Time for a massive update on what you can expect from The Wine Analyst!
In short: more content, more structure in posting, all surrounded by two commercial initiatives pertaining to South African wine and sake.
Wine writing as we know it on the fast track towards an untimely demise. A multitude of blogs and shadier ways of sponsoring content (which is not unique to the wine business, as shown here) has led to something of a crisis of faith. If a budding wine writer were to attempt to preserve his or her integrity, how fair would a playing field where sponsored content, free samples or free press trips reign be? Wine writers who get something out of their activities are scarce, those who can actually make a professional living have become as illustrious as an authentic bottle of Lafite 1982 in China. People like Jamie Goode or Matt Walls have shed their light on the future that lays ahead of someone who likes wine and can string a couple of sentences together, but there is of course no definite path. There are pioneers who managed to combine both commercial interests as well as ‘honorable’ wine writing, and I am taking a page from their book.
Simply put: aside from blogging I am launching two new initiatives: a curated selection of South African wines “The Wine Analyst Goes South”, as well as one of the most extensive offerings of sake in Belgium “The Sake Collection”.
TWA Goes South
I have said it before and I will continue to say it, South Africa holds an enormous potential which is being unlocked at an ever-accelerating pace. It has been the source of some of the most exciting wines that I have drunk over the past couple of years, and I am convinced that it will keep on delivering in the future. I will curate a selection of roughly 60 wines for the moment, the result of a quite strict selection process in cooperation with a local importer. The focus is on producers who I believe will play a large role in determining the future of the wine scene, aside from a range of entry levels wines to acquaint oneself with South Africa.
The Dutch version of the catalogue can be found here (other languages will follow).
The Sake Collection
I don’t think that I mentioned this in the past on the blog, but ten years ago I graduated with a Masters degree in Japanese Studies, following a year at Osaka University. It is an old passion of mine that has been rekindled in recent times, following a long overdue return to one of my favorite countries on the planet. I passed the WSET level 3 in sake earlier this year, and having tasted quite extensively over the past months, I am convinced that the image people have of sake does not do justice to something truly unique in the world of drinks. The Sake Collection will be my way to inform, entertain and educate people on the joys of premium sake. This initiative goes much further than simply selling sake, but will also go on to presentations, workshops and education purposes in general.
The Dutch version of the catalogue can be found here (other languages will follow).
A note on integrity
Commercial ventures and independent wine writing make a pairing as good as Burgundy land prices and common sense, but I do think that there is room for coexistence. The key is transparency and integrity, two things that I hope I have sufficiently displayed over the last years, so this is basically an expansion of the rules that I mentioned on the website since the beginning. If there is ever a sake or a wine that I work with mentioned in one of my articles, it will be clearly marked both at the top of as well as within the article. If I were to write about an item or trip that has been offered in some way, it will be properly disclosed in the article itself. If I were to write a review on a restaurant that is also a client of mine, it will be stated as such.
Finally, the format of this newsletter will also change. It will only appear on a monthly basis, not with every article published, and while the focus will remain on the blog content, initiatives taken by TWA Goes South or The Sake Collection will be included for informative purposes.
And finally, a first public appearance!
I do go out from time to time instead of just staring at a fridge filled with wine to taste, and will be present at this weekend’s Vini Birre Ribelli, offering a selection of sake to taste and enjoy. It would be my great pleasure to meet you there!
While the girlfriend enjoyed some of the cocktails, which were actually more to her liking as to what she tasted last year, I went for my third choice: into the unknown with Palestinian wines. The Cremisan Winery has actually been around since the 19th century, but it has only been quite recent that the Salesian Monks in charge have been working on expanding their commercial efforts on a global scale. They attracted an Italian oenologist and set up a collaboration with an international NGO to direct any profits towards education programs in the region.
Now, the first Nopi recipe that I attempted at home was the twice cooked baby chicken with chili sauce and lemon myrtle salt. Being one of the trickier recipes, I was surprised that it actually turned out good, though I sensed that it was not exactly what it should be. Having tasted the real thing now, I realize that I still have a long way to go! After spending so much time in the Asian stock, the meat is ever so tender and soft, meltingly good, especially when given a kick with the chili and the extra bit of flavouring provided by the salt. A great example of a dish elevating all its individual components, making it a worthy signature dish.
