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31 October 2011

Spain: Catalonia & Aragón

Here are four tasty "wines of the moment" worth looking out for, sourced from two almost neighbouring, dynamic regions in northeast Spain, which are newish releases from Spanish specialist importer Burridges of Arlington St. based in Sussex, England, who supplies wine shops throughout the UK and Ireland. Stockists for the Cava include Firth Wines, Thomas Panton, some branches of Spirited Wines and members of the Merchant Vintners consortium: such as S.H.Jones, Portland Wine, House of Townend, Wallaces, Wineservice, The Vineyard (IOM) and Tanners. Retail price is about £8-£10 a bottle. More info @ burridgewine.com.

Castell d'Olérdola - Cava
I first came across this good-value Cava label in supermarkets and wine shops when I lived up the coast a bit from Barcelona for nine months back in the not too dim and distant. They're already listed in my Cava mini-guide, so it was good to retry a couple from this range made by the well-known Castillo Perelada group. Both wines sampled here see around 12 months lees-ageing in bottle, although the Reserva is then matured in their cavernous cellars for up to two more years after 'disgorgement' (ejecting the yeast sediment). They also produce Kosher Cava too, by the way.
Rosado (Trepat, Monastrell; 11.5% alc.) - the first one is a rare red Catalan variety, the second is what the Spanish call Mourvèdre; then again, they can call this Med-est of reds what they like, it all came from Spain originally! Quite delicate rosé fizz with lightly toasty notes vs red fruit cocktail, rounded off-dry vs lively mouth-feel and finish.
Reserva (Macabeu, Xarel.lo, Parellada; 11.5%) - made from the three white Catalan staples: classier and drier, quite rich with oat biscuit flavours vs intense and crisp-ish. Nice quality fizz.


Bodegas Esteban Martín - Cariñena
This relatively small region lies east of Calatayud and west of Catalunya, and its vineyards are found on a dramatic plateau at 400 to 800m altitude making it a little cooler in summer (but still hot and dry) and pretty cold in winter. Established in 2003, Viñedos y Bodegas Esteban Martín is a modern family-run winery based in Alfamén smack in the middle of Cariñena, and is circled by a whopping 150 hectares (375 acres) of their own vines mixing Spanish and French varieties.
Vinem Crianza red 2008 (mostly old-vine Garnacha, Cabernet, Syrah, Merlot; 14% alc.) - touches of oak grain adding coco notes and texture, quite lush and plummy with sweet fruit vs savoury edges, chunky and powerful with well-balanced oak / tannins / alcohol vs attractive fruit.
Vinem red 2010 (Garnacha, Syrah; 13.5%) - peppery with black cherry and liquorice, soft fruity style vs a hint of dry grip and oomph, attractive easy-drinking red with some guts too.

25 October 2011

Spain: La Rioja Alta

There’s something sublimely seductive, enticingly delicate and just pure pleasure to taste and drink about this absolutely classic style of wonderful old-fashioned Rioja, which really blossoms and shines after 10+ years of age and quietly puts to shame some of those new-fangled, over-extracted, heavy-handed, monster reds coming out of other regions of Spain; or even Rioja too nowadays. La Rioja Alta winery is an undisputed master, whose cask-aged Reserva and Gran Reserva reds show a lightness of touch, sometimes only 12.5% alcohol yet bags of character and complex developing aromas/flavours. And, considering the quality and charming maturity you get for your money, they’re relatively good value as well compared to, say, expensive young Priorat, Bordeaux or California.
Mind you, La Rioja Alta isn’t just a perfectionist in this enduring and hopefully not disappearing style. With their Torre de Oña Reserva, they’ve succeeded in creating a more ‘modern’ Rioja with all the class of their better-known names such as 904 or Ardanza. These lovely reds are based on Tempranillo with a splash of other varieties (see below for details) sourced from different vineyards and districts of Rioja Alta - it's a subzone, the upper or higher bit, as well as the winery's name (they probably had it first otherwise I don't imagine they'd be allowed to use the term). Thank you for sharing these bottles, wise folk at Armit Wines, London, which are sold by numerous other wine shops and restaurants.

2007 Torre de Oña Reserva (Tempranillo, Mazuelo; 13.5% alc.) - oakier and chunkier than the others but with seductive smoky and lush mouth-feel / flavours, lots of black and red fruits with a splash of vanilla set on solid backdrop with fresh vs punchy finish, tasty and stylish too. £19
2004 Viña Arana Reserva (Tempranillo, Mazuelo; 13%) - ‘cheesy’ developing notes vs lovely sweet berry fruit, has a bit of grip and freshness with firmer tighter finish than the older wines; still a relative baby and very promising. £20
2001 Viña Ardanza Reserva Especial (Tempranillo, Garnacha; 13.5%) - the grapes are mostly sourced from their Ardanza estate in Fuenmayor. Beautiful classy nose, smoky maturing and ‘volatile’ with enticing sweet fruit, has a bit more oomph vs fresh bite and elegant savoury finish; the alcohol’s more obvious than on the others, but it adds to its more structured make-up and this is definitely still very good wine. £25
1998 Gran Reserva 904 (Tempranillo, Graciano; 12.5%) - browny red colour, delicious ‘cheesy’ vs sweet-fruit nose with dried berries and light touch of vanilla, complex maturing savoury flavours yet it’s still alive and fresh; brilliant classic trad style. £35
1997 Gran Reserva 904 (13%) - ‘cheesier’ still with dried fruit vs savoury silky palate, meaty vs sweet profile, elegant and tasty, ageing yet still alive with a hint of lingering acidity and long cheesy/meaty flavours. Superb. £35
More info @ riojalta.com

