Unkle at Meltdown 2014 with Côtes du Rhône Wines

Unkle at Meltdown 2104 with Côtes du Rhône

If last year's Iggy Pop concert was an object lesson in substance as a metaphor for Rhône wines, this year's Unkle gig at Meltdown was all about sophisticated complexity.

Many years ago, I had a friend who was, to be honest, rather cooler than me - he had the whole football-supporting, GQ-reading, sports-car thing going on; he knew his music and had an eclectic collection of obscure, indie CDs.

Too cool for school, he owned the first Unkle album - of which I had heard but knew very little.

Nearly 20 years later, I learn that Unkle didn't disappear after their debut, but quietly carried on making British trip-hop albums and it was from this extensive back catalog that they played at Meltdown 2014.

I say "they played", but it's not actually clear who Unkle are or what they do - the stage was variously populated by a a classic rock band of guitars, bass and drums along with - at various times - pianos, organ, string section, choir, percussionists and assorted vocalists.

Instead of the sheer energy - albeit somewhat corporate these days - of last year's Mr Osterberg, Unkle displayed a nuanced variety, complexity and depth that had the audience sitting in quiet appreciation rather than moshing in the aisles.

Before the gig, I tasted my way through a range of Côtes du Rhône wines - the whites went from crisp and precise to more textured and structured.

The basic reds were juicy and straightforward, but the more ambitious examples had a harmonious, substantial warm spiciness, whilst the best added a musky-truffley-feral character with complexity and poise.

The single rosé and sticky were both good enough to demonstrate the versatility of the region.

The Whites

CdR Ogier (FMV) 2013 - ripe fruit, touch of yeastiness, rounded, balanced with some persistence. Good entry-level white.

CdR Villages, Domaine Saint Amant, La Tabardonne, 2011 (Waitrose) richer, spicier and waxier; floral with more texture and complexity.

CdR Villages Laudun, Laudun Chluscan Vignerons, 2013 (Enotria) savoury, creamy brazil-nut, beeswax and lanolin. Fresh and waxy, good texture, persistent finish.

Crozes-Hermitage, Paul Jaboulet Aine, Mule Blanche, 2012 (Bibendum) toasty-musky orchard fruit, fresh with creamy oak, cashew and brazil-nut. All about the texture.

Saint-Joseph, Domaine Guy Farge, Vania 2012 (Enotria) rich, waxy, fresh, complex and precise. Harmonious and fully knitted together.

Saint-Joseph, M Chapoutier, Les Granilites, 2012 (Mentzendorff) rich, waxy, creamy and persistent with ripe orchard fruit.

The Reds

CdR, Ogier 2012 (FMV) sweet ripe dark fruit, well-balanced with good texture.

CdR Villages, Domaine des Chanssaud, 2011 (Mc Pherson Campbell & Vinohrad) warming and spicy, ripe dark fruit and cool mint; harmonious. Good.

CdR Villages Cairenne, Domaine de la Presidente, Galifay, 2011 (MV) feral, farmyardy nose, dense and concentrated with freshness and grip. Firmness on the finish, needs further aging. Very Good.

CdR Villages Plan de Dieu, Paul Jaboulet Aine, De pere en filles, 2009 (Bibendum) some brick redness, aged & slightly feral nose, Pinot-esque, soft texture with spice and firmness. Good.

Vacqueyras, Vidal-Fleury, 2011 (Louis Latour) harmonious and balanced with red fruits and sweet vanilla; good structure and firmness on the finish. Good.

Crozes-Hermitage, Cave de Tain, Haut du Fief, 2011 (Boutinot) ripe, oaky-spicy, velvety; substantial, good finish. Very Good.

Crozes-Hermitage, Delas Freres, Domaine des Grands Chemins, 2010 (Berkmann) cassis, dark fruit, cool mint and undergrowth, supple texture and firmness. Very Good.

Saint-Joseph, Cave de Tain, Esprit de Granit, 2011 (Boutinot) dark fruit, muskiness, minerality; fresh and poised with plumpness

Saint-Joseph, Cave Saint Desirat, Tradition, 2011 (Waitrose) ripe, dark, spicy with cool mint, supple texture, balanced.

Cornas Paul Jaboulet Aine, Les Grands Terrasses 2010 (Bibendum) undergrowth, musk and truffles, dark fruit, pepperiness and a supple texture - very assured. Very Good.

Hermitage, Cave de Tain, Classic, 2010 (Boutinot) complex dark fruit, animal musk and spice; red fruits, cool mint, firmness and spice. Dense with ripe tannins, it is lean, athletic and assertive. Very Good.

