How lovely must it be to receive an accolade from your peers and those at the very top of your profession?  Precisely this has just happened to the very deserving Paul Draper of Ridge Vineyards in California who has been 2013 Winemaker’s Winemaker.  The Winemaker’s Winemaker Award is now in its third year – previous winners are Peter Sisseck of Dominio de Pingus and Peter Gago of Penfolds and the winner is selected by a panel of Master of Wine winemakers.

Paul Draper has been winemaker of Ridge since 1969 and takes what he calls a pre-industrial approach to winemaking.  Perhaps this reflects his academic background in philosophy rather than chemistry.  Wherever his winemaking philosophy comes from, it’s clearly working for him.  His name is always spoken with a certain reverence by those who have met him.

Ridge was in the original 1976 Judgement of Paris tasting where the best of Bordeaux Cabernets were compared with the best of Californian Cabernets.  Ridge came fifth that time round, and first when they re-tasted the wines 30 years later in a second attempt to decide who made the best Cabernet in the world.  Pretty sound endorsement indeed.

Ridge Vineyards forge their own path and resolutely stick to the rather arcane idea of making great wines rather than courting big scores and press hype.  These are wines for winelovers.  Last year we had the very great privilege of meeting Eric Baugher, winemaking colleague of Paul Draper, at a Ridge tasting here in Crossgar.  These wines are absolutely outstanding and the care and attention that goes into making them is quite something.  The winemaking philosophy of Ridge belongs to Draper, he wanted to make wines the old-fashioned way, with minimal intervention, minimal use of chemicals, minimal use of sulphur to create fresh, moderate level alcohol wines that age beautifully and speak of where they come from.  Winemaking decisions in Ridge are based on tasting, tasting and then more tasting.  These guys aren’t making wine to a recipe or a prescribed standard.  These are wines that embody the ultimate ideal of wine – a delicious product made from grapes grown with great care from a special site by passionate, talented people.  These are wines with provenance.

At the top of the Ridge tree is Monte Bello.  A Cabernet dominant wine from their oldest vines.  Some of these vines pre-date Prohibition and with old vines comes great longevity.  Monte Bello is a wine to be hidden away and drunk when it reaches maturity.  For those who lack the patience – the Ridge Estate Cabernet is his little brother and is utterly charming in his youth.  No need to wait for this guy to grow up.  The talents of Mr Draper extend beyond just Cabernet, they make exquisite Chardonnay and gorgeous Zinfandel-based blends their Lytton Springs and Geyserville vineyards.  These are not Zinfandel as we know it; these are concentrated, elegant, well balanced and extremely ageworthy.  They may lack the full majesty of Monte Bello but for mere mortals a glass of Lytton Springs is quite the taste of Ridge heaven at a far from ridiculous price.

There isn’t a great deal of glamour to be found in your average winery.  Wellington boots or steel capped work shoes, endless cleaning, hosing and mopping, wine stained clothes and a general lack of grooming are all pretty much de rigeur.  The glamorous part sometimes happens when all the work is done and it’s time to open the bottles.  Jim and Chris were at Domaine Gayda in the South of France a couple of months ago and they had a pretty good glamorous wine tale to tell.

Gayda have recently launched 2 new wines; Freestyle Rouge and Freestyle Blanc.  And at what glamorous occasion were these wines being opened?  A wine dinner?  A press launch?  A tasting at a fancy hotel?  Not exactly.  At the Skyfall Premiere.  Yes, the Skyfall Premiere.  James Bond, Daniel Craig, Judi Dench, Javier Bardem, red carpets, the world’s media, the whole shebang.  Cool.  Or Dench as the kids say.

The labels feature a chap parachuting out of the sky.  Apparently they’re not in cahoots with Danny Boyle or the Royal Family – it’s pure coincidence and the label is designed to reflect Gayda’s liberated and unconstrained philosophy of winemaking.

What about the contents I hear you ask?  Is this stuff worth drinking?  Well, come down to Crossgar and see for yourself.  The wines will be open tomorrow and Saturday for tasting.  The only thing we still need to figure out is how to get Daniel Craig helicoptered over here for the full effect….

Freestyle Blanc 2011

Tasting Note:

Deep gold colour, very aromatic, with hints of stonefruit and honeysuckle. A rich full bodied wine with real depth, weight and concentration and a hint of oak to add further complexity. A lot of personality. Drinkable now but will continue to develop and improve over the next 5 years.

