Ortega, England
We are very excited to announce the launch of our new series of Instagram Lives - Grape Minds! Here, Joey and Katy are in conversation with a friend from the world of food and drink over a glass of their favourite wine. It’s part tasting, part chat; it’s light-hearted, jolly, and very tasty. We would like to thank friends Liebherr for sponsoring this series. Liebherr make the best wine refrigeration units in the game, and the best longer term wine storage units too. Thank you Liebherr.
And a big thank you to our sommelier friend Charles Carron Brown aka @thenaturalsommelier for joining us for episode 1, and for flying the flag for English, natural and organic wines. You can catch the full recording on our IGTV here. Ortega is one of Charlie’s favourite grapes, and the bottle we tasted together is noted below.
5 facts on Ortega:
In the winery, ortega is handled like an aromatic grape - that is to say, the winemaker seeks to preserve the primary fruit flavours of the grape by avoiding oak ageing; instead, he or she will choose temperature controlled stainless steel tanks to carry out the fermentation as these keep the wine as fresh, fruity and aromatic as can be!
Ortega has a pronounced aroma of grapefruit, honeysuckle and peach. It’s bold, floral and even slightly tropical on the nose, similar in a Sauvignon Blanc in many ways.
Ortega grape thrives in sandy soils; Westwell estate believes that the sandy terroir of their ortega vines encourages its bold aromatic nature of the grape. (Charlie’s fact from Grape Minds).
Ortega is well suited to English winemaking as it’s very resilient of the cold, and of extreme weather patterns. It’s likely that we may see more of it planted in English vineyards. (Katy’s fact from Grape Minds).
Westwell wine estate is wholly committed to sustainability and regenerative farming… so much so, they have planted a wild flower meadow at the top end of their orchard which is home to all manner of birds, bees, bugs, hares, and pheasants..! (Joey’s fact from Grape Minds).
2 pairings for Ortega:
Oysters!
No recipe needed! Oysters are as clean, mineral-y and fresh tasting as can be and pair perfectly with a crisp white wine that has high acidity, good minerality and a clean finish. This is so much the dream pairing that in fact both Charlie (@thenaturalsommelier) and Katy picked this as their perfect pairing!
White winter panzanella
(Recipe link here). High acid food needs a wine with high acidity. Acidity in food - such as the lactic & zippy kefir & lemon dressing in this recipe - decreases the perception of the wine's acidity, and thereby increases the perception of the wine’s sweetness. Thus with a salad like this, it’s best to start with a high acid wine such as an ortega!
Added to this ortega can have a little white pepper note in the background. The pickled fennel in this recipe, which tops the salad, is pickled with heaps of pink peppercorn; this peppery note echoes and compliments the flavours in the wine.
One of our favourite bottles of Ortega:
Region: North Downs, Kent, England
Vintage: 2019
ABV: 11.5%
Purchased from: Westwell Wines
Cost: £16.00
On the nose: The nose is very pronounced and aromatic - astoundingly so! There are notes of mandarine, white peaches, honeydew melon and jasmine flowers; there are faint notes of pineapple too.
On the palate: It’s fresh, and zippy with bright, lively acidity, and the faint bitterness of lemon pith. It’s light-bodied, crisp and refreshing.