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Suriol Brut Cava Rose (2012), A Rose Cava With More Complexity Than Most In Its Price Range, Is  Produced With Care And Given Time

3/28/2017

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by Patrick Ogle

Suriol Brut Cava Rose (2012) is a unique, moderately priced rose cava. When I took a sniff I thought a little bit about lambrusco. Maybe This was because of the color; there is definitely a bit of vinegar here (by this I mean a hint of acetic acid, which can be a good thing in small amounts...it doesn't taste like VINEGAR). The wine  is darker than many roses and the vinegar on the nose isn't apparent in the taste. It is unusual and less fruity than you might think but there is  dark fruit. Dark berries, plum and candied apple spring to mind (keeping in mind there is nothing sweet here).

You also get hints of rich earth and minerality in this Spanish sparkler. The earthiness isn't too dirty though. More loam
than manure! This is like a sniff of fertile ground after a big rain.

We talk about "complicated" wines a great deal but usually they are not $15 (ish) cavas. This isn't a normal Cava. First of all it is a rose (of course these exist but they are less common than their white compatriots) and second of all it is a vintage wine. A vintage sparkler usually commands a higher price. Vintage means the wine all comes from a specific year (more or less).

Not only does this wine all come from one year it spends extended time "on the lees." "Lees" refers to dead yeast cells and other particles that are a byproduct of producing a wine. Time spent on the lees adds to a wine's complexity and the cost of making it. After all, time IS money. Time spent on the lees in sparklers often adds a yeasty, bready taste to the wine. Sometimes you may get some extra floral tastes, nuttiness and/or toastiness from a sparkler left on the lees. This cava is fermented using native yeast as well.


This wine also spends two years aging in the bottle before being disgorged. Disgorgement is the process by which the dead yeast and sediment is removed from the bottle.

In any case, look for Suriol wines--the two I have sampled punched way above their weight, price range-wise.

Find out more HERE

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Terroir al Limit's Historic Priorat Blanc (2015) Garnacha Blanca And Macabeo Blend Shows The Terroir Of Priorat From White Wine's Perspective

3/22/2017

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by Patrick Ogle

Terroir al Limit Historic Priorat Blanc (2015) is a rare white wine from Priorat made from garnacha blanca and macabeo.

It is rare not because either grape is rare but because white wine from Priorat is; five percent or less of the output in a given year is white. Priorat is decidedly red wine territory.

The wine has a deep golden yellow color and some serious acidity and tannins--a great deal of tannin for a white wine. Like other white Priorats I've had these are flinty and mineral with lots of stone and mineral laden rockiness. Indeed, minerality presides and fruit is just a supporting cast member here, although fruit is more apparent as the wine opens up with some air. There is a full, almost viscous, mouthfeel that is expansive and luscious. You get a bit of an "oxidative" sense too. This is the taste you find in sherrys. It isn't nearly as pronounced here-- it is quite subtle but it is there.

The wine calms down after being open for a few hours. It needs time to open up and you should give it time in a decanter. How long? I found that, even in the bottle, after opening and not in a decanter, it opened up a good deal within 2 or 3 hours.

You can taste something woody in the wine--this is likely because of whole cluster pressing since the wine sees no wood barrels. It is a wine that benefits from being open. Hints of white grape and maybe a little honey on the front end it almost reminds of tropical flowers. It isn't sweet but there is a hint of that honeyed scent of tropical flowers. There is also something of fruit rind here. It isn't exactly citrus rind but you get a "rindy-ness', especially on the finish. It finishes with bitterness. I started to think of ripe peach or apricot maybe as I went on with this wine. There is a lot going on here. I tried some on day two and it was still lively and had opened to a point where you get all the nuances and details. It may be that holding onto this wine for a year or two (at least) would reward your patience.

I had it with a Mediterranean plate which seems a pretty solid bet for food pairing--although this could certainly stand up to even bigger and richer foods.

This particular wine is 75 percent garnacha blanca and  25 percent macabeo. It is an expression of the place as much as it is of the grape. You can find out more from the producer HERE.

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Celli  I Croppi  Albana di Romagna (2015) A White Wine From Italy That Tastes Like Ripe, Red Apples

3/21/2017

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by Patrick Ogle

Celli Vini's "I Croppi" Albana di Romagna (2015) is wine from a grape that isn't widely known outside of Italy.  I poured this wine a little colder than I should have. Watch out for doing that with ANY wine. Don't serve your white wines freezing cold.

As it warmed up from the
initial Arctic temperature the nose showed apple, as did the taste--lots of apple. This isn't the usual cold weather green apple but rather more like a Gala apple and this is is pronounced on both nose and palate. There is also something of apricot here. I was almost ready to say "honeyed" but it is something like honeysuckle with a hint of apricot. It is a creamy wine but don't think "buttery" when I say that.

The finish is bitter mouth-drying finish this is a wine with some phenolics. It is floral, pithy with strong acidity. This is a great food wine. A golden colored high acid wine that pairs well with food, as a general description works for many Italian wines. Food isn't necessary though; you can just enjoy a glass.

Albana is different and a little mysterious. It has some sort of familial relationship with garganega (the grape used in Soave wines). Garganega may be a parent grape to this but it doesn't really drink like a Soave. This wine hails from Emilia-Romagna which spans across the upper part of Italy's boot. It is the home to Ferrari, Lamborghini and other car makers. It is also more than just a manufacturing hub--both Verdi and Toscanini are from the area. More pertinent to the subject at hand the area is also known for its lambrusco wines.

