Prince Golitsyn's Seventh Heaven Masandra - Ukraine

Masandra, on the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea, is home to Ukraine's oldest winery. Crimea is the Black Sea's answer to Provence - a mountainous, coastal sub-tropical region best known as a smart, leisurely holiday destination.

The history of the Masandra winery dates back to tsarist times - it was established in order to provide wine for the tsar's Summer Palace near Yalta. Tunnels were built in 1894 deep into the mountainside with a constant temperature of around 13C-14C for storing ancient wines in perfect condition.

Masandra wines are typically fortified stickies in the Mediterreanean style of sherry, Madeira, port, Marsala and Greek Samos nectars.

Syome Nebo Knyazya Golitsyna ("Prince Golitsyn's Seventh Heaven") Masandra fortified, aged for two years, 16% alcohol, 18% sugar - a blend of White Kokur, White Muscat and Muscat Rose.

Dark golden and amber. Complex nose of oxidative dark sherry, spirit, madeira and floral Muscat. Intense floral sweetness, cooked mix fruit, butterscotch and glycerol, cut through with freshness, underpinned by a persistent roasted-chestnut savouriness.

Very enjoyable, characterful and harmonious sweet-strong blend - Good.

Serve as a dessert by itself or match with turkey and chestnut stuffing or treacle tart.

For the curious, the label features an image of the Masandra Palace Museum of tsar Alexander III.

Other related articles
Artyomovsk - Sparkling Wines from Ukraine
Ararat 5 Years Brandy
On Madeira - The Tasting‏
Kicking The Kremlin

Links
Discover Ukraine on Masandra: http://discover-ukraine.info/places/crimea/yalta/1090
Ukraine.com on Masandra: http://www.ukraine.com/blog/yaltas-exquisite-massandra-winery
Masandra by Tom Cannavan: http://www.wine-pages.com/features/massandr.htm

Palace image credit: http://ua-travelling.com/en/article/massandra-winery-crimea

Two Wines from South West France

Two South West France wines from The Wine Society and Les Caves de Pyrene

France's South West regions is one of the country's few remaining oenological frontiers - a diverse up-and-coming region of unfamiliar grape varieties and individual, characterful wines.

Les Vignes Retrouvées, Saint Mont, 2012 (£7.95, Les Caves de Pyrène / The Wine Society) 70% Gros Manseng, 20% Petit Courbu, 10% Arrufiac

Vibrant, aromatic, zesty and pungent; ripe grapefruit with quinine bitterness and flintsmoke minerality. Long and persistent. Very enjoyable. Good.

Serve as an aperitif, or with Mediterranean starters such as mozzarella with pesto and bread with olive oil.

Domaine du Cros, Lo Sang del Païs, 2013 (£10.99, Les Caves de Pyrène) 100% Fer Servadou

Ripe red and black cherries, violets, pencil shavings and dried herbs. Fresh and juicy with some spiciness and something feral; very fine tannins. Beaujolais-esque.

Pure, poised and long. Good.

Match with gamey dishes, such as duck, wild salmon or tuna carpaccio.

Wines provided for review.

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Two Picnic Wines From South West France

Fonseca Terra Prima Organic Port

A complex, vibrant organic Fonseca port from Waitrose

Fonseca is a pioneer of organic viticulture in Portugal's Douro Valley. Part of Quinta do Panascal in the Távora Valley was converted to organic viticulture in 1992 and today its vineyards at Quinta de Santo Antonio are entirely certified for organic production.

Terra Prima was created in 2002 when Fonseca was able to source grape spirit made from certified organically farmed grapes.

Dark fruits and eucalyptus with damp undergrowth.

Sweet, ripe, mouthwatering cassis and cooked cherries with figgy fruitcake, eucalyptus, tobaccoey cigar box and sweet spices. All finished off with a lick of toasty oak.

Long, savoury and well-integrated.

Pure, vibrant and poised - very accomplished. Very Good.

A dessert in its own right - or match with chocolate and black cherry torte.

£17.50 from Waitrose; provided for review

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An Italian Wine Evening with Friends

A tasting of Italian wines with some oenophile friends - including two Rocche Costamagna wines from Private Cellar

All these wines were excellent - from the entry-level aperitif to the aged complexity of the Ornellaia; we matched them with some appropriate Italian food - wild boar stew with chestnuts, griddled aubergine bake with tomato and cheese sauce, peas with shallots and parma ham, baked vegetables with tomatoes and dill.

Ca' Bolani Frizzante Prosecco NV elegant entry-level semi-sparkler; crisp orchard fruits, pleasant mousse, easy-drinker

Cervaro Della Salla 2005, Umbria IGT, Antinori complex oaky Chardonnay / Grechetto blend with ripe tropical fruit, freshness and body. Long finish; the oak dominates a little, still feels young.

