Decanter Spain and Portugal Tasting

27 Feb 2016, Landmark Hotel
These Decanter tastings are always great fun, but it's generally hard to make any proper notes. With around 80 tasting stands it's well over a hundred tasting samples in a few hours so the notes are generally brief and, towards the end of the day, utterly incoherent! As a result, what follows is some brief notes on things which really stood out.

Highlight of the day
The absolute highlight of the day was the discovery of the wonderful wines and ports from Quinta da Romaneira. How had I not come across these before? The estate is owned by Christian Seely, of Quinta do Noval and other AXA Millesimes fame, so it's not exactly been flying under the radar.

The Touriga Nacional 2012 was superb: both floral and meaty notes coming over the underlying fruit. The foreign interloper (Syrah, 2012) was also excellent - a really great expression of the classic syrah characteristics. Also well worth watching out for is the Quinta da Romaneira LBV Unfiltered Port. At a retail price of around £12 it's marvellous value. Christian Seely was behind the stand pouring the wines and said that he takes LBV port as seriously as possible. These are single-quinta, unfiltered, trodden in lagares.

Rioja
I particularly enjoyed the following Riojas:
Valserrano Blanco Gran Reserva Rioja 2009 (Interesting oxidative character)
Ramon Bilbao, Gran Reserva Rioja 2008 (Good, modern style)
CVNE, Imperial Reserva Rioja 2009 (Great modern style)
CVNE, Imperial, Real de Asua, Rioja 2010 (Modern style, very good)
Vina Pomal, Alto de la Caseta Rioja 2010
Vina Muriel, Gran Reserva Rioja 2004 (Very, very good - probably my favourite Rioja of the day. Pretty old school, great concentration, great lenth, lots of tobacco)
Muriel (note, not "Vina" Muriel) Gran Reserva Rioja 2008 (Old schoold, austere, very good)
Muga Prado Enea, Gran Reserva Rioja 2006 (the old classic - a real crowd pleaser)
Bohedal Hebabe Graciano, Rioja Alta 2010 (Very good, but quite hard work without food)
Marques de Riscal, Baron de Chirel, Rioja 2010 (Very interesting, savoury, tomato notes)
Altos de Rioja, Altos R Pigeage Graciano Rioja 2012 (Austere, savoury, meaty, very tannic, but the tannins are well hidden)
Lar de Paula Reserva Rioja 2009 (Classic, meaty and red fruit nose)

Bierzo
Castro Ventosa, Valtuille, Cepas Centenarias, Mencia, Bierzo 2012
Soto del Vicario, Men de Mencia, Bierzo 2007

Sherry
Tragically, there was only one sherry producer there. Fortunately it was a good one - Valdespino. We tried the whole range and it was all good.
The Fino Inocente was a single vineyard fino with 10-years under the flor. I don't think I've ever had a single-quinta sherry before.
The Tio Diego Amontillado (also delicious) was another single-quinta sherry.
The Viejo CP Palo Cortado was a 20-year aged sherry (after a couple of years under flor).
The Cardenal Palo Cortado VORS basically takes the previous sherry and ages it for another 20 years in solera. This was a really superb sherry.

Random collection of other notables
At the Pesquera stand, I enjoyed all the wines. In particular, the Dehesa la Granja 2009 (Castilla y Leon I believe) was really powerful. The El Vinculo and Condado de Haza were also great.

The Agusti Torello Mata Cavas were great. I really enjoyed the "Kripta" 2008 cava (which comes in a crazy-looking Amphora bottle). The Brut Gran Reserva 2010 was also very rich. These cavas have the base wine aged in barrel and lots of lees contact. This is where the creaminess comes from - no MALO.


The Kopke stand was very interesting. Of particular note was the 30-year old White port. This was really good - very high acid, extremely crisp and refreshing.

Bordeaux vs South Africa

South Africa vs Bordeaux
Monday 22 Sept 2014
VB London Bridge

This tasting was arranged as 4 pairs of contenders: SA vs Bordeaux. The aim was in no way to pair off the best against the best - rather it was to pit similarly priced (usually around 15-20 GBP a bottle retail) wines against each other. As might be expected. in such a competition the SA wines won. You might argue that VB are not the most unbiased party in such a competition. However, Gerrie is a huge cheerleader for Bordeaux wines so he's perhaps not as biased as you might expect.

1st pair
Bordeaux: Clarendelle 2007, Graves
This is part of the Haut Brion stable so no doubting the quality of the winemaking being applied to it. Medium-intensity aromas of sweet spice, cedar, fresh blackcurrant. Very smooth mouthfeel. The tannins are very fine so it takes a little while to notice that this has quite a serious delayed tannic grip. However, the tannins are not that ripe tasting and the wine is surprisingly light-bodied for a Cabernet-dominated blend.

SA:Meinert DC 2005
Medium intensity aromas of cedar, smoke, mint and (slightly cooked) fruit. The mouthfeel was less smooth than the Clarendelle, with more jagged tannins. However, the wine was more pleasurable to drink. There was more body, and the wine was more approachable. Perhaps the acid was not quite enough to balance the tannin but otherwise very pleasant.

Conclusion: The Bordeaux was more austere and less approachable. It was elegant, with very fine tannin. However, it was hard to drink without food. The SA wine was very approachable by contrast.

