It’s maybe thinner than you expect, but wonderful aromas and flavours of cassis, cherries and black fruit make up for a somewhat weak body of it. It’s rather enigmatic and complex – very good job, I say. Sourced at a local indie wine merchant, but also available at Organic Wine Club.

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Beyra 2012, Organic Mencia, Portugal. This organic Portuguese wine shows exciting minerality, delicate and fresh wild berries and forest fruit. It is fresh, not overly acidic, round, full of forest fruit and depth of a hot climate. Hugh altitude makes it fresh and no barrel ageing means there is no oaky flavours. To make the layers go more complex, there is this granite minerality that makes this wine even more special.

Finish is elegant and shows this wine’s freshness and pure qualities of these organic Mencia grapes. Sourced at The Wine Society.

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Organic Albet i Noya Finca La Milana 2009 is made in Penedes, Spain and boasts of the usual alcoholic content of 15%. First impression you get is how soft this wine is. It opens up like a feather, one made of blackcurrants, plums and blackberries. Wonderful. When you taste it, it further develops into a sour cherry, red currant flavours (due to its refreshing acidity) and finishes with blackberries, plums with some earthy and mineral-like spice. 

It has a bouquet of complex spice and further gamey and animal notes. These give you a hint that the ageing made its toll, and indeed 13 months in French oak resulted in the softness of this organic wine so you will enjoy it immensely. It is a blend if Merlot, Tempranillo, Cabernet Sauvignon and Caladoc. Sourced at Organic Wine Club, 28/35

 Maris 2012 from Minervios, South of France.

Gnano Maremma Tuscany 2011 – made from organic Carignan grapes, this wine is of a very perfumed nature, mineral qualities and generous, but restrained red fruit with some notes of black fruit.

Aromas are fresh, full of cherries and damson. Acidity is definitely there, but it varies happily with the fruit creating a round yet fresh mouth-feel. There is also some sweet spice, gorgeous and round oakness to it with vanilla and leather notes that are  simultaneously playing around.

Amazing wine from Vintage Roots, retails at £18.75. Currently not available in the UK.

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Pure Petit Verdot 2012, that is 100% organic Petit Verdot grapes from Domaine de Brau.  At first I was slightly disappointed – it was simply not very attractive when I smelled it. Yet its Flavours are much much better – gorgeous black and forest fruit, velvety peppery and floral, refreshing, ripe and, overall, very pleasant. The wine is smooth and not overly powerful with a 13% alcohol content, but quite juicy. This grape is not very tannic, but quite straightforward with its fruity juiciness. 

I recommend it very much, but do not forget to chill it slightly. Available at Organic Wine Club for just over £12.

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Loidana Priorat 2012 is produced by Marco Abella and even though it does not bear the organic sign on the bottle it can be considered as uncertified organic.

The blend is made from Garnacha, Carignan (or locally labelled as Samso) and a bit of Cabernet Sauvignon. Aromas are not that exciting, some organic off smells are present, but they quickly fade away. Flavours are of generous black fruit, sweet spice and of some woody full bodied character. It goes well with additional layers of rich blackberry and bramble fruit, vanilla and cedar notes.

This wine was sourced directly from Spain using Catalunya Wine online store. You can find some other interesting wines from the same cellar in the UK by visiting Lea&Sandeman website.

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You can buy it from the independent retailer Organic Wine Club.

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Cabirol 2011 Organic Garnacha Tempranillo, Montsant.

Expecting ample aromas of bramble and black fruit, but with some very ripe apple aromas as well, which give this wine that elegant and subtle touch of freshness.

When  you taste the wine, these apple flavours at the back again prove to give an additional refreshing acidity, which counterbalance the ripeness of the fruit. You will see that the complexity is there and the flavours are quite pronounced. What is impressive is how this wine’s sharpness is complemented with freshness and some further oak – really good job!

Can be sourced at Organic Wine Club for an unbeatable value – a great find!

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Organic Tempranillo 2011 Ull de Llebre, Albet I Noya, Penedes, Spain.

