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 - April 2020
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Moretta Carigno del Maule 2017
Country
Chile
Region
Maule
Grape
Carignan
Market Price
£28.99
Angel Price
£20.99
Moretta Carigno del Maule 2017
By Natalia PobleteWinemakers Natalia Poblete and Maria Jose Ortuzar were introduced to Naked Wines by the sister of Connie Schwaderer. Here they talk us through their 100% Carignan.
Chilean wines have been known in the world thanks to Cabernet Sauvignon. However, in this long and narrow country we find many other interesting varieties as well, giving rise to great wines. In recent decades, specifically in Maule Valley, we have seen the Carignan variety flourish, a variety characterized by its high acidity, rustic tannins and great color.
Maule Valley hosts 70-year-old Carignan vines planted in poor soils which produces very unique wines. It is not known when Carignan grapes arrived in Chile, what we do know is that it was brought from the south of France to complement the wines made from País. This variety was lost in Chile for decades in blends for bulk wine production until the end of 1990 when a group of adventurous winemakers began to vinify it without mixing it showing its great attributes.
Moretta Wines was born from the hand of Natalia Poblete and Maria Jose Ortuzar, friends since 2002. Throughout the years of their career they developed a love for wines and in 2007, at the end of their degree, they forged a dream of making their own wine in the future. When they graduated from the University each one followed their own path and their friendship was further strengthened. While working together in Curicó in 2010 they awaken their dream of making their own wine and discovered the Carignan variety. In 2015 this dream finally takes shape and they launch "Moretta Wines" with the aim of producing "Author´s Wines" that faithfully represent the Terroir where the entire process is carried out, on a small scale at first.
These wines have lots of character which speaks of the Terroir where they come from and the hard work carried out by their creators. The first wine produced by Poblete & Ortuzar is named "Carigno del Maule", one hundred percent Carignan variety borned in the dry interior area of Maule, Cauquenes, Chile. Coming from a 75 years old vineyard located merely 35 kilometers from the coast, grown in a dry farm bush vines system, this vineyard - property of Guzman Family - is settled on granite soils with a high presence of quartz. This Terroir represents the expression of this variety in its splendor.
The grapes were harvested the second week of March when they reach their optimum phenolic maturity. “Carigno del Maule” was vinified in stainless steel tank. The grape is destemmed and carefully selected, some grapes are slightly cracked to subtly release its juices. It begins with a cold maceration of three days. Alcoholic fermentation is carried out with wild yeast from the vineyard and soft pump overs were made to homogenize the contents of the tank. Temperature is strictly controlled so it reaches no more than 24-25 degrees Celcius. Once the alcoholic fermentation is done, skins, seeds and wine are kept an extra 8 days. The free run and pressing wine were blended and the aging was made in 7 used French oak barrels (225L capacity) for 12 months. The result is a deep ruby red wine with violet hues. On the nose we find abundant notes of raspberry and cherries, extremely floral and fresh, notes of tobacco are appreciated as a sign of evolution in the bottle. In the mouth it is a very fruity wine, fresh and consistent with the nose. It has an intense acidity that prolongs its sensation in the mouth. Firm tannins with character, give layers and an interesting vertical structure to this Carignan.
Sebastian San Martin Buena Vida Single Vineyard Malbec 2014
Country
Argentina
Region
Mendoza
Grape
Malbec
Market Price
£29.99
Angel Price
£18.99
Sebastian San Martin Buena Vida Single Vineyard Malbec 2014
By Sebastian San MartinMalbec Single VIneyard Finca Don Fernando
Malbec, or well known in France as Cot, is a variety originally from Southwest France and the primary grape of Cahors. It was introduced in Argentina by a French Agronomist in 1855. This variety has become popular and conquered the taste of drinkers all around the world probably because of the nose characters of ripe fruits like raspberries, blackberries, plums and flowers like violets and in the mouth the ripe tannins, fleshy, sweetness but acidity that make the wines stand.
Malbec is a variety that stands out for its versatility and good adaptation to many different terroirs. From the deep and heavy soils in Agrelo until the very high altitude and stony vineyards over the 1,500 mts above the sea level in Uco Valley.
