Ximenis, Genium Celler, Blanco, Priorat DOQ, Spain, 2012, 14% abv, 12 euros

Posted on February 7, 2015 by winellama

He drove 2.5 hours from his day job and Barcelona to meet and pour genium 2winesPorrera
genium 4 for us at Poboleda.

Jordi Ossó i Estivill, Genium Celler’s export manager, is one of six family partners who’ve banded together to bring their wines from this tiny Catalan village established in the 1200s by Carthusian monks to the world.

The walls of this winery are ancient – the building next door (now the school – and pictured to the right) was where the prior lived.  (‘Priory’ is from the root of the word for the modern day region, Priorat.)

The monks and the builders lived in the town’s stone homes, one of which now houses Genium, and lived in Poboleda while building the nearby Escaladei monastery.

Jordi’s grandfather and father are from this tiny hamlet where making wine has been a part of the culture since Roman times.  However, the Genium group has been making wine since 2002 when they decided to work together instead of selling their grapes to the local cooperativa.

Between the families, they coordinate weekends in the vineyards and winery and produce Genium 1about 30,000 kg of grapes – mostly the local varieties, Garnaxa (Garnacha) and Carinenya (Carignan) along with some Merlot, Syrah and Pedro Ximenez.

The local microclimate is similar to that of nearby Torroja del Priorat in that it’s heavily affected by the sea so the grapes retain higher levels of acidity.  Despite a relative distance from the sea, the mountain passes and gaps funnel the cool Mediterranean air straight to the region.

This has allowed Genium to produce a white wine from Pedro Ximenez (PX) that you would never know is made from this grape usually responsible for producing Sherry.

Named Ximegenium 3nis, the local Catalan word for PX, there are about 600-700 bottles of this produced a year.  Ninety percent is PX with the remainder including Garnaxa blanca and Macabeu.

The grapes are grown on Jordi’s cousin’s costers (slope) and after it is picked, the grapes are layered with dry ice prior to a 16-18c fermentation.  It is aged in new French oak.

Pale gold, this wine is youthful but offers a Rousanne-like nose and finish with plenty of stone fruit (pear), acacia, citrus and soft honey.  The acidity is medium plus and there’s a delicacy and juicy character in among the solid structure.

Stephen Tanzer has granted it a 90 and I agree – this is a WSET Very Good wine.  Intriguing, unusual, refreshing, structured and yet elegant.  It’s a happy surprise in the sense that it’s always said PX is not a noble grape – yet, Genium has produced a unique stunner with it.

 

 

Posted in OTHER, Pedro Ximenez / Pedro Gimenez, Spain, WHITE | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Riu, Trio Infernal, Combier, Fischer and Gerin, Torroja, Priorat DOQ, Spain, 14.5% abv, 2010, 16 Euros

Posted on January 29, 2015 by winellama

We found this at the Vins i Olis del Priorat store the minute we arrived in Falset.  Nothing was open at 4pm except the town’s two exceptional wine stores. Llorenc and Marc Aguilo quickly ushered us to the tasting bar and before I knew it, I had some Priorat in my glass.

This wine is made by three French winemakers who came to the village of Torroja del Priorat to make wine on the famous llicorella / slate soils. This is the ‘entry level’ wine from Laurent Combier (Domaine Combier, Crozes Hermitage), Peter Fischer (Chateau Revelette, Aix en Provence) and Jean-Michel Gerin (Domaine Gerin, Cote-Rotie).  A review of their single vineyard version can be found here.

If you look closely at the picture below of the vineyard and water tower, you can see ‘Trio Infernal’ in yellow print on the side of the south-facing slope.

It was hard to get this bottle open – the cork disintegrated and appeared to be half rotten. Thankfully the wine, equal part of Garnaxa, Carignenya and Syrah, was pristine.

The Riu is a deep purple and has the unmistakable aromas I now associate with most Priorat red – Dutch licorice, tar, soy sauce and black currant along with strong minerality and crushed herbs.

