Earlier in the year I was invited to the trade and press tasting held by Le Caveau in the function room at Fallon & Byrne in Dublin. When I say invited, I sort of invited myself, but they were a very welcoming bunch.
Originally starting out with a retail outlet in Kilkenny in 1999, Le Caveau specialises in importing artisan wines directly from small, family-operated vineyards from around the world. The following year they added a wholesale arm to supply the on- and off-trade throughout Ireland, and of course they have a website.
As you might see from my selection, the husband and wife team of Pascal and Geraldine Rossignol take great pride in the “hand-made” aspect of small producers, though they offer a few bigger brands here and there to broaden out their range.
So let’s begin at the beginning – it’s the fizz!
Meyer-Fonné Crémant d’Alsace NV
Meyer-Fonné Brut Extra Crémant d’Alsace NV
Meyer-Fonné are one of the many excellent family vineyards in Alsace. Having tasted a couple of their wines a Sweeney’s Wine Merchants in Dublin, when I organised a family holiday to Alsace in 2012 I made sure I included them in the itinerary. And they were incredibly warm and welcoming – without any pressure to buy the poured me a taste of every single wine they make – so we’re talking over fifteen here. Thankfully my wife could drive us back to our gîte – and I did buy a fair few bottles anyway!
So how is their fizz? This would never be mistaken for Champagne – but it’s not trying to be Champagne so why should it apologize? Like many Alsace Crémants it is predominantly made from Pinot Blanc, though apparently it also contains some Pinot Meunier (the third of the traditional Champagne grapes, though very unusual for Alsace!) and Pinot Noir.
As a Crémant it is made in the same traditional way as Champagne, though without the “C” word on the label it comes in at around half the price of some well known marques. It has been such a success in France that it is now the second best selling type of sparkling wine after Champagne.
Meyer-Fonné Crémant has lovely fresh citrus and apple notes, with just a touch of balancing residual sugar apparent – it would make an excellent aperitif or partner well with white fish and seafood.
Philipponat Royale Réserve Brut NV
The predominance of red fruit (strawberry, raspberry, redcurrant, red cherry…) over citrus (lemon, lime…) and the chewy texture made me think that Pinots make up the majority of the blend. And so it transpires…it’s made from the first pressing (the cuvée) of Pinot Noir (usually 65%), of Chardonnay (30%) and of Pinot Meunier (5%).
The Pinot Noir mainly comes from Philipponnat’s own vineyards, located in Ay (sounds painful in French!) and Mareuil-sur-Ay. As a non-vintage Champagne, each bottling is based on a particular year’s harvest but with reserve wines added from previous years – depending on the quality and style (this is very important) of the vintage, between 25% to 40% of the total is made up of reserve wines. These are blended again every year in a “solera” fashion in order to incorporate older wines without loosing freshness.
The aromas and flavours are definitely reflective of the blend; citrus and red fruits plus fresh bread on the nose. In the mouth the there’s a dash lime on the attack and then softer red fruits and apples – sumptuous!
Champagne Gobillard Grande Réserve 1er Cru NV
Champagne Gobillard Grande Réserve 1er Cru NV
Don’t mind the battered label – that’s what happens when a bottle is left in an ice bucket and lots of winos help themselves to a taste!
Only 44 out of the 319 Champagne villages are classed as Premier Cru (1er is the French abbreviation). A further 17 are classed as “Grand Cru”, though the luxury cuvées that the grapes usually go into rarely advertise their provenance – it’s all about the brand. So it’s often at Premier Cru level where quality and value are to be found.
The assemblage is a third each of the three traditional Champagne grapes, sourced from Hautvillers (on the southern side of the Montagne de Reims), Cumières (also Montagne de Reims) and Dizy (Vallée de la Marne). Two full years on the lees have imparted a creamy, bready character behind the red berry and citrus fruit.
Watch this space for the next installment – Le Caveau whites!
So part one focused on Peter Lehmann’s Barossa gems and included a joke about hand gestures. Part two covered the wines of Lapostolle from Chile and Ochoa from Navarre, with a reference to Björk “It’s All So Quiet” (you all got that, right? right??)
Now part three will showcase a flight of Sauvignons, amongst others, and the disclosure of why this tasting wasn’t as silent as it should have been.
The Sauvignon Blancs
The first flight looks at some of the more memorable Sauvignon Blancs brought in by Comans.
McKenna Sauvignon Blanc 2013
McKenna Sauvignon Blanc 2013
This is an exclusive to Comans as it’s bottled especially for them by Undurraga. The name celebrates the historical connections between Ireland and Chile in the person of Irish-born Captain John Juan McKenna who played an important role in the rebellion of 1810. Take a few minutes to read the details in Tomas Clancy’s post here.
It’s unusual for me to recommend an inexpensive Chilean Sauvignon, but this is well made. You’d never mistake it for Marlborough, but if you find some of those too much then this is a little more restrained. The key word here is grapefruit – fruit sweetness but also acidity, making it tangy and refreshing.
Sablenay Touraine AOC Sauvignon Blanc 2012
Sablenay Touraine Sauvignon 2012
In terms of bang for your buck, reliability and availability, it’s pretty hard to beat a Touraine Sauvignon. If I were drawing up a hypothetical restaurant wine list it’s the first thing I’d put on there.
This one has the typical grassy notes of a French Sauvignon, but also sweet tropical fruit and grapefruit. It’s much more expressive that your average Touraine, a better bet than a lower quality no-name Sancerre. Perfect for summer on the patio!
La Rochetais AOC Pouilly Fumé 2012
La Rochetais Pouilly Fumé 2012
This is a lovely, pure, almost “Riesling-like” linear wine. It’s also an accessory to an embarrassing incident. Now as you know at pro tastings there’s no swallowing, everything is spat – if you want to taste several dozen wines and remain upright, never mind drive home afterwards, it’s the only way forward. Plus, not having so much alcohol in your bloodstream means your senses aren’t dulled and you can focus more on the tasting.