2nd pair
Bordeaux: Chateau Haut-Goujon 2008, Lalande de Pomerol
This was pretty low intensity aromas with a mostly primary fruit nose. Little in the way of secondary/tertiary development. Very smooth mouthfeel. Medium body. This was OK, but a little simple. Moderate tannin, relatively high acid, medium(-) body.

SA: Morgenster 2005
Much darker colour than the Haut-Goujon. More intense aromas. Slightly over-ripe/cooked note to the fruit flavours. However, there were more pleasing savoury, vegetal notes on the palate. Well balanced, this was really good.

Conclusion: The French one here was not very good if I'm being honest. The SA wine was excellent.

3rd pair
Bordeaux:Chateau Lagrave Figeac, 2007, St Emilion Grand Cru
Soft red fresh fruit character. This was actually pretty tannic, but hid it well. Elegant. Very pleasant. High acid. Well balanced. A somewhat green aftertaste, but I only picked this up towards the end of the tasting.

SA: De Toren Fusion V, 2010
The "V" refers to the fact that this blend contains all 5 major Bordeaux varietals. Deep colour. Rich aroma - very ripe fruit. Tastes typically warm climate. This was spicy, peppery, well balanced with great length and enjoyable finish. This wine was 15% abv, but I would never have noticed.

Conclusion: This was the first pairing which felt very close in terms of quality. I really liked both of these.

4th pair
Bordeaux: Chateau des Garvieres 2009, Margaux
Again this was somewhat restrained on the nose. Sour acid and savoury notes on the palate. The fruit character is mostly ripe/cooked black fruit. Smooth mouthfeel. The tannins are high, but well hidden and balanced by high acid. Very long. This was very enjoyable - particularly after some time in the glass. It's not that approachable on first pouring though.

SA: Kanonkop Paul Sauer, 2007
Smooth and ripe. Medium(+) body. Quite spicy. Very high tannin, medium(+) acid. Perhaps a bit too much tannin, although with food this would not be a problem.

Conclusion: Both of these were good. The SA wine had more of the classic cigar box flavour than any other wine tasted this evening. The French wine was a bit of a sleeper. It really came alive in the glass. Great length too.

Decanting

Really interesting article about decanting from Wine Searcher.
http://www.wine-searcher.com/m/2013/08/decanting-what-makes-it-work

It goes into detail about the chemistry of what happens to a wine when it is aerated in this way. Also, they conclude that the oxygen is not reacting with the tannins so it's just an issue of perception that tannins are softened by aerating.

Spain (WSET)

More notes from ages ago... Spain tasting at the WSET Centre.

1. Tinajas de la Mata, Bodegas Bernabe Navarro
Didn't note the vintage
Medium gold colour. Semi-cloudy appearance (unfiltered). Medium strength oxidative aroma. Floral. Very complex. Almost cider-like nose.
Dry, high acid. Quite light body, but complex aftertaste. More apple fruit on the palate than on the nose.
Very good. This would be an enjoyable aperitif wine. Very interesting.
Price: GBP 12.42

2. El Bon Homme, Rafael Cambra, 2010
DO Valencia
Pretty deep purple colour. Somewhat watery rim. This smells like a young red wine - blackcurrant, vanilla. Something savoury overlaying this though.
High acid, medium body. Surprisingly high tannin. Decent length.
Good, but not amazing.
Price: GBP 10.95

3. La Tremenda, Enrique Mendoza 2010
DO Valencia
Deep purple colour. Medium(+) fruit intensity. Meaty, savoury notes overlaying the black fruit. Somewhat stewed fruit - presumably very ripe grapes.
Medium(+) body. Juicy fruit. More likely to age than the previous wine. High tannin, very fresh. Good concentration. Pepper. Silky mouthfeel.
This is very good. Felt like it had ageing potential.
Price: GBP 11.95

4. Altico Syrah, Bodegas Carchelo
DO Valencia. Didn't note the vintage. 100% Syrah
Opaque red wine. Inky.
Almost port-like nose (spiritous)
High tannin, high(ish) acid. Fairly simple character.
Enjoyable, but wouldn't seek it out. Much less refined than the previous wine.
Price: GBP 12.99

5. Doble Pasta, Cien y Pico
DO Manchuela. Vintage not noted (again!)
Inky purple colour. Medium intensity. Woody, with vanilla notes. Also some blueberries and cherries.
Spicy finish. Medium body. High tannin. Only 13.5% abv. Smooth mouthfeel on initial attack, but pretty searing after a while. This gets too much.
Price: GBP 11.45

6. P.F. 2010, Bodegas y Vinedos Ponce
DO Manchuela
This is made from the bobal grape.
Pretty deep purple colour. Watery rim. Green pepper, herbal notes. Some vanilla.
Smooth and silky on the initial attack. Serious tannin comes through after a while though - very fine tannin, even if a lot of it. Intense and mouthfilling. High acid.
Price: GBP 15.90

7. Mestizaje Tinto, Bodega Mustiguillo, 2011
Deep, almost opaque purple. Modern-style nose.
Smooth, juicy fruit. Very balanced. Complex. Very interesting.
Price: GBP 11.95

8. Felipe Gutierrez de la Vega, Casta Diva, Moscatel 2009
DO Alicante
Honey-coloured. Nose has intense orange and floral notes. A little "grapey". Very clean. No botrytis.
Honey and apricots on the palate. Fresh, good acid. Well balanced. Intense. Sweet, but not at all cloying.
Very nice.
Price: GBP 18.90

Monday 10 Sept 2012

1. Professor Black Sauvignon Blanc 2011
Very pale, almost colourless. Restrained nose for a Sauvignon Blanc - some gooseberry, some citrus notes. Quite grassy. However, the wine has an intense palate - probably as a result of being left on the lees. Heavier mouthfeel. Plenty of fruit on the palate. Good length. Perhaps a little hot on the finish but otherwise very good. Powerful, primary character.

