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Posts Tagged ‘Vouvray Sec’

One of the quirky charms of Overton’s ‘Bring a Bottle Club’ is the practice – usually followed by one of the regular members – of bring a joker bottle to be tasted blind, like all the wine.  There are not many other places where you could taste a 10 year old English rosé, a Maltese red or a white Nero (that’s the clue) di Troia.  However, as there is no conferring before the tasting on what people will bring, the ‘joker’ factor will spread to the usually more conventional choices of others.  When this happens, blind tasting becomes a somewhat random series of increasingly desperate guesses.  It is still possible to comment on the ripeness of fruit, the weight of the wine and much more, but identification becomes mission impossible. And so it proved on a pleasant summer’s evening when the chance to be inside out of the rain belied the fact that this was the July meeting of the ‘BBC’. You could say that the most recognisable alcoholic beverage of the evening was the one in the first picture below.  Plus a fine picture of post-Kilimanjaro beard …

	This first wine is a major classic and should have been recognisable.  Slightly oxidised, pale gold, floral, sharp apples and honey, some sweetness. But there was a long debate over Riesling v. Chenin Blanc, the majority wrongly favouring the former:  Le Haut-Lieu, Vouvray Sec, Huet 2002.  When you don’t spot the most distinctive wine of the evening, you know you are in trouble.
Having started with Riesling on the mind, here was another perhaps more obvious Riesling. But there was still something strange about it – trying to locate it in the world’s Riesling zones was not productive … Edgy acidity, some mineral notes, but then ripe apple and stone fruit … What nobody had in mind is a Riesling /Albarino blend grown at 1000m of altitude in NE Spain:  Ekam, Castell d’Enclus, 2010. Much praised by Jancis Robinson and stocked by Caviste.
	OK, this one should have been easy and most got the grape correct: fairly austere if oaky nose, some concentrated citrus fruit, medium acidity, good length.  It turned to be the oaked version of a fine NZ producer’s Chardonnay. But even those who drink Kumeu River regularly thought that the oak overwhelmed the fruit in this example:  Maté’s Vineyard, Chardonnay, Kumeu River 2004.
On an evening of unusual wines, this was – deservedly – the official, full on, joker.  And yes, it does say Barossa Valley Gewurztraminer on the label.  My note says ‘light, quite floral, lime [fruit]’ but nothing that might suggest its grape variety as grown in more typical locations:  Goldilocks would have needed more forensic questioning to lead her to 4 Bears, Gewurztraminer, Barossa Valley, 2008.
	Another oaky number if again in a subtle and expensive way, then good rounded fruit, all pointing to barrel fermentation, but where? As Caviste has become something of a N Spain specialist, this would be a fair surmise but trying to place this blind was impossible: made from 100% Verdejo, Naiades, Naia Viña Sila, Reuda DO, Spain, 2007.
This was the Rosé which I brought, partly to make the point that there are pink wines that will stand up in this company.  So the cloud of unknowing briefly lifted at least for me. Fragrant strawberry fruit, excellent structure, unusually for a rosé, fermented in a barrel, good length, most thought it was Provencal. In fact it is from further south:  Le Rosé, Domaine Gardiés, Côtes-du-Roussillon, 2011.
	Oh dear, seriously off-piste again.  Dense colour, minty and a touch burnt on the nose, dried fruit and black cherry, medium tannins, medium length …. no idea.  It was bought as a joker. I think it is fair to say that no one had tasted (a powerful and slightly clumsy) Cretan Syrah before: Diamantopetra, Diamantakis Winery, Crete, 2009.  Made from Syrah and the local grape Mandilari.
My wine again and one that has been taking  up a space in the rack for a few years.  Quite dense in colour and texture, probably at its peak with delicious, perfectly knit together red and black fruit, some leather notes and the slightest touch of green leafiness. People were really surprised at the weight and density of this quality Cabernet Franc:  Coteau de Noiré, Phillipe Alliet, Chinon 2003.
	Petit Verdot … Sicilian Petit Verdot of course!  PV to its friends is a minor but spicy Bordeaux variety which the adventurous experiment with in hotter climes.  Here the nose was restrained and hinting at the powerful black fruit dominated palate.  Chianu Carduni, Baglio di Pianetto, IGT Sicilia, 2004 is late picked at the end of October, and is the product of heat and long hang time on the vine in the Palermo district of Sicily.
To complete this mission impossible, another unusual wine: bold new world fruit, hugely extracted plus lashings of fine oak; chocolate, red and black fruit, but no one obvious varietal clue.  This turned out to be made by Masi from the Veneto, northern Italy, produciing wine from Amarone-style semi-dried ripe grapes but with a blend of Corvina and Malbec … in Argentina: Masi Tupungato, La Arboleda, Argentina 2008, 14.5% abv.

We are now looking forward to BBC2 on Austria (plus Germany as necessary) when at least there will be a theme – and no doubt a joker, but hopefully not five!

Blind tasting line-up – with a few interlopers (shop samples)

Ah, the monthly challenge of blind tasting … can you tell your Chardonnay from your Chenin, your Syrah from your Sangiovese? This month there were a couple of easy numbers, some real surprises and some that were completely off the wall. It all makes for a great evening!

