The Canary Islands D.O.´s are producing wines that likely no North American reader has ever seen. However, these islands have been producing wines for a very long time and have never experienced the phylloxera plague, thus having own rooted vines from indigenous varieties that have elsewhere died out. The modern wine making scene, however, is comprised mostly of newer Bodegas, with Tanajara being one of them. As these are a series of islands rather than a single one, there are several D.O.´s to correspond, including La Palma, Tenerife, Gran Canaria and El Hierro amongst others.
This wine, produced in the island of Hierro is, accordingly, of the El Hierro D.O. While the indigenous grape varieties grown on El Hierro are unheard of most of elsewhere – Listan Negro, Negramoll, Verijadiego, Bermejuelo – this red wine is particularly strange for being made from Verijadiego, which, according to my sources is usually cultivated for whites. I cannot clear up this confusion, except to guess that the white wines are made from the juice of grapes with thick and more tannic red skins.
The Island of El Hierro began producing wines in 1526, in the Sack style made famous by Jerez. These fortified sweet wines dominated trade back when Jerez was the high quality wine capital of the world in the 16th and 17th centuries. These days, however, more modern dry red and white styles are being produced, some of which, such as this wine, are not only of surprisingly high quality, but are also modern while being distinctive. Currently most of the wines produced are either purchased by tourists visiting the islands or by (strangely) El Hierro expats currently living in Venezuela (the largest export market)
The wine itself was extremely modern and fruity and reminded me of a high altitude zinfandel with less alcohol. Grown in volcanic soil (the Canary Islands are the outer ring of a large underwater volcano), this wine suggested plenty of cranberry and fresh tart red berry fruit, but there was also a superb structure to the wine held up by a relatively high level of acidity, which I would attribute to the cool coastal and high altitude climate of the island. This is also a wine made to pair with traditionally prepared Catalan leg of lamb, as the delicate flavours of the meat and sauce meld completely with the acidic lift and very bright fruit of the wine. While I suspect oak aging on this wine, it is non-intrusive and deftly handled. I was very impressed.
Excellent
€17 Retail, €22 at the restaurant Vinya Royel in Barcelona
In this last post of my Spotlight on Southern Italy series I will be looking at both a rare white grape and a very tiny region. The wine region, Molise, is nestled between Abruzzo and Puglia on the east coast of Italy, and it is far enough north to almost be out of what many would consider to be Southern Italy. Molise is a mountainous and heavily wooded region and there are many wines being made in the mountains, although none currently are being imported into the North American market. In fact, most wines made here aren’t sold commercially at all, but made for and drunk by locals. This region is quite poor and so in order for the wines to start improving and being bottled, there will need to be some sort of investment from elsewhere. This producer is an exception to that general rule, and is actually making some pretty good stuff.
Di Majo Norante has its own estate vineyards near the ocean and the town of Campomarino. Even though it is situated in Molise, it makes its wines in a more Campanian style, and so they have Southern Italy at their heart. Di Majo Norante has been bottling wines since 1968 and makes several reds and whites, including some interesting sounding blends.
Yesterday I introduced the Spotlight on Southern Italy series with a look at the Apulia region (in the southeast), and specifically at the primitivo grape. Primitivo, however, is a relatively new development when it comes high quality wine in Apulia. The main grape for such wines has always been negroamaro, which technically means bitter black, but I don’t think that name is particularly useful in describing these wines.
This particular wine is a blend of 85% negroamaro and 15% malvasia nera, a variety known for its intense fragrance. Aged for 6 months in old oak, the oak characteristics are barely perceptible in this wine, which allows the fruit to speak for itself. There is a lot of pleasure to be had here, even if the wine is straightforward. On the nose I got dark cherry, earth, flowers, and metal. The nose is a bit shut down when you first pop the cork, so make sure to give this a good decant. The palate continues the dark cherry and adds meat and spice in the mid palate. The finish grabs hold with hints of chocolate, herbs and earth. While some criticize negroamaro for being a bit backward, this particular wine is not ‘rustic’ in a bad way at all. Instead, it’s got old world finesse and understatedness, but great smoothness and is a very clean wine. While I could not find out that much about this producer, they seem to be making modern wines with good density and structure, but also great balance. Add in the spicy earth characteristics, a pizza or pasta, and the very reasonable price tag, and you have a winner.
In order to give my blog some more focus and increase both the educational dimension and the simple fun of blogging I’ve decided to create a weekly focus for the blog, whether it be a region, a grape, or a concept in wine-making. Each post in a given week will focus on a different aspect of the weekly theme, and I hope to prompt discovery of the lesser known, the unnoticed and the misconceived. This week’s focus is on the wines of Southern Italy, a large area with several regions that often get neglected by wine drinkers. And, this is a shame given both the quality and the values to be had in the region. In this week’s posts I will be focusing on wines from Apulia (the heel of Italy’s boot), Campagnia (near Naples), and Sicily, starting with a primitivo from Apulia.
The producer Apollonio – who make this wine – is located on the Salento peninsula of Apulia, which even with the hot climate sees incredibly cold nights, which preserves acidity in the grapes and retards the ripening of the grape to allow for more even development. Production sits around 50 000 cases, so this is not a super small producer, although also by no means a huge one. It’s actually quite amazing the quality Apollonio consistently manages even with this relatively large production. Clearly the wine-maker knows what he is doing.
La Peira is a relatively new producer in the Languedoc region of France, which is situated south west of the Rhone on the Mediterranean coast. La Peira was started in 2004 by three individuals who believed that the undiscovered Terrasses du Larzac region in the hills of the Coteaux du Languedoc held great potential for grape growing, despite having no history of ‘greatness’ to support that theory. The first wines were bottled as recently as 2008 and were first tasted by U.S. “press” by none other than Gary Veynerchuck of all people – who by the way, loved them. Based on this bottle, I have to completely agree with him here.
In an exciting development, I am writing up this beer procured not on a trip to the United States, but rather on a trip two blocks away from my work at a local beer speciality shop. That’s right, a true blue bourbon barrel aged stout has made it across the border and into our stores. I’ve been ranting about the beauty of wood aged beers ever since I lived down in California where such things are not strange oddities but much loved companions. If the recent shipment of this rare beer from North Coast is any indication, we may be able to begin moderate rejoicing here in British Columbia.
Another entry from the Oregonian cult producer Cameron – this time a much more affordable and good value wine. While this isn’t a wine for the cellar or something that will blow your mind, it is a very well made wine at a good price that is extremely likeable.
Grosset is perhaps my favourite New World producer of riesling. Whereas German rieslings tend to be off-dry (even many of the trockens) and Austrian rieslings, while dry, are more mineral focused, Grosset makes massively explosive citrus based rieslings like no one else.
