A(nother) CWB Chardonnay-Off

Three very different Chardonnays

This is not my first Chardonnay-Off rodeo; far from it, in fact.

There has been the Southern Hemisphere one, the International one, the Southern French Oaky one and the Adelaide Hills one.

Chardonnay is The Beatles of wine grapes; among both the most accomplished and most popular performers, it is the one that inspired so many others and remains the standard against which many are judged.

This Chardonnay-Off highlights the variety that this grape can show - different countries, different price points and different ages.

It is also a great food wine; match with starters, white meats, meaty white fish and creamy mushroom pasta.

Entry-level Chardonnay is a great picnic wine; with more age and complexity, match with lighter game.

All three wines here drink nicely on first pouring, but open up and improve with some aeration.

Australian Limestone Coast Chardonnay, 2021 (£5.99 / £4.49 on offer, Lidl)

Australia's Limestone Coast is a catch-all appellation for several regions within South Australia; it was once underwater and as a result, the soil is fossil-rich, hence the name.

Lidl wines are generally priced extremely keenly, so special offers like this are a good excuse to stock up, not just for immediate drinking, but also for laying down, provided you have space and can wait.

restrained citrus and stone fruit aromas with some florality; ripe yellow stone fruits, melon and zippy lime with sweet spices and creamy brazil nut

Thoroughly enjoyable and Good Value.

Can be aged for a few years.

Petaluma Chardonnay, 2020 (£16.00, Tesco)

Based in the cool-climate region of Adelaide Hills, Petaluma is one of the great names of Australian wine, producing Burgundian-style Chardonnays.

citrus, white flowers, stone fruits and complex oaky spice; fresh, elegant and poised with preserved lemons, melon fruit, pineapple pieces, sweet spices and zippy lime marmalade; broad complex and generous with saline minerality. Poised and precise.

Very Good.

Can be aged for many years.

Pernot-Belicard Bourgogne Chardonnay 2012 (£17, Cambridge Wine Merchants)

Philippe Pernot and his wife (from the Belicard side) launched their own domaine in 2009, with just six hectares of vines in Puligny. They pick quite early, all by hand, with hand sorting at the cellar.

This wine was a fire-sale bargain picked up by Cambridge Wine and sold at a discount to market price.

sandy yellow with roasted spices, stone fruits, florality, and evolved musty leather; savoury-creamy toasted brazil nut, almonds and macadamia with citrus, orchard fruits and stone fruits; complex, oaky, roasted spices; fresh, complex, broad and generous.

Very Good.

Fully mature, but will remain at a peak for several more years.

Two Spring Whites - Spain and South Africa

Two whites from South Africa's Kleine Zalze and Spain's CVNE

Kleine Zalze Vineyard Selection Chenin Blanc 2020

Maruxa Godello 2020

I've titled this two spring whites, but these two wines are so good, you could pretty much have them any time of the year.

They are spring wines in the sense of being a bit bigger, fuller and more complex than summer garden sippers without being the sort of full-on Big Reds of the winter months.

Both wines are really well made from good fruit with lots of savoury complexity and the sort of  underpinnings that will both match food and also allow them to age.

They are old school / old world in the sense of being more "palate" than "nose"; that said, they don't lack aromatics or fruit, it's just that there is also a sophisticated texture, breadth and generosity.

If you are having guests, either would serve well as a white with starters; or match with a main if it's white meat or grilled oily fish.

Godello is native to Spain and, although increasing in popularity, is still relatively uncommon, so don't be surprised if you've never had it before. Master of Wine Siobhan Turner characterises it as "nose of bay leaves, peaches, hint of lemon. Fresh bright acidity with touch of salinity on palate."

Chenin Blanc is the great grape of the Loire; with high natural acidity, it can make everything from fizz to long-lived botrytised dessert wines via fully dry and off-dry table wines. South Africa is its second home.

Vineyard Selection Chenin Blanc 2020 (£15.10, Cambridge Wine Merchants, independents)

The grapes for this wine came from a couple of old Chenin Blanc vineyards around Stellenbosch. 

Careful canopy management ensured enough sunlight, but protected the grapes against direct sunlight.

The grapes were handpicked early in the morning and immediately crushed into holding tanks; extended skin contact extracted all the Chenin flavours to ensure good structure in the final wine.

Only the free run juice was used and settled for 1 day before inoculation with selected yeast strains. The juice was racked into barrels for fermentation.

No new barrels were used to ensure that unique characters of the specific terroirs were preserved in the wine. After fermentation the wine was aged on the primary lees for another 6 months before being racked out and prepared for bottling.

Vintage conditions allowed for good even ripening, with natural balance and healthy acidity. 

baked yellow stone fruits, citrus, honeysuckle, beeswax, orange peel and sweet spices with marzipan and brazil nut; fresh and generous with ripe peach, pineapple and mang, with creamy leesy-brazil-nut complexity; long and savoury with very good underpinnings.

Drinks nicely on first opening; improves with some aeration and can be cellared for up to ten years.

Very Good.

