Rare and Native Grape Varieties and Forgotten Wine Regions
A small but select and happy band of OWC members gathered in Oxford Brookes Restaurant on a warm summer’s evening to enjoy a grouping of four white and four red wines from unusual grape varieties and regions.
An entertaining and committed speaker, Nik Darlington set up the online retailer Red Squirrel Wines just three years ago after a career as a political journalist. Red Squirrel offers alternative or native grape varieties, as a counter to what Nik perceives as the dominance of international grape varieties and the rise of monoculture and a lack of biodiversity.
Whites
1. Sepo Pansa Blanca, Alella, Catalunya, Spain £11.99 13%
Produced next door to the Pendenes DO on what is now the outskirts of Barcelona, this white comes from the stable of the Marques d’Alella and the small and until recently shrinking Alella DO. Made from the Pansa Blanca grape (a local synonym for the better-known Xarello or Xarel-lo), which is one of the principal grapes used in Cava, the others being parellada and macabeo, Highly adaptable to a range of soil types, the grape is extraordinarily well-suited to the local ‘shaulo’ soil which it is felt imparts some acidity. Light straw in colour this is positioned as an aperitif-style wine. Production is using modern methods and includes stainless steel fermentation. Light on the nose and palate, the flavour profile is relatively uncomplicated and includes bruised apples with some herbaceous notes. Medium length.
2. Bruno Pigato ‘Le Russeghine’ 2013, Liguria, Italy £17.99 13.5%
Although marked as the third wine on our tasting sheets, Nik served this wine second, having felt it showed on the night as a better contrast to the Pansa Blanca than the Opta Encruzado.
The wine originates from north-west Italy, from the area around Genoa. Grown in a river valley, which runs between the sea and the Appenine Mountains, the location ensures good airflow and a considerable day/night temperature variation. The soil in the vineyard is red, as indicated in the wine’s name, which is felt to impart a more aromatic flavour structure. The grape is Pigato, which is the same as Vermentino and is locally known as ‘pigau’, meaning spotted, because the grapes develop a spotted appearance at maturity. Light in colour and almost salty or mineralistic on the palate, the wine has a light nose reminiscent of herbs or even wild lavender and has good acidity. The producer, Riccardo Bruno, is considered to be one of the best in the region and uses organic methods but is not certified as such. The yield is 50 hl/ha.
3. Opta Encruzado 2014, Dao, Portugal £13.00 13%
From central northern Portugal and the Dao region, the wine is made from 100% Encruzado grapes and is almost exclusively grown there. Prone to oxidation, if well made however the wine has great ageing potential (up to 30 years) and can at its best almost develop some of the characteristics of white Burgundy. The maker (Boas Quintos) uses destalked pressed whole grapes, stainless steel fermentation and some barrel ageing (no further details available). Somewhat disappointingly light on the palate after a complex nose of roses and violets, there is nevertheless a good citrus minerality. With age the wines are said to develop aromas of pine resin and hazelnuts.
4. Clos Rocailluex Reserve Mauzac Vielles Vignes 2012, Gaillac, France £16.99 13%
From the Gaillac area of South West France south of Bordeaux, the wine is made from 100% Mauzac Blanc, a variety specific to the area. It is used to produce dry sweet and sparking wines in both Limoux and Gaillac. The makers, Jack and Margaret Reckitt, were in a former existence an insurance broker and a lawyer respectively. The grapes come from vines that are over 60 years old with a yield of 20 to 25 hl/ha and the wine is fermented in stainless steel vats. On the nose and palate a somewhat rustic and unusual combination of bruised or dried apples, with some spice and minerality. More medium bodied on the palate, the wine is said to have ageing potential.
Reds
5. Chateau Hansen Cabernet Gernischt 2012 Inner Mongolia, China £12.50 13.5%
From an area that is hot, dry and virtually pollution-free, on the edge of the Gobi desert. The winery from which it comes is state of the art and has been built as a replica of a Bordeaux chateau. European consultants have been used with a view to the export market and the wine is 100% organic and unoaked. Cabernet Gernischt is a synonym for Carmenere and is thought to have been imported to China by French monks, having been a Bordeaux grape variety that was largely abandoned due to phylloxera. Carmenere is now of course largely associated with Chile. This wine was chosen by Tom Cannavan of the Huffington Post as his wine of the week in April 2015. On the nose and palate ripe black fruits with blackberries and plums and a herbaceous or green pepper edge. Medium length and medium weight.
6. Benanti Nerello Mascalese ‘Il Monovitigno’ 2009, Etna, Sicily, Italy £24.99 13.5%
Grown on the self-evidently volcanic soil of Mount Etna and at an altitude of 750m, the wine is made from 100% Nerello grapes, also known as Mascalese or Nerello Mascalese. The vines are grown as free-standing bushes or ‘alberelli’. Due to the altitude the grapes are harvested from mid-October onwards. The grapes are vinified with long maceration and malo-lactic fermentation, and is matured in small French oak casks for over a year. The grower is a long-established local wine-growing family, with the current head of the family, Guiseppe Benanti, having undertaken a five-year study of the Etna region during the 1980’s in order to establish the current vineyards. The wine has red cherries, currants and a slight smokiness on the nose and palate with some herbs and spice. Soft tannins, medium bodied and with a long finish. Considered to have good ageing potential.
7. Crios Tannat 2010, Mendoza, Argentina £13.99 14%
A wine from the stable of the famous maker Susana Balbo and made at her Dominio del Plato winery in the Andes mountains. The Tannat grape originates from the Madiran appellation in the Hautes-Pyrenees of south-west France. Madiran wines are known for their tannins, acidity, power and ageing potential. The grape has been adopted almost as the national grape of Uruguay, where the wines have slightly more rounded tannins due to the climate. In this Argentinan expression, the vines are able to enjoy a long growing season, thanks to the altitude (over 1,000 metres), which produces a softer, more supple wine, capable of ageing. (Talking of ageing the wine is allegedly one of the highest in procyanidins, which is credited with playing a role in ensuring human longevity.) The wine is intensely black in colour, with juicy dark fruits including plums and blueberries and some garden herbs, and spice on the nose and the palate. Full-bodied but with some refreshing acidity.
8. Altavia Thend 2005, Liguria, Italy £16.99 14%
Made from the Portugese Touriga Nacional, which is best known as a principal port grape. Here, it is used to make a robust red wine. The grapes are grown outside the DOC rulings in the Dolceacqua sub-region of western Liguria and hence the wine is categorised as a vino di tavola. The wineyards are located near a medieval hilltop village where the soil is marl and sand. The wine has had 18 days of maceration and has spent two years in oak barrels. Only 2,000 bottles of this wine were made in 2005. Very dark in colour. On the nose almost artificial plasticine type aromas, with some herbs and spiciness. Appears more alcoholic on the palate than the declared 14%. Lots of mouth-drying tannins. Persistent length.
Hilary Reid Evans 7th July 2015