jamie goode's wine blog

Two beautiful natural wines from the Rhone

2008-07-19T20:07:00.003Z

Two wines from Hervé Souhaut at Domaine Romaneaux-Destezet in the northern Rhône. He has about 5 hectares of vines over the river from the Hermitage hill, so the wines are classified as Vin de Pays de l’Ardèche, but they are utterly beautiful, elegant creations, made from old vines with very little sulphur dioxide added. Elegantly packaged with their minimalist labels and black synthetic corks, these are wines of the moment – not designed to be cellared. Best served a little cooler than room temperature, too. [Unsurprisingly, in the UK these are available from Les Caves de Pyrene. No commercial connection, etc.]

Domaine Romaneaux-Destezet ‘La Souteronne’ Gamay 2007 Vin de Pays de l’Ardèche, France

Fresh, slightly sappy, herb-tinged nose. The palate has a lovely smooth texture and shows pure red cherry and cranberry fruit, with freshness, elegance and just a little spicy grip on the finish, making this a delightful, food-compatible wine of great purity. 91/100

Domaine Romaneaux-Destezet Syrah 2007 Vin de Pays de l’Ardèche, France

This is simply beautiful. There’s a distinctive cool-climate Syrah peppery kick on the nose, which is otherwise really pure and focused, with a gentle leafy character underneath the red fruits. The palate is beautifully supple, slightly sappy, and fantastically elegant, with real purity to the smoothly textured fruit. I guess the granite soils may have something to do with this: it’s light, but aromatic. Just 11.7% alcohol. 93/100

The 'F' word does beer, and macaroni cheese with Stichelton

2008-07-19T02:58:00.000Z

You know, I think the 'F word' is good for food, and even drink...

For those outside the UK, let me explain. The 'F word' is a national TV show in the UK that's the platform for celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay. It is fast-paced, popular and profane. But it is brilliantly done. Like Top Gear, the car program that appeals to people who have no interest in cars, the F word draws in viewers with little interest in what they put in their mouths. But, precisely because of this, it's a program that has the potential to get many people interested in real food.

Tonight, Gordon was brewing his own beer, with a view to matching it with food. What sort of beer? In an inspired choice, he chose to emulate Innis & Gunn's wonderful oak-aged beer that's aged in used Bourbon casks. [Aside: the C4 website repeatedly mispells this name as 'Inns and Gunn')

And then in his interpretation of Macaroni cheese he uses the fantastic Stichelton cheese. This is the Neal's Yard interpretation of Stilton, but made with unpasteurized milk, the way that the best Stiltons used to be made. Randolph Hodgson found that in recreating the classic style, he was unable to use the Stilton name - by law, Stilton now has to be made with pasteurized milk. But his Stichelton, still a work in progress, is better than any Stilton.

I reckon Gordon has some very good researchers indeed. It's kind of ironic, though, that a show devoted to redicovering and promoting the best of all that is edible is sponsored by Gallo. I guess that shows that wine has a bit of a mountain to climb.

Bergerac Blanc from Luc Conti

2008-07-18T21:40:00.002Z

A deliciously full flavoured white from Luc Conti's Tour des Gendres. Very stylishly packaged, too.

Chateau Tour des Gendres Bergerac Sec Muscadelle Petit Grain 2005 France
Nicely packaged with a musical score as a front label (can anyone read this?), this is a richly textured Muscadelle of real appeal. It's quite complex, with notes of grapes, lemons, nuts and vanilla ice cream, as well as an almost floral, herby character. In the mouth it is quite thick, with a lush texture and a hint of pithy bitterness on the finish. It reminds me of a cross between an Alsace Pinot Gris and a rich Viognier. Quite a serious effort, and it also tastes quite modern in style, with fruit to the fore. 90/100 (Les Caves de Pyrene)

In Portugal's Dao wine region with Alvaro Castro

2008-07-18T13:53:00.001Z

A short film from last week's visit.

