amarchinthevines

Learning about wine, vines and vignerons whilst living in the Languedoc

Tag Archives: Davenport


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February white wines

February in the North East of England was certainly white. We had snow for most of the time, often quite deep. A time for hunkering down, comfort and red wines? Well not altogether.

Let’s start with the sherry, it doesn’t look white I know but it is a Fino en rama 2017 from the excellent Equipo Navazos. En rama means raw, the sherry is bottled straight from cask without filtering, causing a little cloudiness but more of the natural flavours to be captured in the bottle. This was lovely, salty fino characters, freshness and a slight texture from the non filtering which helped preserve the flavours in the mouth. More and more sherries are being produced like this, a welcome trend. However, few can match the excellence of this producer.

Still in Spain one of the month’s highlights was Casa Pardet’s Chardonnay 2017 which I opened on my birthday. This estate in the Costers del Segre region of North East Spain has been a favourite of mine since I met Pep Torres and his wife at La Remise in Arles back in 2015. Their Cabernet Sauvignon wines at that wine fair were amongst the best wines I have ever tasted. Sadly they are next to impossible to find, the Cabaret Sauvignon bottle is good but not the same. The Chardonnay was macerated, orange wine in colour and style. Lovely herbal, fruit flavours with a liquorice note too. I have bought their wines from a company in Spain, sadly after Brexit they aren’t shipping here for now.

Let’s stick with the Mediterranean and head to Italy whilst remaining on non filtered wines. Fattoria di Vaira’s Vincenzo Bianco 2019 is an orange or skin contact wine produced from biodynamically farmed Falanghina and Fiano grapes in the Abruzzo region. I really enjoyed this, it’s not the most complex wine in the world but had lots of fruit, good texture and the dry aftertaste of many orange wines. It is a very well made wine, a great introduction to skin contact wines if you don’t know them well. It hasn’t got the depth of the Casa Pardet but was very good value at around £13.

Costadila is a producer whose wines have become favourites in a very short time after being recommended by my good friend Vincent, a friend and former colleague of Jeff. Costadila make PetNats in the Prosecco region of the Veneto. No filtering (again) no additions, no SO2. Glera (the main Prosecco grape), Verdiso and Bianchetta grapes fermented in bottle and capturing a sheer joy for life with sparkle, fruit, freshness and lingering flavour. As with most PetNats there is a fair amount of sediment so be careful on that last glass as you try to eek out every drop. (The 280 refers to the altitude of the vineyard, you will have seen me mention other numbers before.) I really like these wines, again I was sourcing them from abroad, again Brexit is making it hard to restock.

The Pebble Dew New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc and Australian Semillon were wines bought as everyday drinking from Les Caves De Pyrène, both offer good value.

Davenport has been one of my favourite English wineries for some years, I was converted by their excellent PetNat but have enjoyed everything they make. Hux was new to me. In 2018 the Huxelrebe grapes were top quality and retained a little unfermented sugar making for a wine with a slight hint of honeyed sweetness on top of the stone fruit flavours. Fresh and clean but just off dry like a well made Mosel wine. Lovely.

German wines were what first made me realise that wine was interesting. I still love them, a well made Riesling from the Mosel would be my choice of desert island white wine. Clemens Busch is a biodynamic producer about which I have been reading god things for some time and I spotted a half case of a range of their wines online and bought it. The first I opened was this 2018 Trocken, a Riesling fermented dry, ironic after the Davenport wine. It is a treat. Flinty, clean with a grapefruit like note. I have another bottle and will store it away for a while as I have no doubt it will develop. However, this one was very enjoyable now.

Finally two more Riesling wines from across the border in Alsace including a 24 year old white wine. Christian Binner is a source of very good natural Alsace wines from one of my favourite villages there, Ammerschwihr. His Riesling Salon des Bains 17 had appley, zesty fruit, long lasting flavours. It’s not the most profound Riesling but good quality and one I’d happily buy again.

I visited Patrick Meyer in Nothalten 4 years ago and spent a very enjoyable couple of hours with him. An early pioneer of natural winemaking in the region I loved talking with him and tasting his wines. What was remarkable about the visit was the number of old wines which we tasted from bottles often opened for a few days already and which tasted fresh and full. No need for SO2 when you make clean wines. Patrick offered me some older bottles and this Julien Meyer 1997 Riesling Grand Cru Muenchberg was one of them. It was aged for four years in barrel and the slight oxidation of the barrel no doubt plays a part in keeping the wine fresh and youthful. There was no sign of fatigue, just pure Riesling flavours with a roundness of oak. Saline, appley, joyful. A memorable wine for a forgettable lockdown month.