Match with roasted white meats, grilled seafood or tarte flambée.

Maruxa Godello 2020 (£14.75, Majestic)

Maruxa Godello is made by Virgen del Galir in Valdeorras in Spain's north west Galicia region..

Virgen del Galir is a Galician project that has been owned by CVNE since 2018, and has a focus on recovering very special micro-plots on the edge of the Camino de Santiago, specifically in the town of éntoma, in Valdeorras.

They produce fresh and very mineral wines with character. Maruxa Godello comes from a vineyard with clay loam soils with some slate and other minerals. These vines lie on slopes more than 600 metres above sea level and enjoy a continental climate with a strong Atlantic influence.

When the grapes reach optimum ripeness, they are manually harvested in 15 kg boxes. In the winery, the Maruxa Godello grapes are cooled to avoid oxidation. They are gently pressed and the resulting must begins alcoholic fermentation with native yeasts at a controlled temperature. Finally, the wine ages for 4 months on fine lees in stainless steel tanks.

Maruxa Godello is named after the mother of the winery’s founder and is a tribute to an exceptional place. This wine is faithful to the Valdeorras tradition where the native Godello variety is silky, elegant and very lively. 

CVNE, one of the biggest names in Rioja, have branched out to Valdeorras in Galicia where they pick grapes from steep terraced vineyards where the altitude encourages acidity in Godello grapes. This brings plenty of refreshing character to the wine. Expect citrus and floral aromas, with a complex, mineral finish. 

white flowers, orchard fruits, citrus, white pepper and honeysuckle; fresh and complex with ripe tropical citrus and yellow stone fruits with creamy, savoury brazil nut ands hints of aniseed, marzipan and Mediterranean herbs. Broad, harmonious and savoury with good underpinnings.

Drinks nicely on first opening; improves with some aeration and can be cellared.

Very Good.

Match with scallops or roasted pork belly.

Three Wines for #InternationalGrenacheDay

Three Grenache-based wines for #InternationalGrenacheDay

Historically a blending variety, Grenache is starting to make a name for itself more as a front man than merely dance-at-the-back hanger-on. Think New Kid on The Block gone solo.

Grenache is a widely-planted, sun-loving grape from the Mediterranean; somewhat counter-intuitively, it is reducing in quantity just as it is increasing in quality. The reasons for this are varied, but mainly because Grenache can be both a prolific producer of inexpensive fruity quaffers (for which demand is declining) as well as something much more sophisticated and complex when properly handled.

Fruity and thin-skinned, Grenache is not generally a wine for oaking or aging; as a varietal wine, it tends to be pale, fruity and ripe with high-ish alcohol. For this reason, it is often blended with some Syrah for colour and Mourvèdre for tannins.

Here are three Grenache / Grenache-based wines for #InternnationalGrenacheDay - or just any coolish, late summer evening.

Yalumba Samuel’s Collection Barossa Bush Vine Grenache 2018 (£17.99, Wine Direct, Latitude Wine Merchants (Yorkshire), Amazon, Vagabond, The Specialist Cellar, Cambridge Wine Merchant, Australian Wines Online, Frazier’s Wine Merchants, Flagship Wines, Richard Granger, Voyageurs du Vin, House of Townsend, Vinotopia)

100% Grenache from Australia’s oldest family-owned winery, a lighter-style Grenache showcasing bright Barossa Grenache at its best. It has bags of flavour and character yet easy drinking for those who might ‘prefer white’, as well as being food friendly with lighter foods you might normally have with a white wine to richer style dishes that work with a typical red. 

pale in the glass, almost Pinot-esque; wild strawberries, leather, complex oaky spice and herbaceous, minty sage; fresh red berry fruits, eucalyptus, sappy, savoury and warming-spicy.

Drinks well on first pouring and continues to improve with aeration.

Good.

Match with spare-ribs or pork pie; will work well with mushroom based dishes

Delicious on its own as an aperitif. Try it served lightly chilled.

Torres Salmos 2017 (£21.99, Fareham Wine Cellar, Vinvm, Rannoch Scott Wines, Winebuyers, Hedonism Wines, Sandham Wine Merchants)

Garnacha, Cariñena, Syrah blend that pays homage to the monks of the intrepid Carthusian order, who arrived in Priorat in 12th century, renowned for its steep impoverished rocky slopes of black slate-like ‘licorella’ soils, which gives the wines its ‘graphite’ or mineral character.

dusty, dried sour cherries, tarry black fruits, plums and forest berries with toasty / grilled flavours, licorice and anise, leather and sous bois, cedar, cocoa and spices; supple, harmonious and well-structured. Complex, concentrated, inky and long.

Very Good.

Still very youthful at four years; needs several hours' in the decanter or several years' cellaring to show its best.

Match with plain roast red meat - or venison when mature.

