#515 An update on the past few months

Over the past few months a lot has been going on, not least of which is that I have opened up my own wine shop.  After exploring many locations and properties, it became apparent that there is no place like home (particularly when expecting your first child and have your family locally) and opened up in St Andrews.  It is a very exciting thing to do, with lots of challenges being thrown at me, but I am so glad I have done it.  Being your own boss is both a scary and fantastic feeling and I know I can bring some new ideas to wine retail in the UK - combining my experiences in retail, as an amateur critic and as a wine enthusiast.  But that is business, and I've always kept The Tasting Note outside of business.  So where are things going to differ with The Tasting Note?

The Tasting Note has always been my personal wine opinions, never influenced, nor commercialised with my work and nothing is going to change on that front.  However, I’d be a total fool if I stocked a product I was reviewing and didn’t at least give you an option to buy it.  All that will be different will be a link for you to purchase it from my shop if you want to.  Otherwise, nothing will change and I’ll still be writing, with my usual blunt style, being honest about the wines I taste, regardless of whether I stock them or not.  Essentially, if you don't click on the link to buy the wine, you won't notice anything different with this wine website.

So what have I been tasting recently?  Highlights included 1968 Chateau d’Yquem, a rich honeyed aroma with lots of apricot, cheese and stewing rhubarb and clove like spice.  A gorgeous cinnamon, peach and pineapple skin flavour came through with some grape stalk notes on the finish.  We drank it with Roquefort and it was mindnumbingly brilliant.  92pts

A 1963 Taylors Vintage Port on the same evening was rich and spicy with a bundle of damson, menthol and wild herbs coming out.  A tight, smoky palate with lots of spiced fruit coming through with the alcohol dominating a bit.  It was good with the stinky cheese as well, which it needed to sing.  89pts

At my surprise leaving lunch, a group of friends had clubbed together and bought a bottle of 1966 Gruaud Larose.  I’d never had this vintage of one of my favourite Bordeaux producers, and it was a lovely, old lady.  Subtle sweet fruit, a dark, earthy note with some sweet blackened red pepper skins and drier fruit on the palate.  Some tobacco on the finish, which balanced everything very nicely.  94pts.

Another great wine was a Lilbert-Fils Perle Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs.  A lightly sparkling Champagne with a gorgeous, yeasty, citrus pith flavour and a hint of tomato soup on the nose!  It was a gorgeous, elegant Champagne that was perfectly balanced.  My new favourite non vintage fizz!  91pts

However, the highlight of my past few months was trying an old port.  I managed to get hold of a small sample ‘test tube’ of Taylors Scion – an old pre phylloxera tawny port from 1855.  It was gorgeous.  Old, spicy wood with caramel and prunes on the nose.  Then some baked apple comes through with a sweet balsamic, nutmeg and whisky note!  There is a smoked vanilla pod, with rum soaked raisins coming out with lots of orange peel, pipe tobacco and a bit of crystalised ginger.  Dried leather smeared with honey and dusted with cocoa powder was what I wrote at the time!  The finish was perfect, fresh and lively with herbs, tart pomegranate and fig.  A wonderful wine that I will sadly never get to try again!  100pts

So those are my wine highlights over the past few months.  Thanks for putting up with a massive gap between posts, but as I'm sure you can understand, I've been a tad busy!  Normal Tasting Note service will resume for 2013!

By Peter Wood with 4 comments

Exciting news is coming!

So I've disappeared off the face of the blogging world for the past month and a half.  Firstly, sorry about that, but I have had good reason!  More details will follow soon....

By Peter Wood with No comments

#514 International Arms Race

Collaboration beers - they are all over the place, and there are a pair of canine named breweries that have both launched a beer by the name "International Arms Race".  Both 7.5%, these IPA's have been made without hops - a diversion from their normal styles where hops tend to be the dominant flavour.  I decided to try them both blind, and to see which I preferred.

