WINES OF THE WEEK 15 October 2010

Three wines from Sainsbury’s autumn tasting, all of which are being shown at the Wine Gang Christmas Wine Fair on 6 November at Vinopolis in London. Yes, another shameless plug for our brilliant event.

2004 Taste the Difference Vintage Champagne

Classy chardonnay-based vintage champagne at a non-vintage price. Seductive brioche, honeycomb and almond macaroon flavours layered with taut lemon fruit, a lightly creamy, chalky texture and fine acidity. Made for Sainsbury’s by long-time supplier Duval-Leroy.

£23.99, Sainsbury’s

2009 Taste the Difference Crozes-Hermitage

Textbook young Crozes – smoky, stony, peppery aromas and a meaty, savoury palate with crushed black-peppercorn flavours contrasting with sweet red-berry fruit and gently chewy tannins. You can drink it now (red meat, game, Manchego…) but it’ll be good for five years if you take care of it. A word of warning: there’s another Crozes-Hermitage in Sainsbury’s at the same price, but it’s 2007, it’s not Taste the Difference and it’s not made by M Chapoutier – and it’s not as good.

£8.49, Sainsbury’s

2009 Taste the Difference Barossa Shiraz

A wine that does what it sets out to do – ie deliver lots of ripe, briary, blackberry fruit and autumnal spice flavours wrapped around with vanilla-scented, toasty oak. Full and comforting – just like the sort of casserole it goes well with. Made by Toby Barlow at St Hallett.

£7.99, Sainsbury’s

THE WINE GANG CHRISTMAS FAIR, 6 November 2010

Nearly time for the The Wine Gang’s second annual Christmas Wine Fair – and certainly time to scoop up a ticket from TicketSoup

Vital statistics:
It takes place at Vinopolis in London SE1, right by Borough Market, on Saturday 6 November. There are 2 sessions: 12–3pm or 4-7pm. Just choose your time. Tickets are £20
There’ll be more than 600 wines open for tasting, from the tiniest of independent retailers to the giants of the high street, and many of them have been rated Gold, Silver and Bronze by The Wine Gang. Just wander round, glass in hand, stopping where you like.
Free Wine Walks: the five of us – Olly Smith, Anthony Rose, Tom Cannavan, Tim Atkin MW and me – will take you to taste some of our favourite wines.
Masterclasses from some of the great winemakers of the world at the giveaway price of £10 per ticket. Book them at the same time as you buy your ticket for the fair itself. The four, two in the morning, two in the afternoon, are:
1) Understanding Pinot Noir & Sauvignon with Dr Damian Martin of Ara, NZ;
2) The Sélections Parcellaires of Maison M Chapoutier with Michel Chapoutier, of the Rhône;
3) Languedoc, the Rubik’s Cube of Wine with Jean Claude Mas of Domaines Paul Mas. Languedoc;
4) Champions of Chenin Blanc with Ken Forrester of South Africa.

See you there.

TicketSoup:

WINES of the WEEK 8 OCTOBER 2010

Not many new wines at the autumn M & S tasting, but some good stuff all the same.

Okhre Natur Cava Brut, Penedès
Bone-dry cava made from the indigenous varieties xarel-lo, macabeo and parellada grown at 700 meters. That trio of grape varieties can so easily be a recipe for terminal dullness, but this is crisp and vivid with rich and lasting apple and pear flavours. 12% abv. Great value.
£9.99, Marks & Spencer.

2009 Craggy Range Te Muna Pinot Noir, Martinborough
Beautifully aromatic – roses and jasmine with a hint of bergamot and spice; fresh, pure raspberry and cherry fruit, with oak in the background giving polished smoothness and extra depth; clean, positively bright finish. 14.5% abv.
£13.49, Marks & Spencer.

2009 Popolino Rosso, Sicilia
You can’t complain at anything that tastes half-decent at this price. Easygoing, cheap pizza red, though it doesn’t actually need food. Fresh and soft with earthy cherry fruit and a food-friendly dryness. If you’re counting, it’s made from 70% nero d’avola and 30% sangiovese and is 13% abv.
£4.99, Marks & Spencer

WINES of the WEEK 1 OCTOBER 2010

2009 Paul Mas Vermentino, Pays d’Oc
Another good wine from Jean-Claude Mas’ Languedoc vineyard empire. It doesn’t give a lot away on the nose – that’s vermentino for you – but there’s plenty to it: fresh lemon-peel flavours with a touch of green olive and herbs, a smooth, lanoline texture and a lively, dry finish. 13% abv and food friendly.
£7.99, or £5.99 if you buy 2 or more, Majestic

2008 Château La Dournie, Saint-Chinian
An excellent follow-up to the 2007 which I recommended back in July of last year. The 2008 has the same mouthwatering stony, smoky smell and taste, with scents of the garrigue and spicy, sweet berry fruit – all beautifully modulated and balanced. It’s a syrah-dominated blend with carignan and grenache grown on schist. 13% abv. La Dournie has been handed down from mother to daughter for six generations, with Véronique Etienne currently at the helm.
£7.99, or £6.99 if you buy 2 or more, Majestic.

