Wednesday, June 25th, 2008
25th June 2008
Eduardo B. Matte Jr. of Chile’s Vina Haras de Pirque visited Beijing on a whistle-stop tour of China with importer Summergate. Over lunch at Aria restaurant, Matte showed four of his wines and explained the origins of this leading Maipo Valley estate.
Matte Senior, an entrepreneur, had originally purchased land in the Maipo to develop his equestrian business, the property being purchased back in 1991. But vines grown on the estate were yielding such high quality fruit that the Matte family decided that wine might be a way forward (having previously sold 100% of its production to Errazuriz.
The horse-shoe shaped estate now operates both as equestrian centre and state-of-the-art winery (the influence of the Matte family’s Chilean thoroughbreds can be seen in the ‘Equus’ range). Quality has always been high, but as of 2002 Piero Antinori has been involved and is now a joint owner, having been seeking a Chilean partnership.
This has resulted in a flagship wine called ‘Albis’, a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Carmenere, spearheaded by oenologists Renzo Cotarella (of Antinori), Cecilia Guzmán (of Haras de Pirque) and consultant winemaker Alvaro Espinoza. This wine is not imported into China, but a number of wines from the ‘Equus’, ‘Character’ and ‘Elegance’ ranges are (see below tasting notes).
Matte explained that only a proportion of the grapes planted on the estate are grown on the Maipo plain; thus, most plots are at slightly higher elevation on the neighbouring foothills. With slightly cooler temperatures and wine-making designed to retain acidity, these give Haras de Pirque’s wines considerable elegance.
We asked Matte about the green pepper and other herbaceous flavours that tend to mark Chilean reds. He admitted this is a common feature, but it not necessarily to do with under-ripeness. As with eucalyptus levels on Australian reds, the idea is to get ripe enough fruit so that you can blend in the savoury, ‘tomato vine’ aromas with strong fruit and not too much oak. The results are certainly impressive.
2006 Vina Haras de Pirque ‘Equus’ Chardonnay, Maipo Valley
Appearance: medium gold.
Nose: attractive citrus and some pineapple fruit. Deft moderate oak.
Palate: more citrus and pineapple fruit with a slight stony, mineral quality. Good acidity, with high alcohol, but this is well-balanced.
Conclusion: a very impressive ‘entry-level’ Chardonnay. Matte explained that this wine does not go through malolactic fermentation (hence the preservation of malic acid here) and that the fruit comes from vines at 650-700 m elevation (which also helps retain acidity). Good. Drink now.
Rating: 17/20
2005 Vina Haras de Pirque ‘Character’ Chardonnay, Maipo Valley
Appearance: deep gold.
Nose: very savoury first nose, showing more oak than fruit at first, but then some delicate lemon fruit and mineral aromas come to the fore. Improves considerably with aeration.
Palate: subtle fruit, good oak and impressive acidity with balanced high alcohol. Good length.
Conclusion: in some ways this wine is a little young still and is certainly a high-quality Chardonnay with some life ahead of it yet. Drink 2008-2013. Impressive stuff.
Rating: 18/20
2004 Vina Haras de Pirque ‘Character’ Syrah, Maipo Valley
Appearance: dark purple to black, very slight orange rim.
Nose: very vibrant, concentrated black fruits, some spice (not the black pepper notes of really cool climate Syrah, more cinnamon and white pepper), attractive ‘tomato vine greenness’ offset by non-intrusive oak.
Palate: good fruit, tight ripe medium-high tannins, lifting acidity and well-integrated high alcohol.
Conclusion: this is not a monster of a wine at all – as so many Chilean reds can be – showing varietal character and subtlety. Powerful, but refined, this wine certainly needs a bit more age in bottle. Drink 2008-2012.
Rating: 18/20
2002 Vina Haras de Pirque ‘Elegance’ Cabernet Sauvignon, Maipo Valley
Appearance: very dark purple, orange rim.
Nose: ageing black fruits – largely blackcurrant and blackberry – with some tomato-vine aromas and a savoury oaky nose.
Palate: ripe, chewy and slightly dusty tannins that are mellowing out a little, combined with lovely fruit, good acidity and well-balanced alcohol. Nice length too.
Conclusion: this was very good. Lighter in body than the above Syrah, it had the advantage of some age and development. Drink now to 2010.
