Wines from Tursan

Tursan is not a well known wine producing area as far as Hong Kong is concerned, though having seen the map above hanging at the back of a Lourdes souvenir shop, I had got my bearings for it. I was basically leaving Wine and Dine Festival on the Sunday when I stumbled upon this stand at the Admiralty exit showcasing Tursan wines. They emphasized its proximity to Bordeaux, their local indigenous varieties and the fact that they had made a number of wines to go with Asian cuisine, both Japanese and Chinese. The attraction of obscure grapes was one I could not resist, and I tasted a couple of whites.

A different way to encourage extraction

When red wine is fermented, the grape skins (or pomice) goes into the fermentation vessel and some form of agitation is used to encourage the interesting substances in the skins to leach out into the fermenting must to end up in the finished wine. The most dramatic of these is used in the brief fermentation of that great fortified wine, port, in which the maceration and fermentation is cut short by the addition of alcohol. The classical way to aid maceration is foot treading, but robot treading and pumping over also number amongst the methods employed. The latter is also used for ordinary still reds, as the the simple expedient of manually pushing the cap down into the must.

I learnt of a very different way involving pressure vessels as I was finding out (as well as tasting) a German Fruhburgunder. First I though it is the same as the ordinary Pinot Noir which in German is Spatburgunder, but in fact they count as two different varieties. The grapes ferment in a pressurized vessel in which the pressure is released when the pressure reaches three atmosphere above ambient. Imagine shaking a bottle of soda pop and then unscrewing the cap. Everything bubbles vigorously and the contents are thoroughly churned. That would also happen to the must as well as the skins, thus aiding extraction of the interesting material from the latter. Well one lives and learns!

One Wine One World

There are two wines, a white and a red, which were made for this project, One Wine One World, which ended up as a blend of wines from a number of different places around the world, to emphasize the elements that the various wine regions had in common, with the proceeds going to charity, mainly the Maimonides Foundation which promotes communication and understanding amongst Jew, Christians and Muslims. One of the people that the wine was served to was Pope Benedict XVI during his visit to the UK, at a lunch with Bishops in Birmingham.

The red was blended from Mexican, Californian and Southern French wines, with a cepage of Grenache, Carignan, Syrah, Petite Sirah, and Cabernet Sauvignon. The white was an assemblage of wines from Italy, Slovenia and Hungary and made from Pinot Grigio, Friulano, Ribolla Gialla, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and a little Furmint and Chevalier. AS for the wine celebrity behind this project, it is James Suckling.

Furtiva Lagrima 2009

Una furtiva lagrima
negli occhi suoi spuntò:
Quelle festose giovani
invidiar sembrò.

This is the beginning of the famous aria from Act 2 of Donizetti's famous opera, L'elisir d'Amore. I certainly did not expect to see a wine of that name at the Wine Fair this year, more surprising that it was a product of a Portuguese winery. I had just visited a booth nearby, having marked a wine for tasting, when I spotted the name on the label of the bottle on the counter. I sang the opening phrase and the person behind the counter gave a thumbs up. It was indeed named in honour of the aria!

Made from a mix of Syrah, Touriga Nacional and Alicante Bouchet, the wine was a deep purple ruby, with a blackberry woody nose. The palate was slightly sweet with plenty of berry fruit but was also a touch savoury. Tannins and acid provide good support for the wine.

Essence de Dourthe 2008

This is a special cuvee from the Bordeaux negociant Dourthe, made from the best fruits of five of its top vineyards, Belgrave (Haut Medoc), Le Boscq (St Estephe), Pey la Tour (Bordeaux Superieure), La Garde (Pessac-Leognan) and Grand Barrail Lamarzelle Figeac (St Emilion Grand Cru). The fruit was picked at optimal ripeness and fermented in small oak vats separately and aged in new barrels for 12-18 months before assemblage into this Essence. So far, Dourthe has only released 2 vintages -2005 and 2008, and the latter included the St Emilion property which was not part of the 2005 selection.

I met this wine at this year's Wine and Dine Festival. Ruby with a berry fruity nose with slight minty notes, the palate was slightly sweet but full of berry fruit. Tannins kicked in mid palate accompanied by acid, which harmonized to provide a solid backbone for the wine.

Le Charlesmagne 2004 from Corton

I had previously blogged how, like certain Chateaux in Pessac-Leognan, the whites of Corton are more sought after and also more expensive than the reds, which are also produced at a higher volume. Most of the wine is either sold under the appelations of Corton or Corton-Charlesmagne, but there is also a small lieu-dit of En Chalesmagne (0.28 ha) which can use the AC of Le Charlesmagne.

I met this bottle at the Grand Tasting Pavilion at this year's Wine and Dine Festival. A golden yellow in colour, it had a closed crisp fruity nose as it was a touch too cold when served. The palate was sweet and fruity with a creamy acid aftertaste evolving into a good acid backbone for structure. I'm sure it would become more interesting with age and at the right temperature. (NB. white Burgundies, especially venerable wines from top sites need to be served at temperatures akin to venerable reds, but are too often served at temperatures for fresh whites, sending the wine into a dazed hibernation.)

Cabernet gernischt from Inner Mongolia

Now this is one Cabernet that was not mentioned in the earlier blog. I had come across this enigmatic variety on browsing the exhibitors' info, but was not able to find it in VIVC. Googling it yielded little information, until an article wondered if the name was somehow a corruption of Cabernet Gemischt, an easy enough transcription error, with gemischt meaning mixed in German. Yet this was no mixture of Cabernet vines, or even a cross with either Cabernet Sauvignon or Franc with s mixture of pollen, the identity of the other parent not being certain. Wikipedia notes that some Chinese wine industry figures feel that it is actually Carmenere, first introduced by Zhangyu Winery into China's Shandong in 1892 mistakenly as mixed Cabernet, hence the name. In fact that turned out to be the correct hunch as Jancis Robinson has reported that DNA analysis by her wine grape book co-author has confirmed the grape to be Carmenere.

I chanced across the wine during the Wine Fair last weekend. There were 3 vintages on show, with a fortified VDN as well!