2008 Domaine Les Yeuses, Les Epices Syrah, Pays d’Oc
Expressive, pure Syrah in Crozes-Hermitage style. Smoky and briny aromas with flavours of crushed black peppercorns and fresh raspberries, supple tannins and a dry refreshing finish. 13.5% abv. The vineyards are on limestone hills close to the Mediterranean in the Thau lagoon area and the estate is one to watch. It’s been in the Darde family for several generations and the two brothers now in charge are doing good things.
£8.99, or £6.99 if you buy 2 or more, Majestic

WINES of the WEEK 24 SEPTEMBER 2010

Some gems for celebrating International Grenache Day, which is today.

2007 Domaine Saint-Gayan, Côtes du Rhône-Rasteau
Big, ripe, peppery, grenache-dominated southern Rhône red, with a fistful of stony, spicy, nutty flavours set against succulent, sweet raspberry and cherry fruit and ripe tannins. 80% grenache, 12% syrah and the rest mourvèdre and cinsault. 15% abv. If you’ve got good storage, you’ll be able to enjoy it over seven or eight years.
£10.50, Yapp Brothers

2008 Domaine of the Bee, Vin de Pays des Côtes Catalanes
A powerful, rich red with intense black-fruit aromas, edged with sweet garrigue herbs and smoky oak. The palate is rich-textured with fresh black-pepper, dark chocolate and coffee-bean flavours, together with a mineral note and the sort of underlying acidity that give the wine essential freshness but which will also keep it going for years to come. The 2008 is the second vintage of this roughly 50:50 blend of grenache and carignan (grenache over 50 years old and carignan over 80) from the Maury area of Roussillon. 14.9% abv. It’s produced by Justin Howard-Sneyd MW, better known as the global wine director of Laithwaites (next step interplanetary director, presumably), but it’s nothing to do with the day job and he’s selling it himself.
£20, £18 if you buy 6, £16.67 if you buy 12, www.domaineofthebee.com

2003 Domaine Font de Michelle Cuvée Etienne Gonnet, Châteauneuf-du-Pape Blanc
The quality and character of this mature white châteauneuf may owe more to its old-vine roussanne than its 50% grenache blanc, but nevermind: it’s a terrific wine. Rich, honeyed and perfumy with quince, citrus and herbal flavours and a long, dry finish. 13.5% abv. It’s no on the Wine Society’s website, but it’s in the October–January list (ref code C-RH240710 which will be with you shortly, if it isn’t already.
£21, The Wine Society

If you want a white châteauneuf to lay down, I recommend 2009 Domaine de Nalys Les Dix Salmées, which has a youthful herby nose, fresh peach and quince on the palate and lots of depth and freshness. It’s just over half grenache and just over a quarter bourboulenc with clairette and a smidgeon of roussanne. 13.5% abv. It’s perfectly drinkable now, but will develop much more within a couple of years. Laithwaites showed it at their tasting in London this week, but it’s not on the website yet. It’ll be £17.99 any time now.
And a reminder that Noel Young Wines still has the lovely grenache blanc-based 2009 Domaine Lafage Cuvée Centenaire, Côtes du Roussillon (£10.49) which was a Wine of the Week here on 30 July.

WINES of the WEEK 17 September 2010

2009 L’Empreinte de Saint-Mont
I love the purity and clarity of these manseng-based dry whites from southwest France. This one – three quarters gros manseng, 10% petit manseng and 15% petit courbu – has a smoky, mineral nose with piercing passionfruit and citrus flavours which fill out on the mid-palate. It finishes on a sustained note of tangy acidity and minerality. Like most Saint-Mont wines, it comes from Les Producteurs Plaimont. 13% abv.
£12.99, Adnams

2009 Château Grange Cochard Morgon Vieilles Vignes
I can’t resist another 2009 cru Beaujolais – not that I’ve recommended any since the beginning of June. This has an exotic, floral, red-fruits perfume and a palate that combines supple, sweet fruit with savoury, mineral flavours, ripe tannins and a long finish. 13% abv. Drink any time over the next eight or nine years. It’s made by a couple who gave up St Albans for Beaujolais. Not a difficult choice, I imagine.
£13.95, Berry Bros & Rudd

2007 Rippon Central Otago Pinot Noir
More burgundian than many a burgundy, but then Nick Mills (owner-winemaker) has worked in Burgundy and the vines are all more than 15 years old and on their own roots. It has a wonderful fragrance – roses, cherries, strawberries, a touch of vanilla – and exceptional definition to the fruit on the palate against a background of subtle oak and a fine, silky texture. Elegant and expressive from start to finish. 13% abv. Watch out for the new single-vineyard 2008s early next year.
£25.50, Lea & Sandeman

WINES of the WEEK 10 September 2010

Three wines from an almost dud-free selection of 48 put out for tasting in London yesterday by the six members of the Bunch – Adnams, Berry Bros & Rudd, Corney & Barrow, Lea & Sandeman, Tanners & Yapp Brothers.

