The Search For Our House Champagne

Hello all.

When funds permit, we love a bottle of the old fizz! Nothing plucks us away from the stark, and sometimes depressing, reality of a shared house more than a flute of champers. Always drunk in style...be it leaning on the recycling bin outside, holed up in our room or on the decrepit furniture where we eat!

Our favourite so far has been Piper Heidsieck Brut NV (8.5/10) especially when it's on offer from the Co-Op at £17.99. Awesome flavours of citrus and orchard fruit combine with a biscuity/bready complexity giving a long finish augmented by the lively fizz. However, now and again we like to to extend our search through the myriad of brands to see if there's a "Piper-beater" out there. [For the un-initiated, Brut means "dry" and NV is "non-vintage" - a blend of several wines from various years]

Here's some we've quaffed lately...

The Louis Roederer Brut Premier NV was a gem. A pale white-gold with a watery rim this exuded whiffs of Chardonnay fruit with a honeyed fragrance and a biscuity sweetness. In the mouth it had bright citrus and tropical fruit but with the toasty, sweet biscuit hints on top. Refreshing acidity leaves you with a mouthwatering citrus zing leading to a long sweet Gala-apple finish. The fine bubbles are not too aggressive either. Towards the end it tended towards toast and marzipan. Great stuff 8/10 Recommended. Normally about £33 but can be had for about £25 on offer.



The Pol Roger Reserve NV was, quite simply, awesome! A deep straw-yellow with pale lemon highlights. The nose was pure Brioche; sweet baked bread and toasty too. Big, aggressive bubbles pop and fizz in your mouth, melting away to bright, zippy, zingy orchard fruit; think a crunchy, juicy Cox Apple with a sweet, toasty flourish. A long, delicious finish screams class! Superb, 9/10 and Highly Recommended! I've seen it at about £28 on offer, which is sadly rare, the norm being £33 to £35.

This really makes you want to taste their Vintage wines and with the 2000 available for about £45 to £55 my heart says yes, but the wallet, sadly, no...for now.

At a half-point above Piper, it's the winner on taste, but for the overall value, I think Piper remains on the throne!


The Veuve Clicquot Brut NV was reticent at first (possibly too cold) but soon came into its own! A sweet, baked-pastry nose with some herby fruit. The fine bubbles effervesce quickly to give way to an amazing array of tastes, headed up by fruitcake, orchard fruit, slight citrus, complex biscuity/apple crumble with zippy acidity and a long finish...Classy and delicious. 8/10 Recommended. Again, this is normally around the £33 mark but keep those eyeballs peeled for offers, I think we bought at £25.


Three delicious Champagnes, any one of which we would gladly drink again! We found a Piper-beater in score but not in value. The search must continue....

Next time, the Supermarket Sweeps; Six for Sixty begins in earnest!

As Always, speak to you soon.

Cheers

WBFTF

Wine Society Recommendations - Part 2

Hello All,

Welcome to Part 2 of some recommendations from the Wine Society. You can find Part 1 here:

Three whites and only one red this time, as it turned out we'd had some faulty red bottles, but duly refunded, so top marks there.

Some time soon I'll be starting the Supermarket Sweep Six for Sixty series so keep posted for that, despite a slight fly in the ointment: The Decanter World Wine Awards Issue! If you want to know what's good in the Supermarkets, in all likelihood, it'll be described therein. It had slipped my mind that the issue would coincide with my planned start date.  I don't really want to just re-iterate what they have recommended as good, so I will try to remain as impartial as I can. One or two overlaps might occur if I really fancy something, but I'll try to avoid simply plumping for what they rate and hopefully cover different ground. But hey-ho.

Anyway, without further ado, the Wine Society whites...

Clos La Coutale, Cahors, 2009 

Cahors, the famous "Black Wine" from south-west France, the spiritual home of Malbec, renowned for its deep, dark colour and teeth-staining quality! Predominantly Malbec, although this one has some Merlot blended in. ...13.5%

The Look: Well, not quite black, but a deep plummy purple core leading to a pinky/purple rim.

The Smell: Super fruity, jammy smell.

The Taste: Great fruit, blueberry, black cherry yoghurt, violets and oak. Very tannic so needs a while to soften but delicious.  

