New York Chardonnay Show-Down

New York State Chardonnays vs the rest of the world

"Showtime!"

- Mr Incredible, The Incredibles (2004)

Crafted in New York, but inspired from everywhere, New York is a unique community of passionate producers who approach winemaking with a multitude of personalities and backgrounds—they’re not alike, and they like it that way.

Wine has been made in New York since the 17th century and its unique history of hybrid cultivars paired with an increasing amount of planted Vitis vinifera has positioned the region as one of the most diverse and resilient.

In New York wines you’ll find subtlety, depth and nuance; it’s no surprise that they’ve found a place on the global stage, alongside other great wine regions of the world.

These tasting took a look at New York’s star varieties side by side with other great wine regions of the world, exploring the common threads as well as the varied approaches to viticulture and winemaking.

New York wines

Chardonnay has a relatively long history in New York state, being one of the first grape varieties planted there and making a name for itself from the 1970s onwards, but today remains somewhat in the shadow of Riesling and Cabernet Franc.

Fox Run Vineyards, Doyle Family Chardonnay 2020 Finger Lakes, NY ($14, seeking distribution in the UK)

Founded in 1990, an hour's flight from the ocean, it has a continental climate; on the same latitude as Rioja and Tuscany, it suffers from spring frosts however bud-break is late. 8% Traminette in the blend for some "fruit salad" character; no oak or lees aging, made from purchased fruit that enjoys afternoon suns.

Easy-drinking and popular wine that does well in the restaurant trade.

citrus and orchard fruits; white stone fruits, green apple and pears; lean, sinewy, fresh and harmonious.

Well-made and thoroughly enjoyable.

Wolffer Estate, Perle Chardonnay 2019 Long Island NY ($32, Seeking distribution in the UK)

Based in The Hamptons, Long Island with a moderate maritime climate; milder winters, no spring frosts and cooler summers. On the same latitude as Madrid and Naples, giving plenty of sunshine for ripening and a long hang time for minerality and elegant fruit.

Small-cluster vines for even ripening, barrel fermented, canopy management and air flow reduce diseases and give long hang time. Hand picked and pressed immediately with 48 hours' skin contact, fermented in 90% new French oak with around 8 months on the lees and almost no battonage. 

bruised apple, white stone fruits and florality; orchard fruits, creamy-leesy roasted brazil nuts and oatmeal, saline minerality and orange peel; rich, complex and savoury, long and elegant.

Very Good.

Nathan Kendall, Chardonnay 2020 Finger Lakes, NY ($33, Master of Malt, Whisky Exchange, 9 Elms Wines)

West-side grapes with morning sun, 50yo vines; hand picked and foot-stomped for phenolic extraction, spontaneous fermentation in old barrels with 11m aging on lees and no stirring, partial malo

bruised orchard fruits, toastiness and florality; fresh with zippy lime, citrussy acidity and spice; saline-mineral with good texture, delicate finesse and elegance.

Very Good.

Chile

Errazuriz Wines, Aconcagua Costa Chardonnay 2019 Chile (£17.50, Ocado, Noel Young Wines, Hop Cellar)

Modern style, full-bodied with reductive winemaking, 45% malo, 100% old oak.

aromatic minty herbs, zippy lime and struck match; refreshing lime marmalade, gooseberries and greengage with minty vanilla, honeysuckle citrus, orchard fruits and nutty, leesy complexity.

Very Good.

New Zealand

Villa Maria Wines Taylors Pass Chardonnay 2019 (£15.99, nzhouseofwine)

Awatere Valley fruit, 100% barrel fermented, 50% wild ferment, full malo with 11 months on the lees.

struck match, fresh orchard fruits and bruised crab apple skins; fresh, linear and precise with green apple, lime zest, white stone fruits and broad savouriness

Very Good.

France, Chablis

Jean Durup, Chablis 2021 (€16, not currently available in the UK)

From the difficult 2021 vintage, no oak influence, cool climate, kimmeridgian soils.

citrus, lemongrass and rubbed sage; fresh and saline with honeydew melon, white stone fruits, lime zest and honeysuckle; broad and savoury with leesy oatmeal.

Very Good.

***

Image credits: Susana Kawai

Further reviews:

Susana Kawai: Food with Susi on Instagram: "Chardonnay Show Down - New York State of Wine Have you tried a Chardonnay from New York State? In a glance: The climate is continental…"

The Buyer: The_Buyer on Twitter: "Part 2 @TheBuyer11 importers debate with @NYWineGrapeFdn producers looks at the wine styles that buyers think have the most potential to do well in the UK and why the region has much to offer with cool climate, fresh, pure fruit forward, acid driven wines https://t.co/6gyKZZE5mF https://t.co/hbBn4u3RFJ" / Twitter

Two Provence Rosés

Two adept and elegant rosés from Provence - available at Waitrose and Noel Young Wines

Most places in the world make rosé; but Provence is the benchmark in the same way that Champagne sets the standard for sparkling wines.

Rosé is fast catching up with Champagne as a beautifully-presented aspirational drink that commands something of a premium. Unlike Champagne, rosé does not involve an elaborate production method and is relatively quick to make, so it has been easy to increase production in line with rising demand.

Provence rosés are typically pale and elegant in what has become perhaps the most-emulated style.

Both these wines exemplify all that the UK loves about rosé from Provence in the South of France: delicious, approachable and easy to drink, but with complexity of flavour, refinement and a winemaking pedigree that comes from centuries of winemaking at the highest level.

UP | Ultimate Provence 2020 (£17.99, Waitrose, Noel Young Wines, The Wine Caverns, Kingscote Estate Vineyards retail shops in Bluewater and Lakeside)

A blend of Grenache Noir (30%) Cinsault (30%) Syrah (30%) Rolle (10%) 

Onionskin colour, grapefruit zest, pine and wild Mediterranean herbs on the nose; white stone fruit, pink grapefruit, zesty citrus, melon and ginger with white pepper spice; full, supple and long, concentrated and intense. Very textured

Very Good - 90 Points from Wine Enthusiast.

Drink as a summer sipper or match with roasted meats and classic Mediterranean flavours like Greek Souvlaki or charcuterie.

Château de Berne Or, Cotes de Provence 2020 (Waitrose, £13.49)

Grenache Noir / Cinsault / Syrah blend.