First up, the German selection may be familiar with those who have been following my writing since the beginning: Am Stein’s Innere Leiste Silvaner 2012. It just goes to show that I don’t just 
Given that I wrote about pairing a non-French dish with French wines last week, why not turn it around and pair a French classic with something a bit more international?
For years the Jura remained a blind spot on my wine radar. About ten years ago I followed your very basic wine course which was more about drinking than actually learning anything. I was ticked off that I had to miss the one class on regions that I knew nothing about, Jura and Savoie, but quickly forgot about it. A couple of years later, when I was getting more and more into wine, I came across an invitation for a Jura wine tasting in Antwerp, organized by Terrovin. It turned out to not only be my first real introduction to the wines of the Jura, but also to the world of natural wine. I have visited a lot of tastings over the years, but this is one that stayed with me, because the wines were so different from what I had drunk up until that point. My tasting notes can be summarized by ‘subdued, coolness, crunch, length, stinky, pure, shifting in the glass, and geuze, geuze, geuze’.
This week I will be joining the Winophiles, a group of bloggers united in their love for French wine who commit to an article on a shared topic. This month: Cross-cultural food pairings with French wine! This is really something that I love, as it forces you to think outside of the box; to put aside wine conventions that are mostly based on regional cuisines and that have been developed and semi-set in stone.
Now, the safer and classic match was Roc des Anges’ Reliefs Cotes de Rousillon 2013. I have to admit that the South of France has been a blind spot on my wine radar for too long, and every year, when I encounter one of those fantastic wines that show that the Rousillon is so much more than a cheap swill factory, I tell myself that I need to pay far more attention to it. For now, it is but a note on my never-ending list of wine-related to-do’s.
The other day I organized an introductory tasting on the wines of the Canary Islands. In the past, I had the opportunity to acquaint myself with the wines of what are arguably the islands’ most well-known producers, Vinatiego and Suertes del Marques. Given that they are not commonly found or well-known, even by winegeek standards, I thought they warranted a closer look.
To spice things up, I looked for two similar but different wines. First up, Maison Verget’s Terroir de Vergisson de la Roche 2012. I am a big fan of what Jean-Marie Guffens can do with the great terroirs of the Maconnais, balancing an energetic minerality without losing the depth and structure that Burgundy can do so well. Fermentation in oak, 15% new, and regular batonnage over the course of six months. Wine two is Calera’s Central Coast Chardonnay 2013. Interesting American wines are still a rare find in Belgium sadly enough, so the best option is to fall back on the classics. What Josh Jensen produces is fantastic, decidedly New World climate in exuberance, yet so completely in balance thanks to a crazy attention to details. Fermentation in oak as well, 10% new, very little batonnage over the course of ten months.
Dive is the type of chaos with a flair that only the French know how to do right. Get annoyed at the lack of navettes between the Saumur station and the Ackerman cellars where la Dive takes place or walk. Get pissed off at the crowds of backpack-carrying groupies who just hang out with their revered winemaker of choice, or simply mingle with them. Finally, get paralyzed by the fear of swallowing due to the lack of spittoons, or carry around your own in a trolley, trumping backpacks in annoyance, like a certain couple of Dutch wine merchants (although you never know with the Dutch, they may as well have been creating their own very special blend of salvia-textured wine vinegar).
As a bonus, Domaine Plageoles’ Prunelard 2013! Prunelard is ancient and actually an ancestor to Cot (malbec) which is the key grape in nearby Cahors. There is very little of it left, about 30ha I’d guess, and it is only permitted in IGP Cotes du Tarn, probably as there is so very little of it. The wine itself is a bit muted as first, prunes and a bit rustic on the palate on the first day, yet drinking along nicely at the same time. Very different on the second day with liquorice and spiciness, especially on the nose. Aromatically it is a wintery wine, warming yet low in alcohol, the tannic structure and density on the palate would make it the perfect match for a big, juicy cut of boar!
A wine blogger’s end-of-year post has a certain predictability to it: either it looks back on the best bottles drunk in the year that has come to pass (often with a skew towards expensive, rare or cult bottles), or it looks onwards to trends spotted in the wine world (cue classics like the end of Bordeaux en Primeur or the inevitable crushing of Champagne by insert sparkling wine appellation here). I wasn’t planning to write about either of them, but on the precipice of 2017, I came across the most fabulous, almost year-defining wine: HM Borges’ 20 year old Verdelho Medium Dry.
