|
 Malbec
galore Cahors April 4th to 6th
Why not indulge in a weekend of unbridled Malbec (in moderation of course, as
Big Brother governments keep reminding us) in the pretty old town of Cahors (a
good bit north of Toulouse or east of Bordeaux), at the first 'International
Malbec weekend'? There's a somewhat intense-looking trade and press conference
called Grape of the 21st Century? taking place on Saturday April 5th in the
morning, but otherwise the gen pub is welcome to invade the place and try the
region's unique red wines made wholly or mostly from this increasingly trendy
(?) variety; and no doubt plenty of opportunity to stuff your face with some
lovely southwestern French food specialities (magret de canard, duck breast
fillet and a chunky Malbec red sound like a good combo actually). In addition,
there'll be a group of winemakers from Argentina, where apparently there's at
least five times the surface area of Malbec
planted, who presumably will be bringing a few examples for you to taste in
their bubble-wrap lined suitcases. More info from
www.french-malbec.com. And full marks to the Cahors growers' union, or
whoever had the bright idea, for coming up with the latter name for the website
rather than something obscure in French that no English speaker would find on
Google! Posted 29/3/08.
Lebanese cookery classes
Languedoc-style 4-6 April
Full of original ideas to attract wine tourist punters, Château Coujan in Saint-Chinian
country is running a Lebanese cookery course over the weekend of 4th - 6th
April. The full package includes all meals and accommodation in Coujan's on-site
gite and costs €200 or €300 per couple. So, if you're going to be in the
Murviel-les-Béziers area (not that far from Béziers) and fancy something
different, book it quickly as there's only room for eight people. Contact
Florence Guy or Stanislas Pujol:
chateau-coujan@orange.fr,
www.chateau-coujan.com, tel. +33 (0)4 67 37 80 00.
Lebanese wines here and
here. Posted 27/3/08.
 Armagnac
and curry?
Nicolas and Karen
Kitchener at Armagnac and wine producer
Domaine de Lauroux in Gascony have become the French distributor for Curry
Knights fresh curry sauces. They're recruiting retail stockists as I type these
words, and curry-craving ex-pats (or even Madras-mad French people for that
matter) can buy them directly from their webshop
www.curryknights.com.
I'm told
they
also do 2.7L caterer packs of each sauce, so currily interested restaurant
owners should get in touch. More info: tel +33 (0)5 62 08 56 76,
www.lauroux.com
or SKYPE ID lauroux. Posted 27/3/08.
Meet 100 Languedoc winegrowers
29-30 March
Mas de Saporta, the Languedoc wine HQ found just south of Montpellier city
centre (signposted off the road to Palavas), is once again playing host
to two days of tasting, wine & food workshops and family activities, this
Saturday and Sunday 29th and 30th March between 10am and 7pm. Growers from all
the Languedoc appellation areas will be there: Faugères, Saint-Chinian, La Clape
(hillside vineyards between Narbonne and the sea in fact...), Pic Saint-Loup,
Picpoul de Pinet, Pézénas, Grés de Montpellier, Terrasses du Larzac (where?) etc. More
info on these wine regions and how to get there on the
AOC Coteaux du Languedoc and
www.languedoc-wines.com websites, although for exact details you'll have to
ring Mas Saporta on +33 (0)4 67 06 04 44 or email
info@coteaux-languedoc.com
(probably pointless) as I
can't find anything useful about the weekend on either of those websites (and
nothing in English either). Posted 26/3/08.
 Reader
offer on Wine Travel Guides...com
This new and original site launched by wine writer and educator Wink Lorch is
very good; although I'm biased as I compiled all the Languedoc-Roussillon
sections, or 'micro-regions' as we like to call them. Wink had the bright idea
of breaking up all of France's wine and administrative regions in a less
traditional and more logical way (for English speakers at least). Hence there
are 40 downloadable micro-region guides each including a dozen personally
recommended wineries to visit, good restaurants and hotels, wine and tourist
events and attractions and much more besides. All neatly brought together in a
downloadable compact PDF format along with location maps and suggested
itineraries for the 'busy independent traveller'.
Unsubtle plugging and humour aside, these guides are all compiled by specialist
writers who live in the area or visit it very regularly:
Jane Anson, Liz Berry MW,
Jacqueline Friedrich, Elizabeth Gabay MW, Rosemary George MW, Jean-Pierre Renard,
Tom Stevenson, Paul Strang, Sue Style,
Wink herself and yours
truly. Wink explains further: "The
Guides are available by annual subscription with several options. For Gold
subscribers they include not only the Michelin Green Guides for extra tourist
information, but also interactive Michelin maps, which provide precise locations
for all the recommendations. The design is crisp, fresh and professional and
there is no advertising to get in the way of the wealth of information.
Registration on the site allows access to a free sample Guide available as a PDF
download or to view on-line." Here's the deal for winewriting.com readers:
Introductory offer for subscriptions on
www.winetravelguides.com. Enter the code D1CTR07 into the ‘Subscribe’ Page
to receive a discounted subscription of: £6.50 Bronze (instead of £7.50), £17
Silver (instead of £19.50) and £39 Gold (instead of £49). Valid until 30th
September 2007. So check it out today! Posted 22 June 07.
