Winepost Wine Blog

Portuguese Wine Update

2010-11-08T12:01:00.002Z

You may well have read the posts below on Portuguese Wine and the issues that they face (as I see it) and also there are a couple of comments - one of which is my response to that comment, but I thought it would be useful to make a further post.

The reason I think it is useful is because it seems that I may have upset one or two importers of Portuguese wines, and I want to make it perfectly clear that it was not my intention to be either deliberately controversial or to rubbish the attempts that are being made. What I was attempting to do was to look at something from the outside, as someone who sells wine to retail customers and who is also responsible for other people hand selling the wines, and then try to look at things holistically.

Nor am I pointing fingers at anyone, as an independent merchant I am just as responsible as anyone else for what we as merchants sell.

But what I am trying to say is that as I see it, because of the weakness of the pound and the strength of the Australian $, and for a few other well documented reasons, the is a great opportunity for Portugal to go and get a bigger slice of the pie. The same could also be said of Austria, the Spanish regions that are not Rioja, Germany, Canada, Switzerland - in fact any of the high quality regions that are not "big" in the UK.

There seems little point in me writing about all the great things that are already happening - if it works and is doing well then terrific. Viniportugal gives our bursaries for tastings and the like - which is brilliant - and I've used them and have sold some Portuguese wine on the back of it. But equally I think that more could be done.

In terms of the UK market if you read Nick Oakley's well made comments below you will see that there is an Association of Portuguese Wine Importers - a body that I didn't even know existed - nor what they did.

It is also likely that some of the things I have said that need to be done, are being done - and that in some cases some of the things that are happening are things that I need to know how to plug into. As an independent, what I want to be able to do is to plug into a (one stop shop) programme that is set up for me that results in me selling more wine. At the moment a lot of the generics are spending a lot of time setting these programmes up I join the programme and get a lot of support from the body and from importers to make a real difference.

Take Wines of Australia, I sign up, I get a tutor visit the business for a day who runs two training sessions for my staff on Australian regionality. It is supported by the agent I buy more Australian wines from than anywhere else, who provides tasting stock for the training and also helps out with tastings stock for the promotion.

I then get promotional help, POS and the like, my staff understand the promotion. The importer and the generic give my staff incentives to sell the wines over a period of time. Because they understand the promotion, know the wines better, have more confidence in them etc etc the promotion works well and has a knockon effect over a period of months.

Against that is the flexibility of a bursary - the issue here is that it is easy to use it as a one hit wonder - ie used for a single tasting which doesn't show any sustained growth.

As an indepdendent I am always pushed for time and resources. I will use both tools happily, but I know that one will be more likely to have lasting effects than the other. I also know that one hangs on something - there is something to use as the focus, the other is too general.

Now I shold point out that I've only been in the wine trade for 3 years - so my knowledge isn't massive - but I should also mention that I have worked inside one of the UK's largest supermarket chains and understand how they work. Everything for them is about brands. So when a generic body gives money to a supermarket, they do so expecting them to promote the wines of that bodies area. What they will probably get is either a bit of money off a branded wine, or perhaps better positioning of the brand in the supermarket. The effect is the same, not a building of brand Portugal, but a further building of a single brand.

Glenfarclas 21 Year Old

2010-11-04T22:54:00.003Z

I've enjoyed whisky for some time now, and the job I have has meant that instead of buying a bottle a year and trying very few different whiskies I have tasted far more in recent times. But as a relative newcomer to the delights of whisky I am still pretty inexperienced - but I do get to buy whisky for the company - but that tends to be based on commercial decisions more than anything else. I have also sort of taken responsibility for some of the whisky tastings that we hold - and that gives me even more opportunities to taste things. I'm not someone who is ever going to taste 100 malts in a year but the average is now moving up nicely

This evening I hosted a tasting in a village hall where we tasted through an eclectic bunch of whiskies, Glenkinchie 10, Springbank CV, Macallan 12, Glenfarclas 15, Lagavulin 16, Dalmore 12 and Jura 10. I have to say only Jura 10 was something that I'd never take home and drink myself, I loved Macallan 12, Dalmore 12 and the Lagavulin whilst the Springbank and Glenfarclas were very good indeed too. The reception of the malts was mixed, but you'd expect that.

Back home and it's Glenfarclas 21 that I'm drinking before bed, suprisingly similar to the 15 year old but with more vanilla and toffee - I get you could almost say its the same but more.... terrific malt anyway. Toffee and caramel on the nose, buttery vanilla, brazil nuts and baked oranges on the palate. The alcohol feels like it's burning a little at the moment but that could be because it's the end of a long night. Very good.

Fonseca 1985 - Great or Grim?

2010-11-01T19:33:00.002Z

Last Friday we had a port tasting at work with Taylors / Fonseca and whilst we didn't show anything particularly out of the ordinary we did show those things that our customers are actually likely to buy :-

Chip Dry White
Taylor's LBV
Taylor's 10yo Tawny
Taylors Vargellas 2001
Fonseca Terra Prima
Fonseca 20yo Tawny
Fonseca Guimaraens 1998

and to put something with some real age Fonseca 1985. Now the '85 is an interesting beast - a lot of people on the night really enjoyed it, and a lot of critics and writers have marked it quite highly. Yet I was really rather underwhelmed by it, a colleague completely damned it (although that was definitely too harsh) , and there are those who have also written less than enthusiastically about it. So what is going on with it?

Well I think that firstly it's at an awkward stage, that means that sometimes when you open it it's going to hit the spot and at others it will be closed a little fruitless and clunky - it's all because it is still a pup waiting to become a big dog of a wine.

I also think that in the trade, we taste a lot of young port, either just bottled, cask samples or just port made for drinking young, tasting older port doesn't happen so much and so our opinions on what makes good port are perhaps altered towards something that it a lot bigger and more freshly fruited than perhaps a connoisseur may be. I think also that because we don't taste them that often, we don't have the same benchmarks we have for other things - and this is exagerated by having only two or three declarations in a decade. If we wanted to see how good the 85 is - we'd not only want to taste it against other ports from the same year (many of which are having the same problems) but it would be nice to taste against 84 and 86 - something that just isn't going to happen.

Then there is the issue of the spirit used - pre the early 1990's all port houses bought all their spirit from the IVDP (port's rule makers) but quality wasn't always high and it has been known for ports to fall apart or go weird because the spirit has gone wrong - after all there is quite a high volume of spirit in a bottle.

So what of it - well I'm not ready to write it off yet. We tasted the 94 Fonseca and Taylor on the same evening - the Fonseca was just beginning to think about hitting early stage maturity - the Taylor was closed tannic and a little behind. By contrast I'm led to believe that the '85 Taylor is now beginning to show a little more maturity and come out of it's shell just a little bit. But the '94 Fonseca is a beast to behold - here is a seriously classy act - sure it's been given 100 points, I'm not sure its worth that but then again I don't think anything is worth 100. Full of depth, complexity and richness, smooth velvety with sensational structure - this is perhaps the finest port I have yet tasted - but at £120 a bottle it isn't cheap.

What does Portugal need to do?

2010-10-27T15:06:00.002Z

So Portugal has a problem - what does it do about it?

Well one thing for sure is that consumers need to be taught that Portuguese wine is not all pink, and that the best stuff is red or white.

I have a theory that there is a particular path that regions or countries take when they come to public prominence.

1. Wine writers and critics start to create a bit of a buzz.

2. Independent merchants pick up on it and build a range.

3. They then get consumers tasting more, and build a reputation built on quality.

4. Specialist chains join the fun, promoting wines, and getting them into the mouths of consumers.

5. Consumers start to buy the wines and the buzz builds.

6. Supermarket buyers pick up on the buzz and increase the range, promote and sell more wine from that region / country / grape and the buzz builds and builds.

It appears that ViniPortugal is most interested in trying to come in at stage 6, when in fact they ought to be trying to start at the top. There is also the "tourist" effect - thousands of British holiday makers go on holiday to Portugal every year - it is a tourist destination. If Vini Portugal wants to grow in the UK, then starting with tourists the Algarve could be a terrific way to start.

What ViniPortugal needs to do is a multi-path approach to take advantage of what has gone on before. Lessons can be learned from Argentinian Malbec for instance - the Portuguese are rightly proud of Touriga Nacional (and others) but they don't realise how little recognition the grape has outside Portugal.

So the plan should perhaps look at something like this.

1. Get journalists and writers buzzing - how many really get Portugal and can you wow them?

2. Market and Advertise generically - Touriga Nacional, Trincadeira, Vinho Verde, Douro and Alentejo would be a good start.

3. Pick some sites in the Algarve and either put in place some wine tourism attractions, or put in place wine bar type things - but get tourists tasting, and recognising what they are tasting. The problem at the moment is that a lot of wine sold in restaurants is jug wine which noone will recognise when they get back.

4. Support the independent sector, provide training for staff, funding for tastings, incentives for listings. Actually pick a specific month / period of time to do a promotion - and give indies a reason to get involved - that way the whole industry gets a push at the same time.

5. Work in specific arenas - Get Vinho Verde the reputation the best wines deserve by serving them at public events - take a note out of Spains Tapas Fantasticas event.

6. Get into restaurants - help wholesalers sell to the on trade.

7. Work with Majestic and Oddbins - get listings and support them to put them into the mouths of consumers. They can influence more people than almost anyone else, so use them. Get them to do a promotion that follows on from the Indies month - if you get the journos talking in week 1, indies working weeks 1-4 and then can follow it up with the multiples in weeks 5-8 then you might be in business.

8. Make the focus on "quality" wines not the £4.49 rubbish that is hawked in the supermarkets.

9. Think about Christmas - merchants across the country sell more wine and are more active with tastings than at any other time - give them money to pay for bottles of wine to be opened at as many events as possible.

10. Only go to the supermarkets with money as a last resort. If people want Portuguese wines the supermarkets will go that way anyhow, if you think the money you give them is doing you any good then you don't understand uk supermarkets who will take money from anyone, lie through their teeth about what it is spent on and will gain you nothing.

11. Remember Jacob's Creek got so big because of independent merchants, Oz Clarke and quality (then) and not because they sidled up to supermarkets. Argentine Malbec came first from Journalists.

All that is very conventional, however there are other routes. The internet is massive - get bloggers on side - host blogger events that are high quality and free to come to, ask bloggers if you can send samples of wines, work with online publications such as Wine-Pages to get editorial written, hit the national newspapers, think of viral advertising - make an intriguing film and post it on You Tube. Get James May and Oz Clarke to do some online live tastings with wines that can be bought in Tesco not Waitrose.

There is so much that can be done, some is happening and some is not, oh and if you are another country looking to get in on the act - then following this advice will work for you too.

Portugal's Wine Problem

2010-10-25T18:36:00.003Z

Portuguese wine is having a bit of a crisis, in fact it's been having a bit of a crisis for a very long time. For a country that produces ten times the amount of wine as New Zealand, sales of Portuguese wines do not exactly set the world alight. (Now admittedly New Zealand out performs in this context) In fact sales of Portuguese wines represent only 1% of UK wine sales, now that in itself might not be a big problem - no the big problem is that 1/3 of those sales is one wine - Mateus Rose' , and another 1/3 is other Portuguese Rose' - the vast majority of which will be supermarket own label versions of Mateus - probably even bottled in similar bottles. What I don't have numbers for are what percentage of wines sold that are things like cheap supermarket own label Vinho Verde, but I'm guessing somewhere in the 10% region - that leaves very little room for wines of any quality.

Some people will tell you that the situation has got better - thirty years ago Mateus accounted for two of every three bottles of Portuguese wines - but thirty years ago we sold more Portuguese wines, we didn't sell many New World wines, so there was less consumer choice and the supermarkets didn't have the hold they have now, and nor did own label wines represent as big a sector.

So there is the problem, Portugal makes terrific, diverse, different wines, quality is improving, infrastructure and investment is happening all the time - now could be Portugal's time - France is struggling, Australia is in disarray - there is market share available to be won but sadly as it stands I can't see Portugal being the ones to take advantage.

Too few companies control too much of the promotional budget - the Consejor Reguladors are answerable to their producers on how they market their wines, but all too often one large producer dominates and prevents money being spent that could take a region global.

ViniPortugal does it's best, but too much money is thrown at supermarkets - and yet Sainsbury sell own label Vinho Verde, Mateus Rose and own label red. Tesco sell a few more, but the range is not exactly mind blowing. What ViniPortugal need to understand is that it is not the supermarkets who set the agenda for what is going to sell, trends start with independents and specialist chains like Majestic (who stock 9 wines which although I haven't tasted all look interesting at least) and Oddbins (7 wines, cheaper but reasonable looking).

What ViniPortugal need to do is to start making a noise, spend the money getting consumers to taste wines and trying to get people to understand them.

I'll soon write my plan for getting Portugals wines taking off.

A delicious inexpensive Portugese red

2010-10-16T17:41:00.003Z

I happen to love great value wines, and love a lot of Portuguese wines, reds in particular. The Portugese have all the right attributes for making terrific wine - they have a rich history of viticulture and some of the finest native varieties out there. Commercially their varieties are relatively unknown which means the average consumer has difficulty with the wines because they are far more comfortable with things like Chardonnay or Merlot. Anyway I digress - I'm planning to post more on what I think Vini Portugal and the producers in the country need to do to take a greater part in the global wine argument.

The wine I'm drinking tonight is the basic wine from Herdade San Miguel called Ciconia (which is taken from the latin for Stork, which nest all over the region) from the Alentejano towards the southern end of Portugal. Made from a blend of Touriga Nacional, Syrah and Arragonez (Spain's Tempranillo) and costing somewhere around £7.50 a bottle it is really delicious.

A nose of raspberry ripple ice cream, with some nice spicy notes, very smooth in the mouth with great freshness but not astringent in the slightest. Medium to full bodied there is a nice degree of complexity for a wine that costs so little and for me it shows the extra warmth that Portugal has over France for instance with some real richness in the fruit character but is definately not as hot as Australia in that the fruit is much fresher but you get the point - for me that is what I love Portugal for - there is more guts to the wines that a lot of Northern Europe but they are more refined and have greater finesse than a lot of Australia. 89 Points.

Master of Wine

2010-10-16T08:38:00.002Z

Some of you will know that when I passed the WSET Diploma I did reasonably well, and some of you will also know that I was then asked to go for a scholarship which included part funding of MW study (as well as a trip and various other bits) but after not a lot of thought I decided against it, with no guarantee that I might get offered something else instead.
The good news is that I've now been offered a trip to Austria next summer - it wouldn't be my first choice of trip if I was going to make a holiday of it, but as my practical experience of Austria is virtually nill (I've learned the theory) it will actually be a trip that really broadens my horizons and gives me further education rather than just being a worklike holiday. It's also somewhere I'd be very unlikely to travel to and do myself in that way whereas many other places I may get a trip to through another channel at some stage in the next 30 years or may end up taking myself there - so all in all probably the right place to be going to.

And now for some explanation - many friends and family have wondered why on earth I didn't decide to go for the MW at this stage - well there's lots of reasons but let me start by saying that doing the MW is most definately not off the radar but I am still (relatively) young and there is plenty of time to do it - but it may be ten years before I decide to give it a go.
Other reasons for not going for it now include :-

1. I have just finished some pretty intense study for the diploma and by then end of it found the study for a theory exam a bit of a chore rather than pure enjoyment - I want to make sure I still enjoy wine and learning about it and a pause in education should allow the fun to return.

