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Association of Wine Educators : AWE Inspiring News Issue 32, Summer 2011
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Helen Savage |
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Rob Price |
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Susan Hulme MW |
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Gilbert Winfield |
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Alison Moller |
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Richard Bampfield MW |
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Susan Hulme MW |
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Gilbert Winfield |
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Alison Moller |
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Christos Ioannou |
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Paul Quinn |
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In these challenging times it may seem that teaching and learning about wine is a frivolous occupation. It can't be equated with saving lives or maintaining law and order but wine is certainly more than just a drink.
As a subject it stimulates a lot of thought-provoking and philosophical discussion at times. Witness the recent hullabaloo in the trade about natural wines and, before that, biodynamic practices. Helen Savage picks up on these themes following her visit to the Alsace biodynamic producer Pierre Frick, a visit which also prompts her to consider the pros and cons of blind tasting.
Wine provides a direct link to the past and the cultural history of a place. Christos explores this idea in his article on Lesbos. It can provide an insight into different cultures and ways of life, a sort of vicarious travelling if you like - see our articles on Sake and Croatia.
The study of wine combines both technical and scientific knowledge with something that eludes mere analysis and relies on instinct and sensory experience - the AWE Sherry seminar illustrates just that. It touches on so many different disciplines - see Alison's fascinating overview of the geology of wine regions in Hungary on the recent AWE trip.
Furthermore, there is always something new to learn even for wine experts like ourselves hence the value of recent AWE seminars on Burgundy, Chile and St Emilion.
© Susan Hulme MW 2011
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Editorial by |
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It was heartening to see a good turnout at the AGM in May, and a number of matters were discussed that will ensure energetic activity from your Council over the coming months. However I am conscious that, as with any organisation, one can get so involved with the day to day activities that the broader issues can be neglected.
In the relatively short time that I have been Chairman, the attention paid to wine education, from both trade and public, has increased significantly. So too has the number of individuals and companies involved in delivering wine education and courses. I suspect that the AWE and its members have played a role in this - after all, one of our stated aims is to raise the profile of wine education in general.
Throughout this period, Council has adopted an attitude of encouraging new educators to become AWE members as long as they can demonstrate the qualifications and presentational skills that we require. Another of the AWE's aims is to improve standards of wine education, and we have felt that this can be better achieved through AWE membership.
However, growth in membership does raise its own challenges. It means that members are more likely to be competing with each other for work. It also leads to a broader range of opinions and more administration.
Maybe it is time for us to take a step back and consider whether there is an "ideal" size for the AWE's UK-based membership, a membership ceiling that should not be exceeded. We should also consider how we can provide a greater range of benefits for the non UK-based members. And should we be drawing some sort of distinction between those involved full-time in wine education and those working part-time?
It is not the purpose of this column to take a stance one way or the other - a Chairman likes to sit on the fence whenever possible! However, if you have views on these issues, do please let either myself or a member of Council know. Even a lack of response will be helpful as it may indicate broad agreement with Council's existing approach.
On a more practical note, don't forget the AWE visit to Plumpton College on Monday, September 5th. Plumpton is one of our corporate members and the reputation of its courses has grown hand in hand with the burgeoning status of English wines. If you would like to join the visit, do let Andrea Warren know if you have not already done so.
And finally a plea. The Council works very hard for the AWE, but remember that its work is voluntary and we do all have real jobs to do too. We would appreciate any offers of help from the membership – even if you have only recently joined, please do not think that you are too new to be able to make a practical contribution. In particular at the moment, we could do with help with the website, our image / photo library and creating a digital database of maps of vineyard areas.
With thanks – Happy Summer! Richard
© Richard Bampfield MW 2011
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Chairman’s Column by |
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Tasting at Domaine Pierre Frick is different. Jean-Pierre Frick is one of the pioneers of biodynamic viticulture and winemaking in Alsace. He began the conversion of the already organic family estate when he took over from his father 1981. Monty Waldin describes him as ‘quite an austere character’, which he attributes in part to shyness. This I understand, but I also find him quietly spoken, friendly and ready to smile, a man who always seems only too delighted to talk with gentle passion about his approach to making wine.
On the 31st May this year I took a group of a dozen or so wine enthusiasts to the old family cellars at Pfaffenheim. Once they were seated and attentive, the tasting began: two Pinot Noirs, a Pinot Noir ‘Blanc de Noirs’, two Rieslings, two Pinot Blancs, a Pinot Gris, a Gewürztraminer, a Crémant. We then had a late harvest Sylvaner, a Vendanges Tardives Muscat, a late harvest Auxerrois and then finally a Pinot Noir from botrytised grapes with sugars at SGN level.
Every wine was presented and received in silence. Its identity was only revealed when the group had tasted and discussed it. The group had no idea which grape varieties would be shown, what level of residual sugar they might contain, and indeed, how long the bottles had been open: the first Pinot Blanc had been open two weeks and the Muscat, since the 6th May. The Auxerrois was drawn from a foudre of still-fermenting wine, where it had remained since it was harvested in 2007.
I have to say that I was mighty proud of my folk. They responded with great attention, patience and increasing fascination. Their concentration increased with almost every wine and the period of silence before I asked for comments grew to surprising lengths. Jean-Pierre engaged by taking his own notes of what was said and answered their questions with patience and great attention to technical detail. He admitted that not every group has such stamina or shows such a level of interest and yet they were hardly a specialist lot – just a group of wine lovers who like to learn.
The Pinot Blanc 2007 opened two weeks previously was rich, powerful but heavily oxidised. The same wine opened immediately before tasting was also rich and much more obviously fruity, and less complex. Few if any, preferred the first wine, but a lively conversation ensued. Was the first wine really spoiled? To what extent should oxidative and indeed reductive aromas and flavours be thought desirable?
Jean-Pierre defends his policy of low sulphur levels (some wines are zero SO2) by arguing that he wishes the drinker to have a hand in deciding the continuing ‘making’ of the wine. He disagrees with his German colleagues across the Rhine who, he says, add SO2 to fix the aromas of their wine.
The group toyed creatively with this idea, conscious that all wine changes and evolves from the moment when the winemaker declares that the grapes are ‘ripe’, and that it is simply not feasible for the winemaker to be a neutral channel through which the juice passes into wine.
Monty Waldin quotes Jean-Pierre as saying “I do not make wine; I merely try to bring out what is natural and vital in the grapes grown in the vineyards we either own or rent.” But what is “natural and vital” clearly signifies change, development and then decay.
