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By mthomas
Just back from lovely trip to Dordogne. Managed lots of research and writing but also found time for some R and R including ‘glamping’ and canoeing between villages for tastings.
It was really interesting to see how 2009 is viewed by the French, especially the Bordeaux en primeur offer. I didn’t buy because they are overpriced and earlier vintages from good makers, that are better value and drinking well now, are readily available. Long-term they may be a good investment and will be enjoyable wines but I have a feeling there may be a few price dips over coming years and the usual re-evaluation of initial impressions. I will back-fill once picture is clearer and dust has settled.
Vintages of the century are unsustainable if they occur every 5 years and the opportunism of the recent prices stinks. Bordeaux is becoming increasingly irrelevant to younger wine consumers and even old friends are feeling exploited. The first growths can rest on their laurels and name any price but lower down the pecking order producers will suffer because of a strategy based on short-termism. This attitude is characteristic of many businesses and not peculiar to the wine world but it does seem likely that as wine becomes more of an investment vehicle that corruption will increase. Dodgy wine funds (with no wine), ‘insider dealing’ (how can critics justify expensive jollies on companies that they are giving scores to?) and forgeries (just check out the price of empty bottles on ebay!). Consumers are being misled and ripped off in such a multitude of ways
Anyway, 2010 is unlikely to scale the heights of 2009 judging by the current wet weather and relatively poor quality grapes (anonymous example pictured left). I most enjoyed visiting St Emilion, Monbazillac and Bergerac and drank good wines at all price points. France is still awash with honest and affordable wines made by dedicated people. I hope to blog in more detail when I get the time.
By mthomas
When we visit family in the New Forest we usually zip past Setley Ridge Vineyard but this time we pulled in and really enjoyed the brief diversion. It was also interesting in retrospect to reflect on the state of the English wine industry and how it is likely to develop over the coming decades.
Five wines are produced at Setley Ridge but I guess more money is made from the excellent food on sale in the farm shop (pictured right). This is the economic reality of producing low volumes of wine in an area not traditionally associated with viniculture. It takes time to develop a portfolio and makers here are invariably unsung heroes battling against the odds. Land and labour are expensive, and production costs mean these wines are competing with high quality imports. You need to diversify and have a good business plan if you are going to survive.
The red, made from a blend of Regent, Rondo and Triomphe, is clearly a work in progress. Drinkable but at £9.95 probably reliant on inquisitive tourists. The Seyval also unlikely to compete at £7.99 unless the buyer is keen to support English producers. The blend of Seyval and Muscat, also £7.99, is more successful and could make an impact at the right tasting. It is one for a forward-thinking restaurant to add to its list. The rosé (Schonberg and Rondo) could ride the increasing popularity of this style and might find a good home at some of the summer sporting or arts events in the UK. At £8.95 it needs an affluent audience willing to reject Californian blushes which retail at half the price. The local pubs have Ringwood bitter and it would be nice to see more of them stocking these local wines.
Perhaps the most interesting wine in the Setley portfolio is their ‘Special Release Red’, a Pinot Noir. This is the grape that is most likely to reveal terroir and I was intrigued, and relatively impressed, by their effort. It is nowhere near the sophistication of many Burgundys or new world pinots at this price point (£12.95) but is a noble attempt at exploring the potential of the grape in the UK. I would love to see how it performs in a blind tasting and it is only through the endeavours of the vanguard in the South of England that progress will be made. I have no doubt that really good Pinot Noir, that can compete with the rest of the world, will be produced in the UK over the next few decades. Many scoffed at the idea of English fizz reaching the level it is at today but are now eating humble pie.