Latest March 2008: there are now 45
downloadable mini-guides to France's wine regions, all recently updated and
revised. Click on the link above to check it out.
BK Wine
Tours autumn 07 & spring 08
In commendably un-PC style, BK Wine aka Britt and Per Karlsson, Paris' most
famous vinous Swedes, are running a tour called
Truffle, wine, duck and foie gras in the south west of France from February
13-17th 2008. I can understand vegetarians getting upset about foie gras, and I
know it's not a very nice way to rear birds (although the result is too
delicious to think about what those goose farmers actually get up to...); but I
find it baffling when regular meat-eating folk (like in California or
the UK or Ireland for example) condemn it, yet carry on scoffing steak or
whatever.
Anyway, enough of the rant. Click on the highlighted link above if this sounds
right
up your street. Britt is also doing a wine tour to Portugal's stunning Alentejo
region this October 17-21. And the busy couple has just published a book on
the Languedoc, although only in Swedish at the moment: interested English
language publishers should get in touch. For more info or sign up to Britt's
newsletter: info@bkwine.com. Posted
28/9/07.
Update on BK's wine tour programme for
2008 to follow shortly...
John Platter
Guide 2008
The John Platter Wine Guide, South Africa's benchmark annual guide (actually, it
recently got the
2007 Louis Roederer International Wine Writers’
Award in the latter category) published by
Andrew McDowall and edited by Philip van Zyl, has revealed a record 21
'five-star' wines in the forthcoming 2008 edition. "Given the enormous number of
ranges and individual products tasted, the wines which merit a five-star rating
make up a very select group indeed," McDowall explained. "The Guide, which
strives to rate, as far as is practically possible, all of the wines that are
available for the duration of the particular edition, locally as well as abroad,
tasted and assessed nearly 6000 individual wines over several months." The
asbestos-palated team of tasters ranked them on the guide's five-point scale,
ranging from 0 ("Somewhat less than ordinary") up to 5 ("Superlative. A Cape
classic"). Their top wines include a few recurring names such as
Ken Forrester, Bouchard Finlayson, Vergelegen
and Kanonkop. For more info or to
buy the guide, check out
www.platteronline.com. Posted 28/9/07.
 Wine
and tourism course Perpignan 15-27 July 2007
Perpignan University (in the Roussillon, about 200 km north of Barcelona) is laying on an
intensive 60-hour wine and tourism diploma course, as well as a more laid-back
cultural stay program. The former includes lectures, tasting tuition and winery
visits; the latter a bit of wine combined with historical stuff etc. The diploma
costs €800 and the culture trip €360, both excluding accommodation which can be
booked at the same time for a reasonable price.
More info and booking on-line on the
University of Perpignan website. Oh, make sure you bring a hat as it can be
rather hot in July. Posted 20/5/07.
 Le Bistrot des Crus, Perpignan
If you find yourself in the French
Catalonian capital on a Friday evening, why not check out this new wine bar &
bistrot (63 Avenue du Général Leclerc, 66000 Perpignan, tel. +33 04 68 73 96
83) found alongside, and owned by, the well-stocked wine merchant Le Comptoir
des Crus. Their Friday evening tasting events are called 'Les
Vendredis du Bistrot' and each one is led by a local winegrower presenting
their own wines. Starting tonight at 7pm with Guy Prédal, here's the program
running into the summer:
20/04/2007 Domaine Marcevol - Guy Prédal
Vertical tasting of 4 vintages of his cuvée Prestige.
27/04/2007 Domaine Clot de l’Oum - Éric Monné
Vertical tasting of 3 vintages of his cuvée Compagnie des Papillons and 2005
white wine.
04/05/2007 Domaine Vaquer - Frédérique Vaquer
Vertical tasting of 4 vintages of her cuvée Expression.
11/05/2007 Domaine La Casenove - Etienne Montès
Vertical tasting of 4 vintages of his cuvée Commandant Jaubert.
25/05/2007 Domaine Singla - Laurent de Besombes
Vertical tasting of 4 vintages of his cuvée Moli.
08/06/2007 Domaine Lafage - Jean-Marc Lafage
Tasting of their whole range. Special promo at the Comptoir des Crus: 10% off
Lafage's range between 6-10pm.
15/06/2007 La Cave de Castelmaure - Xavier Peyrot des Gachons
Vertical tasting of 4 vintages of his cuvée N°3.
22/06/2007 Summer rosés - Jean-Pierre Rudelle
Special promo at the Comptoir des Crus: 10% off all rosés between 6-10pm.
29/06/2007 Château Saint Roch - Emma and Marc Bournazeau
Vertical tasting of 4 vintages of their cuvée Kerbuccio. Posted 20/4/07
 Hôtel
du Vieux Moulin, Chablis
This flash mini-hotel is the latest venture from the ever expanding Laroche
empire, although this time it's on 'home turf' in Chablis, so to speak. The
opening sentence of their press release made me smile: "Within the wine trade,
the Laroche name has a well-earned reputation for hospitality – whether it is in
Chablis, Béziers, Casablanca or now Stellenbosch." Bit like London, Skegness,
Paris and New York perhaps...
