I bought this fine wine at a local farmers' market. It represents all that is best in English wine. We served it as an aperitif and I saved a little for dessert.
The wine is made from Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier grapes. The colour of the wine was almost golden. The bubbles were fine and the wine had a yeasty, tangy, fruity aroma with an umami flavour. Like all good wine it was complex and concentrated and had a long length on the palate. It had well balanced acidity. The wine was dry or brut.
My wife is from Champagne and could not resist making a comparison with her favourite aperitif. Springfield does not taste exactly like Champagne but it is very similar. We know producers who make a stronger tasting Champagne and many people from France like this style of wine. Springfield has got plenty of flavour and it suits my taste buds perfectly. My wife really thought it tasted great and so did our guests.
The West Fisher winery uses grapes from a number of vineyards from the South East of England. This wine production model is also used in Champagne. The wine is blended and the wine maker obviously has a good palate and hopefully he or she can maintain a consistent house style over the coming years.
The improving climate, from a wine maker's point of view, and the soil are starting to produce really good conditions for growing sparkling wine grapes but provided that the winters do not become too mild. Hopefully, West Fisher wineries can produce great wines for many decades to come.
The price of the wine is around £17 a bottle and it is great value for money. You are getting a high quality wine with a distinctive taste and fine bubbles. This is a wine for a celebration. We shall be drinking another bottle with our family over the Christmas period.
When you see it do not hesitate as it compares favourably with the other superb English Sparkling Wines all of which need a brand name if they are to take off. I rather like Weald Wine.
http://www.westfisher.co.uk/
Tuesday, 23 December 2014
Duc de Montgerald Duché d’Uzès AOC 2103 Red Wine from Waitrose
Duché d’Uzès is a new appellation and 2103 was the first year of production for this newly promoted wine which was formerly a Vin de Pays. I can understand why the wine was promoted as it is simply wonderful.
The appellation rules dictate that the wine must be made from at least 40% Syrah grapes and at least 20% Grenache; Carignan, Cinsaut , and Mourvèdre black grapes can also be used in the blend. The climate and soil in the Gard commune are perfect for the production of red wine with these grapes. The town of Uzès is situated at the source of the river Eure and it is not far from the Pont du Gard Roman aqueduct. The scenery around the area is simply wonderful.
I was going to keep this wine for a couple of years before drinking it but I couldn't resist tasting what is for me a new wine. We drank it with friends. I should have opened the bottle an hour or so before I served it as I could smell the distinct and over powering aroma of lactic acid resulting from the malo-lactic conversion used to soften the wine. The smell of the lactic acid seemed to mask the fruitiness of the wine. The aroma quickly disappeared however, and then the wine smelt and tasted much more fruity, spicy and complex. The wine was also very concentrated and had long length on the palate. After fifteen minutes the wine started to smell and taste faultless.
This wine merits keeping for a few more years and it should become more complex and the tannin will soften; it will improve further.
We bought the wine in Waitrose for £7.49 and it was very good value for money: we drank it with fillet of pork. There were four of us for dinner and we finished the bottle.
I have never seen this appellation in the UK before. We paid a visit to the area in early 2014 and we did not see it then either - not even in its Vin de Pay guise. It is indeed a hidden treasure.
The appellation also produces white and rosé wines but I have not tasted them.
Postscript
Lactic acid is excreted by human beings especially after exercise and its aroma attracts mosquitos.
Thursday, 11 December 2014
Côtes de Bergerac Rouge 2003
We went to lunch last Sunday at some good friends and they produced a bottle of Patrick Geneste's
http://www.vins-bergerac.fr/vignerons/domaine-du-petit-paris/
Côtes de Bergerac Rouge 2003 from the
Domaine du Petit Paris. We had brought this particular bottle to our friends years ago and they had laid it down.
When we got round to drinking it we were astonished at how good the wine was. It had maintained its ruby colour and had hardly lightened with age. The wine was full of fruit and was complex and concentrated and you could still feel the softening tannin on the the palate. The wine had long length.
Côtes de Bergerac Rouge is made in the Dordogne region which is famous for Monbazillac dessert wines. The red wines are made in a similar style to Bordeaux reds and from similar blends of grapes. This particular wine is made from Merlot and Cabernet Franc.
We drank the wine with casseroled lamb and it went perfectly.
I cannot remember where I bought the wine but it must have been when I was visiting the region. You can buy Côtes de Bergerac Rouge for around £8.00 in the UK but it is difficult to find.
Patrick Geneste's wine is of the highest quality and if you can still manage to find his Côtes de Bergerac Rouge 2003 then buy it and drink it immediately with good food. This wine encompasses all that I love about the wine industry as you can still buy exceptional quality wine for a very reasonable price. It has restored my faith in human nature. It is no wonder that this wine has won prizes.
1998 Château Gruaud-Larose Saint-Julien Second Growth Bordeaux
Château Gruaud-Larose is one of my favourite red wines from Bordeaux. I drank a half bottle the other week with some friends in the Planet of The Grapes wine bar. The wine is from the village of Saint Julien in the Médoc. 1998 was not particularly good year in Bordeaux but you would not guess it after tasting this wine. As far as I was concerned this wine was superb and my two friends agreed.
The wine had all the complex and concentrated tastes of an exceptional Bordeaux and in my opinion it was still rather youthful and the fruit was still waiting to come out. If you want to find out what a top Bordeaux wine tastes like after it has matured for ten years or more then Château Gruaud-Larose is the wine to try. It will be expensive but not exorbitant. The quality of Château Gruaud-Larose is right up there with Château Latour. However, because it is not so highly renowned as an investment wine the prices have not gone through the roof.
The Château has a second wine Sarget de Gruaud-Larose and you will hardly notice any difference in quality but you will notice the difference in price and your wallet will be just that little bit heavier. The second wine will not keep as long, however.
http://www.wine-searcher.com/find/gruaud+larose+st+julien+medoc+bordeaux+france/1998/uk
http://www.hewines.com/1998-chateau-gruaud-larose-saint-julien
http://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=57378
Forget about scoring systems and florid descriptions this wine is produced by experts from vines which grow on the finest ground in the finest micro-climate. This is why it is such great wine.
It is a wine to savour with properly cooked beef or lamb - which is not overdone.
The wine had all the complex and concentrated tastes of an exceptional Bordeaux and in my opinion it was still rather youthful and the fruit was still waiting to come out. If you want to find out what a top Bordeaux wine tastes like after it has matured for ten years or more then Château Gruaud-Larose is the wine to try. It will be expensive but not exorbitant. The quality of Château Gruaud-Larose is right up there with Château Latour. However, because it is not so highly renowned as an investment wine the prices have not gone through the roof.
The Château has a second wine Sarget de Gruaud-Larose and you will hardly notice any difference in quality but you will notice the difference in price and your wallet will be just that little bit heavier. The second wine will not keep as long, however.
http://www.wine-searcher.com/find/gruaud+larose+st+julien+medoc+bordeaux+france/1998/uk
http://www.hewines.com/1998-chateau-gruaud-larose-saint-julien
http://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=57378
Forget about scoring systems and florid descriptions this wine is produced by experts from vines which grow on the finest ground in the finest micro-climate. This is why it is such great wine.
It is a wine to savour with properly cooked beef or lamb - which is not overdone.
Friday, 28 November 2014
Lidl Champagne
Last week a friend of ours brought around a bottle of Lidl non-vintage brut Champagne - Comte de Senneval and it was good stuff. The wine is made by a producer who adds his brand name to the blend of wines in the bottle this it is termed as a Marque auxiliaire or Marque d'acheteur. The bottle will therefore have "MA" next to the producer name on the label.
This wine has been blended from wines throughout the Champagne region and probably there is wine from the Aube in the mix. Most Champagne is produced from blends including wine from the most famous houses.
Wine snobs will probably turn up their noses at the thought of drinking Champagne with a supermarket brand name. However, would they be able to identify a brand named wine if they were tasting blind. or friend paid £11.99 for the bottle.
The Champagne was of perfectly good quality, and it is much more preferable for my wife and I to share a bottle of this wine with friends than to drink Prosecco.
Comte de Senneval is made from Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier grapes. It is a darker colour of yellow that consumers in the UK are used to and it is stronger tasting with plenty of fruit and tangy and yeasty flavours. The wine is well balanced with a well integrated acidity.It is just the sort of taste that French people prefer: My wife is from the Champagne region and was brought up drinking its famous wine. She was impressed and so was I.
The producers of this Champagne have obviously got taste buds that are just as good as the tasters in the famous houses. The buyers of Lidl also have a "good eye" for a bargain. This is good wine at a reasonable price; so well done Lidl.
I recommend that you try a bottle or two for Christmas.
I could not agree more with Helen McGinn's comments below here. Her comment about the biscuits is probably tongue in cheek. I am not able to distinguish the difference between brands of digestive biscuit blind but perhaps she has got better trained taste buds than me!
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2736246/We-Lidl-class-Store-s-11-99-bubbly-woos-new-shoppers.html
This wine has been blended from wines throughout the Champagne region and probably there is wine from the Aube in the mix. Most Champagne is produced from blends including wine from the most famous houses.
Wine snobs will probably turn up their noses at the thought of drinking Champagne with a supermarket brand name. However, would they be able to identify a brand named wine if they were tasting blind. or friend paid £11.99 for the bottle.
The Champagne was of perfectly good quality, and it is much more preferable for my wife and I to share a bottle of this wine with friends than to drink Prosecco.
Comte de Senneval is made from Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier grapes. It is a darker colour of yellow that consumers in the UK are used to and it is stronger tasting with plenty of fruit and tangy and yeasty flavours. The wine is well balanced with a well integrated acidity.It is just the sort of taste that French people prefer: My wife is from the Champagne region and was brought up drinking its famous wine. She was impressed and so was I.
The producers of this Champagne have obviously got taste buds that are just as good as the tasters in the famous houses. The buyers of Lidl also have a "good eye" for a bargain. This is good wine at a reasonable price; so well done Lidl.
I recommend that you try a bottle or two for Christmas.
I could not agree more with Helen McGinn's comments below here. Her comment about the biscuits is probably tongue in cheek. I am not able to distinguish the difference between brands of digestive biscuit blind but perhaps she has got better trained taste buds than me!
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2736246/We-Lidl-class-Store-s-11-99-bubbly-woos-new-shoppers.html
Friday, 24 October 2014
Château Prieuré-Lichine and other wines at The Planet of The Grapes
Last week a friend and I paid a visit to The Planet of The Grapes in the City of London. They know us well there. The wine bar was doing a wine tasting of Spanish wines. My friend loves Spanish wines and can speak the Spanish language fluently.
We tasted an Albariño Rias Baixas Lagar de Cervera white wine which was absolutely excellent. Albariño, is one of my favourite wines and it goes extremely well with fish and tapas as you would expect. I forgot to write down what year it was but you can drink this wine quite young or leave it to improve with age for 5 years or more. It is more expensive that your average white wine but paying 2 or 3 pounds a bottle more takes you to a different level. Pound for pound it is excellent value for money.
http://www.tanners-wines.co.uk/lagar-de-cervera-albarino-rias-baixas-2013.html
http://www.marksandspencer.com/bodega-castro-martin-albarino-case-of-6/p/p21128009
We followed this with a tasting of a red Rioja - 2004 Viña Ardanza, Reserva, La Rioja Alta. This was another superb wine with the typical taste of of the region but above average in quality. I have got a 2001, which a friend gave to me, and it is maturing on its side to wait for the next time she visits. She is a vegetarian so she won't be able to appreciate the food it goes best with it - Lamb. There is no doubt that my wife will think of something suitable without meat. I can recommend this wine for a special occasion.
http://www.bbr.com/products-17184-2004-vina-ardanza-reserva-la-rioja-alta
Things got a little better when we tasted a bottle of 1998 Gran Reserva 904, La Rioja Alta red; we were going up the quality tree to another branch. This wine had matured perfectly and I agree entirely with the comments on Berry Brothers and Rudd website. You need to keep this wine to appreciate it fully it is rather expensive but it is worth paying £50 or more for a bottle to find out what really good wine tastes like.
http://www.bbr.com/products-10969-1998-gran-reserva-904-la-rioja-alta
You can buy this wine for just over 50 bucks in the USA; mmmmm.
http://www.wine.com/v6/La-Rioja-Alta-Gran-Reserva-904-Tinto-1998/wine/117692/Detail.aspx?state=CA
Even though we had not drunk too much the wines put us in a good mood so we decided to buy a couple of glasses of French red Burgundy but when we saw Château Prieuré-Lichine 1995 being sold by the glass we decided to switch choice to the Margaux red. Château Prieuré-Lichinehas been been improving since Alexis Lichine bought the property in 1951. He also bought plots of vines from the likes of Châteaux Palmer and Giscours and this shows up in the quality of the wine.