NWR: RTL's poor paw

2008-07-17T22:47:00.002Z

RTL (Rosie The Labradoodle) is our dog. She had a bad week: a grass seed had become embedded in one of her paws, and required surgery to get it out. That'll be £150. This is where I learned we were supposed to be checking her paws regularly. So I go for a walk with her and her bandaged paw, and get stopped several times by other dog walkers. The conversation is eerily similar each time. 'What's wrong?' 'Grass seed in paw.' 'Oh yes, you should check them every day. My vet says grass seeds pay for his summer holidays'. It never said this in the dog owners' manual. Anyway, she's now back to full health.

A photoshoot, a Merlot and a Roussillon red

2008-07-17T21:41:00.004Z

Spent most of the day at Denbies winery (www.denbiesvineyard.co.uk) doing a photoshoot for the Sunday Express. This required the services of quite a team: a photographer plus her assistant, a make-up person, the section editor plus her assistant, the art editor, the fashion stylist and me. I was dressed in a white linen suit, brown shoes and a panama hat. While we were shooting in the vineyards a team of cyclists passed us and one of them commented loudly, 'It's the man from del monte'. I was embarrassed. We shot pictures in the cellar, too. The results will be in a special section in the magazine on summer drinks, on August 3rd. It was a really interesting and slightly surreal experience.

Two wines this evening. The first is a Merlot from Australia. Many readers will have switched off at this point, because Merlot sucks most of the time, and almost always when it comes from Australia. But this is quite a good one.

The second is a Roussillon red from the holy trinity of Mourvedre, Syrah and Grenache, and it's nicely dense and rather attractive.

Linda Domas Wines Boycat Merlot 2006 McLaren Vale, Australia
Slightly reductive on the nose, with a hint of burnt rubber, but also some really fresh, vibrant berry fruit, as well as a hint of gravel. The palate is juicy and medium bodied, with delightfully expressive, fresh, sweet red berry fruit, a trace of blackcurrant, and also some spicy tannins on the finish. I guess that the McLaren Vale isn't the best place in the world to grow Merlot, but this is still a very attractive, supple, sweetly fruited wine of some appeal. Elegant and very berryish. 88/100 (£8.99 Marks & Spencer)

Domaine Treloar Three Peaks 2006 Cotes du Roussillon, France
This attractive southern French red is the inaugural vintage from this producer, a Kiwi-English collaboration farming just 10 hectares in the Roussillon. It's a blend of Grenache, Syrah and Mourvedre. A concentrated wine with sweet-yet-focused red and black fruits with a spicy lift. There's a distinctly savoury, spicy quality to this wine which has enough tannin and acidity to keep it quite fresh. Finishes distinctly savoury and quite grippy. A food-friendly style that may develop nicely over the next few years. 90/100 (£10.25 Leon Stolarski)

Retro Fitou, yeah baby!

2008-07-16T20:07:00.005Z

Interesting sample in the post today. A 'retro' Fitou, from hugely successful coop Mont Tauch. Though there's nothing terribly retro about the closure (screwcap with a saranex-only liner, just right for this wine), the label is very attractively retro, with a mock-torn effect. I think it works really well, and the whole thing looks very good indeed.

What about the wine? Like many of the wines in the Mont Tauch portfolio, it delivers without threatening to overdeliver. It's lacking a bit of concentration and stuffing (I didn't say dilute, although there is a risk that it is heading that way), but aside from this it is very well made with attractive spicy, earthy, dark cherry and red berry flavours. Nicely savoury, and very drinkable. Remember, though, this is an inexpensive wine and it's much, much better from a lot of the new world offerings at this price point.

Mont Tauch 'Retro' Fitou 2006 Languedoc, France
Light, with savoury, spicy, slightly earthy cherry and berry fruit, as well as just a hint of that wild herb complexity known as 'garrigue'. A versatile, drinkable red with a sense of place to it. 83/100 (£5.99 Tesco)

A modern-styled Spanish red with 94 Miller points

2008-07-15T20:24:00.004Z

I did a quick Google search to find out some more about tonight's wine, but all I could seem to get was Jay Miller's review for the Wine Advocate, where he talks about pain grille, meat, bacon and blueberry, and then dishes out 94 points, which I think for him is a kind of low score, although to me it sounds alarmingly high.