Putting my silly sense of humour aside, the Vieux Moulin does sound and look the
part: "a beautiful 11th century mill that straddles the river Serein and
overlooks the picturesque Grand Cru vineyards," as their blurb continues. The
five air-conditioned (you wouldn't want that on too often in Chablis) double
rooms and two suites cost from 150 to 250 €uros. The personal styling even
extends to the furniture, designed by Michel and Gwenael Laroche
themselves. And on the ground floor, you'll find the Laroche Wine Bar where you
can try chef Julien Lasserre's culinary creations along with, not surprisingly,
Laroche wines from around the world. Hotel du Vieux Moulin, 18 rue des Moulins,
89800 Chablis. Tel +33 3 86 42 47 30 / Fax +33 3 86 42 84 44,
vieuxmoulin@larochewines.com /
winebar@larochewines.com. Posted 20/4/07
 Tempranillos
al Mundo
This international competition is organised by the Spanish Winemakers Federation (FEAE),
which this year will be held in Shanghai, China from June 28th-30th. What's so
interesting about that, you may well ask? Well, focusing on the Tempranillo
grape variety makes a refreshing change from more familiar territory; especially
as it can be at the heart of some great red wines in Spain, Argentina and who
knows where else: Australia, USA etc? I guess we'll see when the results are
released in a few months time.
Another original aspect to the show is the selection of a different host city
each year in an "emerging market," as the blurb puts it. "The main goal of Tempranillos al Mundo is to showcase high quality Tempranillo
wines to professionals and consumers in the country hosting the event," it
concludes. Have fun then, Shanghai wine folk.
Source:
Global
Wine & Spirits, one of the event's sponsors. More info from the
competition website: click on the logo above left. Posted 20/4/07
 Wine
Relief 2007
Big plastic red noses, 22 million people tap-dancing at once, football celebs
being doused in purple custard: Comic Relief day is back with a vengeance on
Friday 16th March. The UK wine industry, retailers, writers, restaurants etc.
will once again be doing their bit to raise money for CR charities in Britain
and Africa (Wine Relief has amassed £2million since its launch in 1999). The
following are donating 10% of the sale price of a range of Red Nose wines:
Co-op, Majestic, Marks & Spencer, Morrisons,
Sainsbury's, Somerfield, Tesco, Threshers, Waitrose and Café Rouge.
A few of my favourites include Montes Reserve Sauvignon Blanc,
Casablanca Valley (£6.49) and Crozes-Hermitage, Cave de Tain L'Hermitage (£6.99)
at Majestic (if you're anywhere near their Vinopolis shop in Southwark, south
London, you don't have to buy a case there); Darting Estate Riesling (£6.99) and
Pirque Estate Sauvignon Blanc (£6.99) from M&S; Porcupine Ridge Cabernet
Sauvignon (£5.49) at Sainsbury's; Brown Brothers Dry Muscat (£5.24) at
Somerfield; Tesco Finest Tapiwey Sauvignon Blanc and Kulapelli Cabernet
Sauvignon/Carmenere (both £7.99); Gobelsburger Grüner Veltliner from Austria
(£6.49), Fetzer Syrah Rosé from California (£5.99) and J P Ramos' Trincadeira
from Portugal (£7.49) at Waitrose; and the Laroche Terret and Grenache white and
red house wines at Café Rouge (£15) sound worth a go. Consume sensibly of
course!
Click on the Big One top right for more info, fundraising ideas, donations etc.
Posted 27/2/07.
 Although
not part of Comic Relief, another inventive fundraising event for the world's
poor is the
VSO Big Curry Night on Saturday March 10
2007 (follow the highlighted link for details), which sounds like a fun idea for
charidy. This was brought to my attention by Warren Edwardes from Wine
for Spice, purveyor of curry-friendly wines such as Raja Rosé (I did a little
feature and tasting on his wines in 2004, which I haven't yet rebuilt on this
site...), who's also supporting Big Curry Night. You can read his blog
here. So check out the VSO's recipe ideas, go shopping and get cooking. Talking
of rosé wines, I do find they often go with spicy food very well: check out my
wines of the moment and
Roussillon snapshots for
recommendations. Posted 5/3/07.
 Déjà-Vu
Wine Oscars across the
Andes
The Argentinean wine establishment has mirrored their Chilean counterparts over
the other side of the Andes with their first vinous awards ceremony held in
Mendoza a couple of weeks ago. And as sure as night follows day, Wines of Chile had their
fourth annual bash in Santiago a month before that. What was a first for
Santiago this year, was the all American judging team - in the past mostly Brits
- including Bob Paulinski MW, Mary Ewing-Mulligan MW, Joshua Greene (Wine &
Spirits mag), critic Jay Miller and the Wine Enthusiast's Michael Schachner. Over in
Mendoza, the tasters included many established names from the UK - in fact the
same 'old' ones who've previously done the judging thing in Chile (ooh, jealousy and
bitching will get you nowhere!) - such as
Oz Clarke, Robert Joseph,
Peter Richards, Jancis Robinson MW and Beverley Blanning MW, as well as
winemakers from Argentina Roberto de la Mota (Bodegas Mendel) and Daniel Pi (Trapiche)
among others.
