Hello and welcome to this week’s dig through the pile of wine samples that show up asking to be tasted. I’m pleased to bring you the latest installment of Vinography Unboxed, where I highlight some of the better bottles that have crossed my doorstep recently.
This past week included a bunch of really delicious wines, starting with the very long lees-aged sparkling wine from Nicole Bertotti at Haliotide Wines, which after 68 (!) months on the lees offers this incredible silky, sensuous texture on which it delivers its apple and brioche flavors with wonderful grace.
I’m recommending a pair of Chenin Blancs from South Africa this week, from one of my favorite producers there, the Stellenbosch-based Stark-Condé, as well as from the well-known Brookdale Estate in Paarl. Both wines demonstrate what makes South African Chenin Blanc so fantastic these days, both in terms of its flavors, and its relative value. Brookdale also makes a tasty Syrah that I’m happy to recommend this week as well.
Sticking with South Africa for a moment but stepping a bit outside the usual box there, I’d like to point your attention to the rare-as-hens-teeth bottling of the Portuguese grape Fernão Pires by Processus Winery, a tiny woman-owned label that is one of only two producers of this obscure grape in the country. Its salty, savory character is quite appealing.
Likewise, the qvevri-fermented and aged white blend by Klein Amoskuil steps up to deliver some serious orange-wine cred in South Africa. A blend of a wide variety of dry-farmed, old-vine varieties, it has a wonderful combination of aromatic sweetness and dry grippy minerality.
Speaking of orange wines, I can also recommend the “Ramat” bottling of Pinot Grigio by Jermann Winery in Italy’s Friuli region. Jermann is one of the pioneering producers of skin-contact wines and that shows in the deftness of this wine which has just a kiss of the color and grip you’d expect from a skin-contact Pinot Grigio.
And before we move on to a couple of reds, if you’re a fan of the Viognier grape, you might consider taking a look at what Bartholemew Estate Winery in Sonoma is doing. Their interpretation is rich, but not heavy thanks to excellent acidity.
Let’s wrap up this week with some alpine Nebbiolo, shall we? Tenuta Scersé began almost as a whim, as lawyer Cristina Scarpellini decided to lease an acre of grapes in Valtellina to play around with. She quickly went down the rabbit hole and now produces a portfolio of wines from this spectacular valley separating Italy from Switzerland. Her Rosso di Valtellina is bright and lean and crunchy, and her Sfursat version, in which the grapes are dried slightly before fermentation, has an impressive intensity and grace.
That’s it for this week. Notes on all these wines follow below.
Tasting Notes
2017 Haliotide “Late Disgorged Blanc de Blancs – Stolo Vineyards” Chardonnay, SLO Coast, Central Coast, California Pale gold in the glass with aggressive, moderately fine bubbles, this wine smells of sea air, lemon pith, a hint of brioche, and touch of cidery apples. In the mouth, faintly salty notes of lemon pith, pastry cream, brioche, and dried orange peel are delivered on a particularly silky, velvety mousse. Notes of lemon oil and wet pavement linger in the finish. Dry-farmed fruit was whole-cluster pressed into neutral oak for fermentation, and then aged sur-lie for 9 months. Disgorged in January of 2024 after 68 months on the lees in bottle. Zero dosage – Brut Nature. 12.5% alcohol. 480 bottles made. Score: between 8.5 and 9. Cost: $97. click to buy.
2021 Stark-Condé “Monk Stone” Chenin Blanc, Jonkershoek Valley, Stellenbosch, Western Cape, South Africa Pale gold with a hint of green in the glass, this wine smells of grapefruit pith and white flowers. In the mouth, silky flavors of grapefruit, white flowers, Asian pears, and white tea have a light chalky texture and fantastic acidity. Floral…
Source : https://www.vinography.com/2025/02/vinography-unboxed-week-of-2-2-25