Vidal-Fleury Vacqueyras 2018 (£27.99 from Wadebridge Wines, Great Grog Bottle Shop, Whole Foods Market, TheDrinkShop.com)

50% Grenache, 45% Syrah and 5% Mouvedre matured for 18 months in both tank and foudre from the oldest continuously operating winery in the Rhône.

dark fruits, fresh cherries, florality, complex spice and cassis; red and black fruits, violets, mint and dried green herbs with rounded, plush tannins; fresh, full, supple and savoury with excellent underpinnings and a gentle-yet-firm grip.

Very Good.

Needs some aeration and will repay cellaring.

Match with roast leg of lamb with sage, rosemary, and thyme, or mature cheeses.

***

More on Grenache from WSET:

Understanding grapes spotlight on Grenache | Wine & Spirit Education Trust (wsetglobal.com)

Zoom Sherry and Madeira Tasting

A tasting of two sherries and a Madeira from Cambridge Wine Merchants - with some Fitzbillies mince pies

As lockdown continues, so do our regular Zoom wine tastings with friends and neighbours: December's theme was fortified wines. One pale sherry, one dark sherry and a sweet Madeira to finish off. These are my talking points from the tasting.

Sherry and Madeira are both production method wines; like fizz, they provide more than just primary fruit flavours from the grapes and gain tertiary flavours from the production method and extended aging.

Sherry is an anglicisation of Jerez, i.e. a place. The three factors in the making of sherry are:

 - the chalky soil, called albariza which gives (the rule is chalk for elegance, clay for fruit)

- the Palomino grape 

- Flor, a yeast 

Sherry is blended in a solera system; this wasn't always the case and was brought in as a practice to improve consistency as demand for sherry increased in the 1800s.

Fino and Manzanilla are aged for up to 6 years under flor; darker sherries will be older as they will have further aging in contact with oxygen.

Manzanilla Solear, Barbadillo 

Pale, from Sanlucar where the river Guadalquivir meets the Atlantic; with an average age of 6 years, this is very pale due to the flor keeping the wine free of oxygen; it goes through nine stages of aging and the transfer of the wine between barrels feeds the flor and oxygenates the wine.

Yeasty with camomile, smooth and even on the palate, full and long.

Barbadillo are a 7th-generation family company and the world’s leading Manzanilla producer with 500ha of vineyard in Jerez Superior, and 15 Bodegas across Sanlucar de Barrameda collectively containing 30,000 sherry butts.

The company is based around San Lucar, where the river meets the Atlantic Ocean; its vineyards are located inland where the climate is drier and there are fewer vineyard pests, meaning higher quality fruit. Flor is very delicate and needs just the right conditions to thrive; specifically cool, damp, fresh air. 

The flor grows thickest in one particular bodega located at the bend of the Guadalquivir, where the river is narrowest and the breezes blow cool, damp air into windows cut into the side of the bodega facing the sea.

The company has 16 bodegas and each sherry butt is moved to a specific bodega at different points during its aging process. The design of the bodega is equally important to the development of the flor with a high roof and the barrels stored only three-high as further up the air becomes too warm and dry (pro-tip: finos can be stacked up to five-high as they have less flor influence).

Match with tapas such as bread and olive oil, jamon iberico and olives.

Amontillado Vina AB, Gonzalez Byass 

The company was founded in 1835 by a failed banker and potato-farmer named Gonzalez who named the sherry after his Uncle Joe ("Tio Pepe" in Spanish).

Byass was the name of the importer tasked with selling the first barrels to make their way over to the UK.

An early adopter of the solera system for blending and aging sherries, the company remains family-owned to this day. 

10 year-old AB Amontillado is a darker style of sherry which has partially oxidised due to the flor dying off and allowing the air to come into contact with the wine; pale gold / straw colour with more flavour from the wood of the solera.

Match with roasted almonds, hard yellow cheese or anything from list by Fiona Beckett: The best pairings for amontillado and palo cortado sherry | Matching Food & Wine (matchingfoodandwine.com)

Blandy's 10yo Bual, Madeira

Madeira is a small, volcanic sub-tropical island in the Atlantic just of the north African coast. It was a stopping-over point for Portuguese explorers; casks of wine used as ballast and the equator twice, pasteurises & cooks the wine.

The defining flavours of Madeira are a biting acidity and complex, aged aromas of old leather, roasted spices and nuts, and rich fruitcake.

Madeira is exposed to heat and air in large barrels which "cooks" the wine over many years to bring about these oxidative aromas. 

The high acidity in Madeira is due to the acidic volcanic soils, fertilisation and irrigation of the vines which leads to high yields and high acidity, plus high humidity and a year-round temperature of 20C-25C.

Styles are defined by the grape variety used:

- Sercial: grown on the highest vineyards (600m-700m+), this is the driest style; match with consomme

- Verdelho: semi-dry from slightly lower down; match with cheeses

- Bual: sweet from lower down, a dessert by itself

- Malvasia / Malmsay: the sweetest form the lowest vineyards.

Canteiro is the style of heating with no artificial heating; the wines is moved around the Madeira lodges in central Funchal (hottest at the top)

Madeira, being fully oxidised in its creation, can last forever - it is a wine to buy for your children and grandchildren - once opened, a bottle will not spoil.

