Pinot gris/grigio

Pinot grigio and pinot gris (PG) are synonyms for the same grape variety, which in Europe tend to be associated with distinct regional styles. But in Australia it can be tricky to know whether you’re buying an Alsatian-style full-alcohol, dense, drily-luscious pinot gris, or a crisp, light, zesty northern Italian pinot grigio style, or even something with some overt residual sweetness.

At least Europe has those nominal, if increasingly blurry, broad origin and nomenclature clues.  But in Australia, both pinot grigio and pinot gris are used interchangeably, which makes it extremely confusing for consumers.

The PinotG moniker neatly combines both synonyms in one abbreviation.  

Spectral analysis

Three years of tasting panels built up a picture – a fingerprint – of different styles of PG. In defining those differences across a style spectrum, the scientists and tasters found differences in such wine constituents such as flavour molecules, phenolic compounds and acids.

Spectral analysis was used to analyse the components tasted. This involves shining a beam of light at the wine, analogous to x-raying wine. Correlations were found between the machine readings and the tasting panels’ assessments, and thus the style spectrum was born.

PG style spectrum 2

Peter Godden, group manager – industry applications, at the AWRI, and one of the key developers of the style spectrum explained the detail, saying “you have to ‘train’ the [machine]. If, say, you want it to ‘measure’ alcohol, then you test a group of wines for ethanol using the reference laboratory method, and you also scan those wines and tell the instrument what the result of the reference analysis was. The calibration is ready when you can show the instrument an ‘unknown’ sample, and it will accurately predict the alcohol. In the case of the PinotG style spectrum, we believe it is a world-first where spectral scans have been calibrated against sensory ratings for wine style, rather than for alcohol, pH, colour etc.”

So with ‘fingerprinting’ individual compounds are not being measured. Godden said this is not the purpose of the style spectrum. It’s the overall flavour sensation and palate profile that are important.

And the analysis is still being refined, as new information from different PG wines are added to the spectral analysis machine to hone and polish the detail of the calibration. Godden said: “We are still adding to the calibration – the more data it contains, the better its predicative capacity will be – so we are doing both sensory evaluation and the spectral scan for each wine – but for virtually all the wines the predicative ability is excellent. For those which are not so closely correlated it is simply a case that wines with that type of ‘fingerprint’ are not currently in the calibration. Once they are included, then they can be predicted.”

Dry and off dry wines only

PG style spectrum 8

The style spectrum is a ten-point scale, from crisp to luscious, encompassing dry and relatively dry wines up to a maximum of 10g/l residual sugar. This incorporates the vast majority of PG wines sold in Australia, and, Godden explained, “if one included sweet wines, for example SGNs, [sélection de grains nobles from Alsace] at the right hand side, you could end up with, say, 60, 70, 80% of the graphic being reserved for the sweet wines which are a tiny part of the market, and the drier wines which make up the bulk of the market being compressed into a small space”. This would make it difficult to see stylistic differences at the dry end of the scale, which, added Godden “would have defeated the purpose for the majority of Australian wines.”

So whilst luscious sounds like it ought to suggest something sweet, in fact the dictionary says it is ‘extremely pleasurable, especially to the taste or smell.”  In the context of the PinotG style spectrum, it describes a PG wine that’s rich, dense, opulently textured and weighted.

The first wines to carry the logo are the 2010 vintages from Treasury Wine Estates (the name by which Foster’s global wine business has been known since July 21, 2010) and Aussie retailers Cellarmasters, with whom the spectrum has been developed.

Other producers will follow on with the 2011 vintage, and any producer wanting to use the voluntary scheme to help consumers understand the style of their PGs must submit their wine for ‘fingerprinting’ by the AWRI.

Even without access to a simple style scale, and perhaps influential in its development, PG has shot up in popularity in Australia. Pinot grigio/gris plantings may account for just 4% of Australia white vineyard area, but they have increased dramatically. In 2006, just 1,352ha were planted and by 2008 (most recent data available), plantings had reached 2,835ha [Australia Bureau of Statistics].

In Germany the grape variety is also known as grauburgunder and rülander.

Riesling

In the press over the years riesling has experienced ‘renaissances’ too numerous to mention, yet still it remains an uneasy wine for mainstream consumers. Its very flexibility seems to be part of the issue, or at least understanding what style is in the bottle, given a paucity of labelling information as to style.

Partly to address these various guises of riesling, in 2007 the International Riesling Foundation (IRF) was inaugurated in the USA. Alongside a strong USA contingent, directors are from across the riesling globe including Judy Finn of Neudorf Vineyards in New Zealand, Jeffrey Grosset of Grosset Wines in Australia, Johannes Hirsch of Weingut Hirsch in Austria and Christian Witte of Schloss Johannisberg in Germany.

Their first mission has been to suggest an international system to label riesling according to residual sugar levels. The IRF have developed a taste profile to help consumers get a handle on what style of wine might be inside the bottle. It has four broad categories: dry, medium-dry, medium-sweet and sweet.

Their research reported that the only major barrier to riesling trial by non-drinkers remains the perception that riesling is only a sweet wine.  Yes, there are sweet riesling wines (which, it has to be said, are among the best sweet wines in the world), but there are also loads of dry riesling.  Australia’s Clare Valley is a leading proponent of the bone dry style. And the many German dry rieslings too often stay on the domestic market, not being shared further afield.

IRF taste scale

In the absence of a unified way of describing riesling style to consumer, the IRF would like producers to use their taste profile on the labels of bottles to help purchasers get a feel for what’s in the bottle. The need for some sort of simple help on the label has long been recognised, and various individuals also have their own initiatives, but so far nothing has gained more widespread traction.  Zind Humbrecht in Alsace, for example, developed the ‘indice’, a number ranking 1 to 5 labelled on the wine to indicate wines from bone dry to medium sweet.  Also in Alsace, Paul Zinck uses his own ranking system.

A simple ranking system is just that – simple.  But one of the special attributes of riesling is how it balances fruit and acidity using sweetness so that the flavour profile, texture and impact is optimised. 

Riesling is a naturally a high acid grape variety, and acidity is especially retained when it’s grown in cool climates such as its homeland of Germany.  Wines can be balanced and dry, especially when grown in the slightly warmer (lower acidity) Pfalz, or continuing south across the border into France’s Alsace. But with ripe fruit AND high acidity, a little of the sugars are needed to balance the wine, which still tastes dry because of the palate sensation of acidity.

Clare Valley

Such difficulties of identifying style are not restricted to the old world.  From the label it is notoriously difficult to know a dry New Zealand riesling from an aromatic fruity one.  It makes choosing riesling in a restaurant virtually impossible. Australia also has no recommended system for labelling according to style.

In terms of making riesling, technical data are tightly defined in Germany. Dry is defined as wines with up to 4g/l of residual sugar (all straightforward and fine, barely, if at all, noticeable sweetness to taste). Dry is also defined as a wine with 2g/l more sugar than acidity, up to a maximum of 9g/l of sugar, which means a wine in the dry category could have 7g/l acidity and 9g/l sugar, or it could have 6g/l acidity and 8g/l sugar (only 2g/l more sugar than acidity). It is very technical, and the wines do pretty much taste dry, because of the effect of the acidity.

Mosel riesling

The aim is always to create as exquisite a balance as possible between fruit and acidity and sweetness. 

Given that riesling is such an appreciated variety by the cognoscenti, it is no surprise that at least three different competitions exist to judge this variety alone:
Best of Riesling. (International Riesling Competition). Started in 2000. Held in Germany, with strong German focus. 
Canberra International Riesling Challenge.  Started in 2000. Strong new world focus, especially Australia.
Riesling du Monde.  Started in 1998. Held in France. Strong old world focus. 

Results are listed each year, so finding medal winners is pretty easy.  Finding whether you can buy them in your location may be trickier.

Another initiative is Riesling Rendezvous, a venture of Château Ste Michelle, of Washington state in the USA, and Dr. Loosen of the Mosel in Germany. It started in 2007, with combined trade and consumer seminars and tastings from around the riesling world. 

In addition to lists of medal-winning wines, the official wine sites for riesling-producing countries and regions have plenty of information about riesling.

In Germany, the world’s leading grower of riesling by far, the Deutsches Weininstitut / German Wine Institute  is the German wine industry’s marketing organization responsible for the generic promotion of the quality and sales of German wine domestically and abroad.  In the UK its guise is found as Wines of Germany.  In the USA there is a different Wines of Germany website, which sponsors Destination Riesling, a site for USA consumers to learn about European riesling.

The other significant riesling – inclusive generic websites are Wines of Alsace, and the Austrian Wine Marketing Board.

And, whilst no longer being maintained, The Riesling Report, has a back catalogue of information, including a piece I wrote in the Sept/Oct 2002 issue.

Please let me know of any authoritative riesling-focused organisations and competitions around the world that I’ve missed, and I’ll add them to the list.

Picpoul de Pinet is one of those French wine appellations, and grape varieties, once discovered, long-loved.  For a grape variety grown in the warm, sunny Mediterranean, inland from Sète, it has remarkable freshness and citrus-vivacity. Indeed, anyone in doubt of this grape’s freshness should look to its Occitan origins for a translation … lip stinger… so-called for the grape’s high natural acid content, which it retains well in the Mediterranean warmth. This may be partly due to the sea breezes cooling the extreme warmth of the day, and bringing much needed moisture to the vines on their panoramic limestone plateau.

Picpoul de Pinet

It has other quirky attributes too. It is a white-wine-only cru of the Coteaux du Languedoc appellation, though Picpoul de Pinet is always prominently displayed on the label, so it’s easy to find.  The region is well on its way to achieving its own stand-alone appellation, AoC Picpoul de Pinet.

There is only one other white Languedoc AoC (the much less well known Clairette du Languedoc). Such rarity value in the sprawling, delightful Languedoc, better known for its reds from grenache, syrah, carignan et al., makes it something of a minor gem.

It’s also one of those rare things in France, varietally-labelled wine. Alsace is normally regarded as France’s mainstay of varietal labelling. Even more than this, picpoul de pinet has its own special, slender bottle, with an embossed Languedoc cross, for further ease of recognition. In other words, it’s difficult to miss (once you know what you’re looking for).

Picpoul is also becoming the trendy wine to be seen drinking. This resurgence is much overdue as its earlier spotlight was in the late 19^th century under Napoléon III. 

The appellation covers a mere 1,300 hectares, and lies between Pezenas and Mèze, overlooking the salt water lagoon of the Bassin de Thau, where oysters and mussels are farmed. And it is as an aperitif and to accompany such seafood that it reaches its simple apogee. 

For this reason, it’s sometimes called it the ‘muscadet of the Languedoc’, though the flavour profile is fuller, if similarly zesty. Picpoul tastes best in the prime of its youth, when it is showing full flavours to their best: white flower blossom, lemon freshness, soft green apple, richly flavoured and relatively full bodied, with just a hint of herbal complexity to the finish of the better examples.  It’s a wine that wisely doesn’t see any overt oak influence. Massively complex it will never be, but as a good flavoursome drop with a bite of freshness, it excels. 

Here’s a few to try:
Domaine de Creyssels, Picpoul de Pinet, Coteaux du Languedoc, 2009, £7.70, Stone, Vine and Sun
Domaine de Belle Mare, Picpoul de Pinet, Coteaux du Languedoc 2009 £7.70, Great Western Wine
Els Pyreneus, La Cote Flamenc Picpoul de Pinet, Coteaux du Languedoc 2009  £8.06, Nebuchadnezzar Wines 
Domaine Félines-Jourdan, Picpoul de Pinet, Coteaux du Languedoc, 2009 £7.50, The Wine Society

A combination of ripeness with retained, relatively high acidity are cited as the defining parameters of the 2009 in the main riesling regions of Mosel, Rheingau, Nahe, Pfalz and the Rheinhessen. This was defined as a year of long ripening and good structure. But volumes are down across the board.

Some have said 2009 is as good as 2007. By comparison 2008 was not so warm, on average. There is enough ripeness in 2008 but the acidity is crispier and more pronounced. The wines are perhaps less concentrated than the 2009s.

Rheingau vineyards

Weingut Josef Leitz is located in Rüdesheim, at the western end of the Rheingau. It is run by Johannes Leitz, who took over the 28 hectare family property in 1985, when he was just 21.  He grows only riesling.  

Rebuilding a reputation takes time, and Johannes said “I found my real way in 2000 after 15 years. Since 2000, we really do a lot in the vineyard. We cut the bottom of bunches, we de-leaf. Then we press very gently.”

The Rheingau is a small region, accounting for just 3% of Germany’s vineyard area. It runs for 30km in an east-west direction on the south-facing right bank of the river Rhine as it flows between Mainz and Rüdesheim. At Rüdesheim, which eyeballs Bingen on the other bank, the river hits the Hünsruck mountains and turns north. 

Also at Rüdesheim is the Germania monument, which commemorates the re-establishment of the German empire after the Franco-Prussian war of 1870-71. It overlooks the river from the top of the slope at 320m above sea level, just below the forest above, which protects the vineyards from the cold chills of the night.

Leitz put Rheingau riesling into context against those from other German regions, saying “In Hessen and Pfalz they are richer and heavier. The Mosel is colder, the Devonian slate bringing a special minerality.  The Rheingau is in-between: it has softer acidity than the Mosel, it is lighter than Hessen and Pfalz. People say yellow fruit aromas, peaches, is typical of Rheingau riesling.”

Read here for a review of the 2009 rieslings from Weingut Hermann Dönnhoff in the Nahe.

Read here for a review of the 2009 rieslings from JL Wolf in the Pfalz.

Read here for a review of the 2009 rieslings from Weingut Gunderloch in Rheinhessen.

Read here for a review of the 2009 rieslings from Dr. Loosen in Mosel.

