Great wines under $20 - Italy, Spain and France

This week's painting - a vineyard - from a photo on my iPad...

Each week, my friend, Keith, and I go out somewhere into nature and we paint - it's called plein air painting.

Lately, we've been painting in Keith's basement - when it's below freezing, it's just too darned cold to paint outside!

After we paint, we taste a couple of wines while we eat lunch. Thanks to my Coravin, we only have a small sample of wine while the rest of the bottle stays fresh.

The past few weeks have been really quite good for wine tasting so I thought I'd briefly share the wines that we've tried. In most cases, the wines are under $20.

When I backpacked in Europe at the tender age of 24, I recall taking a ferry from Brindisi, Italy, to Greece. I remember it being rather chaotic getting on and off the ferry and having to share a cabin with a couple of strangers as well as my friend. Little did I know that they make a very nice wine there - the 2015  Corte Ottone Brindisi Riserva ($16.99). 

Riserva, happily, means something in Italy - it is a better wine that has to meet certain minimum requirements in ageing (unlike most countries where it has no legal definition). In this case, it means that it has been aged a minimum of two years. Brindisi is in the Puglia region of Italy so it should be no surprise that this wine is mostly Negroamaro (with some Sangiovese and Malvasia Nera). There were tastes of dark fruit like black cherry, black plum, and maybe a hint of dark fruit with vanilla and spice on the nose.Tannins were medium with medium acidity and a medium finish. I would definitely suggest this one with food - especially Italian - anything from pasta to pizza. It was also quite drinkable all by itself. Rated Very Good.  

Staying in Puglia, there is the Codici Masserie Fiano ($14.99) which was a fresh and floral wine, with aromas and tastes of peach, pear and apple. There was also a minerality - like a stone taste - that was a bit unusual. The Fiano grape is usually found a bit farther north, in Campagnia, so I'm not certain if this is the typical taste for Fiano. High in acidity, this would be a great food wine. Interestingly, when I poured this wine, I accidentally poured it again for our second wine. By this time, the wine had opened up considerably and the floral nature and complex flavours were much more apparent - we initially thought it was a different wine! Rated Very Good.

The actual second wine we tried that day was another Italian, a 2016 Bolla Soave Classico. Soave is the name of a wine made in Veneto where wine is made from mostly the Garganega grape. Classico means that this wine is made in the original area of the DOC (designated wine area - sort of like VQA) and is the better wine of the area. 

This wine was an absolute steal at $12.99. It has lots of wonderful fruity aromas and tastes including pear, apple, honey, lemon and pear. It also had medium acidity that would help it be a wonderful food pairing wine. I wouldn't count this out as a sipper, though, as it had a nice, round flavour that would be excellent for slurping on the patio - or maybe in the kitchen, considering the weather right now. I would rate this one as Good to Very Good - and suggest that it would be a good one to stock up on. 

Yesterday's tasting was one where I thought it would be interesting to try two wines that were made from the same grape but from different countries. This can be challenging as we try to limit our purchases to under $20 a.bottle and we also need a wine with a cork so we can Coravin the wine. The grape I decided on was Grenache (or Garnacha) - particularly became Keith had stated that he really didn't like Southern Rhone wines because they were a bit dull and boring. He was a bit surprised by our tasing!

From the Rioja region of Spain, we tried a2016  La Maldita Garnacha ($18.99). This wine tasted of dark cherries, black plums, and had an earthiness and spiciness that was good. It had high acidity, a medium finish, and some smokey notes as well. This wine was a food friendly wine but was bit rustic in its spiciness - almost a bit too strong - but it would go well with a strongly flavoured dish. I would rate this wine as Good. 

The second Grenache wine we tried wasn't actually just Grenache. It was a blend of Grenache and Syrah and was a 2015 Boutinot Les Coteaux Côtes du Rhône Villages ($19.99). This wine had all of the wonderful black fruiit flavours of the the Garnacha - black cherry, black plum - but also had a roundness and sophistication that the Syrah brought to it. There were medium tannins along with medium plus acidity and additional flavours like vanilla and spice - but not too much spice. The flavours were much more integrated with this wine. This wine would be an excellent food wine as it would go with a fairly wide range of food - from pork chops to lamb to steak to duck. It is also very nice to drink on its own. I reviewed the 2013 vintage of this wine a couple years ago and was a bit lukewarm on the rating - the 2015 vintage, however, is much better - even Vivino agrees with me, giving its best rating for the 2015 vintage.  A great deal for a wine that is almost as good as some more expensive Chateau Neuf des Papes wines, I would rate this wine as Very Good to Excellent. Fill your boots!