2008 Domaine Vincent Dampt, Chablis 1er Cru Les Lys
Stellar premier cru Chablis from Vincent, son of Daniel and grandson of Jean Defaix, which is a good start in Chablis life if ever there was one. Vincent has also worked with Olivier Leflaive in Puligny-Montrachet and done a stint in Marlborough, New Zealand. The nose is quintessence of Chablis with nutty, sour-cream richness set against stony minerality and tingling freshness. The palate is creamy and textured, with ripe fruit – hints of apricot and apple – and intense, penetrating, lime-like acidity. Great length and presence. 13% abv. Drink from now until 2018.
£18.59, Corney & Barrow

2009 & Co, Hawkes Bay
Having gone on about wine names last week I shall say nothing about this one except that I haven’t got it wrong: it is called ‘& Co’ (without the quote marks). As that’s all it says on the front label, I suspect it’ll be displayed more often with its back label on view. The bottle also has a crown-cap. The wine is the first release of an intriguing and delicious New Zealand sauvignon blanc from organic vines planted on calcareous gravels in Hawkes Bay in 2003 and 2004. It’s very aromatic with a varietal grassy note but with exotic notes of spice, passionfruit, smoke, honey and honeysuckle too. The palate is full and ripe, but structured, with a Graves-like smokiness and fresh finish. 13.7% abv. A propros of nothing, I reckon the winemaker Gabrielle Simmers has the wine world’s longest legs.
£12.95, Lea & Sandeman

2008 Castello di Argiano, Sesti Grangiovese, Toscana
The Sesti family of Castello di Argiano – not to be confused with Villa Argiano - make this from sangiovese that hasn’t made it into the Brunello or the Rosso di Montalcino. It’s supple and succulent, with fruit that is both sweet and savoury, a spicy tobacco character and an attractive, dry finish. It’s not hugely concentrated or complex, but delightfully honest, thoroughly Tuscan and thoroughly sangiovese. 13.9% abv. Viticulture and winemaking follow the phases of the moon, but not Steiner-inspired calendars and biodynamic practices, which Giugi (Guiseppe) Sesti, a world authority on ancient astronomy, thinks are misconceived.
£12.90, Tanners

WINES of the WEEK 3 September 2010

2009 Wirra Wirra Mrs Wigley Grenache Rosé, McLaren Vale
I’m not entirely convinced by the idea of naming wines after pets, mother-in-laws, girl friends etc, but perhaps that’s sour grapes because I’m never going to have a wine named after me. Anyway, Mrs Wigley the cat: R.I.P. Mrs Wigley the pink grenache: very much alive and perfectly proportioned. Medium-deep pink and packed with juicy cassis and strawberry fruit, currant-leaf freshness and a touch of nutmeg. Good weight, without being big, and nicely dry. Goes well with lightly spiced, pan-fried prawns, parma ham and chorizo, and fruity, saffron-flavoured couscous – and no doubt other things. 13% abv.
£9.99, Stevens Garnier

2008 Ad Hoc Straw Man Sauvignon Blanc, Pemberton
Medium-bodied, beautifully elegant Sauvignon from ace Western Australia winemaker Larry Cherubino. Unmistakeable Sauvignon aromas of grass, lemon and elderflower, carried through on to the palate with an additional tang of lime-zest and gentle chalkiness. Lovely balance and still zippy and fresh. 12.5% abv.
£13.99, or £12.59 in a mixed case, The Vineyard (Dorking, Surrey)

2008 Passa Pequena, Douro
A junior red from Quinta do Passadouro at less than a third the price of the fabulous 2007 Reserva (£30). This obviously doesn’t have the concentration, complexity and staying power of the vigorously youthful Reserva, but it does have the mouthwatering Douro combination of perfume and sweet raspberry fruit with savoury, mineral flavours. Add in the softly chewy tannins and it’s ready for drinking now. 13.5% abv.
£8.49, Laithwaites

WINES of the WEEK 27 August 2010

Millione, Vino Frizzante Rosé
Don’t buy this if you think wine should always be a drunk with rapt attention and accompanied by serious note-taking. Do buy it if you want to help raise £1 million to build 20 community-run primary schools in Sierra Leone. For every bottle sold, £1 goes to the project. And do buy Millione if there are times – sunny bank holidays, perhaps – when you just want something vaguely vinous and easy to drink – something fresh, pink, light-weight, lightly sparkling and on the sweet side of medium-dry. Millione is 11.5% abv and doesn’t need food, but you could drink it with something spicy.
£7.99, Laithwaites; and, soon, if not already, Tesco, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s and Waitrose.

