Sauvignon Gris = Fié Gris

 

We drank a wine made from Sauvignon Gris last night. It tasted very much like Sauvignon Blanc. Nice enough.

Further research showed that Sauvignon Gris is a synonym for Fié Gris which has already appeared in these pages.

Our GF 93-22.6 also has a name now!

 

Encouraged by the discovery of a name for our Gm 1807-3 after so many years, and what a name: 'Fidelio' (see previous post), we checked on our other variety  GF 93-22.6 yet to be so dignified.

It seems that the wine establishments in Germany have been hard at work because mirabile dictu, there is now a name for GF 93-22.6 too:

Calardis Blanc.

OK, something catchier such as La Traviata, La Sonnambula or Luisa Miller might have stuck in mind a little easier but Calardis Blanc is a name at least.

The following comes from a grape nursery called Sibbus:

Calardis blanc - resistant variety
Calardis blanc bunch
Origin:
This is a white fungus-resistant cross of the german Julius Kühn Institute at the Geilweilerhof in Siebeldingen in the Palatinate from 1993.

Cross: Calardis Musqué x Seyve Villard 39-639.

The name is derived from "Calardiswilre", as the Geilweilerhof was historically called.

Synonyms:
Gf.1993-22-6 (breeders name)

Requirements to the site:
Calardis blanc is a fungus-resistant white wine variety with high yield potential. Therefore, the site should not be chosen too weak. It does not tend to high alcohol content.

Spread:
Calardis blanc was only approved in Germany in 2020, and is therefore still very young and not widely spread.

Special characteristics:
The resistance to Peronospora (downy mildew) is very high, but also the resistance to Oidium (powdery mildew) is high. Due to the very loose grape structure, there are almost no Botrytis infestation. Calardis blanc also has good resistance to black rot.

The straight growth and the relatively low stinginess also make it very interesting from a viticultural point of view. This also includes the low sensitivity to sunburn.

It has been registered in the German variety list since 2020. This means that it may be planted in Germany.

Wines:
The mostly slightly fruity wines lie somewhere between Burgundy and Riesling.

 

Meanwhile, a reminder from our post of March 22nd 2015 of how we came to buy GF 93-22.6/Calardis Blanc in the first place: 

So bidding Geilweilerhof Auf Wiedersehen, we trundled off to Umstein which is positively heaving with Rebschule, one actually called Krapp.

But here was Wolfs Brunnen, Winzer. Weinprobe, Verkauf (Wolf's Spring, Producer, Wine-tasting, Sales)

Frau Wolf, left and colleague preparing vines for planting

Entering with some trepidation we were asked by Frau Wolf what our visit was about and when we mentioned vines she asked which ones we wanted. We asked her which ones she had. That is a question which has caused consternation before at other Rebschule. Stocktaking at the end of a no doubt busy season must be well nigh impossible. We were actually after Souvignier Gris. Frau Wolf conducted us into the presence of her husband in an inner sanctum. Herr Wolf turned out to be a very jovial character delighted to help.

He decided that what we wanted was GF.93-22-6, a crossing of GF.GA-47-42 (Bacchus x Seyval) x Seyve Villard 39-639.

 
It became clear we were not going to leave without 25 Stueck of this variety. Even the obligatory agreement with Geilweilerhof could be sent for our signature. Meanwhile a bundle of vines in a brown plastic bag was loaded onto us.

We didn't object as we had taken a shine to the Wolfs and reckoned they knew what they were talking about. We also have a faiblesse for varieties so obscure they don't have a name yet. We might put  GF.93-22-6 next to our GM8107-3.

Herr Wolf then conducted us to the tasting room where he urged a sample of something called Aromera on us.  It came from a colleague; a Rebschule in Austria.

the Wolf's gemuetlich tasting room

He also urged us to return in July when up to 1,000 people descend on his property to taste up to 36 wines he makes in micro-vinification so buyers of his vines may know what to expect.

Later we learned that Freiburg had located 25 1 metre long vines of Souvignier Gris for us. How kind everyone is in the world of Rebschule and wine research institutes.

 

 

We spotted it in 2011: Gm 8107 - 3 no longer: now FIDELIO!!!

 

Back in 2011 we went to the famous grape research institute and university at Geisenheim and came away having spotted a promising variety with no name referred only as Gm 8107-3. 

 

Here is Slotovino on that discovery made during a tasting of many of the new varieties obtained at Geisenheim. The tasting was by courtesy of Dipl. Ing. Bettina Lindner.

