More Nino Franco Prosecco

A review of two more Prosecco wines from Nino Franco

Grave di Stecca Brut packaged like Lucozade (for those old enough to remember). Pale straw yellow, citrus and melon skin nose; pure, elegant white pear fruit, gentle mousse and some persistence.

Precise, correct and well-behaved, if a little dull - rather like an accountant at a dinner party. 

Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore Rustico Brut‏ from higher-altitude vineyards, an enjoyable textbook Prosecco - good, precise orchard fruit, well-balanced acidity and somehow more substantial.

Elegant, discreet and well-bred, it is not so much rustic - as the name suggests - as minor aristocracy.

Good.

Serve as an aperitif or with light starters, such as prawns en croute.
Both wines provided for review.

Other related articles
Nino Franco Prosecco
La Delfina Special Cuvee Prosecco
Moscato Frizzante Piemonte Volpi - and a Prosecco jelly recipe

Links
Nino Franco - website, twitter

Taylor's 10 Year Old Tawny Port

A review of Taylor's 10yo tawny port - and a competition on Jazz FM

Unlike basic ruby, vintage or even LBV, aged tawny ports spend extended time in oak before bottling - in this case 10 years, but up to 40 is possible.

This oak aging strips the port of much of its colour (compared to a younger ruby or LBV), leaving it a brick red with pure acidity, complex red fruits and eucalyptus aromas.

Aged tawny is, for me, the one port that actually matches well with cheese - its sweetness and low tannins complement hard yellow cheeses perfectly.

Brick red in the glass, there are aromas of fruit, nuts and eucalyptus on the nose; it's quite a forward wine, which I rather like. The palate is viscous and sweet with good balancing acidity and plenty of balanced warmth on the finish.

Priced at £23 for a 75cl bottled  from E.H. Booths, Majestic, Morrison, Sainsbury, Selfridges, Tesco, Wholefoods Market, Waitrose - provided for review.

Taylor's ports will also feature on Jazz FM - along with suggested food matches - on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays from 7pm on Dinner Jazz for twenty six weeks starting from Tuesday 22 October. There is also a competition which will run for six weeks offering a mixed case of Taylor’s Port just in time for Christmas.

Other related articles
Dow's Vintage Port 1975‏
Noval Dinner at Cambridge Hotel du Vin‏

Links
Taylor's - website, twitter
Jazz FM - website

Hardy's Chardies - #AllAboutChardonnay‏

A tasting of Hardy's Chardonnays presented by Belinda Stone

To a certain type of person, Chardonnay is rather passé - apparently, it's all Bridget Jones' fault.

You can trace the parabola of Chardonnay's rise and fall as a fashion icon by decade, just as you can observe trends in hemlines, facial hair and dressing up vs dressing down.

Chardonnay was never my first love (that was Austrian Riesling), but to me it is the great grape of ripe, oatmealy Meurseult, of lean and elegant Chablis and of celebratory Champagne.

It's pretty much found all over the world and is the most widely-planted white grape you've heard of (unless, like me, you are a geek and know about Airén).

It is versatile and varied - a grape that responds to both climate and the wine-making process, especially the use of oak.

It may not make the headlines or get talked about right now as much as other, trendier grape varieties, but it is ubiquitous - the Mars Bar of white wines.

Perhaps its very ubiquity is the reason for it languishing in the fashion doldrums; there's just not a huge amount to say about Chardonnay per se. We know its name and flavour profile well enough - whilst the trendy set have moved on to Georgia, qvevri or natural wines. All three, perhaps.

But back on planet mainstream, a drinkable wine for just over a fiver is no mean feat.

And so Belinda took us through a tasting of six varietal or Chardonnay-based wines from Hardy's to reacquaint ourselves with this noblest of white grapes.

Stamp Sparkling Chardonnay / PN NV, (£9.49) a charmat-method fizz, this was fruit-forward and modern. Floral, limey and crisp with some cut-grass aromas; clean and refreshing, uncomplicated. No Champagne alternative, it was a solid example of its style.

VR Chardonnay 2013 (£6.49) a basic, glugging supermarket Chardonnay. Pale sandy yellow, ripe tropical fruit, floral. White peach, lime cordial with high acidity.