It displays wonderful strawberry notes, ripe raspberry and juicy plums, just without the punch of oak and vanilla that comes with it.

This organic Spanish red is made from 100% organic Tempranillo grapes, which were hand harvested from 35 years old vines. Sourced from Organic Wine Club.

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Navarrsotillo 2011, Organic Rioja Crianza, sourced also from Abel and Cole, is made from 90% Tempranillo and 10% Garnacha. The wine is also oak matured for 12 months, which makes it taste really woody with pronounced strawberry and vanilla flavours.

The aromas have some depth and width to it – the wine is round and not sharp at all. Flavours are typically Rioja with additional roundness and a lot of generous fruit. The latter plays a major part in this wine, overtaking the woodiness, which is also a good aspect, as woodiness and vanilla are just on the back. It is a bit sweeter, but still very pleasant as the acidity adds a special kick and refreshing quality. The wine is very pleasant, but again, it is not overly complex.

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Chateau Bouissel Classic 2012, AOC Fronton is an organic wine from France, which is a blend of ever popular Cabernet Sauvignon with a little gem like Negrette.  When smelling the wine it appears to have some off aromas, but it’s getting better with trying it –  the wine starts singing with good flavours of cassis and round tannins. It is very juicy with notes of violets and liquorice, but also pleasant  refreshing acidity. The complexity of this wine also benefits from some forest fruit and touches of cedar.

Negrette gives both freshness, dark colours and this weird combo of floral and liquorice notes.

Available at The Wine Society. 26/35

Lagasca 2014 from La Tierra de Castilla provided by Humble Grape. This wine has all possible certifications as it is biodynamic and organic. It is a young blend of Tempranillo & Petit Verdot, which is quite unusual nowadays, but also quite exciting at the same time. The wine is plummy with strawberry and red currant flavours, so typical to Tempranillo. Flavours are married with intense perfume, colour and some black fruit of Petit Verdot. It makes this wine fresh but sweet-ish, straghtforward but complex with fruity flavours.  

It is more on a simple and a bit sweet side, but the fruit is there; it is elegant and touched with vanilla and spice (thyme, rosemary). This organic Tempranillo – Petit Verdot is exciting, but of an everyday type of wine.  26/35

You can source it from independents like ‘Vintage Roots’.

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Brau 60/40 Cabernet Franc Cabernet Sauvignon 2011 from Pay d’Oc. 2014 Challenge Millesime Bio was triumphant for them – they won a silver medal. Taste-wise, you will feel slight bitterness, both in terms of its aromas and flavours. It gives away Cab Franc, whereas black currants and black currant leaf are the Cab Sav typical flavours. All blending in nicely and correctly then. It is juicy, somewhat slightly watery, but nevertheless very attractive. It flows nicely, and then you notice this bitterness and earthiness on the back, so if you like these savoury sensations you should try this wine. It has some meaty notes to it too! Available from Planet Organic.

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Adobe Reserva 2013 Organic Carmenere, Colchagua Valley, Chile.

It’s made from Carmenere, a popular Chilean variety, which is giving a generous amount of black fruit, bramble and sweet spice. It’s not spicy, but quite round with a ripe plum, dark cherry and bramble compote. Very juicy and round.

It is a very good wine for those who like this rich and robust, but somewhat sweet Chilean style. This one is very representative of a country and a variety – an organic factor is an additional plus. It is a very good organic Chilean wine. Sourced from the independent organic wine specialist Organic Wine Club.

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 Organic Rose wines

Xinomavro Rose 2013 offers candy-like aromas: floral and sweet red fruit (strawberry), very intensely perfumed. Expect a good balance of refreshing acidity, but not over the top; there are also delicious sweet-ish fruit flavours and some touches of lemon-lime combination. It is so easy to be off balance, but it is not the case here. Fruit flavours could be much more robust, but the balance is key here – acidity is not sharp, fruit is not weak or too pungent – this wine is a good accompaniment for you summery salads and starters, it won’t play the first part though. Good thing about matching this organic Greek wine with food is that its restrained fruity side will not go against some savoury starters containing parma ham or jamon serrano.

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