​by Patrick Ogle

Castell D' Age (Penedes, Spain)'s Xarel-Lo is a still white wine mad from the premiere grape used in Cava, Spain's primary sparkling wine. Indeed, Castell D' Age is a producer of excellent Cava.

This is a tart, nicely acidic wine with medium/medium full body with  citrus fruit and green apples. Xarel-lo can have herbal characteristics but I did not really get that here although there is a hint of something floral in the wine.

This wine did call to mind how I have repeatedly heard that in Cava production, Xarel-lo is the "Chardonnay."  That is to say the highest quality grape. I could quibble with this given the wonderful Viura/Macabeo wines I've had but for the moment let's run with the notion.

In part I suggest this because this wine calls to mind moderately priced cold weather Chardonnays which isn't what I've had in past versions of Xarel-Lo wines. There isn't opulence here. There is Malic acid and lemon zest. It is a wine that has the power and acidity to cut through richer foods but also pleasant enough to drink on its own.

I picked this not necessarily to talk about it but to talk about Xarel-Lo in
general. This isn't a rare grape. It is, in fact, widely grown in Southern Spain. Several sources say that around 20,000 acres of the grape are grown in Spain. Yet, despite its being regarded as a high quality grape, it isn't on the shelves of every wine shop.

Why?

​One reason here is that a lot of Xarel-Lo winds up in Cava. Another is probably because we tend to drink the tried and true. Yet, with Xarel-Lo, even those wedded to wine orthodoxy can find a patron of the grape. So search it out. There are plenty of good examples.

by Patrick Ogle

Iago Chinuri is a dry Georgian white wine from the cradle of wine making. Georgia (the country, not the U.S. state) is in the Caucasus where wine making may have started.

There is honey, spice and melon on the nose. It almost smells like a sweet wine (even though it is  dry). I had the sensation of residuual sugar but if there is it is just a hint and it may be an illusion created by the honey flavor. There is a hint of bitterness deep in this wine which is part of why it makes such a good food wine. It also has a really big, viscous mouth-feel.  Mouth-feel means just what the term sounds like--how the wine feels in your mouth.

This would go well with spicy food. It has decent acidity but it isn't super high? I made something based on a Morrocan recipie (with nutmeg) and it worked fabulously. Middle Eastern food, Ethiopian food both would be good matches with this. 

When folks who know wine hear "Georgian wine" they think of orange wines. These are not wines made from oranges rather white wines that are produced using skin contact. Basically (and this is quite basic) red wine comes from skin contact. If you press the grapes and take the skins away? The wine is white regardless of the grape. With red skinned grapes the pressed grapes are left in contact with the skins to impart the "red" color. With white grapes the skins are usually separated but in an orange wine? The skins are left in like with a red wine. 

This isn't an orange wine. It doesn't have skin contact but you can really get how it would taste if it were. Iago produces an orange wine made from this same grape. 

by Patrick Ogle

Orealios Gaea "San Gerasimo" Cephalonia Robola (2017) has something green on the nose mixed with hints of floral. I swear this called to mind a field of wild flowers or orange blossoms. Maybe it is a little more subtle than orange blossoms. What does a lemon blossom smell like? I don't know. The wine is crisp acidic and minerally with peach and apricot in the mix.

As it warmed up the hints of herbal greenness came out more. I also immediately thought; "This reminds me of a sea breeze." I kind of discount this because I know the wine is from an island so my imagination might be running away with me. Imagination is, of course, a good thing, even when it comes to wine. Wine should spur the imagination.

This is a wine you could sit on the back porch and drink on a summer day. It would also be a nice wine to have with Mediteranean fare. I am not just saying this because it is Greek. It would be great with Greek food but also falafel. I kept thinking I wanted something with tahini sauce.

Robola is apparently grown mostly on the island of Cephalonia. I wasn't able to find out tons about the history of the grape--aside from some "they used to think it was related to this or that but now they don't." Ribolla Gialla was the mail grape that was thought to be synonymous or related. Again , apparently it isn't.

It certainly isn't a big abberration for Greek whites. It has unique qualities but has the minerality, acidity and hints of the floral you expect. As always? If you haven't heard of Ribola? Don't be afraid of it. You can get a bottle of this particular wine for under $20.

Domaine Plageoles Mauzac Vert Gaillac 2015 is a unique wine from a traditional varietal of Southern France.

The wine is a straw, gold color. The nose that makes you think there isn't going to be much there but it turns out to be a wine with complexity and depth (maybe I just have allergies).

When you get around to tasting you will find ripe red apples out of the gate and a win that finishes with a super pithy
bitterness. The wine has a fairly big "mouth feel". It does not feel like water in your mouth. There is also something
lurking under the fruit--a vaguely herbal greenness. It is a unique wine but not one that will put off the average white wine drinker.

The bitter finish is distinct and I kept thinking of something sweet and sour to go with it: thai spring rolls, light curries with coconut milk or anything you'd use duck sauce on. Sounds weird but this came to mind.

This wine is from a grape that may not qualify as rare, depending on how you define rare in relation to wine, but it isn't a household name. These grapes and  wines are part of Western Culture, every bit as much as the written word, as much as fine art or food.

Mauzac is a traditional grape of Southwestern France it is currently grown on slightly less than 2000 hectares (500 acres). Compared to some grapes written about on this site? This seems like a MASSIVE amount of land (see Sumoll for instance) but when you factor in that 50 years ago there were nearly 10,000 hectares? The grape is slowly vanishing.

