It rarely happens in life that one enjoys a perfect day, a day of balance, when both the intellect and body are equally engaged, happiness and sadness, noise and silence in equilibrium; when one is free to reflect on past and present; a day one briefly glimpses what it might mean to be immortal; when one’s body is lightly transported between ancient and thoroughly modern frames of mind, all bracketed by a sun that rises and sets over a green world. Such was my first day in the Dåo, a wine region in the north-central of Portugal.
From a stay at the Pousada in Ourém, we three lucid dreamers, the brilliant Virgilio Loureiro, cinematographer Nuno Sá Pessoa Sequeira and yours truly, set out to visit the varied typologies of rock presses in Parada de Gonta, Prazias, Paraduço and Vale do Salqueiro (among others), some used until the 1950s. I shall save those extraordinary visions, there is no other word, for another post.
On this occasion I mean to parse the day into discreet, manageable episodes. The first shall be the lunch and wine tasting enjoyed at the solid tourist destination, Paço dos Cunhas de Santar, just outside of Viseu. From Casa de Santar’s Alminhas (little souls) vineyard, the site of the Vale do Salgueiro rock press, a portion of which had been broken to provide a foundation stone for a recent outbuilding, we drove to the estate, our group including our guide, Alberto Sampaio, winemakers Carlos Silva and Mario Rui Ferreira (a very interesting and energetic individual), among others.
Leaving recent political history aside, the provided literature describes Paço dos Cunhas de Santar like this:
Paço de Santar was built by order of D. Pedro da Cunha in 1609. A large ancient farmhouse has stood on this site for hundreds of years. It’s sole purpose was to produce olive oil, fruits and wine for the grand and prestigious Oporto markets. Today, Paço de Santar has 32 hectares of traditional Dão varieties and 5 z (sic) of olive trees.
It was opened to wine tourism in 2008. And its restaurant, open everyday, provided us a spectacular meal. Indeed, our elegant host, son of the Comte de Santar, winemaker Pedro Vasconcelos e Sousa, sat us down to the following menu.
To Start
Bread Toast of Mushrooms, Emulsion of Tomatoes and Cardamon
Main Course
Codfish in Maize Bread, Potatoes and “Migas da Beira”
Second Course
Roasted Goat, Rice of Mushrooms and Spinaches
Dessert
Cheese Serra da Estrela, “Requeijão” and Sweet Pumpkin
—–
During this beautiful repast we tasted and discussed many of the wines of the Dão. Below is the list, largely in the order sipped, and my brief thoughts, if warranted, about each.
2008 Cabriz Bruto, Quinta de Cabriz, a blend of Malvasia Fino and Cercial. Refreshing and light. My understanding is that this sparkler makes up 10% of their sales.
2008 Comdessa, Casa de Santar, 14% alc. This white wine had a full mouthfeel, a little heat, lightly acidic; its all new French oak was reserved. Almost a Viognier character.
2008 Paço dos Cunhas de Santar ‘Nature’. A ‘biologique’ wine -moving toward Biodynamic certification- it had soft, rounded tannins. Vanished in the back palate; a light oak influence.
2007 UDACA (União das Adegas Cooperativa da Região Demarcada do Dão) Touriga Nacional, 13% alc. Twelve months aging in mixed oak barrels. Light, fragrant bouquet, simple body, sweet, smoky, but short finish.
2007 Vinha Paz Reserva (Antonio Canto Moniz), Touriga Nacional; American and French oak. Sweet, full body, masive mid-palate, round tannins, very long finish- oak present.
2007 Quinta da Falorca, T-nac, Touriga Nacional, 14% alc. Gorgeous nose, full body, beautifully structured; no oak. Brilliant expression of Touriga. A truly world-class effort. (As a side note, after I had made my feelings about the wine known, I was approached by folks associated with the parent quinta. They explained that a certain Mark Squires, Robert Parker’s hit man inexplicably assigned to Portugal, gave T-nac an ‘89′. As silly as that is in itself, Mr. Squires also recommended that they grub up all their Touriga Nacional and replant with Cabernet Sauvignon. Truly terrible advice, a disservice to the grape and to the Dão patrimony.)
2003 Quinta das Roques. 13.5%. Touriga Nacional. Just a baby. Needs time. Very well structured.
2004 Quinta de Cabriz (Dão Sul), Escolha. 14% alc.
2004 Quinta da Falorca, Garrefeira, Old Vines 14.5% alc, Touriga Nacional, Alfrocheiro Preto and Tinta Roriz. Full mouthfeel, very firm tannins, rich mid-palate. Oak present, a little unbalanced, hot on the finish. Thoughtful wine.
Also served was the 2003 Quinta das Roques Reserve Blend. From the Pessegueiro (peach) vineyard. 13.5% alc. A seamless wine. From mid-palate to finish, a beautiful elaboration. Quite elegant.
2004 Conde, Casa de Santar 14% alc. Very elegant, balanced. Holds the alcohol well, rounded tannins. Good quality, if not particularly memorable.
1994 UDACA 12.5% alc. Touriga Nacional and other, unspecified grape varieties. Extremely satisfying. Very deep, rich and mysterious. I will be fortunate to taste this wine again someday.
I should also mention a 2009 Quinta da Falorca, Rosé of Touriga Nacional (not pictured). 13.5% alc. A little candified, but with good acid. I am especially fond of Tavel rosés. I have had quite a few. So, my palate would need to taste many more Portuguese examples of rosé before I could even hazard an opinion as to the quality. I will say that I did not find Quinta da Falorca’s effort compelling, mindful of the caveat above.
Lastly, we tried to enjoy a magnum of 1970 Dão Garrafeira out of Viseu. Produced by the Federacão dos Viticultores por Dão with the greatest hopes, sadly the wine was quite medicinal. Its day has passed.
We finished the lunch in very good spirits. Thanking our gracious host, we departed light-headed, with much work still remaining this day, about which more later. Resting with the setting sun, we would find our way to the restored 17th century Pousada Santa Marinha in Guimarães.
Update It has come to my attention that a couple of the wines mentioned above also made the reputable Sarah Ahmed’s list of Top 50 Wines of Portugal.
Admin
This post comes under the heading of ‘unfinished business’. Some months ago I wrote a piece that caught the attention of Robert Cartwright, the winemaker at Ponte Family Estate. I thanked him for his comment and asked after his work. He generously offered to send me some samples. I received the wines a couple of months later, but owing to the hustle and bustle of my schedule, they were set aside and forgotten. Entirely my fault! Recently rediscovered, I thought it best to revisit the conversation, the well-designed Ponte Family Estate website and, of course, the wines.
Now, I don’t usually write tasting notes, a detail I made clear to Mr. Cartwright; but it became clear from reading the excellent Environment portion of their winery blog that I had to respond in some way. Truth is, they are doing a commendable job on the ‘green’ front. From using light weight bottles, to sourcing locally produced ingredients in their restaurant, from using 100% CFL light bulbs, to the elimination of plastic bottles from their facilities, they are making an effort. And ‘green’ extends to home life. Even the winery owner, Claudio Ponte, had turned in his SUV for a Prius; he advocates replacing lawns with drought tolerant plants and planting a vegetable garden. Small steps, to be sure. Of course, no mention is made of solar power or water recycling. And some ‘innovations’ are just plain silly, such as this one: “Our winemaker and his team are harvesting at night whenever possible. This effort allows the must to be chilled without using much energy.” But by and large, the greenwash is kept to a minimum.
The Wines
– 2008 California Chardonnay 13.6% alc ($23.95)
I tasted this wine at room temperature on a stormy afternoon. The nose is very tropical, with peaches, bananas and a strong coconut. It tastes very similar. The coconut is much stronger. A bit too much sulphur for having been open for half an hour. A hint of sourness that someone else described as green apple, but it’s more like a green apple Jolly Rancher candy to my taste. Very unctuous, thick mouth feel. It is not my style or to my liking, but I can taste no obvious faults. I know many wine drinkers who would like this wine.
– 2006 Temecula Valley Meritage 13.5% alc ($34.95)
This wine is a blend, naturally, of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Petit Verdot and Malbec. The bottle notes list the varieties in that order. No percentages are given. The nose is very sweet, with bacon fat (yes, though a vegetarian I can still remember the smell and taste of bacon fat) and bright fruit. A bit of sourness on the nose as well. Quite nice. Good acid, smoky body (oak), I would guess the Cabernet Franc percentage to be quite high. An entirely agreeable wine. Perfumey after taste. Long finish. Good, solid bottle of wine.
– 2007 Temecula Valley Holiday Reserve Zinfandel 15.1% alc (2006 sold for $26.95)
One of the most unusual Zinfandel noses I’ve ever smelled. Very curious. Sweet, baked trout? Almost an ocean spray and very ripe fig. Baffling. Medium bodied, sweet and sour cherry. A bit green, perhaps. Uneven ripeness from a multiple vineyard blend, I’d guess. Hot. Acidified. For a California Zinfandel collector this wine should definitely be added to the cellar. I’ve had a hundred Zins from throughout California and this one is a puzzle. Warming in the glass, the wine has taken on more of a Zin character. A bit of cinnamon candy now. Oak. Very unusual. Weird, but I like it for that reason. Take it to a blind tasting and no one would easily identify it! I don’t detect any microbial mayhem, by the way.
Very high quality corks were used for each wine.
