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Chile: Leyda
 Bodega Septima
- Mendoza, Argentina
I met their export manager Marcelo Marasco at the London Wine Fair (May
2010), who said Septima (owned by the almost quietly impressive Catalan Codorniu group) has "the highest vineyards in Mendoza, at 1000m
(=3300ft: not the only ones claiming that, see below), in Luján de Cuyo,
and further south in Uco at 1400m..." Anyway, their wines are pretty
good, especially the "Seventh Day" label. Shortly available in Wine Rack
stores in the UK, I'm reliably informed (the new improved independent WR,
not the old dead Thresher group ones...) and via
AV Brands Inc. in the US (MD).
2009 Malbec - nice "inky" cranberry fruit,
quite intense with spicy liquorice notes; firm palate with perfumed
fruity vs smoky edges, attractive style. 87+
2008 Cabernet Sauvignon - quite rich and
structured with some vibrant cassis fruit, although less charming than
the above in the end.
2008 Septimo Dia Malbec - a touch of oak on
the nose vs again lively characterful fruit; hint of spicy grainy oak on
the palate yet quite concentrated vs firm and closed up finish.
89
2008 Septimo Dia Cabernet Sauvignon - spicy
cedar notes vs pretty intense cassis and black cherry; again has firm
and grainy mouth-feel vs fair concentration and oomph. Needs a year to
open up a bit. 90+
2008 Gran Reserva (Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon,
Tannat) - oakier still but pretty
concentrated, difficult and inexpressive at the moment but promising...
www.bodegaseptima.com
 Las
Piedras Pura Vid & Bodega Calle -
Mendoza, Argentina
Not sure what, or if there is even, the connection is between these two
wineries, but they were sharing a booth on the huge Argentina stand at
the London Wine Fair back in May 2010. They both appear to be
represented and part-owned by the mighty American importer Southern Wine Group and are located in Mendoza (like
much of the Argentinean wine industry in fact): Las Piedras in Barrancas,
Maipú and Bodega Calle in Mayor Drummond, Luján de Cuyo. The former was created by Giovanni
Vincenzo Pannunzio, who emigrated from Italy in the 1950s, and is now
run by his sons José and Luis. The estate totals some 70 ha/170 acres
(including a smaller, recently planted vineyard in San Martín) mostly
with Malbec followed by Cabernet, Syrah, Cabernet Franc, Viognier and
Chardonnay. Over to those wines:
2009 Pannunzio GV Malbec - vibrant
currant-y fruit with lush smoky edges and spicy too; attractive
concentration and depth of fruit vs a touch of tannin grip and oomph.
88+
 2009
Pannunzio GV Cabernet Sauvignon - rich
and juicy with lovely cassis aromas/flavours; again shows good
concentration and style, lush vs firm mouth-feel and well-balanced
finish. 89-91
2009 Bodega Calle Alberti 154 Malbec
- "inky", spicy and intense with cranberry, raspberry and liquorice;
delicious fruit and spice vs big firm mouth-feel. Promising.
90+
2009 Bodega Calle Alberti 154 Cabernet Sauvignon
- wilder and smokier profile with rich cassis and biscuit tones; solid
and powerful finish, also needs a couple of years to open up.
90+
laspiedraspuravid.com /
bodegacalle.com /
facebook.com/BodegaCalle
Domaine Vistalba / Fabre Montmayou - Mendoza &
Patagonia, Argentina
Based in
Luján de Cuyo province just to the north of Mendoza city, Vistalba's founder Hervé Joyaux Fabre,
originally from Bordeaux and settled in Argentina in the early 90s,
started by
buying a chunk of what are now over 100 year-old Malbec vineyards. He built
a new winery
in the middle of them on this elevated plateau landscape at 1150m altitude
(3800 feet), and now has 53 hectares (130 acres) of Malbec, 20 ha (50 ac) of Cabernet
Sauvignon and some Chardy and Merlot too. They've
since added vineyards and a winery in
Patagonia, Rio Negro, in the deep south to the family portfolio. I
tasted their top Malbecs and Cabernets, and a "Grand Vin" blend of both
varieties (with a splash of Merlot thrown in), at the London Wine Fair
(May 2010).
