Greybeard’s Corner-February
Ξ March 22nd, 2009 | → 0 Comments | ∇ Uncategorized |
2009 continues into a wintry February with Ukrainians, going Dutch in Amsterdam and a Spanish regional taste-off.
Winter finally hit the U.K., snow and ice covering the island in a sheet of white. Such inhospitable conditions didn’t deter a visit from my company’s Ukrainian distributor, Ruslan, and as part of social duties I had an evening of entertaining to do. I chose to re-visit Loch Ffyne in Gosforth, which hosted our office Christmas meal (although I wasn’t overly impressed with the wine that night). This time round we both stuck firmly with the seafood that has made the chain popular in the UK and, as I was designated driver, a single glass of wine to wash it down. The kiln-roasted “Bradan Rost” salmon I had was smoky and rich and Ruslan relished his baked sea-bass, the first time he’d had “such a fish as this” – although he didn’t rate the boiled potatoes which were apparently not as good as even the cheapest potatoes back in Kiev! The lone glass was a 2007 Australian Riesling, limey and zesty and very pleasant although I forgot to take its details – suffice to say it was a typical example of a young, easy drinking New World Riesling.
A few days later I was invited to a tasting at my local Spanish retailer, Spanish Spirit. They had received a new delivery of wines from Bodegas Tamaral and had organised a taste-off with the Heredad Ugarte range they got in last year, Ribera del Duero vs Rioja.
Unsurprisingly it was a mostly red affair covering 3 price points. The 2006 Tamaral Roble just edged the Ugarte 2006 in the easy drinking section, the oaked Tamaral showing more depth of flavours than the fruitier, New World style Riojan. Moving up to the next level the 2005 Ugarte Crianza was a little tight at first (it could do with a couple of more years bottle age) but opened up showing excellent balance of tannins and acid with good length. The 2001 Tamaral Crianza made the most of its 4 year advantage with some spice on its smooth nose. This food friendly wine ended with some cherry on a long finish. 2-0 to Tamaral, although in a couple of years the Ugarte Crianza will come into its own.
Moving on and both the Reservas hailed from the hot 2003 vintage. The Tamaral came across as much too young, with a green nose and harsh tannins needing time to integrate. The Ugarte Reserva showed much better, with a fuller nose and lots of fruit, smooth in the mouth and a touch of tar amongst the secondary flavours.
I’d say with both wineries the mid-range Crianzas triumphed over the more expensive Reservas, although in a few years time they should come into their own. The evening was brought to a close with two special bottles from Ribera del Duero, the Tamaral 2003 Finca La Mira, and the hastily opened 2004 Monecastro. The Finca La Mira, aged in new oak, had noticeably more balance than its Reserva sibling and, although still closed, promises much from about 2012. The Montecastro was yet another of the night’s wines that needed decanting just to start exploring its complexities, but for my third tasting of the ’04 it was much more approachable than previously and I can see myself opening one of my stock of these in the near future.
The business trip this month was a short hop across the North Sea to Amsterdam for a couple of days with my colleague Lee. We were staying by the Vondelpark and the first evening walked a few minutes from the hotel to Tapa Feliz on Valeriusstraat. We selected a range of dishes from the menu, Patatas Bravas, juicy Garlic Prawns, Calamari, bread & aioli and a mixed tapas plate including Manchego, Chorizo, Jambon Serrano and anchovies. The dark bread with the aioli was unusual but delicious, very nutty, while the Patatas Bravas were simple roast potatoes in a spicy salsa, but still tasted good.
The 2005 Marius Reserva from D.O. Almansa (just up from Jumilla & Alicante, central east Spain) was perfect with the food. This Monastrell/Garnachia blend, typical of this area, had a sweet cherry nose, tannic up-front and good acidity for the Tapas.
The next night we took a tram into central Amsterdam and then walked back towards the hotel until we hit Restaurant November on Spuistraat. The menu prices were very reasonable (a necessary consideration when on expenses in the current climate) and more importantly there with some nice by-the-glass wine choices.