Great thanks to Ponte Family Estate and Robert Cartwright for their generosity.
Admin
Coming on the heels of my review of The Wine Trials 2010 by Robin Goldstein and Alexis Herschkowitsch was a blind tasting in the Sierras with family and friends. I had planned a more conventional tasting weeks before. It was to have been with labels exposed and winery back-stories at hand. But after reading The Wine Trials 2010 I thought it would prove much more interesting to my non-expert friends were I rather to explore, unknown to them, some of the questions forcefully asked in the book. Is price correlated to quality? Can an expensive wine be sensed? Knowing only the price range of the wines, can folks ‘ballpark’ a price point? Further, is the evaluation of wine quality made easier or more complicated if the wines may not be discussed during the tasting? And what of defensiveness, intimidation, parroting the critics, post-tasting humiliation, all of the pleasure-robbing pathologies surrounding wine? Should the blind tasting be properly constructed, might this miasma of anxiety be displaced by, well, good, clean fun?
I did not follow the letter but the spirit of The Wine Trials’ Chapter 8 Drinking games for adults, the book’s instruction manual for blind tastings. My method was the following (and nearly all of these details were known to the participants): I purchased all of the wines from one store, Trader Joe’s. The price spread was from a few dollars to around $30. The wines were made of one grape, Cabernet Sauvignon, with one notable exception I’ll explain later. Four wines were domestically produced, in California. One was from Bordeaux.
I placed the bottles, five in all, in identical paper sacks. I then removed all of the tin and plastic on the necks of each bottle and pulled the corks. Only one cork was plastic. I concealed them. The bags were then taped closed at the neck. I left the room and requested that another soul randomly number the bottles which were promptly placed among the participants at the tasting table. I returned to the room and passed out notebook paper and pens.
Though unintentional, it happened that none of the wines I selected appear on the list of 150 recommendations in The Wine Trials 2010, though it may be that they were on the original gathering of 450 wines. I do not know. Neither is it particularly relevant.
Of the five participants (and I will be speaking of myself in the third person from time to time), there were three women, all mothers, and two men, both fathers. They range in age from the late thirties to the early fifties. All are college-educated; they think for themselves. Each soul is independent and will not hesitate to express an opinion. All are good-looking, talented and desirable. They are all middle to upper middle-class. All stick to a budget. None drink to excess unless provoked by the chafing coil of daily responsibilities. Four souls are avid, casual wine-drinkers; only one is an oft-times annoying student of the vine. All of their children were present, and, I should point out, quite amused at their parent’s behavior. Moreover, the secretive character of the wine tasting exercise interested them. Who doesn’t enjoy guessing what’s in the brown paper bag?
A simple series of questions was asked. “Which wine(s) tastes expensive?” “What is the taste of expensive?” “How much would one be willing to pay for a given wine?” Not asked was which wine was a favorite, though all were free to speak of such a thing only after the other questions were answered, or at least an attempt was made. Lastly, each soul was given the option to guess the grape. (It must be said that the questions were so designed as to shift the burden off of private reflection and onto that of a wine’s commercial reception.)
Dinner had already been eaten. The numbered wines were tasted in order. A single 12 oz. crystal glass was used by each taster, and each time the glass was rinsed with the next wine to be tasted. A spit bucket was provided. Its use was encouraged.
The results? The first wine tasted was from the general Napa AVA, a 2008 Spiral cab. This wine tasted ‘expensive’ by two participants. The tannin and acid was compelling. Too much oak (or oak flavoring?) was nevertheless present. Three folks said, rather emphatically, that the wine tasted like ‘just wine’, ’simple’, ‘thin’, ‘little depth, no story; Elmer’s glue’. Of the latter, they would not pay more than $6. This is a good thing because the wine sells for $4.99!
The second wine was a 2006 Napa Valley Robert Mondavi cab. No taster sensed that this wine was ‘expensive’. Indeed, after two folks volunteered that the wine ’smelled like rubbing alcohol’, tasted ‘metallic, like cherry cough drops’, ‘not complex’, no taster, it turned out, would be willing to pay over $10. Three tasters felt the wine worth less than $7! The retail price for this wine is $20.99.
The third wine, a 2001 Chateau de la Riviere Fronsac. The ringer. Mostly Merlot. But inasmuch as it was from Bordeaux I knew it would be a strict, harsh example. One thought it poor, hardly worth more than $3. The high acid and tannin was welcomed by others, though one taster felt it had but one note. Somewhere between $10 and $15 was the general consensus. Retail: $14.99.
One of the strangest wines of the evening, the fourth, was the 2007 California Pétanque by M. Schlumberger, Inc. Perhaps it was that it was tasted after the Fronsac. One felt it was quite cheap. Others detected chalk, roses, said it had a ’story’. The consensus that it was a medium priced wine. Most would pay $14 to $16. The retail? $4.99.
The fifth wine was a surprise. We had a near unanimous agreement that it was an ‘expensive’ wine, the 2004 Mt. Veder, Napa, Chateau Potelle. One taster said, ‘I would pay over $20 for this.’ Another said it was the ‘best of the evening’. ‘Bitter’ intro, but worth $15 at least added a third. A fourth soul agreed. One last voice, a fan of the Fronsac, said this wine tasted ‘powdered’. Like Kool-Aid, simply dump it into a glass of water. Retail: $24.99.
It is clear that a blind tasting exercise like the one described above, or that found in The Wine Trials 2010, ought to be a part of every wine enthusiast’s on-going education. Not only does it interfere with received commercial and critical opinion, but it makes short work of whatever expertise one may have felt they’re owed. What is interesting is the simplicity of the work. One need merely drink from a paper bag. And no one needs to feel disappointed. Tasting at cross purposes, finding mystery with the most modest of wines, it is a minor miracle that the human palate may draw distinctions from so small a sample. Five wines!
How strange is it that family and friends, first drawn together by a common purpose, a blind tasting, should nevertheless find themselves alone.
Admin
When I was asked for a list of top wines I’d tried over the year I quickly went through wines that had impressed over the last 12 months and ended up with a shortlist of about 25, but deciding on the final 10 was a lot harder than I expected.
You will not be surprised to see that the list is made up of an eclectic cross-section of the wine world – some drank at home and some tried at various tastings throughout the year. The lack of a single Bordeaux or Burgundy is a testament to my budget and the dearth of good, affordable wines from these regions.
The initial list is in order of style only – each was excellent in its own right and further ranking would be overly subjective.
White/Rose
*Château Montus 2003 Pacherenc du Vic-Bilh Sec, France
*Cossetti 2008 Roero Arneis, Italy
*Dr Hermann 2003 Erdener Treppchen Auslese, Germany
*Viña Valoria 2007 Rioja Rosado, Spain
Red
*Château Musar 1999, Lebanon
*Mont Tauch “In Extremis” Durban 2001, France
*Ferngrove 2006 “The King” Malbec, Australia
*Agur Special Reserve 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon, Israel
Sweet/Fortified
*Pertaringa Vineyards Full Fronti, Australia
*Boplass Cape Tawny Port, South Africa
The detailed notes which follow adds some context to each wine; where drank, how much it cost and the flavours which caused them to stand out from the crowd, however, some of the ones that didn’t quite make it were good enough to at least deserve a mention in dispatches, so;
Cascina Ca’ Gialla 2008 Roero Arneis, M&S Ernst Loosen Erdener Treppchen 2007 Kabinett, 2005 FMC Forrester Meinert Chenin, Cline Cashmere 2007 GSM, Quinta da Fronteira 2006 Douro Selecção do Enólogo, Château Pesquie 2006 Quintessence Rouge, Dominio de Ugarte 2004 Reserva, Bodegas Emilio Moro 2006 Ribera del Duero, M&S Bonny Doon 2005 Central Coast Syrah, Reschke “Bull Trader” 2004 Cabernet Merlot, Casella Family Reserve 2007 Tempranillo, Hochar Père et Fils 2002, Royal Tokaji 2000 5 Puttonyos Aszú, Kracher 2006 Beerenauslese, Jackson-Triggs 2006 Proprietors’ reserve Vidal Icewine & Henriques & Henriques 15 Year Old Malvasia Madeira, Ployez-Jacquemart 1999 Champagne…phew!
Château Montus 2003 Pacherenc du Vic-Bilh Sec was made by Alain Brumont in Gers and bought from the Wine Society in August 2008 for £10. I drank this in February 2009 as part of a Wine Library TV Forums “Simultasting” (one of my last major contributions to the forums as it turned out).
Pacherenc du Vic-Bilh Sec is the Madiran’s white wine, both SW France Appellations sharing the same area, and Montus is made from the Petit Courbu variety.
The 2003 was a pale lemon colour with a creamy, floral aroma. At 14.5% abv the lack of legs was surprising and the nose closed down quickly. Initially the flavour was also closed; sharp at the beginning, bittersweet (more bitter) in the mid-palate and warming peach-stone on the finish. Later it opened up into something richer, a melange of fruit with melon and honey and a long, lingering finish.
Cossetti 2008 Roero Arneis was tasted at the inaugural Newcastle Wine on the Tyne Festival in October. This classic Piemontese white was £14.99 from Castello Italian Food & Wine and showed enough complexity to stand out in a busy tasting; very fruity on the nose this was a stunning wine with dry, honeyed stone-fruit flavours.
