Editorial by Susan Hulme MW

As the submissions came in for this issue, a common link seemed to present itself, a way in which the seemingly unconnected and varied pieces could be bound together with a single topical theme: a tour of an English vineyard; two hat-tricks of French and Italian articles (Rhône, Beaujolais, Loire and Valpolicella, Soave, Friuli).  Serendipity seemed to be lending a hand when Gilbert Winfield sent in a report on, of all things, a Brazilian wine seminar and tasting.   

But despite being past winners of the Beautiful Game’s most coveted prize, the aforementioned nations all came and went too quickly and the World Cup is just a distant memory now. 

For that reason, and because our newsletter, as usual, is made up of such diverse elements, a simple list of contents will have to suffice: Ian Symonds describes his life as a wine educator in his adopted Hong Kong, from where Debra Meiburg offers advice on what to do if you find yourself with no obvious way of getting the wine out of a bottle.

Wink Lorch reports on the Circle of Wine Writers’ triple fund-raising tasting at the LIWF (on Madeira, Turkey and Chile) and I tell of my recent visit to Cyprus to judge at the Cyprus Wine Competition. Finally, Ray O’Connor picks out the best bits from this year’s Grenache Symposium; with our customary opinion, book review and wine recommendation, that’s it.

Enjoy the summer, wherever you are and whatever you are doing.

© Susan Hulme MW 2010

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Chairman’s Column by Richard Bampfield MW  

The recent AGM made me think (about time, I hear you say).  I acknowledge the importance of a Constitution and the rules that govern an association such as the AWE but must admit that I personally have little time for the minutiae and formalities.  Fortunately some people do.  This reminds me that we all have different skills and aptitudes.   We cannot necessarily expect all skill sets to be represented on Council; at the AGM, it was no coincidence that so many constructive contributions came from members not currently on Council.

It was clear at the AGM that we have members who are highly competent in deciphering constitutional issues.  We also have members who have made it their business to keep abreast of advances in technology and social media - which is just as well as no-one on Council would regard themselves as gifted in this field.

I suppose that the purpose of this column is to issue a call to all members to consider how your individual skills might be of use to the AWE.

If you are a natural salesman, maybe you could help us with our approaches to generic bodies.  If you are a born bureaucrat, maybe you could explore the possibilities of a EU or international grant for an organisation such as ours, (I am serious, they certainly exist for educational organisations).  If you are a natural strategist, maybe you could help formulate the long and short term visions of the AWE.  If you are a stickler for spelling and good grammar, maybe you could help edit submissions for the e-newsletter, especially trip reports.

At and following the AGM, several of you volunteered your services, which, I can assure you, will be gratefully employed.  If anyone else would like to put their names forward for roles such as those above, I will be delighted to hear from you.

In anticipation.......

Richard

© Richard Bampfield MW 2010

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Brazilian Wines at Vinopolis by Gilbert Winfield

Presented by Junior Vianna MW, 21st May 2010

As the only Brazilian MW in England, in fact I think in the world, Junior (since passing the exam his actual name, Dirceu, is put around more, but he is still universally known as Junior, since no one can pronounce the other name) was the most qualified person to present this seminal tasting, and it was a fascinating experience. The room was packed with mainly Brazilian fans and people from the Embassy, but there was a feeling of discovery in the air, and the wines (as well as Junior) spoke well of the improvements in production and quality in the country.

The material we were given claims Brazil has an ‘estimated production foreseen’ of 3.2 million hectolitres of wine, which seems like an optimistic way of not giving the full picture. Whatever the actual figure is, only 11% of that is Vitis Vinifera, so the production of quality wine is still quite small.

Overview

We zoomed through an overview of Brazilian regions: Serra Gaucha, which represents 90% of Brazilian production, but is technically outside the ‘permitted latitudes’, at 29° south, is where it started in 1875 with Italian immigrants. Varieties planted are mainly Bordelais, with Tannat, Ancellota, Pinot Noir, Sauvignon Chardonnay, Prosecco, Moscatos and Malvasia, and others.  Production moved to exploring areas further South in the seventies, with plantings in Serra do Sudeste, and Campanha right on the Uruguaian border, but still at only 31° South.

São Francisco Valley

In the eighties, production started much further North, interestingly, to the São Francisco Valley, at 9° North. Climate here is semi-arid, with rainfall of only 599mm/year, compared to Serra Gaucha’s 1736mm.

Vine cycle

Because there is no dormant season here, the vine cycle is controlled by irrigation, with two harvests a year possible through an induced rest of 30-60 days, with a 120-130 day cycle.

To illustrate this, here is a picture of 4 adjacent vineyard plots (left), each controlled to a different season. It’s fascinating, I think, but it doesn’t seem right, does it?

Expansion

In the nineties, wine production expanded to the north of Serra Gaucha into Campos da Serra, and Planalto Catarinense, where the climate is cooler, and suited to grape varieties like Sauvignon and Pinot Noir.

Sparking

Brazil prides itself on its sparkling wine production, and certainly has the best reputation in South America for this, even if few have heard the news in the UK.

The tasting started with Miolo Millésime 2006 Sparkling Wine: Traditional Method from 50% Chardonnay, 50% Pinot Noir, with 10g/L dosage, 12.5° alcohol, and 15 months on its lees. Fresh, tangy citrus sherbet, with a refreshing bitter finish.

We also had another Traditional Method sparkler, Cave Geisse Espumante Brut 2008:

70% Chardonnay, 30% Pinot Noir, 7.5g/L dosage. More vibrant and mineral than the previous, again light and with a bitter freshness on the finish.

Both had delicate, ‘Old World’ styles, and both were from Serra Gaucha region.

Whites

Only two whites were presented:

Sanjo Sauvignon Blanc 2008, from the more Northern Serra Catarinense, grown at 1300m on rocky topsoil. Green pepper and grassy, unmistakably Sauvignon, with racy acidity, but 14° alcohol.

Miolo Alisios do Seival Pinot Grigio/Riesling 2009, grown in Fronteira, on the border with Uruguay, with 50% of each grape, and 3.7g/L residual sugar, and 12.5° alcohol. Mineral and fresh, a simple Riesling style, with crisp acidity and balance.        

Reds

These were mainly focussed around Bordeaux grapes:  

Casa Valduga Cabernet Franc Premium 2006, Vale dos Vinhedos, Serra Gaucha. Lots of red cherries, ripe, and with good concentration, refreshing acidity, a clean tannic finish, and 14° alcohol. One of my highlights, with great balance.

Salton Desejo 2006,100% Merlot, Serra Gaucha. 12 year old vines, harvested at 55hl/ ha (which apparently is low for Brazil), with 12 months in French and American oak. Dark cherries, coffee, and spice, crunchy fruit, and surprisingly high tannin content, 13°. A serious Merlot.

Pizzato DNA 99 Merlot 2005 (a great vintage), Vale dos Vinhedos, Serra Gaucha. Smoky, toasty plums, with a purity of fruit, firm acidity and fine grained tannins.

Lidio Carraro Elos Malbec (80%) Cabernet Sauvignon (20%) 2007, Encruzihada do Sul. Bright CS blackcurrant fruit, with mixed berries, crunchy and crisp. Tannins are New World, but present.

Miolo Lote 43 2005, Vale dos Vinhedos.  50% Merlot, 50% Cabernet Sauvignon. A classic Bordeaux blend style: Cedar on the nose, black berry fruits, raisins, spice, and melted tannins, with a clean, dry finish, great harmony. Another highlight.

We also had two unusual regional definitions:

Miolo Quinta do Seival Castas Portuguesas 2005, Fronteira. 40% Touriga National, 30% Tinto Roriz, 30% Alfrochero. A dark, bitter fruit, with blackberries and blackcurrants. Solid bitter palate, with prominent acidity and tannin, very ‘old school’, excellent for those who want old fashioned, tannic wine!

Finally, ViniBrasil Rio Sol Reserva 2007, made in the equatorial region of Vale de São Francisco. The question: ‘which harvest?’ was asked, for which Junior did not know the answer. He did say however that often the two harvests are blended together for consistency. This was 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 50% Syrah. A slightly burned aroma, toasty at best. Cooked undefined fruit and lowish acidity led to a slightly sickly finish. Definitely not the best of the bunch, in my opinion.

The charm of the New World, with an Old World structure.

We saw the new Brazil. Junior was equipped with a head-held microphone (not sure if that is the right description, but anyway…), which didn’t make him look too much like Britney Spears. Luckily it failed for quite a large section of the presentation which actually improved the acoustics, and we were treated to an entertaining and well-managed tasting. He succinctly describes Brazilian wine generally as having the charm of the New World, with an Old World structure, and I think these wines generally showed that. The pure Cabernet Franc highlighted the purity of fruit, and for me the Equatorial one showed the dangers of trying to extend too far. On the other hand, we only had one sample from there; maybe there are better wines. In any case, getting two crops per year must keep the accountant happy, and we all know how important that is!  

© Gilbert Winfield 2010

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 The View From Hong Kong by Ian Symonds

I’ll begin with “Greetings from Hong Kong”.  Yes, a member who has the audacity to live in what is rather oddly referred to as ‘overseas’.  I have learned over the twenty years I have been away to be very careful with my choice of words at times.  I digress - but exactly where is the ‘Far East’?  We are all ‘overseas’ to somewhere.  Never mind.  What do I do that might be of the slightest interest to those of you reading this?

The chop (stamp) in my passport shows my first arrival in Hong Kong as being in June 1990.  Between then and now I have moved from the commercial world to return to teaching but not as an IT guy but as a wine guy.  Let me say that all my wine studies have been done here or from here.  I am amazed that any organisation in the UK would be interested in a person with no UK wine work experience but here I am and there you all are!

It has been my good fortune to see Hong Kong go from one wine school in which I studied to so many that I do not know how many.  The organisation supporting much of this is, of course, WSET.  However, the last couple of years have seen an increasing number of other organisations offering courses in town.

SWE

The Society of Wine Educators from the USA has an active chapter here now, 52 members of whom 28 are CSW (Certified Specialist of Wine) and a number are awaiting the results of the latest exams of both CSW and CSS (Certified Specialist of Spirits).  The Asian chapter plans to run a CWE (Certified Wine Educator) programme here in November.  This is very exciting as it is an opportunity for professional development.

Sommeliers

The two sommelier groups are active here, the ISG (International Sommelier Guild) in a small way; and the CMS (Court of Master Sommeliers) for both the local Vocational Training Centre and any member of the public who wishes to explore that route around the wine world.

WSET

Yet, as I wrote above, the WSET has had the longest and so far largest impact.  I am not sure how many Diploma graduates are resident in Hong Kong, but I hear from students who are distance learning of something like 60 to 70 currently studying.  They have the option of the one local centre for the exam or going to Tokyo, Sydney or London.

Boom

Hong Kong is enjoying something of a wine boom about which I imagine most of you have read.  Clearly there are serious forces at work driving the old enclave to become a wine centre and that would be terrific.  I think we all hope that our now advantageous lack of tax and the logistical experience here will drive this enterprise onwards.

