Some Cool Features of Wine For Normal People in the Media...

Just wanted to share two cool articles -- one for a national online magazine on demographics (the article, of course, was on wine demos!) and one about me for a local blog. Hope you like them!

Here they are:

DemoDirt: The Ubiquitous Grape
(My dad, a Political Scientist and Statistician will be so proud that I'm featured in a demographics mag!)

A Is For Atlanta Blog: A feature on some things I like about Atlanta
Kevin Gillespie of Top Chef fame is among the locals that Jon has interviewed. I'm honored to have been asked! Thanks to Jon!

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Natural wines: the backlash

It's inevitable given the amount of publicity that's been accorded to natural wines lately that some will be less enraptured than others. This latest post from wine writer Quentin Sadler being typical of the sceptics' position.

I haven't got time for a considered response today but two quick points.

The term 'natural' I agree does have its downside. It puts up the back of conscientious winemakers who don't choose to engage with any certification scheme but still make good wines, with care. But it engages the public in a way that 'organic' alone never did. And it's easy to get bogged down in semantics.

Finding wines you don't like at a tasting is normal. Every tasting I go to that happens to me - conventional wines as well as natural ones. So I don't think that makes natural wines especially unreliable.

I'll return to all of this when I have a moment Readmore »»

Le Blanc qui Tente

If ever a wine was well named it's Le Blanc qui Tente - the tempting white - a really stunning semillon we picked up in Wholefoods Kensington a couple of weeks ago then managed to mislay.

It's made by Stéphanie Roussel of Chateau Lasolle in the Côtes du Marmandais in the south-west of France apparently just next to one of our other favourite producers Elian da Ros. It's also described as a vin de nature and is exactly that - biodynamic, no artificial yeasts or added sulphur, unfined and unfiltered. But it's the taste that's so amazing - classic rich lush waxy semillon: it could be a top white Bordeaux.

The only problem is I'm not sure which vintage it is. As it's a vin de table it hasn't got a date on the bottle. The current release seems to be 2007 but Aubert & Mascoli the importers seem to have the 2005. I'll update you when I find out.

Although the vintage Wholefoods has - whatever it is - is ace, I'd be inclined to pick it up in France if you can where it only costs €10.70 rather than the £16 odd it costs here

Interestingly we tried another 2007 last night, Catherine and Pierre Breton's Beaumont Chinon which was very disappointing - oddly tarry, earthy and lacking in fruit. I just tried it again, hoping it would have improved overnight but it hasn't (despite the fact it's a fruit day for what that's worth. Yesterday was a leaf day). I guess it's designed to be drunk young and has just passed its 'drink by' date. Not good though. Readmore »»

A Very Worthwhile Taste of South African Wines

It's rare that my location in a beta wine market (let's face it, Atlanta is not exactly the most cosmopolitan place when it comes to wine) leads to a great on-the-ground contact, so I was really excited when I got an email from a local dude who found my blog/Facebook page and who wanted to taste me on some of his wines. I was even more excited when I found out that his portfolio was made up of wines from South Africa, a place near and dear to my heart after my trip there a few years back.

So after a month of trying to get it on the books, finally, on a Tuesday afternoon, I met with Tom Lynch, founder of Worthwhile Wine Company. He showed up in jeans and a Worthwhile Wine t-shirt and his warmth and enthusiasm were immediately apparent. He prefaced the meeting by saying that, even if I didn't dig his wines, from the blog/Facebook stuff I seemed like someone he'd like to hang out with. That won me over right away (ok, I'm pretty easy, but still -- I could tell it was going to be a nice hour together). Flattery will get you everywhere, apparently.

But I digress...

Tom is a sharp, very cool guy and his story was amazing. Almost 2 years ago, he left his big job working for a prestigious online ad agency following a trip that he and his teenage daughter took to South Africa. This wasn't the kind of trip I took when I went there -- all plush and full of tasty food and wine -- rather it was a 2-3 week excursion that involved staying in a ramshackle hut and doing community service in a small, impoverished village. Tom and his daughter were so personally moved by the trip that they decided to take action. Of her own volition, his 13 year old started a foundation to help this community and others like it. Tom gave her the support and help she needed (including allowing her to home school so she could focus more time on the foundation!) and it's still going strong.

What does all this have to do with wine? Well, while his daughter was working on her foundation, Tom took a stock of his life. He had grown weary of his Mad Men existence and sought to pursue a passion he had started over 20 years ago when he worked in the wine biz as a sales rep. Tying in with his daughter's new found passion, he launched a company to represent small, high quality, boutique producers of South African wines who needed a broker to bring them to the US. All the wines are sustainably made -- adhering to the triple bottom line: combining environmental and social responsibility with economic profit. You know, worthwhile wines...hence the name.

