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 Remhoogte’s Aspect Merlot is sourced from a single plot of Estate vineyard. The vineyard’s south-west exposure provides both access to the Cape Doctor, a dry south-easterly wind that keeps the grapes cooler, while providing less sun exposure. The vineyard’s aspect points south and away from the sun. Winemaker Chris Boustred trained in Pomerol and Fronsac and this wine is a touch reminiscent of his time training in France. His French training comes through, producing a wine that has both new world fruit and old world integration -- black cherry and black plum balance nicely against subtle, vanilla, clove, leather, and graphite notes. For a red wine in the mid-$20 price-range, this wine is easily outperforming its price point.
93 Vince Simmon
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Posted by Michael Franz on April 17, 2024 at 4:23 PM
Gone are the days when heat was an issue in relation to wine only during summer. With many locations around the world now seeing all-time high temperature averages rising year after year, heat is now an issue during spring as well. I live just outside Washington, DC, and our first 80-degree days hit before Tax Day on April 15. So, what used to be advisable for wine lovers during the summer months has already kicked in. My word “advisable” is really not sufficiently strong, as it is actually imperative that you adjust your practices if you want to derive maximum enjoyment from the wines you buy this time of year.
We should start with red table wines because this is the type most frequently treated in a less-than-optimal manner—even by longstanding wine lovers. Many of us grew up learning the rule of thumb that “red wines should be served at room temperature.” Well, that might have made sense when some guy in an English manor house hatched the idea in the 18th century, prior to the advent of central heating, air conditioning, or the recent round of climate change. These days, that’s often quite bad advice.
For example, if you’d been in DC during one of those recent 80-degree days, odds are that you had your windows open (makes sense after being cooped up during winter), and with a torrid DC summer approaching, you’d probably be unwilling to turn on the air conditioning. That means that “room temperature” at 6 p.m. was probably about 75. In turn, that means that a bottle of red wine teed up earlier in the day for serving with dinner is fully 10 degrees warmer than the temperature at which it would taste best.
Reds that are too warm will show too much alcoholic “heat” in their aromas and aftertaste, and will seem soupy and unfocused, with insufficient acidity and almost no refreshment value. When the weather gets really hot (meaning, anywhere in the 90s), I chill every red that I taste (whether for review or for fun) into the refrigerator for 20 to 30 minutes before opening. Last week in DC, you wouldn’t have needed half an hour in the fridge to get your red set for success, but 15-20 minutes would have made it considerably better.
White and sparkling wines are mishandled less often in my experience as a guest in the homes of others or in restaurants, but most people could get better performance from these wine types (without any additional expense) by being more thoughtful and even experimenting a bit.
I know experts on Champagnes and sparkling wines who dispense what I believe to be bad advice. And to be clear, I mean real experts—not just self-appointed “man-splainers”—who advise consumers to “fully chill” sparkling wines, even to the point of full immersion in ice buckets. My experience indicates that this is bad advice—and demonstrably bad advice at that. A bottle of "fully chilled" Champagne shows much less aromatic complexity than one that has been pulled from a refrigerator for 20-25 minutes, and also seems more tart, with less breadth on the palate and fewer flavor complexities.
This is a fact, and you can test it yourself with ease for free. If you’re hosting a dinner or event for which you’ll need two bottles of bubbly, simply begin by chilling them both for hours ahead of time at your refrigerator’s normal temperature. Then, pull one out and set it on the counter (assuming your room temperature is around 70 or 71 degrees). Set a timer on your phone for 22 minutes, and then open and pour that bottle as well as the one that you’ve just pulled from the refrigerator. I’m utterly confident that you’ll find more complexity and derive more pleasure from the bottle that was pulled earlier, and it makes no difference if the two identical bottles are Champagne, Prosecco, Cava, Franciacorta, or any other type of sparkling wine.
You don’t even need a party to do this. If you have one or two effective sparkling wine stoppers, you can simply stopper up one of the bottles, stick it back in the fridge, and enjoy it later in the week (or even during the following week; sparklers are phenomenally durable if you’ve got good stoppers for them).
Knowing that, you could usefully expand this experiment by using any kind of bucket to really ice down a third bottle, as is often done in restaurants or at outdoor parties served by caterers. Keep that third bottle on ice until some of it melts and there’s nearly as much water as ice in the bucket, then pull one bottle out of your fridge for the 22 minutes, and then open all three after your alarm sounds. You will agree that the iced bottle is the least expressive, followed by the one just pulled from the refrigerator (which will finish 2nd), and that the bottle that was allowed to warm a bit is the best of the bunch.
Everything just noted about sparkling wines holds true for white table wines without bubbles, so our work is nearly done. Even in summer, I would never serve (or review) a white wine that I hadn’t pulled from one of my refrigerators for less than 20 minutes. (And yes, that plural is correct: I have three refrigerators, two of which are devoted to wine, with the 3rd devoted to preserving my marriage.)
