Fine Wine Club Archive
Explore your previous cases here in The Archive, with downloadable tasting notes from the winemakers behind your bottles. Plus catch up on live tastings.
Your case & tasting notes - September 2018
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Jonathan Maltus Le Lastau Saint Emilion Grand Cru 2015
Country
France
Region
Bordeaux
Grape
Merlot
Market Price
£26.99
Angel Price
£19.99
Jonathan Maltus Le Lastau Saint Emilion Grand Cru 2015
By Jonathan MaltusThere are few wine regions in the world which have witnessed the pendular swings in vintage variation as Bordeaux has over the years. In recent times, they seem to be like London buses; you wait 4 -5 years, then two come along at once. Such was the case with the hiatus between the beautiful 2005 vintage and the outstanding 2009 vintage which was followed by the world-class 2010 vintage. After a 4 year time out of vintages that could merely be considered as ‘also-rans’, 2015 came bounding down the track with thoroughbred quality, and 2016 in turn.
So what defines a perfect vintage?
Firstly, the vineyard must overcome the perils of frost in order to enable a generous and healthy budding. From this point, fruit set requires enough sunlight for the grapes to develop, so minimal overcast days. Ample rainfall throughout summer to give the roots the water they need to transport the goodness through the xylem to the bunches, but not too much rain which would cause disease within the growing canopy. So far, so good in 2015. When the rain did come, it arrived just at the right time, shortly before harvest to give extra juiciness to bunches. From there, an Indian Summer ensued allowing the chateau plenty of time to choose when to pick each variety at optimum ripeness.
And how does this translate to what’s in the bottle?
Well, the extended ripening season enabled greater flavour and aromatic compounds to develop in the grapes with extra time on the vine. So the perfume is more pronounced. It is more ‘complex’ in that it is multi-layered, rather than simply blackberry and cassis.
On the palate, the tannins (which give structure from the skins) are present but they are smooth. The wine is almost warming, leading to a velvet like sensation. This is thanks to Indian Summer which softened these tannins in the grapes.
The quality also relates to how, and why, this wine is classified Saint-Emilion Grand Cru, rather than simply Saint-Emilion. The former reduces its yield by circa 25% by going through the vineyard through the growing season and chopping out a portion of the crop before it’s ripe (green-harvesting), resulting in greater intensity of fruit and flavour in the wine. It also relates to the time in quality oak the wine spends, with the former spending a minimum of 12 months before bottling. This contributes to the fantastic clove spice aromas which is apparent in the glass which come from time in French oak barrels, partly new, partly used.
As will be apparent when you open this wine in late 2018, the wine is ready for drinking now (some ‘great’ vintages take longer, but 2015 is giving now), but it will also hold and continue to give more aromatics and body with a further year of ageing. From there, it will keep, or rather it is recommend to drink within the next 12-15 years.
Native and Light Viognier 2017
Country
New Zealand
Region
Marlborough
Grape
Viognier
Market Price
£22.99
Angel Price
£12.99
Native and Light Viognier 2017
By Mike PatersonThe name of Mike Paterson’s Native & Light is more about his philosophy and homage to the terroir of New Zealand than a patriotic description of what the wine tastes like.
His goal is to preserve as much of the original (native) yeasts and microflora from the vineyard right through the winemaking process, so there is minimal human intervention.
The reference to light is a reflection of how influential the pure UV rays are in New Zealand, the intensity increasing the further south you go. This influences how the tannins in the skins of the berries ripen, and remove the harsher, greener notes (methyoxypyrazines), while developing the aromatics and flavours that make these wines uniquely Kiwi.
Mike works with a grower, Dave Cloustoun, to source these viognier grapes.
It appears he has discovered what could only be described as a natural phenomena; a very warm hillside block of amphitheatre form, protected against the cooler north east winds that blow blow in from the ocean. This micro-climate enables warmth-loving Rhone varieties like syrah and viogner to grow in what is otherwise a cool region.
The 2017 will be remembered by most in NZ as challenging, with heavy rains coming in right about harvest time. Fortunately for viognier, it’s a late ripener and managed to stay the course another few weeks while all the sauvignon was frantically being hauled into the wineries. When the grapes were perfectly ripe, they were hand harvested into 500kg bins and transferred directly into press. Typically a dose of Sulphur Dioxide (SO2) might be added at this point, fulfilling its role to protect the grapes as an anti-oxidant and anti-bacterial. In this instance, however, Mike employs a method known as hyperoxydation, whereby any bitter phenolics that might cause issues with oxidation later on in the process, are exposed to oxygen and drop out. The juice can turn a murky brown/black, but these compounds later settle out naturally. Admittedly it doesn’t sound too glamourous, but anything that reduces the SO2 additions is generally a positive approach.
