by Patrick Ogle

Ixsir Altitudes Lebanon rosé 2016 is a pale, light rose with strong similarities to those from Provence, but with differences as well. The wine is a blend of syrah, cinsault (usual rose suspects) and caladoc. Caladoc is a more unusual creature. It is a crossing of malbec and grenache and is a little grown grape and a relatively recent creation.

Altitudes has a lots of red fruit: strawberry, cherry and plenty of watermelon. It has a hint of bitter on the finish and it , unsurprisingly goes really well with olives, hummus, tomatoes and dolmas. It isn't a tiny wispy rose though. It has some heft. Well, perhaps not heft but it has a bigger "mouth feel" than many roses.

"Mouth feel" is a term you hear a lot in wine discussions. Just think of the wines you've had that went down like water, as opposed to kefir. These two being extremes of course! This wine isn't like a pink glass of water.

I had this on a hot night, with a broken air conditioner and it really does the trick in that environment. This rosé is a summer treat. 
 
This is a "surprising" wine primarily because of where it is from and perhaps because of use of caladoc). Most people don't think of Lebanon as a wine producer but they've grown grapes there for millennia. The modern industry owes much to the French it is true. There is no reason to look askance at wines from Lebanon. There are many producers of fine wines in the country.. This particular winery has vineyards as high as 6000 feet. They create wines from various vineyards across the country. Find out more about Ixsir HERE.

by Patrick Ogle

Kepos de Ampeleia 2011 is an interesting wine made by Ampeleia. It comes from Tuscany but isn't anything like what you generally expect from the region.  When I first sniffed this wine, before tasting it, the smell made me think "French" (and I would have thought that even if I hadn't known in advance about the varietals). 

It is relatively light in color. The grapes here are often associated with the Rhone Valley. The wine is 40% grenache, 40% mourvedre,10% carignan, 5% alicante bouschet and 5% marsellan. These last two grapes are odd-balls. Alicante bouschet is a cross between petit bouschet and grenache. Marsellan is a cross between cabernet sauvignon and grenache. Neither are grapes most folks know (I didn't).

At first taste this wine makes you think; "how unusual." It doesn't have big, in your face tannins. Tannins are the compounds that give you the "drying" sensation in your mouth. There are tannins here, however, but they are sneaky and soft. The wine has a soft feel to go with these tannins. My first fruit thought here was cherry but that is just a first taste. I try to avoid talking about more exotic fruits like pomegranate but that is part of this wine. It is also a bit spicy but don't think peppery but rather baking spices like nutmeg or cinnamon. It isn't a Rhone wine knock-off but something that is entirely its "own thing." Italian winemakers seem to do this with frequency.

Kepos de Ampeleia is a medium-light to medium wine that will please people who usually like bigger wines. It has a great deal going on but mostly it is just enjoyable to drink. You don't need food (although you could pair this with a wide variety of cuisine) and you do not need to think about it too much; you never really need to do that but if you like to think about wine there is plenty to examine. Think on what fruits you sense here.

If you can find a bottle buy it because it it isn't something you see all that often! The next two years of this wine, 2012 and 2013, may be available here and there. Keep an eye open.