Ribera Del Duero – a world of desert landscapes, big bold reds and a few rebels

OK, I’ll admit. I’ve always been a little bit wary of Ribera Del Duero. I’ve had some corkers from the area; but it’s the tannin that I’m not a mega fan of. Don’t get me wrong, I’m always telling people they have to get over their dislike of tannin if they want to try some awesome wines. But seriously Ribera, how much do you need?! That paired with occasional clumsy use of oak; it doesn’t bode well.

But, open minded as I am (or like to think I am) I took myself off to Ribera this October with some other splendid wine merchants such as Vagabond Wines, Vinomondo and DVine Cellars, to see if the area could change my mind.

What did I find? A few surprises.

Yes, there is a lot of tannin and oak. And yes, sometimes it’s done really badly. Think wines that taste like sucking on wood sap.

BUT. There are poorly made wines in every area of the world. Delve behind that and there are some truly lovely wines.

The altitude of Ribera is a great thing. It adds freshness which balances the oak. I’m a fan of anything over 800m and whether coincidence or not, the higher the altitude of the vineyard, the more I liked the wines. There’s also a whole culture of small wineries creating artisan wines that taste wonderful.

Here’s my pick of the best wines from the trip:

Trus ‘Tramuz’ 2013

Trus has 60 hectares just north of Penafiel. They doesn’t spray their vineyards. They manually harvest. They use natural yeasts (a thankfully common practice in Ribera). They have a passionate winemaker at the helm. So far, so good.

Tramuz is its entry level wine; made with 15 year old vines and aged for 3 months in French oak, after being fermented in large oak casks. It’s truly lovely; ruby red colour, medium-full bodied with great acidity which keeps it fresh. Highly concentrated and very fruit forward – think red and black cherry with a touch of spice from the oak. Tannins are fine. Great length.

Vega Clara ‘Diez Alemendros’

For price vs quality, this was my favourite of the trip. I wasn’t sure whether to divulge this information, but winemaker Clara has it on her website – this is a blend of 75% Tempranillo and 25% Syrah – the latter is absolutely not allowed in a Ribera DD wine. But as Clara said to me: ‘you have to bend the rules sometimes.’ I love a rebellious winemaker.

The wine is made from 12 year old vines producing around 40 hectolitres per hectare and is aged for 7 months in new French oak. Yeasts are natural and it only goes through a light filtration.

The wine is really fresh and lively – notes of violets, redcurrants and red cherries. Great balance and length. Slips down pretty easily – a whole bottle went within half an hour between two of us on my return to the UK.

Tierras de Penafiel ‘Ruben Ramos’ Crianza 2011

This winery has just three workers – winemaker Jorge, his wife and his baby. Well, maybe just two workers…..

They own 14 hectares that are worked organically (although uncertified) around the Penafiel area. They’ve only been established since 2001 although Jorge had a lot of winemaking experience prior to setting up on his own winery.

Their Crianza has had 12 months in 2 year old French and American oak – the lack of new wood on the wine is noticeable and a welcome surprise. Ripe fruit and Christmas spices such as nutmeg and cinnamon with a touch of perfume. This wine is elegant, has a great balance between fruit, acid and tannin and body. Lurvely stuff.

An aside on Ribera del Duero – I had one of the best fishbowl gin and tonics of my life at a tiny tapas bar in Penafiel. Just the thing after 80 tannic red wines. Cheers!

We WILL be better bloggers

So the more eagle eyed among you may have noticed that we’ve not really blogged in a while. As in a year.

But fear not! We’re going to *attempt* to be better bloggers. So keep your eyes peeled for some awesome blogs on Ribera Del Duero. Languedoc. Leigh-on-Sea. Wine. Stuff like that.

Laters!

Vino Vero’s Languedoc drinking holiday / research trip

Ah the Languedoc. Sun. Beautiful countryside. Great people. And VINEYARDS. VINEYARDS. VINEYARDS. VINEYARDS. Everywhere you look there are vines! This region in the south west of France produces a lot of wine. I’d be the first to admit that not all of it is great. But in my opinion it is one of the most exciting wine regions in the world.

So what makes it so special. Well for a kick-off it’s got a great climate with plenty of sun. It’s got a huge diversity of soils and terroirs meaning that a huge variety of wine styles can be made. But above all, it’s the people. There’s a real spirit here of individuality. As Virgile Joly explained to us, in Bordeaux, the style is well defined and there is not much room for creativity. Whereas in the Languedoc it’s all up for grabs (those weren’t his exact words but I’m sure he won’t mind me paraphrasing).

