tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15500437181079952472024-02-19T02:54:10.617+01:00The Wine AnarchistHeikohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17999245793961798308noreply@blogger.comBlogger22125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1550043718107995247.post-80416611404953365802015-12-28T19:55:00.000+01:002015-12-28T19:55:17.864+01:00Gimblett Gravel and Bridge Pa Triangle<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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On his onward travels around New Zealand the Wine Anarchist stopped in the Hawke's Bay region, still on the east coast of the North Island, but about 150 km south of Gisborne around the towns of Napier and Hastings. He soon realised that this was a much more intensely planted wine region, over a much greater area and could easily be sub-divided into several smaller regions. Hence we're dealing with this region in 2 separate posts. <br />
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First the Wine Anarchist headed into the heart of <a href="http://www.gimblettgravels.com/" target="_blank">Gimblett Gravel region</a>, the most famous sub-region of Hawke's Bay. The area comprises of 800 ha of gravelly soil which was laid bare when the Ngaruroro River changed it's course after a flooding event back in 1860. This has now become a protected appellation like those in Europe and anyone who has a bit of land here is very fortunate indeed. Not only is the soil exceptionally well drained, but the reflective heat off the large pebbles makes for a unique warm micro-climate, which particularly favours the production of red wines such as Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon.<br />
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The first winery to see the potential of the region and plant vines was <a href="http://pask.co.nz/" target="_blank">Pask Winery</a> back in 1981. Their winery isn't actually within the Gimblett Gravels, but in a commercial estate just outside Hastings.<br />
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Winemaker Kate Radburnd is a busy woman. Not only has she been making wine at Pask for 30 years, she is also a director of <a href="http://www.nzwine.com/" target="_blank">New Zealand Winegrowers</a>, she has been a driving force behind the <a href="http://www.nzwine.com/sustainability/sustainable-winegrowing-new-zealand/" target="_blank">Sustainable Winegrowing New Zealand</a> program as well as occupying a number of other roles. Now, the Wine Anarchist is all for sustainable viticulture, however after speaking to a number of people about the 'sustainable' label in NZ it turns out that it is a pretty watered down version. The members of the sustainable movement could only agree on the lowest common denominator, which means herbicides are allowed, fungicides are allowed, irrigation is allowed and almost universally applied. So at best it's a halfway house towards organic viticulture, at worst it's plain conventional. So if you find this on your bottle of wine:<br />
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it doesn't necessarily mean much. In the view of the WA, sustainable should be more than just organic, not less. </div>
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The lady at the cellar door at Pask was quite proudly proclaiming the fact that they took the water for irrigation from an underground aquifer and trickling back down again to replenish it as sustainable. Seems a waste of pump power to the WA. The vineyards of the Médoc also have well-drained gravelly soil and probably less rain than Hawke's Bay and the vine roots happily find their way down to the underground aquifers. Anyway, enough of the rant. </div>
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The Wine Anarchist didn't get to see the winery or the vineyards, but he did get to taste some of the wines. Pask produce 5 different ranges of wine: Declaration, which is only produced in outstanding years, Gimblett Road, a range of wines exclusively grown in the Gravels, Kate Radburnd, a range of commercial aromatic wines from all over New Zealand, Roy's Hill, everyday drinking, fruit driven wines, as well as a self-explanatory 'small-batch' range. Here are some of the wines the WA got to taste:</div>
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<li>Kate Radburnd Berry Blush 2015: A rosé made from 100% Merlot, the colour is of pink lipstick, the nose displaying simple fresh cherry fruit, the palate is off-dry with good balancing acidity and pleasant lively fruit.</li>
<li>Gimblett Road Viognier 2012: barrel ageing giving a fleshy texture with apricot stones and minerals on both nose and palate, quite fruit driven with a minerally, almost metallic finish of reasonable length.</li>
<li>Small Batch Range Wild Ferment Chardonnay 2014: Fermented with indigenous yeast and barrel aged, this is a complex, weighty wine with aromas of freshly baked bread and brioche as well as warm pear notes; the palate is soft and creamy with some cutting acidity coming through, finishing long with hints of spiced apples.</li>
<li>Gimblett Road Syrah 2013: Deeply coloured with black pepper and blackberry on the nose extending onto the palate, with some sweet eucalyptus notes. In the opinion of the WA, the sweetness of the fruit was a bit out of balance with the tannins feeling a bit underripe, which is strange for such a warm vintage.</li>
<li>Gimblett Road Cabernet Sauvignon 2013: Cassis, cedar and tobacco make for a classic Cabernet nose; the sweet fruit on the palate is perfectly balanced by a firm backbone, finishing long and satisfying. Good now, but will get better.</li>
<li>Declaration Cabernet Merlot Malbec 2010: Medium garnet colour; a bouquet of red and blackcurrants, leather and vanilla as well as herbal hints of taragon and wormwood, the palate is elegant and well balanced, but perhaps lacking a bit in concentration.</li>
<li>Declaration Cabernet Merlot Malbec 2007: This older version is more perfumed with hints of lilac and mature cassis and herb notes; medium-bodied and silky-textured with a touch of spice, well integrated fruit and altogether better balanced and longer than 2010. However on re-tasting the wine the following day the fruit had completely dried out, suggesting that the wine is already past its peak and should be drunk now.</li>
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All in all the wines were a bit of mixed bag and the Declaration wines at NZ$50 a pop don't represent great value.<br />
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Next the Wine Anarchist headed to <a href="http://www.trinityhill.com/" target="_blank">Trinity Hill</a>, who have their winery in the heart of the Gimblett Gravel. </div>
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Trinity Hill has only been making wine for just shy of 20 years, but have built an enviable reputation for producing a range of first class wines, both red and white. The photo at the top of this post is of Trinity's Pinot Gris vineyard, just outside the winery. Founder John Hancock believed from the outset, that the Gimblett Gravel was capable of producing outstanding wines, including from grape varieties considered to be warm climate lovers, such as Syrah, Montepulciano and Tempranillo.</div>
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The Wine Anarchist was very warmly welcomed into the cellars by an enthusiastic and knowledgeable member of staff and got straight into tasting some of the goodies on offer. </div>
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<li>Gimblett Gravels Masanne/Viognier 2014: The split is 55/45, the Marsanne lending a nice bit of weight and herbal characters complemented by the exotic fruit aromas of apricot and honeysuckle of the Viognier. The palate is full and firm, with plenty more stone fruit notes and a long spicy finish.</li>
<li>Gimblett Gravels Chardonnay 2014: Fermented with indigenous yeasts and aged in 500 litre French oak puncheons this wine has lovely delicate citrus fruit flavours on the nose combined with smoky, flinty notes followed by a very elegant palate of juicy grapefruit and roast hazelnut notes finishing long, Well balanced and delicious!</li>
<li>Gimblett Gravels Montepulciano 2014: In its native Italy Montepulciano is a bit of a Jekyll and Hyde variety (nothing to do incidentally with the town of Montepulciano in Tuscany, where they make wines from the Sangiovese grapes, just to confuse you). It makes anything from cheap and cheerful to some of the best Italy has to offer. The secret is to keep yields low and this is what Trinity have tried with their version. The colour is typically deep purple; the nose displaying dark cherry fruit as well as vanilla and cinnamon spice; the palate is defined by a marked acidity lifted by some lively bramble fruit and finishing with floral notes of violets. Very pleasant indeed.</li>
<li>Gimblett Gravels Tempranillo 2014: This Spanish variety traditionally marries well with American oak, which is also used here for its ageing. The result is a red with warm spice and vanilla notes which is still tight and youthful, but some splendid bramble and wild strawberry coming through promising a bright future.</li>
<li>Gimblett Gravels 'The Gimblett' 2013: A Bordeaux blend of 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 29% Cabernet Franc, and a splash of Petit Verdot. This is still very youthful and broody with cassis and herbs on the nose; firm structured, but with plenty of underlying juicy fruit and more herbal notes. Very long and promising much.</li>
<li>Gimblett Gravels Syrah 2013: Aged for 14 months in French oak, resulting in a medium to deep ruby in colour, the nose is rich and deep with notes of sweet basil and black pepper combining with aromatic floral notes; the palate is full and long with some lovely ripe plum fruit. A very appealing wine.</li>
<li>Gimblett Gravels Syrah 2012: Deep purple in colour with pepper and dark cherries on the nose; the palate is well structured and less immediately appealing than the 2013, but would do well with steak.</li>
<li>Homage 2013: Trinity's flagship wine, made from Syrah with just a dash of Viognier, is only released in exceptional vintages. 85% of the fruit is sourced from the Gimblett Gravels with the rest from hillside vineyards on sandstone/limestone soils adjacent to the winery and yields are kept low. The must is then left on the skins for a long time and aged in French barriques for 2 years. The result is an intensely rich wine with plenty of black pepper spice; The palate is firm and spicy with oodles of ripe underlying fruit and a huge chocolatey finish. A classic!</li>
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In conclusion the wines throughout the range are of great quality!<br />
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The soils of the Bridge Pa Triangle have also been formed by the Ngaruroro River, albeit 10,000 years ago. So the gravel lies deeper in the soil and is covered by a layer of sandy loam. This makes for good drainage, but the gravel lies to deep to reflect heat back up. However Hawke's Bay generally is one of the warmest regions in NZ and rainfalls are relatively low. During the Wine Anarchists visit in early summer, the mercury rose to 31 Celsius some days. The first winery in this region he visited was <a href="http://www.ngatarawa.co.nz/?pi_pageid=2" target="_blank">Ngatarawa</a>:</div>
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Ngatarawa was one of the early pioneers of wine making in New Zealand started by the Corban and Glazebrook families back in 1981, when most of New Zealand was all about sheep and cattle and there were only 96 winemakers in all of New Zealand and only 4 in Hawke's Bay. The Corban brand went on to become one of New Zealand's best selling wines and was taken over by multi-nationals, but Ngatarawa remains privately owned by the Corban family and is very much a boutique winery with most of their Farmgate label sold just there, through the farm gate. The cellars are located at the end of a pretty tree-lined alleyway.</div>
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Here are some of the tasting notes from the Wine Anarchist:</div>
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<li>Glazebrook Pinot Gris 2014: Nice fresh green apple fruit, a touch of spice and a medium length with some minerally notes</li>
<li>Farmgate Chenin Blanc 2009: This highly unusual style of wine is very much Vouvray-like. A greenish golden colour, the nose is really honeyed with classic Chenin Blanc characters of baked apple, hay and fresh herbs; the palate is dry, with more mature honey notes and some lovely fruit, finishing long. A great example how this variety can age gracefully.</li>
<li>Glazebrook Pinot Noir 2014: Light garnet in colour; slightly earthy aromas combining with sweet strawberries; very light style with more sweet strawberry fruit and a touch of vanilla with a pleasant spicy finish.</li>
<li>Ngatarawa Merlot Cabernet 2013: Medium ruby with a pale rim, herbaceous, a bit tart with hints of liquorice on the finish. Lacking character and intensity</li>
<li>Riesling Botrytis 2014: Marked honey and botrytis on the nose combining with honeysuckle, lemon and peach; the palate is a good balance of sweetness and acidity with some lovely lemon sherbet fruit and a decent finish.</li>
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The Chenin Blanc was definitely the highlight of this tasting.<br />
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Also in The Bridge Pa Triangle the Wine Anarchist paid a visit to <a href="http://abbeycellars.com/" target="_blank">Abbey Cellars</a>, which is a 13ha family owned estate which not only makes wine on what they call locally, the red metal soils, but they also brew beer (much to the delight to the Wine Anarchist... it was a hot day, it was lunch time and he was getting thirsty...).</div>
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The Wine Anarchist was getting a little jaded by the time he got here and the wines were not that impressive, hence the tasting notes a quite brief:</div>
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<li>Riesling 2014: Lime and minerals dominate the nose; the palate is medium dry, lean and minerally, but just a bit hollow.</li>
<li>Rosé Malbec/Merlot 2014: Light salmon colour with delicate strawberry and raspberry fruit on the nose; the palate is dry with pleasant summery fruit flavours and a decent finish. Nice summer picnic wine.</li>
<li>Barrel Fermented Chardonnay 2013: Lovely creamy texture and elegant with a nice slightly spicy finish</li>
<li>'Bishop' Merlot 2013: 88% Merlot with some Cabernet France, Malbec and Cabernet Sauvignon, this is a smoky, quite rich style with nice hints of chocolate and spice</li>
<li>'Eden' Syrah 2013: Blackberry and distinct black pepper on the nose; ripe, sweet fruit on the palate with lashings of spice on a good finish.</li>
<li>Prophet 2013: A blend of 50% Cabernet with Malbec, Merlot and Cabernet Franc this displays classic cassis fruit and Mediterranean herbs.</li>
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The wines are good value for what they are, but the beers are definitely worth a visit. At the end of a tiring day tasting the relaxed on the terrace tasting his way through the beers with some home-made pizza.<br />
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Nothing like a bit of relaxation after a hard day tasting in the New Zealand sunshine...</div>
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Heikohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17999245793961798308noreply@blogger.com0Hawke's Bay, New Zealand-39.7711616 176.74163739999995-42.9158946 171.57806339999993 -36.6264286 -178.09478860000002tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1550043718107995247.post-56252199378042316052015-12-03T01:03:00.001+01:002015-12-03T01:03:33.755+01:00Biodynamic in Gisborne<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">On his travels through New Zealand the Wine Anarchist stopped in the Gisborne region, where he concentrated on two biodynamic producers. Gisborne is located in the far east of the North Island and has the unique distinction of the first vineyards to see the sunlight each day, as it is close to the International Date Line. The climate is Mediterranean, warm enough to ripen oranges, with moderate rainfall (around 1,000 mm per annum). Soils are mainly fertile loams and grape vines share arable land with citrus orchards and cattle and sheep grazing areas.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The Wine Anarchist made a special appointment to see <a href="http://millton.co.nz/index.html" target="_blank">Millton Vineyards</a>, a pioneer of organic and biodynamic viticulture, not only in New Zealand, but in the world and famous for their consistent high quality wines. The WA was welcomed to the winery by sales & marketing director Simon Gardiner and they proceeded to taste some of the wines in the mellow morning sun on a lazy Monday in November.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Unfortunately James Millton was away on business at the time, but soon they were joined by Annie Millton, who was more than happy to show the WA around the vineyards and answer some of his more technical questions.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">James and Annie started the winery in 1984 and now produce wine from 4 different vineyard sites in the area on a total of 30 hectares. They were the first winery in New Zealand to attain organic status in 1989 and since 2009 they are also demeter registered biodynamic producers. Their vineyard sites are <b>Te Arai</b>, which is immediately adjacent to the winery itself,</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Riverpoint Vineyard</b>, which gives more aromatic wines,</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Opou Vineyard</b>, featuring heavier clay soils, and , last but by no means least, the highly acclaimed hillside vineyard <b>Naboth's Vineyard</b>, used to make the highly acclaimed premium wines of Clos St. Anne, in honour of Annie Millton herself.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The vineyard team was flat out the morning the Wine Anarchist arrived. After some unseasonally late rain had finally cleared to give ideal conditions for spraying and under vine cultivation, the latter getting quite urgent as can be seen on the above photo. Obviously no herbicides are being used, instead a special machine, a Braun undervine cultivator from Germany, is employed to weed between the vines. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">As for sprays, the usual biodynamic preparations are used, most notably 500 and 501 (horn manure and powdered quartz), as well as a variety of compost teas, which get brewed in this area:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Compost teas include brews made from nettles, horsetail, seaweed, chamomile and yarrow. Biodiversity in the vineyard is improved not only by allowing weeds between rows, but also by inter-planting flowering hedges, which help attract beneficial insects and protect from high winds.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Everything within the system is recycled and composted, the prunings, weed cuttings as well as the grape skins and stalks from the winery and the appropriate biodynamic compost preparations are added to aid decomposition.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And the result of all that meticulous care? Wines of world class! Here are some of the Wine Anarchists tasting notes:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Crazy By Nature Shotberry Chardonnay 2014</b>: The Crazy by Nature range has been introduced as an entry level, good value wine aimed at the retail trade. They are more fruit driven wines, that can happily be drunk by themselves. The Shotberry Chardonnay is actually blended with some 14% of Marsanne and Viognier added (mostly Marsanne). The fresh aromatic nose displays some lovely fresh apricot and baked apple fruit; the palate shows some creamy textured fruit with a juicy long finish and a nice spicy touch. Really pleasant first thing on a Monday morning in the Gisborne sunshine.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Opou Vineyard Chardonnay 2013</b>: Fermented and aged in French barrique, this is a far more serious wine with slightly smoky, creamy vanilla notes on the nose, and weighty rich fruit underpinned by well-integrated oak flavours finishing long.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Riverpoint Vineyard Viognier 2014</b>: 1/2 of this wine was fermented in 300l French hogshead barrels using ambient yeasts resulting in a wine of well defined minerally, honeydew melon and peach aromas, followed by lovely fruit flavours supported by some really interesting savoury, almost Marmite-like characters and a pinch of spice on the very long finish.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Opou Riesling 2013</b>: At 9.5% AbV and a residual sugar of 40g/l, this is very much in the Spatlese style of the Rheingau. The nose shows some classic mineral and petrol notes combining with honey and citrus blossom; the palate is medium sweet, delicate and floral with decent balancing acidity.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Clos St. Anne Naboth's Vineyard Pinot Noir 2013</b>: Light garnet in clolour; the bouquet is rich with smoky wild berries and autumn leaves; it is medium bodied with classic complex Pinot Noir characters of juicy wild berries and herbs balanced by a firm structure and a finishing long and satisfying. Very much a Cote de Beaune style. Very nice indeed.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Crazy By Nature Cosmo Red 2013</b>: A blend of Malbec, Syrah and a splash of Viognier, this is a lively little number displaying vibrant cherry fruit and some eucalyptus notes, with the palate being well defined by tannins and acidity, but making lovely drinking with it's attractive sweet and juicy blackcurrant fruit.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The Wine Anarchist was pleased to learn that another winery in the region was using biodynamic methods, so he went to check out <a href="http://www.wrightswines.co.nz/" target="_blank">Wrights Vineyard and Winery</a> only a few kilometres down the road from Milton.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The WA didn't have an appointment and he arrived at a busy time. Wrights do run a cellar door café as well and they were just expecting a trainload of tourists to arrive. However Geoffrey Wright did find some time to Talk to the WA, as did Geoffrey's young son Noah. (Mind you the main topic of the discussion with young Noah was mostly about the finer technical points of paper airplane construction...).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The Wrights Vineyards were planted in 2000 on 3 different locations totalling about 17ha. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> Geoffrey has descended from a long line of winemakers and his approach is staunchly non-conformist not always to the benefit of wine quality it has to be said. The Wine Anarchist was staying with some local farmers and the consent was that, whilst local people would love to support natural farming methods, the wines were not so much liked. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">So the WA was wondering if his styles were just so unusual and therefore not commercial enough, or were they really not as good as they could be. It turned out to be a bit of both. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The methods in the vineyard were very similar to what Milton were doing with the main spray being a seaweed ferment. Here's a video of Geoffrey to show how he does that.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">For under vine weed control he uses a $12,000 Italian machine as demonstrated in this video:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Here are some of the tasting notes of the Wine Anarchist on Wright's wines:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>Mister Right Sparklin Moscato</b>: A lightly sparkling, fresh wine with a delicate lemon blossom aroma, decent acidity, balancing a slight sweetness, with a lovely foamy texture and a good finish. Pleasant summer-time drinking.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Pinot Gris 2015</b>: Baked apple notes on the nose are followed by a soft, quite full palate and unpleasant bitter almond notes on the finish</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Chardonnay 2014</b>: The nose again promised with apricot, roast hazelnut and almond notes, but the palate finishing unpleasant and bitter again...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Fumé Blanc (Orange Wine)</b>: This wine has been made by the traditional orange wine method, where grape skins even for white wines are left for extended periods on the must. In this case the grapes in question were Sauvignon Blanc grapes, and the must was left in contact with the grape skins for 30 days, after which the wine was left a further 9 months in oak barrels. The resulting wine has a deep golden orange colour; the nose displaying complex orange peel, Turkish delight, honeysuckle, vanilla and almond characters; the acidity is balanced, but tannins are marked, the finish is long with spicy oak characters. A highly unusual and interesting style. Definitely the Wine Anarchist's favourite of the bunch, although hardly something that could be described as commercial.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Pinot Noir 2015</b>: Classic wild berry and earthy notes on the nose followed by nice wild strawberry fruit and a good savoury finish. A good effort.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>Reserve Syrah </b>: Opaque colour with deep purple rim; the nose is full of brooding liquorice, coffee, dark chocolate, herb, prune, lilac and herby eucalyptus notes, the palate is rich, ripe and spicy with marked tannins and an earthy finish. This will want to sit for a few years. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">In conclusion the Wine Anarchist believes that Wrights will have to do some work to convince him that he can produce consistent quality white wine. The Orange wine is very good indeed and attempts to produce more unusual wines should be applauded. This particular wine might benefit from the addition of some conventionally made Sauvignon to liven up the acidity, but well done nevertheless. The reds produced at this vineyard seem to be doing better and the Reseve Syrah in particular is noteworthy.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Contact details:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Milton Vineyards</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">66 Manutuke</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Gisborne 4053</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">www.millton.co.nz</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">1093 Wharerata Road</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Gisborne 4072</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">www.wrightwines.co.nz</span></div>
Heikohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17999245793961798308noreply@blogger.com0Gisborne, New Zealand-38.1309688 178.0118473-39.7269763 175.4300603 -36.5349613 -179.40636570000004tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1550043718107995247.post-26046716120874396652015-11-17T08:08:00.000+01:002015-11-17T08:08:18.746+01:00Pioneers in New Zealand's Smallest Region<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The Wine Anarchist is back on the road again, this time exploring the wines of New Zealand. You will hear more in the next couple of weeks about his exploits. He started not at one of the big famous wine regions, such as Marlborough or Hawke's Bay but a relative newcomer to the scene, the small region of Matakana, about an hour's drive north of Auckland on the north of the North Island.<br />
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The Matakana wine region is the smallest wine region in New Zealand with a mere 80 ha planted by some 25 boutique vineyards, not all of which have their own winery. It is located around the lovely little town of Matakana, which is a bit of a weekend retreat for Aucklanders with its pretty landscapes, Farmers Market and quirky restaurants and pubs.<br />
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The climate is temperate with mild winters and warm, but not overly hot summers tempered by the Ocean. The soils of the region are challenging, with heavy clays dominating. One of the first producers of the region was Providence, which was run by two Croatian Brothers. However some family feud meant they split their properties, one leaving winemaking altogether and the other setting up a new venture, still making good wines to this day. As a young man Toby Gillman worked on the Providence vineyards and it awakened in him the dream of starting his own vineyard. He spent another year at Ch. Angelus in St.Emilion to hone his skills, where he became know as the Spy, because of all the notes and pictures he was taking.<br />
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In 1989 he planted his first vines and <a href="http://www.gillmanvineyard.co.nz/" target="_blank">Gillman Estate</a> was born. Toby went for old world methods, training the vines very low, and he went for Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Malbec as his grape varieties, to produce a Pomerol-style wine. The vineyard is tiny, only about a hectare under vine on a north-facing slope, but they have already managed to get an international reputation, being represented in the best restaurants in New Zealand and the largest export market being Hong Kong. Yields are being kept low, so average production is only about 200 cases a year, in some years only about 100. Bottles are individually numbered.<br />
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The vines are trained low in the French style. According to Toby they pick up reflective heat off the soil, which means they ripen a week or two earlier than they otherwise would. Given the danger of botrytis and and powdery mildew late in the season in this humid climate, that appears a good thing. However, he says his best vintages are the ones when he just about manages to ripen the grapes. That's when you get the best complexity balance of tannins and fruit.<br />
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The wine is fermented and aged on site in what is officially New Zealand's smallest winery. There is a basket press, but Toby's children are happy to 'pre-trample' his grapes. Fermentation happens initially in a large tank, where the skins are pushed back down by hand every 4 hours for 21 days. After that the must is transferred to new oak barrique to finish off their fermentation, undergo the malo-lactic and mature for 2 years. <br />
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As you can imagine, there is only one style of wine made from such a small property, however, there are small quantities made of a style they call Clairette, which is the name for rosé wines made in the Bordeaux region. This quite different from any rosé you may have ever tasted though. It is made from the same grapes as the red, except that skin maceration is only 24 hours instead of 21 days and oak ageing is only 1 year instead of 2. Toby makes this style, because his Dad quite liked a rosé, whilst Toby didn't. So he ignored all the advice he was given by well meaning friends and kind of made an in-between thing between a red and rosé.<br />
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Here are the Wine Anarchists notes on the 2 wines he got to taste whilst visiting Toby and his lovely family:<br />
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2009 Clairette: Orangey to garnet in colour; the nose displays hints of marzipan with some distinct nutty, wild strawberry characters; the palate is very dry with strawberry jam flavours and a nice, long and spicy finish. This is close in style to a traditional Rioja rosé such as Marqués de Murrieta with some deliberate oxidative notes, it would do well with some tapas involving nuts and olives. Delicious and unusual.<br />
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2009 Red: 75% Cabernet Franc with the rest Merlot and a dash of Malbec. The colour is deep ruby with just a slightly paling rim; the bouquet brings out smoky characters of tobacco and herbs underpinned with some lovely ripe fruit-of-the-forest juiciness; the palate is defined by firm, but ripe tannins, notes of liquorice and more ripe dark berry flavours, finishing long and satisfying. This is a wine that will continue to evolve for some years.<br />
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A great example of what this young wine region is capable of, and the Wine Anarchist islooking forward to seeing more exciting wines coming from this area. If you want to get hold of some of these goodies it would be easiest to contact the estate direct at:<br />
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<a href="mailto:toby@gillmanvineyard.co.nz" style="background-color: #f4f4ec; display: inline; font-family: 'Microsoft Sans Serif', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16px; outline-style: none; text-align: justify; width: auto;">toby@gillmanvineyard.co.nz</a></div>
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<span style="background-color: #f4f4ec; color: #030000; font-family: 'Microsoft Sans Serif', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16px; text-align: justify;">+64 21 037 3445</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #f4f4ec; color: #030000; font-family: 'Microsoft Sans Serif', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16px; text-align: justify;">and check out their website on</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #f4f4ec; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #030000; font-family: Microsoft Sans Serif, sans-serif;"><b>http://www.gillmanvineyard.co.nz/</b></span></span></div>
Heikohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17999245793961798308noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1550043718107995247.post-31317191787840231902015-06-07T16:43:00.002+02:002015-06-07T16:43:37.089+02:00Permaculture and Biodynamics in Baden<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Wine Anarchist has been a bit quiet over the winter, while he was busy establishing a new project in Northern Ireland including planting an experimental vineyard and researching for his book on the permaculture vineyard. Now he is back on the road for some field research for the book.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">His first call was to the <a href="http://www.winzerhof-linder.de/" target="_blank">Winzerhof Linder</a> in the small historical town of Endingen on the foothills of the Kaiserstuhl mountain in the Baden region of southwestern Germany.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Kaiserstuhl is a small hill range of volcanic origin in the upper Rhine valley between the Black Forest to the east and the Vosgue mountains to the west and is one of the warmest spots in Germany. When current owner Ronald Linder took over the small 4 hectare estate from his grandfather in 2011 the vineyards had just been replanted 2 years before and he was going to do things differently.</span> <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">For a start his dad was given a 'Maschinenverbot', he was banned from using any machinery, else he would get carried away on the tractor mowing down the ground cover plants between the rows to tidy up the vineyard.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The use of non-natural sprays were restricted to copper sulphates and sulphur dioxide, both permitted in organic agriculture, and those only limited to particularly wet seasons. Instead Ronald sprays with a variety of compost teas as well as biodynamic preparations. One plot each of Spaetburgunder (Pinot Noir) and Grauburgunder (Pinot Gris) are kept completely free of copper and sulphur in an attempt to strengthen the natural resistance of the grapevines to fungal diseases. Instead a weekly spray of nettle (left for 10 days to ferment under water) and horsetail (soaked in water overnight and then boiled for an hour to release the silicates) is applied throughout the growing season. To replace the copper sulphate he is experimenting with a compost tea made from the leaves of ash trees as they are said to contain levels of copper. Ronald also swears by using biodynamic preparations such as horn silica, which he says has an almost immediate effect on the leaves, as they become more erect and almost crisp to touch.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> The property is located on a south facing slope between 200-250 metres above sea level on a number of terraces. On the lower terraces a permaculture vegetable and herb garden is planted where many plants are left to grow quite wild and as perennials, such as Tuscan kale, which is now flowering for the third year in a row and happily seeds itself out, providing food for the family.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> The garden as well as the vineyard are neither dug nor ploughed, instead soil is created by successive layers of organic mulch.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> The mulch in the vineyard is mostly made from nettles which are left to grow freely amongst the vines along with grasses, plantain, horsetail, mallow, vetch, clover, valerian, hyssop, lavender, fennel and mint. Especially the more aromatic herbs are encouraged and hyssop in particular is said to not only attract beneficial insects and deter pests, but also have an influence on the hormonal balance of grapevines by increasing yields and improving the quality of the grapes.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Ronald Linder also experiments with various other herbal preparations such as a plantain infusion as healing potion for injured vines, valerian is added to the nettle and horsetail spray to improve the pungent smell of the nettle tea. He is trying to grow purple osier <i>salix purpurea</i>, a shrub of the willow family in a small wetland area, to produce a beneficial spray.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Another important element is a small herd of <i>Heidschnucke</i> sheep.</span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Heidschnucke breed is very hardy and easy to look after. After the grape harvest the sheep are left to wander the vineyards to cut down the cover crops and fertilise the ground. Whilst using the milk is too work intensive and the wool of this breed is not the most useful, the sheep are used for meat production and the fleeces are sold. In permaculture any element is needed to perform multiple functions.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If the ground cover plants grow too tall during the growing season they are simply flattened with a roller, pruning cuttings are left to rot amongst the vines to give habitats for insects and fungi. Until recently a spray of phosphoric acid as a nutrient during flowering was allowed in organic viticulture, but this can be replaced with the nettle application, which has natural phosphoric acid levels.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Also in the interest of using locally available resources, there is a hedge of black locust along the top of the vineyard. The wood is particularly rot resistant, so the stems are used as end posts for the trellising system.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">All in all the Wine Anarchist enjoyed his walk around the natural vineyard with obvious signs of nature and biodiversity which was in stark contrast to the conventional vineyards of the neighbours</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And as for the wines? Winzerhof Linder produces some 20 different wines from Mueller Thurgau, Rivaner, Weisser Burgunder (Pinot Blanc), Chardonnay, Grauer Burgunder (Pinot Gris), Sauvignon Blanc, Gewuerztraminer, Rulaender, Spaetburgunder (Pinot Noir) and Cabernet Sauvignon. One thing that shone through with all the wines was a distinct minerality and a true expression to the volcanic terroir. Here are some of the Wine Anarchists tasting notes:</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Weissburgunder 2014 - Light in colour; delicate aromas of peach stone and hawthorn blossom; fresh on the palate with a long, distinctly minerally finish</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Sauvignon Blanc 2014 - Pale colour with greenish tinge; aromas of nettle and kiwi with herbal notes; on the palate a tart acidity is countered by some residual sugar. Nice aromas but a little jagged around the edges and lacking harmony </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Grauburgunder 2014 - 1/3 of this wine has been matured in second passage local oak barriques for a short period, whilst 10% has been produced using the so-called 'orange wine' method. This method goes back to the roots of winemaking in Georgia, where both for red and white wines, the skins and stalks are left to macerate in the wine during fermentation. To avoid oxidisation during this process, Linder used earthen Sauerkraut fermentation vessels for this batch, which have a heavy plate on the top to ensure the skins remain submerged in the liquid. Finally the wine has been left to mature on it's lees for 4 months. These methods have resulted in a hugely complex and full-bodied wine, displaying a deep golden colour, a rich and complex minerality and fruit with hints of redcurrant and rose petals and a long spicy finish.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Grauburgunder Kabinett Tocken 2012 - Medium gold in colour; apples and spice on the nose follow through onto the palate with an extra spicy sensation and delicate layers of white fruit.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Chardonnay Kabinett Trocken 2014 - Pale gold with green tinges: floral aromas of peach blossom and some apricot fruit; marked acidity, medium body, more apricot fruit with hints of green apple, finishing long if a little tart. The WA felt it needed a little time for the acidity to settle down.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Spaetburgunder Edition Landwein 2012 - Garnet in colour with an orangey rim; on the nose this displayed some fresh strawberry fruit combined with sweet damp earth and old leaves; the palate was medium in body with a firm backbone balanced by sweet ripe strawberry fruit and a touch of cranberry, finishing long and dry. Classic Pinot Noir!</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Spaetburgunder Kabinett 2011 - Light garnet colour showing maturity on the rim; a bouquet of wild strawberry and raspberry fruit with a touch of oak; the palate is lighter than the 2012 with mature fruit flavours, slightly gamey and a touch of sweetness, which aren't balanced by tannins, although the acidity is marked. The finish is medim in length with earthy notes. With the low tannin and slight sweetness this would do nicely with blue cheese, but it was the WA's least favourite wine of the selection.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Cabernet Sauvignon 2013 - The Cabernet Sauvignon is grown on the sunniest part of the vineyard being exposed virtually all day resulting in impressive 14% alcohol. This was matured in barrique for 18 months displaying a classic deep purple colour; the nose is rich with plenty of vanilla oak and cassis aromas; the palate is full with marked tannins, balanced with rich liquorice and blackcurrant shining through finishing long. This obviously still needs some time, but showing plenty of promis.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Cabernet Sauvignon 2011 - The Wine Anarchist also had a bottle of the 2011, but was enjoying himself too much to take any notes. A distinct mintyness and plenty cassis have stuck in his mind though and showing that with a bit of maturity, these wines clearly become better.</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Still a young project, but one that the Wine Anarchist will be keeping a keen eye on. </span></div>
Heikohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17999245793961798308noreply@blogger.com5Endingen am Kaiserstuhl, Germany48.143749199999988 7.700589499999978248.058969699999984 7.5392279999999783 48.228528699999991 7.8619509999999782tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1550043718107995247.post-41390388264283137752014-09-14T15:03:00.000+02:002014-10-02T09:58:56.858+02:00Animals in Viticulture<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Now, you may be wondering why the Wine Anarchist has a photo of some guy and his goats (and if you look carefully, chickens) in his blog. Well he has been a bit quiet in recent months, which doesn't mean he hasn't been drinking any wine at all. In fact the WA has launched a new big project, which he will be reporting on over the next few months on this blog (or rather his anonymous ghost writer will...). He has decided to combine his two main passions and areas of knowledge, namely wine and permaculture, to write a book on the permaculture vineyard.<br />
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Now permaculture is not something that is easy to define in a sentence or two, but essentially it is a design system, usually but not exclusively for land-based projects. It aims to imitate nature as much as possible, increasing biodiversity and thus building a more resilient system for food production, whilst at the same time reducing input and increasing yield by creating a closed-circuit system.<br />
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Now the WA has noticed that most people involved in permaculture like a tipple of wine, which almost exclusively comes from monocultures, even if it is certified organic or even biodynamic. He feels there must be another way of doing things to be truly sustainable as has been shown by various systems used in history too, and is now actively researching methods that are in accordance with permaculture and can be used in modern viticulture.<br />
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This has led the Wine Anarchist on another trip to the east, where he met Bulgarian winery owner Philip Harmandiev (pictured above) of <a href="http://damianitza.bg/index.php" target="_blank">Damianitza winery in Sandanski</a> in south-western Bulgaria. This winery is currently undergoing a period of transition. Philip used to be the editor for a financial magazine in Bulgaria, but always had a passion for wine. Back in 1998 a banker friend of his asked him to look at this flagging winery with severe problems adjusting to the post-communist realities of Bulgaria. He took over this run-down winery, concrete tanks and mediocre wines all included. He then invested in the winery to bring it up to modern standards and bought vineyards in various locations all over southern Bulgaria. A few years ago he moved the winery to a new location, which left him with the old winery in an industrial estate near the main Sofia to Thessaloniki highway without knowing what to do with it.<br />
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Some 3 years ago he had a Paul-on-the-road-to-Damascus revelation, realising that the way we conventionally grow our food and our grapes for wine production is not sustainable on the long run after he saw the move <a href="http://youtu.be/2Oq24hITFTY" target="_blank">Food Inc</a>. The documentary talks about the way modern food is produced and how it harms both the environment and humans themselves. As an alternative it features an animal farmer, <a href="http://www.chelseagreen.com/bookstore/item/you_can_farm:paperback" target="_blank">Joel Salatin, who wrote the bestselling book 'You Can Farm</a>'. Philip was so inspired that he translated the book into Bulgarian and decided to turn the old winery into an animal farm along the principles described by Salatin and at the same time converting his vineyards to organic methods.<br />
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At this particular point in time the two systems only touch marginally, as his vineyards are scattered around the country whilst the animals are only on one location. Moving the animals around would take to much effort to fully integrate them as part of the vineyard management. However, Philip has experimented with having sheep graze between rows of vines to keep down vegetation, attract beneficial insects and fertilise the soil. Grape stalks get fed to goats who love that stuff and in return it as compost much quicker than if you were to just leave them. Grape skins after fermentation are fed to wormeries to turn to compost.<br />