Gm 8107-3

a deliciously apply (Bettina preferred citrussy) wine from grapes descended from Ehrenbreitsteiner and FR 52-64 (meaning a grape cultivated by the Freiburg Institute in 1952). Ehrenbreitsteiner is itself a crossing of two generations of other crossings. As in any other kind of breeding the hope is that progress may be made over time. Bettina Lindner told us she had sold the GM 8107-3 to a French gentleman looking for varieties to plant in Brasil or some such humid part of the world and this person had decided the variety should have a proper name and chose 'Bettina'. We were pleased to follow his lead, so 'Bettina' it is.

We bought 25 bare rooted vines and planted them that year so the vines are now 12 years old. They have always been quite vigorous but the grapes have never ripened fully until this year. Suddenly we have huge bunches of beautiful large grapes undisturbed by birds or wasps. No sign of the rather strident taste when these grapes have not ripened properly. 

All these years we have had confidence in Gm 8107-3. Derek Pritchard of Dunkery Vineyard in Devon sells it through his estimable www.winegrowers.info site. Every so often we have googled old 8107 to see if it has finally been given a name.

Just today we discover that it has indeed been given that honour and what is more, the name is 'Fidelio' also the name of Beethoven's operatic masterpiece. How appropriate! So nostalgically no more Bettina, welcome Fidelio.

We aim to make a wine this year with the grape 'Fidelio' the old boy would have drunk with pleasure.

 

 

 

Passport data

 PDF Document

Prime name	FIDELIO
Color of berry skin	BLANC
Variety number VIVC	20695
Country or region of origin of the variety	GERMANY
Species	VITIS VINIFERA LINNÉ SUBSP. SATIVA (DE CANDOLLE) HEGI
Pedigree as given by breeder/bibliography	EHRENBREITSTEINER X FR 52-64
Pedigree confirmed by markers
Full pedigree	YES
Prime name of parent 1	EHRENBREITSTEINER
Prime name of parent 2	FREIBURG 52- 64
Parent - offspring relationship
Offspring
Breeder	Becker, Helmut
Breeder institute code	DEU454
Breeder contact address	Hochschule Geisenheim University Institut für Rebenzüchtung
Year of crossing	1981
Year of selection
Year of protection	2021
Formation of seeds	COMPLETE
Sex of flowers
Taste	NONE
Chlorotype
Photos of the cultivar
SSR-marker data
Loci for resistance
Degree of resistance
Loci of traits
Table of accession names	YES
Table of area
Registered in the European Catalogue

Links to:
Bibliography Remarks to prime names and institute codes

Synonyms: 2
GEISENHEIM 8107-3 GM 8107-3

Holding institutions (institute codes): 1
DEU454

Utilization
WINE GRAPE

Alsace new varieties?

 

Appearing in 'Vitisphere' newsletter this morning:

Alsace wants to test 16 new grape varieties: chenin, malbec, syrah, vermentino...

The general meeting of the Association of Winegrowers of Alsace (Ava) on July 20 in Colmar gave the green light to the acquisition of technical references with grape varieties capable of helping the vineyard to adapt to climate change and to limit treatments.

By Christophe Reibel On July 23, 2023 in 'Vitisphere'

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Yvan Engel and Christian Kohser. "With the VIFA procedure and the Alsavine program, the Alsatian vineyard intends to acquire resistant grape varieties that are better adapted to climate change". - photo credit: Christophe Rebeil

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As of this autumn, Alsace will initiate the VIFA procedure (varieties of interest for adaptation purposes) with the National Institute of Origin and Quality (Inao). The Association of Winegrowers of Alsace (Ava) created its VIFA commission at the end of 2022. This selected ten white grape varieties (chenin, floréal, johanniter, petit manseng, opalor, petit courbu, selenor, souvignier gris, vermentino and voltis) and six reds (calabrese/nero d'avola, colliris, malbec/côt, nebbiolo, sirano and syrah) in selecting them on their resistance to diseases, their time of maturity, their ease of management, the acid structure of the wines (but not according to the emblematic appearance of certain varieties in wine-growing areas, which could have consequences: see box).

For grape varieties resistant to mildew and powdery mildew, “many winegrowers are struggling to manage rows of vines close to homes. In these situations, they quickly need the solution for experimenting with resistant grape varieties that will allow them to respect the Non-Treatment Zones (ZNT) and produce without losing the appellation” explains Christian Kohser, in charge of the VIFA file at Ava . “This response comes in support of the Alsavine program which aims to select new varieties with polygenic resistances to Riesling and Gewurztraminer typicity. We can also re-study the behavior of clones deemed too acidic and/or too late in the past.” adds Yvan Engel, president of the Ava technical commission. The acquisition of references in the different types of soil is planned over a period of ten years. In the room, Pierre Gassmann, independent winegrower in Rorschwihr, regretted that the old Alsatian grape varieties like the knipperlé were not considered worthy of being part of the varieties selected. “We had to act quickly” explained Christian Kohser…

The vintage still has great potential

The meeting also approved the filing of a dossier for an innovation evaluation device (DEI) concerning the management of weeds on the cavaillon using permeable biodegradable mulch. A ten-year follow-up is planned. The profession is finally working on the constitution, probably in 2024, of a network of plots whose water profile will be monitored over ten years in order to specify the methods of (possible) irrigation of the vines.