2. I have a little family, who when I was spending between 1 and 2 hours every evening studying missed out on me spending time with them - now it's important for me to give them my focus and attention - they are more important than wine! (With a little one our routine became so that we ate together and then watched a bit of TV before bed together and not much more - one of us was either studying or bathing Anna or putting her to bed)

3. Whilst the scholarship is very generous the MW is still very expensive - around £3000 per year plus the cost of travel to tastings and the cost of attending paid for tastings (at around £50 per time) and then there are the MW Symposium's overseas to go to etc etc etc - it would all be pretty expensive to do.

So whilst I am a little sad not to be doing the MW right now, current circumstances mean that it isn't really an option, and more than anything I certainly couldn't afford to do it. It may be that I never do it, but it is most certainly not off the radar totally.

Dalmore and the £1300 malt

2010-10-15T18:41:00.002Z

We've bought a bit of Dalmore through a wholesaler in the last twelve months, and it's been relatively well received but because of a few movements in agencies we're going to be able to buy direct from Whyte and Mackay (so we'll get to offer Jura at decent prices too) and the rep popped in to talk to us about Dalmore and let us taste the range. Because we wholesale on a reasonable scale and will look to take W&M's basic blend and Vladivar vodka for that market our rep looks after cash and carry customers almost exclusively so for him we're an interesting distraction.

So we got to taste through the malts, the vial of 12 in his little pack was empty but we did get to try the 15, Gran Reserva, 1973, King Alexander III and 40 year old (which retails between £1300 and £1400).

What was really interesting for me, a relative novice to all things malt (despite buying the things - this is done more with commercial acumen than with huge amounts of knowledge) was that despite being sherry cask matured these were not massive rich, sweet malts. Far from it, yes they hinted at richness but there was a level of refinement and complexity that was just stunning. For me I loved the 40 year old (of course) but I also really dug the Grand Reserva. This used to be called the Cigar Malt and it's easy to see why but political powers made it foolish to continue to brand the whisky in this way so the liquid is the same but the name has changed.

Having tasted the range, I now hope that I'll be able to do a Dalmore tasting for Burns Night in Banbury with some of our customers - we probably won't get to try the 40, unless someone is feeling very generous to our cause but it should still be a terrific night.

Speciality Brands

2010-10-15T08:06:00.002Z

After the trials of trying to get technical things working on Monday and Tuesday, on Wednesday the rep from Speciality Brands popped in. This is the agency arm of The Whisky Exchange, but they insist that they sell to their sister company at the same price that we can buy at so it looks like we might be able to do a bit of business.

We tasted through an interesting (and a little eclectic) range of spirits starting with the Diplomatico Rum range. Now I'm not really a rum drinker, and whilst the Anejo and Reserva were fine, I found it hard to get excited but the Reserva Exclusiva was the reason the Robert got called back in to talk business. When he inititally popped in to say hello and see whether we might be able to do any business he left a bottle behind for me to try with colleagues and see what we all thought. And I have to say I was really impressed. Whilst it isn't sweet, it does have that feeling of sweetness from the rich flavours given off, with dramatic intensity and complexity of spirit I could quite happily sit and sup this after dinner with no problem at all (and if I smoked Cigars I'd probably have one with it).

XM Rums from Guyana I have to say I was less impressed with, I've tasted the El Dorado rums (at least some of them) particularly the 15 year old and for me it knocks this into the dirt but it was interesting none the less.
Tapatio Tequila's were next and I was totally out of my depth - what is a good tequila? Can't say I really have a clue - we probably won't be adding to our range anytime soon anyway...
Jensen Gins are an interesting proposal, the Bermondsey I thought was actually pretty jummy, but I didn't really get the Old Tom - for me it came across as dirty tasting and not the most pleasant.

It's not all fun and games

2010-10-14T17:45:00.003Z

You always have good days and bad days in the wine and spirit business. Monday wasn't a great day, I spent almost all the day wrestling with .php code and trying to get a shopping cart to accept paypal credit card payments for a Wine Gifts Site on the side. webwinegifts.com is a further channel of S H Jones as we look to expand into the gift market - here people pay a single price for a bottle (or bottles) of wine, spirits or often Champagne delivered, often in gift packaging. It's an expensive way to buy - but it's probably the cheapest way to send gifts like this. And we're making sure we selling things cheaper than Majestic are - we can do it by operating on a low margin, but because it's gift all in pricing it doesn't affect our day to day pricing policies. Once the site is ticking over it would be nice to think it might take a bit of money - the trick will be getting customers in the first place.

What I was meant to be doing on Monday was going up to London to the 'Trinity' tasting - a trade tasting of three pretty smart importers including Raymond Reynolds who import some of hte best (and some of the most interesting) wines from Portugal. They have lost some agencies in the past, but always come up trumps with as good (if not better) replacements. Raymond and Danny know the scene better than anyone and when a new winery gets added to the Portfolio you can bet it's top quality.

We've got a Portuguese tasting tomorrow night in Leamington, and some of the wines we know and love, and others I had to look at my notes from a tasting earlier in the year - having left that tasting feeling underwhelmed I supprised because I was full of admiration for the wines and loved most of them from the little ones to the more expensive. Now we've bought some in do I buy a lot of the cheap bottles of a few of the pricey ones?

Yesterday was better, had a new supplier in tasting some Rums, Tequilas and Whisky and today I tasted through the Dalmore range - but more on that in the next few days.

What a difference a little time makes

2010-10-06T12:58:00.002Z

Yesterday I found a file on my computer - "Wines to try" . Apparently it's a list I compiles in February 2007 little knowing that in 3 months time I'd be working in the wine trade. What is interesting is not that I've now tasted a lot of the wines on the list - which were probably lifted from one of the many wine buying guides I used to buy / ask for Christmas but those wines I haven't yet got around to. Three were from Western Australia, Suckfizzle Shiraz and both Cabernet and Chardonnay from Moss Wood.

I've tasted things like Musar, Condado de Haza and Pesquera Tinto which were on the list along with Chateauneuf du Papes and Claret that I fancied but those few things I'm not sure now that I would get all that excited about trying - I doubt it's because I have changed what I like particularly and I doubt it's because I think the wine isn't that good. I suspect that it comes down to a couple of things, the first is that I've tasted a lot of things like them and the other is that I don't read as many wine reviews now, and instead tend to take things as I find them at tastings and get excited when something special comes along. The essence is probably that I know more now and have more experience and so what someone else tells me to buy is less interesting - I'd rather discover myself.

This of course means as a merchant I have to ask whether customers are looking at books, newspapers or would they rather have a recommendation from a merchant who knows all their wines well? A book may tell me to a particular wine sold by my local merchant - but the merchant may know that there is more value to be had from another producer or indeed another wine by the same producer.

Chateau Maurel Fonsalade Cuvee Frederic 2004, St Chinian

2010-10-03T19:46:00.002Z

I last tasted this wine on holiday around St. Chinian back in 2006 and so four years later I've opened the single bottle that I brought back to see how it was getting along. I had a bottle of another wine bought on the same holiday a couple of months ago and to be perfectly honest it had dried up and not fared at all well - and originally it was a more expensive wine than this so I was pretty unsure what it would have done - although it relies on a lot less Carignan than that wine and instead is more of a Rhone style blend of Syrah and Grenache. On opening the wine immediately was a lot more showy and full of deep fruit, and hour or so later and the wine was really beginning to sing. I don't think it's going to get any better, in fact it is almost certainly at it's peak and much longer it'll start to lost some of the depth of fruit that it's got at the moment.

And despite the fact that this is a wine with some pretty serious styling, and is a lot of money for your buck, it's almost impossible to get hold of - in fact I would imagine Lafite '82 or a top Romanee Conti is probably easier to find than this - nowhere in the UK is currently selling the wine. I did get a bit on an insight into why on visiting the domaine (calling it a Chateau is perhaps a little grand!) the proprietor's father complained that they could not compete with Australian wine in the UK market - it was too cheap! Of course that supposes that they ought to be trying to compete with inexpensive mass produced, branded wines - this is so much better that it has to be worth the premium on the UK market. In fact the 8 Euro I paid for a bottle seems very cheap indeed - purely in wine terms I would imagine that you could sell this happily around £12 a bottle so there is an opportunity - in fact if you are a UK merchant or importer is there a reason you don't sell these wines?

On the nose the wine has rich aromas of fresh tobacco and deep damson fruit that develops on the palate to show a little mineral character, some real intensity of deep black cherry and licorice with some terrific length. Drink now or in the next six months. (92/100) 3.10.10

Ardbeg Supernova 2 vs Bruichladdich Octomore3.1

2010-10-03T14:57:00.002Z

For those in the know, Bruichladdich have been cranking up the levels of peat in their Octomore whiskies to unknown levels. The latest release comes in at a massive 152 parts per million peat. To give you an idea the 'normal' level of heavily peated Ardbeg is 50ppm.

Ardbeg too have come out with 'Supernova' peated to 95ppm. Both whiskies are relatively young, and both have been sought after on previous release. The first release of Octomore sold out in days and Supernova didn't last much longer. This release is the fourth release of Octomore and follows versions 1 and 2 in style and makeup - but with more peat. The third release came out last December and was finished in Petrus casks and came under the moniker of Octomore 2.2 Orpheus.

Both came to the tasting with big reputations, but Octomore perhaps is the one that has had people more excited in the past and perhaps had the bigger reputation but would they live up to it. Well we served it blind to 18 whisky lovers to find out what they thought - and the Ardbeg did not disapoint - balanced, yet fruity and very obviously Ardbeg - following it the Octomore for me was a bit of a let down. On the night all the talk was about the Supernova, and how amazingly good it was - and sales figures don't often lie, and with noone buying Octomore it's a bit damning. In all honesty it was pretty good, but I know where I would spend my money if it came to it.

Trivento Reserve Chardonnay 2008

2010-09-27T19:07:00.002Z

Chardonnay is pretty much everywhere, virtually every wine producing country makes some and they all seem capable of doing it well. Unfortunately a lot of them do it very badly as well, this wine is not expensive and is certainly isn't Puligny Montrachet but it really isn't bad either.

It has lovely acidity, although that may come from a bottle, which gives it a really nice lifted feel, there are some attractive mineral notes as well which really help this to feel better than it is , and whilst there is a bit of oak, it really does feel like it's just a hint which gives it a bit of creaminess. There'e plenty of fruit too, as well as a few lime notes the majority of the flavours are things like apples, quince and greenguage. If I'm going to sugest that it isn't perfect then it's a tad short on the finish and for me the alcohol just sticks out a little - but I am getting more and more sensitive to this so for the majority of you then it's not going to be a problem. Don't go buying this if you think you're getting something French - a - like though - this is most definately in the New World - it just happens to feel a little cool - although I think most of that has probably been achieved in the winery rather than in the vineyard.

Village Shops and Wine

2010-09-26T17:08:00.003Z

Not for any particular reason, but today I have been thinking a little about why it is village shops often sell the worst products at excessively high prices. I fully understand that there is a need for them to make a profit and because turnover is generally low margins need to be pushed in order to make it worthwhile. But what I don't get is the fact that often what they sell is complete pap. And when you look at wine selections it really couldn't get any worse. Here are independent traders trying to make a living, and they do so by selling wines that have usually been picked up in a cash and carry and then putting a margin on it. Apart from the fact that the wines are terrible, because you're also paying a cash and carry the margins get squashed and prices are still far too high. Some make the mistake of trying to sell brands such as Blossom Hill or Gallo (the quality of which I'm bound to have said something about before) but then look expensive selling a wine that you can find in Tesco for £4 for near £8. Or worse still are selling Piesporter Michelsberg and Liebfraumilch and wondering why it isn't selling when it used to do so well!

Even those village shops who have bothered to buy in fresh bakery bread daily, local products, and the like often have terrible wine selections.

Well I think that there is an alternative, I mean there are wine shops that people actually make special journey's to go to. In other words, if people know the wine selection in a shop is very good, and competitive then they are more likely to bother trying the wines, plus people from other villages may actually come across in search of something for a dinner party or something a little nicer than you find in a supermarket.

Now it can be hard because those in charge of a village shop may well know nothing about wine, but there are two possible routes they can take. The first is to work with a merchant in a local town, they may even allow you to promote the space as being theirs to give it credibility. The other alternative would be to find a high quality agent / distributor who has a range of interesting wines from all the main regions - there are not that many of them, but I can certainly think of enough that would make it easy to place orders.

So please, if you have a village shop, have a go - promote it as a fine wine selection and let me buy something half decent when I'm away from home!

WSET Diploma

2010-09-23T20:45:00.003Z

So I got the results of my final diploma exam a few weeks back and they came back very good indeed - in fact better than I could have hoped for really - and ended up coming so close to getting a distinction overall that I was almost disappointed, not in that final exam (which is worth half the overall course) but because I know I missed out on a distinction in one module, (I got distinction in three modules worth 39 credits - you need 42 (out of 60) to get it overall), and in one module (spirits) I lost focus and wrote a terrible tasting note for a gin claiming it was in fact vodka! I'm pretty sure if I got that right I'd have got the top mark - so anyway I had mixed feelings. (even though only two people in the year globally (and one in the UK) scored a distinction)

Then the e-mail came in yesterday from WSET, telling me a) that I'd done well and that might qualify me to get a scholarship (a prize effectively) and asking me whether I was considering going on to study for the Master of Wine.

Now they haven't told me anything there, however there is one scholarship that offers part funding towards MW study and it turns out that it is offered to the students who come 2nd - 4th in the year (with two getting the award) - so I'm chuffed. I've turned down the offer - I'm not up for the MW just yet - but chuffed to have been asked.

Wine websites

2010-09-21T17:44:00.002Z

I've been thinking a lot recently about wine websites and merchants sites and what they acheive - are they really succesful and do they do what they really ought to and tap into the market that they all ought to.

This has all come about because I've been working with some colleagues on putting together a new site for our work - hopefully it'll be all up and running by November and I'll post on here once it's done.

I think that far too many merchants think that the way to make money from the web is to have a e-shop where they list their wines, put up special offers update once in a while and then sit back and wait for the money to roll in. Except it isn't that easy - if it was I'd have gone solo and done it a long time ago. The problem of course is that if you aren't a household name (or very early one) like Tesco or Majestic people are not going to just come on in looking for wine to buy. In the same way merchants hope that by listing their wines on wine-searcher and by being good value they will pick up business - and they can - but it is dependent on them having a selection of wines that are the kind of thing that are highly sought after "named" products - we're talking Lafite, Romanee Conti, Gaja or Grange - but not every merchant does these wines and it would be pretty boring if they did. In fact most merchants sell wines that they have handpicked to meet a particular need in their range at a particular price point - but it may be that the quality of the wine is far greater than its renoun - in which case the merchant isn't going to sell a lot online just by waiting for people to come on in.
The next way people sell online is if they have a good mailing list, of people who will visit their site when prompted to, the old mail order merchants are particularly active on the web for this reason. But for a merchant like S H Jones - our renoun is local and we're very much based from our shops and in the locale rather than having a wide distribution - and it is relatively locally that we aim to start building business but hope to push out from our base.
If a merchant wants to sell a fantastic little known wine - they need to do it by hand selling it - which is fine and great if you are stood in a shop, or at a tasting where you can enthuse to people about a wine - what a merchants website and online presence ought to be trying to achieve is to take that hand selling and enable more people to hear about how good it is - through blogs, videos, and a host of online media. Introduce people to certain wines, give them a great offer on a first purchase, build trust and communicate with them again and again and again. Then when they've bought wine from you, loved what they have bought, loved the service, bought into the wines your selling then they may become regular customers.
Our most regular internet customer at the moment is in Australia - they shop with us because they have family who live locally, because the wines sell are good, and because they trust us to pick the right thing and offer excellent service. I suspect they also like the fact that we're not necessarily the slickest operation in the world - but then we are honest about it - we try!

