David Crossley's Wide World of Wine

Tillingham Update (Sept 2018)

Posted on 12/09/2018 by dccrossley

I wrote about my visit to Ben Walgate’s Tillingham Wines back in June, here. Quite a lot of interest has been generated in what Ben Walgate is doing there, in the far east of Sussex. This is in part because he is largely following a method of natural winemaking, which we see very little of in the UK, and partly because we don’t see many genuinely artisan winemakers either. These reasons have probably been eclipsed, in certain circles, by Ben’s introduction of a couple of Georgian qvevris, imported and buried on the farm, which were used for Ortega (the larger of the two), and for an innovative qvevri cider in the other.

Ben has been busy these last couple of weeks, as photos of him foot treading grapes on social media show, but he did find time to drop by for a tasting at Plateau in Brighton last Wednesday evening. Thankfully the trains decided to co-operate with me for once, and I was able to get down only a little late, so that I could join in and assess what I had tasted in June now that the bottles are all labelled-up and have had a chance to settle.

As soon as I’d grabbed a seat in Plateau’s large upstairs events room I was handed a glass of Starvecrow Qvevri Cider. Ben makes the Starvecrow Ciders with orchard-owning neighbours on the farm at Tillingham. The latest two releases are undoubtedly the most interesting yet. This 2017 vintage was kept on skins in Ben’s smaller buried qvevri for seven months. It has real qvevri texture from the clay vessel and extended skin contact (although its colour is less orange than you might expect). In fact texturally it is just like an “orange” wine, but you can taste that it is cider without doubt. Only 200 litres were made, though Ben has a whole load more qvevri on order. Unusual, but take that as a compliment, Ben. It’s my third time of tasting it this year and it has gone from “good” (London Wine Fair) to “really good” in a few months.

CC07C090-8571-45D8-A0C0-7A5752B7110E

The second pour was Starvecrow Bourbon Cask Cider 2017. An old barrel was simply filled and left for seven months. That’s no way to make cider, surely? There’s just this strange thing with Ben, that his experiments work. What you get here is a really interesting, nuanced, cider. It retains the freshness of the apples used – if you read that previous article you’d know that they use mainly eating apples (Jonagold, Golden Delicious, Braeburn) with Bramleys providing acidity. This is fresh, but more complex than any commercial cider, and than most artisan ciders, I’ve tasted. It’s less “unusual” than the Qvevri.

5D63FE40-A88A-4787-9F30-BFC60BBADC9C

The name of the first wine, Tillingham Pet Rosé 2017, might lead you to assume this is a petnat, but it isn’t quite that in exact methodology. It is a simple and very nice sparkler, made in the bottle and crown capped. It’s packed with very fresh red fruits, combined with a generous twist of grapefruit zip, especially on the finish. It is bottled with its yeast sediment, so you’ll find it cloudy, like petnat. It adds a little texture.

The grape varieties here are, as often with Tillingham wines, complicated. The three sparkling classics (Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Meunier) were blended with a 300 litre tank of Schönburger plus some more Pinot Noir and all co-fermented. The result, just 10% abv, a refreshing wine with a slightly sour/bitter finish to complement the acidity and fruit.

5AD39920-5625-407A-BAF5-A7788CACE8D2

Tillingham Artego 2017 (10.5% abv) is so named because the Ortega grapes Ben purchased from a nearby vineyard were not planted under DEFRA’s PDO Quality Wine Scheme. For the same reason he can’t label it as “English Wine”, using instead “Product of England”. The distinction is subtle. You just have to trust in people like Tillingham’s UK agent, Les Caves de Pyrene.

So, here Ben lightly crushed the grapes into open top fermenters, where he foot stomped them twice a day for five days. The juice was then pressed in small batches in his basket press. Half the wine was aged in old (second fill) Burgundy barrel, and half in steel. No sulphur was added.

Ortega is an early ripening variety but generally shows lower acids. It has a nice aromatic quality. The bouquet here is noticeably peachy, and the wine is gently frothy. The palate has that creamy peach note again, but the finish is bitter, not sweet. There is acidity, but it’s rounded out, not sharp.

6838EA81-3E02-457A-999E-1B36F81D942F

Artego is a lovely wine and it would be a good way to end the Ortega part of the tasting were it not for Tillingham Qvevri Artego 2017. Here, Ben destemmed the Ortega and crushed it lightly in open vats, macerating by foot just the same as the previous wine. Then the juice and skins were placed into the larger of Ben’s qvevri, which was then sealed with a wooden lid and wax. During its ageing a funny thing happened – a layer of flor grew on top of the wine. Ben was worried on tasting the wine at the top of the qvevri that it would end up like Sherry, but the wine lower down, especially that close to the lees at the bottom, was very different. When all blended together the result is, in context, amazing.

This is the most expensive Tillingham wine so far, retailing at £35 to £40, or thereabouts, but it is also the best so far. I think this is impressive. You do get qvevri texture, but not as much texture as in a radical orange wine. You get texture, but fruit as well, and it’s fairly smooth texture at that. It’s expensive in part because there’s just 400 litres of this cuvée, the size of that larger qvevri. It’s one of those wines, a bit like Aligoté Skin from Andrew and Emma Nielsen at Le Grappin, that you really have to try to taste. I hope that a lot more wonderful wines appear in the coming years once the next shipment of qvevri arrives.

FDAA3963-2ECD-4362-97EF-B809492E1265

There was one more wine to come, a work in progress to finish with. It is as yet unreleased and unlabelled (so no photo), but Tillingham Col 2017 will be a Col Fondo-style sparkler (not a wine named after one of the finest people to grace the bar at Winemakers Club, sorry Col). Col Fondo is a style of cloudy Prosecco, but one gaining interest around the globe – you might have read about the wonderful wine made in this style by Dal Zotto (King Valley, Victoria, Australia) in my Red Squirrel Portfolio Tasting article last week.

The grape mix here is Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Meunier, a third fermented in used Burgundy barrels. It has been in bottle for around four months now and Ben thinks it will be just right for release in October. It’s frothy and has quite fresh acidity, and will be another of Tillingham’s lengthening string of fairly easy going, often quirky, always interesting and tasty, sparkling wines. Keep your eyes open. Quantities are always small so you need to get in quickly, either through Les Caves, or through the select bunch of retailers who stock the Tillingham wines.

That was the tasting. One of Plateau’s brightest personalities, the organiser of most of this exciting Brighton bar/restaurant’s wine events, was working her last day, so we decamped downstairs to wish Ania on her way over a few bottles. At this point Ben popped a bottle of Tillingham Chardonnay. The grapes were trodden for 48 hours before the juice was pressed directly into barrel. It was bottled after six months, having been more or less left, other than a light batonnage. A small amount of sulphur was added at bottling.

When I tasted this in June there was no question that it tasted a bit oaky. In only two-and-a-half months it has settled down a lot. Ben feels it still needs longer in bottle, although I’d not be quite so categorical. It is imbued with freshness now, and using a carafe really got some air into it, so I honestly enjoyed it as it is. But I’m sure Ben is right and a longer time in bottle will round it out and allow a bit more depth to show.

That’s pretty much what Ben is doing. His newly planted vines have apparently survived our drought-ridden summer, and hopefully the full range, from Gamay to Madeleine Angevine, will be deployed with the same sense of experiment that Ben has shown thus far. He seems pretty confident that the on-site guest rooms and kitchen/diner will be open next summer, along with a shop selling lamb from the farm, fruit and vegetables, and of course Tillingham wines and Starvecrow ciders. I hope the builders deliver, because if Ben pulls all this off it will be an exciting place to visit, and dine.

233439E3-4678-49F5-AD05-46230D7FA232

It won’t have gone unnoticed that I’m writing a lot at the moment. I’m enormously grateful that so many, in fact hundreds of, people are finding the time to read what I’m posting, but I know that I’m asking a lot of my most loyal readers with so many articles.

I must tell you about the Jura Dinner I spoke at last week, and that article might come out tomorrow, but as with this article, I’ll try to keep it reasonably short. I’ll try to hold off on August’s top wines until next week (it may require two parts over two weeks this time), before I report on next Tuesday’s big Les Caves de Pyrene 30th Anniversary Tasting, which I’m sure will be something special. There’s plenty more to come after that as well. I hope you enjoy what’s coming up.

Ripples Become Waves – Howard Ripley German 2017 GG and Reds

Posted on 10/09/2018 by dccrossley

There’s a certain sedate quality to your average Howard Ripley Tasting. You turn up early to the grand venue, the Pension’s Room in Gray’s Inn, and for a few moments you can sip amid a sea of calm. Even when people begin to turn up the atmosphere is very civilised, no nudging, nor table hogging. No drunkenness either, or at least by the time I’m through, after a few good chats with acquaintances who I otherwise rarely bump into these days.

F9FA4465-7C78-4A1C-81AC-9E6E7BD83A7E

I also look forward with relish to the Grosses Gewächs and Reds tasting, because for me, this is where some of the most interesting advances are being made in German wine, and have been for some years. Traditionally, the British have shown a marked preference for the Prädikat wines, with residual sugar taming, especially in everyone’s favourite region, the Mosel, that acidity for which our beloved slate-grown Riesling is famous.

I’m getting an idea now that more people are coming round to what the Germans already acknowledge…that in its dry form the Riesling grape can make fine wines of genuine Grand Cru quality in Germany, and that these wines have the versatility to accompany food as well as any dry white wines in the world.

As for the reds, if you read this blog with any regularity you’ll know what I think. The trajectory of quality in German red wine is pretty much the inverse of what may happen to the pound in a no deal brexit scenario – it rises inexorably as vineyards mature and producers understand the nuances of their Pinot Noir (or Spätburgunder, if they prefer) fruit.

THE 2017 VINTAGE

There are three things you need to know about the 2017 vintage, which pretty much apply across all of the country’s major wine producing regions. First of all, yields were pretty much lower than hoped, and in some cases very low indeed. The culprit, frosts, mainly late April frosts over the whole country. Some regions (the Nahe, for one) experienced significant hail, but frost was by far the biggest problem, compounded by a warm early spring, so that the vines were well advanced when the frosts struck.

The severity of the frosts can be illustrated by their effect on even some of the steepest vineyards on the Mosel. It is generally thought that these sites avoid the effects of frost because the cold air flows down the slopes, or stays close to the river. Nope, in 2017 even the hillsides copped it. But there were exceptions. I read that Franken’s harvest was a little up on 2016.

There is sometimes an upside to low yields, fine quality. It is the sunshine in the weeks around harvest that can really make a vintage, and many regions experienced a dry summer, despite isolated hail in places, and particularly warm September weather. Harvest was generally early, the earliest ever in some places, so sugar levels were pretty decent for many, as also acidity with good diurnal temperature variation.

It is always difficult to characterise a vintage. Regions differ, as do producers (in style and in the effort they make to excel). But you want to know if I like 2017, and whether I liked the wines. The answer for me is a definite “yes indeed”. Any generalisation would have to say that the wines are very different to the majority of non-classic 2015s, and they are generally a little less light and expressive as many 2016s were at this stage.

Perhaps the wines might turn out to be a little more serious, and possibly even profound. It is here where I must stress that when it comes to judging these wines, I’m no expert, although I know what I like. I tasted all of the wines on offer (fifty in total) and I can’t help wondering why I’m generally attracted to the same producers vintage after vintage. When people tell me they buy the same estates every year, I have occasionally wondered why they are not more adventurous. But I can see why with every year I taste. As with Burgundy, you get to appreciate what an individual is doing, and you also get to appreciate vintage variation.

I don’t want the reds to be a mere afterthought, and of course we are not in 2017 here, so vintage generalisations are not valid. Most of the reds were from 2016 and 2015, with one 2013 on show. If you read my notes, my stylistic preferences will become obvious.

THE WINES

As always, it is not really helping the reader to write something about every wine, although I know I’ve done this in the past. It does mean that some worthy wines get no mention, so remember that this is my personal selection. I already know of people who have ordered (or plan to order) wines not featured here. There are producers I didn’t mention this time from whom I have wines in my cellar, so I’m trying not to be too expansive.

Any serious purchasing will always involve reading around, and, of course, trying to taste for yourself if you can. I love the way that after a Ripley tasting there is always animated conversation about what we all liked, and that’s part of the fun. NB: Prices indicate a case of SIX bottles in bond unless otherwise stated.

Rudolf May, Franken

I want to comment on the two Silvaner wines first, from Rudolf May. This is now a 14 ha estate with prime vineyards on mainly fossil-rich limestone. Both wines show good distinctive qualities. Himmelspfad comes from the warmest part of the Langenberg vineyard (Retzstadt) and is quite rich, with grapefruit citrus notes and a mineral, almost peppery, finish.

Rotlauf is from a cool part of the Johannisberg site where sandstone is mixed with the limestone. This is made in a mix of stainless steel, concrete egg and wood. The fruit is more exotic (lychee) and there’s even more mineral texture, more zip and bags of freshness.

As one sommelier acquaintance remarked to me, how nice it is to see two very fine Silvaners in the lineup. I agree. Don’t pass them over. I know not everyone is up to speed with the top Franken producers, because I’d not tasted Rudolf May’s wines before, or at least I don’t recall doing so. I won’t forget them easily now.

This is especially true because by coincidence I had met the Sales Rep for their Eastern US importer, T Edward Wines’ David Hautzig only the day before at the Red Squirrel Tasting. Small world.

Peter Lauer, Saar

Florian Lauer has become one of my favourite three of four German producers in a relatively short period of time. Last time I looked, he farmed just 8ha, based in Ayl on the Saar. He bottles his wines with “Fass” numbers, which can get confusing, but as with the best of the Saar, these are very precise wines (writers habitually use “chiselled” to describe them), but the fruit is always perfectly judged and they are always elegant. My style in a nutshell.

Three wines, all at £126 in bond, were carefully differentiated. Saarfeilser Fass 13 seemed to me a great combination of fruit and minerality; Schönfels Fass 11 shows a touch less zip and a tad more weight to me; whilst Kupp Fass 18 has a beautiful dry minerality and bright fruit to balance. Too hard to choose, perhaps I’d single out the Kupp. I’d be happy with any.

Von Schubert, Maximin Grünhaus, Ruwer

I can’t help listing this as Ruwer, not Mosel, whatever the German Wine Authorities would prefer these days. The wines have always been distinctive, and Dr Karl’s family are part of German wine history. This is also one of the first estates I bought regularly, in the 1990s when Adnams sold their Prädikat wines.

Abtsberg GG (£126 IB) is fresh with genuine depth in 2017, but I was really taken with the Herrenberg. There’s something akin to greengage on the nose. It has a bright attack and then you discover it’s bright all over. Lime, grapefruit, and eventually a hint of stony texture come through on the palate. There’s plenty of acid there right now, don’t get me wrong, but beneath lies a certain elegance. Delicious, and £114 IB.

5482E28B-A599-49C6-9A31-704C555BA3A2

Fritz Haag, Mosel

Oliver Haag looks too young to be making wines with this degree of confidence, especially when he has had to follow in the footsteps of his father, Wilhelm, one of the true greats of German wine.

Juffer GG is a good (and inexpensive at £90 IB) introduction to the estate’s dry wines. On the nose it was slightly muted (this bottle?) but it earns its place here because it genuinely explodes with flavour on the palate.

Brauneberger Juffer-Sonnenuhr is, of course, one of the Mosel’s iconic sites. The GG from this site is usually quite dense and can require a good number of years to open. In 2017, tasting the two wines side by side, you see how they have similarities, but the Juffer-Sonnenuhr is just “more” and better. Oliver farms 3ha of this site, vines located in the rocky central portion of the vineyard. They yield wines of true intensity. If you buy this, do age it, despite its ridiculous price (£120 IB).

Schloss Lieser, Mosel

Oliver Haag’s elder brother, Thomas, runs Lieser, the imposing château on the river, just past Bernkastel, which at first I found slightly depressing, but it has grown on me. The wines have always been among my absolute favourites. These are yet more clean and precise wines. Some might say lean, I say strikingly elegant, sometimes like lace.

Niederberg Helden is a wine I am always drawn to. The site, right next to the village, has an 80% slope of weathered blue slate. At 12.5% abv, this is balanced and has an almost savoury quality beside the fruit. Another wine to keep, I think. I would like this in 2017, for sure.

Goldtröpfchen is a big name and yet I personally warmed to it less. But note, this is relative. Remember that this is still a favourite estate making wines I love, and the dry wines here seem to get better every vintage. This has a slightly exotic note on the nose and a slightly sour note on the finish, and seems slightly less light on its feet. But I suspect I was having difficulty reading it.

Weingut Vollenweider, Mosel

We travel down to Traben-Trarbach for this estate. Daniel Vollenweider is originally from Switzerland, but now farms around 5ha of…and this may be the key to his success…old vines which are ungrafted to American rootstock. He’s another relatively new (five or six years) producer in my lexicon, who was recommended to me originally by a Danish friend. The wines can tend to a leaner style, for sure, but they are usually highly aromatic too.

Goldgrube usually gives Daniel very dry wines with quite high acidities, but the acidity doesn’t dominate. The dryness, tasted through a slatey texture, is quite apparent though, as is a nice saline finish. Only £105 IB.

