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| Alpha Estate | □ | Susan Hulme MW | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cognac | □ | Anthony Stockbridge | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| □ | Karen Hardwick | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| □ | Linda Simpson | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| □ | Wendy Narby | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| □ | Wink Lorch | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| □ | Quentin Sadler | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| □ | Ian Harris | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| □ | Nina Cerullo | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Richard Bampfield MW and Laura Clay | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| □ | Wendy Narby | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| □ | Carolyn Bosworth-Davies | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| □ | Quentin Sadler | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wine Relief | □ | Laura Clay | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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I write this midway through an exciting 9 days judging at the International Wine Challenge, bringing one into contact with approximately 13000 wines from all over the world. It reminds me of what I see as one of the most important roles of the wine educator - to evaluate wines and wine quality fairly and with an open-minded approach.
As wine educators, we have the freedom to be completely unbiased in our assessments and to champion the unusual, the quirky and the characterful when deserved. This is what makes the subject of wine so exciting and worthy of study. This week I have tasted Japanese and Romanian wines (amongst many others), so an article on Koshu wines and Carolyn Bosworth-Davies' Romanian trip report are particularly interesting and help put the wines into a wider context.
Our role as evaluators also extends beyond the wines themselves. Wendy Narby looks at the 1855 Bordeaux classification and examines its place in today's wine market while Wink Lorch makes a return visit to South Africa after 10 years and gives a fascinating overview of the changes in their wine industry.
As ever, the variety of topics we cover in the newsletter is always surprising - from Cognac to Mauritian Rum, from Greek to Portuguese wines, as well as our usual round-up of seminars, trips, book reviews and Internet sites - there is always something new to learn and to pass on to the public. National Wine Month could be just the time to do this.
As wine educators it is also good to be doing our bit to help others in a wider social context. Initiatives such as Wine Relief, the Felton Road sale of wines in aid of the Christchurch Earthquake Appeal and the forthcoming IWC Sake tasting to support Japanese producers suffering the effects of the tsunami are all putting an informed enjoyment of wine to good use.
© Susan Hulme MW 2011
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Editorial by |
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At a Cercle Rive Droite tasting in London in mid-March, many people (in fact, rather too many for the size of venue!) had an opportunity to acquaint themselves with the Bordeaux 2010 vintage. Over the last 6 months, the Bordelais have been falling over themselves trying not to hype the vintage, but it has been obvious that they are very excited. And now it is becoming clear why.
Wines with generous fruit, great freshness (significantly higher acidity levels than 2009), firm but ripe tannins and a seemingly lovely natural balance. They should accommodate new oak ageing well and do look immensely promising.
The interesting point is the alcohol levels. Admittedly all these wines were from the right bank, where one expects the Merlot-based wines to achieve naturally higher alcohol levels than in the Medoc. So it was not surprising to find alcohol levels routinely between 14% and 15%. What was surprising was how well and naturally the wines seemed to carry the alcohol. Words like heavy or hot did not appear in my notes once.
Clearly I am easily seduced by the Bordelais, even without the hype! All the same, I would recommend that AWE members taste these wines as soon as they get the chance. Remember that not all primeur offers are priced at Lafite levels and the sort of wine-involved people that constitute much of the AWE audience are sure to be interested.
At the M & S tasting in the same week, I found myself tasting the Italian and Spanish wines new to the range. Many of these were young reds from the 2009 and 2010 vintages. On the plus side, M & S had done an excellent job of preparing the tank / barrel samples for the tasting – no sign of the excess CO2 and reduction that can sometimes bedevil such wines.
However, they did set me thinking about what sort of wines the public are now used to buying and drinking. The majority of these wines show very fresh, primary fruit characters – just the sort of characters that are often more expressive of grape rather than of origin and, at the most basic level, just expressive of young wines. This is not in itself a bad thing, especially as the quality and value of the wines were both excellent.
It did make me realise that the public may well lose the taste and appetite for more mature red wines if they are increasingly less exposed to them. This would be a shame, in my view, and clearly the AWE has an important role to play in ensuring that the diversity of the wine world is constantly championed.
Please do all you can to attend the AWE AGM on Friday May 20th. It is the most important event in the AWE calendar, it will be fun and it is vital that we achieve a quorum of at least a third of the membership attending.
© Richard Bampfield MW 2011
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Chairman’s Column by |
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After three days tasting at the very well organised 11th Thessaloniki International Wine Competition I was keen to get outside the hotel, albeit the very comfortable and smart Hyatt Regency, to see some landscapes, some vineyards and even some wineries. I had been invited to visit the Alpha Estate winery in Northern Greece.
Alpha Estate is in Florio, in Macedonia to be more precise, up near the border with Albania, Macedonia (FYROM) and Bulgaria and it is a mountainous, high-altitude area so we were told to expect snow. In fact the previous Monday it had been minus 3o C! Snow was not something I had planned for when I imagined my trip to Greece in early spring.
Coolest wine region As we drove away from Thessalonika, west, towards the snow-covered mountains I couldn't help thinking how un-typical this image of Greece was. It was so different from the scorching, sun drenched beaches of the Greek islands.
Yet Greece can be cooler than you think. Not only is Alpha Estate, in the wine region of Amyndeon, the coolest vine-growing region in Greece, but the wines are pretty exciting too as they produce the best Xynomavro I tasted during my stay there. As a region, Amyndeon is well known for its dry reds and rosé as well as sparkling wine made from this native Greek black variety. In fact it is one mountain range further north-west from its more famous neighbour, the Naoussa wine appellation, whose wines are also made from this tannic black grape variety. Yet Amyndeon is the region attracting the attention with some of the best winemakers on a quest for cool climatic conditions.
Terroir This is partly because of Amyndeon’s situation on a high plateau where vineyards then rise from 1,870 feet to nearly 2,500 feet. This means that even in summer, when the temperature may get as high as 32o C during the hottest days, the night-time temperature will drop to 15o, allowing phenolic ripening to take place and allowing for greater finesse in the wines. In winter the temperature can get as low as minus 3o C but the average is 3-5o above zero.
Alpha Estate's own vineyard mesoclimate is modified by the proximity of two nearby lakes and three mountain ranges (Mts Voras, Vitzi and Vermion) which surround it (pictured above). Mount Vermion to the east cuts off any influence from the Aegean, leaving the Mediterranean climate on the other side while creating a continental one here.
A love of Tannat As for attracting some of the best winemakers, I was driven to the winery by one of its two owners, Angelos Iatridis (pictured right). Angelos has an impressive CV; having studied chemistry then oenology in Greece, he went on to study oenology in Bordeaux and then make wines in Pauillac, Alsace, Champagne, and the Rhône Valley, while also making a pit stop in Madiran, at Château Montus.
It was here that he developed a long standing passion for Tannat which he also grows at Alpha. He then came back to Greece and ran a consulting winemaking company advising and making wine for many well-known Greek wineries all over Greece. This gave him the opportunity to experience many different environments across Greece for some years before choosing to set up his own winery here at Alpha with business partner and viticulturist Makis Mavridis in 1997.
Coaxing the best out of Xynomavro Having tasted quite a few flights of wines made from Xynomavro in the Thessaloniki International Wine Challenge I understood it was a tricky grape to handle. While some wines had been very good, many had overly drying, hard-edged tannins, while others covered any potential faults with some residual sugar and were highly alcoholic, with overripe fruit and heady, Amarone-like qualities.
However, I felt it was a very characterful grape variety with great potential, so who better to ask than Angelos what Xynomavro needs to get the best out of it. He replied that it needed very careful handling to avoid extracting hard tannins from the pips and seeds.
At Alpha they use rotary fermenters (pictured left) with a special grid to help remove the pips and to avoid the harsher tannins. He also felt terroir was important as Xynomavro is a vigorous variety, so a low vigour soil helps to reduce this. The topsoil is sandy (the area used to be a lake) so is low in vigour while the subsoil is clay and limestone (like so many other famous vineyards in the world) so this helps slow down the natural vigour of the variety. The yield also needs to be kept low. Angelos wants to make sure that the late-ripening Xynomavro ripens that little bit earlier and so he keeps to 5 tons per ha and practices green harvesting. This means he can harvest by the end of September or early October as opposed to the end of October.
Whatever he is doing he must be doing something right because the Xynomavro I tasted at Alpha had a most seductive, quite fleshy texture and the variety's famous tannins were powerful without being coarse or rustic. Tasting these wines, I had one of those little moments of epiphany and illumination and I suddenly understood what this variety was capable of achieving - but more of the wines later.
The nature of the terroir is extreme and challenging. In order to give the vines a chance of survival, irrigation is essential and Alpha use an underground drip irrigation system to control the supply accurately, avoiding evaporation and wastage in the summer. I don't remember coming across an underground system like this before.
Attention to detail Normally most high quality wineries are very similar. Our tour around the winery was kept suitably brief but very informative, with Angelos focusing on points of difference with the sort of alacrity of an experienced winemaker who has visited and overseen many wineries himself.
All this amounts to an impressive attention to detail which I have rarely seen to the same level. In their wine lab they also have a special piece of equipment invented in Denmark which can analyse 20 different parameters of grapes, must or wine within two hours, instead of the 2 days it would take to send a sample off to an outside lab and get the results back. It can also identify, years down the line, if a wine is the same as when it left the winery. I envisaged it might spawn a wine detective agency or two in the future but perhaps I am letting my over-active imagination get carried away with images of complex wine intrigues - a sort of Billionaire’s Vinegar meets the Da Vinci Code. Anyway, the possibilities sound intriguing, but from a practical point of view at vintage time and in variable climatic conditions, it must be invaluable.
Model tasting We then proceeded to the tasting room and the tasting which showed the same laser-like precision in organisational skills and had been immaculately set up to show 16 wines. I expressed an audible sigh of pleasure and murmured ‘Oh thank you God’ for a tasting that had been set up correctly, with great care and attention to detail.
That is to say 16 glasses for 16 wines, the name of the wine and vintage next to the glass, all the technical details you could wish for on each wine in an easy-to-read but brief notes booklet, individual spittoons and silence during the tasting. Too often there is someone talking, telling you what you should be tasting. Wow! This alone was something special but then some of the wines were real benchmarks and outstanding in their own right too. All were at least good but below are a selection of some of the best...