A lovely biodynamic Viognier from New Zealand

2010-09-20T18:45:00.002Z

I'm not sure how you go about making biodynamic wine in New Zealand, other than very carefully. Sure Monty Waldon did it down in the (relatively) dry south west of France, but in New Zealand it rains a fair bit and you would think that fungal infections might well cause all sorts of problems, but somehow those lovely people at Millton Vineyards, (www.millton.co.nz) have managed it. Millton were also the first vineyards in New Zealand to be fully certified organic. None of which guarantees that what you put in the glass at the end of the day is going to taste good.

Biodynamics is a strange one, I don't know whether there is anything in it, my mind tells me that it is probably a load of rubbish, but what I do know is that to farm biodynamically you have to look after your soil and your vines very very carefully and can take nothing for granted - and that being the case it is likely that an acre of biodynamic vines will have been more carefully looked after than an acre of vines that have not - whatever anyone may say.

From a soil science point of view, the roots of plants are suceptible to all sorts of chemicals and their ability to take on minerals can be hugely affected by the soil composition particularly if there are lots of chemicals in there, and fungicides such as copper based ones (allowed even in organic viticulture) really destroy the soil micro flora growing there all which contribute to less effective and less healthy roots (and therefore vines) and less healthy soil.

As an example if you were to take the 100 most prevalent microbes found in soil - copper sulphate would kill the fungal microbes (along with the algae which have symbiotic relationships with the fungi) Those algae provide nitrogen in a format that the vines can use and so on - essentially just as maintaining a healthy set of microbes in your stomach is important (so those lovely people at Yakult keep telling us) if you want healthy plants then you need healthy soil and microbes are important in that.

Anyway enough science - back to the wine! This is Millton Vineyards Viognier and it is lovely - some really nice fresh apricot and honeysuckle aromas, some really pure fruit great mouthfeel with terrific intensity and a good finish.

Stock Take Day

2010-02-26T12:33:00.002Z

The end of this month means that it's the end of our financial year and that means its time to count everything we stock - its also a good time to spot the odd anomaly that we find - my favourite so far is 85 bottles of Hommage a Jacques Perrin CdP that we'd put into the system with a value of £6 - I'll buy them all for that money!

First Post back here

2010-02-24T23:31:00.003Z

A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away I started this blog - way back in 2005 in fact and it went through a few incarnations, to the point that I ended up moving the blog to its own domain and running it though Joomla which was way more powerful that I actually needed.
But with a newly born baby it became harder and harder to make time to blog, and so when the domain renewal came up I decided not to renew it. I ended up passing the domain name onto someone else who has very kindly kept all the old site up and running so that posts are still available, but now my daughter is two and a half I have been thinking about getting going again - and I think it most likely that I'll start on here - after all now I have a job in the industry it's all about fun right?

I do have one complaint though - some American bloke has obviously decided to pinch the "Winepost" brand, not that I own it, but frankly it is rather cheeky - his is actually called "Winepost : Wine and Spirit Blog" but it isn't me, and has nothing to do with this site. I'd be very interested to see why they didn't check the name properly in the first place. After all - it only takes putting the name into google to find out.

The Winepost Wine Blog Moved!!!

2007-08-17T07:34:00.001Z

You've probably given up coming over to see what is happening over here having had nothing going on for ages - well there is a reason for that and now you can find all the lastest stuff over at The Winepost Wine Blog/

Please pop over and have a look

Tim

2006 Bordeaux

2007-04-12T08:04:00.000Z

The first 2006 Bordeaux tastings have happened, and we’ve got our first idea of what we might expect from the vintage. Following a wonderful 2005 vintage, the industry has been on tenterhooks wondering what would be found, with predictions ranging from pretty good to pretty bad – the one thing everyone was sure of was the this was no repeat of 2005.

Berry Brothers (www.bbr.com) have struggled to compare it with other vintages, saying that it has elements of several good but not great vintages with 1996, 1988 and 1986 mentioned, but they do go on to say that they thing 2006 will turn out to be a better vintage than 2004 and point to St Julian as the potential pick of the left bank, but talk of sumptuous St Emilion and perhaps lean towards a right bank vintage.

Steven Spurrier over on the Decanter website (www.decanter.com), talks of it being a real First Growth vintage, where the tops wines which have had all expenses lavished at them come to the fore, including Mouton which has been criticised recently for underperforming. He even goes onto proclaim Le Petit Mouton (2nd wine of Mouton) as “ the best second wine of the entire vintage” He agrees with Berry’s team that St Julian is the pick of the Medoc, although also picks out Margaux for some praise.

As for prices? Well Spurrier says that the people he’s spoken to are happy with his idea of releasing the wines at the current 2004 prices (which he calls the Spurrier Theory) but I wonder whether the owners are just paying him lip service – certainly in a comment on the site Gil Lempert-Schwarz thinks he’s off the mark “I have to respectfully completely disagree with Spurrier's contention that 'The chateaux will come out at the current price of the 04s...' I'll therefore be the first to disgree with the 'Spurrier Theory', which is nice in principle, but has no foundation in the actual thoughts of the majority of the Chateaux I have surveyed (and they are numerous). Certainly at the top, there is no worry about virtually any price at this point in time. Jean-Guillaume Prats of Chateau Cos D'Estournel, who has made a splendid wine in 2006 is 'looking carefully at the present price of his 2004 in connection with the price of 2005 and will be somewhere in between' he says”.

Berberana Etiqueta Negra Reserva 2003 Rioja

2007-04-10T18:31:00.000Z

Now "on offer" at Tesco in one of their infamous half price deals (if you've ever noticed there are some wines that go on half price deals quite often - this is a launch deal - but they are rarely worth their full price) and at £4.49 it's a good value wine - at it's "Full" price of £9 I wouldn't bother but for this price it's worth a stab.

Garnet with a pink rim, a lovely developing bouquet of cinnamon ,redcurrants and vanilla. As you'd expect from a young reserva there are plenty of unresolved tannins and the 2003 fleshiness is certainly there although the wine manages to be a little sour too. It's not one I'm going to be rushing out to buy again - it's ok but no more than that. (80/100)

Burgundy Competition

2007-04-10T14:27:00.000Z

Click the bottle on the right at www.wine-pages.co.uk for a competition to win a fantastic break in Burgundy!

A-Mano Primitivo 2003 - Puglia

2007-04-08T12:17:00.000Z

A big rustic red from Puglia (the heel of the boot) in Italy, bought to compliment and cook Chianti baked meatballs (ok so I know it's not Chianti - but getting something drinkable that's Chianti is going to me very hit and miss and you're going to need spend more that this cost!)
Cooking with it, it was wonderful, making a fantastic sauce, but drinking it...

Deep ruby red with a slight pink tinge to the rim, intense plums, spice, vanilla and morello cherries on the nose. Firm tannins, and a robust, bitter cherry flavour moving to a long finish. This is definitely a food wine, and after an hour or so of decanting opened up a little - for £6 it was quite nice, but the acidity was a little harsh for me, rather than brining freshness! (81)

La Baume Terroirs Chardonnay 2001

2007-04-07T17:17:00.000Z

La Baume make wines in the Languedoc pretty much exclusively for the British market (they were for a time owned by BRL Hardy), and the Terroirs range are the superior wines to the standard wines found in many supermarkets.

We bought this bottle as a bin end at the Domaine, having tasted the fresh wine which we thought pretty good we plumped for this based on the quality of the 2001 vintage. The current vintage being drunk is the 2003/4.

A medium golden colour with aromas of honeyed tropical fruits and vanilla with fairly simple, delicate flavours of pineapple and pawpaw. This has lost it's freshness and is probably well past it's best having been created for drinking young, and fades rather than finishes fairly quickly. (76)

Wirra Wirra Sexton's Acre Shiraz 2004

2007-03-30T17:14:00.000Z

Deep purple with a narrow rim and an almost black core, deep dark and brooding. Intense blackcurrant fruit, developing white pepper nuances and some lovely coffee, chocolate and vanilla notes on the nose. Quite well integrated tannins on the palate, a wine made for drinking at this relatively young age (though not as young as some given that the 2006 vintage is out!) A lovely smooth silky mouthfeel and some slightly bitter notes of coffee and liquorice finish off to a medium length wine. Pretty good really, not quite up there with the Sainsbury's TTD Cabernet, but that is no shame in itself. (83)

The Best Offer you will ever see!

2007-03-29T14:56:00.000Z

It seems Sainsburys have made a mistake and now is the time to cash in! For just £55 of thereabouts you can currently order online a case of 4 wines of :
Pouilly Fumé 'Les Satins' 2004, France (x3)
Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc 2006 (x3) normal price £15-30
Glenguin 'Stonybroke' Shiraz 2001 (x3)
Ninth Island Pinot Noir 2005 (x3) normal price £9

All for £51.12

Normal price is over £130 and they are offering 25% off - but somewhere along the line they've managed to put another 50% discount on top

The link is HERE

New Site Progress

2007-03-23T15:29:00.000Z

Well after a lot of false starts and a whole host of initial problems I spoke to my friend Jon who is the man to know when trying to put these sorts of things together, and after a little wait whilst web hosts sorted themselves out the new site is starting to take shape - you can keep an eye on progress over at www.thewinepost.co.uk and have a look at the forum taking shape.

Leave you comments on this post - or e-mail tim@thewinepost.co.uk to give your opinions on yet another wine website that doesn't seek to make any money! Oh and should I ever mention SH Jones on the new site then do give me a dig in the ribs - as my future employer I'm trying to remain independent my not mentioning them - although in the future I may sell the odd mixed case selected from their wines on offer if i think it suitable!

Dinner at the Cherwell Boathouse

2007-03-23T08:44:00.000Z

So Tuesday was my birthday and my lovely wife decided to take me out to a nice eatery for a meal, and knowing that the Cherwell Boathouse has a reputation for it's wine list chose that as the venue. Originally we had been expecting a special offer menu, however the offer had stopped and in the end the main menu looked so good, and relatively inexpensive we decided to go with that instead.
I started with a salad of poached egg and a trio of sausages, followed by mature sirloin in a madeira jus with boulangere potato and wild mushroom and a blood orange tart. Katherine had a quail with parsnip puree and some foam of some sort, followed by confit of duck (she actually ordered "corn-fed chicken" but obviosuly didn't speak clearly enough for the waitress who turned corn fed in confit - however on tasting it she was delighted by the error and finished with sticky toffee pudding, with toffee ice cream and a banana and toffee milk shake.
I drank about half a bottle of 2002 Chateau Tour Du Pas St Georges, which was lovely, retrained claret at a pretty good price.

Now I'm not completely sure, but I reckon they were charging £350 for a bottle of '82 Mouton, which to me in a restaurant seems like brilliant value. (www.wine-searcher.com reveals that Farr Vintners are selling this at £550 a bottle!)

What were you thinking Gordon?

2007-03-22T21:41:00.000Z

So Gordon Brown has predictably decided to increase duty on most alcohol, perhaps the strangest thing though is that he's decided to freeze duty on spirits, whilst increasing duty marginally on beer, wine and sparkling wine. The strangest thing is that he's increased duty on sparkling wine by much more than wine - which is a little curious. You see I totally agree with duty on alcohol, after all alcohol is a drain to society - it costs the NHS money for people with alcohol damaged livers, we have to police town centres every night to cope with binge drinkers - but you see - how many of them are actually drinking wine? And for that matter how many of those that are drinking wine to excess are drinking sparkling wine or champagne? It just doesn't add up!
Problems from alcohol major on beer/cider and spirit based alcopops, at the other end of the spectrum most home based alcoholics have turned to spirits by the time they cost the NHS money. If we put a great wedge of duty on beer and spirits, we pay for the cost to the country of alcohol and at the same time the increase in price will reduce the average binge drinkers intake - so please Gordon wake up and smell the coffee - it isn't an election winner - and perhaps that's why it'll never happen - too many voters drink beer and spirits to allow the most sensible change to take place - and instead he'll hit the minority champagne drinkers - because he can. Gordon you really are a silly boy - tax the on trade, beer at £4 a pint sells far less than at £2.50 a pint and you make as much money, reduce policing costs, NHS costs and have more to spend on paying nurses as much as you should!

Threshers are at it again!

2007-03-22T07:41:00.000Z

Yes, once again Threshers are trying to get people through their doors by placing 40% off vouchers around the net, whether they get quite the same reception as last time I'm not sure. What they do mean is that in order to get some really decent value from Threshers you no longer need to buy 3 similiarly priced bottles on their 3 for 2 offer. Buying one bottle has just been expensive there, but when these vouchers come out - anyone can pop in and buy a bottle. This time around the offer excludes champagne, sparkling wine and fortified wines which suggests that Thresher have learned a lesson from last time out when savvy shoppers filled their boots (quite literally) with Champagne. If you want a voucher - keep an eye out on the internet - or alternatively drop me an e-mail to tim@thewinepost.co.uk before 5.00pm this evening and I'll happily send one out.

Danie de Wet Chardonnay 2002

2007-03-19T07:44:00.000Z

From Robertson in South Africa, this is a really good value Chardonnay lying somewhere between a French wine and a big new world style wine, it has both power and elegance. Pale golden coloured, youthful aromas of almond, vanilla and oak with buttery minerality and some refreshing acidity moving to a long finish. This is certainly on the way to an old world style wine, but has a greater level of flavour and richness than you'd find in France. (83/100)

Maple Wine vin D'Erable Jost Winery

2007-03-17T19:04:00.000Z

Some friends brought back some Maple Wine from Canada, and unlike non grape wines from the UK, which are made from thing such as parsnips and raspberries, Maple has plenty of sugar in it and is ideally suited to making a sweet wine - the question is can anyone make anything any good out of it?

On the evidence of this wine from Novia Scotia is yes, it is quite easily the best non grape wine I've drunk, and a lot better sweet wine than quite a few I've tasted. A lovely golden colour with unmistakeable aromas of honey and maple syrup and a similar palate with some suprising acididty which actually holds the whole thing together. I can see this being poured over ice cream, or pancakes as a winderful alterntive to maple syrup with a bit of booziness thrown in - I'd guess you're unlikely to find any of this in the UK, but if you know someone from Canada or you are going yourself it's one of those things that you really ought to try just once.

