salt & old vines

Well, I'm back from France. Harvest was about as organised as it's ever been, which is extraordinary. It's looking to be a long ripening season for the reds, which is good. Sadly, it meant I only got to work on whites and rosés while I was out there. Not that I don't like making white and rosé, it's just that cleaning the press is more of a pain in the ass than cleaning the de-stemmer. 

Tasted quite a lot of very good juice and early ferments. Roussanne and Marsanne both looking to once again be exceptional this year. There's a bit more acidity than usual, which in that part of the world is a good thing. As always, I'm excited to see how the wines turn out. I wish I could have been there longer.

I'm heading back in November, to assemble the fermented wines. I've never been back for that part of things, so it should be exciting. Hoping there's enough good Carignan to assemble another Red Socks blend, but you never know. 

November will also be a research trip, for this new book that I'm writing. It should be close to finished by then. It's an exciting project. You see, it's a story about winemaking where the mountains meet the sea. The nice folks at Unbound will be publishing it. If you'd like to read it, I highly recommend supporting it here. You get your name in the book and quite a lot more. 

Clos Bagatelle La Terre de Mon Père 2007 Saint Chinian

It's harvest in the Roussillon at the moment, so I've not had much time to take notes. My thoughts on wine these days tend towards the interminable time of a press cycle, or the failure of cooling equipment. It's my fifth vintage here. Every time I think I don't know what I'm doing, I do something right almost by reflex. Then I think I know what I'm doing and I bollocks something up. Such is the way of things.

Dark with ruby edges. Deep core.


Nose is wild herbs and ripe blueberries. Meaty, dense and perfumed.

Tight knit, intense and focused. It starts with a dusty, tannic, peppery crunch, which reveals pure dark blueberry and black currant followed by black olive savoury notes. The tannins turn to a rough suede, giving a serious, sexy grip. Delicious.

*****

Tasted at Luvians 23/8/12

Chateau Pichon-Longueville Baron 1985

I'm more familiar with the Comtesse de Lalande, but I do have very fond memories of '90 Baron at a stylish restaurant in north Kensington in the company of friends. The '90 was the laughable price of £60 on the wine list. So we had two. I don't know how afforded my lifestyle in my mid-late 20s, but it could go some way to explaining why I have no savings and still rent, rather than own. 

Colour is perfect for the age. Fading a touch, but still bright and playful in the light.

Nose is glorious, rising from the glass in all directions. Cedar and herbs, dark stone fruit, cocoa and leather.

Harmony. Fruit and secondary integration flows across the mouth effortlessly. From beginning to end, everything is in its proper place. All the nuance of the nose comes through but with more ephemeral notes, and small pinpricks of wood spice along the way. Lovely, proper claret.

*****

Tasted 28 July at The Sampler

Bourgogne 'Cuvèe Halinard', Bernard Dugat-Py 2009

I know these wines only by reputation, the reputation being exceptional. I picked this up as an introduction to the domaine as it was the most modestly priced of those available. And by 'modestly priced', I mean no such thing. It was hilariously pricey for AOC Bourgogne, at over the £30 mark. Still, with more senior village offerings well over twice that, I figured dipping my toes in at £30 would reward a Burgundy nut like myself, or prevent me from spending more on a disappointment. 

Dark Burgundian shade, laced with purple and a deep core. Broody looking.

Bushels of sweet red fruits with some darker plum and savoury tones on the nose. Very heady and quite floral - bit of violet to it. Intense.

The fruit has a piercing, juicy intensity to it, but it's surrounded by lush, soft gently textured tannins that don't show off their serious side until the beginning of the finish. The fruit gives way to the youthful hints of savoury notes, but they're still a bit under-developed at the moment. And just like they lingered on the edges of the nose, those violets linger and drift on the edges of the palate. This is luscious, sexy style Burgundy from the most luscious and sexy vintage in sometime. That focus of the fruit provides a great line to hold everything to it until it gives way to secondaries and tannin. Very long on the finish. Decadent, delicious stuff. 

