The simple greatness of sheer drinkability

Since the world caught on to Amarone, we have been inundated with massively increasing volumes of that wine. Amarone can be great, and I was an early enthusiast for it (perhaps on account of my first bottle ever of Amarone having been from Quintarelli…), but it all too frequently is rather poor, particularly these days.

In Amarone’s footsteps came the beefed-up category of Valpolicella Ripasso. Ripasso – often called the poor man’s Amarone – aims to pull off the trick of being both fresh and weighty, and almost always ends up being neither (I am being grossly unjust, there are lots of good Ripassos, but I have fallen victim to great tiredness of the category). Ripasso wines have caught on like a wildfire, and in Denmark no self-respecting supermarket has less than three “ripasso type” wines. Sales are enormous, provenance frequently doubtful, and fraud undoubtedly frequent. And most wines of the supermarket category are dire.

One wine has been left standing still amidst the Amarone-Ripasso craze, and that is the pure, straight Valpolicella normale, whether from the Classico zone or outside, and whether Superiore or not. Volumes of this wine have fallen dramatically in recent years, and that is a great pity. While thin, sour and fairly undrinkable straight Valpo may have been the norm, the best producers of this wine often committed pure magic in the bottle, with light, fresh, zingy and quintessentially drinkable red wines. These were perfect summer drinking, but equally enjoyable in winter, where their goood acidity was tailor-made for cutting through rich food.

Fortunately, a few producers have kept on making fantastic straight Valpo, and I would even dare to say that the best examples these days are probably better than they have ever been. Made from a majority of corvina and corvinone, with additions of many other grape varieties, including the classics rondinella and molinara, straight Valpo is not made from grapes that have been dried or in other ways tampered with, and ideally reflects the freshness and primary fruit character of the vineyard fruit. While simplicity, freshness and liveliness are the name of the game, the best examples manage to marry these characteristics to a wonderfully pulpy fruit and hints of terroir complexity. These wines are made to be drunk young, and while they do not go bad after a couple of years, they do gradually lose some of their immediacy and charm.

The following are recent tasting notes from my three present favourite straight Valpos:

Monte del Frà Valpolicella Classico Tenuta Lena di Mezzo 2011

Totally lovely, seductive nose of sweet perfumed cherries, juicy, with touches of light oriental spices, dry leaves, humus and bark that in no way disrupt the incredible immediacy of the nose, but merely accentuates it. Light, elegant and super juicy in the mouth, lovely acidity, clear sweetness of fruit, dry and with a lovely, lively balance. Long and lovely, redolent of sweet cherries and the highlights from the nose, leaving the palate fresh and perfumed, with slight spice. Weightless perfection, can Valpolicella be better than this? A revelation of immediacy coupled with sophistication.

Allegrini Valpolicella Superiore 2010

Lovely, fresh, lively, juicy nose with dark sour cherries, light spice and a touch of sweet meat. Light to medium weight, super juicy, elegant, with good acidity coupled with soft ripe fruit and a hint of grape tannins. Good length with juicy ripe cherries, light spice, violets and the merest hint of coffee and charcoal. Delicious.

Stefano Accordini Valpolicella Classico 2011

Delicious, juicy nose with sour cherries, fresh violet, light spices, minerals and a tiny hint of bark. Light in the mouth, juicy, acidic and lively fruit, light and fresh grape tannins. Good length with juicy cherries, violets, light spice, minerals and hints of bark and humus. Juicy, delicious, consistent wine.

 

I simply adore wines such as these, and you would too, if you took the time to meet them on their own terms. Once you have gotten the bug, you will not be able to stop buying them by the case and drinking them in large, thirsty gulps.

 

Yours truly

Ole

Port Club of 1981 – Tasting notes 2 April 2013

On 2 April 2013 the illustrious Port Club met again for a tasting of colheitas from two accomplished producers, Pocas and Burmester.

Pocas is a family-owned producer of Port that has been quite popular in Denmark for decades, particularly due to their having been imported in large numbers by Coop. Manuel Pocas Pinta is an honorary member of our Port Club and always very helpful when the Club undertakes its journey to the Douro every four years. I would not call Pocas specialized in any Port category to the detriment of other categories, and they do everything rather well. Their Vintage Ports are frequently among the most charming and consistent – if not out-and-out powerful – of them all, and their wood-aged Ports are also very well made. I rarely come across old wood-aged Ports from Pocas, and even their colheitas tend to be comparatively young. With regard to the Vintage Ports I would even say that their qualitative level has increased appreciable since the 1997 vintage. Not the worst point is that Pocas Ports always present astounding value for money, and they certainly feature frequently on my own table at home.

Burmester was once a family-owned Port house, and among the oldest of all. However, in the not-too-distant past some members of the family behind it decided to stage a coup against the rest of the family and sold it to a financial group. While Burmester had been both a quinta-owner and a negociant, apparently the financial group’s major interest has been quinta ownership in order to profit from wine tourism, and it has therefore sold out of the large stock of ancient Ports in the Burmester cellars. Coupled with the financial crisis this emphasis on the part of the new owners ended with nothing short of a fire sale, and the Danish importer, Philipson Wine, swooped in and secured a stock of some 270,000 bottles of Port of all categories, with wines going back to the 1930′ies. Prices for Burmester’s wines in the Danish market are now astoundingly low and have completely, and possibly irreversibly, redefined what Danes think they should be paying for old quality Port. I am not sure this is beneficial for the overall branding of Port in the long run, nor for other Port shippers, whose valid wines are now seen to be expensive in comparison. However, if nothing else, the low prices have enabled a much larger section of Danish wine drinkers to access some truly outstanding Ports, so perhaps once prices normalize the thirst will remain. In contrast to Pocas, I would call Burmester a specialized Port house, with its emphasis being squarely on wood-aged Ports. While Burmester’s wood-aged Ports – colheitas in particular – have long enjoyed a stellar reputation, their Vintage Ports are rather humdrum by comparison, and certainly not in the league of Pocas. A good thing, then, that we would be tasting the colheitas.

As usual, we tasted semi-blind, knowing the wines to be tasted, but not the order. And as usual we started with an opening wine outside the order. The following are my tasting notes in the order tasted (numbering is as per Club tradition, which normally sees us tasting six wines numbered 1-6, but starting with an aperitif numbered 7). Scoring is as per the Club’s 20-point system, and I was stingy as usual.

