🍷 W1NG APRIL ICC TASTING NOTES – WINES OF URUGUAY

On 4^th April 2024 the Wine in Nottingham Group met for the latest tasting of the 2024 season. The theme of this tasting was “The Wines of Uruguay”.

I have already outlined the background for this tasting in the previous post, you can (re)read it by clicking back – so I won’t repeat it here. Suffice to say the wines tasted were chosen as a good quality reflection of what’s available from this emerging country.

Here are my notes:

ALBARIÑO RESERVE 2022 (BODEGA GARZÓN)   –   12.5 %   –   ND John Wines £19
This showed some floral notes on the nose, as well as the usual peach/pear fruit notes. The palate has mineral background to a quite rich stone-fruit centre, with increasing citric, lip-smacking acidity. A good full-ish, food-friendly version of the grape, which by proximity to its tasting last August invites comparisons with the “La Trucha” Albariño. This is indeed similar, and very good – but perhaps not quite sharing La Trucha’s fineness or subtlety.
Ratings:        Quality:  ^16.5/₂₀   Value:  ¹⁶/₂₀

“ESTIVAL” WHITE 2020 (PABLO FALLABRINO)   –   13.5 %   –   Wadebridge Wines £20
This blend of late harvested Gewürztraminer (60%) and Muscat (10%) with early picked Chardonnay (30%) has a very lemon scented, even lemon zest, attack presumably from the Chardonnay. Under that and a little recessed are the sort of ginger and floral hints one would expect from Gewürztraminer. The palate is a little unintegrated and has some lychee softness in the middle, but builds back to a lemon-peel freshness at the finish. This wine is discomforted by appearing after the Albariño, and tasted alone the next day has integrated a little more and appears fresher…
Ratings:        Quality:  ^15.5/₂₀   Value:  ¹⁵/₂₀

MARSELAN RESERVE 2021 (BODEGA GARZÓN)   –   12.5 %   –   ND John Wines £19
The Marselan grape, a Cab. Sauv. x Grenache – newly permitted in Bordeaux, has an open nose with herby hints (rosemary?) and red fruit. The palate has blackberry and sour red plum fruit with fine tannins and warm finish with a mineral and acidic backbone. Rather a nice wine and more satisfying, IMO, than a similarly priced Merlot – whose structural and viticultural qualities it might replace on a Bordeaux Estate? The next day it too was better integrated and resolved, allowing a bit more varietal distinctiveness. Good.
Ratings:        Quality:  ^16.5/₂₀   Value:  ¹⁶/₂₀

“NOTOS” 2020 (PABLO FALLABRINO)   –   13 %   –   Wadebridge Wines £20
Well – this Nebbiolo (with 10% Tannat) had fresh and dried berries on the nose together with (and I don’t think this is prejudgment) Tar and Roses!!! The palate is very dry but there is supple and subtle fruit underpinned with a long strand of fresh acidity and fine tannins lifting the wine into a complex finish. Lovely, not quite Barolo, but showing 90% of that wine’s attractions for 1/2 (?) price. The favourite on the night and mine too…
Ratings:        Quality:  ¹⁷/₂₀   Value:  ^16.5/₂₀

TANNAT RESERVE 2021 (BODEGA GARZÓN)   –   14%   –   ND John Wines £19
This very dark, vin noir has aromas of plums and a raspberry note with a spicy hint. The palate has a tannic profile distinctive of the grape but riper and rounder versions of it than found here in Uruguay (or in SW France) 15 years ago. This allows the fruit profile – the same plums and raspberry – to show too. In fact the wine reminded me of a (younger) 100% Tannat I tasted in Salies-de-Béarn (at Domaine Lapeyre et Guilhemas) last October. That said this is a little four-square at the moment, maybe needing another 2 or 3 years?
Ratings:        Quality:  ¹⁶/₂₀   Value:  ^15.5/₂₀

SINGLE VINEYARD PETIT VERDOT 2020 (BODEGA GARZÓN)   –   14.5 %   –   ND John Wines £27
This highly coloured wine has a spirity, even downright alcoholic, nose which masks a hint of blueberry fruit. The palate has a similar profile with Italianate flavours: leather and spice – masking, rather than complementing hints of blueberry fruit and wood. The woody sense is textural rather than the effect of oak: the wine is in 4th-use large casks for 12-18 months. This wine is very big, with big separate components achieving a long and impressive wine that somehow wasn’t very pleasurable. A day later there was some integration and maybe another half-point of pleasure. One can see what a small amount adds to a Bordeaux blend, but the least interesting red IMO, and quite expensive.
Ratings:        Quality:  ^15.5/₂₀   Value:  ^14.5/₂₀

A rather interesting tasting I thought, and in the opinion of the group too. A range of well made wines with distinctive character and – in the main – showing quality and interest throughout. Certainly in my mind it aroused an interest in the capability of Uruguay in the wine market and a curiosity to taste further…. Arinarnoa anyone?

À Bientôt

🍷 Uruguay Wines – Hidden Gems

The idea for a tasting on this wine topic came out of the W1NG tasting of Medoc Crus Bourgeois Exceptionnels last December. The tasting group were discussing the list of newly permitted grapes in Bordeaux: Touriga Nacional, Marselan, Castets, Arinarnoa, Alvarinho and Liliorila. In particular Marselan, which I have tasted in some blends from Southern Rhone and Provence, provoked some interest – and I thought of sourcing some varietal examples. I found a Uruguayan Marselan of some repute, and originally I thought of conducting a tasting including Brazil and Peru in with Uruguay as a sort of “The Rest of South America” tasting. However, sourcing distinctive wine in our price range was difficult from Brazil or Peru. Either they were too “cheap and cheerful” or too international, or both. For example, the leading UK supplier of Brazilian wines lists 54 bottles – only 20 are in our price range and 14 of those are sparkling. Peru is even cheaper (and less cheerful?) – with the best source, funnily enough – in Paris!

Anyway, Uruguay initially seemed a more promising source of finer wine, and interesting varietals like Marselan and Petit Verdot – and so it proved…

Uruguay is a small country, slightly bigger than England, slightly smaller than Scotland and England combined. The country is about 500 kms wide at its widest, and about 600 kms from its most Southerly point (the capital: Montevideo) and the most Northerly point.

It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast. It is sparsely populated – only 3.5 million people live there, the vast majority along the north bank of the Río de la Plata, and on the S. E. coast of the Atlantic.

The latitude 34° South runs pretty well along the southern limit of the Country. This is an interesting parallel: it also runs through Chilean wine areas; Mendoza in Argentina; Cape Town in S. Africa; Sydney and Auckland – all wine regions! In fact, unless relieved by other factors (oceanic.. altitude…) wine making is difficult at hotter latitudes.

Uruguay consists, administratively, of 15 regions – and wine regions share the same designations. All produce some wine and most are home to at least 2 or 3 wineries – but there are only about 180 in the whole of the country. However most wine making is concentrated, like the population, in the Southern third of the country – along the Río de la Plata estuary and the coast with the Atlantic in the S. E of the country. Here the maritime influence of the ocean ameliorates climatic extremes, in a similar way to the Atlantic at the “other end” – near Bordeaux! In fact 5 of the 15 regions together produce 95% of the wine. The 5 regions making this vast majority are – in order of total production – Canelones; Montevideo; Colonia; San José and Maldonado. However, according to Elizabeth Yabrudy, this order is slightly rearranged when looking for fine wine – with Maldonado now close behind Canelones and Montevideo… In fact Elizabeth is an informative writer on Uruguayan wine – see this article from Wine, Wit and Wisdom blog.

Here a map of the southern areas with 8 regions shown:

Florida           < 1%……………….. Montevideo 15%
Colonia         7% ………………….Lavalleja         < 1 %
San Jose      4% ………………….Maldonado     3%
Canelones   66%……………………Rocha            < 1%

S Uruguay Total ≡ 96%

Although Uruguayan wine production is small by comparison with its neighbours, it is still substantial. Argentina and Chile are, after all, the 6th and 7th largest wine-producing countries in the world with about 1.8 billion bottles; and Brazil third within S. America (and 15th in the World) with about 400 million bottles. Uruguay (23rd) produces about 110 million – a little more than Peru, but over 10 times as much as England – and a bit less than Switzerland, and a bit more than Croatia. [All figures 2022].

The grape most identified with Uruguay is Tannat, the grape of Madiran (and other S. W. French appellations). The grape is still accounts for about a quarter of planting and its significance as the (intended) signature grape of Uruguay clearly parallels that of Malbec in Argentina. However until the last ten years or so it was often big, alcoholic, rough and over-oaked. Now more judicious use of cooler sites, and more warm-climate winemaking techniques are producing lighter, and more region-specific styles. Some commentators have noted a change to bigger barrels, some oxygenation, a move to fresher styles using more Italian-style winemaking appropriate to warmer climes.

In some ways the influence of the Atlantic allows the possibility of more European profile of wines. But the maritime effect is less pronounced in the Estuary. Tim Atkin says: “This is not only about the ocean, Uruguay has also a marked influence from the Río de la Plata, the estuary formed by the union of Paraná River and Uruguay River. The vineyards closer to these rivers are warmer than those more to the east, where there is the major influence of the Atlantic.” In fact west of Montevideo that heat difference can be 2°C, more humidity, and a week earlier harvesting compared to, say, Maldonado. Soils differ too with a lot of clay amplifying the risk of fungal infections in the grapes.

On the other side – the more easterly region of Maldonado has the biggest influence from the ocean’s cooling breezes; more altitude; more varied geology with soil types including crystalline rocks with some quartz incrustations, alluvial and gravel soils in the valleys, and weathered granite…

I have chosen to base a tasting on two producers: Bodega Garzón from Maldonado; and Vinedo de los Vientos (Bodega Pablo Fallabrino) from Atlántida in Eastern Canalones – about 30 mile East of Montevideo and only 4 miles from the sea.

Bodega Garzón is where the billionaire Bulgheroni family, with help from Italian winemaking consultant Alberto Antonini, has spent the past 20 years turning former cattle grazing land and eucalyptus forests into the country’s most prominent winery. They have since become the standard-bearer for premium wines from Uruguay considered probably the best producer and certainly the best among large exporters. In November 2018, their pioneering status was recognised by Wine Enthusiast with the ‘New World Winery of the Year’ award. The vineyards at Bodega Garzón are a patchwork quilt of 1,150 individual plots of around 0.2 hectares in size, each plot carefully chosen for a specific variety according to its soil and microclimate. The winery is specially designed to operate as sustainably as possible, and is the first winery outside North America to pursue LEED certification (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design). Built on natural terraces, the winery uses cutting-edge technology and operates using a gravity system to ensure quality and energy efficiency at every stage of production.

Located 11 miles from the Atlantic Ocean, the estate has more than 1,000 small vineyard blocks covering hillside slopes, which benefit from varying microclimates, different levels of humidity and an intense canopy management. Well-draining granitic soils and cooling Atlantic breezes allow the grapes to ripen steadily. The vineyards are surrounded by lush forests, palm trees, rocky soils and granite boulders. Most of their wines are varietal and we’ll try their Albariño, Marselan, Tannat and Petit Verdot.

Bodega Garzón

Bodega Pablo Fallabrino

Our other wines will come from Vinedo de los Vientos, a Bodega owned by the Fallabrino family which produces limited run wines of the highest quality. The name means “Vineyard of the Winds” and is located near where the River Plate Estuary and Atlantic Ocean meet. Owned by the family since 1947, they upgraded to an ultra-modern winery in 1998 and over the past two decades have transformed into a world class winery. With an aim to produce great wines in small quantities, in 1998, the Fallabrino family completed, an ultra-modern winery with stainless steel tanks, pneumatic presses and French oak barrels. The winemaker Pablo Fallabrino, a laid-back good-natured surfer (he has a range of wines called Soul Surfer!), was warded WINEMAKER OF THE YEAR by the Tim Atkin MW Uruguay report 2023. Working with Italian grapes (Arneis, Barbera, Nebbiolo…) as well as Chardonnay, Gewurztraminer, Tannat (of course) and others – his approach is not to over-think the winemaking process. Instead, he runs with his instincts, takes chances and makes wines with his own personal signature. A Ripasso Tannat and a Sparkling Nebbiolo (!?) are among his 15 wines, but also an interesting white blend and a normal, still, Nebbiolo. We’ll try these last two.

