Beautiful organic wine from the living soil of the Azul y Garanza vineyards.

Beautiful organic wine from the living soil of the Azul y Garanza vineyards.

Colourful cricket!

Azul y Garanza Suelo Vivo blanco (Wine of Spain) 2022, 13% ABV.

RRP: c. €20.00. Stockists: Sonas Newcastlewest; Mary Pawle Wines

In the vineyard, you can’t see the cricket, but you hear it.

You can’t see the soul of a living soil (Suelo Vivo), but you can feel it.

That’s the line on the label of this delicious organic wine from Azul y Garanza. Colour is a light straw, quite hazy in the bottle and glass. Aromas are delicate, of the citrus kind, with hints of fennel in the background. Quite a complex palate, with peach, apricot, yellow plum and citrus in the mix, a very refreshing melange indeed.

Highly Recommended

*************

Check my growing list of top wines for 2023

*************

Check out my Good Value Wine List here

***************

A new wine, certified organic, but already getting praise: “fun summertime wine”, “perfect everyday wine”, “the fruit shines”, “a refreshing beast”, “soft yet generous”, and the beer accolade of “crushable”. You can't see the soul but you sure can taste the body!

It is a blend with 90% Garancha Blanca and 10% Moscatel. The vast majority of Garnacha Blanca (or Grenache Blanc) is grown in Spain (Herencia Altes a top choice) and France (look for Ferraton and Chapoutier). It can produce full-bodied wines that go well with bigger fish such as tuna.

The Azul y Garanza vineyards are located in the Bardenas Reales Natural Park in Navarra. A huge commitment to biodiversity in the vineyards leads to wines of pronounced purity. This particular example is a pure wine from a living soil (Suelo Vivo) that is in harmony with nature.

A golden Encruzado just after the hurricane-driven flames that came close to obliterating Portugal's Casa De Mouraz in 2017

A golden Encruzado just after the hurricane-driven flames 

that came close to obliterating Portugal's Casa De Mouraz in 2017

Casa De Mouraz Encruzado Vinho Branco Dão (DOC) 2018, 13% 

€21-22. The Vintry Dublin. Mary Pawle Wines. 

The colour is a gorgeous and inviting golden straw with tints of green. The feel-good factor continues with the expressive aromas, a magnificent melange of citrus (lemon and orange zest), apricot, and peach, fresh and free. And the second it seeps across the palate you surrender your senses, ignoring all outside distractions, to make the most of the vibrant fruit, its minerality structure and balance. And you’re not ready to reengage with your surroundings for another few sensual seconds as your Encruzado lingers.

Do I hear Highly Recommended? Very Highly Recommended actually!

And to think we almost lost it all in October 2017. Late at night, their phone rang: Your warehouse is on fire! According to the excellent Foot Trodden, “savage forest fires.. had reached Dāo, thanks to Hurricane Ophelia…” Not only was the warehouse almost totally destroyed but the equipment around the yard and more than half of their 20 hectares of vines were also burned. A local news outlet put the cost at not less than €700,000.

Antonio and Sara were down. But not out. Helped by crowdfunding (from December 2017) they got back up and running and produced this marvellous wine, a wine that embodies the excellence of the Encruzado grape variety, the noblest white variety of the Dão.

Winemaker Antonio just loves Encruzado: “It grows in complexity as it ages, is great for oak ageing. It has a wonderful gastronomic ability to cut through fatty foods. It is an autumn wine, a fireplace wine. It may not be in fashion but it is a wonderful variety, wonderful to work with.”

*************

Check my growing list of top wines for 2023

*************

Check out my Good Value Wine List here

***************

On food, they recommend pairing it with oven-baked fish (such as codfish, salmon or tuna). “Also very good with white meat and some vegetarian dishes like pasta with pesto or cheese sauces. Aside from handling full-flavoured fish dishes (including the Portuguese favourite bacalao), it is excellent on its own. very versatile indeed. Serve at a temperature of 11-12ºC.”

The label is packed with info: “Mouraz is a little village in the heart of the Dāo, where Antonio’s family have farmed vineyards in a holistic and ecological way for many generations. This wine was made from the indigenous grape Encrruzado, the most important white variety from the Dão. This authentic wine was fermented naturally with controlled temperature and remained on the lees for 12 months (with bâtonnage).”

