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

Supermarket Sweeps - Six for £60 - Sainsbury's - Part 2

Hello all!

Following on from last week's return to frugality after the festive indulgences, this week we conclude the look at Sainsbury's with the red wines we had. As I said last week, there was little of interest in the standard supermarket reds that dominated the shelves but some interesting wines presented themselves from the "Taste the Difference" range. The whites fared pretty damn well, so let's see if the reds kept up...

Oh and don't forget to follow me on Twitter for further little nuggets of wine-related stuff.

Taste the Difference, Priorat, 2008

£7.49 Priorat is a Catalan wine growing area (Priorato in Spanish) where the reds are usually Grenache dominated blends, if not 100% Grenache (or Garnacha in Spanish). This one is mainly Grenache with a bit of Mazuela thrown in, and weighing in pretty heavy at 14.5%

The Look: Dark purple core to a dark cherry/violet rim.

The Smell: Great nose of black cherry, lots of spice, some raspberry and some sweet oakiness, reminiscent of a Bordeaux!

The Taste: This took me by surprise - very good indeed; velvety tannin, plenty of fresh acidity, the high alcohol was almost non-existent on the palate (served on the cool side of room temp.) The fruit profile was black cherry and something sharper - maybe raspberry, punctuated by a highly oaked vanilla and cedar note, but well-handled. Slightly bitter but not too detracting. This was superb after being open for two days - transformed to blackcurrant fruit and sweet caramel, suggesting that this will keep very well and get better with time. 7.5/10.  Recommended

VFM: Very nice for an "own label" wine and bang on the money with a VFM of 1.0!

Taste the Difference, Penguin Sands, Pinot Noir, Central Otago, 2010

£9.99. This pinot is from the much hailed Central Otago region of New Zealand's South Island. A great price point to get people to sample NZ pinot, but a much-contested market. Can it hold up? 13.5%

The Look: Dark purple core to a cherry rim.

The Smell: Very familiar - I swear we've had this before, but from the Producer (Sacred Hill I beleive?) I don't think we have. Anyway, strawberry, blueberry and oak with a floral character too.

The Taste: Fresh, vibrant acidity, tangy, plenty of cherry, raspberry and bright red fruits, quite sharp. Slight hotness and bitter tannin - feels a little over extracted.

The Score: Not the best in this price point. Better than Oyster Bay (not much praise) but search for something else (Villa Maria, Spy Valley, et al - there's plenty more to choose from) 6/10

VFM: Not horrendous, but not the best either; VFM = 0.6

Taste the Difference, Malbec, Mendoza, 2010

£7.99. Mendoza Malbec is a staple for any wine drinker on a budget. It packs a brambly, powerful, tannic and often teeth-staining punch in its inky blackness, begging for a steak. £8 is at the lower end but there's still great stuff to be had here. Is this worthy of the name...? 14.5%

The Look: The de-facto inky black-purple.

The Smell: Initially very acidic, almost vinegary but with a violet, floral backbone so I gave it some time. Not faulty, developing a nice nose of blackberry crumble, spice and a wet-stone minerality. All good so far after a shaky start.

The Taste: Again, very acidic and floral off the bat so gave it two hours in the bottle with the cork off; it remained hot, some pleasing black fruits and crushed-rocks minerality but unfortunately retained a horrible bitterness on the finish and a mouth burning hotness. Unfortunately, badly made wine, overcooked the extraction trying to get deep colour which was achieved at the cost of balance and fruit. Poured the second half down the drain...

The Score: Food did calm it down but I would avoid. There's plenty more from Mendoza and cheaper too, that gladly, aren't like this, which is frankly, pretty shit. 4.5/10

VFM: Even at £7.99, you can beat this hands down at pretty much any wine merchant. VFM = 0.56

So after a great start, and apart from the 2008 Priorat, the reds "pissed on Sainsbury's chips" to coin a phrase. So, only a few supermarkets remain; Morrisons, Asda and if I can pluck up the courage, Aldi and Liddle. Who knows, maybe a £3 Cotes du Rhone will knock my socks off! By my reckoning, Co-Op still leads, but we'll have a full summary when all is complete.

Our birthdays are fast approaching so we may afford ourselves a couple of indulgences before getting back to the nitty gritty of frugal drinking. Until next time...

As always, speak to you soon!

Cheers

WBFTF

Supermarket Sweeps - Six for £60 - Waitrose Part 1

Hello All,

 

Welcome to the third installment of my look at the supermarket shelves for value wines, this time the fantastic wine section of Waitrose. We popped to the local Waitrose in Malvern and as luck would have it, caught the end of the 25% off sale. There was a great range of wines, but we found that the most interesting stuff was between about £10 and £15 quid, so although not technically sticking to the £60 mark, we weren't far off; 6 bottles for £62.44 before discount but £46.83 after!!! And that's what it's all about, catching the bargains while you can, so I won't apologise too much. We also picked up some Champagne for Christmas - it would have been rude not to! Keep an eye out for their 25% off offers which happen every couple of months.

