Drink More Chenin Blanc- From France to South Africa

August 6, 2017 By Clive Pursehouse Leave a Comment

Chenin Blanc is not a wine that is on the mind of lots of American wine drinkers and that may be because it is not largely produced here in the States. This white wine those is wildly versatile in style and can even be confused for a Chardonnay when made in particular ways. If there is one region that is associated with Chenin Blanc historically that has been the Loire Valley in France. The AOCs Vouvray, Savennières, and in sparkling form Saumur. The wine can be finicky when it comes to attaining ripeness in the cooler Loire Valley but it has found perhaps a more natural home in the wine regions of South Africa.

It’s likely that Chenin Blanc arrived in South Africa during the days of the Dutch East India Trading Company as a part of a collection of vine cuttings that arrived in the seventeenth century during the ugly days of colonization. For a very long time (hundreds of years) the grape was known as Steen. In the 1960s Steen was in fact identified as Chenin Blanc, and since then, this white wine from the Loire has become synonymous with South Africa.

2015 Famille Bougrier Chenin Blanc, France $10

While Bougrier produces a Vouvray bottling this is a Chenin Blanc from farther afield. A Vin de France designation. Done in an off-dry style this will be a popular wine with folks who are attracted to sweet ripe fruit character that is often more closely associated with New World styles of Chenin Blanc. Aromas of orange blossom and honeysuckle, a palate of ripe sweet orange and hints of lemon creme.

2015 Indaba Chenin Blanc, Western Cape, South Africa $9

A blend of vineyards from three different growing areas, comes a blend that aims to capture the signature of what has become South Africa’s signature grape. The Indaba Winery is serious about its social commitment from both their stewardship of the environment to a comprehensive Montessori education program aimed at Black South African communities in the country’s wine region. This Chenin is a wine you can feel good about.
The aromas of effusive and fruity and the wine is dry in style but offers plenty of sweet floral aromas, the palate is ample citrus and tropical fruits. Flavors of pineapple, blood orange and lemon.

2016 Solms Delta Chenin Blanc, Western Cape, South Africa $13

A fruit forward and exuberantly easy drinking Chenin Blanc with lots of tropical aromas of passionfruit and pineapple. The palate is juicy ripe peach and apricot, a slight hint of minerality and round ripe pineapple.

While Chenin Blanc can make for simple, very quaffable white wines in a variety of bottlings, it also shows a sense of complexity and depth and in some iterations can be confused for a mineral driven Chardonnay in style and character. One of the region’s best known producers is Ken Forrester and it’s easy to see why. The approach and seriousness with which they take Chenin Blanc there is evident in the number of different bottlings. There are eight different bottlings of Chenin Blanc that I could track down in a variety of styles, from sparkling to dessert. The Ken Forrester winery has a world renowned reputation built on their commitment to this white grape.

2016 Ken Forrester Old Vine Chenin Blanc, Stellenbosch, South Africa $16

This wine is really impressive and could easily be confused with a terroir inspired Chardonnay. The approach with this wine differs because it spends ample time on the lees, and a restrained use of oak has created a really elegant and remarkable wine, that drinks at three to four times the price.

Aromas of coriander, chalk, honey and lemon creme hint at a Chardonnay from the Mâcon rather than the often fruity Chenin Blanc from the Stellenbosch. The palate is layered, with honey, ripe peach, creme and wet stone. This is a wine that can make the case for excellence in South African winemaking and its certainly convincing that Chenin Blanc may be more at home in South Africa than the Loire.

A Pink Parade for Summer Sippin’

July 21, 2017 By Clive Pursehouse Leave a Comment

Perhaps one of the greatest things about the summer is that it coincides with the time when we’re cooking and eating food that goes great outside; with rosés. Pink wine has made a tremendous comeback and is making inroads in new parts of the world where it was never produced before. Over the last five years or so serious wine drinkers have moved on from those sickly sweet White Zinfandels to dry rosé wines that are made in the style that has never gone out of style in places like Provence in the south of France.

These days dry rosés are coming from everywhere in the wine producing world and a lot of them are very good often times sourced from vineyards where higher end red wines are also made. Rosé is made in a couple different ways, but the key to the color is in the maceration process and how much time the fresh pressed juice spends in contact with the broken grape skins which lend the wine its color. In rosé production maceration is short (particularly in comparison with red wine production). The main methods of production for rosé is to cut the maceration time short to produce the pink color the winemaker is going for, or to use the saignée which is French for bleed. In this method of production a percentage of the fresh pressed wine is “bled off” to allow the red wine to concentrate and this by-product often becomes rosé.

