Greybeard’s Corner, March 2009
Ξ April 7th, 2009 | → 0 Comments | ∇ A Day at a Time, Greybeard's Corner, Tasting Notes, Wine News |
As a regular reader of U.K. wine magazine Decanter I was pleasantly surprised to see a short article by Gary Vaynerchuk in the April ’09 edition (available in mid-March).
I can’t recall ever seeing his name discussed before in this pillar of the British wine establishment but all of a sudden there he is in print with a flattering picture at the top of the column. On the downside they did spell his name wrong (it’s ‘chuk, not ‘chuck) and the article finishes with an editors comment “He also owns a wine shop in New Jersey” which, while factually correct, does tend to make him sound like a small shopkeeper! Still it should be considered a major coup in Gary’s continuing quest for wine media domination!
As for the article, which raised a small discussion on the WLTV forum, it was on the likely outcome of the current financial woes on American wine drinkers.
When it comes to buying wine in the U.K. Gary’s optimistic U.S. predictions may not hold true. The weakening pound (currently €1.1 but recently it went down as low as €1.0) and government tax hikes suggest prices will not fall much, if at all, although retailers struggling to hold onto market share may absorb some of the increases themselves to remain competitive. This was the subject of 2 major pieces in the same Decanter issue by Margaret Rand and Steven Spurrier, subtitled “Surviving the crunch”.
I have been lucky enough so far to have been unaffected by any direct effects of the Global financial crisis, other than reading in the news about the latest round of job cuts or seeing another small (sometimes not so small) business closing down on the high street. The company that pays my salary still has money in the bank and products to sell, and one of those saw me fly to Israel at the beginning of the month for a week in the small city of Rehovot, south of Tel Aviv, where I stayed in an excellent guest house called “Casa Vital”.
A bottle of Ramim 2006 Merlot kept me going over 3 evenings there, unfortunately it was corked – not enough to be undrinkable, but sufficient to lessen the enjoyment and really only continuing on with for the alcoholic warming effect. It was down to a bottle of Yarden 2008 Gewürztraminer to provide some home-grown enjoyment during a fantastic meal at Idi Seafood restaurant in Ashdod. I plan on detailing that in a separate restaurant review shortly.
The final night’s stay was with my friend Yaron at his house where we sat down for a Shabbat meal with his family (not the first time I’ve been honoured as a guest at such a personal celebration). I brought a bottle from my cellar for the occasion, a Hautes-Côtes de Nuits, “Les Dames Huguettes” 2002 from Domaine Bertagna. This was a delicate, aged Pinot Noir with plenty of acidity for the hearty food and just holding onto some earthy aspects, nearly at the end of its drinking window but with enough life left to toast a pleasant evening.
At home drinking was minimal, only four bottles were opened, but they were all enjoyable. 3 easy drinkers were a Verdejo from Rueda (the Villa Narcisa 2006 from Javier Sanz), a crisp, dry Alsace Riesling (the Becht 2004 Lieu-dit Stierkopf) and a supermarket favourite, Lindemans 2007 Bin 50 Shiraz (which was better than I’d expected for a “big brand” – I admit I can be too snobby sometimes).
However the best was a 4 star Amarone purchased at the knock-down price of £9.99 from discount supermarket Aldi. The Trave 2001 (I’ve tried to find a producer web-site without success) was bought in March 2006 and I’d drank its sibling the same year, noting its strong tannins & alcohol burn and scoring it an 88 (hereafter referred to as a 3+). The extra years of bottle age worked wonders; it was a dark, brick red on the swirl with liquorice, menthol and cherry wood on the nose, with some mocha. Very smooth in the mouth, its fine tannins moved into a bitter mid-palate with little fruit, but a wonderful mix of secondary flavours including coffee and chocolate. The finish was long, initially a touch unbalanced, but recovering and continuing with a little heat at the end. Apart from that brief moment of imbalance between mid-palate and finish this was a complex and elegant wine at a bargain price, one of the better purchases I’ve made at Aldi.
The monthly purchases were similarly sparse, a new all-time low of 3 bottles (I’m not exactly sure why so few, typically I’d buy 8-10 in the same time period – maybe I am unconsciously responding to the recession?). The sole red was an Israeli bring-home, the Shel Segal 2008 (generic dry red blend, and it was a gift as well, so you could say I only bought 2 last month…. shocking!). For a fast-drinking white it was the Villa Antinori 2007 Toscana IGT, a mongrel blend of 70% Trebbiano & Malvasia / 30% Chardonnay, Pinot Bianco & Pinot Grigio for £8 and bought more for the curiosity of how so many grapes will taste together!
My splash-out purchase for the month sees another Riesling enter the cellar, the Trimbach Cuvée Frederic Emile 2000 Riesling. I’ve read good reviews for both the producer and this vintage in particular, so was happy enough to make this my most expensive white purchase ever – time will tell if it was worth it.
Wrapping up, I did manage to finish Hugh Johnson’s “A Life Uncorked”, so expect a review of that soon. I’m in the process of building a new PC (my current computer never fully recovered from a problem at the end of February) so the writing may take backseat again until that’s finished, but, if nothing else, there’ll be another Greybeard’s Corner in a month covering April. Until then Happy Easter,
Greybeard.