Goldgrube “Aurum” is really stony, very concentrated and the palate shows immense potential to age. It should, as you’ll be paying £138 for just three bottles, in bond. The cuvée is a selection, from vines over 100 years old.

Not that long ago Vollenweider was certainly not considered one of the stars of the Mosel. I think he is now. Ripley were very astute in snapping him up. All his wines, including the prädikaten, are impressive.

Schäfer-Fröhlich, Nahe

Tim Fröhlich is another star, and in this case I think he needs no introduction. He’s now in his mid-forties, though I reckon he looks at least a decade younger. If this estate is aiming for anything, other than expressing the terroir of their 20 hectares, I’d guess it is mineral purity. This is another address to which I perennially head for wines of true character.

Three wines were on show. Felsenberg (£201 IB) is a lovely wine in 2017. Plenty of fresh acidity, and the texture of extended lees ageing, but you can see that there’s a step up over many of the cheaper wines tasted, as seen through the palate. Unusually herby and salty as well as fruity, this is very good.

Stromberg is, if I’m correct, a newer site for this estate. It has one of the best bouquets of any wine at the tasting so far. Very fresh and, in my opinion, no less good than the Felsenberg. £213 IB

Felseneck is, if anything, even more impressive, and worth paying extra (£228 IB). There’s a bit more weight and stature. As I was chatting to a friend it warmed in the glass and its latent complexity began to emerge, or at least a hint of it. So again, this will age. But to be really honest, Schäfer-Fröhlich is an estate where I’d be content with any of these three wines.

Weingut Wittmann, Rheinhessen

Philipp Wittmann is the man here at Westhofen. He converted the estate to biodynamics, turning it into one of the finest in not just the region, but in Germany. Blessed with some fine, indeed some of the finest, sites in Rheinhessen, all he really had to do was focus on going beyond just good quality, and Philipp has certainly achieved that.

We got to taste three wines, the first of which underwhelmed me a little, down to a very dumb nose on a newly opened bottle of Aulerde 2017. To be honest I kicked myself for forgetting to go back to it before the reds. It’s an old vine cuvée that is often quite rich and tropical. However, Kirchspiel was on great form. Lots of freshness, a little spice, with the mainly limestone terroir giving all these qualities plus a certain elegance which some have also called “racy”. At £198 IB this is a great buy, when you consider the cost of the next wine.

Morstein GG – I have been remarkably lucky to have drunk a small number of bottles of this wine without ever buying any. Is it sometimes overshadowed by Keller’s version? If it is, I’d argue that it is no less good. For £258 in bond it should be amazing, but why is it indeed so relatively cheap in the grand scheme of the world’s great white wines?

It has, as Ian Gillan once asked for on Made in Japan, more of everything, or “everything louder than everything else”. Morstein rises to just under 1,000 feet (sounds more impressive than 300 metres), limestone overlain with clay. Whatever it is that makes the site produce such complex wines should be bottled and spread around. The wine really announces itself and has genuine presence of an order not seen in any other wine at the tasting. If you can afford it, and can afford to wait for maturity (although as is often the case with wines like this, it would be amazing on its fruit), then buy a case.

If you can’t, then Kirchspiel ought not to disappoint. And they say Aulerde is a warmer site that drinks sooner. Star wines.

Georg Mosbacher, Pfalz

I thought that the Mosbacher wines would suffer in being placed after Wittmann, but strangely, they didn’t. If I say “strangely”, that is obviously a symptom of my lack of experience. Ungeheuer and Jesuitengarten cost just £135 and £138, respectively, in bond. The former is characterful, with citrus and a little spice, and the latter wine has a touch extra lively freshness, rounder fruit and a nice bitterness, only just noticeable, which adds an extra dimension. In fact I suspect that away from the tasting bench anyone would exclaim over this silky wine, which I’m sure is another which will age magnificently. Amazing value.

PINOT NOIR

For the red wines, which Ripley list as “Pinots” here, rather than Spätburgunder, I’m only going to select a few. I made more suggestions at Howard Ripley’s German Reds Tasting (March 2018, here). What I will say is that Britain has long seemed behind the curve on German red wine. Why, I’m not sure? Prejudice, perhaps, tasting (or rather, drinking) wines too young, maybe. There’s no doubt that when the vintage is good these wines can be world class.

Clones play a part, but they don’t provide the answer to quality, only style. Some producers prefer French, Dijon, clones and other prominent producers (Ziereisen, for one) now prefer German (and in Hanspeter’s case Swiss too) clones. The list of those making truly wonderful red wine is now a long one, and even though prices have risen steeply, there is still real value to be had.

The first and third suggestions are both lighter in style, and surprisingly from possibly the least fashionable region for German red wine, the wider Mosel. They are not in the above category of “world class red wines”, but why oh why do we always look for greatness, when a really tasty, juicy, red Pinot is often what we would really prefer on a Tuesday evening?

Pinot Noir Niederberg Helden 2016, Schloss Lieser, Mosel – This is quite pale and light. It has lifted red fruit, a sappy smoothness and is a nicely inexpensive Pinot which I hesitate to call a “glugger”, but so tasty it is. Excellent value at £75, and not a source (estate nor site) where you might expect to see such a wine. Unless you know Thomas Haag.

3F8076A4-14A1-4E01-A324-591703285C31

Spätburgunder “R” 2016, Jülg, Pfalz – This wine makes the selection here because it’s an impressive effort. It’s possibly not a wine you’d expect me to like, and right now I’d suggest “respect” is more apt a description than “like”. It is harvested from the Wormberg vineyard in France. The village of Schweigen sits on the border, just north of the great abbey town of Wissembourg (Northern Alsace). It is common for producers to own vineyards on both sides of the border, as does both Jülg and Fritz Becker (a producer of world class Pinots and Spätburgunders, who I visited last year (see here)), who I would suggest are the best in the village (though I need to taste more of the wines of Weingut Bernhart, also in Schweigen, whose Sonnenberg “RG” was impressive, if possibly a bit too impressive (vintage?) for my taste).

The former monastic vineyards here are very attractive, as is the former Benedictine abbey itself. The grapes harvested in France are governed by German wine law when made into wine in Germany, but those regulations somewhat unfortunately don’t allow the traditional vineyard names to be used. The wines made by top producers, like Jülg and Becker, are unarguably of Grand Cru quality.

“R” is quite tannic and concentrated, altogether the opposite of the Lieser above. It has dark fruits and I suspect is made to age. I personally prefer the style at Becker, but Jülg makes very good wines. If you find yourself in Schweigen, this is also the place to eat lunch. Warm conviviality and warming traditional food in a series of cosy rooms.

Okay, there’s always one wine that doesn’t get photographed, so instead you get Jülg’s straight Spätburgunder and Bernhart’s Sonnenberg RG

Pinot Noir 2016, von Schubert, Mosel (Ruwer) – I wonder whether some think me perverse, but I always go for the Grünhaus Pinot. What you get here is fairly simple, though in saying that, there’s no doubt that complexity is creeping in year on year. In contrast to the above wine, we are back in the spectrum of red fruits. Accompanying the fruit is a whiff of smoke, doubtless a terroir note from the Abtsberg’s pure slate soils. We are also back to a wine of pure drinkability, though I think it has a little more weight than the Lieser.

4F62C776-7FF5-42F1-9E30-8168F1B258EB

Ziereisen, Baden

Ripley showed five wines from Ziereisen, the magical estate just north of Basel, whose vineyards are nestled among the woods at Efringen-Kirchen. I’ll own up and say this is very subjectively (and it’s a close call, another day it could be Fritz Becker) my favourite red wine producer in Germany. In part it is because, on meeting Hanspeter and his wife, Edel, I will say that I believe completely in what they are doing, at every level and with every grape variety.

We begin with Tschuppen 2015. This is a juicy entry level wine, off clay soils, where the juice (full of chewy cherry) of the vintage makes this bottling even more attractive. Next is Talrain 2015. This is from one of Hanspeter’s higher sites which sits in the lee of the Black Forest. The soil is iron-rich limestone. The fruits are black and intense, with a nice red meatiness creeping in. Mineral but also juicy. These are £51 and £75 per case in bond, respectively.

We then make a qualitative leap to Rhini 2015. This cuvée is from limestone in a protected enclave where iron combines with silt and sand mixed in with the limestone to produce wines of significantly greater complexity. The fruit is plump but the finish is savoury, almost salty. £135 IB seems reasonable to me.

EAD13C65-63BC-49AE-876F-BD40E32CC04B

Ziereisen makes a range of wines labelled as “Jaspis”. These are the top wines, but are a strict selection, as opposed to single vineyard wines per se.

Jaspis Pinot Noir 2015 is a wine for ageing, but has the freshness you get off the limestone terroir here. The fruit is ripe, in part because the forest protects the vines from cooling winds, but also because of the hands on care that the fruit gets shown. The vines tend to be fairly old and the wine is fine, potentially very complex and long, made to age. Ripley describes the wine on their web site as seductive, which is a pretty fair assessment. The fruit is certainly smooth, but it shows just 12.5% alcohol, which adds incredible freshness. £180 in bond.

FDD9B3F6-AF4C-424F-BE37-C038298702FF

Jaspis Spätburgunder Alte Reben 2013 – both of the Jaspis “Pinot” wines have an old vines/Alte Reben version, from vines of at least fifty or sixty years of age, or older. This is the pinnacle of Ziereisen red wine making. Here, 20% whole bunches add lift and freshness to concentrated and spicy fruit. There’s more structure, even though this 2013 has had bottle age. A wine for keeping, a wine of world class when it’s on song, as it usually is. £276/case in bond.

CFB60AFF-5D8E-407A-9698-2081BADEEA01

I’m not sure that it is strictly relevant to this tasting, but Hanspeter Ziereisen makes wonderful wine from two varieties you might not expect. Gutedel (Chasselas in France and French speaking Switzerland) is historically the local grape here, but Ziereisen’s version is way more profound than it has any right to be. At the other end of the spectrum, there’s a Syrah under the Jaspis label. It comes from a very steep, well protected, slope. It is probably the best Syrah in Germany, and that is not faint praise. Expect to see wines designated as “Landwein”. As with the exciting Austrians I’ve been covering recently, Hanspeter has no time for regulatory bodies. His wines speak for themselves.

196D31F7-EE44-4E4E-BDF5-FFBFE21BDEA1

Edel and Hanspeter at the Howard Ripley German Reds Tasting in March 2018

Posted in Fine Wine, German Wine, Mosel, Wine, Wine Agencies, Wine Merchants, Wine Tastings | Tagged 2017 Vintage in Germany, Daniel Vollenweider, Efringen-Kirchen, Florian Lauer GG 2017, Fritz Haag, Georg Mosbacher, German GG 2017, German Red Wines, German Wine, German Wine Tasting, Grosses Gewachs 2017, Hanspeter Ziereisen, Howard Ripley, Jaspis Range Ziereisen, Niederberg Helden, Philipp Wittmann, Rheinhessen Morstein, Rudolf May Franken Silvaner, Schäfer-Fröhlich, Schloss Lieser, Schloss Lieser Pinot Noir, Schweigen Wines, Spatburgunder and Pinot Noir, Thomas Haag, Von Schubert Maximin Grunhaus, Von Schubert Pinot Noir, Weingut Julg Schweigen, Weingut Peter Lauer, Weingut Wittmann, Wissembourg Abbey Former Vineyards, Ziereisen Baden | 6 Comments

Red Squirrel Portfolio 2018

Posted on 07/09/2018 by dccrossley

I’ve been to the Red Squirrel Portfolio Tasting a few times now, and I can say with conviction that the 2018 event, at the China Exchange in Gerrard Street, Soho, on Tuesday this week, was the best ever. It was certainly the biggest in terms of the number of Red Squirrel wines on show (many of them poured by their maker), and I’m pretty sure in terms of the number of attendees too. Plenty of people are beginning to cotton on to the fact that Red Squirrel Wines has one of the most adventurous ranges in London. They are growing slowly but surely as well, and I think there were probably around 200 wines on taste this year.

I’ve not tried to cover them all, of course. There were producers I didn’t taste at all because, like Okanagan Crush Pad, I’ve already tasted and written about their wines more than once this year. Others with who I’m familiar only saw me taste one or two new or less well known wines. But at the same time there were some wonderful new wines to try, and my top three discoveries of the day are the first three producers below. There were so many fantastic wines, so read on.

AYUNTA, Etna, Sicily

Filippo Mangione struck me as a really nice bloke, and I’m not surprised that the folks at Red Squirrel have warmed to him. He’s in that mould of Martin Diwald, Arnold Holzer, or Christian Dal Zotto, people you’d happily go to the pub with. He has some of the oldest vines (some are 200 years old) on some of the oldest volcanic soils on Etna. The wines are made in one of the traditional, and the RS chaps tell me a very beautiful, old palmentos. Why did we not know about him?

Filippo showed three wines, to all of which I might be tempted to extend the handshake of excellence. Piante\Sparse 2016 is an Etna Bianco which is mostly Carricante, but ancient mixed planting means a number of stray varieties make it really a field blend (with around 30% made up of Cataratto, with some Inzolia, Zibibbo and Minella Bianca). They are all co-fermented. Nice and mineral, a bit of texture, very pure, and only 12.5% abv, so fresh as anything. Loved it.

Navigabile 2016 is an Etna Rosso red blend of mostly Nerello Mascalese with 20% Nerello Cappuccio and 10% others. It’s made in open top cement vats before ageing in 35 hectolitre wooden vats. It has that lifted perfume so characteristic of the Nerello varieties and smooth, ripe, tannins.

Caldara Sottana 2015 is a single vineyard contrada wine, 100% Nerello Mascalese selected from the oldest vines in the parcel. It has more spice than the previous wine with a peppery touch, and more concentration, darker and denser fruit. It needs time, I think, but impressive, and special.

The name? Filippo’s nickname, as “ayunta” is Sicilian slang, kind of “more”, which his grandmother used to say to get him to drink more milk. These are really lovely wines, and my discovery of the day.

MÔRELIG, Swartland, South Africa

Andrew Wightman makes natural wines with as little intervention as possible at the base of the Paarderberg Mountain in Swartland (Western Cape). The family bought the farm in 2011 but 2015 was their first vintage. Vines, some planted back in 1965, are on excellent decomposed granite. All wines mentioned are 2017.

The range begins with a very tasty A&B’s Blend which is about 70% Chenin Blanc, 30% Clairette. Chenin Blanc is nice and clean, made in old oak and impressed, but then came the Old Bush Vines Chenin. This is from vines aged 53 years or over, off some of the farm’s best granite terroir. It’s just a step up from the previous wine in terms of the complexity of the basket-pressed old vine fruit, but it also has greater presence, a nicely rounded out wine. There’s a touch of apple freshness coupled with a touch of quince. My favourite of Andrew’s wines.

That’s not to say the reds aren’t good. To steal a tasting term from Jamie Goode, the Syrah is just so smashable. Semi carbonic, ten days on skins in old oak, used both for fermentation and maturation, 13% abv. There’s genuine polish to the palish fruit on bouquet and palate, fresh and with a touch of elegance. Nice!? More than nice!

The Hedge is the flagship red, a blend of 75% Syrah with 13% Carignan and 12% Cinsaut (the SA spelling is used here). The Syrah gets a 30 day extraction and is then blended with the other varieties, which add freshness. A lovely, and potentially quite complex, blend.

LOWERLAND, Prieska, South Africa

Well, I’d never heard of Prieska before. It’s a new Wine of Origin in the Orange River region, in an agricultural district known only for bulk wine, if at all. The idea that someone is doing interesting stuff here would, I’m told, cause a bit of mirth among some South Africans. By the way, you pronounce it “loverland”.

The organic grapes are grown on a mixed farm by Bertie Coetzee, a former rock musician with some impressive winemaker mates (JD Pretorius, Lukas van Loggerenberg and Johnnie Calitz), to whom he trucks down batches for them to make the wines. The key here is altitude. Ripening is difficult enough without a good lot of summer rain to make things harder, but the wines below somehow show quite amazing freshness and complexity.

Lowerland MCC 2016 is a delicious, fresh, Colombard sparkler (14 months on lees, zero dosage), which already shows more presence than most Colombard from Gascony. Witgat 2017 is Viognier, but not at all in the fat and oily style, despite nine months in old oak. It reminds me of a Haisma, or of Stéphane Ogier’s white “Rosine”, in its freshness, definitely worth trying if you think you (or your guests, in which case serve it blind) don’t like Viognier.

With Vaalkameel 2017 we are back with Colombard. Whereas the “MCC” was made by JD Pretorius, this one was made by Lukas van Loggerenberg. The name means “pale camel”. No idea! Great stone fruit character dominates, so much more personality than you usually get out of Colombard, but it’s different to the MCC. Seeing 12 months in barrel, this is a ringer for a top Chenin, and Nik said it had been called out as Chenin when tasted blind on many occasions.

JD, Lukas and Johnnie all came together to create Die Verlore Bokooi 2016, a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot (both 35%) with 25% Syrah and 5% Merlot. On the face of it, it’s a quaffer, quite easy going, but it does have a touch of structure and wow, it grows in the glass. This was a “Hidden Gem” in the 2018 Platter’s Wine Guide, and I agree with them, it’s a brilliant find. Actually my favourite wine from Lowerland, though others run it close (especially that pale camel).