Anyway,
enough of the banter; let's move on to the decorated wines. As for Argentina,
"interestingly eight out of the nine Trophy winners will retail in the UK for
under £10" commented James Forbes, UK Director of Wines of Argentina. They are
as follows:
Sparkling wine - Familia Zuccardi,
Alma 4 Chardonnay Roble 2003
Red blend - Bodega Norton, Norton Privada 2003
Tempranillo - Tittarelli, Finca El Retiro Reserva Especial 2004
Cabernet Sauvignon - Bodegas Santa Ana, La Mascota 2005
Malbec - Fabre Montmayou, Fabre Montmayou Gran Reserva 2005
Sauvignon Blanc - Pulenta Estate, La Flor de Pulenta Estate 2006
Torrontés - Bodega Felix Lavaque, Quara 2006
White blend - Bodega Luigi Bosca, Gala 3 Viognier 2006
Syrah - Don Domenico, Finca Don Domenico de Huanacache 2006.
You might be surprised to see a top sparkling wine from Argentina, although Domaine
Chandon, for example, has also been making good fizz there since the 60s. I haven't
tried the Zuccardi wine (but hope to at some point), yet that producer doesn't
usually disappoint. Apart from them, there are a few other old favourite names
here such as Norton, Fabre Montmayou and Luigi Bosca.
All the medal results are
available on
www.winesofargentina.org.
 Back to Chile,
best screenplay and director go to:
Sauvignon Blanc & 'best
in show' -
Viña Casas del Bosque Reserve 2006
Cabernet Sauvignon - Viña Hacienda Araucano, Reserva 2005
Carmenère - Viña Odfjell, Orzada 2004
Syrah - Viña Porta, Winemaker Reserve 2005
Merlot - Viña Concha y Toro, Marques de Casa Concha 2005
Chardonnay - Viña Nuevo Mundo, Tacón Alto 2006
Other red variety - Viña Millaman, barrel aged
Zinfandel 2005
Red blend - Viña Estampa, Reserve Cabernet
Sauvignon/Carmenère/Petit Verdot 2005
Best value white (this is beginning to sound like the International Wine
Challenge) - Viña Miguel Torres, Santa Digna
Reserve Sauvignon Blanc 2006
Best value red - Viña MontGras, Reserve Cabernet
Sauvignon 2005
Rosé - Viña Chocalan 2006.
Similarly, see
www.winesofchile.org for full listing.
I'm pleased to see
Casas del Bosque
up there, as I've always thought they make one of Chile's best Sauvignons. Also
worthy of comment is the mix of familiar names, who are obviously now showing
their experience and pedigree, and new estates (to me at least). I look forward
to tasting these wines in the near future.
Click here for my feature on last year's winners. Posted 5/3/07.
 Wine Women Awards 2007
Another competition, I hear you say! But this one's a bit different and
celebrates leading women in the wine business and related fields, including an
'amateur' category this year. The contest itself takes place in Paris in mid June,
where the finalists will be grilled by judges holding €4000 prize-money in
their wallets/purses. Closing date to enter is 20th April, so 'sisters get doin'
it for yourselves.' Full details on the WWA website:
www.winewomenawards.com. Posted 5/3/07.
Update July 07: and the winners were
Veronique Rivest, a 41 year-old Canadian
sommelier, educator and columnist in the 'professional category'; and, in
the 'amateur category', Aurélie Degoul, 23 year-old from
France who's in charge of a wine tourism project in Sauternes (sounds pretty
'professional' to me).
For the latest stories from Decanter.com: click here
to peruse their news-feed (right hand red
column)...
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 Waitrose plants English
vineyard
Patriotic British supermarket Waitrose recently announced a project to
plant vines on the retailer's own 4000 acre (1600 hectares) farm, called Leckford Estate in Hampshire
(southern England). The aim is to produce English fizz that should appear in their stores
by 2014. "Waitrose has stocked English wine for over twelve years.
In 2007, we reported a growth in sales of over 90%," says their press
blurb. "There is simply not enough English wine to meet customer
demand," they claim, despite stocking at least 28 lines (depending on if
and what's made in the local area) in shops and on-line.
It'll take a bit of time to see the results, bearing in mind the vines will need
at least three years before they yield the first decent crop
of grapes, and then a "two year wine-making and maturation cycle for the
production of this high quality sparkling wine." Meaning it's not worth
releasing it without at least 15-18 months bottle-ageing on the yeast
lees plus a bit more after removing the sediment.
Justin Howard-Sneyd MW, chief wine buyer at Waitrose said: "Our
customers are really enthusiastic about English wines and we have seen
some fantastic quality from Nyetimber, Ridgeview, Chapel Down, Camel
Valley and Denbies. We are all incredibly excited about being involved
with the planting and growing of our first vineyard."
I'm told Leckford Estate is located on rolling chalk hills either side
of the River Test. "There are several sites with a sheltered southern
aspect, where the soils have just the right balance of chalk and clay
loam for our grapevines." Basically, should be a good spot - I'll
find out which varieties they're going to plant and report back. This
huge farm has been part of the
John Lewis Partnership (owner of Waitrose) for 80 years and is managed
to "high environmental standards." It already churns out a variety of produce for
the supermarket including cider, apples, pears, apple juice, mushrooms, flour
and Leckford chicken. There's also a substantial dairy producing 5
million litres of milk every year from 600 cows (that's a lot of manure
for the new vineyard),
as well as organic
milk, goats milk and no less than 12,000 hens for free range eggs.