The tasting will be on April 4th, notes will be posted here within the following 4 – 6 days.

À Bientôt

🍷 A Châteauneuf-du-Pape Tasting

Last Friday a small cross-section of the former W1NG Tutured Tasting group made their way to Paul and Anna’s house to taste some Châteauneuf.

Châteauneuf-du-Pape was the first area to be classified in the modern AOC system, in 1936. It takes it’s name from the small town at its centre, but extends over 5 communes – covering about 3,200 hectares. 95% of production is red, the remainder white. Permitted grape varieties number 13: 8 red and 5 white, and quite unusually the white grapes can be included in the red blend. The main red grapes are Grenache; Syrah; Mourvèdre; Cinsault and Counoise – but there are 3 other lesser known red varieties: Muscardin; Vaccarèse and Terret – heard of them before? Me neither! On the white side, permitted are Clairette; Rousanne; Bourboulenc; Picpoul and Picardin – I expect all but the last will be familiar. Most red Châteauneuf-du-Pape is based on Grenache, but the rules don’t exclude – for example – a 100% Syrah or 100% Mourvèdre..

Here’s a map showing the area:

So, while the blend of grapes is one factor in the range of wine styles within the appellation – another is soil composition. The map shows 8 general styles of soil structure – nearly every style has 2 or 3 sub-categories – theoretically influencing the wine.
In general, sandy soil makes for fruity open styles; limestone for more acidity and freshness – and also tannins; clay for darker fruit, power and structure; mixed soils add to the vintage-expressiveness of the blend…
Another factor is freshness, in this area acidity in the wines are helped by cooler nights and therefore bigger diurnal temperature ranges. On the other hand the prevalence of large heat-retaining stones, called Galets, on the surface in some areas can mitigate that …

Of course some growers will have holdings in one place with a distinctive terroir – others will have holdings in several places around the area, with different soils which can be factored into the blend.

Anna and Paul decided to focus the tasting on two producers: Domaine Raymond Usseglio and Domaine Cristia who exemplify these two sorts of geographic sources.

Domaine USSEGLIO is based in the town of Châteauneuf-du-Pape itself, but the domain has 24 hectares in various parcels throughout Châteauneuf-du-Pape – in varied soils, including sandstone, red clay, sandy hillsides, limestone rocks and rolling galets well exposed to the sun. These conditions, and their practice of suiting grapes to parcels, allows a measured maturity and depth to the wines – they claim.

Domaine CRISTIA is a biodynamic estate of 19Ha of 90% sandy terroirs located in the eastern sector of the appellation (“Cristia” can be seen on the map above). Most of the plots benefit from a North–East exposure, which gives the vines a freshness and allows you to obtain grapes and wines with supple and elegant tannins. A single plot, located in the place called “l’Arnesque” to the east of the appellation, is covered with rolled pebbles which bear witness to the passage of the Rhône, and benefits from full sunshine. The heat absorbed during the day is thus returned at night, which allows the maintenance of a constant temperature which is good for maturity but keeps acid in check.

We started the tasting with a pair or 2004s – one from each producer. Here are some notes:

Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2004 Domaine Usseglio (75% Grenache, 15% Syrah, 10% Mourvèdre)
Nose has a fruit attack with some herbal, almost minty or menthol notes. The palate has an immediate fruit and stony minerality with hints of blackberry… more forest floor, slightly mushroom and even truffle appear later. Changes even more with further time showing some spice, fine structure and deeper flavours.

Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2004 Domaine de Cristia (80% G, 5% S, 5% M, 5% Cinsault, 5% Counoise)
This is slightly darker with fresher acidity, suggesting food. The nose has a lighter fragrance but bigger softer flavours and a warmer overall impression. The nose remains quiet, and the palate more open – with herb rather than spice and a hint of liquorice on the finish.

There followed the same pair but from 2007 – quite a well ranked vintage, although I’ve so far always preferred the ’04.

Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2007 Domaine Usseglio (80%, 10% M, 6% S, 2% Cinsault, 2% Counoise)
Similar nose to the ’04 but a touch lighter and slightly dilute seeming. Against that the nose had slightly more subtlety and even floral hints – lots of light touch perfume but not integrated, and similar suggestions of secondary flavours but not (yet) fully resolved. Compared to the same Domaine’s ’04 it seemed somehow incomplete – could it still be evolving? After 17 years??

Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2007 Domaine de Cristia (same grapes as 2004)
This was a big contrast to the Usseglio ’07, and along similar lines to the first pair. This was slightly spirity with cherry brandy notes – palate is soft and sweet with less complexity and structure and easy to quaff. In many ways this spoke of the lightness from a sandy terroir even more than the ’04.

Finally another pair served blind – a 2009 from one of these two Domaines, set alongside another 2009 wine from a different appellation!! Which is the Châteauneuf-du-Pape? Which Domaine is it?? What is the other appellation???

Wine 5 had quite a hard nose with slightly burnt fruit tones, more spice and recessed fruit on the palate, opening a bit with time. Compared to 6 it seemed to have simpler fruit and more rustic tannins…
Wine 6 had a slightly lighter slightly softer nose, finer tannins some warm alcohol hints, peppery notes, a tighter structure and the hint of secondary flavours beginning…

I think we quickly concluded that both were Southern Rhône wines with similar grape blends, and although the flavour profiles were very similar a consensus emerged that wine 6 was finer, more complex and probably the Châteauneuf-du-Pape. While the contrasting wine probably came from another named village of S. Rhône. Several villages were named, but John trumped everyone by guessing Gigondas – which proved to be the case!

5 was Gigondas 2009 Domaine Brusset (50G, 30S, 20M)
6 was Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2009 Domaine Usseglio (same grapes as 2007)

Overall a very interesting tasting: my personal favourite was the first wine; I generally preferred the Usseglio to the Cristia and 2004 seemed the best vintage, right now, to my palate. In the round I felt we could detect the difference between a sandy soil wine and one with more limestone and clay under the grapes! In addition it showed that Châteauneuf is capable of fineness as well as power in comparison to other S. Rhône wines.

So – congratulations to John. And profound thanks to Anna and Paul for the wines, the organisation of the tasting and hosting a pleasant, informative and convivial evening.

À Bientôt

📚 UK Politics: Review 2023, Preview 2024 – Stuck in **** Wars

Ever feel that you’re stuck in an overblown film franchise? Everything keeps becoming more chaotic, over and over again for no apparent reason, and in a completely incomprehensible order. Things aren’t what they appear to be and the fundamental, but disguised, conflict seems to be – anagrammatically – between the ewok and the sith.

Let’s try and decode where we are in this nightmare film series of **** Wars:
Episode I - The Mendacious Menace (2016)
Episode II - Attack of the Clowns (2019)
Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (_^anag!) (2021)
Episode IV – A New Hope – really? (2023)
So the big question is: will the next episode be “The Evil Empire Strikes Back” or “The Force Wokens (_^anag?)”?

Back outside this metaphor that question becomes – what happens in 2024? I finished last years review on the slightly optimistic note that the mounting shitstorm of the previous 6 – 9 – 12 years had been exposed for what it was, and most people had realised that the facade had cracked.

Two stories from the past are nearing closure (although argument over their meaning will be contested for a long tie to come) Brexit and initial COVID responses… Only 22% now think Brexit generally has proved to be a good idea, and a majority (53%) believe it has made ability to control immigration worse. The people that made us go through it are discredited and the question what-was-it-all-for? is hanging in the air. As to COVID the preparedness of a system hollowed out through years of underinvestment and the competence and morality of the Government’s instincts are paraded for all to see in the inquiry. Calculations therefore as to the number of unnecessary deaths are going up – my estimate a year ago of 60,000 now seems very low. The cautions made at the time by commentators such as myself – that were decried as left-wing or alarmist – seem now to be moderate and optimistic!

Judging by the persisting majority of public outrage against the Government, and despite its pitiful efforts to tell a different tale, its days are counting down in 2024.

If polls are to be believed (poll of polls for December 2023) the Tories would be heading for a rump of about 150 seats with Labour winning over 400! Some retrenchment is likely, and boundary changes help the Tories by about 30 seats, However the odds of the Tories denying Labour an overall majority are less than 1 in 20. For what it’s worth, I expect the main parties to more or less change numbers of MPs, with a bit of equalisation between SNP and Liberals. Leaving a Labour overall majority in the 60-80 range.

As last year the actual litany of appalling (lack of) Government in 2023 is too long to rehearse. Only one of Sunak’s pledges has been met, the annual inflation rate halving, however that was forecast to do so before he made the pledge. It simple arithmetic: if the main hikes took place in March 2022 (Putin); and September 2022 (Truss) they fall out of the year on year calculation in September 2023. Despite a Treasury minister saying that people will feel better when costs start decreasing (sigh – that would mean negative inflation) lower inflation doesn’t mean reversing those big jolts – they’re now part of the baseline, prices still rise over and above those ruinous 2022 jumps.

Anyway the Government has done nothing about inflation.. or anything else, and is tied by ideological purity into not governing. It’s a hostage of the extremist right wing MPs and the terror of more right wing voices still – Reform (10% cut in tax and public services!!), Farage (privatise the NHS). It is riven by its posturing on things like immigration, or more specifically Small Boats.

The Small Boats tactic is to induce a mind set that immigration is mostly about, or is typified by, Small Boat asylum seekers – it isn’t, those hapless souls make up about 3%-4% of the immigrant total. Most immigration, 75%, is legal migration produced by Labour Market needs in the UK. It’s not fundamentally a social question at all (though it has real and imagined social consequences) but one of economics – betraying miserly pay in some sectors and lack of training in others… The other 25% of overall immigration is asylum seeking. The vast majority legal and approved – including in special schemes for Ukrainians, Afghans and reuniting families. Only 7% or 8% of all immigration merits first-assessment refugee-status refusal (half from the occupants of small boats, who are now deemed ineligible for asylum). That figure drops by about 1% voluntarily and another 2% on appeal. The scandal isn’t the small boats, but the Government’s failure to process asylum fairly, effectively and quickly. (Currently they are lying about numbers being processed by moving people with appeals pending out of the statistics.) Actually the Government actually wants there to be small boats (whose prevalence has come about by a new business model for criminal organisations, arising from new conditions after Brexit) – a bête noire whose persecution signals their right wing extremism to their base while doing little about it. The appalling Rwanda scheme a crude ideological performance instead of actual governing. Morally repugnant, reliant on magical thinking (decreeing a country safe whatever the evidence), impossible to operate and any case irrelevant to the issue – it sums up their bankruptcy. The choreography around Cruella’s position only really about winning the leadership after the defeat!

And that’s the nub of the issue – there’ll be a change of Government, almost certainly. But will it herald a renewal of spirits and lasting change and improvement or a temporary respite, presaging movement towards to a fascist dystopia.

“Hell is here…”
I find myself thinking – dreading – more and more along the following lines:
If you were an aspiring fascist leader (called Nigel for example) how would you work out a 20 year plan to come to power in the UK? You might well hector the most right wing party from the right, maybe around some manufactured causes célèbres (lost power, changing economic situations, minorities, foreigners…) and propose unworkable “solutions”. [What Trotsky called a “transitional demand”: seemingly reasonable (even if based on false premises) but guaranteed to fail to deliver, as it points to other structural issues.] Eventually the right wing party starts to lose votes and tacks towards you. One issue comes to dominate and wins public support – although making every singe issue wrapped up in it worse. You then stand aside to allow the right wing party free reign to implement a doomed solution while you (and half of that party) resume hectoring from even further the right. The right wing party loses to a vaguely centralist but old fashioned party who then have to govern a completely hollowed out state. The traditional right wing party implodes and is “rejuvenated” under ultra right leadership, and a new force on the extreme right is made up of their rump (carrying the old brand name); your out-flanking party and old fashioned right wing racist street thugs… The centrist party fails to manage the scorched earth state convincingly. Then the unstable fascist alliance is in prime position. (Think Russia, Hungary, Serbia and USA under Trump – not to mention similar strategies operating in Holland; France…). The UK then looks like the Russell T Davis series Years and Years. The sith have won!

"Nigel" - after a bad night out!