Ripe apricot and white stone fruits with citrus, redcurrants and strawberries; sage-and-rosemary herbal complexity; subtle and elegant

Very Good - 91 Points from Wine Enthusiast.

Drink as an aperitif or match with picnic foods.

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Further information on the wines

Ultimate Provence

Ultimate Provence prides itself in a vibrant and welcoming atmosphere allowing visitors to discover Provence and its wines here in a delightfully original setting.

At Ultimate Provence, the gentle pace of the seasons and vines is an ode to pleasure, fun experiences and enriching encounters. Sporting a casual decor and offering premium service, the Cellar introduces visitors to the vineyard's intensely-aromatic wines in an offbeat atmosphere. It is a temple of well-being, hedonistic pleasures, discovery and enriching encounters.

The Ultimate Provence vineyard spans 100 acres around the town of La Garde Freinet, at the northern foot of Notre Dame des Anges chapel.

Set in wild countryside and bordered by a vast evergreen oak forest, the vineyard is characterized by shallow soil, laid on a waterproof subsoil sandstone slab. This excellent terroir is nourished with a natural compost of oak leaves and vine stalks. Set in wild countryside and bordered by a vast evergreen oak forest, the Ultimate Provence vineyard is characterised by shallow soil, laid on a waterproof subsoil sandstone slab.

This excellent terroir is nourished with a natural compost of oak leaves and vine stalks. The plots are marked out with grassy areas. A perfect wine to take to a BBQ and serve with grilled chicken and vegetable skewers. The spice notes will compliment roasted meats and classic Mediterranean flavors like Greek Souvlaki or charcuterie.

UP | Ultimate Provence is a forward-thinking and progressive winery, which makes a range of accessible, flavour-forward wines that benefit from a unique terroir and prime grape-growing conditions. Immediately recognisable from its chic, art-deco bottle, UP Rosé is a blend of Syrah, Cinsault, Grenache and Rolle, with classic Provence rosé notes of red berries in addition to fresh citrus and herbaceous pine.

Known for its commitment to sustainability and its gorgeous location at the edge of the Maures Nature Preserve in Provence, UP | Ultimate Provence is also home to a beautiful and contemporary boutique hotel. With 15 rooms and a full range of apartment-style accommodation, in addition to its bistronomy-style UP Restaurant, cocktail bar, retail space and more, the destination is a paradise for wine lovers looking to get up close and personal with this quintessential Provence winemaker.

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Chateau de Berne

A vineyard that can trace its roots back almost two millennia, Château de Berne has been making classic Provence rosé from its beautiful 1,700-acre grounds for generations. Its flagship wine, Berne Or, is a blend of Grenache, Cinsault and Syrah, an elegant and refined wine with floral notes of freesia and stone-fruit notes, including peach and apricot, on the palate.

Château de Berne encompasses a five-star Relais & Château estate, including a hotel and spa, private villa accommodation, as well as a cocktail bar, Michelin-starred restaurant, Le Jardin de Berne, and a cookery school.

It carries a sustainable ethos in its hospitality operations as well as in its winemaking, sourcing seasonal and local ingredients in its restaurants and farming its grapes organically.

Berne Or is available exclusively from  (Currently on offer in Waitrose at £9.99) Both are sure to be a hit with British drinkers looking for high-quality and characterful wines and to further explore the world of Provence rosé, the perfect partner to sunshine, alfresco eating and good times.

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.

Three Wine Men in Cambridge

Three Wine Men event in Cambridge

The Three Wine Men are - in vintage order - Oz Clarke, Tim Atkin MW and Olly Smith. Their line-up for this event inclued a mixture of producers, retailers and local-to-Cambridge merchants.

I got around as many as I could and noted down my top wines.

Wines of California
"Big and bold" is the hallmark of California - my top wine was the Edna Valley Pinot Noir 2015 (£14.99, Majestic); well-made, typical Pinot with cherries and earthiness, relatively low alcohol (for California).

There were bigger, better and more complex wines on show - if high-alcohol and high prices are your thing, try Carlisle Wines Zinfandel "Papera Ranch 2013" (£39.50, Noel Young).

Bordeaux
By contrast, the Bordeaux wines showed much more Old World structure; I liked all the wines here from the complex dry white Graves (M. de Malle 2013) to the precise, mineral  rosé (M de Mangot 2016).

If you want to experience the improving effects of age on a wine for the price of a current vintage, then try the 2002 Peyrabon from Cambridge Wine Merchants.

Top wine, however, was the complex and deft Sauternes Pineau Du Rey 2012 (£11.99, Laithwaite's).

Villa Maria
New Zealand's Villa Maria have made a name as a reliable producer of well-made wines with New World fruit and kiwi freshness. In their Cellar Selection range, a varietal Sauvignon Gris 2016 (£14.05) and Clifford Bay Sauvignon Blanc 2016 (£15.55) both impressed.

But my top wine was the layered, complex, substantial and extremely sophisticated Keltern Chardonnay 2016 (£19.50).

New Zealand
Best wine here was the amazing and somewhat legendary Greywacke Pinot Noir 2014 (£32.99, The Wine Society), a lovely, elegant Burgundian Pinot with cherries and spice.

At the other end of the price scale, Peter Yealands Sauvignon Blanc 2017 (£8.99, Co-op, Sainsbury's) is a well-made kiwi SB that really overdelivers for the price.

Alpine Wines
I've long wanted to check out Alpine Wines' range; there were two stand-out wines here:

Cicero Pinot Noir Alte Reben 2012, Graubuenden, Switzerland (£26.40) pale, almost rosé-coloured; red-fruits and farmyard, delicate yet with a structured and muscular core.

Heidi Schroeck Suesse Loewen Spaetlese 2012, Burgenland, Austria (£16.80) complex roasted stone fruits, light and incredibly fresh, almost dry on the finish.

Sud de France Top 100
Languedoc is a great source of well-made characterful wines; some sub-regions, such as St Chinian, are now beginning to establish their own local identity.

Cave de Roquebrun, Le Grange des Combes 2015, AOC St Chinian (£10 - £12.49, Majestic) floral, almost like perfumed soap, with crushed red fruits and smoke. Long and supple.

Local heroes
Cambridge Wine Merchants had an excellent white-label vintage port from 1983, whilst north-of-the-river Thirsty had two deliciously zippy-citrussy Mosel Rieslings on tap, Meierer and Mikeller.

Wine of The Month - December

With Christmas and the end of the year hoving into view, it's time to think about celebratory wines.