Tasting notes, in situ, April 2010

2009 Eins-Zwei-Dry, Riesling Qualitätswein trocken
12%. Dry, lemongrass, easy to drink, approachable with a bit of layering. Good fruit flavours that are long in the mouth. Good.

2009 Rudesheimer, Riesling Qualitätswein trocken
12%. All fruit is from Berg Rottland,
Lime zest, quite full body, rich and opulent, big flavours, citrus and white stone fruit. 

2009 Rüdesheimer Bischofsberg Riesling spätlese trocken
12%. 8g/l RS. >8g/l TA. Mostly sandy loam, clay and quartzite
Lime; taut. Steely, upright, racy, good intensity of fruit and focus  

2009 Rüdesheimer Berg Roseneck, Riesling Qualitâtswein trocken
On quartzite, which “gives it spiciness and saltiness”
Limegrass, hint of sweet fruit on attack which gives nice balance, slight tingle on the tongue, lovely freshness and depth, with whirlpool-prickle in the core. Long finish.

2009 Rüdesheimer Berg Rottland, Riesling Trocken, alte reben
12.5%. 60 years old.  Leitz said “We can our best wines alte reben.”
Lifted apple blossom, piercing rapier lime attack, steely, almost herbal note, followed up by rich ripe soft fruits with big mouth-feel. Finishes very clean and fresh. Good. Very long.

2009 Rüdesheimer Kirchenpfad Riesling Kabinett feinherb
11%  18g/l RS.  ‘Church path’.  Sandy loam and clay. Leitz “the perfect summer wine.”
Lifted, floral, elegant and light, good simple juicy intensity, decent length. Perception of taste is pretty dry

2009 Rudesheimer Riesling Kabinett
9%. 45g/l RS   
Fresh, fruity, citrus. Everything is in its place but I find this slightly less appealing.

2009 Rüdesheimer Magdalenenkreuz Riesling Spatlese
8.5%. 65g/l RS.  ‘Cross of Mary Magdalene’. Sandy loam and clay. 
Sweet, lime cordial, linden leaf, plush, easy to drink, finishing fresh and clean.

2009 Rüdesheimer Berg Roseneck Riesling spätlese
7.5%. 106g/l RS.
Lime leaf, sweet, honeyed, crystalline citrus fruits, with layers, and purity. Precision acidity, and focus. Delightful, with razor sharp clarity. Layered and surreptitiously complex. Very long.

2009 Rüdesheimer Drachenstein Riesling Eiswein
8%. 11g/l TA. 200 Oechsle. Picked in December at -14°C.  Previous eiswein vintage was 2001.  
Dense sweetness, barley sugar, spicy complexitiy. Almost so dense it’s savoury, in big and powerful style. Lifted fresh peach and nectarine fruits.

The UK agents, ABS Wine Agencies, flew me, and a group of UK importers, to Germany to taste the 2009s from the producers they represent. 

A combination of ripeness with retained, relatively high acidity are cited as the defining parameters of the 2009 in the main riesling regions of Mosel, Rheingau, Nahe, Pfalz and the Rheinhessen. This was defined as a year of long ripening and good structure. But volumes are down across the board.

Some have said 2009 is as good as 2007. By comparison 2008 was not so warm, on average. There is enough ripeness in 2008 but the acidity is crispier and more pronounced. The wines are perhaps less concentrated than the 2009s.

Weingut Dr. Loosen is located at Bernkastel in the Mosel, and is run by Ernst Loosen, who took over the reins of this family property in 1987.

While properties away from the less extreme climate of the Mosel can make a mix of dry styles and fruitier styles, in the Mosel this is difficult to achieve due to the late ripening of fruit. This means that 80 to 85% of Loosen’s wines are in the fruitier styles, with the fine, taut balance proffered by such an extreme climate.

The Mosel accounts for less than 10% of the country’s vineyard plantings, but riesling is by far the most important grape in the valley, with 60% of Mosel vineyards being planted to it. Loosen gives riesling even more focus – 98% of the property is planted to this grape variety, across his 18 hectares.

Read here for a review of the wines from Weingut Hermann Dönnhoff in the Nahe.

Read here for a review of the wines from JL Wolf in the Pfalz.

Read here for a review of the wines from Weingut Gunderloch in Rheinhessen.

Tasting notes, in situ, April 2010

2009 Dr. Loosen RedSlate Riesling trocken
12.5%, ~8g/l RS. A new wine from both contracted and estate fruit, sitting above Dr. L in the portfolio.
Lemon-lime fruitiness on nose and palate, pure and fresh, good intensity of flavour, tasting pretty dry. Refreshing and nicely balanced. Good to drink, with lime zest finish.

2009 Dr. L Riesling Qualitätswein
8.5%, 40g/l RS, 7.9 g/l TA.
It tastes more like 20g/l residual sugar, but if it only had that much sugar, the alcohol would be much higher. Lemony and spritzy, with honeyed attack of crisp apple. Fresh with pristine acidity, and a decent finish.

2009 Bernkasterler Lay Riesling Kabinett
7.5%, 54g/l RS. Blue and weathered grey slate mix. ‘Lay’ is an old word for slate.
Lime and pithy, sweet limey attack, dense and plush, long finish. Rather more-ish, as the light alcohol is seductive. Delightful, delicious aperitif. Purity and integrity at its best.

2009 Erdener Treppchen Riesling Kabinett
7.5%. 58g/l RS. Red slate
Lime pith and apple blossom, floral, orange peel, crunchy sweetness, some emerging complexity. Sweet tropical palate, attractive density of flavour, with unfurling layers and layered finish. Feels more serious than Lay. Good.

2009 Erdener Treppchen Riesling Spätlese
7.5%, .70g/l RS, 8,4g/l TA. Red slate
Apricot and star anise, with spicy sweetness and ripe tropical fruit. Almost medium bodied in a flavour-concentration and extract sort of way. Intense, with a precise fruity balance.

2009 Ürziger Würzgarten Riesling spätlese
68g/l RS. 8.2 g/l TA, Weathered red volcanic soil
Firestone and star anise. Complex, spicy, with exotic fruit. Pristine and fleshy. Rich and quite lush with intense and concentrated flavours and a long, long finish.

2009 Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese
88g/l RS. Blue Devonian slate
Peach, apricot, honeyed, very sweet attack. A tiny bit of botrytis giving a savoury aromatic lift to the nose, and concentration to the palate. Palate is tight, tropical, very fruity – pure fruits. Full flavour and long.

2009 Urziger Wurzgarten Riesling Auslese
90g/l RS
Aromatic bitumen spice from 5-10% of botrytis. Pristine and focused with lime and sweet tropical fruit. Massive flavour with fairy-like lightness, and an exquisite balance. Pure, with enormous depth and concentration. Lovely.

2009 Erdener Prälat Riesling Auslese Goldkapsel
100-105g/l RS. Prälat is the heart of the Treppchen vineyard.
With about 60% botrytis, this is concentrated and closed. Sweet-spice, and firestone, with cinnamon-aromatised apple and lime, and notes of bruised apple compote. All the structure and concentration in place for big flavours to blossom. Really very nice.

The UK agents, ABS Wine Agencies, flew me, and a group of UK importers, to Germany to taste the 2009s from the producers they represent.

 A combination of ripeness with retained, relatively high acidity are cited as the defining parameters of the 2009 in the main riesling regions of Mosel, Rheingau, Nahe, Pfalz and the Rheinhessen. This was defined as a year of long ripening and good structure. But volumes are down across the board.

 Some have said 2009 is as good as 2007. By comparison 2008 was not so warm, on average.  There is enough ripeness in 2008 but the acidity is crispier and more pronounced. The wines are perhaps less concentrated than the 2009s.

Fritz Hasselbach in the Rothenberg

Weingut Gunderloch is located at Nackenheim in the Rheinhessen and is run by Fritz and Agnes Hasselbach.   

Rheinhessen is the biggest German wine region, accounting for a quarter of the country’s vineyard, and it is the small, six kilometre by ~1 km Rheinterrasse, an east and south-east facing slope on the left bank of the river Rhine, some 10 km south of Mainz, where some of the best quality is found.

Nackenheimer Rothenberg, made up of red slate, is one of the prime vineyards on the Rheinterrasse, and Gunderloch own more than three quarters of this named vineyard, 9.5ha out of the property’s total vineyard acreage of 14 hectares.    

Other top vineyards on the Hessen Rheintarrasse include Pettenthal, Hipping, Ölberg and Orbel.

Riesling is one of a couple of handfuls of grape varieties grown in Rheinhessen, accounting for about 15% of the region’s production.  Yet at Gundlerloch, riesling is something of a specialty, accounting for 80% of production, with silvaner, pinot gris, pinot blanc and traminer among the rest.  

Fritz and Agnes Hasselbach have been running the family winery since 1986, and their children Kathrin, Johannes and Stefanie are also part of the team.

For dry wines, three levels are made at this estate:  the estate dry, the village dry, and grosses gewächs.  Fruity wines follow the normal designations.

In 2009, Gunderloch made no beerenauslese or trockenbeerenauslese because wild boars and birds ate all the grapes, despite the vines have protective netting over them.  The family lost a hectare of grapes. 

Rothenberg vineyard

Fritz is experimenting with malolactic fermentation on riesling, which is usually unheard of for this variety.  He said “malo gives more weight in the taste, which is a secret of Hessen”, adding “in the past the balance was from residual sugar, but in the new style the balance is with malo.”  Exacting control is essential though as malo can change pure fruity flavours into more creamy, less aromatic notes. He said they have strict temperature control, and they “check every day. As soon as we get a creamy note, we chill to kill the yeast and the malolactic bacteria.”

Read here for a review of the 2009 rieslings from Weingut Hermann Dönnhoff in the Nahe.

Read here for a review of the 2009 rieslings from JL Wolf in the Pfalz.

Tasting notes, in situ, April 2010

2009 Estate Riesling dry
12.5%. 8 g/l RS, 8g/l TA. A blend of 5 different vineyards sites, all with red slate.
Lemon grass, fresh, lifted, racy acidity, warmth of lemon citrus at finish.

2009 Nierstein Village Riesling dry
12.5%. 6g/l RS.   
Lemon grass, and gunsmoke, perceptibly off dry attack, with softness and richness in the mid palate added by small proportion of malolactic fermentation. Good length.

2009 Nackenheim Village Riesling dry,  
12.5%. Rothenberg single vineyard.
Lemongrass, citrus, melon, supple mid palate offered by small proportion of malolactic again. Nice limey element to acidity. Approachable yet young, with plenty to unfurl.

2009 Gunderloch Jean Baptiste Riesling Kabinett
11%.  24g/l RS. 7.5g/l TA. Usually a mix of Rothenberg and Pettenthal vineyards
Lemon citrus, off dry fruity attack, with near-dry palate perception. Apple, nice balance, with good fruit purity.  Refreshing, elegant, easily drinkable.

2009 Nackenheim Rothenberg Riesling Spatlese
9.5%. 90 g/l RS. 7.5g/l TA. Without botrytis, it is the Gunderloch philosophy.
Limey, sweet attack of fresh apricot and white peach. This comes back to racy, sharp balancing acidity.  Lush, intense, explosive citrus and early tropical fruits. Mouth-watering freshness, but with some intensity of svelte power. Long finish.

2009 Nackenheim Rothenberg Riesling Auslese
7.5%.  110g/l RS. 100% botrytis wine.
Citrus, intense, lime, explosive, pure, sweet, Massive flavours, pure and long.

2009 Nackenheim Rothenberg Riesling Auslese Goldkapsel
8%. 130-140g/l RS. Fritz said this is always in beerenauslese style, but an easy-drinking style.
Spicy aromatics, mango and yellow tropical, full and honeyed, elegant with well-toned power and presence.   Elegant and too easy to drink.   

The UK agents, ABS Wine Agencies, flew me, and a group of UK importers, to Germany to taste the 2009s from the producers they represent.

A combination of ripeness with retained, relatively high acidity are cited as the defining parameters of the 2009 in the main riesling regions of Mosel, Rheingau, Nahe, Pfalz and the Rheinhessen. This was defined as a year of long ripening and good structure. But volumes are down across the board.

Some have said 2009 is as good as 2007. By comparison 2008 was not so warm, on average.  There is enough ripeness in 2008 but the acidity is crispier and more pronounced. The wines are perhaps less concentrated than the 2009s.

JL Wolf estate

The Pfalz accounts for nearly a quarter of Germany’s total vineyard area. Coincidentally the region has a quarter of the country’s riesling plantings.

Most of the vineyards are in the foothills of the north-south orientated Haardt mountains, where they are more protected from the winds. These mountains are a geological continuation of the Vosges mountains which lie to the south, home to France’s Alsace vineyards.

At the JL Wolf estate, in Wachenheim, which is the property of Ernie Loosen, owner of the Mosel’s Dr. Loosen, an ‘entry’ range of wines is made under the varietal ‘Villa Wolf’ label. The fruit for these wines comes from growers contracted to the estate.

Above this range lie the estate wines under the label ‘JL Wolf’, which are labelled, in ascending order, (a) village name only, (b), village name plus vineyard name, and (c) just the vineyard name. This is JL Wolf’s personal following of a Burgundian nomenclature.  The back label contains all the legally-required German labelling.

The estate produces more than riesling, for example, pinot noir, pinot blanc and pinot gris, but just the riesling notes are below.

Read here for a review of the wines from Weingut Hermann Dönnhoff in the Nahe.

Read here for a review of the 2009 rieslings from Gunderloch in Rheinhessen.

Tasting notes, in situ, April 2010

2009 Villa Wolf Riesling dry
12.5%, 8g/l RS, ~6.8TA
Apple puree, green apple attack, tight, with a hint of lime zest. Refreshing, with good intensity, and some density of length.  

