Masterclass on wines from the Loire valley

Annual ritual with wines from the Loire in London, organized by Charles Sydney Wines. This time we were led through a masterclass by Jo Locke MW, and the producers of the wines below. 

Here are my tasting notes.

1. Ackerman Royal 2022

Crémant de Loire, Saumur

In 1831 Mr Ackerman came from Belgium and wanted to copy Champagne, first to do in Loire.

60 Chard 30 cab franc 10 pinot noir check, 36 months on Lees 

Fresh, mod complex, 

Score 87

2. La Minée, cru château Thebaud 2022, first release

Muscadet cru communal 

Organic

 balance, complex 

Score 91

3.Les hauts de Husseau 2019,domain de la Taille aux Loups 

Montlouis sec AOP

Grapes? 

Dry vintage but very old vines (80 to 150 years old!) with deep roots got humidity from ground 

Spontaneous fermentation in deep caves, can take up to a year! No sulphites needed because little oxygen in caves. 

Smooth and balanced, mod long 

Score 90

4.Edmond 2022 Domaine Alphonse Mellot 

Sancerre blanc sauvignon 

Vines from 1904. Current Alphonse is 19th but he only has 4 daughters, first called Alphonsine! #biodynamic 

Balanced complex and long 

Score 94

5. Buisson Renard 2022,Domaine Didier Dagueneau

Balance complex and long, 

Vin de France and not Pouilly Fumé got fed up with regulations of appellation. 

Score 94

Reds

6. La Chapelle 2023,domaine des Pothiers Roman Paire) 

Côte Roannaise 

Gamay 

Spicy, smooth, long. 

Score 92

7. Génération XIX 2019, domaine Alphonse Mellot 

Sancerre Rouge Pinot noir 

Very smooth, perfect balance, long 

Score 95

8. Les Chiens Chiens 2018, Domaine de la Noblaie

Cabernet Franc 

Chinon rouge aop, organic 

Rough, sharp edges, needs time in the bottle to get a bit rounder. 

Score 90

Etna and Alto Adige masterclass in London

Thank you Catherine and Federica

Christine Marsigliano, a Master of Wine from Canada in love with Italy provided us with a surprising match of Italian wines from two extremely different regions: Alto Adige (Südtirol, South Tyrol) and Sicily, specifically the Etna wine making region. The UK Sommelier Association led by Andrea Rinaldi and Federica Zanghirella organized this event that wraps up the season for 2025.

Alto Adige

Most wine From AA are produced by cooperatives, some 70%. In the past, cooperative wine was synonymous with cheap and, at most, sometimes, cheerful. Hardly ever high quality. How times have changed. In AA coops were first introduced in 1893, when the region was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and today there are 12 of them to carry the tradition forward.

AA outputs 40m bottles per year, of which some 600k are sparkling wines. This is the result of 2500 years of wine making history, begun even before the Romans expanded and organized production much as they did all over Italy and, indeed, Europe. 96% of wines are doc (Alto Adige denomination) while about 100 sport the "unità geografica aggiuntiva" to indicate specific subregions.

Next to the coops are 32 private estates thrive in their own boutique way and 4800 wine growers provide the raw materials.

AA production makes up less than 1% of Italian wine, so a small amount even if Italy is, on and off, the largest producer of wine in the world. Only 5850 hectares, located between 200 and 1000 meters above sea level specialize in just 20 varieties.

The Habsburg brought foreign varieties like chardonnay and pinot noir, and today 65% of the resulting wine is white while 355 is red. I was surprised to hear that it used to be the other way around when lots of schiava was planted for Austrian and German markets.

Here are my tasting notes:

1. Pinot Grigio Nals Magreid 2024

Floral, zesty, good balance, moderate length. 14% abv! 

Score 90

2. Sauvignon (not specify... blanc) Porphyr & Kalk, Ignaz Niedrist 2023

Intense aromatic nose, fresh, almond. 

Score 88

3. Gewurztraminer Joseph, Hofstadter 2024

Very intense aromas, pineapple, vanilla, ripe fruit gives good smoothness, glycerin very present. Salty spicy. Very long. Can probably age well. 

Score 91

4. Pinot nero riserva St Daniel Cantina Colterenzio 2022

300 members in Coop 

Ripe cherries, smoky almost. Can feel a bit of alcohol 

Score 88

5. StMagdalener classico Vigna Premstellerhof by Hans Rottensteiner 2024

StMag is mostly schiava with some Lagrein check 

Ripe red fruit, good balance. 

Score 89

6. Cabernet Sauvignon riserva Freienfeld, 2018 cantina Kurtatsch

Black fruit, intense nose. Rough tannins despite age. Needs several more years of aging in bottle. 

Score 86

ETNA 

Planted on east north and south, lava tends to flow mostly to the west. Consorzio Etna started in 1994 but there is a long history before that.

It is recorded that in 1848, well before Italy was created as a unitary state, 26,000 hectares were planted in the Etna region and by the 1880s Catania, the local provincial capital, boasted as many as 90,000 hectares of vineyards, more than any other in Sicily.

Fast forward to 1968 and Etna DOC is one of the first controlled origin denominations established in Italy, and the first in Sicily and it now comprises 1350 hectares divided among 474 producers, about half of 1% of all Italian vineyards.

Etna bianco makes up just over 40% of wine production, rosso is just over half and the rest is rosato and sparkling, for a total of some 6 million bottles per year.

