Meet the Producer: Kanu of Stellenbosch, South Africa

Jade showing her gold

Kanu was present at the London Wine Fair 2022 with a substantial range of wines.

Founded in 1692, it changed hands a number of times and it acquired its current name in 1997. You can read its full history, in times of peace and war, on their website. Today Kanu is established as a boutique producer of quality wines with grapes sourced over a wider area in the Western Cape.

The name Kanu is from a legend told by an old Xhosa man who was raised in his grandmother’s house on the Goedgeloof farm. Day after day, he would tell of the mythical bird he had seen flying over the farm. According to him, if the bird’s shadow touches your crop, you are promised a bountiful year’s harvest!  (from their website)

I was fortunate to taste a few wines, both at the London Wine Fair and subsequently with some colleagues from the Club. Scroll to the end of this post and you can listen to a conversation with Jason Chen, general manager and Johan Grimbeek, winemaker. Because of a technical glitch we only have the audio from our guests, sorry. Recorded on 11 July 2022.

Angelina rosé brut (Gold)

Fruity and smooth, with fine and persistent bubbles. Good freshness and minerality ensure a perfect balance with the lightly pressed pinot noir. Complex aromas in the nose and fragrance in the mouth. An elegant wine with a full personality. The gold flakes are added to some of the bottles to attract certain market segments who appreciate this precious touch of exclusivity and class.

Score 92

Pinotage rosé

Pomegranate color and fresh strawberry aromas for this original interpretation of an archetypical South African grape. Freshness in abundance but rounded for a perfect balance. 

An amazing surprise. I paired it with a raw yellowfin tuna salad on a hot Summer day and can see how this wine would be ideal with sushi, sashimi or beef carpaccio.

Score 94

Pinotage Rosé

Chenin Blanc 2019 Old Vines

Quite old these bush vines, planted in 1980 to be precise. Low yield, minimalist intervention for a vineyard certified as a heritage of Stellenbosch.

Papaya to the nose, immediately reveals a smooth, velvet wine. There is however enough acidity to ensure a moderate balance. Vanilla, almonds, pineapple all combine to provide complexity and moderate length. Late harvesting adds some spicy notes.

Score 90.

NuEra 2017

Deep ruby with highlights of garnet. An intense and complex set of red fruit aromas welcomes you to this plump and elegant wine. Peppercorn and lavender help give character and structure so that the result is a perfect balance. A harmonious wine. 

I paired it with lasagne, a medium structure food for a medium structure wine. I also tried it with Chinese pork belly and mushrooms, again the elegant tannins contrasted perfectly with the fat in the plate.

Ready now, can probably wait a few more years but it won't necessarily improve. An amazing discovery.

Score 95 

Keystone 2017

Top class South African wine in bordeaux style blend. You do not get the austerity of a Bordeaux but you can enjoy the sunshine in this is a superb expression of Stellenbosch: plump, fruity, complex and ready at just 5 years of age. I paired with bbq meat, South African style, first pork chops and then guinea fowl.

Score 93

Noble Late

Chenin blanc 100%

The sweet sibling of the family. A voluptuous wine with mellow nuances of vanilla, tangerine and ripe apricots. A "sunny" version of the well known Sauternes-style. I paired it to a home-made tiramisù, but finished off the bottle the next day while reading in the afternoon, no pairing, just a delightful meditation wine.

Score 93

the cellar

bird's eye view of the estate

the Kanu range

Hungary decanted: a walkaround tasting

A most interesting tasting hosted at the Hungarian Embassy in London. In their own words: walk around tasting will showcase Decanter World Wine Awards “Best in Show”, Platinum and Gold medallist Hungarian wines, including Best in Show wines Juliet Victor Tokaji Szamorodni 2017 (Best in Show 2020) and St Andrea Nagy-Eged Bikavér, Eger (Best in Show in 2021).

Over 30 DWWA award winning sparkling, dry and sweet wines from around 20 producers will be available to taste from all over Hungary. Producers include: Balassa Bor, Grof Degenfeld Wine Estate, Maul Winery, Kreinbacher, Zelna Boraszat, Szent Andrea Winery, Vesztergombi.

Prevalence of white wines and especially sweet ones. Just by way of reminders, Hungary uses the unit of "puttonyos" to indicate the degree of sweetness of its wines. Here are my favorite takeaways:

Grand Tokaj - Tokaj

From the largest winery in the historic Tokaj region, the company owns 67 hectares of land and purchases grapes from 1000+ farmers in the area.

Aszú 6 puttonyos 2014, furmint

Perfect balance, 10% abv, Score 96

Aszú 5 puttonyos 2014, furmint

Too fresh, needs a bit time, abv 9.5%, Score 90

Esszencia 2013, blend of 6 grapes

abv 2.5%!, very syrupy, I can hardly call this a wine, 450g of residual sugar, but it will please those with a very sweet tooth.