Production methods aside, now is a great time to stock up on rosé from all around the world, and we’ve got seven rosés for you to fall in love with.

2016 Ferraton Père et Fils, Côtes-du-Rhône « Samorëns » Rose, France $12

A blend of Grenache, Syrah and Cinsault from the Northern Rhône valley. The wine is bright and boisterous. Pale pink with red berry fruit aromatics, and glimpses of wet stone. The palate is fresh and zesty. Grapefruit, red raspberry and early season nectarine flavors delivered with a zip that hints at fresh mint.

2016 Feudo Maccari Rosé IGP, Sicily, Italy $16

While Sicily is a very hot climate, the influence of the Mediterranean Sea that surrounds this island has allowed it to continue to produce wines with brilliant acidity. The 2016 growing season was cooler with This wine produced from 100% Nero d’Avola is super fresh, light bodied and a brilliant example of what Italian rosé, which is still developing in popularity, can do. Aromas of early season cherry, honeysuckle, and rhubarb. The palate is light and lively with hints of structure and ample acidity. Flavors of juicy raspberry, cut strawberry and a hint of citrus.

2016 Bodvár House of Rosés, No. 1, Languedoc-Rousillon, France $20

Coming from precisely you’d expect it, Sweden. The Bodvár rosés are a celebration of the best pink wine producing regions of the South of France, the Côtes de Provence and the Languedoc-Rousillon. The packaging is beautiful. The Bodvár family of Sweden has a long history of curating luxury items from the best producing parts of the world. The House of Rosés project is the first label committed to producing exclusively pink wines. The Pearly White, or No 1, is produced from 100% Cinsault and typical to the Languedoc region offers an effusive range of aromas. Citrus fruits mix with floral aromatics and even hints of the wild herbs and shrubs that cover the hills in this part of the Mediterranean. The palate is lean and lively with cut berry and fresh mint.

2016 Tiamo Organic Rosé, Terre di Chieti I.G.T., Italy $19 (four pack)
So, I’ve been pretty skeptical of the idea of wines in a can; very skeptical in fact, but I have to say, i was pleasantly shocked by this wine. The Tiamo Organic Rosé (in a can) is really, really nice. Made from 100% Montepulicano from the Abruzzo region, this canned wine, tastes like… wine. There’s no metallic taste whatsoever and the fruit character of the wine is particularly emphatic. I poured it into a glass, and beware, a can of wine is like 3 or so glasses of wine, so go easy tiger. The wine is a hint darker than some of the pale pink we’re seeing; it’s loaded with a fresh fruity aromatic, with floral notes. The palate has a pleasant red berry core, fleshy stone fruits and a mid-weight mouthfeel accented by a nice acidity.

2016 Maryhill Winery Rosé, Columbia Valley, Washington $16

Made from 100% Sangiovese from Washington’s Yakima Valley is a pink wine that is slightly darker hued than a lot of the really pale pink that is popular these days. The aromatics are robust with ripe raspberry, rhubarb and cherry. The palate is rounder, with fleshy red fruits, and a dab of sweetness that is braced really nicely with ample acidity. This is a rosé with a little more body and more than enough gumption to stand up to a grilled burger or ribs.

We often think of drinking rosé as a sort of time bound experience. Like, hey man, hurry up! The freshness and in season element of pink wine that makes it so appealing, you can however hold onto rosé and I definitely recommend hanging onto some of it until Thanksgiving. It’s rare to age rosé, but not unheard of. The wines of Bandol in Provence are known for their age-ability, this is due to the grape from which they’re made; Mourvedre. A grape when young can be a bit much to handle does wonders after a few years. Holding onto a rosé though is often a good idea, and so here are two that have held up well from the 2015 vintage and in fact for the winemakers of these wines, these rosés are just hitting their stride.

2015 Raimat, Castell de Raimat Rosé, Spain $14

A winery that has been producing wines sustainably for over 100 years. Raimat was started in 1914 by Manuel Raventós, whose father had pioneered Cava production in Catalonia’s Penedes region. Looking for new vineyard lands he found himself in the arid deserts in the province of Lleida. Years of developing irrigation and a commitment to producing high quality wines has elevated Raimat’s status among Spanish wine producers. From the little known Spanish DO Costers del Segre in Catalonia comes a pale pink blend of Cabernet and Tempranillo from Raimat. While this is a vintage on the wine has done a remarkable job retaining its acidity. It’s lean, lithe and very elegant. Floral and faint fruit aromatics, and a super complex palate of herbs, blood orange and crushed stone.