Others

CdR, Famille Perrin, Reserve, 2013 rose (FMV) fresh, oatmealy-leesy with redcurrant fruit and lots of creamy texture. Good.

Muscat de Beaumes de Venise, Vidal-Fleury, 2012 (Louis Latour) orange blossom, sweet spice, musky beeswax with ripe orange marmalade and sweet peaches. Fresh acidity. Good.

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Image credits
- James Lavelle: http://www.standard.co.uk/incoming/article9539704.ece/alternates/w620/rexfeatures_3825713m.jpg
- main image: http://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/sites/default/files/imagecache/series_new_carousel/images/meltdown_carousel_image.jpg
- gig shot: http://i1.ytimg.com/vi/Xph1Z5L4E2M/0.jpg

Ron Prohibido

A distilled sugarcane spirit, rum is traditionally associated with the Caribbean and is supposedly a favourite of sailors.

This Ron Prohibido rum, available in the UK for the first time, is quite unlike any other rum I have tried.

Dark brown in the glass, it smells intensely of dried fruits, raisins and prunes with butterscotch and mocha.

The palate is like a rich Christmas pudding with brandy butter - sweet dried dark fruits and roasted spices with woody notes, bitter coffee and dark chocolate, smothered in caramel and butterscotch.

Rich, complex and indulgent, it is also mellow and harmonious - not least because it is aged in a solera system, like sherry; indeed, it is rather reminiscent of an aged, dark, sweetened sherry.

Very Good.

Drink as a digestif, or with espresso, dark chocolate and a cigar.

£24.95 from www.drinkfinder.co.uk; provided for review.

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Sherry Institute: Cadiz Wine Dinner - Almadraba Tuna and Jerez Wines‏

A sherry masterclass with Beltran Domecq followed by a tuna and sherry dinner at Hispania for International Sherry Week, organised by the Sherry Institute

The line-up of sherries from lightest to darkest and sweetest - unusually, we also get to try the base wine (far left); a first for me.

 It is simple, pleasant and lemony - an inoffensive and instantly forgettable wine. I'm glad they discovered a way to turn it into sherry.

The menu - various combinations of sherry and tuna.

If sherry is the drink that is synonymous with this part of Spain, tuna is the food equivalent; Almadraba is the traditional Mediterranean art of fishing Atlantic bluefin tuna using nets - it dates back over 2,000 years and selects only the largest examples.

The sherries include an en rama fino - an unfiltered bottling intended to be consumed within a few months of purchase.

Between the Masterclass and the dinner, we are served sherry the traditional way - accompanied by roasted almonds, manchego cheese and cured tuna slices.

The food is lovely - if in a somewhat set pattern. The wines are mostly lovely, too. But the matches don't always work brilliantly; a dark sherry with a creamy white sauce feels like a bit of a schoolboy error.

Mmmm, sherry.

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te Pā

A review of New Zealand's te Pā

- Nanoo nanoo

A salutation used by inhabitants of the planet Ork, birthplace of Mork. It accompanies a salute/handshake with the fingers separated down the middle.

New Zealand Sauvignon is a benchmark style of expressive white - zingy, tropical, aromatic with a touch of minerality, it is a wine full of contrasts and easy to understand.

It is characterful, excitable and makes its presence felt, rather like an over-enthusiastic puppy, or Robin Williams - like Fiona Beckett, you may or may not find that a good thing.

The press release for te Pā, which is launching in the UK, tells me that the vines are grown on the oldest known settlement in New Zealand, situated in the Wairau Bar in Marlborough; te Pā released its first vintage in 2011 to critical-acclaim and most recently received an almost perfect score in the Air New Zealand Wine Awards in November 2013 as well as the much-coveted title as New Zealand’s best Sauvignon Blanc

Pungent and aromatic with a touch of flintsmoke. Ripe, tropical citrus, zesty, mouthwatering lime and linear acidity; long palate and persistent, minerally finish.

Poised, precise and focused.

On first opening, there is a a piercing, almost underripe, sourness to it - however, by day 2, this has gone completely so I would recommend decanting for at least an hour.

Overall, it is a much more enjoyable wine on day 2; more harmonious, composed and generally settled.

Match with rich, strongly-flavoured foods - goat's cheese and rocket risotto, tuna carpaccio with chili and ginger or smoked salmon and asparagus tart.

Good; provided for review.

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Yealands Estate Tasting and Dinner‏ with Tamra Washington

Virginia Wines

The overall standard of the wines at this Virginia tasting was again high - fresh, modern well-made wines with a more European sensibility than one typically expects from the US.

