Swan Inn Little Haven

Last Sunday my wife and I visited the Swan Inn in Little Haven Pembrokeshire for Sunday lunch with family and friends. The Swan is one of my favourite pubs in my native Pembrokeshire. Little Haven is a small village situated in Saint Bride's bay and the views are spectacular especially at sunset.

Local fishermen used to land small boats in the harbour to sell freshly caught mackerel. We used to buy them and drive home to eat them  immediately  There is nothing like the taste of fresh mackerel washed down with some Chablis. The mackerel are all gone now; the Spanish have taken them all.

So, there was no mackerel on the menu at the Swan Inn. However, there was rib of Welsh beef. I washed this done with a pint of Reverend James bitter and  as I was driving I could drink no more. The bitter went down really well with some of the best rib of beef I have ever tasted. The meat was cooked to perfection in a red wine source. The ample supply of roast potatoes and green vegetables were also cooked to perfection.

The rest of our party ate sea bream except for one of our American friends who also had the good taste to go for the beef. The bream was excellent as well.

The waiting staff and bar staff could not have been more friendly or efficient and I was greatly amused when we were at the bar to order a glass of wine. When I asked the the bar man what red wines he had, he recited the usual list of Merlot, Shiraz, Carbernet etc. I then heard the other waiter cry out from the side "is Merlot a red wine?"

This was no daft question, in fact it was one of the most intelligent questions that I have heard in a bar for a long time. "Merlot" is not a wine; it is a black grape variety. You can make white wine from black grapes, the Champenois do it all the time. We ordered the "Merlot" without even asking where it was from. Probably it was from Chile.

Château Haut Veyrac 2005 St Emilion Grand Cru is on the menu: now that is is a real name for a real wine but guess what?  It is made primarily from Merlot black grapes. What a pity the Swan only sells  it by the bottle.

So, three cheers for the young man who asked " is "Merlot a red wine?" Send him on a wine course, the wine industry needs an enquiring mind. Better still, send him on a wine marketing course, perhaps he will be able to think up a better naming convention. One that means something.

Three cheers, too, for the Swan Inn as it was perfect dining in magnificent surroundings. The beer was identifiable and given a proper name; three cheers for Brains brewery as well.

http://www.theswanlittlehaven.co.uk/

http://www.chateau-haut-veyrac.com/vignes.html

http://www.libation-unlimited.com/champagne-about/06-champagne-pinot-noir.aspx

http://www.sabrain.com/beers/draught/cask-beers/the-rev-james

                                                               Some Welsh Beef

Some Pembrokeshire Brebis

Some Little Haven waves

Jean-François Chapelle Corton Grand Cru 2002

We drank this wine with our Sunday Dinner with some friends. Santenay based Jean-François Chapelle started biodynamic agriculture in 2002 and this wine reflects some of the philosophy of his vine growing and vine making techniques.

This wine was not fined or filtered so of course there was sediment in the wine. I had to keep it upright for several hours and decant the bottle. It is obvious that the producer takes care in both the vienyard and the winery and is proud of his product and has good reason to be.

Corton Red Burgundy is unapproachable when young and needs ten years in the bottle to become fully developed for drinking. It has its own appellation: Appellation D'Origine Corton Contrôlée.

I always find that Corton is an enigmatic wine and this one is no different. I tasted the wine and wrote a tasting note before my guests arrived. This wine has none of the richness of its grand cru cousins from the Côte de Nuits. It is quite sinuous and to my mind austere on the palate and this vintage did not show any fresh fruit flavours.

The wine does show the typical character of the Corton appellation it has ripe fruit flavours with tones of minerality, spice and cloves. The flavours are intense and complex and are savoury on the tongue. The aromas were intense enough to penetrate my heavy cold and they remained on the palate for a long time. But for me something was missing; the fruit was more like stewed plums rather than fresh tasting like cherries.

Objectively this is very good wine but it did not move my subjective spirit. Our good friends were dining with us; the husband who rarely drinks anything but Bordeaux or Burgundy was bemused by the wine. He could not guess where it was from. I even had to remind him that it was France. Being put on the spot did not help.
His wife,who I interrupted in full conversational flow, guessed it was from Burgundy - good tasting there.

My wife commented on the lack of cabbage like aromas - there was no mercaptan in this wine. My friends reaction to the wine indicates to me that it is better not to think too much when trying to identify where a wine comes from. It is best to be in a completely relaxed state of mind and rely on your unconscious rather than analytical mind.

The Corton hill (388 meters high) is situated near the village of Aloxe-Corton, which is a charming village that has escaped 20th and 21st century modernity. For me, this hill has an almost primeval feeling but of course the evidence of man is everywhere. The hill is covered with vines except for the trees on the the summit.

The Corton hill has a varied geology with some soils being suited to red wine production from the Pinot Noir grape. Other parcels of land are more suited to white wine production from Chardonnay. Chapelle's Corton is blended from  different parcels of vineyards (or climats) from the Grand Cru sections of the hill. These vineyards are located on Jurassic marl soils.

The soil on the has a considerable influence on the terroir and the character of the wine. The wines express the terroir and this expression of terroir lends itself to high quality wine production.