Dr Hermann 2003 Erdener Treppchen Auslese was also tried at an October tasting, this time an Alsace & Germany tasting at the Newcastle Wine School. Opened as the last wine of the evening this Mosel Riesling, available from Majestic for £8.99, 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 that night and confirmation of why I like rich Rieslings.
Viña Valoria 2007 Rioja Rosado is the only Rosé in the Top 10 and came from Corkscrew Wines in Carlisle for £5.99. This 100% Tempranillo was bought and consumed in August and was sublime drunk outside with family on the one and only sunny Saturday afternoon that month. It had a gentle nose with some forest fruits and in the mouth was dry, smooth with a savoury watermelon taste – extremely well balanced with a mixed fruit finish.
Château Musar 1999 – Bought in June 2007 from Waitrose for £13.99 and drank with friends at home in June. The ’99 Musar was my first exposure to this cult Lebanese producer and, so far, the best (the ’00 and ’01 vintages haven’t excited me as much). A quick decant and pour released some beautiful aromas including smoke and tobacco with a subtle hint of V.A. and barnyard. Sweet and savoury in the mouth this had a Rhône style and was very, very smooth with fine-grain tannins and a long finish – a sublime wine drinking beautifully.
Agur Special Reserve 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon – I bought the bottle during my visit to this Judean Hills winery in February 2008 for the equivalent of £13.00. This is a last minute entry to the list as I only opened it mid-December to drink with family at home, but as soon as I tasted it I knew it was one of the best wines of the year.
It had a thick, dark purple colour, almost inky while the nose was enticing, smoky with some liquorice, vanilla and a hint (just a hint) of horse-manure. Supremely well balanced in the mouth both acidity and tannins were obvious but in synch. There was some sour cherry in the mid-palate and long chewy finish with some sweet berry fruit, this was an excellent wine, drinking well but probably could have improved with several more years in the bottle.
Mont Tauch “In Extremis” Fitou 2001 – was tasted at the August North East Wine Tasting Society (NEWTS) meeting and was bought for £18 on a visit to the region a few years ago by Harry Rose who gave the presentation on the Western Languedoc. This was my best wine of the night; a blend of 40% Syrah with 60% Carignan & Grenache which had a tarry nose with strong liquorice, a floral twist (maybe violets) with a touch of raisins. It was very smooth in the mouth with gentle tannins showing moderate length and a touch of sweetness.
Ferngrove’s 2006 King Malbec from Western Australia was another wine tasted at the Wine on the Tyne October Festival and cost £13.95 from local retailer The Hop, The Vine. As my first ever Australian Malbec I was impressed by its elegance – it had a spicy, complex nose good grip and subtle flavours. This was much better than the Argentinean and South African Malbecs also at the tasting and was yet another wine I liked that was drinking well but had ageing potential.
Boplass Cape Tawny Port, a 100% Tinta Barocca matured for 12 years in Portuguese oak barrels, was bought in Nov 2007 for the paltry sum of £4.50 from Bootleggers Bottleshop in Johannesburg.
I drank this in August and found it an equal to many a 10-15 year old tawny I’ve had from Portugal, which shouldn’t be surprising as South Africa has a tradition of fortified winemaking stretching back hundreds of years and this was from Calitzdorp in the Klein Karoo, where the Terroir is very similar to the Douro. Note that local producers can still use “Port” for wines sold in South Africa until 2014, but an agreement with the European Union phased out its use for the export market for 2007.
The wine was a burnished, autumnal colour, relatively clear, with a nose of warm raisin, sweet toffee and a tickle of alcohol on the sinuses! Sweet and luscious on the tongue the raisins came to the fore and the alcohol spread out over the palate. There was good acidity into the finish, with a medium length and a touch of heat on the throat.
Pertaringa Vineyards Full Fronti brings my list to a close. This was also tasted at the October Wine on the Tyne Festival and cost £11.50 a bottle from The Hop, The Vine. The Fronti refers to Frontignac, aka Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains, named for the Languedoc town of Frontignan which is famous for its fortified Muscat. Australia has taken the variety and style to heart and the Full Fronti from McLaren Vale is a powerful 20 year old wine with a massive attack of raisins on the nose which continues into the thick, sweet taste with toffee and chocolate aspects. It was such a perfect end to a busy tasting that I returned for a couple more refills!
So that’s my modest list, an affordable mix of good New and Old World wine that tasted great on the day – isn’t that what wine drinking is all about?
Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year,
Greybeard
PS I Love You, Petite Sirah’s highly motivated advocacy group, held their 7th Annual Petite Sirah Symposium and tasting at Concannon Vineyard August 4th. I was invited to attend the Media Tasting by the organization’s executive director Jo Diaz (also of Diaz Communications and Juicy Tales). I knew I would be away on vacation in the San Juan Islands of Washington State on that date but the draw of event proved irresistible. That, and the simple fact you don’t turn down an invite from Jo. I cut my vacation short, hopped on a plane, and was at Concannon Vineyard outside of Livermore Tuesday morning, well before the Media Tasting was to begin. As a wine lover with very little understanding of Petite Sirah or of its producers, it was too good an opportunity to ignore. And I am very glad I attended!
I had tried single varietal bottlings of Petite Sirah (or Durif, as it is also now known. Long story! For a good write up please see Dennis Fife’s article) in the past, all of it from the supermarket. Routinely disappointed, I simply didn’t understand what all the fuss was about. Often the wines were flabby, big fruit monsters with little finesse or complexity, no acid or vigorous tannin, especially when purchased at a lower price point, and when sourced from larger AVAs, the Central Coast, for example. Long known principally as a grape used to fix or modify other varieties, some larger producers, by blending Petite Sirah fruit harvested from around the state, have done the grape’s reputation no favors as a stand-alone variety. Like much of low-end Pinotage, another little known, easily ruined grape, the drinking experience can be positively awful. But when I took a look at PS I Love You’s impressive membership roster of wineries producing at least one variety bottling, I must say I suspected I was in for a brutally honest reeducation, the kind of comeuppance in which every wine writer ought to delight.
The first question I had, when confronted by this extraordinary member’s list was why were there so few Petite Sirahs in the supermarket? Even in better markets with well-regarded wine selections, I could rarely find more than two or three producers, even then almost always from the usual suspects. And they would be shelved below the Syrahs and at some remove from the monotonous ocean of Cabernet. I can honestly say I am no closer to understanding why after having now been floored by the excellence of the wines I tasted at the Symposium. The experience was not unlike that of opening the door to a long-forgotten room at a museum. Ah! So this is where we put the American Wine History display.
And what a history is enjoyed by this grape. Indeed, one of the finest wines I tasted was from the former site of the PS I Love You Symposium, the venerable Fopianno Vineyards where Petite Sirah has been grown for decades. I was to enjoy their ‘03 Russian River Estate Reserve in the presence of the winemaker, Natalie West. The wine was young, with a bright acidic finish, firm tannins, and just a hint of oak rounding out the finish. Ms. West explained she uses only 20% new oak. For me wine is all about structure. This wine had it.
And this Petite Sirah example was among the last I tasted, over 25 in all, many of them twice. Yet still there was a compelling, obvious distinction from all others I sampled. Indeed, one of the great surprises was the extraordinary plasticity Petite Sirah has to differing terroirs, and equally is it a testament to the respect for the same shown by almost all of the winegrowers. Of course, there were some ‘troubled’ wines, wines lacking in terroir, to say the least. But of all those that brightly shone each was very unlike the other.
Take the Mounts Family ‘07 Dry Creek Estate PS. It was a much lighter style, perhaps the lightest of all PS present. Even at 15.5% alc it was well balanced, very fresh, with almost a rustic finish. A world apart from the Foppiano, but as much a pleasure. (Imagine the difference between Sta. Rita Hills Pinot and that of a Pinot from the westside of the Santa Cruz Mountains, for example.) The wine was poured by the Gary Cooper-like David Mounts, winemaker.
Between each of those expressions, with respect to weight on the palate alone, was the truly outstanding ‘04 York Creek, Dynamite Hill Ridge from the Spring Mountain District. Again, the balance of this wine and the first two was a delight. The ‘04 Ridge had higher acid, was quite lean, tannic, with a long fruit finish. Beautiful wine. It will age well for years. An ‘03 Lytton Estate was also poured by David Gates, Vice President of Vineyard Operations for Ridge. But inasmuch as it is a blend of 77% PS and 23% of Zinfandel, it is outside of consideration for my purposes. (It was very good!) Thank goodness I arrived early. When the membership broke for lunch a bottle of any producer’s already opened wine was taken to one of a dozen random tables. That was the last I saw of the ‘04!
Another expressive terroir wine, this one from the a higher elevation, 2000-2400 feet, is the first release of Fortress Vineyards, an ‘07 Estate Petite Sirah from the Red Hills AVA in Lake County. Owner Barbara Snider (along with her husband, Gary) explained to me that after many years of selling their grapes to wineries they finally decided to begin wine production themselves. Why is it that first time winemakers so very often knock it out of the park? Well, their Petite Sirah is another quite superb expression, this one, as noted, from upper elevations.