More info at
www.waitrose.com/wine.
Posted 28/3/08.
 Climate
Change and Wine, Barcelona 15 February 2008
Rain in Spain no longer on the plain
“The hotel manager just told me the pool outside the building will be
confiscated,” Pancho Campo announced - president of the
Wine Academy of Spain and organiser of last week’s ‘Climate Change and
Wine’ conference in Barcelona - as an example of the Spanish government’s
new measures to reclaim water and reduce irrigation. At a time when “the
maximum number of consecutive days without rain has now moved from 50 to
60,” ironically parts of Spain witnessed dramatic storms in August and
October 2007 causing drastic flooding. “According to flood predictions,
Bordeaux’s vineyards, for example, will be under water if the sea rises by
1.5 metres,” Campo added.
This increasing pattern of drought and flood was echoed by other speakers
in Barcelona. Viticulture consultant Richard Smart said that “Australia
will see shrinkage of possible grape growing regions towards the southern
coasts and altitude,” yet 70% of them are currently along the Murray River
centred on one of the hottest areas around Mildura. “If average
temperatures increase by over 2°C, we’re not sure what will happen. But
the inland irrigation areas already have an MJT (mean January/July
[southern/northern hemisphere] temperature) of 25, much above this they’ll
only be suitable for table and dried grape production.” Tony Sharley from
Banrock Station based in Mildura said irrigation was “the biggest mistake
we’ve made in Oz in the last 50 years.” The winery claims it will reduce
water usage by 50% over the next two years using precise irrigation
technology, recycling schemes, vineyard mulching and preservation of the
habitat around Banrock’s Wine & Wetland Centre.
Smart cited “the lucky regions” as Chile and Argentina, Tasmania, New
Zealand, northern Europe and inland and northern China even. Vicente Sotés,
a Madrid university professor, said “there’s no available land above 43°
North in Spain, and in Rioja plantings already go up to 600m.” New
high-altitude vineyard projects include the Canary Islands, Sierra Nevada
in Granada and Pyrenees foothills, where Torres has already made a move.
February 2008:
news piece
written for a business magazine.
Click here for my full report summarising
the main speakers at the conference. More info from their website:
II International Conference on Climate Change & Wine
 Sensation
Vin autumn courses Beaune, Lyon and Paris
Damien Delattre, owner of the Sensation Vin wine school in Beaune, in the
heart of Burgundy, has 'rolled out' their autumn tasting program with
tailor-made courses and weekend events now available in English. These
include new ideas such as tutored tastings of classic Burgundies from the
1990s. Another novelty is the Sensation Vin 'road show', where Damien or
one of his qualified colleagues will come to Paris or Lyon to create your
own group tasting experience.
1 rue d'Enfer (Hell street!), 21200 Beaune.
Tel: +33.3.80.22.17.57.
www.sensation-vin.com,
contact@sensation-vin.com.
Posted 28/9/07.
'Les vendredis du Vigneron' at Bistrot
du Sommelier
Philippe Faure-Brac - former 'Best Sommelier in the World', wine author
and broadcaster - has launched 'season 3' of his popular, grower-themed wine & food
lunches and dinners in the company of leading producers from around
France. Faure-Brac's
wine-restaurant in Paris' 8th 'arrondissement' (97 Boulevard Haussmann) is
the venue for two gastronomic Friday sessions:
12.30 to 1pm: pre-lunch tasting followed by meal consisting of starter,
main course & dessert matched with five different wines. Cost €45.
8 to 8.30pm pre-dinner tasting followed by five course meal matched with
wines. Cost €70.
You're advised to book in advance on 01 42 65 24 85, or
check out their website for more
info:
www. bistrotdusommelier.com.
The program up until Christmas is as follows:
|
Friday 5 October
- Valérie Riboud from Château Roubine, Provence Cru Classé.
Friday 12 October - Brigitte Rullier-Loussert, Château Dalem in
Fronsac.
Friday 19 October - Delphine Maymil, Château Maylandie in Corbières
Boutenac.
Friday 26 October - Caroline Frey, Château La Lagune, Grand Cru Classé
Haut-Médoc.
Friday 15 November - 'Soirée festive' focusing on 'Primeur' or Nouveau
wines.
Friday 23 November - Bertrand Devillard, Château de Chamirey in
Mercurey.
Friday 30 November - Gilbert Perrier, Domaine Jean Perrier Père & fils
in Savoie.
Friday 7 December - Bernard Audoy, Château Cos Labory, Grand Cru
Classé St-Estéphe.
Friday 14 December - gala dinner with Champagne Moët & Chandon (100
euros). Posted 28/9/07. |
 D'Vino
Xmas wine tastings
Italian specialist D'Vino is holding a series of regional
tastings in west London before Christmas covering Sicily,
Sardinia, Alto-Adige (the far north, Austrians call it the Sudtirol),
Tuscany and
Piedmonte. They're being held at Number
Ten, 10 Golbourne Road, London W10 5PE from 6.30-9.00pm; and include wines
from exciting producers such as Planeta and Sella & Mosca. Ticket prices
range from
£10 to £25 (for Piemonte), which is refundable if you buy 12 bottles.
