Category: Wine of the Week

Pure magic from Gredos

Published 29. January 2016 by Vidar Kenneth Johansen

This time our Wine of the Week was sampled in the Cork wine bar of Bilbao. But the wine itself is from the middle of the country. Spain, that is.

This is from a project of Dani Landi and Fernando García’s, Comando G. The G stands for garnacha, here grown in three small parcels on granite 850 meters above sea level in Rozas de Puerto Real (Madrid),

The Bruja, by the way, is taken from a children’s program from the 80’s, when the winemakers grew up, called ‘the Crystal Ball’, as Dani told me when I visited them last year..

La Bruja Avería 2014 (Comando G)

Light red. Aromas of dark red fruit, cherries, herbs, and a slight touch of coffee. Light in appearance, yet quite concentrated, and good acidity that gives it a lot of freshness.

Price: Medium

Food: Tonight I had it with a pintxo of beef tenderloin on a bed of mushrooms, with a delicate syrup. But this versatile wine will go to a variety of fish and light meat too.

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Wine of the Week

A natural green wine

Published 22. January 2016 by Vidar Kenneth Johansen

Fernando Paiva has been one of the pioneers of biodynamic farming in Portugal, making whites from loureiro, arinto, and azal grapes for white, and reds from vinhão. He is based in Sousa, a sub-region of Vinho Verde (literally “green wine”, the Minho region’s wine name) with less than average rainfall and no direct influence from the Atlantic. At the same time the climate is more moderate compared to the extreme cold nights and winters and summer heat of the inland, so we could consider it a transition area. Azal is one of the grapes that benefit from this, as it’s more difficult to ripen, compared to, say alvarinho.

Life at the quinta

Our wine is a 100% loureiro, a grape that thrieves in the whole region. The must had a spontaneous fermentation, spent almost a year on fine lees, and additions of SO2 is very scarce. It’s rich and smooth-textured compared with more well-known loureiros, but the high acidity (almost 10 g/L) makes it very appealing.

Simple and delicious fare

Quinta da Palmirinha 2014 (Fernando Paiva)

Quite deep yellow with a greenish hue. Aromas of yellow apple, lime, herbs, nuts and a hint of smoke. Inspiring and fresh acidity, that makes it last in the mouth.

Price: Low

Food: Fish, shellfish, white meat

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Wine of the Week

Hidden treasure from Gredos

Published 15. January 2016 by Vidar Kenneth Johansen

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Wine of the Week

A pure Jura yellow wine

Published 8. January 2016 by Vidar Kenneth Johansen

With the typical comté

This wine I tasted today in the Remedy wine bar in London. It comes from a single vineyard belonging to Château Chalon in the French Jura region, a so-called “vin jaune” (yellow wine), and a very good representative for the species too. They are aged under a layer of yeast, like fino sherry, and like this one they typically come in 62 cl bottles.

The producer puts “Vin de Garde” in the middle of the front label. And many tastings have shown that even if they are delicious now they are able to develop over several decenniums as well.

Domaine Macle 2007 (Château Chalon)

A yellow to orange coloured Vin Jaune. Pure scented with elements of almonds, citrus, apricots and some salty mineral notes. Grapey, silky-smooth on the palate, nutty and long.

Price: Medium/High

Food: Comté (cow’s milk cheese from the region), a variety of white and light meat, a whole range of tapas too

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Wine of the Week

Bourgueil wine for a drunken night?

Published 1. January 2016 by Vidar Kenneth Johansen

Anyway that’s the meaning of the expression Nuit d’Ivresse. It’s in the middle of the Loire valley that this wine starts its life, on limestone and clay-silex ground. Catherine and Pierre Breton has 6 hectars of vineyards in the Borgueil-Chinon-Vouvray area, and they made their first Ivresse wine without addition of SO2 in 1992.

