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Daily Glass: Beautiful Israeli Wines
Let’s start with a few questions.
First: what do you like more – selecting the wine to be opened or just drinking the wine? Feel free to dismiss this question as “stupid” and ask for the next. But in my world, before the bottle is brought to the table to be opened, I take special pleasure in looking for the right bottle for the occasion. Who are the people you will be sharing the wine with? What type of wine do they like? Maybe more importantly, what wines do they not like? What is the actual occasion? These are all important questions to consider – the wine has to bring pleasure, and as a self-designated “wine person”, it is your job to ensure that it will.
The second question is also not very difficult: how do you select the wine? So you know the occasion, you probably have an idea of what type of wine you would like to bring (sparkling, red, white, Rosé, dessert, all of the above), but how do you decide on the exact wine to bring? Even if you decided that you will bring a Pinot Noir, there are tens/hundreds/more choices from all different regions, different wineries, different vintages. You can always grab the bottle with the label that speaks to you in a given moment, but sometimes, you want to go a little deeper.
Let’s go a little deeper.
The occasion was a Shabbat dinner. The house we were visiting is not ultra-religious, so technically, we could bring any wine. At the same time, I love Israeli wines, but drink them typically only during the Jewish holidays, so this was an opportunity to enjoy a bottle of an Israeli wine on a regular Friday, and I couldn’t let it pass.
Israeli wines are tricky – the inexpensive ones are not always good (chances of finding good Rioja or Côte du Rhone on the budget are a lot higher than an Israeli wine), and the expensive ones are … expensive and also not easy to find. Yes, I would love to bring Domaine du Castel or Yatir Forest, but I was not ready to spend that much, and again, finding those wines is a challenge.
So that was my attempt to select wine by the region and the winery. My next idea – let’s try a specific winemaker.
The brain’s work is mysterious. Of course, I’m not a brain scientist, whatever such a person should be called. But I’m not sure even a “brain scientist” can explain how information is processed by our brain to become memorable and impactful. Some years ago, I heard the name – Ido Lewinsohn, the garagiste winemaker from Tel Aviv, founder of the first “cult” Israeli winery. His wines were impossible to find – my friends in Israel managed to get me a bottle of his Garage de Papa Rouge, which I kept for a long time and then finally drank at some point (the wine was good, but I never wrote about it). Maybe it was the word “cult” that made such a lasting impression, but the name Ido Lewinsohn got stuck in my head.
While searching for a worthy wine for the dinner, I decided to search for the “Lewinsohn” too – what if his wines are now imported into the US? I didn’t find Garage de Papa wines, but to my delight, I discovered that after getting his Master of Wine degree (the second person in Israel to do so!), Ido is now working as the winemaker at Barkan and Segal wineries. Another search on the KosherWine.com website and voila – I got my dilemma solved – Segal wine it is!
I got four bottles of Segal wines—two to bring for dinner and two to celebrate the Passover holiday.
First, 2019 Segal Native Marawi Single Vineyard Judean Hills (11% ABV, $24.49, Marawi grape). Six years old white wine can be a challenge in itself – but this wine was not. The wine had a beautiful golden color, an intense nose of the whitestone fruit, which followed by the plump, roll-of-your-tongue nectar with explicit notes of white plums and cherry plums, fresh, intense, elegant, with a whiff of honey and cleansing acidity. The wine was a “crowd-pleaser” and disappeared in no time (Drinkability: 8+). In a blind tasting, my guess would be Marsanne/Roussane, and I would be very surprised to learn that I was wrong. An extra bonus – a rare grape I never had before.
Our second wine of the evening was 2021 Segal Petit Unfiltered Cabernet Sauvignon Galilee (13.5% ABV, $48.99). Dark garnet color, a restrained nose with a hint of black currant and explicit minerality. On the palate, the wine was old world in style, more of a young Bordeaux, crisp, fresh, edgy, with a good core of dark fruit and noticeable but balanced tannins. Excellent minerality, excellent acidity, excellent balance. In one word, superb. Second word – elegant. ( Drinkability: 8+).
Then there was a holiday Passover dinner, where another two bottles went into a play. These were as classic as they get – a Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon.
2023 Segal Special Reserve Chardonnay Galilee (12.5% ABV, $19.99) was a perfect, classic, middle-of-the-road Chardonnay. Straw pale color, apples on the nose, apples with a hint of vanilla and a touch of Meyer’s lemon on the palate, round, clean, fresh, good acidity, an excellent balance. This was not a Chardonnay to knock your socks off, but this was a Chardonnay I would be happy to drink on any occasion. (Drinkability: 8)
Last but not least, 2023 Segal Special Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon Galilee (12.5% ABV, $20.99). Dark ruby color, a hint of black currant on the nose. The palate was interesting, offering a touch of warm cinnamon and baking spices woven around a layer of plump dark fruit. The wine had all the traits of Lodi Cabernet Sauvignon, which usually has this warm cinnamon and spices – I also experienced a very similar taste profile with some of the Chinon Cabernet Franc. I don’t know if this is a terroir or if this is a specific Cabernet clone, but the resemblance was well noticeable. (Drinkability: 8- )
There you are, my friends. Four beautiful wines from Israel, perfect for any occasion, or any special day, especially those whose name ends with a “y”.
How do you select your wines? Do you have any favorite Israeli wines?
Daily Glass: Double Lucky, Coast to Coast
Wine is meant for sharing.
How do you share the wine? Well, that depends.
Of course, everyone knows the best way. Get together around the table. Open the wine. Pour into glasses. Sip, savor, enjoy the conversation.
This is the best way. But sometimes, it is not the easiest way. For example, when one person lives on the East Coast and another on the West Coast. What is the best way to share the wine then? Yes, nowadays, it is easy to speak with your friends no matter where they are – and not only talk, but you can see each other too, that’s a given. But still, how do you share the wine?
If you are lucky, you both might have the same bottle of wine. And you can be even double-lucky – especially if you have the right bottle, such as No Girls Double Lucky #8.
Talking about all the luck(s), there are a few here at play. Both my friend Wendy and I had the same bottle of wine available to us. Moreover, we had the bottle from the same vintage – 2019. Now, barring all the bottle variations, we were basically sharing the exact same bottle of wine – never mind 2,500 miles apart, as Wendy lives in Seattle.
Double Lucky wine was released during the pandemic, in 2021, and I was lucky enough not only to get a bottle of the inaugural 2017 vintage (all people on the No Girls mailing list received a bottle of Double Lucky for free), but also to attend a zoom call with Christophe Baron, the creator and owner of Cayuse wines and of the Cayuse “side branches” such as No Girls, Horsepower and others, and Elizabeth Bourcier, the winemaker – you can find my detailed impressions here. If you will read that post, you will find out that I was rather torn on the 2017 vintage.
2018 Double Lucky fared a lot better in my book, and it even made it to the Top Two Dozen of 2022 as wine number 19. And now, the 2019.
