Opinion

Wines at Xmas #16 – Effi Tsournava [Guest Post]

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For winelovers, Christmas is a time when we look forward to drinking – and even sharing – a special bottle or two.  This might be a classic wine with traditional fare or just something different we’ve wanted to try for a while.  I asked some wine loving friends what they were looking forward to and they have kindly agreed to write a blog post for me.

Effi Tsournava works in the UK wine trade and is currently Brand Manager at ‎Maisons Marques et Domaines Ltd.  She is also an established wine blogger at effidrinkswine.com.

Two wines to elevate your Christmas festivities game

2017 must have been the quickest year of my whole life!

It sound like such a cliché but I HONESTLY feel like Christmas was just a few months ago but certainly not almost 12 months ago! For this feeling of complete restlessness, I enjoy blaming my WSET Diploma course but at the same time, this is what has made this year so unbelievably exciting. Learning about the plethora of wine styles around the globe has made me even more curious and certainly thirstier!

Since I have been enjoying far too many beautiful wines at my WSET course this year to make you feel sorry for my workload, I thought it was only fair to branch out and introduce some other than Greek wines on the Tsournavas’ Christmas table this year and see how I can satisfy the delectable taste buds of my friends and family!

Schlum-Riesling-Saering-306x1147Domaines Schlumberger Riesling Grand Cru Saering 2014: I have always been a big fan of Riesling’s tantalising vibrancy of fruit and unmistakable freshness and complexity. Sometimes, it can be quite tricky to tempt people to try a variety that they either might have never heard of before or they did and didn’t particularly like!

Alsatian Riesling is characterised by this distinctive elegance and power with a tremendous amount of freshness and complexity but with lots of finesse and elegance.  This one from Schlumberger never ceases to surprise me!  The family owns more grand cru vineyards than anyone else in Alsace and their Saering shows a fantastic spectrum of sweet lime, waxed lemon, cold honey and elegant hints of minerality and kerosene. Delicious!

Excellent with curries, oriental cuisine, shellfish or even cabbage dolmades! I usually invite my friends over for pre-Christmas lunch and this would go down like a dream!

Domaines Schlumberger Riesling Grand Cru Saering 2014 (12.5%): available for £17-£20 from The Wine Society, Davy’s, Harrods, Oxford Wine Company

Castello-Gran-Selezione-306x1043Castello di Fonterutoli Gran Selezione Chianti Classico 2013: Mazzei is one of the oldest and most important winemaking families in Italy with 25 generations of history. Sometimes, you need that much of experience in order to produce such a world class Sangiovese!  This wine is a cross between James Dean and Steve McQueen; a rare blend of charm, sophistication and seduction.

Awarded “Best Chianti” in the last Decanter World Wine Awards, this is the Sangiovese of dreams!  The result of 120 single vineyards and equal number of individual vinifications, made from 36 clones of Sangiovese (18 unique to Fonterutoli), this Italian red is the essence of “Super Chianti Classico”.  Tons of black berries, redcurrant and juicy red cherries, dark chocolate and finely ground coffee with the silkiest mouthfeel!  Is this how true love really feels like?  Try with Christmas lunch paired with wild boar sausages and steaks cooked with prunes.

Castello di Fonterutoli Gran Selezione Chianti Classico 2013 (14.0%): available for £45 – £50 from Harrods, Davy’s, Cambridge Wine Merchants, Il Toscanaccio, Petersham Cellar.

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Opinion

Wines at Xmas #15 – Barbara Boyle MW [Guest Post]

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For winelovers, Christmas is a time when we look forward to drinking – and even sharing – a special bottle or two.  This might be a classic wine with traditional fare or just something different we’ve wanted to try for a while.  I asked some wine loving friends what they were looking forward to and they have kindly agreed to write a blog post for me.

Barbara Boyle is an Irish MW and half of the dynamic husband and wife team WineMason, a specialist wine importer.  Regular readers might recognise that name from the numerous reviews of their wines I have posted this year! 

We did not drink wine at home when I was growing up.  Not an unusual statement for an Irish person growing up in the 1970s and 80s.  The very first time I drank wine with my family was Christmas Day 1985.  My Christmas eve induced hangover was hard to hide. My ever-sharp father looked into my sleep deprived eyes and instead of greeting me on Christmas day with scorn or an anecdote of the dangers of drinking, I was greeted with a glass of wine at dinner.  My father and I have enjoyed a glass of wine or two together every Christmas since.