Frightened to say it's worth the money. I know 1er Cru wines from lesser growers that cost more and deliver less. Horrifying, as it means I'm going to wind up buying more of these, and I can't really afford to.

*****

Tasted 21 August 2012 at Shorehead

Sassicaia 2001 (from half bottle)

I feel this is a good but not a great wine. I think maybe it should be priced around Tignanello level, and it isn't. I've tried four or five vintages of it now, and have enjoyed them, but feel its fame and status spring more from the incredible change it wrought, rather than the liquid in the bottle every year. Maybe I'm just grumpy. 2001 was a lovely year in Tuscany, the end of a great run of vintages that started in '95.

I've never had the '85, which is meant to be immortal. 

Dark. Young. A bit bloody.

Crazy nose. Butterscotch, toffee followed by dark black currants and chocolate.

Sexy palate. Everything is there from the nose, with it starting quite sweet and generous. The fruit appears mid palate, quite juicy, but it softens a bit too quickly in the mouth. Good length. 

****

Tasted 28 July 2012 at The Sampler

Gaja Barbaresco 1995 (half bottle)

I wish I had made it my New Year's resolution to drink more wines from Angelo Gaja, because that's what seems to be happening this year, much to my delight.

Still quite young looking. Pale, but vibrant. No Nebbiolo browning as yet.

Nose is forest and forest fruits that turn to cherries, with a bit of roasted herb. Beguiling stuff.

The palate doesn't follow through. It's good. There's that crunchy grip, but it seems a touch dried out. The finish does not linger, and stops a bit short. It's still charming and has bright spots, but is past it, sadly.

**

Tasted 28 July 2012 at The Sampler

Ardbeg 1975

Not a lot of people know this, but as well as being a wine nerd, I am quite an epic whisky geek. My old employer specialised in single malts, and stocked over a thousand different bottlings, from the most basic Grouse right up to rare expressions worth tens of thousands of pounds. For well over a decade, I tasted, studied batch numbers, noted wood finishes and peat parts per million and noticed the sea-change that has run through the industry. Fewer whiskies are filtered these days, and younger expressions, barely over the legal age of three years a day, now crowd the shelves at specialists. First-fill bourbon casks are used extensively to tame with wild heat of young malt, and whiskies that ten years ago would have seen at least 7 or so more years of time in the cask are bottled. Thus distilleries see a faster return on their investment, not having to wait a decade or more for spirit to reach acceptable maturity. There are endless 'finishes' that see whisky go into various casks that once held Madeira, or Sauternes, or Rum, or Burgundy.

Quality, as with all things, varies. Wood finishes are marketed as adding something extra, but more often than not are used to hide faults, flaws or simply youth. If you aren't deeply cynical of whisky marketing, you should be. Don't listen to a word of it. 

I rarely note whisky. Like beer, I was really into it before I worked in the business, and so for some reason never felt the need to interrupt my enjoyment with notation. I made an exception for this particular dram as it was so special to me. Ardbeg released two bottlings of 1975 after Glenmorangie PLC bought the distillery in 1997. One was bottled in 1998, the other in 2000. The recommended retail price was £44.99, or about £2 more than the RRP on their current 10 year old. It's one of my all time favourite whiskies. It was the sort of whisky that could make a whisky lover out of anyone. On a recent visit to Ardbeg, we were told that the only remaining pre-1997 stock left at the distillery was 3 barrels of 1975. I assume they will be bottled in three years time as a 40 year old, and priced at several thousand pounds. Times change, I guess. 

This particular bottle was a gift to me from a former employer; a hoarder who knew its value to collectors. He gave it to me on the promise that I would drink it and enjoy it, and not 'collect' it. This note is from the very last dram poured from the bottle. 

Very light caramel. Only just past gold.