Dolcetto d’Alba Rubis, Rocche Costamagna, 2010, Piedmont poised juicy black cherry with some spiciness; a little closed up now but, like a shy party guest, should open out with time

Barbera d’Alba Superiore Rocche delle Rocche, 2010, Piedmont ripe red and black fruits with some toasty oak; lovely texture, drinking very nicely now.

Alpha Zeta A, Amarone della Valpolicella DOCG, 2005 a big, ripe but not blowsy wine with lots of everything - ripe dark cherries, fruit cake, vanilla and coffee; starting to gain some aged, mellow character, but feels still youthful

1999 Tenuta dell'Ornellaia 'Ornellaia' Bolgheri Superiore, Toscana wonderful aged, complex gamey Bordeaux-blend super Tuscan drinking beautifully now; dark fruits, spice, cigar box and chocolate-espresso with a lovely texture - very accomplished and only just mature.

Fontodi Flaccianello Della Pieve 2009, Sangiovese, Toscana red and black berry fruit with violets, wild herbs, liquorice and some earthy leather

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Links
Private Cellar - website
Rocche Costamagna - website

Two Picnic Wines From South West France

South West France, the hinterland between Bordeaux and Languedoc, is - oenologically - a vibrant, buzzy up-and-coming region that is busy reinventing itself.

Varied terroirs and indigenous grape varieties mean there is plenty to explore here, but a good place to start is with these two crisp picnic wines.

Both are well-made and modern with a southern ripeness cut through with a zesty freshness; they work equally as sippers or with picnic food - mozzarella and olive oil, quiche, cold cuts and cheese.

Esprit de Labastide, Gaillac, La Perle 2013 (£5.95, The Wine Society) - 50% Loin de l’œil, 30% Mauzac, 20% Sauvignon blanc

Golden sandy yellow, a touch of spritz, aromas of stone fruit and sweet spice; sweet ripe stone fruit, good freshness with zesty lime and green herbs.

Persistent, limey, mineral finish.

A great aperitif or match with light starters.

Domaine Chiroulet, Java rose, Cotes de Gascogne (Marc Fine Wines / Drinks of France / Deliciously French) 50% Merlot, 50% Cabernet Sauvignon

Juicy ripe red fruits, hints of fresh green herbs, flintsmoke, minerality, freshness and lime zest - persistent, minerally finish.

A perfect picnic wine.

Both wines provided for review.

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Three More Tanners' Wines

Three more wines from Tanners

Tanners is an impressive, established-but-contemporary independent wine merchant based in Shrewsbury; this is the second part of my review of six of their wines (the first is here).

Santorini Dry White, Hatzidakis 2013 (£13.20) mineral-yet-peachy Greek white.

Sandy yellow, orchard fruits on the rose; sweet, ripe cooked peaches, but dry, fresh and mineral. A touch of salinity; long, mineral finish. Good.

A versatile food wine, it has the body and acidity to stand up to a range of strongly-flavoured foods such as pasta, roast pork or salamis and hard cheese.

Tanners Douro Red 2012 (£8.20) Douro reds are like a toned-down port without the sweetness.

This blend of indigenous grapes is a vibrant ruby purple with aromas of dark fruits and oaky spice. Juicy black cherry, elderberry and blueberry fruit with mocha, tobacco, eucalyptus, vanilla and sweet spices.

Fine, well-integrated tannins, a touch of muscularity and a gentle firmness on the finish.

Good.

Match with duck, roast lamb with rosemary or wild salmon in a pesto-breadcrumb crust.

Renato Fenocchio Barbaresco 2010 (£28.95) a complex Italian Nebbiolo - this seductive-yet-ballsy grape is the Ladyboy of wines, according to The Winebird.

Pale red hue with brick red hints; complex dried red fruits and green herbs with cool mint, undergrowth, tar and roasted spices.

More dried berry fruits, bell pepper and herbs with undergrowth, freshness and muscularity. Long, savoury, harmonious and mellow. Firm, slightly drying tannins on the finish - drinking very nicely with food.

To my francophile palate, this combines the seductive red fruits and perfume of a Pinot with the muscularity and gaminess of an aged Medoc.

Match with slow-roasted rib of beef or pigeon stewed in red wine, shallots, mushrooms and rosemary.

Very Good.

Overall conclusions
I'm as impressed by these three as I was by the first - all good wines sensibly priced for the quality.

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Louis Jadot Poncereau 2011, Fleurie

A Beaujolais from Louis Jadot

Fleurie is, in keeping with its name, the most floral of the Beaujolais Crus.

This oaked Fleurie from Louis Jadot, however, is a little different from the norm - bigger, more substantial and less flowery.

Deep ruby-cherry red, aromas of red fruits, meatiness, undergrowth, spice with some floral notes.

Focused, juicy red and black cherry fruit, violets, damsons and roasted oaky spices. Atypically substantial for a Beaujolais - in a good way.

Savoury and long with some sweet vanilla and pepperiness on the finish; grippy, slightly stalky, tannins the only minor quibble.

Match with salamis, meaty stews, duck or roast lamb.

£14.99 from Tesco and independents; provided for review.

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