Greybeard’s Corner – Harvests End

Posted on October 23, 2011 by Karl Laczko

By the time you read this harvests all over the Northern Hemisphere will have ended or be well on their way to finishing. 2011 has been a challenging harvest in both Europe and America but for different weather related reasons.

VinesIn Europe vine development was accelerated by as much as 5 weeks due to a mild Spring which, by the end of June, had German and French growers cancelling their August vacations in anticipation of a ripe, full crop. Then the weather changed; with Northern Europe going through a wet, cool and downright stormy couple of months while Southern Europe experience a heat-wave – neither scenario optimal for gentle grape ripening and threatening to ruin the 2011 vintage. Finally an Indian Summer at the end of September recovered the quality, if not the quantity, in the North with the harvest ending up 2-3 weeks ahead of normal.

Italy looks to be about 10% down in volume with the heat meaning higher sugar levels and potential alcohol needing managed. Wines from Spain report an inconsistent vintage with low yields (Rioja down by 20%) and CataVino include some reports from Portugal indicating good quality from what’s been harvested so far.

Inconsistency sums up France as well, especially Bordeaux where The Drinks Business (db) also uses “Challenging” and calls it “A Winemakers Year” (code for “you’d better know what you’re doing in the winery”). At least we won’t be getting another “vintage of the century” out of the Bordelais for 2011. There is a similar prediction for Germany as well, with Rupert Millar’s db article saying  this year “will separate the men from the boys”. As if contending with the weather wasn’t bad enough one Pfalz winemaker saw €100,000 of Spätburgunder (Pinot Noir) grapes stolen overnight – grape rustling is sadly becoming a more common event!

England seems to have fared better (summer storms were less destructive here) with the recent hot weather just in time to ripen the grapes, as reported in The Telegraph. The English harvest is going to be down on 2009 and 2010 (both good years for quantity) but with possibly the ripest grapes in a decade.

Over in North America and the summer hardly got started – “the summer that never was” – with minimal sun leading to delayed ripening and lower sugar levels, followed by persistent wet weather as autumn arrived. Jon Bonné wrote a good overview piece on SFGate, in Oregon Dana Tims writes of a stoical yet optimistic view of the harvest while in California the concern is whether enough grapes will survive rot to make it into the bottle, as discussed by Tim Fish and Augustus Weed in the Wine Spectator. At least Mexico seems to have had a smoother time of it!

Jancis Robinson’s recent FT piece “No one forecast this …” summarizes some of this in her own inimitable style, but of course we won’t really know what this means for 2011 wines until they come out of the tanks and barrels into bottle.

Wine News:  It would be wrong not to mention the passing of Daniel Rogov, Israel’s foremost wine critic. As the internet becomes the go-to resource for most wine consumers Rogov took that one step further and effectively posted his own obituary on his wine forum hosted by WineLovers Discussion Group. It will be interesting to see if a forum so closely aligned to the life and tastes of one man can continue after his death, a snapshot of the future for everyone’s on-line presence.

September also saw 11 new Masters of Wine announced taking the total number of MWs to 300 worldwide.

The rights of whether wine made in Beaujolais can be labelled as Burgundy or not was (partially) resolved by an INAO ruling at the beginning of October as reported by Decanter. The net result is that 43 Beaujolais communes who could previously label their white wines as Bourgogne Blanc can no longer do so, having to use Beaujolais Blanc instead.

While some things change in France some things stay the same over in Italy as “Montalcino says no” to proposals to allow up to 15% of other grape varieties in Rosso di Montalcino, a 100% Sangiovese wine from Tuscany. Victoria Moore added her comments on “Pleasing the Purists” in The Telegraph.

North East wine: The biggest local news has to be the 1st Northumbria Food and Wine Festival which finally came together over the damp 7-9th October weekend after the year-long saga surrounding whether the 2nd NorthEast Wine Festival would be held at all (it wasn’t). It was a great gathering of local wine retailers and professionals – a chance to catch up with a host of people met over the years – plus a showcase for some of the best food and wine available in the region.
I was there over the three days as a visitor and also as a guest speaker on the Satruday and Sunday where I put together a talk on unusual grape varieties that seemed to go down well – it may turn into a separate blog piece sometime soon!
Doors opened at 6pm on the Friday but it was Saturday that was the busiest day with a constant stream of visitors, however, the Sunday was quieter than most people would have liked, not helped by less than perfect weather (although for October it could have been worse – a 2012 summer slot should help).

I’ll add more about the NF&WF on this site shortly.
NFWF11

October’s NEWTS tasting was on Celebrity Wines, a category I’ve written about before back in the early days of Reign of Terroir. Stars of the night were the classically styled 2008 Two Paddock’s Pinot Noir from Central Otago and the remarkably complex Terre Inconnue 2008 Guilhem from the Languedoc – more details of the tasting and the other wines tried can be found on my earlier post Sleb Wines – A NEWTS Tasting.

At home and among other things going into the cellar recently were a pair of St. Georges St. Émilion reds from Château St. Georges (the Bordeaux producer where local sommelier Ian Cobham used to work as winemaker), a delicious Bunan 1997 Bandol tasted at the Wine Festival and immediately bought, an ‘09 Chapoutier Crozes-Hermitage (from Sainsbury’s Finest range), the delicious 2006 Falcoaria from Ribatejo (from PortoVino) and my first Vin Santo (del Chianti Rufina) by Villa di Monte, their 1995 (bought from M&S in The Metro Centre).

Passing these on their way out of the cellar and into the glass were the excellent pear & honey Rebenhof 2010 Ürziger Würzgarten Kabinett trocken (Von wurzelechten Reben) that I bought on my trip to the Mosel in June; a bargain Wither Hills 2005 Marlborough Pinot Noir for £7 on bin end at my local co-op; the superb Jorge Ordonez & Co. 2007 Malaga Seleccion Especial No. 1 (nectar of the gods!);  a honeyed Roussane by Domaine de Palejay (2008 Le Sablet); and a light, chocolate tannin & raisined finish 2004 Chinese Cabernet Franc from Château Bolongbao, opened in homage to the Chinese Wine that won top honours at the 2011 Decanter World Wine Awards.