Wines tasted
Axia 2007, red, Regional Wine of Florina, Xynomavro 60%, Syrah 40%, 14% vol., total acidity 6.5 g/l, residual sugar, 2.8 g/l, pH 3.39. One of their simpler regional wines but nonetheless very good. Very sweet cherries & spice notes on nose; palate contrasts strongly with interesting savoury, minerally flavours and softly rounded tannins, best texture of tannins for Xynomavro so far but even better to come later in the tasting. Warm, juicy finish. 89/100
Alpha Xynomavro 2007 red, V.Q.P.R.D. Amyndeon Hedgehog ,Xynomavro 100%, 14% vol., total acidity 6.7 g/l, residual sugar 3.0 g/l, pH 3.38. On nose, very ripe notes, seductive. Lovely rich sweet cherry and dried roses. Much more angular structure – salty, savoury, minerally flavours, not as rich as on the nose, quite contrasting. Very compact, firm chalky-textured tannins. Barolo-like but more intense. No harsh or bitterness to tannins. 92/100
Alpha Xynomavro 2007 red, V.Q.P.R.D. Amyndeon Reserve Old Vines, Xynomavro 100%, 86 year old vines, 14% vol., total acidity 6.4 g/l, residual sugar 3.0 g/l, pH 3.52. Most intriguing nose of sun-dried tomatoes. Some blackfruits. On standing, sun-dried tomatoes become more intense . Muted sweetness initially and some herb-like, sage-like spice. Very smooth round initial attack, plump and round on mid palate. Very firm tannins but chalky-textured not bitter or harsh. Savoury dried tomato flavours – less perfumed. 93/100 (I was curious about the sun-dried tomato aromas which I found on this wine but not the others so asked what viticultural conditions especially encourage this aroma and was told very hot vintages followed by very cool nights)
Alpha Xynomavro 2008 red, V.Q.P.R.D. Amyndeon Reserve Old Vines, Xynomavro 100%, 14% vol., total acidity 6.6 g/l, residual sugar 3.4 g/l. pH 3.42. 2008 – Bit peppery on nose, becoming rubbery then followed by light medicinal/quinine and herb-like notes. On standing, more aromatic. sweet spice, sun-dried tomatoes. Lighter weight, more acidity on palate but good begininng, middle and end, with herbal, quinine note, but balanced by sweet fruit. Chalky tannins with a long finish but smoky burnt oak flavours are bit too dominant. It is more angular but with attractive freshness and accessibility. overall impression is more accessible now.88/100
Alpha Pinot Noir 2008 red, Regional Wine of Florina, Pinot Noir 100%, 14.5% vol., total acidity 6.5 g/l, residual sugar 2.9 g/l, pH 3.39. This was my least favourite of the reds but I know it has been praised by some accomplished wine critics. Typical Pinot Noir appearance, light, mid-ruby, wider garnet rim. Nose has some light red fruits but also dried herbs, cloves, cinammon, fennel, sage. On the palate there is some sweet red fruit but more structured, minerally, salty and savoury flavours and firm grippy tannins. Robust structure, lacks the fragrance, delicacy and silkiness of the very best Pinot Noir. More like some of the Xynomavro characteristics. Perhaps a question of uncompromising terroir dominating the varietal typicity 84/100
Alpha Estate 2007 red, Regional Wine of Florina, Syrah 60%, Xynomavro 20%, Merlot 20%, 14.5% vol., total acidity 6.2 g/l, residual sugar 3.3 g/l, pH 3.53. Very dark, almost black core, narrow magenta rim, on the nose less fragrant with smoky, dark fruit, blackcurrant aromas. Very soft, round and smooth initial attack, good mid-weight plus palate, lots of smoky, tarry notes too, powerful tannins but not harsh, very powerful wine though. Only detracted a little by over-dominant burnt, smoky oak notes. 90/100
Alpha Estate 2008 red, Regional Wine of Florina, Syrah 60%, Xynomavro 20%, Merlot 20%, 14.5% vol., total acidity 6.1 g/l, residual sugar 3.5 g/l, pH 3.57. Will be released 2012. Very deep, dark core though not opaque. Nose more open, fruity, sweet cherry, on standing becomes clove-like, more accessible nose. Dark, smoky, bitter chocolate flavours but a bit less extracted feel to this wine, gentler touch. I prefer the balance of this wine, the lightness of touch and freshness. Tannins still firm but fine-textured. Smoke, creamy, bitter chocolate flavours linger. 93/100
Alpha One 2006 red, Tannat, Regional Wine of Florina, Tannat 100%, 14.5% vol., total acidity 6.1 g/l, residual sugar 3.1 g/l, pH 3.46. Inky core, magenta rim, very powerful nose, not fruity. Marmite, black smoke, medicinal nose powerful but unforthcoming at present. On the palate, smooth, weighty, voluptuous initial attack with savoury, Marmite, beefy, iodine, black olive flavours, a bit Northern Rhône-like. The most seductive, melting texture with great velvety-textured tannins, powerful blockbuster wine, long and smoky finish. The star of the show for me but a close run to some of the Xynomavro blends. Fantastic wine. 94/100
Ωmega 2008, white, Regional Wine of Florina, Gewürztraminer 85%, Malagouzia 15%, 11.5% vol., total acidity 6.2 g/l, residual sugar 181.6.1 g/l, pH 3.29. Pale lemon, green-toned. Aromatic rose petal nose, softly honeyed and fragrant, honeysuckle, very nice balance between sweetness and acidity and bitter flavours. Very bright, clean and pure. Great purity. 90/100.
Thank you to Angelos Iatridis and Kostas Arvanitakis at Alpha Estate for their hospitality.
Photos & text © Susan Hulme MW 2011
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A for Alpha by
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With night temperatures of –10 ºC and six inches of snow covering the ground in the UK, it was a relief to attend the first International BNIC Cognac Educator programme in the Charente region where the temperature was a balmy 2º and rain fell without respite. We were a group of thirteen educators from four countries, Britain, France, Germany and the United States, gathered at the Hotel Valois during the afternoon of Sunday 5th December.
Remy Martin Hardly had we recovered our breath when we were whisked off to Remy Martin for our first visit. There, we were regally hosted by Dominiqe Jousson, brand ambassador, who told us of the family history. The company was founded in 1724 by a young winegrower, Remy Martin, since when 5 generations have run the business, which remains in the ownership of the founding family.
One of the ‘Big Four’, since 1948 Remy Martin has made its cognac exclusively from ugni blanc grown in the Grande Champagne and Petit Champagne crus and produces 80% of the total Fine Champagne Cognac output of the region. They own 250 ha. of vines and distil the wine from them like any other grower but this only makes 3% of their total requirement. The rest is supplied by some 1,200 grower/distillers working under contract and Remy Martin quality control supervision.
This is one of the houses that distil the wine on the lees. This is a potentially costly process because there is a risk that the solid matter will burn on the bottom of the still and give an unacceptable taint to the eau-de-vie. It would have to be discarded, thereby interrupting the process while the equipment is cooled and cleaned before the next batch. The up-side is that this technique results in a greater level of higher fractions in the brouillis.
BNIC tutorials Monday morning started with a leisurely hundred yard walk from the hotel to BNIC building and a series of tutorials at the Bureau National Interprofessionnel du Cognac; First, Jérôme Durand, Marketing and Communications Director outlined the history and responsibilities of BNIC, details of the regions production and marketing statistics.
Crucial Cognac spirit is crucial to the economy of the region, providing employment for a labour force of 18,000 workers including 5081 growers of whom 1,500 distil their wine. A total of 278 negociants blend and age eau-de-vie and market branded cognacs of which the ‘Big Four’, Courvoisier, Remy Martin, Hennessy and Martell produce more than 80%.
Volatile Production and export graphs clearly showed the volatile nature of the market for this luxury product where their fortunes accurately reflect the global economy. The French home market has fallen to a paltry 3.3% whereas the emerging economies of the Far East, and wealthy Chinese especially account for 29.9% and rising.
New Philosophy ‘New brooms’ who have arrived at BNIC over recent years have swept away the stuffy, reverent approach to their product and replaced it with a philosophy that embraces every manner in which it may be consumed: Neat, with dry ginger, on the rocks, cocktails: “It doesn’t matter what the market does with the product, as long as they drink more of it”.
This was followed by a tasting with Cognac ambassador, David Boileau, then a fascinating presentation of the organic chemistry behind the aromas of cognac.
December is a poor time to visit wine regions in northern Europe but from then until the end of March, it is the perfect time to visit Cognac. It is then that the charentais alembics simmer away night and day, converting wine into eau-de-vie.
Ugni Blanc Although there is still a little colombard and folle blanche to be found, over 90% of the grapes used to make the wine are ugni blanc. It is hardy, resistant to moulds, high in acidity and low in potential alcohol (8 – 10%) - just what is required for distillation. Sulphur cannot be used to stabilise the low strength wine and it would appear as an unpleasant taste when distilled so the eau-de-vie must be made before the wines oxidise. For this reason it needs to be converted into eau-de-vie as soon as possible and the appellation regulations stipulate that no distillation may be done after midnight on the 31st March after the harvest.
Year One The colourless eau-de-vie is then filled into new Tronçais or Limousin casks where it will stay for a year. It is interesting to note that Hennessy buy 15 to 12 thousand new casks each year. During this period, the spirit first dissolves the wood’s extractable substances and acquires a golden yellow colour. There is then a transitory period of hydrolysis when the spirit ‘digests the wood’. At the end of the year, these young eau-de-vies are delivered to a cognac producer. Like race horses who all celebrate their birthday on the first of January, cognacs reach the age of one year (Compte 1), twelve months after the end of the distillation period in which they were made.
Oak Ageing Finally, the last stage in producing a cognac is ageing in oak casks and it is here that the producers of cognac draw on generations of experience to produce a product that will reflect the style and quality expected of the brand. To do this the master blender and chef de chais will exploit the many variables at his or her disposal.
Blending Each of the batches of eau-de-vie arriving from the distillers will have its own characteristics depending on the crus (Grande Champagne, Petite Champagne, Borderies, Fins Bois, Bons Bois or Bois Ordinares), temperature curves during distillation, percentage of heads and tails added to the wine or brouillis and the type of oak and level of toasting. Blending will be done little by little over the coming years and, especially for VS and VSOP which may be sold when it reaches Compte 2 and 4 respectively, distilled or demineralised water will be added to reduce the strength to a minimum of 40%.
Development During this extended period, the maker will monitor the progress of the spirit and has some degree of control over its development. Hennessy talk of four categories of cask; they are ‘New’ in their first year, ‘Not so New’ in the following four years, ‘Old’ between 5 and 10 years and beyond that, are referred to as ‘Very Old’. Casks may be used until the show signs of imminent destruction. Another variable is the humidity of the chais. Many of these storage facilities may be found along the banks of the Charente where the casks lie in naturally humid conditions. Here, evaporation will be slow, the spirit mellows and the colour darkens. At Cognac Frapin, we learnt that there are occasions when the chef de chais will move casks up to the upper floor, beneath the tiled roof where, in the height of summer it is hot and dry. Under these conditions the rate of evaporation is fast and the spirit becomes concentrated.
Prestige Prestige cognacs such as XO minimum Compte 6 (but Compte 10 from 2016), Napoleon and Hors d’Âge may be aged for 50 or more years in casks and reduce to 40% be natural means. Not only does water evaporate from the cask but also alcohol at a rate of around 3 % per year, which feeds the black fungus (torula compniacensis richon) which grows on the walls, ceilings and roofs of the ageing chais. This, with the water loss, accounts for some 20 million bottles each year and is referred to a ‘the Angels’ Share’ and contributes to the high prices paid for Cognac.
Courvoisier Our next appointment was with Cognac Courvoisier where, after a splendid lunch in the old family dining room, and a visit to the museum with its Napoleon memorabilia, we tasted the Courvoisier range:
Ferrand It was dusk by the time we arrived at Cognac Ferrand where Alexandre Gabriel, its President treated us to a guided tour of his cellars where we tasted a 1933 Grande Champagne from the ‘paradis’ where old cognacs are stored in glass demijohns. It might be worth a reminder that it is generally considered that cognacs gain nothing from being in oak casks longer than 50 years so they are then transferred into glass where all development ceases. The dark, cool corner of the cellar where these are stored is called le Paradis.
Cognac with food Alexandre and his charming wife hosted a relaxed dinner in the family dining room of their home and each course was accompanied by a fine cognac.
Revelation We were invited to take our unfinished glass back to the hotel with us and nose it again the following morning. It is not my habit to sip cognac at seven in the morning but, on this occasion, it proved a revelation. The cognac was displaying new complex aromas that has been absent the previous evening.
Hennessy Tuesday started with a visit to Hennessy where Cyrille Gautier Auriol, Brand Ambassador, invited us to take a short ferry ride to the chais, across the Charente from the main building. It was here that we started to learn of the subtleties that differentiate one house style from another. Eau-de-vie from their 1700 or so contracted grower/distillers will have been aged in new casks of Tronçais or Limousin oak for about a year before it is received by the company. From this point, it is evaluated by the tasting committee who then decide on the future of this batch. Perhaps it is a good product, which will be blended to make a Very Special (VS) cognac or it might display characteristics that suggest the potential to be developed into a Very Superior Old Pale (VSOP) or Extra Old (XO) in which it will be aged and blended with other and older eau-de-vies.
Assessment It was Renaud de Gironde of the Hennessy tasting committee who introduced us to the technique of assessing cognacs. We were guided through a range of spirits from a spirituous, infantile eau-de-vie of twelve months to an elegant, silky forty-year-old mature cognac and he helped us to identify the principle aromas found at each stage of its development.
Tonnellerie Taransaud The next visit was to Tonnellerie Taransaud where we had the complexities of cask production explained to us. Tronçais and Limousin logs are split along the grain and cut into planks (merrains), which are aged in the open air for three years to get rid of sap and the wood’s bitter flavours. They are then shaped to form the staves to be made into waterproof casks, held together with steel hoops without the need for glue or nails. There we saw casks destined, not only for the makers of cognac but also to winemakers in every other part of France and the rest of the world.
Frapin Our last visit was to Cognac Frapin where our genial hosts were the President, Jean-Pierre Cointreau, Wilfred Schuman, export director and Patrice Piveteau, vineyard director. We were conducted into a Dickensian museum-like room where, one could imagine that Scrooge had only recently laid down his quill pen and left after his day’s work. A deep layer of dust coated every surface and ancient artefact.
