#388 When the magic has gone

I watched the Hungarian Grand Prix today.  It rained just before the beginning of the race, and then stopped, which is actually worse for the drivers than if it was tipping it down, as there is no consistent weather.  If it is dry, they bolt on a set of dry tyres, if it is really raining, on goes a set of rain tyres, but in the intermediate condition, they have a type of tyre called... intermediates, and these are tricky to drive on.  It is in these conditions that the true great drivers perform well.  Jenson Button is good at driving in these changeable conditions, so was Ayrton Senna, but one driver beats the lot.  Michael Schumacher.

Schumacher was known as the "Rainmeister" such was his talent, but today, he ended up spinning out of the race.  Certainly, his Mercedes Car is about as much use in a Formula 1 race as a VW campervan, but even factoring this in, Schumacher of old wasn't to be seen.  He was hounded by his protege, Felipe Massa, beaten by his team mate, Nico Rosberg, and was overtaken by Mark Webber - a man who used to learn about driving around circuits in his early days by watching Schumacher's Ferrari lap him.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm not going to criticise Schumacher.  The man has won 7 World Championships, 91 races and holds every record in the book.  He doesn't need to race in F1, he does it because he loves doing it.  He, is constantly in the top ten at the start and finish of every race, beating people who were in prams when he started racing in Formula One.  But still, the star has waned and he simply isn't as good as he was a handful of years ago.

I tried two bottles of Vin Santo, and they reminded me of two versions of the German driver - the ageing Schumacher of this year and the driver we saw in a Ferrari in 2006.  The first, a 1990 Villa di Vetrice Vin Santo del Chianti Rufina showed some lovely prune aromas with sweet caramel, bonfire toffee and a lot of dried orange peel.  A little aged but still with glimmers of stardom.  There is a sweet spice coming through on the nose with a lovely bright, reduced orange juice aroma.  Very concentrated and with some deep sweet, unctuous aromas.  The palate is dry, spicy and with a salty element coming off.  It has a complex start - many layers of dried fruit, honeycomb and beeswax, and then it dries up to a rather simple, unbalanced finish.  It is nice, and the dried fruit and salty, leathery flavours continue for a long time on the finish, but there isn't the cleanliness from the acid.  It lingers a bit, and gets spicy at the end.  It is a tasty wine, but it is just a few years past its best.  You can see that it was good once, but is now simply holding on, outperforming some younger stars, but is no longer at the height of its game.  85pts

The next wine, a 1992 Carpineto Farnito Vin Santo del Chianti, and is as good as it will ever get.  I tried this wine for the first time in 2008 at VinItaly, and it was wonderful, but with a firey temper (like a young Schumacher). The three years between then and now, it has softened into a stunning wine.  Soft fleshy fruits like peach, with dried apricots and a little bit of caramel coming through.  There is some more dried peel with some floral notes and just a touch of marmalade coming through.  The palate has an initial sweetness, followed by delightful dried fruit flavours, lots of dry honey with gentle spice and a lot of floral notes.  Superb balance, very clean on the finish with a peach cobbler flavour throughout.  95pts

Like Schumacher in his last year at Ferrari, the Farnito is as good as it will ever get.  I don't want to try this wine again as I don't want to ruin my memory of it.  But when you are passionate about something, like Schumacher is about driving and I am about wine, you can't help going back to a thing you love.  I know, like Schumacher's return to F1 with Mercedes Benz, that when I can't resist the pull of this wine, I'm going to go back to it, taste it, and the greatness will have gone.

By Peter Wood with No comments

#387 Beige and boring need not be either

If you go into any wine shop and want a bottle of Sancerre, you will be guided to the shelves for wines from the Loire.  If you look past the Pouilly Fume's and the Sancerres towards the bottom shelves, you will see a selection of dust covered fluted type bottles with dull, beige labels that are possibly the least inspiring to look at wines in the shop.

They are Muscadets, made from the Melon de Bourgogne grape and grown near the city of Nantes.  The problem with Melon de Bourgogne is that is it bland, and to make an interesting wine, nature doesn't give you much help, so it is down to the winemaker.  As a result, the wines are kept in contact with their dead yeast cells (called lees) in a process that was discovered by accident.  Muscadet producers would put aside a barrel of wine for family occasions, such as a wedding.  This wine would develop a fuller flavour and softer texture, and the rules for how long the wine had to stay in contact with the lees were decided in 1994.

These wines go very well with seafood.  They have no residual sugar, and are very dry, and reach their best point up to three years from vintage.  I tried three wines, from three different producers and three different years - but they were all (roughly) the same price.

2007 Chateau de Chasseloir Muscadet Sevre et Maine Sur Lie
A bit of brie on the nose, the cheese rind with some slightly oxidised aromas to it.  The palate is acidic, a lot more linear with some lemon and lemon pips coming off the palate.  The finish is quite aggressive with some very zingy notes and lemons that aren't that nice.  You feel a little stripped and beaten up by this wine.  82pts

2008 Domaine Michel David Muscadet Sevre et Main Sur Lie Clos du Ferre
A bright lemon, with a slight nudge of honey, and then a wet sandstone like aroma, and a clean milky aroma.  The palate is bright, minerally with some soft citrus pith, a lovely soft palate with bright grapefruit and a crisp, acidic element to it.  The finish is all about pencil lead and citrus pith.  89pts

2009 Christophe Drouard Selection des Hauts Pemions Muscadet Sevre et Main Sur Lie
A lemon milkshake!  Bright with white pepper, lemon and just a touch of that fresh milk aroma.  The palate is crisp, with a touch of pepper and tart citrus, but with a yeast note coming through to calm it down.  It develops a lemon prominence and then changes to a slightly bitter and dry finish.  Great acidic balance and simply, a stunning wine.  90pts

They may have the dated, dull appearance of John Major in a tan coloured Austin Maestro, but these wines can be bright, youthful and very tasty.