So, on to the wines. Reds first...


Oh and don't forget to follow me on Twitter for further little nuggets of wine-related stuff.

Stonier, Pinot Noir, Mornington Peninsula, 2009

£12.99 before discount (£9.74 after). From the much-lauded Mornington Peninsula, a very cool climate region of Victoria in Australia where the proximity of the ocean cools the vines. I've been wanting to try this for quite a while so it was a good find. 13%

The Look: A dark ruby core with strawberry red and lipstick highlights.

The Smell: Cherry, black fruit, strawberry, spice and some leathery complexity.

The Taste: Very bright acidity, fresh red fruit, cherry and raspberry. Smooth tannins with some grippy feeling on the aftertaste. Very nice. High acidity will help it age well.

The Score: Probably not everybody's cup of tea given the cool-climate acidity, but a good wine nonetheless. I liked it. 7.5/10. Recommended

VFM: At £9.74 after discount, this is decent value; VFM = 0.77

Vidal, Syrah, Gimblett Gravels, 2008

£11.99 before discount (£8.99 after). From the, again, much-lauded Gimblett Gravels area of Hawkes Bay on New Zealand's North Island. Famous for it's spicy Syrah but lots of Cabernet & Merlot blends do well on the stony soil  there too. 13%

The Look: An intense, dark, plummy black/purple.

The Smell: Intense nose of black pepper, blackberry, ripe plum and other dark fruits. Some violets.

The Taste: Awesome. Much like the nose, peppery black fruits, blackberry and plum etc, pleasing acidity, some tannic grip with a long finish. This rivals Craggy Range and Trinity Hill Syrahs costing about £6 or £7 more!

The Score: Intense flavour bomb of cracked black pepper and dark fruit. Well worth it. 8.5/10. Highly Recommended

VFM: At £8.99 after discount, this is a serious bargain. Great flavour intensity for the price. VFM = 0.95

E. Guigal, Cotes du Rhone, 2007

£9.99 before discount (£7.49 after). We had the 2009 from Majestic not that long ago and really enjoyed it so it was interesting to find this one with a few more bottle-years behind it. 2007 was a superb year in the Rhone so this held much promise.  14%

The Look: Mid-purple, translucent, to a strawberry rim.

The Smell: Black cherry, plum, spice, gentle vanilla oak and developed raspberry and blackberry too.

The Taste: Delicious. Spicy plum and dark fruits, lovely vanilla notes with smooth integrated tannins. Plenty of acidity keeps it fresh and there's plenty of fruit. A good life ahead of it yet, easily keeping for another 3-5 years, if not more. 

The Score: Great, and plenty of ageing left in it which is nice to see at this price. 8/10. Highly Recommended

VFM: At £7.49 you can't go wrong, this is a bargain.  VFM = 1.07

Wow. What a start from Waitrose. Three very nice wines indeed. Yes, they're a little pricier than the Tesco ones, or even some of the Co-op ones, but after 25% off they really are competitive. I'd gladly drink these three again on a regular basis.

Waitrose might just pip the Co-op? We'll see next time with the whites. Until then...

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

Majestic Wine - recommended reds

Hello all!

Majestic Wine have currently got a cracking little deal on, 20% off any two bottles from Spain, New Zealand, Australia, Chile and Italy (Oh and Beaujolais but I didn't get any of those!) so I thought I'd give some recommendations for the ones we've liked over the past few weeks. Reds this week, whites next week. Obviously this is just a small selection (we'd loved to have bought the whole lot, but funds and sense prevailed) so there's plenty more on offer, I suggest you take a look. Enjoy!

From Spain we have...

...the excellent and great value (£6.99) Sangre de Toro 2008 from Torres.  Superbly fruity with plum, blackberry and violets with some spice (8/10). Two decent Riojas in the form of the CVNE (pronounced "Coonay") Crianza 2007; (£9.99) very light weight with bright, spicy raspberry, cherry, vanilla and oak (7.5/10) and a Gran Reserva 2003 from Berberana Vina Alarde (£10.99). Delicious with that lovely mellow, smooth, strawberry flavour of aged Rioja and a creamy vanilla woodiness from the oak. (7.5/10). Last up a lovely Ribera del Duero 2006 from Emilio Morro; (£13.99) caramel, chocolate, vanilla and red berries on the nose followed up by bright red fruit, "grippy" tannins and lots of creamy blackberry - superb 8.5/10.

From New Zealand we had some beauts...

