Austria and Loire Wines for May

My current favorites:

2008 Domaine Gasnier Chinon "Les Graves"

Beautiful Cabernet Franc from near the banks of the Vienne. The Gasnier bros. craft ethereal Chinon. So much complexity and concentration seemingly held up on air, almost like culinary foam: Raspberry, frutti di bosco, graphite, violets.

2002 Cazin Cour-Cheverny "Cuvée Renaissance"

Artisan grown, small production Romorantin in what approaches a demi-sec style, with well defined minerality, soft honeyed fruit and a sophisticated acidity that careens slowly towards powerful, even addicting sweet and sour lemon. Beautiful, lingering finish of dried treefruit, subtle vanilla read more...and a distinct, E.V.O. oil fruitiness.

2007 Hajszan "Gemischter Satz" Weissleiten

It's probably one of the most interesting wines I have ever encountered. A nuanced, biodynamic Viennese field blend of eleven varieties. Delicate complexity that slowly unfolds: white pepper, quince, dried apricot, herbs, stones, preserved lemon, soft vanilla and some strawberry juice.

2007 Stadlmann Pinot Noir Classic

A sustainably grown Pinot Noir from just south of Vienna. Stadlmann doesn't seek to emulate or imitate any other style, so this is an honest, sophisticated and satisfying Pinot Noir. Forward nose, beautiful red fruit concentration (strawberry, preserved cherries), perfect acidity and a spicy layer of peppercorns, read more...all coming in at 12.5% abv.

2007 Moric Blaufränkisch

Pure finesse, though it also tastes like something out of a completely different era. Elegant perfume quality to the cherry and other berry fruit, with many layers of structure and intense flavor (spice, minerals, cocoa) on such a deceptively light seeming red.

My Current Chianti Classico Favorites

I'm not really all too sure of how to account for my recent Chianti Classico phase, though for what it's worth, here are my two current regulars. Just like with the finely handcrafted Crianza Rioja wines I've tasted in the Basque country recently, we can all access the possibility of experiencing a revelation without needing to skip instantly to the reserves. Isole e Olena and Poggio al Sole are two Classico producers that exemplify this notion:

2006 Isole e Olena Chianti Classico

Easy to see why Paolo de Marchi is one of the world's pre-eminent artisan producers. This is one of those wines which easily transcend their appellation council's stipulations. Gorgeous amarena cherry liqueur, tobacco, spice and violet hints. Sensational nose, with very good acidity, along with soft and refined tannins. A great value for artisan Chianti Classico.


2007 Poggio al Sole Chianti Classico

This is what conscientiously grown Sangiovese is capable of conveying. A word of caution for those who tend to swift judgment, this wine is nobility attempting to masquerade as a modest peasant. Give it two or three hours and pay attention to everything is says to you and its use of diction. I loved the perfume of cherries and red fruit, solid herb and spice backdrop, refreshing acidity, as well as subtle, elegant use of oak. The experience is like a still life that reaches out to invite you in. A real must try.

An Update

Although a reliable and relatively inexpensive broadband connection was not easy to come by in the last months, our time in Euskadi was still a very positive experience. There has been an absence of posts here because I also thought it more beneficial to come to a full stop and take a needed period of respite to taste, live and reflect on Rioja, Rioja Alavesa and several other northern Spanish production areas with which I became more familiar in the closing months of 2009. My relationship with writing has always provided me with immense pleasure, learning and even comfort at times. Though this has certainly not changed by any measure, I'm not altogether sure if I feel the same about the whole wine/food/niche blogging thing anymore. Rather than visiting (and for me, revisiting constantly) this troublesome topic with you, I prefer to concur with Pepe Bianco, editor and friend to J.L. Borges whose literary output was modest because of his predilection for reading and reflection over publishing for its own sake.

After another WSET milestone completed and another year to develop and learn, I look forward to the challenges and possibilities ahead. In terms of publishing, I will continue to send out some updates and plenty of Snooth posts, which will mainly be disseminated via my Twitter, Identi.ca and Tumblr feeds. With that in mind, I have an entire notebook full of great Rioja wines to share in the months ahead. Many thanks again and best wishes for 2010.

