The Furmint story past Aszú
Sylvia Wu
My second go to to Tokaj was through the Aszú harvest season. The uncommon probability to stroll by the volcanic vineyards, cherry-picking these sticky, shrivelled berries coated with furry, brown botrytis was fascinating.
The attention-opening journey additionally launched me to the area’s big selection of types past Aszú. Moreover the zingy, hardly ever leesy traditional-method sparklers similar to Barta, Furmint Pezsgő 2017 (bartapince.com), the dry Furmints, similar to Balassa Bor, Betsek 2019 (balassabor.hu), are gaining reputation with their bouquets of yellow fruits, textured palate and mineral acidity. The drier model of Szamorodni (made utilizing entire bunches that carry each wholesome and botrytised berries) is one other hidden gem that deserves extra consideration. Samuel Tinon, Dry Szamorodni 2003 (samueltinon.com) was mind-blowing; aged underneath flor, doughy on the nostril, with layers of citrus and honeyed flavours, and a protracted, nutty end. However the true legendary wines of Tokaj nonetheless lie in Aszú, which was additional demonstrated by a regional vertical tasting going again to the Fifties.
The Patricius, Aszú 6 Puttonyos 2008 (£39.99/50cl Museum Wines) and Disznókő, Aszú 6 Puttonyos 2002 (Berry Bros & Rudd) had been dwelling examples of the unimaginable complexity these golden nectars can develop as they age, whereas sustaining the fragile stability intrinsic to Furmint.
New York takes the stage
Clive Pursehouse
New York has been producing wine because the seventeenth century, when different main wine areas within the US had been literal unknowns to European settlers. The success of California, Oregon and Washington’s viticulture has typically left New York out of the dialog it very a lot belongs in. A latest comparative tasting hosted by the New York Wine & Grape Basis made that a lot abundantly clear. New York’s wines can and do go toe to toe with the nation’s different main areas. Every of the wines was spectacular, however none made pretty much as good an impression as Macari Vineyards’ Bergen Highway. This can be a profoundly fairly crimson wine.
The 2020 classic is the latest launch, because the wine is simply made in what the Macaris deem premium years. The mix is sort of equal components Merlot (48%) and Cabernet Sauvignon (47%) with Malbec (5%) – these come collectively to strategy perfection. Aromas are elegant and brilliant, with recent flavours of early-season blackberry, savoury white pepper, and pleasing crimson plums.
Channel-hopping fizz
Amy Wislocki
Brits Charles and Ruth Simpson have been producing wine at Domaine Sainte Rose, within the Languedoc, for 20 years. Attracted by a dynamic winemaking scene and the thrilling, New World model wines, they settled at Domaine Sainte Rose in Hérault. Ten years later they began to supply three traditional-method glowing wines there, and on the similar time purchased three winery websites in Kent to supply English glowing wine, at Simpsons Wine Property.
Within the French Simpsons of Servian, Blanc de Blancs 2020 (£15.99 Bare Wines) and Pinot Noir Rosé 2020 (£16.99 Bare Wines), you may style the sunshine of the Languedoc – these are enjoyable and fruity, ripe and juicy crowd-pleasing wines, with a contact of autolysis. The White Cliffs, Blanc de Blancs 2018 and Flint Fields, Blanc de Noirs 2018 (each £44 The Most interesting Bubble), are made in a reductive model and have aged for a lot longer on lees, disgorged with 6g/L dosage. Scrumptious expressions of the implausible 2018 classic, these present complexity and construction. The Simpsons are excited concerning the 2022 classic, too, predicting gorgeous wines from a heat and dry 12 months, with half the same old rainfall.
Desert wines from Chile
Julie Sheppard
The crew at Viña Ventisquero should take pleasure in a problem: there aren’t many wineries that resolve to plant a winery in an precise desert. Winemaker Alejandro Galaz is on the helm of this uncommon challenge, from vineyards planted in 2008, in Chile’s northern Atacama desert.
A retrospective tasting of Tara Atacama included the inaugural Pinot Noir 2012 and Chardonnay 2012, nonetheless displaying vigorous acidity and freshness, alongside developed toasty, nutty notes. The challenge started when a viticulturist observed that olive timber had been flourishing within the space – and the place olives develop, vines may also develop. In truth, the soils within the Atacama are limestone: a rarity in Chile.
Tens of millions of years in the past the whole area was underneath the Pacific ocean, so its soils retain a excessive diploma of salinity, which was a specific subject and brought about preliminary plantings to fail. Right this moment that downside has been solved with particular person sprinkler irrigation for every of the vines within the 13ha web site, however there may be nonetheless a signature lip-smacking saltiness to the Tara wines, together with the most recent arrival: Tara, Sauvignon Blanc 2021. That is centered and intense, with brilliant citrus and tropical fruit underpinned by chalky, salty minerality. Alongside the Tara, Pinot Noir 2020, a mix of recent cherry and raspberry fruit with extra savoury natural notes, these are wines that vividly show a novel sense of place.
Sicily’s Mo Farah
James Button
‘I’m one of many few who doesn’t make single-contrada wine,’ mentioned Federico Graziani, former AIS greatest Italian sommelier (1998) and proprietor of Etna property Fedegraziani, whose first classic was 2010. ‘I’m not Sicilian however I fell in love with this terroir.’ At a tasting of his small vary of wines organised by UK importers Oeno in October, he defined that ‘I like the thought of wine with good, nervy acidity’, including that he harvests barely earlier than full phenolic maturity with a view to create his distinctly elegant model, and works solely with Sicily’s distinct alberello (bush vines). ‘You don’t have a wall of leaves, we are able to demand simply 1kg-1.5kg per plant… this is essential for stability and concord.’
The Profumo di Vulcano 2019 (£72 Tannico) is from two centenarian plots at 600m in Passopisciaro, vinified individually since 2018 in metal earlier than mixing and oak ageing for at least 24 months in tonneaux. A mix of Nerello Mascalese, Nerello Cappuccio, Alicante and Francisi, it options delicate balsamic crimson and black cherry and underbrush scents and flavours with a stony mid-palate, very advantageous and silky tannins and a juicy end. ‘I produce my wines as a marathon runner, not a sprinter: all bones; skinny,’ concluded Federico.
