Posts Tagged ‘Champagne’
Sparkling wine in the dark
Andover Wine Friends’ March tasting was designed to have some fun while tasting a range of sparkling wines blind. It certainly achieved the first aim. The blind tasting part showed some the difficulties of this game all too clearly:
1. Sparkling pink wines don’t give a lot away. Apart from an occasional difference in colour – like the Saumur rosé and the New Zealand copper tinged wine in the picture on the left – even markedly different grape varieties are difficult to detect blind when made as pale rosé. This is because the wines have very little time on the skins and intentionally pick up little varietal difference. Only one person correctly allocated the wines to the Loire, Spain and New Zealand and he has more years in the wine trade than he might like to admit to! The wines were:
Selección Especial, Cava, Rosé Brut, Marques de Monistrol, 11.5%, Monastrell, Pinot Noir – neutral red fruit and apricot, short on the palate
Saumur Brut Rosé, Gratien & Meyer, 12%, made from Cabernet Franc and a small amount of Grolleau – some indeterminate perfume and almond notes, slightly off dry, the most acidic of the three, rather more refined than number 1
Sparkling Cuvée Rosé, Oyster Bay, New Zealand, 12% – Chardonnay and Pinot Noir – easy drinking stone fruit, lower acidity, some sweetness of finish, rather lacked character for a wine that was £5 more than the preceding two
2. Guess the grape variety, guess the country. Again, despite being 100% varietals, this was a surprisingly challenging. Certainly the old rule of thumb, ‘Chardonnay for finesse, Pinot Noir for structure’ did not really help, even though these were the grape varieties. But what applies in Champagne may not apply in the same way in a rather warmer climate, in this case, Northern Italy. And certainly the Pinot Noir did not have a hint of pinkness about it:
Blanc de Noir, Extra Brut, Puiatti, Friuli, Italy – a real rarity this with the bottle stating that this is from the only winery making bottle-fermented sparkling wine in Friuli, the extreme north eastern corner of Italy, famous for its white wines. 100% Pinot Noir – fine subtle fruit, marked yeasty notes and a touch of something savoury. Unusual and worthwhile.
Brut 25, Franciacorta DOCG, Berlucchi – a striking autolytic notes on nose (but then the 25 in the name refers to the number of months the wine has spent with the yeast in the bottle), modest if elegant fruit, a lower acidity and fully flavoured. Next month Janet and I are visiting Franciacorta, the Italian stronghold for bottle fermented wines, east of Milan, so this was by way of homework!
3. Guess the quality level (for example, non vintage, vintage or special cuvée) and guess the country. With marked yeast and brioche aromas, you should have (and most did) head to vintage or special cuvée level for these two outstanding wines. We had less success with the country though one of our members did spot the English connection, whereas most assumed from the quality that these were both Champagne:
Classic Cuvee, Brut 2004, Nyetimber, English quality sparkling wine, 12%: made from the Champagne trio of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Meunier grapes and given 36 months in bottles before removing the yeast. Pronounced biscuit notes, medium high acidity (though some found this even more marked), powerful structured fruit which perhaps lacked some complexity.
Blanc des Blancs Les Fleurons, Brut Premier Cru, Pierre Gimonnet, Champagne, 12.5%, more than four years on the lees in bottles: initially rather a neutral nose but a complex and beautiful palate – cut ripe and green apple, layers of interest, excellent length.
4. What the **** is that?’ section: two more or less sparkling wines, pale red and a deeper red, one very sweet and the other with a touch of sweetness and some bitterness. It was obviously a good evening because I forgot to take any pictures of these colourful wines, which turned out to be two glorious Italian eccentricities:
Brachetto d’Acqui DOCG, Alasia, Araldica, Piemonte, 5% – similar in conception to Asti, this wine is tank fermented to retain maximum fragrance from the Brachetto grape variety and all the sugar in the wine is from the original grapes. The fermentation is stopped when the low 5% of alcohol is reached with the yeast and its nutrients being filtered out under pressure and at a low temperature. Moderately fizzy, pure strawberry cordial, sweet and delicious: good wine does not have to be serious stuff.
Lambrusco Grasparossa di Castelvetro DOC, Tenuta Pederzana, Emilia Romagna 11.5%, lively frothy fizz, ruby red (if not as deep as a sparkling Shiraz as some thought), some red fruit but then almond and savoury flavours; light on the palate and only slightly sweet, but with a bitter finish, ergo must be Italian. And indeed it was a traditional Lambrusco, not the industrial stuff, but still best served with a plate of fatty salami …
And the moral of the story? – in fact there were two: 1. because of the subtle differences between them, identifying sparkling wines tasted blind can only succeed if the number of variables are reduced so that contrasts stand out (eg start from base of same region or same grape variety or strongly contrasting styles) and 2. nonetheless a great deal of fun can be had in the process.
