Vermentino

Quite a big week for me. I have been to the Guildhall to officially graduate from the WSET diploma course and delivered my first two hour tasting to a roomful of strangers, all of whom were friendly. This is in line with my explanation of my site's name, which you can find by following a link somewhere near the top of the page, if you have nothing better to do.

In an act of unusual foresight, I bought this week's wine quite a long time in advance. Part of me thinks this is bending the rules a little, but the the greater part of me thinks that the rules are mine and I am entitled to bend what I like. I find some justification of my bending in the opportunistic nature of the purchase. I had made a special trip to Laithwaites at Vinopolis in order to find something for week L (2013) and one the way back to the tube station wandered in Borough Market where, in a past life, I had bought a great number of lunches. Mostly on Fridays. In the market I found Borough Wines who now operate there between Wednesday and Saturday. They started in order to promote wines from their own family vineyards of Chateau Ponchapt in Bergerac, but have expanded their range into other areas.

The stall solved not only this week's problem, but may also have solved one I will otherwise encounter in a couple of weeks' time. Watch this (that) space.

Week V (2014) is Casamatta Toscana IGT 2011 by Bibi Graetz. Borough Wines £12.

I wanted V to be for Vermentino because I had last year spent a morning at the IWSC tasting and judging wines from Tuscany, most of which were high-acid, high tannin Sangiovese based reds, but towards the end of the session we moved on to the whites (counter-intuitive, but that's how it's done) and the only Vermentino submitted to scrutiny was both a very welcome respite and delicious.

This one is made by a winemaker Bibi Graetz in Fiesole, at his Testamata winery  in a small village in the hills 5 miles North East of Florence.

Made from 60% Vermentino, 30% Trebbiano & 10% Muscat, it is 13.5% abv, but has mouth-watering acidity providing a firm spine form which hangs all manner of citrus and juicy-fleshed fruitiness to keep it all nicely in balance.

Apple, grapefruit, peach and a whole basket more. Could there also be lime and flowery blossom notes, or am I getting a bit too Jilly?

In terms of quality ratings this wine qualifies as an IGT, or Indicazione Geografica Tipica, which is broadly equivalent to Vin de Pays in France. It has been said that in Italy this can be something of a good thing as the higher DOC rating can stifle the creative instincts of the more adventurous winemakers. I am sure this paints a far too monochrome picture, but it was a departure from those rules that lead to the creation of the Super-Tuscans, such as Tignanello and Sassicaia, which now command top-end prices. Perversely, these wines now qualify as DOC status as new rules were introduced to recognise their quality. So I don't know what to think. No change there.

Uva di Troia

This wine of the week is winning, at this point, the award for the least easily decipherable label. It is Italian, which seems fitting, and I get the feeling that if it had been possible to somehow add expressive hand gestures to the label then it would have been done.

I will keep the preamble short this week as I want to see if I can work out exactly what it is I have bought.

Week U (2014) is Ferrau, Cacc'e Mmite Di Lucera, DOC, 2007 by Paolo Petrilli.  from Uncorked.
14% abv, £18.95.

The wine shop website adds to the wine's name the word Daunia, even though that's not anywhere on the bottle. Investigation reveals that Daunia is an ancient name for the region of production and I imagine they chose to use that rather than Cacc'e Mmite Di Lucera, which I have no idea how to pronounce.

Ferrau, the name given by the producer, refers to a fictional Saracen knight from a fourteenth century poem. The basic plot involves two men fighting over a woman, with Ferrau wanting to prove how big and bold he is. That could be a clue for what we find later.

I chose this wine because I was looking for Uva di Troia but, in keeping with the inscrutable label, the name used for the grape on the back label is Nero di Troia. Not to worry, it's the same thing. Perhaps they have alternative names for everything in this party of Italy. By the way, this part of Italy is Puglia, or Apulia. See what I mean?

It is 40% Uva/Nero di Troia and the rest is a cocktail of Montepulciano, Sangiovese and Bombino. The last of these is a local lad, whereas the other pair are tourists from Tuscany.

