#489 A pack of (Brew) Dogs

Given the opportunity to try a pack of Brew Dogs this week, I couldn't resist.  Hate their branding as I do, you can't deny that they make some weird beers, do strange things and make a big noise about it.  One of my colleagues put together a range of forty beers from this company, and I selected a few of the more interesting ones to try.

Brew Dog Sunk Punk

A 7.1% IPA that was fermented at the bottom of the North Sea.

Light, ginger coming off with a some sweet malt.  A bit of bitterness at the front, some tobacco and a bit too much hops.  OK, but just a gimmick.  79pts

Brew Dog Atlantic IPA

A 2009 release of an IPA that had been strapped to the front of a fishing boat that went around the North Atlantic.

Sweet aromas, very floral and with a little freshness.  The palate has a saltiness, some drier, woodier elements almost.  A bit like charcoal.  Some herb on the finish that is quite nice.  80pts

Brew Dog Hard Core IPA

An incredibly hoppy IPA described as 'an extreme beer rollercoaster for freaks, gypsies and international chess superstars.'

Very sweet, some golden syrup and then bitter fruit.  The palate is viscous, quite sweet with a tobacco, ash tray like flavour and lots of bitter hops.  A little short on the finish, not well balanced at all, but I guess that is the point.  78pts

Brew Dog Mikkeller I Hardcore You

A blend of Hardcore IPA and Mikkeller's I Beat You, with more hops added.

Sweet aroma, but with a lightness coming off.  Quite pretty and with a lovely light aroma of ginger and, strangely, bacon.  The palate is full of herbs, rosemary and sweet light, fresh malt.  Nice.  85pts

Brew Dog Anarchist Alchemist Triple IPA

A 2012 release that is a triple dry hopped triple IPA....triple

Sweet, big and gloopy aroma.  Hints of chocolate and peach coming off the nose. The palate is REALLY sweet and alcoholic but in a really fun, fruity way.  Spicy on the finish.  Really fun.  90pts

Brew Dog Old World Russian Imperial Stout

An American release of a Russian Imperial Stout.

Dark, chocolate and tobacco with a big gutsy rich aroma of dark roasted malt.  The palate is very approachable, again with the chocolate and tobacco.  A big, beer but not overpowering with sweetness on the end.  Really drinkable and balanced - strange for Brew Dog!  A session stout.  89pts

Brew Dog 3 Floyds Bitch Please Islay Cask

A Barley Wine made with peated malt from Islay, shortbread, toffee, hops and then aged in whisky casks.

Very peaty, smoky and with a lot of smoky characters.  Sweet coming out with some woody elements on the nose and Islay whisky coming through. The palate is smoky, almost as if someone has dumped an Islay whisky into a beer.  Does taste a bit like a medicine cabinet with a chain smoker in it.  81pts

Brew Dog Tactical Nuclear Penguin

Freeze distilled 32% stout that once held the title of 'World's Strongest Beer'.

Really sweet aroma of tobacco and Benylin but then coming out with a sweet toffee aroma.  Big, spirity, yet the weight balances out quite well with the alcohol.  Has a very boozy finish with a bundle of cigarette ash, leather and pepper.  86pts

Brew Dog Sink the Bismark!

42% freeze distilled quadruple IPA that once held the title of 'World's Strongest Beer'.

Sweet, ginger and lots of lovely sweet chocolatey malt.  Again, boozy, but with a menthol coffee element.  Very very sweet, lots of insane sweet tobacco, toffee, coffee and leather.  Really quite drinkable (relatively), with integrated alcohol and an almost orangey finish.  89pts

Characterful these beers are, drinkable some of them are not, but I think that is almost the point of them.  You wouldn't say that the Sex Pistols are good music, but they fitted their time and place and are remembered as such.  Products like the Penguin and Bitch Please do that too, standing out from the crowd, shouting loudest and will possibly be remembered for a long time.  There are a few of this selection that I tried today that were, surprisingly, well balanced, drinkable beers that are fun.

By Peter Wood with 1 comment

#488 Screw Sauvignon Blanc & Pinot Noir

Brand:  "The Name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that identifies one sellar's good or service as distinct from those of other sellers".