I discovered Finca Don Fernando 10 years ago. Is a small farm of 10 hectares located in La Consulta Department at 1,050 mts above the sea level, and has been used by many wineries and famous winemakers in Argentina to make their Icon or Ultra Premium Wines always in limited productions. The first year I made the wine the grapes surprised me by how slow the maturity was to complete. The harvest time came close to May, around 20 days later than other farms in the area. Mendoza is an area we could describe with absence of winds, but every time I was on this vineyard to taste the grapes, a very soft and fresh wind caressed the vines. When I opened the soil to explore the roots I found in the first meter of Deep a mixture of pebbles and a medium texture soil and going down the typical base of old river soil full of pebbles and sands. After years working with Malbec I believe these kind of soils are the perfect combination for this variety, because some areas of the roots are under an extremely stressed condition and others can access all the times to some source of wáter. These two environmental signals that capture the vines make the grapes soft but highly concentrated. The slow maturity is probably the key to developing a complex range of scents.
The Single Vineyard of Finca Don Fernando was made in a small concrete vat with hand pigeage (punching down the skins which have risen to the top of the vat) to extract softly and slowly the tannins. We selected every berry on a conveyor table taking out all the green parts of the clusters and after a maceration of 48 hours at 12ºC we warmed the grapes until 20ºC and started the fermentation and conducted the temperaturas between 28 and 30ºC. After 22 days of skin contact we racked (separated the skins and the wine) and pressed in an horizontal old press plate and aged for two years in a combination of 60% new barrels and 40% aged in concrete vat.
The nose is complex and pure with distinguished ripe black fruit, currants, prune and mineral characters. After 4 years aged in bottle developed delicate tertiary aromas so recomended to open and drink now to appreciate those esoteric characters. In the mouth it is deep, the tannins are silky and concentrated. The aftertaste is long, complex and rich in textures.
Winzerhof Landauer-Gisperg Zweigelt Selektion 2017
Country
Austria
Region
Lower Austria
Grape
Zweigelt
Market Price
£18.99
Angel Price
£16.99
Winzerhof Landauer-Gisperg Zweigelt Selektion 2017
By Stefan LandauerStefan Landauer, Winemaker of Landauer-Gisperg, shares his thoughts on his Zweigelt Selektion
Let me start off with a general information about Zweigelt
As the most widespread red wine variety in Austria, Zweigelt grows in favourable sites in nearly all of Austria’s wine regions. The wine spectrum ranges from young-drinking, non-wood-matured versions, to strong and firm wines from the barrique. The variety demands little from the soil but, because it is a very fertile grape, requires intensive leaf work and yield regulation. The variety brings slightly violet-reddish colored wines with soft tannins. Mature, full-bodied and long-living wines deliver notes of Morello cherry.
What makes our Zweigelt Selektion special, compared to all the rest of Austria?
Let’s start off with the soil;
All of our vineyards grow in an area called the ´´Stonefields´´, located in the southern part of the Thermenregion. Millions of years ago, the whole area, was covered with water. It was part of an ancient sea, which slowly dried out. Over the years all of the rich top soil eroded away and we ended up with riverbed gravel, bones of dinosaurs and fossilized shells, which slowly broke down into lime.
All that remained were flat fields filled with gravel = ´´Stonefields´´.
Even today we hardly find any fertile soil on top of the gravel, which means the vines are struggling to grow their roots deep down in the soil. Each year it’s a challenge to grow grapes here, but the quality of grapes is superb.
Let’s talk about the winemaking;
Or let’s say the little of it, to be frank we don’t interfere much.
Our grapes are handpicked, destemmed gently and strictly hand sorted. After sorting we gently fill our fermentation tanks by gravity, and wait for the natural yeasts, from the vineyard, to start fermentation.
During fermentation we don’t heat or cool the fermentation vessel. We just let each tank do its own thing. It sounds a little crazy; to me it’s just the right thing to do. I want people to be able to taste where the grapes grew on, I want my wines to tell a story. I know, only a few people can actually tell the difference, if grapes grew on gravel or heavy loam, but it’s important to me.
Since our soil is unique in Austria, and there are only a few spots in the world that show similar soil characteristics.
After fermentation we gently press off the Zweigelts and put the wine into a selection of different small oak barrels, at this point I taste the very raw and young wine, to anticipate their potential; their strengths and flaws.
Based on my impression of the wines, I try to play in their benefit.
