A fruity dry white Bordeaux

This was a wine I tasted the other day at the Club when a merchant organized a tasting of some wines showing at Vinexpo. This Sauvignon Semillon from what used to be known as Cotes de Blaye was a lively fruity white good for summer drinking. Dominated by Sauvignon Blanc (90%), the wine had both the green gooseberry nose often associated with French examples as well as a hint of tropical fruits (I detected some passionfruit) more often encountered in say New Zealand examples. Off dry and fruity on the palate with a lively acid backbone, this is a good party wine, though I'm sure it would be nice with a plate of prawns.

Cotes de Bordeaux has taken over the former appellations of Cotes de Blaye, Cotes de Castillon etc (except Cotes de Bourg) since its launch in 2008. The former names will be added onto the basic Cotes de Bordeaux to describe it, like Blaye Cotes de Bordeaux above.

A Mencia from Bierzo

Mencia is an indigenous grape of Bierzo, where it is making wines that have elevated the status of that DO. I had tried Bierzo a couple of years ago at the Wine Fair, and I am sure I have seen this offering from Descendientes de J Palacios in the shops before. However when I tried to but it, it was unfortunately sold out. Formerly producing light pale fragrant wines for early consumption, renewed interest in the grape occurred when the yojnger generation of winemakers produced more concentrated and complex wines from old vines growing on hillsides (often on schist soils). The samples I had tasted at the 2010 Wine Fair were rich in colour with different layers to both nose and palate, and acid and tannins on the finish.

As for this wine (which I drank at the recent Spanish KCCWS dinner), it was ruby coloured with a cherry berry nose. The fragrant cherry notes extended to the palate which was also marked with tannins. There was quite a bit of astringency at swallowing which extended right to the finish but the cherry notes persisted throughout.

Chateau Doisy-Vedrines

There are three vineyards with Doisy as the first part of their names; and if you guessed that they were originally one vineyard which was later divided, then you would be spot on. Of the three (the other two are Doisy-Daene and Doisy-Dubroca), Diosy-Vedrines is the largest and most often seen (Hong Kong and elsewhere). All three were classed as Second Growth in the 1855 classification of Sauternes and Barsac. The vineyards of Doisy-Vedrines are in a single block, planted 85% with Semillon and these with Sauvignon Blanc. After selective manual harvesting through triage successif, the wine is fermented in stainless steel tanks under temperature control, before 18 months aging in barrels with 70% new oak. Fining and filtration is done prior to bottling. As for the above wine, it was a nice golden yellow in colour with a sweet dried apricot nose. The apricot notes follow through the palate onto the long finish where its was joined by a good smattering of acidity giving it a nice balance.

Erste Lage

Erste Lage are designations for the top vineyards of the locality and is represented by the symbol with a numeral 1 and an elongated base (making an L) with a representation of a bunch of grapes. Various maps both contemporary and historical are used to define the sites. However not all wines from such a site will automatically qualify for the designation. Apart from yield restrictions, the grapes must be attained the ripeness of Spatlese and be selectively harvested by hand. The designation can be used for both sweet and dry wines. For the latter, the top wines can be designated Grosse Gewaches (most of Germany) and Erste Gewachs (Rheingau).

Duca San Felice

This wine was pictured in the Ciro DOC section of the Uncharted Italy article in Decanter magazine. It was their second recommendation for the DOC and I had presented in a PWC dinner featuring unfamiliar Italian wines in December 2010. At the time, I was already interested in trying out a few more unusual grapes, in anticipation of joining the Wine Century Club. I found this wine made from Galioppo and was intrigued, so I bought it for the dinner. In the Decanter article, it was written that Galioppo may be of Greek origin, but the wikipedia article argued that it is a cross of Sangiovese and another as yet unidentified grape. As for this wine, it was the colour in between deep pink and light ruby, with a slightly meaty slightly berry nose. The palate was fruity with a little sweetness, and there was a plummy acidity which runs through the palate right through to the finish.

