February 2014 - they shoot, they score!!!!!!!

The February 2013 gathering of WoW found us in a football stadium, which you might think is  strange place to taste wine – however we were actually in Derek’s fabulous apartment in the old Arsenal stadium in Highbury, rather than gathering on a rain sodden and muddy pitch (although there may well be a new sport combining kicking balls and drinking wine – with extra points for not spilling - if we could combine it with an ice rink it might give us a chance of more Winter Olympic medals).

Derek had decided to set us a challenge – starting with providing an almost unprecedented number of wines (giving the challenge of remaining sober enough to remember what things tasted like). He had chosen two examples of 6 of the “big 8” grape varieties (Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Riesling, Pinot Grigio, Pinot Noir, Merlot, Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon) – in other words 12 wines in total and 6 grape varieties.

You would think this would be relatively easy – well known grape varieties, that make up the bulk of everyday drinking – surely we should be able to easily identify the grape type!!!! As the notes below reveal, this was in some cases trickier than we expected………

One thing we did learn, was that there are a lot of wines around the £6 / £7 mark that are good easy drinking – fruit driven and not particularly complex, but perfectly decent (although this might also be a reflection of the relative lack of sophistication of our palates).

We started with Prosecco (which wasn’t part of the formal part of the evening and so I won't write anymore about that, other than to say how lovely Prosecco is).

The first two wines were a Chateau Ksara, Cuvee du Pape Chardonnay 2010 (Lebanon) and a Yellowtail, Unoaked Chardonnay, 2013(Australia).  This was an easy grape to identify – I think we all got this very quickly.  The Chateau Ksara was the more interesting wine – quite obviously oaked, but with some citrus taste and quite a honeyed nose – but at £12 per bottle nearly twice the price of the Yellowtail (which is £6.19 at Waitrose).  The Yellowtail was a complete contrast, and demonstrated the impact of oaking on wines – the Yellowtail was light, dry and very citrus-y – almost like a new world Sauvignon Blanc.

We then moved onto a couple of wines that were a bit more difficult to identify (although we got there eventually) – these were The Ned,Pinot Grigio (New Zealand) and an Italia, Pinot Grigio, 2013 (Italy).  Waitrose sell the Ned at £9.99 and describe it as “Pear drop, white blossom and nectarine aromas and flavours support the palate, which displays purity and energy”.  I’m not sure that I got all of those flavours, but it did set us off on a Viognier route, then wandering around Alsace (and their very nice Pinot Gris wines, which then led a discussion of a road trip to Italy via Alsace), until we tasted the Italia, which sadly was an example of why Italian Pinot Grigio gets a bad name (but did immediately allow us to identify the grape). The Italia was thin and a bit acidic – Waitrose sell it at £7.49 and describe it as “A wonderfully crisp and aromatic wine from the north of Italy. The stylish bottle and modern flavour profile make it a great purchase both as an everyday accompaniment to a wide range of foods, or as a welcomed gift”. I think the fact they are talking about the “stylish bottle” tells you all you need to know……

We then moved on to the white wines that confused us – an Emiliana Riesling from Chile and the Robert Oatley, Great Southern Riesling,2012 (Australia).  Feeling smug after identifying the first two wines, we struggled with these.  Both were good wines – the Emiliana was quite full on and fruity – more like a Gewurztraminer in terms of the intensity of flavours, while the Oatley was a drier wine, with much more mineral tastes – at the time I hadn’t realised it was from Western Australia.

We then moved on to the red wines, starting with a couple of Pinot Noirs (which we got straight away).  These were firstly the Turning Leaf, Pinot Noir California, 2012 (USA), which was a very fruit driven and quite simple wine, but very easy drinking.  Alongside that we had the Wither Hills, Marlborough Pinot Noir 2010 (New Zealand), which was a much better wine.  Majestic, going all poetic on us, describe this as “Enticing aromas of ripe black cherry and rich plum with hints of liquorice and rose petal. Silky and sublime, with cocoa notes and a purity of youthful, bright and elegant fruit flavours and subtle power”, and sell it for £12.49.