2009 JL Wolf Wachenheimer Riesling trocken
12.5%, 8g/l RS. Labelled with village name only
Firestone and apricots on the nose, some honeyed complexity; quite intense palate attack. Warm hint of aromatic spice, with attractive note of richness. Dense and flavoursome.  

2009 JL Wolf Wachenheimer Belz Riesling Spatlese trocken
8g/l RS.  Belz is a monopole of JL Wolf. Labelled with village and vineyard name.
Apple and honey nose, spritz. Savoury note to attack, rich.

2009 JL Wolf Forster Pechstein Riesling (spatlese trocken)
Labelled just with vineyard name – Pechstein – to denote single vineyard wine.
12.5 to 13%, 8g/l RS. Black basalt soil.
Apricot, firestone, yellow peach, steeliness, sweet-savoury dichotomy.  Intense, with big concentration, demands attention in the mouth. Delicious, with long, exotic-spice finish.   

The UK agents, ABS Wine Agencies, flew me, and a group of UK importers, to Germany to taste the 2009s from the producers they represent.

A combination of ripeness with retained, relatively high acidity are cited as the defining parameters of the 2009 in the main riesling regions of Mosel, Rheingau, Nahe, Pfalz and the Rheinhessen. This was defined as a year of long ripening and good structure. But volumes are down across the board.

Some have said 2009 is as good as 2007. By comparison 2008 was not so warm, on average.  There is enough ripeness in 2008 but the acidity is crispier and more pronounced. The wines are perhaps less concentrated than the 2009s.

See future posts for Riesling 2009 tasting notes from Gunderloch, Leitz, Dr. Loosen and JL Wolf.  

Weingut Hermann Dönnhoff is located in Oberhausen, in the Nahe.  

Hermannshöhle vineyard

The Nahe accounts for about 4% of the German vineyard area.  It is south of the Mosel, south of the Hunsrück mountains, which protect the Nahe valley from the winds.

Owner Helmut Dönnhoff described his style as “elegant, not too opulent, in between the Mosel and the Rheingau.  Mosel has higher acidity, ours are a bit riper with lower acidity.”

The estate is 120m ASL, and grapes can be grown up to about 350m, above which, Dönnhoff said, they don’t ripen.

About 65% of Dönnhoff’s 12.5 hectare production is for dry wine, the rest is in the Germanic fruity styles.

Riesling accounts for 80% of his production; the rest is pinot blanc and pinot gris.

Read here for a review of the 2009 rieslings from JL Wolf in the Pfalz.

Read here for a review of the 2009 rieslings from Gunderloch in Rheinhessen.

Tasting notes, in situ, April 2010.

Riesling trocken 2009 
(dry style) 11.5% 6.8g/l RS.
Citrus zest, perceptibly dry, with a hint of integral, defining taut/salty edge. Fresh, balanced weight and good length.

Tonschiefer Riesling Trocken 2009  
(dry style) 12%.  6-7g/l RS.
Spicy with good volume of tropical fruit and citrus pith. Nice freshness-richness balance. Pure, intense, balanced.

2009 Schlossböckelheimer Felsenberg
(dry style) 12.5%. 7g/l RS. Volcanic, porphyry – hard stone that keeps heat.
Slate, steel, pristine savouriness. Grapefruit zest, tight, linear. Serious, a bit intellectual. Complex and layered. Taut. Very good. Pristine and delicious.

Dellchen 2009 Riesling Grosses Gewächs
(dry style) 13%, 7.5% RS.  Slate, with volcanic soils
Allspice, star anise, apricot, intense, big, big wine. Rich and powerful with exquisite balance and intensity.

Felsenberg Felsenturmchen 2009 Riesling Grosses Gewächs
(dry style) 13%. volcanic soil Felsenturmchen meaning little tower
Firestone, tropical. Savoury, aromatic tar, lush and plush, strong, dry-rich, big and elegant at same time. Excellent.

Hermannshöhle 2009 Riesling Grosses Gewächs
(dry style) Rich, fat, tropical, open fruit attack, savoury firestone comes through on palate. Opulent and taut at the same time. Lush and lean, linear. Tightly wound. Aromatic tar. Long. Spectacular.

Riesling 2009
(fruity style) 11%. ~19 g/l RS.
Citrus, grapefruit nose, fresh and simply pure, with nervy acidity and good flavour depth; very easy to drink e.g. sitting in the garden of an early evening.  Pure pleasure.

Kreuznacher Krötenpfuhl 2009, Riesling Kabinett
(fruity style) 10%. 25-30g/l RS, ~8g/l TA. Quartz. Pebbles, meaning ‘pond frog’
White peach and nectarine, fresh, light and with nice intensity of fresh fruit, charming rather than complex at the moment, needs a bit of time to flesh up and complex.

Oberhäuser Leistenberg 2009, Riesling Kabinett
(fruity style) 9%. 35-40 g/l RS. 8g/l+ TA.~£20 slate soil. Comes from same site as Tonschieffer.  Leisten: dialect for slate. Slate hill.
Citrus and lime, sweet-lime attack, apple blossom, pure, high on easy deliciousness. Open and fruity, lots of flavour.  

Norheimer Kirschheck 2009, Riesling spätlese
(fruity style) 8.5%. ~60g/l RS.  ‘cherry hedge’. Slate soil.
Firestone and cinnamon-spiced apricots, some fullness of body with sweet fruit compote concentration. Precision acidity. Fruity lushness. Long.  Seductive sweetness and elegance.

Felsenberg 2009, Riesling spätlese
(fruity style) A selection from the GG Felsenturmchen. Volcanic soil. 
No analysis yet: probably about 8.5%, and about 70g/l RS.
Cask sample tasting: sweet apricot compote, honeyed, precision acidity. Elegant, light-intense.  Allspice silhouette. Very good. Long. Exquisite balance.

Oberhäuser Brücke 2009, Riesling spätlese
(fruity style) 8%  Slate under alluvial sediments, pebbles, sandstone.
‘Aromatic tar’ note; savoury firestone, apricot purée, dense, intense; big flavour expansion in the mouth. Stony, savoury notes diminish the perception of sweetness, lush, mouth-watering. Focused and expansive. Cracking balance. Opulent and fleshy, nervosity of acidity. Just lovely.

Niederhäuser Hermannshöhle 2009, Riesling spatlese
(fruity style) 8.5%
Lime and pink grapefruit nose, steely nose, and apricot.  Lush, almost tropical, with refined acid core and laser-precision, layers evolve in the mouth, sweet/steel balance. Very good.

Oberhauser Brucke 2009. riesling auslese goldkapsel
(fruity style) Cask sample tasting: lime and hint of mushroom-spice, complexing and structuring botrytis. Overtly sweet now, with defining acidity and freshness and balance.

Niederhäuser hermannshöhle 2009 riesling auslese goldkapsel
(fruity style) Apricot puree nose, aromatic spice, firestone, intense, dense, appears less overtly sweet, and with immense extract. Enormous wine, refreshing, allspice and star anise. Honeyed, and lush. Really very nice indeed.

The UK agents, ABS Wine Agencies, flew me, and a group of UK importers, to Germany to taste the 2009s from the producers they represent.

Riesling in the Mosel

The riesling renaissance has been repeatedly raised in trade and consumer press but appears never really to materialise among mainstream consumers. So riesling appreciation remains the best open secret among oenophiles. With less than 1% of the global vineyard planted to riesling, it’s unlikely ever to be much more than a specialist wine.

Part of the challenge has been thought to be the diversity of dryness in the wine, from bone dry to lusciously sweet. But chardonnay can come like this too.

Possibly more of the challenge is that riesling is very site specific, it doesn’t necessarily always need the poshest accommodation, but it is quite temperature-sensitive, not too keen on heating or air-con, it prefers pretty stony beds. Whereas chardonnay will bunk down almost anywhere and make a decent fist of it. 

The panel
Bob Campbell MW, journalist, educator, photographer, New Zealand
Monika Christmann, head of oenology and wine technology, Geisenheim Research Centre
Roman Horvath MW, managing director, Domäne Wachau, Austria
Rowald Hepp, managing director, Schloss Vollrads, Germany
Willi Klinger, managing director, Austrian Wine Marketing Bureau
Arne Ronold MW, journalist, publisher, Norway
Josef Schuller MW, chairman, Institute of Masters of Wine

Hepp explained the difficulty for the early riesling diaspora from its Germanic roots, saying “emigrants from Germany took riesling with them when they left in the crisis of the 1920s. They were a bit disappointed with the styles in California and Australia – it was not the style they were used to.”

But he added, after decreasing riesling acreage in the 1970s, riesling is in expansionist mode again, albeit modestly.

Approximate global riesling plantings 

Sources: various national organisations, most recent data available

Wachau vineyards, Austria

Christmann took up the site specificity theme, suggesting riesling is adapted to both single vineyard and multi-vineyard blend, saying “you can produce great wines from single vineyards and sometimes you can produce better wines by blending. We have super vineyards, but not all are so super that we can say that these produce the best wines every year.  You can choose to make a blend coming from very good base wines.”

Should the style of wine come from the vineyard or the winery? Christmann said “as a producer it’s your baby you have to sell. What style do you want to achieve?” Before adding “riesling is one of the most sensitive varieties when it comes to processing techniques to avoid uptake of polyphenols.” So only great care in the winery will express whatever potential might be building in the vineyard.

Residual sugar was inevitably an issue.  A stylistic choice definitely, but can absence of residual sugar mask varietal character?  Hepp thought so, speaking of his two wines (see below) “the first one has more terroir and mineral expression, the [spatlese] has more varietal expression.” 

Noble rot in dry wines is another masker of varietal definition.  But Christmann said “there are different answers to [whether] it is important to have some botrytis in riesling. In our experiments, most people wanted to have up to 20% botrytis in the wines.”  To which Ronold countered “to my mind that could be so for interim rieslings, those not showing much terroir character. But for top rieslings from specific terroirs, then botrytis is a no-no, you want to keep what is unique with your vineyard.”  

Rowald said “maybe botrytis can add complexity but not necessarily terroir expression. Botrytis makes it more difficult to keep single vineyard expression. Botrytis makes wines a bit more even.”  But, he added “for noble sweet wines botrytis is a must. But we talk more of concentration than terroir.”    

Nelson, New Zealand

With typical new world succinctness Campbell said “botrytis obscures terroir.  At high levels it will also obscure varietal character.”

Campbell took up the new world side of the globetrotting discussion, pointing to New Zealand’s early attempts with the variety, saying “riesling was introduced into New Zealand in the early 1800s but it died out because of phylloxera. It was re-introduced in the 1970s, when it moved to South Island, where it’s more suited.”    

“In South Island the cool climate equals high acidity. The best wines carry a little residual sugar to build up the tension between sweetness and fine acidity, which for me is what fine riesling is all about. But consumers have not embraced sweet riesling with as much vigour as producers would like.”

In Australia, Campbell said “riesling was Australia’s most widely planted white variety until the early 1990s, when chardonnay took over.” He added plantings were more driven by climate, so focusing on the cooler areas of Tasmania, and the Great Southern Area in Western Australia. But it is Clare Valley in South Australia that has made the biggest name for itself, producing usually bone dry, edgy, angular, tight rieslings with more than a savoury nod to location. 

Back in Europe, and more than 80% of Austria’s riesling is concentrated in the Lower Danube areas of Wachau, Kamptal, Kremstal and Traisental. There are two broad soil types in this area – loess and primary rock (internal link). Horvath explained “riesling from loess soil is more creamy, more textured, more expressive in youth. Riesling from primary rock gives more leaner styles.”

In the wines selected for the seminar a mix of origin and varietal definition could be identified, although the wines were not shown blind. Which suggests the experience of riesling as an independent traveller rang truest, seeking out those special places, and often staying off the beaten track. And remaining true to itself. Horvath said “riesling is a globetrotter, but not as a mass tourist. Riesling adapts to local culture, it experiences the local specialities. In this sense riesling is a globetrotter. But with some experience you can tell the origin, so riesling is both a globetrotter and a terroir wine.”

Tasting notes. Vienna, May 2010, and comments from the panel

Schloss Vollrads Erstes Gewachs Riesling 2008, Rheingau, Germany
Hepp:  “from our best vineyards sites, over 8 months on fine lees. Represents dry, mineral, flinty style.  2008 had masculine acidity; low pH level.”  
Honeyed, apple and white pear, intense nose and palate attack, smooth and big expansion of flavour in the mouth. Concentrated palate, citrus, honeysuckle aromatics, with stony notes mid palate. Layers of flavour emerging in a sophisticated style. Long

Schloss Vollrads Riesling spatlese 2009, Rheingau, Germany
Hepp: “the other face of riesling. I love to show both faces. Late harvest, picked 2.5 to 3 weeks after the first one. This style also very traditional, it was the classic riesling a hundres years ago. Sweet style intensifies the fruit flavours of riesling.” 
Honey and a bit steely. Just 8%. Honeyed, lush bruised apple, quince, tropical notes. Very pure, focused fruit, with lush, attractive balance. Sweet and finishes very fresh. Delicious and delicately balanced.

Egon Müller, Riesling Spatlese 2008, Mosel, Germany  
Apple, steely, aromatic, citrus, peachy, zingy.  Precise, intense, racy, light and densely intense, textured. An ‘other worldly’ experience, ethereal lightness of being with massive flavour for a ‘light’ wine. Really don’t feel the sweetness, acidity holds it all together beautifully with a fresh finish.

FA/FH Geisenheim Classic ‘von Lade’ Riesling 2009, Rheingau, Germany
Christmann: “Produced at the research centre. A blend of the best vineyards we have, with the right time of picking, and gentle processing.”
Peachy, steely and tropical, medium body, savoury type of acidity, firm backbone, fully dry, hint herbal twist to mid palate. Strong and muscular r style.  Long.