The wine in question is an ambitiously packaged, ambitiously priced modern Spanish red from the Mentrida appellation near Toledo. I find it exciting that producers in regions such as this, which a few years back were making almost exclusively cheap plonk (if they were making wine at all), are now aiming much higher. It has to be good for wine as a whole that this sort of push for high quality from lesser-known regions is taking place around the world.

Jimenez-Landi 'Pielago' 2006 Mentrida, Toledo, Spain
Beautifully packaged in a deeply punted Burgundy-shaped bottle, this is an ambitious new-wave Spanish red. The nose shows a bit of alcoholic heat, as well as a slightly baked, caramelly edge, along with lush, pure, sweet raspberry and blackberry fruit. The palate is warm and a little jammy, but with a nice spicy definition to the lush fruit. There's a lot going for this wine - the concentrated sweet, ripe fruit, and the attractive spiciness, as well as the fact that any oak is well in the background. But it has just a little too much 'warmth' to it to justify a higher score. New world in style, which I guess is understandable given the fact that it's very much a warm climate wine, made in a modern way. I'd like to see them aim for more freshness, without losing the concentration. 90/100 (£20 Handford Wines)

NWR: City fans are the best

2008-07-15T07:11:00.003Z

[Not wine related]

Haven't had any Man City talk for a while on the blog (this is the football team I support for those a little puzzled...http://www.mcfc.co.uk/). As regular readers will know, I was, along with just about every other City fan, perplexed and distressed by the way the chairman - the ex-Thai priminister - dispensed with the services of Sven at the end of last season, even though he'd got City playing good football and transformed the club from relegation battlers into contenders for Europe.

Anyway, after this ill-judged, heavy handed decision, he sort of redeemed himself by making a sensible choice for the next manager - Mark Hughes. While some uncertainty surrounds the future of the chairman, who has had to return to Thailiand to face trial for corruption, the City faithful can look forward to the new season with a degree of optimism.

The season begins early, because City have managed to get into the UEFA cup by the backdoor route of the fairplay league. Basically, the country with the most sporting behaviour gets a place, which is given to the team that fouled the least that didn't already qualify for Europe, and that's City. The only drawback is you have to start right at the beginning of the competition, and City will be playing their first game against a team from the Faroe Islands.

It's difficult to get there, so one enterprising City fan has chartered chartered a trawler. Sounds hilarious, although not for land lubbers who suffer from motion sickness.

Krispy Kreme and the Douro

2008-07-14T20:34:00.003Z

Went to the fifth day of the Lord's test today.

After having been on Thursday for the first day, I was looking at the rate of subsequent play with great attentiveness. That's because test matches have five days scheduled for play, but because the scoring rate is higher than it used to be, most tests are now finished within four days, and it's rare to have much play on the fifth. As a result, no tickets are sold in advance for the final day's play (it's pay on the gate, £20 for adults, £10 for kids), and box holders for Sunday get to keep their boxes for Monday as a bonus. Which is why I was attending today, as guest of Douro producer Quinta de la Rosa - not the normal sort of corporate hospitality gig. Also present in the box from the wine trade were Tim French of Fortnum & Mason, Hamish Anderson of the Tate group and Charles Metcalfe.

Anyway, the game was nicely poised at the start of play, with South Africa trailing by 100 runs but with nine wickets in hand. It was going to be very exciting (if England got some early wickets), or very boring (if South Africa managed to bat through a few sessions unscathed). In the end, it was the latter. I love test cricket, but I'll admit that when games fizzle into a damp squib of a draw like this, it's enough to make you rush out and buy tickets to see some 20:20 fireworks.