The New Forest offers lots of other good reasons to visit but the opportunity to taste wines can only add to its attractiveness. I caught up with youngest brother Oliver (still only 22 and helping to manage one of the best pubs in the area) and beat him at tennis despite my age. We followed the game with a swim in the seawater pool and 9 holes of golf (which he won by 2 shots but my eagle on a par 4 hole made my day) - a kind of relatively sedate triathlon. We also went for lots of walks and did a bit of foraging. Best were some lobsters from a local supplier (3 weighing a total of nearly 2 kilos for £22) because we picked out ones that had lost claws or legs and thus had become unattractive to restaurant buyers. The spaghetti with lobster for 6 we knocked up was superb and incredibly cheap for such a treat. I also remembered to borrow a fishing rod to take to France next week. The great thing about catching a fish is that you can splash out on the wine, maybe even an English one.
Setley Ridge is situated right in the middle of the New Forest National Park. Lymington Road, Brockenhurst, SO42 7UF. Tel 01590 622246
http://www.setleyridgevineyard.co.uk/
By mthomas
Pictured left is the cork from a bottle of 2005 grand cru Riesling made by a good producer in Alsace. I am not naming and, potentially shaming, because this can happen to anyone using corks. I am assuming that it is not a systemic issue for the maker and that the whole production was not tainted. The upside is that it was from the Wine Society and, following a brief phone call, a replacement is on its way. I can also rest easy that they are unlikely to put the boot in to the supplier the way some of the supermarkets are reported to.
The cork has an obvious flaw in it and the musty smell was a particularly good example! I let my sons smell it (without priming them) and both described it in unpleasant terms. I also got them to smell another white (admittedly not a Reisling) which elicited much more flattering descriptors. The youngest had a particularly strong response to the taint and is generally sensitive to odours. Our threshold for detecting TCA is usually a few parts per trillion but this can vary by several orders of magnitude depending on each individual’s sensitivity. I have a friend who is particularly sensitive and bemoans it as a curse. If there is one glass on a table with it, he says that it taints all the others he tastes. Detection is complicated by quick habituation to TCA, making the smell less obvious on each subsequent sniff. It can therefore pay to go with first impressions.
I wish I could taste a bottle of the same wine that had been screw topped. Riesling can age well under a screw cap and cork taint is not an issue but there is an aesthetic pleasure in pulling a cork that I would greatly miss if it disappeared completely. Cork producers do need to diversify and improve product reliability though. The costs to makers and consumers is significant. Corks are unlikely to disappear at the top end of the market though. They are associated with notions of quality and authenticity and there should be a demand for good quality corks for a long time.
By mthomas
Got back last night from great writing and sailing trip to Greece. There were five of us on our boat (two other psychologists, skipper Pete and my very good friend Paul, Mike the Barrister and Roy who created and writes ‘New Tricks’ for the BBC) and seven on the other boat (skippered by Pete’s brother John) who we affectionately referred to as ‘The Hobbits’ due to their diminutive size compared to us 6 footers. We had a new Bavaria 45 (pictured to the left) which handled beautifully and has plenty of space. The trip was superb and along the way we also took in some great Greek culture including plenty of wines.
We left Athens and did a roundabout trip taking in most of the Saronic islands and some of the mainland towns such as Epidavros. A highlight was mooring in the notoriously difficult Hydra (pictured right) after the rescue of a French family. They had snagged their anchor on an electrical cable and Pete dived down over 5 metres to release it. He is an absolute legend and with Mike, Paul and Roy, was fantastic company.
In between the sailing I managed to read, and make notes on, William Younger’s opus; Gods, Men and Wine. It was a work of love he completed following a stint working for the intelligence services during the war. The introduction sets the tone to this learned and fascinating history of wine;
“Wine suffers a heaving birth. It has a rough, groping childhood. It develops into adolescence. Then if it does not sicken, it matures: and in this it is almost human since it does not mature according to a fixed rule but according to the law of its particular and individual personality. The act which gives it personality is the act of fermentation. In this metamorphosis it is changed from fruit into animal: sometimes even an animal of splendor.”
