OCTOBER 2022 FEATURED PREMIUM WINES
WINE ONE: TESTALONGA I AM THE NINJA
About: This wine is made from Craig’s oldest Chenin Blanc vines. Planted in 1961, this little vineyard lies on decomposed sandstone next to a small river in a secluded valley. It is part of the Piketberg foothills near Redelinghuys, making it a really interesting mesoclimate. Thanks to the delicacy of fruit and lower pH, Craig opted to make this wine sparkling. It ferments at cool temperatures (8ºC) with constant racking to remove heavy sediment. The wine is bottled while still fermenting (35g/l r/s), resulting in vigorous carbonation. The wine was hand disgorged and topped with the same wine after ten months on lees. No SO2 was added at any point. Eight hundred twenty-five cases were produced. 6.5 TA, 3.19 pH, tSO2 20ppm
Taste: This wine is bubbly silver in the glass. The nose is immediately charming with aromas of yellow apple, candied lemon peel, steel, honeysuckle, river stones, guava, and pancakes the second they touch the cast iron – a hint of butter, batter, and char. It’s playful and complex all at once. The palate is dry with tangy acidity, surprising intensity, and near weightlessness – it goes down as easy as an Old Style Pilsner. You’ll find additional flavours of daffodil, clean wool, pine nut, alpine honey, gooseberry, yellow plum, and white currant. This wine is on heavy rotation at my house.
Pairing: If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times: sparkling wine and fried chicken are friends. I’m not talking about that Nashville heat or saucy Korean vibes, just simple battered and fried chicken. The salt and fat need acidity to cut through, and the carbonation leaves your palate refreshed, making every bite taste as intense as your first.
WINE TWO: CHRISTOPHE MIGNON ADN DE MEUNIER
About: This cuvée is made exclusively from Pinot Meunier, grown in the towns of Festigny and Le Breuil. The 45-year-old vines sit in the Marne’s typical silty clay-limestone soils. After a gentle pressing, the juice is fermented in stainless steel. The low pH and cool temperatures help prevent malolactic conversion. After five months on lees, the plots are blended and bottled with some reserve wine that has spent a year on fine lees. After at least 36 months on lees, the wine is disgorged according to the lunar calendar. This year contains equal parts 2017 and 2018.
Taste: This wine is frothy pale gold in the glass. The nose is immediately captivating in its tranquillity, like staring into a piece by Agnes Martin or listening to Juliana Barwick with your eyes closed. I can’t help but feel the first snowfall – hesitancy, nervousness, and electricity. You’ll find aromas of quince, early-season nectarine, apple blossom, oyster shells, quinine, juniper, angelica, porcini, clean linen, and lemon juice. The palate is direct and focused – almost stinging with fizz and acid. It is chiselled and angular. It is light in body but with persistent flavours that make for a deceivingly long finish. You’ll find further flavours of white tea, spearmint, gunpowder, asian pear, starfruit, and button mushroom.
Pairing: Has anyone told you it’s soup season yet? Soup is notoriously impossible to pair with wine, but there is a sneaky exception: creamy soups and champagne. Whether you’re going for cauliflower, cream of mushroom, potato and leek, or trying to recreate the lettuce velouté from Beast in Portland that still haunts my dreams a decade later, this wine is your friend.
WINE THREE: KINDELI LUNA LLENA
About: This brand new cuvée from Alex is made from a field blend of Syrah (50%), Malbec (30%), Merlot (10%), and Pinot Noir (10%). The grapes were mostly destemmed for fermentation in amphora. The wine is then pressed off for élevage in amphora. As with the rest of their cuvées, this wine is bottled without fining, filtration, or SO2.
Taste: This wine is medium purple in the glass. The nose is immediately reductive, so we suggest a strong decant (you can also add a penny to your glass for a second or two – the copper will combine with the volatile sulphur compounds created by the yeast during fermentation, making for a fruitier, more pristine wine). It is unruly with aromas of black sesame, black garlic, boysenberry, mulberry, clove, cola nut, geranium, beet, gunpowder, pu-erh, and kombu. The palate is bright and juicy, showing none of the reduction of the nose. It's got refreshing acidity, fine-grained tannins, and Syrah’s signature savoury finish. You’ll find additional flavours of rosemary, black pepper, black currant, raspberry leaf, tea tree, black mustard seeds, and black trumpet mushroom. Not for the faint of heart!
Pairing: There’s something about the fruit profile in this wine that makes me dream of game. Elk sausage, bison burgers, and wild boar bacon are all ideal for this dark-fruited wine. Don’t be afraid of going heavy on the umami; soy sauce, garum, hozon, tamari, and other fermented flavours will negate some of this wine’s funk.