Stamp Chardonnay / Semillon 2012 (£6.99) nicely textured wine with more leesiness. Restrained on the nose, the palate is richer, fuller and waxier, with ripe citrus fruit.

Nottage Hill Chardonnay 2013 (£8.49) a more interesting and complex wine. Pale sandy yellow with a restrained nose. Sweet vanilla, pineapple fruit and nicely oaked buttery oatmeal, tempered by fresh acidity with some persistence on the finish.

A classy, enjoyable easy-drinker.

William Hardy Chardonnay 2013 (£8.99) a more European style of Chardonnay from cooler-climate regions. Pineapple and white peach, toasty oak hints, sweet spice. Elegant.

Eileen Hardy Chardonnay 2008 (£25) a very complex and adept wine that is a good half-decade off being ready to drink. Almost half Tasmanian, a mid-golden yellow, complex nose of toasty spice and musk. Sweet vanilla, butterscotch, fresh acidity toasty oak with apple and banana fruit, hot cross buns and a persistent, mineral finish. Long and savoury. Good. Needs decanting.

Conclusions
Overall, there was nothing to offend with any of the basic Chardonnays, which at the price point is realistically as much as you can expect.

The slightly more ambitious Chardonnays were distinctly more interesting - as ever, proof that a few more pounds can bring disproportionate improvements in quality.

The Eileen Hardy Chardonnay was a very serious wine indeed and my favourite of the evening.

Other related articles
Australian Tasting With Noel Young Wines

The Matthew Jukes 100 Best Australian Wines

Links
Hardy's - website, twitter
Miss Bouquet - website, twitter

Lunch at Le Vin La Table

A review of Le Vin La Table in Hale, Cheshire

It was another Special Day in the CWB household - and, as I like to do things a bit differently, I told Mrs CWB I would take her out for lunch to Le Vin La Table.

But first a bit of history: around 10 years ago, Eugene Lismonde sold his business and, not feeling quite ready to retire, decided to plant a vineyard and restore an old tower in his wife's home village in Belfort de Quercy near Cahors.

Grapes were grown, picked and made into wine and the family was brought in to help with selling it.

The wine - all organic, almost natural - is made to a very high standard with an absolute focus on quality, but the UK proved a tough market to crack.

After doing the rounds with the Three Wine Men tour and building a smart website, daughter Muriel, who now lives in Cheshire, decided to open a Wine Shop and Cookery School in Hale with chef Jason Palin.

Le Vin La Table is divided into two sections - at the front is Muriel's wine area, whilst a compact professional kitchen at the back is Jason's - Muriel defies national stereotypes and is (by her own admission) actually not very good at cooking, a fact she says came as quite a disappointment to her English husband.

Le Vin La Table opened around a year ago and I had been meaning to visit for some time - when a trip to my ancestral home coincided with a car service and the need to be up for a long weekend, an exchange of emails led to Muriel inviting the whole CWB family over to have lunch cooked by the children whilst we adults watched - and since the kids were rather excited at the idea, it seemed to good an offer to refuse.

Muriel had suggested a menu of popcorn chicken and souffles - partly because they are easy for children, but also it turned out because she loves chocolate souffle herself.

Pinny-ed up and divided into girls vs boys, Mrs CWB and #1 child were set to making a cheese souffle for starters whilst I watched over #2 child (also a budding chocoholic) making the dessert; we melted butter and added flour to make a roux, cracked and separated eggs, whisked the whites into fluffy peaks and folded them in, before preparing ramekins and adding the gooey mixture.

The cheese souffles - golden on top and richly eggy with strong Gruyere cheese and a touch of mustard powder - were perfectly cooked and made a wonderful starter.

Our main of popcorn chicken turned out to be chicken breast nuggets with a spicy flour-and-egg coating deep fried until golden, then served with popped corn, caramel and plum sauce.

However, the main event was the greedy chocolate souffles which were not quite indulgent enough on their own, needing a generous pouring of double cream to finish them off - plus a bit more again halfway down.

Fun and informal, it was a wonderful way to have a family meal together without having to worry if the kids would sit quietly and behave nicely in the hushed surrounds of an upmarket restaurant.

We cooked and ate at Le Vin La Table as guests of Muriel and Jason.