My wife is Chinese, speaks Cantonese and Putonghua (aka Mandarin) and can read both the complex and simple character sets.  When I watch her helping my nearly eight year old with his Chinese homework I am amazed, to say the least.  William speaks both dialects and is writing the complex characters currently.  Whilst Chinese students may like to be taught in English, many find wine language tough and therefore, my very personal view is that wine education will grow in Putonghua rapidly.

Cultural differences

Culturally there are differences and some of the deeper feelings stretch back many years but the current trend into the wine world is bringing common ground.  I listen intently when my students are talking about their experiences and needless to say there is some truth in all of the crazy stories about Coke and top Bordeaux and 7-Up to sweeten this or that but there is also a growing respect for wine. 

I have been in the Hong Kong Wine Society for some years and the greatest experience lies in the minds and memories of some of the more senior local members with the finest palates.  This level of experience will manifest itself as the years go by with wine drinkers from the main part of the country.  Business practices will come into some new line rather than remaining entrenched in Old World principles or becoming too bogged down in lunches, dinners and mistakes that need careful management to avoid either side anything resembling embarrassment.

Wine & The Weather

May I get slightly more personal?  I love it here.  Yesterday was glorious, low humidity, mid twenties and bright; yet today is dark, thunderous and very humid after a violent squally storm.  When we talk of ‘weather’ this is great stuff and it affects the way we look at wine.  Only rarely do we get anything close to cold, humidity is a fact of life and yet, like wine, when it is good it is so very good!  Choosing wine is a question of the whole thing of being here, a sort of ‘terroir’ in reverse.  Looking for a wine to match the feeling and experience of the day.

This is from my study window.  Looking west from Ma Wan (my island) with Lantau Island just showing on the left, Hong Kong International Airport in the distance and the land on the right is part of Hong Kong referred to generally as the New Territories.  Hong Kong Island is way behind this picture.  In the very far distance, actually just visible to the naked eye is Macau and part of the Pearl River delta of the mainland.

Daily grind

I intended to say what I do each day and I hear from a few of you that maybe these are tough times at home.  Well, despite our wine boom, at a family level, times are also tougher.  Yet my daily grind is to work in the mornings at home, swim for my lunch break and then ensure I am ready for the evening class.  I certainly do not have the luxury of teaching every night but sometimes am close to that full timetable.  I have stayed independent, not formed a company of one and thus teach at three local centres that tolerate my stand.  Two universities have schools of continuing education; I teach at both.  The local Management Association also has a long record of organising wine classes and they too have asked me to run WSET courses for them this summer.  Other small schools come and go and I see the numbers of new WSET tutors increasing - thank goodness, for as the years go by the standards get higher and old teachers may never die but they do get tired!

Keep going

Vinexpo was excellent.  I am a sucker for a good show and learned so much from winemakers, master classes and wine experts.  I have the time to attend most of these events and still tag along on WSET tutor trips and other wine education associated courses.  My intention is to keep going and not stop just because a particular milestone comes around.  My son jokes about a wheel chair, obviously at eight something he sees as inevitable as one gets older; he even designed one with some very fancy building kit he has from school. There was a strange attachment on the side and I asked what it was – 'that is for your wine bottle and glass' he told me.

So, there is hope!

Photo & text © Ian Symonds 2010 

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Valpolicella by Helen Savage

Introduction

A group from Association of Wine Educators was guests of the Valpolicella Wine Consortium for forty eight hours from the 7 to 9 June. We visited twelve wineries (see list on right), tasted many other wines and were received with great kindness and generous hospitality.

Our visit was an invaluable opportunity to learn about the region, its wines and the particular issues that face the wine industry there. This is a personal reflection on the visit.

History

Valpolicella is the local wine of Verona, but wine has been made in the hills above the city throughout the historical period – and probably well before. The twin practice of training vines on pergolas and of making wine from partially dried grapes are both ancient. Although the earliest record of Corvina, the dominant red grape of Valpolicella today, is relatively recent (1824), the region abounds in a variety of robustly-flavoured indigenous varieties.

The Conzorzio per la tutela dei vini Valpolicella was founded in 1925, but the first official regulations for production of Valpolicella did not come into force until 1968, with the establishment of a DOC. The years before and following this elevation also witnessed a move from older, high quality hillside sites to extensive new vineyards on the plain, excessive yields and a marked diminution in quality.

Amarone

The return to quality is linked in part to the commercial development of Amarone, a dry, powerful, sometimes bitter style of wine made from dried grapes. The first, modern Amarone wines were sold in the immediate post war years, though the Cantina Sociale di Negrar is proud to own a bottle from 1939. The recent popularity of Amarone is such that production rose dramatically in the last decade and an introduction of a new DOCG for Amarone and Recioto styles in 2010 introduced more stringent limits for the proportion of the crop that may be dried.

Geography, Geology and Climate

The five valleys of San Ambrogio, San Pietro in Cariano, Fumane, Marano and Negrar that dominate the western, best and Classico part of the region, to the north of Verona are often said to resemble the fingers of a hand; but the whole region, extended eastwards to Cazzano di Tramigna resembles more closely an approaching fist, excepting the southwards extension of Valpantena, to the east of the city of Verona.

Pictured left - Near Mezzane (eastern Valpolicella)

The whole area, in the province of Verona, is bound to the west and the south by the River Adige and is sheltered to the north by the Monti Lessini. Despite this, wind is the greatest hazard faced by many growers, breaking young branches and preventing full flowering. Altitude is a major factor in determining the character of vineyard sites. This, combined with the cooling winds, allows an often unusually steep diurnal range. Rainfall is generous but often inadequate during the growing season. Many vineyards are equipped with drip irrigation, for emergency use –especially on the plain. Soils are various: the Colli Lessini are granitic, but there are also red calcareous soils, sandstones and alluvial or glacial sand and gravels.

Viticulture and Industry

In 2009 there were 6,300 hectares under vine, equally divided between the DOC Valpolicella in the east and DOC Valpolicella Classico in the west. Hillside sites are defined officially as occupying 46% of the total area. Over 2,600 wine farms are registered, 93% of which hold less than 5 hectares. Co-operatives play a large part in the economy, especially in the east where they are responsible for 70% of the total production. Large independent wineries often buy in grapes.

Pergolas

Vines trained on traditional pergolas occupy around 80% of the vineyard, but a variety of other training systems are gaining ground, especially variants on Guyot.

There is much discussion about the relative merits of each system. Riccardo Tedeschi (Tedeschi) uses Guyot for most of his new plantings, but is experimenting with other systems including Lyre and a divided canopy system.

He argues that for Amarone wines the need is not sugar in grapes as much as ‘body’ and acidity.

Alessandro Castellani of Cà La Bionda, whilst saying, “personally I love fully ripe grapes” and has thus moved to about 80% Guyot in his vineyards, concurs that the ancient pergolas are well suited to Amarone precisely because the grapes maintain higher acidity and lower sugar levels.

The disadvantage of pergolas is that they have to be maintained almost entirely by hand and they therefore do not allow rapid intervention when disease strikes. Older vineyards typically include a range of varieties jumbled together.

Corvina

Some claim that the most important variety, Corvina, is especially well suited to pergola training, but it is sensitive to mildew, oidium and botrytis, all of which are more tricky to treat on such a system. It is vigorous, generous yielding – sometimes too generous, with compact bunches of dark grapes, high in acidity and tannin. The later ripening Corvinone, with its looser bunches and large berries with thicker skins is even more rustic, but is better suited to drying. Rondinella, a parent of Corvina, is lighter and more perfumed. Molinara, with less colour and structure, is generally excluded from the better wines and may be used instead for rosé. Other local varieties include, Cruina, Forselina, Negrara, Oseleta, Castelrotto, Bressa, Corbina, Spigamonte and Turchetta. The new DOCG for Amarone allows up to 15% of international varieties, which seems a shame given the potential and still largely untested wealth of local talent.

Wines and Winemaking

The popularity of Amarone is such that production has risen from around 1.5 million bottles to a little less than 8.8 million in 2009. The requirement of the new DOCG that no more than 65% of the total crop may be dried (the previous limit was 70%) seems far too generous. As Michèle Shah, our splendid expert presence during the visits has pointed out, some wines are ‘barely recognisable’ as Amarone. And although only one winery reeked of volatile acidity (the other eleven were squeaky clean), the number of wines affected by VA was as disturbingly high as the general quality of winemaking was uneven.

Drying

One of the early methods of drying grapes, still illustrated in the visitor centre at Negrar, was to attach the bunches on long string hung from the ceiling. They are now laid on plastic or, very occasionally, wooden trays. The harvest for Amarone and Recioto grapes is done by hand to ensure that each bunch is unaffected in any way by rot or botrytis.

The drying process takes places in fruttai, which may be a slow natural process controlled by little more than the opening and shutting of windows to control the flow of air and avoid any humidity.

This simple, slow method is practised, so we were told, by no more than 10% of all producers, though most of the wineries we visited claimed to use it. Air- conditioned fruttai are used in the majority of wineries; though some, for example Nicolis, aim for a half-way house that involves the opening and closing of windows and the use of fans.

The advantage of an air conditioned facility is that the job is done quickly and efficiently and with far less risk of botrytis. Riccardo Tedeschi (pictured left) believes that, “it gives more expression to the origin of the grapes. The original aromas come out more easily. We see this from one year to another.” 

However, exponents of the traditional, slower drying method are quick to point out that it enables the metabolisation of the acids in the grapes to take place gradually and also the polymerisation of tannins, so that the wine seems less powerfully astringent and the level of malic acid is dramatically reduced.

“If you dry the grapes naturally, the malic is zero,” says Alessandro Castellani

(pictured right). “If you dry them by machine, it is doubled.” Castellani still insists on placing his grapes in wooden trays, because, he says, they absorb humidity better and plastic crates “provoke condensation.”  Other winemakers believe that wooden trays may harbour disease. 

Passionate

There are similarly passionate arguments between the wine makers of Valpolicella about the appropriateness of ambient and cultured yeasts and about the best kind of cask to age the top wines.

Some rely on the large, traditional botti – even some made from cherry wood; others use small new oak barricas; others prefer older barricas; some use 450 litre double barricas; but the finished wine does not always reveal its handling as easily as one might imagine.

The most bizarre container about to come into use is Tommasi’s ‘Magnifica’(pictured left), endorsed by The Guinness Book of Records as the largest wooden wine cask in the world, crafted from Slavonian, Black Forest and French oak.

Pierangelo Tomassi readily admits that it is something of a marketing gimmick, “almost a joke.” What effect it will have on the 2007 Amarone with which it will soon be filled is anyone’s guess.

The Family

Despite the arrival of the DOCG, the ten members of the ‘Family of Amarone Producers’, which includes four of the larger wineries we visited, have joined forces to impose slightly stricter conditions on the production of Amarone and to cooperate in marketing their wine. One of these is Tomassi.