Quality wine from Wachau

Unlike the rest of Austria, which has a similar classification to Germany based on ripeness, Wachau has a different way of classifying its quality dry wines. Although its wines are also classified according to ripeness, they are different to those for Pradikat (unchaptalised) wines. The lowest category is Steinfeder for light weight wines below 11% alcohol when bottled. They can be spritzig, but grapes must be between 15-17 deg KMW. The next step is Federspiel, made from grapes >17 deg KMW with an alcohol level of between 11-12.5%. Residual sugar should be less than 4g/L. At the top of the scale is Smaragd, made from grapes >18.2 deg KMW, with >12.5% alcohol and maximum residual sugar of <8g/L. The Riesling from Prager pictured above is of the Smaragd category. I presented it at the PWC dinner in which we compared French (Alsace), German and Austrian Rieslings. A golden straw wine, it had a crisp acid nose with hints of almonds. The palate was dry and acid, with a backbone of minerally acidity right up to the finish.

Champagne Charlie (song)

Chorus

For Champagne Charlie is my name, Champagne Charlie is my name
Good for any game at night, my boys, good for any game at night, my boys,
Champagne Charlie is my name, Champagne Charlie is my name
Good for any game at night, boys, who’ll come and join me in a spree

Champagne Charlie is a Victorian music hall song written by George Leybourne and set to music by Alfred Lee. Written and premiered by Leybourne in 1866, it became popular over the next few months and made him famous. The lyrics revolve around the lifestyle of the Champagne drinking "toff" or "swell" partying all night, of which Leybourne could also be seen as the stereotype. As the lyrics actually mention vintage Moet champagne, this could be viewed as the forerunner of (or even the first ever) advertisement jingle. The success of the song led to his rival Alfred Vance singing a number called Clicquot (presumably in support of the champagne house of that name) lending more credence to the advertising song viewpoint. But not all is drink, idleness and conspicuous consumption; the music of the song was adapted by the Salvation Army for their song "Bless His Name He Sets Me Free".

Godello from Valdeorras

Godello is an indigenous grape from Galicia in Spain and Valdeorras is the main DO where it is grown and vinified (although some is also grown in nearby Bierzo). Valdeorras (literally Valley of Gold) was mined for gold in Roman times, but after they finished with extracting gold, they planted vines and made wine. In the Middle Ages, the religious orders took over, but it was only after the reintroduction of Godello in the early 1970s that the area acquired its DO status in 1977.

We had this wine at a Spanish wine dinner organized by the KCC Wine Society last week. A pale straw wine with a fragrant nose with a hint of fruit, the palate was a bit acid, slightly fruity but intriguingly a touch tannic too. There was also a bitter note in the palate, but this disappeared as the acid backbone took over right through to the finish. Interesting indeed!

The accidental wine tasting

I went to a medical society meeting about brain and respiratory monitoring at a Mongkok hotel and found this at the back of the function room at which the dinner lecture is being held. It turned out that the importers of the medical instruments had recently started a wine importing business and they were showcasing some of their wines to the assembled doctors. Apart from German wines, they also have some wines from Austria, Australia and Canada.

I was pleasantly surprised about this unexpected turn of things. I tried out a couple of Sekts, an Erstes Gewachs from Rhinegau, a Blaufrankisch from Austria and even two Canadian Ice Wines. The wines I chose for tasting turned out quite nice after all, even the Canadian wines. A wine importer to follow!

Timorasso

Derthona is the new DOC for the Timorasso grape from Piedmont. It used to be sold under the Colli Tortonesi DOC, sometimes with the grape name as well. Such confusion means that the rare grape is going to be even less known to people than it might otherwise have been. Once grown widely across Piedmont and Liguria, Timorasso's low yields and difficulty in propagation added to its woes when phylloxera attacked and almost went extinct, but it has been staging a quiet comeback in the last 15 years. A variety with opulent aromas, full body and great acidity, capable of expressing itself well with or without oak as well as being able to age, Richard Baudains feels that this grape should appeal to a wide audience.

