Medley of Bubbly

‘Tis the season to be jolly.  And what makes the season jollier is sparkling wine.  It started off innocuously, but built up to a crescendo over the early evening before leading into the still whites and reds.  It’s a natural progression.

First port of call was with A-Prentice and a lovely rosé Champagne shared with friends.  A bottle doesn’t last long, especially when the contents are delicious.  The Chairman was responsible for the 2009 Moet & Chandon ‘Grand Vintage’ Rosé Champagne.  A surprisingly strong orange-peach-pink colour, with gorgeously integrated aromas and flavours of red fruits and florals with the most subtle bready autolysis.  Absolutely spotless without any aldehydes which can be complexing, are also a sign of funkiness and development in a degradation way.  Soft and smooth but under it all a thread of freshness that gave a piquant lift to make this beautifully poised.

Then around to the dinner venue.  As soon as we arrived, there was a glass of NV Perrier-Jouet Champagne ‘Grand Brut’.  Best known for its elegance and freshness of house style, this delivered it perfectly.  Bright and pale an colour, with up-front and near-forceful aromas of fresh flotal, apple and citrus fruits, the autolysis was fresh and brioche-like.  The mouthfeel refreshingly zesty and mouth-watering.  The finest phenolics, but all in great balance.  Another bottle that didn’t last long.

The Lazza has as his bottle, one of his favourites, the NV Taittinger Champagne ‘Folies de la Marquetterie’ a Chardonnay-dominant (what else could it be with Taittinger?) single vineyard wine.  Not quite as fresh and zesty on nose and palate, maybe a little more subdued.  But then a greater packed core and density.  This has a concentration and gravitas that took the wine to another level.  Yes a step up.  This wine never fails to deliver the transition from accessible elegance to a depth and detailed complexing hinted wine.  A bridging wine at its best.

Then finally something home-grown from the Big-O, a 2010 Seresin ‘Moana' Marlborough Methode Traditionnelle Rosé.  The Big-O had a hand in the making of this wine. 76% Pinot Noir and 24% Chardonnay, with 3 years on lees, and no dosage.  More faded in colour, but undeniable presence and a rounded and packed core with subtle layers of flavours of yellow stonefruits and red florals.  This tastes richer than ‘no dosage’ showing the fruit quality.  The autolysis quite integrated, and the acidity softened.  A detailed and quite achiever, and one that delivered the goods, making one want to try more wine and more food.

What a lovely progression of wines to start the evening…      

Real Orange Wine

In these contemporary times we are seeing the popularity of ‘orange’ wines, made by skin contact, usually longer than is normal in ‘conventional’ vinification.  One extracts greater colour, usually orange, of course, but also there is increased phenolic extraction, which heads towards the edge of acceptability in hardness and bitterness.  The best winemakers judge this well, and the wines can be fabulous to drink, and they can be better wines with food.  But many can’t get the balance and the wines can be horrible to drink, and sometimes harbour faults from the minimal use of any intervention.  I’m introducing another subject here, altogether, but you get the point of more extreme or ‘natural’ winemaking, I’m making.

We had a treat as delivered for dinner by Mo the Political Gal this evening – a true ‘orange’ wine.  The 2001 Dirler Alsace Riesling ‘Belzbrunnen’ was a fully-aged and mature example.  The colour was deep orange with golden hues.  The bouquet was all about citrus (orange) fruit and mead like honey.  It had gone past the toast and kero tertiary stage and showed complex hints of nuttiness, but no real oxidation.  Then on palate, lusciously off-dry to taste.  The Mentor and SWMBO suggested botrytis, but I didn’t find it musky.  It was fully-developed fruit flavours knife-edge between citrus and nuts.  Beautifully soft, rounded and luscious, with no drying out at all.  The wine got richer with time in the glass.  A conventional wine turned orange, and naturally over the course of time from bottle-age.  Maybe this is the way to do it?

Familiarity and Never Contempt

The saying is that “familiarity breeds contempt” but SWMBO and I can’t understand that when it comes to the gorgeous Mosel wines of Clemens Busch.  We’ve tended to have our favourites, the GG dry Rieslings showing the grey, blue and red slate of the Pundericher Marienberg site, our favourite being the Red Slate ‘Rothenpfad’ bottling, the vines ungrafted, from  only 1 ha, and aged around 85 y.o.  The other favourite is the fruit-sweet Spatlese Gold Kap which is closer to an Auslese.  SWMBO and I could sip on these until the cows came home and went to bed!