With Patrick in 2017, fortunately I have lost a fair amount of weight since then!


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Wines of 2018

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I described my wine related highlights of 2018 in the last article. Not surprisingly some of my favourite wines of the year are related to those highlights, orange wine and Australian wine.

Let me start with orange wine, the focus of the excellent ‘Amber Revolution’ by Simon J Woolf. I could include Jeff Coutelou’s OW 2016 which we drank regularly through the vendanges. However, I have limited myself to just one of Jeff’s wines as part of this case. That is made from Muscat and my favourite orange wine which I drank in 2018 was made from Viognier, not often my favourite grape. It does reinforce a theory that some of the best orange wines are made from aromatic, characterful grapes which add to the sensation of texture created by skin contact. So, the first bottle into my case is by Australian producer Kalleske, Plenarius Viognier 2017. I described it in Brisbane where I came across it as having “aromas of, well, oranges. Lavender too. It was delicious with tangy zesty fruit and lovely texture”. Seven days skin contact only for the biodynamically grown grapes, enough to add tannins without overpowering the fruit. Lovely.

Red wines next.

I drank Patrick Rols’ Les Anciens 2016 late in the year and it jumped straight into this case. I loved the iron filings like aroma and deep red fruit flavours of this wine made from Merlot and the Cabernets, Sauvignon and Franc. To make wine that good from some of my least favourite grapes, real talent and healthy grapes!

That lunch!

My Coutelou wine comes next. There were so many highlights, including 1998 Cabernet and Syrah still brimming with life. However, everyone knows my favourite wine, the one I would choose above any other is La Vigne Haute 2010. The 2017 is a beauty and the 2018 promises to be special too. However, Jeff opened the 2010 one July day over lunch with our friend Steeve. The years add a complexity and depth to the fruit and acidity to make a dream wine. Just stunning.

In New Zealand I was a little disappointed with some of the vaunted Pinot Noirs of Otago but some of the Syrahs were excellent, often from Gimblett Gravels on the North Island. However my favourites were from Hans Herzog in Marlborough, another biodynamic producer next to the Wairau River. I liked everything I tasted there whites and reds such as the Pinot Noir, Tempranillo but my favourite was the outstanding Herzog Nebbiolo 2013. Concentrated fruit flavours including peach and apricot surprisingly, light and fresh. Memorable. (shown in the photos above where Petra poured it)

My final red is Little Things, Joy’s Wild Fruits Field Blend 2017. This was one of the wines in made by James Madden in his first vintage, unbelievable that it could be so good so soon. I described it like this when I was there, “The vineyard is next to the sea at Fleurieu Peninsula and most of the grapes are technically white, eg Pinot Gris, Savagnin, Chardonnay, but they are picked with the Pinot Noir, Merlot and Cabernet from the same vineyard, pressed together and left on skins for more than a week. This is heady wine; bright, light and mighty good. Fresh and zesty from the whites, fruity and spicy from the reds.” I am going to choose this as my wine of the year, the single wine I enjoyed most of all.

Another field blend, another Basket Range wine. Basket Range Vineyard Blend 2016 is made by the Broderick brothers Sholto and Louis. Made from Petit Verdot, Merlot and the Georgian grape Saperavi, fermented and made together. Bright fruits, spice and appealing tannins this was a wine of pleasure but with added complexity too.

White wines provided most of my 2018 highlights, here are the final picks.

Little Things again, no apologies. I am sure some will accuse me of bias but these are genuine picks based on quality. Little Things Sweet Child Of Mine 2017 which I described as “Chardonnay is from 28 year old vines, whole bunch pressed, tank fermented and then aged in old barrels. It is a delight. There is a creamy note but a clean acidity runs through with lemon and spice notes.” Basket Range Chardonnay was a true highlight of my trip Down Under, other fine examples came from James Erskine of Jauma and Alex Schulkin of The Other Right. Interestingly their wines were from the same vineyard as another of my picks.

Gentle Folk Scary White 2017. Named after the vineyard Scary Gulley this blends the Chardonnay with Riesling and Sauvignon Blanc with lovely acidity, a creamy fruit profile and a sense of the area – friendly and classy. Gareth Belton is a very talented producer, excellent Pinot Noir too. One of a very talented bunch of winemakers in Basket Range.