After the murky bits have settled, the wine is left in tank for a natural fermentation to kick in. This can take approximately 4-5 days. So what’s natural? Or rather, what’s not natural?
Yeasts are of course essential in the conversion of the grape sugars to alcohol in the fermentation process. But they can be a law unto themselves when not carefully monitored and managed. Therefore, different strains are cultivated and widely used by winemakers to ensure a healthy ferment, achieving a desired style of wine. A security blanket of sorts for the winemaker. There is however a school of thought which supports the use of native yeasts; those existing naturally in the winery, and possibly those which have come in from the vineyard. Supporters of natural/wild yeasts suggest they bring more character and a broader flavour spectrum to the wine. In both cases, the dominant yeast strain Saccharomyces cerevisiae, will naturally take over the ferment from around 5% abv, though others can persevere on with positive results (sometimes!). Mike’s viognier is all natural, so what you are tasting in your glass is, what he believes to be the most honest expression of this variety, from this vintage, from this specific micro-climate and vineyard.
In short, ‘terroir’.
Derek Rohlffs Dry Creek Valley Syrah 2016
Country
USA
Region
California
Grape
Syrah | Shiraz
Market Price
£22.99
Angel Price
£16.99
Derek Rohlffs Dry Creek Valley Syrah 2016
By Derek Rohlffs“Philosophically, I’m all about the vineyard - a great wine is made in the vineyard.”
Derek Rohlff’s modesty goes before him. He takes almost no credit for the merits of this wine. Rather he claims all roads point back to the site from where it came from.
The Unti vineyard lies to the west of Sonoma, in Dry Creek Valley. Named after its owner, George Unti, it has gained a reputation for achieving balance and freshness in the grapes which is so sought after in an otherwise relatively warm region for making wine.
Compounding this was the fact the area was under drought pressure from multiple years, which stresses the vine and prevents it from reaching full maturation. Then along came 2016 which provided abundant winter rainfalls to recharge the soils. The growing season was largely friendly in that there were no heat spikes which lead to uneven ripening. This permitted the growers and winemakers to let the vineyard tell them when it was ready to be picked, rather than the other way round, further emphasizing Derek’s adage of the wine being made in the vineyard. All he had to do was ‘capture 2016 in a bottle.’
The grapes were hand picked at night to preserve the aromatics and freshness and maintained at a temperature below 5 degrees Celsius. This is a process known as ‘cold-soaking.’ It enables the juice to pick up as much colour and flavours from the skins in the absence of alcohol, i.e. before fermentation. It usually lasts around 5-7 days and results in greater depth of colour which is evident in this wine. (Commonly practiced for pinot noir.)
During fermentation the wine is pumped from the base of the tank over the top to aerate the yeasts and prevent any unwelcome characters developing.
Once the fermentation is close to dry - that is to say all the grape’s sugars have been converted to alcohol - the wine is pressed into mostly neutral old oak. The decision to use old versus new oak is primarily based on the objective of retaining the character of the fruit, while still imparting structure in the wine. There it lies for an extended barrel ageing of 18 months. The purpose for the additional time in oak is to smooth out the tannins, long enough that its freshness is retained, but as the same time the tannins are softened. In contrast, pinot noir, a lighter wine with thinner skins, may have just have 8-10 months in oak. It could be thought of like two lines crossing on a graph. Fruit/tannin. Where those two lines intersect is the time to bottle.
All of this results in a wine with multiple personalities. It has some hints of the kind of cracked black pepper you find in Northern Rhone Syrah but with the concentration you may find in South African Syrah. What's most distinctive about this is despite the ripeness and concentration of the fruit, is the overall freshness of the wine, which can’t be said for all wines from this part of the world.
“I’m the caretaker, I have a plan for these wines, and I’ve been making wine for 18 years. But really you can’t make a wine like this without a special vineyard. So, I give all credit to the vineyard.” Derek Rohlffs.
Katie Jones La Gare Old Vine Carignan 2016
Country
France
Region
Languedoc-Roussillon
Grape
Carignan
Market Price
£24.99
Angel Price
£17.99
Katie Jones La Gare Old Vine Carignan 2016
By Katie JonesOccasionally in business one is forced to take on an unwanted item or service in return for the opportunity to acquire the Golden Egg. For Katie Jones, that egg were the Lladoner Pelut grapes, otherwise known as ‘hairy grenache’ due to the growth on the underside of the leaves. The unwanted add-on which she was forced to take as part of the deal was a 100 year old carignan vineyard.