2007 d’Arenberg The Olive Grove Chardonnay, McLaren Vale and Adelaide Hills
A rich, oaky style, with cashew nuts on the nose and a smoky, dark chocolate oakiness to the palate, but with the richness perfectly off-set by the freshness, intensity and persistence of the fruit. 14% abv. Great value at the current offer price.
£6.99 on offer (down from £8.99), Sainsbury’s.

2009 Undurraga TH Pinot Noir, Leyda Valley
Polished pinot noir from Leyda, Chile’s answer to New Zealand’s Central Otago region. Sweet, fresh cherry and raspberry aromas, lovely purity of fruit, subtle oak and a bright, persistent finish. 13.5% abv. TH stands for terroir hunter, by the way, not the winemaker, who is Rafael Urrejola.
£11.95,The Wine Society.

WINES of the WEEK 20 August 2010

2009 Gladstone Vineyard Pinot Gris, Gladstone, Wairarapa
I was hoping to recommend Gladstone's splendid, mineral 2009 Sauvignon Blanc, but Great Western Wine is not moving on to the 2009 until the end of the year. This Pinot Gris, one of New Zealand’s best, is a more exuberant wine – spicy and floral with succulent, peachy fruit, a gentle nutty flavour and citrus freshness. 14.5% abv.
£13.95, Great Western Wine

2009 Mas des Mas Corbières
Just in time to catch this new wine from Paul Mas before the promotion finishes at the end of the month. Very much a modern style of Corbières -– deep in colour, rich, ripe fruit, mocha oak flavour and round, friendly tannins – but true to its terroir in the heady aromas of the garrigue. A blend of syrah, grenache and carignan from low-yielding vines. 14.5% abv.
£7.99, reverting to £9.99 at the end of August, Majestic.

2006 Torres Celeste Crianza, Ribera del Duero
A supple, velvety Ribera del Duero from Torres, Spain’s most famous wine-producing family. Spicy, coffeeish oak and black fruit on the nose; blackberries, graphite mineral notes, smoky oak and soft, but structure-giving tannins on the palate. It went a treat with roast lamb and potatoes cooked with smoked paprika. 13.5% abv.
£11.49, Noel Young

WINES of the WEEK 13 August 2010

2009 Domaine Cheveau Mâcon Solutré-Pouilly, Sur Le Mont
Mâcon with real polish and elegance: fresh, creamy, waxy and slightly nutty on the nose; nutty complexity with a light touch of spice and fresh apple on the palate; long, perfectly balanced, fresh and delicious now. 13.5% abv
£13.95, Caviste

2005 P J Druet Bourgueil, Les Cents Boiselées
Beautifully matured, complex, medium-bodied Bourgueil: spicy fruitcake, cedar, leather and mineral aromas and a velvety, dry palate with mellow fruitiness, spicy-cedar and mineral notes. Ready now, but will last another five years. 12.5% abv.
£14.99, Handford Wines

2008 Ermita del Conde Tinto, Castilla y Leon
This is a tempranillo, with 5% merlot, from vines – a lot of them 100 years old – growing high up (900m up) in the province of Burgos just outside Ribera del Duero. It’s full-bodied and ripe with a vanilla and chocolate richness, but retains a wonderful red berry and sweet-cedar freshness. Concentrated, polished, elegant. 14% abv.
£20, Hanging Ditch

WINES of the WEEK 6 August 2010

Three really good sparkling wines this week
Chozas Carrascal Cava Brut Nature Reserva
Elegant, sophisticated cava with flavours of lemon, marzipan and honey and mouthwatering freshness. It’s a chardonnay/macabeo blend and has no dosage (ie no sugar added at the end): the depth and ‘sweetness’ come from the maturation – a small percentage in French oak and then into bottle for the second fermentation and 15 months on the lees. 12% abv. A much better bet than most cheap champagne.
£12.50, or £20 for two, Hanging Ditch

2005 Tesco Finest Alsace Crémant d’Alsace Riesling
Textbook riesling flavour, freshness and definition – ripe Granny Smith apples, lime and a hint of petrolly minerals, with fine, soft bubbles produced in the same way as for champagne. Dry, but not remotely austere; a crowd-pleaser in fact. Good as an aperitif, but also a winner with lightly spicy dishes. 11.5% abv.
£8.99, Tesco

Freixenet Elyssia Gran Cuvée Brut Cava
Chardonnay-based, matured for 15 months and a big step up in quality from Freixenet’s mass-market, black-bottled Cordon Negro. Pale and refined with fine bubbles, zesty lemon and peach fruit and a delicate nutty-straw note. 11.5% abv.
£14.99, Waitrose