Simon J Woolf & Friends on Wild and Wonderful Wines
One of only two orange wines made in Bosnia-Herzegovina, at least as far as I know. Bariša Škegro’s 2015 orange (first vintage of this wine, reviewed here) was an enjoyable rustic style, but this 2017 really steps up a notch. Read more
Jan’s first try at a “proper” orange wine (Little Bastard has always had a small percentage of skin fermented in the blend). It didn’t entirely convince me. The one third of Gelber Muskateller (AKA Yellow Muscat) doesn’t really make its Read more
This unfiltered, no added sulphites Pinot Noir is a fascinating comparison with Jan’s more “classic” Pinot (bottled under the Staffelter Hof label). Here the aromas are way more earthy and even a touch feral (I would hesitate to say bretty, Read more
Originally conceived as a cheaper, more easygoing companion to “Madcap Magnus”, Jan’s first foray into natural winemaking, this blend has taken off in its own right. Superbly lively and a little bit spritzy straight out of the bottle. You can Read more
Simon takes Troy Patterson to task for asserting that orange wines are an assault on pleasure.
Roasted plums and a lot of evident heat on the nose. Attracive ripe strawberry and plum on the palate but there’s a lack of freshness overall
Lots of red fruit ripeness and a hint a caramel on the nose, rather woody and tannic on the palate, although this opens out to a surprisingly fresh and refined finish. Slightly lacking in fruit expression – the risk is Read more
Chocolately, plummy, rather neutral tasting fruit, a bit soupy, over-extracted and covered by oak. There’s a hint of Zwiegelt on the nose, and fairly decent acidity, but overall this is trying a bit too hard.
Spicy and herbaceous fruit with lots of structure and thirst-quenching fruit acids. Some charm has been sacrificed for the sake of extract and oak-ageing, but this is still quite enjoyable
The fresh, fruity acids really lift this up, and the ripe raspberry and strawberry fruit sings loud and cloud. Quite grippy but there’s enough fruit to balance it. Drinking well now but can easily hold and probably improve for a Read more