Introjuicing Francois Matton, owner and oenologist of Château Minuty talks about the area and how great rosé is made.

Most rosés here are made in the traditional “saignée method”, and are dry, lightly coloured with a hint of pearl, salmon pink or copper.

To me, they are, quite simply, unequalled in the world of rosé. While they are quintessential summer wines, they work throughout the year, particularly with Asian food.

The wines of Château Minuty are imported into Ireland by Ciaran Mannion of Rosé Wines Ireland.

I’ll post an interview with Ciaran here in the coming weeks covering the challenges of selling what is perceived to be a summer wine in this damp heap of rock at the edge of Europe.

This sounds a little funny to stay, put the recession has been a bit of a blessing for Prosecco. The bubble experience without the expense.

Back in September, I had the privilege of heading out to a town in the Veneto called Valdobbiadene, the heartland of Prosecco sparkling wine. The winery is Bisol, makers of some of the best Prosecco in Italy.

Compared to Champagne?

Comparisons are a bit unfair. Compare at price point, then Prosecco wins every time in my view. All other comparisons are a little unfair, different place, different grapes, different winemaking technique. Champagne has that celebratory stigma and allure, so unless you have deep pockets, it’s quite difficult to get to know intimately.

Prosecco is more accessible and if you watch the short video featured above, you’ll see that Roberto Cremonese describes Prosecco as “uncomplicated”. For me, it’s uncomplicated in a sense that it lacks the fuss, the pomp, the circumstance and the price reserved for a drink like Champagne and I think that’s a good thing.

The “Valdo”

A most serene beautiful place, a lot of the landscape is steep hills, making hand pruning and harvesting the only way to tackle it. So it’s well made here in the Valdo, particularly where Bisol are concerned. I got to see the grapes coming in and the processing. It doesn’t look like a massive industrial operation, but Bisol can be found in some of the best bars and restaurants around the world (I recently discovered it in The Med restaurant in Boulder, Colorado).

So what makes for a good Prosecco?

Finally, it’s now a protected name. It’s origins are a grape from a town called Prosecco near Trieste, but in recent years the name, perhaps, became somewhat devalued. Prosecco in a can, with Paris Hilton on the label was not something the better producers and core region ever aspired to. It seemed that outside forces were dictating the future of their native drink. This protection is now DOCG, the highest step in the Italian wine categorisation.

The second is identifying and labelling the grape. It’s called Glera, not Prosecco.

So, there’s a move within the DOCG area combined with the named grape  variety to get away from the generic fizz to a protectable entity of geographical origin.

While there are still some generic bubbles out there, there’s also the equivalent of the “crus”, or better vineyards. The Cartizze is a good example. 106 hectares split between over 150 owners, of which three belong to Bisol. This area is one of the most sought after. For a hectare, you’re looking at $1 million, but no one’s selling.

The long day is almost at a close by the time we leave the busy motorway and make our way up the driveway of Viña Chocálan. Workers in the vineyard are finishing up and making their way slowly back home. We’re running late after the long day of wine tasting and driving, the weariness is setting in I wonder if we’d have been better off just heading back to Santiago to turn it.

The driveway is dusty and bumpy, forcing us to slow down as we make our way up to the winery. The slowing of the pace allows us to take in more of our surroundings before meeting our host, Aída Toro.

We’re greeted with a smile as wide as the Andes are high and all feelings of weariness fade immediately. I met her once before, in the O’Brien’s wine tent at the inaugural Taste of Dublin festival. Then, as now, there’s an amazing aura of calm about her. Even though we’re late, Aida seems in no rush to be anywhere else.

We’re shown around the winery first. As we approach, the winery looks understated and unimposing from the outside. Fitting in in rather than standing out. It’s not trying to make a bold statement, like so many others.

Inside, it’s simple and open, functional and minimalist. Built for purpose. The reception area is similarly designed. Soft wood, bare concrete. Elegant simplicity. On the top floor, undergoing redevelopment to receive weddings and other events, the large glass panes bring the outside in or the viewer outside.

Downstairs in the barrel room, where the wines rest, there’s the same sense of tranquility. No fancy fittings or ostentatious mood lighting, just a peaceful place where the wines are left to develop slowly.

I briefly wonder if we shape our surroundings or do they shape us? I suspect it’s a bit of both as the place seems to reflect the calmness I sense in Aída.

Wine making philosophy

Perhaps it’s Aída’s influence, but the winemakers we meet are equally calm and soft spoken. Their approach to their wines is equally simple. They want to express the grape varietal’s “typicity” as well as they can. Minimal intervention, respect for the fruit, confidently new world in style.

We try a flight of whites, followed by reds, 14 in all. The Riesling and Gewurtztraminer the most interesting of whites. Perhaps, the Chardonnay could benefit from some malolactic fermentation and a little time in oak barrels. From the reds, the Malbec stood out. It’s not a huge production for Chocálan. Malbec isn’t huge in Chile but from what I’ve tasted here and elsewhere, it shows real promise.

We leave, with the same sense of calm that greeted us.

Chocálan wine availability in Ireland.

Chocálan wines are available exclusively from O’Briens wine, nationwide.

I spent a week in Chile in November 2010 as a guest of Wines of Chile. My travelling companion, David Whelehan, who in his time working as Marketing Director and Wine Buyer for O’Brien’s, introduced Chocálan to the Irish market.

Back in September I met up with Tim Adams in Ballyvaughan, Co. Clare. He’s a top bloke and winemaker in the Clare Valley South Australia. His sentiments on screwcaps echoed that of many Australian winemakers. In the last year, I’ve met quite a few Aussie winemakers. Without generalising what they share some common traits, the first of which is an open mind. Screw cap is the best closure, they feel, for now, but they’re perfectly willing to adopt whatever comes next.