You've already missed Sicily, thanks to my slow reaction to their press
release, but the others are fortnightly on Wednesdays. For more info click
here:
www.dvino.co.uk/events.html or send an email to
Paul Raymonde.
Posted 28/9/07.
 2007
vintage looking good in south of France
I knocked this techie/weathery report together at the end of August, with updated
paragraphs slotted in on 21st September, for a couple of publications.
More to follow once I've been out and about further across the region...
In contrast to the doom and gloom and ‘earliest on record’ hyperbole
elsewhere in France, it’s business as usual or a reserved rather good even
in the south. A mix of cool and hot weather from early to mid August
followed by rain then several very hot days towards the end of the month,
have turned a slightly late start to picking into normal conditions then
could all be over quickly.
In Bandol on the Provence coast, Eric de Saint Victor at
Château de Pibarnon described
vintage dates as “about the same as last year, ahead of those in the 90s
but usual nowadays.” Grenache is “already well in advance showing nice
phenolic ripeness” with one batch picked on 28th August. As for Mourvèdre,
they were looking to wait “at least another 10 days.” Generally, there was
less of a drought problem this year with late spring rain interspersed
with hot periods, a regular cooler June and “normal July and August: hot,
dry and windy.”
Following a 10mm splash of rain at the end of August, fine weather
continued into September prompting a rapid change of tune. The last
Mourvèdre came in on 18-19 Sept. at Pibarnon signalling “the earliest
finish since we’ve been here, i.e. 30 years,” according to Saint Victor.
“Ten to fifteen years ago we’d hardly started picking the Mourvèdre.” He
estimated yields will be down 25% due to small berry size with elegant
balanced wines: “black-coloured, fine tannins, nice acidity and typical
alcohol levels towards 14% for reds and 13.5 for rosé and white.”
This pattern was echoed in the Languedoc and Roussillon. Marc Barriot of
Clos de l’Origine in Maury (Roussillon)
also didn’t observe any vine stress describing conditions as “normal then
looking a little late then speeded up by the heat.” Potential alcohol
levels suddenly rose 1 to 1.5° in one day. All his white varieties
(Muscat, Grenache Gris and Macabeu) were picked between the middle and end
of August, and the reds appear to be “ahead but it depends on the
weather.” Like Barriot, Jonathan Hesford of
Domaine Treloar in Trouillas
remarked on “higher acidity this year,” meaning “picking started a bit
later” with Muscat à petits grains on 28th August. He predicted Syrah for
the first week of September, Grenache a week later and Mourvèdre “maybe
the end of September or early October.” Philippe Gard at
Coume del Mas in Banyuls
commented: “we started 10 days later but ripening is more even so will
finish earlier. Grenache and Syrah are looking very good, but it depends
on the grower,” referring to isolated mildew problems.
Favourable conditions continued into September in the Roussillon with some
light rain on Friday 14th then a dramatic, half-an-hour hailstorm on the
evening of Monday 17th. However, Gard described it as “nothing serious
even if spectacular.” He added: “I finished picking for Banyuls on Monday
morning, and we’ve managed to make a nice batch of Mourvèdre; just the
Carignan and more Mourvèdre to follow, as the skins weren’t ripe. Very low
yields exacerbated by the wind.” Barriot also reported everything wrapped
up with the last parcel of Syrah and Carignan going into vat on Wednesday
19th. “Plenty of substance, nice acidity and lots of fruit,” he concluded.
Hesford confirmed he lost a few bunches from the storm but finished
picking most of his Mourvèdre on 21st Sept. (with a little help from yours
truly, well a few boxes anyway!): “very healthy grapes and that initial high acidity has almost disappeared.”
In the Languedoc, Richard Lavanoux, production manager at Michel Laroche’s
winery near Béziers, agreed about the quality: “I wouldn’t be surprised to see a great
vintage, especially for Syrah,” following a ripening period of “rare
quality” thanks to more even summer temperatures. Marion Figuette at
Château La Roque in Pic St-Loup,
eastern Languedoc, reported picking started early: whites were all in last
week and reds the first week of September. Over in Corbières, “2007 is
slightly ahead of 2006 with Syrah starting this Friday (31 Aug) and the
first Grenache and Carignan in the earlier ripening coastal zones on 6 or
7 September,” according to Jean Pierre Thene, head of the AOC Corbières
Syndicat. The picture is different inland in the western Aude, where
grapes should come in much later than usual thanks to cooler conditions.
Thene stressed that the Languedoc-Roussillon “should not be seen as part
of this very average vintage elsewhere.”
The Monday night storm also hit the Languedoc, although Figuette at La
Roque described the downpour as “perfect for our Mourvèdre! Otherwise
everything is over and it’s looking like a very promising vintage.”
Lavanoux agreed the storm did more good than harm. In contrast -
"unfortunately" according to Jean-Pierre Thene - the Corbières were spared
the downpour: "we've seen very little rain since April, which combined
with strong northerly winds will mean low yields from
berry concentration." However, acidity and high sugar levels are nicely
balanced, with Carignan, Grenache and Cinsaut being the best
performers; and Syrah and Mourvèdre less adapted to the hot dry summer.
