A couple of weeks ago I drank a 2005 Domaine d’Elise Chablis at a picnic, but did not provide a proper note for it. Now is that time, as I had time to properly consider it before dinner yesterday evening.
The wine is light and bright in colour, with a greenish tinge. The nose shows nuts, butter and grape fruit. The palate is tight and fine, with up front citrus flavours, an underlying butteriness and cleansing acid. On opening up in the glass, the nose and palate show characteristic wet-stone minerality. The finish is lingering with faint nut and caramel notes. An elegant, well-made, classic Chablis.
Thursday, 19 April 2007
Tuesday, 17 April 2007
Tuesday afternoon Burgundy
It's not every day that one's wine merchant offers one a glass of top red Burgundy simply on account of showing up to pick up a case of wine. Shame. Today, however, was one such happy day.
The 2000 Domaine Denis Mortet Gevrey Chambertin is bright red with startling clarity. The nose is powerful and fragrant: lavender, plums, herbs, nuts and raisins. The palate is pure, elegant and red-fruit driven, finishing with supple tannins and even a hint of fruit cake on the finish. The wine is beginning to age very well, with every element well integrated into the fabric of the wine. When people think of 'fine wine' this is what they are thinking of. Understated without being green, powerful without being blowsy or boring. Pure, focussed, flavour.
The 2000 Domaine Denis Mortet Gevrey Chambertin is bright red with startling clarity. The nose is powerful and fragrant: lavender, plums, herbs, nuts and raisins. The palate is pure, elegant and red-fruit driven, finishing with supple tannins and even a hint of fruit cake on the finish. The wine is beginning to age very well, with every element well integrated into the fabric of the wine. When people think of 'fine wine' this is what they are thinking of. Understated without being green, powerful without being blowsy or boring. Pure, focussed, flavour.
Monday, 16 April 2007
A romp through the Rhone Valley
Two exciting things happened at Lincoln’s Inn yesterday. The first was the shooting of the BBC’s new production of Sense and Sensibility. But even more exciting was that fact that we inhabitants moved our dining room table out into the middle of Old Buildings and conducted a tasting of Rhone Valley wines from about 4pm til we couldn’t stand up any more.
We started with a bracket of whites, each surprisingly different in style. A Condrieu or Chateau-Grillet was out of the question price-wise so we began with a 2004 Jean-Luc Colombo Cotes du Rhone ‘Les Figuières’ (70% Viognier, 30% Roussanne) which portrayed its varietal composition didactically. The wine has a heady nose of apricots and almonds. The palate follows: viscous, sweaty, with a nutty, agreeably bitter finish. Not a complex wine, but a well-made, more-ish one.
Alongside it was the 2004 Stephan Chaboud St Peray (80% Marsanne, 20% Roussanne). An intense nose with PVC glue, orange, varnish and spicy oak, if a little bit ‘woodchippy’. The palate is full bodied, with nutty almond characters and a fine acid finish. The wine can appear aggressive, and I would not recommend it without food, which should help to keep the chemically elements of this wine in abeyance. Sainsbury’s Local on High Holborn was selling free range chooks for £2.99 earlier in the day, so I shoved one in the oven at about 7pm, and served it an hour or so later with new potatoes in parsley butter. The St Peray was a great match – so much so that it makes me wonder if there is any point in Chardonnay any more. Poor Chardonnay, useless as an aperitif, outshone by so many other varieties in most food matching, at least it and roast chicken would stay friends for ever. Well, not so, apparently. It now has at least one serious competitor in that department.
The whites finished with a 2005 Domaine de Cassan Cotes du Rhone (30% each of Roussanne, Grenache Blanc and Clairette, 10% Viognier), which really split the punters. I liked it, maybe not as much as the other two though. A fresh nose of minerals, lime, apples, orange sherbet and mandarin peel. It’s like a vinous version of Fanta. The palate shows light, expressive, fruity flavours of apricot and peach. Perhaps a little bitter on the finish. What I like about it is how much it proves there is variety in Rhone Valley whites. They’re not all viscous, nutty, and many-chinned. This wine exhibited a zing to it more common in a young Riesling.
The reds began with a 2004 Jean-Luc Colombo St Joseph ‘Le Prieuré’. It was purple, with black pepper and sour cherries on the nose, and, after time, a disagreeable element of smoke and car exhaust. The mid-weight palate is driven by straight forward cherry fruit, ending with bright acid and a hint of bitterness. I probably wouldn’t complain if someone served me this wine, but at £13-odd it tested my patience. Beside it, I served a 2004 Chapoutier Crozes Hermitage ‘Les Meysonnières’, which I reviewed last week, and which went to show that the Northern Rhone really did have stuff going for it.
Here is where you should be reading a review of 2000 René Balthazar Cornas and a 2003 Domaine du Joncier Lirac, but they didn’t arrive in time, thanks to the incompetence of certain merchants who I won’t name, because I otherwise like their work.
