Wild Fruits, Wild Flowers - Abbotts & Delaunay

Two wines from Languedoc-based Abbotts & Delaunay available at Majestic

Languedoc-based Abbotts & Delaunay was created in 1995 by Catherine & Laurent Delaunay, two young Burgundian winemakers trained in the New World.

Accordingly, their wines are elegant and food-friendly with a ripeness and purity plus a touch of southern warmth.

Abbotts & Delaunay Viognier 2015 (£9.99) peachy-apricotty fruit, fresh, floral and ripe, slightly poached with some spicy late harvest richness and leesy Brazil nut depth. Elegant and pure.

Good.

Match with roast pork or chicken.

Abbotts & Delaunay Merlot 2015 (£9.99) cherries, coffee grounds and spice with a Burgundian delicacy and freshness. Supple, muscular core.

Good.

An easy sipper, match with sausages, salamis or arrabiata.

Chateau Lascombes Tasting - New and Old

A tasting of Bordeaux second growth, Chateau Lascombes at Les 110 de Taillevent

Chateau Lascombes is a second-growth Bordeaux based in Margaux - in simple terms, this means it is very good indeed, one of the best, and that the wines have a certain fleshiness to them.

In pricing terms, this makes Lascombes expensive-but-not-ridiculous. In a good year, you might buy the second wine for a fraction of the price and have a wine that will last and age to complex maturity.

Our tasting started with the 2016 - the first ever showing of this wine, it had ben brought over the day before in suitaceses.

This was followed by older vintages for a sense of perspective.

Blended by Michel Rolland, the 2016 is considered to be from a better year than 2010. Drinking nicely now, Serena Sutcliffe MW pronounced it rich and easy to drink.

Lascombes 2016 ripe bramble fruit, plump and fleshy, supple and harmonious with soft, rounded tannins; long with a firm, athletic core. Very Good.

With starter

Chevalier de Lascombes 2010 vibrant and fresh second wine from a good year; still youthful and primary. Rounded and harmonious. Very Good.

Lascombes 2011 classic mature Bordeaux; lighter, more evolved and less substantial than the 2010. Good.

With main

Lascombes 2009 from a warm year; big with alcohol and grip. Still quite primary with good freshness and firm tannins. Good.

Lascombes 2005 lovely mature Medoc, classic and typical with no rough edges or flaws. Very Good Indeed.

With dessert

Lascombes 2001 from an overlooked vintage, fully mature Medoc with freshness, precision, vibrant acidity and a muscular core, even if the fruit is becoming a little dried and herbaceous. Very Good.

Two Family-Owned Wines

A CVNE Rioja and a Western Australian Cab from Robert Oatley

Opening these two big red wines, the Cab showed better straight out of the bottle - by the end of the meal, an hour or so later, the Rioja had opened up.

Mrs CWB characterised these wines as snog vs marry - the Oatley impresses straight away and is perfect for an unexpected date (!); the Rioja can wait and is still there getting better when you come back to it.

Interesting analogy, I thought.

So we toasted our date with the Oatley and I steered the conversation onto other topics.

Rioja is a classic wine, defined by its oaking and production method - a legacy of the Phylloxera crisis sending the Bordelais south across the Pyrenees.

Ripe, oaky and fresh, what's not to like?

CVNE Reserva 2012 (£15.40, Majestic, Waitrose, Wine Rack, independents) bramble, cherry and raspberry fruit with complex oaky, peppery vanilla spice and caramel-butterscotch; fresh, supple and long with fine tannins. Good.

Match with plain roast red meat, especially darker game.

I often struggle with New World Cab - blackcurranty and mono-dimensional, they are too often overly simplistic for me; however, I have never struggled with Western Australia's elegant and Old World-style wines.

Robert Oatley Margaret River Cabernet Sauvignon 2014 (£13.60, Co-op, CWM, independents) ripe blackcurranty and dark berry fruit, herbs and spice with freshness and savoury underpinnings; supple, with fine tannins, long and persistent. Good.

 Match with venison steak or arrabiata.

Vinita UK Launch

The UK launch of Vinita, a network of five wineries from all over Italy

One of the things I have learnt from working in advertising is to keep things as simple as possible.

The Italians? Well, let's say that simplicity not always high on their list of priorities. Complication is a way of life - it has its own logic and gives you something to talk about, to discuss argue and agree over.

The social rituals of discussing, comparing and considering provide us with a shared experience that binds us together.

A purist oenophile would say it's all about the quality of the wine - a marketer would say the exact opposite. And both would be right in their own way.