Château Prieuré-Lichine is classified as a 4th growth but I believe it to be better than this on the evidence of the 1995 vintage. As far as my friend and I were concerned the Margaux was of much better quality than the Riojas that we tasted. It was more complex and concentrated and the fruit flavours were bursting out and, of course, it was silky smooth with a medium to full body. We had gone up the quality tree again and were now at the top. You will not find many more wines that will taste better than this. Some may keep longer but you will have to pay a lot more to find them.
http://www.prieure-lichine.fr/
Château Prieuré-Lichine features in James Turnbull's book "Bordeaux: The 90 Greatest Wines" and I agree with him that this wine is top quality. It is worth buying this book if you are interested in Bordeaux wine.
Now let's look at scoring systems:
Various commentators have scored these wines and the 1998 Gran Reserva 904, La Rioja Alta has been given a score of 96/100 by one and 93/100 by another. One commentator scores the Margaux a lot less but I completely disagree; to my taste buds the Margaux is a lot better. How am I supposed to score it 110/100?
Scoring systems are rubbish, so I prefer bad, average, good and excellent or outstanding. The 1995 Château Prieuré-Lichine tasted so good that I had to buy a bottle there and then even though I could find it cheaper elsewhere. In my opinion it is outstanding wine.
My taste buds are no better than most other people and even though I have been on lots of wine courses and I have learnt to assess wine, from formal point of view, my opinion is no more invalid or valid than anyone else's. I have, however, learnt how to spot a wine that has the quality to age for a long time in the bottle but anyone can do this if they are prepared to study the subject. There is nothing magical about scoring systems or the people who devise them.
http://www.wine-searcher.com/find/prieur+lichine+margaux+medoc+bordeaux+france/1995
We tasted an Albariño Rias Baixas Lagar de Cervera white wine which was absolutely excellent. Albariño, is one of my favourite wines and it goes extremely well with fish and tapas as you would expect. I forgot to write down what year it was but you can drink this wine quite young or leave it to improve with age for 5 years or more. It is more expensive that your average white wine but paying 2 or 3 pounds a bottle more takes you to a different level. Pound for pound it is excellent value for money.
http://www.tanners-wines.co.uk/lagar-de-cervera-albarino-rias-baixas-2013.html
http://www.marksandspencer.com/bodega-castro-martin-albarino-case-of-6/p/p21128009
We followed this with a tasting of a red Rioja - 2004 Viña Ardanza, Reserva, La Rioja Alta. This was another superb wine with the typical taste of of the region but above average in quality. I have got a 2001, which a friend gave to me, and it is maturing on its side to wait for the next time she visits. She is a vegetarian so she won't be able to appreciate the food it goes best with it - Lamb. There is no doubt that my wife will think of something suitable without meat. I can recommend this wine for a special occasion.
http://www.bbr.com/products-17184-2004-vina-ardanza-reserva-la-rioja-alta
Things got a little better when we tasted a bottle of 1998 Gran Reserva 904, La Rioja Alta red; we were going up the quality tree to another branch. This wine had matured perfectly and I agree entirely with the comments on Berry Brothers and Rudd website. You need to keep this wine to appreciate it fully it is rather expensive but it is worth paying £50 or more for a bottle to find out what really good wine tastes like.
http://www.bbr.com/products-10969-1998-gran-reserva-904-la-rioja-alta
You can buy this wine for just over 50 bucks in the USA; mmmmm.
http://www.wine.com/v6/La-Rioja-Alta-Gran-Reserva-904-Tinto-1998/wine/117692/Detail.aspx?state=CA
Even though we had not drunk too much the wines put us in a good mood so we decided to buy a couple of glasses of French red Burgundy but when we saw Château Prieuré-Lichine 1995 being sold by the glass we decided to switch choice to the Margaux red. Château Prieuré-Lichinehas been been improving since Alexis Lichine bought the property in 1951. He also bought plots of vines from the likes of Châteaux Palmer and Giscours and this shows up in the quality of the wine.
Château Prieuré-Lichine is classified as a 4th growth but I believe it to be better than this on the evidence of the 1995 vintage. As far as my friend and I were concerned the Margaux was of much better quality than the Riojas that we tasted. It was more complex and concentrated and the fruit flavours were bursting out and, of course, it was silky smooth with a medium to full body. We had gone up the quality tree again and were now at the top. You will not find many more wines that will taste better than this. Some may keep longer but you will have to pay a lot more to find them.
http://www.prieure-lichine.fr/
Château Prieuré-Lichine features in James Turnbull's book "Bordeaux: The 90 Greatest Wines" and I agree with him that this wine is top quality. It is worth buying this book if you are interested in Bordeaux wine.
Now let's look at scoring systems:
Various commentators have scored these wines and the 1998 Gran Reserva 904, La Rioja Alta has been given a score of 96/100 by one and 93/100 by another. One commentator scores the Margaux a lot less but I completely disagree; to my taste buds the Margaux is a lot better. How am I supposed to score it 110/100?
Scoring systems are rubbish, so I prefer bad, average, good and excellent or outstanding. The 1995 Château Prieuré-Lichine tasted so good that I had to buy a bottle there and then even though I could find it cheaper elsewhere. In my opinion it is outstanding wine.
My taste buds are no better than most other people and even though I have been on lots of wine courses and I have learnt to assess wine, from formal point of view, my opinion is no more invalid or valid than anyone else's. I have, however, learnt how to spot a wine that has the quality to age for a long time in the bottle but anyone can do this if they are prepared to study the subject. There is nothing magical about scoring systems or the people who devise them.
http://www.wine-searcher.com/find/prieur+lichine+margaux+medoc+bordeaux+france/1995
Monday, 13 October 2014
Weekend Wines in France
My wife and I went to Troyes last weekend to visit our family. We drank some superb wines which were not very expensive. If you are in England and live near the channel ports or the channel tunnel then it is always worth making a trip to France to buy wine even though the pound sterling has gone down from the heady days of 1.9 EUR to the Pound to 1.27.
France is really feeling the effects of economic chills and wine prices are going down there especially for Champagne. The Intermarche supermarket is now selling two varieties of Champagne for EUR 9.95 a bottle and this is cheaper than Aldi and Lidl can manage in the UK.
The first of their is cheap champagnes J.Contet Père & Fils/Brut . J Contet is a négociant: we did not buy his Champagne but I have no reason to believe it is anything but good value for money. All négociants buy Champagne from all over the region and blend them into a house style. J.Contet is probably just as good as anyone else in identifying good quailty wines which also taste good.
The Second cheap Champagne on offer was Champagne - Marine Clément Cuvée Emotion NV also now at EUR 9.95 a bottle. I have reviewed this before and all of our friends in England enjoyed it. My wife and I think this is superb value for money. We weren't tempted to buy this Champagne either.
My brother-in-law opened a beautiful bottle of Champagne from a grower producer of Buxeuil in the Aube which is to the south of Troyes:Champagne Albans D'Aulbe Brut Élégance NV. This fine wine is one or two steps up from the Marine Clément Cuvée Emotion and it literally tasted elegant. You can buy this wine from the producer by contacting jean-michel.diligent@laposte.net. The Brut Élégance NV is in short supply but the Brut Tradition is readily available at EUR 12.25 per bottle and it is exceptional value for money. This Champagne easily rivals the top houses from Epernay and Reims.
My brother-in law also produced some excellent Bourgogne Rouge the first was: Ladoix 2010 Domaine Désertaux-Ferrand. I have not drunk Ladoix for ages and I had forgotten how good it can be. Domaine Désertaux-Ferrand is situated not far from Beaune and they farm about 12 Ha. They are prize winning producers and this shows up in their wine. The Ladoix was full of red fruit flavour with soft tannins and had the distinctive style of the region: the 2010 is ready to drink now. It is difficult to obtain outside of France. I have seen the 2011 on Wine Searcher for £11.45 a bottle and the wine is most certainly worth it but you could probably buy it cheaper at the producer.
http://www.vins-bourgogne.fr/nos-vignerons-nos-savoir-faire/des-signatures-de-renom/desertaux-ferrand-corgoloin-21700,2397,9211.html?&args=Y29tcF9pZD0xNDA2JmFjdGlvbj12aWV3RmljaGUmaWQ9VklOQk9VMDAwMDIwMDM0NyZ8
We also savoured a bottle of Domaine Mouton Givry 1er Cru Bourgogne Rouge, from the Côte Chalonnaise, and this wine was perhaps half a step up from the Ladoix as it had more fruit flavour. My wife preferred the Ladoix. The Givry was also full of fruit flavour with soft tannin and to me it was more complex and concentrated than the Ladoix. Of course it had all the style and distinctiveness of red Burgundy which is unique to the region and cannot be copied by the New World or even elsewhere in France. This was superb tasting wine. UK buyers can buy the wine here.
http://www.wine-searcher.com/find/dom+mouton+givry+premier+cru/2011
We had some excellent home cooked food to go with these wines. Roast pork, coq au vin and roast duck. The wines went down perfectly with this food and they also went down well with some English and French cheeses.
We also drank a lovely aperitif wine; Expert Club Gewurztraminer Réserve Fleurie. This wine was full of the flavour of fruits and flowers. Alsace wines are always excellent value for money and there is a plentiful supply in French and British supermarkets but do not let the unapproachable names put you off for you are in for a treat.
The wine and food always make our journeys to France special - a gastronomic delight.
France is really feeling the effects of economic chills and wine prices are going down there especially for Champagne. The Intermarche supermarket is now selling two varieties of Champagne for EUR 9.95 a bottle and this is cheaper than Aldi and Lidl can manage in the UK.
The first of their is cheap champagnes J.Contet Père & Fils/Brut . J Contet is a négociant: we did not buy his Champagne but I have no reason to believe it is anything but good value for money. All négociants buy Champagne from all over the region and blend them into a house style. J.Contet is probably just as good as anyone else in identifying good quailty wines which also taste good.
The Second cheap Champagne on offer was Champagne - Marine Clément Cuvée Emotion NV also now at EUR 9.95 a bottle. I have reviewed this before and all of our friends in England enjoyed it. My wife and I think this is superb value for money. We weren't tempted to buy this Champagne either.
My brother-in-law opened a beautiful bottle of Champagne from a grower producer of Buxeuil in the Aube which is to the south of Troyes:Champagne Albans D'Aulbe Brut Élégance NV. This fine wine is one or two steps up from the Marine Clément Cuvée Emotion and it literally tasted elegant. You can buy this wine from the producer by contacting jean-michel.diligent@laposte.net. The Brut Élégance NV is in short supply but the Brut Tradition is readily available at EUR 12.25 per bottle and it is exceptional value for money. This Champagne easily rivals the top houses from Epernay and Reims.
My brother-in law also produced some excellent Bourgogne Rouge the first was: Ladoix 2010 Domaine Désertaux-Ferrand. I have not drunk Ladoix for ages and I had forgotten how good it can be. Domaine Désertaux-Ferrand is situated not far from Beaune and they farm about 12 Ha. They are prize winning producers and this shows up in their wine. The Ladoix was full of red fruit flavour with soft tannins and had the distinctive style of the region: the 2010 is ready to drink now. It is difficult to obtain outside of France. I have seen the 2011 on Wine Searcher for £11.45 a bottle and the wine is most certainly worth it but you could probably buy it cheaper at the producer.
http://www.vins-bourgogne.fr/nos-vignerons-nos-savoir-faire/des-signatures-de-renom/desertaux-ferrand-corgoloin-21700,2397,9211.html?&args=Y29tcF9pZD0xNDA2JmFjdGlvbj12aWV3RmljaGUmaWQ9VklOQk9VMDAwMDIwMDM0NyZ8
We also savoured a bottle of Domaine Mouton Givry 1er Cru Bourgogne Rouge, from the Côte Chalonnaise, and this wine was perhaps half a step up from the Ladoix as it had more fruit flavour. My wife preferred the Ladoix. The Givry was also full of fruit flavour with soft tannin and to me it was more complex and concentrated than the Ladoix. Of course it had all the style and distinctiveness of red Burgundy which is unique to the region and cannot be copied by the New World or even elsewhere in France. This was superb tasting wine. UK buyers can buy the wine here.
http://www.wine-searcher.com/find/dom+mouton+givry+premier+cru/2011
We had some excellent home cooked food to go with these wines. Roast pork, coq au vin and roast duck. The wines went down perfectly with this food and they also went down well with some English and French cheeses.