The Decanter article provided tasting notes of another Derthona 2009 from Claudio Mariotto - Pitessa, giving it 4 stars and a mark of 18/20. As for the golden yellow wine that came out of the bottle above, it had a soft fruity nose with a crisp palate full of fruit notes and a minerally acidity that accompanied it throughout to the finish. A description on the Berry Brothers website remarked that Timorasso wines can be like a mix of Chablis and Savennieres - I can see where the Chablis bit fits in!

Chateau d'Yquem

Chateau d'Yquem was a royal estate of the King of England, having been part of the estates of Eleanor of Aquitane who married Henry Plantagenet (who later became Henry II). The French re-acquired the estate at the end of the Hundred Years' War in 1453 and it became the property of Jacques de Sauvage in 1593. In 1785 the chateau became the property of the Lur-Saluces family through marriage, and they owned it until the majority ownership of the property was bought by the French luxury group LVMH at the end of 1996.

Chateau Yquem is arguably the most famous French sweet wine and part of this is to do with its merciless quality control. Since every year is different, selection of the harvest means that varying amounts of the crop will end up being sold as Yquem. In the best years, the whole crop qualifies such as in 1967, 1976, 1989 (above) and 1990, whilst in poor years the whole crop is deemed unworthy of the Yquem name and no Yquem was made such as 1910, 1915, 1930, 1951, 1952, 1964, 1972, 1974, and 1992 (for the 20th century).

Corsican wine from Porte Vecchio

This is a bottle of Corsican wine from Porte Vecchio, made from a blend of Niellucio and Sciacarello. Although both are local Corsican varieties, Niellucio is the same as Sangiovese, though when and how that came to Corsica is not well documented. Sciacarello is thought only to exist on Corsica, but the German VIVC database also lists Mammolo (in all its guises) as a synonym of Sciacarello, which means that Sciacarello (as Mammolo) is permitted in both Chianti and Vino Nobile (also see previous blog on the latter). Sciacarello is the main grape of Ajaccio (Napoleon's natal town and capital of Corsica), where it makes highly perfurmed wine. No one specified whether a scent of violets is dominant, because Mammolo is so named because of its scent of violets (mammole in Italian).

As for this limpid garnet wine, I detected a sweet fruity nose with citrus (but no violets) notes (but then I am not very sensitive to violets anyway). The palate was basically dry with hints of fruitiness and a touch of alcohol heat. Tannins were evident just before swallowing with a hint of orange and both orange a notes and tannins persist right through to the finish.

Carbonic Maceration

Winemaking techniques are not usually prominently feautred on labels, so this is a rather unusual example. Often associated with Beaujolais, carbonic maceration involves fermenting whole bunches of grapes in a carbon dioxide rich environment prior to crushing. On the other hand, crushing is done early in conventional fermentation to releases juices. With carbonic maceration, fermentation starts within the grape and crushing will be done after carbonic maceration is over.

Normally used only for reds (and the odd rose) wines, this is an exception to the normal carbonic maceration in that we have a white wine made from 100% Albarino grapes from Rias Baixas. The other label (the one with all the required legal information) also says that the carbonic maceration was done at 0 degC, which is much colder than usual. As for the wine, it was a nice straw yellow with an aromatic fruity nose. It was slightly sweet on the palate with aromatic fruity notes and a good dose of acidity to keep everything together to a nice crisp finish.

Sagrantino di Montefalco

This is the top wine from Arnaldo Caprai, their 25th Anniversary Sagrantino di Montefalco. I tasted it at the Tre Bicchieri tasting before last year's wine fair. The last time I met the wine was at a winemaker's dinner with Marco Caprai. I had already blogged about his response to my question of cows and fertilizers. This wine was first produced in 1993 (but released in 1996) to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the company. The best fruit from the vineyard from the top years (hence not produced every year) is carefully vinified before 24-26 months of barrique aging and six months of bottle aging prior to release. The wine has gone onto winning international acclaim. The wine above was a nice deep ruby with an acid fruity nose. It was soft and fruity on the palate with abundant tannins which gives structure to a nice long finish.