Further evidence for this scenario is how far the current government has so poisoned (sometimes literally) the well of the nation and the scope of action for the new government that there will be no quick wins. The state of the nation is like a monstrous tanker heading for the Hellespont when the lights go out. It’ll take three or four years just to slow down and then stop things getting worse. In the words often used by economists – showing surprising gastronomic acuity – hell is “baked in“. It looks as though this scorched earth policy is just madness; incompetence; venality; zealotry but what if it’s a finely calculated plan by the think tanks that support the 5 families of the Tory party right and their backers in big oil, tobacco, arms and pharma interests???

“What the World needs today…”
Of course I’m proud to be woke, and hope the forces of truth and justice sweeps away the dark forces of the shit (I mean sith)… And it seems the majority of people – possible two-thirds are at least a little awake! In fact from the very multitude of unspecific angles from which they are attacked, woke now seems to include anyone passably well educated, and/or aware of injustice through having suffered from it – therefore forming an overwhelming majority…

So the issue isn’t just – can a quite vague Labour Programme turn round the excremental piles of devastation to the UK economy and society? But – can a new Government do enough to show progress, conduct itself with justice and honesty, resist the shitstorm of press harassment and keep the ewok alliance together? Will it have the political nous to expose the reconfiguration on the right with proper radical solutions? It will start with goodwill but has to show change – despite the conditions it inherits – to ameliorate the worst of what’s to come, to face the difficulties – especially on climate change – and to nurture morale. That way give it could nation a feeling of hope and develop a coherent offer of repair in a second term to complete the job? All this against that dark vision of a rump Conservative party losing its brand to actual fascists – Darth Vader waiting in the wings to enslave the 98% of ordinary people. Hell is gathering – resist!

Make it so!

“Something flickered for a minute… and then vanished and was gone”
Let me leave you with an enigmatic quotation from Peaches (c 1982), whose meaning and truth I’ll try to find clues for in 2024:
“Late Capitalism has an over-riding tendency to swap over Interiority and Exteriority”

Happy Epiphany everyone – stay alive until twenty five…

Until next time >>

“Look at mother nature on the run in the twenty-first century…”

 Playlist:    
No One would riot for Less (Bright Eyes 2007 – Cassadaga) /
Spiritual Healing (Toots and the Maytals 1983) /
Romeo had Juliette (Lou Reed 1989 – New York) /
After the Gold Rush – A Neil Young Song (Patti Smith 2012 – Banga)

🍷 Xmas Wines & 2023 Wine Review

Hello everyone. 2023 draws to a close and – other considerations notwithstanding – it’s time to reflect on my wine experiences this year. “Other considerations” won’t have to stand for long – I’ll be thinking about the year in politics and otherwise soon enough. But this is about wine…

Actually a personal sustained high point has been the series of wines I’ve been drinking this Xmas:

KAMPTAL RIED 1^ÖTW “LAMM” GRÜNER VELTLINER 2020 (SCHLOSS GOBELSBURG).
RIED 1^ÖTW  means 1^st Growth Vineyard – referring to the LAMM vineyard. Good GV often gives the impression of getting richer as it ages, and this wine has certainly done that since last tasted a year ago. It has notes of peach and citrus and a spicy note, but the searing grapefruit acidity is rounder – perhaps more orange or mandarin – while still retaining that citrus pith note. Long and with mounting complexity – this was great with a pork stroganoff.

AMONTILLADO SINGULAR BOTAS (DIATOMISTS)
This wine featured in probably my favourite tasting of the year: A Sherry evening at Brigitte Bordeaux where it stood out as my favourite. Here again, drunk with a chicken and sweetcorn soup with some (cheaper) sherry in it, it showed its dazzling qualities again…

AMARONE DELLA VALPOLICELLA CLASSICO 2012 (CANTINA NEGRAR)
This well aged Amarone is absolutely correct and typical: aromas of plums and prunes with a hint of almond/cherry; palate with rich prune flavours and a line of supporting acidity and a bitter tannic chocolate finish. Wonderful with duck…

IRANCY “LES CAILLES” 2017 (RICHOUX)
We bought this when visiting Chablis last January. Irancy is a small village about 10 miles SW of Chablis, giving its name to an area planted with Pinot Noir. Thus it’s the most northerly Red Burgundy village! Many Chablis growers will produce a cheap and cheerful Irancy, so we went to the village in search of something a bit better. As chance would have it the only grower we found giving tasting at that moment was Felix Richoux, who turns out to be a top grower – and this is his top wine (about €27 at cellar door). It has an open fruit nose: darker cherry and vibrant cranberry; with some herby hints. The fruit is lighter on the palate, a little dwarfed by a pleasing but long line of acidity, and there is a stony tannic finish. It is a little young, and more reminiscent of Mercurey than Côte-d’Or reds. But perfect with traditional (though slightly reconstructed) Xmas Turkey dinner!

ALSACE GEWÜRTRAMINER 2019 (BEBLENHEIM)
We bought this a couple of years ago to drink with Thai cuisine – including a traditional boxing day Thai Turkey green curry. This isn’t an expensive wine, and it comes from one of Alsace’s best 2 co-ops (at Beblenheim – the other is at Turckheim), and was chosen for it’s relatively low alcohol and residual sugar (13%; 13g/l) compared to most examples. This therefore has more rose petal than lychee perfumes with hints of ginger and a fresh palate helped by a round but persistent acidity. Perfect for the job!

Looking back over the year, its has been marked by a return to tastings – both at the cellar door and in Nottingham – though at a slower rate than pre-COVID. I led three tastings of the W1NG group, all reported on this blog (Loire Cabernet Franc – February; Auteur Wines of Philip von Nell – August and, recently, Medoc Crus Bourgeois Exceptionnels). All were enjoyable to conduct and to see old friends again, but most interesting in wine terms, for me, was the last. For one thing all the wines were new to me too, and I found it intriguing to be comparing wines where the difference relied on structural subtleties: mostly the slightly different tannins and their place in the overall wine make-up.

W1NG also had three tastings led by Brigitte Bordeaux (Posh v Plonk – April; Alpine Wine – June; and Greek Wine – October), the first two are reported on this blog too – the last I was unable to attend.
Brigitte Bordeaux also held a couple of tastings at her eponymous wine Bar – a Spanish Tapas matching tasting – where the highlight was a Mencia; and the above-mentioned Sherry evening. Also in England I attended an South Africa Tasting with Richard Kelley at Hart’s restaurant where my favourite wine was a Cabernet Franc (quelle surprise)! I also went to a Wine Society USA tasting at Albert hall, Nottingham where so many wines were impressive, but big and expensive…

I also had the pleasure of tasting in Chablis and Irancy earlier in the year and in the little known wine area of Béarn. Famous areas such as Jurançon and Madiran lie to the East of the AC Béarn itself – but good quality Tannat and Gros Manseng can be found there.

So – all in all – 2023 was a much more satisfying and interesting wine-year than the 3 preceding years so what is my wine of the year?

Several bottle highlights are hinted in the above and some of the tastings mentioned… Philip von Nell’s Raiffy Malbec; La Trucha Albariño; and Susumaniello were great discoveries – although, to be fair, I tasted them first in 2022. Other highlights were: the Mencia I alluded to above, along with the GV noted in this post; a wonderful Château Haut-Bergeron 2005 tasted with our French neighbours back in July; and my favourite revelation from helping BB with the Wine Trader tasting Domeniile Averesti Rosé…

However my final vote goes to the sherry: AMONTILLADO SINGULAR BOTAS (DIATOMISTS).

Try it…

À Bientôt

🍷 Medoc Crus Bourgeois Exceptionnels – TASTING NOTES

The W1NG wine group met on Thursday December 7th to taste 6 (of the 14) 2019 Crus Bourgeois Exceptionnels (CBE). All the wines were sourced from Tanners, in cases of all 14 CBEs. The average price is about £25 a bottle. The six selected were a cross section of the communes, the range of assemblages, and all having been rated by independent tasters – whose scores are recorded in the text.

The wines were tasted by the group on a cool-ish wet evening, with the six wines poured over an hour or so. In this setting its fair to say all seemed young. However there were 3 late no-shows, so there was a good sample-sized portion left in each bottle. I poured them all again 24 hours later, so they were all lined up in front of me to taste direct comparisons first, and then with food (sausages!). I think it both unsurprising and fair to say that every wine improved with the time – probably equivalent to 3 years or so in the cellar? The improvement was worth at least half a point for every wine and those are the scores I give below.
In most cases – with food things the wines seemed improved again… however this was uneven. Wines 1, 2 and 3 marginally, though 2 a little more; wine 4 actually seemed worse and 5 was not enhanced. The biggest difference was wine 6 which seemed better integrated and the food counterpointed some hidden complexity elevating the wine to equal top. If I was buying now for drinking in (say) 2027-2030 I’d think the 2 Saint-Estèphes (2 & 3) and the Margaux (6) would be the better bets!

Here are my notes:

1 CHÂTEAU LESTAGE (Listrac-Médoc)   14.5 %  
[The Assemblage of this wine, in %, is: Cabernet Sauvignon (CS) 31   Merlot (M) 64   Cabernet Franc (CF) 3   Petit Verdot (PV) 2]
Quite a recessed nose with some hints of an earthy berry fruit. The palate has quite a soft acidity and not strong, but rather coarse tannins giving a muddy character… a little improved later with the same earthy fruit softening the tannin but still a bit muddy,
Ratings:        Quality:  ¹⁵/₂₀   Value:  ^14.5/₂₀

2 CHÂTEAU LE BOSCQ (Saint-Estèphe)   13.5 %
[CS 46  M 46   CF 2   PV 6]
A darker nose with recessed black fruit and some non-fruit elements (tar?). Immediate strong tannins but finer – the other way round to the previous wine’s. Palate has woody hints and strong citric acidity giving a fresher feel with the fruit only appearing near the end. More going on than the previous wine and some time to wait.
Ratings:        Quality:  ^15.5/₂₀   Value:  ¹⁵/₂₀

3 CHÂTEAU LE CROCK (Saint-Estèphe)   14 %
[CS 46  M 43   CF 7   PV 4]
Fruitier nose with black berry flavours apparent. Quite firm but balanced tannins combining with a freshening line right to the long finish. This has everything one expects from this level claret and showing signs of integration already – very good. The highest scoring in other comparisons and the favourite wine with the group on the night… for me too – both then and a day later.
Ratings:        Quality:  ^16.5/₂₀   Value:  ¹⁶/₂₀

4 CHÂTEAU DE MALLERET (Haut Médoc)   14 %
[CS 54  M 44   CF –   PV 2]
This is inky dark with spicy plum notes on the nose. Open and much more approachable with the same plum flavours – dense and smooth but rather too simple for me. Later even more so but much of these qualities disappeared with food. A little too much of a quaffing wine? This Château changes their assemblage quite a lot from year to year – I wonder if this is designed to make a wine that is more approachable when young?
Ratings:        Quality:  ¹⁵/₂₀   Value:  ^14.5/₂₀

5 CHÂTEAU BELLE-VUE (Haut Médoc)   14 %
[CS 48  M 30   CF 1 + Carménère 1   PV 20]
This has an initial pungency, with almost medicinal notes – later some dark peppery fruit. Tannins rather prominent and a rather iron mineral undertone with that slightly medicinal element penetrated the fruit in the mid palate. This wasn’t helped with food and rather disappointed…
Ratings:        Quality:  ¹⁵/₂₀   Value:  ^14.5/₂₀

6 CHÂTEAU D’ARSAC (Margaux)   13.5 %
[CS 72  M 28   CF –   PV –]
This has more open fruit on the nose – raspberry and blackcurrant. The palate has a long lifting acidity mingling with the fruit in the middle palate. The tannins are dryish and on first taste concentrated towards the finish. But the overall package seems lighter after so much tannin before, but later this lightness appears only due to that contrast. With food this comes into its own showing its complexity and interplay well. Undoubtedly young and comes a little behind the Le Crock but with food pretty much its equal
Ratings:        Quality:  ¹⁶⁺/₂₀   Value:  ^15.5/₂₀

A rather cerebral tasting with wines that are so similar and relatively young in their journey towards maturity. All have perceptible tannins, similar fruit levels in the dark red to black range, and refreshing acidity. Thus the distinctions exist in the structure: quality of the tannins: supple or harsh; fine or coarse; strong or light… or in the length, interplay and timing of the lines of fruit or aciditity.. or whether fruit concurs with the tannins (Wine 1) or acidity (3 & 6) or tannins concur with acidity or all three lines intermingle! Such a preoccupation with structure makes for quite a rarified tasting… but a beguiling and interesting one in my opinion.

