A weird, but ultimately lovely NZ SB

Full disclosure: this was an already open bottle that had about half left in it that was kindly given to me by &Co's importer, Funky Wine Imports. This apparently will be listed in the special order selection of Alko soon.

 

2010 &Co Sauvignon Blanc "The Supernatural" - New Zealand, North Island, Hawkes Bay (7/31/2012)
13,5% abv. I rarely taste enjoyable Sauvignon Blancs (oddly, not even from the Loire), but like the 2009, this 2010 is atypical for the grape - and that must be why I like it. The 2009 had some obvious botrytis; I'm not so sure if the 2010 does, but it does smell sweet and honeyed for this grape and it is uncommonly aromatic in the floral spectrum of aromas. It seems more like Riesling than SB in some respects but it does have an earthy/grassy scent to it, too, which is pretty typical for the grape. This is a dry wine despite some aromatics suggesting a sweet wine, but it is so rich that at first I was going to dismiss this as acid deficient - no matter how interesting the aromas, if the wine doesn't have enough acidity, I can't enjoy the whole. But the peacock's tail finish does contain a hefty dose of acidity. After a few sips my mouth seems to acclimatize to this wine and judging by how fast I've now drunk half a bottle, I have to say that this is - despite my initial reaction - a very moreish wine with a pretty fast evaporation rate. Weird, unusual and, at least on this first try, ultimately lovely.

Hugel Riesling Jubilee 2007

2007 Hugel et Fils Riesling Jubilee - France, Alsace, Alsace AOC (7/30/2012)
40€; 13% abv; 7 g/l RS; 7,7 g/l acidity. From Schoenenbourg GC. At 5yo this is still as pale as water. It has just the slightest touch of petrol, and still seems rather primary with some nice, ripe citrus and mineral aromas. Quite rich and ripe but still tastes properly dry despite the 7 g/l RS, the acidity does show well on the finish but the attack is so broad and fruity that it doesn't have the laser sharp precision of e.g. Trimbach or Loew. I have very little experience with Hugel, but this bottle at least seemed like a very respectable dry Riesling. Needs age if, like me, you like a some non-primary aromas in Riesling.

Can anyone help me fill in my gaps of knowledge at least in theory: What kind of a producer is Hugel? Is it generally well regarded? And most important, do they tend to still make a drier style of wine or are they all over the place in terms of sweetness?

t-OK Sauvignon Blanc

Oremus Tokaji Mándolas 2010 - 100% Furmint; 12,5% abv; c.15€
Nice wine but completely different from the past vintages I have had of this. I remember pre-2008s having had red toned, spicy and volcanic aromas. They were dry and austere and powerful. This one seems more like a Sauvignon Blanc. It has become international and "safe" in comparison to those. Paradoxical though it may seem, I am both sad that this has lost its personality and happy because if I don't think I'm drinking Furmint and imagine that this is SB, this really is one of the best Sauvignons I have had.

Culling

I decided to streamline my eclectic selection of links. There was really only one reason to delete links. The blogs seemed dead; there were no new posts.

Unfortunately this meant that I deleted many Finnish wine blogs. I am sorry to have done so since I really wanted to support Finnish wine blogging. But I must sadly note that several truly interesting blogs have stopped posting. Why is this? Alko's abysmal selections? Or are there other reasons?

7 x Riesling Spätlesen

Yesterday we had a small tasting of German Riesling. We knew what wines were served but not the order. I was pleasantly surprised at how well the 2006s were showing as that has not been a year I have generally enjoyed.

Robert Weil Kiedrich Gräfenberg Riesling Spätlese 2004 - Rheingau; 8% abv
Not the best showing of this wine. Quite confected sweetness and lacking the raciness of another recent bottle. Not bad, though, just different.

Willi Schaefer Graacher Domprobst Riesling Spätlese 2006 - Mosel; 8,5% abv
A really harmonious, gorgeously open scent, a bit of botrytis perhaps, but still smells clean. Rich, but with good acidity and the richness and raciness are showing harmoniously for a change (I found them quite unfocused earlier on). Very nice!