© Anthony Stockbridge 2010
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BNIC Cognac Educators’ Course 5th to 8th Dec 2010 by |
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A flight with Ryanair can be a bit of a distress purchase at times, so when I received the email informing me that my Nimes to Liverpool had been rescheduled to leave at 6p.m. rather than midday on Bastille Day I was less than impressed.
The year before I had arrived in Tuscany on Ferragusto (August 16th just in case you are planning to go) to find my only option to eat was a motorway service station as everything else was closed for a national holiday. Images of hanging around the airport in the searing heat, and living on vending machine coffee to make up the down time between our 10 a.m. checkout and the flight came to mind.
‘You could go to the Bastille Day wine festival in Vacqueras’ suggested our host, anxious not to seem too eager to get us out of her hair, but clearly needing to do all the work associated with changeover day. Airport lounge vs quaint Provencal village - it was no contest.
Excitement We parted with our 42 euros per ticket and waved off our driver with strict instructions to be back by 4p.m. or we would miss the flight. As soon as we got out of the car we could sense the excitement in the air. The faint sound of a band playing Volare, the smell of lamb and herbs roasting, the buzz of happy voices in a myriad of languages told us that this was going to be good.
Organisation We turned the corner into the town square assured that we would be able to find our table. But which table? At a rough estimate there were 1200 place settings on long trestle tables decorated with Provencal flags and grape vines. In a feat of incredible organisation each place had the name of the guest chalked on; and so as a group of 8 we split the task and soon found our place under the shade of a huge plane tree.
Transformed With 30 minutes until lunch we had just enough time to explore the rest of the village which had been transformed into a vineous tour of France, with signposts directing us to Sancerre, Condrieu, Chablis, Cote Rotie et all. Kiosks with vignerons in party mood lined the cobbled streets, all eager to let us try their wines. If you hadn’t booked for lunch you could still stock up on pâté and terrines, cheese and baguettes from neighbouring stalls. A quick glass of Clairette de Die was the perfect aperitif before making our way back to our table for the main event.
Flag-waving Greetings were exchanged - Natalie from Denmark on my right, Carlos from Spain next to her, Laura from Leeds on my left. The band fired up and we took our lead from those who had clearly been here before: first on our feet, then on our chairs waving our flags as the Confrai de Vacqueras marched around the square resplendent in their ermine-trimmed robes waving bottles of wine. Following them an army of helpers in their Fête du Vin t-shirts followed and swiftly melted into the crowd to pour our first glass of wine to match our roast vegetable galette which was to be our starter.
Outstanding A delicious white Vacqueras with a fillet of Sea Bass swiftly followed; the service, presentation and quality was outstanding. We paused en masse to thank the chef before the next band. ‘This must be an American band' Natalie declared as the first bar of Mustang Sally fired up. ‘Frenchmen can’t sing like this’. There was just enough time for a bit of a dance before our main course of roast lamb and canellini beans accompanied by a cheeky bottle of red which was perfectly chilled.
By now time was marching on and the airport loomed. Determined to squeeze every minute from the fabulous day we managed a cheese course, a karaoke-style sing along to the band and another glass of wine before we had to sacrifice dessert lest we miss our flight.
Fireworks On the way back to the car we noticed the stage being set on the outskirts of the village for the evening festivities and firework display. My husband pretty much summed it up for our group of 40 and 50 year olds as ‘the first party he’s been to in years when he had to leave before he wanted to’.
Great food, great company, fabulous music, good wine, gorgeous weather and the type of street party we can only dream about in our cool climate.
Thank you Ryanair, if you could just arrange for the flight to be delayed same time next year we would really appreciate it.
© Karen Hardwick 2011
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 La Fête en Provence by |
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This was a very well attended event with all places taken up and a brilliant start to the 2011 tasting and seminar programme. AWE members who attended were given a rare glimpse into the unique history and workings of The Wine Society.
Ewan Murray (pictured right) explained the history of the Society. It was established in 1874 after the last of the great Victorian industrial exhibitions. The Society was created, and still operates, as a co-operative with each member owning one share. The founding members' aim, as now, was to buy wines direct from growers to ensure their authenticity and quality and to offer them to members at fair prices. The Society grew gradually and by 1965 was operating out of three separate cellars in London, one under the Palladium, one under London Bridge and one at Rotherhithe. In 1965, the society moved to Stevenage where all the operations have since been concentrated.
After more than 130 years, The Society continues to be owned solely by its (approximately) 105,000 active members) and trades only with them. It is a typical medium-sized business with 190 staff and a £70 - £71 million turnover. The site and land at Stevenage is wholly owned by the Society, they do not owe any money to banks and they see their main competition as being Waitrose and Majestic.
The Wine Tasting Following the introduction, members enjoyed a free pour tasting of 20 wines from the Society’s ‘Exhibition range’ . The Exhibition range is slightly more expensive than the Society range and aims to provide wines produced by the world’s best winemakers, carefully selected to be flagship examples of the most interesting vineyards worldwide. Producers can leave their own foils on the neck of the bottle. The range is constantly monitored and updated and if a new vintage does not meet the exacting standard, the wine is withdrawn.
The Tour A buffet lunch was followed by a fascinating behind the scenes tour of the premises.
The purpose-built, temperature-controlled facility is used to store stock and members' wines in optimum conditions. Forklift trucks are used to move the wines around as required, two of which were made especially for the warehouse facility and had to be constructed and finished inside the warehouse.
We were able to see the picking facility, a kind of rail track for boxes to be moved around before being delivered by the Society’s own drivers and vans. Deliveries are made within 7 days of receiving an order and there is a next-day service also.
We must give a big thank you to Ewan for a really interesting visit and tasting. Thanks also to Victoria at Dillon Morrall and AWE member Carolyn Bosworth-Davies who planted the seed for the visit!
AWE Offer Don’t forget to take advantage of the exclusive AWE Wine Society offer. A fantastic 20% discount on wines used for educational purposes for AWE members who are also members of the Wine Society.
If you have not yet taken up the offer, please do call the Wine Society for membership details. Tel: 01438 740222. www.thewinesociety.com
Text © Linda Simpson 2011 Photos © Brett Jones 2011
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AWE Wine Society Visit and tasting by
Friday 4th Feb. 2011 Hosted by Ewan Murray, head of tastings, events and PR and accompanied by two of the buying team – Pierre Mansour and Mark Buckenham.
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With the primeur tasting once again upon us, the focus will of course be on the Classified Growths of Bordeaux, with the usual mix of praise for the quality (2010 is once again looking like a great vintage) and criticism for the prices, as well as, without doubt, painting all of Bordeaux with the same brush, forgetting that as fabulous as these growths are, as important as their role is for the notoriety of Bordeaux, they represent less than 2% of total Bordeaux wine production in volume. One of the criticisms often made of the Bordeaux classification is the fact that the classified growths of the Médoc in 1855 have the right to buy up surrounding land and that this is immediately transformed from basic appellation to classified growth status.
Historical document Effectively in 1855 it was the properties of the Médoc appellations that were classified rather than the terroir. It was a market classification based uniquely on a price hierarchy established by the Bordeaux brokers over a period of 150 years and was never destined to be a definitive document. This means therefore, that the properties keep their classification despite any change in landholdings they may make. Obviously this is often open to criticism, especially in the competitive and much more-informed market wines sell in today. However, the 1855 classification should be considered as an historical document based on the market evaluation at the time. Now as then, the market is a more accurate reflection of current quality performance, a result of both terroir and wine- making skill, not forgetting marketing. Then, also as now, it was the larger landholders, often with great trade connections that established recognition for their brands in the 18th and 19th century that was reflected in the price of the growths. However, the properties cannot do whatever they like with their landholdings. Firstly the land included in any Grand Cru Classé must come from the same appellation.
Market forces The real test of these classifications is brought into question every year during the tastings of the primeurs. The properties do not act in a vacuum but are subjected to market pressure following the tastings. This can clearly be seen with some examples of properties that perform well above, and occasionally below, their 1855 status and are judged as such by the trade, their market price being a reflection of this. Take for example, the 'Super Second' properties deemed as performing above their status. Château Palmer, classified as a 3rd growth in 1855, is systematically sold at a price point right behind the 1st growths, Château Lynch Bages is a 5th growth with a price point of 2nd growths. Another example is Château Lascombes, a 2nd growth of Margaux that underperformed for many years, but sold its wines at a very affordable price point. Since its takeover in 2001, the market agrees that the wines have dramatically increased in quality, are now at a similar quality level to other second growths, and this is reflected by the increased price on the market.
Initiative Also interesting to note is that the properties that have increased in size have also increased their production of second and even third wines. Latour is an excellent example of this; Château Latour 1er Grand Cru Classé is only produced from the Enclos, the traditional property, whereas the Les Forts de Latour and the 'Pauillac' of Latour come from land outside the original holding, more recently purchased by the estate. However, this blend of land holdings for the different wines is not an obligation but entirely the initiative of the producer to self regulate, based on the plot selection of each vintage.
Marketing The 1855 classification remains one of the greatest marketing operations in the history of wine making as these properties remain to this day some of the best internationally known wines, but as with most things in the wine world, memorising the classification is not enough to really understand the quality hierarchy of Bordeaux. If so, wine educators like me would be out of a job!
© Wendy Narby 2011
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The primeurs are upon us by |
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In November 2000, AWE members visited South Africa, organised and sponsored by SAWIS, the official wine body that spawned WOSA – Wines of South Africa. We enjoyed a 10-day comprehensive trip, for most people their first time there; I had visited on a short trip in 1997 and a couple of others had also visited before. Ten years on, in January I joined a one-week Circle of Wine Writers (CWW) trip sponsored by WOSA, my first visit to South Africa since the AWE trip. Here are some thoughts about the changes and developments ten years on.
To begin, a few points of reference. I have the impression that wineries in South Africa are now inundated with both amateur and professional groups visiting them, not something that was so common ten years ago. On our CWW trip we had many (too many) group tastings and only a few specific single winery/vineyard visits. Even at our regional group tastings we were rarely given an introduction to the region; combined with the fact that no-one from WOSA actually accompanied us during the week, I felt we learnt a lot less than we could have done, in that way it was frustrating. Not having kept up well with South Africa in the past five years since I stopped delivering WSET Diploma lectures, to write this overview, I’ve needed to use not only my current notes and those from ten years ago, but also to do quite a lot of post-trip research to make some sense of it all.
The Vineyards And Varieties
Total planted area is up only around 10% over the past decade. However, although it was already on course to do so ten years ago, it’s perhaps worth emphasizing that the varietal mix in South Africa has changed dramatically with, according to official statistics, 56% white plantings in 2009 compared to 71% in 1999 – but currently this trend is slowly reversing with more whites being planted than reds. Though still with the greatest plantings, the dominance of Chenin Blanc has continued to weaken, from 27% in 1999 to 18% of total (red and white) plantings in 2009.
Colombard is second, followed by Sauvignon Blanc, considered the most important quality white variety with 9.3% (interestingly, now half the Chenin quantity), then Chardonnay at 8.3%. For reds, Cabernet Sauvignon remains out front with 12.3% up from 7.5%, and the no. 2 red is Shiraz with 9.9% up from 3.7%. Merlot is number three and the 4th most planted red variety Pinotage (Why, oh why, do I still read in so many places that it is South Africa’s most planted red variety?) remains largely unchanged with 6.2% in 1999 and 6.0% in 2009. Note though that the most dramatic changes were between 1999 and 2002. What this does mean is that average vine age for the top varieties is increasing, which may well be one factor leading to better quality.
Organics On the 2000 trip we heard about organic experimentation at Backsberg, and at at Sonop Wine Farm (now organic it seems) we heard that sustainable farming was one of their priorities. It was Eben Sadie, then at Charles Back’s Spice Route, who spoke most about organics stating “you must farm organically – to be a better person, not to have a bigger back label”. He also talked about biodynamics, stating that it was impossible for the size of Spice Route to go in that direction, however now with his own Sadie Family Wines he farms biodynamically, though is not certified.
On this trip there were fewer organic producers than I had expected. Yet, one of the most interesting visits (though with just 10 minutes spent in their tiny winery and no time at all in a vineyard) was to Scali in the Voor Paaderberg Ward on the north-western edge of Paarl, going towards Swartland.
