Greybeard’s Corner, October 2009
Ξ November 14th, 2009 | → 0 Comments | ∇ Uncategorized |
A Wine Festival and an Alsace & Germany tasting added an extra twist to the usual libations and made the month look a lot more interesting on paper than I initially recalled – isn’t it strange how unreliable memory is?
I’ve already detailed the Wine on the Tyne festival so I’ll leave the link and remind you how Malbec dominated for the reds, a sweet Frontignac had me coming back for more and a Roero Arneis caught my eye in the whites.
The beginning of October had me jetting down to the South Coast for business and spending several days in Christchurch, Dorset where I was lucky enough to be put up at the Captains Club Hotel, a step up from the typical hotel room I get on trips out of the U.K.
Christchurch is a retirement hotspot, but for some reason also has a disproportionate amount of Thai restaurants which I took advantage of during my stay.
Most memorable was the Rising Sun which looks like a typical English pub but has a top-class Thai menu and the added excitement of Dorset Naga chilli amongst the ingredients, possibly the hottest chilli in the world. That evening a refreshing Short Mile Bay 2006 Riesling from South Australia helped cool things down and once my taste buds had recovered a raisined Warres Otima 15yr old Tawny Port substituted for dessert. Back at the hotel I pampered my neglected sweet tooth even more with a Cazes 2004 Rivesaltes Grenat (tar and sweet resin) and a Gran Fuedo 2007 Moscatel (fresh apricot). It was only the fact that the bottle behind the hotel bar was unopened that prevented me indulging in my first ever Château d’Yquem (the alcohol coursing my veins numbing me to the fact they wanted £19 a glass!).
Later on in the week the Sabai Thai restaurant in the centre of the town provided a pleasant chicken green curry washed down with the predictable Gewurztraminer combination, although this one was from South Africa – the 2008 Weltevrede from Roberston.
After a hiatus of more than a year I signed up for an evening’s tasting with Chris Powell at the Newcastle Wine School, who was my first real introduction to the joys of wine three and a half years ago. This time it was the lure of Alsace and German wines which brought me along but initially the list looked disappointing with a selection of reasonably priced but uninspiring Alsace wines and only one German offering, the good but widely available Dr L. by the Loosen Brothers. A last minute entry by the Chapel Down 2007 Bacchus was an inspired inclusion, as this aromatic sweet pear and lychee white impressed everyone present, and then Chris then turned the evening around completely by pouring the Dr Hermann 2003 Erdener Treppchen Auslese which had a full -on petrol/kerosene nose with a great dry/sweet balance and a taste of lime wrapped in caramel – definitely the star of the night but the Bacchus was a close second (and still tasted good AFTER the Auslese!).
Almost immediately I was off to another tasting, this time my regular monthly NEWTS (North East Wines Tasting Society) meeting. After last month’s Majestic showing it was the turn of Oddbins to show what they had to tempt with new store manager David Tindale presenting. David has replaced Clare Carruthers at Newcastle’s Gosforth store after Clare started up her own wine retail business (as mentioned in the Wine on the Tyne post).
Yet again a Roero Arneis was outstanding, with the Cascina Ca’ Gialla 2008 providing lots of fruit and a nutty finish which ticked all the boxes – after the 2008 Cossetti Roero Arneis from earlier in the month I’ve made a mental note to look out for more of this variety wherever possible. Most unusual white was the Bellanotte 2008 “Ranato” Pinot Grigio, made in a unique style with an intriguing copper colour and flavours of burnt orange. Somewhat sherry-like this was interesting but not really to my taste and neither was Australia’s Tapanappa ‘Tiers’ 2007 Chardonnay which was like chewing an oak post – you could tell there was some good fruit hidden amongst the splinters but at £44.99 price was over-oaked too!
Much more reasonable (at £15) and enjoyable was the Cline ‘Cashmere’ 2007 GSM from California, which took the best vote for a smooth, elegant and fruity red, hiding its 14.5% abv well. Also worthy of a mention was the Vignobles David ‘Le Mourre De L’isle’ Côtes du Rhône which had great, youthful tannins and forward blueberry fruit (and it’s Kosher!).
The next NEWTS tasting is of Château Pesquie, so I will most definitely be attending to re-sample some of the delights that the Côtes du Ventoux has to offer.
As the month drew to a close I started to restock after a period of reduced buying. I finally managed a visit to Corkscrew Wines in Carlisle after my earlier abortive attempt (when they were on vacation). I was impressed by the range on offer in the shop (although each time a train went by overhead the rumbles were slightly disconcerting) and ended up with a mixed 6-bottle case including the Gonzalez Byass Matusalem Dulce Viejo 30yr Oloroso sherry and the 2007 vintage of one of my favourite Sauvignon Blancs, the Concha y Toro Terrunyo.
I couldn’t help giving into my humorous side as well when I saw Charles Back’s “The Goatfather” staring out from the South African section and an Alsace Pinot Noir, an Australian Marsanne and a Douro red completed the half-dozen.
Another 3 bottles joined the collection after a trip to Wine Rack in Hexham which was prompted by news that the parent company, First Quench, had gone into administration. I chatted to the manager there and he seemed upbeat that Wine Rack, out of all of the First Quench brands, would be the likely survivor of any liquidation. Recent news on the closure of 373 of the group’s 1300 stores does include the loss of some Wine Rack outlets, but fortunately the Hexham branch is not on the list.
As to the wine; I left with a 2008 Pinot Gris to add to my growing collection of Tim Adams wines, the Seven Canoes 2007 Syrah Viognier from New Zealand and a Faustino I 1996 Gran Reserva. This prestige Rioja was on the shelves for £19.99 and as a single bottle I would never have considered paying that price, but as part of the perpetual 3 for 2 promotion at Wine rack it worked out at £12.50, which was much more reasonable (although I later found out that Costco is selling it for £11.99!).
Finally, as the month drew to an end, I was in my local Waitrose and saw the new (2002) Vintage of Château Musar on the shelves. You may know by now that I have a thing for Lebanese wines, Château Musar especially, so at £17.99 a bottle immediately went into the basket. As with other Musar vintages I’ll end up buying at least two more but I’ll hold off for the moment to see if Waitrose lowers the price on promotion as they did last year (otherwise it’ll be two bottles before January 1st, when the VAT rises back up to 17.5%). I celebrated this later at home by opening my last remaining 2002 Hochar Père et Fils, the Musar’s baby brother. This was superb; a warm, autumnal brick red on the swirl with some funky chocolate and smoky liquorice on the nose. Very smooth in the mouth the tannins were well integrated and a touch of barnyard wasn’t too overpowering – this was a complex wine with a little of the trademark Musar volatility and some bitterness/sourness & heat on the finish that was only a small detraction for what was a very well made wine and bodes well for the ’02 Gaston Hochar Rouge.
I can’t finish without quickly discussing another of my wine favourites, Tokai Aszú. My parents opened the delectable Royal Tokaji 2000 5 Puttonyos Aszú and I savoured its rich honey and caramel aroma and fresh acidity to cut the sweetness. Earlier I had bought the Marks & Spencer 5 Puttonyos Tokaji Aszú made for them by Hilltop winery, and while in the store I also couldn’t resist buying their Chilean 2008 “PX” Pedro Ximenez dry white produced by Geo Wines. Of course this isn’t a complete list of what I’ve encountered over the month but hopefully it gives a flash of insight into the mix of traditional, unusual and reasonably priced bottles that manage to constantly refresh my interest in the world of wine.
Slainte!
Greybeard.