Although new to many of us, South Africa is old hat in the wine world. It has been making wine since 1655 when the Dutch East India Company set up settlements on the southern tip of Africa as restocking stations for ships traveling between Holland and India. Obviously, no seafaring people in their right mind would travel without wine, so the Dutch scouted out regions for vineyards and after some trial and error, made a good go of it. Over the centuries, they honed their techniques, made some great wines, and were famed for a sweet, Muscat-based wine called Constantia, which was enjoyed by the wealthy and elite set in Europe.

Today the grapes grown are from the International set -- the regular suspects, so to speak -- Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah, and Chenin Blanc (sometimes called Steen here). The novelty act that you may also have heard of is South Africa's own hybrid, Pinotage (Pee-NOH-taaahje), a cross between Pinot Noir and Cinsault that sometimes tastes like raspberry flavored dried paint chips (true story).

Before I get to the wines, there is one last weird thing about South Africa that I want to mention. Although they've been making wine for more than 350 years in this region (as compared to other New World regions where it's been less than 200 years), the region is still considered New World because:

a) it's not in Europe
b) the political and economic fallout from apartheid crushed the wine industry and the rebirth of the industry is New World in it's reliance on technology and techniques, and
c) the style is somewhere in between European and New World styles.

I'm not sure what wine gods decide these things, but I think there's a good argument that South Africa should be considered Old World...story for another post or over a drink sometime.

Ok, with that long-ass preface, here's the lineup:

Wine 1: Dornier Chenin Blanc

Where it's from: Stellenbosch (the most famous wine area of South Africa)
The Grape: 100% Chenin Blanc
Vintage: 2010
Price: About $13

Color: Chenin Blanc is the main grape in Vouvray of the Loire Valley and there it can be a rich yellow color because winemakers often leave a bit of sugar in the wine, which can darken it up, and in ripe vintages the skin can impart a golden hue to the appearance. Left to its own devices, however, Chenin Blanc is a very pale color and is deceptive in that it looks like it doesn't have a whole lot going on...which is why you smell and taste it.

Smell: Damn, this is an aromatic wine. Just swirling it on the table 2 feet away, the wine smelled like a bottle of really fragrant, floral shampoo. It was so distinctive, although I was a little frustrated that my usually very keen sniffer couldn't quite place the exact flowers and herbs I was smelling. All I can say is that it was smelled like a greenhouse of flowers. Add to that a bit of pistachio nut and I was hooked. Did it smell like Chenin Blancs I've had? No way. Was it delicious nonetheless? I was ready to try it.

Taste: The wine was much less floral and much more green with a good kick of mouthwatering acid than what I expected. It's a subtle wine, no doubt, and I think is one that would do best with some crackers and goat cheese. Alone, I thought it was soft, light, and a little like uncooked green herbs. Nothing stunning, but a nice porch wine for $13.

Drink or Down the Sink?: It's a good wine, but by no means the best that South Africa makes in terms of Chenin Blanc. I like its but I'm not going out of my way to seek this out. I'd rather have a dry Vouvray, with its nuttiness, peachy character, and floral depth for $6 more.

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Wine 2: De Wetshof Limestone Hill Chardonnay
Where it's from: The Robertson District, kind of inland from the more popular regions of Stellenbosch and Franschoek, had previously been known for making crap bulk white wine, but it's now an up and comer for Chardonnay and Shiraz. I feel like the literature needs to be updated on this area, since most books I have all but say that this area is kind of a wine emporium de crap.

The Grape: 100% Chardonnay
Alcohol: 14.7%
Vintage: 2010
Price: About $18

Color: This looked similar to the Chenin Blanc in color, which I was happy to see in a Chardonnay, which can often be golden because of its time spent in big oak barrels. Tom explained that the wine is made by Danie de Wet, who learned winemaking in Germany, a place where the vineyard and the grape rule flavor in wine, not the winemakers decision to put the wine in an oak barrel or use other winemaking tricks to change what nature intended.

Smell: This wine isn't called Limestone Hill for nothing -- it smells like minerals and limestone rock! It was slightly herbal, but the main impression was of a stream or waterfall. This wine is a perfect example of why I question the fact that South Africa is a New World region. This wine is much more like a European Chardonnay from Chablis or from the Languedoc area of Southern France. The land the grapes grow on produce this flavor that is so unique and distinctive -it's unlike any other New World wine region and unlike any other Old World one either.

Taste: The wine was fruitier than it smelled with green apple and lime flavors. Its mineral character was enhanced by a nuttiness and softened by the fact that the wine was aged sur lie (the yeast eats sugar and turns it to alcohol, and then the organisms die in the process, suicide machines that they are. They settle to the bottom of the tank and if the winemaker decides not to "clean up" the wine by moving it to a new barrel or tank, they can stir the dead yeast periodically, causing them to break up and release nutty, creamy flavors. Sounds gross, but the resulting flavors can be pretty damn good). The wine was light, and wasn't too textural either -- no strong acid or alcohol, just kind of middle-of-the-road.