At the time of the tasting I was still recovering from a nasty chest infection – a colleague semi-seriously asked me if I had tuberculosis. Now imagine a sudden coughing fit when you’ve got a mouthful of Loire Sauvignon that you’re swilling round and trying to interpret. Instinct says spit now…but I wasn’t close to a spittoon, and so almost choked.
Thankfully the assembled members of the press were very kind and didn’t mock me which they would have been entitled to do. Though one kind gentleman did suggest I describe this wine as “one which took me breath away”.
My friends, even wine-tasting can be an extreme sport at times!
Château de Sancerre AOC Sancerre 2012
Château de Sancerre 2012
Forget own label Sancerres in the French supermarkets, this is the real deal.
The Château is owned by the Marnier-Lapostolle family who Chilean operation featured in Part Two. Both properties show the advantages of cooperation between winemakers from different areas; while the French influence can be seen in Lapostolle’s Sauvignon Blancs, for me there is a definite new world aspect to Château Sancerre – a roundness and suppleness to the fruit which make it caress the inside of your mouth.
The vineyards span four different soil types which, when blended intelligently, results in a complex yet focused wine.
Wither Hills Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2012
Wither Hills Sauvignon Blanc 2012
At the NZ Sauvignon Masterclass before the annual trade tasting this year, Kevin Judd et al. took us through how the marked differences in weather between 2012 and 2013 translated into markedly different flavour profiles. Since then I’ve found it remarkably easy to identify 2012s blind – much greener, especially asparagus, and less tropical notes.
This Wither Hills 2012 wasn’t tasted blind but the asparagus character came straight through (I like it, some don’t), but with a tangy grapefruit finish. Dare I suggest this would be amazing with an asparagus starter?
So what is this? It’s a premium, single vineyard Chilean Sauvignon Blanc. Given how many Chilean Sauvignons are around £6 / €10 it’s quite surprising to see a producer move upmarket. The first tasting note I wrote was “who’s just mowed their lawn” – it’s that distinctively grassy!
The grapes are sourced from a vineyard in Leyda Valley, which is only 9 miles / 14 km from the cooling Pacific Ocean. There are some great Pinot Noirs coming from that area, but that’s a story for another day. This 2013 vintage wine also belies its age – it has a smoother mouthfeel than one might expect from such a young wine.
So the key questions – is it a success? Is it worth the extra money? Right now I’d be happy to drink it, but I probably wouldn’t spend €24 of my own money in a wine merchants. However, I reckon this will actually evolve over the next few years, so I’d be very interested to taste an example with some more bottle age to see where it goes.
The Best Of The Rest
If you’re all Sauvignoned out, here are some of the other whites which stood out for me:
Dr L Riesling 2010
Dr Loosen Riesling 2010
For those scared or wary of Riesling, Dr Ernst Loosen’s entry level bottling is a great place to start. It’s fairly simple, though it has enough acidity to evolve more complexity over a decade. It’s fresh and fruity with a touch of residual sugar, but it’s pleasant and balanced – so moreish!
Of course Dr L makes more profound and expensive Rieslings, but the true nature of the bargain is that you won’t feel like you’re missing out even if you’re a Rieslingphile.
I like Albariños on the whole, but my main beef with them is that they often don’t offer enough bang for the buck. Meet Salterio’s offering which is a great value example from Rias Baixas. It won’t be the best you’ve ever tasted but it’s remarkable at the price.
Protos Verdejo DO Rueda 2012
Protos Verdejo DO Rueda 2012
Not much to add here as I’ve recommended this Rueda several times before – it’s a cracker!
Muga Barrel Fermented White Rioja 2013
Muga White Barrel Fermented 2013
Rioja’s Viura (also Catalonia’s Macabeo) is a fairly neutral grape. By neutral, I mean thin and often lacking in flavour. This makes it a good base component for Cava, but can make for an uninspiring dry still white. The winemakers of Rioja have long used two main techniques to add interest to their whites – oxidisation and barrel ageing. As a personal preference I’m not yet a convert to oxidised styles, so such examples from Rioja leave me cold.
Happily for me, this Muga example is clean as a whistle and definitely worth a try. It has 10% Malvasia in the blend and was fermented in new French barriques. Maturation on the lees adds to the creamy texture, but it is tangy and fresh – a great example at a fairly modest price.
Joseph Perrier Cuvée Royal Brut NV
Joseph Perrier Cuvée Royale Brut NV
Good Cava and other traditional method sparklers are better than poor Champagne (the type you often see in the supermarkets at 50% off). But good Champagne holds its own, in my opinion.
This is an almost-equal-parts blend of the main Champagne grapes – Chardonnay for lemon and freshness, Pinot Noir for red fruit and body, plus the often unfairly maligned Pinot Meunier for white fruit and floral notes.
The Cuvée Royale has three years on the lees prior to disgorgement – far beyond the minimum for not vintage – and this is where the extra body and creaminess come from. It’s far better value than a special offer Champagne.
Not really. Continuing from part one’s look at Peter Lehmann’s Barossa offerings, we now turn to a major producer from Chile whose flagship white I am a big fan of, plus a Spanish Bodega I hadn’t heard of before making top quality traditional-style reds.
Casa Lapostolle
Going under the tagline “French in essence, Chilean by birth” the house (“casa” of course) of Lapostolle is a Chilean outfit owned by the French Lapostolle-Marnier family, famous for the Grand Marnier liqueur. Even before founding their Chilean outpost twenty years ago, the family was heavily involved in wine, particularly in the eastern Loire.
Regular readers will know that I really rate their Cuvée Alexandre Chardonnay (in fact I made it one of my favourite whites of 2013), how does the rest of the portfolio stand up?
Casa Lapostolle Sauvignon Blanc 2012
This is not your bog-standard Chilean Sauvignon, which can sometimes even be made with the inferior Sauvignonasse (or as I like to call it, Sauvignonarse) grapes. For me this is where the French influence really shines though, it’s a great everyday-drinking bottle but would be fine to serve to guests at the weekend too.