The 2019 No Girls Double Lucky #8 Walla Walla Valley (13.7% ABV, 34% Grenache, 33% Syrah, 33% Tempranillo, 21 months in neutral French oak) had a playful color, going from dark garnet to the crimson red, depending on the lighting. On the nose, on the first whiff, you can only talk about the rocks – the wine has a really profound minerality. Next, there is a hint of barnyard – just enough for those who like it, and we managed to agree with Wendy that we both love that little (or even not so little) funk on the nose – it makes the wine all the better (don’t talk to me about Brett). And then there were some cherries also present on the nose.
On the palate, the wine was all so interesting. We spoke with Wen for about 2 hours (wines, politics, families, popcorn, more wines – you know, just two friends catching up), and during these 2 hours, the wine kept changing. At first, the wine showed green bite, like chewing on the little branches of the wood (Elizabeth Bourcier is a big fan of whole cluster fermentation, and while it sounds wonderful, every time I hear the term, I almost cringe). After about 20 minutes, the green notes were gone, and the wine just had sweet cherries, olive tapenade, and rocks, lots of rocks. About an hour later, taking another sip, I suddenly discovered my beloved pepper! I love peppery notes of Syrah, this is an absolute hallmark in my book, so the wine definitely made me happy – and of course, it evoked memories of Michel Chapoutier Mathilda Shiraz, one of the most peppery Syrah renditions I ever tasted.
All in all, it was a great evening of wine and conversation – a double lucky we might even say, pun intended.
Never mind the distance – open a bottle and call your friends.
Until the next time – cheers!
Brunello di Montalcino 2020: Captivating, Bright, Succulent
Benvenutto Brunello is one of my favorite wine tasting to attend. If you like Italian wines, Brunello needs no introduction (and if you don’t, I’m not sure we can be friends) – one of the 3 big Bs of Italian winemaking – Barolo, Barbaresco, and Brunello.
Brunello is an epitome of the expression of the best known Italian red grape – Sangiovese. The Sangiovese growing in the Brunello di Montalcino proper is considered a clone – Sangiovese Grosso, but it is a Sangiovese nevertheless.
Brunello de Montalcino appellation is almost square, all located around the hill crowned with the town of Montalcino, with vineyards densely occupying 5,189 acres and located at various altitudes over a range of different soils. Different microclimate conditions, terroirs, guarantee a great diversity of styles among 200 or so producers in Brunello di Montalcino DOCG. Another interesting appellation within Brunello proper is Rosso di Montalcino DOC, occupying 2,124 acres (after expansion in 2020) of dedicated vineyards (Rosso DOC vineyards are only used for production of Rosso di Montalcino DOC). Take a look at this wonderful video providing an excellent overview of the Brunello di Montalcino region:
Gabrielle Gorelli, MW, led our highly informative Brunello Masterclass, providing a detailed overview of the 2020 vintage and the changes in vintage assessment that just went into effect.
The 2020 was a pivotal vintage for Brunello di Montalcino. Not because of the Brunello 2020 wines per se, but because of the fundamental changes made in assessment of the 2020 vintage and all future vintages to come.
Until 2020, Brunello di Montalcino vintages had quality assessment specified with the stars (from 1 to 5 stars) and a short slogan characterizing the vintage. For example, the 2014 vintage had a rating of 3 stars and was called “Grace under pressure”. 2015 had a rating of 5 stars, and it was called “Power and Purity”; the 2016 vintage was also rated 5 stars and called “Finesse and depth”.
The 2020 Brunello vintage marks the end of the star ratings – this is the last vintage awarded a star rating (5 stars, in case you are wondering). Instead, Consorzio Brunello di Montalcino is introducing Brunello Forma, which will only provide a verbal description of the vintage moving forward.
A significant amount of effort went into the creation of the new system. 39 weather stations were installed around the region to collect the microclimate data. Historical data of the past 12 years were collected and a significant number of samples from the past vintages were blind tasted to come up with the set of data which will allow to make vintage assessment more scientific, I guess.
To come up with the vintage verbal assessment, a panel of industry experts (masters of wine, wine distributors, wine writers) ran extensive tasting of the 2020 wines, then collected and processed a large number of descriptors used by the panel members to crystallize the 2020 Brunello vintage description into these three words:
Captivating, Bright, Succulent
As an engineer at heart, I’m not a fan of words. Simple numerical (3 stars, 92) or verbal (fair, good, very good) rating quickly gives me everything I need to know about the vintage in general – captivating or succulent doesn’t set my expectations about a given wine – not now, and especially, not in the future.
However, as it was explained later on during the dinner with Giacomo Bartolommeo, Brunello winemaker at Caprili, the star ratings were hurting the wineries, as wine buyers preferred to ignore wines from 3-star vintages and focus on acquiring better-rated vintages, without much regard to the qualities of the particular wine. Moving to verbal descriptors eliminates the opportunity for a quick rating-based decision. Well, winemakers are in the business of selling their wines, so it is not my place to complain or judge.
Then, of course, there were wines. I have to say that in the traditional Italian style (please take no offence), the tasting order was changed by our presenter, Gabrielle Gorelli, MW, compared to the order written on the notes page. However, I have to say that our tasting order was definitely the right one, showing progression from very tight and lean wines to wines that were softer and more approachable now. I attended both seminars, so below are my notes:
Morning Seminar
Col D’Orcia Brunello di Montalcino 2020
Ruby Color
Interesting nose, sapidity, earthy undertones, leather
Tart is the first sensation; tart cherries, expressive tannins, crisp acidity
Pian Delle Querci Brunello di Montalcino 2020 (36 months in Slavonian oak)
Dark ruby color
Sweet cherries, perfumy, very playful
Not as tart as the previous wine, but has very explicit tannins, good acidity, but lacking fruit, very lean
Carpineto Brunello di Montalcino 2020 (vineyards planted on the oldest soils, 3 years in big oak barrels)
Garnet color
Sweet tobacco, cherries, plums, attractive
Initially showed beautiful cherries, the tartness kicked in, followed by very dry finish with big but well integrated tannins
Marchesi Frescobaldi Castelgiocondo Brunello di Montalcino 2020 (single vineyard, aged in big casks)
Garnet color
Beautiful nose, elegant, perfumy, with a touch of sweet cherries.
Tart cherries on the palate, herbs, tart finish with well pronounced tannings.
San Polo Podernovi Brunello di Montalcino 2020 (30 months in light-toast 40hl casks)
Garnet color with bright reddish hues
Beautiful nose, elegant, perfumy, sweet cherries, eucalyptus.
Tart cherries, tannins are overwhelming, but the most elegant finish so far.
Probably can be enjoyed now after decanting
La Poderina Brunello di Montalcino 2020
Dark Garnet
Playful, bright red fruit, cherries, herbs, sweet oak.
Palate is a tad bitter, strange, had to swallow the wine instead of spitting to establish that it was not corked. Overall, not bad, but the nose is way better than the palate.
Collematoni Brunello di Montalcino 2020
Dark ruby color, beautiful
Beautiful nose, sweet fruit, cherries, sage, beautiful.
The best palate so far – round, with sweet and tart cherries, elegant, delicious.