Drink or Down the Sink?: Drink. I think this is a pretty unique Chardonnay. I liked the mineral and green apple notes. The subtlety of this wine was lovely and I think it would be great for fish, salads, or light appetizers. I'm really impressed that this kind of wine can come from South Africa, which I usually associate with oakier Chardonnay, and from a region I had previously thought of as jug wine/crap imitation Sherry country.
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Wine 3: Rupert & Rothschild, Baroness Nadine Chardonnay

Where it's from: When I was in South Africa a few years back, I actually went to this winery, which started in 1997 as a joint venture between a South African, Dr. Anton Rupert, and Baron Edmond de Rothschild or France, of the famous Bordeaux wine family (two of the best wines are produced by Rothschild Chateaux -- Château Mouton-Rothschild and Château Lafite Rothschild). It was an amazing place in one of South Africa's best kept secret in wine - the Francshoek area, which was settled by French Hugenots in the 17th century and is known in South Africa for having amazing quality that is often better than the famed region of Stellenbosch.
The Grape: 100% Chardonnay
Alcohol: 13.5%
Vintage: 2008
Price: About $25

Color: Yep, this was a blonde beauty of a Chardonnay: a golden, brassy, dark yellow wine with sexy legs. This stuff had been doing time building sugars on the vine (which leads to richer flavor and higher alcohol) and in oak barrels, which darkens a wine.

Smell: Burnt caramel, a fireplace with burnt logs, toast, and baked apple dominated my nose: A true mark that oak was taking center stage. This smelled more like a typical California Chardonnay than something from South Africa, which I always think of as having balance between mineral, fruit, and oak. I guess this is what happens when someone from Bordeaux, used to making red wines that benefit from lots of oak aging, makes a Chardonnay. The Rothschild part of the partnership stuck with what they knew and made an oak bomb. I was a little concerned, since this is patently not my style, but I went in with an open mind...

Taste: I was pleasantly surprised. This wine is pretty oaky and has strong apple flavors, but there is a fabulous acidity to it that makes it refreshing and not cloying. Tom explained that only 40% of the wine went through malo-lactic fermentation (a secondary fermentation that converts tart, green apple-like acidity into a smooth, buttery, creamy texture) so it was less creamy and mouth-filling and more refreshing than a wine that had gone through 100% malo-lactic. So we were spared the "I just drank half-and-half" sensation, but the oak was still overwhelming, so if you're not an oak lover, beware because you may be proverbially picking splinters out of your teeth after a sip of this.

Drink or Down the Sink?: It's a well made wine so I can't say down the sink, but I will say that for my palate it was just too oaky with not enough fruit or acid to balance out the burnt character. If you love oak, go for this wine -- it's interesting and high quality. My caveat to the haters of this style: try it with food. Rich creamy sauces on white meat, a butter or tartar sauce on fish, or creamy pasta could be great with this wine's acid and the burnt character could be mitigated by the flavors of the food.

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Wine 4: 2006 Lammershoek 'Roulette'

Where it's from: This wine is from Swartland, an area on the West Coast near the Atlantic with fertile soils (usually bad for winegrapes). It's one of South Africa's bread baskets and most stuff I read about it regarding wine is that it's not an area with great potential, but I think that's a big lie. I reviewed a Syrah a while back from a Mullineux, a top producer in this region, and it was probably one of the best I've ever had, so as usual, I will be trusting my experience rather than that of jaded wine "gurus." Needless to say, was excited to try this Rhône blend from the same area.

The Grapes: 62% Syrah, 20% Carignan, 13% Grenache, 4% Mourvedre, 1% Viognier
Alcohol: 13.5%
Vintage: 2006
Price: About $28

Color: The wine was a ruby color that fanned out to a lovely rosy, watery rim. I expected a lighter style from this lighter colored wine.

Smell: Awesome nose! The wine was like baked plums sprinkled with cinnamon and nutmeg -- it was really delicious. Some mint, blackberry, and raspberry were hanging out in the background, with a little bit of licorice too. It was like a richer, more pungent

Côtes-du-Rhône.

Taste: The wine tasted like black cherry and candied raspberries with a good hit of cinnamon -- this was like a fruit compote, but lighter and less syrupy. There were light mouth-drying tannins and a very interesting, flavor of thyme or rosemary cooked in butter. The wine had a little bit of a barnyard/earthy flavor too. It was interesting but still light and would be a great food wine.

Drink or Down the Sink?: Drink. This was like a high quality Côtes-du-Rhône. This would be great for sipping or with food. This was my favorite of the day. Swartland seems to be my pick for South African Rhône-style wines these days.