Willi Schaefer Graacher Himmelreich Riesling Spätlese 2006 - Mosel; 8,5% abv
Quite mute at first. It seemed much like the previous wine but a bit heavier, not so elegant. But the somewhat disjointed character I found in this earlier on had corrected itself and now it was a nice young wine, though obviously in need of age. It seems I had misjudged the 2006s previously.

Schaefer-Fröhlich Monzinger Helenberg Riesling Spätlese 2007 - Nahe, 7,5% abv
Much sulphur on the nose. Quite soft and sweet. This wasn't showing too well last night, but I'm sure that must mostly be because of its youth?

Dönnhof Oberhäuser Brücke Riesling Spätlese 2006 - Nahe; 8,5% abv
Just gorgeous. Ripe but not too tropical in its aromas, quite a steely style when compared to the others here (and here I always thought that Dönnhof wasn't ever a particularly steely style of wine!). Good acid; seems drier than most others on show, rich but refreshing; very moreish. Lovely.

Schaefer-Fröhlich Bockenauer Felseneck Riesling Spätlese Gold Kapsel 2007 - Nahe; 7,5% abv
Clean, crisp, floral, very ripe but well enough structured to be perfectly enjoyable.

Fr. Haag Brauneberger Juffer Sonnenuhr Riesling Spätlese 2010 - Mosel, 7,5% abv
So primary that it showed very awkwardly even though the other wines certainly weren't old! Completely in pieces. Hold.


While cleaning up, our host opened up a Glaetzer Amon-Ra 2010 from Barossa. Run! It's a supermassive black wine so heavy that it has a gravitational pull equivalent to a supermassive black hole. It's not a wine that man swallows; it's a wine that swallows man. Run away if you think you can escape the event horizon. Primary. Hold. For astronomically long periods of time.

Meh

Why is it that whenever I write up my notes on recent arrivals at Alko, all of them are always underwhelming? Can't Alko ever get a single interesting purchase?

2009 Herdade do Esporão Alentejo Reserva - Portugal, Alentejo
19,90€; 14,5% abv; 40% each of Aragonez and Trincadeira & 10% each of Cabernet Sauvignon and Alicante Bouschet. This has a really weird aroma of shortbread or some other buttery biscuit when opened. Air does some good to it: it becomes a dark fruited, pretty wild wine, but that wildness tends to be covered by a pretty aggressive oakiness (though only a third of the wine sees new oak, that is for my tastes too much). Full bodied, dark and meaty, well structured but with a really off-putting creamy oakiness and a buttery finish. Not at all to my taste.

2010 Kalleske Shiraz Greenock - Australia, Barossa Valley
14,5% abv. One might perfectly well wonder why I would drink this wine since Barossa Shiraz is pretty much opposite of what I like in wines. The reason is that I met up with a friend who likes Aussie Shiraz - the bigger the better - to discuss the book we're semi-seriously writing (it will be called something like Teach Yourself Colloquial Modern Old Persian - I'm sure the sales will equal that of Harry Potters :-D). The wine? Meh. But trying hard to step out of my comfort zone (and judging by the reaction this got from my friend) this is a very good example of the big, burly style of South Australian Shiraz: bold, fruity, but not too raisiny; rich, sweet, but with enough structure to keep this all together.

2011 Soto del Vicario Go de Godello - Spain, Bierzo
18,90€; 6,8 g/l acidity, 8 g/l RS; 10% of the wine is aged for 3 months in new oak. Very fruit forward and tropical aromas, clean and the short ageing in oak doesn't really show. Rich, tropically fruity, but racy enough. It's fun to drink for its combination or richness and raciness. I don't have much experience with Godello, but I have to wonder if this is really what the grape is like? To me this seems aromatically a bit too much like any cool fermented wine. Fun to try, but not one I will buy again.

La Rulles "Estivale"

La Rulles "Estivale" - 0,75; 5,2% abv

I haven't found out much info on this, except that it has 45 EBUs and is made with the American Warrior and Amarillo hops.