Madeira must be aged for a minimum of three years, but often for much longer.

Blended Madeira is a blend of ages - 3, 5, 10, 15, 20, 30 and 40 years are the standards. Confusingly, these reflect neither a minimum nor an average age, but a style - as defined and verified by the Madeira Wine Institute.

This feels like something from a different, less literal age, from a time when people wrote "here be dragons" at the edges of their maps.

Bual is the second sweetest style of Madeira in which "10 years" is a style indicator rather than having any relationship with time; on this basis, Madeira is the "Big Bang" of wine styles in which the concept of time breaks down and has no meaning.

Chris Blandy, CEO of Blandy's, says that the wine side of the business is the smallest financially but where his emotional interest lies. Madeira was once the wine of kings and conquest, victories and celebrations but is now little more than a footnote in the public consciousness of fortified wine.

Blandy's is the largest producer of Madeira and Chris does not see the wine as ever regaining its former position; there is not the volume of vineyards and getting there would be too expensive, so he focuses instead on developing Madeira as a niche, hand-sold product, on pricing rather than volume.

Bual is matches well with sweet foods such as Christmas pudding and, yes, Fitzbillies mince pies.

Key differences between sherry and Madeira

Sherry is fortified after fermentation; Madeira, like port, is fortified during fermentation.

As a result of this, sherry is inherently completely dry (to be sweet, it has to have some sweet wine added separately), whereas Madeira and port always retain some residual sugar.

Fortification is the adding of spirit and was done historically to make the wine more stable (e.g. for its sea voyage to Britain, the Americas or India)

For port, the sweetness is needed to retain balance with the tannic bitterness of foot-trodden red grapes. For Madeira, the sweetness offsets the high acidity. For sherry, sweetness is added where the wine has developed bitter roasted flavours from exposure to air (darker styles) or where a sweet wine style is desired.

Zuccardi Valles Torrontés 2019

A floral Torrontes from Argentina via Cambridge Wine

Zuccardi Valles Torrontés

Torrontes is pretty much unique to Argentina; it is a naturally-occurring crossing of two other grapes, Muscat of Alexandria (itself an ancient variety) and Mission, a grape introduced from Spain to the western coasts of the Americas by Catholic New World missionaries for their sacramental wines, also known as Criolla.

There are actually three different Torrontes grapes; Torrontés Riojano (the most common) as well as Torrontés Sanjuanino, and Torrontés Mendocino.

The grape does well in the cool, dry and windswept Salta region of northwest Argentina.

Its flavour profile is always floral and aromatic with high alcohol and low acidity. If you are looking for other grapes to compare it with, think Gewurztraminer or Muscat.

Is it Argentina's signature white grape? Argentina expert, Wink Lorch, argues that historically Chardonnay always produced the finest whites in Argentina and likely still does, but that Torrontes is the most original.

And it is this originality that makes Torrontes a love-it-or-loathe, Marmite type of wine; it is expressive, floral and strongly flavoured, full-bodied and waxy. This makes it something of a tricky food match, so drink as an aperitif or serve with rich, spiced Asian-style foods such as a coconut-based curry.

You can tame its exuberance by chilling it right down, but then you lose all that distinctive personality - which you may or may not consider a good thing. Wine educator and entertainer  Lee Isaacs, a firm supporter (but possibly a little biased), says "Everyone loves Torrontés. Fantastic variety."

If it's not your thing, you are not alone; here's what Master of Wine Rod Smith has to say:

Torrontes is truly an abhorrence of a wine. Straight from the anal glands of beelzebub, covered up with the perfume of toilet duck and old lady’s pot pourri. It tastes like throwing up after eating your body-weight in parma violets. Only not as nice as that sounds.

Zuccardi Valles Torrontés 2019 - Salta, Argentina (£14.25, Cambridge Wine Merchants, Ann et Vin, Red Bottle)  floral and aromatic with lychees and rose petals, ripe yellow stone fruits, orange peel, sweet spices and minerality. Weighty, yet deft and harmonious; very well-made; rounded and supple with good underpinnings.

Good.

G.B. Burlotto Dolcetto d'Alba 2018

A juicy northern Italian red from Cambridge Wine Merchants

G.B. Burlotto Dolcetto d'Alba

North West Italy is home to many of the country's great reds; with forested hills, truffles and game, it is Italy's answer to Burgundy.

If Nebbiolo is Italy's Pinot Noir, hedonistic and gamey, Dolcetto is its Beaujolais; cherry-fruited and juicy.

G.B. Burlotto Dolcetto D.O.C. 2018 (£15.99, Cambridge Wine Merchants)  red berries, cherry fruit and violet aromas; red and black cherry fruit with spice and savoury underpinnings; fresh and lively with fine, rounded and well-integrated tannins. Very elegant, well-made and harmonious.

Will age.

Good.

Match with red meats, such as steak, or pizza.