Looking Beyond Torrontés —The Red Wines of Salta

Argentina’s rugged northwest, namely the provinces of Salta, Jujuy and Tucumán, are often ascribed otherworldly qualities in the types of guidebooks one would consult when contemplating a visit. The dreamscapes one can find in places like Talampaya and la Quebrada could easily lead one to suspect that wine, let alone any other form of agriculture would be an unlikely, if not altogether unfruitful venture. Nevertheless, viticulture has been widely practiced in Salta, albeit with better manifestations more recently, since the Spanish undertook their enterprise of colonizing the area in the 16th century.

Quality wine production in Salta, however, has come quite a long way since the days of a viticulture that solely served its purpose on the altar at mass. The Calchaquí and Cafayate valleys are two particularly exceptional zones, where viticulture is practiced in one of its extreme forms. The challenges involved here in Salta go much beyond considerations such as arid soils and extreme temperatures. Some winemakers, defiantly, have successfully harnessed these challenges and the staggering altitudes to craft unique and expressive wines. The altitude and extremes between daytime and night time temperatures contribute to a seemingly tantric ripening period for several white and black varieties, resulting in exquisite acidity levels in the wines. You have probably already heard recently of Argentina’s native aromatic variety, Torrontés. Salta’s terroir is where this highly idiosyncratic white variety expresses its benchmark floral, pungent characteristics. You may have tried some from Mendoza, though I assure you these cannot even approach the best of Salta’s Torrontés in terms of complexity.

The point of this post, though, transcends that which you already know and has been discussed about Salta’s success with Torrontés. In fact, leave the Torrontés to the side for just a moment, and please turn your gaze towards the unbelievable red wines of Salta, which in case you care about staying ahead of the curve, will begin garnering quite a bit of attention in the near future. In effect, this all largely stems from the fact that in recent years, some of the best producers from within Salta, as well as from Mendoza, have purchased and developed Salta’s viticultural real estate in order to pursue their craft in a completely different terroir altogether. The likes of Susana Balbo, Colomé and Michel Torino, to name a few, are all taking advantage of the acidity levels in high-altitude ripening fruit to offer up versatile, distinctive wines made from Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon and Tannat, the star behind southwest France’s Madiran.

I think that now might just represent that opportune moment to quietly learn about and appreciate these Salta reds—especially since a handful of Salta-produced Torrontés have cleaned up medals at award ceremonies, as well as done the rounds in way too many “undiscovered wine pairings” local morning show segments where overly energetic hosts obnoxiously insert the Spanish ‘ñ’ phoneme where it’s unnecessary in the pronunciation of many Italian and Spanish culinary terms. At any rate, the bottom line here is that given the current economic climate, the exchange rates involved, and the surging growth in Argentine exports to the United States, it would be very rewarding for you to become acquainted with the other quality production regions outside of the Mendoza area. I encourage you to swiftly and stealthily make your way over to retailers who pour and offer treasures from San Juan, La Rioja (Famatina Valley), Salta, Neuquén and other areas, before the glossy magazines rate them and start to offer shockingly original pairing suggestions such as, let’s see, a medium-rare steak. On my end, I promise to taste and offer faithful snapshots of some of these wines that have begun to trickle into the UK market and will subsequently appear on American distribution lists.

What should I be on the look-out for, you might ask, then? As far as promising, expressive red varieties from Salta at the moment, Tannat and Malbec are on center stage, though pay close attention to Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah, as I can easily foresee some truly exceptional and absurdly inexpensive examples coming through very soon. Regrettably, whenever fine new examples from any wine region begin to garner even the slightest bit of attention or praise from large-dissemination media, prices spike like a thermometer during a heat wave; as, surely, this will shortly be the case with the spectacular Chilean Pinot Noir wines that have recently stepped onto the scene. Take my advice—taste now and stock up soon—because it will get more expensive and decidedly more frustrating (read: annoying) in the near future.

Salta Red Playlist:

*2007 El Esteco Tannat—Michel Torino’s Mendoza-farmed wines are widely regarded as honest, expression-driven wines in the internal Argentine market; though, I suppose this is why they may not be as widely available on international markets. The family’s estate in the Calchaquí valley is no exception to the rule, crafting Tannat that has completely changed the way I perceive the variety. Most of the New World stand-alone Tannat I have tasted (sorry, Uruguay), has been a bit rough around the edges to a point beyond which it was acceptable—easily letting one envision why it is blended so well in Madiran. Michel Torino’s Esteco Tannat stands alone, unoaked, featuring elegant black fruit flavors that are not baked in the least, with a sophisticated mouthfeel for such a young example of the variety. Concentrated black fruit dominates the palate, with nuances of mint, chocolate and rustic spice—all subdued and playing well together. I love how this wine doesn’t seem contrived to me, not concealing aspects of Tannat that export markets generally repudiate —it seems crafted to interpret the variety’s character through Salta’s terrains. I was very happy with this one—the antithesis to the lazy if not even inept winemaking mentality that reds which are not oak-petrified will not express themselves suitably on their own.

