New Wines for November
WHAT: Syrah, Grenache, Alicante - Terre des Dames - 'La Diva' - Languedoc, France - 2018 - £23
PRODUCER: Lidewij van Wilgen was a successful marketing executive in the Netherlands before starting a new life back in 2002, when she moved with her three young daughters to the Languedoc in order to become a winemaker. She restored the vineyards, renovated the wine cellar, and rebuilt the house. Then she started making amazing wines and is now a highly regarded winemaker, lauded by Jancis Robinson and many other wine writers.
WHERE: The Languedoc, a somewhat vast region. Specifically north-west of Beziers. A nice place for a holiday, if not particularly for the local cuisine.
WHY: The originality of this wine comes from its blend: Syrah 45%, Carignan 16% and Grenache 23% (from the estate’s top AOC plots) along with 16 % Alicante coming from 100-years old vines making for a cheeky addition.
WHAT: Dolcetto - Borgatta 'Lamilla' - Piedmont, Italy - 2016 - £28
PRODUCER: ‘Borgatta’ is the ancient name of the property where Emilio Oliveri and his wife Maria Luisa currently reside, and where they farm their two hectares of vines. Despite both being in their eighties, they continue to do everything - even the harvest - alone.
WHERE: All of the grapes for this wine come from Emilio and his wife Maria Luisa’s small estate in the town of Tagliolo in Piemonte. They primarily farm Dolcetto as well as a few rows of Barbera, which together make up only two hectares.
WHY: Dolcetto often plays second, if not third, fiddle in this region, but this is a great example as to why it demands just as much respect as Barbera and Nebbiolo. A proper grown-up wine with a wry smile, this.
Syrah - Joseph Swan' Trenton Syrah' - Russian River Valley, California, USA - 2011 - £41
PRODUCER: The estate was founded in 1967 (shout out to Sgt Pepper), and was an earlier adopter - at least by modern standards - of low intervention wine making.
WHERE: Russian River Valley, not all that far north of San Francisco, at least by American standards. If you got lost here you'd at least be guaranteed to find some more than decent wine.
WHY: A banger of a Syrah from a cult Cali estate - black pepper, plum, liquorice and leather all play a part here in a wine that just keeps coming at you. That’s not to say it’s outlandishly robust or bruising - there is a deep-rooted finesse at the core of this bottle.
WHAT: Fiano, Mandrarossa - 'Ciaca Bianca Fiano', Sicily, Italy - 2021 - £15
PRODUCER: Mandarossa wines come from a co-operative first established in 1999, and are made under the more than watchful gaze of Alberto Antonini.
WHERE: We’re in south-west Sicily, in vineyards overlooking the Mediterranean, where intense sunlight, cooling sea breezes and a variety of elevations and soil types have an eclectic effect on the excellent outcomes.
WHY: We love these light and fragrant Sicilian whites. Notes of grapefruit, jasmine, basil and tomato leaf practically have us packing our bags, while the fresh, mineral palate gets us most of the way to the airport. Pure, and simple, joy in a glass.
WHAT: Viura, Garnacha Blanca - Indigo Selection - 'Sea of Dreams White' - Navarra, Spain - 2019 - £19.50
PRODUCER: Vina Zorzal is run by three brothers who have spent the years since taking over from their parents focusing on high-altitude, bush vine fruit. Everything here is done manually.
WHERE: Grapes are sourced from vineyards in Fitera, a small village that intersects both
the Iberian mountains and the Ebro valley. The Viura grapes come from ungrafted bushvines, while the Garnacha Blanca is traditionally trellised. The soils consist of limestone and clay.
WHY: This is a rivetingly expressive and textural white. Much like a Christopher Nolan film, there’s a lot going on here - concrete egg ageing gives texture and minerality, the fruit gives baked apple, citrus and almond. Blockbuster.
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