WTN: Two Natural Red Wines...(short/boring)

Tried these two last night w/ Steve:
1. Hidra Vi Negre RW Red-Orange (10%; Frmtn in Amphora; Imprtd by Llaurador Wines/Fairfax/CA; Jose Pastor Slctns; Varietat: Cartoixà , Garrut , Macabeo , Malvasía , Sumoll) Sicus/Massis de Bonastre/Catalunya/Espana 2019: Dark color; rather earthy/loamy/dusty precious little fruit some funky not particularly natty/unclean rather rustic/coarse nose; lightly tart strong earthy/loamy no fruit coarse/rustic flavor w/ some rough tannins; long earthy/loamy/funky/coarse finish w/ some coarse tannins and a dreadful wet dog fur/oxidative aftertaste that totally destroys this wine; pretty unattractive/dreadful stuff at a stupid price. $32.00 (SFW&S)
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2. Cado Tsoun Rouge VdF LaFerme du Vert (12.5%; Camille Riviere Slctns; Fruit of the Vines/LongIslandCity/NY; 100% Duras) Jerome Galaup/Gaillac 2020: Med.dark color; strong earthy/loamy slight plummy/grapey/peppery bit funky/rustic/coarse nose; fairly tart/tangy quite earthy/loamy slight plummy/grapey/bit peppery rather coarse/rustic flavor w/ modest coarse tannins; med.long earthy/loamy/rustic/coarse slight plummy/peppery/licorice finish w/ some rough tannins; tastes like a Loire CabFranc grown in the Languedoc; no natty character but not particularly attractive because of little fruit. $21.50 (KK)
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A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. Hidra: This is a red wine, so, by definition, it is made w/ skin-contact. Not at all sure why they choose to label it an orange wine unless it's because it was an amphora ferment and underwent lengthy skin-contact like for months or longer.
I generally like the JosePastor wines as a rule. Especially the CanaryIsland ones. I gather that the Llaurador Slctns wines of theirs are their natural wines. Thus far, I've had pretty poor experience w/ those wines. This is the 2'nd one I've found undrinkable. It did not have a particularly natty/mousey character but the aftertaste pretty much killed this wine. This morning when I tried it, it was even worse.
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2. Duras: This is a grape grown pretty much exclusively in the Gaillac region of Southern France. Not much is known about its origins. One parent is PetiteVerdot. The other is a nearly extinct Burgundy variety known as Tressot. Despite being a natural wine, it did not have that natty signature. But just not very attractive for lack of fruit.
Tom

There is a considerable move to natural wines in BC wine making. To me, it means that I am much less likely to enjoy the wines and reduces the chances of my even trying them.

I hate having to go to a tasting room and try the wines and then be asked how I liked them, as I almost invariably answer truthfully.

"What the Hell were you thinking when you produced that swill?" isn't calculated to evoke a positive response.

We see fashions in winemaking - another is fermentation in amphorae. In that case, the clay vessel actually does figure into the fermentation process as allows an intermediate exposure to oxgen between stainless stell and wood, but it doesn't seem to be reliably tied to quality, so I am a bit suspicious of a winery jumping on the fashionable amphora bandwagon too.

[David M. Bueker]

Making high quality “natural” wine requires a high degree of skill specific to that process. Unfortunately there are too many wineries that think the only additional skill needed is the IT chops to add “natural” to their website.

To David's response, I would add "LUCK".

Salute

Making high quality “natural” wine requires a high degree of skill specific to that process. Unfortunately there are too many wineries that think the only additional skill needed is the IT chops to add “natural” to their website.

Amen to that, David. But there are plenty of wineries making natural wines that do it on a consistent basis.
It's not really rocket science....you just have to know what you're doing. And not just rely on "luck".
Tom

When it comes to wine, being "consistent" doesn't necessarily mean "high quality"

Salute