We also drank a lovely aperitif wine; Expert Club Gewurztraminer Réserve Fleurie. This wine was full of the flavour of fruits and flowers. Alsace wines are always excellent value for money and there is a plentiful supply in French and British supermarkets but do not let the unapproachable names put you off for you are in for a treat.
The wine and food always make our journeys to France special - a gastronomic delight.
Thursday, 9 October 2014
Nalmefene
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence or NICE will soon be recommending the drug Nalmefene to be prescribed to people who they deem to be drinking too much. Any man who consumes more than 7.5 units per day will be offered this drug which will help to reduce the desire to drink. The limits for women are lower being 5 units per day.
This is all very well but it is still possible to drink too much whilst taking Nalmefene which can have strong side effects. Nalmefene is an opiate substitute and should only be prescribed for six months. Heavy drinkers could face the possibility of having to cope with two drugs to help curb their desire for drinking: Alcohol and Nalmefene.
If you have a drink problem perhaps it might be better to find a gentler method of reducing your alcohol consumption by avoiding stress and putting yourself into the social position where you are not encouraged to drink more than is good for your health. Why not try having two consecutive days per week when you do not drink at all to give your liver a rest.
Our society stresses people at their work by asking them to work too long hours or expecting them to travel continuously. We need a different approach to our working and social lives to solve the problems of excessive drinking and alcoholism - taking a pill seems to be the easy solution.
My wife and I regularly drink but we have at least two or three days where we do not drink at all. Sometimes we have one glass too many but we don't get a bad conscience about it.
The last bottle of wine we drank took us four evenings to consume. This meant that we drank one small glass each for four evenings with our food. We vacuum sealed the wine to stop it going off; there is no need to polish off the bottle if you take this approach.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2778367/Mild-alcoholics-want-one-glass-wine-night-given-3-pill-reduce-dependence.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nalmefene
Some people may be tempted not to drink at all but still obtain the benefits of mild alcohol consumption: why not try the wine pill?
http://www.resveratrolbenefits.com/red-wine-pill.html
The evidence to support the claims for resveratrol are tenuous to say the least but taking a pill always seems to be an easy solution.
There are possible health benefits to drinking one or two glasses of wine per day; it makes food taste that much better and anything which improves conviviality cannot be such a bad thing. Be happy but please be safe
This is all very well but it is still possible to drink too much whilst taking Nalmefene which can have strong side effects. Nalmefene is an opiate substitute and should only be prescribed for six months. Heavy drinkers could face the possibility of having to cope with two drugs to help curb their desire for drinking: Alcohol and Nalmefene.
If you have a drink problem perhaps it might be better to find a gentler method of reducing your alcohol consumption by avoiding stress and putting yourself into the social position where you are not encouraged to drink more than is good for your health. Why not try having two consecutive days per week when you do not drink at all to give your liver a rest.
Our society stresses people at their work by asking them to work too long hours or expecting them to travel continuously. We need a different approach to our working and social lives to solve the problems of excessive drinking and alcoholism - taking a pill seems to be the easy solution.
My wife and I regularly drink but we have at least two or three days where we do not drink at all. Sometimes we have one glass too many but we don't get a bad conscience about it.
The last bottle of wine we drank took us four evenings to consume. This meant that we drank one small glass each for four evenings with our food. We vacuum sealed the wine to stop it going off; there is no need to polish off the bottle if you take this approach.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2778367/Mild-alcoholics-want-one-glass-wine-night-given-3-pill-reduce-dependence.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nalmefene
Some people may be tempted not to drink at all but still obtain the benefits of mild alcohol consumption: why not try the wine pill?
http://www.resveratrolbenefits.com/red-wine-pill.html
The evidence to support the claims for resveratrol are tenuous to say the least but taking a pill always seems to be an easy solution.
There are possible health benefits to drinking one or two glasses of wine per day; it makes food taste that much better and anything which improves conviviality cannot be such a bad thing. Be happy but please be safe
Thursday, 2 October 2014
Château De Treviac Arnaud Sié 2011 - Corbières Red wine
Last Friday we visited the Côte restaurant in Covent Garden which is part of a chain. We had a pastry chef with us and he felt that the food was more than acceptable and the rest of us agreed.
http://www.cote-restaurants.co.uk/
We ordered a bottle of Château De Treviac 2011 - Corbières red AOP from the Languedoc and were impressed by the wine. It was smooth and silky and, dare I say, it was quite elegant. The wine is made from Syrah and Grenache grapes and of course it was fruity with a hint of spice. The tannin had softened nicely and the wine had a complex and concentrated taste: it went down well with the food - especially the duck.
The hot summer sun in the Languedoc produces wine which is quite strong in alcohol and at 14.5% this wine could have tasted "hot" but the alcohol was well integrated into the body of the wine. All in all it was a good quality wine but at £20 + for a bottle it was well marked up as you can buy it on wine-searcher for £6 a bottle retail. I did not feel, however, that we had been cheated and I have happily drunk wine of a much lesser quality for more money in other restaurants.
It is not often that my friends remark on the different qualities of wine without being prompted by me but before going to the restaurant we had visited a wine bar and had drunk a bottle of Sicilian wine made from the Nero D'Avola grapes. This wine had a much fuller body and was more concentrated but had a slightly rustic quality. I thought it was delicious.
I was just about to comment that the Château De Treviac was lighter and smoother when one of our friends beat me to it and her son, the chef, agreed but he still stuck to drinking beer. My friend is awarded a Winejaw star for being so observant.
Some people are prepared to pay 17 US dollars for this wine and they probably will not be disappointed at the elevated price. In the Languedoc this good quality wine would, however, be much cheaper.
http://www.nataliemaclean.com/wine-reviews/chateau-de-treviac-arnaud-sie-2011/207306
The wine on the above website gets a score of 91/100 and this is fair as far as I can taste but would a 92/100 wine taste that much better?
I prefer my rating: Château De Treviac is good quality wine but not exceptional or outstanding but it is worth trying a second bottle.
http://www.cote-restaurants.co.uk/
We ordered a bottle of Château De Treviac 2011 - Corbières red AOP from the Languedoc and were impressed by the wine. It was smooth and silky and, dare I say, it was quite elegant. The wine is made from Syrah and Grenache grapes and of course it was fruity with a hint of spice. The tannin had softened nicely and the wine had a complex and concentrated taste: it went down well with the food - especially the duck.
The hot summer sun in the Languedoc produces wine which is quite strong in alcohol and at 14.5% this wine could have tasted "hot" but the alcohol was well integrated into the body of the wine. All in all it was a good quality wine but at £20 + for a bottle it was well marked up as you can buy it on wine-searcher for £6 a bottle retail. I did not feel, however, that we had been cheated and I have happily drunk wine of a much lesser quality for more money in other restaurants.
It is not often that my friends remark on the different qualities of wine without being prompted by me but before going to the restaurant we had visited a wine bar and had drunk a bottle of Sicilian wine made from the Nero D'Avola grapes. This wine had a much fuller body and was more concentrated but had a slightly rustic quality. I thought it was delicious.
I was just about to comment that the Château De Treviac was lighter and smoother when one of our friends beat me to it and her son, the chef, agreed but he still stuck to drinking beer. My friend is awarded a Winejaw star for being so observant.
Some people are prepared to pay 17 US dollars for this wine and they probably will not be disappointed at the elevated price. In the Languedoc this good quality wine would, however, be much cheaper.
http://www.nataliemaclean.com/wine-reviews/chateau-de-treviac-arnaud-sie-2011/207306
The wine on the above website gets a score of 91/100 and this is fair as far as I can taste but would a 92/100 wine taste that much better?
I prefer my rating: Château De Treviac is good quality wine but not exceptional or outstanding but it is worth trying a second bottle.
Thursday, 11 September 2014
Lambrusco - making a comeback
Lambrusco is becoming trendy again but not the supermarket variety. Genuine Lambrusco at 11 percent plus in alcohol is now appearing in "classy" restaurants in the UK after becoming fashionable in the US.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/wine/11012880/Wine-Review-Lambrusco-on-the-rise.html
The good stuff is £14 a bottle but it is probably marked up by 200 to 300% or more in the "classier" restaurants.
Come off it, it is fizzy red wine and it is a triviality. I have also tasted fizzy Shiraz from Australia. What have fizzy Shiraz and fizzy Lambrusco got in common - well you have guessed it varietal labelling. I am wary of any trendy comeback wine that has varietal labelling. Alsace wines have varietal labelling but they are not trendy but Alsace produces some of the finest wines which easily compete for quality with Bordeaux and Burgundy. Lambrusco is not in the Alsace league and never will be.
The best place to sample Lambrusco is in Italy where it belongs to the sunny climate and goes with light food and it is best knocked back there. The Italians have a sunny disposition because of their climate and a red effervescent wine goes well with that; three cheers for the Italians who drink it in their garden on a sunny afternoon.
Red effervescent wines do not suit the climate in London even in an Italian restaurant. You are better off sticking to Chianti, Valpolicella or a nice Sicilian red. If you drink Lambrusco for reasons of fashion only then you deserve to be charged high prices for an ordinary quality wine
Fizzy Shiraz should be left in the bottle to age for a hundred years or so and should not be inflicted on the drinking public.
I am not prepared to give Lambrusco a second chance; just leave it off my menu. Please drink it in the privacy of your own home or in Italy where it belongs. Just like Retsina which belongs in Greece it should stay at home.
http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/apr/05/lambrusco-uk-wine-review-fiona-beckett
Lambrusco does not go with char-grilled squid.
Fortunately, just like all fashion it will become a passing trend. The wine "fashionistas" will then come down earth for a little while but I am eagerly awaiting a seconding coming for Retsina - like hell.
You can buy a bottle of Champagne in Lidl for £11 and it goes much better with squid.
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/features/lambrusco-is-back-on-the-menu-9634150.html
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/wine/11012880/Wine-Review-Lambrusco-on-the-rise.html
The good stuff is £14 a bottle but it is probably marked up by 200 to 300% or more in the "classier" restaurants.
Come off it, it is fizzy red wine and it is a triviality. I have also tasted fizzy Shiraz from Australia. What have fizzy Shiraz and fizzy Lambrusco got in common - well you have guessed it varietal labelling. I am wary of any trendy comeback wine that has varietal labelling. Alsace wines have varietal labelling but they are not trendy but Alsace produces some of the finest wines which easily compete for quality with Bordeaux and Burgundy. Lambrusco is not in the Alsace league and never will be.
The best place to sample Lambrusco is in Italy where it belongs to the sunny climate and goes with light food and it is best knocked back there. The Italians have a sunny disposition because of their climate and a red effervescent wine goes well with that; three cheers for the Italians who drink it in their garden on a sunny afternoon.
Red effervescent wines do not suit the climate in London even in an Italian restaurant. You are better off sticking to Chianti, Valpolicella or a nice Sicilian red. If you drink Lambrusco for reasons of fashion only then you deserve to be charged high prices for an ordinary quality wine
Fizzy Shiraz should be left in the bottle to age for a hundred years or so and should not be inflicted on the drinking public.
I am not prepared to give Lambrusco a second chance; just leave it off my menu. Please drink it in the privacy of your own home or in Italy where it belongs. Just like Retsina which belongs in Greece it should stay at home.
http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/apr/05/lambrusco-uk-wine-review-fiona-beckett
Lambrusco does not go with char-grilled squid.
Fortunately, just like all fashion it will become a passing trend. The wine "fashionistas" will then come down earth for a little while but I am eagerly awaiting a seconding coming for Retsina - like hell.
You can buy a bottle of Champagne in Lidl for £11 and it goes much better with squid.
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/features/lambrusco-is-back-on-the-menu-9634150.html
Monday, 25 August 2014
Château Recougne Bordeaux Supérieur, France 2010
Somebody gave us a bottle of this wine and it is superb. It won a gold medal at the Concours General Agricole in Paris 2012.
It is produced in the Libourne area of Bordeaux and is Merlot based. We drank the wine over the course of two evenings as my wife and I usually drink no more than half a bottle at a sitting.
The first evening we ate rare Bavette steak . This is called skirt beef in the UK where it is used mainly as stewing steak. But if you cook the steak rare and use a sharp knife you are in for a treat. Bavette tastes much nicer than most other beef steak cuts. However, if you cook it well done or even medium it is too chewy: this is not steak for the faint hearted.