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Wine 5: 2010 Dark Lady of the Labyrinth

Where it's from: The wine is from Wellington, not too far from both famous areas of Stellenbosch and Franschoek. Pinotage, as I mentioned earlier, is a South African hybrid of Pinot Noir and Cinsault. It's generally very light in color and flavor and ranges, in my opinion, from an ok novelty, to a horror show that's like drinking paint chips.

The Grape: 100% Pinotage
Alcohol: 13.5%
Vintage: 2010
Price: About $19

Color: This is, by far, the darkest Pinotage I've ever encountered. Like black cherry juice, the wine held its color to the edge when I tilted it in the glass. It looked like prune juice in the glass. Very odd and un-Pinotage-like.

Smell: Ok, let's be clear: Most Pinotage is a red wine that's lighter in style and usually smells like red berries or lightly floral. So, I thought it completely bizarre that this wine smelled almost exactly like the oaky Rupert & Rothschild Chardonnay we tasted 10 minutes prior to this wine. The caramel, butterscotch, burnt smell mirrored the Chardonnay nearly to a T.

The only thing the Chardonnay had that the Pinotage lacked was a distinct minerality. Freakin' weird. Even Tom, the marketer and sales guy who sells and spins these wines all day long couldn't deny the similarity. This is the power of winemaking -- the grapes couldn't be more different, but in the hands of an oak enthusiast, the barrel was a great equalizer. Again, freakin' weird.

Taste: The wine tasted much more in line with what I expected. A light cherry and plum flavor with a touch of oak kept this wine light and pleasant. There was a distinct potting soil note, which was interesting, and although the oak was prevalent, it wasn't as overwhelming on the palate as it was on the nose.

Drink or Down the Sink?: Down the sink. Although it tasted fine, the nose was so powerful that it ruined the wine before each sip. I know the producer was looking to elevate Pinotage to something better than what it usually is -- a watery, sometimes chemical tasting berry drink -- this was over the top. Although this goes down as the strangest wine I've ever had, I can't say I'm going to go seek it out again in the future.

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So that's it. Great tasting with some solid wines. I love Tom's company, his mission, and the fact that he's bringing great stuff to my market that I would never be able to experience otherwise. Great stuff and a big thanks to him!!!

Let me know if you've had any of these or other South African wines and your opinions on Facebook or in the comments below!
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Blacks: a London club with natural wine

I've recently revived my membership of Blacks , not on the basis that I needed a London club living out of town - useful though that is - but for the somewhat frivolous reason that they have an extensive natural wine list.

They probably did when I belonged to it a few years ago except no-one talked about natural wine in those days. The wine, chosen by Giuseppe Mascoli was always good though - usually from small (in capacity not size) Italian producers.

Mascoli is also the other half of Aubert & Mascoli who are one of the leading importers of natural wine and one of the participants in the recent Natural Wine Fair. He also created the highly successful mini pizza chain Franco Manca.

Most of the current Blacks list is now organic and a number of wines sulphur free including the very attractive and reasonably priced Terragno Dolcetto, Colli Tortonesi from Valli Unite we had at lunch today. (It could have done with being a shade cooler but when we asked if we could have an ice bucket they mysteriously brought along a bucket of cold water without ice. Maybe they regard ice as unnatural?)

They also produce a very well-designed free newsletter called The Carafe with profiles of their producers and - this appears to the food and wine matching geek in me - suggest pairings for each course on the main dining room menu.

The place is wonderfully raffish and decadent. I love it. Readmore »»

Natural Wine meets Cantillon

Those who like to keep up to speed with the growing natural wine roadshow may like to know there's a natural wine fair in Belgium the week after next, at Wijnfolie in Aalter on Sunday June 5th and the Cantillon brewery in Brussels the following day - full details on the Wijnfolie website here. You can also follow them on Twitter @Wijnfolie.

I like the idea of holding an event at Cantillon. There are strong parallels between natural wines and gueuze I've been thinking about for a while and to which I'll return. Readmore »»

Alice and Jancis talk natural wine

Having whizzed off to the Jura this week I've not yet had time to go through my notes on the wines I tasted at the Natural Wine Fair but here's an interesting short video from Jancis Robinson's website of her interview with US natural wine champion Alice Feiring . . .

And you'll find Alice's own thoughts on the difference in attitude between Britain and the US towards natural wine here.

Her main point is that the UK trade and critics are too influenced by formal wine education such as the MW and WSET qualifications, a criticism from which she absolves Jancis. Quite rightly. I've noticed she is notably open-minded on the subject.

And there's more! Alice also interviewed Jancis on video. This is getting positively incestuous . . . Readmore »»

Six things that struck me at the Natural Wine Fair

I’ve spend a good part of the last two days at the Natural Wine Fair and frankly would have spent a third if I hadn’t got so much else on. It’s going to take a few days to pull together the highlights but here are a few immediate thoughts.