BLANKbottle Moment of SilenceSeveral years before (1980) I had given my father a bottle of wine which I had purchased while in France on a school trip (I did not drink then for the record).  It was a Chenin Blanc from the Loire and he said that this Christmas day seemed like a fitting time to open it.  I am often surprised that we don’t yet represent any Loire wineries but this something I hope to fix over the next year.

Every year since that I have been working in the wine trade, my father asks me to assemble a case of something nice for him that we can enjoy together over the holiday period.  So, this year going into my father’s Christmas box are some wines that I am keen to open with him.

Moment of Silence 2015 Blank Bottle: this is a blend which includes that wonderful grape Chenin Blanc together with Grenache Blanc and Viognier. A soothing wine, perfect to shape a cold night in around. It’s made by Pieter Walser of BlankBottle Winery who I think it something of a genius and very good company to boot.  This cape white is a great example of the thrilling and delicious  wines that are being made in South Africa. And at Christmas who does not need a moment of silence.

Moment of Silence 2015 Blank Bottle, Wellington, South Africa (14.0%): available at around €24.95 from Baggot Street Wines, Blackrock Cellar, Corkscrew, Sweeneys and Green Man Wines.

PUY14Emilien Château le Puy 2014: “Fabulous, powerful, inky, floral, perfumed, fruity and earthy, iron, edgy acidity.”  This is the note I made in June at a dinner in Chapter One of several vintages of this wine.  I am looking forward to returning to it at Christmas and this time from magnum.  The estate is situated at the second highest point of the Gironde which makes for later ripening and higher levels of acidity.  Predominantly Merlot and from an uncompromising bio-dynamic estate. To me this is Bordeaux as it should be.

Emilien Château le Puy 2014, Côtes de Francs, Bordeaux, France (13.0%): available for €38-40 (€81-85 for 150cl format) from Blackrock Cellar, Redmonds of Ranelagh, Greenman Wines, Kellys Off LIcence, and Clontarf Wines.

 

 

 

 

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Opinion

Wines at Xmas #14 – Richie Magnier [Guest Post]

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For winelovers, Christmas is a time when we look forward to drinking – and even sharing – a special bottle or two.  This might be a classic wine with traditional fare or just something different we’ve wanted to try for a while.  I asked some wine loving friends what they were looking forward to and they have kindly agreed to write a blog post for me.

Richie Magnier blogs under the alias of The Motley Cru and is the longest serving wine writer for thetaste.ie.

gere_kopar_2013 2Fear is the reason I’ll be drinking this wine this Christmas.

I received this unusual-looking Hungarian red as a birthday present four years ago, and even at that time this 2002 vintage was mature. It was stashed away to be enjoyed on a special occasion and – as is often the case with special wines – soon forgotten.

I only remembered it again last month, and in a blind panic I Coravined a glass of it in full expectation that it was by now dead and gone.  Thankfully, my fears were misjudged. What I experienced in the small glass I poured myself was a wine only now entering the tertiary stage, and still brimming with blowsy, big fruit.

It just screams ‘winter wine’: it’s big, full and round, with lush black and red fruit; lots of smoke, clove and tobacco, with some leather creeping in; concentrated and long with baking spice, pepper and much more going on. I  can see it opening up over the course of a night, ideally in front of a fire, turning tricks and metamorphosing in the glass.

The Gere Attila winery endearingly calls Kopar its “emblematic top wine” that is “made only in the best years”.  Grapes are sourced from vineyard around the town of Villány in southern Hungary, near the Croatian border.

It’s a blend of Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon – what many will call a “Bordeaux Blend” – and is aged for 16-18 months in barriques.  So this is essentially a “Hungarian Super Tuscan”.  However you want to label it, it’s damn good stuff.  It will be enjoyed slowly over the course of an evening, ideally on Christmas Day, where its Christmas cake flavours will feel right at home.

Gere Kopar 2002 (14.5%): RSP €50 from The Corkscrew

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Opinion

Wines at Xmas #13 – Alan March [Guest Post]

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For winelovers, Christmas is a time when we look forward to drinking – and even sharing – a special bottle or two.  This might be a classic wine with traditional fare or just something different we’ve wanted to try for a while.  I asked some wine loving friends what they were looking forward to and they have kindly agreed to write a blog post for me.