2008 Reserva Malbec -
shows a bit of coconut oak vs nice peppery black and red fruit profile;
smoky richness vs solid dry mouth-feel vs good balance of attractive
fruit and oomph; finishing with lingering tobacco, raspberry and
liquorice tones/flavours. 87+
2008 Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon -
juicy and ripe cassis aromas/flavours with "inky" intensity; firm
structure and power vs touches of chocolate oak underpinned by nice
currant fruit. 87+
2008 Gran Reserva Malbec - shows
more choco oak yet definitely lusher mouth-feel too; very chunky and
grippy still with underlying dark spicy fruit.
87-89
2008 Gran Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon
- lovely cassis and dark plum fruit, again big solid palate vs
concentrated and structured; promising, needs 1-2 years to open up.
89-91
2007 Grand Vin (Malbec,
Cabernet Sauvignon + 5%
Merlot) - pretty coco oaky nose and
texture; chunky, dense and concentrated though with a bit of wow on the
finish. Not sure about the amount of oak but there's plenty going on
underneath, it seems... 90+?
www.domainevistalba.com
Orfila - Mendoza, Argentina
Orfila has been going since 1905, and their winery and vineyards are
found in San Martín about 45 km southeast of Mendoza city... I'll tell
you more if I ever go to Argentina, as their website doesn't say much
apart from a load of corporate blah blah. At least, I think so from my
limited Spanish: I couldn't find a click here for the English version
button? Anyway, their
range comes in four levels - I'm always a bit wary of wines called "Roble"
or oak, as that's all some of them taste of, although the top two tiers,
"Solar" and especially "Cautivo" are worth a go. The latter
branded Malbec, for
instance, is sourced 80% from the Valle de Uco and the rest from the
Valle Central with 60% of the wine aged for 10 months in French oak. And
for the Solar, 40% of it aged for 8 months in American oak with more of
the fruit from the Central Valley. I tasted a few Malbecs and Cabernets
across their range at the London Wine Fair (May 2010) and highlighted
these three:
2008 Malbec - a touch baked on the
nose; ripe vs vibrant cranberry palate with minty raspberry notes too,
has a bit of power and grip but it's quite easy-going.
80+
2007 Solar de Orfila Malbec (14%) -
smokier and richer with firm tight palate, not very oaky actually with
punchy finish. 85
2007 Cautivo de Orfila Malbec (14.5%) -
quite complex, rich and smoky with darker spicier profile; light
chocolate oak texture vs dry grip, nice intense and spicy red vs black
fruit finish. 86-88
www.orfilawine.com
 Frey
Vineyards - Redwood Valley, California
Not only was Paul Frey the lone winemaker from California at this year's
(2010) Millésime Bio wine fair in Montpellier, but the Freys also claim
to be pioneers in several other things: America's first organic winery,
"sulphite-free for 28 years," first maker of certified Biodynamic ®
Wines in the US... So, quite a lot to live up to when I tried the wines
below on their stand and talked to Paul. Did they deliver? Well, yes,
although some of them show a wild, natural, old-fashioned even kind of
intense style that certain textbook, squeaky-clean winemakers might call
faulty: maybe technically correct, but there's something exciting and
living about these flavoursome wines, as you'll see from my notes.
Overall, the Frey family has around 50 ha or 124 acres of organic and
biodynamic vineyards in Mendocino County. According to their website,
it's tough titty for readers and organic wine fans in the UK, as they
only appear to be distributed in northern Europe in Norway, the
Netherlands and Denmark; but they're widely available in the US and
Canada of course! So, a good excuse to go to the winery some day
yourself...
2009 Sauvignon Blanc - herby vs
peachy nose, crisp vs oily palate; elegant and long, different too.
87+
2009 Chardonnay - exotic oily style
with lively mineral bite, crisp and intense finish.
87+
2006 "Biodynamic" Zinfandel -
savoury/sweet almost Pinot Noir style nose, earthy vs ripe and fruity
palate; bit like old Burgundy! 87
2007 Cabernet Sauvignon - smoky
leathery aromas, lush vs grippy mouthfeel with dark smoky finish; not
sure but interesting anyway. 87?
2007 Syrah (North Coast) - meaty vs
spicy dark cherry fruit; lighter style but still attractive with minty,
fruity and toasty/smoky finish. 87+
2005 "Biodynamic" Syrah -
dark toasty liquorice vs pepper notes; lush vs firm and sweet vs savoury
palate, maturing vs still alive on the finish.