We were told that this newly designated ward, although technically part of Paarl, has a terroir more like Swartland with shale and granite soils and afternoon winds coming in from the south-west. Scali started making wine in 1999 and is in full conversion to organics, with 25% certified this year.
With 70 hectares but only making wine themselves from 12ha, fifth generation owners, Willie and Tania de Wahl want to “get the farm back to a natural state” though they do not want to make more wine than they do, so that they can keep the current small cellar (which has a capacity of 20,000 bottles) and keep it a family business.
The biggest challenge of going organic, Willie said, is financial, with production levels reducing and with the challenge to control downy mildew (which appears once every few years).
Willie was determined to make the change after noticing that each year he had to use more volumes of chemicals as a resistance was building up in the vines. The three wines we tasted a white blend (70% Chenin with Chardonnay and Viognier), a Pinotage and a Syrah were amongst the most exciting wines I tried that week.
We also visited Boekenhoutskloof in Franschhoek, making a name for itself and on the way to organic certification, plus buying in Fairtrade fruit whenever possible.
After the CWW trip was over, Brett and I enjoyed a tasting with Johan Reyneke of Reyneke wines, the first producer to work biodynamically in South Africa and still the only one certified biodynamic, he claims. We had a fascinating, brief visit with Johann, who originally studied philosophy (perfect background to explain biodynamics?). I asked him why we had encountered a certain negativity amongst the wine community towards organics in South Africa. He gave three reasons: 1) People are frightened due to the economics – frightened of losing their farm. Margins are very small and the economy tough, 2) People don’t change easily in this area and 3) The research institute at Stellenbosch University is sponsored by Bayer! However, more positively, he believes that consumer pressure is leading to wider change. Seek out his wines, by the way, available from SA Wines Online – we were very impressed.
The Chenin Blanc Association Memorably, on our 2000 visit with Eben Sadie, who made wonderful bush vine Chenin for Spice Route even then, he stated that “95% of Chenin Blanc is crap”, but then, the reality was that there was a lot of Chenin Blanc about. That same year, the Chenin Blanc Association was founded to create a quality image for the variety, and education for the growers (reducing yields a priority) and makers of this variety, and the AWE group was treated to an evening talk and tasting. We tasted eight wines and Keith Grainger in wrote in the trip report “the views of the members on the wines were as diverse as the wines shown”. My notes indicate a tasting that was not only varied in styles but in quality too. Leap forward ten years and this, now established, association presented CWW members with a tasting followed by an excellent dinner at one of their award-winning member wineries – Kleine Zalze (who also happen to have an award-winning restaurant).
Bruwer Rats explained that today the Association continues to focus on education for its 70 members and with South Africa producing more Chenin than anyone else in the world (around 50% compared to the Loire’s 25%) they are looking to champion the variety worldwide. He pointed out that in France the variety is not even named on the label!
They have begun an active campaign to prevent farmers uprooting old vines, considering them as ‘national treasures’. The wines were even more diverse, but there was a real, dramatic improvement in quality, looking at my notes, which was born out in tasting Chenin throughout the trip.
Really interesting wines are being produced, with oak often a feature, but they seem to have learnt to handle it to really enhance, not detract from the wines’ intrinsic flavours. Their website gives a breakdown of different Chenin styles produced, though they hope to make this categorisation simpler in future.
Pinotage A certain amount of controversy and disagreement continues with this variety. Whereas ten years ago, the talk was about whether it should be the ‘signature’ red of South Africa and what minimum should be required to declare a wine to be a ‘Cape Blend’, these controversies seemed to have settled down somewhat with parties agreeing to disagree. In their place comes the ‘espresso Pinotage’ controversy, referring to the many coffee or even cappuccino-like flavours that appear in certain ‘bigger’ Pinotage wines, especially some favoured by Robert Parker and his followers. Several winemakers were at pains to tell us on this trip that they did not want to make these award-winning styles that often required winery techniques that they were not prepared to use – they preferred to make lighter styles. The jury was certainly still out on this one.
Wineries and Winemaking Developments in the wineries and winemaking/maturation processes used in South Africa seem to be in-line with changes generally, especially in the New World. More use of large old or brand new wooden oak fermenters, less new oak for maturation (quite a lot of 500-600l barrels in evidence too) and an often declared reduction or even zero use of must/ wine acidifications. Interesting in my 10-year old notes, I find that a couple of people talk about ‘natural winemaking’ – this was long before the current, sometimes extreme, trend and use of the ‘natural’ word.
Notably, we saw a new batch of 600L French concrete egg fermenters in Boukenhoutskloof’s cellar. We learnt that they cost 33,000 Rand (compared to 8,000 Rand for a 225L barrel). They can of course be used over and over again, unlike a barrel. They have great temperature control and the shape gives “constant movement”, among other advantages, possibly adding weight to some whites. (These eggs are very in vogue amongst biodynamic producers worldwide).
Regions In 2,000 we visited the relatively up-and-coming Darling region, already being used as a source of good Sauvignons and said to have great potential for reds, quite possibly now fulfilled. This time we visited nearby Voor Paaderberg (see above) and had a group tasting with wineries from the now established, very trendy Swartland – all these regions are continuing to make waves.
Sadly we did not on this year’s trip visit any of the more far flung new, up-and-coming coastal areas, but we did end our trip with a very complete presentation and group tasting with the Elgin producers, who have grown hugely in number in the past ten years though all are relatively small producers.
Although it was a scorching day, tasting the wines we were convinced by the fact that this was an area delivering some of South Africa’s coolest climate wines, with some seriously interesting Pinot Noirs, along with their Chardonnays and Sauvignons.
Robertson, in 2000, was being hailed by our hosts as having great potential for reds – I never believed it at the time, even though I valued highly their whites and sparkling wines. Ten years later, on the basis of a group tasting, I think my assessment was right, with a few honourable exceptions, Robertson still does better with whites.
Some of the best wines we tasted back in 2000 were of course from Stellenbosch, Constantia and pockets of Paarl, and the same can be said of this trip ten years later. I’m not going to dwell on the classic wines except to say that overall quality is certainly higher than before, especially for Sauvignon in the whites and for Shiraz and for Cabernet blends in the reds, and that should be no surprise.
Marketing Perhaps the biggest change and improvement in ten years, is in marketing, whether it concerns labelling, pricing, communication or tourism. Despite South African wine prices in general not having gone up dramatically in the UK, cellar door prices in South Africa are significantly more expensive ten years later as they should be, especially for well-known, famous or cult wines.
I have a note of Klein Constantia’s Vin de Constance half bottle costing 110 Rand back in 2000; in 2011 it was about three times that amount – I don’t have the exact price noted.
There were very few winery restaurants in 2000 and now, many wineries boast them, with several being listed amongst the top restaurants in South Africa. We were fortunate to be treated to fabulous meals at several of these.
Greater confidence Overall I felt there was a greater confidence in the quality and overall wine package South Africa can offer even if economic times are tough there as everywhere. Wine tourism is hugely important not only in terms of cellar door sales, and income through the restaurants, tours etc., but also in terms of general PR both with visiting South African tourists from elsewhere in the country and with foreign tourists. Stellenbosch has very well established wine tourism routes and the small region of Constantia is notable too.
Social Issues In 2000 we saw few black faces on our winery visits. However, we had a fascinating visit to the Swiss-owned SONOP wine farm, where the brand Winds of Change was produced (today this seems to be under the African Terroir label). We learned about a social initiative that gave the workers a stake in the vineyard and winery with the opportunity to own their own homes and become self-sufficient. I am sad to report that ten years later, we saw equally few black faces in the wineries or at tastings, although occasionally housing conditions and education for winery workers was mentioned in passing. On my return I was able to read one of the many books WOSA gave us to take back (actually, they kindly sent them on for us). The book named Ithemba published by WOSA in 2009 describes “what has been achieved since democracy”. It details Black Empowerment projects and individual examples and achievements of blacks and people of colour in the wine industry, and its message was indeed uplifting.
Summary I was surprised that the industry had not changed more in the ten years, but maybe it was the nature of the specific visit we had. I would certainly say that it changed less in these ten years than it did in the three years between my first visit in 1997 and my second with AWE in 2000. However, there is certainly an overall better standard of wine emerging from South Africa, a more cohesive message and perhaps what I could describe as a more confident attitude. However, perhaps, due in part to situations beyond the wine industry’s control, I do get the feeling the industry remains somewhat apart from the rest of the world, and left behind in some ways too.
Thank you to WOSA and all the wineries that participated in this trip. Circle of Wine Writers members will find full reports of this trip in the March and May (not yet published) 2011 issues of Circle Update.
© Wink Lorch 2011
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Until quite recently my only experience of Japanese wine was the sort of vague notion that it existed, but I had never seen any for sale, let alone tried one. All that changed when one of my students gave me a bottle as a gift. The wine was Rubaiyat Koshu Sur Lie 2007, Marufuji Winery, Katsunuma, Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan.
Tasting it was an exciting voyage of discovery as I had absolutely no idea what it would be like – I had never even heard of the Koshu grape before.
Delicate I can sum the wine up in one word – delicate.The colour was amazingly pale with just enough viscosity to ensure that I couldn’t mistake it for water - it actually resembled the syrup in a can of fruit. The aroma was very subtle, fresh and gentle with hints of pear and just a waft of aromatics in the background - like a tinned fruit salad. The palate was surprisingly tasty compared to the nose and had a gently succulent texture, but it was light in flavour – still very fresh with the merest suggestion of pear and melon.
Fruit flavours Quite low acidity made it feel soft in the mouth, not flabby, but decidedly not crisp either, although it was dry. The flavours were all of fruit or fruit juice, it was almost impossible to believe it was wine with 12.5% alcohol, it tasted so like a pear and melon juice blend. There was a touch of an ‘ash-like’ taste in the mouth which I took to be the complexity of lees ageing; this was the only characteristic not directly fruit-like. The finish was pretty long, leaving a melon-like flavour lingering in the mouth.
Of all the wines that I have ever tasted this was the most like fruit; it was as though the fermentation process had left the raw materials untouched.
Tricky This was not a bad wine by any means, just very interestingly different and hard to taste – I suspect many people would like its delicacy with sushi, although personally I prefer more acidity. It was a well-made wine, clean and bright, but to me it lacked character and I had to taste more examples to be able to put it into context. I found it tricky to award a score to this wine as I found it hard to appreciate, but could find no fault with it, so scored it 85/100.
Yamanashi Prefecture Region The Marufuji Winery is situated in the major concentration of vineyards and wineries in Katsunuma, Yamanashi Prefecture just north of Mount Fuji. Grapes have been grown here for centuries, indeed the Koshu grape was brought to Japan from the Middle East, via China and the Silk Route as long ago as the eighth century and records show it has been grown since 1592. However, for most of that time it has been an eating grape, which is hardly surprising as it is sweet with low acid and a pretty pink skin.
Wine production only really got going from the late nineteenth century when Japan started opening up to European and American influences. Even today, less than 10% of grape production is for wine and the great majority of this is hardy hybrid varieties that can cope with the humid climate.
Signature Grape Koshu has been produced as a single varietal only for the last ten years or so when it was thought that this could be the signature grape for the whole industry. There is now a promotional body - Koshu of Japan - and recently they held a tasting in London where Jancis Robinson hosted a Koshu seminar.
The Yamanashi Prefecture, some 30 miles or so from Tokyo, is a pretty wet and humid area and traditionally the grapes are grown on pergola systems to give them a little protection and allowing free movement of air to limit rot, but, in keeping with modern practices, Vertical Shoot Position trellis systems are beginning to be widely used. There are only 80 wineries in the region so far and the most of them are tiny and measure their output in bottles rather than barrels or cases, but together they account for some 95% of Japan’s 480 hectare (1200 acres) Koshu production.
So important has Koshu become as a signature grape for the region, that when, in 2005, the city of Enzan and the village of Yamato merged with the wine town of Katsunuma, all in the Yamanashi Prefecture, the name for the new city became Kōshū.
