January 2022

BREAKOUT EFFORTS FROM ARGENTINE STAR RICCITELLI

“Winemaking,” says Matías Riccitelli, “is not for cowards.” A breakout star from a young age, Riccitelli was brought up in a family and region steeped in winemaking. He was born in Cafayate, Salta, a small village in northern Argentina where winemaking is everything… an omnipresent trade and way of life in arguably the highest vineyards in the world. He grew up between Cafayate and Mendoza, studying and working with his father and mentor, legendary winemaker Jorge Riccitelli. From there, he went on to travel much of the wine world, learning along the way, and returned to Mendoza to serve as chief winemaker for two of Argentina’s top wineries, Fabre Montmayou and Bodega Norton.

His boutique property was founded in Las Compuertas ((3600 feet above sea level…the highest area of Lujan de Cuyo) in 2009. There they have 20 hectares of ungrafted old vineyards that were planted at the beginning of the XX Century (between 1927 and 1930). Everything is harvested by hand, and most wines see concrete vessels for fermentation and or aging. There is a good amount of whole cluster fermentation being used now as well.

We had the good fortune of running into Matias’ wines very early on. A very small (one man show actually) importer from whom we purchased many vintages of Fabre Montmayou, wines with uncanny class and presence for their modest fares, one day presented us with a wine curiously named ‘The Apple Doesn’t Fall Far from the Tree’ Malbec, among Riccitelli’s first efforts under his own label. The reference was to him vis-à-vis his winemaking father and it was clear from that moment on that ‘Mad Matias’ (see picture) had mad skills.

We’ve been following him since that time and have seen him grow and define his style, all the while looking like he was having too much fun. We can’t say that even having a pretty good reference point for his wines prepared us for the pair of wines we tasted recently. The Ricitelli Cabernet Franc 2018 and Malbec Pie Franco 2018 bowled us over with their broad, supple, mouth-filling fruit and unexpected sense of refinement. These are substantial, absolutely packed wines with a gushing fruit component, palate authority, yet at the same time nimble. They were both impressive and delivered the kind of richness one expects from a sizable Argentine red, but with plenty of nuance and dimension.

The Riccitelli Cabernet Franc Vinedos de Montagna 2018 was an experience unto itself, and one of the most engaging examples of the varietal we had tasted in a long time, perhaps even historically relevant in that we couldn’t remember anything quite like it. Yes it was varietal, but in all the best possible ways. It filled the sense with abundant hedonistic fruit if you didn’t want to pay close attention, but there was a lot else going on as well. A singular effort in its stylistic bent.

Luis Gutierrez said this of Matias, “Matías Riccitelli keeps turning out some of the most exciting wines from Argentina…”

Of this particular bottling Luis wrote, “The intensely spicy and peppery 2018 Viñedos de Montaña Cabernet Franc is an aromatic expression of the grape, where I also found floral nuances and some herbs. The flavors were pungent and penetrating, with good depth and small-grained tannins. It was produced with grapes from two different vineyards, one in Los Arbolitos in Chacayes at 1,150 meters above sea level and the other one in Campo de los Andes at some 1,300 meters in altitude. I loved the nose, and the palate was nothing short of phenomenal also, nicely textured and with serious tannins, spicy and herbal, and with a dry, austere finish…94 points.”

The Riccitelli Malbec Vinas Viejas Pie Franco 2018 is clearly no ordinary Malbec in the glass. It has all the size one need, but also a tenderness on the palate, great purity, and well woven in complexity. This is Malbec at another level that comes from ungrafted old vines. There is simply more depth and nuance anyway, and Matias got it all in the bottle.

Luis’ notes tell the story, “The traditional and juicy 2018 Viñas Viejas En Pie Franco Malbec was produced with grapes from old, ungrafted Malbec vines from different places within Mendoza and therefore planted on different soils, clay, rocks and limestone. This felt quite traditional, with good ripeness but keeping its poise and balance, with oak that is present but not invasive. The palate is medium to full-bodied and portrayed the varietal tannins that tend to be quite soft and fine grained…93 points.”

The scores are great, but these are more than ‘numbers’. We see them as special works of distinctive vinous art authored by a budding, if a bit unbridled superstar. They are reference point efforts. Sorry we couldn’t get more.

RIOJA RESERVA STEAL LOST IN PLAIN SIGHT?