20 October 2011

Languedoc: vibrant variety of whites

Following on from my succinct yet poignant Roussillon: white wines post below this one, the general excitement surrounding quality, range of styles and now availability (in the UK anyway) of attractive whites also extends to the Languedoc, of course. So, here's right royal mix tasted and enjoyed in recent times including three lively Picpouls from the Thau Lagoon area, a few richer complex barrel-fermented/aged wines from the hills and a luscious Muscat with its toe tranquilly dipped in the Med. Mind you, there aren't any bargains among this lot; the least dear is an £8 one from M&S. The Languedoc does neatly churn out quite a lot of successful tasty varietals though, such as crowd-pleasing Chardy and increasingly good Viognier, it has to be said.
2010 Maison du Languedoc Picpoul de Pinet, JeanJean - nice juicy style from this ever-growing family wine group, with waxy honeyed notes then crisp vs fuller oilier finish. £10 D&D Wines International.
Lots more JeanJean here.
2010 L'Enfant Terrible Picpoul de Pinet, Domaine la Grangette - tighter and zingier, peachy fruit vs aromatic green fruits and melon, attractive length and style. £10.49 Hallgarten Druitt.
2010 Picpoul de Pinet Les Vignerons de Florensac (12%) - enticing yeast-lees notes on the nose, very steely and zesty mouth-feel with gala melon fruit, nice crisp 'chalky' bite too. £7.99 Marks & Spencer (100 stores).
More Picpoul de Pinet here - as you'll see, generally I wasn't hugely impressed by the 2010 vintage from this region, which usually makes some of my favourite unoaked dry whites in the Languedoc.
2010 Les Mûriers Coteaux du Languedoc, Mas Bruguière (Roussanne, Marsanne) – complex mix of tight and structured palate vs rich exotic fruit, subtle and quite unrevealing at the moment but very promising. £12.50 Yapp Brothers.
More Mas Bruguière wines and profile here.
2009 Les Aurièges vin de pays Haute Vallée de l'Orb, Domaine de Clovallon (Chardonnay, Viognier, Clairette, Petit Manseng) - quirky varietal melange produces a fairly exotic and lush wine, chunky texture vs 'mineral' bite, power vs a little freshness. Good stuff. £15.75 Terroir Languedoc. Note on their lovely Pinot Noir here.
2009 Cigalus pays d'Oc Gérard Bertrand (Chardonnay, Viognier, Sauvignon) - pretty rich toasty and creamy, concentrated and honeyed with punchy finish, quite classy though with good substance, bite and fruit vs still a bit toasty. Should develop well. £20 Bibendum.
More GB wines inc. vertical of Cigalus white.
2008 Pierres d'Argent Coteaux du Languedoc Chateau de Lascaux (Vermentino, Roussanne, Marsanne) - intricate maturing mealy buttery aromas & flavours vs crisp and 'mineral'. Lovely style, very good. £15 HG Wines.
2008 L'Incompris vdp d'Oc, Domaine du Mas Neuf / JeanJean (Muscat petits grains) - intense Muscat characters, sweet and punchy vs crisp underneath, delicious fruit pudding style. Grown on an amazingly isolated vineyard surrounded by pine forest sandwiched between the Med, nearby lagoons and a sheer limestone cliff face (the Massif de Gardiole). £25 D&D Wines.
2005 Virgile white vdp de l'Hérault Domaine Virgile Joly (Grenache blanc) - nutty Fino nose and palate, intense 'mineral' style with a bit of weight and roundness. Not everyone's cup of tea but it's still got hints of class. Expensive though at £27, Dudley & de Fleury Wines.
Click here for more Virgile Joly.

15 October 2011

Pinot Noir: Australia, Chile, France, New Zealand

Monthélie vineyards
vins-bourgogne.fr
This dual-hemisphere array of tasty Pinot was sampled and selected from a triad of recent tastings in London (Marks & Spencer, Wines of Chile, Armit), all going to show that Burgundy, home of Pinot if you like, really does have its work cut out nowadays. Although the Nuits St. Georges, Volnay or Corton-Bressandes scrutinized below were particularly good, French Pinot does sometimes lack a bit of obvious charm; whether because a certain wine just needs more time to open up or simply just isn't as good as it should be, given its high price and reputation of the producer, area or vineyard it comes from.