With that in mind, we have fizz (and plenty of it) in the form of a couple of guest wines. WineTrust 100 make a welcome return, and we have the wines of local resident Eugene Lismonde who set up a vineyard in South West France near his wife's childhood home.

To start - fizz

Taltarni Tache 2010 (£18, WineTrust 100) from cool-climate regions of Australia, a very classical, elegant and composed Champagne-style fizz - pale salmon pink, restrained yeasty-citrus nose; ripe white pear and white peach with redcurrant. Assertive, well-structured, linear acidity and leesiness. Savoury persistence on the finish

Really poised and precise, it is drinking nicely now, but will repay a few years' cellaring.

Tour de Belfort Crémant de Bordeaux Brut (£12.50, Tour de Belfort) Bordelais grapes, but Champenois method; elegant, crisp and refreshing and as good as many an entry-level Champagne.

The main event - Christmas Dinner

Henri Clos Marlborough Pinot Noir 2009 (£24.99, Joseph Barnes Wines) Combining New Zealand freshness and precision with classical European elegance - ripe, pure red fruits, elegance and a lick of oak. This is really lovely and worth every penny.

Domaine de Vedilhan Serica Viognier (£10.49, Bacchanalia) a Languedoc Viognier that sees a bit of time in oak; stone fruits and creaminess that will match well with roast turkey.

Go on then, just one more mince pie

Stanton & Killeen Rutherglen Muscat (£13.49 per half bottle, Noel Young Wines) solera-method Aussie sticky, this is a dark orangey-mahogany colour and very syrupy. Very full on so won't be phased by mince pies and Christmas pudding. Serve lightly chilled to emphasis the freshness.

Henriques & Henriques Bual Madeira 10yo (£18.99 per 50cl bottle, Cambridge Wine Merchants) delicious raisins, mixed fruit, roasted nuts and sweet spices - but with a refreshing acidity, a sort of Christmas pudding in a glass

Goes best on Christmas Day after you've stuffed yourself with turkey and sprouts, had your Christmas pudding and you can't face another mince pie; sip whilst staring contentedly into the fire - or watching the Dr Who Christmas Special as the Daleks try and conquer the universe again

 

Links

Cambridge Wine Merchants - website
Joseph Barnes Wines - website
Noel Young Wines - website
Tour de Belfort - website, twitter
Wine Trust 100 - website, twitter

Main image credit: http://www.mrwallpaper.com/wallpapers/Winter-Snowman.jpg

Three Seasonal Wines

Most Wanted, the lifestyle magazine from VoucherCodes.co.uk recently got in touch and asked me to recommend three wines for Christmas for under a tenner each.

Christmas is traditionally a time when we spend a bit more on wine; hopefully some of the uplift goes into quality as well as quantity, but we also need to stock up on decent gluggable wines.

We need supplies of presentable, good-but-not-bank-breaking quaffers to go with third-day left overs of turkey, to take along to parties and to break out in the event of unexpected visitors.

Aperitif - the fizz: La Delfina Prosecco Spumante NV Special Cuvée £8.99 (Cambridge Wine Merchants)

The rule of thumb for inexpensive fizz is well-chilled and plenty of it, and this elegant Prosecco ticks all the boxes.

Spritzy with Conference pear fruit and a slight seaside tang, there is ripe orchard fruit and rounded acidity; refreshing, elegant and balanced.

Also suitable for bucks fizz with salmon and scrambled eggs for breakfast, gifts, parties, celebrations or simply whenever you feel in need a pick-me-up

With starters or brunch - the white Domaine de Menard, 'Cuvee Marine' 2012 £9.15 (Joseph Barnes Wines)

This white wine from Joseph Barnes is a blend of the local Colombard, Ugni blanc and Gros Manseng from southwest France.

Aromatic with zesty grapefruit and orchard fruits, it is crisp, fresh and slightly herbaceous with peach and pear fruit, zippy acidity and a persistent, minerally finish

Also suitable for aperitifs (if you have drunk all the fizz), fish and seafood dishes or creamy pasta

With mains - the red Bodegas Borsao 'Monte Oton' Campo de Borja Garnacha Noel Young Wines £5.99

From the northern slopes of the Moncayo mountain range in Spain, cooled by the Cierzo breezes. Translucent purple with expressive aromas of morello cherries, plummy fruit, liquorice, leather, vanilla and spice.

The palate is juicy and mouthfilling, with a lovely sour-cherry acidity, more plummy and dark berry fruit with sweet vanilla, spice and roughed-up herbs. Soft, smooth texture, some gentle grip developing on the finish.

Also suitable for mixed anti-pasti, salami and cheese, bolognese or herby sausages.

Vouchercodes provided me with a budget of £80 to sample and select my wines for this article.

Links
Cambridge Wine Merchants - website
Joseph Barnes Wines - website
Noel Young Wines - website

Main image credit: http://collectiblesxgifts.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Christmas-Wine-Bottle-Accessories.jpg

Wine of the Month - November

November brings bonfire night - a smokey, spicy, chilly celebration of fireworks, oohs and aaahs. It is also the month of Remembrance Day and Movember.

The wines from our regular Cambridge merchants are, like many a fuzzy upper lip, bigger and fuller this month - and we have not one but two guest appearances - firstly from newly-established WineTrust100, plus a welcome return from Beaujolais and Beyond.

We start, however, with an off-piste natural wine from Joseph Barnes.

Vina Almate Tempranillo 2012, VdlT Castilla y Leon (£10.50 Joseph Barnes Wines)
If brambly, vanilla Spanish Tempranillo is a style you are familiar with, don't expect to find it in this elegant-yet-rugged natural wine.

Dark in the glass, the nose gives little away, except perhaps for a touch of dark fruit and funk.

The palate is sharp and refreshing, with pure black-cherry and dark berry fruit, an elusive savouriness and a hint of fermented fruit.

It's a curious wine - as natural wines often are - yet strangely alluring. Intense, focused and uncompromising, this is something of a punk wine; like the mohican-ed toughs who used to hang out in my East Midlands town centre on a Saturday when I was growing up, it demands your attention and feels edgy, yet underneath the scowl, spikes and studs, it's actually very civilised.

Match with something equally edgy - such as steak tartare. Also beetroot with cream cheese.