The next set of reds were easily identified as Merlot’s – both with a fruit driven and not hugely complex approach.   Both the Barefoot Merlot, California NV (USA) and the Cellier des Dauphins, Merlot / Grenache NV (France) were about £6.  There was a clear distinction between the new world and old world wine, with the French wine being drier and having more tannin. Both though were fairly uncomplicated and very easy drinking.

The final reds (like the whites) were less easy to identify – although after 10 wines the fact we were saying anything other than “mmmmm, it’s wine, red, yes…….” Is impressive.  Derek didn’t make it easy by making one of the wines  very unusual blend, an Elaborar, Oak Aged Cabernet Sauvignon /Tempranillo / Grenache 2007 (Spain) which was matched against a Gallo Family Vineyards, California Cabernet Sauvignon 2012 (USA).  The Gallo was much more typical of a Cabernet Sauvignon, with at least some of the pencil shaving / graphite smells and tannins you expect, although it was still quite easy drinking.  The Elaborar had lots of bramble fruit and a bit of pepper, which made us think first of Shiraz – currently on offer at Ocado for less than £6, this was very good value.

Overall, a great evening and thanks to Derek (and great food too)!

Wine on Wednesday - the missing months (or "Let's all go on a Wine Safari")

The more observant among you may have noticed a large gap between blog posts in the first half of the year - not because the Wine on Wednesday group was not meeting (although diaries did get a little bit complex) - but primarily because no-one took proper responsibility for writing up the evenings.  I would like to point out that this had absolutely nothing to do with the amount of wine drunk in any way at all - honest!

This entry therefore is a quick attempt at a catch up, covering both Dan and Sam's wine safari on 27th February as well as the evening hosted by Emma and Ben on 17th April that was dominated by South African wines.  Given the passage of time, my recollection may be a bit hazy, but I think that I've remembered most of the wine.

February - Zoo Safari

The theme for 27th February was a Wine Safari - every bottle had a picture of an animal on the label and so, alongside the usual blind tasting experience of trying to guess grape variety and perhaps country, we also had to guess the animal.  I think it is probably fair to say that the taste, aroma and indeed appearance of a wine are not much help in guessing what animal might appear on the label, although country of origin might provide a clue (there being slightly more chance of a platypus appearing on an Australian wine than a Spanish one, for example, though that does not explain why Platypus Wine Tours are in California!!!!)

Dan and Sam (helpfully?) tried to inspire us by providing animal masks to wear - luckily the pictures seem not to have survived, and it soon became clear that without straws drinking wine through a mask was a losing game.

I'm just going to quickly summarise the wines and my recollection (along with the animal on the label) - perhaps others will add further comments?

Yalumba Sauvignon Blanc 2011 - Fish

A quite typical Sauvignon Blanc - easily identifiable and with quite a lot of gooseberry fruit. Pleasant enough without being exceptional.

Southern Right Western Cape Sauvignon Blanc 2011 - Whale

Less obviously a Sauvignon Blanc than the Yalumba - and at one point we were discussing whether this was a Viognier - reading the winemaker's description they talk about leaning towards the Loire rather than New Zealand, which makes a lot of sense.

La Veille Ferme Blanc 2011 - Chicken

As I recall, we failed desperately to identify this wine. Given that it is a mix of Bourboulenc, Grenache Blanc

Ugni Blanc and Vermentino I feel that this is perhaps understandable.  This was a very easy drinking wine and at £6.95 from the Wine Society feels like very good value.

Casal Branco Terra de Lobos 2011 - Wolf

A fruity Portuguese red - another wine which we struggled to identify although at least some of us guessed at Cabernet Sauvignon.  another good value wine given its £6.99 price point.