Presentation During Jancis’s presentation, we were fortunate enough to try a range of Koshus which allowed me to get a better understanding and appreciation of the grape. They were all interesting, but, as you might expect, some were more successful than others. Stand out experiences were:
2009 Lumiere Petillant This delicately pink Charmat method sparkler was almost like a Pinot Grigio Ramato to look at as a lovely delicate but enticing hue had been extracted from the skins.This wine looked great and I had hoped for great things, but, on this showing at least, sparkling is not Koshu’s forte and they should keep it white as the bitter phenolics from the skins seem to destroy the balance. Perhaps it could have used a little more sweetness too – 82/100 points.
2010 Soryu KoshuSoryu Winery This water white wine had just enough fat on the palate to make it interesting, which together with complexity from lees ageing and a fresh seam of acidity running all the way through to the finish, made for a balanced and pure wine - 89/100 points. 2010 Rubaiyat Koshu My second Koshu from the Marufuji Winery was very interesting indeed. It was extremely delicate, but was also beautifully balanced with a long elegant finish and everything in harmony - 90/100 points. 2009 Grace Private Reserve Koshu
At first I was quite repelled by this. I could tell that it was not corked, but it was so musky it almost smelled as though it were! Attractive flavours of citrus and apricot together with a slightly fleshy texture, a long finish and high acidity following through to the end keeping it all balanced, clean and pure with a slightly fleshy texture, managed to make me love it in the end – 90/100 points.
2009 Grace Misawa Vineyard VSP Koshu (pictured left) Interestingly the same producer’s Koshu grown on a Vertical Shoot Position trellis was much more assertive and rich – as forceful as such a delicate wine can be! Good texture, high acidity on the finish keeping it very mineral and pure - 92/100 points.
2009 Suntory Tomi no oka – barrel fermented Koshu (pictured right) Most people at the tasting did not like what the oak did to this Koshu, likening it to oaky Riesling; I disagreed with them. I enjoyed the weight it gave and the richer cream-soda-like characters. For me, it was very pleasurable with surprisingly high acidity giving a lively apricot-like finish - 91/100 points.
The Koshu-ness of Koshu What makes Koshu so interesting is the sheer delicacy of it. Wines made from this grape seem to hint at characters, flavours and aromas, rather than offer fully-formed points of reference. It is this very subtlety that Jancis Robinson MW described as the ’the Koshu-ness of Koshu’.
Purity This is not a grape that would suit drinkers who want big wines, but the flavours and the inherent subtlety do seem to feel very Japanese and to suit the cuisine very well indeed. In some respects, the wines appear to have much in common with fine Muscadet, Txakolí or Galician whites, but they are less crisp and more subtle than those and tend towards lower alcohol too. Purity seems to be something I found myself writing again and again and it is a quality I really appreciate in a wine. Normally though I associate it with minerality, which was harder to find in Koshu.
Koshu is all about subtlety and elegance and if you want to try something very different with some fine fish, the sort of meal where the quality of the ingredients is more important than how they are cooked – then Koshu could be the perfect wine to try.
© Quentin Sadler 2011
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The Koshu-ness of Koshu by |
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National Wine Month was conceived at a meeting which I co-hosted in May 2010 with 25 key individuals representing companies from all sectors of the wine industry. All these companies were facing the same issues of falling (or non-existent) margins, and wine consumers were generally given no reason to experiment within the wine category or to move outside their ‘comfort zone’ of heavily discounted wines in the retail sector, or house wines in the on-premise sector.
Whilst there are some notable exceptions, many companies felt that an industry-wide initiative aimed at ‘engaging the consumer’ might be a step in the right direction to try to give consumers a reason to spend a little bit more, and therefore to inject some much-needed margin into the supply chain.
Opportunity Two days after this meeting, it became clear to me that only one organisation in the UK would be able to get what had started as a ‘good idea’ off the ground – and this was WSET. As a not-for-profit organisation providing education and qualifications for the UK industry, we had already had good relations with all sectors of the industry, and although everyone shied away from the word ‘education’ in the initial discussions, it was clear to me that education could play a big part in helping to achieve the stated objectives of National Wine Month. The choice of May 2011 was a natural – it gave us enough time to get the industry galvanised, whilst being soon enough to avoid the idea ‘going cold’- and the UK is swamped with winemakers etc who come over for the London Wine Fair, so plenty of opportunity for companies to use this resource to come up with events/ideas to ‘engage the consumer’ under the ‘Make Time for Wine’ umbrella.
Enthusiasm vs Negativity …………..and so we set about the task of pulling together an industry-wide initiative, against a background of enthusiasm in some quarters, but scepticism, ‘doubting Thomases’ and even negativity from some people (who will remain nameless!) By September, we had appointed a PR agency, assembled an Advisory Board, and started the process of getting ‘support’ – both moral and financial – from the industry. WSET put its money where its mouth is, by funding 25% of the central PR budget, and by the middle of January, the funding of the entire budget had been secured and the trade website: www.nationalwinemonth.org had been launched. Please have a look at the site - especially the ‘education’ page – it explains very clearly what National Wine Month is all about, and how you can get involved.
No cost The key element of the initiative is that there is NO COST to any company (or educator) to undertake activities which will be publicised on the consumer website, in the traditional media of print, radio and TV, and in the media of social networking. The consumer proposition is MAKE TIME FOR WINE, and the consumer website; www.maketimeforwine.org went live on 28th March, so start planning what YOU can do NOW!
Initiatives As well as driving this initiative and making a significant financial contribution, WSET has also thrown itself head-first into the development of educational initiatives during May 2011, with a month-long programme of events at our London Wine & Spirit School in Bermondsey St, a nationwide programme of tastings and events aimed at the consumer being run by many of our Approved Programme Providers across the country, and a ‘Make Time for Wine’ on-line course being developed for launching prior to National Wine Month.
Good news So here we are, not long before National Wine Month kicks off – I am confident that it WILL make a difference – more people will be exposed to wine education and a percentage of those people will want to learn more; that is good news for WSET and for members of AWE.
If you are doing any educational events, tastings etc in May, go on to the website and tell us about what you are doing. Who knows…maybe we CAN get the UK consumer to look beyond the 3 for £10 promotion!
© Ian Harris 2011
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National Wine Month by Ian Harris
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I am now extremely envious of those of you who attended the Portuguese trip earlier this year. The last time I attended a Sogrape seminar, I am ashamed to say was ten years ago. Interestingly enough, however I still had my wine notes, so although I didn’t need to be told that in general the still wines of Portugal had improved in quality across the board; it was fascinating to see by how much.
Our own fortified wine specialist Trevor Elliot introduced our speaker, the charming Vasco Magalhaes. Vasco is now a fellow member of the AWE but clearly has also been a good and helpful friend to Trevor over the years.
Vasco started by introducing us to the Sogrape Company. He is clearly very proud that this 4th generation, family owned company is the largest wine company in Portugal and yet despite its size it achieved success as the Wine Enthusiast’s Euro Winery of the year.
Founded in 1942 by Fernando Van Zeller Guedes, the aim was to produce a simple wine with mass appeal. The result, Mateus Rosé, was a success and as Vasco said, it is still successful in 125 world markets and still pays his salary to this day. In 1986 the company expanded its horizons and ventured into making wine by modern methods in other regions. At the same time the Portuguese government started research into modern winemaking methods. Sogrape however stayed ahead of any government funded research.
In 1996 Sogrape went into partnership with Bacardi Martini, and subsequently acquired the Forrester Port business, Finca Flichman in Argentina, and Everton in the USA. In 2002 the company re-launched Mateus Rosé and acquired Sandeman (giving it an opening into the sherry business) and it now has operational companies in NZ (Framingham), Angola and Chile. Current proportion of sales and earnings are: Mateus Rosé 13%, Portuguese still wines 22%, Port 33%, New World 17%, other 10%.
Vasco took us through the regions of Portugal, their climatic influences, grape varieties and other influential factors, followed by a tasting of the relevant wines. Below is a brief synopsis of these regions and their wines.
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AWE Sogrape Seminar, 2nd March 2011 by
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Vinho Verde Vasco described how Sogrape was making use of modern viticulture in this region. Only since the 1990’s has most of the grape production of this region been for white wines. Vines no longer climb trees! but are now planted with vertical shoot positioning with a single cordon. Most of the vineyards are now situated along the river valleys on granitic slopes rather than the plains, taking advantage of the exposure to the prevailing Atlantic winds which wind themselves up the valleys from the sea, drying the vines and slowing ripening. The result; wines with high acidity, improved fruit and aromas, but retaining freshness and expected varietal character. All the wineries, as you would expect are all stainless steel with temperature control.
We tasted Quinta de Azavedo 2010 (70% Louriero, 30% Pernerdã), 11%Abv. The wine was light, very aromatic with crisp, fresh acidity and good apple and lemon fruit. Vasco pointed out that the 2010 was the best for many years, but others are lasting well. (Waitrose, Majestic £6.60-£7.00)
Vasco was clearly excited that he was tasting this wine for the first time with a screw cap. The announcement was met by a cheer from the AWE members, although quickly followed by a question of the reaction of the cork producers. Vasco put our minds at rest with a grin and an admission that all other wines were still under cork. |
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Dão The Sogrape properties in the Dão sit on principally granitic (97%) slopes with a sandy texture and good drainage, at between 220-700m (mainly 400m). Although the winters are cold and rainy, in the summer the hot continental vineyards benefit from a 15˚C drop in diurnal temperatures, which help with long maturation, good fruit and good acidity.
Vasco was keen to inform us that it is now known that Tinta Roriz is originally a Dão grape and that it shows elegance and is more fresh and floral (violets, bergamot) than in the Douro.
We tasted Quinta dos Carvalheis, Encruzado 2009 (100% Encruzado) 13.5%Abv. The wine had been barrel fermented, which was very evident on the nose, good acidity, ripe yellow apples, with a creamy freshness, nice balance on the palate, but for me the oak was slightly too dominant on the nose, although it was commented by a member that the oak seemed less dominant than previous versions she had tasted. Good ageing potential though.
Callabriga is a brand covering all the regions, introduced as a better way to approach the customer, easy to say and to understand.
We tasted Callabriga Dão red 2008 (Touriga National, Roriz, Alfrochiero, even quantities of each) 13.5%Abv
The wines age for about one year in 2-3 year old barrels. Bright red with lively fresh red fruit aromas and a little smoke. Dry with good acidity, elegant fresh fruit and a little sweet vanilla flavour, good structure and smooth but well-structured tannins, well balanced and a really good food wine.
Vasco pointed out that there had been no rain at harvest time in the Dão since 2004 giving them consistent maturity in their grapes. |
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Alentejo Vasco admitted this is a difficult region to generalise as there are big differences between the northern 800m continental climate with big diurnal temperature variations, to the southern up to 400m Mediterranean climate. Soils range from granite in the north to limestone, clay/limestone in the south.
We tasted Callabriga Alentejo 2008 (Aragones, Alfrochiero, Alicante) 14.5%Abv Very intense colour, ripe black and red fruits, sweet vanilla from American oak and nicely balanced tannins. I think it showed a really well made, modern wine fitting in really nicely with today’s market for fruit driven wines.
We also tasted Callabriga Alentejo Reserva 2005. 14%Abv Intense ruby coloured. Oak was very evident on the nose but not out of balance with the very ripe fruit and aromatic herbs. Smooth but clearly evident tannins, full bodied, balanced well with good acidity. (Good use of acidifaction with tartaric acid) Long finish and potential to age.
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Douro This seminar was on still wine only, good thing really, I might have been tempted to swallow the port and then would have lost concentration for the rest of the session. Vasco stressed the importance of planting the correct grape variety to the altitude, wind and/or sun exposure and length of ripening, although the schist soil remains predominant throughout, the microclimates on individual sites differ enormously throughout the Douro Valley.
For example at their winery Quinta da Leda near the Spanish border the principle varieties are the Touriga National and the Touriga Franca which is resistant to the intense heat. Vasco showed us slides of this winery which claimed a very impressive walk on, walk under tanks! Very efficient, although perhaps slightly daunting working with several tons of stainless steel and wine suspended above your head! He also showed us a slide of the new robotic largers. No more use for human feet, but no more un-pressed grapes, apparently people tend to stay out of the corners!
We tasted Planatto Douro Reserva white 2009. (Malvasia, Viosinho, Gouviao) 12.5%Abv Not particularly aromatic, but a good food partner. Clean, fresh with a relavely neutral nose, although a little lemon and mineral character. Dry, medium + acidity, fresh minerally palate, almost salty.