The second shared trait is confidence. This was quite clear to me, again back in September, when I met up with three other winemakers, amongst them, Ben Glaetzer. Some of his Mitolo range, including the “Amarone-method” Serpico Cab costs around €50, yet it’s under screwcap.

Contrast this with Chile where on a recent trip I learned that they are reluctant to embrace screwcap because of the perception of cheap in some of their markets.

This, to me, is about a lack of confidence. Particularly when at a Chilean tasting last year, a significant number of bottles had been taken off the tables because of cork-related faults.

What do you think of screwcaps? Do you even care? Pop a comment below, I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Cono Sur has a vast area of vineyards in the Curico valley, their HQ. They also have plots in all the main growing areas, from up north in Limari all the way down to Bio Bio in the south.

Organics at Cono Sur

What’s interesting about Cono Sur is that it’s organic (or on the way to organic) on a vast scale. One example of organic or biodynamic practice is the geese you’ll see waddling between the rows of vines. Apart from looking cute, and making a racket, they serve a real purpose. One of the main pests on vines in the “Burrito”, a weevil, not a Mexican meal, crawls up the trunk of the vine and chews on the new shoots.

One way to combat this would be spraying the little mites with pesticide, but in Cono Sur (and other vineyards) they use a mixture of garlic and a glue on a strap. The Burrito makes it up this far, is trapped by the glue or repelled by the smell of garlic, then in come the geese for a feed on these tasty burritos.

The wines

There’s quite a range of wines in Cono Sur, mainly single varietal. The quality is excellent and you’ll get many of their wines here in Ireland, from independents through to supermarkets. Pinot Noir is a big focus here, from their entry level, the Reserva (a favourite of mine), through to the premium “20 barrels select” and Ocio. Martin Preiur, a Burgundian Pinot maker is involved and you can see glimpses of the Burgundian style coming through in their Pinot Noir from the Reserva up.

Background

Santa Alicia was founded in 1954, so it’s quite old by Chilean standards. The founder, Mr. Máximo Valdés, was at one stage the Chilean minister for Agriculture.

The original name “Viñas Casas de Pirque”, or houses of Pirque (the townland in Maipo) was changed more recently once Chile entered the free market. Thw new name is said to be in honor of “Alicia”, which is present in every generation of the family. I suspect ease of pronunciation in foreign markets may have been a driver for change.

Like many Chilean wineries, this is one of scale. That said, the quality is really good, my favourites being the Cabernet Sauvignon from the Reserva range, the Carmenère and Merlot single varietals from the Gran Reserva range, and the Anke blends (Anke Blend 1 tipping it for me). Their premium wine, Millantu, show promise too, but needs a bit of time for the oak to relax a bit.

The wine makers

There are two main winemakers at Santa Alicia, David Gonzalez and Eduardo Gajardo. David is very experienced while Eduardo is very typical of many of the winemakers I met on my week long trip – young!

Earthquake

Looking at the crumpled tanks behind the winery, it’s clear they suffered considerable wine loss during the earthquake earlier this year but they look as if they’re getting on with it. The Chileans are a resilient and hard working bunch, similar to the Irish in many ways.

Other points of interest

They have their own ironworks on site, where they reconstitute old barrels into various novel items which they ship with their wines. They also teach their vineyard workers other skills like ceramics, to keep them employed throughout the year. Their reception area is primed for wine tourism, an opportunity which seems to be untapped in the Maipo, save for Concho y Toro. You’ll see planes, cars, bars inside giant barrels and a whole host of both clever and kitsch items all made from repurposed oak. You can see a great sense of humour in the place, and of course the people who work there.

Profile in Ireland

They’re well represented in Ireland, with Curious Wines being the main importer and retailer.

Instead of focusing on Dublin, where the jackines get more than their fair share of wine tastings, John McDonnell went walkabout with Tim Adams, visiting Cork, Ennis and Galway. I managed to intercept Tim in Galway and Ballyvaughan. Here’s the interview.

I’ve more footage on corks versus screwcaps and the challenges of selling wine in China, which will come at a later date.

The background

There’s a great story behind this label. The bull, not to be confused with the other red bull, was owned by Rocco Radica. He was a farmer in the beautiful Abbruzzo region of Italy. Having sold the bull, Rocco bought some vineyard land. Rocco was mainly a grower providing grapes to the local co-op of which he was a founder.

Fast forward two generations and Rocco’s grandson, Rocco, is part of a family business making, marketing and selling their own wine. The price of grapes across the world from Barossa to Abruzzo has plummeted. However, this situation was seen as an opportunity by the Radica family and in 2009 started their own winery. Instead of selling their grapes, they now make and bottle their own wine. And it’s been worth it, the wines are terrific.

The wine

The grape is a Pecorino but isn’t that a hard sheep milk cheese? Yes it is, but in and around Abruzzo, Italians will tell you that this grape got its name from the sheep which used to nibble on the leaves of the vines on their way to new pasture.

Like many Italian grape varietals, Pecorino is a rare, long-forgotten link to the past and brought back from near extinction by the most dedicated of winemakers.

This one from Vigneti Radica has delicious fruit with floral notes backed up by a great tropical and peach stone flavours and a lovely minerality. Very interesting white and perfect for any time of year.

That site I mentioned in my video?

You’ll find it on www.vignetiradica.it. Nice well tended blog too with some magnificent photos of the area, the people and the food. There’s a Facebook page to match.