Around in the world in four bottles of wine. This month our theme was to get to know those parts of the wine world that aren’t drunk nearly as much as others. First up we have an Argentinian red wine, however this is not a Malbec for which the country is famous, but instead a really interesting Cabernet Sauvignon. Spain is popularly known for its Rioja region but we’re sending you the lesser known Cariñena variety from Aragon. Moving onto the whites – one is a Riesling from the Rheingau region in Germany. ‘Wine people’ will know this wine very well but the average consumer almost never picks out a Riesling as their choice of white, we hope this will help change your mind. Our final wine is from Goriska Brda in Slovenia. It’s a Pinot Bianco and a perfect one at that. Have a read below for more info on each of these wines.
We’re selling cases of each at 15% off (prices shown below include discount) so if you like the sound of them drop us an email: hello@thegrapeclub.co.uk and we’ll get them sent to you.
Kaiken Ultra Cabernet Sauvignon 2011
Origin: Mendoza, Argentina
Grape: 96% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Malbec
Aging: 12 months in French oak
Consume: Now or until 2019
Price: Case of 12 for £108.16
A Kaiken is a wild goose that migrates over the Andes between Argentina and Chile and that’s exactly what the award winning winemakers from Montes are doing here. With their success in Chile they now make this delicious ‘Kaiken Ultra’ range over the mountains in Argentina. The Kaiken is a wonderful characterisation of what they do.
Mendoza is one of Argentina’s most important wine provinces. It is situated right in the middle of the country, on the eastern side of the Andes bordering Chile. High above sea level it has some of the highest planted vineyards in the world. Cabernet Sauvignon is the second most important grape grown in Mendoza, even though the region is mostly known for it’s Malbecs.
This Cabernet Sauvignon has been made in a way similar to those over in Bordeaux. It has the usual flavours of dark fruits such as Blackberry and the tobacco taste from the 12 months in french oak. It’s a very enjoyable drink and would go perfectly with your steak.
2011’s harvest was a hard one to understand what sort of vintage would come out of it. According to reports from winemakers at the time, there was some early winter frost and end of summer hail storms all seemed to indicate a damaged harvest. Although oddly enough in the end, red and white grapes throughout the region were all reported to be of very good quality. The harvest was a few weeks later than usual to allow for full ripeness in the vineyards and all in all it turned out to be a great year despite the patchy weather. Malbec probably suffered the most as its grapes are a little weaker than those of Cabernet Sauvignon but it too produced some wine of outstanding quality.
El Circo Carinena 2013
Origin: Aragon, Spain
Grape: 100% Cariñena
Aging: Bottled young, no oak ageing
Consume: By 2017
Price: Case of 6 for £40.56
Cariñena is native to Aragon in Spain, although it is much more common in Catalonia, Spain. Garnacha (Grenache to us) is the most planted grape variety in Aragon however Cariñena produces some brilliant wine too, especially if El Circo have anything to do with it.
Cariñena is a hard grape to ripen, so much so that it can only be planted in very warm climates. The benefit of a warm, dry climate is that it is less likely to be infected by rot which it can be very susceptible to. When successfully grown, it produces high yields and strong tannins that will help the wine age well. The best Cariñena comes from very old vines and it is these that produce the best of what it has to offer. It can be a hard grape to get right so when it tastes as good as it does coming from El Circo, you know they’ve done a good job.
2013, which is quite recent as it would have only been bottled this year, was a late harvest by about 20 days. The summer started off very cool and so they needed to delay in order for the vines to get as much heat as they could before the Autumn rains came. They picked just at the right time and reports of a very satisfactory harvest were widespread.
Quercas – Pinot Bianco 2014
Origin: Goriska Brda, Slovenia
Grape: Pinot Bianco
Aging: Short time in stainless steel to preserve freshness
Consume: Now
Price: Case of 12 for £101.47
Goriska Brda is often referred to as the ‘Tuscany of Slovenia’. With its ancient hilltop villages, cyprus trees and vineyard strewn slopes it is easy to see why. It is a beautiful and very secluded area, there is only one road to get here from the rest of Slovenia which comes through the mountain ranges and even goes into neighbouring Italy for a few km’s!
Despite their relative isolation from the rest of the country (or maybe because of it) they take their wine very seriously here. There is a fair amount of influence from Italy but they really do try and make their wines as ‘Slovenian’ as possible. By this we mean very minerally and refreshing to reflect the hilly alpine areas the vines are grown in. We think Goriska Brda sounds like a delightful place and we’d love to visit.
Pinot Bianco is actually a mutation of the more famous Pinot Grigio, but their tastes are very different. Pinot Bianco is much more floral, steely and minerally than Pinot Grigio, which is richer. Top wine critic Jancis Robinson declared that the best Pinot Bianco wines come from Slovenia as it is here that it is particularly at home. You can’t get a much better endorsement that that.
The 2014 vintage started earlier than usual, beginning at the end of August. Heavy rains during the summer had worried the Slovenian winemakers as this can sometimes cause diseases in the vineyards. They combated this by removing some of the leaves around the bunches of grapes leaving them more exposed to sunlight and breezes so they could dry out quicker. During the vintage they carefully hand selected only the ripest bunches giving us this lovely wine.
White Rabbit – Riesling 2014
Origin: Rheingau, Germany
Grape: Riesling
Aging: Only stainless steel tanks to preserve freshness
Consume: Now
Price: Case of 12 for £114.84
Riesling is a funny grape, those that have tried it can’t get enough of it, but for many it is still an unknown to be skirted around on any wine list. Rieslings are very different to any other white grape. They tend to be lighter in alcohol with refreshingly high natural fruity acidity. They also are great at displaying the character of the place they are grown (you can often taste the chalkiness or slate of the mountain soils) which is why Rieslings from Germany and Alsace are often so great. If Germany is the home of Riesling, Rheingau is its region, and it is here that many of the best producers are found, including Ress. With White Rabbit the Ress family have tired to create a wine that is a perfect introduction to Riesling, its mouthwatering fruitiness and refreshing acidity and slight honey flavour will leave you longing for more.
German wine labels can be very confusing but, if you can find the eagle with the letters ‘VDP’ on the back of the label as on this bottle, it signifies that the wine is from a top quality producer. This is a useful little indication of whether the wine is likely to be a good buy.
Peter Seyffardt, president of the Rheingau Winegrowers Association explained that 2014 was one of the warmest years ever in the Rheingau which presented vinegrowers with various different challenges, but by meeting them head on they were able to overcome them and produce an outstanding harvest. It sounds surprising that a warm year could be an issue, but in the mountains warmth can be dangerous as it can make the vines flower early, leaving them exposed to potential late season snow or hail which can wipe out an entire crop. Also humidity can be problematic, luckily though neither of these occurred.
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