In-Depth: Eastern Europe - Bulgarian Wine

Cathedral in Varna

I was not a very good caterer. It wasn’t so much serving food or working behind the bar that I failed at (I can set up a beautiful bar), it was just the refined and robot-like dignity I was forced to maintain while working. Our head manager was the most thankless perfectionist, went by the book and a few of our supervisors were just plain mean – like ‘power-trip mean’.

So one night I cracked. I was bartending for a small group of accountants and, at six-thirty twenty people showed up. They nibbled, they drank, they kibitzed and around quarter after seven, most had left. A handful of guys stayed behind. Settling into the nice plush chairs, they wanted to drink, shoot the breeze. I stood behind the bar trying to maintain my rigid pose but they only yelled at me, ‘Hey relax, buddy! Or, ‘Don’t stand like that, you remind me of my wife!’ One of them with what I thought was a Russian accent invited me to have a drink.

I thought, what the hell, why not?

I poured us both some wine, ate some veggies off the table and we talked for a half hour. Eventually I was caught and (I suspect) ratted out by my supervisor. Not surprisingly, my hours were pared down after that episode.

I learned the man was from Bulgaria and he told me about the wine of his country.

BULGARIAN WINE

From what this man shared and what I’ve read, Bulgaria was once the ‘wine lake’ for the Soviet Union. As we saw with Romania and Slovenia, wine has been made in the region for thousands of years. But when Communism was foisted on the people, the country was intentionally planted with a massive amount of international grape varieties, all there for the sole purpose of supplying Mother Russia.

By 1966, the country’s output placed them as the sixth largest wine importer in the world. During the seventies, British bargain-hunters who were too cheap to splurge for a left-bank Bordeaux, bought the cut-rate claret-like Cabernets of Bulgaria. The country peaked in exports before the fall of Communism in the 1980s. The first signs of let-up arrived with Gorbachev’s anti-alcohol campaign.

During the 1990s, figures suggest yields had greatly fallen below the French average. It was at this time that many of the state-owned wineries were privatized. International investors rushed in to take advantage, with foreign support arriving from as far away as Japan and the U.S. Even Russia, newly ‘democratic’ took part.

BULGARIAN WINE QUALITY

Before things took a bit of turn for the worse, Bulgaria initiated the Wine Act of 1978. This decree classified wine into several categories: Standard wines for your basic light wines, Special Wine which included sparkling, liqueur and fruit wines, High Quality wines without Geographical Origin (similar to our ‘Cellared in Canada’ wines except the grapes are actually grown in the country), High quality wines with Declared Geographical Origin (DGO), which are wines grown in one of the five regions and Controliran – which is higher than DGO and similar to France’s Appellation Contrôlée. This assures customer quality but if it says Reserve, the oak flavor will most likely come from the oak chips instead of the time spent in a large wooden vat (which imparts hardly any flavor).

BULGARIAN GRAPE VARIETIES

My new Bulgarian friend told me about Bulgarian Cabernet. “The freshest and fruitiest. It is absolutely delicious. One of the best reasons to visit my country. It is so good and reasonably priced.”

Besides the four main international varieties - Merlot, Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc and of course the Cabernet (the country is believed to have more Cab vineyards than California) – Bulgaria also offers up eastern European varieties.
Mavrud grape bunches

MAVRUD – is a fine, late-ripening grape used to produce spicy reds.

MELNIK – named after a small town in the Struma Valley, this variety is grown closer to the Greek border, producing powerfully scented wines of beautiful, sometimes sweet flavor.

PAMID – a common grape, pale and quaffable.

GAMZA – a grape you’ll find in Hungary called Kadara, it is also planted throughout Bulgaria

Whites include: a Georgian, Rkatsileli, Dimiat (Serbia’s everyday Smederevka), Red Misket (not red but a crossing of Riesling and Dimiat) and some other foreign grapes, including Muscat Ottonel which is very popular and Aligoté, the lesser-beloved grape of Burgundy widely planted in Eastern Europe.

BULGARIAN WINE REGIONS

Bulgaria isn’t a big country. (“You can drive it in a day.”) From Serbia to the Black Sea, it’s only 450 km and from northern Greece to southern Romania (at its widest), just about 300 km.

The summers are hot, temperatures can reach as high as 40 degrees Celsius while winters can be quite cold with -25 degrees at its lowest. The Black Sea does offer a moderating effect in the east but much of the country experiences a continental climate.

There are five distinct wine regions:

The DANUBIAN PLAIN, where most of the famous regional wines are produced in the north-northwest of the country. (Look out for wines from Sukhindol or Subhindol)

In the east, the BLACK SEA takes up the entire coastline. International varieties like Chardonnay and Gewurztraminer are grown here and do extremely well due to the maritime influence. Reds are planted further inland on the mountain slopes around Khan Krum and Novi Pazar.

The southern portion of the country is divided between the EAST and WEST THRACIAN LOWLANDS, with the West Thracian Valley putting out the most wine. Here you can find higher-quality Mavrud from Assenovgrad.

The STRUMA VALLEY (or South West) is considerably smaller than its neighbors as the vineyards ‘snug up’ against the Greek border. This is where you’ll find the Melnik wines I mentioned, the most “original wines” according to Hugh Johnson and Jancis Robinson in their World Atlas of Wine. Unfortunately, the originality of these wines is fast becoming “a rare commodity” in Bulgaria according to the Atlas.

THE KEY TO BULGARIA

Unlike France, Germany, Spain and Italy where the vineyards of the Côte du Beaune, the Mosel, Rioja and Tuscany take precedence on a wine’s label, Bulgaria is all about the winery. What happens in the vineyard, stays in the vineyard and what you’ll discover is that the winemaker’s expertise and the winery’s expensive equipment are more important than where the grapes are sourced. In many instances, they’re grown in one region and vinified in another. This is why the European Union only recognizes two of Bulgaria’s wine regions (Danubian Plain and the Thracian Lowlands) in terms of quality.

This issue has largely been a result of fragmented land holdings. With the fall of Communism, the government wanted to resolve pre-1947 ownership of plots. My friend explained that: “Yes, vineyards, unfortunately fell into the hands of people who had no vine growing experience whatsoever. But here you are, let us say you are a young man living in the city. One day you get a call. You find out your grandfather used to own land in Lozitza near the Danube. That was in 1939. You live now in Varna on the coast. What are you going to do? It is on the other side of the country and you don’t have the money or the time to work the land. But you don’t want to sell it, either. You are very proud of your family. The land has been returned to you; you don’t want to just let go of it. So, for many, the vineyards just fall into neglect.”

