Hvad drikker verdens bedste kvindelige sommelier for tiden...?

Du kender sikkert Nina, måske har du hørt om hende, måske har hun endda serveret for dig. Nina er en lille strålende bombe som har gjort mange danskere glade på en perlerække af gode spisesteder lige siden hun blev udlært som tjener fra Le Sommelier af. Siden er det blevet til ansættelser hos Anarki, Kong Hans, Lyst og senest Alchemist. Udover Ninas arbejde har hun også konkurreret som Sommelier i en årrække og har et par danske og et nordisk mesterskab på CV'et. Derudover er hun pt. den næstbedste sommelier i europa og i verden og samtidigt den bedst placerede kvinde på kloden. Læs mere om Nina her.

Ninas smag er funderet i det klassiske og der er ingen tvivl om at Nina har arbejdet mest med vine som er bredt anerkendte. Men, der er også en Nina som holder fri fra arbejde og når Nina gør det bliver vinene ofte lidt friere i udtrykket og appellation og vinenes renommé bliver lidt mindre vigtige. Ninas smag er udogmatisk og nysgerrig men absolut ikke ukritisk! 

Her får du 6 flasker vin i tidens ånd udvalgt af verdens & europas bedste kvindelige sommelier Nina Højgaard Jensen

1 fl. 2017 White City on a Hill, Swartland, Syd Afrika

1 fl. 2017 Lias Finas Rioja Blanco, Honorio Rubio, Spanien

1 fl. NV Big Nature Orange, Schmelzers Weingut, Burgenland, Østrig

1 fl. 2020 Tradition Rosé Tibouren, Clos Cibonne, Provence

1 fl. 2019 Fedellos do Couto, Lomba dos Ares, Ribeira Sacra

1 fl. 2019 ‘A Rina Etna Rosso, Girolamo Russo, Sicily, Italien

Hvad Nina har at sige om vinen:

"We are entering (hopefully) the late spring season where I look for vibrancy, freshness and charm in the wines. This time of the year is probably where I drink most evenly between these 4 colors of wine, and I had a wish of letting that be reflected in this 6 pax as well. I get excited when I discover something new at a bargain price and such wines are exactly what I have chosen to share with you here. To me quality is not linked specifically with a grape varietal, style or region but rather to the simple criteria: Is it balanced? Do I like drinking it? Does it have character?

I hope you will be happy to (re)discover these wines and that you also feel it is a big yes to all three questions."

2017 Lias Finas Rioja Blanco, Honorio Rubio, Spain

Honorio Rubio is a family owned producer with a history stretching back more than 100 years. They have upheld some traditions but also carefully and thoughtfully followed the development in the region. Today they farm biodynamically and to me, their white wines is the force. This is from the southern part of Rioja Alta, where Honorio has old Viura bush-vines that brings great concentration. It obtains an extra textural layer from a short 3-day maceration prior to fermentation. A total aging of 15 months of which 10 is in American oak and acacia wood on the fine lees – hence the cuvée name. The density of the grapes carries the aging in oak gracefully and in the final wine depth and spiced characters meet with freshness. There is a complexity to this that makes it shooting way above its price range. Despite this tasting very good at the moment you can easily cellar this for 5-7 years to come. I love the kind of wines that are immediately appealing but also has the capacity to age. 

2017 White City on a Hill, Swartland, South Africa  

City on a Hill delivers low intervention, delicious wines straight out of Paardeberg Mountain. In many ways Andrés wines represent the great change the vinous part of South Africa has gone through the past two decades. André Bryunes comes with experience from David and Nadia Sadie and started City on a Hill in 2015. The mission is preservation of old vines and to showcase the true possibilities of winemaking in South Africa – a deep desire to translate the terroir to the bottle. That means no new oak, only spontaneous fermentations, and light hands in the cellar all the way through. This is a blend of Chenin Blanc (92%), Viognier and skinmacerated Muscat d’Alexandrie aged on the lees for 10 months; aromatic, excotic and with some creaminess on the palette. Tasting this good for a second vintage sure is promising for the future of this project!

