Château Jouclary Cabardès Cuvée Tradition 2006 (£6.99) Quite lively, spicy blackcurrant flavours tinged with a touch of iron, but then let down by something ever so slightly stale and cardboardy (still there a couple of days later), also a slightly metallic hint to the finish. Still good, and improves with time open, but flawed – don’t think it’s a bottle fault, but willing to be proved wrong. B-
Domaine de Cazaban Cabardès 2007 (£15.99) Fresh vibrant and virile wines, vibrant, the Merlot giving plummy roundness with the Syrah giving more plums plus orange peel and blackcurrants, some reduction giving that sage-infused sausage meat character, very promising spicy youngster. S
Château Jouclary Cabardès Cuvée Guilhaume 2004 (£11.25) Riper fruit than the Cuvée Tradition, but also comes across as fresher and more confident, with tannin and acidity providing backbone for the relaxed plummy blackcurrant flavours. Showing a touch of age, but still with bounce and passion, and again an edge of iron-like minerality to the finish. S-
Domaine de Cazaban Cabardès Demoiselle Claire 2007 (£10.25) A touch of rum’n’raisin, but also vibrant white pepper-y black fruit, again that iron-like minerality with the edge of reduction giving that meaty sage and onion, character. Entertaining and fresh – very tasty. S(-)
All these are from The Mixed Case
Moraitis Sillogi White 2007, Paros (£9.95 Laytons) Similar citrus crispness, but richer, lacks the zip and minerally zest, just turning a touch bitter – should have been drunk up by now. C
Hatzidakis Nykteri Reserve 2007, Santorini (£13.99-19.80 Cooden Cellars, Theatre of Wine) Peach, melon, pineapple chunk, some smoky/resinny oak, very rich and mouthfilling, but lacks the balance of the basic version. Comes across as slightly bloated. B
Moraitis Sillogi Red 2005, Paros (£10.95 Laytons) Earthy cherry, cooked fruit, ripe but with quite a big structure, slightly bitter cherry, some red berries, but finish is just a little coarse. B-
Domaine des Liards Montlouis Sec 2008 (£9.95 Yapp Brothers) Nutty, green apple, also some more mature bruised apple flavours, plus a slightly metallic edge too, rich yet dry, with typical prominent Chenin acidity, but just a touch short. B
Domaine Vigneau-Chevreau Vouvray Sec Silex 2008 (£12.96 Colchester Wine Company) Slightly nutty/stony aromas, lots of fruit, apple and citrus, with some exotic passionfruit edges behind, but all kept in check by rapier-like acidity and earthy minerality. It’s best is still to come. S
Domaine FL Anjou Blanc ‘Le Chenin’ 2007 (£13.99 DeFine Food & Wine, Liberty Wines) Oily richness, peach and pear but still classic apple edge of Chenin – apple charlotte, with a touch of just-undercooked sponge. Rich but still has a steely backbone. S(-)
Château de Pierre-Bise Coteaux du Layon Beaulieu Sélection des Grains Nobles L’Anclaie 2007 (£16.50/per 500 ml Lea & Sandeman) Exotic apricot, peach kernel and pineapple, cooked apple, very voluptuous and unctuous, then mouth-tingling acidity to keep it all fresh, rich and yummy. S(+)
Domaine FL Coteaux du Layon ‘Les 4 Villages’ 2007 (£21.99 Noel Young, Rannoch Scott Wines, Liberty Wines) A touch of smoky oak here? Certainly there on the nose, but overall this is fresh and vibrant in style, rich yet delicate, with the wealth of pineapple and peach flavour kept in check with appley freshness and lithe mineral finish. Lovely wine. G-
Did a post last year (here) about etiquette at tastings for those both behind and in front of the tables. Clearly not enough people read it – table hoggers and restaurants hunting in packs were in evidence at a number of the events I’ve been to this week. But their annoyance factor was nowhere near as much as that provided by the tasting booklet at one particular bash earlier in the month – won’t mention which one, that wouldn’t be cricket, cobber, would it? So to prevent such reoccurrences, here are some guidelines for those whose job it is to put these things together.
1) Is the booklet a sensible size? Bigger than A4 and it won’t fit in the filing cabinet. Smaller than A5 and it’s fiddly, and makes an unsightly bulge in the filing cabinet.