*2006 Cornejo Costas Don Rodolfo Label Malbec—Think you have Malbec’s personality nailed down expertly because you tasted up and down the Mendoza aisle? Think again—this is an entirely different expression of Malbec. Blackcurrant dominates the fruit side of things, along with some impressive red berry acidity to add balance. It features lovely, concentrated spice and toast, with vanilla being nowhere in sight, thankfully.

*2005 Cornejo Costas Don Rodolfo Label Tannat—Think cassis,black cherry and a mature texture evincing finesse, alongside dried tobacco leaf and dusted cocoa.

The Wines of Susana Balbo and Pedro Marchevsky: A New World Paradox and a New Paradigm

I have long been an admirer of Susana Balbo and her partner in crime, Pedro Marchevsky. If you are not entirely familiarized with what they do, stated simply—they are Argentina’s artisan wine power couple. For one, Susana Balbo is one of Argentina’s most celebrated enologists, as well as the current President of Wines of Argentina. Her husband and partner, Pedro Marchevsky, holds a distinguished faculty position at Mendoza’s Universidad Nacional de Cuyo.

The most important thing to consider, however, is that they are together blazing a path for Argentine wines that in my view at least, all New World wine producers should closely follow. Through their joint Dominio del Plata winery, as well as their own labels (BenMarco, Crios and Nosotros), Susana and Pedro craft highly expressive, idiosyncratic wines that represent intelligent values at several price points. The ethos underlying their production centers on extracting a faithful imprint of the Argentine terroirs they work with (various Mendoza and Salta microclimates), and in the process, stating a very distinctive point of view in the process. If we regard this point of view alongside Sartre’s assertion that no action lacks deliberate political connotations, then in Susana and Pedro’s wines, we can discern what a amounts to a categorical refusal to pursue one-note, Mendozan imitations of classic old world styles. Nevertheless, I feel that we should step back for a moment to consider what this winemaking philosophy actually implies in Argentina, as well as what it can imply across various New World contexts.

The horizon has changed dramatically throughout the whole of Argentina’s wine panorama during the last few decades. In my grandparents’ time, which does not span so many decades ago from now, well before the age of origin-branded marketing and the great race to export en masse, the consumer’s range of choices in the country’s internal market closely mirrored Australia and California’s. People used to pick up bottles of imaginatively labeled “Chablis,” “Bourgogne” and “Bordeaux,” among several other, imitative yet unflattering possibilities. If during these times, one was naive enough to ponder whether the quality of an Argentine wine would ever be prized or sought-after by anyone outside of the country, the reaction would have been marked with a great deal of sarcasm and condescension. Furthermore, to have proposed that the Mendozan producer should stray away from the classic paradigm (generally Bordeaux), would have only elicited further ridicule.

When reconsidering the contemporary scene, however, I realize that it has been the dedicated labor of visionaries such as Susana and Pedro who have shown other producers the way in terms of crafting wines that convey true expression of their origin and individuality. Ironically and much to the chagrin of the global style homogenization evangelists (see Mondovino), Pedro and Susana’s wines have garnered considerable acclaim, all without having had to sacrifice authenticity and go the way of taking the advice of Michel Rolland and other “Flying Winemakers.” (Once again, I cite Mondovino as a seminal source for a more complete background on the phenomenon).