1970s Claret – old friends reunited
Saturday night’s Andover Wine Friends’ Fine Wine supper was remarkable by any standard, the main act being eight wines from Bordeaux from four vintages in the 1970s. The first thing to celebrate was the friendship and generosity of those who love wine. The eight wines all came from the cellar of one of our number who happily shared them with the rest of us. This was no small gift – among the eight there were two second growths, three third growths, a ‘super 5th’ from the Medoc and a Premier Grand Cru Classé from Saint-Emilion. At today’s prices – if you could find the wines at all – they were together worth a four figure amount but were shared with us at their original prices. One still had a price label on it from the year after decimalisation – £5.91. They had spent the past thirty plus years mainly in one cellar before being moved to Hampshire in the last few years. It was a great act of generosity and, let’s face it, a sharing of an experience that no of us are ever likely to have again.
The second reason for celebration was that all eight bottles – and a 1982 which another member shared with us from his cellar – 
were in good condition. Nine wines in drinkable condition between 30 and 42 years old were a testimony to the longevity of wine itself. It represented a triumph of the wine maker’s art, made possible by impermeable glass and high quality cork. Those who remember the 1970s will know that it was a poor decade but that there were some half decent and better vintages represented here. The warming of the climate since then has meant that the lottery of the weather is no longer the feature it was, especially for the production of ripe Cabernet Sauvignon grapes, a late ripening variety which is the backbone of the Médoc. One feature was clear enough in these examples – while most had Cabernet Sauvignon as the principal grape variety, the amount of Merlot has increased at the expense of Cabernet Franc in particular. Young wines are no doubt more approachable now than then – for this reason, combined with warmer weather and better work in vineyard and cellar. But we of course were tasting seriously old wines.
While all eight 1970s were still alive and well, there was quite a range within them. Two of the three 1970s shone – the oldest wines of them all – while a 1978 from a very famous chateau also sang. But some famous names in relatively good years did not.
Best of the ‘70s
Top wine of the evening, with 5 out of 15 tasters voting for it, was second growth Ch. Ducru Beaucaillou 1970. The Ducru led with classic cedar box and perfumed bouquet and still had beautiful sweet fruit and a mildly tannic finish. Not many of these wines showed that balance, and where they were grippy it was in a drying out way, not still lively tannins. Interestingly, Michael Broadbent many years ago stated that aside from Latour and Cheval Blanc, this was the best bottling of the 1970 vintage. From the same vintage but rather less prestigious in terms of rankings, Ch. La Lagune also showed really well – a deep colour, most youthful of the bouquets of all these wines, excellent red fruit character. The other, rather more predictable, star wine was Ch. Palmer 1978, well known third growth with a very imposing label. We did not taste these wines blind so we will never know how much reputation swayed people’s judgments. The Palmer was certainly very fine: capsicum, balsamic and lavender notes on the nose, much more fruit than its 1978 partner and still a fine refreshing finish. Last up in the top half of the table was another prestigious wine, second growth Ch. Brane Cantenac 1970, which was positively farmyardy and could just about have passed for old Burgundy, with a superb texture, which was a feature of so many of these wines.
Texture, now there is subject in its own right. The great thing about fine old wines is the evolution of bouquet and flavour, followed by the mouth feel. The forceful flavours of young fruit have long gone, the acidity is somewhat attenuated and the tannins have got longer and suppler. Even some of the less good wines in this line up still showed a remarkable subtlety in the mouth. Apart from sheer curiosity about longevity, this is a quality which makes it positively worth keeping good or excellent wines for decades to witness how they will develop.
The ‘we’re still here from the 70s’ wines
Our one wine from the Graves, ie south of the city of Bordeaux, put up a good show in this company: it certainly got the most original tasting note of the evening. Ch. Malartic-Lagraviere 1978, was a humble Graves then, but has since been promoted to AC Pessac-Léognan. Notes of green pepper, cattle hair (sic), grass and leather, not much fruit, but that super subtle texture which has been commented on. Ch. Malescot St Exupery 1976 had some fading plum fruit but was drying out, while that old British favourite Ch. Lynch Bages 1975 still had some cedar and blackcurrant notes and that sinewy, perfectly knit together palate with some freshness. Our only representative from the right bank (ie from predominantly clay soils rather than gravel) Ch. Trotte Vieille 1975, showed some balsam perfume and old fruit, but was also drying out, from an originally tannic vintage.
This was a superb evening, further enlivened by some other fine wines, excellent food and great company. Of the wines, the following should get a mention, however brief:
Champagne, Pol Roger, Brut 2000: a beautiful aperitif but perhaps not quite the wow factor I was hoping for
Ch. Fonréaud, Les Cynes, Bordeaux 
blanc 2009: prominent oak, then bold lemon fruit and waxy texture (Sauvignon Blanc, Sémillon, Muscadelle)
Ch. de Pez 1982: very fine fruit, tobacco and balsam, very subtle, very good Claret from the ‘Parker vintage’
Clos de Bourg, Première Trie, Moelleux, Vouvray, Domaine Huet, 1990 – a quite superb deep orange gold in colour (see picture on right), only moderately sweet, brilliant marmalade fruit, outstanding
The four colours of 2003 Dom Perignon
2003 – the season
Everyone knows that 2003 was an exceptionally hot year in Europe. Janet and I spent a small part of that summer working in the large garden of friends and found ourselves having to adopt habits more typical of Mediterranean countries – get up early and work outside until late morning, have a long lunch break, and resume the campaign in the early evening. In the wine world, after the great success of the much more typical 2002 vintage in Champagne and elsewhere in France, the question was could great wine be made in the hot year of 2003? Nine years on at the launch of the 2003 Dom Pérignon, chef de cave Richard Geoffrey, was, unsurprisingly, upbeat: yes, we did make the 2003, and we always thought we would – it is like 1947, 1959 and 1976 … Unfortunately he did not bring along a bottle of any of these vintages to prove his point!