Natural wine is a broad church
The fair should have finally blown the myth that all natural wines are cloudy and cidery. There were wines of every description there from the utterly conventional to the wild and whacky. Something for everyone in other words. It was also fascinating to see how different the French and Italian approaches to winemaking were and how even a single winemaker could make wines in a number of different styles (the much derided Sébastien Riffault (above) comes to mind)


It arouses a lot of antipathy
Yes, still, judging by the talk by American wine writer Alice Feiring (below) and what I gather was an even edgier panel discussion on natural wine in restaurants. People get extraordinarily het up about natural wine for reasons I don’t fully understand. Does anyone get furious about the presence in shops of unpasteurised cheeses or castigate someone who likes a runny Brie or a stinky Epoisses?

Sceptics regard natural wine fans, I suspect, as bandwagon-jumpers, unable to identify a wine fault when it hits them in the face. Natural wine fans regard sceptics as blinkered and narrow-minded, expecting all wine to conform to an accepted paradigm. A gulf that shows no sign of being bridged at present.


Consumers seem to be ahead of the trade in this respect
Judging by the turnout of over 800 on the public day, the public have fewer issues with natural wine than the trade. Considering it was the first natural wine fair and not advertised in the national press I thought that was an impressive turnout. Maybe we all need to tiptoe less gingerly around natural wines and shouldn’t feel the need to ‘explain’ them.

Natural winemakers are not afraid of tannin . . .
Again, against conventional wisdom which says all reds must be rendered soft and fruity. The Italians in particular produce wines that are unabashedly tannic. Maybe because they wouldn’t dream of drinking them without food

. . . or colour
Ever seen a Pinot Grigio like this?


Or labels like these?

. . . or afraid of a little sly humour
I love the punning labels like this Boisson Rouge from Emile Heredia of Domaine de Montrieux (a pun on the French poisson rouge, the name for a goldfish). Delicious wine, actually


Natural wines are fun to drink
Maybe it was the outdoor - or partially outdoor - location and the fact that it didn’t rain but there was a really festive feel about the whole event. Just people enjoying wine and discovering new flavours. Isn’t that what wine is supposed to be about?


And just as a footnote and a sign of the times: I spotted one of Marks & Spencer's wine buyers at the fair on both days. Straw in the wind . . . Readmore »»

How to sell natural wine

I've been meaning to go to the Wholefoods store in Kensington for a while having heard it had a good range of organic and natural wines and finally made it this week which is part of Natural Wine Fortnight in the UK.

Like many other shops and bars they had a couple of natural wines open to taste - a Roagna Langhe Bianco and Dolcetto d'Alba, a bargain at £3.99 a glass and £13.99 a bottle, but it was their overall approach to natural wine that really impressed me.


First, they keep bottles with no added sulphites in the fridge.


They explain what natural wine actually is


And best of all, they flag up bottles which are low in sulphur which manager Peter Hogarth defines as under 50mg per litre with a Low SO2 label. This excludes a few bottles, he admits, which are natural in style but finds it a practical working definition.

He must stock about 30-40 wines that could be classified as natural but he's not doctrinaire about it and says there are several that he hasn't taken on that he knows would be too hard a job to sell. And he encourages customers to ask him or his colleagues if they're thinking of buying a natural wine so that they can explain what to expect and how to handle it.


I tasted a few others from their range of which I was particularly impressed by the Domaine de l'Ocre Rouge Pinot Noir 2009, a really gorgeous Pinot which had just come into stock and which I believe will sell for £17.99.

There's also a nice little wine bar where you can drink any of the bottles in the department for just £5 corkage with a plate of cheese or charcuterie from the next door counter - or a tartine. Apparently it's known as the Hidden Gem wine bar. With good reason. Readmore »»

Wine For Normal People Radio: Episode 16: The Wine Industry — The True Hollywood Story

Ok, we had another great week with guest host M.C. Ice.

On this one, I took a risk of alienating all my friends in the wine industry and offered my take on it, which seemed to me, before I got into it, to be very difficult to figure out from the outside. I give a few pointers and offer some hard truths about it (it's not as pretty as you may think when you're sitting behind your computer at your day job thinking about making a move into it). MC Ice was great to have around for this one, since he lived it with me while I was working for the big hulking winery!

Here are the show notes:

Shoutouts to friends on Twitter, Facebook, and commenters the blog

Main topic: Inside the Wine Industry

• · How does the wine industry work? -- Regulation, the three tier system, and how it functions

• A few ways you can get into the industry if you want to pursue it as a career

• The real scoop -- My opinions on how it's far from glitz and glamour. M.C. Ice and I share some personal experiences and tell it how it really is

• Personalities in the wine industry -- from the veteran to the lifestyle junkie, to the snobs, you'll find it all in this biz

• To sum it all up: think long and hard before diving into the wine industry...it's not too much different from any other business, despite what it looks like from the outside!