Quite sadly, there is an large market presence of Argentine, as well as other New World wines that conform to the global, homogenized style predicated by such “consultants” all over the world’s major export markets. Despite it being quite easy for a wine producer to be seduced by their rationale, I have no reservation, as an Argentine, in regarding their advice and agenda on par with that of the IMF and World Bank’s neoliberal guidelines that, along with some already shaky Argentine leadership, lead to economic ruin in the past few decades. Why do I equate these types of recommendations under the same analogy? Very simply put, the wine style homogenization gurus as well as the failed neoliberal trade models (FF to min. 18) are both centered on the faulty notion of a one-way street relationship between the supplier and the demands of its clientele. In the context of Argentina’s political economy policies, the IMF and World Bank used the leverage of illegitimately acquired debt (military dictatorship) to enslave the nation, at all costs, to serving the specific demands of its trade partners. In turn, when we consider this type of mentality in the context of the wine trade, in turn, should people like Rolland have their way, Argentina’s producers would theoretically be well-off, though incapable of producing and exporting actual Argentine wine anymore. The ironic, Twilight-Zone-esque quality of this scenario would ultimately amount to a strange relation of servitude where the production goals of a nation with an actual wine heritage would largely be dictated by those from nations with, generally, no wine heritages to speak of, where wine is simply a luxury good no different than a designer handbag. How ironic—a world in which a boring, upper middle-class Japanese or American management type with a cooler-wine cellar would be able lecture me on what the wines from my country are supposed to taste like. It is when considering these grim scenarios and quasi-realities when I am most grateful for Susana and Pedro’s example.

In light of the above considerations, Susana and Pedro’s achievements are unbelievable when considering the pressures of the points-based, often fashion-inspired, consumer manipulation machine that New World producers have had to contend with in the most rewarding export markets they seek entry into. This unfortunate reality rewards certain producers for very particular styles (mostly “easy drinking,” globalized ones), regardless of origin, resulting in the hyping and artificially inflated and increasingly unaffordable prices for those wines. It is precisely when one considers the ramifications of the complete picture, the whole cycle, when one starkly realizes that Susana and Pedro’s wines truly represent an exception to the rule. Their great international success verges on the allegorical because it can serve as a viable example, yet transcends mere irony and luck; it represents a new possibility that completely changes the way in which this game can be played. Think about it: A New World winemaker sustainably farms fruit, handcrafts expressive, elegant wines that score incredibly well with the wine press, as well as with consumers’ pocketbooks. Once uncorked at home, the wine itself transports the consumer to Luján de Cuyo and entirely informs their impressions of that land, not a “consulting winemaker.”

Upon tasting these wines, one comes away with a sense that this manner of production can truly lift Argentina beyond the threshold of being considered a classic region into something that would well approach more of a critical consensus—and amazingly, at no cost to the country’s image or integrity. The chapters of our national narrative that precede these times, from the 1970’s onwards, in particular, have truly injured our self-image as Argentines, a precarious amor propio. I feel that winemakers such as Susana and Pedro are a credit to our amor propio, conveying the real potential of Argentine wines that we want those outside of our borders to perceive. Furthermore, wines such as these showcase much more than the potential that Argentine wine can achieve. They forebode, in no uncertain terms, a new paradigm that any New World producer can emulate—a new, better way from which producers can achieve both financial success as well as renown, honoring the terroir prominently instead of relegating it to a secondary postcard-like image on the label.

The bottom line that the wine lover should ultimately come away with? Susana and Pedro’s wines are real winemakers’ wines. The following selection that I enthusiastically recommend represents unmissable values at three distinct price points, from recent vintages.

Susana Balbo and Pedro Marchevsky Playlist:

*2006 Crios de Susana Balbo Syrah-Bonarda—This is a gorgeous 50-50 blend of Syrah and Bonarda. This is the most affordable of my selections (at about $11). Loved the intense aroma of black raspberries. Here’s my review on Snooth, to save you some reading.

*2006 BenMarco Cabernet Sauvignon—An indisputable bargain, even steal in the $15-$20 range, depending on the retailer. A blend of 85% Cabernet Sauvignon and soft, supple Malbec stepping in as the other 15%. My favorite of the trio here, this is one of the best Mendoza Cabernet-lead blends out there. Pedro’s Cabernet is a must-try bargain and full of sophisticated balance and expression. Insanely intricate, layers of depth, blackberry, spice, cedar and concentration where the oak accompanies the band instead of playing at a higher volume.

*2005 BenMarco Expresivo—If you are tired of Bordeaux-themed New World red blends that all seem to be made in a uniform style, I heartily recommend this wine. In a nutshell, the Expresivo represents a master class in blending by Professor Marchevsky. Again, I have also rated this one on Snooth. This one retails in the $35-$45 range, depending on where you can get the best deal available.