Chile: Viña Ventisquero & John Duval

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One of Australia's most famous and laid-back winemakers, John Duval (below right) has been a consultant at Ventisquero (meaning 'grey glacier') in Chile since the beginning: 2004 vintage for Syrah and Merlot and 2005 for Cabernet and Carmenere (CLICK HERE and scroll down to read my report and notes cobbled together in 2007 featuring these wines). John, who was in London to host a special tasting a few months ago, said he's "worked with Felipe Tosso (winemaker at Ventisquero) for many years now... After I left Penfolds in 2002, it was through contacts there that I was invited to Chile." And the rest is history, as the old cliché goes; he goes over twice a year nowadays "after the vintage in Barossa and in November."

WES Belfast wine tastings update

Here are the latest dates and details of forthcoming Wine Education Service NI courses and tastings running in Belfast city centre, with an updated PayPal button for card payments at the bottom of the post.

Impossible castle in Slovenia
(not where the vineyards are!)

Roussillon winery updates

Wild back-lands around Domaine des Soulanes
Photo: Vi Erickson.

It might look like I've been neglecting one of my favourite wine corners of southern France, the Roussillon, but I'm working on a whole bunch of updates and new winery profiles from the Roussillon (and just over the Corbières hills in a couple of cases) at the moment. This includes these Domaines: Schistes, Sabbat, Pons Gralet, Soulanes, Terres de Mallyce, Serre Romani, Rombeau, Gilles Trouillier, Tribouley, Balmettes, Sabots d'Hélène, Arcadie, Rivaton, La Toupie, Mas Devèze, Jones and Treloar. 

These won't be posted here on my blog though, but will be part of a new book I'm trying to get finished soon-ish covering the whole of French Catalan wine country...

AND HERE IT IS ('Roussillon French Catalonia, wild wine country' available as paperback or ebook).

Is dry January beneficial?

This enlightening article on Decanter.com was written by Dr. Michael Apstein, a bit of wine/alcohol science in plain English: CLICK HERE to read it on their site.

Wine Education Service: tastings & courses Belfast 2016 update

See below for the latest on forthcoming wine courses and tastings running in Belfast, plus a new evening tasting added to the programme at the end of April and updated PayPal button for card payments at the bottom.

Impossible castle in Slovenia

Saturday 30 January 2016: Spain and Portugal one-day workshop £90

LAST FEW PLACES LEFT!

French wine touring & tasting e-book

UPDATED Sept. 2016 - see link at bottom.
I've combined, tweaked, edited, added to and reformatted my special French wine and travel supplements into a Kindle e-book, which is now available to buy on AMAZON. This includes three huge reports on the Languedoc and Saint-Chinian, updated Cahors wine touring, independent Champagne wine-growers' mini-guide, 'Chablis on foot' (and more) and Alsace Grand Cru among other things (follow links for more info). Click on the links below to buy the e-book in your country's Amazon store (prices subject to exchange rate variations):

Amazon US ($6.50), Amazon UK (£4.95), France (€5.89), Canada ($8.43), Australia ($8.58), India (₹399), Germany (€5.89), Spain (€5.89), Italy (€5.89), Netherlands (€5.89), Japan (¥682), Brazil (R$21.32) and Mexico ($120.93).
Alternatively, it's also available on offer (compared to buying them individually) for £4.99 (about $6.50 or €6) as a 125-page PDF file with photos using the PayPal button below, by card or your own PP account although you don't need one to buy it.

THIS E-MAGAZINE WAS UPDATED IN SEPTEMBER 2016: CLICK HERE TO BUY THE LATEST VERSION (Amazon Kindle or PDF: US$5.99 / £4.50 / €5.37)...

France: 'classic' reds, St-Emilion & Loire Valley...

For want of a better title, or 'some tasty Merlot and Cab Franc' perhaps. Over to those two reds then, both from well-known producers, both different and one of them better value probably because the 'appellation' is less sought-after...

Who'd have thought we'd be invited to Chateau de Chassilier, ay Gessiah?
Pic from josephjanoueix.com, misquoted Python line from davidpbrown.co.uk.

Château Haut-Sarpe 2012 Saint-Emilion Grand Cru (13.5% abv): 90% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc, 12 months in oak - Quite closed up to start with background cedar-y oak hints and aromatic plum/soy sauce notes, quite lush and concentrated with structured tannins vs rounder mouth-feel too, grip and freshness to finish; pretty serious red needing a few more years to express itself. £20 for 2009: Eton Vintners (England), Fine & Rare Wines also lists a few older vintages. €33 cellar door France - Joseph Janoueix Wines.

Couly-Dutheil 2014 'La Diligence' Chinon (13% abv) - Surprisingly ripe and smoky with earthy rustic edges vs aromatic damson and sweet blueberry/red pepper, fairly supple with a little dry bite and weight; attractive red, went well with a Chinese roast duck dish. £14.95 Perfect Cellar (London), €9.30 cellar door.

England: festive sparkling wine - Henners & Ridgeview

Henners Vineyard in East Sussex is already featured in my English Wine Guide (click there to buy it), which I've now updated with their latest vintage releases as well as from Ridgeview Winery - e.g. Merret Grosvenor Blanc de Blancs 2011 - and others plus news about vintage 2015 etc. Here's a little New Year's Eve sneak-taster in the meantime:

Henners Brut 2010 (Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier, 3+ years lees-ageing, 10 g/l dosage (residual sugar), 12% abv) - Delicious maturing nose yet aromatic too with yeasty-bread and toasted oat cake notes, still fruity and fresh with lively acidity vs toasty oily richness on its elegant finish. Very tasty. £29.99 Virgin Wines (where I copied the bottle shot from), £154 for six Henners' cellar door.