8+
2020 Podere Brizio Brunello di Montalcino 2020 (38 months in oak)
Dark garnet
Beautiful, open, sweet fruit, sweet cherries, pencil shavings.
Tart cherries, explicit balsamic notes, succulent, mouthwatering, round, delicious, beautiful, superb.
8+
My favorite two wines of the morning seminar:
Afternoon seminar
Sanlorenzo Brunellodi Montalcino 2020 (aged in oak for about 3 years)
Garnet color
Beautiful, sweet fruit, cherries, dark undertones, earthiness.
Intense fruit quickly dissipates into very tart, very high expression tannins and acidity on the finish. Super-lean.
Mocali Brunello di Montalcino 2020
Dark garnet
Interesting nose, maybe racy is a good descriptor? Garrigue, some cherries show up a bit later.
Lots of sweet cherries which instantly disappear, but the finish is a bit less tart than the previous wine.
La Magia Brunello di Montalcino 2020
Very dark, practically black, darkest of the tasting so far
The nose is restrained, earthy and herbaceous
Sweet cherries, sweet oak, then tart, acidic, and ultra-tannic on the finish, very dry
Sassodisole Brunello di Montalcino 2020 (minimum 24 months in oak)
Dark Garnet
Cherries, sage, perfume, nice and open
Tart cherries, leather, well-integrated tannins
So far, the most approachable wine of the tasting
Camigliano Paesaggio Inatteso Brunello di Montalcino 2020 (30 months in oak barrels, 10 months in cement tanks after)
Bright ruby
Underbrush, a hint of smoke
Tart cherries, fresh cleansing acidity, acidic finish with some tannins, not bad.
Argiano Brunello di Montalcino 2020 (30 months in Slovenian oak casks of different capacities)
Dark garnet
Nice, inviting, round, dark fruit, a touch of crushed rocks.
Sweet cherries, crunchy and succulent, great energy, cherries on the finish, delicious.
8+, the best of the second seminar
Cortonesi Poggiarelli Brunello di Montalcino 2020 (24 months in oak)
Dark garnet, almost black, with bright hues
Amazing nose. Cherries that magically pull you in.
Fish and powerful opening on the palate, but bitter tannins set in.
Best nose of both tastings, 9-/9. Palate is not great right now – 7+
Banfi Poggio Alle Mura Brunello di Montalcino 2020 (24+ months in French oak)
Dark garnet with bright hues
Nice, open nose with lots of fresh herbs – sage, thyme.
Sweet dark fruit on the palate initially, then the palate is quickly shut down in front of the mouth. Again, if you swallow this wine instead of spitting, the wine is a lot more generous. Succulent is a perfect descriptor for such a wine. 8+
Best wines of the second seminar:
In addition to the seminars, there was tasting on the “main floor”. There were more of the excellent 2020 Brunellos, such as San Felice, Caprili, or Corte Pavone. There were also many of the 2019 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva wines, which were simply outstanding. Additionally, 2023 Rosso di Montalcino were presented by almost all participating wineries and were excellent across the board.
My Brunello deep immersion didn’t stop there. After the event was over, we went for dinner with John Fodera and Giacomo Bartolommei, the winemaker at Caprili, to the wonderful Italian New York restaurant Zero Otto Nove, famous not only for genuine Italian food but for the amazing wine list. There, Giacomo found 2001 Cerbaiona Brunello di Montalcino, which we ordered.
Wow, what a pleasure it was. Perfumy nose of succulent cherries, anis, eucalyptus. You can’t stop smelling the wine, you don’t even think of drinking it for a few minutes. Then you take a careful sip and experience an explosion of flavor with succulent cherries, balscami vinegar, iodine, and magic that only an Italian wine with age can offer. The experience was not identical to 1999 Soldera, but it was pretty darn close.
And now my Brunello report is complete. The 2020 vintage offers beautiful aromatics; it is approachable, it is succulent, it is captivating. Let’s raise the glass to the new era in Brunello and more tasty Brunello wines for us. Cheers!
Open That Bottle Night OTBN 2025 – What a Night!
What a Night! The end.
If I say “what a night”, can this serve as a sufficient wine descriptor?
Okay, of course not, but what a night it was.
As a wine lover, I really treasure Open That Bottle Night, or OTBN for short, taking place on the last Saturday in February. OTBN was created by the Wall Street Journal wine writers, Dorothy J. Gaiter and John Brecher, back in 1999, to encourage wine lovers around the world to open that long-stashed special bottle that might be long gone while waiting for a special enough day to be opened.
Now, if I describe the experience as “agonizing”, does that portray a happy vibe? I might be unique in my self-directed masochism, but “agonizing” is the best way to describe the days leading up to the OTBN sacred night. Agreeing with oneself on wines worthy to be opened for OTBN can’t be described any other way, as I endlessly circle around the bottles located all over the house (an extra challenge of not having a dedicated wine cellar).
This year’s OTBN accidentally worked better than it could’ve been. We had been trying to arrange a dinner with friends for a while, and February 22nd was not my preferred date as it was my only night home in between two weeklong business trips. But as we tried to push it out to a later date, we came to a realization that it is either now, or it will be pushed far away, and we already had been talking about this get together for about half a year. I was responsible for the wine, and the other two couples for the food. As I started thinking about wines I should bring, it downed on me – ohh, this is the last Saturday of February, which means … OTBN!
Selecting the wines instantly got a lot more interesting and a lot more challenging at the same time. Now I need to bring not just wines, but the wines worthy of OTBN, the wines special for whatever reason, as a bare minimum special at least to me.
Celebrating OTBN in the group has a great advantage – I don’t need to decide what this one special bottle is – we can cover the full proper “wine dinner range” – bubbles, white, red, dessert. This is exactly what I did – and here are the wines I selected, with all the notes and impressions attached.
Bubbles – my selection is typically very limited at home, I have maybe 12 to 15 bottles of sparkling wines on hand, so deciding what is “special enough” is not easy – and the whole idea of OTBN is to work with your own cellar, so I had to really find that bottle inside. In the morning, I pulled out a shelf with sparkling wines from the fridge, and my inner voice said “how about this one”. Grabbed the bottle of 2008 Champagne Philippe Fourrier Brut Cuvée Millesime (12% ABV, I think I got it through WTSO a while back), and while checking the back label, I realized that this was also a vintage champagne, a 2008 – even better! Now the bottle has become a lot more worthwhile to open at OTBN.
What a joy this wine was. Perfectly substantial without going overboard – toasted bread, apples, yeast, fresh and full of energy – an absolute “wow” of the champagne experience, the wine that was very easy to like instead of looking for ways to convince oneself that you like it. Extra bonus – everyone loved the wine, which is never given in the group, especially when it comes to bubbles.
Next, 2016 Salabka La Coquine Chardonnay Czech Republic (12.5% ABV).
This wine was probably the most special in the group. This wine was associated with memories. I brought a few bottles of this same wine back from the Czech Republic in 2017, after tasting the wine at a dinner at Salabka city winery, located and growing their grapes within Prague city proper. This was my last bottle from that trip, and I already pulled it out of the fridge on multiple occasions, and put it back every time deciding “not today”. This time I decided that it was actually the time to pull that cork – but I didn’t have much hope for this 9 years old Chardonnay.