It was great to read about wines in antiquity whilst visiting some of the places mentioned. The section on wine and the Romans is incredibly insightful and informative, and some of the illustrative plates fascinating in terms of aesthetics and content. If you can get hold of a copy it is one of the great wine books.
As for the wine we drank… I am a lover of Greek wines but found the majority of the bottled wines available on the islands were overpriced and poor. However, we ate out most evenings and the house rosé in most tavernas was consistently enjoyable and very cheap. No-one ever seemed to know the grapes but it was fresh, light and perfect for the food and climate. Usually, but not always, quite dark for rosé, it was good to support local producers who, like many Greeks, are having a tough time. We often left carrying a couple of litres (mineral water bottles refilled) which we subsequently drank at lunch the next day, after a sail and swim, over one of Roy’s miraculous lunches whilst moored off a secluded cove. Bliss.
At times I found myself reflecting on how life must have been for the Greeks on these islands thousands of years ago. Wine had important functions in terms of religion, economics and culture but was also ‘medication’, nourishment and entertainment. I like to think the wine I drank was pretty close to some of those they had enjoyed and, in many ways, beneath the veneer of modernity and sophistication little has changed.
Younger, W. (1966) Gods, Men and Wine The Wine and Food Society
By mthomas
As mentioned in a previous blog, I like the Bottle Apostle in Hackney because it represents what is good in the world of wine retail i.e. an independent retailer sourcing interesting bottles directly from producers. So I was lured out for a tasting on a World Cup night and missed the humiliation of France by Mexico. Having spent a lot of time time in both countries I am fond of each but given the way France qualified I was fine with the result.
The tasting of Von Buhl Estate wines was led by the enthusiastic Christoph Graf (pictured right). It was the promise of Forster Pechstein Riesling Eiswein 2007 being opened that persuaded me to attend. I had not tasted this previously (in any vintage) but had been told, by a critic I rate highly, that it should be on my ‘to drink list’. I wasn’t disappointed and its intense finish was still resonating when I got home and checked on the sleeping kids. In fact it sustained through the highlights of the world cup games and if I hadn’t felt the need to clean my teeth before bed would probably have still been there when I woke up. A really wonderful example of noble rot that is becoming rarer due to climate change. I hope to live long enough to try it when it is in its prime and will look out for older vintages in the interim.
It was good to see the room full as these type of events are often loss leaders (although it gets quite hot for storage in the basement and they should find a better home for the wines that are there). The manager Tom has told me that they can sell out cheese and wine evenings but anything more specific tends to be more difficult. I hope they persevere because tastings like this are a public service as well as good marketing.
Three hours of tasting and discussion followed. I had already eaten but everyone else appeared more than happy with a succession of Vietnamese dishes to accompany the wines. I like to drink Riesling with South East Asian food and have had some great bottles at David Thompson’s Nahm at the Halkin. It was interesting to see the demographic profile of tasters, (young couples embodying the gentrification of Victoria Park and the increasing interest in wines among this age group). At times I found myself as intrigued by body language and social displays as I was by the wine.
I enjoyed comparing the Forster Pechstein Riesling Grosse Gewachs 2008 with’ its joined-at -the-hip’ sister Grand Cru, Forster Ungeheuer Riesling Grosse Gewachs 2008. The former, edgy when young with nice apricot notes and an underlying saltiness attributed to the black basalt (pitch stone) that gives it its name. The Ungeheuer, more traditional, fruit forward and intense floral notes, but for me less precise than the Pechstein.
A 2005 Ungeheuer was decanted but remained tight and is likely to become more approachable and relaxed over the next 5 years. I would like to try it in its tertiary stage because I am intrigued by the complexity and subtlety these wines have towards the end of their life. Many of the wines at this tasting were enjoyable but I constantly found myself thinking of a decade ahead when they are in full song.
For future tastings and workshops check out the website here.