I’ve seen worse deals, I hear you say.
For Katie, it wasn’t until she seperated and vinified the two vineyards separately that she realised the full potential of this hidden gem that seems to have just landed on her lap.
“It just smelled wonderful, from the first time it came in to the winery. Like blackberry and apple crumble.”
Today, the vines are 110 years old, and it is their deep, deep roots that work so hard to find water in this dry, rocky environment that produce such positive results. The soil is a mixture of chalky clay (giving concentration) and schist (giving ‘minerality’. Tightness, linearity)
The 0.8ha vineyard is located in the Lieu Dit (simply meaning named site) of Rebouls, which sits at 100m above sea level; not that high for a vineyard. This also results in greater concentration in the grapes as there isn’t the long, cool ripening season which you find at altitude. Further, Katie and her husband Jean Marc, work hard in these vineyards throughout the year, cutting out unwanted shoots as well as buds. Fewer buds means all the goodness of minerals and nutrients which the roots have dug deep for go in to a small amount of super concentrated bunches, rather than being stretched thinly across lots of bunches.
Everything is grown organically, however the vineyard is still in organic conversion before it can be labelled organic. Katie uses no pesticides or herbicides to manage pest/diseases or weeds. As the vineyard was planted so long ago, the spacing between the vines is at ‘horse-width’, with the original owners relying on equine labour to plough the earth. This is still important today and Katie has sought out a 50 year old caterpillar tractor in order to pass between the vines for plowing. Turning the earth introduces oxygen, which activates the soil and helps develop the microflora in the earth, which interact with the roots and subsequently feed the grapes the good stuff.
What you will notice when tasting this wine is that it has an aroma like no other you have encountered in wine before. Raspberry coulis, crushed blackberries…. Almost like an Eton Mess. Just pure fruit goodness. And this follows through onto the palate. Muscat is really the only grape used in winemaking that actually smells and tastes like grapes. This old vine carignan offers the purest representation of summer berry fruits that red grapes can produce. But how, and why? Well it’s back to the low altitude, the deep roots, the healthy soil, the bud thinning, the timing of harvest (late).
Katie takes these elements and maximises them further by pumping the juice in tank from the bottom back over the top of the cap, where the grape skins naturally rise to in the tank. This gives maximum extraction of colour but also ensure a healthy ferment, feeding the yeast the oxygen they need to propagate and survive. Interestingly, Katie has reduced the temperature of the fermentation from 30C to 24C for this wine. Cooler fermentation temperature further enhances the primary, red fruits of raspberry and blackberry.
From there, 25% of the wine goes in to one or two year old barrels (new oak would dominate over fruit), where it adopts a subtle vanilla and clove spice character. Eight months later and it’s heading for the bottling line, but importantly with only a light filtration, 1 micron, which means more of the juicy, concentrated fruit goodness passes through into the bottle and eventually into your glass.
After a series of rough events for Katie, a hidden gem like this is more than deserved.
Hearts & Bones Angeli Cabernet Sauvignon 2014
Country
Australia
Region
Margaret River
Grape
Cabernet Sauvignon
Market Price
£25.99
Angel Price
£16.99
Hearts & Bones Angeli Cabernet Sauvignon 2014
By Stuart PymWhen a winemaker tells you that his region, Margaret River, has had a consistent string of good to very, very, very good vintages from 2006 to today, you suddenly ask yourself, ‘Why have I not been drinking more of these wines?’
According to Stuart Pym, the 2014 vintage falls in to the v.v.v. good category and upon tasting it you can see where he’s coming from. It was a perfect vintage in the sense that it never got too hot, so the cabernet sauvignon was picked when it was ready, not when they had to get the grapes in ahead of rains or heat spikes. This allowed for perfectly ripe tannins, resulting in a unctuously smooth red wine.
But it’s important to consider how this part of the world manages to ripen cabernet so well. Tucked away down in the bottom left of the country it always benefits from a sea breeze. While the Pacific Ocean on one side brings a relatively warm climate, it is the cool breeze from the Southern Ocean, (aka Antarctic Ocean) on the other that moderates the temperature of the vines as the day heats up past noon. For example, vineyards further inland would reach 38 degrees (too much) Celsius by 2pm, while this sea breeze maintains Margaret River’s temperature at 32C (just right). Incidentally, this is the same climatic influence which happens from the Bay Breeze in San Francisco, blowing through the valleys to Napa Valley, cooling it down ‘just in time.’