Foil Capped Wine Glasses to go on sale

2007-03-13T08:46:00.000Z

Al Fresco Wines will, this year, launch a range of foil capped full wine glasses aimed at the outdoor eating British public, (thanks to Dr. Vino for the info). The glasses will be called "Tulipa" and will be available in Aussie Shiraz, Chardonnay and a Californian Rose' priced at £3.75 per pair. The idea tried to solve the problem for those of us who have turned up for a picnic only to discover that we've left the corkscrew at home - it remains to be seen whether it's going to be a success or not!

Summertown Wine Cafe

2007-03-12T18:35:00.000Z

I have to say that this months selection is the best I can remember, ok so there's not one brilliant stand out wine - but the overall standard was high. In fact I'd go so far as to say that pretty much any of the wines on this months list would be perfectly at home on the main superstars list. The thing I love about their monthly selection is that whilst it is only 12 wines - they are generally imaginatively chosen and fit together well. This was a social night out to celebrate my new job (working for a local wine merchant - SH Jones in Banbury) so I didn't take notes, this is based more on memory than anything.
The Clover Hill Sparkling from Tasmania has lovely toasty, yeasty flavours - my one criticism was that the bottle we tasted had been open too long and so it was completely flat - give it some decent fizz it would probably be great, but it fell slightly flat without. (79/100)
Chateau Haut Grelot 2005 is a first example of a 2005 Bordeaux for me - albeit a white blend of Semillon and Sauvignon - and you know what - it really was fabulous, lovely gooseberry and asparagus flavours with some lovely body provided by the Semillon. (85)
The Inama Soave Classico was a fine example of Soave that I got on very well with (83), and the Laroche St Martin Chablis 2005 was fine, if a little unexciting - mineral with some smokey hints there was nothing wrong but it just failed to hit the mark (83).
Rolly Gassman Gewurztraminer 2004 was nice enough - but to be honest I just don't get on with this variety, it seemed well made and was as good an example as I've tasted, and perhaps with spicy food it would stand out but for now not something I'm going back to (80).
The reds were uniformly lovely - I'd have taken any of them home quite happily and we started with a Savigny-Les-Beaune Vielle Vignes 2002 Nicolas Potel which was lovely if a little one dimensional (85), Molino Ausario Barbera 2004 was full and juicy and fantastic (87), Chateau Kefraya 2002 was complex and delicious - my first taste of Lebanon (incredibly I've never got around to Musar or Massaya up to this point!) wonderful black fruits and aromatic spice (88), Casa Silva Coleccione Carmenere 2005 was after the previous wines a little on the simple and unexciting side - a great wine but not of the class of the others (82) Torbreck "Cuvee Juveniles" GSM 2003 is lighter than I expected from the Barossa but is full flavoured and delicious (88), Abadia Retuerta Tempranillo 2003 was a lovely example from just outside the Ribera Del Duero, again not of the class of the other reds on show but good nonetheless (83).
To finish an Australian 10 year old Tawny "Port" from Grant Burge which I have to say was wonderfully delicious - perhaps the nicest example and certainly the easiest drinking example of a tawny that I've had (91)

La Cuvee Mythique 2003

2007-03-10T18:15:00.000Z

OK, so every once in a while a wine comes along that you see in the shops and think - well that looks interesting but it costs far too little money to be any good - fotunately I'd been given the heads up by someone over on the wine pages forum (www.wine-pages.co.uk) that this was definately worth a try - and given it's from the Languedoc, and has a blend of grapes I really like I took the (oh so expensive!!) plunge. Costing just £3.49 - that's right £3.49 - what can you get for that these days - well for that money you can buy this and... that's about it - so what's it like?
The colour is promisingly full, purple with a deep core, the aroma is stunning - if you're going to mark a wines aroma I'd give this 88-91 it really is that lovely - brambles, leather spice, plums a touch of thyme or rosemary in a wine that is beginning to show it's true potential. The palate is, to be fair a little disapointing after the nose - but remember this cost £3.49 it isn't going to be as good as a Lafite or a Latour (although to be fair I have had a 1st growth that have been worse than this). The flavours are still good and interesting, good tannin levels and a nice acidity with flavours of plum, brambles and bitter chocolate - it really is exceptional value for money and my recommendation to take to someone elses house, open it as a treasured bottle and see what they say! My guess is that a significant portion of them will give it the thumbs up and decide it's a lot more expensive than it really is - but I could be wrong there's no accounting for taste!

Ernest Gallo Dies

2007-03-08T08:55:00.000Z

Nearly 14 years after younger brother Julio died, Ernest Gallo died on March 6th. Despite what you may think about the vast majority of wine that came out of the Gallo factory over the last however long, it is they who turned a post prohibition America onto wine. Ernest took control of sales and marketing whilst Julio took control of winemaking.

From the Gallo website "Ernest was among the pioneers of wine advertising on television, and he launched many memorable wine advertising campaigns. Ernest and Julio were first in the U.S. wine industry to establish their own national sales force; first to introduce brand management and modern merchandising to the wine industry; first in breakthrough quality initiatives such as long-term grower contracts for varietal grapes and major grape research programs; first to establish a truly significant foreign sales and marketing force to export California wines overseas; and pioneers in bringing new products to store shelves. Also, they were pivotal in establishing Sonoma County as one of the premier wine growing regions in the world."

"The son of Italian immigrants, Ernest was born March 18, 1909, in Jackson, California, about 90 miles east of San Francisco in the Sierra Nevada foothills. His parents, Giuseppe (Joe) and Assunta (Susie), ran a boardinghouse for immigrant miners. It was not an easy life. After moving several times, in the early 1920s Joe bought a small farm in Modesto, California, about 70 miles east of San Francisco. Ernest and Julio, who was one year his junior, were required to come home directly from school to work in the fields, and they worked all weekend as well. It was here, in the late 1920s and the early 1930s, that the family’s grapes were harvested and loaded on rail cars for shipment to Chicago for sale to home winemakers, a small market dominated by immigrant communities in the big cities of the East and Midwest.
By age 17, Ernest was already displaying his talent for salesmanship, traveling by himself to Chicago, where he was able to sell his family’s grapes and hold his own against older and wiser men. The experience instilled in him an independent, self-assertive nature and a fierce work ethic that remained with Ernest throughout his life.
For a brief time the family business prospered, but the Depression brought renewed hardship. In 1933, both parents died deeply in debt. Determined to pay off his father’s debts and seeing an opportunity with the impending end of Prohibition, Ernest decided to start the Gallo winery. He asked his brother Julio to join him. Julio was “the one person I knew who was willing to work as hard and as long as I did,” he explained in the brothers’ 1994 autobiography, “Ernest & Julio: Our Story.”
The Gallo brothers pursued a dream few could ever envision. Their starting capital was limited to less than $6,000, with $5,000 of that borrowed from Ernest’s mother-in-law. In the first few years after Repeal in 1933, hundreds of companies were entering the wine business – more than 800 in California alone, some of them with extensive pre-Prohibition experience and access to millions of dollars.
The brothers began without knowing how to make wine commercially. Ernest and Julio learned by reading old, pre-Prohibition pamphlets put out by the University of California and retrieved from the basement of the Modesto Public Library.
At the age of 24, however, Ernest had confidence in his and his brother’s ability and stated “we could do anything anyone else could do – not because I was brilliant or well educated, but because I was willing to devote as much time and effort as was necessary, regardless of the sacrifice.”
The sacrifice was often great. During the company’s infancy, the Gallo brothers often worked around the clock, sometimes 36 hours straight. In the first year, the winery produced 177,847 gallons of wine and earned its first profit. It became routine to work 18 hours a day, seven days a week. Although he cut back in recent years, Ernest remained active in the business on a daily basis until his death.
“There are few stories that match up to that of my father, Julio, and my uncle, Ernest,” said Bob Gallo, Julio’s son. “They built this company on a very clear set of principles that we still follow today: hard work; respect for the land; respect for the wine industry; respect for the employees; respect for the grower; respect for the family; and respect for our competition. Not only did they start a company 70 years ago, they also established a culture that thrives today.”
Over the 1940s and 1950s, Ernest introduced modern techniques of merchandising and brand management to the wine industry, including such techniques as a dedicated sales force, point-of-sale displays, outdoor billboards and later television advertising. Between 1948 and 1955 alone, the winery’s sales nearly quadrupled, from four million gallons a year to 14 million.
The company also grew through vertical integration. E. & J. Gallo Winery continued to acquire vineyards, expanded its wineries, storage and distribution facilities, and built its own glass plant. It also established the Gallo Research Laboratory, which became a distinguished center of research on all facets of wine production. These strategic additions helped the company achieve its primary mission – to provide consumers with consistently high-quality wine at the best possible price.
“While I am deeply saddened by the death of my Uncle Ernest, I am grateful for the many wonderful memories I have of growing up with my father, Julio, and my uncle,” said Susann Coleman, Julio’s daughter. “They led amazing lives and they were great examples of what you can achieve through hard work and dedication. To me, the greatest lesson they taught us was the importance of family.”
Ernest sought to maximize every opportunity life provided him. He also appreciated the role good fortune played in his and Julio’s success. They started their business at the right time; they had each other as brothers; they married two wonderful wives, Amelia and Aileen; they had children and grandchildren, many of whom joined the family business; and they were able to find and attract some of the most talented and dedicated employees in the United States.
Over the course of his lifetime, Ernest was recognized with many awards and honors. Among them were the James Beard Foundation’s Lifetime Achievement Award, the Wine Spectator’s Distinguished Service Award, and the American Society of Enologists’ Merit Award.
Ernest worked hard on behalf of his industry, and he served on many industry marketing boards and trade organizations, including the board of the Wine Institute. He was chairman of the Wine Institute from 1957-1959. Ernest also founded the Maynard A. Amerine Endowed Chair in Viticulture and Enology at the University of California, Davis, which was the first endowed chair in the University’s Department of Viticulture and Enology. "

Waitrose Burgundy 2005 En Primeur

2007-03-05T16:20:00.000Z

I was very interested to receive a well put together brochure with this months Decanter, from Waitrose offering Burgundy 2005's EP. It's a very well put together brochure, so Waitrose must make some decent money from their offerings otherwise they wouldn't spend the money creating a lovely brochure which then goes out to how ever many thousands of people. The wines too are a good looking selection, now I'm really not a Burgundy drinker - don't get me wrong I'd love to be, but put quite simply I wouldn't really know where to start - I guess that comes as you get a wine merchant you know and trust recommending Burgundy to you, but as it stands with each vineyard in different hands, unless I'm going to buy Domaine de la Romanee Conti (DRC) (which I'm not - I don't have that kind of budget!) who is a good producer and who is not, and who is good in which years? Equally should I look for wines from Vosne or Gevrey, and bearing in mind that I doubt I'll ever have the money for a Grand Cru Richebourg from a great producer, what is there that is good value?
The Waitrose lists starts with a very modestly priced Bourgogne Rouge, Domaine Fougeray de Beauclair at just £27.50 for 6 bottles, and has wines all the way up to a Richebourg Grand Cru Gros for £650 per 6. Now it seems to me that for a complete novice the £27.50 asking price is well worth it on the "at that price it's worth a try" philosophy, and there are certainly other things there to keep you interested at most price points. Even more tellingly the list is actually not being run by Waitrose at all, but rather by Lay and Wheeler, a well respected merchant based in Suffolk who ought to know what they're doing - as does Susan McCraith MW who put the list together for Waitrose, so would I buy from them - of course - even I, with my very small amount of expendible income can afford £30 for 6 bottle of Burgundy and the higher you go up the price bracket the more appealing it seems to be.

Abadal Reserva 2001

2007-03-03T15:26:00.000Z

Visiting friends in Devon, they opened this bottle from Totnes Wine Company, it comes from Spain from the little known region of Pla de Bages DO. A deep purple colour, with a developing nose of vanilla, coconut, redcurrant and raspberries with lovely savory cedar flavours, mixed with some great red fruit flavours. If I'm being critical - which lets face it I have to be, I'd say that it's not ready for drinking just yet - as with almost every wine drunk in the world, it's being drunk too soon if you let this get too close to your gums and cheeks the puckering of the tannins is really quite off putting - but if you just let it go down it is quite delightful. But, give it somewhere between 2-5 or even 7 years and you'd start to have something really rather nice on your hands.

Sainsbury's Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon 2004

2007-02-27T07:49:00.000Z

You may remember that this is on offer in Sainsbury's, and that I've heard on the grapevine that it's suprisingly good - so I bought a bottle to find...
And yes, it is really very good - it makes sense really it's made by Katnook a really good maker, and the fruit is sourced from Coonawarra, rather than one of the mass production areas of Murray Darling and Riverland and compared to a lot of it's rivals it's got a little bit of age - if you look around the budget Australian wines in the supermarket chances are that the majority of them will be 2005 with a smattering of 2006 - in fact I'd go so far as to say that I think this is the best value Cabernet to be had in the UK right now.
A deep purple core, with aromas of blackcurrant, vanilla, oak and a slight minty/eucalyptus with high, but soft and integrated tannins and flavours of blackcurrant and coffee. Acidity is bang on giving the wine lovely balance - I was a little worried by the 14% alcohol, but you know what? This wine carries it off with aplomb - it really is delicious and if you want to spend £6 on a bottle of wine you'd be hard pressed to find anything better - the one thing that bothered me was the back label - "consume in 1 year after purchase" - you what? Cabernet? Drink when less than 4 years old? Are you sure? Now it may be that they expect you to store this upright next to a cooker - in which case storage may not happen - and it does have a synthetic cork so ageing for a long time may not happen - but it might - and it's got to be good for 3 years minimum I'd have thought - this is something that's not going to go away - so it's something I'm going to look at around the place and try and find some answers. Watch this space!

Terroir Languedoc - Follow Up

2007-02-24T14:29:00.000Z

I e-mailed terroir to talk about the feature and received the following reply -

Thank you so much for writing us up on your blog and for letting me know about it. I am delighted that you chose to write about us and what I have read of your blog is extremely interesting and informative. I am very much looking forward to the launch of your new website later in the year.

If you would like any information on any wines or growers from the Languedoc-Roussillon please do not hesitate to let me know and I look forward to reading the article on St Chinian.

We are in the middle of an overhaul of the website and I do plan to put some mixed cases on there which I agree would be a good idea. We also offer mixed cases at a discount in our quarterly newsletter. If you would like to be added to the mailing list please do let me know.

In terms of the shipping costs which you mentioned, I agree that £11.75 shipping does seem steep and I plan to lower it this year. We do offer free delivery on orders of over 60 bottles as well. We have most of our wines delivered from London City Bond and their charges, even to central London, which is the cheapest, are higher than £11.75 but I think this is something we are going to have subsidise so we can offer cheaper delivery.

Thanks again Tim for the write up and I will be in touch when the new website is launched.

Terroir Languedoc

2007-02-23T15:27:00.000Z

I stumbled across this merchant quite by accident whilst hunting down a Canet-Valette wine, and so had a good look at their list - and I have to say that their range of St Chinian wines is brilliant. I can;t say what their delivery or service are like - but I can tell you that any merchant stocking Canet-Valette, La Gloire de Mon Pere (Clos Bagatelle) and Domaine Rimbert must have something going for it.

