Christmas wines, part 3

Chateau Reynon, Premier cotes de Bordeaux, 2006.
Not a patch on it's Christmas day partner - Raats' Cabernet Franc. OK, it was 2 per bottle cheaper but no contest in terms of character. Bland and inoffensive. Rather insipid really. I was hoping to recapture some of the quality of the fabled Gand-Mouyes - also a lowly 'Superior' - but this didn't have anything to separate it from its rivals.
The worry here is that Bordeaux has forgotten how to satisfy below £15. Even allowing for inflation etc, this wasn't the case even £10 years ago.

Christmas wines, part 2

Raats, Cabernet Franc, 2008. Superb depth of flavour.  Of particular interest was whether this was measurably different from Loire reds. I think it may be but either way, it is a cracking wine. At £15 a bottle (WS) this fantastic value for money. I feel like it is the Cabernet Franc component of Claret that might be what makes it so appealing: dry, fruity and cedary in equal measure.

Christmas wines, part 1

The Morgon was part of the contraband case. The Montus was part of a in bond case. The later is still not ready. I shall leave the remainder for at least a couple of years if possible. Perhaps it was just the contrast with the Morgon but the tannins felt furry and somewhat ragged. The Morgon itself was much thinner than I'd expected, agreeable though.

Salice Salentino

We drained two bottles of this at Salvo's Cafe on Dec 23rd.

Total ignorance about Puglia. Very earthy. Dark,  bramble edge to the fruit but not overpowering. Great partner to the food there. Best Italian food I've had outstanding of Italy.

Clos de la Roilette, Flurie, 2010

A birthday wine from MC. This forms the first 2010 cru Beaujolais out of the traps.
Very fine indeed. Has all the sappy juicy-ness I like in a Beaujolais but also a pleasing savoury edge. It's interesting that I often don't associate these wines with any obviously discernable fruit (appart from the occasional black cherry).
Very solid, well rounded wine that is great without overtly trying to be so.
I wonder where it came from?

Barolo

Dan donated this to me at the end of Grace's christening.

Try as I might, I just don't see the point of Barolo.
Entry level seems to be at least £15 a bottle and I've had unremarkable examples that were over double that price.

As far as I can tell, the Nebillo grape seems to produce reds of high acidity, pale colour and a  vaguely pinot noir like flavour. Thus, it looks like gamay and is similar in terms of body but has none of the attributes on the nose or pallet.

Domaine de la croix de Chaintres, Saumur Champigny, 2008

£9 (Waitrose). Superb value. Genuine raspberry burst on the nose (bit of cranberry also?) Earthy, yet light flavour. Becomes progressively more savoury as it develops in the mouth. Fine example of what reasonably priced Cabernet Franc can do. Shades of higher end cru Beaujolais, perhaps without the black cherry edge and more of a soil-like, woody  finish?
In terms of supermarkets, Waitrose really are in a league of their own when it comes to interesting wine at a fair price.

Chateaux Grand Tayac, Margaux 2005

One from Dad's birthday box. He would not have been happy with this. Rather rannic with a fairly rustic edge. Little in the way of any fruit. Absolutely nothing on the nose. Too young perhaps? Possibly, but it's getting on for seven years...being a 2005 Margaux, I dread to think what this cost. It does highlight the rising risk levels associated with buying wine over a tenner.

WS's Malbec (Mendoza, 2010)

Hard to judge this one. At £7 it's reasonable value. Fairly tannic finish, some fruit up front. Much like the Damaine du bosc but more rustic perhaps. Another marker of similarities between South America and the Languedoc?

L'Antique Pouilly Fume

Another Sainsbury's failure. £16 is poor value here for what is a bland inoffensive Sauvignon blanc. Not a patch on the last Pouilly Fume I wrote about.

Southwold wines

The L'Hermitage de Chasse Spleen was the last of the case I think. It may well be my first serious attempt to by good claret by the case. For the first few years it was stored in atrocious conditions (upright, in wildly fluctuating temperatures). At least one bottle had it's cork protruding which didn't bode well. I recall many of these bottles being somewhat thin but this was a cracker. Very smooth, harmonious. Lacking the power of a high end claret but still enough fruit to do it justice.

The Julienas (Adnams) was incredibly good value at £10. Really juicy, light and refreshing.

The Sesti was the reason why I first came into contact with Adnams. It was part of a mixed case put together by The Bunch and released by The Telegraph. Earthy, deep savoury edge to it. I know nothing of the grape or the region. Still can't decide how I feel about Italian reds. All too often they seem rather ragged/rustic yet the price tags don't reflect this.

I was too far gone to recall anything useful about the Rioja. Pity, I think MH paid a fair whack for it.