Improving standards

Basic Valpolicella has been both the mainstay of the region and also its weakest link. Olga Bussinello of the Valpolicella Consortium hopes that standards will improve and that wines made from fresh grapes will gain greater recognition in the market. On the evidence of our tastings, I was struck by both the inconsistency of these ‘ordinary’ wines and the considerable potential they offer. The best are superb, for example Tenuta San Antonio’s ‘La Bandina’ Valpolicella Superiore 2006 or Cà La Blonda’s Valpolicella Classico 2009, which Alessandro Castellani says is “not a great wine and doesn’t pretend to be” but it’s beautifully made.

The Amarone we tasted ranged from the barely acceptable (spoiled by volatile acidity and sometime Brettanomyces) to the sublime. A small hint of brett and VA was not always too great a problem: it added complexity. The longevity of Amarone was demonstrated on several occasions, most notably by Bertani’s 1967 Amarone which was perfumed, almost floral, with a touch of caramel and still showed plenty of power and life. Their straight 1953 Valpolicella fared less well.

Astringency

The problem category is Ripasso. So often sold, as Michèle Shah says, as ‘baby Amarone’, it may appeal to some drinkers, especially apparently in Northern Europe, but although there were a few good examples on show, far too many were spoiled by volatility and excessive astringency. Surely this is a style of winemaking that should be now quietly forgotten? There are better ways to make exciting warming reds from fresh grapes alone, or perhaps from those that have had a shorter drying than those destined for Amarone. The very practice of ripasso invites spoilage and excessive levels of astringency.

Recioto

We tasted many fine examples of Recioto, the original and most exciting style of wine made from dried grapes, and one that is often reasonably priced, as the small queue to buy bottles of Villa Monteleone Recioto, ‘Palsun’ 2004 showed. Wine Educators do not always part so willingly with their cash. Riccardo Tedeschi says, “I think that Recioto is the best wine of Valpolicella. It has the greatest potential; but it’s hard to sell. He paused and shrugged. “It’s sweet … and red.” Invite a few more Wine Educators round, Riccardo, and we’ll do the rest.

Photos & text © Helen Savage 2010

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Wineries visited

Two large Co-ops:

Cantina Sociale di Negrar

220 members /

550  ha.

The immense Cantina Sociale di Soave

Six wineries, controlling 47% of the entire DOC Valpolicella production; also holds land in the Classico and Valpantena zones.

Four large independent wineries

Bolla

Part of the GIV (Italy’s largest wine producer with an annual turnover of around €305 million)

Bertani

In Valpantena, which includes the largest single vineyard in Valpolicella, the Villa Novani with 70 ha. under vines

Tomassi

Their 95 ha. in the Classico zone make them the largest single landowner there; they also have substantial holdings elsewhere.

Tenuta San Antonio

55 ha. owned, but another 50 ha rented

Three medium sized wineries:

Nicolis

42 ha.

Tedeschi

42 ha.

Cà La Bionda

29 ha.

Three smaller family wineries:

Antonio Mazzi

7 ha.

Scriani

10 ha.

Villa Monteleone

10 ha.

Soave by Helen Savage

During our trip to Valpolicella we were able to taste a number of wines from Soave. Although there were not enough to draw any very meaningful qualifications, the quality of some of the examples was such to make us realise that Garganega, even when blended with Trebbiano di Soave (closely related to Verdicchio) is capable of real quality.

Perhaps the most surprising discovery was of a Soave 1988 ‘La Lave’ from Bertini, which, though quite soft, had the persistence and minerality of an old Hunter Valley Semillon – a remarkable wine and still a good drink. The grapes for this came from the southern part of the Classico region on dark brown volcanic soil. We were told that Garganega grown on the fertile soils of the plain is usually much less interesting.

A second fascinating Soave vignette at the same Cantina, was a copy of the menu for the Coronation dinner of George VI on 12 May 1937. With ‘Médaillons de Langouste Norvègienne’ and after Veloutine Bleu-Ciel, the guests drank Soave Blanc [sic]. How fashions change. Can Soave once again build a reputation for fine wine? The few glimpses we gained of its potential suggest that such a claim may not be pie in the sky.

Just for the record, the dinner continued with Castello di Brolio with the main course and ended with Martini Secco – presumably to please the new queen.

Photo & text © Helen Savage 2010

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Friuli by Helen Savage

The second part of the AWE Italian visit was to the far north east, as guests of the Friuli Isonzo Consortium. During another forty-eight hours from 9 to 11 June, we visited eight wineries and tasted wine with representatives of another dozen. The hospitality was every bit as warm as that we’d received in Valpolicella and a slightly more relaxed pace gave us time to ask a few more questions. This again, is a personal reflection.

History

Friuli Isonzo is a small area on the banks of the River Isonzo, with Trieste and the Adriatic to the south, Slovenia to the east and the Julian Pre-Alps to the north. Friuli is border country, according to Pierpaolo Penco from the Consortium, “a bit like Alsace. My grandparents were born here, in Austria, but spoke Italian. Slovenia is only five kilometres away. After World War Two some villages were divided in two, so there’s a lot of Slovenian spoken here too. And we still celebrate the birthday of Emperor Franz-Joseph.” The Austro-Hungarian influence is clear: Friuli feels different from the much of the rest of Italy, in a rather well-ordered way.

Wine has been made in Friuli since at least the time the it became part of the Roman Empire under Julius Caesar, who is still remembered in the name of the region and its mountains, but the modern history of winemaking owes much to Hapsburg influence, during which, in the nineteenth century, French varieties were planted in the region. They were then replanted after the First World War, which brought immense destruction to the region. The Conzorzio Tutela Vini DOC Friuli Isonzo was founded in 1974, in anticipation of the establishment of the DOC the following year.

Geography, Geology and Climate

Isonzo is a low plateau that slopes gradually towards the sea, at its highest little more than 100m above sea level. It is divided into two parts by the River Isonzo. The soils are glacial and alluvial, poor, deep and well-drained. On the north west bank of the river (Rive Alte) the soil is relatively high in clay and low in calcareous material and contains red gravels. On the south east bank (Rive di Giare) white calcareous pebbles dominate. Since 2004 the rules for the DOC allow for these zones to be indicated on wine labels; but there is such subtle variety in soil type and structure that studies began in the late 1990s to map the soils and to recommend where specific varieties might be best be planted.

The locals usually describe the climate as Mediterranean, but are quick to point out that its latitude is roughly on a par with Mâcon and thus enjoys longer daylight hours than most other Mediterranean vineyard regions. Summer temperatures can be high, but the Bora, a cold, continental wind from the north east, channels through a gap in the mountains, which otherwise shelter the region, and makes a steep diurnal range in late summer of 15 to 17^oC possible. Wind, which is said to blow on 270 days every year, moderates humidity; though when we there, a warm ‘Scirocco’ from the Adriatic was sometimes uncomfortably sticky.

Viticulture and Industry

There are 1172 hectares in production within the DOC of Friuli Isonzo and around 600 more in IGT, but a considerable number of growers prefer to sell their wines as IGT, even if qualified for DOC, to enable them greater flexibility and lower costs.

Some estates, for example Sant ’Elena (pictured left) simply believe they can do better outside the DOC.

According to Dominic Nocerino, the son of the (Italian American) owner, “Our standards are higher than DOC and we let the wine speak for itself.”

Reconstruction

Even Pierpaolo Penco thinks that some reconstruction of the DOC system in Friuli-Venezia-Giulia is inevitable. He believes that a larger, regional appellation will eventually emerge.

There are a hundred estates affiliated to the Consortium; forty of which bottle their own wines. We visited six with cellars based in the Rive Alta: Puiatti (55 ha.) where we also tasted wine from a dozen other producers; Tenuta Villanova (125 ha.) which includes a distillery; Vie di Romans (50 ha.), Luisa (80 ha.), Lis Neris (70 ha.) and Sant’ Elena (37 ha.); and two estates based in the Rive di Giare: Tenuta di Blasig (16 ha.) and Lorenzon (150 ha.), the largest wine estate in Isonzo.

White wine grapes dominate, with 30 to 40% of the total production devoted to Pinot Grigio alone (which is also sometimes vinified pink or ‘copper’). The other main white wine varieties are Friulano, Malvasia Istriana, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Traminer, Riesling, Verduzzo and Ribolla Gialla. The red wine grapes include Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon (much less widely planted than Franc), Pinot Nero, Refosco (not Mondeuse as has often been thought, but a close relative of Marzemino) and the thoroughly local Pignolo. The DOC allows 26 local varieties and 10 ‘international’ grapes; but it is not always easy to judge which might fall into which category: so many of the ‘international varieties’ have been grown in the region for so long that they have established their own, distinct, clonal integrity. Pinot Grigio here seems to have a much higher natural acidity than Pinot Gris in Alsace.

Sauvignon Blanc

Giovanni Bigot (pictured right), the Consortium’s agronomist  is a keen advocate of the quality of some of the Sauvignon Blanc clones found in Friuli, especially R3, which he says, has small open bunches, with much lower yields than usual and an especial concentration of methoxpyrazenes. And indeed our tastings revealed that it was not just the wines that included French clones that displayed a strong, herbaceous character.

Training

There is less variety of training methods than in the Province of Verona. Guyot is common, as is a form of Cordon Royat, typically at a density of around 6,000 plants per hectare, but Giovanni Bigot admits that there have been problems in establishing canopies that are sufficiently open to allow good aeration without exposing the bunches to the risk of sunburn.

Water Stress

Despite 1000mm of rainfall from April to October, water stress on such free-draining soils can be a problem, especially in July. Water for irrigation, sometimes sub-irrigation, is drawn by some growers from the River Isonzo.

Harvest is relatively early. White varieties are picked typically from the end of August and red wine varieties from mid September, but Alvaro Piccolare (pictured left) and his daughter Federica, of Lis Neris, have noted that in recent seasons the harvest for white varieties has slipped forward to mid August.

The University of Udine has worked with the Consortia of Friuli since 1992 to produce an annual report on the season and illustrates the heat experienced during the year at a glance by means of the colour of the cover. That for 2009 was bright red.

Wines and Winemaking

Isonzo is undoubtedly a source of good, clean, aromatic white wines, but it is not easy to determine whether it is naturally better suited to white varieties than to red. Culture and fashion have clearly played their part in determining what is produced here.

Even though some have a long history (Blasig, for example was founded in 1788) the wineries we saw looked as if they were newly equipped; stainless steel sparkles everywhere. Money has clearly been spent. Only Lorenzon conceded that concrete tanks might be a good idea – but only for red wines.

Oak aging plays a relatively minor role, though barricas, double barricas and various sizes of botti can all be found in most wineries. We did taste oaked dry whites, some of which showed very sensitive handling of the wood, but we were told on several occasions that consumers now demand unoaked styles.

The Puiatti website has attempted to pick up the zeitgeist and proclaims, rather provocatively: “Save a Tree, Drink Puiatti, No Oak Aged Wines.” Elisabetta Bortolotto Sarcinelli of Blasig (pictured right) comments that her Malvasia, still a wonderfully complex, spicy, honeyed dry white was even finer when it had been aged for a while in tonneau, “but the market wouldn’t take it.”