04 October 2011

Roussillon: 3 white wines

If you've been kind enough or bothered to read anything else Roussillon on this excitingly narrow-focused blog, you'll have noticed a slight enthusiasm for the sometimes superb white wines being made more and more often nowadays in the region. I tried these two below not so long ago, on the "South of France" stand at the London Wine Fair: both from well-known and well-regarded estates, very different in style, varietal make-up and with three years of age between them too (Ed: I've since added a third - scroll down).
Jean Gardiès' quite fine Clos des Vignes is crafted from Grenaches blanc and gris grown on an elevated (380m) vineyard in the Vingrau area, which were fermented and aged for 12 months in demi-muids barrels (600 litre size). It's sold in the UK by H2Vin Ltd. for about £17 retail, so it's no giveaway but has a bit of class, as I said.
Le Soula is joint-owned by Gérard Gauby and UK importer Richards Walford (their wines are handled by Peter Weygandt-Metzler in the US), and this nicely maturing white is made from a heady cocktail of Sauvignon blanc, Grenache blanc, Marsanne, Roussanne, Macabeu and Malvoisie; all grown at altitude on sites around St. Martin de Fenouillet, Feilluns and Le Vivier. It's also similarly grandiosely priced at £22.49: there's a list of UK retail and restaurant stockists on their website

Domaine Gardiès 2009 Clos des Vignes white Cotes du Roussillon - toasty notes layered with peachy hints, quite steely mouth-feel vs those toasty edges adding texture and flavour vs attractive exotic apricot fruit underneath.
More Gardiès' wines and profile here (written in 2007 after I went to the winery, and updated in 2011 and 2012).
Le Soula 2006 white vin de pays des Cotes Catalanes - enticing developing nose with quite rich hazelnut tones, roast nut flavours too and rounded mouth-feel; fairly intricate with mature vs still alive profile. 
Blurb on Le Soula to follow.


UPDATED 1st November: found this one at Marks & Spencer's recent press tasting, the latest release of a Collioure dry white I've tried previous vintages of made by the Cave de l'Abbé Rous co-op winery. Much improved I'd say - it was always too oaky before - although it appears to have gone up by £3 in two years, so is very overpriced. I'm not blaming M&S particularly, just the silly prices now attached to the apparently fashionable Collioure appellation!
2010 Cornet blanc (60% Grenache gris, 20% Grenache blanc, 20% Vermentino; 14% alc.) - lightly toasty tones with yeast-lees edges vs oilier and more exotic side, steelier crisper palate than previous vintages with a touch of oak grain underneath vs nice weight and oomph, finishing with ripe peachy fruit and oily texture vs attractive bitter twist. Well-made, good quality foodie white. £11.99 in 100 stores.

And a few sexy Languedoc whites, just to develop the "theme"!

03 October 2011

Portugal: Quinta da Falorca, Dão

This pretty 13 hectare estate lurks in the increasingly hot Dão region about 10 miles from the historic town of Viseu, lining the somewhat inclined banks of the Dão river itself. There are four Quintas or vineyards actually – Vale das Escadinhas (perhaps the best-known one), Barreiro, Esmoitada and Falorca – where vines are kept company by olive, nut and pine trees. I'm told Quinta Vale das Escadinhas goes back a long long way and was founded by the Costa Barros de Figueiredo family. More info @ qve.pt or on London wine merchant Armit's site, who had these flavoursome little Portuguese numbers at their recent tasting. Mind you, they're on the dear side though...

2010 rosé (Touriga Nacional, 13.5% alc.) - big fruity rosé style with boiled sweet notes, dried red fruits vs tangier redcurrant and Morello cherry edges; good but expensive. £12
2010 white (Encruzado and Malvasia, 13% alc.) - juicy with light yeast-lees notes, banana vs green fruit combo, bit of oomph too vs crisp, full tasty and long finish. £14
2004 Reserva red (Touriga Nacional, Tinta Roriz, Alfrocheiro Preto, Tinta Pinheira, Jaen; 14.5% alc.) - rich smoky black cherry, chocolate, liquorice and pepper aromas / flavours; chunky and grippy vs attractive dried fruits and complex smoky maturing finish. £20
2006 E-Falorca red (Touriga Nacional, Tinta Roriz, Alfrocheiro Preto, Tinta Pinheira, Jaen; 14.5%) - smoky nose with sweet dark berries vs herby peppery tones, punchy and firm vs developing nice sweet fruit edges vs still very lively. £11

Lots more Portugal here.

Heavy metal legends Motörhead release wine

The latest in a (too) long line of celeb wines "made" by pop / film stars etc., and by far the most interesting in terms of who whatever the wine actually tastes like (post a comment if you have), I spotted this on DECANTER.COM recently and thought it worth, erm, thrashing out here. Click on the link below to read the full story on Decanter's site, by ace (of spades) web editor Adam Lechmere:

'RED'

'Red is for wine, blood, revolution, colour... Time-warped slices of mystery, history, fantasy, crime, art, cinema and love...' Buy the e-book or paperback novel on Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com. Click here to view the RED blog!

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Header image: Château de Flandry, Limoux, Languedoc. Background: Vineyard near Terrats in Les Aspres, Roussillon.