May 2023 Tasting Report: Top Tawnies, German Revelations and Digging In Down Under

Our monthly tasting report for May comprised more than 3,000 offerings from a variety of producers across 21 countries, including outliers like Romania, Denmark and Georgia. But it was the old reliables that topped the charts once again, starting with Portugal and its rare tawny Ports. Five of our top 10 rated wines for the month were tawnies, led by the century-old (and perfect-scoring) Niepoort Port Very Old Tawny 1863.

James Suckling found during his trip to Portugal that the market for premium fortified bottles is shifting toward outstanding-quality tawnies over vintage Port, with producers like Symington Family Estates adding 50-year-old blends to their lineup of age-designated Ports. James likes the new category, which includes bottles from Graham’s, Taylor’s and Sandeman, better than the 40-year-old category because the former “show a more typical character for their age.”

Even more fortified wines came from neighboring Spain, which contributed 1,117 bottles to our monthly tastings. Right at the top was a “mind-blowing sherry,” according to Senior Editor Zekun Shuai – the Lustau Jerez Oloroso VORS 30 Years Old. This was from a selection of nine old sherry casks in a solera founded 100 years ago, bottled without any filtration. “It is awe-inspiring for the concentration and saltiness on the palate and is full of nuanced oxidative complexity,” Zekun said about it. “The intensity is almost painful on the palate, which is round and verges on being unctuous – but it rolls out a tangy yet mouthwatering and persistent finish.”

Out of Spain’s Catalonia region, Familia Torres impressed with its refined and drinkable yet serious reds. The family secret in making more gastronomic wines: “We focus on increasing the content of organic matters in the soils, such as the use of organic compost, which increases soil fertility, pushing the vigor of the vineyard so the vines are less susceptible to drought,” Josep Sabarich, the technical director of Familia Torres, told Zekun during a Zoom call. Their Torres Conca de Barberà Grans Muralles 2019 is both deep and fragrant, with racy red and blue fruit and a fantastic structure.

And the underdog Spanish variety bobal also showed well in our May tastings, with the wonderfully austere, single-vineyard Bodegas y Viñedos Ponce Bobal Manchuela La Estrecha 2021 and Bodegas y Viñedos Ponce Bobal Manchuela Pino 2021 being two great examples of how bobal showcases diverse expressions of terroir, but always with a Mediterranean flair. Another bobal to look out for is the Mikaela Bobal Tierra de Castilla La Infanta Viñas Viejas de Cuenca 2020 – a concentrated and more eclectic expression of the variety with impressive depth of dark, balsamic fruit and powdery tannins, Zekun said.

Senior Editor Stuart Pigott put the finishing touches on his Rhone report last month, with one of his last visits to the region also one of his best. “For us, Pierre Gonon is one of the leading winemakers of the entire region, and his Pierre Gonon St. Joseph 2020 is a near-perfect expression of syrah in the northern Rhone,” he said, adding that his tasting in the Pierre Gonon cellar was a “magical moment.”

Another syrah standout was the Alain Graillot Crozes-Hermitage 2021, which Tasting Manager Kevin Davy described as having a “very pure and floral nose, with a succulent core of redcurrant and violets. “

Two more wines out of France that impressed were the Muré Riesling Alsace Grand Cru Vorbourg Clos Saint Landelin 2019, which Stuart called “truly spectacular” because of its power and massive structure, as well as Brad Pitt’s Fleur de Miraval Champagne Exclusivement Rosé 3, which James called “fantastic,” with the latest vintage showing “the most class and finesse of them all.” Check out James’ video chat (above) with the assistant winemaker, Alexis Blondel, to find out more about the wine.

And in neighboring Germany, Stuart ran into a few young winemakers churning out some revelatory offerings. One, Simone Adams, made the “remarkable” Adams Wein Spätburgunder Rheinhessen Pares 2020, which Stuart said “was like discovering there was a top Burgundian domaine that nobody knew about!”

Another, Tobias Lorenz in the Mosel region, made the dry Lorenz Riesling Mosel Held GG 2021. “When I smelled this wine I could almost hear the bees buzzing as they collect nectar in a garden full of flowers,” Stuart said of it. “It has astonishing richness and structure for the challenging vintage.”