Grosset, Polish Hill Riesling 2009, Clare Valley
13%, dry. 460M ASL, sandy soil
Galvanised steel, edgy and taut. Savoury and edgy, linear and long. Not so much primary fruit flavour here. All in that taut, gritty-steel spectrum.

Villa Maria, Taylors Riesling 2005, Marlborough
Single vineyard in cooler Awatere Valley. 8.5%, 43g/l RS. pH 2.8.
Bruised apple, sweet attack, racy and edgy, angular acid, citrus, attractive layers of fruit. Lacks the sophistication of the German example above (probably also lacks the cost). Attractive, but not over exciting.

Zind-Humbrecht Riesling Rangen 2007, Alsace
Ronold: “Most southerly and highest altitude (350 to 450m) grand cru in Alsace, with southern exposure.”  13.5%.  2g/l RS (unusually dry for a Zind-Humbrecht wine.) Volcanic sediments.
Big, smoky, stony dry savoury nose, with peaches and nectarine fruit following in the wake of steely upright flavours. Linear, medium-bodied, with remarkable strength and muscularity. Not so much overt primary fruit, more in the stony, steely, aromatic smoky spectrum. 

Trimbach Riesling Cuvée Frédéric Emile 2004, Alsace
Grapes from two grand crus Gaisberg and Osterberg, 12.8%, 8.2g/l TA
More overtly primary fruit nose, peach, apricot, citrus, more lifted and perfumed, floral. Intense palate attack, but gentle, somehow, despite ripe, rich acidity core. Fruit flesh adorns the backbone with some succulence, but dry. Smooth, sophisticated, intellectual. Precision-focus to be envied.

Brandl Riesling Heiligenstein 2000, Kamptal
12.7%, 1.5g/l RS. Primary rock covered by volcanic sediments.
Peach, tropical, with stony substance alongside. Medium weight, with dense volume of fruit/savoury combo.  Structured and  muscular. Very little age showing, freshness in savoury lines, precise. Remarkable youth.

Franz Proidl Riesling von Urgestein Senftenberger Ehrenfels 2007, Niederosterreich
13.5%, 2.8 g/ RS. Steep terraces, primary rock.
Aromatic peachy, overt primary fruitiness to the fore, smooth and succulent, with layers of aromatic spice and peachy tropical fruit. Steeliness alongside.  Nice balance and intensity. Ripeness of fruit. Lovely layers of fruit/savoury. Long finish

Domäne Wachau Riesling Achleiten 2009, Wachau
Horvath: “Achleiten is about minerality. Not so much about primary fruit. Smoky aromas, toastiness, fleshy flavours balanced by firm acidity.” 
Fresh, juicy, immediately appealing but so young; and fruity. Density and complexity is portended by rich concentration of dramatic fruit.

Domäne Wachau Riesling Achtleiten 1999, Wachau
Horvath: “this is not about peachy, it’s about smoky mineral character.”
Just a hint of development of colour to pale straw. Hints of petrol, with mango purée coming quickly to the fore. Rich, almost dry baked fruit, some crystallised fruit, youthful and expressive, aged notes notwithstanding. Intense flavour, layers of complexity.

Muri-Gries' lagrein vineyards

The grape prefers warmer sites, with sandy and gravelly soils, so production is naturally centred around the bowl of Bolzano, at the bottom of the valley, which concentrates the sun during the day from the surrounding mountains.

Good drainage in gravelly soils is said to help retain the grape’s naturally high acidity. Thick skins give a great deal of colour; indeed historically, lagrein was blended into other wines from the region to bolster their colour.  Plentiful tannins need careful attention in the winery otherwise they tend to be slightly bitter. Markus Heinel, the winemaker at J. Hofstätter said this was because “the stalks always stay green, even when they’re ripe.” One check on phenolic ripeness for other grape varieties is when the pips and stalks become brown. The trend to greater phenolic ripeness has greatly helped to tame the tannins in this often rustic variety.

Heinel added: “there are two vineyard styles, one with short stems which are fruitier and made without oak; the other has long stems with more colour and tannin, made in reserve styles.”

Santa Maddalena, overlooking Bolzano

As well as varietal wines, lagrein is regularly a minor player in Alto Adige’s Santa Maddalena DOC, where it can add a modicum of substance to the light, gentle, uncomplicated, local schiava (aka vernatsch) grape variety. Santa Maddalena is located in the hills immediately to the east of Bolzano.

Muri-Gries is a 15^th century monastery-cum-winery which focused on lagrein in the 1980s, making single variety wines, and is now a leading producer of top lagrein.  They were the first to recognise real potential in this specialist grape variety, including from specific types of the variety from their own vineyard.  Around 80% of Muri-Gries red production is now lagrein.

Cantina Convento Muri-Gries, Abtei Lagrein Riserva 2007, Alto Adige DOC
13.5%.   First vintage 1989. 16 months in barrique, 40% new. Tasted May 2010.
Dark translucent ruby/purple colour.  Dark chocolate and coffee bean aromas with smooth attack. Refined, fine-grained tannin frame onto which aromatic, sweetly-ripe, dark, blue- and black-berried fruits and Victoria plums hang.  Has a deceptive depth of flavour with a refreshing core which creates an elegant and rounded balance.  Very good.

Panellists for the seminar were:
Rod Berglund, owner and winemaker at Joseph Swan Winery.
Tom Hinde, president and director of winemaking at Flowers Vineyard and Winery.
Jeff Stewart, winemaker at Buena Vista.

Sonoma County Wine Regions

The definition of cool climate mentioned was Winkler’s Region I, and Stewart said: “we’re cool climate guys so we’ll always reference Burgundy.”

Honore Comfort, executive director of Sonoma County Vintners, the organisation that promotes Sonoma County wines, introduced the session. “Sixty miles of Pacific Ocean front influence the daily climate of Sonoma County.”

It is this oceanic influence that provides the defining model for Sonoma viticulture. Deep, cold ocean currents offshore provide a regular supply of cold air above the ocean.  On a daily basis, during the afternoon, this chill air is drawn inland, as fog, by the hot Sacramento Valley. Comfort said: “the cool maritime fog defines the region: how it filters in through the Petaluma Gap, up the Russian River, and into Carneros from the bay to blanket the county,” adding the fog blanket stays in Sonoma, blocked by the Mayacamas ranges on the eastern edge of the county. 

Sonoma fog blanket

The major effect of these daily fogs, which come in practically like clockwork, is cooling.  Hinde said: “on the coast during the day it’s 85°F [30°C], at night it’s 35°F [2°C]. At Healdsburg [in the middle of the county], it’s 95°F [35°C] in the day and 60°F [16°C] at night.  Typically there’s a 25 to 30°F [14 to 17°C] diurnal shift.”

As well as a cool overall climate, vintage variation is a parameter for cooler climate, and whilst it’s not a big issue for Sonoma, it clearly exists. Hinde said “nine years out of ten we have a consistent climate, a Mediterranean climate, with a long wet winter, and an arid summer. And within this we have the influence of the Pacific Ocean.”  

However, in Russian River Valley, Berglund said “I see different personalities, different expressions [in the wines]. We do see vintage variation in Russian River Valley, some are more fruit forward, some have more structure and backbone, such as the ’07s.  But we don’t see the wide variations, for example in Oregon.”   

L-R: Comfort, Stewart, Hinde, Berglund

Stewart added “2004 was a very early bud-break and season. It was forward, giving wines that were beautiful straight out of the gate. 2005 was later, cooler, giving wines with more structure; not the structured wines of the ‘07s which were built for the long haul.”

The moderating influence of this coastal phenomenon is evidently the main influence enabling grape varieties such as pinot noir and chardonnay to be grown, though more than 60 varieties are grown in the county, including hot-climate loving zinfandel. 

Alongside coolness, soil is often considered another primary factor for quality, but the panellists could come up with few acceptable generalisations about the area. It is, after all, an active fault zone, so topography and soils are by definition enormously complex, with the gamut of volcanic, sedimentary and alluvial deposits closely intermingled. Aspect and slope are similarly something of a patchwork effect. 

The wines tasted originated from three of the coolest AVAs in Sonoma County:  Carneros, Russian River Valley and Sonoma Coast.

Tasting Notes, March 2010, London

The contradiction of high alcohol and so-called cooler climate is a hard one for a European to overcome.

La Crema Chardonnay 2008, Sonoma Coast (13.9%)
Hinde: “not an estate but a Sonoma Coast blended wine. It’s representative of the potential for chardonnay here. Eight to nine months in oak, around 20% new, including some American oak.” 

Ripe, peachy and mealy nose, spicy aromatic oak, vanilla and charcoal, heat of alcohol a little too evident, heating the back of the palate. Sweet praline nuttiness, quite full bodied, very warming palate with some attractive typical flavour characters, but back palate is too hot for me and wine broadens in the glass.

Ramey Wine Cellars, Ritchie Vineyard Chardonnay 2006, Russian River Valley (14.5%)
Sweet smoke, high glycerol, slippery texture, with almost overt honeyed sweetness at the fore of the palate. Full bodied, with overt alcohol reasonably well integrated. Almond-toasted lemon cake, with allspice and star anise aromatic spices.  Length not massive. Full-fat, lush fruit, good concentration of fruit, heat coming through on the end.

Stewart:  “the first two pinot noirs both come from Carneros AVA (American Viticultural Area), which is fruit driven, with cherry, berry, and always an earthiness, a forest floor, more than in Russian River Valley.”

Gloria Ferrer Caves and Vineyards, Pinot Noir 2007, Carneros (13.9%)
Translucent ruby colour with bright red-cherry nose and smoked charcoal note. Oak a little raw on the palate attack, black and tarry without redeeming elegance. Spicy, smoked forest berry fruits, with alcohol present but not dominant and wood tannins a little edgy. Tarry note blows off in time, but leaves the finish a bit dry and talc-like.  

Buena Vista Carneros Pinot Noir 2007, Carneros (13.5%)
Stewart: “we hand harvest at night, then have a 5 to 10 day cold soak. Average 17 days on the skins; 30-35% new French oak with a 10 to 11 months’ ageing regime.”

Translucent ruby, aromatic strawberry and raspberry nose. Smooth, sweet palate attack, sweet fruit, attractive varietal definition, with balance of fruit and acid core, and tannins held neatly at bay for aromatic focus. Balanced and integrated. Very nice; with long finish.  Crunchy freshness emphasises aromatic fruitiness well. Nicely balanced.

Flowers Vineyard and Winery, Andreen Gale Pinot Noir 2007, Sonoma Coast (13.5%)
Hinde “we’re still discovering where pinot noir and chardonnay will do their best.  We believe we’re challenging the outer [cooler] margin for pinot noir and chardonnay.”  The winery is 1 mile from the Pacific at 500 to 700m ASL.

Medium translucent ruby. Nose a bit elusive, but simple crunchy red cherries are there. Palate has appropriate grip of supporting oak tannin, beginning to soften.  In crunchy rather than soft style, perky acid freshness keeps the palate linear, with enough fruit flesh to comfortably balance the structure. Not a fleshy wine, hint tomato leaf? Medium full body, alcohol integrated, unnoticed. Decent finish.

Patz and Hall Pinot Noir 2007, Sonoma Coast (14.2%)
Medium translucent red cherry. Lifted red cherry and red apple notes on the nose. Fresh palate attack, soft aromatic tar supporting very ripe sweet black and red cherries. Some lushness to palate with good acid frame. Good varietal definition. Alcohol integrated. Oak just enough to soften in.  Balanced, full and sweet. Good, with lengthy finish.

Berglund: “the final two: textural element. RRV has wonderful texture and mouthfeel. We have more red fruit characters with hints of cola. Carneros wines tend to me more linear, while RRV is broader on the palate. Sonoma Coast wines have darker fruits than RRV.  The Hobbs wine has more dark fruits. Our wine comes from one of oldest pinot noir vineyards, planted in 1969.”  

Joseph Swan Vineyards, Trenton Estate Vineyard Pinot Noir 2007, Russian River Valley (14.5%)
Medium cherry red. Lifted cherry, with fine-grainy spicy oak and gently mulled fruit to the fore; texture of stewed fruit, with sandalwood, and cinnamon oak notes, not (yet?) melding together.  A bit disjointed at the moment, with dry sandy sides to palate. Feels like a ‘cooler’ expression, but the alcohol is evident.  Alcohol expressed as those warm stewed fruits, but it doesn’t burn. Fruit is fresh and dense, with good concentration.  I’m sure it’ll come through, there’s nice fruit underneath. It’s rich and dense and not over-ripe.

Paul Hobbs Pinot Noir 2007, Russian River Valley (14.7%)
Medium ruby colour. Bright dark cherry fruit, sweet, full-fleshed and lush. With good pinot noir character: firm acid core supporting fleshy cherry fruit. Sweet balance, with alcohol unnoticed and integrated. Lush and delicious. More-ish.

In some countries, syrah/shiraz is very new on the global stage. France and Australia have long-established syrah/shiraz vineyards. Indeed shiraz in Australia accounts for just under 50% of that country’s red vineyard area.  But it is in Chile and South Africa where plantings have exploded at a triffid-like rate.  In South Africa the syrah/shiraz vineyard has just about doubled in a decade to reach 10% share of the total vineyard, and in Chile, a decade’s growth has seen syrah/shiraz acreage increase from 200 hectares (ha) to over 3,500 ha. Some Californians are predicting syrah/shiraz to be their next ‘new thing’.