She recognises that she makes wines that are fresh and fruity with immediate appeal, but several wineries are still keen to make age-worthy wines. At Vie di Romans, Gianfranco Gallo showed us Sauvignon Blanc from 2001, 1998 and 1993; and Pinot Grigio from 1997 as well as Chardonnay from 1996. The aromatic varieties had survived well and showed considerable mineral complexity. Pierpaolo Penco was keen to point out that, “our wines are really very salty, especially Malvasia; This gives the wine freshness even if the acid is low, which may be as little at 4g/litre.”

The overall standard of winemaking was impressively high. Undoubtedly there are less quality-conscious producers who supply bulk wines, especially Pinot Grigio. Other wineries, Pierpaolo says, supply Pinot Grigio to the big houses of the Veneto to give their wine a little more structure; but there is little doubt that the accent seems increasingly to be on quality in Isonzo. “We are not Yellow Tail”, he says, ”and they make more wine than the whole of Friuli altogether!”  (though I doubt he’s right). 

If there is a problem category it is red wine. We tasted some decent enough Merlot and Cabernet Franc, but the relatively high prices asked for Isonzo wine does not suggest that they would be competitive on the UK market.

At Sant’ Elena, which is planted on Terra Rossa, winemaker Maurizio Drascek (pictured left), is convinced that red is best and has planted some Cabernet Sauvignon. “When I put it down I was so scared I chewed up all my nails,” he claims. As 70% of a Bordeaux blend, it was quite attractive in a grippy, slightly astringent way.

Pignolo

He insisted on planting Pignolo in 1998 – his baby. Temperamental, low yielding, first to flower and last to harvest, it flowers poorly if there much more than a breeze - a bit of a problem in Isonzo.

But Maurizio believes that it is capable of becoming ‘Il Brunello della Friuli’.

“I banged my fist on the table for four years to get it,” he says; and directed his one-man promotional campaign to the Consortium. “If Maurizio calls,” Pierpaolo was told when he first took up his post, “it'll be about Pignolo.”

The 2006, Maurizio’s first release, made from semi-dried grapes (which, after much experimentation, he claims helps to tame the grape’s fierce tannins) was aged in new oak barrels. A massive wine, it was still almost impenetrably tannic, but had great depth of fruit and far more freshness than either Merlot or Cabernet. A cask sample of the 2007, hurriedly doled out even as we were aboard the bus for the airport, was much richer, softer and more complex. Maurizio is learning fast.

Photos & text © Helen Savage 2010

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How to Open a Wine Bottle Without a Corkscrew by Debra Meiburg MW

Banging, pumping, pulling or pounding: whichever method you prefer, it is not easy to open a wine bottle without a corkscrew. Stories abound about folks desperately wresting this little piece of tree cork out of the neck of a bottle in ingenious ways. If your usual tipple requires only fingers and an opposable thumb to open, you are not likely to have a corkscrew on hand when it comes time to pull the cork on Château Lafite. You might like some alternative methods.

The most obvious scheme is to mimic a corkscrew. Providing you’ve hung your own artwork, you’ll have everything required: screwdriver, large screw and pliers. Thread the screw into the cork and, holding the bottle between your feet, tug on the screw with pliers. Vice grips make this task easier. Alternatively, use the nail-removing end of a hammer to tug on the screw, pulling the cork partway out of the bottle.

Pliers can then grip the exposed cork. Or screw a large storage hook – the type you would use to suspend a bicycle on the wall – into the cork and gripping the curved end of the hook, and pull. Screws can be threaded horizontally through a piece of wood, steel or even another cork to improvise a handle grip.

A most ingenious technique is the nails-à-trois approach. Gently pound two nails (with heads) into the cork. Slip the loose third nail in between the other two, perpendicular to the bottle. Twist and pull outward.

Keen sportsman will have an array of play toys to use, such as a manual tire pump or ball inflation pump. Pierce the cork with the needle and work the pump as though inflating a tire. The air pressure under the cork will force it out of the bottle. A syringe has also been known to do the trick.

If needles make you squeamish, then you are a pounder and should use the following method. Wrap a small towel or your jacket around the base of the bottle. Find a firm, flat vertical surface, such as the jamb of an open doorway, tree trunk or a solid wall. Pound the padded base of the bottle against the flat surface repeatedly, striking evenly. The trick is to keep the bottle at a 90º angle all times. The pounding will slowly ease the cork out of the bottle, but keep in mind the following caveats. The wine will be somewhat fizzy; there will be spills on the floor; you might be liable for wall damage and you will perspire heavily. Perhaps this technique is more appropriate for opening wallets than wine bottles: there is always someone in the room willing to bet it cannot be done.

The issue isn’t so much a matter of getting the cork out of the bottle, but extricating the liquid. The solution? Simply push the cork into the bottle. Almost any implement will do; success stories include a toothbrush, house key or screwdriver. For the more technically minded, insert a butter knife into the cork. Use a hammer to tap the knife, gently pushing the cork partway into the bottle. Then use a chopstick to push the cork the rest of the way. “I found it the most sofisticated [sic] method I know.” advises a reader. Whichever instrument is used, be careful of uncontrolled spurting at the cork’s final plunge and remember that you cannot reseal what you have undone. Also, avoid the Italians as they have very long corks.

© Debra Meiburg MW

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Vallée du Rhône Terroirs by Laura Clay

Having attended Linda Fields’ AWE Rhône seminar in March, Stephen Rosser and I were delighted to be invited to visit the area with a group of 20 European Wine Educators, courtesy of Inter Rhône. The trip was entitled Vallée du Rhône Terroirs and was organised by Emmanuelle Voinier (responsible for Oeno-Communication), and her assistant Emma Lang.

We organised our own travel to Lyon and, despite volcanic ash, BA strikes and revolting French rail workers, eventually met with our fellow educators from Belgium, the Netherlands, Finland, China (not strictly in Europe, I think!), Ireland and Germany as well as one each from Canada and USA. The common language was of course English but our guide/translator, Mike Rijken, could speak all of the above, with the exception of Mandarin.

Mike Rijken

A word or two about Mike: Mike was originally a chef who, after working in Paris and Beaune, set up home in the South of France, first working for Château de Beaucastel as their PR manager and he is now freelance with a business called Wine Safari and regularly works for Inter-Rhône. His overall wine knowledge was outstanding, his familiarity and understanding of the area, the terroirs, the winemaking, the history, combined with his food expertise and language skills made him a very useful guide.

Inter Rhône represents 6000 wineries, in an area where 30% of the population works in viticulture, and the Vallée du Rhône represents the second largest output in terms of volume in France - and we had a mere three days!

Informative

On the way to our first visit I became a little concerned about the level the trip would be aimed at, that it may be more of a ‘tourist tour’ rather than one designed for professionals, as Mike took the mike (couldn’t resist!) and informed us of the grape varieties and appellations of the Northern Rhône! I decided that at worst it would a pleasant holiday (exactly what my husband thinks my wine trips are anyway!) and at best a reccie. However, I was proved wrong as the trip turned out to be one of the most informative I have been on.

Delas

Our first stop was to Hermitage and a visit to Delas. We had a whistle-stop tour of the winery which was in fact the longest time we spent in a winery during the whole visit. Not a bottling line in sight! Delas own 30ha in 3 appellations and work with 30 wine growers on a further 50ha.

In the southern Rhône they buy in ready-made Côtes du Rhône except with Châteauneuf-du-Pape where they work closely with the growers. 

They produce 2m bottles, 40% of which is sold in France. We were quickly on to the tasting, led by Bruno Gonnet (Assistant Direction Relations Extérieurs) and held in their cleverly designed tasting room, made to look like a barrel.

Tasting highlights

We tasted 9 wines, beginning with a Côtes du Rhône St Esprit 2008 (red) and finishing with a single vineyard Condrieu, Clos Boucher 2008.

The highlights for me were the Côte Rotie, Seigneur de Maugiron 2007 which had floral and myrtille aromas and a velvety texture amidst the tannic structure. It was slightly peppery with great acidity and a lasting finesse. 

The Hermitage, Marquise de la Tourette 2007 was silky, deep and complex. The 2008 white of the same name, made mostly from Marsanne, had lovely green fruit and a white pepper edge but was just a bit oaky for me at the moment though Bruno insisted that the whites of the area should not be aged. We learnt Delas do not add any Viognier to their northern reds as they used to in the past, because the freshness and lightness which the grape gave to the wine can now be done in the winemaking with Syrah alone. 

Delas was a great start to the trip but we couldn’t linger as we were already late for dinner at the Michelin-starred restaurant ‘Michel Chabran’.

Pradelle

Here we met M. Pradelle, wearing a ‘ jeCrozes’ T-shirt which we all rather coveted. M. Pradelle owns a domain of 29ha in the heart of the Crozes appellation (as well as 5ha in St Joseph) and was, until just recently, its chairman. There was no doubting his passion for the area and the wines it produces but he is critical of the appellation regulations and feels there is room for change though he fears a free-for-all unless things are done very carefully and slowly. Some of his family have worked in wineries abroad and he recognises the quality of the wines from the New World but, in a very French way, he sees them as technical wines, not wines of the land. Working, as so many are now, with Culture Raissonée very much in mind, treatments in the vineyard are not done as a matter of course but only as necessary.

Characterful

We tasted Crozes-Hermitage, Les Hirondelles 2006 from Domaine Pradelle and I was delighted that it was as characterful as the man who made it! It showed lots of fruit, smoky complexity and elegance -  not too oaky, with hints of liquorice - great now but we were told that this would easily keep for 15 years.

Cave de Tain

How many times has it happened that you have a visit to the largest producer or co-op of an area expecting a dull, ready-made tour only for it to turn out to be the highlight of the programme? And so it happened here. We were met by Olivier Ciosi one of two winemakers and Murielle Chardin-Frouin and a swift tour of the winery ensued where we learnt:

• With 1000 ha they are the leading producers of the northern Rhône

• 330 growers are exclusive to Cave de Tain, who are paid by quality not weight

• There is no phenolic testing done here yet -  harvest dates are set by taste.

• The whites have no malo in order to maintain freshness (opposite to Delas where all whites go through a malo)

• Pigeage and pumping over are done regularly to give air to the must as Syrah is a reductive grape

• a small amount of micro-oxygenation is done

• Barriques, foudres, stainless steel and concrete tanks are all used and they are experimenting with American oak and 400l barrels.

• Cave de Tain is the largest producer of AOC Syrah in Europe.

Soil Types

One of two viticulturists jumped on our coach and we headed to the Hermitage hill. En route, the various soil types were pointed out and we were shown how easy it was to recognise them – by the walls which make up the terraces.

Erosion

The alluvial soils with boulders and rocks have walls made up of these round boulders, walls made by hand in the winter months by the growers. This a vital job because there is so little soil and erosion is a serious problem. In the granitic soil area, which makes up ¼ of the hill, the walls are different, sometimes made from small trees and bushes.

Whilst on the hill, we did see some machinery being used but this is unusual, most is done by hand or, we were told, an old ‘new’ job of servicing the vineyards using horses is also being done. We witnessed this too, along with another useful tool – a helicopter!

