Voyager Estate: Steve James interview (IWC Canopy Article)

Clone work pays off for Steve

Steve James, manager of winemaking and viticulture at Voyager Estate in Margaret River, Australia

Innovative winemaker Steve James talks clones, tulip-shaped fermenters, using a machine-harvester to control botrytis, Chenin Blanc fizz and weevils…

Geoffrey Dean

2019-10-22

Australian winemakers have deservedly earned a reputation for innovation, and one particular Aussie winemaker’s embrace of it is paying real dividends at his winery. Steve James, manager of winemaking and viticulture at Voyager Estate in Margaret River, gives us a revealing insight into the beneficial changes he has overseen both in the vineyard and in the cellar at the leading West Australian estate.

A big cricket-lover, it is actually another C-word that really excites James: clones. He has introduced new Merlot ones that have led to a ‘phenomenal’ improvement in quality of that particular varietal for the winery’s Bordeaux blend. Another Cabernet Sauvignon clone is also looking highly promising, along with a new Cabernet Franc one, which may well raise Voyager’s already high quality bar even further.

'We might even create a special Right Bank-style Merlot/Franc blend'

“We’ve done a lot of work with clones that is starting to come to fruition,” Steve, who has worked at Voyager for over two decades, said. “We have two amazing new clones of Merlot we use for blending with Cabernet Sauvignon that are a revelation. One is from Italy called Q45+14, and the other – 181 – is from Bordeaux. The step-up in fruit quality is just phenomenal. It’s chalk and cheese between the old high-yielding Davis clone that you had to put a lot of work into to get good wine. These new clones are just remarkable.

“As for the Cab Franc clone, which is M214 from Bordeaux, we will get our first crop off it in 2020. I’ve seen a little bit of fruit from it last harvest, and that looked super exciting as well. We might even create a special Right Bank-style Merlot/Franc blend when we have enough volume. The new Cabernet Sauvignon clone, 337, gives extra tannin and structure, as well as more flavour and concentration.”

In his endless quest for improvement, Steve is also experimenting with “doing our own clone” of Cabernet Sauvignon. “I went into our old block and did a heritage vine project,” he continued. More details of this here.

In the cellar at Voyager Estate

“I wanted to preserve some of this beautiful, old, what’s called Houghton clone material. It goes back to the 1800s and came from South Africa into the Houghton winery in the Swan Valley. It got distributed out, and we were very fortunate we inherited an amazingly good clone of Cabernet. So, anyway, we went in and did a selection and I’m pretty certain we found the three best vines in that vineyard block. We got a bunch of three separate clones and started propagating off those, planting new clonal material. It’s been a lot of work, and a long process – it’s taken nearly five years to get where we are today.”

Voyager egg

In the cellar, meanwhile, Steve has got pleasing results from new tulip-shaped concrete fermenters from Italy. “We’re using a few new beautiful tulip-shaped concrete fermenters, about 2.5m high and holding three tons of fruit, that are working really well for the reds, mainly Cabernet Sauvignon. We’ve also got a stainless steel tank in exactly the same shape but we weren’t sure if it was the shape or the medium that was contributing. Each has quite different influences: the concrete gives a more textured, earthy wine, while the stainless steel is brighter. We also put some Chenin Blanc in and that worked quite well. This next year, we’ll chuck some skins in as well.”

Mention of Chenin Blanc brings Steve onto Voyager’s excellent new sparkling wine, a single varietal version of that grape made by the traditional method with six months on the lees and 4-6g/L dosage. “It’s just been unbelievably successful,” Steve chuckled. “You get a lot better sugar-acid balance than with Chardonnay. There’s lovely green apple and light citrus notes, lower sugar and beautiful, crisp, natural acid. It’s been selling well, and people have absolutely loved it in the UK, where it’s been a real hit. In 2018, we made only a thousand dozen. In Australia, it’s retailing for about AUD32 (about £20).”

'We've been using a machine grape harvester for botrytis control'

Steve James in the vineyard

As for the vineyards, which will receive organic certification early next year, Steve has been delighted by a new ploy to counter botrytis. “We’re lucky with our climate in Margaret River but we have had a bit of summer rainfall these past two years, leading to some botrytis,” he added. “We’ve done a really interesting experiment last growing season, which we’ll look to do again this year, using a machine grape harvester for botrytis control. We go through and run a couple of rods of a harvester over the top. Basically, it blows a lot of the rubbish out of the bunches, and it chops off tiny little shot berries that can harvest botrytis spores. The results were remarkable – absolutely unbelievable. We’re also using naturally-occurring fungi to compete with the botrytis. It’s a question of trying to work with nature.”

Another issue in the vineyard for James used to be garden weevils, but conversion to organic farming has helped control them. “One of our biggest concerns about going organic was not being able to use insecticide against these armour-plated weevils, which are voracious feeders on grapes and leaves. The really interesting thing is that because we’re now encouraging flowers and plants to grow through the spring between the mid-rows, the beneficial insects are coming in and predating on the weevil eggs, which are laid under the vines. We’re finding we’re getting less weevil problems than when we used insecticide. That’s been a complete revelation for us.

“Another key reason for going organic is we started to get mealy bugs, a vector for virus spread, with insecticide. With none used any more, the mealy bugs have disappeared. In the long term, our vineyards are in far better shape than they were with conventional practices. So it’s a question of trying to work with nature rather than controlling it. Nature can be your friend.”

Why the wines of AOC Luberon have got it all going for them

They’re like buses and policemen… you wait an eternity to hear about a wine from Luberon, as we did with Les Quelles de la Coste, and then a week later everyone’s talking about them. Geoffrey Dean travels to this sunny corner of France made famous by Peter Mayle’s A Year in Provence and discovers why the wines of AOC Luberon have got everything going for them. Dean visits Château La Canorgue, which inspired the film A Good Year and also the domains of two individuals responsible for raising the profile of the area – Fabrice Monod at Château Fontvert and Paul Dubrule at La Cavale.

by Geoffrey Dean

Mention of the Luberon conjures up evocative images of Peter Mayle’s life as an expatriate in the fabled centre of Provence. His books, notably A Year in Provence and a romantic novel that was made into the cult film, A Good Year, starring Russell Crowe, painted memorable scenes of mountain ranges, idyllic villages, imposing old chateaux and stunning valleys. There were vineyards too, of course, with Crowe’s character forsaking a corporate career to manage his own ‘vignoble.’.

Mourvèdre is one of the key grapes in the Luberon

The vineyard scenes were shot in the region at Château La Canorgue, which has been making excellent wine for a long time, but only recently have the Luberon’s wines started to receive the full recognition they deserve.

Instrumental in raising the profile of the Luberon appellation (the AOC having been created in 1988) has been the role played by two individuals: Fabrice Monod and Paul Dubrule. Monod has followed in the footsteps of Crowe’s character, forsaking a career in television in Paris to manage his family’s winery at Lourmarin, Château Fontvert. Meanwhile, Dubrule, the billionaire co-founder of Accor Hotel Group, has invested in a new multi-million euro cellar door at La Cavale that is attracting a legion of new wine tourists to the area.

Ch Fontvert, owned by Fabrice Monod

Monod’s story is an interesting one. Hailing from a prominent Parisian family with a long history of governmental ministerial involvement, he worked in New York on Wall Street in the 1990s before returning home in the new millennium to start a TV production company. He presented a weekly programme on economics as well as making documentaries on life in China, where he spent considerable time.

“It was very tiring, and TV stations were paying less and less, so it was not worth the time or money,” he told The Buyer at his winery. “My family had owned the estate since the 1950s, but I came here very gradually. After doing a couple of winters here, I made the move permanently in 2013 and felt much better down here.”

