Category: Red - Surprising Wines

Mount Abora Saffraan South African Cinsault, From Nearly 40 Year Old Vines Calls, To Mind Cru Beaujolais

10/28/2018

Mount Abora Saffraan Cinsault (also spelled Cinsaut), from Swartzland in South Africa, is made from grapes off nearly 40 year old vines. It is dry-farmed and spends 9 months in used French oak.

I was told this wine shared qualities with high end Beaujolais by two people whose descriptions are invariably correct. I nonetheless doubted until I tasted. When they said "high end Beaujolais" I thought they meant really good Beaujolais Village but when I tasted this I was thinking more Cru Beaujolais.

I remember a Chiroubles I had that was really close to this. It has some earth to it but also noticeable bright red fruit--rasberry, cranberry and a lot of zip. In the midst of the earth there is pepper.

Of course this isn't Gamay; it is Cinsault.

Cinsault is a widely grown grape. If you've had a rose from the south of France you've likely had Cinsault. It is also a component in many Rhone blends and shows up in some Chateauneuf du Pape. More and more it is being used by New World winemakers as a varietal wine. It grows well in warm weather and ripens early. Some sources say it is declining in production and it MAY be. But it is still grown quite a bit. In South Africa it is, along with Pinot Noir, one of the parents of Pinotage (the grape was sometimes called Hermitage in South Africa.

South African wines have a reputation for earthiness. This is not a bad thing (in many contexts it is a good thing). Yet even in saying this wine is earthy it is NOT really dirty or funky in the broad scheme of things, There is a whiff of barnyard and this it blows off a bit with air. This is a wine that maybe should be served with a wee bit of a chill--not as cold as white but colder than room temperature. I don't always give a price range? But this wine comes in between $14 and $17. It is an absolute steal at the price.

In the past month I have had four different South African Cinault wines and all of them had wildly different profiles (although one was a blanc de noir). It has always struck me as a versatile grape that skilled winemakers can get a great
deal from. France's La Cinso leaps to mind.

Lamoresca's "Nerocapitano," A Red Wine From Sicily, Is An Excellent Introduction To Frappato Wines

10/7/2018

by Patrick Ogle

Lamoresca's Nerocapitano, a red wine from Sicily, is an excellent introduction to Frappato wines. Apparently "Nerocapitano" is what Frappato is called in the area.

This wine was tight and all wound up when it was initially opened. My initial impression was that this was a food wine more than a wine to pound on the back porch; the acidity is pronounced. There are also fairly prominent tannins here that give up only reluctantly with air. This is far from a huge wine but it is certainly bigger than many made from the varietal.

But when the fruit comes through there is a bright cherry and raspberry there. There is a little funk, a little earthiness here but it won't be off-putting even to more timid wine drinkers. A bit of air--not too much--helps this wine calm down with regards to tannins and the slight funk. It smooths out nicely with air.

You will often see Frappato in blends with Nero D'Avola or other Sicilian grapes. You may even read that its greatest applications are in blends. There are truly lovely blends made from Frappato but there are likewise worthy varietal wines.

This is one of them.

Sicily is one of the areas that has, until recently been sort of a mystery to many in the USA. As usual you will see this wine compared to other, more familiar wines (particularly Beaujolais) but it is, as is oft repeated here, its own thing. It has its own characteristics.

Find out more about Lamoresca HERE.

Broc Cellars Eagle Point Ranch Counoise Dispelled My Preconceptions About The Grape And The Wines That Come From It

8/16/2018

by Patrick Ogle

Broc Cellars ' Eagle Point Ranch Counoise dispelled a number of my preconceptions about the grape--and the wines that come from it. First off, the Counoise I've had were light wines. Off the top of my head all the varietal versions of this wine I've had were New World. For a wine often used as a blending grape in the Rhone. I've also only written about those varietal versions.

Usually the Counoise I've had have been light, refreshing and easy drinking. This wine isn't light. It isn't gigantic but it has surprising tannins. One of the knocks I've seen on the grape is the dearth of tannin; here it has noticeable tannins. It has this sort of grape candy/bubble gum taste that also made me think of ripe red plums. It is lively and has what I'd call robust acidity. I drank this without food and it might have benefited from combining with a meal. It is great to drink on its own but it would add something to Mediterranean fare (I confess I always think this because my blood is half hummus).