Instead, you can read about the far less interesting 2004 Santa Duc Vin de Pays de Vaucluse, and 2004 Les Aphillanthes Cotes du Rhone, bought at the last minute. The Vin de Pays was purple with a spicy, oaky nose. Forward fruit was the idea behind the palate, with blackberries and spicy oak, which, if I didn’t know better, I might allege to be American. The Cotes du Rhone was mid-red. The nose showed forward, fruity red cherries and liquorice characters. The palate follows with soft, slightly confected red fruits and a hint of spice on the finish. Some nice grip in the tannin department. Altogether two rather decent work-horse wines, that I might serve at a wedding where nobody is really paying attention to the wine, but far too prepared to complain if it’s crap.
We then interluded with a 2004 Domaine du Père Caboche Chateauneuf du Pape – one of the few domaines to use all 13 permitted grape varieties in its blend. And can’t you tell! Translucent mid red, the nose is highly fragrant, showing violets, red fruits and soft chocolate tones. The palate is very supple, slightly vegetal, with fragrant flowery notes on the finish and even a hint of apricot. A beautifully balanced wine.
The tasting came to an end with two of my favourites for the afternoon, a 2004 La Bastide Saint Vincent ‘Pavane’ Vacqueyras (70% Syrah, 15% Mourvèdre, 15% Carignan) and a 2000 Domaine la Bouissiere Gigondas (70% Grenache, 30% Syrah). The Vacqueyras was dark purple, with spicy coffee and caramel on the nose, as well as plum jam. The palate was round and fruity, with fresh acid and a prominent tannin finish. In a way though, it was overshadowed by the Gigondas, which was really the wine of the afternoon in my view. Beginning to move from purple to a brickish red in colour, the densely layered nose shows brandy, cinnamon, liquorice, jam, caramel and lavender. The palate is full and complex, driven by black-pepper, with intense dried fruits, finishing very dry with lingering, gripping tannins. It really was an injustice to drink it this young – no doubt the wine will be very fine indeed when the wine will move from being like a game of ‘spotto’ with primary flavours, into a more complex, elusive amalgam of developed bouquet and palate. But still, a privilege to drink at any time.
We started with a bracket of whites, each surprisingly different in style. A Condrieu or Chateau-Grillet was out of the question price-wise so we began with a 2004 Jean-Luc Colombo Cotes du Rhone ‘Les Figuières’ (70% Viognier, 30% Roussanne) which portrayed its varietal composition didactically. The wine has a heady nose of apricots and almonds. The palate follows: viscous, sweaty, with a nutty, agreeably bitter finish. Not a complex wine, but a well-made, more-ish one.
Alongside it was the 2004 Stephan Chaboud St Peray (80% Marsanne, 20% Roussanne). An intense nose with PVC glue, orange, varnish and spicy oak, if a little bit ‘woodchippy’. The palate is full bodied, with nutty almond characters and a fine acid finish. The wine can appear aggressive, and I would not recommend it without food, which should help to keep the chemically elements of this wine in abeyance. Sainsbury’s Local on High Holborn was selling free range chooks for £2.99 earlier in the day, so I shoved one in the oven at about 7pm, and served it an hour or so later with new potatoes in parsley butter. The St Peray was a great match – so much so that it makes me wonder if there is any point in Chardonnay any more. Poor Chardonnay, useless as an aperitif, outshone by so many other varieties in most food matching, at least it and roast chicken would stay friends for ever. Well, not so, apparently. It now has at least one serious competitor in that department.
The whites finished with a 2005 Domaine de Cassan Cotes du Rhone (30% each of Roussanne, Grenache Blanc and Clairette, 10% Viognier), which really split the punters. I liked it, maybe not as much as the other two though. A fresh nose of minerals, lime, apples, orange sherbet and mandarin peel. It’s like a vinous version of Fanta. The palate shows light, expressive, fruity flavours of apricot and peach. Perhaps a little bitter on the finish. What I like about it is how much it proves there is variety in Rhone Valley whites. They’re not all viscous, nutty, and many-chinned. This wine exhibited a zing to it more common in a young Riesling.
The reds began with a 2004 Jean-Luc Colombo St Joseph ‘Le Prieuré’. It was purple, with black pepper and sour cherries on the nose, and, after time, a disagreeable element of smoke and car exhaust. The mid-weight palate is driven by straight forward cherry fruit, ending with bright acid and a hint of bitterness. I probably wouldn’t complain if someone served me this wine, but at £13-odd it tested my patience. Beside it, I served a 2004 Chapoutier Crozes Hermitage ‘Les Meysonnières’, which I reviewed last week, and which went to show that the Northern Rhone really did have stuff going for it.
