A fruity, balanced wine with medium body. Smooth tannins. Ready now. I paired with pasta that I had prepared with a sweet tendency sauce. I also tried roasted chicken and peas, and would not recommend a steak as red meat would have too much structure for this delicate wine.
Saturday, April 20, 2024
Meet the producer: Alcardet, Toledo, Spain
A fruity, balanced wine with medium body. Smooth tannins. Ready now. I paired with pasta that I had prepared with a sweet tendency sauce. I also tried roasted chicken and peas, and would not recommend a steak as red meat would have too much structure for this delicate wine.
Friday, April 12, 2024
Trade tasting of Monastrell wines from Spain
Thank you Peter McCombie MW |
Ready, set, go Monastrell! |
Tuesday, April 9, 2024
Mountainous Macedonia, Epirus and Central Greece
Insightful masterclass delivered by Sofia Perpera for Westbury Communication. This has become a notable and pleasant tradition on the London wine scene. Here below are my main takeaway points.
Greece also developed the first kind of "controlled denomination of origin" by legislating that producers had to use different kinds of amphoras depending on the type of wine. Heavy fines were imposed on rule breakers!
I mentioned there were older wines around the world (Georgia, Mesopotamia) but perhaps the oldest in Europe was indeed Greek, and the oldest known press is to be found near Knossos, on the island of Crete.
The Greeks drank their wine diluted in water, a habit that the Romans would later copy just like they copied (and often improved) on so much of Greek culture. Three parts of water to one part of wine was the accepted ratio, probably because it would make the wine more drinkable and hide its inevitable faults. (The Romans were known to mix wine and water also for the opposite reason: to allow alcohol to at least partially disinfect drinking water.)
Wine continued to develop in Greece long after the classic period but it suffered during the many centuries of Turkish occupation as it was perceived contrary to the precepts of islam.
One had to wait until the 1990s to finally see a revival of quality production. Greek winemakers went abroad to study, mainly in France but also in italy and the US, and vineyards invested in state of the art technology. A school of oenology has been active in Athens wince 1980.
Membership in the EU after 1981 also helped a lot, with the Common Agricultural Policy providing much needed funding to increase investment and the EU authorities regulating production to improve quality.
Today, some 65,000 hectares of land are planted with vines (though the exact number is now known, the cadastre is less than totally accurate) and this still not much, less than 2% of vines in the EU as a whole. Two thirds are devoted to produce white wine and one third red.
Germany and the USA are the main export markets.
The great news of recent years is that, while at the beginning of the quality revival in the 1990s producers preferred international grapes, mostly from France, now they devote special attention to plant local varieties, at least where this can be made to optimize quality.
Tasting notes:
1. Jima Winery, Super Girl 2022
Tuesday, March 19, 2024
Trade tasting of Cirò, Calabria, Italy
The Greeks were the first to plant vines in Calabria, then part of the Magna Graecia, and called their red wine Krimisa. The Greeks also introduced the "alberello" training which is well known in Sicily and notably in Pantelleria, and established wine as a staple production.
In an attempt to make Calabrian wines more widely appreciated, in 2008 laws were passed to allow for international varieties to be planted in the Cirò region. Some producers, however, opposed what they considered a betrayal of tradition and refused to follow the widespread fashion of using barriques as well. This resulted in a renaissance of pure gaglioppo wines, this time with renewed commitment to quality and greater investments in know-how and equipment.
The result could be seen at this tasting, with a number of high quality bottles that are sure to establish a new reputation for Cirò around the world.
Below are my tasting notes of what in my opinion were the best wines from this stimulating afternoon that turned out to be full of surprises.
Tuesday, March 5, 2024
Welsh Wine in London
Monday, March 4, 2024
Thracian Lowlands, Bulgaria, presented by Ray O'Connor MW
With Ray O'Connor |
Bulgarian wines overview. Courtesy of Ray O'Connor |
Tuesday, February 27, 2024
Furmint tasting by Wines of Hungary
Unfined and unfiltered furmint bubbles |
This was a broad ranging tasting with much more than could be tasted in one day presented at a well organized walk-around at Painters’ Hall in London courtesy of Wines of Hungary.
This time I decided to focus on still 100% dry furmint wines, leaving aside the sweet ones which I had had occasions to taste in the past.
Below are my notes from the most interesting glasses of furmint I had a chance to taste today.
Garamvari Estate
Wednesday, February 7, 2024
Discover Gavi trade masterclass
Gavi vineyards lie in south-eastern Piedmont, near Liguria, which explains why even in a landlocked region there is some influence of the sea climate, which is reflected in viticulture by adding a touch of freshness and delicate taste that is often associated to coastal vineyards. All of this land is cultivated with cortese vines, which constitutes some 60% of all the cortese planted in Italy.
Some dates and numbers: the first indication of viticulture in the region dates back to the year 972 AD. Some 500 families work on Gavi wines in 190 companies which are part of the Consorzio (cooperative) founded in 1993. 1600 hectares of cortese planted and produce about 13 million bottles and 65 million euros of revenue, 85% of which comes from exports. The UK is its first export market. DOC certification dates back to 1974 and DOCG to 1998.
I left the tasting amazed at how Gavi wines, which I always considered easy and light bottles to be drunk young, can deliver excellent quality, complexity and especially aging potential. Buy some and put them away before too many people discover them and prices rise!
Prices are indicative merchant prices in the UK.
La MeiranaGavi del Comune di Gavi, 2022
Monday, January 29, 2024
Italian Portfolio Tasting in London by Winetraders
Wednesday, January 24, 2024
Wines of the Loire Valley
Another informative trade tasting on the Loire valley organized in London by Charles Sydney Wines, a specialist on this region who is based in London.
Here are my notes from my favorite wines of the day.
Generation XIX, Sancerre blanc 2020
The name indicates that this is a product of the 19th generation of wine producers in the Mellot family. Perfectly balanced oak-fermented sauvignon, mod long and complex. RRP £40. Score 93.
Edmond, Sancerre Blanc, 2020