And about first time winemakers, I simply must gush a bit about the Aver Family Vineyards’ offering, the ‘06 Blessings. Near the end of the tasting I wandered over to their allotted space in Concannon’s barrel room and was casually poured a taste. My eyes must have bugged out of my head because Carolyn Aver, wife of John Aver who was also present, began laughing at my expression! John Aver in all seriousness said “We get that a lot.” There exists only a few cases left of this wine from an initial production of 25. A fellow blogger next to me was also drawn to the juice. I begged her not to write about it until I could buy some. She said she was just about to Tweet her favorable opinion. Desperate, I asked the Avers if I might buy some then and there. Tomorrow my half-case arrives!
Strictly speaking, the Aver Family wines, though from their estate fruit, are made and finished at CrushPad in San Francisco. The winemaker in charge is the very talented Kian Tavakoli. But the Aver’s involvement is considerable.
There were many other excellent examples. Those mentioned above especially pleased me. Indeed, I’ve had my understanding, such as it was, entirely recast with respect to this variety. Give the grape a try.
A very special thanks goes out to Jo Diaz for inviting me to this embarrassment of riches. And to Concannon Vineyard for their hospitality.
Admin
The wines poured freely. Moments after arriving, having checked into my room and taken the wine blogger’s holy sacraments, checking email and stats, I went to ‘Meet the Sponsors’ in the Flamingo Room. Immediately a glass found its way into my hand. I attacked the D.O. Rueda table. The bright fruit and biting acidity of the Verdejos and Sauvignon Blancs was brilliant. My style. Food friendly wines of the first order. It was hardly noon and I had already been to an apex of affordable quality and finesse.
The next inspirational wines came during the Live Wine Blogging fracas. As has been noted, the wi-fi service was down for extended periods of time. The schedule was quickly modified to give the techs time to get things working. We sat through the Wine Blogging Awards’ presentation instead, a ceremony mc’d by the capable Tom Wark. It was during this lull that an enterprising lad brought to our table one of the best domestic Syrahs I have had in recent memory. Alan Baker is his name. And he runs a blog called The Cellar Rat. The Cellar Rat Syrah is his first wine. It is a small miracle, Cornas in character, beautifully balanced, with black pepper and abundant tannin. An extraordinary pleasure. The only other Syrah I very much enjoyed last weekend, and to which Mr. Baker’s favorably compares, is that from Montemaggiore of Dry Creek Valley. But to truth to tell? Mr. Baker’s was the finer wine if only because it is less polished.
The Montemaggiore Syrah, poured later in the day at the Grand Tasting of Sonoma Wines, was as beautiful and balanced, and I’d say as intellectual as the winemaker herself, Lise Ciolino. Trim, fit, and very smart, she makes wines in her own image.
With the wi-fi now hiccuping along, I also enjoyed a Cornerstone Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon. I asked Craig Camp, General Manager, had Alice Feiring tasted their wines? He said Alice hated them! Surprising to me. (Correction. Alice tells me she has never had the opportunity to taste Cornerstone’s wines. Mr. Camp may, in fact, have said Alice wouldn’t like them owing to stylistic differences. And see Mr. Craig’s comment below. Apologies to Mr. Camp and lovely Alice.)
Although many of the wines presented at the Sonoma Grand Tasting were not to my liking (I love high acid, brutal tannins, rustic wines in the main), the Russian River After Hours Party came a bit closer to my palate. I found agreeable the wines of Joseph Swan and a most unusual Pinot from Matrix Winery, their ‘06 Nunes. Garrigue on the nose and palate, curious floral notes, lavender and rose notes in a mid to heavy body. Just fascinating. Unlike anything else I tasted in a California Pinot over the weekend.
Saturday took certain of us to Storybook Wines where I had another ‘intellectual’ wine, their ‘05 Estate Cabernet. Along with the two Syrahs already mentioned, Storybook’s ‘05 was possibly the finest Cabernet of my visit (if I do not include an older vintage wine, a beautiful 1977 Sterling in magnum brought by Doug Cook of the Able Grape for a brilliant, irregular late-night tasting).
Later Saturday afternoon, at the Grand Tasting of Napa Wines held at Quintessa, it was Quintessa’s own offering when we stepped off of our busses that pleased the hell out of me. It was their ‘Illumination’, a minerally, tart Sauvignon Blanc, lighter than air. It took me by surprise, its delicacy, its feminine esprit. Head brimming with information from a Napa Green Presentation, this wine to me was the perfect exclamation point to the day’s education. ‘Green’ in a glass!
Other notable wines from the ViniPortugal tasting included Cortes de Cima’s ‘Incognito’ and the 2003 Mouchao from Vinhos da Cavaca Dourada, a blend of Alicante Bouchet and Trincadera.
All the wines served at the Conference had their raving fans. Nothing went uncelebrated. Though my standouts are few in number, I nevertheless was moved to mention them. Does not often happen in the Golden State!
Quick update. Gary Vaynerchuk informs me he will be attending next year’s WBC in Walla Walla.
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I’ve always enjoyed May, if only for the public holidays at either end, and this one was made all the more glorious by clear, sunny skies and rising temperatures hinting that there may be a real summer this year. Supermarkets were the running wine theme throughout the month, possibly not that surprising as, on average, supermarket wine makes up 40% of my purchases.
As I reported in my recent post on the Newcastle Wine Fair this enjoyable event confirmed the strong wine ethic of both Waitrose and Marks & Spencer, and only a week later I found myself in the food-hall of M&S showing just how much I liked their Ernst Loosen 2007 Erdener Treppchen Riesling Kabinett by buying a bottle. I had also intended to buy the Bonny Doon Shiraz that I’d raved about, but instead opted for another of Randall Grahm’s finest, the 2006 Central Coast Sangiovese.
Things then quietened down as far as drinking goes, although this didn’t stop another corked wine appearing (my second this year). This time the offending bottle was one I picked up from Tesco in early 2007, their own-label (Tesco’s Finest) 2004 South African Shiraz by Boschendal Winemaker James Farquharson. Tantalisingly I could tell that behind that undeniable “off” aroma and taste there was a decent hit of fruit hinting at the quality I had been hoping for.
This was bought at a time when Tesco were improving their wine range, unfortunately they look like they’ve reversed this trend in recent months with a noticeable change back to the bad old days of “pile ‘em high and sell ‘em cheap” – the last few times I’ve been in my local stores (for my sins I have 2 of their “Hypermarkets” near my home town) I struggled to find much to interest me. Their regular Wine-Club magazine has similarly seen a drop in quality as well, the last one was nothing but front-to-back page advertisements without even the pretence of a wine “story” hidden within, and hardly any of the usual vouchers to entice you to buy an extra bottle in store – I guess even this corporate giant is being affected by the recession.
For only the second time this year I opened a bottle of U.S. wine, the 2003 Ravenswood Lodi old vine Zinfandel. Having been patiently waiting in the cellar for two and a half years this was bursting with aromas of dark berry fruit & spice and in the mouth there was a melange of secondary flavours; some tar, chocolate, leather and coffee – an excellent 3+ drink and so enjoyable that, only a few days later, I picked up the 2006 vintage from ASDA (a rare purchase from another supermarket I tend to have difficulty buying from).
Image, US-Can Flags.jpg
As the month progressed an unusually high number of (North) American wines were added to the cellar; joining the Bonny Doon and the Ravenswood were the Brook Ranch 2006 Pinot Noir from the Edna Valley (Marmesa Vineyards) and the Jackson-Triggs 2006 Proprietors’ reserve Vidal Icewine. However to put it in perspective my inventory still only stands at 7 bottles and shows the relative difficulty of buying good quality but affordable American wines here in the U.K.
One of the final purchases was another supermarket own label, but this time it was the Cooperative that caught my eye with their relatively new “Reserve” wines. I picked up the St. Gabriel Vineyard 2007 Viognier made by Jean Claude Mas (of Domaine Paul Mas in the Languedoc), as reviewed by Tim Atkin in The Guardian. It was actually the end of last year the COOP introduced this new line of premium wines in refreshing contrast to the direction Tesco are taking, but I’ve only just seen them in my local store and expect to be trying out more from the range in the future.
Of the wines drank during May a few others seemed worth commenting on. The Château Romer du Hayot 2004, my first bottle of Sauternes, was a fresh, honeyed sweetie – light on the palate in spite of a relatively thick texture. I enjoyed the floral, slightly bitter finish with an undertone of honey, but it will take more interesting Sauternes than this to move me away from Tokaji as my go-to dessert wine.
I’ve already mentioned the Ravenswood Lodi, a solid 3+ wine, as was the Viña Peñalolén 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon – a very drinkable, although slightly over the top, fruit-bomb. Less enjoyable was the Château Ksara 2005 Le Prieuré from Lebanon, light and acidic in the mouth, a little medicinal at first, weak in flavour and concentration and a dull 2 stars – not what I’ve come to expect from this country and my previous outings with Châteaux Musar and Kefraya.
The last wine of the month was a Dutch red, the Domein van Stokkom De Linie 2007 Rode from the Netherlands that I purchased on vacation last year (and wrote about the winery in a previous article). Although no more than 3 stars I was very satisfied drinking this, and not just for summer memories. The nose was full of fresh cherry & berry fruit with creamy aspects, and while the flavour couldn’t match the aroma there was a good balance of acidity and (light) tannins – it went exceptionally well with roast lamb and benefitted from being slightly chilled.
Overall the month started bigger than it finished, which went for the weather as well with June starting with a drop in temperatures and rain clouds on the horizon – maybe summer isn’t here just yet!