Here is where you should be reading a review of 2000 René Balthazar Cornas and a 2003 Domaine du Joncier Lirac, but they didn’t arrive in time, thanks to the incompetence of certain merchants who I won’t name, because I otherwise like their work.
Instead, you can read about the far less interesting 2004 Santa Duc Vin de Pays de Vaucluse, and 2004 Les Aphillanthes Cotes du Rhone, bought at the last minute. The Vin de Pays was purple with a spicy, oaky nose. Forward fruit was the idea behind the palate, with blackberries and spicy oak, which, if I didn’t know better, I might allege to be American. The Cotes du Rhone was mid-red. The nose showed forward, fruity red cherries and liquorice characters. The palate follows with soft, slightly confected red fruits and a hint of spice on the finish. Some nice grip in the tannin department. Altogether two rather decent work-horse wines, that I might serve at a wedding where nobody is really paying attention to the wine, but far too prepared to complain if it’s crap.
We then interluded with a 2004 Domaine du Père Caboche Chateauneuf du Pape – one of the few domaines to use all 13 permitted grape varieties in its blend. And can’t you tell! Translucent mid red, the nose is highly fragrant, showing violets, red fruits and soft chocolate tones. The palate is very supple, slightly vegetal, with fragrant flowery notes on the finish and even a hint of apricot. A beautifully balanced wine.
The tasting came to an end with two of my favourites for the afternoon, a 2004 La Bastide Saint Vincent ‘Pavane’ Vacqueyras (70% Syrah, 15% Mourvèdre, 15% Carignan) and a 2000 Domaine la Bouissiere Gigondas (70% Grenache, 30% Syrah). The Vacqueyras was dark purple, with spicy coffee and caramel on the nose, as well as plum jam. The palate was round and fruity, with fresh acid and a prominent tannin finish. In a way though, it was overshadowed by the Gigondas, which was really the wine of the afternoon in my view. Beginning to move from purple to a brickish red in colour, the densely layered nose shows brandy, cinnamon, liquorice, jam, caramel and lavender. The palate is full and complex, driven by black-pepper, with intense dried fruits, finishing very dry with lingering, gripping tannins. It really was an injustice to drink it this young – no doubt the wine will be very fine indeed when the wine will move from being like a game of ‘spotto’ with primary flavours, into a more complex, elusive amalgam of developed bouquet and palate. But still, a privilege to drink at any time.
Friday, 13 April 2007
Two Pouilly Fuisses
Apparently a lot of Oddbins are to be re-branded Nicolas, allegedly because market research reveals that people can't tell the difference between Oddbins (bog-standard but aspirational wine shop attempting to mark itself out as 'wine specialist') and Threshers (ultra-budget worse-than-middle-of-the-road wine shop). 'Re-branding' says it all - there isn't really a difference between Nicolas and Oddbins (other than the former doesn't deign to sell as much new world wine). Yet people are prepared to pay more money for the same wine at Nicolas, what with its connotations of old-world connoisseurship. Walking away with the satisfaction of having been looked down the shop assistant's nose at means you simply must have bought something good.
This, of course, is complete crap.
Nicolas in Bloomsbury sells 2004 Les Vieux Murs Pouilly Fuisse at around £12. The nose is a little nutty and melony, with a hint of river stones. The palate is inoffensive and a bit grapefruity. Eminently ordinary, this is a wine for convalescents, or those with head-colds.
Around the corner on New Oxford Street, Planet of the Grapes (a no-nonsense independent wine retailer, which, I should say in the interests of full disclosure is my favourite London wine shop) sells 2004 Domaine Roches "Des Personnets" Pouilly Fuisse for £10, or £96 for a case of 12. And I can tell you the difference is extraordinary. The nose leaps out of the glass to greet you, laden with vanilla, caramel, nuts, a hint of orange, rockmelon, and the green end of a spring onion. The palate is full, rich, with a silky hint of oyster and a polite, if slightly short, citrussy finish. Complex. Outstanding value. A far better wine, a substantially cheaper price.
One of the many problems with wine is its association with elitism etc bla blah we all know that one. But it stuns me to think that within the industry there are segments attempting to entrench that attitude, and, worse, consumers who are prepared to fall for it. So what if people think Oddbins is Threshers? Maybe they will get a nice surprise when they buy a decent bottle of wine there (easy to do at Oddbins - almost impossible at Threshers). But to want to re-brand to sell the same wine to people who want to pay more for the same thing? I don't know which out of the company or the consumer is more to blame. Perhaps they deserve each other. The last thing I want is demand pushing prices at my local independent retailer up.
This, of course, is complete crap.
Nicolas in Bloomsbury sells 2004 Les Vieux Murs Pouilly Fuisse at around £12. The nose is a little nutty and melony, with a hint of river stones. The palate is inoffensive and a bit grapefruity. Eminently ordinary, this is a wine for convalescents, or those with head-colds.
