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Celine & Laurent Tripoz Fleur Aligote NV, Dusty, Chalky Nose And Pineapple Sparkler From Burgundy

1/20/2017

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by Patrick Ogle

Celine & Laurent Tripoz Fleur Aligoté NV has a nose with a  bit of a mustiness. But not the unpleasant mustiness of somewhere dank or fetid. No, this is just a hint of that mustiness of a long closed box made of fine wood. Some might even think of it as earthy but, to me, it is a more homey sort of sent. There is also something tropical--a whiff of pineapple.

Fleur Aligoté has a tart taste with a slightly bitter finish and a wee but of funk. LIke that musty scent this isn't a defect but a strength in this wine--it stands out from many mundane cremants. This is a sparkler worth remembering. There is something almost dusty, chalky. The "pineapple" is more noticeable when you taste especially as the wine warms a bit. I probably sipped it a bit too cold out of the gate. There is also citrus here especially tart lemon.

This is not like a Champagne or even a Cremant de Burgogne. It is closer to some  Loire pet nats or even American wines made in that style (this is not a pet nat despite this comparison).

Aligoté is the "second" white grape of Burgundy, generally overshadowed by chardonnay. There are reasons for this to be so but aligoté varietal wines--still or sparkling--have their own place and their own taste. They are not so much "inferior" to a chardonnay as they are different. Perhaps not as versatile or age-worthy in most cases but there are many worthy wines (usually moderately priced) using the grape.

Tripoz has been making wine for the past 27 years (before that selling grapes to local Burgundy cooperatives). Their grapes all grow in the area of Loche in Maconnais and their wines are grown and created using the most natural practices possible. The land, the weather and the clay/limestone soils shine through in all of their wines--or those that I have tasted at least.

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A Los Viñateros Bravos "Canto A Lo Divino" Itata Valley Cinsault 2014 A Light Red From The Wild South Of Chile

1/12/2017

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by Patrick Ogle

A Los Viñateros Bravos  Canto A Lo Divino Itata Valley cinsault 2014 is a light wine. You can look right through it in the glass. Its nose is sort of restrained. I struggled to get much in the way of fruit from a sniff but when you taste you get red fruit, light red fruits cherry, perhaps raspberry. What you get most here is minerality. It is a quite minerally red. There are strong tannins here for such a light wine. I also kept thinking about crushed stone, pumice perhaps.

Whenever I sniff a wine this light I always think of the lighter versions of Beaujolais but this is lighter than the Cru Beaujolais and it is so much more intricate and complicated than any noveau or Beaujolais-Village. It is yet another of those false comparisons that we all naturally come up with. We try to compare to something familiar and it is a hard habit to break. Cinsault is its own thing.


In this case (and many others) it is a fairly light red wine but it need not be. There are examples of cinsault with more body. Don't let "light" make you think this is a simple wine. It has depth and complexity. It is also handpicked and uses native yeasts.

This wine comes from the "wild" wine region of Itata. They have been making wine in the area for over five centuries, even though other areas of Chile, these days, are more well known. Wines from the area, including this one, are often made with minimal intervention--organic, dry farmed (no irrigation). They are not trying to be cool and hip. It is just how they've always done it. Itata may be one of the most interesting wine regions in the world these days because of the juxtaposition of a long tradition with innovation. This isn't a strange wine. It is a quite approachable light red that helps debunk the notion that "light" is the same as "simple" or even "bad."

Find out some more about Itata HERE.


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Frantz Saumon's "La Cave Se Rebiffe," A Charming Rose Pet Nat From The Loire Valley (France)

1/12/2017

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by Patrick Ogle

Frantz Saumon's La Cave Se Rebiffe is a charming pet nat from France's Loire Valley, a stronghold of the Ancestral Method of making sparkling wine. The nose is like a cherry soda with a wee bit of vinegar. It has a crisp clean, fresh smell and that is also what you get when you taste. It is a dry wine with lots of cherry and a tiny, almost undetectable bit of acetic acid (the same acid that gives vinegar its taste.) NOW, too much of this acid is a bad thing but in this context, and in wines like lambruscos, this is a good thing. You might even sense sweetness here but I honestly just thing that is frutiness.

