Horrible shite

Quinta do Encontro Superior 2004 - Bairrada
Baga, Touriga Nacional & Tinta Roriz. Sadly a great disappointment. It smelled of coconut and toffee, i.e. more oak than necessary. Sweet palate, soft tannins (though predominantly Baga!!!). Since when has Baga been soft?

Gressier Grand Poujeaux 2006

Ch. Gressier Grand Poujeaux 2006 - Cru Bourgeois, Moulis-en-Médoc

I really liked the '05 of this. At 22,20€ it was fair value for Bordeaux and was pretty classical in style. This '06 is also a wine I am enjoying but it isn't as forward, fleshy or as pleasurable now as the '05. But it is a nice wine with savoury, dark fruit and a refreshing tannic structure. There is a bit more oak showing than in the more fleshy '05, but since it didn't really bother me, I don't think many others should be worried about it! Nice wine.

An equation that shouldn't work

15% abv + refreshing structure + high evaporation rate = impossibility.

But we always need that damned exception to the equation.

Cosimo Maria Masini "Cosimo" 2006 - Toscana, San Miniato


©Cosimo Maria Masini

This is a Real Wine, bio-certified, 90% Sangiovese, 10% Buonamico and the label and Alko's laboratory agree that this is 15% abv.

Dark fruit, but obviously Sangiovese in its cherry and sandalwood aromas. It has wonderfully deep yet palate-cleansing and refreshing tannins - with tannins like this I can finally understand why some people say that the structure of Nebbiolo and Sangiovese are similar. The fruit is ripe but has nothing jammy or over-ripe about it. Clean, dry, refreshing finish. Very moreish.

So no mention of the supremely high alcohol? Nope. And this wasn't even served blind so I was fully aware of what it said on the bottle and was therefore very prejudiced against it despite positive experiences with other wines from Cosimo Maria Masini.

I am quite sure that my senses just aren't working today. I obviously must try another bottle ... and I quite look forward to it.

Spinifex Esprit 2005

Spinifex Esprit 2005 - Barossa

40% Grenache, 34% Shiraz, 12% Cinsault, 8% Mataro, 6% Carignan. 14% abv; 6,4 g/l acidity; 34,40€. A nicely lifted and bright scent but it still has some of the dried fruit and candied character I too often find in Barossas. Full bodied, but gladly with no oak aromas that I can sense and with good structure for such a hot climate. Much more interesting than most Barossas we have seen, but I still prefer the lighter, less a blockbuster, Papillon.

Terpin Jakot 2006

Az. Ag. Franco Terpin Jakot 2006 - San Floriano del Collio, near the town of Gorizia; IGT Delle Venezie

This is made from Friulano (though the name Jakot is of course the mirror of the original name, Tokaj). The vines of 30-55 yo are grown on a SW facing hill at 80-180 m altitude. It spends one year in wood (neutral I guess?), one year in steel and half a year in bottle before release. This is unfiltered and uses only a tiny bit of sulfur at bottling.

A wild, orange colour. It smells wonderfully of fresh fruit, but I can't really describe which: maybe oranges, peaches, apricot or yellow plums. Who cares, it smells wonderfully sweet and fresh, tangy and refreshing at the same time. Full bodied, but lively. It isn't very high in acidity (is Friulano ever?), but it somehow is still very refreshing. Joyful, tangy, fruit-forward wine. I love it.

Querciabella Chianti Classico 2005

Querciabella Chianti Classico 2005

13,5% abv. Though a "bio" wine, this lacks the refreshing liveliness I find in the best of them. This somehow manages to be clunky and ponderous despite showing some obvious tannin and acidity. It has recognizable Sangiovese aromas but the fruit is rather dark and it lacks the brightness and cut I like in the grape. It also seems to have a bit of new oak. Not something to spit out, but not something I get excited about.

Casa Emma 2007 & J-M Burgaud Morgon CdP 2008

Casa Emma Chianti Classico 2007
13,5% abv. Much more interesting to me than the supposedly better previous vintage. This has some rather nice sandalwood aromas and a pleasant lift to the dark fruit. Medium-full body, good crunchy structure. It doesn't have the brightness of precision of the best Chiantis but it was enjoyable.

Jean-Marc Burgaud Morgon Côte du Py 2008
A lighter style, less fruity and more red-toned, than the previous years, spicy aromas to the Gamayness. A bit plasticy (reductive?) at first but clears with air - but it does need much air to be enjoyable now. As with most Burgauds I have had, this is tannic for Gamay. Nice stuff but needs some age.