Less encouraging was the Château Musar Jeune 2009 red I tried last month after seeing it in Richard Granger Fine Wines. I am a big fan of the Musar Rouge, Blanc, Rosé and Hochar Pere et Fils labels that I’ve tasted before but the Jeune – made from primarily Cinsault with a touch of Cabernet Sauvignon – was a young wine with simple fruit flavours, slightly green tannins and little complexity. I’ll stick to its older siblings for Musar in the future.

Cellar Trivia: If you hadn’t already figured it out then I’m not a big buyer of Bordeaux due to a combination of budget, mistrust and my eclectic sense of adventure. The very good wines are too expensive while it’s often difficult to tell the very bad wines (of which there are many) from the rest of the affordable offerings. Since I don’t want to spend large parts of my life researching which producers are consistent when I can be exploring what the rest of the world has it means that I only end up with Bordeaux wines as gifts or very random purchases. The 2 incoming bottles of St. Georges St. Émilion take my meagre stock of both left & right bank wines to just under 10% of my cellar total – with the Château St. Georges nearly half of that (the wine is not readily available in the UK but I get some thanks to a French colleague).

Slainte!

Greybeard

Also published on October 23rd on Reign of Terroir

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A wine decorking experiment

Posted on October 16, 2011 by Karl Laczko

Last night I opened up a bottle of Gigondas that I’d been hoarding since 2007, Les Terrasses des Flauzières 2004 by Domaine Le Mas des Flauzières, bought in a wine store in Nice on a business trip. Sadly as soon as I took a sniff I knew something was wrong, there was that worrying aroma no wine drinker wants to smell; not quite musty wet cardboard. A sip confirmed it, the wine was corked – although not overly so. It was barely drinkable, but not enjoyable and I contemplated pouring it down the sink and opening something else. Then I remembered something I saw on a wine forum a while back, the discussion that cling film can recover a corked wine.

Decorking-1Always one for experiments I thought I’d check my facts and give it a go. Sure enough there’s a few references on the web for the trick, including Tim Atkin MW who answered a reader’s question in The Observer in 2008 citing his fellow Wineman Oz Clarke as the source of the info; “One possible solution…is to wrap a knitting needle or chopstick in clingfilm and stir the wine with it. I’m not sure how the chemistry works, but the clingfilm scavenges the TCA (as cork taint is known). The wine loses a little of its character, but is fine to use in cooking.”

Jone Bonné of the SF Chronicle has also written about this back in 2009 using Saran Wrap (what the Americans call cling film) and citing earlier references while I even found a Scotsman article earlier this year where they say it’s an old Butler’s trick (how long has cling film been around?).Decorking-2

I took the bottle, a roll of cling film and one of my decanters and prepared the experiment. Pulling out a decent length of the film I rolled it up and pushed it into the neck of the decanter, tying an extra length so I could recover it later.Pouring the wine into the decanter I swirled it around, making sure not to lose the last piece!

Finally I left it for 5-10 minutes to let the film do whatever it does in mopping up the nasty stuff that spoiled my wine! I then poured some into a glass and the rest back into the bottle.

Amazingly enough the wine had lost most of the cork taint smell and taste, becoming a pleasant enough little drinker with a warm spicy aroma with a chocolatey texture and some fruit on the palate. Decorking-3I’m not saying the wine is great, but it’s better than some I’ve had recently and no longer makes me want to pour it down the sink!

I’m definitely holding onto this trick for the future, although I’m not sure how well it would work on a bottle that showed more taint than this one. I’d love to hear if anyone else has tried this themselves.

Slainte!

PS. As I forgot to take photos of this “live” I recreated the procedure for this post using a leftover bottle of Australian red from my daughter’s 18th (hence the screwcap in the image, which is not typical of a 2004 Gigondas!)

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Sleb Wines – A NEWTS Tasting

Posted on September 28, 2011 by Karl Laczko

Celebrity wine; a damning phrase to some people but a must-have piece of memorabilia for die-hard fans. For years now it seems that many major (and a few more minor) celebrities get bitten by the wine bug in one way or another, most never getting near a grape and simply putting their name or face on a label, but others deciding to do it properly and invest in a vineyard in some corner of the world.

It’s a topic I’ve written about before in the Vins de célébrité on Reign of Terroir back in 2008 (plus a hasty update a few days later!) – there’s even a dedicated Wiki page covering the usual suspects including Mötley Crüe and AC/DC!

When I heard that September’s NEWTS meeting was on this topic I instantly thought of Francis Ford Coppola and Gerard Depardieu but neither made it onto the tasting sheet (Depardieu’s wine is notoriously expensive). Instead our host, long time member Fred, prepared a evening of amusing and anecdotal background stories to match each of the 9 wines being presented.

First was a pale, salmon pink Rosé from Château Miraval, the 2009 “Pink Floyd” Côtes de Provence (13.5%).
The château hit the headlines in late May 2008 when it was revealed that Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie had leased it for three years after surveying prospective properties by helicopter. Since then they’ve invested heavily in upgrading the property but don’t actually get involved in the winemaking. Previous owner Jacques Loussier, a French jazz pianist, installed a recording studio in the Château which saw Sting and The Cranberries record there, as well as Pink Floyd while producing The Wall album – hence the wine’s name.
The organic wine was a blend of Cinsault and Grenache with a delicate nose. On the palate it was creamy, smooth and distinctly dry with a herbaceous aspect to the fruit, a warming finish and a nip of acidity.
At £12.50 from local store Fenwick it was a pleasant enough example of a Provençal pink.

The remaining white was the Seresin Estate 2009 Sauvignon Blanc from Marlborough, New Zealand (14%).
Winery owner Michael Seresin is also a movie director (Harry Potter – The Prisoner of Azkaban was one of his most recent works) who started the Biodynamic winery from scratch with the first vintage in 1996.
With 5% Semillon in the blend this had a strong, pungent nose and I was worried it was another over the top New Zealand Sauvignon, but once past the powerful perfume it was rich and surprisingly enjoyable with sweet grapefruit, a hint of rose petal and a mineral texture.
I’m not sure I liked it enough to splash out the £15 a bottle (source not noted), but it was good.