Greybeard.
A sunny Sunday in early May welcomed the first 2009 outing for the biannual Newcastle Wine fair, one of the premier tasting events for the North East of England. The 6 exhibitors covered the spectrum of wine buying options in the region and a total of 43 wines were on the tables – 44 if you counted the mystery bottle chosen by event organiser Chris Powell of the Newcastle Wine School.
A room half the size of previous years, albeit with a reduced ticket allocation, meant less free space and strangers closer together than maybe they would have chosen – however the net result was positive, with spontaneous conversations starting throughout the room over the course of the afternoon.
Flying the flag for the national wine stores were Oddbins and Majestic with a varied selection from the New and Old-World countries. Majestic had the only Champagne in the room which meant a large crush at their table in the early stages.
For the U.K. supermarkets Waitrose and Marks & Spencer are generally regarded as the best for wine quality, so it was good to see both present. Marks & Spencer (M&S) only sell wine produced and labelled for them, and this year their range includes an Ebenezer Shiraz, a Bonny Doon Syrah and an Ernst Loosen Riesling. Similarly Waitrose were presenting 7 of their “in Partnership” wines made especially for them by well known producers such as New Zealand’s Villa Maria and Spain’s Cune.
Representing the local independent retailers were Spanish Spirit, with a mix of northern Spanish regions, and French specialist Tyne Wines, who had a quartet of bottles from the tiny Côtes du Ventoux producer Château la Croix des Pins. Both of these had a dessert wine on offer, a category that tends to be under-represented at these tasting events but always gives a lot of enjoyment. Spanish Spirit also had a selection of their cheeses and cured meats which were perfect in between glasses, although my palate did not benefit from the spicy Chorizo while I was still on the whites!
Unlike previous events where I selected wines in a relatively haphazard fashion (usually summarized as “whites followed by reds”) this time I decided to be a little more methodical in the tasting and, as much as possible, go through each variety one after the other – comparing and contrasting similarities or differences between producers or regions.
Riesling was first with Oddbin’s Leitz 2007 Ein Zwei from the Rheingau, a very dry, citrusy white – all fruit and zest. In contrast M&S poured the Ernst Loosen Erdener Treppchen 2007 Kabinett from the Mosel – a luxurious, medium sweet wine with texture and elegance and which I would have guessed as an Auslese had the label not been clear enough. A few people noted it was a touch too sweet for their tastes and expectations, although I relished it.
Sauvignon Blanc was the next varietal worthy of comparison, with 3 examples of Marlborough’s 2008 vintage. The Clocktower at M&S (by Wither Hills Vineyards) had a wonderful, layered aroma but was surprisingly light in the mouth and finished quickly. Majestic’s offering of the Composite (Wine Growers of Ara) had more pungency on the nose, and, while it was also light bodied, the finish was long. Both of these were what I’d call typical of a New Zealand Sauvignon, unlike the final bottle at Waitrose, their Villa Maria “in Partnership” which had a strong citrus zest attack on the nose with undertones of gooseberry. In the mouth it was smooth and creamy and very, very easy to drink – maybe too easy but delicious nonetheless.
Several assorted whites passed by with only modest tasting notes, including an uninspiring Zuccardi Pinot Grigio/Torrontes from Mendoza at Oddbins. Chardonnay started badly with two mediocre Chablis on offer at M&S and Waitrose, but finished strong with a Macon Villages from Oddbins – the inexpensive Domaine Martin 2005 at £6.99. This was an enjoyable white Burgundy with lemon citrus aspects, a light wine but with the appearance of richness and still fresh for a 2005, punching well above its weight.
Moving onto the reds and Syrah/Shiraz was in glorious attendance starting with M&S who had two contrasting styles on show. First their Bonny Doon 2005 Central Coast Syrah, Randall Grahm at his finest with liquorice and tar on the nose, good tannins yet very smooth and leaving a touch of pepper on the finish. The other end of the spectrum saw the 2007 Ebenezer & Seppeltsfield (St. Hallett) Barossa Valley Shiraz and its warm, fruity, almost candy style and divine nose. This was delicious and easy to drink, as was the peppery 2006 Barossa Shiraz on the Waitrose stall (also made for them by St. Hallett). For me both of the Australians were unfulfilling so soon after the Bonny Doon, however I recognize that most people would probably prefer this warm, fruity and easy to drink style compared to the Californian’s more complex flavour profile.
The other reds seemed muted after these, with the exception of the gorgeous, vegetal Maipo valley Carmenère Reserva from Perez Cruz on Majestic’s table, so that was my cue to bring the afternoon to a close with something sweet and decadent, and where better than the two local stands and their dessert wines.
Tyne Wines had Domaine Treloar’s Muscat de Rivesaltes 2006 Vin Doux Natural – plenty of sweetness but light and fresh and not too dissimilar to the Uno by Liberalia at the Spanish Spirit table, a Moscatel and Albillo blend which I’ve had before and always enjoyed.
By the end of the afternoon I’d tasted my way through 37 of the 44, including the South African Merlot that was the mystery wine (I guessed Merlot but went for South America instead). Out of them all the best whites were the Villa Maria Sauvignon Blanc (Waitrose) and the Dr. Loosen Riesling (M&S), while for reds it had to be the Bonny Doon Syrah (M&S) with the Perez Cruz Carmenere a close second (Majestic). Best value went to the Macon Villages from Oddbins, which outperformed both Chablis on offer for half the price.
The event was a great success, with people still mixing and talking together after the tables had been cleared, helped along by a few of the exhibitors leaving some unfinished bottles to keep the conversations flowing. I was particularly pleased to find M&S had left half a bottle of the Loosen Riesling which I passed around (after taking a decent pour myself first of course!). Thanks to Chris for a fun afternoon and I hope to see it back in the autumn.
Greybeard.
April passed through with the early promise of a nice summer, Easter celebrations and a trio of birthdays to toast.
A run of fine, sunny weekends led to the opening of the first Rose of the year, the Château Kefraya 2006 La Rosée du Château, another wine highlighting my fondness for this small country which makes up nearly 10% of my cellar. Kefraya may be less well known than the cult Château Musar or Lebanon’s largest winery, Chateau Ksara, but like both of them it produces well received wines – it’s prestige Comte de M receives good reviews and the affordable Les Bretèches is a personal favourite of mine.
This was the first time I’d tried their rosé, which had a rustic nose, sweet yet earthy. As a descriptor rustic matched its taste as well, dry, somewhat unbalanced in the beginning yet finishing beautifully with some berry fruit, an acceptable 2+ start to the summer drinking season.
April has always been a busy month as it sees three family birthdays in quick succession and as one of them is mine then there is always the hope of wine involved in the presents and in the celebrations. This year the star of the proceedings was a fine old Tokaji, the Chateau Messzelátó 1988 Tokaji Aszú 5 Puttonyos, dark caramel in colour with strong raisin aspects, the sweet and sour, sherry like tang had delightful acidity behind the subtle sweetness. At 3+ this wasn’t a great Tokaji, simply very good and always appreciated by the family, especially my Hungarian father.
The Tokaji was bought earlier in the month from Oddbins, my first visit back to this retailer since its buy-out in August last year by the founders of Ex Cellar Henry Young and Simon Baile (son of Nick Baile who ran Oddbins during its heyday in the 1970s).
I can’t say that I noticed a great deal of difference in the store selection, although it is still early in the process of trying to recover the reputation of this high-street retailer, which suffered under the management of French company Castel. There were a few tempting wines on offer and, as well as the Tokaji, I came away with the Terredora Loggia della Serra single vineyard Greco di Tufo and the Fernand Grandjean 2006 Sancerre Rosé from Domaine Hubert Brochard. Had I not restrained myself I probably would also have bought the Gisselbrecht 2003 Riesling Vendage Tardive as well (and maybe should have!). I plan on re-visiting Oddbins more frequently over the next year to see how the change in management affects its wine selection.
Given the relative purchasing (and drinking) drought over the last couple of months April was far more active. A tasting evening at my local Spanish retailer saw the rosé theme continue with a fine fresh 2008 Rosado from Reinares having just been delivered. The beautifully dry wine, a blend of Tempranillo and Garnacha, had a slight candy fruit nose and was very smooth and creamy with forest fruit flavours, warming as it went down and worth a buy at. The one I brought home ended up being taken to a neighbour by my better half so I didn’t get any of it, but at only £6 a bottle I’ll happily pick up some more soon!
Including those bottles already discussed 13 new wines went into the cellar, a varied selection including the Eos 2004 Reserve Petit Sirah from Paso Robles, a Gigondas and Chateauneuf-du-Pape from the Rhône, my first crusted port from Grahams and the Montes Alpha 2006 Merlot, currently my only single varietal holding of this maligned grape.
13 wines also came out of the darkness and onto the dining table over the course of the month. The best red was a 2006 Douro, made for UK Supermarket Sainsbury’s “Taste the Difference” range by Quinta do Crasto – this full and fruity wine was dark and rich, very smooth with a touch of chocolate, only its lack of a finish stopped it being 4 stars. This meant Tyrrell’s 2006 Old Winery Pinot Noir was pushed into second place but still proved a faithful servant for a cheap but very cheerful Australian Pinot – I’ve yet to have a bad bottle of this wine.