Albana is likely not "surprising" to folks from this part of Italy but you do not see it in the USA a great deal. When you do? Don't be afraid to buy it.

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Le Canon Rose (2015), A Natural Rose From The Rhone Valley, Made From Muscat Of Hamburg

3/18/2017

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by Patrick Ogle

Le Canon is a rose wine from the Rhone Valley. Unusually it is made from muscat of Hamburg. The gentleman at the wine shop said "It is a wine made by, Hirotake Ooka , a Japanese winemaker in the Northern Rhone." The gentleman then extrapolated on a number of details. I could have responded with "You had me with that first sentence." He also would have had me by saying "muscat of Hamburg."

It almost seems to bubble when you pour it and it smells like a ripe red grapefruit. It tastes like that too (although the grapefruit is more subdued in the taste). There is also a good deal of grapefruit pith here, especially on the finish.

I had a hard time chasing other aspects of this wine. There is something tropical in the background that isn't citrus. The wine has strong acidity too. The CO2 and the acidity make this a lively wine. If you want to pair this with something thing salads and mild cheeses. It almost calls to mind a French farmhouse ale in some ways.

When you look at this wine, and when you know the story and what it is you might expect it to be weirder, to be funkier. It is unusual to be sure but it is also quite accessible-different but accessible. If you expect a mild mannered Provence rose? You are going to be surprised. Yet, if you are expecting to taste dirt and grungy nastiness because it is cloudy? You would be dead wrong as well.

This wine sort of tastes like summer.

It also shows that totally natural wines--no sulfur is added, it is neither fined nor filtered--are not necessarily unapproachable for casual wine drinkers. This wine doesn't even use additions in the vineyard allowed in biodynamic wines. It is pretty close to zero intervention from the winemaker, beyond even biodynamic requirements. This wine is fascinating for those into esoteric wines but people who like wine in a broader sense will not be turned off by it (provided they have an open mind). There is something primal here. It makes you think of the sort of fermented beverage the first people fermenting beverages might have tasted.

With the emphasis on non-intervention it is somewhat ironic that the grape used, muscat of Hamburg, is possibly the result of human intervention.

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Envinate's Taganan Canary Islands Bianco Is A Complex, Herbal Wine That Likely Will Reward The Patient

3/2/2017

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by Patrick Ogle

Envinate's "Taganan" Canary Islands Blanco 2014 is a white blend from Spain's Canary Islands. I had no idea what to expect when I opened this wine. I had intended to save it for awhile (and had been told to) but I decided what the HELL. It has a light golden color. I thought I sensed something almost woody in the nose.

This was gone when I went back to it literally a minute or two later. It may have been imagination. There is something herbal--to the point of almost medicinal--on the nose too. This is shy of what I would call menthol but somehow reminiscent of that. Wild, rich, green fresh herbs are all over the nose.

It is herbal and sharp on first taste but it calms down with even a small amount of air.  There are tannins on the end of this that mix with a bitter finish. I couldn’t help but think of some Corsican whites Ive had.

As some air gets in I noticed more pepper in this wine. I really wanted to save it. And I should have. You get a wee HINT of the creamy richness that will be there as it develops in the bottle over time. It is at the same time rustic and
sophisticated which is no small trick.

The wine comes from vineyards near the village of Taganana, north of Tenerife. These are old-vine grapes by any standard (the most recently planted vineyard is 50 years old). There are numerous white grapes tossed into the mix--, malvasía, forastera, marmajuelo, albillo criollo, vijariego  blanco, gual, listán blanco and others we will never know! Many of these grapes are new names to me.

Taganan is fermented in foudres (wooden
vats usually larger than normally used) using indigenous yeast. It is aged on the lees for eight months partly in barriques and stainless steel. No sulfur is added in fermentation.

If you come across this wine, or others from Envinate, grab them. They are not large productions and the three I've had have all been wonderful and unique.

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Symphony, A Wine Grape Created In California, Grown In Arizona By Pillsbury Wine Company

3/2/2017

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by Patrick Ogle

Symphony, a wine grape created in California and grown in Arizona by Pillsbury Wine Company has two parents--grenache gris and muscat of Alexandria. It is one of a multitude of grapes bred by Dr. Harold Olmo of the University of California (Davis). The university may be the foremost school of viticulture in the USA.

By way of confession I lost my notes on this particular wine so the following is all from memory. Fortunately the wine is memorable.

The wine has certain similarities with gewurztraminer.  There is a spiciness you don't find in many white wines. It also has a plethora of fruits--citrus and orchard fruit like apricots. There are floral, aromatic flavors in the wine that hearken back to its muscat parent.  There is also a honeyed quality--with some hint of exotic fruit. It isn't a sweet wine but it has many of the qualities you might associate with a desert wine--it has a viscosity to it and an intensity. Pillsbury does make a sweeter version.

This is also a wine that may best to accompany rich, spicy foods or even just rich cheeses (Stilton, Gorgonzola, Limburger and the like). It isn't something you necessarily want to drink without food but this is more a suggestion than any hard declaration. Some folks taste may be ok with this wine solo.

This is also a white wine that improves with some air. It was calmer and more approachable on day 2 (and day 3). It didn't lose its fruit, its spice or it's charm but rather evened out and became more approachable. This leads me to think it might be a wine that could improve with some time in the bottle before opening.

If you are up for the unusual this might be a wine you would enjoy. Keep in mind the gewurtztraminer comparison is just a "close" wine analogy. It isn't exact.

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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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