Casa Lapostolle Chardonnay 2012
Casa Lapostolle Chardonnay 2012
The baby brother of my favourite below, how does it compare? Well it tastes exactly like a junior version – gently toasted oak in the background and luscious tropical fruit in the mid-palate. Grapes are sourced from the Casablanca Valley, fermented in stainless steel and then matured for seven months in a mix of old and new French oak barrels. Bravo!
Casa Lapostolle Cuvée Alexandre Chardonnay 2011
Casa Lapostolle Cuvée Alexandre Chardonnay 2011
Nectar of the gods! Melon and pineapple sing but grapefruit keeps it from getting out of hand. Plenty of acidity to keep it from getting flabby and low residual sugar giving a dry finish. The 2011 had 75% of whole cluster pressing and 25% of maceration into the press before fermenting. 50% was fermented in French barrels and 56% was aged in French barrels for 8 month (part news and part used) and 44% in stainless steel tanks. The wine didn’t go through malolactic fermentation which accounts for the strong streak of acidity.
Casa Lapostolle Cabernet Sauvignon 2011
Casa Lapostolle Cabernet Sauvignon 2011
As any wine student will tell you, wines sold in the EU have to have a minimum of 85% of the stated varieties, and therefore don’t have to tell you about the other 15%. This Ribena-special Cabernet actually has 7% Carmenère, 3% Merlot, 3% Shiraz and 1% Cabernet Franc in the blend – and is probably all the better for it. Cabernet can have a great attack and great finish but be a bit hollow in the middle – it sometimes gets called the “doughnut grape”.
All the grapes are harvested by hand and fermented with the native yeasts of the area (the subject of a future geeky blog post). Maturation included six month in oak, 55% of the wine was aged in new barrels and the balance in second and third fill barrels. If you like this style of wine (which I do), this is a steal! Mint and chocolate really come through on the palate; tasted blind I might have guessed at my favourite red wine region of Coonawarra.
Casa Lapostolle Cuvée Alexandre Cabernet Sauvignon 2011
Casa Lapostolle Cuvée Alexandre Cabernet Sauvignon 2011
Whereas the baby brother Cabernet above was made from grapes grown in the Rapel Valley, the Cuvée Alexandre Cabernet was grown in Lapostolle’s Apalta Vineyard in the Colchagua Valley. Cabernet vines were planted here from imported French clippings in 1920 – makes a mockery of the term “New World”
The assemblage for 2011 was 88% Cabernet Sauvignon; 7% Cabernet Franc and 5% Syrah. It changes from year to year depending on how different parcels perform and hwo they work when blended together. The vineyard is certified Organic by CERES, if you pay attention to that sort of thing.
100% of harvesting is by hand, then triage is done partially (77%) by optical sorting machines and the remainder (23% for those who can’t count) is hand de-stemmed. Only wild yeasts are used for fermentation; this, and the relatively shaded nature of the vineyard mean that alcohol is a relatively sensible (for such a warm climate) 14%.
So how does it taste? It’s definitely a Cabernet, tannins are present and correct, but they are fine. It’s approachable now but needs several more years to blossom.
Casa Lapostolle Clos Apalta 2008
Casa Lapostolle Clos Apalta 2008
This is Lapostolle’s flagship wine, one might even use the unloved term “icon wine”, with a price tag to match. Why is it so expensive, and is it worth the money?
The idea behind the wine is to use the best quality grapes available, give them the most painstaking manual treatment, and intervene with the winemaking process as little as possible. For example, the fruit is harvested by hand very early in the morning (so that temperatures are still fairly cool) and then stacked in small 14 kilos cases (so there’s less chance of grapes bursting and either spontaneously fermenting or spoiling. On arrival at the winery the grapes are 100% destemmed and sorted by hand.
After pressing, French oak fermentation vessels are filled by gravity which is the gentlest way to handle the must. The native yeast strains that arrived with the grapes are left to their own devices, apart from temperature control keeping a ceiling of 26C. Manual punch downs (as opposed to pumping over, for example) are used to extract colour, tannin and flavour from the macerating grapes over four to five weeks.
The juice is then racked into 100% new medium toast French oak barrels and left to go through malolactic fermentation. After 22 months maturation the wine is bottled by gravity “without any treatment or filtration” – I don’t know if this precludes a dose of sulphur at bottling or not, but it does mean no cold stabilisation.
You might have noticed that the grape variety is absent from the front of the bottle. The blend for 2008 was 73% Carmenère (Chile’s signature grape), 17% Cabernet Sauvignon and 10% Merlot. This is significantly different from year to year (another good reason not to put it on the front) – for example 2011 has only 57% Carmenère, 2009 has a dash of Petit Verdot (another minor Bordeaux grape).
And what is the result from all this care and expense? It’s a monumental wine, huge, powerful and packed with flavour. Keen tasters will notice the results of the heavy extraction process. Although we are now over six years from the 2008 harvest, this still needs a long time to unfurl and even out. If you want to try it now then I’d suggest several hours in a big decanter ahead of serving. Personally, I’d buy a case and forget about it for five years!
Ochoa
Still in the Spanish speaking world, we now head to Navarre in northern Spain. At one time considered part of the Basque Country, Navarre is now a separate autonomous community from an administrative point of view, sandwiched between the Basque country and La Rioja.
From a vinous point of view, it’s slightly more complicated as DOCa Rioja wine can include grapes from some parts of Navarre and the Basque province of Álava. DO Navarra is for wines made in the southern part of the autonomous community, principally in the foothills of the Pyrenees. Navarre used to be well known for its rosado wines, but now whites and especially reds are more common. With slightly more relaxed regulations than Rioja next door, international grapes such as Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot are fairly common.
Ochoa are a crowd I hadn’t heard of before, but when looking at their website I learned that they are a family business who have been making wine for over six centuries – not newcomers then! They make three distinct ranges:
Javier Ochoa – traditional range created by the current head of the family 25 years ago
The following three wines are from the latter range.
