Altos Las Hormigas – The quest to reveal terroir
Ines Salpico
It can’t be easy to be the winemaker of a project spearheaded by Alberto Antonini and Pedro Parra. This big responsibility has, for the past four years, rested on the shoulders of the enthusiastic Federico Gambetta, who seems enduringly motivated by the expectations surrounding Altos Las Hormigas. He was in London recently to present the latest and upcoming releases, and discuss, quite candidly, how the wines are a work in progress – steps on a road to strip Malbec of artifice and convey an ever-purer expression of terroir. As we tasted through wines from the 2020, 2021 and 2022 vintages, the evolution towards expressiveness and drinkability was clear – especially in the unoaked Jardín de Hormigas Meteora Malbec 2021 (£37.69-£39.95 Hedonism, NY Wines, Shelved Wine) and the barrel sample of the flagship Jardín de Hormigas Los Amantes Malbec 2022 (2021, £82.95 NY Wines). Drinkability is also the hallmark of the project’s dangerously fresh Colonia Las Liebres Bonarda Clasica 2023 (£12.49-£14 Alexander Hadleigh, Grape & Grind, Hay Wines, Shelved Wine, Theatre of Wine), a red that’s perfect for chilling in summer.
A spectrum of rosés
Amy Wislocki
Research commissioned by UK retailer Marks & Spencer has revealed that twice as many shoppers opt for paler, Provence-hued rosés over darker styles. And yes of course Provençal rosé can be delicious. But so can rosés of many other shades, as evidenced at the Fine Rosé Day organised by Decanter contributor and leading rosé expert and author Elizabeth Gabay MW. As she pointed out, there’s more to rosé than colour, observing that there is no legal definition of rosé. Indeed, the delicious Moschofilero, Ekato 2023 from Ktima Troupis in Mantinia, Greece, is sold by different retailers as white, orange and rosé. Dark in the glass from the grape’s natural hue plus 100 days of skin contact, it’s very aromatic and textural, with grape, citrus and spice notes, and an underlying minerality (the 2022 vintage is £19 at Vinvm). Gabay is keen to stimulate debate around what constitutes a fine rosé, and laments the fact that many producers don’t keep a library of rosé back vintages to show ageing potential.
Raymond reaches 50
Geordi Torr
It’s 50 years since Napa Valley pioneer Raymond Vineyards released its first wine and to celebrate, a small dinner was held at Medlar restaurant in London’s Chelsea. After a glass of the Reserve Selection Chardonnay 2021 (£28.90-£33.59 All About Wine, Shelved Wine, Vinvm, Winesquare), a big, mouthfilling, sun-drenched wine, winemaker Stephanie Putnam joined in remotely from Raymond’s aptly named Red Room, decorated in tones that match the unusual velvet label that adorns the estate’s Reserve Selection Cabernet. Putnam described the evolution of winemaking at Raymond, from the heavy extraction of the 1980s through a period where they were ‘finding themselves’ in the ’90s to a ‘more relaxed’ outlook since the turn of the millennium. Now part of the Franco-American Boisset Collection, the estate is rightly renowned for its Cabernet Sauvignons, which see 100% new French oak. Examples from each of the past five decades were served, from the young, primary Reserve Selection 2020 (£54.30-£65 Fintry Wines, Shelved Wine, The Good Wine Shop, Vinvm) to the decadent Reserve Selection 1982, still very vibrant, with sweet fruit and fully resolved tannins. The highlight for many was the Reserve Selection 2013, served from magnum – one of Putnam’s favourites, a ‘powerhouse’ from the ‘vintage of the century’.
Moorooduc Pinot Gris
Tina Gellie
The cover image of our June 2023 issue was of The Terrace Rooms & Wine in Ventnor on the Isle of Wight – a pleasure to visit recently when the owners hosted Kate McIntyre MW of Australia’s Moorooduc Estate. While the day didn’t deliver the sunshine Kate and her family enjoy on their property in Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula, the wines made up for it. Her father, Dr Richard McIntyre, was one of the first to plant Chardonnay and Pinot Noir in this cool-climate coastal enclave in 1983 and today, the single-site wines from the McIntyre, Robinson and Garden vineyards remain among Mornington’s standard bearers. But it’s Pinot Gris that really excites Kate – and a library vintage and two new releases show why. The Estate Pinot Gris is wild-yeast fermented in old oak with full malolactic conversion to emphasise creamy weight and texture. The 2021 shows perky grapefruit skins, quince and nougat, while the 2013 is all spiced apples and toasted almonds in brown butter pastry (both £26 Cambridge Wine Merchants). For the watermelon-pink Estate Pinot Gris On Skins 2023 (£29.45 Le Vignoble), Kate advises drinking it cool, not chilled, as it’s made like a Pinot Noir. Revel in quenching flavours of pink sushi ginger, Szechuan pepper, guava and strawberry kombucha.
The talented Mr Kitzke
Clive Pursehouse
Seth Kitzke, winemaker and proprietor of Upsidedown Wine, is from a family of farmers; he helped plant and train his parents’ vineyard (Kitzke Cellars on Candy Mountain) from the time he was 12 until he left for college. Kitzke’s aha wine moment came during a trip to the Rhône valley, where luck saw him taste both at Domaine Pierre Gonon in St-Joseph and with Vincent Paris in Cornas. Kitzke firmly believes that terroir in a wine expresses itself more in its aromatics than in anything else. ‘I gravitate towards wines that have aromatic complexity,’ he says, ‘and tend to have a structural side to them. Texture and tannin are important, but I usually view tannin as the last part of the equation.’ His Grenache and Roussanne are among of the best I’ve tasted from the States. The Upsidedown Wine, Stoney Florals Grenache 2022 offers an outstanding take on the variety, leaning heavily into the minerality of his family’s estate, keeping the wine light, elegant and mineral-laden. His Upsidedown Wine, Roussanne 2022 is wonderfully complex. Kitzke believes that with the tannins that are hidden in Roussanne, you can push the ripeness and still have a textured, balanced wine. This one is delightful, with fleshy peaches, apricots and notes of white peppercorn.