À Bientôt

🍷 Medoc Cru Bourgeois Exceptionnels

Bordeaux red wine – claret – is renowned for the world’s most famous wine classification system ever devised:  1855 Classification of Crus Classés. This divided the top 61 wines into five tiers, according to their price at the time. However it’s association of price with quality has remained and accentuated that link, and now the self-fulfilling nature of the classification is immovable.

However the term “Crus des Bourgeois” meaning wine estates owned by the town-dwellers of Bordeaux (the Bourg) is first recorded in 1740. Recognising the fact that that wine merchants had a concentration of wealth and vineyard ownership in the area, stemming from tax exemptions conferred by the English 300 years before…

For a detailed explanation of the History of the term Cru Bourgeois and an explanation of the New system of classification – and the results – see the Press Kit of the Alliance des Crus Bourgeois du Médoc.

The term Cru Bourgeois persisted as a sort of quality shorthand, and indeed just 3 years after the 1855 Classification there was a proposed 3-tier ranking of 248 such crus. At the time, integrating these with the main 1855 classification (as divisions 6, 7 & 8?) was discussed but never formally taken up.

However the idea that there was a layer (or 3) of good wines below the Crus Classés persisited, and in 1932 that the first real classification was created under the supervision of the Bordeaux Chamber of Commerce and the Chamber of Agriculture of the Gironde, listing 444 “Crus Bourgeois du Médoc”. Although this classification was never submitted for ministerial approval, it served as a reference for several decades.

However it was not until 2003 that a ministerial order approved the first official classification of the Crus Bourgeois du Médoc which recognized 247 châteaux out of 490 candidates classified as 151 “Crus Bourgeois”, 87 “Crus Bourgeois Supérieurs” and 9 “Crus Bourgeois Exceptionnels”.

However this just brought to a head a fundamental tension in the very idea of this sort of classification – 1855 included! That is – is classification a status of the Estate, or an expression of some sort objective (?) quality of the wine??

The last 3-tier classification in 2003 was annulled in 2007 due to disputes, conflicts of interest and legal action, and since 2010 there has effectively been a single annual Cru Bourgeois imprimatur of the wine quality – not the châteaux. Several châteaux opted out, including six or the nine 2003 Exceptionnels: (Chasse Spleen, Les Ormes de Pez, de Pez, Potensac, Poujeaux and Siran). They have formed their own marketing group called “Les Exceptionnels“. Three other notable châteaux have always stayed outside: Haut-Marbuzet; Sociando-Mallet; Gloria.

The re-emergence of Medoc Cru Bourgeois Exceptionnels on the market following the re-introduction of the 3-tier system in February 2020.

The new system (with effect from the 2018 vintage) is a 5-year quality mark rather than a legal ranking of properties or land, and has 14 Exceptionnels. It has a series of explicit criteria for inclusion at each level: tasting; environmental; quality management and marketing. So it conveys a more enduring approval of the property without tipping over to permanent status.

It seems, so far, that the top of this tree should be a reasonable indication of quality – alongside, perhaps, the famous châteaux in “Les Exceptionnels” group or otherwise outside – 9 are mentioned above.

I’ll picked out 6 CB Exceptionnels of the 14 to taste, hoping they cover the different communes included and give a cross-section of grape assemblage (varying from twice as much Merlot as Cabernet – to the other way round). They also have the benefit of having been all tasted and assessed by other tasters.

The six we’ll taste next week are: Château Lestage (Listrac-Médoc); Château Le Boscq (Saint-Estèphe); Château Le Crock (Saint-Estèphe); Château De Malleret (Haut Médoc); Château Belle-Vue (Haut Médoc); Château D’arsac (Margaux).

Tasting notes will be posted sometime around December 14th.

À Bientôt

🍷 A SHERRY TASTING AT BRIGITTE BORDEAUX

About a week ago I went to a Sherry Tasting, at Brigitte Bordeaux to mark International Sherry Week. There we were treated to 6 wines from Diatomists, a modern sherry producer trying to rebalance modern viticulture and viniculture with traditional sherry aging processes. Diatomists were represented at the tasting by Antonio Morenés – one of a triumvirate leading the company.

Antonio started by explaining the origin of their name – from Diatoms, simple algae that have transparent, opaline silica, cell walls… they are the only such organism on earth. They happen to be helpful to the climate, converting CO2 into organic carbon in the form of sugars and releasing Oxygen.
However their interest here is geological rather than environmental. The sherry area was under sea for millions of years and Diatoms deposited a silt of their fossils 400m deep before the area became land. This layer was brought near to the surface by tectonic movement, and in the modern era the soil is rich in diatom fossils below a chalky top soil. They retain moisture helping vines to flourish in very hot dry growing seasons, encouraging deep root growth of up to 12 metres.

Antonio’s personal story is quite interesting: he is the 7th generation of sherry producers in his family, but the line is not continuous… In the 1970s his father got out of the business when he judged an overreliance of the resilience of the Solera system was leading to neglect of the basics of producing good wine: excellent viticulture and vinicultural practices!

You can read the rest of the story through the link at the top of this post. The question is: “Is the wine good?” Here are my notes:

The first wine was a freshly made, not fortified, white wine from Palomino Fino.
Diatomists Sotovelo 2022 is light (12% alcohol) and very dry. It is aged under flor for 8 months and has a slightly floral nose and hints of apple from the grape and salt from the flor. It has sharp acidity and a dry chalky element on the palate with an apricot hint. The structure reminds one of Chablis (no surprise as the soil structure has similarities to the Kimmeridgian soil of that wine area). Overall it reminded me a bit more of a cooler Chenin Blanc (Jasnières say). A lovely wine @ £22 (for 75ml bottle).

Then on to the proper Sherry (all supplied in 375ml, half, bottles – for the price of £19.90 [unless otherwise noted])!

Diatomists Manzanilla (£14.90)
Aged for 5 years, this has very fresh attack with appley fruit and typical salty notes. More balanced than most Manz. with the same fruit notes as the previous white wine peeking through. A very good fino/Manz. and a good step up from traditional market wines, but twice the price…
Ratings:        Quality:  ^16.5/₂₀   Value:  ¹⁴/₂₀

Diatomists Amontillado
This has 5 years maturation under flor, as a fino, and then 7 years in an oxidative Solera – so a 12 year old wine… It shows wonderful complexity on the nose and the palate leads with fino notes before engaging in interplay with rich fruit and nut tones in the middle palate. The finish is memorable with – somehow – sweet flavours without sweetness. A triumph, my favourite on the night and a pretty strong candidate for the best sherry I’ve ever tasted!
Ratings:        Quality:  ¹⁸/₂₀   Value:  ¹⁵/₂₀

Diatomists Oloroso
This isn’t usually my favorite style of sherry although good examples can work well with the right accompaniment. My issue is that I find the oxidative elements often “tighten” in the middle palate seeming to restrict the development of complexity in the wine. This example – aged for 12 years in a 140 year old solera – has a rich mouthfeel and a normal dry-white-wine level of citric acidity. The combination gives a relative “release” just where most Oloroso close up, and opens the palate to a broader woody finish. Very very good.
Ratings:        Quality:  ^17.5/₂₀   Value:  ^14.5/₂₀

Diatomists Medium
This is a blend of 15 year old Oloroso with 10% PX then another 5 years in barrel. The wine is about 80g/l sugar so a balanced sweetness with a cast of many of the recurring characters of the range: walnut, citrus – with peel notes this time, apricot… A versatile wine having a similar place to medium sweet unfortified wines… maybe with a salty starter or cheese. A little less interesting – for me – than the wines served either side of it… But would probably appear very good in other company.
Ratings:        Quality:  ¹⁶/₂₀   Value:  ¹⁴/₂₀

Diatomists Pedro Ximenez
This comes in at 120g/l sugar and is made from PX grapes sorted twice – before and after drying. Very sweet with a strikingly clear acidic lift – figs with a sharper apricot counter-note. Lovely, almost a dessert rather than an accompaniment to dessert.
Ratings:        Quality:  ^16.5₂₀   Value:  ¹⁴/₂₀

These are stunning wines with a couple of class-leading examples. They are admittedly at a premium price but at or near good-value even at that premium. They are well worth tasting – maybe at Brigitte Bordeaux… to whom I extend many thanks for a memorable evening.

À Bientôt

📚 While riding in a car going west…

Those of you who read the post commemorating the 10^th anniversary of this blog (July 16^th 2023) will have picked up that there will in future be a “cultural” strand as well as a wine strand. The definition of that cultural strand is partly laid out too in an earlier post <here> celebrating Bob Dylans 80^th Birthday on May 24^th 2021. This is the first such post – which will be categorized as CULTURE, and have appropriate tags. 
CULTURE posts will have this 📚 emoji in the title; WINE posts this one: 🍷.

While riding in a car going west…

I was on my way to Oxford a few months ago. Actually, I was on my way out of the country and Oxford was merely a way-point, as google maps calls it. I was going south on the M1 aiming to take the A34 from near Northampton west towards Oxford. There had been diversion signs much earlier, but ones that all omitted to identify a reason or purpose for the diversion. Those signs disappeared and a while later, near Daventry, a sign that simply said that the A34 was closed, this time without any ideas about a diversion. Brilliant!

“The Country Doctor rambles….”

I took the next exit, meandered – vaguely lost – through West Northamptonshire going South West, until I found a route towards Banbury, a town from which I could follow the M40 South and avoid the A34. The route was through some very pretty and well-to-do villages in – it turns out – the constituency of Andrea Leadsom (Con, maj 27,761). No sign of the urban nightmare of crumbling… well… everything, there!

I was thinking about how it might feel, how truth might look, to an impoverished urban intellectual living, due to circumstance, in such a rural setting. I realised that I had actually knew such a person, someone who I collaborated closely with in the 1970s and early 1980s, who had spent a period living such a life in the later 1980s. We had stayed in irregular touch – most recently a touching tribute on the occasion of my 70^th birthday. So I resolved that it was time to seek them out again…

“They could see the thrashers coming”

Our history is strange – we were acquainted before, but only really got to know each other at University. My friend was very much a political activist who read and sometimes wrote theoretical texts; I was more of a writer, with collections of poetry and a novel to my name. We forged a link through the then clichéd university practice of staying up all night talking. We were close, collaborating on a decade of writings, interventions and Samizdat magazine editorship on subjects from Women’s Liberation; the Politics of the Personal; Political Theory and Action.. to Existentialism; Theory of Explanation; Philosophy; Psychoanalysis; Radical Psychology; Culture and Art; and sometimes creative writing. At the same time trying to live our lives in some accordance with those ideas within a sub-culture of diverse interpretations of that shared aim.

It was engaging and exhausting. After some years “giving all we had for something new”, I was increasing overwhelmed in Nottingham and shifted the site of my cultural activism to Munich, but that’s another story – maybe another post.

When I completely returned to life in England and English after 3 or 4 years’ half-absence I had another couple of collections of pieces – more sketches than poems – to my name. After that I put the world of theoretical writing and activism aside to work “in the field” in the non-profit anti-poverty realm. I stayed (mainly) in that realm for about 30 years as a volunteer and professionally until I “retired” in 2012.

My friend meanwhile – after their rural nightmare interlude – channeled their energy into poetry, music and performance – and still does. It’s almost as if we swopped angles of approach to our shared interests…

“Hold your judgement for yourself…”

I can’t keep calling this person “my friend (they / them)”. In accordance with the spirit (and the surveillance) at the time we both used “noms politiques” for our writings. As we were in a milieu confronting sexual discrimination, it was important that such names didn’t betray our sex. Issues like this was not at that time referred to, nor thought of, as “gender”. Indeed it was the aim of most of us at the time to distance sex (male/female) from gender (masculine/feminine) as much as possible. Thinking the former material (to be decoupled from social meaning) and the latter full of social meaning – but contingent, constructed, voluntary and expendable. Both, of course, carrying no value! Anyway, my friend’s nom politique was Peaches, (funnily enough mine was Oxford). Of course, we applied these names to joint ventures without individual attribution, and even swapped them over from time to time. So I shall do my best to preserve my friends complete anonymity by using their nom politique, Peaches, from now on…

We arranged a meeting and talked over old times with a depth that we hadn’t for over 30 years. At the end of our time conferring, Peaches handed me a box of publications, documents and notebooks which they had kept from the period of our collaborations saying “I haven’t looked at these for some time – and I probably won’t now. You have them”. I took a quick look and apart from some finished pieces I was familiar with, there were reams of both my and Peaches’ notebooks and drafts. In fact, from this distance, it’s hard to tell which were mine and which were theirs…

I took the box and am finding the contents a shocking mélange of inspiration and disappointment; passion and prescience; dashed hope and progress; insights – and what now appear mysteries – from both of us as if inscribed anew; an intervention from the past.