Gróf Degenfeld - Tokaj

Aszú selection 6 puttonyos 2017, blend of furmint and other grapes

Ripe apricots, plump consistency. Perfect balance, very long. abv 10.5%.Score 96

Aszú 5 puttonyos 2016, Hárslevelü and furmint

A balanced and mod long wine. abv 10%. Score 92

Aszú 6 puttonyos 2017, Hárslevelü and furmint

A majestic wine, perfectly balanced, plump, long and complex. Exudes harmony and promises enjoyment for many years. abv 11%. Score 98

Harsányi - Tokaj

Kútpatka single vineyard 2017, furmint

Ripe apricots, a smooth elegant dry wine with a touch of freshness. abv 11.5%. Score 95

Aszú 6 puttonyos 2016, furmint

Excellent balance, a long and complex wine. abv 9.2%, Score 97.

Meet the producer: Vignobles Chatonnet, Bordeaux, France

A new discovery for us this producer from the right bank in Bordeaux. The homeland of merlot, one of my favorite grapes, mellow yet powerful, velvety and structured. A touch of elegance in many Bordeaux wines from either bank, but a protagonist in Lalande de Pomerol, where the vignobles Chatonnet is based. 

Today we met with Andrea Giraud who is in charge of the international market at Paul Chatonnet. We asked about the peculiarities of this vineyard. Let's hear it directly from her.

 

Tasting notes:

Archange 2016, merlot 100%

A typical expression of this noble variety. Opulent, elegant, complex and long. A masterpiece merlot, at the pinnacle of rive droite interpretation of this grape.

Result of "lutte raisonnée", aiming at minimizing human intervention as much as possible but without ideological strictures.

Score 97

La Sergue 2016,  Merlot (85%), Cabernet Franc (12%) and Malbec (3%)

An original composition with the unique addition of malbec instead of the more familiar cab franc which is the normal third party of the Bordeaux trinity. The result is a balanced and moderately complex wine that is ready now but could wait a little longer.

Score 95

Away from the camera we also tasted:

Haut Chaigneau 2016, merlot 90%, cab franc 10%
Dark Ruby red, intense nose of red fruits
Fresh for a 2016, could use a few more years to round its edges but already balanced enough to be highly enjoyable with structured food. I had it with lasagne.

Score 89

   

Amphora wines master class at the London Wine Fair 2022

Captivating master class organized by Enotria&Coe at the London Wine Fair 2022 on amphora wines. Our speaker was Peter Wallbridge, Enotria&Coe buyer for Spain and Latin America and a published author on the American Journal of Enology. These are my main takeaways from this session.

This is a recurring trend, every so many decades amphora becomes fashionable again. Of course the method itself goes back thousands of years, to the origin of the very first wines, before producers knew how to use wood, cement or even glass to hold their wines during fermentation and aging. But of course clay was used pretty much everywhere in the wider Mediterranean and Mesopotamia region, all the way to Georgia, to hold oil as well as dry cargo such as grains.

In recent times amphora has gained popularity again and the more scientifically oriented specialists focus on its oxygen transmission rate (OTR), pointing out how it is a linear progression, as opposed to wood's OTR which starts high and peters out. So what? Well there is lots of anecdotal evidence for the effects this has on wine, though not enough scientific data.

Experiments in Italy and Spain (where he thinks the best clay comes from) have shown that amphora does not yield good results the first year wine is poured into its vessels. But then tartaric acid deposits create a layer that is ideal for the best micro-oxygenation.

The long road to the re-discovery of amphora wine is going to be a long one.

Tasting notes:

Airen Las Tinadas Organic, Bodegas Verum, La Mancha, Spain 2020

Tinadas Airen 100%, RRP £19

This unusual grape is similar to pinot grigio and gave us a balanced wine with notes of almonds and mod length. Manual harvesting with selection of only the best bunches from each plant. Old vines planted as far back as 1950. A serious Summer wine.

Score 85

Las Tinadas Cencibel, Bodegas Verum, La Mancha, Spain, 2016

This grape is close to tempranillo and comes from vines planted in 1956 on rocky soil, and have to make do with no irrigation. They produced a fruity wine with a medium body, complex and with a quirky but pleasant bitterness aftertaste.

Score 93

Viejas Tinajas Cinsault, De Martino, Itata Valley, Chile, 2020

Easy does it, this is Chile's answer to Beaujolais.

Score 84

Viejas Tinajas Muscat, De Martino, Itata Valley, Chile, 2020

An incredibly strong nose, with exuberant notes of fresh citrus and nuts. This is an "orange" wine in that there is extended skin contact. A unique product that will make you want to taste more.

Score 90

Trebbiano d'Abruzzo DOC Anfora Organic, F. Cirelli, 2019

Trebbiano 100% Certified organic now moving to biodynamic. Manual harvest.