So if you’re in the wine store, it won’t much matter where the wine is from as who is making it.

In the north, top producers are as follows: Russe (under Russian ownership since 2003), Suhindol (best known in the west), Magura, Festa Holdings, Vinex Slavyantzi.

And in the south: Boyar (one of the biggest selling - 65 million bottles worldwide) Vini Sliven, Blueridge, Beleveder Group, Vizvanod Assenovgrod, Peshtera Group (a leading Bulgarian spirits producer) and Damianitza.

FINAL WORD

I had a great chat with my new Bulgarian friend. He told me about his culture shock when he first arrived in Canada. Apparently nudity isn’t a problem in Bulgaria and children swim naked. When he went home to the Black Sea (the Cherno More in Bulgarian), he told a friend children had to wear bathing suits in Canada. His friend replied, “they must be sick people!”

“The fact that you are ashamed of nudity makes you suspect in my friend’s eyes. And in the eyes of my country.”

Bulgarian beach with nudity edited out (note there are two sailboats)

I had to laugh. Maybe we are a bit twisted – too much Victoria prudery.

He also mentioned a therapist he met at a business conference. She told him that we are all intrinsically connected to our homeland. It made sense as he talked of Chernobyl, a city he knew that was literally wiped out by an environmental mishap. The citizens had safely gotten away but within a year, many had died of cancer. His belief: their city had ‘died’ and its displaced people eventually died with it.

“That is why I have to go back to my homeland. I have to be there. To see it, to live it. Yes, the Black Sea is beautiful. Do not get me wrong, Canada is nice but a temporary home. I have work here. But I have to go to my true home once a year. And when I am there, I drink my country’s wine. It gets me through the year.”

Bibliography

Fielden, Christopher, Exploring the World of Wine and Spirits. WSET: London, 2005.

Johnson, Hugh and Jancis Robinson, The World Atlas of Wine. Bounty Books, London, 2001.

Robinson, Jancis (ed.), The Oxford Companion to Wine. Oxford Univ. Press, Oxford, 2006.

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In-Depth: Eastern Europe - Slovenian Wine

Wine-dark grapes smell sweet here...

-Anna Akhmatova

France, Italy, Germany, Spain and Portugal all have fascinating histories. France was once divided between the Franks and the Normans. Italy, long after the fall of Rome fell under the political sway of  both Spain and Austria. The lands of present day Portugal and Spain were once ruled by the Moors and latter-day Germany was divided into tiny territories (Bavaria, Prussia, Swabia etc.) before unification under Bismark.

Over time, these western countries took shape and acquired their present character. As for Eastern Europe, many nations such as Slovenia, Croatia, Macedonia and even Greece had been conquered and torn by western powers (notably Austria) and the east (Russia and Turkey), leaving little time for them to establish their mark in the world.

SLOVENIA

Tucked in between Italy and Croatia, Slovenia’s share of the Adriatic shoreline is consequently minimal. Though small,  it is nonetheless a beautiful country with a diverse background.

This country had partaken in the livelihood of greater powers for over two millennia. The land once belonged to the Roman Empire (27 BC – 476 AD), to the Principality of Carantania (7th century), the Holy Roman Empire (10th century), the Habsburg Monarchy (14th century – 18th century), the Austrian Empire (19th century), and the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (20th century). Between the two world wars, it struggled under the political yoke of the Germans, the Italians and Hungarians before becoming part of Croatia.

In 1991, after centuries of foreign rule, the country finally gained independence. However, it has a long winemaking history despite the decrees of differing empires, monarchies and kingdoms. In Ancient times, the Celts and Illyrians tribes made wine here before the Romans. During the Middle Ages, the monks and monasteries took over before the time of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Following World War II, production fell into the hands of co-operatives and quality became an issue. In 1967, the PSVVS was founded, a business association devoted to improving the identity of Slovenian wine. Over a decade after independence, Slovenia joined the European Union in 2004.

The country produces approximately 1 million hectoliters of wine per year, three quarters of which is white. Of this, 5% (or about 50,000 hectoliters) is exported to other Eastern European countries, North America, Italy and Germany. There are over 40,000 registered wine growers covering 24,600 hectares of land, making for a fragmented world of vineyard quality.

It is my belief that without a strong government identity, it is difficult to be recognized in the international wine market (Canada is experiencing this now as many grape growers are being undermined by the government).

Slowly but surely, Slovenia is emerging from the shadow of its dark and strife-ridden past as her wines are finally gaining the recognition the country deserves.

 Slovenian vineyards

VARIETIES IN SLOVENIA

As I mentioned, white grapes make up the majority of the Slovenian vineyard, many of which are of eastern European origin. These include: Šipon (also known as Furmint in Hungary), Ranina (Bouvier in Austria – a cross between Zöldsilváni and Chardonnay), Kraljevina, Pinela, Zelen, and Rebula (in Italy: Ribolla).

In terms of International varieties, they are planted here in abundance but grown under their Slavic names: Sauvignon Blanc becomes Muškatni Silvanec (inspired by the German  name for Sauv Blanc - Muskat Silvaner); Pinot Blanc, Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris in Slovenia are Beli, Modri and Sivi Pinot, respectively. Traminer is Traminec, Riesling is Renski Rizling (not to be confused with Welschriesling which is Laški Rizling), Müller-Thurgau is Rizvanec and Blaufränkisch is Modra Franinja.

The Italian varieties Refosco and Picolit simply become Refošk and Pikolit. (The Refošk red I tried from Vinakoper - see 'Deciphering Slovenian Wine Labels' below - was exceptional: chocolate and cedar, tobacco and mulch held together by deep blackberry fruit... lush and delicious.)

Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Chardonnay thankfully keep their names for easy recognition.

SLOVENIAN VINEYARDS

There are three wine regions which are further divided into 14 sub-regions:

PRIMORSKA is right on the coast. Here the climate is Mediterranean and the wines more Italian in style – dry whites and firm, fuller-bodied reds. In some instances, the vineyards of Primorska are just a continuation of Italian ones: Collio becomes Brda, Kras is east of Corso. Vipava and Koper make up the other sub-regions.