2. Chardonnay 2010
Medium gold. Intense nose. Noticeable oak, apple, nuts, cream, vanilla (the usual suspects). Very high acid. Full bodied, with a silky mouthfeel. Palate is quite intense - nuts, cooked apple, candied lemon. This is good, but perhaps would prefer it if it had more noticeable primary fruit character.

3. The First Lady Cabernet Sauvignon 2010
Really juicy blackberry fruit on the nose. Also, spice, liquorice, tobacco. The fruit is less prominent on the palate, but still plenty of liquorice. Sour finish, but otherwise very easy drinking. Simple and nice, not for storage but enjoyable now.

4. Old Bush Vine Pinotage 2010
Jammy red fruit on nose. Very ripe. Banana note on palate - in fact somewhat reminiscent of a barbecued banana . Quite soft and enjoyable, but somewhat sour finish. Probably better with food.

5. Three Cape Ladies 2010
This is the first serious red wine tonight. Red fruit on the nose... also something like beer too. Can a wine be "hoppy"? Ripe fruit - something cooked or concentrated about the flavour on the nose - not really noticeable on the palate. The oak is there but feels restrained, despite having spent almost 2 years in oak! Prominent tannins. This is somewhat austere, but in a good way. A very good wine. Will age.

6. Trilogy 2009
Complex meaty aromas overlaying black fruit. Really refined palate. Silky mouthfeel. Great fruit intensity. Meaty and savoury on the finish. This is really very good. Power, balance and complexity. Should age well too.

7. Cabernet Franc 2009
Ripe black fruit and tobacco on the nose. Silky and high acid on the palate - the tannins, whilst present, feel well camouflaged. A little restrained at first, this opened up nicely in the glass. Probably needs a little time to really hit its stride - promises great things. However, it's very nice now as well.

Gavalas Winery, Santorini

Visited in Summer 2012.

The contrast beween this winery and Boutari was very interesting. Boutari is a large, modern winery with plenty of new winemaking technology. This is a small old-fashioned family producer. For example, the Vin Santo is still made by foot-treading in a concrete lagare (or whatever the correct Greek word for this is!) with the filtration being done by having the wine drip through a wicker basket!

Like an idiot, I didn't note down any of the vintages here. D'Oh!

1. Katsano (actually 85% Katsano and 15% Gaidouria)
This is a new grape variety for me. Apparently it accounts for around 1% of Santorini wine production. Since this is not Assyrtiko, this is officially a "regional wine of the cyclades" rather than from the Santorini appellation.

Pale lemon colour. Herbal and smoky nose (no oak). Smooth mouthfeel. Very acidic and refreshing. Light body. Well balanced. Mineral finish. This is very good, if unusual.

2. Santorini
Very pale colour. Nose is predominantly primary fruit - lots of lemon. Also some floral notes. Upon swirling the wine in the glass, the usual Santorini sea-salt smell comes through as well. Intense palate. Lots of lemony acidity. Strong minerality. Great length and powerful finish. An excellent unoaked example

3. Nikteri
This is not barrel-fermented, but is aged in oak for 6-months after fermentation. A half-way house between the usual Santorini style and the Barrel-Fermented style. I like it. Medium-pale gold colour. Nose has usual primary fruit, but also spice, nuts and vanilla. Also creamy notes from the oak. The palate is intense and the wine is surprisingly full bodied. This is somewhat rustic in character. High acid, but soft and creamy mouthfeel. Lots of power and well balanced. Very good.

4. Vin Santo
Dark toffee/treacle colour. Strong sweet aromas such as toffee, also plenty of complexity. Coffee, orange. The palate is a bit too sticky, a little raisiny. Some rancio character on the palate. Bitter chocolate. This does have high acid, but the sweetness still feels a little overdone. This is good, but only in very small doses.

Boutari Winery, Santorini

Visited in Summer 2012.

1. Santorini 2011
Pale green. Floral, appley nose. Hints of the sea. Very crisp and acidic. Strong lemon flavour on palate. Lots of minerality. Good fruit intensity. Surprisingly long given that this is just the entry level wine. Well balanced. Very good.
Cost: 8 EUR

2. Kallisti Reserve 2007
Deeper yellow colour than the previous wine, coming from the oak and the extra age. Noticeable oak on the nose - some smoky and creamy notes. Soft and silky mouthfeel, some oak tannins. There is a something of a sherry / oxidation character. Good, refreshing acid. Complex. Very interesting. This was paired with a Greek cheese (didn't get the name) and the pairing was excellent. The cheese tasted sharper and the wine tasted creamier.
Cost: 15 EUR

3. Mandilaria 2009
This is a semi-dry red wine, which sounds like a pretty inauspicious start. The grapes are dried for around 3 days before pressing. This sweetness helps to mitigate the tannins. However, it's not to my taste. The nose is simple red fruit. The palate is sour, with residual sugar. Light and simple. You'd have to be insane to buy this for more than the first wine though!
Cost: 9 EUR

4. Vin Santo Santorini 2007
Vin Santos come from white grapes which have been sun dried. The wine is then aged for over 3 years in barrel - sometimes much longer.

