Birthday Treats

Hello All!

As you may (not) know, February is the month where D and I share a birthday, so we often indulge a little extra into the wine belly during Feb. Here's what we enjoyed and what we thought:

First up, for D's birthday I got her some vintage Pol Roger from her birth year. THE most expensive bottle of alcohol I have ever bought I might add! The 1990 was golden and dark, almost amber; the colour of urine after a heavy night, one might say, but thankfully much more appealing! As I've never had a vintage champagne this old, I wasn't sure what it should taste like. After 22 years in bottle, it was slightly sherry-like with a very faint oxidised note, although I wasn't sure whether it was fine, or whether it was passed its best. D liked it anyway, which was a bonus, and I was surprised to find it still freshly acidic, attractively nutty and evolved with a very nice honeyed citrus fruit, marmalade and brioche character. Still lovely, but in questionable health 8/10. North of a hundred quid from Nickolls & Perks. 

 Continuing with the Champagne theme, we had a lovely bottle of Louis Chaurey NV (£30 Marks & Spencer) courtesy of my brother and his wife. This was nice and bready/biscuity with sharp citrus combined with a honeyed note. Slightly bitter but not bad at all 7.5/10. If you were lucky enough to be in Marks & Spencer over Christmas, during the brief few hours it was available, you may have picked this up for only £10!

We had some premium Kiwi wines in the form of Cloudy Bay's Te Koko 2008, which is an oaked Sauvignon Blanc (Sauv Blanc is very rarely oaked, normally espoused with stainless steel tanks to maintain freshness of fruit). It was an oddball. There was a ghostly vignette of Marlborough Sauv Blanc in the background; faint gooseberry, passion fruit and grass, but I was overwhelmed by the sense of drinking a Gewurztraminer; flowers, Turkish Delight, pine needle. It certainly was a complex wine, I eventually noted down green pepper, smoked cheese, nettles, limey, nutty and tropical. That's a fair few adjectives. It got better after a couple of glasses but I really think this is a "marmite" wine. You may love it, you may hate it. I'm sitting on the fence until I try it again ?/10. About £25 from Nickolls and Perks. Also we had, Mount Difficulty's Pinot Gris 2010 which was frankly stunning. Nutty and creamy on the nose leading to a full and viscous mouthful of honeyed melon and apricot, finishing in a fresh and zingy passionfruit. Slightly off-dry but enough balancing acidity. Also hints of citrus and apple, this was awesome with a spicy stir fry. Yumm, 8.5/10. £16 ish from Majestic.

Some nice Chardonnays were had in the form of Sonoma Cutrer 2009 from the Sonoma Coast appellation in California. Typical Chardonnay complexity of apple, citrus, creamy, leesy, nutty and with a smoky coconut hints. Lovely 7.5/10 and about £15 from Majestic. Next was the Single Vineyard Chardonnay 2010 from Vina Leyda again with a lovely complexity; apple, pear and spice combined with a leesy/bready character 7.5/10. Also from Vina Leyda we had the superb Syrah Reserva 2009. Sub-£10 and bloody great; nice blend of red/black fruit with peppery spice, chocolate, leather, great balance with some perceptible tannin and clear acidity to freshen it. Cool climate Syrah done very well for the price. Can't ask for more 8/10. Continuing the Syrah theme we had a nicely evolved, old Saint Joseph 1999 from the famous Paul Jaboulet Aine. Brick red rim with a black/chestnut core this was fully mature with spicy red fruit and Xmas cake on the nose, followed-up by clean, bright red fruit, silky tannins and a leathery/nutty complexity. Almost Bordeaux-like weight, fruit and oak integration. Delicious, but like a knob, I forgot to decant so the second glass was full of sediment. You live and learn...8/10

Finally a pair of Joseph Drouhin wines, the Saint Romain 2006 (7.5/10) (white Burgundy; Chardonnay) and the Chorey-les-Beaune 2009 (8/10) (red Burgundy; Pinot Noir). Both were delicious with the St. Romain having a slightly evolved honeyed apricot character and surprisingly, no oak. The Chorey les Beaune was again, very good, with us having had the 2007 lately. Delicious, complex with plenty of cherry fruit and smooth.

So after that lot of indulgence (Burp!) it's back down to Earth. The Supermarket Sweeps will return soon.

As always,

Speak to you soon.

Cheers

WBFTF

Wine Society Recommendations Part 1

Hello All,
Welcome to some recommendations from the Wine Society. We're currently swigging our way through another case so should have part 2 sometime soon too. A quick on this week, so without further ado...

Greywacke, Sauvignon Blanc, 2010

This is made in Marlborough by ex-Cloudy Bay winemaker Kevin Judd. Good pedigree then...13.5%

The Look: A crystal clear, watery-white with very slight lemon tinge.

The Smell: Great smell of gooseberry, grapefruit and candied lemon-peel.

The Taste: The first thing you notice is the modicum of restraint! It doesn't blow your head off like some Marlborough SB's. Superb taste, ripe gooseberry, hint of green pepper, grapefruit. Refreshing and bright with a mineral seam.

The Score: In a word: Stunning. 8.5/10. Highly Recommended

VFM: At £14.95 this isn't really a "value" bottle in the VFM sense (but still half-decent VFM = 0.57) but when you compare it to Cloudy Bay at £22+, it's a steal.

Vina Leyda, Las Brisas Pinot Noir, 2009

From one of my favourite producers; Vina Leyda, made not far from the coast where the ocean breeze (Las Brisas) cool the vineyards. 14% .

The Look: Deep blend of purple and ruby. Quite dark for a Pinot - giving a clue to its full body.

The Smell: Intense smell of raspberries and strawberries with a sweetness akin to cheesecake.

