The Real Wine Fair 2024

Perhaps we haven't sufficiently emphasised what an incredible thing the Real Wine Fair is. Thanks to Les Caves de Pyrene we can meet the world's most interesting producers and taste their wines. It is as if all Hollywood's A listers were gathered together in one place just waiting for you to ask them about the films they have been making and what they plan to do next.

To prove the point, immediately at the entrance, first table on the right was Cascina Iuli and A.A. Summer Wolff. Fabrizio Iuli and his wife Summer Wolff have separate vineyards and make their own wines but inevitably combine on all other matters. 

Indeed it was Ms. Wolff who responded to our eternal question about whether they had any wine from rare grape varieties by holding up a bottle of Iuli 'Barat'

Barat is made from Baratuciat which means 'Cat's balls' of course. D'Agata believes this variety has huge potential. A person called Giorgio Falca  'singlehandedly brought Baratuciat back to everyone's attention by propagating a century-old pergola =-trained Baratuciat vine in a modern vineyard in Almese... I'm holding out hope that Baratuciat will be heard of a lot more in the near future.' At the time of writing (2012) D'Agata noted there was no pure version to be had of this wine. Thanks to Fabrizio Iuli there now exists such a wine.

Previously we has come across Iuli with his version of another slightly less rare grape, Slarina.

The Iuli range at Raw.

Rossore & Umberta = Barbera

TaDa = Baratuciat, Pinot Noir, Grignolino

Barabba = Barbera

Nino = Pinot Nero

Malidea = Nebbiolo

Natalin = Grignolino

Summer Wolff's own wines were just as interesting.

Ette white is like husband Fabrizio's Barat, also made from Baratuciat so now Ian D'Agata will be truly happy.

Gio Gio red is from our latest favourite grape, Freisa.

Summer Wolff and Fabrizio Iuli

On the very next table was none other than Cati Ribot, Mallorquine vigneronne extraordinaire, one of only two producers of Escursac if we are not mistaken.

Cati's range includes 

Son Llebre Blanc = Malvasia, Giro Ros

Son Llebre Negra = Escursac, Callet, Callet Negrella

Cambuix rose = Callet, Callet Negrella, Escursac, Espero de Gall, Gorgolassa

plus the monovarietal Escursac and Malvasia and

a sparkling wine called Bosquet.

Bosquet = Escursac Fogoneu Prensal Blanc.

Practically reeling not from tasting these fascinating wines but from their sheer originality and the charm of their makers, we met yet another charismatic pair of winemakers, this time working together in the production of the wines of Partida Creus.

Antonella Gerosa and Massimo Marchiori are two architects from Turin who decided one day to move to Catalunya and grow fruit. Fruit became grapes and grapes became the traditional  but threatened grapes of the zone around Tarragona, Penedes.

Among very many other varieties there are Gra Gros, Garrut, Vinyater, Queixal de Llop, Samso, Xarel-lo Vermell, Ull de Perdiu, the rare Sumoll Blanco and of course Anonimo.

Partida Creus don't give anything away on the labels but the initials stand for the grape varieties therein or some of them.

For example V N might include Trepat, Sumoll. Garrut, Queixal de Lliop, Ull de Perdiu, Garnacha and Samso.

It hasn't been possible to establish yet what goes into C L. We'll bring you that information when it becomes available.

Meanwhile Massimo Marchiori kindly gave us generously of his time describing his and Antonella's lives and work. Half an hour in his presence was worth a term at wine school.

As luck would have it, Gregory Perez of Bodegas Mengoba was right next door to Partida Creus.

Mengoba is the only producer of Estaladina in the world, we believe. 

Gregory Perez was a top oenologist in Bordeaux (Grand Puy Lacoste, Cos D'Estournel) before returning to Bierzo,  his family's area in Spain. There he has made wines from Mencia, Godello, Alicante Bouschet, Dona Blanca as well as Estaladina.

Ben Walgate (left).

Having parted from Tillingham, Ben Walgate has now set up under his own name. His wines are always interesting.

Davenport is one of the longest established English vineyards with first plantings in 1991 and has been organic from the start. Not only do they make very good wines under their own name but they also make the wine of Forty Hall, the only commercial vineyard inside the M25 orbital motorway around London.

As we said at the beginning of this post so very many great names. Here was John Wurdeman, founder of Pheasants Tears.

Alice Feiring paying a visit to Carla Capalbo. Rosemary George had just left seconds before.

Tavkveri sounded familiar we weren't sure why. Then we read that Pheasants Tears produce a version which we may have seen but don't remember drinking. 'Wine Grapes' describe Tavkveri as making light and very fresh, cherry-flavoured dry reds. Just the thing for us.

We have seen Magula people at wine fairs wherever we go and their wines are becoming increasingly visible on restaurant winelists. This might have been Vladimir (Vlad) Magula himself.

Blauer Portugieser, Frankova (Blaufraenkisch), Gruener Veltliner, Welschriesling, Dunaj, Devin, Hron and Rosa. These last four are all Slovakian crossings. To come: Pinot Noir and Gewuertztraminer.

The Slovenian Burja estate make delicious wines, especially their Zelen which we have enjoyed from time to time. Great to see them here.

Elian da Ros is the king of Abouriou and much else in the Marmandais. Abouriou is another grape that would have become extinct were it not for a certain person; in this case one Numa Nauge, a vine breeder in Senezelles in the Lot et Garonne, not far from Marmande. Nauge presented it in 1882 as a chance seedling found by a local farmer some forty years earlier, growing up the wall of a ruined castle in the area of Villereal!

Readers of this blog may remember we are huge fans of Abouriou. It is hardly credible that this variety has come to us by this incredibly fortuitous way. How much poorer we would have been withot that farmer, without M. Nume and now without Elian da Ros.

Oregon's Kelley Fox is a star of the first magnitude in Pinot Noir circles and here she was in person. We are flattered to see her in London.

We love Lo-Fi Wines. This is Craig Winchester who is familiar to Real Wine Fair regulars. It's always a pleasure to see him. Lo-Fi make wine from some atypical varieties including Mencia, Arinto, Trousseau, and Albarino.

Ruth Lewandowski makes fine wine in Utah. Isn't that great?

Broc Cellars is another of our top favourites. A visit to their shop in Berkeley is a true pleasure.

All the way from Vermont, La Garagista still making delicious wines in the most improbable circumstances from the most improbable grapes (viz. La Crescent).

There were many other A-list producers as always. No doubt we had missed a large number of them and many other rare grape varieties but you can't do everything.