March 2018

Pinot Noir auf Deutsch? Sehr gut!

Pinot Noir has been a hot topic for some time now. And the usual discussion about whether the pricing and performance is currently more exciting in California’s Central Coast or Russian River, or in special vintages from the Motherland (France), is the norm. But with global warming, there are new considerations to the Pinot discussion, particularly in a juicy vintage like 2015. Like …Germany?

No, we are not talking about some leafy tasting, brownish Spätburgunder that garners little interest outside of Deutschland itself. We are now talking about extremely appealing examples of German Pinot Noir these days, wines that are competitive on the world stage. At the top of our list in that category is today’s selection from Meyer-Näkel.

This player is no surprise either to us any more, though we must admit our surprise from our first trip to the region more than a decade ago. We have sold several vintages of the Meyer-Näkel wines since that time and they only seem to be getting better. Werner Näkel himself is credited with putting the Ahr on the map internationally back in the 1990s and nothing has changed, other than the Pinots have taken on a deeper fruit component and a more tender mouth feel, while never losing the lift, clarity and purity that make them special. The Ahr Valley has a long history with the varietal and is only elevated by the current weather trends.

Yes there are easier things to sell than German Pinot Noir, but the quality at Meyer-Näkel has earned them the right to be included in any serious discussion about the varietal. As you might have guessed, the 2015 vintage that was a watershed for the Rieslings was also very kind to Pinot Noir. So the Meyer Nakel Spätburgunder (aka Pinot Noir) Estate 2015 has a bit more flesh and sweetness on the palate, making it perhaps the most ideal ‘crossover’ Pinot they have made. Yet it still speaks of the unique micro-climate in this river valley.

Lively cherry and red berry fruit is accented with some smoky tones, cinnamon, slatey minerality, and a whiff of damp forest. The fruit takes hold on the palate but there is a perfect tension that keeps everything bright and expressive. For under $30, it can hold its own in any arena, with the personality best pegged as somewhere between Oregon and the Cote de Beaune, but with its own spin. A must for Pinot lovers.

2016 ITALIAN WHITES: MAKING A POINT (plus three more winners)

The more we taste examples from the 2016 vintage in northern Italy, both red and white, the more wonder we experience. Wine after wine shows a clarity of purpose, purity of fruit, and uniquely expressive nature unlike anything we can recall in recent times. Are these wines really that good? The more we experience, the more inclined we are to say ‘yes, they are!’

It wasn’t that long ago we were pretty gaga over the 2010 whites from this part of the world. The fruit had substance and power, there was plenty of zip and verve and, in short, they were everything that you could expect n Italian white to be. We remember the 2010s fondly, and were using them as the ‘benchmark’ for everything that was special about Italian whites. The 2016s are all of that and more, with everything that the 2010s had plus an undefinable ‘presence’ and harmony that sets the 2016s on another level. That being said here are three more outstanding examples to make our point:

Filippo Gallino Arneis 2016–The story here isn’t extensive, just a committed producer that consistently makes very good wine and doesn’t charge a lot for it. With a ‘naked’ grape like Arneis you can’t really tweak it in the cellar with wood and have to be very careful with extended lees contact as both can negatively affect the desired freshness of the wine’s profile, you get what Nature gives you. Wines like this really are made in the vineyard and those that farm meticulously are the successful ones.

Sure there are slightly more exotic aromatics with some of the big dogs labels that cost a lot more. But this one presents all of the fresh floral nuances and apple-skin aromatics and the lively fruit driven palate that are the essence of this genre. The 2016 simply has more energy and fruit weight than past versions, which makes this one a killer deal.

Inama Soave Classico 2016– As we have remarked, even the little wines are noticeably better in 2016. Somehow they have a little more punch, a little more lift, and a surprising degree of harmony that forces you to take notice. Inama is a staple around here, and we buy it almost every year. But there’s just ‘more’ to this wine than any that we have tasted in recent memory.

There’s no big story here. This is just Garganega, the classic grape of Soave, done in 100% stainless steel. Sure it sounds simple enough. But again this is a ‘naked’ wine which they can’t really mess with in the cellar of everything doesn’t go right, so there is a bit more to it. All of the words matter. To carry the name ‘classico’ the grapes must come from the hillside vineyards around the municipalities of Soave and Monteforte d’Alpone in the original and oldest classic “zone” of Verona established back in 1927.