Living in the 17th century chateau with his American girlfriend, and leaving the winemaking to the capable Yoann Malandain, Monod takes care of the business side of things. He has increased cellar door sales to 20% of the annual 150,000-bottle capacity, while direct-to-consumer sales are 10%. Around 8% of production is exported to 12 markets, with Totem Imports acting as his UK distributor.

Chateau Fonvert’s wines showed particularly well. An appealing pair of rosés was complemented by two excellent whites (one a blend of Rolle and Grenache Blanc; the other a single varietal version of the latter grape). The four reds offered value and good quality at different price points: Les Restanques 2018being a Syrah-based everyday drinker; Fonvert Rouge 2017, an appealing mid-market GSM; Le Collet 2017, a fine lower premium Syrah from ultra low-yielding 50-year old vines (only 12 hl/ha); Mourre Negre 2018, a beguiling Mourvedre with a dollop of Syrah from similarly low-yielding vines. These last two, at €25 and €34 respectively, were something of a steal, given their complexity and length. Both are on the wine list at a 2-star Michelin restaurant in nearby Bonnieux, although Monod’s ambition is to get them into a 3-star one in Japan, one of his 12 export markets.

Not far from Château Fonvert, near the village of Cadenet, can be found La Cavale and Dubrule’s futuristic but tasteful cellar door. In 2005, Dubrule was asked to do a study on wine tourism by the French government, and the lessons he learnt from it have been incorporated into this striking building, which was designed by leading French architect, Jean-Michel Wilmotte.

Paul Dubrole and architect Jean-Michel Wilmotte with the original designs (l-r) The spectacular finished article (above)

Opened in 2017, it has proved a spectacular success, having received 2,000 visitors alone in August according to Corinne Conroy, La Cavale’s director of marketing and oenotourism.

“We’ve had a 20% increase in visitors this year,” she told The Buyer. “Apart from the tasting, we have concerts on the roof and musical evenings every Thursday. We want this place to be a magnet for people to enjoy the terrace and the views.”

Cellar door sales are outstanding at La Cavale, with 40% of the annual production of around 200,000 bottles selling there. Only a small amount is exported, with none as yet to the UK apart from mail order. Highly experienced winemaker, Jean-Paul Aubert, and consultant Alain Graillot, the celebrated Crozes-Hermitage producer, have crafted an impressive range of rosé, white and red wines.

Some stunning photographs of the winery and vineyards adorn a glossy coffee-table publication (written by Dubrule himself) entitled La Cavale en Luberon, which won best French drinks book of the year at the annual World Gourmand awards in Macau. On sale in the cellar door shop, it encapsulates the feel and heart of the Luberon.

La Cavale will gain organic certification next year, but Château La Canorgue, just north of Bonnieux, has been farmed biodynamically since 1970. Some of the 40 hectares of vines there are over 100 years old, although winemaker Nathalie Margan-Libourel says the average age is around 40 years. It is very much a family affair, with ownership going back five generations and her father, Jean-Pierre Margan, acting as viticulturalist. Yapp Brothers, the well-known west country merchant based in Mere, have been importing La Canorgue’s wines for over 30 years. As many as 15 varieties feature on the estate, which was immortalised inA Good Year.

LuberonA personal favourite was the Coin Perdu 2016, a field blend from a parcel of interplanted Syrah, Cinsault, Mourvèdre, Grenache and Carignan.

If this triumvirate of contrasting but excellent wineries is leading the way for the appellation, other Luberon estates such as Château La Dorgonne and Domaine de la Citadelle are also producing wines of similar personality and quality. It should not be a surprise, for wine has been made in the region since Roman times and conditions for viticulture are highly favourable.

Being a mountain appellation, with vines growing at an altitude of 200-450 metres, nights are fresh, helping to retain acidity. Indeed, all of the winemakers I met seldom add tartaric acid. Soils include Miocene sands, limestone scree and red clay, while the climate, a mix of Rhône influences and the cooler temperatures of the high Provençal plateau, is enhanced by one of the highest amounts of sun hours in France – over 2600 hours. In short, the wines of AOC Luberon have everything going for them.

Davy's New World Tasting 2019

Rikus Neethling is one highlight of Davy’s New World tasting

With eyes shut you would have thought for all the world that you were tasting Hunter Valley Semillon. Except you weren’t. Welcome to the rare and wonderful Semillons of Rikus Neethling from the western Cape – a real eye-opener at a fascinating masterclass that was one of the many highlights at the Davy’s New World tasting last week. There were more wines from Australia, Kiwi wines including some from Little Beauty, Robert Sinskey’s idiosyncratic but wonderful Napa wines, Ventisquero, Gouguenheim and many more as Geoffrey Dean discovered.

By Geoffrey Dean September 12, 2019

“Across the Andes in Mendoza, it was easy to see why the Davy’s team consider Gouguenheim to be ‘one of the best kept secrets in the Uco Valley,” writes Dean.

Lovers of Hunter Valley Semillon would have been forgiven for thinking they were tasting some very good examples of it at the Greenwich wine merchant, Davy’s, New World portfolio tasting at 67 Pall Mall in early September. With very fresh acidity, a low ABV of between 10.5-11%, and showing clean, bone-dry limey notes after elevage in stainless steel, the wines in question had Aussie Hunter written all over them. Except they weren’t: they came from the western Cape. And at a fascinating masterclass given by the young South African winemaker who produced them, Rikus Neethling revealed how he had been heavily influenced by champion Hunter Valley producer, Bruce Tyrell.

Not that much Semillon is grown in South Africa (1.18% of the national area under vine according to latest SAWIS stats), but Neethling admits he is totally obsessed by the variety.

“I want to show that South African whites can age, and my Semillons will go 20 to 30 years,” he said. Hunter Semillons can do that, majestically of course, held together by high acidity thanks to early picking. By doing the same, and by using an Australian clone (GD1), Neethling has every chance of being successful in his quest.

His three Bizoe label Semillons (all 2018s) are drinking very well.  Semillon, generally speaking, is best drunk young or old, rather than say aged 4-6 years when it tends to go through a dumb phase. His Bizoe Morning Star 2018, from 13-year old bush vines on sandy loam at Darling, has mineral notes as well as some sea-salty ones thanks to the proximity of the ocean (8km away). Very low pH of 3.1, achieved by harvesting in late January or early February, gives vibrant acidity (TA 7 g/l).

“I think we’re getting it right picking on pH to prevent flat flavours,” Neethling mused, adding that three clones had been interplanted in the Morning Star vineyard – GD1, GD315 (French) and GD 16 (American).

The Bizoe Robertsvlei Road 2018 comes from Franschhoek, which Neethling thinks should be the “South African capital of Semillon.” Using 100% GD1 cloned-fruit from 24-year old vines, this wine was even closer to a Hunter Semillon. Six hours of skin contact and being run through a basket press gives the wine added flavours. When Neethling blended together juice from these two Semillons to form his Bizoe Kruispad 2018, he produced the best of the three, combining Darling’s vibrant acidity with Franschhoek’s limey freshness and charm. But all three wines are worth trying, although Davy’s get only 20 cases of each per annum.

Rikus Neethling

A 2016 SSB by Neethling, named Bizoe Henrietta (70% Semillon fruit from Franschhoek but picked later and 30% Sauvignon Blanc) also showed well, as did some superb single varietal examples elsewhere in the Davy’s portfolio of Sauvignon Blanc from Australasia and Chile.

Glorious tropical fruit notes greeted tasters of Adelaide Hills producer Sidewood Estate’s 2016 version. Meanwhile, across the Tasman, Mount Brown Estates, in North Canterbury, produced a richer wine with their Catherine’s Block 2016, which saw 50% old oak.

