I have made an uncountable number of trips to the South West of France but I have never tasted this wine. The Côtes de Duras borders on the Bordeaux and Bergerac regions and uses similar grape varieties in the blend of wines and wine making techniques. The wines have a reputation for being unexceptional.
I discovered BB de Berticot Rouge 2010 in a French supermarket on a recent visit. This wine is made from the Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot grape varieties and the viticulture is being converted to organic methods.
My wife and I were completely surprised by the quality of the wine. It was very rich and concentrated and had a vivid flavour of red fruits and spice. My wife felt that it had a hint of chocolate on the palate. I could have been fooled into thinking that the wine came from further South as it was so full of fruit and full bodied. The wine also had long length on the palate which is another indicator of good quality.
The wine went perfectly with fillet of lamb and my wife's Lyonnais potatoes - yum yum. The wine and food combination was simply delicious.
The wine had a distinctive taste of its own but I cannot judge whether it is typical of the appellation. The vines are grown on calcareous soils mixed with some gravel.
At about 6 Euros for a bottle this wine is very good value for money as its quality is excellent for the price.
As and added bonus this wine will keep for several years longer as it has a good solid structure and the tannin will soften further.
The next time I am in France I shall treat myself to half a case as it represents much better value for money than anything I can find in a British supermarket.
http://www.berticot.com/organic-wines,us,3,26.cfm
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/classic-lyonnaise-potatoes-recipe/index.html
Post script
We did not drink the whole bottle on our first sitting but finished it the following evening. I discovered a sediment at the bottom of the last glass. The sediment is harmless and indicates that the wine maker has either applied moderate filtration or no filtration at all. This also indicates to me that the winemaker cares about the quality of his wines.
Monday 14 October 2013
Tuesday 1 October 2013
Alain Mathias Côte de Grisey 2011 Epineuil Red and Confit de Canard
The other night we were pushed for time and we cooked some Confit de Canard accompanied by some pasta. Oh well, I opened the tin and my wife cooked it. It comes in very large tins which will feed four people but only three when I am around. The whole meal took about half an hour to cook.
Confit de Canard is one of my favourite foods; it would go in my top ten along with rib of beef and sea bass. There is a lot of salt in it, so I am sure that the diet dictators would not approve. But, if you have got a bottle of water handy and only eat it once a month or so, why worry? We are going to France this weekend so I hope that my sister-in-law has got it on the agenda.
Confit de Canard is made by curing the legs in salt and then cooking them in their own own fat. It is a speciality of Gascony in France. We buy it in large tins. My wife cooks it in the oven in some but not all of the fat. She does it to perfection and cooks it until it is almost going dry but not quite. The flesh literally falls of the bone. It goes perfectly with pasta or with potatoes cooked in the remaining fat.
Why worry about cholesterol when you can wash down this favourite with a bottle of Alain Mathias 2011 Côte de Grisey Epineuil Red? This wine is delicious and goes perfectly with duck, chicken and game dishes. It is produced in Burgundy not far from the town of Tonnerre. I always think that Pinot Noir based wines go so well with poultry and game and this wine is no exception.
The 2011 will keep for several years longer and if you are ever in the Tonnerre area why not search out some Epineuil and Domaine Alain Mathias in particular.
http://www.domainealainmathias.com/vins.htm
Confit de Canard is one of my favourite foods; it would go in my top ten along with rib of beef and sea bass. There is a lot of salt in it, so I am sure that the diet dictators would not approve. But, if you have got a bottle of water handy and only eat it once a month or so, why worry? We are going to France this weekend so I hope that my sister-in-law has got it on the agenda.
Confit de Canard is made by curing the legs in salt and then cooking them in their own own fat. It is a speciality of Gascony in France. We buy it in large tins. My wife cooks it in the oven in some but not all of the fat. She does it to perfection and cooks it until it is almost going dry but not quite. The flesh literally falls of the bone. It goes perfectly with pasta or with potatoes cooked in the remaining fat.
Why worry about cholesterol when you can wash down this favourite with a bottle of Alain Mathias 2011 Côte de Grisey Epineuil Red? This wine is delicious and goes perfectly with duck, chicken and game dishes. It is produced in Burgundy not far from the town of Tonnerre. I always think that Pinot Noir based wines go so well with poultry and game and this wine is no exception.
The 2011 will keep for several years longer and if you are ever in the Tonnerre area why not search out some Epineuil and Domaine Alain Mathias in particular.
http://www.domainealainmathias.com/vins.htm
Planet Of The Grapes and Albariño 2012 Rías Baixas dry white wine
The other day I was invited for lunch with a colleague and we went to one of my favourite wine bars in the City of London "The Planet of the The Grapes". I have no commercial connexion.