Forget those over-produced, insipid Soaves that flooded the market 20-30 years ago. This is nothing like those. Advocate’s Monica Larner’s words are precise enough, “This entry-level Soave Classico delivers the elegant mineral definition and fruit sensation you should expect of the best Garganega grapes. The 2016 Soave Classico Vin Soave benefits from very favorable growing conditions in a classic vintage. The bouquet is refined and polished with stone fruit, citrus, dried sage and saffron.” Driving and quite engaging for the fare.

Keber Collio Bianco 2016–No place does this kind of thing like the northeast of Italy. Riveting, purposeful blends of a mixture of white varietals make for some uniquely compelling whites with lifted fruit, plenty of sizzle, but also unexpected palate presence. In that realm, Keber has always been one of the stars. Their Collio Bianco can stand with the best in the region, but is much more attractively priced.

Maybe it was just a good day, but the 2016 Keber Collio is the best version of this wine we can remember tasting, everything the past efforts have been but with seemingly another gear. The blend is 70% Friulano , 15% Malvasia Istriana, and 15% Ribolla Gialla. The concept is Friulano for structure, Malvasia Istriana for its aromatic qualities, and Ribolla Gialla for
acidity. These varietals do very well in the so-named “Ponka” soil, composed of marl and sandstone, that naturally stresses the vines. The grapes are whole cluster, soft-pressed to minimize oxidation during crushing. The juice is fermented and matured on the yeasts for 6 months in
cement vats. Twenty per-cent of the Friulano is aged in older, large barrels.

This wine, from a 10-acre estate near the Slovenian border, always has remarkable weight, body and a distinctive, super-minerally aspect typical of the region. The estate produces just this wine but it is a constant winner. This time around, it’s just a notch or two better, which is pretty sensational.

A Dandy Andezon in 2016

The Cotes du Rhone from Andezon has been on our radar for a long time. It was on the front cover of our old printed newsletter at least once (maybe even a rare second time come to think of it). So given our experience thus far with the ‘little’ 2016s in the southern Rhone, we were quite anxious to see how this Eric Solomon staple for more than two decades fared.

The brief background story for those that don’t know this one by now is as follows. Back in 1994, Eric Solomon visited the Vignerons d’Estézargues Co-operative winery and met a young, passionate director/winemaker named Jean-François Nicq. By the end of the day, they had decided on a custom bottling of old-vine Syrah (30-60 year old vines) from one of their best parcels, Andezon, that had been previously sold in bulk to a “very famous producer in the Rhone Valley”. The rest, as they say, is history.

To repeat, unlike most Cotes du Rhones, the Andezon is predominantly Syrah with a little Grenache (up to 10% depending on the vintage, though some will claim it’s all Syrah), unlike the typically Grenache-dominated cuvees from this part of the world. It sees no oak, they use no cultured yeasts, no filtering, no fining and no enzymes during vinification or aging, and only add a small amount of SO2 at bottling. Les Vignerons d’Estézargues has begun to practice ‘natural winemaking’, for those interested in that sort of thing, and have to be one of the only co-ops in the world to do so.

As for the wine itself, the Les Vignerons d’Estezargues Cotes du Rhone Andezon 2016 is certainly the best example of this cuvee we have tasted, and that is saying something. The signature of the vintage is here…deep, riveting fruit, uncommon richness yet with energy and lift. We could go on but the prose of Wine Advocate’s Joe Czerwinski certainly makes the point, “The 2016 Cotes du Rhone Andezon is 100% Syrah, aged entirely in tank. It’s a lush, medium to full-bodied wine bursting with ripe blackberries and blueberries. No, it doesn’t have the peppery spice of Syrah from the northern Rhône, but it does have enough cola-like spicy complexity to warrant an outstanding rating…91 points“

In closing, it is important to make another point we refer to as the ‘theory of relativity’. When a vintage this spectacular comes along, there is a tendency for reviewers to calibrate reviews between wines, and not necessarily factor in the vintage itself. That’s not necessarily a criticism, but it is a fact. People don’t always account for the fact that the whole category is working far above the norm.

