April Subscription Wines
Syfany • The Beast • 2022 • South Moravia, Czech Republic • Chardonnay, Gewürztraminer • Orange
An experimental orange wine full of flavour and character. The wine combines Gewürztraminer harvested in 2020 and Chardonnay harvested in 2016, with the former spending a month on the skins, and the latter just a day, maturing together for a year in a mixture of local acacia and oak barrels. There’s baking spices, tropical fruit, and fleshy peach, in a wine with generous acidity and soft tannins.
Organic
Food: Thai Red Duck Curry, Al Pastor Tacos, Gorgonzola Pizza
Preparation: Serve chilled
Michael Wenzel • Wild & Free Voodoo Child • 2021 • Burgenland, Austria • Pinot Gris • Orange
As the name suggests, this wine is insatiably energetic and full of intrigue. Wenzel uses skin contact on Pinot Gris to create a crimson coloured, fruit-forward wine that may take your mind to dark rose, with eight months of ageing on the fine lees giving it more textural sophistication. Enticing aromas of wild strawberry, rhubarb and forest floor in this wonderfully balanced Pinot Gris maceration.
Biodynamic
Food: Spicy Tuna Sushi, Crispy Aromatic Duck, Prawn Red Curry
Preparation: Serve chilled
Domaine l'Octavin • Sly'vin • 2020 • Jura, France • Sylvaner (Alsace) • Orange
Using organic grapes grown by Guillaume Edel in Ergersheim, Alsace, Jura legend Alice Bouvot turns the often bland Sylvaner into something incredibly beautiful. Using whole bunches of grapes which spend six weeks on the skins, the wine is then aged for eight months in fiberglass tanks. The vivid yellow hue shines in the glass, matched by refreshing acidity, balanced tannins, and stunning aromas of tangerine, honey, sea salt, and oregano.
Organic, Zero SO2
Food: Chicken Satay, Spiced Pork Belly, Pumpkin Lasagna
Preparation: Serve chilled
Louis Terral • Margaurite • 2020 • Bugey, France • Gamay • Red
Gamay with stunning depth and complexity, but not lacking in the grape’s trademark juicy acidity. 70% of the grapes were fermented whole-bunch, with the wine maturing in stainless steel in the following spring without any additions or interventions. The beautifully balanced tannins are silky smooth and its generous flavour profile offers beguiling aromas of dark plum, damson, cracked black pepper and forest floor.
Biodynamic practices, Zero SO2
Food: Roast Chicken, Duck Ragu, Tapenade
Cantina Giardino • Le Fole • 2021 • Campania, Italy • Aglianico • Red
Brooding and deep, but also fragrant and fruit-forward. Produced from eighty-year-old vines of Aglianico grown in a remote vineyard almost 500 metres above sea level, the grapes spend 12 days on the skins before resting in concrete vats for two years. A wine that belongs with a rich pasta or grilled meats, there’s earthy and herbal aromas, and lots of ripe blackberry and black plum.
Organic, no added SO2
Food: Grilled Meats, Oxtail Ragu, Melanzane Parmigiana
Milan Nestarec • Barvířka • 2020 • Moravia, Czech Republic • Dornfelder, Zweigelt, White Grapes • Red
As is to be expected from Milan Nestarec, this is a wine that’s fun and sophisticated in equal measure. It's produced from a blend of Dornfelder, Zweigelt and a secret mix of white grapes, which are all destemmed and fermented in open vats, followed by ageing for 6 months in fibreglass tanks. Fruity notes of ripe cherry, blackberry and elderberry combine with balsamic and cinnamon to create a rich yet taut palate.
Organic, Zero added SO2
Food: Beef Kofte, Grilled Aubergine, Penne Arrabiata
Domaine l'Octavin • Grenabar • 2021 • Jura, France • Carignan, Vermentino • Rose
An expressive and invigorating rosé from legendary Jura winemaker Alice Bouvot. Here, she combines Carignan and Vermentino, grown biodynamically by Claude Ughetto in the Vaucluse, with the Vermentino steeped whole-bunch in the directly pressed juice of the Carignan for three weeks before ageing. Fresh, uplifting and frankly delicious, with notes of watermelon, wild strawberries, and maraschino cherries.
Biodynamic
Food: Lobster Pasta, Confit Duck, Grilled Romano Peppers
Petr Korab • Dark Horse • 2022 • Moravia, Czech Republic • Frankova, Tramin • Sparkling
Petr Korab’s skillful experimentalism really shines in this wine. Combining Frankovka (otherwise known as Blaufränkisch) with macerated Tramin and some Hibernal juice, everything is aged in an untoasted new oak barrel, before bottling to complete the fermentation and create a gentle fizz. A really unique pour that’s herbaceous, wild and intriguing, but completely refreshing.
Biodynamic, Organic, No added SO2
Food: Fennel Salami, Fried Chicken, Iranian Herb Fritters
Preparation: Serve chilled
Markus Altenburger • Vom Kalk • 2022 • Burgenland, Austria • Chardonnay • White
Markus Altenburger is one of the most progressive winemakers in Burgenland, and this cuvee tells you why. His Chardonnay grapes are grown on limestone-rich clay soils around the Jois, with the ageing for this cuvee taking place in a mixture of concrete and large oak barrels, spending another year in bottle before release. Aiming for a different style with this vintage, the wine is taut and zesty, with savoury persistence and a saline finish.
Organic, Biodynamic
Food: Grilled Prawns, Red Mullet, Cacio e Pepe
Preparation: Serve chilled
Thorsten Melscheimer • Estate Riesling • 2022 • Mosel, Germany • Riesling • White
Great Riesling with an abundance of freshness, and some complexity too. The grapes grow on steep slate slopes, with ageing taking place in large neutral oak vessels to preserve the purity of the fruit. Expect aromas of baked bread, lemon zest and fresh mountain herbs, with the palate full of citrusy acids and gentle minerality.
Biodynamic
Food: Kerala Fish Curry, Thai Salads, Porchetta
Valfaccenda • Roero Arneis • 2022 • Piemonte, Italy • Arneis • Skin Contact
A tart and textural skin-contact wine from Piedmont. Blending two parcels of Arneis, with the first, grown on soft sandy soils, directly pressed into stainless steel vats for fermentation and ageing, and the second, grown on harder soils, picked later, and spending ten days on the skins before being pressed off into old oak for nine months of ageing. Bright but balanced acidity, and notes of apple, apricot, spice and sage.
Organic
Food: Bagna Cauda, Braised Rabbit, Roasted Celeriac