2) If the notes are more a sheet of paper than a booklet with a stiff back, can you provide some clipboards or even just bits of cardboard for us to rest it on.
3) You want us to write notes, so give us enough space to write them. However…
4) We do not need an entire sheet of A4 to write about a single wine, so pack a few onto each page.
5) Is the book organised in the order in which the tables and (if possible) the wines line up around the room? If not, we sulk.
6) Do the wines correspond to what’s in the book? The right vintage, the right cuvée, the right spelling etc? If not, make sure there’s something on the table to point out the discrepancies.
7) Does the book have easily accessible information for those who want to find out more about the wines? We shouldn’t have to look in an index for things such as UK importer (and their address/e-mail/phone number/etc).
8) Finally, is the background information genuinely useful and/or interesting? Or is it awash with phrases that activate the ‘Bollocks’ alert? There are thousands of family-owned companies with historic estates (where art, nature and passion combine, of course) using sustainable viticultural practices with minimal environmental impact to grow premium (or should that be super premium, or even super-ultra-premium?) grape varieties which are then made into (top) quality wines using sensitive/meticulous/hands-off/non-interventionist/artisanal winemaking in a state-of-the art winery to show off the best of the terroir and the talents of [fill in winemaker's name] who has spent many years hand-crafting (top) quality wines – what’s different about yours?
I’m sure there are more – do add them in the comments section below
Paris-based foodie David Lebovitz has just tweeted the following: ‘Reader just left comment about relatives who added Sweet ‘N Low to their wine in Paris because they thought it was too dry. Hilarious!’ (@davidlebovitz for more)
Reminds me of a comment I saw somewhere else on the Internet on a Pinot Noir whose identity I won’t reveal: ‘It was thin and very drying. I added Marques de Rojas [a Spanish red from Almansa] to it which didn’t seem to help so then I added sugar, which didn’t help either. Then I put some Cointreau in it which normally sorts out any wine, but that didn’t do any good. My wife added about a third of Port to hers which made it just about bearable. If that’s a Gold Medal New Zealand Wine then the rest must be piss awful.’
Australia Day + 1, so a few hangers-on from the haggis adventure, plus a moody but not all that magnificent Italian…
Jacobs Creek Grenache Shiraz 2008, South Eastern Australia (£5.99 Tesco, Asda, Ocado) Quite light, almost refreshing, sweet raspberry aroma and flavour, slightly jammy, but then the more earthy gravitas of Shiraz comes through. Good, easy commercial style, almost chillable. B
Peter Lehmann Layers Red 2008, Barossa, Australia (£10.50 SWIG) Liquorice and earth, slightly jammy dodger-like sweetness, big, quite fleshy, concentrated and juicy, and the blackberry and plum fruit isn’t overripe, but seems not to be quite sure what it wants to achieve. B
Wyndham Estate George Wyndham Founder’s Reserve Shiraz 2005, South Australia (£9.99 Majestic) Big, pungent, peppery, inky, has a pleasing black fruit and herb intensity, but there’s a slightly ‘processed’ feel to it, along with some vanilla that detracts from that nice fruit. But a decent glug all the same. B(+)
Castello Banfi Rosso di Montalcino 2007, Tuscany, Italy (£15.07 Bibendum – sale price from Feb 2nd £7.82) Vague brown sugar, black cherry and Cola, touches of vanilla and bayleaf, but ultimately quite simple with not much in the way of aroma, and a finish that’s just that bit too dry and charmless – too controlled. B-
Have to say that I’ve never had a low alcohol wine (or beer) that I’ve wanted to rush out and recommend – if I can’t have propoer wine, I’d much rather have a glass of water or fruit juice or elderflower cordial. Here’s a video looking at Miguel Torres’ attempt to get the style right, cost £5.99 a bottle from Soho Wine Supply. Did he succeed…?
I’m snowed in – it’s great. The fridge and the wine rack are full, but not as full as the head, which is bulging with ideas, some of which you’ll become aware of soon. In the mean time, I’m doing an early spring clean. The wooden desktop is reasonably clear, but the computer desktop needs some sorting out. I’m on that at the mo, and just came across this piece I wrote about high alcohol wines a couple of years ago. In the absence of some new videos (there’ll be more when the delivery trucks can get through to Dobcross), I hope you enjoy this…
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‘As a purveyor of red wines that inevitably average out at just under 14.5% alcohol, I have been at the receiving end of a growing number of (negative) comments about high alcohol. I wouldn’t say that I feel yet like the vinous equivalent of the super-sized Big Mac, fries and soda – but I am feeling a bit sensitive about the issue.’