* The first thing you’ll note is that the cork is covered with wax. Just remove that with the blade on your corkscrew. It is fairly soft but be careful! Alternatively, warm the top by rubbing it with the palm of your hand. Then plunge in the corkscrew as usual and it should all come away. If you get it right, just a little disc of the wax will come away with the cork. Video demo here. 

Grenache and Syrah combine beautifully in this Côtes du Rhone

Grenache and Syrah combine beautifully

in this Côtes du Rhone 

*************

Chateau de Bastet “Terram” Côtes du Rhône (AOP) 2020, 14%, 

RRP €16.00 Stockists include:  Ardkeen, Waterford / Connemara Hamper, Clifden / Little Green Grocker, Kilkenny / Quay Co-Op, Cork / Olive Branch, Clonakilty / The Vintry, Dublin / Wunderkaffee, Farran, Cork / Mary Pawle Wine Online

Organic and biodynamic; no herbicides, pesticides here

This Côtes du Rhone is made from a blend of Grenache and Syrah. The vineyard is situated close to Avignon and has been certified biodynamic for about 20 years. That’s the info from importer Mary Pawle, who adds: "I've been importing the  biodynamic wines from Chateau de Bastet for over 20 years. Next generation now with daughter Julie and her husband (Nicolas)."

Colour is dark cherry. Aromas of crushed jammy fruit, cherry and blackberry. The fruit is prominent and fresh on the palate, cherry and spice together along with soft tannins. And there’s a fresh acidity also but well balanced for sure. Very accessible and clean (no herbicides, no pesticides here). It is both organic and biodynamic and the blend is 80% Grenache and 20% Syrah. 

Grenache’s qualities enhance fruitiness, warmth and body while Syrah can bring a hint of spice, as well as depth in colour and strength to the wine enabling it to age well.

Food pairings suggested by the producers are cold cuts, barbecued meat or small goat's cheeses and also as an aperitif. In general, it goes well with beef, game or lamb. Serve at 14 to 16 degrees.

Very Highly Recommended.

*************

Check my growing list of top wines for 2023

*************

Check out my Good Value Wine List here

***************

Set in the heart of the prestigious Côtes du Rhône appellation (that came into being officially in 1937), the story of Château de Bastet is one of family traditions and a profound love of this land, a passion reflected in the wines made here.   “This precious ecological balance has been fine-tuned through the ages: the vines in a single, unbroken plot at the centre, with nature given free rein over the rest of the estate.”

Pope and Parker. And, in between, the Mistral

The shell of the Papal holiday palace
 remains after wartime bombing

Today, Rhone wine is one of the most popular wines in the world. It is known for its rich flavours and complex aromas.

Wine-loving France Pope Clement V moved the papacy from Rome to Avignon in 1309. Most of the wine drunk in the temporary papal palace (they also had a summer palace called Chateauneuf du Pape) was from the local area and so the fashion for Rhone wine began in blessed earnest.

The Rhone was firmly among the most respected wines in France when infallibility of another kind arrived in the 1980s. Robert Parker, the American wine guru, "intervened". He just loved the naturally ripe style and gave them very high scores and his many international "followers" took his points (mostly in the 90s) as gospel.

In between Pope and Parker, there was the wind of 1956, perhaps even more influential than the famous pair. That year, the infamous Mistral battered the region for three weeks and contributed to the temperature dropping to minus 15 degrees. The olive trees, then the big crop in the area, suffered badly but the vines resisted so well that a majority of farmers turned to vine cultivation.

Over 20 grape varieties are covered by the regulations governing the Côtes du Rhones AOC. The two used here, Grenache and Syrah, are well known, but I’ve never seen varieties such as Black Counoise, Black Muscardin, Black Camarèse (aka Vaccarèse), Black Picpoul, Black Terret in wines that reach these shores. 

Sauvignac, Muscaris and Marina Rion. Not your usual grapes in this Catalan gem

Sauvignac*, Muscaris* and Marina Rion*. Not your usual grapes in this Catalan gem

Albet i Noya La Volada 2021, 12% ABV, 

RRP: €20. Stockists: Sonas, Newcastle West / The Connemara Hamper, Clifden/ The Little Green Grocer, Kilkenny / Mary Pawle Online

“The latest arrival from Albet i Noya, always innovating, .. is the result of research and development to find disease-resistant grape varieties. A blend of Sauvignac, Muscaris and Marina Rion, produces this white wine…”. That’s the introduction to this new wine by importer Mary Pawle.