De Bortoli, Yarra Valley

Issues on the global syrah/shiraz agenda included labelling in the new world as a style differentiator.  As in, if the producer thinks his/her shiraz is more French in style, label it syrah. This could also follow the cooler fruit (syrah) / warmer fruit (shiraz) paradigm, but the anecdotal reality of just this tasting suggests any labelling protocol so far exists only the minds of some producers.  The Craggy Range and the De Bortoli might fit the mould, but the South African pair might have been labelled the other way round. Torbreck avoids the issue completely by using leaving off the varietal from the front label.

We discussed the use of a tiny (<5%) proportion of viognier (skins, lees, wine, pressings) in the shiraz ferment, which can lift perfume, soften tannin, stabilise colour.  See here for a (slightly) deeper view.

American versus French oak is usually the other theme that arises with shiraz/syrah, but the group seemed more concerned with too much unintegrated oak, regardless of origin, on one or two of the wines.

Summary of group comments

Rated by the group, wines with high approval quotient, for differing reasons, in alphabetical order:

• Grant Burge Meshach Shiraz 2004, Barossa, Australia, £48.99. Fareham Wine Cellar    
• Craggy Range Le Sol Syrah 2007, Gimblett Gravels, Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand, £34.95. New Zealand House of Wine
• De Bortoli Reserve Release Syrah 2005, Yarra Valley, Australia £19.
• Domaine Michel et Stéphane Ogier Côte-Rôtie 2006, Rhône valley, France 2006, £410.38/doz (£34.20/btl.  Armit  
• Torbreck Descendant 2006, Barossa Valley, Australia £79.95 / btl or £340/6 in bond, LCB. Handford Wines

All three Aussie wines made it into the top five. The group couldn’t quite believe that both the Burge Meshach and the Torbreck Descendant were from the Barossa Valley, the Meshach completely typical in the classic mould; the Torbreck silky smooth and aromatic (my words).  The De Bortoli, from the Yarra Valley, was completely different again.

Côte-Rôtie

Some suggested the old world for the De Bortoli, as indeed did some for the Craggy Range. I suspect both producers will be happy with that.

The Côte-Rôtie was a lesson in class.

The feedback on the Chilean and South African pair was less flattering, price and value for money being a concern.  Given some of the prices demanded, no forgiveness was offered for the fact that both Chile and South Africa are really very new to shiraz/syrah. Young vines so often make young wines, it can be difficult to build in layers of complexity with young-vine fruit. Nonetheless the group was least happy with these.

My tasting notes, not blind, March 2010.

General observations

• Alcohol was evident, and therefore not fully in balance, in too many of the wines.
• Although tasting young wines, there was still too much new oak evident one or two of the wines.
• Despite some of the alcohols, a remarkable degree of acid freshness was present in all the wines.

The Foundry Syrah 2004, Coastal Region, South Africa, £16 (14.5%)           
Deep ruby colour; floral, red berries. Supple, sweet, enticing palate attack with sweet plum and liquorice-confectionery notes. Full bodied, dry-roasted spices. Slight distraction of burnt charcoal note in the far distance of the palate. Powerful and alcoholic, with the sweetness of red-berried fruit bringing it all back into perspective in a wholesome if not particularly rounded fashion.

Luddite Shiraz 2005, Walker Bay, South Africa, £25 (14%)
Dark translucent ruby colour; cinnamon, sandalwood and cherry blossom spectrum of aromas. Earthy aromatics and freshness of fruit-focused palate to fore, with smoky tar note towards back of palate. Lush, sweet fruit held in frame by restraining fresh acid core.  Smooth texture, focus on density and breadth of fruit expression, with some noteworthy elegant elements incorporated within this. Final finish is just caught off guard for an instant with a short note of bitter caramel, which detracts from an otherwise somewhat restrained shiraz within a forceful South African genre.    

Amayna Syrah 2007, Leyda Valley, Chile, £20 (14.5%)
Deep inky plum colour. Sweet red plum and heady allspice nose with mocha notes. Crunchy, young attack, with alcohol too evident. Rich fruit intensity counters the heat of alcohol, and the fruit is fresh-picked, (alluding to its windy coastal location? Certainly no baked characters) in the sweet plum, liquorice, black berry and allspice spectrum. Some positive herbal notes. Full bodied with grainy youthful texture.  

Montes Folly Syrah, 2006, Apalta, Santa Cruz, Colchagua Valley, Chile, £35 to £40 (15%)
Deep ruby colour with bright translucence to the rim. Red cherry and sandalwood nose, with hints of tobacco. Dark spices, some aromatic tarry notes, a smoothening texture all combine to create a wine layered with ripe fruit and rich toasted, caramel notes. Alcohol comes through quite strongly at the back of the palate. Full-bodied, heady and sweet-textured with tarry, plum, bitter chocolate and notes of fresh leather, more savoury, by design, than fruity, in a youthful expression. Do need to watch the alcohol.    

Craggy Range Le Sol Syrah 2007, Gimblett Gravels, Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand, £35 (14%)
Deep ruby with purple hints.  A floral hit on the nose is followed by red fruits – raspberries, redcurrants – then fresh leather and green tea. Smooth palate attack of crunchy, youthful fruit, in a medium to full bodied style, made complex by aromatic tar, dark berry fruits in the depth of the palate, and an elegance beyond that suggested by its integrated 14% of alcohol. The alcohol is invisibly seamed into the whole, to create a wine of some significant refinement as well as with plenty of aromatic and fruit power. Really very nice, and very young.  Sophistication in development.

De Bortoli Reserve Release Syrah 2005, Yarra Valley, Australia, £20 (14%)
Medium deep ruby colour; aromatic, floral, perfumed. Clearly a different style from its predecessors in the flight, just on colour and nose. Sweet, fresh fruit compote attack, strawberry, raspberry, in a medium-bodied wine of focus and length in the palate. Immediately elegant, with fronds of fruit swaying from a fresh backbone of acid structure. Alcohol is seamless. All the focus is on fruit-freshness equilibrium with acidity, which works wonderfully well. Serious, refined, definitely a cooler style – not any jamminess to the fruit. If you like Barossa shiraz, don’t try this at home.

Gayda Chemin de Moscou 2007, Vin de Pays d’Oc, France, £20 (14%) 
This was a slight interloper, having tasted and loved it at a recent trade tasting. Just 72% syrah, with grenache and cinsault. Plenty of strawberry perfume waving from the glass and lingering. Palate attack is soft, voluptuous, dense and intense and this persists through the palate. Medium bodied, with ripe red berry fruits of the forest, alcohol integrated, tannins imperceptibly silky in the sweet-glycerol texture.  There’s a hint of garrigue spiciness, aromatic herbal notes, thyme and rosemary that add layers to this complex, modern style of wine. Balanced, intense flavours without dominating power.

Domaine Michel et Stéphane Ogier Côte-Rôtie 2006, Rhône valley, France 2006, £35 (13%)   
Medium deep ruby. Violets, raspberries, aromatic tar, a reminiscence of liquorice stick. Sweet-yet-fresh strawberry and raspberry fruit, medium-bodied and perfumed, elegant, refined, with a long, long finish. Restraint, elegance yet depth and intensity of fruit flavour, with silky lightness of seamlessly-grained tannin, yet which are plentiful and framing, for some years yet. The fruit plumbs unchartered depths of the palate profile. It has balance, it has integrity; an inspiring wine.  

Château Maris, Old Vine Syrah 2007, Minervois La Livinière, Languedoc, France, £20 (15%)
Medium deep translucent ruby. Has the spicy, herbal garrigue nose of Southern France with sweet red berry fruits emerging from the herbal introduction.  Fresh-stewed berry fruits, with sweet cinnamon, allspice and juniper berry. The palate is smooth, the tannins fine-grained. Savoury, biltong and leather notes are developing amid the sweet berries. This is a big winewith some considerable power, and the alcohol is fully integrated, adding to that sweet-mulled note. An epitome of the big-brute softie.   

Grant Burge Meshach Shiraz 2004, Barossa, Australia, £50 (14.5%)
Deep ruby colour; minty, sweet-plum and sweet chocolate nose. Soft-fruited palate attack with focus on warm curry spices. The alcohol is held in check well. Gorse and coconut notes of American oak play their integral part. The palate is sweet, lush, full bodied, and slick with a smooth- glycerol texture. Tarry, charcoal aromatics come to the fore at the back of the palate in a wine that shows many layers of lush complexity. Sweet fruit, lush, palate-coating sweet tannins, big, full-fat, full-body, concentrated and brutishly seductive.  You wouldn’t want less from the Barossa.

Torbreck Descendant 2006, Barossa Valley, Australia, £75 to £80 (15%)
Possibly the opposite extreme of the Barossa Valley:  deep translucent ruby colour. Violet and morello cherry perfume erupts enticingly from the glass. Deeply-fruited wine whose refinement seems evident on the nose, if only such a thing were technically possible. Freshly-sweet fruit, with the acid structure keeping the focus upstanding. Perfumed palate, elegant, toasted, tar notes offering layers of complexity and depth. Lush and sweet, all held in balanced check by that fresh acid core. Fleshy layers of sweet berried fruit, supremely well balanced and layered. Seriously good. It has concentration and density without massive power and guts, and the alcohol is completely unnoticed with all the seductive beauty of the fruit and fine, sweet tannin structure.

L-R: Greiner, Fürst, Rebholz, Maurer

The recent emergence of German pinot noir (spätburgunder) on the world stage was revisited with this tasting seminar, held at Staatsdomäne Assmansshausen in Rüdesheim, Germany, in late September 2009, as part of a Master of Wine visit to the region.  

Panellists for the seminar were Dieter Greiner of Kloster Eberbach-Domäne Assmannshausen, Paul Fürst of Weingut Rudolf Fürst, and Hansjörg Rebholz of Rebholz estate. It was moderated by Caro Maurer, a journalist in Germany and Master of Wine student.

One might be forgiven for imagining Germany and riesling in the same breath, but a third of the German vineyard is planted to red grape varieties, with pinot noir accounting for a grand 12% of the total, a figure that’s tripled in the past 30 years, and which, if plantings for Champagne are excluded, is about the same as for France.

And it’s the past 30 years that has witnessed a revolution in red-winemaking in Germany.  It coincided with a change of generation, including Rebholz and Fürst, who took over the family estate and went travelling, especially to Burgundy. Prior to this red wine making was generally, though not always, as for white wine, so a short fermentation, no time on the skins, no malolactic fermentation, resulting in high acid wines that were sweetened to balance them.

These leading lights of the new generation started making their red wines as red wines. And the usual gamut of experimentation followed: pre-fermentation cold maceration, extended time on skins, the introduction of oak etc. Then moved into the vineyard with lower yield management: harder winter prunings, green harvest during the growing season, foliage management as well as the search for higher quality clones, such as Burgundy clones 113, 114, 115, 667 and 777, plus new ones from Geisenheim Research Centre, the type 20 clones, which give lower yields and smaller berries with more concentrated fruit. Even as the pinot noir vines age, new dimensions are developing in spätburgunder.

And as with such a ‘young’, experimenting industry, Maurer said: “There is no ‘German pinot noir’ [style]. We have so many different climates and soils, from slate to coloured sandstone. We have the most vivid acid, generally showing more fruit than other pinot noir producing areas, keeping the balance between fruit and acidity.”

She added: “For us, pinot noir is prestigious. Like riesling, it shows its climate and its soil:  pinot noir is as the red riesling. It’s our terroir variety.”

Given pinot noir’s propensity to reflect its local site, there is a reversion to vineyard site, which is how the German vineyards used to be organised hundreds of years ago. Maurer said: “we’re not using pradikats, such as spätlese or auslese, for pinot noir so much, we’re more concentrating on the [vineyard] sites, such at Centgrafenberg.” 

The wines

As part of this experimentation, a modernist approach was also discussed.  Fürst said: “I find some important things with these wines.  Slate soils are very different from the others. Then, Huber and Becker represent the modern German interpretation of spätburgunder, which is what we all want to do now. In winemaking it is very important to go to lower extraction, use gentle work with the grapes, to get more silkiness and more freshness.”  

Tasting notes, September 2009.

The main regions for pinot noir are Ahr, Württemberg, Baden, Franken and the Pfalz.

The tasting seminar was orientated around terroir:  slate soils, volcanic soils, limestone, and sandstone soils. 

The tasting comprised wines retailing between €30 and €100.

Wines 1 to 3 come from slate soils, which is said to give lower tannins, softer fruit, more red berries and redcurrant, less cherry fruit.
Wine 4 comes from volcanic soils, which is said to give richer, fuller bodied wines, with spices, more opulent.
Wine 5, plus 7 to 9 are from limestone soils.
Wines 10 to 12 are from variegated sandstones.  

Wine 1.  Kloster Eberbach, Domäne Assmannshausen,  Hollenberg Spätburgunder spatlese trocken 2004, Assmanshausen, Rheingau
Greiner “a classic late ripening vintage with good acidity, picked at the end of October. Cold winds at night keep the acidity level.”

Spicy, hint rumtopf on the nose, black berry, uplifting volatile acidity and slight green notes at back of nose; medium length.

Wine 2.  Weingut August Kesseler,  Berg Schlossberg Spätburgunder  2007, Assmanshausen, Rheingau
The top wine from the winery.  Greiner: “dense planted vineyards, 25-year-old vines. He’s using new Geisenheim clones with tiny berries. Barrique for 18 months, 50% new.”

Medium cherry colour, fresh and linear profile with very smooth texture, rich berry fruits of the forest.  Elegant, young, and lightly chewy tannins, with youthful intensity, concentration and balance. Very long finish. Excellent.

Wine 3.  J.J. Adeneuer, Garkammer Spätburgunder  Grosses Gewächs  2007, Ahrweiler, Ahr
Smoky, hint of lifting volatile acidity; medium weight. Red berry and cranberry background on the palate. Smooth light tannins, long palate and finish. Freshness throughout the palate. Good length.