Rating: 18.5/20
Wednesday, June 18th, 2008
18th June 2008
Summergate hosted Eduardo Ruiz Cortés of Abadia Retuerta from Spain’s Sardon del Duero on part of a China-wide tour with a media lunch at Beijing’s China Lounge.
Abadia Retuerta adjoins a 12th Century monastery with some 204 hectares at its disposal, right in the middle of Sardon del Duero’s Golden Mile (which boasts wineries of such fame as Vega Sicilia, Pingus and Alion, among others).
Cortés noted that wine-making was begun in monastic days, but now the estate concentrates its attention on some 54 individual sites, known individually as pago. In fact, Abadia Retuerta, like a number of other top Spanish wineries, is applying for the new DO pago status that would essentially give a DO to the property itself as an estate winery.
The vineyard area is planted out to approximately 75% Tempranillo, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon with the rest made up of Merlot and smatterings of Syrah and Petit Verdot. All plots are estate-controlled, hand-harvested and vinified separately before any blending takes place (Abadia Retuerta does not buy in grapes, although will sell part of its harvest, if necessary).
The winery itself is state-of-the-art: gravity fed with 54 stainless steels tanks, one for each plot, all temperature controlled, under the watchful eye of Angel Anocibar. The barrel room houses some 3,800 French barriques, no small investment (principally Limousin and Alliers in origin).
Dr Anocibar, Winemaker of the Year at the 2005 International Wine Challenge, studied at the University of Bordeaux, gaining his doctorate in oenology and ampelography (the study of the origin of grape varieties). His ‘Selección Especial’ was also awarded Best Wine in the World at the same 2005 Challenge, presumably for the 2004 vintage (see below tasting note).
Abadia Retuerta essentially has two ranges: the Collection range (‘Primicia’, ‘Rívola’, ‘Selección Especial’, see below, and ‘Cuvée Palomar’) and the Estate range (named after individual pago and made from individual grape varieties including Syrah and Petit Verdot).
Quality is very high and the 2004 ‘Selección Especial’ was stunning:
2005 Abadia Retuerta ‘Primicia’, Sardon del Duero
Appearance: medium to darkish purple red, clear rim.
Nose: vibrant fruit on the first nose with red and black cherry and some blackcurrant notes. No oak here.
Palate: lovely fruit, medium acidity, low to medium slightly chewy tannins and quite good length.
Conclusion: a blend of 60% Tempranillo, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon and 20% Merlot, this is a very drinkable, approachable wine, designed to be drunk young (as it name partly suggests) and is classed as Joven. The wine actually undergoes 20% carbonic maceration, hence the generous fruit flavours, moderated acidity and low tannins. Alcohol is not exorbitant here either, but still weighs in at 13.5% without being intrusive. Good. Drink now.
Rating: 16/20
2004 Abadia Retuerta ‘Selección Especial’, Sardon del Duero
Appearance: deep purple-red, clear rim.
Nose: very bright, vibrant red and black fruits with red and black cherry and strawberry notes. There’s some lovely savoury oak here as well that is very well-integrated.
Palate: superb fruit on the palate with ripe, medium chewy tannins and excellent high acidity. Very good length here too. It wears its 14% alcohol extremely well.
Conclusion: this is a blend of 75% Tempranillo, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Merlot, which spends some 18 months in oak (French/American) and is essentially at Crianza to Reserva level. It is a blend of the 54 different plots mentioned above. Although approachable now, this wine will be stupendous around 2014 and has even greater ageing potential. Very, very good. Drink now to 2014 or beyond!
Rating: 18.5/20
Tuesday, June 10th, 2008
Edward was recently invited by popular Spanish and Portuguese wine site Catavino to write a feature on Iberian wines and Vinexpo Asia 2008. To read Edward’s report and download his full tasting notes, please click here.
Edward will also shortly be posting on the situation for Iberian wines in mainland China on the Catavino site as well as offering a monthly feature on the developing market for Spanish and Portuguese wines in China.
Friday, June 6th, 2008
6th June 2008
Summergate hosted Alastair Maling MW of pioneering New Zealand producer Villa Maria on part of a wider Asia tour. Local media sat down to a informative presentation and then lunch featuring two Villa Maria wines (for a much fuller range of Villa Maria wines tasted in Beijing last year, click here).