There’s a spirit of rebellion here. One winemaker in Minervois (whose name I should probably not reveal) proudly showed us his 100% Syrah. “Oh, I didn’t think you were allowed to make 100% Syrahs in Minervois”, I said. “You’re not”, he replied with a cheeky glint in his eye.

So, what were the most memorable wines we discovered on our trip? The wines that will forever remind us of this trip.

Mas des Dames ‘La Diva’ 2011

Mas Des Dames

Our trip to Mas des Dames was probably the highlight of our trip. It’s always fun getting involved at vineyards so when owner Lidewij asked if we wanted to help sort Grenache Blanc grapes as they came in, we jumped at the chance. It was a very easy job though, to be honest. The fruit was so healthy there was hardly anything to pick out. The vineyard is made up of several small plots of vines, some old, some new. Each has a different aspect and soil, helping to give the wines real depth and complexity. ‘La Diva’ is Lidewij’s top wine and is aged in ridiculously expensive barrels. She openly admits she didn’t think about how she was going to factor the cost of the barrels into the price of the wine but she’d been dreaming about them and one day treated herself. Probably not what I would spend €1,500 a piece on, but then I’m not a winemaker. Anyway, I digress. The 2011 was a tank sample that is just about to be bottled and is an exceptionally exciting wine experience. There’s lots of bright fruit and well integrated spicy oak. I don’t know how else to describe it, it is just gorgeous. The 2009 was also excellent – a bit more floral I thought.

Ancienne Mercerie ‘Couture’ Faugeres 2010
We stumbled on Ancienne Mercerie by accident whilst on an evening stroll on our first night in Autignac. We had a brief chat with Francois who was busily preparing for harvest and arranged to go back for a tasting the next day. The highlight of the tasting was their ‘Couture’ 2010. It’s a wine of real concentration and structure. Intense dark fruit with sweet spices like nutmeg. Very elegant. A great wine. I thought the label looked familiar and Nathalie mentioned in passing that it had been featured recently in Decanter. What I found when I got home and checked the July edition was that she had modestly neglected to mention they scored it 95 points!

Chateau des Estanilles ‘Clos du Fou’ Faugeres

Clos du fou

Other vignerons called Michel Louison mad (‘fou’ in French) for planting Syrah vines on the top of a steep hill (left) on the outskirts of the village of Lentheric. It’s impossible to grow grapes on such a slope, they said (Possibly. And if they did, it was probably in French). But in true underdog spirit he was right to try because they now produce fruit of exceptional quality and intensity. The label claims there is some Grenache in the blend to keep the appellation happy, but it’s clear that this is is all about the Syrah. There’s plenty of dark fruit and plenty of spice. Some floral notes showing through too. And it’s LONG. Real concentration. Mmmmm getting thirsty writing this!

Clos du Gravillas ‘Cote Obscur’ 2010

Clos du Gravillas

Gravillas are one of our favourite producers and they make some great wines so it was a real treat to meet John & Nicole and visit their vineyards. Their bright white rocky ‘soil’ (if you can use such a word to describe it) looks like the surface of the moon. Hence the moon logos that adorn their wines. This wine was produced from the old Carignan vines that normally make their top of the line ‘Lo Vielh’, but for some reason in 2010 the fruit tasted completely different. They decided that it was so different they would have to come up with a new name for it and settled on ‘Cote Obscur’ which means the dark side. Now I know people (myself included) often say a wine has “intense aromas of blackcurrants”, but I vow NEVER to use that phrase again after smelling this wine. It could literally have been a glass of blackcurrant juice. So well-defined. So intense. Again, not my favourite wine of theirs, but certainly the most memorable.

Chateau de la Mirande ‘Cuvee Marie-Laure’ Picpoul de Pinet 2012
This was the first time I have ever had an oaked Picpoul de Pinet. I associate Picpoul with being tangy, light and refreshing and I was a little apprehensive whether a heavy dose of oak would work. But it was surprisingly good. Perhaps a little over oaked, but the tangy, racy Picpoul handled it well. Not the best wine we had on the trip but certainly one I will remember!

Virgile Joly ‘Virgile’ Blanc 2005

Virgile Joly

Virgile Joly is one of the leading young winemakers in the Languedoc and it was great to meet him at his small tasting room in the sleepy village of St Saturnin de Lucian. He worked abroad as a ‘flying winemaker’ before returning to France to pursue his dreams of owning his own vineyard, throwing away his winemaking recipe book and letting the grapes speak for themselves. Starting with just one hectare in 2000, he has gradually acquired several more plots of vines and now has 15 hectares, which he farms organically. He produces some really excellent entry and mid-level wines but his top of the line Virgile 2005 white was the most memorable wine of the tasting. It is 100% Grenache Blanc but is made in a slightly oxidative style so it’s got a deliciously nutty quality, a bit like a Jura Vin Jaune or a Fino Sherry. Surprisingly for a wine that’s 8 years old it’s got real freshness. Lots of marzipan and almond aromas. Probably not something I would drink a lot of, but very interesting and certainly memorable.