Let’s say you are in one of the strongest Spanish wine portfolios in all the land, yet some of your stablemates are among the most iconic labels (Muga, Sierra Cantabria, and Senorio de San Vincente). What does that mean for your bodega? Well, the way we see it, you are definitely in a group that will be appreciated by fans of Spanish wines, but you will likely not be the first name on everyone’s request list. The press for the most part won’t be paying as much attention to you either. Our question here is, if you are Ramirez de la Piscina and you have been consistently upping your game, have people noticed?

We have known about this winery and consistently carried their wines for a couple of decades. We have noted over the last few releases that these very traditional Riojas have shown seemingly more flash and fruit than we recall. When we had a bottle, it definitely satisfied. That said, we’ve definitely noticed a step up in quality and flair from a winery that had always delivered. This 2016 Ramirez de la Piscina Rioja Reserva is the best effort we have had from them yet. Very traditional yet with layers of outgoing fruit rolling down the midpalate, there’s simply more of everything here.

There is no lack of history with this estate. In early 1945, Julio Ramírez de la Piscina, followed the tradition inherited from his parents in Ábalos, and continued cultivating the family vineyards in San Vicente de la Sonsierra and began producing traditional Rioja wines. In 1973, Bodegas Ramírez was officially founded and began to sell bottled wine under this name. In 1980, the fourth generation of the Ramírez de la Piscina family took over management of the winery, and in 1987, the name was changed to Bodegas Ramírez de la Piscina. The name change honors the family’s historic surname, which is an ancient aristocratic Medieval Riojan name, originating from a 12th Century Romanesque church nearby the vineyards called Santa María de la Piscina.

All of the vineyards are estate owned and the vast majority of the plantings are Tempranillo on high-density trellis. The oldest Tempranillo vineyards are head-trained, and the family owns a few small plants of Garnacha, Viura, and Malvasia, that are used for the Rosado and Blanco. Ramirez de la Piscina champions the tradition of aging classified, traditional styled Rioja, but as time has passed they seem to be packing more fruit into their wines. This 2016 Ramirez de la Piscina Reserva is very traditional in its spice, leather and mineral nuance to the dark red and black fruit core. The difference here is it seems they came along and laid an extra layer of fruit across the top.

Others seem to agree. James Suckling said, “This shows tightness and balance with energy. Black fruit with mushroom and earth. Some cocoa, too. It’s medium-bodied with firm tannins and a fresh, linear finish. Drink or hold…92 points.”

Josh Raynolds of Vinous was also enthused, “Bright violet. Mineral-tinged red and blue fruit preserve and floral scents are complemented by hints of vanilla, tobacco and licorice. Sappy, expansive black raspberry and blueberry flavors smoothly blend weight and energy and pick up an allspice nuance on the back half. Closes long and appealingly sweet, with round, even tannins and an echo of sappy blue fruit…92 points.”

We feel like these folks have upped their game and want to make sure people notice. It’s tough when your distribution scenario, while one of the best and most dedicated for Spanish wines, includes some of the top names in the category. This 2016 is fruit-driven, delicious, one of my current ‘take-home’ favs and very well priced ($19.98) for a classy reserva (that outperforms a lot of gran reservas) from a great vintage.

BAJA SESSIONS: VINOS DE MEXICO

Our natural curiosity has taken us down most of the roads in the wine world. It was only a matter of time before we were going to look into the happenings south of the border. Truth be told, we have been open to tasting Mexican wines for a long time. A couple of years ago, we ran across a Cabernet from a producer called Casa Madero, from an area inland from Monterey, that has found a steady home here. But the ‘movin-and-shakin’ is happening in the Guadalupe Valley for all intents and purposes, and we have done our best to see what’s going on, including a personal visit.

The broad view would be that this area isn’t trying to imitate anyone else but develop its own identity with respect to varietals and style. There have been some surprisingly good efforts but the underlying aspect of many somewhat unfathomable prices has largely kept them off our shelves to a large extent. We are now working with a purveyor that seems committed to promoting Mexican wine so we are seeing a wider array of things. To that end, Mexico might have a little bigger presence here moving forward, particularly if we can find unique and stylish wines like the ones we are presenting herein at reasonable fares.

DouMa was created by Eliecer Rodriguez and his wife Carla who met in 2006 at the University of Baja California where they both studied Gastronomy. The name DuoMa, which they created, refers to their collective philosophy that “two hands, working together, can create great things.” Their label could be called a ‘micro-boutique’, but the goal is to produce small lots of expressive, honest wines that demonstrate the signature characteristics of the fruit grown in the region and Baja California’s unique terroir.