Oh my… what a wow wine it was. Perfectly intact cork with a few crystals. No age showing in the color, still light golden. And the nose and the palate showing apples, pears and vanilla, woven over a firm citrus core. Bristling acidity doesn’t get in the way of enjoying wine. Considering how fresh the wine was, I’m sure this wine had another 20 years of life ahead of it – and now I have a perfect reason, even a strong need to visit Prague again.
Next, time for reds.
In retrospect, the selection of reds was very interesting, I don’t think I would’ve done it better even if I tried. A 2005 Bordeaux and 2012 Washington estate red – sounds reasonably far apart, right? And yet somehow, the wines literally were singing in unison, just imagine 2012 red having a bit of a deeper voice.
Maybe this was due to very similar grape blends – both wines were blends of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Petite Verdot, but the Washington red was simply a continuation of the French Bordeaux.
The 2005 Domaine De l’Île Margaux Cuvée Mer de Garonne Grand Vin Bordeaux Superieur (13.5% ABV, 33% Merlot, 33% Cabernet Sauvignon, 34% Petite Verdot)
comes from a unique place, a small island in the middle of the Gironde River, overlooking the great estates of Margaux. The wine opened up as a classic, beautiful Bordeaux, with cassis and eucalyptus on the bright nose, and more of the same on the palate. Perfectly fresh, beautiful layers of fruit, firm structure, impeccable balance. The 20 years of age were unnoticeable. The wine didn’t need decanting, but opened up beautifully in the glass.
The 2012 Figgins Estate Red Wine Walla Walla Valley (14.6% ABV, Cabernet Sauvignon, Petite Verdot, Merlot) was my only bottle which I got as a present some years back. Similar to Salabka Chardonnay, this wine was pulled out of the fridge on a number of occasions, only to be put back in again. Finally, this was the day. On the nose, it was very similar to the Bordeaux, only a bit more restrained. On the palate, it had the same cassis and eucalyptus, but the appearance was a bit “fattier” – more pronounced berries, juicier layers, a bit darker notes but still perfectly balanced and perfectly delicious.
And then the was time for dessert. Nothing makes me more ecstatic than an opportunity to open a bottle of a dessert wine. During most of the dinners, even when you plan to open the dessert wine, everyone starts complaining about how they don’t want to drink anything else, and the desire not to waste a whole bottle for just a few sips prevails. But this is OTBN, not just some regular wine dinner, so everyone simply has to go with the program.
I don’t know exactly how I got into possession of this 2018 Mazza Vineyards Vidal Blanc Ice Wine Lake Erie Pennsylvania (11.5% ABV, Harvest dates January 11 and 21, 2019) bottle – I guess someone just brought it as a present.
Boy, was this wine just an amazing finish for the evening… stunningly delicious, with ripe apricot on the nose, and ripe, juicy, succulent apricots on the palate enveloped in a perfect amount of acidity. This was the wine of impeccable balance, the balance of sweetness and acidity that makes or breaks dessert wines. This one was superb – we almost had to fight for who would get to finish a bottle – a pure joy to an oenophile’s heart.
I also have to mention another special treat we had for dessert – small pastries that were popular back in Belarus growing up there, called Bouchée. These were specifically made as per the original Russian recipe and were absolutely sublime.
Another OTBN just became a history, a memorable memento. Luck or not, but these were 5 excellent, memorable wines – and a great company. Let’s raise the glass to the joy the wine is able to bring. Cheers to memorable nights!
Valentine’s Day 2025 – Reflecting on Wines
In my previous post, I complained about frustration with choosing the right wine for the right moment. That post ended with a picture of the wines I selected for Valentine’s Day 2025 – and now I want to talk about those wines.
Following my own advice, our first wine was sparkling. Not just any sparkling – it was Champagne. And not just any Champagne – it was Krug.
I don’t want to sound elitist, but the only way to put is this: those who know, know Krug.
For the wine lovers en masse, the epitome of champagne is Dom Perignon. Maybe also Crystal on a good day. Krug definitely is lesser known, but for those who know, Krug is a cult, a religion, the only Champagne one can drink.
I joined that cult after experiencing Krug vintage and non-vintage wines during the PJ Wine Grand tasting in New York in 2010. Krug was an absolute revelation, I have never tasted anything like that ever before.
Then a few years later, in 2012, I came across an article by Alice Feiring, talking about changes in winemaking at Krug in 2003 which she said resulted in more or less the “end of Krug”. I referred to her article in my post, but unfortunately, the original article can’t be found so I can’t share any more details. I only remember tasting Krug at the trade tasting in the same year or maybe the year after, and thinking “well, it is not as good as I remembered it“.
Trade tasting is not always the best place to fully understand the wine, so Krug remained high on my “wines I want” list. Then a few years back, I got this half-bottle of Krug as a present for the new year, and this year I decided that Valentine’s Day is a perfect reason to open that bottle.
After struggling a bit with the cork, I managed to get the wine into our flutes (I know, I know – but it is a holiday, okay?). Smelling and tasting it left both me and my wife underwhelmed. Crisp and acidic for sure, but that’s what literally every other Champagne has, and Krug should really give you more. A few more sips and I closed the bottle, and back into the fridge it went.
Not so long ago, I read an article from a champagne pro, and he suggested that Champagne, similar to any other still wine, can and usually improves after opening. It can be placed into the fridge and enjoyed slowly over the next few days, and many of the Champagnes simply taste better the next day.
Why is this important? When I poured what was left of Krug into the glass the next day (okay, it was a regular glass), that was a totally different wine. Rich, layered, with toasted bread and apples. This was the real deal and it was delicious. I can’t tell you if it tasted like the one I was blown away by in 2010, but it was definitely an excellent Champagne. I guess there is an interesting lesson here for future encounters with Champagne, and not only with Krug.
After Krug’s image was somewhat restored in my eyes, I decided to learn more about the wine. Nowadays every bottle of Krug comes with its own unique code. When you go to the Krug website and type in the code, you get the most detailed information about the wine you can wish for – here are a few excerpts related to my bottle:
“Krug Grande Cuvée 170ème Édition
Composed around the harvest of 2014, Krug Grande Cuvée 170ème Édition is a blend of 195 wines from 12 different years. The youngest is from the year 2014 and the oldest dates back to 1998.
In all, reserve wines from the House’s extensive library made up 45% of the final blend, bringing the breadth and roundness so essential to each Édition of Krug Grande Cuvée.
The final composition of this champagne is 51% Pinot Noir, 38% Chardonnay and 11% Meunier.
Time in the cellar:
This half-bottle spent around 7 years in Krug’s cellars developing its generosity and elegance, receiving its cork in Autumn 2020.”