It was not the sort of easy drinking wine I anticipated right out of the bottle. It was tight and, as noted, more tannic than expected. I let it sit awhile and it calmed down relatively fast. It is a pleasant, even elegant, medium bodied wine to drink after it gets some air. It has a bit of wild spiciness too--I'd say black pepper but that is more from having a lack of something more specific in mind; it is a little more exotic.

Let's talk about the wine I drank versus the one I thought I was going to drink. I had Counoise in blends and on its own. In all of these cases the wines were light (not unlike Pineau d'Aunis). This wine shows something different. The grape can produce a wine that is more medium bodied and tannic. A wine that could stand up to even heavier and richer foods than
I mentioned above. This is also a wine that could stand some more time held in the bottle before drinking (in fact that might be advisable).

When I sniffed the cork I thought "vinegar" and expected a funky wine with lots of "VA." The initials refer to "volatile acidity" and it refers, in part, to the same process that turns wine into vinegar. I am going to explain this unartfully but "VA" can be a good or a bad thing. If you want some of that in the wine? It is good;if it runs rampant? It can be a bad thing.

This wine doesn't have any of that funky, intentional, "VA" you find in many natural wines. Broc Cellars wines ARE natural. They use natural yeasts, source the vast majority of their grapes from vineyards that do not use pesticides or herbicides and they add minimal sulphur to their wines. Yet there is something classic and traditional in many of the finished products. Their aim is to bring out the flavors and tendencies of the grape and they do that. Here the showed me that Counoise has more versatility
than I'd imagined. Don't judge a varietal by one or two versions!

Find out more about how Broc Cellars make wines HERE.

Partida Creus "GT" Penedes Garrut (Monastrell) 2014--Not What You Might Expect from Monastrell

3/1/2018

by Patrick Ogle

Partida Creus GT Penedes Garrut 2014 The first sniff of this wine made me think of some sort of antiseptic...then...the next sniff? It smelled like a cherry sweetheart candy. Then it sort of morphed into some of the Pais grape wines I've had or even some of the super funky Gamay. Yes it is a tricky wine. This all makes it sound unapproachable but, oddly, it isn’t.

It is light in color in the glass. When I got around to doing what really matters--tasting the wine (really I'm not sure why I BOTHER talking about what it smells like sometimes...) It has a tart cherry taste and what seems to be some CO2, not enough for it to be sparkly but enough for it to be really lively. It has some dirt on the finish. The earthiness is more understated than I expected given the nose. Dirty isn't a bad thing really, and it blows off a great deal with air.

I was a little afraid of this wine after hearing three different opinions on it. I hesitated to open it. I thought "Monastrell from the South." and thought it might be a big, fruity wine. The Spanish iteration of mourvedre can be that way but this has NOTHING to do with that. cranberry, sour cherry, hints of vinaigrette. It is almost a summertime red and while it is unusual it is easily approachable.

In addition to earth there are other strange hints of vegetation here that call to mind the bitter and aromatic herbs of amaros and the like. All of these complex tastes exist in a light, easy drinking wine. More than one person I talked to about this said something akin to “I tasted it, thought ‘this is weird,’ then poured another glass.”

Partida Creus are located in Penedes, Spain. The area is known for white wines and Cava but, more and more, interesting reds are appearing from the area. Monastrell del Litoral/Garrut is a sub-variety of Monastrell--or maybe not. I’ve found sources saying yes and no to this assertion. This wine does not call to mind other Monastrell. Monastrell is known as Mourvedre in France and is also sometimes called Mataro.

If you are into natural wine? This has no sulfur added, uses native yeast, is unfiltered and aged in stainless steel.

It is unusual wine but do not be afraid of it. This is a fabulous introduction to the more unusual side of natural wine making.

Wine Cellar Manastira's "Just Young" Mavrud From Bulgaria's Thracian Valley A Medium Bodied Wine From A Grape Little Known In The West

1/9/2018

by Patrick Ogle

Wine Cellar Manastira's "Just Young" mavrud from Bulgaria's Thracian Valley. It is a medium bodied wine from a grape little known in the West. It is, however, the pride of Bulgaria.