If we understand the timeline, the DuoMa Nebbiolo 2019 is the first vintage to come from DuoMa’s newly built facility and everything here is done by hand with fermentation and aging done in stainless steel. We take the varietal heading with a grain of salt. We have tasted a few Mexican Nebbiolos and have our doubts as to the varietal makeup. Either whatever clone they are using was misrepresented as Nebbiolo or the grape has transmutated substantially in these terroirs. Our belief is the former as we have had Nebbiolos grown in a wide range of terroirs (including Greece) and the signature firmness and high toned spice are missing from this bottling.

That is not to say this isn’t delicious. It is. But there is a much richer middle and less tension than one would expect from the stated varietal. The grapes come from two different valleys, San Vicente, south of Ensenada, and Guadalupe. Red plums and black cherry, notes of chocolate and coffee, certainly a more tender mid-palate than is typical of Nebbiolo, and there is a nicely layered finish. Like we said, there isn’t a lot of it (only 580 cases made), but it is very engaging and certainly comfortably priced.

The Solar Fortun winery was started in 2008. Alberto Lopez guides the daily operations of the winery while his U.C. Davis trained son Santiago, handles the winemaking duties. When you consider that Señor Lopez is a well-regarded physicist with a PhD in astrophysics from the U.K. and Santiago is a former member of Mexico’s Olympic Gymnastics Team, they might be one of the region’s most interesting winemaking pairs.

They only use grapes grown in a pristine vineyard tucked away within a hidden valley in Francisco Zarco. The portfolio leans towards Rhone-inspired red wines, including one that was on the wine list at the French Laundry, but was this delightfully quirky blend of 50% Cabernet and 50% Petit Verdot called Solar Fortun Baya Baya 2019 that caught our attention.

From sandy, alluvial soils with decomposed granite, the juice sees six months in new French oak. Baya Baya combines the plump, fruit-forward, fresh character of the Cabernet sauvignon with the potency and verve of Petit Verdot. They are fermented separately and blended before malo. The 2019 vintage saw a mild summer which allowed for a harvest three weeks later than normal and we presume that extended hang time helped these reds harmonize better. Medium weight as Cabernet blends go but with loads of dark red fruit, pepper and mineral personality and more food versatility.

Both of these are very attractive reds but with distinct personalities that give them their own place in the wine world. As far as the wines of the Guadalupe Valley go, there is a lot of promise here and the prices, in the case of these two wines, made perfect sense.

FUN LITTLE VALUE FINDS

As we have said, we taste constantly, without any agenda. We’re just looking for good things that fill a need and deliver value at whatever its price level is. It’s a lot harder to find things that excite us in the under $20 category for a variety of reasons. But we don’t view something as ‘good‘ simply because it isn’t ‘bad‘. . For us something needs to not only be a solid example of its genre, there has to be some interest and character to it. That is particularly difficult as you get down into lower price brackets, but it does happen. We found a couple of fun things this week that had distinctive character and represent their category well while selling for a song.

White Bordeaux isn’t the first thing on people’s minds but a good one can be quite serviceable and versatile. The Domaine de Cheval Blanc 2019 was a new label for us and kind of a surprise. Certainly, there’s an interesting story somewhere regarding the name since it is also the handle of one of Saint Emilion’s elite producers. But here it’s about the juice.

This 42 hectare estate in Entre-Deux-Mers produces both red and white Bordeaux, and the third generation owners are currently at the helm. This snappy little white is a blend of 40% Sauvignon, 40% Semillon, and 20% Muscadelle from vines averaging 23 years of age. The Semillon lends some texture and the Muscadelle some spice to the aromatics, but the Sauvignon is clearly in the driver’s seat with ripe grapefruit in the nose and flavors.

The surprise isn’t the expected clean, bright flavors, but the depth, volume, delivery for a wine of such humble origins. The fruit, personality, and unexpected charm got our attention, particularly for the fare. It’s no ordinary $10 wine in this vintage ($9.98 actually).

There isn’t much of a story to the Marcel Martin Chinon Les Bernieres 2019. It is a wing of a large negociant producer that makes several labels. We taste a lot of wines like this and you don’t hear about them. We don’t know the background here so we have to figure that the 2019 vintage had a lot to do with this wine but what a joy to drink!

There have been few vintages where the Cabernet Franc gets this ripe and plush in the Loire Valley but 2019 is one of them, reminding us of epic years like 2005, 2009, and 2010. We have had examples at every price range but something this friendly and generous at this kind of price ($11.98) was truly surprising. A little bit of pepper in the nose, a hint of refreshing green and tobacco to the finish, but the middle is stuffed with broad, engaging, supple blackberry fruit. It’s Chinon in a whole new light and scores high on the pleasure scale.