A personal favourite was another Kiwi: Marlborough producer Little Beauty’s Black Edition Sauvignon Blanc 2016. Crafted from a mere ten rows of low-yielding fruit, and left on the lees for nine months with no batonnage in old oak barriques, this Sav Blanc had pronounced length and lots of intensity. Made using wild yeasts by former Cloudy Bay winemaker, Eveline Fraser, this multi-layered wine is unusual for the region as rows are aligned north-south (while the vast majority in Marlborough are east-west). In charming owner, Fleur McCree’s opinion, this imbues “sweet and sour notes” that add to complexity.

A Chilean Sauvignon Blanc also deserves a mention in despatches. Ventisquero’s Grey Glacier, Atacama 2017 emanates from the country’s most northerly wine-producing region. This ultra-low yielder (18 hl/ha) comes from salty soils by the coast, which is the reason why its salty and spicy notes dominate any fruity ones. Winemaker, Felipe Tosso, has fashioned a really interesting wine.

Staying in the Americas, two 2014 whites from Napa Valley producer, Robert Sinskey, caught the eye. His Abraxas label, made up predominantly of Riesling (45%) with Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris and Guwurztraminer thrown in, sees no new oak and is an elegant wine with notable freshness, concentration and length. His Orgia label, a single varietal Pinot Gris, has a pink hue often found with this grape, but is pronounced thanks to three weeks on the skins. The influence of this contact is noticeable, with the wine possessing lots of character. Sinskey’s Cabernet Franc 2013 and Pinot Noir 2014 were also fine examples of their type, offering intensity of flavour, concentration and a long finish.

New World Shiraz found formidable expression in the form of Sidewood’s Mappinga 2015 label. This belter of a wine has won many awards, including Best Aussie Shiraz at the San Francisco International Wine Competition. Made from the estate’s best parcels, this elegant 14.5% offering has appealing blackcurrant and blackberry notes with soft tannins and lots of spice. It is long and complex, and benefits from judicious oak use (35% new). Sidewood’s three premium Pinot Noirs were also excellent, as were Little Beauty’s two Pinots – the Limited Edition 2017 and the Black Edition 2015.

In South America, Ventisquero’s reds stood out. The Chilean producer’s Grey Glacier Carmenere 2016 (from Maipo Valley fruit with 33% new oak) was a fabulous example of this grape, being both elegant and complex. Ventisquero’s Vertice 2015 label, a 50:50 blend of Carmenere and Syrah is the baby of former Penfolds Grange winemaker, John Duval, who acts as consultant. Made from Apalta fruit in the Colchagua Valley, this has terrific concentration and complexity.

Across the Andes in Mendoza, it was easy to see why the Davy’s team consider Gouguenheim to be ‘one of the best kept secrets in the Uco Valley.’ Situated at 3,600 feet above sea level, the winery enjoys a wide diurnal range that gives its Malbecs undeniable freshness. The Flores del Valle Blue Melosa Malbec 2014 stood out. So too did the classy reds of the nearby Tupungato-based Domaine Bousquet estate, whose winemaker is Rodrigo Serrano. Certified organic since 2005,  the winery’s Malbec Grand Reserve 2015 was complex, concentrated and long, while its Ameri 2015 (65% Malbec, 25% Cabernet, 10% Syrah & Merlot) was powerful and structured. The Gaia Red 2017, a similar blend, also had overt tannins with notable concentration and length. Both are food wines for a steak or Sunday lunch.

Although a New World tasting, two Sussex sparkling wine producers of note were included, and duly impressed. Court Garden, in the village of Ditchling, employs long lees-ageing to create some fine wines from the three Champagne grapes. Their Cuvee Rose 2013, for example, spends five and a half years on the lees. Not far away in Mountfield, the Hoffmann & Rathbone winery, a husband and wife set-up, produce ultra-premium bubbly with even longer lees-ageing.

How Cotswolds Distillery became gold award-winning in 5 years

When the first crew of Cotswolds Distillery showed up for work five years ago there were a few key things missing. Number one, apart from a couple, no-one had made whisky before. Number two, no distillery. And yet here we are five years down the line and this dynamic homegrown company has just picked up two IWSC gold medals for its Flagship and Founders Choice whiskies. Not only that but its gin has been building up a loyal following – on account of it going cloudy when you add tonic. For native New Yorker Daniel Szor, CEO of the company, it is the fulfilment of a dream – a dream that saw an ex-hedge fund manager who liked touring distilleries in Scotland set up his own in the Cotswolds. Geoffrey Dean visited Cotswolds Distillery and hears first hand how Szor and his team have managed such ‘overnight’ success.

By Geoffrey Dean September 1, 2019

“It’s kind of a testament to our way of looking at whisky,” Daniel Szor says about Cotswolds Distillery, “If you have good ingredients, sound process, really hard-working folks and good protocols, you end up making good whisky.”

Of all the premium spirits success stories over the last decade, none is more uplifting than that of the Cotswolds Distillery. Situated on the Warwickshire/Oxfordshire border outside the village of Stourton near the market town of Shipston-on-Stour, this whisky and gin producer has received widespread acclaim culminating in gold medals at the IWSC awards in July for two of its whiskies. Throw in the 15,000 visitors per annum who go on a tour of the distillery at £15 per head, and another 15,000 who drop in on the successful in-house cafe and shop, and you have a compelling business model.

For Daniel Szor, the American who dreamt up the idea of a whisky distillery in the Cotswold Hills, the recognition was a triumph.

“It was a day of particular pride to win those golds, as five years ago, we didn’t have a distillery,” Szor, its chairman and CEO, told The Buyer. “The crew, who showed up for work on July 1 2014, hadn’t made whisky before except two Scottish guys, who helped us out. But they had 100 years worth of experience between them. In five years, we’ve gone from that to gold in a spirit category that typically doesn’t reward you with much until after 10 to 20 years.”

Nobody embodies the ‘can-do’ attitude more than Szor, a native New Yorker.

“I spent 30 years doing boring hedge fund currency stuff, and I was just a whisky lover who also loved going round Scotland and touring distilleries,” he confessed. “I thought that there would be no reason why, what the Scots offer as a visitor experience, you couldn’t do that in the Cotswolds. We have the visitors – 30,000 a year – we have a beautiful part of the country, and we can express that through a whisky.”

Daniel Szor, CEO of Cotswolds Distillery

A lot of barley is grown in the Cotswolds – our barley comes from Combe (Blenheim Estate). I like the fact I know where it comes from and who grows it. A high-end distillery in Scotland will give you the name of the maltster but you won’t know where the actual barley was grown – it could be Scotland, England, Europe or anywhere. So just getting back to that more local aspect of it felt right. The way it’s being malted – floor malting – is also a much higher quality method of malting than the industrial drones that will do 400 tons at a time. We’re very happy to have something local to us and to know it’s top quality. We’ve tried a few other places, such as Highgrove, whose organic heirloom barley gives a very different taste of spirit.”

A well-made spirit and great casks

Szor is engagingly frank in trying to explain the success of his whisky.

“It’s kind of a testament to our way of looking at whisky,” he said. “If you have good ingredients, sound process, really hard-working folks and good protocols, you end up making good whisky. The reason we can create a whisky that is as good as it is in three years, is because we make exceptionally good new-made spirit. The spirit right out the stills is of great quality: you can taste the fruitiness, you can taste the sweetness. It has very few off-notes. One of the reasons for that is our cuts – the way we do our distilling cuts. We cut at a very high point, and we have a very narrow hard cut. It’s a very pure, almost an eau-de-vie that you’re drinking, which requires minimum maturation.”

“The second part of the secret is to have excellent quality casks, because so much of the taste of the whisky is what it’s been aged in. So we’re using very good quality wood, in particular one cask which was invented by one of the Scots, Jim Swann, who helped set up the distillery. It is a recharred red wine cask – American oak with Iberian wine typically. American oak is much kinder to whisky than European oak, being less tannic and having more spice. The genius of Swann was to take an ex-red wine cask made of American oak, strip it, toast it and char it; in effect combining the best that both a new Bourbon cask and a wine cask, with six to eight litres of wine still in the wood, have to give. So, really it’s a combination of well-made spirit and great casks that give us a whisky that in three years can give us a gold medal.”