NV Big Nature Orange, Schmelzers Weingut, Burgenland, Austria 

Big Nature is an appropriate name for a wine from the Schmelzer’s. They are more than anything people of nature – nails black from earth and endless respect for the living being a vine is. Georg sees himself as a mediator of the energy his vines emit. He makes completely natural wines but always pure and his orange wines are some of the greatest and most lively of its kind. This is his entry-level orange which is a good introduction to what orange wine is – while his top cuvée displays more tannins and texture, this is more subtle and very fruit forward. A mix of white and orange wine is the explanation to the easily accessible style: Welschriesling aged in small, used barrels from 2020 vintage for the white and 2019 Sämling macerated for 6 weeks is the orange part. Aromatically plenty of earl grey tea, tangerine, tagetis flower, sencha and lemon verbena underscored by high acidity and subtle tannins. 

2020 Tradition Rosé Tibouren, Clos Cibonne

Clos Cibonnes Tradition Rosé is perhaps not we today considers a traditional rosé or what most people even connect with rosé normally – maybe it can be considered a rosé for wine nerds. It is not pink but rather salmon tinted with orange hue. It is not emitting many fruity nuances but is more talking into the warm spiced, mineral, saline and herbal expression. The grape is the little known Tibouren 90% with a splash of Grenache. Direct press gives the color and after fermentation it is aged for 12 months in ancient, large barrels. Clos Cibonne was the savoir of Tibouren in a moment where it was near extinct as a varietal and now it is their core grape. Tradition is an adequate choice of words to describe what is taking place at Clos Cibonne. I love how they represent a message of quality will stand the test of time: Neither the label and almost not the winemaking practices has changed here for 200 years.

2019 Fedellos do Couto, Lomba dos Ares, Ribeira Sacra

With vineyards located in the green Galicia upon steeply terraced, granitic hillsides facing Minho and Sil river, Ribera Sacra is a dramatic wine region providing characterful and vibrant wines of local varietals. The best of them has a uniqueness and originality about them that instantly sparks your curiosity. Signified by countless ancient, tiny vineyards owned by individual families the logistics in sourcing grapes alone can be some task. Add to that a landscape that demands you to be half mountain goat and you gather that making wine here is not for sissies. Fedellos do Couto in many ways represents the revival this ancient region has seen over the course of the past 20 years, where farmers are returning to the remoteness and the ancient vineyards, utilizing the fact that so many of these microplots have beautiful, old plant material that just needs a second chance. Fedellos is a companionship between the two buddies, Curro Barreño and Jesús Olivares, founded in 2011 owning 7ha of vinyards present day. Lomba dos Ares is a mix of varietals from old vines in the cool subzone Valle do Bibei. The approach to vinification is rather simple really: whole cluster (on this cuvée) long, cool fermentations and macerations lasting up to 60 days, followed by aging in neutral oak foudres. Sulphites are minimally dosed – once upon the fruits’ arrival to the winery, secondly just prior to bottling. The result? Super transparent, juicy and energetic wine with a sophisticated reductive character. Indeed an original that will make you ponder; will the second bottle taste as delicious?

2019 ‘A Rina Etna Rosso, Girolamo Russo, Sicily, Italy

For years Etna has been one of the most exciting wine regions in in Italy. Volcanic wines with north-eastern facing vineyards coming from the reverse C-shaped region on the eastern part of Sicily. The terroir is under continuous alterations from the eruptions of the active Edna. The soil here is formed of multiple layers of magmatic rocks and to make wine here, a vigneron must embrace the raw extremes of the conditions. Giuseppe surely does and has a great passion for the family domaine which he revived back in 2005. Girolamo Russo has 15ha of vines in altitudes reaching up to 780m bringing coolness and elegance to the expression. Nerello Mascalese 90% and the rarer Nerello Capuccio 10% make up a wine with somewhat grippy tannins follow up by a red fruited juiciness and hints of dried fruits and balsamic tones. In order words: A glass of everything that is good about Sicilian reds.