The palate is dry and the tannins ripe yet grippy – there is a reason these wines go so well with the local salumis and cuts of ham. Tannins love fat.

Acidity and body are both medium plus and the flavours are reminiscent of the aromas – more intense blackberry, black cherry, ripe plum and currant with soy and asphalt.  The thyme and sage that grows everywhere in Priorat is also persistent.

WSET Good – the alcohol on this wine is noticeably heavy.  That said, it is a home run hit with the local cuisine – bread rubbed with tomato, garlic and olive oil, sausages, cheeses and grilled meats – and its fruit forward nature is pleasant.

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Posted in Carignan, Grenache / Garnacha, RED, Shiraz / Syrah, Spain | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Diez Siglos, Verdejo, Rueda DO, Spain, 2013, 12.5% abv, 9 UK GBP

Posted on January 25, 2015 by winellama

It’s always slightly depressing to go anywhere outside of Canada and realize the incredibly restricted wine options available on our domestic market. This is even more apparent when one arrives in England, arguably the centre of the wine universe.

Every time I arrive in St Albans, my sister and I pretty much run to the closest wine store to stock up her fridge. This time we visited Cellar Door Wines, tasted a fresh and full Romanian Pinot Grigio and bought 6 other bottles, all great deals from different wine regions, only one above 20 GBP.

One of them was this Spanish Verdejo from Rueda. A shade of pale lemon with light legs, this wine has aromas of nettles, elderflower, sharp lemon, tangerine and minerals.

We enjoyed this with Suzanne’s chicken korma and its very slight off dry palate married well with the light curry. It would be equally tasty with Thai food.

It’s got juicy acidity and a medium body with light alcohol. Flavours of peach, lemon, Seville orange and more stinging nettles with long field grass compliment a medium finish.

This wine is made at a cooperative of about 50 producers and punches well above its weight – only 9 GBP and full flavour for the money. WSET Good +; drink now.

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Pinot Noir, Fort Berens, Lillooet, BC VQA, 2012, 13.5% abv, C$26

Posted on January 23, 2015 by winellama

fort berensHow is this possible?  A Canadian winery poised at 50.5 degrees north latitude – just outside the usually accepted outermost limits of vinifera grape growing.

Yet, there Fort Berens lies, thumbing its nose at the non-believers, and producing quality Pinot Noir of all things.  Yes, this finicky grape seems quite at home here in Lillooet which lies in the rain shadow of the Coastal Mountains about 120 km east of Whistler and 167 km northwest of Kamloops.

If you know anything about Lillooet, you will know it regularly battles the deep south Okanagan Valley’s Osoyoos for the honour of being Canada’s hot spot and being in the Coastal Mountain system’s rain shadow means it receives a measly 349 mm of rain a year. In contrast, North Vancouver (across the mountains and on the south coast by 240 km) gets 2522 mm and Vancouver 1457 mm.

Lillooet itself seems to lie between 250-420m in altitude depending on where one is, so this contributes along with the deep diurnal shifts (the difference between night and daytime temperatures) to make the grapes happy and allow them to retain acidity levels.

All of these factors have combined to produce a unique microclimate that favours grape growing when combined with the local gravelly glacial rock, sand and loam soils.

I’d noted these wines in the local VQA shop, but it took my friend from San Francisco (@corkzillasf) to buy one first.

The Fort Berens 2012 Pinot is a fresh medium ruby – almost akin to pomegranate juice – and the nose has medium intensity of cherry and strawberry, crushed herbs and a little moss.  The palate is dry but with a fruity presence, a delicate body and flavours of more red fruit and with rosemary and sage.  The finish came up slightly short but the tannins are ripe and ready to drink.

While not complex, this is a pleasant and tasty WSET Good Pinot Noir that Ben and Tanya agreed was one of the better BC versions they’d tried in the Great White North.