But it was not just the heat that made 2003 a very demanding year. The season started with severe spring frosts which led to a loss of viable fruit buds so that in parts of the Côte des Blancs eventual yields were down by up to 75% at 20 hectolitres per hectare. As a result of this and the summer heat, there was a very small, fast ripening crop. In line with their usual practice the ripeness of the fruit was carefully monitored in the final weeks of the year. As the thermometer reading soared above 40°, the vines shut down, so no further sugars were made, but the phenolic ripening of the skins and seeds continued. As the the wine maker told his story he got limited sympathy for having to interrupt his holiday in San Tropez in order to return to the Champagne area for a harvest which started on 25 August, at the time only the second ever August harvest since 1822. There were many technical challenges for wineries more used to dealing with the harvest of a cool and damp climate – the temperature of the grapes, the choice of when to pick, issues to do with skin contact and then clarification – but they were by no means insurmountable. It was fine if you were open-minded enough, says Geoffrey with a knowing smile. The challenge in wine making was to turn strength into intensity.
2003 – the wine
The 2003 wine is remarkable if unusual. It starts with a fine floral note but this quickly gives way to a range of components – ripe if muted exotic fruit, honey, currently noticeable oak, some herbiness, an intriguing bitterness and a notable minerality. The palate is currently moderately intense and the acidity, not surprisingly given the heat of the summer, very low by Champagne standards. If the mark of outstanding wine is its complexity, then this stands out – even if it is right up one end of the spectrum for cool climate wine. Richard Geoffrey is adamant that there is no basis for the commonplace that wine needs elevated acidity to age well. It is the flavour intensity that matters. He is sure that the 2003 will age for decades … ending the debate by his assertion that Dom Pérignon 1976 is a now a monument!
2003 – the colours
So much for the season and the wine, how do Dom Pérignon wish to present the wine? After the introduction and simple tasting we were treated to an interactive, almost theatrical experience. In darkened rooms – DP believes in the eternal chicness of black – we are assigned a sommelier and a tasting bar, and led (very willingly) through the colours of white, gold, hibiscus red and blue-black … four colours, four micro dishes with exquisite tasting combinations. Let’s do the photo blog first:
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You can’t accuse of Dom Pérignon or their chefs of not trying! This was a spectacular line-up of colour, the non-colour of black and flavours. If the idea was to broaden our concept of ‘what goes’ with vintage Champagne, it certainly worked. For me the most remarkable combination with the wine was the very first – a cream and egg yolk ‘egg’ with cinnamon, a coarse black salt and just a touch of the luxuriant sweetness of maple syrup. In a ‘like with like’ match, the indulgently rich texture of the dish brought out the richness of the wine, cream meets cream, while in a cross current, the cinnamon brought out the fruit and the whole was livened up with the hit of salt. This was more than a taste, it was a unfolding series of rich textures punctuated by hits of cinnamon, salt and sweetness. Remarkable.
The two middle dishes, were very good, but tasting-wine combination were not on the same level. In the gold dish, the La Mancha saffron was certainly warm and powerful and the Livorno risotto rice, called Acquarello, holds its marked firmness while being cooked. The dish was finished off with the intense bite of four year old Parmesan. Despite being a classic combination, I felt the dish stood side by side with the wine. Similarly with the red number: all the fireworks were from the low salt farmed caviar from Aquitaine on its bed of hibiscus reduction, rather than its interplay with the wine. However, the textural pyrotechnics returned with the final ‘black’ dish, foie gras and a 40-ingredient mole sauce, including the key contributions of chocolate and mild chilli. Whatever the colour, richness is the key to 2003 Dom Pérignon.