The Cave des Vignerons de Saumur has been on our radar for a long tim and was a staple at the old location. Ye ah, it’s a cooperative, but one that has the ability to produce honest and tasty examples of their terroir at surprisingly attractive prices fairly regularly. The operation dates back to 1957, and they bottle most things under the title of a particular lieu dit (named vineyard)

The Cave des Vignerons de Saumur Saumur Blanc Les Epinats 2020 is from a vineyard that is located on a plateau on gently sloping north-facing hills. The large nearby forests serve as a windbreak and have an influence on the microclimate and two types of soil ( shallow, pebbly soil called terre à silex (fl and less pebbly soil with more clay) create diverse fruit to energize the blend. It’s 100% Chenin Blanc with the nose and flavor showing lime, orange, and peach with flecks of minerality and a hint of sweetness to the finish. Textbook fresh, engaging Loire Chenin for a low price($11.98).

The Cave des Vignerons de Saumur Saumur Les Vignoles 2019 comes from a south facing vineyard looking over the Loire River. The soil here sits atop carbonate formations of Turonian limestone. It is mostly shallow, with soft limestone, resulting in a moderate, but fairly regular water supply, ideal for growing high quality Cabernet Franc. The average age of the vines are 55 years. Nature was kind to the reds in the Loire in this vintage and this one packs plenty of dark red and black fruits along with element of mineral and, again, an unexpected tender fleshiness for the genre. A steal at $14.98.

97 POINT TXAKOLI? WHY NOT?

Yeah, we know. The first question most people will ask is how does a Txakoli get that kind of review? There are many ways to approach the question, but the easiest one is talking about relativity. Some reviewers approach tasting with the idea of making comparisons within the genre, whereas others look at a broader, though not necessarily more correct one. Clearly perspective is necessary. You aren’t comparing a Spanish Txakoli to Haut Brion Blanc, you are comparing it to other Txakolis. If it’s head of the class, so be it.

Perhaps more to the point, the goal of tasting is to find the best options out there without having some kind of agenda. That being the case, then the ‘score’ here is justified because this is arguably the best Txakoli we’ve ever had. Most Txakolis are crisp, clean, and slightly fizzy, something to wash down food like a Basque version of Portugal’s Vinho Verde. But what’s wrong with aspiring to more? That seems to be the case with Hiruzta Txakolina 2020, be it by virtue of this estate’s efforts or a unique set of circumstances in the 2020 vintage. It’s probably some of both.

In their own words, “Hiruzta is a Txakoli wine that combines classicism and modernity. It is made from the Hondarrabi Zuri grape, grown in the winery’s own vineyards in Hondarribia and fermented at its state-of-the-art facility in Getariako Txakolina.” The winery’s 17-hectare vineyard surrounds the winery itself, at the foothills of Jaizkibel Mountain. It is oriented towards the mid-day sun which protects it from the wind and damp of the nearby Cantabrian Sea. It’s about sunshine mediated by the sea, and 2020 was a particularly dry vintage that allowed the grapes get fully ripe.

Yes, you have the proper acidity, and that expected little kick of fizz. It would serve you fine in some pintxos bar crawl. But there’s so much more. This one also has fruit, weight, and character which sets it apart from most Txakolis out there. Hiruzta harvests by hand in small crates, destems, and crushes via a soft pressing. The juice is then stored at a low temperature to retain some of the natural carbonation. In the winery’s notes, they speak of 2020 as a very successful vintage. This 2020 is balanced and fresh as it should be. Yet there is texture to the pear, apple, tropical and citrus fruit. It is Txakoli in every sense of the word, but a more complete wine in many ways.

Decanter Magazine found a lot to like here, “Bright lemon peel and grapefruit aromas with some underlying tropical fruits. Light prickle on the palate with mid-palate weight and texture; deftly poised with palate-whetting acidity. Long, zesty, elegant, crunchy and fine-boned, this has delightful charm. Shellfish anyone?… 97 Points.”

Yes, that 97 point score will raise an eyebrow or two. But it’s about excelling in the Txakoli category, not as a direct comparison to some boutique, limited release Chardonnay. Hiruzta Txakolina 2020 deserves the recognition because it’s…really…good… Txakoli. It rises above the category, and will stylistically appeal to a broader audience because it is a more complete wine, yet still costs under $20 ($17.98).