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Rabaja, Cascina Luisin, Barbaresco DOCG, Italia, 1996, 13.5% abv, US$50 (rarewineco.com)

Posted on January 14, 2015 by winellama

This Barbaresco is 100% Nebbiolo and comes from a (still) family-owned Piedmonte winery established in 1913.  The Rabaja vineyard is close to the central village of Barbaresco and the famous River Tanaro runs below the property and moderates the vineyard’s climate.

Today Cascina Luisin (Luisin means ‘Luigi’ in Piedmontese) is run by Luigi Minuto (the founder’s grandson) and his son Roberto, who joined in 1995.  It was Roberto’s decision after experimenting in 1995 to ferment and macerate the Nebbiolo in cement tanks (20 days for this one) followed by time in Slovenian oak.

The wine is an opaque garnet with and was a little turbid.  We were surprised it was still this deeply coloured despite being 18 years old – and even more surprised there was no bricking.  The nose is beautifully intense with aromas of blackcurrant, raspberry and crushed tomato vine with mint, rose, anise and minerals.barb

The dry palate has solid medium plus acidity and silky tannins that still have some grip in them yet.  The body is elegantly slender and while initially it tasted of mint, over the evening it grew to show deeper herbs with violets and blackcurrant.  There is red fruit in the background, but over a few hours it opened to intense pencil shavings, iron and iodine, high citrus notes and anise. The finish was super long.

We wondered if this wine may be unfined and unfiltered as it’s cloudy and in fact, I was able to piece together some information on various sites to show that Roberto did make the decision to stop fining and filtering their Barbarescos back in 1996.

Despite its age, this wine offers a powerful impression – muscular, deep and complex, yet delicate, open and fragrant.  It’s WSET Outstanding wine; a testament to the long life of the Nebbiolo grape, drink now or hold until 2020’ish.  One of our tasting crew thought it may hold for another 10 years, but the rest of us disagreed; it’s certainly not showing its age, but it is unlikely to improve in the bottle.

We all voted that Costa should buy some more and we’ll taste it again in 5 and then 10 years to know for sure.  All in the name of science, of course.

 

 

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Montevertine, Rosso di Toscana, Radda, Toscana IGT, Italy, 2009, 13% abv, C$50

Posted on January 8, 2015 by winellama

monteLet’s just cut to the chase. The Montevertine Rosso is, well… outstanding.

A Sangiovese, Canaiolo, Colorino blend made by winemaker Martino Manetti, the winery left the world of the rule-bound Consorzio and declared itself an IGT rated producer after the 1990 vintage.

The wine is very ‘pretty’ for a Sangiovese and full of flavour.  It spent 24 months in Slavonian oak barrels and was decanted for 6 hours during which time it evolved from a tightly wound, sour cherry focused wine to this thing of beauty.

The Montevertine is medium minus ruby with even legs and has a nose of summer raspberry with cherry, violets, flowers and light strawberry juice.  The palate is dry with silky tannins, a gorgeous mouth-puckering acidity, and an elegantly slender body with deep flowers – roses and violets, little blue forget-me-nots and lavender buds – light mint and tobacco herb, cherry, anise and some subtle wood action.

Antonio Galloni called this a 94 point wine – and we called it beautiful, delicate and ethereal.  It’s ironic it was so good with 2009 being such a warm vintage.  Perhaps that’s because it’s from Radda where there is some elevation to cool the evenings and retain the grapes’ acidity levels.

At 6 years old, it’s WSET Outstanding – super complex, poignant, balanced.  Each sip saw new flavours  and aromas emerge.  In a blind tasting our group agreed it may even be difficult to tell this is Sangiovese and mistake it instead for a very high end Pinot Noir.  It’s less dusty than most Sangiovese and very fresh.  Although it’s young, it is drinking well and yet will last literally for dozens of years.

Second bottle update – We opened a second bottle in October, 2016 (7 years old) and found it still gorgeously ethereal, showing significant soya sauce and a little tar, but replete with loads of dried rose petals and dried cherries.  The colour had shifted to a translucent garnet from the ruby.

