Ararat 5 Years Brandy

A 5yo Ararat grape brandy from Armenia's Yerevan Brandy Company

Brought to us by a visitor, this is an Armenian brandy whose name refers to Mount Ararat where the ark is said to have landed after the biblical flood. It was apparently a favourite of Winston Churchill.

Golden in the glass, it has a rich nose of tobacco, dried mixed fruit, peel and cedary spice.

The palate full of cooked, sweet dried fruit, roasted hazelnut, butterscotch, roasted spices and cigar box. Viscous and a touch fiery, it has a persistent finish.

A youthful spirit, it makes quite a statement but in a sophisticated sort of way - a bit like Robbie Williams.

It has a couple of IWSC Bronze medals.

Match with Christmas pudding, sticky toffee pudding, dark, bitter chocolate and an espresso or a cigar.

It is listed in the UK by Master of Malt (but currently sold out) and The Time Whisky Club (ditto) at £24.95.

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Links Ararat - website

Image credit: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/dd/Ibey.jpg

Lionel Gosseaume, Les Marcottes 2012 - Touraine

A red Loire from Lea & Sandeman

The Loire is best known for its white wines, characterised as charming rather than powerful, whilst the spiritual home of Gamay is Beaujolais, which is itself on something of a roll and coming back into fashion.

This Touraine Gamay is pretty much a dead-ringer for a good Beaujolais - there's red, black and sour cherry fruit, a vibrant freshness and lilac / violet florality. Good underpinnings and length.

Light, focused, pure and precise.

Match with lighter game, especially duck.

£8.95 from Lea and Sandeman; provided for review.

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Bordeaux Grands Crus Classés: 2010-2013‏

In terms of spoiler alerts, I don't think I'm giving too much away up front if I say that the 2010s stood out at this 2010-2013 Grands Crus Classés and that the 2013s were, at best, light and delicate.

It is instructive to compare across terroirs and across vintages and, passing in my lunch hour, I had to make some hard choices about what to try and whether to chat.

In the end, I tasted as many wines as I could, picking areas and producers of some familiarity, at the expense of saying hello to a number of people - sorry, you know who you are.

Whilst all the wines were pretty much textbook examples with nothing faulty or statistically untoward, at a more detailed level, it was hard to judge them on a quick taste as some will be years off their peak, whilst lesser examples may show better in their youth but not develop as well.

Right Bank

Ch d'Aiguilhe, Castillon Cotes de Bordeaux 2010 ripe plump and spicy, drinking nicely now.

2011 good freshness and stuffing, nicely balanced.

2012 fresher with less plumpness.

2013 perfumey, light and fresh with a grippy firmness. Gently infused rather than overextracted.

Ch Gazin, Pomerol 2010 Merlot nose of fruit and coffee grounds; fresh, soft and plump with assertive grip.

2011 more of everything - fruit, perfume, substance and freshness. More stuffing.

2012 fresher and readier for drinking right now.

2013 lighter and fresher, nicely infused. Slight and delicate.

Margaux

Ch Rauzan-Segla 2011 focused cassis and savouriness with cool mint. Precise and elegant. Tannins very fine but still grippy.

2012 more cassis and cool-mint custard with freshness and savouriness.

St-Julien

Ch Branaire-Ducru 2010 ripe, smooth and spicy with savouriness. Still grippy.

2011 more perfumey, less plump. Feels less substantial but plenty of acidic structure.

2012 soft, smooth and ripe with sweet vanilla; drinking nicely now but still some grip on the finish.

2013 the lightest, thinnest and freshest.

Pauillac

Pontet-Canet 2013 violets and berry fruit, savoury minerality, firmness and persistence. Well balanced.

Sauternes

Ch Guiraud 2010 peaches, honey, beeswax, floral; sweet spice and roasted peach skins in butter with freshness.

2011 like the 2010, rich, unctuous and complex.

2012 fresher, with more honeysuckle character and no roasted elements.

2013 fresher again, like pureed peaches.

See here for Sediment Blog's distinctive take on the event.

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On Mature Bordeaux‏ (And Others)

It is rare these days that I taste a wine and don't review it - the odd bottle of dull plonk about which there is nothing to say, a textbook local wine on holiday costing a few euros.

 

For me, the rigour of analysing a wine enough to be able to describe it in a tasting note is all part of the challenge of learning about wine.

 

Dull wines are those whose styles are too familiar - I crave novelty and variety. And when I find it, I want to share the experience.