The Bottle Apostle, Victoria Park Village, 95 Lauriston Road, Hackney, London E9 7HJ Tel. 020 8985 154
By mthomas
A cracking blog from Tyler Colman at drvino covering the increase in information alcohol levels being given during tastings (and is polling to see if consumers favour this). Colman pondered how the panel’s favorite wine, Nicolas Joly’s Les Clos Sacrés from the not massively sunny Loire reached 15 percent alcohol? So, he asked the maker and Joly’s novel response (which Coleman encouraged bloggers to share) follows;
Since several years the profile of most years here lead to a year dominated by light more than by heat which may be there for 2 or 3 weeks in July mainly. O7 is a year of light as O8 and O9 (where most nights were 1O°Celsius lower than day) the same. And 2OIO is on the same way. Global warming is in my mind for here incomplete Some magnetism of the earth is changing. Spring is less pronounced, very slow to come with not much force up to May. Surprising and worrying indeed. But people are lost in their heads and prisoners of too much intellectuality. What comes is not what is expected.
Why 15° of alcohol then? Because if you wait for the “right” maturity (yellow leaves which tells you “my job is over” , right taste etc ) the beginning of some concentration have happened although we do not reach at all the so called late harvest. Why not increasing the yields then by pruning longer? Because beyond the yield of 2O max 25 hectoliters by hectare you loose “something ” precious …I remember Lalou [Bize-Leroy] saying beyond 15 hecto / hectare you cannot make a great wine. This is probably what she meant. But with vines of 3O to 7O years old as here 2O to 25 works.
You do not get a painting away from a painter unless its work is achieved. When has the chenin completed its work is then the question? Fairly late is my answer although not at the stage of vendange tardive . Keep in mind first that chenin is a very difficult child to raise ; poorly handled it becomes a disaster, well handled it is a miracle . The basic is that you cant put it almost anywhere like a sauvignon or even a chardonnay ; a chenin will not forgive any mistake from your side. Second it does not support high yields ( like french fonctionnaire but this time for the benefit of consumers !!!); the best chenin here comes from October harvest where the cool nights and the indispensable end of the maturity permits much more subtleties and complexities to fully come out. the excess of one half of a degree to one degree does not mater you do not taste it as such!
Then last as always the simplest terroir comes out first as always .you have to move into the complexity of the wine to see the huge difference If you compare on a 8 days tasting a Coulée O7 and a Clos Sacré O7 (one glass a day just recorked no fridge ) you will see a Van Gogh beside an impressionist after 8 days !If you have been tasting a great Bordeaux of the fifties 2 years after its harvest you would not have bought it .I mean that if you just want a pleasant evening with a wine full of originality take a Clos Sacré ( sold as Vieux Clos in France ) it is great .If you have something very special wil reall friends devoted to a real thrue food take certainly a Coulée it is not the same trip This will be even clearer in one year or 2, but is certainly visible now. Make the experiment.
Fantastic and refreshing for all of us who miss Eric Cantona’s deceptively wise pronouncements!
On a related note, I attended a wonderful Haynes, Hanson and Clark tasting of wines from the Loire at the RSA on Monday. Many of the makers were there and this added real interest to proceedings. The great stories makers tell are as central to terroir as the fossils laid out by Alexandre Monmousseau to illustrate geological differences between plots and wines produced from them.
The tasting showed that fantastic expressive, balanced wines are available from this area at reasonable prices if people can be bothered to lift their blinkers beyond Bordeaux and Burgundy. I loved the wines from Domaine Serge Dagueneau and Domaine Bernard Baudry with the 2009 Pouilly-Fume’ from the former and 2008 Chinon Le Clos Guillot from the latter my picks.
By mthomas
My latest displacement activity (to avoid writing) was to take a day off to visit the LIWF. It is great that Excel is attracting this kind of event to East London. It is a world class venue and I have been to quite a few things there including the boat show. I particularly like being able to escape outside to enjoy the fresh air coming off the river and the derelict warehouses opposite. The Royal Victoria Docks watersports centre is also on the doorstep and there is a small ‘beach’ in the shadow of Canary wharf where I sometimes sit and watch my kids mess about in boats.