Third bottle update – Now I wonder why I didn’t buy more of this. We opened this one December 2021 at 12 years old.  Still a translucent garnet, the aromas were astounding with cherry, dusty rose petal, and purple flowers.  The mouth-watering acidity made it hard to stop drinking this beauty, and the flavours showed more sour cherry, violet, dried tarragon, light tar and leather strap.  The finish lingered.  I was really sad when this bottle was empty.

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Azelia, Dolcetto D’Alba DOC, Bricco Dell’Oriolo, Castiglione Falletto, Italia, 2012, 13% abv

Posted on January 3, 2015 by winellama

I probably don’t need to tell you what happens when several wine and food geeks get together and each brings a nerdy bottle of wine. Not only was there an abundance of alcohol and food, but also of educated opinion.

Between 5 of us, there was about $50,000 in WSET wine education tuition fees spent over the past 4 years or so, 3 Diploma holders and 2 entering their final Diploma term. Never mind the long-standing suffering and extreme tolerance exhibited by the others in attendance who by mere virtue of knowing us know more than is normal about wine.

Here’s a grape to try in 2015 that you may not have tasted before. Dolcetto means ‘little sweet one’ and generally these wines should be enjoyed 1-2 years after they’ve been released. They tend to be tannic and fruity with average acidity – and this one mostly met that bill, save for the tannins.

They are also usually grown on lesser quality hillside sites – the premium ones are kept for Nebbiolo and Barbera grapes. And Dolcetto wines are made to be enjoyed young while waiting for Barbera and Nebbiolo wines to mature.

The Azelia is a medium ruby colour with even legs and has a nose of significant dark raspberry and Byng cherry with light herb.

The palate has average acidity and is dry with quiet tannins, some almondy bitterness, and medium plus intense flavours of herbs, sweet field berries and cherry.

Proclaimed as WSET Good by the group, it’s not complex but is charming nonetheless. The best comment was from Costa who remarked it was akin to a surfer dude who smokes too much, but whom everyone likes anyhow.

Surfer dudes, Dolcetto and WSET tuition fees. There you have it.
What new grape will you try in 2015?

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Champagne Marie Courtin, Résonance, Extra Brut, Pinot Noir, Polisot, Aube, France, 12% abv, disgorged May 2013, C$90

Posted on December 29, 2014 by winellama

Champagne – bubbles, blended parcels of wines, large famous luxury brand companies.  Right?  Well, it has been that way for a long time for the internationally marketed mega brands.resonance

There has, however, been a resurgence in the grower Champagne market that has come from a desire to honour the smaller, family-owned plots and their efforts to produce their own vineyard to winery versions of bubbly grown in much smaller quantities.

Enter the wines of Dominique Moreau from the Aube – what used to be referred to irreverently as the backwater of Champagne – located far to the south from the epicentre of Reims, and where most would grow grapes and sell them to the big name companies operating in the north.

This wine is made from 100% Pinot Noir grapes farmed biodynamically at Dominique Moreau’s tiny 2.5 ha Aubois vineyard located on the slopes of the Cote des Bar near the tiny village of Polisot.  This is far, far to the southeast of Epernay and actually closer to Chablis than Reims.

There is a not-so-small hint located on the label itself that indicates the importance she places upon biodynamism – ‘élaboré par Dominique Moreau’ – not made by, but enhanced, guided, elaborated upon.

The earth here is pure Kimmeridgian and limestone-laced which affects the grapes’ minerality and freshness.  The vines were planted 50 years ago by her father-in-law and the name Marie Courtin is her grandmother’s.  And late budding Pinot Noir is well-suited to the region because of the danger of spring frosts.

Moreau started in 2001 and produces only about 15,000 bottles (about 1,250 cases) of  wine per year; the Résonance being her ‘basic’ cuvée.  Basic, my foot.  This is outstanding stuff.  Antonio Galloni tasted the 2008 vintage, recognized its excellence and assigned it a 94 in the Wine Advocate.