The best white by far was the Kamptaler Terrassen 2005 Grüner Veltliner by the excellent Austrian winemaker Willi Bründlmayer. This crisp 3+ white had a honeyed, floral nose – rich, sweet and fragrant – and honey was also a noticeable presence in the taste with a dry mid-palate and good length.
Finally April 2009, or specifically my birthday, was also an anniversary of sorts, as it’s now 3 years since a present of a wine-tasting ticket sent me spiraling into this wine appreciation obsession that has become such a large part of my life, and a not insignificant drain on my wallet! Although I don’t have any remaining purchases from then I still have a half-dozen wines bought from June and July ’06 which shows I was already thinking about aging wine so soon after my wine epiphany. True, none of the wines were over £10, but I’m still hopeful that they were up to being forgotten about for a time period most UK wine drinkers still wouldn’t consider when they pick up their bottles from the supermarket or high-street wine retailer.
And so onto May….
Greybeard.
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.
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.
It is not difficult to understand why some form of rating wine is necessary – the vagaries of winemaking, grape varieties and terroir are such that each producer, and each vintage, can be different from the next. Most wine drinkers do not have the experience to know for themselves what each is meant to offer, but how did we get to the situation we seem to be in now where a numerical score can dictate wine styles and make or break businesses?
Thousands of years ago ancient Greek poets were the first wine critics espousing the delights, or faults in the wines available to them . Over the centuries little changed, words were used to describe a wine and more often the wine being described was generic of a region, as opposed to a single producer that we are familiar with today. Of course there have always been producers, but outside of their local area this meant nothing. As my colleague Donna wrote in one of the early posts on Reign of Terroir, “Ho Bryan”, Haut Brion is one of the earliest examples of a specific producer, as opposed to the region, being singled out for particular (favourable) criticism – but at that time the thought of trying to encapsulate all that is in a glass of wine into a numerical score was unthinkable, wine quality, as befits something subjective, was described in words.
In 1663, a young Samuel Pepys wrote in his diary about “…a sort of French wine, called Ho Bryan that hath a good and most particular taste that I ever met with.” Nearly 150 years later Napoleon Bonaparte was noted for his love of Champagne and Burgundy, a glass of Chambertin a day is accredited to him along with the quote, ”Nothing makes the future look so rosy as to contemplate it through a glass of Chambertin”.
As we moved from the 19th to the 20th Century the situations changed somewhat. Industrialisation in Western Europe and the U.S. resulted in more even distribution of wealth and the rise of the middle-class, along with an increase in demand for luxury items. Faster international communication and cheaper shipping costs meant that wine consumer and producers alike had access to expanding international markets. The net result was that there were more people looking to buy wine, the media infrastructure to market and sell wine further afield than ever before along with the shipping and distribution channels to link producer and buyer. However there was an obvious downside to this expansion of the market – a relatively inexperienced consumer base was presented with a far larger choice of wines than at any time in history. A few poetic lines and fancies of the rich and famous could only go so far, for the rest choosing what to buy needed more standardization.
International Wine Competitions semi-formalised the scoring of wine with medal awards for the best quality entrants – as far back as 1889 Napa Valley wine (the famous Finnish sea-captain, Gustave Niebaum’s Ingelnook winery) was winning Gold at the Paris World Fair. By the 1950s numerical scoring was here to stay with the British Wine Trade using a 20 point scale while at the same time in Australia winemaker and writer Daniel Francis Murphy was using a 100 point scale for his wine tasting notes. When Napa wine again won in France, in the famous 1976 “Judgement of Paris”, the British influence was clear with scores as low as 2 recorded on a 20 point scale.
However it was Robert Parker Jr. and his friend Victor Morgenroth that have probably had the biggest impact on wine scoring in recent history with their reworking of a 100 point scale to appeal to the American consumer. Hugh Johnson, in his autobiography “A Life Uncorked” sums up the instantaneous appeal Parker and his “percentages of perfection” had – “100 is an eye catching figure. Everyone is accustomed to percentages”. Scoring had well and truly arrived, and Parker was its Champion.
Of course some critics decry the use of scores. Jamie Goode and Jancis Robinson to name but two – however, whether out of acceptance that the masses demand them, or realization that they are the only way to compare the volumes of wines now available, they still end up using them. Today there are several scoring systems routinely in use in addition to the (U.S. influenced) 100 point scale and the (British influenced) 20 point scale. Even these scores are misleading, as in reality there is a minimum score all wines get regardless of quality (50/100 or 10/20 in most instances, although for certain proponents of the 20 point scale, such as Jancis Robinson, 12 is as low as you go).
Rather than try and detail them all I entreat you to check out the following links;
- Steve de Longs excellent scoring comparison table, available as a PDF download on his De Long’s Wine Info site which touches on the 4 and 5 star scales used by some critics and favoured by many Wine Bloggers.
- New Zealand wine-guru Geoff Kelly covers the modified 20 point scale on his wine review site but also offers some sage advice on understanding what wine scores can and do tell us.
- insight into the Emperor of Wine’s 100pt scale is found on the eRobertParker site.
- for more zany scoring schemes (tongue firmly implanted in cheek) that have been invented, such as the 1000 point scores, see Worlds of Wine and Vinography!
But even when you’ve got a handle on what a score is meant to tell you we get to the conundrum; how reliable are these scores, and how applicable are the critic’s tastes to the people who end up buying the bottles on their recommendation? Remember the judges are only human with their own tastes and preferences, a fact highlighted to the extreme by the 2003 Château Pavie “incident” between Parker and Robinson.
These types of question have been doing the rounds for decades, just go to any of the major wine forum sites and do a search on the various topics of scores and critics, such as WineLibrary TV, eRobertParker and Wine Spectator.
The idea that many people have is that a judge was able to give their full attention and use years of experience to analyse in fine detail the wine they tasted. Whilst this may happen on occasion, for the very best wines or small and prestigious tastings, the reality is that most regular wines that you or I are able to buy will have had a few seconds of consideration on a table surrounded by dozens of similar examples and influenced by effects such as how good the previous wine was to whether it is the end of a palate-fatiguing day, plus a thousand other little factors in-between.
The 2006 NYTimes article “Wine Ratings Might Not Pass the Sobriety Test” and the SFGate article from 2007 “Are ratings pointless?”, cover in great depth the contradictions of the scoring systems, to which Tom Wark of Fermentation followed up with his thoughts on varieties that never seem to get close to that magic 100 score.
Even if we are generous and assume the professionals do analyze all the constituent components in the glass they are tasting, for the amateur wine taster the obvious problem is that of calibration – until you know the expanse of the best, and worst, on offer your own scale is likely to be askew, at either or both ends. I myself feel when using a 100pts score that I may be over-scoring poorer wines and under-scoring the really good ones, but until I have tried more examples including both 50pt and 100pt wines I’ll never be completely sure (samples gratefully accepted!).
Although I still use the 100pt scale at home and when posting on forums I am leaning towards a 5 point scale for Reign of Terroir, similar to the Broadbent/Decanter system, but with half points. My attempts to reconcile it with the 100pt scale are still ongoing, but for the moment are along the lines of;
5* - None better, 99-100pts.
5 - Outstanding & Exceptional, 96-99pts
4+ - Wonderful wines with a range of qualities, 93-96pts
4 - Very good with some special singular quality, 90 -93pts
3+ - Very good in all aspects, 87-90pts
3 - Good, well made wine, 83-87pts.
2+ - Average with some character, although generally dull, 78-83pts.
2 - Plain-average, 70-78pts
1 - Poor, 60-70pts
<1 - Undrinkable, <60pts
However my scoring is intended for my own reference and to be viewed in context with accompanying tasting notes. Rather than specifically giving points to the individual components such as colour, nose etc. I tend use a more holistic approach to reach the final score and I suspect many amateurs do something similar. What is clear is that at some point when you have moved on from “it is a goodly wine” or “I like reds” then you do start to look at the specific components in the glass and judge if the qualities match what you prefer. This is when the oft repeated adage comes in - wine enjoyment is subjective, what tastes good to me may not to you and a texture or taste component I like may not be a favourite of yours. This subjectivity is moulded by experience, genetics and by other people’s opinions, and therein lies the crux of the matter – most people are easily swayed by ”expert” opinions that it is not hard to understand why so many listen so much to so few.
As with all forms of subjective appreciation finding a critic who matches your style and preferences is the best way to make sense of scores, whatever format they’re given in, but also to understand that a score often is a snap-shot of a particular bottle of wine taken under specific circumstances which may not reflect how another bottle of that wine will taste at a different time with a different person, such as you, doing the tasting.
Greybeard.
Brandon Miller writes,
It’s no secret that I’ve been a proponent of Merry Edward’s wines but I had never actually been to the winery until this last weekend when I went to pick up the ‘07 Sauvignon Blanc.
The new winery, right off of Highway 116 in Sebastopol, situated in the middle of the Coopersmith Vineyard looks rather large when you first pull up. It’s not what I expected. Once in the parking lot you realize that the majority of the winery is their production facility and the offices and tasting rooms are actually very subdued.
I was met at the door by Leslie (Ken’s daughter) and Ben (Merry’s son). Immediately to the left are the private tasting tables behind glass walls and doors. We chatted a bit about the 96 score and how the demand had them all running around like crazy the last couple of days. Then Ben asked if we wanted a tour. Uh, HECK YA!
