Hello and welcome to my weekly 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 couple of my favorite canned wines from Two Shepherds, their Bucking Luna and Natty Pets, both of which are sparkling. Luna is a very light red wine (indeed, 40% of the wine is a rosé of Cinsault), and Natty Pets is a sparkling orange wine, made from skin-contact Picpoul. Both are tasty and refreshing, and perfect for picnics or the beach, especially if you can keep them cold.
Next up we’ve got a tranche of unusual wines from an ancient grape variety most people have never tasted. Saperavi hails from the Republic of Georgia, where it has been used for centuries, perhaps even millennia, to make a dark red wine with robust tannins. Saperavi is one of the world’s few teinturier grapes, with not only red pigmented skin but also dark red flesh. Interestingly, it was one of the grapes that Dr. Konstantin Frank, who hailed from Ukraine, brought from Europe to plant at his estate near Keuka Lake in the Finger Lakes region of New York. His version is dark and fruity with nicely restrained tannins.
Just by comparison, I’ve got three Georgian Saperavi to suggest as well. The Vinoterra and Schuchmann bottlings are actually made by the same company, Schuchmann Winery, one of Georgia’s prominent producers that also runs a wine spa and luxury hotel. Their two renditions of Saperavi have restrained alcohol and good tannin management, allowing you to taste the intensity of the grape without being overwhelmed by it.
My favorite of the three Georgian Saperavi this week comes from the Askaneli Brothers, another prominent Georgian wine company. This particular bottling is fermented and aged in the traditional terra-cotta qvevri vessels, buried up to their necks in the earth. As a result, the wine gets a bit more extraction but also has a freshness and some wild aromatics that add dimension to the overall experience.
Ridge Vineyards recently released a new single-vineyard Zinfandel from an old site near their Geyserville vineyard known as Stone Ranch, featuring 60-year-old vines. The last time they made a single-vineyard bottling from Stone Ranch was 2005, but in the 2021 vintage, the fruit stood out and prompted the team to vinify it on its own. Just released, the wine hasn’t quite made its way into retail channels, but it’s worth keeping an eye out for, especially if you’re a fan of old-vine Zinfandel.
Eduardo Chadwick has played a significant role in proving to the world that Chile can make world-class wines, first at his family’s estate Errazuriz, and then with his own projects Seña and Viñedo Chadwick, which he began in 1992 and released the first vintage of in 1999. The wines quickly became standard-bearers for Chilean wine, and today are among the most sought-after wines from the country. The 2015 I’m sharing with you today is in gorgeous shape, aging beautifully, and will please anyone who enjoys refined Cabernet Sauvignon.
Sticking with the southern hemisphere, I’ve also got a special bottling of Malbec from the Catena family. Made from a small 1.4-hectare (3.45-acre) vineyard situated at 5000 feet of elevation, this wine and the vineyard it comes from are named after Nicolas Catena’s youngest daughter Adrianna. The vineyard features ancient calcium-rich fossilized marine soils and has been planted with a massale selection of vines on their own roots, which are nourished by a healthy population of rhizobacteria, hence the addition of the Latin “mundus bacillus terrae” to the name.
If you kept your finger on Argentina but spun the globe, you’d end up relatively close to our next wine, the Octavius old vine selection of Shiraz from Yalumba in Australia’s Barossa Valley. Sourced from six different vineyards, one dating to 1864, the average age of the vines producing this wine is a staggering 111 years-old. It’s like drinking a bit of history, and if you like the robust, rich flavors of Barossa Shiraz, this is the wine for you.
That’s all for the recommended wines this week, but I’ve got a special bonus section on wines that are not recommended at the end of today’s tasting notes. Read on!
Tasting Notes
2023 Two Shepherds “Bucking Luna” Sparkling Red Blend, California
Light ruby with orange highlights in the glass with very fine bubbles, this wine smells of fresh and macerated strawberries with a hint of orange peel. In the mouth, that crushed strawberry character continues as a soft mousse delivers fruity and tangy flavors across the palate. Excellent acidity along with the bubbles makes this quite refreshing, especially when cold. A hint of cola lingers in the finish. A sparkling blend of 60% carbonically macerated Carignan and 40% rosé of Cinsault, all from 80 to 135-year-old vines. 11.5% alcohol. Packaged in 250ml cans. Score: around 8.5. Cost: $8. click to buy.