2015 De Bos Walker Bay 47 Varietal Rosé, South Africa $12

From a production point of view this is perhaps the wackiest bottle of wine you might find. Having grown up in Pittsburgh, I have a real appreciation for Heinz, and their 57 varieites, but this is a bottle of rosé, and it’s only ten grape short of qualifying for Heinz status. The fruit for this particular bottling comes from the “vine garden” vineyard. A former vine nursery developed in South Africa to cultivate quality wine grapes that would be successful there. So this wine is made from 47 of them. Blends of red and wine grapes specifically selected for their higher acids, lower alcohol and fresh fruit signature.

The De Bos operation, in addition to making great wine does a lot of things right. Sustainable cultivation, renewable energy and perhaps most uniquely, they’re employee owned. The wines are Fair Trade certified, and delicious. This pink wine is effusively aromatic with notes of rhubarb and cut berries. The palate is light, crisp and balanced with red berry fruit and fresh mint. Just for fun, these are all the grapes in the wine:

Shiraz (Syrah) 13.45% Cabernet Sauvignon 12.78% Pinot Noir 10.32% Merlot 8.86% Pinot Gris 6.17% Pinotage 4.48% Semillon 3.06% Pinot Blanc 2.58% Roussanne 2.24% Cabernet Franc 1.68% Cinsaut 1.68% Malbec 1.68% Muskadel 1.46% Chardonnay 1.40% Chenin Blanc 1.40% Colombar 1.40% Sauvignon Blanc 1.40% Nouvelle 1.35% Carigan 1.23% Morio Muscat 1.23% Tempranillo 1.23% Tinta Barocca 1.23% Clairette Blanche 1.12% Durif 1.12% Petit Verdot 1.12% Tannat 1.12% Weisser Reisling 1.08% Crouchen 1.01% Muscat de Frontignan 1.01% Nebbiolo 1.01% Grenache Noir 0.90% Souzao 0.90% Mataro 0.78% Sangiovese 0.78% Touriga Nacional 0.67% Meunier 0.56% Roobernet 0.56% Ruby Cabernet 0.56% Bukettraube 0.45% Gewurztraminer 0.45% Touriga Franca 0.45% Zinfandel 0.43% Tinta Amarella 0.22% Viognier 0.22% Verdelho 0.11% Muscat D’Alexandrie 0.02%

Piemontese Classics at Unbelievable Prices from Cantina Pertinace

July 9, 2017 By Clive Pursehouse Leave a Comment

Even among the shortest of lists of the world’s great wine regions you will find Piemonte, or Piedmont as we call it here in the States. The wines of Barolo and Barbaresco have put this region, where wine has long been made, on the map as home to some of the greatest red wines in the world made from the grape Nebbiolo.

The rolling hills, vineyards and red tiled roofs of the hilltop towns in the Langhe region give one a sense of an ancient heritage of wine cultivation, and that is certainly true. Yet the wines from here, particularly the wines of Barolo have been tremendously impacted by modernity. Nebbiolo produces intensely aromatic and flavored wines, wines with ample tannin and structure that come to elegance as they age. Barolo, a wine endowed with great ageability has in the past been nearly unapproachable without a few years to mellow the wine. A departure from tradition was initiated in the 1980s and a kinder, gentler Barolo lead to worldwide popularity, and sky rocketing demand.

While the newly groomed Barolo has wine critics swooning, the more traditional wines of the Langhe make for an authentic wine experience that begs to be paired with the region’s outstanding cuisine. Dolcetto, Barbera and the Nebbiolo based wines; Barbaresco and wines bottled as Nebbiolo can be exceptional from this region. They can also be surprisingly well priced.

Cantina Pertinace was founded in 1973 as a wine cooperative. It is named for a locality in the village of Treiso, which is one of the villages located within the Barbaresco DOCG. That has long been the cooperative’s focus, yet they also make other wines under the d’Alba designations. The cooperative works with seventeen different growers and all but one or two of the wines, come from the Langhe region.

2016 Cantina Pertinace Dolcetto d’ Alba Piedmont, Italy $16

Dolcetto is a massively misunderstood wine by American wine drinkers. While the grape means “the little sweet one” the wine is anything but. It’s likely that the name speaks to the grape’s lower acid profile in comparison to the other Alba grape Barbera. The wine is usually quite tannic with intense fruit character. The Pertinace Dolcetto d’Alba is a classic and at this price for the uninitiated it represents a great opportunity to learn a bit more about an underappreciated gem.

