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2021 UGCB Vintage Preview
Do you ever get the feeling that you already did something, and then, after spending a good half an hour looking for it you realize that you only thought about doing that but actually you never have?
This is my story with the Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux tasting – I already had 3 opportunities to write about this Bordeaux Grand Crus tasting, and have not done that – and was sure that I did – but only in my mind. Thus finally I want to correct the situation so I will have an actual record.
Let’s start with a short explanation of UGCB, the Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux. UGCB was founded in 1970s by a group of Bordeaux winemakers to help promote Bordeaux wines in Japan. From that day onward, the promotion of the best Bordeaux wines around the world is what the UGCB has been doing. To give you the current set of numbers (as presented on the UGCB website in January 2024), UGCB has 131 members, all of them Grand Crus throughout the Bordeaux territory. UGCB organizes 80 events per year throughout 15 countries and 65 cities, bringing together 50,000 professionals and wine enthusiasts to taste Bordeaux wines.
For many years, the UGCB tasting has taken place in January in New York City, and all of the events I attended through the years have been at Cipriani restaurant in midtown Manhattan. The 2024 event showcased the 2021 vintage, with about 80 wineries participating, pouring about 90 wines during the 3.5-hour trade tasting event (consumer tasting was a separate event taking place in the evening).
When it comes to events like this, busy and crowded, when you have to try to extend your hand holding the glass between the people’s backs, I’m not good at taking notes – handling the glass, the phone, notebook, and pen is just too much. So I primarily was taking pictures of the wines I liked and was trying to obtain an overall impression about the vintage in general and specific sub-regions in particular. For what it is worth, this is what I’m sharing with you here.
2021 Bordeaux vintage
While tasting wines, I asked many winemakers how they would assess the 2021 vintage. Based on what I heard, I got a mixed feeling, so here is how I see it. The 2021 was good overall, not great. Rain presented somewhat of a challenge, bringing powder mildew as a consequence. 2021 was also cooler than let’s say, 2020. 2021 also resulted in a lesser yield than 2020. Overall wines are leaner than 2020 but well structured. And my impression was also that winemakers had to work harder to achieve good results. To put things into perspective, the Bordeaux 2020 was outstanding, with pretty much ideal weather conditions throughout the whole season (still regret not writing about it on time). And I was told that 2022 was even better than 2020, which would, I guess, make it a proverbial “vintage of the century” – we just need to wait for a year and see.
Below are my bit more detailed impressions, primarily on the appellation level. These are all the wines that I liked to various degrees, with the top favorites shown in bold. As a general observation, I was surprised by the amount of the new oak used across the board.
Note – all of the wines below are Grand Cru wines, hence I didn’t add “Grand Cru” to every wine name below.
Pessac-Léognan – this is the only appellation in Bordeaux that produces both white and red wines at the Grand Cru level. I definitely enjoyed 2021 whites less than 2020. Most of the reds were just okay, nothing special.
2021 Château Smith Haut Lafitte Blanc Pessac-Léognan
2021 Domaine de Chevalier Blanc Pessac-Léognan
2021 Domaine de Chevalier Rouge Pessac-Léognan
2021 Château de Fiuzal Blanc Pessac-Léognan
2021 Château Malartic-Lagravière Blanc Pessac-Léognan
2021 Château Malartic-Lagravière Rouge Pessac-Léognan
2021 Château Olivier Blanc Pessac-Léognan
Margaux – It was hard to find anything I liked in Margaux – I don’t know why, but literally all the wines I tried were incredibly tannic, instantly shutting down the palate.
2021 Château Brane-Cantenac Margaux
2021 Château Rauzan-Ségla Margaux
Pauillac – no specific impressions, but I liked comparatively more wines from this appellation.
2021 Château d’Armailhac Pauillac
2021 Château Clerc Milon Pauillac
2021 Château Duhart-Milon Pauillac
2021 Château Grand-Puy Ducasse Pauillac
2021 Château Lynch-Bages Pauillac
2021 Château Haut-Batailley Pauillac
2021 Château Batailley Pauillac
Pomerol – these Merlot-based wines overall were softer and more approachable than Cabernet-based ones.
2021 Château Petit-Village Pomerol
2021 Château Le Gay Pomerol
2021 Château Le Bon Pasteur Pomerol
Saint-Émilion – I thought that Merlot might be a saving grace in the 2021 vintage, but apparently it is not as I only liked a few wines from this Merlot-driven appellation.
2021 Chateau Valandraud Saint-Émilion
2021 Château Villemaurine Saint-Émilion
Saint-Estèphe – no general impressions, very few wines were present
2021 Château Phélan Ségur Saint-Estèphe – might be my second-most favorite in the tasting.
Saint-Julien – same as with Pauillac, I liked quite a few wines here.
2021 Château Beychevelle Saint-Julien
2021 Château Langoa Barton Saint-Julien – this wine was tasty and had a standout, playful label.
2021 Château Léoville Barton Saint-Julien
2021 Château Léoville Poyferré Saint-Julien
2021 Château Gloria Saint-Julien
2021 Château Saint-Pierre Saint-Julien – this was probably my favorite wine of the tasting.
Sauternes – I had bad luck with Sauternes during UGCB tastings in the earlier years, as many wines were simply not balanced, with pronounced bitter notes. At this tasting, I literally liked them all. Note that the wines were presented from the different vintages.
2021 Château Rainey Vigneau Sauternes
2016 Château Sigalas Rabaud Sauternes
2016 Château Guiraud Sauternes
2018 Château Doisy-Védrines Sauternes
2016 Château Bastor-Lamontagne Sauternes
There were more appellations in the tasting (Haut-Médoc, Listrac-Médoc, Moulis-en-Médoc), but I didn’t like any particular wines from those so they are not covered here.
Here you are my friends – my report from the 2024 Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux tasting. I finally did it.
And I’m already looking forward to the 2025 tasting of the 2022 vintage. Will see if reality will match my expectations. Cheers!
Deceptive Simplicity: Masciarelli Linea Classica
Simple is an interesting word to use around food and wine – there is a lot of dependency on the context.
I love simple recipes – one of my favorite recipes for sauteed eggplant has only 5 ingredients in it, takes 30 minutes to make and the result is consistently delicious. Air-fried salmon bites take less than a minute to prep, consist of only salmon and seasoning, and again, are consistently delicious. Near East couscous takes 5 minutes to make – and it is a perfect side dish every time it is made. When it comes to food, “simple” usually is a good word.
Calling the wine simple requires clarifications, it requires real context. “Simple wine” often means inexpensive, and this is a good thing – as long as the wine tastes good, as long as wine gives you pleasure “simple/inexpensive” is a good word (nobody likes “inexpensive” but crappy). Simple can apply to the label and overall packaging. The wine can also taste simple, and here the truth is in the eye of the beholder – many people prefer simpler-tasting wines so they will not interfere with the food. But if someone is craving complex, thought-provoking, multi-layered wine, “simple” is the last descriptor that someone will be happy about. “Simple wine” has a meaning only in the context.
The interesting part of a “simple wine” designation is that once we call the wine simple based on price and appearance, we make assumptions about the taste. Once we say “simple wine”, we are intuned to take it all the way – assuming that this simply looking wine will be also simply tasting wine.
Can simple packaging and a reasonable price hide the wine of a much grander standing than it appears to be? In other words, can simplicity be deceiving? Of course. Let me present my case to you – a classic lineup (Linea Classica) of wines from Tenuta Agricola Masciarelli in Abruzzo Italy.
Masciarelli Vineyards. Source: Tenuta Agricola masciarelli
Gianni Masciarelli produced his first vintage of red, white, and Rosé in 1981 from the 5 acres vineyard owned by his grandfather and located near the family house in San Martino in the province of Chieti in Abruzzo. Abruzzo region, located east of Rome along the Adriatic coast is best known for its – here it comes again – simple white and red wines, produced, respectively, from Trebbiano and Montepulciano. From the very beginning, Gianno was convinced that Abruzzo was capable of producing world-class wines. He worked very hard not only in his own winery but pushing forward the whole region. Gianny was the first to introduce a French Guyot training system for the vines and French oak barrels for aging the Montepulciano and Trebbiano wines. By the way, while Trebbiano is a popular white grape that grows all over Italy, Trebbiano Abruzzese is a local ancient Trebbiano clone that is growing only in Abruzzo. Trebbiano Abruzzese has lower yields and produces wines that can age.