The Martinborough Vineyard Te Tera Pinot Noir 2009 (£12.79) was mind-blowing! Bright, clear ruby red smelling of sweet caramel and vanilla, cherry and raspberry - like a berry cheesecake, amazing. The texture was pure silk and abundant fruit on the palate; raspberry, strawberry, redcurrant, blackberry, black cherry, the whole gamut followed by a long, dry and herby finish. First class 9/10! Another Pinot was the Villa Maria Cellar Selection 2008 (£10.79) which had a blueberry, violet and cinnamon whiff about it with plenty of bite and grip in the mouth. Blackberry and dark cherries flowed and although great at 7.5/10, paled in comparison to the Te Tera. The Craggy Range Te Kahu 2008 (£12.99) Bordeaux blend had the typical smoky plum, cherry and blackcurrant of its Cab, Merlot, Malbec and Cab Franc grapes. Smooth tannins and lots of black fruit, powerful and long, but ever so slightly hot  7.5/10.

From Italy we had...

Yes! A Pinot from Italy! And it was great! The Bacaro 2009 was £4.99!!! It smelled of blackberries and oaky spice and delivered with silky tannins, lots of dark fruit, cherry, blackberry and a long finish. With fresh acidity this could age well for a few years too (7.5/10). AMAZING VALUE!

From Chile we had...

A very good 2008 Montes Alpha Cabernet Sauvignon. (£9.99) Intense, smoky, oaky blackcurrant and cedar and in the mouth it was warming, tannic (a good food wine) and had lots of dark fruit; blackcurrant, blackberry and plums but a little hot. 7.5/10. 

And last-up, from Oz, we had...

a respectable Jim Barry Lodge Hill Shiraz 2009. Classic nose of blackberry, blueberry, dark chocolate and oak. In the mouth it was smooth and bright with a crunchy texture. Plenty if plum and bramble fruit with hints of coffee and mocha. Tasty 7.5/10.

So, there we have some great reds from Majestic from their current offers. Next week, we'll be polishing off the whites so stay tuned.

As always, speak to you soon!

Cheers

WBFTF

A Week's Respite

Hello All!

As you may (or may not) have noticed, I did not post last week due to a week's respite. Thanks to the bank holidays and Royal Wedding we made the most of the time off, making a grand journey of 15 miles to the local Hilton, which would be our base for a few days of wine-addled relaxation.

House Champagne

We kicked the week off in style with some Champagne. D and I are trying to work out what our favourite is. We think it's Piper-Heidsieck Brut NV but we need to properly compare that to as many others as we can, just to be sure! It's an expensive search, so we don't tend to do it that often. However, being holiday-week; "When in Rome...".

We saw Piper on sale in the local Co-Operative supermarket for £17 so naturally had to grab one or two. For comparison we bought a bottle of Louis Roederer Brut Premier NV (the brand behind the £150-a-bottle Cristal) from Majestic Wine for £28 (on offer from £33).

Both were pale gold with watery-white rims. The Piper was a bit reticent, smell-wise but did display some fruit and biscuity aromas while the Loius Roederer had more honeyed fruit, Chardonnay dominated but again with a biscuity sweetness. Taste is where the Piper comes into its own; Lots of bready/biscuity tastes but absolutely stuffed with fruitiness, from citrus zing to Cidery orchard fruit. A long, delicious finish leaves a great taste in the mouth and a tingle from the popping and fizzing bubbles. Superb 8.5/10. The Louis Roederer had a less aggressive mousse but very fine. The taste was equally toasty/biscuity sweet and again had superb fruit but more citrussy and tropical from the Chardonnay (Piper has more Pinot Noir content). Mouthwatering zing and a long finish similar to a sweet Gala apple. The Louis Roederer exudes class (it even comes in a very smart box) but, finished a close second to the Piper in our books at 8/10. 

So, Piper still remains champion but there are a lot of Champagnes we haven't compared it to yet!

Eat until we burst!

On the way to the Hilton we stopped off in the Yorkshire Grey for a leisurely 3-course lunch. This is a great little place if you're in the Worcestershire area; great food, nicely presented but not pretentious or poncey in any way. They do a 2-Course lunch for £10 but we decided to go for pudding as well. I had great garlic mushrooms in creme fraiche on a crostini, beer battered fish and chips and a superbly presented cheesecake to finish. D had stuffed potato skins, a lovely lasagne and the same cheesecake. Highly recommended! I had a lovely grassy Chilean Sauv Blanc (about £4 a glass) and D had a nice oaky Aussie Shiraz (about £5). My belt was complaining about the size of my gut after this, which would unfortunately be something of a recurring theme for the rest of the week!

Settled-in at the Hilton we headed to the pool for a dip before dinner. Having worked off a small fraction of the lunch calories we sat down to dinner with a glass of...have a guess...Yes, Piper Heidsieck Brut NV (a slightly painful £8.05 a glass), delicious as ever. We both started with a very nice tomato and basil soup. D had a honey and mustard glazed gammon steak which was superb and I had a coffee-rubbed Bavette steak (I had to ask what Bavette was...turned out to be a type of cut, popular in France but more commonly known as flank or skirt steak over here!). Anyway, having fresh finely-ground coffee granules in the same mouthful as steak surprisingly worked really well together. We washed these down with a light bodied Emporium Shiraz 2009 from Sicily (13%). At £22 a bottle I fear it was priced at a 300 to 400% markup, but nevertheless enjoyable and easy-drinking. Puddings followed; a superb (and huge) chocolate macaroon for D and a summer fruit roulade for me. We swapped half way through. Again, with belt straining we retired.