Ochoa Tempranillo Crianza DO Navarra 2010
Ochoa Tempranillo Crianza 2010
Made from 100% of the early-ripening Tempranillo, this has spent twelve months in 225 litre American oak barrels (the same size as Bordeaux’s barrique) – double the minimum of 6 months for a Crianza. The grapes come from the Santa Cruz estate in Traibuenas.
It’s full of voluptuous red fruit – cherry, strawberry, redcurrant, plus delicious vanilla from the oak. Ochoa give food matching suggestions of grilled meat, stews and cured cheeses, but to be honest it’s might fine drinking on its own.
Ochoa Reserva DO Navarra 2007
Ochoa Reserva 2007
Now we have the Reserva level which means wines have to be aged for at least three years before release, of which at least one has to be in barrel. Ochoa go a little further and have a minimum of fifteen months in oak. As there’s a step up in quality and price, they also use more expensive French oak along with the American oak.
Rather than being a single varietal, the Reserva is a blend of Tempranillo (55%), Cabernet Sauvignon (30%) and Merlot (15%). The palate moves on from just red fruit to a blend of red and black – this makes perfect sense when it contains Cabernet. There’s also a touch of mocha which I reckon comes from the toasted French oak.
Ochoa Gran Reserva DO Navarra 2005
Ochoa Gran Reserva 2005
I tend to steer clear of Gran Reservas. I often find them far too woody and far too dry – a result of being aged for far too long in oak. Don’t get me wrong, I like oak if it’s done well – but if there isn’t the fruit to support it in the first place I will happily leave it to others.
The general rules for Spanish Gran Reservas require a total ageing of five years before release, of which at least eighteen months has to be in barrel, and thirty six years in bottle. Ochoa mature theirs in French and American oak for two years, and don’t filter, fine or cold stablilise to preserve as much of the flavour as possible.
The Gran Reserva is a Tempranillo – Cabernet – Merlot blend just as the Reserva was. It’s a step-up in intensity of flavour and body. Black fruit has almost totally replaced red fruit, and the mocha tones are right up front. It’s a gorgeous drop, and I don’t find it in the slightest bit “woody” – hurrah!
Update: Stockists
In Ireland, Lapostolle wines are stocked by (amongst others)
What’s a “Silent Tasting”? you may ask…one where talking isn’t allowed? But hand gestures encouraged? The mind may indeed boggle.
But no, a Silent Tasting is one where the tasters pour for themselves without the producer or importer giving them the background behind the wine. The upside is that the taster can consider the wine purely on its merits, according to his/her palate, without any distractions. The downside is that there’s no one to tell the story behind the wine, if it’s interesting, so it’s always good to have comprehensive notes provided in advance, as was the case here.
Taste In Music, Taste In Wine
Now I’m striking out on an apparent detour here when I mention some similarities between taste in music and taste in wine. I’m not talking about music affecting how wine tastes (see this Wired article, for example). Instead, I’m talking about the fact that, over the years, our taste in music changes and evolves, particularly as new sounds, movements and fashions come along.
The exact same could be said of the wine world – Chardonnay was the “in-thing” in mid 90s, only to usurped by Marlborough Sauvignon and Pinot Grigio. In the 70s there was Blue Nun, Liebfraumilch, Black Tower and Mateus Rosé Now it’s all about Picpoul, Albariño and Sherry.
Some people like being at the leading edge of fandom, and quickly disown anything which has fallen out of fashion.
I’m not one of them.
I still like Queen, Dire Straits and the Pet Shop Boys that I started liking in the 80s, though I love discovering new music. I still like Aussie Chardonnay and Shiraz (as long as they are good examples), though I love Godello and Furmint (and yes, they have to be good examples too).
So what is the relevance of this detour? The wines tasted from the Coman’s portfolio are fairly familiar – in fact many are personal old favourites of mine. Of course, the wines will have evolved a little over the years, but they remain fairly modern classics in my eyes. They aren’t all at the cutting edge of wine fashion, but they taste good and people still want to drink them.
Peter Lehmann
Back when I started exploring Australian wine in the early to mid 90s, the big sellers on the supermarket shelves were Jacob’s Creek and Hardy’s Nottage Hill & Stamp Series. A step above that was Rosemount Estate (especially the purple diamond label Shiraz-Cabernet and black label straight Shiraz). A step still higher was Peter Lehmann’s Barossa series – the Shiraz was great, but I actually preferred the Cabernet Sauvignon.
That preference still remains when tasting the 2011s, but it’s a very close call.
Peter Lehmann Barossa Cabernet SauvignonPeter Lehmann Barossa Shiraz
Like many in the Barossa, Peter Lehmann was of German ancestry. In 1977, while working for Saltram, he was told to buy less grapes in from Barossagrowers, but refused as he had given his word to them. As a compromise he was allowed to start up his own company to buy and process the additional grapes. When Saltram was sold to Seagram two years later he was forbidden from having a foot in both camps so he left and went full time on his own. His loyalty to local growers and innovative methods gave rise to his sobriquet “The Baron of the Barossa”. Although ownership of the company left family hands in 2003 (shortly after my visit!), the standard of the wines remained high. Peter sadly passed away on 28 June 2013.
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As well as the standard Barossa range above (too good to be called “entry level”!), there are other – increasingly serious – Shirazes. The first is the Futures Shiraz 2009, named after the first wine Peter Lehmann sold under a “pay now, pick up in 2 years” future contract arrangement which helped generate cashflow for the fledgling business. This particular example is co-fermented with a small portion of Muscadelle, Bordeaux’s third white grape and previously known as Tokay in Australia. This serves to balance the powerful Shiraz, just as Viognier is used by some producers in Côte Rôtie, Mclaren Vale and Stellenbosch. Furthermore, it adds complexity to the wine’s aromas… Next up is the Eight Songs Shiraz 2008 which takes a different approach from the norm for the Barossa. The fruit is from vineyards over a century old, meaning fantastic intensity of flavour from low-yielding vines. The wine is matured in 100% new 300 litre French oak barrels, so it’s a wine for the long haul – though being Australian, it’s approachable in its youth. As any serious Aussie wine fan knows, 2008 was an amazing year down under – see how much of a premium the 2008 vintage of Penfold’s Grange trades as compared to other years – so this is definitely a wine to stock up on and drink over the next couple of decades.