Look at the brands to the left.  Any of these images immediately makes you think of what their company makes or provides and has a quality factor thrown in.  Words you may use to describe Apple could be "computing, professional and expensive", McDonalds are maybe "burgers, unhealthy and inexpensive" and possibly for Ikea "Swedish, functional and stylish".  Their logo or name has an immediate influence on what you perceive the producer to be.  This is why I think that wine producer Cable Bay, located on Waiheke Island in New Zealand, is missing a trick.

Cable Bay has five vineyards on the island planted with Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, Pinot Gris, Viognier, Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon.  Notice what is missing?  The two grapes that has made New Zealand famous, Pinot Noir and Sauvignon Blanc.  Yet four of the five wines I tried from this company were those two grapes, with the grapes sourced from Marlborough and Central Otago.  There website says that this is to produce "a complete range of wines", and I can understand that as, like every other business, they need to make money.  What I think it does however is dilute the potential individuality that their company could have.

Imagine a company in New Zealand coming out and saying "screw Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir, we make fantastic Cabernet and Syrah and don't need these two over planted varieties."  The furore would be huge, the publicity would be even bigger and all of a sudden, one producer would be getting the wine world's attention for daring to do something different in a land stuck in a rut of two grapes.

The quality of these wines would have to be fantastic first and foremost, and affordable second, as if they were producing bland, boring wines or from high priced, artisan producers, this would quickly backfire, but from what I tried today, Cable Bay have the potential to do this.  I started my tasting with their conformist wines.

2011 Cable Bay Marlborough Selection Sauvignon Blanc £10

Clean, grassy with a subtlety that is not normally seen in Marlborough. Crisp fruit, the lemon comes through with some subtle hints of lime.  A tiny bit of hawthorn flower comes out as well.  Fresh and does exactly what it should do, but if you want the 'Marlborough style', this won't be for you.  85pts

2011 Cable Bay Black Label Sauvignon Blanc £13

A little kiwi and passion fruit coming through, some simple fresh fruit and a nice crisp aroma.  The palate is a bit bigger, some more of the elderflower and green chilli coming out.  A little less appealing to me, but more Marlboroughy.  82pts

2010 Cable Bay Marlborough Selection Pinot Noir £14

Simple cherries and strawberries on the nose, a little wet earth comes through and a touch of spice.  The  palate is simple, a touch of alcohol up front before red apple skin and a little bit of pepper.  Well balanced, crisp and just the slightest touch of alcohol at the end spoils it.  83pts

2010 Cable Bay Central Otago Pinot Noir £20

Boot polish, some menthol, mint and creamy strawberries on the nose.  A bit of crisp pepper and apples, with some vegetal elements and spice - a quite big bit of spice.  Good liquorice coming through, nice plum skin as well.  Not bad - a lot going on   84pts

Then I tried their Five Hills.  A blend of Merlot, Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc from their certified sustainable five vineyards on Waiheke Island.  The difference in quality was immediately apparent.

2006 Cable Bay Waiheke Island Five Hills £20

Big, dark veggie notes with some unctuous red berry, cherry, damson and then some dark, liquorice and menthol aromas.  The palate is lighter than I'd expect, fresh berries, and then green pepper comes through with a vegetal structure, but it doesn't overpower the fruit.  The finish is clean, precise and well balanced, nice length with a lovely bright plum fruit meeting a dark savoury flavour.  Lovely. 90pts

There is nothing wrong with the Sauvignon Blancs and Pinot Noirs that Cable Bay produce, in fact, I quite liked the subtlety that the Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc showed.  However, with these wines in the Cable Bay brand, I just feel the company could be perceived as another brand making everything under the sun, when the quality of their Five Hills deserves more than that.  

Cable Bay have a sister brand, named after the winemaker, and if the bought in grapes were produced under that, they would have two strong labels, one offering decent Sauvignon and Pinot and one offering good quality 'other varieties' from their own vineyards with a strong brand presence.  I hope someone does it one day.