Yet another Australian Chardonnay makes the list. Luke Lambert Chardonnay 2016 is made in the Yarra Valley near Melbourne where I drank it. There is a lovely apple and pear fruit, a touch of citrus and great length. Not Burgundy but similar in profile yet clearly Australian in its ripeness. All class.

Talking of Burgundy. Domaine Valette Macon Chaintré Vieilles Vignes 2016. I drank this from magnum at lunch during vendanges and again in single bottle from the excellent Chai Christine Cannac in Bédarieux. It may not be the most celebrated Burgundy but this relatively humble area produces a pure, creamy but citrus, hazelnut and white fruit flavoured delight. A producer I hope to find out more about.

Four Chardonnays and a Merlot/Cabernet blend so far. What is the world coming to? Well, let’s add some exoticism. Bacchus, Ortega, Huxulrebbe and Segerebbe to be exact. From England. French readers think I have gone mad! Davenport Limney Horsmonden 2016 is the work of a very talented producer in East Sussex whose PetNat is another favourite. This wine has a distinct floral note to the aroma profile, fresh and fruity. English wines are really on the move.

No sparkling wines to add this year, I had some nice ones but nothing which made me go wow. Only eleven wines though. Well to make the case I am adding another bottle of the Little Things Field Blend as my favourite of the year. Or maybe the 2010 La Vigne Haute.

Please would someone bring in some of the Australian wines to the UK market. I am missing them already.

 

 

 

 


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Recent wine highlights

I have had some cracking wines in recent weeks. Let me share some of them with you before I get to my wines of the year in a future article.

 

Jeff Coutelou always provides me with memorable wines and these two from 2017 underline what a great vintage that was from him. Classe is one of the headline acts of the domaine and the 17 is as good as any I recall. Syrah (50%), Grenache (40%) and Mourvedre (10%) with ripe red and black fruit flavours and a depth of flavour indicating many, many years of life ahead if you can resist drinking it now. The Vin De Table (Syrah and Grenache again but this time with Merlot) is made from what was left after the main cuvées were assembled. But, it is no leftover. Ripe, concentrated and very drinkable. Jeff’s wines gets better and better and that is the highest praise I can give him as I have long considered him an exceptional winemaker as well as a friend.

From the same stable comes my good friend Julien Banville who took some of Jeff’s grapes in 2017 to produce his Chateau Des Gueux. A light red wine of intense red fruit aromas and lingering flavours it shows Julien’s talents for stamping his won personality on his wines. Delicious but sadly unavailable commercially.

From Spain two excellent wines. Jordi Llorens‘ wines have long been a source of pleasure and the Blan 5.7 2017 of Macabeo and Parellada was a joy, refreshing but full of creamy, white fruit. Partida Creus XL 2016 made from Xarel.lo was equally good with perhaps a little more acidity. I preferred that to the red VN though that was still good.

Back to France and two eastern regions. Alsace has long been one of my favourite wine regions in the world and the biodynamic Zind Humbrecht domaine one of my favourite producers. This Riesling 2009 was classic of the grape, petrol nose, citrus fruit, dry but with just a slight suggestion of sweetness. Savoie is becoming ultra fashionable and the Altesse from Domaine Giachino was a clear example of why its reputation is high. Floral, fruity, complex and dry, it really convinced me that Savoie and the grape Altesse are top quality.

I mentioned how much I enjoyed Patrick Rols‘ Les Anciens 2016 in the last article with its Merlot and Cabernets from the Auvergne region. There’s an iron edge to the complex red fruit flavours, a wine showing the promise of a region only starting to develop its wines. From the Gard department came the Va Nu Pieds 2016 of the Frères Soulier. Classic Languedoc/Rhone Syrah and Grenache with plenty of black fruits as well as good tannins.

Finally and certainly not least. From England, yes you read that right. Davenport winery in East Sussex produces one of my favourite PetNats but this was the first still wine of theirs I had tasted, the Limney Horsmonden 2017. If Savoie shows promise then this is equally the case for English wine. Ortega, Bacchus, Huxulrebbe and Segerebbe are not grapes I know particularly but this blend had tremendous floral notes and a dry, clear expression of the place and grape. One of the best wines I have tasted this year.

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