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| Haridimos Hatzidakis |
What a difference a year can make. It was a shocking surprise to hear of the death of Haridimos Hatzidakis in August 2017. He was a pioneer of Assyrtiko on Santorini who brought this grape to the world's attention. He was a tremendously successful vigneron who brough a life-affirming quality to all those who drank his wines. How tragic then for him to take his own life and at the summit of his powers.
Life goes on though but we would like to remember Mr. Hatzidakis while celebrating our awards to those who made outstanding contributions to the world of wine in 2016/17 - and some who could try harder.
Valentin Blattner
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| Tino Blattner |
Julia Harding MW asks if all the work involved in obtaining hybrids that will produce wine in marginal areas is worth it. Why attempt to create new regions for vinegrowing when the results can never be as good as in existing ones? She quotes Dr. Jose Vouillarmoz as saying "I have almost never tasted a hybrid-based wine that was close to interesting, barring some rare exceptions (such as Didier Joris's Divico that I tasted recently). That said, I'd be happy to change my mind. But for the moment I think we should make a different category of PiWis and not call it wine."
Mark Chien, Programme Co-ordinater at Oregon State University and winegrower argues that there is an excitement in such ventures "creating a sensation of new flavours and styles of wine using grape varieties that would shock and confuse Old World adherants." To be fair he also says "As a wine consumer nothing gets me more excited than a fine wine from the Old World. As a viticulturalist there is nothing quite like the process of discovering a new wine region."
Missing from this debate is Valentin Blattner's own point of view which we think so important.
His vision is "to breed new grape varieties for a changing world, vines that would not require the usual spraying for fungal diseases that most popular grapes need. Of course these new vines needed to produce wines that are both unique yet reminiscent of traditional wine flavours."
The changing world includes bans on chemicals once thought safe such as Copper Sulphate (in Italy), and Systhane. Even Glyphosate (Round Up) has come under suspicion. It is not often mentioned that organic viticulture requires a great deal more labour which many producers are not able to afford.
Blattner's aim with his hybrids bred from the likes of Cabernet Sauvignon, Viognier etc. with so-called 'Resistenzpartner' is the 20:20 vineyard meaning 20 tonnes of grapes from 20 hours' labour per hectare per year with no sprays. Stephen Skelton MW writes (in 'Wine growing in Grest Britain') "In early September 2013 I visited his '20:20' vineyard...near Beziers... This vineyard receives no pesticide applications, is machine pruned, irrigated with sub-soil irrigation, machine harvested and while perhaps not quite 20-tonnes per hectare, crops very well and produces very acceptable wine."
It is early days. The great wines of the world are the result of centuries of evolution. If Jose Vouillamoz likes wine made from Divico (which strangely isn't listed in 'Wine Grapes' which he co-authored with Jancis Robinson and Julia Harding) then there is hope for hybrids and Valentin Blattner offers perhaps the most promising approach for the future.
Slotovino has had some excellent hybrid wines by the way. Maybe not to be compared with the most sublime emanations of Burgundy or Bordeaux but valid in their way.
L'Acadie Blanc
Cabernet Cortis
Cabernet Jura
Chambourcin
La Crescent
Johanniter
Kerner
Kernling
Orion
Ortega
Regent
Seyval Blanc
Solaris
Vidal
Vignoles
15/16 Henri Galinié
14/15 Pierpaolo Lorieri,of Podere Scurtarola
13/14 Rafa Lopez, Bodegas Lopez Diaz-Alejo
12/13 Oszkar Maurer
11/12 Paul Draper, Ridge
10/11 Pravis, Trentino
09/10 Alan Wallace Bruzzo, Colli berici
08/09 Francisco Figuereido, Colares
Red wine of the year;
Punta Crena Cruvin
This wine conforms to all our criteria for a wine of the year.
Only Punta Crena make a wine with this grape in purezza
The grape is called Cruvin. It is unrelated to Corvina, Corbina, Corvinone etc. It is more generally known as Crovina. It is unique.
Quite widespread in Liguria at one time it is now made only by the Punta Crena estate without whom it may have been heading for extinction.