Wine #7:
Discreet, slightly caramelly and alcoholic nose with redcurrants and exotic wood notes. Somewhat light in the mouth, lightly alcoholic, touches of volatility and wood tannins, slightly too slim and acidic to be in perfect balance. Acceptable length with dry exotic wood, caramel, light berry fruit, hints of dry spices and light volatility. An OK if somewhat simple wine. The wine: Vista Alegre Colheita 1995. The scores for the aperitif are never calculated, but my own score was 14.

Wine #1:
Slightly dusty/dry nose with light volatility, hint of exotic wood, redcurrants and strawberries and a touch of flowers. Medium weight with good intensity and a welcome dry wood element. Good length with dry exotic wood notes, burnt caramel, prune, nice little hint of flowers, slight volatility. A nice – if not great – colheita. The wine: Pocas Colheita 1994. My score: 15. Average score: 15.

Wine #2:
Rather deep, dark, classy nose with prunes, soft exotic wood spice, hints of aromatic bark and tobacco. Medium weight with good intensity, density and consistency, sweetness balanced nicely by a dry component from wood. Long, perfumed and intense, with prunes, exotic wood, tobacco and dried orange peel. Handsome. Easily the wine of the evening for me. The wine: Burmester Colheita 1966. My score: 17. Average score: 16.7.

Wine #3:
The nose is nicely balanced between light berry fruitiness and exotic wood spice, with hints of burnt caramel and sweet meat, a touch of alcohol. Somewhat light and dry in the mouth, with noticeable wood and a slightly malty/grainy sweetness. OK length with dusty exotic wood, malty caramel, dry prune and some tobacco juice. This was somewhat let down by the mouth. The wine: Pocas Colheita 1991. My score: 14. Average score: 15.6.

Wine #4:
Slightly thin, dry nose with hints of tobacco, orange peel and furniture polish. Thin, too, in the mouth, volatily balances the sweetness somewhat and gives the impression of freshness, somewhat dry and lacking in the intensity department. OK length, but thin, with dry wood, tobacco and hint of musty orange peel. Certainly not a good wine for me, severelylacking in the charm department, but many liked it for its obviously volatile character. The wine: Burmester Colheita 1967. My score: 13. Average score: 16.2.

Wine #5:
Dry and slightly chemical nose, with wet camel’s wool, very dry dates and hint of dry pipe tobacco; not charming. Medium weight, broad sweetness, some woody dryness, nicely balanced by volatility. Fine length with burnt caramel, prune sauce, tobacco and a lingering hint of wet camel’s wool. Had it not been for the unwelcome notes of camel, this would probably have been a great wine for me, but again the majority felt differently, and so this became the Club’s wine of the evening. The wine: Burmester Colheita 1963. My score: 14. Average score: 17.1.

Wine #6:
Relatively light nose with red berries, light wood spice and hint of sweet meat. Medium weight, nicely round fruit, balanced and good wood dryness, light acidity and fine sweetness. Good length with slightly burnt caramel, fine exotic wood, dry fig and hint of flowers. Not hugely complex, but well balanced and very drinkable. The wine: Pocas Colheita 1990. My score: 15. Average score: 15.4.

The subsequent discussion centred on preferences for various types of wood-aged Ports. Pocas clearly seeks to make fairly fresh, fruity Colheitas, while Burmester’s style is clearly more centred on volatility and wood-derived complexity. While Burmester’s wines clearly are very valid, I, for one, think that they tend to become slightly too volatile for their fairly light bodies, and so result in slightly unbalanced, uncharming wines. There are examples of Port houses, notably the Colheita master par excellence Krohn, which manage even greater levels of complexity with volatility and wood notes, but do so on the background of much fuller and better wines.

Yours truly
Ole

A major birthday celebration

The bunch of wine fanatics that I hang out with normally has a schedule of 3-4 get-togethers every year, but whenever one of our number has a special birthday we gather out of order, as it were. In January of 2013, one of us, Kaj Kristensen, turned 60, so on 19 January 2013 we met at the slightly dorkily named restaurant Arti’kok (this is an attempt at a play on words that mean artichoke and well-behaved chef in Danish…) in Valby, Copenhagen, to celebrate the momentous occasion.

We sat down to a sumptuous dinner, and as usual blind-tasted a range of some of the best wines we have in our cellars. These are the tasting notes:

Wine 1:

This was an aperitif from the restaurant’s own cellar. Sparkling wine. Fairly dark and serious nose with sourdough rye autolysis, bruised apple and hay. Medium weight and fairly round, with the dosage slightly too high for my taste, mature. Good length repeating the impressions from the nose with a bit of added florality. The wine: Collet Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut Grand Art.

Wine 2:

White wine. Round, broad, fairly intense and mature nose with hazelnuts, ripe apple, minerals and a touch of volatile acidity. Medium weight verging on broad, dry, mature. Long and full aftertaste, roasted hazelnuts, ripe apple, hint of butter, lightly roasted herbs and vegetables. Handsome and complex, perhaps just slightly beyond its peak. The wine: Domaine des Remizières Hermitage Blanc 2000.

Wine 3:

White wine. Intense, mature and slightly reductive nose of gunpowder/sulphur/fart(!), herbs, cream, minerals, peach and touch of toasted barrique. Full, intense, very good acidity and hint of wood tannins. Long, still fresh, with roasted nuts, dark minerality, lightly bitter herbs, hint of perfume and vanilla. A handsome, intense wine, just slightly marred by the initial reductive whiff. The wine: Louis Carillon Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Referts 1997.

Wine 4:

White wine. Faulty nose with sulphur and wet cardboard, then hints of toast and peaches. Medium weight, dry and somewhat messy in the mouth. Not long, dry, unclean, with hints of rotten sea weed, gunpowder and wet peas. Definitely faulty, although not TCA. The wine: Camu Chablis Les Clos 1999. What a pity!

Wine 5:

White wine. Fresh, delicious nose with crunchy apple, fresh flowers and light perfume. Fresh, medium weight, rounded, but with good acidity, firm and dry. Good length, pure and elegant, with fresh apple, hint of herbs, excellent length of minerals. Still a young wine with excellent prospects for further complexity. The wine: Matrot Meursault-Blagny 2000.

