Wine of The Month - March

A wine and a sherry to match a seasonal tapa dish from Cambridge-based ¡Que rico! Tapas - also broadcast with Estefania Led Ramos on Cambridge105

Estefania's suggested tapa is marinated duck with sun-dried tomatoes; my job was to find a sherry and a wine to match.

With soy, balsamic vinegar and tomatoes, there are some strong flavours in this dish - so it needs a fairly robust wine to be able to stand up to it.

Sherry: Sanchez Romate Hermanos, Oloroso Don Jose Reserva Especiale NV, Jerez 18% 75cl £19.99 Cambridge Wine Merchants

This dark oloroso sherry ages oxidatively to give aromas of roasted chestnuts, raisins, salt, earth, caramel and leather; it starts broad and creamy then becomes long and linear with caramel and a juicy finish.

Wine: Bodegas Pittacum, Bierzo 'Tres Obispos' Rosada 2011 £10.99 Joseph Barnes Wines

Something of an unusual beast, this is a rosé made from the Mencia grape in Bierzo, a remote region of northwest Spain; it's a deep raspberry red in colour, with 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.

The recipe for the tapa is on Estefania's website.

Other related articles
¡Que rico! Tapas

Links
¡Que rico! Tapas - website
Cambridge Wine Merchants - website
Joseph Barnes Wines - website

William Hardy Chardonnay

A European-style Chardonnay from Hardy's

At the end of a tasting of Hardy's Chardonnays, led by my friend Belinda Stone, last year, we were given a bottle of William Hardy Chardonnay 2013 to take home.

It had been my favourite everyday wine of the evening, even if the overall best was the £25 Eileen Hardy Chardonnay 2008 - still several years off being ready, let alone at a peak.

Priced at a more modest £8.99, this William Hardy Chardonnay is an adept, textbook entry-level European-style Chardonnay.

Sandy yellow with aromas of citrus and melonskin; ripe tropical citrus, freshness, buttery toasty oak and a touch of zestiness with a persistent finish. Very quaffable.

A versatile food wine, match with creamy pasta, roast chicken, coconut curry or meaty white fish.

Available from Tesco, priced at £59.94 for a case of six.

Other related articles
Hardy's Chardies - #AllAboutChardonnay‏
Wirra Wirra The 12th Man Chardonnay
Wine in Threes

Links
Hardy's - website, twitter
Tesco wine - website, twitter

Marks & Spencer New Americas Tasting

A review of Marks and Spencer's New Americas range

Marks and Spencer, which recently celebrated 40 years of wine retailing, has been expanding its oenological range beyond the obvious and expected; this was a chance to try a range of wines from established South American countries Chile and Argentina, plus some wines from Brazil about which I know very little.

M&S's buyer, Emma Dawson, is an MW student and the white wines especially reflected this; technically precise, varietally typically and utterly fault free. If there was little here to make the heart beat faster, there was also nothing to be worried about.

The reds I found a little more varied: the Pinots were excellent with a very clear price-quality correlation, but others I found over-extracted and tannic (I was told they work well with food) and the more ambitious reds (over £30) seemed to have aged prematurely on the nose without the body of the wine following suit - they smelt around 20 years old, but tasted around the five that they were.

This latter point, Emma explained, is to do with the levels of pyrazene in the wine which is caused by exposure to ultra-violet light and occurs in Chile and Argentina (due to altitude) and New Zealand (due to the thinner ozone layer); geek-fact.

Coconova Brut NV, Brazil £8.99 light, easy fizz

Carnival Sparkling Moscato NV, Brazil, £9.99 dead-ringer for a pleasing Italian Moscato, light, fresh, frothy

Fragoso Chardonnay 2013, Argentina, £6.99 ripe, tropical and unoaked, good persistence

Caleidoscope Pinot Grigio Fiano Albarino 2013, Mendoza, £7.99 tropical, floral, aromatic and zesty with a dry clean finish

Dominio del Plata Torrontes 2012, Argentina, £8.99 aromatic and slightly pungent nose, floral and apricotty palate; fresh, weighty and persistent

Araucaria Riesling Pinot Grigio 2013, Brazil, £8.99 ripe, zippy citrus, clean and mineral with no rough edges

Mestizo Marsanne Viognier 2013, Chile, £9.99 ripe, apricotty and clean with an underlying minerality; a touch flabby