Domaine du Diamant Noir, Cotes du Rhone 2012 (£8.99, Cambridge Wine Merchants)
The start of autumn can be said to be heralded by opening your first Cotes du Rhone - warming, dark and spicy, it is perfectly suited to hearty stews and gamey dishes.

This Domaine du Diamant Noir from the southern Rhone is a blend of Carignan, Syrah, Grenache and Cinsault - with dark berry fruit and some spice on the nose, it has a classic, southern Rhone profile.

On the palate there is more plummy fruit, sweet peppery vanilla spice and fresh acidity with perfectly ripe tannins underpinned by grippy savouriness - classy and elegant, if perhaps a little lacking in concentration.

Match with roast beef dinners and hearty stews.

Sottano Malbec 2012, Argentina (£9.99 Noel Young Wines)
From the Llujan de Cuyo region of Argentina, where vineyard altitudes are from 800m - 1,100m giving wines with deep colour and ripeness with fresh acidity.

Malbec is Argentina's signature grape - historically from Bordeaux, it is also grown in Cahors where it is known as Cot.

Typically quite flamboyant, if a little rustic, Malbec often feels like it needs a bit of a wash and brush-up to be acceptable in polite company - it can be a Bruce Springsteen of a wine.

This dark, seductive Sottano, however, is more of a Bryan Ferry - with dark fruit, spiciness and a chocolatey texture underpinned by a fresh acidity and good savouriness, it is well-groomed and classy.

Don't be afraid to decant - and serve with the best Argentine beef you can find.

Bodegas Borsao, Tinto 2011, Campo de Borja, Spain - (£5.99, Wine Trust 100)
The first guest wine this month is from Wine Trust 100, a new wine retailer, set up by three local Masters of Wine - Sarah Abbott from Bedford, John Hoskins who runs The Old Bridge in Huntingdon and Nick Adams who lives in Cambridgeshire.

This Spanish Garnacha from Bodegas Borsao is a classy crowd-pleaser - with a nose of morello cherries, plummy fruit, liquorice, leather, vanilla and spice.

The palate is juicy and mouthfilling, with a lovely sour-cherry acidity, more plummy and dark berry fruit with sweet vanilla, spice and roughed-up herbs.

The texture is soft and smooth, with some gentle grip developing on the finish.

Match with darker game, such as pheasant stuffed with apricots, or spicy sausages.

2011 Chénas Cuvée Tradition (£11.50, Beaujolais and Beyond) I was so impressed with the guest Beaujolais from Beaujolais and Beyond last month that I've included another one this time.

This is a textbook Beaujolais cru - purple in the glass with dark berry fruit, the palate shows dark fruit and cinnamon spice. Elegant and precise with good, food-friendly sour-cherry acidity, lovely tannins and good finish.

Match with lighter game such as duck, partridge or a game casserole.

Links
Beaujolais and Beyond - website
Cambridge Wine Merchants - website
Joseph Barnes Wines - website
Noel Young Wines - website
Wine Trust 100 - website, twitter

Main image credit: https://www.makewav.es/blog/180715/bonfirenight

Inder's Kitchen at Cambridge Food and Wine Society

Nick and Inder Bull formed Inder's Kitchen just under two years ago; London professionals with a young family, they moved out of the Big City to somewhere more genteel and, frustrated by the lack of a decent Indian take-away in Cambridge, decided to set up their own.

Now selected as one of just three finalists in this year's BBC Food and Farming awards, their order-takings have suddenly gone through the roof and they are looking at the next stage of development in what Nick described as having been a hard slog so far.

Fortunately for the Cambridge Food and Wine Society, Nick was able to take time out from running the Inder's twitter account and washing up pots and pans to present some of their foods along with wines matched by Jamie Harrison of Noel Young Wines with whom the have already run a number of joint events.

Indian food and wine are not natural bedfellows - whilst aromatic Thai and Vientnamese dishes often work well with well-structured Big Whites such as oaked Chardonnay or Riesling, the traditionally oily, sweet and hot dishes of an Indian take-away are often better suited to beers.

However, things are a little different at Inder's Kitchen and the food, whilst recognisably from a curry house, is made to a much higher standard and is more gastropub than Mill Road.

The challenge with matching these foods to wines, then, is that they need to be big enough to stand up to the food, with high acidity to cut through the richness of the sauces, good aromatics and (for the reds) low tannins in order not to clash with the bitterness of the spices; a touch of residual sugar also helps.

Furnished with a copy of the evening's menu, Jamie picked out a great set of wines that met all the criteria and matched perfectly with the dishes.

The Starters

Lentil cakes with shallots and fresh ginger, served with a tomato chutney - matched with St.Clair Riesling 2011, Marlborough, New Zealand £13.49

Chicken tikka bites served with a mint and coriander chutney - matched with Emiliana Adobe Gewurztraminer 2011, Rapel, Chile £8.19

The Mains

South Indian chicken curry with mustard seeds and curry leaves - matched with Running With Bulls Tempranillo 2011, Barossa, Australia £11.29

Mysoor tomato dal - matched with Planeta 'La Segreta Rosso' 2011, Sicily, Italy £8.75

Desserts

Coconut and raisin flapjack and gulab jamun - Paul Cluver Noble Late Harvest Riesling 2010, Elgin, South Africa £13.95

You can read Heidi Sladen's account of the evening on The Moving Foodie Blog.

Links

Cambridge Food and Wine Society - website, Facebook, twitter, LinkedIn
Inder's Kitchen - website, twitter, Facebook
Noel Young Wines - website, twitter, Facebook

Other related articles:

More on the Cambridge Food and Wine Society generally.
More on Noel Young Wines generally.

Wine of The Month - October

In a recent post, Will Lowe says that the start of autumn is marked by one's first opening of a Châteauneuf-du-Pape .

I think this is spot-on and as the evenings get darker, the weather more blustery and the leaves russet and golden, the idea of a wine with more southern warmth and spice becomes ever more appealing.

This month we have two classics and one curve ball from our Cambridge merchants; interestingly, they all come from within a fairly narrow north-south band: two from the Rhône in southern France and one from Rioja in northern Spain.

Saint Cosme Côtes du Rhône 2011, Noel Young Wines £11.35

The most northerly of our wines this month, this is 100% Syrah from the classic Rhône region.

Dark purple in the glass, blackberry and black cherry fruit on the nose, some spice. The palate shows lots of ripe, sweet black cherry fruit, soft yet mouthfilling texture.

