Le pays d’oc

Back for 2 weeks in Singapore, I was busy handing out recommendations for interesting, inexpensive wines, and while marketing Viognier (one of the grape varietals used in the Côtes du Rhône, first tasted in the form of the White Rhône wine Les pieds de Samson, Collines Rhodaniennes – an excellent wine in my opinion, although slightly beyond the price ceiling we’ve imposed on ourselves), managed to pick up several bottles from le pays d’Oc in the South of France.

Also managed to get my hands on some excellent Cabernet Sauvignon from the same region, excellent partly because it was free. Not typically a fan of Cabernet Sauvignon (given my bad history with both “good” and “not too good” labels), I was pleasantly surprised to find one I really liked.

With less than 36 hours left here, that’s about as much time as I’ll get to look for the labels of these two outstanding wines and write a quick post about them here. Could also do some justice to the wine producing regions of the south of France while I’m at it.

One thing’s for sure, at SGD$30, for the Viognier to cost more than £18 would imply economic ruin for the UK; can’t be so sure for the Cabernet Sauvignon – I managed to get it for free. Hence the need to ask embarrassing questions about how much presents cost.

Right. Time to sort out those bottles.

Secrets of the government’s £2m wine cellar

I recently came across this exclusive article about the British Government’s wine cellar, which contains over 39,000 bottles of wines and spirits, including vintages that go back as far as 1878 (port). Inaccessible for you, or the average member of the public, you may think – well maybe it’s not that bad. Read on.

Of course, one expects any Government to serve extremely high-quality (and priced) wine to official guests, but just how excessive is the British wine cellar?

Well, “the wines here are some of the finest you could possibly wish to taste. They are fit for prime ministers, presidents and kings and queens”, and these include mostly French wines, with a few Italian and German bottles too. However, perhaps surprisingly, “the most that has ever been spent on any single bottle for the cellar was around £100.”

Of course, £100 sounds like an awful lot to spend on one bottle of wine – but if you consider that these are served at the most important, in a way, official visits and state banquets, it does not seem that excessive when put into perspective, particularly when you look at the price that certain wine enthusiasts from the general public are willing to pay for a bottle of (very) fine wine.
Therefore, the moral of that story is… buy good, relatively cheap wine with the potential to age, and keep it for as much as you can. You will then not only be the proud owner of a very exclusive, fine wine cellar, but if you wish to you will also potentially make a lot of money if you decide to buy wine to invest in, and re-sell at a later date.

For a basic, straight-forward table with some of the wines that age gracefully and are good to keep, see this website. Alternatively, The Wine Society also has great tips and suggestions on choosing wines to buy to keep.

Apparently, “during the course of the next year, around £50,000 worth will be sold in order to buy new bottles. This will be repeated over the subsequent three years. The government says the purchase of wine will now be entirely self-financing”. Now I’m not suggesting that you invest on a similar scale, but I’d just like to use this article to emphasise that price really does not have to matter on quality of wine.
You can certainly buy very affordable wine not only to drink now, as we’ve been suggesting so far on this blog, but also to lay down and keep for later, turning your purchases into real treasures.

Enjoy!

Gewürztraminer

Firstly, apologies for the lack of posts in recent weeks. Work has been unforgiving and this being the run-up to exam and dissertation season, health benefits of wine aside of course, one should indeed probably restrain oneself slightly.

That said, we managed to indulge in a number of delicious wines at a tasting at The Wine Society‘s showroom cellar in Stevenage, Hertfordshire. This post has, as its subject suggests, The Society’s Exhibition Gewürztraminer, 2007, in the spotlight, for £13.95 per bottle. Yes, another (sweet) white – terribly sorry about that, we simply cannot resist them sometimes. We do, however, promise to post reviews of reds in the very near future. Stay tuned!

