Tweet
The Times (London)
November 16, 2013 Saturday
Gifts from the Greeks
by Jane MacQuitty
If you'd asked me a decade ago whether wines from lots of eastern
Mediterranean countries would be viewed seriously by the UK's wine
buyers and drinkers, I'd have choked. True, I'd occasionally been
impressed by the quirky Bordeaux-inspired reds from estates such as
Chteau Musar and Chteau Ksara in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley and those
from Carmel in upper Galilee in Israel, but largely they left me cold.
The Romans and medieval traders may have rated Cypriot wines, but for
me they never seemed to get beyond dull, oxidised stickies such as
Commandaria. Equally unlovely were the sunburnt, stringy, North
African reds from Tunisia.
The one bright spot was Greece. Unlike some other eastern
Mediterranean countries, Greece has lots of indigenous grapes and an
illustrious wine history that predates the Romans by about 1,000
years. So far Armenia has the award for the world's oldest winery -
4100BC - with winemaking reaching the far eastern Mediterranean coast
and Egypt in about 3,000BC, reaching Greece in 2000BC.
Alas, no wines of note have come my way from the birthplace of wine,
though the odd, hefty, dark red, acidic saperavi and vibrant, appley
rkatsiteli white from Georgia show promise. Nor have any of Turkey's
reds, made from wonderfully unpronounceable grape varieties, including
the highly regarded okuzgozu, or ox eye, grape truly thrilled my
tastebuds. However, the juicy, tangy red fruit-stashed 2011 Pamukkale
Diamond Shiraz-Merlot (Waitrose £6.99), topped up with Turkey's own
kalecik karasi and bogazkere grapes, does work. Give Turkey and other
eastern Mediterranean countries more time and they will crack it.
In the meantime, if you want to drink the best from this forgotten
corner of the wine world, it's back to Greece and its immediate
neighbour to the north, Macedonia. Despite its financial problems, or
maybe because of them, Greece has hurtled into the 21st wine century
and one reason there are so many good new Greek wines on British shop
shelves is the need for hard currency. Marks &Spencer is the one
British supermarket to embrace eastern Mediterranean wines with gusto,
stocking a wide range of new white and red wines. For me the stars are
Macedonia's elegant yet bold, beefy, savoury 2012 Tikves Vranec for
£8.99 and the unoaked, light, herby, leafy, grapey 2012 Tikves
Smederervka Rkaciteli (£6.99), made from the grapes of the same name.
If it's a great Greek duo you want, check out the Thymiopoulos winery
whose unusual herby, citrus zest-spiked 2012 Malagouzia white is £8.99
of pure pleasure. Ditto the gorgeous, rustic, gamey red 2011 Xinomavro
(£10.49). Or splash out on my favourite Greek white of all, the starry
white Hatzidakis 2012 Assyrtiko from volcanic Santorini with
smouldering, steely, floral finesse (Waitrose, £11.99; Oddbins,
£13.75).
This week's best buys 2012 Taste the Difference Bordeaux Sauvignon
Blanc, France Sainsbury's, £8.99 or two for £6 each until November 26
>From 2000 on, the Bordelais began to treat their white wines seriously
and this sparky, easy-drinking sauvignon with light, racy, bosky,
lemon peel-spiked fruit effortlessly proves the point.
2013 Jean Garde Chardonnay, Boschendal, South Africa Sainsbury's,
£8.79 or two for £6 each until November 26 Not everyone's glass of
wine, but this chunky, 14 per cent alcohol, yet unoaked winter white,
with lots of uplifting, sappy, smoky, nutty fruit, is brilliant with
fish pie and roast chicken.
2012 Darting Estate, Dürkheimer Kabinett Trocken Riesling, Pfalz,
Germany Marks & Spencer, £9.49 Savour this surprisingly good,
easy-to-sip, thirstquenching 2012 German, made from 25-year-old
riesling, and brimming with leafy, zesty, lime peel-stashed fruit,
solo.
2011 Villa Magna Primitivo di Manduria, Puglia, Italy Marks & Spencer,
£9.99 Primitivo, or zinfandel, is the romping winter red to serve with
mature game. This gorgeous '11 bursts with ripe red fruit topped with
bold, oaky, vanilla, mocha and liquorice.
The keeper 2011 Chassagne-Montrachet, Henri Germain, Burgundy, France
Adnams (01502 727222), £22.49 Henri Germain founded this small Côte de
Beaune domaine, based in Meursault, in 1973, boosted by his wife's
holdings in Chassagne-Montrachet. The Germains' son, Jean-François,
now runs the estate and the exacting yet traditional approach, here
with new wood kept to a minimum, yields some tasty red burgundies,
just like this one. 2011 was a good, not great, vintage, saved by
small yields creating sufficiently flavoursome wines. Enjoy this
delicate, sappy, yet juicy red burgundy now - with all of its vibrant
raspberry-scented fruit to the fore - with the likes of guinea fowl,
or tuck it away until 2015 for the first spicy, walk-in-thewoods
flavours to emerge.