Cheers.

Vino Italiano! Wines from the North of Italy - WSET 3.8

Courtesy Wine Folly

When your wine's on your lips,
And you're having some sips,
That's Amoré....

Ah, Italia!

This week was the first of two classes on one of my favourite places to visit, Italy. The focus was on Northern Italy, home of some pretty incredible wines.

First, though, we had another blind taste test and some questions. I think I did well on the taste test which was a 2016 Domaine de la Mordoree Cote du Rhone........ but I might have been a bit too generous with my overall assessment. We also had three short answer questions and I think I nailed two of them and guessed on one....

Now, back to Italy!

Italy is in a yearly neck-in-neck battle for the most wine produced - with France, of course. There are over 2000 varietals (many which never leave Italy), and 20 wine regions.

Northern Italy has a moderate climate with short, hot summers. Altitude is very important here because, together with a fairly large diurnal range, it slows the ripening which keeps the acidity high in the wine. Northern Italian wines are famously high yielding with low densities.

Trentino-Alto Aldige was the first area we looked at and this region has a lot of Pinot Grigio. Alto Adige grows mostly Pinot Grigio but some of it can be actually quite good (if you like Pinot Grigio). Trentino has higher yield Pinot Grigio (which means it's not as good) as well as a red grape called Terlodego which has deep colour, medium to high tannins, high acidity, a medium to full body, and black fruit.

Friuli Venezia Giulia is in the eastern corner of the country, The northern vineyards have a moderate continental climate while the southern vineyards have a warm maritime climate. The big white grape is Pinot Grigio (Oh no! Not again!) which is the richest in Italy with juicy peach and tropical flavours. There's another popular white grape called Friuliano which has aromas of red apples and pear. There are some DOCs (which are the second tier of their highest wine qualification) including Friuli Grave DOC (fertile soil on a plain - white and fruity wines), Collio (means hill) DOC (whites and reds), and Collio Orientali DOC (reds - and premium reds, at that!).

We didn't try anything from either of those two regions but we did try some from the next one - Veneto.

Veneto is the largest region in Northern Italy and is home to two famous appellations, Soave and Valpolicella. This area has a warm climate with moderate rain and sites benefit from the altitude and large diurnal range. Many of these wines are grown on flat plains, especially the more inexpensive Pinot Grigio, Chardonnay, Merlot, Corvina, Garganega and Trebbiano.

Soave has two areas - the Soave DOC and the Soave Classico DOC. There are also some Soave DOCG wines which are the highest classification in Italy. The vineyards on the foothills have limestone, clay and volcanic soil which are cool so the wines can fully ripen slowly which increases acidity. The vineyards on the flat plains to the south, on the other hand, have sandy soils (that are warmer) which speeds up ripening creating young, fruity wines that have medium acidity. The grape used to make Soave is Garganega and makes wines tasting of pears, red apple, stone fruit, and white pepper which can develop almonds and honey as the wine ages.

The Soave we had was a 2016 Pieropan Soave Classico ($26)  made from the Garganega grape. This wine had aromas of pear, peach apricot, nectarine and apple and had tastes of lime and wet stone. It was a dry wine with high acidity, medium intensity of flavour, and a medium finish. This wine was described to us as a 'simple' wine and garnered a Good rating with a drink now advisory.

Northwest of Verona is Valpolicella where the main grape is Corvina. Again, in the foothills there are limestone, clay, and volcanic soils which contribute to higher acidity while on the flatter areas, warmer gravel and sandy soils dominate.

The Corvina grape can make a pretty simple wine, as shown by the 2017 Folonari Valpollicella ($18) that we had. It had both red fruit and black fruit aromas and sour cherries, cranberries, and plums on the palate. This dry wine had high acidity, high alcohol and a short length. It wasn't a terrible wine and actually had some nice complexity and so, it earned a Good rating - drink it now, though!