 

For me, wines are to be considered and discussed as much as consumed; wine-tasting as an intellectual activity.

 

If that makes me a rather geeky and overly-analytical dinner party guest, I can't help myself; we invited round a group of wine loving friends to try some mature Bordeaux, none of which needed a review. But I feel the need to put down some thoughts anyway.

 

We started with a fresh, textbook Canard-Duchene fizz whilst the children played in the garden, before sitting down to begin the serious business of assessing some mature wines.

 

Petite Arvine 2012, Switzerland on first opening, simple and citrussy, but with just a bit of air, it becomes weightier with floral, beeswaxy sweet spice. Very pure and adept. Just like a Swiss watch. Good.

 

Stands up to and cuts through our starters of griddled vegetables, asparagus in pancetta and mayonnaise.

 

From here, we dived into Bordeaux of varying maturity. Assessing these is a different game altogether.

Note that these wines were mostly bought at auction as mixed cases with no provenance details, so quality is, inevitably, variable.
 

Ch d'Angludet, Margux 1967 - not quite the oldest thing in the room. The fruit is rosehips, the tannins fully resolved and what is left is the acidity and tertiary flavours of an aged sherry. If fruit is the youthful plumpness of a wine, the acidity is its bone-structure; this was sallow-cheeked, bony and past its peak but still focused and venerable.

 

Ch Branaire-Ducru, St Julien 1976 almost a decade younger, but not in such good shape - twice decanted, it was still cloudy. It is oxidized, the fruit is all gone, it is somewhere between a decades-old tawny and an oloroso. Interesting academically, but we don't go back for more.

 

La Reserve de Leoville-Barton, St Julien, 1990 good fruit, balance and elegance let down by a lack of substance. What's there is perfectly fine, but it's rather slight and disappointing. A textbook second wine, perhaps?

 

Ch Clerc Milon, Pauillac 1995 previously decanted, this still has some grip and clearly is not short of stuffing. As well as fruit and structure, there is a savoury minerality. Elegant and still muscular. Very Good.

 

Patache d'Aux, Medoc 2003 (magnum) I find this one easier to understand - not least because it's my own contribution. Good, mature, mid-level Medoc; from a hot year, it's at a peak now and won't improve further. But there's fruit, depth, balance and an harmonious texture. The only let-down is a slightly alcoholic finish.

 

For me, it's a solid Good - or 15-16 pointer if you prefer scores. Jancis gives it a 12, meaning borderline undrinkable.

 

La Reserve de Leoville-Barton, St Julien 2006 a very different wine - still youthful and primary. Harmonious, fresh and elegant.

 

Ararat brandy 5yo, Armenia we finish with an Armenian brandy. With just five year's aging it still has the exuberence of youth, but this is tempered with sweet vanilla-spice smoothness. A colorful, characterful diamond in the rough - not without a degree of sophistication, but not entirely polished.

 

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The Irishman Whiskeys

Two new premium Irishman whiskies from Emporia

According to the press release, Emporia Brands is introducing ‘The Irishman’ a range of triple-distilled premium Irish Whiskeys which are new in the UK. They include:

- the only blended Irish Whiskey made entirely in copper pot stills, a triple distilled Irish Single Malt
- a 12 year old Single Malt
- a limited edition Cask Strength 54% Abv described as “quite exceptional” by Jim Murray in his Whisky Bible.

I was sent two to try.

Single Malt - golden sandy with aromas of peaty iodine, cooked fruit and spice.

Freshness, cooked mixed fruit, sweet vanilla and something medicinal - so far, so expressive and flavoursome. For me, the finish is a little disappointing; rather fiery with some alcoholic bitterness.

However, it seems I don't agree with the judges as it has won Double Gold at the World Spirits competition.

Founder's Reserve - golden sandy with sweet cooked fruit.

Freshness, sweet oaky vanilla, cooked mixed fruit and long, persistent savouriness; a touch of white pepper. Firm and very persistent finish.

Well-balanced and harmonious. Good.

The Irishman range of premium Whiskeys is available in 70cl bottles retailing from £25 - £150 from www.thedrinkshop.com and Hedonism www.Hedonism.co.uk; provided for review.

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Canard-Duchêne Authentic Réserve Brut NV, Champagne

An elegant, textbook Canard-Duchêne fizz from Waitrose

Founded in 1868, Canard-Duchêne was granted the right to include the Russian Imperial coat of arms on the bottle.