Next up was a wine I had briefly discussed in that original Reign of Terroir article, Sam Neill’s Two Paddocks 2008 Pinot Noir, Central Otago, New Zealand (13.5%).
Back in 2008 the prospect of actually tasting a bottle was slim but happily even a cult wine from the world’s most southerly wine region isn’t out of the reach of a determined NEWT!
The nose was perfect Pinot Noir; fresh, a little smoke and mushroom with a dash of forest floor, while the taste ticked all the boxes for what I like in a Pinot; light and elegant with delicate complexity – a 4 star wine for £23 from Haynes, Hanson & Clark in London.

Two Paddocks

For a little more background on Two Paddocks watch this YouTube clipof Sam Neill talking to Wine Spectator.

From a movie star owner to a pop star owner and Portugal’s Algarve region for the Vida Nova 2007 Reserva (13.5%).
This wine is made by the Adega do Cantor (winery of the singer) fronted by Sir Cliff Richard. I’ve tried the basic label wine so was interested by the Reserva on show at the tasting, but again was disappointed by a pleasant, but ultimately simple offering – the Algarve is not Portugal’s best location for winemaking, even with the magic hands of consultant winemaker David Baverstock.
The nose had clove, tar and some burnt rubber with a little blackcurrant. In the mouth tannins were dry and slightly chewy for what was a somewhat formulaic, 2+ star wine which, for £15, isn’t good enough (Waitrose Wine Direct shows it at £11.39 – better, but still…)

To France for the next red, the Château Val Joanis  2007 Tradition, Côtes du Luberon (14%).
It turned out that the celebrity link was spurious, another piece of the Brangelina story after they flew in for an unexpected wine tasting (part of that helicopter survey mentioned above) in 2007 which led to a host of internet rumours that they’d bought the place (some of which are still being circulated!). It isn’t clear whether they were told “non!” or just moved on to Château Miraval, but they left behind an historic winemaking property dating back to Roman times.
The wine itself was Syrah with 10% Grenache and came across as young and a little disjointed; fruit, acidity and tannins cobbled together in a rustic style typical of the Luberon. Possibly a few more years would mellow and improve the wine, nevertheless it was competently (but not masterfully) done – a 3 star wine for £13 from Richard Granger in Jesmond.

Still France and another tenuous celebrity link for the Terre Inconnue (Undiscovered Land) Guilhem 2008 (14%). This is a cult Languedoc wine made by former chemist Robert Creus and released as a Vin de Table – not because of any inferiority in the winemaking but because maverick Creus isn’t bothered by the whole AOC system!
Fred tried to tell us this estate is alledgedly owned by Vanessa Paradis, French chanteuse and Johnny Depp’s other half. While an intiguing tale I could not find any evidence to back it up; the Depp/Paradis property is believed to be near Saint Tropez on the Côte d’Azur but Creus is based in Saint Christol/Saint-Series just North of Montpellier‎.
The Terre Inconnue was a blend of 30% Syrah , 30% Grenache, 30% Carignan and 10% Tempranillo, barrel aged for 2 years. It had a savoury, minty fresh nose with a little raisin which developed a lovely perfume in the glass. It effortlessly expanded on the palate with smooth, rounded, chocolate tannins and a slight port aspect that was a joy to drink. Although £20 (from Zelas.co.uk) this was a clear 4 star wine.

Yet another tenuous celebrity association with the Château La Coste 2007 Les Pentes Douces, Coteaux de Aix en Provence (14%). Fred cited Pierre Cardin in his background, but my research suggests that Cardin is linked to the castle & village of Château Lacoste a some miles away, not the biodynamic winery which was bought by Paddy McKillen, owner of several of London’s top hotels including the Connaught (so a half celebrity?).
This had a sour, almost off nose with a beetroot earthyness. Apart from some stewed fruit my descriptions for the wine became metaphorical; it was background, bass and undercurrent – a forceful, dramatic structure and foundation but with no content, nothing in the foreground to bring into focus. Somewhat out of kilter I couldn’t enjoy the wine, not helped by a £17.50 price tag.

We finally said au revoir to France and finished with two wines from the Southern Hemisphere, first to Australia with the BMW 2006 McLaren Vale Cabernet Sauvignon (14.5%). BMW does not stand for Bayerische Motoren Werke in this instance, but for Botham, Merril and Willis, two world class (retired) cricketers and an equally world class winemaker.
The wine had a clean nose with a touch of liquorice behind the smoky blackcurrant fruit. There were strong tannins but it was a little too acidic for the group, I enjoyed it enough to give it 3+ stars which, for £11 (supposedly from Zelas.co.uk again but I can’t find it on their web-site) is reasonable enough.

The final wine of the night came from South Africa with a golfing link, the Ernie Els 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon, Stellenbosch (14.5%). Golf pro Els set up the winery in the Helderberg area of Stellenosch over 10 years ago and it has developed a reputation as one of the better of the celebrity wine ventures.
This night the wine had an austere, closed nose with a touch of menthol. There was a firm structure and chewy tannins, although it was somewhat one dimensional, lean and dry – too dry for some for £18 – only 3 stars and not great value.

An overly complicated voting session followed on the favourite wines of the night which ended up with the Terre Inconnue and Two Paddocks a clear first and second, matching my own evaluation of the wines. As the Terre Innconue celebrity link is, to my mind, unproven I have to give Sam Neill the nod for best celebrity winemaker I’ve tasted.

Slainte!

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A Whites only evening

Posted on September 13, 2011 by Karl Laczko

It’s unusual to go to a wine tasting where it is a red free zone, but that’s what Alistair Stewart of Richard Granger Fine Wines decided for an evening of aromatic white wines, showing a selection of Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling, Pinot Gris, Viognier and Gewürztraminer from the old and new world. Given that my partner Sarah pretty much only drinks white wine then this was too good an opportunity to miss, and we signed up for 2 tickets immediately. As usual Alastair was presenting the tasting in the rather cramped surroundings of the shop at West Jesmond Metro station on what happened to be the hottest evening of the (otherwise depressingly abysmal) summer. Usually this equates to a cosy, informal and intimate tasting but this time, without air-conditioning, it meant the temeratures reaching uncomfortable levels, at least until the first chilled wines were poured.

The first wine was served as an aperitif, the Moncellier 2010 Sauvignon Blanc from Marlborough, New Zealand (14%, £10.98). This was rich and fruity with noticeable Marlborough Sauvignon typicity, a not unpleasant 3 star opening wine and the only Sauvignon of the night, Alastair saying that everyone by now knows what the grape has to offer.

