Recently on Twitter I’ve been seeing – and trying to hold my tongue in – conversations about how natural wines tend to get a little, let’s say, “untidy” once they’ve been open for a while. It’s true that sometimes they don’t show so well if they were made in a haphazard “let’s hope for the best” approach, and even the best-intentioned winemaking can occasionally suffer the effects of oxygen bringing out unwanted character traits, like mouse/souris for example. But, over the last few weeks, I’ve had the pleasure of finding some natural wines which got noticeably better after a day or two and I decided to write about them.
VILLA JOB – Friuli – “Sudigiri” Sauvignon 2019
Alessandro and Lavinia inherited an estate in Friuli which was a galactic leap away both from their previous careers in Milan and from their parents in Sicily and Tuscany respectively. They now cultivate 9 hectares of vineyards and twice that of various agricultural crops. Their style – whether vinifying pinot grigio or refosco equally – is to create superbly aromatic wines which surprise the casual drinker for their frankness and freedom of expression.
On the second day, the citrus fruit aromas – particularly grapefruit peel, meyer lemon and gooseberry – of this sauvignon blanc had been amplified. There is spice too, white pepper, coriander seeds and a beautiful saltiness to the finish. If Marilyn Monroe were a wine…
LA FERME DE SEPT LUNES – northern Rhone – Syrah VDF 2019
This winery, run by Jean Delobre with Jacques Maurice, needs no introduction. I fell in love at first sip with their Saint Joseph (at Stefano Bellotti’s house… remember that?) so in 2020 when we went on holiday in the Ardèche, we just had to stop by the Ferme de Sept Lunes in the village of Bogy. This was one of the bottles that we purchased at the winery and tucked away for a year and a bit. At first it was so subdued compared to what I remembered of this wine; it was dense but silent almost to the point that you wondered if someone had pressed the mute button. I needn’t have worried; the next day at lunch, it had the same dark, opaque, broody, purple colour and there was now an explosion of leather, vanilla and plush fruit in the glass. Savoury and meaty – lip-smackingly good.
CASTAGNA – Beechworth, Victoria – Adam’s Rib 2008
Many moons ago, I worked for Julian Castagna’s importer in France; this – I believe – is the last bottle I had left from that time. (The penultimate was the Sparkling Genesis which I wrote about here.) They are wines which I love and I was convinced that squirrelling away a bottle for a few more years of ageing would pay off.
At first glance, though, maybe fourteen years was one too many; the cork was in good condition but the wine was looking weary. A distinctly brown rim and seeming rather past its best, I was concerned. However, on the second day, in a gravity-defying feat worthy of a circus magician, the situation had turned around completely. Adam’s Rib (so-called because it is part of the range vinified by Julian’s son, Adam) is a blend of nebbiolo and syrah and just as you might expect from those grapes, it was now showing a fantail of sour cherries, prunes and dried flowers…. even better, the vibrancy that I remembered in the Castagna wines was back!
GIOVANNI IANNUCCI – Campania – “Costa delle Viole” Barbera Beneventano IGP 2020
Italian grape varieties are notorious for being so numerous and in many cases, obscure. So just when you think you’re starting to have a pretty decent knowledge base, this Barbera from Campania shakes up that fledging confidence. It turns out that barbera from Piedmont is not the same as barbera from Campania, even though they share the same name. This is Barbera di Sannio, and yes, it’s different, very different. This, on the first day, was tasting rather like a northern Rhone syrah – a rustic wine, dense, rich with hints of leather, spice and coffee. On the second and third days, however, it had become an explosion of flowers – violets, in particular – and fruit (ripe plums, berries and forest fruits), finishing on a vanilla note. Very much reminiscent of an old-vine carignan. Mellow tannins – though they were never particularly tough even on day 1 – and a similar finish. It’s a red wine that would pair better with pasta and tomato sauce rather than a steak because it has more acidity than tannin structure. A well-made wine, full of character, and it held up impeccably despite three days sitting on my kitchen counter.
HEINRICH – Neusiedlersee – Edelgraben Ried Breitenbrunner 2015
I’d even go as far as saying that this wine was best on the third day. Like the twelve days of Christmas, the first day brought funk, the second day brought fruit but the third day brought the spice and the substance. Blaufrankish 100%. A beautiful, lush texture evolved from the ashes of the first day’s wine. Tannins are velvety soft so all the body comes from the pulp of the fruit. It’s a wine which listens rather than shouts but which succeeds in commanding attention anyway.
REMI SEDES – Loire – Rosé Samplemousse 2020 Coteaux d’Ancenis Rosé AOP
I bet you weren’t expecting to see a rosé on this list of wines which improve days after opening… but yes! A fond de bouteille got left in my fridge when we went away for the weekend and I honestly didn’t know what to expect upon our return on Monday. Rosé Samplemousse is a direct press gamay wine from Rémi Sédès in the Loire-Atlantique which (as you can see) I very much enjoyed upon opening but even after those extra days in the fridge, it was still super fresh, with crunchy cherries and raspberries, and a perfect balance of acidity and alcohol (neither of which are particularly shy.) A prime example of a really well-made natural wine that managed to surpass my expectations.
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