However, I love it, and it has now become one of my favourite beers alongside de Ranke's XX Bitter and Taras Boulba. A well hopped Belgian blonde, deliciously moderate in alcohol. It is wonderfully fragrant, floral and citric. Crisp palate with plenty of zing, good body for only 5,2%. Interminable finish. Quite the perfect summer ale.

Though the hops used are American this isn't sweet or thick so it certainly deviates from the norm we see with European brewers using high amounts of American hops. And it is all the better for deviating from the norm. I wonder why it is so difficult to find beers in this style with American hops?

Domaine David Clark Vosne-Romanée 2009

Domaine David Clark Vosne-Romanée 2009

This is one of the most exquisite young Burgundies I have had. The smell is obviously that of a ripe year, but it is well defined rather than blowsy and it has the loveliest, purest cherry Pinosity. Quite rich and powerful but these attributes seem to be stored mostly in the reserves; the palate is well structured, lively and racy, elegant even despite a warm year. This is a tightly coiled spring. Exciting and full of energy.

I do feel a bit sorry for having promised to open up my only bottle at such a young age. But since it was such an ethereal wine even at such an infant stage, I do also feel very happy for having opened it. If anyone has a bottle or three extra, do send me a message!

I spy with my little eye

2011 Spy Valley Riesling - New Zealand, Marlborough
This is really quite a pleasant wine for a relatively cheap wine (by Finnish standards of course): in Alko's selection very few wines under 15€ provide such pleasure. A clean, crisp pure Riesling aroma; a bit on the soft side (which is why I was surprised to read the tech sheet: 7,1 g/l acidity; 11 g/l RS; 12,5% abv), lacking the nervosity of the best Rieslings (but at this price, one can't really expect that!) but with enough bite to keep it moreish. I can see myself buying more of this.

2010 Balthasar Ress "Von Unserm" Riesling trocken - Germany, Rheingau
14€; 12% abv; 8,6 g/l acidity; 9 g/l sugar. Not much aroma on day one. Day two does show some pure Riesling fruit. This is pleasantly crisp and high in acid and doesn't become unpleasantly harsh and citric despite this year being famously high in acid. It's nice enough, but not great and not so inspiring that I would buy myself a second bottle.

A desperate attempt at catching up with tasting notes: many wines

2011 N. Sassarini Cinque Terre - Italy, Liguria, Cinque Terre
12% abv; 50% Bosco, 30% Vermentino, 20% Albarola. Mineral, leesy, and deliciously light and crisp - quite like a Muscadet except more perfumed. Nice! Not sure if it's really worth paying the 15€ it costs here, but it was a fun wine.

2011 Karl Schaefer Dürkheimer Spielberg Riesling Spätlese "Schöne Anna" - Germany, Pfalz
8,5% abv. At first I was a bit apprehensive since the aroma was almost entirely of pear drops - classic aromas of cold fermentation and nothing else. Half an hour later more interesting aromas began to emerge. A broad, ripe Rieslingness began to appear: it was mineral but also citric. Nice grip. Lovely sweetness, gentle but upright acidity. No hard edges here, but it is an interesting and enjoyable Pfalz Spätlese. Nice!

2011 Domaine des Terres Dorées (Jean-Paul Brun) Beaujolais l'Ancien
12%. Really lovely wine, quite a bit riper than the 2010 but still refreshing, pure and moreish. It seems to have better acidity and structure than the 2009. Is it a bit clichéd to say it is a blend of the '09 and '10?

2009 Éric Texier St. Joseph Vieilles Vignes La Croix
13% abv. This is a bit of a disappointment after the 2008, which was perhaps the most ethereally pure Syrah I have had. This 2009 isn't bad, but it is a riper style, it doesn't have the weightlessness of the 2008 but is instead rather heavy for a Texier. It even smells and tastes a little bit sweet. It does have good acidity and finishes very fresh, so it's certainly not a bad wine. It's only a relative disappointment having had the 2008 just recently. Young, needs time.