Driving gin lovers up the quality ladder

The Cotswolds Distillery’s gin is notable for being especially flavoursome, as well as going cloudy when mixed with tonic. “It’s essentially that our first distillers were a little bit crazy and came up with a recipe that involved ten times the botanical load than most gins would use,” Szor explained. “It gave a huge flavour – but it had one problem, which was it louched. The oils emolsified and went cloudy when you added water. To most, that would have been an issue, but the whisky geeks always talk that it’s really all about the oils because all the inner spirit is water, alcohol and oil; and the flavour is all in the essential oils that come out during distillation. And that’s become a key USP of the gin – we’ve got a gin that is so packed with flavour this is how it looks.”

“It’s clear when it comes out the bottle but when you add tonic or water, it’s a little bit like a pastiche colour. We think during this whole gin craze, it’s going to drive people up the ladder in terms of the quality they’re looking for and their level of discernment. They will be looking for flavour – not simplistic flavours like rhubarb gin but actual real complex ones.’

As many as nine botanicals go into the Cotswolds Distillery’s gin, notably the holy trinity of juniper, coriander and angelica, as well as a lot of citrus.

“The difference with us is that we peel all our fruit by hand with a paring knife, and go through about 500 grapefruits and 800 limes every week,” Szor revealed. “Those fresh peels have a lot more oil – hence the louche. One of our local botanicals is lavender, which is grown on Snowshill above Broadway. It’s nice to have a bit of the Cotswolds literally in the gin, which we originally thought could go in the shop and be sold at weekend fairs, but it just took off. We got a Fortnums listing a fortnight after our first run of gin. Then it kept on going and the gin almost became a defining element in our growth.”

Gin experiences are an important part of the visitor experience

Controlling growth and expanding the range

High demand for the gin led to a new still and a bigger still that led to a new bottling hall, which in turn led to the construction of a visitor centre.

“We’ve had a lot of growth in a short period of time,” Szor said. “We’ve been on a-building-a-year for the past three years, but have no plans to expand physically. We now have the capacity to make in excess of 100,000 nine-litre cases: well over a million bottles per year, a third being whisky and two-thirds gin. The question is will what’s happened to gin in the UK in the last 3-4 years happen elsewhere, notably in the US? There the super and ultra-premium categories are seeing the beginnings of really strong growth, so there are big opportunities there.”

The US, one of 35 countries that Szor exports to, is his biggest overseas market. Around a quarter of production is exported.

Always thinking ahead, Szor is planning a range of half a dozen different whiskies.

“Coming out in October will be our newest SKU: a peated whisky cask,” he declared. “We’re known for an unpeated spirit but we’ve been doing a few experiments just for the fun of it to see what happens when you age an unpeated spirit in a peaty Islay cask. The results are wonderful because just a little bit of peat leeches out from the wood into the whisky. We enjoyed it so much we decided to turn it into a full core product, albeit in extremely limited quantities. It’ll be 62% ABV and will sell at £65 in our shop, online and in a few selected retailers. Next to come out will be our sherry cask on April 1. In October 2020 there’ll be a whisky matured in 100% Bourbon cask.”

The two IWSC gold medal whiskies are the Flagship and Founders Choice. The former is a blend of two casks – red wine (70%) and Bourbon (30%). An explosion of flavours and concentration greets the taster, with notes of caramel, tobacco, chocolate and stewed apple to the fore. The Founders Choice, which came out only last November, is 100% matured in red wine casks. Much darker than the Flagship, it is also richer and more fiery (possessing more spirit at 61% ABV).

Completing the range in late 2020 will be Flagship 2. “That will come back to a more traditional malt taste,” Szor mused. “It’ll be more on the grain than on the fruit, whereas Flagship 1 is a complete fruit bomb. When those six whiskies are out by the end of 2020, the plan every six months thereafter is to do one, perhaps two, limited editions of various casks from Port, Madeira, Calvados, Sauternes, Vermouth and Tokaj. Around 3,000 bottles per annum just to keep things interesting, although the others will be the core SKUs.”

Where can I buy Cotswold Distillery spirits?

Direct on-trade customers (with on-trade rate) but minimum order quantities. Principal route to market is via distributors such as: Matthew Clark, Bibendum, LWC Drinks, Enotria&Coe, Speciality Drinks, Venus, Amathus, Hedonism, Nectar, SH Jones, St Austell, Tolchards, Butcombe, Booker and Arkells.

Retailers include Waitrose, Majestic, Harrods, Fortnums, Selfridges, Harvey Nichols, World Duty Free in major UK airports

How a Californian transformed Chateau de Pommard

Five years ago when Silicon Valley billionaire Michael Baum expressed an interest in buying Château de Pommard, his lawyers advised against it. But Baum liked the direct-to-consumer business model, the cellar master Emmanuel Sala and took quite a shine to this historic Burgundy estate. 90% of the current 100,000 bottle annual output is sold direct to consumer, but Baum is putting the building blocks in place to quadruple that. Geoffrey Dean travelled to Burgundy to meet Baum and his team, see their plans and, of course, to taste the wines.

By Geoffrey Dean July 16, 2019

Château de Pommard has been owned by French families since 1690 until Baum came along

When Michael Baum, the American owner of Château de Pommard, heard in 2014 that the then proprietor, Maurice Guiraud, was looking to sell the 22-acre Burgundian estate, he expressed his interest. “Send me a bank statement to prove you are serious,” came back the reply from Guiraud. Baum did, and was given three weeks to make an offer.

“It was August 1, though, and no one works in France in August,” Baum recalled. “We reviewed the documents for those three weeks, and my lawyers said ‘no, don’t buy.’ But I decided to, for what convinced me was Emmanuel Sala, the cellar master, and the business model: dealing directly with clients with no intermediaries. There was a possibility to do a lot with it, and I liked that.”

“Wine’s not about making money, it’s about staying in business.” Michael Baum (l) with cellar master Emmanuel Sala

A Silicon Valley billionaire and one of California’s shrewdest entrepreneurs, Baum saw his opportunity and has taken it, embracing it with a fervour that has completely won over the staff at all levels on the estate. As much as 90% of the 100,000 bottles of wine it produces each year is sold direct-to-consumer. In the last five years, visitors from as many as 81 different countries have come to the chateau and bought directly from it.

“Wine’s not about making money, it’s about staying in business,” Baum told The Buyer when I visited the estate last month. “Foreigners don’t buy businesses here. Château de Pommard has been owned by French families since 1690 until I came along, but Maurice Giraud chose to sell to me instead of accepting an offer from LVMH. The local people have been very supportive of me.”

Giraud, who was 73 at the time of the sale having owned the estate for 11 years, wanted individual not corporate passion in his successor. “With Michael Baum, we share the same vision of Château de Pommard, the same values that focus on preserving and continuing to make this national heritage shine even more,” Giraud said. “This is why I decided to hand him the destiny of this unique estate. I know that he will have the heart to pursue the development of the château in the same line that has been taken the last 10 years.” 

Baum has invested massively in a project that will feature a new state-of-the-art cellar, hotel and restaurant, with completion due by 2023. The kilometres of wall that surround the 22 hectares of vines, for the estate has long been a walled ‘clos’, are also being refurbished. Having this year gained official organic status, the vines are now being farmed biodynamically, with certification from Demeter due to follow in three years time.

Chateau de Pommard

Baum’s business plan is for production capacity to rise to a million bottles per annum, although that will mean sourcing a lot of extra fruit of requisite quality. “Now, we have to buy in 30 to 35% of our fruit, but more will be difficult to find – it’s a big problem,” Sala mused. “We want good fruit – we won’t get it from just anyone,” assistant winemaker, Eric Pignal, added.