It is also distictive and delicious.
15/16 Lajos Gal Menoire
14/15Palazzo Tronconi Zitore (Lecinaro)
13/14 Vedernikov Vineyards Krasnostop Zolotovsky
12/13 Forlorn Hope Suspiro del Moro Alverelhao
11/12 Ribeyrenc
10/11 Casetta
09/10 Tocai Rosso
08/08 Vernaccia Nera
Sparkling Red
Gragnano, Penisola Sorrentino
New wine, new category.
Gragnano is famous for pasta of course and this is a perfect accompaniment to various pastas and pizzas. The blend is Aglianico, Piedirosso and Sciascinoso. It makes a nice change from the various Lambuscos. Italy has such unknown specialities in almost every corner. It is such a joy to seek them out. This is one of them. Try it, it's not expensive.
White wine of the year;
Olivier Lemasson's L'Indigene (Menu Pineau, Baco Blanc, Gaillard, Meslier St. Francois).
There is a refrain to a popular song which goes
"On dirait que ça te gêne de marcher dans la boue
On dirait que ça te gêne de dîner avec nous"
We think that's behind this clever title, 'Indigene.' No doubt the obscure grapes are indeed indiginous to the Loire et Cher to which the song also refers.
We bought this bottle from the lovely Jeanne Galinie of Versant Vins in the Marche aux enfants rouges in Paris in 2016 but only after promising to lay it down for 6 months. Jeanne said she would not have been happy for us to drink it before that. Of course we obeyed Jeanne and naturally it was with trepidation that we opened the bottle a god six months later.
Eithe Jeanne should not have worried or she was spot-on concerning the 'vieillissement' because the wine was sensational even if in a Marmite sort of way. For those maybe reading this blog on Bora Bora or Heilongjiang, Marmite is a British spread made from yeast extract which you wither love or hate. We loved it and hope this combination of grapes becomes a classic.
It may not conform to people's definitions of what wine should taste like but we think that's a good thing. Give it a try and be prepared to widen your horizons.
15/16 Dierdre Heekin 'La Garagiste' Vinu Jancu (La Crescent), Vermont.
14/15 Brintziki Estate Tinaktorogos
13/14 Salena Estate Ink Series Bianco d'Alessano
12/13 Minutolo
11/12 Malvasia10/11 Kerner
09/10 Torrontes
08/09 Vilana
Sparkling White
Cleto Chiarli Moden Blanc Pignoletto (Grechetto Gentile)
At an amazing event this year we were introduced to 100 Pignolettos and learned that this was now a geographical area and the grape formerly known as Pignoletto was called Grechetto Gentile. We also learned that Pignoletto was far more flexible than Prosecco (there are still and sweet ones as well as Frizzanti and Spumanti) and that Prosecco might have to go hang, so much better were most of the Pignolettos.
In fact it's already happening. These photos were taken in a branch of the Coop in Venice. There were 6 of them. And remember, Venice is Prosecco country.
Of the dry sparkling Pignolettos at the London event, our favourite was Cleto Chiarli's Moden Blanc. Cleto Chiarli make many different Pignolettos of which we prefer this one.
Rosé wine of the year
Recanati, Gris de Marselan
Looking back we grievously neglected rose wines and almost didn't (couldn't) make an award this year but the Recanati Gris de Marselan we tasted at Wein Plus had plenty of character as well as being original.
15/16 Bodegas Schatz, Ronda (Malaga) 'Z'
13/14 Lopez Diaz Araujo Royal
12/13 Rien que du fruit, Ganevat
11/12 Grisard Rose de Mondeuse
10/11 Strohmeier Blaue Wildbacher
09/10 Ackerman Sparkling Cabernet Franc
08/09 Vitkin Israeli Journey.
Amorgion Chrisefenios (Savatiano)
This was the hit of our holiday on the Greek island of Amorgos. Unsure at first, people kept comimg back for more and we had to buy another bottle. That's how you can tell if somethinG has merit or not.
15/16 Paul Reder, 'Le Gris', Aramon Gris, Languedoc.