The main part of the night began with the traditional Alsace producer Domaines Schlumberger with the first of three wines from their Princes Abbés range, named for the Benedictine monks which controlled the region for a thousand years and whose Abbotts were named Princes of the Holy Roman Empire. The 2006 Les Princes Abbés Riesling, Alsace, France (12.5%. £13.92) had a light citrus nose with a gentle hint of typical Riesling petro-chemical (kerosone/petrol depending on your mood). It was a clean, dry white with some delicate flavour and a citrus finish, a very enjoyable 3+ stars.
We stayed with the same grape but moved to the New World with the Crawford River 2005 Riesling from Victoria, Australia (13.5%. £19.20). This had a strong petro-chem’ nose, quite zingy at the front of the palate with good acidity but also some detectable sweetness. There was a rich, smooth mid-palate and an elegant finish, the grating or roughened tooth enamel confirmed the firm acidity, another 3+ stars.
Finally back to the Old World and the ancestral home of the Riesling grape, Germany’s Mosel Valley and the Dr H. Thanisch, Bernkasteler Badstube 2007 Riesling Spätlese (7.5%, £22.38). This had a subtle nose, not giving much away and just noticeable as Riesling with a faint petro-chem aspect (although possibly served a bit too cool). It was a beautiful wine, sweet (as you’d expect from a 7.5% abv) but with fresh acidity to cut through the sugar, carrying delicate flavours through and into a long, caramel influenced finish, 4 stars.

Back to Australia but a new grape with the Willunga 100 2009 McLaren Vale Viognier, South Australia (14%, £10.38). Made from the free run juice from hand-picked grapes there was a strange, reductive nose which, when it blew off, left a restrained, closed aroma. There was plenty of texture in the glass, an oiliness to the wine (although not thick as such) with a little stonefruit bitterness at the end. Unfortunately there was not much character and it didn’t seem a favourite in the room.

Pagusluminus

Having exposed us the Viognier it seemed fitting that the next bottle was from the region that rescued the grape from oblivion, with the Domaine Louis Cheze 2008 Pagus Luminus Condrieu (13.5%, £34.20). The most expensive wine of the night this had a rich rounded and smooth nose, complex and very promising. It was full flavoured with underlying stone-fruit but still citrus fresh at the edges with a savoury, salty aspect. It had great complexity and, although the oak component didn’t seem fully integrated, a clear 4 stars.

Back to a more sensible price with the second Schlumberger wine of the night, the 2007 Les Princes Abbés Pinot Gris, Alsace, France (13.5%, £14.22). There was a luscious nose, creamy with floral aspects (and possibly a hint of liquorice mentioned by other tasters). This was very good with a rich mouthfeel, slightly sweet, glycerol texture and pleasant dryness, the acidity again given away by enamel erosion on the teeth! With a rich finish this was another 4 star wine.
Representing the New World was the Moncellier Wines 2009 Marlborough Pinot Gris, New Zealand (13.8%, £10.98). New Zealand is fast making a reputation for itself for Pinot Gris and this was from the Wairau Valley on North Island, near Aukland.It had a more muted nose than the Condrieu, still creamy but harder to pick up. It was sweeter but lacked complexity, giving instant gratification but with only simple flavours – a surface deep, 3 star wine.

We finished with Domaines Schlumberger again, the 2007 Les Princes Abbés Gewurztraminer, Alsace, France (12.5%, £18.72). Gewurtztraminer is a polarizing grape, many don’t appreciate it’s rich flavours, often with Lychee, Turkish Delight & Rose petal characteristics. The Schlumberger had a delicate nose, perfume and petals, and a sweet, floral aspect in the mouth with a pleasant freshness. This is a richly aromatic wine but comparatively light bodied wine, very good at 3 stars.

As usual throughout the evening there was a selection of delicious snacks matched to the different wines, one of the things that makes each Richard Granger tasting a delight – now if only they had air-con!

Slainte!

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A Chinese Toast

Posted on September 9, 2011 by Karl Laczko

The 2011 Decanter World Wine Awards dinner was held last Wednesday with the results of the top awards winners announced on the night. For the first time in its history a Chinese Wine took an International Trophy, the highest award level, in the Red Bordeaux Varietal Over £10 class.

I’ve travelled to China a few times now and have barely scratched the surface of its domestic wines which were, up until a few years ago at least, regarded as a low quality, high volume offerings. Truth be told some of what I did drink over there remains so, however, slowly but surely, an ethos of quality over quantity is spreading amongst a small number of Chinese wine producers which hopefully will continue after this week’s news.

Of course I haven’t been to Ningxia province where the award winner (the Jia Bei Lan 2009 Cabernet blend) was made – and it is not available in the UK – but I did manage to go to Château Bolongbao outside Beijing nearly a year ago, which I wrote about on Reign of Terroir in my Fabrique en Chine post last December. Here I picked up a bottle of 2004 品丽珠 (Cabernet Franc) for the princely sum of £30 and this weekend seems like the perfect excuse to open it and toast Chinese winemakers!

On first pour the wine looks remarkably clear and pale for a Cabernet Franc, more Pinotesque with a tawny hue giving the appearance of much more age than the 2004 on the label would suggest.

The nose is smoky and sweet, a touch of spice but also some stewed fruit, developing tobacco aspects after a little time in the glass. There’s a little vegetal aspect hidden away and overall it’s very pleasant (as long as you’re not looking for something fresh and fruity).

The taste is delicate with a port-like flavours, although without the alcohol. There’s a touch of raisin as well, subtle, but definitely there – I wonder if 2004 was a hot year near Beijing? The tannins are light and fine-grained, with some chocolate texture from the mid-palate through into the finish which at first seems short but then you notice a lingering aftertaste, not quite bitter, not quite sweet. There’s just enough acidity to balance the tannins and retain a freshness than means I’m now onto the third glass and heading towards a fourth (good job the abv is only 12.5%!).

The wine is good, 3+ stars, maybe approaching 4. It’s not a £30 wine compared to some that you can get in the UK, but this is something that you can’t get here and I’m not disappointed I bought it – I’m enjoying the flavours and textures plus it has an emotional aspect after coming back with me all those thousands of miles from a small winery a short distance outside of Beijing City.

