Sato Wines Riesling, Central Otago, New Zealand 2014 (from £23.99, AG Wines; Les Caves) The Real Wine Fair, a show devoted to organic, biodynamic and natural wines from hundreds of producers all over the world, has become a bit of a springtime fixture in the UK wine world calendar, a kind of east London foodie hipster version of the Chelsea Flower Show. As ever, I came away from this year’s splendid event wondering quite why this genre of wines still puts so many people’s noses out of joint: there was very little of the mythical cloudy, stinky cider that anti-naturalistas claim is the result of not using the chemical additions used by more conventional producers. In the case of Burgundy-trained, New Zealand-based, Japanese winemaker Yoshiaki Sato, resonant clarity and purity are, in fact, the result of his meticulous methods, not least in his gentle but tensile riesling.
Recaredo Terrers Brut Nature Gran Reserva, Alt Penedès, Spain 2010 (£26.10, Bottle Apostle) Obsessive care and attention to detail are also what characterise another star of the fair, the Catalan Cava producers Racaredo. Matured for much longer on the lees (the dead yeast cells that remain in the bottle after the second, fizz-giving fermentation) than most Cavas, Racaredo’s versions of this much-maligned sparkling wine style are worlds away from the stolid stuff you find in the supermarkets. The tiny production, single-vineyard Turo d’en Mota 2001 is extraordinary: deep, savoury, mineral and chalky, yet graceful and soft, too – but, at £121 (Nickolls and Perks), it should be. The 2010 Gran Reserva, however, shows many of the same qualities in a wine that is both better than many Champagnes at this price and entirely its own thing.
Force Majeure Red, Swartland, South Africa 2016 (£15.50, Highbury Vintners) Apart from their aversion to chemicals and the small scale of their production, one of the linking themes among the very diverse set of producers at The Real Wine Fair is a willingness to use different, sometimes unsung grape varieties. Cinsault, a southern French grape variety that was until quite recently considered rather workaday, has become a favourite of many natural-minded producers, its ability to make lighter, juicy, thirst-quenching reds fitting right in with the current indie aesthetic. California’s Lo-Fi Wines Cinsault 2014 (£23.26, Les Caves) has crunchy red fruit and an underlying saltiness that is so drinkable; and Cinsualt joins a handful of other Rhône varieties in the super-supple, sappy South African Force Majeure Red.
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