Fermentation in natural yeasts in terracotta then aged 12 months in amphora.

They only use new amphora, do not want tartaric acid layers and the result is a wine that retains an amphora feel, a certain roughness.

Score 88

Montepulciano d'Abruzzo DOC Anfora Organic, F. Cirelli, 2020

Montepulciano 100% A fruity and mod balanced wine, some rough edges but an intriguing clay feel that makes you want to taste future vintages to see how this producer will evolve after its recent conversion to organic and biodynamic.

Score 83

Meet the producer: Thelema Mountain Vineyards of Stellenbosch, South Africa

Thomas Webb

Another interesting master class at the London Wine Fair 2022, this time with Enotria&Coe presenting the products of Thelema Mountain Vineyards of Stellenbosch, South Africa. Our speaker today was Thomas Webb, Director of Thelema. 

The family now owns 180 hectares of land and does not plan to increase its size, rather they want to focus on quality. He explained how the origin of their name comes from François Rabelais a monk, doctor and writer in sixteenth-century France who imagined a utopian abbey on the banks of the Loire. In stark contrast to the religious orders of his day, this community admitted both men and women and encouraged them to live together in great luxury. This was the Abbey of Thélème, which ultimately lent its name to our vineyard on the slopes of the Simonsberg Mountain: Thelema. (from their website)

I asked about how the various ethnicities of South Africa are getting involved in the wine industry, but the answer is more than in earlier times but not much. Wine was not part of the traditional culture of the Ndebele, Xosa, Zulu...

They use thermal imaging of the vineyard to monitor maturity and decide when to pick at the exactly perfect moment. Which means picking at different places on different days.

thermal imaging of Thelema vineyards

They use screw caps, they believe it will allow for more homogeneous aging in the bottle.

Here is my notes from their best wines tasted today:

Thelema Chardonnay 2011
Pressed in steel tanks and fermented in French oak barrels.

A mature wine, round and complex, with a perfect balance.

Score 93.

Thelema Chardonnay 2018

Still quite fresh and fruity, moderate length.  Definitely needs more time in the bottle.

Score 87.

Thelema Cabernet Sauvignon 2001

De-stalked, manual sorting of berries, crushed in steel then pressed and left for 20 months in French barrels, 50-50 new and old. Incredible fresh for a 21-year-old wine.

Ready now, but can benefit for a longer period in the bottle to round the tannins a bit further.

Score 90

Thelema Cabernet Sauvignon 2018

Incredibly, this is smoother than 2001, ready now.

Score 93.

Thelema Rabelais 2015

Cab sauvignon 80%, petit verdot 15%, merlot 5%.

Perfect marriage of fruit and structure. Excellent balance, length and complexity. Ready now.

Score 95

Thelema Rabelais 2019

Same grapes as 2015 but no merlot. A tad disappointing after tasting the wonderful 2015.

Score 87

Meet the producer: Ixsir of Lebanon

Unique master class at London Wine Fair 2022 organized by Enotria&Coe on Lebanese mountain wine produced by Ixsir. The name comes from "elixir", an arabic (Al-iksir) word meaning the purest of all substances, a secret potion that will give eternal youth and love.

Our speaker today was a Spanish man, Gabriel Rivero, a co-founder and te4chnical director. He was educated in oenology in Madrid and then grew professionally in Bordeaux and then worked in Lebanon before founding Ixsir in 2008.

Most wine lovers know Lebanese wines from the Bekaa valley, but this producer focuses on wines from the mountains of the country. Cool climate allows for better acidity and there is plenty of water, no need for irrigation.

Today Ixsir owns 6 vineyards all over the country and in addition 85 families work in communities and provide Ixsir with their grapes. These are all international varieties, there are precious few local ones and they are mostly used for distilled products.

Lebanon has been making wine for over two and a half millennia, but the Ottoman period almost completely wiped out all enological traditions. The wars in the second half of the XX century only made things worse. Now there are about 70 vineyards or so that are seriously back in business and each tries to mark his or her own personality, and avoid just copying other Mediterranean styles.

Uniquely, Lebanon does not have any system of controlled denomination (like AOC in France or DOC in Italy) so producers are free to experiment to their heart's content! What France did leave was a lot of grape varieties and know-how but the industry was in a shambles when the French left. Only after the end of the civil war in the 1990s did it really begin to flourish.

Today Ixsir produces close to 500,000 bottles per year, and do not want to grow bigger. Focus on improving quality instead.

Below some tasting notes from this masterclass.

Grande Reserve White 2019
Viognier 60%, Sauvignon blanc 25%, Chardonnay 15%

Biodynamic wine even if certification has not yet arrived. Perfect balance between acidity and smoothness, vanilla, good length and complexity. Trade price GBP 20.