Gan bei!

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Greybeard’s Corner – August 2011

Posted on September 5, 2011 by Karl Laczko

Summer’s end has come and as the northern year slips towards shorter days and colder nights it’s time for my monthly roundup of the greater wine world and my miniscule corner of it.

Wine News: South Africa hit the headlines for the wrong reasons with the release of  a report from Human Rights Watch, an international non-government organisation. The detailed report, entitled “Ripe with Abuse” is based on research conducted between September 2010 and May 2011 in the Western Cape, where most of South Africa’s wine industry is based. The reading is grim, with claims of appalling living conditions for farm workers, unsafe practices at work, including pesticide exposure, and institutionalised discrimination of farm workers. It ends with a comprehensive list of recommendations to the SA Government Departments and Industry organisations, but also for international retailers and consumers to (amongst other things);
•   “put pressure on suppliers to improve … conditions”
•   “Inquire into the conditions on farms that grow the products they purchase”
•   “Push retailers to only purchase from farms with (ethical) working conditions”
The take home message for consumers is pragmatic, “The answer is not to boycott South African products, because that could be disastrous for farmworkers”.
News of the report and its obviously negative description of sectors of the South African wine industry quickly spread through the International media and was picked up by bloggers and social networks. In counterpoint Wines of South Africa (WOSA) questioned bias in the report and defended the effectiveness of Wine Industry Ethical Trade Association (WIETA) and other organisations in actually improving conditions across the country’s Wine Industry.

Interestingly, within a week of the news, I saw two unrelated and markedly more positive pieces on South African winemaking; first in the Guardian with its piece A fairer Cape – the rise of South Africa’s black winemakers, which references the HRW report but states “there is a wind of change blowing through the staunchly Afrikaaner wine business.”; then on Palate Press with How the Swartland Crew is Bringing Up South African Wine. Both paint a more upbeat view of South Africa – different sides of the coin.

Mosel Hail

The end of the month also saw terrible weather in Northern Europe, with massive hailstorms in the Middle Mosel which hit on Friday 26th. “Golf ball” sized lumps of ice damaged houses and cars in areas around Wehlen, Filzen, Lieser, Kinheim, Maring-Noviand,  Brauneberg, Wintrich, Mülheim, Veldenz, Bernkastel-Keus, Graach, Neiderberg, Zeltingen  and Kröv.  Apparently there was also hail damage farther afield in Rheinhessen and Baden, although other Mosel areas such as Ürzig and Erden were spared, as were the Saar and Ruwer. Video of the ferocity of the storms can be seen on a host of YouTube uploads (search for Mosel + Hagel).

With traditional media slow to pick up on the weekend story twitter proved its worth with updates from those near to the affected areas. This allowed Reign of Terroir’s own twitter feed (@ReignofTerroir) to put out regular updates, including news that; Christian Klein in Kröv feared the loss of half his harvest; Johannes Selbach in Zeltingen was expecting 40% crop loss; Willi Schaefer in Gaach feared the loss of 50% of his fruit and his new warehouse. Whilst actual vine damage was shocking the risk of rot is now a bigger concern as the 2011 harvest starts in earnest.
The mainstream media finally caught up on the 31st with Adam Lechmere’s Decanter piece Hailstorms decimate Mosel, although few others seem to rate the damage to some of the world’s greatest white wine vineyards as worthy of a report.
Many thanks to  @DREI_Riesling,  @moselriesling,  @larscarlberg,  @Eurocentric,  @RieslingandI and @RieslingAC for those first reports, and to Gismondi on Wine for the first written piece.

Thankfully it seems that Hurricane Irene was more gentle on East Coast vineyards with the exception of a small amount of tornado damaged at Paumanok Vineyards,  as reported by Lenn Thompson on the New York Cork Report.

Elsewhere the European Harvest may be underway (although a cool July meant not as early as previously anticipated) but for California, and Napa especially, it was still a waiting game for the grapes to ripen, as reported in the Napa Valley register.
The recurring “100pts system, right or wrong” debate reared its head again, with Steve Heimoff and Jon Bonné adding lengthy pieces to the portfolio. I preferred Jancis Robinson’s two word response (no, not those two words!) in the all-too-brief Tom Wark interview on Fermentation.
Also raising controversy (mainly on the various Wine Bulletin Boards in the UK and US) was news of a $15,000 lecture fee for Jay Miller’s recent tour of Navarra, Spain, first blogged by Jim Budd and then Chris Kissack. A UK wine forum debated a $15K payout raising doubts of independence and objectivity, while one US forum briefly debated the information and seemed to be more forgiving. eRobertParker’s own boards suffered again from the heavy handedness of its administrator with an allegedly vocal discussion being locked before it got too outspoken, even though its behind a subscription pay wall where you’d think the participants would be allowed some freedom of speech.
(Edit: This saga eventually became known as Campogate and led to Pancho Camp MW resigning from the IMW, Jay MIller also leaving the WA).

And finally for the news we turn to internet wine maestro Gary Vaynerchuk, who announced his retirement from regular video wine blogging on the last DailyGrape piece, less than 6 months after Wine Library TV’s 1000 show. It didn’t come as a surprise as most people are amazed he lasted so long in the first place, with the overwhelming feedback positive and congratulatory for the impact Vaynerchuk has made over the last 5+ years. Although I’ve been only an infrequent watcher for the last couple of years I saw a part of my own wine life disappear in that final episode, as it was “The Vaynermeister” who led me to the WLTV forums in 2007 where I started my rough-and-ready education to internet wine writing. No doubt Gary will reappear in the future, but I found it quite emotional when he finished with a variation on his trademark sign-off “You, with such a smaller part of me than you realise, we have changed the wine world”. <Sniffy-sniff>

North East wine: “Enough about the rest of the world” I hear you yell, “What about North East England?” Hush, hush I say, here come the tales of my small corner of Wineland!

August was relatively eventful, starting with the news that we will be having a regional Wine Festival, just not the one we were expecting!

