Fattoria di Bacchereto Sassocarlo 2007

I recently purchased a couple bottles from a producer I hadn't heard of before, Rossella Bencini Tesi of Fattoria di Bacchereto. I opened both tonight (they have a reputation for keeping as well as Musar once opened), but the red was corked. I was going to get a replacement of that before posting on the producer, but the white was so good I couldn't keep the news to myself until then!


Fattoria di Bacchereto Sassocarlo Terre a Mano 2007 - Bianco Toscano IGT; possibly a blend of Trebbiano (80%) and Malvazia (20%) but I don't have good sources for this; 14% abv

This is an "orange" with skin contact. On first sniff it seems to be in the Musar style with lots of apricot marmalade aromas: very fresh, though sweet. But it quickly develops almost malty, beer-like as well as cidery aromas. And then it morphs into a Cantillon style of sour fruitiness. It seems to have everything alcoholic that I love in its evanescent and ever-mutating aroma.

Rich and full bodied, dry palate, tannic and quite low in acidity and very like a red. The palate is much like white Musar but doesn't morph fleetingly into all the other alcohols I like. But I can live with that. Lovely wine.

Classy Christmas Drinking

Christmas eve is always a hectic day for me with our annual -20% sale at the bookshop. Though stressful enough for the staff, our customers seem quite stressed, too - which can result in some memorable situations. Today, one of my regulars, a high official in some ministry or other, when asked how he will spend his Christmas, said: "in the regular Finnish way. First, I'll drink a bottle of Vodka, then I'll chase after my family with an ax." A joke, I'm sure, but I'm still dreading the news tomorrow morning.

Or the following scene: Man steps into the bookshop, and begins soliloquy: "So. I need a present. [Looks around, surprised by his surroundings.] Perhaps a book. For a woman. Women read these days, right? [I might be imagining, but I thought he muttered "Outrageous!" under his breath.] What do women read? Nothing too difficult. Sell me something for a woman aged 54."

After work, I needed a drink. So I opened some classy wines for our family's Christmas lunch-dinner-breakfast eat-a-t(h)on:


Thus far, it's all Slovenian. First an outstanding Čotar Malvazija 2005, AFAIK, the most recent bottled vintage. And lovely it is. Orange. A wonderfully fragrant, Orval-like aroma with a touch of brett (rare in a white wine, in my experience, and also rare in an "orange" wine); earthy, yet vibrantly fruity with a lovely rosewater aroma. Dry, mineral, wonderfully crisp. But also dense and rich though only 12,5% abv. Some might say that this is unpleasantly lean on the palate for such a flamboyantly expressive nose, but I love it.

I recently posted on our red, Čotar Teran 2007, but I have to say it again: fuck me this is good. Only 11% abv, but with lovely purity of exuberant fruit and also lactic/sour and delightfully high in acidity. Unbelievable depth and complexity for something so superficially light.

A couple more interesting wines will follow tomorrow. But for now, Merry Christmas everyone!

Kopke 20yo Tawny Port

It's been a long time since I last drank Port - largely because our government monopoly hasn't had any new arrivals within my budget. But now there are a few, so this winter will be a break from a long Port hiatus!

First up was a half bottle of Kopke's 20yo Tawny ( - 20% abv; 18,98€ / 0,375; 110 g/l RS; bottled 2010; label ) which was very enjoyable, but still a bit different from what I expected. However, expectations - especially after such a long break from Port - can be dangerously misleading. Before my enforced break, I used to like 20yo Tawnies best of all the varieties of Port because they had to my tastes an ideal mix of freshness and oxidation.

This wine looked dark for one aged so long in wood. But the wine did have that lovely mix of freshness and age that I so like in 20yos. It has sumptuous fruit aromas mixed with citric, cigar and oxidative ones. The surprise comes on the palate where this doesn't have the aged aspects at all as much to the fore as I remembered from previous 20yos. In fact, it seems rather like what I remember 10yos to have been: very sweet, rich, soft and round. I would really like more obvious oxidative, wood-aged sensations here.

But am I just remembering my 20yos as being different from what they really are like; or is Kopke's 20yo a little different in being more fresh and fruity than the others? Should I now start concentrating on 30yos?

Perhaps, as usual, I'm just being too picky. This was a very enjoyable Port despite being slightly unexpected.

