The volcanic wines of Woodwinters
For its autumn trade tasting, Woodwinters, the importer, wholesaler and retailer showcased not one but two volcanic-themed wineries, from Tenerife and Mount Etna respectively.
Andrew Johnson, MD, Woodwinters told Harpers: “I would definitely say the wines of the Canary Islands and volcanic wines are definitely on trend. The other thing is they are made from indigenous grape varieties, which is something that a lot of the top-end sommeliers are looking for.
“If I come to a sommelier with a Chardonnay from Greece or Tenerife, they will say, ‘I’m not interested’. On the whole, somms are looking for something with a more natural, indigenous feel to it.”
The wines of Piedra Fluida from Tenerife certainly tick that box, which has the distinction of being the highest vineyard in Europe (1,650m), spanning 26ha. The indigenous red grape, Lista Negro, is planted on the northern slopes with the whites, made from Listan Blanco, the local name for Palomino, planted in the drier, higher southern side.
Woodwinters, which specialises in boutique, family-run estates, has also welcomed the iconic winery Benanti from Mount Etna into its portfolio.
Johnson added: “Another big highlight for us is the launch of Benanti, from Etna, which is probably the most historically important producer in Etna, so we are delighted to welcome them to our portfolio with a range of amazing wines using 100% native grapes – Carricante, Nerello Mascalese and Nerello Cappuccio.”
Benanti farms 24ha on four different slopes of the volcano – in the north is Contrada Dafara Galluzzo in Rovittello village (only Nerello Mascalese), in the east is Contrada Rinazzo in Milo village (only Carricante), in the south-east is Contrada Monte Serra in Viagrande village (all varieties) and, in the south-west is Contrada Cavaliere in Santa Maria di Licodia village (all varieties).
All Etna Bianco is made of 100% Carricante, vinified in stainless steel and never aged in oak. Meanwhile, Etna Rosso has a restrained influence of neutral oak and Nerello Cappuccio is blended up to 20% with Nerello Mascalese.
The tasting at St Martin’s in the Fields saw Woodwinters partner up with Central Wines and Festa Wines respectively, in an attempt to pool resources together and attract more buyers to the event.
Johnson said: “We decided this year to partner up with two other importers, so we have Festa Wines which is a Portuguese specialist and then Central Wines which is run by ex-sommelier Adam Michocki and specialises in wines from Central Europe.
“We did that for two reasons, one is safety in numbers, trying to get sommeliers and buyers to come to tastings is becoming increasingly difficult, not least because of the stress there is on staff – restaurants just don’t have enough staff, and sommeliers don’t have enough time to come to tastings, so obviously if you have someone else like Festa Wines and Central Wines you are able to pool your resources. And, if you look at the Dirty Dozens tasting or the Vaults tasting, more and more importers are pulling their resources together in order to get more people to tastings.”
He added: “One of the reasons we brought both of them on was because we don’t have any Polish or Belgian wines, so there’s no competition and our portfolio is not very strong in Portugal, so we give them access to our customers and vice versa.”
Other highlights from the tasting included Italy’s largest biodynamic winery Avignonesi from Montepulciano, PIWI specialist Tenuta Dornach from Alto Adige, one of the original iconic wineries from south Australia, Yeringberg in the Yarra Valley and fairtrade champions Bosman Family Vineyards from Wellington South Africa.
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