Nederburg 2009 Shiraz - Pinotage

A South African fiend gave me this bottle of wine so I had to write a comment about it. This wine is made by a good producer from the Western Cape Paarl valley. The valley has Mediterranean climate and a soil structure which is suitable for both red and white wine production. The Shiraz grape variety originated in France where it is called Syrah. Syrah, in France, is grown mainly in the south and is well suited to a Mediterranean climate. The Pinotage grape is reputed to be a cross between the Pinot Noir and Cinsault grape varieties and, of course, Pinot Noir and Cinsault are widely grown in France but not as a cross.

When tasted on its own and an hour before our meal, both my wife and I rated the wine above average but perhaps a little rustic as it lacked complexity. An hour later and with the meal, the wine really came into its own and the taste of the wine improved. We ate sirloin steak and the wine refreshed the palate and enhanced the meaty flavour. I think the food offset the hotness of the alcohol. This is a good example of how a wine should really be judged. Wine and food go together; so many of the wines that win prizes at tasting competitions may not be the best wines for tasting with food. There is a strong French influence within the South African wine growing tradition and so this could be one of the reasons why good South African wines go with food. For this reason, I rate this wine as very good value for money, but make sure you drink it with a good meal.

One point to remember is that southern hemisphere grapes are harvested six months earlier in the year than northern hemisphere grapes.

Wine: Nederburg 2009 Shiraz - Pinotage

Date: 30 May2010

Appearance: Purple but lighter at the meniscus. Clear and bright. Some tears.

Nose: Clean. String aroma of Red fruits and spices and cloves.
Youthful

Palate: Medium + ripening tannins. Medium body. Medium Acidity. Dry. Hot in alcohol which is not fully integrated into the wine. Concentrated red fruits and spice. Medium length.

Other observations:Refreshing wine. Not particularly complex. Above average. Drink now. Good value for money
Price:
About £4-00

Collio Goriziano DOC

Collio Goriziano DOC wines are produced from vineyards centered on the town of Gorizia in North East Italy near Trieste. Gorizia is very near to the Slovenia border and the political history of the town is very complicated. Up until the first World War, it was part of the Austrian empire. It was the scene of some intense battles between Allied and Austrian forces. In the final stages of the war the Slovenes invaded the town only to be replaced again by Italian forces in late 1918. Finally, Gorizia was incorporated into Italy in 1920. Even though it was absorbed into Italy the Slovenia influence is still very apparent and the Slovene language is still spoken in the area. The Collio Goriziano borders on the Goriska Brda wine growing area of Slovenia and the wines of both areas have a similar character. For instance, the Ribolla grape which is blended into the white wines of the Collio, is called Rebula in Goriska Brda on the other side of the border. The wines of Collio are of high quality and in true Mediterranean style are very fruity whether they are red or white.





This area of Italy is one of the most diverse in Europe with Italian, Slovene, Austrian and even French influences. Just before the the time Slovenia became part of the European Union, a drive around the area was very interesting. Some of the border posts were reserved for Italians and Slovenes only. No matter how persuasive you were, Slovenian border guards would direct non Italian EU citizens to the main border crossing near Trieste where you would be simply waved through with a smile.





Dining in the Collio area is also an interesting experience. Some of the restaurants are literally a home and you are eating home made food in the front garden and drinking a carafe of unlabelled wine from a friend's vineyard. No one cares about varietal labelling. The food is absolutely delicious and the local wine goes with it perfectly and all at very reasonably prices, even though there is no menu. Try it.





The nearby city and port of Trieste, lies on the Adriatic and its history reflects that of the rest of the region. It was finally incorporated, by international treaty, as part of Italy well after the second World War. There is an exceptionally strong Slovene influence which becomes stronger and stronger as you walk out of the city towards the Slovene border. There is also a strong Austrian influence which is reflected in the cuisine in some of the surrounding towns and villages.





Napoleon was also in Trieste so there is a slight French influence on the architecture. James Joyce resided in Trieste for a number of years.





If you pay a visit to Trieste then you must sample the food. Sea Bass is a speciality and of course a Collio white wine goes perfectly. The city is a little run down but why care wine you can find such good wines.





If you are looking for a trip which is fully imbued with great wines and food, and with a little piece of architectural and cultural diversity thrown in, then the the Collio area is the place to visit.

Villeneuve-Sur-Lot

Villeneuve-sur-Lot is one of my favourite towns in the South West of France. It is a fortified town standing on the River Lot 22 miles ( 36kms) north east of Agen. It is in the department of Lot-Garonne and is not famous for wine but for its plum trees and dried prunes and its South Western France cuisine. It is a good place, however, to explore some wine regions which may not be so well known, but which produce wines of strong regional character.

