My Favourite Wines of 2013 – The Sweet Stuff

March 31, 2014 admin

Following on from my favourite reds, favourite whites and favourite fizz of 2013, below is a selection of my favourite sweet wines from last year.

Sweet wines are under-appreciated and undervalued. They are expensive to make and can show intensely concentrated aromas and flavours that make you savour every last single drop. As they are generally unfashionable at the moment they are great value for money!

So, any trends in my choices? Of course! Call me predictable if you like:

Alsace features highly – no surprise given that it’s one of my favourite wine regions in the world, and makes some fine sweet wines.
The majority are Late harvest and / or Noble Rot styles (see below) rather than using wines made using air dried harvested grapes, Icewine, fortifieds or wines sweetened after fermentation (e.g. German Süssreserve).

Domaine Bruno Sorg Pinot Gris Sélection de Grains Nobles 2007

Domaine Bruno Sorg in Eguisheim was one of the “must visit” places for our family trip to Alsace in 2013, one of the few we wanted to see again after visiting the year before. They produce the whole range of Alsace wines, from Crémant and basic (but great value) Pinot Blanc and Sylvaner, Grand Cru wines and Marc.

After tasting our way through most of the range, I’d decided on Pinot Blanc and a variety of Rieslings as the wines to buy for home. Almost as an afterthought we asked to try the Pinot Gris Sélection de Grains Nobles (SGN), a dessert wine made from grapes affected by noble rot (which sounds only slightly better than the scientific name of botrytis cinerea), a fungus which dries out grapes and concentrates the flavours under certain favourable conditions. The German equivalent is Trockenbeerenauslese, thankfully known as TBA for short.

And it was pure, heavenly nectar. When we had finished our tasting samples we almost broke the glasses open to get at the last few drops inside. Thankfully the tasting room manager gave us a drop more while he packed our order. He did mention that the SGN is only produced in years where quantities are abundant, in the first place, so that they have enough left over from the grape quotas required to make the regular dry wines. Additionally, there needs to be significant humidity (e.g. through fog) so that botrytis is encouraged, but so much that it turns to grey rot which is undesirable.

At €57 for a half bottle it worked out at twenty times the price of a regular Pinot Blanc…but it was stunning, probably the best sweet wine I have ever tasted.

Pegasus Bay “Encore” Noble Riesling 2008*

Peg Bay’s vineyards are in the Waipara district of Canterbury, just north of Christchurch on New Zealand’s South Island. As well as great Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc, they do several different Rieslings: Bel Canto is dry and produced every year, Aria is a late harvest made roughly two in every three years, and Encore is a botrytis style only produced in exceptional years when the conditions are right.

The 2008 Encore is full of exotic and citrus fruit on the nose, with tones of mushroom from the the botrytis. It is fabulously concentrated on the palate, sweetly succulent and honeyed but balanced by fresh acidity which stops it from being cloying.

Oremus Tokaji 5 Puttonyos 2000

Long time readers might remember my Restaurant Review of Marco Pierre White Steakhouse & Grill, Dublin where I mentioned the production process for Tokaji. The bottle above which I saved until Christmas was getting deep in colour from bottle age, but the sugar levels from 5 Puttonyos and high acidity meant it was still in the spring of youth. It showed the classic apricot and mandarin flavours with hints of mushroom (weird, but not out of place) from the botrytis.

Oremus is owned by the Ribero del Duero house of Vega Sicilia – what a name to have behind you!

What’s in a name? Variations on the name Tokay have been used for several very different wines in different countries. Hold on to your hats, this can get very confusing…

Alsace Pinot Gris – before 1994 it was referred to as Tokay d’Alsace, thereafter Tokay Pinot Gris, but that name has also been prescribed since the 2007 vintage. Even in drier versions, this is a rich, oily wine.
Tocai Friulano, meaning Tocai from Friuli (near Venice in NE Italy) is a synonym of Sauvignon Vert, (sometimes called Sauvignonasse), a mutation of Sauvignon Blanc which is responsible for a lot of the substandard Chilean swill labelled as the latter. See also the Merlot / Carmenère labelling Snafu. What is it with the Chileans and grape names? Slovenia is just next door and has also had to relabel their Tocai, this time as Sauvignonasse.
Rutherglen Topaque, a fortified wine made from Bordeaux’s minor Muscadelle grape, used to be known as Tokay. Confusingly, Muscadelle planted in California is sometimes known as Sauvignon Vert
Hungarian Tokaji (Anglicised to Tokay) – the real deal!