Robert Oatley Great Southern Riesling

A Riesling from Western Australia

Robert Oatley Great Southern Riesling, 2019

Riesling is something of a wine geek's wine; traditionally, German Riesling was one of the great wines of the world. My 1971 World Atlas of  Wine places Germany immediately after France and gives 25 pages to the country and its Rieslings. By contrast, Italy and Spain come later and get just a few pages each.

Riesling is a late-ripening, high acidity grape that can be made dry, off-dry or very sweet indeed, needs no oak and gains a distinctive dieselly nose with age. It is this versatility, variety and ability to age that make Riesling one of the world's great noble grapes.

Like all Robert Oatley's wines, it is a well-made and sophisticated easy-drinker in its youth, but has the potential for greater complexity from cellaring.

Robert Oatley Signature Series Riesling 2019 – Great Southern, Western Australia (£13.95, Cambridge Wines, Finewinestore.co.uk, Peake wines, Solent Wine Cellar , Seriously Good Wine Company, Russell Vintners) lemon blossom, passion fruit and the beginnings of some aged, diesel; grapefruit, zingy lemon, and lime, sherbet, yellow stone fruit with sweet spices and fresh green apple and pea shoots; steely, pebbly, slatey minerality. Very elegant and harmonious.

Good.

Drinking nicely now and will improve further with age.

Serve as an aperitif or match with seared tuna, smoked salmon or pork rillettes.

For more ideas on food matches, see this article from Fiona Beckett: THE BEST FOOD PAIRINGS FOR DRY (OR OFF-DRY) RIESLING

Tollot Beaut Bourgogne, 2011

A mature Burgundy from Cambridge Wine Merchants

Tollot Beaut Bourgogne, 2011

I have been looking for a Burgundy to like; after a couple of false starts, I think I may have found it. Maybe it's the effect of time and oaking, but it rather reminds me of a mature Bordeaux from a lighter year. Which is perhaps why I like it.

There is some interesting evolution and it is drinking nicely now, but you could keep this for a while and see it develop further.

It is one of Cambridge Wine's recent parcels of limited stock destined for the restaurant trade and sold at something of a discount to market price; a cost-effective introduction to mature Burgundy.

Tollot Beaut Bourgogne, 2011 (£17, Cambridge Wine Merchants) some bricking and evolved aromatics; red berry fruits, oaky spice, freshness old leather and sous-bois with savouriness and fine tannins

Good.

Drink with darker game or salmon.

Zoom tasting: Chardonnay vs Pinot Noir

A zoom tasting of two Burgundian grapes from The Co-op and Cambridge Wine Merchants

Robert Oatley Margaret River Chardonnay 2017
Thomas Bouley Bourgogne Pinot Noir 2013

Chardonnay and Pinot Noir are two of the greatest grapes in the world – both are originally from Burgundy, but have had different international success.

Chardonnay is one of the world's most popular white grapes and possibly its most versatile; you will find it in Champagne and other fizzes, steely Chablis and big oaky Aussie / Californian / South African / South American whites.

By contrast, Pinot Noir is a finnicky cool-climate grape, prone to mutation, difficult to grow and, until recently, rarely seen outside Burgundy or as a blending component in Champagne. Nowadays, you can find examples from Germany, cooler parts of Chile, Australia, New Zealand and the US Pacific Northwest; there is also an increasing number of Pinot rosés as well.

Robert Oatley Margaret River Chardonnay 2017 (£12, Co-op and CWM) stone fruit, citrus and passionfruit with elderflower and honeysuckle; fine acidity and gentle oak with creamy, buttery nuttiness; balanced, harmonious and elegant.

Improves with aeration and will age

Good.

A versatile wine, match with starters or white meats.

Thomas Bouley Bourgogne Pinot Noir 2013 (£17, Cambridge Wine Merchants) blackcurrant and morello cherry fruit with evolved, mushroomy undergrowth and savoury, peppery spice; lively acidity and fine tannins.

At a peak now.

Good.

Demands to be matched with substantial food; not a sipper - match with red meat, especially seared venison / tuna steaks.

Domaine de Fontbonau Cotes-du-Rhone 2012 - Cambridge Wine Merchants

A mature Fontbonau Rhône from Cambridge Wine Merchants

Domaine de Fontbonau Cotes-du-Rhone 2012

I don't get to drink mature Rhônes that often; they are not so much of A Thing as mature Bordeaux and do not need the effects of time in the same way as Bordeaux.

This Fontbonau is a from a limited stock of wines intended for the restaurant trade; something of a fire-sale item, it represents a significant bargain for a wine that punches above its weight even at full price.

The estate has various links to Chateau Latour in Bordeaux and this shows in the quality of the winemaking. Mature now, at this price you should buy as many as you can physically get hold of and marvel at how something so good cost you so little.

Domaine de Fontbonau Cotes-du-Rhone 2012 (£12.99, Cambridge Wine Merchants) leather, mushrooms and sous bois with ripe berries, cool mint and complex, well-integrated, oaky vanilla spice; ripe yet savoury, intense and supple with very fine tannins.

Very Good.

Match with darker game or roast lamb.

