Posted
by Paul Howard
on Apr 22, 2013
in Features
Regular readers of these pages will know of my predilection for sherry. However, I have failed to discover a sherry made by certified organic methods from the Jerez DO region. If anybody is familiar with one I would be grateful to know and investigate.
Fortunately for those looking for organic credentials there are one or two producers elsewhere in Spain that make wines in styles that are very similar to those sherries of Jerez, including a “fino style” and an “amontillado style.”
One such estate is the family run Bodegas Gómez Nevado. They are based at a small inland town called Villaviciosa, northwest of Córdoba, in the rugged mountains of the Sierra Morena. That’s over 200 km from Jerez and at least 50 km from Montilla-Morilles. Hence these wines cannot benefit from either the title or reputation of “sherry” and are classified merely as humble “wines of the land” (Vino de la Tierra). Although largely unknown, they do have quality aspirations and are made in a similar way to their more illustrious counterparts.
There’s neither Jerez’ onshore damp breezes or white crusted chalk soils in the Sierra Morena. Instead, a harsher continental climate with blistering summers and cold snowy winters is the norm. With true sherry, it is the Palomino grape that takes precedence. This region grows some Palomino but also the hardy Airén and Pedro Ximenez are common – hence the wines tare a combination of all three grapes and to me substitute elegance with brawn.

The wine featured here is their Pálido Seco, the dry “fino sherry” style white wine that derives its principal flavour from the biological action of yeast on the maturing wine. The wine is aged for between three and five years in old American oak casks forming a solera system. The yeast (Flor) feeds on the wine, so imparting those classic briny phenolic flavours.
Rather than worry overmuch about classifications, it’s best to see what the bottle has to offer, which thankfully is rather a lot. The wine is a deep and clear yellow colour, attractively so, but deeper than a true fino would be. Then the nose is powerful and is not confined to the glass. First off is the familiar salty seaside smell of the acetaldehyde imparted by the yeast. Underneath that appears caramel, dried apples and almonds. This really is all very appealing and draws you further in. The palate is explosive, very dry and big boned. In every way a big mouthful, the salt and almonds reprise with the apple really coming through in broad brushstrokes.
If you like fino sherry you really do owe it to yourself to try this. Of course it is perfect as a chilled aperitivo with anchovies and olives. Best of all, there are few dry white wines that have the body and flavour to stand their corner against the heat of Wasabi Peas! Perfect!
This an individualistic and traditional Spanish country wine with the added bonus of organic credentials made available at a value price. Being a strapping example I’d say you could open it, restopper it and it would keep in the fridge for a week. No need to worry about opening immediately after buying either, it’ll keep unopened for 2-3 years yet but won’t improve if you do so. No need to wait.
Meanwhile, I can also heartily recommend Gómez Nevado’s dry amontillado style wine, called Dorado Seco.
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Posted
by Paul Howard
on Aug 22, 2012
in Features, Reviews
Quantum of Solace
The area around Linguaglossa, on the northern slopes of Mount Etna in Sicily is a remarkable and spectacular wine terroir, where native grape varieties grown on volcanic soils meet high altitude and fine weather to create a series of subtly different microclimates. If the time ever comes to designate an Etna Classico zone, Linguaglossa is likely to be one of the focal points.
The Etna wine revolution continues apace, an intriguing blend of ancient and modern. One winery that I didn’t investigate on my last visit is Quantico. Above it, Etna spits, snarls and smokes, a constant belligerent threat.
Quantico is small and organically farmed – just 6 ha in total. Their Etna Bianco and Etna Rosso are grown at the 1.5 ha Contrada Lavinia vineyard, up at 600-750 metres altitude. While there is a long family tradition of viticulture here, AA Giulemi set up Quantico only in 2009.
What of the wines?