Comments were not just descriptive. The group felt able to say why they either liked or disliked the wine before them. The tasting lasted almost two hours. Time passed quickly. Over lunch and then dinner we reflected on the time we’d spent with Jean-Pierre. One or two people admitted that they had felt uncomfortably disorientated by not knowing what was in the glass. And so did I. I felt that I ought to have been able to pick each variety. I fretted when I was puzzled, and was quietly cross with myself when my hunches proved wrong.
I was struck that the experience was a bit like an ‘innocent ear exercise.’ I should explain that I have passion for classical music that is quite as intense as my love for wine. I have written about the experience of listening to music and have explored the process of musical communication with many groups of adult learners. I too have taken a Frick approach and invited people to listen and then reflect on music, played without saying what it was. Such exercises can be exciting and liberating, but they too can induce frustration. And when the tables are turned, I find that I waste a lot of energy in desperately trying to identify the composer and work, to the extent that I don’t give myself to the music quite as much as when I know what it is. Of course, innocent ear listening and blind tasting strip away some of my prejudices, but not all of them: there are always some points of reference.
The positive aspect of to ‘blind’ tasting chez Frick may be that it encourages tasters to pay full attention to what is in the glass, freed from the burden and baggage of thinking, for example, “so this is a Riesling, is the acidity correct and what about residual sugar … ? ” But if it takes us so far out of our comfort zone we begin to panic. Anxiety blinds us, blocks our noses and numbs our palate.
As the group became more confident and learned that no-one was going to laugh at us if what we identified a Sylvaner was actually a Pinot Gris, we became more open, attentive and imaginative in our shared descriptions. We may have then begun to detect things that we might have missed had we known what the grape was in advance, or from which vintage, or site. But it took time, commitment and a lot of shared risk to get to that stage.
As much as I like the idea of blind tasting, I have decided that I will now try to avoid blind tasting exercises with groups where it might prevent them from paying full attention to the wine by adding unnecessary anxiety. I will give just enough information to put them at ease.
That said, just last weekend, I had the unnerving experience of discovering that the couple who had won a prize to come and taste wine with me in one France’s most exciting wine regions, and with one of the finest producers there, had won their competition, not by exercising skill and judgment, but by paying £40 to a company that enrolled them in all and every competition available. They didn’t like red wine. They did like Blossom Hill. After a nervous, sleepless night I awoke to discover that they were up to learning a bit about wine and happy to be taught how to taste. Utterly free from wine-speak, their comments were revelatory. We spent a wonderful day and I probably learnt as much from them as they did from me.
Photo and text © Helen Savage 2011
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Tasting lessons chez Frick by |
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So I’m sitting back, having just enjoyed a fine lunch, looking forward to the wines from St. Emilion in the afternoon, when Susan approaches me and says “Hi Rob, as the new boy, how would you like to do the write-up for the Casa Silva tasting”
“Of course” I reply “be delighted”.
Suddenly I’m filled with a sense of dread; what do you write, when is it needed by? And oh, I wished I had written better notes. On return, I send a hurried note to Andrea asking what I need to do. Of course, then I’m busy with lots of other things, and the write-up escapes my mind – somewhat conveniently of course! A gentle reminder from Laura and it all comes back; of course, yes, I did say I was doing the write-up, more frantic looking at the AWE website to review what other members had written for previous events. And now of course, where were my notes? As bad as they were, something is better than nothing!
So… The first part of the day, after a brief introduction by Richard, was a very thorough update on all that is new in Chile by Anita Jackson of Wines of Chile. This was followed by a presentation by Johnny Bingham who, after taming the wild and Western region of Australia, is now putting his talents to good use in extolling the virtues of Chile in general and Casa Silva specifically. Johnny’s presentation was of course excellent but I think also broke a world record in holding one’s breath. On commencing, he took a large gulp of air and then for the next 90 minutes or so didn’t stop to aerate his lung, until his inspirational, breath-taking (almost literally) journey through Chile was complete.
The presentation was thorough and covered a wide range of topics from the various Wines of Chile campaigns through varying facts and figures of Chile, the wine regions and special characteristics. Chile has seen a steady rise in its D.O. wine production from just over 2m hectolitres in 1999 to almost 8m in 2010. Steady? Well actually, pretty phenomenal - a 300% growth in just over 10 years. In 2010 the black grapes dominate (Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Carmenère, Syrah, Pinot Noir and Cabernet Franc) with almost 70% of production. Cabernet Sauvignon by itself accounts for over a third. Syrah has made remarkable progress from nothing 10 years ago to now holding a respectable 6th place in the grape production league. Of course Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay dominate the white grapes with around ¼ of all wine produced.
Growth figures in the UK are equally impressive with Chilean wines accounting for 9.1% and 10.5% of the off-trade and on trade respectively in 2010.
So what of the wines and Casa Silva in particular? Well, Casa Silva have been making wine for five generations, are the most awarded Chilean winery since 2000. They have 900 hectares of vineyards in Colchagua Valley, with some of the oldest vines in Chile dating back to 1912. Family values underpin the company culture and, as well as being the largest employer in San Fernando, used to supply all the town’s electricity.
We tasted five white wines and seven red wines. All were expressive and showed well, with typical New World up-front fruit but with a layer of elegance and restraint coming through in several of the wines.
My favourite white wine was the Casa Silva Cool Coast Sauvignon Blanc 2010. It had great vibrancy, was pungent with wonderful fruit. The final two reds were a cut above, with extra concentration, and better layered complexity, but with a price tag to match. My favourite other red was the Casa Silva Los Linques Gran Reserve 2009; it too had good complexity and will develop well with a little more bottle age.
We ended the tasting with two premium wines from Casa Silva, both excellent, the first more ready to drink now, the later with more ageing potential.
Casa Silva Microterroir Carmenère 2007. Great concentration, complex, with long finish. Ripe and smooth grainy tannic structure, with big powerful fruit, with overlay of chocolate, mocha, savoury and smokey. D Byrne & Co, Frank Stainton wines, £25
Altura 2005. More tannin evident here, with more structure, a wine for the long game. Black fruits, cinnamon, mocha, and clove. Very layered, elegant and complex. Great now but worth waiting for, I would venture. D Byrne & Co, Frank Stainton wines, £35
Thank you Wines of Chile, Casa Silva, and, especially, Johnny Bingham. I, like you, have finally got my breath back!
© Rob Price 2011
You can view the Casa Silva Harvest 2011 video here: watch-v=gKzhEbqjspo
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A Chilean, breath-taking wine tasting by
AWE tasting, 24th May 2010, presented by Anita Jackson and Johnny Bingham |
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I had just attended an exceptional Master of Wine seminar run by Gonzalez Byass on the role of yeast and oxygen in sherry-making so why bother go to another sherry event? Well, I knew this AWE event would have a different feel and tempo, being held at Bar Pepito in Kings Cross, and I would get the chance to try some fabulous sherries again.
