Editorial by Susan Hulme MW

Recession is becoming an obsession. I feel that we are focusing too much on this and giving it more power over our state of mind than it should have. Yes, I know it is happening and its effects on some people are worse than on others, but it is almost as if we cannot talk about anything else. While it is good to have a practical approach to deal with this (see Richard’s column) our lives are not totally defined or limited by money, even though to listen to the news and people talking you might think so. Our lives are so much richer than that.

Whatever happened to our appreciation of being fit and healthy or of the love of family and friends and sheer ‘joie de vivre’, looking at the beauty of nature and feeling the sun on your face? I did wonder having written this column a week or so ago whether I was being naïve but I was interested to hear Sir Alan Sugar on TV recently saying that he thinks we are talking about the recession too much and making it worse by doing so.

Life-enhancing

As wine educators, many of our lives are especially rich in life-enhancing experiences as we travel the world discovering beautiful places, delightful people and delicious food and wine. This edition of our newsletter gives glimpses of some of these adventures with Alison Moller’s trip to Marsala, Isabelle Legeron’s sojourn in Chile and the recent CWW trip to ‘Hidden Spain’ which several AWE members, myself included, participated in.

Australia

Aside from financial matters, there is of course real sadness and loss, the recent fires in Australia being one example but even in this case there have been many accounts of how a sense of community has proved a source of strength for those affected. The wonderful thing about the human spirit is the capacity to triumph over adversity and to seek out joy in life. The wine industry has been greatly affected and we include an article on the practical issues vine growers face on the road towards recovery. The AWE has also donated £1000 to the Red Cross Bushfire appeal which for a fairly small organisation such as ours I feel is an achievement. In a small way we are doing our bit to help.

Value for money

© Susan Hulme MW 2009

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Chairman’s Column by Richard Bampfield MW  

I suspect that for all Wine Educators these are challenging times.  At least I hope it’s not just me!  If we read the press, the wine trade’s opinion leaders are queuing up to remind us how important wine education is to help businesses trade their way out of recession and how counter-productive it is to reduce training budgets.  But in practice, there is little evidence of an upturn in demand for our services – quite the opposite, I fear.

In such a situation, it is quite logical for us to respond by “looking after number one” and doubling our efforts as individuals to focus on our own business and to keep existing clients happy.  However, it is worth remembering that, when times are tough, people tend to seek refuge in the brands and products that they trust; they tend to be less adventurous.  It is precisely for this reason that it is important that the AWE continues to work towards increasing its profile and strengthening its relevance to the wine trade.  Membership of the AWE must reinforce all members’ credibility and authority in the same way that membership of ABTA adds weight to the image of a Travel Agent.

Harpers

Harpers have indicated that they will be keen to receive copy from the AWE on training ideas, course content and any other ideas pertaining to wine education.  It would be good if we could supply them with some interesting and stimulating copy once a month.  This would require the participation of a large pool of members, so all ideas and content would be welcome.

Budget cuts 

It has become evident in recent months that, even if there has not been a conscious decision to reduce education and training, budget cuts have forced companies to concentrate on other priorities.  Generic bodies have found themselves under the same pressures as other businesses and we will have to accept that subsidised trips to wine producing regions will become harder to secure.  In my experience, generic offices love being asked to help with brochures, maps and promotional material.  Here are three steps that I think will help demonstrate to the generic bodies that the AWE is a serious education and communications partner:

• Ask for promotional material to support your talks and presentations whenever appropriate and explain the audience that the material will be used with.

• Ensure that they know you are a member of the AWE.

• Send a short message after the event to the generic body thanking them for their support and feeding back on the event.

© Richard Bampfield MW 2009

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Crémant de Loire Tasting by Brian Davis

It was with considerable interest that 19 AWE members/prospective members attended the seminar at Le Cercle , close to Sloane Square on Tuesday 25th November 2008.

Some background

Our own Lindsay Oram opened up the proceedings outlining the facts and figures from the Loire (70,000ha , 4m hl wine, 3rd largest French output) and that Crémant de Loire accounts for only 6 – 8% of Loire production. Exports from the Loire to the UK are 37% of the 22% total, compared with Crémant, with only 10% to the UK of the 30% exported.

Crémant was introduced to the area by a Belgian, M. Ackermann, in 1811. It seems the Belgians have other attributes other than making beer! In 1975 the Crémant category was introduced and now there are 200 producers, 35,000 hl produced, of which 10% is rosé.

The yields are around 50 – 60 hl/ha (compare that to Champagne!) and the main varieties are Chenin Blanc, Chardonnay, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon.

Interestingly, grapes can be used in either hue!

Following Lindsay’s overview, the wines were tasted prior to lunch and many of us, I suspect, were Crémant de Loire virgins. I found the standard relatively high and at around the £10 price point, good value. Highlights were the Domaine Jacky Marteau Brut 2005 and the Langlois Rosé Brut NV.

Food & wine matching

Natasha Hughes then led us into the food matching with the wines we had just tasted .

The choice of menu and the standard of food were excellent.

With the Cabecou and wild mushroom ‘tarte fine’, the Champteloup Tête de Cuvée Brut 2005 was adjudged to be the best match, whereas with the Sturgeon, onion cake, the Gratien & Meyer Flamme d’Or Brut NV fared best.

The roasted quail showed the Langlois Rosé Brut NV as the best match. I think the jury is out on whether the Langlois complemented the pistachio soufflé, lemon mousse and cranberry – or not!

In all, a most interesting morning and a large hint to use Crémant de Loire in my sparkling wine tastings!

Well done everyone!

© Brian Davis 2009

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Gambero Rosso Top Italian Wine Roadshow by John Ducker

Landmark Hotel, 16 February 2009

Before it wound its merry way onwards to New York and L.A. I was able to drop in to London’s Landmark Hotel recently for Gambero Rosso’s Top Italian Wine Roadshow and specifically the first of their tutored tasting events led by Marco Sabellico, senior editor of the above now-revered publication, with expert comments from the touchline by Steven Spurrier. It is understandable that a tasting running at a mean speed of 17 fine wines per hour showing wines from no fewer than nine Italian wine regions could be little more than a “first impressions” exercise, but as the examples were mainly at ‘tre bicchiere’ level there was much to admire.  I hope you will therefore excuse the relative brevity of my tasting notes.

