Meet the producer, Alpasiòn Wines, Uco Valley, Mendoza, Argentina

In the context of the London Wine Fair 2021, we have been fortunate to receive some samples from a remarkable winery in the Uco Valley of Argentina.

Alpasiòn in their own words (from their website): The people behind this project are all wine lovers who decided to make a dream come true by making honest, iconic wines together. We decided to name our inaugural release “Alpasión,” a combination of the Spanish “alma” (soul) and “pasión” (passion). The Alpasión label features the fingerprints and signatures of all of the winery’s owners as testimony to friendship for life. The winery owns 85 hectares of land and although not certified just yet, Alpasión practices sustainable organic farming to ensure the health of soils, ecosystems and people. Even part of the vineyard is planted in the shape of a giant fingerprint.

Whataboutme? Sauvignon blanc 2019

Sauvignon blanc 100%. Zesty and citrussy, fresh aromas on the nose, followed by a clean taste in the mouth. A simple yet pleasant wine.

Score 80.

Whataboutme? Malbec 2019

Easy, round and mod long, typical malbec.

Score 86

Cabernet Sauvignon 2019

Ripe red fruits and plums. Excellent balance and length for this complex cab. It is still young, could age but it is good now. The best of the range.

Score 94

Malbec 2018

Easy and round, more complex aromas than Whatabaoutme? and surprisingly long.

Score 88.

Grand Malbec 2017

A wine that must wait, the tannins are still aggressive. Excellent potential, the fruit is there, so is the complexity. To drink in 3-4 years at least.

Score 90.

Grand Cabernet Franc 2018

Ripe fruit and plums. An opulent wine, very well balanced, which is not always easy with a cab franc. Deserves a wait, at least 3-4 years.

Score 90

Meet the producer: Achaval Ferrer from Mendoza, Argentina

Achaval Ferrer (image from their website)

A producer from Argentina who is proud of carrying on a long, ultra-centenary tradition of wine making. Many vines are ungrafted, that is they were not touched by phylloxera and therefore had no need for grafting as most of the rest of the world.

In the works of Jevgenijs Suscinskis, who guided my tasting a few days ago and whom I would like to thank here, grafted vines give you a picture of the vineyard, ungrafted ones give you a movie! A film that does not last two hours but perhaps two centuries!

Here is the result of the tasting, very efficiently organized by MyOnlineFair:

Mirador 2014
malbec 100% from old vines, some  are 70-year-old plants on own roots.
A well balanced, dark ruby, round wine with lots of energy to offer.
15 months in french oak but one does not feel the wood much, excellent freshness is still there.
Score 89.

Bellavista 2014
malbec 100% from old vines, some up to 100 years old. 

Unfiltered and unfined it shows slight deposit. Violet black and red fruits emerge in the nose make for a fresher malbec compared to the previous one. Clearly this has further aging potential. This is an expensive bottle, around 100 Eur per bottle retail. Definitely worth it!

Score 95

 

Mendoza malbec 2018
malbec 100%

An interesting, moderately complex blend from grapes from different altitudes. A wine where the producer tries to offer the most typicity for the variety.

Score 88. 

rrp 18

Quimera 2013

45% malbec,19% cabernet sauvignon,18% merlot 18% cabernet franc

Warm blending of grapes in oak barrels to age together, an interesting method in stark contrast with most other blends where the individual varieties are vinified separately and blended at the end, prior to bottling.

Score 88

Cabernet Sauvignon 2017
cabernet sauvignon 100%
A majestic witn with long and perfectly balanced finish, due in large part, no doubt, to the 30 to 40-year-old vines from which it is produced. The wine was still excellent even after the bottle had been opened a few days (and closed after each tasting with vacuvin), long and balanced, even harmonious.

Score 93.

One word about pairing these and other Argentinian wines. Of course you will read all over the place how they go well with local food, especially famed beef from the pampas. Which it does, but this is very restrictive for the huge potential offered in these bottles.

At Jevgenijs' suggestion, I tried a pairing some of these wines with mildly spicy southern Chinese food and was very pleasantly surprised. The moderate body and smooth finish contrasts the mild (I repeat mild! Nothing can pair with very spicy food!) spices of Hunan cuisine.

Sherry: a remote guided tasting with Diatomists

Today, as part of the London Wine Fair 2021, which had to be run online because of COVD restrictions,  Marco Carnovale of the italian Sommelier Association hosted a guided tour of Sherry wines with Thomas and Antonio, of Diatomists, a wide importer of Sherry to the UK. Below is a video of the tasting. 

As they explain on their website: Diatomist is the name given to those who master the art of diatom arrangement. Diatoms are single cell algae that create complex glass shells around themselves. 5 million years ago Jerez was under water which explains the unique and exceptional soil rich in diatom fossils.

These hidden microscopic marvels are essential for the vines to thrive in a hot climate with dry summers and sporadic heavy rainfall. The soils’ porosity locks in the moisture providing essential water reserves for the vines to thrive during the long and sunny growing-season. In fact, the quality of the soil can be quantified by its diatoms.

We tasted three wines: 

1. Fino, Chiclana de la frontera, Single Pago, Pago Pozo Galván

A fresh and fruity sherry to be enjoyed with a meal of light structure. Score 88

2. Manzanilla, Sanlúcar de Barrameda, Single Pago, Miraflores

A more complex wine that may easily hold its own alone or be paired with a substantial meal of fish or white meats. Score 90

3. Medium, Jerez de la Frontera, Single Bota, Aged 19 years, DO Jerez

A rich and powerful sherry, intense in color, aroma and taste. Perfectly married with dessert or enjoyed alone. Score 94

Any further information contact Antonio and Thomas at

www.diatomists.co.uk

Meet the producer: Azienda Felline, Manduria, Puglia, Italy

Master Class at the London Wine Fair (online) 2021 with Gregory Perrucci of Azienda Felline, Manduria, Italy.