Press Reviews:

“Slightly smoky. Good, racy stuff.” - Jancis Robinson
"Crisp and fruity with plenty of peach and Fuji apple flavours, accented by rich, spicy notes. Rich, creamy notes fill the finish." - Wine Spectator

Freestyle Rouge 2011

Tasting Note:

Ruby red with some purple highlights. Vibrant, expressive nose of red and black fruits, pepper, spice and “garrigue”. A full bodied wine, with an expansive mouthfeel, integrated tannins and a long, silky finish.

Press Reviews:

“Deep crimson. Rich and herby. Well balanced. Spicy and sweet.” - Jancis Robinson
“Good structure and length, nice dark fruit, firm tannins with a good potential.” - Andreas Larsson
"...lots of garriguey southern briar fruits, vigorous depth and natural acidity... very well made" - Stephen Spurrier

There is still time to place your order, en primeur, for these exquisite wines from Artadi. The new range of Single vineyard wines come in packs of 3 meaning they offer a real investment opportunity. You may even wish to purchase all the Artadi 2011's and enjoy exploring the different flavour profiles offered by the very different terroirs.

The Single Vineyards

Artadi El Carretil Pack of 3 bottles - £170/€212

The 5-hectare El Carretil vineyard is set on sandstone with calcereous layers on its highest and poorest areas. The wines typically have fine tannins and a distinct mineral underlay.

The 2011 harvest was the first in which Artadi rigorously applied the criteria of organic farming in all its aspects. The first steps in biodynamic farming have also been initiated. 2011 was an extremely dry year. The winter in particular was much drier than usual and the growing season began with low water reserves. Heavy rainfall during the months of March and April allowed budding with a little more energy than expected although the presence of rain at the beginning of flowering hampered fruit set. Temperatures during the summer period were very low and the process slowed growing and maturing, a situation that changed dramatically during the months of August and September which brought high temperatures and water stress. Juan Carlos Lopez de Lacalle, Artadi's inspirational chief winemaker considers that, despite Natures's ravages, the wines convey "cleanliness, transparency, fruit, freshness, energy, muscle and whole strength of youth". The El Carretil reveals floral perfumes on the nose, subsequebtly dominated by mineral notes. On the palate, complex sweet and juicy fruits are followed by a long, mineral finish. Do not contemplate drinking this wine until 5 to 10 years have elapsed - then let pure pleasure unfold.

Artadi La Poza Pack of 3 bottles - £98/€123

The Poza de Ballesteros vineyard covers a mere 3.6 hectares of clay-limestone soils typically rendering wines of intense flavour with dense, rounded tannins. The 2011 vintage heralded the first year in which Artadi strictly applied the principles of organic agriculture in all their plots. Biodynamic agriculture has also been initiated in specific vineyards. Despite challenging weather conditions with drought, cold and heat all contributing to a difficult growing season, Juan Carlos Lopez de Lacalle believes that sustainable agronomical practices have helped produce wines whose superb quality has trumped the adverse weather conditions. The Poza de Ballesteros shows mineral/slate characteristics on the nose with stone fruits with a dollop of creamy blackberry on the palate. There is great depth and power, but also commendable freshness. The wine should be drinking within 5 years and will develop for many more.

Artadi Valdegines Pack of 3 Bottles - £65/€81

The south-east facing 7-hectare Valdeginés vineyard is located in the narrow corridor of the San Ginés Valley a couple of miles from the winery in Laguardia. The wines are produced from 100% Tempranillo grapes and are typically powerful, well-structured and well-balanced. Despite the ravages of drought, cold and excessive heat experienced at various times in the 2011 growing season, Juan Carlos Lopez de Lacalle, Artadi's charismatic proprietor is confident that the wines are top quality due in large part to the sustainable agricultural practices employed by the company, with its emphasis on organic and biodynamic winemaking. The Valdegines displays juicy fruit on the nose and is more open than the 2010 at the same stage of development. The palate unfolds with sweet fruit and a racy mineral core. The wine will be drinking within the next 4 years and will go on for 10+.

Artadi Pagos Viejos Pack of 3 bottles - £168/€210

Pagos Viejos is testament to the skills of Artadi's visionary winemaker Juan Carlos Lopez de Lacalle. Tempranillo grapes are sourced from 50-year-old vineyards before undergoing rigorous selection at six sorting tables to ensure only the best make it into the finished wine. The composition of the blend aims to show the complexity and character typical of the Tempranillo grape - fruit is sourced from sites with varying topography, altitude, soil types and planting densities. Grapes are also picked from the single vineyards and it is possible to detect their influence - ripeness from Poza, minerality from El Carretil and aromatics from Valdeginés. This is a wine of great complexity with subtle nuances and one that will evolve for many years.