Wine 6:

White wine. Dark, creamy nose with ripe apple, fresh hazelnut, boiled herbs, minerals, slight spiciness and a hint of rancio lending further complexity. Powerful in the mouth, intense, dry, handsome, elegant, firm and with good acidity. Very long, repeats the aromatics from the nose with intense minerality. Great wine. The wine: Domaine des Comtes Lafon Meursault Clos de la Barre 1989.

Wine 7:

White wine. Dry, creamy nose with nuts, boiled vegetables, slightly bruised apple. Full, creamy, slightly aged acidity, dry. Long and quite intense, with a hint of rancio, bruised apple, toasted nuts and a creamy/caramelly touch. Just very slightly hinting at premature oxidation, but very good. The wine: Jacques Prieur Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Combettes 1996.

Wine 8:

Red wine. Juicy, spicy, slightly smoky/herbal nose with cherries, mulberries, hints of tar, meat and flowers. Powerful, elegant, good acidity and tannin. Long, repeating the nose in a slightly aged context with emphasis on spiciness and hints of meat and Bovril. The wine: Louis Jadot Échézeaux Grand Cru 2004.

Wine 9:

Red wine. Powerful, intense and darkly spicy nose with cherries, smoky garrigue and barnyard. Powerful and intense, yet elegant, in the mouth, with big tannins and good acidity. Very long and intense, repeats the aromas from the nose, with lots of spices, mineral, flowers and meat. Wow! The wine: Elena Fucci Aglianico del Vulture Titolo 2009. I had brought this wine along, partly because I simply love Elena Fucci’s Titolo, partly because I want to show the world how great Southern Italian wine really can be, and partly because – while the usual selection of Burgundies, Bordeauxs and Rhônes is always of high quality and great satisfaction – I have started to feel that a sense of curiosity and new discovery has somewhat disappeared from our group. The significance of it being me bringing this wine will be revealed at the tasting note for the next wine I brought along, wine 18.

Wine 10:

White wine. Nose with a hint of dank cellar, then apricot, burnt sugar, light flowers, acacia honey and minerals. Medium full with evident sweetness balanced by light bitterness, low on acidity. Long, with mineral, botrytis, hint of dank cellar. Not quite clean. The wine: Albert Mann Alsace Grand Cru Steingrubler Gewürztraminer Vendange Tardive 1994.

Wine 11:

White wine. Nose with hugely intense botrytis, then minerals, grilled peach and juicy watermelon. Medium full with intense sweetness balanced by great acidity and a hint of bitterness. Very long, dominated by botrytis and repeating the nose. Extremely convincing. The wine: Château Suduiraut Sauternes 1986.

Wine 12:

White wine. Broad, sweet nose with coconut, grilled peach and minerals. Powerful, sweet, with OK acidity and a hint of bitterness. Long, with golden syrup, burnt sugar, coconut, peach and a hint of botrytis. The wine: Château d’Yquem Sauternes 1999. We subsequently briefly discussed the merits of the two Sauternes wines, and while the majority seemed to find the Yquem the better wine, I opted for the all-out power and botrytis madness of the Suduiraut. As you can imagine, the reason for the three sweet whites when we had just started on the reds was a plate of foie gras. We are unrepentant sinners in the foie gras department, and there has been no wine dinner that I can think of without that essential element.

Wine 13:

Red wine. Dark, powerful nose with a smoky olive element, iron, garrigue, blackberry, apple, liquorice and beef stock. Medium weight, mature, elegant, seamless. Long and extremely complex, with blackberries, cherries, black olives, iron, garrigue, roasted meat, minerals and liquorice. Beautiful wine, at its peak. The wine: Paul Jaboulet Ainé Hermitage La Chapelle 1985.

Wine 14:

Red wine. Delicious, charming and elegant nose, with strawberries, raspberries, sweet spice, soft herbs, underlying earthy beetroot and liquorice. Light to medium weight, elegant, beautiful silky-smooth mouthfeel, lovely balance between fruit sweetness, acidity and soft tannin. Very long, essentially repeats the aromas from the nose with a hint of scintillating star anise. A beautiful, delicious, flattering, charming, weightless yet profound wine; utterly great. The wine: Domaine Dujac Bonnes Mares Grand Cru 1989.

Wine 15:

Red wine. Dark, dry, spicy, serious nose with iron, Bovril, mulberries and black olives. Medium weight, fresh, with good acidity, softened tannins. Long, very minerally, repeating the aromatics from the nose. The wine: Domaine des Remizières Hermitage Cuvée Emilie 2000.

Wine 16:

Red wine. Beautiful, intense, earthy nose with raspberries, cherries, light touches of beetroot, anise, forest floor and umami-rich mushrooms. Light to medium weight, elegant and intense, good acidity and softened tannins. Very long, repeating the nose with added emphasis on earthy beetroot and soft spices. Beautiful! The wine: Armand Rousseau Clos de la Roche 1997.

Wine 17:

Red wine. Lightly perfumed mulberry nose of good intensity, with black olives, grouse blood and violets. Medium weight, fresh, with handsome strong tannins. Long, fresh and complex, repeating the nose + violets and iron. Lovely, a class act, strong Northern Rhône terroir. The wine: Vidal-Fleury Côte Rôtie 1995.

Wine 18:

Red wine. Strong, intense, darkly fruity nose with plums, anise, minerals and hint of tobacco. Large, handsome tannins, dry and juicy, yet fat and round. Long, with plums, tobacco, violets, minerals and rock dust. Wonderful. The wine: L’Oasi degli Angeli Kurni 2009. This is a 100% montepulciano wine from a very special terroir near Cupra Marittima in the southern Marche.

One of our number now had become utterly fed up with being served other than Bordeaux, Burgundy and Rhône and felt the need to express his great disdain for the wines I had brought along. He felt that they had been made in an international style that wiped out any imprint of terroir, and that they were not recognizable as coming from anywhere in particular, or from any identifiable grape variety. I managed to say something to the effect that since he was not in any way knowledgeable about the grape varieties in question (aglianico and montepulciano) and since he did not know anything about the areas from which the wines came (the Vulture area and southern Marche), I had difficulty accepting his verdict as to terroir fidelity of the wines. On the contrary, I felt that both wines were extremely good expressions of the combination of variety and place, to the point of presenting the apotheosis of that combination for their respective areas. My friend insisted that the wines were devoid of personality and bland in an internationalized manner. We could not come to any agreement on this, and for the sake of being able to continue the celebration had to promise to revisit the discussion at some other and more opportune point in time.