According to Julie Cavil, Krug Cellar Master:
“In this blend, the dynamic Pinot Noirs of 2014 came from a wide range of plots throughout the Champagne region, while fruity and full-bodied Chardonnays were selected from plots in the Montagne de Reims, Sézannais and Côte des Blancs. The Meuniers from the Vallée de la Marne Rive Gauche were particularly bright, with magnificent fruit expression from plots in Leuvrigny. To complement the wines of the year, we selected reserve Pinot Noirs from plots in the Montagne de Reims Sud renowned for their structure, including an Ambonnay from 2005. Reserve Chardonnays from plot’s wines from Avize and Mesnil-sur-Oger over a wide spectrum of years have a nice share of voice in this blend, while reserve plot’s wines of Meuniers add freshness, intensity and chiselled structure.”
And then there was 2002 Shafer Relentless Napa Valley (14.5% ABV, 80% Syrah, 20% Petite Sirah). I tasted this wine a few times before at the trade tastings, but never had an opportunity to really spend some time with it.
Shafer needs no introductions to California wine lovers, with its fame closely associated with the flagship wine, Shafer Hillside Select Cabernet Sauvignon. Shafer Relentless is not as well known, but this Syrah blend has been around for more than two decades, named in honor of Shafer’s [relentless] winemaker, Elias Fernandez.
We didn’t decant the wine – it would probably help a bit, but I just didn’t want to deal with it. At first, the wine was tight, with well-noticeable tannins and an interplay of tar and cherries, with the addition of pepper. After some time in the glass and opened bottle, the tar subsided, leaving delicious peppery cherries to be admired around a layered but firm core. This 23 years old wine showed beautifully and it was a real treat.
Now the last piece – food. We stopped going out to the restaurants on Valentine’s Day a long time ago – the experience just not worth it. We were craving sushi for some reason, so that is what completed our Valentine’s Day dinner – here you can see some creative rolls from an Asian restaurant not too far from our house.
There you are my friends – our V-day reflections. How was your celebration? Any special wine experiences? Do tell! And until the next time – cheers!
Grape For The Future, Wine For Today
Source: Wikipedia
Have you heard of the grape called Marselan?
If you have – great, pat yourself on the back as you are ahead of many wine lovers.
If you have not – even better, as we are going to fix it right now.
Some grapes have been around seemingly forever (the winemaking is getting older and older with every new discovery – I just learned today that based on the latest research, the wines were made around 11,000 years ago – quite an age), and it is impossible to tell when particular grapes were born. For others, the history is much more definite, as those grapes have been bred with a purpose, and thus their “birthday” is well known.
Marselan is one such grape. It was bred by Professor Paul Truel in 1961. Marselan is a cross of Cabernet Sauvignon and Grenache, and it was bred to be heat-resistant and disease-resistant. While having those desired qualities, Marselan had small-sized berries, which was not a great trait in the 1960s – the desired grape was supposed to have a high yield, thus Marselan ended up on a shelf. As the climate was changing and the temperatures were rising, the need for heat-resistant and disease-resistant grapes became more apparent, and Marselan was brought back to life, entering an official INRA grape registry in France in 1990.
Marselan was bred by Professor Truel in Languedoc near the French coastal town of Marseillan which gave Marselan its name. Marselan is a blue-skinned late-ripening variety, producing large clusters of small berries, leading to a high skin to juice ratio in the winemaking. Marselan prefers dry soil and hot climate, and it has strong disease resistance to botrytis bunch rot, powdery mildew, and other grape malaises. While born in France, Marselan found its great fame in China, where it might be considered a “signature” grape according to Decanter magazine.
Marselan is best known as a blending grape. Nevertheless, varietal Marselan wines started being produced in Languedoc in 2002. Today, about 70 wineries in Languedoc produce varietal Marselan wines. In 2019, Marselan was one of four new red grapes authorized for use in the production of Bordeaux wines. In Bordeaux, Marselan can make up to 10% of Bordeaux Superior and Bordeaux AOC blends, though it cannot be listed on labels. In addition to France and China, Marselan today is growing in Spain, Switzerland, California, Brazil, Uruguay, Israel and other places.
Okay, the formal introduction is over, let’s move on to the fun part – tasting probably the best of the best wine Marselan has to offer – NV Gran Marselan Cuvée du Centenaire Vin de France (14.5% ABV, $169, 100% Marselan, 15 months in 2-years old French oak barrels, 1,716 bottles produced).
This wine had been produced by EdenGrapes with the grapes coming from two best and oldest (40+ year old vines) blocks of Marselan vineyards in Languedoc, discovered after an extensive search. The wine was released in 2024 to celebrate the 100th birthday of Paul Truel, creator of Marselan, who was born in 1924, hence the Cuvée du Centenaire designation.
While speaking with Christian de Rivel, the producer of Gran Marselan, he suggested that it would be very important to decant the wine for anywhere between 2 and 5 hours to let it shine. Well, you never need to ask the wine geek twice to play with his wine.
Long decant? Ha! I got you!
There are many ways to decant the wine. I don’t want to go too far on the tangent here, so I will just give you a “short brief”, and hopefully a more in-depth decanting rundown later in another post. I prepared a few decanting instruments I have at my disposal – a classic decanter, a couple of aerators – VersoVino and Venturi, and even a super-decanting tool, or rather a “hyper-decanting” tool, the blender.
Wine Geek’s Mise an Place
Even if decanting is suggested, to decant or not to decant is a personal choice. I had to taste the wine to decide what I would like to do in terms of decanting, so first I just poured some wine into the glass:
Upon opening
Beautiful color, bright garnet
Nose of wild raspberries and wild blueberries, superb, earthy undertones
Beautiful palate of wild berries, well integrated velvety tannins, firm structure, good acidity, excellent balance 8+/9-, delicious overall and dangerous.
Based on tasting the wine “as is”, hyper-decanting was ruled out – the wine was perfectly drinkable from the get-go, no need for extreme measures. But I had to try the tools nevertheless:
VersoVino
Nose a bit more pronounced and open, adding tart cherries to the aromatics
Palate is a bit smoother, tannins become silkier, overall wine is more polished. I really didn’t expect that. Wow. 9-
Venturi
High intensity nose, now more Cabernet-like profile, a touch of eucalyptus
Excellent palate expression – it doesn’t have cassis, but instead offers gobs of dark fruit, good acidity, more of a chewy structure. After Venturi, the wine actually begs for a steak. It shows bigger. But it is now more in Grenache territory, with dark chocolate undertones. 8+
I definitely like the effect of VersoVino more. The wine is softer and more elegant with VersoVino compared to Venturi.
Bubbles – an effect of Venturi
Now we wait.
1 hour control point from decanter
Nose changed, now offering some sapidity undertones, became lean and powerful. Now nose promises big, “serious” wine
Delicious bouquet on the palate. Dark fruit, elegant, balanced, tart cherries woven over the firm structure. Elegant, delicious. 9-
2 hours later
Tart nose, earthy undertones, cherries
Lots of tart cherries on the palate, different representation, firm, tight, lots of energy, now gripping tannins which cut finish somewhat short. Wine is evolving. 8
4.5 hours later
Fresh berries returned on the nose with some earthy undertones
On the palate, the wine is tight with some brushy tannins, good clean dark fruit finish. The wine would perfectly complement steak, but for sipping I would prefer one of the earlier versions. 8
Second day
Still pretty much tastes like the wine after a few hours of decanting.
