6 Questions with... Geoff Hardy of K1 & Pertaringa Wines

The name Hardy is synonymous with Australian wine, and in 1977 Geoff Hardy joined his family’s 125 year old wine business. Three years later however, he co-purchased the Pertaringa vineyard in the McLaren Vale and a decade later he started planting vines in the Kuitpo Vineyard. He still owns and makes wines from these vineyards under the Pertaringa and K1 by Geoff Hardy labels.

But here we ask about the man’s personal interests, and thank Geoff for taking the time to answer these six questions.

What is the best wine you have ever tried?
1928 Chateau Suduiraut or perhaps 1962 Penfolds Bin 60A

If you weren't in the wine trade, what would you like to do for a living?
The Spirits trade, no, probably golf course designer or landscape architect

Any hidden talents?
Designer and engineer of viticultural equipment.

Aside from your own wines, what do you like drinking on a regular basis?
Currently Austrian Gruner Veltliner’s and Pinot Noir’s out of many cooler climates
What is your most prized possession?
Possibly the 1934 Reynella Special Burgundy or perhaps 1971 Grange Hermitage

Name three people, real or fictional, living or dead, that would be guests at your dream dinner party and what would you be drinking?
Thomas Hardy of Bankside, Jancis Robinson and Maurice O'Shea drinking 1947 Domaine Romanee Conti, all of us at about 40 years of age, including the wine, provided it was cold cellared.

K1 by Geoff Hardy & Pertaringa wines are available in specialist wine merchants and also from Stratford's Wine Agencies

Pertaringa Wines website
K1 by Geoff Hardy website

With thanks to Stratford's Wine Agencies

Previous 6 Questions with
Ernst Loosen
Dan Aykroyd
Paul Draper
Dan Connolly
Sir Cliff Richard

By Peter Wood with No comments

Asda, a bottle of wine and an upset man

Apologies, I’m going to have a rant. Again!

On the BBC website there is a ‘news’ item about a man who was prevented from buying a bottle of wine in Asda because his 15 year old daughter was with him and was not of legal drinking age.

Mark Brown said the wine was for him, but this man has gone crying to the beeb and moaned about it, saying he will try to avoid shopping at the supermarket in the future.

I am sorry, but whilst the Asda employee may have been a little cautious in this case, they did everything correct, a fact that has been supported by Asda and the British Retail Consortium. I frequently turn away customers who are with people over 18 because I have no way of telling if the alcohol is for the adult or the child. At this time of year there are many Italian kids in St Andrews at summer school, all wanting to take a bottle of whisky away for their father. I know that the whisky isn’t for them, I know that it is going to be taken out of the country and drunk by someone over 18, but I still refuse to serve them because I know I’d be opening myself up to being fined and losing my licence, and therefore my job.

The Asda employee did everything right, and this man says that the supermarket’s is forcing it’s staff to “make judgement calls and decisions which they are not really trained or experienced to do”, when I’d say that the person in question were fully trained. They knew that if they served them, they opened themselves, and the company, up to being prosecuted.

Mr Brown is just annoyed that he got refused service and decided to whinge about it. I hope that when his daughter tries to buy alcohol before her 18th birthday, which the chances are she will, the person at the shop check out is as equally diligent.

By Peter Wood with 2 comments

Blind Chardonnay

I was watching Wine Library TV a few nights ago and Gary Vaynerchuk did a blind tasting of Chardonnay, so, gaining inspiration from this, I decided to do one myself. Five wines, range of prices, range of countries, one glass and a spittoon. Go!