Near Koper, the town of Piran stretches towards the idyll Adriatic

POSAVJE is more continental in climate, divided by the Sava River (Dolenjsk in the south, Bizeljsko and Smarje north of the river). In some parts of the region, especially Bela Krajna, the wines tend to be fuller as red grapes can ripen with ease. But the region is also perfect for producing botrytized wines (from grapes that have experienced Noble Rot, helping to concentrate the sugar and make the wine sweet).

PRODAJVE in the north east is similar to its neighbor in terms of climate. Resting along the Darva River, the wines grown in this region are lower in alcohol and typically white. You can find sweet wines to rival the best of Austria along with Icewine (during the good years) and Sparkling wine which is on the increase. Subregions: Maribor, Haloze, Radgona-Kapel, Predmurske, Sredjeslovenske Gorice, Prekmurske Gorice and Ljutomer-Ormoz.

DECIPHERING SLOVENIAN WINE LABELS

If you thought German labels were tough, well, I'm sorry to report, these are a bit tougher. Written in the Slovenian language, they can be rather intimidating. But there's hope as most of what's on the label is rather essential. Here's a breakdown: 

VINAKOPER – is the name of the producer. Koper (in Primorska on the Adriatic coast)  is also the place where the grapes have been sourced.

REFOŠK – is the variety, also known as Refosco in Italy. Remember, the wines of the Primorska region have Italian-style wines because they are closer to Italy.

KLASIČNA PREDELAVA – translates as ‘Classical Production’ or Classic.

VRHUNSKO VINO ZGP – means the wine is the highest or ‘top quality’ vino. The ZGP or Zaščiteno geografsko poreklo is the quality control division of Slovenia’s wine industry. According to the law, all wines must be analyzed, tested and scored before they are delivered to the market. During this process, the wine is determined to be one of the following:  


namizno vino (table wine),
deželno vino (wine from a specific part of the country similar to Italy’s IGT),  
kakovostno vino (quality wine) and 
vrhunsko vino (or top-quality wine).

PRIDELAL IN POLNI – literally ‘grown and bottled’ by the producer Vinakoper

PRIDELEANO V SLOVENIJI – Grown in Slovenia.


FINAL WORD
Slovenian wine is not nearly as popular as Italian wine. You're more likely to find a Greek or Croatian wine before you track down a white or red from Primorska, Prosavje or Prodavje. But if you're determined, check out the LCBO, especially the Vintages stores in major cities. The more popular these wines become, the more likely you'll see them around. In time, hopefully, Slovenian wine will gain a greater following. This  great country certainly deserves it.


Bibliography
Johnson, Hugh and Jancis Robinson, The World Atlas of Wine, Bounty Books, London, 2001.
Robinson, Jancis, Jancis Robinson's Wine Course. Abbeville Press, New York, 2003.
Robinson, Jancis (ed.), The Oxford Companion to Wine. Oxford Univ. Press, Oxford, 2006.

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The Other Italy - Umbria: Getting out of Tuscany's Shadow

Umbria's narrow streets like cisterns

that stop up ancient time tasting of sweet wine,

Adam Jagajewski 'To See'

Let’s face it a book called Under the Umbrian Sun would cause more confusion than inspire sales. Tuscany exudes the romance many travelers need when they imagine Italy. Umbria (or, for some, ‘Tuscany without the coast’), unfortunately doesn’t have the same tourist-attracting panache as its western neighbor. For those with Florence and Sienna in mind, the capital of the region, Perugia sounds to most North Americans like something you spread on a pizza as opposed to a place to visit.

But there’s more to this landlocked landscape. I won’t use the term ‘diamond in the rough’ but it is a wine region that needs a little bit more time to ferment attraction and attention.

UMBRIA: THE HISTORY

Umbria is the 4th smallest of Italy’s 20 regions in terms of physical size and population. With Tuscany to the north and west, Marche and the Apennines to the east and Lazio to the south, Umbria is completely surrounded by Italian neighbors – unlike other regions that share a border or seaway with another country.

Named for the Umbri tribes who settled in the region around the 6th century B.C., the area is largely mountainous. Archaeological finds in the region indicate there was a wine culture existing before the Romans. The Romans loved Umbrian wines which at the time were mainly white with some reds and rosés.

Monastery in Assisi

One of the main tourist attractions is the town of Assisi, birthplace of St. Francis who founded the Franciscan Order there in 1208. The other town of interest is -

ORVIETO

During the late Middle Ages and the Renaissance, the town of Orvieto became a highly reputed artistic centre. It was in Orvieto cathedral, during the late 14th century, that Ugolino di Prete Ilario began to paint the Life of the Virgin, a wall mosaic in the apse illustrating various scenes from the life of the Virgin Mary (Ugolino died before it was completed; his students Pintuiricchio and Antonio Viterbo finished the piece.)

Life of the Virgin

The work compliments Ugolino’s other famous masterpiece, Miracle of Bolsena, a series of scenes depicting Christ’s passion also painted in the cathedral in the Cappella (Chapel) del Corporale. Michealangelo is said to have been influenced by these works when he painted his frescoes in the Sistine Chapel.

The wine of Orvieto could then be the liquid artistic equivalent of the great Italian masterpieces and architecture of Umbria. During the twelfth century, the various popes who came to admire Ugolino’s work, summered at Lake Corbara where they drank this thick, sweet wine from Orvieto. The sweetness was achieved by storing the grapes in humid caves following the harvest. While waiting to be pressed, the grapes would get moldy, the Noble Rot then would concentrate the fruit flavours.

The famed poet, Gabriele D‘Annunzio called the wine ‘the sun of Italy in a bottle’.

Town of Orvieto with Cathedral in the far right corner

ORVIETO IN MODERN TIMES

Today, the town of Orvieto continues to rest remote and timeless on its ancient hilltop. The wines of the area have become more modern in style. The majority of these whites are invariably secco (dry) and commonly exported to the North American market. However, if you happen to visit Italy, and make your way into Umbria, you may even be able to track down an Abboccato style (slightly sweet), an Amabile (semi-sweet) and a Dolce (sweet) in some grocery store or wine shop.

Orvieto, like Chianti in nearby Tuscany, is a blend of grapes. The predominant is Trebbiano, known locally as Procanico. The other varieties include: Verdello, Grechetto, Drupeggio and/or Malvasia Toscana. Wine produced around the historical area of Orvieto can be called ‘Classico’ because they are the original vineyard sites for this wine.