Peter Lehmann Stonewell Shiraz
And so to the flagship, Stonewell Shiraz, named after one of the oldest areas of the Barossa. When tasting this 2009 I was reminded that I bought my cousin Stuart a case of the 1995 vintage as a wedding present back in 2001. I wonder how long they lasted?..I thought to myself. The answer came out of the blue the next day in the form of a photo of some wine that my Aunt was clearing out from her late husband (RIP) Tony’s cellar. Lo and behold some very nice Stonewell 1995! This 2009 is still a baby and needs lots of time to develop and open up, but my bet is that it will be spectacular . The final Lehmann delight was the 2011 Botrytis Semillon. As the name suggests this is a noble rot-affected dessert wine, with luscious sweetness and huge depth of flavour – and more to come as this will continue to improve with age.
To be continued with some Spanish and Chilean beauties in Part Two and some savvy Sauvignons in Part Three.
They say “Planning Prevents Poor Performance” – but sometimes it’s better to be a bit more spontaneous. And so when my wife Jess suggested having a late-notice drinks party at the end of June, I chimed in with agreement.
Below are a few of the bottles which grabbed my attention – many of which were kindly brought by guests (you see what nice friends we have?)
A Starter For 10 – Sainsbury’s Blanc de Blancs Champagne Brut NV
Sainsbury’s Blanc de Blancs Champagne Brut NV
In the run up to Xmas 2012 this delightfully light and crisp Champagne was on double-bubble reduction – I ended up paying about £11.50 per bottle which is an absurdly low amount, especially when you can pay over twice as much for a very ordinary big brand. At that price you don’t mind how many you open over the Xmas period!
The extra 18 months or so bottle age has helped add a little more funky complexity – it’s even better now, but I wouldn’t hang on to it until next summer.
The Blanc de Noirs from Sainsbury’s is great as well – especially with 25% off – and give more of a voluptuous red fruit vibe rather than citrus.
Random Light Whites
Random Light Whites
In a previous post on the Wine Society’s American Dream Tasting I mentioned Viña Litoral Sauvignon Blanc from the Leyda Valley in Chile. That time it was the 2013, but the 2012 (on the right above) shows that well made Sauvignon Blanc doesn’t fade after a year in bottle.
The Muros Antigos Alvarinho is an Albariño-beating wine made just across the Portuguese border from Riax Baixas. When showing it compared to some slightly pricier Spanish competitors at a tasting some years ago, even the Spanish attendees grudgingly admitted it was great. This is probably a year or so older than you might normally drink it, but again age has been kind. Available from Sweeney’s of Glasnevin.
And finally, the beast in the middle – not a light white at all! This is unreconstructed oaky Chardonnay, so beware if you don’t like that style. The Montes Alpha range is great across the board (well done Liberty Wines), but in my biased opinion the Chardy is the best of the lot.
Riesling – The Prince Of Grapes
Riesling, Prince Of Grapes
Some people remain unconverted by Riesling, but that leaves more for the rest of us. The awesome foursome hail from the steep slopes of Alsace and the southern climes of Tasmania.
The latter was the oldest and the leanest of the lot. Tazzie is generally the coolest state in Australia which has made it a perfect location for sparkling wine production. It is now spearheading the cool-climate Chardonnay revolution as Penfold’s now source the majority of the grapes for their “white Grange” Yattarna from Tasmania, and Shaw + Smith bought a fantastic Chardonnay vineyard not too long ago. Sauvignon Blanc has already found a home there, so why not Riesling?
South Pirie Riesling 2007 was lean and racy in the Eden Valley style – lime with a sideorder of lime! Can be a little bit austere for the feint-hearted, but well worth a try.
I had seen a few of Domaine Muré’s wines in the past but it was luck and happenstance that I (almost literally) fell into their outlet in the centre of Colmar last year. This Clos Saint-Landelin is from their own walled vineyard within the larger Vorbourg Grand Cru. To be honest, it was nice but would really benefit from a few more years to balance out and open up.
I’ve already waxed lyrical about Bruno Sorg’s Séléction de Grains Nobles, but here we have a pair of just-off-dry Rieslings from the Grand Cru sites of Florimont (straddling the villages of Ingersheim and Katzenthal) and Pfersigberg (located close to Sorg’s home village of Eguisheim). They aren’t sweet, but the little bit of residual sugar really balances the striking acidity and brings out the pure fruit.
A Brace Of Contrasting French Reds
Ladoix and Cahors
A delicate Pinot Noir from Burgundy and a stonking 15.5% Malbec from Cahors provide proof that wines can really vary within the same country.
The Ladoix was quite flat for a good time after opening but eventually blossomed, showing red fruits sitting in a light crème anglaise. It’s part of the Côte de Beaune, the sourthern part of Burgundy’s heartland the Côte d’Or.
The Cahors is a recent favourite from Sweeney’s of Glasnevin (it was my wine of the night at the MackenwayFrench tasting). Tasted blind you would probably guess the big plum and bramble flavours were the producer of Argentina rather than south west France.
The Odd Couple
The Odd Couple
In fairness these wines aren’t a couple – just slightly off the beaten track compared to some of the more well-known bottles.
Wagner-Stempel Rosé Rheinhessen 2013 (available from The Corkscrew) has previously come close to wooing me before, but as my buddy Tara brought it round I had to give it a go. Chris – you were right, it’s lovely. I’m not generally a Rosé drinker, but more of this please!
Albert Mann’s Gewurztraminer Vendanges Tardives Altenbourg 2008 is a mouthful in more than one way – this is exactly how I like my Gewurz. This late harvest beauty is something you could sit and savour at any time of the year.
The Grande Finalé
Belle Epoque & Dom Pérignon
Pretty bottles! Belle Epoque is Perrier-Jouet’s prestige cuvée – it almost seems a shame to open such a lovely bottle.