By Peter Wood with No comments

#487 Really Rotten Romanians

One of the world's oldest wine producing countries is massively underrepresented in the UK, and Romania is a nation that I keep hearing great things about so I was eager to try them.  With history going back thousands of years, their indigenous vines were wiped out by phylloxera in the 1880s and were replaced with vines imported from other European nations.  Not seeing wines made with the wonderfully named grapes such as Ferasca Neagra (meaning 'The Black Maiden'), I thought I'd give a bunch of western European varieties a go from the producer Umbrele.

2011 Umbrele Calusari Pinot Grigio

Pear drops come out of the glass immediately with some green banana and a touch of peach stone.  The palate has more of the green banana, with a creamier texture than I'd expected.  Some nice pear comes out of the palate with a touch high acid, but not unpleasantly so.  There is a little grapefruit on the finish, but more of the pear finishes this wine off.  OK at best.  76pts

2011 Umbrele Sauvignon Blanc

Strangely, this smells like the Pinot Grigio but with a little bit of grass.  You get more yellow bananas, over ripe pears and just a touch of grass coming off.  The palate has a bit of heat to it, very light elderflower, but pretty much more of the same - banana and pear, but just a bit worse.  74pts

2011 Umbrele Chardonnay

Oh dear.  Firstly, you are getting cheap wood off this.  It reminds me of going into B&Q and standing in one of their garden sheds.  Beyond that there is some nice peach trying to escape and then some lemon sherbet sprinkled on top.  The palate is yeasty, with some more of that sodding banana - is banana a flavour for Romanian whites?  This is actually quite unpleasant, acidic alcoholic and flabby.  64pts

2011 Umbrele Calusari Pinot Noir

Very sweet strawberries and cream with some liqueur soaked cherries put on top.  It isn't even real cream, it is sweetened squirty cream.  The palate has a lot of sugar with an angry herby note hitting you.  The palate starts off with confected fruit that becomes diluted leaving you with a tobacco and some vanilla infused tea coming off.  Really not nice.  66pts

2011 Umbrele Merlot

Big, juicy sweet earthy and sweet, and then you get a menthol like cherry aroma that is like you are being punished for putting your nose in the glass.  A meaty element comes through again, almost like raw mince.  The palate is like a cheap Merlot from Chile, some agressive savoury notes and a bit of liquorice with some flabby fruit.  The finish is bitter, dry and savoury.  69pts 

Some of the best wines I've tried from lesser seen countries have been native grapes that give the wine drinker something different and interesting to try and allows a winemaker to establish their own identity and style.  Making a Pinot Noir is going to get you compared to every other country on earth and, on the basis of these wines, Umbrele fail miserably.

By Peter Wood with No comments

#486 Beer vs Champagne

I tried two drinks on one day that could not be more different.  One was a champagne, the other a beer.  One is, possibly, the most famous brand ever, the other few will have heard about outside of a fifty mile radius of where I live.  One is named after the man who taught the world about secondary fermentation, the other named after a small town on the east coast of Scotland and one is made by the largest champagne house, owned by a fashion label and the other in an industrial unit by a man called Bob.

I've mentioned The St Andrews Brewing Company, owned by Yorkshireman Bob Phaff, before and he has just released a one off beer for a food festival in the town of Crail.  I was expecting a decent offering from Bob - that is what beer companies do when they produce a special edition beer - but not one that stood out from the range.  

Then there was Dom Perignon, the prestige cuvee that owners LVMH appears to be distancing away from parent company Moet & Chandon and establishing it as a stand alone brand.  Usually the wines are examples of exquisite poise, precision and balance, and only improve with time.  It was the champagne I started with.

