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Wine Review: Tuscan Wines in the 2023 SuperValu Italian Wine Sale

2023’s edition of the SuperValu Italian Wine Sale runs from Thursday 18th May to Wednesday 7th June, so that’s 3 weeks to pick up a few bargains with your weekly shop. Or, if you’re like me, you might stock up on a few in advance of barbecue season.

Also consider the Cortezza Vino Nobile di Montepulciano which is excellent value at €15.

Cortezza Toscana Vermentino 2020

Cortezza Toscana Vermentino in the SuperValu Italian Wine Sale - bottle shot

I reviewed the same vintage of this wine a year ago so I was interested to see if it still has the same appeal after a further 12 months in bottle.

In short: yes, it does!

The nose is moderately aromatic, with fresh flower and fruit to the fore. There are two separate linear streaks on the palate; a high-toned lime and lemon streak is supported by fresh acidity. Underneath there’s a lovely mineral texture with a bouquet garni of garden herbs. There’s no dip in freshness from May 2022, so I’d say this will drink well for several years to come.

This Vermentino is (littorally) a great example of how coastal locations can be an excellent place for aromatic whites.

  • RRP: €10
  • ABV: 12.5%
  • Source: sample
  • Stockists: SuperValu

Sandro Forte E Figlio Forte Ambrone Rosso

Sandro Forte E Figlio Forte Ambrone Rosso bottle shot

This red blend is possibly the antithesis of a terroir-wine: it’s a blend made from grapes in both Tuscany and Puglia, so there’s no geographic designation apart from “Vino Rosso d’Italia”. I don’t say this to throw shade on this wine, as the practice has existed in France and Italy for centuries, though sometimes on a less honest basis. This is a wine focused on drinking pleasure and value for money, and if a multi-region blend is a good way to achieve that, then fair play to the Forte family.

While inexpensive Tuscan reds can be a little sharp, and Puglia can produce exhuberant juicy reds from local heroes Primitivo and Nero d’Avola, Forte Ambrone is the best of both worlds. It has succulent red and black cherry fruits, freshness and tannins from the Sangiovese and velvet from the Puglian grapes.

Whereas the Millefiori Primitivo in the same Italian wine sale is quite jammy, Ambrone is more balanced and more suitable to flame-grilled red meats. Bring on barbecue season!

  • RRP: €10
  • ABV: 14.0%
  • Source: sample
  • Stockists: SuperValu

**Click here to see more posts in the Make Mine a Double Series**

 

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Wine Review: Louis Latour whites in the SuperValu French Wine Sale

I’ve already offered my thoughts on the De Mour Bordeaux wines in the SuperValu 2021 French Wine Sale, so now it’s the turn of the whites from Louis Latour. These are all guest wines courtesy of Irish importer / distributor Febvre, and so are not normally available in SuperValu.

My article in April on Latour’s Grand Cru Corton Charlemagne gave a brief overview of the Louis Latour stable; this article includes wines from three of the six divisions.

Simonnet-Febvre Crémant de Bourgogne Brut NV

Simonnet-Febvre Crémant de Bourgogne Brut NV

Simonnet-Febvre is a venerable and venerated Chablis house founded in 1840 and purchased by Latour in 2003. It is the only Chablis estate to produce sparkling wine, and reportedly Louis Latour himself celebrated the acquisition of a vineyard in 1891 by cracking open three bottles of Simonnet-Febvre. Better than buying from the Champenois?

The assemblage is 60% Chardonnay and 40% Pinot Noir, and the dominance of the former is notable on both the nose and the palate; the nose shows piercing lemon and lime and fresh citrus is evident in the mouth. There is a creamy aspect to this fizz, most likely from some time ageing on fine lees. A fairly low dosage of 7 g/L keeps freshness to the fore.

Warning: if you try this as an alternative to an “extra dry” Prosecco you might well find this Crémant too sharp (it has more acidity and around half the sugar of such Proseccos. However, if you prefer fresher, drier wines then this might well be your cup of tea. It would be great as an aperitif or with freshly shucked oysters – and it’s an absolute steal at €18.