2023 Two Shepherds “Natty Pets” Sparkling Picpoul Blanc, Dunnigan Hills, California
Pale amber in the glass with faint bubbles, this wine smells of cantaloupe and candied orange peels. In the mouth, the wine is lightly frothy on the palate with cantaloupe, papaya, and citrus flavors that have a nice tangy acidity that turns just faintly bitter in the finish. Refreshing and fun. A blend of 75% Picpoul Blanc macerated on the skins for 10 days, and 25% steel fermented Picpoul. 10.7% alcohol. Packaged in a 250ml can. Made with organic grapes. Score: around 8.5. Cost: $9. click to buy.
2021 Dr. Konstantin Frank Saperavi, Finger Lakes, New York
Medium to dark garnet in the glass, this wine smells of blueberries and blackberries. In the mouth, faintly salty flavors of blueberry and blackberry are tangy and bright thanks to excellent acidity. There’s a faint note of cola that sneaks into the finish leaving a Dr. Pepper-like quality in the mouth. Very good acidity and silky texture. De-stemmed and then cold-soaked until fermentation in stainless steel with twice-daily pump-overs. Spent 16 months in 20% new French oak. 12% alcohol. Score: between 8.5 and 9. Cost: $33. click to buy.
2021 Vinoterra Saperavi, Kakheti, Republic of Georgia
Very dark garnet in the glass, this wine smells of black cherry and blackberry. In the mouth, aromatically sweet black cherry and black plum flavors mix with blackberry and blackberry bramble as powdery tannins coat the mouth. Notes of licorice root and underbrush linger in the finish. Decent acidity. 13.5% alcohol. Score: around 8.5. Cost: $25. click to buy.
2022 Schuchmann Saperavi, Kakheti, Republic of Georgia
Inky purple in the glass, this wine smells of struck match and a hint of hard-boiled egg yolk, as well as blueberry compote. In the mouth, rich and ripe blueberry and black cherry flavors are surprisingly fresh thanks to very good acidity. Faint but muscular tannins coat the mouth like chalk dust. Intense, but not jammy. 13.5% alcohol. Score: around 8.5. Cost: $20. click to buy.
2021 Askaneli Brothers “Qvevri” Saperavi, Kakheti, Republic of Georgia
Very dark garnet in the glass, this wine smells of incense and dark berries. In the mouth, dark black cherry and blackberry flavors have a nice herbal freshness that is made almost crunchy by excellent acidity. Notes of dried herbs and flowers linger in the finish. Chalk-dust tannins coat the mouth and stiffen slightly over time, compounding a stony sensation that remains on the palate. 13% alcohol. Score: between 8.5 and 9. Cost: $30.
2021 Ridge Vineyards “Stone Ranch” Zinfandel, Alexander Valley, Sonoma, California
Dark garnet in the glass, this wine smells of blackberry and blueberry fruit. In the mouth, wonderfully juicy blueberry, huckleberry, and mulberry fruit have a beautiful aromatic sweetness as notes of fennel, dried flowers, and dried herbs emerge in the finish. Faint, cottony tannins and excellent acidity. There’s a tiny bit of alcoholic heat that lingers in the finish like a sunbeam. Contains 2% Carignane and 2% Petite Sirah. 15.2% alcohol. Score: between 8.5 and 9. Cost: $42. Just released.
2015 Vinedo Chadwick Cabernet Sauvignon, Maipo, Chile
Inky garnet in the glass, this wine smells of cherry and freshly chopped aromatic herbs like thyme and sagebrush mixed with a hint of smoked meats. In the mouth, wonderfully fresh, bright cherry and herb flavors mix with very fine-grained tannins and a meatier umami character. Excellent acidity. 13.5% alcohol. Score: between 9 and 9.5. Cost: $391. click to buy.
2019 Catena “Adrianna Vineyard Mundus Bacillus Terrae” Malbec, Gualtallary, Uco Valley, Mendoza, Argentina
Dark garnet with purple highlights, this wine smells of blueberry, blackberry, and black cherry. In the mouth, tight powdery tannins wrap around the core of bright fruit. Excellent acidity, but a tiny bit of heat in the finish. Massale, un-grafted selection from old vines planted in 1992. 14% alcohol. Score: around 9. Cost: $342. click to buy.