I arrived early and was recommended a glass of the Albariño 2012 La Liebre y la Tortuga white wine from
Rías Baixas.
La Liebre y la Tortuga - the Rabbit and the Tortoise what a lovely name for a wine. And a very apt name for having a leisurely and slow chat in the Cockney hinterland right underneath Bow bells. "Rabbit and Pork" means "Talk" in cockney rhyming slang and well tortoises are slow and leisurely. It must have been the wine - enough of this "Rabbit"!
http://www.cockney.co.uk/
Nine pounds for a glass is not cheap but you are paying, also, for the location and the knowledge and good service of the wine staff. The wine was well recommended so we we decided on a bottle to go with our lunch.
Albariño is a dry white wine produced in the Rias Baixas of Galicia in Spain. Rias Baixas is near to the Atlantic ocean and the wine reflects the climate and granite based soil of the region.They are lively wines with well integrated fruit and acidity. They go well with good food especially fish. They are a bit expensive but when matched with well cooked food they are worth it. They also go well with pie and mash.
http://www.riasbaixaswines.com/wines/index.php
The white Albariño grape is thick skinned and is resistant to the mildew caused by the moisture from the Atlantic. The grape and the soil combine together to give the wine a refreshing taste which is so characteristic of the appellation. It is quite easy to recognise this wine but it could easily be confused with Alvarinho which is produced from the same grape just across the river Miño or Minho in Portugal's Vinho Verdi region.
http://www.wine-pages.com/features/vinho-verde-alvarinho.htm
Whilst working on a project in Hamburg this wine was a team favourite when we dined at the Vasco da Gama restaurant and it was always drunk with fish -superb. And they had both the Spanish and Portuguese wines.
http://www.vasco-da-gama-hamburg.de/
Next time you are in the City then why not pay a visit to the Planet of the Grapes especially if you are feeling flush. And in the supermarket, why not buy a bottle of Albariño or Alvarinho if you can find it? So enjoy some happy eating and drinking
http://www.morrisonscellar.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/KeywordSearchResults?storeId=10701&catalogId=11802&langId=-1&fcd=set&Ntk=primary&N=0&Ns=Relevance%7C1&pageView=&sourcePage=keywordSearch&Ntt=Alvarinho&x=-1078&y=-69&gclid=CJS3ysux9bkCFeXMtAodxFgAfQ
I arrived early and was recommended a glass of the Albariño 2012 La Liebre y la Tortuga white wine from
Rías Baixas.
La Liebre y la Tortuga - the Rabbit and the Tortoise what a lovely name for a wine. And a very apt name for having a leisurely and slow chat in the Cockney hinterland right underneath Bow bells. "Rabbit and Pork" means "Talk" in cockney rhyming slang and well tortoises are slow and leisurely. It must have been the wine - enough of this "Rabbit"!
http://www.cockney.co.uk/
Nine pounds for a glass is not cheap but you are paying, also, for the location and the knowledge and good service of the wine staff. The wine was well recommended so we we decided on a bottle to go with our lunch.
Albariño is a dry white wine produced in the Rias Baixas of Galicia in Spain. Rias Baixas is near to the Atlantic ocean and the wine reflects the climate and granite based soil of the region.They are lively wines with well integrated fruit and acidity. They go well with good food especially fish. They are a bit expensive but when matched with well cooked food they are worth it. They also go well with pie and mash.
http://www.riasbaixaswines.com/wines/index.php
The white Albariño grape is thick skinned and is resistant to the mildew caused by the moisture from the Atlantic. The grape and the soil combine together to give the wine a refreshing taste which is so characteristic of the appellation. It is quite easy to recognise this wine but it could easily be confused with Alvarinho which is produced from the same grape just across the river Miño or Minho in Portugal's Vinho Verdi region.
http://www.wine-pages.com/features/vinho-verde-alvarinho.htm
Whilst working on a project in Hamburg this wine was a team favourite when we dined at the Vasco da Gama restaurant and it was always drunk with fish -superb. And they had both the Spanish and Portuguese wines.
http://www.vasco-da-gama-hamburg.de/
Next time you are in the City then why not pay a visit to the Planet of the Grapes especially if you are feeling flush. And in the supermarket, why not buy a bottle of Albariño or Alvarinho if you can find it? So enjoy some happy eating and drinking
http://www.morrisonscellar.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/KeywordSearchResults?storeId=10701&catalogId=11802&langId=-1&fcd=set&Ntk=primary&N=0&Ns=Relevance%7C1&pageView=&sourcePage=keywordSearch&Ntt=Alvarinho&x=-1078&y=-69&gclid=CJS3ysux9bkCFeXMtAodxFgAfQ
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