Los Vascos

Los Vascos is the project of Chateau Lafite Rothschild of Bordeaux; in some wine circles, the finest wine in the world.  While we accept that appraisal, we still prefer Burgundy (when it's right).

We have known Los Vascos since Lafite established the brand in the late 80's.  As one might expect, Cabernet Sauvignon is the bread and butter of Los Vascos with two thirds of their holdings devoted to that one varietal.  The press says it's modern yet traditional; that is, it has the finesse coming from modern technical expertise and the precision that comes with exacting historic standards.  It is elegant and freshly aromatic yet has too much depth to be trendy.  It is deserving of its Lafite patronage.

Lafite acquired this 3,600 hectare estate in 1988 but its history goes back to the 18th century when Basque farmers first planted vineyards there.  The property is in the Central (Colchagua) Valley of Chile 200km south of Santiago.  It lies between the Andes and the Coastal Mountain range at 150m above sea level.  The soils are volcanic, consisting of granite, shale, clay and tosca, a compacted ash product.  The climate has a thirty degree temperature shift between days and nights which is especially good for slowly ripening Cabernet Sauvignon grapes.

Our Los Vascos Cabernet Sauvignon is from their entry level Classico tier drawn from their Perlillo Vineyard on the valley floor.  Their other locales going up the hillsides provide for three higher quality level Cabs that we are quite certain get very expensive.   This Los Vascos Classico Cabernet is here both because our vendor raved about it and because of our long history with the wine.  It's always been a superior product at its modest price point. 

The wine is an estate grown and bottled, fresh and juicy styled 100% Cab sourced from 15-60 year old vines.  The nose shows plum, cherry and strawberry with hints of nutmeg, cocoa, thyme and black pepper.  Because this moderately tannic wine is of such good quality, decant twenty minutes or so to fully appreciate its concentrated and persistent varietal flavors.

Castello di Titignano

From Tenuta di Salviano comes this Umbrian blend of Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot.  It's a full-bodied, soft-tannin red that shows a pomegranate color with complex spicy, intense red fruit flavors.  One critic thought the more savory aspects made the wine Rhone-ish in character.  

The Salvianos aren't novices at winemaking.  This estate has a twenty year history with the family but before that they were in Tuscany where they founded the Sassicaia Super Tuscan, one of the great red wines of Italy.  Umbria is adjacent to Tuscany to the north so they just moved to a lower rent district to create this more affordable version.

Turlo is the name of the Salviano vineyards in Umbria and they are located between Todi and Orvieto at an elevation of 150-380 meters on the north side of Lake Corbara, giving the vineyards a southern exposure.  The volcanic soils are red clay, limestone and pebbles.  The climate is Mediterranean, meaning mild winters and warm summers.

The Salvianos built a modern state of the art winery for this Umbrian IGT effort.  The grapes are hand harvested with types fermented separately with frequent pumping over before undergoing a malolactic fermentation.  Everything is temperature controlled at the winery including time spent aging in steel barrels.  Smaller lots see time in small French oak barriques.

Manchego

Sixty percent of all cheese made in Spain is Manchego.  It is the signature cheese of Spain and an EU protected DO (denominacion de origen) as Queso Manchego.  Manchega sheep provide the milk for this cheese which comes in four varieties: Fresca (aged two weeks), Semicurado (3 weeks-4 months), Curado (3-6 months) and Viejo (1-2 years).  The cheese may be either a pasteurized or raw milk version.  Ours is usually the pasteurized Curado and often labelled with its specific aging time.

Manchego is legally made only in the La Mancha plateau region in south central Spain.   This arid, windy and cold plateau of Don Quixote fame has long been known to us for its formidable dry red wines that scream for a savory red meat accompaniment.  These are legacy wines that must be appreciated with a meal and without varietal labelling.

Inside its brown herringbone exterior Manchego has an ivory colored paste with tiny pores.  Depending on age the texture moderates between its creamier style and hardness.  Manchego has a pleasantly sharp piquancy featuring fruit and nut flavors finishing with the customary sheep milk flavors at the end.  

If you are looking for something to go with your glass of red wine, this one is textbook.  It is also one of the few that would pair well with many white wines.  Check out the last sentence of the previous paragraph and imagine that taste with your favorite wine.  Salivating yet? 

Kanonkop

Hey red wine lovers - you want a real treat?  Check out the Kanonkop Kadette Cape Red Blend from Stellenbosch, South Africa.  Whether it's a versatile dinner wine you need or just an anytime red, this is it.  The blend is a sixty percent Bordeaux blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot + forty percent Pinotage, the signature grape of that country.  And whoever thought of this mix nailed it big time.

Now ordinarily I would start cribbing from a half dozen wine industry websites to fill out the text of this post but after going to www.kanonkop.co.za, I got more information there than I could possibly use here.  This is the best winery website I have seen.  Please, everyone, check it out and see what is possible if a company wants to share their business with an interested audience.  In particular, the Viticulture and Winemaking headings are where you want to be for getting a toehold on what they're doing.  