We were happy to receive the I-Spy Man, especially as he cooks us a meal.   Tonight it was chicken with a mild curry sauce on a bead of rice with other accompaniments to make it all a ‘complete' meal.  The 2015 Clemens Busch Pundericher Marienberg Riesling GG ‘Rothenpfad’ was duly chilled and served, just ahead of the food, so we could appreciate its finer nuances.  And nuances aplenty it had.  A magical combination of ethereal exotic florals and a full array of richer spicy, earthy flavours.  All the while, clearly Riesling with its finesse and acid structure, but also the soils being laced with iron, giving the spice.  The juxtaposition always flowing one way, then the other.  The wine held your attention, and respect.  How could one find contempt here?  Then as with time in glass, extremely rich and sating, but remaining refreshingly poised.  Glorious wine, with beauty and gravitas. 

Asking the Asking Price

When the ever-reliable and premium Hawke’s Bay wine producer Mills Reef (winery based in Tauranga) announced the release of their new super-icon range called ‘Arthur Edmund’, at a retail price of $350.00 per bottle, I was shocked.  Up until now, the super-premium ‘Elspeth’ range of wines were priced at $50.00 per bottle.  I was so surprised that I dialled up the general manager of the company to ask about the asking price for the new wines, which he instantly understood from my tone that I didn’t approve.

In retrospect, I shouldn’t have been shocked, or even mildly surprised.  SWMBO and I often taste and drink wines that cost far more than this.  And often older wines which you can’t put a value on in reality.  And we have opened these wines willingly, or shared them when opened by others, acknowledging their cost with barely a nod – but then, all parties are aware of the cost of the bottle – but we don’t make too much of a deal about it. 

In explaining Mills Reef’s situation, he pointed out that these were the very best wines they could make.  A project starting in the vineyard a decade ago, identifying the best vines, from the best rows from the best plants in the best sites in the Gimblett Gravels.  Then the once-in-a-lifetime 2013 Hawke’s Bay came along.  It was the right time to make their ultra-Cabernet/Merlot blend and Syrah wines.  Of course, the lowest yields, the most sensitive handling, careful monitoring, minimal movement, but good time in 100% new oak, because the fruity was so rich.

Then came the truth.  The ‘Elspeth’ wines – next tier down now – like many other New Zealand wines of the same standard had proven themselves to sit comfortably among the very best Bordeaux and Rhone wines, and with comparable wines from other countries in many, many ‘blind’ tastings around the world, as judged by the best professionals.  And these wines often were 10-20 times the price!  There are a number of other New Zealand reds that ask the high price, if not more than the $350.00 per bottle here.  The best New Zealand wines are seriously undervalued in a global perspective.  And it takes a few bold producers to remind the consumer this is the case, and set the higher standard.  Of course, in setting the standard, one must not make these wines become luxury goods and commodities.  They are still wines to be drunk and enjoyed.

What did they taste like?  The 2013 Mills Reef ‘Arthur Edmund’ Gimblett Gravels Cabernet/Merlot – was black as black with a beautifully sweet and rich, ripe core of black fruits.  No over-ripeness, but perfectly judged picking.  Superbly refined tannins, and plenty of them, and great acid vitality.  Seamless in other ways, and great sustained finish.  Not a foot out of place, and 15-20 years ahead of it if required, though I’d drink it at 10 years.  And the 2013 Mills Reef ‘Arthur Edmund’ Gimblett Gravels Syrah.  Black-red, and super luscious and layers of sweet, ripe black and dark-red fruits, with exotic spices and florals, and black pepper.  Again, wonderful tannin structure, but the fruit sweetness ameliorating the textures to a lusciousness.  Deceptively easy to drink, say 10-15 years plus.  But I’d start about 6-7 years on.  Both wines unveiling the classical ‘iron-earth’ character in the glass and next day.  These wines show place, time, and the sensitive hand of men.