A trip into Tewkesbury the following morning resulted in the discovery of a cracking little independent wine shop; "That Wine Place" on the High Street. Having re-learned that Hilton wine prices are obscene, we bought a bottle of Greyrock Hawkes Bay Pinot Noir 2008 (Marked down to £8.99 from £13.99) to consume in our room later that evening (Sshh - I don't think you're allowed to do that...?). The proprietor was even kind enough to give me a free cigar cutter when I bought a cheap cigar. This was a lively, red-fruited wine with silky texture. Decent value and very drinkable 7/10. I'll definitely return to get a bottle of Esk Valley Merlot/Cab/Malbec 2007 that was stocked there. 

The Three Choirs Vineyard

Having finally dragged D out of a second hand book shop that had, what seemed like, a million books inside we headed back to change before heading to the Three Choirs Vineyard in Newent (see D's pic below).

You can get a tour of the vineyard and a tasting of 5 (out of a selection of many) wines and also three beers and two ciders for £8. There's also a restaurant and accommodation although we opted for a simple (and free) walk around followed by the tasting (£3.50 each). As I'm not a fan of sweet wines apart from when accompanying a teeth-destroyingly sweet dessert, we opted to sample all of the dry whites, the Rosé, sparkler and of course a beer and still cider. I wasn't expecting a great deal from £8 English wine but was pleasantly surprised by a few; the 2009 Bacchus (£13.10) was bone-dry, herby and had plentiful fruit with whiffs nettles and asparagus. 7/10 We bought some. The Classic Cuveé NV Brut sparkling wine (£11) was pleasant with rich apples, pears and a sweet bread pudding finish. Nice fresh acidity. 7/10 We bought some. The winner for us however, was the 2009 Rosé; which smelled of caramel and rose petals. The taste was generous amounts of sweetish strawberries balanced by a fresh acidity. 7.5/10 and we bought some. I can also recommend the hoppy Cats Whiskers dark beer and the Medium Still Cider was great.

More Eating...

Soaking up the sun on our balcony, we decided on a pub-dinner. We found an awesome riverside pub; the Fleet Inn at Twynning, recently refurbished. Just the two courses tonight and no wine (yet) as I was driving. D had a delicious chicken/bacon salad with balsamic reduction and I had a roasted pepper and tomato soup. Both delicious. As mains, we both chose lamb. Perfectly cooked and with amazing  mash and a red wine jus. Great food, well presented and again, not poncey! With dinner polished, we returned to the hotel to drink the Pinot and crash out after a tough few days of eating, drinking and putting our feet up.

More Pinot...

Returning home we decided to finish off the week with some more Pinots stocked up from recent purchases. The first was the Robert Mondavi Napa Valley Pinot Noir 2008 (£15 Majestic Wine). I was afraid that this might have been tainted with smoke from the much-reported forest fires at the time but was happy to note that it was clean. It did however, have the most bonkers alcohol level for a Pinot that I have ever seen. 15.5%! Clearly not one for the faint hearted. Dark purple with a silky sheen this had aromas of dark cherries, raspberries, some Dr. Pepper (or root beer) type spice and alcohol. Way too apparent. The taste was initially tongue-stingingly hot, like a mouth-burning whisky, again, due to the alcohol level, but it was redeemed somewhat by the plentiful raspberry and cherry fruits. Not bad, even perhaps enjoyable overall 7/10 but someone needs to have a word with Bob! Cool it down fella!

 

A bit more sensible was the ARA Composite Pinot Noir 2008 from Marlborough. £9 from the Co-Op and 13.5%. A translucent ruby red with crimson highlights, this smelled of red berries and cherries with a hint of meatiness and leather. Truly an amazing smelling wine! The texture was silky with very fine tannins and plenty of bright red fruit. The acidity was sharp and it had a complex oaky bitterness on the finish. Not quite as good as it smelled but pretty good 7.5/10.

So that ended our week of enjoyment. Staring down the barrel of impending work now, the only salvation being that we're off to a tasting on Friday at The Oxford Wine Company.

I'll write up my findings next week.

As always,

Speak to you soon.

Cheers

WBFTF

The Wine Society - Exhibition New World Classics - Reds

Hello all,

Regular readers might recall I did a feature on the Wine Society's own wines not so long back (here:) and found them to be of superb quality and value. In addition to the basic "own label" range (although basic is the wrong descriptor) they offer some other wines that are bottled under the Society's name but known as the exhibition range. Described on the website thus; "Exhibition wines are selected to be flagship examples of their regions and styles and are frequently exclusively made for, or offered to, The Society by some of the world's top winemakers". Obviously these come at a slight premium when compared the standard own-range wines, but judging by what we tasted last time around, I thought they might be worth a look. Top winemakers' wines, re-badged and sold cheaper than their usual offerings? Sounds like a frugal opportunity...