The Score: Great stuff. 7.5/10. Recommended

VFM: At £7.95 this is very good value VFM = 0.94

Les Chailloux, Sancerre, 2009 

Probably the most well-known area of the Loire valley for growing Sauvignon Blanc. More expensive and exclusive than Touraine and arguably Pouilly-Fumé, it normally shows in the price, although I'm inclined to challenge that...13.5%

The Look: Very bright, sprightly yellow-green.

The Smell: Herby, grassy, minerally, citrus fruits and slight grapefruit zest.

The Taste: Fresh acidity, zingy citrus fruit with a mineral edge and some bitter grapefruit on the finish. A hint of tropical fruit creeps through. Good body, length and smooth texture.

The Score: Restrained and classy. 7.5/10. Recommended

VFM: At £12.50 this isn't cheap, but it is Sancerre, and it's good. VFM = 0.60

Plantagenet, Riesling, 2009 

 

From the Great Southern area of Western Australia. Owned by an Englishman, Plantagenet have a great reputation and make some premium wines. Cool fermentation in stainless steel tanks keeps this fresh. Fairly light at 11.5%

 

The Look: Bright! Pale lemony yellow. 

The Smell: Bright! Very citrussy nose.

The Taste: There's a theme here...Bright! Very bright, fresh, zingy acidity, lime and grapefruit. We had it with spicy enchiladas and it cut through perfectly.

The Score: Delicious, fresh and zingy 8/10. Highly Recommended

VFM: At £12.95 this is fairly steep, but a cut above your average £7 supermarket Riesling. Still, not bad value at VFM = 0.62.

Gavi La Battistina, 2010 

Named after the town of Gavi in Piedmont, this region is often dubbed "Italy's answer to White Burgundy" and also, embarrassingly, my mother's pet name for me! Made with the Cortese grape. 13.5%

The Look: A medium lemon yellow.

The Smell: Lovely smells of honey, peach, slight citrus zing and a floral hint too.

The Taste: Really zesty on the palate with very fresh, zingy acidity, hints of grapefruit, lime, spice and a green apple hint too.

The Score: Great, although not very Burgundian this one! 7.5/10. Recommended

VFM: At £7.95 this is cracking value VFM = 0.94

So there we have it, an end to the Wine Society wines for now, no doubt returning in the future, but as I alluded to earlier, I'll be concentrating on the Supermarket Sweep series next. That will probably take us up to the run-up to Christmas, and then it'll be balls-to-the-wall with wine treats!

As always, speak to you soon,

Cheers

WBFTF

Que Syrah, Syrah...Failed

Hello All,

This bank holiday, our customary wine-off didn't materialise, so we decided to set up something a bit special at home. We geared ourselves up for an awesome blind taste-off of two wines from one of our favourite regions and grapes; Hawkes Bay Syrah. Bottle covers, Riedel glasses and numbered place mats at the ready, D poured out mine blind and I returned the favour...

Two superb wines from the 2008 vintage, Craggy Range's Gimblett Gravels Syrah and Trinity Hill Gimblett Gravels Syrah. Unfortunately, it turned out to be an awesome fail...

The first wine didn't show well. The nose was every so slightly hot on a big sniff, hinting at oxidation. Despite the underlying redcurrant and berries with a white-pepper, it was slightly vinegary. Intense dark purple at the core it faded to a violet rim but no hint of oxidised brick red or tan. Was it faulty? It became riper and fuller after a while but still, the feeling that it wasn't right nagged.

The second wine was clean. Slightly lighter core with a delicious smell of blackberry crumble, red fruit and pepper. Smooth silky tannin and some oak hints but the flavour really wasn't doing much for us. We both preferred wine 2, coincidentally having poured Trinity Hill into each other's second glass. I incorrectly identified wine 1 as Trinity Hill as I knew that had a cork (vs. the screwtop on the Craggy), purely due to there being a greater probability of spoilage, and couldn't recognise the usual lushness associated with Craggy.

We were dumbfounded. A previous 9-pointer, the Craggy was certainly not showing well. We enjoyed the Trinity Hill but something was still amiss. Neither gave us the intense experience we normally associate with these wines. So what was it? I think I know...