Light Red wine of the year
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| Domaine de L'Oriel people: the Weinzorns. |
Domaine de l'Oriel Pinot Noir D'Alsace
We discovered this wine at the Salon des Vignerons Independants in Paris in November 2016 and bought a bottle on the spot. It was not until the following summer that we served it making the mistake of chilling it. This deprived it of its delicate and etherial flavours so it was not until it had regained room temperature that we could appreciate its many vitues as a red of the lightest kind.
15/16 Domaine Gauletteries Pineau D'Aunis (80%), Gamay (10%) and Cabernet Franc (10%).
14/15 Haut Planty Abouriou (12%)
13/14 Gourdon Chenin Noir (Pineau d'Aunis), Loir
12/13 Bedell First Crush
10/11 Thierry Navarre: Les Oeillades
Special award for the re-establishment of an endangered variety;
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| Pocol and Piculit Neri |
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| Cordenossa |
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| Fumo Rosso |
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| Blanc di Sanzuan - Cividin |
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| Forgiarin |
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| Piculit Neri |
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| Sciaglin (out of focus but true) |
Emilio Bulfon
It's amazing that we could have given this award four times alreadt without thinking of Emilio Bulfon. Few could have done more to re-establish so many endangered varieties - all interesting. They come from his area in Venezia-Friuli-Giulia. The list includes
Cividin
Cjanorie
Cordenossa
Forgiarin
Fumo Rosso
Moscato Rosa
Picolit Neri
Pocol
Sciaglin
Ucelut
15/16 Domaine Grisard, Jean-Pierre and Marie-Jo Grisard
14/15 Fabio Bartolomei of Vinos Ambiz, Sierra de Gredos west of Madrid. Grapes he is using include Dore and Malvar
13/14 Ognibene family, Negrettino
12/13 Longanese Uva Longanese and La Sabbiona Savignon Rosso
UK Winemerchant of the Year (London);
Winesensations
15/16 Bottle Apostle
14/15 Park and Bridge
13/14 The Sampler
12/13 259 Hackney Road
11/12 Highbury Vintners
10/11 Troubadour Wines
09/10 Artisan and Vine + Bertrand and Nicholas
08/09 Caves de Pyrene + Zelas
Winemerchant of the Year (rest of UK);
15/16 House of Townend
14/15 N/A
13/14 The Good Wine Shop, Kew
2/13 n/a
0/11 Hendersons, Edinburgh
Winemerchant of the Year (rest of world)
Grau
Grau is near Girona (Catalunya) but covers all Spanish and many foreign regions. Word has it that they are moving further into the vast building where they are at present, no doubt increasing their range and stock. We has some very good bottles from there which sell out at present only too quickly.
One of these was a Mando from Celler Abadal.
15/16 Enoteca Trimani, Roma
14/15 Barolo, Madrid
13/14 Chapitra 20, Paris
12/13 La Cartuja, Marbella
11/12 Ricerca Vini, Milano
10/11 Chambers St., NY
09/10 Caves des Pupilles, Paris + Auge, Paris
08/09 Astor Wines, New York + Per Bacco, Milan
Best UK Supermarket;
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| Lidl's Wembley branch on Blackbird Hill where the magic happens |
Lidl
At different times we have come across these outstanding wines from the Jura. You have to keep an eye on these meteors as they flash through and it is best to go to one of the larger stores as the smaller ones won't stock them. We found that the one on Blackbird Hill, Wembley has stock where others don't.
14/15 N/A
13/14 Tesco
12/13 Sainsbury's
11/12 Marks and Spencer
10/11 n/a
09/10 Whole Foods
08/09 n/a
Tannico
Tannico isn't an importer in the sense of being UK based and bringing wines into the country, it is more an Italian online merchant with an eye on the British market; an exporter really.
The effect comes to the same thing. For a price, Tannico will sell you a vast range principally of Italian wines not available in this country.
Croatina is surprisingly difficult to find in the UK. Tannico has two, and a dozen Bonardas which is the same thing.