Just to keep things fair, here’s the little paragraph of tasting notes which was provided to us that evening:
This Exhibition gewürztraminer was made for The Wine Society by Hugel & fils, one of the best known Alsace Houses and with a reputation for excellence going back to the 17th century. They have been growing grapes in Riquewihr since 1639, and the firm’s strength lies in the family and the determination of each successive generation to maintain exacting standards. Hugel’s gewürztraminers have splendid fruit and body to match the scented perfume of this spicy grape. A classic partner for Oriental cooking, rich duck or goose, or ripe, creamy cheese.

Now that the professional quote is done, let’s get down to business.

• Taking one’s first glance at the wine, one notes its pale, transparent colour, with a slight tinge of green. Light through the core, it looks deceptively young, yet it is already 4 years old.
• On the nose, one’s first impression is that of being inside a hair salon. Not the nasty smell of treated and re-treated hair, but rather the slightly perfumed aromas of fine hairspray. A deeper nose points to its possibly more orthodox identity: elderflower. A round sweetness characterises the nose, although “flowers”, “honey” and (as would be typical for a Riesling rather than a Gewürztraminer) “petroleum” don’t really make good descriptions. Other suggestions are definitely welcome here.
• On the palate: a surprising hint of spice, specifically (this took awhile to figure out) coriander seeds, as well as flavours midway between tropical and citric fruits. A hint of sweetness can be detected on the palate, although “pleasant” would probably be the least misleading of descriptions. The flavour of this Gewürz is decidedly, hence, complicated and slightly challenging to describe.

Nonetheless, it is, on the whole, a sublte but tasty, delicious wine. As suggested by the tasting notes, this would’ve gone well with some food – a luxury we tragically did not have that evening. We suggest, therefore, that if anyone does get their hands on a bottle (or case) of this tasty specimen of good wine, have it as suggested: duck, goose and/or some cheese – and then let us know how it goes.

Bon appétit! Or, for those familiar with this very amusing video, “enjoy your meal everyone”

Chenin Blanc and the Loire region

The Loire region in northern and northwestern France, around the town of Tours, is where a plethora of some of the finest white wines are produced.

The grape we’re focusing on here, Chenin Blanc, is naturally high in acidity and usually releases aromas of honey and damp straw. A range of styles can be made with Chenin Blanc, from acidic dry (particularly if it’s from a cold year) to deliciously sweet (mainly in good, i.e warm years), and Chenin Blanc wines can be kept for a very long time. Producers in the Loire region tend to ferment the grape at a high temperature for white grapes, and add sugar during that process, so that flavours of tropical fruit and aromas are avoided, unlike in New World wines.

This week, we’d like to review another elegant sweet white, namely the Vouvray Les Coteaux Tufiers Demi-Sec 2008, produced by Boutinot in Touraine and containing 12% alcohol. It can be purchased from The Wine Society for a mere £6.95.

• This subtle wine appears transparent, very light and pale in colour, which is mainly due to its young age (2008).

• On the nose, you’ll initially smell fresh peaches; after swirling, the wine releases the more acidic flavours of apricot jam, only delicately sweet, and a tad of honey, as well as a very small scent of nail polish remover and rubber . The smell develops into something rather creamy, almost like one would imaging lemon curd would smell without the lemon smell.

• On the palate, you’ll be able to taste honey as well as, distinctly, a decent degree of acidity, and that is precisely what makes this wine interesting: the balance between its sweetness and acidity.

Because it’s a demi-sec, this Vouvray is nowhere near as sweet as a Sauternes or a Riesling, but almost as pleasant to drink and delicately fragrant – thus it might suit your tastes better than a very sweet, or dessert wine, if you don’t tend to go for sweet whites usually.  This is a sophisticated, very affordable, ‘bipolar’, as it were, white to enjoy with appetizers, starters or light fish dishes with acidic and/or fruity ingredients.

Enjoy!