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The animals in the meantime are kept on mixed pastures such as cows and pigs together, the pigs eating the cow dung and at the same time destroying any intestinal pests lurking in there, thus lowering the risk of re-infecting other cows.<br />
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Chicken tractors follow cow grazing areas for the same reason and to re-fertilise the soil.<br />
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Egg-laying hens get larger mobile homes offering space for several hundred birds, whilst having all the space to do what they like best, foraging free range.<br />
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Pigs get to roam free and do what they like best: roll in mud<br />
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All enclosures are protected from predators by electric fences and dogs.<br />
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Slaughter of animals happens on site under as humane as possible conditions. Philip's attention to detail goes beyond the welfare of his animals. In an effort to reduce the environmental footprint of his operation he recycles as much as possible. For example he uses scrap aluminum printer sheets as roofing for the animal shelters. Not only do they not conduct heat like other metals and stay nice and cool, it also gives the animals inside something to read when they're feeling bored.<br />
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The whole operation is now a successful business as people come back and even pre-order meat, eggs and dairy products of far superior quality than the conventionally available AND production costs are actually lower. In the future Philip wants to consolidate his vineyard holdings to fully integrate the two systems with sheep, chickens, ducks and geese grazing the vineyards and fertilising them. A project to keep an eye on.<br />
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In the meantime, yes the Wine Anarchist did get to taste some wine too. The main brands currently produced by Damianitza are No Man's Land, Uniqato and ReDark. These are the thoughts of the WA on 3 of the wines he got to taste:<br />
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UNIQATO Rubin 2009: Big
hefty wine, deep ruby colour with slight orangey tint on the edge,
showing some age; rich nose of milk chocolate or rum'n'raisin,
blackberry and morello cherry; the palate is very warm and rich with
some spicy notes and lots of ripe fruit. A bit overripe perhaps at
14.5%, big in your face lacking subtlety, finesse. Rubin is a Bulgarian
cross of Syrah and Nebbiolo. It certainly has the power of those two
varieties.</div>
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UNIQATO Melnik & Ruen 2010: Med. ruby in colour with a pale rim; the nose reveals savoury notes of bay leaf, eucalyptus and basil as well as ripe blueberry and lush plum fruit and a hint of vanilla; The palate is full with some distinct peppery spice, more blueberry fruit and some well balanced tannins. The finish is long and juicy. Very nice indeed. Melnik is the native variety of south-western Bulgaria and Ruen is another Bulgarian cross between Melnik and Cabernet Sauvignon.</div>
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ReDark 2009: This is the flagship wine of the winery, their super-premium, and is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Rouen and Rubin. The colour is still a youthful ruby with purple fringes; the intense aromas display floral aromas of sweet violets and lilac as well as spicy leather and vanilla notes; the palate still has a big tannic backbone, plenty of peppery spice, but balanced by some ripe blackcurrant fruit. The finish is long and spicy with hints of liquorice. A classy wine, which will continue to develop for the next 5 years at least.</div>
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Heikohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17999245793961798308noreply@blogger.com0Sandanski, Bulgaria41.5678434 23.28035380000005741.5203164 23.199672800000059 41.6153704 23.361034800000056tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1550043718107995247.post-62467419075532477852014-01-17T18:12:00.000+01:002014-01-17T18:12:01.064+01:00Pilgrim Beer<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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On his recent visit to the Netherlands the Wine Anarchist and his wife happened to wander around the historical <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delfshaven" target="_blank">Delfshaven</a> area of Rotterdam and chanced to pass this inviting looking brew pub. The area is particularly famous for being the starting point for the pilgrims leaving for the New World in 1620, initially on the Speedwell, then changing onto the Mayflower. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pilgrim_Fathers_Church" target="_blank">The Pilgrim Fathers Church</a> next door was dedicated to this event.<br />
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Seeing the mash tuns through the window of<a href="http://www.pelgrimbier.nl/" target="_blank"> 'de Pelgrem' Restaurant and micro-brewery</a> he decided to have a quick taste on what was on offer. <br />
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It smelled divine, but being pressed for time he decided to go for the 5 Euro for 5 taster samples and the quality throughout was exceptional. <br />
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The staff were very knowledgeable and enthusiastic and the atmosphere of the bar was cosy on this quiet mid-week early evening. Explanatory diagrams on the mirrors explained the basic brewing process.<br />
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When it was time to go the WA decided to buy a selection of the beers in bottle to re-taste at home at his own leisure. Here are his comments:<br />
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<b>Stoombier</b> 5%: Golden amber in colour, this is a pilsener-style with a kick. The nose is distinctly hoppy with herbal notes of stingy nettles and a dried fruit background; the palate is refreshingly bitter with notes of elderflower and a long dry finish. Oozing with character!<br />
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<b>1580</b> 4.8%: This a Dusseldorf style Alt beer flavoured with Hallertauer hops. The colour is a reddy brown, slightly cloudy;the nose is very malty with notes of prunes and marzipan; the palate is soft and full with some overripe fruit notes well balanced by pronounced hoppy flavours, finishing bone dry. Very pleasant indeed.<br />
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<b>Saison</b> 7.5%: Made in the French style using barley spelt this is deep amber in colour and slightly cloudy; the aromatic nose displays yeasty characters with fruity orange peel and blossom notes and hints of nutmeg and cloves; On the palate a fresh acidity combined with a herbal background and fruity notes. This is somewhat like a wheat beer with a long, complex and dry finish.<br />
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<b>Dubbellam</b> 7%: Despite its name, double lamb, this more like a full grown ram! Light chestnut in colour, the nose is full of autumnal aromas, reminiscent of wood, dead leaves, nuts and rosehips combining with notes of violets and liquorice; the palate is rich and full, displaying nice fruit flavours of elderberry and blackberry combining with allspice and liquorice, finishing warm and long.<br />
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<b>Mayflower Tripel</b> 7.5%: Deep amber in colour, with the nose showing yeasty characters combining with dark dried fruit such as prunes and raisins as well as fresh hay aromas; the palate is lively and frothy with more of the fruit, finishing long, dry and hoppy. Well balanced with some earthy notes.<br />
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<b>VSOP</b> 9.6%: This Chateauneuf du Pape of beers has been matured for 5 months in oak barrels resulting in a dark mahogony coloured brew which is almost still and treacly; the bouquet is rich in chocolate and bourbon vanilla notes combining with overripe fruit aromas, such as moreno cherries and medlars; The initial sweet fruit gives way to to warm liquorice notes and finishing dry and long with distinctly oaky flavours. A stunning winter warmer!<br />
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The samplers in the bar also included a coffee stout which was just like drinking a cold and alcoholic mocca coffee. Delicious!<br />
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So if you happen to find yourself at a loose end in Rotterdam you can do worse then visit this place. Details below:<br />
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De Pelgrem Stadsbrouwerij en Restaurant</div>
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Aelbrechtskolk 12</div>
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Rotterdam</div>
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<a href="http://www.pelgrimbier.nl/" target="_blank">http://www.pelgrimbier.nl/ </a></div>
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Heikohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17999245793961798308noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1550043718107995247.post-1034063620100928572014-01-10T14:48:00.001+01:002014-01-10T14:48:04.439+01:00Jenever Museum, Schiedam<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The Wine Anarchist has been spending the winter in northern Europe, hence the recent lack of posts. However at the beginning of this year he spent a few days in his native land the Netherlands and took the opportunity to explore some non vinous drinks while there beginning with Jenever or Dutch gin.<br />
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The town of Schiedam (pronounced... no forget it, it's un-pronouncable for non-Dutch speakers) just west of Rotterdam is THE Jenever capital of the Netherlands, in fact its very existence is down to Holland's national drink. It used to be nicknamed 'Black Nazareth', due to its narrow streets and alleyways like the Palestinian city (the WA has never been there, so can't vouch for that similarity) and for the fact that the streets were black from the brown coal soot emitted by the chimneys of numerous jenever distilleries. <br />
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Jenever production began around 1700 and during its heyday in the late 1800s there were some 400 distillers in the town, directly or indirectly employing 90% of the population of around 12,000 at the time. The grains, traditionally barley and rye, were grown around the town and the malt was ground in the dozens of windmills in the town. Nowadays only 2 distillers remain, the commercial Herman Jansen distillers (of which more later) and a small-scale operation in the <a href="http://www.jenevermuseum.nl/" target="_blank">Jenever Museum</a> itself, and only half a dozen of the windmills remain, which are said to be the tallest in the world (excluding modern energy generating ones presumably), because they had to keep their heads above the warehouses.<br />
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The Wine Anarchist and his wife were lucky as they entered the museum, as there was a distillation in progress in the working part of the museum. All 5 volunteer workers were staring with glee as the clear liquid flowed from the still into the holding vessel. <br />
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Also luckily the staff were in rather better condition than on this cartoon:<br />
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The captions translate as: "Yes, we now something -hick- about it too..." "But the real -hick- experts are lying over there..."<br />
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All 5 staff are unpaid volunteers, whose simple love for their work soon became apparent as Ton, one of them, started to give us a detailed account on how they make their jenever. The method in the making of their 'Old Schiedam' Single Malt Genever (Dutch spelling is with J and English spelling is with G, so I hence the inconsistent spelling) is strictly in the traditional way as they would have done it in the 17th century (except for the fact they don't use brown coal to heat the still anymore). In 1902 jenever production was revolutionised and changed significantly, more of that later. This is the last distillery to still use this method, all parts of the process being carried out on site.<br />
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First the raw materials, 2 parts barley to 1 part rye, is soaked in water, then spread on the floor to be allowed to start germinating. As it does starches get converted to sugar at which point the germination is stopped by drying the grain. The resulting malt is then ground in one of the local mills and a mash is produced by adding boiling water and extracting the sugars from the malt. The sugary liquid is then fermented to about 5 % to effectively create a beer just like in malt whisky production. The fermentation takes place in these mash tuns:<br />
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This is now distilled 3 times in copper pot stills. Having seen many a still in Scotland, these are relatively small, about 2.50 metres tall. <br />
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The results of each distillation are known as <i>ruwnat </i>(low wine), <i>enkelnat </i>(single distillate) and <i>bestnat </i>(malt wine) with a respective alcohol content of 12%, 24% and 48%.<br />
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Again the process so far is just like for malt whisky, however the stills used here seem less efficient than say for Scotch or Irish whiskeys as the alcohol content of those after their final distillation is usually much higher. Very occasionally, as also on the day of the WA's visit they produce a special edition with a fourth distillation and longer aging. Oh yes and talking about aging, the spirit is then aged for 3 years in 225l second hand American oak barrels, which previously contained Jack Daniel's or Jim Beam.<br />
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Now there is only one ingredient missing, the one that has given jenever and its British cousin gin its name in the first place: juniper berries. This is done differently here than at other distilleries. A small separate batch is distilled in the laboratory with juniper berries to effectively make a juniper extract. A small amount is then blended into the matured spirit to give it just a subtle hint of juniper. To re-distil the final product with the juniper berries would result in the loss of the light golden colour which the oak barrels have imparted onto the jenever during the aging process.<br />
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Having had an introduction to the traditional way of making jenever, the Wine Anarchist and his wife went to explore the rest of the museum. Here the modern process of producing jenever is explained too. In 1902 the introduction of the column still revolutionised jenever production. In a continuous distillation process higher alcohol levels could be achieved more efficiently and the result was a cleaner tasting product. Jenever made predominantly from this method became known as <i>jonge jenever</i>, young genever as opposed to <i>oude jenever</i>, old genever, which was made by the old method. Therefore the common descriptors old and young on jenever labels do not refer to the aging, but to the method.<br />
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Usually the first stage for all jenever is still the pot still and and malted barley and rye are still required without the addition of any sugar. However other grains, most notably maize, are now added too, whilst part of the distillate is re-distilled with herbs, part with juniper berries and part will go into the column stills. All parts then get blended back together for the final product which may or may not be aged.<br />
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The museum also gives a lot of glimpses of the role of jenever in the daily life of the Dutch, from posters from the temperance movement or a glimpse of a 1970's Dutch living room...<br />
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to various typical Dutch bar settings from different periods such as the <i>Bruine Kroeg, </i>the brown pub, which was a kind of extension of the Dutch living room:<br />
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or the 1970's style <i>Kraker's Café</i>, the hangout for the anarchist scene:<br />
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<br />Visitors were invited to add their own graffiti...<br />
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Other exhibits included a huge collection of miniature spirit bottles from around the world and many other paraphernalia connected to jenever. At the end of the tour the Wine Anarchist and his wife finally sat down in the tasting bar for a well deserved <i>borreltje</i>, as the Dutch like to call it, or a wee dram to the Scots.<br />
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First up he tasted the Standard 3 year old <b>Old Schiedam Original Single Malt Genever </b>40%AbV.<b> </b>The colour is pale gold. The nose reveals slightly honeyed aromas, a bit lie gingerbread,delicate juniper berry notes without being over-powering, some malty character, molasses and more than a passing semblance with a young malt whisky such as Glen Grant. The palate is smooth and warm with some spicy, slightly liquoricy notes and a long finish. A very fine product indeed.<br />
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As the Wine Anarchist is always interested in anything organic, he was delighted to spot a jenever made from 100% organic grains: the <b>Notaris Jonge Graanjenever</b>, 35%AbV, from the aforementioned <a href="http://www.notarisjenever.nl/#/home" target="_blank">Hermann Jansen distillery</a>. There is little information on their website or the bottle on the exact method of production or indeed the ingredients beyond that it is made from a blend of grain spirit and malt spirit from organically grown grains and herbs. However, apparently it is possible to visit the place (something to remember for next time) and <a href="http://www.huntingspirits.tv/notaris-an-authentic-genever-by-herman-jansen/" target="_blank">someone who has, has written an interesting and informative blog post on it</a>. Anyway as to the tasting notes: this is a clear spirit, which has not been aged. It displays a delicate nose of juniper, nutmeg and cloves combined with some floral / herbal notes, colt's foot perhaps. The palate starts with a gentle sweetness and clean herbal flavours but finishes dry and long. Very nice character for a white spirit.<br />
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Finally the WA tasted the <b>Old Schiedam 10 Year Old Moutwijnjenever</b> from the museum. The colour was pale gold. On the nose delicate juniper aromas combined with citrussy notes, lemon and orange peel and hints of cinnamon and vanilla and a pinch of mint. The palate was warm and delicately sweet with a nice spicy note and more citrussy fruit, finishing long and smooth. Very good indeed.<br />
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To visit the museum yourself it is located on</div>
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Lange Haven 74-76</div>
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Schiedam</div>
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<a href="http://www.jenevermuseum.nl/">www.jenevermuseum.nl</a></div>
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<br />open Tues-Fri 12-5</div>
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weekends 11-6</div>
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Not all tablets and films are in English as well as Dutch, but English speaking staff are at hand and very helpful.</div>
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So cheers from the Wine Anarchist and his new best friend Proosje, the mascot of Schiedam</div>
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Heikohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17999245793961798308noreply@blogger.com0Schiedam, The Netherlands51.916959899999988 4.398818600000026951.838630399999985 4.237457100000027 51.99528939999999 4.5601801000000268tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1550043718107995247.post-16421565186453187652013-10-13T14:36:00.001+02:002013-10-13T14:36:49.071+02:00Black Sea Gold - Varna Winery<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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In September the Wine Anarchist and his wife and trusty beagle visited some friends near the Black Sea Coast of Bulgaria and he took the opportunity to visit the Varna Winery, which is located some 8km east of the city of Varna in spitting distance of the sea. He is now a little confused as the official website of the winery appears to have been taken over by some Japanese blog. Also some internet sources talk of a hotel and tourist complex attached to the winery, which the Wine Anarchist saw no sign of. However the winery does exist and produces wine as the WA can testify himself. Maybe one of his Bulgarian friends can explain the mystery of the disappeared website and tourist complex.<br />
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Anyway, a friend of Tisho, who in turn is a friend of the Wine Anarchist, arranged for a guided tour as he works as a general runaround for the winery. On the day of his visit the first Traminer grapes were being processed, so the winery manager had just limited time for a tour of the premises and a tasting of some of the highlights.<br />
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To give a background, Varna Winery was established in 2008 in what is known as the 'bread basket' of Bulgaria due to its rich soils producing much of the countries grains and sunflower seeds. For wine the region is mostly known for its white wines, the influence of the Black Sea having a moderating influence on the climate, which is hot and dry during the summer, but gets very cold in the winter. This is on the northern part of the Black Sea coast with no major mountains protecting the area from the plains of Siberia.<br />
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The winery owns some 55ha of white grapes in the area, planted with Chardonnay, Misket Varnenski, the local clone of the native Bulgarian Misket, Rhine Riesling and even small quantities of Gruner Veltliner of Austrian fame. Red grapes are bought in from contract growers in the Thracian Valley. Varieties here include Syrah, Sangiovese, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. The soils of the region have a high mineral content, some closer to the sea are somewhat sandy, whilst a bit further inland they are the rich black soils typical for the area. They are some of the most fertile soils in the country.<br />
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The winery uses gravity for the transfer of any must, which is gentle on the delicate aromatic qualities of the whites in particular. Production at this stage is around 120,000 litres per annum, so this is a relatively small output. The wine making facilities are modern and up to date, except for this barrel, which may just be a bit leaky...<br />
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There is quite a large range of wine styles produced, however, due to the small volume of some of them, many were already sold out. The most intriguing to the WA, the Gruner Veltliner, is apparently down to 4 bottles, which are firmly locked away by the owner... This is what the WA and friends got to taste though on the day:<br />
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<li>Chardonnay 2012 Barrel Fermented: This elegant offering was only fermented not aged in oak and it was 4th passage French barrique, so the oak influence was not too overpowering. In appearance it displayed a pale straw colour; the nose revealed delicate apricot fruit, followed on the palate by a soft, silky texture and well balanced fruit and acidity, finishing long with just a hint of oak. Very nice and indeed.</li>