15/16 Winemakers Club
Worst Airport Duty Free
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| Perugia airport at peak time |
Perugia
Is there a Duty Free? We went through Perugia Airport but can't remember one. Admittedly Sant Egidio is a small airport with hardly any flights but they could do a great deal better shopping-wise. Apart from that it's a dream.
15/16 Dresden (DRS)
14/15 US Airports
13/14 Hong Kong
12/13 Malpensa
11/12 Vasteras
10/11 Lyon
09/10 Berlin Tegel
Best Airport Duty Free;
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| 2010 stand 'Vini nuovi Tai' |
Venice, Aeroporto Marco Polo
Time was VCE had not only a fantastic choice of places to buy Duty Free wine but in 2010 even an installation promoting that rather obscure (but lovely) type of wine,Tai Rosso for which we gave the airport an award.
Things have gone the way of all airport duty frees now. There is no promotion for anything and the cafe with the amazing retail selection will now only sell you what's on he winelist. There is a Bottega dei Sapori which is not bad but not much else apart from a standardised Aolia Duty Free.
Nevertheless in this world of increasing dumbing-down, the airport at Venice is still better than most so we are please to give it the Slotovino award 2016/17.
15/16 Dresden (DRS)
14/15 Porto
13/14 Hungaricum, Budapest Ferihegy Airport
12/13 n/a
11/12 Genova
10/11 Vino Volo (various US airports)
09/10 Malaga
08/09 Vienna
Most surprising wine discovery;
Zara Armenian wine
Zaruhi Murdadyan is a graduate of UC Davis and Armenian Female Entrepreneur of the year. Even so nothing had prepared us for the impact of her magnificent wines.
Our experience of Armenian wine had previously been limited to a bottle of Areni from Karasi. A very nice wine if expensive and lacking any truly memorable quality for our taste. Armenian wine was out in strength at Wein Plus in Duesseldorf in March 2017. Our visit to the Armenia section came at the end of a long day's tasting but even so the impact was rather amazing. A real eye-opener especially the wines from Zara.
Armenia was slated for brandy production under Stalin who designated his native Georgia for table wine. That may explain why Armenia has rather a lot of strange hybrids and crosses even though there is a large number of indigenous varieties, mostly untapped.
As well as Saperavi Zara makes wines from
Akhtanak (aka Haghtanak) is a cross between Sorok Lyet Oktyabrya with Saperavi in which Sorok Lyet Oktyabryais a Kopchak x Alicante Bouschet cross and Kopchak is a Moldovan variety that is no longer cultivated.
Tigrani is a Saperavi x Areni cross.
Charentsi is a complex hybrid on the other hand. Seyanets C.1262 is crossed with Karmrahyut. In case you had forgotton, Seyanets C.1262 is a hybrid between a vine of Vitis Amurensis Ruprecht and Csaba Gyongye. Wine Grapes helpfully reminds us that it is therefore a sibling of Nerkahat.
What is truly amazing is that from this seemingly unpromising material, the wines are sensational with soft mouth-feel and luscious taste.
A most surprising wine discovery.
15/16 Aglianico vinificato in bianco.
14/15 Colli di Candia Alpi Apuani
13/14 Jordanian Wine
12/13 Forlorn Hope Suspiro del Moro Alvarelhao
11/12 Chenancon found at Le Touquet
10/11 Biddenden Dornfelder
Most interesting wine trend;
Mike Roth of Lo-Fi Wines
Kelley Fox
Evan Lewandoski of Ruth
Hank Beckmayer, La Clarine
Scott Frank, Bow and Arrow
Jeff Vejr, Golden Cluster
Martha Stoumen
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| Annedria Beckham |
Ryan Glaab, Ryme Cellars
John House, Ovum Wines
Matthew Rorick, Forlorn Hope
La Garagista, Vermont
New World wines begin to taste Old World.
At the 2017 Real Wine Fair in London, US producers of a non-industrial kind were present in force. Oregon and even Vermont were represented as well as California. The line-up was exceptionally strong (see above).
What struck us in tasing the fascinating wines offered was the fact that not one of them shouted 'New World.' There were no flavours to frighten the most traditional conservative. The wines were just good to excellent, sometimes original but not a fruit bomb in sight.