I’ll be examining these papers and I may be reporting on, thinking aloud about – or transcribing – them in future culture posts here from time to time, along with some of the more current commentary you’ve come to expect. Join me if you like.

“Look at mother nature on the run in the twenty-first century…”

Until next time >>

💽 Playlist:    
Love Minus Zero (Bob Dylan 1965 – Bringing it all Back Home) /
Thrasher (Neil Young 1979 – Rust Never Sleeps) /
I am the Lonesome Hobo (Bob Dylan 1968 – John Wesley Harding) /
After the Gold Rush – A Neil Young Song (Patti Smith 2012 – Banga)

🍷 VENDANGE PROSPECTS IN BENAIS

Although reminiscent of both 2020 and 2022, the weather patterns in the Bourgueil vineyards this year has been a little different.

The first thing is that the Spring weather was mild and wet. A lot of rain and maximum temperatures around 18 were common right through late March, through April and well into May. There was only one below zero night after March 5th (although it was in April), and only 2 days where the temperature rose above 20° before May). This mild wet weather has two effects. It avoids the early growth / late frost combination that has been common in the last 6 or 7 years and which can destroy a proportion of the fruit. That has often been as much as a 30% loss and sometimes (2021) whole vineyards (on higher exposed sites) completely lost. The other impact is high growth rates and fruit set, backed up by a higher water table.

In our garden in Benais the grass grew about 50% more than usual in March-May. Fruit set on our apple trees was getting on for double the average and a quince tree, which doesn’t always fruit, set about 4 or 5 times as much as ever before. Two smaller trees identified themselves for the first time by producing fruit – a plum and an apricot – having shown no signs ever before. With the plum it may be due to youth, we think it is 5 – 8 years old… the apricot is definitely older.

The weather pattern then followed a pretty average path, mostly dry weather from June – August with some very hot periods. In fact June was 4° hotter than average with 10 days reaching 30°s but the highest was 34° not the staggering 40° temperature that occurred in 2019 and 2022. July was actually cooler than June, and August only reached average temperatures due to a 10-day period (15th – 25th) in the 30°s. However unlike other years very hot temperatures persisted into September. Every day in September has been above the average for the period: the average maximum for the first 18 days has been 30° – as apposed to a historical average maximum of 22° or 23°. Apart for the odd “thunder-shower” that weather persisted until the 16 or 17th when heavy rain and a drop to average temperatures for the next week prompted a few vignerons to harvest at least some of their holdings before the weather change (maybe for use in Crémant?)

I tasted some grapes from a few nearby sites where I had seen harvesting and found the grapes quite small and thick skinned, as noted last year and in 2020. The grapes tasted very sweet and ripe, and a little plumper and more juicy than last year, the skins maybe a little thinner too. Forecasts now for a few days of cooler showery weather followed by 23°-25° and dry conditions in the last week of September with the 29th and 30th forecast nice and sunny. If I were a vigneron I would hope the current milder period would allow a little plumping of the grapes and would plan to harvest at the end of the month, with the expectation of a wine with enhanced – but not unbalancing – alcohol and tannins.

Time will tell.

À Bientôt

AUGUST W1NG TASTING: Wines from importer Philip von Nell.

On 3^rd August 2023 the Wine in Nottingham Group met for the latest tasting of the 2023 season. The theme of this tasting of the season was to sample wines from a local small importer, and see if one could discern any specific style to his range from this sample.

The importer trades under the name Philip von Nell (PvN), and mainly supplies the on-trade including some prestigious restaurants in Nottingham. It is in this connection, as recounted in the last post, that this tasting came about. While trialing wines for a restaurant wine list I found a final decision came to direct choice between a PvN wine and another, larger but good quality, supplier. In 15 or 20 such taste-offs I found that most cases (80%?) I preferred the PvN wine for inclusion because it had a richer middle palate.

So this tasting was to explore the wines and see if this middle palate character was a continuing feature – reflecting, possibly, the owner’s own taste?

Here are my notes:

ALBARIÑO ‘LA TRUCHA’ 2020 (FINCA GARABELOS)  –  13 %  –  Estimated Retail Price £25
An impressive Albariño. It starts with floral and peach hints and then an impressively rich palate whose fruit also peach but with a tropical twist – is strong and long enough to classify it as a “rich” wine. However, whose lively, citric – even grapefruit – acidity and mineral elements make it qualify for the description “crisp”. A lovely interplay of perspectives as the wine evolves. Lovely and a star of the night.
Ratings:        Quality:  ¹⁷/₂₀   Value:  ¹⁶/₂₀

VERDECA ‘AΣΚΟΣ’ 2022, (MASSERIA LI VELI) SALENTO, PUGLIA  –  13 %  –  ERP £26
This is an almost forgotten Salento grape, made by the producer in a special range (as with wine 5). There are only 800ha of this grape and this is the highest rated expression! This has a a heavy floral (lily?) and hints of pineapple and peach on the nose. Again a rich palate with a dashing cross of saline minerality, a touch of bitter pith and warm acidity. A similar general profile to the previous wine, with darker flavours and a more specific food match (oily fish maybe?).
Ratings:        Quality:  ¹⁶/₂₀   Value:  ¹⁵/₂₀

MERCUREY “LES BACS” 2009 (DOMAINE DEBRAY)  –  13 %  –   nla
Assessment of this wine, which has considerable age for a white Burgundy, was made more difficulty by one bottle having considerably more oxidation that the other. The first bottle was slightly darker and had immediate sherry and apple notes. However the second bottle showed some flinty minerality, a slight flowery note, and peachy citrus following in the middle palate and a caramel tinge (probably itself slightly oxidative) at the finish. Interesting enough, although probably just losing freshness to secondary flavours, and probably at peak 3 or 4 years ago. Against this the first bottle seemed as if it had gone over about 3 years ealier.
Ratings (for second bottle, for first bottle: score 2 or 3 points lower):     Quality:  ¹⁵/₂₀   Value: n/a  

‘RUBERETO’ 2014 (TENUTA ORSUMELLA) SUPER TUSCAN  –  13.5 %  –  ERP £29
This is a Cabernet / Sangiovese blend and shows it quite clearly – the attack is all cabernet: black fruits; spice; a little wood. Then the middle shows a sweet and sour cherry fruit going into a slightly dried fruit and darker acidity. Quite a nice wine, good for a red meat roast… but a bit Cabernet then Sangiovese, which makes the middle palate stand out again! Maybe greater integration and complexity might follow after another two or three years.
Ratings:        Quality:  ^15.5/₂₀   Value:  ^14.5/₂₀

SUSUMANIELLO ‘AΣΚΟΣ’ 2020 (MASSERIA LI VELI) SALENTO, PUGLIA  –  14.5 %  –  ERP £26
This has immediate prune, cherry, berry impact which you might identify as Salentino even if you can’t pick the grape. In fact an indigenous grape which is little known – shown here by a leading proponent in their dedicated local grape – “AΣΚΟΣ” – range. The middle palate is very rich and luscious with berries and spicy leather hints, some chocolatey hints but a supple freshness too. A wonderful discovery.
Ratings:        Quality:  ^16.5/₂₀   Value:  ^15.5/₂₀

MALBEC, CUVÉE RESERVE 2016 (BODEGA RAFFY)  –  14 %  –  ERP £ 26
This has ample fruit, damson and plum skin, notes combined with very dark, slightly smokey and black fruit elements and a fresh citric acidity, the warmth of which reminds me of mandarin orange acidity. The palate is very succulent with the line of acidity flowing right through the wine and leading into the darker meatier hints! This has French grip and finesse aligned to Argentinian fruit making a very good Malbec, suitable for all sorts of cuisine. One of the best sub-£50 Malbecs I’ve tasted and my favourite.
Ratings:        Quality:  ¹⁷/₂₀   Value:  ¹⁶/₂₀

A note on prices: The Estimated Retail Prices (ERP) calculated here are based on Philip von Nell’s Trade list from May 2023 – marked up to achieve the retailer a Gross Profit (GP) of (a fairly typical) 33%. + VAT. Of course that trade list will soon be obsolete with the increase in duty later this month. In addition the PvN website needs updating to express a clear Retail (as opposed to Trade) offer, and under what conditions. That’s all for the future when all the other variables play out…

So… do these wines in general show notable richness in the middle palate? I think so – certainly true for the first 2 and the last 2. Wines 3 and 4 were a little harder to judge as they are perhaps too old and too young respectively. Although wine 4 is a rather nice wine which effects a change of focus in the middle palate – perhaps with the same effect? Anyway, some good wines pitched at a fair price IMO.

À bientot

Can a wine-provider be an “Auteur” of their list?

Very few human beings are able to make a living doing something they really like doing. Sportspeople, artists of various sorts, people with a vocation… It’s a vanishingly rare privilege in the global scheme of things, and one might arguably include some wine-makers somewhere between the second and third of those categories. That said, most wine makers aren’t exclusively free to express themselves in their wine – having to compromise with weather, economic pressures, marketing problems and the like.

However, a much larger group (at least in the first world) though still in a minority, do something adjacent to their love. People with vocations like teaching and medicine or social reform find niches that contribute to those noble pursuits despite continual compromises with powerful forces undermining them and economic realities restricting them.

So too people who would love to write, act, sculpt, paint, make films etc. but can’t make it work just by being creative, and instead make careers in those fields as commentators, distributors, trainers, administrators, organisers, curators, historians…

With wine, many wine lovers face similar a similar pattern – they make a living in adjacent occupations – often selling wine as importers, merchants, retailers, or serving wine in restaurants and bars or working in combinations of any or all of those.

Of course many of those sorts of roles are within much larger organisations and individual expression is restricted, but what about individual wine-sellers whether importers, wholesale, retail or on-sale? They chose the wines they offer, of course with economic forces shaping that – but still they have some curatorial role in their choice. It makes some economic sense to have that role, as customers potentially learn to recognise that quality and/or style and that helps develop loyalty. Of course, any individual buyer will be making decisions about sale-ability but it would be unusual if their curation of a group of wines did not reflect their own taste to some degree…

It’s this last consideration of style that occurred to me when going to a series of tastings last Autumn. A friend of mine was compiling lists for two restaurants. We were trying wines from 3 suppliers – a very big organisation with (IMO) a large but rather predictable portfolio; a medium sized operation with a smaller but generally pricier and better list; a single person operation with a rather small and specific offer.

We were choosing wines to fit 20 or 30 slots in the restaurant lists, and in most (but not all) cases it came to a choice, a taste-off, between wines from the latter 2: the medium sized and the small supplier. I found the outcome a bit surprising: in 80% of those final choices I found myself preferring the single-trader wine option and in nearly all of those cases for the same reason! That reason was that each wine presented a fuller middle palate than its immediate “opponent”, making the other wine seem surprisingly washed out by comparison.

I personally find a rich middle an interesting but not always decisive element of a wine’s structure, however in the context of the cuisine we were considering it was more a must-have than a nice-to-have. However, it made me wonder if the group of wines put together by this merchant was a much closer expression of their taste than usual.

I feel there’s a bit of an analogy to film-making, usually an art-form where there are so many people involved each with their own expressive imperatives and so many economic and organisational pressures that the director’s vision is diluted. However, some directors have such complete control and ability to overcome outside pressures that the film is distinctively theirs. The French have a word for this sort of director – Auteur – implying they are the author of the film in a way analogous to a writer authoring a book! Obviously, much easier if you are basically working alone.

So – can a wine supplier be an auteur of a collection of wines? Can the collection have something about it, a repeated style or nuance, that makes it a distinctive collection?   

For next week’s tasting I’ll show 6 wines from the same sole merchant’s small portfolio (about 80 wines) and see if we can find some style, structure or quality in the wines that could be identifiably his.