Northumbria_fest

After the success of the 2010 North East Wine Festival in Corbridge over a sunny June weekend I know there was a strong intention from the organisers to carry the momentum through to 2011 with the same event planned for June. Sadly that never materialised with, as far as I can tell, a combination of factors (including illness) meaning it was first postponed and then cancelled completely. Luckily for wine lovers in the region whatever was going on in the background seems to have resulted in a completely new event rising from the ashes, with the 2011 Northumbria Food and Wine Festival announced over the weekend of 7th, 8th and 9th October. The format looks to be the same, with local retailers, pop up restaurants, music and a smattering of educational talks over the 2 and a half days. All that we need now is an Indian Summer to appear, as October is traditionally one of the wettest months in our famously wet country!

August NEWTS was a delightful evening wandering amongst some of the weird and wonderful grape varieties available in the UK. Fellow member Elaine presented a range of 9 wines, mostly from The Wine Society and Waitrose, made with Malagousia, Pecorino, Godello, Rotgiplfer, St. Laurent, Susumaniello, Xinomavro, Saperavi and Negroamaro. All were enjoyable, but it was Heinrich Hartl’s complex 2008 Rotgiplfer, Racemi’s value for money Susumaniello (the Torre Guaceto Sum 2007) and Orovela’s restrained 2004 Saperavi which grabbed my attention. Additional details can be found on this blog’s previous entries, A most Unusual Tasting Part I and Part II.

Richard Granger Fine Wines also had an August tasting, this time of Aromatic Whites with a starting glass of Sauvignon Blanc to bedin the taste-buds, 3 Riesling, 2 each of Pinot Gris and Viognier, and a rich Gewürztraminer to close the event. Domaines Schlumberger in Alsace was the Old World standard bearer with a Riesling, Pinot Gris and Gewürztraminer from their classic Les Princes Abbés range, each showing typical varietal characteristics and all very drinkable. There was also a traditional, off-dry Bernkasteler Badstube 2007 Riesling by Mosel producer Dr H. Thanisch and the superb (if expensive, at £34.20) Domaine Louis Chèze 2008 Pagus Luminus Condrieu with fresh complexity and a pleasant salty aspect. In comparison the New World match-ups were less memorable, although the Crawford River 2005 Riesling from Victoria, Australia, stood out with its sharp acidity, elegant strength and smooth finish.
It’s rare to attend an exclusively white wine tasting but I’d love to see more such themed events as none in the room showed any signs of red withdrawal symptoms!

Of course a visit to Richard Granger wouldn’t be the same without adding to my collection and I left with the Schlumberger 2007 Gewürztraminer plus an unusual Loire Cabernet Franc that I spied on the shelves, the Couly-Dutheil Blanc de Franc. This is a “white” Cabernet Franc made without skin contact but also against the Chinon Appellation rules, meaning it can’t even display the vintage on the label, but it’s exactly this sort of wine that intrigues me and guaranteed that I’d be taking a bottle home.
These two bottles added to the meagre purchases for the rest of the month, including what should be my last (of three) Château Musar 2003 (time to plan for the 2004 now) and an older Marlborough Pinot Noir from Wither Hills, their 2005 Wairau Valley which was a bin-end at a local supermarket.

Home drinking was less exciting with a batch of inoffensive but equally unmemorable quaffers. A pair of Rioja wines by Izadi had some character; the 2008 white a barrel fermented blend of 80% Vuira and 20% Malvasia; the 2006 red a fruity Crianza , 100% Tempranillo with a classic flavour profile, but it was an Australian Riesling that gave most drinking pleasure, the Tim Adams 2006 Clare Valley Riesling. This complex wine had razor sharp acidity, fresh citrus flavours and a dash of petrochemical which I love on a Riesling with a little bottle age.

Cellar Trivia: Tim Adams wines are only available in the UK from corporate behemoth Tesco, which got me looking at how much of my current stash came from that area of the wine trade regarded by many segments of the wine cognoscenti as the evil empire of retailing – Supermarkets. I am a firm believer that it is still possible to get hold of a decent bottle of wine whilst doing the weekly grocery shop, with one in three of my bottles rescued from a supermarket shelf. What surprised me a little was the average price working out at £10.83 – although if you drop M&S and Waitrose from the calculations that does fall to £9.54  – proof that it’s not all cut-throat price promotions and bulk brands. However, what surprised me even more was looking at the other two thirds, sourced mainly from independent retailers, and seeing the average price jump to £16.11 – far removed from what the majority of UK supermarket consumers would consider paying except on the most special of occasions.

Looking Forward: So to September, the start of a new season and that crazy month for grape growers and winemakers alike. It is also California Wine Month as proclaimed by Governor Jerry Brown, the seventh year a month has been dedicated to the California Wine Industry – a list of coinciding events is available from the website.

  • September 10th & 11th is Portland’s Pinot in the City with over 100 Willamette Valley wineries and local restaurants hosting food and wine experiences on one city block (NW 9th and Marshall).
  • September 23rd – 25th sees the (Trade Only) 10th Miami International Wine Fair with wine producers from over 20 countries showcasing their wines to retailers, distributors and restaurants, including the 7th annual Florida International Wine Challenge.
  • 23rd September sees another “Grape Day”, hot on the heels of Tempranillo and Cabernet we now have Grenache Day. Unlike 2010, when The Grenache Symposium managed the event, it’s been difficult to see the guiding hand behind this year’s date. I know many in the industry dislike such contrived days as a marketing ploy, but I don’t mind having an excuse to open a decent bottle of wine, especially for such a soft, fruity, easy to drink grape!

Slainte!

Greybeard

Also published on September 4th on Reign of Terroir

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Tempranillo Day, Hola!

Posted on September 1, 2011 by Karl Laczko

Today was the 1st International Tempranillo Day, organised by TAPAS (Tempranillo Advocates, Producers and Amigos Society), a North American Organisation dedicated to promoting this intrinsically Spanish grape in America and Internationally. To be fair, for reasons of impartiality, I should also point out that today was the 2nd Global Cabernet Day as well, but I prefer Spanish grapes to French ones (a sweeping statement, but for the sake of today I’ll stick by it)!

Montecastro_03

In honour of TAPAS my offering to Bacchus was a wine that I bought nearly 5 years ago, back in 2006 and less than a year after experiencing my wine epiphany (April 2006, before which my understanding of wine was Red/White/Good/Bad). This was also the first bottle of wine I bought that cost £20 or more (£19.99 from Spanish Spirit), although I had tasted before buying and deemed it worthy of forgetting about for several years.