Around the corner on New Oxford Street, Planet of the Grapes (a no-nonsense independent wine retailer, which, I should say in the interests of full disclosure is my favourite London wine shop) sells 2004 Domaine Roches "Des Personnets" Pouilly Fuisse for £10, or £96 for a case of 12. And I can tell you the difference is extraordinary. The nose leaps out of the glass to greet you, laden with vanilla, caramel, nuts, a hint of orange, rockmelon, and the green end of a spring onion. The palate is full, rich, with a silky hint of oyster and a polite, if slightly short, citrussy finish. Complex. Outstanding value. A far better wine, a substantially cheaper price.
One of the many problems with wine is its association with elitism etc bla blah we all know that one. But it stuns me to think that within the industry there are segments attempting to entrench that attitude, and, worse, consumers who are prepared to fall for it. So what if people think Oddbins is Threshers? Maybe they will get a nice surprise when they buy a decent bottle of wine there (easy to do at Oddbins - almost impossible at Threshers). But to want to re-brand to sell the same wine to people who want to pay more for the same thing? I don't know which out of the company or the consumer is more to blame. Perhaps they deserve each other. The last thing I want is demand pushing prices at my local independent retailer up.
Sunday, 8 April 2007
Easter Long Weekend Wines
Knowing what wine to take with you when you go away for the weekend is tricky. This weekend I took a 2005 Chapoutier "Les Meysonnieres" Crozes Hermitage and a 2004 Domaine d'Elise Chablis with me when I went up to Oxford for the Easter Break. Chances are there was going to be at least one opportunity each for white and red over the course of the weekend - beyond that I simply had to gamble that my choices would be suitable.
Friday went to plan. Neil cooked dinner - roast chicken legs, pigs in blankets, rosemary potatoes, caramelised carrots. Rustic, comforting food called for a rustic wine (and also I was road testing a wine for next week's Rhone Valley tasting), so the Crozes Hermitage was opened. Smoky, peppery, nose. Savoury, meaty palate, white pepper, bacon, red fruit, and river water, finishing with very pronounced, lingering tannins, even after substantial time to breathe. Ever since Andy decided that the last Rhone wine I served him tasted like river water I've tasted nothing but on anything from the Rhone, particularly Crozes Hermitage. Amazing. Usually the only red wine that reminds me of river water or river pebbles is Bordeaux from St Estephe, but now that it has been pointed out to me it seems to be a pretty good way of describing Crozes Hermitage. Crozes is a wine that I've always thought of as salty, bacony, often with a red-fruit palate with a bit of leanness or steeliness to it and I think that river water falls into line with that flavour profile. So well done Andy.
Neil put me in charge of cooking salmon for dinner on Saturday. Here's where I could make the Chablis shine - I was toying with poaching it, or maybe serving it with pesto mash or some sort of cream sauce. But oh, no, the boy had to mention that he had a knob of ginger and a bag of red chillies, so of course the gauntlet had been thrown down to concoct a preparation with a nod to Asia in it. I decided to steam it with spring onions, lime, ginger, garlic, chillies, sesame seeds and soy sauce. But so doing eliminated any possibility of serving it with a nutty, layered Chablis. What that dish needed was something crisp, overtly fruity, lean, and with naively high acidity. Oddbins on High St Oxford has an appalling range of Rieslings, so, enamoured with the Loire Valley, as I have been of late, what with daylight saving starting, I purchased a bottle of 2005 Domaine Lebrun Pouilly Fume and gave that a try instead. Very pale. Delicate, pristine nose of passion fruit, apple, pear, gooseberry and white honey. The palate is austere, flinty, clean, smoky, with a chalky finish. After a while in the glass it settles down, and begins to show softer fruit on the nose - honeydew melon and pears - and river water (again!) on the palate. I rather preferred it just as it was when it was opened. Initially invigorating, it gets a bit lazy over time, which made finishing the bottle a bit of a bore. Nevertheless, the wine's initial optimism was appealing, and matched the fish very well (if I do say so myself).
That left the Chablis for today's picnic. We contributed goose rillettes and a pork and apricot pie to the festivities, which went well with the wine. You don't get a tasting note (I was at a picnic for fuck's sake), but it tasted like Chablis. Instead you get a rant. This week I rant about the problem of "picnic wine leeches". Much like dinner party wine leeches, these are people who bring crap wine to the picnic (or dinner party) and then drink your much nicer wine when they get there. This is grossly unfair. I had about one glass of Chablis before I had to revert to Banrock Station Chardonnay if I wished to continue drinking. (I passed). At least the owner of the Banrock Station was honest - "I brought this" she said "but give me a glass of yours, it's much nicer." "Piss off" said the voice in my head. "Of course, allow me to pour you one" said the idiot voice that came out of my head. There should be a rule that you must drink all of what you bring yourself to a picnic before asking others for a glass of what they brought. It's like the way little kiddies have to eat all their broccoli, and then they get some ice cream. Drink your Banrock Station crap, then I'll consider giving you some Chablis. More for us in the mean time. I think there would be considerable advantages to this scheme. First, it would prevent the current punishment of those who do bring nice wine to picnics. But second, it would encourage the leeches to bring something nice in the first place - since as they know they're going to be lumped with drinking it in the first place they would probably wan to make that experience as pleasant as they can stand. Unfortunately that is a scheme I can only dream for. At least the current orthodoxy prevented me from getting too pissed before the egg-and-spoon race.