England's bowlers struggled to trouble South Africa on a pitch that made batting look quite easy. Still, we had a very enjoyable day. Some Quinta de la Rosa wines were sampled. The 2006 Quinta de la Rosa is deliciously fresh and aromatic with vibrant dark cherry fruit and more than a hint of seriousness. 2005 Passagem, from their new property in the Douro Superior, is a serious effort with lush, sweet, pure fruit backed up by some spicy structure. I really liked this ripe but focused and balanced wine. The 2004 Reserva is evolving nicely with lovely purity of fruit. And I found out that the 1997 Colheita goes pretty well with Krispy Kreme donuts. Especially the one with a bit of jam in the middle.

Krispy Kreme donuts look evil and I should hate them, but I find them thoroughly addictive. I was first introduced to them by my older son, who was already hooked at the time: I bought him one at the KK outlet in Bentalls in Kingston, and then found out that the coffee I'd ordered came with two free KK donuts. They looked appalling but tasted delicious, in much the same way that Pringles do. And now I have found they work with Colheita, which is a bit of a bonus.

Another video blog post: Riesling from Germany and Australia

2008-07-14T20:22:00.004Z

OK, time for another vlog post. It has been a while since the last one.

The subject is Riesling, and I've chosen two contrasting bottles. One is from Germany - a Riesling Kabinett from Dr Loosen (Waitrose), and the other is from Australia's Clare Valley, made by Knappstein (Marks & Spencer). I like them both, but they are quite different.

Weekend wines: Portugal and pink Burgundy

2008-07-13T21:23:00.002Z

Two wines to report on from the weekend. One a leading Portuguese red from the Alentejo; the other a delicious pink wine from Burgundy.

Malhadinha Nova Pequeno Joao 2005 Alentejo, Portugal
A small production run of Cabernet, Aragones and Syrah that's bottled in 50 cl format. Beautiful purity of sweet raspberryish fruit with foresty, blackberry notes in the mix too. The palate is pure and intense with lovely fruit intensity and nice spiciness. Ripe, rich, fruit-driven and delicious. 92/100

Simonnet-Febvre Bourgogne Rose 2006 France
Pink orange in colour, this has a sweet nose of strawberry and redcurrant fruit, with a herbal freshness. The palate is richly textured with a nice sappy finish along with the sweet fruit. Stylish and appealing. It's hard to make serious rose, but this is almost there. 87/100 (£9 Hayward Bros, Anne et Vin, Hennings, ND John)

A relaxed weekend, with yet more cricket

2008-07-13T19:35:00.002Z

It has been an enjoyable weekend. On Friday night my twin sister, Anne, and her husband and kids came to stay at the Goode madhouse. I opened about 20 bottles for sampling, and we drank some, too - the rest we took with us on Saturday morning for the bi-annual family cricket match organized by two of my cousins. Held in the magnificent settings of Caldicott School, it's a fun event where the extended family gather and there's a half decent game of cricket.

Under overcast skies we played a 30-over-a-side game. Rather bizarrely, the first innings was played on an all-weather pitch on a different field to the second innings on the main square, because of the damp early conditions. We batted first and made 215-8, and then restricted them to 211-8 off their overs. My contribution? 1 with the bat (caught in the deep) and 3-8 with the ball. It was great to catch up with so many relatives.

Today was a bit sunnier, and it was younger son's chance to perform at cricket, as he kept wicket for his school side against the same age group from Twickenham CC. He did pretty well, only letting a few balls through.

Pictured above is a view from the local park where I take RTL for walks most days, at about 8 am this morning. I don't always feel like taking her out, but it's actually a brilliantly relaxing thing to do at this time of year.

On the main site, and Rioja

2008-07-11T20:59:00.002Z

On the main site recently:

A short piece on whether knowledge enhances the enjoyment of wine
A book review of 1001 wines you must try before you die
Knoll: serious Austrian wines
Esk Valley: New Zealand series part 10
Domaine Saint Hilaire: modern Languedoc wines reviewed
Craggy Range Tasting: 29 wines tasted and Craggy Range: part 8, New Zealand series
Hawkes Bay and the Gimblett Gravels: New Zealand's top red wine region
Domaine Leflaive: a masterclass with Anne-Claude

Tonight I have my twin sister Anne and her husband Dominic staying with their kids, before a big family cricket match tomorrow. We've been opening lots of bottles, including an interesting Rioja. It's really oaky, with lots of vanilla and coconut, plus some menthol and spice from the oak. But it also has really concentrated, well-defined red berry fruit. It's the Vina Izadi Rioja Gran Reserva 2002 (£18.59 Laithwaites).