The final red, Tolbos 2016, is unusually 100% Tannat. This is a really imposing flagship wine with a meaty, iron-rich, bouquet from only 13.5% of restrained alcohol. Nik said Lukas is planning a trip to Madiran, so much does he love Tannat. I sincerely hope he’s not disappointed, because I doubt he’ll find too many Madirans as attractive as this approachable star.

DAL ZOTTO, Victoria, Australia

This is an old King Valley family who originally emigrated from Italy, and we know that King Valley has some great Italian grape varieties planted as a result of those migrations. Christian is one of the great characters of the Red Squirrel herd, and does a brilliant job of promoting the wines his brother makes around the world.

Dal Zotto is a perennial favourite of any tasting where their wines are on show. The grape focus is purely Italian, with delicious varietals from King Valley grown Arneis, Garganega, Sangiovese and Barbera, all great value. In addition, Dal Zotto makes a real Italian speciality which, given the appalling status of the Italian original among some wine lovers in the UK, really should be tried. If you like tasty but uncomplicated Italian fizz but can’t bring yourself to buy Prosecco (good versions as there surely are), then look no further than the wines tasted below.

Pink Pucino NV is a fun fizzy rosé, dry and zippy but not thin, and pretty fruity. Pucino Col Fondo 2016 is just like a colfondo Prosecco in almost every respect, except again, Aussie fruit shines through in a lovely lifted bouquet. Love the bitter, saline finish.

Christian also poured a new, unlabelled sparkler, a petnat. Some fruit was pressed at 22 baume and added back to the base wine. It’s also “Col Fondo” (“with the bottom”, ie all the yeast cells etc, making it cloudy with all that tasty sediment – shake it up or stand it up, the choice is yours). It has no name yet, so look out for a new Dal Zotto addition. It’s a cracker.

VINTERLOPER, South Australia

Vinterloper started out as an urban winery project but has since grown into one of the new stars of the Adelaide Hills. The wide range includes the innovative “Park” range, sold in 50cl beer bottles which are just right for…er…taking to the park.

There are still a couple of wines under the Urban Winery Project label. White #3 (2017) blends just over half Pinot Gris with Gewurztraminer and a little Riesling, making an interesting dry but aromatic wine. The 37% Gewurz comes through on the nose, and it has a touch of exoticism, but it’s also a nice reviving wine.

Urban Winery Project Red #6 (2017) is a rich Syrah/Tempranillo blend, fairly simple on the face of it, but there’s a nice bitterish cherry touch on the fruit and a savoury note at the end.

I will admit I’m a sucker for the Vinterloper Lagrein, named If Life Gives You…2017. It’s a new wine, just for the UK market. I hope that’s because we are sophisticated enough for this juicy Northeast Italian variety. It’s not an especially sophisticated wine, but one you can really enjoy, with a good amount of character and personality.

ESCHENHOF HOLZER, Wagram, Austria

Arnold Holzer’s wines have featured in my racks for years and I can recommend all of them, especially if you are looking for cheap wines to splash around because he puts a lot of care into these. Invader Orange 2017 is one of the most interesting inexpensive wines around. It’s a Müller-Thurgau skin contact wine. It smells like an orange wine, but it actually comes over really clean on the palate, and the fruit is very evident. It’s one of a tranche of wines redefining this much maligned variety.

The Orange 2015, by contrast, is serious stuff. For a few years this has been up there with my favourite orange wines. It helps that the grape is Roter Veltliner, a rare but lovely Austrian variety. The colour here is true orange, unlike the paler Invader. The skin contact character really hits you on first sniff, even before you allow the extract and texture to coat your tongue. It’s majestic, just so long as you appreciate the “white made as a red” style and philosophy…which I do.

BIOWEINGUT DIWALD, Wagram, Austria

You probably know by now that Martin Diwald is a neighbour and old school mate of Arnold Holzer. The Diwald family have been organic since the 1980s, among the country’s first. Both estates are at Grossriedenthal, in Wagram, more famous, for now, for Napoleon’s famous victory than for wine, perhaps. The region stretches for around 30km along the Danube, east of Kamptal, Kremstal and the Wachau, and not too far from Vienna.

I’ve known Martin Diwald’s wines for exactly as long as I’ve known Arnold Holzer’s, and his Grüner Veltliner Sekt has been a firm fixture of previous summers. As I’m always drinking his whites I think I’ll take the chance to plug the only red Martin had on show, Grossriedenthal Löss 2016. It’s Zweigelt, a variety which can be hard drinking when people extract too much from it, and there are horrible commercial versions of the grape variety as well. When it is done right, it can be both juicy and fresh without being too simple. I know some Austrian producers who don’t like Zweigelt, but Martin does. Maybe the pair of us are perverse. I doubt it.

BLACK CHALK, Hampshire, England

Black Chalk is a new English sparkling wine producer. I was really impressed with their wines when I tasted them for the first time at the London Wine Fair, and after a few extra months in bottle on cork they are even more delicious now.

The winery is based near to Winchester, and although no vines are owned, all the bought in fruit comes from a ten mile radius of the winery, purchased from growers with whom Jacob Leadley (as winemaker for the very successful Hattingley Valley Wines, one of England’s best kept secrets until recently) has close relationships. The name “Black Chalk” comes from the use of the medium in art for sketching out ideas before committing them to canvas.

There are two Black Chalk wines right now, both from the 2015 vintage, and with a production of around 10,000 bottles per year, no major growth is planned (although somewhat bigger harvests will help increase production a little).

Black Chalk Classic 2015 is a blend of half Chardonnay with decreasing proportions of Pinot Meunier and Pinot Noir. With 9 g/l dosage, it is elegant and fruity at the same time. The Meunier gives lovely fresh acidity in a relatively warm vintage. Ageing is in wood, with one new 225 litre barrel, lightly toasted, adding a touch of complexity.

Wild Rose 2015 is a very pale pink where the Meunier makes up just less than half of the blend with 34% Chardonnay and 25% Pinot Noir. Raspberry and strawberry fruits precede a clean and crisp finish. Lovely. These are very user friendly wines, no ultra low dosage or anything. I think Jacob has judged them beautifully, and this is a label to watch.

CB5F7FAA-B498-4977-BF24-0EECBDB2D429

CHAMPAGNE LEVASSEUR, Marne Valley, France

David Levasseur has around four hectares at Cuchery and at Châtillon on the Marne, planted mostly by his grandfather in the 1940s. You don’t often read about this small 35,000 bottle-a-year producer but the wines are very impressive. There are two wines named after the road where the family lives, Rue du Sorbier. They are both Meunier dominated (80%) non-vintage wines, one a Brut which is fruity, and one a Brut Nature (zero dosage), which is dry and more savoury, a food wine.

Extrait Gourmand Rosé is down to 50% Meunier, with 30% Chardonnay and 20% PN. Its colour is somewhere between deep salmon pink and bronze and there’s a bit of extract. “Gourmand” gives away the intention…drink it with food, either firm fish, good seafood, or white meat etc.

There are two wines labelled Terroir, also NV. The Blanc de Blancs (100% Chardonnay) has a powerful nose with a touch of salinity. The Blanc de Noirs (all Pinot Noir) has a biscuit nose and is fuller on the palate, with a touch of spice. These are quite singular wines, both with a tiny production of around 1,500 bottles each vintage. Both wines are showing amazing length. They feature the old fashioned method of tying the cork on with string, very labour intensive and as much care is taken in making these wines.

I tasted a nice wine from the Loire, from Muscadet in fact, that I remember tasting a couple of years ago. It’s that “sparkling Muscadet”, but of course Les Perles de Folie from Frederic Guilbaud is not labelled as such, merely as a “Vin Mousseux NV”. Made from the region’s Melon variety, it is tight and focussed with almost rapier-like acidity and a very fine spine, delicious.

Bruno Bouche is a grower from Limoux I don’t recall coming across before, but Être à L’Ouest 2017 is a cheeky Chardonnay with just 12.5% alcohol and, relatively speaking, is cheap as chips. With a great fun label it should fly off any wine list where the wine drinking public are not too up themselves.

Clos Cibonne is one of my few Provençal favourites and these wines are as good as ever. All the wines to a greater or lesser degree feature the autochthonous variety, Tibouren, and I do love the wine where this grape variety is placed in the forefront. Tradition Rosé Cru Classé 2016 is often called just “Tibouren”, although it does contain 10% Grenache here. The 2014 drunk from magnum in August was a reminder that, like the pink from Château Simone, this ages superbly, and improves with time.

KEWIN DESCOMBES, Beaujolais, France

Kéké is one of a bunch of relatively new stars in Beaujolais who are taking the wines back to their roots as well made but gluggable crowd pleasers in the best sense. I really like the 2017 edition of Cuvée Kéké, which has delicious, light, lifted, cherry fruit.

Gluggable doesn’t mean just simple. Kewin makes some lovely wines from, and labelled as, Morgon, and his Morgon Vieilles Vignes is a touch more serious. I prefer the 2016 over the 2015. The nose is more restrained, the fruit more balanced. There is grip here too, and it needs a little time. It has restraint to accompany the density of old vine fruit.

EMIL BAUER & SOHNE, Pfalz, Germany

This domaine is special for several reasons, although the wine names and labels can have the effect of taking the focus away from the serious work Alexander and Martin Bauer have been doing since they took over from their father in 2011. I mean, forget concrete eggs, these guys make one wine in carved stone “barriques” (Riesling Granit, not on taste here).

The 2017 version of Sex, Drugs, Rock & Roll (Riesling) is, like many of the dry Rieslings I’ve tasted from this vintage, zippy with fresh acidity, but being The Pfalz, there’s fruit coming through too.

I want to highlight the Scheurebe, Scheu Aber Geil 2017, which has a different kind of fruit, green and bright, with a touch of grapefruit. I’ve not seen it before so it may be new to Red Squirrel, but it’s tasty and interesting. Do you really want me to translate? “Shy but horny”. I really can’t say about the last bit, but I’d not call it shy!

If You Are A…2017 (see label below) is like a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, but a good one. Clean gooseberry fruit with more tropical notes which don’t dominate. Fresh acids but not tart, nor under-ripe.

Always Enjoy Life 2016 is a Pinot Noir pink, very pale after just a short period on skins. Tasty, but maybe not as interesting as the whites (to me). What is of interest is the red. German Merlot! My Merlot Is Not The Answer 2016 is unusual, not merely for what it is, but also for the fact that despite 14% alcohol, it seems lighter and more restrained (well, a little) than many Saint-Emilions. But it is very juicy and packed with fruit, plus a little grippiness, which will soften with a little age if you want it to.

BRUNA, Liguria, Italy

I often mention these wines, from a producer I only come across at Red Squirrel Tastings. I suppose I’ve always had a soft spot for “good” Ligurian wines, especially Pigato (the Ligurian strain of Vermentino). Of the three “Vermentino” wines Bruna makes, the slightly more expensive Pigato Le Russeghine wins out in 2017. Very unlike the old style of acidic Pigato, this has a whole lot going on, richer and more complex, but it’s still a fresh white at the same time.

Bansigu Rosso 2016 is one for those who enjoy oddities. It’s a blend of Granaccia (70%), with Rossese di Campochiesa, Barbera and Cinsault, plus others, with 13.5% alcohol, and a slightly animal nose (I mean that in a good way). There’s fruit there, and tannin. Just something a little different, but taste it before you buy a case. I know not everyone is as nuts (I mean adventurous, of course) as I am.

I’ll mention here another wine from one of Red Squirrel’s Ligurian producers, Altavia Rossese di Dolceacqua Superiore Riserva 2012. This is the local grape of (mainly) Western Liguria. It is pale with cherry fruit and bite. It’s another wine which initially seems less alcoholic than its 13.5% on the label. Unusual, but less so than Bruna’s red (though I have to say guys, come on, the label!).

8381DAD4-CAA6-415B-99C4-60345C958BD8

AZORES WINE COMPANY, Azores, Mid-Atlantic

The Azores are a third of the way to America, although the islands, of which the volcanic cone of Pico is the main one, belong to Portugal. You can read about how António Maçanita has brought about a renaissance in Azores winemaking in my article here. The story is one worth reading and maybe I’m in a minority, but it really made me want to go out and see these remarkable vineyards (a UNESCO World Heritage Site) for myself.

António is out there making wine right now, but he was ably supported on Tuesday. I couldn’t resist trying three wines here, despite having tasted them a good few times in 2018 already. Terrantez do Pico 2016 (not 2015 as listed, and not the same Terrantez as in Madeira) is a lovely mineral wine, only marred by its price (probably around £50, justified by the tiny 1,000 bottle production and the cost of producing wines in general 900 miles off the coast of Portugal).

Tinto Vûlcanico 2016 is a much cheaper introduction to the AWC range. It’s a field blend of a whole load of grapes almost no-one has heard of, but with some Touriga, Merlot, Syrah and Aragonez (aka Tempranillo). There’s a bit more of this (3,330 bottles in 2016). The lifted, iron filings, nose is really characteristic of volcanic-grown red wines, so I think the terroir shines through in a really attractive way here, which I know has pleased most (perhaps all the people) who have tried it in my presence. You get an added bonus with this wine – the label pinpoints the Azores on a map for those who may be floundering.

I wanted to re-taste Isabella a Proibida 2016 because the keen-eyed reader will recall that in my last article I mentioned a wine I tried made from the vitis labrusca Isabella variety when in Austria in August. Interestingly, Isabella, as a Native American species, is supposed to be illegal for wine making in the EU (in the article I link to above you can read about the threat faced by António from the authorities when he initially believed this wine was from Isabella, cough), yet the Austrian wine, Weinhof Zieger’s Uhudler frizzante, appears to be quite open about the variety, at least according to Austrian friends who buy it (and Wikipedia).

This Azores wine is a little strange and a lot interesting. It has fruit, simple but rounded out mainly strawberry fruit, but salinity too, from the terroir. It makes the wine slightly sweet (but not really) and sour. But you don’t get any more than a hint of the “foxy” stuff going on in the Uhudler. Perhaps the terroir is such a strong influence…or maybe the variety really isn’t quite Isabella. That would let António off the hook, at least…

PASAELI, Izmir, Turkey

You have to hand it to these guys, and owner Seyit Karagözoglu. They are making some truly tasty wines in an environment (I’m talking political, not climatic) that is not encouraging for winemakers. Where Turkey once looked to Western economic models, and indeed proved a massive success story, wine does not fit in with the stance of the current government. Advertising is almost impossible, so try the wines, and thank Red Squirrel for importing them.

The wines are made from a range of varieties, from the lowly Sultana table grape for which Turkey is famous, through varietal Sidalan, Yapincak, Çalkarasi (vinified as a rosé) and a couple of reds. 6N 2016 is 80% Karasakiz with 20% Merlot, a smooth and fruity wine, quite easy going, and inexpensive. The range tops out with international varieties blended together (both Cabernets, Merlot and Petit Verdot). This K2 2014 is dark and brooding and, even with a few years in bottle, is quite big. But impressive. They do deserve our support.

CROSBY & LOCKHART CELLARS, California, USA

These are Red Squirrel’s first US wines. Their story is a little unusual as they come from a New York distributor which went into winemaking twenty years ago in order to provide an inexpensive but well made line for their own customers. The fruit is sourced from all over California and the wines are made by Anna Davis in Healdsburg, Sonoma County.

These are all simple wines, but well made. There’s a Crosby Chardonnay, and four Lockhart-labelled wines – Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. These are clearly aimed at the on-trade, I assume, but should do well. They provide up front fruit, none of the sweetness which masks almost everything else in the big Cali-brands, and so should go with food in a restaurant setting. None are over alcoholic (the Cabernet, for instance, is an almost light and restrained 13.5%). I think a few restaurant buyers could get quite excited having these on the list. Decent labels help.

Native New Yorker in full flow…kinda wish I’d had longer

I can’t expect any more of you than to read all of this (over 4,000 words), which only makes it a trifle annoying there are so many other producers I haven’t mentioned. If you come across wines from Valdonica (Tuscany), Bellwether (Coonawarra) and Okanagan Crush Pad/Haywire Range (British Columbia, Canada) and you’ve not read what I have said about them before, do dive in. I don’t think any of their wines are less than very good indeed. Personally, I’m a big fan of the Crush Pad.

A7DA2EF4-6F71-4524-AC7E-A735CC38CC0E

F5743CBD-4581-420B-8DE4-EE1199AD566F

Thanks Nik, Great Tasting! A man who enjoys his work!