The case that caught my eye was a 6-pack of the Society's Exhibition New World Classics, although a more accurate description would be something like "Australasian Classics" as the case is comprised entirely of wines from New Zealand and Australia! I can't for the life of me remember how much the case was (not very frugal I know, but "Do as I say, not do as I do" is what my mothers' overweight doctor would say...) but I will base it on individual bottle prices. If memory serves, they were about £11 or £12 each as a case-average, so yes, they are a bit more "upmarket".

Anyway, to the wines...Reds this week, Whites to follow next week:

The Society's Exhibition Victoria Shiraz, 2009

This is made by Mount Langi Ghiran in the Grampians who produce some serious high-end wines, notably Shiraz. They've been there since the 1870's! Langi's vineyards are high and cool which should lend some Rhone-style spice to this and also a nice bit of bottle age being an '05! Looking forward to this...but a massive 15% could be hot...

The Look: Super-dark, black plum skin coloured, almost opaque and showing some lovely age with a red/brown rim.

The Smell: Lots of blackberry, smoky, pencil-graphite. Some more "reduced" raisiny hints and some complexity/secondary aromas from the age.

The Taste: Smoothly textured. It is hot but not obtrusively so (this is a big Aussie Shiraz after all!). Lots of concentrated blackberry, violets, raisins,  and lots of oak. Nice acidity, bright red fruits appear also. A leathery complexity turns to delicious chocolate after a while.

The Score: Very good. Nice to see a bit of age showing through. 7.5/10. Recommended

VFM: This is £14.95 normally, so not on the cheap-side. VFM is mediocre at 0.50 but I would recommend this over a similar-scoring similarly-priced wine from a more recent vintage to taste the complexity.

The Society's Exhibition Martinborough Pinot Noir, 2009

This is made by Craggy Range. I must admit, I love the Syrah from Gimblett Gravels (one of the few wines to score 9/10) so I await this with baited breath. This is from the Southern tip of the North Island and  very big for a Pinot at 14.5%!

The Look: A lovely translucent ruby red with plum-purple at its core and strawberry red at the rim.

The Smell: Smoky. Initially violets and blackberry. Alcohol is apparent. Blueberry. Meaty, peppery notes. Developed a smoky cherry niff too. Deceptive - smelling blind I would have said Shiraz!

The Taste: Smooth, silky texture. Too hot initially but did fade slightly. Opulent fruit, cherry, blackcurrant, peppery. Acidity is bright but balanced, not overpowering. Old, over-ripe, soft plum. Shiraz-like! Long finish.

The Score: It's nice, but confused? I really did question whether they'd put the Syrah in the bottle and mis-labelled it! Good if you fancy a BIG Pinot with a little difference? 7/10.

VFM: This is  £12.95 normally, so again, not cheap. VFM is mediocre at 0.54.

The Society's Exhibition Central Otago Pinot Noir, 2009

This is made by the same crew at Craggy Range but from Central Otago vineyards - probably the most revered of all NZ Pinot regions? Slightly more modest, but by no means shy at 14%!

The Look: D.A.R.K. Dark! Plummy, black-purple, not quite opaque, much darker than the Martinborough one.

The Smell: Oaky, smoky, blackberry, slight violet, alcohol, very similar but without the meaty-pepperiness.

The Taste: Lovely but again not typical Pinot finesse. Spicy cherry, black cherry and raspberry. Warming, not quite as hot as the Martinborough effort.

The Score: Again, very good but confused. Where is the finesse and silkiness? It doesn't detract from its delicious flavour but this could have been immense! If only... 7.5/10. Recommended

VFM: This is  £12.95 also, giving a slightly better VFM of 0.58. 

So there we have the Reds. All very good wines, the Shiraz I could drink again anytime. The Pinots I had trouble picking between them. Both shocked me in a way by being too big and hot. Maybe that's the way NZ Pinot is going, but I remember far more finesse and silkiness. Maybe it's just Craggy...? No way, that's sacrilege! Mental note: Try more NZ Pinot.

Anyway, next week: The Whites. Two from NZ (again!) - a Chardonnay from Kumeu River no less, and a Sauv Blanc from Hunters! Plus a Tasmanian Chardonnay who's producer escapes me but will be revealed next week...

As always,

Speak to you soon.

Cheers

WBFTF

Supermarket Sweep: Reds from the Co-Operative

Hello All!

Bit of a change of plan this week; I was due to review the Mystery Case from Laithwaites but our timetable has been a bit disjointed over the last week or two so we haven't got round to glugging them yet. However, a few friends have been recommending wines from the Co-Op recently so I decided to pop in and have look. Well, pop in and loiter in the wine section for an hour and a half... Twice.