Jeremy Rockett, marketing director for Gonzalez Byass, has a friendly and relaxed delivery. He took us through a range of 12 sherries: Tio Pepe Fino and the much talked about Tio Pepe En Rama Fino, two fascinating Amontillados, 2 Palo Cortados, 3 Olorosos and 2 unctuous Pedro Ximenez of different intensities. We also had a taste of the mosto before it becomes sherry. All this was followed by some delicious light tapas.
I had especially requested that we taste the mosto. I remember being taught at the WSET that the Palomino Fino grape produced a very neutral wine which was therefore suitable for fortification and to be made into sherry. I was therefore surprised at the MW seminar how aromatic the mosto is, with aromas and flavours of honey and overripe apples. This tallied with my experience of a dry PX from M&S I had recently tasted. It was equally aromatic and flavoursome.
Tio Pepe Tio Pepe is made from 3 soleras known by the initials A, B and C and comprising 30,000 barrels. Only the free-run juice is used for Fino, whereas the lightly pressed juice is used for Oloroso. A further pressing goes to make 'Le Panto' Brandy de Jerez - the only brandy which is distilled from Palomino.
Tio Pepe is also fermented at lower temperatures than other styles. The yeast comes from the grape skins and is initially anaerobic but as it floats to the top it becomes aerobic. It starts to consume vitamins, amino acids, proteins and glycerol making the wine taste drier. It was very interesting to compare the 2010 mosto: it tasted much richer and had almost off-dry impression.
If you look at the technical data (see table) it has 1.5g of residual sugar and 7.5 g/l glycerol while only 60 mg/l acetaldehyde. The finished Tio Pepe tasted much drier, more severe and the tanginess and flavours of sea salt and brine-soaked apples was emphasised. (Fino stats : < 1 rs, 0.5 g/l glycerol and 350 mg/l acetaldehyde).
Tio Pepe En Rama Now interestingly, the Tio Pepe En Rama had exactly the same statistics as the Tio Pepe but tasted completely different. The colour was a little deeper and more golden and there was an added dimension of a slight waft of honey, together with the sea salt notes on the nose. The texture was much richer as if there was more glycerol on the palate, although the technical details say that there isn't. There was also a slight softness, with honeyed flavours balancing the drier briney flavours. It was altogether a more interesting and complete wine and I scored it 95/100 whereas the standard Tio Pepe scored 88/100.
Jeremy told us that the term 'En Rama' has come to mean 'raw' or 'raw state' but its literal meaning is a twig covered in flor. The flor is thickest in spring and autumn and the wine is taken from the middle of the cask and put into stainless steel. The normal process for Tio Pepe would be to put it through a coarse filter, fine with bentonite, cold stabilise to remove tartrates then micro-filter and bottle using nitrogen; whereas Tio Pepe Fino En Rama has had no fining, no filtration and no clarification. This has a huge impact on the bottling line and the wine is more expensive to produce. Jeremy described it as 'Tio Pepe turbo-charged'. They have only made 350 dozen bottles this year and most appear to have been sold already. I can easily see why - it is so much more complete and complex in style.
Between the mosto (first wine tasted) and the Tio Pepe (2nd wine tasted) there are 4½ years of maturation. Looking at the technical details this corresponds to a reduction from 7.5 g/l to 0.5 g/l glycerol, a reduction from 1.5 g/l rs to less than 1.00 g/l rs and an increase in acetaldehyde from 60 mg/l to 350 mg/l.
Amontillados The tasting continued with and exciting pair of Amontillados and probably my highlight of the tasting which was the Del Duque 30 year old Amontillado - Amber with red-gold tones in appearance, very intense nose with rich treacle toffee, sultanas and brown sugar aromas and flavours (and an intriguing note of fish oil). Very, very long and tangy and incisive. 97/100
Once again if we look at the statistics, this one had the highest overall acetaldehyde but also 5 g/l rs, one of the higher acidities at 4.7 g/l and a glycerol of 1 g/l. I love the balance of this wine and the intricate play of aromas and flavours.
Palo Cortado The Amontillados were followed by three contrasting Palo Cortados. I was told by Miguel Valdespino many years ago that Palo Cortado was a naturally occurring accident with a wine that started life as a Fino but wanted to be an Oloroso. This is the style I have always sought and I believed it to be a genuine expression. However because of the prestige and cachet of the wine, not to mention the price tag, some producers seem to take liberties with the true Palo Cortado syle. For me, the Gonzalez Byass Apostoles falls into this category because it has some PX in it. It is a fabulous wine but I wish they wouldn't call it a Palo Cortado. Jeremy said there was a lot of discussion within the company about whether to change the name, as the brand name and quality were probably strong enough to exist on their own.
We were also given the rare privilege of tasting an extra wine kindly brought by Jeremy - a 1982 Palo Cortado. This rare 'vintage' sherry was from a special barrel and had had one filtration. It sells for £70 a bottle. This was exciting to taste but had a slightly lifted balsamic note as well as warm sultana and toffee aromas. It had the impression of being quite dry although technically it wasn't. Tangy, treacle toffee and burnt toffee flavours. Elegant, nervy with some almost Maderia-like flavours. Very interesting. 94/100
Having tasted an interesting trio of Olorosos in a range of styles, including the very-deservedly famous Matusalem 30 year old Oloroso Dulce (£16.49 - 37.5cl), we moved on to two amazingly unctuous and rich PX's - Nectar PX (£11.99) and Noe 30 year old PX £16.49 (37.5cl). Both were impressive wines and I gave them both above 90 marks with a 95 for the 30 year old.
I raised the question of putting the date of bottling on the Finos so that consumers would know how long the sherry had been kept on shelves. Jeremy said they were looking into this but of course there would be potentially huge issues if retailers and restaurants wanted to return old stock having failed to sell at the appropriate time. If there was a way to do this which offered Gonzalez Byass some protection I feel this would be a great initiative and a big step forward towards being able to enjoy sherry at its best.
Many thanks to Jeremy Rockett, Louise Bartholdi and all at Gonzalez Byass for an excellent and well-attended seminar, to Linda Simpson for organising it on behalf of the AWE and to the staff at Bar Pepito for some delicious tapas.