The Hedonist Mclaren Vale Shiraz 2011- Pig

If you like your red wines to be full on then this was a real winner (as well as being easily idenitifed as a Shiraz!) - big and bold and delicious - as the Waitrose wine site puts it "This is a delicious, silky and smooth wine with dark-fruit flavours and an intense palate that goes beautifully with red meats. Made by Walter Clappis, a renowned winemaker, The Hedonist is made from grapes grown biodynamically, without pesticides or herbicides".  The £12.99 price tag is a bargain for the quality.

Some Young Punks Lust Collides 2008 - Cow

The final wine of the evening turned out to be the most divisive - most of the group loved it, but I wasn't so sure - this could of course be a by-product of coming after a wine I had really liked.  It is Mataro (otherwise known as Mourvedre) and again boidynamic - my understanding of the philosophy of the makers is that they are trying to mix the best of the New and Old Worlds, so perhaps this wine was just a bit refined after the full on punch of The Hedonist.

April - South Africa

Moving rapidly to our April tasting, which was dominated by wines that Ben had tried in South Africa (and in some cases brought back from there).  I haven't captured every wine, but here are the ones I remember.

Bouvet Brut Saumur

As usual we started with a sparkling wine.  Now clearly Saumur is not in South Africa, but bear with me since the theme will emerge.  This is a good Loire sparkler - less dry than a Champagne and made from Chenin Blanc - a great aperitif and available at Majestic for about a tenner.  This wine actually had quite a fruit driven taste for a dry sparkling wine.  Bouvet is apparently owned by the Taittinger Champagne house.

Boekenhoutskloof Porcupine Ridge Viognier Grenache Blanc 2008

This was a great Viognier (and easily identifiable as such) - with all of the peachy fruitiness you expect but also quite dry.  It comes from Swartland, an up and coming region, north of the traditional Western Cape regions of Paarl and Stellenbosch that seems to get a bit more sun, giving the wines a bit more "oomph".

Badenhorst Duiker White 2012

This wine is a Chenin Blanc, Grenache Blanc and Chardonnay blend and so is slightly difficult to identify, although we did sort of guess the varieties eventually (perhaps more through luck than judgement!).  Again a tenner from Majestic, this was a very smooth and rounded wine - a real winner and again from Swartland.  

Rust en Vrede Cabernet Sauvignon 2008

This was a really nice Cabernet Suavignon and I recall getting the classic pencil shaving (wood and graphite) smell as we tasted it.  The winery is one of South Africa's oldest, having been around for over 300 years and since they know far more about this than I do, I'm just going to paste their tasting notes: "Rhubarb and aniseed aromas are backed by cedar and a hint of cocoa powder. Dark cherry aromas are also prevalent. A well structured Cabernet with beautiful grainy tannins. Full palate weight with notes of tobacco and liquorice on the finish."

The Goatfather 2006

The Goatfather was the stand out wine of the night for me.  Fairview Vineyards back onto the Paarl Rock and developed the Goats do Roam brand when they were not allowed to import Cote du Rhone style wine into the EU - they now have a goat tower as you enter the vineyard.  The Goatfather is an Italian inspired blend, led by Sangiovese and Barbera.  This wine has a real punch (would you expect anything less from this mob?) but also lots of complexity and layers of flavour.  I don't recall the "perfumed violets and hints of tomato" that the winemaker talks about, but I'm not arguing (you don't argue with the Goatfather, do you!)

Christmas wines - or how to match with Turkey and Christmas Pudding

Christmas Wine Tasting

As Christmas time drew near, and Cliff Richard gets his annual slug of royalties for “Mistletoe and Wine”, so the Wine on Wednesday crowd got together and, throwing caution to the wind, met on a TUESDAY, for a pre Christmas tasting, ostensibly with the theme of wines to go with Christmas leftovers – this meant the preparation of leftovers, including cold turkey (a symptom that, by the way, I may have to endure in the new year after my Christmas imbibing), roast potatoes and roast vegetables, enough cheese to make a dent in the EU cheese mountain (if this still exists) and of course mince pies (including some extraordinary glittery ones from Giles).