The wine went perfectly with the steak. It had a concentrated and complex taste of blackcurrants and dark fruits. It also had the "cigar box" taste typical of a red Bordeaux. It was medium to full body with a well balanced acidity. The tannin had not fully softened so there was a slightly bitter after taste. This wine should really be kept for a couple of years longer in a cellar. The tannin will then soften to reveal the fruit character and full complexity of the wine which has the taste of the oak barrels in which it was matured.
Many people do not realise that good wine needs to mature for 5 to 10 years or longer and that is why they dismiss wines that have a slight bitter taste from the tannin. They are missing out if they do not realise this. See my previous blog and the Daily Mail £595 wine test.
We "Vacu-Vined" the wine and drank the next evening with a Pintade or Guinea Fowl and it went down well with the rich tasting "chicken". But, the slight exposure to oxygen had not softened the tannin so you really must keep the wine longer to appreciate it at its best.
The wine costs £9.99 at Majestic and £7.99 if you buy two bottles. It is great value for money and it puts many more expensive wines from Bordeaux to shame. Most varietal "Merlot" labelled wines cannot hold a candle to this one whether they are from the New or Old World. Just be sure to keep the wine in a cool, dark vibration free space. Why not buy a case?
http://www.supermarketwine.com/majestic/chateau-recougne-bordeaux-superieur-france-2010
You can buy this wine even cheaper in Majestic Calais for EUR 7.48 that is about £6; this is wonderful price for such a good wine.
http://www.majesticwinecalais.co.uk/Chateau-Recougne-zidF-11319
http://vintuswines.com/estates/milhade/bordeaux_superieur/chateau_recougne
http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/nov/23/indie-wine-dealers-and-sunday-red
http://www.barbackers.com/vawisa.html
It is produced in the Libourne area of Bordeaux and is Merlot based. We drank the wine over the course of two evenings as my wife and I usually drink no more than half a bottle at a sitting.
The first evening we ate rare Bavette steak . This is called skirt beef in the UK where it is used mainly as stewing steak. But if you cook the steak rare and use a sharp knife you are in for a treat. Bavette tastes much nicer than most other beef steak cuts. However, if you cook it well done or even medium it is too chewy: this is not steak for the faint hearted.
The wine went perfectly with the steak. It had a concentrated and complex taste of blackcurrants and dark fruits. It also had the "cigar box" taste typical of a red Bordeaux. It was medium to full body with a well balanced acidity. The tannin had not fully softened so there was a slightly bitter after taste. This wine should really be kept for a couple of years longer in a cellar. The tannin will then soften to reveal the fruit character and full complexity of the wine which has the taste of the oak barrels in which it was matured.
Many people do not realise that good wine needs to mature for 5 to 10 years or longer and that is why they dismiss wines that have a slight bitter taste from the tannin. They are missing out if they do not realise this. See my previous blog and the Daily Mail £595 wine test.
We "Vacu-Vined" the wine and drank the next evening with a Pintade or Guinea Fowl and it went down well with the rich tasting "chicken". But, the slight exposure to oxygen had not softened the tannin so you really must keep the wine longer to appreciate it at its best.
The wine costs £9.99 at Majestic and £7.99 if you buy two bottles. It is great value for money and it puts many more expensive wines from Bordeaux to shame. Most varietal "Merlot" labelled wines cannot hold a candle to this one whether they are from the New or Old World. Just be sure to keep the wine in a cool, dark vibration free space. Why not buy a case?
http://www.supermarketwine.com/majestic/chateau-recougne-bordeaux-superieur-france-2010
You can buy this wine even cheaper in Majestic Calais for EUR 7.48 that is about £6; this is wonderful price for such a good wine.
http://www.majesticwinecalais.co.uk/Chateau-Recougne-zidF-11319
http://vintuswines.com/estates/milhade/bordeaux_superieur/chateau_recougne
http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/nov/23/indie-wine-dealers-and-sunday-red
http://www.barbackers.com/vawisa.html
Sunday, 24 August 2014
Nice One Oz Clarke
Recently three wine and food writers Rose Prince, Tessa Cunningham and Oz Clarke were challenged by the Daily Mail to identify a £595 bottle of Bordeaux red from amongst a number of other red Bordeaux wines not costing anywhere near as much. The labels were covered. Oz Clarke was the only one to get it right but he was the only renowned wine expert in the tasting panel. He identified the Chateau Haut-Brion 1990 (£595, from Lea & Sandeman).
It is worth looking at this website where all the wines were identified. The panel was given a clue as they were told only one bottle of wine was worth £595.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2698004/Could-YOU-tell-Lidls-5-99-claret-595-Grand-Cru-Our-thirsty-volunteers-tried-hilariously-humiliating-results.html.
So how did Oz do it? Well the Chateau Haut-Brion 1990 was by far the oldest wine in the selection and would have turned a brick red colour as part of the ageing process. Only a very good or exceptional wine would have maintained a concentrated fruit character over all those years and would have matured into to a wine complex enough to show tastes "reminiscent of pews in a cathedral, library books and old sofas."
Château Haut-Brion was rated as Premier Cru in the 1855 classification and is renowned as one of the world's top wines for both drinking and investment. This is why the price is so high.
An ordinary standard Bordeaux red would be well past its best after 20 years or so in the bottle and would be beginning to fade away. None of the other wines in the selection would have turned to the tawny colour as described. So well done Oz for your tasting, reasoning and experience.
It is worth looking at this website where all the wines were identified. The panel was given a clue as they were told only one bottle of wine was worth £595.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2698004/Could-YOU-tell-Lidls-5-99-claret-595-Grand-Cru-Our-thirsty-volunteers-tried-hilariously-humiliating-results.html.
So how did Oz do it? Well the Chateau Haut-Brion 1990 was by far the oldest wine in the selection and would have turned a brick red colour as part of the ageing process. Only a very good or exceptional wine would have maintained a concentrated fruit character over all those years and would have matured into to a wine complex enough to show tastes "reminiscent of pews in a cathedral, library books and old sofas."
Château Haut-Brion was rated as Premier Cru in the 1855 classification and is renowned as one of the world's top wines for both drinking and investment. This is why the price is so high.
An ordinary standard Bordeaux red would be well past its best after 20 years or so in the bottle and would be beginning to fade away. None of the other wines in the selection would have turned to the tawny colour as described. So well done Oz for your tasting, reasoning and experience.
Where Oz did better, if that were possible, was in recognising the 2009 vintage -Château Haut Batailley Pauillac 2009 (£23, M&S) but he did rather over estimate the price. This too is exceptionally good wine.
Oz also did very well to recognise the Château Pichon Longueville-Baron 2006 (£125, Majestic) was £120 a bottle but he did not identify the wine blind as far as I can see. This wine is a deuxième cru from Pauillac and has the potential to age as well as the Château Haut-Brion. However, the 2006, would not have turned to the same tawny colour. A case of the 1990 could set you back over £2,000.
Rose Prince and Tessa Cunningham did nowhere as well as Oz Clarke but I would not expect them to. They simply do not have Oz's tasting experience and knowledge of wine and its market. We often have off days when we do not taste wine so well.
Rose has been criticised on the following website for being humiliated at the tasting: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rose_Prince_(writer) but this is a bit strong and unfair. She guessed wrongly that the Saint-Emilion Grand Cru AOP Château du Cauze 2011 (£11.99, Lidl) was the £595 wine but this is of course very good wine and Rose spotted that blind. But she missed the Premier Cru wine. However, she did recognise the Château Haut-Brion as being very good wine and if you take away the brand name value perhaps it is only really worth £65 - such is the power of marketing and brand names.
Tessa Cunningham guessed wrongly that the Château Haut Batailley Pauillac 2009 (£23, M&S) was the top wine. This was not a bad guess: 2009 was a particularly good year and the wine could have been confused with Château Latour Pauillac 2009. This is just a snip at £720 a bottle. But how does this account for missing the key wine?
Tessa to her credit recognised that the 1990 Château Haut-Brion was something special but she could not link that with the market price.
Perhaps the test was not so easy.
One of my favourite wines Château Cantemerle was not rated well by Tessa - oh well we cannot all have my great sense of taste!
None of the panel was really perfect at guessing the prices and the "blind tasting " was really a bit of a gimmick but it must have been fun. In reality wine tasting and evaluation is fraught with difficulty and you can easily be caught out.
No bottle of wine costs more than about £10 to produce; not even the top investment wines. The Lidl Saint Emilion may not be as prestigious as a Premier Cru investment wine but its quality is not far off. The Lidl St Emilion is therefore exceptional value for money and wine lovers are lucky that bargains can still be found. As far as investment wines are concerned a lot of the price if not most of it is in the brand name and not in the absolute quality of the wine. The Daily Mail has done well to point all this out.
With a little bit of wine education , experience and knowledge and the ability to reason you too could recognise the £595 bottle especially when you are told that only one wine of this value is in the selection.
We have got a Lidl down the road so I am going off to find a bottle of St Emilion Grand Cru for £11. 99 and keep it for a couple of years longer to let the tannin soften a bit and then taste a really good wine.
We have got a Lidl down the road so I am going off to find a bottle of St Emilion Grand Cru for £11. 99 and keep it for a couple of years longer to let the tannin soften a bit and then taste a really good wine.
Wednesday, 13 August 2014
Natural Wine
The other night I saw a television report about natural wine production in Tuscany. The reporter likened modern natural winemaking to that of the Romans. This is off course bunkum. Even if modern industrial technology is not used in winemaking it does not mean that winemakers have regressed.
Most modern wines have European scions grafted onto American rootstocks to protect the wines from the Phylloxera louse. The Romans had no knowledge of the New World so they would have had no knowledge of Phylloxera infestation of the soil.
The Romans would have had no knowledge of modern biodynamic vineyard techniques and their vines would have been badly affected by insect pests and changes to the weather etc.
The Romans would have primitive methods to control yields. Planting, pruning and harvesting would have been by hand but they probably used horses for some of the harder work.
The Romans did not apply scientific methods in the winery and they had no knowledge of the function of yeast and other microbes in the wine making process. They would have been unaware of winery hygiene so much of the wine would have turned out to be vinegar or tasted rough.
We cannot possibly know what Roman wine tasted like but there is no doubt that it was different. Corks had not been invented so it was unlikely that wine could be matured for any length of time. Most wine would have been stored in clay vats anyway. Some of the wine probably tasted awful by todays standards but we shall never know.
Modern biodynamic wine production methods are a far cry from the past.
We should be careful not to assume that because winemakers use biodynamic methods their wines must be better. I have tasted some pretty ordinary stuff and some of it is only fit to be poured away. Sometimes traditional and natural does not mean better.
We have friends who make wines using biodynamic techniques but they take great care in both the farm and the winery and their products are delicious and above the ordinary; even special. Likewise we know producers that do not use biodynamic techniques and their wines are just as good.
One thing is certain industrialised wine production will not produce exceptional wines that have a unique taste. This does not mean to say that the wines taste bad or are not wholesome; most of them are perfectly acceptable for "everyday drinking" but not for special occasions.
It is, therefore, wise not to rush to conclusions and not to allow prejudice to cloud your judgement. It is also wise to taste the wine, when you visit a winery, before you spend a lot of money and time and effort to transport it home; just make sure you are on to a winner.
Most modern wines have European scions grafted onto American rootstocks to protect the wines from the Phylloxera louse. The Romans had no knowledge of the New World so they would have had no knowledge of Phylloxera infestation of the soil.
The Romans would have had no knowledge of modern biodynamic vineyard techniques and their vines would have been badly affected by insect pests and changes to the weather etc.
The Romans would have primitive methods to control yields. Planting, pruning and harvesting would have been by hand but they probably used horses for some of the harder work.
The Romans did not apply scientific methods in the winery and they had no knowledge of the function of yeast and other microbes in the wine making process. They would have been unaware of winery hygiene so much of the wine would have turned out to be vinegar or tasted rough.
We cannot possibly know what Roman wine tasted like but there is no doubt that it was different. Corks had not been invented so it was unlikely that wine could be matured for any length of time. Most wine would have been stored in clay vats anyway. Some of the wine probably tasted awful by todays standards but we shall never know.
Modern biodynamic wine production methods are a far cry from the past.
We should be careful not to assume that because winemakers use biodynamic methods their wines must be better. I have tasted some pretty ordinary stuff and some of it is only fit to be poured away. Sometimes traditional and natural does not mean better.
We have friends who make wines using biodynamic techniques but they take great care in both the farm and the winery and their products are delicious and above the ordinary; even special. Likewise we know producers that do not use biodynamic techniques and their wines are just as good.
One thing is certain industrialised wine production will not produce exceptional wines that have a unique taste. This does not mean to say that the wines taste bad or are not wholesome; most of them are perfectly acceptable for "everyday drinking" but not for special occasions.