2009 Vigna Dogarina Piccolo Pazzo - Italy, Veneto, Veneto IGT
12% abv. A nice Cab Sauv based blend with a bit of Merlot and Raboso added as "spice". Loamy, dark fruited scent; rich, sweetish and ripe and feels like a much more substantial wine than the relatively low abv would suggest. Nice enough Bordeaux blend (despite the inclusion of Raboso, that's what it seems like).

Off the beaten path: Roter Veltliner & Slovenian Sauvignon

2011 Weingut Familie Schuster Roter Veltliner Grossriedenthaler Altweingarten - Austria, Niederösterreich, Donauland, Wagram
23,90€; 13,5% abv. Wagram, some 15km N-East from Vienna, makes some whites from the Roter Veltliner grape. It is grown in a few other parts of Austria, also, but it seems to be a major grape only in Wagram. Despite the name it isn't a relative of GV. The skins of the grape are light red, but still Wagram makes whites from them. Quite a Muscatty aroma: perfumed and floral, abundantly fruity but also with some nice minerality. Sweet and ripe fruit, quite grippy though the acidity isn't very high. A fruit-forward, highly aromatic wine. Nice!

2011 Ptujska Klet Sauvignon Pullus G - Slovenia, Štajerska
23€; 13,5% abv. A very ripe aroma, lots of grapefruit and grass. Quite broad and fat for a Sauvignon, but also high in acidity and so ripe as to seem almost sweetish. It reminds me of Sattlerhof's Austrian SBs. It is a style of SB that is obviously made from the same grape as the Loire and NZ ones, but is still a very different take on the grape. Fascinating to try though it still doesn't make me a fan of the grape.

Turning thirsty years old

Today, I turned thirsty years old. At my age, I need glasses:


1982 Château Giscours
Quite advanced aroma, but not over the hill. Dark, sweet fruit, but still with some savoury character. The structure is completely resolved, but it still remains vibrant. It drinks well but there doesn't seem to be a hurry with it. It is quite simple and straightforward and though pleasant, it isn't a terribly memorable wine. It's just nice old wine.

1982 Château Chasse-Spleen
A really lovely, classic mature Bordeaux. Lovely tangy cherry fruit with some cedar cigar box and dried elderflower. Really amazingly sweet but also well structured with still some tannin - and that tannin with the still sweet fruit makes me feel that this particular bottle could have aged and improved still! This seemed more like a wine that is just beginning to drink well! Continually improved over the four hours when it was open.

1982 Dow Porto Colheita Single Harvest Tawny
20% abv, 110 g/l sugar. Mahogany colour. It smells of figs, some aged oxidative character, but still with lots of fruit, quite a bit of alcohol showing. The palate is very sweet, bracing because of quite high alcohol. It's pleasant but doesn't really seem as aged as I would like a 30yo Tawny to be; and the alcohol is too obvious. Nice, but not great.

Weiser-Künstler Enkircher Zeppwingert Riesling Spätlese 2008

Weiser-Künstler Enkircher Zeppwingert Riesling Spätlese 2008 - 7% abv; no figures given as to sugar and acidity
This is so exquisite! Lovely passion fruit aromas which might give the idea that this is a hot year wine, but then there is a lovely steeliness to it, too. Light and racy, proper Spätlese rather than Auslese with something else written on the label. It seems light, but then the finish goes on forever. Wonderfully delicate. Ethereal. My gut reaction is that I need to get a case or five of this, but I prefer to think with my brain rather than my gut so perhaps I'll first try to find just a couple more bottles to see if I really love this as much as I now think I do.

Immich-Batteryacidberg CIA

Immich-Batterieberg Riesling C.A.I. 2010 - Mosel
10% abv; 16 g/l RS IIRC (don't quote me on this figure!). Apple, citrus and steel; tart, steely, very high acidity - as always with these drier styles of Mosel, I find it lacking in charm and would hope for more sugar. At least I had the sense to have this with some salmon - this really needs a fatty fish or grease from some other source to be enjoyable. I'll keep it open for a few days more in the hopes that it will gain some charm.