And...The Grape of the Week is Cabernet Franc

Don't forget to join the conversation on Facebook!

Episode 16: The Wine Industry — The True Hollywood Story

To listen, download the podcast from the iTunes store (and if you like it please add a comment or rate it so we can make sure to stay on the radar, which helps other folks find us easily that would be great!), click the link above, or use the player below! Thanks for listening!

Podcast Powered By Podbean

Readmore »»

Frank Cornelissen: a winemaker who doesn't 'make' wine

Thanks to my colleague Simon Woods for the photo.

I’d heard a lot about Frank Cornelissen - a bit of a bogeyman for those who are sceptical about natural wine (you can see Victoria Moore’s account of her visit to him here) so was interested to get the opportunity to meet him at a wine dinner at the south London wine bar Artisan & Vine last night.

From a wine point of view I didn’t find his wines that extreme - well, his reds anyway. His whites are quite challenging. But that probably says more about the way my tastebuds have changed since I started drinking natural wine.

But he is quite an extreme person, given to making didactic pronouncements such as that 95% of all vineyard land is unsuitable for growing grapes. He doesn’t use any chemical additions or treatments including biodynamic ones (interesting) “as these are all a mere reflection of the inability of man to accept nature as she is and will be". And no products during the course of what he describes as his (non)winemaking including sulphur. “You don’t need to add things. I want to make 100% wine”.

In case you’re not familiar with his wines his are grown on the north slopes of Mount Etna and no, with that name he’s obviously not an Italian but a self-taught Belgian who used to be a wine trader. His newer vineyards are planted ungrafted alongside fruit and olive trees - he doesn’t believe in a monoculture (I’m with him there) - and the wines are harvested late between October and November.

We tasted about 10 of his wines along with 2 olive oils and 3 grappas from different terroirs, a process which is pretty hard to follow as he numbers his wines in a particularly confusing way. Or maybe it had just been a long day.

His simplest wine is the Rosso del Contadino a base of 70% Nerello Mascalese with up to 15 other white and red varieties including Alicante Bouschet. We tried the no 4 2006 and no 7 2009 which showed to my mind how the wines benefit from ageing although he says he’s now bottling them earlier. These I would say are a vin de soif - though I'm not sure Frank would approve of that description - and the sort of wines he prefers to drink with food. Refreshing but with a distinctive smokey edge.

Then the Munjebel Bianco no 4 2007 and no 6 2009, a true ‘orange’ wine made by leaving the grapes (Carricante, Grecanico Dorato and Coda di Volpe) in contact with the skins for three months. The 2007 was delicious with a rich dried apricot flavour and almost sherried nose, the ’09 much more of a blank canvas though it did go better than the 07 with its matching course of octopus and potato salad.

The Munjebel Rosso is pure Nerello Mascalese blended from two vintages - usually two thirds the younger vintage, one third the older - and aged for 6-18 months in lined amphoras

The no 6 (2008/9) was quite smokey - almost cheesey - but went well with a sweet-sour dish of Tamworth pork, caponata and wild asparagus (the pairings from chef James Robson were brilliant). The no 7 (2009/10) was much brighter and more vibrant with a ripe cherry flavour while the 03, a single vintage made in 2005 that was 80% botrytised, was so rich it was almost Amarone-like. Cornelissen reckons the no 6 won't be at its best for another 4-5 years.

Finally Magma Rosso, Frank’s icon wine which carries a registered trademark, costs over £100 a bottle retail and is only made in selected years (not in 2005 or 2010). Again Nerello Mascalese made from high altitude ungrafted plots, left on the skins for 3 months followed by 6 months to a year in amphoras.

It lived up to the hype. The no 5 (2006) was very exotic and scented - my tasting notes say ‘romantic’ and I think this is a wine you could fall in love with. The no 7 (2008) was quite sweet and floral - obviously with a long way still to go while the no 4 (2004) was at its peak - really magnificent, powerful and brooding. And very good with the cheese, dried fruit and nuts it was served with though Frank says he likes to drink it on its own.

I asked Frank what I think many people would wonder which is how he feels about the ever-present danger of a massive eruption on Etna and he simply shrugged and said that he, like the locals, live with it. “If it happens, it happens”

I really liked the wines though am not sure they’re worth the prices they fetch - but there are admittedly very little of them (about 500-700 bottles in the case of the Magma) The man? Not easy. Heavy as the hippies used to say. But who says winemakers have to be smooth-talking PR men?

Oh, and the meal was exceptional. I’ll return to that on my main site matchingfoodandwine.com Readmore »»

2011 Natural Wine Fair Masterclasses

It's just over a week till the UK's first Natural Wine Fair takes place in Borough market in London - a great occasion for those of us who are already into natural wine and a terrific opportunity to try it for yourself if you aren't. The first day - Sunday May 15th - is open to the public. The second two are trade days.