The salient point is that better wines in lesser vintages often get higher scores than they should and, in outstanding vintages, the wines don’t necessarily get their due within the broader historical perspective. Pull out this ’91-pointer’ and put it up against similar ‘performers’ from other vintages down the road and this will dominate. The 2016s are that good, and this one will outperform the ‘number’ in the glass. Good times, 2016 continues to look like one of the best vintages we have ever sold .

‘NATURALLY’ TASTY: QUERCIA GROSSA BATTIFOLLE TOSCANA 2014

You’d think after doing this as long as we have, we’d have the sense to be a little more selective of the topics we choose. Sadly, or perhaps not, we are in it for the experience and to highlight wines that deserve attention from folks who love wine, famous or not. It sometimes takes you in directions you aren’t necessarily expecting to go. Quercia Grossa is one of those times, but the wine definitely made it worth the ‘trip’.

Located in the southern part of the Maremma, the warmer part of Tuscany, this wine has the distinction of being from a ‘genre’ that is no longer recognized as en vogue (super-Tuscan), made in a ‘natural’ style (definitely something that sends up reds flags to us because of how many sloppy wines hit the market under that banner), and from one of the most difficult vintages in the region in this century. It would be very easy, simply based on the data, to just look past this one. But the wine was simply too compelling and had an engaging, rather unique personality.

It starts with the farming. In their words, “In the course of this venture, we recovered a number of old vineyards scattered around Roccatederighi in various small plots on the undertaking that they would be treated like a garden, in tune with the rhythms of nature. Production is not forced in the vineyard, and, as far as possible, we use manual working methods in order to avoid using products that may be harmful to the plants and environment. Respect for nature and the environment requires the absence of insecticides, botritycides, weed-killers and chemical fertilizers. Treatment in the vineyards is kept to the minimum.”

As to the harvest itself, “Grapes are hand-picked into small crates, so that they can be examined and sorted if necessary during the harvesting process. The grape harvest is a magical moment in which a symbiotic bond forms between man and the grapevines that have been trained and shaped by generations of loving hands. After the grape clusters have been picked and laid carefully in small crates, they are taken to the winery: an intimate, magical place. Here they undergo a delicate vinification process; the grapes give off an intense aroma and start to macerate in small concrete vats for a period of up to forty days. Fermentation takes place naturally with the aid of the indigenous ‘wild’ yeasts present in the grapes.”

“Achieving and preserving a harmonious balance between man, the grapevines and the surrounding countryside in keeping with the concept that “wine is made in the vineyard” is the key to creating a wine with personality: a wine produced by a local winemaker who treats the grape cluster with the utmost respect, applying a philosophy based on simplicity.”

If you have read enough wine writings, you have heard all of this kind of thing before. The difference here is that, unlike all of the ‘natural’ folks out there that seem to use the process as an excuse for marginal winemaking, the folks at Quercia Grossa made a little magic when the odds were against them. Of course, having former Cristom Pinot-master Tim Manning consulting and informing the wines with an extra level of elegance doesn’t hurt.

We aren’t trying to qualify the achievement either. This tender, fruit centered, surprisingly ample wine is just plain tasty, with a uniquely appealing texture, plum, cassis and black cherry fruit with notes of earth and minerality, and gentle, unfettered tannins. The Quercia Grossa Battifolle Toscana 2014, still presented under the indeterminate banner of IGT, is a blend of 40% Sangiovese, 40% Merlot , and 20% Cabernet Sauvignon , after which it is placed into 225 liter second and third use barrels with minimal sulphite addition.

For the guy who imported this wine, this is a labor of passion. But this genteel, tasty red deserves an audience which is why we bought it.

RAUL PEREZ ULTREIA 2016-ANOTHER SUPER VALUE EFFORT

We’ve been telling the Raul Perez story for a while now. If you haven’t heard it, think of it as one of those ‘local guy makes good’ as long as that locale is northwestern Spain. The Raul Perez ‘legend’ has grown over the years and, thanks to some ‘market changes’, the prices have come down a bit. Meanwhile Raul is making some of the best wines he has ever made. If it all sounds like a pretty advantageous situation for consumers, it is!

While his portfolio is chock full of stunning examples made from the native grape of Bierzo, Mencia, some difficult to tell apart because the label nomenclature is so similar, we have chosen to focus on his entry-level bottling called Ultreia. Why? Well it might be one of the most amazing red wine values in Spain, if not the world.