Dom Pérignon needs no further introduction (otherwise why are you reading this blog?), but this 1995 example showed why mature Champagne is such a treat.
So firstly to dispel any possible misunderstanding – H2G is short for Honest 2 Goodness as apposed to H2G2 which is shorthand for the Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy and its associated online encyclopedia. So not really alike. At all.
So now we’ve established that, what is H2G? It’s based around a farmers’ market held every Saturday in Glasnevin, north Dublin, run by brother and sister team Colm and Brid Carter. In the main Colm handles the wine and Brid the food, though of course there’s some crossover. They sell wines at the market, online and wholesale. The portfolio is imported directly by them, and mainly consists of sustainably-made wines from family producers in Spain, Italy, France, Austria and Germany.
And why “Barn-storming”? Well the high ceiling and large open door of the venue bring to mind a barn. Apart from the lack of hay. And animals. So perhaps a chai in the Médoc would be a more appropriate analogy…
The tasting covered a large chunk of their portfolio, including sparkling, white, rosé and red. Here I’ve picked out a few which really caught my attention, though the overall standard was very high.
Great version of a familiar wine: Enrico Bedin Prosecco DOC Veneto Frizzante NV
Bedin Prosecco DOC Treviso
Yes that’s right, I’ve picked a Prosecco to start with! Regular readers may remember that I don’t usually care too much for Prosecco. Yes, it’s the base of the famous Bellini cocktail, but usually a single glass is all I can manage before switching to something else. If it’s only average quality, I might not even finish the glass.
Now this example surprised me – it was very pleasant to drink without being too sweet or flabby. It’s not a terribly complex drink, with notes of citrus, apple, pear and peach, but sometimes simple is just fine.
The Bedin winery is located in the foothills close to the mediaeval town of Asolo, known as the “Colli Asolani”, fairly close to Venice. As well as Glera (the official new name for the Prosecco grape) there’s also Bianchetta Trevigiana grown here, though that is most often used for blending or making vermouth.
This is the lighter sparkling Frizzante version; due to the lower pressure it doesn’t need a Champagne-style cork and cage so can be sold with a simple crown cap. Happily, these means less Irish duty than most fizz so the tippler wins for a change!
Familiar Grape From A New Producer: Weingut Setzer Setzer Weinviertel DAC Reserve Grüner Veltliner “8000”
Setzer “8000” Grüner Veltliner
Grüner Veltliner is Austria’s signature white grape, known as GruVee by the cool kids. It’s a real mouthful in figurative and literal senses – it’s generally dry but more full-bodied than many other whites. It deserves to be better known, though it’s always going to be more niche than Chardonnay.
If you like Sauvignon Blanc and Riesling then you need to give Grüner a try.
So what’s special about this example? The other GVs made by Setzer are very drinkable, but this premium version sets itself apart by both the quality of the soil and the unusually high vine density. In this 15 hectare vineyard vine density is right up at 8,000 vines per hectare, supposedly imitating that of the Côte d’Or in Burgundy, rather than the region’s usual 3,000 vines per hectare. The competition between vines lowers yields per vine, extends their potential lifespan and results in more intense flavours.
The soil itself is described as loess(look it up!) over gravel and limestone, coming from a raised seabed – perfect for drainage (vines don’t like wet feet).
A New Producer, New Appellation, New Grape: Chateau Saint-Go AOC Saint Mont
Although there’s a lot of tradition in the world of wine, things do move pretty fast at times. This appellation is located in Gascony’s Gers Department and got promoted to AOC from VDQS (the next quality level down) in 2011.
The producer, Plaimont, is a consortium of cooperatives in South West France. Their wine production covers the appellations of AOC Saint Mont, AOC Madiran, AOC Pacherenc du Vic-Bilh and IGP Côtes de Gascogne
At the H2G tasting their entry level white “En La Tradition Blanc” was very nice, though on the simple side. The Chateau Saint-Go itself was stunning, a wine you could happily contemplate all evening (as long as you could get a top up!) Roundness and texture come from some oak ageing, but oak doesn’t dominate the palate.
And what is the new grape? It’s made with Gros Manseng (which is familiar to lovers of Jurançon from further south), Petit Courbu (found in Pacherenc du Vic-Bilh AOC) and Arrufiac. I have to confess I hadn’t heard of Arrufiac, but it transpires that its increasing popularity is mainly due to the raised profile from Plaimont.
So there you go, you never stop learning in the world of wine – and the educational experience is a fun one!
Sweeney’s in Glasnevin (Dublin) have just started listing several new Portuguese wines brought into Ireland by importer Kevin O’Hara. Kevin was in the shop today showing the wines which were all from the Alentejo, hence the post title *cough* Alan Tay Jo which is a rough approximation of the pronunciation. It is the largest wine producing region of Portugal and occupies pretty much all the southern half of the country except for the Algarve.
Just as in other European countries there are appellation laws, so some bottles here have the DOC Alentejo mark, equivalent to AOC in France. For producers wishing to use more foreign grapes not permitted by DOC laws (e.g. Syrah) there are the more forgiving regulations of Vinho Regional Alentejano . I can understand why Portugal would like to preserve its heritage and not have it swept away by a Tsunami of Sauvignon Blanc and Shiraz, but equally having international grapes in the blend does serve as an introduction to Portuguese wines for those intimidated by the unknown.
Officially, these are two different quality levels, but the reality is that one particular VR might actually be superior to a DOC – the producer isfar more important. You may notice that, very handily for producers, the 2 labels look quite similar – something that Italian Super Tuscan and French Vin de Pays producers might well envy.
With the major disclaimer that I was tasting with a head cold, here are three of my favourites from today:
Pato Frio DOC Alentejo 2012
Pato Frio 2012
This is the new house white of Michelin-starred L’Ecrivain in Dublin, chosen by their Sommèliere Martina Delaney. One of my favourite “everyday” whites Provia Regia has been the house white for the last nine years so it comes with high expectations.
Made with 100% indigenous grape Antão Vaz, this is crisp and refreshing with zingy citrus. It would be delightfully fresh on its own (a great aperitif) or with seafood in particular.