This wine has me in two minds. Tasted today, I think it's just too much, with too much extraction and intensity and oak all mushed together. The sort of wine that impresses but isn't all that drinkable. However, I suspect it is also the sort of wine that could metamorphose with a decade's bottle age into something elegant and complex, and so I'm going to give it the benefit of the doubt. The fruit really is quite impressive.

Also enjoying some chocolate Anne and Dominic bought along: Lindt Excellence 85% Cocoa dark chocolate, which is intense and rich, but not at all bitter. I imagine this could even be wine compatible, because it's not too sweet. In fact, this Rioja works quite well with it, although it shouldn't.

Cricket at Lords and sweet wine

2008-07-10T22:25:00.002Z

Spent the day at Lord's, watching the first day of the England v. South Africa test match. To those unfamiliar with cricket, the idea of a game that lasts five days must seem ludicrous. I suppose it is, but it is also wonderful that in this age of hurry and busyness, a day can be spent watching nothing much happening at a cricket match as a punctuation-style interval in an over-busy life.

South Africa have four good fast bowlers, and between them they kept things pretty tight, restricting England to 80-odd for none (this means England scored 80 runs without any of their batsmen getting out) by lunch. Shortly after lunch, though, South Africa made a breakthrough, with Strauss lbw for 44. Soon after, Vaughan was clean bowled for 2, and then Cook was out a few balls later for 60. At 117-3 things were nicely poised. But a solid partnership by Bell and Pietersen followed. Initially, Bell looked the more in-form, with some cracking shots. But as Pietersen entered the 20s, he found his touch, motoring towards his century with some bold yet measured stroke play. When I left, with a couple of overs to go, England were just over 300 with three wickets down.

Lords is a very attractive ground to watch cricket at. It also has the enlightened policy of allowing guests to bring a bottle of wine in with them, something that other test match grounds prohibit, perhaps because of fears of lost revenue and upsetting drinks sponsors.

Two sweet wines tonight.

Chateau Haut Bergeron Sauternes 2004 Bordeaux
Golden colour. Attractive sweet herbal nose with dried fruit, apricot, citrus peel and spice. The palate is viscous with citrus and barley sugar character as well as some appealing spiciness. A dense, mouthfilling sweet wine with some complexity. Deliciously rich. 90/100 (Asda £9.99/half)

Vendanges d'Automne Muscat de Saint Jean de Minervois NV, France
Golden colour with some brown hints. Rich and quite viscous with notes of baked apple, dried apricot and organge peel, as well as some tea-like complexity. Very sweet, with a bit of spice on the finish. A satisfying, thought-provoking wine. 89/100 (Co-op £11.99/50 cl)

Shortlisted

2008-07-10T22:08:00.002Z

The Louis Roederer shortlist is out today. I was shortlisted for the online category, which was nice. But I also entered three other categories, which I wasn't shortlisted for. A shame, but I guess I'm just not good enough. Here's the shortlist for the online category, which is new this year:

Louis Roederer Award for International Online Wine Writer of the Year 2008

Tom Cannavan for www.wine-pages.com
Jamie Goode for www.wineanorak.com and www.wineanorak.com/blog
Chris Losh for articles on www.just-drinks.com
Jancis Robinson for www.jancisrobinson.com

It's really good that there is an online category, but looking at the judging panel, it will be a miracle if Jancis doesn't win it.

Bardolino

2008-07-09T22:31:00.002Z

Trying a Bardolino tonight, after flying back from Portugal. TAP in-flight catering is never all that smart (whose short-haul food is?), but they've recently replaced the semi-edible lukewarm ham and cheese sandwich with a grotesque alternative filled with a light-grey, flavourless meat with the texture of damp cardboard. So I'm rescuing my palate with some wine.