Valpolicella can make good wines - but the Italians have done some other things with the Corvina grape - and these things are wonderful!

Amarone wines are made from the Corvina grape but the grapes are picked and then left put in racks in a drying building (called the passito method) and allowed to dry out (this drying out is called appassimento). The grapes basically turn to raisins, which really concentrates their flavours. The drying out averages around 120 days and then the grapes are made into a rich, deep, wonderful wine.

Ripasso wines are made by taking a regular batch of Valpolicella wine, adding the leftover grapes (called the pomace) from making the Amarone wine, and letting the grapes soak or macerate in the wine.  Ripasso basically means 'repassed' and that's what is happening to the grapes.

Recioto wines are basically Amarone wine that has stopped fermentation early - either by running out of nutrients, the alcohol getting to high, or being affected by noble rot. Although we didn't taste one of these during today's class, I did have one when we went out to a restaurant in Vancouver called "Ask for Luigi" where I finished off an amazing dinner with a small glass of Recioto. It was amazing!

The Amarone we had was a 2013 Tommasi Amarone  ($63) - the exact wine I had given a friend recently (which he shared) as a gift for his retirement. This wine is wonderfully rich had medium plus tannins, medium plus acidity, and a great full body! There were tastes of black cherry, black currant, fig, raisins, smoke and even some chocolate. It tastes dry but actually has some residual sugar. A high alcohol wine, this is balanced, complex in taste, super intense in both flavour and aroma, and has a superbly long finish. An Outstanding wine that is great to drink but could age some more.

We also had a Ripasso which is sometimes called the poor man's Amarone as it is cheaper but you get a bit of the taste of an Amarone. This one was a 2015 Tommasi Ripasso ($37) that had aromas and tastes of black plum, black cherry, cedar, tobacco, and raisin. The Ripasso was dry with medium plus body and intensity and medium tannins, acidity and finish. A Very Good wine that is a tasty drink now and could age for a few years longer.

The final region of northern Italy that we covered was Piemonte. This region in the northwest of Italy makes high quality wines and all are at the DOC or DOCG level - there are no IGP (2nd overall tier) wines. The mountains in the north provide a rain shadow for the area which experiences a moderate continental climate with long, cold winters and stormy, foggy summers. It's really a miracle that there is such wonderful wine made here!

In the south east of the region, Gavi wine is made from the Cortese grape. This high acid grape has floral aromas and tastes of citrus, green apple and pear. We tried a 2017 Michele Chiarlo Gavi ($27). This wine was a 'simple' wine with aromas and tastes of apple, peach, apricot, lime and wet stone. There's nothing wrong with a simple wine - it's just not that complex and not that intense. It did have a balanced taste and the finish was OK. Overall, a Good wine that should be consumed now.

Nebbiolo - the dog, not the grape...

In the northwest corner of Piemonte is the home of two regions that make Nebbiolo. Not only is Nebbiolo the name of my grand-puppy, but it is also a wonderful, high acid, high tannin, full bodied grape that can really surprise you the first time you drink it as the colour is quite pale. The two regions that are famous for Nebbiolo is Barolo and Barbaresco.  Barbaresco wines are a bit fruitier and less performed as they ripen a bit earlier. Agieng is different, too, as Barolo has to be aged 3 years (5 for Reserva) and Barbaresco has to only be aged for 2 years (4 for Reserva).

We were fortunate to have a 2010 Giribaldi Barolo Nebbiolo ($115). This wine had aromas of roses, tar, red currant, smoke, cedar and black cherry and had similar flavours on the palate.There were intense aromas and flavours as well as a long finish. Overall, the Barolo was balanced and complex and earned an Outstanding rating - you could drink this now or you could age this for a few years at least.

The last two areas we looked at was Asti and Alba.

Barbera is a grape that is made in either place, although Barberas made from Asti are considered better. This high acidity wine is good with duck which is what I would have had with the 2014 Boffa Barbera D'Asti ($33). This wine had aromas and tastes of red cherry, red plum, pepper, raspberry, and liquorice. It was a fairly balanced wine with good intensity and we rated this one as Good.