Herdade do Sobroso Sobro Tinto Vinho Regional Alentejano 2011
Herdade de Sobroso Sobro Tinto 2011
Made in the cork-producing heartland of Sobroso, this is a blendof Aragonez(Tempranillo in Rioja), the red-fleshed Alicante Bouschet (from the Languedoc in France), Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah.
And it’s a beast! But in a good way! Full bodied with dark black fruit, chocolate and spice, this would stand up to barbecued meat or be a lovely winter warmer. It had three months in American barriques to soften out the edges. Great value.
Herdado de Rocim Vinho Regional Alentejano 2010
Herdade do Rocim 2010
This was an altogether more serious wine, smooth and voluptuous in the mouth. Again it is a blend of Portuguese and international grapes – Syrah, Touriga Nacional, Aragonez, Trincadeiraand Alicante Bouschet.
This is gentler and more refined than the Sobro with subtle crunchy tannins balancing the red and black fruit. Claret fans should definitely give this a try – far more wine for the money than is usual from Bordeaux.
Part 1 covered the big 3: Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Now we turn our attention to the other varieties grown in the country of the Long White Cloud.
Riesling
As a self-confessed Riesling lover and fan of NZ wines, I find Kiwi Riesling a bit unsure of what it wants to be. Acidity and flavour are never in doubt, but the residual sugar levels vary significantly from producer to producer – often without explanation on the front label – and don’t alwaysresult in a balanced wine. For zing and purity stick to Clare Valley in South Australia, but there are some NZ gems out there.
Tohu Single Vineyard Riesling Awatere, Marlborough 2013
Zing! Made in an Alsace, bone-dry style from the cooler Awatere part of Marlborough. Very clean and linear on the palate, it might be a little too limey and intense for some on its own (though not for me!) Would be fabulous with shellfish.
Yealands Estate Riesling Marlborough 2012
This is their slightly more premium Riesling, the junior range being “Peter Yealands”. It tastes even drier than its 6g of Residual Sugar would suggest – that’s the acidity coming through.
Greywacke Riesling Marlborough 2011
This is made in an off-dry style not unlike Kabinett examples from Germany; it has 22g of residual sugar. I got a strong flavour of chalk – more pleasant than it sounds – along with citrus and honey.
Siegfried Winemakers Collection Sweet Agnes Riesling Nelson 2012
This full-on dessert style has nearly ten times the residual sugar of the Greywacke above. It’s a heavenly liquor with luscious stone fruit, mandarin and buttered brioche – all balanced by ample acidity so it’s never cloying. So moreish!
Syrah
Touted by some observers as the future of New Zealand red wine, Syrah grows best in the warmer parts of the country (Auckland, Waiheke, Hawke’s Bay) and is closer to the northern Rhone than the Barossa in style – very perfumed and elegant, restrained rather than powerful. Although Syrah likes the heat is it more tolerant of different temperatures than Cabernet Sauvignon, for example. Some producers are now experimenting with Syrah in Marlborough, watch this space!
Tinpot Hut Syrah Hawke’s Bay 2009
Fiona Turner hails from Hawke’s Bay, so it was natural that she would look to her home region for a source of Syrah. The fruit is grown in the Dartmoor Valley and Gimblett Gravels sub-regions, vinified separately then blended together. This is an elegant, supple and refined Syrah with plum and spice on the attack followed by notes of crisp bacon – very much Northern Rhône style.
Man O’ War Dreadnaught Syrah Waiheke 2010
This is the Waiheke outfit’s top Syrah, from the warmest and steepest slopes. Fairly dense and intimidating at first, it gradually opens up to reveal plum, blueberry and pepper with a savoury edge. This might benefit from food right now, but it will soften and develop over the next ten years – a keeper!
Trinity Hill Syrah Hawke’s Bay 2011
Trinity Hill’s winemaker John Hancock is a big fan of the Northern Rhône, Syrah’s spiritual home, after working under Gerard Jaboulet in Côte-Rôtie. Following the practice of that region, a small amount of Viognier is often blended in to soft the palate and add more interest on the nose. This is the entry level Trinity Hill Syrah, with Gimblett Gravels and “Homage” above it, but it acquits itself very well
Craggy Range “Le Sol” Syrah Gimblett Gravels, Hawke’s Bay 2011
This was the only wine I noticed that wasn’t available for the consumer tasting that followed the trade tasting, with a very good reason – the price! Craggy Range are all single vineyard wines, but this is getting towards “super-premium” territory. This does everything the other Syrahs above do, but more so. The youngest vintage that Craggy Range recommend drinking now is 2002 – so although this Le Sol can be drunk now, it won’t do itself justice until at least 2021 – then it will sing.
Pinot Gris
Sometimes spelling makes a big difference. Usually, a wine labelled as “Pinot Gris” will be similar to the Alsace style, intense and often off dry. Those with “Pinot Grigio” are more likely to be light and almost neutral in flavour like the thin, acidic Italian wines which clog up pub winelists everywhere (did I just say that out loud?) For the most part, New Zealand is closer to the Alsace style – even when called a Grigio as the first wine below.
Brancott Estate Pinot Grigio Marlborough 2013
This is round and supple, a very pleasant easy-drinking style. Would partner well with lots of Asian dishes.
Ata Rangi Lismore Pinot Gris Martinborough 2013
As Craighall is to Chardonnay, Lismore is to Pinot Gris. Both ripe pears and pear drop sweets feature on the round palate. It’s very rich and just off-dry – both flavour and sweetness would stand up to Thai food.
Ostler Lakeside Pinot Gris Waitaki Valley 2012
The only wine (I noticed) at the tasting from the Waitaki Valley – a marginal (even for NZ) new wine making region by the South East coast of the South Island. Marginal areas sometimes produce poor wines in bad vintages, but can excel in better vintages – it’s all about taking risks. This wine is off-dry to medium-dry with 15g of RS; it’s not a dessert wine but would be fine with spicy food, or at a push fruit salad. The 2012 is only the second vintage ever made, so vine age should lend even more complexity.
