Autumn!
Good morning! Welcome to another edition of What's My Wine! And what is your wine? Indeed... I have an eclectic selection for you this week; one that seems fitting as we move from the sunshine of summer, into the cooler, mistier temperatures of autumn . . . So Excited for you to try these selections!
There are six for you to choose from, ranging from a Pet'Nat' cider and wine blend, THAT'S RIGHT! AND IT’S TASTY! An Orange Riesling from Cali; an all natural blend of Syrah and Grenache, an Argentinian light red Pais (almost Rosato) an obscure blend of red grapes from obscurantist, Jeff Vejr (Vinous Obscura...Obscure indeed!) AND a truly gulpable... Glouglou-able Xarel-lo from Catalunya.... All told: France, Catalunya, Argentina, California, and Oregon. Read on!
1. Andréa Calek, Widr, 2019 Wine/Cider- $43 Is it wine, is it cider? it is both, to great effect. Amazingly elegant, effervescent and lovely... Andréa transported a blend of Grenache & Syrah to Normandy, where compatriot, Cyril Zang, Norman cidermaker, re-fermented the new must with a blend of his apples, to create this bridge nectar...of, What?! Cider? Wine? Fruit beer? fairy juice? Yes to all that. A beautiful example of expanding boundaries and detonating expectations. What's it like? Tobacco and cherry, a fruity e-cig for the soul, only real and really tasty...did I say, tasty?
2. Andréa Calek, A Toi Nous, Vin de France- $28 Since we're on Calek, let's take into consideration A toi nous, Andréa and partner, Stéfana's super dynamic blend of Syrah(90%) and Grenache (10%) from the southern Ardeche... Light and full of light, the blend from 36 year old vines, was whole cluster fermented in fibre glass vessels, 18 days on skins, with 7 months fermentation before bottling and release. We had lunch with Andrea and Stéfana, during a visit in June, at Le Mazel, where Andrea honed his craft and collaborated with Gerald and Jocelyne Oustric, before establishing their own project. Calek, along with Le Mazel, have become the central hive of some amazing projects that are pouring into and out of the area, with Gerald and Co. as reluctant pipers at the gates of dawn...
3. Alvaro Gonzalez, Xarel-lo, 1 litre, Catalunya- $23 This wine was supposed to be in the last release, but supply came and went, and so, it was replaced by the A Temps Xarel-lo, also from Gonzalez. You'll notice it's the same price as its 750ml counterpart, but with 250ml more wine! To be fair, this is a younger vine wine, not quite as rich on the palate as the A Temps... this is more focussed with salinity and a nod to the beach. Yes! I know the sun is reseeding to the south, yes, it is the first day of Autumn as I write this, but I couldn't refuse the mushrooms on the label and, the wine is lovely! This is your supply wine that you want to buy in multiples, and keep for you and your gatherings of friends and family in the coming months.
4. Rocamadre, Criolla, Uco Valley $28 (Moody mountain moonscape in upper left panel) Wine making team, husband and wife Juanfa Suarez & Cecelia Duran, live and have vines planted, at 3600 feet, in a small subzone of the Uca Valley- Paraje Altamira. This is the almost lunar landscape of the Andes foothills, Argentina. Criolla Grande is the varietal. 80 year old vines, irrigated by snowmelt from the Andes. Pais, and Muscat Alexandrine, were brought to Argentina by missionaries and Criolla Grande, is a cross of these two grapes. The resultant wine from this light skinned varietal, is a light red, almost rosato style, with much fragrance and perfume, as one might expect from Muscat. But the resuIting wine is the perfect match of scent and blood; the perfect transition wine for this time of year, as we move into the cooler temps of autumn.
5. AmByth, Riesling OW, Santa Barbara/Santa Ynez Valley 2021- $47 (Swirly, colorful patterned bottle in upper left panel) Super fresh, super natural loveliness from this Paso Robles band of wine makers and storytellers... I recommend checking out their website! AmByth Estate Nothing but nature goes into the wine making here, with all cuvées foot trodden, natural yeast fermented, no sulfites added. The dry, skin contact Riesling is a live electric current from the moment it enters your mouth, until long after it disappears down your throat. Fragrant as fuck, with lime and wet stone scent, and a presence that is only enhanced by its time on the skins. The wine has heft, without being overblown. Grapes were macerated on skins for 4 days, before pressing into clay amphorae, for a nine month fermentation, then, bottling unfiltered and unfined.
6. Vinous Obscura, Merci André Jacquinet, Garanoir & Regent, 2021 Willamette Valley- $35 The last bottle on offer is a wine from Jeff Vejr, of Golden Cluster. Jeff makes wine under a number of other project names, each with a specific nod in a direction, only he understands, but it is specific... YES! Vinous Obscura is his project which bottles Obscure grapes, from obscure traditions and obscure obscurity . . . one might accuse Vejr of being an Obscurantist, but let's not, and the wine is brilliant! This is a blend of two different varietals, themselves developed in Switzerland (Garanoir) & Germany (Regent) respectively. They were developed to help grapes grow in cooler climates, André Jacquinet was the man behind Garanoir, which is a cross between Gamay Noir and Reichensteiner). The wine is inky purple in color, which belies the fact that this is not an extracted wine, on the palate. It tastes like Dornfelder and looks like it too... and you might ask, what is dornfelder, and what does that taste like? It tastes like a cross between gamay noir and cab franc, grown in stoney soils, pushing up sinewy vines, leading to sinewy wines choked with black berry and raspberry... with some black pepper thrown in for good measure.
That's the offer for this week!
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