The final wine was a Dolcetto from Alba. This wine is sometimes described as being bitter or having a taste of cough syrup. It usually has medium to high tannins and medium acidity. We tried a 2015 Gresy Dolcetto ($35). The Dolcetto did, in fact, have aromas and flavours of cough syrup as well as black plum, black cherry, toast, dried herbs, and an overall earthiness. Although the length was a bit short, it was balanced, complex and had very good intensity, especially on the nose. This was rated as Very Good with potential for ageing.

I really enjoy wines from Italy. I am so looking forward to next week when we taste wines from Central and Southern Italy.

Ciao!

Now that's Italian! Italian wines from WSET Class #6

Tuesday night's class marked the two thirds mark in our course of nine classes. It seems like time is accelerating - both at my job and at the WSET course!

Ah, Italy! It just seems last week (not two years ago) that my wife and I were spending time in Rome, walking the streets, sampling the food, admiring the amazing variety of ancient wonders, and drinking the wine.

You can have at least some of that experience here - you can cook yourself a wonderful meal, watch a great Italian movie, and sip a Pinot Grigio or a Nebbiolo as you recapture your great memories.

Cin cin!

Tonight's class focussed on a variety of wines but the first half looks at Italian wines.

We started with the whites. Italian whites are, for the most part, pale lemon in colour and tasting of green fruit. There are not a lot of differences between the different white varietals but that made it only more interesting as we proceeded to blind taste two different Italian whites and a Spanish one.

First things first, though - I discovered that Italy has over 1000 indigenous grape varietals. In Soave the grape is Garganega and in Gavi it is Cortese. Trebbiano is the most widely planted grape in Italy but you don't often see it on its own. There is also Verdicchio from Castello di Jesi.

Our first three wines were white wines - one was a Pinot Grigio (lighter than the French interpretation of the grape called Pinot Gris), one was a Soave (Garganega grape) and one was a Spanish grape called Albarino which is the signature white grape of Spain.

It was a pretty good evening for our group - and even for me! We were pretty much bang on with our assessments of the wine - or at least, that's how I remember it! The first wine was a 2015 Tolloy Pinot Grigio which was - well  - pale lemon in colour. It had a medium minus intensity nose and smelled of underripe peach and pear. On the palate, it was dry with high acidity and a medium minus body. I tasted the same fruit with a bit of grapefruit and lemon. It had a medium minus finish, was from the Alto Adige area (famous for Pinot Grigio) and cost a mere $20. It was rated Good.

 

Next was a better wine.Pale lemon in colour, it had medium intensity on the nose, lemon, grapefruit and apricot on the nose with a definite floral aroma. On the palate, there were the tastes of citrus, grapefruit and lemon and it had a dry taste (drier than the Pinot Grigio) with high acidity, light body and a medium plus finish. It was balanced, intense, complex and expressive and therefore earned a rating of Very Good. It was a 2015 Pieropan from Soave (made with Gargenega grapes)  priced at $29. 

 

The final white of the evening was a Pazo Senoran wine made with the Albarino grape which is the signature white grape of Spain! It was (surprise) pale lemon in colour and had medium intensity on the nose. There were aromas of ripe apple and pear, stone fruit and nectarine. On the palate, it was dry with medium acidity. medium body, and flavours of peach, white pepper, melon, and grapefruit. It had a medium finish, was rated Very Good, and this fabulous wine costs $37 

Switching to reds, we looked at a  famous Italian area. The first was a Chianti (made from Sangiovese grapes) from Castello di Bossi. It was pale garnet in colour and had a medium plus intensity on the nose with aromas of cranberry, cherry, violets, tea, and spices. There were similar flavours on the palate including red fruit such as plum, and high acidity, medium plus body, and medium plus tannins. The finish was medium and the overall rating of this $33 wine was Very Good. It was a pretty nice wine but paled compared to the next one.

This was a 2010 Uccelliera Brunello (di Montalcino), also made from Sangiovese grapes, and made south of Tuscany.  This was also medium garnet and was also clear. It was medium intensity on the nose and was very complex on the nose - red currant, raspberry, red cherry, plum, fig, cloves, spice and smokiness were all apparent. The palate also had plum, back currant, leather and tobacco. This dry wine was high in tannins, high acidity, full body with a fantastic long finish. I would rate this $100 wine as Outstanding. And a great way to finish off our wines of Italy!