I had to use a web translator (Google translate, in fact, but other web translators are available) to find out whether there was another mystery grape playing a role, but it turns out 'Invecchiato In Legno' actually means 'aged in wood'.

Having struggled with the label it all sounded quite encouraging so I next struggled with the cork. Once extracted it revealed a lighter wine than I had expected from it's medieval influenced name, with a level of acidity that surprised me. In fact, I left it a lone for a few hours after the first sip thinking it would be more enjoyable with food.

When I went back to it I found it really pleasing. The acidity was less obvious which makes me think it was more to do with me than the wine. It is a deep ruby colour and has smooth tannins, well-balanced black fruits and well integrated oak giving it a gently spiced finish. I am still drinking it as I type and am growing increasingly fond of it.

Torrontes

It feels like it has rained for a month, so it was refreshing to be able to get out into the garden and prune the apple trees. Refreshing, that is, for mind and body with the exception of my hands which developed a bad case of pruning fatigue. I was a bit worried that I would not be able to wield my waiter's friend effectively enough to extract he cork from this week's wine.

I needn't have worried as the artificial cork gave in with only a token fight and released a bright liquid which turned out to be even more refreshing than the gardening.

Week T (2014) is Vinalba Seleccion Torrontes 2012, Lujan de Cuyo. Majestic £9.99 (£7.99 each for two).

It is a pale lemon colour with moderate to intense aromas of aromatic pineapple and peach. On the palate it matches the aromas and feels clean and, well, refreshing.

I would consider this wine in a group that would include Gewurztraminer and Viognier among its members along with other more interesting whites. It is easy to drink, but not dull, bright and mouth-watering, but the acidity is well-balanced with the stone/tropical fruit flavours.

 The winery where this was produced, Vinalba, is quite young having been established in 2008, by Frenchman Herve J. Fabre who has the prior claim to fame that he was the first to make single varietal Malbec, now considered to be Argentina's signature red wine. Torrontes is now its white equivalent, so M.Fabre gets on the good-guys list.

I have never been to the continent of South America and think this is an omission that needs to be addressed. Not just because the wines of both Argentina and Chile rarely disappoint, especially at the prices demanded, but because the countryside that usually appears on the wineries websites looks fabulous. My bonus daughter (Danish term, apparently) spent a few weeks there on a post-graduation trip and tells me that it would be worth the air fare.

This wine will end up on my list of bankers, as I can't imagine anyone who enjoys a good, better-than-basic, white wine objecting being given a glass or two of this over a game of cards.

St Laurent

There was a nice leg of lamb roasting in the oven and I wanted to find a red S to go with it, so I set off to a local independent wine & food shop to see if they had anything interesting from Tuscany. My target was Sangiovese, probably from Chianti, but instead if found an Austrian wine made from St Laurent.

This a grape I have read about, but don't recall ever having tasted it. That made it an obvious candidate for this week's wine so I bought it.

Week S (2014) is Gesellmann St Laurent, Burgenland 2009. £14 No.2 Pound Street.

It is a bright ruby in colour and the leading aroma is red cherries. I found the acidity to be quite high, but not unpleasant, and the overall impression is of a refreshing, light fruity red wine.

I have read that St Laurent can produce results much like Pinot Noir, but I would compare it more to a Gamay (Beaujolais) or even Cabernet Franc.

It is dry (1.2 g/ltr  residual sugar) and 13.5% abv.

Burgenland, where it was made, is in the east of Austria towards the border with Hungary, but the winemaker, Albert Gesellmann, trained and worked in both South Africa and California bringing international experience back to the region where this grape has been vinified since the days of the Austrian empire.

It is fermented in temperature controlled stainless steel tanks, with the must being pumped over the cap 2 to 4 times daily, until it is ready to start its malolactic fermentation in large oak barrels.

The grapes were picked in September 2009, from vines between 38 and 60 years old, but the wine was not bottled until April 2011 and therefore it has had around 18 months to develop in wood and a further 3 years in glass before I tasted it.

It was pleasant and enjoyable, but something a little fuller may have been a better choice for the lamb.