Free jazz for a change...

Derek Bailey & Evan Parker

Excellent stuff. Must find more from them...

Caparsa Chianti Classico "Doccio a Matteo" 1999

Caparsa Chianti Classico "Doccio a Matteo" 1999
Sour cherries and sandalwood; crisp, bright red fruit, ripe but crunchy and dangerously moreish. IIRC, after the 1997 vintage, Caparsa started to use Barriques for this cuvée - but I see no new wood aromas at all in this wine. Instead, it seems like the Platonic ideal of Sangiovese. Outstanding, perhaps? Only Podere le Boncie's "Le Trame" has been as breathtakingly pure - in my admittedly limited experience of Chianti.

Sharing is scaring

I ate a snack of Serrano and drank a glass of Čotar Teran 2007 with it and the combination was so good I came into my pants. Very dark red, almost purple rim. But instead of a Barossa lookalike, a monstrosity of purplosity, this is its antithesis. The scent is a bit out of the mainstream but is lovely: lots of sour, lactic aromas and bright, fresh red berries with a bit of something greenish/herbaceous thrown in. The delicious sourness continues on the palate. It has wonderful acidity, great purity of fruit, and though sour and strongly structured, it never becomes hard. In fact, it is outstandingly moreish. It was perfection with a snack of serrano. And it was also nice to get a red with so much of everything in it with so little alcohol!

Ahr you ready?

Weingut Jean Stodden Spätburgunder Recher Herrenberg Grosses Gewächs 2007 - Rech, Ahr, c.55€; label
Nice and earthy and showing some very attractive lean Pinosity, but sadly showing quite a bit of oak. Good acid, crunchy red fruits, but again too much oak for me. Possibly very nice once the oak fades. Though since I've never had much exposure to Ahr, I have no idea how these age - but I would be surprised if they did decline very quickly.

WG Jean Stodden Spätburgunder Alte Reben 2007 - Rech, Ahr, c.80€; label
Lovely aroma of lingonberry, less oak than in the first glass but it does still have some influence of it, lovely lean Pinosity, slightly reminiscent of J-P Brun's. Bright, crunchy and savoury. Slight oak still, but not in annoying amounts. Lovely. But not 80€ lovely.

Weingut Deutzerhof Spätburgunder "Melchior C" 2007 - Mayschoss, Ahr, c.100€; label
This was another of my favourites (what cheap tastes I have!). This also had very pure Pinosity in a leaner style and it again reminded me of J-P Brun if he would have a slight touch of new oak. But the palate is richer in fruit and it has a tiny, but lovely quinine-like bitterness that made this very moreish. Very nice.

WG Deutzerhof Spätburgunder Altenaher Eck Grosses Gewächs 2007 - Mayschoss, Ahr, c.50€; label
Again this has pure pinosity, but no longer in such a lean style as the previous two wines. Instead, though recognizably Pinot, it has gamy and bloody aromas. Richer and less fragrant than most others in the line-up, but with moreish despite a bit of oak showing.

Weingut Meyer-Näkel Spätburgunder Dernauer Pfarrwingert 2008 - Dernau, Ahr, c.50€; label
This was the only producer I had heard of before, but the most famous isn't necessarily the best. I thought this showed more oak than the others, it was quite toasty and spicy yet lacked the sexy aromatics I like to see in the grape. It seemed more like an attempt at oaking Gamay than PN! Crunchy palate, gravelly and rugged but sadly shows too much oak on the finish. It seemed quite "international" in style.

WG Meyer-Näkel Spätburgunder Walpforzheimer Kräuterberg 2008 - Dernau, Ahr, c.70€; label
This IMO was the better of the two Meyer-Näkels. It wasn't terribly fragrant at first but with some air it beings to show some gravelly and lean Pinosity - not a very sexy style, but attractive (except, as in all of these, there is a touch of oak present). Crunchy fruit, some quinine bitterness, lean and quite nice.

Gernot & Heike Heinrich Pinot Noir 2007 - Burgenland, Austria; label
This was the first joker, an Austrian in the midst of Germans. And though I have written very positively on several of Heinrich's reds, I wasn't very keen on this one. It smelled more of hot chocolate than wine: an unpleasant combination of oak and ripeness. The palate also shows too much bitter oak.

