Amanda Barnes

Category: Wine

All things vino

  • Exploring the future of cork closures

    Exploring the future of cork closures

    The multilingual vocabulary of wine can make people feel tongue-tied, but the pop of a cork transcends all language barriers. There are few other sounds in the world quite so synonymous with celebration. Whether you’re opening a fine bottle of wine, a well-aged port, or even a cheap bottle of fizz, that pop announces the party.

    Cork has been used as a stopper since the time of the ancient Greeks, but it wasn’t until the 17th century, and the advent of glass bottles, that it became the standard wine seal. Some of the advantages of cork closures are that they are watertight, sustainable, and good for color stabilization. Additionally, cork’s breathable nature allows the wine to develop over time with a small ingress of oxygen. It was the best—and practically only—option for centuries, providing over 95 percent of wine closures at its peak in the late 20th century. Today cork is used for more than 70 percent of closures, and more than 12 billion cork stoppers are produced each year, mainly from cork forests in Portugal and Spain…

    Read the full article on SevenFifty Daily

  • South America’s top sommeliers share the next big thing

    South America’s top sommeliers share the next big thing

    Written for Decanter magazine, October 2017

    NOT SO LONG ago, restaurant diners in Buenos Aires and Santiago would be offered a choice of two wines – red or white – and no one could tell you much about either. But since the first sommelier school opened in 1999, the rise of the somm in South America has been hypersonic. Today you’ll find wine lists categorised by micro-region, wine style or even soil type, and everyone has an opinion. The role of the professional sommelier has become integral to wineries in Argentina and Chile, while in the gastronomy capitals of Peru and Brazil wine culture is escalating hand-in-hand with the renowned cuisine. The new influx of imported wines and greater dissemination of wine communication is giving the new generation an unquenchable thirst for something new, spawning diverse wine trends of which the sommeliers are at the forefront.

    The role of the professional sommelier has become integral to wineries in Argentina and Chile, while in the gastronomy capitals of Peru and Brazil wine culture is escalating hand-in-hand with the renowned cuisine. The new influx of imported wines and greater dissemination of wine communication is giving the new generation an unquenchable thirst for something new, spawning diverse wine trends of which the sommeliers are at the forefront…

    Full article in October 2017 edition of Decanter magazine, featuring:

    • Marcelo Pino
    • Gabriela Monteleone
    • Joseph Ruiz Acosta
    • MatĂ­as Prezioso
    • Katherine Hidalgo
    • MartĂ­n Bruno

     

  • Why Chile is more exciting than you think

    Why Chile is more exciting than you think

    Written for The Tasting Panel, August 2017

    Chile sometimes gets pigeonholed as a safe, New World producer with good, simple wines at a fair price point. It’s not a bad rep, but it isn’t exactly riveting either. However, boasting both the oldest vines and the newest wine regions in South America, Chile is plump with diversity and spilling over with innovation. While the industry is concentrated in Santiago, the cradle of Chilean wine is more than 300 miles south—near the busy port of Concepción. Where the mouth of the Bío Bío River meets the Pacific Ocean, Concepción has been one of Chile’s greatest trading posts for over five centuries. “Vine-growing started in Itata, Bío Bío and Maule with the arrival of the Spanish [in the 1500s],” explains winemaker François Massoc. As word on the quality of Chilean wine spread, they began exporting back to Spain and the colonies, establishing a wine industry that the Spanish Crown sought—and failed—to crush.

    While the industry is concentrated in Santiago, the cradle of Chilean wine is more than 300 miles south—near the busy port of ConcepciĂłn. Where the mouth of the BĂ­o BĂ­o River meets the Pacific Ocean, ConcepciĂłn has been one of Chile’s greatest trading posts for over five centuries. “Vine-growing started in Itata, BĂ­o BĂ­o and Maule with the arrival of the Spanish [in the 1500s],” explains winemaker François Massoc. As word on the quality of Chilean wine spread, they began exporting back to Spain and the colonies, establishing a wine industry that the Spanish Crown sought—and failed—to crush….