Today, Tenuta Agricola Masciarelli is run by Giovanni’s wife, Marina Cvetić, together with their eldest daughter, Miriam Lee Masciarelli. Tenuta Masciarelli is the only winery that owns vineyards in all four provinces in Abruzzo (Chieti, Pescara, Teramo, l’Aquila). The vineyards span 740 acres (300 hectares) and consist of 60 non-adjacent parcels. Masciarelli produces 7 different lines of wines, 4 out of which are exported to the USA. The winery produces about 2.2 million bottles of wine every year that gets exported to 55 countries.
Here are my notes for the Linea Classica wines I had an opportunity to try:
2022 Masciarelli Trebbiano di Abruzzo DOC (13% ABV, $15)
Light golden
Tropical fruit, peach, minerality, medium intensity, inviting
Crisp, fresh, lemon notes, tart minerality, medium long refreshing finish, cleansing acidity, very nice
8-/8
2022 Masciarelli Colline Teatine Rosato IGT (13% ABV, $14)
Beautiful salmon pink
Fresh strawberries on the nose
Strawberries, brilliant fresh strawberries, cranberries, perfect acidity, good mouthfeel presence, crisp and clean finish. Excellent.
8
2020 Masciarelli Montepulciano di Abruzzo DOC (13.5% ABV, $15)
Dark garnet
Earthy, restrained, hint of cherries
Dark tart cherries, succulent, a touch of tobacco, dark, earthy, minerality, good acidity, good balance, medium to full body.
8, excellent
All three wines are unoaked and … yes… simple. At least in their presentation and pricing. But here is the interesting part. You can’t treat them as “simple wines”. Despite being unoaked, all three wines improved on the next day. And the next day. And even the next day. Truth be told, after I just opened and tried the Montepulciano, I was simply upset – the wine was not drinkable. For sure for my palate – green and tart. It became better the next day. And it really blossomed on the third day. In total, I enjoyed this screwtop-capped wine over the 6 days – pouring a glass, twisting the cap back, and leaving it on until the next day on the counter. And the wine kept getting better and better. This is a testament to the quality of this simple wine. And this simple wine can definitely age and it will become better with age. All for under $15.
Simplicity can be deceiving. Don’t take my word for it – try Masciarelli Linea Classica for yourself and let’s compare the notes. Cheers!
Rare Grapes, Obscure Tasting
What is your take on wines made from rare, unknown grapes? I can tell you about mine – I love them.
I have two reasons for that. Well, it might be even just one, but with two sides, I guess. First, I’m a wine geek. As a wine geek, I love tasting each and every type and style of wine, made from whatever grapes they are. I’m willing to taste absolutely any wine at least once. After the opinion is formed, this might be the first and the last time, but nevertheless, I’m willing to try anything.
The second reason is that I’m not only a geek, I’m also a collector. I like collecting experiences. As such, for example, I keep track of the US states and world countries I had a chance to taste the wine from. And I keep track of grapes I ever tasted, after being bitten by The Wine Century Club‘s bug. If you are reading this blog on a PC, look to the right side of the screen, and you will see “grape count” – this is the number of grapes I have tasted to date (if you are reading on the phone, just scroll down). With my goal of reaching 600 grapes, I can only increase the current count further by finding rare, obscure, unknown grapes to taste.
When I got an invitation to attend the Wines of Crete trade tasting, the key words which made me say “yes” was exactly that – “rare grapes” – there were lots of grapes mentioned in the invitation, and I didn’t recognize at least a half of them, so the opportunity to taste new grapes (and increase the count) was definitely enticing.
I have to tell you upfront – this was the most peculiar trade tasting I have ever attended. Being only an advanced amateur, if this makes any sense, I attend maybe about 10 trade tastings in a good year, so I wouldn’t pretend that “I’ve seen them all”. Nevertheless, I have a frame of reference for successful and unsuccessful wine tastings, for sure in my personal book – so when I tell you that this was the most peculiar one, I mean it. Let’s talk about it.
First, notwithstanding of any peculiarity, we need to acknowledge the wines of Crete. Any time a passionate wine lover has an encounter with a region that has a deep wine history, it creates an emotional response, almost awe. The wine history doesn’t go much deeper than it is on Crete – Crete, the largest island in Greece and 5th largest in Europe is the cradle of European winemaking, having its winemaking history spanning more than 4,000 years, going well beyond 1,500 BC.
Crete represents the first real wine culture in Europe. There is evidence of wine presses (first in Europe from about 1,600 BC), pressed grapes and stems, clay pots and amphorae. The wine was produced commercially, and it was praised by many poets. Shortly after the beginning of the first millennium, Crete became famous for producing sweet wine from sundried grapes, Vinum Passum. Crete wines reached Switzerland, France and Italy, and so did the cuttings of the Cretan vines.
From the 14th to 17th centuries, Crete became famous for producing sweet wines from Malvasia grapes (interesting tidbit: American Journal of Enology & Viticulture registered 49 different varieties of the Malvasia grape). Malvasia vines made it to Italy during the same timeframe.
Cretan winemaking history is not all warm and fuzzy. For almost 200 years Crete was under Turkish occupation, and wine production was truly minimized, mostly for family consumption only. Then at the beginning of the 20th century, immigrants brought Sultanina grapes to Crete – a.k.a. Thompson Seedless – not the grape you want to use in wine production. In 1972, Crete experienced the invasion of Phylloxera.
The rebirth of Cretan winemaking started in the 1990s, and today young winemakers continue looking for their own path, often using indigenous grapes to their advantage.
There are 4 mountain systems on Crete, the island of 160 miles long and about 40 miles wide. The majority of the vineyards on Crete are located on the mountain slopes, at altitudes from 800 to 3,000 ft. Mountains play an important role in protecting vineyards from the hot winds coming from Africa. The climate is warm Mediterranean with annual rainfall between 250 and 900 mm.
There are about 10,000 acres of vineyards on Crete, which are spread between 6 Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) and 7 Protected Denomination of Origin (PDO) winemaking regions. There are 36 wineries on Crete, producing about 4 million bottles of wine annually. There are 11 indigenous grape varieties growing on Crete (White: Vilana, Vidiano, Dafne, Thrapsathiri, Malvasia di Candia, Muscat of Spina, Plyto and Red: Kotsifali, Liatico, Mandilari/Mandilaria, Romeiko), as well as international varieties. And as I already told you before, these indigenous grapes were the main attraction for me.
Okay, so now I shared with you almost everything I learned about the rich history of the wines of Crete – let’s talk about the peculiar part.
Upon arrival at the tasting, I got a booklet listing all the wines which we would be tasting. The booklet was organized by grapes – but interestingly enough, the description of the wines didn’t include any producer names – just vintage, variety(ies), ABV, style of wine, and maturation notes. I never saw anything like that at any of the tastings – unless you maybe run a blind tasting, but never mind.
Next, we proceeded with the masterclass, where we learned about all the history and present day, and had an opportunity to taste 11 wines. While poured, all of the wine bottles were hidden inside the black pouches. In the presentation, there were no producer names mentioned – only grapes and regions were presented.
As we learned, this was not an oversight. As the event was sponsored by the European Union, it was the requirement not to mention the wine producers in the masterclass and in the tasting, so the producers not present at the tasting wouldn’t get upset.
I’ll let this sink in for a moment.
Think about it.
Now, let me ask you – how stupid, unbelievably stupid is it? [I guess this is what happens when lawyers run the business – I didn’t have to say it, but this is my blog, so I can].
I’m a blogger, and I’m only interested in education and tasting some obscure grapes. But let’s say you work at a restaurant. You taste the wine, you like it, and you would like to start offering it at your restaurant – but officially, you are not allowed to know the name of the wine you just tasted. Say what??? What is the point of this tasting? With this “blind tasting” move, you brilliantly hurt everyone – those who sent their wines for the tasting, and those who have not.
Okay, let’s get back to masterclass tasting.
First, we tasted 6 white wines, made from Vilana, Vidiano, Thrapsathiri, and Assyrtiko. Thrapsathiri was a new grape for me, the rest I had tasted before. I don’t believe I liked any of the white wines, unfortunately…
Wine #1 – Vilana grape
Acidic, lean, food-craving
Good
Wine #2 – Vidiano
sweet nose, acidic finish, interesting
Wine #3 – Vidiano
interesting, kind of flat, oily nose, reminiscent of Retsina
Wine #4 – Thrapsathiri
interesting, herbaceous, cut through acidity. Very acidic finish
Wine #5 – Assyrtiko
Smoke, almost moldy on the nose
Corked?