Despite the pedigree of the wine I am not convinced that it is outstanding wine which has exceptional value for money. It appeals more to my objective senses than my emotional ones. Perhaps, this is what bemused my friend too and that is why he could not pin it down to where it came from. However, I did enjoy the wine as it appealed to the wine "expert" in me. It is a wine to be savoured with food.

My wife, whose father comes from Burgundy has no difficulty with this wine as its the soil: its the soil that matters. She thought the wine was very good. You may think so too. On another day and without a heavy cold I could have judged this wine differently.

Tasting Note:

Wine: Jean-François Chapelle Corton Grand Cru 2002 AOC Corton red Burgundy

Appearance: Clear Bright with a light burgundy colour. Tears.

Nose: Pronounced aroma of plums and prunes and ripe red fruits. Also some flavours of mineral and spice. It is fully developed and can be drunk now.

Palate: Dry, Medium body, medium alcohol and acidity, medium plus tannin which is now softening. Complex and concentrated flavours of ripe red fruits , plums and prunes,spices, cloves, marzinpan. the wine also has a savoury flavour. The wine is sinuous and slightly rustic. Very long length and the savoury taste remains on the palate for a long time.

Observations: Objectively I have to say that this is a very good, high quality wine but for me it is not exceptional. It has all the hallmarks of a very well structured and integrated wine but it did not move my spirit.  At the elevated prices for Burgundy, it is not good value for money.


http://www.domainechapelle.com/fr/vins/rouges/corton-grand-cru-13.htm

Taberna Etrusca and Sicilian red: Nerello Cappuccio, Frappato 2011

Last week I went  to lunch with a colleague to the Taberna Etrusca in Bow Churchyard for a superb meal. Even though I have worked in the City of London off and on since the 1970's I  have never been here before. How times of changed. I was dressed casually but there is no way I would have gone to this restaurant in 1977 without a suit and tie.

Most clients would have happily downed a bottle of wine each with their meal in those days but  today lunch time dining is a much more sober affair. Even so we managed a bottle of Sicilian red. I am my own boss and  I am semi-retired now but,even so, I rarely drink at lunch time.

We dined on the set menu and both of us chose Mushroom soup and Taglietelle Bolognese. The Soup was well seasoned with truffles which I could still taste on the palate after the main course.

We drank a bottle of  a bottle of Sicilian red: Nerello Cappuccio, Frappato 2011 from Caruso & Menini. This full bodied wine had concentrated red fruit flavours with a solid structure of acidity and well balanced tannin. It was just right for  a tomato based meat dish. It was excellent wine at a reasonable price.

The young staff  here were everything that could be asked for at a good restaurant. They were polite and helpful and were not intrusive. They showed an obvious enthusiasm for their trade and the word "guys" did not pass their lips. Well done Taberna Etrusca. I cannot understand how it took me more than thirty years to find you. Now that I have, I shall be going back.

http://etruscarestaurants.com/restaurants/taberna-etrusca

http://www.wine-searcher.com/grape-1481-nerello-cappuccio

Maris Minervois Organic Syrah 2011

I drank this wine with my lunch at the Brasserie Blanc in Berkhamsted last week. It is from Robert Eden an Australian wine maker who has started to use bio-dynamic techniques in the vineyard and "natural techniques" in the winery. This wine is unfiltered and unacidified and it is not chaptalised ever. He also uses "natural" yeasts.

The wine is accessible to the palate now but it will keep. It has all the concentration and complexity of a very good wine with a long length on the palate. We drank the wine with a Boeuf Bourguignon. You may well be asking why I did not try a red Burgundy; well I could not see one on the card. The waitress recommended this wine and at about £20 a bottle, at a restaurant price, it was well worth it despite the varietal labelling.


I have written about organic wines before and bio-dynamic vineyard techniques.  I am sceptical about all the mysticism surrounding Rudolph Steiner and Maria Thun and their agricultural "theories".

Domaine Maris is a well made and structured wine but it does not taste any better than lots of other wines from the region which do not follow bio-dynamic techniques. I certainly could not tell the difference until I read the back label.

There is no scientific proof that planting according to lunar cycles and  flower or fruit days works. Surely, it is far better to farm and  harvest crops  according to the weather. As far as wine is concerned matching the grape variety to the climate and soil is of prime importance. It is also far better that wine making is an artisan rather than an industrial process. Science must play its part to improve the quality of the wine rather than engineer it to maximise profits and convenience.

I have a feeling that the real improvements to wine production are obtained from the de-industrialisation of both vine growing and wine making rather than superstition.

Three cheers, however and therefore, to Robert Eden and Raymond Blanc who have brought such good wine to our tables for a reasonable price. You can buy this wine in France for less than 10 Euros a bottle but not in a restaurant of course.

http://www.languedocwineshop.com/chateau-maris-maris-organic-2010.html

http://www.naturalselectionwines.com/chateau-maris/

Some of the producers in the Languedoc are starting to use Cru Classé de Languedoc on the label including Domaine Maris themselves. Some wine writers are not happy about this. They see it as just another marketing ploy. Is it time for another rant about varietal labelling and other marketing techniques? It won't make any difference but as long as we can get good wine I am prepared to suffer marketing blurb.

http://www.labivin.net/article-grand-cru-et-grand-vin-du-languedoc-65396898.html

http://www.mariswine.com/en/