Friday went to plan. Neil cooked dinner - roast chicken legs, pigs in blankets, rosemary potatoes, caramelised carrots. Rustic, comforting food called for a rustic wine (and also I was road testing a wine for next week's Rhone Valley tasting), so the Crozes Hermitage was opened. Smoky, peppery, nose. Savoury, meaty palate, white pepper, bacon, red fruit, and river water, finishing with very pronounced, lingering tannins, even after substantial time to breathe. Ever since Andy decided that the last Rhone wine I served him tasted like river water I've tasted nothing but on anything from the Rhone, particularly Crozes Hermitage. Amazing. Usually the only red wine that reminds me of river water or river pebbles is Bordeaux from St Estephe, but now that it has been pointed out to me it seems to be a pretty good way of describing Crozes Hermitage. Crozes is a wine that I've always thought of as salty, bacony, often with a red-fruit palate with a bit of leanness or steeliness to it and I think that river water falls into line with that flavour profile. So well done Andy.
Neil put me in charge of cooking salmon for dinner on Saturday. Here's where I could make the Chablis shine - I was toying with poaching it, or maybe serving it with pesto mash or some sort of cream sauce. But oh, no, the boy had to mention that he had a knob of ginger and a bag of red chillies, so of course the gauntlet had been thrown down to concoct a preparation with a nod to Asia in it. I decided to steam it with spring onions, lime, ginger, garlic, chillies, sesame seeds and soy sauce. But so doing eliminated any possibility of serving it with a nutty, layered Chablis. What that dish needed was something crisp, overtly fruity, lean, and with naively high acidity. Oddbins on High St Oxford has an appalling range of Rieslings, so, enamoured with the Loire Valley, as I have been of late, what with daylight saving starting, I purchased a bottle of 2005 Domaine Lebrun Pouilly Fume and gave that a try instead. Very pale. Delicate, pristine nose of passion fruit, apple, pear, gooseberry and white honey. The palate is austere, flinty, clean, smoky, with a chalky finish. After a while in the glass it settles down, and begins to show softer fruit on the nose - honeydew melon and pears - and river water (again!) on the palate. I rather preferred it just as it was when it was opened. Initially invigorating, it gets a bit lazy over time, which made finishing the bottle a bit of a bore. Nevertheless, the wine's initial optimism was appealing, and matched the fish very well (if I do say so myself).
That left the Chablis for today's picnic. We contributed goose rillettes and a pork and apricot pie to the festivities, which went well with the wine. You don't get a tasting note (I was at a picnic for fuck's sake), but it tasted like Chablis. Instead you get a rant. This week I rant about the problem of "picnic wine leeches". Much like dinner party wine leeches, these are people who bring crap wine to the picnic (or dinner party) and then drink your much nicer wine when they get there. This is grossly unfair. I had about one glass of Chablis before I had to revert to Banrock Station Chardonnay if I wished to continue drinking. (I passed). At least the owner of the Banrock Station was honest - "I brought this" she said "but give me a glass of yours, it's much nicer." "Piss off" said the voice in my head. "Of course, allow me to pour you one" said the idiot voice that came out of my head. There should be a rule that you must drink all of what you bring yourself to a picnic before asking others for a glass of what they brought. It's like the way little kiddies have to eat all their broccoli, and then they get some ice cream. Drink your Banrock Station crap, then I'll consider giving you some Chablis. More for us in the mean time. I think there would be considerable advantages to this scheme. First, it would prevent the current punishment of those who do bring nice wine to picnics. But second, it would encourage the leeches to bring something nice in the first place - since as they know they're going to be lumped with drinking it in the first place they would probably wan to make that experience as pleasant as they can stand. Unfortunately that is a scheme I can only dream for. At least the current orthodoxy prevented me from getting too pissed before the egg-and-spoon race.
