Earlier this month the API wine club hosted a tasting presented by a local independent wine shop with close ties to the club (who I won't name here for obvious reasons), with the theme 'affordable European wines'. To be honest it was with some trepidation that I finally decided to attend after having my reservations about the idea, and my confidence wasn't helped when all the wines were revealed to be under AUD $20 retail. Would there be any genuine bargains or would they be examples of utter rubbish being dumped here cheap? Unfortunately it was the latter: I suspect the wines under screwcap are either shipped over in bulk and bottled here, or made for the massive European supermarket chains and then dumped (not that it particularly matters).
As usual all of the wines were served in the club's XL5 glasses (not that it helped).
2013 Cantina Tollo Pinot Grigio Rocca Ventosa, Molise (screwcap): 12.5% alc. Pale straw with a hint of blush and some spritz on the glass. Very yeasty and rather simple with fresh apple cider, noticeable sulphur/reductive characters with breathing; the palate's just as yeasty, crisp with some banana and pear but also a harsh, bitter finish. The presenter thought this was a good example of a Pinot Grigio style as opposed to a Pinot Gris style; I thought it was an example of the sort of dull industrial swill we should be trying to avoid altogether.
2012 Azienda Agricola Terra d'Aligi Pecorino, Abruzzi (cork): 13% alc. Pale-ish straw/yellow. Sweet nose and palate with honeysuckle, smoke, pear, honeycomb and mouthwatering acidity, a little like Vouvray at times but without the same level of depth/power and interest, some smoky vanilla on the finish (despite it apparently being unoaked). Easily the best of the whites (which is really not that much of an achievement).
2012 Bouchard Aine & Fils Heritage du Conseiller Chardonnay, Vin Pays d'Oc (screwcap): 13% alc. When I first saw the name Bouchard on the label I thought we may have been lucky enough to score an entry-level Bourgogne: my expectations were way, way too high. Medium, brassy yellow. The bouquet and palate are quite bland, lemony and yeasty, very light on fruit and high on acid, a little malo adding some texture but basically the wine is as boring as batshit; it's thin, soulless, lifeless crap that could be just about anything from just about anywhere.
2013 VinNico Export S.L. Tempranillo Valencia Radio Boka, Valencia (screwcap): 13% alc. Medium crimson/purple. Rather sooty and cheesy at first, revealing boiled lollies and cherries, some rhubarb and pepper, becoming more vegetal with breathing; the palate's not bad, it's high in acidity but has just enough fruit to cover it, finishing minty. It's pretty average stuff, but it is ridiculously cheap and at least it's identifiable as Tempranillo.
2012 Delas Frere Cotes du Rhone Saint-Esprit (cork): 14% alc. Medium to dark crimson/purple. Sweet and confected at first, boiled lollies and crushed rocks, but it becomes noticeably green/vegetal and peppery with breathing; the palate's very lightweight with a hot, minty mid-palate and mouthwash characters on the peppery finish. The Guigal Cotes du Rhone is vastly superior for really not that much more, it's a pity it wasn't presented instead of this underwhelming wine.
2013 Maretti Langhe Rosso Barbera Nebbiolo, Piedmont (cork): 13.5% alc. Medium to darkish crimson. Fairly closed nose but there are noticeable cheesy/cheddar and vegetal characters in the background; the palate opens with a bang of sweet raspberries (I assume courtesy of the Barbera) leading to a extremely dry, meaty mid-palate with some black liquorice/black tea, finishing horribly bitter and green. Awfully disjointed and borderline undrinkable.
2011 Finca Rosal Old Vines Monastrell, Yecla (cork): 14% alc. Medium to darkish red. Quite stinky and vegetal nose, boot polish and dirty socks with a dampness in the background; the entry of the palate seems porty and overripe, prune and Earl Grey tea leading to a scalped, damp finish. After examining the corks after the tasting it was clear the bottle served to our table clearly had some cork taint, and I didn't get to try the other.
Cheers,
Ian
... I always recall this shop doing an annual tasting on this theme in the midst of the normal single producer tastings they do. And it was, in my experience, almost always a pretty woeful line up. The concept of "affordable EU wines" in Aus just inherently limits you to a quality level which is sub-par.