Ricossa - Cambridge Wine Merchants

Two Ricossa wines from Cambridge Wine Merchants

Ricossa Roero Arneis 2018
Ricossa Lange Nebbiolo 2017

Both these Italian wines come from Piemonte in Italy's northwest; just across the border from France, Piemonte shares nearby Burgundy's love of hedonistic food-and-wine matching. Prices can also be somewhat Burgundian, but these two both represent good value.

Arneis is a Piedmontese grape whose fortunes are now reviving after becoming almost extinct in the late 20th century. The name, incidentally, means "little rascal" on account of it being a difficult grape to grow.

The red Langhe is a Nebbiolo - Italy's answer to Pinot Noir; a pale wine with perfumed, hedonistic aromas but notably higher tannins levels. Italy's greatest Nebbiolos come from Barolo, but you are looking at quite a different price bracket there.

Ricossa Roero Arneis 2018 (£8.99, Cambridge Wine Merchants) straw yellow with fresh flowers and green apple; full and supple with ripe orchard and stone fruit, florality and some sweet spices.

Good.

Match with light starters or seafood.

Ricossa Langhe Nebbiolo 2018 (£11.99, Cambridge Wine Merchants) surprisingly mature in both colour and aromas: old leather, truffles and undergrowth with florality, ripe, slightly dried red-berry fruits and well-integrated oaky spice; fresh and savoury with very fine, persistent tannins.

Good.

Match with darker game or roast red meat.

The CWB Pinot-Off: Burgundy vs California

Two Pinots: Burgundy vs California

Domaine Ragot, "Teppe des Cheneves" Rouge, Givry
Talbot Kali Hart Pinot Noir, Monterey

I've said it before, I'm a bit "meh" about Pinot; I like it well enough, but I never quite see what the fuss is about. Low tannins, medium-high acidity and high-to-stratospheric prices don't do it for me, it seems.

Wine enthusiasts often talk about getting "bitten by the Pinot bug", so with Cambridge Wine Merchants selling off various mature Burgundies at below-market prices, I decided to have another go at trying to acquire an expensive habit.

Givry is a village in the Côte Chalonnaise; reliable and affordable, it makes good-value wines that tend to be lighter and ready to drink at a younger age; the peak is between 5 and 12 years from vintage.

Kali Hart is a blend (across two different vineyards) from the Santa Lucia Highlands, one of California's cooler regions.

Both wines are equally well-made and cost about the same; the New Worlder is bigger and more fruited, an easier drinker and perhaps a better introduction to Pinot for anyone who is used to younger, riper, more fruit-forward wines.

The Burgundy is more savoury and, given its age, more complex; less immediately obvious, it is a more cerebral proposition.

Domaine Ragot, "Teppe des Cheneves" Rouge, Givry, 2013 (£17.99, Cambridge Wine Merchants) cherry, redcurrant and raspberry fruit with some evolved complexity; delicate, gentle and very well-made.

Improves with some aeration.

Good.

Talbot Kali Hart Pinot Noir, Monterey, 2017 (£23 - £25, Majestic) red fruits, boysenberry and spice; warming with ripe fruits and balanced freshness. Gentle extraction and very deft.

Good.

Zoom Wine Tasting

A Zoom tasting with two wines from Cambridge Wine Merchants

There are a couple of ways to do virtual wine tasting: a) same grapes but different wines, or b) all the same wines.

Format a) works well for those who want to study grape variety characteristics for blind tasting; format b) works better where people want to compare and contrast the exact same wines.

For this Format b) tasting, I chose a Languedoc Picpoul and a Puglian Primitivo, both from Cambridge Wine Merchants.

First, a couple of wine facts:

- Picpoul is the grape, Pinet is the place (France normally does not include grape names in appellations); it comes in blanc, noir and gris versions and is little found outside Languedoc.

- Primitivo is the same grape as California's Zinfandel and originated in Croatia as Crljenak Kaštelanski / Tribidrag; it is thin-skinned, likes the heat and produces high-alcohol wines.

RC Picpoul de Pinet, 2018 (£10) produced by Sainte Croix, it is fresh and saline with orchard fruits, honeydew melon, white flowers and sweet spices.

Opens up with a bit of aeration.

Thoroughly pleasant.

Drink as an aperitif or match with seafood starters.

Vigneti del Salento, I Muri Primitivo, 2018 (£12) expressive ripe, dark fruits, concentrated if slightly jammy but finishes fresh with well-integrated, ripe tannins.

Thoroughly pleasant.

Match with roast beef or lamb.

Sangiovese vs Corvina

More MW study assistance with two Italian varieties from Cambridge Wine Merchants

Another week, another MW study support session for a friend.

I've never quite gotten into Italy; I've had plenty of wines that I've enjoyed, but don't really feel that I understand the country properly.

From this blind-tasting study session, I learn that Chianti is Italy's largest sub-region by wine volume and that Valpolicella is next - both wines are high in acidity, so need to be matched with food. Both grapes require specific growing conditions so are little seen outside Italy.