The only exception to my advice for whites and sparklers is if you’re going to take the bottles outside to serve on a patio or on an outdoor table on a warm-to-hot evening. In that case, you should not let the wine warm up quite so much as I just advised before serving, for the following reason: If you and your guests will be enjoying a glass for, say, 12 minutes from start to finish, the point at which the temperature should be perfect would be the sixth minute--not the first. If you or a friend find the wine too cold when it is first served, the situation can be remedied by cupping it in one’s hand for 20 seconds. By contrast, it is much more difficult to deal with a glass that goes warm once it has been served.
I don’t wish to come off as being overly cocky, but what you’ve read is less a matter of personal preference than it is the flat-out truth. Of course, it is possible that you have personal preferences that over-ride a professional taster’s seasoned sense of the temperature at which wines are at their best. What should you do then? Whatever you please. The only point of wine is pleasure, and it is your pleasure that counts!
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Roger Morris
May 7, 2024:
People who own wineries love to talk glowingly about their vineyards and the wonderful capabilities of their terroirs. While their children may grow up to be disappointments, they can always find solace in their good earth.
As with their children, winegrowers want the best possible opportunities for their vineyards. But, unlike with their kids, who might decide to become tattoo artists rather than neurosurgeons, winery owners can always dictate the future of their terroirs.
Can't they?
Not always, especially in the classic regions of France. If your estate is fortunate enough to be in, say, Saint-Émilion, you better hope your terroir loves Merlot and Cabernet Franc. Planting anything other than the limited red Bordeaux varieties would lose you your Saint-Emmy status as well as seeming a bit out of step, a little like suggesting the vacant lot just off the Place de Marechal Leclerc should be turned into a football pitch when everyone knows that real men in the Aquitaine traditionally play rugby.
Alexandre de Malet Roquefort plans to retire from overseeing his family château soon. Fortunately, the kids are alright, so he and his two siblings, all now in their 50s, are in the process of handing over to this next generation the management of Château La Gaffelière, located at the southern entrance to Saint-Émilion's old town, and their related properties. Since Malet Roquefort's family has owned La Gaffelière since 1705, it is of considerable sentimental attachment - and financial importance - to Alexandre.
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Pam Roberto
May 7, 2024:
For Italian wine lovers, Piedmont is an embarrassment of riches. From Barolo and Barbaresco, two of Italy's most majestic and revered wines, to more budget-friendly sippers like Barbera and Dolcetto, Piedmont has firmly cemented its reputation for stellar red wine production. But beyond these illustrious names, the region is also a treasure trove of less famous - but no less intriguing - grapes, including several native white varieties deserving of recognition.
Nestled in the northwest corner of Italy, Piedmont translates to 'the foot of the mountain,' a fitting description for a region bounded by the Alps to the north and west and the Apennines to the south. Its hilly terrain, warm sunny days, and cool nights are ideal for quality white wines, but production has long skewed towards meeting demand for the region's popular sweet sparklers - spumantes from Asti and lightly fizzy Moscato d'Asti wines - rather than dry white table wines.
Overshadowed by the region's high caliber reds and cheerful sparkling wines, many of Piedmont's white grapes teetered on the verge of extinction in the 20th century. The economic toll of phylloxera and two world wars prompted farmers to abandon less-desirable grape varieties, replacing them with higher yielding and more profitable alternatives. Fortunately, a handful of local winemakers saw promise in their native vines and refused to give up on them. Thanks to their passion and perseverance, the past few decades have witnessed the revival of dry white wines made from historic Piedmontese varieties like Arneis, Cortese, Erbaluce, Nascetta, and Timorasso.
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March 27, 2024: I find myself gravitating towards simpler food, fewer meat-oriented menus, and in general focusing more on simplicity rather than complexity. Simple pasta, for example, is something I've been craving recently. What my palate longs for instead is simple, spaghetti-type pasta, but I want the noodles to be sauced with nothing more, really, than a drizzle of olive oil. Perhaps I'll garnish this simple dish with something raw, and green, and crunchy.
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Mary Ewing-MulliganMay 7, 2024:
Within my household, I am the wine scholar - educator, wine school owner, Master of Wine - but my husband is Monsieur le Sommelier. He buys the wine and collects wine, and I share the drinking. Recent circumstances have made me the sole wine drinker in the family and separated us from our large cellar to boot. Now I am a wine buyer.
Short of time, I turned to my local wine shop in Harlem, The Winery, which is run by Eric White, a former student of mine who has done me proud. It's a small shop that by necessity offers carefully chosen wines from a thoughtful taster. I have had no end of delight in exploring its shelves. The following wines are a few examples.
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'G' - A Chardonnay Grows in Bordeaux
Wonderful White Wines of Piedmont
Happy Surprises from a Local Harlem Wine Shop