 

After a series of difficult, cool years in Europe generally and Bordeaux especially, these wines seemed distinctly plump, lush and ripe.

 

The appearance of varietal Petit Verdot was a new phenomenon; usually a characterful blending grape, it was not always a success- a bit like giving Joey from Friends his own series. Or Tucker's Luck for those on this side of the Atlantic.

 

Barboursville Vineyards

2012 Cabernet Franc Reserve plum and redcurrant fruit with spice and cedar; supple texture and understated freshness.

 

2010 Octagon XIII Edition fresh, precise and concentrated; Pomerol-esque

 

2010 Malvaxia Passito sweet, ripe apricot and pineapple, with rich honey and an almondy texture. Refreshing acidity.

 

Boxwood Estate

2011 Topiary from a cool year, this was a soft, elegant infusion; red fruits, violets and soft tannins.

 

Trellis 2012 a good year this time, black cherries, plum and redcurrant fruit, a touch of garrigue. Well-balanced with some firmness on the finish.

 

2012 Boxwood left-bank blend; light and fresh

 

Breaux Vineyards

2013 Viognier white flowers, melon and banana. Fresh, clean and mineral with apricots, pears and some sweet spice and blossom.

 

2006 Nebbiolo aged complexity, cherries and leather, with freshness and good structure

 

Cave Ridge Vineyards

2010 Cabernet Franc dark fruit, lavender, chocolate and spice. Sweet ripe vanilla, well-structured.

 

2010 Fossil Hill Reserve mostly CF but includes some Chambourcin; earthy, with leather, chocolate and dark fruit; minerality, spice and a smooth richness.

 

2011 Petit Verdot dark fruit, olives and lavender with blackberry, plum and cedar. Sweet ripe fruit but something of a one-trick pony.

 

North Gate Vineyards

2012 Viognier melon, apricot and banana; buttery and rounded.

 

2011 Meritage dark berries and gentle oaky spice, juicy red fruit with mocha.

 

2011 Petit Verdot sweet, ripe and spicy - a character actor given a leading role he can't quite carry off.

 

Veritas Winery

2013 Cab Franc floral; sweet, ripe raspberry and cherry fruit and sweet vanilla, pleasing firmness on the finish

 

2010 Petit Verdot Paul Shaffer 4th Edition dark fruit, black cherry, spice, florality. Plump and soft with rich fruit, spice mocha and coffee. A convincing varietal PV? Yes!

 

Williamsburg Winery2011 Acte 12 Chardonnay pineapple and orchard fruits, creamy vanilla with aromatic grass and straw and smooth, rich almondiness. Full and rich, yet precise.

 

2010 Adagio dense, concentrated and all about the structure; still very young and takes time (and food) to open up in the glass. Still very youthful; "will age" is an understatement.

 

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Image credit: Matt le Blanc as Joey Tribbiani http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/da/Matt_LeBlanc_as_Joey_Tribbiani.jpg

Les Jamelles Syrah, Pays d'Oc, 2012 - The Co-op‏

A Languedoc Syrah from Les Jamelles

Languedoc is a great source of well-made, ripe and pleasing yet serious wines. Les Jamelles, available from The Co-op, is the entry-level range from the husband-and-wife team behind Abbots & Delaunay.

Deep purple in the glass, warming, spicy aromas of dark berries, garrigue and violets. More sweet, ripe, juicy dark fruits, some pepperiness and spice with a touch of cool mint. Supple texture and fine, perfectly-ripe tannins; some persistence on the finish. Match with red meats, especially roast leg of lamb with garlic and rosemary, salamis, roast chicken or game.

Very enjoyable and good value; £6.49 from the Co-op. Provided for review.

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Taylor's 20 Year Old Tawny Port

A tawny port from Taylor's

Aged tawny port is aged in barrel for 10, 20 or more years before being released ready to drink.

 

This 20yo tawny was bottled in 2010 and so its origins date back to the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe, Nelson Mandela's release from prison and Margaret Thatcher's resignation as Prime Minister.

 

A mahogany-topaz in colour, it has a complex nose of dried red fruits, roasted red bell peppers, eucalyptus and roasted nuts.

 

Warming, cooked red fruits, roasted hazelnuts and eucalyptus; complex sweetness mixed with poised freshness, alcoholic strength and dense, savoury concentration.

 

No longer youthful and fleshy, it has the harmonious mellowness of age but with a firm, substantial muscularity beneath it, a hint of purposefulness behind twinkly blue eyes.

 

Very Good.

 

Match with mature hard yellow cheeses, a chocolate tart or a cigar.

 

£38 from Waitrose, Harrods and Selfridges; provided for review.

 

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