Monday, 2 April 2007
Lucian's Housewarming
A friend of mine knows a mind-boggling amount about wine. The other day he held my kind of party - wine only, shitloads of good stuff, and blind tasting for those of us so inclined. I stumped him by bringing a bottle of 2004 Henri Milan "Le Grand Blanc" blind (60% Grenache Blanc, 40% Rolle) - a ripper of a wine from Provence. Dried herbs, rosemary, mint, and pork scratchings on the nose; a heavily extracted palate of glue, honey and mint. That only incurred his wrath and I was repaid in kind with a string of ridiculously un-gettable white blends from Rhone grapes. Anyway, once we were too drunk to care, we got onto the really good stuff. A 2003 Trimbach Riesling and a 1994 Dr Loosen MSR Spatlase reminded me of everything that is good about Riesling.
Anyway, I couldn't possibly catalogue all the wines we got through (I had neither the time nor the inclination to scribble away in the corner all evening), but here are a few notes on some of the gems of the evening.
2004 Forges "Le Clos du Papillon" Savennieres
My readers well know my annoyance with Chenin Blanc. It's not so much that I don't like it (although it is responsible for some bloody God-awful wines), it's more that you never know what you're going to get with it. Get an awful one and you never want to drink wine again; get a great one and you want to drink nothing but. Well, this one is an absolute star. The nose is utterly incredible. It's like a liquid Cadbury Crunchie bar. Intense honeycomb, seductive chocolate. On the palate it's full, fatty, and as greasy as a pizza chef after a 16 hour shift. The finish is chalky and acidic; an austere finish so different from the opening that all it does is make you want to go back to the beginning and do it all over again (which of course I did). More, please!
1998 Balbi Malbec Shiraz
Justin has a habit of bringing curve-ball wines to blind tastings. Sometimes it's fun - like when he brought Blue Nun to a blind tasting last year - that dispatched a few ego balloons that needed bursting. But most of the time it's just annoying (in a pleasant way, I suppose) not to be able to pick what it is. Everyone else had cautiously alleged this wine to be a Pinot. Yes, the colour was light, but to my mind that was age. It's dangerous to label any light red wine "Pinot". Sure, Pinot has an incredible flavour spectrum, but it is almost never without a certain leanness that I call "stalky" to perennial blank faces. Anyway, I knew this wasn't a Pinot, but I was wrong in a completely different way. Raisins on the nose, a cabernet like palate of cassis and cedar wood, but tasting as if it's best days were only just behind it. A lesser left-bank Bordeaux, perhaps? No, an Argentinian Malbec. There you have it. Annoyingly we were all required to guess the price. £8? £12 (my guess)? £18? No, apparently £4, heavily discounted from the University Club's bin end sale! Bastard.
2001 Roda II Rioja Riserva
Have you ever wanted to take the good stuff from one wine you like and discard the crap in favour of the good element of another wine you like? I have. I love the warmth of Rioja, the smooth, hospitable palate of plums and chocolate. But I don't much care for American oak. It just makes the wine taste horsey, bitter and even a little sour. So hats of to this wine, matured as it is in French oak. What a wise choice. Brick red (no rusty oxidation here!), brickish, chocolatey nose with a hint of orange peel. The palate is warm and seductive and ends with the most elegant of tannins, rather than Don Quixote's socks.
2005 Marigny-Neuf Cabernet (Haut-Poitou)
Who says you can't make a silk purse out of the sow's ear that is Cabernet Franc? This is a great wine. It tastes like a full-blown cabernet from the new world somewhere (Chile, maybe?) The skill is that maximum extraction from the grapes has been achieved, whilst maintaining balance. Quite lovely.
1988 Quinta de la Rosa Vintage Port
Another one courtesy of Justin, and a lovely way to end the evening. Raisins, cinnamon and hot cross buns on the nose. Forward sweet fruit and Christmas cake on the palate.
I remember now (2 days after the event) that there was a lovely Vin Doux Naturel that I wanted to review but I didn't take a note of it. It tasted like sherry.
Anyway that's all for now - any of my other friends moving any time soon?
Anyway, I couldn't possibly catalogue all the wines we got through (I had neither the time nor the inclination to scribble away in the corner all evening), but here are a few notes on some of the gems of the evening.
2004 Forges "Le Clos du Papillon" Savennieres
My readers well know my annoyance with Chenin Blanc. It's not so much that I don't like it (although it is responsible for some bloody God-awful wines), it's more that you never know what you're going to get with it. Get an awful one and you never want to drink wine again; get a great one and you want to drink nothing but. Well, this one is an absolute star. The nose is utterly incredible. It's like a liquid Cadbury Crunchie bar. Intense honeycomb, seductive chocolate. On the palate it's full, fatty, and as greasy as a pizza chef after a 16 hour shift. The finish is chalky and acidic; an austere finish so different from the opening that all it does is make you want to go back to the beginning and do it all over again (which of course I did). More, please!