Nose is hot one second, warm the next. All manner of brine, burnt honey, wood smoke. Sings somewhat.

Whisky like this doesn't really get bottled any more. Or if it does, it's thousands of pounds. Most importantly, there's structure. It starts, has a middle, then finishes. The fire and smoke start it all off, before it all tightens up and closes in, grabbing the palate before spreading like a brush fire. Then it tucks in again with white pepper, and all the caramel sweetness that the nose promised. You'll taste it for too long. And never again.

*****
Tasted 8 July 2012 at Miller's Court

Viña Real Rioja Gran Reserva 1986

I overlook Rioja frequently. It suffers, in my mind, from ubiquity and (ironically) its general high quality. I shouldn't do that. I should try to drink more of it. But then I realise if I were to drink more of everything I say I should drink more of, I'd be a gibbering drunkard unable to string two sentences together.

Rubies and amber.

Perfumed with old lavender and cherries. There was a hint of mothballs, but I worked out that this was just remnants of the neutral gas used to keep the wine - it dissipated quickly.

Very gentle palate. Soft red stone fruit and suede. Lingers with charm. Utterly sensuous. Feels lovely in the mouth.

****

Tasted 28 July 2012 at The Sampler

Domaine Bunan Bandol 2007

The wine section at M&S always flusters me. I know their buying has great strengths, and there are, as supermarket wines go, some good bottles. But I don't know many of the producers and so I always feel I'm flailing about, unable to make an informed decision.

We're having lamb shanks, and so I thought lamb shanks in the summer would be great with a Bandol. So I took a punt on this. Mostly Mourvèdre with a bit of Grenache and Syrah.

Dark core with ruby going to purple on the edges.

Touch hot on the nose, with garrigue, herby notes of rosemary and a bit of sage. Fruit takes some coaxing, but when it appears, it's blueberries with edges of redder fruit.

That heat from the nose disappears on the palate. The fruit is nicely integrated with those herbal notes, and there's lovely, modern mouthfeel to it; polished garrigue if such a thing exists. The only thing that's lacking is a touch of structure. It doesn't seem to have any edges and without anything to pull it in, it feels too heavy in the mouth. The flavours compliment the food, but its weight makes an already rich meal a bit too much. Seems to put on weight with air. Not worth £15.

**
Tasted at Miller's Court, 29 July 2012

A Guigal or two

I've been aware of The Sampler for some time, though fear for my wallet led me to avoid it. This was pure idiocy on my part, and I can only hope that the wine gods look down on my attempts at fiscal responsibility as a mere temporary lapse of reason. Bizarrely, I didn't browse much, but what I saw suggested a meticulous selection - names that were familiar brought glee, while the unfamiliar looked exciting and seemed to be screaming 'buy me'. That's about as good as it gets with wine shops.

The reason I didn't browse was because I was there to taste. The Sampler has several banks of enomatic machines. These machines keep wine bottles in a neutral atmosphere, allowing samples to be dispensed pretty much indefinitely without the wine oxidising. They're pretty much the most awesome thing since bacon. 

My mate Pete and I decided on two rather epic cuvées to kick things off. 1992 was not the greatest vintage in history of the Northern Rhône, but it was better than in Bordeaux.  

Guigal Côte Rôtie La Mouline 1992

Mature but no amber. Faded purple and ruby.

Nose is dusty and sweet, with piercing juiciness on the end, as though to remind you that there's still life there.

Intense, concentrated on the palate. The fruit is dark, ripe and knit tightly to the wood and secondaries. You don't just taste them together, you feel how they mesh with each other. Oak apparent, but feels old, tempered. Very long, with quite a fresh juiciness to it. 

****

Guigal Côte Rôtie La Landonne 1992

Darker than the La Mouline. More purple and less ruby.

Nose has a nice earthiness to it. It's a bit more rounded - less dust and more suede, softer fruit.