Sala, though, is revelling in the backing that Baum has shown him. “He’s American, and like the American people, he has the cult of the winemaker,” Sala continued. “He really wants to invest in the vineyard, and all that we need is OK with him. Now that we are bio, we have three horses instead of tractors, but we need five, big ones. Our team in the vineyard is eight when in 2007 it was only four. Then, I was alone in the cellar but we have two there now. Eric, who came in December 2017, does 90% of the job there.”

The move to biodynamic farming has improved the wines in Sala’s view. “Disease is less in the vines, which are more resistant,” he said. “We have more energy in the wine, and the balance is better between soil and plant. There is more tension and minerality in the wines, which are more silky. Not more concentration though, perhaps less.”

“He’s American, and like the American people, he has the cult of the winemaker… He really wants to invest in the vineyard.” Emmanuel Sala on Baum.

The wines from seven different plots within the walled vineyard, as well as several outside it, showed particularly well. The Château de Pommard 2016 Clos Marey-Monge (RRP €125) had beautifully integrated tannins that were firm but fine as well, with wonderful intensity of flavour and a very long finish. The Bourgogne Chardonnay, Famille Carabello-Baum 2017, had attractive lemon fruit, fresh acidity and good length, and represented value at €25. For a step up in quality, the Ladoix ‘Les Grechons’ Premier Cru 2017, from a plot in Côte de Beaune that Baum farms but does not own, was elegant and long, with lovely minerality and concentration.

The United States is currently the biggest importer of Baum’s stable of wines, but he hopes that the UK, the next largest (while behind France), will see a significant increase in sales. Given the quality of the wines, and with Baum’s drive and backing, it is difficult to envisage any other eventuality.

L

David Gower & his favourite wines

Buyer Rewind: David Gower on his perfect “over” of wines

As we prepare for the last week of the ICC Cricket World Cup and England’s first semi-final appearance since 1992, we get you in the mood with this trip down our very own cricketing memory lane when legendary English cricketer, turned Sky TV commentator, David Gower, shared his love for wine with The Buyer. With the launch of ‘My Perfect 6’ through Perfect Cellar in 2016 where he looked to put his name to wines that try to break new boundaries.

Gower on commentary duty

By Geoffrey DeanJuly 5, 2019

Geoffrey Dean, cricket reporter for The Times and regular contributor to The Buyer, caught up with David Gower to talk not just about his life in cricket but his love for wine and his then tie-up with Perfect Cellar in 2016.

Wine and cricketers have long been compatible bedfellows, and David Gower’s reputation as a connoisseur is long established.

When Gower, Ian Botham and Bob Willis were mainstays of the England side in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, wine was a regular topic of conversation in the dressing room. The latter two had a brand named after them – Geoff Merrill’s BMW (Botham-Merrill-Willis) red blend from the McLaren Vale – and now Gower has teamed up with Perfect Cellar in an ambassadorial role. [Botham has since gone on to launch his own range of wines with Paul Schaafsma’s Benchmark Drinks company]

The online retailer, that is expanding its 0n-trade operations, has just launched Gower’s ‘My Perfect 6’ – a half-case of good mid-market wines retailing for just under what the former England captain scored aplenty: a century (or £100).

Gower has been an avid wine collector since early in his playing days (having just sold off some 1983 first growths from his cellar), but he drinks all sorts of wines.

“One reason this Perfect Cellar concept fits,” he told The Buyer, “is that, rather than go upmarket which none of us can afford to do, we find wines we can enjoy and are happy drinking… something that puts a smile on our face and doesn’t cost £80 a bottle.”

Gower and Moez Seraly

Having performed a similar ambassadorial role for Laithwaites for a couple of years, Gower was approached by Moez Seraly, the French mastermind behind Perfect Cellar.

“Moez got in touch with me originally to do a dinner,” Gower revealed. “He sees a synergy between the wine trade and sport, and wanted an ambassador with sporting kudos. I don’t claim to be an expert on wine, but I’m a keen amateur. I have mates in the wine trade, and have lots of affordable claret, with Lynch-Bages a real favourite of mine. I also have plenty of Italian as well as New World wines from Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and South America.”

It was early in his playing days that Gower’s interest in wine really began.

Gower holds the Ashes urn aloft after captaining England to a 3-1 series win in 1985

“My wine ‘career’ took off when my cricket started,” he continued. “Moving away from pints of Everards at The Cricketers pub at Grace Road [his first county, Leicestershire’s ground] onto something less bulky was a very good idea. I soon found other players to share the gaining of knowledge.”

Willis introduced him to Merrill, the extroverted, cricket-loving South Australian winemaker, and thanks to him “wine became a proper interest.”

Some of the free time I had on tours to Australia and New Zealand, which I was covering as a cricket correspondent for The Times, was invariably spent at wineries with Botham and Willis. On the last Ashes tour in 2013-14 I remember turning up at Penfolds in the Barossa Valley to see the winemaker only to discover Gower leading the entire Sky production team through a tasting of the full range of wines at the cellar door.

Gower is hoping that the partnership with Perfect Cellar is a long-term one.

“This is very much the start of things,” he said. “With a bit of luck, we can build it into something substantial. It’s an eclectic selection of wines, but I enjoy drinking them all.”

So what are Gower’s ‘Perfect 6’ tasting like?

Tendil & Lombardi Champagne NV

Tendil & Lombardi Champagne NV. 12% abv. While mousse lacked persistence, and autolytic notes were limited, the base wine had some complexity and length.

Adela do Salvador Quinta da Calcada Terroir Edition 2013. 12% abv. Excellent Vinho Verde (blend of Alvarinho, Loureiro and Arinto) from Minho in northern Portugal. Seductive fruit (more stone than citrus with some tropical notes); notable intensity of flavour with some minerality and complexity; very good length.Teso La

Monja Romanico 2013 (DO Toro, Spain).  14.5% abv. 100% Tempranillo. Appealing red fuit with some spicy notes; silky, neatly-integrated tannins; well-balanced despite highish alcohol. Made from 15-20 year old vines. Very drinkable.

Monja Romanico

NOT TASTED:

4)  Domaine Charly Nicolle, Chablis 2014

5)  Chateau Matheron, Cotes de Provence Rose 2015

6)  Domaine Les Terriens Ainsi Soit-Il, Cotes du Rhone 2013

A waltz through Austria's wine regions

In his latest post, our galavanting gadabout Geoffrey Dean heads to Austria, to sip on sprightly Grüner Veltliners and blackberry-scented Blaufrankisch in Mittleburgenland and Styria, the country’s southernmost wine region.

Fog rolls over the vines in Leutschach in Styria

It was fitting that the Austrian Wine Marketing Board announced earlier this month that Chris Yorke would succeed Willi Klinger as its managing director at the beginning of next year.

For, Yorke, who has been global marketing director of New Zealand Winegrowers for the past 15 years, is coming from a market which the Austrians have long admired, Indeed, Klinger freely admits the NZ template is one on which he modelled his vision for Austrian wine exports.

Put simply, that is the production of predominantly premium, or mid-market, wines that give winemakers the best chance of a decent margin and enhance Austria’s reputation as a producer of quality wines.

Klinger’s assertion at the Austrian Wine Summit in late May that his country’s wine industry is entering “a golden period” is backed up both by the latest export figures, and by the outstanding range and quality of wines that journalists and importers tasted during the biennial summit. First the stats: a record high of €170m of Austrian wine was exported in 2018, which is expected to rise by over 6% to €180m this year.

Klinger predicts this figure will climb to €227m by 2024. Where Austrian wine in 2003 sold for an average price of 83 cents per litre, that had increased to €3.24 by last year.

Austria and New Zealand have much in common, being cool climate regions with plenty of higher altitude vineyards.

The cool air from the north is the most important factor in Austrian viticulture, according to Klinger, particularly as the average daily temperature in the growing season, which is 2°C than in the 1980s, is predicted to rise by another 1.4°C by 2050.