45 miles (75kms) to the east is the city of Cahors, and the N911 main road runs through the Lot valley. Several miles before reaching Cahors, you pass the vineyards growing the Malbec, Merlot and Tannat grapes used for the production of the wine. Most of the production is of the Malbec variety which makes Cahors wine very dark and almost black in colour. The wines are also full bodied. The best vineyards are located on the limestone plateaux to produce a wine which ages longer than those located on the coteaux or sides of the river. Whichever terroir you choose, the wines are excellent value for money and of course match the local cuisine. The tannin structure of the wine helps to cleanse the palate, especially when eating fatty dishes. And, of course, the wines have a lovely red and black fruit character. My wife and I drink them with duck or rabbit stew. The town of Cahors is well worth visiting, if only for the cuisine and food. The town also has mediaeval architecture, including the Valentre or Devil's bridge built in the 14th century, which is the symbol of the town.

A similar distance to the North West is the town of Bergerac on the Dordogne river in the Perigord. The Perigord is famous for its Cro-Magnon cave art, its truffles, its wine and cuisine: and dare I say it Foie Gras. Bergerac reds are produced in the style of Bordeaux wines and represent excellent value for money. Pecharmant reds are one step higher in quality and can be kept longer but they are difficult to find outside of the region. For whites, Monbazillac dessert wines represent a similar quality and style to to those of Barsac and Sauternes, and are made from noble rot white Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon and Muscadelle grapes. The noble rot is encouraged by the late autumn mists prevalent in the vineyards located in the Dordogne valley. They have incredibly powerful aromas of honey and citrus fruits and are excellent aperitif or dessert wines at very good value for money. Even some of the lesser known Bergerac Moelleux semi-sweets are excellent value for money and are good dessert wines. If you are taking a wine and cuisine trip to France this area is a "must" to visit.

If you want to venture further South, to the edge of the Pyrenees, then I recommend Pau. Henry IV of France was born here at the Chateau de Pau in the 16th Century. The castle became the home of the Kings of Navarre. The Architecture has been influenced by the British and Lord Wellington created a garrison here. British tourists used to reside and visit here in the 19th Century so there are many English style villas. You cannot make a visit to Pau without tasting some great wines and the Bearn cuisine. Jurancon wines are made in the vineyards situated in the hillsides and valleys rising up from Pau to the foothills of the Pyrenees in the south. There is a mountain climate here which can get severely cold in the winter and hot in the summer, but it is moderated by the south westerly winds from the Atlantic. The soils are either marine sediments or siliceous clays and chalks. Chateau Jolys is one of my favourite dessert wines. It is made from late harvested petit manseng grapes. It is luscious with aromas of grapefruit and honey and is typical of the sweet wines of the area. It competes well pricewise with the wines of Sauternes and Barsac. No visit to Pau would be complete without trying Bearn cuisine: Piperade is one of my favourites; made from tomatoes , onions and green and red peppers and often eaten with the local Bayonne ham. Pau is next to the Basque country to the west and if you venture much further south over the Pyrenees into Spain you are in the Spanish Navarre and the land of Tempranillo.

But back to Villeneuve-sur -Lot, it is well positioned on the wine trail and a stay in the town is justified by the fact that it is a working town. It is not just dedicated to tourism and so it is the real France and all easily accessible from within the battlements.

A night at the Opera

Last weekend , my wife and I went to the theatre to see the Kentish Opera perform Carmen. It was a very good performance. Which was more than can be said about the Chilean "Sauvignon Blanc" white wine which was on sale. The wine had and overpowering smell of cat's pee, yes cat's pee, which is derived from the metoxypyrazines compounds in the wine. These compounds give wines, like Sancerre, from the Loire valley, their characteristic herbaceous aroma. Some of the metoxypyrazines also lend a hint of cat's pee as they are actually a byproduct of cat's metabolism. The aroma should not , however, be overpowering and any Sancerre style wine should also have other fruit characters to add complexity to the wine. The Chilean wine is trying to mimic the Sancerre style, but it fails miserably to leave a one dimensional wine which simple tastes of chemicals . It was almost undrinkable. The name was easily forgotten. There was only one redeeming feature; the the length of time that the aftertaste left was very short. This was obviously a bulk wine trading off the name of "Sauvignon Blanc".

Gout de Terroir

There is so much discussion about the subject of "gout de terroir". It is a French term which is used to describe a wine whose taste has been influence by the geography of the vineyard where the vines are grown. It is meant to include the soil of the vineyard and the macro and micro climatic conditions of where the vineyard is sited. Thus "le terroir de Gevry-Chambertin" would mean "the area of Gevry-Chambertin" when applied to wine. It is not meant to mean that the wine has acquired a taste of soil.

Many wine technologists have questioned whether wine can really have a "gout de terroir" or a taste of regional character. The debate continues along the lines that it is wine faults or the type of wild yeast on the outside of the grapes, how the wine is made etc. which really influences the taste of the final product. Of course, there are many influences on what makes a wine taste good or bad or different. I would have thought that it was obvious that the soil and climate have a considerable influence. Soil too dry and the grapes will perish. Too much rain and the grapes will rot. Not enough sun at the right time and the grapes will not ripen. If you try to grow Syrah grapes in the South of England you will fail to make good wine, despite global warming.

This argument reminds me of Edward de Bono's book "Practical Thinking" where he describes "Four Ways to Be Right and Five ways to be wrong". He points out the example of a Doctor who can recognise, immediately, that a child has got measles and does not need a battery of blood and biochemical tests to confirm the diagnosis. This is recognition rightness.