Mood, disposition, call it what you will, but we were both absolutely knackered. We'd had a long weekend, just driven back from North Wales for 3 hours, overdosed on junk food, our mouths tasted like toilet brushes and we both hadn't felt well the previous night. We were nearly falling asleep on our noses watching the DVD with the wines in hand. Our senses were dulled. I've previously read about the Biodynamic debate, fruit days and leaf days and whether it is simply mood or circumstance only, but never really paid it any mind. Our wines normally taste great no matter what day it is and we'd never experienced any mood/tiredness related incidents, apart from the obvious cold/flu affecting your smell, and hence taste. Until now...£36 worse off...

So let this be a warning; Mood/tiredness/feeling under the weather can seriously affect your perception of a wine and ruin, what we envisaged to be, a momentous occasion.

Oh and to top it all off, our errant dog smashed the Riedel glasses. B@$£^&d.

I have to repeat it, purely because we were so looking forward to the wines. This time, I'll make sure we're in peak (drinking) condition!

Taking faulty bottles back...

The Craggy was certainly faulty in the end. By the following morning it had developed an oily, shiny film in the bottle and smelled horrendous. Being from the now defunct Oddbins, I could not take it back for a refund. I have absolutely no qualms about taking back a faulty bottle, but some people look down on that. Why? If you bought a steak and it went mouldy before the use-by date, would you not take it back? Fair enough, if you kept it out in the sun then it's your own fault, but if you kept it in the fridge, you should at least expect it to meet the date, and hopefully surpass it.

This leads on to the question of storage. "Ah but not keeping your wine in a cellar is like keeping your steak in the sun". Fair point. But, not many people I know have a cellar, and certainly can't afford to have one built into their homes. Storing bottles on their side (for cork closures anyway) and in a cool, dark part of the house (under the stairs, or in a cool cupboard) should suffice for a good few months of storage, at the very least. How long have the merchants/supermarkets/distributors been keeping them upright in boxes in their storerooms/warehouses, how hot did they get in the van/on the boat etc. Yes it could be my storage, but the vendors need to pull their bloody fingers out too!

My next investment is going to be a wine cooler cabinet for long-term storage so that I can minimise the number of off bottles that may be down to me. That way, I will have even less qualms about returning faulty bottles. I believe the majority are faulty on purchase, and that way, I can prove it!

Anyway, here's to a more positive tasting next time...

Cheers!

Speak to you soon,

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

Happy Birthday to Blog!

Hello all!

Yes, Wine Blog for the Frugal is one year old today! Well, ok, tomorrow, but I normally post on a Monday. I can't believe it's been 12 months since my initial post!

Firstly, I'd like to say a mega thank you for your support. Anyone who's stopped by for a look, commented, or indeed followed - you have spurred me on to continue and I really appreciate it!

Secondly, I'd like to  give a little insight as to what's coming up in the near future. Over the coming months I think I'm going to go back to my roots a bit. Taking a look at the average bottle price, it seems to have been climbing steadily over the past year, possibly as a result of my desire to try more and more wines and find "better" ones. The initial ethos was to find value for money, and although that remains central to almost every bottle I assess, I feel that I may have lost sight of that slightly. Yes, we all like a treat, but not everybody wants to spend £12 on a "value" bottle of wine for everyday drinking.

Also, I recognise that not everybody wants to buy a whole case at a time (although I highly recommend that) from my usual merchants and websites. Many of you will simply pop to the supermarket on the way home and grab a bottle or two. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that, although I feel that better value for money (quality to price ratio) can be had online or in the dedicated wine stores. However, I am aware that I have avoided the supermarkets on the most part (apart from the Co-Op reds feature a little while ago and the initial Tesco Direct case) as a matter of principle. This might be interpreted as snobbery and the antithesis of what I was trying to achieve in the first place.

So, starting fairly soon, I'm gonna head off to several of the major supermarkets and pick out six bottles of what I think should be good, taste them, and let you know whether they're worthwhile or not. I think most supermarkets' range of wines have improved over the last 12 months so it'll be good to get out there and see what's around, and whether they're much cop. The total spend is going to be £60 or less per trip, so that's an average bottle price of £10 or less. I can't guarantee that every bottle is going to be under £10, most will be certainly, but the total spend I can. If I see something potentially great for £15 then I'll get two £7.50 bottles to cover the difference. I will avoid the Mega-Brands, you won't see any Gallo or Wolf Blass (you can do so much better for the money) unless it's something unusual, and I will try to make it a good mix. I haven't quite decided on the format yet, whether it's going to be three reds &; three whites, or two of each plus some Rosé or Sparkling and something "different", or I'll just wait and see what catches my eye. What I have decided is the title: "Supermarket Sweep: Six for Sixty". Catchily alliterated, no?...."I'll get me coat"...