Askaneli Saperavi 2007

Askaneli Brothers "Askaneli" Saperavi 2007 - dry red wine from Kvareli in eastern Georgia.

100% Saperavi; 13,5% abv; 10,04€

We haven't seen many Saperavis or other Georgian wines, but the few unspoofulated ones that I have tried have been very enjoyable wines in a rustic style. This Askaneli gladly doesn't use new oak, but neither is it overly rustic or flawed in any way.

This is a wine with much dark fruit, quite savoury, a little bit lifted (but not full blown VA by any means) - it is a clean and pure scent. Quite full bodied, wonderfully tannic and rugged palate with bright fruit - the palate-cleansing tannins remind me of Nebbiolo's. A "small" wine, perhaps, but one that I found very enjoyable.

Ksara Cuvée du Troisième Millénaire 2005

So I finally see a Ksara that I liked! Like most non-Musar Lebanese wines, I found their range competently made but rather international in style and frankly rather boring.

But today I tried a Ksara Cuvée du Troisième Millénaire 2005, a Biq'á-valley blend with 40% Petit Verdot, 30% Cabernet Franc and the rest Syrah. It is a moderate (for such a warm climate) 13% abv but sadly the price over here is not moderate at all at c.30€.

The scent is already wonderfully open. It has much dark fruit but also the exotic, floral qualities of ripe PV are to the fore. It has some blood and vegetal aromas as well. Despite spending 14 months in French oak of which half was new, the oak is already well integrated and didn't really detract from my pleasure.

Ripe and fruity, medium bodied rather than a blockbuster, refreshingly savoury. Moderate in both tannins and acidity but with enough of both to keep it together and moreish.

Surprisingly some others around the table felt this was a little bit green, whereas I thought this was all about the Biq'á sun!

This certainly isn't a unique personality like Musar, but it does have personality and that's where I find this differs from my other Lebanese experiences. Nice stuff. If it weren't so expensive I would try it again.

Caparsa Chianti Classico Riserva Doccio a Matteo 1997

Having wasted four hours at an abysmal performance of Chekhov's Platonov, we decided to open up something a bit older and more "special" than our usual fare. Gladly this bottle and our quick risotto more than made up for the over-long, overacted performance with too much shouting and strange waterworks and other strange stage effects. I like Chekhov - maybe my favourite Russian author and playwright - but this was a horrible performance.

Caparsa Chianti Classico Riserva Doccio a Matteo 1997 - 39,80€; 13% abv; 100% Sangiovese. Recent vintages of this see 16 months in Barrique, but the '97 was in bigger casks.

The scent is quite lovely with much cherry and some darker fruit. It smells mature with some nice earthy and leathery aromas. Though the fruit is ripe it never seems fat and flabby like so many other '97s I have had. The palate still has such refreshing tannins and so much of them that I think this will keep for quite some time - especially as the fruit and acidity are all so harmoniously integrated to each other. Tangy finish. Shows no adverse effects from the hot year or the oak. Very nice, mature wine. Drink and hold.

José Michel Special Club Champagne 2002

José Michel Special Club 2002 - 12% abv; 54,90€


50/50 Meunier and Chardonnay. A mineral scent of red apples. There is fantastic precision despite some richness and earthiness from, presumably, the Meunier. Elegant, small mousse. Wonderful cut from the Chardonnay. More elegant than I remember previous years of this to have been - they were rich wines and impressive but not entirely to my taste. This '02 however seems just right to me now.

I don't like to talk about Biodynamic wines because I find the anti-scientific, anti-rational, lunatic ideology behind the the movement disagreeable. Yet I'm not convinced of the term "natural" wine either, because no wine really is natural - it is a manufactured product. So perhaps I will adopt Dressner's (?) term: Real Wine.

Today I tried two recent arrivals of Real Wine from the wonderful (and well named) importer, Funky Wine Imports.

José Michel Brut Rosé NV 22,80€ from a half

50/50 Meunier and Pinot Noir. Quite a deep pink. Wonderfully earthy scent - like in all other Meuniers and strongly Meuniered Champagnes I have tried. Quite vegetal, too, and red in fruit so it smells like an earthy red Burgundy. Elegant mousse. Richish but crisp. Fun. And serious, too.