Alan March is different from most wine bloggers – while we wax lyrically about various bottles of wine we have tasted he is actually at the “coalface” helping to make innovative wine in the Languedoc.  His aptly titled A March in the Vines is well worth a follow.

Mas Coutelou La Vigne Haute.jpgChristmas is about family and friends, sharing and reflection on the year which is fading. My choice of wine reflects these. I have lived most of the last 3 years in the Languedoc and spent much of the time helping at and writing about Mas Coutelou.  Jean-François (Jeff) Coutelou makes a series of excellent natural wines but for this special occasion I shall choose La Vigne Haute 2013.

The wine is pure Syrah, it is labelled as a Vin De France because Jeff chooses to avoid the rules of appellation status which would, for example, mean that a single grape wine would not be allowed.  Syrah is one of the main five Languedoc red grapes along with Grenache, Carignan, Cinsault and Mourvèdre.  The grapes which make La Vigne Haute are grown in a vineyard called La Garrigue planted on two sides of a ridge, Grenache facing the southerly sun and Syrah, more sheltered and cool, facing north.

2013 was the last vintage of La Vigne Haute, if the grapes and quality are not high enough they will be used in other wines. (Happily, 2017 will see a new vintage!).  The 2013 offers warmth, long flavours of red fruits and soft tannins, great with Christmas food.  Made by my friend, shared with family and a reminder of so many happy days in Puimisson.

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Wines at Xmas #12 – Julia Phillips [Guest Post]

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For winelovers, Christmas is a time when we look forward to drinking – and even sharing – a special bottle or two.  This might be a classic wine with traditional fare or just something different we’ve wanted to try for a while.  I asked some wine loving friends what they were looking forward to and they have kindly agreed to write a blog post for me.

Julia Phillips founded Just Perfect Wines to further her passion for wines and apply her knowledge of marketing.  She works with family firms in the DOCG regions of Conegliano-Valdobbiadene and Asolo.

A Twist on Prosecco for Christmas

This Christmas I am particularly looking forward to sharing with friends a couple of my Prosecco based wines which both have something a little different about them.

Giorgia 1The first is ‘Giorgia’, my new Italian sparkling wine.  It’s made by one of my Prosecco wineries, Ca’Salina, using Glera grapes from the premium Prosecco region, Valdobbiadene – however, it can’t be called Prosecco as it’s made in a different way (the floatation tank method).

The result is an amazing well-balanced sparkling wine with fruity notes, plus a subtle layer of complexity that you tend to get from wines made in the Champagne method, with aromas of honey, butter and brioche, giving a clean and fresh taste. A Brut style with 8g sugar/ litre, 11.5% abv and wait for this….no added sulphites, so in theory no hangover!  Just perfect don’t you think?!  Something I shall be putting to the test with friends over the festive season, perhaps even one for Christmas Eve when you want to enjoy a good wine but don’t want to feel any ill effects the next day.

Tasting Furlan Rose at Furlan wineryMy second wine is the beautiful ‘Furlan Rosé Spumante Brut’. As Rosé Prosecco doesn’t exist, this pink sparkler comes close being a blend of Glera, Manzoni Bianco (a white grape which adds complexity and increases the abv to 12%) and Cabernet Sauvignon. I really love this blend; the gorgeous pink colour and the wonderful aromas and taste of strawberries and cream is divine.

I’m sure this one will be making an appearance on Christmas Day.

 

Both wines have a RRP of £17.99 and are available from www.justperfectwines.com, Amazon or il Gusto stores in Staffordshire.

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Wines at Xmas #11 – James Hubbard [Guest Post]

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For winelovers, Christmas is a time when we look forward to drinking – and even sharing – a special bottle or two.  This might be a classic wine with traditional fare or just something different we’ve wanted to try for a while.  I asked some wine loving friends what they were looking forward to and they have kindly agreed to write a blog post for me.

James Hubbard is a sports mad family man who follows teams as diverse as the San Francisco 49ers and Preston North End.  Of course he’s a big fan of wine and is a regular on #ukwinehour

Elio Perrone 2Are you bored of Buck’s Fizz and trying to work out how early is too early for a Christmas morning tipple?  Then I just may have the answer.