Anyway...along with the supermarkets I'm going to keep up; my Icons series, our search for our house champagne, other recommendations, and general wine-related stuff until Christmas where we'll probably have a damn good splurge and push the boat out. We're also glugging our way through some more wines from the Wine Society so should cover those soon too.

I hope you'll stay with me...and thanks again for your support.

As always, speak to you soon.

Cheers

WBFTF

Majestic Wine - Recommended Whites

Hello all,

Welcome to the second part of the Majestic recommendations, if you missed last week's Recommended Reds then you can find it here:

We've had some superb whites lately from Majestic and it's worth keeping your eye on them for 20%-off offers that they regularly do. What made these stand out was the added dimension of complexity, either from lees-aging, barrel fermenting or just plain old good winemaking! There's so much more than just fruity plonk from a damn-good white wine, and I think Majestic carry a good range for very little money, in the grand scheme of things. If you're not keen on whites then I suggest you give some of these a try; hopefully they'll change your mind...

Anyway, without further ado, here are the best we've had in the past few weeks...

First up, three great Chardonnays from around the globe:

From South Africa was the stunning Vergelegen Chardonnay 2010 (13.5% and I can't remember how much, but about £11 I think). Awesome smells of honeyed fruit, mint leaves, nutty and creamy, stony fruit and D could smell mown-grass. On the palate it displayed that smoked ham and cheese characteristic of a good barrel-aged Chardonnay (like Applewood smoked cheese!), the sweetness of ripe peach and a slight lemon zing. It developed more fruit, apricot, honey, vanilla and almond with time. Purity, balance, restraint and elegance are all fluffy wine "buzzwords" but, thinking about it, they really do make sense with this wine. Effortless drinking and great complexity 8.5/10. Very much in the same vein was the Errazuriz Wild Ferment Chardonnay 2009 (13.5%). Yeasty, bready smells coupled with honey, woodsmoke, vanilla and tropical fruit. The taste was immense, again smoked ham and cheese evident, "flinty" minerality, tropical fruit and some zingy citrus. Alcohol was apparent but not too overpowering and a slight bitter edge dropped it half a mark on the Vergelegen; giving 8/10. Finally for the Chardies, the Villa Maria Cellar Selection Chardonnay 2010 was another beaut; on the nose, citrussy sharpness mingled with wet-stone minerality, nuttiness and a herby whiff of asparagus/nettles/grass. Great complexity of taste too with plenty of acidity, a lemon/lime zing tempered by a sort of meringue-like sweetness/creaminess. Tropical fruits mixed with peach along with a woody, vanilla, oaky character with an underlying minerality. Lovely 8/10.

I'm a big fan of Italy's Alto Adige region, where the whites always exude a freshness that makes  me think of the snow-covered Alps nearby. Not letting the side down was the Stella Alpina Pinot Grigio 2009 (13.5%). Lots of lemon/lime citrus zing, searing acidity (but not in the slightest bit harsh) and superb fruit purity. Great value too (this was £7.99 on offer) 7.5/10. We've not often had many wines from the US on here (which is bordering on criminal) so I thought we'd give this a shot, from the organic Bonterra Vineyards Viognier 2008 from grapes grown in the Mendocino and Lake Counties and about £9.99. It might have been the several glasses of other wines we'd had before this talking but, this was good! Deep, bright gold in colour it smelled of lemonade, vanilla and peach. Awesome complexity on the palate with toasty, yeasty bread and pure peach nectar. I'd like to re-confirm this at some point but my pissed score is...I'm fairly sure... 9/10! (The handwriting was starting to waiver around this point). Hmmm, one to come back to I think. Lastly, the Torres Vina Esmerelda 2010 was again a pleasure. This was covered more in-depth in my Torres feature but still deserves a mention here. For about £8, this is superb. A blend of Moscatel and Gewurz it is really peachy and smooth, very drinkable with a long refreshing lemon/lime finish. Great stuff and great value 8/10.

So there you have it, some great whites from Majestic and for the most part, great value too.

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