The flavor of hay in wine of Metohija
Discover the of Metohija wines revealing the of hay flavor during the olphactive analysis (nose) and during the gustative analysis (mouth).
Kosovo is a region of south-eastern Europe, once an autonomous province within the former Yugoslavia. Until the outbreak of civil war, Kosovo had a substantial area of productive vineyards. Many were then abandoned, and the industry is still in the early stages of recovery.
This is a disputed land, claimed as sovereign territory by Serbia but seen as independent by the ethnic Albanian majority who live there.
Kosovo was governed by the United Nations until 2008, when the government of Kosovo was formed.
The effect of the conflict on the wine industry was amplified because Kosovo's pre-war exports were heavily focused on a single wine brand aimed at a single export market. Amselfelder ('blackbird fields'), a Sweet red wine made from Pinot Noir and Gamay, was a massive success in Germany.
The Kosovan wine market was disproportionately dependent upon it.
Millions of cases of Amselfelder were shipped to Germany each year, and the brand was at its peak when war broke out.
The logistics of wine production and export are nearly impossible in wartime, so for almost a decade those vineyards which remained undamaged were largely abandoned; the brand disappeared entirely.
Its place in the German wine market was taken by several similarly styled wines from other regions. Amselkeller, a red from Valencia in Spain, was the most successful rival, appearing just 18 months after the start of the Kosovan war.
As a wine critic, witnessing a relatively unknown estate rise up and receive the recognition it deserves can be a bittersweet feeling. From a purely selfish point of view, you watch the prices rise inexorably so you can no longer afford to drink wines from that estate as often as you once did. But primarily you’re delighted for the owners and for those who have discovered their wines. Scroll down for Matt Walls’ tasting notes and scores for five vintages of Domaine Gonon St-Joseph {"c ...
Moneypenny, James Bond, Q. Not a bad trio for your wine to share the screen with in its latest cameo. I’ll try not to give too many spoilers if you haven’t yet seen No Time To Die, but I don’t think it gives too much away to say that Bond can’t resist swiping two generous glasses of Château Angélus (2005, although you don’t see the vintage on screen) for himself and Moneypenny from a bottle that Q had carefully opened for his date later that night. This is the third Bond film in which Angélus ha ...
The rapid rise of South Africa’s Swartland wine region over the past 20 years has been thrilling to watch. And arguably the most influential winemaker during this renaissance has – and continues to be – Eben Sadie. Sadie was in London recently for a vertical tasting of his flagship wines, the red blend Columella and white blend Palladius. He explained to a rapt audience of critics, buyers and sommeliers how his approach to winemaking has changed over the years, and revealed how he’s preparing fo ...