Notes on the wines tasted – and this subject in general – will be with you in about two weeks…

À Bientôt

10th Anniversary Blog Post + Turning wine into… other wine!

Hello Everyone
Today is the 10th Anniversary of the first ever post here (a tasting note on Viognier Blends). It also – not quite entirely by chance – the 365th post in that time. One doesn’t have to be familiar with the rule of multiplicative commutativity, or even be especially good at sums, to work out that involves (leap days aside) a post every 10 days on average!

That average actually masks two identifiably different phases of the blog. The first two thirds of the time, pre-Covid, we were averaging nearly a post a week (315 posts in 345 weeks) almost all focused entirely on wine. Since March 2020 there has been long suspensions of the W1NG group due to lockdowns, and that period has coincided with me spending the majority of my time in France and posts have decreased substantially. The average over that time is a little over one a month.

In addition half of this period’s posts have strayed into politics and art (40% exclusively and 10% a mixture with wine thoughts and experiences).

Partly that reflects a diminution of wine-material, partly it is a better reflection of the things I think about.

It’s been a pleasure and an honour to write all those posts about wine, but I make no apologies about other posts. Now the subject matter is usually signaled in the post, the reader can decide for themselves whether to read them. I think it likely that in future there will be more wine content, but there will also be political, cultural and art content too. The balance will also shift a bit more towards wine posts as the main arguments of the political posts seem decreasing disputed:

that Brexit was conceived as a way to further advance the interest of the rich against ordinary people based on a series of lies that have unraveled exactly as predicted 7 years ago;
that the COVID response was irresponsible, enacted by people ideologically hostile to state intervention and cost tens of thousands of lives (although whether it was 5- or 10- or more- ten-thousands is still to be determined;
that the same ideological extremism has diminished all public services to the point of collapse over the last 13 years in order to retain the rate of profit for the rich;
that the Truss apex of this venal, corrupt, inefficient and extreme ideology shows its true nature..
I won’t go on… for now…

So I would expect in the future to average approximately two posts a month, and probably two thirds on wine – but who knows.

Finally, for this (mixed) post, a few wine observations:

It was my partner’s belated Birthday party last Sunday and we provided wines – a free bubbly plus a white, a rose and a red at service charge only – to nearly 50 guests at a local media centre. Normally when one has bring a bottle party at home we find that is a mechanism for turning Premier Cru Chablis (for example) into left over New World Sauvignon (and similar wines). However we provided wines local to our Loire home (they would all be about £18 retail in UK), and my partner garnered some impressive wines as gifts…..

The WINES OUT and the WINES IN are pictured below:

So viewed only as a wine swapping exercise, using a hired venue with a bar seems a more satisfactory solution. Thank you from Kimberley Kabinett to the donors of these lovely, and thoughtfully chosen, wines.

Anyway – lets raise a glass to another 10 years – Cheers!

À Bientôt

Back in the U(FFS)K.

Hi Everyone

It’s been quiet from me for a while, as I’ve been in France with my partner, Kimberley Kabinett, for about 5 weeks.
It was a trip that got off to a difficult start due to our first visitors reneging on their agreement to come. A decision that was transmitted to us, without apology, much too late to amend other commitments. It cost us directly €190, not to mention curtailing plans and opportunities for 6 other people, all also with some costs. No matter – we enjoyed the time without them, recovering order in the garden and enjoying some lovely weather.

The latter half of our time was also enjoyable with 2 sets of friends visiting and building up to KK’s Birthday earlier this week. The party for which takes place tomorrow…

There was plenty of wine-tasting in France – to show our friends the local styles, to choose wines for the upcoming party and to try some good bottles.

One particular highlight was a half bottle of Château Haut-Bergeron 2005, tried with our French neighbours – with both Roquefort and a pear cream crunchy patisserie invention. It was wonderful with the patisserie, but sublime with the Roquefort, offsetting the intense salty flavours with a rich sweetness underpinned by a warm and lip-smacking acidity. Fabulous. I often find the intense sweetness of Sauternes almost burning, but this much older example was “extra” as our French friends said – with a lovely balance.

Our friend think of wines like this as an aperitif wine – with salty starters or foie-gras – whereas we think of it as a dessert wine. They often have bubbly with dessert. In truth the balance and length in this Sauternes will amplify both approaches.

Another interesting experience was trying a Chablis village wine from 2021 – a vintage with very low yields due to heavy late frost losses. This problem is the most immediate problem from global warming for wine growers… Out of control alcohol levels being the second most pressing. In 2021 some Chablis growers with higher vineyards suffered loss of their whole crop, and losses of 30% – 50% were very common. A good year through – with a peach tinged fruit undercut with typical steely cool acidity and mineral notes.

Later we tried an 2018 Chablis Côte de Léchet 1er Cru. The contrast was immediate. Partly the year – 2018 has warmer acidity – but also the upgrade enables, paradoxically, the discernment of both more richness, and more acidity, and more detail. About twice the price though!

Talking of 2018 – we had several chances to compare 2015 and 2018 Bourgueils, twice with exact same crus. Most immediately having Bourgueil “Grand Clos” (Audebert) 2015 and 2018 side by side. It confirms what I’ve been thinking for some time – and applying much more widely in France than just Loire. That while both are very good years – certainly the best 2 recent Bourgueil years – the 2018 has structure to age but also rounder and warmer acidity and – to a lesser extent – tannin. I wonder if the acidity in the 2015 is a little too astringent and if the – well, cooler and more angular – acidity will relent in time to fully realise the wines potential? Time will tell…

Finally to celebrate KK’s Birthday we went to Sans Patrie on our return to Nottingham and had their 4 course menu with wines.

As usual the food was excellent, with in every course full of interesting flavours/ The format actually makes the meal fun, as it directs your attention to the contrasts and harmonies of the ingredients. The wine choices are sometimes left-field – who would apply a Appassimento Primitivo to a tomato based starter? The flavours worked well as the Primitivo (rather like man Grenache examples) has a plummy tomato note. But the weight is so different, and so early in the meal??!! No need to worry on the latter concern as the transition to the next set of flavour and wine experience is entire, and one starts afresh addressing the next act! That starts with the reverse suspicion – the Muscadet might be rather light after the previous wine – but the example has slight peachy hints and a richer body than most Muscadet and offsets the pumpkin sweetness in the dish well. Act III has a new-world Cabernet with heavy tannins and woody notes that I probably wouldn’t choose – but the perfectly cooked beef has such depth of flavour and such savoury accompaniments that it works well.
The crowning glory is the sublime sweet wine – with loads of acidity to elevate the sweetness in the wine and dance with that from the delightful rhubarb trifle. No mere trifle – a triumph. A lovely evening where the boldness of the approach holds ones attention and enjoyment. If you’re close – try it!

That’s it from me for a week or so – look out for a post on 16th July. In the meantime happy party KK!
À Bientôt

JUNE ICC W1NG TASTING – ALPINE WINE

The W1NG group met on 1st June at the Nottingham International Community Centre to taste 6 “Aline Wines” led by Brigitte Bordeaux. The Tasting comprised 3 Swiss Wines; 2 Austrian and 1 Italian.

Here are my notes:

2021 Mont-Sur-Rolle Grand Cru, Domaine de Maison Blanche.
Region: La Côte, Switzerland Grape: Chasselas Alcohol: 12% £25.20
Quite a light nose – some hints of orchard fruit, maybe peach or apricot but light touch. The palate has a creamy note, light fruit again and a bit bland. Light acidity helped by a slightly peppercorn hint at the end.
Ratings:        Quality:  ^14.5/₂₀   Value:  ¹³/₂₀

2021 Doral “Expression”, Cave de La Cote Uvavins.
Region: La Côte, Switzerland Grape: Doral Alcohol: 13% £25.20
Doral is a Chasselas x Chardonnay. Fresh citrus on the nose and more pronounced peachy hints. The palate has more acidity and verve – both richer and subtler than the first wine. Longer and with more character. After a while (40 minutes and a couple of degrees warmer a much more “chardonnay” profile: creamier with melon notes and a richer mouthfeel.
Ratings:        Quality:  ^15.5/₂₀   Value:  ¹⁴/₂₀

2017 Neuburger Leithaberg DAC, Weingut Kiss.
Region: Burgenland, Austria Grape: Neuburger Alcohol: 13.5% £18.92
From a warmer part of Austria. The nose has an initial pungency, which softens (somewhat) to a slightly volatile oily note. Palate has a rich over-ripe fruit line with more astringent acidity and a rather oily texture. Reminiscent of Semillon – but a bit too rich and extracted for drinking a bottle, IMO.
Ratings:        Quality:  ¹⁵/₂₀   Value:  ¹⁵/₂₀

2020 Schiava Grigia DOC Sonntaler, Kellerei Kurtatsch.
Region: Alto Adige, Italy Grape: Schiava Grigia Alcohol: 12.5% £23.16
Very pale wine with a light Gamay character – fruity (strawberry?) and a slightly confectionery hint of – if you remember them – opal fruits! Palate follows and a slightly over-sweet hint – would be chillable and reminds me of a young, low range Beaujolais.
Ratings:        Quality:  ¹⁵/₂₀   Value:  ^14.5/₂₀

2012 St. Laurent Trift, Weingut Kiss.
Region: Burgenland, Austria Grape: St. Laurent Alcohol: 13.5% £21.00
Slightly smokey nose, with quite evolved non-fruit elements: leather; sous-bois and a woody (not oak) hint. Remnants of a black fruit line, diminished by time, blackberry maybe, and a structure like a minor Bordeaux. Not much evolution left but would be a blast with a sausage dinner. My favourite, just but not for keeping!
Ratings:        Quality:  ¹⁶/₂₀   Value:  ^15.5/₂₀

2020 Gamaret-Garanoir “Expression”, Cave de La Cote Uvavins.
Region: La Côte, Switzerland Grape: Gamaret and Garanoir Alcohol: 13.5% £26.23
This has cherry and blackberry fruit nose with a soft, slightly spicy palate with some well integrated tannins and fruit acidity. Again reminiscent of Beaujolais (both grapes are GamayxReichensteiner) but more of a cru quality, the flavours reminded me of Morgan, but with not quite the depth and grip. Good.
Ratings:        Quality:  ^15.5/₂₀   Value:  ^14.5/₂₀

All these wine can be sourced from Alpine Wines and elsewhere…

Thank you to Brigitte and everyone present for an interesting and convivial evening.

À Bientôt

“We’re only in it for the money…”

Over the last 3 or 4 weeks – for a variety of reasons – I’ve spent a bit of time thinking about wine and value. In general, all other things being equal (they never are), if you pay more for a wine it’ll probably be better than a similar style wine that costs significantly less. This rule-of-thumb, I’ve always believed, applies more directly to whites than reds, and the extra price might not always be justified by a smaller jump in quality. However there are even more complications…

I was reminded of one complication when, due to lack of planning, I had occasion to buy a cheapish, supermarket, white wine to start a risotto. I alighted on a Languedoc Viognier with an unusually low alcohol content and price. After using some in the risotto we sampled it and found a light, quite simple, refreshing wine with a nice acidity and balanced hints of apricot. Often I find Viognier has a tendency to be flabby, with too much apricot and oiliness, especially warm climate versions. At this level of wines from this grape paying more seems to get you more: more oiliness; more alcohol; more apricot; more flabbiness. In such a situation I’m inclined to pay less and get a leaner wine. Unless you want to go up to Condrieu and get more complexity, balance, length… that seems to work out for me.

The next week I was tasting with Brigitte Bordeaux while she tasted for the Wine Trader top 100. Tasters for this list are from Independent Wine shops themselves so, although this is a blind tasting, after evaluating the wine the taster is asked to consider the RRP against their notes and score and decide if they would stock the wine in question. This involves a judgement of value against quality in offering the wine for sale. We had another grape where often paying more often just gives you more, bigger wine, rather than better balanced wine – Gewürztraminer.

I rarely drink Gewürz unless eating Thai food, or something similar – aromatic, medium spiced dishes. So when I last bought Gewürz I looked at quite a big Alsace co-op where they list their wines giving exact alcohol and residual sugar levels (as is quite common in German lists, but rarer in Alsace). Now residual sugar and alcohol often pull in opposite directions – for a given wine the longer you ferment the alcohol goes up and the sugar down. So a lighter wine will have the lowest total levels of these two, in this co-op’s case the lowest in both measures of 4 candidates was the same wine – so I bought it (about 10 € in France + delivery) – and it does its job very well. For interest it had abv of 13.0 % (the others 13.3 – 13.5) and sugar also 13 (g/l) so not really dry, but others were up to 24!