Can it be that we are just settling down to making good wine wherever it comes from?
15/16 Hipster Somms
14/15 Wine Education. There seems to be an ever increasing demand for wine courses, tutored tastings and so forth.
13/14 15%/16% wines
2/13 Emerging regions
11/12 New bottling materials (including paper)
10/11 Orange Wine
Most pleasant surprise;
From Brotherhood, Hudson Valley NY. The oldest US vineyard in continuous production. The red is from Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc and the white from Sauvignon Blanc and Riesling. Both modest alcohol and price. Both good.
15/16 English and Welsh Reds
14/15 Massaretta/Barsaglina and Pollera
13/14 Glinavos 'Paliokairisio' Sparkling Orange wine, Zitsa, Greece
12/13 n/a
11/12 Bordeaux Clairet
10/11 Alternatives to Prosecco: Passerina, Pignoletto, Spergola
Prediction for the year ahead;
Reduced alcohol wine-based drinks
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| Helen McGinn reviewed these 10 low alcohol 'wines' for The Mail Online. |
They're cheap, low-calorie and suddenly they're everywhere.
A double-take on that occasion may have saved us grief because a wine-based drink isn't wine really. It doesn't always even taste like wine and doesn't attract the same taxes as proper wine. We draw the line there. Low alcohol wine or even de-alcoholised wine a la Torres 'Natura' is OK. Hopefully they will improve the taste one day and make this product better.
Interestingly it is young people who gravitate towards low or de-alcoholised wine. It seems the year ahead will see a great deal more of this, such has been the acceleration in interest.
15/16 Imports from outside Europe may increase and those from Europe decrease.
14/15 Sadly ever more internet outlets will fail to remove out of stock wines from their websites and be recalcitrant in replacing or refunding faulty bottles.
13/14 Greece will have its day
2/13 Supermarkest to play safe while independents press ahead and prosper
11/12 The Chinese will buy up ever more producers
10/11 Fine Wine bubble will burst
09/10 Ever more branding
08/09 Lower alcohol
Best Restaurant winelist;
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| Long Gully Road Ancient Vine Semillon is one we had never seen before. |
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| Any wine list including this beauty gets our immediate attention |
Portland
Portland,
113 Great Portland Street, London W1W 6QQ
Xarel-lo/Xarel-lo Vermell/Macabeu/Malvasia de Sitges (Autocton Celler 'Autocton' Catalunya)
Moscato de Alejandria/Merseguera - Orange Wine fermented in clay pots (Navarro'Benemaquia' Alicante
Cinsault/Carignan/Syrah/Pais/Malbec (Clos des fous 'Pour ma gueule', Maule)
Caino/Brancellao/Ferrol (Luis RodriguezVasquez 'Escolma' Ribeiro)
The owner of Portland is Will Lander whose mother is Jancis Robinson but the winelist is his selection and no doubt of others too. We like the thumbnail descriptions - helpful to those of us not intimately acquainted with every bottle. Good effort.
15/16 Morito, Exmouth Market and Hackney Road
14/15 Enoteca Marcucci, Pietrasanta
13/14 Maialino, New York
12/13 Caravan, London
11/12 Nouvelle Vague, Genova
10/12 Cafe Muzio, New York
09/10 Locanda Locatelli, London
08/09 Gramercy Tavern, New York
Best kept wine secret;
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| De Kleine Schorre is an excellent address for whites |
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| Founded in Zeeland in 2001 |
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| Excellent Auxerrois |
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| Very good Solaris - not sweet |
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| Apostelhoeve is the oldest-established Dutch vineyard |
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| Thorn's Dornfelder is served in the Rijksmuseum restaurant |
An surprising lack of sparkling wines is also strange. It looks as if English and Welsh sparkling wine might step up exports to Europe post Brexit whereas Dutch wine may never penetrate the UK market.
We find this most peculiar and encourage anyone who can to buy Dutch wine in the Netherlands or have it sent. The producers are all in the South so it is difficult to find even in Amsterdam.