Tank fermentation

To begin, let’s hear it for Federico Martinotti.   Who he?  Why, only the 19th century Italian inventor of the tank fermentation method for sparkling wines!  (Apparently M. Charmat adopted this cost-saving idea for France at a subsequent stage – or so we’re told!)  So first wine up, a Prosecco di Valdobbiadene, Rive di S.Floriano Spumante DOC 2007 from Nino Franco:

Tremendous elegance from 100% Prosecco – more cremant than sparkling but with a very appealing freshness and a delicate nose of pears with a palate of white stone fruit.  Lovely, a classy  aperitif mouthful, and obviously relatively cheap to produce, not being a bottle-fermented wine.

Cavit

The significant Cavit outfit based in the Veneto provided a softly sparkling follow-up of a 90% Chardonnay Altemasi Brut 2002 from their Trento co-operative where, since global warming has struck, vine plantings have become viable at much higher altitudes than a decade ago, and where at between 800 – 1,000 m there are steep diurnal temperature variations to help fix aromatics in the grapes.

A first impression of much greater weight in the glass + perhaps a spot of the foursquare  P.Bianco as a backup to the Chardonnay on the palate. Fleshy and very fresh, with balanced acidity.  We are almost beyond an aperitif here – certainly a fine partner for simply cooked freshwater fish.

Oltrepo Pavese/Franciacorta

The Oltrepo Pavese/Franciacorta region was represented by a quite delicious Cellarius Rosé 2004 from Guido Berlucchi with its subtle colour of baby-pink and its nose of rosepetals and wild strawberries, and the reminder, too, that this region is above all others Italy’s principal hub for Pinot Nero.   

Frascati

Then we moved southwards to Lazio for a classic Frascati …. but I am well aware that blow by blow tasting notes make for pretty dull reading! Before skipping ahead to my impressions of the top reds I ought to mention an example from one of Friuli’s oldest and most famous wineries: Collavini. The property boasts an astonishing range of wines beyond its more familiar workhorse ‘Ribolla Gialla’. I was reminded at the tasting that we must no longer call the Friulian grape ‘Tocai’ by name but simply to refer to it by its more geographical designation ‘Friulano’, Italian winemakers being now being much more attuned to specificity of origin. The ampelography of ‘Tocai’ was always a bit uncertain in the first place.  Was it ever Sauvignon Vert or was it even Sauvignonasse from the Savoie, favoured as a Sauvignon lookalike nowadays in countries like Chile?  At least it couldn’t be confused with the redundant ‘Tokay d’Alsace’ – let alone, of course, anything of that name from Hungary.  

Friulani DOC (Collio) showed itself as a vivacious apple-y nosed wine, starting quite softly on the palate but showing great freshness and style.

Delicacy

I met a fellow taster shortly after the session who wanted to compare notes with me.  He himself was fairly unimpressed by the range of whites on offer, being a fan of vibrant New World white styles which had more of the overt aromas of custard – or even of sawmills – having seen gestation periods in new oak. He confessed he was not aware that food is always the ‘star’ of the Italian table and that their table wines, particularly whites, should never be seen to upstage what appears on Italian diners’ plates. I was personally impressed by the delicacy achieved in some of the more aggressive or aromatic Italian-grown grape varieties on show: a Friuli Sauvignon ‘Zuc di Volpe’  from Volpe Passini in the Colli Orientali which was all white peach with an underlying richness, speaking far more of the Auxerrois than of Sancerre;  and one of the most balanced classic Gewürztraminers I have tasted (’07 vintage) from Nals Margreid of the Alto Adige which was a marvel of restraint and yet completeness  – “intellectual Gewürz,” as Stephen Spurrier called it.  No, Alsace has nothing to fear, but the individual terroir of the Italian alps obviously plays its part in the result.

Leading the way on the red wine front was the indigenous Lagrein grape from the Alto Adige in a Riserva 2006 example from the co-operative Cantina Bolzano.

Dark dusky plum colour well held to rim. Almost ‘Dolcetto’ black cherry nose followed by a palate of black fruits. A bit of a ‘country cousin’ with a shortish finish, nonetheless  a well made modern style  wine ideally suited to robustly flavoured meats/cheeses.   

Barbera

Standard Barbera DOC is often dismissed as a Piedmont ‘second-string’ wine which can sometimes shock in its hard-edged acidity, but Michele Chiarlo offered a beautiful La Court Barbera d’Asti Superiore 2005 from the lowest possible yields that was a basket of brambly hedgerow fruits on the nose which then showed great vivacity on the palate.  “An extremely characterful wine with a great balance of fruit and acidity”. Steven Spurrier’s words, not mine. Need I say more! 

Barolo

One might assume that three significant Barolos would have rounded off the tasting, but it was good to see them in context with some of the top modern production from the Veneto including a couple of Amarone wines at Riserva level.

I have never been able to afford to cellar Barolos from Pio Cesare and, having tasted the 2004 vintage which takes in Nebbiolo grapes both from both the La Morra and the Serralunga d’Alba valleys, I can well understand what all the fuss is about, particularly in this exceptional if as yet unready vintage.

Some slight signs of ageing in appearance;  a fully ripe nose full of wild violets with a little wood-smoke; signs of the gentlest oxidation on the palate but encompassing bramble fruits, mushroom, hints of licorice and ashy-smoky elements, the ‘feel’ speaking of old wood – possibly large ‘botte’. Exceptionally long sweet/ripe finish.  Perfection!

A ‘snip’, I guess, at anything between £350-400 a case!

