Christmas and New Year wines

A brief note on a very mixed bag of wines consumed over the festive period.

Christmas eve saw two very different reds with very different satisfaction levels:

The Meerlust is a total steal at £10 (WS) - approximately half the price of their flagship version but very robust and interesting nonetheless: loads of leather, tobacco and deep dry fruit. The Montus is an ongoing disappointment (see previous posts on this). I keep hoping the years will add something interesting but I can't see anything emerging that can justify it's prestige. I note that it now at least £23 p/b. I paid about £12 for it en primeur around 6 years ago.

Christmas day and so on to two very smooth clarets:

The years had been kind to them. No trace of any raggedness. Ridiculously easy to drink but the downside was a lack of fruit. It is a natural consequence of wines this age? I suspect the fruit is the hardest thing to preserve as the tannins soften.

When followed later that evening by this morvedre-dominated number we brought back from St Chinian (see previous post on Chateau Bousquette) the contrast was fascinating. The Bousquette had loads of fruit but it seemed somehow vulgar/obvious next the the refinement of the clarets. Not sure what that tells me about my preferences....

The clear pick of the bunch was this splendid Alsatian Gewürztraminer:

Superbly oily, aromatic and hugely satisfying (£13 Majestic). If there's a more consistently enjoyable region for whites I know not of it. RH dismissed it as too sweet. I tried to make the case for it being ripe and somewhat lychee-like but not sweet per se. I got nowhere.

New year saw D&B help us cane all but the last two bottles we brought back from Faugeres:

...which had plenty of the minerally fruit I remember but didn't seem the have that smooth, almost creamy finish that I remember from the 2013 foliday.

This beast was almost comically powerful. A total sledgehammer of a wine with a corresponding 15.5% (!!!) ABV. Strange things are happening in Almansa - definitely place to watch. The value is bonkers. Their standard issue 'Leya' is a magnificent combination of smoky black olives and stone-like dryness (£4.90 - Vinisimus). This 'La Atalaya' (one up from Leya but at £8.79 is some distance of their flagship £17 'Alaya') has all of that but perhaps after a long course of streroids! A blend of Alicante Bouschet and Mourvèdre. The former? Not one I've ever come across before. It seems it's also refereed to as Garnacha Tintorera in Spain but is also claimed to be widely planted in France, according to Jancis Robinson: 'At the turn of the 21st century, Alicante Bouschet was the 12th most planted red wine grape in France with sizable plantings in the Languedoc, Provence and Cognac regions'

This fleurie was light, sappy, supple and refreshing. Yet I can't justify paying £17 (WS) for it.

Weintert Carrascal Mendoza, 2009

Seemingly has one of those strange European names that pervades Argentine culture.

Mendoza sounds like a place I would enjoy: ranches, dusty mountain ranges, red meat by the bucket full and a copious supply of muscular red wines.

This one seems to be exclusive to The Wine Society. It's mix of 35% cabernet sauvignon, 40% malbec and 25% merlot is new to me but it's one of like to see more of. The malbec may responsible for the freshness and hint of violets on the nose. The other two have a claret like feel to them. I'd guess this would be totally overpowering in its youth but it's very well balanced now.

Very hard to see these characteristics replaced elsewhere for less than its £7.80 price tag.

2014 Langedoc haul - part 2

Domanie La Grangette

Piquepoul noir (7€/£5.80).

No nose to speak of. Light colour, juicy raspberry fruit, light sappy tannins. Refreshing, almost thirst quenching - dangerously so! Definitely something of the gamay about it. Gutted I didn't get more of this.

2014 Languedoc haul - part 1

Château Bousquette Tradition Saint-Chinian 2012

Stumbled across this place accidentally after taking a wrong turn on my way back from Cessenson-sur-Orb. Madame Perret was a joy. She answered my inane questions with good humour and even had a view on Fabian Cancellara!  

This was their mid-price option which was still worked out at £5.20. Syrah/Grenache/Mourvedre. Benefitted greatly from decanting. Had that minerally, earthy fruit I remember from Faugeres. I tried many Grenache/Syrah blends from other areas closer to the coast but they don't seem to have the the depth and velvety edge that Faugeres or St Chinan. Is it the addition of Mourvedre? Terroir? 

 I'd estimate this to be priced at around £10-12 in the UK, which would tip the scales against it for me but at £5.20 it's a marvel. 

La Patrie Cahors 2012

An absolute shocker of a wine. Advertised as '£11 reduced to £6' it remains terrible value at either price point. Thin, sharp and totally lacking in any fruit of any kind. Odorless. Couldn't finish my glass. It went into a coq au vin.