By Peter Wood with No comments

#386 Crap of the Week... iWine Simulator App

Someone has spent, at the very least, a few hours of their life building an iPhone app that simulates a wine glass.  I have no idea why, but this bedroom hermit has produced a very amateur app, that really doesn't do anything except waste your time on the one occasion you use it, just to see what it does.  You certainly won't use this app a second time because you feel ripped off, even though the app is free.

If you tilt the phone, the wine in the glass tilts "just like in a real wine glass". It also makes the sound of a glass humming when you run your finger on the rim of the glass, and if you tilt the phone far enough the wine empties out "as if you were drinking it"

Except that you are not drinking it...

...you are looking at an image on a phone...


...that someone has programmed and given away for free.

That person needs to get out more.

Get iWine Simulator

By Peter Wood with No comments

#385 The judge said it was sh**

The European Court has ruled that a Hungarian journalist, who said that a wine made by a state owned winery was less than pleasant, is not guilty of defamation, and has overturned a conviction made by the Budapest district court.

Péter Uj said that the wine ‘had been enough to make me cry: sour, blunt and over-oxidised stuff, bad-quality ingredients collected from all kinds of leftovers, grey mould plus a bit of sugar from Szerencs, musty barrel – but because we are still there ... hundreds of thousands of Hungarians drink [this] shit with pride.’, but the court ruled that the satirical article was not defamatory to the company.

To celebrate this victory for freedom of opinion, here are a few of the wines I have found to be less than average recently.  Some of these wines are mass produced, some of them are small scale production.  Some are from supermarkets and others from smaller importers in the UK, and some from well known wine producing nations, and others from the more obscure.

But, like the former Soviet state's Olympic Teams that will be descending on London next year, these wines have put aside their differences and have united to show the world how terrible they actually are.

2010 Tesco Finest Ken Forrester Chenin Blanc
If this is the finest thing Tesco can come up with, I hate to think what their 'value' range is... A little bit of pineapple, some sweeter citrus notes, but with some alcohol coming off.  The palate is disgusting.  It is full of confected fruit, too much alcohol, some lees coming from somewhere and then tons of acid.  Fake pineapple on the back end. 60pts

2009 Jacob's Creek Chardonnay
The wine that spandex wearing thirty something girls from Bolton down a bottle of before they go out clubbing.  The palate had Mango, papaya and lots of oak going on.  There is cigar box with some butter coming off.  A bit fat at first, with the oak dominating, and then you get some very bitter, yet sweet oak coming off.  White pepper too comes off and there is a return on the palate of awful underripe pineapple and cream.  72pts

2010 Errazuriz Merlot
Imagine a sexual tryst between Bertie Basset and Morph in a bath of Cherry Coke.  That is the unpleasant aroma that comes off this wine.  Pretty unpleasant.  The palate is just dull as hell. Cherry comes through, and then some woody liquorice.  Then there is cream, too much tannin and too much acid.  This is a poor wine that tastes filthy. 71pts

2010 Cielo Bardolino
From an Italian company that produces a decent cheap Prosecco, this was sweet and bubblegummy, with light hints of strawberry.  The palate is simple, some Beaujolais like fruit - cherry and strawberry - but very watered down.  A bit of banana skin too, but this is pretty poor.  75pts

2010 Cielo Soave
Boring!  It is slightly grapefruity, slightly minerally, just dull as hell.  There is nothing good or bad about it.  75pts

2010 Cielo Pinot Grigio
Another boring nose... a bit of alcohol comes off on the nose as does pork fat.  The palate too is pretty dull, but a little bit worse than the first one.  74pts

2008 Mac Forbes Yarra Valley Pinot Noir
Very nice light dried fruit aromas - raspberry and cranberry - with just a touch of Tropicana.  The palate is ok when it comes to the flavours, there is a little tart raspberry but there is far too much acid and it is an unbalanced mess.  79pts

2010 Paul Mas Vermentino
Bright peaches, a little lemonade coming through with a little floral element.  Having said that, there is an alcoholic note coming off the nose that is mixed with a little bit of soap.  The palate is quite alcoholic, with lots of pear and grapefruit seeds.  There is some white pepper too that I don't like with a lot of salt.  Pass.  78pts

2009 Jean Marc Burgaud Chateau de Thulon Beaujolais Villages
A bit poopy, but very closed on the nose.  A touch of violet coming through, but pretty simple.  The palate is sweet, with some dried fruit coming off.  Unbalanced, some acid hits half way through and then there is a stripped out, yet still sweet and claggy feeling in your mouth.  Awful. 68pts

2009 Frederic Mabileau St Nicolas de Bourgueil
Green peppers, lots of green peppers and some overly polished wood.  There is also a burnt meat aroma to it that is a little off putting.  The palate is too sweet, there is a bubblegummy flavour to it too that battles with the vegetal flavours that come through. This has to be supermarket Claret!  Very tannic on the finish with a spritzy far too much acid note.  65pts

2008 Marof Zeleni Silvanec Silvaner
I should give this Slovenian wine a chance, but it is so bad, it doesn't deserve one.  Some mineral and white pepper up front, The palate is a bit spritzy at first but then calms down, the fruit is ok, some simple lemon and steely pith.  Too much acid and an unpleasant finish.  73pts

2010 Jean-Christophe Mandard Touraine Sauvingon
A grassy aroma, some veggie notes and a citrus coming through.  This has a definite Sauvignon bent to it but there is some rounder fruit.  The palate too has a green apple and grass element, but with a fuller mid palate that could hint towards some Semillon.  It is again, too acidic, and a touch confected.  77pts

2010 Montana Brancott Estate Sauvignon Blanc
Big producer, trying to be posh with a fancy bottle, and failing to put any quality in the blasted thing.  Grassy, lots of pepper and lime with some gooseberries covered in cream on the nose.  The palate is green, some elderflower comes through, but it is cordial like rather than fresh.  It is quite aggressive on the finish, and leaves you with a pithy flavour that isn't great.  Having said that, it is passable as a cheap Sauvignon Blanc.  79pts

2009 Domaine Felines Jourdan Roussanne Chardonnay
How can a producer who makes such a brilliant Picpoul de Pinet, make such a bad wine? Soft fruit, grapefruit pith and some steely elements to it, that is it really.  The palate is actually pretty bad.  There isn't any redeeming features about this wine except that the flavour goes pretty quickly.  Too much acid, imbalance and sweetness all bundled up into one.  71pts.