Etna Rosso: Nerello Mascalese 90% and Nerello Capuccio 10%, abv 13%. Handpicked, wild yeasts, aged for twelve months in large old wood casks. It is bright crimson with great elegance, freshness and above all, purity. Wafts of violets a cherries on the nose, the lifted palate shows pinot-ish red fruits with a balsamic undertow. No wood effects let the grapes speak for themselves. Well balanced and very food-friendly at only a moderate 13% alcohol. No rough edges, tannins all smoothed off and a good long finish. Just 1,500 bottles produced.
Etna Bianco: 70% Carricante, 20% Cataratto and 10% Grillo, abv 12%. Handpicked, wild yeasts, fermented on the grape skins in stainless steel. Brilliant yellow hue, wild flower scents: gorse, herbs, citrus, reprised on the palate. Plenty of fresh acidity and a delicious salty minerality. 3,500 bottles produced
I recently tried both these wines and was knocked out by their quality and purity, which I attributed to the complete absence of any sulphur as preservative, which is far from easy to achieve. Both wines are drinking perfectly now and while there is no hurry they are best enjoyed young while fruity and vibrant.
The Rosso was brilliant with a simple ragú and penne pasta dish, the bianco a perfect foil for grilled fish. At this point I decided to investigate Quantico more thoroughly.
The quote on the bottle says:
Questo vino parla al cuore. Originale, irrverente e sorprendente, perche dall’uva al vino è solo questione di sole, energia e amore per la propria terra. Tutto nel pieno rispetto dell’ambiente.
(Rough translation; This wine speaks to the heart. Original, irreverent and surprising, because from the grape to the wine is only a matter of sun, energy and love for our land. Everything fully respects the environment).
This is poetic but could apply to many a small-production organic wine. But what of Quantum physics?
It turns out that Quantico are experimenting with using “innovative methods” in the vineyard based on magnetic fields. Are these more hair-shirt practices of dubious scientific merit? Well, it seems that there is a body of very serious university-led research about employing magnetic fields to strengthen the natural health of the plant. As far as I can tell, marvelous results have been achieved with sunflowers it seems.
For what may be the first time, magnetic fields are being used with vines rather than usre the usual arsenal of harmful chemical fertilisers and sprays. Some sort of device called the Telos AgroQuantum is being employed. Expect to see more winegrowers experimenting with these techniques in the future.
Can I explain to you how it works? Not right now and anyway most of the literature is in Italian. Does it work? Science-fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke once said that a technology sufficiently advanced from our own would be indistinguishable from magic. Well, for me all the evidence I require for now is in the glass and I knew nothing of such practices before I tried the wines, and they were magical to me.
Etna is an exciting region where young wineries like Tenute della Terre Nere, Passopisciaro and Frank Cornelissen are all making waves, Quantico are clearly poised to join them in making waves of their own. Whatever it is they are doing, they’re doing it right, at the six-sigma confidence level. Their Rosso is by far the most exciting new wine I have tried this year, the Bianco is not too far behind.
Given the tiny production, these wines are found locally in the osteria and enoteca around the nearby resort of Taormina. If you go there on holiday, look out for them.
A final note to the FBI: these Quantico wines are certainly on my “most wanted” list.
Paul Howard
@WineAlchemy1
www.winealchemy.com
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Posted
by Paul Howard
on Apr 23, 2012
in Features
The Antinori family has been in the wine business for over six hundred years and they can document this back to 1385 across 26 generations. It is an interesting question whether anyone has done more in raising the profile of Italian wines than the current head of the family, Marchese Piero Antinori. Back in the seventies he created the SuperTuscan category with Tignanello, which is arguably still the greatest example, and followed that up with another, the sensational Solaia.
The family business is still led by Piero, now with his three daughters; Albiera, Allegra and Alessia. Under his leadership the business has become a vinous superpower and there are many estates and joint ventures in the portfolio, not just in Italy but spread around the world.
As an aside, Piero’s relations are hardly slouches, being responsible for two of Italy’s most sought-after SuperTuscans; brother Lodovico created Ornellaia while cousin Niccolò owns Sassicaia, both estates being in the Bolgheri region down on the Tuscan coast.