Sampling the eclectic @HKIWSF

I had been too busy to keep up with reading my Decanter magazines, so I had let my subscription lapse. I am however still on their email list and from time to time, I will browse their Web depending of what catches my fancy in their promotional emails. Recently I came across an article "Uncharted Italy" in which Richard Baudains shared his pick of the 10 best original but overlooked Italian wines just waiting to be discovered. I found that I had tasted 7 out of the 10 DOC(G)s he wrote about and a few of these were discovered by me at the HKIWSF over the years. One wine - Cerasuolo di Vittorio was the subject of a blog entry in the last three weeks. As for the Lambruscos, I had already read about it from Decanter by the time I went to Chiang Mai in August 2003: I saw a stand in a shopping mall carrying a Lambrusco di Sorbara and bought it. So for the next few Fridays, we will explore some original Italians (both from that article and a few others as well).

Dalmau - a Parkerised Rioja

This is Dalmau, a modern Parker style wine from Bodegas Marques de Murrieta of Rioja. Whilst traditional Rioja wines tend to be pale from prolonged oak aging, Dalmau is altogether more concentrated. It is oaky too, but from 21 months of aging in new French barriques and contains some Cabernet Sauvignon, which is not in the traditional Rioja blend. Part of the concentration also comes from the fruit, which is harvested from a vineyard over 50 years old in the famed Ygay estate.

I remember the first time we had this wine. It was the second Peter's Wine Circle dinner in December 2002 on the theme of Rioja. Two wines stood out from the crowd and both were from Bodegas Marques de Murrieta. This Dalmau 1994 (rated WS86, RP87) was one and the other was a 1970 Castillo Ygay. What a night!

ALA Antico Liquorvino Amarascato

This is ALA Antico Liquorvino Amarascato by Duca di Salaparuta from Sicily. First produced in 1920s, ALA is made with selected Sicilian red wines which have been aged in barrels for years and then flavoured with a fine infusion of morello cherry leaves. I had tried this as a digestif a number of times at the conclusion of KCCWS dinners. Varying between a deep garnet with a hint of ruby to a definite tawny colour, it was sweet with vine fruits, hints of meat, almond and acid on the nose. The palate was sweet and raisiny with an acid finish that was variously described (by me on different occasions) as citric or with a hint of almonds. Some suggested it to accompany chocolates. Well, I might give that a try.

This is the last entry in this series on flavoured wines. However, writing this series has inspired me to look at wine based drinks, such as mulled wine and wine cups. I have also prepared vin d'orange at Xmas whilst in the UK. That sound like another series for the blog will soon be born.

Juhfark from Somlo

This is a bottle of Juhfark wine from Somlo in Hungary. Not a well known variety due to its limited distribution (mainly in Somlo), I read of it in Hugh Johnson's pocket wine book and wondered if the Hungarian wine retailers might carry it in Hong Kong. It was not there in the Wan Chai shop, but I was going to phone the distributor to look for it. When I got to their stand in last year's wine fair, I thought I might just ask. Although they did not have a bottle opened, they did have one chilled and would open it for tasting to someone interested enough to ask.

Juhfark literally means sheep's tail, which aptly describes the shape of its long cylindrical bunches. A late ripening grape, it produces wines with firm acids and fine aromas capable of expressing the minerality of its terroir. As for this example, it was deep yellow in colour with a fruity crisp nose sporting a hint of sweetness. It was off-dry with a slightly fruity palate and a mild acidity in its backbone.