Intense aroma of toffee, nuts, coffee. Some oxidized and rancio aromas. Good acidity... the finish is almost sour. This is complex and well balanced. Very good.
Cost: 16 EUR (didn't note down bottle size though)

Decanter Spain and Portugal Tasting

Spain and Portugal
Landmark Hotel
22 Feb 2014

This was one of the most enjoyable Decanter tastings I've been to for quite a while. Often these tastings are far too crowded from lunchtime onwards. Difficult to get to the wines, impossible to get to the spitoon. However, this felt much more appropriately busy. Perhaps the general wine drinking public in the UK is less excited by Spain and Portugal than the usual Decanter fare. The wines were excellent too. Some expected, many unexpectedly great.

Far, far too many wines to be able to make serious tasting notes of them. Most of my notes are quite incoherent. However, some wines really stood out. Great wines I'd never come across before (in no particular order):

Tenoira Gayoso, Mencia en Barrica 2009
No UK agent
Very high acid, but in balance. Very serious nose.

Grupo Dominio de Tares, Cepas Viejas, Bierzo 2009
Meaty notes on top of red fruit. Silky on initial attack, grippy tannins on end. Great finish.

Jose Pariente Verdejo 2013, Rueda
Bright and fresh. Nose a bit like a Sauvignon Blanc, but with softer acid.

Numanthia, Termanthia 2009
120 y.o. ungrafted, pre-phylloxera vines.
This was excellent. Serious power, great length. Spicy nose with floral notes. Great balance and complexity... each sip something new comes through. Expensive though - £120 a bottle.

Recaredo
Some really interesting and complex Cavas here. I'd never had such interesting Cava before. The 2003 Reserva Particular and the 2001 Turo d'en Mota de Recaredo were both superb.

Viniberia Almacenista Selection Sherries
This stand was next to Equipo Navazos so had some stiff competition. Some really great stuff here though. The "Cayetano del Pino", Palo Cortado Viejisimo was sublime. Must look out for more sherries from these guys.

Bodegas Tobia, Rioja
These guys were very hardcore. I'd never come across them before but they were very good. High graciano content in many of their wines. Really liked their "Seleccion" and the "Alma Tobia". The 100% Graciano wine was seriously savoury and powerful but with less of the meaty note I would usually expect.

Jose Maria da Fonseca
The moscatels were excellent.

Aged tawny ports
The (very old) aged white tawny ports were a revelation. They had all the usually nutty complexity of a very old aged tawny, but with more acidity. This was really refreshing.

The Colheita ports going back to 1941(!) was an unexpected treat. It was a little surprising that there was no real extra increase in complexity from 1966 to 1941 (but obviously there was a very significant increase in price!). The 1966 was probably my favourite but realistically all of them were great.

Wines I'd had before but was happy to have again:
Bodegas Faustino
The "Faustino I" never fails to surprise me in how good it is. The 1994 was particularly good.

Torres
The "Mas la Plana", "Perpetual", and "Grans Muralles" were all excellent. The Grans Muralles was my favourite of the three.

Barrel-fermented Chardonnay, Chivite, Coleccion 125
Excellent as always. An old favourite.

Roda, Rioja
Both the "Roda Reserva" and "Roda I" were excellent. The reserva was more red fruit in character, the Roda I was more black fruit.

Equipo Navazos
Some really interesting stuff here. For example, one of their wines ("La Bota 45, Fino (Amontillado), Montilla") was a 20-year aged fino (and thus bone dry), made from Pedro Ximenez grapes. None of which makes sense, but the wine was excellent.

My favourite was the "La Bota 47, Palo Cortado Viejisimo". Like a nut cluster-bomb going off in your mouth.

So, in summary, lots of great stuff. There were other great wines I tried too but they had even more indecipherable notes than the ones above!

Champagne Gaston Collard

This was a tiny producer (1.75 ha) which was located on the same street as our gite. We popped in whilst walking past to see whether we could get a tasting. At the time we went in they were busy bottling some wines so the producer asked if we could come back later that afternoon. Later, whilst we were walking back to our gite the producer saw us and ran down the road after us to offer us a tasting. Unusual dedication! (particularly given the rather lacklustre attitude of some other producers on the same road e.g. Fromentin-Laclepart, who just couldn't be bothered to offer a tasting when we came to visit!). This producer was the only one we visited that day which made noticeable use of MALO. Really interesting to see the difference it makes after a day of so much wine without it.

Unlike almost all the other producers whose English was pretty rudimentary (although, clearly, much better than my French!) excellent English was spoken here. The producer has recently taken over from his father. From his comments it appears that he has different ideas about how the wines should be made... so these tasting notes might end up being out of date pretty soon (many of these wines were from vintages where his father was still in charge).

Since this place is so tiny it has no real marketing and totally relies on word of mouth. It was really good and some of it was ridiculously good value. So, I can strongly recommend this place.

1. Brut
90% Pinot Noir, 10% Chardonnay. 10g of sugar/litre.

Lots of apple on the nose. Soft mouthfeel. Soft mousse. Some bready notes. This is perhaps a little simple, but very effective. This has length without the taste changing - no sourness on the finish, it just stays good until the end. At 13.50 EUR it's just ridiculously good value.

2. Rose
90% White wine, 10% red wine. 10g of sugar/litre.

Very pale salmon colour. Crisp acid, explosive mousse. A simple, but good, rose.