2003 Dom Perignon

It had bright minerally aromas with gentle lemon zest and a tiny bit of diluted lemon juice.  Chalk comes through as well, but it is not 'classic' Dom Perignon.  With a bit of time in the glass it opens up, revealing more citrus pith and citrus flesh aromas.  The palate is soft, and quite flabby.  It has some sweeter lemon flavours, a bit of flint and then some pear coming off and then some nasty bitter note on the finish.  It is a pretty poor Dom Perignon.  75pts

St Andrews Brewing Company Crail Ale

Sweet caramel and some herbal notes coming off. A little malty element coming off and some rather nice burnt cream aroma.  The palate is delicious - soft and creamy in texture, a lovely bright maltiness, hints of Highland Toffee with a gentle floral bitterness.  A stonking bottle of beer.  91pts

The beer was a tremendous effort, and is my favourite beer created by this new brewer, and the Champagne was a tremendous flop, showing nothing that I want from a bottle of Dom Perignon.  I realised one more thing that was different between these two drinks.  One cost fifty times as much as the other, but the cheaper bottle was fifty times more desirable.

By Peter Wood with No comments

#485 Christian Audigier Wines

I simply don't understand the whole 'fashion label' thing.  To me, a black T-Shirt is a black T-Shirt.  I appreciate that there are different fabrics to take into consideration, but having one label on it rather than another and charging double just seems pretty daft to me.  I do understand quality, which is why my shirts come from Jermyn Street, just from the more affordable producers rather than Turnbull & Asser, but, to me at least, a lot of products with designer labels on them are of no greater or lesser quality than a much cheaper alternative.  I don't 'get' fashion, and am the first to admit it.  It is why I don't write a clothes blog and had never heard of Christian Audigier until this week.

As has become the norm when you don't know of someone, I Googled him and found that Monsieur Audigier appears to have done rather well for himself.  Moving to America in 2000 with $500 in his pocket, this fashion designer quickly got a celebrity clientele, and worked for companies including Von Dutch and Levi and, in little over a decade, has built up a $250million per year business.  He obviously knows what he is doing in fashion, and has decided to venture into wine, and I was given three of these to try.

The first thing I noticed was that the bottles said "Established 1958", the year of Christian Audigier's birth.  Using your name as a brand is one thing, but using your date of birth as the founding date of your company is just a bit, well, pretentious.  Then there are the labels.  As a picture paints a thousand words, here they are:

Conventional these bottles are not, but I think that is a good thing.  I grant you that your Granny may not like them, unless she happens to be into Death Metal, but by covering them in bright colours, skulls and eagles it is a sure fire way to get noticed on a shelf.  They do reflect the design of Christian Audigier's clothes so, from a business perspective, he has successfully transferred his brand into another category.  According to the importer, these are opening up wine to a new category of potential drinkers, most specifically, the Tattoo and Body Art community, which appears to be huge!  Again, another good thing that these wines are doing.

Having said all that, these are still wine, and in the wine world, the demands for quality are just as high as the demand for a good tattoo artist in a bikers convention.  So I cracked open the seals and tried them.


2010 Christian Audigier Sauvignon Blanc

Summery hedgerow flowers, but a lot of sweet citrus on the nose which is a bit strange.  The palate is soft, very subtle with some slight grassy flavours, green bananas and a very underripe lemon pith and a long, boring finish.  It really doesn't taste like Sauvignon Blanc should.  65pts


2009 Christian Audigier Syrah

Fruit toffee on the nose, very very sweet with a bit of bramble and vanilla ice cream.  There is an alcoholic, menthol element coming out as well.  The palate starts badly with a disjointed mess of underripe blueberries, liquorice and tar and then lightens in flavour but not weight to produce a fat, insipid finish.  This is an ugly wine. 55pts


2008 Christian Audigier Cabernet Sauvignon

Rich sweet stewed cherry coming off the nose.  There is then a cheap chocolate aroma coming off the nose that isn't that nice mixed with more of the toffee. The palate has Cabernet characteristics, but they are terrible Cabernet characteristics.  Violent vegetal elements mixed with a bit of liquorice and bitter berry fruit.  Awful.  57pts

I'm not fussed that the wine has skulls on the label, nor am I bothered by the fact that they are a 'celebrity wine', as there are some good examples of these.  Trying these wines, I feel that at ten pounds less than the sixteen you would pay for them, you would still be being ripped off.  They are badly made wines, only one of which tastes like it should and none of them have any redeeming characters.  I love the concept of these wines, and the fact that Monsieur Audigier named one of his children 'Mick Jagger', but he should stick to clothes as he is obviously very good at that.  Leave the wine to people who know what they are doing.