Wine 4.  Weingut Salwey, Kirchberg Spätburgunder  Grosses Gewächs  2003, Oberrottweil, Baden
Hint tarry, warm, ’sweet’ fruit, higher glycerol. Not so much length, acid balance quite broad in comparison with further north. Full-fat, sweet, very ripe fruit.

Wine 5.  Bernhard Huber, Wildenstein Spätburgunder  R, 2007, Malterdingen, Baden
Maurer: “He cuts the shoulders of the bunches and tips to have round bunches. One week cold maceration; pigeage in wooden fermenters. On skins for 21 days in total.”

Crunchy red cherry fruit, perky, fresh, focused. Smooth texture, but more tannin, felt on mid palate. Youthful, ripe, grainy tannins at core for framework. Uplifting palate with freshening acidity. Great acid/fruit rapier edge, warm tannins add framework. Very good. Plenty of all the right things to age this one. Long finish.

Wine 6.  Friedrich Becker, Pinot Noir Schweigen, Pfalz 2007, Tafelwein trocken
This one has to be called a tafelwein, because the fruit is from France, along the Alsace/Pfalz border. The vines are considered German, though. Long, geopolitical history in this part of the world.
Maurer: “Fourteen day fermentation in wooden fermenters. No extended time on skins; 100% new barriques.”

Closed nose, warm spicy open knit fruit. Less focused than previous wine. This would have to be good value, but even €30 wouldn’t be. Hint hot on the finish.

Mini vertical of Rebholz estate

Rebholz:  “We are in the southern part of Pfalz, 1 km from the Becker estate. There is a group of five estates of the southern Pfalz, we travel to foreign wine regions. One of our goals is to find the perfect quality of pinot noir.  There is a long tradition of pinot noir in our region, with a French introduction in the Middle Ages. We have perfect soil with limestone, like in Burgundy, and similar weather conditions to Burgundy.“

Wine 7.  Rebholz Estate,  Im Sonnenschein Spätburgunder  Grosses Gewächs  2007, Sibeldingen, Pfalz
A sample, ready for bottling. Spicy new oak, still overt, with plenty of fresh red berry fruit alongside; very young, balanced.  Oak will integrate. Fruit is lovely and fresh, slightly masked currently by the oak.

Wine 8. Rebholz Estate,  Im Sonnenschein Spätburgunder  Grosses Gewächs, 2004
Creamy texture, hint of lifting volatile acidity with smooth texture, some savoury development, and with soft red berry fruit. Long finish. Going to a savoury, puréed fruit cake note.

Wine 9. Rebholz Estate, Spätburgunder gold 1997
Smoke and aromatic tar, developing softly and roundly, tannins softening but still have some grip, a bit more than pinot noir this old might normally have. Mellow for sure, warming finish.

Mini vertical of Weingut Rudolf Fürst

Wine 10.  Rudolf Fürst, Centgrafenberg Spätburgunder  R, 2006 Burgstadt, Franken
Fürst:  “We harvested before the rain around Oct 3. With warm nights, it was a medium year, but interesting for spätburgunder. This is what we want to produce in future, better and better wines.  We don’t have many old vineyards with good genetics; we planted vineyards with good genetics in last 15 to 20 years.  We have to wait for these to grow up.  The style and minerality of this wine are typical, a dancing on the tongue and in the mouth, with power.”

Aromatic strawberry nose, elegant and fruit-focused. Crunchy red cherry attack. Oak tannins in supportive background, fruit/acid balance to the fore.  Long palate and long finish. Some attractive purity of fruit definition, lightness, a moment of ethereality.

Wine 11.  Rudolf Fürst, Centgrafenberg Spätburgunder  R, 2003 Burgstadt, Franken
Warmest year, harvested three weeks earlier than normal.

Aromatic spicy strawberry fruit, medium weight,  red cherry. Some dry notes at back palate from heat of vintage. Red fruit still fighting forth.

Wine 12. Rudolf Fürst, Centgrafenberg Spätburgunder  R, 1997 Burgstadt, Franken
Fürst: “one of my best years with my grapes. It was a late harvest, Oct 20^th, but we were not so good at winemaking at this time: more extraction, dark colour, strong tannins. At the time people liked this style. Now my winemaking is gentler, with more silkiness.”

Smoky nose, most deeply coloured. Savoury development, even a hint of dried meat, smooth texture and framework are in place, weight and roundness exaggerated from more modern style now made by Fürst.

The project has been launched in conjunction with research institutions in Chile and Germany.

Mario Pablo Silva planting carmenère

Casa Silva already has a reputation for making fine quality carmenère wines and the company is already making Chile’s star grape variety, carmenère, its own. Their investments appear to bear fruit, as Mario Pablo Silva, managing director of Viña Casa Silva explained: “we think carmenère is a very important grape for Chile, and we trust carmenère will produce differentiation for Chile [from other countries].  Casa Silva sells as much carmenère as cabernet sauvignon, and we sell more carmenère than cabernet sauvignon of our top wines.”

The research aims including looking at the fine balance of herbaceous green pepper notes, which in certain small proportions are a complexing factor, but more than this turn into a marmite issue. Additionally, carmenère is susceptible to unpredictable fruit set, so finding clones that are reliable for this aspect will be high on the agenda.

Pyrazines

Along with the herby green pepper notes are other pyrazines such as green asparagus, green beans and peas flavours.  Too much of these is considered a fault, and not enough of them can make the wine a little one-dimensional.  These aromas are called pyrazines, and existing carmenere clones show a near four-fold variation in amounts, from 40 to 150 nanograms/litre (ng). These are infinitessimally tiny amounts, but which are easily detectable on the palate.

Carmenère

Professor Yerko Moreno, director of grape and wine research at the University of Talca,  is one of the collaborators in the research project. He said “We would like around 60-70ng. We don’t want to lose the peppery characters, otherwise it wouldn’t be carmenère.”

But what creates the pyrazines, and how to manage the vineyard to optimise the quantity? Moreno said: “By removing crop we increased the amount of pyrazine in the remaining crop.  The pyrazine produced in the leaves concentrates in the fewer bunches that remain.

“High water stress got rid of pyrazines, but it got rid of everything else as well. We don’t think stressed vines produce good quality, we think happy vines produce good quality.”

Moreno went on “we can harvest carmenère earlier if we treat it well in the vineyard. If we stress the canopy, it won’t get rid of the green characters. But by keeping the canopy alive late in the season, we ended by harvesting earlier.” Managing director of Casa Silva, Mario Pablo Silva, added “we like the greenness of the carmenère. Winemaker friends’ are surprised to see us harvesting Los Lingues in April and they are thinking to harvest in May.  If you taste a really good carmenère you taste freshness and greenness.” But not a lot of greenness. Though the earlier harvest helps to retain a little more natural acidity for the freshness.

Variable fruit set

Another of the issues with carmenère is a variable fruit set, which directly affects the yield and therefore profitability of the harvest. Variable fruit set results in both ripe and unripe berries on one grape bunch.  Moreno said: “doing pollen analysis we found up to 30% of carmenère pollen grains has faults.”

Clones

One of the ways to gain more control over these issues is to breed carmenère for the desired traits – better fruit set, limited pyrazines. 

Los Lingues vineyard

Specific clones of most grape varieties exist for various traits, such as small berries, or drought resistance, or stronger wood etc.  But at the moment there are no official clones available of carmenère. Carmenère is just carmenère, with all vineyards (not just Casa Silva) being a massale (vineyard) selection.

There are, however, some candidate clones. Moreno said it takes 7 to 8 years of information gathering and validation before a clone can be registered and authorised, adding “at the moment we have 42 candidates at the University”. 

This will open up the whole clone versus vineyard selection debate on carmenère, as Pablo Silva said: “the best wines may still be produced from massale selection; we don’t know.”

Over the next few years they’ll be working at the genetic level, studying the expression of the gene producing pyrazines, as well as researching the faulty pollen grains to improve fertility. And if they solve the various issues, Moreno said: “we will have a super-carmenère, which should give better wines.”  You can’t fault that.  

No results are expected for two or three years.

Shiraz in the Bot River

Shiraz has seen something of an explosive growth in South Africa.  Plantings have increased from 2% of the vineyard area just over a decade ago, to 10% today. It is now the fourth most planted variety in South Africa, after chenin blanc, cabernet sauvignon and colombard. Sauvignon blanc and chardonnay are next.   

Part of this rapid increase is a wider trend to grow more ‘international’ varieties -  chenin blanc is coming down – not surprising considering it used to comprise one-third of the vineyard area less than a generation ago, now down to less than 20% –  as well as colombard in the whites. Merlot and cabernet sauvignon are on the up, but not near the growth rate of shiraz, which has really become the flavour of the month.

Another part of the trend is the changing political situation in South Africa.  Su Birch, CEO of Wines of South Africa, the generic promotional organisation, pointed out just how young the industry is in real terms saying: “until 1992 you couldn’t plant grapes unless you had a quota from the KWV (a co-operative established in 1918 to stabilise the industry). And you could only export through the KWV. There was a pool of cheap and cheerful wines and 85% of the vineyard was colombard and chenin blanc.  In 1994 we achieved democracy. So we are only a 15 year old industry, and had to drag ourselves up from a low position.” 

The achievement of democracy has allowed producers to break out of traditional wine-growing regions and explore brand new ones, many of which are towards the coast – of both the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, and others have sought increasing altitude, not just for shiraz, but for other varieties too, notably sauvignon blanc.

Of course shiraz loves warmer climates, and South Africa has plenty of those, and this is one of the reasons it is thought to have so much potential in the country. It’s in these traditional regions where the earlier shiraz plantings are – Swartland, Paarl and Stellenbosch. One of the things that is new within the warmer regions is a trend to smaller scale production, with lower yields and more terroir-related results. People like Eben Sadie of Sadie Family Wines were one of the early ones, at the turn of the millennium, to make wines of acclaim in Swartland, with his Columella blend of mainly shiraz with some mourvèdre. 

Swartland, 50 miles north east of Cape Town, has seen a boom for shiraz. Prices were relatively inexpensive in this pretty hot, dry climate, which gets some differences in vineyard climate due to its relative proximity to the Atlantic Ocean, and this encouraged new winemakers wanting to make a name for themselves. Stalwart of the region though, with more than 60 years experience, is the Swartland Winery, representing 200 growers, and bringing in fruit from a 20 mile radius, which gives enough fruit character differences to offer interesting blending opportunities.

Sorting shiraz berries at Saronsberg

A little further inland,  to the north-east, is Tulbagh, with a continental climate, dry and hot during the day, though differences in day and night-time temperatures are also quite marked. Here, Saronsberg, whose first vintage was 2004, have more recently being making medal-winning shiraz. The shiraz 2006 won Gold at the Veritas and Double Gold at the Michaelangelo Awards in South Africa, and their Full Circle 2006 (shiraz, mourvèdre, viognier) also got Gold at Veritas and five stars (the maximum) in the UK’s Decanter magazine tasting.

Their winemaker, Dewaldt Heyns explained their rapid success: “It’s hot and we’ve adapted to the area. We’ve worked against the heat and abundant sunshine by changing row direction, the canopy system and trellising height and by lowering yield.” 

Given how recent is the surge in shiraz plantings, the vines at Saronsberg are quite old by comparison with many at an envious 10-12 years old, just coming into their prime. This no doubt plays a part in the consistent success the winery has had with their past few vintages, and Heyns added: “We want to create stunning wines. Our wines are fairly big and bold with a measure of elegance. We work with skins but we de-stem everything.  Our biggest bonus which helps a lot is our hand-sorting system, we have tight selection, and yields are very low, about 28 to 32 hl/ha.

“We also pre-cool the grapes before start anything. We take the temperature down very quickly; we were the first cellar in South Africa to use this system and we feel it helps with quality.” Of course he said “we pick early morning, and are finished by 9am.”

Saronsberg is making shiraz something of a speciality, and the variety accounts for 40% of their plantings. In trying to identify the reasons for their success, Heyns said: “we try to take all the small things you can do to make a better wine.  Each contributes a small amount, and you just need 1 or 2% to elevate the quality level to something different.”

La Motte's Edmund Terblanche

Saronsberg are the boutique end of things.  Total production is just 12,000 cases. But a different approach is that of La Motte.  They were an estate, meaning they could only use fruit grown on their property in Franschhoek, but they de-regulated which allows them to buy fruit from any wine-producing area in the country. As Edmund Terblanche, their winemaker, said: “this where the future lies – there’s too much diversity [in South Africa] to harvest just from one wine-farm.”  This is certainly something with which Australia is familiar.

It was in 2002, said Terblanche “that we decided to go for shiraz more, and make different styles.” It has become something of a flagship variety for them. They bought another vineyard 60 miles away in Bot River, near Walker Bay and these two wine-farms supply the bulk of La Motte’s needs. But said Terblanche “we also get fruit from Darling, Wellington, and Paarl, and lately we’re looking for more cool-climate grapes from emerging areas such as Elim.”

Terblanche is also the chairman of the Shiraz Association in South Africa, a group that hopes to emulate the achievements of the Pinotage Association. It was only last October they formally got together, and they are yet to decide a corporate identity and website. But, Terblanche said “we have the potential to become a strong body. Shiraz is the second most planted red. There are over 700 labels for shiraz in South Africa, yet in 1992 there were just 50. And South Africa is the fourth biggest producer of shiraz in the world.”

Mazon

Pinot noir is one of those grape varieties with an abundance of names.  In Italian, it’s called pinot nero, in German it’s spätburgunder. But it’s also called blauburgunder in German, and in Alto Adige this is often how it’s referred locally, though not necessarily on the label, especially for an international audience.

