Mixed Bag Vol. 21

Mixed Bag Vol. 21. The format gets called "regular" by now, which is partly true and partly aspirational - eight bottles, blind, no theme on the box. The theme is the absence of one.

What's actually inside the bag this time: a Veneto pet-nat from a thick-skinned local grape that exists almost only for sparkling, dry Chenin from old Loire vines, oxidative Rioja blanco from arguably the most stubbornly traditional house in Spain, an Egly-Ouriet entry cuvée that breaks the producer's own house style, a Galician red from the only granite-soil parcel in Envínate's Lousas project, a sulphur-free Cabernet Franc out of Burgenland that gets declassified by choice, a multi-cru Barbaresco from an Aussie winemaker working out of a restored train station, and a 10-year Madeira with a Japanese 50% shareholder. Most of these have a small "wait, really?" buried somewhere.

Eight wines, eight stories, one table at Lo Kyiv. Served blind, as always.

Corte Moschina Purocaso

Corte Moschina is a Veneto family estate based in Roncà, on the volcanic foothills of Monti Lessini. Maria Patrizia Niero acquired the property in 1998; her sons Alessandro (winemaker) and Giacomo (vineyard) run it today. Specialise in indigenous Durella - the local high-acid white that drives the Lessini Durello sparkling tradition. PuroCaso is their ancestral-method bottling: undisgorged, crown cap, lees-rich. The kind of opener that resets the palate rather than coats it.

Killing acidity, the grape coming through clean and direct - lemon-chalky, mineral, sharp. Super fresh and properly delicious. Not the most complex bottle of the night, but exactly what the welcome slot asks for: a palate-resetter with electric drive.

Domaine de la Taille Aux Loups Montlouis sur Loire Les Hauts de Husseau 2022

Jacky Blot's Domaine de la Taille Aux Loups - the Loire estate he took over in 1992, now run by his son Jean-Philippe after Jacky's death in May 2023. Hauts de Husseau is a five-parcel blend from the highest ground in Montlouis-sur-Loire: 70-90 year vines on thin flinty clay over tuffeau. 20% new oak / balance across 1-, 2-, 3-, and 4-year barriques, no malolactic, the Blot signature. 2022 was a warm Loire vintage - ripe stone fruit cut by Chenin's chalky drive.

Same as before - this wine is simply beautiful. Elegant, refined nose of yellow and white fruits, quince, bruised apples, seaside pebbles with a whisper of smoke and lemon. Fresh ginger lurks beneath. Bright, expressive acidity meets mineral precision and creamy roundness. The balance is spot on - delicious, layered, stylish. This is why Loire Chenin can be so bloody captivating.

R. López de Heredia Viña Gravonia Blanco Crianza 2016

López de Heredia, founded 1877 by Chilean-born Don Rafael López de Heredia - the most stubbornly traditional house in Rioja, still using the same Bordeaux-shape oak vats their great-grandfather did. Viña Gravonia is their entry-tier white, 100% Viura from the estate's 24 ha Viña Zaconia. ~4 years in old American oak, ~4 years in bottle, ~8 years total to release - against the DOCa Crianza Blanco minimum of 2 years total. The result drinks like an oxidative time capsule: nuts, beeswax, dried orange peel.

Lemon, chalk, seashells - classic Gravonia territory. Acacia honey is more present than last time, more floral depth coming through; oak and green hazelnut still anchoring, firm mineral backbone doing the work. Palate has proper concentration and excellent fruit; the finish keeps unfolding. Has settled deeper since the previous bottle - same wine, just more comfortable with itself now, classier. This is why you cellar these whites: they reward patience without losing the characteristic tension.

Egly-Ouriet Les Prémices (d2024)

Egly-Ouriet, the Ambonnay grand cru estate that defines the modern grower-Champagne template. Les Prémices is one of two tank-vinified entry cuvées (the other is Les Vignes de Vrigny, 100% Pinot Meunier from four 1970-planted parcels). Les Prémices itself is a single ~3.5 ha parcel in Trigny (1er Cru, Massif de Saint-Thierry), the family's 2016 acquisition; first commercial release came in 2020 with a 2016-base cuvée. Equal thirds Chardonnay / Pinot Noir / Pinot Meunier, stainless steel ferment - which is itself the inversion to the rest of the house's oak-driven approach. ~36 months on lees, ~1 g/l dosage. Less weight than the grand cru lineup - same precision, lighter frame.

Cider, yellow fruits, sea breeze, pebbles, buttered toast, with subtle hints of honey, honeysuckle, and a touch of cotton candy. Good salinity threading through. High acidity, near-perfect balance, a long detailed finish. Hasn't moved much since the last bottle - which on a cuvée this calibrated is exactly what you want.

Envínate Lousas Rosende 2023

Envínate's Lousas project in Galicia's Ribeira Sacra - granite slopes above the Sil river, old Mencía-led field blends from terraced parcels. Rosende is the only Lousas site on granite (the rest are slate); decomposed sandy granite with feldspar crystals. ~85% Mencía with co-planted Brancellao, Mouratón, Garnacha Tintorera, Merenzao. Whole-cluster fermentation, 12 months in used French oak (a 2,000 L foudre + some 228 L barrels), unfined and unfiltered. 2023 was a tricky Galician vintage - mildew and botrytis pressure - but rigorous sorting produced wines praised for freshness.