Airen

This is a wine made from Airen, the grape reputedly planted over the largest area on earth, and all of that is found in the region of La Mancha in central Spain. Now you may associate La Mancha with Don Quixote, but this area has been a DO since 1976 with some 300 wineries in the region. Airen often produces acidic wines of little character, as a result of which it was mainly used for the production of brandy. (cf Ugni Blanc or Trebbiano which tends to produce similar wines, but attain great fame when distilled into the brandies of Cognac and Armagnac)

However, when carefully vinified, the results can be pleasing. The above example is an organic Airen made with care. Lemon yellow, with a crisp slightly fruity nose, it was off-dry with a slightly fruity palate with notes of peach and a good acidic backbone leading to a crisp finish. On one occasion, I had got a pair of wines for a group dinner. One of my drinking friends preferred this to a RP90 Vacqueyras. Praise indeed for a grape often blamed for the EU wine lake!!

Sicilian wine made from two Nerellos

This is a bottle of red Etna DOC wine made from two Nerello grapes indigenous to that area. Nerello, like Lambrusco, is a family of grapes, but whilst the various Lambrusco DOC regions ensure that the different varieties are known, only Nerello Mascalese is generally known (and only recently getting a wider audience). The two varieties used in this wine are Nerello Mascalese and Nerello Cappuccio, the two most commonly encountered members of the Nerello family. The former is named after the Mascari plain in Catani when it was thought to originate, and is a useful blending grape adding colour as well as an aromatic spiciness to the wines. Nerello Cappuccio is supposed to be the better grape and is mainly found between 350 and 900m above sea level on the slopes of Mount Etna. Both grapes are harvested late in October. As for this wine tasted in the 2011 wine fair, it was a light garnet colour with a sweet red fruit nose harbouring notes of meatiness. Sweet overall from start to finish, it was fruity on the palate, followed by nice acid woody notes to the finish.

Kerner

This is a bottle of Kabinett made from the Kerner grape. Bred by August Herold in 1929 by crossing Trollinger and Riesling, the grape is vigorous and can withstand low winter temperatures down to -10degC. The wine produced is fruity (often with Muscat tones) and racy but is less pronounced in acidity than Riesling and often has more body. Grown mainly ion Germany, it is also found in the neighbouring Austria, Switzerland and Italy, but the furthest away I have found (though not yet tasted) a Kerner wine is from the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido. (That however is for another blog).

As for this wine, it was a light lemon yellow with a crisp fruity nose. The palate was sweet sour and fruity, with a good dose of acidity for accompaniment.

Visciola

I was sampling some Lacrima de Morro d'Alba at their stand at last year's wine fair when I was told to try this Visciola. I was told that it was very famous in the past, with the Duke of Urbino writing about it 600 years ago, saying that he would not drink any wine except Visciola. So what is it? It is a spiced wine made by first fermenting wild Visciole sour cherries for two months and then refermenting that with Lacrima must for another 3 months, before aging 6-8 months in barrels and then bottling the resulting wine. Spiced are added somewhere along the way. Looking it up in the Web, there is at least another variant with a different wine base (Pergola Rosso made from Vernaccia di Pergola and Sangiovese). Deep ruby with a sweet acid spicy nose with a dominant cinnamon note, the above Visciola has a sweet slightly fruity cinnamon palate, with a nice amount of acidity running right through to the end. Somewhat reminiscent of mulled wine because of its spiciness.

Biondi-Santi's Brunello

This is the famous Brunello di Montalcino "La Greppo" from Biondi-Santi. I tasted this wine (from the 2006 vintage) at the Gambera Rosso Tre Bicchieri tasting accompanying the launch of their Chinese wine guide on the eve of last year's wine fair. Established in 1880. the Biondi-Santi estate created the wine Brunello di Montalcino from the Sangiovese Grosso clone of Sangiovese and later obtained official classification for the wine.

This wine grew famous and eclipsed the reputation of the Moscadello for which Montalcino was previously famous (see previous blog). The Brunellos from the Greppo estate are known for their longevity. The ordinary Annata offering (pictured above) is made from vines between 10-15 years old whilst a special cuvee the Riserva come from vines 25-80 years old. As for the 2006 Annata, it was a limpid light rose ruby colour with a very fruity nose. Sweet with fruit and acid on the palate, there was a good acid backbone to carry it through to a nice long finish.