I was reminded of this wine too when tasting Alsace with Brigitte – and found a GC Alsace Gewürz (Kirchberg de Barr) which had a supple acidity to counter its tropical fruit. It was 14.5% abv, but had therefore left little sugar unfermented. It did have a range of fruit rather than a single intense note and an interesting grapefruit-tinged acidity… £25-ish though.

At least formally, all this reached a dramatic climax with the W1NG group’s April tasting led by BB, featuring 3 blind pairs of quite disparate costs in a “Cheap v Expensive” comparison (or “posh v plonk”) tasting. Average full costs were £13 versus £33 per pair.

First up was a French Chardonnay pair:
POUILLY FUISSE 2020 VV (Deux Roches) £31 v ICARE CHARDONNAY 2021 (Languedoc) £13
One had oak notes and a linear fruit acid thread, restrained but persistent and slightly closed, attenuated by a mineral hint that suggested waiting. The other was open, richer but simpler with nutty hints. It was quite hard to score these – as the main charms of the first wine (which turned out to be the more expensive) seemed to be waiting for time and food, whereas the simpler attractions of the second wine were there right now. The expensive wine clearly a better wine, and suggested pleasure to come but was it worth the extra in the glass right then? No – but would it be ever be worth that much extra?? Good question – I couldn’t help thinking one might find a more pleasing all round wine somewhere in the middle.

Next came two Left Bank clarets:
CHATEAU FORCAS-DUPRE 2013 (Listrac) £16 v CHATEAU LA GARDE 2013 (Pessac-Leognan) £33
These are both more-or-less equal Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot and both about 13% abv. Both were rather hard, with tannin the killjoy in one and astringent acidity the other. The fruit was subjugated in both behind a dry – in one case saline – grip. Some fruit in both but not much expression. One wine was a little longer and the saline tannin grip betrayed the PL as opposed to the Listrac which was overwhelmed with acidity. I didn’t like either much, I think I prefer – if prefer is the word – too much acidity to too much tannin. Is lack of impression because 2013 was a rather difficult year? Perhaps… but one would expect more differences at these two price points.

Finally Rioja – in fact two 100% Tempranillo
RIOJA RESERVA VINA ALARDE 2016 £10 v RIJOA RESERVA TAHON DE TOBELAS 2015 £33
This comparison was was clear as the wines were very different: oak, depth and clarity on one hand; freshness, simple fruit and dash on the other. It’s obvious which was the more expensive wine but right then in the glass I can’t say I preferred it, and if that’s the case wouldn’t one rather pay £10 rather than £30+ ??? This brings me back to my remarks at the beginning – if one is paying more for Rioja one doesn’t just want more extraction, more oak, more alcohol! But I feel a little like I did with the first pair, sure I could find something offering the best of both worlds for somewhere in the, rather wide, middle ground.

So – quite an illuminating tasting – with a moral that one needs to taste – or trust the taste of someone (critic or supplier) – the wine in question before venturing anything above your ordinary outlay. Thanks to BB and to everyone there for the evening.

Finally as a Coda: BB and I met again to taste 10 (or was it 11) Rosés at the end of the Top 100 tasting. This was amazingly varied and we found some nice wines at all price points. However a real star (at £20ish) – I think for both of us – was a Romanian wine made from a grape called Busuioaca de Averesti.

This was lovely: with a passion fruit and grapey nose and a refreshing acidity with grapefruit tinges and a slightly sweet red fruit palate with a vinous food-friendly grip. A perfect summer Rosé that would cope with tapas or spicy nibbles. I would probably score it as a good 17 (/20) in this blog’s usual scoring system… I hope BB will stock it this summer?!

That’s it for now – indeed probably for 3 or 4 weeks – until then…

A Wine and Food Tasting at Brigitte Bordeaux

A little while I attended a Spanish Wine and Pinchos evening at Brigitte Bordeaux. This is a quick report: I’ll list the pairings; the comment on the wines and how they matched the food.

1 “Tresor” Cuvee Gran Reserva Cava (Ventura) 2016 – served with Manchego and membrillo;
2 “Pil Pil “Txakoli (Astrobiza) 2021 – served with an anchovy/olive/pepper tapa;
3 “Alba Martin” Albariño (Martin Codax) 2021 – served with salt cod (Bacalao) paté;
4 Rueda (Finca Montepedroso) 2021 – served with a pear/ Roquefort and walnut bite;
5 “Lalama” Ribera Sacre (Dominio do Bibel) 2018 – served with Serrano Ham and Artichoke;
6 Rioja (Cantos de Valpiedra) 2018 – served Sobrasada paste (sausage & pimento);
7 RAR Priorat (Long Wines) 2018 – served with a duck paté;
8 Moscatel Naturalemenete Dulce (Finca Antigua) 2020 – served with Tarta de Santiago.

The Cava I found very superior to your average examples, it had only a slight note of that tell-tale gluey flavour – at the finish of the finish. A richer style with fresh citric, even lime, acidity. It was a great foil for the classic cheese and quince combination, with the richness counterpointing the cheese and the acidity the sweet quince. Lovely – I’d give the Cava 16 (/20); and the combination 16.5!

The Txakoli is a wierd wine – a Basque grape (Hondarrabi Zuri) showing a very high – even astringent – acidity. There is a herbal note and a hint of spritz. Not a wine I would quaff but a lovely match for anchovy, less able to stand up to a hot pepper… For me the wine is a 14.5 and if restricted to anchovy and olive the match a 15.5.

The Albariño is a lovely wine peachy zingy acidity with a saline and peach hit in the mid palate – long citric acidity is a perfect foil for the salty fish. A 15.5 wine and a 15.5 pairing!

This is a very good Rueda (that might be thought as faint praise in some circles), this is both richer and fresher than most examples. Richness and depth from the winemaking and freshness and a stone-fruit slightly mineral backbone from the altitude (700-800 asl). The mineral and citric elements somehow unexpectedly sing with the Roquefort, an unexpected highlight. Wine 15.5, match 16.5.

The Ribera Sacre is a great example of an under-rated grape – Mencia. A breath of oak and herbal / sous bois / earthy hints underpinning a cherry note. Supple tannins and a red fruit palate and a herbal acidity and earthy finish that remind me of Cabernet Franc. I think my favourite wine and a clever match with the sous bois notes picking out the artichoke and the fragrance amplifying the ham. My favourite wine at 16.5, and a 16.5 match.

The Rioja suffered a little coming after the Mecia I think, a 100% Tempranillo it seemed a little young to me, a little four-square and not yet singing. Oak, vanilla red fruits make a frame rather than a duet for the Sobrasada. Wine 15 and match 15.

The Priorat is a big wine with red fruit and dark vegetal note. Slightly wild expression of Garnacha with plums, almost cooked tomato fruit, and a spicy hint with a long fruit acid finish. The size and depth of the wine needed a a much more “meaty” indeed gamey paté – the duck reveals a clashing sweet note. The only match less than fully successful – Wine 16 – match 14.

Finally the Muscatel is a correct expression of the wine with a fresh orange sweetness and a good supporting acidity – but the Tarta – a moist almond tart to reward the survivors of the Camino – sang with it… The match isn’t subtle or complex but its just a lovely finish to a wonderfully interesting and convivial evening. Wine 15 and match 16.

So a lovely evening and thanks so much to Kathryn for the thought and the presentation. My favourite wine was the Mencia, with the Cava and the Priorat close. The best match – is quite hard – I had 3 tied : mencia/Serrano; cava/manchego and rueda/roquefort – with moscatel/tarta very close. I have to give the nod to the rueda/roquefort combination for sheer surprise and creativity and the highest uplift given to both aspects of the match. A wine food match at its best when both the food and the wine taste better.

Thanks again Kathryn.

À Bientôt

A Tale of Two Sittings

My partner has to have an operation immediately after Easter. The operation should be straightforward, but – being on her foot – she will be completely immobilised for 2 weeks, and probably have limited mobility for a further 6 or 8!

Her mobility is already compromised – and the operation will hopefully and eventually return her to normal. So we have decided to stay in Nottingham until the operation and spend quite a lot of time visiting restaurants and the like while we can.

Coincidentally, that lately has meant a meal out every 3 days over the last 11 days, and the food has been very good. We have enjoyed evenings with very good friends at both World Service and Masala Junction. In both cases the presentation, imagination and quality of ingredients seem to have taken a step up since last year. That may partly be due to returning footfall and a need to make the experience more spirit-lifting in these dark days. In addition Masala Junction has changed hands – and seems to be on the up (full disclosure – the new proprietor is a friend of mine and I have helped a little in the new wine list, although that isn’t on stream quite yet).

Those meals were accompanied by good wines – a Rioja at WS and a Malbec at MJ – but their character and suitability depends – of course – on what you are eating…

However the other two meals both offered wines chosen by the restaurant – at a Tasting menu at Sans Patrie and as a follow-on from a Tasting of South African Wines by Richard Kelley MW at Hart’s. I thought those two events merited a report – so here we are:

Sans Patrie is a restaurant that only offers Tasting menus. Usually there are four: A 6 course menu and a vegetarian alternative, which is built on the same basics and usually sharing a couple of courses; and two 4-course menus cut down from the main two. All four are offered with wine-pairing. Menus usually change monthly but there was a one week menu with Asian flavours which we decided to try on a whim. The attraction for a chef-led restaurant is clear, the chance to experiment within a very tight framework, limiting the waste and risk for the restaurant. If the customer is happy to put themselves in the hands of the chef, and is rewarded with a good meal they’ll come back. That’s certainly how we feel after our experience…

The menu above was imaginative with some lovely touches, a very satisfying meal with some left-field wine choices.

The Gewurz was brave choice with the soup, and showed a fresher style with more acidity than bigger Alsace examples. It and went amazingly well with the lime and coriander flavours but the soup had quite a lot of sweetness which was a little too much for a white wine, there was some harmony but not quite enough balance.

Another Alsacien grape – Pinot Gris – next was featured with a beautifully nuanced chicken dish. This wine comes from the Pfalz region of Germany over 100 miles North of the main Alsace vineyards. Interestingly – I spent quite a lot of time in Weisenheim in the Pfalz (quite near to Villa Wolf) in the mid-1990s and I rather liked the cooler climate versions of Pinot Gris (Grauburgunder) and Gewurz I found there, with balancing grapefruit acidity underpinning the flavours of these varieties. This Villa Wolf was a lovely expression of the grape, which had PG aromatics, depth and smokiness – but lifted by that citric dash. A lovely balance with the chicken and subtle Asian hints. Very good.

The Lamb dish was beautiful, with clever accents, although the Bhaji was a little heavy. The choice here was Zweigelt. This is Austria’s most planted red wine grape and is a cross between Blaufränkisch and St. Laurent. Often succulent with cherry and plum flavours this had a little more depth, a roughly Rioja weight of fruit and grip and was just a perfect choice with a Lamb dish where the flavour accents would clash a little with – say – Bordeaux! A choice I would not have thought of – but excellent.

The dessert was a little more conventional in its wine match but the relative simplicity help show an imaginative and rather complex dessert to good effect. All in all a great evening!

Over to Hart’s for a Tasting of South African Wines with Richard Kelley. These themed evenings were regular features at Harts before COVID and I have attended, probably, a dozen – this was my first since the pandemic. The format is simple: eight wines are served as tasting samples before dinner with a commentary by the winemaker, importer, or Tim Hart and/or sommelier Dominique Baduel. Then, after about an hour, a 3 course meal is served with two glasses of wines (repeated from the 8 or related). An hour is quite a short time to properly taste 8 wines – so one can “triage” the wines and keep some to try with the food later.

I have been at a similar tasting with Richard Kelley at Perkins back in October 2014, you can see that post here. Here he showed a flight of 3 whites, a light Pinot Noir, and a flight of 4 reds. The first white and then another red were served with the food.