That could affect acid retention in grapes, but for the moment, vibrantly high levels of acidity are a feature of Austrian wines and their principal grapes, 67% of which are white.

Grüner Veltliner is the most planted, making up 31% of the country’s vines, followed by Zweigelt (14%), Welschriesling (7%) and Blaufrankisch (6.5%).

Some excellent examples of international varieties like Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Sauvignon Blanc and, of course, Riesling were also enjoyed during our voyage around Austria.

It began in Poysdorf, on the same latitude as Champagne and where Austrian sparkling wine production first started in 1980. While the Charmat tank method is employed for Sekt Klassik, most Austrian Sekt is made by the traditional method.

A minimum of 18 months on the lees is required for Sekt Reserve, and 30 months for Sekt Grosse Reserve. Two of the latter really stood out: Malat’s 2012 Blanc de Blancs (Chardonnay) which spent 62 months on its lees, and Steininger’s 2013 Riesling.

Steininger was the first to label a single vineyard site (or ‘Ried’), with this Heiligenstein offering being fermented in acacia and spending 45 months on its lees. Complex with great length, it was a fine advert for Austrian Sekt.

Poysdorf is situated in Weinviertel, Austria’s largest specified wine-producing region with 13,858 hectares under vine. Grüner Veltliner, well-known for its white pepper expression, is Weinviertel’s signature grape, and it was the first Austrian wine to be granted DAC status, in 2003.

Wachau

The Weinviertel DAC Reserve designation brings with it real power, with Taubenschuss’ Gruner Veltliner Ried Tenn 2016 bristling with full-bodied concentration, together with impressive complexity and length.

Just to the south of Weinviertel lies Carnuntum, a wine region that has become highly regarded in a short space of time. Loam, loess and sandy gravels, together with a continental microclimate, make this an ideal location for red wines, with some of Austria’s best Zweigelt coming from here.

Lukas Markowitsch’s ‘Rubin Carnuntum’ 2017 stood out thanks to its approachable tannins, freshness, concentration and length. Another Markowitsch, Gerhard, makes a bigger Zweigelt with a lot more structure from his Ried Kirchweingarten site, it being the coolest in the area.

Blaufränkisch grapes on the vine

His 2015 Carnuntum Reserve, at 13.4% ABV, showed really good balance. Meanwhile, Robert Payr’s Cuvee Ried Hofleiner Buhl, 2015 Carnuntum Reserve, underlined how well a blend works of a third each of Zweigelt, Blaufrankisch and Merlot. Complex with good concentration, it had chalky tannins and plenty of structure.

The real epicentre of Blaufrankisch production, however, is south of Vienna in Mittelburgenland, very close to the Hungarian border. The warm, water-retentive loamy soils there are perfect for the variety, which has a black forest berry character and fine spice nuances.

Mittelburgenland is a popular destination for wine tourists, notably the Schaflerhof near Deutschkreutz, where our tasting of 16 leading examples of Blaufrankisch was a highlight of the visit.

These were split mainly into into Mittelburgenland DAC or DAC Reserve wines (with vineyard designation), with a few from elsewhere forming a nice contrast.

The overall quality was exceptional, but several merit a mention. The cold loamy soil of the Ried Durrau site, offering low pH and freshness, demonstrated how well Blaufrankisch can age. Franz Weninger’s 2009 DAC Reserve from there was superb, with firm but fine tannins, and notable concentration and length.

Juliana Wieder’s 2015 DAC Reserve from Ried Bodigraben had very silky tannins and a long finish. Examples from outside Mittelburgenland that impressed were an elegant 2015 from the higher and cooler Lutzmannsburg site, made by Roland Velich from ‘Alte Reben’ (very old vines of 80-plus years); and a fabulous Eisenberg DAC Reserve 2015 with much intensity, produced by Schiefer & Domaines Kilger.

Weninger found time to pop across the border in 2016 into Sopron, Hungary’s top region for Kekfrankos (as Blaufrankisch is known there) to produce a brilliant Ried Spern Steiner from vines planted in 1964.

Very attractive red fruit, beautifully integrated tannins, intensity of flavour and a long finish all combined beautifully in this wine, which was fermented in concrete and aged in old 500-litre casks.

Our final port of call – in Austria’s southernmost wine-producing region – was Steiermark (Styria), where the principal grape varieties are Welschriesling, Pinot Gris, Sauvignon Blanc and Traminer.

The owners of Schloss Kapfenstein, built on a dormant volcanic cone, laid on a tasting of 38 wines that was as splendid as the views all around. Several Sauvignon Blancs showed very well, notably the Schloss’s own Vulkanland Steiermark DAC 2018, as well as a Sudsteiermark DAC from the same year, the Lackner-Tinnacher family’s Gamlitz site.

Minerality, a long finish and tropical fruit were a feature of both. Sabathi Erwin’s Leutschach 2017 from Sudsteirmark 2017 was more restrained and elegant, with a creaminess on the palate.

A fine 2018 Gewürztraminer from Vulkanland Steiermark, made by the Winkler-Hermaden family, was a reminder of the quality and great diversity of Austria’s wines, and the enormous progress made by the industry since entry into the EU in 1995.

At that time, according to Christian Zechmeister of Wein Burgenland, Austrian oenology schools laughably taught would-be winemakers that malolactic fermentation was a fault in red wines. Now, those same schools are very much in unison with the rest of the winemaking world.



The 'Viking Boss' and Ch Saint-Cernin in Bergerac

Why on-trade is best course for ‘Viking Boss’ at Saint-Cernin

Robert Wessman was once dubbed the Viking Boss for how he transformed the pharmaceutical business in Iceland. Now he has his sights set on the premium end of the wine business, buying Bergerac estate Château Saint-Cernin, and employing global wine consultant Michel Rolland and his team to oversee the cellar and winemaking. He is already making waves with the red Château Saint-Cernin already outscoring Cheval Blanc and Harlan Estate in a critics’ blind tasting. Geoffrey Dean was whisked to Bergerac in a private jet, tasted the wines and quizzed Wessman about his best route to market in the UK.

By Geoffrey Dean May 19, 2019

All three labels of Chateau Saint-Cernin are served on board the private airline VistaJet’s 74 planes, while the medium-term strategy is to achieve high-end distribution in 20 cities worldwide.

Robert Wessman acquired Château Saint-Cernin in the early 2000s

Robert Wessman, the billionaire Icelandic pharmaceutical entrepreneur, is aiming to gain market share in the UK with his No 1 Château Saint-Cernin label from the Bergerac appellation. The 2016 vintage, a blend of 60% Merlot and 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, showed very well in blind tastings at the 12th century chateau, in the Perigord region, when a combined group of journalists and buyers from Britain, France and other countries visited in early May. For the record, the Saint-Cernin outscored the Cheval Blanc 2014 as well as the Harlan Estate 2012.

Wessman and his Russian wife, Ksenia Shakhmanova, both passionate wine-lovers, have spared no expense in assembling an impressive stable of three wines: the red Bergerac, a Chardonnay from Limoux (also labelled No 1 Saint-Cernin) and a Rose Champagne, named Wessman One. Michel Rolland has been hired as a consultant, with renowned oenologist, Julien Viaud, who works in partnership with Rolland, making the red wine. Wessman has invested in a new state-of-the-art cellar at Château Saint-Cernin, which will be completed next year.

Hosting the press reception (l-r) Michel Rolland, Robert Wessman, Ksenia Shakhmanova and Julien Viaud

At present, Hedonism are the only retailers in the UK that are stocking the Bergerac Rouge, with an RRP of £49. Julien Le Doare, the Mayfair store’s shop manager, says that his head buyer is considering taking on the Chardonnay. Whether drinkers can be convinced that a Bergerac is worth such an outlay is a moot point, but the wine’s strong performance in the blind tastings was encouraging. The Chardonnay also did well in them, but its elevage in as much as 80% new oak will not endear it to every palate.