The wine is certified organic, made from cabernet franc grapes, and has undergone a three week long fermentation that startet with indigenious yeasts. Both malolactic and a 12 month ageing was done in two year old barrels, and the wine was bottled unfined and unfiltered – and again without addition of sulphur.

I first tasted this wine in a wine club in 2014. Now I came across it again, and while slightly more evolved it still had a lot of lovely fruit.

Nuits d’Ivresse 2011 (C. & P. Breton)

Dark red. Aromas of blackcurrant, raspberry, a bit balsamic, Earl Grey tea. Less structured than last time, but still with a certain grip, just lovely, and with just the right acidity and concentration for “inspired” drinking.

Price: Medium

Food: Red and light meat, game, hard cheeses

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Wine of the Week

VDN for Christmas cookies and more

Published 25. December 2015 by Vidar Kenneth Johansen

Based in the village of Rivesaltes just north of Perpignan, Domaine Cazes makes a variety of wines from around 200 hectares of vines in the amphitheatre of the Roussillon area. For several years now, with Emmanuel Cazes as winemaker, they have had a biodynamic approach.

The Ambré is a naturally sweet wine (VDN) from grenache blanc that is not made every year. The grapes were grown on calcareous clay and big stones, and the wine has spent 15 years in old oak casks for a slight, controlled oxydation. It clocks in at 16% alcohol, and the residual sugar is 120 g/L, so it’s not overtly sweet.

Rivesaltes Ambré 1997 (Domaine Cazes)

Deep amber in colour. Aromas of nuts, dried fruit, lemon peel, with some caramel. On the palate it’s voluminous with a nutty flavour, some caramel, and just enough acidity to keep it from cloying.

Price: Medium

Food: Roasted almonds, nut-based cookies and desserts, try to some soft cheeses

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Wine of the Week

Red wine from Sherryland

Published 18. December 2015 by Vidar Kenneth Johansen

This is a wine I bought from a wine merchant in Sanlúcar (see this article), on his recommendation. I served it in a blind tasting this week, and of course nobody guessed the region.

It’s more cool in appearance than expected, and the chalky albariza soil between Jerez and Rota must have some responsibility for this. The grape is tintilla de Rota, which is a synonym for graciano (and maybe originated here in the south), and which they regard as a very promising red variety down here.

Vineyards in albariza soil between Jerez and Rota

In this area tintilla can be very delicate and mineral and is able to ripen perfectly without high levels of alcohol or overripe fruit. The less than 15 years old grapes for this wine have been organically farmed only 60 meters over sea level, and the wine has seen a mix of cement and oak vessels of various sizes.

Vara y Pulgar 2012 (Cía. de Vinos del Atlántico)

Purple colour. Aroma of red and dark berries, stone minerals, dark chocolate and some balsamic notes. Full and quite dense on the palate, a sweet sensation, but with a long, dry and mineral aftertaste. Like I said in the beginning, ripe but also with a touch of coolness.

Price: Medium

Food: Red meat, tapas, dishes with sausage

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Wine of the Week

Pato’s Baga Natural

Published 11. December 2015 by Vidar Kenneth Johansen

I have visited Luís Pato several times, and tasted through his range over and over again. His wines are consistently good, the ambitious reds are the most famous, but don’t forget the whites. Pato never rests. Lately he has been moving towards organic agriculture, in a -organically speaking- difficult coastal landscape.

Here is a wine that seeks to demonstrate the baga grape’s antioxidant and stabilizing capacity, so as to be able to avoid the addition of sulphur.

Honestly I am not quite sure if the vineyards for this wine are organically grown, but I will ask the producer and update you about that. But the elaboration is undoubtedly done like a natural wine, there is no SO2 added, and the antioxidant capacity of the baga grape itself does the job. The climate can be said to be problematic, yes, but one can also say that it’s suitable for making wine without addition of acid, like is done in many hot regions, and without addition of sugar, done in many colder regions.