The Pertinace Dolcetto spends six months in steel in an effort to let the wine become a bit more showy. The aromas are intense with tight wound black and blue fruits, and hints of spice. The palate is sappy, montmorency cherry, dried fig and well wound fruit. There is not an abundance of acid but the wine shows as fresh and fruity and perfect for food.

2016 Cantina Pertinace Barbera d’Alba, Piedmont, Italy $16

Barbera is probably one of my favorite unsung food wines in all the world. It has soaring acidity and a fruity freshness that is often unrivaled. The grape grows in the Langhe hills around the Barbaresco and Barolo regions and is in many ways the everyday staple here. Like Dolcetto it is seen as an easy, immediate drinker that does wonders with food.

The Pertinace Barbera is a really lively wine. Aging in smaller oak casks for six to eight months does take the edges off the wine but it remains a vibrant, zippy food wine. Aromas of early season blackberry, raspberry and fresh mint introduce a fresh palate that does not overwhelm with its acidity. Flavors of currant, strawberry and wintergreen make for a perfect match for Piedmont’s famous cuisine.

2015 Cantina Pertinace Langhe Nebbiolo, Piedmont, Italy $18

Nebbiolo is the noblest of the grapes of this region responsible for the world famous wines that hail from here. This wine though is a declassified Barbaresco of sorts. The same grape, and similar vinification methods with less aging make the difference. The wine is a ridiculous value at under $20 and for those not willing to splurge a bit on a Barbaresco can get a taste of why they might want to.

The Pertinace Nebbiolo comes from Treiso one of the famed Barbaresco villages. It’s spent eighteen months in large Slovenian oak casks, the more traditional oak aging choice for this part of Italy. The wine is aromatically intense. Notes of spice, anise, and dried violets along dense black fruit. The wine rolls out a palate that offers complexity and generosity of fruit. Flavors of black cherry, fig and hints of mocha powder. The wine is friendly and ready to drink now but can age for probably a half dozen years to its benefit.

A World of Albariño (or Alvarinho)

July 2, 2017 By Clive Pursehouse Leave a Comment

The Albariño is a wine that is most well known coming from the northern Spanish region of Rias Baixas, but the grape and of course the wine does really well in a variety of places. In its most closely associated homelands of Spain and Portugal it’s usually called Alvarinho, and it can be made in a wide variety of styles, from the slightly spritzy Vinho Verde blend to more full bodied and opulent white wines.

Albariño is nearly synonymous with Northwestern Spain and Portugal, and so an examination of the etymology of the grape is a bit of a head scratcher. The name literally means grape from the Rhine, which of course is in Germany, and so it has led many to believe that it is a cousin of the Riesling grape. Albariño though has a very distinctive style, particularly with the notes of salinity owing to its growing regions proximity to the Atlantic Coast. In New World iterations the salinity and lean flavor profile is often replaced with an opulent fruit character. The white wine has shown to do really well in the Pacific Northwest in particular.

2015 Bodega Don Olegario, Albariño, Rias Baixas, Spain $17

The Don Olegario bottling shows a serious Albariño from one of the region’s top producers. Sustainable and organic farming practices, and fairly old vines, at thirty years show a commitment to the region and the variety that results in a world class bottle of wine. The partial malolactic fermentation has added a richness to this wine. Aromas of green apple and wet stone, notes of wild herbs. The palate offers a great balance between the salinity and lean citrus notes with hints of chamomile and pollen.

2016 Vinhos Norte, Norte Alvarinho, Vinho Verde, Portugal $11

In Portugal’s Vinho Verde region (you don’t say the last e, you swallow it) pure Alvarinho, as opposed to a blend of a few white grapes is typically made in the sub appellations of Monção and Melgaço far to the north and right against the borders with Spain’s Albariño growing region. This is a steely lean and bright wine, with aromas of lime and crushed stone, and an acidity that even impacts its aromas. The palate is angular, bright and zesty, with hints of saline, citrus fruits and zippy acid.

2016 Maryhill Proprietor’s Reserve Albariño, Columbia Valley, Washington $20

A phenomenal bottle of New World Albariño from the estate Otis Vineyard in the Columbia River Gorge. Opulent tropical fruit aromas, mark quite a departure from some of the more traditional Albariño character and the New World fruit forward character. Notes of pineapple, guava and mango are on offer in the aromatics and the palate continues with rich ripe fruit. The steel character comes across in a brightness and lift that adds zip to some of the sweeter fruit notes.

Oh Sherry, the classical wines from Jerez

June 19, 2017 By Clive Pursehouse Leave a Comment

Sherry, is a complicated, misunderstood, and all too often dismissed wine. These are wonderful fine wines, not just for cooking with, folks.