The subsequent Barolos seemed less developed by contrast.  The Sarmassa Barolo 2004 from Marchesi di Barolo showed evidence of more cellar work than the Pio Cesare wine, when smaller wood appeared to have been pressed into service,  and the Vigna la Rosa Barolo 2004 from Fontanafredda still needed plenty of time to allow complexities of nose and flavour to show, let alone for the tannins to soften – but I’ll guess that each of them will be notable when ready…. I fully expect to be opening a bottle (or having one opened for me!) when I am 80!  

Allegrini

Across to the east in Verona I have always been impressed by what Franco and Marilisa Allegrini can produce, so I was not surprised that their Poja 2004 was a thrill of chocolatey-cherry black fruit from 100% Corvina, hence its IGT ‘Veronese’ status. (DOC regulations for Valpolicella require this grape to be blended – usually around 70% -  alongside Molinara, Rondinella etc. etc.)  Modern stuff – a bit fruit-driven?  Yes, but very pure and eminently drinkable. Bring on the gorgonzola, say I!    

Bertani

Beyond a couple of very interesting Amarone Classico DOC wines from Masi and Zenato lay the most developed wine of the tasting – the 2001 Amarone Classico from a producer synonymous with the style, Bertani.   This shrivelled-grape wine bore little evidence of its age in the glass but combined depth of aroma and flavour with tremendous purity of fruit.  Absolutely classic – and a fitting finale to what had been a bit of a ‘whistle-stop’ tour of Gambero Rosso’s top selections.

Brilliance

The tasting wasn’t aimed specifically at wine educators, of course, but if I had any criticism at all it was that there could have been better technical detail of each wine selected. Could the respective winemaker’s particular ‘stats’ of production both in the vineyard and cellar possibly have been provided in written form alongside the tasting list?  A casualty of last-minute logistics, no doubt.   However, a sip or two of seventeen of Gambero Rosso’s top tasting choices against the clock could hardly be called a hardship!  I was more than happy to cast rigour aside and to be seduced yet again by some significant Italian brilliance – the omens looked very good!

© John Ducker 2009

Brief videos of their roadshows can be viewed on the Gambero Rosso website.

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Lindsay Oram by Michelle Cherutti-Kowal

Lindsay Oram

Winner of the IWSC Anniversary Award for WSET Honours Diploma

The Association of Wine Educators congratulates Lindsay Oram who was honoured with the IWSC Anniversary Award on January 19th, 2009 at the WSET Awards Ceremony in London’s historic Guildhall. Lindsay received a crystal decanter along with a bursary of £2500 to fund a study visit.

First recipient

She is the first recipient of this new award, celebrating the IWSC (International Wine and Spirits Competition) 40th Anniversary and given annually to the student gaining the highest mark in Level 5 Honours Diploma, an additional qualification which may be undertaken after students pass all components of Level 4 Diploma. The extra unit is an individual research project in a wine and/or spirit related subject chosen by the student and approved by the examiners. It demonstrates the application of business skills by identifying and solving problems, developing ideas/products and making recommendations, all within 5000 words.

Upon introduction of Level 5 Diploma, Lindsay having passed her Diploma a number of years ago, inquired whether she could attain this new qualification to which the answer was why not?

Dissertation

She embarked on her journey with an ambitious subject (the whole of the Loire) and was advised by the examiner panel to narrow her focus.  Lindsay won her award for her dissertation on The Future of Anjou-Saumur and Touraine gathering information and feedback from all areas of the business including small, medium and large retailers, importers, négociants, producers and consumers.

Study trip

Upon hearing of her achievement (and not quite believing it for a few weeks), Lindsay hopes she will encourage other mature students to take up the challenge. She plans to use her award for a study trip to either South America or California.

© Michelle Cherutti-Kowal 2009

and here are Lindsay's own thoughts on her achievement:

I had to read the e-mail from the WSET several times before I understood that I had won the prize for the best level 5 diploma paper for my disseration entitled 'What is the future for the areas of Anjou-Saumur and Touraine? - A critical evaluation of the future for the wines of Anjou-Saumur and Touraine in the U.K. market'. Firstly I didn’t know there was a prize, (it turned out to be the first time it had been awarded). Secondly it was a year since I had submitted the paper so I had forgotten all about it.

Challenge and discipline

So what made me decide to study after finishing the WSET diploma in 1996? Well it was two things, firstly the challenge and discipline of studying. And secondly, as a teacher, I think it is good to put ourselves through what we put our students through.

I chose this subject as Loire Valley wines are closest to my heart. In hindsight perhaps I should have picked something I was less passionate about, as keeping to the 5000 word count proved to be a challenge and I could have written double. The highlights were gathering all the information and challenging some of my assumptions and also the day I finally submitted it, as I was reading, re-reading and changing it up to the very last minute.

Friendly industry

Many people in the wine industry were kind enough to help me with information and by completing questionnaires. It reinforced to me how lucky we all are to work in such a great, friendly industry. I want to thank again all those who helped.

Thanks also to the WSET and IWSC for their generous award. This also celebrates 40 years of both organisations - I wish I could claim to be 40.

I plan to use the award to study winemaking in the U.K. and to fund a tasting course in California. If anyone has any other ideas, please let me know.

Would I do it again? Yes I would, and I certainly recommend it. If you give it a go and I can help in any way let me know.

© Lindsay Oram 2009

A summary of Lindsay's dissertation can be viewed here.

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The Spanish Wine Education Programme by Laura Clay

I booked my place on the Spanish Wine Education Programme with some trepidation. First of all it would mean missing a couple of important tastings - Australia Day and ViniPortugal 50 Great Portuguese Wines, not to mention giving up a job, and secondly it wasn’t entirely clear who was organising it (Wines from Spain or The Wine Academy?) or for whose benefit it was (the delegates, the organisers or the sponsors?). I was further concerned that the whole thing might be cancelled as it continued to be advertised until just a matter of days before the course started.