Not Pinot Noir As We Know It

A few months ago, the Good Doctor showed SWMBO and I a German Pinot Noir from Chat Sauvage in the Rheingau.  A quality focussed, but new producer who has Burgundy as the model, planting Pinot Noir (and Chardonnay) in some famous sites.  The wine was the 2012 Lorcher Schlossberg Pinot Noir 2012.  It was a revelation in that it was still youthful and sweetly rich, but showed complexing nuances that fine Burgundy can attain.  We were impressed.

So in our next order, we thought we’d try the 2013 Chat Sauvage Assmannhausen Hollenberg Pinot Noir, from a village and site that’s pretty highly rated and with Chat Sauvage’s oldest plantings sited there.  We had The Grove Men in town visiting, so it seemed the ideal time to open it.  Well, it was a different beast altogether.  Much younger and dis-jointed in componentry, the fruit somewhat raw and yet to settle.  The tannin and acid stood out.  It was not really a pleasant drink on opening.  Suddenly, our impressions of German Pinot Noir were not what they had built up to be.  The goal posts had changed.  But time seems to fix most things, and a couple of hours down the track came the tell-tale red berry fruit and floral aromas and flavours.  Yes Pinot Noir, but different again from the model.  SWMBO and I struggled through the bottle, not really caring for it, But by two days later, it was deep and sweet, the tannins and acid had become part of the whole.  It was impressive wine too.  The Good Doctor knows his vinous medicines.

Familiarity

One of our favourite Mosel winegrowers is Clemens Busch, who from his holdings in the Pundericher Marienberg vineyard makes a stunning selection of wines that show off the differences between Grey, Red and Blue slate.  SWMBO and I tend to prefer the GG ‘Rothenpfad’ bottling for its richer and more exotic character.

But we are so focussed on these top-end wines that we often forget that Clemens Busch also makes a good number of the more ‘fruit-sweet’ pradikat wines. Our favourite of these is of course the ‘Gold Kap’ Spatlese, which really borders on Auslese in style.  However, the Punk Doctor had available some of the regular Kabinett – which we had not tried before.  So our order included a couple of bottles to see how they fared.

We had a lovely visit with the Grove Men, so that was an occasion to open the 2017 Clemens Busch Pundericher Marienberg Riesling Kabinett.  A lowly and deliciously accessible 7.5% alc., this had a nose that showed a bit too much sulphur – not in a bad way, but in a J.J. Prum way that you know it would blow off or integrate – in this case, a couple of hours would help.  But rich and sweetly luscious on the palate.  Lovely fruitiness with honey and slatey mineral flavours.  Subtle phenolic textures which really combined with the sugar to make it smooth and seamless, plus that piquant acidity.  Sure, the sulphur was there, but it was only a part of the wine.  We all drank it with a smile.  They say familiarity breeds contempt.  Not here.     

Sold into Slavery

Most of us believe that slavery was a problem of the past, but the reality is that there are 25 to over 48 million humans (depending on your sources) trafficked into slavery in these modern times.  That works out about a person become a slave every 27 seconds.  There are agencies that rescue these people, but the survivors need assistance.  They need counselling, education and the teaching of a trade, as well as legal assistance to testify against the perpetrators.

Pete and Alanna Chapman of the family that own the Terrace Edge vineyard in North Canterbury have decided to do something positive about the issue with their own brand of ingenuity and the resources they have – grapes – to make good wine.  So they set up ’27 Seconds’ a wine selection from which 100% of the profits go to the slavery survivors.  In undertaking this project, Pete and Alanna were stunned by the assistance and generosity of the wine industry. The grapes, picking, winemaking, screwcaps, label design and production and marketing was donated or at least heavily discounted.

Most of the fruit came from the Terrace Edge family vineyard and the winemaking was at the Muddy Water facility.  The second release of 27 Seconds wines comprises a dry Rosé 2018 with savoury strawberry and quince flavours on a mouthwatering palate, a taut and slender, but intense passionfruity and gooseberry fruited Sauvignon Blanc 2018, plus a red cherry-berry and nutty-oaked Pinot Noir 2017 with very fine structure.  I rate them all 4-stars, and know they’re a good drink.  You can help the cause by buying them from www.27seconds.co.nz