Score 90

Grande Reserve Rosé 2019

Mourvedre 40%, Cinsault 40%, Syrah 20%

Sourced from three vineyards located at 450 to 1400 meters above sea level, steel only.

Elegant, smooth, easy Summer wine. Trade price GBP 18.

Score 86

Grande Reserve Red 2015

Syrah 50%, Cab sauvignon 39%, Arinarnoa 11% (a tannat/cab sauvignon cross made in France)

Sourced from different sites between 950 and 1150 meters above sea level.

Matured in French oak for 12 months, one third each new, second and third use.

Smooth elegance but still good fruit and structure make for a perfect balance. A complex wine to drink now. Trade price GBP 23.

Score 89

Grande Reserve Red 2012

Syrah 50%, Cab sauvignon 39%, Arinarnoa 11%

A bit rough, will need time to hopefully smoothen out. Trade price GBP 23.

Score 85

El Ixsir Red 2015

Syrah 45%, Cab sauvignon 45%, merlot 10%

Sourced from vineyards at various altitudes including one at 1800, possibly among the highest in the world. French oak barrels for 24 months, half new and half second use.

Balanced, and mod complex and long, ready now. Trade price GBP 42

Score 93

El Ixsir Red 2012

same grapes and vineyards as previous wine.

Spiciness of syrah prevails, backbone is provided by cab sauvignon, elegance by merlot. a good interpretation of the Bordeaux blend. Trade price 45 GBP

Score 92

Meet the Producer: La Spinetta, Piedmont, Italy

Wonderful master class organized by Enotria&Coe at the London Wine Fair 2022 to illustrate the wines of La Spinetta, on of the best producers in their portfolio.

La Spinetta started out producing moscato and it became so famous people would ask for a "spinetta" when ordering the famous piedmontese wine.

In 1995 they began using the "Gallina" vineyard to produce nebbiolo

Now all production is organic, back to tradition. Still uses horses to plow some of the fields like the family's grandfather used to do when he worked in Argentina in the 1950s.

Use green harvesting (prune up to 75% of bunches) to keep quality high

In 1980s most producers sold grapes to large companies, only a few began their own productions. In this they learned from the lessons of Burgundy.

Low yield of 4-6k bottles per hectare. 3k? Check

Giorgio Rivetti, featured in the Barolo Boys film, together with others, like Scavino, Sandrone, tried to make Barolo more likable, pleasant to more people and sooner, rather than the difficult wine requiring long aging of earlier times.

The iconic rhino on the label comes from a creation of German artist Dürer, who drew it without ever having seen a real rhino. For Giorgio Rivetti this was a symbol of how imagination can lead to results beyond expectations. It is in this vein that he started making Timorasso, a unique white variety in Piedmont.

Dürer: Rhinoceros

The lion which is present on other labels is a symbol of royalty, as Barolo is considered "the king of wines and the wine of kings" after its early association with Vittorio Emanuele II, the founder of the modern Italian unitary state.

Tasting notes

Timorasso Colli Tortonesi 2020, timorasso 100%

Made from grapes picked from 25-year-old vines.

De-stemming and soft pressing, then fermentation in steel and rest on lees for eight months. Fresh and citrusy with lots of minerality, exalted by the absence of any oak. Mod length. The vineyard is in Tortona, hence the name. Spinetta suggests this wine can age a lot, up to 15 years, because of its acidity. Low yield, no more than 3,000 bottles per hectare (max allowed is 8,000).

Score 90

Barolo Campè 2018, nebbiolo 100%

Made from grapes picked from 70-year-old vines!

Maceration and fermentation in vats for 10 days, then malolactic in French oak, 20% new. Finally 24 months of aging before a further nine months in bottle. Intense aromas welcome the start of the tasting, and compex red fruit flavors make for a structured,  complex and long wine. Perfect balance, everything is in its right place, a harmonious wine.

Score 94

Barbaresco Bordini 2019, nebbiolo 100%

Old vines, average age 40 years.

Maceration and fermentation in vats for 14 days, malo in French oak then 16 months of aging.

An intense and powerful wine with prominent tannins, could use more time in the bottle.

Score 88

Barbaresco Valeirano 2017, nebbiolo 100%

Made from grapes picked from 55-year-old vines.

Complexity and power, yet a velvety elegance are the features of this wine. Still young, it will be perfect in 15 years, or longer. Small yield, less than one bottle per plant of vine.

Score 92

Barbaresco Valeirano 2007, nebbiolo 100%

Made from grapes picked from 55-year-old vines.

Back ten years from the previous wine and we have a perfectly mature vintage. Yeet it could wait a bit longer but it is marvelously ready now.

Score 96

Barolo Campè 2008

Made from grapes picked from 70-year-old vines!

An old master with nothing to prove, but past its prime, it would have been better to drink this a few years back.

Score 90

Giorgio Rivetti