As a result, Margaret River, along with Coonawarra, is considered the best region in Australia for cabernet and Stuart sources his grapes from the hallowed sub region of Wilyabrup. This is where famous labels such as Moss Wood or Cullen take their fruit and end up in bottle at £50 plus. Stuart knows this piece of land well, having first gone out there in 1983, and understands the potential of these older, non-irrigated vines. In his view, finding and working with the ideal vineyard is the most important. This will determine the success. “Winemakers are not gods.”
On arrival, the bunches are carefully sorted on a table at the winery, removing any stalks or leaves which might accentuate a greenness in the flavour of cabernet sauvignon. Instead, only perfectly ripe grapes pass through, resulting in a purity of cassis and blackcurrant fruit. Yum. A regular fermentation in stainless steel with two-thirds of the wine being transferred to oak barrels to complete the final stages of the ferment. This promotes the blackcurrant/cassis and spiciness aromatics which are so pronounced on this wine. Further to this, the wine goes through post-fermentation maceration. This involves leaving the skins in contact with the wine, and enables the tannins to combine and soften out, giving the silky mouthfeel so evident in this wine.
According to Stuart this wine is ready to drink now but will continue to develop and keep for a further ten years. I’ve learned to start listening to him more, so take his word for it!
Villebois Sancerre 2017
by Joost & Miguela de Villebois
Country
France
Region
Loire Valley
Grape
Sauvignon blanc
Market Price
£19.99
Angel Price
£17.99
Villebois Sancerre 2017
By Joost & Miguela de VilleboisFor many, when people mention sauvignon blanc above a certain price point, a dual-island country in the antipodes springs to mind. Few stop to consider the holistic home of the variety; Sancerre, in the Loire Valley. Appellation legislation prevents the use of the grape name on the front label of famous wine regions such as this and therefore the association between grape and region can sometimes be missed. Think Chablis and chardonnay. Many love one, but hate the other, without knowing they are interrelated.
It could be argued that Sancerre put sauvignon blanc ‘on the map.’ This region, and perhaps the neighbouring Pouilly-Fumé, enabled the variety to achieve its maximum potential through site expression. This is largely down to the fact that three different soil types exist throughout Sancerre, each contributing specific elements which, in combination, are unique to this area.
To begin with, the revered Silex (flint) soil is amazing and every winemaker wishes they had it. The flinty soil takes the heat from the rays of sunlight during the day, storing it until it is release back into the vine at night. This additional warmth results in grapes from these sites being amongst the earliest they pick, in order to preserve that acidity.
Then there is tuffeau soil, which is a kind of limestone. This brings very intense fruit flavours, leaning more towards citrus and exotic fruit than the grapes of the third soil, which could be simply distinguished as white earth. It is a pure, thick, heavy clay, but also has some flat limestones which rise to the top when it rains. As it is a cold type of soil, the grapes take longer to ripen and often never reach full maturity. The benefit of this is the tension it brings to the wine. It delivers a more austere style of wine, very much on gooseberry, blackcurrant leaf character, in contrast to fruitiness mentioned above.
The 2017 harvest was traditional in the sense that the summer was warm, but not too warm, with fresh evenings and nights in September which the enabled the flavours of the sauvignon blanc grapes to really develop and shine, which is evident in the glass.
But the vintages was not without its woes. Between April 19th and 26th a hard and brutal frost ravaged the vines, killing the young buds, and reducing the potential yield by circa 35%. This required extra care in the vineyard to not stress the vines further so that the growth of the secondary buds may offer some solace in the form of grapes.
When inside the winery the team avoid the use of pumps to transfer the grapes from tank to tank. Instead they are moved by conveyor belt, (think personal chauffeur, but for grapes) and each tank is then filled by gravity. By carefully handling the grapes in this method, as opposed to brut force of a pump, fewer bunches are ripped apart and exposed to oxygen, which would volatize, or take away, the precious aromatics of sauvignon blanc.
The wine is fermented precisely at 18 degrees Celsius (to bring out the fruit), then down to 16C (to ensure the ferment doesn’t go to fast and limiting the viability of the yeast), then back to 18C to finish the last part of the ferment. Battonage, a beautiful word in itself, is a method of stirring up the dead yeasts into the wine. They release mannoproteins, which are contributing to the mouthfeel, and rounded texture, which you’ll see in this beautiful Sancerre.
The real skill to the making a wine like this is the understanding of picking the right vineyard block at the right time and fermenting separately. Each soil type bringing something different.
This wine is the resulting masterpiece of blending these varying vineyards and soils from across the palette of the Sancerre wine region.