<li>Riesling Varnenski Misket 2012: Very pale in colour, the nose was met by exuberant floral aromas, including rose petals; the palate showed more of the same floral notes, some delicate green apple fruit and some juicy acidity, with a decent slightly tart finish. Really pleasant wine and an interesting blend.</li>
<li>Rosé 2012: This is made mainly from Sangiovese plus 15% of Cabernet Franc. The colour is a delicate salmon; the nose displayed some delicate fruit aromas such as raspberries and cream; the palate was dry and pleasant, but perhaps a bit one-dimensional. Would still make a nice summer time drink</li>
<li>SMS 2012: SMS refers to the grape varieties used in more or less equal quantity: Syrah, Merlot, Sangiovese, matured in barrel for 6 months. The colour was medium ruby with a purple fringe; The nose revealed nice fresh fruit aromas, blackberries and fruit of the forest; the palate had some nice Sangiovese tartness with hints of cold tea, which was balanced by some lively berry fruit and a touch of chocolate on a long finish</li>
<li>Sublima Red 2011: Made from 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Merlot and 15% Cabernet Franc matured in barrel for a year. Deep ruby in colour with a purple edge, the nose showed some intense herby notes of eucalyptus and rosemary, complimented by complex notes of coffee and elderberry. It was medium bodied, with a firm tannic structure,still young with more coffee notes and rich underlying fruit and a long complex finish. One to watch for the future.</li>
<li>Sublima Dessert 2008: As a final bonus the Wine Anarchist was treated to this little gem. Only 600 bottles were produced as an experiment during the first year of the winery's existence. It is made from the same grapes as the Varnenski Misket / Riesling, but fermentation was stopped through the addition of grape spirit to retain 120g per litre residual sugar, bringing it up to 16% AbV. The wine underwent 5 years of barrel ageing, where it took on an oxidative quality reminiscent of sherry. This resulted in a wine of medium golden colour, a rich nose of walnuts, figs and honey, with more of the same following through on the palate, balanced by some great acidity and a never-ending finish. This would stand up even to some Christmas pudding, with which the Wine Anarchist will try and pair his treasured bottle he took away from the place.</li>
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All in all a very nice visit and some promising wines coming from yet another young winery. If only the mystery of the apparent disappearance of the net presence was explained... Anyone can shed any light on this? <br />
<br />Heikohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17999245793961798308noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1550043718107995247.post-9571626444660416012013-10-04T12:23:00.001+02:002013-10-04T12:26:08.754+02:00Appeal for Support for a Young BrewerThere isn't enough good beer in this world, so the Wine Anarchist is always happy to support new, young and enthusiastic people to join the trade to make REAL beer. This post is just a small appeal to help a young chap achieve just that. The Wine Anarchist hasn't actually physically met Dan Frye, but has been in virtual contact with him and his wife Brianna for some time. Both are very much into organic and biodynamic farming practices and Dan does not only ferment the barley, but anything from kimchi and Sauerkraut to wines from wild ingredients. He recently completed an apprenticeship at a brewery in France and is now looking to study to become a brewmaster in Berlin. This costs money though, so the Wine Anarchist agreed to make a bit of publicity for him in order to help him achieve his goal. the world of beer will the richer for it. He does promise various perks for any donators, such as courses on home brewing (personally the Wine Anarchist would like a life-time supply of hand-crafted organic beer...). Have a look at<a href="http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/make-my-dream-of-becoming-a-certified-brewmaster-a-reality" target="_blank"> his website</a> and watch the video below. Oh, and if you would like to know a little more about Dan and his wife and get some recipes on, for example how to make kimchi, <a href="http://hiddeninnature.blogspot.it/" target="_blank">check out Brianna's blog</a>.<br />
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Heikohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17999245793961798308noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1550043718107995247.post-42306594570489530332013-10-03T17:52:00.000+02:002013-10-03T17:52:18.549+02:00Girl Power - Claudia Papayanni<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Ok, she's not exactly a girl, but a fully grown lady, and a very elegant and attractive one at that, but as Claudia Papayanni frequently refers to herself as the little girl Claudia in a Greek wine scene dominated by men, she'll forgive the Wine Anarchist for talking about 'Girl Power'. <br />
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In early August the WA was on a brief sojourn to Greece visiting a friend in the Chalkidiki region of north-eastern Greece. The region is mostly known for the beaches of the 3 finger-like peninsulas and the reclusive monks of Mount Athos. The Wine Anarchist asked his friend and Master of Wine, Konstantinos Lazarakis MW, if he knew of any wineries worth visiting whilst in the area, which how the WA came to arrange a visit to this very new winery, <a href="http://www.cp-domaine.gr/en" target="_blank">Domaine Claudia Papayanni</a>, situated in the town of Arnea on the inland part of the Chalkidiki region, away from the beaches and up in the hills.<br />
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Claudia is proud of the fact that she is the only self-made female wine producer in Greece, having started up the vineyards and winery from scratch without the direct help of her family, not coming from a wine-making family. The few other women in Greece in charge of wineries either inherited their places from a father or got involved through a husband. Claudia on the other hand was bored with life in the hotel business, her husband being an ambassador, she clearly didn't have to work at all and instead could have concentrated on a cosy domestic life with her 2 young children. But instead she decided to return back to what she calls her roots, the land around Arnea, where her father had hailed from.<br />
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In 2003 she set out with an ambitious project, to plant 20 hectares of vines on what was previously agricultural land planted with grains such as wheat and corn and build a 3,300 m2 high tech winery. "So you mean, there weren't any vineyards at all before you started? What on earth possessed you to start such a risky business on untried territory?" the Wine Anarchist asked incredulously. "Well," she answered, "there has been historical evidence of wine produced in the village before and we had the soil tested extensively to make sure it was suitable for growing quality grapes. Also," she added: "I had a vision and bags of enthusiasm!" Well, who can argue with that?<br />
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Not knowing anything about making wine, she surrounded herself by people who did and asked advice left right and centre. What followed was years of literally blood, sweat and especially tears. But her vision and her... you could probably call it stubbornness carried her through. Her vision was to make the best possible wine from the territory available, make it <b>organically</b> and present it to the world, so that people actually want to buy it. And the last point is her particular strong side, from presenting herself to the public to opening the winery to the public and making it an attractive place to visit and the modern and sleek labeling of the wines themselves.<br />
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The cellars for example are made to look like an old cave, but bear in mind this place is only 10 years old! So what looks like an old mould covered wall on arched pillows, is actually concrete with spray over foam. Claudia is frank about it, "it's only for show", but it does give the place a certain ambience.<br />
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Currently there are some 110 barriques, 80% of them French from 10 different coopers, to test which brings the best results, and 20% American oak of a medium toast. <br />
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But it's not all just on the surface. Her attention to detail shows throughout, from the state of the art bottling line to fermentation vessels specially designed to ferment the indigenous Greek grape variety of Xinomavro. The conic shape of this tank allows for the separation of the grape pips from the rest of the mash to avoid green tannins to taint the finished wine.<br />
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Currently 130,000 bottles per year are produced, but the winery has a capacity for up to 1 million bottles a year. The actual first vintage was in 2007.<br />
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The vineyards are on 2 different plots: one just outside the winery in Arnea at an altitude of 650m asl and one at a lower altitude (250m asl) in Malthousa. The soils are rich and contain a fair portion of clay. Below are the vineyards in Arnea:<br />
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Finally it was time to taste some wines. There are 10 different labels produced, 4 white, 4 red and 2 rosé in 4 different ranges. There is the entry level 'Ex-Arnon' range, the 'CP' range, 2 wines named after her children Alexandra and Nikolas and at the top the 'Domaine' range. <br />
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Here are the Wine Anarchists notes:<br />
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Ex-Arnon White 2012: Made from Assyrtiko and Sauvignon Blanc (80/20), this is a fresh, lively and aromatic offering with aromas of fresh hay and some delicate yellow fruit; the palate is nicely balanced with well integrated acidity and nice fruit. This would do nicely on a hot summer's afternoon on it's own or with some shellfish.<br />
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CP Viognier Assyrtiko 2012: The nose on this classy wine was distinctly minerally interlaced with some delicate peach fruit; on the palate a racy acidity was in evidence as well as a big mouth-feel. The intense minerality was carrying through to a long finish. Great wine!<br />
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Alexandra Malagousia 2012: The Malagousia grape variety was on the brink of extinction before Domaine Carras revived it. Now Claudia Papayanni has taken up the banner and is producing something rather special with it. On the nose there are some delicate apricot and mango notes; the palate is quite full with good balancing acidity and a juicy long finish with some slightly spicy notes. It would have been a great loss to the world had this variety not been revived and it will be a source of great pride for young Alexandra to have this wine named after her. The Wine Anarchist is seeing a classic being born here.<br />
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Domaine White 2011: 50% Chardonnay, 25% Assyrtiko, 25% Malagousia, the Chardonnay part being fermented and aged for 4 months in barrique. This was possibly the WA's least favourite wine with the Chardonnay and soft, creamy and butterscotch characters from the oak dominating both nose and palate, however it managed to retain a certain elegance and finished long.<br />
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Domaine Rosé 2011: A blend of Grenache and Syrah (80/20), this wine displayed a medium salmon colour and some signs of CO2 and a nose of creamy wild strawberries; on the palate a medium body was supported by oodles of fresh fruit and a lively acidity. The finish was long, dry and warm with hints of rose petals. <br />
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Ex-Arnon Rosé 2012: A blend of Xinomavro and Grenache (80/20), this made in a medium dry style. The colour is a glorious rose-petal pink; the nose displays strawberry and cherry fruit; on the palate the slight sweetness is perfectly balanced by some refined acidity. The WA was pleasantly surprised as he at first declined to taste a sweet rosé. Another great summer wine for on the terrace with a bowl of summer fruit.<br />
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Ex-Arnon Red 2009: A blend of Xinomavro and Syrah (80/20), this is quite a light and easy-drinking red with pleasant redcurrant and raspberry fruit. Not hugely complex, but very pleasant indeed.<br />
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CP Red 2008: A blend of Xinomavro, Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah (50/30/20), this is quite a full-bodied wine with aromas of blackberries, water paint and chocolate; the palate had a good structure and backbone with juicy herbal notes and some blackcurrant fruit. It may just start to dry out a little and should probably be drunk fairly soon, but still a good wine<br />
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Nikolas Merlot 2009: This wine has matured 8 months in barrique. The nose was rich with lots of fresh plum fruit; whilst the palate is soft and rounded with a touch of spice and plenty of easy fruit, finishing long. Very pleasant indeed.<br />
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Domaine Red 2008: A blend of Syrah, Merlot and Xinomavro (40/40/20), this is a serious red. The nose displays a complex balsamic bouquet of eucalyptus, black pepper, redcurrants and blackberries; the palate is backed by a tight tannic structure balanced by rich and full spicy fruit flavours, finishing long with some more herbal notes. This wine still has some future development ahead.<br />
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So in conclusion, the Wine Anarchist was very impressed by the quality of the wines from so young a winery and as the vines get older, future offerings should get even better. So thank you Claudia for taking us on a tour and all the tears and struggles were well worth it.Heikohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17999245793961798308noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1550043718107995247.post-73257621119067937722013-09-06T16:45:00.003+02:002013-09-06T16:50:00.958+02:00Wine, Art & Health - Todoroff Winery<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The Wine Anarchist has made Bulgaria his base this summer, so here comes another post on another winery he had the pleasure to visit <a href="http://www.todoroff-wines.com/new2/en/index2.htm" target="_blank">Todoroff Winery</a> with his friend <a href="http://www.buyvinar.com/" target="_blank">Vasko of BuyVinaR</a>. This winery is located in the village of Brezovitsa in the Thracian Plain just on the northern foothills of the Rhodopi Mountains about 20km southeast of Plovdiv in Central Bulgaria. Bresovitsa used to be quite a famous wine village with a good dozen wineries, however it has declined somewhat with only a handful of those still in existence today, amongst them Todoroff.<br />
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The winery itself was founded shortly after WWII and soon went into state ownership with the advent of Communism. In 1990 under the land reform it was returned to the family of it's former owners, then bought by Ivan Todoroff in 2001. It became known as Bulgaria's first 'Boutique winery', as Mr. Todoroff worked hard to improve standards, making small parcels of high quality wines under the stewardship of one of the best winemakers of the country from their own 70 ha of vineyards near the village.<br />
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Ivan Todoroff himself has come from a musical / arty background, having studied classical music and playing the flute, so he is still keen to combine wine with arts. Apart from many pieces of art hanging around the premises, the winery regularly sponsors an art competition of young Bulgarian artists, the winners entry featuring on the labels of their 'Gallery' range of wines. <br />
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August is generally not the best month to visit a winery, as it is one of the few quiet months in the winemaking calendar and most people are on holiday, so the Wine Anarchist didn't get to meet either the owner nor the winemaker, despite making an appointment in advance, however as the place also doubles up as a hotel and spa resort, there was some staff on hand to take him around.<br />
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The old part of the winery contains the library of back vintages as well as their stock of Bulgarian and American which is used for the wines in the Galley series, which spends between 4-6 months in those barrels. No wines are barrel fermented, just aged in oak for relatively brief periods so as to not mask the terroir characters of thos wines.<br />
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The new winery, which was built after Mr. Todoroff took over the winery, contains mostly French oak barriques, which is used to age the wines of the top range called 'Teres'. These wines are aged for 9-11 months. Between the 2 cellars is the modern part of the winery full of gleaming stainless steel.<br />
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The vineyards are on the flat or north facing gentle slopes, mostly to the east of the village. <br />
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The Wine Anarchist and his friends didn't have time to taste the wines on the premises, but they took away some samples to taste later in a restaurant in Plovdiv, while partaking in a good meal and watching some Balkan dancing (more of the latter below).<br />
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<li>Gallery Muskat 2012: Pale straw, greenish tinges; good aromatic Muskat nose intermingle with typical lemon sherbet; the palate was medium dry, quite full with warm fruit and a touch of spice. It had a decent length and quite low acidity. At 13.5% AbV this was definitely a food wine, which would work well with Oriental food, Thai in particular, or Chinese Duck Orange</li>
<li>Gallery Sauvignion Blanc 2012: Pale straw in colour; the nose showed overripe gooseberries and ripe apples (Golden Delicious); the palate was a bit confused displaying tropical fruit flavours and bubblegum, the acidity was low and it kind of lacked definition, which the WA would have been hard-pressed to identify as a Sauvignon in a blind tasting.</li>
<li>Boutique Mavrud 2012: Mavrud is the speciality of the region, so the WA had high expectations on the 3 that were on offer at this tasting. The Boutique was medium ruby in colour with a pale rim; the nose displayed blackberry fruit, a pleasant spicy touch combined with eucalyptus; the palate was warm and rich with dark fruit and warm spice flavours. Medium in body, the finish was reasonably long and left an overall positive impression.</li>
<li>Gallery Mavrud 2012: the next one up the scale was a lot more youthful with a deep ruby colour and purple hues; the nose showed intense ripe blachcurrant fruit, which carried through on the palate, where a touch of oak was also evident and some supportive backbone from the oak. Long finish and very good indeed.</li>
<li>Teres Mavrud Special Selection 2009: The colour was ruby with a garnet edge, showing first signs of maturity; also maturiy was evident on the nose with notes of leather, violets, sweet herbs, raspeberries and redcurrants; the palate was warm with mature, spicy fruit and eathy notes on a medium finish. A pleasant wine, which may possibly be just over its peak.</li>
<li>Gallery cabernet Sauvignon 2012: Ruby with purple rim; the nose was slightly ethereal, even spirity with hints of water paint and some sudued blackcurrant; the palate displayed some more defined fruit but somewhat separate from the quite aggressive tannins. It's not terribly well balanced at this moment in time, but might come together with time as evidenced by the 2007 the Wine Anarchist tasted recently and was very elegant and classy indeed.</li>
<li>Teres C abernet Sauvignon 2009: Unfortunately this sample was maderized and almost undrinkable. Must re-taste it on a different occasion.</li>
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As I mentioned the winery also functions as a health spa, where you can bath in grape skins to prevent you getting. Personally the Wine Anarchist prefers imbibing the stuff, but if this your thing click on the link above. For availability in the UK contact<a href="http://www.buyvinar.com/" target="_blank"> BuyVinaR</a>. <br />
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And finally as promised some Balkan dancing<br />
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Oh and a nice little quote by Omar Khayam, which hung at Todoroff Winery:<br />
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<br />Heikohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17999245793961798308noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1550043718107995247.post-63003509692257064692013-08-19T12:25:00.000+02:002013-08-19T12:25:17.525+02:00Liguria da Bere / Liguria to Drink<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Every year at the end of June La Spezia hosts the Liguria da Bere, 'Liguria to Drink', event on it's streets. This year the Wine Anarchist participated once again, as he happened to be on a brief stay at home during his travels (home being 20km from La Spezia). At this event Liguria showcases the wines it has to offer, as well as some producers who muscled their way in from neighbouring regions of Lunigiana in Northern Tuscany as well as some intruders from other nearby places.<br />
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Liguria is the banana-shaped coastal region of Italy in the north-west of the country bordering France. It's long and narrow and dominated by coastal mountains. The region is roughly divided in two, with the port city of Genoa separating the two parts. In wine terms Vermentino is the unifying factor, with this white grape grown on both sides of the divide. To the west though, another grape variety, related to Vermentino makes interesting whites called Pigato. Red wines are also made here from local varieties Ormeasco and Rossese. The eastern part on the other hand is influenced by nearby Tuscany and makes pre-dominantly whites from Vermentino, often blended with Albarola and Bosco as well as some Sangiovese based reds. The most famous DOC of eastern Liguria is the Cinque Terre, which is also a popular tourist destination.<br />
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We started our tasting with one of the much under-represented western Ligurians with the wines of the <b>Azienda Gualtieri</b>. Unfortunately they didn't have a card with their details on them, nor do they seem to have an internet presence. However their wines were very pleasant indeed, especially their reds from Ormeasco. Here are the notes:<br />
<ul>
<li>Pigato 2012: medium straw colour; nice sweet herbal aromas , floral and fresh; the palate had a pleasant tingling sensation with typical notes of white pepper; a little short on the finish perhaps.</li>
<li>Vermentino 2012: pale straw, aromas of yeast and fresh bread; softer on the palate with minerally, elegant, racy notes, which seemed almost Riesling-like. Very good indeed.</li>
<li>Ormeasco di Pornassio 'Sciac-Tra' 2012: a rosé made like a white wine from free-run juice; the colour was an almost obscene pink; the nose was not overly aromatic, but showed some dark cherry fruit; the palate was dry with a marked acidity, nicely understated but with a long quite full finish. This is definitely more of a food wine than a sipping rosé.</li>
<li>Ormeasco di Pornassio 2011: Medium purple in colour, paling at the rim; the nose displayed plums, farmyard and leather notes; the palate was warm, spicy and rich with a good tannic backbone, finishing long. Very good</li>
<li>Ormeasco di Pornassio Superiore 2011: Deep ruby colour with a pale rim; The nose showed intense aromas of eukalyptus, farmyard, dark chocolate, liquorice and mulberry; the palate was warm and rich with plenty of spice and almost espresso coffee-like characters. The finish was huge. This wine is still young, but its complexity is promising a serious wine years to come</li>