90+
2007 Petite Sirah - wild herbs and
burnt plums, funky northern Rhone-ish styling; rich "tar" with cloves
undertones vs dry yet rounded tannins, wow. 89
www.freywine.com
 Viña Ventisquero &
Pangea - Chile
A tutored tasting led by Ventisquero's head winemaker Felipe Tosso Bruna and John
Duval, slightly well-known consultant for their Pangea "icon wine" (to use the marketing babble-speak),
proved to be a laid-back and educational medium for launching the 2005 vintage. John's name
may be familiar: he
was Penfold's Grange winemaker for 29 years before setting up his own label in
2003. Ventisquero is baptized after a
glacier, and apparently there's a particularly grey one (probably all that
pollution drifting down from North America): hence the name of three
of these wines.
Grapes are sourced from the company's "coastal vineyards" -
relatively, then again Chile is essentially one very long coastline quickly
followed by small mountains, narrow valleys then big mountains - in Maipo,
Rapel, Casablanca and Apalta (Colchagua region, 160 km/100 miles southwest of
Santiago). The latter valley (pic.) houses the
Syrah for making Pangea, more specifically a selection from two main blocks at
250m/800 feet altitude, where
vine age is only 8 years (bodes well for future quality looking at what they're
already getting). Otherwise it's
a high-tech viticulture, oak (new, French, longer) and bottle-age thing (they
say 12 months before release).
These wines are mostly listed in restaurants in London and certain posh wine
shops like Roberson (Kensington) and Harrods, for about £25-£30 (ambitious, then
again owner Gonzalo Vial has sunk $50 million into the brand I'm told).
Anyway, here are my (rather long-winded) notes and scores on the half-dozen premium reds tasted at London's Vinopolis on 26/6/07:
2004 Ventisquero Grey Merlot - plus a touch
of Cab Sauv; 04 was a cool vintage for the area. Perfumed and floral with
light red pepper complexity, plum and rhubarb fruit tones; nice texture with
chocolate oak backdrop, ripe v tart fruit, quite elegant and well balanced; also
shows subtle intensity with fresh acidity, fine choc tannins, weight of
alcohol and slightly bitter blackcurrant and plum twist.
87+
2005 Ventisquero Grey
Carmenère - plus a touch
of Syrah and Cab Sauv; 05 was a more generous vintage. Richer black
cherry and olive even with soy sauce and leafy red pepper notes, more powerful
alcohol and again the oak's not too obvious; bigger mouth-feel, a little more
choc and spice in fact, fresh bite v fuller alcohol but not over the top; sweet
v sour fruit, attractively textured tannins and elegant length.
87+
2005 Ventisquero Grey
Cabernet Sauvignon - plus
15% Syrah. Enticing blackcurrant raisin and plum fruit, a tad of wood spice and
perhaps the Syrah comes through too; a little more vanilla than choc oak, adding
sweet texture v blackcurrant and blueberry fruit, again has that herbal
dimension; oakier style yet shows more concentration, alcohol weight comes
through although still has fresh bite, firmer but rounded tannins; nice finish
although the oak is a little intrusive, however this wine has vibrancy and depth of
fruit. 88+
2005 Ventisquero Vertice
Carmenère Syrah -
herbal notes on fragrant black cherry and olive fruit, light choc and coco oak;
tastes more toasted on the palate yet concentrated and weighty, chunky sweet
fruit v compact tannins; a little hot and toasty at the mo, should come
together better as structure and depth are present. 89+
2004 Pangea
Syrah - plus 5% Cab Sauv. Fairly
charred coco oak with herbal spicy black cherry underneath, quite complex
nose actually; juicier fuller palate, nice fruit purity v choc oak texture,
again sweet v sour character; quite punchy but fresh, moving towards delicate on
its length; tightens up on the finish, promising: hopefully that oak will integrate
successfully. Tasted again a bit later, a currant sweetness is already developing.
88-90
2005 Pangea
Syrah - richer black cherry and
olive fruit with peppery wild herb edges, aromatic and pure, the oak sits better
in the background; attractive cherry fruit v solid dry tannins with
mouth-coating texture, the alcohol kicks a little but this certainly has depth
and concentration. Ripe v fresh v toast v alcohol, it needs to come together but
should go further than the 04; similarly coming back to it, there's a sweetness
and vibrancy beginning to show.
90+
 Viña Tabalí - Limarí Valley, Chile
Their website says: "At 30º29’ latitude South, Limarí is currently Chile’s
northernmost wine-producing region, although this is likely to change quickly as
pioneering winemakers continue to push northward in search of new viticultural
frontier." Indeed, according to
Wines
of Chile the Elqui Valley is the most northerly, although relatively recent
for quality grape growing (there's only one major winery so far). Limarí is 400 km (250 miles) north of Santiago and close to the sea.