Becker-Landgraf Spätburgunder Gau-Odernheimer Rosenberg 2006 - Rheinhessen
This was our second joker. Very pale, very pure, but strangely not very fragrant. Opens up to show a little bit of oak. From the colour and scent I was expecting a light wine, but instead this was one of the richest and densest wines of the evening. Good balance of all components: ripe fruit, crunchy acidity and minerals all make this very moreish.


It was a hugely interesting tasting with some very nice wines. But I do wonder why they are still so enamoured with oak? (This, of course, cannot possibly my handicap :rolleyes: ) I think a more serious problem than my oak aversion is that the prices simply are far too high. How many people will pay this much for admittedly good wines when you can get some GC Burgs for similar amounts?


To finish the tasting, we had a blind sweetie:
Willi Opitz OpitzOne 2004 which was ok but so super sweet that one can't say much else except that it had much of everything - including acidity - so it was fun and balanced in a perverse kind of way.


And while doing the dishes, our host opened up one more blind wine to help us work:
Barca Velha 1999 from Douro, which was really very nice. Already very approachable (this must not be the norm for a young Barca Velha?) and with cherry and sandalwood aromas leading me to believe it was some Tuscan from a warm year. Nice red fruits and crunch on the palate. Drink and hold.

Poysdorf, Weinviertel, Austria

2005 Domäne Müller Sauvignon Blanc Der Sauvignon Blanc - Austria, Styria, Südsteiermark; label
The producer has a funny way of calling his top-SB "Der Sauvignon Blanc" instead of just SB. An oak-aged SB, but IIRC they are big barrels and mostly used wood. But more importantly, the oak isn't obvious in this wine. Instead, it smells very much like a ripe SB with some attractive citrus and grass aromas. The palate is rich, savoury and quite low in acid for the variety. Very typical of the grape on the scent, quite an exotic variation of it on the palate, but still recognizably SB. Nice!

2008 Weinrieder Weissburgunder Selektion Alte Reben Lagenreserve Kugler - Austria, Niederösterreich, Weinviertel; label
Served blind. Nicely spicy aromas, very perfumed but mostly reminiscent of a warm year Grüner Veltliner. Rich, spicy palate; starts out tasting almost sweet but high acidity does kick in towards the finish. Rich but moreish. Once revealed, we were all surprised that this was Weissburgunder.

2008 Weinrieder Grüner Veltliner Alte Reben - Austria, Niederösterreich, Weinviertel; label
A spicy style of GV but with some attractive citrus and mineral aromas. Good grip, long, pleasantly delineated and with such acidity that there is an illusion of leanness amidst the richness. Very nice.

2008 Ebner-Ebenauer Grüner Veltliner Black Edition - Austria, Niederösterreich, Weinviertel; label
I wasn't too keen on this one: strange, buttery and sweaty scent. With air, it turns so perfumed as to be off-putting. Our host thought this only sees old wood, but I am very surprised about that as it also seemed over-oaked to me. Bitter and oaky at first, but with air it becomes nicely crunchy on the palate. But it never turns into something enjoyable.

2008 Ebner-Ebenauer Chardonnay Black Edition - Austria, Niederösterreich, Weinviertel; label
A very faint aroma at first, but with air it becomes worse as it starts to smell only of oak. But it does have good acidity and some nice crunchy fruit on the palate - so a shame it is rather oak dominated.

2004 Anita und Hans Nittnaus Grüner Veltliner Greiner - Austria, Burgenland; label
A strange experience: supposedly sees only old oak, yet it smelled like vanilla and butter and I was sure when served blind that this was a white Burgundy that had seen rather too heavyhanded use of barrels! Rich, smooth, oak-dominated palate. Not really my stuff.

Naudin-Ferrand Orchis Mascula 2007

Domaine Henri Naudin-Ferrand Hautes-Côtes de Beaune "Orchis Mascula" 2007 - 12% abv; 32,90€; back label
A lovely light colored, "natural" wine. This is aged in oak, 80% of which is new - this much new oak influence doesn't seem to be usual among "natural" producers, but, just as it did with the 2006, it works here. Unlike with the Wither Hills '08 I recently posted on, the oak isn't bitter and it doesn't seem like a major aromatic component of the whole. Instead, with just half an hour of air, it fades into the background and lets the slightly vegetal but ripe and sexy Pinosity come to the fore. What emerges is a truly ethereal and delicate floral wine. Delightfully light, crisp and acidic without being harsh - but the lightness is deceptive as it is full of layers and persistence. Unending. Awesome. A couple years more for that initial oak to disappear even more and I can well imagine this being in that rare FMTIG-category.

