Campo Alegre, Rueda - Francois Lurton

A classy Rueda Verdejo; Campo Alegre from Francois Lurton

I got to know Francois Lurton's wines at at South American tasting marking his 20 years there - this Rueda wine was a sample to try separately.

Campo Alegre 2015 a Verdejo from Rueda; ripe orchard fruit and sweet spices with aromatic notes; rounded, substantial and very adept. Good.

A versatile food wine, match with white meat such as pork or chicken, as well as creamy mushroom pasta.

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Lurton South America tasting

Chablis: Bacchus on A Knife Edge Supper Club

A press tasting and dinner with Chablis wines, organised by PureChablis and led by Douglas Blyde at Andaz

Chablis is a miracle, a triumph over nature.

Centuries ago, the Cluniac monks brought their Beaunois vines to this challenging river valley cooled by damp, chilly air from the Serein.

Closer to Reims than to Dijon, Chablis may seem, climatically, more southerly Champagne than northern Burgundy.

However, where Champagne relies on secondary fermentation to give substance to an otherwise tart wine, in Chablis it is the Burgundian elements of terroir - vineyard aspect, elevation, exposure and undulation - rather than production method, that ultimately determine quality.

Moreover, Chablis shares with the rest of Burgundy a versatile food-friendliness that makes it more than just an aperitif - as this supper club set out to demonstrate.

For Chablis, winemaking is all about focus; one colour, one appellation, one soil type; the wines themselves are also characterised by a nervy, cool-climate precision.

From light and lemony Petit Chablis - a "junior" Chablis grown on more exposed hilltops on lesser soils - to rich and honeyed Grands Crus from one the seven top neighbouring plots all facing due south, the natural progression is start with entry-level sippers before moving to bigger and fuller Crus with weightier dishes.

Canapes, Nordish
Pas Si Petit, Petit Chablis 2014, La Chablisienne a light, elegantly citrussy match with miniature Norwegian fishcakes and remoulade, and curled cucumber filled with crab and avocado salad.

Starter, Pickled Plates
Alain Geoffroy, Chablis 2014 a deft, citrussy Chablis matched with summer vegetable salad of roasted radishes, brown butter dressing, pan-fried whiting and tempura samphire

Main, A Little Lusciousness
Julien Brocard, Chablis La Boissonneuse, 2014 organic and biodynamic, a rounded, complex, substantial Chablis with a touch of oak; flintsmoke, citrus and melon - long, full and mineral.

Very Good.

Matched with soy and miso-glazed pork chop on the bone with spring onion rice, Japanese raw slaw, rice vinegar and chilli dressing .

Cheese, England vs France

Chablis does not do dessert wines, so the final course was a cheese-off - with more Chablis:

- Stichleton (Nottinghamshire) vs. Bleu d’Auvergne
- Baron Bigod (Bungay) vs. Camember
- Montgomery Cheddar (Somerset) vs. Comté

Domaine William Fevre, Vaulorent, Premier Cru 2012 fresh, precise, mineral, with honeysuckle blossom and toastiness. Rich and adept, very elegant and muscular.
Very Good.

Jean Paul et Benoit Droin, Valmur Grand Cru 2012 toasty, flintsmoke, honey, ripe orchard fruit, blossom and minerality. Long, linear and taut.
Very Good.

Clotilde Davenne Les Preuses Grand Cru 2008 ripe and honeyed with orchard fruit; mineral and delicately floral. Very elegant and harmonious.
Good.

Domaine Laroche Les Blanchots Grand Cru 2007 honeyed, floral and aromatic; mineral, poised and linear, quietly muscular, elegant and deft.
Very Good.