3. Grand Cru, Prestige Cuvee
Only made from old-vine grapes. 6g of sugar/litre. I'm a bit vague as to whether this was a vintage or not. I've got 2008 written down, but maybe that was year it was blended..?

Really fruity - cooked apple most noticeable. Honey, nuts. Like a wine that happens to be sparkling rather than a usual sparkling wine. Very powerful. This was very recently disgorged (not actually released yet) so the liqueur is a little noticeable - perhaps a little more viscous than it normally would be. Should be fully integrated soon. Excellent stuff.

4. Bouzy Rouge
We tried two wines here. One was made in the years when his father was in charge, but was one where he had convinced his father not to filter the wine. The other was a more recent vintage where he was fully in control.

The wines were mainly of academic interest... much in the same way that reds from Alsace are. Very good still pinot noir for the region, but even so it's not really my cup of tea.

Champagne Camille Saves

This was the only producer with whom we had booked a tasting for a specific time... unusually go-with-the-flow for my wine tasting holidays! You really don't need to book at most places in Bouzy - at least for this time of year. Having said that, the tasting here was excellent and very generous. Also, the wines were excellent. So glad we went here.

1. Carte Blanche 1er Cru
75% Pinot Noir, 25% Chardonnay. 9g of sugar / litre. Made from a blend of 2008 and 2009 wines.

Definite pinot noir style nose. Good mouthfilling stuff. Crisp, appley acid dominates. Honeyed notes on the finish. Quite long, with a sour yet pleasant finish.

2. Carte d'Or
Again a 75-25 blend. Made from a blend of 2008 and 2007 wines.

Quite an intense nose. Cooked apple, honey. Lots of yeast autolysis notes. Crisp apple acid. Quite refined but powerful too. Really serious stuff.

3. Brut Cuvee Prestige
Didn't note down the cepage. Mixture of 2006, 2007 wines.

This sample feels like it's been open too long. Very good though despite this. Intense palate, more so than previous one. Great length. However, in the end there's not quite enough to justify paying more for this than for the previous wine.

4. Cuvee Extra Brut
Blend of 2007 and 2008 wines. This is not quite zero dosage (4g of sugar/litre). However, it has the usual problem I find with all zero dosage wines... just lacks the body that comes with a small amount of dosage - feels like a waste of a wine. This was the only one I didn't like from this producer.

5. 2007 Vintage
80% Pinot Noir, 20% Chardonnay. 7g of sugar / litre.

Very fine bubbles. Refined nose. Rich biscuity notes. Towards the English taste. Lots of yeast autolysis notes. Very good.

6. Cuvee Anais Jolicoeur 2008
90% Pinot Noir, 10% Chardonnay.

Very fine bubbles. Very elegant, but still with plenty of oomph. Base wine aged in barrique - some new, some old. Really pleasant wine.

7. Rose
60% Chardonnay, 28% Pinot Noir, 12% Bouzy Rouge

Very crisp acidity... presumably from the high Chardonnay content. Delicate red fruit. Some tannin noticeable. Well balanced - I liked this quite a lot.

Champagne Barnaut

A very brief tasting in the Barnaut shop whilst en route to Camille Saves. A little underwhelming - nothing wrong, but felt that many other wines we tasted were better at the same or lower prices.

1. Grande Reserve Brut
2/3 Pinot Noir, 1/3 Chardonnay. 6g of sugar/litre

Have seen some people online complaining about tired samples from bottles which had clearly been open too long. No such problems here - this was a freshly opened bottle. Crisp acid, lots of lemon. An aperitif-style wine. Well balanced and elegant. Very pleasant, but the Jean-Baptiste Martin was better at the same price.

2. Cuvee Edmond Vintage 2007
40% Pinot Noir, 40% Chardonnay, 20% Pinot Meunier.

Much deeper colour than the previous wine. This tastes too young - finish way too sour. Needs time.

Champagne Jean-Baptiste Martin

This was a huge find... the type of place where you half feel like not telling anyone about it. Whilst carrying some wine back to the gite from the Jean Vesselle tasting we took a random detour and just popped into the first Champagne house which caught our eye. So glad we did!

This place did not feel set up for tourists at all. We ended up buying 18 bottles... but they only had 6 bottles in stock and had to send someone off to collect extra from their cellars in Verzenay (I think). And then the card machine hadn't been used in so long it wasn't charged, and they had to dig out the instruction manual to try to get it working. Very charming, and makes you wonder how the economics of the situation work out.

1. Cuvee Lucie Martin
80% Pinot Noir, 20% Chardonnay

Medium gold colour. Very good biscuity, bready nose. Very elegant. Crisp, fine mousse. Manages to be both delicate and powerful. The finest we've tasted so far. I bought quite a few of these.

2. Rose
90% Pinot Noir, 10% Chardonnay

Interesting nose. Slight jammy notes on the finish. This is more towards the end of the rose spectrum where you would probably mistake it for a white if tasted blind. Nice, and I bought some, but the Cuvee Lucie Martin is by far my favourite.

Champagne Jean Vesselle

An odd one this. The estate was much more set up for tasting than most we visited and seemed much busier too. However, the wines were pretty underwhelming. Not sure why this one appears more popular with tourists. It just goes to show the poor relationship between popularity/price and quality with grower Champagnes.

1. Cuvee Prestige
70% Pinot Noir, 30% Chardonnay. 9g of sugar/litre

Good but nothing special. Light, quite elegant. The main problem is tasting it after the Maurice Vesselle extravaganza just before.