Water, precisely, remains a crucial element to realize the great potential of the 2023 vintage on the 15,529 hectares of the Alsatian vineyard. The forecast relates to 991,00 hl against 849,00 hl actually produced in 2022. But to reach this level, it would still take a good thirty millimeters in August, according to several winegrowers present in Colmar. As for the yields authorized in the Alsace appellation, the vineyard generally remains on values between 55 (gewurztraminer), 65, 70 and 75 hl/ha depending on the grape variety. The crémant grapes increase to 80 hl/ha. These different levels are matched with a VCI of 10 hl/ha. The CRINAO meeting on August 22 will decide on the opening dates for the harvest.

Note: Inao (Institut National de l'Origine et de la Qualite) is the French institute which controls the delineation of appellations and what may be planted in them. It is also active since 1970 for the development of new and resistant varieties, active since 1970. These include Floreal and Voltis (white) and Artaban and Vidoc (red). They also produce recommended clones of many 'classic' varieties.

Mas del Périé vieux cepages conservatoires.

 

At the Fabien Jouve place, Mas del Périé (Cahors) they say Malbec is king but they also have famously Jurancon Noir ('You fuck my wine') and mention the following in their literature;

Cahours, Negral, Baral, Pissaire, Magdeleine Noir, Merille, Grand Noir de la Calmette, Gibert, Malpe, Valdiguié, Noual

These are planted in 'plusiers parcelles de vieux cepages conservatoires'... only Gibert, Valdiguié, Noual have been used in their wines so far but we live in hope.

New INRA/JKI varieties susceptible to drought.

Floreal

 

The new grape varieties Floreal, Voltis Vidoc and Artaban have been obtained by crossing something called Muscadina Rotundifolia with Villaris in the case of the first two to produce white grapes and with Regent to produce the latter two. the Julius Kuehn Institute gets mentioned because Regent is one of their grape varieties.

Now it seems these new varieties have hit the buffers as far as global warming is concerned. 50 days without water is enough to kill Floréal. You would need 150 for Pinot Noir, Merlot, or Cabernet Sauvignon.

Floréal is the most sensitive, followed by Vidoc and Voltis. Artaban comes off better » Sylvain Delzon maintained in the most recent lecture at 'Vendanges du Savoir' at the Cité du vin de Bordeaux on December 8th last.

Also, the vine is the only species that can store moisture in the wood if we have understood the following properly:

'la vigne est de plus en plus résistante à l’embolie au fur et à mesure de l’avancée de la saison du fait de la lignification de ses vaisseaux. « Un phénomène jamais observé sur d’autres espèces ».' (Delzon).

(the vine is increasingly resistant to embolism (gas bubble preventing hydration) as the season progresses due to the lignification of its vessels. “A phenomenon never observed on other species”).

Lignification;

'Lignification is the technical name for a stem becoming woody—brown, dry, and hard as opposed to green, sappy, and pliable.'

Fred Swan, GuildSom 28.6.17

Fred adds 

'Despite thousands of years of winemaking history, we’re still refining our understanding of the myriad factors leading any given wine to taste and feel as it does. Arguably, no other consumer product has such variety or involves so many minute, often inscrutable, factors. A wine’s personality is influenced by geology, microbiology, chemistry, plant and human physiology, agronomy, entomology, geography, weather, and more.'

Something to think about on cold winter evenings when you sip your vino da meditazione.....

Slotovino Awards 2022

 

It is December 31st and the Slotovino Awards are upon us once again. 

 

The scene is set.

Categories and winners, 2022;

Wine Personality of the year: Fra. Rino Sgarbossa

Best Sparkling Wine: Mariotti Abbatia (Fortana)

Best White: Telti-Kuruk Grande reserve, Shabo Wine Company, Odesa Province, Ukraine
Best Red: Conti Capponi, Villa Calcinaia Mammolo
Best English White: Ashdown Chasselas
Best English Red: Halfpenny Green, Penny Red Pinot Noir/Rondo/Regent
Best Show/Wine Festival: The Vineyard and Winery Show
Biggest Surprise: Bardolino Novello
Best Vine Nursery/Nurseries: Pepinieres Guillaume and Rebschule Freytag
Best PIWI discovery: Rinot
Best New Winemerchant: Alzbeta Novotna, Wines of Bohemia
Best Winemerchant: Hedonism
Best restaurant Winelist: Brawn
Predictions for 2023: Sparkling Tea
Worst Duty Free shop: All
Best wine supplies shop: G.M. Luico Enologia, Genova
Special Award for the re-estalishment of endangered grape variety/Varieties: Joszef Szentesi
Book: Which Winegrape Varieties are grown where?: Kym Anderson and Signe Nelgen
Indispensible Website 2022: Wein.Plus
Various accolades and thanks to...