The first flight were:
Chenin Blanc 2002 (Beaumont Family – Bot River);
“Saskia” 2019 (Miles Mossop – Cape). 68% Chenin blanc, 15% Viognier, 9% Verdehlo, 8% Clairette;
Chardonnay 2020 (Newton Johnson – Hemel en Arde);
The Chenin was very clearly – well – Chenin.. with sharp acidity and peachy fruit at the core – seeming a little lean at first taste. The Saskia seemed rather flabby by comparison and showed more S. Rhone character than Chenin, even though Chenin is the main grape. Not my taste with this sort of food – although something spicier might show its advantages better.
Most immediately impressive was the Chardonnay – showing nutty and farmyard pungency with oaky creaminess and depth. I decided to keep this to try again against the Chenin with the starter,

Then we tried Pinot Noir 2020 (Newton Johnson) – a light, fruit driven,rather soft and jammy, pale red… a pleasant drink – almost a Rosé – that I might have chilled a little. However, not a red I thought that would accompany the main course…

Then four reds:
“Stars in the Dark” Syrah 2020 (Minimalist WInes, Elim). A fragrant nose with black and blue berry fruit. The palate is supple with round acidity and a peppery hint at the finish. Regular readers will know I’m not a big Syrah fan, but I liked this wine’s understated charm.
Taaibosch Crescendo Cabernet Franc 2018 (Stellenbosch). This is 65% Cab. Franc  30% Merlot, 5% Cab. Sauvignon; with a spirity nose, herbal dryness of CF and a rich body supported with developing tannins.
Remhhogte Bonne Nouvelle 2004. A 15% abv Michel Roland wine made with 62% Merlot, 32% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Pinotage. Not my thing at all – loads of fruit but too “pastille sweet” and warm tasting – many present found this best of the night… for me the worst!
“Born under a Bad Sign” Pinotage 2020 (Coastal). Another big wine – dark soft mulberry fruit and a grainy tannic grip with warm acidity. A better balanced wine than the previous but too big. I prefer the cheaper “Abraham and the Heretics”.

After the Tasting we were treated to the menu below:

Tasting the Chenin again with the food – and in a larger glass – allowed the youthful wine it to open and show the suppleness of its acidity and fruit core. Reminding me of our “house Chenin” in Benais – a Saumur called “Les Pouches”. With the complex flavoured fish terrine this worked so much better than the Chardonnay making it seem a little flabby. Context is everything.

The quail – perfectly cooked with a rich jus and spice notes in the couscous – was well matched with the Miles Mossop Max, a Bordeaux blend with dark fruit notes and a good tannic structure. I kept enough of the Syrah and the Cabernet Franc to taste with the food, and the lightness and herbal notes in the Cabernet Franc seemed to balance the complexity a touch more lightly. The Syrah seemed to lack the depth to keep up with the food, however.

These are 3 good red wines with enough to offer many occasions. Combined with my white preferencest won’t be a shock to know I chose a Chenin and a Cabernet Franc among the stars – but a good word for the Syrah, the Chardonnay and the Bordeaux Blend.

Thanks to our host Tim Hart and to the always interesting and erudite Richard Kelley for a great evening.

Until next time…

LOIRE CABERNET FRANC – TASTING REPORT

On 2^nd February 2023 the Wine in Nottingham Group met for the first tasting of the 2023 season. The first “normal” tasting since March 2020 – nearly 3 years. A few members have left, a few old members returned and a couple more likely to return sometime soon. So – the group is now 28 strong (plus myself or Kathryn from Brigitte Bordeaux – or both of us) so the maximum of 30 is much the same.

The first tasting of the season was Loire Cabernet Franc – with the wines all 100% Cabernet Franc and sourced across the Central area of the Loire: Eastern Anjou and Western Touraine. The wines come from an area not much more than 20 miles across, although predominantly Cabernet Franc vineyards extend another 20 miles or so both South West and South East.

Here are my notes:

CRÉMANT ROSÉ “ÉTINCELLES” nv (Ansodelles)   –   14 %   –   Grower €15  (UK £27)
“Étincelles” is a Pétillant Naturel (Pet Nat) wine made in a single fermentation ending in the bottle, and no dosage with sugar and yeast for a second fermentation. This method (also called méthode ancestral) produces less bubbly, fresher, fruitier and more grape-specific flavours. In this case the herby acidity with raspberry and strawberry fruit common in Cabernet Franc. The mousse is light and the wine shows a citric acidity, although more in the middle palate than in the more usual attack as with Champagnes and other Crémants. As is common in the Loire, serving this with dessert would work well – but a very nice aperitif too.
Ratings:        Quality:  ^15.5/₂₀   Value:  ^15.5/₂₀

SAUMUR-CHAMPIGNY “CHARL’ANNE” 2015 (La Cune)   –   13.5 %   –   Grower €14  (UK £25)
Rather typical Franc nose, light spice, some herbal notes and red fruit. Palate follows evenly with a mineral, pencil-lead note emerging and then developing to earthiness at the finish. Well balanced with an even structure and lightness that speaks of Saumur-Champigny. Rather a good representative of the appellation!
Ratings:        Quality:  ¹⁶/₂₀   Value:  ^15.5/₂₀

CHINON CLOS DE LA LYSARDIÈRE Vieilles Vignes 2017   –   13 %   –   Grower €14 (UK £24)
This is a similar colour with, at first, a more restricted nose and mineral, more chewy attack. With time the wine softens and opens certainly revealing green capsicum and leafy notes but a bigger darker fruit and some length. Very comparable to the previous wine in quality: a slightly deeper palate and a slightly more uneven structure, and clearly a little younger…
Ratings:        Quality:  ¹⁶/₂₀   Value:  ^15.5/₂₀

SAINT-NICOLAS-DE-BOURGUEIL “DIONYSOS” 2018 (Mortier)   –   13.5 %   –   Grower €15 (UK £25)
This has a nose of ripe black and red currants, with a sweeter palate, and the acidity delayed to the mid-palate. This has a quite big-boned quality with a black pastille sweetness, and early earthiness. It lacks the length, structure and finesse of the other wines but against that has depth and a more international profile.
Ratings:        Quality:  ¹⁵/₂₀   Value:  ^14.5/₂₀

BOURGUEIL “LES MARQUISES” 2015 (Audebert)   –   13.5 %   –   Grower €16 – (UK £25)
This and the next wine are both from over 40 year old vines in two vineyards less than a kilometer apart on the same coteaux in Benais. They are cultivated and vinified identically by the same man – so differences are likely attributable to the terroir. This is higher (20m or so), more exposed to the West and with deeper and more clay-based topsoil. This has a Franc nose with supple red fruits, even a cherry hint. Hints of spice, herb and warmth on the supple tannins and an integrated acidity. Overall – a rather complete wine, pretty well at peak.
Ratings:        Quality:  ¹⁷/₂₀   Value:  ^16.5/₂₀

BOURGUEIL “LE CLOS SENECHAL” 2015 (Audebert)   –   13.5 %   –   Grower €16 – (UK £25)
This has a more sheltered, southerly aspect and a soil with more limestone. The flavour components are similar to the previous wine, but all more recessed and enveloped in a more defined structure, cleaner and harder. There is more acidity and tannin but then below that – some satisfying depth and fruit and slightly more complexity. It seems “cooler” and in need of a couple of years, then it may be better than all the others…
Ratings:        Quality:  ^16.5/₂₀   Value:  ¹⁶/₂₀

So, do the wines show the rarified distinctions between the main appellations? These wines are all from 40-55 year old vines, grown on Agrilo-Calcaire soils, with some variations in the topsoil (in relation to depth, and to other components in the clay). I think it fair to say that the differences are less than that of any of them to a wine made from vines on sand nearer the Loire itself. That will be open, dashing and raspberry fruited for immediate quaffing with Bistro food. These are all a bit more serious – yet they do – in my opinion – display subtle differences that speak of their origin.

In general the Saumur-Champigny showed a pleasing lightness; after a while the Chinon showed supple depth. The Saint-Nicolas was rustic and surprisingly big; while the Bourgueils showed more structure and in different ways, I think, more complexity.

Overall I thought quality and typicity were very good. In food-suitability and profile the easiest comparison for these sort of wines would be to a right bank Claret, an area of similar stylistic range. I think these wines would, at least, hold their own against a selection of those costing 50% more. Now, if only we knew someone who lived in the Cabernet Franc wine area…

Jusqu’à la prochaine fois

Cabernet Franc

Cabernet Franc is a grape that originated in the Spanish Basque area. It was brought back to the Bordeaux and Loire area by Camino pilgrims. It is older than the much more famous Cabernet Sauvignon, and is in fact one of its parents!

In global terms there is not much Cabernet Franc grown – around 1% of the worlds wine; furthermore it is usually used as a blending component – in Bordeaux, or in Bordeaux copies worldwide. On average, in Bordeaux, it makes up around 10% of the assemblage.

About three-quarters of Cabernet Franc is grown in France, where it is the sixth most planted red grape, accounting for about 4% or 5% of French wine. It is grown almost entirely on the west side, about half in Bordeaux or further South-West, and half in the Loire.

It is in the Loire where one will see Cabernet Franc as a sole or dominant variety, although it is often a component of Rosé or Sparkling wines, especially in Saumur and sometimes as the sole grape in Crémant Rosé. It is the most planted red grape in the Loire – about a quarter of all plantings – and about 70% of that is produced as varietal red wines from the area shown in this map:

Although Cabernet Franc is grown throughout Anjou, Saumur and Touraine it is concentrated as a varietal wine in 5 appellations along the Loire itself between Saumur (in the West) and Langeais (in the East): Saumur and Saumur Champigny; Chinon; Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil and Bourgueil. Although technically 2 appellations the distinction between Saumur reds and Saumur Champigny is pretty well a quality issue and – for Cabernet Franc at least – it’s best to concentrate on the latter.

The wine is historically famous for green-pepper notes and a “stalky” quality: something in between woody and leafy? However some of the stronger, greener impressions of that are due to under-ripeness caused by too high yields. In the last 30 years or so viticultural practice and global warming have greatly reduced excesses of that quality. The grape does show, I think, a capsicum note and a herby quality that can age (pleasingly IMO) to earthy-ness. The palate can have sweet fruit, with raspberry notes, sometimes with cherry and other berries. It can be forward, and chillable – almost like a red-fruit Beaujolais – but can age easily for 5 – 10 years, and some examples for 20 or more.

Cabernet Franc wines have medium body and quite an even profile – interest and flavour-experience continue throughout the palate – rather than peaking in the middle (Merlot?) or at the attack and the finish (Cabernet Sauvignon?). For this reason I find it the most agreeable of the Bordeaux grapes when made as a single varietal.

Are the 4 main appellations different? The general reputations are that Saumur-Champigny is the most fruity and immediate (Bojo-like); Chinon silky and charming; Bourgueil most structured and age-worthy; Saint-Nicolas forward and rustic. But is this true? The main determinants of the wine style are the winemakers style and skill and of course the terroir.

The are broadly 3 sorts of terroir across all these appellations: lower-lying sand and gravel; purer gravel; and clay-limestone coteaux. All 4 areas have examples of each and increasingly winemakers with holdings on different terroirs will vinify different Cuvées for each. So a grower with multiple parcels in (say) Bourgueil will have a simple Domaine wine, a “Les Gravières”, and a top wine from more limestone soil called “Prestige”, or named after their child, or bearing a vineyard name…

Generally, sand produces soft, immediate, chillable, quaffing wines; gravel more structured and complex but still approachable wines; limestone yields more structured and age-worthy wines with complexity and finesse, sometime in a quite Bordeaux style. In practice though soil types are not simply of one sort – there are many more complications: clay with mica (Potassium rich) or flint elements; chalky sub-soil with gravel or sand or both in the top soil; broken up chalk with clay topsoil… and many other permutations.

The cross section above (taken through the town centre of Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil (marked by the little house) shows the basic geology of the North Bank; but the slope above the town – the coteaux – is much more extended in the Bourgueil appellation especially in Benais the Northern-most village. While in the South bank appellations of Saumur-Champigny and Chinon the terrain is folded in various directions and no single cross section is representative.

We will taste a Crémant Rosé from Bourgueil; and 5 reds all grown on slightly different clay-limestone soils from the different appellations – we may be able to see if the appellations show any identifiable differences.

The map below shows the Chinon, Saint-Nicolas and Bourgueil vineyards, we will taste a Chinon from Beaumont-en-Veron; a Saint-Nicolas from near la Gardiere (top left of the map); and Bourgueils from Benais – one near Grand Mont and the other little West of la Platerie.

Tasting Notes will be with you in about a week.

À Bientôt