Mazon

One of the most highly regarded sites for pinot noir is the Mazon (Italian: Mazzon) plateau. This is in the relatively warmer southern part of the region to the east of the river Adige, on west and south facing slopes, with some cooling elevation from 350 to 450m. 

Weingut J. Hofstätter, in Tramin/Termeno is well-known for it pinot noir, which now accounts for about 20% of their production. Markus Heinel, winemaker since 2001, said the Mazon side of the valley “is cooler, you get the soft sun in the afternoon. There is a layer of porphyry and sandstone which is very good for the minerality of the wine. The altitude keeps the acidity on that cooler side of valley, ripening is slower and later than our side of the valley [at Tramin]. We have pinot noir and pinot blanc.”

The top Hofstätter pinot noir is named after Ludwig Ritter Barth von Barthenau who brought pinot noir to Alto Adige from Burgundy and planted it around Mazon in the late 19^th century. The estate was acquired by Foradori- Hofstätter family which has given them access to old vine fruit.  The fruit from 60 year old plus vines is reserved for the Barthenau Vigna San Michele pinot noir.

Hofstätter

Even the basic Hofstätter pinot noir uses some fruit from the Mazon plateau, and is labelled after the historic name of the Mazon hamlet – Meczan.

Mason

Just up from Tramin/Termeno is another producer aiming to make pinot noir one of their specialties. Tenuta Manincor is located in Kaltern/Caldaro, and owner Michael Goëss-Enzenberg said: “our pinot noir comes from Mason at 400m altitude. In our country pinot noir needs high elevation because we have a warm Mediterranean climate on south-inclined vineyards.”

Manincor’s Mason is named after their vineyard on the Kaltern side of the valley, the opposite side from the Mazon plateau.  In particularly good vintages they make a Mason di Mason. Goëss-Enzenberg said the aim for his pinot noir is ”deepness and delicacy and elegance.  We want to have elegant pinot noir fruit, very pure and persistent fruit that draws you back in.” And, he added, “we replanted 15 years ago to newer clones and trellising” as part of his quality drive. 

Thirty years ago the property sold its wines in bulk and Goëss-Enzenberg has been turning the estate around, having trained at Geisenheim in Germany, and Babcock Winery in California. 

Vinschgau/Val Venosta

In the far northwest of the region lies Val Venosta, an upstream extension of the Adige river as it flows in an east-north-easterly direction, before turning south-east towards Merano and on to Bolzano.  Here vineyards are on the south-east facing slopes, with a bit more altitude, from 500 to 800m. And here, pinot noir has recently been becoming something of a specialty. 

Unterortl

This is something of an extreme viticultural environment. The vineyards of Weingut Unterortl lie on steep south facing vineyards, 600 to 850m above sea level, amid rocky outcrops.  Their general manager, Martin Aurich, said the area is “high and open to the valley, it’s open to glaciers and open to cold climate,” adding “the wines have a mineral character because of their high content of acid.”  Harvest here is two weeks later than the main Adige valley.

Pinot noir is grown with pinot blanc and riesling.  Aurich said: “the quality is regular, but the weather and the wind can dry out the grapes. If the sugar became much higher it would become bitter.  We have the elegant point for pinot noir. Pinot noir is not a tannin monster, we have a sweet tannin that can be aged.”

Whilst pinot noir undoubtedly specifies a cool climate for its best expression, the winemaking approach is important not to lose the potential. All three producers here use a varying dose of 225 litre barrique, with up to a third mentioned as being new. They also use big oak, from 500 to 5,000 litres, which imparts only a little, if any, oak flavour and tannin. All of them are aiming for long-aged pinot noir.

Tasting notes, in situ, November 2009

Hofstätter, Crozzol Pinot Nero 2007
Pale ruby colour, bright and attractive, with aromatic smoke and toasty oak. Sweet attack, falling into fruitiness. Bright, crunchy fruit, neatly focused and elegant.  

Hofstätter Mazon Pinot Nero 2007
Translucent ruby; savoury, tar nose, with toast and spice. Phenols a little bit chewy in youth, with plenty of vibrant fruit mid palate. Nicely balanced mid palate, with a purity of redcurrant fruit running through the whole. 

Hofstätter Barthenau Pinot Nero 2007
Not yet on the market. Translucent medium ruby colour. Deep, pipe-tobacco smoke nose, full bodied and a hint balsamic still as the rich fruit is still absorbing the oak.

Hofstätter Barthenau Pinot Nero 2004 
Rim just turning away from youthful cherry. Sweet stewed berry attack leads into a lush-textured mid palate of lovely balance and dimension. Youthful.

Hofstätter Barthenau Pinot Nero 1998   
Garnet rim with a nose of mature undergrowth. Palate shows stewed cherry fruit with a savoury/sweet combo undergrowth finish. Elegant, silkily textured; really very classy.

Manincor Mason Pinot Noir 2007  
Pale ruby, fruit focused palate, clean and define. Fresh cherry with new oak peeking over the youthful fruit.

Manincor Mason di Mason 2007   
This comes from the heart of the vineyard, oldest vines now 15 years. Only made in the best vintages.  
Medium translucent cherry colour. Violet perfume; fruit a bit subdued due to recent bottling, but texture, weight and density are all refined, with lovely balance.  

Unterortl Castel Juval Blauburgunder/Pinot Nero 2007,
Medium pale translucent cherry colour. Aromatic strawberry nose, both spicy and lightly toasty, with a complexing tar note. Strawberry and redcurrant fruit is putting on a bit of weight in bottle, with poise to come.

Loacker Pinot nero 2007 Norital
Medium translucent ruby colour. Vibrant black cherry nose, with hint of tar at beginning of the quite full-bodied palate. Attractive varietal definition of warm cherry fruit, currently a little subdued by still-integrating toastiness.

This piece was inspired by a visit to the region in November 2009 sponsored by the Italian Trade Commission (ICE) and EOS, the export organisation of South Tyrol.

Bordeaux may get all the headlines, but there’s more syrah planted in France than cabernet sauvignon.  The Rhône valley has all the famous, top-notch vineyards, but they are tiny in comparison to total plantings, which are widespread across the whole south of France, where syrah is normally blended with grenache, plus cinsault, mourvèdre (mataro) and carignan.

Rhône valley vineyard

Things are quite regulated in the Rhône valley. And the northern Rhône is tiny in comparison to the southern Rhône. The northern ‘crus’ appellations including Cornas, Côte-Rôtie, Crozes-Hermitage, Hermitage and St. Joseph account for only 5% of total Rhône valley production.

The rest is from the broad rolling terrain of the southern Côtes du Rhône and Côtes du Rhône-Villages appellations as well as the likes of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Gigondas and Vacqueyras.

In total, France has about 70,000 ha of syrah spread over all these regions, compared to Australia’s 44,000.  But this is just 8.5% of the vineyard area in France whereas Australia has made a massive feature of shiraz, which accounts for more than a quarter of the country’s total vineyard area.

At the crème-de-la-crème end of syrah wine, Côte-Rôtie vies with Hermitage for top dog slot, and it’s often personal preference. They’re on different sides of the river, the ‘roasted slopes’ of Côte-Rôtie face the warm east and south, and the appellation allows the use of viognier in the blend, something that’s also become very trendy in Australia.  Meanwhile Hermitage is considered more muscular and tannic, the slopes face mostly west and south, and the wines must be made 100% of syrah.  The total production of these two appellations combined is in the region of 160,000 cases. Rarity value alone stretches the imagination.

The Hermitage appellation, at just 130 ha, is a hard, granite hill, an outcrop from France’s Massif Central, separated from it by the River Rhône. The river was forced to take a nearly west-east squiggle past the 344m high hill on its way south to the Mediterranean sea.  The west sides, those facing across the river to the Massif, are therefore all granite-based soils. On the east side of the hill, soil influences come more from the Alps, with glacial deposits.

Jaboulet Hermitage

One of the most iconic Hermitage wines is Jaboulet’s La Chapelle. This chapel of Saint Christopher has been owned by Maison Paul Jaboulet Aîné since 1919. Caroline Frey, their winemaker said: ”one of the particularities of La Chapelle is to blend all the different terroirs of Hermitage – Méal, Bessard, Rocoules, Murets – that’s why the wine is so complex and so well balanced, with such a long ageing potential.”

Michel Chapoutier, the seventh generation to run his eponymous business, whose L’Ermite wine is also from Hermitage added, with “the same grape you have different expressions in different soils – the granite part of Hermitage is graphite dominant, in Méal, you get ink.” On this basis a winemaker can choose whether to blend different parcels, as in La Chapelle, or create a unique expression of a single vineyard site, as in L’Ermite. 

Other appellations also have different expressions, he said: “Côte-Rôtie gives black olive and bacon, Cornas is fig leaves.” Chapoutier didn’t restrict his comments to France; he also works in Australia and said of his projects there “the Cambrian rock at Heathcote gives a concentration with ink and violet [and] in the Pyrenees, on schist, it is liquorice and pepper. Even with same clone, we have different expressions thanks to soil.” Terroir, or site-specificity clearly influences syrah’s flavours.

Côte-Rôtie is a little bigger than Hermitage, but still only musters 224 ha in total. It’s generally less tannic, and the best are more floral, fragrant and elegant than Hermitage. Guigal is one of the best regarded proponents of the appellation, and his single vineyard wines La Mouline, La Turque and La Landonne are some of the most sought-after wines.

Guigal Côte Blonde

Philippe Guigal, general manager and winemaker at E. Guigal took up the terroir theme for syrah in the northern Rhône. In terms of quality, he said: “high quality parameters are the vineyard and terroir, and the people behind the terroir. We have a lot of winemakers who counterbalance what is normally done by terroir and nature. On the Côte Blonde, we expect very fine, delicate wines. Brune has more tannins, more structure.” He said some winemakers might do more pumping over on Blonde fruit to counter its delicacy, But at Guigal he added, the “balance is the opposite: if the terroir says the wine should be fine and delicate, we want to keep the level of finesse and delicacy. And to keep the phenolic potential of Brune.” Their ‘Blonde et Brune’ Côte-Rôtie is a blend of fruit from these two vineyards. And the Guigal vineyards are co-planted with a tiny percentage of viognier, as permitted in the regulations. It is all picked at the same time and fermented together with the shiraz.

Given that the northern Rhône appellations account for just 5% of total Rhône production, it is no surprise that the main producers also run merchant businesses in the southern Rhône, buying in fruit and wine, blending it and bottling under their own label, for each appellation. In this respect it’s no different from the bigger Australian companies buying fruit in several regions.  Guigal’s Côtes du Rhône is probably one of the best known brands. Philippe Guigal said: “we taste blind finished samples on a large scale.  Every day [after harvest] we receive 50-60 samples and we select one or two each time. 90% of the time, we buy wine from the same people” even though the wines are tasted blind, which shows both the consistency of the tasting and of the growers.

There are more than 6,000 wine growers in the Rhône Valley, so this type of business is important for Rhône brands. The big southern Côtes du Rhône appellation has different regulations again, and here syrah is a contributor to the blend, which contains grenache, as well as mourvèdre. Syrah adds berry fruits, structure and some fine tannins to a Côtes du Rhône blend. Guigal’s usually has at least 50% syrah, and more in poorer vintages to preserve the structure, while Jaboulet’s Parallèle 45 is usually around 60% grenache with 40% syrah.

But it’s not just the bigger players that run their business as a combination of estate and merchant sectors. Château Mont-Redon started out as a Châteauneuf-du-Pape estate. But since the mid 1990s, said owner Jean Abeille “we conduct two different activities – producer with a wine range under the ‘Château Mont-Redon’ label and wine merchant activity under the ‘Monredon’ brand.” This keeps estate separate from brand, but more than hints at the link.  He said they started partly as a response to customer demand and also for their children who will one day inherit the business.  

So just in the Rhône valley, the wines may be 100% syrah, in the north, or 10% or more in a Côtes du Rhône blend – the original GSM (grenache, syrah/shiraz, mourvèdre) wines.  There’s also plenty of syrah planted in the Roussillon and Languedoc, all across the regions that border the warm Mediterranean Sea, offering syrah a climate that makes it smile.

In the last decade (barely the blink of an eye in viticultural terms) something’s been going on around the coastline of South Africa’s Western Cape, where the winelands are concentrated.

Sauvignon blanc at Cederberg

The old bureaucratic control boards were disbanded in the mid 1990s, which meant that suddenly, growers could plant grapes wherever they wanted, and there’s been a rush to the coasts to find the most maritime-influenced climates possible. 

The variety being planted in these cooler coastal regions is mostly sauvignon blanc. And the flavours in the wines suggest the Kiwis will finally have some competition on the cards for their Marlborough ‘savvies’.  

South Africa might be warm to hot in climatic terms, but a combination of moderating maritime and near-maritime influence, plus some skilful management of the vine canopy to shade grape bunches from the heat, while allowing in light for photosynthesis, has resulted in wines with a range of flavours from green-grassy herbaceousness, through zesty citrus fruit, figs and asparagus, into more tropical guava and passionfruit flavours, all with a steely core of freshening acidity vibrating up their backbones.  Exactly the sort of stuff we love in the UK, and can’t get enough of from the Kiwis.

One of the things that is making these flavours possible is the cold ocean current called the Benguela current which runs up the west coast of Africa.  It’s travelled all the way from the Antarctic. This helps cool down temperatures near the coast.  Fryer’s Cove vineyard, 300km north of Cape Town, is right on the windy Atlantic coast, just a few hundred metres from the ocean, while the Darling Hills, about 75km north of Cape Town, are more like 10km inland, and wine producers say they still get cooling westerly breezes coming off the ocean.