The wines of the Languedoc really are fabulous, and a £20 bottle from a relatively unknown producer like Canet-Valette or Clos Bagatelle, would cost a great deal more if it said Pauillac on the label. Throw in some Mas Champart and you are talking about the very best producers - if you note that Mas de Daumas Gassac is available too, you know that the company are selling only the top quality stuff. Oh yes, if you want to buy top quality and great prices then you need look no further - we all know the wines of the Languedoc are the best value and amongst the most exciting on the planet - but the amount produced makes it very hard to seperate the wheat from the chaff - Terroir France have done that for you. Perhaps the only drawback is the £11.75 delivery charge - which to be honest seems just a little but steep - although I am prepared to be corrected on that!

The range from the rest of the Languedoc is huge, and looks really interesting - I can't claim to be any sort of expert however all the other producing regions are covered - I couldn't find any taster cases, or mixed cases on their website -you can mix your own, with a one bottle minimum (apparently - I haven't confirmed this - but you are able to add one bottle alone to you shopping basket)
www.terroirlanguedoc.co.uk

Everyone's Blogging

2007-02-22T11:40:00.000Z

Blogging is getting more and more popular, more people are blogging everyday, and today I note that the Aldi wine buyer has started a wine blog on the Aldi website - it has to be said that from the two entried made so far it's not going to be a blog I'm going to add to my daily reading list - Aldi's wine are indeed exceptionally well priced - and he goes into some detail about what makes a wine more expensive - and that he tries to make every 50p count - but at the end of the day he's talking about £3 wines which aren't the most interesting in the world. If you are interested check out www.aldi.co.uk for the blog.

Domaine La Linquiere St Chinian AOC

2007-02-21T08:37:00.000Z

Just let me know if you're getting bored of this yet! At some stage I'll get around to writing an article on St Chinian - although to be fair Decanter did do an article last year (May perhaps?) which was a useful starting point for wine exploration - although it doesn't look like the writer was that adventurous in hunting down domaines - more like he visited one or two and then went to the local Maison du Vin and asked to taste some wines for decanter and rated what they gave him!

Tradition 2005Sweet raspberry and plum fruit, no oak, no further complexity – tannins a little rough. The wine was, by common consent – including the winemaker – too young. Drinkable but not much more. 78

Tradition 2004Riper, fuller and more open. Medium bodied with more development and greater depth of flavour and smoothness. Still the same red fruit flavours and very reasonable for less than 6 Euros. 80

Chants des Cigales 200412 months in oak with Syrah dominating. Sweet red fruit, great finesse and charm with freshness and structure backing up the generous forest fruit flavours. 82

Chants des Cigales 2003Oakier and more animal than the younger vintage, more developed, a bigger fuller wine and all the better for it. Still has plenty of structure, and despite the year still has some refreshing acidity whilst being medium/full bodied. Will keep for 3-7 years however 2003’s are drinking better than other recent vintages right now in lots of cases and this is true here – 2002 was a bit of a dud and 2003 is maturing fast. Drink these now and the 2001’s for the next 5 years at least. 84

Still a few more Domaines to cover.

Chateau Cazal Viel / Dmne Laurent Miquel

2007-02-20T12:27:00.000Z

In case anyone is not yet getting bored with St. Chinian tasting notes ad nauseam from me - this is another of the Domaines I visited - again actually two domaines in one - Chateau Cazal-Viel run by the Miquel family for donkey's years and Laurent Miquel - the new proprietor who makes wines other than those that daddy made - and without his continued "interest"Syrah dominates and they obviously are trying to pretend they are in the Northern Rhone , including a 95% Syrah with 5% Viognier blend.

Larent Miquel Syrah 2004Well extracted, good colour and spice and blackcurrent aromas with a touch of raspberry. A little green on the palate.82

Laurent Miquel Cabernet Syrah 2005Fruity nose typical of the varieties, mint, eucalyptus and black fruit. Fresh on the palate, simple - but perhaps a bit too new world in style for me. 85

Laurent Miquel Syrah Nord Sud 2004Warm cloves and cinnamon, a very open style of wine, smooth in style but the palate was not as approachable as the nose suggested. Blackcurrent and raspberry fruit - again a little new world in style but needs 2-3 years. 82

Laurent Miquel Bardou 2003 100% Syrah, 1 year in new oak.Vanilla, forest fruits, cassis, cinnamon and nutmeg - wonderfully complex - a nice wine indeed, but once more it needs 2-5 more years to be at it's best when it'll hit the high 80's. For now 81

Laurent Miquel Larmes des Fees 2001100% Syrah, 2 years in new oak.Blackcurrant, cinnamon and a touch of peppery spice, a lovely smoothness and gentleness without being flabby. A delicate wine of great finesse, rather than a blow your socks off type wine. Far more French that the others! 89

Cazal Viel Vielle Vignes 2004A blend of Syrah, Mourvedre, Carignan and Cinsault. Cherry, vanilla and plums with smooth silky styling, cut through with good acidity giving a lovely freshness on the palate. However a little one dimensional in flavour for my liking. 85

Cazal Viel Cuvee des Fees 200195% Syrah, 5% Viognier A Cote Rotie wannabe of a wine.Plummy stone fruit, vanilla and a touch of apricot, I don't like it and instead of Cote Rotie I end up thinking more of Zontes Footstep - avoid this one! I spat this out and didn't bother continuing the tasting as it was last up and didn't want to leave with that taste too strongly in my mouth. 71

Tesco Offers Again!

2007-02-19T15:08:00.000Z

Once again Tesco online wine has some really pretty decent offers which are worth pointing out :-

Torres Mas La Plana 6 for £105.60 (save 26.40) is a steal.

Reserve de la Comtesse £81.99 or just £13.67 a bottle for some serious claret.

Guigal Cote Rotie (doesn't say which one) £100 for 6 £79.95 or Guigal St Joesph reduced to just £50.

Clos Bagatelle AOC St Chinian

2007-02-19T09:23:00.000Z

The latest of my St Chinian TN's to go up - Clos Bagatelle is two Domaines in one - Clos Bagatelle and another whose name I forget - basically speaking there are two major soil types (as well as a few others) Shiste and Clay/Limestone. Clos Bagatelle make wines which try to reflect the terroir on both soil types under two different domaine names.

Cuvee Tradition 2005 (Syrah/Carignan,Grenache)Simple silky red fruits, plummy hints and a little gentle herbaceous character - a very clean wine. 78

Cuvee Camille et Juliette 2004 Rosemary and thyme with red fruits and liquorice, a more open style, but with plenty of structure although the fruit flavours are distinctly lackinmg on the palate. 76

Cuvee Mathieu et Marie 2003Deep plum and dark fruit flavours, a charming wine with rounded fruit character, slips down a little too easily. A bit of a crowd pleaser that won't hurt anyone. 82

Cuvee Vielle D'Autumn 2002Spends 1 year in oak - Syrah, Mourvedre, Grenache.Mahogany colour, with lovely herbal, vanilla and blackberry fruits, the wine was just opened and was less open than it might be, but would probably have opened up after an amount of time. Fairly complex and smooth with good structure and acidity. A little less finesse than some and less body than others. 86

La Gloire de Mon Pere 2001 - Syrah, Mourvedre, Grenache, Carignan. 14 months in new oak.Fantastic aromas and a slightly porty, full on style. Vanilla, plums and black cherry fruit flavours, a smooth velvety palate - flavours on the spectrum of a good LBV port, but much lighter, totally dry and good balancing acidity and tannin giving balance to the fruit. A very good wine indeed. 93

Hitlers wine up for sale

2007-02-16T12:45:00.000Z

Plymouth auction rooms are to auction off a bottle of 1943 'Fuhrerwein' which was given by Hitler to Nazi generals to celebrate his 54th birthday. The wine is in fact a humble "Schwarzer Tafelwein " and was discovered in a garage in France and sold to a buyer from Plymouth. The seller hopes to raise around £500 from the sale of the wine.

Sainsbury's Drinks Festival

2007-02-15T16:10:00.000Z

Once again it's that time of year when Sainsbury's drinks festival tells us that it's now ok to drink again, and for those of us on the wagon since Christmas (well ok, those of YOU on the wagon) it's time to fall off. As in recent years this is all drinks and not just wine, though the wine itself is largely, but unsuprisingly uninspiring stuff - but there are bound to be exceptions!

Look out for - Bouchard Pere et Fils Pinot Noir - Save 25% was £5.99 now £4.49 - remarkable to find a wine from a top Burgundy producer for less than £5 - I'll be honest I haven't tasted it - but for £4.50 it's got to be worth a punt.

Concha Y Toro Casillero Del Diablo Cabernet Sauvignon, Chilean 75cl - Save 25% was £5.99 now £4.49 - quite possibly the best value Cabernet in the world.

I'll be reviewing Sainsbury's Coonawarra Cabernet, Taste the Difference 75cl in the next couple of weeks - Save 25% was £6.99 now £5.24 but rumour has it that this is a truly wonderful Aussie Cabernet at a wonderful price - and with 25% off (blow I only bought mine on Sunday before the offer started!) it even better value. Sainsbury's have been really canny here, they've got a top Coonawarra Cabernet winery, Katnook, to make this for them so the wine making expertise is there and it's not from some tinpot winery. More importantly is that it's from Coonawarra - that means the grapes are from there, which means a quality product - they're not from the Murray-Darling or Riverland huge, vast terroirless, irrigated outback that most cheap Aussie plonk comes from - no in this case they're from probably the finest terroir in Australia for the Cabernet variety and I for one am looking forward to seeing what's up! Keep an eye out for the review later in the month, and if you've tasted it - leave your comments below!

Wine Blog Wednesday

2007-02-15T13:19:00.001Z

After my recent foray into Wine Blog Wednesday last week, the next event has been released - though to be fair I'm not sure exactly whether I'll be partaking or not. Wine Blog Wednesday 31 is a call for the blogging community to "think outside the bottle".

The host for March's event is perhaps unsuprising - boxwines.org, and the full theme is box wines & non-traditional packaging”. For the UK, this could prove something of a challenge, all the wine I've seen in a bix has been cheap and uninspiring wine, which frankly given my current lack of spondoolies means I'm unlikely to spend over £10 on something I'm not terribly keen to have. Having said that, should I walk into a wine shop and see a can or something else that looks interesting and isn't going to cost the earth then I'm game.

Way back in December 2005 I reported on the sparkling wine in a can from Coppola/Niebaum named after the film directors daughter Sophia - avaialable in a 4 pack I'd give that a try without a doubt - it's just a shame I can only find it in the US!

Grapestalk Magazine

2007-02-15T12:59:00.000Z

The Association of Small Direct Winemerchants (ASDW) periodically publish a magazine online at their website (www.asdw.co.uk). The current winter 2007 issue is now online and includes artciles on Pinotage (the marmite of grapes!), the wines of Jura, and Domaine de Anges. A worthwhile read and totally free here.

The ASDW brings together a whole host of small direct merchants, who more often than not specialise in one particular area of wine, for intance Henry Speer and Champers only does, surprisingly Champagne! I had the chance a couple of years ago at the Henley Wine Fair to meet a couple of the merchants and much of the time was impresses with their offerings - particularly on my second visit when I drank the red wines before I'd had so much white I couldn't tell a Syrah from Gamay!

Labels on the site

2007-02-15T11:03:00.000Z

As you may have noticed there are now just a few labels attached to posts to help you sort through past tasting notes etc. etc. This is probably going to take a little bit of time so please bear with me, in the meantime I'm also adding more and more sites to the links section as I not only discover more and more sites, but also as I revisit old sites which are now beginning to go through upgrades. One thing I have noticed in the last few days is the large number of people who right now are going about upgrading their blog interface - these are more than often the stallwarts of the wine blogging world who have not only been around for a while but have inspired many of us. Jamie Goode over at Wine Anorak is one who has just made the leap to blogger software.

Couldn't Sleep

2007-02-14T08:58:00.000Z

Last night I couldn't sleep, and somewhere between Skysports News and BBC1 I stumbled across one of those shopping channels - this being one of those channels which goes along the lines that the more people who buy the more the price drops. Well last night flicking past they were selling some wine - so I checked it out - "Elephant Crossing", Wine of South Africa - never heard of it - but that shouldn't be a surprise - neither had Google!

So what was this foul mix? A blend of Ruby Cabernet and Cinsault (I know sounds aweful already!) Selling from an original price of £54 for 12 (hmm nearly £5 a bottle - sounds a bit steep to me!) to £36.99 for 12 (still overpriced at just over £3 a bottle!) To make matters that bit more interesting they then stuck a further £8 for delivery on top - so now, they're selling the worst of the worst on telly too? Made my blood boil!

Tip Jar

2007-02-14T08:53:00.000Z

Setting up the new site is beginning to cost me hard cash, in fact to the point where I now don't have any money for wine! Eeek - how scary! So if you appreciate this site, and are looking forward to the new site, perhaps think about donating a few pence to the cause - remember I can't make a profit so no money will actually go in my pocket - but will go towards making the new site as good as it possibly can be. Just hit the donation button and put a few pence down - if you want to that is!

Inexpensive Wines

2007-02-12T14:48:00.000Z

Ok, so it's all very well drinking wonderful wines that cost the earth, but for most of us mere mortals we simply don't have that amount of money to spend on wine all that often. So, either we cut back and drink one lovely bottle of wine every month or two, or we have to cut the bottle price somehow. The problem of course is that once you get a taste for something really decent - drinking that £5 chilean merlot reduced to £3 somehow doesn't exactly excite - in fact it's almost likely to make you give up the juice! What is there out there for less than £10 that's worth drinking? Over on the Superplonk forum they used to make a speciality of this, but sadly it's all gone quiet and we haven't had much to recommend for a long while - now we're not talking special offers here - we're talking everyday, full retail price - and I'm not expecting a bottle of Cheval Blanc for £7 to appear either (although that would be wonderful) so get your thinking caps on, your taste buds attuned and join me as I try and find wines that are worth drinking again and again for less that £10.

Wine Knowledge Game

2007-02-10T16:31:00.000Z

Test your wine knowledge at this fun, but also quite testing game, challenging you on your knowledge of the 1855 classification, the appelations and classifications of Burgundy, grape varieties and producing regions - leave your scores as comments below.

Wine Game

Have fun!