This wine also has strong acidity, lurking minerality and even a little barnyard funk. Do not be frightened. This is pretty mild as funkiness goes. We are not talking Parliament levels of funkiness, more like The Commodores. It is a refreshing, fun and easy to drink wine. The grapes used are malbec, gamay and groulleau. The last is used for roses and blends in the Loire (an oft derided but also oft delicious grape). The other two are less grown in the region.


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When you hear "pet nat," and we have written on this before, it means Petillant Naturel (aka Ancestral Method). This is a method of making sparkling wine that predates Method Champagnois. The basic difference, without going into too much detail, is that Champagnes are made from wines fermented to dryness, then those wines are bottled, have sugar and yeast added, and a second fermentation begins in the capped, but not corked, bottle. Pet nats do not ferment the wine to dryness before putting the wine in the bottle. The fermentation continues and since fermentation creates CO2? You get bubbles.

Some pet nats, like this one, you will find a bottle cap instead of a cork. This also shouldn't frighten you. Champagne is also capped just like this for the secondary fermentation (the cap is removed, the bottle topped off and re-sealed with a cork in the case of Champagnes). Pet nats have become trendy of late; you will see them from a variety of areas around the world. They method isn't the only thing different from Champagne. These wines have a different character but that character varies from wine to wine, area to area.
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Autocton White Blend, Xarel-Lo, Xarel-Lo Vermell, Malvasia De Sitges And Macabeu A Complicated Wine From Southern Spain

1/11/2017

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by Patrick Ogle

Autocton Cellers 2015 white blend is is xarel-lo, xarel-lo vermell, malvasia de sitges and macabeu (also spelled macabeo). These are all familiar grapes for lovers of Spanish whites. Xarel-lo and macabeu are in any case; the other two are grapes are cousins of  xarel-lo and malvasia. Xarel-lo vermell has a pinkish skin which is thicker than usual for xarel-lo. It also has higher acidity. Malvasia de sitges is a type of the ancient malvasia grape that has often been used in sweet wine production. It is one of many grapes that might easily have gone extinct (there are many out there now facing this oblivion). You can read a fascinating history of malvasia de sitges HERE.

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My first thought regarding the nose of this wine was “grassy.”  That is, however, dead wrong: the nose is more a whiff of a herb garden than mundane grass clippings. There is perfuminess here and floral hints. It is tart, zippy and is a lively wine that has so much complexity that it might beg some time before drinking. You get a feeling you are missing something in the various tastes and scents here.

It is a wine that has body and acidity. I thought it might be fruity but it isn't (where it is from might be warmer and warmer usually means fruitier). But this is xarel-lo. It is a rich wine with a bitter finish and, here on this site, I eschew terms like "mouth feel" but here you sort of have to write it--this wine has a full, luscious mouth feel to go along with that bitter finish. This wine would stand up to rich food too: heavy, rich cheeses but it is perfectly suited to just having a glass.
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Madera Sella Tannat Suave 2013, From Uruguay, A Slightly Less Tannic Version Of A French Grape

1/7/2017

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by Patrick Ogle

Madera Sella Tannat Suave 2013, from Uruguay, is a slightly less big version of a grape from France. Tannat is a wine known for being robust and tannic. Many consider it's most pure expression to be wines from Madiran in Southwestern France. These French wines are unique, large and tannic. Tannat is also often used in blends with malbec, in the Cahors area, for instance. If I wine is labeled "Cahors" it has to be at least 70 percent malbec. The rest can be either merlot or tannat.


This version of the wine is different from the robust, tannic French versions (which I have rarely had, they can be quite expensive!). While this isn't a light wine, it is also not super tannic nor is it particularly large in body compared to
the French wines. Keep in mind the Madiran tannats are REALLY tannic, to my taste they are pretty close to overwhelmingly tannic. Saying this wine isn't as tannic as those is not saying they LACK tannins. There are still firm tannins here.

This wine has the grapey nose but beneath that almost grape bubblegum scent is something gamey when you taste it. It is like cured meat, smokey in a way. That gamey grapey smell and taste does dissipate with air--a lot of air--like an hour or two. It isn't super fruity but does have dark ripe blackberry with maybe hints of plum. There is noticable oak influence too. With some air the wine calms down somewhat but it isn't really a mellow wine. It is hard to imagine you want to put this moderately priced wine down for any amount of time but maybe.

It has some bite, good acidity and balanced fruit. It is a different sort of red, a little-known French grape from a country most of us don't associate with wine making.  Don't scoff at Uruguay as a wine producer. This wine was around $15 and was a quality product for the price. There are other, pricier, Uruguayan tannats that may be on the menu for later.