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Pure Chablis - The Overview‏

Pure Chablis - The Tour

Pure Chablis: The Tasting

For other takes on the event, see:
Binny's Kitchen
Mitzie's Bubble
Amy Laughinghouse
Lucie Loves
French Yummy Mummy
Dancing In High Heels
Richard Siddle 

#TheRhôneTouch - Art, Food and Wine

Opening night at The Rhône Touch; 21-31 July, 2016 at Platform Theatre Foyer and Bar, Central Saint Martins, Handyside street, King's Cross, London N1C 4AA

Rhone wines' traditional summer event has taken in everything from rugby to punk gigs; this year, we are brought The Rhone Touch, a week-long combination of food, art and Rhone wines at Platform Theatre in the newly-funky riverside area at the back of King's Cross station.

Guided by Douglas Blyde, I tried some of the wines - and a picnic glass.

Whites, a minority in the Rhone, have a distinctive substantial waxiness; the reds in the Southern Rhone are blendss and start with Cotes du Rhone, then CdR Villages, CdR Villages with a specified village and finally simply the village name.

Whites
Chateau de Montfaucon, Comtesse Madeleine 2014 (£15) CdR Marsanne blend, ripe and substantial with fresh orchard fruit. Good.

E. Guigal Condrieu Guigal, 2014 (£N/A) fresh, zippy, honeyed, waxy and textured; long and elegant. Good.

Three interesting CdR-level wines; the packaging for the Vidal-Fleury is rather old school while new producer Xavier Vins has a more eye-catching approach.

Reds - CdR
Vidal-Fleury, 2013 (£12) fresh dark berries, supple texture; long and substantial with fine, slightly grippy tannins. Good.

Xavier Vins, 100%, 2012 (£N/A) Grenache blend: concentrated and inky with dark fruit and sweet spice; still tight with some grip. Supple and long. Good.

Xavier Vins, SM, NM (£N/A) Syrah/Grenache: feral with dark fruit, green herbs, spice and freshness, supple. Good.

CdR Villages
Sablet's sandy soils give the village its name, and impart a distinctive character to the wines.

CdRV Sablet Domaine des Pasquiers, 2014 (£15) Grenache blend, feral nose, fresh and juicy, soft and harmonious. More Beaujolais than the Rhone - and long.

CdRV Chusclan Laudun Chusclan Vignerons, Les Genets, 2015 (£N/A) GSM+ blend, supple and fresh with dark fruit and spice; long and substantial. Good.

CdRV Signargues M. Chapoutier, 2014 (£12.50) Grenache/Syrah: warming and spicy, ripe dark berry fruit, spice and freshness, concentrated. Good.

In the northern Rhone, reds are all 100% Syrah.

The North - Crozes-Hermitage
Domaine Paul Jaboulet Aine, Les Jablets, 2014 (£18) complex red and dark berries and spice, fresh. Very Good.

Vidal-Fleury, 2013 (£19) red and dark berry fruit, spice, freshness, supple and substantial texture. Very Good.

The North - Saint-Joseph
Cave de Tain, Esprit de Granit, 2013 (£N/A) complex spice and berries, minerality supple with fine but assertive tannins. Very Good.

E. Guigal, Saint-Joseph Guigal, 2013 (£N/A) red and dark berries, green herbs; supple, fresh, long and concentrated. Very Good.

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Two Bordeaux Rosés

Two Bordeaux Rosés from M&S and Hedonism

Bordeaux is most famous for its high-end reds; in more-affordable territy, its rosés are fresh-yet-full and a good match for food.

These two rosés are quite different in character; the Fleur D'Amelie is expressive, the Clarendelle aristocratic and elegant,

La Fleur D'Amelie Rosé 2015 (£10, M&S) crisp, redcurrant fruit, grapefruit and white-peppery mintiness; lively, linear and mineral.

Clarendelle Bordeaux Rosé 2015 (£13.90, Hedonism) ripe, red berries, stone fruit and leesy mineral; long, substantial and clean. A very classy and adept wine.

Good.

Both make good picnic wines or garden sippers - match the Amelie with quiches or barbecue chicken; match the classy Clarendelle with cold cuts.

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Two Leftfield Wines

Two characterful wines from New Zealand's Leftfield

These two wines from New Zealand's Leftfield, part of Te Awa, are distinctively packaged, quirkily described and ambitiously priced. 