This highlights Sainsburys folly in trying to flog the malbec grape to supermarket consumers by 'dressing it up' with the prestige of the Cahors region. The end result is to defile both. You wonder who on earth actually produces this stuff? Sadly, it's a very long time since I had an interesting Cahors at a sensible price (La Grillade). Granted you don't see it often in the UK (entry point is typically at least £10) but you would think they would want to to cash in on the explosion of interest around Argentine malbecs? The worry here is that this may be a microcosm of a wider problem within the French wine industry: dogged refusal to accept that the cachet of their terroir/regional branding is nowhere near as powerful a draw as they would like it to be. Globalisation means that consumers are increasingly unlikely to care less where the product comes from or what 'heritage' they are buying into.

Vina Ludy, Albarino, Rias Baixas, 2012

Given to me by PVM after our sub zero camping trip in Derbyshire. I gave him a Sicilian shiraz in return.

I fear I got the better deal. Elderflower nose. Initially the pallet gives a strong nutty flavour (at least it did on day 1, that's faded now day 3 has arrived). The fruit is complex. I can't articulate it very well but there's perhaps more elderflower, lychee? Plenty of racy citrus to follow.

Interesting, rewarding and well worth adding to the dry white repertoire. (£8 Morrisons) but is much more restrained and subtle than (and thus doesn't quite have the impact of) the last Picopul I wrote about (just 50p more expensive). 

Rias Baixas is not somewhere I've considered since the 1999 era of Spanish experimentation. In my mind I'd imagined it to be located north west of Ribera de Duero but I hadn't realised just how close it is to the extreme fringes of Galicia:

...where the climate is 'Atlantic' meaning lots of rain and fog with summer temperatures 'rarely exceeding 30C'. Which makes you wonder why we can't produce more decent white wine in the UK. Perhaps the lack of available land means that we could never produce good enough quality wine at a competitive enough price for the enterprise to be worthwhile?

Lascar Carmenere 2013

My first taste of this grape variety. I read that '"Carménère" originates from the French word for crimson (carmin)' and was once grown as a blending grape in Bordeaux, as per modern day Petit Verdot.

I took a gamble on this primarily on its price (£5.75) and the positive comments from Wine Society members on their site.

What it does have in common with some Bordeaux is the nose: distinct pencil lead and earthy fruit. In fact, it smells a lot better than it tastes, although the pallet itself is decent enough: bramble, earth, medium body. Very respectable given the absurdly low price. 

Why it is mainly grown in Chile rather than France? Apparently it never recovered from Phylloxera in France. Chilean growers thought they were growing a variant of Merlot until 1994! It would be interesting to taste this alongside a 100% merlot to see if similarities are obvious.  

Cerro Syrah, Chapa Valley, 2012

We are promised 'mint-tinged cherry fruit with notes of toasty oak'.

There is a strange, vaguely herby edge but it's totally dominated by its acidity. Way lighter than any other syrah/shiraz I've tried. The fruit is pretty sour, frankly: highly acidic and very dry.

Thus M&S 100% recent record comes to an end: a poor use of £8.50. I've never heard of the Chapa Valley and perhaps this is the reason why.

Domaine La Granette 'L' Enfant Terrible' Picopoul de Pinet

Sensationally good white. Initially the deep straw yellow colour leads you towards white burgundy. This illusion is further fuelled by the nose (honeysuckle, apricots?) and the initial fruit burst on the pallet. What follows is what sets it apart: really refreshing salinity.

At £8.50 (34wines.com) this is a strong contender for the best value white I've ever had.

Grand Vin de Glenelly 2008

£14 (Wine Society). Heady, powerful mixture of what looks like classic bordeaux blend but is in fact 40% shiraz, 39% cabernet sauvignon, 14% petit verdot and 7% merlot.

Classy structured fruit. Hard to imagine getting anything else as fruity, savoury, cedary and satisfying at this price outside Stellenboch. I shall return for more of this. It would be good on Christmas day.

Domaine de Florianne Fleurie 2009

All is forgiven! It may be the several glasses of pinot noir I had prior to tasting it but this gamay seems to have improved massively since last time (approx a year ago?). Clean, dry back cherry fruity, underpinned by a dry, faint peppery finish. Light, supple and refreshing. Everything I'd want from a Cru Beaujolais in this price bracket.

What does this tell us? Beaujolais from this vintage benefits from extended aging? Or is it just the context I drank it in. Luckily there are 2 bottles left for further experimentation.

2013 Bordeaux - why bother?

Interesting comment from OW Loeb:

As you have probably gathered from the resounding silence from OWL, we did not – again – go out to Bordeaux for the annual primeur junket, which took place last week.  In fact I was in South Africa with a fine body of men - the wine committee of a London Club; much more productive and much more fun!