Today, there is a new Orvieto emerging in the form of an Orvietano Rosso, a red blend from numerous grapes including a 70% mix of Aleatico, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Canaiolo (used in Chianti), Ciliegiol, Merlot, Montepulciano (famous in Abruzzo), Pinot Nero (also known as Italian Pinot Noir) and Sangiovese; and up to 30% Barbera and Dolcetto (both grown in Piedmont), Cesanese, and Colorino. Whewww!... A lot of grapes but the region is growing more potential.

MONTEFALCO

Sagrantino is considered the new star grape in the Italian world of winemaking grown particularly in Montefalco. Recently, Sagrantino di Montefalco was elevated to DOCG status in the mid-1990s. The grape is often blended with Sangiovese. Nicolas Belfrage in his book, Brunello to Zibibbo believes the latter grape has a better ‘affinity’ with Sagrantino than the French varieties, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah.

The grape has been in the area for a considerably long time. Some believe it dates back to the Roman times, the Itriola grape mentioned by Pliny the Elder in his Natural History. Others suggest it was originally from the Middle East and brought to the region via Spain. Franciscan monks from the Middle Ages are rumoured to have first planted the variety. Whatever the story, Sagrantino has a strong presence in Central Italy.

Despite the size of its small berries and bunches, it is big in other ways including colour, acid, sugars, tannin, extract and sugar. Like the Corvina grape used to make Valpolicella, it has contributed to making and still to some extent today, semi-sweet wines. The grapes, like we find in Amarone and Ripasso were dried and pressed. Traditionally, the wines were consumed for special occasions like Lent. With 30-100 grammes of residual sugar per litre, it was far too massive of a wine used for mass (although the name Sagrantino or sacramento - ‘sacramental’ - suggests a different story).

Up until the end of the 20th century, Sagrantino remained under the radar. It was until the 1990s that the Arnaldo Caprai winery helped to create renewed interest in the variety. Arnaldo and his son Marco, with the help of wine maker Attilio Pagli experimented with the variety, modernized and reorganized their winery and launched this little-known, small-berried grape onto the world stage. The results have all been positive.

Orvieto and Montefalco are places beyond the usual tourist-beaten path. Their wines have a quiet romanticism simply worth seeking out, from the chilling and beautiful lemon-citrus of the dry white (sometimes sweet) to the full-bodied bosom of the red. These wines exude (and I'm sure D'Annunzio would agree) the true Umbrian sun.

Bibliography

Bastianich, Joseph & David Lynch, Vino Italiano: The Regional Wines of Italy. Clarkson Potter, New York, 2005.

Belfrage, Nicolas, Brunello to Zibibbo: The Wines of Tuscany, Central and Southern Italy. Mitchell Beazley, London, 2001. Cernilli, Daniele & Marco Sabellico, The New Italy. Mitchell Beazley, London, 2008.

Clark, Oz, 2009 Pocket Wine Guide. Harcourt Publishing, Orlando, 2008.

Insight Guides, ed. Insight Guides Italy, 6th Edition. London, 2009.

Robinson, Jancis (ed.), The Oxford Companion to Wine. Oxford Univ. Press, Oxford, 2006.

Website:

http://www.catholic.org/encyclopedia/view.php?id=8806

ANNOUNCEMENT: Happy b-day Pete Magreet

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Wine For a Rainy Day - Rías Baixas and the Whites of Northern Spain

Rain falls on Santiago

my sweet love.

White camellia of the air,

the veiled sun shines.

- Federico García Lorca

When we think of Spain, we think of sunny, medieval streets and tapas bars; we hear guitars and flamenco music flowing through the amber, dusky crowds; we see lovely senoritas dancing in their floral dresses. The click of castanets. There is laughter, late nights, paella and the mesmerizing wonder of beautiful women gathered  in the glow of candlelight. 

We don’t think of rain. (That's London)

We don’t hear bagpipes. (They belong in Scotland... right?)

And we don’t really see the green and verdant, Celtic hillsides. (We're daydreaming about Spain here, not Ireland...)

Rainy Day - Cathedral in Santiago de Campostela

Look at the rain in the street,

lament of stone and of glass.

- Lorca

GALICIA - THE GREENER SPAIN 

But Spain is more than we imagine.

In the far north, just above Portugal on the Atlantic coast, you can find the wild and lush greenery of Galicia, a land where Galago  is spoken (which, like Castilian, is derived from Latin but strikingly similar to Portuguese.)

Galicia is the home of the gaita, the Galician bagpipes. The music this instrument evokes belongs to another world, both ancient and mysterious.

This other world also includes the city of Santiago de Compostela with its monumental cathedral, built in honor of St.James. For centuries, pilgrims have traveled the Camino, a sacred route in northern Spain,  to visit this holy place.

But like the rest of Spain, there is a tradition of good food and good wine. Galicia  largely depends on the sea for its cuisine. Percebes (goose-foot barnacles) is the local specialty amongst the delicious array of white fish (turbot, sea bass, sole and cod), prawns and shellfish.

The local cheeses are also excellent, ranging from hard-to-medium. The most appealing and popular is tetilla… named for a discreet part of the female anatomy. (I'm sure you can guess...)

WINE REGIONS OF GALICIA
 Galicia became part of Greater Spain in 1492. The port city of  La Coruña received its license to trade with the colonies shortly thereafter. Besides seafood, Galicia has several wine sub-regions producing mostly white wine (the red here is rather 'lightweight').

Ribeira Sacra or 'sacred hillside' is the most lush and visually stunning; Ribeiro remains one of the oldest wine-producing areas of northern Spain; Valdeorras or 'Golden Valley' happens to be the original gold mines of Ancient Rome; Monterrei is the hottest part of Galicia... and last but not least...

THE LOWER ESTUARIES

... the very wet, the very coastal Rías Baixas (Bajas) 'The Lower Estuaries' region. Here is our famous, soggy green Eden, a rural paradise, a vision of the world before industry and war.

A very green Albariño vineyard

The main grape of Rías Baixas (and the other sub-regions) is the lovely Albariño, believed by many (including Miguel Torres)  to be actually the Riesling grape. There is strong evidence suggesting the variety was first brought to Spain via the Camino by Rhineland Pilgrims (Alba - very white - Rino - Rhine or 'white from the Rhine').