Going back what feels like a few years ago, I used to regularly get wines form the Co-Op. That's when I was into the big brands. It's probably more than a few years by now; time goes so quick when you get older... Anyway, once I'd passed through my Blass, Hardys, Gallo et al phase, there really wasn't much else for them to offer (or so I may have thought back then) and didn't give them a second look until recently. Bloody hell, things have CHANGED! Oh, but they don't do online sales (yet?) so you'll have to do it "old-school" and get yourself down there.

Ok, so they still do the big brands; obviously, being the massive sellers they are, but there's so much more! And offers! Lots of them. At the front door I was greeted by a rack of £4 wines. I almost dismissed them in a "Pfft...four quid? Yeah right, what a load of boll...." but "Oh wait...St. Hallett Riesling? Hmmm...  2005 Cru Bourgeois Bordeaux, £7?  Prosecco, £4?  Cava Rosé, £4. I best get myself to the proper wine section, quick!". I basketted the Riesling and Bordeaux and moved swiftly on. And there I spent the next hour and a half, mesmerised.  So much so, that I had to return the following week to pick up more.

We did drink the Riesling (and it was great, 7/10, amazing for £4) but as this is a reds review, I'll keep that one for next time. Anyway, to the wines...No pictures this week I'm afraid, due to "logistics" shall we say. Some might say forgetfulness, like binning the bottles before taking pictures?

For those who like to drink with a clear conscience, the Fairtrade wines aren't too bad. The 2009 Malbec Reserva from Argentina was a decent fruity bottle with smoke, vanilla and dark berries (6.5/10). The 2009 Shiraz, also from Argentina just pipped it at 7/10 - a good value example of the grape with warming spicy berries. Both opened up with more fruitiness after an hour so give them time. Both also under £7.

The Villa Maria Private Bin Pinot Noir 2008 (£8.99) I was surprised to see. I love VM wines and don't really see them as a "Mega-Brand" although I'm probably looking through rose-tinted specs when it comes to their wines. It was however, initially a slight let-down, not in the league of their Whites but was good nonetheless with summer berries and some black cherry. Very bright, almost harsh acidity straight from the bottle but did mellow to acceptable levels after a few hours and food. It developed into a lovely wine but remained sprightly acidic. (7/10). 

If bright acidity is your bag then the Piccini Sigillo Rosso Chianti Riserva 2006 (normally £8.99 but only £5.29 on the day - bargain). This was recommended by a good friend (Cheers Willmot!) and although mouth-puckeringly acidic to start, was delicious. Showing signs of bottle age with tawny and brick red tinges to the dark ruby core, it exuded cherry and oaky spice on the nose. Again, cherry flavours dominated the palate but with raspberry, vanilla and peppery spice. A bit too acidic for my palate, but good nonetheless and a good candidate for putting away for a few years for it to mellow. Have it with food. 7/10. 

After enjoying an immense Cab Sauv from Trio (D's favourite wine!)  I spotted the Concha Y Toro Trio Merlot/Shiraz/Cab 2009 (no price for this I'm afraid but it was sub-£8). This was almost black! Very intense for a Merlot blend. Ripe, sweetish red berries in abundance and enhanced by chocolate/toffee hints. Fresh acidity and a long finish which brought out the Cab Sauv. Lovely 7.5/10. Another Merlot was recommended by a friend (thanks Ailsa!) from Chile's Rapel Valley, the Anakena Merlot 2009 (£5.99). Very light, I literally thought it was a Rosé on pouring, it looked like a fairly robust Garnacha Rosé. Plenty of strawberry and caramel on the nose and followed up by bright red fruit, sweetness but with a fresh, balancing acidity. A slight bitterness on the finish let it down, but at this price...you can't really complain? 6.5/10

The Cru Bourgeois was the Chateau Dasvin-Bel-Air 2005 (£7 on offer) and was a plummy-purple, showing some age with a brick-red rim. Blackcurrant, cherry, cedar, blackberry, graphite and oak on the complex nose and tasted very similar. Very bright acidity, plenty of tannin yet to shed and abundant fruit. I wish I'd picked up a few of these to put away for a year or two. A medicinal/menthol finish added to the complexity - delicious 7.5/10.

The Cline Californian Syrah 2005 was immense, a deep opaque purple and a lipstick rim. Immediately meaty, with loads of blackberry and pepper. Great taste, akin to a NZ Syrah, or even the Northern Rhone with pepper, spice, dark berries, full and lush. 8/10.

The Yering Station Little Yering Pinot Noir 2006 comes from a famous stable. The oldest winery in Victoria, Yering Station's top Pinots and Shiraz-Viogniers go for upwards of £50 a bottle. This "little brother" was £9.99. A nice bit of age showing although this was a young-pup. Initially, meaty forest floor odours gave way to red berries and caramel. Cherry and a cinnamon-like spice were evident. Similarly on the palate, lots of strawberry, cherry and cinnamon lead to a long finish of bright red fruit. Very bright and acidic although not in the least bit overpowering. This will last for a good few years yet and will improve well-past its 7.5/10 mark, tasting better the second day (screwcap put back on for 24hrs).