I think that this discussion, to some extent, reflects two diverse temperaments in respect of the need for novelty and the challenge of comfort zones. I have to admit that I am a bit of a novelty seeker, and that I soon get bored with endless repetition on the same theme. My friend is a highly accomplished taster with a great love of Burgundy in particular, and decades of experience with the greatest classical wines of France. His appreciation of these wines and his great experience with the terroir expression of them are unequalled in our little group, and I would defer to his opinion within those fields at any time. However, his curiosity for the wines of eg Southern Italy has never been very great, and so his experience as well as his knowledge of recent developments is correspondingly not very great. I look forward to continuing our discussions later, but in the meanwhile have no wish to change my approach of trying to introduce other areas and wines than just the classical ones:-)

Wine 19:

Red wine. Round and fruity, but somewhat reticent, nose with humus, beetroot and a hint of spice. Medium weight, with a somewhat dry disposition, but good intensity, with quite strong tannins and good acidity. Long, with strawberries, cherries, anise, beetroot, humus, leather and a hint of sweet meat. Handsome wine, masculine, seems in need of more ageing to reach its peak. The wine: Trapet Latricières-Chambertin 1995.

Wine 20:

White wine. Nose with dark botrytis, candle wax, putty, raw mushrooms, minerals and grilled apricot. Light and fresh, quite sweet, but balanced nicely with good acidity and a hint of the slight and appetizing bitterness that can appear with age in strongly botrytized wines. Long, very complex, repeating the nose with added emphasis on botrytis and burnt caramel. Great. The wine: Dr. Loosen Erdener Prälat Auslese 1976.

 

That marked the end of another wonderful evening in the fantastic company of good friends and great wines. This time ’round even with the promise of vigorous debate on the existence of terroir in Italian wine for the next time we meet. I can’t wait.

 

Yours truly

Ole

The Annual Pilgrimage

It has been a good while since I last posted on this blog. That has been mostly due to higher priorities, such as family and work, which, however, in no way have prevented me from partaking of the great things in life. I have had time and reason to reflect on just how wonderful life is and just how much there is to enjoy about it. I must admit that if the believers are right and there is such a thing as heaven – a place that is supposed to be so much better than earthly existence – it would have to get so relentlessly good that I would be bound to get bored with the lack of variation. In the run-up to the great test of whether that will be my fate I am dealing with life as the best thing there is, and my only chance of happiness. And so…:

As related in a previous post – the romantically entitled http://oleudsenwineblog.wordpress.com/2012/07/09/my-wine-week-in-review-week-of-2-8-july-2012/ - I am lucky to be part of a circle of wine-mad friends. We get together anywhere between 4 and 8 times a year, depending on whether there are major birthdays and other occasions to celebrate or we “just” feel the need to get together and drink the best wines in our cellars. During the past few years a custom has developed which sees us relocate to the house of one of our flock, Frank Hansen, in Loazzolo, southern Piedmont, in November. As you will undoubtedly know already, the great attraction of Piedmont at specifically that time of year is the white truffle, of which we partake copiously. It does not in any way detract from the enjoyment of our little outing that there is so much great wine being made in the general vicinity of Loazzolo (do Barolo, Barbaresco, barbera, dolcetto etc., not to mention the great but exceedingly rare sweet botrytized moscato wine of Loazzolo itself, ring a bell?).

A view from Guido Porro’s house of the lovely Lazzarito vineyard in Serralunga d’Alba

Our gracious host, Frank

This year we flew to Milan during the morning of Thursday 8 November, and proceeded to drive the rented mini-van to Loazzolo, stopping along the way to do a bit of food shopping. During the evening we cooked and consumed a humble meal of just 4 courses. I must admit that the details of the food escape me, but what I do remember is that Frank generously gave us a major tasting of superior Alto Adige wines, as follows (very brief notes on the wines, apologies; and yes, there is Champagne and Burgundy in there…):

Hofstätter Alto Adige Pinot Grigio Joseph 2010

Medium weight, very true to the fairly heavy exotic fruitiness and slight spiciness of the variety, yet minerally, fresh and beautifully balanced.

Sct. Michael Eppan Alto Adige Blauburgunder (=pinot nero) Sct. Valentin 2008

AA pinot noir is often uniquely light to the point of being anaemic, with great emphasis on minerality. This was no exception.

Elena Walch Alto Adige Pinot Nero Ludwig 2008

This definitely had fuller fruit and good pinot’esque berry fruitiness. Quite a charming wine, even if not very profound.

Hofstätter Alto Adige Blauburgunder Riserva Mazzon 2008

This had powerful pinot fruitiness, strong minerality and rather good vegetal/animal aromas; my only complaint would be a slightly heavy-handed use of new wood.

Vilmart & Cie. Champagne Brut Premier Cru Grand Cellier d’Or 2005

This was definitely a small-grower Champagne, with some autolytic character and a slightly rustic, very charming and food-friendly style.

Sct. Michael Eppan Alto Adige Sauvignon Sct. Valentin 2010

Lovely soft sauvignon nose, somewhat restrained. Ditto mouth, very minerally.

Tenutæ Lageder Vigneti delle Dolomiti Bianco Cason Hirschprunn Contest 2008

AA vineyard-designated wines can have some of the longest names in the wine world… This was a complex mix of many grape varieties. Broad, full nose complemented by very good wood-ageing, equally full in the mouth and long, fruity and minerally.

Elena Walch Vino da Tavola Rosso Kermesse Cuvee MMV

Being a Vino da Tavola, this is not allowed to designate a vintage. Hence MMV, so take a shot… As I recall it, this is a complex blend of cabernet sauvignon, merlot, lagrein and syrah. Quite deep and dark, but also very juicy and minerally, with smoky and slightly peppery highlights. Very good stuff.

Hofstätter Alto Adige Lagrein Steinraffler 2008

Quite deep and extracted, some new wood. Not quite my cup of tea, as I prefer lagrein very juicy and with fresh yoghurt-bacon-strawberry character. But for all that a very well-made wine.

Tenutæ Lageder Alto Adige Lagrein Lindenburg 2007

Good stuff this, more of what I think of as the real lagrein character, but still a touch of new wood marring the picture.

Elena Walch Alto Adige Lagrein Riserva Castel Ringberg 2007

Despite being very dark and quite powerful, this for me had the best lagrein character and sappy juiciness. Wonderful stuff.