Ben took us back into the fermenting room where the shiny stainless tanks line both sides. We chatted about cold soaking and his future with the company. His eyes light up like mine do when talking about wine and I get the feeling he could have stayed hours chatting about Pinot with me.
Then we went back into the barrel room where and dicsussed oak treatment and new French barrels. My mother-in-law was with us and Ben took the time to explain a lot to her. I’ve been in countless barrel rooms but she had never been on a tour like that and I could tell it was special to her. Ben proceeded to tell us about a special bottling coming out soon (Angels Wing, I think) for Merry’s son who passed away in ‘06.
After we were done and walked back into office Ken Coopersmith walked in and started talking to Leslie. Leslie immediately turned and introduced us. Ken and I had done business together in the past but never formally met. Ken’s obvious love for life is infectious. I think he smiled the whole time we were there.
We were wrapping up and grabbing the Sauv. Blanc when Merry walks around the corner holding a little tool chest and looking like it’s time to get to work. I introduced myself and told her how much I loved her Pinot.
Merry Edwards has always been a must buy for me, and meeting the family allows me to enjoy their wine even more knowing it is made by great people!
Brandon Miller
January is typically a cold, unwelcoming month and 2009 was no exception. After the excesses of the Christmas and New Year celebrations the return to work was a sobering experience and I got off to a slow start.
At home I finally completed reading my first ever Wine Spectator, which I had bought at a Swedish railway station during my December trip to Lund. Although it cost the equivalent of £10 I had to buy it for of curiosity value more than anything else, as I’ve never seen this in the UK. It was the November 30th edition and had James Molesworth did a good job covering the Rhône, a region I get great enjoyment out of, and specifically Côte-Rôtie. Overall it was an enjoyable read, but I couldn’t help comparing it to the UKs own magazine, Decanter, which I buy nearly every month.
Decanter (I used the December ’08 edition as a comparison) retails at £3.80 in the UK, Spectator at $5.95 in the US, so not a great difference in (local) price. Decanter comes in a smaller format, probably 15-20% less cover area than Spectator, and also uses a smaller font size for its text -at a rough guestimate I’d say that Decanter offers more words per page and more pages in total with 160 to Spectator’s 144. Despite the extra pages I preferred this for general reading – Spectator felt cumbersome and unwieldy at times and at first glance the larger reading font and spacing made me feel a little as if I had mistakenly picked up a children’s magazine. Both magazines had roughly equal advertisement space with plenty of full-page ads breaking up the articles but otherwise they were equally informative and, laying aside my natural bias for Decanter, I would recommend both for the quality of writing but would favour Decanter for its smaller format if nothing else.
In mid-January we had a rare family visit to a local restaurant, the Aramee II in Prudhoe, which serves Indian and Bangladeshi food. I’m still on the fence when it comes to wine and Indian cuisine; typically I choose a cold Cobra or Kingfisher beer to dampen the fires of a chilli attack, but for the milder dishes I can see how some white wines would be a good match and this time I selected a bottle of Alsace 2007 Gewürztraminer to share with Sarah. Unfortunately I neglected to note down the specific producer but was impressed by how well the semi-dry, refreshing & fruity white wine stood up to the spices – although to be fair neither of us had ordered anything too fiery.
The month came to a close with a business trip to Germany – one night in Munich and three in Hamburg. Although at opposite ends of the country both cities had similar wintry weather with freezing temperatures and intermittent snow, luckily not enough to disrupt any of the travelling or prevent some enjoyable evening meals.
In Munich I wandered for half an hour near my hotel until I came upon the Altmünchner Gesellenhaus on Adolf-Kolping Strasse. Inside was a warm and friendly Bavarian beerhouse with a menu of classic and rustic meals.
To quench my thirst I had a glass of Franziskaner Wiessbier, a favourite tipple of mine for years whenever in Germany.
A browse of the menu showed they didn’t have my must-have meal, Kalbsleber, so I opted for the Münchner Würstplatte – a selection of 3 types of sausage on a bed of sauerkraut with a little potato hash-brown on the side.
The food was delicious; strong German mustard went well with the sausage while the sauerkraut was quite rich, not too acidic or sour. 
A glass of Riesling seemed like a good idea once the beer had gone so I went for the Rudolf Müllner 2007 Himmelreich Trocken, which wasn’t that Trocken after all turning out to be an uncomplicated light and fruity wine with a little lime zest. It was nothing like the more serious German or Austrian Rieslings I tend to lean to when buying, but it was very drinkable and a good match for the simple flavours of the würst and kraut, 2+/5. In total the 2 drinks and a satisfying Bavarian beerhaus dinner set me back the grand total of €16.50, a bargain!
I finished off the week, and the month, in Hamburg. This northern port city is famous for its seafood and the highlight of the trip was an evening meal at the Engel (Angel) on the banks of the Elbe river, opposite the large Airbus factory that builds the enormous A380 jetliner. The restaurant is actually part of a floating concrete pontoon on the river itself and as the larger boats and ships steam by you can feel the gentle rocking of the structure. More exciting was when one of the regular river ferries that pull up on the jetty misjudged its arrival and hit the side with a resounding thud, shaking the glasses on the table!
The food was excellent, starting with an amuse-bouche of a frothy fish soup with wonderful concentrated flavours and moving into an appetizer of Scallop Cappuccino; delicate scallops in a rich foam sauce on a sweet potato mousse. For the main course the special of the day was a delicious and rich beef linguini with sugar-snap peas.
For the wine I wanted something red and something German (a combination that can be hit or miss) which resulted in a bottle of LEO X-treme 2006 Pinot Noir from the GermanHill winery, the German spin-off winery from Austrian winemaker Leo Hillinger. The wine was pale and light with a cherry cream taste and some oak detectable, not one for those who like body and extraction but a decent 3/5.
Wine Purchases. As expected January has been a relatively quiet month with only two purchases – although they do amount to 14 bottles!
The first was a mixed case of wine from The Sunday Times Wine Club and those of you who know me will realise I tend to avoid wine clubs and also buying more than two or three bottles at a time, but this case was a follow-up to a Christmas present. I had selected one of the more expensive selections but as with most mixed cases there was a combination of some for early drinking and a few that should last several years in the cellar. I am especially looking forward to the O’Leary Walker 2005 Shiraz, the Domaine Raimbault-Pineau 2007 Pouilly-Fumé Cuvée Cassandra and the Château de Chenas Selection de la Hante 2006 Moulin-à-Vent. Unusual bottles included a Corsican Pinot Noir, the 2006 Domain du Mont Saint Jean, and a Picolit dessert wine from Colli Orientali del Friuli. However most exciting for me was my first ever vintage port, the 2003 DelaForce which, although not one of the really big names in the game, sounds like it should be a sound wine to open sometime after 2015. Hopefully by then I’ll have tried some earlier vintage ports to compare it against!
The other two bottles for the month came out of my Hamburg visit when I stumbled upon a wine shop near my hotel which was still open in the evening after I’d finished work. Weinhaus am Grindel had a nice selection of German wines on its shelves and the owner, Stephan Lehmitz, was happy to spend a few minutes discussing some of the bottles. I ended up with a new red varietal for my cellar, the Meiser 2007 Weinheimer Kirchenstück Frühburgunder (an ancestor/relative of Pinot Noir) from Rheinhessen, and a Rheingau Riesling that should be able to handle a few years cellaring, the Domdechant Werner 2007 Hochheimer Kirchenstuck Spätlese Trocken.
Wine consumption. Only 7 bottles were opened at home this month, possible a new all time low!
Most memorable, but for all the wrong reasons, was my first ever corked wine. OK, let me rephrase that, since I have had corked wines before at tastings and restaurants – this was the first corked wine I’ve ever knowingly had in one of my own purchased bottles “since records began”. For reference records began in April 2006 and I’ve opened nearly 400 bottles in that time, so one obviously corked bottle isn’t too bad really. The offending liquid was La Capitana Magliano 2004 Morellino di Scansano which I bought early last year, a shame since I was interested in trying out this lesser known Toscana Sangiovese.
The bottle I opened in its place was the Baron de Ley Museum Real 2002 Cigales Reserva. This and the Carpineto 1999 Vino Nobile di Montepulciano were the two best wines drank at home last month, although both just managed a 3+/5. The dark, inky Cigales had a firm tannins and balanced acidity with a spice aroma, while the Sangiovese had a mix of complex flavours including menthol and liquorice.
Least impressive was one of the whites from my mixed case, The Loose Goose 2008 unwooded Chardonnay made by Adolfo Hurtado of Chilean winery Cono Sur. Although this had a refreshing acidity with a creamy finish it was just too basic with no complexity, so warranted a 2+/5.
Time to bring January to a close – February is already here and, for the UK at least, the winter continues with a vengeance, so rich reds are as welcome as ever and I suspect will feature in next month’s Corner.
Greybeard.
A Happy 2009 to everyone! The turn of the year is often an excuse for reminiscing over the past and Donna, Ken and I did this on the recent Reign of Terroir first anniversary post. It was whilst I was writing my part that I thought about starting a monthly “Diary post” of my assorted food and drink experiences which maybe wouldn’t provide enough detail or relevance for a full article in isolation but when combined should hopefully contain enough to interest most readers.
