Monday, October 31, 2005

The London Wine Show


I visited The London Wine Show with my extended family over the week-end and tasted all manner of interesting things - though my taste-buds were somewhat worn out by the end (as were my feet) I certainly didn't taste half the wines I would have like to, but given the amount there it would have been really hard. Highlights for me were a Louis Jadot Meursault tasted alongside an AOC Chablis and a Chablis Fourchaume from the same negociant which was great to do. The cheaper Chablis was fairly dull and uninteresting, the Fourchaume hit many high notes, has a steelyness and finess to it that I've rarely had the chance to taste and the Meursault was as expected fatter, nuttier and an altogether finer wine.
I also tasted a number of very nice Pinot Noir from New Zealand, 6 in total the best being a Mount Rosa Pinot Noir from Central Otago (www.lenzwine.co.uk).

I also tasted Brown Brother's Barbera for the first time, having avoided buying a bottle for fear that the finesse of the Italian grape would be murdered in Australia, however what I discovered was a wine that pressed the right buttons for a Barbera although it did lack a little in complexity.

Shaky Bridge Pinot Noir (http://www.nzwd.co.uk/uk/index.htm) - also from Central Otago was a great credit to the New Zealand wine industry and for me was a better bottle than the Mercurey and Santenay tasted on the Wines of Burgundy Stand.

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