Callabriga Douro red 2008 (Touriga National, Touriga Franca, Roriz, equal quantities of each) 13.5% Abv Intense black and red fruit (plum, blackberry), a little smoke and spice. Dry, good and balanced tannins, full bodied and quite rich black fruits with a little white pepper spice and well balance oak and a good finish. I wrote “Roast lamb with rosemary and garlic” alongside – I must have been getting hungry.
Callabriga Douro reserve 2007 (Touriga National 40%, Touriga Franca 30%, Roriz 30%) 14% Abv Intense, black and red fruit, spice and the start of some tertiary characters, chocolate and cedar. On the palate the flavours are massive, tannins are robust, still heaps of young fruit and very spicy oak which is well integrated. A long finish and although the wine is big the overall impression was an elegant wine, which would continue to evolve nicely for at least another 5years. The character and complexity of this wine was backed up by Vasco’s comment on the excellent 2007 vintage.
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Consistency I mentioned earlier how I had kept my wine notes from 10 years ago. Don’t worry I’m not going to bore you with a diatribe of old notes. What I have noticed though is the obvious improvement in consistency. Words like, “austere, simple, jammy, cooked, astringent” and comments like “length a little short, slightly disappointing” do not appear in my wine notes this time at all! The wines this time are all of good quality, are very modern in style but retaining the all-important acidity, keeping them in the food wines bracket and perhaps more importantly an improvement in quality while still holding on to their Portuguese personality.
Vasco concluded the seminar by explaining his company’s involvement in the “Wine in Moderation” campaign in Portugal. He went through the importance of social responsibility, the reduction of SO2 in winemaking, the effects of alcohol on different individuals, their involvement in these matters right down to local community level, and perhaps most importantly the message 'consumption in moderation'. Shame!
The Sogrape Group portfolio includes leading wine brands Mateus (Rosé), Offley and Ferreira (Porto), as well as prestigious brands from important denominations of origin including Casa Ferreirinha (Douro), Quinta dos Carvalhais (Dão), Herdade do Peso (Alentejo), the multi-regionals Callabriga, Pena de Pato and Grão Vasco, the fresh Gazela (Vinho Verde), and finally Finca Flichman (Argentina) and Framingham (New Zealand). © Nina Cerullo 2011
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This was an excellent event, and not just because the AWE Chairman and Honourable Secretary were involved in presentations there. There were a number of interesting seminars (too many to fit them all in, in fact) and an extensive Champagne tasting that ran throughout the day. Speakers I listened to included Lulie Halstead (Wine Intelligence), Pippa Goodman (The Future Foundation), Paul Beavis (Lanson) and Robert Joseph. There was also a panel debate including buyers, tweeters and sommeliers. Things I didn’t know about Champagne, but do now......
The word education featured prominently in most of the discussions and presentations, partly no doubt because it was the theme of the day! But it was interesting that different speakers used different language. One made the point that the word education may be off-putting for some and that engagement and aspiration are perhaps more relevant terms.
© Richard Bampfield 2011
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Harpers Champagne Summit 2011 by and
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It was good to note the presence and involvement of AWE members at this important trade event; Richard as a presenter who validated his Harpers Champagne Educator of the Year award with an excellent presentation on Champagne labelling, myself on the debating panel where, I’d like to think, I held my own amongst the likes of Françoise Peretti, Sue Daniels (M&S) and Dee Blackstock MW (Waitrose), and Quentin Sadler representing Taittinger in the tasting room. For those who sell Champagne in any way, be it as a sommelier, in a supermarket, off-licence or on-line, this was an invaluable day of understanding the market and how best to capitalise on it. For educators, it was an opportunity to taste, see other presenters in action and learn what they had to say, and then to find a way of exploiting the agreed need to increase the consumer’s understanding and knowledge of this fine product. For a more in-depth report on the day, see Harpers Wine & Spirit issue no.53. © Laura Clay 2011
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There’s nothing new about rum production in Mauritius; it was introduced during the French rule of the island in the 18th century. As a tropical island, it has the perfect climate for sugar cane production and where there is sugar cane rum is never far away. Mauritius now produces some 15 million litres of rum annually, a third of which is exported.
The rum distilleries tend to be owned by big local families also involved with sugar production. However, with international markets for sugar being so volatile, rum production is now seen as a value added crop and one that can profit from the island’s main source of revenue - tourism.
Quality product The accent is very much on the development of Rhum Agricole as a quality product. The island produces two types of rum: Rhum Agricole and traditional (or industrial) rum. The difference comes from the raw material. Rhum Agricole is made directly from the sugar cane juice after harvest and was introduced under the French rule of the island in the 18th century - hence the spelling also used for Rums from other French Islands in the Indian ocean and from the Caribbean. Traditional rum is made from the leftovers (effectively molasses) after sugar production.
Colour Rum can be white or brown. The brown colour comes either from barrel ageing or more often from the addition of caramel and when tasting, and in particular smelling, the difference is fairly obvious, the former being the better quality and the more expensive.
The flavour of the oak can also be enjoyed without the colour (important for cocktails and more international in style – think Bacardi) and some companies will charcoal filter the rum after barrel aging to remove colour but keep the aromatic complexity. There is a move to market rums as a drink in their own right rather than as a mixer and copy the success of rums from other origins.
Strategy The neighbouring French island of La Réunion stands as a model; here the principal souvenir expenditure of visitors to that island is rum and rum products. This corresponds perfectly to the Mauritian government strategy to encourage alternative and 'green tourist attractions', other than the beach, and spread the tourist spend inland, giving a more diversified tourism offer along with quad-biking and trekking in the volcanic centre of the island.
The green credentials of the industry are important: the ‘bagasse’ or fibrous residue left over from sugar and rum production is used for the electrical production of the island to complement imported fuel sources.
Tourist attractions It is difficult to drag the tourist away from the palm-lined white sandy beaches and turquoise lagoons; however, distilleries are opening visitor centres, tastings rooms and restaurants with this aim in mind. Two of the better known distilleries, the Rhumerie de Chamarel (right) and The Saint Aubin Rum Distillery, are in the Southern part of the Island, which is less developed for tourism, but these distilleries are clearly designed to attract tourists and encourage them to taste, dine and buy their rums as souvenirs.
St Aubin has been a sugar plantation since 1819 but only started making rum relatively recently and is open to visitors and happy to offer tastings. Chamarel has been cleverly built close to the site of 'Coloured Earth', one if the leading natural tourist attractions inland, with a visitor centre and restaurant.
New Grove boasts La Route du Rhum museum which tells the story of rum on the island. This is handily near the famous Pamplemousses Garden not far from the capital, Port Louis. New Grove belongs to Grays, one of the island’s leading wine and spirits importers and distributors.
The major sugar groups have been followed by Compagnie Agricole de Labourdonnais who, in a joint investment with the Isautier group from La Réunion, have created Rhum Labourdonnais. As of the end of last year, the public can now visit the distillery under the ancient trees surrounding the 'Château de Labourdonnais' the old plantation home, and sample the range.
Local Traditions Green Island rum has been around since 1960, is the best known of rums from the island and the one usually recommended by the locals. Flavoured and spiced Rums are another local tradition known as 'rhum ameliore' or improved rum (and some of it does need improving!). The hotel barmen tend to each have their own recipe; local rum with added sugar, fruit and usually vanilla pods left to marinate and then served as a digestive.
Premium ‘Pink Pigeon’, a new product based on this tradition, has been launched by the Medine sugar estate, and named after the rare bird on the island, up until recently heading the same way as the Dodo. Blended with vanilla from nearby Madagascar and La Réunion and packaged in a funky dark bottled designed by Ed Hardy, it is destined for the club market in competition with premium vodkas.
Berry Brothers and Rudd have the exclusivity for the UK market and it retails for about £24.95.
Mauritius offers more than just beautiful beaches! © Wendy Narby 2011
www.rhumeriedechamarel.com|www.saintaubin.mu|www.newgrove.mu|www.pinkpigeonrum.com
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Mauritian Rum - using tourism as a marketing tool. by
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Along with fellow AWE members, Vivienne Franks, Christopher Fielden and Keith Grainger, I went on the recent Circle of Wine Writers press trip to Romania, courtesy of The Romanian Winegrowers and organised by Rumpus Communications.
Here are some edited highlights of what was a fascinating trip. A more detailed report will be in the next issue of Circle Update.
Recent history has led to a fragmented wine industry in Romania; it makes for a a very incomplete picture, with statistical discrepancies and vague wine laws and regulations. Bulk (mostly sweet) wine production for the home market is a large part of the industry, and eighty percent of all wines are consumed domestically. So the Romanian Winegrowers initiative is a significant attempt to highlight the investment in Romanian vineyards and technology that has taken place over the past fifteen years, and to show the potential of their wines on the international stage.
During the week we visited seven wineries located in the wine regions of Dealu Mare, Dragasani, Samburesti and Banat. All seven wineries are members of Romanian Winegrowers, an alliance established in May 2009 to promote the awareness of Romanian wine.
Domeniile Săhăteni Our first visit was to Domeniile Săhăteni winery in Dealu. Established in 2003 on the site of a former state-controlled winery, this has sixty hectares of vineyards from three surrounding villages. The newly planted vineyards that surround the winery are on the flatlands whilst others are on the gentle rolling south and south-east facing slopes. As with other wineries we visited this had received investment from the EU. The winery itself was in the process of being built to allow expansion from the current crush capacity of 500 tonnes a year to a potential of 1,000.
Funding Aurelia Visinescu, our hostess and the oenologist, explained that getting this funding was a hugely difficult process as the Romanian government were not hugely supportive of viticultural funding from the EU compared with other agricultural projects.
Traditional varieties Aurelia’s focus is on traditional Romanian varieties such as the white varieties, Fetească Alba and Tamâiosă Românească, and the red Fetească Neagră, which for her is the most exciting, because of its uniqueness to Romania, despite it being prone to harsh tannins. Others later commented that as a variety it is very vigorous, prone to botrytis and likes old wood for ageing. Under the communists it nearly became extinct and plantings are still small but have been increasing in the last five years.
Along side these, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Merlot plantings are significant, and they are beginning to plant Sauvignon, Chardonnay and Pinot Grigio.
Extreme cold in the winter – often as low as -25o C, is one of the major problems they encounter in the vineyards here, along with mildew. They do not irrigate and they are moving from hand picking to machine. For now Aurelia uses Romanian oak in the cellar, in preference to French or American but she is beginning to experiment.
Aromatic For all of us the white wines had lovely aromatics. The Artisan white blend of Fetească Albă, Italian Riesling and Tamâiosă Românească was delicious with refreshing acidity and clean dry aromatic fruit. The reds were often over-oaked with a resultant drying finish on many of the wines, a feature that was common throughout our visits during the week where Romanian oak was used. None of the wines are available in the UK
The Pinot Noir was not what one expects from this grape - even with the wines from new clones. This too became a current theme during the week. Most examples we tasted barely resembled Pinot Noir – often out of balance, with harsh tannins and high acidity.
Aurelia is experimental and modest and keen to raise the profile of Romanian wines with the winery but, as she herself admits ‘ the quality of Romanian wine is a long way from where it should be.’
Serve Next we visited Serve, established in 1993 by Count Guy de Piox (whose family run Domaine Peraldi in Corsica), and now spearheaded by his widow Mihaela. Production here is 800,000 bottles - 70% of their sales are in Romania with so far none in the UK. Their vineyards are located in two areas - 57 hectares in Dealu and 56 in Babadag near to the Black Sea. Varieties are a mix of traditional and international. Most of the winery in Ceptura in Dealu was built between 2000 – 2002. and has been designed to be flexible for whatever their annual needs require.
Bureaucracy One of the highlights here was to go up into the hills where they have been planting Fetească Negra. Here we saw the extent of their work alongside many of the abandoned vineyards that have not been reclaimed since the revolution, and which are such a feature of the landscape. It brings home the tragedy of Romania’s recent past. As we quickly learnt during the week, to progress it is necessary to overcome the bureaucracy that makes reclaiming land and replanting so difficult and so slow.
The images of what once must have been wonderful vineyards that are now so neglected, along newly planted and well managed sites, is one of the most telling memories of the trip.