Louis Max Pouilly Fuisse

£13 reduced from £15 at Sainsbury's and a massive disappointment at either price. Incredibly high acidity for a Maconnaise wine. Very sad to think this is their only medium end white Burgundy.

Pouilly Fume

An outstanding wine. Dr Burton tells me he thinks this may have come from Oddbins, which ties in with its current lack of availability anywhere online. I'd gladly pay £15 a bottle for this. Oddly rich for a sauvignon blanc. Not what I was expecting at all. Almost Riesling-like nose, buttery colour but still very crisp on the finish. Suberb in every way. Makes you wonder if it's time to get back into Loire whites. Time was when Sancerre was the default 'posh white' for our circle.

Madiran, Chateau Montus 2006 | Le Bon Vin

I see that my 2006 Montus is now going for £28.50! I'm pretty sure that I paid something like £13 a bottle after duty and VAT:

Madiran, Chateau Montus 2006 | Le Bon Vin

A good advert for en premiur?

Dona Paulina

At £4.95 (WS) this is a fantastic example of what can be done at this end of the market. Interesting to compare it to the Navarran Sabina which is the same price. I had thought the Sabina good value but can now see it was opting for a 'safety first' approach: inoffensive but pretty thin with little discernable fruit. The Paulina has fruit in abundance but manages to stay balanced and in no way cloying.

A good reason to make further forays into Chile.

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Domaine Champagnon Fleurie 2006

Last of the mixed case from Nick Dobson.

Abundant black cherries, chalky finish. Loads of large, bark-shaving shaped sediment, as seems to be the case with relatively old Beaujolais (tartrate crystals? Very little about this online). Very agreeable all round. It is a pity that I can't bring myself to order more regularly from Dobson. Yet to have a bad - or even mediocre - bottle from him. The lack of cheaper superplonk means I don't split orders when I should. If I was loaded I would order more from the likes of Dobson, Yapp etc but still go for Majestic/Wine Society for the bulk stuff.

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Stellenbosch, Rustenberg 2006

Cracking flavour here. Earthy, cigar box nose. Soil-like edge to the fruit. £13 at Majestic but I'd go back for more. The blend is very claret-like. Perhaps more cabernet sauvignon dominated? If so, would we find a left bank wine of this calibre at this price? You suspect not. Must make greater effort with Stellenbosch, it does look like it avoids some of the cloying issues I (perhaps unfairly) associate with new world reds.

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Caves du Molliere Piquepoul

Last of the case we brought back from Pezenas. Waitrose have a Piquepoul for 7 quid, this cost us about 3 quid a bottle. Part of me is delighted to have found such an agreeable wine (whose constituent grape I had never heard of, let alone tasted) but part of me feels bitter that the UK fails to offer anything approaching this level of value.

Anyway, the wine itself is superb. If I hadn't been aware that the French were enjoying this at such an absurdly low price I would be snapping this up at twice the price. It manages to be a refreshing apperitief but avoid the excessive acidity of low cost sauvignon blanc (e.g. Tourainne). Not a great comparison as it's much deeper in colour and almost has a similar subtle fruit edge (can't say what exactly) to the Samour.

Apparently the Caves du Molliere cooperative was transformed from a run down dive to the impressive outfit it was when I bought this wine. Sad to think that I won't be back in that part of the world for a long time.

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Domanie des Chazelles, Vire-Clesse, 2003

Ripe indeed. Heavy glossy-ness about this. Deep yellow colour. Not a million miles from the Domaine de la Croix. Reduced to a tenner at Nick Dobson and good value at that. I wonder what it would taste in a few years? It's bin-end status suggests no better than now.

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Cuvée de Richard 2010 - Pays de l'Hérault

Billed as 'Amazingly smooth' by Majestic this comes in at £4.99 so will be judged relative to the Armandieres. Majestic no longer stocks the latter but tell me it's made by the same people (conglomerate?).

It has rather more of the baked fruit about it than I'd prefer but it isn't offensive in any way. Leaves me thinking that I'd rather have low-end wines on the thin side (e.g. WS' Sabina Tempranillo) than try too hard with robust flavours. It often feels like they are in danger of highly unbalanced.

Still, this is a contender for good honest superplonk of the red variety.

Gigondas

Further proof that Rhones of this type are just not my thing. This is around 23 quid (M&S) and in all honesty, tastes much the same as the jammy, slightly sweet, spicy new world shiraz/granache wines the seem to be everywhere these days but do at least cost half the price. Feel like I'm missing out on a big pillar of France but can't really bring myself to make many more (expensive) forays into this area.

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Guardian article - 'The trouble with pinot grigio'

Looks like Pinot Gris and Pinot Grigio are in fact the same grape - incredible that it can taste so wildly different in Italy and Alsace.