Palate follows the nose. More rounded and supple, with greater harmony between the fruit and the secondaries. It's like silk, plums and bitter chocolate. It seems gentler, but as the finish arrives it reveals a tight stoniness underneath. 

*****

Both impressive wines, and ageing with elegance. I think perhaps the Mouline wanted a bit more for food, though the Landonne was the sexier at the moment. The Landonne had me discovering more, hence the extra star, but scores are stupid anyway.

Tasted 28/7/2012 at The Sampler, South Kensington

Mas des Masques 'Les Silex' Chardonnay

So I've got a job at the moment, with a small wine importer/retailer/wholesaler in West London. I've always liked their wines, and have noted a few up here before. One of my favourites is this little number. Far finer wine writers have already noted their approval of this cuvée, but I thought I'd throw my two cents in nonetheless.

It's a strange wine; an NV blended from 2007 & 2008 fruit. 

Quite a rich, young gold. 

Full, fleshy nose with quince, pineapple, biscuits, roasted walnuts and buttered toast. It's a nose that makes you want to take a sip, maybe even a gulp.

You'd be forgiven for thinking it's a fat wine. It leaps out from the mid-palate, rich and bursting with fleshy, fibrous pineapple and lashings of toasted, buttered nuts. But then there's this great lemon-citrus that tugs back as the finish begins and pulls everything with it, leaving the tongue pleasingly stuck to the roof of the mouth. Lingering, but never sticky. Folks keep comparing this to Burgundy, and I see where they're coming from, but I feel this is of its own. There's a lot of Southern France in this glass, in the best possible way. 

*****

Tasted a lot, but most recently 28 July 2012 at Miller's Court.

Lilbert-Fils Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru à Cramant NV

I loved the Olympic opening ceremony. It managed to be nostalgic while still connecting to why people love Britain; why Britain is fantastic now. I also loved the Champagne I drank. I hope to drink more. 

Silver and pale gold, with fast, pinprick bubbles.

Pears, apples and walnuts with a hint of butter and shortbread.

The palate begins with a pleasingly sharp tang of lemons and green apples, grabbing with a hard, angular tug. That leads to the mid-palate and that quick, fine mousse dissolves itself across the tongue, bringing out a beautiful fibrous white fruit fleshiness. Its gentle lusciousness then falls away, revealing a hard, stone-like core. Great finish. Superb wine.

***** Tasted somewhere in Fulham, 27/7/2012, whilst watching the Olympic opening ceremony.

busy times

This is a busy month. I have a new job and am splitting time between Scotland and London. I also have a book to write, which should be taking more time than it is. Then, at the end of next month, I return to Collioure to make wine. It will be my fifth vintage with the fine folks at Coume del Mas and Mas Cristine, and I'm very much looking forward to it.

I like being busy. It beats the alternatives. But I miss my cat, and I've not been running enough. I've also not been blogging enough. I'll try to manage about two posts a week, but if this corner of the wine web seems a bit quiet, I apologise. I'm still tasting and drinking. And even if I'm not ranting here, I assure you that somewhere out there I am ranting.


Schiopettino 'la Viarte' 2007

Schiopettino, or Ribolla Nera, came close to extinction during the Phylloxera scourge. New plantings in the '70s saw a small comeback, but it's still relatively obscure. Quite a lot of it goes to make sparkling wine. 

I'm going to be honest, this is one of the most interesting wines I've tried in ages. It's different, and structurally doesn't follow any path that I'm familiar with. Folks set in their ways will probably want to steer clear. 

Dark. Vivid.

Nose is powerful but a touch muted. Coffee grounds, a touch of cranberry. B Bit of wild herbs on the edges. Quite beguiling.

Violets, rosemary and assorted herb by the bushel on the palate. It's almost like bitters. Star anise and cedar, quite hard but there's cherry peeking around the edges. I really like this. It's backwards and rustic, but not dirty. Fascinating stuff. Like a well seasoned black and blue ribeye.