  • ABV: 13.0%
  • RRP: €18.00 down from €29.99 from Thurs 2nd Sept to Wed 22nd Sept 2021
  • Source: sample
  • Stockists: SuperValu stores

Louis Latour Grand Ardèche Chardonnay 2019

Louis Latour Grand Ardèche Chardonnay

This wine is from Latour’s outpost in the…erm…Ardèche. It was established in 1979 with a simple Chardonnay, using Burgundian expertise to craft balanced wines in a different environment. The unoaked “Ardèche” wine was followed up by the first vintage of the Grand Ardèche in 1985. Fermentation and ten months’ maturation take place in oak barrels, 80% used and 20% new.

Oak really comes through on the nose, with lovely vanilla, toast and almonds. The nuts continue onto the palate which has texture, depth and great length, yet is perfectly balanced and poised.

This wine is made outside Burgundy but epitomises what great white Burgundy can be – all at a seriously bargain price.

  • ABV: 13.0%
  • RRP: €18.00 down from €22.99 from Thurs 2nd Sept to Wed 22nd Sept 2021
  • Source: sample
  • Stockists: SuperValu stores and SuperValu.ie

Louis Latour Chablis 2018

Louis Latour Chablis

Chablis has become something of a commodity for many people – it’s a brand in itself and often receives more recognition than producers’ name. Nearly all Chablis share certain characteristics: they are usually fresh and / or lean, with apple and citrus aspects. Some just stop right there, and there’s nothing wrong with those, especially if the price is right and the drinker just wants a simple, unoaked Chardonnay.

But some can offer more, much more – Julien Brocard’s La Boissonneuse is a great example of how good even AOC Chablis can be. I would put this wine in the same category; still unoaked and fresh but not lean, and most of all a fabulous intensity…the kind of intensity that makes you stare into the wine glass in wonder, before swiftly having another taste.

  • ABV: 13.0%
  • RRP: €20.00 down from €29.99 from Thurs 2nd Sept to Wed 22nd Sept 2021
  • Source: sample
  • Stockists: SuperValu stores

Louis Latour Meursault 2018

Louis Latour Meursault

Meursault is the largest prestige AOC for white wine in the Côte d’Or and has been one of my favourites for over two decades. The wines are usually somewhat oaked and generous, though rarely dripping with butter as the archetypal Aussie Chard used to be, and develop earlier than the neighbouring (and even more prestigious appellations of Puligny- and Chassagne-Montrachet.

Latour’s Meursault is made with grapes grown on limestone soils then barrel fermented and matured for around ten months. If this sounds familiar then it’s the template that Latour used for the Grand Ardèche above. It’s a delicious yet subtle example, elegant and balanced yet with a profound depth of flavour. It’s not going to convert many of the ABC club but it’s a magnificent wine that Chardonnay and Burgundy lovers should seek out.

  • ABV: 13.0%
  • RRP: €45.00 down from €65.00 from Thurs 2nd Sept to Wed 22nd Sept 2021
  • Source: sample
  • Stockists: SuperValu stores and SuperValu.ie

Conclusion

It really comes down to price; if someone else is paying then my hand would go straight up for the Meursault as it’s the best wine of the four, though even with the significant sale reduction it is far from cheap. If I’m spending my own meagre pennies then it’s really a toss up between the Chablis and the Grand Ardèche – both are excellent wines and great value for money at the offer prices.

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The Fifth Element – Part 5

Fizz and friends from the Quintessential Wines tasting earlier this year:

Druisan Prosecco Colfondo NV (12.5%, RRP €17.95 at Quintessential Wines, Drogheda & quintessentialwines.ie)

Drusian Prosecco Col Fondo

A world away from the cheap and (sometimes not so) cheerful industrial Prosecco which is on special offer in the supermarket, this is an entirely different style of fizz.  Whereas the vast majority Prosecco undergoes a second fermentation in a tank, with colfondo this takes place in the bottle.  Unlike the traditional method there is no disgorgement, so the lees remain in the bottle.

This is much more yeasty and smooth than “normal” Prosecco. With no disgorgement there’s no dosage either, but it really doesn’t miss the addition of sugar.  This is a wine of character, far more interesting than other sparkling wines in this price bracket.