Photos & text © Susan Hulme MW 2011
P.S. Jeremy gave us an anecdotal way to determine the correct food pairing with sherry:
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AWE Sherry Seminar by
Wines tasted: Tio Pepe - Fino £9.99
Tio Pepe En Rama - Fino En Rama £11.99
Viña AB - Amontillado £11.99
Del Duque - 30 year old Amontillado £16.49 (37.5cl)
Leonor - Palo Cortado £11.99
Apostoles - 30 year old Palo Cortado £16.49 (37.5cl)
Alfonso - Oloroso Seco £11.99
Solera 1847 - Oloroso Dulce £11.99
Matusalem 30 year old Oloroso Dulce £16.49 (37.5cl)
Nectar - PX £11.99
Noe 30 year old PX £16.49 (37.5cl) |
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My first experience of Sake was much like many people’s: a carafe of hot rocket fuel served in a Japanese noodle restaurant, the sort of liquid you feel would be of more use as an infusion to clear sinuses than as a drink. After this inauspicious start, I stayed clear of it for a while. Sometime in 2006, though, I was finally persuaded to take a closer look.
Xavier Chapelou, a French sommelier with his Japanese wife, Kumiko Ohta, had been pursuing me for some months to join them in their mission (as I will call it) to bring higher quality Sake, served chilled, to a wider audience than it was then reaching, being found almost exclusively in Japanese restaurants.
It is on this subject that one of the first similarities between Sake and wine shows itself. In this context, I think we could compare Sake to the Riesling grape variety, in that, in the same way as English drinkers’ experience of what they thought was Riesling was often in fact cheap German plonk pushed out on the bottom shelves of supermarket selections, most people’s only experience of what they thought was Japanese Sake was of similar (often Chinese) cheap Sake to the one I was served, heated to mask its inadequacy.
Happily, this isn’t the only similarity, and things have moved on significantly since then. Sake is made from rice; specifically Sakamai, which is a hard grained rice, not good for eating, but well suited to Sake production. And yes, within the Sakamai family there are different varieties, akin to our grapes. The most widespread are Yamadanishiki, (32.6% of all Sake rice grown in Japan), Gohyakomangoku (29.6%), and Miyamanishiki (9.5%).
Flavour comparisons can be made with grape varieties, because we use the same vocabulary for Sake’s flavours, which can often resemble wine’s. For example, we might compare Yamadanishiki with Chardonnay, in that it often displays a buttery richness, and Gohyakomangoku with Sauvignon, with rather cleaner citrus freshness, although, just as in wine, the distinctions are often blurred by other factors such as production methods, as well as by the notion of regionality. I use this word rather than ‘terroir’, as I believe that Sake shows regionality, not terroir.
The comparison with grape production is compelling, as the latitudes of Japan go from about 45° in the North to 30° in the South. As you would expect, it is cooler in the North. However, one of the main differences between Sake flavours from different regions comes from the fact that in the cooler North, fermentations used to take longer because the cellars were naturally cooled, not because of much difference in the flavour of the rice the rice, which grows pretty equally in all latitudes.
One of the most interesting tastings I have been to since developing my interest in Sake was one presented by Kenichi Ohashi, Master of Sake, and WSET Diploma graduate, in 2008. Entitled ‘Many Brewers, Many Styles’, Kenichi tried to show the existence of regionality in Sake. Although we enjoyed a lovely selection of very different Sakes, and Kenichi presented a fascinating tasting, I do not think he was entirely successful.
The problem (as indeed it is in wine) is always of the difficulty of achieving a ‘fair test’, a notion dear to all of us from a scientific background. Variables such as type of rice planted, what polishing, length of fermentation, and indeed type of yeast used (which people are beginning to realise contributes significantly to the eventual taste, just as they have in wine production), are all difficult to keep the same, making the comparisons unfair. On that occasion, I think all these factors conspired against Kenichi.
Xavier (and others) have had some success in getting Sake out of its Japanese restaurant niche and into Western cuisines (Heston Blumenthal, Raymond Blanc, Gordon Ramsay, and most of the other big names are fans), but Japanese Sake has so far had very little impact in the off-trade in the UK.
The reason, I think, is because of Umami. My first tastings of Sake were always done on their own, unaided by food, and I must admit that, like most newcomers, I found it to be pleasant enough, but lacking in acidity, and somewhat flaccid and tasteless. For most people this is enough, and they revert back to Jack Daniels and Coke, or New Zealand Sauvignon, or whatever lights their fire. Most people, however, do not have the irrepressible Xavier after them, and after a while I started to detect the (small) differences between different Sakes.
It was the first time I tasted one with food, though, that I started to understand what the fuss was about. The ‘Umami boosting’ properties of Sake have been pretty well reported, but the startling effect is that suddenly the sushi you found slightly stodgy and bland on its own tastes more sweetly fresh and fragrant, and, significantly, the Sake with it acquires new aromas, and a rich savoury, complex, unctuous mouth feel. Unlike wine, where we usually combine or contrast flavours, with Sake, we boost them, and it is quite a revelation!
I now try to present Sake tastings only with food accompanying; converting people to the cause can sometimes be a tough sell, but food (any food, not just sushi) helps. The alcohol varies from about 14° to about 18° for most Sake, so the food also stops the audience getting too drunk!
© Gilbert Winfield 2011
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Japanese Sake, Terroir and Umami by |
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The Hungarian Trip was a triumph of organization by Laszlo Hesley of Mephisto Wine Merchants and his cousin Janni - not only did people arrive in Budapest from three different airports within minutes of each other, but we kept to time all through the trip - a first in my experience! Vivienne Franks judged the pace to perfection so there was time between visits to assimilate what we had learned and for our palates to recover.
After a superlative lunch at Bock’s Bistro in central Budapest (info@bockbistro.hu) we boarded the minibus and headed south, parallel with the Danube. There really is no substitute for seeing things for oneself. For years I have read about the Great Plain of Hungary and its loess soil but was quite unprepared for its extent - see photographs! Who eats all those sunflower seeds?? The villages are 3 Hungarian miles apart - 27 kilometres - which is the comfortable distance for transporting goods in a day by horse.
Takler It seems incredible that Loess (from the German for “loose”) is formed from ground-down fragments of once great mountains which have been washed out of a glacier in rushing rivers. The sediment was deposited in channels which dried out in winter as the rivers froze upstream. The wind then picked up the smaller particles and sculpted some of them into hills. Behind Takler’s new cellar a cut of at least 15 metres’ depth is exposed and it is this loess mixed with clay that is the soil of the vineyards around Szekszard (pronounced Sex-ard). After an excellent vineyard/winery tour with winemaker and owner Ferenc Takler and his son Andras followed by a very generous tasting we spent the night in Takler’s comfortable winery hotel.