International Arms Race 1

An aroma that immediately made me think 'Brew Dog' - light, fresh and gingery with a bit of cigarette ash. The palate is sweet, but light, some floral notes with some sweet malt coming through and a bit of mint strangely.  Much more aggressive, much more in your face and although drinkable, I couldn't finish a whole bottle. 76pts  Brew Dog?

International Arms Race 2

Some chocolate, some Irn Bru with a bit of cough sweets coming out.  QUite fizzy, a slightly strange subtle flavour, some saltwater taffy coming through with a liquorice/aniseed flavour finish with some pot pourri.  Quite chunky a lot of rich sweet floral flavours.  A better beer than the first one, but again, would I drink a whole bottle? I think this is the Flying Dog. 80pts

So it turns out that IAR 1 was the Brew Dog and IAR 2 from Flying Dog.  I preferred the American beer, but in our blind tasting involving five people, the vote went 3:2 in favour of the Scottish beer.  However the general consensus was that neither of these beers was very good.

By Peter Wood with No comments

#513 A golden age of brewing or delusions of grandeur?

It was reported yesterday by Camra that the number of breweries in the UK has topped the 1,000 mark for the first time in the past seventy years.  With another 158 breweries opening in the past twelve months, Britain is going through a brewing revolution.  The Good Beer Guide's Roger Protz is quoted as saying that this growth is "making the small brewing sector... one of the most remarkable UK industry success stories of the last decade".

Well, I disagree.  Don't get me wrong, I'm pleased that the beer sector is growing in the UK, and with a lot of the new breweries operating sizeable kit, there is the potential for quite a bit of volume production from these craft beer producers.  But a growing number of breweries doesn't make a success story, you need quality as well as quantity and it is just a matter of time before the brewing bubble bursts.

A couple of months ago I made a beer.  In fact, I made two.  The first was an coffee stout, using dark malt and a little bit of ground coffee.  We boiled it up on my friend's stove, put it into a plastic bucket with a lid to ferment and then a week later, bottle conditioned it and let it it ferment again.  The second was an ale that we chucked a bunch of elderflowers into the boil to give it a bit of a floral note.  The exercise was great fun, making a beer was simple.  Just following a recipe, tweaking it a touch to give it our own flair and then a fortnight later, you have beer to drink.  It was totally satisfying.  We even mocked up some labels poking fun at Brew Dog and stuck them on.  Was it beer?  Yes.  Was it tasty?  Yes.  Should I give up my day job and open a brewery?  Not a chance as I'm simply not good enough at it - despite the help of my more experienced friend.

This is where a lot of these new brewers are going wrong.  They are enthusiastic amateurs who have the ability to make decent enough home brew - but then get delusions of grandeur and think they can be the next Kernel or Williams Bros and invest a load of money in a brewery kit with the hope of making a living from their hobby.  I've tried quite a few new brewery beers over the past months and the results are in two camps.  There are some brewers who have gone from the kitchen to a brewery and are making good, professional beers and there are those that should have stayed in their kitchen making beer for their mates as, commercially, their products are just not up to scratch and some are downright terrible.

I'm pleased beer is growing in the UK and we are getting lots of new breweries, but there is going to be a contraction in the numbers soon as the more amateur brewer realises that they just aren't good enough.  Before claiming a golden age of brewing, we need to realise how deep the talent seam is first.

By Peter Wood with No comments

#512 Because I felt like it

It was a little Autumnal today and I felt like trying some port.  No reason other than that.  So I cracked open a 1997 Grahams Vintage Port.  It was lovely.  Rich bramble aromas with cinnamon, a little Chinese five spice and loads of toffee and chocolate.  The palate was a similar delight, big, juicy cherries, an abundance of spice and then some lovely violet and pepper notes coming through before a dry(ish) leathery cocoa-fest of a finish.  90pts

I love the sweetness Graham's gives, the opulence and decadence.  Sure, it might not be as elegant as a Fonseca or Taylors, but it has bundles of character and, with time, every vintage shows the elegance and staying power that some vintages of the two pretty port houses lack.