The next day: still lacking in charm.

With the choice of books lying around when the picture was taken, will the CIA be knocking on my door soon?

A Marzemino with a Punk Attitude

Marco Giovanni Zanetti is a Punk and wants to make wine with a punk attitude. I really have very little idea what that philosophy or lifestyle entails. But I met him recently in Helsinki and he was a fun person to taste with. He wants to make wine as naturally as possible with emphasis on the autochthonous varieties. I liked his wines at the tasting, but getting a 4cl sip isn't quite the same as enjoying a proper quantity with a meal, so I sourced a bottle to try at home.

Chateau Punk 2009 - Veneto Rosso IGT; 100% Marzemino Nero; 13,5% abv
If this wine is full of punk attitude, I should stop dressing in tweed and listening to Bach and convert to Punkitude. I have no other experiences with Marzemino, so I have no idea what it should be like. But this seems unforced and unmanipulated, with a lovely, bright cherry aroma. With air, some darker, earthier scents begin to creep in but there is always a really attractive cherry core to the wine. No oak that I can sense. Crisp, bracing, high acid, moderately high tannins, refreshing and moreish. Really enjoyable wine. Now, I'm going to spike my hair and colour it green and get my arms covered in tattoos.

I never thought I'd say this, but I enjoyed this Pinotage!

Lammershoek Pinotage "LAM" 2010 - 13% abv; Swartland
The aroma has a slight funky edge to it, a kind of spicy, cumin-like touch - but where in some Pinotage this cumin aroma can become quite overpowering, here it works beautifully. It doesn't cover the ripe, sweet and (dare I say it?) Pinot-like fruit. Really crisp, refreshing, delineated and pure (another word I never though I would use with this grape) palate; it is nervous like a cool climate wine, though Swartland is supposed to be one of the hotter regions in SA. Nice and moreish (once more a word I never thought I'd use with the grape).

A wonderful wine in many ways: first for bringing me joy with my dinner; and second for proving me wrong about the grape. If one can make good Pinotage, I am sure that others can, too!

Candialle Chianti Classico 2008

Candialle Chianti Classico 2008
c.33€; 14% abv; 100% Sangiovese, aged in Barriques of which c.20% were new. This seems like a very decent Chianti: cherry and sandalwood and loam and a touch of oak. Very attractive palate: bright and grippy, plenty of sweet and ripe fruit but it is so fresh and bracing that the wine is very moreish. Could do with more age, however. And also, I do wonder, why use Barriques and some new wood instead of big botti? But even with my personal antipathies toward oak aromas, I do like this!

Two Felton Road Pinot Noirs, 2010

NZ Pinots have always been problematic for me. There is, no matter what region they are grown in, always a pretty harsh, piercing aroma that I have trouble getting over - very few others seem to notice this, which makes me hesitant to post about it, but to me it smells like cranberry juice. I don't like Ocean Spray(TM).

But whenever I have said this, it is to uncomprehending faces and then I'm told that I must try Felton Roads. Well, tonight I did. Two of them, side by side, with a rather unorthodox pairing of lamb couscous (which actually worked pretty well! - why is Pinot and lamb shunned?)

Felton Road Pinot Noir "Calvert Vineyard" 2010 - Central Otago; 14% abv; c.55€
Quite a rich aroma, sweeter and more ripe than the Block 5. I haven't yet googled the type of oak ageing this sees, but I do sense quite a bit of chocolatey oak - but this is a young wine and there is obvious Pinosity shining through, so the oak itself shouldn't be the reason I wasn't too keen on this. Rather it is that it still shows that Ocean Spray element, though to a lesser degree than most other NZ PNs I have had. It has lovely acidity however. And it is remarkably moreish for a pretty dense and heavy Pinot. Fresh finish. If those Ocean Spray and oak aromas calm down (or better, completely disappear) with age, this might become something to my taste. But for now, no.