Csaba Malatinszky
The next day we went further south to Villány (Vill-AN) which is just on the Croatian border. Here we were taken to see the vineyards of Csaba Malatinsky and saw for ourselves one of the reasons the wine from here is so different from that of Szekszard.
Here there is a limestone base and the soil is chalk mixed in with the loess and clay. Csaba is convinced the limestone influence shows in the character of the wines. Csaba, who used to be a sommelier, cooked us a truly delicious lunch using vegetables he had grown himself in his garden, which like his vineyards is organic.
Bock At Bock’s we were treated to a tasting with a difference - it was based on two different vineyard locations and led by Tamas Robert the Head Sommelier. Sipping (yes, I confess I drank it!) delicious rosé overlooking the Devil’s Valley as the sun was setting is a memory I will treasure.
We were also privileged to visit Bock’s family cellar set within the vineyards, which only happens three or four times a year. The cellar was seized under the Communist regime but Jozsef Bock has managed to buy it back.
A delicious dinner was served upon our return and Vivienne did a splendid job of translating Mr Bock’s comments made in German. He manfully stayed throughout the meal, but being on a strict diet was unable to sample the delights.
Nyakas After a luxurious night at the Bock winery hotel we set off again for Budapest, but as our flights were not until the afternoon Laszlo managed to arrange a final visit to the Nyakas winery in the Etyek-Buda region northwest of Budapest.
This impressive winery really does have all the bells and whistles - some of the machines and barrels so new they were still cling-wrapped. They even had a machine for washing the plastic containers into which the grapes are picked - no quick swill with the hose here!
Our guide was General Manager Peter Nagy whose perfect English and enthusiasm made the tasting especially rewarding.
The wines were very fresh and perfect for summer drinking - a real credit to winemaker Beata Nyúlnyé Pühra.
The Pinot Gris impressed many of us with a creaminess that came from a small percentage of malo-lactic fermentation.
We were returned to the airport with wonderful memories, fresh knowledge and several pounds heavier! If you are interested in trying any of the wines yourself www.mephistowines.co.uk has the full list. I know I speak for all on the trip in extending heartfelt thanks to Laszlo, Janni and Vivienne for such a successful visit.
Photos and text © Alison Moller 2011
The full report will be available on the AWE blog.
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AWE Hungary Trip 2011 by |
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Tim Hartley is Northern Chancellor for the UK of the Jurade de Saint Emilion, a brotherhood of Saint Emilion producers, customers and drinkers that can trace its roots to 1189. In the early days, Saint Emilion was actually a self-governing town, having its own jurisdiction governed by the Jurade. It collapsed during the French revolution and the Jurade was reformed as a ceremonial body after the second world war. It is probably best known now for the annual parades, of which the highlight is the Jurade procession to celebrate the Ban de Vendanges, held on the third weekend of September each year. Tim was pleased to point out that the famous red robes, seen on so many postcards, are made from English wool.
Depending on which book you read, there are between 17 and 21 different soil types in St Emilion, shared between around 1,200 growers, producing 1,000 wines from 5,200 hectares of vineyard. The boundaries are political and military, rather than based on viticultural terroir. If they were redrawn today on a viticultural basis, the satellite appellations would probably retain their appellation, but the case for some of the vineyards on the plains nearer the Dordogne might be weaker. However, the sheer diversity of the soils would make any revision a highly complicated process.
To qualify for Grand Cru status, wines are tasted twice, before and after élevage; up to 5% are rejected each year. Grand Cru Classé wines also have to be tasted but, in practice, are never rejected.
Tim brought a very well chosen selection of mature bottles of Saint Emilion. We started off with two 2005’s, Lanbersac and Piganeau – both were good, the former a touch more rustic and the latter more highly oaked and structured.
Next up were two 2001’s, a delicious mature Clos Trimoulet, that was balanced and fresh in a traditional (meaning positive notes of brett and mild underripeness!) style; paired with a Vieux Fortin, which had a real sense of class and has now been bought by neighbouring La Dominique.
There followed three 2004’s. Magnan la Gaffelière, now owned by Clos la Magdelaine, was fresh and balanced in a mid-bodied style. Mauvezin showed good fruit weight and freshness but was outshone by the Grand Cru Classé Laroze, which was youthful, beautifully balanced and high class.
Fonroque 1998 was an excellent example of the vintage, fragrant, elegant, still showing fine sweetness of fruit, at its best now. Finally Figeac 2001, a beautiful wine which balances good richness and sweetness of fruit with great freshness and precision – very fine, it will improve for at least another 10 years.
In real life, Tim is a barrister, so it is not surprising that he speaks with great authority. But he also showed tremendous personal knowledge of both the wines and the producers and spoke with huge enthusiasm for and love of the area. He is a most engaging speaker and a worthy ambassador for the wines of St Emilion.
© Richard Bampfield MW 2011
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Saint Emilion (AWE Event May 24th, 2011) by
Presented by Tim Hartley, Chancellor of Jurade de Saint Emilion
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Long Island Wines Tasting by
Long Island Facts:
New York State’s newest wine region at 40 years old.
Same latitude as Central Italy though the maritime influence of Long Island Sound, Peconic Bay and the Atlantic Ocean give it a cool Bordeaux-like climate.
Sandy loam and gravel soils and moderate climate with moderating influence of Long Island Sound, Peconic Bay Atlantic Ocean.
Best known for its red wines, typically Bordeaux blends known as ‘Meritage’ wines in the US.
Classic Bordeaux varieties – Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabermet Franc, Petit Verdot.
Whites: Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Grigio, Tocai Friulano, Gewurztraminer.
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In an inspired timetabling of two events in one day, on 15th June, the CWW and AWE managed to combine the tongue-coating pleasures of the NVV’s Cabernets in the morning with the palate-cleansing freshness of white Burgundies in the afternoon, all in the salubrious environment of The Naval Club. The Napa tasting will be reported elsewhere, so what follows are my comments on Richard Bampfield’s blind tasting of a selection of Albert Bichot’s white Burgundies.
For those of us who had attended the morning’s session, the mineral freshness of Bichot’s wines brought a welcome palate-freshening acidy to our tannins-laden tongues. The format of the tasting was of three flights of wines, the first with five wines from 2008 in a quality hierarchy, the second with four wines from 2007 from contrasting appellations in the Cote d’Or, the third a vertical tasting of a single cru.