Thene believes they may have to rethink the latter varieties in Corbières
AOC zones thanks to climate change.
RJ posted 2/9/07 and 21/9/07.
 Roussillon
Dessert Trophy 2007
This year's sweet-toothed event starts in August, run by the Wines of Roussillon
generic body (CIVR)
in association with the Academy of Food & Wine. It's a restaurant competition
looking for "the most talented pastry
chef/sommelier team in Britain," by inviting them to submit a winning
combination of a Roussillon Vin Doux Naturel (VDN) sweet wine (white,
'amber' or red) with
their dessert fantasy. Eric Aracil, CIVR Export Manager,
commented: “The CIVR is proud to support an initiative which recognises
excellence in the UK on-trade. The 2007 Roussillon Dessert Trophy puts the
limelight on pastry chefs and sommeliers and encourages them to go
further in developing their knowledge and expressing their creativity."
Those entering are asked to choose dessert wines off their list
from these VDN appellations: Banyuls, Banyuls Grand Cru, Maury,
Muscat de Rivesaltes and Rivesaltes. The Roussillon region, or French
Catalonia, produces most of France’s VDN wines: click
here,
here,
here, or
here to read my many words and
recommendations. Jury members include Nigel Sutcliffe, restaurant consultant and former director of
the Fat Duck, Sarah Jane Evans MW, writer and broadcaster, and Sara Jayne Stanes, chief executive of Academy of
Culinary Arts. Last year’s
winning team was sommelier Anke Carmen Hartmann and chef Rebecca Kinsella
from Chewton Glen, who paired poached black plums and anise chiboust
(what?)
mille-feuille with Domaine du Mas Blanc's Banyuls Rimage 2003. Carmen
Hartmann enthused: “We enjoyed the challenge of combining flavours with
textures and found that, for outstanding results, the dessert needed to be
created after the wine was chosen rather than the other way round.”
How to enter the Roussillon Dessert Trophy 2007:
forms are available from Sophie Brown at the Academy of Food & Wine
on 0208 661 4646 or
info@acfws.org. Deadline Friday 31st August.
If you don't already list Roussillon dessert wines, samples are available from Georgie Hope or Natalie Jeune at Focus
PR on 020 7432 9432 or
civr-focuspr@focuspr.co.uk. The final: the trophy
will be presented at the Arts Club, Dover Street, London on 1st October 2007. The
prizes: the winning chef gets a 4-day course with world champion
pastry chef, Olivier Bajard, at the École Internationale de
Patîsserie in Perpignan; the winning sommelier spends four
days on a guided tour of top Roussillon wine producers. Posted 1/08/07
Update 20/09/07: Dessert Trophy finalists
announced
And they are (drum roll...):
Restaurant Gordon Ramsay at Royal Hospital Road, London
Chocolate Gianduja parfait with roasted pear and pecan, Banyuls syrup with
pear and cardamom foam.
Wine: 1996 Banyuls Grand Cru, Cuvée André Magnères, Domaine
Vial Magnères.
Chef: Hideko Kawa, sommelier: Naoko Tomita.
Hotel du Vin, Winchester
Dark chocolate mille-feuille, poached cherries, coffee tuiles.
Wine: 2005 Banyuls Quintessence,
La Coume del Mas.
Sous chef: Adam Fargin, chef sommelier: Yohann Jousselin.
Roussillon Restaurant,
London (I should hope so too!)
Honey mousse with glazed dates, pear rösti
and Chinese lemon sorbet.
Wine: 1988 Rivesaltes ambré, Domaine Piquemal.
Pastry chef: Heinrich Greve, chef sommelier:
Roberto Della Pietra.
Galvin at Windows, Hilton
Park Lane, London
Palet d’or of chocolate with spiced ice
cream, spiced crunch tuile, roast fig in Mas Amiel 15 YO and fig purée.
Wine: Maury Prestige 15 Year Old,
Mas Amiel.
Pastry
chef: Peter Bras, sommelier: Charles Segond.
Call back in October to find out which of these yum-inducing creations is
the winner...
Update 7/10/07: Dramatic drum roll...
it's the first one i.e. chocolate Gianduja (what?) parfait with Domaine
Vial Magnères' 96 Banyuls Grand Cru, by Hideko Kawa and Naoko Tomita chez
Gordon Ramsay.
 Malbec
Made for Meat
An equally mouth-watering, determined-to-upset-vegetarians contest brought to you by Wines of Argentina
in conjunction with Wine & Spirit magazine, the Hotel du Vin & Bistro
Group and Gaucho Restaurants. The plan? The blurb says: "Malbec Made for
Meat is a UK quest to find the Malbec or Malbec-based wine from Argentina
that best matches traditional British meat dishes." Sounds like a fun
idea. They've held three heats in Glasgow, Harrogate and Brighton (well
done for getting out of London too); and the final will be held on 12th
September at Gaucho's W1 restaurant. By the way, apparently the average
Argentinean eats 68kg of beef per annum!