Fascinating, I hear you say, but there must be something special about the
place, as I've now tasted a few very good wines from here. So, over to Tabalí
(who, it has to be said, appear to have boosted their prices since winning a
load of awards), tasted at Boutinot's bash
in the Tower of London (mind your head again) in Feb 2007, posted Aug 07:
2005 Special Reserve
Chardonnay - peachy and
fresh v lightly buttered toast, nice acidity and elegant length. £17
87-89
2005 Special Reserve
Pinot Noir - attractive
herbal 'sweet and savoury' Pinot style with light creamy vanilla backdrop, soft
v tangy mouth-feel. £17 87
2005 Special Reserve
Shiraz - enticing
smoked bacon and white pepper notes, firm and tangy v ripe and rounded finish.
£17 87-89
2004 Special Reserve Blend
(50% Cabernet Sauvignon,
15% Merlot and 35% Syrah) - a bit
reduced/funky
on the nose? Piquant cassis and blackberry fruit, more concentrated than above
with solid tannins and fresh bite too, needs a bit of time to come together.
£20+ 88-90
Viña Casa Marín - San
Antonio, Chile
Continuing the geeky 'Chile's xxx-est' extreme location theme, the Casa Marín
winery and vineyards are found in the San Antonio region "only 4 km from the
coast... currently Chile's closest vineyard to the Pacific Ocean," as their
website duly informs us. This new-ish wine area is west of Santiago and south of
the more established Casablanca valley. Anyway, enough of the geographical blah
blah; here's a few of Casa Marín's tasty wines, sampled at Boutinot's tasting
in the Tower of London (mind your head once again) in Feb 2007 (notes posted Aug 07):
2006 Cipresses Sauvignon Blanc - piercing
grapefruit and green pepper aromas set the scene for good weight on a rounded,
off-dry leaning yet still fairly intense finish. £12.50
87-89
2005 Estero Sauvignon Gris - oilier showing
fatter citrus fruit, quite rich with creamy edges, nice bite on its entertaining
finish. £13.50 87-89
2004 Lo Abarca
Pinot Noir - a bit oaky to
start but soon reveals quite sexy 'sweet and savoury' Pinot style, freshness v
gentle fruit. Not a bargain though at £18.50.
89-91
South American links:
Chile
Awards gold & trophy winners
Tannat: Madiran v Uruguay
Some previous Argentina stuff on the way...
 Clos
du Val - Napa, California
Hardly a new discovery - at the grand age of 35, CDV is almost an old timer by
Californian standards (well, I mean relative to the many new new wineries rather
than the handful of 19th Century candidates) - but their wines retain a nice
European-esque charm and elegance (not that I'm biased towards Euro wines). They
also have extensive vineyards in Carneros (pic. above), source of some very
enticing Pinot. Mind you, I didn't like their 04 Zinfandel though. Wines below
sampled at Boutinot's tasting
in the Tower of London (mind your head once again) in Feb 2007 (notes posted Aug 07):
2004 Pinot Noir - delicate perfumed morello
cherry aromas with savoury edges, lovely fruit intensity v tight fresh length.
£15.50 92
2003 Merlot (plus a little of both
Cabernets) - gamey nose with light red pepper
tones, chunky tannins and power v herbal fruit finish. £14.50
87-89
2003
Cabernet Sauvignon - inky herbal edges
to its rich chunky palate, again shows light cedar and leaf characters on a
riper rounder whole with very firm tannins. £16.50 90
1996 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon - mature
savoury leather-tinged fruit, dry grip set on nice developing fruit finish.
£31.50 90-92
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Quick A to Z
Bodega Calle
Casa Marín
Clos du Val
Frey
Orfila
Las Piedras
Septima
Tabalí
Ventisquero
Vistalba
Argentina: Malbec
& Cabernet
Winery snaps 1
Burgundy
Winery snaps 2
SW France
Winery snaps 3
South Africa
Lebanon & Austria
Winery snaps 4
Spain
Winery snaps 6
Oz & New Zealand
Winery snaps 7
Rhône & Provence
Winery snaps 8
Sicily
Winery snaps 9
Portugal
Winery snapshots: Roussillon
(4 big pages)
Winery
snapshots:
Languedoc
(6 pages)
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