Good fruit expression, acidity and savouriness. Lovely balance, elegance and finesse. Lovely finish with a touch of spiced prune or baked fig - very accomplished and showing well despite its youth.

Mas de Libian, Vin de Petanque 2011, Vin de France, Joseph Barnes Wines £10

Our next French wine is a whole lot funkier - unfilitered and unfined, this needs to be allowed to settle for a few minutes before serving.

Labelled as a humble Vin de France, it comes from the Ardeche in the southern Rhône and is mostly Grenache with some Syrah in the blend.

A dark ruby garnet in the glass, there is some elderberry and black cherry on the nose. The palate shows pure, quite primary, black cherry fruit on first opening with a prominent, almost Italian-style acidity - with aeration it all rounds out a little more into elderberry and prune.

Good savoury depth, clean acidity and lovely balance with soft tannins and a persistent finish.

Rioja Navajas Crianza 2008, Cambridge Wine Merchants £9.50

(reduced to £7.12 during October)

Rioja, from northern Spain, is another classic and a staple of autumnal evenings.

This 2008 Crianza from Cambridge Wine Merchants spends over 12 months in American oak and has a textbook "Rioja nose" of sweet vanilla with cedar, woodsiness, spice and cherry fruit.

A deep cherry red in colour, it is not quite as bright and youthful as the other two youngsters and shows a slight paleness around the rim.

On the palate, there is more sweet vanilla and mellow oakiness, with cherry fruit and meatiness. The texture is soft, supple and mellow. Long on the palate, a touch of pepperiness and eucalyptus develops.

Good, savoury and well-balanced finish, held together by well-integrated tannins. This is a very classy - as well as classic - wine and a textbook example both of what a Rioja should be, but also of the harmonious mellowness that comes with a bit of age.

And if Rioja is your thing, Cambridge Wine Merchants will be having wine and tapas tastings every weekend, masterclasses and some fine dining menus with restaurants.

All three wines have a distinctly autumnal, warming feel to them matched a European elegance and food-friendliness.

Match with stews such as beef and root vegetables or chicken, tomato and rosemary.

Recommended Wine

All three are very lovely wines and improve with a bit of air - however, my personal favourite here is the classy, elegant and complete Côtes du Rhône from St Cosme.

Links

Cambridge Wine Merchants - http://www.cambridgewine.co.uk/
Joseph Barnes Wines - http://www.josephbarneswines.com/
Noel Young Wines - http://www.nywines.co.uk/

Wine of the Month - September

After an August break during which the CWB household travelled to Burgundy and the south of France, we returned to a cold, wet and miserable late British "summer".

Now, with the schools just back, that seems like a distant memory with temperatures rising and a barbecue Indian Summer in the offing.

It's hard to know what to recommend when the weather is as unpredictable as this, so here is a varied collection of wines that hopefully will suit all occasions this month.

Rousseau de Sipian 2002, Medoc - Cambridge Wine Merchants (£11.99)

From the left-bank region of Bordeaux, this Medoc wine has a high proportion of Cabernet Sauvignon, giving it structure and ageing potential and even at 10 years old, it still feels relatively youthful.

There are meaty, truffley aromas on the nose with pruney fruit and cedar wood; the palate shows bramble fruit, sweet vanilla and minty eucalyptus with good juicy acidity, with pepperiness and grip developing.

Long on the palate, the finish is nicely grippy. Match with plain roast red meat or something gamey such as duck or pheasant.

Magpie Estate "The Beak" 2010, Barossa - Noel Young Wines (£9.75)

From Noel's Magpie Estate vineyard in Australia's Barossa Valley, this newly-released wine is blend of southern Rhone varieties - Syrah / Shiraz and Grenache.

A dark purple colour in the glass, on the nose there is lots of expressive, ripe, dark berry fruit, cassis and aromas of liquorice, leather and spice.

The palate is soft, full and rounded with an inky, custardy texture, juicy acidity and good savoury underpinnings.

Long on the palate, the finish is firm, structured and persistent with more black fruit and spice.

Fresh off the boat, this is still a young wine and whilst drinking nicely now, will also repay some cellaring - for drinking now, it is best decanted an hour or so before drinking.

Match with either roast lamb or lamb koftas if it's barbecue weather.

Bodegas Pittacum, Bierzo 'Tres Obispos' Rosada 2011 - Joseph Barnes Wines (£10.99)

This is something of an unusual beast - a rosé made from the Mencia grape in Bierzo, a remote region of northwest Spain located on the border of Galica and Castilla y Leon and considered by many to be the next 'big thing' in Spanish wine.

A deep, raspberry red in colour, there is strawberry and raspberry fruit on the nose as well as something a little more unusual that I can only describe as "workshop" - a mix of swarfega, tyres and used engine oil. It's in no way unpleasant and rather intriguing.

On the palate, there is more red berry fruit, good acidity and a persistent, clean finish; this would be perfect for an Indian-summer barbecue.

Recommended Wine

Whilst the rosé and the Aussie Shiraz will prove great if you get the chance of a barbecue, for me the winner this month is the Rousseau de Sipian 2002 for being a good, affordable Bordeaux with a bit of age that is drinking very nicely now.

Links

Cambridge Wine Merchants - http://www.cambridgewine.co.uk/
Joseph Barnes Wines - http://www.josephbarneswines.com/
Noel Young Wines - http://www.nywines.co.uk/

Noel Young Wines at Annual Austrian Tasting‏

At the Annual Tasting of Austrian Wines in London last month, I caught up with Noel Young and tasted my way through the wines he had on show from various producers.

Wieninger

Based in Vienna, Fritz Wieninger cultivates 33ha of vines on either side of the river Danube - for 2011, conditions were warmer after the cool 2010, with an increase in both quality and quantity.

The Vienna Hills GV 2011 was fresh and light with peppery celery and lentils.

The Herrenholz GV 2011 was fuller, with a creamier texture and a minerally finish.

The Wiener Gemischter Satz Klassik 2011, a field blend of up to 13 grape varieties all grown, picked and fermented together, was fresh, lively and balanced, with prominent GV characteristics (the main grape in the blend).

The Wiener Gemischter Satz Nussberg Alte Reben 2011 was very different from the previous year's style - now fermented only in stainless steel, it had an aromatic nose, lemon and lime fruit, good depth of flavour and a fresh acidity.

The Vienna Hills Riesling 2011, an unfiltered barrel sample, had a toasty, intense nose, an expressive palate with lemon and lome fruit, a creamy texture combined with a toastiness and a long mineral finish.

