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!
Tuesday, 18 March 2014
Sunday, 9 June 2013
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.
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.
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.
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.
Tuesday, 4 June 2013
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.
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.
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.
Monday, 3 June 2013
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.
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.
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