Some wines I have drunk recently

I have drunk some interesting wines over the last month or so. I did not write tasting notes as they were all drunk in a social situation with friends over a meal and I just jotted down some notes.

Barberesco Reserva 1996 Allini DOCG. This wine was given to me by a friend who had just emptied his cellar. The wine had been accidentally kept for a long time. My friend cannot remember where he got it from and when he bought it . It might have been a gift. This red wine is from the Piedmont region of North West Italy and is produced from the Nebbiolo black grape variety. The Nebbiolo variety is very tannic and this can lead to well structured wines which are able to mature for a long time. Not so with this wine as it was well past its best and had completely lost its fruit but retained a vegetal character reminiscent of a very well aged Burgundy or Bordeaux. It was just about drinkable. It was sixteen years old. You should always be careful to drink wines before they are past their best. A very good quality Barbesco Riserva should mature well for as long as this but if I had any in my cellar I would drink it now. A related wine Barolo is also from the Piedmont area but is generally of higher quality. It is also made from the Nebbiolo grape. I have drunk some which were twenty years old and still going strong.

Benoit Lahaye Brut Essential Grand Cru Chamapagne which was disgorged 15/12/2010. This non-vintage champagne is made from 90% Pinot Noir and 10% Chardonnay grapes. Bouzy, where it is produced, has one of the finest terroirs on the Montagne de Reims, the climate and soil here is exactly suited to the production of the finest champagnes. Benoit Lahaye is a "recoltant manipulant" which means that he makes his champagne from his own grapes. He does not blend his wine with that of other growers. Most of the top houses blend their champagnes. Since Benoit took over the running of the vineyards and wine production from his father Serge in the mid-nineties he has changed the viticulture to organic and bio-dynamic. This has changed the flavour and style of the wine so that it is now lighter and less intensely flavoured. This style appeals more to international tastes and needless to say the French people that I know prefer the older style. My wife and I can see the attributes of both styles. I shall still buy this wine for years to come. This wine and all his others, especially the vintage champagne, are certainly ones to watch.

Côtes du Brulhois 1808 vintage 2008: this red wine is from the Garonne "region" or area in the South West of France. It is concentrated red wine which is full of fruit and even had a slightly smoky or empyreumatic flavour which adds to its complexity. It is made from the Merlot, Tannat, Cabernet and Cot black grape varieties. This wine is of very good quality and is very good value for money. I wish I did not have to go to France to find it.

Côtes du Brulhois Chateau Grand Chene 2006, this wine is very similar to the 1808 but it has matured a little longer and shows a little bit more complexity. I obtained both these wines on a recent trip to South West France. I have not seen them in any wine merchant or supermarket in the London area including Nicolas. I recommend these wines with good strong tasting food such as beef stew.

Bouchard Pere and Fils 2007 Echezeaux Grand Cru: this was bought for me as a birthday present perhaps I should not have opened it so soon. I was not disappointed neither was my wife. This is classic red burgundy with all the elegance, finesse and concentration of flavours that I would expect. Of course, it is readily available at its high price but for me it is worth the 80 or so Euros which you have to pay. It was a birthday present so even better value for money.If I had kept the wine it would have improved in the bottle for many years to come. So what, one of my good friends, who rates himself as a Burgundy expert, gave it full marks.

Cheurlin-Dangin Non Vintage Champagne from Celles-sur-Ource. This is one of my favourite chamapagnes from the Aube region south of Troyes. Celles-sur- Ource is a small village situated between Bar- sur-Seine and Bar-sur-Aube. This area is regarded as being a "second class" producer of champagne and much of the wine ends up being blended into the Champagne offerings of the negociants further North in Reims and Epernay. The soil in the Aube is more akin to the the Kimmeridgian soils found futher to south east in the Chablis area which is in the Burgundy region. The chalky limestone marl soils of the Aube produce wines which are different in character and taste to the wines produced by the cretaceous chalk soils of the classic champagne areas in the North. Dare I say it, they remind me of Cremant de Bourgogne. Never the less, Cheurlin Dangin produces the finest sparkling wine and this elegant Champagne it is well worth trying if you can find it outside of the Aube area.

Corked Wine

I have recently opened a number of bottles of Bourgogne-Epineuil from various producers and have found the wine to be corked and fit only to be poured away. Epineuil is not the most expensive wine but it is one of my favourites and I hate wasting wine and money. I live too far away to take the bottles back to the producer. Nowadays, there is no other reason than cost to invest in a supply of sterilised or composite corks. It may be too expensive to invest in screw cap "corking" machinery but screw caps almost eliminate the possibility of spoilage of the wine from cork taint. Epineuil wine is not meant for long term storage or maturation so why not consider screw caps? Epineuil is difficult to find in the UK, but I recommend it to drinkers who like a red wine that is not over fruity but dry in style and with a genuine "goût de terroir" which reflects the influence of the soil, weather and climate prevalent in one of the most northern areas of Bourgogne. Nicolas supply it in the UK and at least you can take the bottle back for a replacement if it is spoilt by cork taint.

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De Bortoli DB Selection Verdelho 2009 SE Australia

De Bortoli DB Selection Verdelho 2009 SE Australia - We bought a few bottles of this white wine from Waitrose when we had lots of friends round for a Tagine. At five pounds a bottle it was not going to break the bank. The quality of this dry white wine is very good and the tangy taste went down well with the mildly spicy Chicken.

The verdhelo grape is widely grown in Madeira for the production of Madeira dessert wines and is renowned for its acidity which adds balance to the sweetness. Some producers in Madeira are now experimenting with this grape for table style wines. This grape has obviously transferred well to Australia where for a very long time it was also used for sweet wines. Obviously it is able to produce a very high quality dry wine which suits it purpose exactly: three cheers for De Bortoli. London drinkers can find other producers of Australian Verdelho at the Cork and Bottle wine bar on Leicester square but you will have to pay a lot more.