Wine #6 – Vidiano (oak aged)
Plump, oily, full-bodied, crispy finish
Next were 5 reds, made from Liatico, Kotsifali, Mandelaria, and Romeiko. Again, one new grape here – Romeiko. Wine #10 was strange but drinkable. I really loved the Romeiko wine, but this was somewhat of a curveball red wine – it was actually made in the “orange wine” style. Still, this was my favorite wine from the masterclass tasting.
Wine #7 – Liatico 2022
interesting nose, sweet oak
super-tart, tannic, lacks fruit, tart finish
Wine #8 – Liatico/Kotsifali 2016
smoke on the nose, smoke on the palate, insane acidity
Volatile acidity?
Wine #9 – 60% Kotsifali, 40% Mandelaria, 2015
Raisins on the nose, oak, tertiary aromas
flat, tannic, ohhh
Wine #10 – 60% Kotsifali, 40% Syrah, French/American oak aging, 2017
Brett? Spoiled egg level
This is actually drinkable, a little flat on fruit, but good overall
Wine #11 – Romeiko, red grape made as an orange wine
Excellent, delicious, good balance, harmonious, good fruit and acidity, fresh
We managed to convince the staff to show us the wines we tasted, at least some of them, so you can see some of the wines we tasted in the picture above.
Main room tasting had its own issues – it appears that due to some issues with the customs, instead of 64 wines only about 15 were present in the tasting. All black bagged, unfortunately. I tasted another grape I never had before – Plyto, and the wine was quite pleasant, but this is all I can tell you.
There you have it, my friends. For me personally, this was not a waste of time, as I managed to pick up three new grapes I never tasted before. But in the large schema of things, this was a wasteful tasting – and it is sad. The effort was put into organizing it, but would it really help to advance the Wines of Crete in the US – I doubt so very much.
I really hope my next wine tasting will fare better…
Uruguay Wines – Coming Of Age
Do you know the problem many wine lovers share? We are creatures of habit.
Once we develop our inner “favorite wine” profile, we don’t let any changes happen to it. We like what we like. Never heard of this region? Thank you, I’ll pass. God forbid we fall in love with the particular producer – this is even worse than the region – nothing is ever good enough outside of the circle of our favorites.
And this is generally okay. Except we are putting ourselves in danger of losing on new, enlightening, delicious experiences.
When I was invited to the Uruguay wine webinar, my first reaction was “nah”. I mean, Uruguay, really? Between Chile and Argentina, my South American world-class wine circle is already full – do I need to bother with the wines from a totally unknown region?
On second thought – this is a webinar. Wine is coming to me, not like I need to travel somewhere to taste the wines I can potentially be disappointed by. Why not?
I’m glad I accepted the invitation. Both the information and the wines were lots of fun. We learned that while Uruguay has a population of 3.5M people, 2nd smallest size-wise country in Latin America, the country has a 98.7% level of literacy, the highest in Latin America. People in Uruguay are mainly descendants of Italians and Spaniards so they literally have wine embedded in their DNA.
Winemaking in Uruguay started in the 13th century. Today, there are 164 active wineries, producing 70M bottles of wine annually. Uruguay is currently in the process of implementing its own sustainability program. And by the way, the oldest winery in Uruguay dates back to 1854 and is called Los Cerros de San Juan (still open today!).
Uruguay has primarily a maritime climate with strong Atlantic influence, with the majority of low-lying coastal vineyards. Uruguay’s climate is closer to Bordeaux than the rest of South America, and it is significantly wetter if compared with Chile, where it rains only during the winter. Soils are clay based with lots of river deposits. Uruguay has six main winemaking areas, boasting 5 different terroirs. Warm and cold ocean currents collide right around Uruguay, creating significant influence. Interestingly enough, Uruguay is the only winemaking country in South America whose terroir is affected by the Atlantic Ocean.
When it comes to grapes, there are 14,804 acres under vine (a little smaller than Alexander Valley in California). Tannat is unquestionably a star, accounting for 27% of vineyard plantings., but it is not the only grape, obviously – Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Sauvignon Blanc are all quite popular as well.
And before we talk about wines, few more interesting tidbits: cows outnumber humans in Uruguay 4 to 1 and Uruguayans consume more meat per capita than any other country in the world!
Okay, now you know all that I learned in the webinar, and we can talk about the wines.
We had 2 whites, 6 reds, and one Vermouth wine in the tasting. Spoiler alert: I literally liked them all. In the blind tasting, these wines would be surely regarded as world-class, placing them in California, France, maybe Chile – Uruguayan origin of these wines would be a total surprise for many – for sure for me. And yet, here they are – world-class wines from Uruguay.
2022 Marichal Sauvignon Blanc Canelones Uruguay (12.5% ABV, $14)
C: light golden
N: plump, round, Whitestone fruit, a hint of gunflint
P: crisp acidity, fresh, bright. More resembling Muscadelle than anything else. Good balance.
V: 8, very refreshing.
2022 Bracco Bosca Ombú Moscatel Atlantida East Costal Region of Uruguay (13% ABV, $16)
C: light golden
N: very interesting. Muscat’s spicy, nutmeg profile comes as a distant hint. A touch of perfume
P: restrained tropical fruit with an acidic finish.
V: 7, not balanced enough for me; On the second and third days the wine showed much better, more coherent and more elegant – Drinkability: 8-.
2020 Familia Deicas Bodegones del Sur Vineyards Select Cabernet Franc Juanico Region Uruguay (13.5% ABV, $20, 30% aged in American and French oak)
C: Beautiful bright ruby
N: round vanilla, new world style
P: interestingly restrained on the palate, with noticeable tannins. The palate shows the absolutely old world (Saumur, Chinon). Interesting cranberry notes after an hour and a half in the open bottle.
V: 7+/8-, a bit unexpected, but not bad
Improved on the second day, became more round. Final: 8-
2020 Giménez Méndez Alta Reserva Tannat Las Brujas Canelonés Uruguay (14% ABV, $18, aged for 9 months)
C: Dark Garnet
N: Open, inviting, dark fruit, blackberries
P: Dark fruit, firm structure, smokey undertones, herbs, very good balance.
V: 8, well drinkable now
2019 Montes Toscanini Gran Tannat Premium Uruguay (14% ABV, $59, 18 months aged in oak, BAB with a huge punt)
C: dark garnet, practically black
N: wow. Cassis, sweet oak, eucalyptus, open, inviting, invigorating. In a blind tasting, I would bet my life on Napa Cabernet Sauvignon.
P: the palate is leaner than the nose suggests. Red and black fruit weave around a firm structure, tannins showed up a while after opening.
V: 8-/8, very impressive
2018 Pisano RPF Reserva de la Familia Tannat Region Progreso Uruguay (% ABV, $24, 10–12 months in French oak)
C: dark garnet
N: dark fruit, coffee, smoke
P: a hint of smoke, sapidity, dark, concentrated but not overpowering. Good balance, medium-long finish
V: 8-/8, very nice. Will be great with the steak.
2018 Alto de la Ballena Tannat – Viognier Uruguay (14% ABV, $24, 85% Tannat, 15% Viognier)
C: Dark garnet, almost black
N: herbs-forward nose, sage, a hint of cherries
P: fresh fruit, salivating acidity, sage, firm structure, and perfectly lingering cherries and cherries pit finish.
V: 8, great by itself, and will be great with beef roast
2019 Bouza Monte Vide Eu Montevideo Uruguay (13.5% ABV, $67, 20% Tempranillo, 30% Merlot, 50% Tannat, vinified separately, 16 months in French and American oak barrels)
C: dark garnet with a beautiful ruby hue
N: very complex, cherries, rosemary
P: roasted notes, dark fruit, elegant package, firm structure with a perfectly balanced mouthfeel.
V: 8, excellent, a world-class wine.
Basta Spirit Vermut Flores Rosé Uruguay (16% ABV, $16, Tannat, 27 botanicals)
C: beautiful salmon pink
N: Herbaceous, but a bit strange, stewed strawberries
P: a bit too sweet for my palate.
V: I’m very particular about the vermouth, so this is probably not the one for me.
Here you are, my friends. Next time you see an Uruguayan wine on the shelf, obey your thirst and grab it – and you don’t even have to thank me later.