Details of the Masterclasses have just been published and are listed below:

Sunday 15th May
1:30 – 2:30 ‘Understanding what makes Natural Wine special’
Speaker: Isabelle Legeron MW (that crazy Frenchwoman)
This will include a tutored tasting so please bring your wine glass.

3:00 – 4:00 Alice’s Adventures in Natural Wonderland
Speaker: Alice Feiring (author of ‘The Battle for Wine and Love’)
This will include a tutored tasting so please bring your wine glass.

Monday 16th May
11:00 – 1:00 ‘Everything you ever wanted to know about Biodynamics’
Speaker: Nicholas Joly (La Coulée de Serrant)

3.00 – 4.00 ‘Selling Natural wine in the On-Trade’
Speakers: Doug Wregg (Les Caves), Gerard Basset MW MS (TerraVina), Romain Henry (Hibiscus Restaurant), Xavier Rousset (Texture & 28-50)

Tuesday 17th May
11:30 – 12:30 ‘Natural Wine, a New World perspective’
Speaker: Ron Laughton (Jasper Hill, Australia)

2:30 – 3:30 Monty Waldin & The Meaning of Biodynamics
Speaker: Monty Waldin (author of ‘Monty Waldin’s Biodynamic Wine Guide 2011’ and star of Channel 4’s ‘Chateau Monty’).

All the masterclasses will take place at Elliot’s Cafe, 12 Stoney Street, Borough, London SE1 9AD and are free of charge to those who have bought a ticket for the fair. Admission will be on a first come, first served basis - capacity is 'limited' apparently so get there early!

Monday also sees the start of Natural Wine Fortnight when restaurants and bars all over the country will be featuring natural wines. You can find a full list on the website here.
 Readmore »»

Periquita from Portugal: Neither a Bird Nor a Banana, Just Plain Good

Parakeet wine? Is it related to Chiquita banana? Sort of a yes on the former, no on the latter.

Periquita does, in fact, mean parakeet in Portuguese, although I can't find an explanation of why this wine is termed "parakeet," except that it's named for an old estate that the producer acquired in the early 1800s. I'll leave it to one of you to tell me, or we can just leave it as a wine enigma (which I'm fine doing, BTW).

As an aside (and again, I'll risk alienating all of you who are lovers), I'm terrified of/really dislike birds and the thought of drinking a wine with an avian name was not overtly appealing, but there were other things that peaked my interest, so thankfully I didn't miss out on a great wine experience because of a bad name association.

Ok, since we've determined that it is NOT for the name, you may ask what possessed me to buy this wine? I know it's a weird one. The truth is that sometimes I get bored of the regular suspects and I've got to go off the reservation. Portugal is an excellent partner in crime for just these occasions -- affordable, untapped for it's non-Port wines, and pretty foreign to me (I've been all over Europe but haven't made it to Portugal yet) -- these wines are fun to explore.

Although it doesn't get the good press of it's neighbor on the Iberian Peninsula, Spain, wine grapes have been grown in Portugal for about 4000 years. The tradition has been passed on from the seafaring Phoenicians in the 10th century BC to the Greeks in the 7th century BC, the Romans in the 2nd BC and even to the Moors, who defied their own law by drinking and trading in the good stuff while they ruled the area from the 8th to the 12th century AD.

To figure out the roots of modern Portuguese wine, however, we look not to these historic folks, but to the Brits. From the 1300s on they flirted with Portuguese wine whenever they had a dispute with the French and had to cut off frog wine exports. Being the clever and cunning folks they were, the English robbed the Portuguese of their winemaking traditions and had them create Port and Madeira to sate the voracious English drinking habit (lacking the climate for wine grapes, the English have been at the mercy of various nations to be key suppliers over the years). It took until the 1800s for the Portuguese to reclaim their wines and set quality standards for Port making and other wine styles (the English, looking to make a buck, frequently cared less about quality and more about volume).

After joining the EU in the 1980s, things started cooking in Portugal's wine world. But even with subsidies to create healthier vineyards and more appealing wine styles, the fact remains that Portugal is a relatively small and poor country so it's been a little slow to the export market. Beyond Vinho Verde, a young, light, refreshing wine (BTW -- the "verde" does mean green but is meant to indicate youth, not color since a large portion of Vinho Verde is actually red), I personally don't see a ton of Portuguese wine out in the market. So when I saw the Periquita, which I've read about but never had an opportunity to buy, I had to go for it.

And I'm so glad that I did. The name of this wine is a brand but also indicates a blend, since the producer, José Maria da Fonseca was aggressive in marketing it and then became synonymous with this wonderful wine. There are few examples of this in the wine world (the only other that I can think of is Château Grillet in the Northern Rhone), so I think this is a pretty fascinating wine for that reason alone.