We were, however sent a link to view the power-point presentation and told that The Wine Academy policy is not to hand out printed materials - Pancho Campo MW (pictured below) is Mr. Green so I suppose this was no surprise, but then again most everyone printed the information themselves anyway!

Engaging

Despite an early registration of 8:00, the room was full (I think some places may have been offered to MW students free or at least at a reduced rate) and my concerns were immediately allayed when Pancho, President of The Wine Academy took to the floor. He is a passionate, hugely informative and most important of all, a thoroughly engaging teacher, although I did at first find it a little disconcerting to note that he bears an uncanny resemblance to The Fonz! Despite suffering from the flu (or a nasty cold, at least!) he had the 50 or so of us engrossed.

An ex professional tennis player, a doctor and now an MW, the last of which he is obviously hugely proud, as well as being an international expert on climate change in the world of wine, Pancho does not do things by halves and he certainly gave us 100%.

The course

The course consisted of two very full days, held at the WSET offices, covering, fairly swiftly of necessity, all areas of Spain, its wine history and current market trends and developments. Although we may only have been dipping our toes into each area, we were able to learn about soils, grape varieties, wine-making, new techniques and influences of all the important regions as well as many more minor ones.

John Radford who presented Castilla-Léon, was on excellent form and it seems to me there is very little this man does not know about Spanish wine or indeed the country itself. Pancho had also organised for Diego Magaña, a young wine-maker from Navarra, to talk to us about his wines and the potential of his region. Pancho translated for Diego and it was some treat to see two such ardent Spaniards talking so passionately about wine – the highlight of the course for many! Diego’s Calchetas 2005, his second ever vintage, scored 95 Parker points. Martin Skelton, MD of González Byass UK joined Pancho to present Andalucia and once again the enthusiasm of these two for the wines, both table and fortified, was contagious.

Tasting

We tasted almost 60 wines, provided by the sponsors, some of which were old favourites such as Tio Pepe and Viña Albali Gran Reserva 2001 and others which were unfamiliar -Villamil 2007, Madrid (100% Albillo) and Extrem de Bonaval, Cava Brut Nature from Ribera del Guardia (100% Viura). A major gripe was that no tasting sheets were provided, so that as the wines were passed round for pouring, we were also busy trying to make sure we got all the details down accurately. 

Exam

The exam consisted of 6 wines tasted blind with multiple choice questions and a paper of 50 multiple choice questions. Had you done your homework, it would not have been a huge ordeal, if not, as in my case, three quarters were straightforward enough. The fifteen biggest swots of Europe who perform particularly well in the exam will be given a weeks’ wine tour of Spain – not an insignificant award. The Programme is designed to create ambassadors of Spanish wine and courses have been held throughout the world. We are entitled to use The Wine Academy PowerPoint^® presentation – an excellent teaching tool, and were given a useful DVD on Rioja.

Highly recommended

As with many teachers and presenters, we did not simply learn about Spanish wine. Pancho shared his knowledge about climate change and its effect on our industry as well as tips on blind tasting. He dotted his talk with fun and interesting anecdotes, his work with Al Gore and Robert Parker featured too and if this was name-dropping it certainly didn’t come across that way. Pancho was happy to answer any questions, to admit he if did not know the answer but that he would find out (which he did!), to accept other expert opinions on the wines we tasted and talked about. Perhaps Pancho would like to become a member of the AWE! I can highly recommend the course should The Wine Academy run another in the UK in the future.

© Laura Clay 2009

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Vineyard Fire Damage in Australia by Di Davidson.
 

Editor's note: The article below is taken from The Week That Was, the news blog of Australia's Wine Business Magazine (WBM). This information about how grape-growers can respond to fire damage is obviously quite topical and may help answer questions on wine courses.

DI DAVIDSON OFFERS ASSISTANCE TO VINEYARDS AFFECTED BY FIRE DAMAGE

It seems trivial to talk about damage to vineyards, but the fact is that wine businesses will need to get back on their feet quickly. TWTW asked viticulture expert Di Davidson for some tips about getting bushfire-ravaged vines back up and running again. Like everyone else in the wine industry, Di is shocked and saddened at what has taken place over the past week. “The enormity of the bushfires, and the outcome, is overwhelming and horrific, and my thoughts and prayers go to everyone affected,” she said. “This of course includes many in the wine industry who will naturally be concentrating on personal issues first, lost vineyards and fruit some time later.”

Di has been involved in getting bushfire-damaged vines back on track for many years. Her first, and most intense, experience was in the Ash Wednesday fires of 1981 and 1983, particularly in the Clare Valley. “I have been in many burnt vineyards since then. I have learnt just how resilient the vine is, but every situation is different,” she said.

Di offers the following points:

• Immediately after any fire damage, repair drip systems and get good volumes of water onto the affected vines. Unless the vine is very close to/within a source of fire fuel (e.g. long grass, large quantities of pruning wood etc.), it is unlikely to be killed—and may regenerate very quickly;

• If the entire vine appears badly burnt, then it is probably advisable to cut it off at ground level and allow regeneration of a new shoot/trunk. If the damage occurs early to mid season, then immediate removal of the trunk and cordons will probably allow retraining of the vine in the same season, because a new shoot will be driven by a large root system. If the damage occurs later in the season, then it is better to wait and cut off the vine in winter, so that plenty of new shoot growth can be made in the following season. If the vine has only lost its green foliage, then removal of the crop is essential; this should be sufficient stress removal to allow the vine to make some more leaf growth and allow the normal maturing of the cane in the current season;

• Assuming the fire occurs during the growing season, then fruit should be removed from damaged shoots. If the shoots are very badly damaged with full leaf loss then the fruit could even be taken off with a machine harvester, although if the fruit and canopy is very flaccid this may create unnecessary damage. On the other hand a complete canopy removal (i.e. pruning of the shoots and fruit) might be the best option, again depending on the time of year. If done too late in the season, say close to harvest, then the amount of regrowth made is unlikely to be helpful for the next pruning, and indeed may waste precious carbohydrates that the vine has stored;

• Each situation is different and damage suffered by vines will depend upon both the intensity of the fire and the time of the season. However it is very rare for vines to be absolutely killed and they can and do recover, generally quickly. Surprisingly, given the intensity of those fires, most vineyards affected in 1983 and 1981 by the Ash Wednesday fire lost only one or two seasons' crops. Of course some took three to four years to come back into full production, but they did return. It is relatively straightforward to calculate the losses associated with fire damage for insurance purposes.