For example; if a wine shows great aromatics- I will age it in special oak barrels that will elevate the aromas and make them even more expressive.
If a wine shows a beautiful tannin structure, I will use barrels that will underline that beautiful structure.
You can’t put an elephant in a tutu and now expect it to dance like a ballerina.
After the wines age around 12 months in barrel, I will start to blind taste all of my different Zweigelt barrels and try to come up with a blend.
Think about it like a spice rack, you have all these different aromatics and now it’s up to me, the winemaker, to find the balance of Fruitiness, body, tannins and acidity.
That’s how our Zweigelt Selektion is made, hope you will enjoy it!
Benjamin Laroche Chablis Vieilles Vignes 2017
Country
France
Region
Burgundy
Grape
Chardonnay
Market Price
£22.99
Angel Price
£18.99
Benjamin Laroche Chablis Vieilles Vignes 2017
By Benjamin LarocheBenjamin Laroche explains the source and winemaking of his Chablis Vielles Vignes
The village of Chablis is located at one of the northernmost latitudes of France for the production of Chardonnay still white wines and benefits a continental climate with hot summers and cool nights, which fits perfectly to its emblematic grape, the Chardonnay. The slopes of the hillsides are perfect for an ideal exposure to the sun, the nature of the soil allows optimal drainage; the orientation of the hills allows a late maturity, in order to combine freshness, minerality, and fruit.
On this Gods blessed playground, an uncompromising plot selection is made, only on Old Vines with an average age up to 35 years. Harvested at perfect maturity, the berries are conveyed, with a minimum of handling, for gentle pressing in a pneumatic press.
After settling for one night, the "decanted" grape juice is drawn up with the greatest care, retaining only a small part of the finest « muds », which will bring later, during the aging, a slightly oily character to the wine. The thick muds are spread away. Each step is carried out with the highest care, to preserve the richness and finesse of the aromas, always under controlled temperatures.
About 30% of the cuvée is put into several demi-muids (barrels of 500 liters) during the whole fermentation period - alcoholic then malo-lactic fermentation - and the ageing which will last several months ; while 70% of the harvest of the same cuvée will follow the same vinification cycle in thermo-regulated stainless steel vats , to preserve characters of freshness, floral notes and citrus. The demi-muids, according to the more or less "buttery" character desired, depending to their contribution in aromas of brioche, toasted bread or vanilla hints, are regularly gently shaken, at variable frequency according to the typicity of each Piece (a piece is an oak cask).
During the ageing, apart from the bâtonnage, and the controls of the levels of each barrel (La Part des Anges) we try not to intervene in the process - the role of the winemaker is to let nature do its thing, intervene as little as possible, while only creating the conditions an optimal « birth ».
When the most balanced characters are seen, the time has come to assemble(blend), then the demi-muids and the stainless steel tank are again assembled, to reconstitute the «batch» of the plot selected initially.
The wines are then bottled, labelled and hopefully appreciated between friends for great moments of sharing and conviviality.
Halos de Jupiter Costieres de Nimes 2018
Country
France
Region
Rhone
Grape
Grenache Blend
Market Price
£15.99
Angel Price
£14.99
Halos de Jupiter Costieres de Nimes 2018
By Michel GassierVigneron Michel Gassier talks us through his beautiful wine from Costieres de Nimes.
Although it is part of the Rhone Valley, Costières de Nimes is a unique terroir close to the beautiful city of Nimes, in the heart of Camargue at the most Southern part of the Rhone valley. The direct proximity of the Mediterranean Sea brings an almost constant sea breeze, which brings freshness in the vineyard. The terroirs used for this cuvée are located on the higher-elevation plots based of chalk and “safres” layers sitting below a layer of red sandstone (iron-rich clay and sand) that is topped by “cailloutis” (pebbles from the ancient Durance River). Here, the vines are rarely thirsty, and they give focused and racy reds, with aromas of fresh red fruit, with beautiful concentration.
My family has settled in Camargue since the 1940’s and I am now the fourth generation of vintner at the estate, we have started in 2006 to collaborate with Phillippe Cambie, most probably the most talented consulting winemaker in the Rhone Valley. Our professional relation quickly became friendship with a common vision and a shared perfectionism. We decided to start a joint project, this way is born “les Halos de Jupiter”, with the main goal of revealing the potential of the Grenache grape, the king of the Rhone, on the different terroirs of the Valley.