2 Regions, 3 Glasses, 1 Wine Geek
The assignment was simple. Compare 6 Cabernet Sauvignon wines from 2 famous winemaking regions in Chile. Find differences. decide on a favorite.
As with any assignment, let’s start with the theory.
Cabernet Sauvignon is unquestionably a king of Chilean wines – it is the best-known Chilean wine worldwide and it is the most widely planted red grape variety in Chile. It accounts for about 20%+ of all vineyard plantings in Chile, covering an area of about 99,000 acres, stretching through the entire country from north to south. At the same time, 97% of the Cabernet Sauvignon plantings are located in the Central Valley, spread between O’Higgins, Maule, and Metropolitan Region.
Narrowing it down to the wine-producing DOs, we are looking at the Maipo Valley and Colchagua Valley, two of the best-known Cabernet Sauvignon areas in Chile. These are also the two regions that are the subject of our assignment.
Maipo Valley is one of the oldest winemaking regions in Chile, with its terroir shaped by the Maipo River, which begins at the Maipo volcano, creating a patchwork of valleys at the elevation of 2,500 feet above sea level. Some of the areas in Maipo Valley see a minimal number of sunny days required for the red grapes to fully ripen, with a climate somewhat similar to Bordeaux.
Colchagua Valley lies about 80 miles south of the city of Santiago. Parts of the valley are crisscrossed by the Tinguinirica River, taking its roots from the volcano crater in the Andes, and descending from about 2,000 feet to the 360 feet of elevation above sea level. Colchagua Valley generally offers much warmer daily temperatures compared to the Maipo Valley.
Here are some of the views of the beautiful regions:
I’m purposefully avoiding descending into the discussion about the different soil types throughout both regions but of course, alluvial soils, colluvial soils, gravel, clay are all intermixed around both regions. I don’t believe I can intelligently speak to the effect of a given soil type as it comes to the resulting taste profile of the wine, but our main difference between the wines from the two regions should be driven by the warmer versus cooler climate and some differences in the elevation.
I hope this is enough of the theory and it is time to get to practice – the lab portion of our assignment.
This is where the inner geek came out guns blazing – and this is where everything all of a sudden became muddy and complicated.
I decided that the challenge of comparing the 6 wines is insufficient, and to make things more fun, I decided to was possessed to try each wine from three different glasses: Glass 1- Riedel Universal tasting glass (this is the one typically offered at all of the wine tastings), Glass 2 – Chef & Sommelier Open’Up glass, one of most aesthetically pleasing glasses for the daily drinking, and Glass 3 – Riedel Radical Cabernet glass (my favorite glass for the Bordeaux varieties).
The wines I tasted all come from well-known producers. I was familiar with some prior to this tasting (Los Vascos, TerraNoble, Maquis) and I had a lot of Los Vascos and TerraNoble Cabernet wines in the past. Regardless, this was quite a respectful selection of the wines, expectedly illustrative to represent the two regions. Three of the wines were 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 3 had Cabernet Sauvignon as a dominant component.
To explain in more detail what I did: on the first day, I poured each one of the 6 wines into the 3 glasses – non-blind, one by one. I then tasted each wine from those 3 glasses – you will see the notes below, describing my perception of the same wine in each of the 3 glasses. The glasses had their effect, even though Radical Cab and Open’Up glasses offered mostly similar experiences. Open’Up glass required the bottom section to be sufficiently filled or the nose of the wine was becoming lost. All of the second and third day tastings were done only using the Universal tasting glass. Below you can see all of the tasting notes, from which it is very easy to conclude that I was unable to come to any meaningful conclusions and find any meaningful, region-conforming differences between the wines.
Here we go:
Team Maipo Valley:
2017 Lázuli Cabernet Sauvignon Valle del Maipo (14.5 ABV, $45, 100% Cabernet Sauvignon)
Garnet
Glass 1: dark fruit, concentrated, iodine, forest underbrush, pyrazine
Interesting. Quite restrained. Not a lot going on.
Glass 2: much less expressive, just a hint of pyrazine
It is showing better. No idea how. Crunchy berry, soft tannins, still not very expressive
Glass 3: dark fruit, more focused than glass 1, a hint of bell pepper
Similar to glass 2. Dark fruit, baking spices, lots of minerality. Not very much Caberneish if you ask me.
Day 2: not good
Day 3: Fruit showed up. Fresh berries and eucalyptus. Is this a Cab? Not sure. Is it drinkable? Sure, on the third day.
2018 Miguel Torres Cordillera Cabernet Sauvignon Reserva Especial de Les Andes Valle de Maipo (14% ABV, $20, 100% Cabernet Sauvignon)
Concentrated ruby with bright hues
Glass 1: very similar presentation to the first wine. Dark fruit, a hint of bell pepper, very distant hint, a touch of eucalyptus.
Definitely a Cabernet profile, more explicit than the previous wine. Eucalyptus, cassis, bell pepper practically non-existent.
Glass 2: this glass requires much higher pour to get to the aromatics.
The wine appears more refined and elegant on the nose than glass 1, more focused on eucalyptus and cassis.
Delicious, earthy cab. Good acidity, cassis, earthy and restrained.
Glass 3: interesting. Almost gets to the barnyard space. Definitely more earthy than glass 2.
The best experience. Dark fruit, cassis, pencil shavings, crisp tart finish.
Day 2: good
Day 3: excellent. Dark fruit, eucalyptus. Round tannins, good structure, dark and supple.
2016 Echeverría Cabernet Sauvignon Limited Edition Maipo Valley (14% ABV, $25, 85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Syrah, 5% Carménère)
Dark Garnet
Glass 1: very concentrated. Dark fruit, sapidity, earthiness, a hint of eucalyptus. Interestingly enough, all 3 wines so far are really similar.
The nice initial appearance of the fruit is instantly replaced by tannins. Serious French Oak tannins, front of the mouth is locked.
Glass 2: a much more elegant appearance than Glass 1. A hint of eucalyptus and bell pepper.
Fruitier than the previous 2 wines, nice load of dark berries, and then it is all tannins. Again, the wine appears to be more elegant.
Glass 3: similarly elegant to glass 2. Eucalyptus, bell pepper, and a touch of black pepper.
Berries, eucalyptus, and tannins. Should be outstanding with the steak.
Day 2: Excellent
Day 3: very good, open fruit – but not very much of the cab? I liked it more on the day 2
Overall notes: all 3 wines are very similar on the nose, showing differently on the palate. Earthy, concentrated wines. All need time to open.
Now, team Colchagua Valley:
2018 Maquis Cabernet Sauvignon Gran Reserva Colchagua Valley (14% ABV, $20, 90% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Cabernet Franc, 3% Carmenere, 1% Petit Verdot)
Garnet
Glass 1: bright and clean aromatics, cassis, eucalyptus, a hint of bell pepper
Plums, a touch of cherries, not a textbook Cabernet Sauvignon
Glass 2: interesting. Volcanic undertones, gunflint, almost a hint of sulfur, fresh crisp berries
Better showing, brighter fruit, some bitter undertones appeared (whole cluster?)
Glass 3: somewhat similar to the glass 2, but a bit more restrained
Amazing how much glass matters. This is almost at the expected level of Cabernet Sauvignon – a hint of cassis, mint. Still very restrained.
I’m so confused that I had to wash the glass.
Re-taste: it is not bad, but didn’t make a difference. Still, dry restrained, with some bitter notes on the finish.
Day 2: tight and closed
Day 3: definitely better. Bitter notes are gone. But the whole presentation is plum/cherry, not so much of the Cab Sauvignon
2018 Los Vascos Cromas Cabernet Sauvignon Gran Reserva Colchagua Valley (14.5% ABV, $22, 85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Syrah, 5% Carmenere)
Concentrated ruby
Glass 1: dark berries, a hint of cassis, vanilla, bell pepper might be a product of my imagination
Delicious. Fresh, open, clean, dark berries, cassis, bell pepper, eucalyptus. A pretty classic cab if you ask me. Best of tasting so far.
Glass 2: Cassis and mint, medium intensity
Delicious. Very similar to glass 1, somehow with a bit more intensity of the flavors.
Glass 3: very restrained, cassis, bell pepper, a touch of tobacco
Delicious. Exactly as two previous glasses. Happy to drink every day.
Day 2: not good. Tight, closed.