 

Wine Personality of the year 

Fratello Rino Sgarbossa of the Frati Francescani Minori di San Francesco della Vigna, Venice.

 

Fra. Rino Sgarbossa is our Wine Personality of the year. This award may be surprising. 

 

The most surprised would be Fra. Rino himself because his main job at San Francesco della Vigna in Venice is Director of the Biblioteca San Francesco della Vigna, perhaps the oldest and largest in Venice with over 200,000 books dating back to the 14th century. 

Fra. Rino took us on a tour of the vineyard and library together with a group of Dutch historians. He protested that the vineyard was managed by others who had re-planted mostly with Glera and would be selling the wine when it was ready and that he disn't know much else.

In fact we think he was following Saint Francis's rule;

'I frati siano pacifici e modesti, mansueti e umili' (Let the friars be peaceful and modest, meek and humble')

because he knew a great deal about the vineyard's history, the effects of the soil flooding with briney water at aqua alta, the grafting and irrigation that had taken place and so forth. For the record the plantings had previously included Raboso, Marzemino, Malvasia and Verduzzo. This made sense because until recent incursions of intermnational varieties and Pinot Grigio, Raboso and Verduzzo had been the Venetians preferred wine grapes. Even earlier, Teroldego and Refosco had been mentioned.

In general, winegrowers andthe people around wine have in our experience and until now been lovely people. Fra. Rino is as kind and dear of this group of people and so may serve as an exemplar. It is for this that we would like to award him Wine Personality of the year, not that he would accept, we are sure.

Best Sparkling wine

Mariotti Abbatia Fortana

As we have reported in this Blog;

 

The good news: This is an amazing tasty, aromatic discovery. 

The bad news: In short supply. Very difficult to get hold of but worth the effort.

Fortana is a red grape from Emilia Romagna producing in our experience unexceptional red wine but when 'vinificato in bianco' as here is fantastic.

Best White

Telti-Kuruk Grande Reserve, Shabo Wine Company, Odesa Povince, Ukraine.

Our Slotovino Awards 2022 are here. We didn't post between March and November but that didn't mean we paused our researches. We were busy emerging from the pandemic so posting took place all at once when we had time. In fact our 26 posts for this year are exactly double those of 2021.

In the wider world the news has been of the terrible war in Ukraine but before we are accused of mounting our own special operation in favour of Ukranian wine, let us deny any bias when we award a Ukranian grape, Telti-Kuruk the discovery of the year.

 

 

In general, discoveries of 2022 have been more numerous in white wines as you will see. Telti-Kuruk came as a bolt from the blue. It is a fabulous variety. we set about trying to import a case but unsurprisingly there were difficulties. At present no shipping companies are operating from Ukraine. However, goods are getting through. After contacting a winemerchant in Kiiv and Drinks+, the Ukrainian wine organisation we finally made contact with the maker of this particular bottle, Shabo. 

Shabo has managed to send wine by the pallet to the UK which is an astounding and heartwarming achievement. Pallets go via Poland and cost E.2,400 a time.They might be able to add a case for us in their next shipment. 

After some headscratching we had an inspiration and checked with Hedonism whether they had any wines from this grape and indeed they had. Hedonism was founded in 2012 by Evgeny Chichvarkin who owns it still. He lives inLondon and is a critic of Vladimir Putin. Hedonism no longer sells wine from Russia but offer Ukranian wines instead.

Beykush Winery is the maker of Hedonism's Telti-Kuruk. Beykush was founded in 2010 and is situated near Odesa. 

We thought we had seen an entry on Telti-Kuruk (aka Telti-Kyryk) in 'Wine Grapes' but that must have been wishful thinking.

We have been turning increasingly to 'Wein Plus' recently. They really are a terrific source of information. On Telti-Kuruk they have the following entry;

'The white grape variety originates from Armenia. Synonyms are Telti Kourouk, Telti Kuruk, Tilki Kuyrugu and Tilky Rairuk. The parentage is unknown. The vine is used as a wine grape and table grape.  It is cultivated in the Ukraine. In 2010, 246 hectares were still reported, but in 2016 no more stock was reported (Kym Anderson).'