Riesling

Riesling – a grape known for its complexity and elegance, famous for being rather sweet yet fine, it is a very popular wine amongst enthusiasts and connoisseurs. Quite frankly, you can’t go wrong with a good Riesling: its perfume, complexity and wonderfully sweet yet delicate palate is likely to enchant more than one – from, dare I say, student binge-drinkers, amateurs to enthusiasts and wine snobs.

If you like sweet wine, be our guest. If you’re usually sceptical and not a fan of sweetness in white wine, don’t make the mistake of missing out on this wine because you got the wrong impression. Riesling definitely has more to it than its sweetness (and some Rieslings are definitely not sweet), and you’re bound to find something you like in the different layers that this wine offers.

The characteristics of Riesling as a grape are its potential for ageing, and the fact that it is grown in different places (originally in Germany and Alsace of course, as the sonority of its name may hint, but also in California, New Zealand, France etc.) – and very much reflects where it’s grown, more so than other grapes. That means that Australian Rieslings, for instance, are likely to smell and taste quite different to German ones. I won’t go into details about region specifics, but Germany particularly has, maybe unsprisingly, many different categories, classifications and names (which makes reading the label of a Riesling bottle rather difficult to the average consumer!). Im grossen and ganzen, as they say, though, for German Rieslings, quality is based on the level of sugar, hence the different classifications. For more information on the latter, do visit http://www.4inwine.com/html/classifications.html.

Our pick today is the very reasonably priced German Dr L Riesling 2009, Dr Loosen, the Mosel, which can be found in Sainsbury’s for £6.99. The affordability and ease of reach of this Dr L should definitely encourage you to go and buy it to enjoy, particularly as an apéritif, or after-dinner wine (having it with a sweet dessert would make it seem sour, which it is not).

Tempted? Or not convinced (yet)? Read on.

• When looking at it, this Riesling appears rather pale (like a large number of, but certainly not all, Rieslings) and clear, hinting its young age, with a few very delicate bubbles, which might suggest that it can taste slightly crisp.

• On the nose, Dr L will give you fruity and floral fragrances. It appears light, “breathing” (not that one can ‘smell’ air – but I’m sure you’ll see what I mean), and gives the impression that it will taste slightly crisp and mineral. Like for most good Rieslings, you’ll also get a fairly strong hint of petrol and rubber (although compared to others, this is only slight here) – as you can gather, Dr L is full of different aromas and layers, and you can let your imagination flow when swirling, breathing through and tasting it!

• On the palate, the very low level of alcohol (8.5%) means that the sugar and sweetness remain (though finely balanced by acidity), and one will actually be reminded of sweet, natural fruit juice (with a very delicate fizz) when tasting Doctor L, but in a much lighter and elegant way. For fellow germanists, compatriots of Mozart or Merkel, and anyone who’s been to Germany or Austria, this wine will even taste like Apfelsaftschorle/Apfelsaft gespritzt (apple juice and sparkling water) or Kaiserspritzer (white wine, sparkling water, and in this case elderflower). You’re basically drinking a delicate wine which is sweet in a subtle fashion, very slightly crisp, fragrant but also smelling of petrol – and above all very, very pleasant.

I can guarantee you’ll want more than a sip of this wine. Now go grab that Doctor – with a name like this, it can only do you good anyway.

When cheap goes bad: wines to avoid, and why some wines are cheap

Today, I came across two interesting articles on The Telegraph website.

The first article, “Grapes of Wrath: Wines Worth Avoiding”, is a review of some of the cheap, but bad wines out there. The article is easy to follow, and comprehensive, in that the wines that are to be avoided are from a wide variety of producers and types, and the author suggests an alternative for each wine she recommends you not to buy.

The list consists of very different wines: 2 French, 3 Italian, 2 Australian, 1 New Zealand, 1 American and 1 Argentinian wine. The article is worth reading if you want to avoid buying wine that is (amongst others) not balanced, too high in alcohol, too acidic, or, quite frankly, not even good to cook with.

All the wines on there are about £5-£8 so whilst you’re not going to break the bank if you do make the mistake of buying one of the ‘bad ones’, you’d definitely get much more pleasure out of spending the same amount of money on a quality wine.

