Pavelkavino

Pavelka, Slovakia
Tasting at Slovak House
11 Nov 2009


Quite a strange tasting - was expecting to be one of a small number of non-trade people at the tasting. However, in fact Adam and I were in a distinct minority in having been to at least one wine tasting before.

1. Gruner Veltliner Late Harvest 2008
Pale green, petillage. Neutral, mineralic nose. Grape, apple and apricot on the palate. Smooth, silky acid. The taste lasts quite a while but the overall impression from the midpalate onwards is of thinness. OK

2. Welschriesling Late Harvest 2008
Pale green. Semi-aromatic nose with lime and nuts. Intense fruit on the palate. Plenty of lime, cooked apple and herbal notes. Quite complex palate compared to the nose. Heavy on the palate. Mouthfilling and soft. Well balanced, long, but with a bitter finish. Good.

3. Chardonnay 2008
Lemon coloured. Neutral nose, with hints of apricot. No noticeable oak on the nose but more buttery and fuller bodied that would be expected from an unoaked chardonnay with this little alcohol. On the palate the wine gives much more - the apricot continues with mango and melon. The overall feeling on the palate is soft and round. Good, nice length. Much, much better than the following wine. Interestingly, the cheese which came with the tasting was very bland by itself but worked very well with this wine.

4. Pinot Blanc 2008
Pale. Neutral aroma profile. Some flowers, something mineralic. Quite low body and alcohol and not enough fruit to balance the high acid. Overall feeling is that the wine is quite sharp. In conclusion - too sharp and unbalanced. I don't like this one.

5. Riesling 2008
Very pale. I expect riesling to be an aromatic wine but this one is quite neutral and restrained on the nose. However, the palate shows intense fruit - citrus, rose and mineralic. High acid. Good length, well balanced. Pretty good.

6. Gewurtztraminer 2008
Very aromatic with the usual aroma profile of gewurtz. However, this is quite poor on the palate. The palate has very little going on and the overall feeling is astringency. The finish is bitter and the fruit flavour doesn't last. Not good.

7. Rose 2008
This is a rose blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Kekfrankos. The translator was quite confused/confusing here so not totally clear. However, I think that what she was trying to say was that this was made by the saignee method with only a small amount of time spent with the skins in contact with the juice. However, this might have been me misunderstanding the translator. The nose was semi-aromatic with cherry and strawberry notes. The palate was bitter, particularly on the finish. I generally don't like rose and this was no exception.

8. Paves White Barik 2006
As the name suggests (Barik = Barrique) this has a noticeable oak character. Medium gold, dry with a peach, butter, smoke and vanilla nose. The blend is basically everything (Welschriesling, Riesling, Muller-Thurgau, Gruner Veltliner, etc). Medium intensity fruit (apple, apricot) on the palate. Round, soft and comforting. Good length, well balanced. Very good, but weird.

9. St Laurent 2008
Medium ruby, translucent. Nose has chocolate and bitter cherry. Quite tannic without enough fruit to balance it. Quite high, sharp acid for a red wine. Feels like sandpaper in the mouth. This would be better with food, but still not great and going back to it after the Blaufrankish it tastes quite weedy.

10. Blaufrankisch 2008
Medium ruby. Cooked, black, brambly fruit on the nose. More like cherry on the palate. Very high, sour acid for a red wine. Medium tannin but overall feeling is fresh. Good structure, fruity finish with medium length. Pretty good.

11. Cabernet Sauvignon 2008
Apparently this is a common grape variety in the region. However, it is difficult to ripen the grapes properly so they have difficulty competing with this grape variety. It is mainly produced since deep red wines are seen as a sign of quality in the region.

There are black fruit and green pepper on the nose and the overall feeling is of very juicy fruit. This is pleasant but does not taste like a Cabernet Sauvignon and just gives the impression of being made from not quite ripe grapes.

12. Alibernet 2008
This is a cross which apparently appeared as recently as the 50s from the Ukraine. It is a cross between alicante bouschet and cabernet sauvignon. It appears to be a cross where a grape with the character of Cabernet Sauvignon is possible to ripen in a cool climate. The aroma profile is what would be expected from a Cabernet Sauvignon with plenty of juicy black fruit on the palate. Soft, round tannins (quite high). This is good, interesting and weird and would be a blind tasting special. So much better than the Cabernet we just tasted.

13. Neronet 2008
Deep colour (a particular characteristic of the grape). This is another weird crossing; however, this one doesn't work remotely as well as the Alibernet. This smells of black fruit but is rustic and brooding. The palate has medium-high intensity black fruit, high tannins which make the gums sting and high acid. The wine is unbalanced, too sour and a little bit bleh. I'm not a fan of this - it's trying too hard to look llike a red wine from a hotter region (deep colour, ripe fruit). In doing so, it highlights the insecurity of the region as not producing good enough red wines. However, there are some very good wines tonight and there is no need for rather poor grape to be grown.

14. Paves Red Barik
This is a blend of Cabernet Franc, Blaufrankisch and Neronet aged for 1-year in barrique. This is a medium purple colour with black fruit, vanilla (from oak), sweet spice, nuts and some development character. Decent complexity on the nose. The black fruit continues on the palate with some gamey flavours and some development showing. The tannins are quite elegant but high. This is well balanced and by far the best red tonight. A good wine, and not just by the standards of Slovak red wine!

15. Riesling "selection of dry berries" 2007
This wine is usually made as an icewine but 2007 was not cold enough so this one is basically a really sweet late harvest wine. Pale gold colour. Aromatic apple and floral nose (the floral character is particularly noticeable upon agitation of wine in the glass). Quite intense fruit (grape) on the palate with good minerality. Rich almond character comes through as the wine warms up. The main feeling on the palate is a crisp acidity. Refreshing and mouthwatering, despite almost 200g of sugar per litre of wine. Low alcohol (10%). This was great and by far the best of the night. Elegent, balanced and impressive.