Now that my palate is reacclimatising this wine has grown on me. However, it just feels a little underwhelming - at the price there are many better wines we tasted... all available within a few hundred metres!

2. Cuvee Brut Reserve
80% Pinot Noir, 20% Chardonnay

Funny nose (I really didn't like it). However, on the palate I prefer this to the previous one. It feels "rougher" than the previous wine... However, the previous wine felt like it was trying, and failing, to be something it wasn't. This was feels honest.

3. Brut Oeil de Perdrix
100% Pinot Noir
This name means "Eye of the partridge", similarly to the Tuscan Vin Santo. This wine had a very light pink colour, floral notes and unusual texture. Good acid and length. Feels like more of a food wine.

Champagne Maurice Vesselle

This was the first place where we just rocked up and asked for a tasting. So glad we did - the choice of this place was quite arbitrary, yet it turned out to be a great success. Generous tasting and great wines. The person giving our tasting spoke a little English, but was happy to conduct a tasting aided by plenty of gesticulation.

1. Cuvee Reserve Brut
80% Pinot Noir, 20% Chardonnay
A blend made in 2007 from the following vintages: 2004, 2006, 2007.

Very good. Made towards the English style (gout anglais I think they call it). Rich, powerful, honeyed. Grilled peaches. Good length... perhaps the finish might be a little too sweet if you drank a lot of it, but in the tasting this is excellent. Later note: we had a bottle of this as a pre-prandial drink that evening, this was not true at all. This is very good. At 17.50 EUR it's also a bargain!

2. 2004 Vintage
50-50 Pinot Noir, Chardonnay blend.
Acidity much more noticeable than the previous wine. More lifted and floral and refined. This sample is a little tired - the bottle feels as though it's been open too long. Dried apricots on the palate. Sour apple finish.
Cost: 23.50 EUR.

3. 2000 Vintage
85% Pinot Noir, 15% Chardonnay.

Rich nose. Honey, nuts, stewed apple on the nose. Crisp acid on the palate. Well balanced, sour note on the finish is much less prominent. I wonder how much of this was vintage variation and how much is simply the extra age..? This is good for drinking now, but will improve with age. This is really very good.
Also 23.50 EUR.

4. 1998 Vintage
80% Pinot Noir, 20% Chardonnay.
This sample has apparently been open for 5 days.

Intense "English style". Rich, mouthfilling. Nuts, almost mushroomy character on the nose and palate. Really long-lived on the palate.
More expensive at 55 EUR.

5. 1988 Vintage
Didn't get the cepage for this one.

Acidity still quite noticeable, more so than the previous wine... even though it's 10 years older. Amazing nose. Very serious contemplation wine. Really intense. Good to know that the vintages will age so well.
Cost: 100 EUR.

6. 2008 Vintage Rose
100% Pinot Noir, Maceration style.

Good soft, red fruit aromas. However, on the palate it feels like it would come across like a white Champagne if tasted blind. A little on the softer side than the whites.

Champagne Herbert Beaufort

This was attached to the Gite where we stayed. First tasting of the day at 9:30am!

1. Cuvee du Melomane, Blanc de Blanc
Delicate, bready, lemon, grapefruit. Very acidic. Good length.

2. Carte d'Or Grand Cru
90% Pinot Noir, 10% Chardonnay
Very noticeable acid. More intense and fuller bodied than previous. Lemon, some strawberry notes on finish. Good length.

3. 2008 Vintage
50% Pinot Noir, 50% Chardonnay. Approx 10% of their production goes into this. There was no vintage in 2007, previous one was 2006.

Lifted, somewhat floral nose. Yeast autolysis. Very elegant. Some complexity, although green apple is the main aroma.

4. Rose "Cuvee Yllen"
100% Pinot Noir. Macerated, not blended, rose.

Very noticeable strawberry on the nose and palate. Not one of the roses which would taste like a white Champagne if tasted blind. Good acid, good structure. Long, with pleasant finish. This was my favourite from this producer.

3 post-WSET wines

These three wines were tasted (amongst many others!) with Ed and Jordi at a recent post-WSET session.

2000 Grande Cuvee, Domaine de l'Hortus
Domaine de l'Hortus is one of the foremost producers in the Pic St Loup region. This used to be part of the Languedoc region but is now its own appellation.

This was quite pale colour, but full of ripe and rich flavours. Very noticeable herbal nature, which makes sense given that this is total garrigue region. Something meaty too. An aromatic shiraz & grenache blend. This is awesome - it's great now and, despite the pale colour, still has time ahead of it.

2003 Devon Crest, Meinert, Devon Valley, South Africa
This was recommended to me when the wine I ordered in VB London Bridge was not available. It was excellent. I've had this wine from a different, younger vintage before and it was good, but not so amazing that I made a note of it. This time, however, the wine is at peak age so was really striking. So much so that I bought a bottle to this occasion.

Pale colour, lightish body, dusty tannin. This is sour and juicy and refreshing on the palate, but also has plenty of interesting development character. Lots of tobacco and cedar and cigar. Meaty and leathery. An oxidative and slightly austere character. Definitely not one to keep - at its peak now. This was very good.

2010 Sainsbury's Cotes du Rhone
This is made by Chapoutier.

Intense and full bodied. High tannins, high acid. This was seriously intense - almost like an amarone. I definitely didn't guess what we were drinking. For less than £10 a bottle this is a serious bargain.