Posted in Wine, Wine Agencies, Wine Merchants, Wine Tastings | Tagged Alexander Bauer, Altaviva Liguria, Andrew Wightman Morelig Farm, António Maçanita, Arnold Holzer, Australian Col Fondo, Ayunta Etna, Azores Wine Company, Bioweingut Diwald, Black Chalk Wines, Bruna Liguria, Bruno Bouche, Champagne Levasseur, Clos Cibonne Tibouren, Crosby & Lockhart Cellars, Dal Zotto Wines, Emil Bauer & Sohne, Eschenhof Holzer, Filippo Mangione, Frederic Guilbaud Muscadet, Grossriedenthal Wine, Isabella Labrusca Grape, Jacob Leadley, Kéké Descombes, Kewin Descombes Morgon, King Valley Italian Varietals, Lowerland Wines, Martin Bauer, Martin Diwald, Morelig Swartland, New English Sparkling Producer, Nik Darlington, Pasaeli Wines Izmir, Pigato, Prieska Wine of Origin, Red Squirrel Portfolio 2018, Red Squirrel Wines, Rossese di Dolceacqua, Rue du Sorbier, Turkish Grape Varieties, Turkish Wine, Vinterloper Adelaide Hills, Wagram Wine | 3 Comments

Vienna for Adventurous Eating and Drinking

Posted on 06/09/2018 by dccrossley

Plenty has been written about the Vienna wine scene, and a whole lot more plastered over social media. You don’t really need a guide to eating and drinking natural wines in Vienna (although, as always, the Raisin app is your friend). But after several trips to the Austrian capital I do have a couple of favourites when it comes to dining, and I’m going to tell you about those. Vienna has so much to interest the food and drink lover for such a relatively small city, so I’ll also mention one or two other places – a wine shop, a café and a few market stalls and so on, as well.

When people talk about natural wine in Vienna there are a number of “usual suspects”. Don’t worry, we’ll go to one of those next. But the reservation we had for our first night, on arrival, is one you don’t often hear about on Instagram and Twitter. It’s actually a restaurant recommended to us my Vienna friends and acquaintances alike, people who are not really into “natural wine” per se. But after a first encounter in 2015, I would say we are likely to return there on every visit to Vienna.

Glacis Beisl has been around for a while, much longer than the trendy Museum Quarter (housing Mumok and the Leopoldsmuseum in the former Imperial stables), but since the area on this edge of Mariahilf (Vienna’s 6th District) has been redeveloped, it has reinvented itself. What was once merely a very traditional Beisl is now a vibrant restaurant full of young and old alike.

0E642A16-C69C-4DA2-9135-8EF67F658978

A Beisl is a traditional Viennese eatery offering local specialities, most often in an old and dark wood-panelled dining room. There is such a room ay Glacis, and one often suspects that its dark corners offer a certain degree of privacy and anonimity. In addition, Glacis now has a light and airy garden room and, even better if the weather is fine, a nice outdoor garden space. As well as giving the diner a range of options, it thankfully allows for more covers. It does get full and booking is pretty much essential, at least around the weekend.

Glacis Beisl offers a really well executed selection of local specialities which go well beyond the ubiquitous (but excellent) schnitzel and very good tafelspitz (usually boiled beef, sometimes veal, with minced apple and fiery horseraddish). Alongside the menu you will be given a wine list with a pretty decent selection of mainly Austrian, sometimes natural, wines with a small selection available by the glass.

Kopitsch Petnat, Preisinger KalkundKiesel 2016 and Nittnaus Zweigelt btg at Glacis

It took me a while to wise up to something which is common in Vienna, as in restaurants in all major cities – there’s always another wine list. As I was reminded by an Instagram comment from Glacis themselves, “ask for the red book”. It is there you should find enough to satisfy the geek inside you…though to be honest even the small list will give you plenty to enjoy if you don’t want to spend a long time about choosing.

I should also mention here that Vienna is well able to cater for vegetarian and vegan diets. Menu tweaking doesn’t seem to be a problem. At Glacis, a delicious vegan mushroom goulash was prepared, slightly adapted from the menu, and a vegan dessert with fresh fruits and sorbet was offered, though not on the menu. All this without any huffing and puffing whatsoever. Schnitzel, for the meat eater, comes as veal or pork, priced accordingly.

If anywhere deserves the praise heaped on it in this city, it is surely Mast, or Mast Weinbistro to give it its proper name, which does stress how important wine is at this establishment on Porzellangasse, in an up-and-coming neighbourhood to the north of the city centre, just a ten minute walk outside The Ring. Mast has a small wine list, but as one would expect, there’s a twenty page list if you ask for it.

The Austrian section is a delight, packed with exactly what any discerning natural wine lover would expect (though the wine list is not exclusively “natural”). For those who want to stray, large groups, or those coming multiple times in a trip, the wines (and other beverages) from other countries are as wide and varied as anywhere – from Ganevat and Cidrerie du Vulcain to De Moor, Emidio Pepe, Testalonga, Pearl Morissette, Kutch and Equipo Navazos, to name just a few..

6146128D-7785-4540-BDDA-6E049699E051

We had to try this collaboration between Mast and Vienna’s own young star, Jutta Ambrositsch, Gemischter Satz Rechts der Donau

Matthias (Pitra) and Steve (Breitzke) have fashioned a wine list that has made Mast famous across Europe and beyond, but that doesn’t mean we should forget the food here. Rather than traditional, as at Glacis, I would characterise the food at Mast as inventive. Very inventive. Martin Schmid is in the kitchen and the style here is what is described as “modern and free”. The food is presented relatively simply to look at, no froths nor jellies as the web site says. But using perfect and fresh ingredients, locally sourced where possible, Schmid manages to conjure flavour combinations just a little out of the ordinary. Inventive, but not to shock. Mast fully deserves its Michelin Bib Gourmand.

E9FC4FF5-DD6D-4002-8C58-E4996F595F39

If, like us when we visit, you are renting an apartment, you might need to buy some wine to take home. The clear choice here is between one of the well known city stores or somewhere small and specialist. For the former, head to Vinifero. It’s at Gumpendorfer Strasse 36, the road which runs more or less parallel to Vienna’s big shopping street, Mariahilfer Strasse. The sign on the shop also says “Naturwein”, so you know what you are going to get – as their web site says, no chemicals, natural yeasts and low sulfur (sic).

1E1C6818-DFD6-471F-9BFD-80B321527E45

Vinifero is only a short trek from the centre of Vienna, and though small, worth the walk (though also worth checking opening times, “usually” 2-8pm Tues to Fri, 10-6pm Sat, closed Sun and Mon).

If you are pushed for time its worth paying a visit to Wein & Co. This is one of the bigger wine chains in Vienna with (I think) eight stores. Their flagship store is near St-Stephen’s Cathedral, at Jasomirgottstrasse 3 (it’s the small road which directly faces the front of the cathedral, upstairs is their restaurant and the shop is down the stairs on the left).

Wein & Co sell a very good range of Austrian wines. You will, for instance, find the Styrian speciality made from the Blauer Wildbacher grape, Schilcher (or Schichersekt) here. There is also a reasonably good natural wine section. If you are nearby, take a look at least.

C8A2768A-0322-4A7D-A812-8F9F41A72DAC

A good Schilchersekt at Wein & Co, the tart but very traditional Blauer Wildbacher sparkler from Western Styria

Another wine shop option is the wine department at Meinl, the smart department store at the top of the Graben (less than ten minutes’ walk from the cathedral). This is the place to find some of the more famous, and more obscure, Austrian bottles you’ll probably not find anywhere else.

All pics from Wein & Co, except bottom right, entrance to Meinl wine bar and wine shop

You can’t escape café culture in Vienna, and frankly why would you want to? To experience one of the famous cafés such as Café Central or Landtmann is pretty essential for any first time visitor, but you soon get slightly fed up with being seated with dozens of other tourists, and anyone who has queued for sachertorte at the Hotel Sacher will probably only wish to do so the once.

The Viennese café was not invented for mass tourism, but to offer a quiet refuge where you can go for breakfast, coffee, or an afternoon cake, where you can catch up with the newspaper or read a book. There are many options aside from the famous establishments, some modern, some from the 1930s, or 1950s, and others offering the same quiet wood-panelled rooms with their old world charm as the ones in the guidebooks.

I shall just mention a new discovery, which we found this last trip (August 2018) – Café Sperl. It was founded on the corner of Gumpendorf Strasse and Lehargasse in 1880. Originally Café Ronacher, it changed ownership and name in 1884. It’s the spitting image of the Ringstrasse cafés without the crowds. In fact it has popular outside tables, so in good weather the interior, with its dark wood tables, billiards and parquet flooring, will be relatively sparsely populated. It’s a true original (so much so that it has appeared several times in movies). If you fancy some peace and quiet, or shelter from the storm, take a look. It’s conveniently quite close to the Museum Quarter and the Naschmarkt.

You might hear some people describe Vienna’s permanent market, the Naschmarkt, as a bit touristy. I think that is a touch unfair. There are certainly many stalls aiming to appeal to the tourists who walk up and down every day, and you can’t get away without stallholders hawking their wares, offering tasty morsels which, once accepted, will almost certainly morally commit you to a purchase, in their eyes.

Among those selling baklava pastries and every kind of roasted and sweetened nuts you will also find wonderful and pristine fruit and vegetables (one stall sells what an older resident told me was “the best in Vienna, but three times more expensive than the supermarket”. If you walk past you will certainly know which one I mean).

Of even more interest might be Feinkost Gerhard Urbanek. It’s a tiny shop, as the photograph shows. It sells perhaps (no, “certainly”) the finest cheeses and cold meats on the Naschmarkt, and inside you can get plates of cheese and meats along with a glass of wine for a lunchtime snack. We went in here with Wieninger’s Georg Grohs after our morning spent with him.

We found about seven or eight people squeezed inside, cheek by jowl, doing exactly that. When one person leaves another squeezes in. Very high quality, and something of an experience to boot. The dry-aged T-bone ribeye was pretty damned good, although for a place that is focussed on meat and cheese they were also quite able to knock together a vegan platter: artichokes, olives and excellent bread.

Urbanek is not far from the bottom (city centre) end of the market on the right hand side of the left hand aisle, as you approach from the city/Karlsplatz. Don’t shout at me if I’m wrong, just ask around. The Naschmarkt is a warren of interesting food outlets…and fridge magnets.

A3775213-1468-456F-AA47-F26DB3FC9AAA

At the far end of the Naschmarkt, up near the Kettenbrükengasse U-bahn station, on a Saturday morning you’ll find the Flöhmarkt (flea market). Full of the most unwanted tat in parts, there are fascinating stalls of everything you can imagine from the days of empire and the jugenstil. Old musical instruments, religious paraphernalia, beer steins and military uniforms, along with cheap toys, antique toys and objects claiming Roman or Greek origin. Whether there are bargains to be had or just rip-offs to be made, I don’t know, but I love an early morning wander on a Saturday morning before breakfast.

Just two more tips. For vegans you’ll find an increasing number of options in Vienna. Probably the best we have found so far is Swing Kitchen, which describes itself as a vegan burger joint. There are three in Vienna. We found the location at Schottenfeldgasse 3, close to the Naschmarkt. The vegan cheesecake (below, centre) was very good.

Finally, for hard core Austrian wine lovers who frankly find Schilcher Sekt a little 2016 (I think I first saw Schilcher in the UK back then, but hardly anyone has tried it), there is this…

4B903B1B-20C9-42CE-B5CF-1EC8ABBFEA43

Uhudler (in this case a frizzante version) is made from the vitis labrusca grape variety, Isabella. It’s a speciality of Südburgenland. This is one of the better known examples from Weinhof Zieger. Pale red, or rosé, it tastes of very concentrated strawberries and blackcurrants.

If that doesn’t sound quite an unusual combination, you also get the classic foxy smell and flavour characteristic of vitis labrusca grapes (labrusca originated in North America and as it is resistant to phylloxera, it has been used for rootstocks in Europe ever since the late 19th Century… grapes for wine in Europe usually come from vines of the vitis vinifera grape family, grafted onto labrusca roots).

For those who don’t know it, “foxy” denotes a musky, earthy, aroma that to be honest might put a lot of people off. Once you do get used to the foxiness, as some North American wine drinkers are rediscovering, the wine is only a little unusual. Definitely one to say you’ve drunk when the assembled masses are knowingly name checking Schilcher, though Ströhmeier’s Schilcher Frizzante would be my choice between the two if I’m honest. But still, it’s wacky…it’s also the second wine from Isabella I’ve tried this year (the other being from the Azores Wine Company).

If you want to read more about where you can eat in and around Vienna, my article on the summer popup heurigen and buschenschanks on the Nussberg Hill might interest you (see here). It’s also worth checking out Mayer am Pfarrplatz, mentioned in the same article. It’s something of a Vienna institution.

I hope I’ve given you an idea of some of my favourite places in what I would probably say is the European Capital I’d most like to live in. Maybe there are a few recommendations there for the seasoned traveller, and perhaps a few will appeal to the first timer as well.

403DF787-7123-4FA2-BA22-A83069CC9595

Klimt frieze, Secession Building, Vienna

Posted in Austria, Austrian Wine, Dining, Vienna, Viennese Cafés, Wiener Beisl, Wine, Wine Shops, Wine Travel | Tagged Cafe Sperl Vienna, Feinkost Gerhard Urbanek, Friedrich Silchersekt, Glacis Beisl, Jutta Ambrositsch und Mast 2017, Kopitsch, MAST Vienna, Mast Weinbistro, Meinl am Graben Wine Shop, Nittnaus, Off the Radar Vienna Cafe, Preisinger, Uhudler, Uhudler Frizzante Weinhof Zieger, Vienna Beisl, Vienna Dining and Drinking, Vienna for Wine Lovers, Vienna Naschmarkt, Vinifero Wine Shop, Wein & Co Vienna, Wine From Isabella Grape | 4 Comments

Blank Bottle at Butler’s

Posted on 03/09/2018 by dccrossley

I don’t often write about a single wine producer unless I’ve visited them, or at least met the producer at a wine event. I’ve known and enjoyed the wines made in South Africa by Pieter Walser, imported into the UK by Swig Wines, for maybe a couple of years, but this summer the folks at Butler’s Wine Cellar in Brighton did something unusual – they chose Blank Bottle Winery for their own label red and white.

Many wine merchants have an “own label” range, but these are usually fairly simple wines which perhaps retail around the £10 mark. They expect to increase brand awareness by selling palate loads to customers who are looking for value and a certain dependability. Few of these customers are really after something unusual, maybe even a little challenging. Henry and Cassie at Butler’s are also looking to provide value, in fact amazing value for money. But it’s a different kind of value, that which gives you genuine quality at (here) a little over £20 a bottle. I must say, it was an inspired and brilliant idea.

Pieter Walser is at the cutting edge of South African wine. The story of Blank Bottle has been told many times but it bears telling again. In 2004 a customer came to the house to buy wine. “Anything but Shiraz”, she said. “I don’t drink Shiraz”. Having little red wine left to sell, and so pouring an unlabelled red for her to taste, she loved it and bought three cases. Of course, it was unblended, 100%, Shiraz.

Pieter is convinced that wine is a product of the terroir and vintage it comes from, not the grape variety. He was also determined to break down pre-conceived ideas about what the wines should taste like. Another tenet Pieter adheres to is that wine should not always be the same. When he makes a wine from one vintage, you can’t expect it to be made the next. If it is repeated (and several wines are), you can’t expect it to be the same blend. Another trick is to mix bottle types around, such as putting Shiraz in a traditional Riesling bottle. You just have to trust him, which isn’t hard. He’s an honest guy making honest wines.

When asked (on his web site) what is the best part of his job, Pieter answered “being able to tell stories through wine”. All you need to do is sit back and open your mind (and heart). Ha! I wrote that before I read almost the same thing on his web site!

So how did Butler’s manage a coup like this? Henry had met Pieter when he was travelling around the UK with his importer. I think they got on quite well and it prompted Henry (quite possibly feeling jolly and bold after a few glasses) to ask about an exclusive wine. Pieter had in fact done something similar, though one might say for more (to an outsider) prestigious clients, The Ledbury and Tate restaurants. When Pieter said yes, the deal was on, as was the job of finding what turned into a red and a white. They tasted twenty unlabelled wines and the following pair, exclusive to Butler’s, are those they selected.

It is What it Is 2016 is from vines grown in the Western Cape. As I explained, you won’t find the varieties on the label, but this is mainly Tempranillo, with some Nebbiolo and Carignan. The name refers to the fact that after Pieter harvested the Tempranillo the owner of the vineyard grubbed it all up to plant something else. A real shame on several levels. This is no Rioja lookalike. It’s a really gutsy red, with a little creamy oak, although you’d maybe not guess 14% alcohol. It’s smooth, but you get texture and a nice balance of acidity. Plenty of Tempranillo (and Nebbiolo?) fragrance comes through as well. It’s delicious.

Give and Take 2017 is 100% Pinot Blank (sic) from Stellenbosch, and comes in at 14.5% abv, although on first sips you might think it a degree lower. Possibly not by the end of the bottle. It has a straw-gold colour with fresh green flecks, which are mirrored in the wine. The greenish bright flecks mirror its innate freshness, whilst the colour is mirrored in the wine’s richness. We are tasting stone fruit with a mineral texture on the finish, overlaid with a squeeze of bitter quince. The acidity lifts it and the alcohol rounds it out.

It’s almost impossible to say which of these I like the most. Both have labels drawn by Pieter, and whilst the red (a double sketch of Henry Butler) is interesting, I do prefer that on the white wine, depicting the iconic ruin of Brighton’s West Pier, hand drawn, black on white. That said, I hope to buy more of the pair of them.

Both wines retail at £22, and are worth grabbing quickly. Once the 348 bottles of each are gone, they are, as they say, gone. They provide a great opportunity for fans of new wave South African wine to sample a couple of Pieter Walser’s wines you’ll not find anywhere else. I’m guessing that for some people, £22 is a lot to pay for an own label wine. It isn’t a lot to pay for wines like these.

