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31 May 2011

New Zealand: Nobilo

Nobilo vineyard was founded in 1943 by Nikola Nobilo (pic), a Croatian emigre with a family-winemaking background, and is now part of the giant global Constellation group, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing looking at these two tasty wines. They’re part of the winery’s ‘Regional Collection’ range sourced from different vineyards around New Zealand; in this case Gisborne, billed as “the Chardonnay capital” on the back-label (I wouldn’t entirely disagree, from memory, although other NZ regions might) and Hawke’s Bay, celebrated for Merlot, both on North Island’s east coast. A refreshing change too to buy Southern Hemisphere wines with a bit of aged character, although that could just be as the retailer has old stock to clear! They were both £5.99 on offer at Wine Mark / Russell’s Cellars in Northern Ireland. nobilo.co.nz


Hawke’s Bay Merlot 2008 (13.5%) - dark plum and blueberry with soy sauce/liquorice vs leafy/red pepper edges, nice ‘sweet vs savoury’ development, quite complex; attractive lush vs tangy palate, ripe sweet vs light bitter twist of tannins/acidity, fair weight and roundness vs dry bite, maturing vs still quite chunky finish. Good with Aberdeen Angus chilli burger (from the Cooperative). 2

Gisborne Chardonnay 2009 (13.5%) – enticing buttery oat and lees notes vs pineapple and citrus, quite rich with maturing nutty side vs a bit of crispness underneath; rounded and milky with medium weight, well balanced with subtle finish. Drinking nicely now although beginning to fade out a little. Kinda South Hem Chablis but smoother. 1+


27 May 2011

Chile: Leyda

I remember tasting wines from Viña Leyda, the winery, back when nobody had heard of the Leyda Valley and people had just started talking about Chile's new cooler climate coastal regions lying, in this case, to the west of Santiago (and just south of the perhaps better known Casablanca valley), let alone other new areas further north e.g. Limarí, Elquí. Leyda was set up in 1997 and was the driving force behind creating a name-sake sub-region in 2002 (this could get confusing...). They've been busy since then too, as the estate now comes to nearly 250 hectares (towards 700 acres) of mostly 'cool' varieties as per my tasting notes below.

Rioja: Bodegas Alvarez Alfaro

Pablo Alvarez Alfaro set up cellar and vineyards in Aldeanueva de Ebro in rugged Rioja country at the end of the 19th Century, as the story goes, and the winery is still family run today. They have over 60 hetares (150 acres) of their own vineyards, where all the grapes are sourced from for three different wines. Their Viña Vieja is 100% old-vine Tempranillo and aged for eight months in new French oak, and the Crianza at least one year in American and French oak. These three reds were tasted in May 2011. More info on the winery, prices and where they export to follow. I’ve used my ‘new’ scoring system of one, two or three ‘ticks’ (good, very good, fabulous); or just plain 1 to 3 here.

Rioja Crianza 2007 (80% Tempranillo + Mazuelo, Garnacha, Graciano; 13.5% alc.) – still quite coconutty/cedary on nose and palate but it’s concentrated with vibrant blueberry/plum fruit vs liquorice and pepper edges vs savoury tones; firm and tight structure, nice tannins and fresh bite, balanced and elegant too; grainy finish vs berry fruit vs dry/sweet coating. Next day: gets tastier and less oaky with airing, attractive berry and spice vs sweet/dry tannins, more savoury finish. 2
Rioja Crianza 2008 (80% Tempranillo, Mazuelo, Garnacha, Graciano; 14% alc.) – cedary and ‘inky’ tones vs rich berry fruit vs vanilla oak; quite punchy and tight at the moment, refreshing undercurrent vs dark fruit with savoury hints vs cedar and coconut; hasn’t come together yet but it’s promising. 2
Alvarez Alfaro Viña Vieja Tempranillo 2010 (14%) – ‘reductive’ herbal hints layered with a fair bit of vanilla, lively alcohol/acidity combo on the palate vs lots of berry fruit, intense and chunky finish; needs a couple of years to settle down, something a bit different. 1-2
 

26 May 2011

Chile: rosé / rosado

Loica Pinot Noir Rosé
from leyda.cl
You’d be right in thinking the latter term should be the one on the bottle, coming from a Spanish speaking country, but virtually all of the 15 pink wines below are labelled as rosé. The message from Chilean winemakers, whose rosados I tried at the London International Wine Fair last week, was the same though. Outside of Chile, people don’t really get the Spanish word for rosé (until they see the wine’s colour, presumably!).

19 May 2011

Black cats and black grapes

Black grapes refers to a lively little Italian rosé - sorry, Sicilian (oops, there go the kneecaps...): 2010 Nero d'Avola made by Cantine Settesoli. Weighing in at 12.5% alc. and £4.99 a bottle at Tesco, this zingy vs creamy fruity rosé delivers plenty of redcurrant and raspberry with crisp finish; and is fairly versatile as a foodie wine (venison & red onion burgers from M&S, fish & chips, prawn Balti...).
From http://snickrt.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/gato-negro1.jpg
As for black cats, the Gato Negro range from Vina San Pedro in Chile's Central Valley is an all-round crowd-pleaser with attractive, well-made and easy-drinking wines; especially at  Wine Mark / Russell's Cellars in Belfast where you get a '2 for £9' deal. On the red front, try the 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon (13.5%) or the quirkier purple-black 2010 Carmenere (13.5%); and for whites, there's a zesty dry grapefruity 2010 Sauvignon Blanc (12%) or peachy citrus-edged 2010 Chardy. And not forgetting their almost delicious creamy red fruity vs crisp 2010 Cab Sauv rosé. Mini-feature on Chilean rosés / rosados here.
More @ gatonegro.cl

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Header image: Château de Flandry, Limoux, Languedoc. Background: Vineyard near Terrats in Les Aspres, Roussillon.