War zone wines – a horrible histories style look at wine including shells dropping in vineyards, a bloody Boer War battle and prisoners of war.
My first brush with a war wine came in the mid 1980’s with the story of a famous Lebanese vineyard in the Bekaa Valley having tanks facing each other over the vines in 1982; in 1984, grapes were received in the winery 45 days after the harvest began! It is hard enough trying to make wine in its own right without these troubles to navigate too.
The challenges of making wine in the Bekaa came flooding back to me when I met Vitalii, a Ukrainian winemaker, who was visiting London last year. He explained to me that the winery sits not far from the Black Sea and the port city of Odessa, which has, of course, come under fire.
He adds that half the people are paying their taxes to fund the defence of the country and the other half is fighting the war. To my surprise, I had no idea that Ukraine has such a long winemaking history, did you? So, having discovered how surprisingly good his wines were, I felt we should help support Vitalii and his people, and so, we co-shipped two of his wines.
The Bolgrad Chardonnay Reserve is quite light with a gentle lick of oak - 6-8 months, in fact. It is like a moreish Macon or Limoux, but with a bit more volume on the palate.
The Bolgrad Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve is a full, slurpy, fruit-forward and quite spicy style. This has also seen a bit of oak – both Spanish, American and French: think coastal Tuscan Cabernet with a nod to Bordeaux, it that helps.
Heading to the Eastern Mediterranean, this next wine has been coined the ‘most dangerous wine in the world’. In north-west Syria, Bargylus is owned by two brothers who had to flee when the war broke out in 2011, after shells dropped in the vineyard, and they now reside and manage the vineyard hundreds of miles away in Lebanon. I sense they do not want to use the sympathy card and are doing the best they can to keep Syria’s only surviving commercial winery going. Showing great persistence and wanting to support the local community and economy, the brothers continue to employ 35 families.
Like Ukraine, the area has a long (Greco-Roman) history with vines growing on the slopes of Mount Bargylus since the 4th century.
As to the wine, a Syrah dominant blend with 20% of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, being so spicy it would be perfect with a lamb tagine, rogan josh, or chilli con carne. It is super fragrant with black plum, cured meats, and paprika, and on the palate, there is freshness from the high (900m altitude and big diurnal swings) and it is also leathery and meaty. Full-on but very, very impressive.
In South Africa, back in January 1900 the Battle of Spioenkop ended in disaster for the British forces on their way to relieve the siege of Ladysmith in the Boer Wars. The British battled to advance to a hilly ridge overnight and as the morning mist rose the Boers attacked from a higher ridge, called Spioenkop, and fired at the exposed and unsuspecting troops to devastating effect.
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Consequently, when news reached home, many sports grounds decided to name the hill end of their stadiums the kop, in memory of the fallen. Famously, Liverpool football club's hillside end preserves the kop name to this day. Whilst not grown in Natal the Spioenkop Pinot Noir has enticing spicy aromas, a dense, dusty, black-blue fruit core and a sumptuous savoury persistence. Staying in South Africa, the historic Natte Valleij and its grand old Cape Dutch buildings have been home to quite a few interesting people and Alex Milner is the current and third-generation owner and winemaker.
Whilst renovating one of the cottages he came across an inscription made by one of the Italian prisoners of war who was captured in North Africa and exiled to the Cape. The prisoner spent most of the Second World War in this cottage and helped with the winemaking. All that remains of his stay is the inscription P.O.W. B.T. 27-12-1943. In his honour, Alex decided to create a Cabernet Sauvignon blend, as the variety excels in this location.
The P.O.W. has is inky-black colour and aromas of black olives and fynbos (I pinched this from Alex when he was here earlier in the year, but think rosemary and heather if, like me, you have never smelt fynbos). Striking and weighty dark fruits, tapenade, and a hint of mint choc chips give it that undeniable drinkability.
Finally, I return to the Bekaa Valley in Lebanon which, despite its name, sits at over 1,000 metres of altitude and some vineyards reach up to 1,750 metres. In a recent post about climate change, the owners of Massaya, brothers Sami and Ramzi Ghosn, say how concerned they are about the current conflict there, the exodus of foreign nationals and the resulting isolation they feel.