COOL, COOL, COOL

For the wines of Rías Baixas, the word ‘cool’ is key. With a Maritime climate, (thanks to the Atlantic Ocean, not to mention buckets of falling rain), you can't expect anything else. The five sub-zones of the region include: Val do Salnés, O Rosal, Condado de Tea, Soutomaior, and Ribera do Ulla.

When the grapes are picked at harvest, they are rushed to the press houses to avoid heating by the sun. In some instances, vintners use cold water instead of air in the inflatable bags of the horizontal wine presses. Cold maceration (briefly steeping grape skins with juice at a low temperature) is typical and after fermentation, the wines are often left on their lees.

VARIETIES OF GREEN SPAIN
Albariño is ideal with seafood but can be a bit more pricey than regular whites. Because everyone loves the variety's brine-green fruit-yeast character (including the locals and the tourists, and the rest of Spain, not to mention Europe and North America), these wines are high in demand.

Loureira is another grape from Galicia, (sometimes used to add body to Albariño), imparting a seductive element of stone fruit.

Godella (or Verdello) is one to watch. A relatively new arrival in Rías Baixas, it is grown in nearby Valdeorras. It can produce crisp and magnificent varietal whites with bouquets swooning with ripe peach and green apple fruit.

Treixadura, also known as Verdello Louro is often blended with Loureira and Albariño.

As I mentioned, white wine is predominant but you can find some excellent Mencia in Monterrei.

If you're looking for something unique to bring to your table, whether to accompany shrimp and cocktail sauce or a cool seafood salad, nothing beats the best of Rías Baixas.  Nor the great whites of Galicia.


Bibliography

Crow, John Armstrong, Spain: The Root and The Flower, Berkley, University of
California Press, 1985.
Jeff, Julian, The Wines of Spain. Mitchell Beazley, London, 2006.
Radford, John, The New Spain. Mitchell Beazley, London, 2007.

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Montepulciano - Italy's Easy Going Grape

There is Montepulciano the region and Montepulciano the grape. Don't confuse them. In the region, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano ('the noble wine of Montepulciano') is made up of Sangiovese whereas the variety, Montepulciano finds its true home on the eastern coast in Abruzzo.

THE PROFILE

Montepulciano is a relatively late-ripening grape, harvested in late September, early October. Wines made from this variety often have moderate acidity and are soft, jammy and juicy in texture. Expect deep, delicious black fruits and earthier, exotic spices in some higher quality wines. On the whole, these wines are simply easy going, fleshy and pair well with meaty pastas - think ravioli, lasagna or  on a  lazy Sunday night, a heavy beef and pepperoni pizza. Molto bene!

The grape’s origins are relatively unknown. Documentation only goes as far back as the nineteenth century. Research conducted by Ampelographers (botanists who study and classify grapevines) in the 1800's maintained it was related to Sangiovese. Modern research has disputed this in our time. Unlike Sangiovese,  the variety that makes up Chianti and many of the great Super Tuscans, Montepuliciano thrives in a warmer climate and the chilly morning slopes of Tuscany will simply not do.

ABRUZZO - BACK IN TIME

The history of winemaking in Abruzzo, however, goes as far back as the Etruscans, around the 6th-7th century B.C. The Etruscans were a tribe of mysterious origin, believed to have come from Asian Minor and lived  in and around Central Italy - 'Etruscan' gave us the name 'Tuscany'. Hedonistic in character, they were known for wife-swapping and orgies were said to be a part of their culture.

In the Abruzzo of ancient times, the apianea grapes, a sweet grape not unlike our modern Moscato, was widely planted. The wines from this variety were highly praised by the Roman and Greek scholars in the 4th century.

During the Middle Ages, the area became depopulated as was the case in rural and mountainous regions throughout Italy. Many villages stood abandoned as men and women migrated to larger towns and villages to find work.

In our modern era, winemaking in Abruzzo has only come to the forefront through the effort  and determination of many co-operative wineries and this has only been in the last twenty years!

OGGI - TODAY

Today Montepulciano can be used to make wines of both high quality and 'plonk'. Montepulciano d’Abruzzo is the most important DOC with half a million hectoliters pumped out each year. The soils here are calcareous (high in calcium) and morainic (glacially formed accumulation of unconsolidated glacial debris).

Recently the Colline Teramane region was awarded DOCG status. This is just one step in separating the quality wines from the rivers of sub-standard wine (15% of which can be blended with Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Sangiovese or other local varieties). Time will tell if we see further developments in this up-and-coming region.

Besides Montepulciano d'Abruzzo, the grape is grown in Umbria, Molise and Puglia. In the Marche, Rosso Conero is made up primarily of Montepulciano whereas Rosso Piceno is 70%.

Bibliography
Belfrage, Nicolas, Brunello to Zibibbo: The Wines of Tuscany, Central and Southern Italy. Mitchell Beazley, London, 2001.

Clark, Oz, 2009 Pocket Wine Guide. Harcourt Publishing, Orlando, 2008.
Robinson, Jancis (ed.), The Oxford Companion to Wine. Oxford Univ. Press, Oxford, 2006.

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Verdi and the Wines of Veneto – An Italian Pairing

I am not only passionate about Italian wine but Italian opera. One night I talked to a friend about my love of poetry and wine pairings. From our discussion, the idea of a wine and opera pairing was born.

GIUSEPPE VERDI (1813-1901)

There are three great names in opera: Mozart, Verdi and Wagner.

Verdi is the first big name after Mozart. His operas appeared in all the famous 19th century opera houses in Italy: Milan, Rome, Naples, Venice, Florence and Trieste. Born not too far from Parma, his father provided his son with a reasonable musical education. Throughout his life he composed music for 28 operas.

Verdi’s greatest contribution to musical history came in the shape of his three most famous operas: La Traviata, Rigoletto and Il Trovatore. In his book A Night at the Opera Sir Denis Foreman opined that each work has imparted something to our popular culture from the 'Brindisi' of Trav, to the Anvil Chorus of Trov and who can forget Pavarotti’s version of ‘'La donna mobile' (Rigoletto), a ditty so popular you’d have to be born in a convent not to know it. Check the links.

VERDI AND VENICE

When it comes to food, I prefer a pairing of wine with the region’s cuisine. In the case of opera, I’m going to be a little more lenient. Verdi is to Italy what Goethe is to Germany, or what Shakespeare is to England. Verdi was born near Parma but the wines of Veneto work perfectly, especially when paired with La Traviata, my very favourite of Verdi’s operas.