I often wonder whether the protagonists on both sides of the argument have spent more time reading and writing about the subject than actually tasting wine.

Anyone who has drunk many many bottles of Epineuil, Irancy, Chitry and Coulanges-la-Vineuse reds will instantly recognise that all these wines have a distinctive "gout de terroir" despite who makes the wine. This recognition rightness can be applied to the other wines of Burgundy and also to the wines of Champagne, and many other wines from other countries.

I also ask myself why the most modern wine producers make soil surveys, of potentially new vineyards, before they make plantings?

Many "bulk made" wines have been produced in vineyards where the soil and climate are unsuitable for the grape varieties grown. They are fermented with standardised yeast cultures and are often adjusted for acid and sugar levels; they are treated before bottling to remove naturally produced crystals to make the wines look good. Some of these wines will have been treated with wood chips to make them taste as if they have been matured in oak barrels. The result is that the wines all taste to same no matter where they come from. It is difficult even to taste the difference between a "Merlot" wine and a "Cabernet Sauvignon" wine. Try a blind tasting with your friends and see the results. No wonder the marketing men want to quash any thoughts that wine should have a distinctive regional flavour.

I prefer wines with regional character no matter how the taste is produced.

Col de L’Orb 2005 AOC St Chinian Cave de Roquebrun

Col de L’Orb 2005 AOC St Chinian Cave de Roquebrun

This wine is exceptional value for money. The blend of grapes matches the schistous soils and the climate of the Languedoc perfectly. I am impressed by the quality of all of the wines of La Cave de Roquebrun, which is certainly worth visiting not just for the wine but for the breathtaking scenery and cuisine of the Languedoc. This wine goes well with southern French cuisine whether it is cassoulet , mutton or confit de canard. When I tasted this wine at the Caves, I was expecting to pay much more than 7 EUR per bottle. It shames a bulk produced wine from anywhere in terms of both quality and price. What more could you ask for?

Wine: Col de L’Orb 2005 AOC St Chinian Cave de Roquebrun

Date: 17 April 2010

Appearance: Clear and Bright, Purple in colour. Tears

Nose: Clean. Pronounced smell of Blackcurrants, Red Fruits and Spice. Ready for Drinking

Palate: Medium + mature and ripe tannins. Medium + body., Dry, Well integrated acidity. Medium + alcohol. Very concentrated flavours of red fruits, blackcurrants and spices. Savoury flavours. Medium Plus length

Other observations: A well integrated complex wine with concentrated flavours. Has regional character. Good quality. Syrah, Grenache, Mouvedre and Carignan. Unfiltered. Manual grape picking.
Very good value for money

Price: About 7 EUR per bottle.

Domaine Viré Durif 2007 Bourgogne Chitry AOC “Pinot Noir”

Domaine Viré Durif 2007 Bourgogne Chitry AOC “Pinot Noir”

This is an estate bottled wine from the Yonne, which is one of my favourite areas of the Bourgogne region. Chitry is situated not far from Auxerre and Chablis on outcrops of Kimmeridgian marls. The wines from Chitry are often termed Côtes Auxerrois, an area which also includes the wines of Irancy, Epineuil and Coulanges-la-Vineuse. The climate here is semi-continental and it can be cold in the winter and very hot in the summer. The canicular heat of 2003 brought forward the harvest by about one month. The climate is, however, moderated by south westerly winds from the Atlantic.

The Yonne is the most northerly area of the Burgundy region so the Pinot Noir grape produces a light red wine here.

This wine is a light garnet in colour and you could mistake it for a Rosé. The wine, however, shows all the regional character of the Côtes Auxerrois with its ripe cherry flavour and taste of minerals. It is less full in flavour than an Irancy and also lighter bodied. It is an excellent value wine for everyday drinking at 7 Euros per bottle. Some websites sell it much dearer but I buy it in the area.

The wine is marketed with the brand name “Pinot Noir”. I cannot understand why producers are doing this. Most buyers of this wine know that it is made from Pinot Noir and the distinctive regional taste is just as much the product of the soil, the climate and the production techniques. It has a genuine “goût de terroir”. Varietal labelling will not go away, so I suppose I shall have to give up my opposition; well eventually anyway.

We drank this wine with cuisses de canard, pot roasted in their own fat, with potatoes and haricots verts. The wine went well afterwards with a selection of French and Welsh cheeses. It was fine dining at reasonable cost.

Wine: Domaine Viré Durif 2007 Bourgogne Chitry AOC “Pinot Noir”

Date: 14 May 2010

Appearance: Bright and Clear. Pale Garnet. Lighter Rim. Tears

Nose: Clean. Pronounced Cherry and Red Fruits , Some Spice and Minerals
Fully Developed.

Palate:Dry. Medium Tannins which are softening. Medium + acidity. Medium (minus)-Body. Pronounced flavours of red fruits and cherries, Spices, Marzipan and Minerals. Quite complex and of Medium Length.

Other observations:This wine shows all the regional character of the Yonne. It is of above average quality Drink now as it will not improve much with age. At 7 Euros a bottle it represents good value for money.

Price: 7 Euros