The conclusion for me from the two first tastings was that Albert Bichot’s wines all show a fresh minerality, and a judicious oak use. I thought the lower appellations, particularly the Bourgogne Vieilles Vignes, and Saint-Romain, were excellent in view of the price points involved, compared to the higher ones. From the vertical tasting, my conclusion is that this acidity and modern winemaking produce wines which age slowly. Maybe this is why, in all cases, my estimation of vintage was too young.
I had planned to quickly research Maison Albert Bichot on the morning of the tasting, but didn’t quite manage it, which was perhaps a bad thing for my results in the blind tastings, but good for my openness of mind. For those that want to do so, their web address is: http://www.bourgogne-bichot.com/GB/index.php. As Richard rather wryly pointed out, though, it is rather complicated, rich in pages of Jewels in the Crown, and Epic Stories, and poor in technical detail. The wines told a better story, and many thank to Richard for a fun and informative, if slightly humbling tasting.
© Gilbert Winfield 2011
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White Burgundy Tasting by
Presented by Richard Bampfield MW at The Naval Club, 15th June 2011 |
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Kilchoman [kill-HOE-man] Distillery, which started production in December 2005, is the newest of the Islay distilleries but in some ways is the oldest. It is the only distillery supplied with water from the gneiss rocks of the Rhinns of Islay, some of the oldest rock in Britain at one thousand eight hundred million years (1.8 billion) and formed when this bit of Islay lay next to what is now Bolivia.
Also, unlike all the other present-day Islay distilleries, Kilchoman is modelled on how distilleries used to be set up, as part of a working farm. Approximately 30% of the barley used is grown on the farm from the short-stemmed Publican and Oxbridge strains; the remaining 70% come from the maltings at Port Ellen.
The farm-grown barley is malted and peated on site. It is first soaked for 3 days, in repeatedly changed water, when the moisture content will reach 45%. It is then laid out on the malting floor - in a thinner layer in the warmth of the summer (made thinner by some very fat sparrows!) - and is turned regularly to stop the culms (rootlets/shoots) from tangling.
During this period the enzyme cytase will break down the protective cellulose covering of the starch cells to allow the diastase to start converting the starch to dextrin and then maltose. Once the starch is turning to sugar the grains are kilned with a 6-inch depth of Islay peat for 10 hours which gives 10 - 20ppm of peat reek. The Port Ellen barley comes in at 50ppm. All the barley is milled to grist on site in a second-hand Porteus mill. The grist then goes to the stainless steel semi-lauter mash tun and has 3 waters. The first is 64°C; the second 80°C and the third, which is reused as the first for the next batch, is 90°C. The wort and Mauri Distillers yeast then goes into the 4 stainless steel washbacks. There is disagreement about wood versus stainless steel - the supporters of stainless steel pointing out the wort is only there for a short time and that they are easier to clean. The wood supporters think that 40 - 120 hours is a significant time and that the wood adds to the character. All do agree, however, that the length of fermentation and the clarity of the resultant wash are important factors in the qualities of the spirit:- the shorter the fermentation and the more turbid the wash, the more nutty and spicy the distillate. Kilchoman’s fermentation lasts 100 hours and so gives an elegant base to the final spirit. The washbacks at Kilchoman are not fitted with switch blades and so to stop the ferment “boiling over” the anti-foamer usually employed in the still is used - suspended on a rope at the critical height. The wash still, heated by steam coils, has a capacity of 3,230 litres and is charged at 3,000 litres. The high charge, small size, smooth shape with descending lyne arm allowing little reflux, make for a spicy low wine. The spirit still is also small - 2.070 litres and is as far as I know, the only ball design on Islay. The ball shape does give some reflux so the spirit has time to “chat” with the copper, but again the lyne arm is descending and so the resultant spirit is pungent. The still is charged to 1,600 litres and 300 litres are taken as the middle cut between 74/75°C and 65.5°C. The foreshot run time is short - 5 minutes - so the fruity, estery part of the distillate is captured. Local water is added to the plain spirit to reduce it to standard cask strength of 63.5% before being placed in barrel. 80% are first or second fill Bourbon barrels from Buffalo Trace (Kentucky) and 20% are fresh Oloroso sherry butts. Most are matured on site but a few go to other Islay distilleries because of lack of warehouse space. The importance of the water in the flavour and character of whisky is a hotly debated topic on the island, with some saying it has little bearing on the taste of the whisky while others argue that if the flavour compounds of the peat are carried over into the distillate then so are the chemical components of the water. Kilchoman has recently installed a small bottling line and so the whisky can be bottled on site, having been reduced to 46% - again with the local water - and without chill filtering. This makes Kilchoman a pure Islay product and this has been cleverly marketed as the “inaugural 100% Islay release” by managing director, Anthony Wills. I have yet to sample its delights having bought just one bottle for my tasting in October. I did try the slightly more widely available Winter 2010 release and much enjoyed the burly, rather fierce, style which has an appealing whiff of peat and a lick of honey. Production is small - just 12,000 cases but demand is very high and it is exported on allocation. One of the reasons Anthony decided to operate on Islay is that it already has a very strong global brand image and he has made Kilchoman a worthy addition. Photos and text © Alison Moller 2011
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Kilchoman Distillery by
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Lesbos is not chiefly known for its wines! It’s known for producing the best ouzo in Greece (there are many distilleries on the island), for its olive oil and olives (there are an estimated 12 million olive trees) and for a tradition of female love supposedly started by the ancient poetess Sappho who was born on Lesbos around 630 BC.
Lesbos was renowned in antiquity for its wine and it’s claimed that the island had the finest soil and climate for growing vines. The island’s wine was the most expensive in the markets of ancient Athens, Rome and Byzantine Constantinople and the only wine in the harems of the Turkish sultans.
According to Archestratos "Deipnologos" (4th century B.C.), an ancient writer and fanatic connoisseur, the wine of Lesbos was the best of antiquity when he wrote: "I can name and praise the wines produced in other cities and their names I do not forget. But none of them is compared to the wine of Lesbos."
Unfortunately, phylloxera killed all the vines on the island and wine-making on Lesbos died out, one reason why ouzo is now the drink of choice there. It was only in 1985 that the family of Dimitris Lambrou started replanting using buds from the last remaining vines of the island grafted on rootstock resistant to phylloxera. The ancient variety, known as ‘Lesvos’, was later identified and classified as unique through the use of DNA techniques. The Lambrou family established the first modern commercial winery, Methymneos, on the west of the island in the village of Chidera.
On a recent holiday at the family house on Lesbos, I discovered another commercial winery, ‘Dafnis and Chloe’, surprisingly only the second on the island considering that Lesbos is the 3rd largest of the Greek isles.