     

    My wine picks

    De Martino 2015 Viejas Tinajas Muscat, Itata ($33) Made in old amphorae with old-vine Muscat in Itata, this orange wine is pure exuberance: heady floral notes combine with honey, citrus zest and a structured mid-palate.

    Leonardo Erazo 2016 La Resistencia Pais ($25) Low-yielding old vines make this ethereal Pais: light in color, floral and fresh in character, with a subtle and elegant style. A Grand Cru of Itata.

    Miguel Torres 2013 Escaleras de Empedrado Pinot Noir, Empedrado ($100) There are several super-premium Pinots emerging from Chile, and this is one of the best: terraced, schist vineyards in Maule offer notes of red cherry, underbrush and graphite.

    Undurraga 2013 Terroir Hunter Syrah, Limarí ($25) From Undurraga’s excellent single-vineyard series comes this aromatic, intense and spicy Syrah with bracing acidity from Limarí’s coastal limestone vineyard.

     

    Read full article in the August edition of The Tasting Panel magazine

  • Argentina’s new appellations

    Argentina’s new appellations

    Written for SevenFifty Daily, August 2017

    The freedom of the New World, and its lack of draconian appellation rules, might be much envied by producers in the Old World, but winemakers in Argentina are seeking more rigorous legislation for its regions.

    As a country with a 500-year history of vinification, Argentina is by no means new at the wine game. However, until recently, Argentina’s appellations—known as Geographical Indications (GIs)—have been determined by political boundaries, with little relevance to the geology, climate, or wines made in them. That is now changing.

    Full PDF: Argentina’s Evolving Appellations

    Read full article on SevenFifty Daily 

  • Climate change: The next frontier

    Climate change: The next frontier

    Some areas of Chile and Argentina are experiencing changes in the frequency and severity of weather extremes. While many winemaking regions struggle to adapt, there are some visionary producers who see it as an opportunity to explore. Amanda Barnes investigates…

    Decanter July 2017Decanter July 2017

    THE WINE MAP is undeniably changing. The worldwide phenomenon of climate change is creating new, once-unimaginable wine regions, while at the same time dismantling others in its path. The oxymoron is, of course, that it poses both distressing risk and thrilling opportunity for winemakers.

    Belonging to a hemisphere with more water than land, global warming in South America is relatively gradual. ‘Global weirding’, however, has been a bit more dramatic, as the last two vintages testify. 2016’s El Niño, nicknamed Godzilla, caused snow in Elqui, flooding in the Atacama desert and one of Mendoza’s wettest vintages on record, while the extreme heat of early 2017 led to the worst forest fires in Chile’s history and electrical storms setting Argentina’s Pampa ablaze. On the Atlantic coast, hurricanes are becoming an almost annual occurrence and in 2016 Uruguay experienced its first tornado.

    The bad news is that extreme weather events will likely become the norm. However, climate change brings greater concerns: ‘Water scarcity is the biggest threat of climate change,’ predicts Dr Fernando Santibåñez, director of Chile’s Agriculture Department, Agrimed. ‘The other problems – like increased variability and extreme events of intense rains, wind and hail – are secondary.’

    Action plans are underway in Chile to prepare for the probable warmer, drier future. Water salinity, vineyard UV radiation and smoke taint detection are today’s top priorities at Concha y Toro’s US$5 million research centre; and Wines of Chile is mapping out a 40-year viability study into both existing and potential wine regions based on climate change predictions. Argentina’s industrial initiatives are more timid, as short-term economic stability pulls rank, but wine producers are already adapting their viticulture in response to the changing climate. In both countries we can get an idea of what the future might taste like and the direction their wine regions are heading…

    Read the full article in Decanter’s July 2017 magazine or on PDF format: Climate change

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  • Argentina Harvest Report 2017

    Argentina Harvest Report 2017

    Off the back of a very wet El Niño vintage last year, it was a relief for winemakers in Argentina to return to its more characteristic dry climate.