Back to Marchese Piero Antinori; Le Mortelle is one of his most recent ventures, establishing a new organic wine estate from scratch in Tuscany’s southern Maremma. This is immediately south of the Bolgheri, on a virgin coastal site near the town of Grossetto. Here there is still plenty of room to create brand new wine ventures, using land that is cheaper than in more established and famous wine areas.
This Maremma remains Tuscany’s New World, still frontier land without a long tradition of winemaking. This coastal strip is still unspoiled, a once pestilential marsh and swamp until it was drained for pasture in the twentieth century. The farms here are on flat plains and rolling low hills, still mainly devoted to cattle, olives and fruit.
Le Mortelle is named after a shrub that is commonly found in these parts, the Wild Myrtle. It was a fruit farm until it was bought in 1999 from the Barabino family. The creation of a sizable wine estate takes years and considerable investment that will not pay back for decades, so such projects need patience and a faith in the future as well as deep pockets.
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Posted
by Paul Howard
on Mar 5, 2012
in Reviews
Soave is a famous Italian white wine region named after the eponymous town near Verona. The town of Soave is dominated by a massive medieval castle and its impressively crenellated walls. From these high swallow-tailed vantage points you can see that Soave is surrounded by vines and is at the centre of the Classico zone. As with so many Italian DOC regions, Classico is the ancient and superior enclave, a landscape of rolling limestone hills with excellent exposure to the sun. In marked contrast, “normal Soave” remains an insipid industrialised wine produced by overcropped vines on the flat plains to the south. Because that accounts for 80% of all Soave production the image of Soave remains cheap and cheerless.
The regulations that govern Soave have not improved Soave’s reputation either. Since 1998 there has been a theoretically higher DOCG classification, a so-called “superiore,” designed to improve quality, but this has been boycotted by most of the leading producers. Instead, they have either stuck with the older DOC classification or just abandoned it completely. They show just how fine and satisfying the white wines from this area can be.
Soave exists in three main guises; as a sparkling wine, a dry wine and a gloriously rich and sweet recioto. The mainstay of all these is garganega, a grape variety capable of real quality. Other white grapes may be included in the blend, including chardonnay and pinot bianco. However, a regular partner is often the dreaded trebbiano. While this is indeed the dull trebbiano toscano in the cheap wines, a quality producer will employ the far superior trebbiano di soave, which is just the local name for verdicchio, an entirely different grape.
Coffele is found in the heart of the medieval town, on the main street, the via Roma. In 1971, Giuseppe and Giovanna Coffele retired as teachers to rejuvenate this estate. Today their work is being carried on by their children, Alberto and Chiara. They own some of the best vineyards in the Classico zone and today sit at the producer top table alongside their peers such as Pieropan (found just a few doors away), Anselmi and Inama.
The Coffele family vineyards are at Soave and to the north at Castelcerino. These terraced hillsides are planted mainly with garganega, though trebbiano di soave, sauvignon and chardonnay are also farmed. They also have red varieties: cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc and merlot. Under the management of Alberto Coffele, the estate is organic, cultivated traditionally without chemicals and with an abundance of olive, cherry and oak trees. They are rightly proud that their organic manure comes from their own stables – Coffele are horse breeders too.
Ca’Visco is made from their vineyards at Castelcerino and is a blend of 75% garganega and 25% trebbiano di soave. It is named after Giovanna’s family, the Visco’s being the original vineyard owners. The harvest is by hand, with several vineyard passes made during September and October to select the ripest bunches – the selection is performed in the vineyard. The grape varieties are fermented separately at the winery at low temperature in modern stainless steel tanks. The wines then sit on the lees to pick up complexity before racking, blending and bottling. No oak is used with Ca’Visco, so it is a true expression of Soave character.
Pale yellow with green hints, the aroma’s are fresh and welcoming – blossom, minerals and apple are to the fore. On the palate, there is great balance, a welcome moderate level of alcohol and soft acids bring mouth filling texture before a clean refreshing bite. You might find victoria plum, peach and grapefruit on the palate but the memory is that of almonds. The 2010 vintage is drinking well now but this is a wine capable of developing complexity over the next five years. On the evidence from the 2009 to 2006 vintages, additional acacia, herb and pepper notes can be expected.