By Peter Wood with No comments

#484 100 Grapes - A lot of grapes

Writing up my 100 Grapes challenge is proving a bit time consuming so here are a bundle that I've tried over the past wee while.

Negroamaro

A red variety from Southern Italy, mainly grown in Puglia.  Very deep in colour, they are quite spicy and earthy with some are often blended with grapes such as Sangiovese.  It has a lot of synonyms, including Arbese, Jonico and Uva cane.

2011 Lamadoro Negroamaro

Sweet chocolate and a bit of blueberry on the nose.  Warm cherry and spice on the palate with a dark earthy element and really nice balance and a herby, menthol finish.  88pts

Bonarda/Charbono

Although Bonarda is the name given to several varieties, the one I'm focusing on here is the one grown in Argentina, known also as Charbono.  Originally from the Savoie region of France it is huge in Argentina. Highly tannic wines with similar levels of acidity and, I feel, is overlooked too often in favour of Malbec.

2010 Argento Bonarda

Lots of juicy cherries smothered in milk chocolate with a bit of mint and a bit of sweet spice coming out as well.  The palate has a savoury element up front, lots of spice and a bundle of dark, spicy, bitter chocolate.  The finish is again savoury with a lot of smokey leathery elements.  82pts

2010 Alamos Bonarda

A sweet slightly confected element coming off the nose with a hint of raw lamb sweetness and a little bit of cocoa.  Quite bright and fresh.  The palate has a sweet and savoury note, lots of earthy flavours, a bundle of spice and then some dark tarry elements.  The finish is a bit alcohol dominant and a little sweet and confected.  79pts
Ribolla Gialla

Thought to have come from Greece, and also grown in Slovenia, it is in the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region of Italy in the north east that it is best known.  Producing a light white wine, very floral and with high acidity, it can benefit from oak ageing.  It is a wonderful wine to pair with this regions native food, having a little weight, but clean flavours.

2010 Specogna Ribolla Gialla

A pretty, fresh summery wildflower wine - lots of citrus pith and a little bit of warm, dusty earth coming through.  The palate is very pretty, crisp citrus mixes with softening flower petals and some more rock like flavours.  A long finish, very minerally with some delicious almond elements.  89pts

Roussanne

Originally from the Rhone where it is often blended with Marsanne.  These two wines are the only white varieties allowed in Crozes-Hermitage AOC, Hermitage AOC and St Joseph AOC, meaning that it is instrumental in some of the greatest wines from the Rhone.  Moving out into the new world, it is planted in California and Australia.

2008 Qupe Bien Nacido Roussanne

Honey sweetened green tea with a bit of herb box coming off the nose and a bundle of dirty peach skin with a little vanilla pod.  A little bit of pear comes through as well.  The palate has a nice full body, some grassier, vegetal elements mixed with some very noticable French oak - lots of tobacco box, a tiny touch of burnt butter and then some dried apricot skin, peach stone and a little bit of pepper on the finish.  The texture is delightful and the only problem is that the finish is the tiniest bit clumsy and has a spirity finish.  90pts

Macabeo/Macabeu/Viura

Grown in the Rioja and Cava producing areas of Spain and the Languedoc-Roussillon region of France, Macabeu is a white variety mainly used for producing young drinking wines.  It was brought to Rioja as it is able to withstand oxidation, and oaked versions of this wine can rival some wines from Burgundy.  

2010 Tramontane Macabeu

Bright fresh fruit, a lot of citrus and a little bit of melon skin coming out.  A little salt comes through as well with a little bit of chalky minerality but with a delicious creamy palate.  Almost like licking a bit of slate with a touch of alcohol on the palate. 88pts

Pinot Blanc/Weißburgunder

A genetic mutation of Pinot Noir, it is most common in the Alsace, Germany (where it is known as Weißburgunder), Italy and the eastern European countries.  It produces a full bodied, dry white that is often vinified in a similar style to Chardonnay, and is still allowed to be used in production of both Burgundian wines and also Champagne.  It is a single varietal Pinot Blanc champagne that I tried.