This charming sparkling Moscato d’Asti is is from a single vineyard called Sourgal and is absolutely delightful.  Jam-packed with ripe fruits – apples, apricots and peaches abound – the micro bubbles caress the palate and gets it ready for those invariable midday Christmas canapés/nibbles – and, at just 5%, it’s virtually a guilt-free drop too!

With quite a high (almost dessert wine) level of sweetness one glass is enough to stimulate the senses. This could either serve 4-6 as a Buck’s Fizz alternative or, if there are fewer of you, save some (if you can!) and finish it up with the Christmas pudding later.

Elio Perrone Moscato d’Asti £8.25/bottle via The Wine Society.

 

 

 

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Wines at Xmas #10 – Kerri Judge [Guest Post]

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For winelovers, Christmas is a time when we look forward to drinking – and even sharing – a special bottle or two.  This might be a classic wine with traditional fare or just something different we’ve wanted to try for a while.  I asked some wine loving friends what they were looking forward to and they have kindly agreed to write a blog post for me.

Kerri Judge is the Marketing Manager of Febvre, an importer who has been a stalwart of the Irish wine trade for over 50 years and who represent a few of my favourite producers. 

valdemar_gran_reservaOne of my favourites at Christmas is from the family owned estate of Bodegas Valdemar in Rioja.  Their Conde Valdemar Gran Reserva 2008 is rich and so very smooth.  Lovely dark brambly fruits with a touch of vanilla and spice with soft tannins.

A perfect glass on its own, with a piece of hard cheese like Hegarty’s Cheddar or with a melt in your mouth piece of fillet beef sliced thinly with a drizzle of olive oil and salt.  Also, great I found with leftover Turkey and Ham fried up the day after Christmas with a bit of stuffing.

Conde Valdemar Gran Reserva 2008 (13.5%):  on promotion this Christmas at €20 (usually €32) in O’Briens and Independent Off-Licences.

 

Warre's Optima 10I always have a bottle of the Warre’s Otima 10 year old Tawny Port in the fridge at Christmas.  A glass of Otima watching It’s a Wonderful Life with a bowl of walnuts and the fire lit on Christmas Eve is my idea of Christmas!

Think a rich fruit cake – dried fruits, orange peel, caramel and honey flavours with a toasty finish and great length. Chilling the Otima cuts the taste of Alcohol and enhances the fruit flavours.

Warre’s Otima 10 year old Tawny Port (20.0%):  available at around €28 (50cl bottle) at Independent Off-Licences and selected SuperValu Stores.

 

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Wines at Xmas #9 – Colly Murray [Guest Post]

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For winelovers, Christmas is a time when we look forward to drinking – and even sharing – a special bottle or two.  This might be a classic wine with traditional fare or just something different we’ve wanted to try for a while.  I asked some wine loving friends what they were looking forward to and they have kindly agreed to write a blog post for me.

Colly Murray took the plunge into the wine trade and set up RetroVino in 2009.  Since then he has added dozens more boutique producers to his portfolio and has recently branched out into Sake.

Allende Rioja 2009Located in the hill town of Briones in Rioja Alta, Finca Allende led by Miguel Angel de Gregorio marries the old and the new, by embracing traditional grape varieties and ageing them in French oak.  The principal cuvée is this 100% Tempranillo aged for thirteen months in predominantly French oak.

It is serious and lively on the palate with power and great balance; broad and flavoursome combining fruity freshness and the elegant structure and finesse of a wine that is suitable for ageing.

We usually cook a roast lamb on Christmas eve and this is the perfect compliment.

Finca Allende Rioja 2009 (14.0%): RRP 28 from The Corkscrew, Mitchells CHQ and Drinkstore Stonybatter

 

winter riesling kloppberg ggWith young winemaker Stefan Winter at the helm, Weingut Winter has experienced a real breakthrough in the last decade. The talented winemaker from Rheinhessen has enchanted with individual wines whose minerality and cleanliness simply inspire. Stefan has managed to get his winery into the circle of German Prädikatsweingüter (VDP) and brought Weingut Winter to the top of Germany’s quality wine production designation.

The Riesling ‘Kloppberg’ is a Großes Gewächs (Great Growth) wine: a top-level, dry wine from a designated VDP site.  It has a vibrant elegance, complexity and ripe white fruit flavours, before finishing dry with mineral notes. This is my Christmas day wine to partner with the main event – the turkey dinner.