I wish I hadn't read about this before drinking it. I had preconceptions about this wine. I thought it was going to be
giant and bold and dark. When I poured it? It was lighter in color than my preconceptions. It is garnet in color (id accept ruby as well). The nose doesn't seem super fruity but cherry was readily apparent on the nose.

Taste? There is cherry and cherry pit. The tannins are fairly strong for a medium bodied wine. This mavrud has a bitter finish. I want to be sure to say THIS mavrud; it is the only example of the wine I have ever had. I have no idea if this is typical but it is, in a general sense, a well-made wine. There is a hint of some kind of spice here but it is hard to identify. It only changes slightly with air but this matters. It becomes smoother and the fruit rises as the tannins and bitterness recede.

There is something interesting about this wine. It seems like it wants to be weighty with the noticeable tannins. It reminds me that wines like this, made from grapes and in areas with different wine making traditions, often confound our desire to compare them to the things we know.

As I am always careful to say (when it is true); this is NOT a strange wine that is going to be seen as alien to those who like wine. It just has some subtle unique characteristics. With the cherry there is a temptation to say "pinot noir"
but the tannin and the bitter finish? Absolutely not. There might also be some who would want to compare to light Italian reds. I won't even mention the grapes but for every similarity there is a difference to the light wines of Northern Italy.

Wines are like that. Different grapes, climate and geography make for unique combinations of flavor and other sensations.

The stories about Mavrud abound. Several sources claim a relation to mourvedre with the grape coming to the area via the Romans. This is what made me think it would be big, fruity and bold. There are also a couple stories about how Khan Krum had all the vineyards in the area torn up. Later, when visiting the mother of a warrior (who either fought bravely in battle or killed a lion) she confesses his bravery is due to the grape vine she kept and made wine from. The young warrior's name was, of course, Mavrud. His drunken bravery, so the story goes, led to the replanting of vineyards.

Vina Maitia "Aupa" Valle De Maule Pipeno 2016, A Pais, Carignan Blend From Chile Is A Light, Fresh Red.

12/26/2017

by Patrick Ogle

Vina Maitia Aupa Pipeño 2016, a pais, carignan blend from Chile, is bright, fresh and light. When I looked at it, sniffed it I thought what I thought about the last pais grape wine I had--Beaujolais. But whenever you have a lighter wine, counoise or whatever? There is the Beaujolais crutch to fall back on. This ISN'T Beaujolais. This blend is its own wine.

I served this (first) a little cold. When you do that the fruit you expect is sort of underneath some it warmed to room temperature I got cherries and red berries and tartness. This is a wine that is hard to not like; it is light and refreshing and you can serve it with a little chill--or not. There is a tad of bitterness on the finish--an herbal flavor not far from anise with more green, leafy herbs lurking as well. This is a fruity light wine but is a long long way from the Beaujolais I imagined as I sniffed.

There are tannins here. They are not muscular or overwhelming but given the general lightness you certainly notice them. On the broad scale of wines the tannin here is what you'd call low BUT when the wine is light in other ways any tannin stands out. They add balance to this wine. There is also a brisk acidity here that gives this wine a lot of zip. You will want another glass on a hot day. Also, if you want to drink a red with a food you would usually have a white with? This might be a fit.

Pipenos are pais wines traditional to the south of Chile. The grape is the same that was called the Mission grape and also listan in the Canary Islands. This wine is dry farmed and comes from quite old vines; the pais vines top 100 years and
the carignan are over 70 years. They use natural yeast and this is partly made using carbonic maceration.

Add all the above up and then realize you can lay your hands on a bottle of this for less than $15--which is a steal for a wine this good.

Zlatan Otok's Plavac Vhrunsko Vino, A Croatian Wine That Will Appeal To Zinfandel Drinkers

10/26/2017

by Patrick Ogle

Zlatan Otok's Plavac Vrhunsko Vino 2012 is a wine from Croatia. It has, both on the nose and taste, something of stewed fruit in it. It has an almost pruney smell. That doesn't sound good but you can say the same thing about Amarones or Ripassos. The tannins are medium and fruit predominates. It isn't all stewed but certainly dark and ripe. This isn't that but it does call to mind some wines from Italy--primitivos from the south. Some of you may know that primitivo is the grape known as zinfandel in the US of A.