Francois Diligent Pinot Blanc Brut NV Champagne

Lovely light, fresh aromas of lemon, oyster shell and honey but with brie.  The palate is clean, crisp, good acid and a lot of confit lemon.  Ok,  bit simple though too expensive. 81pts

Petite Sirah/Durif

Grown mainly in California and Australia, it was named after Francois Durif who discovered a vine that he named after himself in 1880.  Although the grape is practically extinct in its homeland, these two new world countries have taken it to its heart with Australia adopting the Durif name and California using Petite Sirah.  The grapes are small berries, that are in tight clusters that are susceptible to rotting and produce a dark, inky, chocolatey wine.

2008 Campbell's Bobbie Burns Durif

An elegant aroma (Australia factored in) fresh palate - not stewed, with a tiny touch of cherry coming through with lots of chocolate and a tiny touch of spice  Nice balance, not bad.  84pts

Pinotage

South Africa's wine, it was bred there in 1925 and is a cross between Pinot Noir and Cinsault.  Often tasting of (I think) burnt rubber, it can be a Marmite wine - you love it or hate it!

2009 Chamonix Pinotage Greywacke

A wine made with the ripasso method - Some sweeter aromas of raisin, and a bit of concentrated plum.  The palate is a strange partly thin, partly heavy affair.  Not much of the burnt rubber, and has a bramble flavour. 83pts

Teran/Terrano

A grape from Italy and Slovenia, Terrano is a red variety that doesn't age well.  It is good for an aperitif, despite being a full bodied wine.  It has a slightly sour flavour, but is very drinkable.  The wine I tried was from Croatia.

2009 Gerzinic Teran

A rich earthy note coming off.  Some crisp fruit with aherbal earthier note.  Simple palate, some earthier elements coming through.  Clean and with some perfume, rose petal flavours.  Nice. 89pts

Inzolia/Ansonica

This grape is a white variety planted mainly in Sicily where it is used to make Marsala, and also in Tuscany where it is known as Ansonica.

2010 Baccaria Inzolia

Very fresh green grass with some underripe banana coming out of the nose.  Very bright and clean with just the slightest bit of pear drop emerging.  The palate has more of the banana with a creamier texture.  There is a bit of rustic green apple and some alcohol emerging but not unpleasantly so before settling down to more pear drops on the finish. Just a touch too high acid though. 85pts

Frappato

I love Frappato.  It is a simple, light bodied red variety that can be slightly chilled in the summer, and has a delicious gamey element to it that I love.  Mainly grown in Sicily it is often seen in the island's only DOCG wine, Cerasuolo di Vittoria.

2010 Baccaria Frappato

Light cherries with a little sweet confected strawberry coming off.  There is a touch of sweet lamb fat and mint as well.  Te palate has a touch of bubblegum, then some strawberries and cream, almost a bit like a strawberry trifle.  Some earthier notes on the finish, with the structure that the wine lacks before. A good saturday night glugger. 86pts

Freisa

Grown in the Piedmont region of Italy this red variety became one of the region's main grapes in the 1880s, partly due to its resistance to downy mildew.  Able to make sweet, sparkling or still wines, it is similar to Nebbiolo with higher tannin and acidity.  It has been responsible for a bit of a debate between Hugh Johnson and Robert Parker who firmly sit on opposite sides of the fence considering the merit of Fresia, but from the sample I tried, I am in the Johnson camp.

2009 Claudio Marlotto Braghe Da Uve di Freisa

Some cherry, chocolate and cream on the nose, with some sweet cigar tobacco coming off.  The palate has a nice, soft red and black berry flavours, some spice with a little bit of coffee bean and leather coming through.  Quite nice - a touch hot on the finish, but not too much.  Very drinkable.  90pts

Timorasso

Offering flavours of pineapple and grapefruit, Timorasso is a grape planted in the Piedmont region of Italy, in the Alessandria province.  It can be oaked, but usually only put into stainless steel.