By Peter Wood with No comments

#384 News of the World

Due to the phone hacking scandal that is taking up every column inch and every second of every news channel's air time, I though that I should bring you a few stories that you may have missed due to the massive NewsCorp advertising show that is supposed to be the News

It was in the news yesterday that Nepal is re-measuring Mount Everest, to end the 'confusion' over its height.  Apparently, China and Nepal can't agree on how high the worlds tallest peak is, so there is going to be a two year survey to determine the answer.  Is this the ultimate example of "mine is bigger than yours"?

The body of Hitler's deputy, Rudolf Hess, has been dug up, cremated and scattered in an undisclosed place, to prevent his grave being a shrine for Neo-Nazis.  Hess was captured after flying to Britain in 1941, and escaped the death penalty, but was given life imprisonment.  He killed himself in 1987, aged 93 and was buried in Germany for 24 years until they dug him up today.

Royal News - Whilst the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have been watching crappy movies in Wales, Prince Andrew has quit his job as UK trade envoy after he has been surrounded by controversies involving his dodgy pals and his ex-wife.

And finally, Russia has finally declared beer an alcoholic beverage.  Soon to be outgoing President Dmitry Medvedev has signed a law that beers under 10% alcohol are no longer considered a foodstuff, and are now an alcoholic drink, and therefore has to be controlled in the same way that spirits are.  At the moment, beer is drunk by many as a soft drink, or as a healthier alternative to the nation's favourite, vodka, but from 2013, it will have to be sold from licensed premises and no longer able to be sold around the clock.  All of a sudden, Russians will understand what is funny about Homer Simpson being obsessed with Duff Beer as they will realise beer is booze and not like a sandwich.  And that means that Murdoch can sell The Simpsons to Moscow...

By Peter Wood with 1 comment

#383 Can Tesco do better with more money?

So the last time that I did a blind review of a supermarket, it was Tesco and their cheap wines were horrific.  They scored so badly that Lidl even beat them, so I thought that I might as well give the biggest supermarket chain in the UK a shot at recovering from my damning review.  So with an increase in budget, I tried six randomly selected wines (by someone else) from Tesco.  I tried them blind and with some other wines so i didn't know which wines were from the supermarket.  Here is what I found out.

2010 Tesco Finest Ken Forrester Chenin Blanc £7.59 (South Africa)
A little bit of pineapple, some sweeter citrus notes, but with some alcohol coming off.  The palate is disgusting.  It is full of confected fruit, too much alcohol, some lees coming from somewhere and then tons of acid.  Fake pineapple on the back end... 60pts

2010 Montana Brancott Estate Sauvignon Blanc £8.82 (New Zealand)
Grassy, lots of pepper and lime with some gooseberries covered in cream on the nose.  The palate is green, some elderflower comes through, but it is cordial like rather than fresh.  It is quite aggressive on the finish, and leaves you with a pithy flavour that isn't great.  Having said that, it is passable as a cheap Sauvignon Blanc.  79pts

2009 Jacob's Creek Chardonnay £7.11 (Australia)
Mango, papaya and lots of oak.  There is cigar box with some butter coming off.  A bit fat at first, with the oak dominating, and then you get some very bitter, yet sweet oak coming off.  White pepper too comes off and there is a return on the palate of awful underripe pineapple and cream.  72pts

2008 Tesco Finest Chateau Haut Langlade £9.30 (Bordeaux)
Big, gutsy dried fruit, a bit of sweet wood and pipe tobacco.  The palate has pipe tobacco and then some intense, rich, dark berries.  Cherry, a little bit of prune too with some big oakier characters.  Dried plums on the finish with some dark toffee, lots of herbal flavours, dried raisins too.  Not bad.  87pts

2008 Jacobs Creek Shiraz £7.11 (Australia)
Some slightly chemically fruit aromas, that clear up to give cherries and some plum jam aromas.  The palate is soft, some bramble comes through with just the slightest hint of rosemary wood.  There is a strange imbalance half way through the palate that seems to go between sophistication and tarty.  The finish has a dried fruit flavour, but then tart raspberry comes in and spoils it all.  80pts

2010 Errazuriz Merlot £8.35 (Chile)
Quite closed with plasticine.  Actually pretty unpleasant.  The palate is just dull as hell. Cherry comes through, and then some woody liquorice.  Then there is cream, too much tannin and too much acid.  This is a poor wine that tastes of pretty much nothing.  71pts

The Bordeaux was good, no disputing that, and it is a wine that I would suggest you look for when you are buying your Tesco Finest Roast Beef dinner.  The Jacob's Creek Shiraz tasted like what it was, a cheaper Aussie Shiraz and that is fine, but the rest of the wines were pretty shocking.  But what really amazed me was the prices Tesco was charging.  £8.35 for a bottle of Errazuriz Merlot!  Their website actually quotes Jane MacQuitty who says that this "creosote-stashed merlot is a cut above the rest of its £5 Chilean ilk." - so where does Tesco think they can charge over eight quid for it?  Oh thats right, they 'discount' wines to their real price!

It seems that Tesco can select good wines, as I was really impressed with the Bordeaux, but the majority are overpriced rubbish.

By Peter Wood with No comments

#382 Six Questions with... Cristian Specogna

I have met Cristian Specogna on a couple of occasions and the main word anyone would use to describe him is passionate.  Not only does he love wine, but he is passionate about food, his company, his country, his family, his friends... you would go a long way until you found a man so enthusiastic about life.  His family's Friulian vineyards produce lovely wines, and I have reviewed them recently, but here we learn a little more about the person behind the wine.  I asked Cristian six questions...