Based on Alexandre Dumas fils’ play and novel, La Dame aux camellias, La Traviata featuring the tragic Violetta first premiered in Venice on March 6, 1853. (You see how it all works out – Verdi – Veneto – Violetta…?)

The opera is in three acts and takes place in Paris.

Violetta is a popular courtesan for wealthy men. In the first act, we find ourselves at her home where there is much celebrating, toasting (the infamous Brindisi), drinking and laughing. The music is lively and bubbly, the songs about the fleeting joys of life. For this scene, I recommend a Prosecco, the ubiquitous spumante of Italy’s north made principally from the Prosecco grape. The wine maker uses the charmant method (which is unlike Champagne) to give it its light, green fruit flavour.. Whereas Champagne undergoes a second fermentation in the bottle (which gives us the bubbles), the wine of Prosecco undergoes a second fermentation in a pressurized tank.

Anna Netrebko as Violetta in the Salzburger Festspielen  production of La Traviata, 2005

Deutsche Grammophon - La Traviata

TOCAI AND ALFREDO

Alfredo is deeply in love with Violetta. While she is recuperating in her Paris home from an attack of tuberculosis he keeps a vigilant watch outside in the rain.

Un di felice is a lovely piece and when Violetta replies, the music sweeps you away into a mellow mood of heart-breaking tenderness and sweet, savage yearning. For this I recommend a Tocai Friulano. This white variety is not as popular in Veneto but you can find some excellent ones from regions in nearby Friuli-Venezia Giulia, considered part of the Tre Venezie (with Trentino-Aldige as the third). The wines are medium-bodied, some with a slight, viscous-creamy texture, a nice pairing with the love duet. Add to that some excellent Prosciutto, the famous ham meat from Friuli, (near the town of San Daniele) and Emilia-Romagna, (close to Parma and Verdi’s birthplace) – not bad for a little regional pairing.

ALFREDO AND VIOLETTA IN LOVE

By the time we get to the second act, the two have become lovers (Lunga da lei). Time for some Valpolicella. Like Beaujolais of southern Burgundy, the basic Valpolicella is a lighter wine, easy to drink, with soft cherry notes and candy. A blend of three red grapes (Molinara, Rondinella and Corvina), there are a few other styles to chose from.

Valpolicella Classico – with grapes sourced from the original region. (Throughout the years, many famous areas of Italy, such as Chianti, have grown grapes on older vineyards. They are now competing with the newer sites. These producers on the original sites feel their wines should be acknowledged – classico simply refers to the historic, long-established area.) These wines have a bit more body to offer.

Then, there’s Valpolicella Classico Superiore which must be aged a year before release. These wines have gorgeous licorice, smoky dried cherry components (highly suitable for the music of lovers swooning with love).

GERMONT AND VIOLETTA – “YOU HAVE TO LEAVE MY SON”

If your dad found out you were dating a prostitute, he’d be worried, wouldn’t he? Well Alfredo’s papa is very concerned. In the Paris of the 19th century, a courtesan was a high-end call girl but a call girl nonetheless.

The role of Germont is sung by a baritone, which is lower than a tenor (Alfredo). Baritones usually have the second-man-best-friend-paternal part to sing. Germont’s daughter is getting married and he needs Violetta to get out of the picture or else his daughter’s fiancé and family might not go through with the marriage (Pura siccome un angelo).

Violetta offers to lie low but that won’t do for the concerned father. You have to leave Alfredo, immediately and without explanation, I’m sorry.

This is when you pull out the Valpolicella ripassso. The wine is made by re-passing the newly fermented Valpolicella wine over the Amarone pomace (the pulp mound-mass of seeds and skins [i.e. leftovers] after an Amarone wine has fermented – we’ll get to that soon enough). The Vapolicella, in contact with this pomace, takes on a ‘jamminess’ as it picks up some additional colour, flavor, structure and tannins. Like a good California Zin, this is lush and pairs well with the moody but dramatic exchange between Germont and the pleading Violetta.

ANGRY ALFREDO, DYING VIOLETTA

Alfredo is upset. Violetta has left him, her motive for leaving concealed (she doesn’t want to get between father and son), and while out at party, he see his lady love with the Baron Douphol (a real cad). There is a heated argument and Alfredo, at the height of his rage throws all his gambling winnings at her. Germont comes in, flabbergasted at his son’s behavior.(Ogni suo aver tal femmina, Di sprezzo degno se stesso rende)

Things don’t really work out until it’s too late. By Act III Violetta is alone and dying of TB, coughing uncontrollably. Beside her is her maid, the loyal Annina (and a former courtesan) as the doctor attends her. But where’s Alfredo?

For the last part of Act II and Act III, you can choose one of two wines. Since these are emotionally charged scenes, you’ll need a big wine to get you through them. If you like drier style wines, I recommend an Amarone.

Like Valpolicella, Amarone is made with the same three grapes (sometimes with the addition of Negara) but closer to Verona. The main difference is that the grapes are left longer on the vine and when finally picked, are laid out in bunches on bamboo shelves or mats in drying lofts. There they are left to shrivel and this concentrates their flavours for three to four months.

When the grapes are finally pressed, they look more like raisins, having lost a third of their weight, mostly water. The resulting wine is a glorious, full-bodied red, higher in alcohol content (15 – 16%). Amarone, the name meaning ‘big, bitter one’ could well be the final ultimate pairing for this opera.

But if you like something sweet, I recommend a recioto della Valpolicella. This wine is made almost exactly the same as Amarone except when the grapes are fermenting, the process is soon stopped to retain the sweetness. Since all the sugar is not converted into alcohol, this leaves the wine supple, seductive and of all things, beautifully dolce.

Whether Violetta is singing Addio del passato or during the tear-driven finale and brief reconciliation between her and Alfredo, these great fuller-bodied wines of Veneto will compliment the heart-throbbing beauty of Verdi’s most painful and transcendent moments of opera.

Anna Netrebko and Rolando Villazon (as Alfredo) enact the painful finale.

Deutsche Grammophon - La Traviata

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French Wine, French Poetry - Pairings

As autumn approaches, the air will soon be laden with the quiet gravity of falling leaves and smoky evenings. The days will be crisp, the streets cooler, the lawns and parks shrouded in an amber-yellow collage of leaves. You can already feel the night getting longer, grayer, the brightness of dusk sharply fading.