Is it possible the 246 ha of 2010 have been dug up? We hope not.

Best red

Conti Capponi Villa Calcinaia Mammolo.

 

 

We first bought this in 2020, together with Villa Calcinaia's Sanforte and Occhiorosso. We presented these last two at the Athenaeum tasting last November listing them as follows;

Villa Calcinaia Occhiorosso. Rosso dei Colli della Toscana Centrale I.G.T. Italy. 2018. 13.5%

“Roberto...Bandinelli discovered the variety while talking one day to Nunziata Grassi, an 85 year old who took him around her vineyards and showed him Occhiorosso… The minute Bandinelli showed me what to look for in an Occhiorosso grapevine I was immediately able to recognise it without fail in any other vineyard I visited that day with him.”

Ian D’Agata, Native Wine Grapes of Italy.

Purple Pages gave this 16.5 and mentioned its 'charming personality,'

Villa Calcinaia, Sanforte. Rosso dei Colli della Toscana Centrale I.G.T. Italy. 2018. 13.5%

Sanforte is listed separately from Sangiovese in Ian D’Agata’s authoritative ‘Native Wine Grapes of Italy. He tells us that he name is a contraction of Sangiovese Forte but everything about the variety differs from Sangiovese; it is more fertile, produces more bunches, ripens earlier, piles up sugar in its berries more notably and makes a more massive wine, yet one that retains elegance. Villa Calcinaia is the only winery making a monovarietal from this grape.

Jancis Robinson gave this a score of 17 and found it 'really interesting,'

To be truly honest* these were nice wines but to our taste not as distinctive as we had hoped they would be\

The Mammolo on the other hand was truly and honestly individual. The Athenaeum tasting had been for varieties made by one producer only so we were never going to include our Mammolo in that category, hence its earlier consumption. 

Mammolo turns out to be the same as Sciaccarello which is strange because our previous experience of Schiaccarello had been quite different. This may be because according to D'Agata, Corsican Sciaccarello or Sciaccarellu is usually blended with 30% Cabernet Sauvignon.

*The expression 'Truly honest' was first heard from an American lad at Riomaggiore in the Cinque Terre this year and thinking of the Trump years in America, it seemed that merely 'honest' might now denote something that could be f;exible in meaning and that if you want to be honest you now have to qualify the term with the adj. 'truly.' The context of the lad's employment of the term was 'If I'm truly honest I don't want to climb up all those stairs.'

Footnote

Attempting to buy a couple of bottles of Villa Calcimaia's Mammolo last summer we slid off a dirt track, landed with two wheels in a ditch and had to be pulled out. That provided the entertainment for the rest of the afternoon but not the bottles we wanted, not the visit to the winery we had planned. We imported 6 bottles subsequently and opened one of them with our Xmas turkey. All well that ended well.

Best English White

Ashdown Chasselas

Shortly after making this award, Jancis Robinson wrote a glowing tribute to Chasselas in 'Purple Pages.' There was even the suggestion from Michel Chapoutier that Chasselas planted in the Scilly Isles might be an idea. On the strength of Ashdown's Chasselas (Sussex), this could be a good one.

Best English Red

Halfpenny Green Penny Red Pinot Noir.Rondo/Regent

 

 

Again, if we are truly honest, we haven't tasted many English or Welsh reds this year and there were
fewer reds than whites at the Vineyard and Winery Show. Halfpenny Green was one of several wineries
we had never heard of but which are serious producers even if their wines are available only from the cellar door and a limited number of merchants.

This blend of Pinot Noir, Rondo and Regent seems to be a winner. We enjoyed the wine which is not something one can say about some of the reds to be had in this country.

Best Show/Wine Festival

The Vineyard and Winery Show

Biggest Surprise

Bardolino Novello

We have gone into the 'problem' of Bardolino Novello before. It's always intriguing when something
is so comprehensively reviled by all and sundry. So attempts actually to taste this rarity became a bit of an obsession. We love Bardolino for its charm and unpretentiosness (viz. Valpolicella) and we like nouveau wines having made some ourselves.

While still trying to work out how to get our hands on a bottle of Bardolino Novello an amazing coincidence occurred as happens from time to time. Tam Currin of Purple Pages suddenly discovered this wine and wrote a glowing appreciation of several bottles she had been tasting thanks to the Consorzio di Bardolino Novello.

Writing to the Consorzio to ask where we could buy these wines (Winesracher had not been very helpful), they replied by sending us three bottles as a gift. One of these in particular was memorable and we recommend any naysayer to try it before dismissing Bardolino Novello.