2008 Claudio Mariotto Derthona Timorasso

There is a slight minerally aroma, very faint hints of flint and grapefruit pith.  The palate has an aged element to it, rounder, more honeyed fruit with a slight bitter, ginger skin flavour coming off.  oilier texture, with some white pepper emerging.  Well integrated alcohol, nice.  88pts

By Peter Wood with No comments

#483 100 Grapes - Nero d'Avola

Meaning 'Black of Avola' this is the most important grape in Sicily.  Named after the town in the south of the island, it is a grape that hasn't travelled outside of it's homeland except in rare circumstances, despite it's flavour having a similarity to new world Shiraz.

With the potential to produce outstanding, high quality (and price) wines, I prefer to look at the more commercial end of the spectrum.  As it gets more and more difficult to buy decent Shiraz under a tenner, this variety gives people the flavour they want at the price they want.

2011 Vortice Nero d'Avola
Soft and juicy with a nice floral element coming out.  Quite juicy berry flavours leading to a touch of spice, oodles of cherry and a delicious veggie backbone.  Lacks the minerality I would expect from a wine grown on volcanic soils, and is a bit more international style, but nice nevertheless.  83pts

2010 Coralto from Curatolo Arini Nero d'Avola
Lots of savoury fruit, it has the earthy, minerally volcanic soil character coming through.  A layered wine, fruit, spice, tobacco and earthy veggie flavours.  A good, value wine.  85pts

By Peter Wood with No comments

#482 Awful Indian Wines

I'm always looking for new wines from lesser known wine regions, and what I want is one of two things.  The first is something unique.  This could be their own grape variety, a particular style of wine - anything as long as it stands out from the crowd.  The problem is this might not be the most commercially advantageous way of making wine for a producer.  The other thing I look for is value for money, producing something that offers a quality that a more established region is doing for less money.  Bulgaria is a prime example of a nation doing this, producing interesting wines with their native grape Mavrud, and making wines that rival good solid Burgundian Pinot Noir for a fraction of the price.  

Sadly, the wines that I tried from Fratelli from Maharashtra in India were neither of these things.  This Indo-Italian company was founded by three pairs of brothers with the aim of creating "a product made in India following Italian traditions which would meet international standards".  I decided to asses them against this goal.

2011 Fratelli Classic White

A Chenin Blanc, this was grassy and with a bit of burnt match coming off and some burnt bark and a slightest element of spice.  The palate is a stripped out, acidic mess, all sulphury and filthy.  You are supposed to get lemongrass, melon and guava from this, but all you get is underripe strawberry.  Not good, and doesn't even taste like   65pts

2011 Fratelli Chenin Blanc

The nose is ok, a light clean tropical fruit element with some hints of melon.  The palate is ok, a little harsh still but with some bitter mineral notes.  It is a bit alcoholic, with it warming your mouth throughout and the acid is still too high.  71pts

2011 Fratelli Chardonnay

A nose that smells of pretty much nothing!  The palate is boring, generic, international style white wine.  On the plus side, it is nicely drinkable, a touch high alcohol still, but with some hints towards Chardonnay.  Nothing wrong with it but I wouldn't buy a bottle.  75pts

 

2011 Fratelli Classic Red

A shiraz and has aromas of confected strawberry and burnt plastic - the smell you get when you melt a Lego man!  There is a little over ripe plum coming through and I think a touch of pepper.  The palate is quite savoury, lots of darker fruit, a little structure from the vegetal elements and there is some pepper.  The downside is that it is still too acidic and the finish is all about the combustable lego person.  74pts

2011 Fratelli Cabernet Sauvignon

Masses of fake green pepper, tons of veggies and just a tiny amount of fruit.  The palate is trying to be Cabernet but is a sickly, acidic, tannic farce of a wine.  This is appalling and makes me want to gag.  A TERRIBLE wine.  55pts

All of these wines are massively disappointing.  With rival Indian company Grover producing an Australia-competing Cabernet Shiraz for £9, Fratelli doesn't stand a chance.  The best wine from Fratelli is a boring non descript Chardonnay, which means they fail in their goal of producing an Indian wine with Italian traditions, and their products certainly don't meet international standards.  I'd hoped for something interesting, I got something awful.

By Peter Wood with No comments