The colour is a light straw. The three varieties used are not alone highly aromatic but each has been proven to be resistant to fungi and other vine diseases. There is indeed the inviting scent of white flowers. On the palate, it is full of zingy citrusy flavours and immediately refreshing with a lip-smacking finish which is not overly long but long enough. 

The winery is very happy with it: “La Volada is one of the most floral and aromatic wines from the winery with an intense scent of jasmine and white flowers. In the mouth, it is very refreshing, with a gentle mouthfeel and a citrus aftertaste that reminds us of orange and grapefruit.”

La Volada is an ideal wine for hot August nights. Have it by the glass as an aperitif or pair it with fresh salads, light cheeses, seafood or seafood paellas. Highly Recommended.

The Catalan winery has invested heavily in the future by developing “grapevine” projects that will help them reduce their environmental impact while combatting pests and diseases. 

This lovely fruity and fragrant white wine is a sign that they are on the right track with experienced family patriarch Josep Maria Albet i Noya leading the way with an intense focus on the project of resistant and indigenous varieties. Expect to hear less of the international varieties from Albet and Noya in the future.

* The Three Grapes

According to https://plantgrape.plantnet-project.org/ "Sauvignac has been obtained by V. Blattner in Switzerland. This variety is an interspecific hybrid resulting from the crossbreeding of a descendant of Sauvignon x Riesling and a hybrid whose identity is unknown."

Marina Rion is an ancestral white grape resistant to disease that has been recovered by the winery Albet i Noya.

Muscaris is a cross between the grapes Solaris and Muskateller (Muscat), with a good resistance to diseases. It was created by Norbert Becker at the National Institute of Viticulture, Freiburg, Germany and is used in colder climates (Germany, Austria). More here.

*************

Check my expanding list of top wines for 2023

*************

Check out my Good Value Wine List here

***************

For A Few Euro More. Stunning White From The Spanish Badlands. .

Stunning White From The Spanish Badlands

For A Few Euro More You Get Three. 

Azul y Garanza Naturaleza Salvaje Blanca 2019, 11.5%

R.R.P. €22-23. Stockists: Manning's, Ballylickey/ Little Green Grocer, Kilkenny / Mary Pawle online.

The fruit for this Azul Y Garanza white comes from an amazing area, the Bardenas Reales, a semi-desert or badlands in Navarra. The impoverished and arid clay-calcareous soil, the dry weather and the big contrast of temperature between the day and the night provide grapes with high concentration and a perfect balance and also offer distinctive character and great expression.

It has a yellow-orange colour (10 days of fermentation with skin contact for 5 days) and a hint of haziness (it is unfiltered). There’s an acidic streak in the aromas, reminiscent of cider apples, with herbal and floral hints also. And those orchard notes come through too on the mild palate which is bright, fresh (strikingly so) and pleasant, a harmonious matching of fruit and acidity, and then an excellent dry finish. Off the beaten track, just like the place it comes from. 

Very Highly Recommended.

 

An excellent match for fish, shellfish, vegetable dishes and cured meats, tapas also and fine too as an aperitif. Serve chilled, but not too cold – 8 to 10 degrees is optimum. So take it out of the fridge 20 minutes before you crack it open. At 11.5 %, this is dangerously drinkable.

Interestingly, this particular wine is made from a single vineyard, very old bush vines in a very wild parcel. And there’s a low yield from older Garnacha Blanca vines. 

*************

Check my growing list of top wines for 2023

*************

***************

Check out my Good Value Wine List here

***************

The label info sums it up well: Single Vineyard. Made in Amphora. Low Intervention. Unfiltered. Limited Edition.

Here’s a little tip. If you are on the lookout for this, you could easily make an error as they have three wines with very similar labels. Don’t worry though if you the mistake; it will be a happy one, as all three - the Clarete (Garnacha & Garnacha Blanca), the red (Garnacha) and the white (Garnacha Blanca) - are excellent.

Good Wine from Small Parcels. With a little help from Team Bassac.

Good Wine from Small Parcels. 

With a little help from Team Bassac. 

Bassac Little Parcel Faugères (AOP) 2019, 14% ABV,

A wine new to Mary Pawle list, expect to pay €20 to 21. 

Contact: Mary Pawle Wines 

In the Rhone Valley appellation, winemakers are allowed the use of over twenty grapes. In red wines, the three most often combined are Grenache, Syrah and Mourvedre, so much so that GSM has become shorthand for such wines. Our red here is a GSM but this comes not from the Rhone but from the Faugère appellation within the Languedoc region.