When is a wine faulty? There are plenty of times when this is clear from the start; a messed up colour, raging volatile acidity, vinegar,…. Other times it is not always clear. For a long time, I did not like Cabernet Franc as there is often something unpleasant in the nose at first, especially in the case of young wines. You get aromas of degraded fruit, barnyard or just plain shit. This most often happens with wines that have been created in an oxygen-depraved environment, like I mentioned already when talking about 
The 2016 RAW fair took place in London this weekend, and just like 
The culinary reputation the Netherlands has with its southern neighbours is sketchy at best. A first day in Rotterdam sadly confirmed this view when we were served what was supposedly Basque cuisine in a restaurant on which the less is said the better (the only two Basque wines on the menu where even sold out!). Being friends with wine merchants on Facebook does have its benefits, and so on a sunny Sunday evening we ended up in Restaurant De Jong.
The main courses were terrific on their own, but whereas one was intensified by my wine choice, the other one was more enjoyable on its own (the slight disadvantage of not knowing what you will get beforehand). The match was spot on with the Baamburgs Big, which Google tells me is a unique species of pig cultivated near Utrecht, and different preparations of beetroot. The earthiness of the wine and the juiciness of the meat worked terrific together. The other main course, potato gnocchi with smoked peas served with crunchy potato skins was a bit more difficult. On itself the dish was delicious, but the peas did not work well with the wine.
Take the first wine, Willi Schaefer’s Graacher Domprobst Spätlese 1999. In no way does this come across as sweet. 8% in alcohol would make you guess at the presence of residual sugar, so this discordance was surprising. One of the only two wines in the selection that started off with petrol on the nose. Flinty, smoky aromas, even a bit herby (currant leafs) with the only hint of sugar really being present in the structure, perfectly blended in with an almost racy, lime-like acidity jittering across the wine. Energetic, savoury and full of life, in my opinion a joy to pair up with food, really versatile in its complexity.
Both wines hail from 1999, and show remarkable differences in style. The aromas found in Saarburger Raush 1999 are fresh and astonishingly youthful. Creamy, almost voluptuous in the mouth, honeyed lemon and a dash of minerality that seems almost endless in the finish. Piesporten Goldtröpfchen 1999 on the other hand is much riper on the nose, yellow fruit, passion fruit, containing much more overtly present aromatic sweetness which disappears on the palate. Luscious but with a clear choice to define the wine by its freshness, really coming together in the end.
As I expected, the Nahe delivers with Dr. Crusius’ Schlossbockelheim Felsenberg 1995 (
When talking about pinot noir in France, you would be hard pressed to find anyone who links it to another region besides Burgundy. Granted, it is nigh unbeatable reputation-wise, as the recent auction at Hospice de Beaune proved with a whopping 39% price increase versus last year. Nonetheless, other regions are perfectly capable of producing unique pinot noir. For instance, Jura wines may not be the easiest, are from time to time hijacked by hipsters and enjoy sudden bursts of popularity on the sommelier scene, but on plenty of occasions they are utterly delicious.
Tim Fröhlich is one of those rare winemakers who hit the ground running in such a way that they cannot avoid changing the German wine scene. He is the pretender to the Nahe throne alternately occupied by Dönnhoff and Emrich-Schönleber, and while his style can be divisive, he is unanimously respected. He is a major proponent of spontaneous fermentation (the use of wild instead of cultured yeasts) and late harvesting, often taking risks that other winemakers would shun, but somehow pulling it off. Felseneck Spätlese 2013 shows an almost unattainable elegance, with mere hints of aromas at first. Herbal notes, white Japanese peaches, lemon zest and even a bit of honey. Surprisingly little sweetness on the tongue given the 80g/l of residual sugar, but a mouthwatering, almost saline acidity. This oozes class but comes across quite tight, definitely not ready to show what it is capable of. To tuck away for 15 to 20 years!
Many consider the Mosel to be the benchmark for German sweet. Oddly enough, it’s not the sweetness but the acidity that makes these wines unique. Sweetness and residual sugar levels can be controlled up to a certain point. Acidity and the structure it brings to a wine, are inherently linked to the grape variety, soil and climate. The Mosel is one of the coldest regions in Germany, home to the steepest slopes of slate that are a match made in heaven with Riesling. The Trittenheimer Apotheke 2011 Spätlese from Eva Clüsserath fell a bit short in our tasting but changed into a completely different wine on the second day. Pure, flinty minerality on the nose, clear signs of spontaneous fermentation. Acidity-driven on the palate with ripe apples, zestiness and just a touch of sweetness. Still young but already extremely enjoyable, it is a righteous display of the ethereal lightness that you can only achieve in the Mosel.