Tim

2007 American Wine Blog Awards

2007-02-09T14:34:00.000Z

The finalists in seven categories in the 2007 American Wine Blog Awards were announced today. The Awards, the first of their kind, honor the best in wine blogging. Public voting in the seven categories is now underway at FERMENTATION: The Daily Wine Blog (http://www.fermentation.typepad.com). Voting will close on Friday, February 16.
The finalists in the 2007 American Wine Blog Awards include:

Best Single Subject Blog
LENNDEVOURS: http://www.lenndevours.com/
THE WINE COLLECTOR: http://www.vinfolio.com/thewinecollector
SHIP COMPLIANT BLOG: http://www.shipcompliantblog.com/blog/
RETHINK WINE BLOG: http://blog.inertiabev.com/

Best Winery Blog
STORMHOEK: http://www.stormhoek.com/
CIMA COLLINA CELLAR RAP: http://cimacollina.com/WordPress
DOVER CANYON WINERY BLOG: http://dovercanyon.typepad.com/dover_canyon/
PINOT BLOGGER: http://www.pinotblogger.com/

Best Wine Podcast or VideoBlog
NAPA VALLEY WINE RADIO: http://www.napavalleywineradio.com/
CELLAR RAT: http://www.cellarrat.org/
WINE LIBRARY TV: http://tv.winelibrary.com/
GRAPE RADIO: http://www.graperadio.com/

Best Wine Blog Graphics
VIVI'S WINE JOURNAL: http://www.vivisjournal.com/
LENNDEVOURS: http://www.lenndevours.com
THE GOOD GRAPE: http://www.goodgrape.com/
WINE WAVES: http://www.volunteer.blogs.com/winewaves/

Best Wine Reviewing Blog
WINE WAVES: http://volunteer.blogs.com/
QUAFFABILITY: http://quaffability.com
JAMIE GOODE'S WINE BLOG: http://wineanorak.com/blog/
VINOGRAPHY: http://www.vinography.com

Best Wine Blog Writing
THE POUR: http://thepour.blogs.nytimes.com/
WINE CAMP BLOG: http://winecamp.squarespace.com/
VINOGRAPHY: http://www.vinography.com
DR. VINO: http://drvino.blogspot.com/

Best Overall Wine Blog
THE GOOD GRAPE: http://www.goodgrape.com/
VINOGRAPHY: http://www.vinography.com
THE POUR: http://thepour.blogs.nytimes.com/
DR. VINO: http://drvino.blogspot.com/

The American Wine Blog Awards are conducted by Tom Wark, proprietor of “FERMENTATION: The Daily Wine Blog”. Wark instituted the Awards to draw attention to the high caliber of content and ideas being produced on the more than 400 wine blogs that now exist on the Internet.

“Anyone who looks over the Awards finalists will discover there is enormous talent and dedication in the wine blogosphere,” noted Wark. “What we are seeing is a renaissance of the wine writing genre being spurred on by citizen wine writers and the blogging format.”

St Hallet Blackwell Shiraz 2002 (WBW)

2007-02-07T14:10:00.000Z

This is not the very top of the range, but it is still pretty good- sure it's probably not in Grange league - not that I've ever had the chance to try - it is however still pretty blooming good. It may even not be as good as the celebrated Old Block (another on my "to do" list). This fits neatly between the St. Faith entry level Shiraz and the Old Block - a clear step up from the former. This was packed with aromas of vanilla, pepper and blackberry and plums and tasted every bit as good as it smelled. Sometimes wine is nice and sometimes it is really exciting - and this for me was exciting. Ready to drink now, but it would equally last another 5-7 years - the problem being it will be brilliantly nice at every stage - none better than the other - just different - so when to drink it?! (88)

Corkr.com - a new way of wine on the web

2007-02-06T10:13:00.000Z

Somehow or other I discovered this site a while back, and I've been watching it with interest. A relatively new venture (they only launched in October 2006) I was initially reluctant to recommend them to anyone - it wasn't that they didn't appear to have good wines on offer - it was just that as a brand new venture they modus operandi could well change, and indeed that has been the case - and to the benefit of their customers.
The initial offering was an interesting concept, everyday they offered one wine for sale, when it was gone it was gone and you could buy between one and three bottles, paying around £4 for delivery. Interestingly it had me hooked, checking every single day I could get near a computer to see what the offering was for the day, and sadly missing out on their "bottle of plonk" days when instead of a new wine, you paid £6 to get a bottle of something they had left over - you never knew what but it was likely to be good and worth a great deal more.
I don't know if they intended to change the way they worked once they got more people to visit their site, and whether this initial phase was just a marketing tool or not, but what I do know is that right now you can pay a flat rate of £5.99 on delivery (others charge for orders less than £x often as much as £15) and can order anything from a single bottle.

You see, they understand that a lot of us want to buy a fine wine, but we may not want a whole case of something we've never tasted, just because Robert Parker tells us it's really good. But equally if you wanted to order cases then that would be fine too.

And you know what, their wine list may be relatively short, but it is very interesting, well priced and most importantly for their offering, always changing. New wines are added all the time, and for geeks like me, they've made it easy to see which are the new ones.

Prices too are competitive, and occasionally exceptional, last week for instance a 1981 Grand Puy Ducasse was selling at half price for around £14 a bottle - that's £14 for a 25 year old classed growth claret. Similarly the list currently shows a 1971 Lafite for change from £100, which whilst I don't know a great deal about the prices these things should fetch seems to me to be wonderful value.

They have also sourced a great range of Canadian wines, and icewines in particular, I can't pass judgement on the wines themselves, but the point is that they've got a range and won't cost the earth to try a bottle - and you only need to try one!

The range is interesting and eclectic, the prices don't seem outrageous, and the minimum order is one bottle with a flat delivery charge - what a wonderful site - we need people like this to be in the wine business - and I for one hope they make a great success of it - they certainly deserve to. I should add by the way, that I have no affiliation to Corkr.com or their owners.

Check them out at www.corkr.com

Tesco wins the online offers this week

2007-02-05T19:25:00.000Z

A little while ago Sainsbury's had some fantastic offers online, and now it's the turn of Tesco - and some of these really do have the WOW factor! Remember that the prices I've quoted are almost always for 6 bottles.

Luxury Occasions Mixed Case - This mixed case contains one bottle of each of the following: Lagunilla Gran Reserva Rioja, Villa Maria Private Bin Sauvignon Blanc, Dows Master Blend Late Bottle Vintage port, Tesco Finest Fino sherry, Laphroaig 10 Year Old Single Malt Whisky (NB - 70Cl BOTTLE) and Moet & Chandon Brut Non-Vintage Champagne reduced from £81.74 to £62 - a bargain in anyones books.

Freixenet Cordon Negro Vintage Brut - £28.44

Penfolds Premium Mixed Case - £150 from £200 - Penfolds Bin 707 Cabernet Sauvignon 2001, Penfolds St Henri Shiraz 2000 and Penfolds RWT Shiraz 2001. Some truly sublime wines, from the maker of the best of the lot - these are a 3 different price points up to over £40 a bottle retail for the RWT - these are wines to really show off with.

Lagunilla Rioja Gran Reserva 1999 - £45 (save £30) - nice enough Rioja often the same sort of price for one in Sainsbury's but good value nonetheless.

St. Hallett Premium mixed case - £75 from £100 - containing 3 each of Blackwell Shiraz and the legendary old block Shiraz - these retail at £13 and £22 each per bottle normally - making this a real steal - outstanding value!

Some great wines - oh and just for your amusement - it seems that the local Tesco (remembering I live in Tescotown) thinks that red wines ought to be sold chilled like their white wines - no I'm not talking something like a Brown Brothers Tarrango or even a light Beaujolais - this was an Italian Merlot (La Gioiosa) and a Minervois - neither of which want to be anywhere near the fridge - I didn't like to say anything - but amazingly it looked to me as if someone had bought at least one of them (5 bottles left on the shelf) oh and if you need to ask - no I don't have a real life and yes it does matter!

Another Wine writer takes a swipe at bloggers

2007-01-30T18:39:00.000Z

Whilst reading the current (March 07) copy of Olive magazine (my wife's magazine subscription as opposed to my Decanter) I came across the wine column (how very surprising!). Headlined "Net Gains" Wine Nerds have always loved the Internet, and now they are busy setting up blogs to tell the world about their favorite wine.

Max Allen, starts by introducing the idea of wine websites, and the fact there are indeed spawns and spawns of wine related blogs out there, and admits that they do range from fascinatingly addictive to just plain awful (just, he says, like all other blogs out there). So far so perfectly fair. He then goes on to make generalisations - most blogs are either - what I drank last night or what a lark this would be I hope people send me some free wine. These, he says, are not the blogs he liked preferring blogs that give him an eye on another corner of the globe (has he never realised that everywhere is another corner of the globe to someone!) or "quirky" blogs!
He does recommend some good sites, and then goes on to remind us that most, general wineblogs are mundane - well I'm sorry Max - if you ever read any blogs anyway - which I somehow doubt - but most blogs aren't actually written for you to read anyway. You seem worried that anyone can do it - and immediately you're then telling us about Neal Martin and Jamie Goode - who are admittedly the two greatest bloggers out there in the UK scene - but I think you've given yourself away a bit - could it be that as a writer your concern is not that the writing is bad, or that it's just plain boring - let's face it - if they're bad then you have no worry about them because noone will read them - could it actually be that your worried that not being called Jancis yourself, not being well know that perhaps your services are under threat. After all if everyone can read what they like about wine online free of charge, why would anyone want to pay you to write something?

So I popped into Majestic...

2007-01-30T12:23:00.000Z

... just to see what they had going on and found 20% off Chilean wines when you buy any 2 - great offer and they have some great Chilean wines out there from the Adobe Merlot - which in my opinion is the best sub £5 Merlot on the planet right now, through the Cono Sur and Concha Y Toro ranges up to the excellent Montes range and Casa Lapostolle Merlot at 20% off is a great buy.
On their tasting bench I found 2 Sauvignons and 3 Cabernets, Robertson Winery 2006 was pretty poor really (even at £4 a bottle on offer when you buy 2) as was the Cabernet from the same winery - I certainly wouldn't be thinking of buying these - and neither should you - you can buy cheaper if you want to buy rubbish!
Montes 2005 Cabernet was full on and fruity - everything you might expect from a Chilean Cab. and you know what - it really would be better if they gave it a bit longer before launching it - and I think I'd give it a little more in the way of oak - but there we go.
The buy for me however was amazing - I'm not normally one to promote a Bordeaux under £10, particularly Cabernet dominated blends - a little Lalande de Pomerol, or one of the Cotes or St. Emilion satellites perhaps but not a Medoc - BUT - this is a little gem of a wine - Château du Monthyl 2000, Médoc - wonderful almonds, cedar, rich fruit, supple but grippy tannins - I delighted in it - and you know what - I'd even go so far as to say that at £6.49 (£5.99 when you buy at least 2) you would be hard pushed to find something quite so refined, quite as smooth and complex as this with poise, balance and refinement for the price - if you do let me know! For now - go out and buy this - and -plenty of it. (87)

Summertown Wine Cafe

2007-01-29T18:43:00.000Z

I ventured back to the Summertown Wine Cafe last night, with friends and it was the first time I'd been back in a long while to one of my favourite haunts, and had a very nice time indeed without spending a penny - certainly one of the best ways to spend a Sunday evening - and so onto the wines :-

Prosecco di Valdobbiadene Giustino B. 2003
Almost colourless with youthful green apple flavours - delicious and easy drinking a little perhaps like a dry alcoholic appletise! (82)

Bimbadgen Pinot Grigio 2005
Pears, almonds and perhaps a touch of apple, a little elderflower make this decent, drinkable PG though for my money overpriced at over £10. (81)

Domaine des Chezelles Sauvignon Blanc 2005
A Sauvignon de Tourraine with masses of gooseberry and astringent herbaceous character, no great finesses and perhaps lacking a little too much in ripeness. (80)

Glenwood Chardonnay 2005 Franshoek
Golden, oaked buttery Chardonnay, everything you might expect. Some nice smokey character that won't appeal to everyone, but I liked it and added into the mix were some lovely tropical flavours. (83)

Westbrook Pinot Noir (Marlborough) 2005
Lovely silky red, with wonderful texture and aromas of cherry garcia ice cream - however sadly the intensity of flavour is lacking - there is plenty of acidity, but not enough flavour or grip to make this really work for me. (80)

Mitchelton Preece Merlot 2005 (Victoria)
A very youthful Merlot - too youthful and there were too many herbaceous green characters in the wine to make it pleasant. Not sure what they've done here but I think it could be that the grapes never achieved phenolic ripeness, either that or they put too many stalks into the mix to generate a bit of extra tannin. (74)

Blasson D'Issan 2002 (Margaux)
2nd wine of Chateau D'Issan, and very drinkable, if not awe inspiring and also about £5 too much a bottle (£19). Tannins were still a little rough, but there is quality wine making underneath and this will be lovely in 2-5 years, it's just for £5 more you can pick up a bottle of Pavillon Rouge, or indeed a bottle of Reserve de la Comtesse for the same price from a better vintage. Still that doesn't make it a bad wine and it's one that it definately worth drinking. (86)

Le Clos de Caillou Cotes du Rhone 2004
Very decent peppery grenache based wine, everything you'd expect from a really decent basic level Cotes Du Rhone - quite why it's the price of much better wine is beyond me H&H Bancroft sell it at £7.75 a bottle. Bit of a rip off but decent wine again. (81)

Quinta de Lagoalva 2004
I loved this wine, it's the second time I've had a Portuguese wine in the SWC and it's the second time I've fallen in love with it, the last time it was the Esporao from Aletenjo this time it's from the Ribatejo. A blend of Cabernet, Syrah and an indigenous grape (I forget which but not one I'd heard of before) wild herbs, blackcurrants, raspberries, a huge wine, full bodied with those same flavours as Port without the depth, sweetness and alcohol. I loved it! (87)

Greenstone Vineyard Shiraz 2005
Well made Shiraz, but a little unexciting - tasted like a young Aussie shiraz - may well develop into something great and would still be around in 10-15 years if you wanted it to be! Tannins were struggling to integrate and the texture was more sandpaper than velvet. (81)

Henriques and Henriques Vintage 1995
A sweet Madeira, I never found out which grapes but I'd lay my odds on Malvasia (Malmsey) it did all the right things in the right places, a bit of a liquid Dundee cake (a fruit cake with almonds on top). Very good indeed. (88)

Musings on Chocolate

2007-01-28T14:45:00.000Z

Last night whilst at an events at my wife's work - a chocolate evening I was left wondering - what to drink with chocolate. It's something that comes in so many guises - let's for a minute forget white chocolate which is completely lacking in any cocoa solids - yet from deep dark and bitter to creamy and sweet chocolate is a tough thing to try and match any wine to. The texture is something that is chocolates alone - so what can you drink? What will go well?
Forget drinking a lovely deep red Bordeaux or tannic red - no the thing to look for here is something sweet - but I'm not talking a Sauternes nor am I going to suggest Tokaji - no I'm going for a sweet red wine - ideal is one of the many Vin Doux Naturels produced, much of the time from Grenache, in Southern France and in the Rhone valley. Look for Rasteau Vin Doux Naturels (The Big Red Wine Company do a lovely one - www.bigredwine.co.uk) or perhaps something from the Languedoc, a Banyuls or look out for the lesser known Maury - particularly the lovely 1928 Solera Maury - a really stunning wine with the depth and flavour to cope with anything chocolate can throw at it - sumptuous doesn't say enough!
If you're tempted to try something from the New World - go out and hunt down an Australian gem of Liqueur Muscat - a speciality of the Rutherglen region and there are two that are worth looking out for in particular, Brown Brothers produce a lovely dark, wine with muscovado flavours and Campbell's is a stunning buy at around £6 a bottle (available I believe in Waitrose!)