It's a Bardolino, and it's not really a red wine, as much as a souped up rose. I guess you could call it a red/rose hybrid. Think Italian Beaujolais, and you aren't far off it. But it's not just frivolous alcopoppy stuff - this is actually quite a 'gastronomic' wine, with good acidity and a bit of tannic grip on the finish.

Guerrieri Rizzardi Bardolino Classico 2007 Veneto, Italy
Light red in colour, this is like a very dark rose more than a red wine. Sweet, bright cherry fruit dominates the nose and palate. It's quite rounded, with a rich texture, a hint of sappiness and just a touch of spicy tannin on the finish. Joyful and quite drinkable, but would work well with a range of foods, too. There's a place for this sort of wine. 87/100 (£7.49 Longford Wines, Davy's wine shop)

...and so does Dao

2008-07-09T22:01:00.002Z

After a wonderfully educational and productive day in Bairrada, I spent Tuesday in Dao. The day started with a quick visit to the Paco dos Cunhas de Santar, an ancient property dating back to 1609 which Dao Sul are now rebuilding. Carlos Lucas told me that it will be finished by August, and will include a wine shop and a restaurant of Michelin star standard. We then walked over to the Casa de Santar, a beautiful manor house that makes wine (I visited four years ago), and which Dao Sul have bought a controlling interest in - their goal is to raise the quality of the wine to new heights. It's a beautiful place (pictured above).

Then, retracing my steps of four years ago, I revisited Alvaro Castro, who is currently making the Dao's best wines - his wines are actually among Portugal's very best, in my opinion. We toured his three vineyards in his fantastic Toyota Landcruiser, which is as old as me and required a bump start. First, Quinta da Pellada (pictured above), Quinta de Saes and a new block that used to belong to Passarela, which he recently acquired. It was a beautiful morning: temperatures in the mid-20s, bright sunshine, a gentle breeze. Then we did an extensive tasting of some fabulous wines, and had some lunch, joined by his daughter Maria, who is an enologist. I was very excited by these wines.

The afternoon consisted of a tasting at the Solar de Vinhos de Dao (above - they are celebrating the centenary of the demarcation of the Dao region this year) with 11 producers who'd all brought their wines along for me to taste. It was a great opportunity to look a broad range of wines that would not have been possible otherwise. As with the joint tasting in Bairrada, I left impressed with the quality.

Then it was time to drive across towards the Spanish border and up a bit to a remote part of the Beira Interior, where we were to spend the night. We were joined by Jose Almeida Garrett, who was presenting his wines, and also Joao Portugal Ramos, Luis de Castro and Jose Maria Soares Franco, who happened to be staying there the night on the way to their new project in the Douro.

Bairrada rocks!

2008-07-07T22:25:00.002Z

I've finished a long but enjoyable day in Bairrada, which I reckon is one of Portugal's most interesting wine regions. The key grape here is Baga, a red variety that is best known for its firm tannic structure, usually coupled with high acidity. This is no bad thing: well made red Bairrada is extremely food friendly, as well as being long-lived. Some of the wines I tasted today reminded me a bit of Italy's best reds. Full report to follow, of course, so I won't go into specifics. I also tasted quite a few wines from Dao, the other main region in Beiras, which is the collective name for the broader region that includes Bairrada, Dao and Beiras interior. Lots of very exciting discoveries.

Tomorrow, the focus is on Dao, and tonight I'm staying in a very nice hotel in Visieu, the Montebello Hotel and Spa, which boasts five stars. I managed a quick dip in the pool before dinner, and tomorrow we are not leaving until 10 am, so I may get to swim then as well.

Pictured is the view from the balcony at Dao Sul's Quinta da Encontro winery and restaurant in Bairrada. This post is generated by my remarkably dainty EeePC, which I'm now going to use to check my emails. Then I'm going to sleep.