(d.) de Blanes Vin de Pays d'Oc "Le Clot" 2008 13,5% abv; c.14€

Unlike previous years that have been blends, the 2008 is 100% Syrah. Awesome wine! Lovely meaty/gamy and mineral dark fruit aromas. Full bodied, but lively and light on its feet. Refreshing structure, though not very high in acidity. Who knew that Syrah in such warm areas could be so pure?

Riberach Thèse 2006 - VdP Côtes Catalanes

This was a reminder to me to always listen to a trusted merchant rather than listen to what one sees on the internet. Sometime back I saw a deluge of TNs on Riberach's Synthèse (the blend of roughly equal amounts each of Grenache, Syrah, Carignan) in response to hype from Garagiste (their US importer). The notes were uniformly negative. Parsing the notes now, they seem to bemoan the presence of structure in the wine. But of course what I remembered from such a deluge of negative notes was only the negativity, not the reason for it.

So I am very glad I listened to better advice and bought a Riberach Thèse 2006 Vin de Pays des Côtes Catalanes.

85% Grenache; the rest is Syrah and Carignan in equal amounts. A massive 14,5% abv (see picture-taking skills for evidence...) and quite low in acidity (4,8 g/l). Yet despite all these superficialities that would make me leave this bottle on the shelf were it not for strong endorsement from a trusted merchant, I really liked this bottle! I didn't sense the alcohol (good!), I didn't sense any oak (good!), rather I sensed garrigue (good!) and bright fruit (good!). Lovely, strong tannins, slightly reminiscent of Nebbiolo's tannins in their palate-cleansing qualities and quantities. Adequate acidity, too, and gladly no over-the-top fruit (though ripe, certainly). Crunchy. And far too drinkable on a weekday.

Caprili Brunello di Montalcino 2004

Caprili Brunello di Montalcino 2004

Initially it was very bright and a little tight and had sandalwood and cherry aromas. With time it gained body and the fruit gravitated towards the darker wavelengths - it seemed like it would come from a warmer sub-zone of BdM. Despite this morphing of the fruit quality it never lost its purity, focus and raciness. There is proper grip to the palate-cleansing tannins and highish acidity, so the fruit is always kept in its proper place...

14% abv on the label seems high but it doesn't show; only big casks, no barrique; SW in Brunello so a warmer micro-climate, but still a lovely, refreshing wine!

Boutari Santorini 2008 (Assyrtiko)

Boutari Santorini 2008

13,39€; 13,5% abv; 5,4g/l acidity; 100% Assyrtiko. Smells of red apples and citrus but has a rich peachy aroma, too. Pleasantly mineral. The scent promises both richness and acidity, both of which are kept on the palate - though gladly the acidity more so than the richness! Much grip, despite the warm region, this retains refreshing acidity. Fun and nice!

Ridgeview Merret Grosvenor Blanc de Blancs 2006

Ridgeview Merret Grosvenor Blanc de Blancs 2006 - Sussex

As with my previous experiences with Ridgeview, I found this Chardonnay bubbly very good. It isn't cheap at just under 30€ but considering the outrageous pricing of most drinkable Champagne in Finland, this English bubbly is a very welcome addition to our monopoly - all the more so because it easily bests most Champagnes of similar price we have!



29,10€; 12% abv; 7g/l acidity; 11,6g/l RS. A very attractive scent with the citrus and white flowers of Chardonnay and a bit of bread from the autolysis. The palate is more on the rich side with quite noticeable dosage and ripe fruit from a warm year. Small, elegant mousse. Pleasant acidity, good minerality, racy despite some richness. Really very nice! Good now, but I think it will go in a direction I like even more over the next few years.

Torzi Matthews Shiraz "Frost Dodger" 2003

Torzi Matthews Shiraz "Frost Dodger" 2003 - South Australia, Barossa, Eden Valley

34,60€; 14,5% abv; under Stelvin; bottle #0113. Mt. McKenzie is a frost prone area, hence the name. Made in an Appassimento-style of partly dried fruit. Despite some pleasant, interesting, refreshing, lifted and savoury aromas (partly perhaps due to 25% fermented with stems?), this is quite marked by oak and high alcohol. Full bodied, good structure with ripe but nicely noticeable tannins and moderate acidity. Long, savoury finish. Certainly an interesting take on S. Australian Shiraz - but I do wish it had less oak aromas (though I also realize that many if not not most people are much more tolerant of oak than I am).