My confirmation email for this tasting had no details (y'know, like the date or location) whatsoever. The PR agency did email me the night before - but it went into my junk.

But like the best parties, it all came right in the end.

There were few if any wines here that would cause me to grumble if placed on a dinner table in front of me with a plate of salami, olives and cheese.

There were some I would go out of my way to try again.

Tasting swiftly through several dozen wines in my lunchtime I felt, as I often do at Italian tastings, utterly out of place - my focus and sense of purpose jarred against the dolce vita atmosphere of the Latin crowd.

The wines here were mostly from northern Italy, mostly traditional appellations. Impressions are by winery except where particular wines stood out.

Cantina Bassoli, Emilia Romagna fresh, pure, precise elegant sparklers; very food-friendly, most Good, all very enjoyable.

Villa Caplet, Valpolicella fresh, precise, textured whites; elegantly fruited reds of increasing concentration up to Recioto level

La Campagnina, Tuscany textbook Chiantis, differentiated only by a description of the label (in Italian). I can't really remember the difference between the Ovale Bianca (white label) and the Piazza Firenze (picture of Florence).

Federico II feral aromas, cherry fruit and spice. Long, fresh and supple.
Imperatore spicy and cherry-fruited, elegant and mineral; long, fresh and supple.

La Peschiera, Tuscany fresh elegant whites and reds. Noteworthy Chianti.
Chianti Riserva plump, complex and supple; cherry fruited with spice. Very Good.

Demaria Bartolomeo, Piemonte lovely, expressive whites; adept, supple reds with trademark fine-yet-firm tannins.

Il Falco pure and focused with spice, cherry fruit; supple and plump. Very Good. Barolo aromatic and floral with cherry fruit and spice, fine tannins. Very Good.

Fossato, wines from various classic regions good, well-made, textbook crowd-pleasers

Nemiroff Honey Pepper Vodka

A flavoured vodka from Ukrainian producer Nemiroff

I drank a lot of vodka when I lived in Russia and Ukraine - so much so that I rather went off it, but it does match well with peasanty Slavic foods like zakuski of gherkins, preserved peppers, salamis, cutlets and pickled fish.

This honey pepper vodka with herbs is more complex than the sort of bitter, alcoholic vodka that needs to be washed down with strong foods, rather than complementing elegant dishes.

Aromas of herbs and beeswax, intense more than fiery with some nail polish; herbal and complex, with a glycerol texture and a developing honey-sweetness mixed with a warmth that is part-chilli, part-alcohol.

It is not especially a spirit to linger over and works best with food - including dark, bitter chocolate.

Annual Austrian Tasting 2017

Annual Austrian Tasting 2017

When a tasting starts with a country's greatest producer, the remainder risks being disappointing.

I've missed this tasting for a few years, but a return visit reminded me of why I fell in love with Austrian wines.

Like unexpectedly bumping into your childhood sweetheart, there was that pit-of-the-stomach thrill, a heady giddiness and a familiar recollection that yes, you are just as wonderful as I remember.

Top Producer - Knoll

Based at the warmer, eastern end of the Wachau, the elusive and eponymous Knoll is Austria'a greatest producer.

Smaragd Ried Schuett 2012 Riesling full and mineral with some beeswax. Elegant, pure and precise. Very Good Indeed.

2013 slightly less full-on, but also Very Good Indeed.

Smaragd Ried Kreutles GV 2015 stone fruit, pure and precise - ripe, rich and full. Very Good Indeed.

Top Co-op - Domaene Wachau

Duernstein-based co-op Domaene Wachau produces both blends and single-vineyard wines.

Smaragd Ried Achtleiten GV 2015 mineral with white stone fruit; long and precise, still closed up. Very Good.

Beerenauslese "Terrassen" 2015 complex beeswax, sweet spices and ripe peaches. Full, long and substantial. Very Good.

Other Wachau

One of the Big-Four Wachau producers, Hirtzberger's vineyards are exposed to cooling northerly air.

Smaragd Ried Axpoint GV 2015 complex white pepper, ripe stone fruit and minerality; concentrated, pure and precise. Very Good.

Smaragd Ried Hochrain Riesling 2015 ripe pineapple, citrus and minerality; long and deft. Very Good.

Top Styrian - Polz

Polz's entry-level wines are crystalline and precise; the top wines add a complex weighty, Burgundian texture.

Ried Grassnitzberg Chardonnay 2014 creamy, mineral, precise and fresh; substantial and Burgundian. Very Good.