If you were not in the wine trade, is there any job you would like to do?
Definitely a chef!! I was brought up admiring and tasting the marvels that my grandmother and my mother created in the kitchen…. With a ‘hunger’ for discovery, I would join them in our fields to harvest fruit and vegetables. For me, this was a real adventure. It was tradition for me help while they prepared the meals for the festivities, or at least I thought I was helping!I loved trying everything, and I still do!

What is your first memory of drinking wine?
It was on a hot September afternoon when I was about 8 year’s old. My friends and I had heard from our parents that the grapes that year had given a juice sweeter than ever before. Secretly, we went to a place which was then still unfamiliar to us, the cellar. We knew the juice was kept there... and we found it! It was delightfully sparkling by then (the must had already started fermenting)!  We were in seventh heaven, and so happy. We still laugh about it now when we retell the story.

Do you have any hidden talents?
Certainly... one of them is the ability to keep them secret!

Describe yourself in three words.
Optimistic, resourceful and ambitious.

Aside from Italian wines, what are your favourite wines from other countries and regions?
That would have to be wines from Champagne, Burgundy and from the Mosel… wine poetry!

Name three people, real or fictional, living or dead, that would be guests at your dream dinner party, and what would you be drinking?
Noah, Dom Perignon and my Grandfather, for each of them started the story of my greatest passions. The first two (at least unofficially) saw the birth of wine and Champagne bubbles, while my Grandfather (officially) brought the Specogna winery to life. I would like to raise a toast to them, with the wine which encapsulates me and my love for this wonderful trade… my most important creation to date: Sauvignon ‘Duality’ 2006… It would be ‘di...VINE’!

Specogna Website

By Peter Wood with 1 comment

#381 Blind tasting Dolcetto - twice

Every so often, some bugger thinks it is funny and tricks someone doing a blind tasting by giving them the same wine twice.  Usually, I am that bugger, but today it happened to me.  I'm not going to hide the fact that I didn't spot it, but I will say that I had just finished a cup of tea when I tried the first wine, and I think my palate had become accustomed a bit to trying wines when I tried it again.  I know it is a feeble excuse but it is the only one I have, and if sportsmen can have excuses I reckon I can too!

Wine #1 (2009 Ascheri Dolcetto d'Alba Nirane)
Bright with a raspberry and bramble aroma coming off the nose.  There is a crisp fruit and just the slightest hint of cream.  The palate has red apple skin, a little spice up front and then some crisp cherry, a bit of alcohol on the mid palate and spice on the finish.  It is a bit bitter on the finish with dried spice.  OK. 85pts

Wine #2 (2009 Cigliuti Dolcetto d'Alba Serraboella)
A little bit of fat on the nose, darker fruit and a little bit of baked pie filling.  The palate is more savoury, but with a sweet jam up front, and again with a mid palate hit of alcohol.  A slight violet flavour, and then lots of tannin on the finish with bundles of bitter flavours.  Some apple skin and seed too.  Similarly ok, but that tannin is too much.  84pts

Wine #3 (2009 Ascheri Dolcetto d'Alba Nirane - again!)
Floral, with some sweeter raspberries on the nose.  There is a touch of apple and then some sour cherry coming off.  The palate has a sweetness up front, well balanced and with some leathery notes.  There is a nice spice and a spike of alcohol, a simplicity too with softer tannins and a lovely herbal spice throughout the finish.  Kinda reminds me of Dr Pepper! 89pts

Wine #4 (2010 DG.D. Vajra Dolcetto d'Alba)
Watermelon - lots and lots of watermelon, both the red flesh and the green skin.  The palate is full, lots of richer, dried fruit with bundles of cherry, more melon and a little spice coming off.  There is a really nice bitter note to this wine with some fresh raspberries mixed with stewed cherries.  A strange wine, quite dry, tannic yet very clean and with a long lasting finish.  87pts

Wine #5 (2007 Roberto Voerzio Dolcetto d'Alba Priavino)
A lot of burnt meat and power coming off the wine.  This really isn't Dolcetto, is is some attempt at a big, powerful wine.  The palate is alcoholic, leathery, tannic and dark - far too much power for a wine that is supposed to be an early drinker.  It is very bitter on the finish too. 83pts

I was disappointed by the Voerzio, which, after being opened overnight, did mellow down and become more approachable, but I was imporessed by a couple the other wines.  The Vajra was strange with its overly watermelon aroma and the Ascheri, on second tasting, was lovely - even if on first tasting it was a bit austere.  I am pleased that my tasting note was, roughly, the same for both wines, it just tasted better on the second go.  Anyway, now I'm going to go and hang my head in shame... 

By Peter Wood with No comments

#380 When is an Italian not an Italian...

In my view, and it is only my view (although shared by a lot of people), a wine should taste of the place it comes from.  It should reflect the land, the nation's grapes, the people who make the wine, maybe even the people who drink the wine.  The problem is that there are commercial realities to face.  Take, for example, cheap wine.  There is no way that a producer from an old world country can produce a wine that would sell for £4 that expresses a sense of place, they are lucky if they can get it tasting of the grape variety it is supposed to be made from.  Similarly, if you are a younger wine producing nation, like New Zealand or America, you will have picked vines that were commercially desired on the international market, and plonked down the vines anywhere they could, resulting in a wine that may taste of the country and grape, but not the region it comes from.

But if you are making a quality wine, and have been doing so for centuries, why would you rip your vines up and plant international varieties?  Well the Italians did, when they realised that the world wanted French varietals and they were producing wines from native grapes.  In Tuscany, old Sangiovese wines were replaced with Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah, but some producers have both native varieties and the imported ones.

One such company is Argiano, and they have two wines, at a similar price so I thought I would try them both and see if their international variety wine, Non Confunditur, actually tasted Italian, and to make sure that their house style wasn't 'international', I tried their Rosso di Montalcino too.