At the first heat, tasting Malbecs with roast beef and Yorkshire pudding
at Hotel du Vin & Bistro in Glasgow’s West End, one of the judges, wine
writer Tom Cannavan, commented that "the wines drunk with the beef
generally worked well, and the first and second placed wines really worked
in harmony." The heat winner was Bodegas Catena Zapata Malbec 2004, from
Mendoza (Majestic £10.99); and runners up Masi Tupungato Paso Doble 2005,
Mendoza (Oddbins £8.99); Co-op Argentine Malbec 2006, San Juan (£2.99);
and Asda's Argentine Malbec 2006, La Rioja (£3.78).
In Harrogate, the meat was roast lamb with 'all the trimmings'. "For anyone
who thought they'd mastered Argentine Malbec," said judge Joe Fattorini,
"this tasting revealed what a chameleon grape it is, turning from brooding
and burly to aromatic and balletic with the lift of a fork." Heat winner
was Familia Zuccardi Q Malbec 2004, Mendoza (Alliance Wine RRP £9.99); and
runners up Fincas Patagonicas, Tapiz Malbec 2005, Mendoza (Hispa Merchants
RRP £5.99); Bodega Mendel, Unus Malbec 2004, Mendoza (Prestige Agencies
RRP £19.99 or Handford Wines); Bodegas Catena Zapata Alta Malbec 2004,
Mendoza (Bibendum RRP £29.99); Bodegas Salentein, Malbec 2004, Mendoza
(£8.49 Tesco); and Bodegas Valentin Bianchi, Malbec Particular
2003 (Liberty Wines RRP £9.99).
The
Brighton tasters stuffed their faces with roast pork while trying these
wines: heat winner Dona Paula Malbec 2005, Mendoza (Oddbins
£9.49); runners up Bodegas O Fournier, Alpha Crux Malbec 2004, Mendoza (Seckfords RRP £19.99); Bodega O Fournier, Urban Uco Malbec
2004, Mendoza (Seckfords RRP £5.99); Gougenheim Malbec 2005, Mendoza (Las Bodegas RRP
£6.99); and Bodega NQN, Reserve Malbec 2004, Neuquen Patagonia (Hispa Merchants
£8.99). Interesting to note they're not all expensive posh wines that were
picked by the judges. Anyway, call back in September for an update on the winning wines or
check out
winesofargentina.com.ar. Posted 1/08/07.
Update 24/9/07: Bodega Catena Zapata’s Alta
Malbec 2004 "took top spot as the wine to have with meat" in
the gripping carnivore final, which took place at Gaucho's in Piccadilly,
London, and was also deemed the 'Best with Lamb' wine. The
Viña Doña Paula 2005 Malbec replicated its regional success winning 'Best
with Pork'; but in the hottest contested category, Gouguenheim Malbec 2005
and Catena Malbec 2004 "proved impossible to separate" and so both won the
'Best with Beef' award (the most important, you would've thought given the
Argentinean penchant for beef).
 Champagne
with potato chips?
"...Zinfandel with your Tex-Mex? Not a problem," says Natalie
MacLean, author and sommelier, who claims to offer no less than
360,000 "daring food and wine matches" in a new feature on her website Nat
Decants. So
click here
www.nataliemaclean.com/matcher and have a bit of fun playing around
with it. There's quite a lot of superior rubbish written about which wines
should go with what; or, worse still, you know that kind of useless back
label stating 'ideal with red meat or cheese.' What I like about Natalie's
thing is the depth of options she's included: for example, put in 'pasta'
and you'll get a long list of different sauces and ingredients, much more
helpful and important when attempting to pair flavours and textures. You
might not agree with every suggestion but at least she's spent time
thinking it through, and probably done a fair bit of cooking and
complementary tasting too! Another good site on this theme is
Fiona
Beckett’s
www.matchingfoodandwine.com. Posted 13/07/07.
 Caliterra
sponsors Allotment of the Year
In a cunningly original sponsorship deal to infiltrate the very core of
things peculiarly British, Chilean wine brand Caliterra has lent its name
(and a few bottles presumably) to this most serious of competitions. Run
by the National
Allotment Gardens Trust, the winners will be announced during National
Allotment Week, August 13th to 19th. Being a bit slow in reacting to this
news, it's actually now too late to enter so my apologies for that!
However, these are the five earth-moving categories:
Best Shed - looking for "the ultimate UK shed, the English allotmenteer’s
supreme bolthole."
Best Allotment in the Country - "recognising the most beautiful,
individually held plot in the country."
Best Newcomer - "for the person who has been allotment-gardening for less
than three years."
Best Community Project - "everything from communal orchards to wild
gardens used by special needs groups, an inclusive-minded Eden."
Best Allotment Site - "...in terms of maintenance, cleanliness and organic
waste disposal."
With a new British film just out about life on the allotment, 'Grow Your
Own', and the UKTV Gardens series, 'Dig For Victory'; this appears to be
something that'll run and run. All goes to show you don't need an excuse
to have a sit down in your veg garden after a hard day's digging, with a
nice glass of wine of course. By the way, I'd stick to spuds and
courgettes if I were you: Cabernet vines might be a bit tricky even in
these global warming times. Posted 13/07/07. More Caliterra and Chilean
wines here. |