Boekenhoutskloof Tasting

Vivat Bacchus
26 November 2012

1. Semillon 2009
This is old-vine semillon (some vines dating back to the 40s). Smoky and waxy nose. High acid, round and mouthfilling. This has a slight banana aftertaste, but not in the typical rubber/banana SA cliche way, but in a ripe fruit kind of way. This is delicious, long and will age well.

2. Cabernet Sauvignon 2001
This has a noticeable oxidative character. Partly from the bottle age, also presumably from the 27 months in new oak that the Cab Sauv gets. A rich nose: wood, spice and nuts overlaying the black fruit foundation. Some cigar box too. This is developing complexity but still has a juicy, refreshing and smooth feel on the palate so presumably has scope to improve even further. Very good stuff.

3. Cabernet Sauvignon 2006
This has a more austere nose than the 2001. Again, it has the oxidative character. More medium-bodied and thinner feel on the tongue. Still lots of fruit-flavour intensity. Tannins felt more prominent. Good length. Not the best of the wines tonight, but in a typical line-up would still be very impressive.

4. Cabernet Sauvignon 2009
Noticeable oak, smoky, dark fruits. So smooth and ripe on the palate. Juicy and refreshing finish. Lots of power. High tannin, but not dominant (only really stands out when the wine is swirled round the front of the gums). Ridiculous length. This is very nice now, but should be seriously excellent in a few years.

5. Syrah 2004
Unlike the Cab Sauv, the Syrah apparently sees no new oak. Ripe black fruit and pepper on the nose. Definitely some oxidative character. Slight rancio aromas - cooked meat, savoury finish. Great length. Oh, how I wish I'd loaded up on this when I was a student and it was cheap.

6. Syrah 2006
Sour and juicy character. Like the 2006 Cab Sauv, this is a more austere wine - apparently a more difficult vintage.

7. Syrah 2009
So fruity and powerful. Ripe black fruit and pepper. Serious ripeness evident on the palate too. Seriously intense and powerful. This is really impressive.

8. Semillon Noble Late Harvest 2004
Amber colour. Fresh apricot and orange on the nose. High acid - not at all cloying. This is very good. It still has lots of flavour intensity. A white pepper finish. Will age very well... sadly there's no more available!

Random trivia:
- The wine labels are hand-torn and applied by hand.
- The same winery also produces the Porcupine Ridge, Wolf Trap and Chocolate Block ranges. The Chocolate Block is also superb.

Greatest Champagnes in the World

Milk & Honey Soho
28 November 2012

An interesting tasting, but ultimately not as impressive as I'd hoped. This was billed as comparing the finest Grandes Marques champagnes against top grower champagnes so I was expecting great things. Sadly, many of the champagnes were not very enjoyable. The recent sparkling wine tasting at the Theatre of Wine was half the price and had a much better average quality of wine. So, whilst I enjoyed the opportunity to taste a lot of these very expensive Champagnes together from an academic interest point of view, I did not enjoy drinking them as much as I was hoping to.

1. Ruinart Blanc de Blancs
Very light and simple. Nothing special. Overpriced.

2. Comte Audoin de Dampierre, Grand Cru
This was actually pretty good. Felt very intense after #1. A somewhat aggressive attack on the mousse. Lots of flavour intensity. More wood in the base wine? This opens up nicely in the glass, giving mushroom, cooked apple and nuts. Very nice.

3. Moet & Chandon Grand Vintage 2000
Bad, as remembered from the last time I had it. The initial taste is good, but it is let down by the chemical, bitter and sour finish.

4. Pol Roger Vintage 2000
Most people had this down as their favourite of the first 4. I actually came down on the side of #2. Classic cracker/biscuit character. Nice and classic, but not mind-blowing.

5. Billot Cuvee Laetitia Grand Cru, Ambonnay
This has quite a lot of power... maybe slightly higher dosage? Improved a lot in the glass. Only problem with this one is the slightly metallic finish, but it's not very striking and just me being picky. Very good overall - one of my favourites.

6. Jacques Selosse Initial Brut NV
More like a wine that happens to be sparkling, rather than a typical sparkling wine. Complex, good finish, lots of flavour intensity. Long, rich and ripe. Almost umami character. Excellent stuff!

7. Dom Perignon Vintage 2003
Very bubbly. Elegant initial taste, but the finish is a little sour and bitter. Stalky/bitter seed tannins? It's too young now, but I'm not sure that the finish will improve. Perhaps they shouldn't have bothered with a 2003?!

8. Krug Grande Cuvee
Good, but not as impressive as when I last had it. Rich and well balanced, but not the stunner I was expecting.

Blind Tasting with Ed and Jordi

This was the final week's WSET class for Ed and Jordi so they wanted to have a big tasting as "practice" for the exam. However, by the end there was quite a lot of drinking going on so the tasting notes deteriorate towards the end! All the wines were tasted blind... which explains the unusual order in which the wines were tasted. However, you knew which number your wine was so wines 2 and 3 were tasted non-blind for me.

1. Chateauneuf du Pape, Domaine de l'Arnesque. (Vintage not noted)
Pale colour (some had it down as PN). Black cherry on the nose. Ripe fruit. High acid and juicy character on the palate. Young, but developing. Dusty tannins. I guessed New World Grenache, so got the dominant grape right. However, it could have gone either way. I went against PN since I felt the tannins were too noticeable and dusty. However, there was also something which Ed was convinced what carbonic maceration so I nearly guessed a cheap S. France Cinsault where part of the wine has undergone carbonic maceration. This shows the randomness of blind tasting!