By Peter Wood with No comments

#511 Iona Wines

In 1997, former civil engineer Andrew Gunn sold up his business and started to farm apples - as you do.  Quickly realising that supermarkets wanted different varieties than those growing on his trees, he looked at his land and figured out he was better growing grapes and making wine after taking a scientific approach and charting the soils and climates of the region.  He renamed his farm Iona after the Scottish island, as his family  is originally from the celtic nation.  

Gunn, now with a Christopher Lee-esque beard after giving up shaving whilst in Eritrea, employs Werner Muller as his winemaker, but likes to get in there and take part in the making of the wine as well.  All his grapes are estate grown and the vineyards are going organic and have introduced Biodynamic practices in some vineyards.  The cool climate in Elgin means that the wines achieve full physiological ripeness, which gives beautiful balance and ageing potential.  After a decade of production, some things are changing at Iona, with the focus of single variety wines being tweaked somewhat.  Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay stay as does the Pinot Noir, but out goes their Syrah and their Bordeaux blend wine and in comes their 'One Man Band'.  I tried five wines with Andrew today, and here is what I thought.

2011 Iona Sauvignon Blanc

Lots of green grass with a little bit of elderflower coming out, quite chalky with just a touch of white pepper as well.  The palate has a softness up front from the tiny amount of barrel fermented Semillon that is popped in, following with the grassy , vegetal, slightly spirity flavour.  There is more of the hedgerow coming on the pallet with some underripe apple and just a touch of yellow grapefruit tartness.  Nice structure, well balanced, soft fruit with minerality coming through.  A good French inspired South African Sauvignon Blanc.  87pts

2010 Iona Chardonnay

Really nice subtle oak coming out of the glass, with a bit of ginger emerging from the 20% new wood.  Some rustic apples emerge firs in the pallet, a bit of wood and then a delicious peach skin and pear flavour.  A little alcohol comes through with a bit of oak and then soft fruit balances everything out with lovely acid.  Just a bit of pepper, vanilla pod on the finish.  Really good.  90pts

2006 Iona The Gunnar

I've always liked this wine and I think it is a shame that it is going, but I've always liked the veggie element that it has.  A blend of Cabernet Sauvignon (48%), Merlot (46%) with the rest being Petit Verdot, it has gorgeous brussels sprouts, liquorice, damson and aniseed coming off the nose.  Then some mint freshens the whole thing up, being fleshed out with a lovely damson and plum aroma.  The palate has veggies up front, nice structure of red fruit, savoury liquorice and just a bit of spice.  A bit of cocoa dust comes out as well.  I really like this wine.  92pts

2007 Iona Syrah

A soft and pretty aroma with the pepper acting as seasoning rather than as a major flavour.  Some sweet cherry comes out with a really nice soft spice, good acid and then a slightly under ripe bramble coming through.  The finish is all about the spice, pepper - black and paprika - coming out with some dark, coffee flavours and a bit of leather.  Firm tannins at the end, and a good spicy finish.  89pts

2008 One Man Band by Iona

This is where all the Shiraz, Cabernet, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Mourvedre & Viognier grapes are going, one wine that puts the best into a bottle and gives the winemakers a chance to express each vintage in a unique way.  The name stems from the balancing act of a One Man Band, and reflects the different grape varieties working together to create something delightful.  The wine is quite complex, lots of dark, juicy fruit but with some freshness floral aromas coming through.  Chocolate, sweet liquorice and then a little bit of violet.  The palate has the darkness from the Syrah, then some cocoa coming out from the cabernet and more lovely dark, tannic spice.  Really quite nice, a wine that you need a big chunk of steak with.  Mint and more liquorice on the finish.  A really nice wine.  91pts

Gunn's wines are all lovely, showing restraint, balance and elegance.  The One Man Band is a stunning wine and his Chardonnay is a delight.  I think it is a shame that the Gunnar is going, but as Gunn says, "the one thing you need in the wine trade is flexibility" so maybe I'll see my favourite of his wines again some day.

