The Fruity Wines of May
It’s been a month already; a month of cold and rain, and not just here in Britain, France too. Hail has struck in Chablis and Champagne, seriously reducing the crop in both, and mildew seems to be on the march elsewhere. The mood in Bordeaux is bleak: people are speaking of reducing the area under vines by twenty percent. Prices are falling (they were already low). The only type of Bordeaux which seems to be prospering is white.
We had a nice, simple 2023 Bordeaux from Waitrose a few days ago: lots and lots of juicy red fruits, but a very long way from the subtle glories of the crus classés from the Médoc, St Emilion, Pomerol or the Graves. We didn’t finish it and two days later it was possibly even better. It was almost certainly mostly Merlot, which accounts for 66% of the black grapes planted in Bordeaux (Cabernet Sauvignon is just 22%). These growers get less than €2 for their wine. Perhaps one answer is to allow them to write ‘Bordeaux Merlot’ on their labels? There must be many Merlot-lovers out there who are still unaware that most red Bordeaux is Merlot-based?
May started with Bordeaux, and a tasting in an indoor market off Oxford Street. There were some good things at all levels. One of my favourites was the very rich 2019 Château de la Dauphine in Fronsac, and in this election year, the 2019 Château Grand Corbin Manuel was also good, but a little slower on the uptake. Now owned by Penfolds, the 2016 Château Lanessan was also a decent bet. The 2018 Château Canon Chaigneau comes from a domain some 800 metres from Pétrus and is impressive stuff. A lovely wine from the Edmond de Rothschild stable was the 2015 Château Clarke, with all that length and elegance one would expect. Another Rothschild venture has been Château de Laurets in Puisseguin St Emilion. The 2017 was very good, but the Sélection parcellaire 2020 was gorgeous. Wine Source specialises in finding grand wines for its customers, and there I was able to taste a 2011 Cos d’Estournel which was naturally quite a treat, as was the 2016 Château Marquis de Terme.
Edmond de Rothschild’s Château de Laurets in Puisseguin-St. Émilion is a gem within their collection.Situated in the eastern part of the St. Émilion appellation, this wine benefits from a diverse terroir of limestone, clay, and gravel. This blend of soils imparts a rich, full-bodied character to the wines with exquisite elegance, great length with refined tannin. The black fruit flavours are fresh and intense.
Among the lesser wines there was the impressive 2019 Château Curton La Perrière with a slightly earthy nose of blackcurrants. The sort of thing us mere mortals might drink with Sunday lunch.
At the big Spanish tasting I made the decision to avoid Rioja and Ribera del Duero. Spain has so many little, relatively unknown appellations, and many of them make really good wine. I wasn’t as successful as I might have wanted, for the first winery I fell in with – Viñedos Valtravieso – was from the Burgos end of the Ribera del Duero. Like many Ribera and Rioja wines these days, Valtravieso scales the dizzy heights, with vines planted at 900 – 915 metres. As you might expect, the wines are more austere than opulent. The Vino de Finca was 85% Tempranillo (with small amounts of Cabernet and Merlot) with a nice blackcurranty character. I had better luck with the DO Arlanza, between Ribera and Rioja, where bush vines are planted at anything up to 1100 metres.
Jumilla was much more familiar, of course, with its Monastrell grapes but I didn’t know Güertano with its homely fruity wines, and Camelot, a vino de licor or sweet wine made from the must of shrivelled grapes poured onto alcohol to stop the fermentation and keep the fruit, like a Banyuls rimatge. The result is a lovely mouthful of figgy fruit. Utiel Requena is mostly Bobal making wines that taste of tar and black fruits. Nexo had a bit of Syrah, which made it more peppery, while the 2021 Nucheo was big stuff tasting of tar, chocolate, black fruits leather and liquorice.
The Dutch geologist Louis Geirnaerdt owns vineyards in three appellations – Campo de Borja, Navarra and Cariñena – and it should not come as a surprise that he is interested in the soil – hence the name of the company ‘Bodem’. There was a nice zingy Grenache Blanc called Lúcolo and a super Cariñena, the 2021 Las Margas Los Cerezos grown at 650 metres, and which, unsurprisingly, tasted of cherries. Prados Garnacha came from the Campo de Borja. It was a huge, peppery, black fruity wine.
Prados Colección Garnacha is a sophisticated red wine with a bouquet generally revealing scents of red fruit, licorice, vanilla, and coffee. On the palate, it is dense, full-bodied with smooth tannins. It is flavorful, with a lengthy and enduring finish.
