While I am the last person to talk about 3D modelling and anything remotely technical, to be honest, I rather like the term ‘texture mapping’ and its definition, which I located online.
Apparently, texture mapping adds realism to a 3D model by defining high-frequency detail, surface texture, or colour information on said model. I like wines that have been knowingly or, perhaps unwittingly, subjected to texture mapping.
This month’s theme concerns texture: fine grain, imperceptible texture, the kind of faint raspiness that adds mouth-watering detail to already handsome wines. This calibre of texture has nothing to do with clumsy lees stirring or graceless skin contact, nothing whatsoever.
It is a magical quality arising from impeccable fruit handling and exceptionally sensitive winemaking. It is not as simple as just building slightly richer wines, either. There is definitely a correlation between sapidity and deliciousness.
A fulcrum that balances detail and density without adding weight or oiliness. I adore limpid and free-flowing wines that also have a degree of gravitas. I seek out whites and sparklers, in particular, that possess a specific style of traction and grip while seeming innocent and delicate.
It is a counterpoint between a perfectly smooth texture and one that appears smooth but has infinitesimal rivulets of contrast and nigh-on invisible striations of detail, which is breathtaking. For the purposes of this article, I am calling these wondrous characteristics wine’s very own version of texture mapping.
This month, I have found three headline wines and a couple more that all possess this cosmic attribute. These wines have thrilling perfumes, flavours, and finishes, and, importantly, they augment these essential traits with an extraordinary degree of subtlety and intrigue that makes them sensational.
2023 Mudwall, Marlpit Bacchus, Benenden, Kent
£18.00
My old pal Toby Spiers sent me this wine shortly before I started working on this piece, and it is the perfect example of the art of texture mapping. Owen Elias makes this Bacchus, and it is unlike any I have tasted this year.
Before I describe the flavour, the packaging, in particular, the label, is terrific. It is textured, and I mean really textured, and it sounds the trumpet for the equally mesmerising traction one finds on the mid-palate of this wine’s flavour.
Weighing in at 13%, there is sufficient heft here to support the glorious texture found at this wine’s core. Despite this wine’s impact, it is bright, clean, refreshing and lively. It has the uncommon knack of seeming intellectually pleasing while at the same time remaining happy-go-lucky.
The grapes were picked on two days, 29 September and 15 October, and I hazard a guess that the decision to harvest the finest and ripest grapes with a two-week window in the middle is one of the keys to this wine’s success. I imagine the other is for Owen and the owners, the Macphersons, to know and keep close to their chests!
2023 Oastbrook Pinot Gris Block 1
£24.50
Exclusively from www.oastbrook.com
There is a trio of Oastbrook wines that all subscribe to my texture mapping theme this month, led by Block 1.
I have long been a fan of Oastbrook’s PG, not least because this wine is one of the original English texture mappers. But Block 1 has come along with a heightened degree of luxury while sporting a slenderer chassis.
How is this possible without intricate texture augmentation? Unlike hordes of special cuvée wines that add weight and power and, as a result, become less delicious, this wine is even more captivating.
2023 Pinot Blanc
£23.00
£21.50
A creamy and voluminous wine, not unlike an elite Alsatian from the likes of Domaine Weinbach, but it maintains a cadence and sprightliness across the palate thanks to its dreamy texture.
Finally, a more difficult discipline to master is the still Blanc de Noirs model.
2023 Pinot Meunier
£23.50
Only 1,300 bottles of 2023 Pinot Meunier were made, and this is an exotic and pink-tinged wine, not from a colour perspective but from a flavour point of view.
Raspy rhubarb, pink grapefruit pith and peppercorn crunch make this a dry and teasing wine. This completes the hat-trick for Oastbrook, and you must taste every one of these wines.
2019 Rathfinny Blanc de Noirs Brut
£42.50
£43.95, reduced to £40.95 each in a case of 6 bottles
£45.00
A trio of Rathfinny 2019s hit the spot with me, and each of these wines plays games with texture intricacy and ravishing detail.
My lead wine is made from 81% Pinot Noir and 19% Pinot Meunier, and it is a spectacularly well-judged wine. Hints of creamy red fruit are intersected by discreet tension, both acidic and textural. This is a super-long wine, and it resides in the top tier of BdNs. If you take price into account, it is hard to beat anywhere on Earth.
2019 Rathfinny Rosé
£40.00
£38.99
Perhaps it is unsurprising that 2019 Rathfinny Rosé is another marvellously successful wine. The generous fruit is broken up by hull and stem green hints, giving the red cherry and fraises des bois notes, scratchy bite and keen edges. This is, again, a bafflingly well-priced wine.
2019 Rathfinny Classic Cuvée
£32.50
£32.50, reduced to £29.95 each in a case of 6 bottles
Finally, it might surprise you to learn that the baby cuvée at this esteemed estate, 2019 Rathfinny Classic Cuvée, subscribes to the same tenets as the other wines.
It is another texture mapped wine that screams luxury while revelling in its fabulously lascivious imperfections.