The third rising German star, Maximilian Knebel, is also from the Mosel and made the Weinbau Maximilian Knebel Riesling Mosel Winninger Uhlen 2021, which Stuart called “a sleek, concentrated and intensely mineral dry riesling” that “is in every sense a brilliant wine.”

Staying in Europe, Senior Editor Ned Goodwin MW uncovered some high-quality white wines during his travels in Campania, Italy – a region perhaps better known for its complex reds. Ned’s favorite was from the 2021 vintage – the straight-shooting, fresh and mineral Tenuta de Meriggio Fiano 2021. But he also found great value in the wines of Laura de Vito, a fiano specialist, whose Villa Raiano Greco di Tufo Ponte dei Santi 2021 “evinces an additional structural element following time on skins.”

Ned also visited two great wine-producing regions in his home country, Australia. The first was the geologically diverse McLaren Vale, where certified organic and biodynamic wineries and groundbreaking initiatives like a water-recycling program have lifted the viniculture and led to higher-quality wines. In addition to its “world-class” grenache, McLaren Vale’s “better expressions of nero d’avola, aglianico (check out S.C. Pannell’s), mourvedre (mataro) and solo and blended riffs on grenache blanc, gris, picpoul and other Mediterranean grapes are unequivocally among the most exciting wines in Australia,” Ned said.

The Bondar Grenache McLaren Vale Higher Springs 2022, he said, “showcases the attenuated ripening of this exceptional, Euro-styled vintage,” while the Brash Higgins Carignan McLaren Vale CRGN 2021 “is also wonderful drinking across a firm bone of tannin, saline freshness and dried Mediterranean herb, typical of carignan.”

In the Adelaide Hills region, Ned found a change in the stylistic patina of the wines after fires strafed the northern parts in the summer of 2019-2020. Now, he said “many parts of the region are now simply too warm” for some varieties, especially pinot noir, although gamay was better and showed real promise at ArtWine and Golding Wines. He also found a solid sauvignon blanc in the Grounded Cru Adelaide Hills Cru 2022, as well as a couple of worthy expressions of chardonnay, including Shaw + Smith’s M3 2022 and Coulter Wines’ Chardonnay Adelaide Hills C1 2022.

In Victoria, Ned found “the finest syrah in Australia, if not the New World” in the Castagna Shiraz Beechworth Genesis 2019, which he said is a reflection of Julian Castagna’s love of Cote-Rotie and his comprehension of “the greats,” while he said the Barossa Valley’s Alkina Grenache Polygon No. 3 2021 was “among the finest iterations of straight grenache in the world.”

James also dipped into some Barossa Valley wines, rating all the new releases of Torbreck Vintners and coming away “excited by the quality” of their 2021s. He had a Zoom chat (below left) with Ian Hongell, the head of the winery, who explained more about how the very cool and long vintage’s extra “hang time” for the fruit made for more balanced, refined, structured, and coolly flavorful reds.

James also tasted some standout single-vineyard pinot noirs from the state of Oregon. The wines of Rose & Arrow Estate, in Willamette Valley, come from parcels of volcanic soils that James said “seems to give the wines more structure and intensity than most pinot noirs from Oregon, with a chewy and linear tannin quality enhanced by forest floor and bark, pine and wet earth aromas and flavors. James preferred their 2019s, which came from a cooler growing season, over the hotter 2020, but try both and see.

And if you’re looking for a daring and exciting Czech wine, check out the latest offerings from Gurdau winery, the most remarkable of which is the Gurdau Riesling Moravia Stára Hora 2021 – a dry riesling that Stuart said reminded him of a top Wachau wine, but with fresher acidity.

Zekun also tasted and rated a few Chinese wines during the month, with the rare Caucasian grape varieties rkatsiteli and saperavi proving superb in expressing the oasis terroir Puchang Vineyard sits on in the hot, dry and barren Turpan Valley in China’s Xinjiang region. Two of their outstanding offerings were the Puchang Vineyard Rkatsiteli Xinjiang Turpan 蒲昌酒庄白羽 2020 and Puchang Vineyard Saperavi Turpan Viaseres 蒲昌酒庄精选纱布拉维 2017.

– Vince Morkri, Managing Editor

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