September 2021 Tasting Report: The Best of Spain, Italy, Austria and More
We are tasting between 500 and 800 wines every week at the moment, and we compile our findings into a Weekly Tasting Report. We don’t think any other wine media organization is publishing so many new tasting notes so quickly. Many of the ratings we publish are for wines tasted just the previous day! And because so many of the wines we taste are the latest releases, often not yet available in the market, this ensures that all Premium Subscribers of JamesSuckling.com (who get access to the latest wine scores and tastings notes) are among the first to learn about the newest wines.
We are now also collating all the ratings published in a month in one large single report for your convenience, too. You can read about the wines below, and subscribers can access the scores and tasting notes in the ratings list at the bottom of this article.
We published 2,284 wine ratings in September, from 14 countries. Here’s how the tastings broke down (you can click “sort by” in the notes search engine below to search by each individual country):
Argentina – 1
Australia – 152
Austria – 313 (Burgenland 30; Carnuntum, 7; Danube, 179; Eisenberg, 17; Leithaberg, 37; Steiermark, 41; Others, 2)
Chile – 2
China – 44
France – 74
Germany – 381 (Ahr, 18; Baden, 25; Franken, 12; Mosel, 102; Nahe, 66; Pfalz, 56; Rheingau, 37; Rheinhessen, 57; Wurttemberg, 6; Other, 2)
Hungary – 3
Italy – 337 (Abruzzo, 15; Campania, 90; Emilia-Romagna, 1; Friuli-Venezia Giulia, 1; Lazio, 7; Lombardy, 1; Marche, 14; Northeast, 26; Piedmont, 25; Puglia, 3; Sicily, 30; Tuscany, 103; Umbria, 5; Veneto, 13; Others, 3)
New Zealand – 17
Portugal: 1
South Africa – 8
Spain – 924 (Andalucia, 7; Aragon, 39; Castilla y León, 254; Castilla-La Mancha, 81; Cataluña, 88; Extremadura, 1; Galicia, 47; Islas Baleares, 5; Islas Canarias, 2; La Rioja, 243; Madrid, 3; Murcia, 27; Navarra, 22; País Vasco, 3; Valencia, 28; Others, 74)
United States – 27
It was the September Siege of Spain at JamesSuckling.com. We hit the country hard with a tasting gusto unseen since our summer strike on Italy. Which was the more delicious journey? In August our top 10 bottles were split evenly between the two countries, even though we tasted more than twice as many Italian wines that month. But in September, Spain came on strong. Not only did the country produce some sterling bottles during the month, but it also showed once again the depth of quality and affordability of its wine stock compared with other countries.
Spain also doesn’t appear to have any “off-vintage” issues with its current wines on release, with the excellent 2018s and ‘19s proving their worth nicely in our tastings of 1,600 wines from the country this year. Or course, the Vega Sicilia Ribera del Duero Reserva Especial Unico NV also proved that Spanish wines don’t necessarily need to come out of a single vintage to achieve greatness. It’s a multi-vintage blend that combines 2008, 2010 and 2011 – a gem of a wine that’s completely and utterly seductive on the nose and palate.
We also delved into some interesting whites from Galician winery Attis Bodega y Viñedos, including the Attis Bodegas y Viñedos Spain Sitta Maceración Skin Contact 2020 and Attis Bodegas y Viñedos Spain Sitta Doliola 2019, which both delivered aromatic and flavorful bottles, with wonderful combinations of spices and dried fruits.
As for garnacha-based reds – we tried a few, and they are always among the best we rate each year. Producers like Comando G and Daniel Landi are making wines with uncanny purity and transparency. The Comando G Vinos de Madrid La Bruja de Rozas – a proven winner from past vintages – scored highly once again with its 2019 version, and perhaps the best thing about this wine is its low cost. At under $30, it fits right in with the pricing profile of the typically affordable, and excellent, Spanish wines. Another highlight from our Spain tasting was the 2019 Pingus from Dominio de Pingus, which James called “world-class,” although he suggested giving it time in bottle before it becomes something “truly great.”
READ MORE ISRAEL’S UNIQUE WINE SPIRIT: INNOVATIVE SPIRIT WITH MEDITERRANEAN ELAN
CHAMPAGNE’S NEW ROAD: James talks with Charles Philipponnat about the 2021 harvest and why he decided to release his Champagnes on La Place de Bordeaux.
