Three wines inspire this story in this month’s column. A few others could probably join this trio, but these three epitomise my resounding theme. They do it with unwavering commitment, unshakable confidence, and unfathomable persistence, and they don’t need any support from the cheap seats.
Sam Lindo bounded up to me at the WineGB tasting, thrusting a glass of red wine in my hand. I hadn’t even tasted his sparklers or whites, and yet his ear-to-ear grin and unquenchable enthusiasm meant I followed his lead and, after a sip, was delighted to have done so.
The story of this wine is set out opposite, but it was not only the flavour that impressed me but Sam’s ability to think outside of the box, solve a problem and have a bloody good go.
Suppose I had to sum up one attribute that most impresses me about people from all walks of life. If anyone has a bloody good go at something, I invariably migrate to them, wanting to learn and draw inspiration from their positivity.
These radiant souls are often prepared to throw caution to the wind and wing it, trialling and failing before stumbling across initiatives or techniques that create new and fascinating inventions.
We are spoilt as a nation in the UK because of our tacit eccentricity and desire to experiment and rectify an issue before calling in ‘the experts’ or having to pay someone for advice. I love that we usually have at least a few goes even if we sense a problem, or a challenge is unlikely to be solved.
I call those of us more likely to succeed Have-A-Go Heroes, and Sam ought to be the wine business’s honorary chair. ‘If at first you don’t succeed; try, try again” is possibly one of the most irritating expressions of all, whereas ‘Have-A-Go’ (capitalised because it is usually shouted, not whispered) has a charm to it that implies one doesn’t expect success, but if it happens, then bravo!
Our wine trade is filled to the brim with Have-A-Go Heroes, some of whose wines might not have seen the light of day, but for others, these creations have proved that from a lightning strike of inspiration, the results can be utterly delicious, spawning newfound pathways to ever more success.
2023 Biddenden Vineyards, Gewurztraminer, Kent
£24.50
Mailing list, members only, www.biddendenvineyards.com
Tom Barnes was at pains to inform me that his grandparents picked the site for their vineyards, and his dad, Julian, planted the Gewurztraminer vines in 2011, the first year he returned home after his studies.
All Tom had to do was to get it into a bottle which he did last year. He sent me a sample of the first vintage, which wasn’t illuminating. It must be nigh on impossible to make the most characterful white grape of all taste in any way neutral, but this was squarely achieved with the 2022 vintage of this wine.
We laughed about it. I did anyway. But what genuine have-a-go-types do is they get back on the horse, and so, while unsuccessfully suppressing a smirk, Tom offered me a taste of the 2023 vintage, and I am thrilled to report that this tri-generational dream has come to fruition. Of course, it would work.
All it needed was for Tom and his team to keep trying and never give up. They have even planted more vines. This tiny production will go on sale after this edition is published, so if you are not a Biddenden Vineyards Gold Card Member, you are likely to miss out on the UK’s first Gewurz that actually looks and tastes like delicate rose petals and juicy lychees while retaining a stunning, crisply teasing dry finish!
2022 Camel Valley, Pinot Noir
£24.95
I remember visiting Camel Valley many years ago. Bob Lindo proudly introduced me to his son, Sam, who at the time was a wisp of a chap who barely looked like he was out of short trousers. Bob’s intro was anything other than timid, “Sam is amazing. He can fix anything in the winery.”
I must have commented that it was useful to have a handyman around, whereupon Bob firmly put me right. “He doesn’t just fix things that are broken. He engineers new parts from scratch, redesigning all manner of equipment so it works better and lasts longer.”
OK, so he might just have been the most useful young’un in our fledgling trade back then, and he certainly has proved his worth ever since, not least when he embarked upon making red wine in a wholly fascinating and, dare I say it, rather logical manner that has resulted in a stunningly attractive conclusion.
So this is how this Have-A-Go Superhero did it – The grapes were picked as if for sparkling wine production, so there was no need to “drop fruit” and no “waiting until November to pick”. Sam then blended the grapes (yes – Magimix-ed them), pressed them off after 12 hours and fermented the juice like a white wine. He then “malo’d, mox’d and very light oak chipped” (I love his abbreviations, which everyone reading this mag will understand, and no one else!) to truly respect the “industrial nature of the process.” And that was that.
Sam is a genius because if it tasted like a hair-brained concoction, it would not find its way onto this page. Instead, it is dark, smooth, enchantingly perfumed, varietally precise, silky, forward-drinking and complete. Who’d have thought it? Sam, that’s who – our very own Have-A-Go Hero.
Vagabond Wines, Solena Batch 003
£35.00
I went a little weak at the knees when I tasted winemaker Jose Quintana’s Solena Batch 001 a couple of years ago.
This faintly crazy, multi-vintage, skin-contact, orange-style, fantasy Ortega project was started in 2018. In 2022, the first release of this NV Ortega, which included 20% 2018 skin contact Ortega and 80% 2021 skin contact Ortega, was electrifying, if ever so slightly unnerving.
Two years on, and if you have not learned that Jose was born from Have-A-Go genes, you ought to by now because his entire range of wines is jaw-droppingly sublime, with the erstwhile tree-hugging-funkiness wholly replaced with Cool Hand Luke confidence and this is showcased by Solena Batch 003, a wine that is so unique and also so tear-jerkingly beautiful it defies comprehension.
It makes me wonder – if we didn’t have this wine in the ether, and, more importantly, I hadn’t tasted it, would my life be complete. Toothsome, invigorating, kaleidoscopic and with a peacock’s tail of tone and shimmer, this landmark wine ought to inspire even the most risk-averse dullard to have a bloody go.
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