It is, therefore, wise not to rush to conclusions and not to allow prejudice to cloud your judgement. It is also wise to taste the wine, when you visit a winery, before you spend a lot of money and time and effort to transport it home; just make sure you are on to a winner.
Thursday, 24 July 2014
Wines Of Slovenia
Slovenia produces some of my favourite wines and some of them are of a quality that can rival the best of France, Italy and Spain. I have written up my wine notes from all the good times that I have spent enjoying Slovenia and its viticultural treasures. If you come across their wines in the import market then do not hesitate to try them.
Wines
of Slovenia
11)
Primorje
Region
On the
Italian Border and Istrian Peninsular balanced climate which is moderated by
the Mediterranean.
The best
wines come from this region and some of the best wines I have ever drunk come
from these producers. I prefer the reds. There is very much an Italian
influence. Surface of vineyards is around 6,500 ha
1a) Goriška Brda area:
Movia is probably the best producer of
Red and White Wines in Slovenia. Movia
have wine bar in Ljubljana stocking wines from all over Slovenia and the best
wines of Europe.
Marjan Simčič, Edi Simčič, Ščurek,
Jakončič and Bagueri are top producers. Red Varietals
are Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Modri Pinot (Pinot Noir): also
Chardonnay (Bagueri). Best reds are full
bodied, rich in fruit taste, concentrated and complex with long length on the
palate. Best wines will keep for a long time. They have a good balanced
structure for tannin, acid and alcohol.
Rebula is the most characteristic white
wine of the area and is similar in style to Collio region Ribolla Gialla. Movia
is probably the best producer of these whites. It is the most widely grown
grape of the region sometimes used for “Passito” wines or Pikolit wines as they
are known in the area. Aromatic wines some are as sweet as late harvested
wines.
Vines
are grown on terraces on the slopes of the lower mountains. Soil is mostly
marls and shale and sandstone.
Try Kmetija “Poezija” semi-sweet wine made
from dried Rebula grapes 17% alcohol. It tastes of fruits, honey and it has a type
of “flor” which grows on the wine surface which prevents oxidation- Fino style.
1b) Kras area:
The
Karst white limestone rocks provide good soil for vine growing. Some of the
soils have high iron content. Vineyards are on flat topology or gently sloping.
The most
famous wine is Teran (a special
variety of the Refošk grapes) red whose
vines are grown on Terra Rossa soil. Vegetal and berry fruit tasting wines
these wines are said to have medicinal properties and I can believe it.
Also Refošk
or Rifosco grapes are grown here and which are blended into the red wines or
produced as varietal wines.
Čotar is one of the top producers; their
Kras Terra Rosa is a blend of Teran, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon is a top
wine which easily competes with French and Italian reds. It is characteristic
of the area.
Other
top producers are Boris Lisjak and Renčel
Best for
red wines but some whites are produced from Malvasia, Prosecco, Sauvignon Blanc
and Chardonnay.
1c) Koper Area:
Situated
on the Istrian peninsular Koper produces mainly red wines and Refošk is the predominant
grape. Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc are also grown.
The best
producers are Santomas, Vinakoper and
Brič.
1d) Vipava:
The
vines are grown in the Vipava valley which borders on Goriška Brda. Both white
and red wines are produced. My favourites are the reds. The best reds are made
from Barbera, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot grapes.
The best
whites are made from Malvazija (Malvasia) Rebula, Sauvignon Blanc and Beli
Pinot (or Pinot Blanc) grapes.
One of
my favourite producers is Vipava 1894
(Lanthieri) which is also the area’s biggest producer. Top producers
include Batič, Tilia and Sutor.
22)
Podravje
Region
In my
opinion the second best wines come from this area. The wines are better known
in Western Europe; Ljutomer-Ormož wines were popular in Britain in the 1970s
and 1980s. The vineyards are positioned on the river Drava and run down to the
border with Croatia.
Maribor is reputed to have the oldest vine
living vine in Europe. The vine produces 35 litres of wine per year.
The
Austrian influence is apparent in this region. This is the largest wine region
with over 10,000 hectares under vines.
2a) Maribor area
The vineyards
are the coolest of the region. Vines are grown on quartz rich clays and marls.
There are vineyards in the city of Maribor. The area is best for its aromatic
white wines especially Laški Rizling and Renski Rizling (Welch Riesling and
Rhein Riesling respectively). The area also produces reds the best is from the
Modri Pinot (Pinot Noir) grape. The Vinag Cellars are the largest in central
Europe with 20,000 square metres of cellars with 7,000,000 litres of wine
capacity. Vinag cellars are also known as Maribor Wine Tabernacle.
Best
producers are Joannes, Gaube, Meranovo,
Vinag, Zupan, Očkerl, – Šipon (Furmint) Ice Wine
Biggest
producer: Vinag which also produces
good wine.
2b) Haloze
It has a
similar climate to Maribor vies are gown on terraces alongside the Drava river.
The area is more famous for White wine and the best white wine is the Renski Rizling
which goes well with Zander and Pike caught in the local rivers. Most of the
wine is cellared in Ptuj where there are good restaurants to enjoy the white
wine and super fresh river fish.
Best
Producers are Kokot, Turčan and Skaza
Biggest
producer is Vinarstvo Slovenske gorice-Haloze
2c) Ljutomer-Ormož
This
area lies between the confluence of the Drava and Mura rivers. The summers are
hot but there is rarely scorching heat or drought. There is a balanced climate for viticulture.
This is my favourite area of the Podravje. Much of the area borders on Croatia.
It is a
legend of the area that the crusaders arrived in Ormož and believed it to be
the holy land and decided to stay and drink wine rather than go and fight. This
seems to be the sensible decision.
Jeruzalem–Ormož
is a special area which produces some wonderful white wines and some lovely sparkling
wine. Beli Pinot or (Pinot Blanc) produces the best wines which are fruity but
well balanced. The area is also famous for Šipon which made from the local
grape this is an acid rich white wine with an elegant bouquet.
Ljutomer
whites were rather popular in Britain in the late 1970s and 1980s but they are
not of the same high quality of Jeruzalem wines.
The best
producers are Jeruzalem–Ormož, Kranjc, čurin
The
biggest producer is Jeruzalem–Ormož
Ormož
has some very large cellars.
2d) Other Areas of the Podravje
I have
either not tasted wines from these areas or not found them notable: Radgona–Kapela, Srednje Slovenska Gorice,
šmarje
– Virštajn and Prekmurske Gorice
33)
Posavje
This
region borders the river Sava which flows past but not through the capital Ljubljana. I have
not found the wines of this region particularly noticeable even though there
has been a French influence.
However,
some good ice wines (ledeno vino) are produced in the region from the Laški
Rizling white grape some of these rival wines from the Podravje.
Most
growers blend their wines. There are many local growers who tend to be
individualistic. There was much emigration to the US during the phylloxera
crisis in the 19th Century. The soil is varied with marls, clays and
sandstones.
7,500 hectares are
under vines.
3a) Dolensjska Area
This area is renowned
for Cviček which is a blend of red and white wine and which
is made by many proud family producers and “hobbyists”. It is considered as impolite to refuse a glass whenever and wherever
it is offered- the families are proud of
their wine.
Dolenjsko
Belo is a white wine made from a blend of grapes including: Laški Rizling, Suavignon
Blanc, Beli Pinot and Rumeni Plavec. It is supposed to be good for rheumatism
and kidney stones.
The best
wines are the late harvested Laški Rizling and Sauvignon Blanc based whites.
Best
producers Martinčič, Frelih and Planinc
3b) Other Areas
Bela Krajina and Bizeljsko-Sremič- I have not tried wines from
this area.
44)
Quality
Terms
Namizno
vino - table wine
Kakovostno
vino – Quality wine with protected geographical location – IGP
Vrhunsko
vino – AOC or AOP.
Predicate wines
Pozna
trgatev - Spätlese
Izbor –
Auslese
Jagodni
izbor – Beerenauslese
Suhi
jagodni izbor - Trockene Beerenauslese.
55)
Other
Terms
Arhivsko
vino – Classico and Reserva
Mlado
vino – young wine
Peneče
vino- sparkling
Suho –
very dry or brut
Polsuho
- semi dry
Polsladko
–semi-sweet
Sladko –
Sweet
66)
Photos
Europe’s
oldest vine in Maribor
Jeruzalem–Ormož vineyards
Tuesday, 1 July 2014
Rosbif de Cheval or Roast Horse Meat and red wine
The other night, while we were watching France go through to the final 16 of the world cup, my wife cooked a rosbif de cheval. This is of course horse meat. Most of our British friends baulk at the thought of eating horse meat but some are adventurous enough to try it.
Even though most British people will turn their nose up at the thought of eating a horse, many of them will have eaten it and enjoyed it without knowing. The horse meat scandal of 2013 saw horse meat entering into the European food chain but dressed up as beef.
Some supermarket hamburgers were often made from horse meat and the public enjoyed them without knowing that they were not beef. Horse meat also ended up in pies and lasagne etc. It also ended up in some supermarket pâté and sausages. Some unscrupulous butchers and meat suppliers had passed off cheaper horse meat as beef. The supermarket buyers were unable to tell the difference even if they saw or tasted the meat or meat products.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-21765737
http://www.iga.net/fr/recettes_inspirantes/burger_a_la_viande_chevaline_et_au_fromage_fe/
We cooked the genuine horse meat joint in the same way as we would cook a joint of beef. It was rare and roasted with a generous knob of butter and an onion with some white wine to produce a sauce which was seasoned with salt and pepper. It is just was delicious as beef bit but it tasted a little sweeter.
We washed down the rosbif de cheval with a bottle of Gérard Bertrand Syrah/Carignan, Minervois red wine from the Languedoc in the South of France. It went perfectly with the meat and the generous tannin refreshed the palate. It was superb wine at a price of £9.99 a bottle and Waitrose had discounted it by 20% so it was even better value for money. This is one of my favourite wines and my team and I enjoyed it in one of our favourite restaurants in Hamburg; it was always on the menu even if horse meat was not.
Gérard Bertrand is a former French international rugby player so this wine is one up for the players and supporters of the real football. I wonder why rugby players do not writhe on the ground from much harder tackles than that they would would receive in a "soccer" game. Perhaps a good bottle of a full bodied red gives them strength. Rugby players are instructed by their coaches to get up immediately after a tackle and not act like babies.
We have tried to find butchers in England which sell horse meat without any luck and after the scandal it is now impossible to buy it in a British supermarket. I suspect, however, that it still enters the food chain if only by accident. Supermarkets in France sell it and there are specialised butchers too. Many other European countries serve horse meat and most people have no qualms about eating it. Luckily, it is easy to find a good bottle of Minervois red in Britain.
You can buy horse meat here, however:
http://www.exoticmeats.co.uk/horse-meat.html
http://www.waitrose.com/shop/ProductView-10317-10001-94592-G%C3%A9rard+Bertrand+Syrah/Carignan,+Minervois+South+of+France
http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/jan/17/how-to-cook-horsemeat-three-thrifty-recipes
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-2409371/ALEX-RENTON-The-real-horsemeat-scandal-greedy-ruthless-supermarkets-got-scot-free.html
Even though most British people will turn their nose up at the thought of eating a horse, many of them will have eaten it and enjoyed it without knowing. The horse meat scandal of 2013 saw horse meat entering into the European food chain but dressed up as beef.
Some supermarket hamburgers were often made from horse meat and the public enjoyed them without knowing that they were not beef. Horse meat also ended up in pies and lasagne etc. It also ended up in some supermarket pâté and sausages. Some unscrupulous butchers and meat suppliers had passed off cheaper horse meat as beef. The supermarket buyers were unable to tell the difference even if they saw or tasted the meat or meat products.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-21765737
http://www.iga.net/fr/recettes_inspirantes/burger_a_la_viande_chevaline_et_au_fromage_fe/
We cooked the genuine horse meat joint in the same way as we would cook a joint of beef. It was rare and roasted with a generous knob of butter and an onion with some white wine to produce a sauce which was seasoned with salt and pepper. It is just was delicious as beef bit but it tasted a little sweeter.
We washed down the rosbif de cheval with a bottle of Gérard Bertrand Syrah/Carignan, Minervois red wine from the Languedoc in the South of France. It went perfectly with the meat and the generous tannin refreshed the palate. It was superb wine at a price of £9.99 a bottle and Waitrose had discounted it by 20% so it was even better value for money. This is one of my favourite wines and my team and I enjoyed it in one of our favourite restaurants in Hamburg; it was always on the menu even if horse meat was not.