Once dubbed ‘the Viking Boss’ by The Economist magazine, the charismatic Wessman is intent on making a commercial success out of his venture into the world of wine, being keen to scotch any notion it is a rich man’s indulgence.“I have changed the pharmaceutical industry a lot despite the fact I knew little about it at first, and I have very high ambition for my wines,” Wessman told The Buyer. “We have a great team making them, and an amazing new cellar that will be ready in 12 months.”

Current production of the three wines is currently 20,000 bottles per annum, although Wessman says his long-term target is 50,000. His acquisition of 2.4 hectares of prime vineyard sites in La Serpent village in Limoux in south-west France will enable him to produce more Chardonnay. All three labels are served on board the private airline VistaJet’s 74 planes, while the medium-term strategy is to achieve high-end distribution in 20 cities worldwide. Current listings include Paris, New York, Miami, Hong Long, Macau, Taipei and Auckland.

2016 has been an excellent vintage for the Bergerac region as a whole

The red Bergerac’s oak treatment was judicious, with the wine seeing a third new oak, a third second fill and a third stainless steel. Both the 2016 and 2017 have been bottled, with the former’s concentration being especially marked. The fruit is bought in from local growers, but the plan is to plant a couple of hectares of one or two unusual varietals at the chateau to make special cuvées. These will be selected from micro-vinifications of 18 varietals that are being grown as part of a technical joint venture with Bernard Magrez at Chateau Pape Clement in Graves. The rarer varietals include Alicante Bouschet, Amaron, Caladoc, Chenanson, Duras, Niellucio and Vinhao.

As for the non-vintage Wessman One Champagne, a Rose that comprises 55% Pinot Noir and 45% Chardonnay, it is dark pink with a full body. Aged on the lees for three years, it has a dosage of 6g/l. Like the Chardonnay, it has an RRP in France of €40. Both are high quality wines, but the key for success in the UK will be their price point. How well the wines sell at Hedonism is difficult to predict, and on-trade sales may represent the best way into the UK market.

Alto Piemonte: no longer a forgotten gem

Why Alto Piemonte’s days as a forgotten gem could well be over

When Roberto Conterno parted with many millions to buy Nervi in Alto Piemonte a year ago, it confirmed what many in the trade had known for some time – that this ‘lesser’ Italian region was producing outstanding wines and a great region to explore ‘off the radar’ wines and winemakers. Its days as a forgotten gem are indeed over, as more and more people wise up to the region, says Geoffrey Dean, who travels to Alto Piemonte and picks out the best regions and winemakers that should indeed be on your radar, if they are not already. At Taste Alto Piemonte all 10 appellations were represented by 50 producers, all mainly making Nebbiolo in a variety of fascinating ways.

By Geoffrey Dean

April 18, 2019

When Roberto Conterno, owner of the iconic Barolo estate, Giacomo Conterno, invested last year in another winery in the much lesser-known area of Alto Piemonte, eyebrows were raised not just in Italy but around the world. The amount he paid for a 90% stake in Nervi, in the Gattinara DOCG, was undisclosed but the word was that it was in excess of €5m for 27 hectares. A substantial outlay, in other words, and not one made on a whim but due to strong evidence that the hill district of Alto Piemonte, 150km north-east of Langhe, is a region with all the credentials to produce high quality Nebbiolo.

Vineyards in Gattinara, considered to be the best appellation

Historically, Alto Piemonte has long been associated with viticulture, with the Romans planting vines there in the second century BC. It had as many as 40,000 hectares under vine until phylloxera struck in the late 19th century. Later came further loss of vineyards with the industrialisation of the valley floors, with the area becoming and still remaining a key centre for the Italian textile industry and its world-famous brands. Now, only 800 hectares are under vine in its two DOCGs (Gattinara and Ghemme) and its eight DOCs (Boca, Bramaterra, Colline Novaresi, Coste della Sesia, Fara, Lessona, Sizzano and Valli Ossolane).

It says much for Alto Piemonte that Conterno wanted to buy vineyards there. Nervi may be the oldest winery to be founded in the region, back in 1906, and Gattinara, along with Ghemme, is the most prestigious appellation, but all ten appellations, while diverse, have much in common, including an ideal microclimate and complex, mineral-rich soils. They are all shielded from cold northern winds by Monte Rosa, the second highest mountain in Europe, while during the growing season, fresh winds from the Alpine glaciers bring down high afternoon temperatures and increase the diurnal range. Indeed, it is significantly wider than in Langhe.

Volcanic soils, especially in Gattinara and Boca, bring minerality to the wines. Gattinara’s rocky vineyards are located mostly on very steep hillsides, aiding drainage. Finally, the soils of Alto Piemonte are very acidic which, as the AWRI has shown results in lower yields, and in theory, higher concentration.

Taste Alto Piemonte weekend festival is official opened at the end of March, 2019

Eager to promote the region, the Consorzio di Tutela Nebbioli Alto Piemonte laid on a Taste Alto Piemonte weekend festival in the historic old town of Novara at the end of March. All ten appellations were represented with over 50 producers showing their wines. The little white wine they make is from Erbaluce, a varietal with fresh acidity and citrus-like fruit, while the majority of black grapes grown are Nebbiolo.

Many producers like to blend it with small percentages of Vespolina, Uva Rara (aka Bonarda) and/or Croatina. Most of the top Gattinara producers make wines from 100% Nebbiolo, while a number of Ghemme wineries like to add up to 15% Vespolina to soften Nebbiolo’s notoriously powerful tannins. A 100% 2017 Vespolina from Cascina Preziosa (Coste della Sesia DOC) was very appealing – spicy red fruit with unobtrusive tannins.

The best examples of Nebbiolo came from Gattinara and Ghemme, although some excellent wines from Boca, Lessona, Fara and Colline Novaresi were also tasted (more on them later).

Starting with Gattinara, the Antoniolo ‘Osso San Grato’ 2014 was complex with clear mineral notes. The Nervi ‘Vigna Molsino’ 2014 was another upper premium quality single vineyard Nebbiolo with silky tannins. Long, concentrated and complex, this was well worth its €45 RRP. The Vegis Stefano ‘Vegis’ 2014 and the Caligaris Luca ‘Gattinara’ 2012 each possessed very attractive fruit, being long and complex, while the Cantina Delsignore ‘Borgofranco’ 2012 and the Il Chiosso ‘Galizja’ 2012 were similarly excellent. All these wines were 13-13.5% with fine tannins that were very well integrated.

Giada Codecasa, co-owner of Ca’ Nova winery in Ghemme

From Ghemme, a number of wines stood out. The Ca’ Nova Riserva 2009 had fabulous fruit with approachable tannins, terrific concentration and a long finish (great value at €30 RRP); the Torraccia del Piantavigna ‘Vigna Pelizzane’ 2011, from the best vineyard on the estate, had lovely fruit and intensity with very nicely meshed tannins; the Vigna Ronco Maso ‘Ghemme’ 2008 and the Mazzoni ‘ai Livelli’ 2009 were two other impressive Nebbiolo single varietals, while two wines with 10-15% Vespolina – the Miru ‘Vigna Cavenago’ 2011 and the Pietraforata ‘Ghemme’ 2012 – showed particularly well.

Boca, which was established as a DOC as far back as 1969, is another appellation with considerable pedigree. Indeed, as far back as the 14th century, a chronicler named Pietro Azario from Novara, wrote that Boca wine was “famous since the ancient times.” Its soil profile – mainly volcanic rocks resulting from an explosion of a volcano in Valsesia – is the key.

Two good wineries, Poderi Garona and Poderi ai Valloni each add 20% Vespolina and 10% Uva Rara to 70% Nebbiolo to produce a worthy blend, while another capable producer, Casino Montalbano, adds 30% Vespolina.