As with most Italian wines, Ca’Visco is ideal with food. Seafood like scallops are an obvious match but pairing with asparagus risotto is a classic. Try spinach and ricotta tortellini, those delicious pasta parcels with a little truffle oil and parmesan seem tailor-made.
As for an aperitivo, nothing beats a cold glass of Coffele Ca’Visco on the terrace of the Enoteca del Drago in Soave, just a few yards up the via Roma from Coffele…but that’s another story. Memories are made of this.
In the U.S., recent vintages of Coffele Ca’Visco 2007-2010 are available from $16.99 to $22.99 in a range of stores.
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Posted
by Paul Howard
on Nov 7, 2011
in Features, Reviews
The southeastern part of Sicily is an enclave of natural winemaking excellence. Much of the impetus behind the improved quality and status of the wines from here is due to a company called C.O.S. This was founded in 1980 by three students, whose initials make up the company name. Starting in a garage, they went on to create some of the most exciting and individual wines in the world from their base near Vittoria. They introduced biodynamic methods and ferment some wines in terra cotta amphorae. They were also key in elevating the red DOC Cerasuolo di Vittoria to become Sicily’s only DOCG wine. One of the founders of C.O.S. is Giusto Occhipinti, now a revered name in winemaking circles.
As may be guessed by now, the Occhipinti influence has been passed on to a new generation. His niece, Arianna Occhipinti is still only in her twenties but now has her own domaine. A wine-school graduate, she has been mentored by her uncle and runs 10 ha of vines and 15 ha of olives virtually single-handed. Concentrating on indigenous grapes, (nero d’Avola and frappato), she employs natural winemaking methods, being biodynamic in the vines and taking a non-interventionist approach in the winery, (wild yeasts and no temperature control during fermentation, no fining, no filtering and minimal sulphur used as preservative). The result are exuberant and pure wines with a real sense of place.
And the place is what this wine is named after. SP68 is the local Strada Provinciale, the road that runs past the vineyards linking the small town of Vittoria to the local village of Pedalino.
Just like the local DOCG Cerasuolo, SP68 is a blend of nero d’Avola and frappato. The composition of the blend is dominated by frappato. Frappato brings lightness and acidity along with perfume and strawberry fruit, while the nero d’Avola contributes structure and a darker richness. Why it’s now sold as an IGT and no longer a Vittoria Rosso or indeed even a Cerasuolo is unknown to me. Maybe something about SP68 defies the rules, maybe Occhipinti isn’t interested in categories. In any event, the wine is best described as serious fun.
In the glass, SP68 is a light ruby colour and slightly turbid, as befits a wine with nothing taken out. It’s nervy too, a full cherry, strawberry and violet perfume leads to a bright, fresh palate where cherry, strawberry and cranberry are cut with a streak of minerality. There’s little tannin or complexity but great balance and texture thanks to fresh acidity and relatively light alcohol. This isn’t a wine for contemplation or for aging, rather it’s one that should be drunk young and where you’ll find the bottle quickly empties!
In that respect this is a light red that could be compared in style (if not in taste) to Beaujolais or a Loire red. Indeed, in summer it could be given a very light chill.
As for food pairing, I immediately thought to drink this with Aranchini con Ragú, the Sicilian fried rice balls covered in breadcrumbs and containing meat sauce. It would also be perfect with antipasti. Alternatively, break the rules and drink this red with fried or grilled fish such as whitebait and sardines.
This wine brought back memories of Sicilian heat and breathtaking countryside. It is also a good introduction to the other Arianna Occhipinti wines. These are based on frappato and nero d’Avola, but now include a white wine; SP68 bianco made from albarello and zibibbo.
Capturing the zeitgeist, Arianna Occhipinti is well on her way to winemaking superstar status. Surely a Gambero Rosso winemaking award is not far away?