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Via Revolucionaria "Hulk" Argentine Semillon 2015, Unfiltered, Low Alcohol, Tart And Quaffable

1/1/2017

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by Patrick Ogle

Via Revolucionaria's Hulk Argentine semillon 2015 is unfiltered, low alcohol (around 10 percent), tart and easy to drink. Semillon is one of the two main white grapes used in white Bordeaux (with all due respect to muscadelle). Semillon is used in renowned sweet and dry wine usually not going above the 50 percent mark in any blend in dry versions.

This wine is a different creature from Bordeaux whites.


On the nose it has a lemony citrus scent. It calls to mind (unsurprisingly) some white bordeaux blends where semillon is, as noted, the junior component to sauvignon blanc. But it is close to that in only tangential ways and more on the nose than the taste. I often think describing the nose, although I do it, a bit funny. What matters is how a wine tastes. I've had cabernets that smelled like burned plastic and then, with a bit of air, were lovely. This wine has a nose that is intriguing and delivers alternate notes in the taste. What you sniff isn't gone. There is just more to it.

This version of semillon  has solid acidity for a grape often accused of being low acid to the point of flaccidness. It has some zip. You can tell this is semillon even with a moderately sensitive palate (as mine) but if you think a bit you get it is different. As we try to emphasize here place, terroir, matter as much and sometimes more than grape. It has some herbal hints here but they are under the radar, under the lemon. I sometimes write about lemon and lemon zest separately. They are similar in their taste but one is the fruit and the other is what you put in a cocktail. I have been told this wine is similar to Australian versions of semillon wine. I haven't had these so I cannot comment.

The folks from Via Revolucionaria apparently found some old vine semillon growing and offered to pay the vineyard malbec prices for the grapes. They also produce a bonarda. Wine lovers should be grateful to winemakers like this--they use native yeasts and, in the case of this wine, they don't filter (this wine is cloudy and full of floating "junk). With all this, however, it is an easy to drink wine. It is about 10 percent alcohol and sounds "odder" than it is. You can sit down, have a glass, while doing some work and wind up looking over to find the bottle done. This is an odd sounding wine that is unique but accessible--especially since it goes for around $16 a bottle.

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Weingut Heitlinger's Baden Pinot Meunier 2015, A Light, Easy Drinking Red That Still Has Complexity

1/1/2017

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by Patrick Ogle

Weingut Heitlinger's Baden Pinot Meunier 2015 is a light, easy drinking red that also has complexity and acidity. At first sniff I thought "this smells like pinot noir." The color is even similar. I tasted right after these observations.

It reminded me a little of some lighter examples of Oregon pinot noirs that seem to be less fruit driven and more mineral. This has less minerality perhaps. There was more acidity than in any of those I've sampled. This wine also has some similarities with Burgundy pinot noirs with tannins that seem to float under the radar then seem a bit more robust on the finish. Honestly, if this had been a blind tasting I think I would have thought it was a German pinot noir. It is light with high acidity and might fool some with a more sophisticated palate than mine into thinking "noir" instead of "muenier."


These are just comparisons, coming up with wines that are in the ballpark of this one. The way to spot a meunier as a varietal is to look for acidity above what you might expect from a noir. The lack of fruit here has as much to do with climate as anything else. Germany is a cold climate and the wines are often not fruity as a result. Pinot meunier is also a grape that tolerates cold--even more so than pinot noir or chardonnay.

Pinot meunier is best known as one of the three most commonly used grapes in Champagne. There are four others allowed but the most common are; pinot noir, pinot meunier and chardonnay. Some might be surprised that pinot meunier is grown more than chardonnay in Champagne (not by a large amount but still more).

Also called Schwarzriesling in Germany, pinot meunier is not a grape to avoid as a varietal. It is a good match for Thanksgiving and Holiday fare (yes, I know the holidays are over)and this particular version sells for less than $15 a bottle. It drinks like a much more expensive wine.

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    WINE!

    There are thousands of wine grapes and many places that grow great wines. Why not find out about some surprising wines from surprising places?

    NOTE-Until recently I did not capitalize the names of varietal grapes (as a matter of style) but for a variety of reasons as of February, 2018 we will capitalize but I am not going back and altering the previous style!!!


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