Sangiovese, a Tuscan grape with lots of synonyms, is highly prone to mutation, up there with Pinot Noir for genetic variation.

Valpolicella, from Veneto in the north east, comes as:

- classico  (juicy, fresh)
- amarone (concentrated - some of the grapes are air-dried for ripe intensity)
- ripasso (re-uses the skins from amarone to give something in-between)


My Sangiovese is not a Chianti; it's a declassified Brunello di Montalcino labelled simply vino rosso. All the grapes could technically be labelled DOCG Brunello di Montalcino but not quite making the grade for the first wine, are blended across years (hence the NV). The off-cuts, if you will; this is a baby Brunello at a fraction of the price.

Sopra Sasso Valpolicella Ripasso 2015, Italy (£15) juicy, soft red-berry and red plum fruit with some ripasso richness, spice and a touch of old leather; fresh, linear acidity, supple texture with very fine, well-integrated tannins; long, concentrated and flawless.

Good.

Match with meaty pasta dishes or duck.

Rosso del Palazzone, vino rosso, NV, Italy (£15) red fruits, sour cherry, liquorice, spice and woodsy leatheriness; very fresh with firm but very fine tannins. Good structure, needs food.

Good.

Match with darker game.

Gewürztraminer vs Riesling

An MW-study lesson in blind tasting with a Gewürztraminer from Cambridge Wine and a Riesling blend from Lidl 

Gewürztraminer and Riesling are both somewhat geeky wines and, in this country at least, a bit of a niche interest.

Both have a spiritual home in Germany, as well as Alsace (which is either a bit Germanic or an actual part of Germany, depending on which period of history you consider).

In the glass however, they are very different grapes; Gewürztraminer is typically rich and perfumed ("lychees and roses" is the standard descriptor) whereas Riesling is higher in acidity, lower in alcohol and develops a "dieselly" nose with age.

Gewürztraminer's key non-flavour characteristic is a fuller body with a waxy-oily exture, whilst Riesling's is a precise linearity to its acidic structure.

Of the two varieties, Riesling is probably the easier to find in the UK; the Riesling blend was selected by MW Richard Bampfield for Lidl.

Gewurztraminer Réserve, 2018, Cave Hunawihr (£14, Cambridge Wine Merchants) sweet spices, ripe yellow stone fruits, pineapple and passionfruit; supple and full with a rich, waxy-oily texture balanced by gentle acidity; off-dry with some residual sugar but finishes dry.

Good.

Match with rich Alsatian dishes, such as tarte flambee or liver pate.

Riesling Scheurebe Halbtrocken, Rheinhessen, 2018 (£5.99, Lidl)  citrussy and fresh with floral aromatics, yellow stone fruit, minerality and some herbaceous blackurrant leaf. Supremely elegant and well-balanced; finishes dry.

Good.

Drink as an aperitif or a garden sipper.

Montalto Collezione di Famiglia Syrah 2018 Terre Siciliane

A good-value Sicilian Syrah from Cambridge Wine Merchants

Syrah is a late-ripening, warm-climate grape; originally from the Northern Rhône, it also likes the heat of Australia and California.

It produces dark-coloured wines with plenty of fruit, acidity and tannins that are expressive in youth and that can also be aged.

This example is from Sicily which has no particular tradition of producing Syrah; nonetheless, this one has turned out very well.

Montalto Collezione di Famiglia Syrah 2018 Terre Siciliane (£10.99, Cambridge Wine Merchants) ripe, juicy bramble fruits, dark berries and plums with florality, a dusting of sweet spice and a twist of mint; fresh, mineral and supple with perfectly ripe tannins and good underpinnings.

Drinking nicely now and will also age.

Good.

Match with rare roast beef or steak.

Kilikanoon Prodigal Grenache 2012

An aged Aussie Grenache from Cambridge Wine Merchants

Hot-climate Grenache is one of the world's most widely planted red wine grapes and is often blended with Syrah and Mourvèdre - the classic "GSM blend".

Low in acid and tannin, not suited for oak aging (it oxidises easily), mature varietal Grenache is something of a rarity. Which makes this example all the more interesting; eight years old now, made from sixty year-old vines and aged in old oak.

Kilikanoon Prodigal Grenache, Clare Valley, 2012 (£22, Cambridge Wine Merchants) tar, leather, soft red fruits and spice, complex and evolved with supple, old-vine concentration, freshness and well-integrated, very fine tannins.

Fully mature and drinking nicely now, but opens up with some aeration.

Good.

Match with darker game, such as roast duck.

Support Your Local Wine Merchant - Sauvignon vs Semillon

A kiwi Sauvignon vs an Aussie Semillon

Week two of our taste-off with MW-student friends; we are comparing and contrasting Sauvignon and Semillon. The Sauvignon is from the cellar; the Semillon is an oaked Aussie from Cambridge Wine Merchants.

The profiles of these two grapes could hardly be more different; Sauvignon Blanc is everyone's go-to white. Its home is the Alantic side of France from the Loire down to Bordeaux, but these days is New Zealand's signature grape and accounts for the vast majority of all plantings there.