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For the eastern part the Wine Anarchist started with a Cinque Terre winery he hadn't previously come across the <a href="http://www.begasti.it/" target="_blank"><b>Societá Semplice Agricola Begasti</b></a> based in the Cinque Terre village of Monterosso<b>. </b>The DOC of Cinque Terre only allows for white wines made from Bosco, Albarola and Vermentino, which can be either fermented dry or made from semi-dried grapes to produce a sweet Sciaccetrá. As the latter is rather expensive and produced in very small quantities, it is not normally freely available to taste, however the Wine Anarchist got to taste the dry white as well as a red, which can only be classed as a Vino da Tavola though.<br />
<ul>
<li>Cinque Terre DOC 2012: This white displayed earthy characters combined with delicate honey notes and some minerally notes; the palate had a touch of spice with warm fruit flavours of peach and almond and a warm, long, mouth-filling finish.</li>
<li>Rosso Vino da Tavola: This is made from 50% Merlot, 30% Syrah and 20% Cabernet Sauvignon. The colour is medium ruby with a pale rim; the nose displays an open fruit reminiscent of elderberries and cherries as well as hints of vanilla; the palate was soft and spicy, with some pleasant and elegant fruit flavours. </li>
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Inland from the Cinque Terre in the Val di Vara is the village of Sesta Godano which is home to the <a href="http://www.azienda-cornice.it/index.html" target="_blank">Azienda Agricola Cornice</a>. This is not a traditional wine growing region, but this winery has made interesting wine since 2000, as well as olive oil and picking chestnuts and mushrooms.<br />
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They use a mixture of local and international grapes to produce wines of real character:</div>
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<li>I Piani Liguria di Levante IGT Bianco 2012: Made from Albarola and Sauvignon Blanc, the colour is medium straw; there are delicate aromas of gooseberry and hawthorn blossoms; on the palate there is more delicate gooseberry fruit combined with some herbal characters. The acidity is a little angular though.</li>
<li>Pein 2011 Liguria di Levante IGT Rosso: A blend of 60% Merlot, 35% Syrah and 5% Ciliegiolo, the colour is a deep ruby; the nose displays dark cherries cobined with forest-like damp leave characters; the palate is rich and spicy with some lovely spice and a touch of spice and herbal notes on the finish. A lovely and rich wine.</li>
<li>The Imara 2011 is grown on a higher altitude near the village of Zignago at 500m asl on clay soils. The blend consists of mostly Merlot with a splash of Cabernet Sauvignon and the local Pollerá. The colour is deep ruby to almost opaque, the nose was big rich and spicy with underlying dense fruit; the palate was deep, rich and long with hints of chocolate. This is not your typical soft Merlot, but a real hunk of a wine. Great wine of real character!</li>
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The 'home DOC' of the Wine Anarchist is the Colli di Luni, which comes in Vermentino, straight Bianco (Vermentino plus other grapes) and Rosso (Sangiovese plus other grapes). As The WA already knows this area well and should write a separate blog post sometime, he did come across a winery he hadn't known before, the <a href="http://www.casadelfrate.it/" target="_blank">Casa del Frate</a>. Whilst their speciality is olive oil and renting out holiday apartments on the the pretty island of Palmaria at the entrance to the Gulf of La Spezia, they also produce a little wine at their vineyards in Masignano di Arcola, just around the corner to where the Wine Anarchist himself owns some land. Their big and full Vermentino Frascoforte 2012 (14% ABV!) displayed a pale greeny gold colour; the nose was big, rich and spicy with notes of gooseberry, whilst the palate was warm and rich, with plenty of acidity to balance the alcohol, finishing very long. A big wine that could stand up to some serious food.<br />
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From the same village the winery of <b>Mésuéto</b> (Via Masignano, 61, 19021 Arcola, tel: 0187 987418) also produced a Vermentino Colli di Luni 2012. This offering was pale gold in colour; the nose was rich and honeyed with a touch of clove-like spice; the palate carried on in the same vein with some nice apricot fruit and a soft finish.<br />
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Of course the Wine Anarchist said hello to his friends at <a href="http://www.cantinefederici.com/" target="_blank">Federici</a> as well, but on this occasion only stopped for a quick glass and chat, as he already knew the wines well and there was so much more to taste.<br />
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There were quite a few representative of wineries from the Tuscan side of the Lunigiana, and as they always surprise with their characterful wines made from local varieties. One of the Wine Anarchist's all-time favourite wineries of that region is the <b>Fattoria Ruschi Noceti </b>(Piazza della Republica, 1 54027 Pontremoli, tel: 0187 830153, e-mail: fr.ruschinoceti@gmail.com). Here they produce seriously traditional wines from some weird and wonderful grape varieties of the region such as Pollerá, Duralla and Luagda. Their approach is stubbornly anti-modern, making wines in old barrels designed for ageing and to be paired with the rustic local dishes.<br />
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<li>Marchesa Caterina Rosé IGT Val di Magra 2012: this deep salmon coloured rosé is made from 70% Pollerá plus a hotchpotch of other local varieties, which may or may not have names. The nose is of water paints and strawberry and cream; the palate displays more of the same with some interesting herbal notes, a great balancing acidity and some good length.</li>
<li>Otto Ottobre Bianco IGT Val di Magra 2011: This blend of the local Durella and Luadga grapes is so named, because it traditionally gets picked around the 8th of October, as both are very late ripening varieties. The alcohol level usually ends up at around 15% and for a white it is capable to age really well. The colour of ths offering was medium gold, whilst the palate was rich and honeyed with notes of spice and ripe autumn apples, balanced by some lively acidity; on the palate some residual sugar was evident, but all in all it was very well balanced displaying more of the characteristics of the aromas. The finish was long. A beautiful wine, that in the experience of the Wine Anarchist will age gracefully. In fact he could not resist buying a magnum of the 2007, which he may open for a special occasion. Watch this space! :)</li>
<li>Pollera 2009 IGT Val di Magra: Made from 100% of what is arguably the most exciting grape variety of the region. The colour was medium ruby, showing some garnet tinge on the edge; the nose and palate consistently are rich in warm herbal characters with notes of liquorice and elderberries; the palate has a big backbone and finishes rich and long. A great wine, which does not easily fit into any category, but works really well with some wild boar for instance.</li>
<li>Bigoncio 2011 IGT Val di Magra. This is exactly the same wine as the Otto Ottobre, except the fermentation was finished early by fine filtration to result in a medium sweet wine with only 11.5% alcohol (with a further potential alcohol level of 3.5%). This wine shows far more honeyed characters and some rich marzipan in addition to the flavour profile of the dry version..</li>
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Their neighbours in the town of Pontremoli, the Cantine Belmesseri (Via C.S. , Vignola di Pontremoli, tel: 335 7752116), have a more modern approach with a combination of local and international grape varieties on their just 1.6ha of vineyard. They produce 3 different wines, all very nice.<br />
<ul>
<li>Caras Delicias Bianco IGT Toscana 2012: This is a blend of 40% Vermentino, 20% Sauvignon Blanc, 20% Durella and 20% Albirola, the colour is medium straw; the nose revealed fresh gooseberry notes as well as herbs such as nrosemary; the palate was fresh, yet rich with some nice yellow plum fruit with a long spicy finish. A nice quite full wine, which do nicely with a creamy sauce.</li>
<li>Belmesseri Rosso Toscana IGT 2010: A blend of 40% Merlot, 30% a mixture of unnamed local varieties, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Syrah, this offering had a deep ruby colour; on the nose there was some rich redcurrant fruit, a touch of spice and hints of milk chocolate; The rich fruit carried through on the palate, also incorporating some herbal notes. A very attractive, lively, modern wine.</li>
<li>Tafuri Rosso Toscana IGT 2010: This blend of 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 20% Merlot, and 10% Pollerá has been aged for 8 months in French barrique. This is a serious wine deeply coloured; the nose reveals intense herb and spice notes combined with liquorice and elderberry fruit; the palate is dominated by a big tannic backbone, supported by more of the rich fruit and a long chocolatey finish. Great wine, but still needs a few years in bottle to come around and soften out a bit.</li>
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From the town of Licciana Nardi in the Lunigiana hails Azienda Agricola La Vigna di Manolo Luchini (Loc. La Vigna, Licciana Nardi, tel: 0187 471187, e-mail: manololuchini@libero.it), a small organic producer. The Wine Anarchist came across them a few years back, but they have gone up a step since then, even if the names of their wines are a little over-elaborate:<br />
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<li>Amore e Psyche Val di Magra IGT 2012: A blend of 40% Merlot, 60% local grape varieties, including Pollerá, the name does not need translating... The colour was deep purple; the nose displayed some lovely ripe blackcurrant fruit; the palate was very clean and well defined with some more of that nice fruit balanced by some spice. A well balanced, long and attractive wine.</li>
<li>Diversamente dal Solito IGT Val di Magra 2012. This translates as 'different from the usual', it is a blend of Syrah, Merlot and local grape varieties (the exact percentages were either not known, or the Wine Anarchist was too drunk, this being the last stand he stopped at). Unfortunately it seems he was even too drunk to make notes either, but the wine is worth the inclusion for its name alone ;)</li>
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The next edition of Liguria da Bere should be at the end of next June in the centre of La Spezia, if you happen to find yourself in the area and are curious about what Liguria has to offer.<br />
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Heikohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17999245793961798308noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1550043718107995247.post-67230634274058829452013-08-05T16:08:00.002+02:002013-08-12T12:50:22.823+02:00The Wine Village of Sasbachwalden<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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The Wine Anarchist has traveled the length and breadth of Europe recently and is struggling to keep up with his posts, being constantly on the road. On his travels he visited his parents in the south-west of Germany and took the opportunity to visit the 'Wine and Flower' village of Sasbachwalden on the north-western edge of the Black Forest as it opens up towards the Rhine Valley with sweeping views across the French border and the Vosge Mountains beyond in the German wine region of Baden.<br />
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Ever since the WA's parents moved to that part of the world it became kind of a family tradition to go to Sasbachwalden every now and then, not for the wine. but... for the most amazing Black Forest Gateaux at the <a href="http://www.gasthof-hohenrode.de/" target="_blank">Gasthof Hohenrode</a>:<br />
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14 layers of chocolate and cream doused in kirsch eau de vie, served lying down on a dinner plate, should get anyone knowing what's good for them driving 100km across the mountains!!!<br />
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Anyway, always on the lookout for his news hungry readers, the Wine Anarchist also investigated the vineyards and wineries of this most picturesque of wine villages. Apart from wine (and Black Forest Gateaux) the village is also famous for it's half-timbered houses decorated with an abundance of flowers.<br />
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And it is surrounded by vineyards, most famously the location 'Alde Gott', Old God in the local dialect. If you think of Germany as mostly a white wine country, you'd be surprised that you would find more red wine in this region, which is one of the warmest spots in Germany and Pinot Noir or
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Sp<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">ä</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">tburgunder as it is known in Germany, leading the way.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">Walking around the small town you can't fail to realise that wine plays a major role. We strolled through the vineyards. In the town we learned that the local wine queen also went on to become the national wine queen.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">Sasbachwalden is also twinned with the Beaujolais village of Morgon, to which this little monument is dedicated to:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">This old large wine press is displayed outside the council offices:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">Anyway, it was time to taste some wine. The Wine Anarchist had previously tasted some wines from the local cooperative and found both Rieslings and Pinot Noir most excellent. So following his nose he decided to check out one of the smaller producers. He happened to find the <a href="http://www.weinkellerei-vierthaler.de/" target="_blank">Weingut Richard Vierthaler</a>, a small (7ha) 2nd generation family run operation. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">A very cheerful Richard Vierthaler welcomed us to his premises and a few wines were tasted. 85% of the vineyards are planted with Pinot Noir and it was clearly the strong point of this winery. However we started with whites, as you do. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">The Rivaner Trocken 2008 had obviously been open for a couple of days and was loosing a little of its typical grapefruit and floral aromas. The WA declined an offer to have a fresh bottle opened, so it shouldn't be judged to harshly.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">Next came the Alde Gott Riesling Kabinett Trocken 2011. It was quite an elegant dry wine, but with earthy undertones and fairly full-bodied. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">The Alde Gott Badisch Rotgold Kabinett 2011 was a deep-coloured rosé made from Pinot Noir. The nose displayed pleasant wild strawberry and raspberry nose, but the slightly excessive residual sugar in this wine threw it a little out of balance.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">The Alde Gott </span>Sp<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">ä</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">tburgunder Kabinett 2009 Jubilaeumswein was without a shadow of a doubt the star of the tasting. It was bottled for the 50th anniversary of the company. Medium bodied with good concentration and great Pinot fruit, starting to show some nice maturity. It finished long and satisfying and is a great example what Germany can do with this grape variety. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">Noticing that the estate also produced some spirits or 'wasser' as they innocently call them around here, the WA had to taste the 'Topanimbur', a clear spirit distilled from the roots of the Jerusalem artichoke. It had all the flavours of this divine vegetable, so he was ready to part with some cash to buy a bottle from his new friend Richard. It turned out that the tasting bottle was the last one in stock, so the WA bought a bottle of Mirabellenwasser instead, an eau de vie made from the mirabelle plum, which was rather good too, full of lively fruit flavours. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">Whilst the Wine Anarchist is of the opinion that the wines from the local coop are actually better, this winery and the whole village are definitely worth a visit, if for no other reason than to taste the most fantastic Black Forest Gateaux anywhere (did I mention it before...?).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">Should you be planning to visit the area, there is a guided tour of the vineyards organised every first Saturday of the month between May and October at 1pm starting from the Alde Gott Winzer eg in the centre of town. If you happen to pass this year, there is a big <a href="http://www.erntedank-und-weinfest.de/http%3A__www.erntedank-und-weinfest.de_/Willkommen.html" target="_blank">Wine festival or Winzerfest</a> from the 3-6 October 2013.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">Finally if you stuck for somewhere to stay, <a href="http://www.schlafen-im-weinfass.de/" target="_blank">why not sleep in an 8000 litre wine barrel</a> (minus the wine of course) like old Dyonisus. There is a farm above the town offering this unique experience with all mod-cons.</span></div>
Heikohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17999245793961798308noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1550043718107995247.post-50435106508112909562013-07-05T22:25:00.000+02:002013-07-05T22:26:22.613+02:00Going (Double) Dutch<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Let's face it, when we think of the Netherlands we think of the above: windmills. Maybe wooden clogs, hallucinogenic drugs sold in coffee shops, cheese... but wine? Yet the Wine Anarchist recently had some family business to attend to and never one to miss an opportunity to get his taste buds around something different he discovered the wines of his own homeland. Not only that, he found a village just 15km from where he was staying and where he scattered the ashes of his recently deceased Conspiracy Cousin, that proudly declared itself a wine village. So naturally he had to investigate further and a casual Sunday afternoon drive took him to the gates of the <a href="http://www.wijnhoevedecolonjes.nl/" target="_blank">Colonjes vineyard in the town of Groesbeek</a>, just south of Nijmegen within spitting distance of the German border (unfortunately their website is in Dutch only).<br />
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Back in 2000 or so Freek Verhoeven was retiring from his job as head nurse of a hospital and was looking for a hobby. He bought himself a plot of land and planted vines, as you do. He was also an amateur athlete and very competitive. When his first wine managed to get a bronze medal, his competitive nature really came to the fore and he decided to try harder until he got at least a gold medal. He expanded the vineyard holding to 13.5 ha, installed a modern winery and drafted in the help of his brother Cees. The results are impressive and gold medals have meanwhile been awarded including at various international competitions.<br />
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As Freek (incidentally it's pronounced Frake rather than Freak) is thinking of retiring for a second time he is slowly putting young enologist Adam Dijkstra in charge to continue the project, the latter took out some time to chat to the Wine Anarchist and his family about the vineyards and give them a small tasting.<br />
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In total there are 3 plots under vine around the village of Groesbeek, all farmed organically, one directly adjacent to the winery, De Colonjes, which is on slight south slope (yes there are some slopes even in the Netherlands!) on Loess soil,<br />
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and the other ones the Knapheide Weg and 't Hof respectively. The grape varieties are all hybrid varieties and amazingly reds are a bit of specialty of this winery, but they do also produce some excellent rosé, both still and sparkling and some very respectable whites.<br />
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On talking with Adam, the Wine Anarchist found a lot in common with him. They both share an interest not only in organic production methods but also in permaculture and Adam lamented the fact that vine growing is by definition more or less only possible in mono-cultures. However to counteract this somewhat at Colonjes they interplant the rows of vines with a mixture of some 25 different wild plants including edible ones and ones that fix atmospheric nitrogen into the soil and accumulate nutrients from subsoil levels. The fact that they use many disease resistant hybrid varieties also eliminates the need for harmful chemicals used in the vineyard.<br />
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Tasting the wines the WA was very impressed. He took a whole sample case with him to re-taste some in the comfort of his or someone else's home during his travels. He had previously tasted English wines extensively and found that many of them stood out for their aromatic qualities, but this winery's choice of grape varieties was leaning more towards crisp fresh wines. Here are some of his tasting notes:<br />
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Cabernet Blanc 2012: Unfortunately this wine was sold out, except for a few bottles for tasting purposes, as this was definitely the best of the whites. Pale coloured, the nose displayed some floral, peach blossom notes with hints of freshly mown hay. The palate had distinct minerally notes, the acidity was well balanced and had some lovely fresh, clean fruit notes. Very pleasant if a little on the short side. The Cabernet Blanc grape is a hybrid of Cabernet Sauvignon, plus some other hybrid that according to some may have some Riesling parentage in there somewhere, and indeed it is quite Riesling-like.<br />
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Knapse Witte 2012: This is a blend of Helios (a hybrid with Muller Thurgau in its parentage) and Riesel (which also has some Riesling in its ancestry). The armas display a distinct minerality as well as lemony and herbal characters, such as lemon balm and mint. The acidity is very marked on this wine and the lemon and mineral notes continue on the palate on a medium finish The high acidity make this really a food wine, paired with some Dover sole for example.<br />
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Johanniter 2011: The Johanniter grape is a hybrid of Riesling combined with some Pinot Gris and Gutedel in its veins. A noble wine with greenish tinges still on the colour. The extra year in bottle suits this wine well as it shows some delicate aromas of grapefruit and nice minerally notes. The palate is flinty with juicy lime fruit and hints of fresh bread. An elegant wine.<br />
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Cabernet Cortis 2009: Cabernet Cortis is crossed between Cabenet Sauvignon and Solaris, which in turn has Riesling and Pinot Gris in its ancestry. This wine is surprisingly big not showing any signs of ageing yet. A youthful deep ruby colour with purple fringes promise things to come. An intense youthful aroma of tobacco, elderberries, blackberries and black pepper is followed by a rich, full palate with quite high acidity and a big tannic backbone with flavours of dark berries such as blackcurrants and vanilla oak notes on a long finish. Interestingly the wine was aged for 18 months in new 450 litre German oak barrels, which are less invasive in taste compared to French oak. An impressive wine, which will continue to evolve for at least 5 years in the opinion of the Wine Anarchist.<br />
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Regent 2011: This grape variety is a cross of Muller Thurgau, Silvaner and Chambourcin. The Wine Anarchist forgot to take notes when tasting this wine, but from memory, this was a light coloured wine, light in body, with lovely cherry, raspberry and redcurrant characters combined with some vanilla oak notes and white pepper spice from 8 months ageing in French barriques. Very pleasant indeed.<br />