The colour is a deep red. There are complex aromas of cherry and blackberry, a hint of the garrigue too. On the palate, you’ll find rounded fruit and silky tannins.  Elegant and slightly spicy with fresh and minor acidity, through to a lingering finish.

The Bassac winemakers get the grapes for this from “our plots that give us the best grapes each year” and it has spent 12 months in barrique.* It looks like the winemakers have handled their grapes successfully and the GSM have come up winners here.

Very Highly Recommended.

Importer Mary Pawle is very happy with it. "The Faugeres and Vermentino are from small parcels of grapes grown by another grower ( organic of course) ..... A crowd pleaser I think!". For more on the Vermentino (reviewed recently) see here. 

*************

Click here for growing list of top wines for 2023

*************

Faugeres is situated in the hills of Herault in the Languedoc Roussillon wine region in southern France and the AOC is well known for rich red wines made from classic Rhone grapes, and also delicious white and rose wines. 

The label tells us that the best serving temperature is 16 degrees (you’ll also see 14 mentioned elsewhere on their social media) and suggests matching with lamb tagine, mushroom tournedos, lamb puff pastry, game (deer, venison), buffalo with foie gras sauce, boar stew… even the Sunday roast. Cheers.

They say: “Because of our commitment to producing authentic wines that reflect their terroir and because we work with a respect for nature and for the subtle balance that alone enables the vine to grow in secret harmony with its soil, we have chosen to cultivate our vineyards organically..”

This wine here comes from Languedoc-Roussillon, from the Côtes de Thongue. The vineyard is situated at Puisalicon, a small medieval village in the heart of the Languedoc not too far from Beziers, a town that rugby fans will be familiar with.

* The barrique, the most common type of wine barrel, originated in Bordeaux and it traditionally holds 225 liters. 

*************

Click here for Good Value Wine List 2023

*************

An Outstanding Tempranillo From Toledo. The Pinuaga Colección.

An Outstanding Tempranillo From Toledo

Pinuaga Colección Tempranillo Vino de la Terra de Castillo 2018, 13.5% ABV, 

€21.00 Stockists: Mary Pawle.

In 1960, the first generation of Pinuaga winemakers established the winery in the village of Corral de Almaguer, province of Toledo.  They planted special old clones of Tempranillo called Cencibel with smaller grains, silky skin and longer ripening cycles. 

It had been a favourite ever since with the winery. “It is the first that we make after the construction of the new winery and the one that many know as ‘El Pinuaga de toda la vida’ (translated by Google as El Pinuaga is the wine of a lifetime). "This is a very special wine for us as it is the first wine we made at Pinuaga and hence why we call it Colección.” 

Mid ruby is the colour of this deep and intense organic wine. Aromas, dark red fruits (cherry) to the fore, are a little (just) on the shy side. It comes into its own on the palate, full of rich red fruit flavours, a touch of spice, smooth and rounded, and tannins well integrated. Rich concentrated and elegant, it is certainly rather special and is Very Highly Recommended.

Today, the second and third generation of the Pinuaga family, Valentin and Esther, maintain the old vines with much care and pride, following a minimal intervention philosophy, using natural and artisanal winemaking processes and recovering indigenous clones. The quality of the wines is driven by the characteristic of the soils, age of vines, grape variety and organic farming practices; all of these parameters are present in every wine, making them singular and unique.

***************

Check out the Good Value Wine List here

***************

Altitude is a key factor here, as it is in much of Spain. According to the World Atlas of Wine, “a good 90% of all Spanish vineyards lie at altitudes higher than any major French wine region” and this, especially in Castilla y Leon, helps maintain acidity enough to keep the wines relatively fresh. The altitude benefit means “growers can depend on cool nights to ‘fix’ colour and flavour in the grapes ripened during the torrid summer days”.  

The Pinuaga vineyard area is also really windy. The winemakers appreciate its benefits: “The vineyards are well aerated so it's a very healthy terroir. There is a lot of changes between the day and night temperatures too, which are very good for the ripening of the fruits.”

Pinuaga is situated close to the city of Toledo in central Spain, this is a huge wine-making region with more land under vine than the whole of Australia. The wines are now being imported to Ireland by Mary Pawle and, as is consistently the case with Mary, are keenly priced.

***************

Check out our Top 2023 Wines here.

***************