Birthday bubbles, streams of Syrah
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One birthday at the Overton blind tasting group, marked by the last of three bottles of a special wine. Lively, bubbles, youngish tasting bright fruit, mild nuttiness, noticeable acidity, balanced and attractive – but not really giving its origins away. One member in the group in the trade thought it was very, very good Cava – which would make Cava makers very happy indeed: Champagne Dom Pérignon 2000. Very good if slightly underwhelming |
| My immediate thought on this was ‘Sauvignon Blanc with attitude’ because of its mildly gooseberry fruit, attractive greenness and high acidity. From the Mont Damnés, Chavignol, Sancerre, this comes from a micro production: La Fleur de Galifard, Thomas-Labaille, Sancerre 2010: concentrated rather than highly mineral, perhaps because it is made with very ripe grapes. |  |
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Not many clues on the nose here but then waxy and full on the palate, medium acidity and good length. Subtle use of oak to give some structure but not flavour. This is a blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon but not from Bordeaux. North West Spain was a good punt: more North East: Castell d’Encus, Taleia, Costers del Segre, 2009, Spain |
| This is the sort of wine you want in a blind tasting: green apples, lime spritz, petrol notes, low alcohol, off-dry with obvious residual sugar. German Riesling we all thought rightly (except one experienced member of the wine trade – but that is the joy of blind tasting). Beautifully balanced and complex: Forsterer Jesuitengarten Riesling Spätlese, Pfalz, 1999. |  |
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This was announced as ‘light red’ which it wasn’t. The colour was not that deep, but then good dark plum fruit, coffee and some slight stalkiness on the finish. Once we established we were were in Australia, the question was: ‘Which island of Australia are we in?’ ‘The big one’ was the answer. A good quality Australian Grenache from the Barossa: Thiele Road, Schwarz Wine Company, Grenache 2006. |
| Chakana Reserve Bonarda Old Vine 2009 from Argentina is not a wine or even style I have come across before. As with Malbec, it is an example of Argentina doing something remarkable with a grape variety which is not seen as a major player in its (in this case) north Italian homeland. In this wine it presents a bit like Malbec – good dark fruit, chocolate notes, the richness offset by by sharp acidity, very worthwhile. |  |
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By contrast, here is a great red grape variety doing what only it can do in its homeland – and living up to its big name: beautiful richness and balance, complex dark sour cherry fruit, liquorice and tobacco notes, herbs, excellent length and precise reflection of where it comes from: I am delighted to say that some spotted that this was indeed Brunello from the Montalcino plateau, one of the great versions of Sangiovese which (only?) Tuscany does: Castiglion del Bosco 2007. |
| The key here was the weight – full of rounded, developed fruit but medium in weight, not a really hot climate wine, In fact with age, this has developed a sort of elegance not often associated with its appellation. Some experienced tasters even flirted with the idea it might be Burgundy … but one person was spot on further south and actually named the producer correctly! Jaboulet, Crozes Hermitage, 1999. |  |
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This is turning into a stream of Syrah … this one showing good red and black fruit, soft tannins, very drinkable … and, big clue (use all the available evidence!) a very heavy bottle. From California’s Central Coast: Syrah, Bien Nacido Hillside Estate, Qupé, Santa Maria Valley, 2004. |
| And another … a beautiful young Syrah, old world this time … Terres Blanche, AC Saint Joseph, 2007. The name comes from the steep, low yielding patches of limestone and clay, which produce greater concentration that the domaine’s standard St Joseph. Very impressive. |  |
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Definitely not Syrah … gorgeous amber brown, a nose of classy old furniture – beeswax – nuttiness, deliberate oxidation and then searing refreshing acidity on the palate. A bit of a debate on Madeira v. Oloroso Sherry, but he who was certain it was the former was absolutely correct: Justino’s Malmsey, Broadbent Selection, 10 years old: old school and fabulous. |
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Mission impossible
Asking the owner of an independent wine shop to choose just six wines to show off his wines is definitely mission impossible. If the shop is a creation of one person, he or she has spent hundreds of hours and selfless tasted probably thousands of wines to pick the stock … and then they have to be whittled down to just six! But it makes for a good game and the wines should be excellent. And the selection should tell you a great deal about the owner’s preferences.
Tim Pearce of Grape Expectations, Andover, was the man on a mission. I had made one stipulation – we must taste his very best Champagne! And then there were a number of bonus wines too.
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Pale lemon, fine citrus notes, some melon fruit, sharp acidity and, at least in Tim’s view, some creaminess. We tasted these wines blind – because we like to have a bit of suffering with our pleasure – but this was just too obscure for that game! This was a north Italian white: Castelfeder, Kerner ‘Lahn’ 2009 which comes from Südtirol or Alto Adige if you prefer, and is made from the Kerner grape, itself a cross between Riesling and Trollinger. That attractive sharp acidity comes from the 15 degrees of temperature difference between night and day in the area. |
| Wine number two was straw in colour, quite aromatic – flowers, sherbet and lemon, with moderately high acidity, medium bodied, persistent with a very dry finish. ‘Fragrant, cool, good length’ was one comment; and ‘great value at £8’. This is an excellent bottle from an unlikely source: Catarina 2010, Bacalhôa, Setubal Peninsula, Portugal, 13.5% alcohol but very well balanced. 60% Fernão Pires, 30% Chardonnay, 10% Arinto, with just the Chardonnay being fermented in oak. |  |