Maling is one of the world’s few winemaker MWs, part of a fascinating group including the likes of Olivier Humbrecht of Zind-Humbrecht and Michael Hill Smith of Shaw & Smith. Maling was helped by being a flying wine-maker at the time. Resident in London, thousands of miles away from his native New Zealand, he was well-placed to take advantage of London’s wine trade and the home of the Institute of Masters of Wine whilst developing hands-on experience in wineries in South Africa and further a field.
Maling emphasized New Zealand’s virtues as an overall small producer in global terms, yielding generally high quality wines (with the highest average price per bottle of any other country). In a survey of New Zealand’s topography, he noted most of the vineyards are on the east coasts of the country’s North and South Islands, generally the much drier parts of the country (Nelson being an exception on the north-western side of South Island).
At Villa Maria, great research has gone into clonal selection; and experimentation with pruning and picking methods is commonplace. We were surprised to learn that this large company – ‘large’ at least by New Zealand standards – actually vinifies individual plots separately according to clone, overall terroir and other factors. For example, Villa Maria’s Seddon Vineyard is planted out to eight different clones of Pinot Noir – a grape known for its mutations – all of which are vinified separately and analyzed before blending.
Achieving physiological ripeness is paramount and Maling insists that tasting the grapes is the only real way to know. Maling also explained how the ‘diurnal difference’ in temperature is really beneficial in many Villa Maria vineyards: up to 26 degrees Celsius in the day and as low as 10 degrees at night in Marlborough, ideal for attaining ripeness whilst also retaining acidity.
In terms of vinification, Villa Maria has actually cut back on its use of new oak and, like other producers, generally favours French oak over anything else. Low yields are encouraged – as elsewhere in the wine world – but Maling explained that too low yields actually cause the vines to ‘get out of balance’ and not always deliver the kind of purity of fruit he seeks.
Screw-caps were first introduced to Villa Maria’s range in 2000-2001, a bold move, capitalizing on the vogue in Australia’s Clare Valley. Sommeliers in the US were initially resistant to the new closure as they weren’t sure how to sell the wines to incredulous customers wary of the nominally cheap image. But that teething problem is long gone. Just imagine if the screw-cap message were to take hold in China!
Clearly, Sauvignon Blanc still dominates the scene (in 1995 New Zealand produced only 800,000 bottles of the grape compared with 8.3 million in 2007). But parts of Marlborough are now being studied for their terroir; so we should expect to see more detailed labels about particular wines from particular parts of the region.
In terms of other regions and varieties, Maling explained that Central Otago is now bigger than Martinborough for Pinot Noir. In fact, it’s pretty impressive what has been achieved with the grape given that most Pinot vines in the country are under 10 years of age. A lot of New Zealand bottles actually remind us of the freshness of Canada’s Okanagan wines, again deriving from vines not much older, on average, than 15 years, if that. Perhaps this is partly why New Zealand has not yet produced an iconic wine on a par with Grange or Hill of Grace; although this is not to say vine-age is everything. Central Otago Pinot might plug that gap.
Maling added that Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot really used to be planted in the wrong places; but now, of course, take pride of place in Hawke’s Bay and the warmer parts of North Island in general. Syrah is also already showing great potential. Villa Maria has done a great deal in the Gimblett Gravels section of Hawke’s Bay (which is on average about 3 degrees hotter than the rest of the region); and Syrah will become increasingly important there.
Pinot Gris is going through some growing pains at present with a range of styles emerging. Maling admits that this ‘runs the risk of confusing the consumer’ and noted how Pinot Gris’s flavour profile only really develops later in the growing season and has high potential alcohol: so winemakers can be caught out either with not achieving complex flavours or with wanting to produce a dry wine, but not wanting huge alcohol.
Chardonnay still has a future with regional styles clearly appearing: Marlborough Chardonnays keeping the most acidity usually and more citrus fruits, even grapefruit; Hawke’s Bay yielding lower acidity and more peach fruit; and Gisborne, being the warmest area here, providing overall lower acidity and pineapple flavours. These regional differences also open the door to interesting Chardonnay blends as with Villa Maria’s East Coast Chardonnay (see below), which is a blend of the above three regions.
2005 Villa Maria East Coast Chardonnay
Appearance: medium gold.