Gérard Bertrand is a former French international rugby player so this wine is one up for the players and supporters of the real football. I wonder why rugby players do not writhe on the ground from much harder tackles than that they would would receive in a "soccer" game. Perhaps a good bottle of a full bodied red gives them strength. Rugby players are instructed by their coaches to get up immediately after a tackle and not act like babies.
We have tried to find butchers in England which sell horse meat without any luck and after the scandal it is now impossible to buy it in a British supermarket. I suspect, however, that it still enters the food chain if only by accident. Supermarkets in France sell it and there are specialised butchers too. Many other European countries serve horse meat and most people have no qualms about eating it. Luckily, it is easy to find a good bottle of Minervois red in Britain.
You can buy horse meat here, however:
http://www.exoticmeats.co.uk/horse-meat.html
http://www.waitrose.com/shop/ProductView-10317-10001-94592-G%C3%A9rard+Bertrand+Syrah/Carignan,+Minervois+South+of+France
http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/jan/17/how-to-cook-horsemeat-three-thrifty-recipes
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-2409371/ALEX-RENTON-The-real-horsemeat-scandal-greedy-ruthless-supermarkets-got-scot-free.html
Evolution White and Red - Planet of the Grapes
Last week I ate an excellent, tasty and substantial lunch at the Taberna Etrusca Italian restaurant in the City of London with a good friend. We washed it down with a bottle of Rioja. Why Rioja in an Italian restaurant? You may well ask this; well the waiter recommended it and it was jolly good too.
Naturally, after a lot of talk about politics, religion and wine the subject turned to football. Spain, Italy and England have been eliminated. It is a good job that Spanish and Italian wines can hold up a good long term reputation that out classes the football. France is still going strong and has produced moments of Champagne football. As for England, well improvements are needed all round.
An Italian player was sent off for a head high tackle on a Uruguayan player and Suarez the "footballing genius", who had single-handedly defeated England, was banned after biting an Italian opponent in the same match. Suarez was lucky not to have been sent off too and of course the weakened Italian side were defeated. Perhaps the Uruguayan and Italian footballers should be sent on a wine course where they can learn how to act with decorum rather than violence.
After our meal we decided to decamp to Planet of the Grapes just down the road for a quick glass of wine before heading home.
The waitress spotted that we were after drinking something different from French, Italian and Spanish wine and suggested Evolution White which is produced by the Sokol Blosser Winery in the hills of Oregon. The wine staff in Planet of the Grapes are very knowledgeable about wine and they know what they are talking about. So naturally we discussed the grape varieties and the climate and of course the quality of the wine.
Evolution White is made from nine varieties of grapes: Pinot Gris, Müller-Thurgau, Riesling, Sémillon, Muscat Canelli, Gewürztraminer, Pinot Blanc, Chardonnay and Sylvaner.
Riesling, Gewürztraminer and Sémillon are used to make some of the world's finest sweet and dry white wines. Riesling and Gewürztraminer achieve their best expression in Alsace and Germany and late harvested grapes in both regions are used to make the finest sweet white wines. Sémillon is used to make the finest sweet white wines in the Bordeaux region of France - Sauternes.
Late harvested grapes dry out and wither on the vines to concentrate the sugars in the grapes. In the Bordeaux region Sémillon grapes are exposed to noble rot which also withers the grapes to produce grapes with high sugar levels.
The Evolution White wine was semi-sweet but any sweetness was well balanced by the acidity. The wine had a tangy, spicy and fruity taste which lingered long on the palate. It is wine which is of genuine high quality. The wine had its own distinct taste which is one of the hallmarks of a very good wine.
It is the perfect aperitif but it would also go well with desserts that have a hint of spice. It is best enjoyed with food but we enjoyed it on its own with conversation.
The waitress also gave us a taste of the Evolution Red which is made from Syrah (or Shiraz), Montepulciano and Sangiovese red wine grapes blended with a little of the Evolution white wine. This wine is spicy and fruity and of course will go well with food.
Sokol Blosser also make make wine from the Pinot Noir varietal and I suspect that this wine will be exceptionally good as the Pinot Noir grape grows well in the cool climate offered by the Dundee Hills of Oregon.
Sokol and Blosser have produced wines with a winning formula here and they deserve all the success they can get. These wines can compete favourably with many top European wines. I recommend them highly.
http://www.sokolblosser.com/about/history.html
Naturally, after a lot of talk about politics, religion and wine the subject turned to football. Spain, Italy and England have been eliminated. It is a good job that Spanish and Italian wines can hold up a good long term reputation that out classes the football. France is still going strong and has produced moments of Champagne football. As for England, well improvements are needed all round.
An Italian player was sent off for a head high tackle on a Uruguayan player and Suarez the "footballing genius", who had single-handedly defeated England, was banned after biting an Italian opponent in the same match. Suarez was lucky not to have been sent off too and of course the weakened Italian side were defeated. Perhaps the Uruguayan and Italian footballers should be sent on a wine course where they can learn how to act with decorum rather than violence.
After our meal we decided to decamp to Planet of the Grapes just down the road for a quick glass of wine before heading home.
The waitress spotted that we were after drinking something different from French, Italian and Spanish wine and suggested Evolution White which is produced by the Sokol Blosser Winery in the hills of Oregon. The wine staff in Planet of the Grapes are very knowledgeable about wine and they know what they are talking about. So naturally we discussed the grape varieties and the climate and of course the quality of the wine.
Evolution White is made from nine varieties of grapes: Pinot Gris, Müller-Thurgau, Riesling, Sémillon, Muscat Canelli, Gewürztraminer, Pinot Blanc, Chardonnay and Sylvaner.
Riesling, Gewürztraminer and Sémillon are used to make some of the world's finest sweet and dry white wines. Riesling and Gewürztraminer achieve their best expression in Alsace and Germany and late harvested grapes in both regions are used to make the finest sweet white wines. Sémillon is used to make the finest sweet white wines in the Bordeaux region of France - Sauternes.
Late harvested grapes dry out and wither on the vines to concentrate the sugars in the grapes. In the Bordeaux region Sémillon grapes are exposed to noble rot which also withers the grapes to produce grapes with high sugar levels.
The Evolution White wine was semi-sweet but any sweetness was well balanced by the acidity. The wine had a tangy, spicy and fruity taste which lingered long on the palate. It is wine which is of genuine high quality. The wine had its own distinct taste which is one of the hallmarks of a very good wine.
It is the perfect aperitif but it would also go well with desserts that have a hint of spice. It is best enjoyed with food but we enjoyed it on its own with conversation.
The waitress also gave us a taste of the Evolution Red which is made from Syrah (or Shiraz), Montepulciano and Sangiovese red wine grapes blended with a little of the Evolution white wine. This wine is spicy and fruity and of course will go well with food.
Sokol Blosser also make make wine from the Pinot Noir varietal and I suspect that this wine will be exceptionally good as the Pinot Noir grape grows well in the cool climate offered by the Dundee Hills of Oregon.
Sokol and Blosser have produced wines with a winning formula here and they deserve all the success they can get. These wines can compete favourably with many top European wines. I recommend them highly.
http://www.sokolblosser.com/about/history.html
Monday, 23 June 2014
World Cup Wine - Brazilian Merlot
We tried some Waitrose Brazilian Merlot to drown our sorrows after England's unfortunate venture in the World Cup and their defeat to Uruguay. At £8.99 it was rather expensive but Waitrose had discounted it to a more realistic price of £6.99. It went down well with rare English beef. The beef and wine were much better than England's football. One of our French guests found the wine rather palatable.
It seems that the English players were rather naive and got caught out by a half-fit Uruguayan player, Suarez,who spent the whole match lurking around unmarked in the England penalty area. He only touched the ball twice but to score goals - brilliant and quick witted thinking. How could this have happened? Our football players did rather a lot of spitting so perhaps they had spent more time on wine tasting courses than football training but I doubt it; they are just bad mannered. They should have concentrated on the football and not trying to look cool or macho.
The Brazilian Merlot could not compare with a bottle 2010 Château Peybonhomme Les Tours Cru Bourgeois red from Blaye. This red is produced from organically grown grapes and is a complex wine which is typical of Bordeaux. It left the rather simple Brazilian Merlot far behind and in France it does not cost that much more.
I could see my guests casting admiring glances in my direction but they were too polite to cheat and try and grab the bottle of the good stuff so there was no need for the use of shaving foam to prevent a cheating hand crossing the demarcation line. They waited for me to serve it.
This is what I like about wine lovers: they know that it is not good manners to spit at the dining table or in public and they have learnt not to cheat, play act and writhe about to create a diversion. Wine lovers can be found in every country and they may not be rich but they have learnt to behave like urbane and civilised citizens. It really is a pity that the footballers cannot follow in their wake.
http://www.vignobles-hubert.com/en/chateau-peybonhomme/
It seems that the English players were rather naive and got caught out by a half-fit Uruguayan player, Suarez,who spent the whole match lurking around unmarked in the England penalty area. He only touched the ball twice but to score goals - brilliant and quick witted thinking. How could this have happened? Our football players did rather a lot of spitting so perhaps they had spent more time on wine tasting courses than football training but I doubt it; they are just bad mannered. They should have concentrated on the football and not trying to look cool or macho.
The Brazilian Merlot could not compare with a bottle 2010 Château Peybonhomme Les Tours Cru Bourgeois red from Blaye. This red is produced from organically grown grapes and is a complex wine which is typical of Bordeaux. It left the rather simple Brazilian Merlot far behind and in France it does not cost that much more.
I could see my guests casting admiring glances in my direction but they were too polite to cheat and try and grab the bottle of the good stuff so there was no need for the use of shaving foam to prevent a cheating hand crossing the demarcation line. They waited for me to serve it.
This is what I like about wine lovers: they know that it is not good manners to spit at the dining table or in public and they have learnt not to cheat, play act and writhe about to create a diversion. Wine lovers can be found in every country and they may not be rich but they have learnt to behave like urbane and civilised citizens. It really is a pity that the footballers cannot follow in their wake.
http://www.vignobles-hubert.com/en/chateau-peybonhomme/
Tuesday, 17 June 2014
World Cup Wine - Waitrose Brazilian Chardonnay
I tried a bottle of Brazilian wine for the first time last Sunday: Waitrose Brazilian Chardonnay 2013 vintage at £8.99 a bottle. Someone had to bring out a Brazilian wine for the world cup but couldn't Waitrose have thought of a better brand name? At least Tesco and Marks and Spencer have thought of some brand names. What about about Pele Blanco or "Hand of God Cuvée".
Brazil produces this wine in the Serra Gaúcha region which is on the 29th parallel south of the equator in the hills; the Argentinian border is nearby. The hills provide a cooler climate to grow grapes and about 5,000 hectares are planted with vitis vinifera vines for quality wine production. The 29th parallel is outside of the conventionally accepted wine zone of between 30 and 45 degrees South and you can tell even though the vines are grown in a cooler micro-climate that this is really not top flight wine.
Vine growing was introduced by the Portuguese when they arrived to colonise Brazil in the 16th century but it was not until the mid 19th century that wine production in Brazil was mastered because of the marginal climate.
We drank this wine with some Brazilian friends as an aperitif with some smoked salmon. I was really looking forward to it after a 10km run through High Elms with Orpington runners. To prepare for the run I had not had a drink for a week and I was thinking about a glass of wine as I ran through the pain in my knees on the steep inclines. Maybe, I should have downed a bottle before I started the run to dull my senses.
Was the wine as good as the football? Well it provided some novel entertainment and was better than England's performance against Italy the previous evening. I rather liked its sporting behaviour; the bottle did not take a dive when the cat just brushed his tail against the label to get to my smoked salmon. However, the wine did not really score any goals; it wasn't bad wine but it was ordinary and hardly a match for fine dining provided by my wife.
This wine cannot hold a candle up to Waitrose Macon Villages Cave de Lugny Chardonnay at just £7.99 a bottle so it looses 3 nil.
Waitrose also do a Brazilian Merlot at £8.99 a bottle and from the same region so more of this later. I shall buy some to drink with the England v Uruguay match if it is not on too late. Perhaps, it will get a score draw against some Jacob's Creek Shiraz.
£8.99 is a lot to pay for a bottle of wine but why not get into the spirit of things as at least you do get some value for money and it is better than paying for a hyped up FIFA rip-off.