M&S Tupungato Cabernert/Malbec 2005 (26/1/07)

2007-01-27T17:00:00.000Z

Tasted this just last night for the first time having heard good things about it for a while - thanks to a few chaps I occasionally read at online message boards (cheers Mark & Boo!) but as usual it's taken me a while to get around to trying something (I suspect it was about the 2002 vintage these guys were going on about!) it always seems that just when I'm about to buy one of these recommendations something else catches my eye. Anyway what was it like? Well for £6.50 you really can't complain about this - it's wonderfully put together for the price - as you'd expect being from the Catena Zapata stable full of blackberries and autumn fruit flavours, hints of cinnamon and a little stewed apple. Toasted almonds and vanilla - a wonderful winter warmer - with soft tannins and fresh acidity cutting through the wine to keep it on track - it is by no means too acidic but is well balanced. I can safely say I haven't tasted anything quite like it before and from that perspective it was really interesting. I guess my only issue is that I tend to buy better these days - 2 years ago it would have wowed my socks off - but today nice, drinkable, very gluggable but not for a special occasion. (82)

Ravenswood Old Vine Sonoma County Zin 2001

2007-01-27T16:48:00.000Z

I tasted this in December 2005 - and such has been my lack of discipline that it's only now that I'm writing it up - which is a shame because this was lovely.

I'm a big fan of what Joel Peterson does at Ravenswood, he's set out to produce big fat juicy Zin as well as he can - and succeeds. The Vintner's Blend range is at the bottom of the tree, followed by the regional wines, which both Lodi and this Sonoma are part of and which also includes a very good Amador Country representative. This is the top of that particular range (and at £13 is also the most expensive) before we get into the single vineyard Zins.
Garnet coloured, with a full on nose of almonds, cloves, plums, cherrys and vanilla - a complex web beautifully weaved together - if more zin was like this then it certainly wouldn't receive the bad press it can get.
Once in your mouth, you know you're into a lovely zin, full bodied with firm integrated tannins and a touch of acidity balance the wine wonderfully. Leather, game black cherry, liquorice and figs flavours are warming and velvety. (88)

Sainsbury's Online Offers

2007-01-25T17:37:00.000Z

Whilst looking around for some offers on the web, I came across the Sainsbury's online wine sale, and found there were actually some decent things to be had.

Umberto Cesari Tauleto Sangiovese Rubicone 2000 - 6 bottles reduced from £148.14 to £108.14. Winner of Antorini Trophy for Best Sangiovese, 2004 IWSC.
"Deep red in colour with a ripe, perfumed nose of cherry and menthol mixed with spice. The palate is dry with firm structure and a long, spicy finish."

Castillo de Calatrava Gran Reserva 1996 La Mancha Spain - Half Price £29.94 for 6

Spy Valley Marlborough Pinot Noir 2002 New Zealand £34.09 for 6

Berberana Carta de Oro Reserva 2001 Rioja £28.44 for 6 (save £18)

Baden (Germany)

2007-01-22T20:19:00.000Z

Baden is Germany's warmest wine producing region, (as well as the furthest South) and it is here that the best German red wines are made from Spatburgunder (which is Pinot Noir to you and I!). The best wines of the region come from Kaiserstuhl-Tuniberg where the mineral rich soil and vineyards in a large sun trap work together to give the wines extra body. These wines are however not cheap, both because of the quality and because of the strong demands of the domestic markets. It is common to use new oak barriques to age the wines and the pinot's are very fruity and full bodied. NameWins to looks our for include Bercher and Dr Heger.

Woodstock - The Stocks Shiraz 2001 (25/12/06)

2007-01-20T17:29:00.001Z

Deep purple with raspberries, blackcurrant and white pepper spice on the nose with flavours of vanilla and blackcurrant. Grippy tannins and wonderful balance and poise - a big Aussie stunner that lets you know it's there and still has you coming back for more! A fantastic long finish and just enough acidity to keep the beast in check. (88)

New Site Name

2007-01-18T16:18:00.000Z

A few weeks back I revealed my plans to launch a new site as a sister site to this site - and I can now tell you that things are progressing. Up until yesterday I had fully intended to completely work on a site from scratch - however I am no web designer and it was taken a long time to comeplete and the finished product was not quite what I would have hoped for, so I'm now looking for an alternative way to work on it.
Sadly winepost.co.uk is already taken as a domain so I won't be able to use that for the new site - and so now comes the task of trying to think up a funky new name!
So far i've come up with "Vintasy" but please leave your ideas in the comments below this post. The person who comes up with the best title, will have names my new site, and will forever be able to lay claim to that, plus I will give them a 5% share in the site - that means if it ever generated a profit you would get 5% of an profit made.
You get the drift - give me some names, and if I ever make money, fame or wine out of it - you get your share!

Mosel-Saar Ruwer

2007-01-16T19:02:00.000Z

The first of the Anbaugebiet of Germany that we'll look as is for many people the finest wine producing region in Germany, and certainly the best known region. All three names are rivers - the Mosel and it's two tributaries the Saar and the Ruwer.
Wines from this region tend are invariably white, low in alcohol and very refreshing. Many of the vineyards are on steep valley slopes of the three rivers and it is on the very steepest slopes that the best Riesling vineyards are to be found. Slate is the most important terroir of the region. Names to look out for from the region include :-
Von Kesselstatt
JJ Prum
Dr Loosen
SA Prum

Vineyards to look for include :- Erden Treppchen, Urzig Pralat, Piesport Goldtropfchen and Bernkastel Johannisbrunnchen.

Brown Brothers Tarrango 2002 (29/12/03)

2007-01-16T17:31:00.000Z

A red that when chilled tastes surprisingly like a white wine! Light and fruity - an ideal Summer BBQ quaffer when chilled yet reduced so often during the cold winter months (I wonder why?!) All redcurrant and red cherry flavours - a little like Beaujolais without the pear drops and bubblegum. (80)

Wolf Blass Shiraz Cabernet 2002 (27/12/03)

2007-01-16T17:30:00.001Z

Deep purple with a spicy bouquet, and tons of oak and spice in the mouth - just a little fruit - a little uninteresting. (76)

WSET Exam Results

2007-01-16T13:48:00.000Z

After 8 weeks of waiting to see whether I would pass the Advanced course, I can now reveal that I managed a distinction in both part of the paper (that'll be distinction overall then!) which was what I had hoped for, but better than expected knowing that I messed a couple of questions up along the way by allowing reason to take over from my gut instinct for answering a couple - still no need to worry now!
I celebrated with a friend by drinking 3 Bowmore whisky's - darkest, 12yo & 17yo - really quite acceptable!

Rosemount

2007-01-14T16:52:00.000Z

Much has been said elsewhere of the demise of Rosemount - a couple of years ago I decided to find out for myself if it had all gone so bad.

Rosemount Shiraz Cabernet 2002 (3/1/04)
Now I remember the time when this was a very decent bottle, at a really decent price - that was 15 years ago and the price is now less than it was then so the wine inside the bottle must be a great deal cheaper. I had read of the demise of Rosemount - but I thought - maybe - just maybe it would still be ok - and that was what it was OK - it used to be lovely - now well I wasn't sick drinking it - and it wasn't offensive but good - no! Spice and black fruits - no real complexity and no real depth - all round disappointing. (78)

Rosemount Grenache Shiraz 2002 (19/02/04)
An old favourite - see above! Same problem here - just not what it used to be and now very much an also ran! Cherrys and Raspberries, smooth but a very short finish. (78)

Le Vin Maghani 1999 Domaine Canet-Valette (25/12/06)

2007-01-14T16:48:00.001Z

Deep red, with a slightly brick coloured rim and a bouquet of raspberry, spice and a touch animally. The flavours are all there, wonderful "garrigue" herbs, black and red fruits smooth velvety tannins in a big wine that all at the same time managed to be refined and delicate. Decanted 5 hours before drinking, after 2 hours it was still a closed affair - I had imagined the age would mean it would need less time to open up - how wrong I was - open 6 hours before you intend to drink and sit down with some brilliant food and really enjoy. Evocative of summers spent walking, relaxing - pure sunshine in a bottle. There ought to be more wines like this out there for this sort of price!

Urbina Rioja Reserva Especial 1996 (6/1/07)

2007-01-13T19:11:00.000Z

A big strong beefy brute of a wine, the oak in this was perhaps a little too much for my liking but it was certainly a better wine than an awful lot I drink. Deep brick red with a tawny rim, and oak, nutmeg red currant and cherry aromas developing into a complex palate of liquorice, dark cherry and roasted chestnuts. Some of the more complex flavours were probably hidden by the oak, this is no wine for the faint of heart and certainly needs to be drunk with good hearty food! (84)

Geographical Classification in Germany

2007-01-12T07:32:00.000Z

As well is the quality wine classification German wines are split in a similar way to the wines of Burgundy. At the smallest level is the Einzellage - an individual vineyard and the most important classification for quality German wines, equivalent of a premier or grand cru in Burgundy.
Then comes the Grosslage, a group of adjoining vineyards - this is a somewhat unnecessary classification which makes life difficult for consumers, the names of grosslagen are often particularly misleading having taken a name from a nearby village that has given it's name to an Einzellage. So Bernkasteler and Piesporter appear on the labels of both some of the finest wines in Germany, but also on some of the label of bland, sugary wines made from grapes grown in inferior vineyards at high yields.
A Gemeind is a commune, the equivalent of a village wine, such as Volnay in Burgundy, the name of a commune can either appear alone on a label - in which case the wine comes from vineyards immediately surrounding the village, however it is often attached to the name of either a grosslage or an einzellage.
A Bereich is a district within a Quality region consisting of several communes, this is similar to Cote de Beaune in that a village can give it's name to an einzellage or grosslage wine, it can also give it's name to a Bereich.
Finally an Anbaugebiet is a designated quality region, of which there are 13 - we will look at the different regions in more detail next time!

QmP Wine Classification

2007-01-11T07:34:00.000Z

Once again it's time to try and de-mystify once little part of German wines - and today it's time to look at the whole Pradikat clasification. In short all the wines classed as QmP are then given a second classification based on the amount of potential alcohol in the grape juice (which essentially means the amount of sugar in the grape). Starting from the lowest to the highest -:

Kabinett - wines are the most delicate and will be light in body with crisp acidity and either citrus or green apple.

Spatlese - literally a late harvest wine - more concentrated and with more flavour and body than a Kabinett. Riper fruit flavours - less likely to be green apple and more ripe citrus and perhaps even hints of tropical flavour.

Auslese - made from individually selected bunches of grapes - chosen for being extra ripe and can be from dry (this is the last classification commonly found as a dry wine) but can equally be a sweet wine. Harvested at the same time as Kabinett and Spatlese - but the selection goes on in the winery or at the vineyard.

Beerenauslese - rare expensive wine made from grapes that are individually selected from bunches of extra ripe auslese grapes - these will often have been affected by Botrytis - that is noble rot which drys out grapes and concentrates flavours and sugars to make luscious sweet wines.

Trockenbeerenauslese - produced in minute quantities from individual grapes that have shriveled to tiny raisins as a result of noble rot. The grapes have the potential to make wines of 21.5% alcohol but with high acidity. They will of course never get this far - they will rarely have alcohol in excess of 8%abv.

Eiswein - Wine made from grapes that have been frozen (naturally not in a freezer!) The grapes are left on the wines and have the same sugar levels as a Beerenauslese but with no noble rot. During the winter the water in the grapes freeze but the sugars don't so they can then be pressed so that a very sweet juice can then be fermented. The wines produced in this fashion are generally expensive with excellent richness, acidity and wonderful purity of fruit.

Chilean Archives

2007-01-09T17:44:00.000Z

As I look to make more and more notes available online - here is the latest in a series of notes taken from my early days of wine appreciation.

Casablanca Sauvignon Blanc 2002 (22/5/05)
Picked up in a bargain bin, straw coloured with aromas of apricots and just the very slightest hint of gooseberry. Rich and relatively full bodied with grapefruit and lime flavours, I found this to be a little on the sharp side and a little too sour suggesting the grapes never quite made it to full ripeness. (72)

Trio Red 2002 Concha Y Toro (30/11/04)
Made from 3 grape varieties and then blended by Ignacia Recabarren. This is the Merlot, Cabernet, Carmenere version with a raspberry and toasted vanilla nose and a hint of spice but which delivers both red and black fruit on the palate. A big, full bodied wine with plenty of structure though perhaps lacking a little in elegance. (80)

Montgras Merlot Reserva 2002 (5/12/04)
Well this is what started it all for me, the first time I tried a Chilean wine was a bottle of this very wine and it was the first time I realised there was more to life than cheap Aussie plonk! (that was affordable!) Ruby coloured with sweet raspberry aromas and a touch of vanilla with a plummy taste and a smooth mouth feel it's not the finest wine in the world ever - but what do you want for £3! Really decent value at that price!(80)

Louis Felipe Edwards Cabernet Sauvignon 2003 (3/9/2004)
Very disappointing - not a lot to write home about here and certainly I'd be less likely to buy anything from him again - hard to put finger on what exactly went wrong - but I think that too much oak has been used against too little fruit character leading to something that verges on the unpalatable. Spicy with rough tannins. (74)

Casillero del Diablo Carmenere 2002 (6/9/04)
Much more decent this - aromas of blackberry, oak and spice with lovely chocolate, coffee, oak and plum flavours leading to a long smooth finish. Full bodied. (82)

Valdevieso Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2000 (19/11/04)
Deep ruby coloured with a slight tawny rim and a bouquet of vanilla, blackcurrant and just a hint of cloves and all spice. Rich and creamy on the palate with soft red berry fruit - my only question is - why is this the reserve - as is often the case I preferred the non reserve with a little less alcohol and a slightly more reserved character! (81)

German Wine Part 2

2007-01-09T17:26:00.000Z

So... German wines eh? Bit complicated if you ask me - they are of course classified in several different ways - firstly basic quality - there are "Table Wines" and "Quality Wines" - table wines are placed in two categories - Deutscher Tafelwein (lowest classification from one of 4 designated regions) and then Landwein - similar to the French Vin de Pays from one of 17 regions which mut be shown on the label. Wines must be either "Trocken" (dry) or "Halbtrocken" (Off-Dry).

Quality Wines are also in two categories - QbA (Qualitatswein bestimmer Anbaugebiet) - which is literally wine from a designated quality region (an "Anbaugebiet). Often these wines will just show Qualitatswein on the label. To give you an idea Liebfraumilch fits in this category, as does Niersteiner Gutes Domtal and Piesporter Michelsberg (Hock is not a quality wine - it's a tafelwein.

QmP wines (Qualitatswein bestimmer Pradikat) which is again from a single Anbaugebiet but which also must come from particular district from within an Anbaugebiet (called a "Bereich").
QmP wines are then categorised by their "must weights" that is the specific gravity of the grape juice - which is in reality the amount of sugar in the juice.
So... when choosing a German wine - look for QmP on the label - it's no true guarantee of quality - but it will help it!

Want to know?

2007-01-08T21:31:00.000Z

Is something holding you back? Do you want an area of wine demystified - let me know and I'll answer questions and try and give you the lowdown - with a bit of luck I'll learn something at the same time. German wines are first up!