©  Wine Business Magazine 2009

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Zalto Glassware Dinner – March 2nd, 2009 by Richard Bampfield MW  

I was fortunate enough to be invited to a dinner in London at which a new (to the UK, at least) producer of Austrian glassware was being presented to a cross-section of guests from the press, retail and restaurant sectors.  The producer, Zalto, is reasonably well established in continental Europe and is now launching in the UK.  The Zalto family originates from Murano, of Venice fame, and they are based in the northern part of Lower Austria where the tradition of glass-blowing dates back to the early 14th century.

Angles

All their glasses are mouth-blown and lead-free, and their key feature is that the curves of the bowls are tilted at angles of 24°, 48° and 72°m which are in accordance with the tilt angles of the earth.  To be honest, I did not really understand the significance of this, but apparently the Romans had worked out that creating vessels with these angles improved both the freshness and taste of the contents.

Unbelievably light

The Denk Art range from Zalto features primarily Burgundy, Bordeaux, Champagne and White wine glasses.  They are used at The Square and are stocked by Around Wine on New Cavendish Street in London where they retail for about £27 a stem – which apparently is a good price for mouth-blown, lead free glasses.  On the evening, we were not comparing them directly with their competitors, but the wines, which came from various countries, inevitably showed extremely well.  They are elegant and unbelievably light, well proportioned and finely balanced.

Whilst enjoying a high quality dinner with some lovely wines, I did pick up a few glass tips which may be interesting / useful:

• One of the reasons lead is added to glass is that it means the glasses can be blown at a lower temperature (1100° compared to 1300°), thus reducing costs.

• A reason that glasses go grey or cloudy is that lead oxide leaches out of the glass. This does not happen with lead-free glass.

• The temperature and rate of cooling the glass affects its elasticity.  It was astonishing that these glasses were actually slightly elastic to the touch.  This means that they are less likely to break or crack if dropped / knocked.

• The glasses are machine washable and, in fact, they recommend this method of washing.  However, don’t wash good glassware with plates and cutlery as dirt being hurled around the washer can stain the glasses.

© Richard Bampfield MW 2009

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Marsala by Alison Moller

Marsala wine is named after the town, in the West of Sicily, around which the grapes are grown and which was originally called Marsah el Alah – the Saracen for Port of God.

Beginnings

In 1770 John Woodhouse, from Liverpool, came here, thought the fortified wine as good as Sherry and Madeira and set about exporting it to England. It proved very popular and its success led to a grape shortage so Woodhouse lent money for setting up new vineyards in return for a guaranteed price for the grapes. The industry flourished and Admiral Lord Nelson famously ordered it for the fleet.  Florio have the original letter with Nelson’s own postscript in rather bad script as he had already lost his arm.

In 1812 Benjamin Ingham opened a rival operation and in 1833 Vincenzo Florio set up between the two of them. Interestingly he was regarded as just as much an outsider as the Brits – he came from Calabria! Nowadays the three are as one and owned by Illva di Saronno, who also own Corvo.

Florio

When I visited Florio it was the first time the magic of being in the AWE worked for me as the site was closed to visitors because of building work. However Marcello La Monica (pictured left)decided that having an educator to convert was an opportunity not to be missed and we dodged the builders to get a glimpse of the cellars.

Traditionally four things could happen to the grape juice:- it could be boiled down to make mosto cotto; it could be fortified to make mistela; it could be fermented into wine which was then distilled to be used for fortification; it could be made into the base wine. All this was done on site and Florio have their original still, but nowadays the spirit comes from a central source.

Terre Arse

The wine I liked best was the memorably named Terre Arse (Burnt Earth) which being designated both Vergine and Oro ensures no mosto cotto is included and it is just fortified wine. The wine is made only from the Grillo and had had at least 8 years on ullage in Slavonian oak barrels. It had a pleasantly burnt/bitter aftertaste and the nose reminded me of a Sercial Madeira. A very nice tipple with salted almonds I found.

Marcello also explained that the best vineyards for the Grillo were north of Marsala and next to the sea – he wasn’t joking as the photograph (left) shows!

The other Marsala I tasted at Florio was their Targa Riserva 1840 Superiore Riserva which had the boiled grape juice – mosto cotto – and mistela added to the base fortified wine to make it sweeter –although only semisecco. It too was made only from the superior Grillo grape alone and aged, using the solera system, in Slavonian oak for at least 6 years – 2 years more than the minimum. I used it for a tasting back in England and found it was not actually sweet enough to balance some traditional Italian puddings, but went much better with cheese.

Pellegrino

At the other end of the town and the other end of the production scale lies the vast complex of Pellegrino – much more familiar to the British consumer.  The whole operation was on a much grander scale than Florio –the size of the tanks and the tanker lorries in the yard (see right) made it seem rather industrial.

Here the wine is made from the three traditional grape varieties of Grillo, Inzolia and Cataratto and has more mosto cotto added to make it fully dolce. However the wine is well made, popular and readily available in the U.K.

Quality designations

The quality designations of Marsala seem to me rather excessive as they use both age (Fine, Superiore, Superiore Riserva, Vergine, Vergine Stravecchio at 1, 2, 4, 5 and over 10 years age) and colour (Ambra, with vino cotto, and Oro without ) in many combinations which seems unnecessarily complicated for the consumers – who are still in rather short supply.

There seemed to me to be a real desire to get their wine once more taking its place on the world stage and I wish them every success.