For myself, autumn and winter are the times when I sit down to absorb more books. I want to slip away into myself, lock the doors, retire from the world and reach for a glass of wine and a book of poetry.


Some of my favourite wines are French and that goes for poetry, as well. The French are known for literature that exhibits a raw, decadent indulgence that is both delicious and disturbing. Uninhibited, passionate, their works are much more erotic and sensual than what I feel is the Olympian sterility and dryness of English writing. Even in translation (some day I hope to read the originals), the works of Baudelaire, Verlaine and Rimbaud give the reader a pleasure not unlike that of good French wine.


Here are some of my personal favourite wines paired with what I consider the most apropos of poets and their poetry.

Charles Baudelaire by Gustave Courbet

CHARLES BAUDELAIRE AND BURGUNDY

Charles Baudelaire (1821-1867) is a great poet when it comes to French letters. His writing was heavily influenced by the Romantics such as Victor Hugo (famous for the novels Les Miserables and Notre Dame de Paris – aka The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and also his poetry) and the realist approach of Honore de Balzac (his story Fanfarlo has taken its realist ideas from the latter author).

Baudelaire lived in fascinating times. When he was nine years old, France experienced the July Revolution (1830) which saw the overthrow of the French Bourbon monarch, King Charles X, in favour of Louis Phillipe, his cousin (who would, himself, be overthrown some 18 years later). Raised by his mother and step-father, the youthful Baudelaire was highly rebellious. Though he was expelled from one school for his lack of discipline, he eventually straightened out enough to finish his bachelor’s degree.

While in Paris, he lived a dissolute life and ran through his father’s inheritance. His step-father, a French Captain, attempted to set the young man straight but Baudelaire wouldn’t have any of it. He founded the Hashish Club with his friends, visited the great Nadar, fell in love with Jeanne Duval, a mulatto actress at the theatre and contracted numerous debts throughout his life.

Writing and journalism made up his career. He wrote art criticism (he was friends with Gustave Courbet, the great realist painter and knew the works of Eugene Delacroix), some short prose poems, translated the works of Edgar Allan Poe into French and composed his famous Les Fleur du Mal (The Flowers of Evil), a work that continues to enthrall, dismay and intrigue readers today (he was taken to court for obscenity when the work was published in 1857).

Of wine, he wrote in his poem, ‘Poison’, it

can endure the lowest dive
with sudden luxury
and out of a red mist create
enchanted porticoes,
like sunset firing a sodden sky.
(translation by Richard Howard)

He wrote several poems about wine: ‘The Soul of the Wine’, ‘Ragpickers’ Wine’, ‘The Murderer’s Wine’, ‘The Solitary Wine’ and ‘Lovers’ Wine’. Many depicted the bleak existence of the lower classes in the company of what may have been wine from the south of France. (In the mid-19th century the railway made it possible for the wines of Languedoc and Roussillon to make it to Paris).

Despite Baudelaire’s compassion for the poorer Parisian souls, I am hesitant to recommend a wine from the south. But neither would I suggest a Bordeaux or a Champagne. Instead, I feel Burgundy to embody the erotic but brooding melancholic soul of Baudelaire’s writing. You could sample an elegantly sensual Volnay from the Côte de Beaune or if you want to splurge, a deep, exotic Clos du Vougeot from the Côte de Nuits. If not, a regular red Burgundy will do. There are five specific levels of Burgundy: regional ACs (i.e. Bourgogne), specific ACs taking in a whole group of villages (i.e. Côte de Nuits-Villages), AC wines that take a village name such as Pommard, Premier Crus which are relegated to several good vineyards sites and Grand Crus which are the best individual vineyard sites. Names to look out for: Joseph Drouhin, Louis Jadot, Maison Leroy.

When young, red Burgundy’s flavours range from strawberry and raspberry to deeper damson and dark cherries. When the wines have aged, especially in the Premier and Grand Crus, expect more Oriental spices, whiffs of forest mushrooms, sometimes an air of light tobacco, chocolate and truffles – a charismatic complement to some of Baudelaire’s more intoxicating poems such as ‘A Head of Hair’ and ‘Twilight: Evening’. But it also exerts a floral quality that should compliment Baudelaire’s fleurs. As Jay McInerney writes of Burgundy in his humorous but educational book, Bacchus and Me, “[If] it’s red, French, costs too much, and tastes like the water that’s left in the vase after the flower have died and rotted, it’s probably Burgundy.”

Rotting flowers, truffles and mushrooms. Baudelaire would most likely approve. Any of these wines can be drunk in the company of such lyrics that ask:

Are you the sovereign harvest of the fall?
Are you the savor of Happy Isles?
- Ultimate urn that bides its time for tears,
Caressing pillow, or narcotic rose?
(translation by Richard Howard)

PAUL VERLAINE AND ALSACE

Born in 1844, Paul Verlaine (1844-1896) was only 13 years old when Baudelaire’s Les Fleurs du Mal hit the Paris bookstands. Before his father relocated his family to Paris, his early childhood was spent in Metz, near Alsace. Of his hometown, Verlaine once wrote: “I lived there only a few years… but it was there that my mind and senses opened to life.” The boy was prone to melancholy but like his idol, Baudelaire, he exuded a dark, sensuous, Dionysian edge.

His family tried to point him toward a career in the civil service but his passion for writing brought him closer and closer to the literary landscape of Paris. As Martin Sorrell writes in his Introduction to his translation of Verlaine’s poetry, the poet “…spent his life facing in two directions at once.” He could write the most sensitive, tear-driven lyrics and yet be equally ‘gifted’ with the ability to compose bawdy, pornographic rhymes. He was also a brute, a terrible drunk who beat both his wife and mother yet strangely – or paradoxically - longed for a quiet family life.

When he hooked up with the young poet Arthur Rimbaud, the older poet left his wife, Matthilde and the two men became lovers and traveled throughout Europe. During a heated argument in 1873, the tempestuous Verlaine shot the young Arthur in the hand and served time in prison.

