July: A baking hot month under the Spanish sun for both us and for the grapes; a few years ago, during July 2015, it even became so hot that the plants stopped photosynthesising for a few weeks! As flowering is concluded at this stage, the vines are suddenly the proud parents of small, tightly knit bunches of hard, green grapes. This is the first indication that the grower has of the size and quality of the crop for the year and some will even begin ‘green harvesting’ at this stage, which is the act of removing some bunches of grapes in order to help concentrate the remaining bunches. Depending on how warm it is, veraison can begin in late July or early August, that is to say, the changing of the colour of the grapes to white and red depending on their variety.
Hello Wine Lovers! Welcome to the 31st Edition of our Wine Cuentista newsletter. A slightly lighter version for this month and the next, as we enjoy our short summer break. I hope you’re all enjoying the warm weather and rest assured, our tastings will be back in September. If you can’t wait that long, don’t forget that we also organise private tastings on request, which can be themed however you’d like. Stay tuned for more events and hopefully, one or two welcome surprises come September as well!
Articles: I probably spend too much of my time reading online articles about wine. However, as a result I can find and select a choice few to share – here are my three favourites from last month!
1. ‘Undeniable Class’ by Matt Walls. Whilst elements of the wine industry rail against the idea of the European appellation system, it would be a difficult to navigate the nuances of wine without it. A look by Matt Walls into why this is, and which systems are being adopted the most broadly, as well as the disadvantages of adding extra complexities to such systems. You’ll be unsurprised to discover that the Burgundian model is popular! http://www.timatkin.com/articles?1910
2. ‘The Master of Wine Exam Papers’ by Richard Hemming MW. Every year, hopeful students sit the most difficult and arduous exams in the wine industry, hoping to pass onto the final stage of becoming a Master of Wine. These are deceptively complex, often posing as simple questions that require structured essays with factual evidence to support your decisions. That and 36 blind wines, each flight of 2-3 with a different set of questions to answer based on your conclusions. Is it any wonder that the pass rate for some of the most diligent students is still less than 10%? As someone who intends to sit these exams, I love poring over the exam papers and seeing what sorts of wines were served, what the questions were and ultimately, how people did (Although we don’t get the find out about the latter for a few months!). https://www.jancisrobinson.com/articles/the-2018-master-of-wine-exam-papers
Wine of the month: I’m constantly on the look-out for wines of real quality and value; here is my favourite wine of the month:
Franz Haas ‘Manna’ 2016: After a couple of months enjoying some quite special bottles of wine, it’s time to celebrate something that’s truly great value. Franz Haas’s Manna bottling was the Wine of the Day in our first tasting in June, beating out some stiff competition including solid grower Champagne, a delicious Italian blend from Lazio and even Spanish Mencia. A very unusual blend of 4 noble grape varieties, yet seamlessly drawn together and much greater than the sum of its parts.
Pale in colour and very aromatic; not entirely surprising given the amount of aromatic varieties involved in the blend! Ripe apricots, green pineapple, honeysuckle, rose petals and chalk is all very Riesling with a touch of Gewurtraminer on the nose, yet this is a different beast entirely on the palate. Weightier with creamy acidity and the same ripe fruit profile, this tastes like really lovely Chardonnay from a warm climate. A beautifully crafted wine and so well balanced; I wonder how long it took them to get this right? The first vintage was 1995 so I suppose there’s been a fair bit of trial and error. The wine of the tasting.
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That’s it for this months newsletter. I hope you enjoyed it and please, if you have any suggestions or things you would like to see get in touch! Either respond to me here or email to fintankerr@winecuentista.com I can’t wait to see you all soon for more wine, food and good company.
Fintan Kerr