Trimbach Gewurztraminer Vendanges Tardives 2001*

Vendange Tardive (VT) is the Alsace version of the German Spätlese, both meaning late harvest. From a technical point of view VT is actually a closer equivalent to Auslese, the next rung up on the Germanic ladder. As grapes continue to ripen on the vine their sugar content increases, meaning higher potential alcohol and thus a potentially sweeter wine, depending on when the winemaker stops fermentation.

This particular VT is suffixed with an s on each word – the plural often indicates that several passes have been made through the vineyard to pick the grapes when they are perfectly ripe. Trimbach is one of the biggest names in Alsace, noted for their excellent dry Rieslings, but they also produce excellent VTs and SGNs when conditions allow. Gewurztraminer is an excellent grape for making Vendange Tardive as it is naturally high in sugar.

Arthur Metz Gewurztraminer Sélection de Grains Nobles 2007*

Arthur Metz Gewurztraminer 2007 Sélection de Grains Nobles

Arthur Metz is predominantly a Crémant d’Alsace specialist, but sometimes other bottlings are seen on the shelves – this was picked up at random from a French supermarché. This SGN is made in the Grand Cru Steinklotz, the most northerly of Alsace’s Grand Cru vineyards, which gives it a lighter texture than some other Gewurztraminer SGNs.

Domaine Engel Pinot Gris Sélection de Grains Noble 2010*

Labels have to be studied carefully in Alsace as there are many common family names among vintners, sometimes closely related and sometimes distant branches of the family tree. For example there are both Louis Sipp and Jean Sipp in Ribeauvillé plus Sipp Mack a few clicks away over the hill in Hunawihr.

Similarly, this is made by Domaine Fernand Engel et Fils of Rorschwihr rather than Domaine Engel Frères Christian & Hubert of Orschwiller – and it’s wonderful. Hopefully someday I will get to do a multiple Alsace family taste-off!

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Opinion

My Favourite Wines of 2013 – The Whites

March 7, 2014 admin

A long overdue follow up to my favourite reds of 2013. See also my favourite fizz of 2013.

Zind-Humbrecht Alsace Pinot Gris “Heimbourg” 2002*

Zind-Humbrecht Heimbourg Pinot Gris 2000

When you have your first taste of wine, and it’s good, you might nod appreciatively or even exclaim “mmm, that’s nice” (which my Mum says to everything from JP Chenet to Grange). But when we tasted this fine, fine example of Alsace Pinot Gris the reaction was an astonished “oh…” around the room as everyone stared at their glass and wondered how much depth of flavour could possibly come from a glass of wine. It was almost like being told an age old secret about life, it was a moment I will never forget. Like many Alsace Pinot Gris this was off-dry, very rich and almost oily in viscosity. It wasn’t a perfect match for the starter it was paired with, but that didn’t matter – it was happy by itself. Zind-Humbrecht is one of the most quality-conscious houses in the region, run on biodynamic practices by the brilliant Olivier Humbrecht MW. It has plots within several of the best Grand Cru vineyards, though this is a simple “lieu-dit”.

Ata Rangi Craighall Chardonnay Martinborough 2011

One of the top few Chardonnays from New Zealand and a personal favourite; I try to taste one bottle of every vintage, but sometimes I don’t succeed – it’s several! This wine featured in my post on the New Zealand Trade Tasting – I make no apologies for repeating myself, it deserves the plaudits. Open a bottle from the fridge and see how it evolves over the next hour or so, if you are able to resist drinking it quicker than that.