Great Potential The wines at Sevre show great potential. Sevre is a quality-minded producer with an enthusiastic team conscious of traditional varieties. They make some great blends. Their red Terra Romana range was excellent – red blends with Fetească Negra, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. Standing out was a single varietal Cabernet Sauvignon from forty year old vines - lovely, intense, ripe blackcurrant fruit, vibrant acidity and excellent oak (French) integration.
Delicious too was a rosé made from Fetasca Neagra, Merlot and Cabernet – very modern and dry. (with no residual sugar, unlike so many Romanian wines). lovely red fruits and intensity and weight. We all loved it.
Sevre were generous hosts to us on our first and second night, and we really did enjoy their wines, although here too Pinot Noir did not fare well, showing little varietal expression. However as Christopher said what was impressive with Serve was their willingness to ask our opinion of what they should be doing and a real desire to learn what is happening internationally.
Halewood Day two of the trip was devoted to Halewood. Before our visit I think it would be fair to say that most of us were expecting very commercial and average quality wines. Yes, there are elements of both with the wines, but on the positive side, what Halewood are doing for Romania in terms of their investment in people, the wine industry and particularly the land, with their development of many vineyards, is hugely impressive. We spent the first part of the day touring their vineyards in Dealu and viewing the new plantings where the vines have been trained for mechanical pruning and harvesting. This was followed by a visit to the old historic cellars which are used for storage and maturation, then to Urlateanu Manor for a tasting. We then drove up into the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains to Azuga, to visit Romania's oldest sparkling wine producer, the Halewood-owned Rhein & Cie.
Their wines are commercial – some too sweet, showing that they still look to the domestic market’s sweet tooth with their wines. Their packaging is contemporary, many with screwcaps.
Most interesting of the wines was the Viognier and Tămâioasă Românească (believed to be a relative of Muscat we were told), from the Scurta Vineyard in Dealu Mare, which had good aromatics with apricot fruit and excellent acidity. (It is available in the UK- Direct Wines – Laithwaites at £7.49).
Their Hyperion range – Cabernet Sauvignon and Fetească Negra, both showed great intensity and concentration of fruit with excellent oak integration. They illustrated the high quality potential of Halewood’s wines.
From our mountain retreat we then took a five hour trip via Castel Bran to the southern region of Samburesti and Dragasani close to the River Olt.
Vinarte Here we first visited Vinarte, a joint Romanian, Italian and French company with vineyards in three different locations. Many of the vineyards were formerly abandoned and in poor condition and have been newly replanted. They plant a mix of white and red indigenous and international varieties in their vineyards but here in Samburesti they focus is only on red wines with the emphasis on Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, which they believe excel here particularly.
They produce two labels from this winery - Castel Bolovanu – named after the vineyard, and Soare, both of which are good varietal wines. Their top wine is Merlot 08 Prince Mircea, from Mehedinti, which was full of current fruit and sweet creamy chocolate flavours with huge potential to develop. The wines are aged in French barriques.
Another local variety, Negru de Drăgăşani, had more personality with sour cherry fruit and lovely spicy oak.
Since 1998 Vinarte has invested over 12 million Euros with the help of EU funding. The quality potential is there, but tasting the wines was not easy as we were in a very cold cellar - the wines were extremely cold which emphasised the tannins, so they were hard to fully appreciate.
On the other side of the River Olt we visited the classy estate Stirbey which for all of us was the best visit of all. This family estate had been reclaimed in 2001 having been taken by the state in 1949. The granddaughter, Ileana and her husband Jakob are now running the estate with their German winemaker Oliver Bauer (pictured right). The focus is on local indigenous varieties, although international varieties are also grown.
For the whites they grow Cramposie from which they make a sparkling wine as well as a still dry white wine. This is a grape that only exists in Dragasani and goes back to pre-Roman times. It is a fleshy grape, light on phenols, with apple and pear aromas and good zingy acidity. Another grape new to us was the red Novac which is low in natural tannins – they have to keep the wine on skins for five weeks, and it is like a youthful Pinot Noir.
Here too the Negru de Dragasani and Fetească Neagră excel with good intensity and lovely ripe fruit. Alcohol levels are quite high here ( 14% and 14.5%) as it gets very hot – indeed too hot for Pinot Noir.
Oliver makes classy and elegant Merlots using both French oak and Romanian oak for the Reserva. Interestingly he was more positive about Romanian oak than many of the winemakers that we met.
This was a fabulous visit – the quality of the wines here were on another level and the location was stunning.
Our last day we flew west, close to the Hungarian border, to Timisoara and to the Banat region. Here the influences of Hungary, Austria and Swabia are much in evidence and it felt in many ways that we had travelled to a completely different country with more colour and prosperity.
Cramele Recas Firstly we went to Cramele Recas (formerly a state winery) and met Philip Cox (pictured below), who bought this operation with two Romanian partners in 2000. Philip has built up a huge commercial concern here (800 hectares), developing the estate by replanting vines, replacing old fibre-glass tanks with stainless steel and diversifying their production for both domestic and overseas market.
70% of their vines are international varieties - Philip maintains ‘Buyers only want grapes that are known’ - but 25% of the plantings are of the Romanian variety Fetasca Regala.
It is geared up as a tourist destination (15,000 visitors last year) with tours and cellar door facilities and was certainly the most commercial and switched-on producer that we visited.
They produce sound commercial wines and theirs was perhaps the best Pinot Noir we tried. It was young and fruity, simple but with good grippy ripe tannins and it is destined to go to a leading UK supermarket soon.
Wine Princess Lastly we went to a smaller producer outside Arad in the former wine growing region of Minis. We met Balla Géza (pictured right) who has created the winery Wine Princess from selecting parcels of vines from the previously state-owned cooperative which he ran. He too has received funding and has developed tourist facilities, with guest rooms for people to come and work in the cellars and in the vineyards.
He produces around 250,000 bottles (80% red) from 70 hectares spread over three locations.
There is a strong winemaking style that comes across in his wines - a big use of oak, both Hungarian and Romanian, usually for a minimum of two years in a mix of large and small barrels of differing amounts of usage. He experiments with blends – not just Bordeaux blends, which are good but one called Cuvée Princess 2006, a blend of 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Pinot Noir and 20% Cadarca. This had a real intensity of blackcurrant fruit, lots of spice and grip and very good oak integration.
For all of us the star was Cadarca Reserve 2006 (25% aged in barrique, the rest in large barrels). This was full of dark cherries with an almost paprika spice note on the nose and palate, good integration of oak and well-balanced vibrant acidity.
Our tasting of 18 of his wines was topped off with a limited production - 3,000 bottles - of a Botrytis-Aszú-Cadarca 2008. With 110 grams residual sugar and picked in the middle of November this had succulent sweet black fruits, chocolate and great acidity off-setting the sweetness. This was a special wine from Bella, who is a hugely enthusiastic bon viveur.
I know that Vivienne, Keith, and Christopher would like to join me in expressing our thanks to the Romanian Winegrowers for their generous hospitality, amazing food and enthusiasm, and also to Rachel Burke and Paul Evans from Rumpus Communications for organising such a fascinating trip. Photos and text © Carolyn Bosworth-Davies 2011
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CWW Trip To Romania March 20th - 25th by |
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Like many of us I recently received an invitation from Veuve Clicquot Champagne to ‘a unique wine experience with Yellow Label N.V.’. I have to admit my reaction was mixed. At first glance this didn’t really excite me, but it was somewhat mysterious - I kept wondering how unique an experience can you get from non-vintage Champagne? Being somewhat cynical I presumed they were indulging in some marketing hyperbole.
Luckily curiosity got the better of me and I popped along – I am so glad I did as this was a unique and truly memorable tasting. Which is remarkable when you consider that there were only six wines to taste and they were all Veuve Clicquot Yellow Label Brut non-vintage – except they weren’t, not really.
All six were served from magnum and had been disgorged on the same day in February 2010. In addition, in order to really allow the differences to show they had received a low dosage of 4 grams per litre – Yellow Label is normally 9 g/L or so. This lack of sugar could officially make these Champagnes Extra Brut.
What made the tasting so wonderful was that they essentially deconstructed non-vintage Champagne. We are always told that the non-vintage concept is a way of averaging out the vintages. The theory says it is the blend that matters, with each marque producing a house style that is reproduced year in year out.
Not on the showing of this tasting they don’t. Actually each release of a non-vintage Champagne is based in large part on wines from a single year and they use the reserve wines in a relatively limited way. I tried six different examples of Veuve Clicquot Yellow Label Brut non-vintage, the wine based on the 2007 vintage, not be released until 2012 and the current offering based on the 2006 vintage.
This was followed by some older wines; the blend based on the 2004 vintage and the one based on the 2001, before moving onto a pair that were genuinely mature; the Yellow Label Brut non-vintage based on the 1990 vintage and for a finale the oldest non-vintage wine they possess, the cuvée based on the 1953.
They were presented knowledgeably and charmingly by Vueve Clicquot’s urbane Chef de Cave – Dominique Demarville and the tasting really opened my eyes as to what non-vintage Champagne is. It isn’t the same all the time, how can it be when it is a blend based mainly on a single vintage release with some other reserve wines in supporting roles. If the winemaker really wanted them to be the same, then surely a solera system would be used?
This wonderful tasting put the differences between the wines into sharp focus, rather than their superficial similarities, just as when you taste vintage Champagne.
The Wines: Veuve Clicquot Yellow Label Brut non-vintage based on the 2007 vintage On the market in 2012, 52% Pinot Noir, 19% Pinot Meunier, 29% Chardonnay – 71% from 2007 together with 29% reserve wines from the 2006, 2005, 2004, 2001 & 1990 vintages. 2007 was a very mixed vintage, so it is interesting that they have blended in reserves from some truly great years – and 2001.
The nose is lovely with rich nougat notes. The palate is soft, round and very forward with touches of honey, ripe peach and apples. This is very attractive, but there is a hardness to the acidity and mousse that will need time to soften. Very attractive, but clearly not ready – 86/100 points.
Veuve Clicquot Yellow Label Brut non-vintage based on the 2006 vintage 55% Pinot Noir, 18% Pinot Meunier, 27% Chardonnay – 72% from 2006 together with 28% reserve wines from the 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001 & 2000 vintages. 2006 was a great vintage in terms of quality and quantity and that is reflected in the wine – perhaps the 2001 was there to tame the flamboyance?
The nose was rich and fragrant with hints of nuts, toffee and biscuit. There was an apricot – acid freshness on the palate, balanced by rich caramel and pastry and a lively mousse that was slightly hard edged at the moment. There was real weight to this, giving it the feel of a big wine. It still needs time to show of its best, but it is delicious – 89/100 points.
Veuve Clicquot Yellow Label Brut non-vintage based on the 2004 vintage 52.5% Pinot Noir, 19% Pinot Meunier, 28.5% Chardonnay – 78% from 2004 together with 22% reserve wines from the 2003, 2002, 2001, 2000 & 1999 vintages. 2004 was one of those underrated years that seems to be better and better the further we get from it and for me this was one of the best balanced cuvées.
Interestingly this was the palest of the wines, just gently gold. Fresh, lively nose, more pastry and brioches, with dried apricot and lemon. Very lively palate with higher acidity, dried lemon & richer apricot, it seems more steely too. Richer nuts come through on the finish. The mousse was soft and slightly creamy. The finish was very long and lively, it still needs time to show its best, but is really delicious, enjoyable and fine – 91/100 points.
Veuve Clicquot Yellow Label Brut non-vintage based on the 2001 vintage 55% Pinot Noir, 15.5% Pinot Meunier, 29.5% Chardonnay – 73% from 2001 together with 27% reserve wines from the 2000, 1999, 1998, 1997 & 1996 vintages. 2001 was a real oddity and the only year here that was not a vintage year in its own right, perhaps that is why there is a high percentage of reserve wines in this cuvée? All the reserve wines came from riper years.
Pale gold, beaten copper sort of colour. More well knit on the nose, fresh, but with depth, ozone, notes of honey and complexity from yeast autolysis and development. Very round palate, peach, flaky pastry and dried raspberry notes together with butter toffee. Long, elegant and yeasty on the finish, understated and very fresh with an elegance apply character on the finish. This felt like it had really come together very nicely and was greater than the sum of its parts – 91/100 points.