Around $25.00
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Posted
by Paul Howard
on May 23, 2011
in Reviews
This is the first time ever that I’ve returned to a wine in ten years of making recommendations. Usually, I seek to avoid repetition – there are always great new wines to feature and there’s nothing worse than lazy journalism. So to feature Caiarossa again shows that I hold this Italian red wine in very high esteem – this young estate really is one to watch and its star continues to rise with each new vintage.
Of course, it’s not really the same wine. The vintage featured this time is the 2006, on current UK release. Previously, it was the 2005 that received the accolades. To save repetition about the winery, biodynamic farming and the history of the estate you can read my review of the 2005 at Organic Wine Journal (July 15th 2009).
2006 was an excellent year in Tuscany; a steady, warm and lengthy growing season brought healthy ripe grapes and balanced wines. It was certainly proved to be an easier year than the cooler, rainier and more capricious 2005, even if it did not quite live up to the merits of the increasingly legendary 2004.
Caiarossa 2005 is a stunning wine, but in my opinion this 2006 is the best edition yet. Yes, the 2006 vintage was probably kinder but I would attribute the improvement to the exact composition of the blend which has varied markedly in every vintage since the first in 2003.
2006 brings Sangiovese, the signature grape of Tuscany, more to the fore, with a reduction in the proportion of Merlot used. The blend remains a melange of eight Italian, Bordeaux and Rhône varieties; Sangiovese (23%), Cabernet Franc (22%), Merlot (21%), Cabernet Sauvignon (12%), Grenache (8%), Syrah (6%), Petit Verdot (6%) and Mourvèdre (2%). In addition, the use of new oak barrels remains at a relatively low percentage and the wine seems even less marked by wood in this edition.
So why do I prefer the 2006? I’ll attribute it in the main to that extra Sangiovese, there’s just something a little more Italian on the nose and palate that for me brings a little extra sense of place. Those more entranced by the charms of Bordeaux varieties (and don’t forget that owner Eric Jelgersma owns Giscours and Tertre in Margaux) might disagree. The Sangiovese doesn’t dominate, just adds some extra tea-leaf perfume and perhaps a little welcome astringency on the finish in a wonderfully seamless and complex blend.
I first tried this 2006 at the Salone del Gusto in Turin in autumn 2010 back-to-back with the 2005. Even those few more months in bottle since then has seen it evolve but it is still youthful at less than 5 years old. Hence it had a two hour decant and was still tight when first poured. However, it opened up beautifully over the course of an evening (it really is best not to rush) and a glassful kept back for the next evening was open and singing. This will reach its peak in 8-10 years time but I’d say it will be drinking well from 2012/13.
There is great depth – reflected in the dark opaque colour and a rumbling bass line of earth and minerals. Plenty of primary fruit, there’s little development yet (hints of leather, tar and balsam lurk) but wonderful cherry, cranberry and damson fruit intertwined with brown spices and cedar smoke sit firmly on a bedrock of polished tannins that are still firm but just need time to melt. There is also grace and elegance that belies the alcohol level – this isn’t an over-concentrated blockbuster – that makes your heart beat just a little faster.
This wine exhibits such tremendous energy and vitality and while the blend itself is inconsistent each year the quality is most certainly not.
Postscript: The 2007 vintage in Tuscany was another stunner and Cabernet grown down near the coast in the Bolgheri seems to have been particularly successful – Caiarossa 2007 is a return to more Bordeaux varieties and less Sangiovese in the blend. Can’t wait to try it.
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Posted
by Paul Howard
on Jul 6, 2010
in Reviews
I have recently returned from an inspirational trip to Valpolicella, where the Amarone wines – those dry and complex, alcoholic yet sumptuous Vini di Meditazione made from dried grapes – are revelling in their newly upgraded and long overdue DOCG status. That amarone has gone a long way to re-establishing the reputation of the Valpolicella region is not in doubt and production continues to increase.