Weingut Winter Rheinhessen ‘Kloppberg’ Riesling 2015 (13.0%): RRP €40 from The Corkscrew

 

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Wines at Xmas #8 – Mick O’Connell MW [Guest Post]

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For winelovers, Christmas is a time when we look forward to drinking – and even sharing – a special bottle or two.  This might be a classic wine with traditional fare or just something different we’ve wanted to try for a while.  I asked some wine loving friends what they were looking forward to and they have kindly agreed to write a blog post for me.

Mick O’Connell is an Irish Master of Wine working for Findlater & Co, a Wine and Spirits importer with some excellent names in their portfolio.

Roisin Curley Saint-RomainWhile I’ve accumulated a decent enough stash of mature wines through the years Christmas is all about drinking youthful wines from Burgundy – they just go so well with the food.  This year my Christmas day pair will be Le Grappin Beaune 1er Cru Boucherottes and Maison Róisín Curley’s St Romain Blanc both from the stellar 2015 vintage.

This will be a year of the micro negociants for me.  These are young winemakers trying to craft interesting wines from the most hallowed terroir of all, Burgundy.  With the various sales of famous domaines this year for ridiculous sums of cash (Clos de Tart rumoured at approx. €33 million per hectare) being a micro negociant is the only option for a generation of people wanting to create their own Burgundy cuvées.

Róisín is a Mayo native who works in Beaune purchasing fruit and then vinifying them in her own facility. Her St. Romain is fabulous. Linear, precise and mineral with the trademark 2015 lusciousness.  It’s perfect Christmas wine – it works so well with Turkey dinner with all the trimmings and arguably even better with Stephen’s Day Turkey & Stuffing sambos!

le grappin les boucherottes beaune premier cru 2015Andrew and Emma Nielsen are the husband and wife team behind Le Grappin who, like Róisín, are also based in Beaune in the old cellars of Fanny Sabre where Philippe Pacalet also worked.  Their premier cru Beaune Boucherottes is focused, bright and pure – a glass or two of this and I can happily pass on the cranberry sauce aspect and get all my tart, crunchy red berry fruit in vinous form.

Maison Róisín Curley St Romain Blanc 2015:  RRP €51 from Whelehans, Green Man Wines, 64 wines & Wine Library Dun Laoghaire

Le Grappin Beaune 1er Cru Boucherottes 2015: RRP €70 from Green Man Wines

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Wines at Xmas #7 – Jim Dunlop [Guest Post]

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For winelovers, Christmas is a time when we look forward to drinking – and even sharing – a special bottle or two.  This might be a classic wine with traditional fare or just something different we’ve wanted to try for a while.  I asked some wine loving friends what they were looking forward to and they have kindly agreed to write a blog post for me.

Jim Dunlop is a canny Scotsman who is seemly always on holiday somewhere – though that somewhere is usually a wine region whether in the Pfalz, northern Italy or the Canaries.

Antoniolo Gattinara 2006Many say Barolo or Barbaresco are the only wines that matter with regards to Nebbiolo but to the north of the Tanaro River and the Langhe, in Piemonte, there lies the Sesia River where both Gattinara and Ghemme are produced.  The wines here are more delicate and balanced than some of the forceful wine produced in the Langhe. This 2006 offering by Antoniolo is, for me, the top of the pile at Gattinara.  A classic red with a fantastic balance in the mouth, liquid velvet and so soothing – just right for a winter’s evening dinner.  This wine ages well, maybe for 10 to 15 years.

Antoniolo Gattinara DOCG 2006 (Piemonte, Italy): Purchased at Winery but similar offerings can be purchased from Tannico UK (Ave Price in UK: £20 to £30)

Riesling Rural trocken Weingut Heinrich Spindler PfalzFor me I always have a decision as to what is my favourite Riesling area, the top two being the Mosel or the Pfalz.  Recently my thinking is to prefer the more rounded style of the Pfalz compared with the austere style of the Mosel.  This offering from Spindler (based at Forst on the Weinstrasse near Deidesheim in the Pfalz) is just gob smacking amazing.  If anything, the 2015 harvest produced a better balance than the 2016.  Loads of Granny Smith on the front of the palate but huge soft fruit with balanced acidity at the rear of the palate and the finish goes on forever.

Heinrich Spindler Pfalz Riesling Trocken 2016 (12.0%): Purchased at the Weinhaus in Kallstadt, but similar offerings can be purchased from The Wine Society (Ave Price in UK: around £11)

 

 

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