The Wiener Trilogie (70% Zweigelt, 15% Cab, 15% Merlot) had a perfumed nose of vanilla, sour cherry fruit and liquorice; the palate shows good bramble fruit and spice with a soft, mouthfilling texture, juicy acidity and some grip on the finish.

Kurt Angerer

Based in Lower Austria's Kamptal, just outside the Wachau, Kurt Angerer names many of his wines after the soil type they are grown on. Whether any of the differing minerals in the soil actually end up in the finished wine is still the subject of debate, but there are certainly perceptible differences due to the effects of terroir.

Kies GV 2011; grown on mixed soils and not picked until December, this is ripe and rounded.

Spies ("shpeez") GV 2010; grown on granite, there is lots of classic varietal white pepper, spice, celery and lentils with ripe peach fruit, balanced acidity and good minerality.

Loam GV 2010; flintsmoke, a fleshy feel with some spice, balanced savoury and full, a toasty flintiness develops on the palate.

Eichenstaude GV 2010; complex with ripe peach and nectarine fruit, spice, a mineral buzz and some toastiness, a soft texture.

Zweigelt "Barrique" 2009; sweet cherry and elderberry fruit, pepperiness, rounded moutfeel, intense with tannic grip.

St Laurent 2009 - bright and translucent in the glass, the nose is of berry fruit, coffee and spice. The palate shows ripe cherries, sweet bramble fruit and liquorice, grippy finish. Overall, feels rounded balanced and approachable.

Kracher

Based in Illmitz in Burgenland near the Hungarian border on the Pannonian plain, Kracher is perhaps Austria's greatest dessert wine maker.

With low hills, warming southerly winds and the shallow Lake Neusidl providing morning fogs, conditions in this region are perfect for reliable botrytis growth almost every year.

The additional warmth also provides suitable conditions for dry reds.

Klassik Illmitz Zweigelt - a perfumey elderberry and cherry nose with liquorice and earthiness; the palate shows sweet-sour cherry fruit, spicy mintiness and a grippy finish. Fleshy and approachable.

Auslese Cuvee 2009 (white blend), light and fresh, with simple fruit sweetness that is initially intense then fades. The savouriness lingers, however.

Beerenauslese Cuvee 2009 (white blend), a real step up, ripe, marmaladey and peachy with balanced fresh acidity and savouriness.

Eiswein Cuvee 2009 (white blend), botrytis on the nose, the palate is sweet-sour, intense and complex with aromas of peaches roasted in butter, more pungent botrytis notes and fresh acidity. Mouthfeel is weighty with glycerol and there is a savouriness on the finish - great depth of flavour and length.

TBA "No 2" Scheurebe 2009, intense aromas of mango and roasted peach skin, weighty glycerol on the palate, long on the palate and finish.

TBA "No 3" Welschriesling 2009, fresher and more fragrant with elderflower aromas, mouthfilling and long on the palate and finish.

Recommended Wines

All the wines here were good-to-superb, but here are my specific recommendations:

Wieninger's Vienna Hills Riesling for its complexity and depth of flavour.

Angerer's Eichenstaude GV for its complexity and depth of flavour.

Kracher's Klassik Illmitz is a great entry-level introduction to Austrian reds, but the main event is the dessert wines, so the Eiswein Cuvee for its complexity and depth of flavour.

Links

Noel Young Wines - www.nywines.co.uk
Weininger - www.wieninger.at
Angerer - www.kurt-angerer.at
Kracher - www.kracher.at

Kurt Angerer‏ at London International Wine Fair

At the London International Wine Fair yesterday, Kurt Angerer took me through his range of wines from Kamptal in Lower Austria.

Described by his UK importer Noel Young as a winemaker who is really hitting his stride, Kurt had a range of 2010 Grüner Veltliners bottled just a few days before the show from his vineyards just north of the Wachau as well as some other varieties from earlier years.

For me, tasting the different wines was a lesson in vintage and terroir, and especially basic geology, as Kurt explained how the different soil types express themselves.

Another aspect of terroir here is altitude - Kurt's vineyards are at altitudes of around 200m but just behind them are the foothills of the alps which go up to 600m, meaning that cool air flows down in the evening lengthening the growing season; some of these racy and fully dry wines were picked at the end of November just a few days before the winter snows fell.

We started with his "Kies" ("keez") Grüner Veltliner - the full name for this soil type is kiesling meaning "gravelly", but people confused it with Riesling, so it became "kies". Light and crisp, with pure fruit and focused acidity, the wine had minerally finish.

The Grüner Veltliner "Spies" ("shpeez") is grown on granite and has a more intensely mineral finish as a result.

The "Loam" is grown on loess slightly further south and at lower altitude had a softer, more rounded feel of peach and melon.

The "Eichenstaude", grown on a mixture of gravel and limestone was harvested late and had a fuller, more warm-climate feel, again with lots of peach and melon.

Moving on, the Riesling "Donatus" from the milder 2009, grown on a mixture of gravel and granite, had a limey acidity and again prominent minerality.

Kurt explained he was showing the 2009s as the 2010s are still aging to temper the high acidity from the coolness of the vintage.

The Ametzberg Riesling, grown on granite, was racy and very mineral.

After the focused intensity of these native varieties, the soft, rounded feel of two French grapes (again from the slightly warmer 2009) was a welcome diversion - a Chardonnay aged in new French oak was buttery with good structure.

A "V10" Viognier, aged similarly, was ripe and rounded with peach and apricot, but also structured.

Kurt explained that he started growing Viognier to add into his Syrah-Viognier and had bottled up what he didn't need for blending.

Naming the wine proved more difficult as the Austrian authorities do not officially recognise "Viognier" as a name and disallowed "Viognie" as too similar. "V" wasn't possible as another producer uses it and although he settled on V10, he has decided to change that after finding a drink called "Vio".

We then tried a range of Kurt's reds all grown at warmer, lower altitudes than the whites - although not as cool as 2010, 2009 was still a difficult vintage and the three reds from this year were all a little pale and light - the Zweigelt "Barrique" had typical cherry fruit and a grippy finish.

The St Laurent had a nose of spice and red berry fruit, a pepperiness on the palate and a grippy finish.

The Pinot Noir was pale and woody-mushroomy with a lovely soft texture.