Faiveley Mazis-Chambertin 1994

Yes, grand cru red Burgundy from a négociant in what many consider to be a rather disastrous vintage. Wonderful, quite powerful mature pinot nose, fully tertiary, yet still maintains charming fruitiness. Full, lovely and very long, with sweet berry fruit, forest floor and barnyard. Entirely confirms my experience from my own cellar with bottles of Gevrey grand cru 1994, which can easily take another few years of ageing.

The Alto Adige lineup

The next day we went winery-crawling, with three very interesting visits:

Guido Porro

We started the day in Serralunga d’Alba, at the winery of traditionalist producer Guido Porro, who has emerged as one of the new, bright producers during the past few years. Production is quite limited and only from own vineyards. Porro works exclusively with the indigenous varieties of dolcetto, barbera and nebbiolo, and while you may spot the odd barrique in the cellars, the barriques will be anywhere from 4 to 8 years old, and thus will have little if any flavour influence. The majority of all wines age in either stainless steel or large Slavonian oak casks. The pride of the house is its parcels in the famous, powerful Serralunga vineyard of Lazzarito. A new Barolo from another Serralunga vineyard will emerge within the next year or so. Tasting notes:

Dolcetto d’Alba 2011

Delicious nose of cherry, crushed raspberry seeds, hint of liquorice, fresh flowers, juicy. Light to medium weight in the mouth, juicy, good acidity, good grip with nice smooth tannin. OK length, juicy cherries, flowers, somewhat sappy. OK wine, not profound, but certainly highly juicy and drinkable.

Barbera d’Alba Santa Caterina 2011

Slightly closed nose with dark juicy berries, flowers, hint of sweet spice. Light to medium weight in the mouth, juicy but soft, OK acidity, light tannin. Good length with juicy berries, flowers and minerals. Another juicy and drinkable wine, though somewhat closed at this point.

Barbera d’Alba Santa Caterina 2009

Fruity nose with juicy red berries, hint of meat, mulberry, slight reductive whiff. Medium weight, round, juicy, discreet tannins, OK acidity, dry. OK length, juicy berries, somewhat discreet. Passable wine, a bit too neutral/discreet for my taste.

Langhe Rosso Paesan 2008

This is 80% nebbiolo, 20% barbera. Lovely soft nose with raspberries, soft spices, slight hint of humus going towards truffles, hints of bark and flowers. Light to medium weight, rather elegant and juicy, good hit of grape tannins. Good length, slightly austere, with lovely dry, juicy raspberry fruitiness, humus/truffle and dried flowers. Lovely, charming wine with some seriously classy nebbiolo fruit, deliberately made in a slim, light to medium weight style.

Langhe Nebbiolo 2011

Slightly closed but juicy nose with raspberries, dried flowers, touch of sweet liquorice, hint of humus. Light and elegant in the mouth, good grape tannins, juicy and dry. Good length with fresh raspberries, dried flowers, slight spiciness and humus. A fine, elegant, delicious wine.

Barolo Lazzairasco 2008

Deep and delicious nose with dark sweet-juicy berries, the beginnings of tobacco, humus, bark, fresh and dried flowers. Medium weight to full, handsome tannins, good acidity, good grip, lovely depth and Serralunga warmth. Very long, juicy, dark berries, liquorice, flowers, hint of tar, truffle emerging. Seriously good stuff, the quality of the Lazzarito vineyard clearly coming to the fore here.

We then felt a bit peckish, so repaired to the nearby Schiavenza restaurant, fantastically located on the eastern edge of Serralunga, and featuring amazing views over the beautiful, hilly Langhe landscape. The majority of us chose a mixed antipasto of grilled peeled peppers with bagna cauda, carne cruda, vitello tonnato and artichoke tartlet with cheese fonduta, followed by tajarin (=tagliatelle) with butter and white truffles. Simple, traditional, elegantly presented and utterly delicious. I recommend this restaurant if you are in the vicinity. Schiavenza is first and foremost a pre-eminent producer of Serralunga wine, notably some seriously good traditionalist single-vineyard Barolos, and we wasted little time in sampling a couple of the house wines:

Schiavenza

Barbera d’Alba 2010

Dark/sweet berry nose, redolent of fermenting must, juicy, hints of flowers and spices, good depth and breadth. Medium weight, good depth of fruit, juicy but round. Good length, elegant, dark juicy berries, flowers, spices, minerals, good depth and breadth all the way. Seriously good barbera.

Barolo Riserva Broglio 2001

Big, beautiful, warm nebbiolo nose with cherries, plums, liquorice, tar, dried rose, humus going towards truffles, very considerable intensity and complexity, classical Serralunga. Big, firm, handsome grape tannins, good acidity, considerable concentration and classically austere balance. Very long, delicious fruit, flowers, leather, tar, humus, tannic bark, savoury, intense and concentrated. Wow!

Scarzello

Next winery stop was at Giorgio Scarzello in Barolo town. This is yet another traditionalist (=non-barrique) producer that has emerged with strongly improved quality over the past 10-15 years. Emphasis in this house is very much on the terroir from the holdings in prestigious vineyards in the comuni of Barolo and Novello. I must admit that this producer has not featured much on my radar screen, but this visit converted me with a very strong showing of some really classy wines. Tasting notes:

Langhe Nebbiolo 2010

Delicious strawberry/raspberry nose, fresh fermenting must, freshly cut flowers, an ethereal lifted touch. Light to medium weight, elegant and juicy, balanced soft tannins. Good length with delicious juicy and perfumed berries, flowers, lifted and fresh. Utterly delicious and immediate, yet with intellectual appeal.

Barbera d’Alba Superiore 2008

Strong dark berry nose, concentrated and minerally, with flowers, hint of tar and humus. Medium weight and firm in the mouth, rather concentrated and well-balanced. Good length with fresh dark berry fruit, juicy, hints of humus and spice, then fading out on perfumed notes. Excellent stuff.

Barolo 2007

Expressive fruity nose with red berries, bark, forest floor/truffle, dried flowers, sweet liquorice and a lifted/ethereal quality. Medium weight, well-balanced, soft tannins, good acidity. Long, charming and delicious, red berries, forest floor/truffle, flowers and a  repeat of that lifted/ethereal quality. Lovely wine, typical of the warm vintage in the sense of being very immediate, with little of the austere character normally encountered (in cooler vintages) in nebbiolo from the Langhe; not necessarily a keeper, but so drinkable.