Find the article at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/wine/8288173/Grapes-of-wrath-Wines-worth-avoiding.htm

The second article, “Cheap Wine: the bargains that cost us dear”, shows how a £5 bottle of wine costs about £2.52 in reality, due to the increase in VAT. As the author says, “£2.48 minus shipping, distribution, bottling and so on doesn’t buy you much wine”. This goes to show that looking to spend a fiver on a bottle of wine thinking it will be decent, is often erroneous – and might even turn out to be onerous too, if you need to buy another bottle to replace the poor-quality wine you’d previously purchased.

Fear not, for “in real terms, winemakers have never produced such high quality so cheaply.” This means that you are not getting ripped off for the wine you buy, and that spending those extra few Pounds will go a long way. As explained in the article, “there’s no danger that we’ll go thirsty – there will always be someone willing to make a wine to put on the shelves for under £5 – just that it will increasingly taste like the vinous equivalent of sausages made with toenail clippings”.
Does that really appeal to you?

If you’re going to pay between £5-£10 for a bottle of wine and expect to get a good one for that, make sure you know where to look (avoiding the wines listed in the previous article, for instance) and recognise the value of the beverage you’re purchasing, rather than just looking at its price tag.

That’s what our blog aims to do – give you those good deals on wines so that you spend your money where it matters.

Find the article at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/wine/8330383/Cheap-wine-The-bargains-that-cost-us-dear.html

Crozes-Hermitage 2008

The Rhône valley (think Lyon) is home to possibly the largest collection of French vineyards after Bordeaux. But more probable than this is the near fact that on average, because of the lack of overhyped neighbours like Château Lafite, Rhône valley wines offer much more than a similarly-priced Bordeaux wine.

Then again, because of the different grape varietals blended into Bordeaux vis-à-vis the Syrah in most of the Rhône valley appellations, such comparisons are somewhat mooted by an argument that “different people prefer different wines”.

No matter – our recommendation today was unfortunately purchased in its highly overpriced manifestation, in the downmarket version of a certain Michelin star restaurant. Nonetheless, it is possible to procure the Domaine des Entrefaux Crozes-Hermitage 2008 online at around £12-£14 (see: wine-searcher.com).

• At 3 years old, the wine appears light (in texture, if one can imagine seeing texture), yet dark violet in colour. Transparent through the core, it presents light shading on the rim, pointing to its still-young age.

• On the nose, one gets hints of smoke and dark cherries at first, followed by more aromas of shaven wood and spice. I’d personally describe it as white ground pepper, for anyone familiar with Chinese cooking (or with the spice section in your local supermarket). As the wine develops in the glass, one can detect subtle meaty hints – perhaps lamb juice would be an appropriate description.

• All the elegance of this relatively young wine sets one up for an enjoyable drink – and indeed it was. Finely balanced between the tannins and acidity, the fruit flavours develop slowly under the top layer of meaty aromas, the latter of which is easily appreciated. No, this isn’t an euphemism for “in-your-face” (or “in-your-mouth” for that matter). Very much the opposite, in fact. Drunk alongside a medium-rare (I did ask for saignant…) entrecôte, the meat flavours overlap and reveal the sweetness of the underlying fruits – cherries/berries in particular.

• Unable to not use the adjective “elegant” in describing this wine, one turns to the finish: long, with the aromas and flavours lingering on the palate. This time, however, we can’t even give an approximate number – with Michelin-star quality food (at near michelin star prices) on the table, one can barely concentrate on counting seconds in one’s head. Basically, finish: substantially long.

So if you’re looking for something for that dinner party to go with that roast/steak/red-meat galore, and your wine supplier doesn’t happen to be a Michelin star restaurant, then this 2008 Crozes-Hermitage from Domaine des Entrefaux should fit your budget and definitely do the trick! I don’t believe anyone would hesitate to call this one “fine wine”.