My takeaway from the experience? The two headings above show an expansive understanding of the importance of vintages.  The winemakers don't just take what the vineyard gives them at harvest time and make a wine out of it.  Well, they do...but their intention is to capture the unique expression of a harvest.  That starts with the old school, tried and true hand-picking of grapes.  Then, using modern technology, evaluating for sugar content in the juice and tannin content in the skins and making sure the acids balance with the sugars and that the pips are not green.  Now, just to be sure, lets restate the intention - They want to do everything in their power to capture the unique expression of the vintage.

Classy!

Brusco dei Barbi

This is a big red Tuscan IGT wine.  IGT wines are an Italian wine classification created after DOC, DOCG and VdT were shown to be inadequate for wines better than Vino da Tavola but made using methods outside of DOC rules. 

If it's Tuscan, you can assume it's Sangiovese-based and Barbi is, but this one has a Cabernet-like grip to it that makes it appealing for red meat dishes.  The wine is a bright ruby color, has a vivid red berry nose and shows supple fresh red berry flavors on the palate couched in soft tannins.  It's a fresh and fruity, yet structured versatile red that would ideally accompany anything on the grill.  

Barbi also has a pedigree.  It comes from Giovanni Colombini of Fattoria dei Barbi in Montalcino, "where Brunello was born."  Colombini studied modern winemaking extensively in the 1960's and 70's with an emphasis on cold fermentation.  Barbi actually has a pre-fermentation chilling to kill polyphenols and anthcyanins before the twelve day cold fermentation and that shows in the indelibly fresh Barbi.  Hand harvested Sangiovese, Caniolo and Colorino are what go into the wine which goes on to see some time in oak before bottling.

The Colombini family has a seven century history of winemaking.  Their current winery was established in 1790 but the family has been in Montalcino since 1352.  They are one of five today to have a one hundred year (continuous) winemaking history there where they remain a major Brunello producer today.

Lamadrid Agrelo Cabernet Sauvignon

When wine lovers think of Argentina we automatically think Malbec.  Argentina has the best, after all, so perhaps other types from that incredible region don't get the respect they may deserve.  Well, guess what.  We think we found a gem in this little Argentine Cabernet.  

The key word on the label here is Agrelo.  If this was ordinary everyday red wine it would have just been labeled Mendoza Cabernet, which in all honesty would have been plenty prestigious enough.  But Agrelo means so much more.

Mendoza is a huge desert plateau that has become Mecca for large wine companies everywhere.  Everyone wants to have a piece of the prized Mendoza action.  But if you head west in Mendoza into the Andes and higher elevations you enter the Lujan da Cuyo province and within that province you find Agrelo, one of the finest venues for big complex Mendoza reds.

Malbec still rules in this region just like everywhere in Mendoza.  Half of the Agrelo production is Malbec with Cabernet Sauvignon making up a mere thirteen percent of the pie.  Argentine wine law says a varietal wine must be at least 85% of that type so it's reasonable to assume some of that prized Malbec has found its way into the Lamadrid blend.  

So what makes the Agrelo terroir so special?  At 1,000 meters above sea level Agrelo soils are erosion from higher Andes altitudes making them rocky enough for good drainage while also enabling tap roots to access nutrients and minerality below.  This region also has the diurnal temperature shift so essential for acidity to balance the fruit in rich red wines.  And it has a fortuitous rain shadow, a mountain providence of shelter from excessive rain.  Since there is plenty of water from runoff from above, water is not a problem.  

Think about a case of this one, folks.  It could go a long ways to getting you through the holidays. 

When Buying Red Wine

Datassential (whoever they are) surveyed 4,500 red wine buyers for what they are looking for when they purchase wine.  Here's what they found.

56% are concerned about the degree of sweetness/dryness.  

50% want to know what style the wine is made in.  (lighter, richer etc.)

49% want a description of the flavors.  (fruit, oak etc.)  

39% want to know the food affinities of the wine.  

34% want to know a brand name or producer.  

24% want to know the place of origin of the wine.  

22% want to know the alcohol content.  

16% are concerned about the wine's acidity.  

And 11% want to know nutritional information.  (organics vs additives)

Datassential says most red wine buyers enjoy their wine with the meal but entertaining is a close second.  They also like the fruit-forward style with a sweetness/dryness balance that works for them.

For us, food pairing is paramount so everything else must work to that end.  With that in mind, the wine style and place of origin should at least be considered as a factor for the enjoyment of a meal.  Thanksgiving is coming up and the traditional holiday dinner is a sweeter meal, so for that one, the wine doesn't need to be bone dry.  With regard to the last four considerations on the list; alcohol content, branding, the nutritional stuff and acidity; those are all really personal decisions that should be respected by all of us.