Louis Felipe Edwards Merlot 2011 Lot11 vintage 2011

My wife was given this wine "Louis Felipe Edwards Merlot 2011 Lot18 Vintage 2011" as a complimentary bottle in a Hotel. It is Chilean red from the Rapel valley. On the web you can buy this for about 12 pounds. We got a half bottle for nothing. I was extremely disappointed by this wine as I felt that the malo-lactic conversion was over done. Winemakers deliberately introduce bacteria into the wine to convert harsh tasting malic acid to softer tasting lactic acid. Malic acid gives apples their tart taste. Lactic acid is present in milk and is a much softer tasting acid.

In this wine I could taste too much lactic acid and I found the wine un-drinkable. My wife did not have the same opinion but did agree that there was something not quite right with it. It was a good job it was free. Perhaps, given time and a couple of years in the bottle it might improve. Screw cap "corks" do not appeal to me for wine that needs keeping - for some reason.

Viña Casa Silva 2009 Carmenère

A prize wining red wine from the Colchagua Valley in Chile, Viña Casa Silva 2009 is a robust, meaty wine with lots of red fruit flavour and tones of cedar wood and cloves. It is a very tannic and it is very strong in alcohol. It is full bodied and the concentrated taste lingers long on the palate. All of the ingredients are well integrated which indicates a good quality wine.

We drank half a bottle of this with some chicken and ham broth which was tomato based. The wine was not overpowered. In fact this wine would go well with something more powerful tasting such as a beef broth . And, the next time I try the wine I shall make a beef or lamb broth and add a couple of glasses.

For my taste the 2009 was not subtle enough and I found the taste and feel of the wine to be a little bit jammy and I struggled to drink even a quarter of a bottle. The wine should be kept for five years or more to allow the tannins to soften and the taste to become more mellow. It needs a little patience before drinking. This is a shame as most people will never keep this wine long enough for it to reach its true potential. I recommend this wine to anyone who is prepared to keep it for five or six years, even ten, and then drink it with a hearty meal.

Two Day Abstinence rule

Lo and behold the health authorities in England and Wales have advised people not to drink for at least two consecutive days per week. I have been practising this for 30 years or more whilst I have been on the road working on projects. The rest of my body may now be a bit squeaky but my liver is ok. This is sensible and credible advice. Of course it does not have to taken literally; when you are on holiday you can break the rule as long as you cut down the amount you drink on a daily basis.

Moët & Chandon Champagne Cuvée Dom Pérignon 1976

Imagine my surprise when my friend promised to fetch me a bottle of Cuvée Dom Pérignon 1976 for drinking on Christmas day. This wine had been given to him by a family member decades ago and he had carefully kept it in the cool and dark. When I opened the bottle there was very little partial pressure of carbon dioxide waiting to push the cork out. The shrunken cork had to be twisted and pulled but it came out with little difficulty, which is not always the case with an older champagne. There was none of the hissing our popping sound when a younger vintage is opened. The wine had been chilled to the perfect temperature and the bottle had not been shaken during transport but I was expecting some gas to come out of the bottle; there was nothing that I could hear or feel. We poured the champagne normally and the gas really started to fizz in the glass. All of the carbon di-oxide had dissolved within the wine over its long period of cellaring. The wine produced very fine bubbles. During its maturation the champagne had turned almost golden in colour. It had the typical yeast and bread scent on the nose. It tasted fantastic; it was youthful and fresh with a medium to full body and with well integrated acidity to keep it as fresh as when it was first bottled. The flavours were complex and concentrated; more concentrated than any other vintage champagne I have tasted. For me it had a creamy and nutty flavour. This champagne was a real honour and treat to open and drink. 1976 was a very hot year but the grapes obviously were able to maintain sufficient levels of acidity to keep this wine fresh 35 years later.
Drinking this made the wine tasting year for me and I shall remember the flavour for a very long time.

Later, for dessert, we drank a bottle of Benoît Lahaye Brut Essential Non -Vintage Champagne as a comparison. This up and coming champagne is much finer tasting and although it will not age as gracefully as the Dom Pérignon it still shows all the typical attributes of a Montagne de Reims appellation.

To buy a bottle of Cuvée Dom Pérignon, now, it will cost you around four hundred pounds. So this wine has appreciated considerably in value over 35 years; but is it worth it ? I think so. It could be kept as an investment. But, surely, wine was made to be drunk and eventually all wine becomes either past its best or ruined from a drinking point of view? There are many thousands of cases hidden away as investments which will never be appreciated by drinkers whilst the wines are at their peak. The 1976 Cuvée Dom Pérignon is now at its peak and we should be able to enjoy it.

Please consider this: expensive personal computers do not improve with age they only deteriorate and quickly become obsolete: they are destined to be thrown away. This is not so with a good bottle of wine.

A good bottle of Montagne de Reims vintage champagne can be bought from a maker such as Benoît Lahaye for much less than one hundred pounds and if it is kept in a cool dark place for twenty years or so it will improve in both flavour and complexity. That is where the true value for money lies. A good wine can also be appreciated across the generations. Patience truly is a virtue as far as some wines are concerned and it could save you a lot of money. Patience will enable you to appreciate the finest wines at a fraction of their cost as a long term monetary investment. So select wisely and keep your wine carefully.

The current retail price for Cuvée Dom Pérignon is around 95 pounds. What will it be worth in in 2037? It will certainly be worth drinking.