Of course Butler’s Wine Cellar has stocked Pieter’s Blank Bottle wines for a while. The first I bought from them was the classic Kortpad Kaaptoe (2016) made from the Portuguese variety, Fernão Pires. Importer, Swig, say of this that it “smells like luscious turkish delight and crystallised pineapple bashed with quartzy stones”. The vines are old, all over 50 years of age, off sandy soils in Swartland’s Darling fringe.

They also have Rabbitsfoot 2017, a stunning 14.5% version of Sauvignon Blanc (because Pieter dislikes unripe Sauvignon Blanc) which I think is barrel-aged, and Im Hinterhofkabuff, a fruity dry Riesling from Stellenbosch, the latter of which I have in my cellar.

There is seemingly a never ending stream of different cuvées coming out of Blank Bottle Winery and you really need to go with the flow. For example, I haven’t been able to find any reference to Epileptic Inspiration 2016. Nor have I tasted it, but Henry and Cassie told me it’s drinking really well and so I grabbed one to add to my BBW stash. I’m told it is Semillon, and the bottle says it’s from Elgin. I’m sure it will appear in one of my “what I’ve been drinking” columns soon.

left hand photo, Im Hinterhofkabuff and Epileptic Inspiration and right hand pic, far right, Rabbitsfoot

Butler’s also stocks Jaa-Bru Malbec 2016 (great label) and A Moment of Silence 2017, the latter the cheapest of the Blank Bottle cuvées at £16.99 (a Wellington blend of Viognier, Chenin and (well) Grenache Blanc according to Swig, or it might be Chardonnay, according to Butler’s).

There are a couple of extra Blank Bottle Winery cuvées I’d like to mention, which I don’t think Butler’s has stocked, as they are those which I’ve known longest. The first of Pieter’s wines I ever tasted was Orbitofrontal Cortex. The 2016 version Swig currently list is a Western Cape Blend of Chenin, Grenache Blanc, Semillon, Fernão Pires and Clairette. The 2017 has Swartland Clairette and Verdelho with some Palomino, Grenache Blanc and Chenin. He likes to change things around, but for a reason. This wine is the expression of the best blend Pieter can make in any given vintage, so the fruit quality is what matters.

Some Blank Bottles at “Out the Box” 2017 on the Swig table

My Koffer (currently 2016 on the Swig list but I’m sure that a 2018 has been made already) must be in something like its seventh or eighth vintage now. As a contrast to Orbitofrontal Cortex, this is a 100% varietal, made from Cinsault harvested in Breedekloof. It’s classic South African Cinsault, with cinnamon and nutmeg spice notes, quite intense, and only 13.5%, which if you know Pieter’s wines should suggest that it is usually super fresh.

The great thing about all of these wines, although not all of the Blank Bottle range, is that they should be available for around £30 or less. As I said, the range at Blank Bottle is large, but having sampled quite a few, I’d be happy to recommend trying any of them. You can generally find out what’s inside the bottle by going to either Swig’s, or Blank Bottle Winery’s, web sites. Or you can go in blind for a bit of fun.

Butler’s Wine Cellar has two shops in Brighton, to the east and northeast of the city in Queen’s Park and Kemp Town. Check out their web site here. (they are closed today, Monday 3 September, for stocktaking).

It’s well worth checking out Butler’s in the flesh, so to speak. They have a really eclectic selection of wines (and beers), which tops out with an interesting fine wine offering alongside some Californian gems of the kind you almost never stumble across. The Queen’s Park shop (the original) often seems packed to the brim with bottles, and a good half hour or so is recommended for a good old browse. Other areas of interest include English Sparklers and Portugal, plus a lot more than just Blank Bottle from South Africa, but you’ll find genuinely interesting bottles from pretty much all regions.

Swig Wines is the UK importer for Blank Bottle Winery. To see which wines they currently stock, go to their web site here. If you are in the trade you can sample Swig’s portfolio at Out the Box 2018, a tasting of eight small, young, importers at Shoreditch Town Hall in London on Tuesday 28 September 2018. Highly recommended.

Pieter Walser’s Blank Bottle Winery web site is here.

Posted in Own Label Wines, South African Wines, Wine, Wine Agencies, Wine Merchants, Wine Shops | Tagged Blank Bottle Winery, Brighton Wine Merchants, Butlers Wine Cellar, Give and Take 2017, It is What it Is 2016, Own Label Wines, Pieter Walser, South African Pinot Blanc, South African Tempranillo Blend, South African Wine, Swig Wines | 2 Comments

Heuriger, Heurigen, Buschenschanks and Popups: A Walk in the Woods and Vines

Posted on 29/08/2018 by dccrossley

Vienna now ranks alongside cities like London, Paris and Berlin for adventurous winelovers to dine out in, but it is the only city among these to have its own vineyards, which begin literally at the garden fences of its northern suburbs, on both sides of the Danube. With these vineyards has grown up a very special wine culture, in my view integral to the soul of the city, that of the heuriger and the buschenschank.

BEFF9244-2122-452A-9B3E-5533AC874845

Gemischter Satz in hand, cheers from the Nussberg!

You will find web sites and forums which argue the detail of how a heuriger (plural – heurigen) differs from a buschenschank, and I don’t propose to fill half this article running through these arguments. Both are effectively wine taverns which serve simple food. Sometimes.

Josef II became ruler of the Habsburg lands in 1765, and along with encouraging the young Mozart, he enacted a law which regulated the Buschenschank, a farm inn (specifically, run by owners or tenants of a vineyard or orchard) serving home produced beverages and uncooked food. The law still applies to this day. You will often read that the Heuriger is a larger, commercial enterprise, serving wine and hot food. You will soon find that such a definition is an over simplification, but it doesn’t really matter to the tourist. If you see somewhere with a bunch of pine twigs or a branch over the door and you like the look of the place, then go in. The larger establishments will be well advertised.

Most of Vienna’s wine taverns are located on the edge of the vineyards, in suburbs which have maintained a chocolate box village feel, such as Grinzing and Stammersdorf (at least when you walk along Stammersdorfer Strasse up towards the Bisamberg vines). But one of the delights of Vienna is the ease of getting out into the Vienna Woods and the vineyards when the weather is nice. In this article we are going to travel up above the Nussberg and walk down to Vienna, through these woods and vines.

On the way we will explore the summer pop-up wine taverns which open in the vines, some with near perfect views over the city. At the end of our walk we will stop at perhaps the most famous inn of them all.

02CAAF51-4E0E-44ED-8D00-B3A6A114C0C5

You can reach the woods in under an hour from the city centre. The U-bahn/Metro line, U4, will take you to Heiligenstadt terminus (note that in summer 2018 engineering work saw the train terminate at the previous stop, Spittelau, with a short ride on Tram D up to Heiligenstadt). From Heiligenstadt, jump on the 38A Bus, which waits right outside Heiligenstadt Station. It will take you along Grinzinger Strasse, then through Grinzing village, before climbing into the woods.

If you alight at the stop before Kahlenberg and cross over the road, there is a chapel set well back in the trees (the Gnadenskapelle – the stop is marked with a red dot on the map below, just before the road name “Höhenstraße” towards the top left, and you can easily follow the bus route from Heiligenstadt on that map).

Before you reach the chapel there’s a nice café, around fifty metres from the bus stop, with outside tables, run by the nuns, where you can grab a coffee before you begin walking. Of course, the truly adventurous can walk up the Nussberg from any point on Grinzinger Strasse, or indeed Nussdorf (where Tram D continues to). If you take the bus up to this point, however, the walking is pretty much downhill all the way.

There is a perfect map of Vienna and its wider area which I would recommend for anyone visiting the city who would like to venture beyond the historic centre. It’s the 1:25 000 map called simply Vienna, by Freytag & Berndt (www.freytagberndt.com). I purchased mine at Stanfords on Long Acre in Covent Garden, London (http://www.stanfords.co.uk).

B6B2C4CB-AA24-4B21-A860-7F6125316175

Heading down the hill from the café, recross the road to where you got off the bus and the path into the trees is obvious. Keep right initially and you will reach a tiny stream, marked as the Wildgrube on the map. You merely follow it through the woods until you eventually almost reach the vines. As the map shows, you will have reached a three-pronged fork in the road. If you take the left fork, uphill a little, you’ll be right in the Nussberg vineyards in a couple of minutes. It is here, at the next junction, that you will then see a map (photo below) detailing the summer popups on the hill.

As the photo of the Freytag & Berndt 1:25 000 map shows, there are several options. If you really can’t wait, the famous Mayer am Pfarrplatz has a very nice popup Buschenschank, Mayer am Nussberg, on the corner of Wildgrubgasse and Kahlenberger Strasse (marked “M” on the map photo), with a big garden at a high point on the hill.

If you continue by taking a right turn onto Eichelhofweg you will soon reach our favourite of the summer popups, Wieninger am Nussberg (marked “W” on the map). Why our favourite? When you see photos taken from the Nussberg vines over the city, it is here that the picture was invariably taken. Sit at a table, or on one of the deckchairs, sip on a glass or two of Gemischter Satz, and wallow in the fresh air and the view.

The Eichelhofweg winds down from the Wieninger buschenschank around the edge of the Nussberg hill. Below is the wide Danube, and the suburb of Nussdorf itself. The last vineyard is Ulm, which if you read my previous article about my morning spent with Wieninger’s Georg Grohs, you will already be familiar with. If you are desperate to end your walk you can head right down into Nussdorf to get the Tram D back into Vienna.

If you are game for more, then keep following the road, keeping right. You can turn onto the Nussberggasse, but the map will show you a previous right turn (at the big wall!) which will take you on a more interesting route via a small track, away from any traffic, through the vines. What you are aiming for is the Eroica Gasse, which travels south from the cemetery marked by two crosses on the map, and which leads you directly to Pfarrplatz.

It is here that you’ll find what might be Vienna’s most famous wine tavern, Mayer am Pfarrplatz, located in the Beethovenhaus (marked “M&P” on the map photo). It gets its name because Beethoven lived in rooms here for a while, from 1817.

Mayer is famous, and as such it will be busy. We’d visited on a previous trip with friends, and they had booked a table. This time we just walked in, and we were quite lucky to find a space, mid-afternoon on a public holiday, at an outdoor table in the vine covered courtyard, although to be fair they will try hard to fit you in. Mayer make their own (very good) wine, including Wiener Gemischter Satz, both under the Mayer am Pfarrplatz label, and Rotes Haus.

F9D7653F-94E3-48BF-A8B1-46E3F533963F

To digress for a moment, the fame of the heurigen is perhaps greatest for the time of year after the harvest, sturmzeit (sturm time), when they invariably serve sturm. Sturm is the part-fermented young wine which traditionally cannot be bottled because it is still fermenting (you will find bottles labelled sturm in places like the Naschmarkt in Vienna…hmmm!).

The wine will be cloudy, a bit fizzy, acidic and, for many people, the source of gutrot and a hangover. But it really is a beverage to experience, though not to be precious about, whether at a heuriger/buschenschank in September/October, or at popup stalls around Vienna during the same time, where it is invariably served from half-pint mugs and drunk rather like a thirst quencher.

There was no sturm wine to be had at Mayer in August, but what does make a fantastic, lightly fermented, thirst quencher and re-hydration drink (especially in the unusually high temperatures experienced in August 2018) is himbeersturm. Himbeer is German for raspberry, and raspberry sturm is usually served in a large glass on ice. Few drinks will be more refreshing.

From here you are just two minutes walk from the 38A bus stop back to Heiligenstadt, although you can call for a taxi back to Vienna if you have consumed too much.

The vineyards of Nussberg are the most attractive around Vienna, and having the woods rise beyond is an added bonus here. If you are feeling fit you can even walk through the woods to the famous abbey of Klosterneuberg, with its own vineyards, which lies to the north. But whether you are there in the summer season when the popups operate, or on a cold but sunny day in winter, this is one of the nicest excursions you can make from the city centre, for those just wanting some fresh air and countryside, but especially for wine lovers.

As an alternative to Nussberg you may have made an appointment to go and visit Weingut Wieninger, Vienna’s best known producer, near Bisamberg on the opposite side of the Danube. Close to their winery and tasting room you will find the family’s Heuriger on Stammersdorfer Strasse (the winery is at number 31 and the heuriger at 78).

As I mentioned above, if you continue along Stammersdorfer Strasse you will find a number of heuriger, leading to increasingly small buschenschanks on the appropriately named Kellerweg, which rises into the vines. The Wieninger Heuriger will provide you with a more substantial meal and the chance to drink Wieninger’s range of Wiener Gemischter Satz. It is one of eighteen Viennese restaurants in the “Top-Class Heuriger” scheme.

Opening times are what you need to be on top of for visiting the heuriger and buschenschanks. Places like Wieninger and Mayer’s main locations will only be open Friday to Sunday for some of the year, and so it pays to check their web sites. The main Tourist Office in Central Vienna has leaflets which provide the same information, with more detailed opening times and, if you are quick and they have not all gone, heuriger maps. The summer popups are even more restricted, usually June to August. I was too late for Jutta Ambrositsch’s popup, which finished in July.

C89CD351-1B40-4786-9F73-C33B94B3D50D

Posted in Austria, Austrian Wine, Heurigen, Vienna, Wiener Gemischter Satz, Wieninger, Wine, Wine Agencies, Wine Bars | Tagged Buschenschank, Getting out to the Nussberg, Heurigen, Heuriger, Heuriger Wieninger Stammersdorf, Himbeersturm, Mayer am Nussberg, Mayer-am-Pfarrplatz, Nussberg, Popup Wine Inns Vienna, Stürm, Vienna, Vienna Wine Tourism, Vienna's Wine Taverns, Walking outside Vienna, Walking Vienna Woods and Nussberg, Wiener Gemischter Satz, Wieninger am Nussberg | 4 Comments

Wieninger and Wiener Wein

Posted on 23/08/2018 by dccrossley

It is no secret that I have a disproportionate passion for Wiener Gemischter Satz, compared that is to most sane wine obsessives. It’s not just the flavours, nor an interest in field blends in general. Once you’ve seen these unique, semi-urban, vineyards around Austria’s Capital City, it’s hard not to form an attachment. Once you get deeper into the terroir you are captivated…and captured for life. Gemischter Satz field blends can come from any part of Austria’s vineyards, but Wiener Gemischter Satz is, for me, the heart and soul of Vienna.

Fritz Wieninger runs the best known family winery in Vienna, and has done since his father generously stepped back in 1987. The domaine has an international reputation, largely based on serious wines made from the likes of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, along with autochthonous Austrian varieties, so Wieninger is far from being all about Gemischter Satz (so nor will this article focus just on that wine), but it is symptomatic of the drive, energy and love for his region which Fritz demonstrates that he pretty much single-handedly revived this most traditional of Viennese wines. Before we taste some wines, the Gemischter Satz story is worth relating.

C3D7612A-614B-4AB7-A788-BE00D2ABFFD8

Oooh, magnums!

Wieninger farms around 50 hectares of vineyard biodynamically (certified by the Austrian biodynamic organisation, Respekt). In addition, Wieninger manages (since 2014) the smaller Grinzing-based producer, Hajszan Neumann (about 100,000 bottles a year), which is also biodynamic (with Demeter certification). Both companies are kept totally separate in terms of vineyards and production, and indeed have quite different identities (as we shall see, a little more experimentation is possible at the smaller operation). Wines for both are however now made at Wieninger’s facility at Stammersdorf, with the original Hajszan Neumann facility on Grinzinger Strasse used for storage.

BD8ADF7A-CB64-4D5D-B33F-6C2A17D5CD2D

Wieninger’s vines are situated in the two most prestigious parts of the Vienna vineyard, Nussberg (sometimes “Nußberg”) and Bisamberg, to the north of the city, just above Stammersdorf in the case of the latter, and they are separated from each other by the River Danube and its canal. Both have different soils and different climatic conditions. Nussberg is a true hill, with vines (between 230 and around 350 metres altitude) protected to the north by woodland (rising to around 500 metres), whereas Bisamberg is relatively flat in comparison, more of a very gentle incline. It sees more wind and sun, and 20% less rain.

Bisamberg is described as having mainly sandy loess soils with calcarous sub-soils, highly water permeable. Nussberg comprises various limestone types mixed with clay higher up. There is no doubt that the terroir of each (geology and topography, plus resulting micro-climates) gives quite distinct wine characteristics, the main one stated as being the creamier texture and deeper fruit in the Nussberg wines.

So back to the Gemischter Satz story. The single vineyards of both Nussberg and Bisamberg have become well known in more recent years, both for the traditional Gemischter Satz field blend and for single varietal wines. Rieds Herrenholz, Kaasgraben, Preussen, Rosengartel and Ulm, for example, are all bottled separately in one form or another.

It is the vineyard named Ulm that I would like to focus on for a moment. It sits on the eastern end of the Nussberg hill, before the terrain drops down to the river below. It’s also very close to the city outskirts and the suburban village of Nußdorf. When Fritz took over this vineyard it was full of different vine varieties, all mingled together and at first he considered grubbing the vines up and planting this special site to Riesling. But before jumping in he talked to various people with expertise in the history and terroir of Vienna’s vineyards, who helped him to realise what I think deep down he already knew, that here he had a unique collection of vine varieties, all more than fifty years old. It would be crazy not to make a wine from what he had there.