Sandy yellow in the glass, aromas of ripe orchard fruits, some muskiness.

Crisp, ripe orchard fruit; fresh, elegant and poised. Good, textbook Champagne.

Serve as a crisp aperitif or with canapes.

£26.99 from Waitrose and www.waitrosedirect.com; provided for review.

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Private Cellar Burgundy Tasting

A tasting of Burgundies with Private Cellar

Tasting red and white Burgundies selected by a Master of Wine on a warm spring evening in the Middle Temple is just about a perfect way to spend an hour or so after work.

The walls were panelled and hung with grand oil paintings, the ceilings ornate, the room full of successful, wine-loving lawyers - it was a world away, culturally, from the mermaid and the rugby player of last week.

I found I learnt as much about my own preferences from this tasting as I did about the wines:

- that I like all white Burgundy, including Chablis and Maconnais, I already knew.

- I like Beaujolais, but decided I find Fleurie rather too, well floral.

- I liked all the reds, but found the younger ones closed up and harder to assess (not for the first time)

With only limited time to get round, I decided to try the more-ambitious wines.

Whites

Domain Lamblin Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos 2010 (£34.96) zesty, mineral, honeyed, precise and long. Very Good.

Chateau Fuisse Pouilly-Fuisse Veilles Vignes 2008 (£30.96) 80% new oak, toasty, ripe, creamy-oatmealy brazil nut, precise. Very Good.

Domaine Matrot Meursault Villages 2012 (£35.46) toasty, sweet spice, muskiness, ripe yet taut and complex; floral with honey and zestiness. Very Good.

Domaine Jean Chartron - new to Private Cellar this year, I tried all three wines on show.

Bourgogne Blanc Clos de la Combe 2012 (£13.96) in Puligny, but lower down the slope and out of appellation; ripe citrus, fresh and toasty, a solid performer.

Puligny Montrachet 1er Cru Clos de la Pucelle 2012 (£60.46) ripe, toasty, complex and assured. Lots of stuffing. Very Good Indeed.

Puligny Montrachet 1er Cru Clos de Cailleret 2008 (in magnum, N/A) from a nearby vineyard with more calcareous soils giving a more focused and precise result, more steely-mineral. Very Good Indeed.

Beaujolais

Domaine Laurent Savoye Beaujolais Villages Elegance 2011 (£8.96) black cherry and mulberry fruit, precise, fresh and pure. Good.

Domaine Laurent Fleurie la Cadole 2012 (£12.86) softer and more floral. Good.

Domaine Christophe Savoye Morgon (£14.96) floral with cherry and mulberry fruit, sweet spice; fresh pure and long. Good.

Reds

Domaine Bertrand Machard de Gramont Nuits St Georges Terrasses des Vallerots 2010 (£25.96) Burgundian nose, sweet ripe red fruits, like fruit pastilles. Fresh, pure, precise. Very Good.

Domaine Parent Pommard 1er Cru Les Chaponnieres 2005 (£43.46) merest brick-red hints, truffles and well-hung game; sweet, ripe cherry fruit. Harmonious, elegant, savoury, fresh and precise. A touch of peppery spice on the finish. Good.

Domaine Frederic Magnien Gevrey Chambertin Vieilles Vignes 2008 (£26.96) truffley-mushroomy with ripe red fruits, plenty of stuffing and harmonious. Very Good.

Domaine Poisot - I was recommended to try all of these by a friend who was there. I found the younger wines quite closed up and not easy to assess, so I have not scored these at all. As shown, they were all Good; with time, aeration and / or aging, they might well have shown as anywhere up to Very Good Indeed.

Cotton Charlemagne Grand Cru 2012 (£90.46) supple honeyed and ripe yet zesty with creamy-oatmealy brazil nut.

Pernand Vergelesses 1er Cru en Caradeux 2012 (£29.96) fresh and ripe with lots of stuffing.

Corton Bressandes Grand Cru 2012 (£66.46) sweet, ripe red fruits, vibrant with some grip.

Romanee St Vivant Grand Cru 2008 (£179.46) truffley-mushroomy-farmyardy, sweet ripe red fruits, like fruit pastilles. Long, assured and harmonious.

Recommended Wines

White - Domaine Jean Chartron Puligny Montrachet 1er Cru Clos de la Pucelle 2012

Red - Domaine Frederic Magnien Gevrey Chambertin Vieilles Vignes 2008

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Private Cellar - website, twitter, facebook