Firstly, the 2008 Argiano Rosso di Montalcino.  This is 100% Sangiovese wine has aromas of bright raspberry and a little bit of strawberry coming through.  There is an earthy element as well that is framed by herbs.  The palate is bright and fresh with some very nice spice, strawberry and a lovely mint element coming through too.  A crunchy apple and under ripe raspberry coming off with some violets and tomato plant on the finish.  A lovely bright wine that tastes like Italian wine should - peasanty - and you can just imagine sitting down with a bowl of pasta covered in tomato sauce. 89pts

Moving onto the 'non' Italian wine, the 2008 Argiano Non Confunditur it was immediately noticeable as grapes that came from a different homeland.  There was the dark berries of the 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, with a lot of green pepper and polish.  Then the sweeter fruit of the Merlot (20%) comes through and a baked berry mixed with spice from the Syrah (20%).  The thing is, the twenty percent Sangiovese is nowhere.  You get rich fruit, dark liquorice and black pepper on the finish, all mixed with a bit of dried fruit. (86pts)

Don't get me wrong, the Non Confunditur is a nice wine, a sort of Franco-American style, but doesn't taste of Italy and it really doesn't taste of Tuscany.

By Peter Wood with No comments

Phil's Food World - a new venture for The Tasting Note

I've started working with Fife based chef, Phil Cook's blog entitled "Phil's Food World" (http://philsfoodworld.blogspot.com/), where I will be suggesting wines for his delicious recipes.

First up a pair of wines for a Sweet Potato and Chorizo soup and Sea Bream with Asparagus, broad beans and a chilli dressing, and I've gone distinctly old world with my choices....

By Peter Wood with No comments

#379 Blind Rhone (and Rhone-esque)

Three Cotes du Rhone wines from 2009 and a Rhone-Ranger from California that was a year older.  All in the same £10-£15 price point, and all blind.  This is what I found out.

Wine 1
Light cherries, a bit of spice coming off and a lovely bright fruit aroma.  There is a little raspberry followed by some menthol and leather and mint.  A little Ribena comes off as well.  The palate is nicely full, some spice on the front with a black pepper meets rosemary, tar and tobacco.  There is a woody element coming through, some very dark pepper - cumin too.  I like this. 89pts

Wine 2
Quite closed, a muted cassis and sour cherries with some up front menthol aromas and a bit of raw beef.  The palate is quite savoury, lots of dark pepper, vegetal flavours and a bundle of alcohol coming off the nose.  Very big, lots of acid cleaning out your mouth.  A spice too goes on in the finish.  Very old worldy, but just very savoury and dark with little complexity.  84pts

Wine 3
Very sweet aromal, lots of very bright cherries and a lot, lot, lot of raspberry.  There is a menthol aroma too, but it is very confected.  The palate too is sweet, nice though, with good juicy raspberry & cherry and then some rather tasty leather, dried fruit and a bit of imbalance on the finish, but not overly so.  It is just juicy.  86pts

Wine 4
Very stinky, a bit of poop and then some cherry stalks, a tiny amount of white chocolate and then some meaty elements.  A very gutsy palate, nice vegetal elements and then a bundle of spice comes through.  There is an alcohol spike, followed by lots of liquorice, aniseed ball coating galore, and a dry, savoury finish with some cherry stones too.  It is a really tasty wine, and proper a proper Rhone wine. 90pts

Wine 1 - 2009 Domaine la Boutiniere Cotes du Rhone Le Fabuleaux destin d'Amelie Boutin £13.49, Southern Rhone.  My first time trying this producer, and I'm impressed.
Wine 2 - 2009 Jean Louis Chave Selection Cotes du Rhone Mon Coeur £13.50, Northern Rhone.  The 2008 was a good vintage of this wine, maybe this is just too closed at the moment.
Wine 3 - 2008 Morgan Cotes du Crow's Syrah, Grenache £15.00, California.  A good wine, very Californian in style, but a good introduction wine to Rhone varietals, albeit from the USA.
Wine 4 - 2009 Rhone by Roger Sabon Cotes du Rhone £13.50, Southern Rhone.  A favourite of mine, and this new vintage continues the trend of outstanding wines from Roger Sabon.

By Peter Wood with No comments

#378 Aloha Beer! Maui Brewing Co

 

I know sod all about beer.  I admit to that all the time, and the reason that I know very little is because I'm not very interested in it.  I know that this is a crime to many a beer fan out there, but it just doesn't float my boat.  I'm happy with a pint of Guinness, in the same way that a beer fan is happy with a £4.50 bottle of wine from Sainsbury's.  

But occasionally a beer crosses my path and I think "I have to try that".  Not because I know it to be something special, that would require me to do some research on beer and that is never going to happen, but because it is quirky.  It is something different and outside of the norm of yet another artisan Scottish/English/American brewer making a high alcohol, overly hopped beer.  And today, four cans of beer came across my path and were different enough that I had to try them.  

Founded in 2005 in Hawaii, the Maui Brewing Co. makes beer from local ingredients.  They are also sustainable, choosing to have their beer in 355ml cans as they believe they are easier to recycle, are lighter, easier to chill and package and eliminate the possibility of light damage.  Plus, they look really colourful and stand out on the shelf which gives this small Hawaiian brewery major brand presence. 

But what are the beers like? Here is what I found out.