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Recortis 2011: A blend of Regent and Cabernet Cortis which was aged for 8 months in French and German oak, 30% of it new. Again quite a serious red with intense spicy blackberry notes combining with herbal characters. Medium bodied, the palate displays sweet, ripe fruit with an intense oaky spice and a mouthwatering juicy long finish balanced by a good tannic backbone.<br />
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Cuvée Colonjes: a blend of Regent, their very own Cabernet Colonjes and Cabernet Cortis. This wine has a medium ruby colour with a pale rim. The nose displays sweet herbal notes, as well as hints of smoky bacon and dark berries. The palate is quite light with a touch of spice, blackberries and notes of oak, It's a tad on the short side and a bit one-dimesnsional, however it makes for pleasant easy drinking.<br />
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Cuvée Fréderique Rosé 2012: This delightful rosé made from Regent and Cabernet Cortis grapes recently was awarded a gold medal at the<a href="http://www.bioweinpreis.de/en/" target="_blank"> Internationale Bioweinpreis in Germany</a>. The colour is a pale salmon, whilst the nose reveals delicate aromas of rose petals, raspberry and cream. The palate is dry with a lively acidity yet a creamy texture with slightly flinty notes and some understated, delicate fruit. Very elegant and good.<br />
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Belle de Colonjes NV: The Wine Anarchist was celebrating a happy event at the time so was not making notes again. This Champagne method pink fizz is produced from the Pinotin grape, which presumably has some Pinot parentage. It's light and fresh with lovely berry fruits and a good persistent mousse and a long finish.<br />
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The wines are priced between 10 and 20 Euros (the latter for the sparkling wine) and are available directly from the winery as well as number of shops across the Netherlands. The winery is open to visitors at any time, although they are thinking of possibly introducing opening times. English is spoken. Tours for groups can be arranged in advance. There are also a number of events making a visit worth it such as Open Days or the Groesbeek Wine Festival from the 28th-30th September this year.<br />
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Contact details are:<br />
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Colonjes</div>
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2de Colonjes 4</div>
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6562 DM Groesbeek</div>
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Tel: +31 (0)24-3973754</div>
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Heikohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17999245793961798308noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1550043718107995247.post-38028075882473269882013-06-21T13:22:00.000+02:002013-06-21T13:22:12.144+02:00Not Only Wine - Kanaal Belgian Beer Bar<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The Wine Anarchist does not exclusively drink wine, no he has also been known to partake in sipping a nice cool beer or some other beverage. There are a variety of countries claiming to produce the best beers in the world, the Czech Republic and Germany being strong contenders, but none match Belgium for variety, so the Wine Anarchist was only too glad to accept an invitation to the opening of a beer garden at the Kanaal Bar in Sofia, Bulgaria.<br />
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The barman and owner, whose name escaped the WA as he was indulging in the beers on offer opened this trendy place on 2 Madrid Boulevard a bit over a year ago, trying to offer the inhabitants of Bulgaria's capital (the Sofians...?) something a little different. Most of the beers are imported directly and there is a list of some 50 mostly Belgian beers. <br />
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Now running a relatively upmarket bar in Sofia is not easy in a country where average wages are around 350 Euro a month, so to the western visitor drinking at the Kanaal is a bargain. House beers are Grolsch and Hoegaarden at 2.50 Leva and 3.50 Leva respectively per bottle (1.25 and 1.75 Euro!). A popular drink is their own recipe of what they call a radler, a shandy to you, me and the Wine Anarchist: a little grenadine, a bottle of Hoegaarden, top up with some orange juice (if the WA followed this correctly in his slightly drunk state. With these basic drinks at low prices it is perfectly possible to have a most enjoyable evening without breaking the bank.<br />
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If on the other hand you want to try something different, it will obviously cost you a bit more, but prices still compare favourable to the rest of Europe. Specialist beers include Chimay Blue, Westmalle Dubbel and Trippel, Liefmans and Giradins Kriek (cherry beers), Duvel, Petrus Dubbel Bruin, Oud Bruin and Aged Pale, Rodenbach Grand Cru, La Trappe Quadrupel, Rochefort 8 and others. A good mixture of well known Belgian beers as well as some more exotic ones. As usual with Belgian beers, one has to be a little careful when inbibing as many of them are deceptively strong, but boy are they delicious!<br />
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In addition the spirit selection is equally eccentric and unusual, where clearly a lot of thought (and extensive tasting) has gone into. Gems on the spirit shelf include instead of the usual suspects Tyrconnel Irish Malt Whisky, Glenfarclas 15 year old and Heritage Scotch Malt whisky (one of the few independent whisky distillers in Scotland), Monkey Shoulder Scotch Whisky, Wenneker Old Dutch Genever, Hendrick's handcrafted Scottish gin, Black Forest raspberry eau de vie, Italian blueberry and liquorice liqueurs. Unfortunately the Wine Anarchist did not have the stamina to drink himself through the selection, but that should be a good excuse to come back.<br />
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The clientele is mostly young, but the slightly ageing WA did not feel out of place. The decor is modern and clean and there now is a small garden to relax in. The staff are friendly and they speak English. Definitely a place to come back to and highly recommended if you find yourself in Sofia.<br />
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Kanaal Bar & Hostel</div>
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2 Madrid Boulevard</div>
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Sofia</div>
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<a href="http://www.kanaal.bg/" target="_blank">website: www.kanaal.bg</a></div>
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<a href="https://www.facebook.com/kanaal.bg" target="_blank">Facebook</a></div>
Heikohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17999245793961798308noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1550043718107995247.post-63039995476130036732013-05-28T19:39:00.000+02:002013-05-28T19:39:10.260+02:00A Random Selection of BulgariaLet's start with a few facts that you probably didn't know about Bulgarian wines. We all remember the 1980's early 90's when Bulgarian Cabernet was cheap and cheerful, the wine of choice for those strapped for cash. They had started on the varietal labelling before the Australians and Californians had thought of it and they flooded the market with gluts of very drinkable low price wines, particularly reds. The reason they could do that was that the whole industry at the time was state owned and subsidised by the Communists to bring in much needed hard currency. <br />
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But what happened before or after? Well long before, very long before, the Thracians invaded the territory of what is now Bulgaria and made themselves at home there. This ancient tribe, that never managed the basics of reading and writing, were famous for 2 things: they were fierce fighters and they loved their booze. So they introduced viticulture to the region well before even the Greeks and Romans had thought of that, in fact the latter were still busy wielding wooden clubs and crawling out of caves. Bulgaria can therefore claim to be one of the cradles of winemaking alongside Georgia and Armenia, something not many people are aware of. <br />
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Wine production continued to flourish as the Greeks and Romans invaded respectively, but then the 15th century came along and with it the Turks, Muslims of course, who weren't very keen on wine for some unknown and unfathomable reason. So viticulture went into decline and never fully recovered, until now... perhaps... <br />
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Well the Wine Anarchist has set out to find out more about the current state of the wine industry in Bulgaria. After the fall of Communism the land formerly nationalised was redistributed to it's former owners, a slow and messy process. Some native varieties have miraculously survived centuries of neglect, such as Melnik, Mavrud, Gamza and new money started pouring in, but the country is still poor and infrastructure isn't what you'd expect of a member of the EU. People are starting to find their feet again and wine producers are finding it hard to compete in a market that still remembers the cheap offerings from a couple of decades ago, but the potential for quality wine is clearly there as the WA discovered on his visit to <a href="http://thewineanarchist.blogspot.it/2013/05/borovitza-winery-north-western-bulgaria.html" target="_blank">Borovitza</a>.<br />
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To find out a bit more the Wine Anarchist went into a large supermarket and selected a random selection of Bulgarian wines from the shelves and tested them. This is a totally unscientific sampling, all made from international grape varieties, that should give some idea of what is now produced. Here are the results of the experiment:<br />
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Leva Winemaker's Selection Sauvignon Blanc 2010 Rose Valley: This wine, <a href="http://www.vinexbg.com/enindex.html" target="_blank">according to their web-site</a>, apparently won the 'Golden Rython' Prize, which the WA has never heard of either. The colour is a pale straw; the nose has notes of green apples and nettles; the palate is well defined with crisp fresh apple notes, hints of cloves and minerals. A very elegant wine in the Loire style with a long elegant finish and nice fruit characters. Jolly nice value at BGN 6.75*<br />
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600 Sauvignon Blanc 2011 'No Man's Land' Danubian Plain, <a href="http://www.nomansland.bg/?lang=en&pid=0" target="_blank">Damianitza Winery</a><br />
The No Man's Land brand is apparently because the winery own vineyards in the former no-go zone near the Turkish border, but this offering comes from the north of the country. The 600 in the name is not explained... The wine is very pale straw; the nose displays green gooseberries and some minerally, flinty notes; on the palate we found fresh zesty lime fruit and steely notes. Perhaps a bit mean, lacking real fruit, neither having huge complexity or length. It came in a gift pack with a 1/2 bottle of Buteo Cabernet Sauvignon from the same company, together costing BGN13.65<br />
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Buteo Cabernet Sauvignon 2008, 'No Man's Land' Thracian Valley<br />
70% of this wine have been matured for 10 months in French barrique. The colour is medium ruby with a garnet rim, showing it's age; the bouquet has herbal qualities, including eucalyptus reminiscent of cough sweets, combined with hints of cow manure and sweet redcurrants; whilst this may not sound too appealing the palate was complex with more slightly medicinal characters and a soft yet firm structure and a good length. A wine definitely at the peak of it's development and good drinking if you like mature wines. Note: this wine was out of a half bottle and therefore be a bit more advanced in its development.<br />
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<a href="http://katarzyna.bg/#" target="_blank">Junior Merlot Tempranillo 2012 'Young Wine' Katazyna Vineyards</a>, PGI Thracian Valley: This was obviously an attempt to emulate a Rioja Joven and had caught the WA's eye for that reason, however he was to be disappointed: The colour was medium purplish and the nose was quite promising with intense ripe and lush fruit of elderberries, plums, cinnamon and stewed figs; however the palate was dominated by the high alcohol levels, giving a burning sensation (14.5%); the very soft acidity and lack of tannin failed to offer a balance to the alcohol and it finished on an unpleasant bitter note. Altogether a badly balanced wine and not worth the BGN8.55. The WA did not even manage to finish the bottle, a rare occasion for him!<br />
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<a href="http://emiroglio-wine.com/" target="_blank">Edoardo Miroglio Cabernet Franc 2010 PGI Thracian Valley</a>. Now if this sounds a bit Italian, it's because the owner IS Italian Edoardo has actually come into wine via the textile industry, which, forgive the WA's cynicism, was probably a way to invest his money safe from the Italian tax authorities. However the wine isn't so bad at all! The colour is medium ruby; intense, lush notes of ripe blueberry, freshly mown hay and plums pervade the attractive aromas; the palate is soft and rounded with some gorgeous fruit finishing long on hints of liquorice, vanilla, spice and chocolate. A really pleasant, easy drinking wine. In fact the WA is sipping on some of it as he writes these lines and enjoying it immensely. BGN 12.99<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizSx_XaTooqXjwWe8vtrNOM0IHHqPOikUu9n7HYkN4BcbsthE8K4WnlEOOoEDMEpQhqMFK8V1K2qJnzKeW-1I3RrryI1Vv7K2sBoO7Zbyt3GhQC77J6-UesiKMgLSwQCPghstPHrigRAv0/s1600/2013-05-20+19.45.40.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizSx_XaTooqXjwWe8vtrNOM0IHHqPOikUu9n7HYkN4BcbsthE8K4WnlEOOoEDMEpQhqMFK8V1K2qJnzKeW-1I3RrryI1Vv7K2sBoO7Zbyt3GhQC77J6-UesiKMgLSwQCPghstPHrigRAv0/s200/2013-05-20+19.45.40.jpg" width="150" /></a></div>
<a href="http://www.telish.bg/" target="_blank"> Dominant 2009 Castra Rubra (Syrah/Cabernet), Tharcian Valley</a>. Made from organic grapes under the supervision of French winemaker Michel Rolland.<br />
This was definitely the highlight of the tasting. A deep ruby colour was followed by an intense and complex nose of liquorice, black pepper, brambles, violets, lilac and dark chocolate; the palate was rich and full-bodied, displaying spicy notes, more liquorice and blackberry with a fair backbone balanced by some lovely juicy fruit. Long, complex, very good indeed, giving many an Australian Shiraz a run for is money, but at a fairly hefty BGN17.49<br />
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In conclusion it must be said that Bulgaria certainly has the potential to produce world class wine, but seems to be struggling to find its new identity again. On a future occasion the WA is planning a tasting of indigenous grape varieties, which surely should be the strength of what this country can produce<br />
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*BGN (Bulgaria Leva) converts to about €0.50 <br />
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<br />Heikohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17999245793961798308noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1550043718107995247.post-9516326889703558252013-05-20T15:43:00.002+02:002013-05-20T15:43:15.165+02:00Borovitza Winery, North-Western Bulgaria<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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On his travels the Wine Anarchist had the great pleasure of being the guest of Ognyan (Ogi) Tzetanov and his partner Adriana at the <a href="http://winwines.net/en/p-5/BOROVITZA-Winery.html" target="_blank">Borovitza winery </a>near Belogradchik in north-western Bulgaria (They don't actually have a proper web-site, but check out their <a href="https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.341977285844847.77089.230263187016258&type=3" target="_blank">Facebook page </a>too). The region is famed for its bizzarly shaped red rock formations that litter the countryside for over 30km, the highlight of which is the Belogradchik fortress pictured above, which is nestled into the rocks for extra natural protection. <br />
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It is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site, so you would be expecting this place to attract a large, numbers of tourists, yet although it was a main holiday time for Bulgarians with May Day,Orthdox Easter and the National Holiday all falling in the same week, it was remarkably quiet. Yes of course we weren'y alone, but this area is ranks as the poorest region within the European Union, despite al the tourist poential, not to mention... potential to make world class wines! And that's of course what we are here to talk about!<br />
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The Wine Anarchist had previously visited this winery back in November 2012, but the weather was grey and foggy and he didn't get to see anything of the rocks or the vineyards and also he was suffering from a stinking cold at the time, so missed out tasting some of the gems on offer. On this occasion he got to see one of the outlying vineyards in the village of Gradetz, some 50km north of the winery, near the Danube river on the border to Romania and Serbia.<br />
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This partcular plot is planted mosty with Pinot Noir and Chardonnay as well as a little Sauvignon Gris, a rare varient of Sauvignon Blanc which has a pink-hued skin and is even more aromatic than its white cousin. <br />
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Now at this point it might be a good time explain some of Ogi Tzetanov'sapproach to wine making. During the Communist era, Ogi worked as a microbiologist at the National Research Institute in Sofia, so he knows a thing or two about the chemistry of it all. He has also spent some time in California, where he widened his experience and world view. It shows his ... how shall we put it ... excentric, quirky, plain odd? ... nature that he chose to buy a run-down winery in the poorest part of Europe back in 2004 to try and make boutique wines here. And there is no other way of describing his wines. He makes dozens of small to tiny parcels of wine, each different and individual. Some parcels are as small as a dozen... 20 bottles, if, as he puts it, the wine deserves its individual expression and attention.<br />
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Now back to the Gradetz vineyard, much of it got killed off during the catastrophic frosts of 2010/11, and is only slowly recovering. It is gently south sloping (so away from the river Danube which lies to the north) and pure limestone subsoils, similar, in fact almost identical , to those of the Champagne region in France. Here is a nice profile picture of the soil at <a href="http://www.chateaudeval.com/" target="_blank">Ch. de Val</a>, which right next door to Ogi's vineyard.<br />
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One of the wines made at this site is the excellent Cuvée Cadeau Pinot Noir. The WA didn't get around to making any tasting notes this time, but he liked the firm structure of this wine with well integrated Pinot fruit. He did get to taste a barrel sample of the 2010 Chardonnay from this vineyard too though, which despite 2 1/2 years in barrel still displayed remarkably fresh pineapple fruit together with some herby nettle notes. The texture was soft, creamy and rich with a long spicy finish.<br />
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Yes and talking of barrel samples, the WA and his companions <a href="https://www.facebook.com/BuyVinaR?fref=ts" target="_blank">Vasko from BuyVinaR</a>, his wife and his dog, were treated to a sampling of quite a few things directly from the barrels as Ogi went around with his 'thief' to delight his guests.<br />
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As the WA and Vasko almost always differ when it comes to tasting notes, heated discussion soon ensued about which was the better Chardonnay or Pinot Noir, each competitively blending their respective favourites to come up with better results, suggesting to turn this one to a sparkling wine, blended with a bit of that one, until he was completely confused as to what he actually had in his various glasses that accumulated in front of him.<br />
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Anyway to give you some idea, here are at least some of the notes he took before confusion started to reign:<br />
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<li>Marsanne/Roussanne/Viognier 2012: Aromatic and fresh yellow fruit, touch of spice, warm and full; lovely fruit with apricot stones and a slight almondy finish. Very nice indeed.</li>
<li>Incidentally he took a bottle of the 2011 of the same wine with him to taste and these are his impressions on tasting this wine at a later date: Medium straw colour; some aromatic peaches coming through, hints of banana skin, but more of the almond notes on this one as well as some mineral quality and less fresh as the 2012; full-bodied, with more of the peach fruit coming through and a long spicy finish. </li>
<li>Cuvée Borovitza Chardonnay/Sauvignon Blanc: Yeasty, bready nose; soft, a bit tart on the finish, but kind of lacking fruit</li>
<li>Pinot Noir Chardonnay (base wine for sparkling wine): Plenty of Pinot fruit, high acidity, long and elegant. It shold turn out to be in the Louis Roederer style, which is very much to the Wine Anarchists liking.</li>
<li>Pinot Noir Rosé: Pale pink; a nose of raspberries and water paints; intense sweet strawberry fruit on the palate with a crea, mouth-waterring texture with a long finish. Very nice indeed.</li>
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The majority of the vineyards are actually around the village of Borovitza, where they own some 7.5 ha.<br />
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Other bottled wines tasted on this occasion were:<br />
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<li>Borovitza White Cuvée 2010: Medium straw colour; a slightly mature stalky nose of damp hay and nutmeg; the palate is soft, smooth with some baked apple notes and some more of that nutmeg-like spice and even a touch of anise. Pleasant enough, but previously the WA had tasted the fresher 2012 which was much fresher and more aromatic, showing plenty of Muscat fruit. The wine is a blend of Chardonnay and Muskat. </li>
<li>Borovitza Gamza 2010, Great Terroir Range: Gamza is one of Bulgaria's indigenous grape varieties and is widely considered their answer to the Gamay of Beaujolais, i.e. good for making light, easy drinking reds. This example comes from a vineyard with sandy clay soils planted with 39 year old vines, the wine was then aged for 2 years in oak. The result is a wine with a light ruby colour; a bouquet of blackberries and forest floor / damp leaves. The palate light and soft with hints of spice and some gorgeous mouthwatering fruit reminiscent of blackberries and sweet plums, finishing long. Pleasant easy drinking, but enough character to keep up the interest.</li>
<li>Borovitza Bouquet 2011, Great Terroir Range: Bouquet is a grape variety bred in Bulgaria as a cross of the indigenous Mavrud and Pinot Noir, kind of Bulgaria's answer to Pinotage. This particular example has been matured in oak for 16 months. The cross seems to have inherited more from it's Mavrud parentage with a deep purple colour; a rich and fruity nose of blackberries and blackcurrants; The palate displays a lively acidity and slightly tart ripe berry fruit flavours, particularly fruit of the forest and ribena-like blackcurrants. It is a lovely easy drinking wine with a long and pleasant finish.</li>
<li>Sensum 2008: An appropriately named Cabernet/Merlot blend (75/25), this wine still has a vibrant deep purple colour and an intense nose of blackcurrants and lead-pencil sharpening, not unlike a good Margaux in a ripe vintage. There also hints of sweet violets detectable. The palate brings out intense spicy, ripe and appealing fruit flavours, which is drinking really nicely at this stage, finishing long on hints of liquorice. An absolute stunner this one!</li>