November 16, 2013 Saturday
Gifts from the Greeks
by Jane MacQuitty
If you'd asked me a decade ago whether wines from lots of eastern
Mediterranean countries would be viewed seriously by the UK's wine
buyers and drinkers, I'd have choked. True, I'd occasionally been
impressed by the quirky Bordeaux-inspired reds from estates such as
Chteau Musar and Chteau Ksara in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley and those
from Carmel in upper Galilee in Israel, but largely they left me cold.
The Romans and medieval traders may have rated Cypriot wines, but for
me they never seemed to get beyond dull, oxidised stickies such as
Commandaria. Equally unlovely were the sunburnt, stringy, North
African reds from Tunisia.
The one bright spot was Greece. Unlike some other eastern
Mediterranean countries, Greece has lots of indigenous grapes and an
illustrious wine history that predates the Romans by about 1,000
years. So far Armenia has the award for the world's oldest winery -
4100BC - with winemaking reaching the far eastern Mediterranean coast
and Egypt in about 3,000BC, reaching Greece in 2000BC.
Alas, no wines of note have come my way from the birthplace of wine,
though the odd, hefty, dark red, acidic saperavi and vibrant, appley
rkatsiteli white from Georgia show promise. Nor have any of Turkey's
reds, made from wonderfully unpronounceable grape varieties, including
the highly regarded okuzgozu, or ox eye, grape truly thrilled my
tastebuds. However, the juicy, tangy red fruit-stashed 2011 Pamukkale
Diamond Shiraz-Merlot (Waitrose £6.99), topped up with Turkey's own
kalecik karasi and bogazkere grapes, does work. Give Turkey and other
eastern Mediterranean countries more time and they will crack it.
In the meantime, if you want to drink the best from this forgotten
corner of the wine world, it's back to Greece and its immediate
neighbour to the north, Macedonia. Despite its financial problems, or
maybe because of them, Greece has hurtled into the 21st wine century
and one reason there are so many good new Greek wines on British shop
shelves is the need for hard currency. Marks &Spencer is the one
British supermarket to embrace eastern Mediterranean wines with gusto,
stocking a wide range of new white and red wines. For me the stars are
Macedonia's elegant yet bold, beefy, savoury 2012 Tikves Vranec for
£8.99 and the unoaked, light, herby, leafy, grapey 2012 Tikves
Smederervka Rkaciteli (£6.99), made from the grapes of the same name.
If it's a great Greek duo you want, check out the Thymiopoulos winery
whose unusual herby, citrus zest-spiked 2012 Malagouzia white is £8.99
of pure pleasure. Ditto the gorgeous, rustic, gamey red 2011 Xinomavro
(£10.49). Or splash out on my favourite Greek white of all, the starry
white Hatzidakis 2012 Assyrtiko from volcanic Santorini with
smouldering, steely, floral finesse (Waitrose, £11.99; Oddbins,
£13.75).
This week's best buys 2012 Taste the Difference Bordeaux Sauvignon
Blanc, France Sainsbury's, £8.99 or two for £6 each until November 26
>From 2000 on, the Bordelais began to treat their white wines seriously
and this sparky, easy-drinking sauvignon with light, racy, bosky,
lemon peel-spiked fruit effortlessly proves the point.
2013 Jean Garde Chardonnay, Boschendal, South Africa Sainsbury's,
£8.79 or two for £6 each until November 26 Not everyone's glass of
wine, but this chunky, 14 per cent alcohol, yet unoaked winter white,
with lots of uplifting, sappy, smoky, nutty fruit, is brilliant with
fish pie and roast chicken.
2012 Darting Estate, Dürkheimer Kabinett Trocken Riesling, Pfalz,
Germany Marks & Spencer, £9.49 Savour this surprisingly good,
easy-to-sip, thirstquenching 2012 German, made from 25-year-old
riesling, and brimming with leafy, zesty, lime peel-stashed fruit,
solo.
2011 Villa Magna Primitivo di Manduria, Puglia, Italy Marks & Spencer,
£9.99 Primitivo, or zinfandel, is the romping winter red to serve with
mature game. This gorgeous '11 bursts with ripe red fruit topped with
bold, oaky, vanilla, mocha and liquorice.
The keeper 2011 Chassagne-Montrachet, Henri Germain, Burgundy, France
Adnams (01502 727222), £22.49 Henri Germain founded this small Côte de
Beaune domaine, based in Meursault, in 1973, boosted by his wife's
holdings in Chassagne-Montrachet. The Germains' son, Jean-François,
now runs the estate and the exacting yet traditional approach, here
with new wood kept to a minimum, yields some tasty red burgundies,
just like this one. 2011 was a good, not great, vintage, saved by
small yields creating sufficiently flavoursome wines. Enjoy this
delicate, sappy, yet juicy red burgundy now - with all of its vibrant
raspberry-scented fruit to the fore - with the likes of guinea fowl,
or tuck it away until 2015 for the first spicy, walk-in-thewoods
flavours to emerge.