Secano Estate Sauvignon Gris 2012, Chile, £8.99 bizarre pink meat / red chili aromas, ripe tropical fruit, clean with reasonable underpinnings

Tierra Y Hombre Sauvignon Blanc 2013, Chile, £8.49 textbook New World Sauvignon, aromatic gooseberries, cut grass and blackcurrant leaf; ripe, fresh and zippy with mineral persistence

Secano Estate Sauvignon Blanc 2013, Chile, £8.99 another textbook fresh and zippy, aromatic New World Sauvignon

Fragoso Cabernet Sauvignon Rosé 2013, Argentina, £6.99 smokey with ripe soft red berry fruits, fresh linear acidity and minerality

Fragoso Merlot 2013, Argentina, £6.99 textbook Merlot - plummy coffee nose, ripe cherry fruit, soft texture and some firmness on the finish

Tierra Y Hombre Pinot Noir 2013, Chile, £8.49 ripe cherry fruit and vegetal decay, harmonious and cut through with fresh acidity. Lovely, affordable, no-tears Pinot.

Nieto Senetiner Bonarda 2013, Mendoza, £8.99 pure, clean and precise cherry and red berry fruit to cut through rare red meats, Italian-style.

Caleidoscopio Sangiovese Touriga Nacional Caladoc, Argentina, £7.99 perfumey violets and red fruits; cherry, liquorice and spice; soft texture and firm finish. Another Italian-style food red.

Vinalta Malbec 2013, Argentina, £7.99 dark fruits with vanilla and oaky spice, cut through with freshness. Long with a soft texture.

Intenso Teroldego, Brazil, £9.99 dark, whiff of sulphuriness, lots of dark fruits, cool mint and sweet vanilla; fresh acidity, soft tannins and supple texture.

Monteflores Malbec, Argentina, £9.99 red chili and redcurrant aromas, sweet ripe fruit, soft, supple texture, sweet vanilla and spice, good freshness - let down by drying tannins on the finish.

Dominio del Plata Cabernet Sauvignon 2011, Argentina, £9.99 pink meat, red chili, vanilla and cool mint, ripe sweet cassis fruit, almost Ribena-esque, spice and liquorice. But those drying tannins on the finish again.

Pintao Reserva Carmenere, Chile, £9.99 textbook Carmenere soy and leather, red and bramble fruits with a hint of white pepper and some cool mint. Freshness and savouriness; well-balanced with firmness on the finish. Very enjoyable.

Los Molles Syrah 2011, Chile, £9.99 red chili, rosehips and red bell pepper, black olives; sweet ripe fruit, spice, good freshness, concentration and firm grip. Drying tannic finish.

Secano Maiten Vineyard Block 1 Pinot Noir, Chile, £12.99 soft, ripe red fruits and decay, supple texture, pleasing and long with good persistence. No rough edges and very enjoyable.

Tobiano Pinot Noir 2011, Chile, £19 intense and concentrated nose of cherry fruit and farmyard, ripe cherry fruit and cool mint, balanced freshness, soft supple texture with a pleasing firmness. Elegant yet assertive and very easy to enjoy. Good.

Lucero Syrah 2011, Chile, £15.99 ripe dark fruits, spiciness and cool mint; freshness and soft supple texture. Concentration and complexity with a pleasing firnmess on the finish. Good.

Santa Rita, Casa Real Reserva Especial 2009, Chile, £34 complex aged dried red chili, red bell pepper and old leather on the nose suggest a much older wine; sweet ripe bramble fruits, sweet vanilla, cool mint with spice and liquorice. Lovely, soft harmonious texture, just slightly drying on the finish. Very Good.

Trapiche Terroir Series Malbec Single Vineyard, Jorge Miralles, 2009, Argentina, £32 ripe sweet cassis, bramble and vanilla, hints of decay; supple texture, freshness and length. Balanced, well-structured and assertive with a pleasing firmness on the finish. Still young and will benefit from further aging. Very Good.

Other related articles
40 Years of Wine at Marks & Spencer
Marks & Spencer Spring Tasting: Italian Reds‏
Two Eastern Mediterranean Wines from Marks and Spencer
Grand Enclos du Chateau de Cerons, Graves, 2006‏ - Marks & Spencer

Links
Marks and Spencer - website, twitter
Emma Dawson - twitter

Gonzalez Byass Vintage Sherries

A review of six vintage sherries from Gonzalez Byass at The Connaught

One of the first wine facts I ever learnt about sherry is that it is always non-vintage - a blend of years in a single barrel known as the solera system.