 

The Bordeaux wine market has completely lost its way in recent years, and needs to be 're-set', to get back to basics, and re-connect with its traditional clientèle.  My first primeur vintage was 1978.  In those days only good vintages were sold, or, more importantly bought, 'en primeur'.  The prices were low because the château owners were getting quick cash (how sensible) and us merchants were able to make a decent margin (even more sensible) for all the work involved (there is much more work than with a straight forward sale from stock).

 

Now they try to sell totally indifferent vintages (such as 2013) for absurd prices, in the full knowledge that – in all probability – their wines will still be available at the same price (or cheaper….) in five, six, eight years' time; and us poor merchants make a pathetically small turn to boot.

 

Why do we bother, I hear you cry!  Well, we don't.  We will return to the Bordeaux primeur market when the next vintage demands that we taste it, and we will hope against hope that, despite the wines being worth tasting, the prices will be sensible (eternal optimist, me).

 

There you have it, rant of the day.  We will leave you in peace now, and wish you a very happy Easter,

Chris

Chris Davey O W Loeb & Co. Ltd

Ionos, Peloponnese white

£6.50 (WS), 11.5%

From the Peloponnese area (I read that this has sub-regions called Martinis, Nemea and Patras but I don't know how Achaia fits into this, could well be this operation near Patras: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Achaia_Clauss).

Light, little discernable fruit initially (is this typical for a 'predominantly muscat' blend?) but some refreshing salinity later on. Very easy drinking and pleasingly low alcohol.

Domaine La Condamine L'Eveque Cotes de Thongue 2012

£6.50 (Wine Society).

The label suggests syrah and perhaps cabernet savignon? Yet the WS spiel claims mostly syrah with some mourvedre. In any case, the nose is highly savoury - dried black olives is the closest I can get.

Palette is velvety, slightly herby. This seems to be a common feature of the syrah/shiraz I've been exploring recently and it has much to recommend it. Not a million miles from the more moderate malbecs?

Interesting that the spiel says that it's made with 'a nod to the southern Rhone'. I can't detect any Rhone like flavour (no bad thing) but you feel that they need to write that to get people interested. In 20 years time perhaps they won't need any cross dressing and 'Languedoc style' will have a cachet of its own?

This is produced in Nezignan-L'Eveque which we must have driven passed many times on our way to Agde, Valras-Plage etc: it seems to be equidistant from Tourbes and Pezenas.

Cotes du Rhone - Villages 2010

£7 from Sainsburys so expectations were low given their recent form. Bought as part of a recent foray into Syrah/Shiraz country (more on that to follow). It is in fact a syrah/granache blend (fairly typical for Rhone, I'm told).

Bizarre smell of smoked mackerel initially. Not unpleasant but odd. This gives way to a slatey bramble smell that's backed up by the pallet. Medium bodied. Doesn't have the cool minerality of some Faugères (but then why would it - granache is the only real link here) and no sign of the 'spicy' quality promised by the back label. Still, for a £7 stab from a Sainsburys Local you could do much worse.

Château Puygueraud 2009 Côtes de Francs

I bought a case of this en primuer a couple of years ago and have recently tried two bottles. The first was underwhelming and it's depressing to report that the second has confirmed this to be the case. From the WS's notes below it suggests it may still be slightly young but I'm not at all sure its problem is youth: the fruit was thin and tannins were not overly aggressive (i.e. would/should soften with age). It had no real claret like charm (e.g. no cedar, leather, cigar box nose), not unpleasant in any way but utterly forgettable.

I paid £99 up front which I think rose to £146 once VAT and duty were applied so we have to judge this against £12.17 level bottles and it really does come up short. For example, for another £2.70 I could have a Raats Cabernet Franc (Stellenbosch). In fact, if I think of what £12.17 would get me in Beaujolais (close to Chateau Thivin territory) I would argue that this is a poor show. The strategy here was to avoid the better known sub regions of Bordeaux and to try and get some value in a relatively neglected are like cotes de Francs. Hopefully I'll be returning with happier news in a couple if years but I feel that's unlikely.

I read recently (http://worldofbooze.wordpress.com/2014/02/18/bordeaux-dad-wine/) that there is still great value Bordeaux out there and maybe I need to follow recommendations more. I'm not ready to give up yet but my patience is certainly running out. This is a regrettable state of affairs considering that, like writer of the 'World of Booze' post, Bordeaux was the region that got me into wine in the first place and is so tied up with memories of drinking with my Dad.

Wine Society's tasting notes: 'The lead estate of its district on the high point of the commune bought in 1946 by Georges Thienpont, whose family also owns Vieux Certan The vineyard was replanted in the 70s 55% merlot 25% cab franc 19% cab sauv and 5% malbec. One of his sons Nicolas, makes the wine. and Georges wife still lives in the property.

