Cava Domaine Mercouri
After the autumn rains, the Ionio Pelagos humidity clears up. Almost within reach, the mountain outline of the island of Zakynthos comes into focus. At dusk, visible from the Mercouri Estate gardens, car lights flicker across from the island that the Venetians called the Fioro de Levante. Cava Mercouri is home to the setting of perhaps the prettiest natural outdoor ‘tasting room’ under a corridor of pine trees. It is in this sheltered tranquil oasis that I recently tasted a selection of the older red vintages. For a full progress report you will have to wait for the publication of the forthcoming book. Meanwhile, of the many bottles opened, one stood out: the Cava 2006. This label is a vineyard selection of the finest grapes. Refosco dal Penduncolo Rosso (80%) and Mavrodaphne (20%), the small berried tsingela, though technicians are not in unison that it is a clone per se.
Most of you unfamiliar with Greek and European wine laws must be wondering what the word ‘Cava’ is doing on a still red wine. Simply put, when Spain joined the EU, in 1986, two Southern European wine cultures had different interpretations of the term. Luckily, it concerned very different types of wine. In short, Spain kept Cava for their Catalan sparkling white wine, and Greece kept Cava for still cellar-aged white, to a lesser degree, and mostly red wine.
Dark. Bright fruit. Intense. Refosco freshness and structure. Spicy wood and currant fruit with soft, generous Mavrodaphne tannins. A hint of tobacco on the finish. Very pure. Poised. A more modern, rounder tannin profile than earlier vintages (the stellar 2000 comes to mind). Partly down to malolactic fermentation now taking place in cask. Few wines reflect with such clarity their place of origin – in this case the balmy, warmer maritime Ionian. Recommended in carafe. Best 2010-2020.
Score: 17.5/20
For more information, please visit www.mercouri.gr
28.09.2009