Off to Portugal

2008-07-06T14:23:00.003Z

Heading off in a few hours for Portugal. This time, it's a short trip to the Beiras, including Bairrada, Dao (pictured) and a bit of the Beiras interior. I'm particularly looking forward to having a first look at Bairrada, a region I've somehow managed to miss off my list on previous visits.

Soave

2008-07-05T22:38:00.003Z

Three Soave wines tonight. I'm intrigued by Soave. On one level it can be pale and neutral and a bit boring. But made by growers who care, it has real personality. The three wines tried tonight have personality, for sure, but express varying facets of 'Soave'. They aren't terribly easy whites, because with this depth of flavour there are some aspects of their taste that are a bit challenging - in particular a slightly bitter, tangy, pithy character that wouldn't be a problem when they are drunk with food, but might be an obstacle to casual sipping. The easiest of the three to appreciate is probably the Tamellini, which tastes a little sweet.

Monte Tondo Casette Foscarin 2004 Soave Classico
Yellow/gold colour. Complex nose of lemon, mandarin and herbs leads to a palate that is mouthfilling, dense and rich, with citrus fruit, honey and a bit of nutty depth. There are some pithy, bitter notes on the finish. It's a complex, food-friendly white that's peaking now. 91/100 (£12.30 Great Western Wine)

Guerrieri Rizzardi Costeggiola 2007 Soave Classico
A single vineyard blend of Garganega and Chardonnay. Quite deep yellow colour. Fresh and herby with citrussy notes and a slightly pithy bitterness. A full flavoured wine with a tangy finish. Distinctive. 89/100 (£8.99 Longford, Davy's, Fortnum & Mason, Harrods)

Tamellini 2006 Soave
Full yellow colour. Rich and a bit nutty with a sweet, mealy, toasty richness and some melon fruit, as well as some finer honeysuckle notes. Sophisticated and broad with a distinctive sweetness. 89/100 (£9.99 Cadman Fine Wines)

Cricket, again, with a bit of wine

2008-07-05T22:08:00.004Z

Spent a most enjoyable Friday playing cricket with the Wine Trade XI at Colchester. We had a rather different look to our side, because of the official Wine Trade XI tour to Porto (where, I get the impression, they play just a couple of games of cricket, but drink a good deal and generally let their hair down). But the makeshift side we put together was better than many of the Wine Trade teams I have played in, which was a good thing, because Colchester normally field a very strong XI, and there are lots of runs in this pitch, which is sometimes used as a county strip.

We bowled first, and our first few bowlers were simply too good for the batsmen, who played and missed a lot but didn't get out. We finally made a breakthrough shortly before lunch, and then, in the last over before lunch, which was my first, we dislodged their best batsman off a dodgy ball (I bowled a full toss, which was whacked in the direction of the boundary, and brilliantly caught by Ollie Styles of Decanter). It's not always the good balls that get the wickets.

Lunch, as usual, is accompanied by wine we supply. Nick Oakley, the captain, brought along two nice wines that he imports into the UK. First, a red from Quinta de Sant'Ana in Portugal's Estremadura, that was ripe and generous with rich berry and black fruit. This is about £9 in independents. The second was from Bierzo in Spain, made from the Mencia variety, and it was really beautifully fruited with fresh, vivid dark fruits and no oak influence. I can't remember the name of it, but it will be in supermarkets at around £6, and as such is a great buy.

After lunch, we bowled well enough, and wickets fell, before they declared at 220-ish for 8. My figures were 6-0-21-2, which is reasonably tidy. We began our chase slowly, but as the overs ticked away, we steadily accumulated more runs. Howard Sayers was the anchor of the innings, and after a Tavare-like start he began to hit out quite effectively, and was to finish on 96. Occasional player Sam Harrop, wearing cricket whites purchased for him by that other occasional antipodean cricketer John Worontshak that were two sizes too big, hit a speedy 17 that looked full of promise. Had we not run out of overs, we would have won comfortably; in the end a draw was probably a fair result, because we really should have bowled them out earlier.

