Cuvée des Amandiers Rouge 2008 Vin de Pays d'Oc

A quick note on a wine that, at £4.69 (Majestic) has to be considered outstanding value. I can't remember the last time I had a wine that was as good as this at such a keen price.

Not to give the impression that it was memorable or even very harmonious, but it certainly qualified as superplonk which is ideal for the 'caning multiple bottles' stage of the evening.

It has warmth and jammy (damson?) fruit but doesn't have the intense highly alcoholic overpowering quality that I often seem to find with low-end Languedoc-Roussillon. It's a bit like some of the Lirac/Ardèche wines I had from Yapp bros but with less intensity. Apparently the blend is Grenache & Syrah which I beleive is also widely found in Rhone wines?

Although Majestic do piss me off at times (lazy staff who are prone to bullshitting about wines which they clearly know even less that I do), you have to hand it to them when it comes to cheap french country wines. They have much to offer below £6 and, if you know what you want (i.e. not needing any advice) they are worth a go.

Cabernet Franc - ageing potantial

Just come across this article that seems to indicate that Chinon's such as the one I recently wrote about will happily age for relatively long periods:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/wine/detail?entry_id=37741

I note the following line: 'even a simple Chinon can have a long life. I recall stumbling onto a transcendent bottle of 1989 Chinon in a London pizzeria (of all places) earlier this decade, softened to mellow plum notes after about 12 years, with all the smoke and curiosity but less youthful punch. Though the Loire versions of Franc can be consumed young in all their exuberance, they take on more serious tones after a few years. By default, I now hold back most of mine for a bit, just to enjoy them more. The 2005s are just now beginning to get my attention; and it'll be several more years, I suspect, before I tackle that magnum of 2003 Joguet.'

Hmmm, my Chinon was also from the Joguet stable but was a 2007. Might be worth putting one in the cellar for a few years. www.wineandco.com have several that are around 10 year old that seem to be a similar price to those of a much younger age...which seems odd.

Beaujolais, Haut-Medoc and Sicilly

Three more to report on. First up is a staple in the form of George Deboeuf's Fleurie. It was considered good value at around £8 (majestic) but it's often closer to a tenner which take it perilously close to Chatuea Thivin country (see earlier post). For me it is not in the same league for depth of flavour. Still, it's a moderately good Beaujolais which could be worse. I just don't feel the value is there anymore. Funny how a better wine changes the scale bu which we view others.

Second up is one from a case of 12 I bought not long after moving into this house:


The motivation being the Heron connection with the Chateau's first wine and curiosity over whether second wines would bear any resemblance to fist. It has to be said they were stored upright for at least a couple of years and even when flat the conditions were pretty poor, so it's likely this wine hasn't had a fair chance. When I opened it it had plenty of forest fruit on the nose and seemed promising. On the palette there was 'nothing wrong' with the taste - no rough edges ect - but it didn't have any complexity to speak of and you couldn't say it was in any way memorable. Smooth but slightly thin? I think I paid £10 a bottle for these in 2002 so it may well be more pricey now. I see from The Wine Dr's pages that there is another second (third?) wine called L'Oratoire de Chasse Spleen.

Finally comes a wine I bought out of fondness for Sicilly. I honestly thought it was a red but it was only when I got it home and looked at it through the light that I realised it was white! I can't say I've ever done that before.....yet to try it but I read that the grape (grillo) is usually used in Marsala production!

Festive wines

Three wines to report on that I enjoyed over the festive season.














1st up was a Chinon: Charles Jouget's Les Varennes du Grand Clos. It was 100% Cabernet Franc. Had a pleasant stawbery-ish nose with meaty, dry finish. The label advised serving lightly chilled and the combination of the taste and the temperature reminded me a of some of the more weighty of the cru Beaujolais. It was a really interesting wine. New flavours and a new area to think about. However, it £15 a go (Majestic) is it worth it? Not sure.

Keeping with the cru Beaujolais theme, the send wine of note was Chatuea Thivin from Cote de Brouilly. This has an outstandingly fruity nose and initial flavour: violets, raspberries galore. The finish shows a real weightiness that I have not experienced from a Beaujolais before. I could drink this wine all day. A real find. At £11 a go this is a contended for the best wine I've had all year.

Last and certainly the most memorable was a 2000 Chateau Haut-Bages Averous from Pulliac. Apparently it is the second wine of Lynch-Bages which commands absurdly high prices. After reading about wines from this part of the Medoc, it seems that St Jullien (and to a lesser extent neighbouring Pulliac) produces wines in a style favoured by the UK market's desire for a certain type of claret that tastes 'as claret should'. This style is further described as having 'pencil shaving, cedary nose with deep complex fruit'. If so then I guess I'm in line with this particular UK preference. It was an outstanding wine and one I shall not forget in a hurry. I won't be able to do it justice here but it cretainly had the aforementioned characteristics in abundance. I think Beccy bought me this and I suspect it cost the best part of £40. It can be bought in bond at £15/bottle (wineandco.com) which would probably work out at more like £20 after VAT, duty and delivery. Still worth it for me? I think it probably is. Still, January is no the time for major outlays. Perhaps Cleon could be persuaded to go halves on a case......