Day 3: lots of tobacco and smoke on the nose. Dark fruit, borderline bitter. I don’t get this wine
2018 TerraNoble Cabernet Sauvignon Gran Reserva Valle de Colchagua (14% ABV, $20, 100% Cabernet Sauvignon)
Garnet color
Glass 1: dark berries, eucalyptus
Delicious. Open, bright, good acidity, ripe fruit, not necessarily a textbook cab, but fresh and delicious.
Glass 2: dark berries, sapidity, earthy, a hint of bell pepper
Fresh, delicious, crisp berries, a touch of cherries, a bit of dark chocolate.
Glass 3: a hint of bell pepper, dark fruit, earthy
Bright, open, good structure of tannins. A cab? Maybe…
Day 2: good
Day 3: beautiful, supple, good tannins, good structure, open fruit, good finish.
On the day 2, my preferences were with these three wines:
And then there were two. On the third day, I had two wines as my favorites – and they represented two regions.
For the final decision – Torres versus TerraNoble.
Wine geek at work
Nose: advantage Torres – dark chocolate, a hint of bell pepper. TerraNoble mostly closed
Palate: slight advantage Torres – better structure and better precision. Dark and concentrated. Will continue improving.
The winner: 2018 Miguel Torres Cordillera Cabernet Sauvignon Reserva Especial de Les Andes Valle de Maipo
So we can conclude that Maipo Valley won this strange competition, at least with a margin of error.
The assignment is complete. So what did we learn?
- Don’t play with your glasses, unless this is actually a goal of your exercise. Wine glasses matter and wine glasses
canwill confuse you. - Hey, wine glass matters.
- I probably should’ve done the blind tasting instead
- Chilean Cabs need time. Practically all showed better on the second day.
- I was unable to find the real differences between Colchagua and Maipo wines
Oh well. Play with your wine. Have fun. One way or the other, experience is still an experience, and as long as you desire, there is always something to learn.
Do you have a favorite Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon? Care to share? Cheers!
Spain’s Great Match, 2021 Edition
Spanish wines are some of my most favorite wines in the world.
Spain’s Great Match event in New York is one of my most favorites wine events of the year, always offering an opportunity to discover something new.
And I had not been to New York City in the past 18 months – lots of good reasons to be excited, would you agree?
For the second time in a row, Spain’s Great Match event was held at Mercado Little Spain, a Mecca of Spanish cuisine in one of New York’s hottest new neighborhoods, Hudson Yards. I was able to attend the walk-around tasting and two of the seminars, so here I want to share my impressions.
Before we get to the event, just a few facts about Spain’s wine industry. Spain has the biggest grape planting area in the world – more than 2.9 million acres. Spain today (2021) is the second-largest wine producer in the world after Italy. There are more than 600 grape varieties grown in Spain (only about 20 are used to produce the majority of the wines though). Spain has more than 130 defined wine-growing areas.
Now, let me share my observations.
First, Spanish wines are popular. Duh? I can’t argue – I’m starting with the most banal conclusion, but let me explain. Spanish wines were always regarded as the best-kept secret among wine professionals – whatever the general public likes to drink is fine, but the wine professionals would most often resort to the Spanish wines to share amongst themselves and with friends. I don’t know how many people attended the consumer portion of the event in the evening, but the trade event was incredibly busy, also with a significant number of MS and MW in the audience – I never saw these many Masters of Wine and Master Sommeliers attending this event. It might be just me not seeing it before, or it might be a testament to the growing popularity of Spanish wines. I think this popularity is also reflected in the increased prices of the Spanish wines – don’t know if supply issues are muddying things up, but otherwise, it seems that the prices are inching higher.
The trend of “internationalization”. Spanish Rioja and Ribera del Duero wines, the keystones of Tempranillo expression, always had its unique taste profile, driven by well-integrated tannins, minerality, and spicy undertones. This character was largely defined by the use of American oak which was traditional in Rioja. I didn’t taste each and every Rioja wine presented at the event, but based on what I managed to taste, it seems that there is a shift towards using the French oak, which completely changes the presentation of the wine, leading with grippy, mouth-drying tannins which completely lock the front of your mouth for a few minutes after the sip. Barolo used to be like that, and it became much better with tannins lately. Now Rioja is offering this internationally indistinguishable style which becomes borderline boring. If I want to drink a grippy powerful wine, I got plenty of choices outside of Rioja – I understand that this might be a trend with young wine drinkers, but it will be very difficult to maintain individuality and build a following if you are simply “one of many similar ones”.
Where did the Godello go? I saw a very little presence of Godello wines, which was surprising. I always thought that this white grape has an excellent future – this might still be the case, but this was not obvious with 3 whites ruling the show – Rioja Blanco, Albariño, and Verdejo Rueda.
Jerez is absolutely delightful. My love of Jerez is back, and the wines we tasted during the seminar (more details forthcoming) were simply superb.
Don’t forget Spanish bubbles. I tasted a bunch of Cavas, and none of them were mediocre. Fresh, clean, approachable, and reasonably priced – great QPR wines for every day.
Now, here are the wines I tasted during the event (with the exception of the seminar wines). Everything which is mentioned below was well drinkable, and the specific favorites are marked (bold) as such.
2020 Santiago Ruiz Santiago Ruiz D.O. Rias Baixas ($25)
2017 Bodegas LAN Rioja Crianza D.O.Ca. Rioja ($18) – probably my favorite from the Bodegas LAN selection. The most approachable and balanced from this group.
2015 Bodegas LAN Rioja Reserva D.O.Ca. Rioja ($24)
2017 Bodegas LAN D-12 D.O.Ca. Rioja ($25) – single vineyard
2017 Bodegas LAN Xtreme 2017 D.O.Ca. Rioja ($25)
2015 Bodegas LAN Viña Lanaciano D.O.Ca. Rioja ($30)
2018 Bodegas LAN Edicion Limitada D.O.Ca. Rioja ($55)
2015 Bodegas LAN Culmen D.O.Ca. Rioja ($70)
2016 Vins el Cep Gelida Brut Gran Reserva D.O. Cava ($20)
NV Bodegas Llopart Brut Reserva Rosé Corpinnat ($28)
2020 Bodegas Vatán Nisia Las Suertes D.O. Rueda ($32)
2018 Bodegas La Caña Navia D.O. Rias Baixas ($32)
2019 Bodegas Avancia Mencía Old Vines D.O. Valdeorras ($35)
2018 Bodegas Breca Garnacha D.O. Calatayud ($16) – clean, simple
2018 Bodegas Vatán Tritón Tinta de Toro D.O. Toro ($20)
2018 Bodegas Vatán Tinta de Toro D.O. Toro ($45)
2018 Bodegas Muga Flor de Muga Blanco D.O.Ca. Rioja ($50) – my favorite wine white of the event – clean, round, fresh, elegant
2014 Bodegas Muga Prado Enea Gran Reserva D.O.Ca. Rioja ($100) – surprisingly ready to drink
2011 Bodegas Sierra Cantabria Gran Reserva D.O.Ca. Rioja ($40)
2014 Bodegas Alvear Alvear Fino en Rama D.O. Montilla Moriles ($22) – outstanding. It is very rare to find dry sherry made from 100% Pedro Ximenes grapes.
2016 Sierra Salinas Mira Salinas D.O. Alicante ($18, Monastrell) – Elegant, fresh, perfect acidity
2016 Ramirez de la Piscina Ramirez de la Piscina Reserva D.O.Ca. Rioja ($22)
2018 Rafael Cañizares Bodegas Volver Tempranillo Single Vineyards D.O. La Mancha ($20)
2020 Rafael Cañizares Bodegas Volver Paso A Paso Tempranillo Tierra De Castilla ($35) – excellent, elegant, open
All three were excellent:
2013 Agustí Torelló Mata Cava Agustí Torelló Mata Brut Nature Gran Reserva D.O. Cava ($26)
2017 Agustí Torelló Mata Cava Agustí Torelló Mata Brut Reserva D.O. Cava ($21)
2011 Agustí Torelló Mata | Cava Kripta Brut Nature Gran Reserva D.O. Cava ($85) – unique and different, would make a perfect geeky present
2019 Bodegas San Valero S.Coop Cabeza Casa D.O. Cariñena ($11, Garnacha) – elegant, round, excellent QPR
2018 Bodegas San Valero Celebrities Syrah D.O. Cariñena ($11)
MV Bodegas San Valero 801 D.O. Cariñena ($20, blend of 2014 Cabernety Sauvignon, 2015 Merlot, 2016 Syrah) – very good, unusual, multi-vintage
2019 Bodegas San Valero Particular Garnacha D.O. Cariñena ($12)
Now, the seminars. The Jerez seminar was superb, offering lots and lots of knowledge about the fascinating world of sherries. Three white grapes – Palomino Fino, Pedro Ximenez, and Moscatel – are behind the tremendous range of wines, all with unique characters and tastes ranging from absolutely bone dry (sugar content less than 5 g/l) to the syrup level with more than 300 grams of sugar per liter. Another fascinating element of Sherry is the Solera production method, where the resulting wine might technically have trace amounts of 200+ years old wines. Lots and lots of care and attention go into the Sherry production. During the “Spotlight on Sherry” seminar, led by incomparable César Saldaña, General Director of the Jerez Control Board, we learned a lot about sherries and tasted through the outstanding flight of 8 wines (with the exception of the last 2 which I didn’t enjoy that much).