Kurt's final wine, a Zweigelt "Granit" from the much-warmer 2008 was darker in the glass and felt much richer and fuller with cherry fruit and vanilla from aging in 100% new French oak.

All Kurt's wines are available from Noel Young in Cambridge.

Recommended wine, the GV "Loam" for its balance of precision, pure fruit and rounded mouthfeel.

Grüner Veltliner "Loam" 2009 (2010 not yet available), £16.99 before discounts, from Noel Young Wines, Cambridge.

Links

Noel Young Wines - http://www.nywines.co.uk/

Kurt Angerer - http://www.kurt-angerer.at/

London International Wine Fair - http://2011.londonwinefair.com/content

Noel Young's Magpie Estate Wines

At the recent Matthew Jukes Top 100 Australian Wines Roadshow in Cambridge, Noel Young had also put out a number of older vintages ("museum wines") of his Magpie Estate Wines for sample, too.

Magpie Estate is Noel's Australian joint venture with wine-maker Rolf Binder, based in the Barossa Valley, and the two have been making wines together for over a decade now.

The wines are indeed, in a sense, museum pieces, as the vintages on show that night are long since sold out , so these were something rather special - however, more recent vintages of the same wines are available from Noel's shop.

I started with his mid-priced Barrossa Shiraz, The Sack, which came in two vintages, 2003 plus the first ever, 2001; the 2003 was a sure-fire crowd-pleaser with lots of ripe, indulgent fruit, a soft, smooth texture with minty eucalyptus and vanilla sweetness and a good finish.

By contrast, the 2001 was a quite different and much more impressive wine - less fruit-driven, it was denser and more restrained, with great texture, and felt really well-made.

The notes on Noel's website for the 2001 say that the grapes come "from 3 vineyard sources and are aged in around 40% new oak, of which 80% was American 20% French oak ... We blended in c5% Grenache and this has given the wine a mid-palate lift."

As Noel later explained, 2003 had been a much more difficult vintage than 2001 with the resulting wine being quite different.

The final wine was Noel's 2004 "Call Bag" Mourvedre-Grenache blend - I had tried the 2007 at a recent tasting (see here) where it was voted best wine of the night.

This earlier vintage - with a few more years in bottle and opened several hours earlier in the evening -  was even more impressive with good ripe fruit acidity, aromas of pencil shavings and some toasty oak.

The Wines

Magpie Estate 'The Sack', Shiraz, 2001, Australia, Barossa Valley
Magpie Estate 'The Sack', Shiraz, 2003, Australia, Barossa Valley
Magpie Estate 'The Call Bag', Mourvedre-Grenache, 2004, Australia, Barossa Valley

Links

Noel Young Wines - http://www.nywines.co.uk/

Magpie Estate - http://www.rolfbinder.com/index.php?cmi=24

Magpie Estate (new website under development) - http://www.magpieestate.com/

Australian Tasting With Noel Young Wines At Cambridge Food and Wine Society

Australia seems to be having something of an identity crisis at the moment - having given the world oaky Chardonnay and fruity Shiraz in the 1980s, it now seems unsure whether to continue along that path with ever riper (and sweeter) wines or turn its back on all that and concentrate on wines with a more restrained, cool-climate feel.

For the vast majority of the population right now in the UK, oaky Chardonnay is completely out of fashion and everyone seems to want crisp, refreshing unoaked wines with a bit of mineral backbone - for this reason, you'll find Pinot Grigio as many pubs' house white.

In the decade or so that I have been going to Cambridge Food and Wine Society tastings, I cannot recall there ever having been an Australian event so I was looking forward to hearing Daniel Young, manager of Noel Young Wines in Trumpington present a selection of wines from his shop, including some made by eponymous brother, Noel Young from his joint venture Magpie Estate in Barossa.

Unfortunately, a diary clash meant Daniel had to pull out and I ended up being his far-less-qualified stand-in for the evening. Armed with print-outs and a bit of general knowledge, I kicked off.

Fortunately for me, I was amongst friends and a number of the audience chipped in with their own observations and knowledge - one person even downloading maps onto his iPhone to explain references to coastal breezes in some of the tasting notes.

The first wine was a Hunter Valley Semillon - a modern classic just as much as oaky Chardonnay, typically the wines it produces are waxy with a texture of lanolin, but this one felt crisp and light with just 11.5% alcohol.

Initial impressions from the audience were of it being rather unexpected and a little underwhelming - a more thoughtful assessment showed some good minerality coming out on the finish, but it was not until I re-sampled at the end of the formal tasting that it fully opened up and became a interesting wine with the kind of complex, mouthfilling structure to justify a price tag of well over £10.

And this became a consistent theme with all the whites to come - generally from the most recent 2010 vintage and sealed under screwcap (which inhibits development far more than natural cork), they were far too young to show much of anything straight out of the bottle and would have benefitted from a few quick swirls in the decanter.

The second white, an even lighter Vermentino, with just 10% alcohol, had an unusual dieselly nose but little else to offer either initially or even later on and was generally not well liked.

A Riesling, grown at altitude in Eden Valley, was said to be in the Germanic style and certainly felt lighter than my preferred Austrian style. With a classic petrolly nose and limey on the palate, it showed good mineral length on the second run-through.

Finally, moving onto an oaky Chardonnay, there was another surprise - instead of the expected ripe tropical fruits and toastiness, we got something much more restrained with the acidity of granny smith apples and complex layers of butteriness.This again continued to improve during the evening, but for me, whilst well made, was somehow lacking a little of the complexity I look for in a really good chardie.

The first red - a Pinot Noir from Tasmania - was again not exactly typical; with no Pinot aromas of farmyard, mushrooms and cherries present, it had a nose of red fruits, a soft texture on the palate and a sweet, clean finish. Pleasant enough and easy-drinking, certainly, but not a textbook Pinot, and despite being from much further south, it felt more like a warm-climate wine, which is not what Pinot likes.

We then moved on to Noel's wine, a blend of northern Spanish grape varieties Mouvedre and Grenache - these two have a particular affinity for each other and, when made well, produce crowd-pleasing wines with plenty of berry fruit, some spice and a soft, quaffable texture, so it's perhaps no surprise that this was subsequently voted best wine of the night.

A Cab, for which some of the grapes had been dried on baskets Amarone-style, was complex, impressive and almost as popular, with lots of blueberry, plums, cedar and minty eucalyptus, but I am quite old-school in my tastes and would have preferred a little more balance and restraint.