But what of Valpolicella itself, the lighter bodied red wine, the so-called normale? It’s made from the same grapes as amarone – blending corvina, corvinone and rondinella alongside small quantities of other indigenous grapes. However, fresh rather than dried grapes are usually employed, so that a refreshing medium-bodied red wine of modest alcohol and sour cherry fruit is made. Yet so much of Valpolicella disappoints, traduced by over cropping and bulk industrial production, reinforcing a perception that it is cheap and cheerful.
Another reason for dull examples of Valpolicella is, ironically, the demand for Amarone. The grapes used for Amarone are usually the best selection from those same vineyards used for Valpolicella – up to 70% of the harvest is allowed to be used for amarone. Where a producer selects a high proportion then only a rump of lesser quality grapes is left over for the Valpolicella – not a recipe for great wine.
As may be expected, the best producers are devoted to making excellent wines throughout their ranges, meaning that Valpolicella is capable of being a fine and delicious red wine in its own right. The best are made without the need to be beefed up by clever techniques such as Ripasso, where the spent Amarone grapes are added to the new wine and an ensuing second fermentation adds colour, alcohol and body. Of those, one of the most remarkable is from Ca’ La Bionda, run by the Castellani family, located in the heart of the Classico region near Negrar. They have 29 hectares of vines based around the spectacular fossiliferous limestone hillside of Ravazzol. Alessandro Castellani showed me around; he spent the year after graduation from wine-school working at the splendid Tuscan estate of Isole e Olena. They (and no doubt their splendid Supertuscan wine called Cepparello) have clearly inspired him.
Ca’ La Bionda stopped using chemicals in 1998. Ca’ La Bionda uses organics to make the best wine they can while also creating the legacy of a healthy environment for the family and their descendants. Alessandro said that that organic conversion was hard; in the first three years, insect pests ravaged the crop. But then the vineyards found their natural equilibrium. Now this winegrowing philosophy extends to the new purpose built winery – for example, using wild yeasts for fermentation, using minimal levels of sulphur, letting gravity to move the wine from vat to cask and paying attention to lunar phases when racking and bottling. Alessandro himself is a very thoughtful highly skilled winegrower who tastes widely, to learn from comparing the wines with others from Valpolicella and around the world. There’s no Italian campanilismo here, and this openness and questing approach is surely the key to the excellence of the wines.
Allesandro told me that the Valpolicella “is not trying to be a great wine”, meaning that it is the entry-level wine, made in stainless steel and seeing no oak maturation, designed to be enjoyed young. But that does not mean that it isn’t made with skill and care. The grapes used have not had an amarone selection taken from them, meaning that this Valpolicella includes the best of the harvest, predominantly corvina and corvinone, with 20% rondinella and 5% other indigenous grapes such as molinara and oseleta. They are handpicked and the main varieties are fermented separately. 60% are fermented as whole bunches, the rest being de-stemmed. After fermentation the wine remains in stainless steel until it is blended and bottled unfiltered some three months later. No oak, whether traditional large cask or modern French barrique, is ever used.
The result is a fresh, aromatic and fruity wine without high levels of tannin designed for young drinking. It’s a medium-ruby colour, with a nose showing floral, violet-tinged notes and crushed red berries (red cherry, raspberry and cranberry). The palate, while being relatively light and with moderate alcohol, is deliciously refreshing, thanks to lovely silken-textured acidity. The sour cherry fruit is delightfully pure and clean, very precise before a gentle and spicy fade. This is not a red wine made for power and complexity or indeed deep reflection. But then again it isn’t remotely weedy; rather it achieves balance and a surprising elegance with a sigh of pleasure. Drink now- don’t keep it, enjoy it while at maximum freshness and by then the next vintage will be out.
It also makes a wonderful companion to antipasti – serve with salami, rocket and parmesan shavings with a little olive oil as a dressing.