So writes Oscar Foulkes, Commercial Director of Cloof Wines in South Africa, in a pamphlet entitled ‘It’s Good To Be High’ that landed on my desk in October. You don’t have to search too far to find the type of comments to which he is referring. Earlier this year, Californian winemaker Randy Dunn sent a round-robin letter to hundreds of people in the US complaining about high alcohol wines. In it Dunn said, ‘Most wine drinkers do not really appreciate wines that are 15 -16+% alcohol. They are, in fact, hot and very difficult to enjoy with a meal… Influential members of the wine press have lead the score chasing winemakers/owners up the alcohol curve and now I hope that it soon will lead them down.’
Another American Darrel Corti ‘banned’ wines over 14.5% from his Sacramento store because for him (and apparently his customers), they weren’t what wine was all about. Meanwhile closer to home, Marks & Spencer predicted a drop in demand for more potent brews and announced that it was looking to source wines that were closer to 12% alcohol rather than 14%.
No surprise then for Foulkes to be a little on the defensive. But rather than give just his views in the booklet, not only did he canvass opinions from other producers around the world but he also persuaded them to send samples of their wines to wine writers interested in finding out whether Big really could be Beautiful. More about them later on, but first let’s look at where these ‘monsters’ appeared from in the first place.
Those who think of them as a purely modern phenomenon aren’t entirely correct. Alcoholic wines have been made for as long as grapes have been grown in warm places. Châteauneuf-du-Pape has never been a shrinking violet, neither has Priorat or Aglianico del Vulture. Wine history abounds with stories of wimpy wines from more northerly parts of Europe being boosted with a draft of the warm south. But what has changed in recent times is the practice of comparing wines with those from other parts of the world. As anyone who has taken part in a blind tasting will tell you, there is a very real danger of being seduced by immediacy and overlooking subtlety. If you don’t have much time to make up your mind, do you go for the one from Baywatch or the one from Crimewatch?
Not surprisingly, as riper, richer, softer wines have ‘beaten’ more anaemic and acidic competition, and attracted glowing reviews, so many winemakers, aided by several factors (global warming, improved viticulture, absence of viruses, improved technology in the cellars et al – there’s an entire series of articles in these alone) have adapted their styles accordingly. If rich and ripe (and oaky) is good for red wine, then richer and riper (and oakier) is better. And this of course has had its benefits. No longer is it necessary to wait years for wines to become drinkable. But while the ‘if some is good, then more is better’ idea is true in some cases – bank balance and happiness spring to mind – there are others where it patently isn’t – body fat and pets, for example. Moreover, there are subjects about which there is no agreement. Body hair. Number of toppings on a pizza. And alcohol levels in wine.
So one Tuesday in October, I decided to try and make up my own mind. Foulkes’s selection was just four-strong (one producer’s wines had run out) so I delved through the sample rack to see what fitted into the 14%+ category and with not much difficulty ended up with 20 wines from eight countries (see here for the full line-up). And just to see what happens with these wines as they open up (and also try and mimic the ageing process), I tasted them seven times over four days. And here are my conclusions:-
1) Alcohol levels have no bearing on quality. This should be obvious really, but there were some lovely wines here as well as some dreadful ones.
2) Unbalanced wines remain unbalanced. Wines with insufficient acidity will always be on the soupy side. Wines made from overripe grapes will never lose that pruney, raisinny edge. Overextraction, identifiable by a character like burnt/baked damson or blackcurrant skins, doesn’t diminish.
3) Terroir is not negated by high alcohol. The good wines had sense of place in spades. Terroir is negated by sloppy winemaking.
4) Age is neither good nor bad. Some of the wines that showed well initially remained in good condition throughout the four days, while others began to oxidise. Others took time to come out of their shell, or to shed some of their initial boisterousness. In particularly an Aussie Shiraz that initially was too minty suddenly calmed down on day 3.
5) With glasses, bigger tends to be better. Standard ISO glasses tended to funnel the heat up your nose. Larger ones were more generous to the wines.