So what did I learn after tasting the Gran Marselan, besides the fact that I really didn’t need to decant it more than for an hour? The conclusion is easy. The grape has great future potential. But you don’t need to wait for the future – you can simply enjoy the wine right now. Also, I know what you are thinking – this Gran Marselan is expensive. While I can’t argue with that, if you are ever willing to spend $170 on a bottle of a special wine then this wine is well worth your consideration. I know of many California Cabernet Sauvignons in the same price range which will deliver much less pleasure, so this wine is definitely worth it. Maybe one day we will be able to compare the notes? Until that time – cheers!
An Evening of Pure Pleasure
Do you know what makes an oenophile’s heart melt and pound, what fills it with joy? Hearing their friends say after you pour the wine into their glasses
“Oh my god, this is so good!”
This brings a double pleasure – it is not only you now getting the pleasure from the aroma and the bouquet – but your friends also enjoying it as much as you do. Wine is meant for sharing, and this makes sharing so much more enjoyable…
Wine can never be taken for granted. Let’s remember that the wine continues changing even after bottling – each time we open the bottle, we find the content of the bottle in its unique state. Yes, we can hope that if you open all 12 bottles from the case at the same time, all wines will taste the same – but it is still a game of probabilities, with opportunities for the “bottle variation” to be increasingly more noticeable as the wine ages. And I’m not even talking about potential wine faults…
Next, there are expectations. Expectations are a big deal for the oenophile. Just one look at the bottle and an oenophile forms expectations – bottle appearance, place, producer, type of wine, vintage – everything is taken into account, and we know what to expect. It is the most joyous moment when the liquid in the glass meets expectations – and the most daunting when it does not (let’s not get to the corner case of Two Bucks Chuck, please). But there is more to the expectations in wine. One of the biggest challenges with wine expectations lies in the fact that it doesn’t matter how much you like the wine and how well your great expectations are met – everyone’s palate is different. It is hard learning to be okay with the fact that while you enjoy the wine immensely, your friend doesn’t care for it. It doesn’t make the wine bad. It doesn’t mean that you are wrong or did anything wrong. It simply means that taste is personal, you just need to learn to accept this simple fact of life – and not get upset.
You might wonder why I am talking about all this wine geek mumbo jumbo, why is that important? Simple. No matter how familiar you are with the wine you are pouring, or how many times you have had the wine from the same vintage and producer, when the wine reaches the glass, it is always the moment of revelation. Double that (triple? quadruple?) when you are poring wine for your friends. And even if you think that wine is perfectly perfect, you can never assume your friends will think the same. Wine can never be taken for granted.
I guess I got lucky. At last weekend’s evening with our dear friends, I managed to hit a double “trifecta” :). Three delicious wines out of three, and my friends loved all three to the “oh my god, this is so good!” moment.
First wine – NV Champagne Camille Jacquet Brut Grand Cru Chardonnay A Le Mesnil-sur-Oger (12% ABV). I do not know the producer, but I had high expectations for this wine possibly for a silly reason. A small village Le Mesnil-sur-Oger is well known for the quality of its Chardonnay vineyards and a home to some of the best (if not the best ) Blanc de Blancs Champagnes in the world – Salon le Mesnil and Krug Clos du Mesnil. Knowing that Camille Jacquet Champagne comes from basically the same vineyard gave me high hopes (silly, as I said) for this Champagne. And my high expectations were perfectly met. Beautiful nose of toasted bread with a touch of apple, impeccably crisp, fresh and precise on the palate. The acidity was fully in check with the complexity of the toasted, baked goods on the palate, leading to an impeccable (yes, I know I already used that word) balance. “Oh my god, this is so good!” said my friends, and the wine disappeared in a jiffy.
Next, two beautiful wines from one of my favorite producers ever. Over the years, I wrote about Smith-Madrone wines extensively. Cooks’s Flat had been one of the Talk-a-Vino Top 10 Wines of the Year 2019 top wines (that year, I had 3 #1 wines, tell me about my inability to make decisions), and Smith-Madrone Cabernet Sauvignon was #3 on the Talk-a-Vino Top 23 of 2023. So I was very happy that I got the samples of Riesling and Cook’s Flat and was able to share both wines with my friends (I will also taste a nice vertical of Smith-Madrone Riesling, it will take a central stage on these pages soon).
Smith-Madrone Riesling is one of my favorite Rieslings in the world – it is one of the 3 if you are interested – Grosset Polish Hill Claire Valley Australia, Smith-Madrone from Napa Valley, and Brooks Ara from Oregon. This 2019 Smith-Madrone Riesling Spring Mountain District Napa Valley (13.3# ABV) was spectacular. First, it offered a tremendous pop of petrol on the nose – and nothing makes my Riesling lover’s heart happier than these petrol aromatics, coupled with a whiff of honeysuckle. On the palate, it was fresh, energetic, with a wide range of citrus flavors readily present, from Meyer lemon to oranges and mandarines, supported by clean acidity and a perfectly cleansing acidic finish. Delicious, and the second “oh my god, this is so good!” wine.
Finally, the 2018 Smith-Madrone Cook’s Flat Reserve Spring Mountain District Napa Valley (14.2% ABV, 87% Cabernet Sauvignon, 13% Cabernet Franc, 20 months in new French Oak). This wine is designated as “Reserve” and this is not random – it represents the best of the best Smith-Madrone makes, using the best plots, best grapes, and produced only in the best years. This wine also has a historical connection to the parcel of land where Smith-Madrone vineyards where replanted in 1972 – the tissue wrapping the Cook’s Flat bottle is a copy of a land grant document, signed by the President of the United States. Here is the description from the Smith-Madrone website:
“Cook’s Flat Reserve is a proprietary name for a wine that is the culmination of our 50 years of growing grapes and making wine in the mountains of the Spring Mountain District. The name refers to George Cook, the first owner of the property. ‘Cook’s Flat’ was the local oldtimers’ name for the eight-acre plateau-like vineyard block which was replanted in 1972.
The packaging expresses the property’s history and an uncompromising attention to detail. Each bottle is numbered and only around one thousand bottles are produced in each vintage. Each bottle is wrapped in tissue which has been printed with a multi-colored copy of the U.S. Land Office Patent which granted ownership to George Cook and was signed by President Chester Arthur on December 5, 1885. We proudly display the original at the winery.”
What I love about Smith-Madrone wines is textbook precision. So far literally everything I tasted from the winery had this textbook precision of flavor – Riesling is unmistakably Riesling, Chardonnay is unmistakably Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon is unmistakably Cabernet Sauvignon.
This 2018 Cook’s Flat, a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc, was also unmistakably a Cabernet. A core of black currant, a.k.a. cassis, and eucalyptus, supported by sweet tobacco and sweet oak, with a whiff of the bell pepper (love it). On the palate, the textbook flavors continued with succulent cassis, eucalyptus, a touch of mint and bell peppers, firm structure, perfectly integrated and perfectly present tannins, impeccable balance. Just a pure joy. “Oh my god, this is so good!” wine again disappeared in no time, with the last drops almost squeezed out of the bottle.
