Cult Insider

EDITION 021 | JULY 2024

From Acidic to Zesty: Mastering the Art of Describing Wine

Written by - Cult Wines Team

With the vast array of wine styles available, the vocabulary used to describe them is equally extensive, encompassing everything from 'acidic' to 'zesty.' While casual wine enthusiasts might rely on basic descriptors, wine experts and sommeliers employ a rich lexicon to convey the subtle nuances of the wines they taste.

Understanding these terms can enhance your appreciation and communication of wine's complex characteristics. Here are key terms that will help you describe wine like a connoisseur, each illustrated with an example sentence.

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News in brief

Beaune Burgundy Auction Breaks Records

A Sotheby's auction in Beaune, Burgundy, featuring wines from Taiwanese businessman Pierre Chen's collection, achieved €2 million, setting multiple world records. Highlights included six bottles of Chevalier Montrachet d'Auvenay 2009 sold for €106,250 and twelve bottles of Domaine Armand Rousseau Chambertin Clos de Bèze 1990 fetching €100,000. The event showcased the global appeal of Burgundy wines, with bidders from 29 countries. Sotheby's aims to reach $50 million through upcoming auctions of Chen's vast collection.

UK Vineyards Surpass 1,000 as Wine Sales Rise

The UK wine industry has hit a milestone with over 1,000 vineyards, marking a 9.2% increase from last year. Wine sales rose by 10%, with 2023 production reaching a record 21.6 million bottles. Sparkling wine sales have surged by 187% since 2018. Despite a general decline in wine consumption, UK wine, especially sparkling varieties, continues to grow. This success is attributed to significant investments and sustainable growth practices, making the UK’s wine sector the fastest-growing agricultural segment.

China’s Wine Market Faces Challenges but Offers Opportunities

China's wine market has faced declines in consumption, imports, and production due to the COVID-19 pandemic and trade tensions. Despite these setbacks, it remains promising with evolving consumer preferences, a focus on quality and sustainability, and growing e-commerce sales. Red wine dominates, while interest in unique and health-focused wines grows. The market, projected to reach $26.8 billion in 2024, shows potential for foreign producers who can adapt to these trends.

Connor Adams, Relationship Manager - Cult Wines - 2016 Atibaia Winery 'Atibaia' Red

What we’re drinking

2016 Atibaia Winery 'Atibaia' Red

Connor Adams, Relationship Manager - Cult Wines

Atibaia 2016, this intriguing bottle was a recent gift from a client (I thought I was supposed to be the one gifting the wine!). As an Australian, I'm always curious about the emerging regions aiming to join the elite circles of the wine world. This curiosity led me to Batroun, Lebanon, where I figuratively savoured a blend of 55% Cabernet Sauvignon and 45% Syrah.

Produced by Smar Jbeil, Atibaia 2016 is matured in oak, enhancing its deep cherry and cassis flavours with well-integrated tannins and a leathery finish appropriate for its age. With an ABV of 14.5%, this dry wine pairs wonderfully with lamb. The vintage I sampled also clinched Silver at the International Wine Challenge in 2024, signalling that there's definitely something noteworthy here.

Batroun's Atibaia is a true gem, with a total production volume of less than 24,000 bottles, each sealed with a natural cork closure, making it a rare find for any wine enthusiast.

Our fine wine feature

Quality Assurance in Fine Wine: Mitigating the Risk of Fraud in Wine Investment

Written by - Jessie Wu, Client Account Manager - Cult Wines

Counterfeit wines are a sophisticated form of wine fraud that involves counterfeiting and relabelling.

In this scheme, lower-quality or less expensive wines are disguised as higher-quality or more expensive ones. This deception is typically achieved by altering the labels, corks, or capsules of wine bottles to make buyers believe they are purchasing a more valuable product.

One of the most notorious cases of wine counterfeiting involves Rudy Kurniawan, whose fraudulent activities were highlighted in the 2016 Netflix documentary "Sour Grapes."

Kurniawan, also known as "Dr. Conti" for his affinity for the prestigious Burgundy wine Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, was a prominent figure in the wine industry. In 2006, he set a record by selling $24.7 million worth of wine at a single auction. However, his reputation was shattered when several of his consignments were found to be counterfeit.

In 2007, Christie’s auction house withdrew a consignment of purported 1982 Chateau Le Pin magnums due to authenticity concerns. Similarly, in 2008, 22 lots of Domaine Ponsot wine were pulled from a sale for the same reason. Kurniawan even attempted to sell more magnums of a 1947 Chateau Lafleur than were ever produced.