Photos & text © Alison Moller 2009

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Hidden Spain, March 16th - 20th, 2009 by Susan Hulme MW

Having just returned from a breathless and breathtaking tour of some of Northern Spain's less well known DOs on the recent CWW trip, I am filled with even more enthusiasm for 'hidden Spain'. What attracted me to the trip initially was the allure of visiting DO Cigales and DO Bierzo but I found much more to excite me.

The full report of this trip will be written up later for the CWW Newsletter but meanwhile this is just a snapshot to whet your appetite and some of my personal highlights of what was a most enjoyable trip.

***

One of the real gems was discovering the newly created DO Arribes where we had a wonderful visit to La Setera Winery.

Here, the Duero River has shaped dramatic canyons along the border between Spain and Portugal - the scenery is simply breathtaking. The DO is not allowed to be called Arribes del Duero because DO Ribera del Duero protested it was too similar to their own name, but the area is called Arribes del Duero. Confused?

La Setera is run by a very engaging couple who make interesting wines from a little known (to most of us at least) grape variety called Juan Garcia. They also make the most wonderful cheeses and in fact this was the business they started first. Having tasted a few vintages of Juan Garcia, which seemed to have more than a few similarities to Cabernet Franc to me, we also tasted their experimental wine made with Touriga Nacional. This was a delicious wine that managed to balance elegance and a delicate fragrance with a voluptuous, silky, texture. It managed to give a refined and sensual tasting experience all at once. I can't wait to see how they progress with this wine in future vintages. We finished with their lovely sweet fortified Merlot again a much fresher and more delicate Port-like wine, accompanied by their home-made and mouth-wateringly delicious goat's and blue cheeses.

***

The fascination of tasting and getting to know little known grape varieties such as Juan Garcia, Prieto Picudo (dark pointed), and even the more well-known Mencia for the reds and roses, and Godello, Albillo and Albarin for the whites. Some of these showed great potential such as the whites made from Albarin at Bodegas Margon (in spite of the name and some of the aromas they told us this was related to Chenin Blanc).  I also thought the Godello Sparkling wine (no dosage) from Bodegas Y Viñeos Agribergidum was delicious and showed amazing promise for a first vintage.

***

The incredible hospitality and charm with which we were received at Bodegas Otero, as after a thorough tasting of their wines they allowed us to taste a 1970 Rose made from Prieto Picudo (a grape variety which I felt had some of the chalky tannins, firm acidity and tarry notes more akin to some well-known Italian varieties) accompanied by home-made empanadas.

***

At Bodegas Viñas del Cenit, we stood in a truly sandy-soiled vineyard where I wondered if there was any soil in the sand and marvelled at 200 year old Prieto Picudo vines with their unusual habit of spreading branches laterally along the ground.  No phylloxera here then.

***

Staying at the Hotel El Convento in Coreses (Zamora) was a totally bizarre experience. With its strange mix of Rococo design, gold, religious artefacts, gilt throne-like chairs and paintings of naked women in erotic poses on the winery ceiling (see below), it takes kitsch to new heights but is nevertheless a memorable experience.

			Photos of Viñas Zamaranas, Hotel El Convento © Brett Jones 2009.

***

As musical accompaniment to dinner, a band of thirty or so cloaked troubadours played their traditional instruments and songs as well as the odd 'O Sole Mio' and Beatles song thrown in for our benefit. Watching several senior CWW and AWE members do the conga and enjoying themselves as they became the entertainment.

***

Discovering the beautiful countryside with trees already in blossom as we drove across northern Spain’s remoter areas and walked around the beautiful centre of León.

***

There were many culinary highlights but having lunch at Restaurante Imprenta Casado in Leon was probably my favourite - delicious food and full of laughter and good company.

***

All in all, it was a trip well worth making. A full report will appear later in the CWW newsletter. Many thanks to Ade Internacional Excal for supporting this trip (Omar, Fernando and Marcos) and especially to John Radford for getting the whole thing off the ground and organising it.

 

Text © Susan Hulme MW 2009

Photos © Susan Hulme MW 2009, except for those of Viñas Zamaranas, © Brett Jones 2009

 

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Gilbert Winfield

Bordeaux’s Modern and Maverick Wine Consultant

Olivier Dauga, 2009 Winemaker of the year in the Gault Millau guide, presented an entertaining and jovial seminar, showing a selection of wines whose production he had consulted on. Olivier calls his consultancy ‘Le Faiseur de Vin’, literally ‘the wine maker’ in English but with a slightly more mystical connotation in French.

Maverick

Olivier (pictured right) has a reputation as a ‘Maverick Wine Consultant’, working with nature, following a philosophy best summarized by his use of the word ‘biotope’, described in Wikipedia as ‘a touchstone word in the preservation of the environment’.

Unlike some other consultants, he advocates using a different approach at each estate, to let the wine express its identity.

Shortage of space will not allow a full list, with notes, of all 16 wines tasted (phew, you’ll say!), but the wines did show very different characters, and certainly no ‘Dauga style’ imposed.

Highlights for me included:

• a Morroccan estate at Meknes, in the foothills  of the Atlas, making a very fresh 2008 Chardonnay called Epicuria, and a Cabernet Sauvignon/ Syrah/ Grenache blend (remind anyone of Lebanon?) called Volubilia 2008, showing great balance and even restraint 

• a delicate and floral Provence rosé, Château Grand Boise 2008, which uses bee hives as indicators of the chemical balance of the wines. The bees are sensitive to chemicals, and will not flourish and produce honey in chemically treated environments. The presence of the hives in the vines is to reassure the clientelle, visitors, and public, that the vineyard is healthy and chemical-free.

• among several red Bordeaux showing great mineral definition and balance, a remarkable Médoc Cru Bourgeois, Château Lousteauneuf 2006, which was described as being made in a total absence of oxygen (despite being oak-aged), and full of crunchy dark berry fruit.