Tyrrell’s Vat 1 Hunter Valley Semillon 2000

Tyrrell's Vat 1 Hunter Semillon 2000 — Tyrrell’s Vat 1 Hunter Semillon 2000

When Neil McGuigan, 2012 International Winemaker of the Year in the International Wine & Spirits Competition (IWSC), gave a tutored tasting at the pop-up vineyard in Temple Bar, he stated that Hunter Semillon is one of the two wine styles original to Australia and not reproduced elsewhere in the world. The other is the less well known liqueur Muscat from Rutherglen (perfect with Xmas pudding!)

I agree with him there, though he also provocatively called Sauvignon Blanc a “second rate grape” (I think there’s a lot of jealousy of Marlborough’s success with savvy). The beauty of Hunter Semillon is that it can be drunk young as light, fresh and citrus, but it also ages and develops magnificently over time. Often light in alcohol but not the worse for it, it develops toasty notes with time in bottle. For me, it’s a waste to drink it young.

The originator of the style is Tyrrell’s, one of the big names of the Hunter. Almost causing a family feud, the head winemaker of the time kept back a batch of the company’s best Semillon and released it at six years of age. Thankfully (for us all) it was a success, and now Vat 1 has a claim to best varietal Semillon in the world.

I opened this bottle at the end of last year, so it was over thirteen years from harvest – and it still tasted young and fresh, though with plenty of toast and honey coming through on the nose and palate. I think this would continue improving for another five to ten years.

Shaw & Smith M3 Chardonnay Adelaide Hills 2010

Despite all the ABC (“Anything But Chardonnay”) naysayers, Aussie Chardonnay goes from strength to strength. It has moved with the times, so more (relatively!) cool regions are used, picking is earlier, malolactic fermentation can be partially blocked and the use of oak is more judicious. Margaret River has the Leeuwin Estate Art Series and Cullen Kevin John superstars, Penfolds maintains a multi-regional blend for its “white Grange” Yattarna and Victoria’s Giaconda produces fabulous Chardonnay near Beechworth. This is the star of the Adelaide Hills and comes from a family firm

Trimbach Cuvée Frédérique Emile Alsace Riesling 2004

Trimbach Cuvée Frédéric Emile Riesling 2004

Trimbach are one of the oldest houses in Alsace, and also one of the biggest. Like many of the larger producers they offer different quality levels at different price points. The undisputed heavyweight champion is Clos Ste Hune Riesling, from a single walled vineyard within the Rosacker Grand Cru, up on the hills overlooking Ribeauvillé (probably my favourite town in Alsace). This is a contender for best dry Riesling in the world and is “indestructible” according to Finian Sweeney of Sweeney’s wine merchants in Dublin. This is a wine for the long haul, and has a pretty eye-watering price compared to most Alsace Riesling, though looks somewhat reasonable next to any Grand Cru Burgundy. Much more accessible and better value is the Riesling from the next tier down, the gold labelled Reserve Personnelle range’s Cuvée Frédéric Emile. This is made from ripe low-yielding 45+ year old vines in the Geisberg and Osterberg climats, fermented to full dryness. It has a mineral edge and an acidic backbone, but much more body and citrus flavour than the standard yellow label range. This 2004 example was bought with birthday wine vouchers (you see mes amis, I am not that difficult to buy for!) and was showing plenty of development – the colour had deepened, the nose had started showing diesel notes on top of the citrus, and the palate opened out. Friends who tasted this with me called it “the best Riesling they had ever tasted” – and I’d have to agree (so far). Great value for money!

Lapostolle Cuvée Alexandre Casablanca Valley Chardonnay 2011

This is an old-fashioned premium Chilean Chardonnay. I’m a sucker for the style in general, as long as it’s well executed. The 2011 is still very young, and it would benefit from a couple of years so the oak and fruit integrate more. This is a polarising wine.

Interestingly on Jancis Robinson’s Purple Pages it receives two very differing reviews:

Oaked like its going out of fashion. Which it is. Old fashioned new world Chardonnay – all tropical fruit and sweaty oak. (15/20) [Richard Hemming]
Sweet and spicy. Quite substantial but very satisfying. Finishes slightly suddenly after a great start. (16.5/20) [Jancis Robinson]

So, like a lot of issues in wine, it comes down to taste (sorry!) and personal preference.