Sancerre 2009, Cuvée G.C.  Jean-Max Roger Phew, an easy start. All eleven of us (I am pleased to report) recognised the old world Sauvignon Blanc and so headed for the Loire.  The grapes in this wine are mostly from the Le Grand Chemarin vineyard in the village of Bué, with stony, clay-limestone based soils.  Moderate gooseberry notes, a good mineral streak, very long … from one of the premier ACs, Sancerre, in a warm year, so lots of body and ripe fruit.  Very good.
	Not so simple.  Allende 2006, Rioja blanco. Lovely colour, dense mid yellow with gold hints.  Most of us thought this was old world – but had forgotten about white Rioja, here 50/50 Malvalsia and Viura grapes.  Very rich, tasted as if it were almost off dry, hugely oaked, fruit somewhere in there.  Good length.
Meursault Premier Cru Les Charmes, Vincent Bouzereau, 2002, which had us all foxed.  A great year, a great producer, very assertive nose, some toffee apple in there, but amazingly fresh on the palate without being obviously acidic.  Perhaps not typical Meursault but impressive. No one I think spotted the Chardonnay from this classic region and village.
	After we had learned what this was I asked after the vintage – which is written in huge letters on the label!  So blind tasting can be blind in more than one sense.  Argilo, Vouvray Sec, Bourillon-Dorléans, 1999.  Very attractive flowers and apple on the nose, lots of development, very good acidity (which was the clue that this is Chenin Blanc), rich and delicious.  Although technically dry, some residual sweetness.
First of an (unplanned pair of wines) made with Pinot Noir. Savigny-les-Beaune Premier Cru, Cuvée A. Girard, Hospices de Beaune 2004. Quite a deep colour for Pinot, not very obviously Pinot nose but that’s what the consensus was (rightly), fine velvety texture.  Some thought it was New World, but in fact it was red Burgundy.  The second Pinot, promoted in the batting order for the sake of comparison, everyone thought was New World and indeed most thought New Zealand, correctly: Felton Road Pinot Noir 2004.  Rich, deep and fresh, a completely different style from the red Burgundy.
	Most thought wine this was Italian – because I had brought it – a drawback of a tasting which was not truly blind.  The further thoughts were either to place it in the North (Piedmont) or the South, which just left the Tuscany of the famous areas.  Cloves and sour cherries and dark plum fruit, in fact Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, Boscarelli, 2002 (bottle on the right of the picture on the right). 90% Sangiovese, with some help from Mammolo, Canaiolo and Colorino, a  blend of traditional Tuscan grape varieties, aged in old and large barrels. Very classic.
On the left in the picture above was a complete mystery, after an initial punt on a very warm part of Beaujolais was ruled out.  Spicy, dense fruit, good palate, some complexity but rather short, what could it be?  Most were in the New World, which was a reasonable deduction.  Azamor Petit Verdot, Alentejano, Portugal – an unusual example of the minor blending grape from Bordeaux being given a star role.
	I have only a very weak memory of this wine. But that could be due to palate or just social fatigue – it was wine number nine, or rather number twelve as there were three other shop samples not written up here.  We got the continent right, but no one had the correct grape variety: lots of mint and menthol on the nose, dense red and some black fruit, impressive, say my notes.  In fact it is Ridge 1996, Lytton Springs, California, 78% Zindfandel, then Carignan and Petit Syrah.
OK – this was a lot easier, especially in contrast to Portuguese Petit Verdot!  Most plumbed straightaway from Shiraz and for the Barossa and were right, more or less. Typical densely packed black fruit, pepper, some richness, good refreshing finish.  ?migré, The Colonial Estate, Barossa Valley, 2003, Australia, is a blend of predominantly Syrah, Grenache, and Mourvedre. One final red to go!
	And the last red was a complete mystery!  Initially this wine was not very expressive and then gradually red fruit and some oak began to appear, but what was really noticeable was the high tannin levels.  We thought it was in the Old World, correctly and were offered Italy as a clue – so that’s just down to 500 or so common varieties then.  Let’s cut to the quick: Toar 2005, Masi, Veneto, Italy. It is mainly Corvina (as in Valpolicella) but is cut with Oseleta, which I am happy to admit I have never heard of before. It produces tiny berries for wines of great concentration and must be massively tannic to beef up the normally tame Corvina to this extent. The name Toar refers to the volcanic soil of the region.
The first sweet wine proved to be a star and therefore merits two pictures, one for the  bottle and one for the splendid colour, in real life a mid salmon pink turn towards orange.  ‘Bright copper’ says another commentator.  Domaine des Aubuisières Vouvray, Le Marigny, Sélection de Grains Nobles, 1990 was rich, luscious and balanced, our friend Chenin Blanc again – see the dry Vouvray above.   You can see the texture in the impressive ‘tears’ on the glass, but it is so brilliantly set off by continuing acidity which keeps this 21 year old in healthy mid-life.  A treasure probably best shared with a group of friends!
	And finally – a technically sweet red wine which people tried to place in Italy and finally got to the South of France.  Cirera, Domaine Madeloc, Pierre Gaillard, Banyuls 2005, was not that sweet in fact and slightly spirity, as benefits a Vin Doux Naturels.  Made from Black Grenache, it is surprisingly tannic.  Overall it is certainly robust and no push over. Not sure it would do well with chocolate as per the classic match.