Châteaux des Annereaux 2004

Ch. des Annereaux 2004 - Lalande de Pomerol; 12,5% abv; 18,39€
This already has some mature elements to the scent and is pleasantly dark in fruit and doesn't have obvious oak. It is pleasantly light despite being fleshy, has an attractive skeleton and is moreish and easy to drink. With a bit of lamb, this was a very enjoyable mid-week bottle. Overpriced here, however.

Perplexing Pinot

Wither Hills Wairau Valley Pinot Noir 2008 - New Zealand, Marlborough; 14% abv; c.20€; label
Reports from mouths I trust have said that this is a good wine and a great value even in our overpriced monopoly. These palates tend to be quite sensitive to oak and spoof, so I dare to buy on their recommendations. But every so often, apparently, we do not agree.

To some extent I can understand why they felt I might like this: it does have some vegetal character and sexy Pinosity. And this is all good. In fact, I really don't want anything more from Pinot than that. This, sadly, has a great deal more to it: bitter *** aromas. And the harsh quercus aromas continue on the palate. But as far as I can tell from beneath the ***, this does have nice acidity and some genuine Pinosity. Sadly, however, the quercus ultimately obliterates everything else. (I can never decide whether to use asterisks or Latin to shield sensitive eyes from naughty words).

It is strange how even after many years of palate calibration I can still disagree with several trusted sources...

Xinomavro

Just one wine this weekend, Boutari's Naoussa 2007 ( label ) a 100% Xinomavro, aged one year in mostly neutral French oak. Gladly that 10% that is new didn't really show.

Bright yet dark fruit, reminiscent of Nebbiolo except not so ethereally fragrant. It was more like a rustic cousing of Nebbiolo tastewise, too. Good grip, rustic, refreshing and not much vulgar fruit. Not terribly complex and not terribly concentrated, but a nice drop. And just under 10€ in Alko!

A Drinkable Barossa Shiraz

John Duval Wines Shiraz Entity 2006 - Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley (12/3/2010)
37€; 14,5% abv. I'm not a great fan of warm climate wines, so take this note with a grain of salt, but this Shiraz seemed to set itself apart from the masses. The scent is not just fruit; instead it has some genuine interest. It smells strongly of mulberries and, despite only 30% new French oak, I do find quite a bit of vanilla also, but crucially it does have a delightful savoury edge to all these sweet aromas. Full bodied and unmistakably Barossa, but once again delightfully savoury, with refreshing levels of acidity and some tannic grip. This is a big, meaty wine, but doesn't fall into a stereotype of a hot climate wine. I think I might actually like this once the oak fades more into the background.

Margaux, Cornas, Barossa, Tuscany

Ch. d'Angludet 2003 - Margaux
Served blind. Good typicity, ripe and rich but not to such amounts that I would have guessed 2003. In fact, this was amazingly refreshing and acidic and bright for the year. The oak is beginning to integrate, and the whole experience was of harmony. Considering my antipathy to this vintage, it was good to get it blind - I am certain that my biases would have made me enjoy it less had I seen the label.


Paul Jaboulet Aîné Cornas 1998
Also served blind. I always fancy that I can tell Bordeaux grapes from Syrah, but that wasn't the case here. I thought it was mature with lovely scents of forest floor and cedar - seemingly Pauillac or St. Julien from a warm year, I was thinking of 1989 or 1990. The palate shows sweetness in addition to aged aspects - yet it still has quite a bit of tannins. Many contradictions in one mouthful. Despite mistaking this for Bordeaux, I thought it very enjoyable. Alarmingly mature, however.


Hewitson Mourvèdre Baby Bush 2009
This must not have been massively gobby or unstructured or oaky, because I would have remembered that. Extremely unmemorable.


Cosimo Maria Masini "Nicole" 2007
Pure Sangiovese aromas of bright cherry and sandalwood, but seemingly a warm year once again (was it?) with its dark toned fruit and touch of sweetness. Quite full bodied but lively; refreshing and moreish despite the sweet touch. Nice stuff!