Here are my notes regarding the 8 wines we tasted:
Bodegas Hidalgo Manzanilla La Gitana
4 years Solera
Almonds, hazelnut, sage, brioche
Crisp, dry, fresh, hazelnut, pecorino cheese, sapidity, dusty palate
Excellent, perfect aperitif, and perfect for food
2021 Tio Pepe Fino Tio Pepe en Rama-Saca
Unique and different, blend of selection of 82 butts of Tio Pepe Solera
Bottled unfiltered
Beautiful floral nose,
Crisp, clean, elegant, mostly lemon and 0 sugar, chalky note – typical for this type of wine.
Great complexity, elegant
Valdespino Jerez Fino Ynocente
Single Vineyard in Pago Macharnudo
50 years old Palomino Fino vines
Fermented in cask
10 years Solera, Criaderras Solera
Very elegant, apples, lemon
Chalk, lemon, sapidity, 0 sugar
Williams Humber Amontillado Don Zoilo
Solera 12 years
Biologically aged until the full absence of flor
Butterscotch!
Crisp, fresh, herbaceous
Lustau Almagenista Oloroso Pata de Gallina
Almagenista: Juan Garcia Jarana
38 casks, aged on average 15 years
Butterscotch, caramel
Crisp acidity, sapidity, great complexity, hazelnut
Osborne Palo Cortado Capuchin VORS
Solera was founded in 1790! Potentially, there were traces of 230 years old wine!
5 criaderas
Average age 30 years
Tobacco, mint, basil
Pepper, tobacco, caramel, complex, long finish.
Superb
Bodegas Tradicion Cream Tradicion VOS
Blend of 30 years Oloroso (70%), 6 years old Pedro Ximénez (30%)
Average age 25 years
Dry fruit
Concentrated sugar, not great.
Barbadillo Pedro Ximénez la Chila
Solera system average 5 years
Amazing nose – raisins, figs,
Pure liquid raisins on the palate. I would like more acidity.
Finally, I attended the seminar called “Essential Spain in 8 Glasses”, presented by Laura Williamson, MS, and Evan Goldstein, MS.
If the country is the second-largest wine producer in the world, cultivating about 600 different grape varieties, is it even fathomable to present such a complex wine world in the format of 8 wines? While it is not easy, you can get reasonably close. I think the presenters made a good effort by including Cava, Albariño, Verdejo, Mencia, Rioja, Priorat, Garnacha, and Ribera del Duero.
2012 Pere Ventura Gran Vintage Brut Paraje Clasificada Cava DO ($55)
Yeasty nose, fresh dough
Crisp, yeasty, yeasty, yeasty, yeasty – not my wine
2020 Condes de Albarei Albariño ($16)
Tropical fruit nose
Acidic, Whitestone fruit, crisp, simple
2020 Bodegas Ordoñez Nisa Verdejo Old World Rueda ($32)
Intense nose with a hint of freshly cut grass, flowers
Rich, caramel component, overdone
2015 Ole Imports a-Portela Mencia ($29)
Very nice nose, fresh, open, fresh berries
Beautiful herbal/gamey component, but then very bitter on the palate – whole cluster not done right?
2014 Imperial Gran Reserva Rioja ($85)
Outstanding. Delicious all around.
2017 Clos Martinet Priorat (65% Grenache, 20% Syrah, 10% Carignan, 4% Merlot, 1% Cabernet Sauvignon)
Smoke, roasted notes
Red and black fruit, perfect balance, great acidity, a touch of chocolate
2018 Also Moncayo VERATON ($35, Garnacha)
Plums, cherries,
Good acidity, fresh, cherries, crisp, great finesse
2018 Pago de Carraovejas Ribera Duero ($39)
Chalk, a hint of cherries,
Cherries, dark concentrated fruit, restrained. Very nice.
Last but not least – there was food! The food was carried around in all the different forms – I didn’t have much time to enjoy it, so I was mostly grabbing pieces of Jamon and Manchego between the tastings – these are the pictures I will leave you with.
This concludes my report. Have you had any Spanish wine discoveries as of late? What are your thoughts about the new wines and new styles?
WMC21: Live Wine Social
One of my favorite sessions at the Wine Media Conference is what was known in prior years as speed tasting – 10 wines, 5 minutes per wine for the winemakers to present and for attendees to comprehend and share their opinion on social media.
For WMC2021, a unique event in itself, the format was changed – winemakers were not going around the room with their wines – instead, the wines were placed on every table in advance, and winemakers had 5 minutes each to present their wines. And we only tasted 5 wines per session instead of 10. Not a very different format, but having winemakers not moving around the room all the time kind of reduced the level of energy this event always possessed – which might explain the new name – Live Wine Social.
We had two sessions – White and Rosé on Day 1, and Red on Day 2. With 5 wines in each session, it doesn’t make sense to report on the event in two separate posts, hence one post covering all 10 wines.
Day 1, White and Rosé:
Wine #1: 2019 Longevity Pinot Grigio Livermore Valley – this was an interesting wine, but it didn’t appeal to me – however, I heard other bloggers liking it very much.
Wine #2: 2020 Troon Vineyards Kubli Bench Amber – a wine with restrained aromatics and tangy orange notes on the palate. One of my favorites in the tasting.
Wine #3: 2019 Benton-Lane First Class Chardonnay Willamette Valley – this was a nicely restrained rendition of the famous grape, very well done.
Wine #4: 2019 Brooks Ara Riesling Willamette Valley – my perennial favorite – this wine never ceases to amaze and delight.
Wine #5: 2020 Rodney Strong Rosé of Pinot Noir – well-balanced California Rosé rendition, simple and tasty.
During the event, a live display was showing all the tweets relevant to the WMC2021 – here is one example for you:
And now Day 2, for the reds:
Red wine #1: 2019 Troon Vineyard Siskiyou Syrah Applegate Valley – we couldn’t start with better wine than Troon Syrah. Purity of expression is nothing short of the mind bogging, beautiful cold weather Syrah rendition. One of my absolute favorite wines of the conference and the trip overall.
Red wine #2: 2018 Benton-Lane Pinot Noir Willamette Valley – interesting wine in need of time to open.
Red wine #3: 2017 Pfeiffer Pinot Noir Willamette Valley – another Pinot Noir which didn’t resonate with me.
Red wine #4: 2017 Brooks Rastaban Pinot Noir Eola-Amity Hills – great aromatics, delicious wine on the palate.
Red wine #5: 2018 Knotty Vines Cabernet Sauvignon California – a part of the new line of wines from Rodney Strong – Knotty Vines. It doesn’t have the extensive concentration one comes to expect from California Cabernet Sauvignon, but it also doesn’t have a price tag associated with that type of wine. Without any regard to the price, this is simple, tasty, delicious, varietally correct, and perfectly drinkable from the moment you open the bottle, which is never an easy fit, especially when it comes to Cabernet Sauvignon.
That concludes the Live Wine Social report from the Wine Media Conference 2021. Cheers!
Let Your Palate Lead The Way
Wine can be intimidating.
Scrap that.
Wine is intimidating.
I’m always the first to disagree with the exact words I just wrote, but go watch the movie Somm, and tell me if you agree. Don’t have time to watch the movie? Go read about the German wine quality system, and then try to explain it to someone. Yes, wine is intimidating.
And no, it is really not.
If you are on a quest for the world’s most coveted wine expert title, such as the Master Sommelier – thinking of wine will keep you up at night. But if you want to casually enjoy a glass of wine, there is nothing intimidating about it.