It is wine like this with real depth of flavour and character but from less-known regions that represent the best value in Bordeaux. The family property of Nicolas Thienpont who makes top St Emilions like Larcis Ducasse does especially well in dry years. The 2003 was exceptional but this is finer with wonderful fruit freshness and complexity. 2015 to 2021'

Mas Sinen Corster 2007 Priorat (Celler Burgos Porta)

Incredibly powerful. Heady, almost fortified edge to it. Felt every inch of the 15% ABV. Dense, spicy fruit. Amazing to think how different Priorat wines taste to Roja (not that they should be similar but I forget just how diverse Spain's wines can be). Opening this was a bit poignant - the last link we have to a great day in the mountains of Priorat.  I've pasted in some info I found from an American wine merchants site. Burgo's-Porta's wines do not appear to be available in the UK but overseas prices suggest this would come in at around £25. As always, I wish we had brought more back with us!

The Estate
Mas Sinen is located in the village of Poboleda, in the province of Tarragona. The winery dates back to the 19th century and has been in the family for a few generations. Mas Sinen is a beautiful estate made of stone and surrounded by the family vineyards. Today, Salvador Burgos and his wife Conxita Porta, together with their two daughters, continue the family tradition using the most modern technologies to produce high quality wine from the Priorat Denomination of Origin.
The VineyardsThe vineyards measure 15 hectares total. They are planted in terraces, in the slopes of the "Mas Sinen" mountain and are situated 300-500 meters above sea level, cultivated under organic methods. The vines are 5 to 50 years old planted to local schist called llicorella (decomposing soil type) which is typical of the Priorat region.

The Vineyards
The vineyards measure 15 hectares total. They are planted in terraces, in the slopes of the "Mas Sinen" mountain and are situated 300-500 meters above sea level, cultivated under organic methods. The vines are 5 to 50 years old planted to local schist called llicorella (decomposing soil type) which is typical of the Priorat region.

2007 Mas Sinen, Coster, Reserve, Priorat 6/750mlMade from 50% Garnacha, 50% Carinena. 50 year old vines. Aged for 12 months in oak. Light filtration. Strong and flavorful.

"The 2007 Coster Reserve is 50% Garnacha and 50% Carinena sourced from 50-year-old vines aged for 12 months in oak. Aromas of slate/mineral, espresso, black truffle, licorice, black cherry, and plum lead to a dense, packed, powerful, impressively constituted Priorat that will add complexity with another 4-5 years of cellaring. Drink this pleasure-bent powerhouse from 2014 to 2027."

- Wine Advocate (April 2010), 94 pts

2009 Mas Sinen, Petit Mas Sinen, Priorat 6/750mlMade from 45% Garnacha, 30% Cariñena (also called Samsó), 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Syrah, 5% Merlot. Aged in oak barrels for 6 months. Maceration for 21 days. ML in stainless steel tanks. Clarification with white egg and soft filtration. The wine shows great spice and leather components, some minerality and a lot of ripe red fruits aromas as well. This wine is certified organic. National Retail Price: $38.95 / bottle

Domaine du Meteore

Another from 34 wines: £10. Very deep yellow colour. Much livelier and mineral than the 14% ABV and Roussanne/ Marsanne blend blend would suggest. I had nothing approaching this whilst in Faugères last summer. I will be going back for more.

Pickers error

Sent in error by the Wine Society this had as lower threshold as possible for enjoyment.

A grape and region about which I know nothing, Berry Bros tells us the following:

Nebbiolo d’Alba, a historical Italian wine DOC, created in 1970, is synonymous with the crunchier Nebbiolo wines of the Roero region north of the river Tanaro.

This DOC can be applied to all wines lying outside the Langhe (Barolo & Barbaresco) region, of which the sandier Roero makes up the largest part.

'Nebbiolo d’Alba DOC has to be 100% Nebbiolo  and must be aged for 12 months prior to release. Notwithstanding the DOC restrictions, during the 1990s several prominent Barolo and Barbaresco wine producers invested in Roero Nebbiolo vineyards such as Valmaggiore.

It is not uncommon for Langhe producers to supplement their Langhe Nebbiolo fruit with that bought from the Roero'

I can only be bothered to write about it because it when  I opened it last night it was actively unpleasant: highly peppery, dry to the point of sandpaper and tart. The difference 24 hours has made is staggering. I accidentally left it open in the fridge overnight. And it now resembles a good Crus Beaujolais.

Domaine de Martinolles Pinot Noir 2011

£8.50 from 34 Wines (run by John - Hannah's Dad). Very little nose but really balanced fruit. Has black cherry and a stone-like (slatey) edge to the finish. Is this minerality? Really interesting and satisfying wine.