By Peter Wood with 9 comments

#510 I'm a very happy, satisfied, chap

I've a friend who is French Canadian and it is always a treat when invited around to his house for a meal.  He cooks really tasty traditional French food, usually involving wine and meat of some description and then we have a delicious dessert prepared by his wife.  In return for such amazing food, I take along a bottle of wine or two which gives us both the opportunity to indulge in two of our favourite things - eating and drinking!

Today for lunch was Coq au Vin - a delicious rich sauce surrounding wonderfully tender thighs and drumsticks of chicken, with tiny flavour bombs of salty bacon lardons, sweet slowcooked onions and earthy mushrooms.  All this served with braised haricot beans - it was a real French farmhouse feast.  A red Burgundy would be the 'traditional' wine to pair with this, but I love Bordeaux and had decided to take a 42 year old St Julien along to drink, and boy did it go well!  The 1970 Ducru Beaucaillou was wonderfully elegant and old, with aromas of cherry stone, leather and tobacco.  The palate had a stunningly elegant, yet still punchy palate.  It enticed you in with soft, ladylike flavours including slightly sweet cranberry and cocoa powder, but they you get a bigger spicy punch coming through - and a bit of silky, but firm, tannin.  A gorgeous wine that will last for a good decade or more.  94pts

The main thing though was how well it worked with the food, integrating perfectly with the rich sauce - the older red berry fruit notes not overpowering the chicken in the slightest, and then the earthy, meatier parts of the dish balancing with the gutsy spice and tannin of the wine.  Completely independent of one another, my friend and I had nailed a food and wine pairing without knowing what the other was doing!  

I did have some prior knowledge of the dessert, a lovely Mocha cake - chocolate, coffee with a buttercream filling, so took along a 1996 Consolation Antic Rivesaltes.   I've tried this wine on numerous occasions before and suspected it would go pretty well with the cake.  The wine has been aged in Armagnac barrels for a decade and so has a lovely, brandy-meets-Madeira-meets-Vin Santo aroma.  Dried fruit, citrus peel, some slightly spirity notes and a slight hint of tea coming off.  The palate is more of the same with a darker toffee and cashew flavour, finishing with some dried grapefruit flavours.  93pts  Putting it with the cake created another symphony of flavours with the sweet coffee and chocolate being softened and made richer by the dried fruit and caramelised flavours in the wine, but also pushing forward the more dark flavours in the wine and balancing at the end with the sweet, creamy filling.  Again, a perfect pairing.

I know it is gloating a little bit, but I had a really good lunch with two stunning wines.  This Saturday evening there are two very happy, well fed, wine lovers in central Scotland.

By Peter Wood with 1 comment

#509 Meeting old friends

I met two old friends last week.  Firstly, I bumped into an old schoolfriend that I hadn't seen in over a decade.  Despite the huge number of changes that have gone on in both our lives (marriage for us both, children for her, both in professional jobs instead of having parties on the beach and drinking Smirnoff Ices) we were at ease with one another again despite being very different people.  Similarly, I rekindled a relationship with a wine that I haven't tasted since I left Oddbins back in 2004, the South African Glen Carlou Pinot Noir and was intrigued to see if i would have the same reaction to this wine.

Now to be honest, I don't recall much about Glen Carlou from back then except that the Pinot Noir was tasty enough.  The labels were always a bit boring, the wines were around seven or eight pounds and that was it really.  They were just there, sitting on the shelf by the fridge and I never really paid them much attention.  What would at least eight more years of tasting wine make me think of these wines and would the Pinot Noir live up to my memories?

Starting with the 2011 Glen Carlou Chardonnay, it had a slight ginger, peachy aromas mixed with pear skin, leading onto a palate of soft wood, savoury notes and a bit of fleshier apple, peach and apricot.  A gorgeous finish of gentle wood and fruit.  Firstly, this is an great South African Chardonnay.  Secondly, this is a great Chardonnay - regardless of where it is from.  Finally, this wine is only twelve pounds, which makes it one of the best value wines I've tried in a long time.  90pts