Wine A Quite a golden colour. A bit of oak, some honey and some pineapple tinged with wood sap. Some spicy element too. The palate is nice, well balanced, some fruit skin, more pineapple, a bit of white pepper and just a touch of cream. A bit of oak kicking in but nicely finished with good acidity. 8/10

Wine B Light, touch of oak, some lemon and a little alcohol kicking in on the nose. Palate is light, crisp with a bit of zingy, zesty fruit – more citrus than tropical fruit. A lot of minerally elements and a bit of sea salt. Not bad but a bit meh on the finish. 7/10

Wine C Lemon washing up liquid. A bit of cream and a bit of herby, basil aromas. Palate is a bit fierce. Some fat flavours, very unbalanced – one minute nice fruit, next minute harsh alcohol and wood. Just is a bit crude. 5.5/10

Wine D Nice, balanced oak, softly delivered with the mange tout and perfumy fruit aromas. Some sweet melon aroma mixed with a bit of pepper. The palate is a touch young, some firm alcohol grips you. Some nice pepper with fruit being a little masked by the wood. You can tell this is a good wine, but there is a little lull on the finish. Overall though, a nice wine. 7.5/10

Wine E Perfumy. Lots of sweet fruit, melon, pineapple, very fresh. Smells a bit like lemon Opal Fruits/Starbursts. Palate is not good. It is thin, lots of zingy, unpleasant, fruit, no balance whatsoever with a criminally thin palate and a long finish. There are elements of chalk coming through but seriously, how can this be considered good wine? 4/10

Upon finding out the products

Wine A 2006 Hamilton Russell Chardonnay: Well worth the money you are paying. A great wine from South Africa, highly rated by critics. Really good.
Wine B 2007 Bourgogne Les Setilles, Olivier Leflaive: Disappointing showing from this wine. Granted, that could be the vintage, but it should be, and in past vintages has been, better.
Wine C 2006 Adamas Bourgogne Chardonnay: Sorry Dan! This really didn’t perform that well. Should be better for a 2006 vintage.
Wine D 2005 Puligny Montrachet Etienne Sauzet: A wine that is good, but as I said, just a bit thin and needing time to develop.
Wine E 2004 Antinori Castello della Sala Chardonnay. Horrific. For a wine of twenty odd quid it should be MASSIVELY better.

By Peter Wood with No comments

Credit Crunch Update

As nobody can afford fancy restaurants, the theatre or even a movie ticket anymore, people are still looking for alternative methods of entertainment, and libraries are seeing an increase in people taking books home to keep themselves occupied in the evening. They are also having more sex too, but that is beside the point. So it is good to know that there is a new wine book being released next year to keep you occupied.

This book will list the world’s top 100 wineries, which comes with six bottles of wine from the 100 producers, will weigh the same as a Labrador and cost a million dollars. Yep, you read that right. A million dollars for a book.

Why do I feel this won’t be in most town libraries?

By Peter Wood with No comments

Have you seen The Tasting Notes?

In case you haven't ventured into the bar on the right hand side of the screen, you might not be familiar with The Tasting Note's Tasting Notes. A separate blog which contains nothing but tasting notes of drink that is tried.

If you are a wine retailer who fancies using some of these to sell wines, please, be my guest, all I ask is you credit The Tasting Note and put the website address on your talkies or website. If you are using them on your website, let me know and I'll create links to it to hopefully divert some traffic your way.

So far, there are over a thousand tasting notes up, and more are being added every day. You can visit The Tasting Notes at

http://thetastingnote-tastingnotes.blogspot.com/

By Peter Wood with No comments

Naff Drink Makeover: Campari

Campari are trying to sex up their old product with advertising involving Salma Hayek, but it doesn't appear to be working! Her obvious assets aren't enough to get people consuming this bitter drink, but mixed in a cocktail and it could be a different story altogether.

Camp Grenada
1 1/2 part Campari
1/2 part Grenadine
2 parts Grapefruit Juice
1 parts Pineapple Juice
3 parts 7UP

Shake all ingredients and strain into an ice filled hi-ball glass. Add the 7UP and serve.
From Drinks Mixer

King Kenneth Recipe
1 1/2 part Campari
1/2 part Peach Schnappes
1 parts Orange Juice
1/4 part Lemon Juice
4 parts Tonic Water

Shake all ingredients and strain into an ice filled hi-ball glass. Add the tonic water and serve.
From Drinks Mixer

Campari Milkshake
12.5cl Milk
12.5cl Orange Juice
2cl Campari
3 Ice Cubes

Pour the milk, orange and campari into a pot. Stir really well. Put ice cubes in a glass and pour in the milkshake.
From Drinks Mixer

Next Time: Whisky

By Peter Wood with No comments

Organics - trying a brace of green wines

Have you ever heard of a chap called Walter James? He was born in 1896 and died in 1982, was a British peer, author and Olympic rowing silver medallist in the 1920 games. Still doesn’t ring any bells? Well he contributed a phrase to the English language that everyone is using now. He coined the term “organic farming” in his 1939 book Look to the Land.

