Ask Decanter

Each month our experts answer your burning wine questions. Email your questions to editor@decanter.com

WHAT’S ‘CUT’?

In the panel tasting of 2019 Cru Beaujolais in your last issue (August), Andy Howard MW says the following in his summary: ‘2019 wines have plenty of freshness and “cut” – a trait revered by Beaujolais fans.’ May I ask what the term ‘cut’ means in this context?

Martin Ratcliffe, by email

Andy Howard MW, Decanter

contributor, replies: The term ‘cut’ refers to a tasting sensation driven mainly by vibrant fruit notes, freshness and palate-cleansing acidity. ‘Cut’ can be found in a number of lighter red wines, with Beaujolais being a classic example.

In this case, the Gamay grape displays bright black or red fruit style, along with plenty of acidity and a lively, crisp aftertaste.

Gamay rarely shows a richer, weightier fruit character, nor the presence of dominant oak. As a result, the wines often possess a drive, lift and vitality which leave the palate (and consumer) refreshed.

WHY NOT BOLGHERI?

Why are some second or third wines from iconic Bolgheri producers – such as Le Difese of Tenuta San Guido, or Le Volte dell’Ornellaia – not classified as Bolgheri Rosso, but as IGT Toscana instead? The grapes for Le Difese, for instance, come from Tenuta San Guido, definitely in the Bolgheri region, and it’s a blend of 70% Cabernet and 30% Sangiovese, aged for eight months in oak, according to the regulations. So shouldn’t it be a Bolgheri DOC wine? Navapon Techakriengkrai, by email

Emily O’Hare, Tuscan-based wine writer and educator, replies:

A great question regarding two excellent IGT Toscana wines. And I must thank Ornellaia winemaker Axel Heinz and the crew at Sassicaia for their help on this.

At Ornellaia, the grapes grown within the Bolgheri DOC are used in the flagship wines, Ornellaia and

Le Serre Nuove dell’Ornellaia. The vineyards dedicated to Le Volte lie outside the Bolgheri DOC boundaries, so the wine cannot be labelled Bolgheri DOC, because the fruit is not grown within the DOC.

At Tenuta San Guido, though 70% of the Le Difese blend comes from fruit grown on the estate, the 30% of Sangiovese comes from vineyards further inland, outside the Bolgheri DOC, so again the wine must be labelled IGT Toscana.

CABERNET ALL THE WAY

We know that the prototype of Cabernet Sauvignons around the world is Bordeaux Left Bank, and we also know that Bordeaux Left Bank is essentially a Cabernet Sauvignon blend with Merlot and some other varieties. Is there any winemaker in the Médoc (or Bordeaux as a whole) that makes a 100% Cabernet Sauvignon wine, as many wineries elsewhere around the world do? Andre Ko, Hong Kong

Jane Anson, author of Bordeaux Legends, replies: In Bordeaux Cabernet Sauvignon is, as you say, almost always part of a blend, although it is increasingly used at levels of 90% or more by the very top Médoc cru classé estates (Château Lafite Rothschild 2019, for example, contains 94% Cabernet Sauvignon).

Helped by a warming climate, which means its green pyrazine character is less common than it was, there are a few 100% Cabernet Sauvignon wines to be found in the region – such as Cuvée Marguerite Déjean from Château Moutte Blanc in Haut-Médoc, or the Eléonore from Château Vieille Dynastie in Lalande de Pomerol.

Occasionally an unusual vintage will also come along, in which a producer has to release a 100% Cabernet Sauvignon wine, such as the 1961 vintage at Château Lafite Rothschild, 1986 at Haut-Bailly or the Pichon Comtesse 2013.