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Now here is a wine to divide opinion! The fact that we struggled to identify it told its own story. It isn’t made from an unusual German cross or Portuguese grape varieties … in fact it could not be more more main stream. After some initially mustiness had lifted (natural wine making), toffee apple and vanilla on the nose with rich apple fruit, good acidity, no signs of oak on the palate: 100% Chardonnay from southern Burgundy, clearly given the big oak treatment: ‘Aragonite’, Clos des vignes du Maynes, AC Macon-Cruzille, 2009. Classic Burgundy isn’t, but it is a wine of real character. |
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| Some wines do deserve three pictures. A superb vintage Champagne, from Henriot, from the good 1998 vintage: still lively mousse, medium pronounced biscuity nose, full bodied rich fruit, wonderful balance combining ageing notes and remaining freshness, great depth of flavour. As one learned commentator wrote: ‘Yum’! |  |
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Back to the unknown. Some initial ‘bubblegum’ on the nose led us down the wrong path, then ripe cherries, even cherry icecream. A north Italian grape variety apparently … we eventually got to Lagrein, in this wine which I had tasted a few weeks ago. A red from Castelfeder again: Lagrein 2008. The picture is getting clear: this buyer doesn’t worry about whether the wine is well known or not, he buys what he likes … |
| And he likes pairs of wines from the same estate: here is the red from Clos des Vignes du Maynes, AC Macon Cruzille 2010. And is there a twist … you bet there is! Good raspberry fruit, high acidity, medium tannins, some old oak. So what is the one thing you don’t do with the Gamay grape – oak it of course! Another super low intervention wine, no added SO2, but then 11 months on the lees in oak barrels. |  |
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OK, we did spot this one: Pinot Noir in some form or other, raspberry and strawberry fruit, some attractive farmyardy notes, quite structured with lots of fairly linear fruit on the palate, plenty of alcohol, good drinking. Tim teased me that I had been to this estate … but as I have not ventured out of Europe recently, this seemed unlikely. Clos Henri, Marlborough, New Zealand 2008. But it is indeed from Henri Bourgeois, who I did indeed visit in cool Sancerre just over a year ago. |
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| On to the bonus wines. Here is a wine you definitely can’t buy at Grape Expectations, or probably any where else: Borges & Irmão, Vintage Port 1963. A case of six made £139 in a Christie’s auction of 2001 … a precious bottle from Tim’s own cellar, a minor house in a great vintage. Pale, spirity, sweet fruit still with us … |   |
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Two final bonus wines: a big, bold South African ‘port’ in all but name first: Axe Hill, Mossops, 2002, South Africa. And then another sweet red wine, but this just 14.5% alcohol, a great Italian classic, Recioto della Valpolicella 2004 from the outstanding Corte Sant’Alda. Clearly some one knows my tastes! Dense cherry fruit, nice wood notes, super balance of rich red fruit on the palate with mild tannins and a dry finish. Marinella Camerani’s wines do not disappoint! |
In wine, as in life, it is a good idea to let people with talent express themselves … thanks to Tim and other generous guests for a great evening.
In the pink
Veuve Clicquot launched their two 2004 vintages wines – white and rosé – with an interesting comparison. What is the effect of bottling these wines in a normal bottle size, a magnum and a jeroboam? 
Apart from making a very pretty picture, the answer in a wine of this quality is that there is a marked difference. The smaller the bottle the more you notice the yeast and mushroom aromas of bottle ageing. By contrast, the large bottle preserves the fruit flavours. Either way, these are subtle, highly drinkable and pleasurable wines.
Twins and triplets
We have been enjoying a number of parties to launch our new garden/tasting room at home. It replaces a plastic conservatory and is proving a real joy – opening up the entire ground floor of the house, giving lovely views into the garden and creating lots of space. And of course we have an excuse for a number of wine-themed celebrations. Here is the splendid magnum of rosé from Domaine Cazes, Roussillon, from the family lunch, a very attractive colour indeed!
You can seat 10-12 in one end of the room for a tasting or meal, and lots more if you go in the other direction. Here is the ‘before’ scene; the ‘after’ we will leave to your imagination, though there is a picture below.
One of the parties was for the tasting group, the BBC (Bring a Bottle Club), which sometimes is a complete free choice for its participating members (BBC 1) or on a theme (BBC 2). This fell somewhere in between as we wanted to taste some bottles of old Sangiovese. Others offered to bring a course to eat with matching wines which was a very generous offer. So here goes:
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Anyone who is kind enough to bring a magnum of vintage Champagne is excused any other  contribution! Champagne Vilmart, Grand Cellier D’or 2000, Premier Cru – pale to mid gold, rich on the nose (70% Chardonnay, the rest Pinot Noir), nutty, refined yeastiness, pronounced palate, subtle and substantial at the same time. |
| Domaine Cheveau’s wines have made quite an impression at Caviste and this Pouilly-Fuissé 2009 Les Trois Terroirs was no exception. Full of lively apricot fruit, most plumped for white Burgundy, with a small (and wrong) faction for Viognier. I was in the latter group but a warm year in southerly Burgundy was a fair meeting point. |
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Twins from Ridge California Chardonnay accompanied a delicious smoked salmon parcel dish which I failed to photograph but certainly enjoyed eating. We all agreed on Chardonnay; some thought one from the new world and one from the old, but in fact Santa Cruz Mountains is made with grapes from the young vines, while Monte Bello is the older sibling. In both new oak is still quite prominent (2007), fruit sweetness and varying levels of toffee and golden syrup notes … |