Maui Brewing Co Bikini Blonde Lager 4.5%vol £3.00

A lovely bright, clean aroma, some hoppy notes but a lot of creamy, malty aromas.  There is a sweetness coming off that is quite attractive too and a little bit of chocolate.  The palate is creamy, light with some soft bitter notes.  It has a thick texture, but is very clean and leaves you with a nice bitter flavour in your mouth - a bit like licking a stick that has been smeared with a little bit of Mars bar minus the chocolate.  I like it.  87pts

Maui Brewing Co Mana Wheat Beer 5.5%vol £3.20
This is brewed with pineapple juice, and that is the first thing you get from the beer.  A sweet, almost canned pineapple aroma mixed with some rich, dried fruit aromas and a touch of bitter, dried meat.  The palate too has a bit of pineapple, but it is more of the pithy, pineapple skin rather than the sweeter, flesh that you get on the nose.  There is a bit of very ripe banana coming off on the back end with some caramel flavours too, and then some cereal.  It is nice, but not as well balanced as the lager.  85pts

Maui Brewing Co Big Swell IPA 6.2%vol £3.40
Billed as being hoppy, and that is what you get from the nose.  Lots of bitter hops, but with some sweet, caramel and toffee aromas with just a bit of dog biscuit thrown in for good measure.  A bit of herbs too.  The palate is hoppy, lots of herbal, dry, flavours.  A bit of charcoal and then some bitter, lemon pith flavours coming through.  The bitter flavours linger for a while, but then disappear gently leaving you with a flavour not unlike sucking on the end of a pencil.  It is a bit porno, but nice.  86pts

Maui Brewing Co Coconut Porter 5.7%vol £3.70
Brewed with "hand toasted coconut", but I'm missing the coconut on the nose.  I don't know if I was expecting something like Malibu in Guinness, but there isn't any evidence of the coconut.  There is a lovely dark liquorice and treacle aroma, with some dark, Parkin like aromas (a cake made of oatmeal and molasses).  The palate is soft, with dark bitter liquorice elements.  Some dried treacle and a bit of burnt toast coming off as well.  A baked tomato comes through on the back end.  Good and my favourite of the lot. 90pts

These beers are all good, well made beers, and after thinking that they were a bit expensive once they are over in the UK, I realised that they do offer something different, another brewery to add to your list of experiences if you are a beer enthusiast, and they are nice beers that I would try again.  

Maui Brewing Co.

By Peter Wood with 1 comment

#377 Pulling pork and Amarone

On my recent trip to Italy, I visited Allegrini and was very kindly given a cook book that Allegrini had printed to celebrate the anniversary of their Amarone's production.  It highlights ten recipes designed by some of the world's top chefs that are supposed to go perfectly with their Amarone.  One of the dishes is a pulled pork sandwich, and when presented with a bowl of this, there was only one wine I wanted to try with it.  I tried two vintages, the 2001 and 2006 vintages, and tasted them first, before trying them with the pork.

On their own, the 2001 Allegrini Amarone, despite its decade age, is still quite closed on the nose.  It has some sour cherry, a bit of fresh blackberry coming through and then a bit of spice, but still so closed.  The palate is dry, bitter with lots of dark leathery spice coming through.  Then you get the dried fruit and a lot of liquorice, leather and some menthol elements.  It is quite an aggressive bottle, not drinking well at all.  80pts

It couldn't be a biggest contrast with the 2006 Allegrini Amarone.  Very bright fruit, an abundance of prunes and cherries mixed with a little bit of spiced berry compote.  Then you get the very rich, ripe dark raisins, a bit of mint and a herbal meaty element as well.  It smells delightful.  The palate is dark, with a mouth filling power and some really lovely leathery elements.  There is a black peppery spice, some chocolate and some mint with a raspy, gravelly flavour.  Really tasty and gutsy.  92pts

But then, when paired with the pulled pork, the two wines made a dramatic shift.  The 2006 vintage battled with the spicy, rich pork, competing to be the more powerful flavours. The pairing developed a tomatoey herbal flavour, almost like bolognese sauce, and the darker flavours of the wine became dominant and, if I'm honest, a bit unpleasant.  As a pairing, I'd score it 85pts at most. 

The 2001 however is perfect.  The lack of fruit on the wine is more than made up for by the sweetness and spicyness of the pork, the hotter flavours working with the dark, leathery elements and the menthol balancing out the spicy elements.  There isn't the battle with the food as there was with the younger wine.  It is a very good balance that is a delightful experience. 95pts

Just goes to show, you should never write an older wine off as in the right situation, they can be beautiful.

By Peter Wood with No comments

#376 When you want a tarty wine...

I like Meursault.  I love the fact that is generally the big, blousy, sometimes porno version of Burgundy, showing off its power and woody characters.  The region doesn't have any Grand Cru vineyards, but that doesn't mean it can't do great wines - they are just a bit more in your face than the more elegant wines from the region. 

And presented with two Meursaults today I found I had two wines so completely different they could have been from different regions, let alone different villages in Burgundy, and neither of them tasted like Meursault!  The first, a 2008 Meusault Le Limozin Michel Bouzereau et Fils had big sweet aromas, lots of canned fruit - peach and pineapple.  There is a very sweet with a little bacon fat coming off, and a little bit of oak that leaps out of your glass.  There is balance on the palate, but it is very weighty with some spice, a lot of ripe pineapple and mango pith.  There is a bit of alcohol coming out, and a very noticeable wood on the finish.  It is beyond the big and blousy Meursault style, seems to be just a bit too new worldy.  Having said that, I do like it. 85pts

The second wine was the 2007 Meursault Jean Philippe Fichet, that had lots of ginger, a bit of mango coming off with some really attractive pineapple and vanilla infused rice.   There is a subtle creamy note coming off as well.  The palate is well balanced, some lovely bright fruit and a little bit of cedar coming off the front.  Then there is a sweeter, fresh pineapple flavour, some bready elements and just a touch of white pepper.  Very clean, good acidity on the finish and a touch of melted butter on toast, and a very elegant wine. But again, it doesn't taste like Meursault, it is too refined and gentle!  It needs a bit more of the oak influence and, well, a bit more tarty elements! 90pts

By Peter Wood with No comments

#375 Fraser Gallop Estate

Maybe I'm getting cynical in my thirties, as I expected the two wines I tried from Fraser Gallop Estates to be the same old Aussie wines, lots of aggressive green on the Semillon Sauvignon and lots of oak and jam on the Cabernet Merlot.  Gladly, I was surprised by them.