<li>Borovitza Merlot Pepper Garden 2009. This wine is made from very old vines (55 years old) grown on clay gravel soils and matured for 3 years in Bulgarian and American barrique. The colour is deep ruby, but showing signs of maturity towards the rim; the nose displays intense blackberry and plum fruit with distinct black pepper and vanilla notes; the palate brings out some warm herbal and spicy notes of thyme and black pepper and the lovely warm fruit is well balanced by a firm structure; he finish is long with hints of liquorice and plenty of spice. A wine of great intensity and complexity.</li>
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Where can I get hold of these wines I hear you ask. Well you can either come on holiday in this stunningly beautiful region and pop into the winery, taste your way around, and if you like something snap it up imediately, because next time it's likely to be gone. Alternatively, if you live in the UK, contact the Wine Anarchist's good friend Vasko Rachkov, who imports some these gems. Currently he does not have a web-site (yet), but you can contact him via his <a href="https://www.facebook.com/BuyVinaR?fref=ts" target="_blank">Facebook page</a>. <br />
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Heikohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17999245793961798308noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1550043718107995247.post-77705648533722726012013-05-12T17:17:00.000+02:002013-05-19T14:01:18.168+02:00Pleven Wine Museum<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This was supposed to be a post about THE place to start finding out about what Bulgarian wines have to offer in a place of stunning natural beauty with plenty of photos of the exciting and informative exhibits in the Pleven Wine Museum. Well as for the photos... the Wine Anarchist lost his camera before he got around downloading his photos onto another device, so all photos are taken straight from the <a href="http://www.winemuseum-bg.com/index-en.html" target="_blank">official website of the Pleven Wine Museum</a>. As for the exciting and informative exhibits, more on later. At least there was some stunning natural beauty,one out of three ain't bad...<br />
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If you google the words wine and Bulgaria, the website of the Pleven Wine Museum comes up fairly near the top. It claims to be the only museum dedicated to wine in the Balkans and according to their blurb "is a result of a long-time development work carried out by a team of Bulgarian and French professional architects, designers, enologists and museum experts". It boasts a collection of some 7,000 Bulgarian wines, some as old as 90 years old, and "visitors can taste wine and buy bottles of over 6000 kinds of wine from all regions of Bulgaria."<br />
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As the town of Pleven,just to the north of the Balkan mountain range in the Danubian plain of northern Bulgaria was kind of on the way for him, it seemed an unmissable place. The Wine Anarchist had done his research, locating the Wine Museum actually a few km south of the city of Pleven in the Kailaka National Park, and established that the opening times were Wednesday to Sunday from 11am to 6pm, although this was not clear from the official website.<br />
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So he timed his arrival in the area for a Tuesday afternoon, plenty of time to book into a nearby hotel, take the dog for a wander around the nature reserve and be ready and fresh for a late morning visit to the museum the next day and an interesting tasting, before heading off to where he was actually heading for.<br />
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The Kailaka National Park was indeed beautiful, situated within a green valley south of the city, with a small river running through it, plenty of little wetland areas created for all kinds of critters and two artificial lakes at the top of the valley. A popular place for the good citicens of Pleven to come out to jog, cycle or walk their dogs.<br />
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And right next to the lower of the 2 lakes, inside a natural cave is the Pleven Wine Museum.<br />
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The Wine Anarchist got there a little early and since the weather was nice, he took his dog and his wife for a walk around the lakes. 11 o'clock came and went and nobody had showed up. He was starting to wonder, whether this was a completely wasted 200km trip he had embarked on. Finally at about a quarter to 12 someone opened the gates and he was let in in eager anticipation. They didn't even mind his dog coming in with him once he explained to the pleasant English speaking lady that the dog had a much better nose and was relied upon for giving judgements on wine tastings. <br />
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The Wine Anarchist had no qualms about paying a 5 Bulgarian Leva entrance fee (about €2.50), after all here was the promise of 5 galleries within the museum. Little did he know that the first gallery was the one he was in, which simply was the wine shop.<br />
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At least the young lady put a glass of wine into his hands, namely a Villa Rustika Chardonnay Sauvignon Blanc 2011 from the nearby Ch. Kailaka, which indeed was excellent. A very nice aromatic Sauvignon nose of gooseberry and elderflowers. Almost New Zealand style. The Chardonnay adds a bit of body and width to the wine. Good start. He swiftly moved onto the central gallery which consisted of a large round table with chairs around and a video screen.<br />
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The lovely asistant proceeded to put on a promotional video on the wine museum and the city of Pleven. It kind of told us the same as the promotional blurb on the website, but very little about Bulgarian wine, which would have been more interesting especially since he was about to see the museum itself with his own eyes, so why show a video wth all the exhibits in it beforehand?<br />
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From this central gallery the other 3 galleries come off. First the Wine Anarchist wandered off to is left to a gallery with yet another table and some barrels... old barriques to be precise...<br />
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He knocked on a couple of the barrels and they sounded hollow and empty to him... hmmm... not very interesting so far, seen plenty of those before and usually full. Hoping things would improve he wandered off into the gallery with the historical exhibits. Most exhibits, and there aren't that many in the first place, are simple pictures of wine related items going back to Thracian, Greek and Roman times. There were a couple of actual exhibits too as well as what looked like an illegal poteen still. It took all of 5 minutes careful study to complete the tour of that gallery. Here a the two highlights:<br />
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The final gallery contained bottles, mostly full, sticking horizontally from holes in the wall in order of their geographic regions.<br />
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No further explanations, no maps to show where these regions actually are, what their specific characteristics are, what grape varieties are grown there, soil types, climate, nothing, zero, zilch, niente! Now don't get me wrong, the Wine Anarchist likes looking at wine bottles as much as the next person, but if you don't know anything about the contents, looking at bottles quickly becomes very boring, especially if some of the labels are in undecipherable Cyrillic letters, or as in some of the older examples, there is no label at all!<br />
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So the only thing that could now safe the day was a tasting of some of these wines, followed by a possible purchase of some these treasures. As the Wine Anarchist approached the front desk again and timidly asked what else there was to taste, how about something else from this local winery for example, she recommended a Cabernet Mavrud from the same winery. The WA said that sounded interesting, which prompted the lovely assistant to wrap up the bottle and ask for 11 Leva. Confused, the WA said he thought he was going to be given a taste. "Oh no", she said, "there is nothing else open to taste at the moment."<br />
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Maybe as a booked group you would get better treatment. In fact the Wine Anarchist has plans of organising wine tours for foreigners in Bulgaria and was considering making this one of his stops. But as a visit for anyone visiting Bulgaria, this is not worth a detour and does not deserve the term museum. It's a wine shop in a pretty location. Do stop for the park if you happen to be passing, and if you're looking for a specific Bulgarian wine, you'll probably be able to find it here.<br />
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NB: The Wine Anarchist has found his camera again and replaced most of the images with his own. Heikohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17999245793961798308noreply@blogger.com0Pleven, Bulgaria43.4170423 24.6066846999999643.3247783 24.445323199999958 43.5093063 24.768046199999961tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1550043718107995247.post-51275516400030570712013-05-05T17:41:00.000+02:002013-05-05T17:41:22.883+02:00Frontier Wines<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Currently the Wine Anarchist is heading east into the Balkans. Bulgaria was his final destination, but he decided to take it easy, diverting off the infamous Autoput motorway which stretches from the Austrian border down to Greece and is the main artery connecting Bulgaria, Turkey and Greece with the west. Taking it in easy stages he fairly randomly picked the eastern-most corner of Croatia for an overnight stop. A quick search on the internet confirmed, that wines were produced around <a href="https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Ilok,+Croatia&hl=en&ie=UTF8&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=41.903538,79.013672&oq=Ilok,+&t=h&hnear=Ilok,+Vukovar-Syrmia+County+%C5%BEupanija,+Croatia&z=12" target="_blank">the town of Ilok</a> on the southern bank of the Danube, but he didn't know much about them at all.<br />
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In fact he knew very little about the wines of the territory of former Yugoslavia since they have split into several smaller states. All he remembered were some fairly indifferent 'Laszki Rizling', probably from what is now Slovenia. So this part of Croatia was a complete blank sheet for him.<br />
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As he steered his battered old Honda off the autoput his navigator told him to head for the town of Vukovar. Vague memories of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Vukovar" target="_blank">some attrocities happening here during the Yugoslav Wars</a> during the 1990's came to his mind, but the extend of the damage to this town still visible was shocking. Every house bore bullet holes, was damaged or destroyed by shell fire or had simply a fresh coat of paint. The inhabitants of the town followed his car with suspicious looks. He wondered if he made the right decision coming to this area...<br />
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As he turned right though, driving along the Danube, he spotted acres of vineyards along it's shores. The scenerey became friendlier, even though a storm was brewing overhead. Finally he arrived in the the remarkably pretty historic town of Ilok, the last place before you cross into Serbia. And it became immediately clear that the town was dominated by wine with signs for wineries on every street corner.<br />
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<br />The Wine Anarchist and his motley crew sought refuge at the<a href="http://www.hoteldunavilok.com/" target="_blank"> Hotel Dunav</a> right on the banks of the Danube, where he proceeded to have a dinner of perch pike, caught that morning by the hotel staff, washed down by a jug of very pleasant Grasevina, the local name for Welsh Riesling.<br />
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Next morning, on recommendation of the hotel staff, they went to visit the <a href="http://www.ilocki-podrumi.hr/" target="_blank">Stari Podrum winery</a>. Unfortunately their website does not do English.<br />
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The hotel staff were waxing lyrically about the Gewurztraminer they produced and it it turned out that this was a good recommendation. This winery is excellently equipped to look after wine tourists with an amazing looking restaurant (although the WA did not get to sample the food), accomodation, guided tours of the cellars in English, a friendly wine tasting and a shop. The tour and tasting are subject to a small fee.<br />
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One of our questions was why nearby Vukovar was so comprehensively destroyed during the war, whilst Ilok, 12km closer to the border had remained pristinely beautiful and seemingly untouched by the war. The answer was that the Serbs had taken Ilok without much resistance and it had remained in Serb hands for 7 years. The invisible damage they left behind for this particular winery was that historic large oak barrels were emptied for destillation and then left to rot. These irreplacable barrels will never be able to hold wine again as they dried out and started to rot.<br />
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Also the vineyards were left unattended, meaning that most of them needed replanting after the departure of the Serbs. This is a great shame as this winery is not only one of the the largest (with 380ha vineyard holding), but also the oldest winery in Coatia, established way back in 1450.<br />
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The cellar boasts large wine archives of historical vintages dating back to the Gewurztraminer 1948, which was served during the coronation of Queen Elizabeth the second herself. A proud moment for the winery. <br />
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All old vintages, except that one are actually for sale to the general public.<br />
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The 1948 is only served to any visiting heads of state to the area. The Wine Anarchist tried to explain to his guide that he had only just declared himself an independent republic, but was still not served said wine. He might break off diplomatic relations with Croatia in retaliation...<br />
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Anyway, what are the wines like I hear you shout! Well the WA learned that this was principly a white wine region with Welsh Riesling dominating the scene. His opinion of Welsh Riesling as opposed to the true Rhine Riesling had never been very high, so expectations were low. However he was looking forward to tasting some of the much lauded Gewurztraminer (locally known as Traminac). Here some notes of what was tasted:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD7bcEYswQPqTRKwqFDyBTjpfXqF2LOvw-OhI0CEBkyKDGoVJr7n06NqzzqD9Ac5YoxD25fJwhha7NC6R5AStEgM2Tb3PzPRdQ-X3bOFIbZr7uAezRh5uzGj-_J1XsL7FMZyOBO2KRG27A/s1600/G-vr.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD7bcEYswQPqTRKwqFDyBTjpfXqF2LOvw-OhI0CEBkyKDGoVJr7n06NqzzqD9Ac5YoxD25fJwhha7NC6R5AStEgM2Tb3PzPRdQ-X3bOFIbZr7uAezRh5uzGj-_J1XsL7FMZyOBO2KRG27A/s200/G-vr.jpg" width="149" /></a></div>
Grasevina Premium 2011: This was the Welsh Riesling, which actually turned out to be rather nice! Straw colour with greenish tinges; baked apple on the nose with hints of cinnamon; the palate revealing more ripe appley fruit a touch of spice, a creamy texture and a good mouthwatering acidity on a long finsh. Very nice indeed at E12.10. Silver Medal winner at Vinalles Internationales 2013 in Paris<br />
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Rainski Rizling (Rhine Riesling) 2011 Premium: Light golden in colour; the nose brings out classic slatey, minerally and steely Riesling characters; on the palate there is some residual sugar and plenty of lean Riesling steelyness but it lacks fruit and finishes fairly short. Welsh Riesling does seem to do better in this terroir.<br />
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Bielli Pinot (Pinot Blanc) 2010: Medium golden colour; the nose is rich and honeyed showing plenty of maturity already; the palate is rich soft yet dry with some vegetal undertones. The acidity is still just about holding on, but it was felt that this may just be a little over the top<br />
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Traminac (Gewurztraminer) 2011 Selected: Light golden colour; highly aromatic with rose petals and lychees dominating, classic gewurztraminer; the palate is gently spicy with notes of honey and exotic fruit. Soft acidity, dry with a long spicy finish giving balance to the wine. Jolly nice indeed! E4.70<br />
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Traminac 2011 Premium: Med.gold in colour; the nose is more intense with notes of fresh hay together with some lychee fruit and minerally notes; the palate is richer and fuller dosplaying more integrated aromatic notes and greater spicyness. This wine is complex long and well balanced. E9.40<br />
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Traminac Principovac 2009 'Vrhunsko Vino' (Top in): This late harvest Gewurztraminer displays a deep golden colour and a hugely intense bouquet of botrytis, honey, exotic fruit and fresh bread. The palate is medium sweet and concentrated with flavours of overripe apple, quince, lychee and honey. A good acdity and intense spice balance out the sweetness perfecly on a long, rich and satisfying finish This wine is an absolute delight and a deserved Gold Medal winner at the VINOFED. E15.20<br />
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Frankovka 2009: The one red that was tasted was the Frankovka, also known as Blaufraenkisch in Austria or Lemberger in the Wuertemberger region of Germany (a region the WA has close family ties with). The colour on this wine was a light ruby with a pale rim;the nose revealed fruit of the forest aromas with blueberry, blackberry and ripe plums dominan; the palate is light, fresh and lively with pleasant fresh fruit flavours and hints of smoky bacon. the finish is long with distinct notes of wild strawberries. A pleasing wine that could just be sipped on it's own. E4.50<br />
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*all price quotes ex-winery converted from Kunar into Euro.<br />
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All in all this turned out to be a very pleasant and educational visit. As Croatia is about to become a full member of the EU, it is recommended to visit this region, not only for it's wines, but also for it's historical sites and it's picturesque location on the Danube river and te Stari Podrum is certainly a good place to start exploring the region's wines.<br />
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Heikohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17999245793961798308noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1550043718107995247.post-91693548892960493612013-04-13T18:41:00.000+02:002013-04-13T18:41:44.887+02:00Trip to Le MarcheThe Wine Anarchist went on a wee trip to Le Marche recently. This wasn't primarily to taste wine, but just to visit some good friends. Since the region of Le Marche on the central east coast of Italy was the only blind spot on his travels around the Italian mainland (he has yet to visit Sardinia and Sicily and other islands), it seemed imprudent not to take in couple of the vineyards in the area. He visited the more remote northern half of the region (province of Urbino and Pessaro), whilst the best wines produced are in the south in the province of Ancona.<br />
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<span style="color: red;">Urbino</span></div>
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Now the Wine Anarchists knowledge of the wines of Le Marche was fairly limited before this trip. He still remembered the Verdicchio di Castelli di Jesi wines of the 1990's in fish-shaped bottles, suggesting they'd go particular well with fish. In most cases that was only the case if the fish tasted of nothing much either... He had tasted the odd Rosso Piceno too, which was quite pleasant and discovered that the Verdicchio grape in the right hands has the potential to produce some of the better white wines in Italy.</div>
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In his quest to find out more, the Wine Anarchist chose two wineries in striking distance to where he was staying near the Umbrian border, based on recommendations by the Gambero Rosso guide and the '<a href="http://www.movimentoturismovino.it/it/home/" target="_blank">Guida Ufficiale del Movimento Turismo del Vino</a>'. Being as he is, he failed to announce his visit to said wineries, which resulted in some disappointment as far as being able to taste the wines on site.</div>
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The first visit was in the small village of Barbara to the winery named after if: <a href="http://www.vinisantabarbara.it/index.htm" target="_blank">Santa Barbara</a>:</div>
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Winemaker Stefano Antonucci works miracles at this winery, producing wines of real character and power. It was set up in 1965 on the northern edge of the Verdiccio di Castello Jesi DOC area. Whilst the area is famous for white wines, this wineries real strength lies in their reds. Their top of the range is 'Il Maschio da Monte' (the Male of the Mountain'), a Montepulciano matured for 18 months in French barrique and regularly featuring amongst the 3 glass awards of the Gambero Rosso Guide to Italian wines.</div>
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Unfortunately when The Wine Anarchis arrived unannounced, they were having a bit of a staff shortage as a the lady normally conducting tastings had called in sick that morning... So they suggested he should take a little tasting case with him and taste the wines at leasure at home to get an impression of the wines. So he did, passing on the high price of the Maschio da Monte though at a hefty €35 a bottle. Now him and his family have finally got around tasting the wines and this was the result:</div>
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<li>'Pignocco' Verdiccio di Castelli Jesi DOC 2010</li>
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A light golden colour; honeyed aromas, quite intense with some warm herbal notes, minerals - altogether a mature bouquet; on the palate it is rich and herbal, soft and warn, but not hugely complex and quite short on the finish. In the opinion of the WA it needs to be drunk up soon, although it is still pleasant enough. €5.30 (all prices quoted from cellar door)<br />
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<li>Stefano Antonucci 'Le Vaglie' Verdiccio di Castelli Jesi Classico 2012</li>
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Pale straw with greenish tinge; delicate aroma of apricot stones and some minerally notes; On the palate it shows a decent weight, a lovely creamy texture, a touch of spice and more apricot fruit. The lively acidity carries this wine through to a long, mouth-watering finish. €9<br />
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<li>SensuaDe Rosato Marche IGT NV</li>
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This lush, deep coloured rosé is made from a blend of Lacrima Moro d'Alba, Vernaccia di Pergola and Moscato Rosso. Now The Wine Anarchist must confess that he hasn't come across the former two grapes either. The Lacrima... blablabla (bit of a mouthful of a name!), does indeed not as the name might suggest come from Alba in Piemonte, but from the town of <a href="https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Morro+D%27alba,+Province+of+Ancona,+Italy&hl=en&sll=44.157117,9.944379&sspn=0.030358,0.054159&oq=Moro+d%27Alba&hnear=Morro+D%27alba,+Province+of+Ancona,+Marche,+Italy&t=m&z=14" target="_blank">Moro d'Alba in Le Marche</a> and is therefore a local variety not much seen away from home.Vernaccia di Pergola is a red variant of the Vernaccia grape of San Gimignano fame, whilst Moscato comes in sort of colours and adds aromatic notes. As far as the Wine Anarchist is aware, none of those grape varieties are deeply coloured, suggesting quite a lengthy period of skin contact during the fermentation process to produce such a deep pink colour, which could almost count as red in some cooler red wine region. <br />