I shall buy a bottle of Marks and Spencer Coconova Sparkling wine to celebrate if England get through to the last sixteen , even though I am half English and half Welsh and was born Wales - they play real champagne football there and it is called rugby. Perhaps, Waitrose will break out some real English wine for the Rugby World cup in England next year. Why not drink some Webb Ellis Reichensteiner Blanc - heaven forbid? But then, there is always some marvellous Tenterden Sparkling Wine to celebrate England winning the Rugby World Cup - at least they have got a real chance.
More to come I think........
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reichensteiner
http://www.marksandspencer.com/c/style-and-living/the-brazilian-bubbles
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/wine/10187866/Why-Brazil-is-on-the-wine-radar.html - Come off it.
http://www.waitrosecellar.com/all-wines/recommended-wines/new-exclusive-wine/waitrose-brazilian-chardonnay-861344
Brazil produces this wine in the Serra Gaúcha region which is on the 29th parallel south of the equator in the hills; the Argentinian border is nearby. The hills provide a cooler climate to grow grapes and about 5,000 hectares are planted with vitis vinifera vines for quality wine production. The 29th parallel is outside of the conventionally accepted wine zone of between 30 and 45 degrees South and you can tell even though the vines are grown in a cooler micro-climate that this is really not top flight wine.
Vine growing was introduced by the Portuguese when they arrived to colonise Brazil in the 16th century but it was not until the mid 19th century that wine production in Brazil was mastered because of the marginal climate.
We drank this wine with some Brazilian friends as an aperitif with some smoked salmon. I was really looking forward to it after a 10km run through High Elms with Orpington runners. To prepare for the run I had not had a drink for a week and I was thinking about a glass of wine as I ran through the pain in my knees on the steep inclines. Maybe, I should have downed a bottle before I started the run to dull my senses.
Was the wine as good as the football? Well it provided some novel entertainment and was better than England's performance against Italy the previous evening. I rather liked its sporting behaviour; the bottle did not take a dive when the cat just brushed his tail against the label to get to my smoked salmon. However, the wine did not really score any goals; it wasn't bad wine but it was ordinary and hardly a match for fine dining provided by my wife.
This wine cannot hold a candle up to Waitrose Macon Villages Cave de Lugny Chardonnay at just £7.99 a bottle so it looses 3 nil.
Waitrose also do a Brazilian Merlot at £8.99 a bottle and from the same region so more of this later. I shall buy some to drink with the England v Uruguay match if it is not on too late. Perhaps, it will get a score draw against some Jacob's Creek Shiraz.
£8.99 is a lot to pay for a bottle of wine but why not get into the spirit of things as at least you do get some value for money and it is better than paying for a hyped up FIFA rip-off.
I shall buy a bottle of Marks and Spencer Coconova Sparkling wine to celebrate if England get through to the last sixteen , even though I am half English and half Welsh and was born Wales - they play real champagne football there and it is called rugby. Perhaps, Waitrose will break out some real English wine for the Rugby World cup in England next year. Why not drink some Webb Ellis Reichensteiner Blanc - heaven forbid? But then, there is always some marvellous Tenterden Sparkling Wine to celebrate England winning the Rugby World Cup - at least they have got a real chance.
More to come I think........
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reichensteiner
http://www.marksandspencer.com/c/style-and-living/the-brazilian-bubbles
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/wine/10187866/Why-Brazil-is-on-the-wine-radar.html - Come off it.
http://www.waitrosecellar.com/all-wines/recommended-wines/new-exclusive-wine/waitrose-brazilian-chardonnay-861344
Tuesday, 10 June 2014
Château de Canon - Organic Cider
We spent last weekend with some friends in Calvados in Normandy to see some of the 70th anniversary D-Day commemorations and to enjoy some good food and wine and of course some really good cider.
We paid a visit to the Château de Cannon and farm which is situated 20 kms or so just south east of Caen. The Cidre Fermier Biologique of Hervé et Héloïse De Mezerac is superb. It has fine bubbles and has a taste reminiscent of Champagne. Their Champoiré or perry is also superb. And , of course they make Calvados and Pommeau. Pommeau is a type of fortified cider; Calvados is used for the fortification to around 18% alcohol. My wife and I do not drink much Calvados or Pommeau but we do use it for cooking.
Cider is a good alternative to wine if you do not want to drink a stronger alcoholic beverage and I find that it goes well with the cuisine of Calvados. I like it with shellfish, pancakes and of course pork. Cheese is better with wine , however.
It is worth paying a visit to Château de Canon as the farm uses organic farming techniques as well as the vineyard. The sheep looked particularly healthy and they seem to leave the lambs with their mothers for longer than they would on a non-organic farm.
http://www.bienvenue-a-la-ferme.com/normandie/produits-de-la-ferme/ferme-ferme-du-chateau-de-canon-2661-146789
We paid a visit to the Château de Cannon and farm which is situated 20 kms or so just south east of Caen. The Cidre Fermier Biologique of Hervé et Héloïse De Mezerac is superb. It has fine bubbles and has a taste reminiscent of Champagne. Their Champoiré or perry is also superb. And , of course they make Calvados and Pommeau. Pommeau is a type of fortified cider; Calvados is used for the fortification to around 18% alcohol. My wife and I do not drink much Calvados or Pommeau but we do use it for cooking.
Cider is a good alternative to wine if you do not want to drink a stronger alcoholic beverage and I find that it goes well with the cuisine of Calvados. I like it with shellfish, pancakes and of course pork. Cheese is better with wine , however.
It is worth paying a visit to Château de Canon as the farm uses organic farming techniques as well as the vineyard. The sheep looked particularly healthy and they seem to leave the lambs with their mothers for longer than they would on a non-organic farm.
http://www.bienvenue-a-la-ferme.com/normandie/produits-de-la-ferme/ferme-ferme-du-chateau-de-canon-2661-146789
Thursday, 29 May 2014
Hindleap Brut 2009 Bluebell Vineyard Estates - English Sparkling Wine
This is superb vintage English Sparkling Wine from East Sussex. We drank a bottle of this wine as an aperitif with friends. I tried to fool them that they were drinking Champagne but they did not fall for it. Our friends do not usually drink Champagne as they prefer Cava. Most of the Champagne that they drink is with us and we like to serve Champagne from the Aube which is much stronger tasting.
I wonder how many people would be able to tell the difference between this sparkler and Champagne, from the north of the region, in a blind tasting?
Hindleap is more similar to the Champagne from the Montagne de Reims. We know a family producing Champagne in Bouzy which is one of the top villages and Hindleap is able to compete on the basis of both the quality of the wine and its taste.
The soil of the Bluebell valley estate is similar to the best areas for growing Champagne grapes near Epernay and Reims. The alluvial soil is situated over chalk. This soil is ideal for growing the Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier and Chardonnay grapes used for the production of Hindleap. The soil encourages the grapes to produce the acidity required for good quality Sparkling Wine. So does the climate.
The climate in the UK remains cool, despite global warming, therefore the grapes do not ripen as fully as they would further south. The grapes, therefore, keep their acidity. But, the climate in the UK is often too wet to maintain the quality of the grapes year after year. This represents a severe problem for the English Wine industry. The unit cost of producing wine in the UK is higher than in France or Italy and of course this is reflected in the price.
It took one sip of the Hindleap for me to recognise that this is very high quality wine which has been produced by the traditional method but with loving care and high quality grapes. The 2009 vintage helped and it was a good vintage across most of France too.
The back label described the wine as elegant with a floral nose and I couldn't agree more. It also tasted a little bit of toast and I could taste the flavour of the breakdown of the yeast added for the second fermentation in the bottle. It is not just flavour which makes good Sparkling Wine; it is the balance of the acidity and sweetness (or lack of it) and of course the bubbles. Hindleap's bubbles are particularly fine.
We did not eat with this wine even though tidbits were available; everyone just enjoyed the taste of the drink. I enjoyed the last half-glass of the bottle with my dessert which had retained its bubbles throughout a rather long meal - well, I deserved it as I had the good taste to both find it and serve it.
On the website, Bluebell Vineyards claim that they avoid intervention, as much as possible, in the vineyard with the use insecticides, herbicides and other chemicals. I think that this shows through in the wine. The French wine producers call this "la lutte raisonnée" or the reasonable struggle. This is good practise as the vineyard can be saved from disasters such as mildew setting in in damp conditions. However, in good years the vines can be left to grow "naturally".
http://www.morethanorganic.com/lutte-raisonnee
I am not a lover of English Wine in general especially the still wines which I find vapid and lacking in body. The price has to be high, so in terms of value for money they are terrible so I buy English Still Wine just for sentimental reasons. The industry needs any support it can can get. Gradually, there will be an improvement as the climate will get warmer but if this means more rain in the summer then there could be problems building up. Luckily the climate looks favourable for Sparkling Wine production and long may this continue.
Vines need to rest in the cool of the winter. The UK winter of 2013/14 was exceptionally warm so the vines probably did not rest properly and insect pests probably survived better. I can foresee problems for the 2104 vintage because of this and especially for producers brave enough to attempt "organic growing" techniques. "La lutte raisonnée" is therefore a very good policy and a sensible choice for Bluebell Vineyards.
Despite the British weather and climate Bluebell Vineyards are producing a superior product with their Hindleap Sparking Wine. One that easily competes with Champagne for drinking on a special occasion and one which puts Cava into the shade.
No wonder it is a prize winner. It is a pity that English Sparkling Wine cannot find a brand name that rolls of the tongue easily. Hindleap is worthy of the name "Champagne" if not in law then in spirit.
I bought this wine at Waitrose for £17 a bottle and at that price it is superb value for money. Try some; you will be pleasantly surprised.
http://www.bluebellvineyard.co.uk/
http://www.waitrosedirect.com/product/bluebell-vineyard-hindleap-rose/856837
I wonder how many people would be able to tell the difference between this sparkler and Champagne, from the north of the region, in a blind tasting?
Hindleap is more similar to the Champagne from the Montagne de Reims. We know a family producing Champagne in Bouzy which is one of the top villages and Hindleap is able to compete on the basis of both the quality of the wine and its taste.
The soil of the Bluebell valley estate is similar to the best areas for growing Champagne grapes near Epernay and Reims. The alluvial soil is situated over chalk. This soil is ideal for growing the Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier and Chardonnay grapes used for the production of Hindleap. The soil encourages the grapes to produce the acidity required for good quality Sparkling Wine. So does the climate.
The climate in the UK remains cool, despite global warming, therefore the grapes do not ripen as fully as they would further south. The grapes, therefore, keep their acidity. But, the climate in the UK is often too wet to maintain the quality of the grapes year after year. This represents a severe problem for the English Wine industry. The unit cost of producing wine in the UK is higher than in France or Italy and of course this is reflected in the price.
It took one sip of the Hindleap for me to recognise that this is very high quality wine which has been produced by the traditional method but with loving care and high quality grapes. The 2009 vintage helped and it was a good vintage across most of France too.
The back label described the wine as elegant with a floral nose and I couldn't agree more. It also tasted a little bit of toast and I could taste the flavour of the breakdown of the yeast added for the second fermentation in the bottle. It is not just flavour which makes good Sparkling Wine; it is the balance of the acidity and sweetness (or lack of it) and of course the bubbles. Hindleap's bubbles are particularly fine.
We did not eat with this wine even though tidbits were available; everyone just enjoyed the taste of the drink. I enjoyed the last half-glass of the bottle with my dessert which had retained its bubbles throughout a rather long meal - well, I deserved it as I had the good taste to both find it and serve it.
On the website, Bluebell Vineyards claim that they avoid intervention, as much as possible, in the vineyard with the use insecticides, herbicides and other chemicals. I think that this shows through in the wine. The French wine producers call this "la lutte raisonnée" or the reasonable struggle. This is good practise as the vineyard can be saved from disasters such as mildew setting in in damp conditions. However, in good years the vines can be left to grow "naturally".
http://www.morethanorganic.com/lutte-raisonnee
I am not a lover of English Wine in general especially the still wines which I find vapid and lacking in body. The price has to be high, so in terms of value for money they are terrible so I buy English Still Wine just for sentimental reasons. The industry needs any support it can can get. Gradually, there will be an improvement as the climate will get warmer but if this means more rain in the summer then there could be problems building up. Luckily the climate looks favourable for Sparkling Wine production and long may this continue.
Vines need to rest in the cool of the winter. The UK winter of 2013/14 was exceptionally warm so the vines probably did not rest properly and insect pests probably survived better. I can foresee problems for the 2104 vintage because of this and especially for producers brave enough to attempt "organic growing" techniques. "La lutte raisonnée" is therefore a very good policy and a sensible choice for Bluebell Vineyards.
Despite the British weather and climate Bluebell Vineyards are producing a superior product with their Hindleap Sparking Wine. One that easily competes with Champagne for drinking on a special occasion and one which puts Cava into the shade.