The final wine was a real step up in terms of price and quality, but did not prove to be quite so popular - a Shiraz from Clonakilla, it has drawn some rave reviews, but tended to leave most people underwhelmed.

The tasting notes recommend decanting or up to ten years' cellaring and although we gave the wine a few minutes in the glass, the initial impressions were all about structure with dense, tightly-packed tannins and a peppery, spicy inkiness.

I got a chance to re-sample this right at the end of the tasting and almost two hours after initial opening, it was still only just starting to open up and show some plummy fruit on the nose and a smooth custardy texture. For me, it was perhaps the best wine of the night (it was voted joint second with the Cab), but I would struggle to justify the price when there are so many other good wines around at well under £20.

I mentioned this to Dan Young later and he explained that with a high exchange rate and changing fashions, Australian wines are really struggling at the moment. Having for years had a built-in price competitiveness due to a weak currency, Australia is now faced with the double whammy of its wines becoming more ever expensive whilst its signature styles become ever less fashionable amongst the vast majority of "ordinary" wine-buyers.

He added that brother Noel is able to absorb some of the effects of currency fluctuations for his own wines as he ships it directly from vineyard to store - and as one of the cheaper wines we tried on the evening, it was certainly also one of the best value.

The Wines

Keith Tulloch Semillon, Hunter Valley, 2010, £12.50

Mitolo Jester "Madame d'Or", McLaren Vale, 2010, £12.30

Pewsey Vale Riesling, Eden Valley, 2009, £11.30

Innocent Bystander Chardonnay, Victoria, 2010, £12.99

Pirie South Pinot Noir, Tasmania, 2009, £12.30

Magpie Estate, "The Call Bag", Mourvedre-Grenache, Barossa 2007, £12.39

Dandelion "Pride of Fleurieu", Cabernet Sauvignon, Fleurieu, 2008, £11.99

Clonakilla "O'Riada" Shiraz, Canberra, 2007, £26.99

Links

Noel Young Wines - http://www.nywines.co.uk/

Kracher's Dessert Wines

At the Annual Tasting of Austrian Wines in London recently, I bumped into Noel Young - a fellow Cambridge resident.

It was no surprise that he should be there as he was representing three merchants and having won the International Wine Challenge award for best Austrian Wine retailer (more than once), must be considered one of the top sources of Austrian Wines in the UK.

Noel was getting used to the cold of a British winter having recently returned from Australia where he had been overseeing the blending of his 2010 wines in the Barrossa Valley.

I asked him which of his wines we should taste and he suggested a Kracher dessert wine - one of my favourite stickies when I used to visit Austria regularly.

The eponymous Alois Kracher who died prematurely in 2007 was widely considered to produce the greatest dessert wines in Austria. After his death, son Gerhard took over running of the winery with an attitude of don't "change what isn't broken".

The Kracher family, with the late Alois Kracher (second left)

Kracher's vineyards are located in Illmitz in Burgenland near the shallow Lake Neusiedl where ideal conditions for botrytis exist and the warm southerly air currents help produce big, rich, intense dessert wines.

This Grande Cuvee TBA from 2008 is made from 50% Chardonnay and 50% Welschriesling and is both fermented and aged in new French oak. It was rich, marmaladey and intense, yet also fresh and balanced with an extremely long finish.

The 2008s are the second vintage for which Gerhard had sole oversight, having won with his father Late Harvest Winemaker of the Year for the 2006s at the 2009 International Wine Challenge.

The Wine

Grande Cuvee Nouvelle Vague Trockenbeerenauslese No.6 £27.50 (ex VAT, trade price)

Links

Alois Kracher - http://www.kracher.at/

Noel Young Wines - http://www.nywines.co.uk/

Fritz Wieninger‏ - Wines from Vienna

There are probably not many capital cities that have vineyards located with the city boundaries - probably even fewer that can claim to produce wine of any note.

However, there is a ring of forested hills on the northern side of Vienna whose foothills provide suitable growing conditions for grapes.

Historically, most of the wine produced in Vienna was intended to be consumed young and unquestioningly in the city's wine taverns known as heurige - these started off as a cottage industry when on August 17, 1784 Emperor Joseph II granted subjects the right to sell their own produce on a set number days of the year.

Over time, the popularity of heurige has grown to the point where on any summer's eve, the main street of Grinzing, Vienna's heurige district, is lined with tourist coaches of people "doing the heuriger experience".

During my time in Vienna, I went to quite a few heurige where the wines tended to be at best light and crisp. And whilst Vienna still does not produce anything to threaten the superiority of the Wachau (in terms of either quality or price), Fritz Wieninger's wines show a marked step up from basic heurige table wine.

The first wine, a 2010 Grüner Veltliner from the Vienna Hills, was fresh and perfumed; this was followed by a GV from Herrenholz which was richer, but more restrained.

Next came a Riesling from the Vienna Hills which is still not bottled commercially, but had been brought over as an early trade sample - 2010 was not an easy year for much of Austria with late frosts, cool conditions and frequent sporadic rain to contend with.

Moreover, although Vienna gets a double boost of warm southerly air plus a degree or two extra warm from the city itself, this Riesling was still high in acidity and a little underwhelming.

For his final wine, Fritz showed me something a little different and special - from 50 year-old vines in Nussberg, and with 18 months' aging on the lees, this one was impressively rich, creamy and full in a much more old-school fashion and still needs another 6-12 months in bottle to start showing its best.

Fritz explained that the characteristics of this wine, from the Nussberg vineyard (incidentally, round the corner from where I used to work) come from the terroir and not from any wine-making technique.

Very different from Austria's "new-style" wines, which match with modern international cuisine, this would pair well with equally traditional Viennese food, such as meat, a potato salad or even a Wiener schnitzel.

Yields for the 2010 wine (not due for release for some time yet) will be well down due to a wild board running amok through the vineyard - Fritz is still having talks with the local hunters about how to avoid a repeat incident.

Wieninger's wines are distributed in the UK by Noel Young Wines of Cambridge.

The Wines

Grüner Veltliner, Vienna Hills, 2010, £11.95
Grüner Veltliner, Herrenholz, 2010, £13.50
Riesling, Vienna Hills, 2010, £11.95
Nussberg Alte Reben, 2009, £19.00

Links

Wieninger - http://www.wieninger.at/

Noel Young Wines - http://www.nywines.co.uk/