Here are my tasting notes:

7. Bianco Lavico Duca di Salaparuta 2024 

Carricante 100%

White flowers, Balanced and moderately long. 

Score 88

8. Bianco Tifeo Gambino 2023

Carricante 70% Catarratto 30%

Similar to n. 7, smooth. 

Score 88

9. Bianco superiore Contrada Rinazzo Benanti 2023 

Carricante 100%

Perfect balance, mineral, moderate complexity and length. 

Score 90.

10. Rosso Andico Zumbo 2020 

Nerello mascalese 100%

Easy, rough corners need to be smoothened out. 

Score 85

11. Rosso 2019 Fischetti Muscanento 

Nerello mascalese e cappuccio 

A bit rough, aggressive. 

Score 86

12. Rosso tenute San Michele, Murgo 2020 

Nerello mascalese 100%

Smoother more balanced than previous wines. Moderate length and complexity. 

Score 87

Klein Constantia, South Africa

Clara Schnitzler export manager

Small but interesting tasting at the LWF 2025 of a niche South African wine.

Klein Constantia is a  340-year-old winemaker, one of the oldest in South Africa, planted its first vines in 1685 close to ocean. In part for this reason, Muscat first worked well.

In the old days it was a favorite of royals in Europe as well as by the rich in the USA, though it later became more affordable and widespread and thus available to a wider clientele. Jane Austen said it helped heal broken hearts!

Only 11 producers in Constantia valley, smallest region in South Africa.  

Below my tasting notes:

2023 estate 

100% sauvignon blanc 

Fresh salinity, crisp finish yet balanced, mod complex 

Score 88

2019 Clara sauvignon blanc 

After c Eliza hussey, American steel heiress who helped develop KC in 1920s

More floral, more texture, earthy notes 

Score 86

Estate red 2020 

58%cab sauv 

Blend p verdot, malbec, syrah 

Smooth, elegant Perfect balance, mod long, ready

Score 90

2020 Anwilka 

In Stellenbosch 

60% cab sauvignon 

40% syrah 

A bit rough attack, intense red fruits and notes of leather 

Wait 5 years 

Score 88

Vin de Constance 2021 

100% muscat de Frontignan 

Late harvest, pick highly concentrated grapes, no botrytis 

Aged 18 months in mixed old and new French oak 

Marmalade and lichee, moderately long. 

Score 89

Meet the producer: Clos Mont Blanc, Catalunya, Spain

This post is the result of a meeting with Clos Montblanc of Catalunya at the online fair organized by Onvinum in February 2024 and I am grateful to the producer for the samples received which I tested and paired as noted below.

Unic 2022

Chardonnay 100%
A mellow chardonnay, round and balanced. I paired it with tomato sauce pasta with Spanish tuna and the moderate structure of both food and wine went well even though I would have liked a bit more acidity.
Score 83

Xipella 2023

An eclectic blend, Xipella makes for an honest straightforward wine that will go down well with a wide range of food pairings and consumers. This wine is balanced, moderately long and ticks all the boxes for a pleasant drink that is perfect now with the coming of Spring. It does not strike me for its freshness or for its complexity and this is why the first work that came to mind was straightforward. I paired it with spaghetti and mussels and it was a successful marriage in that both wine and food proposed medium structure and the moderate acidity did not overwhelm the sapid flavor of the seafood.  Enjoy it without thinking too much about it! Score 87

Xipella 2019

Carinena, cab sauvignon and syrah for this well balanced wine with a nore of ripe red fruits, and a palate with notes of chocolate. Well rounded tannins, long finish. I paired with Chinese oily tofu and it worked well, both dishes offering moderate structure and the gentle tannins contrasted amicably with the oiliness of the tofu. Score 90.

Chinese oily tofu with spring onions and asparagus

Inici 2018
garnacha negra 79%, cab sauvignon 21% in organic production

An elegant wine, perfectly balanced, complex and long. A rare gem with less than 3000 bottles produced.

Score 92

G de Gourmand 2021

A fruity and fresh wine despite the old vines (30+ years), almost delicate. I paired it with pizza.

Score 86

Meet the producer: Francisco Gomez, Alicante, Spain

A most intriguing selection that offered by Francisco Gomez for our review. Rare monastrell achievements and unique sauvignon blanc for southern Europe. Here are my tastig notes.

Vina de Mateo Red 2022
Monastrell

Slightly tingly, medium body. Paired with Roman porchetta, structured wine and structured food. Score 86.

Vina de Mateo white, 2022

Sauvignon Blanc

Lots of white fruits in this complex, round sauvignon, with a smooth ending. I paired with with slightly spicy Chinese oily tofu and it was an excellent experiment with the roundness of the wine contrasting the moderately spicy flavor of the tofu. Score 90

Sauvignon blanc organic

A very significant sauvignon. It retains the typical freshness of a sauvignon but it also sports a round complexity that raises it up a notch and makes it a good pair for more structured food. For example it went very well with sauteed mackerel.

Score 92

Queen of Kings brut, NV
Next on my list of Francisco Gomez wines was this bottle of bubbles, a first for me: 100% monastrell grapes, so a blanc de noir. A huge surprise, this is a perfectly balanced wine, smooth, fragrant and complex of floral and honey notes. It is ready now but 1 or 2 years longer in the bottle might add another twist of roundness.

I paired it with escargot starter and then with tiger prawns sauteed with spring onions. Both matches turned out to be excellent, the acidity and sapidity of the wine contrasted the sweet tendency and unctuousness of the food (butter in the snails!). Score 93