Best Vine Nursery

Pepinieres Guillaume and Rebschule Freytag, joint winners

Vine nurseries are amazing undertakings. The mind boggles at what has to be done to produce
the bare-rooted vines ready for planting. Both Pepinieres Guillaume ad Rebschule Freytag
produce a plethora of varieties. Freytag concentrates more on the PIWI varieties and
Guillaume on the French heritage ones although both have plenty of others on offer.
We also marvel at how cheaply they manage to sell their plants. Consider that for 2 Euros or
thereabouts you can have a plant that will last for decades and produce many bottles of wine.

PS. This award doesn't diminish our admiration for the Vivai Cooperativo di Rauscedo (VCR), the world's biggest vine nursery. We chose Feytag and Guillaume because they came to the Vineyard and Winery Show in Kent this year.

.

Best PIWI discovery

Rinot

 

 

At the Rebschule Freytag stand at the 2022 Vineyard and Winery Show (Detling, near Maidstone in
Kent) there was a bottle of Rinot on tasting and we thought this wine was very interesting indeed.
 

Rinot is a Czech cross between Merzling and a combination of Seyve Villard and Pinot Gris. There are
therefore genes from Vitis Vinifera, Vitis Berlandii, Vitis Rupestris and Vitis Linecumii in the DNA.
This is positively the first vine we have encountered with Vitis Linecumii. In fact we've never heard of
that species although without it neither Chambourcin, Vidal Blanc or several other varieties would not exist which would be a pity. 

What a complicated business this vine breeding is but what a miracle that something
as lovely as Rinot can come out of it.

Best new wine merchant

Alzbeta Novotna, Wines of  Bohemia

 

Ms. Novotna is an energetic and well-informed new winemerchant specialising in the wines of Bohemia. We are fortunate that she has chosen to be with us here in the UK and to be bringing us wines of individuality. She is not the only one we have come across this year; NIKI specialising in Serbian wines is another but Wines of Bohemia is more recently established and so receives our accolade as Best New Merchant.
.

Best wine merchant

Hedonism

 

 

 

Hedonism is the super posh winemerchant in the heart of Mayfair, London.
Founded by a Russian oligarch, Evgeny Chichvarkin apparently because he was surprised there was
nowhere in the city you could buy a case of Petrus at short notice for those impromptu
dinners you might want to throw if a fellow oligarch happened to drop in.

OK that may be exaggerating but it was apparently something along those lines.

We on the Slotovino awards committee have a similar attitude to wine snobism as Nigella Lawson
has to the concept of Fine Dining (makes her want to lie on the floor and weep).
However, Hedonism is not really despicable at all. In fact it is replete with interesting bottles
representative of all sorts of territories at normal prices. Furthermore it has a staff as
numerous as they are knowledgeable and the place is a very pleasant spot for an hour or two of
bottle fondling and education. You can even walk out with something interesting under £20
or that special bottle costing four figures if you happen to have made a killing on financial markets that morning.

Our last purchase there was the Ukranian Telti-Kuruk at around £23 as mentioned above. Any merchant carrying that bottle gets our vote.

Best restaurant winelist

Brawn. 

This Columbia Road so-called 'neighbourhood' restaurant is as they say 'worth crossing London for', not least for the winelist. Originally set up by Les Caves de Pyrene many of the wines may still be obtained from them. The list is too extensive to check but whoever has sourced them and wherever they come from, the result is everything you could wish for, even though some prices are steep. 

 

Just one example, under Whites/Jura, Savoie, Auvergne - a category some restaurants don't even have - 20 wines are listed (including a white Poulsard!) ranging from £50 - £92.

Added to all that, the food and especially the service are exemplary.

Predictions for 2023

Sparkling Tea!

 

Yes, you read it here. Not wine at all, no grapes of whatever variety are involved. So what is it doing
here in the esteemed Slotovino 2022 Awards?

Allow us to explain. Apparently 0% alcohol 'wines' are expected to grow 35% by 2023 according to Wein.Plus. Plenty of winemakers are removing the alcohol from wine by various means but what is left is mostly unsatisfying and it might even be questionable as wine at all. Then there are the beverages using ingredients with only a tenuous connection with wine such as vinegar. Such concoctions tend to taste like, well - vinegar.

When we first saw the words 'Sparkling Tea' we thought the world had finally gone mad. Worse we
imagined this was some kind of excess as imagined by Mrs. Doyle of 'Father Ted.' It is not necessary
to go into the English obsession with tea in this blog. It gets more extreme by the day. We find ourselves siding with the aristocrat described by Bill Bryson as forbidding his family to drink tea. They of course did so secretly but one day he surprised them and threw their cups and teapot out of the window.