Baga Natural 2012 (Luís Pato)

Dark colour with a blueish hue. Very nice fruitiness on the cooler side, hints of blueberry, wild berries, and aromatic herbs. Quite slender in the mouth, and the baga grape gives it some dryness in texture.

Price: Low

Food: Suckling-pig (locally called ‘leitão’), other light meat, I think not too powerful game too, Caesar salad and similar…

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Wine of the Week

A Yecla monastrell bargain

Published 4. December 2015 by Vidar Kenneth Johansen

Here is a wine that is almost free of charge…

I visited the Candela family once in the 90s. Today it’s the fourth generation, brothers Antonio and Alfredo, that is leading the growing of the grapes and the making of the wine here. They also count on a restaurant in the building where you can sit and watch the landscape. And “here” is Yecla, a one-municipality D.O. in Murcia, between the Spanish meseta and the Costa Blanca. Bodegas Barahonda owns and controls vineyards both in the Campo Arriba, where the climate is continental, with high temperatures in summer and a freezingly cold winter, and nearer to the more temperate coast in Campo Abajo.

They make many different wines, but Yecla is mainly monastrell country, and many of the most interesting wines are made by the Mediterranean grape, the same as came to be called mourvèdre when it travelled over the French border. The Carro comes in two versions, most often it’s a blend, but this version is a 100% monastrell made from old vines (from both subregions, between 400 and 800 meters), with natural yeasts and spontaneous fermentation. Never seen a barrel in its entire life.

Carro Monastrell Viñas Viejas 2013 (Bodegas Barahonda)

Deep red with a blue hue. It’s a light wine, but with quite dark fruit, blackberry, and a touch of the typical murciano aromatic herbs (rosmary, thyme). Young, luscious taste, quite full and just enough refreshing acidity.

Price: Low

Food: Light meat, salads, murcian paella…

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Wine of the Week

Another rich wine from Zind Humbrecht

Published 27. November 2015 by Vidar Kenneth Johansen

Zind Humbrecht has for long been one of the leading lights for biodynamic wines, rich, fullbodied, yet balanced – and wonderful for the season that’s now approaching.

The company was set up by the Zind and Humbrecht families in 1959. Today it is represented by Olivier Humbrecht who sees himself in a father-to-son tradition that goes back to 1620. In total the domaine has 40 hectars under vine and has been biodynamic certified since 1991. Since 1992 it has been located just outside Turckheim, on the Colmar side.

They prefer long growing periods to achieve ripe and concentrated grapes, often with botrytis that gives sweet, exotic aromas. Fermentations are slow, and the minimum of time spent on lees is 6 months. The result are very impressive, intense, rich, alcoholic wines, often with residual sugar, that nonetheless keep the characteristics of their different vineyards. They will keep, and they will “dry up” after some years in the cellar. Last year I tasted the 1989 version of this week’s wine, a wine in excellent condition.

clos-jebsal Clos Jebsal

The Jebsal is one of the steepest vineyards in Alsace with a surface of 1.3 ha. south-exposed in the commune of Turckheim. It lies on grey marl limestone, rich in clay and gypsum, with numerous terraces. At a time abandoned and divided into many smaller plots, Leonard Humbrech managed to restore it in 1982. It was then planted with pinot gris, and the first vintage to be bottled was 1987.

Despite the ability to produce sweet, botrytised wines (in fact all vintages have been sweet, most often a vendange tardive) this vineyard also is the first in the domain to see flowering and véraison (the changing of colour, beginning of ripening), and thus produce wines often characterised by cool soils. The soil has a good water retention capacity and prevents stress, so it can yield wines with a natural balanced acidity.

Pinot Gris Clos Jebsal Vendange Tardive 2005 (Zind Humbrecht) 37,5 cl.

Yellow-gold colour. Aromas of orange, herbs, dried fruits, honey, and a touch of smoke. Very intense and (I would say) moderately sweet, but the acidity comes out after a while. A concentrated, flinty and very long aftertaste.

Price: High

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