Vienna, and Austria in general, is certainly cool climate viticulture, although you’d not think so because seven of the last vintages here have been classified as “hot”. Co-planting different varieties was always a good insurance against one variety failing to achieve ripeness. As well as more well known grapes like Grüner Veltliner, Weissburgunder (Pinot Blanc) and Welschriesling, there are rare autochthonous varieties like Rotgipfler, Zierfandler and Roter Veltliner, and the much planted crossing, Neuberger.

The traditional practice, now made law under the Wiener Gemischter Satz DAC regulations (2013), was to pick everything at the same time and to co-ferment all the grapes together (Wiener Gemischter Satz DAC must comprise at least three co-planted and co-fermented varieties). The result from Ulm was pretty much a revelation to Fritz. Not only was the wine wonderful, and indeed complex, but it was reviving a tradition which reflects Viennese culture, that of serving a blended wine with simple food in the city’s semi-rural heurigen and buschenschanks (which I shall explore in another article).

Fritz Wieninger has been responsible not only for initiating the rebirth of Gemischter Satz in Vienna, but in its active promotion worldwide. This wine style has, in a decade or more, grown an international reputation among wine aficionados, and it is largely down to Fritz’s tireless work that this has come about.

We spent five hours with Georg Grohs, who heads up marketing and sales at Wieninger, with Fritz popping into the mix from time to time. He’d just got back from a relaxing holiday and he was gearing up for the earliest ever Vienna harvest, checking on the equipment, the team, and then the vines, both for ripeness and any sign of disease or insects. After a tour of the winery, we settled down for an illuminating tasting.

Georg Grohs, our excellent, friendly, host heads up some pics of the Wieninger winemaking facility at Stammersdorf

We didn’t just run through the Wieninger list. There are way too many wines for that. We tasted a well thought out set of pairings, each designed to highlight different facets of the wines and vineyards. These pairings provided a remarkable focus and a genuine learning experience.

Wieninger Ried Herrenholz Grüner Veltliner 2017 (Bisamberg) vs Wieninger Nussberg Grüner Veltliner 2017 – These wines, despite one being a single vineyard, see the same treatment in the cellar, which includes six months on lees. The mineral texture and grip of the Bisamberg wine contrasts with the creamy weight of the Nussberg. Herrenholz has bright acidity typical of loess-grown, wind-exposed, Grüner Veltliner, with lemon fruit. The Nussberg wine, off chalky clay soils, has a touch more weight and gras, with a different, bitter, touch, which one would say helps with food pairing.

23B0D329-5819-4727-A5EA-8A0DB5D04948

Hajszan Neumann Ried Haarlocke Grüner Veltliner 2016 vs Wieninger Ried Kaasgraben Grüner Veltliner 2016 – The vintage here was one of the best ever for Grüner in the region. The Haarlocke site is at the western end off the Nussberg, and sees little morning sun (it tends to arrive around 13.30 in summer). It has amazing texture, with grapefruit and tea. Quite herby. Anyone mention pepper? No, none. Kaasgraben is a vineyard close to Sievering, above the village of Grinzing, with quite a lot of quartz. Vines are sixty years old, and the wine is really elegant. It is often mistaken for Riesling. Oh so good!

C0FDFADB-DF08-4AB5-B1F7-A8D1C1C99903

Wieninger Wiener Gemischter Satz DAC 2017 vs Wieninger Bisamberg Wiener Gemischter Satz DAC 2017 – Gemischter Satz has various styles. Wines labelled simply with the DAC are usually lighter, and those labelled with a single site are more weighty and complex, and will age. Between the two you will see wines labelled “Nussberg” and “Bisamberg” (their are, of course other designations, with wines from Mauer, Rodaun and Oberlaa south of the city, and other locations hardly known to foreign visitors, but Nussberg and Bisamberg are the great Vienna Crus).

F662841A-D409-43D2-93DE-766EB31AF59D

One fascinating difference between these two wines is the grape varietal composition. The straight bottling contains (on the left, above) eleven varieties, whereas the Bisamberg designated bottling in 2017 contains just three (Pinots Blanc and Gris plus Chardonnay), from 55-year old vines. Both are aged in stainless steel, and the former makes a perfect lighter lunch style.

Hajszan Neumann Wiener Gemischter Satz “Ried Weisleiten” 2016 vs Wieninger Wiener Gemischter Satz “Ried Rosengartel” 2017– Weisleiten is a NNE-facing site which has a very recognisable character in the bottle. Five varieties (Weissburgunder, Grauburgunder (Pinot Gris), Welschriesling, Grüner Veltliner and Neuberger (a Roter Veltliner x Silvaner cross) make a chalky-textured wine. Heinz Neumann originally grazed sheep between the vines here, and Wieninger is considering bringing them back.

4A031B3B-42DB-418F-A788-D9AD981D44E3

Ried Rosengartel is in some ways one of the most iconic of the Wieninger Gemischters, and this 13.5% 2017 is stonkingly good. The harvest was quite early and warm but the grapes were at peak phenolic ripeness when picked. There are five varieties here too, but this time it’s Grüner Veltliner, Weissburgunder, Neuberger, Riesling and Traminer. It has a slightly smoky note, and will certainly age…if allowed.

Wieninger Wiener Gemischter Satz Nussberg “Ried Ulm” 2013 vs Mystery Wine – The glorious Ulm is quite yellow in colour. The 2016 vintage of Ulm was voted one of the “Best in Show”, the top accolade at the Decanter World Wine Awards 2018, but in giving it a drinking date to 2021 the judging panel failed to understand the style, as our 2013 proves. This wine from that original site (which we talked about above) comprises nine varieties (I won’t list them). The Decanter judges did pick up on the sensual nature of this bottling, with a juicy richness, here in the 2013 enhanced by five years post harvest.

What was more remarkable, but educational, was that this 2013 had been open, albeit refrigerated, for three weeks. 2013 is a very good vintage, if you have any. The new 2017 when released will cost a bargain €25, the slightly more prestigious Rosengartel, €36.

The mystery wine? We did thankfully spot that it was a Riesling. Bisamberg Riesling 2004 was the wine, essentially a basic bottling, not a single vineyard. I can only say that this was shockingly good for such a supposedly lowly designation, which proves how even the basic level of wines will age if given an opportunity. Even today you’d pay less than €20 for this wine on release (the 2016 Nussberg equivalent is listed at €18).

Our final two pairings were very different, first a couple of the top Wieninger “Grand Select” cuvées, finishing with two of the experimental Hajszan Neumann bottlings.

Wieninger Grand Select Chardonnay 2016 & Wieninger Grand Select Pinot Noir 2015 – Vines for the Chardonnay are 40-years-old. The wine is super classy with rich buttery notes and a little oak, quite full-bodied The oak doesn’t dominate, and in fact the 2016 has been aged in only 10% new oak barrique, the rest being second or third fill.

The Pinot is from the hot 2015 vintage, where the growing season saw five weeks during which temperatures topped forty degrees. 25% of the stems were put back into the must, which helped bring freshness to the wine. It has good colour but this does not strike as a hot vintage wine. Georg was pleased with that comment. He said that Fritz had been told the same thing by sommeliers. This bottle had been open for eleven days, but still showed tannic structure and vivacity. The Grand Selects are on sale at the winery for €48/bottle.

FF36B673-5985-4AA5-9952-67A32E31FE04

Both of the Grand Select wines are fine wines in every sense. They are clearly wines which appeal to a certain type of collector and diners in Michelin-starred restaurants. If they are wines of a style I no longer buy, that is not a criticism in any way. What I do think is that it is a testament to Fritz Wieninger that, having produced wines like these, and gained great international praise for them, he still makes, and lavishes equal care on, wines made from autochthonous varieties, and especially the great traditional wines of his city. Neither one nor the other is more important, though what lies deep in Fritz’s heart I can only imagine.

I said that the last two wines were experimental. Wieninger has a certain international standing, and a home market set of expectations, which discourage going too far off piste. With the Hajszman Neumann wines, with their much smaller production, they can try new things. One such experiment has been in the use of concrete eggs and the gradual diminution in the use of sulphur, perhaps the final piece of the jigsaw that begins with biodynamics.

Hajszan Neumann “Natural” – Gemischter Satz 2015 & Traminer 2016 – Both of these wines see five months on skins in concrete egg before a gentle press into eight-year-old 500 litre barrels for just five days. They are bottled unfined and unfiltered. The Gemischter is a lovely pure orange colour. It has texture and a certain savoury quality, apricot fruit, with a touch of bitter orange citrus on the finish.

The Traminer is cloudier, a bit more textured, and a bit more raw, but that quality really enhances the wine. This was my favourite of the two for that very quality, though I really liked them both. I hope these wines reach the right audience because they remind me of the experiments of one of the larger biodynamic Jura producers, Domaine de la Pinte. It is also clear that, just like Friuli’s Ribolla Gialla, Traminer lends itself very well to skin contact.

AFA08884-1A69-4EC2-9FEC-9917C513A18A

We finished our long morning with Georg by taking a trip up into the vines, first to Bisamberg where we hooked up with Fritz again, and then over to Nussberg to get down and dusty in Ulm, and then Kaasgraben. The latter is a tiny, half-hectare, site with 55-year-old vines surrounded on two sides, and thus is well protected, by the villas which creep up the hill from Sievering (we are not far here from Jutta Ambrositch’s vines for her Sieveringer Ringenspiel with even older vines planted in 1952). In Ulm we could pick up oyster shell fragments from the chalky layer of a former sea. In Kaasgraben the ground is full of quartz. This is real terroir.

With Fritz and Georg at Bisamberg

Oyster shell with chalk and sandstone, Ulm vineyard

The half-hectare Kaasgraben, partly surrounded by the encroaching wealth of Sievering’s villas

I hope this article didn’t seem too long. For me, it was a genuine lesson about a region and wines I already love. Sometimes it’s nice to focus on smaller producers and bring their wines to the attention of a wider audience. Other times, though, the larger estates can teach us a lot. Their wider spread of vineyards tell the story of a wine region, as here at Wieninger.

Added to that, of course, there are not that many wine regions, and indeed capital cities with proximate vineyards, which owe such a debt to one man. For all the international accolades he has received, Fritz Wieninger will surely be most remembered a hundred years from now as the man who revived one of this great city’s greatest cultural traditions, Wiener Gemischter Satz. Vienna owes him.

In the next article I write on my recent trip to Austria we will travel up into the vines on the Nussberg, and discover Vienna’s traditional wine institutions, the heurigen and Buschenschanks, including those that pop up in the vines in summer, giving visitors a unique and wonderful view as they sip on their Gemischter Satz.

Weingut Wieninger is at Stammersdorfer Strasse 31. Take the Tram number 31 from outside Schottenring U-bahn station (U2, U4 lines) for 40 minutes to the Stammersdorf Terminus. From here the Wieninger Winery is a gentle 15 minute walk.

The Tasting Room is open Monday to Friday (8am – 4pm) and Saturday (10-4), but it is advisable to phone first before heading out all that way.

Link to Weingut Wieninger here

Wieninger’s UK agent is Liberty Wines

Wieninger has its own Stammersdorf Heuriger, just a few minutes from the winery, which is very well regarded, but it is only open Friday to Sunday in season. If you continue up Stammersdorfer Strasser before you reach the vineyards of the Bisamberg you will pass a number of other small Buschenschanks offering wine and simple food, though you cannot guarantee they will be open, and outside the summer months they probably won’t be. If they are then you may be in for a treat if you prefer authenticity to the larger tourist Heurigen you find in villages like Grinzing.

Posted in Austria, Austrian Wine, biodynamic wine, Heurigen, Vienna, Wiener Gemischter Satz, Wieninger, Wine, Wine Tastings, Wine Travel | Tagged Austrian Wine, Bisamberg, Fritz Wieninger, Georg Grohs, Hajszan Neumann, Nussberg, Nussberg Kaasgraben, Nussberg Rosengartel, Nussberg Ulm, Vienna's Vineyards, Viennese Wines, Weingut Wieninger, Wiener Gemischter Satz, Wieninger Grand Select | 2 Comments

Sisters Are Doin’ It at Weingut Renner

Posted on 21/08/2018 by dccrossley

Our trip to visit Rennersistas at Gols began very early with a forty-five minute train ride from Vienna Hauptbahnhof to Neusiedl-am-See, and an eleven kilometre cycle into the wind. It made us slightly late and very hot for our 10.30 appointment, but Stefanie’s suggestion that we move directly down into the cellar cooled us off in two minutes. It was a welcome start to a morning spent chatting and tasting with Stefanie Renner, all the more remarkable because it was the first day of the earliest ever harvest at Gols.

I’ve met Stefanie and her sister Susanne several times in London, and regular readers will know that the sisters are among my very favourite producers in Burgenland. The fact that the wines are so exciting is, for me, the prime reason, but at the same time I can’t help being infected by the sheer enthusiasm here.

927B5ADD-62E9-4CA8-9DED-981F804A5B89

Rennersistas has grown out of the wine business built up by Stefanie and Susanne’s father, Helmuth, who took over the Renner estate in 1988. He made good wines with, perhaps, a more conservative philosophy than his daughters, relevant to the time. Nevertheless, the domaine’s reputation grew and it joined the nine members of the Pannobile group of quality producers in the village, along with the likes of Preisinger, Beck, Heinrich, Pittnauer, Nittnaus etc (more on Pannobile later).

Eighty-five percent of production for the Rennersistas is currently from red grapes, although they are actively trying to rebalance this, particularly through selling their Merlot which they don’t feel makes good “natural” wine. The gleaming clean cellar, ready to receive the 2018 harvest, is crammed with a mixture of tanks – mainly stainless steel of varying sizes for flexibility, and some wooden fermentation vessels. Four amphorae (1,000 litres each) were due to be delivered days after our visit.

The next level down is the barrel cellar, constructed in 1961, a haven of cool after the building heat of the day outside. Here, rows of mostly used oak sit beneath sandstone quarried on the other side of the lake, providing perfect conditions for élevage. Production under the Rennersistas label began with the 2015 vintage at 5,000 bottles, and is increasing every year.

Stefanie, as many of you will know, trained abroad with Tom Shobbrook in Australia’s Barossa, and with Tom Lubbe (South Africa and Matassa in Roussillon). One or other of the Toms is the origin of the Rennersistas’ increasingly well known wines called Waiting for Tom.

Waiting for Tom White 2017 is a 12% abv blend of Pinot Blanc (Weissburgunder), and Chardonnay. It’s given three days on skins for a touch of colour and texture before being pressed into foudre and some old barriques. It hits you with what is undoubtedly a Rennersistas signature, massive and lively freshness. It has great acidity, but this is totally balanced by fruit. There’s a little spice there as well, perhaps a touch of liquorice.

The sisters began by making mainly single varietal wines. Stefanie said that they really wanted to get to know each variety very well, especially how it performs on its individual terroir, before trying to include them in a blend. But blends seem to be interesting them more and more.

3469D327-E4CC-4A61-95B3-2FAD066EB3C7

Weissburgunder 2017 is nevertheless a pretty good advert for their single varieties. It may just be a little more “fruity” than the WFT white blend, and maybe a touch “riper” (alcohol level is the same as WFT). This hits first as a hint of apricot but finishes with an equally faint touch of quince. There’s some slate in the soil and perhaps this is what gives the wine a nice edge.

I ought to mention that although freshness seems to be a key component in these wines, they don’t appear to fade. I wrote about their 2015 Weissburgunder almost exactly a year ago, back in August 2017, and it was still delicious, especially as a first attempt.

Waiting for Tom Rosé 2017 is this year a blend of 60% Zweigelt and 40% Blaufränkisch. The fruit again is sweet, but with added spice. And freshness…of course. That fruit is intense strawberry and raspberry, not always associated with Blaufränkisch. The grapes were 100% whole bunch pressed in the coolness of the night time, after picking very early the same morning. Of course, it’s a rosé, it’s not meant to be complex. But the fruit is exquisite, making it just a super nice wine.

Waiting for Tom Red 2017 blends Zweigelt and Blaufränkisch with St-Laurent. In 2016 the vintage was quite cold, with late frost affecting the vines, which stressed the sensitive St-Laurent more than the other varieties. As a result (according to Stefanie) the 2016 WFT red was quite reductive (a carafe to hand would be preferable). 2017 isn’t at all reductive. The St-Laurent was all destemmed for this blend, but a small proportion (around 10%) of the other two varieties went in as whole bunches with stems. It shows the same “gluggable” qualities as the rosé, but naturally with a touch more weight and body.

Blaufränkisch 2016 (technically “BL FR NK SCH” – you can guess the regulatory difficulties with putting a grape variety on the label) is a very interesting wine (note the change of vintage here). From perhaps the late 1980s, and through to the present at some addresses, Blaufränkisch came to be vinified as a quite powerful red in Burgenland, with plenty of extraction and invariably more than a few lashings of oak, much of it new.

