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santiagocuartas

Trip to Messinia

Messinia is the furthest west peninsula of Peloponnese, Greece. It is a country of amazing, crystal clear healing seawater, olive trees and cicadas. It seems to be pretty much colonized by German tourism, which has some good sides, like, for example, prominence of organic (bio) produce and grapes.

I was somewhat disappointed with the food, which was more simple and austere than Macedonia, a northern province I visited a couple of years ago. Although surrounded by the sea, Messinians don't have much local seafood... The fish from the area are small and bony, not much variety of aquatic life forms, and lamb seems to be the dominant cuisine specialty.

Wines from the area I would divide into 3 categories:a) the home grown/ home made seasonal, plastic canister products served in tavernas and consumed by the locals, b) the coops, where grape growers from the area can sell their fruit and regional wine of various quality is mass produced, c) artisanal, professional wineries which grow and vinify their own grapes.

Owners of Panagiotopolos in their tasting room and Matina,
current winemaker of Nestor coop, former winemaker of Dereskos

Messinia is a country of white wine. Reds exist, but are newer introductions to local agriculture, and mostly consist of cab sav and merlot, oaked to the max and intended for export or for tourists.
Plenty of interesting white varieties, most common being Roditis. It's an easy drinking light quaffer, lemony, some tropical fruit, produced and available throughout the region. It goes great with local scrawny fish;) I had some very nice Roditis at Nestor, one of the largest wine coops in Messinia.
Moscofiliero is a more complex one, produced around Messinia, Laconia and Arcadia. We tried around, there is a persistent presence of rubber, musk and lemon in the nose, taste is amazingly close to black tea with lemon, less fruity than Roditis, more pungent, crisp and surprising. Our favorite was Astala from Arcadia, but all Moscofilieros we had were worth mentioning.

The nicest artisanal bio wine producer we found was Panagiotopoulos, we had a great tasting of their wines and tasted two simply fantastic endemic whites: Fileri and Malagozya. The last one in particular is a great find: the explosive bouquet consists of pear, in fact a very peculiar little pear they all plant around their vineyards. Full, almost transparent white in color, viscous, mineral, sweet ripe fruit, pear, passion fruit.

As far as reds and roses go I enjoyed the cheap unpretentious Kalamata bio Cabernet wines. They all tend to be dusty, woody, pruney with flavors if black olive and bitter herbs. Higher end tasty Cabs came from Derescos and Panagiotopolos, dominant olive and herby, jeggermeister like flavor, deep fig and prune, slow to open.


Also worth trying are local Laconian Agiorgitiko, and of course reds of Nemea, which would require a separate post. One of the best reds I had in Greece was a 12 euro Athen's supermarket Xinomavro from mount Olympus area... Again, a whole new post;)

We grilled this octopus in our backyard! Turned out to be one of the best meals:)


Regional red of Laconia

The Tre Bicchieri wine tasting event in NYC

The NYC Gambero Rosso event was a true wine lover orgy: over 200 producers, barolos, amarones and brunellos poured generously, tables full of quality cheeses and fruit... A formidable vino extravaganza! Without a doubt a great strategy to educate New Yorkers about Italian wines... I tasted probably around 50 wines, mostly reds, obviously after first 10 my judging ability was seriously compromised:)

If I was to complain about anything, it would be the general, systemic overoaking of Italian reds... I guess this is the taste of the ruling class (chuckles), but i don't give a crap: if I wanna smell a wooden floor I stay home. And so I would like to mention a few memorable selections from ambitious, small and not so big producers that allow grapes be grapes.

My favorite red was a Sagrantino di Montefalco from an Umbrian micro producer Villa Mongalli: the 2006 and 2007 vintages, offered to distributors at $28, were the first (and last, to make sure it was really that good) wines I tasted... The real, deep dark chocolate and giant, gripping but fully under control tannis, along with cherry liquor, dark fruit, coffee, molasses and so much more, this traditionally produced wine is a gentle powerhouse. Ironically although aged in oak for 8 months, oakiness is just a minor background note in the palette... Equally interesting was Vigneto Fracia Valtellina Superiore red from Lombardian staple winemaker Nino Negri. Floral smelling, savoury tasting high-altitude nebiollo with fantastic, engaging dry fruit in the finish. So well done.