The Résonance is a single-vineyard, single varietal, single vintage Champagne that has been vinified with indigenous yeasts, no dosage and as little intervention as possible.  In fact, it’s hard to go more against the conventional Champagne mindset – which is to farm grapes at extremely high yields and then blend dozens and dozens of parcels of wine to recreate big marque house styles year in and out.

There is no such anonymity with the Résonance which is a shade of medium lemon with multiple chains of finely beaded, long-lasting mousse.  The aromas are intense and deep, showing brioche, yellow apple and honeycomb with ripe peach and crushed rock.  There’s a tiny bit of dried herb as well.

On the palate, the wine is deliciously dry (extra brut) with refreshing, high acidity and elegantly low alcohol, yet the body is pure Pinot Noir – deep and full.  Buoyed by medium intense flavours of yellow apple, more honey, fresh, crusty bread and danish, marked by quince, pear and crushed thyme, the wine’s finish is prolonged and lingers.

WSET Outstanding – balanced Champagne with deeply vibrant flavours and aromas.  If you find any in your local specialty wine store, purchase and enjoy.  The window on this wine is long; enjoy now or lay down for years to come.

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Foxtrot, Pinot Noir, Foxtrot Vineyard, Naramata Bench, Okanagan VQA, BC, 2010, 13.6% abv, C$50

Posted on December 24, 2014 by winellama

foxPristine, precise, pleasureable – this is not your average Okanagan creation.

Kudos to winemaking husband and wife team, Gustav Allander and Nadine Allander for this thoughtful Pinot Noir – one of several outstanding versions created since Foxtrot’s inception in 2003.

I tasted this wine in June 2013 at their property on the Naramata Bench, high on the west-facing shores of Okanagan Lake and purchased it along with 3 other Foxtrot and Wapiti Cellers wines.

The Foxtrot Vineyard 2010 Pinot Noir has deep legs and is a medium shade of ruby with a developing nose showing deep aromas of crushed dry herbs, cedar and field berry with minerals.  There is a distinct aroma of sage and tumbleweed – yes, this wine reminds me of the links in Arizona.

The palate is dry and has high acidity with velvety tannins and medium plus intense flavours of thyme, sage and dried herbs with berry, black cherry, cedar frond and crunchy-underfoot leaves.  The finish lingers.

I managed to resist cracking the first of these treasures for well over a year, but a pre-Christmas celebration with all four offspring called for something special to complement the ham and roasted veggies with rosemary and olive oil potatoes.

A WSET Outstanding wine; complex and nuanced.  Evidence that excellence does exist in the Okanagan; no under ripe berries were used during the making of this wine.  Drinking beautifully now or lay down for 7-10 more.

 

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Church & State, Gravelbourg Vineyard, Chardonnay, VQA Okanagan Valley, BC, 2012, 13.8% abv, C$27

Posted on December 23, 2014 by winellama

csThis wine was awarded silver in the 2014 Decanter World Wine Awards and it won a gold star at a pre-Christmas dinner this past weekend with the in-laws.

So complimentary with roast turkey, the wine is a medium shade of gold with big legs.  The nose is medium intense refreshing blend of citrus – Meyer lemon and pink grapefruit stood out – with a bit of pineapple, alongside buttery popcorn, caramel and some carefully managed oak.  There’s also a great fresh, crusty bread aroma from extended lees contact with the lees (aka dead yeast cells in case you’re thinking, ‘what the heck are lees?’).

The palate is dry with medium plus alcohol and average acidity.  The body is satisfyingly full, and the flavour profile full of more citrus with yellow apple, quince, tropical fruit, a dash of oak and light toffee.   The finish is medium plus.

WSET Very Good – a really delicious wine that is hard to stop drinking.  I’m so glad I bought two – and wish I’d bought more.  The balanced use of wood and fruit shows off a layered tapestry of flavour.  Drink now or hold for 5-7 for prolonged enjoyment.

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