Raul has been working at a high level for quite a while now and certainly the raw materials play a part in the wine’s success. The Mencia grapes for this cuvee are grown in clay soils in the village of Valtuille de Abajo and were harvested from vines that were planted between 1900 and 1940. The Raul Perez Bierzo Ultreia St. Jacques 2015, which we sold last year, was the wine that gave Raul a spotlight like none of his previous, brilliant efforts ever had.

The 2015 vintage was perfect for Raul’s style. The flavors ranged from ripe cranberry to dark cherry. Weight-wise this Mencia plays like a hefty Pinot from the Santa Lucia Highlands flavor-wise, but with more florality to the nose, more lift and freshness to the palate, and striking harmony. Sometimes Mencia can be a little inward and unyielding at first, but there is none of that here! This is a beautifully proportioned and surprisingly sophisticated red for the fare.

It got plenty of attention from the critics including 93 points from Luis Gutierrez of Wine Advocate with comments, “…The 2015 Ultreia St Jacques …is amazingly good for the price. Produced from old vines, this is a serious wine, with juicy fruit, a fine palate and good freshness…”. James Suckling tossed a 91 on that ’15 saying, ” …Cherry and floral accents sing through the finish. Energetic…”

We finished our comments on that at the time by saying, “We are sure there are more reviews to come but we suspect they will arrive a little late.” Sure enough, the Wine Spectator came along and not only gave it a 91 point score but included it in the Wine Spectator Top 100 (#51) for 2017.

We’re reminding you of all of that to tell you this. The Raul Perez Bierzo Ultreia St. Jacques 2016 just hit the floor and it is another striking effort. Plenty of explosive red and black fruits in the mid-palate, maybe a touch less fleshy at the moment but with tremendous drive through the back palate, this is quite aristocratic for something in this price range. We’re finding that 2016 is making its own mark in Spain as a vintage.

Once again the wine features mostly Mencia, with touches of other indigenous varietals Bastardo (Trousseau) and Garnacha Tintorera (Alicante Bouschet). This wine was done via 80% whole cluster fermentation in large oak vats then aged in a variety of vessels from 225L and 500L barrels to upright vats to cement. It is bottled unfiltered and unfined. Expressive and attention-getting, with a slightly cooler edge, it is once again an incredibly impressive beverage for a modest fare comfortably under $20 ($17.98).

We haven’t seen any press yet (3/12/2018) but given the performance here, and Raul’s recent track record, we are pretty confident there will be plenty. We love the stuff. Meanwhile we have ours, get yours.

The Ribera’s Ravishing ‘Rogue’

One thinks typically of the Ribera del Duero as a more ‘serious’, what with the neighborhood harboring such heavyweights as Vega Sicilia, Hacienda del Monasterio, Pingus, and Pesquera. The term ‘Picaro’, the brainchild of Dominio di Aguila, refers to someone who is a rascal, or a rogue. The question posed by Picaro is, can a Ribera be, well, fun? The answer apparently is…yes!

Dominio del Aguila Picaro Ribera del Duero 2015 definitely operates outside the box for an area like the Ribera. Sure you’ve got your Tempranillo here, the backbone grape of the region, but Aguila co-ferments it with an unusual mixture of Garnacha, Bobal (a grape we associate with climes further south), and Albillo (the rare, indigenous white of the Ribera). So what do you get? Well, let’s call it a rogue within the typical confines of the region, but more accurately it is Ribera with its ‘party hat’ on.

There’s plenty of richness here, but there is also a lift to the flavors that is unlike anything else we have tasted from the area. Gushing berry and cassis flavors but also a streak that is like a marinated black cherry to let you know that this is no ordinary Ribera.

The winemaking is more than serious with the vine age here somewhere north of 50-years-old, farmed organically/biodynamically, trodden by foot before being put in French oak for malo-lactic fermentation and a sojourn of 12-20 months in wood (though there is no obvious wood in the flavors). The vineyards here are north-facing, which give the wine a little cooler profile to begin with. It all sounds formal enough yet the wine’s wild fruit notes, more lifted personality, and outgoing spiciness can only be described as tasty and, yes, fun.