So what is the story? Well it takes place in a fantastic restaurant in Mousehole, Cornwall called
2, Fore Street, In keeping with the craze for non-alcoholic drinks there was an enticing list of cocktails
(mocktails) and such to satisfy teetotallers, drivers and those just wanting a healthy life. Among these
drinks was a sparkling tea so we thought 'let's see what this 'connerie' is all about and ordered a shot.
This came out of a Champagne type bottle and was poured into a Champagne flute. All quite impressive and seemly given the cost of the drink.

The colour was rather brown which was not unexpected but the taste was nothing like tea. Apparently tea is only a base for the addition of all sorts of botanicals and flavourings and in this case it was all rather pleasant even if it was rather off-dry. It may not have tasted like wine but it looked like wine and had the  same refreshing effect as some sparkling wines without the alcohol kick of course. It was something to sip rather than gulp down. Definitely not a thirst-quensher.

We are not hooked on Sparkling Tea but we can understand those who could be. So if you imagine this
catching on the sky is the limit. Think of all those who are forbidden alcohol, all those who choose not to imbibe alcohol, young people wanting something special to drink. At last something 'grown up' and
not unsophisticated.

At the moment Sparkling Tea is a luxury item. That is a good way to start off. Prices can come down
but it should maintain its cache.

Worst Airport Duty Free

All - Malaga, Barcelona, Pisa, Marseille, Genova. All as bad as eachother. What's going on?

Best Wine Supplies shop 

G.M. Luico, Enologia, Genova

This is a new category. Normally a wine/beer supplies shop would not interest wine drinkers but everyone needs at least a corkscrew and maybe some gear for preserving wine such as Vacuvin,

possibly a wine thermometer, a decanter and whatnot. We have recently proposed a two handled corker as something reasonably priced that will improve the preservation of wine left-overs without forking out for a Corovin. We're not sure if Luic sells cannisters of Argon gas but we wouldn't be surprised given the fact they appear to stock everything else for the making and drinking of wine, Also paraphernalia to do with beer  and olive oil.

 

Corks? Anyone making wine in the UK as a hobby will tell you it is not possible to buy top quality corks in the UK. They are available only in large quantities - multiples of 1,000 or more. Corks are 

important so when in Italy, we researched the problem and that is what led us to Luico Salita San Caterina 17r, Genova.

Founded in 1855, this little shop is a protected establishment (Impresa Storica D'Italia) in the heart of Genova right next to the Teatro Carlo Felice (opera house). The words, Cornucopia, Aladdin's Cave, Temple of wine supplies give an inkling of what goes on inside. 

 

 

 

The words Fabbrica di Turaccili lavorati a coltello mean 'makers of cork stoppers made by knife.' Luico used to make their own corks from cork trees in Finalmarina but the process is mechanised now, Clients of the shop included Garibaldi who spent his last years in Genova and a famous set designer Gilberto Govi who apprently used cork in his productions.

Corks are available in different sizes and 3 different qualities at between about E.1 and E.2 each.
We also bought some yeasts for re-starting stuck fermentations and so on. Rosanna Luico presided over
all this stuff and was a mine of information and good advice. 

 

Carlo Luico and his daughter Rosanna, direct descendents of the founders in 1855.

 

 

 

 

Especially cute was the Biodynamic table of when was best to cork wine according to the phases of the moon. 

Special award for the re-establishment of an endangered variety/varieties

Joszef Szentesi.

As a child, József Szentesi showed little interest in working in his father’s 1ha vineyard in Budaörs, 10km from Budapest. But, in 1998, he decided to make his own wine, training himself and gaining inspiration from winemakers in Burgundy. Currently, he manages 16ha on the slopes of Lake Velencei, 50km from Hungary’s capital, at an altitude of 175m. He grows 30 different grape varieties – including 20 that are extremely rare.

"I also have traditional varieties, Pinot Noir, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Kadarka from the reds; Riesling, Zengő, Sauvignon Blanc, some Furmint and Kéknyelű from the whites. In an old publication written in 1880, I read about the ancient first-, second-, and third-class grape varieties. I was surprised that I hadn't even heard about many of the first-class ones. I have chosen 10 red and 10 white varieties; I purchased the rooted grafts from the Winery Research Faculty of University of Pécs, and Dr Pál Kozma (grape breeder) helped with the grafting on. In 2001, I read an article about ‘Buda Red’ wine, which is a blend from Kadarka and Csókaszőlő grapes that was one of the most important export commodities of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. I decided that I wanted to make this wine. In 2003, we grafted 300 grapevines of Csókaszőlő (below), from which I made 40 litres of wine in 2004. In 2005, Hungarian winemakers visited me and were fascinated by the wine, because since 130 years no one made wine from this variety. Some of them also took grafts, for example, Vylyan winery from Villány. 