1998 Balbi Malbec Shiraz
Justin has a habit of bringing curve-ball wines to blind tastings. Sometimes it's fun - like when he brought Blue Nun to a blind tasting last year - that dispatched a few ego balloons that needed bursting. But most of the time it's just annoying (in a pleasant way, I suppose) not to be able to pick what it is. Everyone else had cautiously alleged this wine to be a Pinot. Yes, the colour was light, but to my mind that was age. It's dangerous to label any light red wine "Pinot". Sure, Pinot has an incredible flavour spectrum, but it is almost never without a certain leanness that I call "stalky" to perennial blank faces. Anyway, I knew this wasn't a Pinot, but I was wrong in a completely different way. Raisins on the nose, a cabernet like palate of cassis and cedar wood, but tasting as if it's best days were only just behind it. A lesser left-bank Bordeaux, perhaps? No, an Argentinian Malbec. There you have it. Annoyingly we were all required to guess the price. £8? £12 (my guess)? £18? No, apparently £4, heavily discounted from the University Club's bin end sale! Bastard.
2001 Roda II Rioja Riserva
Have you ever wanted to take the good stuff from one wine you like and discard the crap in favour of the good element of another wine you like? I have. I love the warmth of Rioja, the smooth, hospitable palate of plums and chocolate. But I don't much care for American oak. It just makes the wine taste horsey, bitter and even a little sour. So hats of to this wine, matured as it is in French oak. What a wise choice. Brick red (no rusty oxidation here!), brickish, chocolatey nose with a hint of orange peel. The palate is warm and seductive and ends with the most elegant of tannins, rather than Don Quixote's socks.
2005 Marigny-Neuf Cabernet (Haut-Poitou)
Who says you can't make a silk purse out of the sow's ear that is Cabernet Franc? This is a great wine. It tastes like a full-blown cabernet from the new world somewhere (Chile, maybe?) The skill is that maximum extraction from the grapes has been achieved, whilst maintaining balance. Quite lovely.
1988 Quinta de la Rosa Vintage Port
Another one courtesy of Justin, and a lovely way to end the evening. Raisins, cinnamon and hot cross buns on the nose. Forward sweet fruit and Christmas cake on the palate.
I remember now (2 days after the event) that there was a lovely Vin Doux Naturel that I wanted to review but I didn't take a note of it. It tasted like sherry.
Anyway that's all for now - any of my other friends moving any time soon?
Tuesday, 27 March 2007
A small selection of luncheon wines
At a typical Saturday blind tasting lunch recently I served the following. Well, I should say that the following bottles were consumed at a lunch hosted by me - some were brought by my delightful guests, my former blind tasting teammates.
1992 Reinhold Haart Piersporter Goldtropfschen Kabinett Riesling (Mosel)
I acquired this for a mere £10 at a bin-end sale. £10! I would gladly have paid £30 of somebody else's money to purchase this wine. The nose leaps out of the glass, as if it was a year old (Sarah thought it was a 2003!) - petrol, grapefruit, lime, and clean as a whistle. The palate is bracing, lime driven, with matronly acidity, the tiniest hint of sherbet and and extraordinarily long, minerally finish. A stunning wine. I could have this wine for breakfast.
2004 Henri Milan "Le Grand Blanc" (Grenache Blanc/Rolle, St-Remy-de-Provence)
Just when you were getting bored, here comes this wine! The consensus was that if we had been blindfolded, we would have thought it was red. An intriguing nose of dried herbs - rosemary, thyme, oregano and mint. The palate is minty and very herbaceous and it wouldn't even be out of place to say the wine had tannins! Very unusual.
1990 Bourgueil Cuvee Prestige
Such a nice wine, it's hard to admit that it's a cabernet franc. Leafy, tobacco nose, almost left-Bank Bordeaux in character. Elegant red fruit palate, with a fine tannin finish.
2004 EQ Syrah (Chile)
By this stage we were eating rare roast beef. The debate raged over whether it was a grenache/shiraz blend from the Rhone, or a cabernet from Chile. Anyone should know that a debate like that can only end one way - it's a Syrah from Chile. And who would trust Piers to bring anything not from South America? A powerful, juicy, well balanced wine.
2003 Altavins Domus Pensi Terra Alta (Grenache/Syrah, Catalonia)
Jammy fruit on the nose with dark chocolate and even a hint of mint. Palate is full and chocolatey, supported by red fruits. Firm tannins, full body, well made. Will age.
2003 Nerojbleo Nero d'Alvola (Sicily)
The nose leads with anise and black jelly-babies, following with brambly black fruit. The palate begins a little sweet, full red and black jammy fruits. At this point you might think it was a Zinfandel. But then it goes tits up with a mouthful of tannins as gripping as nonna's farewell hug last Christmas. And then you know you're in Sicily.
2005 Les Amis de la Bouissiere (Grenache/Syrah/Merlot, Cotes du Rhone)
Now this is a shit hot wine for £9. I defy anyone to find such a powerful, well-balanced, mouth-filling, moreish, elegant, complex wine for the price. Superb.