Primitivo is often lower in alcohol and less fruity than the American versions and this is as well. But there is a bit of juicy, jaminess here and fans of Zins will not find this far outside their comfort zone. Indeed Plavac is a relative of the ancestor of Zinfandel (tribidrag/primitivo). The ancestral grape was, according to various sources, Crlenjak Kaštelanski. Plavac is a cross between this grape and another Croatian varietal, Dobričić. I figure the unpronounceable (to English speakers anyway) of Croatian wines may be a reason they are less known here. But plavak seems to be making inroads.

This wine is a good example of one that sounds exotic? But it is more familiar than alien to casual wine drinkers. Fans of zinfandel but also fans of the big fruity american blends that proliferate these days will like this wine. It isn't huge alcohol like some of those but it is no pipsqueak coming in at 14.2 %.

This isn't a subtle wine but it is one that people who like fruit forward wines with moderately high alcohol will appreciate. Don't be afraid of Croatian wines in general or plavak in particular.

Minimus Omero Vineyard Willamette Valley Trousseau Noir 2016 An Accessible Wine From A Unique, Masterful, Oregon Producer

10/17/2017

by Patrick Ogle

Minimus Omero Vineyard Willamette Valley Trousseau Noir 2016 is light in color and a little on the cloudy side. I thought there was some unusual earthiness on the nose. I cannot exactly define it. It wasn't all the usual things people say "forest floor", or "barnyard" or any of that. It was something different. It might be something more akin to
wildflower than dirt.

"Something different," of course defines what Minimus do with wine. When you taste this one there is cherry with pomegranate and nice tannins from mid palate to finish. I am not just reaching for an obscure fruit when I say pomegranate either. I really did get that, or it was the closest analog.

This trousseau isn't some bizarre wine that only natural wine freaks will love (and I use the term freak here with great affection). This is a natural, low intervention wine that the average wine drinker can get behind and love even. It is light and tart and has a nice acidity that I kept thinking of the things Id want to eat with it. Oddly I thought a nice salad with a vinaigrette dressing. But this also could be a fantastic wine for Thanksgiving fare. It has the acidity and is light enough to go with Turkey and ham at the same time. I don't eat meat so I cannot endorse you eating critters but I also don't tell people what to eat.

The wine is fresh, crisp and bright and aromatic. The floral taste here is subtle and you need to reach for it while tasting. I tried this with a tiny bit of a chill after I drank it. I'm not sure I would recommend this because the cold sort of blunts the complexity? We could serve reds at a slightly lower temperature than we sometimes do.

I was told to try this over a day or two. Fat fuckin chance. I drank it all on one night. BUT I can say that it did open and change even in the few hours I had it around.

This wine reminds me of why wine tastings kind of suck. Sure, you get to taste a lot of wine but the joy of a wine like this is having several glasses, some with and some without food. And also getting a feel for how it develops. Then there
is this,after I stopped thinking and got to drinking? This wine was even better.

Trousseau grape most associated with the Jura region in France. The grape is also found in Spain and Portugal. In the latter country it goes by the far more colorful name, bastardo. On the mainland and the Portuguese islands like Madeira has been used in fortified wines but these days this use isn’t extensive. You will see the grape called “rare” but that is a matter of perspective. It isn’t in danger of vanishing from the earth like some other grapes.

A friend suggested that if wine is an art then Minimus are Picasso. I might say they are Dali but that is just a matter of taste. They are masters of creating compelling wines. Fans of natural wines already know Minimus and fans of all wine should know them too. You may want to be a little careful with some Minimus wines as they do experiment. Not every wine will be suited to every taste but ASK before you buy.

Finca Parera "Khronos" Penedes Sumoll 2015, A Traditional Catalan Red That Makes A Complex, Unique Wine

10/13/2017

by Patrick Ogle

Finca Parera Khronos Penedes sumoll 2015 has a light garnet color, light enough that when you hold the wine up to light you can see a slight cloudiness.

The acidity seemed mild when I first tasted but that notion was erroneous. This wine will confound your first impressions on many levels. It reminds me of lighter, slightly funky gamay or even some pais wines I've had but those are cop outs. The fruit is cranberry and perhaps sour cherry. It is tart and my first impression of roundness was wrong. The acidity is strong[It is just
unusual and hard to peg in that it seems subsumed in the fruit.