Elsewhere, Elgin is about an hour’s drive east of Cape Town. It’s a natural bowl, surrounded on all sides by mountains, and is a heartland of apple and pear production.  And now wine. With lots of sauvignon blanc. Elgin Vintners’ sauvignon blanc comes from fruit grown on the undulating valley floor, while Iona’s vineyards are higher on the southern-boarding mountain slopes, nearest to the ocean and both have pristine flavours.

Wind here is also a big feature helping to cool the temperatures, with the typical afternoon southwesterlies cooling the vine climate by 4-5°C up to 15km inland, depending on the local topography, which is pretty hilly. As the land heats up during the day, air rises, pulling in cool breezes off the oceans. But, to liberally mix metaphors, the proof of the pudding is in the wine: see what your think of these:

Majestic: Neil Ellis Sauvignon Blanc 2007 Groenekloof, Darling Hills £9.99 when you buy 2 bottles
Stone, Vine & Sun : Fryer’s Cove, Sauvignon Blanc 2008, West Coast, £9.95  
Tesco: Elgin Vintners Sauvignon Blanc 2008, Elgin, £9.99
Waitrose: Iona Sauvignon Blanc 2008 Elgin, £9.99

Grüner veltliner is Austria’s flagship white grape variety, and to give some idea of its quality and ageing potential, the very best have beaten Burgundian chardonnays in blind tasting assessments of quality. 

Steep Wachau vineyards

Grüner veltliner covers about a third of Austria’s entire vineyard area.  But because Austria is a niche producer – the whole country produces only three-quarters what Champagne produces – it can be a challenge finding the wines in the UK. And because they’re such great food wines, it may even be easier to find them in restaurants, mid-market and posher.

What to expect? Firstly, a bit like chardonnay, it comes in many different guises, from a light bodied aperitif style, to a full-blown, full-bodied, give-me-some-serious-food style, which can age for decades. It’s this latter style that competes so effectively against white Burgundy. 

The classic lighter-bodied interpretation of the aperitif style is of white pepper, with a peppery-spice note. The acidity is fresh, but not as zesty as sauvignon blanc or as racy as riesling and there can be a bit more weight than aperitif sauvignon blancs and rieslings. The styles go all the way up to full bodied, which take on a honeysuckle, even baked honey note, with a fatter, creamy texture of body, rich aromatic spices and concentrated peach or apricot fruit. There’s not usually any overt oaky influence in any style.

Most grüner veltliner is grown in Lower Austria – Niederösterreich.  Get used to this name because it will appear on more Austrian wine bottles in line with some new wine laws they’ve brought in. Niederösterreich has about 27,000 hectares of vineyards: still pretty niche by winemaking standards – it’s less than one quarter the size of the Bordeaux vineyards. Within Niederösterreich, the best grüner veltliners come from regions along the Danube, about an hour west of Vienna, so in easy striking distance from the rigours of the urban cultural environment.  The Kamptal, Kremstal and Wachau all produce really good examples. As with Burgundy, single vineyard wines, not just grüner veltliner  but riesling too, are the norm.  Which makes the niche production even more micro-scale.

Domäne Wachau

For as good an introduction as any to this grape variety, try the readily available Felsner from Waitrose.  The other examples are a few pegs more serious: extra weight, complexity, spice, concentration of fruit, a more seamless texture, longer lasting flavour.  They’re all cracking wines.

Both Noel Young and Nick Dobson have large ranges of Austrian wines, not just grüner veltliner.  So often it is a case of once tried, forever smitten.

www.nickdobsonwines.co.uk: Weingut Hirsch, Grüner Veltliner Lamm 2006, Kamptal, £17.80
Noel Young Wines: Kurt Angerer Gruner Veltliner ‘Loam’ 2006, Kamptal  £15.65
Waitrose: Domäne Wachau, Grüner Veltliner Achleiten Smaragd 2007, Wachau £15.99
Waitrose: Felsner Grüner Veltliner Moosburgerin 2008 Kremstal  £8.99

Central Otago

Despite their very short history of production, there are some really classy pinot noirs from both islands, though as in Burgundy, it’s still a case of know-your-producer.  And the country is setting its sights high. David Cox, director – Europe, for New Zealand Winegrowers, the generic body that promotes NZ wine abroad, said “if anyone is going to turn die hard old world pinot noir lovers over to the new world, then New Zealand can do it.”

He added New Zealand pinot noir was getting an “increasing reputation around the world and in the UK. They’re getting better and better each year: the vines have been in the ground longer, and they’re getting confident about pushing regionality and stylistic differences in the five main regions” for pinot noir.

Pinot Noir Regionality?

Those top five regions account for 95% of plantings:

Source for both: NZ Winegrowers

For me, Central Otago stands out as having an aromatic and primary-fruited focus, with a sweet succulence of fruit density that’s not often matched elsewhere.  The Otagans are even sub-sub-dividing their styles, but let’s not go there just yet.

Some pinot noir from Martinborough does seem to have an earthy, forest floor/forest berry component, and can be a more full-bodied style, but still within the pure pinot noir genre.  I’ve also found notable earthiness and weight in some Canterbury/Waipara examples.

Marlborough may lead the plantings field, but it is also notably variable, and sometimes patchy, in style and quality. We’re told Marlborough has bright red fruits such as cherry and raspberry, and a lean core of acidity, and I do find these in some wines.

Whether regional styles are truly emerging or wines are still more a reflection of individual winemaker philosophy is still a subject for discussion. The New Zealand pinot noir industry is still too young to observe categorical differences.

For the new 2008 and 2007 pinot noir releases onto the market, tasting notes below, I wasn’t aware of particularly strong regional identities, more aware of good wines and less good wines.

General observations from the tasting include:

• the idea of perfume as a quality indicator – those wines with enticing aromatics also tended to show well on the palate.
• the fact you need to pay at least £15 to have the chance of getting something decent
• tasting lushness and sweetness of fruit does not contradict with a dry wine.
• the subtlety of tannin volume and texture is crucial to quality perception.

A selection of my tasting notes, November 11, 2009  

Escarpment, The Edge Pinot Noir 2008, Martinborough, £10.75
Bright cherry red; aromatic sweet allspice perfume and stewed raspberries; lush, sweet attack and mid palate with fresh acidity. Quite full body, but good fresh fruit with hints of cinnamon spice. Good flavour at this level, mid length finish.

Escarpment, Pinot Noir  2008, Martinborough, £17.25
Translucent cherry red; aromatic spice, long palate length; sweet, smooth texture, some good refinement of texture and volume of fruit. Medium to full-bodied, with hint of aromatic tar and marmalade-toast. Rich palate fruit and good length of finish. Very nicely balanced and wholesome.

Old Coach Road, Pinot Noir 2008, Nelson, £9.99 
Pale cherry red; lifted spiky redcurrant nose, some restrained fruit, with hints of allspice in the background; perky freshness without mid palate succulence, but with mid palate restraint. Gentle red fruits, nicely balanced with fresh acidity, medium-ish weight, and no great complexity.

Waimea Pinot Noir 2008, Nelson £11.99
Mid cherry colour, faintly confected red cherry nose, cheers up on the palate into straightforward red cherry fruit, nice fruit, though no great complexity.

Babich Winemakers Pinot Noir Reserve 2008, Marlborough, £ 11.99
Stewed forest berry fruit, but other than that and mid-pale cherry colour, difficult to recognise as pinot noir. Alcohol of 14% becomes too evident on the back palate.

Villa Maria Cellar Selection Pinot Noir 2008, Marlborough, £12.99
Medium translucent ruby; sweet blackberry on the nose, lacking a bit of perkiness mid palate which makes the fruit appear flabby; nice black cherry fruit comes through on the palate. OK, but doesn’t shine.

Hunter’s Pinot Noir 2008, Marlborough, £12.95
Medium translucent cherry; aromatic allspice and cinnamon nose with strawberry compote notes peeking through, fresh palate attack, red berry fruits to the fore, with attractive slippery texture, and rich intensity of primary fruit mid palate. Lifted medium palate, finishes a tad short, otherwise nicely balanced. Very decent.

Momo Pinot Noir 2008, Marlborough, £12.95
Medium pale cherry; nose is a bit weedy – leafy; palate attack has an edge which softens mid palate into a black cherry spectrum allowing sweetness of fruit to emerge. Medium-plus weight and sweet succulence comes out nicely. Warming 14% alcohol is noticeable but not dominant. Sweet finish.

Framingham Pinot Noir 2008, Marlborough, £12.99
Medium deep black cherry; spicy, almost mulled nose, which is not replicated on the palate. Palate is still dark berry fruited. Full bodied for a pinot noir. Rich, sweet density and volume of fruit. 13.5% seems a little warm on this wine. A bit rustic.

Jackson Estate, Vintage Widow Pinot Noir 2008, Marlborough, £14.99
Pretty deep ruby, not opaque by any standards, but dark. Nose a bit closed, hint grippy and oaky on the palate attack. This softens into sweet, glycerol-laden black berry and cherry fruit. Not subtle or delicate, in the bruising style of pinot noir, but not necessarily unattractive for that. Long finish.

Staete Landt, Pinot Noir 2008, Marlborough, £15.95
Medium translucent red cherry; perky freshness, attractive, fresh, crunchy red cherry, with some sandalwood complexity, medium weight. Lean rather than lush – a Marlborough thing?

Huia, Pinot Noir 2008, Marlborough, £16.00
Medium deep translucent black cherry; savoury and red cherry nose, lush red berry fruit, with freshening acid core; focus on primary fruit without too much complexing character; finish has the faintest hint of a bitter note.

Saint Clair, Pioneer Block 14, Pinot Noir 2008, Marlborough, £17.99
Medium translucent cherry red; perfume and wild strawberries on the nose; linear attack of sweet raspberries and redcurrants; enchanting slender and aromatic mid palate, fresh core with restraint and some magnetism. Decent palate length.

Saint Clair, Pioneer Block 4, Pinot Noir 2008, Marlborough, £17.99
Medium translucent dark cherry; hint leafy on the nose, palate attack also so, but also has slippery rich texture and dark berry fruits. Some savoury notes add a hint of complexity, but I’d like to see a little less leafiness.

Mt Difficulty, Roaring Meg Pinot Noir 2008, Central Otago, £13.99
Medium pale red cherry; smells a bit sharp; simple crunchy red cherry fruit on the palate; adequate, possibly even decent at the price, but not quite what the region or the variety can do well.

Quartz Reef Pinot Noir 2008, Central Otago £15.00
Medium translucent red cherry; dusky cherry nose; sandalwood and spicy wood notes overlay subtle sweet red fruits; hints of savouriness, with a core of refining acidity. Has lush, sweet, dark brooding cherry mid palate, spicy finish. Some nice notes of non-fruity complexity, which make it stand out. Alcohol of 14.5% is very well integrated but does just pop up on the finish.

Carrick Crown & Cross Pinot Noir 2008, Central Otago, £17.95
Medium pale red cherry; muted nose, bit lightweight on aromatics, and with a dusky mid palate note. Fresh acid core, but I’d expect it to show better. Alcohol of 14.5% is not best integrated.

Mt Difficulty Pinot Noir 2008, Central Otago, £19.99
Medium red cherry; soft spice red cherry compote; enthralling fruit attack, soft fruit mid palate, with fresh acid backbone, delicate and slender; attractive fresh finish of some elegance creates very good impression.

Felton Road, Block 5 Pinot Noir 2008, Central Otago, £29.00
Medium cherry red; dark cherry and graphite nose falling into sweet dark cherry palate, with the smooth depth of a black hole you can’t help but want to fall into. Refined and layered; integrated and beautifully balanced. Sublime.

Neudorf, Tom’s Block Pinot Noir 2007, Nelson, £16.00
Medium pale ruby; smoky red cherry lift; sweet/dry combo fruit attack, slippery texture, dark, brooding cherry palate, supremely smooth and enticing, dark chocolate and savoury back palate notes and very long; flinty notes tucked away in the layers.

Neudorf, Moutere Pinot Noir 2007, Nelson £26.00
Medium cherry red; graphite and cherry nose, sweet cherry and tamarind palate attack. Understated, refined palate, very smooth, long and textured with layers of complexity; savoury/umami sensation; supple, subtle texture and well-proportioned weight. Sweet fruit with dry core, acidity fresh yet swathed in richness of fruit and texture making it very good.

Clos Henri, Pinot Noir 2007, Marlborough, £18.00
Bit reductive nose which blows off; dark crunchy fruit but no great subtlety; dark, slatey notes among tangy dark chocolate, cherry and tamarillo; some good complexity and depth

Spy Valley, Envoy Pinot Noir 2007, Marlborough, £21.49
Medium translucent ruby; lifted stewed cherries; quite full bodied without elegance making it a little rustic.

Cloudy Bay Pinot Noir 2007, Marlborough, £25.00
Medium translucent ruby; dark spices on the nose, rich mixed berry compote palate, with sweet core and lush texture; could be a tad fresher on the core? Rich, fat style with supple texture.

Seresin, Rachel Pinot Noir 2007, Marlborough, £25.00
Medium deep cherry; sandalwood and allspice aromatic perfumed nose, enticing sweet red berry fruit palate, silky texture, succulent, complexing black pepper twist mid palate, lush and complex; more-ish in a simple, focused spectrum.

Seresin, Raupo Creek Pinot Noir 2007, Marlborough, £25.00         
Medium deep cherry; spicy, hints graphite, lush and savoury palate core. Full weighted palate, without being full bodied – the weight of lush sweet berry fruit;  palate fresh and complex, enticing, smooth and delicately spiced. Long finish.

Pegasus Bay, Pinot Noir 2007, Waipara, £22.50
Medium pale bright red cherry; toasted spice nose; full bodied dark berry fruit with smooth, succulent texture, dark chocolate and blueberries. Full, rich, alcohol on the finish but integrated mid palate. In the big, rich, not-quite-bruising style of pinot noir.