Mauzac will, however, remain with us if the Plageoles family have anything to say about it. They are working with numerous grapes native the Gaillac area and, indeed, grow seven versions of Mauzac alone.

I found a number of places to grab stats on Mauzac including the Jenny and Francois website (linked above) but  Gavin Hubble's site has a lot of info as well.

by Patrick Ogle

Van Loggerenberg  Break-A-Leg  Paarl Cinsault Blanc de Noir 2017 is supposed to be a "blanc de noir" but the color is a light pink as in a rose. BUT calling this a blanc de noir is totally accurate. This drinks like a white wine.  

We've had Cinsaults that were blanc de noir before. Likewise with Pinot Noir and possibly a few other red wine grapes.

This wine has minerality, a light earthiness that mixes with a bracing acidity. It reminds of some Northern Italian whites--at least that was my first impression. There is a bit of citrus blossom--just a hint, like being in an orange grove when it is flowering and taking a deep breath (admittedly a situation most folks won't find themselves in). The citrus fruit here is a very much the exotic sort--a tangelo or something rather than a run of the mill orange. There is a little bit of pith lurking here especially on the finish. If you let the wine warm up the pith comes out even more. I'd add a bit of under ripe apple to the mix here too (not green apple though). There is a tiny hint of oxidation.

I liked this wine so much I grabbed a second bottle. As if often the case my second impression was a little different; it had more fruit than i remembered (a little more, still far from fruity). These sorts of differences in perception might be from what I was eating or not eating at the time. Impressions can vary from time to time even when the wine doesn't.
 
This wine spends nine months on old oak (no wood is really noticeable). This is a lovely, unique wine for well under $20. It is regrettable it might be difficult to find.

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.

by Patrick Ogle

BLANKbottle's Orbitalfrontal Cortex (2016) is a crisp, tasty wine from South Africa that starts with a white grape juciness that gives way to acidity, followed by floral hints. I hate using the word "tasty" for some reason but I wrote it in my notes. I also wrote "I am not really sure what to say."

Of course I didn't leave it there.

The acidity on the finish sort of leaps up and smacks you. It perhaps seems stronger than it is because the first sensation is fruit--white grape juice or maybe melon is likewise boisterous. What you get out of this wine seems to change with every taste. Is it changing with air or am I just noticing different things? This is a wine you may need more than one bottle to sort out. It is peculiar but not in any way that makes it hard to approach. It is quite easy-drinking.

The blend is Clairette Blanche and Verdelho with smaller amounts of Palomino, Chenin Blanc and Grenache Blanc. To say this is an unsual blend is an understatement. Find more information on South African grapes HERE.

Clairette Blanche is a moderately common grape in the South of France (including Southern Rhone, Provence and Languedoc-Rousillon). Historically it has been used in making vermouth. It produces wines with lower acidity and often finds its way into blends with higher acid wines. It is one of the main varietals used in white Chatteau neuf de Pape. It is also used in sparkling wines. It is grown in relatively small amounts in various other places, including South Africa where there are less than 500 acres planted.

Verdelho is a white Portuguese grape grown both on the mainland and on the Madeira Islands. In the latter instance it is mostly used in fortified wines. It is also grown in Galicia in Spain and is making inroads in the New World in South
America, Australia,California and Virginia.

Palomino is the major grape used in making Sherry (Spain), Grenache blanc is grown extensively in France and Spain. Chenin Blanc is a native of France and is the signature grape France's Loire Valley. There are actually more acres planted of Chenin in South Africa than there are in its home country.

I haven't seen them all blended together before but this is probably because, as far as I know, they only grown in the same vicinity in South Africa.

by Patrick Ogle

Finca Parera's Fin Als Kullons is a red wine... or maybe a rose wine... or sort of a white wine? It is made from the rare red Penedes varietal, Sumoll, Garnacha Blanca and Xarel-lo. The last two are white grapes.

This wine, and of course, this winemaker, break the "rules" with this wine.  It is often frowned upon to mix white and red grapes in the same wine--except in Cote Rotie, Champagne, the occasional Chianti (until 2006). in other words the practice really is only selectively frowned upon. There are a lot of fairly stupid "soft taboos" in the world of wine.

If it tastes good? Mix whatever the hell you want together and this wine tastes great.

It is an easy drinking wine but not necessarily one I would say is simple. Sure you can just knock it back (even by the liter bottle) but take a second. The first thing I tasted was pineapple, yes pineapple and a strong vinegar taste (referred to as "VA"). It has a lot of CO2 and is a lively, juicy wine. After the initial impression I got cherry and berry and then realized that the predominant fruit here is cranberry.

There are even some tannins here. Nothing particularly noticeable. I honestly would have noticed this wine had characteristics of both red and white wines.

All these grapes make great wines on their own. Garnacha blanca makes fine wines around the world. Sumoll grows pretty much only in Penedes on around 250 acres. I've only had one Sumoll varietal wine, Khronos, by this very same winemaker. It was a unique wine that any wine aficionado with a taste for medium bodied reds would appreciate. Xarel-lo, of course, makes a fine white wine on its own and is the backbone of the Spanish sparkler, Cava.

The grapes are all fermented separately with native yeast and aged for 9 months in concrete. Grapes are certified organic. It is unfiltered and unfined (a process beyond filtering to take out particulates) and no sulfites are added. It is uber natural.

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.