| Triplets from Tuscany followed, with my version of Wild Boar and Olives … People may have rememberedk the Sangiovese hint, but the view was that the 2007 and the 2003 were related wines and that 1999 was ‘different’. In fact this was three vintages of Castello del Trebbio, Lastricato, Chianti Rufina riserva – with the oldest wines outshining the youngsters. A fuller comment on this mini-vertical can be found here. |  |
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Warning: we are entering unusual wine territory! A bonus bottle from a tiny production Spanish producer which we couldn’t easily place. Delicious, full of character, ripe fruit, lots of substance … Spanish … we still had no idea. In fact Rioja but made solely with Graciano and Garnacha, and no hint of Tempranillo. Tiera Fidel, Rioja 2007. Interesting but quite expensive (£30). |
| Even further off the beaten track: very rich, red-berried fruit, ripeness, some sweetness, dense and … it turns out to be a wine made from three passes through the vineyard for Groppello and Marzemino grapes, the grapes allowed to dry out for three weeks (semi-passito), then six months in barriques: there are less than 1,000 bottles of Simut from Leali di Monteacuto, 2004 on the western side of Lake Garda, Italy. |  |
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There is nothing particularly obscure about vintage port but nobody guessed the identity of this sweet red wine … 10th wine of the evening? thrown off balance by rare Italians? A trial first bottle of a case: sweet, red, young, with high acidity and many, many years ahead of it. Quinta do Crasto 2003 takes its first bow and accompanied a magnificent cheese board.  |
| We entered the last lap: a quintet of sweet(ish) whites, including a trio of wines made from Chenin Blanc, of which in turn two were twins from one producer – though of course no one knew about this whole set of relationships at the time. |  |
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The first of the five was off-dry to the slight surprise of the person who brought it. A pale amber in colour, floral, old apples and cheese on the nose, mild woody notes, yeast – a complex and typically interesting wine from Huet: Le Haut-Lieu, Vouvray 1989. Chenin Blanc of this quality and initial level of acidity can age for decades. For further vintages, click here |
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Château Doisy-Vétrines, Grand Cru, Sauternes, 1996, a beautiful, structured and elegant wine, sweet with honey notes, biscuit and marmalade flavours from the effect of botrytis, toffee apples, good refreshing finish. Guesses of the vintage neatly spanned the actual date. |
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A final trio of wines, which in fact were French twins and an Italian non-relative. Some of us did detect Loire Chenin Blanc in the twins, this time in a sweet style. The first was lighter, moderately sweet, rich in fruit, good acidity. In the mouth it was luscious and with a hint of marmalade richness. The second was massively sweet, richer, massively marmaladely…perhaps a bit ‘obvious’. |
| They turned out to be a pair from Domaine de Montgilet (Victor e Vincent Breton) and the appellation is Coteaux de L’Aubance in Anjou. The first was the more expensive Clos des Huttieres 1999, while the second, which people preferred as it was more expressive, was Les Trois Schistes, 2002. |  |
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Finally, people really loved the Italian non-relative, burnt sugar and toffee apples wine, with its marked toffee, old wood and oxidative notes. The best guess was for Madeira, but in fact it was a Tuscan Vin Santo from a domestic sized production by Lucia D’Antillio Bacci: Fattoria Santa Maria, Montescudaio, 2000 is excellent: rich, sweet and nutty and an amazing bargain at €12.50. You can see pictures of the estate here. |
Thank you to members of the BBC for launching our garden/tasting room in such style – may your choices of wine be ever more rewarding/adventurous (delete as required!)
Unsung Pinot Meunier
Champagne is normally made from a blend of three grapes, Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier and Chardonnay. Michael Edwards in The Finest Wines of Champagne, (Aurum, London 2009) tells us that the proportions planted are 38, 33 and 29 per cent respectively, which means that one third of the total area of the Champagne vineyard is planted to the otherwise unknown Pinot Meunier. As the name hints, it is probably a mutation of Pinot Noir. The best sites, where the prized belemnite chalk forms South facing slopes which catch the sun, are given over to the well known pair of grapes. But the unsung Meunier has its moment as a hardier, late ripening variety, better suited to the cold, clay soils of the Marne Valley, where the other two grapes would struggle in this cool northern region.
Meunier is normally used as a part of the blend of standard Champagnes, with many better crus and vintage wines being made wholly of the two ‘noble’ varieties. It contributes ‘palate-filling volume’ (Edwards) and attractive fruit in the short term. But the variety has its supporters. Edwards argues that it can be fine and structured. If it is indeed a mutation of Pinot Noir, that should be no surprise. I had the rare chance to test this at the annual major Champagne tasting where, amid the 70 producers, there were a handful who showed wines made wholly of Pinot Meunier. The producers are supposed to bring only three wines each to the tasting, stacking the odds against such rarities appearing, but would you expect the independent minded Champenois to abide by this rule? Of course not.
J. Charpentier, Cuvée Pierre-Henri, 100% Pinot Meunier, shows nice exotic fruit, apples to peach in flavour, an entry level Champagne with medium persistence, good but not particularly complex. Surrounded by fabulous wines this could appear rather ordinary or indeed confirm the reputation of the grape variety, but drunk on its own it would be a perfectly good option and delicious in its own right.
Arlaux, 100% Pinot Meunier is aged for seven years on the lees producing a lovely exotic richness and giving the lie to the notion that this grape variety can’ t be aged. It would be an interesting wine to match to food, given its richness but you only have to think of fish or chicken dishes in a rich sauce and it would click perfectly.