Here you are, my friends. An evening of pure pleasure – and a happy oenophile who managed to make his friends “oh my god, this is so good!” happy.
I have more happy stories to tell – stay tuned…
A Journey of a Thousand Grapes
“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”.
True that.
But sometimes, we have no idea about the journey. We just take a step without putting much thought into it. It is only later on, while looking back, we realize that those were not just some random steps. The journey is going on.
I don’t remember how I learned about The Wine Century Club almost 20 years ago. I guess someone mentioned that it might be something I might be interested in considering my love for wine.
The idea of The Wine Century Club is simple. Take an Excel table with the names of the grapes. Checkmark the grapes you tasted either by themselves or as a part of the blend. Once you checked 100 grapes (century), submit your application and become an official member of The Wine Century Club. And don’t lie – if you do, your palate will be cursed forever.
The table had something around 200 grapes in it, and marking 100 grapes in it was somewhat easy. I submitted my application in June of 2008 and received my certificate in a few months. Mission accomplished. Journey completed.
Ha!
By the time I received my membership certificate, the club evolved to add another level of membership – Doppel, requiring one to try 200 grapes. Okay, then, I can walk a little further, fine. Back to the Excel and wine sleuthing. By the time I submitted my doppel application, the club already had a Treble level (300 grapes). Back to the glass I go.
When I started the Talk-a-Vino blog around June/July of 2010, I was in the middle of the Treble journey, which I started documenting in the blog. One of the first blog posts was on the subject of Trebble journey, just trying to explain what is that I’m talking about.
300 grapes is a lot, right. Okay, finally, the mission is completed for real. Ohhh… Maybe not. Quattro. Pentavini. Hexavin (are you serious, people? Who can try 600 grapes????).
When I reached 500 grapes, I wrote a very happy post and started slowly moving toward the 600, knowing with absolute certainty that this would be it. 600 is very formidable, and yes, I heard that some people are moving toward 700, but there was not even an official designation for that status.
9 years after the 500 submission I finally reached the end of the journey – two days ago I submitted my Hexavin application. While looking for the submission rules that I somewhat forgotten since the last time, I looked at the membership page. Guess what I saw on the membership page…
700 (Heptavin), 800 (Otobis), 900 (Novem) and 1,000 (Millenary) varieties
How about that “end of the journey”, huh? Yep. A journey of thousand miles grapes is going to continue…
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not complaining. Neither I’m bragging. I’m simply documenting my journey on these pages – whether you also want to become a grape geek is entirely up to you. But if, by any chance, you do, then I might be able to help you in that journey.
Few things had been happening recently making this geeky rare grape inquisitive journey a little easier. First, the world is a little smaller now compared to 20 years ago. No, this is not an utter nonsense 🙂 give me a moment to explain. Of course, there are lots more people living in this world – but that is irrelevant to our subject. If you can’t find the wine with specific grapes in your country, you can order it online and not pay a fortune for the delivery. When I ordered Williamson and Magor tea from the UK to be delivered to the US about 25 years ago, about 2 pounds of tea cost $60, and shipping was another $60. Last year I ordered 2 bottles of wine from Malta, and shipping was close to $30. The wines from around the world are more accessible now.
The second, and more important factor, is two-fold, but it is all about grapes. All around the world, ancient grapes are actively brought back to life, some resurrected literally from the last vine left. New grapes are bred to be more disease-resistant or faring better with climate change. And the grape geek’s journey becomes a little easier and faster.
Just for fun of it, here are some of my latest additions to the rare grapes list with a few notes:
Folle Noire (red) – 2020 Château de Bellet Rouge Bellet AOP
Braquet (red) – 2020 Château de Bellet Rouge Bellet AOP
Vlahiko (red) – 2022 Glinavos Paleokerisio Ioannina IGP – very interesting orange lightly fizzed wine. This wine is a blend of Vlahiko and Debina (white) – I don’t mention Debina here as I had it before, but if you will find this wine, you might get two new grapes in this bottle.
Cabernet Cortis (red) – 2022 Petit Sauvage Rouge Vin de France – this wine was unique and interesting – you can learn more here.
Negoska (red) – 2019 Domain Tatsis Xynomavro – Negoska Young Vines Macedonia Greece
Orpicchio (white) – 2020 Dianella Orpicchio Toscana IGT – picked up this grape at the Three Bicchiery event earlier this year.
Amur (red) – 2017 Dr. Konstantin Frank Amur Finger Lakes – Unique grape, well suitable for cold weather.
A few grapes from the Balkans and Moldova – all wines are tasty and really inexpensive – if you want to find them, check The Liquor Barn:
Zupljanka (white) – Vrsacki Vinogradi Banatski Riesling Serbia
Kreazer (white) – Vrsacki Vinogradi Banatski Riesling Serbia
Žilavka (white) – 2019 Tikveš Žilavka Dry White Wine Macedonia
Băbească neagră (red) – 2018 Cricova Rară Neagră Moldova
Lidia (red) – NV Cricova Rose Semisweet Wine Lidia Moldova – it is called semi-sweet, but the wine has only a hint of sweetness. If you are a fun of Izabella grape, you really should try this one…
The next 5 grapes are from Hungary – please read more about the wines here:
Csókaszőlő (red) – 2022 Bussay Pince Csörnyeföldi Csókaszőlő Zala Hungary
Jakab Kadarka (red) – 2021/2022 Bóka Birtok Jakab Kadarka Tolna Hungary
Borsementa (white) – 2023 Turay Családi Pincészet Borsementa Hungary
Fekete Muskotály (red) – 2022 Szentezi Prince Fekete Muskotály Hungary
Turán (red) – 2020 Nyolcas és Fia Borház Turán
Now Spain comes into the play: as you can tell from the names of the wines, Clos Ancestral, these Spanish wines are celebrating resurrected ancient grapes, all courtesy of one of the largest wine producers in the world:
Forcada (white) – 2022 Familia Torres Clos Ancestral Forcada Penedès DO
Moneu (red) – 2022 Familia Torres Clos Ancestral Red Penedès DO
And here are two more interesting wines from France, not to be outdone:
Mourvedre Blanc (white) – 2021 UNAU Percheron 184 Mourvedre Blanc Vin de France
There is an interesting story behind the name of the wine: “UNAU is named after the female horse at the Fons-Sanatis estate – she is from the Percheron breed. 184 is the size in centimeters of the horse’s withers. Unau is 13 years old. The bottle is from the southwest of France – the cork from Roussillon and the labels are made of vine-plant leaves and stems. There is no use of foil in our packaging – we believe the container should be as environmentally conscious as the content.”