The nose on this gorgeous wine reveals overripe peaches and pears as well as pomegranate and dark cherry notes; on the palate there is a slight hint of CO2 freshining up things nicely. There are oodles of ripe fruit, aromatic rose petal notes, sweet strawberry and a long slightly herbal finish (rosemary was suggested by Conspiracy Cousin). Whilst displaying sweet fruit it is completely dry with a decent body for a rosé. After swilling it around the glass for a good while, finally the Moscato shows through too. A lovely wine that would do very nicely with chicken or braised lamb at cellar temperature. €8.80<br />
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<li>'Pignocco' Marche Rosso IGT 2011</li>
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A blend of Montepulciano, Cabernet, Merlot and Moscato Rosso. A medium ruby colour; on the nose there's a distinct aroma of blueberries, cinnamon and nutmeg as well as some aromatic notes from the moscato and some forest floor aromas... slightly damp leaf and forest mushroom; the palate reveals more nutmeg and allspice and a good ripe fruit balanced by some ripe tannins. It is a well made, medium-bodied wine, which would go very nicely with a dish of wild mushrooms (or a bit of turkey and cauliflower, as we will try it with tonight...) €6.30<br />
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<li>San Bartolo Marche Rosso IGT 2010</li>
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A single vineyard offering made from Montepulciano, Merlot and Cabernet, matured for 2 years in large oak barrels. Deep ruby in colour; the nose brings out scents of vanilla and warm herbs such as taragon and mugwort (both part of the artemisia family of course) as well as some more forest floor / fungal notes; on the palate this wine is full and spicy (chilli was suggested even!) with fairly marked tannins which currently are masking the fruit a bit. However there is a long mouth-watering finish suggesting a good future. Good match for some medium rare roast beef! €7.30<br />
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<li>Stefano Antonucci Marche Rosso IGT 2010</li>
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A blend of Montepulciano, Merlot and Cabernet. A deep ruby / purple colour; intense ripe fruit on the nose, plums, cherries, blackberries as well as some smoky spice and sweet herbs; the taste covers every part of the palate with more luscious fruit flavours and simply ripe black grapes (sometimes it almost comes as surprise that wine tastes of grapes!) with perfectly balanced tannins and acidity finishing long and pleasantly. A stunning wine... I wish now I had bought a bottle of their Il Maschio da Monte too... :( €12.10<br />
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The second winery the Wine Anarchist visited that day was just 5km down the road just outside the village of Ostra Vetere,<br />
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the <a href="http://www.villabucci.com/Default.aspx" target="_blank">Azienda Vinicola Bucci</a>. <br />
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Now they are better known for their excellent white wine, although their reds aren't bad either. Their Verdicchio di Castelli Jesi has won 3 glass awards in the Gambero Rosso Guide 10 times and won the Best White Wine of the Year Award in 2005. This winery has been in existence since 1700 or so, so they should know what they are doing. Unlike Santa Barbara they concentrate their efforts on just 4 wines: a 'basic' white and red and a riserva each. Since 2002 they have started cultivating their 14 hectares under vine organically, although they are not certified. All riserva wines are aged in large oak barrels as to not to distract from the real taste of the terroir. Gambero Rosso claims that their riserva Verdiccio is as close as you will get to the perfect example of this grape. This time the Wine Anarchist and his wife (and dog) were welcomed warmly for a tasting, although due to the slightly iffy weather conditions a visit to the vineyards was postponed to next time they'd be in the area.<br />
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<ul>
<li>Bucci Verdicchio di Castelli di Jesi Classico Superiore 2011</li>
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This wine spent 6 months in large barrels, it displays delicate, fresh aromas of white blossoms; on the palate it shows a fine structure and some nice ripe fruit hinting of dried apricots as well as some sweet herbal notes. The finish is long and pleasant. €10<br />
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<li>Villa Bucci Riserva Verdiccio di Castelli di Jesi Classico 2008</li>
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This wine really shows the ageing potential of the Verdiccio grape. It spent 2 years in large barrels and 2 years in bottle. Rather than selecting grapes from particular sites for their riserva, the wines from the 5 separate vineyard plots are vinified separately and the best barrels of each year will be used to create this wine. It displays hugely intense minerally notes, reflecting the calcareous soil it was grown on. There is a smoky flintyness reminiscent of the best Chablis combined with some ripe apricot fruit. The palate is full, rich and intense with distinct spicy notes and a huge minerally and steely finish. Whilst it easily compared to Grand Cru Chablis, the price unfortunately is also similar at €25 ex-cellar door. Great wine, but maybe a bit on the pricey side.<br />
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<li>Tenuta Pongelli Rosso Piceno DOC 2010</li>
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50% Montepulciano / 50% Sangiovese, matured for 10 months in large oak (35-40hl). This is a soft wine with ripe fruit-of-the-forest characters. It has a good concentration and balance, with some tart redcurrant-like fruit. The finish is long and pleasant. A good wine, but perhaps not quite worth its €10 price tag.<br />
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<li>Villa Bucci Rosso Piceno Riserva DOC 2008</li>
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The riserva ismade up of a blend of 70% Montepulciano and 30% Sangiovese, which is matured for 2 1/2 years in large oak barrels. The nose reveals a bouquet of sweet fruit and distinct herbal notes, particularly basil and parsley; On the palate it is not too full, but with intense and concentrated spice, herbs and sweet fruit flavours, finishing very long. This wine is still youthfull and will continue to imrove and get more complex for some years to come. Probably the best value for money from this winery at €20 a bottle. <br />
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I bought a few bottles to re-taste and will update this post with more detailed tasting notes when I get around.<br />
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After that exhausting morning of wine tasting we retired for lunch at the excellent <a href="https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Via+Cavallara,+Mondavio&hl=en&ll=43.745305,12.98378&spn=0.24455,0.433273&sll=44.157117,9.944379&sspn=0.030358,0.054159&hq=Via+Cavallara,&hnear=Mondavio,+Province+of+Pesaro+and+Urbino,+Marche,+Italy&t=m&z=11&iwloc=A" target="_blank">trattoria Maria</a> in nearby Mondavio. It's a little bit of the way, but in his quest to taste some more local flavours, the Wine Anarchist ordered a bottle of 'Ciprea' Offida DOC Pecorino 2010 from Poderi Capecci in San Savino<br />
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The Wine Anarchist has had wine from the Pecorino grape before in Abruzzo, but never from this particular DOC. The colour was deep golden with some green reflections. On the nose there was a bouquet of overripe pears and some minerally notes. The palate was full and rich with some sweet fruit flavours, yet finishing long and dry. A really interesting and different wine that went particularly well with the Gnocchi with a strips of pork and carrot as well as the secondo of sweet and sour pork with onion and courgette. Another interesting discovery.Heikohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17999245793961798308noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1550043718107995247.post-12512438288263370302013-04-12T13:17:00.000+02:002013-04-12T13:17:40.034+02:00The Perfect Wine GlassThere's been much discussion as to the shape, size and functionality of the perfect wine glass. Riedel design a different glass for each wine. This one seems to me a great compromise design...<br />
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<br />Heikohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17999245793961798308noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1550043718107995247.post-67677783784017304182013-04-08T22:44:00.001+02:002013-04-12T13:11:24.654+02:00Critical Wine Montaretto 2013<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The Wine Anarchist has been to many wine events, fairs, tastings and such like during his long and illustrious career, but this particular event ranks amongst his favourites. Each year over the Easter weekend the sleepy hillside village of <a href="https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Montaretto,+Bonassola&hl=en&sll=44.157117,9.944379&sspn=0.03436,0.055189&hnear=Montaretto,+Province+of+La+Spezia,+Liguria,+Italy&t=m&z=16" target="_blank">Montaretto, above the seaside resort of Bonassola in the Province of La Spezia in Liguria </a>livens up to the sound of music and the boisterous crowd attending the Critical Wine Fair.<br />
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The organisers, 'Terra e Liberta', have set out to give a platform to small wine producers, especially those who produce organic wines. Many of the producers are in fact so small that they can't afford to get organic certification. Some 30 producers from all over Italy have turned up for this year's event.<br />
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What the Wine Anarchist particularly likes about this event is the informality of it. No pin-stripe suits or shirt ties in evidence anywhere as he was accustomed to in his days when he plied his trade in London. Nooo, you are more likely to see jeans and dreadlocks at this event! And much jolliness on the streets as people drank out of their glasses they were supplied with at the entrance.<br />
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...or failing that, simply straight from the neck:<br />
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...and the Wine Anarchist made new friends. Here you can see him on the left of the picture:<br />
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As you can see the weather wasn't so good this year. Easter Sunday was great, but we opted to go on Easter Monday, where plenty of alcohol was required to keep warm.<br />
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Anyway, whilst the WA was trying to elbow his way through the crowds he tried to keep up some pretence of professionalism and attempted to write some notes on the wines so as to be able to communicate some of them to his readers. So here are some of my personal highlights (all the producers mentioned are organic):<br />
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<a href="http://www.ilcerchiobio.it/HomeEng.html" target="_blank"><b>Vignaioli di Maremma 'Il Cerchio'</b></a><br />
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<b> </b>In 1988 Corinna and Valentino and their son Beniamino from Milan bought a 9 ha estate in the Maremma in southern Tuscany. They started producing wine initially commuting between Milan and <a href="https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Capalbio,+Province+of+Grosseto,+Italy&hl=en&sll=44.157117,9.944379&sspn=0.03436,0.055189&oq=Capalbio&hnear=Capalbio,+Province+of+Grosseto,+Tuscany,+Italy&t=m&z=11" target="_blank">Capalbio</a>, but after 4 years they moved south permanently to cultivate the land full-time and organically from the outset. The wines they produce are impressive and well worth of note:<br />
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<li><u>Ansonica Costa dell Argentario DOC 2011</u> - To some readers the Ansonica grape is better known as the Inzolia of Sicilian fame, but here it makes it's northern most appearance in the southern coastal strip of Tuscany as well as on the island of Elba. This particular offering also contains 10% of Vermentino, which is ubiquitous along the whole Riviera coast. The wine is quite full-bodied with a marked mineralilty. Dried apricot fruit pervades the palate and lingers on a long, soft and warm finish. It weighs in at a hefty 14% AbV. On the stand it was sold at €7, which counts as a bargain to the WA for this great wine.</li>
<li><u>Valmarina Sangiovese IGT Maremma Toscana</u> 2010 - 85% Sangiovese with 15% Alicante. Ruby colour with a good tannic structure underpinned with some lovely ripe bitter cherry fruit and a tart long finish.</li>
<li>Tinto Alicante IGT Maremma Toscana 2010 - Alicante is the local name for what is known as Cannonau in Sardinia or Garnacha in Spain or Grenache in France. The grape came to southern Tuscany from Spain in the 16th century. This wine has a deep ruby colour with purple reflections. The nose displays rich fruit of the forest characters. It is full-bodied with a meaty texture and rich spicy notes. The lovely rich fruit is underpinned by a good tannic structure. Hugely intense and warm. An excellent and unusual wine recalling the wines of the Priorat in Catalunya. €11 a bottle.</li>
</ul>
There were a number of producers from Piemonte amongst them the family concern of the <a href="http://www.castelloconti.it/" target="_blank">Cantine del Castello Conti in Maggiora in the province of Novara</a>. This little family run business cultivates a mere hectare of vines in the little known DOC region of Boca just south of the Italian lake region. Father Ermanno established the company in 1963. After his wife gave birth to a third girl he despaired. He needed a son to take over the business, but the 3 sisters proved him wrong. Since they have taken over they created the new brand name of 'Rosso delle Donne'. At the show they had 2 wines on offer:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Colline Novaresi Nebbiolo DOC 2010 - A light orangey colour, light in body, but delicate and elegant with aromas and flavours of sweet and ripe wild strawberry but with a marked acidity. The finish is long and dry. €8</li>
<li>Boca DOC 2005 - This was my first wine from this DOC, but it brings to mind the wines of the Valtellina, displaying more elegance rather than the power of Barolo or Barbaresco. The wine is made of 75% Nebbiolo, 20% Vespolino and 5% of Uva Rara, which is also known as Bonarda Novarese. The colour is garnet red, showing it's age. It has intense minerally caharcters, reflecting the volcanic soils on which it is grown. The fruit is like the basic wine of sweet wild strawberries, much more intense. The tannins are starting to integrate nicely and the acidity is in balance making this a really enjoyable elegant wine. However at €23 a bottle it is also on the pricey side...</li>
</ul>
Also from Piemonte hails <a href="http://www.trimillii.it/vino-biologico-italia/spaventapasseri.htm" target="_blank">Lo Spaventapasseri ('The Scarecrow') in Mombaruzzo in the province of Asti</a>. <br />
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I didn't taste all their wines (there's a limit on how much the Wine Anarchist can consume in a day...), but this was a selection of their wines:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Vino Rosato da Tavola Pinot Nero 'Rugiada' - a lovely aromatic, delicate and fresh rosato with hints of rose petals on the nose, a tingling acidity and a long finish. Only a Vino da Tavola, because Pinot Nero is not considered traditional in the region.</li>
<li>Freisa d'Asti DOC 2011 - Freisa is one of the lesser known grape varieties of Piemonte producing wines of considerable tannins and acidity, like the Nebbiolo. This offering has marked notes of eucalyptus and a big structure which needs some time to open up and come into it's own. It's promising a good future though with some underlying sweet fruit and a long finish.</li>
<li>Cento Filari 'Piasi' Appasito - This absolutely stunning dessert wine is made from semi-dried Barbera, Freisa and Aleatico grapes. The colour is light ruby. The nose reveals sweet chocolate raisins, sweet overripe strawberries and stewed plums. It only weighs in at 13% AbV. The palate is sweet without being cloying and balanced by a great acidity. The texture is smooth as silk and some tannins further help to keep the wine in balance. This would do very nicely with a a light chocolate dessert.</li>
</ul>
Also from Piemonte was La Corte Solidale from Berzano in the Province of Alba. Unfortunately they don't seem to have a website, but they can be contacted on <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">cortesolidale@gmail.com, 0131 806084. I only tasted one of their wines (I was flagging a bit...), which was very good indeed, their <b>Barbera 'Selvatico'.</b> Selvatico meaning wild, i.e. no additives at all and wild yeast fermentation. This wine had real flinty, minerally characters and some wild berry and sweet strawberry fruit. It showed great character and length and was good value at €7.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">From the Abruzzo hailed <a href="http://www.laterratrema.org/vignaioli-e-agricoltori/abruzzo/rasicci-emanuele/" target="_blank">Emanuele Rasicci from the aptly named Contraguerra (against war! where else in the world do they name a place 'Against War'?) in the province of Teramo</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">He wasn't really bored, this is just his photogenic pose... He showed these wines:</span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Bianco Controguerra DOC - Made from 50 Tebbiano d'Abruzzo, 25% Passerina and 25% Pecorino. This wine is delicate with some earthy characters and dry flinty notes. There is little fruit, but marked minerality</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Rosato Montepulciano, which was pleasant delicate and fresh</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">3 vintages of Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Colline Teramane DOCG. The Colline Teramane sub-region is considered the best part of the Abruzzo for Montepulciano and has therefore been elevated to DOCG status (as opposed to simply DOC for the rest of Montepulciano... It's all a bit technical... I'll explain another time). First came the the still youthful 2010, with nice red berry fruit and a good structure and backbone. The 2009 displayed more mature plum fruit flavours and some complex herbal notes with a long finish. The 2007 to my mind, whilst showing some nice mature bouquet of wild herbs, the fruit was drying out a little and may just be a tad over the hill. The 2 younger vintages sold at a very reasonable €5 whilst the 2007 at €7.</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"> Emilia Romagna was represented by <a href="http://www.gualdora.it/" target="_blank">Gualdora from Ziano Piacentini in the province of Piacenza</a>. </span><br />
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This winery has only been going since 2008 but has been an absolute revelation and a real tribute to good winemaking. The stars of this selection for me were the the Blanca 2012 and the na' de na'.<br />
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<ul>
<li>Blanca Colli Piacentino DOC Malvasia Frizzante 2012 - The Malvasia used in this wine is Malvasia di Candia Aromatica, which has almost Moscato-like aromas. The nose is floral, with elderflower and lemon blossom aromas. The palate is lightly fizzy with juicy lemon fruit and a long appealing finish, yet absolutely dry. This can just be sipped on a sunny day on the terrace or as an apperitivo. An absolute stunner! Give another bottle of this sensuous stuff to the Wine Anarchist any day and he'll be a happy man!</li>
<li>OTTO Colli Piacenti DOC Gutturnio Superiore DOC 2011 - A 60/40 blend of Barbera and Croatina (the local name for Bonarda) this has rich ripe fruit and a silky texture finishing long.</li>
<li>Val Tidone Rosso IGT 2010 - 70% Barbera, 20% Bonarda (and 10% something else, unless I was to drunk to pay proper attention...) aged for 14 months in French Barrique. This wine is rich and full with marked vanilla oak spice, dark chocolate notes and a long finish. It'll need a couple of years to come together in my view.</li>
<li>na' de na' 2011 Vino Rosso - na' de na' is dialect for absolutely nothing and refers to the fact that it is completely additive free and fermented with wild yeasts. Another example that it is perfectly possible to produce a commercial wine without the aid of additives. If you want to be critical of this wine, it showed a slight cloudiness, but that did not take away from the aromas and flavours of this well made wine. It's made from 80% Bonarda and 20% Barbera, a third of which has been aged for 14 months in barrique (not new). Dark chocolate notes and rich ripe fruit finish in a long tart finish. Complimenti! </li>
</ul>
NB: On re-tasting the wine at home, we found a brilliantly clear wine. At first the wine shows a very tight structure with notes of basil thyme and eucalyptus. It needs to be open for a couple of hours before the richer fruit flavours show themselves. It would be interesting to see what it would be like in a couple of years time.<br />
<br />
Lazio presented another little surprise package in the <a href="http://www.poderegrecchi.com/" target="_blank">Podere Grecchi from Vittorchiano in the province of Viterbo </a><br />
This estate was set up in 1973 as a traditional nut and cereal farm by Carlo Buzzi. In 2005 his 2 sons Massimo and Sergio, two guys after my own heart, turned it into a wine estate making excellent commercial wines from mostly international grape varieties. If that sounds boring, i.e. who wants yet another Chardonnay or Merlot, try these wines, which might just convert you from an ABC (AnythingButChardonnay) drinker to really appreciating these wines again. <br />
<ul>
<li>Poggio Grecchi 2012 Lazio IGT Chardonnay - This actually contains 10% Sauvignon Blanc and it really shows. The colour is pale golden. The nose is highly aromatic and lively with great gooseberry, pineapple and lychee fruit. The fruit carries through on the palate, broadening nicely; There is a fresh acidity and a decent length. This, in the humble opinion of the Wine Anarchist, is not far off a good white Bordeaux at a mere €5... AND organic too. What more can you ask for?</li>
<li>Poggio Ferrone Colli Etruschi Viterbesi DOC 2011 - This is made from Merlot with just a splash of Cabernet. The colour is a deep ruby. The aroma distinctly recalls freshly ground coffee as well as some blackberry and plum fruit. The palate carries on with a sweet plum fruit and some nice vanilla spicyness, which I'm assured does not come from barrel ageing as the wine only sees stainless steel during its maturation. For a Merlot it also has a firm structure and a long, juicy finish. Really well made wine, also at a bargain €5.</li>
</ul>
Do check out the links on the different coloured text for more info on the wineries, where to visit them and how to get hold of their wines. They all deserve your support.<br />
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And finally, as this is my first blogpost and just to give you a final impression of the atmosphere in Monateretto a little video of some drunken revelers dancing. If you find yourself at a loss for something to do at Easter next year, come to Montaretto. you can even pitch your tent on the local football pitch.<br />
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<br />Heikohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17999245793961798308noreply@blogger.com3