More whimsically, one can’t help wondering if John Arlott, would not have enjoyed the wines of the company which nearly shares his surname – well if you pronounce his name as if it were French. Arlott was an exemplary cricket commentator of another era, who was also well known for fuelling that gravelly Hampshire burr with big name Champagne. In those days there were long periods of Test matches when absolutely nothing happened!
Tarlant, La Vigne d’Or 2002 is again 100% Pinot Meunier. A single vintage wine, it has been on its lees for the best part of eight years, having been disgorged (ie process of removing the plug of dead yeast cells created by the second fermentation in the bottle) in 2010. Pronounced aromas and flavours of apples, pineapple and guava, good acidity: overall, the word is exotic.
It won’t be to everyone’s taste, but Pinot Meunier … take a bow.
Something to celebrate: 1990
I suppose it is inevitable that the wine trade will live on hype about certain vintages. It was 1982 which made Robert Parker’s name when he declared it, early and correctly, to be a great vintage. 2000 was much promoted because it was 
the millennium and fortunately turned out pretty well and 2005 was hailed as for being the vintage of the decade, or at least until we are offered the 2009s next year! And then very occasionally you will have something to celebrate which coincides with a great vintage such as 1990. The very first case of wine that Janet and I bought together was a mixed case of 1990 Burgundy reds including two bottles of Santenay-Gravieres, a fairly modest ‘village’ level wine aimed at the private consumer who had the patience to wait for its drinking window of 2000-10. This formed a centre piece for a 1990 dinner (OK, a 1990ish dinner) with some very fine bottles.
It helps if you are a bit of a hoarder and have enough in the cellar (under the stairs?) to ‘lose’ a few bottles. Some wines are stored because they really need time before they are ready to drink, some because they are special enough that they have to wait for an occasion. This is not just about quality level, as long as it meets your own threshold, it could also be that the bottle was bought on a special occasion or location.
To start with we tasted the Grand Cru champagne from Roger Brun, a small producer in Ay, his Cuvée des Sires. It’s not a vintage wine, though according to its maker this particular bottle was a mixture of 
1995 and 96, Champagne making use of its permission to keep quality high by mixing across vintages. This has lasted in the wine store because it is the penultimate bottle of a tiny cache we bought back with us on a memorable trip to Burgundy. People can be snooty about coach travel but for the wine traveller it has one huge advantage – those cases you can stash away in the luggage compartment which travel back with you. So this bottle was a memento of a stop off in Champagne on the way home – is there a better way of sweetening the business of having to come back from holiday? A little bottle age has smoothed all the edges of this wine, with a nose of brioches and apples moderately pronounced. Smooth and sophisticated.
Well out of keeping with the 1990s theme but otherwise very impressive was a 2003 white Burgundy: Puligny-Montrachet Premier Cru ‘Les Folatieres’ (Ch. de Puligny-Montrachet) – it’s there on the table with a yellow neck label! This is a wine you can admire from afar – the minute you pour it, its golden-yellow colour announces a grander wine on which lots of lovely new oak has been lavished. Actually, it could have done with a few more years yet. While it was beautiful, a few more years and that fruit and the oak would be yet more harmonious – a wine for a long term relationship?
The main event however was a trio of 1990s or near 1990s. This was a fascinating comparison between the Santenay already mentioned and two clarets. So on the one hand you had Burgundy (Pinot Noir) v. Bordeaux (mainly Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot) and then between two levels, and indeed near vintages, in Bordeaux.
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The Santenay and the Ch. d’Angludet are a fair comparison. The former is a village wine, ie the level between Bourgogne Rouge and the named vineyards of premier and grand cru. The claret similarly is a cru bourgeois, rather than a classed growth. The Burgundy is a pale brick colour with some ruby left, but pale and interesting in comparison to the much deeper red of the claret. Similarly, the Burgundy is now mainly old farmyard smells and a little bit of raspberry and strawberry fruit, while the claret is smooth and integrated, no one flavour dominating, the fine wine version of easy drinking.
By comparison, the Pauillac, Ch. Pichon Longueville is much grander wine, a second growth in Bordeaux’s (or rather Médoc’s) premier league of 1855. In the picture above, note the crest in the glass of the bottle. It is also from a great vintage, the first of the three that run from 1988 to 1990 – Bordeaux certainly had something to celebrate in that run of years. This is a much bigger, more structured wine, the blackcurrant fruit still evident along with the effects of ageing, now mellow and powerful at the same time.
As you can see from the pictures, the evening wasn’t all serious wine but a great evening with friends. But then what better setting is there for sharing fine bottles than with friends who will appreciate them? The final bottle was a Sauternes with some
bottle age – Ch. Filhot 1994. I think I picked this up in a Waitrose end-of-line sale and stashed it away. At this sort of age, the zip of young acids have begun to fade and the marmalade/cooked fruit comes to the fore. I thought that this was a bit short
on the palate but nonetheless a decent bottle from a difficult year in which there was rain during the crucial September period.
