I certainly don't begrudge Uri's Caftory's love of funky wines, his need to make a living he can be comfortable with by importing wines from the seedier neighborhoods of Wine Town. As long as personal expression and sheer esotericism doesn't come at the expense of hygiene, I'm a very happy customer.
Claude Riffault, Sancerre, Les Denisottes, 2018
The other wine I tried from Uri's latest find, the Riffault Les Chasseignes, was taut with an electrifying streak of lime and wet rocks. This, on the other hand, is riper, richer, some might find it more tropical. It's certainly very clean and pure and I think the additional flesh gives it more staying power, even if it makes for an artificially more generous style. It, too, has a saline finish that feels as though I'm drinking lime juice with through coated with salt water, Riffault might hail from a less heralded village in Sancerre, but their wines are certainly gorgeous. (Aug. 21, 2021)
Riffault isn't the first producer of Loire Sauvignon that Caftory brings to Israel. About seven years ago, he started imported a great Pouilly-Fumé producer, Michel Redde. Now, I absolutely adore Pouilly-Fumé and Sancerre in their youth and adolescence, when they show flint and chalk upfront, backed by citrus fruit, usually lime, with just a hint of tropical fruit and herbs. What I have almost zero experience with is what happens when they mature. I must have drunk 8-10 year olds, but nothing older, so I was hardly prepared when Uri and sommelier More Bernstein came over for a visit and he brought this:
Michel Redde, Pouilly-Fumé, Les Bois de Saint-Andelain, 2005
Obviously, this is a maturity beyond anything most people encounter with a Sauvignon Blanc, and it took me a while to recognize the grape's traits. Or, to be more precise, it took the wine a couple of hours to show them. Age gave it a complex, honeyed veneer, while the air brought out minerals - not the exuberant chalk of youth, but a deeper, earthier strain of minerals - and hints of tropical fruit. I'm not sure I would personally age any Sauvignon Blancs that long, not even from the regarded producers I usually hunt, but if someone offers me to drink or buy a mature specimen, I would welcome a repeat encounter.
I suppose it was really an Old Timers night, because I countered with an even older wine. a much older wine.
Produttori del Barbaresco, Barbaresco, 1967
1967 is a legendary vintage. Produttori have always made their 'regular' or village wine from the same vineyards that are the source of the crus that comprise their Riserva lineups, but in 1967, they only made five Riservas, instead of the nine that they make today, so the village wine would receive a greater share of grapes that today would be vinified as Riservas. We lucked out on an excellent bottle, despite that fact that the cork dropped into the bottle when we tried to open it. At first, it was all tertiary flavors and aromas - meat, iron, rust, tea leaves - but the fruit kept coming to the fore, remarkably vivid red cherries. Sometimes, with a very old bottle, you settle for whatever life is still in it. But this bottle just didn't want to give up on the thrill of living and it never lost its robustness in the hour-plus that we kept at it. An amazing experience.
Indeed, a lust for life seemed to be the night's theme. Caftory also brought a wine from a nobody producer, one with a mere Bordeaux AOC, not even a Bordeaux Superiore, in other words the lowliest of the low, the kind of Bordeaux producer no one ever looks at. And from the cold 1997 vintage that few people bought and even fewer aged. This tenacious wine was still thriving.
Château Balestard, Bordeaux, 1997
Don't bother to google it. You'll probably just find the better known Château Balestard La Tonnelle in in Saint-Emilion. Maybe there's some kind of common ownership. Anyway, Caftory says it's a Left Banker. It's not a very light wine, but it's not very concentrated either, even a bit green, which is hardly surprising, since 1997 was very wet. It's an overachiever, with handsome notes of iron, but I admit that none us was in a hurry to refill our glasses.
Albino Rocca, Barbaresco, Ovello, Vigna Loreto, 2014
The Nebbiolo character and nuances get lost in the oak the first day. The second day is a far different tale, as the nose unfolds to show those magical Piedmont aromas: earth, tar, dried roses, tea leaves. The almost luscious fruit is framed by excellent acidity the raspy Nebbiolo tannins and should be a knockout in ten years, as it develops more nuances and the finish becomes even more savory.
Nikolaihof, Wachau, Vom Stein, Riesling, Federspiel, 2019
Amazingly, this is the first time I've tasted Nikolaihof, despite the fact that Eldad Levy has been importing it for, I think, seven years. It's very true to the Austrian style, dry, with spicy green apples and frozen rocks. Expressive in a very focused, austere manner, and even that only the next day.
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