I tend to switch in to ‘Psychologist mode’ at large events. I like to observe the way crowds behave and am always fascinated by the social exchanges which mediate the underlying commercial motives. It was generally well-organised and not too full (when I was there) so people seemed relatively relaxed. Unlike most conferences alcohol flows from the off and this perhaps influences the ambience. Later in the day there was even a bit of well-mannered rowdiness.
Highlights included the selection from Moreno wines (website here) with some high quality but affordable Spanish whites. The most interesting and enjoyable wine of the Fair, for me at least, was the Palacio de Fefinanes Albariño Tercer Año 2005 (aged on its lees for over a year and released 3 years after production). It was a revelation and showed stunning complexity and length. I love this, unfortunately very limited production, wine.
Other highlights included tasting across the Pommery range with the affable Jonathan Simms from Justerini and Brooks. I think Pommery are on the up and have a good direction with their new products whilst maintaining their classics such as Cuvee Louise and the ‘Wintertime’ Blancs de Noir.
I also enjoyed meeting Vincent Robert from Champagne Robert Delph (website here) and hope to take up his kind offer of talking about psychology with his group of young growers in the region. People associate Champagne with privilege and luxury but for each generation of smaller producers it can be tough surviving, let alone thriving, amongst the corporate giants.
I had aimed to spend time in some of the masterclasses but found myself constantly distracted by interesting asides including a wonderful belated birthday lunch with an old friend who treated me to a serene Japanese meal away from the hustle and bustle of the LIWF. I did manage to briefly pop in to the blogger-friendly ‘Access Zone’ and had an appropriately tweet-sized conversation about Twitter with Ryan Opaz. However, I am still not convinced that you can communicate anything meaningful using it unless there is a natural disaster or civil unrest occurring.
By mthomas
Some wine makers, like some football managers, are ’special’ and Josko Gravner is one of them. Special in a ‘good way’, unique, single-minded, serious and visionary, maybe a touch eccentric or driven. He makes wine in an ancient style and it is fascinating and refreshing to taste this in a world that is increasingly dominated by over-extracted and superficial Frankenwines.
Only wine with something interesting to say would have pulled me across London to Westbourne Grove earlier this week to a tasting at Daylesford Organic (website here). A wander down Portobello Road also added some value as I haven’t been back since I moved to East London a decade ago.
The invitation was from the very polite and bright David A. Harvey, for Raeburn Fine Wines (website here), who champions ‘natural’ wines. This is an increasingly popular and contested tag that signifies a philosophy of non-interventionism. These wines are not always ‘easy drinking’ but they are often interesting, great to share and discuss. For me this is an important dimension in terms of enjoyment. They are also fundamentally honest and tend to be made by people such as Gravner who know the value rather than the price of things.
Gravner makes his wine in Oslavia on the border of Italy and Slovenia where many are bilingual and the cultures merge. His whites, Breg and Ribolla Gialla are macerated in 5000 litre amphorae (see pic on left) for six months. A three year elevage follows. Macerating, and fermenting, whole grapes with pips and skins is becoming more popular and you can see why when it produces a wine of this colour and depth. I felt lucky to be tasting both wines from 2005 back to 1998 and this highlighted both the overall consistency but also the subtle differences between years. When you taste like this Terroir becomes manifest.
These are beautiful looking wines - a golden hue with a russet glow - with a wonderful nose but the taste comes as something of a shock. They are powerful, almost overpowering in their intensity, strangely tannic but waxy and citrus too. The Breg more complex and confusing than the Ribolla, the only analogy I can find is with older Burgundy, Sherry maybe. Suggested food matches are fish and seafood but also game and wild mushrooms (for me the latter with some garlic butter might work). However, the most important match for these amazing wines is an open mind .