Founded by Nigel Gallop, who returned from California to his homeland of Australia, looking for a place to plant some vineyards.  He found it in Wilyabrup in Margaret River, and started planting vines in 1999.  With his winemaking team of  Clive Otto and Kate Morgan, they have produced wines that are definitely Australian, but they show restraint and a drinkability, that you will also find in this winery's neighbours, that include Cullen.

I only tried two of their wines, their entry blends that are made from both estate and bought in fruit, but I will be looking for their other wines soon, and expect that with older vines, these wines could become some of the leading wines from Margaret River.

2010 Fraser Gallop Estate Semillon Sauvignon Blanc
Lots of green apples, peppers, a lot of that vegetal edge that you expect from Aussie Sem Sauvs. There is a minerally aroma coming off as well which is quite nice, but the alcohol does come through a touch.  The palate is actually quite muted, some soft veggies with a nice pepper meets under ripe apple.  There is a sherbet element to it, a touch high acid too, but it is not a bad drop.  88pts

2009 Fraser Gallop Estate Cabernet Merlot
Sweet, baked meat with black pudding dunked in a berry pie covered in cream.  The oak is always there, but not overly imposing.  It is a bit like the uninvited guest at a party who is nice enough that you don't ask them to leave, but not interesting enough that you want to talk to them.  There is a little bit of quince jelly on the nose too.  The palate is soft at first, and then gets gravelly (the back label's words but it does sum it up perfectly).  The fruit is there, nice and earthy but not jammy in the slightest.  The tannins could do with being a little more refined, but altogether a nice wine.  90pts

Fraser Gallop Estate

By Peter Wood with No comments

#374 Friuli Part 3, Vie di Romans

The Kings Speech is a movie (if you haven't seen it or read about it) about King George VI, a man who was never meant to be the king of Great Britain, taking on the role after his elder brother, Edward VIII abdicated to marry a divorcee.  George had not been groomed into the role as his brother had, and had an exceptionally bad stutter that was he managed to overcome by the help of an Australian speech therapist called Lionel Logue.  Essentially, Edward was the polished prepared heir, and George was the slightly battered but ultimately greater 'spare'.

Italy should be a bit scruffy and chaotic.  I don't say that to be derogatory about the nation, far from it, I like it.  Go to Venice for example.  This city is the destination for the rich and famous, it costs a small fortune to live there due to the fact that everything has to be hauled through the streets by hand or on the ridiculously expensive boats.  Yet the city itself is falling to bits.  The buildings have rotting shutters, the building's exterior plaster is falling off with chunks missing, the place is a bit grotty, yet it is a city that rich folk flock to.  Similarly in the countryside, I like the dirt tracks, the old Lamborghini tractors spluttering up the mountain roads with a dozen cars behind and faded Campari posters from the 1970s.  I want to see old shacks at the side of the road selling melons, flouting every EU health and safety law, I love that people drive battered old Fiats, and I want my vineyards a little bit scruffy.

Which got me off to a bad start at Vie di Romans.  Not only was the winery immaculate, but the vineyards were perfectly manicured.  The vines were of uniform height, as if someone had gone over them with a ruler, and I have never seen less gnarly vines in any vineyard, anywhere.  There were only two things that were remotely out of place and that was a cat wandering around the vineyards and someone driving an Alfa Romeo across a field.  Everything was almost Germanic in its uniformity.

But that doesn't mean anything except that the owner may be a stickler for detail,  the important thing was the wine.  But that too was a bit of a let down.  There is not a bad wine in their range, but they just lack the bit of soul that we found later at Specogna and Livio Felluga.  This place, and it's wines, reminded me of Edward VIII, he should be the king of his realm, and is groomed to be such, however there is a slightly scruffier, less polished, more human king sitting on the throne, doing a much better job than Edward could have ever done.

2009 Vie di Romans Piere Sauvignon Blanc
Bright and floral with subtle fresh summer flowers.  A little bit of lemon cake coming off the nose.  A little nectarine too with a touch of chalk.  Light, refreshing and then it fills with a bit of full on stone.  Then you get some dusty rock, a bit of peppery spice and then some quite agressive alcohol.  The finish is  clean pithy element and jut a bit of smoke. 86pts

2009 Vie di Romans Vieris Sauvignon Blanc
A fuller, more fruity aroma with brighter Tooty Frootie aromas. The palate has a dry, ripe pineapple element with some pithy, tropical fruit flavours. 85pts

2008 Vie di Romans Flors di Uis
A blend of Malvasia, Friulano and Riesling, this was bright and pretty with some lovely floral and pear aromas.  Some oriental spice, a little bit of jasmine.  Very nice palate, slightly limey with some really delightful spice notes.  There is a bit of grapefruit pith, a little zingy, zesty fruit and then some peach stone elements on the finish.  Very tasty. 89pts

2009 Vie di Romans Chardonnay
Again, very pretty with some more jasmine coming off.  There is oak too, but not agressive, and then some melon skin and mango.  The palate is very well made, some really tasty tropical fruit with subtle use of oak, but the finish is just a bit flabby. 87pts

2009 Vie di Romans Dessimis Pinot Grigio
A ramato wine with some very subtle darker spice and some tea elements too.  The is a balanced wine, some peppery flavours with a light savoury note and with dirty lemon skins and pencil on the finish. 86pts

2009 Vie di Romans Ciantons Merlot Rose
Soft, slightly like tutti fruittis with a little bit of strawberry on the nose.  The palate is slightly herbal, with a little vegetal flavour coming through but with then the finish has lovely simple fleshy fruit and with a touch of bitter minerality on the back end. 87pts

2008 Vie di Romans Dut 'Un
This wine, a blend of Chardonnay and Sauvignon, had a lot of oak, some pencil and lemon coming off.  A little bit of grass too .  The Sauvignon gives this an elderflower element mixed in with the tropical fruit from the Chardonnay.  It is almost like a fruit salad with nectarines, peaches and a little bit of elderflower.  A little bit of rock on the back end.  Interesting and the best of the bunch. 90pts

Vie di Romans

By Peter Wood with No comments

#373 6 Questions with... Emma Wellings

Emma Wellings isn't the sort of person you will know immediately when you see her picture above.  She isn't a winemaker, retailler, distributor or sommelier, but her job, for certain companies, is vital in their success.  Emma, with her colleague Ali, are the two women behind one of the most successful wine PR companies in the UK.  Emma founded Emma Wellings PR in 1999, communicating the message and increasing the profile of new and established wine companies and brands within the UK.  Her clients have included organisations including Napa Valley Vintners, Alsace Wines, producers such as Graham Beck and Piccini and retailers including Somerfield and Slurp, and it is her job to make sure that the right people are exposed to these brands.  Look at her as the cement that holds the wine trade together!  So, to learn a little more about this hidden lady of wine, we asked her six questions...