So 1990 really was something to celebrate. My only regret was that it is far more difficult to source older Italian bottles, or indeed anything other than Bordeaux or perhaps Burgundy, for mature wine. It’s fine if you are buying right at the top of the market or by the case – a few specialist businesses can meet that need. But apart from that it usually is Bordeaux. Nonetheless, it’s great to have an occasion to try some high quality wines which have survived and developed over the past couple of decades.
How old is old?
Aged wines are something of an acquired taste. They set up all sorts of conflicts. Unless you are very fortunate or rich, laying down wines for the future is only for the patient. Buying something that will be at its peak in 10, 20 or more years is extremely counter cultural. Then of course there is the big decision on when to drink the wine – unless you have bought a case, it’s all or nothing. Finally, there is the matter of taste – do you actually prefer young fruit-led wines or the bready aromas of aged champagne, the distinctly farmyard smells of old Pinot Noir or oxidized styles of old sherries and Vin Santo?
A few recent bottles illustrates some of these dilemmas.
Selvapiana Bucerchiale Chianti Rufina riserva 1998 This bottle illustrated the adage that simply ageing a wine will not make it great. Most wine is best drunk young. This riserva from one of Rufina’s best 
growers may have been one of them despite its pedigree from an excellent winery in one of Chianti’s most northerly (and usually age-worthy) areas. But if it’s a poor year to start with, the wine may just not have the fruit to develop, and that was the problem here. Despite several hours in a decanter during which cleaned up a slight off smell in the bottle, it never really sang. Remaining refreshing acidity but mono-linear. Disappointing.
As commented on in the previous post, the expensive (£120) Taittinger Comtes des Champagnes 1998 still tasted rather closed – so in this case ‘old’ probably means a twenty year weight, rather than ten. By contrast, 1999 Pannier Egerie is now ready to drink being in that fascinating state of tension between youth and decline, freshness and bottle age. The sharp apples of the fruit were complemented by mushroomy notes and nice weight in the mouth. To add to these treats a very generous host recently shared Nicolas Feuillatte Palmes d’or 1998 with us. Feuilatte is widely available as a entry level Champagne in supermarkets but also has prestige lines of which this is the top offering. Quite a lot of money had gone on the packaging – special plastic outer capsule, then a honeycomb style bottle. The wine itself showed real class in the glass with a persistent mousse of ultra fine bubbles. On the nose it was in mid-life, pastries and yeastiness and then rounded and civilized on the palate. Probably the right time to drink it – limited prospect of further development.
Red Burgundy certainly repays ageing, again if it is of sufficient quality to start with. At a recent Caviste tasting a Vallet Frères Gevrey Chambertin 2000 was superb – the lovely raspberry and redcurrant fruit now accompanied by a perfect accompaniment of earthly, composty goodness … Not old but perfectly mature. As we like to think of ourselves.
Finally, there are a small handful of wines made for the very, very long haul – they make all the preceding wines seems like children in the nursery. Chenin Blanc can make almost every sort of wine from supermarket shelf-filler, to fizz, to grand white to off-dry or sweet wine that will outlast most of us. Richard Kelley, an expert on the wines of the Loire, showed a range of these marathon wines for a Caviste tasting of the wines of Domaine Huet in Vouvray, Loire, France. The reasons for their extreme longevity is the high level of malic acid in Chenin Blanc and then the northern latitude of the Loire. All the acidity is retained and the wines are aged for decades in bottles; most will have residual sugar to offset the acidity. Though I didn’t get to the full tasting, Richard still had a precious few drops of:
1947 Le Haut Lieu Moëlleux – as I tasted these wines in the hurly burly of a crowded shop, I am going to quote Richard Kelley’s own tasting note to give some idea of the complexity of these old wines:
1947 Le Haut Lieu Moëlleux (original cork)
The most highly respected Loire vintage of the 20th Century and in Gaston Huet’s own words ‘The greatest vintage I ever made’. The harvest commenced on the 19th September. Polished. Complex appearance with orange bronze moving to olive green at the rim. A mature nose with some positive oxidation. Complex and smoky with aromas of brown sugar and cinnamon. Beautiful on entry, it has poise and perfect balance. It is delicate, elegant, textured with a fresh, pure apple purée nose combined with toffee apples, crème brûlée and pommeau. There is a pure, racy acidity that contributes to the incredible length and persistence. This will continue to age indefinitely. A perfect wine. (08/04)
1938 Haut Lieu Demi-Sec – it’s difficult to believe that this bottle is more than 70 years old and still going strong, but it is. You might be relieved to hear that it is beginning to plateau! Kelley says:
Mid-full and polished appearance. Yellow/orange. Exotic nose with dried oranges and a mineral edge. Some mushroom, but retains good fruit to the palate. Bone dry on entry and finish with severe, but not unpalatable acidity. Quite simple. Drinking now or soon. (07/06)
1990 Clos du Bourg Moëlleux 1ere Trie.
By comparison, a babe in arms: easy to appreciate, lush, sweet, ripe apples, excellent acidic finish. In this company the strapping 19 year old comes over like a mere youth.
There are many yet older wines still available – port, madeira, claret. Michael Broadbent’s classic Vintage Wine. Fifty years of tasting over three centuries of wine is an excellent guide. But these few bottles at least begin to open up the complex question of how old is old – at least in terms of wine.