Take a look at his website at www.gravner.it
By mthomas
I am increasingly enjoying Sauternes and this one from Marks and Spencer is a sound example from a good year at an affordable price (compared to the ‘big 5′ makers of Sauternes i.e. those that get invested in). The 2003s do not have the prestige of the ‘perfect’ 2001s but there are some really lovely wines available whilst the more recent, very good, vintages come on-line (2005 onwards).
This is already a gorgeous deep gold and developing complex layers of flavour. Lots of pineapple and apricot with a twist of barley sugar. It also has some wood (cedar?) and aniseed notes and spent 30 months in French oak. The acidity stops it from being cloyingly sweet and it is a sophisticated and enjoyable dessert wine.
It has 13.5% alcohol and is made by Jean Christophe-Barbe from 85% Semillon, 13% Sauvignon Blanc and 2% Muscadelle (which probably accounts for the surprising aromatics). If you think medals mean something, this won a Decanter Silver. I only bought a half-bottle but might go back and get a couple more to see how they develop over the next few years.
By mthomas
I am constantly reflecting on my ability (inability!) to discriminate between wines at the moment. I am reading lots of research that seems to undermine the accuracy and consistency of human tasters as well as more confessional and critical wine writers who acknowledge these limitations (Gluck et al). I am also mindful of the restrictions of language and the work of Lehrer, Bourdieu etc. illustrating that the purple prose of critics is often more about individual taste, context, power relationships and subjective experience as it is about anything intrinsic to the wine.
I went to an interesting tasting mid-week arranged by Genesis wines. I had not really heard of them until recently but I was going to be speaking in central London nearby so had a ‘window of opportunity’. Once I made it past the imposing and heavy door of Chandos House and met up with some friends I set about tasting some of the Rhone 2008 En Primeur offers including a trio of Condrieu from Francois Villard and a host of barrel sample reds. Interestingly Villard was a chef before he began making wine and is still involved in the restaurant business. I do believe wine is often at its best when symbiotically and sympathetically interacting with food and wonder if someone who cooks is bound to be attuned to the potential of this. It also highlights how tasting early samples is distanced from the ultimate destination of drinking a mature wine with food.
Parker’s effusive reviews of the 2007s has clearly pulled the carpet out from under the 2008s. The euro exchange and the recent drop in the Liv-ex also make many things a ‘hard sell’ at the moment. My impression was that the reds were generally sound despite the weather and will provide some enjoyable, if not particularly exciting, drinking for selective buyers but the market demands the ‘best’ and money will be drawn towards 2007s. It is also so hard to ‘fortune tell’ when tasting barrel samples and I have a very limited threshold for tasting them. After half a dozen of the reds I find my palate overwhelmed, in this case with tannins, coffee and cassis flavours. I find it hard to recall wines even with my notes and wonder at the abilities of those who drink 150 over a short period.
I am not a huge fan of Voignier but I think this is mainly due to the quality of wines I was first exposed to. I also have a lot of respect for friends who rate the grape highly and clearly there is a top-end market for them. I think this is a grape I will learn to appreciate more, and even at an immature stage, the wines from Villard were interesting and enjoyable. I had the sense of what they might become and look forward to trying them in future at their prime. The pick for me, possibly because I enjoy acidity, was the ‘cheapest’ of the three (Les Terrasses du Plat) although the most expensive (De Poncins) seemed to have potential to age well and will probably mature beautifully.
Just back from lovely trip to Dordogne. Managed lots of research and writing but also found time for some R and R including ‘glamping’ and canoeing between villages for tastings.
Anyway, 2010 is unlikely to scale the heights of 2009 judging by the current wet weather and relatively poor quality grapes (anonymous example pictured left). I most enjoyed visiting St Emilion, Monbazillac and Bergerac and drank good wines at all price points. France is still awash with honest and affordable wines made by dedicated people. I hope to blog in more detail when I get the time.