VINOUS TRIP THROUGH CAMPANIA
Even amid our dalliances with hundreds of Spanish wines, our love for Italian bottles remained steadfast as ever, especially for those in the Campania region of Italy, home to the amazing Mount Vesuvius. The best of our tastings from the region, including the the Galardi Campania Terra di Lavoro 2019, Perillo Taurasi Michele Perillo Riserva 2009 and Montevetrano Colli di Salerno 2018, were perfect manifestations of the kind of vinous trip the great wines of the region can take you on as soon as you put your nose to the glass. We did have some reservations about the overall quality, with many of Campania’s wines failing to make it out of the 90- to 91-point range, perhaps from inattentive winemaking. Still, most of the wines were impressively clean and well made.
On the Barolo side of the scale, there was one standout of note – the late-release Parusso Barolo Bussia Riserva 2000, which is only available in magnum and shows all the dried fruits and earthy, umami notes of the best from Piedmont. In all, James said, “a beautiful bottle.”
More beauty still came out of – where else? – France, where we uncorked two Philipponnat Champagnes released on La Place de Bordeaux recently and which are worth buying for their scarcity value alone, including the late disgorged 1996 Clos des Goisses Extra Brut LV. Have a look at James’ Zoom interview, above, with Charles Philipponnat, who explains why they decided to work with La Place.
Senior Editor Stuart Pigott found even more excellent bottles from Austria’s 2020 vintage (look for his full report on that soon), which he universally found to have a cool and vivid nature, including offerings from such famous wineries as Brundlmayer, Hirsch and Nigl. Although 2020 isn’t quite at the level of 2019, it has one advantage: you can drink the bottles from the latest vintage now rather than putting them in your cellar.
UNDER-THE-RADAR REDS
Stuart also uncovered some slightly under-the-radar Austrian reds from Moric and Dorli Muhr. “I am a fan of their reds, particularly from such grapes as blaufrankisch. I just love their drinkability and freshness with deep, dark fruit. They have beautiful balance and transparency. Check out the top wines from each of these producers,” Stuart urged.
In neighboring Germany, Stuart found some incredible bottles, especially from the Mosel Valley. Although as in Austria, Germany’s 2020 vintage doesn’t stack up to the 2019, if only in terms of consistency, 2020 was “clearly an excellent vintage” for specific types of German wine, like the Kabinett category, where young winemakers are moving rieslings back into the “diamond-bright direction.” None of these, Stuart said, was better than the Julian Haart Riesling Mosel Ohligsberg Kabinett (White Label) 2020, the first perfect wine in this category we have ever encountered, and “an innovation of radical importance for the Mosel.”
Of further note on the German riesling front were the “extremely complex and pristine” Eva Fricke Riesling Rheingau Krone Trocken 2020 and the “super-ripe” and “remarkable” Eva Fricke Riesling Rheingau Schlossberg Auslese 2020, both of which underlined the greatness of the 2020s from the Rheingau. And attention pinot fans: Stuart called the Bernhard Huber Spätburgunder Baden Wildenstein GG 2019 a “masterpiece,” and the Bernard Huber Spätburgunder Baden Schlossberg GG 2019 “a milestone of finesse for German pinot noir!”
Finally, our tastings of about 150 Australian wines turned up some incredible bottles, including the Murdoch Hill Pinot Noir Adelaide Hills Apollo 2020, which showed great concentration and elegance, and the Tapanappa Chardonnay Adelaide Hills Piccadilly Valley Tiers Vineyard 2020, which comes from a parcel that really overachieved in 2020. Contributing Editor Nick Stock also described a pure grenache from Yangarra, the Grenache McLaren Vale High Sands 2018, as having “immense power and carries rich, ripe red and blue fruit” and pointed to Clonakilla’s Syrah Canberra District Murrumbateman 2019, as being of “stunning quality.”
We also continued our tastings of Napa Valley’s exceptional recent vintages, and the Pym-Rae Tesseron Estate wines from 2018, ’17 and ’16 were no exceptions. The 2017 was just released on the market last week. These were all rich, full-bodied and even decadent.
What a way to end a great month of tastings from around the world!
– Vincent Morkri