Wine is simple. Wine is binary. You either like it or not. There is nothing else to it.
All you need to learn about the wine is to … trust your palate. Let your palate lead the way. It can be unnecessarily difficult, as humans generally are easily intimidated and influenced – “everyone likes it!”, “I paid $100 for this bottle”, “the experts said it was the vintage of the century”, “there were only 500 bottles produced”, yada, yada, yada. And nevertheless, the wine is personable, the wine is individual, it is only you who can tell if you like the wine or not – no matter what anyone else thinks or says. If you will learn to trust your palate, the intimidation will be gone out of wine at that very moment.
The best (and possibly the only) way to deal with this intimidation is through the blind tasting. When you are presented with a random glass of wine, you have no options but just to form your own opinion – swirl, sniff, sip, spit, repeat – say whatever you want, but all the external influences are out. It will be your own palate which will tell you “yeah, can I have more, please”, or “never again”. The value of the blind tasting goes even further than just conquering the wine intimidation – it also helps to deal with preconceived notions. Do you have a friend who keeps saying at every occasion “boy, I hate Chardonnay, how much I hate it”? Now imagine that person praising the delicious wine in their glass, only to find out that that was that exact Chardonnay they thought is the worst wine ever? In the wine world, blind tasting is the ultimate judge and jury, and your palate is all you got to rely on – and thus you have to simply trust it, as you are you.
Learning with and about your palate is not necessarily simple. Yes, you can go to the store, get a bunch of wine and create your own blind tasting – but it might be difficult not to cheat, right? How about leaving that arrangement to the professionals? Cue in the Palate Club.
Palate Club offers an opportunity to learn about your palate through the blind tasting – and then use that knowledge to find the wines which might better match your preferences. The way it works is this. You start by ordering a tasting kit. You can start with the red or white wines, and the cost of the kit at the moment of this writing is $49. The kit arrives neatly packed in the box, with 4 half-size bottles (375 ml) wrapped and numbered.
The next thing to do is to download the Palate Club app on your phone, install it, and create your profile. Once you have done that, you are ready to discover your palate’s wine preference. After you taste the bottle, you need to rate it using the app. The process is very simple as you have to rate the wine between the 1 and 5 stars. Once you rate the wine, you get a page with all the information about that particular wine. Once you will rate all four wines in your set, you will get your initial wine palate profile.
In your palate profile, you will find characteristics such as oak, fruitiness, acidity, and other – along with explanations for the numbers in your palate profile. Every time you will rate another bottle, the values in your profile will change accordingly – what you see below in the picture, are the new values after I rated the wine number 5. Right on your profile page, you will also receive recommendations for the wines to try. As palate Club is a wine club, you can also sign up for the regular wine deliveries which will be based on your preferences.
Blind tastings are always fun – and I never do too well in them. For what it worth, below are my notes and the names of actual wines – you can see that I got ways to go to work on my blind tasting skill:
#1: California Pinot? Plums, smoke, medium to light body. Touch of an alcohol burn (wine: 2014 Pinot Noir Carneros)
#2: Not sure. syrah? Clean acidity, nice round fruit, Rutherford dust, good power. California Cab? (wine: 2015 Côtes du Rhône Réserve)
#3: Chianti? Nice cherries, needs a bit more body. I would rate it 3.5… why is that never a thing? (wine: 2014 Chianti Classico)
#4: California Cab or Cab blend? Dark fruit, baking spices, good acidity, round tannins. A touch of the alcohol burn, similar to the first wine (wine: 2015 Mendocino Zinfandel)
Now, let’s go back to the major point of this post – trusting your own palate to avoid intimidation by the bottle of wine. Would the Palate Club help you reach this goal? In my honest opinion – yes. Of course, the profile which you create has limited value outside of the Palate Club, as outside of the Palate Club nobody rates fruitiness and tannins of the wine on the 100 points scale. However, the fact that you can get your friends together and play with your wines and learn your wine liking and not liking is really something to appreciate and enjoy. Blind tasting holds the ultimate wine truth, and with the palate Club’s help, you can uncover it – and learn a thing or two about your own palate. I think this is a win-win. What do you think?
Procrastination and Carménère
Let me quickly put you at ease – procrastination has nothing to do with Carménère. Unfortunately, it has to do with yours truly, and this blog been behind on the content for years.
It happens a lot more often than I would even want to admit to myself – I attend a great tasting or an exciting dinner with the winemakers. I would typically leave the event excited and with lots of ideas for the post. I would start writing and envisioning that post in my head for the next day, two, five, ten… One out of five will probably make it onto these pages, and the rest will continue playing in the head until it will convert into permanent guilt. I would look at my blog to-do list and feel that pain of unaccomplished over and over again. Sometimes, I would break through and write that long overdue post – and sometimes, you just accept that guilt, you know…
How far back it would be appropriate to go for some untimely post? If you know, please tell me. This is the wine we are talking about – who knows what vintages people hold? As long as I have the notes, it is all good, right. Feel free to disagree, but I’m going three years back today, to experience again some tasty Carménère…
As I wrote a post about my recent experience with the world-class TerraNoble Carménère line, I recalled the Carménère tasting which was organized three years ago by Snooth (I wrote about many Snooth tastings in the past, but somehow managed to miss this one). In the tasting, we heard from 7 producers and tried their Carménère wines. For what it worth now, three years later, here are my notes:
2015 Viña Casa Silva Cuvee Colchagua Carmenere Colchagua Valley (14% ABV, $15, blend of grapes from Casa Silva’s Los Lingues vineyard in the Andes and the Lolol vineyard in the Costa zone, 8 months in French oak)
Dark garnet color, restrained nose, herbal nose, mineral notes, granite. On the palate, tobacco, nicely restrained, earthy, herbal, good acidity, dark fruit. Overall, nice. Needs time. Pioneer of Carmenere in Colchagua, started in 1892. Carmenere overall started in Colchagua
2015 Siegel Single Vineyard Los Lingues Carmenere Colchagua Valley (14% ABV, $28.99, 8 months in French oak)
dark garnet, inky, color. Herbal in your face on the nose, pure currant, rutherford dust. Very concentrated on the palate, lots of oak, restrained. Needs time.
2014 Viña Carmen Gran Reserva Carmenere Colchagua Valley (14% ABV, $15, 90% Carmenere, 7% Carignan and 3% Petite Verdot, aged 10 months in French oak barrels, 2 months in the bottle)
The oldest winery in Chile, founded in 1850. Practically black in color. Chocolate, coffee on the nose, sage, dark fruit. Open on the palate, sweet cherries, tobacco, perfectly balanced. Round, delicious. Best of tasting so far.
2015 Viña Requingua Toro De Piedra Carmenere Gran Reserva Maule Valley (14% ABV, $15, 12 months in French and American oak barrels)
Dark garnet color, herbal, funky nose, forest underfloor. Round on the palate, fresh herbal notes, sage, sweet cherries, blackberries. Good balance, very approachable.
2012 Valdivieso Single Vineyard Carmenere Valle de Peumo ($23, 12 months in French oak barrels, 35% new)
Almost black in color. Dark concentrated nose, currant leaves, very herbaceous, a touch of pepper. Sweet fruit on the palate. I can’t decide if this wine is corked on not. The nose says corked, palate says not. Need to give it a bit of time.
2014 Viña Ventisquero Grey Single Block Carmenere Trinidad Vineyard Maipo Valley (14% ABV, $22, aged for 18 months in French oak barrels, 34% new and 66% second and third use, 8 months in the bottle)
Practically black in color. Interesting nose, a touch of cabbage stew on the nose (in a good sense), funky nose, meaty. The palate follows on, beautiful pepper, black currant, delicious. Another favorite of the tasting.
2013 Valdivieso Caballo Loco Grand Cru Apalta Colchagua Valley ($35, 55% Carmenere, 45% Cabernet Sauvignon, aged 18 months in 100% French oak casks)
BAB, dark garnet color. Touch of funk on the nose, mocha, dark chocolate, touch of herbal notes. Delicious palate – pepper, tobacco, black currant, herb garden, clean acidity. Best of tasting overall.
I definitely find this interesting how 4 of the TerraNoble Carménère wines were all at the top of the game, and as you can tell from my notes here, many of these Carménère wines still have ways to go. But – unquestionably, Chile takes its star grape seriously, and there is a lot for us, winelovers, to enjoy, now and in the future.