Oh, this is neat - giving it enough time to breathe paid off. Pencil lead, dark fruits (blackberry, cherry), blood, dried herbs, bay leaf. Mineral, fresh, well-balanced - beautiful. Probably the best bottle of this release I've had.

Christian Tschida Non-tradition Rot 2018

Christian Tschida farms ~14 hectares around Illmitz, Burgenland - one of Austria's most uncompromising natural producers. Took over from his father Fritz in 2003; zero added sulphur since the 2015 vintage. Non-tradition Rot is 100% Cabernet Franc, hand-harvested and fully destemmed (despite Tschida's reputation for whole-cluster elsewhere), ~6 weeks of skin contact, ~2 years in large Stockinger oak. The line is deliberately outside the Austrian Wine Act - labelled simply Non-tradition rather than any regional appellation. 2018 was hot and dry; that this comes in at 12.5% reflects early-picking discipline.

Wow, this is just beautiful - so seamlessly drinkable, the kind that keeps disappearing from the glass. Stunning, completely unorthodox Cabernet Franc; no green notes, just layers of black berries, freshly ground black pepper, gouache, earth, and night-blooming flowers. A faint fizz on the open dissipates fast and only adds to the charm. Bright acidity, deep fruit, a long complex finish tying everything together. Pure joy in a glass.

David Fletcher Barbaresco Recta Pete 2021

David Fletcher is an Australian winemaker who came to Barbaresco for a 2007 harvest at Ceretto, stayed, and built his own garagiste label in parallel. Cantina is the restored Barbaresco train station ("La Stazione"), bought in 2014. Recta Pete is his multi-cru Barbaresco DOCG - not a single-vineyard, despite the focused name. 2021 composition: 40% Roncaglie + 30% Faset (Treiso), 30% Ronchi (Barbaresco commune, new in 2021). 100% destemmed, native-yeast open ferment, 24 months in old 300L French oak. The name comes from David's Scottish heritage: "Recta Pete" is the Latin motto of Clan Fletcher, commonly rendered "seek what is right." Fletcher = arrow-maker, so the producer leans on the archery pun and translates it as "shoot straight."

Sour cherry, red flowers, hibiscus tea, tar, liquorice, blood, a hint of dust. Substantial tannins, well-integrated despite the youth. Coffee, a subtle metallic edge, pleasant sweetness on the finish. Still needs time to fully resolve, but the promise is becoming reality - bumping this one up.

Barbeito Verdelho Reserva Velha 10 years

Barbeito, founded 1946 in Funchal by Mário Barbeito de Vasconcelos. Now run by Mário's grandson Ricardo Diogo Vasconcelos de Freitas, who joined in 1991 - the same year Kinoshita International of Japan took a 50% stake. Verdelho 10 Year "Reserva Velha" is the medium-dry Madeira register, 100% Verdelho, aged via canteiro in French oak (multi-cask blend). 19.2% ABV, ~71 g/L sugar - candied citrus, roasted almond, and that unmistakable Madeira lift on a long acid spine.

Same Madeira I came around to earlier in the year - dry wood, ripe citrus, floral notes, white sweet grapes, honey. Chocolate and dried apricots emerging this time. Smooth texture, mineral touch, fresh acidity holding everything in line despite the fortification. Still incredible how complex and multilayered it stays while keeping alcohol and sweetness in check.

Franck Pascal Harmonie 2017

Franck Pascal is a fifth-generation grower in Baslieux-sous-Châtillon (right-bank Vallée de la Marne), one of the first vignerons in Champagne to convert to biodynamics - Biodyvin certified since 2005. Harmonie is his vintage Blanc de Noirs; this 2017 (a tough Champagne year) tilts to 72% Pinot Noir / 28% Meunier rather than the cuvée's usual ~50/50, almost certainly reflecting which fruit came in clean. Disgorged 3 February 2025 - roughly seven years on lees, on the upper end of the cuvée's range. Dosage 2 g/L, primary fermentation in enamelled vat.

Pascal's late-disgorged vintage Blanc de Noirs in his savory register - not fruit-forward Champagne, the kind that wears its seven years on lees on its sleeve. Toasted almonds, brioche, baked apple, a leesy whisper of depth that suggests the long wait paid off. The 72% Pinot Noir gives structure; Meunier softens the edges. Acidity bright and threaded through rather than knife-edge. Bone dry from the 2 g/L dosage, but the long lees ageing does the work that dosage usually does elsewhere. A 2017 that came through Pascal's rigorous biodynamic selection - properly built without trying to impress.

Dario Prinčič Bianco Trebež 2020

Dario Prinčič is the quietest voice in the Oslavia orange-wine circle - same village as Gravner, Radikon, La Castellada, but his own register. Trebež comes from a single vineyard co-planted to Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, and Pinot Grigio; the three are vinified separately (roughly 5-8 days skin contact for the Pinot Grigio, 15-27 days for the others) and assembled afterwards. Long élevage in old/used oak - one importer reports around 42 months for the 2020 specifically. Bottled unfined, unfiltered, no added SO2 - the strictest end of Prinčič's already low-intervention protocol.

Same delicious wine - bold and direct, never flat, real depth under the richness. Buckwheat honey emerging this time, layered with the ripe peach, apricot jam, and dried mango from before; herbal dryness still keeping it out of fruit-bomb territory. Density and viscosity properly there now - palate-coating, the kind of texture that can only come from extended skin contact - but somehow still fresh, with the high acidity holding everything together. Bright and intense in a way that'll either charm you or push you away. Long, perfumed finish. A wine with serious presence.

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