New Zealand's distinctive style of Sauvignon is something of a happy accident; with no significant infrastructure to build off, early winemakers relied on plentiful dairy suppliers to make their wines in stainless steel under chilled conditions, giving a fresher, more aromatic result.

By contrast, varietal Semillon is much harder to find, much more of a niche grape and will probably set you back a bit more - basic, entry-level Semillons are rare. It is famous for the sweet wines of Sauternes and Barsac, blended with Sauvignon in white Bordeaux and uniquely produces ageworthy-yet-low-alcohol wines in Hunter Valley.

Peter Yealands Sauvignon Blanc Reserve 2016 from the cellar, this is aromatic and expressive with cut grass, blackcurrant leaf, gooseberries, zippy line and passionfruit. Mineral with good underpinnings and still very youthful.

Good.

Match with aromatic salads or white fish in a herby broth.

Kilikanoon, Pearce Road Semillon, Clare Valley, 2015 (£20, Cambridge Wine Merchants) aromatic, spicy and dieselly on first opening, the new oak then comes to the fore before it all settles down. By day four it has become harmonious and is showing beautifully with lemon curd, citrus, and creamy oatmealy savouriness.

Needs extensive aeration - several hours in the decanter to show its best; will age for years and decades.

Very Good.

A versatile food wine, match with plain roast chicken or pork.

Support Your Local Wine Merchant - Merlot vs Cab

A Merlot vs Cab taste-off from Cambridge Wine Merchants

With local wine merchants needing our support, there are worse things to do than a midweek virtual taste-off with friends.

A friend studying for the MW tasting paper needed some practice and asked a group of us to get hold of one Merlot and one Cabernet Sauvignon - any country, any price, any age - and join her online for a compare-and-contrast session.

There are, of course, many factors that influence the taste and feel of a wine; but the objective of this lesson was to exclude all the extraneous elements of terroir, age and winemaking quality to focus solely on the differences of grape variety.

In short, according to Jules the trainee MW:

- Cab is darker in the glass with darker fruits, and tends to be leaner and more austere.

- Merlot is plusher and slightly paler, with more red fruits.

My own rule-of-thumb is something I learnt from MW Richard Bampfield - Merlot is front palate (you feel the acidity on the tip of your tongue), whereas Cab is back palate (you feel the grip at the back of your tongue).

My Merlot was a Bordeaux, a Montagne-Saint-Emilion from a good-but-not great year. It is at a peak now, but needs extensive aeration to show its best.

The Cab, from Western Australia, shows well straight out of the bottle with plenty of fruit but also has the structure to age for years and decades.

Château Franc Baudron 2014, Montagne-Saint Emilion ( £11.52, Cambridge Wine Merchants) fresh, ripe, juicy plums and cherries with rubbed sage and spice; very fine, well-integrated tannins; savoury, mellow and harmonious. On first opening, the fruit is somewhat muted, but emerges the following day, so give this a few hours in the decanter.

Good - and good value.

Match with darker game, such as duck, guinea fowl or venison.

Robert Oatley Margaret River Cabernet Sauvignon, 2017, Western Australia (£14, Cambridge Wine Merchants) minty blackcurrant and ripe, juicy dark fruits with spice, freshness and very fine tannins. Substantial, long and supple with minerality and good underpinnings.

Good.

Drinks nicely straight out of the bottle and will continue to improve for years.

Match with beef dishes, such as burgers, Bolognese or steak.

Support Your Local Indie - Use Them or Lose Them

You'll miss them when they're gone ...

Retail is a brutal business; sectors and businesses that seemed solid a few decades ago are now a bloodbath - high-street retail in areas like banking and fashion have been well and truly disrupted by technology.

The sectors that continue to do well on the high street today are the sorts of activities that you can only do them in person - nail bars, hair dressers and coffee shops.

There is a saying that with every purchase you make, you are making a choice about the kind of world you want to live in.

Do you want a vibrant, thriving local scene of independent businesses; or a cut-price clone town of standardised, race-to-the-bottom chains?

If the former, then don't forget that you need to keep visiting local traders to ensure they stay in business.

If you want your local independent wine merchant to be around in, say, February, then maybe consider spending some money with them in January. Less-but-better January might just ensure that your local independent can pay staff wages and put food on the table in the quiet season and still be there for you on Valentine's day, throughout the summer and in the run up to Christmas party season again.

Local indies in the Cambridge area include:

- Cambridge Wine Merchants, who have bars as well as shops
- Noel Young Wines, have a new wine shop and bar
- Bacchanalia, two sites in Cambridge including one in the hub of independent shopping, Mill Road
- Private Cellar, MW-sourced wines from a small internet retailer
- Thirsty and Thirsty and Hungry, small, quirky and iconoclastic - and that's just the owner
- Joseph Barnes Wines, handcrafted wines from small, independent chateaux

And it's not just independent wine merchants.

Be it your local pub, café, bakery or Spanish private chef, remember to use them or lose them.