Master class tasting

It was fascinating watching viticulturist and winemaker discussing soils, vines, best grapes, allowing each other to answer questions, working as a team ,and this was also evident during the tasting. Between them they had decided to show us wines from 2009, unblended, not complete, so that we could taste Crozes-Hermitage from clay/limestone and loess soils for the whites, and rocky, alluvial and granite soils for the reds and see what each one brings to the wine when blended. It was a master class, finishing with Les Hauts de Fiefs, Crozes-Hermitage 2007, a complete wine, a blend of plots, a finished product.

Over a delicious lunch, we drank Hermitage, Au Coeur des Siècles 2006 (100% Marsanne),  Hermitage 2006 and Hermitage, Gambert de Loche 2006. To conclude an excellent, informative and well-organised visit and tasting, we were spoilt with Vin de Paille Hermitage 1999 – an absolute treat and perfect with the three mini-desserts the chef had prepared especially to accompany the wine (or should that be the other way round?!)

Cave de Rasteau

After a welcome power-nap in the coach, we found ourselves in Rasteau, a small town (700 inhabitants) with a big reputation. The landscape had changed and the temperature was noticeably warmer. The winemaker, Alexi Cornu, took us up to the vineyards at 150-300m where there was a warm breeze, a constant throughout the year at various levels of force, so of course the Grenache vines are trained close to the soil.

Mistral

The Mistral was talked about as much as the Brits talk about rain! It is both friend and foe – it helps to keep the vines from disease, but is not useful for cooling the grapes as they ripen because it is a hot wind; at its worst it can cause damage not just to the grapes but to the vines themselves.

The clay limestone soil with large pebbles on the top (see right) is ideal to root the vines against the strong wines and obviously it is excellent for retaining a supply of water.

The horseshoe shape of the vineyards does help to protect a little from the worst of the winds and is also useful for trapping heat.

Grenache

Rasteau is one of the most northerly areas for Grenache (especially when you take into account the altitude of the vineyards). Alexi explained that here, the grape has a particular style – strong and powerful, rounded and slightly sweet. Back in the winery we were able to taste this for ourselves through the Ortas range – Ortas being an anagram of Rasto! The Rasteau Prestige 2006 (GSM blend with 20% oak ageing) was the best value for me at €8.10, smooth and ‘together’, with a good length and with some potential to improve in the next year or two. A new one on me was the Rasteau Vin Doux Naturel Dorée 2005 – a Grenache rosé VDN. I felt this lacked a little acidity and preferred the Rasteau Signature VDN 2007, 100% Grenache,  spicy, cakey, rich, fresh, chunky fruit, peppery and powerful.

Domaine de Cabasse

As we were running late, (we were only ever on time first thing in the morning), we only had time to taste at this property. Domaine de Cabasse has three vineyards in three appellations, Seguret, Sablet and Gigondas and the property sits at a crossroads of all three. The young winemaker Nicolas Le Petit who runs the business with his parents and his wife, was as charming as his wines. He spoke perfect English having studied in Preston(!) but strangely with an American accent. They have 45yr old Grenache vines in the vineyards and are beginning to reintroduce Counoise after having tasted it in Châteauneuf-du-Pape. The domaine wines are available through Earle Wine and Flint Wines in the UK and I can recommend them all but my favourite was D’Eux, Seguret Côtes du Rhône Villages 2006.

Seguret

Some of our group were staying at this property as they also run a hotel but a few of us headed into the beautiful town of Seguret.

Cars, and certainly coaches, are not permitted in the town so we trawled our suitcases through the narrow cobbled streets (see right) for 10 mins to our hotel- the view of Provence which lay before us was well worth the effort!

We ate a wonderful meal in the restaurant and I was delighted to meet Linda Fields again who had joined us for the evening.

Vacqueyras

Another highlight! Jean-Michel Vache of Domaine des Clos de Cazaux, a roll-up smoking, Chinese- smock sporting, Jesus boots wearing character, gave us a terroirs-tour of the area! Obviously fiercely proud of his region, he made me smile when he said that the Rhône Valley produces more AOC wine than any other area of France, after all, ‘all Bordeaux and Bordeaux Supérieur is really Vins de Pays!’ A Frenchman with a sense of humour – I hope!

Too much red

The sandy soils of the area are good for whites whilst the lime and marl are better for reds. Jean-Michel believes that there are a lot of red grapes planted in soil which would be better for white – in the AOC only 4% of the production is white and 2% rosé, whilst in his vineyard white and rosé account for 20%. He believes too much red was planted after the war because that was what people wanted but actually the sandy soils are too warm for Syrah; it does better in cooler soils on hillsides, with the resultant slow ripening giving richer flavours.  The red varieties suit the more gravelly, rolled stone soils in the heart of Vacqueyras on the plateau.

Ideals

Although Domaine des Clos de Cazaux is not organic or bio-dynamic, Jean-Michel (pictured left) talked about his viticultural ideals as if it were.

Life

For example, if one uses machines instead of people then you need to get rid of trees to allow the machines space – if you have fewer trees, you will have fewer birds, animals and bees therefore you will have no ‘life’ in the field. He made us smell the earth because ‘what is inside the soil is inside your glass.’ If you smell nothing, there is no life. 

He uses people rather than machines in his vineyard as much as possible, and prepares the soil for the next fifty years by planting wheat, which gives the soil air, or alfalfa which gives nitrogen, before replanting a vineyard.

Grass

He allows grass to grow between the rows of vines as it helps keep moisture in the soil and rabbits are more interested in grass than vines. He compares growing grass in the vineyard to the marriage bed!! At first it is difficult to share the duvet, then you get used to it and then you rather like it!

Jean-Michel was informative, fun and passionate. I was disappointed I could only taste one of his wines, especially as he had shown us his Grenache Blanc vines on which he allows botrytis to develop and picks late, sometimes as late as mid-December. From this he makes a sweet wine of 180g RS, sold in 50cl bottles, totally outside the rules of the AOC, of course!

Tasting

The AOC of Vacqueyras had organised a tasting 14 wines, divided into the soil types in which the vines were grown and with several wine-makers present to talk to. The 3 whites, one of which was Domaine Le Clos des Cazaux, ‘Les Cles d’Or’ 2008, were remarkably fresh, light and refined. The reds varied considerably between a more easy-drinking but well-made style, to full-bodied, grippy and rich. One or two I found a bit out of balance but Montirius Le Clos 2007 was fine, elegant and restrained.

Château Mourgues du Gres

At the base of the Côtes du Rhône we were now in Costières de Nîmes where the vines benefit from the double influence of the Rhône and the Mediterranean, and where red and rosé account for 85% of production (split almost 50/50) and white the remainder. Anne and François Collard talked us through the soils in their vineyards (sur place of course): soils of up to 15m deep, gravelly but with clay and marl.

So good are the soils for drainage that when they suffer from flash floods, (short, severe storms are not uncommon), they can work the vineyards the following day. Vielles vignes are particularly impressive here because of the depth of the soils to which the roots can penetrate. The light is very bright in this area (think about the painters who came here for the light) and this pushes the vegetation, so the vines are often trained high. The cailloux in the soil are good for the roots because it makes them change direction picking up new and different nutrients. All these aspects add to the minerality and complexity of the wines and gives typicity to the AOC.

Anne and François were tremendous hosts. Their wines, under the label of SINE SOLE NIHIL (nothing without sun) very much reflected the soils in which the vines were grown. They are sold through Les  Caves de Pyrène and www.ballantynes-direct.co.uk (15% off Rhône and Loire wines at the moment) and Harvey Nichols.

Lirac

Our final morning was spent in Lirac where we were joined by the president of the AOC, Alain Jaume, and a geologist, Georges Truc (pictured right, in the hat), amongst others.

Lirac is an area of 800ha producing 80% red wine by 105 growers, with 40 domaines and 5 co-ops, these 5 accounting for 30% of the production. The three soils types here are limestone, sand and galets.

Nutrients

M. Truc gave us a mini-tutorial. The major elements in the sandy soil are quartz and limestone and the roots find it easy to make their way down 2m where they find clay which of course preserves water. But they also find metallic constituents particularly good for the plant such as potassium, iron and minor elements which the plant takes into the leaves and which are then transferred to the grapes.

Physical advantage

The galets and limestone give more of a physical advantage to the wine, rather than nutrients, in the form of drainage or heat absorption (not necessarily an advantage as climate change takes hold) and of course the best soils are a complex combination. Red grapes in sandy soil produce a soft, light wine without power and concentration but with limestone there is complexity and structure.

Tasting

In Lirac we saw terraces made up of the pudding stones of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, under which there are aluminium elements and which over time have been pressed down into the deep clay. We were then able to taste the wines of the area. Sadly this was not the best tasting – too small a room, the tasting table was too high for this vertically-challenged taster, there were not enough spittoons, too many people and no tasting sheets. However, bearing in mind this was a Sunday morning, we were very privileged to have so many wine-makers present and it was a good range, representative of the AOC.

This was an extremely educational and worthwhile trip as well as being tremendously generously put together.

My thanks go to Inter Rhône and to the other educators who, without exception, were great company.

Text © Laura Clay 2010

Photos © Laura Clay, except for Tasting, Seguret & Lirac © Stephen Rosser

Diagrams © Inter Rhône

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Circle of Wine Writers ‘Disaster’ Seminar on Madeira, Turkey and Chile by Wink Lorch

The London International Wine Fair started for me and several others with this fascinating seminar hosted by the Circle of Wine Writers to support three wine areas hit by recent natural disasters – Madeira, Turkey and Chile. Madeira has always been to me a mythical wine-producing island that I’ve yet to visit; Turkey, as for most people, is a complete unknown in every way; and Chile is very dear to my heart, and somewhere I’ve had the chance to visit several times.

MADEIRA

AWE’s much-in-demand Honorary President, Charles Metcalfe kicked off with Madeira - a strange way around for the tasting, but Charles had to run off to present another tasting elsewhere. Charles, one of the UK’s most consummate speakers and wine educators, reminded us first of the basics about this volcanic island – surrounded by deep seas, it is made up of degraded volcanic rock with a climate that is not hugely hot, but never cold. He summed up the island’s wines with this: “Unique climate, unique methods give unique wines.”

Tinta Negra

At least 80 per cent of the island’s 420 hectares of vines are red, dominated by Tinta Negra but with an additional host of minor varieties. A quick calculation shows that this leaves a mere 80 hectares of the big four, Sercial, Verdelho, Boal and Malmsey, and makes me think it’s a good thing perhaps that conventional Madeira as we know it is not over-popular. Tinta Negra is still being planted and the younger vines are used to make the unfortified Madeirense or the slightly better Terras Madeirenses GI.

Charles pointed out that the base wine for Madeira itself only requires 9% alcohol pre-fortification and of course, much Tinta Negra is used for basic Madeira, or as we were to try, occasionally quite excellent Madeira. However, he does believe that in future there may be much more wine coming from Madeira, based on red grapes.