Barolo Vigna Merenda 2005

Merenda is part of the famous Sarmassa vineyard. Lovely deep nose with classical cherries, liquorice, truffle, sweet wood tar, clay and dried flowers. Classically dry balance in the mouth, medium weight, juicy, with good acidity and handsome grape tannins. Very long and classical, cherries, sweet liquorice, wood tar, truffles, dried flowers, ending on a lifted/ethereal note. Lovely.

Barolo Vigna Merenda 2006

Powerful and austere yet ethereal, elegant nose, still very young, with cherries, leather, humus and fresh flowers, a “cool” and promising nose. Medium weight, austere, heaps of very handsome grape tannins, good acidity, fresh, dry and very classical. Very long and fresh, juicy, cherries, leather, dried flowers, forest floor, ethereal, classical. Very handsome in a classically austere mode, very much a wine of the terroir, with decades of life ahead of it. My favourite of Scarzello’s wines.

Avezza

We next repaired to Canelli to visit one of the best producers there, Avezza. Canelli is moscato and barbera country, and these varieties account for the bulk of Avezza’s production, but the area around Canelli is also well-known for pioneering sparkling wine styles in Italy, as well as what are now termed international varieties. Avezza’s broad range is reflective of all these influences. I get the sense that this producer is still looking for its “unique selling point”, but there can be little arguing with the quality – and in particular with the spectacular price/quality ratio – of the wines. And there can be absolutely no complaining about the warmth of the reception one gets here. Tasting notes:

Alta Langa Metodo Classico Brut 2009:

This is 80% pinot noir, 20% chardonnay. Light, fresh nose with apple and a hint of green, not much in the way of autolytic character. Slight, fresh, acidic, dry. Not long, with acidic apple and a hint of greenish bitterness. This was lacking in the concentration and flavour development department.

Metodo Classico Rosé Brut 2010

100% pinot noir. Fresh nose with candied raspberry and a greenish/bitter element. Light, fresh, soft, slightly high on the dosage. Not long, with a caramelly raspberry element and a hint of the greenish/bitter note. Again lacking in the concentration and flavour development department.

Piemonte Chardonnay Bricco della Croce 2011

Fresh and inviting nose with peach, vanilla and a touch of flowers. Slim, soft and fresh. OK length with peach, flowers, vanilla. Not a great, complex chardonnay, but well made and very drinkable. And you would not believe the (low) price.

Dolcetto d’Asti 2011

Juicy/sapid nose with cherries, sweet fermenting grapes and a smoky/green spicy note. Light, soft, round, juicy, little tannin, not very concentrated. OK length, sweet bright berry fruit, flowers, green/smoky hints and very slightly spicy. In the light end of dolcetto, certainly the antithesis of some of the monster dolcettos that have appeared, very drinkable.

Barbera d’Asti 2011

Juicy nose of dark berries, flowers and a light but pleasant sweet roasted tone approaching coffee. Light to medium weight, juicy, soft, little tannin. Good length, juicy berries, flowers, minerals. A charming wine of soft, aim-to-please fruit.

Barbera d’Asti Nizza Sotto la Muda 2008

This spends 12 months in barrique. Nose rather dominated by the barrique at this stage, but also mulberry, hints of flowers and meat, quite concentrated. Medium weight, juicy, fresh, round, and a whack of wood tannins. Good length with barrique, juicy berry fruit, flowers and minerals. Somewhat marred by barrique at this stage, but judging by the next wine this seems likely to overcome it over time, and certainly has good concentration and balance to allow it to improve for a few more years.

Barbera d’Asti Nizza Sotto la Muda 2007

Quite deep, intense and juicy nose with mulberries, meat, dried flowers, sweet liquorice. Medium weight, quite intense, some wood tannins, round but juicy. Good length, dark berries, touch of balsamic barrique, flowers, liquorice, minerals. This clearly came from a vintage that was superior to the 2008 and had considerable concentration and balance.

Next followed a couple of Monferrato Rosso wines, both named Pulo (after a fassone bull that had been used by the family in the vineyards well into the 1960′ies). The fact that the grape make-up of Pulo changed from one year to the next, and that the wine is not being made at all any more, reflects that it has been impossible for the Avezzas, despite the quality of the wines, to find an enthusiastic market for the wine. The nebbiolo vineyard is now converted to making sparkling nebbiolo rosé, a wine not necessarily without merit (nebbiolo makes some of the greatest rosés in the world), but this has meant higher yields and earlier picking. I can’t help but feel somewhat sad.

Monferrato Rosso Pulo 2008

40% nebbiolo, 40% barbera, 20% cabernet sauvignon. Slightly closed but broad and somewhat sweet nose of dark berries, flowers, wood shavings, hint of smoke and green peppers. Medium weight, fruit sweet, then dry, firm, some tannin, good concentration. Good length with dark juicy berries, a bit of smoked green peppers, flowers and minerals. Interesting and actually quite good, even if the well-integrated cabernet pepper element is not a very Piedmontese thing.

Monferrato Rosso Pulo 2007

100% nebbiolo. Juicy nose with a hint of barrique, then cherries, violets, liquorice, an ethereal hint. Light to medium weight, finely grained tannin. juicy, dry. Good length, cherries, liquorice, hint of tar, flowers, ends on an etheral/truffly note. Clear nebbiolo character here, in a light version, juicy and drinkable.

Moscato d’Asti La Commenda 2011

Beautiful citric nose with elderflower and exotic flowers. Same in the mouth, lovely, fresh and lightly sweet. Purest enjoyment. One of an unfortunately shrinking band of great Moscato d’Astis, now that this hitherto fairly unknown wine has been discovered by the giant wine factories. There are moves afoot to come up with rules that can distinguish the industry plonk from the good stuff. Let us hope they succeed.

The evening was dedicated to a visit at the wonderful restaurant called La Casa Nel Bosco near Cassinasco, which featured a celebration of the popular and rustic Piedmontese dish of bagna cauda. Bagna cauda translates literally into “warm bath”, and involves a thick, pungent sauce made by melting garlic and anchovies with olive oil (and sometimes butter) and then dipping a variety of raw and boiled vegetables in the sauce. It is a typical autumn dish which exudes a powerful and unmistakable aroma. There was no mistaking that garlic featured strongly when we walked in the door, and a strong sense of hunger and anticipation immediately set in. Within short we were seated and were treated to a barrage of vegetables and individual stands with tea lights under bowls of powerful bagna cauda. As it turned out, the initial plates of vegetables were only the beginning, with at least three more sets to be brought in, but we had to give up about half way, suffering from acute garlic and oil saturation.