Finally, the St. Hallett Faith Shiraz 2008 from the revered Barossa Valley was a gem. £9.99 and well worth it. An intense inky-black-purple, was a bit shy at first but then fumed with blackberry, violet, caramel, toasty oak and pepper smells. On the palate it was super-concentrated; a small sip explodes in the mouth. Intense, very ripe black fruit combined with plenty of fresh acidity, some tannin and a long, warming, fruit-driven finish. Chocolate and smoothness developed after a while and was even fresh the following day (again with the cap on for 24hrs). Maybe not everybody's cup of tea; it's big, bold, powerful, intensely fruity, maybe even a much-maligned "fruit bomb" but has the complexity and quality to shed that moniker, in my humble opinion of course. 8/10.

So, there you have a small summary of some of the Reds available from Co-Op. I will return. I need to try the Whites, Rosés and Sparklers and there were still a few Reds I wanted to get but my wallet disagreed, groaning already under the strain of the bulk-buy. Of the remaining reds that showed promise were the Steakhouse Cabernet Sauvignon 2007 from Oregon USA,  EOS Petit Sirah 2006 from Paso Robles I believe, Chateauneuf du Papes 2007, 2003 Bordeaux, Montes Alpha Malbec, Barbera di Asti, more Chilean stuff; Carmen, Santa Rita 120 etc. Loads more, and that's only the reds.

I highly recommend you take a look. But don't spend an hour and a half there (twice) unless you can put up with whispers from other customers (and staff) along the lines of "Wino!", "Alky!" and "Is he nuts?". LOL.

As always,

Speak to you soon.

Cheers

WBFTF

Oddbins Part 2.5

Welcome to the second part of the second part (if that makes any sense!) of the Oddbins case, handpicked mixed-12 according to my rules. Again a quickie - only two bottles this week. Apologies for the pictures, I was at the mother-in-law-to-be's for these and didn't have my camera so had to make do with the mobile.

By the way, for any new readers unfamiliar with my blog, please see my other posts over to the right and down a bit or read my introduction here:

Casillero del Dioblo, Pinot Noir, Chile, 2009

Owned by the large "Concha Y Toro" brand. Picked from several vineyards in the Cassablanca Valley. It has had some maturing in French Oak barrels for 8 months. 13.5% alcohol.

The Look: Bright raspberyy-red with lipstick-red highlights.

The Smell: Very fruity smell. Red fruit squash and an uncanny smell of "Ribena".

The Taste: Again, bright strawberry, raspberry and cherry with some spice, doubtless from the Oak-ageing. Alcohol was a little too hot and overpowering. The acidity was also maybe a little bit too harsh. We had this pre-dinner and the mother-in-law-to-be enjoyed it (not normally a red drinker) and D liked it too.

The Score: Not too bad. A tasty, fruity, value quaffer but lacking in any sort of finesse. 6.5/10.

VFM: At £7.49 a bottle this gives good value for money at VFM = 0.88.

 

Familia Zuccardi Reserva Bonarda, Mendoza, 2008
One of the oldest winemaking families in Argentina.Their "Zeta" Malbec blend sells fro £30+ a bottle. This is a little more affordable but hopefully from a good heritage nonetheless.Sourced from the arid Santa Rosa vineyard which is practically a desert and Oak-aged for 10 months. 13.5% alcohol.

The Look: Quite a deep plum-purple, not quite opaque but almost.

The Smell: Smells of lovely dark black fruit and some spicy Oak. Couldn't really pick out any strawberries or raspberries  (as described by the online tasting note) but the kitchen was filled with the smell of D's awesome lamb dinner cooking so maybe they were there?

The Taste: Lovely creamy mouthfeel. Balanced acidity, fruit and tannin. Strong black cherry finish with some vanilla, spice and warmth. It was great with the lamb dinner and rich gravy, it didnt lose any flavour or overpower the food. Not normally a match with lamb but for the lack of a Cabernet we had it anyway!

The Score: Good wine. Decent value. Not a lot else needs to be said.  7.5/10. Recommended

VFM: Normally £8.99 a bottle giving decent value at VFM = 0.83.

 

So, 8 out of 12 sunk and going strong. We'll hopefully have a bit more time to relax this week and should complete the reviews of the Oddbins case in the normal style of 4-bottles per posting. Soon I'll be ordering from Majestic Wine. No discounts or vouchers per se, but with an exceptional range of wines they have once again won the Decanter retailer of the year award - so I must take a look.


Speak to you soon.

Cheers

WBFTF

Oddbins - Part 1

Welcome to the first part of the Oddbins case, handpicked mixed-12 according to my rules. We had a sparkler to kick things off and that was followed by 3 reds. Here's how they went down...

Lindauer, Special Reserve Brut Cuvée, NV

A sparkling wine from New Zealand, made from Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.  Non-Vintage (NV). Embarassingly, I forgot to note the alcohol level, but sparklers tend to be around the 12% mark.