Left Field Albariño 2015 (£14.05, Wine Rack, Cambridge Wine Merchants and independents) classic kiwi zesty aromatics with lemongrass, peach and pineapple fruit. Fresh, pure and long.

Good.

Match with Asia-Pac foods, such as tuna carpaccio with chili and ginger.

They say: Gorgeous little citrus flowers link arms with melon and peach to dance in the sunshine, always maintaining an air of class. Meanwhile lime lingers in the shadows vying for attention.

Left Field Malbec 2014 (£17.30, independents) dark fruit, pencil savings and inky spice; supple texture, very fresh and juicy. Less Rhone-esque than Bojo-tastic.

 Match with butchers sausages, salamis and bolognese.

They say: Down a dark alleyway the brooding and intense character of blackberry and liquorice meet the heroically proportioned mass if dark chocolate draped in smooth, fine velvet.

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Domaine St Jacques, Cotes Du Rhone - 2014

A fresh Grenache-based Rhone from Cellier de Princes

- Red wine with fish. Well that should have told me something.
James Bond, From Russia With Love (1963)

Rhone wines are more associated with substance than freshness; however, freshness is a key feature of Cellier des Princes' wines, making them a surprisingly good match with fish.

Domaine St Jacques, Cotes Du Rhone, 2014 GSM+C blend; juicy redcurrant and blackcurrant fruit, with blackberries and liquorice. Balanced and fresh with pencil shavings and garrigue.

Good.

It has a a Gold medal from Paris.

Match with fish and an Ian Fleming novel - also with beef, from burgers to roast.

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Back For Good: Petaluma Tasting

A press tasting of Petaluma wines at M Victoria with Bancroft Wines

The old certainty used to be that Old World wines have structure while New World wines are fruit-forward.

There is also now a distinct, third category of wines that show both fruit and structure - wines that are ripe and pleasing, but also have gravitas, presence and deftness.

Petaluma, now back in the UK after a break of four years, is based in the cool region of Adelaide Hills, specifically Piccadilly Valley, the coolest and wettest part of South Australia; their wines are characterised by texture, concentration and a European elegance.

Fizz
Both fizzes are traditional method from around 60% Pinot and 40% Chardonnay, barrel fermented in old oak with extended lees aging.
Croser Vintage 2012 crisp and fresh, with ripe orchard fruit and soft berries and a yeasty brioche. Good.
Croser Late Disgorged 2003 more complex, with some aged character, ripe red berries, cideryness and toasty-yeasty brioche. Very Good. 

Whites
Hanlin Hill Riesling Yellow Label 2015 dieselly nose with citrus fruits and minerality; generous yet fully dry and some toast-and-honey complexity; long and fresh. Good.

Hanlin Hill Riesling Yellow Label 2010 from a very good vintage indeed, complex dieselly aromas, ripe citrus and peach with some aged character. Long, concentrated and mineral, very adept. Very Good.

Piccadilly Valley Chardonnay, Yellow Label 2015 toasty-oaky Chardie with ripe citrus and melon; very harmonious and and adept. Good.

Adelaide Hills Tiers Chardonnay 2013 bigger, fuller with more creamy-leesy cashew and brazil nut; textured, concentrated and substantial, very long. Very Good.

Reds
Coonawarra Cabernet Merlot, Yellow Label 2002 from a cool vintage three fruit is minty with dried green herbs, dried red fruits and very fine tannins. Fresh, supple, concentrated and textured. Good.

Coonawarra Cabernet Merlot, Yellow Label 2012 blackcurranty, minty, spicy with florality and fruit pastilles. Supple, with fine but assertive tannins. Will repay cellaring. Good.

Adelaide Hills Shiraz, Yellow Label 2014 Rhone-esque lifted, floral Shiraz with dark berry fruits, pepper and spice, and a supple, inky texture. Very Good.

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Lunch with 10X Tractor
ADT