Quality Assurance in Fine Wine: Mitigating the Risk of Fraud in Wine Investment

In total, it is estimated that he sold up to 12,000 bottles of counterfeit wine, some of which may still be in collections.

During Kurniawan’s trial in New York, prosecutors revealed that he made millions of dollars between 2004 and 2012 by filling counterfeit bottles with less-expensive Napa and Burgundy wines in the kitchen of his home in Arcadia, Southern California. This scandal was a significant blow to the wine industry, exposing vulnerabilities in the authenticity and verification of fine wines.

Combating Wine Counterfeiting with High-Tech Solutions

Proprietary Paper: Harlan Estate has combated label replication by using complex anti-counterfeit elements since its first vintage in 1990. The label is printed with an intaglio technique on proprietary paper featuring a special ultraviolet ‘signature’. A security printing firm produces the labels using an engraving from a banknote company's archives. In 2004, Harlan enhanced security with a sequential serial number and a randomly generated number linked to an RFID chip, allowing bottle authentication on their website.

Tagged Ink: In 2007, Colgin Cellars was among the first wineries to adopt Kodak’s Traceless System, an invisible marker added to printing ink. Paul Roberts, the winery’s COO, explained that only a handheld Kodak scanner can detect this marker. Colgin’s labels also feature subtle colour-shifting tags, where the colour inside the “o” in “Colgin” varies depending on the wine: purple for IX Estate Vineyard, reddish for Tychson Hill, and pewter for IX Estate Syrah. Additionally, Colgin’s gold and red capsule has a notch-matching one in the glass ring at the top of the bottle, making it difficult to replace after opening.

Tamperproof Capsule Seals: A common method of counterfeiting involves filling an empty bottle of an expensive wine with a cheap alternative and resealing it. Prooftag’s BubbleTag capsule seal aims to prevent this by featuring a translucent polymer square containing unique random bubbles, a 13-character alphanumeric code, and a QR or 2G code. The strip is applied at the château and is damaged if tampered with. Bordeaux’s Château Palmer has used BubbleTag on its bottles since the 2009 vintage. Consumers can verify authenticity by entering the code on Palmer’s website or scanning the QR code. Other notable adopters include Margaux, Lafite-Rothschild, Latour, and more.

Holograms and Encrypted Microtext: Credit cards have long used unique holograms with several security levels, a technique now adopted by many wineries. U.K.-based De La Rue Holographics designed one for ONDOV to authenticate Romanian wines. Château d’Issan’s labels include a hologram and a microtext code visible only under magnification, allowing traceability to the merchant who purchased it for resale.

NFC Chips: Château Le Pin introduced NFC security tags in 2013. Developed by Belgian company Selinko, these tags are placed behind the label and contain a tamperproof, encrypted digital certificate with unique bottle information. Buyers can verify authenticity using an NFC-enabled smartphone. NFC chips represent the next evolution of RFID technology. Since 2008, Opus One has incorporated NFC chips and special security ink on the capsule. At VinExpo Hong Kong, Selinko and Inside Secure unveiled CapSeal, featuring an NFC chip connected to an antenna in the bottle’s neck, deactivating when the capsule is removed.

How does Cult Wines Prevent Counterfeiting Wines?

To ensure authenticity, Cult Wines sources as much wine as possible directly from wine producers, negociants, or their appointed agents, significantly reducing the chances of fraud. Every case of wine added to the inventory undergoes a rigorous risk profile assessment. For higher-risk bottles, such as 20-year-old vintages, only trusted suppliers with impeccable records are used, ensuring reliable provenance. Additionally, our experienced team conducts thorough visual inspections of all stock upon arrival at our warehouse. This comprehensive approach guarantees the authenticity and quality of our wine inventory.

Explore & travel

Vernaccia di San Gimignano: Tuscany's Overlooked Treasure

Written by - Sean Wright, Purchasing Assistant - Cult Wines

With its rolling hills, picturesque landscapes, and rich cultural heritage, Tuscany is a dream destination for many travellers. Amongst its many treasures, the region's wine offerings undeniably stand out.

Home to the stunning 'Super Tuscan' wines from world-renowned producers such as San Guido, Marchesi Antinori, Ornellaia, Fontodi, and Masseto, as well as the star producers of Brunello di Montalcino, including Poggio di Sotto, Biondi Santi, Argiano and Il Poggione, Tuscany boasts an undeniably impressive array of wines to explore. On a recent trip to Tuscany, however, a Tuscan wine of less renown captured my attention.

