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
Monday, 25 August 2014
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/
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