The Tasting

Our tasting kicked off with a savoury and bracing Pereira D’Olivera, Colheita Verdelho 1981 (with a minimum 20 years in oak) followed by a Boal 1982 from Barbeito. It was wine three that was the star for me – Justino’s Colheita 1996 Fine Rich from 95% Tinta Negra and 5% other red varieties. I found it fascinating with a Christmas fruit cake nose, less obvious acidity than the first two wines, but sufficient to balance the sweetness (121g/l) and the 19% alcohol - overall easier to approach (certainly at that time in the morning). This was followed by another Tinta Negra from Henriques & Henriques, a Medium Rich Single Harvest 1998 and then a classic Malmsey from Blandy 2001.

For further information see www.vinhomadeira.pt

TURKEY

On to Turkey, presented extremely well in a race against time (half an hour for a presentation and eight wines) by our ex-Chairman and newsletter editor Susan Hulme MW together with Daniel O’Donnel from Turkey. We were first taken through a presentation on the country too detailed to expound on here, but lots has been written up on the country since a press trip earlier this year.

First extraordinary fact: Turkey has the 4th largest vineyard area in the world, but of course, most of the grapes are for eating.

Second equally extraordinary fact: Turkey has between 1200 and 1500 named grape varieties and uses around 25 – 30 of the vinifera ones commercially.

Third not so surprising fact: for foreigners their indigenous grape varieties and their regions are pretty much impossible to pronounce, so I don’t think I’m the first to question whether this is not a huge barrier for international exports.

We tasted just one white, a Vinkara Doruk 2009 from the Narince grape. It was somewhat neutral for me, but quite attractive with some orange zest and floral notes – in fact the leaves of Narince are highly prized, fetching a higher price than the grapes, since they are used for dolmades. Then, onto seven reds, four from indigenous varieties, one blend of indigenous/international and the last two blends from solely international varieties.

Oküzgözü

Susan said that the most interesting potential seemed to be from the Oküzgözü variety and certainly I enjoyed the two deep-coloured, quite heady examples we tasted from the earthquake-hit Elazig region of South Eastern Anatolia. In particular I really liked the spicy and herbal barrel-aged 2006 blend from Kayra Winery which included 7% Boğazkere, 7.5% Syrah and 0.5% Petit Verdot.  All the reds were clean, of varying styles and I also enjoyed the limited bottling Prodom 2007 from Syrah, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, but would worry if its price was high. This is definitely a ‘watch this space’ wine country.

CHILE

Chilean wine writer Eduardo Brethauer was our final presenter on wines from Carignan grown in the Maule Valley, including telling us about a newly formed winery group the Club del Carignan. The earthquake on 27 February 2010 ravaged 80% of the town of Cauquenes in the heart of Maule’s wine region. However, it is not the first major earthquake here: the epicentre of a big earthquake in 1939 was also close to Cauquenes, causing massive destruction and many deaths. Subsequent to this and in order to help the revival of the area, the Cauquenes wine co-operative was formed and grapes including Carignan were imported to improve the varietal mix, then dominated by Pais.

Jurassic Park

Eduardo described Maule, one of Chile’s largest winegrowing valleys, as the ‘Jurassic Park of grapes’ with large numbers of vines over 60 years old that are grown on very poor, granitic, old soils, which are dry farmed, and have always been organic. This is a region of decent rainfall, in fact the autumn is known to be cool and wet. During summer it reaches 29 – 32°C in the day, but drops to 11 – 13°C at night giving good natural acidity levels.

Club del Carignan

Just before this latest devastating earthquake saw the creation of the Club del Carignan, which is focussed on producers with vineyards near the town of Loncomilla in Maule. There are currently 14 member wineries of all sizes with around 700 hectares of the variety between them and the group has imposed a list of rules to follow including that wines with the label must be from 30+ year old vines.

The tasting

We tasted seven wines which varied from a Torres Carignan with just 66% in the blend made up with Merlot and Shiraz, to four 100% Carignans, with vintages from 2006 to 2008. My personal favourites included the De Martino Single Vineyard El Leon 2006 including 5% Malbec and 5% Carmenère and the Oveja Negra 2008 with 8% Carmenère. The whole tasting showed great potential for both Carignan and the Maule region.

If you would like to support these wine regions, hit by natural disasters in 2010 you can donate as follows:

Madeira – Red Cross via www.redcross.org.uk

Chile – Levantando Chile (which will go specifically to the badly hit wine areas) via www.levantandochile.org

For Turkey, please contact Andrea Warren, who will advise. 

© Wink Lorch 2010

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Can Beaujolais bounce back? by Helen Savage

The entry on ‘fashion’ in the most recent (2006) edition of Jancis Robinson’s Oxford Companion to Wine cites ‘lighter-bodied, high acid reds such as those of the Loire and Beaujolais’ as ‘obvious examples’ of wine types that ‘can be said to be generally out of fashion.’  It was therefore intriguing to see the high profile claimed by both of these at this year’s London Wine Fair, where the good and the great in the world of wine writing and wine education were lined up in their support. Is the tide really beginning to change?

Inter-Beaujolais

I was invited by Westbury Communications to present a trade seminar on behalf of Inter-Beaujolais in Newcastle in late March. I was glad to accept, not just because I’ll gladly snatch the hand of anyone who offers me work in these straitened times, but because I’m fond of Beaujolais, I’ve visited the region fairly regularly over the last twenty five years, and I was also about to take a group there for a brief look at the region in late May as part of a wine holiday. The seminar gave me a chance to take stock.

Mixed attitudes

Interest in the event was, to be frank, a little lukewarm; but we managed to cajole a couple of dozen shop managers and restaurateurs into coming to taste eighteen wines. The wines, which were of a generally high standard, were received with some enthusiasm. But attitude to the category and sales remain mixed. One leading local independent merchant told me later that there is little demand for Beaujolais from his customers who still associate it with insipid Nouveau. Despite the fact that he stocks some very good wines from the Crus, his own opinion is that the region has lost direction, the wines are over-priced and the general quality ‘is not very clever’. In contrast, the manager of a local branch of Majestic finds that demand for Beaujolais is ‘fairly buoyant’. He observes that the wines ‘fit quite well what people are looking for’: lower alcohol, complexity and attractive, approachable fruit.

Issues

And so to Beaujolais itself, with a group of sixteen consumers in the last week of May. As the trip was split between the Beaujolais and the Mâconnais, our investigation of both regions could only be brief, but it was enough to shed some light on the issues facing the region’s wine producers and also a welcome opportunity to taste a number of wines from the much-praised 2009 vintage.

Major changes

Three conversations with winegrowers stood out, all of whom were concerned about the future of Beaujolais wine and had all made major changes to their viticultural practice or business model in recent years.

Franck Lathuilière

Franck Lathuilière tends about 13 hectares of vines mostly classified for Beaujolais Villages, including one substantial single parcel, close to the old family winery near Vaux en Beaujolais.

Diversification

In recent years, he and his wife Annie have diversified their business by offering a gîte for holiday rental and have expanded their wine range to include sparkling wine, both a ‘méthode traditionelle’ and a pink, 8% abv pétillant, as well as rosé, white Beaujolais, grape juice and a range of preserves.

Traditional

Over the last four or five years they have succeeded in selling their wine to individual clients, local restaurants, a single supermarket in the north of France and to two UK importers. They no longer need to sell wine in bulk to négociants. Their winemaking practices are thoroughly traditional, including aging some wine in large old foudres. Franck, (pictured right) is in the process of conversion to an organic regime and has begun to experiment with some biodynamic treatments. Like many other growers he has also begun to restructure his vineyard from gobelet to a version of Cordon Royat on wires, to enable him to grass between the rows, a change which he also believes has helped produce earlier, more consistent ripening.

Financial difficulties

Diversification, change and increased independence are working for him, but he expressed alarm at the financial difficulties faced by many growers in the region, especially in the Bas Beaujolais where some have been forced to grub up vineyards and others, he said, are not only planting much more Chardonnay but are abandoning the Beaujolais appellation altogether and are trying their luck with Syrah and even Viognier.

Vincent Lacondemine

This trend was verified by Vincent Lacondemine (left), who has 4ha of vines around Beaujeu, also in Beaujolais Villages. ‘Beaujolais really is in crisis,’ he told me, ‘Eighty percent of the growers here sell to the négociants, and there’s no profit in that at all.’

Organic

His response has been to give up 2ha of land that had been held in métayage (the crop-sharing system that is still widespread in Beaujolais) and to aim for the highest possible quality on his on remaining plots, which he is also converting to organic and reconstructing on wires with grass between the rows.

Minerality

His aim is to make wines that express complexity and minerality and he quizzed me at length about how they may be received by UK consumers. He sells a lot of his wine to Northern Europe, but also to Nick Dobson in the UK, for whom he expresses great affection and respect.

Right - Vincent's reconstructed vineyard

- a riot of biodiversity

Reticent

Vincent has also  diversified his range with a rosé (’I was a bit reticent about it at first and I didn’t get it right first time, but my clients asked for one’) and a white, subtly-oaked Beaujolais Villages.

Elegant

My group greatly admired the elegant minerality of this, which from vines grown on a granitic soil was so very different from those of neighbouring Mâconnais.

Thierry Condemine

Further north, Thierry Condemine has 35 hectares grouped around the fine eighteenth-century Château de Juliénas, bought by his great-grandfather in 1907. He welcomes the changes to the rules for the appellation of Juliénas in 2004 that also allow a restructuring of the vineyard and the reduction of the vine density from 10,000 to -6,000 plants per hectare.

Intervention

He has only replanted 1.5 hectares so far, but is delighted with the results. He believes that they not only allow a quicker, more effective intervention to be made if treatments are needed; but that the vines are healthier and ripen more evenly; as his colleagues have also found. Complete reconstructing however, will be he insists, a lifetime’s task. He would dearly love to sell his wines in the UK, but has not yet managed to find an importer and blames the poor exchange rate for his lack of success.

Accessible

My group enjoyed the wines from all three producers and, over the course of our week in the region, was impressed by wines from several other domains. They praised their ability to partner food well and welcomed the characteristics of accessibility, lower alcohol and complexity that Vincent Lacondemine strives to achieve and which appeal to Majestic customers back home.

Quality

Above all, they were thrilled by the quality of the 2009 vintage, which was consistently fruity and forward, yet rich, balanced and often beautifully textured.  A barrel sample of Lacondemine’s single vineyard ‘Le Chapital’ proved a perfect example: spicy and concentrated, with masses of ripe red and black fruit, a splendid balance of juicy acidity, silky tannins and elegant minerality.

Too late?

They went to the region with mixed expectations, some of which paralleled those of the independent wine merchant I spoke to. They came away saddened and puzzled that some growers feel that they can no longer make a living from Gamay and that the reputation of Beaujolais has fallen so low; yet were certain that if the 2009s they had tasted were readily available at a fair price, they would fly off the shelves. Like me, they wonder if the efforts to change vineyard practice have come too late. Can the magnificent 2009 vintage help to restore the fortunes of the Beaujolais?

Photos & text © Helen Savage 2010 

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Loire Diploma Seminar, WSET 17th May 2010 by Gilbert Winfield

This has already been stated by others, but I think it fair to begin by thanking Lindsay Oram for giving several hours of her time on the day before the LIWF, which can’t have been ideal for her, to present an illuminating seminar explaining the teaching of Loire Valley wines in the Diploma Syllabus. 