    Although quality is considered high across the board, damaging spring frosts significantly reduced the quantity.

    ‘2017 is a fantastic harvest in terms of quality,’ said Santiago Achaval, winemaker at Matervini.

    ‘After 2014 and 2015 were challenged by rain close to the harvest, and 2016 in spring and early summer, we had a return to almost normal Mendoza weather. The only problem was a series of near-frost events during spring. This resulted in a poor fruit set for Malbec, with yields down between 40% and 60%.’

    Read the full report on Decanter
  • Harvest Report Chile 2017

    Harvest Report Chile 2017

    ‘It has been the earliest harvest I remember,’ said winemaker Marcelo Retamal, comparing 2017 to the last two decades of Chilean vintages.

    Chile’s 2017 harvest arrived up to a month early in some regions, but was also notable for high temperatures and low yields.

    ‘2017 is clearly an atypical vintage, marked by extremely high temperatures, early physiological stages from budding to harvest, and particularly low yields,’ said Michel Friou, winemaker at Maipo’s Almaviva, where yields were down 26%.

    Read full report on Decanter

  • Riesling: The Queen of Grapes

    Riesling: The Queen of Grapes

    Citrus aromas and a refreshing acidity make riesling a great accompaniment to food, and the latest offerings, ranging from bone dry to lusciously sweet, are nothing short of regal.

    Written for The Guardian, print May 2017

    Riesling is a polarising wine, but once you get the riesling bug it’s hard to shake. Originating in Germany, this white grape took the fancy of the clergy folk to such an extent that in the mid-18th century a local cardinal declared that the whole Rheingau region should be planted with riesling. Since then, the grape has become synonymous with German wine, and its characteristic citrus, floral and petrol aromas have accrued fans all over the world.

    But as every partygoer knows there’s a danger in having too much of a good thing. Riesling steadily gained popularity until the 1970s, when an overproduction of cheap, sickly-sweet examples of the wine trickled through the market. Rather than quench the public thirst for the varietal, it gave many people an aversion and poor old riesling faded into the bittersweet background.

    But it isn’t considered the queen of grapes for nothing. Riesling’s ability to reflect its terroir, age gracefully and deliver expressive wines, ranging from bone dry to lusciously sweet, means it can pair with everything from Thai food to calamari and even lemon pie.

    Cono Sur’s rieslings are grown in Bío-Bío, Chile’s cooler southern region, which lends the wine a spine of acidity and a balance of sweetness, fit for any banquet.

    Written for The Guardian, print May 2017

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  • Pinot Noir: The Beauty & The Beast

    Pinot Noir: The Beauty & The Beast

  • Viognier: One Lucky Grape

    Viognier: One Lucky Grape

    Written for The Guardian, 5 May 2017

    Always a tricky one to pronounce (ignore the g, it’s pronounced vee-on-nay), viognier has a long and interesting history. While most consider viognier a Rhîne variety, it actually originated in Croatia.

    Legend has it that Roman Emperor Probus was so enamoured with the wine – and its characteristic peach, apricot and blossom aromas – that he ordered the variety to be brought into the Rhîne in AD281. It has been used in the region’s wines ever since.

    What few people remember is that viognier actually came close to extinction in the 1960s, when just 15 acres remained. Its demise could perhaps be put down to the variety being particularly challenging to grow and ferment. That is not, however, where the story ends. In the past few decades, New World winemakers took up the mantle of making viognier, and it now flourishes in both northern and southern hemispheres. Each region offers a unique expression of the wine, but all share the beloved orchard fruit and invigorating blossom aromas that enticed Emperor Probus almost 2,000 years ago.

    Viognier’s warm fruit aromas together with its luscious, full body make it well-suited to food that often seems hard to pair – such as spicy stir-fries and sweet-and-sour dishes.

    Written for The Guardian, Published in Print Magazine May 2017

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