Ried Hochgrassnitzberg "GSTK" SB smoky, flinty with ripe fruits and a rich creamy-leesy texture. Fresh, elegant and complex. Very Good.

Best Winemaker - Huber

Based in Traisental, outside the Wachau, Markus Huber was Austria's Winemaker of the Year in 2015.

Klassik Ried Obere Steigen GV 2015 fresh, mineral, pure and precise. Good.

Top Burgenland Dry Whites - Ernst Triebaumer

Warmer Burgenland is best known as home to Austria's reds and stickies.

Ernst Triebaumer Klassik GV 2015 spicy, peppery, racy, mineral and adept. Good.

Ernst Triebaumer Reserve Ried Pandkraeftn Ch 2013 sweet spices, oatmealy-nutty, elegant and mineral. Good.

Best Kamptal - Angerer

Excellent reds and whites from differing terroirs just outside the Wachau - available from Noel Young Wines.

Klassik Ried Kiesling "Kies" GV 2016 fresh, zippy, substantial and mineral; pure and precise. Very Good.

Granit Zweigelt 2012 supple with dark fruit and firm, assertive tannins. Very Good.

Best Quevri - Ott

Ott makes a range of very impressive conventional wines, but his quevri-fermented Gruener is the highlight.

Qvevri GV 2013 peppery, textured and substantial - fascinating and other-worldly. Good.

Best unavailable wine

Styria's Tement is a longtime favourite of mine - sadly, the wines are not currently available in the UK.

Ried Zieregg "GSTK" SB 2011 complex, suphurous nose, substantial, long and deft with an oatmealy-leesy texture. Very Good Indeed.

The 2014 is rather lighter and fresher, but still very complex and long.

Ried Grassnitzberg "1STK" SB 2015 substantial, creamy, full, mineral and complex. Very Good.

Tasting followed by Austrian buffet - including cakes.

Wines of Tejo, Portugal

Tejo wines with Sarah Abbott at 67 Pall Mall

When it comes to Portugal, I tend to think what I always thunk - I'm not really sure what to make of the country.

Sure it makes nice wines; there is plenty of interesting stuff to find. But what is the essence of Portugal - what is its intrinsic, essential identity?

I have no idea.

Portugal has over 600 native varieties and whilst I could name a handful, I can't necessarily characterise them or tell you which regions and which grapes go together. There is no Portuguese equivalent of Loire Sauvignon, Argentinean Malbec or Barossa Shiraz.

Rather like South Africa, Portugal's diversity is, in the first instance, a barrier to easy understanding rather than a virtue.

Also like South Africa, Portugal has a long and complex social history that is perhaps the better jumping-off point for an understanding of the country - rather than the minutiae of grapes, terroirs and techniques.

Until the early-C20th, it was a rural, aristocratic nation with grand farmhouses, horses and falconry. Like Britain, it also had a sea empire.

Then cames the dictatorship and the days of cheap, rustic supermarket plonk - Mateus rosé anyone?

Finally, Portugal emerges, blinking into the sunlight of democracy and a new wave of winemakers starts focusing on quality.

Portugal, like Britain, lies isolated on the Atlantic fringe of the European continent - the barren waste lands of Spain being as much of a barrier as the English Channel.

Its down-at-heel, faded aristocracy is somehow familiar and reassuring to the British with whom the country, uniquely, shares a time zone.

At this Tejo tasting, I tried elegant fizz, aromatic and oaky whites, rosés, juicy and substantial reds and a couple of dessert wines.

There were varietal wines and blends; indigenous grapes alongside Chardonnay and Syrah. Some wines were Rhone-esque, some Bordelais.

Tasting 30 or so wines, I came away with no better, more-nuanced understanding of Portugal's oenology than when I started.

Yes, the wines are good, well-made and interesting.

Yes, you should try them.

But I can't especially tell you where to start or which international style they are most like.

For that you need either to go to Portugal itself and get a first-hand understanding of the area. Or failing that, find a friendly wine merchant with a good Portuguese range who will help you navigate your way.

Nick Oakley of Oakley Wines specialises in the wines of Portugal and Northwest Spain and says:

I recommend Quinta do Casal Branco wines - Terra de Lobos is entry level and in screwcap. They also make a finer wine called Falcoaria in red and white. Very poised.

I would also recommend the wines of Lagoalva, available through Lance Foyster. Tejo has the benefit of high production levels, sound quality and affordability. It's the engine room of Portuguese agriculture, and wine is no exception.