* * *
Practically the day after writing the above it was announced that Wijngoed Thorn is the first vineyard in the Netherlands to have the right to bear on its bottles the red and yellow stamp conferring Protected Designation of Origen (PDO) status.
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| The Guardian article of 25.11.17 came out a day after we first drafted this post. |
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| Congratulations, Wijngoed Thorn! |
13/14 Greek Wine
12/13 Lighter style of Bobal
11/12 Georgian Wines
10/11 Trentino
09/10 Savoie
08/09 New York State
Best English or Welsh Red;
Biddenden and Dornfelder keep occurring in this category and this time the winner is a 100% Dorndelder, withot the Rondo. Expert UK wine growers say Dornfelder doesn't ripen here but there are plenty of bottles to tell them they are wrong.
Our own experiments growing Dornfelder and Regent are showing Dornfelder as having the more vigorous growth and the more we sample wines from both varieties the more we consider Regent to lack character even though it is a safe bet in terms of resistance and ripening.
Stephen Skelton MW reckons a Dornfelder/Regent/Rondo blend is 'probably about as good as it gets' as far as UK reds go. He notes that the variety was first planted here in the 1980s and has hardly increased in plantings since the, He concludes 'my advice - no need to rip it out but think twice before planting any more.'
While waiting for anything better (Skelton suggests Cabernet Dorsa might surprise us all), this Dornfelder from Gribble Bridge by Biddenden hits the spot for us at least.
15/16 Ancre Hill Carbonic Maceration Triomphe
14/15 Plumpton College Rondo/Dornfelder
13/14 Seddlescombe Regent
12/13 Biddenden Gamay
11/12 Bolney Pinot Noir
Best English White;
Plumpton Estate Single Vineyard Chardonnay / Pinot Noir / Meunier
We never saw this wine again in any M & S wine section. This probably means there was not a great deal produced and what was on sale was snapped up pdq. Only at the till did we discover the price - a rather hefty £15.
We certainly enjoyed drinking the wine but what struck us was the blend of Champagne varieties in a still wine. It is most peculiar that we had never come across this before anywhere in the world. Why should this be so?
The UK is becoming famous for sparkling wine made from these three varieties. The idea is that they can be used for that purpose even without full ripeness required for still table wine. It is surely a good idea for the ever increasing sparkling wine estates to make some still wine from this blend when ripeness permits. After all, we badly need UK wine to have a profile, a USP. Madeleine Angevine and Bacchus don't really cut it we think.
15/16 Somerby Vineyards 'Magna Carta.' Solaris.
14/15 Charlie Herring's Sauvignon Blanc
13/14 Quoins Orion
12/13 Stopham Pinot Blanc
11/12 Biddenden Gribble Ridge Ortega
Best publication;
'Phylloxera' by Christy Campbell
Here and there you find mention of pre-phylloxera vines or vines in places that escaped the Phylloxera plague (1864 - 1890). These begin to mount up (Phylloxera-free areas include the whole of Chile for example) but they only go to underline how prevalent the scourge was. The extraordinary fact is that the effects are still with us. Whole communities lost their livelihoods neccessitating en masse emigration. Entire historic winegrowing areas had to be turned over to other crops and have never been re-instated. Countless grape varieties became extinct. The nature of classic wines was permanently changed. For example, Chianti used to be made predominantly from Canaiolo Nero but this variety didn't take kindly to grafting on to American rootstocks and so was superceded by Sangiovese.
Realizing that we knew very little about the actual plague we bought this book by the non-specialist journalist Christy Campbell and it turned out to be riveting. A real page-turner with all human life there. Some of the suggested cures for example included dried human urine, setting phials of holy water from Lourdes among the vines, toads buried alive in blighted vineyards etc.
This book wouldn't be inapropriate as a Christmas present even for teetotallers - maybe especially for teetotallers.
15/16 N/A
14/15 Wink Lorch's 'Jura Wine'.
13/14 Ian D'Agata's 'Native Winegrapes of Italy'
12/13 'Wine Grapes' Jancis Robinson, Julia Harding and Jose Vouilamoz