I would have hesitated to agree to teaching to teachers, but Lindsay presented a splendid two hour session for us, taught as she would have to Diploma students.

Presentation

Lindsay reminded us of the sandy, limestone, and flint (silex) soils of the three sections of the Loire, and of those other grape varieties (gamay, grolleau, romorantin, etc…), and also, very usefully, gave us a commercial update on the category, which brought the subject into to the 21st Century. When I did the Diploma, Gareth Lawrence only had access to maps of regions hand-drawn by a scribe, on parchment, and the exercise was, it must be said, much dryer, and less alive than it is now. I know that people are tiring of the ubiquitous PowerPoint , but it is better than anything that preceded it as a presentation method. After Lindsay’s presentation came ours: we were divided up into three groups, each making a two minute presentation on grapes, climates, and soils, which was a suitably humbling experience.

Tutored Tasting

The tasting was excellent. In the tutored section we tasted a pleasant Muscadet 2009 from Guy Bossard, then a fascinating 2004 Sancerre ‘Les Monts Dames’ from François Cotat, which was still vibrant, with a honeyed, and, I thought, slightly sweaty aspect, a perfectly acceptable Rosé d’Anjou 2009 from Champteloup, slightly confected, but with pleasant cherry fruit and balance, and the excellent Chinon 2006 Clos de la Dioterie from Charles Joguet. This wine demonstrated the lack of necessity to chaptalise in recent vintages which Lindsay had spoken of earlier, with its bright, crunchy fruit and concentration.

Blind Tasting

The blind tasting of three wines was fun too, in a painful sort of way. Others fared better than I in the identifications: I found the first (2009 Ackerman Chenin Blanc Medium) rather dull and lacking character, but others found it pleasant in its commercial context. I mis-identified it as an off-dry, lesser Muscadet (a wine style which I am not sure even exists).

The second was a delicious Savennieres Clos du Papillon 2005, from Domaine Baumard, replete with grass and nettle aromas, and full of ripe lemons and mouth-watering, mineral acidity. I managed to mistake that one for a very good Pouilly Fumé (more blind tasting needed).

Finally, we had 1996 Huet Vouvray Clos du Bourg Premier Tri Moëlleux, an explosion of very ripe citrus fruits, tangerines, and heather honey. This time everyone correctly identified the wine, so rich and distinctive was it. We all guessed at years much younger than 1996, though, which I think was Lindsay’s intention.

Despite the fact that in the end only seven of us attended, the WSET had opened two bottles of each of the wines for tasting. Perhaps this was a momentary excess of zeal, or perhaps because they knew they were dealing with seasoned professionals for whom quantity is not an issue (although from my experience that would apply more to their normal students than us); anyway, at the close, several of us would have happily put the extras to very good use in our homes, especially the sumptuous Clos du Bourg 1996, but this was not to be, and regrettably they stayed in the building, presumably to be put to use in the noble cause of education. Maybe they’ll still be around if Lindsay decides to do the same thing again.

Certainly another of these sessions on a different area would be much appreciated as an exercise in all our CPD. If it were the Loire again, and the same wines were used, at least I would do better in the blind tasting!   

© Gilbert Winfield 2010

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Stanlake Park Tour after AWE AGM by Brett Jones

Following a busy morning, blind tasting and good lunch, our host, Peter Dart (pictured below, centre), owner of Stanlake Park since 2005, invited us to visit one of their vineyards.

The sight of the wisteria in full ostentatious bloom didn’t prepare us for the sight of the damaged vines planted in the walled garden.

Frost

In early May there had been frost and many of the vines had literally been nipped in the bud. Peter reckons that many English vineyards may have been affected and it was sad to see what had happened to the vines in this garden.

The walls may help store the heat in summer to aid ripening but the enclosure didn’t allow any breeze to dissipate the cold so exacerbated the harm done.

Winery tour

We then went inside the winery where we met the winemaker Vince Gower, who has been in charge of 18 vintages, so had worked with John Leighton, the founder of this vineyard, originally called Thames Valley Vineyards.

Techniques

Vince talked excitedly about the 2009 vintage as he explained their wine making techniques, showing us the tank room and the small barrel aging cellar, which is used mainly for the Kings Fumé (we had enjoyed a delicious mature Valley Vineyards Fumé Blanc at lunchtime).

Pride and Joy

As well as making their own sparkling wine, they also produce it for other growers and we saw their gyropalette system (pictured above), together with the old, but still functioning, disgorging machine. However, the current pride and joy is a state of the art French bottling machine working at 2,500 bottles per hour (fast for England) and the only one in the country that can use both cork and screwcap closures as well as crown caps for the sparkling.

Resources

There is always a demand for further investment but it is difficult to know where the budgeted money is best spent. Vince and Peter understand these constraints and do their best to organise the resources where they are most needed. And one of the resources I delighted in noticing, was a tank bedecked with old living room curtains, being used as extra insulation for a chilling and settling tank. This is the resourcefulness of a small and conscientious English winery.

Shop

The tour is completed in the wine shop, where visitors can enjoy a tasting as well as a choice of, not only Stanlake wines, but also those from other partners and a fine range of good local produce ranging from jams to craft beers.

I enjoyed visiting Stanlake Park, meeting Peter and Vince and tasting their kind hospitality as well as the fruits of their labours.

www.stanlakepark.com

Photos & text © Brett Jones 2010

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5th Cyprus Wine Competition by Susan Hulme MW

5th to 8th May 2010, Limassol, Cyprus

I was pleased to be invited to take part in the 5th Cyprus Wine Competition earlier this year, as one of two international UK judges. I didn’t have to think too hard about this one as I’d never been to Cyprus and I was curious to learn more about and taste the native grape varieties.  Besides, May sounded like the perfect time to go. The competition took  place over three days culminating with a big awards ceremony at a gala dinner on the Saturday evening.

Schedule

The tastings were scheduled for three days, from 8.30 am to 3.30 pm; each day we tasted over 50 wines, organised into flights by style. I had hoped that we would also get a chance to visit different wineries in the afternoon and get a feel for some of the Cypriot landscape but as it turned out there were so many wines entered that by the time we’d had lunch our day did not finish until 4.30pm; as we would be meeting again to go out for dinner at 8pm there was no time. In fact we only visited one winery - on the last day - but more of that later.

Bonus

I did get to know some of the native Cypriot grape varieties well like the white Xynesteri, and the local reds Mavro and the characterful Maratheftiko. Another real bonus of the trip was getting to know fellow UK judge, Steve Daniel who, for those who don’t know, was one of the two key buyers at Oddbins when they were at their best and he significantly increased Oddbins range of Greek wines. Steve, now director of Novum Wines, is a real aficionado of Greek wine and even bought a house on Santorini some years ago. As a fellow judge he was not only a gifted taster but was full of interesting anecdotes about Greece and a great companion on the trip.

O.I.V.

Back to the judging itself - although the tasting was very well organised (plenty of natural daylight, white surfaces, correct glassware, seated tasting etc) this was  my first encounter with the O.I.V. (Organisation Internationale De La Vigne Et Du Vin) system of judging wine which I found frustrating to say the least. I had heard lots of complaints and mutterings from fellow professionals about how you had to manipulate the figures to get the right and fair result for the wine, but I was surprised at how cumbersome, unnecessarily complicated and not very accurate the system was. I found it a marking system that actually hinders instead of helps you to get the correct result. 

Arbitrary

The problems are too many to list but for a start there are too many marks given for colour, as if that were a virtue alone. What would happen to some of the lighter-coloured but best red Burgundies, I wonder? The system allows for too much personal preference in an arbitrary way with the colours of rosé. Some judges are very insistent that deeper coloured rosés are just plain wrong.  Another issue is the number of marks given to ‘genuineness’ (6 on the nose and 6 on the palate). What ‘genuineness’ is can become very subjective and also restrictive for winemakers who may feel obliged to stick with outdated traditions.  On top of that ‘overall quality’ gets a whopping 22 marks out of 100, once again leaving 'overall quality' open to individual interpretation.

Bureaucracy

These were just a few of the shortcomings of a system that is so widely used. It reminded me of some of the worst excesses of European bureaucracy: a system that unnecessarily complicates and obscures rather than facilitates and clarifies the procedures. 

Objectivity

Having said this I do understand that a country setting up a new wine competition feels in need of using a recognised system which can seem to give a fairness and objectivity to proceedings - aside from the fact that a lot of EU funding seems to be available if you know how to follow the existing rules correctly. I understand this but feel it’s time the O.I.V system was revised, simplified and refocused on assessing quality, while moving away from using arbitrary and imprecise terminology. 

Balanced

Our judging panel, chaired by Dr. Ioannis Paraskevopoulos, winemaker and Professor of Oenology in Thessaloniki, was very balanced in that it represented different aspects of the wine trade.

There were two Cypriot sommeliers who had won ‘Best Sommelier’ awards in 2001,2003 & 2009 and owned restaurants on the island,  two female oenologists (one French, the other Greek (also a wine writer)), an Italian representative of the O.I.V, Nico Manessis (Greek wine writer), Steve Daniel and me. 

Cypriot varieties

Apart from the usual suspects,  flights of Chardonnay, Semillon, Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz, and Grenache there was very good balance of local Cypriot varieties.

For the native whites, Xynisteri proved to be a very interesting grape, sometimes a little like Sauvignon Blanc in its assertive green notes but more often, with its waxy texture, lemony aromas and flavours and a hollow mid-palate, also like Semillon.  At its best though, it also has some vibrant citrus and floral notes, lively crisp acidity and savouriness on the palate.

Among the reds, Mavro is often described as making soft, easy-drinking style reds (and a lot of rosés) with light tannins in a sort of ripe Beaujolais-esque style. Maratheftiko was an interesting discovery - a bit more like the more well known Xynomavro of Naoussa in terms of structure, with high acidity and firm,  rustic tannins. It also seems to lose colour fast, a bit like Nebbiolo. It needs to be carefully managed in terms of tannins before the best is achieved but it's one to watch. 

Among a few more interesting and unusual wines tasted was a white variety called Spourtiko;  we only had one example but it produces a soft, easy, low-aromatic wine with a creamy mid-weight texture , a bit like some Pinot Blancs. Ofthalmo and Lefhada were two other reds that were new to me but we tasted so few examples that it was difficult to form an opinion.

Wine highlights

A few wines that really stood out and impressed me were:

Petritis -  a dry white Xynestri 2009 from Vasiliko Kyperountas Winery,  which showed the quality which this variety can achieve, and which won Grand Gold.

St. John Commandaria, a sweet red wine from Keo Mallia Winery which also won Grand Gold. 

Unctuous

Having taught so many WSET courses in the past where Commandaria was always mentioned in connection with Cyprus I was keen to taste this category. This wine had the complexity and quality of a great vintage Maderia, with layers of coffee, toffee and sultanas together with smoke and spice and a richly unctuous texture.

Perhaps the most surprising wine highlight of all was a gold-winning sweet white made from the more humble Muscat of Alexandria called Mosxatos 2009 from Agia Mayri Winery. This delightful sweet Muscat managed to have a complex range of flavours from the more typical (fresh grapes and flowers), to orange peel/grapefruit peel notes, providing intriguingly balanced bitter-sweet flavours.