Information, Opinion

Of Champagne and Serendipity, part 2

July 11, 2013 admin

So I was fortuitous to find a full wooden case of Champagne in my porch – but where did it actually come from? It didn’t appear by magic (unfortunately) but was one of our purchases on a trip to Champagne in 2012 – “our” referring to my wife Jess and baby son James, though his main involvement was in charming every lady he met.

I’d like to highlight two of the growers we visited on our trip. I narrowed down the choice from several on Terry Theise’s list and those mentioned in the Finest Wines of Champagne book (see Part 1) – and, to be frank, places that were actually going to have someone in to receive us. Small firms can’t afford to have permanent cellar-door staff (and this is typical of small producers throughout France) so it’s the owner and his family or someone in the office who steps in to pour.

The first was Réné Geoffroy in Aӱ (pronounced something like “aye-ee”) which is a Grand Cru rated village in the Vallée de la Marne. This area is famous for its Pinot Noir, which gives body and strawberry / raspberry / redcurrant flavours to Champagne (just like fruit-driven Pinot Noir still red wines).

Réné Geoffroy produces several different wines, three of which we decided to buy:

Volupté, which has a very high proportion of old vine Chardonnay

Empreinte, a blend of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, fermented in oak

Rosé de Saignée, a 100% Pinot Noir rosé

Although the Empreinte was fermented in oak barrels it did not have an oaky taste. So “why do it?” you may ask. It’s all down to tiny pores in the oak which let oxygen in and the affect this has on the body and longevity of the wine. Krug is a major advocate of oak – and their best wines often last for several decades.

The last one of the three was the most interesting from a wine geek (guilty as charged, m’lud) point of view. The vast majority of rosé wines throughout the world are made solely from black grapes, and the lighter colour comes from reducing the time that the clear juice is in contact with the grape skins (where all the colour is). Champagne is the only region in France where the blending of red and white base wines is permitted in the production of rosé. However, some Champagne houses do try the light skin contact method, known as saignée (as the colour is bled from the skins), and Réné Geoffroy make a great example.

The second highlight of our visit was Varnier-Fannière in Avize on the Côte des Blancs, famous for its Blanc de Blancs Chardonnay. This is another Grand Cru rated village, the top rung of quality in the Champagne region, with Premier Cru second (first is second, I’m sure that makes sense to someone). Our host was the own himself, the charming, passionate and dynamic Denis Varnier.

Given the location there was no surprise that most of his wines were Chardonnay dominated, giving primary lemon / lime citrus flavours. The body is usually light and the finish crisp, depending on the amount of time between second bottling and disgorgement (see below).

M. Varnier made a couple of very interesting remarks:

Firstly, expensive prestige cuvees such as Dom Pérignon are often made with 100% Grand Cru grapes, so the maker is entitled to use that label, but it is very rarely seen. Could this be because LVMH, the ultimate owners of Dom Pérignon, don’t want consumers to think other producers use the same quality grapes? Where would the magic be then?

Secondly, he preferred not to use oak barrels at all in the winemaking process as he prefers the wines to be as clean and linear as possible. This is a different approach from Réné Geoffroy – neither is right or wrong, it’s a stylistic choice.

The biggest share of Varnier-Fannière’s production (which is true for virtually all Champagne houses, large or small) is the non-vintage (NV) Brut. In this case it is made from Grand Cru small parcels in Avize and the nearby villages of Cramant and Ogier.

An interesting variation is the NV Brut Zero, made in exactly the same way as the regular Brut but without any sugar in the liqueur d’expedition, the liquid used to top up the bottle after the dead yeast lees have been removed post second fermentation. This process is known as disgorgement (dégorgement in French). Depending on the required style, different amounts of sugar are included to balance the acidity. Brut Zero is a fairly recent phenomenon – great with sushi and other seafood!

For his Rosé he prefers to blend – he uses 10% Pinot Noir from Aӱ – rather than using the saignée method. This makes sense if you’re great at producing Chardonnay!

He does produce a demi-sec (which tastes off-dry to medium) for certain clients who request it – he feels the additional sugar masks the underlying flavours so he’s not a fan himself, but if customers want it…he is running a business after all.