2. Cartoixa, Scala Dei, Priorat 2006
This was one of my wines so not tasted blind
Opaque and black. Intense nose of vanilla and black fruit. Some oxidative character. Noticeable wood. High tannin, but still has a very soft and polished mouthfeel - tannins felt in balance with the acid. This was drunk with a plate of coppa (head cheese) - the pairing worked well. Some earthy, tobacco notes. Developing. Opened up amazingly in the glass, which indicates that it should probably improve for many years - particularly since this had been double-decanted a couple of hours prior to the tasting. Jordi's initial guess was that this was a priorat, so he was bang on. However, he talked himself out of it in the end and went for something else... a lesson in trusting your instincts.

3. Jim Barry, McRae Wood Shiraz, 2006
This was one of my wines so not tasted blind
Opaque, inky black. Ripe black fruit - youthful nose. I felt that there was definitely noticeable black pepper, but nobody else identified this... which probably explains why it wasn't correctly identified as a Shiraz (lots of people thought some sort of Cabernet-dominated blend). The wine is lifted and aromatic, something like menthol pretty striking on the nose. Noticeable oak. This is very full bodied. High acid and tannin, but balanced. Tastes very. very young. Liquorice aftertaste. Minerality on finish. Superb.

4. Domaine Gayda, Grenache
Insubstantial, not sure how much of this was because the previous wine overshadowed it in body so much or whether it was just how the wine tastes. Light body. Smells of cherry and some banana. Very high acid. Very sour finish. I thought this was a beaujolais, which I dislike a lot. Apparently this is a grenache. Not a fan of this one either way.

5. Kaiken Ultra Malbec 2009
I thought I'd clearly identified black pepper on the nose for this one, so I talked myself into calling this a shiraz. It was actually a malbec! Ripe black fruit. Black pepper. Dusty tannin, juicy acid. Intense palate. Floral/violet notes on the nose. A little austere finish. Very nice.

6. Vina Alberdi Rioja Reserva 2006
"Meaty, oxidative. Probably a rioja." Finally I got one right!

7. Weingut Wintner Riesling Trocken 2006
"Definitely a riesling. Slight spritz. Sour apple. Very acidic. Austrian Riesling?"
No, actually from Rheinhessen. Got the grape right though.

Aromatic Reds

Theatre of Wine
Thursday 22 Nov

1. Foillard Morgon 2010, France
Very pale. Cherry aroma, some wood. Light body, very high and prominent acid. Low tannin. Long. Almost like a good PN. Not really my thing though. £16.50

2. Thymiopoulos Jeunes Vignes 2011
This is their entry-level Xinomavro. They also have a more complex one which I must look out for. This is a deeper red colour than the previous wine (quite black). Raspberry jam very prominent on the nose, also violets. Very ripe fruit. Palate feels young and refreshing. Medium body. High acid. An almost porty character on the nose, but nothing like that on the palate. Surprisingly high tannin. This is good, easy to drink and a crowd pleaser. A good price point too at £11.70.

3. Dalzocchio Pinor Nero 2008
Amazing bouquet. Cooked fruit, floral, rich. This is seriously impressive stuff. Complex, long and well balanced. High acid, mild tannin. Some vegetal/barnyard complexity but still very easy and enjoyable. This was great. Everyone in the room loved this. £26

4. Guillaume Collection Reservee Pinot Noir 2006
Complex, forest floor aromas. Lots of red fruit underneath. More powerful nose than the previous wine, but a much more austere palate. Basically not enough fruit left on the palate to balance out the secondary characters. Acidity is particularly noticeable on the finish (which is a little sour). OK, but at £26 a bottle I'd much rather have the previous wine.

5. Castro Ventosa el Castro del Valtuille Barrica Bierzo 2009
Silky mouthfeel. A little closed on the nose. Some black fruit, quite dark and brooding character. This is nice but nonedescript. I like it but it's not particularly aromatic - didn't really fit in the tasting.

6. Fay Valtellina 'Il Glicine' Superiore Sassella 2009
This wine is from Lombardy. Ripe red fruit. Prunes and dried fruits. High acid, relatively light body. Good length, refreshing, silky and delicate. This is good, interesting and a crowd pleaser, but a little too expensive given the competition so far at this price point £23.50

7. Allessandro Veglio Langhe Nebbiolo 2009
Deep colour. Rich and ripe nose with smoky overtones. Silky mouthfeel. Refreshing acid. Very pleasant but pales in comparison to the much more serious wine which followed (same grape, same producer). £15.50

8. Allessandro Veglio Barolo Gattera 2008
Complex, smoky and spicy. This has lots of black fruit and something like beeswax. Licquorice on the palate. This is a superb. £35.80

9. Jim Barry McCrae Wood Shiraz 2006
Deep and opaque. Floral, lifted, black fruit, oak and black pepper. Juicy black fruit on the palate. Very high tannin. Intense, full bodied. Powerful, with serious fruit intensity. Great stuff £26.80

10. Domaine de la Janasse Chateauneuf du Pape Vielles Vignes 1997
Aged, vegetal nature. Basically smells like an old red wine. Nice, ripe, mouthfilling and complex. Good, but overpriced at £53 per bottle.

11. Au Bon Climat Isabelle 2009
Very pale colour. Ripe red fruit and nutty aromas on nose. Maybe hazelnut. This is very pleasant and will develop nicely.