And nowadays everything has to be organic. Milk, eggs, bread, chickens, whisky (thanks for that Benromach!) and, of course, wine. I have frequently been asked my thoughts on Organic wines by customers and my reply usually goes down like a lead balloon. I really couldn’t care if a wine is organic or not! If it is tasty, it is fine for me and the fact that it has been obliterated with chemicals doesn’t bother me a bit. Having said that, I have tried a lot of wines that are organic and have been exceptionally good, but I’ve always thought that is more to the skill of the winemaker than it is the fact that the grapes are chemical free. Having said that, I’d probably buy organic beef or eggs or milk, so I accept that my views on organics are not consistent!

Presented with a selection of wines from organic producers, I went in hoping that they would perform well and prove that with pure-as-the-driven-snow grapes, these wine makers could produce a masterpiece. Or would it prove that you can muck things up on a grand scale, even if you have good grapes?

1996 Fleury Pere & Fils Brut (France)
The first champagne that has been certified as biodynamic, so, for that reason, this is a significant wine to taste. Nice golden colour, very rich, old champagne nose. Lots of mushroom, lime pickle and a dirty lime skin component. Then biscotti on the nose. Nice mousse, big lemon flavours, a lot of toast and a zingy, lemon and lime flavour. Long, nice finish, hints of ceps and honey mixed with zingy grapefruit. I like this. 8/10

2008 Meinklang Gruener Veltliner (Austria)
Grapefruit and lots of salty minerals. A little honeydew melon too. Palate is dry, got a bit of a thick component on it. Lots of pear, lots of zesty acid laden fruit. Finish is clean but has a chalk and tangerine flavour I’m not too keen on. 6.5/10

2008 Albet i Noya Xarel.lo Classic Vinyes Velles (Spain)
Light, fresh aromas. Peach, some zingy fruit, a lot of sherbert lemons. Palate is nice, simple crisp apples and a touch of veggies – cucumber? A little too much acid on the palate, a lot of sandstone flavours too. Strips you mouth out on the finish, needs food. 7/10

2007 Albet i Noya Lignum Blanco (Spain)
A blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay and, as usual, it sucks! There is the mango, tropical fruit element on the nose, then pineapple comes in and then eldeflower clashing with everything. The palate is horrible! You get elderflowers starting off nicely, then the fatter chardonnay flavours come in and spoil it. The Sauvignon is like a fat person holding their stomach in. It may make the overall picture look thinner, but they are still fat. This is really not my thing. 5/10

2006 Chateau de Brau Cuvee Exquise Cabardes (France)
A lightly oaked Syrah, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon blend. Very polished, a lot of meaty black pudding aromas – meaty and spicy. Black pepper too. Palate is dry, medium weight, a good veggie component coming through. Lots of cherry stone and light hints of liquorice mixed with the first suck on an aniseed ball! Not bad. 7/10

2006 Albet i Noya Lignum Tinto (Spain)
A Grenache, Cabernet Sauvignon, Carignan blend. Lots of raspberry and blueberry with a touch of cream to the nose. Palate is nice, quite savoury, lots of tannin coming through and a lot of spice. Cocoa powder and then some hazelnut flavours. Needs to be a bit softer, and has a sweet element on the finish, a combination of fruit and tobacco. OK. 6.5/10

2005 Albet i Noya Finca La Milana (Spain)
A lot of blackcurrants, some chunky fruit and a lot of herby, berry compote aromas. The palate is nice, pretty full with some silky tannins, a bit of cocoa and then a leathery tobacco element. A little fruit dip on the finish, spoiling it as there is no fruit to back up the secondary flavours. 7/10 but should deliver more.