I moved onto the 2010 Glen Carlou Quartz Stone Chardonnay and there was a lot of peach coming off and less wood than the other wine.  It was as if someone had not just stirred the lees, but put it in a blender as there was a load of yeasty aromas coming off.  The palate is well balanced with lots of gentle wood, tropical fruit and then a sprinkling of white pepper on the finish.  It is a better wine than the 'basic' Glen Carlou Chardonnay, and although it is worth the nineteen pounds you are paying, it doesn't over deliver like the other wine does.  90pts  

Moving onto a pair of reds, the 2010 Glen Carlou Cabernet Sauvignon was another brilliant wine.  Some sprouty aromas immediately made me think that they may have thrown in some Cabernet Franc as well, with a lovely blackcurrant and chocolate coming through.  The palate has an awesome tobacco and dark cherry flavour with some spice and more of the sprouts on the finish.  Again, twelve quid and phenominal value.  91pts

Finally, onto the Pinot Noir - the wine I loved back in my rookie wine merchant days.  This was the 2011 vintage and it was.... awful.  Horribly chemically, then thin with feeble, fake fruit aromas.  There was a cheap perfume - the sort of perfume that a Big Brother contestant would put their name to when they were trying to milk that cash cow.  The palate was like licking plastic which had had some Ribena spilled on it.  This is a horrific mess of a wine.  57pts

Meeting my old school friend was lovely, meeting an old wine friend less so, but it's siblings were stunning wines.  I wouldn't bother with the Quartz Stone, not because it isn't good, but because for an extra fiver you can buy one of each of the Chardonnay and Cabernet. 

By Peter Wood with 3 comments

#508 100 Grapes - Trousseau/Bastardo

Trousseau or as it is also known as, Bastardo, is grown in many parts of Europe, but never in big quantities.  Seen mainly in Portugal, it has a white mutation called, no surprise here, Trousseau Gris.  

Also seen aas rosé and as fortified wines, I decided to try a Trousseau from the French region of Jura - a land that is sandwiched between Burgundy and Switzerland, and that I think is all too often overlooked.  

2005 Domaine Andre et Mireille Tissot Arbois Trousseau Singulier

Very pretty on the nose, bright cherry and plum skin coming off the nose with some strawberry cream filled chocolate aromas.  Wonderfully soft, then a bit of tannin coming off with very restrained, older fruit.  Quite savoury with some really attractive plum and cherry stone.  Very soft and then some harder, woodier elements on the finish that has a real appeal.  A delicious wine  89pts

By Peter Wood with No comments

#507 Spark up the doobie, lets talk Tasting Notes

What still amazes me about wine critics is that you get to see a lot about their life through their tasting notes.  The flavours and aromas that they use to describe a wine can give you a surprising amount of insight into what they relate to.  Take Gary Vaynerchuk, he was all about Fruit Loops, Skittles and pork fat - a perfect set of tasting notes from a child of the 1980s!  Jamie Goode is more simple and to the point with his notes - flavour - flavour - flavour - comment on structure - summery of the wine - done.  A methodical approach, charismatic of the scientist he is.  Olly Smith embraces the Monty Python in his character and has backflipping penguins landing on pineapples and Michael Broadbent is much more about the construction of the wine and the overall experience, relating to the many previous times he has tried the wine and showing a dignity as an elder statesman of wine.  You really can learn a lot about the character of a person when reading their notes.

I mention this because I don't want you to judge me on a wine I tried today.  I rarely get drunk - in fact, I rarely drink, preferring to taste wines and let my colleagues finish off the bottle.  I don't smoke and have never done any form of illegal narcotic in my life - not even the more socially acceptable ones.  I am, to be honest, pretty boring!  So imagine my surprise when the first smell I got from the 2011 16 Stops Shiraz (£8.99) from Liberty Wines, was marijuana.

Yep, before the crisp raspberries and tobacco came through, I got so much of of Amsterdam's finest blasting into my olfactory gland, it made me want to grab a Bob Marley record and wear a kaftan.  The palate was a bit of a downer after that, with some lighter berries, a bit of red apple skin and some black pepper coated plums, but like walking down any street in the capital of the Netherlands, you just can't avoid smelling the pot!  80pts

By Peter Wood with No comments