I would define myself as a “peasant-researcher”, I try to challenge myself and my team at all stages of the production process whether in the vineyard or in the cellar. Hence viticultural practices are adapted plot by plot and for each vintage to reach an optimal balance in the vineyards. The vines are farmed with organic practices (no pesticides or herbicides are used). I made return to the traditional goblet vine training system allowing a better shade and natural protection of the grapes and have also introduced the use of specific cover crop (legumes) to deliver nitrogen organically. Through the growing season we carry a full disbudding and a Spur-thinning to reduce both yields and water consumption. The vineyard originating from massale selections of different clones brings more complexity in the wines and more resistance to diseases.
In the cellar, everything is made to preserve the grapes integrity : the grapes are of course hand harvested and after a severe sorting are stored into a cold chamber (my brother owns a fruit production company that is on the same site and we benefit from large cold chambers that we use at harvest time). The grapes reach 2°C allowing an intracellular, cold start diffusion phase and limiting the oxidation of the polyphenols. For this wine, 50% of the grapes are destemmed, keeping a part of stems allows us to preserve the freshness and enhance the ageing capacity of this wine.
Pressing of the grapes is made with a pneumatic press under hyper reductive techniques using Inertys, a nitrogen balloon allowing a complete preservation of the grapes from oxygen during the pressing. This is also contributing to offering a pure expression of the grapes.
A battery of small concrete and stainless-steel tanks allow us to carry plot by plot winemaking and get vintage after vintage, a deeper understanding of our terroirs. Most transfers of grapes and must are done using gravity to preserve the fruit purity.
Back in 2015, I made the choice to carry vinifications without sulfur (sulfur is added early spring), in the stage of alcoholic fermentation the polymerization of tannins require oxygen, sulfites are naturally an anti-oxidant and affect the polymerization of the tannins. As the wines are naturally loaded with carbon dioxide during this phase they are naturally protected which allows us to avoid the use of sulfur.
The mechanical extraction in the must is made very early in the absence of SO2 at relatively low temperature (21-23 degrees Celsius), then the tanks are left for long diffusions without any mechanical extraction at around 28 degrees.
Wines are left without sulfur in the presence of carbonic gas during the ageing, sulfur has been added at minimal doses in January just before bottling.
Our goal and hopefully you will find that in the bottle, is to reveal at the same time our terroir and the grape expression with as much purity in their expression. Our Halos de Jupiter Costières 2018 is certainly a wine that you can drink as off today, but can be kept for up to five years in a good cellar.
Cheers !
Michel Gassier
Chiroubles La Prieure 2017
Country
France
Region
Beaujolais
Grape
Gamay
Market Price
£19.99
Angel Price
£16.99
Chiroubles La Prieure 2017
By Naked MarketplaceJean Pierre Large introduces his special cuveé from Chiroubles past from generation to generation.
Domaine Cheysson was founded in the 17th century by the monks of Cluny Abbey. The monks settled on the current site of the Estate, they cleared the hills to plant vines and build the cellar that we still use today. After the French Revolution, church property was sold and it was at this time that Emile Cheysson's father acquired the Estate, which was modernized by Emile Cheysson and then gave it its name in 1868.
In the 1900s the estate was in polyculture vines and breeding. At present, the estate is exclusively for viticulture on 24 Ha of vines in Chiroubles and 2 Ha in Beaujolais Blanc.
This vintage is a tribute to the monks of Cluny Abbey who planted the vine in Chiroubles and founded on our current site what would become the Domaine Cheysson. With this cuvée we wanted to return to the basics of winemaking as at the time of the Cistercian monks of Cluny. To elaborate this cuvée we chose the best terroir of Chiroubles and our Estate called "Côte Rotie".
These vines located on extremely steep hillsides, facing due south give small yields but with wines of a beautiful aromatic complexity. The winemaking was carried out without sulfur and without any inputs. For fermentation, it is the yeasts from our region that ferment the wine. These bring authentic notes with very beautiful aromas and a nice complexity on the palate.The wine was then aged in stainless steel tanks, protected from oxygen, for more than 6 months to allow it to flourish.
It is now ready to be drunk now and will keep for three to four more years.