Obviously, such pungent, rich fare requires wine that can thoroughly cleanse the palate, and the restaurant had happily obliged by featuring another traditional item: new wine, in this case new barbera. These were the wines we tasted:

Coppo Barbera 2012

Powerful, juicy and darkly fruity nose with coffee-like aroma of ripe grape seeds, hints of flowers and minerals. Light to medium weight, extremely lively and juicy, quite extractive style, hint of tannin. Good length, juicy-acidic dark berries, flowers, minerals and coffee.

Cerutti Barbera Cassinasco 2012

Nose of juicy-sharp berries, fresh flowers and minerals. Light in the mouth, juicily acidic, fresh and lively, almost no tannin. Good length, very fresh dark berries, sweet fresh flowers and minerals.

Coppo Barbera d’Asti l’Avvocata 2011

Juicy, powerful, darkly fruity nose, , white flowers, lavender, intense and slightly alcoholic. Light to medium weight, juicy, good acidity, slight tannin. Good length, dark juicy berries, flowers, minerals and a touch of coffee ripeness.

Cerutti Barbera d’Asti Cassinasco 2010

Juicy nose with dark and red berries, sweet flowers, sweet liquorice, caraway spiciness, touches of blueberries and cocoa powder. Medium weight, juicy and lively, good acidity, little tannin. Good length, cherries, blueberries, flowers and a marked minerality of iron and gravel.

Cerutti Moscato d’Asti 2011

Fairly broad nose of very fresh quince, elderflower and citrus fruit. Light, fresh, acidic, sweet. Good length repeating the aromas from the nose.

The next day was dedicated to our usual pastime of cooking a multi-course dinner and serving wines blind along with it. To do that, some serious shopping has to be done, and we do that in Alessandria. Perhaps the most important reason why we do so is that we have found a sneaky little wine bar in a side street where any wine purchase is accompanied by a hailstorm of little tidbits and nibbles. I will not tell you the name for fear of spoiling the magic. This is always a fairly disorganized stand-up affair, so I have no proper tasting notes, but we had the following wines:

Tenuta delle Terre Nere Etna Rosso 2010

Lovely, soft, juicy and complex expression of nerello mascalese.

Guastaferro Taurasi Primum 2003

Tasting notes given in a previous post, a powerful and large expression of aglianico and terroir.

Castello di Lignano Barbera d’Asti Stramba 2009

Juicy and good, not great.

Sigillo Primitivo di Manduria (vintage not noted)

Somewhat jammy, a bit too much oak.

Librandi Magno Megonio 2008

One of my perennial Calabrian favourites. Recent vintages, such as this one, have reduced oak impact, which has done wonders for the fruit expression, although I would not mind a further reduction of oak influence. Big, tight and complex, with that typical dark cherry fruitiness and good tannins.

Once back in Loazzolo we started to cook. As I recall it, we had 8 dishes in all, many of which cooked by yours truly. As my kitchen duties left little time for note-taking, I do not have a list of the dishes consumed, nor any photographs of them, but I did manage to scribble down notes of the wines we tasted, starting with the kitchen wines consumed during preparations. As usual during our dinners, most wines were served blind:

1st wine: Avezza Barbera d’Asti 2011

See note above.

2nd wine:

Highly complex, juicy yet beautifully mature nose with soft dark berries, black olives, iron/grouse blood, spice, minerals and meat. Medium weight, juicy, finely polished tannins, good acidity. Good length with red and dark berries, all of the aromas from the nose and the begginings of humus and tobacco. Lovely, mature, complex wine. The wine: Gripa Saint Joseph 2004.

3rd wine: Dönnhoff Nahe Riesling Trocken

Delicious, big and intense nose of quince, peach, nettle, flowers and honey. Slim, elegant, good acidity, dry but rounded. Long, quince, apple, minerals, flowers, touch of honey.

4th wine: Erpacrife VSDQ Metodo Classico Dosaggio Zero 2008

This is a 100% nebbiolo made as a rosé and then subjected to several years of bottle age on the lees. Erpacrife is a joint effort that includes the Scarzello family of Barolo. Rather charming, light nose with raspberries, strawberries, hint of flowers, minerally. Light, fresh, good acidity, dry. Acceptable length, discreet, fresh, raspberries, minerals.

5th wine:

Sparkling. Powerful nose of apple, quince, slightly sulphuric sourdough rye bread autolysis, marzipan. Medium weight, dry, broad, handsome acidity. Long, repeating the aromas from the nose, very significant intensity, touch of roasted hazelnut, minerals. The wine: Louis Roederer Champagne Brut Cristal 2002.

6th wine:

Lovely, deep nose of peaches, greenish-bitter herbs, wax and a touch of oak. Broad, fat, slight residual sugar, slightly low on acidity. Good length, peaches, rose, herbs. Let down somewhat in the mouth. The wine: Venica & Venica Collio Friulano Ronco delle Cime (the vintage escaped me).

7th wine:

Lovely nose of peaches, hazelnuts, slightly perfumed herbs, minerals, flowers and a slight roundness from wood ageing. Medium weight, dry, slightly bitter, good freshness of acidity. Good length, hazelnut, herbs, very minerally, slight oak, grilled peaches. Lovely wine, great character and terroir. The wine: Feudi di San Gregorio Fiano di Avellino Pietracalda 2007.

8th wine:

Powerful, intense and complex nose of waxy yellow fruits, green/bitter herbs, almost kerosene-like minerality and resin. Quite fat, medium weight but powerful, dry, slightly bitter. Long, with yellow fruits, resin, very minerally, waxy flowers. Great wine. The wine: Villa Bucci Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi Riserva 2006.

9th wine:

Thick and concentrated nose of strong coconut barrique masking hints of blackcurrant, minerals, violets. Dry and bitter from the oak treatment, somehow both flat and strangely acidic. Quite long and concentrated, dominated by the oak, then hints of minerals, violets, blackcurrants and cherries. Disgusting wine, an utter failure to express intrinsic qualities and terroir. The wine: Pelissero Barbaresco Vanotu 2005.

