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Ixsir "Altitudes," Lebanon Rose 2016, A Pale, Light Wine That Calls To Mind Provence

7/18/2017

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Picture
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.

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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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Picture
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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Kepos de Ampeleia 2011, Italian Winemaker Creates A Unique Wine Using Rhone Varietals

2/15/2016

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Picture
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.

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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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