The Taste: Full-bodied, ripe, heavy texture, warm, silky and juicy. Very ripe raspberry and cherry hints with a chocolate/caramel sweet undercurrent. Slightly hot and slightly bitter at first but that fades. Darker fruit emerges with time and a leathery texture is maintained. plenty of acidity too.

The Score: Nice Pinot on the heavier side but just shy of a Californian fruit bomb and more robust than Burgundy. Middle ground. 7.5/10. Recommended

VFM: At £10.95 this is certainly not cheap, but is pretty reasonable value for money (VFM = 0.68 )

Domaine Raynier, St. Chinian, 2009

From St. Chinian in the warm Languedoc region of France, a blend of Carignan and Grenache. Some over-zealous recycling means that there's no photo of this. Apologies, but this is courtesy of the Wine Society's website. 13.5%

The Look: Deep purple with ruby highlights.

The Smell: Raspberry and cherry whiffs with some woody spice in the mix too.

The Taste: Plenty of red fruit and raspberry(you can pick out the Grenache) followed with hints of spice. Good fresh acidity and some good tannin. Quaffable but food-friendly too.

The Score: Delicious, fruity and balanced. 7.5/10. Recommended

VFM: At £5.75 this is a bargain! Cracking value for money (VFM = 1.3 ) and food friendly tannins make it a versatile, value drop.

Again, good stuff from the Wine Society. I'll be back soon with part 2. Time to get cracking...

As always, speak to you soon,

Cheers

WBFTF

Virgin Wines - Part 2

Welcome to the second part of the Virgin Wines case, handpicked mixed-12 according to my rules. We really were hoping for better things after the first four. Nevertheless, we plundered into the next four. One red and three whites is how it rolled this week...

Beneficio, Single Vineyard Shiraz-Viognier, McLaren Vale 2008

The famous blend of Cote-Rotie, Shiraz Viognier. McLaren Vale in South Australia produces some superb Shiraz. The Viognier is meant to give it a "lift". This is £16.49 normally. I can't help but be excited opening this... 14.5%

The Look: A deep, dense, dark purple almost to the rim.

The Smell: Spicy, plummy, blackberry, blueberry.

The Taste: Much the same - peppery black fruit with some blueberry. Not much complexity. Can't detect any "lift" from the Viognier. Sadly, no real identity apart from fruity Aussie Shiraz - and you can get that in abundance (and even better than this) for £7.99 almost anywhere.

The Score: Don't get me wrong - it's good, but for the price its very disappointing. Seriously, £7.99 in most wine selling establishment could beat this. Would have been great for a Fiver but £16.49...!? Nah. 6.5/10

VFM: At full price this would get a paltry VFM = 0.39. As it is, this was £7.57 (based on the average bottle price of the case after discount) giving pretty good VFM = 0.86. If you can get a good discount try it, otherwise avoid: check out McPherson Wines; Andrew's Shiraz 2009, or The Full Fifteen 2008 instead. Much better. Much cheaper.

 

Vina Leyda, Reserve Riesling, Chile, 2008

Leyda Valley is a cool-climate sub region of the San Antonio Valley. Just 10 miles in off the Pacific coast and 55 miles west of the capital; Santiago. 12.5%

The Look: Not quite golden, but a lemonny mid-yellow.

The Smell: Citrus, grapefruits and a herby/minerally characteristic too. Lovely.

The Taste: This is great. Really fresh with a zingy acidity. I could pick out pink grapefruit, lime and exotic fruits or pomegranate on the finish. It has that herby/minerally edge to it as well which brings a bit of complexity. Stonking stuff.

The Score:  This confirms that Chile really is up there in terms of value for money. Superb.  8.5/10 Highly Recommended.

VFM: This goes for £9.99 normally (well worth it) giving a good value for money score of VFM = 0.85, but even better at the case average price (after discount) of £7.57, giving VFM = 1.12. I am going to try to seek out more of this producer's wines. They do a Syrah, Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Ones to watch.

Chibet, Chardonnay, Vin Pays d'Oc, 2006

From the Languedoc region of southern France. The sun should give this more ripe fruitiness and less minerality than a Chablis or white Burgundy. Let's have a try... 12%

The Look: A real golden yellow this one. Makes a change after all the pale whites recently. Robust-looking.

The Smell: Smells of honeyed fruit, apple, citrus, spice and oak.

The Taste: Smooth, buttery, slight citrus tang with something like fruitcake or cinammon on the finish. Very nice. Oak is not overdone, neither is the acidity. Well balanced.

The Score: A good, tasty white with plenty of fruit and some complexity. You can't really ask for more for £6.99. 7/10. Recommended.

VFM: Great value here at its normal price, VFM = 1.0.

The Devil's Peak, Limited Edition Chenin Blanc, Western Cape, 2008

There is a LOT of Chenin Blanc coming out of the Cape region of South Africa, the two are almost synonymous. Can it distinguish itself...? 11.5%

The Look: Pale lemonny yellow.

The Smell: Very restrained. Not giving away a lot initially. Apple, bit of citrus and maybe some honey.

The Taste: Green apples, tangy citrus and slight honey and spice. Very drinkable and food friendly (we had it with a creamy pasta sauce). Not amazing by any stretch, but not bad either.

The Score:  A decent drop.  6.5/10

VFM: At the case-average price of £7.57 it gets a pretty good VFM = 0.86 but it's ever-so-slightly more expensive normally at £7.99 giving VFM = 0.81.

So, there's the second four! Not bad, two recommendations on the whites (one great wine), one decent drop with good value but a poor value Shiraz. Only 3 wines to go now before the case is finished (I forgot that one has to be cellared so can't be reviewed!). I'm looking forward already...

Speak to you soon.

Cheers

WBFTF