Santa Cruz de Alpera in Almansa specialises in ‘Garnacha Tintorera’, otherwise known as the teinturier, or ‘stainer’, Alicante Bouschet. Alicante Bouschet is disdained in France but makes wonderful wines in the Portuguese Alentejo. These were the first Spanish Alicante Bouschets I had come across. The owner told me he was the largest producer in the country. I was agreeably surprised by the top red with its rich, sweet nose of raspberries and violets, but the biggest treat of all was a sweet wine called Esencia Rupestre which was all violets and chocolate and quite delicious. The 2016 Gold Rupestre was made from dried grapes. It was massive.
Abadal’s 3.9 Vi de Finca Cabernet Sauvignon comes from the continental part of Catalonia away from the coast behind the great mountain of Monserrat. It makes for a really sensational leafy Cabernet. Massaluca and La Fou come from the south of Catalonia, the 2021 La Fou is made from Garnacha, Syrah and Morenillo, the 2022 Massaluca from Garnacha and Samsó (Carignan) making a lovely chocolatey wine.
Finally the Notas Frutales de Albariño is from Galicia for some top Albariño wines, like the Finca Garabelos, which spends six months on its lees or La Trucha de acero or steel trout, which is kept in stainless steel for five years or La Trucha barica, which is aged in wood. New to me was La Trucha de Otona, a late picked Albariño which retains a certain amount of sweetness and is decidedly rich and strong.
A State-by-State Celebration of Australian Shiraz was held in the Mall. There were a great many wines, so I shall record just my top scores: from the Frankland River
2021 Favie Syrah (nb they are looking for a French style) and 2009 Alkoomi; Beechworth, 2019 Genesis ‘Syrah’; Geelong: 2022 Sutherlands Creek; Mornington Peninsula 2015 Paringa; Canberrra: 2016 Clonakilla; Barossa: 2013 Mount Edelstone, John Duval 2010 Eligo (quite like a good Grange), Kaesler 2020 Old Vine, Langmeil 2012 Old Vine Garden (game!), Penfolds 2008 St Henri,Rockford 2018 Basket Press, Torbreck 2015 RunRig; Clare: 2018 and 2010 The Armagh, Kilikanoon 2014 Oracle, Mount Horrocks 2021 Alexander, Wakefield 2019 and 2013 St Andrew’s.
The Barossa, it seems, is still the heart of Australian Shiraz.
Alto Adiges terraces
Lastly wines from the top and tail of Italy, the Alto Adige or Südtirol, and Etna. What the two regions have in common are mountains, and volcanoes, although Etna is still very active, and nothing in the Südtirol looks set to explode soon.
“The Südtirol is like no other part of Italy. Germans, Austrians and Italians know this and value its rarity. In many places it appears more like Austria and in shops and restaurants they will hail you with ‘Grüss Gott!’ unless you look a bit swarthy, then they say ‘Bongiorno!’ No one says ‘good morning!’”
The wines are also more Austrian than Italian. They are mostly white and have a pronounced acidity. I love them. First up was a marvellous 2022 Aristos Sylvaner from the cantina Valle Isarco, hiding high alcohol behind pineappley fruit. Then a 2022 Sauvignon Blanc Porphyr und Kalk from Ignaz Niedrist, more elderflower than cat. Then came the third white: a 2022 Pinot Blanc Praesulis from Markus Prackwieser at the Gump Hof with the most amazing structure.
Franz Haas’s Pinot Noirs I know of old. This 2022 I found disappointing. I’ve had better. The S Maddalena Classico 2022 Sciava from the Griesbauerhof seemed more of a food wine. The red that stole the show was the 2021 Lagrein Riserva Tor di Lupo from the Cantina Adriano. It was blueberry deep and had a concentrated cherry taste with a hint of violets.
The white wines of Etna come from the north of the crescent-shaped growing area to the east of the volcano. The 2022 Bianco Vivere from Vivivera was 100% Carricante with a big citrussy nose and stunning length, but this was trumped by the 2021 Tenuta San Michele from Murgo which was a blend of Carricante and Cataratto with its nose of preserved lemons and complex structure. The 2022 from Sciare dell’alba was also a blend, but shorter and more peachy.
The reds were a 2021 from Barone di Villagrande, pure Nerello Mascalese. This was gorgeous: coffee, cherry and caramel with some chocolate and cherry. The 2022 Rosso Animanaturale from Setteponti was more crumbly and astringent, but the 2019 Rosso San Michele from Murgo was a return to form: slightly earthy with lashings of black fruits.
Once our tasting was over there were some nice little dishes made to show the versatility of Pecorino Romano cheese. The most memorable were the smoked beef tartare cornetto, the black angus beef fillet with potato purée, the risotto with guanciale and asparagus and the pecorino romano stoopwaffles with pear caramel; something to please the inner man before we hoisted our umbrellas again and trudged home.
Ends