Specialists in Primitivo di Manduria. Four different wines:

1. Felline 2019, red soil

The most typical soil of this region, rich in iron. Planted mostly in alberello style. Intense aromas on the nose, warm and velvety, smooth in the mouth, powerful fruit. Moderately complex and long.

Score 89

2. Giravolta 2017, white soil

Calcareous, porous soil, waters filters down easily, forces roots to work harder. Rich of fossils!

Again a smooth velvety wine, even more complex than the previous one.

Score 90

3. Zinfandel 2017, black soil

Terrain is soft, alluvial origins, ancient forests decomposed, which makes for a longer annual cycle, the last primitivo to be harvested usually end of september. Old vines 80+ years.

Gregory used Zinfandel grafts he bought in California to develop this "twin grape" here, experiment was successful and expanded production. Now Felline represent Italy in California each year for Zinfandel fair.

Score 90

4. Dunico 2017 (unico on dunes)
Sandy soil, on dunes by the sea. Ripen early, first to be harvested hence the name "primitivo", primo among various varieties of grapes to be ready, late August already picked.
Old wine making land, goes back to Greeks, vines grew on the soil, like big black snakes on the white sand.Up to 16% abv! Very rich and complex, difficult to grow, can not make this wine every year.

Score 92

Meet the producer: Peñafiel, Ribera del Duero, Spain

Bodega Peñafiel

On 30th April I had a chance to go through a tasting of a range of wines from this vineyard on the Duero, in Spain.

I was guided through several bottles by export manager Raúl Blanco whom I would like to thank for his availability.

Many thanks to Myonlinefair for organizing this tasting very efficiently.

Bodegas Peñafiel

Avenida Valladolid Soria, km 311, 47300 Peñafiel, Valladolid, Spain

Alba de miros 2019
Their top white, 100pc verdejo.

Two months on lees release a pleasant fragrance.
A fruity attack and moderate body and length.

I paired with with a filet of Atlantic haddock in soya sauce with steamed broccoli.

Score 88

rrp 10euro

For the following two wines I decided to try an unusual pairing, with chicken soup with Chinese spices and lettuce. The astringency of the wines' tannins contrasts very well with the liquid soup.

Miros de ribeira 2017
tempranillo 100pc, made from the best grapes of this variety.
The wine is left to evolve for 8 months in French oak barrels, then another 12 months in the bottle.
Score 93
rrp 18 euro

El prenda 2017
80% tempranillo and 20% granacha
12 months in oak
score 82
rrp 8 euro

Other wines tasted today.

Alma serena 2020
tempranillo 100pc
3-4 months in oak give a pleasant roundness, moderate length and complexity.
score 86
rrp 10 euro

El importante 2016
100pc garnacha
12 months american oak followed by 12 months in bottle
These grapes come from old vines that are 50-year-old
This wine is in the upper range of products already. It can age another few years but it is ready now.
Score 90
rrp 16 euro
 

Silencio de Miros, 2015

Single vineyard at 1000 meter altitude above seal level.
100% tempranillo
Acidity is strong but it is expected to smoothen out with time.

A top-level Duero with a personality to challenge the most difficult palate.

This wine has been particularly successful in the Chinese market, where it quickly sold out after it was recognized as the best Spanish wine. 
Score 95
rrp 48

the cellar

Peñafiel red lineup

Film review: Bottle Shock (2008) by Randal Miller, ****

Synopsis

The build-up to the famous 1976 Judgement of Paris competition between French and Californian wines. Napa Valley's Jim Barrett (Lost Highway's Bill Pullman) has been plugging away for years with minimal success. A former attorney, Barrett runs Chateau Montelena with his wayward son, Bo (Chris Pine, the Star Trek prequel's Captain Kirk), who would rather do anything than assist his stern father. Bo's co-workers include Gustavo (Six Feet Under's Freddy Rodríguez) and Sam (Transformers' Rachael Taylor), who long to produce the perfect chardonnay. 

Naturally, the young men compete for the favors of the beautiful blonde (the movie's least interesting angle). Across the Atlantic, Steven Spurrier (Alan Rickman) struggles to keep his Parisian wine shop going (cheapskate American Dennis Farina is his only regular customer). Then Spurrier conceives a contest to attract customers.


Review

While based on a true story, the film takes some liberty at embellishing the facts with romance and family feuds, but this does not detract from it being highly instructive for wine lovers.

The title is a pun: the "bottle shock" is what may ruin a wine because of vibrations and temperature variations during protracted and unprotected transportation. It is also the result of the tasting, which shocked the wine world for what a bottle of California wine was able to produce.

The competition itself should have been given more time in the movie in my view, as it was the event that justified making the movie in the first place and changed the world of wine ever since.

Also, the movie does not make it clear that the competition was only for a few varieties, ie Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot blends, and as such can in no way be interpreted to be an overall match between Californian and French wines.

Finally, one can not help but notice somewhat of a pro-Californian bias in the movie, but this is perhaps inevitable given the nature of the real historical events. I would like to see a film of the 2006 rematch, which California, again, won hands down, in fact by an even greater margin.

See the book "The Judgement of Paris" which I reviewed in my personal blog.

Belgian vineyard at Chateau Bioul

A couple of months ago I visited one of the several up and coming vineyards in Belgium, and was surprised by a unique approach.