin, that protected the wine against oxidation and gave it the unique resin-like flavour. With the times, after the introduction of glass bottles, it became a wanted taste, something that defined the style. Until one day when retsina found itself as little more than a souvenir.

But those days can soon be over. Here is a wine from organically grown grapes, modern in most ways, except the pine resin that is added to the must during fermentation. The grape is roditis, second or third in importance (after saveatiano). Today much less resin is needed. Some may miss that strong smell of “turpentine”, but for the most of us it’s now a modern wine with a strong character that is undoubtedly linked to the islands and mainland of Greece.

The Tetramythos winery is located on northern Peloponnese, near the mountain Aroania in Achaia. Here they have built a winery with wood and stone, and in harmony with the surroundings. It makes use of gravity and has all the modern equipment to make a panorama of wines, including that age-old traditional retsina style.

The grapes are all roditis spontaneously fermented in clay pots.

Tetramythos Retsina 2015 (Tetramythos)

Golden yellow. Aromas of apples, citrus, herbs (rosemary, thyme) and an evident but discrete element of pine resin. Round, mellow with low acidity.

Price: Low

Food: Grilled seafood, squid, white fish, a variety of meze, and why not with garlic dips

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Wine of the Week

6th Element, València

Published 16. June 2017 by Vidar Kenneth Johansen

In Venta del Moro, in DO Utiel-Requena in the western València province, is where the Sexto Elemento bodega is located. The vines where the grapes for this wine are sourced are around 70 years old. They are cultivated in a traditional manner, without chemical additions and no fertilization. The grapes are harvested when they are fully mature. The variety in question is bobal, a variety that didn’t have a good reputation in the past, but for Sexto Elemento it’s extraordinary and present in the area for centuries.

There was a long maceration in deposits of 1000 liters at low temperatures (18-24ºC). The fermentation started with only natural yeasts and was carried out in barriques, and the wine had a year of ageing in French and American oak over fine lees with periodically stirring. And the 6th element? Wine, according to the producer.

Sexto Elemento 2012 (Sexto Elemento)

Dark cherry red. Mature fruit, flowery, blackcurrant, cherries and a hint of toffee. Rich and round in the mouth, with rounded tannins and some sweetness from the fruit.

Price: Medium

Food: Game, light meats, tapas, hard cheeses

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