I feel privileged to have met so many amazing people and tasted so many great wines in just 4 days. Just need to start planning the next trip now!

It’s National Burger Day. Now, what to drink…

By Charlie Brown

It’s National Burger Day! And although we’d never jump on a bandwagon (ahem) burgers have a special place in our hearts, so we want to share with you wines from our shop that would be redonkulous with your burger. We’re open until 7.30pm to pick any of these up. #shamelessplug

Fiesta de Azul y Garanza, Navarra, Spain £9

This gutsy full bodied red from one of Spain’s hottest regions is brambly, a little bit floral and what we like to call ‘sunny.’ It’s made by Dani and Maria, who turned a cooperative into a leading winery of the region. 

Wakefield Promised Land Shiaz / Cabernet Sauvignon, Clare Valley, Australia £11.50

Rich, full bodied and great with red meat, this is much more complex than your run-of-the-mill supermarket Aussie wines. Notes of blackcurrant, pepper, vanilla, coffee and mint; it’s smooth with well-balanced tannins.

 

 

Peachy Canyon Incredible Red Zinfandel, Paso Robles, California £15

My personal favourite with burgers is the good old American Zinfandel. This is a BIG wine; blackberry jam, clove and black pepper with velvety, sweet vanilla notes underpinning the whole thing. A whack-you-round-the-face kind of experience (in a good way).

 

For the white and rose drinkers?

OK OK, I appreciate it’s still the summer so you might be wanting something chilled with your burger. Go for something with lots of flavour and weight and even perhaps a bit of (dare I say it) oak. Top picks are:

• Milton vineyards ‘Crazy by Nature’ Chardonnay, Gisbourne, New Zealand – £13.50
• Dominio Dostares Tombu Rose, Bierzo, Spain – £14

Enjoy this national celebration of burgers. 

Clos des Cordeliers ‘L’eclat du noir’ 2012

What with working 2 jobs, the blog has somewhat taken a back seat of late. However, when we cracked open this ‘L’eclat du noir’ that we picked up from the cellar door of Clos des Cordeliers I knew I was going to have to write about it.

Ok so why is it so interesting? Well for a start it is a brilliant (“éclat” en Français), bright pale lemon colour. Almost colourless. But it’s made from 100% Cabernet Franc. A red grape. This is unusual. Very unusual. In fact I don’t know of anyone else who makes one. But (SPOILER ALERT) it’s more than just a curiosity, it’s actually really, really good.

Of course the Saumur-Champigny appellation contrôlée doesn’t allow something a frivolous as a white Cabernet Franc to be labelled as Saumur-Champigny, so it has to be a plain old Vin de France.

So after we’d marvelled at it’s colour it was about time to get drinking. I mean tasting. Drinking, tasting, whatever.

First impressions were of pink grapefruit but without the searing acidity. There’s some notes of ripe pears and apricot stones too, if thats not too wanky pretentious.

In the mouth it is perfectly balanced with a lovely texture and a long finish.

Sadly L’Eclat du Noir is not currently available in the UK, however (cue shameless plug) at Vino Vero we do have his more conventional Saumur-Champigny red in stock if you’d like to try that instead.

If you’re ever in the Loire valley I would strongly recommend dropping in on Clos des Cordeliers for a tour of the vineyards and their awesome underground cave. Oh and bring me back a bottle of Eclat du Noir. Please.

When Charlie met Jolly Olly

By Charlie Brown

I’ll admit it; my idea of meeting a celebrity is spotting Oz Clarke at a tasting, or bumping into Steven Spurrier. So when I was given the opportunity to be a judge at the Wine Merchant Magazine’s Top 50 wines for independents, however excited I was to be part of the day, my biggest thought was, ‘amazing, I get to meet Olly Smith.’

The Wine Merchant Magazine top 50 was a competition to find the best 50 wines sent in from distributors and vineyards around the world, exclusive to the independent trade. Chief judges were Olly Smith and the Observer’s wine critic David Williams and there were 16 other judges, all from independent wine shops like us.

Charlie trying to look professional

There were 383 wines to get through which is no mean feat, especially when tasting started at 9am. I was on a mini judging team with two of the top independent wine shop owners, Hal Wilson from Cambridge Wine Merchants and Philip Amps from Amps Wines. Intimidated much. 