It is made by a delightfully unassuming elderly couple who just seem to have an instinctive (and romantically elusive) knack with this variety.  It was clear this wine was a favourite winner by the rapturous applause they received on Gala night.  Finally a semi-dry rosé, Eros 2009 from Agroktima Ezousa caught my attention  - it’ s a more light-hearted version of the intriguing Maratheftiko grape. It also won gold.

Kyperounda

Another wine highlight for me was a bottle of Andessitis 2008, a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Grenache and Mourvedre from Kyperounda Winery which I was given to take home. It is a very elegant, mid-weight wine with vibrant acidity and a smoky, graphite and mineral array of aromas and flavours - very elegant and well balanced. You would never dream it came from what is considered a hot, Mediterranean climate of Cyprus.

Highest

The Kyperounda Winery was our only visit; it is near a village of the same name - the largest village in the Pitsilia region of the Troodos mountains. Kyperounda is a medium-sized winery with an annual production of 300,000 bottles. It is owned by the Photos Photiades group, who brew Carlsberg for the Cypriot market. They have used the expertise of Greece’s largest wine producer, Boutari, to develop this new winery. Their 40ha plot of terraced vineyards at an altitude of 1400m above sea level is, I am told, the highest in Europe and one of the highest in the world. It is managed by skilled oenologist Minas Mina who studied oenology and viticulture at Athens University and whose Petritis 2009 Xynesteri had just won Great Gold in the Cyprus competition.  We were treated to a vertical tasting of several vintages of Xynersteri, followed by a steep journey in jeeps to visit the vineyards and a quick walk around the winery.

Text © Susan Hulme MW 2010

Photos  © Leonardo Montemiglio

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Commadaria facts

Can only be made from the traditional grapes, either the white Xynesteri, or the black Mavro.

Vine density is 2000 to 2700.

Limited to 14 villages in the mountainous upland and low yielding vineyards of the Troodos Mountains.

One side of the mountains and some of the villages are on a white, chalky soil and grow Xynesteri while the other side grows Mavro on darker, more clayey soils.

The grapes must acquire 13^o Baumé for the whites and 14^o Baumé for the reds.

After exposure of the grapes to the sun the Baumé must be 21-23^o respectively.

The wine produced at the end of fermentation must have an alcoholic strength of 10% without fortification and the volatile acidity expressed as acetic acid should not exceed 1.5 gr per litre.

It is also permitted to fortify the wine by the addition of wine alcohol of 95% to 96% vol. or with eau de vie de vin of 70% to 86%.

Minimum ageing is two years in oak but in practice it is much longer and a solera type system of blending known as the ‘mother system’ (mana) has been used since ancient times to establish uniformity and high quality.

2010 Grenache Symposium (5th-6th June) by Ray O'Connor

Text & photo © Ray O'Connor 2010

Originally published on the IWC blog page - http://www.internationalwinechallenge.com/blog/

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AWEsome Opinion by Wink Lorch

Why Social Media is good for Wine Educators & Dispelling some Myths

Over the past 3+ years, I’ve become an active user of Social Media, first with blogs, then LinkedIn, Twitter and finally Facebook – primarily to promote my Wine Travel Guides website, but also, to raise the profile of whatever else I do, as someone working for myself. We are all professionals in talking about wine, and we know that wine consumers and other fellow wine professionals love to, well, talk about wine. That’s why wine and social media work so well together.

Targeted

You would be amazed how many people (known in the social media world as Followers or ‘Friends’) enjoy sound-bites (Twitter), pictures (Flickr), video (YouTube) or comment/opinion (blogs)  when it’s from an authoritative voice on wine. As for the biggest and fastest growing social media website (especially for older age groups) – Facebook – it can incorporate all of these and, particularly relevant, can be used to promote events (i.e. tastings and courses) to a targeted geographic market.

What is Social Media all about?

Using Social Media in a business sense can be thought of 21st century Public Relations. If you run your own business you probably want to find ways of promoting that business effectively and cheaply - consider Social Media as a form of personal branding. It’s also about Networking. Many self-employed people understand about the effectiveness of using networking skills – word of mouth marketing – as a way to exchange skills and promote business in a non-blatant way. Social media, done right, can do just that to a much wider audience - you may have a follower in Texas with whom you’ve built up a virtual relationship, but that ‘friend’ could have a partner with parents whose best friends are in England, and their adult children are looking for a wine course in just your town.

Why should I bother?

You should bother about Social Media, because it’s increasingly where your potential customers and/or business partners hang out – they are not in the pub any more (they drink more at home) or in the queue for the post office (they buy stamps on-line) and they do their business networking virtually. And, don’t be shy about it, people DO want to hear what you have to say and more importantly they want a way to converse with you – social media offers that.

What about my Privacy?

This worries lots of people, but I will stick my neck out and say I don’t believe there is any danger as long as you stop and think before you share things on-line, whether it’s a photo, a controversial opinion or your date of birth. You don’t need to make your date of birth public anywhere, and why not trust Facebook to keep it safe for you or – shock – make a date up as long as you remember it? Sure, they WILL use it for targeting demographic-related adverts towards you, but then, so does every retailer with whom you sign up for a loyalty card on or off the internet. Your email address can be found almost anywhere, and with Facebook, as with any on-line network, you can choose what you show to whom, just take some time to go through the privacy options carefully. If you have your own business to ‘sell’, why are you hiding anyway?

What’s the trick?

The art of being successful in social media consists of two main things. First, be yourself, set up a profile that you are comfortable with and allow people to share in some of your life, so they feel they know you and you are a ‘friend’ – in that way they will trust you, help you and refer you. It’s very easy if you taste interesting wines, eat good food and travel to far-off places to find things to share, that aren’t too personal. Second, communicate, share and cross-promote with your virtual friends – social media should never be one way, it should be a conversation. Give links to your friends/colleagues’ latest articles and achievements, comment nicely on their blog posts and be prepared to answer questions freely.

Who else does it?

Amongst AWE members, I am not the only very active user of Social Media. The survey I sent to members was only completed by less than a third, however, I know a few others (too busy tweeting to reply?) with whom I’m linked on the social media sites. Some, of course, have other businesses and cross-promote these as well as their wine education activities. I don’t believe I have enough statistics to give a full breakdown, but many members use Facebook mainly for personal use with a little business cross-over, and several are looking for new ways to use it for business. Many have a LinkedIn profile though few are doing more than making contacts through it – there’s lots of potential with LinkedIn beyond the scope of this article.

A few comments from members:

How to Start?

Just do it! You don’t have to have a website to use social media, but if you do have a website, it’s important to cross-promote it. If you don’t yet have a website, consider creating a blog instead, they are generally much more easily found by the all-important Google than a website. But, with a blog, you must make time to write new posts regularly (how regularly is open to debate).

Take it slowly with Facebook, but it’s very easy once you get started and if you have a business name and run wine courses or events, or have a book or simply a blog to promote, then think about having a business page. Twitter can be really useful for building up a network of people fast and exchanging quick information but it doesn’t suit everyone and needs time to get to know. For more information, I shall be revamping my personal website and blog soon to give tips and will also be working on a freelance consultancy basis. Other resources include http://blog.hubspot.com/ , www.mashable.com and http://www.catavino.net/services/blog/ and if you want information in print, there are many Dummies books on Social Media – simply look for the latest published.

 

AWE Members Using Social Media Regularly  (NB: This list is not exhaustive – it’s limited to survey answers and a few more I know about)
BLOGS  (updated at least once a month)	ACTIVE TWITTER USERS *
Heather Dougherty - http://heatherdougherty.blogspot.com Kevin Ecock - http://firstpress.blogspot.com Brett Jones -  http://brettthewinemaestro.wordpress.com Wink Lorch – http://winklorch.blogspot.com  and http://blog.winetravelguides.com Debra Meiburg -  www.DebraMasterofWine.com Wendy Narby -  www.insidertating.com/blog Quentin Sadler  - http://quentinsadler.wordpress.com Helen Savage -  www.helensavage.com/blog Paula Sindberg - http://ultimatewines-thenosesknows.blogspot.com/ Marisa d’Vari - http://awinestory.com/   Popular blogging tools:	Stephen Barrett - @BistroWineMan Heather Dougherty - @wineandwords Kevin Ecock - @firstpress Brett Jones - @thewinemaestro Wink Lorch - @WineTravel Debra Meiburg - @debrameiburg Charles Metcalfe -  @thewinesinger Wendy Narby - @insidertasting Ray O’Connor -  @rayoconnorwine Quentin Sadler -  @quentinsadler Paula Sindberg -  @ultimatewines Marisa d’Vari -  @awinestory Bryony Wright -  @bryonywright and @provencom Claire Blackler - @ClaireLBlackler Ian Symonds -  @SymoWino   *(the general form is @WineTravel = www.twitter.com/WineTravel)
Facebook ‘Business’ Pages or Groups (not necessarily wine education)
Claire Blackler: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Edinburgh/Case-Studies-Wine-School/52152352364 Wink Lorch: www.facebook.com/WineTravel Debra Meiburg:  www.facebook.com/DebraMasterofWine Wendy Narby:  http://www.facebook.com/pages/Insider-Tasting/285949476716 Gilbert Winfield:  http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=124550731066 Bryony Wright:  http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bristol-United-Kingdom/Proven-Communication/310047927643

© Wink Lorch 2010

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AWEsome Book by Linda Simpson

The Irresistible Inheritance of Wilberforce

by Paul Torday

Phoenix 2008

ISBN 978-0-7538-2315-6

This is a whimsical book and pure fiction!

The Author

Paul Torday read English literature at Oxford, but he only fulfilled his ambition to write 30 years later and his first novel Salmon Fishing in the Yemen was an immediate bestseller.

The Book

This book is about Wilberforce, the main character.  A man seduced by the world of fine wines, but hurtling towards self-destruction and alcoholism in the process.  He’s in denial of course and despairs at the lack of understanding by his doctor friend Colin, declaring “This is not alcohol, this is wine!”

With the help of Robert Parker, there are plenty of references to fine Bordeaux such as the Château Petrus 1982 at £3,000 per bottle which just has to be ordered from the wine list when dining at a restaurant….”an opportunity that had to be seized”.

This book is not a serious, educational, knowledge-expanding book but a great holiday read.

Enjoy

© Linda Simpson 2010

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AWEsome wine by Stephen Rosser

AWE Member Updates

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.

Please note the administrative office telephone number has changed to 01753 882320. See below for full details.
 

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AWE Inspiring News
This is the newsletter of the Association of Wine Educators. Opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Association.

Editor: Susan Hulme MW

Sub-editor: Laura Clay

Many thanks to all of our contributors.

AWE Administrative Office:
Andrea Warren
Scots Firs, 70 Joiners Lane,
Chalfont St Peter,
Bucks, SL9 0AU
Tel/Fax: 01753 882320  

E-mail: admin@wineeducators.com 
Web Site: www.wineeducators.com 

© AWE Inspiring News 2010

No part of this newsletter may be reproduced without permission.

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