It is also unusual in that I felt the fruit stood out more than it often does in lighter bodied wines. It is a unique wine. Tannins appear mid palate and then jump up and slap you at the end,not on the first sip, that was all fruit to me. Yet when air gets to this? It opens in other odd ways. You will sense more of the acidity. The fruit is still there. Perhaps as the tannins subside with oxygen the acid jumps up and screams "I am here you asshole!" But the tannins remain strong on the finish.

The evolution with air is unusual. The wine seems to expand as it opens up, become fuller. I felt like the acid and tannins became more obvious after air--which is a bit odd. How many wines seem to become more brawny with air? I feel like I need a chemist to explain this wine to me.

You don't need one though. It is complex AND delicious so you can just drink it.

This will never be wines fans of "The Prisoner" will love though. There is nuance here and expanding flavors, nuances that no big, sweet, simple, high alcohol fruit bomb can match. It is subtle and unique and not in any way off-putting. Gamay/Beaujolais is an easy comparison but this ISN'T that. The vineyard is also certified Biodynamic. I will repeat what I write all the the time; this wine is its own thing. It is sumoll. It is Penedes.

Grapes like sumoll were (and probably still are) being supplanted by "international varietals" like cabernet sauvignon and merlot. Maybe this is changing. A few years back no one was growing godello; now more and more Spanish producers are. Sumoll is a Catalan wine and it is to be hoped winemakers there will expand on the small amount of acreage dedicated to it. At the moment there is less than 250 acres of sumoll growing in Spain. The grape has a reputation as difficult to grow and finicky when making wine.

Finca Parera demonstrate the effort is worth it.

Brendan Tracey "Gorge Seche" Red Blend 2015 Mixes Pineau D'Aunis, Gamay Teinturier And Malbec

9/27/2017

by Patrick Ogle

Brendan Tracey's Gorge Seche red blend 2015 mixes pineau d' aunis, gamay teinturier And malbec. The last of these may be the only one that is broadly familiar.

Pineau d'Aunis is a rather obscure grape. Several sources cited it as the favorite wine of Henry III. Henry was a rather obscure king. One reason he isn't widely thought of as one of the worst in English history might be because his father was John, widely seen as the the worst head to ever wear a crown on the Island.

Poor pineau d' aunis had a poor king as benefactor but, at least this one wine, make with the grape a star. It is light in color , a color which is close to a glass of cranberry juice. It seems as if it has a lot of compressed CO2 and a brisk
acidity. Pineau d'aunis is comparted to wines like ruche and lagrein, often grown in Italy and in the latter case Southern Germany. I had it with a little bit of a chill on it.

This blend, which is 60 percent Pineau, reminds me a little of a couple of different counoise Ive had but this is more acidic than those. This wine is, of course, not just pineau; it has 30 percent gamay teinturier and ten malbec as well. Malbec is a well known grape, these days because of the big wines from Argentina but this is a small percentage and it may be there to add a little bit of tannic grippiness.

The gamay teinture is also a neat addition. Teinturier grapes are those where the juice is actually red. Most red wine (the VAST majority) gets its redness from skin contact, the pigmentation is in the skin. In teinturier grapes the flesh of the grapes are red. There are not many quality wines that are made from teinturier grapes (or so the conventional story goes).

This wine will appeal to fans of German pinot noir and maybe some of the lighter Oregon ones but it is a different creature from either of these. Fans of schiava/trollinger may also be on board.

Brendan Tracey is a natural winemaker working in the Loire but from the USA. I have recently had discussions with people who think "natural wine" always tastes like the monkey cages at the zoo smell. That is idiotic. "Natural" wine is a fairly ill defined term and basically refers to wine with less intervention from the winemaker. There is less use of pesticides and other inorganic substances in the process of wine making. MANY very mainstream, old fashioned, winemakers are "natural" in one way or another. And this wine is just flat out delicious. Brendan Tracey also makes a lovely pet nat.

Some people like to pretend sophistication by dissing "natural" wine and others like to act like counterculture revolutionaries by embracing it. The truth is you can get good wine in all sorts of ways--but who WANTS to drink pesticides?