2007 Domaine Jean Bousquet Malbec Reserva (Argentina)
Big and chocolatey, lots of cassis, perfume and a little bacon fat. Watermelon Jolly Ranchers as well! Palate is dark, some sweetness from the fruit. Nice balance initially, then the fruit, which is slightly confected, comes through. Liquorice on the finish and a bitter, long living finish that spoils the wine a bit. This is the legendary party guest that pees in the kitchen sink at the end of the night. 95% great, 5% horrible. 7/10

So really, I have achieved nothing! Some organic wines were good, some were bad. But you have learned where ‘organic’ originated, so not all your time was wasted reading this!

By Peter Wood with 2 comments

Chateau Talbot 2004

I have a guilty secret. I like listening to Radio 2. I know where this comes from, it was my misspent youth listening to Radio 1 in the eighties, and, twenty years on, the DJs from Radio1 have been shipped off to the sister station. Part of the Radio 2 schedule is the Jeremy Vine show, where, peppered with music, he has various guests on his show to discuss the issues of the day. Inevitably, this show involves some intelligent debate but also a bunch of morons spewing forth uneducated bigoted drivel. Look at it as a Jerry Springer show for the radio where the morons are different to the American version simply because they are not inbred.

Anyway, on Friday, Vine was talking about sleeping and people who cannot get rest and how they are having issues performing their jobs well because they don't have the rest they need. And when I tried Chateau Talbot 2004, I immediately thought back to that radio show because this wine needs time to rest, to soften up and perform well, just like Vine's listeners that phoned in to moan about being sleepy.

There was cherry, tobacco and a little polish on the nose, some sweet toffee too mixed with some menthol. Quite an attractive nose and very inviting so you thought it was ready to drink. The palate however was beefy, lots of dark flavours and leathery tannin. Some pepper and spice, very rich, but so so dark and closed. Very savoury, needs a lot of time to rest.

By Peter Wood with No comments

A Trio of Terror: Napa Cellars & Jargon Pinot Noir

Three American wines, none of which scored above 5/10. Not what you want to be tasting first thing in the morning, but taste I did.

2006 Jargon Pinot Noir
A cheap Pinot from California, but it was all about sweet, confected fruit. Smelled a lot like Mr Sheen furniture polish! The palate was biter, with little fruit, burnt jam and yet very astringent. This could be the worst wine I have tried recently, though I have been informed that it doesn’t taste that bad normally. So how bad does it normally taste? 3/10

2007 Napa Cellars Chardonnay
So much wood coming off this my nose has splinters. Pineapple struggles to get through, but sweet vanilla, toast and butter just yells “go away fruit, this is an oak fest and you are not invited to the party”. This is a flabby, pathetic attempt at a wine and the only reason it doesn’t score lower is that I concede that some oak fiends may like this. 4/10

2006 Napa Cellars Merlot
It is a bad day when the best wine you try is overpriced rubbish, but with this Merlot it was. There is a massive sweet fruit, cheap, nondescript fruit jam from a supermarket. Then coconut and a bit of mint comes off the nose. The palate has more of the mint, but very confected, and then the finish is so long and so unpleasant that you start wondering if chopping your tongue out will make the unpleasantness end. 4.5/10

I hope things get better!

By Peter Wood with No comments

Ardbeg Independence Day

It was American independence day on Saturday, and as we know, the Americans like more. More of everything. You ask for bacon and eggs in an American diner, you get a stack of pancakes with half a pig and a barn full of eggs. You ask for a large Coke, you get a bucket of the stuff. Small cars don’t exist, and a family runabout is the size of a small articulated truck, their version of rugby is “Rugby +”, where the players have more size and more padding than Jordan.

And as has been proven time and time again, more isn’t necessarily better. And Ardbeg has proven this with their latest offering, the Supernova. Ardbeg’s peatiest ever whisky, with over 100 parts per million, is all about MORE! More peat, more alcohol…. more more more more more. And like an American burger which really doesn’t need chilli, bacon and cheese, Ardbeg has seriously destroyed a good whisky!

What I have always loved about Ardbeg is that it has always been simple and complex at the same time. There were many layers to the malt, but it delivered them so simply that it was a joy to drink. Thankfully this continues with their excellent ten year old, but the Supernova is just obscene.

