As it’s the long Eostre / Easter weekend my wife suggested roast lamb, which got a thumbs up from me as I’m very partial to lamb (sorry Flossie). There are a few classic wine matches for lamb; Saint-Emilion or Crianza / Reserva Rioja. As I happened to have a sample bottle of Crianza Rioja to hand the game was afoot!

Sierra Cantabria Rioja Crianza 2010 (14.0%, €17.95, O’Briens)

Rioja is traditionally made with a large majority of Tempranillo grapes, supported by small amounts of Garnacha, Graciano, Mazuelo. American oak is typically used for maturation before bottling, with the length of time linked to classification as Joven, Crianza, Reserva or Gran Reserva. All this together gives a “strawberries and cream” effect, especially for Crianzas.

But this wine didn’t taste like that at all!

Rather than strawberry or any other red fruit, the palate had dark, black fruit – blackberry and damsons. Instead of creamy vanilla there was a smoky, savoury edge. If I had been given this wine to try blind I think the closest I would have guessed would have been Ribero del Duero, not Rioja at all.

However, I should have read the “small print”. Not all Rioja Crianzas are supposed to taste like strawberries and cream! Modern style Rioja is often made with French oak (which gives smoky rather than vanilla flavours) and the grapes are well macerated to extract lots of colour and tannin.

So this is a lovely wine, and would actually go better with a steak than with lamb – but I’m not complaining, not me!

Opinion, Tasting Events

Frankie’s Single Bottle Review #05 – Rizzardi Costeggiola Soave 2014

March 20, 2016 admin

Rizzardi Costeggiola Soave 2014 (12.5%, €15.45, O’Briens)

Let’s get the obvious out of the way – most Soave is swill.

Well, to be fair, most is technically drinkable, if fairly simple, but lacking in flavour. It’s what you see on the label of the cheapest whites at your local convenience store. Over 85% of Soave production is made by co-operatives, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but when prices are fairly low then production targets are nearly always based on quantity rather than quality.

After a fantastic Amarone masterclass given by Count Guiseppe Rizzardi, we were treated to a glass of Rizzardi’s Soave with the first course of lunch. It is produced from a single vineyard on the hill of Costeggiola in the oldest part of the Soave wine region, just to the east of Verona. The soil is volcanic and the slope of the hill is steep enough to require terracing – add all of this to a southerly aspect and you have the right ingredients for some serious wine.

The blend is 70% Garganega (the minimum stipulated by the DOC regulations) and 30% Chardonnay (with other varieties also permitted). The vines are between 10 and 40 years old, a good indicator of potential quality. As is the norm the wines do not see any oak during fermentation or maturation. 2014 was a cooler vintage in Soave, meaning a longer growing season.

The 2014 is clean, tangy, with appreciable texture. It has citrus, tropical and stone fruit notes – it’s a complex, versatile, enjoyable wine.

Suffice it to say that I popped to my local O’Briens store and cleaned them out of this wine!

Tasting Events

A February Feast, part 2

March 13, 2016 admin

Following on from A February Feast, part 1, here are some of the reds which really impressed me at the Tindal’s portfolio tasting in February. In my dash round the hall I only got to taste one wine from the Tyrrell’s table – as they have just partnered up with Tindal’s they were new to the portfolio and hence probably the busiest table there!

Craggy Range Martinborough Te Muna Road Pinot Noir 2012 (€39.95, Searsons (online & Monkstown))

Te Muna Road

Although Central Otago gets most of the column inches nowadays, Martinborough remains one of the top regions for Pinot Noir within New Zealand. Like all Craggy Range’s …erm … range, this is a single vineyard bottling. The Te Muna Road vineyard is pictured above, and as this is New Zealand it is obviously bigger than some Burgundian Clos.

The 2012 is a serious wine, with concentrated red and black fruit, balanced tannins and a very smooth finish. I could see this still tasting lovely into the next decade.

Château Pesquié Ventoux Les Terrasses Rouge 2014 (€19)

Vue_du_Ventoux

Fred Chaudière’s family estate is considered to be among the best of the Ventoux in the Southern Rhône. Although Château Pesquié has a range of bottlings from the everyday to very serious (see some more of the latter here), it’s the Terrasses Rouge which stands out as a great buy. Certified organic from 2014, it consists of 60% Grenache and 40% Syrah, with minor traces of Carignan, Cinsault and Mourvèdre. Buy a magnum and book a day off!

Château Spencer La Pujade Corbières “Le Millésime” 2008 (€27.95, Searsons (online & Monkstown), Cashel Wine Cellar (Cashel))

diapo1

Winemaker Sebastien Bonneaud loves his beret and loves his Carignan, being one of its fiercest supporters. This cuvée is an unusual departure for him in that it is made from 80% Mourvèdre and 20% Syrah. After fermentation the wine is matured from 14 to 16 months in 100% new 300 and 600 litre French oak barrels, as befits an upmarket cuvée (“Le Millésime” literally translates as “The Vintage”).

At over seven years old the oak is now very well integrated, and though its influence is felt it does not stick out or jarr at all. It’s big, round and powerful, but also elegant.

Badia a Coltibuono Chianti Classico 2013 (€26.95, Searsons (online & Monkstown), Nolans Butchers (Kilcullen))

Badia

Badia a Coltibuono – literally translated as “Abbey of the Good Harvest” – has existed for a millennium, with the monks gradually expanding their landholdings, until significant change arrived under Napoleonic secularisation in 1810. This Chianti Classico is made from 90% Sangiovese and 10% Canaiolo (which softens the edges). Wild yeast are used for fermentation and it then spends a year in cask before bottling. Chianti’s signature notes are all present – sweet / sour red and black cherries, tobacco (highlighted by the tannins) and vanilla from the oak.

Badia a Coltibuono Chianti Classico Riserva 2009 (€39.50, Searsons (online & Monkstown)

2016-02-23 13.43.47

This was one of the highlights of the tasting for me. It has a noticeable family resemblance to the standard Chianti Classico above, but more depth of flavour and even smoother. The wine is made from the best selection of grapes, then the best barrels spend a further 12 months ageing on top of the standard bottling’s 12. A serious wine which is seriously drinkable!

Badia a Coltibuono Sangioveto di Toscana 2011 (€58.95, Searsons (online & Monkstown))

Sangioveto is the old local name for the Sangiovese grape, a nod to tradition for Badia a Coltibuono’s top red. Only made in the best vintages, with extra ripe fruit and maturation in French oak barrels, it is arguably Super Tuscan in style, even though it is a varietal Sangiovese – this is also hinted at by the IGT Toscana classification. Some might decry the break from tradition, but then Chianti used to contain 15% Malvasia Blanca!

This is a powerful but soft wine, lots of black fruit supported by soft tannins and 15% alcohol. Lovely to drink now, especially if decanted, but it would be worth stashing a few of these away for 2020.

Month: March 2016

Frankie’s Single Bottle Review #06 – Sierra Cantabria Rioja Crianza 2010