Artadi El Pison Pack of 6 bottles- £499/€625

El Pison comes from a single 2.4 hectare vineyard planted in 1945 on pure limestone. It is the epitome of elegance and sensuality, its silky tannins coveying complex flavours, minerality, delicate spices and a lengthy, pure finish. In the words of Artadi's Juan Carlos Lopez de Lacalle: The Pison vineyard produces a wine which is a reflection of the knowledge of our ancestors and our passion to keep the spirit of the vineyard alive. Drink from 2018.

The winds of change are blowing gently through the Artadi vineyards. 2011 was the first year they strictly adhered to organic agricultural principles in all their plots. On top of this, they have started to apply biodynamic agricultural principles to some of their plots. The Artadi family have always had a deep respect for their land; when winemaker and owner Juan Carlos López de Localle was last here he told me that leaving his vines to travel felt like leaving his babies. This man truly understands the individual nature of each of his plots and how these differences and details reflect in his wines. It’s completely fascinating and inspiring to hear him talk. Juan Carlos may not speak English like a native, but he can absolutely convey his passion and knowledge with the utmost clarity. I defy anyone to spend some time in his company and not be won over by this man’s passion, skill and charming humility.

The old adage that great wines begin in the vineyard is absolutely true. A great winemaker can make a good wine from less than perfect grapes. A terrible winemaker can make bad wine from fabulous grapes, but to make a truly outstanding wine you need superb quality raw materials and the talent to make a wine that fully expresses its nature and beauty. It takes quite a leap of faith to completely surrender to the whims of Mother Nature when your livelihood and reputation hinge on getting a great natural product. It’s one thing to respect Mother Nature, it’s quite another to decommission all the weaponry you can call upon should she make life difficult. So when the Artadi people decided to go fully organic in 2011, there must have been a few sleepless nights when the weather didn’t exactly pan out as a perfect growing season. 2011 turned out to be an uncharacteristically dry year, with a cooler than normal summer which led to a long ripening season - but the grapes were really healthy. August and September saw a radical increase in temperature in the lead up to harvest so all in all this was a far from typical year in the Rioja region.

And the result? In the words of Juan Carlos: “Today, the tasting of these wines show cleanliness, transparency, fruitiness, freshness, muscular energy, the force of youth, and when we taste our emblematic plots, we can feel more deep vibrations, more reflection, voluminous sensations, text and sounds more difficult to interpret which predict a vintage of great merit”.

We look forward to their arrival.

Click here to see 2011 Artadi wines available to purchase en primeur.

Click here for some Artadi wines available for purchase now.

Click here for a list of all our wines currently available to purchase en primeur, including 2010 Artadi wines.

My taste in wine has evolved somewhat over the years and it seems to follow a particular pattern.  I stumble across a wine that I love then I drink around it - I look for wines made from the same grape(s) or from the same area to try to really understand what it is that I loved about the original bottle and how to find more wines in a similar vein.  This is how the whole world of wine has opened up to me - in little pockets which lead on to other little pockets.  Admittedly there have been a few horrors along the way but at the end of the day it's a labour of love and I'm happy to persevere.

Part of the fascination of wine is the huge variety of wines out there to be discovered.  There is always something new to learn, something else to try, but with such endless possibilities available we sometimes need a nudge - a reason to try something new or a hint that something is just what we're looking for.  We all love recommendations so we've put together some mixed cases to inspire some new discoveries.  The wines are grouped together by style; the essential characters of the wines are the same but there is enough variation between them to keep it interesting and varied.  All the wines are great quality and very enjoyable.

Light whites (available as 6 or 12 bottle case) are wines that are fresh and fruity with no oak (for the 'anything but chardonnay' people).  These are very easy-going white wines that can be drunk alone or with food.  If you love the fruity nature of Sauvignon Blanc and the delicate freshness of Pinot Grigio then these are similar in character and well worth a try if you’re looking for something new.

Sumptuous whites (available as 6 or 12 bottle case) are rich, generous and broad flavoured.  These white wines have more body and fullness than light whites.  Because they have more depth and flavour they go really well with food and will stand up to roast chicken or pork or even cheese or creamy dishes.  Some of these wines will have been aged in oak barrels but the oak is never overpowering – it supports the fruit and gives the wine a savoury, warming edge.  Chardonnay would generally fit into this category as do the gorgeous wines of Alsace and there are some fabulous blends to discover too.

We’d love to hear what you think, what’s your style?