Each year, a little of the wine is bottled and the barrel topped up with younger wine to refresh the blend.

However, sherry has not always been a made in this way - it was originally a vintage wine like any other until, in the 1820s, in response to demands from British importers for greater consistency, sherry makers began blending their wines across barrels and across years.

Nearly two centuries later and the re-emergence of sherry has allowed Gonzalez Byass to release a limited edition set of six vintage sherries from 1994 to 1967.

Like port or Madeira, sherry is a wine defined by its production method - a standardised process does not leave much room for individuality or Romance, and whilst greater consistency may appeal to those with only limited interest or budget, the true afficionado seeks out the rare and superior.

I got to try these dark sherries - four palo cortados, an oloroso and a sweetened amoroso - with winemaker Antonio Flores, Martin Skelton of Gonzalez Byass and Victoria Gonzalez-Gordon at The Connaught Hotel where they are available by the glass.

They are also available to buy in full-sized bottles from Selfridges - prices range from £115 to £240 or £999 for the full set. Only thirty bottles of each have been released.

This, however, is just the tip of the iceberg as there are around 3,000 barrels of older wines potentially available for release.

All the wines showed balance, freshness, elegance and concentration - and were superb.

1994 Palo Cortado amber mahogany, fragrant and aromatic with bitter roasted spices; balanced and deft, concentrated and long.

1989 Oloroso mahogany, fragrant orange blossom; oilier, plumper texture, bitter roasted spices. Long, complex and substantial.

1982 Palo Cortado less fruit, more oxidative and woody aromas, sweet vanilla, tobacco and orange peel. Harmonious, concentrated and long with a firm persistence.

1978 Palo Cortado aromatic with sweet vanilla, aged wood and acetone, bitter roasted spices, concentration and density. Direct and goes on forever.

1975 Palo Cortado rancio, mellow cedar wood, oak and sweet vanilla, soft smooth texture with savoury bitterness developing; finish soft but with some firm persistence. Perhaps at the very edge of its life as an enjoyable wine and starting to become a curiosity.

1967 Amoroso a blend of 85% Palo Cortado with 10% Moscatel and 5% PX; blended in December 2013; darker, almost treacle black, acetone and cedar wood; intensely syrupy sweetness cut through with fresh acidity. Figgy treacle and prunes with sweet vanilla and solid underpinnings. Soft and balanced.

Followed by a light lunch.

Other related articles
Tio Pepe Fino 2013
Tio Pepe Fino 2011

Links
Gonzalez Byass - website
The Connaught - website
Selfridges - website

Domaine de Grand Garant, Fleurie "Les Roches" 2011

A Fleurie from Domaine de Grand Garant, purchased in Auchan in 2012 for around €7

Driving back from a holiday in the south of France in summer 2012, we called in at Auchan Calais to pick up a few bottles of wine and some cheese to bring back with us.

We had stopped over in Burgundy for the first time on the way down, so I was keen to bring back at least one bottle - in the end, it was something from Beaujolais, but the Gold Medal from Paris had caught my eye.

At the time, I had not become a Beaujolais fan; older and wiser, I now regard it as one of the great value regions of the world and the source of some really lovely wines.

Translucent ruby purple, red and black cherry aromas; ripe fruit and a touch of spice with fresh, clean acidity and a supple, harmonious texture. Long and concentrated, lovely balanced finish - a classy and really enjoyable wine. Very Good.

Match with game or stews - in warmer weather, sip slightly chilled in the garden.

Amazing to think that this cost a few pennies more than a fiver - with UK taxes, duties and VAT, it would probably be around £12 over here.

Other related articles
Beaujolais and Beyond
BoJo-Lé
Marks & Spencer - Beaujolais nouveau re-booted‏


Links
Domaine de Grand Garant - website
Auchan - website
Beaujolais Wines - website

Crus Bourgeois 2011 at The Cambridge Tasting

A tasting of 2011 Crus Bourgeois held at Cambridge Wine Merchants - photos by Jean-Luc Benazet; parts of the tasting were also recorded for broadcast on Cambridge105

2011 was a cool year in Bordeaux, so it is perhaps no surprise to find a high proportion of the early-ripening Merlot in the traditionally Cab-dominated blends of the Medoc.