But (there’s always a but!), several wines for me seemed to show signs of discord, perhaps between the owner’s and Dauga’s intentions: in particular a Côtes du Lubéron, Cuvée Louis Turcan 2006, made from 100% Syrah, which I found overpowered by tannin and alcohol (Dauga says he is changing this, though). The question of whether the market was ready for £19 a bottle Côtes du Lubéron was also asked!

Sincere

Overall, Olivier gave a good show, and came across as a sincere ‘new age’ winemaker, committed to preserving the environment, but in a practical, ‘Lutte Raisonnée’ sort of way, rather than being tied to a restrictive Biodynamic, or Organic regime. The wines, with diverse characters, amply demonstrated his respect for the identity of each of his client's estates.  He is, in his own words ‘trying to drag winemaking into the 21st century’. On the whole (but not always), he seems to be succeeding.

Text © Gilbert Winfield 2009

Photos © Christos Ioannou 2009

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Portuguese Wine and Food Event 27/02/09 by Peter Edwards

Melmerby, an old sandstone hamlet nestling at the foot of the highest part of the Cumbrian Pennines in the peaceful and scenic Eden valley, is an altogether different place!  It's well known for its picturesque 15 acre village green, intersected by noisily burbling becks; famous for The Village Bakery; and notorious for the Helm wind which screams down the fell side on occasions.

But not the least of its many attractive features is the new, state of the art village hall, complete with kitchen, where I decided to hold a Portuguese Wine and Food event recently. I was hoping to get a minimum of 24 people but needn't have worried, all 38 printed tickets were sold by the day before the event!

As I was going to select, prepare and cook the food myself, as well as choose and present the wines, it was a daunting proposition; but, at the same time, a truly exciting prospect. I selected three white and three red wines from The Wine Society, but added a Port and a Madeira obtained from a local  supermarket. The recipes were obtained quite quickly from a Google search, but the Portuguese Lemon Pork needed considerable 'tweaking' before I was satisfied with the results of my trial tests.

The first wine Quinta Espiga Branco 2006 (Estremadura)  £6.50, was served without food, as an aperitif. Aromatic, distinctive and nicely tart, it sharpened the palate for the treats that lay ahead.

Next came Quinta de Azevedo, Vinho Verde 2006 £6.25. Very elegant, with a pleasing show  of bubbles clinging to the glass. This was served with a selection of olives  with herbs, some stuffed with anchovies or  pimento. People loved this combination and were very receptive to the change in the taste of the wine after nibbling the olives.

The third white, Esporão Reserva 2007 (Alentejo) £9.95 was very highly rated and went really well with the sardines. In fact the sardines were the most talked about food item on the menu, and were considered amazing! They were just ordinary tinned Portuguese sardines served on my own home made 'Portuguese' corn bread.

Normally, at home, I would pop them on toast and put them under the grill. But for this event, as I had only two helpers, mainly serving, I simply put one sardine on a piece of bread, drizzled the olive oil from the can, plus a bit of extra virgin olive oil, over the sardine and bread, then put large trays of these into a moderately hot (175 c) oven, for 20 minutes. Done this way they taste quite different and the combination of these with the Esporão Reserva, a big, complex wine with a strand of acidity, was perfect.

The main course turned out well and by strange serendipity, the half-pig I had ordered last September (from a local part-time pig farmer) arrived the day before this event, so the pork (part Gloucester Old Spot) was fresh. It was marinated over-night in a bottle of white wine, lemon juice, garlic, corn flour and rosemary. The next day the cubes of pork were fried until browned, then put in a casserole and, after adding back the marinade juices and some chicken stock and seasoning, cooked for an hour in a moderate oven . Next, I added bottled roasted red peppers (strained and chopped) pitted black olives, and some chopped onions. After another half an hour, the oven was lowered to 100c so it was ready when required. It was served with (real) Saffron Rice.

The three reds that went with this were:

Quinta da Lagoalva 2005 (Ribatejo) £6.50 This wine was considered to be just ok and was the least favourite wine of the tasting! It is possibly over priced. Having said that, the wine was not objectionable or faulty in any way. One or two people quite liked it and one said it might be good with Pizza! This last remark was of the 'faint praise' category and the wine was accordingly damned.

The Touriga Nacional, Almeida Garrett 2006 (Beira Interior) £8.95 disappointed nobody!  An elegantly fruity wine with silky tannins, preferred by at least one person to the wine that followed.

The Quinta do Centro, Pedra Basta 2006 (Alentejo) £12.95 was stunningly good; smooth, complex, balanced, concentrated and persistent. It was the star of the show.

The Port, Symington’s Tawny £5.50 [Morrisons] was much appreciated with the Blue Stilton and Shropshire Blue cheeses and the Blandy's Madeira , Duke of Clarence, £9.99 [Morrisons], served with delicious Portuguese egg custard tart, rounded off the meal perfectly.

These tarts were raved about - two large ladies pleaded for seconds, and got them, to their obvious delight! And for completeness, while my audience were silently munching on the tarts, I recited the Flanders and Swann classic, “Have some Madeira,  M'Dear....”  which brought the event to an entertaining close.

Do try the sardines at home, with a full bodied white – me? I'd use the Esporão! ...but be sure to use really good bread, that's the secret. My version of Portuguese cornbread is quite easy to make. Simply take a standard recipe for white bread and replace  1/3 of the strong white flour with yellow cornflour or meal (I used Polenta , plus a little oatmeal and buckwheat) and for each 1lb of flour, add a tblsp of olive oil and the beaten white of an egg.

The Portuguese Egg Custard Tarts are a treat; and quite easy to make. There's  only one complaint against them; one minute they are there, all warmly lemon and vanilla scented in their cinnamon and icing-sugar dusted glory, but the next minute, they are .......all gone!

© Peter Edwards 2009

Note: Send me an email request if you would like a tried and tested recipe for the Portuguese Custard Tarts.   peter@wineofcourse.co.uk

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Some thoughts on Chile by Isabelle Legeron

Chile’s sheer, brutal natural beauty will take you by surprise. Having recently spent 6 weeks there as a first timer, I can officially say the countryside is sublime. Three of those weeks were spent touring wineries from Bio-Bio to La Serena, on a study trip. I had limited myself to a couple of wineries a day, max three for in-depth visits rather than speed tasting.