2018 Yalumba “The Octavius Old Vine” Shiraz, Barossa Valley, South Australia, Australia
Medium-to-dark garnet in the glass with purple highlights, this wine smells of oak, blackberry, and dried herbs. In the mouth, juicy blackberry and oak flavors mix with a hint of spice and dried herbs. Notes of cocoa powder linger in the finish. Lightly grippy tannins. Sourced from six old-vine sites in Eden Valley and the Barossa, with an average vine age of 111 years. 14.5% alcohol. Score: between 8.5 and 9. Cost: $130. click to buy.
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Now, let’s have a conversation about low-alcohol wines. Many readers may no doubt have noticed the trend towards low- and no-alcohol drinks in the marketplace. Nothing wrong with that, of course. I enjoy zero-proof cocktails with some regularity when dining out. But the reason I tend to stick with cocktails is that the alcohol-free and low-alcohol wine scene is pretty dismal. Nonetheless, I continue to try them and was excited to taste the three low-alcohol wines I received this week from Arlow, which is a brand dedicated to low-alcohol wines.
By and large, these wines, which presumably are made from different batches of wine that have been de-alcoholized to 6.5% alcohol using spinning cone and/or reverse-osmosis, aren’t horrible (OK, the Cabernet is sort of horrible). They just aren’t very good. They not only taste dilute or watery, but they also have a sort of disjointed texture and structure that lacks the seamlessness of a full-alcohol wine. The rosé and the Sauvignon Blanc have some of the flavors and aromatics that you’d expect, they just have a muffled quality, like trying to listen to normal-volume music through earplugs.
At 6.5% alcohol, these wines are far from alcohol-free, which prompts the question of why a wine lover should consider them at all. It’s easily possible to find completely full-flavored, delicious wines between 9% and 11% alcohol (as the two canned wines that led off this week’s tasting notes prove). German and Austrian Rieslings can easily be found at those alcohol levels and they are infinitely tastier (and frankly much higher-quality, artisan products) than some beverage brand sourcing bulk wine to de-alcoholize and blend into uniformity.
I don’t know about you, but if I’m trying to stick to lower alcohol consumption I’d rather drink 3 glasses of delicious wine at 10% alcohol than 4 glasses of “blah” at 6.5% alcohol. Arlow markets itself as “Low Alcohol Wine Without Compromise” but in my opinion, that’s blatantly false advertising. You are compromising when you buy a bottle of low-alcohol or no-alcohol wine, because you’re trading flavor for alcohol, and frankly, flavor is the thing that sets wine apart from most other booze. Flavor is the reason to drink wine instead of vodka.
One of the most amazing things about the wine world is its diversity, and the sheer range of that diversity means that you really can find amazing flavors at much lower alcohol levels without resorting to the interventions of chemistry and industrial processing. Life is just too short to drink crappy, low-flavor wines.
Here’s what I thought of these Arlow wines.
NV Arlow Rosé, California
Light orange-pink in the glass, this wine smells of strawberry and orange peels. In the mouth, silky flavors of orange peel and watered-down strawberry have a nice acidic kick to them that leaves a tangy sour-cherry note in the finish. 6.5% alcohol. Closed with a screwcap. Score: between 8 and 8.5.
NV Arlow Sauvignon Blanc, California
Pale straw in color, this wine smells of sweet green apples and a hint of passionfruit. In the mouth, fairly dilute flavors of apple and passionfruit have a watery quality, with only just barely acidity to make the wine refreshing. Other than being less intense and somewhat one-dimensional, there’s nothing wrong with the flavors. Unmistakably Sauvignon Blanc. 6.5% alcohol. Closed with a screwcap. Score: around 8.
NV Arlow Cabernet Sauvignon, California
Dark garnet in color, this wine smells of dark fruit and oak. In the mouth, black cherry and cassis flavors have a cough-syrup tang to them and fleecy tannins coat the mouth. These fruit flavors are somewhat less dilute than the white or rosé but the texture is quite bizarre, as the wine has a watery feel in the mouth but then the tannins are thick and muscular. Black currant candy notes linger in the finish. Not recommended. 6.5% alcohol. Closed with a screwcap. Score: around 6.5.
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