Tasting six 2011 Crus Bourgeois with a group of friends, we concluded that the wines that are drinking best now are have the highest proportion of  Merlot - but won't improve with further ageing.

The wines with more stuffing and complexity, by contrast, will benefit from a few more years' cellaring.

In general, the 2011s show lower alcohol, less fruit and more freshness - a gentle touch was needed in the cellar to bring out the best of this vintage and a couple of the wines were deemed somewhat heavy-handed.

For Drinking Now

Chateau Les Anguilleys, Medoc (N/A) translucent purple, bramble fruit and oak; ripe fruit, cool mintiness and grippy tannins - persistent finish.

Chateau Doyac, Haut-Medoc (£12, Fine and Rare, Paris Bronze) translucent purple, bramble fruit and cigar box, ripe fruit, capsicum and sweet vanilla. Fresh acidity, good texture and persistent finish.

For Cellaring

Chateau Croix du Trale, Haut-Medoc (N/A) bright purple; vanilla, cassis, red fruits and cigar box; sweet ripe fruit, cool mintiness, pencil shavings, fresh acidity, good structure and finish. Good density and concentration.

Chateau Lacour Jacquet, Haut-Medoc (N/A) Dark translucent purple, complex nose of bramble fruits, oakiness and undergrowth; sweet vanilla and cool mint, bramble fruit and savouriness. Balanced, harmonious and long. Perfectly ripe tannins on the finish. Plump yet well-structured and as firmly assertive as a Swedish massueuse.

Other related articles
Crus Bourgeois 2011 Panel Discussion
Crus Bourgeois 2010 at The Cambridge Tasting

Links
Crus Bourgeois - website, twitter
Cambridge Wine Merchants - website, twitter
Jean-Luc Benazet - website, twitter
Cambridge105 - website, twitter

Crus Bourgeois 2011

A review of six 2011 Crus Bourgeois Bordeaux

Crus Bourgeois are the affordable middle rung of Bordeaux wines - the solid middle ground of good, well-balanced and well-textured claret from the Medoc.

With prices for classed growths often commanding silly money, these are affordable-yet-serious wines for the classic enthusiast.

These wines from 2011 all show a well-balanced freshness with good structure. The best add to this a Nigella-esque plumply curvaceous flirtatiousness with a focused assertivess.

2011 was not an easy year in Bordeaux - cool and wet with hail is no-one's idea of a good vintage, but as the wines below demonstrate, it was by no means a complete wash-out. Cooler temperatures bring a refreshing and assertive focus to the best wines.

Chateau Dillon, Haut-Medoc (N/A) translucent purple, complex nose of bramble fruit, coffee, cigar box and oaky spices; sweet vanilla, cool mint and fresh acidity. Soft, Merlot-based texture with a grippy firmness on the finish.

Chateau Le Pey, Medoc (£12, www.loveyourwine.co.uk) bright translucent purple, plummy tobacco, fresh bramble fruit, good acidity, good grip and firmness; some grippy tannins on the finish.

Chateau Croix du Trale, Haut-Medoc (N/A) bright purple; vanilla, cassis, red fruits and cigar box; sweet ripe fruit, cool mintiness, pencil shavings, fresh acidity, good structure and finish. Good density and concentration. Good.

Chateau Lacour Jacquet, Haut-Medoc (N/A) Dark translucent purple, complex nose of bramble fruits, oakiness and undergrowth; sweet vanilla and cool mint, bramble fruit and savouriness. Balanced, harmonious and long. Perfectly ripe tannins on the finish. Plump yet well-structured and as firmly assertive as a Swedish massueuse. Very Good.

Chateau Les Anguilleys, Medoc (N/A) translucent purple, bramble fruit and oak; ripe fruit, cool mintiness and grippy tannins - persistent finish.

Chateau Doyac, Haut-Medoc (£12, Fine and Rare, Paris Bronze) translucent purple, bramble fruit and cigar box, ripe fruit, capsicum and sweet vanilla. Fresh acidity, good texture and persistent finish.

Wines provided for review.

Other related articles
Crus Bourgeois 2010 At The Cambridge Tasting‏
Crus Bourgeois 2011‏
Crus Bourgeois at the International Wine Challenge 30th Anniversary Ball

Links
Crus Bourgeois - website, twitter