Souvignier Gris (white) – 2023 Petit Sauvage Blanc Vin de France
Also not showing here is one of my latest “strategic” discoveries. There are a few wines in this world produced from many – really many grapes. One such wine is Giribaldi Barolo Cento Uve, made from 152 grapes. Another wine is Vino Della Pace Cantina Produttori Cormòns Vino Blanco, produced from a whopping 855 varieties – while a fun reference, this wine can’t be used to advance your grape count. And then my latest discovery, the wine I had a pleasure tasting this year, Ramos Pinto Urtega from Portugal, produced from 63 grapes (there will be a separate post dedicated to this wine). So yes, there are some shortcuts you can make in this grape journey. And yet a thousand still sounds like an impossible goal.
The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. The journey continues one single step after another.
I’m fully enjoying my journey. Wanna come along?
Pleasures of Obscure and Difficulties to Express it in Words
German Pinot Noirs are hard to find in the US.
This story is not about Geman Pinot Noir, but the quest for one played a major role here.
I follow a group of wine-os on Twitter X who are swearing by Pinot Noir from Germany, particularly from Ahr, being the best Pinot Noir in the world, easily rivaling Burgundies in quality. Naturally, my interest was piqued and I started looking for the Pinot Noir from Ahr in the US. The problem is that Ahr is a tiny appellation to begin with, and given the popularity of Ahr Pinot Noir in Europe, this was not an easy task. I found Ahr Pinot Noir on Wine.com and confirmed with the group that it was a good producer. The wine itself was $56 or so, adding shipping and tax was making it even more expensive. Now, American Express credit card often has special offers for variety of merchants, Wine.com often being one of such merchants. I think the deal I registered for was $20 off a $100 purchase – considering that Wine.com shipping for 1 bottle is the same as for 3 (I think it is $20), it was a no-brainer – I just had to find a few bottles to reach $100 and get the discount.
At first, I was looking at some of the familiar wines to add to that Ahr Pinot, but then it dawned on me that I might look for wines to add to my rare grapes collection, which is exactly what I did. In the picture below, you see an end result – a Pinot Noir from Ahr and two wines made from the grapes I have not tried yet.
As you might know, I have been a grape geek for a long time, ever since I was bitten by The Wine Century Club bug (probably close to 20 years by now). I’m always happy to taste the wines made from unknown grapes, whether I will be delighted or terrified – it is all a good experience. Also trying a wine made from an unknown grape is extra fun as you can always approach such a wine with an open mind having no references (read: constraints) of any kind.
The 2022 Petit Sauvage Rouge Vin de France (13% ABV) was made from the grape called Cabernet Cortis which I have never had before. Cabernet Cortis is a hybrid grape, created in 1982 in Germany by crossing Cabernet Sauvignon and Solaris, another hybrid grape (last year I tasted the wine made from Solaris in Sweden). The grape was developed to be better adapted to climate change as well as to be disease-resistant.
The wine was uniquely delicious. Some of the uniqueness I need to attribute to the fact that I was unable to describe the perceived qualities of this wine in English. Yes, you heard that right. My mother tongue is Russian, and while Russian is really not the language of wine, one of the Russian words was the best for describing this wine – терпкий (terpkii). The word describes both taste and textural sensation. To give you an idea of the best textural association, I have a strange question for you – have you ever licked velvet with your tongue? I’m serious. Have you ever seen a TV episode where Gary Vaynerchuk explains wine descriptors to Conan O’Brian and forces him to chew on a wet sock? Something like that, only without socks. So if you would ever try to lick a piece of velvet (make sure it is clean if you do), this would be the closest you would get to that descriptor.
I tried translating it using Google Translate, and the best I can get is “tart” – here are a few more options from the Russian-English dictionary: терпкий — tart, harsh, acerbic, acerb, acidy. None of these would do. As a wine descriptor, tart generally means acidic, and devoid of fruit. And this doesn’t describe the textural and taste sensation I experienced when tasting that wine. Tannins probably would work best, especially those called “velvety tannins”, but I’m still not convinced that this is the best way to describe the taste of this Cabernet Cortis wine. All in all, the wine was delicious, a little bit racy and gamey, but this was perfectly integrated into an overall taste profile. And I would gladly drink this wine again if I had a chance.
Well, the only way we can solve this is for you to find this wine, taste it, and explain to me how little I know about wine – I promise to listen, and will be happy to expand my wine vocabulary.
By the way, speaking about tart – the second wine, 2019 Domain Tatsis Xynomavro – Negoska Young Vines Macedonia Greece, made out of Negoska grape, was actually tart, it was tart beyond belief, and basically, not drinkable. It didn’t improve even after a few days. You do have to kiss a lot of frogs in life… But it’s okay, a part of the process.
Here you are, my friends. There are lots more of the rare grapes I need to report on, so stay tuned…
Travel Diaries: Cote d’Azur, Pink Sunsets and Rare Grapes
Cote d’Azur.
French Riviera.
One of the most coveted vacation destinations in the world. I didn’t know that, but according to Wikipedia, “Riviera is an Italian word that originates from the ancient Ligurian territory of Italy, wedged between the Var and Magra rivers. Côte d’Azur is originally a nickname given by France to the County of Nice after its annexation in 1860, because the climate was similar to that of the north of Italy, even in winter, with “a sky as blue as its sea”.” I know it is summer, but here is my illustration of the point above:
An evening in Antibes
Over the past 10 years, I had to travel to Nice a good number of times, and always for business. As a business traveler, I always held a grudge against these trips to the South of France – I don’t like Nice airport, it is one of the most uncomfortable ones, and I had my share of bad experiences in Nice. But the last trip was admittedly better perceived – I stayed at a brand new Marriott property, Moxy in Sophia-Antipolis, which was very nice. And we spent most of our free evenings in Antibes, which is a beautiful small town – still with lots of tourists, but overall incomparable to the crowds of Nice itself.
As you already know, I’m here to inundate you with pictures. As we visited Antibes (and Nice once) only in the evening, the majority of the pictures are related to the sunset. Here you go:
It is not only the sunsets that provided a source of enjoyment during our walks. Thought-provoking, creative statues by Nicolas Lavarenne were another great entertaining element of the Antibes boardwalk – I have to say that I really enjoyed them. Here are a few of the highlights:
Here are more of the sunset pictures:
And now my most favorite, the one I promised you in the title of this post – pink sunset:
Before we part, a few words about the wine. I had a few of the decent wines during the week, some local, some not. 2023 Estandon Brise Marine Blanc Méditerranée IGP (Clairette, Ugni Blanc) and 2023 Estandon Brise Marine Rosé Méditerranée IGP (Cinsault, Grenache, Syrah) were both on point, crisp, refreshing and light. 2020 Caves de Rauzan Mascottes Olga Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot Bordeaux AOC (13.5% ABV) was also very good, on par with the excellent 2020 vintage, and overall very generous and supple.
My personal highlight was the 2020 Château de Bellet Rouge Bellet AOP (14.5% ABV, 35% Folle Noire, 25% Braquet, 40% Grenache). This was a super-local wine, with the vineyards and winery located in the Nice area. The wine had a nice core of dark fruit, a hint of my beloved barnyard and a silky-smooth texture. Not only the wine was delicious, but it also added two new rare grapes to my collection, inching closer to the coveted Hexavin goal.
That’s all I have for you today. Hope you enjoyed looking at the pictures as much as I had fun taking them.
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