I also strongly urge you to discover the other Ca’ La Bionda wines. Their Valpolicella Classico Superiore Casal Vegri lives up to the superior billing, being a single vineyard wine aged for 20 months in large oak casks. This is a very serious Valpolicella; again beautiful drinking when young, yet it will be better for a couple of years keeping and unusually has the ability to age for a decade. Meanwhile, their Amarone Ravazzol remains one of the best available, a single-vineyard wine with power, caressing richness and complexity. The current 2006 release can be enjoyed young but another decade or so in bottle will reveal awesome complexity, judging by the 1998 vintage, the first year they made it.
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Posted
by Paul Howard
on May 29, 2010
in Reviews
Le Soula was created in 2001 as a partnership between UK wine importers Richards Walford and local biodynamic superstar Gérard Gauby, who had found a number of old and abandoned vineyards with great potential. It now has 27 hectares of vines situated in the deep south of France in the Agly valley in and around the village of St. Martin de Fenouillet. The winery itself recently moved about 5 miles to refurbished and larger premises at Prugnanes; a visible sign of success.
Historically the reputation of the Agly valley was for vin ordinaire defined by high alcohol and a quaffing rusticity. Now this area has become one of the most exciting wine making regions in France, where a new generation of ambitious producers are using biodynamics and making magnificent wines from indigenous vines – and Le Soula, with Gauby’s guidance, have become one of the top exponents.
Le Soula make a simply stunning white wine but it is the red Soula Rouge that is featured here, an assemblage in 2005 of 25% ancient bush trained Carignan with 10% Syrah, 35% Grenache Noir and 30% Cabernet Sauvignon, grapes that are all native to this part of France. The exact blend differs annually, based on the harvest conditions and although it might be similar in make-up to those from the Southern Rhône, it reveals all the terroir and finesse of the Agly valley.
The vineyards are populated with vines of various ages, the majority old, some now approaching their doddery centenary. Precious little else will grow commercially amidst the stone outcrops and scratchy thin granite and schist soils of the garrigue at an altitude of between 350 and 550 metres. Le Soula can be translated from the local Catalan as “sunny” but altitude means that the heat of the day is leavened by cooler nights, so ensuring slow ripening – always good for the creation of complexity and the retention of refreshing acidity in the grapes.
Le Soula’s winegrowing philosophy is to be as natural and “hands-off” as possible in the vineyard and the winery. Biodynamics is employed and they have now started on a journey to organic certification. Hence the fruit is handpicked and whole bunch fermented (stalks on) with wild yeasts. Extraction, the bane of so many modern warm-climate wines, is studiously avoided; the alcohol level of 13% is enough to balance the wine while leaving it easy to drink and a good match with food. As may be expected, there is no chaptalisation (the addition of artificial sugar), acidification or filtration.
After fermentation, a third of the wine is matured in 500 litre oak casks (30% of which are new), the rest aged in tank. There is therefore little overt wood influence. Final blending and bottling of this 2005 vintage took place after 18 months. Yields are usually low and in 2005 were 15 hl/ha, thanks to the exceptionally dry year – there’s no irrigation here! Just 8,400 bottles were made.
At five years old, I think this wine is now showing at the best stage of its development, though it has several years ahead of it. There’s a melding of primary fruit flavours but with the added complexity of some secondary development in bottle. It was decanted for an hour or so before serving as a precaution against the expected sediment.
In colour, a deep garnet core is attractively crimson edged. The nose has good intensity of red berry scents but with secondary notes poking through that will doubtless become more dominant over time. Earth, liquorice and tar show early after pouring, gamey hints appear if the wine is left longer in the glass.
This wine has restrained alcohol and a racy acidity that lends it a rather burgundian elegance and mouthfeel. A depth of red berry and damson fruit were perhaps to be expected, but the additional mulberry flavours were a pleasant surprise. On a long slow fade there is also a meaty and mineral complexity to tempt you back for more. Good concentration, balance and intensity mean that this is a stylish and exciting red wine.
Food wise, rack of lamb with plenty of rosemary works a treat. However, this versatile red wine will match a wide range of dishes, from charcuterie to winter stews.
Domaine Le Soula, Soula Rouge, Vin de Pays de Côtes Catalans, Roussillon, France, 2005. 13%. Biodynamic
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