Diversity

I witnessed first hand that the North to South Chilean diversity of terroirs is only the tip of the iceberg. There is a plethora of tiny pockets of very different growing conditions dotted along the transversal axis. The cold air stemming from the Humboldt Current, the morning coastal fog hugging the ancient coastal range and the cool Andean air have more impact than latitude.

When visiting Casablanca and San Antonio, the sun vanished for two days and it was cold whilst less than two hours away, vineyards around Santiago were basking in the sun. Similarly in the Limari Valley, the Tabali winery is located in a cold, windy corridor, enabling them to grow impressive, cool fruit which end up, for example, in their fabulous Syrah ‘Reserva Especial’ 2007.

And Syrah was the star grape of the trip, particularly when coming from those cool spots like Matetic in San Antonio. Their EQ Syrah is a favourite of mine but it is getting better. The 2007 tasted intensely peppery, fresh, violet-scented and, essentially, highly drinkable.

Pinot Noir

I am left unconvinced by Pinot Noir in Chile. I found the vast majority, particularly at the top, ambitious end, too extracted, oaky and lacking varietal expression. However, I did particularly liked Casa Marin Pinots for their crunchiness and elegance as well as the Corpora 2008 Veranda barrel sample which showed more elegance and promise than its bottled counterpart, testament to the talent and dedication of their Burgundian winemaker, Louis Vallet.

Ancient Pais vines in Cauquenes.	Cactus and vines at Montes.	Tabali winery.

 

Paradise

Chile is indeed a viticultural paradise (which raises the question of why there are not more organic vineyards in Chile) with plenty of uncharted wine territories, particularly in those transversal nooks and crannies. Chile has perfected the process of winemaking and I felt, overall, that it has been playing safe, particularly in the winery, running the risk of being formulaic and definitively to the detriment of creativity and diversity.

 

Exciting projects

The next phase, however, is under way.  More diversity in the grape plantings (like Montes with their young Grenache vines), an increasing biodiversity awareness, the rediscovery of ancient dry-farmed vines like Carignan in the Cauquenes area and incredible wines made from the Pais grape by Louis-Antoine Luyt are just examples of exciting projects which will bring more spice to Chilean wines.

 

Some of my favourite wines amongst many others, randomly, included Gillmore Carignan 2006, a mature Montes Alpha M 2000, Casa Marin Sauvignon Gris 2008, Casa Lapostolle Borobo 2005, Cono Sur Riesling Reserve 2008, Casa Silva Los Lingues Carmenère 2007 and Haras de Pirque Albis 2004.

 

Photos & text © Isabelle Legeron 2009

 

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AWEsome Fact by Alison Moller

© Alison Moller 2009

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Wine Quality – Tasting and Selection

By Keith Grainger

(Food Industry Briefing Series – Wiley-Blackwell) *

As we know, Keith is not only a highly experienced wine educator, but also has an unusually high level of technical competence.  A constant feature of this book is how well Keith balances his mastery of the technicalities with a certain “common touch”, the ability to explain sometimes complex issues in easy-to-understand terms.

For instance the chapter on wine faults will be meaningful to the interested wine novice but also offers sufficient meat and technical detail to be a useful reference for a knowledgeable wine professional.  He also manages to make sense of regulations, classifications and ISO certifications that apply to wine, explaining clearly the relationship to real and perceived wine quality.

In fact, the book has many aspects which will be useful to wine professionals.  Keith cites recent research on the influence of different soil types in the section on terroir and also refers to Linda Bartoshuk’s recent challenge to the traditional taste / sensor map of the tongue.  There are excellent tables listing the flavour characteristics associated with different grapes and also, in the excellent chapter on financial constraints facing the wine producer, an interesting table on the relative costs of different oak products.

The only minor gripes about the book are, I suspect, more to do with the editor and publisher than with the author.  Some of the black and white plates look unhelpful and unnecessary when compared to the same colour plates also shown, although one can understand why the publisher felt both were required.  The editing is not really up to the standard of the book’s content:  there are many punctuation errors and, in the section on Reductivity, readers may be a little bemused to discover that “reductive faults……are the result of careless or uniformed winemaking”.

As the reviewer has a close link with Domaine Long-Depaquit in Chablis, he was slightly miffed to see that the shot of Grand Cru Vineyards Vaudésir and Les Preuses was in fact a shot of Moutonne, the 8th Chablis Grand Cru, which just happens to be a Monopole of Domaine Long-Depaquit. Admittedly Moutonne is part-Vaudésir and part-Preuses, so the oversight can be forgiven.

I really enjoyed this book.  I admit that my impression is coloured by the fact that so much of what Keith writes is an eery echo of the way I myself talk about wine.  I am not sure if this indicates WSET brainwashing or professional consistency – let’s settle for the latter!

© Richard Bampfield MW 2009

AWEsome Wine by Richard Bampfield MW  

Tasted twice in the last fortnight:

Gemischter Satz "Kirchberg" 2007 - Durnberg, Niederosterreich, Austria - a field blend of Grüner Veltliner, Riesling, Pinot Blanc and Gewürztraminer.

Despite being a relatively small component in the blend, the Gewürztraminer influences the aromas, with subtle notes of rose petal and spice.  The overriding impression on the nose is of delicacy and fragrance.
The palate too is delicate and yet it is highly nuanced, with evidence of white fruit, nuts and mysterious mineral notes (apparently a result of the limestone soil of the vineyard). 

Great balance, length and freshness, tastes much lighter than the 13.5% would suggest.
 

I love this because it does not fit in any of the usual boxes, but is a very complete, satisfying wine, demonstrating how a top vineyard site can unite 4 different grapes.

© Richard Bampfield MW 2009

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 2009

No part of this newsletter may be reproduced without permission.

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