The name Sherry comes from an anglicized version of the wines place of origin, the Spanish region of Jerez. Winemaking there dates to the Phoenicians in 1100 BC but the Sherry wines are a stylistic original and all wines called “Sherry” must originate in this part of southwest Spain.

There are a number of factors that make Sherry such a unique wine. Similar to Port and Madeira, Sherry is fortified, that is to say, after the grapes ferment, a grape based spirit is added to bring the overall alcohol percentage up. The final percentage depends upon the Sherry’s classification. The wine is then aged in barrel, in some cases for a very long time. Sherry barrels are often selected because they’re porous and allow more oxygen to enter. In some styles of Sherry space is left in the barrel for flor yeast to form, this yeast bloom creates a seal and protects the wine from oxidizing further.

This oxidized style made Sherry popular very early, certainly in Spain but far beyond, as the wine was able to withstand both the difficulty of travel by ship, and the long time between production and consumption. Sherry wine was wildly popular in England thanks to Sir Francis Drake, and supposedly was on board the ships of Columbus. Word is Magellan had more Sherry on board than he did weapons as he prepared to sail around the world.

Perhaps the coolest thing about Sherry is the use of solera barrel aging process. The wines are always listed without a vintage because of this sort of age-blending approach to winemaking. This is done via a group of barrels called a solera, and contributing barrels or criaderas. The finished wine is removed from the solera barrels, and other wine is blended into those barrels from the criaderas. Criaderas have a sort of cascading effect, where younger wines make their way into the more established blend. In theory, the original solera though has wines still in the blend from the oldest vintage when the solera was established.

The four or five main classifications of Sherry are:
Fino; these wines are fortified to the lowest alcohol percentage, of 15.5% and then as they age in barrel they are protected from oxidation by flor yeast. They are typically the driest, and lightest style of traditional Sherry.

Manzanilla; a fino style of Sherry that comes from a sub-region of Sanlúcar.

Manzanilla Pasada; is a Manzanilla Sherry that has spent an extended amount of time barrel aging so that it develops characteristics more often associated with longer aged Sherries. These wines are darker in color and nuttier in flavor profile.

Amontadillo; is aged under flor yeast but then given oxygen exposure and represents a sort of mid-point in Sherry styles. It is still often dry but more darkly hued than the fino styles of Sherry.

Oloroso; is a wine that is aged a longer time, and as a result the additional exposure to oxygen creates a more rich, darker wine.

There are three different grapes used in Sherry production. Palomino, Pedro Ximénez and Moscatel. Palomino makes up almost ninety percent of Sherry production, as the other two grapes tend toward a sweeter style.

Delgado Zuleta “La Goya” Manzanilla,Sanlúcar Barrameda, Jerez, Spain $13 (half bottle)

This is a thinking person’s aperitif. Aromas of nutshell, and salt, and hints of lime zest. The “La Goya” is considered the flagship wine of Delgado Zuleta. The wine typically ages in barrel for around 7 years. The wine is assembled like all sherries in a solera style. This particular wine was launched by the winery in 1918 and so it’s likely that their solera dates to that year. The palate of the wine mixes in youthful citrus notes with more established bready elements (thanks to the yeasty character). There are hints of olive, mint and thyme, and notes of kumquat flavor.

Williams & Humbert Don Zoilo, Oloroso 12 Years Old Sherry, Jerez, Spain $21

Williams & Humbert are like many of the historical Sherry cellars in the Jerez region, they were established hundreds of years ago by British companies that drove some of the earliest markets for these and other fortified wines. (You’ll see very much the same thing in the Portuguese city of Oporto.) The Williams & Humbert vineyard holdings are absolutely enormous, over 1,000 acres and they boast the largest wine cellars in the world.

From the Palomino grapes, aged in the solera barrels for 12 years. Aromatics of honey, dried fig and poached pear. The palate is full, yet not quite rich. Flavors of caramel, almond and more fig. The finish is fine, dry and velveteen.

Williams & Humbert Dos Cortados Palo Cortado, Solera Especial, Jerez, Spain $44

This wine is an embodiment of the coolness of Sherry.The Dos Cortados solera actually dates to the founding of Williams and Humbert in 1877, and it’s around 300 barrels. Imagine the work that goes into all the barrel blending and topping.

Dos Cortados refers to a “second cut” or a second introduction of grape spirits into the wine. This wine as a commercial production is quite a rare treat. The aromas are of honey, caramel and dried fig, with a rich orange hue. The palate is almost luxuriant, raisins, prunes and almonds. The finish is one of balance and elegance.