There is by chance a very interesting article in the September 2018 Decanter Magazine by Stephen Brook on Blaufränkisch, where he highlights the different possibilities the variety gives the producer: a “weighty, powerful wine…further enhanced by oak ageing” or an unoaked, lighter wine with “bright, zesty sour cherry aromas and flavours”. Whilst I can sometimes appreciate the former style, for sure, it is the latter that I adore for normal drinking, and wines made in this style are often fantastic in their own right, not “lesser” versions of the variety.

The key to freshness is, of course, the avoidance of drowning the fruit in new oak, but equally important is to pick slightly earlier in order to avoid the higher alcohol levels too much hang time will give you. The Rennersistas 2016 Blaufränkisch is pretty much a textbook version of this style. It’s darker than the WFT red, and has thicker legs, but it reaches just 13% abv. It’s not significantly lower in alcohol than the oaky style usually gives us, but it’s enough to make a difference in balance. The bouquet is intense and reflects the darker colour, but don’t fear, freshness, that stamp of this winery, is there as well. Perfect. You can drink a bottle of this, no worries.

C3AA82B9-B521-4D0C-A694-EBEC9D7901B4

Stefanie is quite effusive at this point. She cares deeply about the wines and I think is quite pleased to experience our level of appreciation at close quarters, without the noise and bustle of the Wine Fairs. She says it’s all about the “positivity and love” you put into the wine, a statement which could seem trite coming from some, but in her case you do not doubt that she’s telling the truth. Effusive passion for the wine seems infectious around the lake. You hear exactly the same from Heidi Schröck, Judith Beck, Birgit Braunstein and Stephanie Tscheppe (of Gut Oggau), to name just a few other producers who seem steeped in empathy for their terroir.

Near the beginning of this article I mentioned the Pannobile Group. I should say a few words about them because it is relevant to the final Renner wine we tasted, one which I had never tried before. Pannobile Members submit one red and/or white wine per vintage to be sold under the Pannobile label. It must be made from three red varieties – Blaufränkisch, Zweigelt and/or St-Laurent and two white, Weissburgunder and Chardonnay, but it may be a blend or a single varietal. The stipulated vineyards form a list of the best sites which stretch from Straßäcker, west of Neusiedl’s rail station, to Äussere Söllner-Kranawitzl, east of Halbturn, covering the villages of Neusiedl, Weiden, Gols, Mönchhof and Halbturn.

96239B44-55ED-4138-9254-E06F4A23754B

Weingut Renner Pannobile 2015 comes from the sisters’ first vintage, and they made this prestigious wine with their father. 2015, you will recall, was a very warm vintage, and they persuaded their father to pick a little earlier. Stefanie is not alone in the Pannobile Group in wanting to bring more freshness into the wines, but things must move slowly. The market for this cuvée is overwhelmingly Austrian, and much more conservative than the natural wine loving fans of the Rennersistas wines in the rest of Europe. To symbolise that, it has a different, plain, label to the wonderful “Rennersistas” tractor label, which so perfectly seems to symbolise the sisters’ ethos.

The Pannobile wine, which as we remarked was picked earlier for more freshness, was half aged in 2,000 litre oak and half in smaller wood and barriques (500 litre and 225 litre) for a year. Then it was transferred to tank for six months and saw further bottle age for another six months before release. There are only one or two rackings so the wine here spends a long time on its full lees. The rule is that the Pannobile cuvées can only be sold two years after picking, and the big party that is Pannobile Day has always been held on the first Saturday in September (previously before the beginning of the harvest, but not in 2018!).

F5BA8AD0-910A-4877-AD0B-1EB04E1F0780

What do I think of this wine? Certainly impressive, though quite different to the Rennersistas other wines. In that respect it might shock some. Would I buy it? If the answer were no it would only be because I can’t get enough of their other wines. That said, I’d have bought a bottle to age at home had I not got another thirty-five miles or so to cycle in heat topping 33 Degrees…a decision I now regret.

I mentioned the vintage getting earlier, and the fact that Rennersistas were beginning harvesting on the very day we visited. We are not quite as bad people as it looks, because “harvesting” in this case meant bringing in some grapes for the wonderful petnat “In A Hell Mood”. They tasted ripe from the baskets, and before we left we were privileged to do something all wine writers and wine fanatics dream of. Stefanie scooped up a glass of Pinot Noir juice fresh from the press, and after her, we became only the second and third people to sample what will become the 2018 vintage. Like the sweetest fruit juice and, as is so often the case with just-pressed juice, a reviving glass.

It’s hard to imagine a welcome like that which Stefanie gave us (although another fabulous visit was to end our week in Austria, of which I shall write another time). I had been lucky to chat with Stefanie on several occasions before, so I felt I already had a connection, but I didn’t expect to be made to feel almost like a friend dropping in. Thanks so much, Stef!

We had an invitation to drop in “for a drink” at Claus Preisinger‘s modern winery too, just around a ten minute ride from Weingut Renner. Claus was obviously very busy, with a new team in the cellar receiving the grapes, but we still managed a glass of Kalk und Kiesel 2017, having drunk the 2016 version just three days before at Glacis Beisl in Vienna.

Preisinger is a special name for me. Before I stepped into Newcomer Wines (who import both Rennersistas and Claus into the UK) when they had a container at Shoreditch Boxpark in London, I’d been a fan of Austrian wine, but my focus was mostly on the more traditional whites of the Wachau. It’s probably true to say that Claus, more than any other producer, opened my eyes to the dynamism of the natural wine scene in Austria. Even a short visit was therefore a must, for me. Thanks Claus.

Rennersistas are at Weingut Renner, Obere Hauptstrasse 97, Gols (opposite the petrol station on the very western edge of the village).

Claus Preisinger is at Goldbergstrasse 60 to the north of Gols, and running along one of the village’s most presigious vineyards (Goldberg, of course).

Please make an appointment before visiting. Newcomer Wines at Dalston Junction in London import both producers’ wines.

As a postscript I’d like to give a plug to Neusiedlersee, Europe’s shallowest lake at an average of just 1.5 metres deep. At 315 square kilometres it’s also Europe’s largest endoheic lake (a drainage basin with no outflow). It’s surrounded by an area of reed beds twice the size of the lake itself, and is a haven for bird life. It’s also pretty flat, so ideal for cycling. To be sure, you get a stiff breeze from the southeast (hence the big wind farm north of Gols), but in the heat of a very hot August, this was a blessing.

From Gols we rode to Podersdorf, through flat vineyards (contrasting with the gentle hillsides to the north). From here you can put your bike on a ferry and cross the lake to Rust if you have time. At Rust you can hire small motor boats for an hour or two at the marina, or just cycle to the village to see the picturesque houses and the storks. Oggau is a few kilometres to the north! You can read about my 2015 trip to Rust (Rust Never Sleeps) here.

This time we rode along another cycle route (the region is littered with cycle tracks) back to Neusiedl-am-See and down to the See Bad. Here you’ll find the well known restaurant, Mole West. It sits on a small marina on the lake and whether you’ve cycled 40+ kilometres or not, is a very relaxing place to finish your day. Mole West, Seegelände 9, 7100 Neusiedl-am-See.

BDC0E4B2-1EAC-4698-9895-154C6054B307

We hired bikes (€15 a day each) from Fahrraeder Bucsis, who are right next door (50m) from Neusiedl Station. Direct trains to and from Vienna Hauptbahnhof run hourly, other services requiring a change. Be sure to get into the correct carriages at Vienna because the train splits en route. You can get to Gols by bus, and occasionally by train with a change.

Posted in Artisan Wines, Austria, Austrian Wine, Natural Wine, Neusiedlersee, Vienna, Wine, Wine Tastings, Wine Travel | Tagged Austrian Natural Wine, Austrian Wine, Austrian Wine Tourism, Burgenland, Claus Preisinger Gols, Gols, Mole West, Neusiedl-am-See, Neusiedlersee on a bike, Renner Pannobile, Rennersistas, Stefanie Renner, Tasting at Rennersistas, Waiting for Tom 2017, Weingut Renner | Leave a comment

Aligoté

Posted on 06/08/2018 by dccrossley

Some years ago now I attended a “bring your own bottles” Burgundy Lunch, and was seated on a table with some genuine experts in the region’s wines. The red I took was a safe bet because I’d sourced it from a fellow diner, a wine merchant and writer on the region. The white was made by Coche-Dury, but it didn’t go down so well. You see, in my inimitable way I’d decided to mix it up a bit and had taken a Coche-Dury Aligoté. I’m positive one person used the term “battery acid”, and only slightly tongue in cheek.

Aligoté appears to have its origins in wine literature in the Eighteenth Century, as a natural crossing between Gouais Blanc and Pinot Noir, the former being also a parent of Chardonnay, so the two grapes are half-siblings. Burgundy is its home, and although its plantings (less than 2,000 hectares) are way less than Chardonnay (of which there is at least six times as many hectares), it remains relatively stable. This might surprise those who would assume it would give way to the much more profitable Chardonnay nowadays, but I think that in a region where traditions still hold, there is a desire to continue the tradition of a second white grape variety, albeit usually planted on the margins of any estate.

Although the comment I related above is indeed unfair in relation to Coche-Dury, there is no escaping the fact that Aligoté can be a very high acid grape, not least when cropped at high yields, as it can so easily. Many people still think it is only fit to be made into a kir by the addition of crème de cassis, its somewhat traditional use in the region. At best, Aligoté has been damned with faint praise. If I might quote Jancis Robinson from the seminal Vines, Grapes, Wines (Mitchell Beazley, 1986):

“Aligoté is to Chardonnay what Silvaner is to Riesling: a poor copy…with notably more acid, less body and much less ageing capacity”

I’d accept, to a degree, all but the last proposition. Jancis goes on to say (the faint praise):

“That said, just as exceptionally fine Silvaners can be found in Germany, so Burgundy occasionally yields up a genuinely toothsome Aligoté“.

To be fair, this was written back in the 1980s, and was probably reasonable comment back then. But Aligoté is now on a roll, and in fact has almost become a cult grape variety. I wonder why?

I think that, aside from the admittedly sometimes nasty Aligoté made commercially from high yields, there are two kinds of wine being produced from the variety. There are those that have always been there, made with care by top producers. They’ve been hidden away. Bottled in relatively small quantity, they are not often shown to visiting wine writers, nor (often) a domaine’s overseas importers. The producer often thinks the visitor won’t be interested in Aligoté (they are often right), but it’s just as likely that they can easily sell all they have to knowing private clients. We’ll talk about some of these, and there are surprisingly many very good ones.

Anthony Hanson, in Burgundy (Faber and Faber, 1982, p74) does suggest that there are, or at least were, a few villages particularly noted for their Aligoté. He cites Pernand, Villers-la-Faye (remember that one), St-Aubin, Chagny, Rully and Bouzeron.

The second kind of wine has been popularised by a mix of the new and dynamic micro-negociants and the equally new breed of natural winemaker in the region. Aligoté has a reputation as a grape no one wants, and if Chardonnay is in very short supply, then it is much easier to pick up some (often unsprayed and old vine) Aligoté. If you can gain enough control over the vineyard to ensure yields are reduced, and if you then vinify the wine with as much care as you do your Premier Cru Chardonnay, then you may just find you’ve made a cracker…as one or two of them have.

Cropped low, Aligoté is capable of greater breadth and depth than we have been used to in the commercial examples we had previously seen. Not only that, the acidity which is the first thing every single critic mentioned in the past, can be toned down to something one would more likely describe as “zippy mineral/stone freshness”.

So where should we look? We have to start with Bouzeron. Even in the 1980s most lovers of Burgundy knew that the co-director of the Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, Aubert de Villaine, and his wife Pamela, had a big reputation for the variety in a Côte Challonaise village which gained its own AOC, Aligoté de Bouzeron in 1979. (It was inexplicably changed to just “Bouzeron” in 1998, presumably to mirror the rest of Burgundy’s village AOPs, but consumers need to be aware they are getting Aligoté, not Chardonnay).

Domaine A&P de Villaine is now (since 2000) run ably by Aubert’s nephew, Pierre de Benoist, who says he feels privileged to have responsibility for this second string variety. This estate does make the best wine in the village, though others would argue they have their equals. Bouzeron as an AOP has plantings of around 50 hectares of Aligoté, mostly planted on various types of limestone (there’s also marl), most definitely the variety’s preferred geology. De Benoist is also trying to preserve a particular strain of Aligoté they have in their vineyards, Aligoté Doré, which he considers superior to your run-of-the-mill Aligoté Vert. Other producers are proving him right.

So what of those older, hidden parcels from the famous domaines? Well the list is long, but worth putting in writing, although I’ll only write more specifically about one or two of them. The most famous Aligoté of all, and as far as I know the most expensive, is made by Ponsot from a plot right above the Morey Grand Cru, Clos de la Roche. The Clos des Monts Luisants would, for all I know, also be a Grand Cru were Aligoté allowed as a GC grape variety (it has to make do with a Premier Cru designation).

If you happen across wines from Hubert and (his son) Laurent Lignier, Arnaud Ente, François Mikulski, Domaine Lafarge (a personal favourite), Comte Armand, Paul Pillot, Domaine Arlaud and Pierre Morey, then take a good look. With Leroy D’Auvenay and Coche you’ll need to check with your bank manager first. In retrospect that Coche needed a lot longer in the cellar, but all of these wines will age a few years, more in a good many cases. They don’t tell you that on the WSET, do they?

Of all the classic Aligoté the one I adore most is that of Jean-Marc Roulot. Roulot may be known for Meursault of unbelievable purity, but he’s equally known among aficionados for brilliant wines from lesser terroirs. His Bourgogne Blanc is legendary, if increasingly unaffordable, and his Monthélie is a secret known only by a relative few. I drank a bottle of Roulot Aligoté 2015 at Noble Rot a few weeks ago. It’s still on the list at £52 (Pierre Morey’s Aligoté 2015 is a touch cheaper at £48), along with a few others in the “Other White Grapes” section: Ramonet (£58), Lafarge (£52), and De Moor (£57), five options in total, making a pretty tasty selection.

Although Roulot wines always have a characteristic rapier-like spine, which makes them stand out in tastings, the perceived acidity here is tempered by vine age and yields. Jean-Marc has just point eight of a hectare of Aligoté, planted by his grandfather. These old vines, up to 80 years old, are farmed organically and yields off clay and limestone kept down. The Aligoté here is both fermented and aged in stainless steel (the only Roulot wine made this way) and it is bottled after a year. For me, it’s a go-to wine to see what the grape is capable of, though as is often the case with restaurant wines, the one we drank was doubtless a shade too young.

My other go-to Aligoté producers from the Côte d’Or might be seen as quite different. Sylvain Pataille has built a domaine from scratch around Marsannay at the very north of the Côte, whilst Claire Naudin took over from her father at Magny-lès-Villers up in the Hautes-Côtes, between Aloxe and Comblanchien, in 1994.

Pataille is pretty much an all round genius considering what he’s achieved since he began vinifying his own wine in 2001. Sylvain is another fan of the lower yielding Aligoté Doré and from it he makes four single vineyard bottlings, namely Clos du Roy, La Charme aux Prêtres, Champ Forey and Auvonnes du Pépé. Vines are up to 80 years old, again, and yields range between 20 to 45 hl/ha (some of that high yielding Aligoté I mentioned yields 80 hl/ha).

Why does Pataille bottle these wines separately? After all, the largest of these sites (Auvonnes) is just 0.8 ha, the rest 0.3 ha approx. His biodynamic methods yield, he asserts, wines of real energy (greater than his Chardonnay in most cases), with an added salinity. Only a little sulphur is added at bottling, and despite their surprising cost they are truly great Côte d’Or wines. And Sylvain genuinely believes they are different enough to compare them, though I’ve not tried them all myself. What I have tried are exceptional.

Claire Naudin also introduced biodynamics at her domaine, and with her Aligoté “Le Clou 34” she goes a step further than Pataille. Bottled as a “Vin de France”, it has no added sulphur whatsoever. This is the Aligoté that many of the new vignerons cite as an inspiration, especially those outside of the immediate region, and of course those practising natural winemaking. It’s maybe broader than some, has perhaps a touch of natural wine baked apple, but it sits on a finely-toned skeleton. The 2016 might set you back a bargain €30/£30 or so, although I don’t personally know of a UK importer (do put me right if there is one).

Outside of the Côte d’Or there is a little Aligoté down south in Burgundy, though somewhat more in the north, in the area around Chablis. One of our favourite Chablis producers, Alice and Olivier De Moor (based in Courgis) makes outstanding Aligoté in, when frosts permit, two cuvées. These can be had, albeit in tiny quantities, via Les Caves de Pyrene. Their Aligoté is actually planted in the village which is the rather unlikely bastion for Sauvignon Blanc in Northern Burgundy, Saint-Bris. The key, again, is in old vines, their half a hectare being planted in 1902.

BF61FCA8-886F-4078-B26F-C62095D57D43

The domaine of Jean-Hugues and Guilhem Goisot is based in Saint-Bris, and their biodynamic Aligoté is no mere afterthought, sitting alongside fine Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and red cuvées. It actually has some of the fresh mineral qualities often shown by Chardonnay in the region, and at around £17 (available from a good few smaller independents via, again, Les Caves) it’s one of the Aligoté bargains to be had. I bought the wines of this producer early on, when I first discovered Les Caves de Pyrene, but sadly in recent vintages frosts and hail have severely cut back what they have been able to produce.