If you're interested in the nuts and bolts, the wine is made from a blend of three native red grapes -- mostly Castelão (KAY-stay-lao) with some Trincadeira, and Tempranillo (called Aragónez here). The grapes grow on sandy soils in a maritime climate and the result is a light wine with a ton of crazy and cool flavors. Even though it clearly makes great reds, this area, the Vinho Regional of Setúbal, is much more well known more for it's sweet style wines of Moscatel (Muscat).

I'm not usually an advocate for a semi-monopoly, but this family has been making wine for 8 generations here, and has made a huge investment in cleaning up their winery and vineyards to make fresh, great wine, so I'm good on this one. I think you will be too.

So without further ado...
The Wine: Periquita
Where It's From: Vinho Regional, Peninsula de Setúbal
The Grapes: The wine notes don't give percentages, but it is made from native grapes Castelão, Trincadeira, and Aragónez (Tempranillo)
Vintage: 2008
Alcohol: Moderate -- 13%
Price: $12.99

Color: Sight is your least reliable sense in wine tasting (ok, maybe hearing is less reliable, especially if you listen to the BS doled out by wine snobs sitting around you, but I digress), but this wine looked really interesting to me. It was a brownish brick in the center -- kind of dark -- and when I held the glass at an angle, it fanned out to a light rosey color with a watery rim. It seemed heavy and light all at the same time. Promising.

Smell: Raspberry, cherry, black pepper, and some other sharp, savory spice kind of prickled in my nose. There was a super-fresh smell that was like a mojito -- I guess that would be muddled mint (when they take the pestle thing and crush the mint in the glass and it smells really awesome). I smelled a little dustiness too -- probably from the Tempranillo, which I find always has that character.

Taste: I couldn't believe how light and refreshing, yet interesting this wine was! At first it reminded me of a raspberry-lime jelly candy. There was this great lavender sachet note to it and then the minty-mojito flavor came on strong. M.C. Ice asked me what the tangy-ness of the wine was (I just love that guy for putting his finger on the precise term for it -- I didn't think of it but that's exactly the right word!). It was a tangerine flavor that hit with a refreshing acid that made under my tongue water. The only downside is that the wine just shrunk on the finish. Not much there after you drank it -- however, that's also a plus if you're looking for something lighter.

Food Pairings: I sipped this wine with cheese and crackers. It was awesome with the hard Parmesan and cheddar. Given that this isn't a blockbuster of a wine, I think it's best to stick with cheeses and light appetizers (although stay away from "green" stuff like artichoke and asparagus which will clash with the citrus and floral tastes in the wine).

Drink or down the sink? Drink! This was an unusual wine and a great change from the standards. It was lighter in style but had some flavor going on. I loved that it presented me with aromas that I don't normally get to experience and that it wasn't heavy. Definitely a keeper and one to have on hand to serve when friends pop by. I love discovering wines like this and I'm excited to see what other still (not sweet) wines Portugal has to offer...guess M.C. Ice and I will have to get there for a trip soon!

Please post questions on Facebook or in the comments below! I'd love to hear from you! Readmore »»

Open day at Calce

It was a bit frustrating to drive through Calce on our recent trip only days before an open day on May 7th when all the local wineries open their doors. The village houses some of the best known names in organic winemaking in the Roussillon, including Domaine Gauby, Olivier Pithon and Domaine Matassa. As you can see the title of the event is Les Caves se rebiffent which losely translates as the cellars hit back.

If you're in the area it's a great opportunity to taste their wines and see what makes this particular spot in the Roussillon so distinctive. Readmore »»

Le Pichenouille, Maury

Another good natural wine bar and shop, this time in Maury, run by negociant Jean Pla - or it was when we went there on Saturday. Apparently he’s handing over to someone else this week.

Unlike the Xadic del Mar Le Pichenouille is more of a restaurant with two long shared tables, one inside and one outside. The menu is simpe with a choice of 2 dishes - 15€ for two courses 19.50€ for three.



The food is simple but well cooked and based on good ingredients - I had a tartine of goats cheese, my husband serrano ham and pan con tomate then we both had slow braised pig’s cheek which went well with a dark brambly Clos d’Origine Les Quilles Libres (l’equilibre - geddit?), a local, organic blend of grenache, syrah and carignan we picked off the shelves for 20€. (They list wine at the same price they sell it in the shop.)


Despite the fact they decanted it it had some pretty tough tannins though was fine with the pork - and better still when we drank it, lightly chilled, the following day.

33, ave Jean Jaurès, 66460 Maury.
Tel: 04 68 59 02 18
www.restocave.com

Incidentally it was thanks to this guide by Michel Tuz and Alice Feiring which lists both natural wine producers and wine bars that we found the Xadic del Mar and the Pichenouille. Well worth getting if you're travelling around France. Readmore »»