The reds are Tihanyi Kék, Tarcali Kék, Csókaszőlő, Kékbajor, Feketefájú Bajor, Hajnos Kék, Kékszilváni, Purcsin, Laska, Feketemuskotály. The whites are Szerémi Zöld, Balafánt, Kovácsi, Kolontár, Lisztes, Fehér Gohér, Hamvas, Sárfehér, Vörösdinka, Piros Bakator. I see a big potential in the reds, because only Kékfrankos (Blaufrankisch) and Kadarka have survived the phylloxera plague from the native red grape varieties. From eight of the reds I already made wine several times, and this year I’ll make from Purcsin and Kékszilváni. From the whites, I see potential in Szerémi Zöld. In addition, I make a blend of Lisztes Fehér and Zöldszilváni. 

How wonderful is that?

 

Most interesting wine trend

New resistant and hardy grape varieties for classic apellations.

Book

Which Winegrape Varieties are grown where? by Kym Anderson and Signe Nelgen.

This is by no means a new publication although it has been updated. Of course the data is changing all the time but coming to it late in the day doesn't change its fascination. The book is quoted frequently but we are ashamed to say we hadn't taken a look at it until now. You can buy it at over £45 but if you are not in the mood to do that, you can download the 2013 or 2016 edition free of charge.

Kym Anderson re-defines the concept of Renaissance Man and measures of industry, breadth of interest and productivity.  According to Wikipedia he is an economist specialising in trade policy and issues relating to the World Trade Organisation.

Studies;

University of New England

University of Adelaide

University of Chicago

Stanford University

Teaching;

Australian Defence College

Australian National University

Peking University

University of Siena

University of Sydney

Uppsala University

World Trade Institute

Swiss universities of Bern, Fribourg and Neuchatel

Georgetown University Law School

Periods of leave at

International Economics Institute and Rural Economics Institutes of Korea

Visiting Fellow, Ford Foundation

Visiting Fellow, Australian department of Trade

Institute for International Economic Studies, Stockholm

GATT (now WTO) Secretariat, Geneva

Research Group of the World Bank, Wasj=hington DC.

Positions

Research Fellow, Centre for Economic Policy Research, London

Fellow, Australian Academy of Social Sciences, Australia

Fellow, American Agricultural and Applied Economics Association,

Distinguished Fellow (and former President) of the Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society

Fellow (and Vice President) of the American Association of Wine Economists

Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

International journals' editorial board;
Journal of International Economics Law

Journal of Wine Economics

and others.

He has published around 40 books and more than 900 journal articles and chapters in other books. 

Eminence personified. -

Our award for 'Which Winegrape Varieties are grown where?' is given for its mighty snapshot of statistics relating to just that: charts from 53 named counries (including unexpected places such as Myanmar and Norway) and 'Rest of World' comprising 9 countries showing 

Total Grapevine Area Hervested

Share of World Grapevine Area Harvested

Total Winegrape Area

Share of World Winegrape Area

Share of Wine-Grapes in Total Grapevine Area (%)

Share of National Agricultural Crop Area under Grapevine

Grape Yield (tonnes per ha.)

Total Grape Production (Kt)

Share of World Grape Production (%)

We were especially amused by this chart showing UK Triomphe D'Alsace as top of the Varietal Intensity Index relative to the world in 2010.

A dubious honour.

Indispensible website 2022

Wein.Plus

There are many good websites you need to research wine. Purple Pages, Winesearcher are
two of the indispensible ones. To these we would like to add Wein.Plus which has been going
since 1998. It bills itself as the Wine Platform for Wine Lovers. It has an indispensible
Lexicon which it says is the largest wine encyclopedia in the world with 26,013 entries. It is especially good on grape varieties.

There are pages on Producers, Regions, Wine Basics, Find and Buy, plus Reviews, News, a
Business Directory and 'Events,' but you probably know all that.

Why did it take us so long to join up (free) and add Wein.Plus to our arsenal?

Various accolades and thanks to

Rosanna Luic, Hannah Tovey, Oleksandra Hryhorieva, Viktoria Palinkash, Irina Diachenkova
Valentina Parsaieva, Giorgi Iukuridze, Bill - digger, Francesco D'Affano, Francesco Visentin, Marta Poian, Paola Balli, Martina Olivo, Daniela Shahab, Baptiste Ducassou, Manuel Casagrande, Martin Distl, Paolo Addis, Elisabetta Barberis, Angelo Peretti, Alessandra Zambonin, Sam Doncaster, Volker Freytag, Alzbeta Novotna, Justin Howard-Sneyd MW, Andrew Jefford, Massimo Grasso, Emilia Holman, Elena Moreno, Emanuela Cattaneo, Elvira Ackermann, Tamas Koerner, Christian Gelbe-Haussen,