Jorge Monzon and Elizabeth Rodero founded the winery only in 2010 after Jorge spent years selling his produce to ‘several high profile neighbors’. They have definitely separated themselves from the pack in a very good way and we can only marvel at their successful new approach and how Aguila takes such a stylistic diversion and makes you wonder why more people haven’t done this.

We aren’t the only fans either. This juicy, unique red got high marks from two very different palates, James Suckling (95 points) and Advocate’s Luis Gutierrez (92+ points). Suckling’s words were concise, if jubilant, “This has impressive fragrance and aromatic detailing with bright cherry and red plum fruits, cinnamon and sappy notes. The palate has vivid fleshy fruit that floats amid filigree tannins, anchoring it precisely in place. A great wine.”

Among Luis’ extensive comments, “…This is a fresh interpretation of 2015. I wish more Crianzas from Ribera del Duero had this joviality and approachability while keeping the balance and the serious quality profile.” Sadly, there isn’t enough of the 2015 to have too much market impact as yet. Get yours while you can.

They make a very cool ‘rogue’ rosé as well called Dominio di Aguila Picaro Clarete 2014 as well, intended to be released with bottle age. A blend of red and white wine (rather than a saignee), this is an attention getter.

Sizzling Sudtirol Triple-Play

The more we find out about this Sud-Tirol producer, the more impressed we are. We are big fans of the whites from these pristine sites nestled near the Alps, which we lovingly refer to as the German part of Italy. Sparkling high valleys, clean air, unique ad varied soils, we dare say that when Nature cooperates, these are some of the most riveting whites anywhere. Margreid has been one of the standard bearers for the region since we first ran across his precise wines maybe three vintages back. The rest, as they say, is history, though this latest set of releases kind of border on ‘historic from the standpoint of excelling true to the region.

If you like big, buttery Chardonnays, these will not be your muse. But if you fancy driving fruit delivered atop vigorous, fresh acidity, clean, pure flavors and superb integration, your Schiff has com in. We were recently presented with this lineup from Margrein, featuring efforts from the 2016 vintage (which has been enormously exciting in this region) and we couldn’t help buy everything we were presented. This ‘triple play’ was quite a show!

The thing is that these perform nearly perfectly for what they are intended to be. It isn’t a genre that gets a lot of attention, nor are these the kind of wines that will play to the typical media palate. But the execution for our tastes is so impressive, we find talking them up an imperative even if it is for a small, select audience. How excited can we get about Kerner, Pinot Grigio and Schiava? If they taste like this, pretty darned excited! And the prices are very modest for wines this good.

Nals Margreid Kerner Sudtirol Alto Adige 2016– While this aromatic white grape, first created in Germany in 1929 as a hybrid between Schiava and Riesling, is something of an also-ran in its native country, on this side of the hills it hits remarkable heights. The exotic fruit component flashes tropical notes, candied citrus, dried peach and honey, yet is bone dry with a trace of salinity. The tension between the fruit and well-integrated acid keeps the flavors lifted and vigorous but there is plenty here to make an impression. Even though it is crisp and nervy, it is packed with flavor.

Nals Margreid Pinot Grigio Sudtirol Alto Adige 2016– One of the most unique and interesting examples of this varietal we can recall. There’s a persistent florality to the nose that grabs you immediately, followed by impressions of pear and apricot that avail themselves as the wine unfolds. Plenty of flesh to make an impression up front followed almost immediately by a fresh underpinning of acidity that drives the fruit through the back-palate. Yes we know that there is a lot of insipid Pinot Grigio on the market. The people who drink those probably wouldn’t like this one because it has waayyy too much character. This is an elite performance because it is loaded with character yet still plays on the racy side as it should.

Nals Margreid Galea Schiava Sudtirol Alto Adige 2016– Schiava anyone? Yes this fresh red is virtually unknown to most folks, mostly functioning as a cool, go-to red in this mountain country. But with a little more ripeness’ the possibilities expand greatly. Here we have the insistent spice of the varietal augmenting a somewhat riper and more tender version of red fruits that lean a little blue. Schiava from a cooler vintage can have a bit of an edge. But somehow, in Goldilocks speak, this one is ‘just right’. Roses, fresh outdoor spiciness, a touch of earth, bright flavors., from century-old vines, it is medium weight and dangerously quaffable. Serve with a slight chill.