No wonder it is a prize winner. It is a pity that English Sparkling Wine cannot find a brand name that rolls of the tongue easily. Hindleap is worthy of the name "Champagne" if not in law then in spirit.
I bought this wine at Waitrose for £17 a bottle and at that price it is superb value for money. Try some; you will be pleasantly surprised.
http://www.bluebellvineyard.co.uk/
http://www.waitrosedirect.com/product/bluebell-vineyard-hindleap-rose/856837
Friday, 16 May 2014
Top Ten Drinking Nations
Some figures were just published regarding the average amount of alcohol consumed by people over the age of 15 for most of the the countries of the world. All of the "top ten nations" were European. Top of the list was Belarus at 17.5 litres per head of population (over 15 years of age). This is an awful lot of alcohol which is poisonous. Given that fact that some people do not drink at all or are moderate drinkers then the amount consumed by some heavy drinkers must be shocking.
Portugal was tenth on the list and the average consumption was 12.9 litres per capita. Portugal is mainly a wine drinking nation.
I am a moderate drinker and I have calculated that my consumption of alcohol is about 10 litres pa. I do not drink every day of the week or usually exceed 2 bottles of wine per week. I might have a pint of beer or two per week. I drink a shot of cognac or spirits maybe once a quarter.
I was rather surprised by this figure.
It is easy to calculate how much alcohol you consume. Wine is about 13% alcohol by volume. A pint of bitter or beer is 3.5 to 4% alcohol by volume and spirits are usually 40% alcohol by volume. You must be honest with yourself about how much you drink.
One of my best friends was an alcoholic for all of his adult life and he consumed more than a bottle of scotch per day despite the efforts of his friends and family to persuade him to cut down. He remained hooked on alcohol and cigarettes for all of his adult life which ended in his early sixties. He was divorced twice.
I calculated that he consumed over 100 litres of alcohol pa. This is what I mean by shocking.
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/05/13/worlds-heaviest-drinking-countries-revealed-infographic_n_5314613.html?utm_hp_ref=uk
Portugal was tenth on the list and the average consumption was 12.9 litres per capita. Portugal is mainly a wine drinking nation.
I am a moderate drinker and I have calculated that my consumption of alcohol is about 10 litres pa. I do not drink every day of the week or usually exceed 2 bottles of wine per week. I might have a pint of beer or two per week. I drink a shot of cognac or spirits maybe once a quarter.
I was rather surprised by this figure.
It is easy to calculate how much alcohol you consume. Wine is about 13% alcohol by volume. A pint of bitter or beer is 3.5 to 4% alcohol by volume and spirits are usually 40% alcohol by volume. You must be honest with yourself about how much you drink.
One of my best friends was an alcoholic for all of his adult life and he consumed more than a bottle of scotch per day despite the efforts of his friends and family to persuade him to cut down. He remained hooked on alcohol and cigarettes for all of his adult life which ended in his early sixties. He was divorced twice.
I calculated that he consumed over 100 litres of alcohol pa. This is what I mean by shocking.
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/05/13/worlds-heaviest-drinking-countries-revealed-infographic_n_5314613.html?utm_hp_ref=uk
Tuesday, 29 April 2014
Brindisa Tapas bar
Last Sunday we spent a couple of hours in the Brindisa Tapas bar in London's Borough Market. We enjoyed the company of good friends and Tapas consumed with a bottle Rioja Vega Saja Crianza 2009 red wine.
Rioja is made primarily from the Tempranillo grape. Crianza red wines are matured for at least two years before they are bottled with at least 6 months in oak. Rioja Crianza whites are matured for at least one year with at least 6 months in oak.
Vega Saja 2009 was a very good quality red wine which is between medium and full body. It was very fruity and the tannin had softened to remove any bitter aftertaste. The wine went perfectly with tapas and was ready for drinking. Crianza wines are lighter than their Reserva and Gran Reserva cousins and have less of a flavour of oak.
The wine was perfect for a Sunday afternoon and helped to remind us of Spain even though we were stuck in the middle of London. It also helped us to remember all the lovely food and wine that we have consumed on numerous visits to Spain.
This wine and Brindisa is well recommended. You cannot reserve a table at the restaurant so expect to wait to be seated.
http://www.brindisatapaskitchens.com/assets/tapas-brindisa-london-bridge-drinks-menu.pdf
Rioja is made primarily from the Tempranillo grape. Crianza red wines are matured for at least two years before they are bottled with at least 6 months in oak. Rioja Crianza whites are matured for at least one year with at least 6 months in oak.
Vega Saja 2009 was a very good quality red wine which is between medium and full body. It was very fruity and the tannin had softened to remove any bitter aftertaste. The wine went perfectly with tapas and was ready for drinking. Crianza wines are lighter than their Reserva and Gran Reserva cousins and have less of a flavour of oak.
The wine was perfect for a Sunday afternoon and helped to remind us of Spain even though we were stuck in the middle of London. It also helped us to remember all the lovely food and wine that we have consumed on numerous visits to Spain.
This wine and Brindisa is well recommended. You cannot reserve a table at the restaurant so expect to wait to be seated.
http://www.brindisatapaskitchens.com/assets/tapas-brindisa-london-bridge-drinks-menu.pdf
Tuesday, 15 April 2014
Intermarché Champagne out does Aldi
On a recent trip to Troyes we found a good bottle of Champagne - Marine Clément Cuvée Emotion NV - for 12.50 Eur at an Intermarché supermarket in the town. We grabbed a few bottles. We still have not been able to find the £10 Aldi Champagne, in England, as we don't have a store nearby: Lidl seem to have pushed them out in our area.
Champagne - Marine Clément Cuvée Emotion is made by a a wine broker or négociant in Neuville-Sur Seine which is in the Aube district of Champagne about 50 kms south east of Troyes. The négociant in question is Stéphane Février.
The Champagne tasted very good for the price; it was a light gold colour with fine bubbles. The Champagne tasted much stronger and richer than Champagne from further north . This is more to the taste of local people than the international tastes of Laurent Perrier and the like.
The soil in the Aube district to the south of Troyes is more limestone based than chalk and this affects the taste of the wine.
We opened a couple of bottles with family and friends for the London marathon celebrations and my niece who was running the next day had half a glass. She finished in a good time, so the moderate tipple did not spoil her chances even if it didn't improve them. It just goes to show that you can break the dietary rules and still get away with it.
All our friends and family though the Champagne was very good and though that it was of similar quality to most of the other Champagne's that they had drunk. My wife concluded that it was not the best Champagne, and she should know as she was born in Troyes. However, she said that it was great value for money. Who am I to disagree? I thought that the Champagne left a little bit of a bitter after taste on the palate but I had swirled the wine around my mouth.
Our other guests just drank the Champagne and did not notice the bitterness. Perhaps, it pays not to try to be too professional.
Somebody guessed the retail price of the Champagne to be about 18 Eur a bottle which is the price on their web site. Intermarché had negotiated a good deal but I do not think that it is a loss leader for them.
My brother in law knows lots of the producers in the area but he can never get a figure on how much it really costs to produce a bottle of Champagne from the Aube. He surmises that it is less than 6 Eur a bottle so the profit margins are good.
Three cheers and bon chance for Intermarché.
http://www.marineclement.com/champagne_brut.php
Champagne - Marine Clément Cuvée Emotion is made by a a wine broker or négociant in Neuville-Sur Seine which is in the Aube district of Champagne about 50 kms south east of Troyes. The négociant in question is Stéphane Février.
The Champagne tasted very good for the price; it was a light gold colour with fine bubbles. The Champagne tasted much stronger and richer than Champagne from further north . This is more to the taste of local people than the international tastes of Laurent Perrier and the like.
The soil in the Aube district to the south of Troyes is more limestone based than chalk and this affects the taste of the wine.
We opened a couple of bottles with family and friends for the London marathon celebrations and my niece who was running the next day had half a glass. She finished in a good time, so the moderate tipple did not spoil her chances even if it didn't improve them. It just goes to show that you can break the dietary rules and still get away with it.
All our friends and family though the Champagne was very good and though that it was of similar quality to most of the other Champagne's that they had drunk. My wife concluded that it was not the best Champagne, and she should know as she was born in Troyes. However, she said that it was great value for money. Who am I to disagree? I thought that the Champagne left a little bit of a bitter after taste on the palate but I had swirled the wine around my mouth.
Our other guests just drank the Champagne and did not notice the bitterness. Perhaps, it pays not to try to be too professional.
Somebody guessed the retail price of the Champagne to be about 18 Eur a bottle which is the price on their web site. Intermarché had negotiated a good deal but I do not think that it is a loss leader for them.
My brother in law knows lots of the producers in the area but he can never get a figure on how much it really costs to produce a bottle of Champagne from the Aube. He surmises that it is less than 6 Eur a bottle so the profit margins are good.
Three cheers and bon chance for Intermarché.
http://www.marineclement.com/champagne_brut.php
Wednesday, 19 March 2014
Some rotten French wine
We recently made a visit to a family reunion in the town of Quissac which not far from Montpellier in the Languedoc region of the South of France. Whilst we were there we also took a tour around and our trip included a visit to Toulouse in the Haut-Garonne department. At the party we drank some lovely Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon from the local co-operative and some really excellent Alexandre Bonnet Champagne Blancs de Noirs Brut from Les Riceys from the Aube department. This champagne was excellent.
http://www.alexandrebonnet.com/website/indexf.html
But where did we find some of the worst wine I have ever drunk? We did not have to go far for we paid a visit to Les Saintes Maries de la Mer which is a charming seaside town and which is the capital of the Camargue in the Bouches-du-Rhône department on the Mediterranean. The French love fish and chips just as much as the British and we found a lovely restaurant by the sea front. This restaurant will remain nameless. I ordered a pichet of the local white wine to go with my fish and chips, without the mushy peas, and it was disgusting and undrinkable. It was my own fault as I should have ordered a bottle of Picpoul de Pinet but we were on a mission to drink only a restaurant's offerings when we had a meal out.
http://www.saintesmaries.com/en/
http://www.alexandrebonnet.com/website/indexf.html
But where did we find some of the worst wine I have ever drunk? We did not have to go far for we paid a visit to Les Saintes Maries de la Mer which is a charming seaside town and which is the capital of the Camargue in the Bouches-du-Rhône department on the Mediterranean. The French love fish and chips just as much as the British and we found a lovely restaurant by the sea front. This restaurant will remain nameless. I ordered a pichet of the local white wine to go with my fish and chips, without the mushy peas, and it was disgusting and undrinkable. It was my own fault as I should have ordered a bottle of Picpoul de Pinet but we were on a mission to drink only a restaurant's offerings when we had a meal out.
http://www.saintesmaries.com/en/
 |
| Les Saintes Maries de la Mer When we visited the Pont du Gard the previous day we were treated to a pichet of glorious and local dry red wine at the Le Colombier Restaurant which is 200 meters from the entrance to the Pont du Gard park. This restaurant is well worth visiting The food and wine , however, could not compare to the glory of seeing the Pont du Gard Aquaduct. The Romans were phenomenal engineers.  Next we were off to Toulouse which is a very rich, vibrant and young city in the Haut-Garonne. I must have been the oldest person there. The city is also very expensive and we thought that we would try and save some money and eat in a tapas bar. We broke our rule and ordered a bottle of wine - shock horror it was Rioja. The wine was rather good but the waitress knew nothing about Spanish wines and she couldn't care less what grapes it was made from. They weren't French grapes so why bother to know anything about the wine. We left the Tapas bar with my wallet lightened by 50 Euro for three plates of tapas and a bottle of wine; but never mind. The next day we met some friends and they knew Toulouse really well and where to find good food at a reasonable price and this was at the Victor-Hugo market. On the first floor there are five restaurants selling excellent food and we choose the Louchebem. What else could we eat other than Toulouse sausages with mashed potatoes - where have I eaten Sausage and Mash before? A pichet of the local dry red wine washed this down really well, things were getting better and the costs were getting lower. We were surrounded by wine and the flags, insignia and photographs of the Toulouse rugby club.   Next we travelled to Pezenas and back to the Languedoc; we stayed the night in the delightful Hotel Moliere on the Place du 14 Juillet. We dined in the nearby village of Valros and drank some excellent local dry red wine once again. We finally paid a visit to family in Montpellier and once again drank some excellent local wine before making our way back home to the excitement of London. Most of the wine is very good in France but like all countries it has some pretty undrinkable stuff especially if you buy it served in a pichet. If you want good quality all of the time it is best to stick to a bottle with a recognisable label. |
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