Considering Verlaine was born so close to the German border, and there is a Germanic spirit to some of his more pensive lyrics, I highly recommend an Alsatian Gewurztraminer. It is a suitable and perfect match. Pour yourself a golden glass from a chilled bottle. Open a copy of Verlaine’s poetry. Breathe in the lychees, the roses and grapefruit, then read ‘Il pleure dans mon coeur’

Il pleure dans mon Coeur
Comme il pleut sur la ville
(It is raining in my heart
Like it rains on the town)

The wine is viscous, rich, and the poem is languorous, solemn. It seems to coat the palate of one’s mind and heart with a deep, satisfying intensity.

Take a sip and flip the pages to ‘Autumn Song’: “The long sobs of the violins of autumn lay waste my heart…” One can imagine the golden sunset streets of October in Paris by reading Verlaine’s work. With an Alsatian wine in hand, one can almost taste the dreamy, misted world of the poet’s imagination.

Notable producers include: Pierre Sparr, Hugel et Fils, Domaine Weinbach, Domaine Zind Humbrecht, Trimbach, and Domaines Schlumberger.

Paul Verlaine (left) and Arthur Rimbaud (centre) in a painting by Henri Fantin-Latour

ATHUR RIMBAUD AND THE LOIRE AND THE RHONE

If Charles Baudelaire and Paul Verlaine are less than worthy role models for a young man, let alone an aspiring poet, Arthur Rimbaud (1854-1891) is the enfant terrible. Born in northeastern France in the Ardennes département, Rimbaud was raised in the middle class. His father was a Captain of the Infantry and spent much of his career in Algiers. He abandoned the young boy to his mother when he was six. Known for her severity (one of the reasons Rimbaud’s father may have flewn the coop), she would deprive her son meals if he failed to recite prescribed Latin verses.

Before writing his great poems and prose poems, not to mention his famous letters, the young student wrote “I will be a capitalist”, a prophecy that would, in many ways, come true.

He wrote poetry relatively early in his life. By the age of seventeen he had composed his most famous poem, ‘Le Bateau Ivre’ (The Drunken Boat) and met the poet, Paul Verlaine. The two became lovers and traveled from Paris to London via Brussels. It was in London that Verlaine shot his lover in the hand during a heated, drunken dispute. The older man served 18 months in prison for his ‘crime passionel’. By 1874, after completing his Une Saison en enfer, (A Season in Hell) Rimbaud turned his back on poetry and writing, leaving it for a world of adventure. Perfecting his English in London, he travelled to Germany, Switzerland and Italy studying German, Spanish, Arabic, Italian, Dutch and modern Greek. By the early 1880s he began to work in Ethiopia, eventually trying his hand at gun-running and slave-trading in Turkey and Arabia. In 1891, he contracted a tumor on his right knee. After an amputation, his recovery fraught with difficulty, Rimbaud returned Marseilles to seek out further treatment. His condition worsened and as a result, he died there at the age of 37.

What many men may have lived in many lifetimes, Rimbaud lived all in one. He is a dark monument, a legend, but still an artist. Whereas Baudelaire is the commanding figure in 19th century poetry (his work more than his life thrust him to the forefront of French literature), both Rimbaud’s persona and poetry have intoxicated generations of artists. This list is huge and includes Americans poets such as T.S. Eliot, Allen Ginsburg, Jack Kerouac and William S. Burroughs; novelists Vladimir Nabokov, Henry Miller and Anais Nin. Musicians such as Bob Dylan, Van Morrison, Jim Morrison and Patti Smith cite him as their songwriting muse. There is also a film, Total Eclipse with Leonardo Di Caprio portraying the young poet with Daniel Thewlis as Verlaine.

So what wine or wines would you drink in the company of Rimbaud’s poetry? Considering the poet was a traveler, and his poetry embodies his wild, ecstatic and dissolute vision of the world, with the sea and rivers as a feature in his influential ‘Le Bateau Ivre’, I’d recommend a sparkling wine, a Crémant de Loire. A Crémant is any sparkling wine made using the traditional Champagne method outside of Champagne (to be called Champagne it must be from the region). After Champagne, the Loire is the most famous of sparkling wine producers, especially around the town of Saumur where the three top Loire sparkling-wine producers (Bouvet-Ladubay, Gratien et Mayer and Langlois-Château – each in their own way related to a Champagne house) are located. While drinking the bubbly Chenin Blanc, read from ‘The Drunken Boat’

the storm made bliss of my sea-borne awakening
Lighter than a cork, I danced on the waves which men call eternal rollers
(translation by Oliver Bernard).

For his Une Saison en enfer, I would reach for a delicious, albeit decidedly decadent bottle of Châteauneuf-du-Pape. The history of the Popes have been known to include ‘some moments’ of hedonism (more than we know or can imagine I suspect). During the 14th century, there was a period between 1305 and 1378 when the popes reigned in Avignon. The period is called the ‘Avignon Papacy’ or ‘Babylonian Captivity’ when the French court had a certain influence on the papal court.

Châteauneuf-du-Pape or “New House of the Pope” is the vineyard area near Avignon and the most southern of major Rhone appellations. The vineyards are covered in ‘pudding’ stones, some small, some the size of pumpkins, remnants of ancient glaciers from the Alps.

The wines are made up of predominantly Grenache but the blend allows for 13 grape varieties in total, including Syrah, Mourvedre and Cinsault.

Rimbaud was a definite ‘capitalist’ in his adult life but there is also the lusty spirit of the provocative adolescent in his writings. Known for his Symbolist imagery, the prose poems with its Catholic influence might be just right for a glorious bottle of Châteauneuf-du-Pape.

Noteworthy and famous producers: Château Beaucastel, M. Chapoutier, Château Rayas, and Domaine de Beaurenard.

What better way to face the impending winter than with these poets and these wines.

Bibliography

Baudelaire, Charles, Les Fleurs du Mal (trans. Richard Howards). David R. Godine, Boston, 1983.

Clark, Oz, 2009 Pocket Wine Guide. Harcourt Publishing, Orlando, 2008.

MacNeil, Karen, The Wine Bible. Workman Publishing Company Inc. New York, 2001

Richardson, Joanna. Verlaine. Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London, 1971.

Rickword, Edgell. Rimbaud: The Boy and the Poet. Haskell House Publishers, New York, 1971

Rimbaud, Arthur. Collected Poems (trans. Oliver Bernard). Penguin, London, 1997.

Robb, Graham. Rimbaud. W.W. Norton & Co., New York, 2001

Verlaine, Paul. Selected Poems (trans. Martin Sorrel). Oxford, 2009.

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