Wine: The trouble with pinot grigio | Life and style | The Guardian

Saumur

This is the last of the Yapp bros batch. I had forgotten just how good this is. An excellent example of how pure and satisfying Chenin Blanc can be. Restrained fruit, minerality, poise. I remember it being around 6 quid at one stage but it's now 8 ish. Still worth it.

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Pinot Gris, Bollenberg Château d'Orschwihr, 2009

...having said that, this was a genuinely interesting wine:

Via the power of suggestion, I had imagined Bollenberg to be an obscure Alsatian grape that had been blended with Pinot Gris - it turns out to be the name of the specific vineyard - and set about attributing the unexpected flavour to this. It has a very deep yellow colour. The palate began with plenty of voluptuous aromatic lychee-type fruit before evolving into an odd - but very pleasant - almost Riesling-like oily dry finish. It would appear I got it from Oddbins and look to have paid around £14 quid but I'd go back for more (if they hadn't gone bust).

I shared it with M & D whose penchant for Gewürztraminer was helpful in their approach (Beccy wouldn't countenance anything as full bodied as this).

Brouilly - Domanie Regis Champier

Yet another disappointment from Oddbins. We can surely now say that they just don't 'get' Cru Beaujolais. Overpriced and thin, verging on sharp.

Just two days after drinking this I see Oddbins has filed for bankruptcy. It's been a long steady fall from grace which you can't say hasn't been self inflicted.

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Codorniu - Pinot Noir

A revelation. I was fearing the worst but it was highly enjoyable. Shades of the sparkling Langedocian Cabernet Sauvignon we had at the cheese evening in Harrogate. Really dry, crisp fruit with a clean finish that lends its self to rapid swigging! By far the best Cava I've ever had and, in terms of balance, it would give many pink champagnes a run for their money at a third of their price.

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Leon Beyer Sylvander 2009

Excessive acidity on the finish with very little discernible fruit of any kind. Is this typical for Sylvander? Poor value at 8 quid (WS).

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St Mont

7 qid (Majestic). Slight aromatic edge. Reminiscent of some Jurancon Sec in that it has that apple ish body to it. Must be something in the Gros Mensang that is characteristic - apparently it is common to both areas. Much more rounded than the Brumont green label.

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Domanie de la Croix Senaillet, St Veran - Les Buis 2006

Tried this alongside WS's own label White Burgundy (see earlier post on this) by way of accompanyment to the Ramsey Seafood veloute. My earlier attempt to equate the two now seems pretty delusional. The St Veran was outstanding. Real depth of flavor. Wonderful honeyed, buttery edge to it but still kept a cripsness throughout.

May have to take the plunge and order some more of this. It has been a good advert for buying en primeur.

The Society's Beaujolais-Villages 2009

A well structured Villages which bears up well against its 7 quid price tag. This would be a good glugger.

Still, next to the ultra-bargainous Gamay it struggles.

Domaine des Eyssards 2009 Bergerac

£6.99 (Waitrose). Was hoping for some sense of the Luc du Conti I enjoyed back in the Old School Lofts. It failed to provide this. Rather rustic in a typical south-west of France type way. Dad and I have had some wonderful reds form this area that have provided real class without the prices hikes of similar quality examples from neighbouring Bordeaux but that was a fair while ago. Maybe more experimentation is called for.

Beaujolais-Villages, Château de Lacarelle, 2009

At £6.95 (WS) this is a big disappointment. Thin and somewhat sharp. This is the kind of stuff that gives Beaujolais a bad name.

Gamay, Vin de Pays des Gaules, Jacques Dépagneux, 2006

At £4.95 (WS) this is the best value red I have come across in years. Shades of Matt's find: Raisins Gaulois Lapierre 2009 but just under half the price. Both from 'declassified Beaujolais', suggesting this is worth more effort from the likes as Majestic etc? Real freshness to the fruit. Really lively. No hint of the two stage flavour that seems to there in the Cru's such as Thivin (no peppery/violet finish) but at this price ye cannae go wrong.

Baron de Ley Rioja 7 Vinas Reserva 2004

Here's what Decanter had to say about it:

Very expressive on the nose with aromas of sweet black berry fruit and spice. The palate is full-bodied and has concentration but is well integrated with the structure and acidity; well-integrated spicy oak on the finish. Modern style but very stylish wine.

Can't say I agree with this at all. I bought this out of nostalgia more than anything else. It was perfectly pleasant but again confirms my concerns for the complexity of high end Riojas. At £18 (Tesco) I feel confident that it could be slapped down fairly severely by an equivalent priced Claret. No real feeling that this wine was trying to do anything other that be smooth.