An excellent meal consisted of crayfish with a Marie-Rose dressing over lettuce and artichoke hearts – an interesting take on the simple Prawn Cocktail with extra texture and flavour. A glass of Riesling, the Fleiner 2006 Trocken from Weingärtner Flein-Talheim in Württemberg was a good accompaniment, served too cold but the aroma was still strong and very floral. The first sip was sumptuous, dry but some residual sugar evident, this had some honey and developed towards the end with some lovely lemon sherbet aspects, bordering on lemon scented cleaning products!
Main course was tender pan-fried duck with Chinese vegetables & rice. A good match on the wine was a Côtes du Rhone 2006, by Cave St. Pierre, fruity on the nose with a little oak, finishing with some liquorice. This was an uncomplicated easy drinker which went well with the Chinese flavours.
Whilst in The Netherlands I took the opportunity to add to my collection of unusual local wines with the Apostelhoeve 2007 Auxerrois from their Maastricht winery. This was my first Auxerrois, but not the first Dutch wine for the cellar, as I wrote about in last year’s article on the De Linie winery.
At home this month (and hot on the heels of my first truly corked wine last month) I had an “off bottle” – not corked, but something definitely wrong since I had its delicious sibling less than 2 months earlier. The wine was the Château Pesquié 2002 Les Terrasses which had a sour/bitter taste. I’m glad I know from experience that this was not typical of the Château or the vintage; however not having that comparison I may have just notched up this one as a very poor offering and not come back again, something that must happen with many wines where people tend to try only the one bottle.
Of the other wines drunk over the month the sweet section consisted of the unusual Hardys Nottage Hill 2007 Dessert Shiraz, a surprisingly pleasant fortified red, comparable to a young fruity Port, while a Rutherglen Estates Muscat was a raisin, caramel and toffee delight.
Best white was the Château Montus 2003 Pacherenc du Vic-Bilh Sec, a Petit Courbu from South West France, the same area as Madiran. This was a simultasting reported on the WLTV Forums.
Best red was one of my few US bottles, the Elk Cove 2004 Pinot Noir, a, light, elegant and enjoyable wine with a rusty garnet colour, clear and light. For me this had a classic smoky Pinot aroma with a slight background of cinnamon, menthol and vanilla.
Least enjoyable, not including the Pesquié, was the Sula Vineyards 2006 Shiraz from Nashik province in India which had an unbalanced green nose, few tannins to speak of and hardly any fruit. It moved into a bitter mid-palate and a slightly sour finish with an aftertaste of ash, like a stale, spent cigarette – not impressive, too little body and no flavour, and hopefully the sub-continent can do better than this as they improve their industry.
Purchases were few and far between, the most interesting being the Arnaud de Villeneuve 1982 Rivesaltes Ambre Hors d’Age, a well-aged dessert wine, to add to my expanding selection of sweet wines from around the world. I’m also looking forward to the Montetoro 1997 Seleccion Reserva from Bodegas Ramon Ramos and purchased from Spanish Spirit – a perfectly mature wine I’ve enjoyed before and bought as they are getting to the end of their stock.
February saw the last of the BBCs 3 Wine programs on television, “The Firm” (Berry Bros & Rudd), “The Faith” (Château Margaux) and “The Future” (a South African start-up winery), some of the best programming on wine for a long time (there’s not much to choose from!). I’m also still working my way through Hugh Johnson’s “A Life Uncorked” – it is an informative read slow progression through the chapters as I only come back to it infrequently,
The American Wine Blog Awards nominations also appeared in February, with the results announced in March. We’d hoped for a placing but unfortunately Reign of Terroir never made it to the short-lists, the conservatives making it for another year. If any readers feel we deserved at least a nomination then help ease our disappointment by placing a vote for us on the Local Wine Events site!
Finally you’ll have noticed that Greybeards corner is late this month. I tend to do most of my writing on weekends and the last three have been interrupted by a crashed computer (very traumatic) and a long business trip. I apologise for the tardiness and my appreciations go out to Ken who has been doing a sterling job of keeping the blog updated with excellent posts.
Greybeard.