What of the new micro-negociants? Mark Haisma and Andrew and Emma Nielsen (Le Grappin) both produce exceptional versions. Mark’s has been good for as long as he’s been able to make it, and his 2016, tasted in January this year, is no exception. It’s quite fruity, though equally fresh. Someone said “New World-style” but that may be going too far. It comes in at just 12.5% abv. A very tasty drop.

507AD26C-C888-4A78-A356-06539BF3A3BF

For Andrew and Emma, Aligoté is a new departure for the 2017 vintage, and it has become one of the summer’s unicorn wines, so little of it was made. Andrew sourced his grapes from “Perelles-le-Haut” in the Macon village of La Roche-Vineuse, a south-facing slope of Bathonian limestone/marl. Again, the vines claim 80 years of age (is this a secret sweet spot?), giving “small yields of orange-tinged berries”.

Andrew’s technique here is a bit of foot stomping (said by some to be Emma’s speciality), basket press, and then moved into large oak for six months on full lees. There’s breadth despite a mere 11.5% alcohol, and you cannot escape “minerality” in its texture. It’s refreshing, yet the acidity is far from biting. A very lovely wine. A skin contact version, Aligoté Skin 2017 was just released at Wine Car Boot a couple of weekends ago. I’ve sadly not tried it, and probably telling you about it may mean it’s all gone by the time I’m back in the UK to get some (Emma, save me a bottle?). £20!

D4AD8C29-BDC4-4DA5-A38E-C884E3202DD4

Aligoté’s propensity to produce wines which seem alive when cropped low, farmed biodynamically, and when sulphur is not added, make the variety a godsend in many ways for Burgundy’s natural wine producers, and skin contact should be added to that list. The top of the natural wine producer list, at least for price, might well these days be considered Domaine Prieuré Roch, though I’m not sure where in the UK imports it (Berry Bros and one or two other merchants import a raft of Preuré Roch wines, but I’ve not yet seen Aligoté here. The domaine has its own bistro in Nuits, 22 rue Général de Gaulle).

Nicolas Vaulthier once worked (in fact he was one of the founders) in the famous Aux Crieurs de Vins natural wine bar in Troyes (where you will as likely as not find local star vigneron Emmanuel Laissagne sitting on his day off). Now he makes wine in Coulonges-la-Vineuse up towards Chablis (in fact the village is over the River Yonne from Irancy and Saint-Bris). He makes (as far as I know) two natural Aligoté, Cuvée M (two weeks on skins, minimal sulphur) and Aligoté Bréau (no skin contact).

Also look out for Aligoté from Fanny Sabre, but perhaps the real find when it comes to this oft-maligned grape variety is that made by Yann Durieux under his Love and Pif! label. Yann used to work at Domaine Prieuré Roch, but he now farms 3 ha at Villers-la-Faye in the Hautes Côtes, not so very far from Claire Naudin (I believe the winery is in Messanges, around fifteen minutes’ drive north).

The name? Pif is French slang for wine, so it’s a sort of play on Love and Peace/Love and Wine. Love for the grapes from bud to bottle is the absolute rule here. The wine I suggest you look out for is called Les Ponts Blanc…sometimes listed under the domaine name, Le Recrue des Sens. If you look on Cellartracker you’ll see the confusion people have over this wine. It’s fresh and alive, yet it has a kind of haunting quality. Easily misunderstood, but it’s a cult classic.

The vines are aged around 40 years, planted pretty much up in the hills above Romanée-Conti, not that this should really have any bearing but it’s always mentioned in the merchant blurbs so I thought I’d stick it in, what the heck! They never fail to tell you Yann has dreadlocks either…The vines are on clay-limestone and that is a running theme which perhaps has relevance here, and for Aligoté’s future in other locations. The fact that this super wine is fermented for a couple of weeks on skins has not escaped the eyes of many producers, a bit of a beacon. It’s very pure, even in the warmer 2015 vintage. No sulphur, of course.

FE47DC82-C7C0-4F94-A1BC-7F485F8DD5C1

Durrieux’s Aligoté alongside rarely seen De Moor at Newcomer Dalston a week ago

What about other locations? Aligoté hasn’t really translated to other parts of France very well. There is said to be a little around Die (Rhône-Alps) but the closest we get to significant (well, relatively) plantings is in the Swiss vineyards of Geneva. Many domaines and the co-operative make a fruity and fresh version, pleasant enough for me to buy but I’ve not yet found anything profound.

8269A7AE-C407-47D3-805C-3600E819FD42

Aligoté has translated to Eastern Europe, somehow. Romania has some noted plantings, as does Bulgaria (some readers might just be old enough to recall the wines made here before the fall of Communism where Aligoté was one of the cheaper offerings).

California professes to be home to some Aligoté, although a good proportion of the tiny amount of California-bottled Aligoté seems to come down from Washington State. Calera, which used to be a champion of lesser varieties to a degree (I remember their powerful Viognier in the 1990s), certainly used to bottle some Aligoté, presumably grown locally, but in micro-quantities only available here when a true wine geek brought one back.

Otherwise that’s about it, though the wonderful thing about my readership is that you generally know at least as much as I do, and I’m sure I’ll get a few weird and wonderful suggestions to seek out. Some is rumoured to be planted in Australia, but I’ve no idea where. What of England? I checked the list of varieties Ben Walgate has planted at Tillingham in Sussex, but if Aligoté was among them, I missed it.

Naturally a trip to Burgundy is by far your best bet for sampling Aligoté, but as I suggested above, Noble Rot in London Mid-Town’s Lamb’s Conduit Street has five fine examples on the list. Hardly a decent independent wine shop fails to have one of the wines I’ve mentioned here. The fact that they are few and far between in the supermarkets may be no bad thing. There’s plenty of “battery acid” out there, but more often than not, high cropped Aligoté will just taste of nothing much at all…until you transform it into a kir.

But find one of the wines mentioned above and you might conclude that you’ve hit upon a gem, one of wine’s little secrets that a certain type of wine lover will dismiss out of hand. More fool him (sic). I can assure you that the esteemed producers who make those wines know exactly the quality they have produced. You only need to throw aside prejudice and enjoy. You may also find that this summer quite a lot of other drinkers are doing just that.

Posted in Aligoté, Artisan Wines, Burgundy, Grape Varieties, Wine | Tagged Aligoté, Aligoté at Noble Rot, Bouzeron, Burgundy Wine, Claire Naudin Le Clou 34, Coche Dury Aligoté, De Moor Aligoté, de Villaine, Du Grappin Aligoté, Goisot Saint-Bris Aligoté, Grape Varieties, Jean-Marc Roulot Aligoté, Love and Pif!, Mark Haisma Aligoté 2016, Nicolas Vaulthier Bréau and M, Pataille Aligoté, Recrue des Sens Aligoté, Skin contact Aligoté, Yann Durieux | 10 Comments

Amber Revolution by Simon J Woolf

Posted on 31/07/2018 by dccrossley

Every so often the near desert that is wine publishing comes up with something welcome and really interesting. Wink Lorch’s Jura Wine and John Szabo’s Volcanic Wines come to mind. Simon Woolf’s Amber Revolution fits firmly in that category, and has generated a massive amount of excitement already on social media since its publication a few weeks ago. A pic of its striking cover is almost as ubiquitous right now as a bottle of Ganevat (in this case it’s a good thing)

In my review of Woolf’s book I have just one criticism, and I’ll get that out of the way first, although as you’ll see, it has nothing to do with the author. Like Wink Lorch’s book, Amber Revolution was self-published after a crowd funding campaign. I know Simon Woolf is not a well known author, though his work has appeared in Decanter Magazine and other drinks publications, and when his bio announces him as an “award winning” wine and drinks writer I do not doubt that assertion.

Nevertheless, it beggars belief that a book on this topic was not taken up by a specialist publisher, and as you will see, the sheer quality of this book on several levels only serves to reinforce that frustration. I only hope that the book achieves the success it deserves…and makes Woolf some money.

Before we delve into the book, let’s step back and look (fairly briefly) at what is Amber Wine and why we need a book about it. Amber Wine is the same as the wine we perhaps more commonly know as orange wine – note the lower case “o”, which ought not, pedantically speaking, offend the good growers of Orange in Australia (nor Orange County in California), but it seems that this small Aussie region of New South Wales has been a bit shirty about the term “orange wines”.

Amber, or orange, wine is wine made with skin contact. White wine is made without skins, from which the juice would pick up colour pigments. In that case, the grape skins are discarded after pressing. By leaving the skins in contact with the juice for anything between a couple of hours and several months (even years in extreme cases) the juice takes on a darker colour, which can range from a pale burnished gold to a deep browny orange, and a whole lot in between.

We are effectively talking about making a white wine in the same way, more or less, as you make a red wine. The result will show some typical red wine characteristics which are largely based around tannins, structure and mouthfeel (though experienced, of course, through our senses of sight and smell as well as taste).

I say sight, because the colour is what we see first, and this has led to one of the most erroneous criticisms of macerated skin contact wines – that they are oxidised. This mistake is usually made by older critics who are programmed to see darker colour as a sign of exposure to air. The irony is that in traditional skin contact wine making the skins form a cap over the juice, protecting it from oxidation (although submerging the cap regularly helps stop bacteria from appearing in the skins). Woolf will have quite a bit to say about the naysayers who so patently get this wrong.

We often think of orange wines in connection with amphora, and specifically the Georgian qvevri, a clay vessel with a small aperture, traditionally buried in the ground, in which the wine more or less makes itself. What we should remember is that amber/orange wine is actually made in a range of containers, even including epoxy tanks and stainless steel.

Slowly, since the 1990s, a movement has come together to create a rebirth for skin contact wines. I say “rebirth” because, of course, this is how “white” grapes would have been made into wine for many centuries since wine was first made, until the advent of so-called modern winemaking in the 20th Century. Those who travelled (mostly) from Italy to Georgia to see for themselves this dying tradition turned out to be very gifted and extremely driven individuals. The fact that we now have a fourth category for still, dry, wines (alongside red, white and pink) is ultimately down to them.

When we pick up Amber Revolution we are struck by its production values. It bears a resemblance in look and feel to a blend of Paul Strang’s 2009 work, The Wines of South-West France, Jon Bonné’s 2013 The New California Wine and Isabelle Legeron’s Natural Wine. I like the waxy texture of the cover and the stunning graphic by Studio Eyal & Myrthe. The text is very clear and easy to read, as are the useful info-inserts which are interspersed with the text, and which pick up on different mini-topics (how qvevri wine is made, misconceptions, matching food with orange wines etc).

The original photography, by Porto resident Ryan Opaz, is wonderful. It really makes the book, in the same way that Mick Rock’s photographs did for Wink Lorch’s Jura book. If you think a self-published work is always going to include a load of home snaps, think again.

The text itself reveals two things about Woolf. First, that this ex-musician, sound engineer, IT consultant and currency designer can write quite effortlessly and entertainingly. Second, that he knows how to do his research. The book shows a genuine depth of knowledge on a niche subject that is at times astounding. And secure in his expertise, he doesn’t pull any punches when better known so-called experts get it wrong. He obviously has a passion for the subject and is prepared to defend the wines.

The book’s narrative begins not in Georgia, the place we think of as the home of orange/amber wine, but in Northeast Italy, and over the border in Slovenia. It is in Friuli that one man in particular made orange wine great again. Joško Gravner was the darling of the international wine critics until he began to question everything he was doing, following a trip to California in 1987. In 2000 Gravner visited Georgia, a country in a fairly lawless state following the breakup of the Soviet Union, and with local help he tasted some amazing qvevri wines…and was completely hooked.

Joško Gravner by Murizio Frullani (see picture credit notes below)

Gravner surrounded himself with other likeminded winemakers from both Friuli in Italy and (once the Iron Curtain came down) producers over the border in Slovenia, people like Stanko Radikon and others. They doubtless gave him a certain comfort during the time his wines were being panned by critics, and returned as “faulty” by customers. But he persevered, and slowly a small group of influential wine people (like French Laundry’s Master Sommelier Bobby Stuckey, the UK’s David Harvey, and Eric Asimov, the New York Times’ long-standing wine critic) began to get just what Gravner was doing, and, more importantly, to get the wines.

Woolf doesn’t forget the importance of Georgia in the story. He travelled there himself for the first time in 2012, having had his orange wine epiphany in the Carso cellars of Sandi Skerk the previous year. He details the tradition, and talks about those artisans who kept the flame alive. Yet he doesn’t dodge the importance of slightly more commercial producers, like Giorgi Dakishvili, who began slowly to find an export market for these wines. This was so important because the home markets in countries in the former Soviet Union’s sphere of influence were not, and to a certain extent still are not, interested in skin contact styles, which they see as old fashioned.

Alaverdi Monastery, Georgia, by Ryan Opaz

Woolf covers a whole lot more in three hundred pages. He looks beyond the abovementioned core regions of skin contact production, to orange wines being made all over the world (the style is now quite prevalent in the USA, Canada, Australia, South Africa and has even taken off in a very small way in the UK).

He also entertainingly takes on the critics – I thoroughly enjoyed his gentle comments following a small tasting arranged with the English wine writer, Hugh Johnson (at 67 Pall Mall). I like a writer who stands up for the truth, and for what is factually correct, in the face of misleading comments from bigger guns. Let us not forget that there have always been extreme voices in the world of wine (Gluck on expensive wines, Bettane on natural wines), much as there are in politics. There is, of course, room for different tastes and opinions, but when such voices are factually wrong they do need to be put right.

If you either don’t believe the author knows what he’s talking about, or you’ve not realised yet that he seems like a witty but self-deprecating guy, read the Epilogue, where he details his attempts at making amber wine himself, or at least assisting in the process. I must say, I like someone who is prepared to have a go, not just talk.

Which reminds me, anyone know where I can find a small amphora? We have between forty and fifty bunches on the home vines this year and having failed with an allotment’s worth of unripe Seyval Blanc two years ago (including a cuvée with skin contact), I’d love to try again, without a plastic tank this time.

The final ninety pages of the book comprise a roll call of recommended producers, around three to a page with a short paragraph on what makes them special, plus address and contact details, all arranged alphabetically by country. This section really enhances what has gone before it. The bios are short, but they allow for our own further research.

There’s no way Woolf could have mentioned every possible decent producer of orange styles (so may I just add in the very compelling Špigle-Bočky from Richard Stavek and brought into the UK by Basket Press Wines, and Brash Higgins’ Amphora Project cuvées, especially the Zibibbo Amphora from old bush vines in Australia’s Riverland, which Vagabond imports)…but there are a heck of a lot he lists which I’d never heard of (check out Josip Brkič in Bosnia & Herzegovina if you can). Do not dismiss, or merely flick through, this section as it really will broaden your experience (more than 180 producers are listed as recommended from, I think, twenty countries).

Whilst, as the author makes clear, amber/orange wine does not equate to “natural wine”, much skin contact wine is made by producers following the natural wine path. It is for this reason that I think there is a good-sized market for this book, which I’d go so far as saying is essential reading for all adventurous young (and a few older, less prejudiced) wine lovers. Initially, I felt happy to support a worthwhile self-publishing project, but having read the book I am so pleased I did. The wine publishers have missed out and messed up big time here. Recommended reading, 100%!

Amber Revolution – How the World Learned to Love Orange Wine is written by Simon J Woolf, with a Foreword by Les Caves’ Doug Wregg, who has probably imported significantly more different orange wines into the UK than anyone else has, or will. The book is published in The Netherlands by Morning Claret (www.themorningclaret.com) at €35/£30, and in the USA by Interlink Books, Northampton, Massachusetts ($35). I understand that wider UK and European distribution will be forthcoming within a couple of months, but contact Simon Woolf on the above link for sales enquiries in the meantime.

Note on pictures – The photos in this article were all taken by me and, unless it is obvious they are not, were photographed directly from the book, including the photo of Joško Gravner with his qvevri, which was taken by Maurizio Frullani and appears in the book courtesy of the Gravner family, and Ryan Opaz’s photo of the Georgian Monastery of Alaverdi on the edge of the Caucasus Mountains. The photos below are mine. Please contact me with regard to any errors or omissions of attribution.

My best effort

Skin contact selection, finishing with our first active English qvevris at Tillingham Vineyard, Sussex. You may even be able to spot my own not very successful first attempt among them, above.

Posted in Artisan Wines, Natural Wine, UNESCO World Heritage Sites, Wine, Wine Writing | Tagged Amber Wine, Amber Wine Revolution, Georgian Qvevri Wine, Gravner, orange wine, Simon J Woolf, skin contact wines | 6 Comments

David Crossley's Wide World of Wine

Tillingham Update (Sept 2018)

Ripples Become Waves – Howard Ripley German 2017 GG and Reds

Red Squirrel Portfolio 2018

Vienna for Adventurous Eating and Drinking

Blank Bottle at Butler’s

Wieninger and Wiener Wein

Sisters Are Doin’ It at Weingut Renner

Aligoté

Amber Revolution by Simon J Woolf

Previous Posts

Top Posts & Pages

Follow Blog via Email

Top Posts & Pages

Previous Posts

Top Posts & Pages

Categories