*****

Tasted at Luvians, 16 July 2012

Manzanilla Pasada 'Pastrana' Bodegas Hidalgo

Single vineyard sherries are uncommon, as are Manzanillas bottled with this much age (hence the 'Pasada' in the name).

My love of sherry is no secret, so I'm just going to let this note roll. A wee side note - I thought this was more Amontillado-like than that Williams and Humbert I tasted a couple of weeks ago. It's still not very Amontillado-like.

Gold but with just a hint of brass.

Nose is lemons with salted hazelnuts and peeled almonds. There's a whiff of something fleshy and tropical just towards the end.

Lean and fleshy all at once. Palate goes right from the very tip of the tongue throughout. There's that briney citrus and then midway through the salted nuts arrive with riper, more exotic white fruit that is bone dry but rich nonetheless. Clean, sea-like salinity on the finish. Perfect for a sip on the balcony in the summer.

*****

Tasted at Shorehead, 16 July 2012

Chambolle-Musigny 2004 Mugnier

I love these wines. This is wearing its age a bit, but I didn't mind. 

Quite mature for only 8. Hints on amber on the edges. Rust too.

Bit aged on the nose. Soft, stewed cherries and general earth tones. Gentle. Basket of fruit on a hot summer's day.

Pulpy, juicy palate with soft and gentle strawberries, cranberries and redcurrants. The tannins have softened considerably. This is mature, drinking now and probably should be drunk quite soon. It's charming, though, and a pleasure to drink.

***

Tasted at Luvians, 15 July 2012

Trousseau 2005 'Singulier' Tissot

Today was kind of a 'try weird new things' sort of day. Today's weird new thing was the varietal 'Trousseau', found mostly in the Jura region of France, nestled in the Alpine foothills. Trousseau is more famous by its Portuguese name, Bastardo. And from what I understand, it is a wee bit of a bastardo to cultivate in the Jura, needing gravel soils to retain heat from the day's sun. Not many people make it any more, which is a shame. The bottle from Stephane Tissot was quite a revelation. 

Colour's light and a touch dusty.

Pretty, bright, cherry stones and strawberries with a dusting of chocolate on the nose.

Palate is restrained to start, with those light red fruits, then it gets taut and grippy, with dark forest and almost a hint of varnished hardwood. In a good way. It's revealed subtly. Tasty stuff and that little bit different. Elegant rusticity.

****

Tasted at Luvians, 16 July 2012

Gaja Barolo 2007

Opened recently at my local wine merchant. Don't know what I'm going to do when I don't have them to call on anymore. 

Great colour: dark, translucent and bloody.

Bright red and dark fruit nose with tar and suede and a touch of smoke.

Forward and sexy but in a classic way, which matches up with what I know about 2007 as a vintage. It's taut, fleshy and well-integrated, with the tannins forming a grippy lattice around crunchy dark cherries. This will soften and get more elegant, but I really like its crunchy grip at the moment.

****

Tasted at Luvians, 13 July 2012

Salomon Undhof Wachtberg Erste Lage Grüner Veltliner 2010

This was a wee punt on my mum's behalf. She likes wine and likes to try new bottles. I didn't know the grower, but we bought it at Lea & Sandeman, and their buying tends to be fairly spot on. 
 
Gold and silver with a bit of tarnish. Bright and light.
 
Lemon, green pepper; there's melon and a hint of the exotic on the nose as well. Some meal-y, grain-mill notes emerging. 
 
Both rounded and grippy on the palate. Green fruit and citrus zing to start things off. These lift the palate to the mid point, where that oat-iness from the nose kicks in, grabbing the tongue and setting off a late palate explosion of textured spice. Great structure with good nuance and complexity. I think it's a bit pricey (about £20), but it's a very complete wine. 
 
***
Tasted at Miller's Court, 10 July 2012