What got you into wine public relations?
One year as Editorial Assistant at Decanter Magazine on my CV.

What is the most challenging aspect of your job?
Having not one but two demanding masters to answer to – journalists and clients.

What do you like to drink on a regular basis?
Alcohol.

Do you have any hidden talents?
I’m an accomplished whistler.

What would you do if you weren't in PR?
Write … bake… grow flowers and vegetables …

Name three people, real or fictional, living or dead, that would be guests at your dream dinner party, and what would you be drinking?
Elizabeth 1st and Victoria Beckham – two impressive women who both achieved worldwide recognition – and the irresistible Jimmy McNulty. We would drink Balfour Brut English Sparkling Rosé for patriotic reasons, followed by Provence Rosé because I can’t leave it alone in the summer. I’d serve a Sokol Blosser 2007 Estate Pinot Noir from Oregon with the main course – another great find to come out of North America. And the inevitable whisky chaser for McNulty.

Emma Wellings PR

By Peter Wood with No comments

#372 Soave (and others) from Pieropan

The one thing that I heard throughout my trip to Italy was that, for a period from the 1950s through to the 1980s, Italy went through a period where bulk was best.  Coming from a car loving background I can see that this wasn't just in wine, but in their automotive endeavours too. During this period, FIAT, for example was making outstanding, beautifully designed cars for the masses that were made so shoddily that they would rust into a pile of brown metal after a light drizzle.

But despite bulk being best, this didn't stop Pieropan buying up land planted with older, lower yielding vines, and focussing on quality.  Even today, a lot of Soave is mass produced rubbish.  If you want Garganega at a fiver, don't buy Soave as it is bound to be pretty bad, focus on Garganega grown outside of the Soave region and you are going to get a better wine. 

Pieropan was founded in 1890, and is now in its fourth generation of the family.  They are renowned for their Soave wines, including the single vineyards, but they also have a dream to produce red wines too.  Brothers Andrea and Dario Pieropan bought a property in the Valpolicella and Amarone production area, and planted vines, and I was fortunate to try some of these including their as yet unreleased Amarone.  First though, the whites.

2010 Pieropan Soave
Light, fresh lemon aroma, a bit of grapefruit too, peach as well.  A bit of minerally note on the nose too.  The palate has a nice oily element to it, a bit like Jasmine tea in texture, some grapefruit and a little bit of honey coming off too.  Some fresh lemon juice, a bit of pepper coming off too.  Very well balanced, a clean finish, but needing a little bit of time to settle down.  The finish is very long with some lovely minerality to it.  88pts £11.99

2009 Pieropan Soave Classico Calvarino
More of the white peach, some sea salt and a little bit of lime juice coming through. Very fresh aroma, some zingy notes with just a bit of sweetened pear coming through.  The palate is dry, with a lovely oily, floral element on the palate.  Yet despite that floral note, it is zingy, with some really lovely freshness.  A pepper note on the finish too. 91pts £18.99

2009 Pieropan Soave Classico La Rocca
Full, round, honey notes, with some lovely buttered brioche and ginger coming off the nose.  The palate is fuller, rounded with some more ginger, a bit of bitter lemon notes, mixed with some creamy, oaky elements.  A lovely chewy wine, some vegetal elements coming though with mo spice on the finish, yet it does clean up and makes a super, Burgundian-esque wine, but like Burgundy wines at two years old, it is too young. 90pts £23.99

2008 Pieropan Valpolicella Ruberpan
Some sherbet strawberries and a little bit of cherry coke with a little bit of liquorice and aniseed ball coming through.  The palate has a cherry with a little bit of spice coming through.  Really spicy, a little high alcohol and with a fresh raspberry meets sour cherry.  The finish is well balanced, some good fresh, crisp red berries and a little under ripe strawberry and pepper finish.  89pts £21.99

2008 Pieropan Amarone (not yet released)
Big, sweet and full of cherries, dried raisins and a bit of chocolate. Almost soupy on the nose, lots of big, juicy berries, tobacco and dark chocolate covered toffee.  A big, juicy palate, lots of cherry, some aniseed, a bit of clove and then a dark, liquorice and tar flavour.  Very dark, very rich and with some lovely baked berries throughout.  90pts £N.A.

2007 Pieropan Le Colombare Recioto di Soave
Macerated peaches coated in honey with a little bit of summer flowers coming through.  A little sweet bacon fat coming off as well with a bit of spice.  The palate is soft, a lemony, peppery note.  Very good balance, a lovely warming palate with lots of zingy and rich lemon with a bundle of pepper to the end.  90pts £24.99

2006 Pieropan Passito della Rocca
A lot of gooseberry jam, some lemon and lime aromas coming through.  The palate is good with a lovely savoury lime element coming through.  Very well balanced, with just a slight bitterness on the back end.  Really really good and very understated.  91pts

I tend not to cellar white wines, I know I should, but I don't.  I have some German wines, the occasional Burgundy, but that is it, except for Pieropan Soave, where I have a few magnums of the La Rocca and Calvarino from a few vintages ago.  I feel that these older bottles may be being joined by some newer wines from this stable pretty soon.

By Peter Wood with No comments