Montecastro y Llanahermosa is a Denominación de Origen Ribera Del Duero, and the winery, Bodegas y Viñedos Montecastro, was founded in 2001 by a group of investors headed by publisher Alfonso de Salas who brought in Bordeaux winemaker Jean-Françios Hébrard. The wine is 100% Tempranillo (barrel aged for 17 months) from 2003, the first commercial vintage of the winery and a hot year, although less so in Spain relative to other European countries.Even with its age I decanted the wine but couldn’t resist a sniff and a slurp. The aroma was creamy oak with a little funk and a touch of sharpness, while the taste was tangy with a savoury meatiness wrapped up in a fruity acidity, forceful at the front of the mouth, but with some delicate complexity coming off the mid-palate and finishing fruity and hot, at 14% abv.

After an hour or so the nose hasn’t changed too much, maybe a little creamier on the oak, but with a funky sharpness to it. The acidity is still bracing, but tannins are silky smooth and there’s a rich, thick aspect to the juicy fruit with some chocolate and berry jam. The finish is fruity and long… very long, and the heat at the end has disappeared (in fact I’m hard pushed to detect much of that 14% alcohol now) although the teeth are left with that roughness that confirms a touch of acid erosion! That’s the only complaint on the wine really, the acidity is hoverring on being unbalanced, although the longer I leave it the more it settles down and with food it would likely fade into the background. This is a good wine, but not great; 3+ stars rather than 4.

I reckon there’s enough fruit and structure, and definitely enough acidity, to prolong the aging – this wine could easily have another 5-10 years in it – but right now I’m not sure it’s worth the £20 paid, although it’s not far off with the strong flavour profile and structure. This was made from the outset as a big, extracted wine and the subsequent 2004 vintage is meant to be a step up in quality, which is encouraging as I’ve two bottles of that stashed away. Maybe next Tempranillo Day will see the first of those opened?

Salud!

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Tonight’s Tipple – An Izadi Duo

Posted on August 29, 2011 by Karl Laczko

Earlier in the year I got two bottles of wine made by Bodegas Izadi, a 2008 Rioja Blanco (white) and 2006 Rioja Crianza (red), from Dillies in Hexham. Bodegas Izadi is a relatively recent Spanish winery, founded in 1987 in Villabuena de Alaba in the Basque Rioja Alavesa, the northenmost of the 3 Rioja sub-regions. It has since expanded, purchasing Finca Villacreces in Ribera del Duero, Vetus in Toro and Orben in nearby Laguardia, Rioja Alavesa, to form the Artevino group.

I decided to open both bottles as the house wine for the bank holiday weekend. Each sported a minimalistic label with a simple traingular logo, hinting at a modern style of wine, although the Blanco was Fermentado en Barrica, suggesting more traditional winemaking as white Rioja is historically oaked, often to excess.

Izadi_duo

The Blanco was a traditional blend of 80% Vuira and 20% Malvasia, 13% abv. It had a floral nose with a little melon and some sweet oak, the wood also noticeable in the flavour but it was well integrated and didn’t overpower, giving a full textured mouthfeel with mild acidity and creamy, floral flavours. Overall it was a very pleasant 3 star wine, although I’d hesitate to buy again if it is in the £11 range as I believe (maybe if it was £9).

The Crianza, 100% Tempranillo, 13.5% abv, was aged for 14 months in American and French oak and also showed sweet oak on the nose but this time with plenty of red fruit, a classic Rioja aroma. It tasted deliciously smooth with sweet fruit and fine, chocolately tannins. I’d put this one in a modern stlye; the oak was well balanced, the fruit ripe and juicy – a real crowd pleaser of a wine and, at 3 1/2 stars, worth the price tag (£11.45 currently advertised).

Thursday 1st September is International Tempranillo day, so maybe I’ve peaked too early by opening the Crianza, but hopefully it’s a good warm up act for a 2003 Ribera del Duero I’ve got in mind. Otherwise I was impressed with the quality of both the Izadi offerings, although for value for money the white struggles a little.

Slainte!

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A Most Unusual (NEWTS) Tasting – Part 2

Posted on August 28, 2011 by Karl Laczko

After some delicious whites the evening moved to the reds, but we stayed with Austria for the Pittnauer 2008 St. Laurent Dorflagen, a 13% Qualitätswein Trocken from the Burgenland region.
Likened, and genetically related, to Pinot Noir, the St. Laurent (or Sankt Laurent) is an early ripening grape producing aromatic, deeply coloured wines. It is believed to have originated in France but is now a signature Austrian variety and also the most planted red grape in the neighbouring Czech Republic.
This £13.95 offering was another from The Wine Society and had a strong purple colour, a smoky nose with some underlying red berries. It was quite lean at the front but rounded out into a lightly tannined finish with a fair bit of acidity, showing decent complexity for a light/medium bodied wine – not really my style but well received by the group as a whole.

Italy once more for the Torre Guaceto Sum 2007 by Racemi from Puglia, a simple Vino Rosso da Tavola designation for a lovely 14% wine for £9.95 from The Wine Society, made entirely from the Susumaniello grape (related to Sangiovese).
There was a dash of liquorice on the nose which was warm, sweet and spicy. The taste was somewhat jammy with warm flavours including dried fruit – reminiscent of a fortified wine – and it was heading a little towards being too hot but stopped just short, getting close to 4 stars which, for the price, made it a bargain as well as a pleasure to drink.

Our second Greek wine of the night was the Alpha Estate Vielles Vignes 2007 Xinomavro, again from Macedonia made by Angelos Iatrides from 86 year old bush vines. This wine was the only one of the night not purchased in the UK, but instead from the Duty Free section of a Greek airport for £14.00.
There was a strong tar and liquorice nose which led into a textured wine with smooth, fine grain tannins of moderate length. There was a lean, acid components throughout, especially around the edges of the palate, living up to the literal translation of Xinomavro to “black acid”, however, this was a decent wine which lasted another 48 hours without deterioration after I rescued the remnants from the meeting along with the next wine, which sees us move even further east.