The soil on Lesbos is limestone in some parts and volcanic in others. Lesbos has a long volcanic history and on the western side of the island near the town of Sigri, is the remains of a petrified forest, testament to its turbulent geological history – here and Arizona are the only two places in the world where there are petrified trees still standing upright! Further evidence of the island’s volcanic past is provided by the numerous hot springs.
‘Dafni and Chloe’ winery was founded by Pantelis Paterelis who is a chemist by trade. Pantelis planted six hectares of vineyards in 2003/4 in two different locations – near the villages of Pappados and Megalochori. The vines are pruned on wires and there is no need to irrigate. Yields are around 10 hectolitres per hectare! Pantelis also buys grapes from contract growers. Lesbos is mountainous and because most vineyards are planted on hillsides there can be a significant difference in quality between vines situated just a hundred metres apart due to the slope and aspect to the sun.
So at harvest, Pantelis is there in the vineyard to make sure that he gets the cream of the crop from his growers! In 2008, Pantelis built a brand new winery on the outskirts of the main town Mitilini, and from the winery there are stunning views towards the old town, the Genoese castle and the azure blue Aegean Sea. The winery has all the latest equipment – a Vema destemmer, a Willmes pneumatic press, stainless steel fermentation tanks (the ones used for red wines have a larger door so that the skins can be easily removed). The winemaker, Maroussa Tsachaki, studied in Champagne and then worked at Trimbach in Alsace. She ferments the reds at 28-30 degrees for 7-10 days and uses pumping over for extraction of colour and tannin. Maroussa favours a gentle fining and filtration.
The first vintage for ‘Dafni and Chloe’ was 2009 when they produced 30,000 bottles.
It was a very good vintage but in contrast 2010 was difficult due to the extreme heat; the harvest was 2 weeks earlier than in 2009.
Maroussa pointed out that Greek wines are often made to go with a wide variety of foods. Unlike in France or Italy where a meal may see a different wine accompanying a number of courses, in Greece food tends to be served ‘meze style’ i.e. fish, meat and vegetarian dishes are served all together. So Greek reds need to be more versatile.
Anyone on for an AWE study trip to research the wines and ouzos of Lesbos? There’s room at the house for 12 people!
Photos and text © Christos Ioannou 2011
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Wines from Lesbos by
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In May I was fortunate to be invited to Croatia for two days. Not long enough to visit the wine producing areas, but fortunately a healthy selection of wines and winemakers was brought to me!
© Richard Bampfield MW 2011
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Croatian Wines by
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A lot of people had told me about Essencia do Vinho being one of the best wine fairs in Oporto, perhaps even in Portugal, where the who’s who of Portuguese wine would be, so I was delighted to be invited by Vini Portugal to attend and to follow it with a tour of the Beiras region.
We arrived late in the day and spent 3 memorable hours with a brilliant Chryseia Vertical Tasting from 2001 to 2008, conducted by Bruno Prats and Charles Symington. Bruno Prats is the legendary owner of Chateau Cos D´Estournel who created Chryseia (Greek for Gold) in a joint venture with the Symington family, owners of Graham’s, Dow’s and Warre’s amongst other Port houses.
Day 2 After a superb tour of Oporto, which included tasting the famous Pasteis de Nata, we then joined the ViniPortugal team at Quarente4 restaurant with Sogrape Vinhos de Portugal. After a 6 course lunch, we were ready to head to the fair and taste some more wine. The main tasting of the day was the Portuguese Rare Wines Tasting with Domingos Soares Franco, David Guimaraens and Ricardo Diogo.
The wines were arranged in two flights.
These wines have stood the test of time and showed me the reason to keep searching for good quality wines.
In the evening we dined at DOP restaurant with João Portugal Ramos and José Maria Soares Franco. The food was prepared at the end of our table; the detail and precision which went into the presentation of each dish was extremely impressive. We tasted a range of dishes from prawns to monkfish, from partridge to chocolate pudding; for me, it was possibly the best restaurant experience of the whole trip.
We then moved onto our next stop, another small producer Quinta do Perdigão in the Silgueiros region of Northern Portugal, 356 metres above the River Dão.
José Perdigão took us on a tour and tasting. The estate vineyard occupies 7 hectares of vines planted in a North/South orientation, but has a dense plantation of 5,000 vines per hectare on granitic sandy soil. Touriga Nacional, Tinta Roriz, Jaen, and Alfrocheiro Preto are the main varieties planted. No herbicides are used. The estate had its first green harvesting in July. The main harvest is done manually in September with each variety being picked separately. Grapes are transported in perforated crates of 40 pounds each, and then sorted on the cellar's grape table before stalk removal and a controlled fermentation in stainless steel tanks. After 4 weeks, the grapes are then aged in Allier oak. They produce 21,000 litres of red, 5500 litres of rosé and 4,500 litres of white. José is an architect and is updating the vineyard and farmhouse, which will be fabulous when finished.
The final producer visit of the day to the Julia Kemper project. These wines are not available in the UK yet but this may soon change. The family produces just 2 wines; it is a project for them rather than a business. The wine estate has been in the Kember family for around 400 years, but a few years ago Julia, who is a solicitor by trade, replanted the estate, adding everything, with no expense being spared, from a state-of-the-art drip feed irrigation system to replacement stone terraces in the vineyard; from new plantings of Jaen, Touriga Nacional, Tinto Roriz and Alfrucherio to rebuilding the derelict winery with modern stainless steel tanks and expensive pressing equipment, all temperature controlled. The two wines were excellent; Julia Kemper Branco 2009 (a 50/50 blend of Malvasia Fina and Encruzado) and Julia Kemper Tinto 2009 (Touriga Nacional plus 15% Tinta Roriz, 15% Alfrucheiro and 10% Jaen.)
Our final day of the tour on Sunday and we had another 3 producers to visit, so we didn’t have time to waste.
We set off for a tasting and Lunch at Paço dos Cunhas de Santar, Dão Sul, where we enjoyed sparkling wine from the estate on the terrace in blazing sunshine - life doesn’t get much better than this. The large farmhouse has stood here for hundreds of years producing olive oil, fruit and wine for the local markets. During lunch we enjoyed an ‘express’ tasting with a wide selection of wines to enjoy as the owner was running late returning from the local wine show, Essencia do Vinho.
Aliança winery was the next visit with an impressive underground museum that holds the largest collection of art in Portugal; you could spend a few hours just visiting this. Founded in 1927, Aliança is one of the largest producers in Portugal and began with an alliance of 11 partners, hence the name. They now have over 600 hectares spread around five regions with other estates in the Douro and Alentejo regions. The best selling wine by far is Casal Mendes but it also has some premium estates including Quinta dos Quatro and Quinta das Bacelades, most of these wines being approachable and modern.