Rhone 2016: ‘A Little Something’ from Burle

We have been preaching the gospel about the southern Rhones in 2016, a vintage that thus far has not ceased to surprise and amaze us from the big gun Chateauneufs (tasted recently in Europe) to the littlest Cotes du Rhone. The ongoing problem, however, is that the wines are concentrated thanks to super low yield. So you have very compelling wines, just much less of them.

Think of this knockout little Cotes du Rhone, from one of the Rhone’s grand old families, as something you would have seen an email offer on except for that one, small issue. As we often do when we run across something this compelling, we try to corral as much of it as we possibly can. Sadly this time there simply wasn’t much to be had. Hence this modest, if no less enthusiastic piece.

Looking at the facts, you have an estate that isn’t very big in the first place (they only produces around 500 cases each of three different wines in a good year) and you have a vintage that was woefully short anyway thanks to Mother Nature. The fact that it is brought in by a small, relatively new importer may have also come into play, but probably not.

As to the wine, the Domaine Burle Cotes du Rhone 2016 might be the most impressive thing we have yet had from the Burle domaine. Like some of the other 2016 Cotes du Rhones we have featured, this wine has an uncommon power and grace. The vintage was very successful overall, with the wines showing deep, almost glowing mulberry color and unprecedented power thanks in particular to the Grenache (the wine is 70% Grenache and 30% Syrah from 40-50 year-old vines).

What makes 2016 special is not only the size and concentration of the wines, but the harmony and fine tuning they show from top to bottom. Enter Burle, an estate that typically makes muscular, if sometimes a little rustic wines, here showing like it is dressed in its Sunday best. Organic farming, bottled unfiltered and unfined, we suspect in this case they aren’t just going with the current trend. They have always done it this way.

Rich, lifted, uncommon verve and balance, you’ve likely had Chateauneufs that aren’t this compelling, and you certainly paid more than $15 for them. A must while it lasts, the ‘little’ wines in the southern Rhone in 2016 are special, even if the label here looks like it is some sort of ‘sun’ vision from the 70’s. The media hasn’t really picked up on it in a big way and the ‘buzz’ hasn’t started…yet. Take advantage while you can, but with 2016s you’ll likely need to move a little faster.

Paul Aufranc: Beaujolais in its own World

This marks the third vintage we have carried from Pascal Aufranc, one of the most distinctive Beaujolais producers we have run across. It all started with four acres of vines in the now emerging village of Chenas (the estate is now up to 10 ha.). The old vines for this cuvee sit at the top of a granite hill called En Remont topped with sand at a little over 1000 feet elevation.

Besides the extreme vine age (yes, they were planted in 1939) and unique exposure (south and south-west on the hill-top), these particular vines have a rather different story. They are surrounded by forest and, therefore, are removed from being influenced by any of the other farming concerns around them. So these old vines pretty much exist in a world of their own. That does much to explain why the vintages we have sold are so distinct from each other. Each year the vines develop in harmony with that year’s weather and not much else gets in the way. As such they seem really reflect the unique nuances of each vintage.

The results we have tasted from Aufranc have been spectacular for a variety of reasons, certainly not the least of which are the really old vines sitting in a place unlike any other. Each effort has been a poster child for the best of what the particular vintage has to offer. The 2014 was cool, elegant and pretty, the 2015 more packed with accessible, flashy fruit though in a way that panders to hedonists that might be considered atypical (however delicious) to Beaujolais purists.

The Pascal Aufranc Chenas Vignes de 1939 2016 displays the best elements of what might be called classic Beaujolais. There is plenty of fruit, but the fruit has verve and a cooler edge. Lovely notes of expressive dark cherry and plum act as the central theme to a purely rendered Chenas that also demonstrates smoke, mineral, fresh herbs and exotic spice. Plenty of fruit here, but there’s a lifted, more polished, more aristocratic bent to the flavors.

There’s plenty to like here for the hedonists still, though it’s less overtly sweet and fleshy. As for the traditionalist, we can’t imagine a more complete rendition of the genre than this although, sadly, this one’s focus and concentration has as much to do with the small vintage crop as anything. Grab some while you can.