Is ‘place’ the unsung hero of the world’s best wines?
Ben Franks, co-founder of Canned Wine Group in Bath and formerly Novel Wines, is the new wine columnist for TBE. Enjoy stories from the trade, and a few tips of what you could drink next.
From the Nerello Mascalese vines that run along rocky trellises along the foothills of Mount Etna, Sicily, to the delicate pink Koshu grapes topped with their paperhats on pergola vines in Yamanashi, Japan, there’s something special about wines born from fire.
It shouldn’t surprise the entrepreneurs and business owners amongst you what can come from an explosion of passion and fortitude. But what about when that same energy comes from the soil and earth itself? It’s an interesting concept, but it’s also evidently there: Hungary’s great Tokaji dessert wines have a vivid acidity no Sauternes could ever match, and their Lake Balaton rare Keknyelu wines (if you can find them; Danube Wines sells the excellent Sabar Keknyelu for £19.90 online) have a mouthwatering salinity and gunpowder spark you won’t find in your usual Rieslings. Both these, and those of Mt Etna and Mt Koshu, have something in common: volcanic soils.
These high drainage soils force the vines to root deeper. Through the plant’s struggle you get concentration in its fruit as it tries to propagate to survive. For every note of flavour you get a bonus point of intensity. If you like your zippy acidity, concentration of fruit (think dried berries rather than fresh ones, or candied lemon rather than pith), then volcanic wines offer something very special. A good red to try is the Torre Mora ‘Cauru’ Etna Rosso (£18.50, Majestic), which is made from both the Nerello Mascalese grape and another Etna variety, Nerello Cappuccio. The wine’s full of raspberries, violets and cherry jam. Perfect with lamb.
Koshu, the pink-skinned variety that made it to Japan along the silk roads, has a very special place in my heart. The Grace Winery’s Koshu Kayagatake (£24.99, Novel Wines) was one of the first wines we ever stocked at Novel Wines when I launched that business over a decade ago. These wines are light, delicate and crisp but have a salinity I always associate with volcanic soils. They are, as you might expect, delightful partners to sushi or sashimi. I’m delighted to see Novel Wines still stock it after I sold the business in 2023.
It isn’t just the volcanic soils of these wonderful esoteric places that leave their stamp on your wines. Provenance breeds character, and it’s one of the reasons why my parents and in-laws can’t go back to the mass-produced wines they once drank. It’s just too dull.
The loess soils that run along the banks of one of Europe’s most important wine rivers, the Danube, are incredibly fertile soils largely formed of wind-blown silt and clay. In a cooler, more marginal continental climate like Austria, these soils provide the nutrients and water retention for one of my favourite grapes to thrive: Grüner Veltliner.
Grüner Veltliner is not far off the style of Sauvignon Blanc; it’s crisp, herbaceous, full of zesty citrus, and, when ripe, more exotic stone fruits and honeyed red apple. The grape is the star variety of Austria, especially in the Niederösterreich wine region to the north-east where the Danube circles its way from Wachau in the west to Vienna in the east. As you explore the river from the foothills and altitude in the west, where the wines are more herby and spicy, you’ll discover as the lands get flatter and warmer to the east the fruit becomes softer and more fruit driven.
When we launched Canned Wine Group, we chose to work with Markus Huber, one of Austria’s finest winemakers. His estate is based in Traisental, roughly in the middle of the journey the Danube takes through Austria’s wine lands, and here there’s balance: zesty, green notes are combined with crowd-pleasing orchard fruit. You only get that balance through the unrivalled beauty of nature, where the fertile loess soils, the moderating influence of the fast-flowing Danube, and Austria’s cool continental climate all facilitate for perfectly ripe grapes.
There’s a lot more to your glass of wine than grapes. It’s the people and the place it comes from, and there’s passion born in every soil.
Canned Wine Co. Organic Grüner launched into Waitrose on 17 May, RRP £5.75 and available on Waitrose’s 4 for 3 special offer across canned wines and RTDs.
To find out more about Canned Wine Group visit: cannedwine.co