Despite the many emails and the multiple optimisation spreadsheets, not everyone was able to make it, but we had a few guests to swell the numbers, and most importantly Pam and Jude from Hannibal Brown wines to lead the tasting.  Hannibal Brown is a new online wine company for “explorers of great wine” that launched last month (November 2012).  They aim to provide both a personal service but also a choice of wines that is distinctly different from that in the supermarkets.  They will be stocking about 100 wines in the range, from across the globe.

Having Pam leading the tasting meant that it was genuinely a blind tasting for everyone (including Darren the host).  She led us through 9 wines from the range (plus a special seasonal extra from Darren’s “cellar” – otherwise known as under the stairs), in a series of paired tastings – helping us understand the different characteristics of grape varieties and cool versus hot climates – all of which was very informative and may even help us in future tastings (if we can remember).

Anyway, enough preamble and on to the wines (almost all of which can be bought at www.hannibalbrown.com).  All the tasting notes are also copied from Hannibal Brown.

Prosecco 4357, Vini Fabiano, Italy:£12.99

A pleasant, reasonably light Prosecco and a great way to get the party started.  The tasting notes state “Zingy, delicate and mouthwatering.  Pale in colour with a soft tingly fizz.  Whiffs of apple blossom, smooth and rounded with good length and acidity”. 

Lugana“Argillaia Superiore”, Vini Fabiano, 2011, Italy: £14.85

Another wine from Vini Fabiano, who are Veneto based (near Lake Garda) family winery, started initially in 1912 by a Venetian wine merchant.  This wine was very nice – quite delicate (although that might have been partly due to its wine pair –see below).  Greg, with his encyclopaedic knowledge, identified it as Italian, after the rest of us had guessed Reisling and about half a dozen other grapes.  It is in fact 100% Turbiana (?????) and is described as “a very well structured wine with a fruity and delicate aroma.  Soft and harmonious in taste with hints of vanilla.”  Pam recommended it with oysters or asparagus wrapped in parma ham.

Bon Courage Gewurztraminer, Robertson, South Africa:£10.45

Wow – this wine was incredibly floral on the nose, with fantastic rose petal aromas and honey, yet actually quite dry in the mouth.  This was one of the wines of the evening for me (helped of course by my success in identifying the grape and the fact it was a Southern Hemisphere wine).  It needs to be well chilled.  I drank it again as an aperitif on Christmas Day when it wasn’t that cold and while still good, the aromas overwhelmed the wine slightly.  The notes sum it up “a punchy wine with mouthfilling flavours of tropical fruits and spices.  The finish shows firm tannins and soft acidity.  Time to get the chilli out! Try it with a spicy red Thai curry.”  Yum!!!

We then moved onto the second pair of whites, helped by the wonderful Jude and some slightly saucy glass tabs, to ensure we knew which was wine 1 and which was wine 2.

Kintu Sauvignon Blanc, Chile:£14.95

This was deceptive wine – it took a long time to get to the fact that it was Sauvignon (regular readers will know about my – Darren – aversion to Sauvignon, whose acidity regularly allows me to make comparisons to the Devil’s bile).  This wine, in contrast, was fruity and dry with very muted hints of the dreaded gooseberry.  Kintu apparently comes from an ancient Chilean tribal dialect meaning 'fine view'.  The tasting notes read “Intense citrus aroma with pleasant herbal notes. It is crisp and bubbly on the palate with a long and flavourful finish.  Delicious served with Moules Marinieres.”

Walter Clappis Viognier / Chardonnay “The Hedonist”, McLaren Vale, Australia £14.55

This was another stand out wine for me, and exactly the sort of wine to give to people who turn their noses up at Chardonnay.  This unoaked wine was full of flavour and had none of the mouthfilling butteriness that puts many off Chardonnay.  This is a bio-dynamic wine, made by a vintner with over 30 years experience who believes in minimal intervention and that good wines are “made in the vineyard.” To the tasting notes again: “Made following entirely bio-dynamic principles, this fancy Chardonnay blend offers a nose dive of tropical fruits, lime and orange blossom.  Full of citrus, spice, melon and nectarine, great length and crisp acidity.  Walter Clappis really does stand head and shoulders above for his consistently elegant wines.”