 

Loxarel Refugi Brut Nature Reserva  2013 (12.5%, RRP €33.50 at Quintessential Wines, Drogheda)

Refugi Brut Nature 2013 Loxarel

On to Spain now, and a fantastic Cava made in the Penedès by Loxarel (who also make the natural orange wine reviewed in Part 3).   This is predominantly made from the local
speciality Xarel-lo; the vines are over 70 years old and a portion of the base wine was fermented in 300-litre old oak barrels which adds texture and longevity.  A touch of Chardonnay is included for freshness.  After the second fermentation the wine spends three years on the lees before disgorgement, with no dosage.  In short, this is bloody lovely!  There’s lots of lovely creamy lees character and a dry finish.

 

Vilmart Grand Cellier Brut NV (12.5%, RRP €64.95 at Quintessential Wines, Drogheda)

Vilmart Grand Cellier NV

The final fizz is from France, more specifically Rilly-la-Montagne in the Montagne de Reims subregion of Champagne.  The blend is 70% Chardonnay and 30% Pinot Noir from two specific parcels: “Les Hautes Grèves” and “Les Basses Grèves”, the upper and lower (river) banks respectively .  Vilmart’s house style involves blocking (or not encouraging) malolactic fermentation for freshness, and ageing the base wines in old, larger-format oak barrels for texture and longevity (through micro-oxygenation).

This is well made, classy, proper Champagne.  There’s a citrus frame (from the Chardonnay) with some red fruit notes (from the Pinot) interwoven.  Biscuit creaminess in enhanced by very fine bubbles and a lively crisp finish.

 

Château de la  Roulerie Coteaux du Layon 1er Cru Chaume Les Aunis 2013 (12.0%, RRP €34.50 at Quintessential Wines, Drogheda)

Le Roulerie Les Aunis Chaume

Sweet Loire wines are one of the most overlooked wine categories (closely followed by most of the rest of the Loire) and hence reasonably priced. Chenin Blanc excels in this role as it can produce high levels of sugar while maintaining balancing acidity.

Château de la Roulerie make three different sweet wines; the standard Coteaux du Layon, Coteaux du Layon 1er Cru Chaume (which is the area just around the village of Chaume) and then this wine from a specific vineyard.  All of them have botrytised grapes, but climbing the quality ladder gives increased concentration.  The perfect balance of sweetness, acidity and oak.  Sauternes, eat your heart out!

 

Quintessential and the Fifth Element

The Fifth Element

So finally, in what is fittingly the fifth part of this series, I can explain the jeu de mots in the title, the relationship between Quintessential and The Fifth Element.  In classical times it was believed that everything in the physical world was made up of a small number of elements.  One version according to Empedocles gave four: earth, water, air and fire.  Plato, Aristole and others added a fifth called (a)ether, also known as quintessence.

Over time, quintessential came to mean the more perfect example of a particular type of thing.  Given how I have described some of Quintessential Wines’ bottles as ethereal, I think it’s a perfectly fitting name!

 

The Fifth Element Series:

Opinion, Uncategorized

Frankly Wines Top 10 Sweet wines of 2016

As a wise man once said to me, don’t call them “dessert wines” as that implies they are only fit to drink with a dessert!  Categorising wines isn’t always an easy task, as even simple descriptors such as colour are open to interpretation (see this article).  Where do sweet wines fit in?  In the end, the label isn’t important, what’s in the glass is.

10. Tarin Pineau des Charentes Blanc Vieilli 3 Ans

2017-01-02-13-52-20

Pronounced the same as “Pinot”, this is the secret fortified drink of France’s west country. Made by adding eau de vie to grape must that has barely begun fermenting, it can only be produced in the Charente and Charente-Maritime departments – also the home of Cognac. That’s no coincidence as the grape spirit used for Pineau is the same that is aged to eventually become Cognac.

This example has received 3 years of ageing which gives it a slight “rancio” character – enough to add interest but not so much that it dominates.  The only downside is that it is so moreish!

9. Sipp Mack Gewurztraminer Vieilles Vignes 2012

2016-04-21 19.28.00

This Gewurz isn’t intended to be a sweet wine as such, but given the grape’s natural flavour profile, low acidity and a bit of residual sugar it tastes far sweeter than other many wines of Alsace.  As a general rule I do like some sweetness in my Gewurz, and this Sipp Mack does deliver that, but with an incredible intensity of flavour thanks to its old vines. See here for the full review.

8. GD Vajra Moscato d’Asti 2015

2016-06-08-22-43-32

Moscato from Australia and elsewhere gained a lot of ground in recent years – fresh and fruity, sweet and easy to drink yet with very moderate alcohol, it became something of a party drink.  Hopefully this will shine a light back on Piedmont, the pioneering region of this style (though obviously not of the Muscat grape!)