Tour de Belfort's range of wines (red, white, rose and fizz) are available in Cambridge exclusively at the Gonville Hotel.

Other related articles
Le Tour de Belfort - the history
Tour de Belfort at CFWS

Links
Le Vin La Table - website, Facebook, twitter
Jason Palin - twitter

On Madeira - The Tasting‏

A tasting of Madeira wines led by Rui Falcao at the Portuguese embassy in London

It is a special tasting where the youngest vintage is 2001 - all these wines were very impressive for their refreshing acidity, aged complexity and intensity.

Henriques & Henriques, Single Harvest Sercial 2001 a mid-level wine, it is an amber mahogany in the glass.

Aromas of antique leather, roasted nuts, ginger and fresh acidity - on the palate there is toffee, caramel, roasted nut bitterness. It feels dry, but actually has 50g/l of sugar.

Match with blue cheese, cured ham or drink as an aperitif. Good.

Justino's Madeira Wines, Harvest 1995 Tinto Negra, half-dry. Dark mahogany in the glass, aromas of cooked mixed fruit and spice with a minty eucalyptus bite. Rich and sweet on the palate with raisins, Christmas spice and fruitcake. Good.

Vinhos Barbeito, Verdelho Frasqueira 1992 made by the enfant terrible of Madeira who is constantly experimenting and whose signature is high acidity.

Dark mahogany, aromas of fresh acidity. On the palate, it is rich and savoury with cooked fruit, roasted nuts and spices and a geeky intensity. Long, linear acidity. Good.

Susan Hulme MW who was also there described it as "clean, precise and nervy - a surprising discovery".

Blandy's Madeira, Bual Harvest 1996 from an established but innovative producer. Dark mahogany in the glass, antique leather, spice and cooked fruit on the nose - said to be prominent "curry" aromas, but I did not especially find this.

Rich cooked fruit on the palate, with spice and long acidity that seems to go on forever - zesty and intense with orange peel aromas. Very Good.

Pereira D'Oliveira, Bual 1984 the smallest producer on Madeira, a family-owned company dating back to 1850. A bit crazy, they still have a barrel of 1850 Madeira that they bottle on demand, so each bottling is different.

The colour of used engine oil, with a raisiny, cooked fruit nose. Raisiny, coffee and intense on the palate - long and savoury with a persistent finish.

Described as "bottled electricity" it is intense, muscular and vibrant - a savoury wine with sweetness; match with wild boar with chestnuts, or coffee and bitter chocolate. Very Good indeed.

Other related articles
On Madeira - The Background‏
On Madeira - The Low-Down‏

Links
Madeira Wine Institute - website

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

Two More Wines from Chile's Caliterra‏

A review of two wines from Chile's Caliterra

Caliterra is a joint venture between California's Robert Mondavi and Eduardo Chadwick.

Once up-and-coming, Chile is for me these days all too often disappointing as, despite all the advantages of its varied terroirs, it seems to churn out big, alcoholic, US-style wines for export to its northerly neighbour.

Caliterra Reserva Sauvignon Blanc 2013 (£8.99)

Pale straw yellow in the glass, full-on nose of ripe tropical fruit, musky melon skin and herbaceous aromatics.

Lots of sweet, ripe honeydew melon and peach fruit on the palate, but feels a little flabby and heavy-handed - rather hot and alcoholic - but not without some good persistence on the finish.

A big, gutsy, rather clumsy raging bull of a wine that is all about making a statement.

Match the ripeness to strong, salty foods, such as a plate of beechwood salami, sun-dried tomatoes and manchego.

Caliterra Tributo Cabernet  Sauvignon Single Vineyard Block "Quillay" 2010 (£10.99)

Expressive nose of berries, mocha and leather - lots of cooked fruit on the palate, but rather alcoholic and overblown.

Again, slightly hot on the finish, but not without some savouriness - more statement than elegance. Match the ripe sweetness with roast lamb.

Available from independents; provided for review.

Other related articles
Two Wines from Chile's Caliterra
Caliterra Tributo Single Vineyard Chardonnay
Caliterra Tributo "Single Vineyard" Cabernet Sauvignon 2007 
De Martino at Circle of Wine Writers

Links
Caliterra - website