The Cuvée St Denis is made from grapes at least 65 years old grown in a single vineyard called Clos du Grand Père (referring to Denis’s grandfather Jean Fannière). This is a cut above the regular Brut but although it is a premium Champagne it isn’t vintage, i.e. from a single year’s production of grapes. In general – that should almost be in capitals – vintage champagne is the best that can be made with a single year’s grapes, and isn’t made every year if the harvest isn’t good enough.

Non-vintage is much more about maintaining a “house style” by blending component base wines from several years, though this is much easier for the grandes maisons to achieve as they also source grapes and base wines from all over the Champagne region.

Finally, we tasted the Varnier-Fannière 2005 Grand Vintage. This is made from grapes from the oldest vines, giving more concentrated flavours, though lower yields. It spends at least three years maturing in bottle compared to the minimum eighteen months for non-vintage. This gives the wine more flavours from the yeast, often similar to bread or brioche (for Marie-Antoinette).

So the 64 million Yuan question – of all these interesting and delicious choices, which did we buy? As much as we’d loved to have taken it all with us, budget and space constraints meant we had to be sparing with our purchases. We took a pair of the Brut Zero NV and a lovely wooden case of the Grand Vintage – and that’s what I just found in the porch!

PS an admission: I’m such a fanboi, I got Denis Varnier to sign his page in my Champagne book – here’s hoping I collect ‘em all!

Information, Opinion

Of Champagne and Serendipity, part 1

July 2, 2013 admin

The subject of my first blog was prompted by an unexpected discovery. While clearing a bit of space in the porch last week I thought to use the sturdy empty wooden box I had spotted to collect all the knick-knacks lying around. To my delight the box was actually full, containing six bottles of Varnier Fannière Champagne! I suppose I ought to tidy up more often, who knows what else I might find!

Despite being a self-confessed wino for twenty years, I’m a relative latecomer to the charms and intricacies of Champagne. For a long time I’d see it as something for celebrations and posing without any inherent character as a wine. The Champagnes I’d tried had been either terribly acidic (bye bye tooth enamel) or just bland – neither of which are good enough when the ticket price is so high. Don’t get me wrong, if offered a glass of Moët I’d sup away, but it’s almost offensive in its inoffensiveness – it’s wet, fizzy and alcoholic but lacking in character.

Two books gave me cause to reconsider my stance:

Terry Theise’s Reading Between The Wines is an impassioned championing of artisanal wines, including “Grower Champagnes”. Above all, Champagne can and should be treated primarily as a wine, and it can be a fine wine. This might sound self-evident to some people but it needs to be stated explicity.

Michael Edwards’ The Finest Wines Of Champagne was the first of the Fine Wine Editions that I bought (or received as a gift, as in this case). As well as an introduction on the history of Champagne and viticulture and winemaking of the region, this book contains engaging profiles of ninety producers, both big and small. So engaging, in fact, that I resolved to travel to the area and taste some for myself!

The commercial landscape of Champagne has traditionally been dominated by grandes maisons (Négociants manipulants, the big names everyone has heard of, with huge marketing budgets) on one side and grape growers (farmers who happen to produce grapes) on the other. Several cooperatives (Coopératives de manipulation) have bridged the gap somewhat, but it is only in the last five to ten years that grape growers making their own Champagne have come to prominence.

As the Growers (Récoltants manipulants) usually own small parcels of land within a distinct subregion of Champagne their wines are somewhat likely to reflect the place where the grapes are grown, compared to the consistent “House Style” which most big houses try to attain. Of course viticultural and winemaking choices also have significant impacts, but the grower’s terroir (more on this elusive term in future posts) is laid bare without the blending regime of larger producers.

Ironically, despite prestige cuvées such as Louis Roederer’s Cristal, Moët & Chandon’s Dom Pérignon and Taittinger’s Comtes de Champagne being blended from sources all over the Champagne region, among the most expensive bottles available are Krug’s Clos du Mesnil and Clos d’Ambonnay. These Blanc de Blancs (made from white grapes only, i.e. Chardonnay) and Blanc de Noirs (made from black grapes only, i.e. Pinots Noir & Meunier) respectively are made from tiny single vineyards. Is this not a return to terroir?