Eastern_delight

Note that both these bottles were ridiculously heavy, an unecessary waste of glass in an attempt to infer quality (and you should have felt the punt!)Georgia is regarded by many as the cradle of winemaking and is a country I’ve tasted on several occasions before, including it’s most famous grape, Saperavi; a hardy variety, able to handle extreme cold, which produces deeply coloured (the name means dye) high acidity, ageable wines.
For £15.99 Waitrose was the source of the 12.5% Orovela 2004 Saperavi which, for me, was a subtle, restrained wine with smooth, fine tannins, good acidity and a fragility which I savoured – there were no big flavours but also nowhere for faults to hide and I found none. Unfortunately I was in a minority with many describing it as rustic and uncomplicated (still, it meant I could also rescue this one as well and enjoy it the next night at home!).

And so the evening came to a close with our final wine, once more from Italy, a country with a host of indigenous varieties many wine drinkers are blissfully unaware of. Once more we were in Puglia, Italy’s “heel”, for the Graticciaia 2005 Negroamaro, made in the appassimento style with the selected grapes air dried on mats to concentrate flavours and sugars ahead of vinification. Negroamaro is thought to be derived from two words meaning black, the Latin “negro” and the Ancient Greek “maru”, although amaro is also the Italian for bitter.
This was a thick wine with a dense tar and enamel nose, very sweet fruit at the front with a complex mid-palate, solid tannins and a long, savoury finish. No-one in the room could deny the quality of this (over-) extracted 14% wine, a 4 star offering from The Wine Society, but at £35.00 the price was steep and difficult to justify.

Looking back over the reds my favourite was the gentle Orovela Saperavi, which I’d happily take 2 bottles of over a single (albeit decadently enjoyable) Graticciaia Negroamaro, however, in the QPR stakes it was the Torre Guaceto Sum Susumaniello that blew them all away at less than £10.

For the entire evening it was a close competition between Waitrose and The Wine Society but I’d have to just give it to Waitrose for their Rotgipfler, Saperavi duo ahead of the Sussumaniello, Pecorino tag team.

If you are one of the majority of wine drinkers who rarely venture away from the “Big 6” (Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Riesling, Pinot Noir, Merlot & Cabernet Sauvignon) then why not be a bit more adventurous in the future – pound for pound a grape you’ve only vaguely heard of is more likely to be much more interesting than one everyone knows because the winemaker has to try that little harder in quality to complete. OK, the really unusual ones can get more expensive because they’re so rare, and maybe Rotgiplfer and Sussumaniello is a step too far for most, but at least consider those rows of Roussanne, Verdejo, Arneis, Nero d’Avola, Touriga and countless other grapes just crying out for a taste.

Slainte!

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A most unusual (NEWTS) tasting – Part 1

Posted on August 24, 2011 by Karl Laczko

Last week’s NEWTS tasting was one for my fellow Wine Centurions, a selection of unusual grape varieties rarely seen in bottle or review. I took a slightly perverse enjoyment seeing the look of confusion on many of the faces in the room as the wine lists were passed around and people struggled to decide which was the producer and which was the grape, although I have to admit I also struggled with a few of them as well!

For the second month running there was a healthy balance of white and red grapes, even if one of them did its best to make us think it was dark skinned!

First out of the bottle was the 2009 Malagousia from Domaine Gerovassiliou, a 12.5% Regional wine of Epanomi from Greek Macedonia, near Thessaloniki. Winemaker Evangelos Gerovassiliou seems to have been almost singlehandedly responsible for resurrecting this almost extinct white varietal while working for Domaine Porto Carras before setting up his own estate.
The Malagousia, £8.99 from Laithewaites (currently out of stock), a 2010 Decanter Gold Award winner, was feremented in steel and lees matured for several months. There was a touch of sulphur on the herbal nose and the taste had a buttery aspect with a little almond and peach, overall a pretty good value 3 star wine.

Contesa_pecorino

Then to a Pecorino, the liquid version from Contesa with the 2009 Colline Pescaresi, a 13% IGT wine from Abruzzo. Pecorino is another white grape rescued from oblivion after a few wild vines were discovered in a canyon in Italy’s Le Marche region. Believed to be named after the local sheep (Pecora) who enjoyed feasting on the berries (Pecorino the cheese is made from ewe’s milk) this version has 10% Trebbiano and 5% Chardonnay in the mix and comes in at £9.95 from the Wine Society (no longer available).
With part of the blend fermented in steel, part in oak barrels, this was a full bodied wine with a rich, focusssed and somewhat mineral nose. In the mouth the mid-palate is rounded and fills out into a long finish, there’s a danger of it becoming too flabby, but it just about escapes and is an equally good 3 star wine.

Spain next, and the rugged northwest with the Louro do Bolo 2009 Godello by Rafael Palacios, son of José Palacios Remondo (Rioja) and brother to the famous Álvaro Palacios (Priorato). Godello was hardly used after the 1970s but has started to increase in popularity and is the authorised white grape for D.O. Valdeorras in Galicia.
At 13.5% this wine is aged for 8 months in French oak Foudres (typically large oak casks holding about 200 to 300 hectolitres) and came from The Wine Society for £13.95. It had a savoury, floral nose with a creamy citrus approach, turning a little lemony but then dropping off and leaving a touch of heat on the very short finish.
Although popular with many in the room I found little to warrant the additional price in comparison to the starters from Greece and Italy which I enjoyed more.

Rotgiplfer

The final white had many confused, as the Heinrich Hartl 2008 Rotgipfler sounded somewhat “redder” until we saw the bottle! Rotgipfler, a crossing of Traminer and Roter Veltliner, is named for the red tips on the vine shoots and is related to Grüner Veltliner (aka Weißgipfler…confused?… I am!). Its home is in Austria’s Thermenregion, as is Heinrich Hart III’s winery in Oberwaltersdorf, just south of Vienna.
This Decanter 2010 Regional Trophy winner came from Waitrose for £12.36 (currently £15.66) with 10% of the blend spending time on oak barrels. At 13% alcohol the wine has a sweet lime attack which then goes a touch sour into the finish. This was a full, very well integrated, complex wine with a plenty of acidity behind the sugar, but balanced and beautiful to drink, a 4 star bottle and my favourite white of the night.

We finished the evening with 5 unusual reds, which you can read about in Part II.

Slainte!

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