All tasting was blind but we knew what region the wine was from. There were some surprises in there; I expected to love a sparkling rose from Hampshire, but much preferred the Lambrusco it was up against. We had a Viognier from Chile that was clearly made with Torrontes. The premium Spanish reds didn’t compare to the Portuguese.

Having Philip and Hal on my team was great; you can learn a lot watching two seasoned wine tasters. 

So what did I learn? 

1) (I knew this one already) you need stamina when tasting. 6 hours on your feet, hundreds of wines to try is not the jolly people might think it is. But they’re so important, so we can find lovely wines for our lovely customers.

2) Independent wine merchants are really happy to give advice to the newbies like us. Which is a little bit more than useful.

3) A lot of the indies have done a lot of travelling to vineyards and this really is the best way to learn about wine. Watch out vineyards, we’re coming your way. 

 

And the top 50? They haven’t been announced yet but we’ll make sure we publish them for you; and no doubt some of them will be ending up in our shop soon.

Thanks to the Wine Merchant Magazine for the opportunity to judge in such a great competition.

One month down…

So Vino Vero has been open for a month (ish). What have we learned? Plenty:

Lots of people think we are ‘brave’ for opening an independent wine shop in the ‘current economic climate’ (what they really mean, but are far too polite to say of course, is that they don’t think it’s going to work). Maybe we are brave/foolish/naive but for every naysayer, there are several more who tell us that we are exactly what the area has been crying out for. Which is nice.

People are really excited about trying something new. Sure we’ve sold plenty of Malbec and NZ Sauv Blanc, but weird Languedoc blends, Maria Gomes, Bierzo and many other wines that are a bit more off the beaten path have been flying off the shelves too.

People really want to learn. A lot. I love it when customers ask ‘what is Biodynamics?’, ‘what does Crianza mean?’ etc. It’s great. That’s what we are here for. To help customers find out more about wine and discover some amazing bottles along the way.

People are prepared to spend a lot more on wine than we anticipated. When selecting which wines to stock we were very careful to make sure we had plenty in the £7.50-£10 range. And for the first couple of days that’s where a lot of our sales were. But almost immediately people started trading up. Our average bottle sold is now around £12-13. At that price point you can really taste the difference (if you’ll excuse the phrase) between mass-produced supermarket wines and what we are offering.

You can’t judge a book by its cover. This equally applies to wine and to the public.

That we have a lot more to learn. But will have a lot of fun doing it.

Ponderings about wine scores

One of the most divisive subjects in wine is the issue of scoring. Although he may not have invented the concept, Robert Parker with his 100 point scale intended to give consumers a simple way of discovering good wines. And consumers listened. So much so that many winemakers changed their style to make wines that they thought Parker would like in the hope of getting a high score. It has recently become fashionable amongst wine bloggers to diss Robert Parker and his 100 point scale but do these sort of wine scores have a place in wine writing?

Well yes. And no.

It all depends on who you are writing for. If you are writing for the wine trade then a purely objective score can be useful. I still think 100 is too fine a resolution though. And I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone score a wine under 75 which kind of makes a mockery of the whole scale. For most consumers, a 100 point scale is meaningless. Do they really know the difference between a 91 point wine and a 92 point wine? Do they care? They’re both still good, right? I think most consumers don’t need or want anything more than a 5 point scale. On this blog I just use good, really good or wow but I’m essentially using a 5 point scale. In my head my scoring system works like this:

1. Terrible. Faulty. Disgusting. I very rarely have the misfortune to drink wines like this and I would certainly never want to recommend them so I don’t write about them.
2. Bad. Poorly made. Overly manipulated. Bland. I think a lot of the wines made on industrial scale wines fall into this category. Again I don’t write about them. I want this blog to be a happy place full of great wines.
3. Good. Interesting. Well made. Now we’re getting somewhere. A wine that smells and tastes good, has some complexity and character. The sort of wine that I would go out and buy by the caseload (if I had the cash) and would drink every day (if I had the cash).
4. Really good. Complex. Intense. Exciting. The sort of wine that I would save for a date night or some other occasion that justifies opening something a bit special. This stuff is probably going to be a bit more expensive and/or rarer so I keep these wines as a bit of a treat.
5. Wow. Mind-blowing. Life-changing. Things will never be the same after trying one of these wines. You will love them and curse them in equal measures because now you just can’t go back to drinking the same old stuff you used to. These I save for really special occasions and live in a separate wine rack surrounded by barbed wire and infra red alarms in case anyone even goes near them without my permission.