Amongst white selections I was totally seduced by this modest yet incredibly sophisticated/ complex Soave Il Casale 09' from Agostino Vicentini (Veneto). Mineral, vibrant with pear, apple and tropical fruit notes, drinking this wine is like watching a good movie... Finally the Colli de Luni Vermentino by Ligurian winemaker Lunae... a wonderful, energetic white with a floral nose and acacia honey, peach and almond mouth. Also delicious and full of rustic personality was their red blend Niccolo V.

I'd like to also mention two wines that perhaps I wouldn't drink daily but were great and stuck with me: a classic, austere and no nonsense Pio Cesare Barolo Ornato 2006, and cheesy/meaty/funky on the nose Codronchio Albana di Romagna 2008 by Fattoria Monticino Rosso, which was truly refreshing and striking in its balanced tartness.

It is also important to mention that the whole event was free after registration: right on!

Grolleau, Ruché and Mayolet...

These three seemingly unrelated varieties of red wine reflect a new trend I noticed in cooler NYC wine bars and stores: digging into local, less known grapes, which are traditionally produced in small quantities, fermented without oak and not meant to be aged. All these wines, which I had in the last 3 months share certain general taste characteristics: floral nose (leaning toward rose with Le Cousin Grolleau and Luca Ferraris Ruché), light to medium body, spicy mouth with strawberry sweetness, black pepper finish and rejuvenating tartness. They are compotey, slightly cloudy, Ruché being the darkest in the group.

Le Cousin Grolleau 2007
90 points

Grolleau is an acidic, low alcohol Loire variety known mostly for Rose d'Anjou... grolle means "crow" and it refers to the deep black grape berries.

Luca Ferraris Ruché 2009
87 points

A tiny Piemontese DOC region around Asti: "Ruché di Castagnole Monferrato" is most likely a product of an 18 century import from Burgundy... Ruché is known for it's peppery-bitter aftertaste.

"Vin Des Seigneurs" Coenfer Mayolet 208
89 points

Mayolet is a naturally occurring hybrid of Petit Rouge and Cornalin. It is rare and indigenous to Vallee d'Aosta, where it grows at high elevations (about 900 to 1,000 meters). High minerality, white pepper and sweet, red fruit flavors.

All simply great... and all $20 and under in NYC. I found the Grolleau ($20) and Coenfer "Vin Des Seigneurs" Mayolet ($16) in LES September Wines, which is becoming my favorite wine store in the city. I would also include into this group the Verduno di Pelaverga I had in Bologna last summer... energetic, young but complex, refreshing. These are fantastic lighter fare pasta wines, including fish and seafood... I had Les Cousin recommended with oysters at 10 Bells and it worked really good.

Wölfer Estate Rosé 2009

The summer is almost over, time to drink some rose wines! Couple more weeks and they will seem just a little too wimpy... Anyhow, the Long Island Wölfer Rosé is a total crowd pleaser, to the point of being obscene. Passion fruit and peach all over the place, some white flowers in the nose, some citrus in the finish. Pale peach color, pretty much full body, very pronounced glycerin, dry, refreshingly tart. A coupage of Merlot, Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. Paired with a black pepper tuna stake and arugula ravioli held its own, double rainbow all the way!

13$ in retail, 80 points

"Trout Valley" Nelson Pinot Noir 2008

I love this wine. We went through 3 cases of it this summer and still cannot get enough... Bouquet of spice, leather, oak and strawberry. The mouth is dominated by crisp, energetic red currant, followed by sweeter fruit and sugar cane finish. Wonderful bright red, medium body, I had it slightly chilled. I'm even willing to accept the screw cap;) Today served with a pile of fresh tempura, but frankly this Pinot goes with most foods.

12$ retail @ Uva Wines, 82 points

D. Bosler Birdsnest Pinot Noir 2009

A young Pinot Noir from Casablanca Valley in Chile, enjoyed at Black Mountain Wine House along with their house panini. The bottle was a nice surprise: spicy nose and a fairly complex taste, going far beyond your standard pinot red fruit. Floral notes, caramel, blackberry, medium body.
Great value, particularly at retail price.

32$ @ Black Mountain, 10$ retail, 73 points