Australia: Cabernet Sauvignon

The Oz red fashion has perhaps shifted towards varieties such as Shiraz (Syrah) and Pinot Noir and Italian or Spanish grapes, as highlighted in a recent post on harpers.co.uk: "the trend to also move away from the once overwhelming focus on French varietals seems to be growing." But when you taste Australia's premium Cabernet Sauvignons and blends, you're quickly reminded of how good some of them are.

WineWriting.com and FrenchMediterraneanWine merge

I'm merging WineWriting.com and FrenchMediterraneanWine.com together, so everything will be in one place on one blog. I've already imported all posts from FMW to WW anyway, where all new material will now be published. I'll be sorting out the extra pages, photos, gadgets, sidebars etc. and tidying things up on WW.com design-wise. But FrenchMediterraneanWine won't disappear forever since I'm keeping the domain name; it will simply redirect you here when I've finished...

France: Calvados - Roger Groult

Jean-Roger Groult (in fact) is the fifth generation, in inimitable French craft-booze production style, to make traditional Calva (in the local vernacular) at Clos de la Hurvanière; for instance, he still uses the 'double distillation au feu de bois' method, as it proudly says on the bottle (heated by wood fire). You'll find this family distillery in the smaller Pays d'Auge Calvados zone in a place called Saint-Cyr du Ronceray, to the south of Lisieux.
Calvados Pays d'Auge Réserve 3 ans - Obviously has a bit of a kick with 40% abv, but this delicious cider brandy is surprisingly smooth for three years ageing (his youngest one actually: there's 8, 12 and upwards) and is possibly one of the fruitiest Calvas I've tried, with lovely pure apple and real cider flavours resonating through the spirit.

The online price in France is €29 for 70cl, although I sampled a 50cl bottle. Their UK importer is Georges Barbier of London, and Majestic Wine Warehouses list his 12 year-old at £50 for 70cl. Widely exported across the rest of Europe, and Israel, but not to Ireland by the looks of it; and beyond, such as Bock Wine and Spirits in San Francisco, V.O.S. Selections in New York and Heavenly Spirits in Maine; Crimson Imports in Alberta or La QV in Montreal; also Japan, Thailand, Australia... More info @ www.calvados-groult.com.