6) Big wines don’t necessarily overwhelm food. Fish, seafood and salads may quake at the approach of a monster red, but heartier food can usually hold it’s own. However…
7) Serving temperature is critical. High temperatures accentuate alcoholic ‘heat’ in the wines, and also bring any hints of volatility to the fore. Traditional advice is to serve beefy wines at higher temperatures than, say, red Bordeaux. I’d say the opposite. 16ºC is good. Don’t be afraid of asking for ice buckets in restaurants for your fuller reds.
If you’re looking for a pointer as to which country provides the best higher alcohol wines, I don’t have one. My three favourites were Oscar’s Cloof Lynchpin 2005, Darling (14.5%, £19.95 www.winedirect.co.uk), Leylines Shiraz 2004, South Australia (15%, £11.99 Private Cellar) and Marquesa de la Cruz Garnacha 2006, Campo de Borja (14.5%, £5.49 Tesco). A common thread? I see none apart from the fact that they brought a smile to my face. In other words, there’s nothing wrong with being seduced – providing it is by the right wine.
Casillero del Diablo Cabernet Sauvignon 2008, Valle Central, Chile (~£7) Classic Chile blackcurrant pastille tinged with mint, but also with a warm Mediterranean dusty herb edge, plus berry and vanilla flavours. B+
Wakefield Cabernet Sauvignon 2007, Clare Valley, Australia (£8.49 Majestic – £6.49 until end of Jan 2010) Warm blackberry edge of Cabernet Sauvignon, a tinge of eucalyptus, honest earthy edge, but slightly hard on the finish. B(-)
The Wine Society St Julien (Château Beychevelle) 2006, Bordeaux, France (£19 The Wine Society) Fresh blackcurrant tinged with pencil shavings/cigar box, plus a briny Atlantic edge, elegant, long and classy, with a refreshing finish, still young. S
Howard Park Leston Cabernet Sauvignon 2006, Margaret River, Australia (£14.99 Bibendum, Noel Young) Intense blackcurrant character, but there’s also this leafy, almost cabbage-like vegetal edge that intrudes and takes away the pleasure – and doesn’t seem to diminish with time. B(+)
Torres Mas La Plana Cabernet Sauvignon 2005, Penedès, Spain (£23.99 Majestic, Ipswich Wines, Fortnum and Mason, The Wine Shop, Planet of the Grapes) Classy wine with fabulous rounded but not too ripe black fruit, oak adding vanilla sheen, and a dusty, warm brick like character on top of the Mediterraneasn herbiness. Still with its best ahead of it. S(+)
Is the best-known white wine grape in the world improved with a dollop of Viognier? Not necessarily, although the results can be interesting…
Miguel Torres Cordillera Chardonnay 2008, Curico, Chile (£9.99 Grapevine, Nicholas Corke Fine Wines, Roberts & Speight) (15% Viognier in the blend) Gentle citrus, just-ripe peach and pear, it’s the crisp Chardonnay that is to the fore, with the Viognier just adding some plumpness. Good seafood wine with a slightly nutty finish. B
Houghton “The Bandit” Chardonnay/Viognier 2008, Western Australia (£8.99 – available in the UK from Feb 2010) Fuller, fatter and nuttier than the Torres, with the fleshy apricot edge of Viognier more prominent. But despite the rich peachy flavour, and the hints of butter and toasty oak, it’s still not TOO big, and your mouth is left entertained rather than overwhelmed. B+
Montes Alpha Chardonnay 2007, Casablanca, Chile (£10.99 Tesco, Waitrose) Quite big, fat and oily style, lots of tropical fruit cocktail flesh, big and buxom, tasty and does have a backbone of acidity but lacks subtlety. B
Leeuwin Estate Prelude Vineyards Chardonnay 2007, Margaret River, Western Australia (~£19 Domaine Direct, Beaconsfield Wine Cellars, Bentley’s Wine Merchants, Five Reasons Wine, Four Walls, Harrods, Highbury Vintners, John Gordons, Philglas & Swiggot, Richard Kihl, Theatre of Wine, Uncorked, Wimbledon Wine Cellar, Winedirect)
Classy wine, with an almost Mâcon style apple crumble and cream edge, and a gentle nutty edge to the tangy guava and citrus fruit. Holding it all togather is a thread of minerality and acidity, which keeps everything fresh, and should also prerserve it for another 3-4 years in the bottle should you witsh to keep it. S(-).