Our final visit, and the one I was looking forward to the most, was to the Baga Friends tasting; a group formed to stop the decline of this grape in Bairrada and indeed to start promoting it. A lot of growers were abandoning Baga at an alarming rate and much of it was from very good vineyards, so 8 growers from the region - Mario Sergio (Quinta das Bageiras), Luis Pato, Sidonio de Sousa, Palace do Bussaco, Kompassus, François Chasans, Dirk Niepoort and Filipa Pato - decided to show off the grape in various good quality terroirs.
The mini-tasting with these producers showed off the very best you can do with the Baga grape including an impressive Traditional Method rosé from Filipa Pato and a sweet Baga that her father Luis Pato makes. Baga (the name means 'berry') grapes are dark, small and thick-skinned with high tannins. They need a lot of attention in the vineyard as they produce plenty of foliage. Baga likes clay soils and is a late ripener, needing lots of sunshine as it is susceptible to rot. Like other famous hard-to-grow grapes like Pinot Noir, when it is good it can be very good and it can make a great number of different styles of wines, red and sweet, even sparkling as it has a high level of acidity. A large proportion of the blend of Mateus Rosé is Baga. The evening ended with dinner with the producers with traditional food including suckling pig that was amazing.
It was a great experience and I am indebted to Vini Portugal for the opportunity to taste some excellent wines and to meet some of the country’s most illustrious wine-makers.
Photos and text © Paul Quinn 2011
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Essencia do Vinho by |
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AWEsome Wine The Co-operative Fairtrade Malbec Argentine Reserva 2010 (13.5%) £6.99
Not a complex wine but very enjoyable and well-balanced. Dark core, purple rim typical of a young wine. Sweet, heady, spicy nose of plums, ripe black cherries and molasses.
On the palate, there are very attractive contrasting flavours of sweet black cherry, raisins and bitter plum skins. with a light grip of plum skin tannins and just enough refreshing acidity to add freshness. On the finish there are some dark liquorice flavours and some dry-edged tannins.
This is a real Goldilocks of a wine - it's just the right size, not too big or alcoholic or too jammy or simple - just right. It's not contrived, not overpowering, just a gentle, enjoyable, well-balanced wine. It's become our house wine this summer so far.
© Susan Hulme MW 2011
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The Co-operative Fairtrade Malbec Argentine Reserva 2010 by |
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AWEsome Wine Petaluma Riesling 2009, Clare Valley, Australia - £10.99 Waitrose
Dry, youthful, with vivid flavours of lime & grapefruit, underpinned by racy acidity. Riesling’s purity of fruit really shines through here. A great ‘food wine’, to try with fish with braised fennel, Thai satay, green Thai curry, or Chinese dishes.
© Neil Courtier 2011
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Petaluma Riesling 2009, Clare Valley by |
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AWEsome Fact
As you are no doubt very aware, the harvest this year will be early due to the warm weather in April which precipitated the flowering much sooner than is usual.
But did you know that early flowering also leads to fewer ripening days? Instead of the usual 100 days from flowering to picking, winemakers can sometimes be picking after only 80!
I was told this by Veuve Clicquot Winemaker and Communications Manager, Cyril Brun who said on 25th June, that if the weather continues they way they expect, the picking could begin on 15th August this year. © Laura Clay 2011
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Early harvest by |
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Please update your Directory of Members with the following changes:
New members:
Richard Bost 5 Mabel Road, Hextable, Swanley, Kent, BR8 7SH Tel: 01322 668141 Fax: 01322 668141 Mobile:07906 867529 Email:Richard.bost@talk21.com
Hugo Read 83 Pemberton Road, London N4 1AY Mobile: 08967 381 279 Email: hugo@viavino.co.uk Websites: www.hugoread.com and www.viavino.co.uk
Mika Vanne Winesense ltd, Korpikallio 15A, FI-02300 Espoo Finland Tel: +358 50 5420316 Mobile: +358 50 5420316 Email: mika@winesense.fi , twitter: @MikaVanne Website: www.winesense.fi
Rob Price Birmingham Wine School, Eagles, Chapel Row, Cropredy, OX17 1NS Tel:01295 679313 Mobile:07785 22 66 97 Email: Rob_price@btinternet.com Website: www.birminghamwineschool.com
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Anyone interested in becoming a member of the AWE should contact our membership secretary Alison Moller: Email - molleralison@yahoo.co.uk Tel: 07783 723728 Address: Little Mead, Langley Lower Green, Saffron Walden, Essex CB11 4SB
Prospective members should hold the WSET Diploma or equivalent.
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AWE Inspiring News
Editor: Susan Hulme MW Sub-editor: Laura Clay Many thanks to Laura and all of our contributors.
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Today I went to a tasting with a bit of a difference in that it featured only wines from Long Island. It’s fascinating to think of vineyards just two hours from New York City and having been on a brillant tour of the Finger Lakes wine region last July in upstate New York it was good to add to the picture of New York State wines by focusing on those from Long Island.
New York is home to five official wine regions, each with its own unique climate, scenery and character. These are Hudson River, Finger Lakes, Niagara Escarpment, Lake Erie and the Long Island region. Long Island is described as ‘a laid-back maritime haven blessed with sunshine, sea and a long growing season’.
At the city of Riverhead, Long Island splits into two forks, separated by Great Peconic Bay. Most of the wineries (67 bonded) are located on the north fork, with the remaining four on the south fork, better known as the Hamptons.
The event was organised by Sue Chambers of Wine Equals , an independent online wine merchant for five wineries:
*Paumanok
*The Lenz Winery
*McCall Wines (North Fork AVA)
*Channing Daughters (Hamptons AVA)
*Wölffer Estate (Hamptons AVA)
Sue is based in the UK and lives in Richmond, Surrey. There were 32 wines representing these five wineries at the tasting, held outside under a marquee in Sue’s garden.
Below is my pick of the best wines. Of the reds, my star wine was the Paumanok Petit Verdot Apollo Drive 2007 in magnum. The wine comes from a plot of land called Apollo Drive. - Dark ruby core, blue-toned, youthful blue rim. Sweet blackcurrant and spice notes, very clean and thankfully no green, herbaceous elements on the nose. A bit more weight and texture on the palate but not a big wine – more of an infectiously lively wine with very good juicy acidity, and dark old fashioned liqourice flavours. Like an elegant Bordeaux in a classic cooler year. Good structure. 91/100
Photos and text © Susan Hulme MW 2011
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