The Look: A huge suprise actually - it's PINK!!! I was expecting this to be a sparkling white (which it still is, kind of). An almost Rosé-like salmon pink. Some skin contact with the Pinot grapes has coloured this with a pink blush.

The Smell: Lovely smell of sweet biscuits or more accurately perhaps, "crumble mix".

The Taste: Strawberries and pink-lady apples! Very nice. Good acidity. Good bubbles. Neither of which were too aggressive.

The Score: Great stuff. Reasonably priced to celebrate any occassion and won't break the bank. 7.5/10. Recommended.

VFM: This normally goes for £11.99, making it good value when priced against Rosé champagne and gives a reasonable VFM = 0.63. However, I only paid £8.14 a bottle on-average after discount so the VFM increases to 0.92. Great value for money.

 

Bodegas Renacer, Punto Final Malbec, Mendoza, 2009


The 2008 was a Gold Medal winner at the recent Decanter World Wine Awards but they'd run out of that so I settled for the 2009. Actually 97% Malbec with 3% Cabernet Franc added to the mix. 13.5% alcohol.

The Look: A dense, dark, opaque purple with a violet rim. Also came with the most bonkers cork I've ever seen (see pic below main pic) - Bright fluorescent orange plastic. Certainly distinctive!

The Smell: Initial smell is smoky, leathery, black cherries, blackcurrant and almost Bordeaux-like hints (no doubt coming from the Cab Franc which I didn't realise was blended in until writing this). After a while, more fruit was dispalyed especially blackberry.

The Taste: Spicy, plummy and black cherry-like taste. Warming i.e. warms the chest! Balanced acidity. Not too harsh but fresh. Some tannin present. And a decently long finish. After an hour or so, much more blackberry and sweet black fruit was evident.

The Score: The more we had the better it became. Developed into a stunner 8/10. Recommended

VFM: Normal price of £9.99 yields a VFM of 0.80 but at the case average price VFM = 0.98. Very good value, either way.

 

Villa Wolf, Pinot Noir, Pfalz, 2008

This one was actually off (volatile acidity). I swear that it changed in front of my eyes, fine one minute, faulty the next! But more than likely, my palate didn't immediately pick up on it. A shame, we were looking forward to German Pinot (or Spätburgunder as they sometimes call it, which translates to "Late Burgundian".

No score unfortunatley.

 

Craggy Range, Block 14 Syrah, Gimblett Gravels, 2008

Ever so slightly pissed off that I ordered the 2007 but the 2008 came. 2007 was superb for the Hawke's Bay area of NZ. 2008, in all honesty, I know nothing about. Anyway, this is from the Gimblett Gravels area, the spiritual home for New Zealand Syrah (never called Shiraz here for some reason). 13.4%

The Look: The bottle is majestic! Class oozes from the label and colour scheme. The wine itself a super-dense, completely opaque purple. Only a very slight lightening at the rim to a violet colour.

The Smell: Straight from opening it exudes a peppery, spicy scent mixed with dark fruits such as blackberry, blueberry, plum and something floral like violets or lavender. D says "Soap and sweetcorn" - I agree with the "soap" possbily coming from the lavender/violets but "sweetcorn" I couldn't smell! :)

The Taste: Right this bugger wasn't cheap so I was determined to write as detailed an account as possible. The bottle was left open for an hour before tasting:

The first thing you notice is a striking, vibrant acidity.

This then flourishes into black fruit across your tongue - blackberry, blackcurrant and slight hints of blueberry.

Then it delivers a spicy, peppery after-kick.

Mouth-feel is very smooth. Some tannin evident.

Lovely long finish. 

There are hints of Aussie Shiraz at the fruit end, but more complexity and the peppery-ness (if that's even a word) sets it apart. Absolute class. After an hour or so even more fruit, aroma and spice came out.

Still a bit young.   With time, the remaining tannin will integrate seamlessly and the vibrancy of the acidity should fade slightly giving even more pleasure. The bottle says it's capable of being aged up to 7 years from bottling date (so 2015 effectivley). I'd say in 2 years it'll be at its peak, but hey, I'm no expert!

The Score: Absolute class. Delicious. Damned expensive.  9/10. Highly Recommended if you've got 20 sheets burning a hole in your pocket! If this was £12 a bottle I'd be out robbing Grannies to pay for a case. At £18.99 is it worth it? Phooo, tough decision. I'd like to say yes, and I think I'm going to...Yes it is worth it, but not very often. Once a year treat I think.

VFM: Normal price of £18.99 yields a VFM of 0.47 which is immaterial really, this is a treat, not value for money drinking. The case price averaging out to £8.14 eases the pain a little giving VFM = a whopping 1.11.

So, that's the first part of the Oddbins case done. 3 out of 4 recommended (one highly) and one faulty. Not a bad start at all. We'll be getting stuck into some whites this week, so as ever...


Speak to you soon.

Cheers

WBFTF