1996 Chateau les Ormes de Pez (St Estephe)
Now you're talking. Classic Bordeaux nose - olives, tobacco and cedar. Powerful palate of black fruits - well balanced and delightfully mature. To think that Sarah had the audacity to claim it was slightly oxidised. I don't care whether she's been working vintages across Europe for the last 3 months. Her glass should have been confiscated immediately.
2000 Chateau Cormeil Figeac (St Emilion)
By this stage I was a bit drunk to be taking proper notes, but it was bloody lovely.
2005 Magnotta Vidal Ice Wine (Lake Erie North Shore, Canada)
Who cares really - aren't all sweet wines the same? It was sweet. And looked orange.
2004 Domaine Sauveroy Coteaux du Layon
Not as horrible as I might have thought. Less sweet than the Ice Wine - it should have come first. But that's the problem when you're tasting blind.
NV LeNoble Brut Intense
OK, so we had run out of wine so I opened this bottle, which I had won in an advocacy competition a couple of weeks previously. It was chilled, and by this stage we were a little too pissed to care. Alun had fallen asleep and Janet and I just needed to rinse our mouths out a bit. It actually wasn't too bad for something I was initially suspicious of.
1992 Reinhold Haart Piersporter Goldtropfschen Kabinett Riesling (Mosel)
I acquired this for a mere £10 at a bin-end sale. £10! I would gladly have paid £30 of somebody else's money to purchase this wine. The nose leaps out of the glass, as if it was a year old (Sarah thought it was a 2003!) - petrol, grapefruit, lime, and clean as a whistle. The palate is bracing, lime driven, with matronly acidity, the tiniest hint of sherbet and and extraordinarily long, minerally finish. A stunning wine. I could have this wine for breakfast.
2004 Henri Milan "Le Grand Blanc" (Grenache Blanc/Rolle, St-Remy-de-Provence)
Just when you were getting bored, here comes this wine! The consensus was that if we had been blindfolded, we would have thought it was red. An intriguing nose of dried herbs - rosemary, thyme, oregano and mint. The palate is minty and very herbaceous and it wouldn't even be out of place to say the wine had tannins! Very unusual.
1990 Bourgueil Cuvee Prestige
Such a nice wine, it's hard to admit that it's a cabernet franc. Leafy, tobacco nose, almost left-Bank Bordeaux in character. Elegant red fruit palate, with a fine tannin finish.
2004 EQ Syrah (Chile)
By this stage we were eating rare roast beef. The debate raged over whether it was a grenache/shiraz blend from the Rhone, or a cabernet from Chile. Anyone should know that a debate like that can only end one way - it's a Syrah from Chile. And who would trust Piers to bring anything not from South America? A powerful, juicy, well balanced wine.
2003 Altavins Domus Pensi Terra Alta (Grenache/Syrah, Catalonia)
Jammy fruit on the nose with dark chocolate and even a hint of mint. Palate is full and chocolatey, supported by red fruits. Firm tannins, full body, well made. Will age.
2003 Nerojbleo Nero d'Alvola (Sicily)
The nose leads with anise and black jelly-babies, following with brambly black fruit. The palate begins a little sweet, full red and black jammy fruits. At this point you might think it was a Zinfandel. But then it goes tits up with a mouthful of tannins as gripping as nonna's farewell hug last Christmas. And then you know you're in Sicily.
2005 Les Amis de la Bouissiere (Grenache/Syrah/Merlot, Cotes du Rhone)
Now this is a shit hot wine for £9. I defy anyone to find such a powerful, well-balanced, mouth-filling, moreish, elegant, complex wine for the price. Superb.
1996 Chateau les Ormes de Pez (St Estephe)
Now you're talking. Classic Bordeaux nose - olives, tobacco and cedar. Powerful palate of black fruits - well balanced and delightfully mature. To think that Sarah had the audacity to claim it was slightly oxidised. I don't care whether she's been working vintages across Europe for the last 3 months. Her glass should have been confiscated immediately.
2000 Chateau Cormeil Figeac (St Emilion)
By this stage I was a bit drunk to be taking proper notes, but it was bloody lovely.
2005 Magnotta Vidal Ice Wine (Lake Erie North Shore, Canada)
Who cares really - aren't all sweet wines the same? It was sweet. And looked orange.
2004 Domaine Sauveroy Coteaux du Layon
Not as horrible as I might have thought. Less sweet than the Ice Wine - it should have come first. But that's the problem when you're tasting blind.
NV LeNoble Brut Intense
OK, so we had run out of wine so I opened this bottle, which I had won in an advocacy competition a couple of weeks previously. It was chilled, and by this stage we were a little too pissed to care. Alun had fallen asleep and Janet and I just needed to rinse our mouths out a bit. It actually wasn't too bad for something I was initially suspicious of.
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