Vernaccia di San Gimignano: Tuscany's Overlooked Treasure

San Gimignano is in Siena, a province in the heart of the Tuscan countryside. With a skyline dominated by iconic towers, the historic walled town is often called "Medieval Manhattan."

A UNESCO World Heritage Site and tourist hotspot, the town offers visitors a glimpse into Italy's medieval past. Aside from the famous towers, its narrow, winding streets and charming piazzas offer their own architectural charm. The town is laden with a plethora of artisanal food and wine shops, including several cheese shops that provide a wider selection of ages and varieties of Pecorino than I had thought possible beforehand.

One of San Gimignano's most prized assets is its Vernaccia di San Gimignano wine. This white wine from the Vernaccia grape is one of Italy's oldest wines. Its production dates to the 13th century, and it was amongst the first Italian wines to be granted the DOC status when classified as such in 1966 (and the first white wine to earn this classification), followed by the DOCG designation in 1993, the highest classification of Italian wine, which usually involves more stringent quality controls and requirements. This description admittedly does not portray Vernaccia as the lesser-known wine I had initially portrayed, yet as the only DOCG-classified white wine out of the 11 Tuscan DOCG wines, it is easy to see why Vernaccia is oft-overlooked.

Vernaccia di San Gimignano is known for its crisp, refreshing taste, distinctive character and golden straw colour. Often offering an aromatic nose of citrus fruits, green apples, and perhaps a hint of almond, this is accompanied by a vibrant palate with a notable minerality.

It would be fair to say that Vernaccia is often considered a simple, crisp and easy-drinking wine. Some have suggested that its classification as a DOC and, ultimately, DOCG wine has as much to do with its ubiquitous presence in San Gimignano, one of the most-visited Tuscan towns by tourists, as the quality of the wines themselves. Yet several wine producers have emerged over recent years who endeavour to create more complex renditions of Vernaccia, often using lees-ageing and/or oak to add roundness to the wines.

Indeed, it was on a visit to one such producer, Montenidoli, that I discovered the potential of the wine. Amongst the boutique producers' holdings is the highest-altitude vineyard in the surroundings of San Gimignano, so it is no surprise that the winery is located at the end of a long and winding track up the hillside. Any visitor should keep the thoroughly rustic setting from misleading you; the wines produced are precise and balanced, offering tremendous quality.

Montenidoli's example of a classic Vernaccia, the Tradizionale, reflects the simple, straightforward style of wine-making commonplace with Vernaccia. Yet the resulting wine offers freshness well balanced with characteristic minerality. Montenidoli's more complex renditions are the most intriguing.

Firstly, the Fiore, which the estate describes as the 'true Vernaccia', taken only from juice from the first press of the grapes, offers more richness and depth, complemented by time spent resting on the lees, manages to preserve the classic fresh Vernaccia style whilst simply offering more texture and length. The Carato, the most ambitious of these wines, transcends the appellation's reputation. Fermentation and ageing in oak, as well as a longer time in the bottle before release, ensure that Montenidoli's Carato contains an echo of the style of white Burgundy, thoroughly evolved from the simple and fresh Vernaccia otherwise commonplace in San Gimignano.

Unbeknownst to me then, this transcendence of style has been well rewarded critically, with a current-best score of 94 points awarded to the 2016 vintage by The Wine Advocate and consistently earning scores into the 90s from Vinous and many other critics. Montenidoli, alongside several other San Gimignano producers, produces wines of increased quality that have contributed significantly to the growing reputation of the appellation and, as such, should not be overlooked when considering a trip to explore Tuscany's great wines.

Whilst I was certainly dazzled by these modern renditions of Tuscany's sole white DOCG, it would be remiss not to draw attention to the region's other charms. Synonymous with mile after mile of idyllic rolling hills sparsely dotted with houses or villages, the roads and tracks leading to which are invariably lined with neat rows of cypress trees, Tuscany delivers tremendous natural beauty and vistas. With many historic walled medieval towns and the artistic and architectural splendour of Florence and Siena, Tuscany also offers a great deal to anyone interested in history.

Tuscany's culinary landscape is as rich and diverse as its wines and history. The region offers a wide range of rich truffle, pasta, and meat dishes alongside traditional Tuscan dishes that emphasise simple, high-quality ingredients that perfectly complement the region's wines. A simple panzanella salad, primarily consisting of bread and tomato, epitomises this best. A visitor to the region may opt to pass on one of the stellar Tuscan reds and instead pair their undoubtedly delicious meal with a glass of Vernaccia di San Gimignano. Salute!.