And what about tasting wines blind? The received wisdom is that wines should be tasted blind and scored solely on what’s in the glass like some kind of pseudo-scientific experiment. But wine is not like any other drink. To me it really does matter who the producer is, their ethos, what methods they have used etc.  I enjoy a wine more if I know that it has been made in a sustainable way. I take enjoyment from the quirky little stories about winemakers. So the bank wouldn’t lend you the money and you had to beg, borrow and steal in order to make your wine. When you did, you named it ‘Fat Pig’ after the bank manager who turned you down. Love it.

Wine is not like other products. It is not manufactured and confected (well, the good stuff isn’t anyway) and it deserves to be treated differently. What do you think?

Review: Buondonno Chianti Classico 2007

I was supposed to be saving this Buondonno Chianti Classico 2007 until I met up with a friend who is something of an expert when it comes to Italian wine. But I caved in and shared it with Mrs SamTheWino instead. What are you gonna do?

To be honest, when I read the back of the label I was pleased to see that it’s not made from 100% Sangiovese. Pure Sangiovese is fine when done well, but I often find that unless you pay a lot of money it often seems to lack a certain something. I often find pure Sangioveses smell good and then once you put them in your mouth all flavour seems to disappear. Maybe that’s a bit harsh or I need to try more Sangioveses. If anyone out there wants to send me a cellarful of Sangioveses to try, get in touch. This one benefits from a small amount of  Merlot and Canaiolo. Canaiolo was once the dominant grape variety used in Chianti but since the Phylloxera epidemic its use has declined to the point where it is now something of a rarity.

First impressions were… ok. Bit of cherry showing itself, but not too much else going on. However with a bit of time it developed like the proverbial ugly duckling. Although it’s not exactly ugly to start with. Oh, you get the picture. So from cherry it developed some really nice Christmas pudding-esque aromas of dried fruit, clove and marzipan. A sort of salted caramel note appeared for a while too. In the mouth you get this overwhelming sense of utterly ripe fruit. There’s good acidity and fine tannins, without a trace of bitterness.

Very pleasant then. Very pleasant indeed. Yummy even. What’s more the estate has been farmed organically for more than 20 years so you can feel good about what your drinking.

Wine in 2013

Rather than doing yet another ‘predictions for 2013’ post I thought that now we are well into January and I think I’ve got some ideas about where wine is going in 2013, I would sum up my thoughts. This has nothing to do with me not getting around to writing my predictions on time. No siree.

The ‘natural’ wine squabble debate will continue. Detractors will continue to discredit the ‘natural’ wine movement. Advocates will continue to discredit the mainstream wine market. I think we will see producers, distributors and merchants putting less emphasis on the word ‘natural’ and more emphasis on other words like ‘real’ or ‘authentic’. Whatever word we use, I’d like to see a less conflict in the industry about ‘natural’ wine. I think most people would like to see wines with less chemical intervention or manipulation and more emphasis on sense of place. However, lets be pragmatic, not dogmatic. We should praise producers for taking steps in the right direction. Not slag off anyone who dares to add sulphur to their wines. I found far too many wines that smelled of cider or cow shit in 2012. “Oh it’s meant to smell like that”. “That’s his rustic style”. I hope I never hear those words in 2013. Ultimately, lets drop the ‘natural’ tag and focus on producing and drinking high quality wines that are expressive of their terroir.

Sustainability encompasses more than just ecological sustainability. True sustainability also includes financial sustainability for all involved. In the same month that we learned that the average price of wine in the UK has finally broken the £5 mark, it was also reported that two major wine businesses are in trouble. Casella, the company behind low-end, mass market brand Yellow Tail is in trouble and Pressiors de France, suppliers of cheap Champagne to supermarkets has gone into administration. And don’t forget that wine production volumes were down all around the world in 2012 which will put upwards pressure on prices. So, it sounds like there could be trouble brewing at the bottom end of the market. Which could ultimately be a good thing. The challenge for the wine industry is to get consumers to trade up, not walk away. I think that 2013 is a great opportunity for specialist wine shops to grab a slice of the market.

There will be another scandal involving – shock horror – a wine journalist receiving undeclared sums of money from a wine producer. I’m seeing more and more writers disclosing what they have received in the way of expenses/accommodation/meals/used notes in brown envelopes, which is creditable. But I can’t see the end of this sort of story any time soon. In 2013 wine writers need to work harder than ever to ensure, and above all demonstrate, impartiality.

Bordeaux en primeur will be just as boring as every other year. Yawn. Chinese market. Yawn. Liv-Ex. Yawn. Super seconds. Yawn. Flying fifths. Wake me up when it’s over and people get back to talking & blogging about something, anything, else.

I will drink more exciting wine in 2013 than I ever have before. And I hope you do too. Cheers.