Nose: attractive fruit (citrus, melon, peach notes) and subtle only slight oak. Pleasant.
Palate: decent acidity here, ample fruit but not showy, decent length. Really improves on aeration. Well-balanced.
Conclusion: this is a well-made, refreshing New Zealand Chardonnay which only sees about 5% new oak. Very food-friendly and faultlessly clean. Drink now.
Rating: 17.5/20
2006 Villa Maria Private Bin Merlot Cabernet Sauvignon
Appearance: medium purple with pink rim.
Nose: an attractive mix of fruits that shows the varietal character of each grape here. Red and black plum fruit from the Merlot with some blackcurrant and blackberry notes from the Cabernet. Integrated, subtle oak.
Palate: decent fruit, nice acidity here, medium slightly chewy tannins and relatively moderate alcohol at 13.5% alc.
Conclusion: fruit is sourced largely from the Gimblett Gravels part of Hawke’s Bay with 12 months in French and American oak. Well-made. Drink now to 2010.
Rating: 17/20
Thursday, June 5th, 2008
5th June 2008
Bacchus Wines invited Bernard Vallet of Burgundy producer Pierre Bourée Fils to Beijing for a whistle-stop tour of the city and its venues. Monsieur Vallet hosted a media lunch at Jasmine restaurant, showing three of his wines. He had recently come from Vinexpo Asia in Hong Kong and had also passed by Seoul and Shanghai en route.
The wines of Pierre Bourée are traditionally-made and have a traditional feel about them. They are ‘old-school’, non-interventionist without being shabby and really reflect their various terroirs (as was clear from the below wines). Vallet explained how, as a négociant-éleveur based in the village of Gevrey-Chambertin, the company produces some forty to fifty wines annually.
Of the 2007 vintage, Vallet reported overall high malic acid for both reds and whites and said it was critical to have waited as long as possible before harvesting. Those who panicked and picked early will likely have unruly, tart acidities to their wines. He also mentioned that the 2006 reds, often overshadowed by the whites (particularly Chablis), were now showing much better than people had originally thought.
The overall restraint and delicacy of these wines worked well with the mixture of Chinese cuisines Jasmine offers. Surprisingly, the high acidity in the Pinot Noir worked really well with some of the spicier Sichuan dishes (where the inherent acidity of chilli and garlic usually calls for wines with some residual sugar).
Note: retail prices for these wines are not yet available as they are about to be imported. Please check with Bacchus Wines who has previously imported a number of other Pierre Bourée wines.
2004 Pierre Bourée Marsannay Blanc
Appearance: medium to deep gold.
Nose: pure lemon citrus fruit, some toasty, savoury oak.
Palate: good acidity, pleasant fruit, quite good length and decent oak.
Conclusion: Marsannay is usually forgotten about as a relatively new appellation almost within the environs of the city of Dijon itself. But it is the home of top producer Bruno Clair and can be a source of good value (look out for the distinctive Marsannay rosé too). This wine was showing well. The fruit is sourced from an unnamed single vineyard. In fact, in 2008 Pierre Bourée plans to bring out a single-vineyard red Marsannay with the cheeky title ‘Aux Echézeaux’. Might consumers confuse this with the fabled Echézeaux Grand Cru?
Rating: 16.5/20
2006 Pierre Bourée Meursault
Appearance: deepish gold.
Nose: rich citrus fruit and the lushness typical of Meursault on the nose; lovely oak here too.
Palate: nice vibrant acidity – this is not too fat a style of Meursault – with good length and decent fruit.
Conclusion: although drinkable, this is still pretty young to be honest. Nicely put together. Very typical of the village. Drink 2009-2012.
Rating: 17.5/20
2000 Pierre Bourée Gevrey-Chambertin Clos de la Justice
Appearance: reddish brown colour, orange rim.
Nose: clearly a developed Pinot Noir nose with decaying light red cherry and strawberry fruit matched by savoury sous bois (undergrowth) aromas of mushroom and wet leaves. Perfumed too.
Palate: nice acidity (mellowed with age), low silky tannins, savoury and mellowed fruity notes, quite good length.
Conclusion: certainly to be drunk now. Clos de la Justice is a monopole owned by Pierre Bourée. Nice mature red Burgundy.
Rating: 18/20