At this point we were only half way through the evening, so to avoid flagging there was a brief stop for the Christmas themed food, to re-taste the white wines we liked the most and then move onto the reds.

Henri Clos Pinot Noir “le Petit Clos”, New Zealand:£13.99

This was a bit of an interesting wine – we quickly identified it as a Pinot Noir because of the characteristic dark cherry flavour, but then got completely confused by its provenance – was it Burgundy, Oregon, Australia – all wrong, since in fact it is from Marlborough, New Zealand.  This was a red wine you could very enjoyably drink on its own, and since I’m flagging now, I’m going to go straight to the tasting notes “This is not like your ordinary Pinot Noir, this Pinot has guts! Aged for 11 months in French oak barrels, this wine has lovely aromas of cranberries and red cherries with hints of tar. Although medium bodied, it offers a tasty, long, earthy finish.  This would go very nicely with grilled Tuna or a tasty Turbot.”

Bon Cap Pinotage “The Ruins”, Robertson, South Africa:£10.25

Paired with the Pinot Noir was a Pinotage.  This took a bit longer to identify – but once you got there the smokiness / woodiness of a classic Pinotage was obvious.  This was surprisingly easy drinking wine (it went well with Turkey and the stuffing and sausages on Christmas Day for example), but with lots of flavours.  Going again to the tasting notes: “Medium-bodied Pinotage with a youthful side to it.  An amazing kick of blackberry and damson fruit with a hint of cedar wood and a faint whiff of chocolate and coffee aromas.  This really is delicious drinking.  This is great served just slightly chilled on its own.  Also perfect with the season's turkey fest, or even a leg of lamb, rosemary and garlic”.  (See – I said it went well with Turkey and I wrote that before reading the notes!)

We then went off piste slightly, with a 2005 Clos du ValCabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley.  I’ve managed to find this in the UK at £30 a bottle from the Good Wine Company (which was a lot cheaper than I was expecting, since I’d been told and Pam also thought this was now a £60 bottle of wine, but that may be for better vintages), but this bottle had been given to me by Katherine Barnhisel in one of her visits to the the UK.  This was a gorgeous Cabernet Sauvignon – mellow and smooth with a long finish.  Lots of blackberry and that classic graphite / woody pencil shavings thing that Cabernet Sauvignon has.

Chateau Fontestau, Cru Bourgeois, Bordeaux, France 2004: £18.95

The Clos du Val was paired with a classic Bordeaux wine, which is of course a Cabernet Sauvignon blend.  At half the price of the Clos du Val this showed lots of complexity and a ripe mix of proper red wine flavours.  As the tasting notes put it “A great example of why Bordeaux is sooooo sought after…. Look out for a violet scent (don't be put off!). This wine has a really powerful nose with plenty of blackberry connotations. But it's a softy really. Think deep, supple, long, juicy and very elegant.  This 2004 vintage was awarded 5 stars in Decanter Magazine.”  This was a good wine and well worth stocking up on – one to impress the neighbours / parents etc – and strangely enough there was none left at the end of the night.

Simon Hackett “Old Vine” Grenache, McLaren Vale, Australia:£12.95

The final wine was another excellent choice.  Michael liked this wine, despite claiming not to like Grenache (although after the Costiere de Nimes episode, I’m wondering if Michael really does know what he really likes!!!!  J).  This was a prefect wine for a winters evening – lots of berries and depth.  It was relatively easy drinking (no sniggering about any wine being easy drinking at that stage of the evening), but turning once more to the tasting notes: “This wine is happily fruit dominated and sun drenched and fills the corners of the mouth with deep fruitiness. Whiffs of plump summer sweet berries make this bright and up-beat Grenache a real winner.  One of Hannibal's favourites - give it a go, this is worth every penny and you won't be disappointed.”

Roll on 2013 and thanks once again to Pam and Jude for orchestrating the evening!