December began for me with another visit to Lund in Sweden, where I once again stayed at the Djingis Khan hotel. Chef Morten was in top form again and the delights of the visit was a superbly delicate top steak of cod served on a bed of celery and lettuce with diced apples and Parma ham. A fresh Puglian IGT Chardonnay was its accompaniment, although it was possibly a little too full for the fish – the Mauro 2006 had good depth and richness, with a butterscotch nose and a little alcohol heat. The wine had enough savoury complexity on its own, better suited as an aperitif rather than with food.
Other wines included the Firefinch “Ripe Red” from South Africa, a concentrated, high alcohol fruity wine, just a little over the top. There was also the Canaletto 2006 Montepulciano D’Abruzzo DOC which I could have sworn was a Shiraz with pepper component on the nose, fruit forward with a touch of VA, cherry on the mid-palate and finish – very easy drinking. As it was the run up to Christmas I even had some sweet Kirsch and Almond flavoured Danish cherry wine!
Later on in the month we had our office Christmas meal at the Loch Fyne seafood restaurant in Gosforth, Newcastle. For a Christmas meal trying to accommodate 30+ people the food was pleasant, especially my choice of smoked salmon appetizer with pan-fried duck breast as a main. The accompanying wine received mixed approval, a little bit expected as we were on a budget! The Domaine de la Provenquière Viognier 2007 from the Languedoc was a delicious and fresh white to start off the meal, but it’s red brother, the Domaine de la Provenquière 2007 Merlot & Grenache was unbalanced and disappointing. Much better was the Bodegas Larchago 2006 Rioja which we had towards the end of the evening.
Obviously the end of the month saw a marked increase in food and wine consumption to cover Christmas and New Year, and with nearly 2 weeks uninterrupted holiday I quickly settled into a relaxing lifestyle!
Wine purchases. December was a relatively quiet month on the purchasing – the cellar was already pretty full and didn’t need much topping up – and was also atypical with more than usual being opened almost immediately and enjoyed with family and friends over the festive holidays.
Of note was a trip to Waitrose in the run up to Christmas where I found a special offer on the newly released Château Musar 2001 at £14.39 instead of the usual £17.99. Two bottles were duly added to my expanding Lebanese inventory, I now have 12 bottles from that country, mostly Musar but also bottles from Châteaux Ksara and Kefraya.
I also finally got round to ordering some Château Pesquié wines from on-line retailer, Tyne Wines. As you may know I spent a glorious week at this Côtes du Ventoux winery this summer and was pleased when I found out one of my local suppliers had some older vintages still available.
£56 (with the bonus of free delivery as I live so close) bought me 5 bottles including one bottle of the white 2003 Quintessence (Roussanne/Clairette) and two bottles of the 2001 Prestige (Syrah/Grenache).
Of most interest to me were two bottles of the 2002 Les Terrasses, usually the entry level Pesquié red but this year, a poor vintage where the top label Quintessence red was not produced, the better red grapes went into the “lesser” cuvees.
As for the other wines that have been stashed away for future drinking, my partner Sarah bought me a Pomerol as a stocking filler for Christmas, Château Bugrave 2004 (the second wine of Chateau Bonalgue) and I couldn’t resist a white Saint-Joseph (yet another Roussanne blend for me) the Cave de Saint Desirat 2005, knocked down to (superstitious people look away now!) £6.66 from the COOP.
Wine consumption. Unsurprisingly sparkling wines came to the fore this month (but remember I rarely drink from this category throughout the year so it is all relative!).
The Madame de Maintenon Brut Champagne (£13.99 from the COOP) was an easy drinking sparkler with a baked apple nose and green apple in the mouth, but lacked complexity. More enjoyable was the Pierre et Frédéric Becht Cremant d’Alsace Rosé (£8.99 from NH Wines) which had a delicate peach flavour with a raspberry finish. However best of the bunch was the Pommery “Summertime” Champagne Blanc de Blancs, a welcome present from one of my French colleagues a year ago and showing its class – light bodied and elegant with a fine mousse and a delightful apple component throughout.
December was also a month of firsts with a Luxembourg Pinot Blanc, a German Eiswein, a Barolo and a Palo Cortado sherry all being opened from my cellar.
The Pinot Blanc was one of my summer vacation purchases, the Caves de Greiveldange 2005 Pinot Blanc Premier Cru (Lieu-dit Primerberg) produced by Les Domaines de Vinsmosselle and bought for £5 in a Belgian supermarket in August. It had a light and floral nose with some sweet honeysuckle. A citrus tang up front moved to a dry, slightly bitter mid-palate and a medium length honey finish with good balance, if a little thin.
The Eiswein was Pfeiffer’s 2004 Silvaner by Ewald Pfeiffer, picked up in Morrisons supermarket last April for £6. At 9% this Pfalz dessert wine had a beautiful golden caramel colour with a light aroma, sweet but also a little toffee. There was some pineapple in the mouth and good acidity on the finish, maybe too sweet for the overall complexity, but good.
The Barolo and Palo Cortado were both supermarket own labels, entry level versions bought as an introduction to the styles. The Barolo was from Tesco’s Finest range, the Ascherivini 2002 Barolo bought in October 2006 for £13. I was pleasantly surprised by this offer from a poor vintage; it was a warming autumnal colour, with spice box, cherry wood and earthy tones on the nose and a good mouthfeel with forward acidity, mellow tannins and a smooth finish. Quite light with subtle cherry aspect, although no mid-palate to speak of, this was an enjoyable food friendly wine holding its age well.
Finally, for the new experiences, was the Palo Cortado, a rare sherry style described in my “Christmas Drinks” post in December from Waitrose at £7.50. Toffee brown in colour with the classic sherry aroma and a little wood smoke mixed in this was very dry in the mouth and had a refreshing, light mid-palate and a long salty finish. Although nice for a change I prefer the Oloroso style more.
I also managed to get through the three different Pesquié wines mentioned above. Both reds had forward acidity preferring food accompaniment but nevertheless were drinking well with smooth tannins and a mix of secondary flavours, including tobacco and spice for the 2002 Les Terrasses and white pepper and liquorice for the 2001 Prestige. However good the reds were it was the 2003 Quintessence Blanc that was the star of the pack. This was a full bodied white with a light honey colour and a delicate floral perfume, dry and creamy in the mouth with floral components and a stone fruit finish of moderate length. Although I had expected this to be past its best there was no hint of oxidation and the complexity and balance were delicious, almost the best wine I had last month….almost, but not quite. That honour is reserved for a wine made from my favourite white varietal, Riesling, and from one of my favourite white producing areas, Alsace.
The Domaine Paul Blanck 2002 Patergarten Riesling was also bought on my summer vacation last year, although this time from a Dutch Cheese & Wine store in the quaint old market town of Gouda. At £20 it was the most expensive single bottle I’d bought in the summer, and I was rewarded for that when I opened it over Christmas – we all thoroughly enjoyed drinking this exceptional wine. With a lovely golden colour and a delicious, rich aroma, this was honeyed and floral and, typical for Alsace style, you could “feel” some residual sugar in there, but there was no overt sweetness as such. It had a heavy texture, dry and warming with some citrus bitterness and some of the classic Riesling petrol aspects, but very subtle.
I also received a copy of Hugh Johnson’s “A Life Uncorked” which I plan on starting soon, so expect a review in the next few months once I’ve digested this.
So now the holidays are over and it’s back to the day job – I’d expect January’s retrospect to be shorter and less decadent! Until then I wish everyone a good start to the New Year.
Greybeard.
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From a stay at the Pousada in Ourém, we three lucid dreamers, the brilliant Virgilio Loureiro, cinematographer Nuno Sá Pessoa Sequeira and yours truly, set out to visit the varied typologies of rock presses in Parada de Gonta, Prazias, Paraduço and Vale do Salqueiro (among others), some used until the 1950s. I shall save those extraordinary visions, there is no other word, for another post.
On this occasion I mean to parse the day into discreet, manageable episodes. The first shall be the lunch and wine tasting enjoyed at the solid tourist destination, Paço dos Cunhas de Santar, just outside of Viseu. From Casa de Santar’s Alminhas (little souls) vineyard, the site of the Vale do Salgueiro rock press, a portion of which had been broken to provide a foundation stone for a recent outbuilding, we drove to the estate, our group including our guide, Alberto Sampaio, winemakers Carlos Silva and Mario Rui Ferreira (a very interesting and energetic individual), among others.
2008 Cabriz Bruto, Quinta de Cabriz, a blend of Malvasia Fino and Cercial. Refreshing and light. My understanding is that this sparkler makes up 10% of their sales.
2007 UDACA (União das Adegas Cooperativa da Região Demarcada do Dão) Touriga Nacional, 13% alc. Twelve months aging in mixed oak barrels. Light, fragrant bouquet, simple body, sweet, smoky, but short finish.
Also served was the 2003 Quinta das Roques Reserve Blend. From the Pessegueiro (peach) vineyard. 13.5% alc. A seamless wine. From mid-palate to finish, a beautiful elaboration. Quite elegant.
I should also mention a 2009 Quinta da Falorca, Rosé of Touriga Nacional (not pictured). 13.5% alc. A little candified, but with good acid. I am especially fond of Tavel rosés. I have had quite a few. So, my palate would need to taste many more Portuguese examples of rosé before I could even hazard an opinion as to the quality. I will say that I did not find Quinta da Falorca’s effort compelling, mindful of the caveat above.
