CellarTales International Wineroundtable Edition No.7 Part I

La Guita is a very popular and also very typical, and inexpensive Manzanilla with a very good price-quality ratio. For me a perfect start and a genius match for the food.Absolute mouthwatering with its light, straw yellow color and this typical, walnut driven, floral nose. Salty, mineral with traces of honey and wood and in the mouth almost refreshing despite of its higher alcohol. Good acidity and in the long and animating finish herbal notes of rosemary and thyme, soft nougat and hazelnut aromas and all this again underlined by a soft salty character. To all who love seafood – try such a wine with some fresh and simple cooked crustaceans, sea snales or salty fish dishes – a real divine combination !

Lustau searches and bottles for their top range (Almacenista) older wines from smaller producers. The number on each label shows how big the particular Criada of this wine has been (in this case 143 barrels). The smaller the number, the rarer (and more expensive) the wine. This one here showed again a light golden yellow color but already the nose promised another dimension of “Manzanilla”. Much more complexity and more intense fragrances of dried fruits like dates and overripe apples combined with very spicy aromas of vanilla, thyme and peat. At the palate the wine has been much fuller and smoother with plenty of roasted nuts and Cognac plus bread crust flavors and an almost creamy sensation in the endless aftertaste. Without any doubts the richer, more complex Sherry but personally I preferred the first one for the food. This one has been more on the “meditation” side …

One of my favorite Beaujolais producers. Pure untouched Gamay wines with character and autonomy and for sure nothing in common with this “Beaujolais-Nouveau-crap”. Who wants to have untreated, natural wines has also to accept from time to time some small but harmless disfigurements like in this case a soft turbidity which affected a little bit the beauty of the wine’s intense garnet red color. Never mind. Softly chilled the wine offered us a very fruity bouquet of red berries, new leather, soft wooden traces and cherry liqueur. At the palate with good pressure, firm but fine grained tannins and a good integrated acidity which gives this wine structure until the buttery finish and for sure potential for a couple of years more. Very good wine.

I have had this wine the last time round about one year ago. Back then we enjoyed it right out of the fridge on the terrace with some good food. And so we did today. What a flatterer ! Butter baked bananas and a basket full of ripe dark fruits like Cassis, cherries and soft port wine flavors. All this packed in a new leather bag and covered with cinnamon sticks. In the mouth a clean acidity together with a very ripe and fine tannin structure tried successfully to structure and to tame its powerful pressure and this mouth filling sensation of melted butter. Very opulent but anyway not fat or saturating. Just in the aftertaste the wine’s higher alcohol became too evident. Anyway. It’s an inexpensive wine with a very good price-quality ratio and a big fun factor. Easy to drink without being banal and if it’s chilled a perfect match for every barbecue.

Concerning this wine and producer I have had big expectations and I didn’t get disappointed. A beautiful deep and absolutely clear ruby red color made immediately lust for more. Wow, what a piece of a wine ! Eucalyptus, mint and rosemary formed an amazing ethereal beginning and with some time the wine developed and became more complex and multi layered with notes of sweet plump jam, dried thyme, leather, soft traces of blood, flesh and pickled walnuts. The youthful, elegant palate made me look twice at the vintage. 1996 ? Yes, but with this perfect interaction of pressure, fine, sustaining acidity and a stabilize tannin structure until the fine and persistent finish 2006 would have been also plausible. Those are the wines I love to drink. Pure, cool elegance without being sticky or hefty. I know that a lot of people would consider this kind of wine as “thin” or even as already having passed its peak. I don’t care. For me it has been simply a wonderful, typical and honest Merlot which, in this shape, holds still potential for at least a decade more. Curtain ! Standing ovations !!

Talking about mature wines from South Africa. This one here has been for sure too young to show all its potential. Grangehurst, a real boutique winery in the best meaning, does very particular wines without compromises. This fellow here showed a very young and strong ruby red color and a still slightly wood influenced, Cabernet Sauvignon dominated nose. Loads of ripe black currant, smoked paprika, gooseberries, mint, cinnamon, cloves, vanilla beans, fresh meat and also earthy components flattered our noses and made me think, how good this wine will be in a couple of years. With more air it developed more smoked bacon, plums and gorse flavors and its bold acidity and lively tannins made clear that we faced tonight a rather young wine which urgently requires some further time to age. A soft astringent aftertaste topped off this impression. OK, ok, it’s understood ! We will see us again in, let’s say, 5 years ? Done !

Rubicon has been one of the first red wine blends of the Cape which reached worldwide popularity. Unfortunately the ‘93 didn’t want to talk too much during this tasting. A clear but aged garnet red color with a bold brown-red tinge and a yellow margin showed a wine, which exceeded already its peak. Also the bouquet with its very ripe scents of furniture polish, wet sheep skin, cloves and orange zests has been rather an imposition than a pleasure. At the palate the wine showed a lot of butter but also a very strong, hard acidity, polished tannins and a quiet metallic, astringent finish. In the end a wine in its last few years. Drink it up – it won’t become any better.

In the last 5 years I have had the pleasure to enjoy several bottles of this very interesting, Romanian wine. Unfortunately it has been aged under very poor natural corks during its first years and therefore I have had to check, refill and recork all the bottles I received. More than 1/3 of them have been already over but the rest still offers a wine experience, which is capable to stir every wine lover’s blood and also proves, that Romania vines have the potential to do great. Today we got a nice bottle with a healthy, almost bright ruby red color The nutty nose has been a little bit waxy and dusty in the beginning but with further aeration those smells disappeared and made room for dried plums and orange zests spiced up with fresh bay leaf, common juniper and warm, earthy forest floor. In the mouth very elegant with a fine acidity and smooth, polished tannins. With time the wine gained more quality, became sweeter with nice malty notes. Just in the end of the medium aftertaste it showed slight hints of rusty iron. A wine age with dignity and still offering a great drinking pleasure.

Marsala is a less known, fortified wine from Sicily. Something like a mixture out of a sweet Sherry and a Madeira. The wine showed a typical, soft amber color with a slight red-brown hue but the nose wasn’t all clean. Not obviously a cork taint but at least a creeping cork defect. Thanks to the less reductive style it hasn’t been this obvious so we have been at least able to try it. Roasted hazel- and walnuts, honey, caramel, Sherry notes and also soft Cognac flavors formed a very warm and rich bouquet. Could have been perfectly yummy without this damned moldy, waxy background. At the palate again Cognac with pickled, green walnuts, vermouth, ginger bread spices and honeycombs but in the finish again soft traces of mold. Bad luck !