Carricante made in quite a modern style, with a sauvignon-like nose of gooseberries and grapefruit, a hint of quince, and dry, salty tang. This wine spent 10 months on the lees, which has given it attractive weight, but not at the expensive of the freshness or the fruit. Organically produced.
Food Match: Asian
2011 Giuliemi Quantico Etna Bianco, Etna, Sicily
( N/A, 13%, N/A UK (Available from the winery) )Made in tiny quantities (only 1,500 bottles a year) by Giuliemi, from organically grown fruit. This is a blend of Etna’s indigenous Carricante, plus a splash of Grillo, which seems to add richness, and bring a rather unctuous texture to the party. Intense lime and grapefruit aromas, spicy, honeyed character and great minerality. What makes this all the more amazing is that no sulphur was added. Stunning, if atypical. When is someone going to import this to the UK?
2010 Giuliemi Quantico Etna Rosso, Etna, Sicily
( £16, 13%, Outis )Giuliemi’s Etna Rosso is scarcely less impressive than the Bianco. Raspberries, pepper and orange zest on the nose, driving acidity and soft yet structured tannins. Hint of brown sugar and lemon juice at the end. This is a super-fresh, pure expression of Nerellos Mascalese and Capuccio. Only 1,500 bottles a year produced. Organic/No sulphur.
2011 Bellingham The Bernard Series Old Vine Chenin blanc, Western Cape
( £9.59, 14.5%, Majestic )You can really taste the old vine concentration is this ripe, textured, tropical fruity Cape Chenin. The flavours coat the palate: honey, pineapple and cinnamon spice, some vanilla sweetness from oak ageing and crisp, appley acidity. Weighty, concentrated and full of flavour, this has impressive length and freshness too.
2010 Marti Fabra Masia Carreras Blanc, Empordà
( E13, 14.5%, El Celler Petit )There’s clearly something special about the village of San Clement Sescebes (and not just as the place where lots of Spaniards did their military service) as it’s home to two of the region’s best producers (Terra Remota being the other one). This highly unusual blend of Garnatxa Blanca, Picapoll and Samsó (aka Carignan) is a big, umami-rich white with a dry finish, some tannin on the palate and masses of grip, density and flavour. A very serious bottle of white.
2011 Mas Llunes Nívia, Empordà
( E8, 13.5%, El Celler Petit )A wine that is a little too marked by oak at the moment, but has good underlying texture and concentration. Floral, saline and concentrated with toasty oak and good minerality. Needs a year or two in bottle, but I love the notes of fennel and wild rosemary and the strucuture and muscularity of the finish.
2010 All Saints Estate Marsanne, Victoria
( £14.9, 12.2%, Cockburn & Campbell )A light, refreshing, herbal, honeysuckle-scented Marsanne from All Saints, favouring mealy, citrus fruit over oak influence. The wine is tangy and well-balanced, light enough to enjoy as an aperitif as well as with food. Experience shows that Victorian Marsannes age extremely well.
2011 CVNE Viña Real Rioja Blanco, Alavesa, Rioja
( £9.99, 13%, Majestic )By the very oaky standards of some white Riojas, this is comparatively light on the barrel influence. It’s a subtle, lightly smoky Viura with a herbal touch and well integrated vanilla oak. The palate is fresh, yet textured, with good length and a savoury finish.
2008 Marimar Estate Pinot Noir La Masía Don Miguel Vineyard, Russian River Valley, California
( US$39, 14.5%, Contact the winery for details )This doesn’t quite scale the same heights as this winery’s recent Chardonnay release, but it’s still an impressive West Coast Pinot, appealingly priced by the standards of some California reds. It’s a full bodied style with flavours of ripe red fruits and sweet vanilla oak and a touch of leafy forest floor. The alcohol is a little intrusive on the finish perhaps, but this is still a Pinot with depth and flavour.
2009 Marimar Estate Chardonnay La Masía Don Miguel Vineyard, Russian River Valley, California
( US$35, 14.5%, Contact the winery for details )This is the most elegant Chardonnay I’ve tasted yet from this Green Valley winery, marking a step change in freshness, minerality and balance. The wine is still Californian in style, but the oak and acidity are nicely intertwined adding a refeshing backrop to the pear and citrus fruit. The lees work is exemplary, too. A wine that wouldn’t look out of place in a line up of top Meursaults. Bravo.
2011 Herbis Verdejo, Castilla y León, Galicia
( £9.49, 13%, Naked Wines )You get this wine a good deal cheaper if you become an “angel” (don’t ask), but it’s still worth the full bottle price as a rich, minerally, unoaked Verdejo from the cool Rueda region. Gapefruit zest and some stone fruit on the palate with a fresh, tangy finish.
2010 Neudorf Moutere Pinot Noir Home Vineyard, Nelson
( NZ$79.90, 14.5%, Contact the winery for details )This is unashamedly New Zealand, even Nelson, in style rather than a Burgundian copy. It’s rich, savoury and textured, a wine whose pale colour belies its concentration, depth and complexity. The oak is a little too evident at the moment, but don’t hesitate to give it five or more years in bottle. Sweetly fruited, perfumed and very long.