Felton Road Pinot Noir "Block 5" 2010 - Central Otago, from the Elms Bannockburn -vineyard; 14% abv; c.75€
This seemed to have a brighter aroma than the Calvert: if the Calvert was a bit diffuse, this goes straight to the point. Concentrated, really quite pretty Pinosity in a big kind of way, some Ocean Spray but not as bad as in most NZ PNs. And once again, there is a pretty hefty dose of oak that I sense, but since this is so young and primary but the Pinosity still shines through, perhaps that can be forgiven (how much new oak do these see, does anyone know?). Rich, but tighter and more delineated than the Calvert, racy even despite its size. Yup, I can see why this has its fans.


To sum up, these were certainly better experiences with NZ PN than most I have had. But I still wasn't quite convinced. Less oak and less cranberry harshness is what I would like to see. The Block 5 is one that seems to transcend the Ocean Spray limitations to some degree - I can easily understand why it is held in such esteem. But it is still somewhat away from my preferences with the grape, so I wouldn't dare to buy these for my cellar without first trying an aged example to see how these mature. Fun to try, fun to drink a couple small glasses of each, but the fun I had was of the more educational kind: finally finding a NZ PN that transcends what I thought were its inherent limitations.

Lanson Gold Label 2002

Lanson Gold Label 2002
50€; 6,8 g/l acidity; 11 g/l sugar

Seems a pretty ripe and unchallenging wine for Lanson. Some nice bread aromas, very attractive red floral fruit. Moderately crisp but not as bracing as the Black Label I have more experience with - but I thought this also was a non-malo Champagne? But this seems very ripe with not much Malic acid so the dosage is probably even too high for Lanson. Lanson has usually seemed like green, pleasantly tart apples to me, but this one is like a sugary, red apple. Enjoyable enough, but not what I look for when I pick a Lanson off the shelf.

Töövi White Hawk Syrah 2008

Crushpad Töövi Syrah White Hawk 2008 - Santa Barbara County, California
14% abv. A pretty nice wine, but really rather too young though it is expressive even just after opening. Meaty, dark fruit aromas, some dried fruit character; but well structured, despite the ripe fruit, this is a savoury and refreshing Syrah rather than a fruit-forward one. Nice, clean, refreshing finish. For my tastes, this does show a bit more oak than I would prefer, but with such Syrahsity shining through I am fairly certain that this will turn into a nice, bigger Syrah (not Shiraz) with a few more years age. 

Lamoreaux Landing Chardonnay 2008

One more from last week's extremely uninspiring tasting of Alko's new products.

Lamoreaux Landing Chardonnay 2008 - Finger Lakes (Seneca Lake), New York, USA
20€; 12,6% abv. A very perfumed, almost Viognier-like aroma on opening. That quickly calms down and the wine radically changes to smell like a cool climate wine with nice citrus and asparagus notes that struggle to shine from beneath the oak (2/3rds of the wine sees oak - and from the toffee aromas I guess much of that must have been new). Delightfully high acidity, lots of citrus. But once again the toffee character from the oak is something I dislike. With this type of oak: not to my taste.

Dr. Bürklin-Wolf Wachenheimer Gerümpel Riesling 2010

Dr. Bürklin-Wolf Wachenheimer Gerümpel Riesling trocken "P.C." 2010
25€; 13% abv; 7,8 g/l acidity; 8 g/l sugar. This was a very enjoyable wine. Ripe but gloriously mineral, pure Riesling aromas. Enormously concentrated - perhaps more than I would ideally prefer -, but with good acidity and just the right touch of sugar to keep this charming and instantly loveable instead of being austere and painful. Long, dry finish.

There seems to be a great deal of controversy over the 2010s in Germany and whether or not the wines were de-acidified. Terry Theise says that 90% of all wines and practically all dry wines were de-acidified. But Claude Kolm says that with Bürklin-Wolf, only the basic wines were and that the single vineyard wines weren't. It would of course be interesting to know for sure about all individual wines, but what matters with this wine is that it doesn't taste in any way manipulated. It is just a beautiful dry Riesling.