Lessona DOC wineries tend to prefer 100% Nebbiolo, although one leading winemaker, Massimo Clerico, adds a splash of Vespolina. His Reserva 2013 was outstanding, while La Prevostura, Noah and Cassina Pietro are all quality producers. (if you’re travelling there La Prevostura does delicious lunches at weekends, incidentally).

In the Fara DOC, Castaldi Francesca’s wines stood out, while in Coste della Sesia DOC, Alessandro Ciccione, winemaker for Centovigne, crafts excellent Nebbiolo at the family’s castle, Castello di Castellengo, where B&B stays can be arranged. In the Colline Novaresi Nebbiolo DOC, two producers whose wines impressed were Madonna dell’Uva and Enrico Crola.

Many other unmentioned estates are producing excellent wines in Alto Piemonte, where real value-for-money can be found. As prices rise inexorably for the wines of Langhe, where a hectare of vines costs between €1.5 to 2 million, others may well follow Conterno’s example in buying vineyards in Alto Piemonte, where a hectare fetches €150-200,000. Its days as a forgotten gem look to be over.

Chile's new icon wines

Chile’s new icon wines: producers pushing up the quality bar

Chile has historically only had a small number of iconic wines but that is all set to change argues Geoffrey Dean. Fresh from two weeks of travelling through the country, he reports that there is a second tier of wine producers who are all vying for the equivalent of a ‘Champion’s League’ spot and making legitimate claims to be the ‘next big thing’. Dean meets the winemakers and tastes the wines – highlighting those that he thinks should be on every sommelier’s radar.

By Geoffrey Dean March 26, 2019

Wines from Chile have always had intensity of fruit but now there is a growing trend to enhance the regional typicity of the wines – particularly at the premium end.

Spend a couple of weeks travelling round Chile, tasting the wines and talking to the winemakers, and what strikes you is how intent they are on producing high quality wines with a sense of place. Nothing encapsulates that better than the Carignan VIGNO movement, on which more later, but the elegance and refinement of those wines were common features along with Chile’s historically generous fruit expression.

While icon wines like Almaviva, Chadwick, Don Melchor and Seña continue to attract global acclaim, it is really the pretenders in their wake who are lifting the bar. A posse of these wannabes, all aiming for a wine industry equivalent of a Champions League spot, are raising their game so relentlessly that the old order is being threatened. It is great news for the consumer.

Vik winemaker Cristian Vallejo with his top wine

The second tier revolution is being spearheaded by Viña Vik, with its multi-million dollar backing from the uber-wealthy Norwegian family of the same name. The vines, planted in 2006-7 in the Cachapoal Valley to a density of 8,100 per hectare (60% higher than Chile’s average), get a cooling afternoon sea breeze blowing in from 40 miles away. This is crucial for the freshness of the Cabernet Sauvignon, which always forms the majority of its three labels. Cabernet Franc, Carmenere and Merlot make up about a third of the grand vin, which sees 100% new French oak for 23 months, comfortably absorbing it. Cristian Vallejo, with Vik since the very start, is a passionate winemaker who crafts some eye-catching wines of poise, structure and balance.

Carmen winemaker, Emily Faulconer

Equally talented is Emily Faulconer, winemaker at Viña Carmen in the Maipu Valley, whose barrel-fermented and barrel-aged Semillon 2017 was the white ‘find’ of the visit. “This is such a revelation of what a white wine from here can be,” Faulconer, 34, declared. “The fruit came from Colchagua Valley dry-farmed vines that were planted in 1958 by the same growing family that farm them now. The wine has weight and texture, as well as balance from the old vines.” Chile, which used to have 30,000 hectares of Semillon until the 1980s, now has only 800h left. It was gratifying to hear Faulconer say that “we want to take responsibility for these old vines.”

Carmen’s Gold Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2015 is a reminder of how good the best unoaked Chilean examples from this varietal can be. From ungrafted vines planted in 1957, with a low yield of 3.5 tons per hectare, this was aged mainly in third and fourth use barrels. Blessed by very fine tannins and layers of complexity, as well as spice, it did not need any new oak.

By contrast, Miguel Torres’ regal Manso de Velasco Cabernet Sauvignon 2013 from 116-year old vines in the Curico Valley effortlessly absorbs 70% new oak. Chalky tannins were very well integrated and, with its seductive red and black fruit, full body and long finish, this complex 13.5% wine is another world class Chilean red.

Gabriela Nedrete, winemaker for Montes

So too is the Montes Alpha ‘M’ 2015, a Bordeaux blend of Cabernet Sauvignon (80%), Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Petit Verdot. “The idea of this wine is to pay homage to this vineyard here in the Apalta Valley,” Dennis Murray, Montes’ export manager, said. “It’s considered the number one spot for reds in Chile, with a hectare selling for $120,000. Compare that to $60,000 in Colchagua and $40,000 in Maipo.” Elegant and complex, yet massively concentrated and with added structure from 100% new oak, this is a wine with real presence. The Montes Purple Angel 2016 (92% Carmenere & 8% Petit Verdot) also sees 100% new oak, and has great intensity and length, with overt but well-integrated tannins. It is another wine of very high quality.

Continuing the theme of outstanding Cabernet Sauvignon, it is heartening that a massive producer like Luis Felipe Edwards, whose output is 36 million bottles per annum, is crafting stunning wine from the varietal. “I want to tell people that you can make Colchagua Cabernet of real quality,” LFE’s highly experienced head winemaker, Nicolas Bizzarri, said. His LFE ‘Top’ Cabernet Sauvignon 2014, not yet released, saw 40% new oak for 20 months, giving structure, but has glorious ripe fruit. Its very fine tannins, while powerful, are beautifully meshed. Another Cabernet Sauvignon single varietal yet to be released that also showed immense promise was the San Pedro Cabo de Hornos 2017, skilfully fashioned by Gabriel Mustakis from 100% Cachapoal Valley fruit, using 50% new oak.

The Vik winery is also a landmark boutique hotel, in much the same style as the iconic Spanish wineries

New oak, then, is still being extensively used for many of Chile’s leading labels, even if percentages are lower than yesteryear. This also applies to many blends, with even Emiliana, whose 1,000 hectares  under vine have been certified biodynamic since 2011, using between 33-40% new oak for their superb top two labels, Coyam and Ge. The latest release of the latter, 2014, made mainly from Syrah and Carmenere, has tremendous concentration and personality. 

De Martino, of course, abandoned all new oak usage in 2011 in the quest for purity of fruit. Their search for old clay amphorae (‘viejas tinajas’) took them all over Maule where these vessels, 500-1200 litres in size, were sitting around largely unused. The bodega also employs ‘foudres’ for maturation, with their stunning Las Cruces Old Vine Series 2016 spending two years in them. Made from Cachapoal Valley bush vines planted in 1957, this Malbec/Carmenere field blend has remarkable fruit intensity and length, with marked freshness, and is one of Chile’s finest wines.

Andres Sanchez and wife Daniella Gillmore with their Carignan VIGNO

Elevage in foudres for two years is a requirement for the Carignan VIGNO wines, to which association 14 wineries have signed up. More perhaps than any Chilean reds, these wines speak of a sense of place. To qualify, the wine must be made from a minimum 85% Carignan dry-farmed Maule bush vines that are at least 30 years old (most are more ancient with Julio Bouchon’s being over 100). All of the half dozen or so labels I tasted were outstanding, with personal favourites being Gillmore and Bouchon. The former is made from ultra-low density bush vines of 2,300 plants per hectare.

Quality and character, therefore, are Chile’s twin watchwords as they seek to draw greater global attention to wines that have always had fruit intensity. The country’s plethora of top-notch winemakers can be expected to accelerate the drive towards top-class wines with enhanced regional typicity.