10th wine:

Deep nose with humus, tar, leather, liquorice, meat, black cherries, an ethereal component and dried flowers. Powerful, intense, juicy, lovely grape tannins, good acidity. Long, ethereal, repeats the aromatics from the nose, intensely minerally, liquorice, tar. Wow! The wine: Fontanafredda Barolo La Rosa 1996.

11th wine:

Fresh, charming, light, lively, redcurranty nose, with a slightly ethereal tannin-derived touch, humus, leather and touch of flowers. Medium weight, fresh, light tannins, good acidity. Good length, fresh redcurrants, touch of Amaro Averna, slightly spicy, dried flowers and leather. A lovely, light, fresh and charming wine. The wine: Ugo Lequio Barbaresco Gallina 2008.

12th wine:

Discreet nose, touch of caramel, spices, redcurrants, dry garrigue, hints of liquorice and tar. Medium weight, handsome grape tannins, good acidity, good balance. Long, very minerally, slightly medicinal, touch of flowers and caramel. A slim, elegant, fine wine. The wine: G. Mascarello Barolo Santo Stefano di Perno 2004.

13th wine:

Powerful, slightly oxidized Bovril nose, then humus, cherries, leather, a slightly balsamic/ethereal touch, meat. Powerful, big tannins, good acidity, sweet fruit. Long, with soy, cocoa, violets, Bovril, plums, meat. The wine: Fontanabianca Barbaresco Sorì Burdin 2001.

14th wine:

Sweetly mature nose of blackcurrants, green peppers, exotic spice, cigar box, crayfish shells. Medium weight towards large, good tannins, slightly low on acidity. Long, blackcurrants, cigar box, tannic bark, touch of humus and barnyard. The wine: Château Léoville-Las-Cases Saint-Julien 1983.

15th wine:

Huge nose of great depth and weight, with essence of cherries, sweet liquorice, dry exotic spices, incense and then a lifted ethereal element. Powerful, dry and broad in the mouth, great depth of fruit, hint of kernel bitterness. Long, wide and deep aftertaste with cherry essence, exotic spice and incense. The wine: Masi Amarone della Valpolicella Mazzano 2004. Always one of my favourite Amarones, a classic, and for me always Masi’s best Amarone.

16th wine:

Big fat nose with nettley botrytis, waxy yellow fruits, minerals, vanilla, lemon meringue, honey and hint of lemon peel. Fat, sweet and unctuous, slightly bitter hit of botrytis. Long, intense and concentrated, with slightly coffee-like oak, honey, grilled peach, citrus. Lovely! The wine: Château Rieussec Sauternes 2004.

That concluded the evening and my participation in the annual pilgrimage, as I had to leave for Verona for participation as a juror in the Vinitaly International Wine Challenge. As usual, the flock repaired to the truffle market the next day, and then gathered for an evening of whatever they could make out of the spoils of the previous day. What they had in my absence:

Schmitges Erdener Treppchen Riesling Spätlese Trocken 2004

Dr. Loosen Mosel Riesling Trocken “Blauschiefer” 2008

Musso Barbaresco Pora 2008

Bruno Rocca Barbaresco Coparossa 2004

Yours truly

Ole

2012 – Blog in review

2012 was a great year for me. I tasted more wines and attended more events than ever before. I finally started my blog (and need to thank everyone reading this for your support in this endeavour). I made many new friends and renewed many old friendships. I even started bicycling… although I fairly soon fell and suffered a concussion:-) In many respects 2012 has represented the start of something good for me. I am certain that 2013 will be even better, and am so much looking forward to getting started in this new year.

I wish all of my readers a happy, prosperous and peaceful 2013. May your new year be full of good wine and great events for you!

Yours truly
Ole

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

600 people reached the top of Mt. Everest in 2012. This blog got about 4,700 views in 2012. If every person who reached the top of Mt. Everest viewed this blog, it would have taken 8 years to get that many views.

Click here to see the complete report.

Gianfranco Fino does it again!

Center: Magnum bottle of Gianfranco Fino’s amazing Es 2010, flanked by his Jo 2010 and Elena Fucci’s Titolo 2009

Many of you will know that last year Gianfranco Fino accomplished the unthinkable. His Primitivo di Manduria Es 2009 was ranked joint number 1 – with Sassicaia 2009 – in Italy in a survey of all 2012 Italian wine guides performed by Gentleman magazine. This feat was unprecedented in southern Italian wine history and was the cause of much pride in the South, Apulia in particular. In many ways, this marked a sort of coming of age for southern Italian wine, the starting point from which this area undoubtedly (and even if I have never doubted, many have) had to be taken extremely seriously on the world stage. After all, it bested many wines that are routinely considered great by Italians and non-Italians alike.

It is no fluke that Gianfranco got this far. His seriousness, extremely hard work and attention to detail – and above all his great passion – have very few peers. Nonetheless, one could of course fear that this was a single event, never to be repeated, thus empowering any detractors. Well, no such luck for whatever few detractors might be left out there! Gianfranco has just done it again, and this time reigns supreme. His Es 2010 is the best wine in Gentleman’s 2013 guide survey, and this time does not have to share the honours with anyone.

I have by now had many opportunities to taste Gianfranco’s wines, and he seems to be going from strength to strength. So, while this new accomplishment is no doubt great, I am in no doubt that Gianfranco will never rest on his laurels. More and better is still to come, even if one might have difficulty imagining that these wines can get much better.

Huge and heartfelt congratulations from cold, wintry Copenhagen to Gianfranco and his wonderful muse Simona. Your wines – liquid sunshine if ever there was – light up our darkness here.

Yours truly
Ole

Irpinia in the Crystal Ball

Reblogged from Tom's Wine Line:

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Here’s a premature but heartfelt prediction: some day wine lovers will treat Irpinia with the same respect and importance they currently afford the Côte d’Or.

I’m just back from a trip to southern Italy for Bianchirpinia, an event highlighting the two principal white varieties of this Campanian zone, Greco di Tufo and Fiano di Avellino, and featuring their new releases – mostly 2011, with a few 2010s.

Read more… 1,139 more words

Tom Maresca is a thoughtful and passionate writer on the wines of Italy. Read his most recent post here. I entirely share his love for the white wines (and reds) of Irpinia, as well as his conviction that this area is a future star that people will speak of as reverently as Burgundy. The wines are from characterful, unique varieties and show powerful expressions of terroir.