I immediately got Arbroath Smokies on the nose, with a fresh air of seaside air, some pear and elastoplast. All was going well thought I, until my nose started hurting from the alcoholic fumes coming off. Then it was all peat, smoke and it was getting quite unpleasant on the nose. The palate was very hot. Lots of burnt toast, some Coal Tar soap and then some sweetness comes in, but it is all firey and smoky after that, with the taste of burnt matches. The whisky evaporates very quickly, leaving a burning sensation in your mouth. More peat, and no depth, a contrast to interesting, cheaper,and better, ten year old.

Simply, this isn’t Ardbeg, and try as they might to jazz it up with more glitz and glamour on the bottle, the whisky may be about more peat and more phenols, but I like it far, far less than the standard ten. I don’t want an American single malt, I don’t want an US burger and I certainly don’t want an SUV to drive to see the Miami Dolphins. Give me Ardbeg ten, a plain burger with maybe a little cheese and I'll clamber into a mini to see British Lions!

By Peter Wood with No comments

Glenglassaugh and belly buttons

If you are a banker and have managed to hold onto your millions during the credit crunch, but want to join your friends, who were formally minted, in poverty, I can suggest two ways to lose your money. The first plan I have is to blow all your money in Stringfellows, spraying Cristal and drinking Hennessy Paradis from the navel of one of the dancing girls. The second is that you open a whisky distillery and sink all your money into that. To make it “commercially viable” you’ll have to put in a hundred grand a year in casks, plus wages, rates, power, raw materials and a hundred and one other things, and keep doing that for at least ten years before you see any return. You will lose your money so fast you will be begging on the streets within a year.

And it is this length of investment which has caused various companies to release new make spirits onto the market over the past year. Companies or individuals who have sank every penny they have into making a whisky, and they are now realising that the bills don’t pay themselves and they are needing to get some income and cannot wait for their spirit to become a fully mature whisky.

And today I tried the products from the latest distillery to be resurrected from the dead, Glenglassaugh. Owned by Highland Distillers, this distillery was closed in 1986, but reopened last year under new Dutch ownership. The distillery has just released three whiskies, a 21, 30 and 40 year old, comprising of old stock bought from Highland Distillers, and have also released new spirit, distilled since the company’s rebirth.

The Glenglassaugh 21 year old, bottled at 46% abv, costs £150 and is a release of 8700 bottles. This price, I’m afraid to say, is a bit much. It is a nice whisky, lots of pineapple aromas, a touch of petroleum jelly on the nose, some almonds and raisins too. The palate is ripe, sweet fruit, some spice zipping around your mouth and lots of nuts. It a nice whisky, but just a bit pricy – it should be £50 less. 7.5/10

But what interested me was the new spirit. Named “The Spirit Drink”, it is around £30 per bottle and is bottled at 50% abv. It was really tasty! Pear drops, vanilla cream, lots of toffee, herbs and marshmallows on the nose, and then on the palate, white pepper, tinned pineapple and a delightful texture. More spice and some more fruit on the finish. This is a bit of a revelation. I was expecting something akin to moonshine, but this is a very tasty and drinkable spirit. I’m a little dubious about the suggestion that you maybe mix it, thirty quid for a 50cl bottle is a bit much to pay for something you would mix cranberry juice with, but as a sipping spirit, like a good vodka, this is a very pleasant drink. 8/10

I hope Glenglassaugh is a success, we need more privately owned distilleries producing whisky, but I fear it is going to be a bit of an uphill struggle for them. Unlike distilleries like Bruichladdich, who bought a wealth of old and young stock with the distillery, Glenglassaugh only has older stock, which means higher prices and no entry level products to get people interested. The Spirit Drink is a nice drink, but their real money is going to be made in Single malt whisky, not new spirit. With their range of older whiskies starting at £150, and the only people who will buy such whiskies are collectors and tourists, which is a limited market. Lets hope the bankers start making bonuses again, because then they could buy 21 (£150), 30 (£400) or 40 year old (£1500) Glenglassaugh to drink from a stripper’s belly button!

Glenglassaugh Website

By Peter Wood with No comments