With this post I also get to reduce my feeling of guilt, if at least by a hair – but I’m still happy. I hope I deserve another glass. No matter, I’m going to pour it anyway. Cheers!
Carménère – Lost, Found, Evolved, Delightful
According to the 2012 edition of the famous Wine Grapes book (written by Jancis Robinson, Julia Harding, and Dr. José Vouillamoz), there are 1368 grapes used in winemaking. It would be a safe bet to say that each one of those grapes has its own story. Of course, not all of those stories would be dramatic and exciting, but I’m sure some would read as a good detective story, probably without much of the shootouts.
Carménère is a perfect candidate for such a story. When Bordeaux ruled the wine world – which would be in the middle of 1800th – Carménère (which translates from French as crimson, identifying a beautiful color of the grapes) was one of the “big six” Bordeaux varieties, comprising all of the Bordeaux wines – Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Malbec, Petite Verdot, and Carménère. Carménère is related to Cabernet grapes, but historically it is not very clear if Carménère was some type of clone of Cabernet, or if it was the other way around.
The phylloxera epidemic of 1867 put a damper on all the wine production in France and forced vignerons to replant all of the vines on the Phylloxera-resistant rootstock. Carménère is not an easy grape to grow in the Bordeaux climate, and it was pretty much abandoned and considered extinct at the beginning of the 20th century.
Meanwhile, in 1850th, immigrants brought many of the French grapes with them to Chile, where the grapes started to strive in the warm and dry climate offered by the Andes mountains. In 1980th, Merlot became a star of Chilean winemaking, abundantly producing inexpensive wines that became well known in the world. It was noticed that the taste of the Chilean Merlot differs from the traditional Merlot and that Merlot was considered to be a Chilean-specific clone. Or at least it was until 1994 when visiting French scientist, Jean Boursiquot noticed that Chilean Merlot has different leaves and grape clusters from the traditional Merlot, and was able to show that this was not the Merlot, but long-extinct Carménère, which successfully made it to Chile in the 1850s with all the Bordeaux grape cuttings.
From that time, Carménère went on to become Chile’s own star grape, and answer to another French variety, Malbec, which Argentina made its own. As Phylloxera never made it to Chile, Chilean Carménère was even brought back to France, but it is not an easy grape to deal with, so it never regained its past glory in Bordeaux.
TerraNoble winery (Terra Noble means “Noble Land”), was founded in 1993 by a group of friends. From the beginning, TerraNoble focus was on producing high-end wines in Maule Valley, and the winery quickly established itself as a boutique producer of Chilean Merlot. After Chilean Merlot was identified as Carménère, TerraNoble continued focusing on the variety.
TerraNoble sustainably (certified sustainable since 2019) farms today about 750 acres, which comprises 4 vineyards in Maule Valley, Colchagua Valley, and Casablanca Valley. The winery produces a full range of wines you would expect a Chilean winery to produce – Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah – but Carménère is unquestionably the darling of TerraNoble, as presented by Marcelo Garcia, TerraNoble’s winemaker, during the virtual tasting a few weeks back.
While browsing Sotheby’s New Wine Encyclopedia by Tom Stevenson, I came across a small insert about Chilean Carménère, where it was mentioned that Carménère is site-specific to the extreme – you need to work hard to find the right location for Carménère to vines to deliver the best result. TerraNoble approach to Carménère is based exactly on this notion – site-specific Carménère wines. As we mentioned before, Carménère is a close relative of the core Bordeaux varieties – Cabernet and Merlot and has a similar taste profile as well. It is similar, but not the same, obviously. A typical Carménère has a much higher concentration of the aroma compound called pyrazines, which is often associated with the pronounced taste of the green bell pepper – here is a good article that explains pyrazines in depth. Green pepper is good for cooking and the salad, but probably not so much in wine. Also, when left unsupervised, Carménère has a tendency to develop a high concentration of the tannins. While someone might enjoy a big powerful wine with pronounced green bell pepper aromatics and powerful tannin structure, the appeal is not universal and this is what Chilean winemakers had to deal with.
TerraNoble CA project vineyards. Source: TerraNoble
In 1998, TerraNoble released Gran Reserva Carménère to the international markets. The grapes for this wine were coming from the La Higuera Vineyard in Maule Valley, near San Clemente. This wine still remains the winery’s flagship. I had been a fan of TerraNoble wines for a long time, after discovering them back in 2004. To the best of my memory, 2003 TerraNoble Carménère Gran Reserva was quite enjoyable, but I don’t have any detailed notes in that regard.
Following its Carménère calling, TerraNoble planted two new Carménère vineyards in Colchagua Valley – in 2004, Los Cactus Vineyard, about 25 miles from the coast, and in 2005, Los Lingues Vineyard, about 35 miles further inland, on the outskirts of Andes mountains. These two vineyards became a home to the special project called CA – producing two 100% Carménère wines using absolutely identical vinification at the winery, different only in the source of the grapes – CA1 from the Andes, and CA2 from the coast. The first wines in the CA project were released in 2009.
The goal of the project was to showcase the capabilities of Carménère grapes. With winemaking techniques identical for both wines, different taste profiles were only influenced by the different growing conditions, the terroir – soil and climate most of anything. How different are the wines? We had an opportunity to taste a few of the CA project wines, and they were demonstrably different. Here are my notes from the tasting.
We started with the tasting of the flagship Carménère
2017 TerraNoble Carmenere Gran Reserva Maule Valley, Chile (14% ABV, $18.99, aged 75% in previously used French oak barrels, 25% in untoasted casks, 6 months in the bottle)
Dark garnet
Currant leaves, blackberries
Bright red fruit, good acidity, soft, easy to drink, medium body, medium finish.
8-, nicely approachable from the get-go. 8 after a few hours.
Then we had an opportunity to compare two of the vintages of CA1 wines (from the Andes), and then CA1 and CA2 from the same vintage – again, you can see how different the wines are:
2016 TerraNoble CA1 Carmenere Andes Valle de Colchagua, Chile (14% ABV, $24.99, aged 85% in new and twice used French oak barrels, 15% in untoasted oak casks for 14 months, 12 months in the bottle)
dark garnet
touch of barnyard, dark fruit
black currant, a touch of bell peppers, noticeable french oak tannins, peppery, chewy tannins, big body
7+/8- initially, 8 after a few hours. Excellent, powerful wine.
2017 TerraNoble CA1 Carmenere Andes Valle de Colchagua, Chile (14% ABV, $24.99, aged 85% in new and twice used French oak barrels, 15% in untoasted oak casks for 14 months, 12 months in the bottle)
dark garnet
tobacco, currant leaves, pepper, dense and concentrated
good acidity, peppery notes, blackberries, concentrated
7+/8- initially, 8 in a few hours. Delicious.
2017 TerraNoble CA2 Carmenere Costa Valle de Colchagua, Chile (14% ABV, $24.99 aged 85% in new and twice used French oak barrels, 15% in untoasted oak casks for 14 months, 12 months in the bottle)
dark garnet
currant more noticeable
softer than the previous wine, but showing more of the green notes. black currant
7+/8- initially, 8 in a few hours.
We finished our tasting with a somewhat unexpected wine – Carignan. Carignan is another ancient French grape, this one coming from Rhône valley. Chile has very old Carignan vineyards (some are 120+ years old), however, for the longest time, Carignan was used by the farmers to make very strong, but not really drinkable alcohol. Carignan’s popularity started increasing around 2000. Another interesting fact about Carignan is that it is mostly growing in the small (and old) vineyards, where the vineyards became a part of a natural biodiverse habitat, which includes other plants and animals.
TerraNoble Carignan grapes were sourced from the vineyard planted in 1958 in Maule Valley close to the ocean, using dry farming. The wine was partially aged in the concrete eggs.
2018 TerraNoble Carignan Gran Reserva Melozal, Maule Valley, Chile (13.5% ABV, $18.99, aged 50% in concrete egg, 50% in untoasted oak casks, 6 months in the bottle)
Dark Ruby
touch of licorice, distant hint of candied fruit
tart fresh cherries, good acidity, medium body, simple, easy, and pleasant. Might be a summer quaffer
7+
Here you are, my friends – TerraNoble tells the story of modern-day Chilean Carménère. The evolution of the Carménère wines is still ongoing, with TerraNoble winemakers starting to experiment with concrete eggs and amphorae, and who knows what else is coming to push the grape which Chile made its own even further. One thing for sure – winelovers are in for lots of pleasure.
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