We are staying in the region, but now we move one of the Mosel’s tributaries, the Ruwer. The first village you encounter when following the river upstream is Eitelsbach, home to Karthäuserhof. The estate’s peculiarity is that all their wines are sourced from only one vineyard, the Karthäuserhofberg, which is fully owned by Karthäuserhof, making it one of the largest ’monopole’ vineyards in Germany. The Riesling Auslese 2010 has 8.5% alcohol, slightly higher than Schafer-Frohlich’s Spätlese at 7.5% which actually results in a lower level of residual sugar at 70g/l despite the fact that the wine has a different Prädikat. Surprisingly, it comes across a lot sweeter, owning up to its classification with apricots, pineapples and almost exotic fruit scents. It is quite heady, a hint of smokiness that is nowhere to be found on the palate. It comes across very clean but the acidity is markedly lower than expected. This is one for cellaring in the hopes that it will lose the overt sweet tones, or one to combine now with a spicy Indian curry.
Thanks to the Belgian importer, I had the opportunity to taste Am Stein’s Stettener Stein Eiswein 2012. People who have been following this blog from the beginning will be 
Over time these classification terms have become associated with sweet wines, but it is important to keep in mind that °Oeschle conveys info on the sugars present in the grape, not in the wine! With grapes that fall into Kabinett, Spätlese or in less frequent cases Auslese, a winemaker can simply decide to let the alcoholic fermentation run its course, ending up with 12 to 13% of alcohol. For instance, the VDP Pyramid (
Starting from Auslese though, you will rarely encounter completely dry wines. Auslese grape picking commences in a stage of overripeness, comparable to the ‘vendange tardive’ as we know it in the Alsace. Beerenauslese goes even further, and whereas signs of noble rot can already be present in Auslese grapes, here we are already more on the level of ‘Sélection de Grains Nobles’ in the Alsace. Another apt comparison would be Coteaux de Layon versus Chaume and Quarts de Chaume in the Loire region where concentration and residual sugar potential are also considered as determinants of quality.
Finally we get to Eiswein, a sweet wine that can really only be made in cold climates as you need frozen grapes. When temperatures hit -8°C, the water in the grape bunch will freeze, concentrating other components such as sugar and acids. Pressing must occur when the grapes are still frozen, so harvest is in general an all-nighter, resulting in a very pure, intensely sweet wine. The concentration of acids will preserve balance though and when done right, the wine can be extraordinary. °Oechsle would be in the same category as beerenauslese, but the key difference is that the best ice wines contain not a single trace of botrytis.
As clarified a couple of weeks ago when talking about 
So, summer is over in and it is the perfect time to place the spotlight on wines more in tune with the weather. Autumn calls for two of my favourite varieties, Gamay and Pinot Noir. Gamay for its honest, joyful fruitiness that serves as a reminder of the sunny days we enjoyed up until recently and pinot noir, because it can be so perfectly in sync with the rhythm of nature slowing down, transitioning from lively, exuberant flavours to earthy and more delicate impressions. 
Summer is over judging from the weather, so our extended focus on Riesling comes to a momentary end. Rieslingfans should not fear, as it is a love I will not be able to shut up about, but for the Wine of the Week I will venture into new territories for the time being. I have talked about the natural wine movement before, just take a look at my reports on 
I have talked about Riesling wines from the Pfalz before, mainly in the context of the 
You cannot get a full picture of German Riesling without talking about the country’s tradition in sweet wines. At one point in time they ranked amongst the most expensive wines in the world, even beating a couple of Médoc First Growths. Unfortunately, they took a turn for the worse in the eighties. ‘liebfraumilch’ is largely to blame for the image of sweet German wines that still persists in many parts of the world. 
Rheinhessen is the most important wineproducing region in Germany. There are two ready explanations for this success. First, it is home to several important varietal crossings, including Muller-Thurgau, Dornfelder and Scheurebe (which actually originated here), so there are a lot of different wine styles on offer.
The Wine Analyst 