Grüner Veltliner
This variety has a lot of potential, in Marlborough (in particular), where nights are cool like its home in Austria. Usually made dry, it is an aromatic alternative to Sauvignon and Riesling, and some (I’m looking at you, Tara!) even prefer it. Grüner is generally medium-bodied and very food-friendly.
Tin Pot Hut McKee Vineyard Marlborough Grüner Veltliner 2012
As the name suggests this is made from grapes grown in a single vineyard, located in the Blind River sub-region of Marlborough. The acidity keeps it dry, clean and crisp, with a fabulous texture that makes you want to roll it round your mouth. This is a subtle wine combining peach and pear with gentle peppery spice.
Siegfried Grüner Veltliner Nelson 2011
One of Nelson’s top producers (see their Sweet Agnes dessert Riesling in part 1) who also make New Zealand’s only Würzer, a white German wine grape variety that is a crossing of Gewürztraminer and Müller-Thurgau. The winery’s founder Hermann Siegfried hails from Austria so he naturally looked to introduce Grüner to Nelson, after the regulation quarantine process. This is a typical example of the grape, with white stone fruit and white pepper (better than it sounds, honestly) from a young vineyard.
The Best of the Rest
A selection of the other wines I found interesting…
Yealands Estate, Awatere Valley Single Vineyard PGR Marlborough 2013
Pinot Gris (50%) Gewurztraminer (15%) Riesling (35%) not unlike an Alsace Edelzwicker blend. It’s so new that it doesn’t even yet feature on the Yealand’s website or even in the tasting catalogue. The small proportion of Gewurz means that it doesn’t dominate – the nose isn’t overwhelmingly floral. If you like the sound of this then also consider Te Whare Re (TWR)’s Toru.
Brancott Estate Letter Series “R” Sauvignon Gris Marlborough 2013
This is the first Sauvignon Gris I have tasted from New Zealand; there are some reasonable examples of the variety from Chile and it sometimes finds its way into white Bordeaux (both dry and sweet). This is a powerful wine with 14.0% abv and the 6.9g/L residual sugar gives it extra body and a hint of sweetness on the finish. Stylistically this is closer to a Pinot Gris than a Sauvignon Blanc. Brancott are hoping that this will help them diversify away from reliance on the latter. Interestingly, they have launched the variety with a premium rather than everyday version.
This has the traditional Champagne grape blend: Chardonnay (56%) and Pinots Noir and Meunier (44% together) and is made in the traditional method. Apparently this only had eight months on the lees before disgorgement, but it tastes like it was more. Obviously lots of bottle age which has allowed lots of complexity to develop – a class fizz.
Man O’ War Ironclad Waiheke 2010
This is a Bordeaux blend with virtually the full house of black grapes permitted in Bordeaux – Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Petit Verdot and Malbec. The grapes are picked and sorted separately from 45 different parcels on the warmer hillside sites, then blended together. As might be expected it tastes something akin to an Haut-Médoc from a warm year, blackcurrant and plum fruit dancing against a background of supple tannins. This is lovely to drink now but will easily keep (and keep developing) until the end of the decade.
Craggy Range “Sophia” Merlot / Cabernet Sauvignon Gimblett Gravels, Hawke’s Bay 2004 & 2006
Finally, two different vintages of Hawke’s Bay Bordeaux blends from Craggy Range, and older than you might often see available. The Gimblett Gravels sub-region lies over a former riverbed – hence the gravel – and so is very well drained (most quality grapes don’t produce quality wine if they have too much access to water). The 2004 consists of 92% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Franc, 1% Cabernet Sauvignon whereas the 2006 was made with 85% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc, 4% Cabernet Sauvignon, 1% Malbec – a perfect example of adjusting the blend depending on the vintage, as is the norm in Bordeaux. Both of these examples were maturing but not fully mature; there was still plenty of cassis and plum on the palate but cedar and tobacco notes starting to creep in – complex and very drinkable.
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Sweeneys Wine Merchants in Glasnevin, North Dublin, are both my favourite merchants to visit and happen to be my local wine shop, so I was sure to drop in to see what bargains they had on offer in their summer wine sale. Everything they had more than a couple of bottles of was open for tasting so it was “try before you buy” for about a dozen whites and reds, with a solitary rosé holding station in the middle.
Of course I tried all of them (just for completeness, you understand), but which most piqued my interest? There turned out to be a theme – all were Sémillon / Sauvignon Blanc blends, but from different areas.
Around ten years ago I did a “wine-walk” at the London Fine Food & Wine Show with the theme “Sémillon and Sauvignon – better on their own or together?” Wine walks are informative and good craic – a wine writer / personality / celebrity takes you on a tour of the show, stopping to taste around half a dozen or so wines from all over the show and talks you through them. I find them more engaging than the classroom-style talks, even if they can get a bit crowded at the peak times of the show.
Nowadays Sauvignon Blanc is most closely associated with Marlborough and New Zealand in general, since the Cloudy Bay and Montana phenomenon. Sémillon (usually without the accent) is most commonly seen on its own in Australia – it has become a speciality of the Hunter Valley in NSW. But, like many grapes grown round the world they both originated in France. Before the Kiwi Sauvignon Blanc explosion it was best known as the variety behind Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé, plus some slightly lesser status Loire whites.
Both grapes are allowed in White Bordeaux (along with Muscadelle which is less common) and it is together where they can reach the heights. Sauvignon gives the freshness and acidity, Sémillon the richness and body.
So what were the beauties I picked up?
Thomas Barton Graves Blanc 2007
A famous name from South West Bordeaux.
Chateau Bonnet Entre Deux Mers 2009
An oaky wine from Bordeaux, in between the Garonne and Dordogne rivers.
Hollick Sauvignon Blanc Semillon 2007
A blend of grapes from the Coonawarra and Mount Benson areas on the Limestone Coast in South Australia.
Clairault Swagman’s Semillon Sauvignon Blanc 2005
From Margaret River in Western Australia – a rare area in Australia known for blending the two grapes together.