It's funny how much fun you can have on a nice sunny day, playing a game where your individual contribution isn't all that much. I guess that's one of the appeals of cricket.

An excellent Syrah from South Africa

2008-07-03T20:19:00.003Z

Julien Schaal is a young winemaker from Alsace who also makes wine in South Africa. His home in the Cape is the Newton Johnson winery in Hermanus, but the grapes for this excellent Syrah come from Elgin, a cool-climate area not all that far away. It's really one of the best Syrahs I've tried from South Africa - perhaps not quite up to the Foundry, TMV or Columella level, but not far off. I picked it up today at Handford Wines on the Old Brompton Road, where it was recommended to me by Greg Sherwood MW. Handford are doing good work: they've got a really good selection of wines in at the moment. I was impressed.

Julien Schaal 'African Dream' Syrah 2005 Western Cape, South Africa
From a vineyard in Elgin, this is made by a French winemaker and matured in 900 litre French oak barrels, and it's really good. The nose is sweet and ripe with dark cherry and blackberry fruit framed by a subtly roasted, spicy character, as well as a bit of meatiness. The palate combines lush fruit with spicy definition, as well as bright acidity. It's very ripe, but minerally and fresh with it. I wouldn't go so far as to call it Rhone-like, as some has done. It's more like an elegant take on Barossa Valley. Finishes fresh. Great value for money, this. 91/100 (£9.99 Handford Wines)

More on the coffee pinotage, and Bertus 'Starbucks' Fourie

2008-07-03T06:45:00.004Z

A few days ago I blogged, slightly tongue-in-cheek, about Pinotage and Diemersfontein's remarkable coffee-n'-chocolate example (although, of course, I was serious when I said Pinotage sucks and anyone who likes it lacks a decent palate).

Well here's some more information on it, gleaned from a number of sources, including Peter May's excellent site here, Grape here, and Wine here.

The winemaker at Diemersfontein who 'invented' this coffee and chocolate style was Bertus Fourie, who, because of his work, is widely known as Bertus 'Starbucks' Fourie. He was hired by KWV in 2005 to create their Cafe Culture Pinotage, and then left KWV in May this year for a boutique venture called Val de Vie (read more here).

According to Grape, the owners of Diemersfontein were not pleased that he left taking his 'recipe' with him (see here). They even went as far as initiating legal action. So what is this recipe?

The fruit is ripe, without much greenness. The destemmed grapes are hand sorted to remove any green material. But the key aspect is the wood, which in this case consists of staves in tanks. I'm guessing that there is something about the wood - perhaps the toasting process - that is causing those distinctive coffee/chocolate flavours, rather than the vanilla/coconut lactones that normally come from oak.

A delicious Languedoc wine, blind

2008-07-02T20:45:00.003Z

It had been quite a difficult evening (same old, older child), so as I was doing sentry duty after things had quietened down a little, Fiona brought up a glass of something blind for me to identify, and then enjoy.

I'm afraid I wasn't good on the identification front tonight. It was a really classy red wine, with smooth blackberry fruit and a bit of spicy structure, all in a very harmonious package. But it could have been ultra-refined new world, or sleek, modern-styled old world. It didn't taste Italian, nor did it taste terribly French or Portuguese, and it wasn't very Spanish either. So I opted for new world. Wrong. So then I guessed Languedoc, and was right.

I find wines like this, with no real sense of place, a bit unnerving. But I can't criticize it, because it is so beautifully made. Embarrasingly, I can't remember where it's from. I don't think it's Waitrose, and in the back of my mind I'm thinking Asda, although this doesn't seem right. If anyone knows, please share. Retail price would be around £9, which makes it good value.

Chateau Paul Mas 'Les Dons' Vinus 2005 Coteaux du Languedoc, France
A Shiraz/Grenache blend from 40 year old vines on clay and lime soils, with a bit of maritime influence, this is sleek and sophisticated. Harmonious, smooth red and black fruits combine with fine-grained tannins and fresh acidity to make a very stylish, modern red wine of real appeal. Warm climate elegance here. 89/100