Veuve Clicquot Yellow Label Brut non-vintage based on the 1990 vintage 57% Pinot Noir, 13% Pinot Meunier, 30% Chardonnay – 72% from 1990 together with 28% reserve wines from the 1989, 1988 & 1987 vintages. 1990, 1989 and 1988 were all great vintages, which really shows in this wines, perhaps the addition of 1987 was useful at the time to play down and balance the richness?
Rich colour, almost amber, pale though. Nose shows a touch of attractive oxidation with deep toffee & some orange notes – liqueur oranges like on Italian restaurant dessert trollies in the 1970s. Luscious palate, honey, nuts and orange peel flavours, gorgeous with lovely nervy acidity keeping it all together. Long with a sort of Glayva liqueur quality to the rich and rounded finish which is balanced by cleansed by cooked apricot acidity. A great wine, full of life character and flavours, I suspect it was wonderful throughout its life, but is now wonderfully mature – 93/100 points.
Veuve Clicquot Yellow Label Brut non-vintage based on the 1953 vintage 50% Pinot Noir, 17% Pinot Meunier, 33% Chardonnay – 67% from 1953 together with 33% reserve wines from the 1952 & 1951 vintages. This is the oldest non-vintage wine in their cellars. I was very excited about tasting this, but not at all sure what to expect – 1953 is a legendary year with 1952 no slouch either, but I can find no information about 1951 which implies that it is not a year that produced vintage Champagne. Although it was originally released as Yellow Label non-vintage, they still had stocks of the 1953 vintage label, so used it on this cuvée for a bit of fun.
Deep coppery colour that shows its age. A fabulously rich nose of hard praline like toffee, notes of treacle, coffee and fig too. Rich palate, full of toffee characters, poached pear and something truffle like, all balanced by an incredible apricot acidity zing. The mousse was gentle and not very active, tiring perhaps? I loved the sweet ripeness balanced by rich savoury characters which made it feel very complete and complex. This was a real treat, a joyous drink that was quite stunning and much to my surprise it was absolutely perfect with a grilled scallop! Stunning – 97/100 points.
My Conclusions: It was interesting to see that many more different vintages are blended into the modern cuvées, Dominique explained that this was for more complexity. I suspect it also makes the wines softer and drinkable earlier as well, as we seem to drink younger Champagne nowadays. Vintage Champagnes are amongst the oldest wines generally available on the high street, but are babies compared to the mature examples that I see when perusing old wine lists.
This tasting also showed how well even non-vintage Champagne can age, albeit examples that have been aged on the lees in perfect cellar conditions.
It was a fascinating tasting, that gave me some real insights into Champagne. Chief amongst them was how different these wines were. Seems obvious, right? However, they were all non-vintage blends, which were intended on release to be virtually the same year in year out and more reflective of the house style than anything else. Of course they are all different ages, but even taking that into account these wines much more reflected their principal base vintage than I had ever realised. The basic characteristics seemed to be those of the main component, with the addition of the reserve wines either adding fat to the lean years or elegance to the ripe ones. I also got the feeling that the reserve wines were used to balance the acidity much more than I had previously realised, especially in recent times – I had always assumed that the dosage did that job.
This all makes them much more interesting wines than I had ever considered, so I am pleased that I have never been one to dismiss non-vintage Champagne. It also makes me think that the optimistic American expression of ‘Multiple Vintage’ – rather than more European and negative ‘non-vintage’ – is much more suitable than I had thought and perhaps more precise?
In my opinion this tasting also also shows what a good idea it would be to have the information about the base wines available on the label, together with the disgorging date. Perhaps it is time to move on from the myth that non-vintage Champagnes are always uniform and to revel in their differences, just as they do at Jacquesson?
Whatever else this tasting made me think about, the main thought I had as I came out was how good the wines were. They were complex and enjoyable and even though non-vintage Champagne is usually drunk as soon as it is bought, they do seem to age superbly well.
© Quentin Sadler 2011
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Champagne deconstructed by Veuve Clicquot:
A Thrilling Champagne Tasting by |
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You would have had to have been in hibernation not to have known that Comic Relief took place in March and that the wine trade got behind it as usual. Jancis Robinson’s affiliated charity, Wine Relief, did its (big) bit and it is a credit to the AWE that so many members were involved in one way or another, swelling the funds.
You may have spotted what was going on through the Wine Relief page on Facebook, which was a very clever initiative set up by our own Wink Lorch and which definitely galvanized a large part of the wine trade into action as well as giving many, such as Wines of Uruguay, a platform to advertise their Wine Relief offers.
Auction Angela Reddin has been an absolute star! At the risk of making her blush, not only did she facilitate Felton Road to sell all their UK sampler case stock in aid of the Christchurch Earthquake Appeal in just a matter of hours, she also donated the case she bought to the auction I organised through www.bidforwine.co.uk. This raised £405 for Wine Relief and the magnum of Felton Road Block 3 2003, which she also donated, sold for £133.
In case you missed the online auction, your Honorary President, Chairman and Honorary Secretary all supplied a bottle each – a rare 1981 D’Oliveira Colheita Verdelho, a magnum of Ridgeview Blanc de Blancs 2001 and a bottle of Château Pape Clement 1966 respectively. Through Jancis’s Purple Pages and Kate Sweet’s involvement, more bottles were donated and, in all, the lots raised £2610.
Publicity In the process, though of course this was not the (sole) purpose of the auction, we managed to get quite a bit of publicity – AWE was mentioned on Purple Pages, Bid For Wine’s website the Drinks Business, Tizwine, BBC West Midlands, Duckers and Diving (a Midland business blog), there may have been others. Make sure your profile on the AWE website is up to date – we could be inundated with work!
Generous Others amongst you, meanwhile, were quietly doing your generous thing for Wine Relief. Richard Bampfield, at the request of Tamlyn Currin of Jancisrobinson.com, presented a Bichot tasting for a wine society in Surrey with all ticket sales going to Wine Relief. Six accredited Bordeaux tutors spent a day judging everyday Bordeaux wines on Red Nose Day and it was agreed that 10% of their fees was donated to the cause.
Sponsor the team Brett Jones (pictured left) put together a New World mixed case to sell to his customers with 10% going to the charity. No doubt we have all been buying Wine Relief wines from Majestic, M&S, Waitrose, Booths, Laithwaites and Virgin Wines for our tastings. Whatever you have all been doing, between us, the trade and the public we have added in excess of £350,000 to Comic Relief. But it needn’t stop there – if you would like to make a donation you can still do so with the link below and then click on ‘Sponsor the team’.
© Laura Clay 2011 http://my.rednoseday.com/TeamPage.aspx?teamID=57931
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Wine Relief by
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Guilt-Free Drinking is written by Robert Beardsmore, a financial analyst and accountant, wine-lover and current Executive Secretary of the United Kingdom Vineyards Association. He comes from a family of medical professionals, which perhaps piqued his interest in the health impacts of drinking alcohol. A number of medical and technical professionals have provided feedback on various aspects of the book, which certainly lends a sense of gravitas. The book is carefully written in an engaging, clear style, informal but concise and factual. The easily understandable, almost ‘chatty’, writing does not detract from the book’s serious points. Beardsmore acknowledges that he ‘did not set out to discover how to deal with the genuine alcohol problems, be it young binge drinkers or confirmed alcoholics who are pickling their livers,’ but he recognises that ‘these issues are very serious…and not easily solved.’ Instead he claims to seek whether ‘sensible people could enjoy drinking in moderation without feeling guilty’ that they might be ruining their health. There is a very good summary of some past research, including the (in)famous 1991 ‘French paradox’ and the ‘U-shaped’ and ‘J-shaped’ curves. The review of statistics, obviously an area of expertise for Beardsmore, brings up a number of inconsistencies, giving credence to the adage, ‘Lies, lies and statistics!’ When linked to issues of under- or over-reporting, this chapter has plenty of interest for the mathematicians amoung us. The book is very well-researched and, despite some bias in favour of the health benefits of moderate alcohol consumption, is fair in its presentation of some of the problems associated with excessive drinking of alcohol. Particularly interesting are the sections on various diseases, such as cancer or diabetes or dementia, which have sometimes been linked with drinking. In most cases, as Beardsmore points out, the extensive research on many of these issues is inconclusive. The chapters, Bingeing and Policy, Politics and Propaganda, although showing the UK perspective, are very fairly written. And the technical reviews of much of the UK and European Union official health documents and epidemiological studies are exemplary, but presented in ‘laymen’s language’. The chapters related to the positive effects of wine in particular help to assuage the guilt some of us may feel every time we take a sip. The definitions of ‘units’ of alcohol in various countries may well be a guide for a number of drinkers. The index is excellent, too, so a moderately persistent reader might find out everything he or she wants (or needs) to know. There are a few minor quibbles. Perhaps the Introduction and some of the sections pose a few too many questions, but these questions suggest that the author is trying to engage with his readers. The chapters are not grouped into positive and negative aspects of drinking, and so may not necessarily be easy to assimilate for readers who do not have prior understanding of the issues. Or the latter could just be a clever ploy to ensure that the reader does not avoid the ‘bad’ or ‘ugly’ aspects. These couple of issues aside, this is a superb slim summary and should be essential reading for wine drinkers the world over. The wine industry should also take note. Highly recommended. © Patricia Stefanowicz MW 2010
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Guilt-free Drinking: Why a Diet Including Wine, Beer and Spirits in Moderation is Not Bad for Your Health by Robert Beardsmore
Publisher: Vinifera Ltd., Cambridge, UK, ISBN:978-0956676801
Reviewed by BSc(Hons) MArch PE MW |
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AWEsome Internet Vinopic was launched earlier this month - very timely for me as it turned out. Professor Roger Corder and Rosemary George MW have set up a business selling supposedly healthy wines through their website www.vinopic.com. As far as I am aware my heart is fine, though rarely overworked, but I was delighted to investigate Vinopic as I had been asked to put on a tasting of ‘Heart-Healthy Wines’.
The Intrinsic Quotient Roger is a medic who has researched in great depth the benefits to our hearts of polyphenols and Rosemary, of course, is well-known as a wine writer and a Master of Wine for over 30 years.
Between them, they have selected a range of some 80 odd wines which are fairly priced and well-described (as you would expect), with two grades displayed against each – one is the Intrinsic Quotient , (‘The Intrinsic Quotient mainly indicates the richness in grape polyphenols, but it also penalises other factors such as high alcohol levels, and excess sugars or sulphites to give a balanced measure of quality.’) and the Vinopic Score which covers pleasure, structure, reassurance, value and popularity.
I enjoyed the visuality of the website; I bought, it was very swiftly delivered, I didn’t find the wine cheaper elsewhere and I am sure I will use them again. I do think, however, that it is very much a niche market and is likely to only attract the older intellectual wine drinker – like me obviously!! © Laura Clay 2011
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Vinopic by
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Please update your Directory of Members with the following changes:
Richard Bampfield no longer has a fax number
Claire Blackler 8 Lower Gilmore Bank, Edinburgh, EH3 9QP Mobile: 07884 028306 E-mail: claire@casestudieswineschool.co.uk Website : www.casestudieswineschool.co.uk
Erica Dent Enjoy Discovering Wine, 26 Pegasus Close, Hamble, Southampton Hants, SO31 4QZ Mobile: 07966 499589 E-mail: ericadent@enjoydiscoveringwine.com Website: www.enjoydiscoveringwine.com
Keith Grainger 32 Leamington Road, Broadway, WR12 7EB Mobile: 07956 004855 E-mail: keith@keithgrainger.com Website: www.keithgrainger.com
Ginny Malan 73 Twilley Street, Earlsfield, London, SW18 4NU Mobile: 07912 146211 E-mail: ginny.malan@yahoo.co.uk
Ray O’Connor 131 London Rd. High Wycombe, Bucks, HP11 1BT Phone: 07786 654637 E-mail: ray@rayoconnorwine.com Website : www.rayoconnorwine.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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History
Temperature-controlled
Halewood have around 400 hectares of vineyards in Dealu Mare,
Transylvania and Murfatlar which are overseen by an Italian viticulturalist, but the winemaker, Lorena Deaconu is Romanian.
He has travelled extensively and has been head of the team for three years.
Stirbey 
They are the biggest exporter of Romanian wines this year
and many of their wines can be found in the UK
at Tesco, Co-op and Sainsburys. 