Moscato d’Asti might also qualify as a party drink for some, but its true value is at the table, mainly with fruit based desserts where it excels.  The best – such as GD Vajra’s – have a mouthwatering balance of acidity and sweetness.  See here for the full review

7. Max Ferd. Richter Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Spätlese

2016-08-30 15.23.44

For many wine aficionados, Germany is the ultimate country for Riesling.  The sheer variety of styles is one of its key strengths, from bone-dry to intensely sweet, and just about every spot in between.  This Mosel Spätlese (late harvest) is just wonderful and was my narrow favourite of an all-Riesling tasting at DNS Wineclub.  See here for the full review

6. Zantho Scheurebe Trockenbeerenauslese 2012

zantho

Zantho is a joint venture between two famous names of Austrian wine, viticulturist Josef Umathum and winemaker Wolfgang Peck of Winzerkeller Andau.  As well as dry whites and reds they also make three dessert wines (pictured above) which are all glorious, with the TBA (for short) being my favourite.  Germanic grape Scheurebe works best as a sweet wine and excels in Zantho’s TBA from close to the border with Hungary.

5. Nyetimber Demi-Sec NV

2016-09-15-21-01-34

I’m a long standing fan of Nyetimber and I’ve been pleased to see them popping up here and there in Ireland.  When back in England in the summer I picked up a bottle of their Demi-Sec – which I haven’t yet seen here in Ireland – and took it to a DNS Wineclub tasting.  It was absolutely magnificent and reinforced my admiration for Brad Greatrix and Cherie Spriggs.

Not stated on the front label is that this is 100% Chardonnay, and therefore a Blanc-de-Blancs.  Dosage is 45g/L giving it perfect balance – typical English acidity is the counter to the sugar.  This was the first English Demi-Sec to be released but I would go further and state that it’s one of the top few Demi-Secs made anywhere in the world.

4. Domaine de Bois Mozé Coteaux de l’Aubance 2008

2017-01-02-20-06-42

The Loire Valley is probably France’s most underrated wine region and its Chenin based dessert wines probably the least well known – which is a total shame as they can be world class without a world class price.  Coteaux  de l’Aubance is even less well known than Coteaux du Layon and Quarts de Chaume, but the best sites can yield beauties such as this. In my opinion these wines are the ultimate expression of Chenin Blanc – and this is still a youngster at nine years of age.

3. Donnafugata Ben Ryé Passito di Pantelleria 2014

2016-09-14-17-01-16

The grape variety for this wine is known locally as Zibibbo, but further afield as Muscat of Alexandria – a very ancient grape.  “Local” here is the tiny island of Pantelleria which is between Sicily and Tunisia.  The grapes are dried after picking to concentrate the flavours and sugars, similar to “straw wines” elsewhere.  This is a wine of staggering complexity for such a young vintage, the biggest threat to ageing being its utter deliciousness!

2. Cascina Garitina Niades

2016-05-28-21-43-06

Many readers will be drawing a blank at the name of this wine which could have been in any (or all!) of my red, sparkling and sweet Top 10 lists.  Formerly carrying the DOCG of Brachetto d’Acqui, it could be thought of as the red equivalent of Moscato d’Asti – though even better, in this case.

When I tried it and tweeted about it, one wag did reply “can’t see the point” – and admittedly, before I tried it I can’t say it was missing from my life – but once tried this wine is never forgotten.  Fresh red fruit, acidity and sweetness combine to make wine heaven – it’s Eton Mess in a glass!

1. Léon Beyer Gewurztraminer Vendanges Tardives 1998

gewurztraminer.vt.leonbeyer

This was the unexpected runaway winner of the DNS Wineclub Alsace tasting, against some pretty stiff competition (including #2 in this Top 10).  Léon Beyer is based in the achingly beautiful village of Eguisheim and has Domaines Zinck and Bruno Sorg as neighbours.  “The house style is dry” said the lady at the counter, “apart from the sweet wines” – such as this rare Late Harvest Gewurz.  The Léon Beyer website give a drinking window of 10 to 20 years from vintage, but this tasted like it had another decade left at least.  If I had another bottle it would probably make my Top 10 sweet wines of 2026!