German Wines

2007-01-08T21:04:00.000Z

If there is anything in the world of wine that is certain, it is that German wines are to the non German market a complete mystery. Complex laws, and complex labels make life very difficult - wines are labeled not only by maker - quite possibly the single most important piece of information on the bottle - but also the sugar ripeness of the grapes - which determine where in a hierarchy the wine sits. In addition where the grapes for the wine come from is put on the label - which would be fine if the Germans hadn't come up with several different levels of classification from single vineyard site, through a group of vineyards, to a commune, a group of communes and so on. This is further complicated by the very fact that a town may give it's name to both single vineyard sites - the equivalent of a grand cru - capable of producing fantastic wines - but also give it's name to what the Germans call a "Grosslage" or a group of communes. So Piesport lends it's name to both Piesporter Goldtropfchen a vineyard site by the town of Piesport that is on a steep slope and is capable of excellent wines from Riesling only and also to Piesport Michelsberg a large area under vine producing wines from poor vineyard sites from poor grape varieties such as Muller Thurgau.

Inexpensive German wine has forever been tainted in this country by three names : Blue Nun, Black Tower and Liebfraumilch - none of which anyone should use for anything other than washing paint brushes in.
But there are some real bargains out there - one name particularly to look out for is Dr Loosen - a brand created by Decanter Man of the Year 2005 Ernst Loosen - who makes some really wonderful Riesling that is becoming more and more available in the UK all the time. Look out for his Dr L Riesling all over the place - absolutely ideal with a Chinese meal, or on a hot Summer's day as an aperitif or for drinking during the afternoon - the low alcohol won't knock you out either.
Ernie has also invested in buying the JL Wolf winery in the Pfalz (Dr Loosen is just for Mosel-Saar-Ruwer) which tend to be less expensive, slightly less expressive - but definitely worth looking out for.

Over the coming weeks, I'll be trying to help de-mystify German wines a little (though they are still something of a mystery to me!) and hopefully point out some wines to try. For now it's Dr. L - or look out for "The Naked Grape" Riesling from Waitrose - also worth a go!

A couple of offers to check out

2007-01-08T12:21:00.000Z

Whilst stocks last! - Waitrose January sale has a couple of interesting pieces that are worth having a look at - but be quick it is only whilst stocks last (and as I have no Waitrose nearby it's probable that I will be one to miss out!)

Blanc de Blancs 2004 Vin d'Alsace, Cave de Turckheim*£5.99 - £4.99
Riesling 'Vieilles Vignes' 2004 Cave de Turckheim £7.99 - £5.49
Saint-Chinian Cuvée des Fées 2003/04 Château Cazal Vie£6.99 - £5.99

the Cazal Viel is very good at that price - quite new world in styling - but fresher and with a lot more finesse and complexity than a similar priced Aussie - definately worth trying.

As for the Turkheims - these should be interesting at the price.

Books Books Books

2007-01-07T15:32:00.000Z

I've just been given my Christmas presents by my in-laws - and wonderfully have received the latest edition of the Oxford Companion - what a reference book that is - there is always something to look up and it has just about everything covered - for the first time I now have some grasp of what micro oxygenation is all about and why people might want to do it (a la M. Rolland).
I also got "The Hedonist in the Cellar" by Jay McInerney - which so far is excellent - a wonderful mixture of wit, stories about particular wines places and styles taken from his column of the same name from House and Garden magazine in the US. Perhaps my only issue with him so far is that it appears he has been bet he can't mention Julian Barnes' name in every little story as it appears with considerable frequency to the extent of becoming a little labourious - this though may change as I'm only just into the book - which has lots of very small chapters meaning it is very easy to read just a little at a time - except when people around you want attention!

Constellation's Sales Drop in Europe

2007-01-06T13:05:00.000Z

European sales by US mega drinks group Constellation have tumbled this year - the group which owns nearly 300 wine brands including names such as Hardy's, Mondavi, Ravenswood and Banrock Station say that it is largely the UK market, for which Australian brands are a significant portion that has been hit. This has been laid at the door of the Australian grape glut forcing prices lower meaning retailers are making more own brand wines, less expensively which are then directly competing with some of the groups largest selling UK brands such as Hardy's (sales down 16%).
Personally I think that these brands doing less well is a good thing - I'm quite fed up with shopping in a Supermarket and looking at the US/Australian section and seeing massive swathes of Gallo/Blossom Hill/ Hardy's/ Rosemount type brands and often nothing more interesting at all. Occasionally it is possible to find something - but largely the brand it king.

Argentinian Wine Archives

2007-01-06T12:53:00.000Z

I haven't got a great deal of experience of Argentinian wine, and these tasting notes come from my first ever wine journal - the first time I started to try and record what I was drinking and whether I liked it - hence the notes are neither very detailed or indeed particularly good - but they will at least give you some idea of whether to trust something or not! Of course my palate is now more tuned and my tastes have changed a little as I've started to drink better wine - so I'm almost embarrassed to publish these -but for the sake of completeness!

Argento Malbec 2001 (25/12/03)
Very decent Malbec for less that £5, a definite winter warmer of a wine with blackfruit, cinnamon and nutmeg and an oaky, earthy backdrop. Very full bodfied with well integrated tannins. (84)

Picuan Peak Bonarda 2003 (2/3/2004)
Oh dear! A complete disaster of a wine! (65)

Finca Las Higueras Pinot Grigio 2003 (14/05/04)
Grapes and lychees on the nose, over ripe melon, peach and apricot on the palate - a summery wine - deep and smooth. (82)

Mas Champart Causse du Bousquet 2005

2007-01-05T10:43:00.000Z

Deep purple with vanilla, spice, blackberry and bilberry with a large backbone formed by strong tannin and great acidity - this is definately one to keep for up 8 years. Yet somehow it also manages to be fresh and fruity in the Mas Champart style. Deeply flavoured with dark black cherry and white pepper flavours and long long finish. (85)

Villa Maria Cellar Selection Pinot Noir 2004

2007-01-04T07:32:00.000Z

From the wonderful Villa Maria stable, well fabled for the brilliant Sauvignon they produce - this is really rather good too. Overwhelmingly cherry and vanilla on the nose - with subtle spice hints and a slightly gamey aroma, it develops wonderfully in the mouth to sour cherry and smokey cinnamon a finished long and thin. Beautiful acidity keeps the wine long in the mouth and holds the whole thing together whilst keeping it fresh and fruity. A brilliant example of what can be done in Marlborough with Pinot and one of the best bargain Pinot's out there. (85)

Wente Reliz Creek Reserve Pinot Noir 2004

2006-12-31T12:54:00.000Z

From the cooler Monterey County region - the AVA of Arroyo Seco comes this lovely little Pinot -I was expecting to find something a little overdone - a little too big that had been given too much hang time - yet what I found suprised me and even delighted me. From the Oxford Wine Company (www.oxfordwine.co.uk) this Pinot has a lovely clear garnet colour with spicy cherry and hints of tell tale "farmyard" aromas (not a bad thing in a Pinot believe it or not!) and wonderful pepper and sour cherry on the palate. Medium to medium/full bodied with some balancing acidity - my only slight gripe is that I would have perhaps preferred to see a little re acidity to make a wonderful wine long and slender - as it was the finish held together ok, but was within definite reach of becoming flabby. Still delicious though. (83)

A Few from the Archives

2006-12-29T10:17:00.000Z

It's been a couple of weeks since I last updated (sorry about that - Christmas and all that) and I've been working hard on starting to put together a new website that will archive old tasting notes as well as having far more information on it. In addition I'll be working towards a food matching service where you can fill in an online form and I'll get back to you with a match for the food you are serving, from a retailer you are able to get to at a price you want to pay.

Anyway for now here are some from the archives.

35 South Sauvignon Blanc 2003 (25/12/2003)
Lemon green coloured, with gooseberry and cut grass aromas and crisp dry flavours of tropical fruits. (78)

Missiones de Rengo Carmenere 2002 (14/01/03)
Damson coloured, with a bouquet of tobacco, leather and cloves with smokey, leathery flavours with hints of oak - not bad at all! (79)

Erruzuriz Merlot 2002 (24/1/04)
Lovely complex aromas of blackberry, spice, oak, almonds and almond with cherry, pepper and leather in the mouth - and a smooth velvety finish. (82)

Casablanca Gewurztraminer 2002 Joseba Altuna (3/4/04)
A first taste of Gewurz, and it was actually pretty nice - far less floral than I had been expecting. From a cool area of Chile, a bright lemon coloured offering with fresh grapey aromas and simple lychee flavours. A simple, but elegent wine. (81)

Concha Y Toro Explorer Sauvignon Blanc 2003 (31/07/04)
Pale, lemon green with sweet green apple bouquet and crisp flavours of grapefruit, melon and just a hint of honey. (83)

Brown Brothers Late Harvest Muscat 2003

2006-12-14T16:12:00.000Z

A sweet muscat from Brown Brothers - but don't confuse this with the unctuous liqueur Muscat that Brown Brothers also make, as opposed to being dark and brooding this is a much lighter affair. Golden hay coloured with a fresh and youthful grapey, melon and granny smiths on the nose followed up by honey, grapes and dried apricots on in the mouth, medium sweet moving towards sweet, with great balancing acidity and a long finish. 82/100

Christmas as Sainsbury's

2006-12-11T14:48:00.000Z

Top offers from everyones favourite supermarket.

Wolf Blass Presidents Selection Shiraz£12.49 - £9.49
Wolf Blass Presidents Selection Chardonnay£9.99 - £7.99
Bodegas Muriel Rioja Gran Reserva£9.99 - £6.99
Luganilla Rioja Gran Reserva £11.99 - £7.99
Cave de Tain Crozes Hermitage£6.99 - £4.99
Laroche Chablis £8.99 - £6.99
Napa Valley Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon£11.99 - £7.99

Christmas Approaches - Morrisons

2006-12-08T15:02:00.000Z

With Christmas fast approaching the chains and supermarkets are putting everything in sight on special offer - I'm sure that at some store somewhere Terry Leahy CEO of Tesco is selling his grandmother at a knock down price. And whilst you might not choose to buy your wine at a supermarket for your Christmas drinking there are bargains to be had for drinking the rest of the year. Today we look at what is to be found in Morrisons. I've only listed those wines which I would actually recommend - anything else you try at your own risk!

Montana Unoaked Chardonnay 2005 £5.99 - £4.99
Brown Brothers Orange Muscat & Flora 2005 £5.99 - £4.49
Nuits St Georges Laboure Roi 2004£15.99 - £13.99
Montes Alpha Cabernet Sauvignon 2003£9.99 - £7.99
Montes Alpha Chardonnay 2004£9.99 - £7.99

Tesco Finest Gavi 2005

2006-12-07T20:15:00.000Z

Amazingly here is a Tesco finest wine that is actually worth buying - I'm really not a fan of some of their other offerings but this one just about hits the mark. Gavi comes from the North West of Italy in Piedment a region that also produces Barolo and Barbaresco and is made from the Cortese grape. Normally you can expect to spend over £10 on it but in this case it's on offer in Tesco with 25% off in the run up to Christmas and comes in at under £5. Now that's what I call a bargain!
A touch of lemon colouring with delicate aromas of cinnamon and apple pie and a dry mineral palate and lemon notes kept beautifully fresh by the high acidity. (82/100)

Waddesdon Pt. 2

2006-12-05T14:50:00.000Z

The real success story at the wine fair was the wines of Hecht & Bannier, a relatively new negocient house based between Beziers and Montpelier in Bouzigues. The wines on show, Minervois 2004, St Chinian 2003, Faugeres 2003, Coteaux de Languedoc 2003 and Cote du Rousillon 2003 were all uniformly good scoring between 87 & 89 points each - a remarkable achievment.

In fact, I liked the product so much I even asked to work voluntarily for the company as they seek to get into the UK market. As a brand rather than an appelation they are well set to achieve great things in this country and it is my hope that I can be part of that success as I look to start a career in the wine business. Whether I am able to achieve my wish will only be known in time, and whether they are able to break into a competitive market remains to be seen.

Waddesdon Wine Fair Pt. 1

2006-12-03T13:05:00.000Z

A fair advertised as featuring people from Chateau's Lafite and Mouton presenting their wines ended up being a bit lame on the wine front - I was expecting to taste perhaps Carudes de Lafite and perhaps Le Petit Mouton and instead found people such as Andrew Napier of Chateau Lafite showing wines such as Los Vascos Sauvignon Blanc from Chile.
However the finest wines that I found there, and certainly the most genial host, came from the Languedoc and Francois Bannier, who also unsuprisingly seemed to be doing pretty brisk business through the tills in comparison with the other wines on offer.

Risveltes 1982 Hors d'Age - Fortified fruit cake and sultana in a glass - very drinkable (84)

Waddesdon red Merlot Cote de Duras 2005 - Red fruits and leather/earthiness - not my cup of tea at all (69)

Waddesdon Cote du rhone 2003 - Lovely fruit and spice balance - harvested on 8th August in the hot vintage so not as cooked as some examples can be. A little jammy though (84)

Delicato Family Vineyards, Old Vine Zinfandel, Monterey 2004 - Like blackberry juice - not enogh grip or acidity. (74)

Sainte Colombe 2001 Cotes de Castillon - made by Gerard Perse of Pavie fame - earthy, leathery - nice enough but not special. Would like more for my £10. (84)

Waddesdon Pauillac 2003 - made from young vines at Clerc Milhon and Mouton - these certainly suffered in the hot year the wine is well made but the grapes would perhaps not have been optimum. I suspect this is similar to what a lot of the "special" wines that are released by various people like The Wine Society are from things such as this. (83)

Waddeson New Zealand Pinot Noir, Hawke Bay 2004 - Nice fresh, flavoursome Pinot, with a definite farmyeard nose, restrained cherry flavour and fresh acidity. Much more Burgundy than new world. (86)

Waddesdon New Zealand Quintology, Hwekes Bay 2002 - Dark berry fruits, earthy complexity, but a little short and green. Some definite unripe fruit from one of the 5 varietals at work (Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, Syrah) (82)

Los Vascos Sauvignon Blanc, Chile - 77
Los Vascos Chardonnay, Chile 76
Quinta do Carmo Branco 75
Aussieres VdP D'Oc 72
Com Martinho, Aletejo 2003 - Long and bitter 78

Offers Everywhere

2006-12-01T16:11:00.000Z

It seems that the supermarkets are entering into something of a wine war, with first Sainsbury's and then Tesco launching into 25% off all wines when you buy 6 promotions. It seems this clever promotion - most people buy at least that many bottles for Christmas - and guess what - if they get 25% off those 6 then that is where they are likely to shop - and buy the rest of their Christmas groceries too - was the brainchild of someone at Sainsbury's who realised a great opportunity to get people to do all their Christmas shopping with them and seems to show a more holistic approach to offers than the departmental offers we are more familiar with.
And when it was launched it clearly had Tesco worried - so much so that they have launched the very same promo as quickly as possible afterwards - giving it the whole TV ad treatment, although despite Tesco launching the promotion and making it instantly live in store promotion has taken time to filter down leaving customer confused.

Watch out too for posters in Sainsburys car parks advertising 2 spirits for £15 rather than the £25 they have instore - if you see the poster then it has to be worth a try at getting the offer should you want any of the spirits on offer.

Other promotions to look out for include £5 off a lot of single malts, Bombay Sapphire and other Christmas booze around the place.

Coop Christmas Offers

2006-11-29T16:17:00.000Z

There are a couple of great offers at Coop right now, which are really well worth taking note of -

Rully BLANC, CLOUX L'OUVRIER 2004£9.99 - £5.99 until Dec. 31 - a lovely white Burgundy - priced well at £10 so at £6 well worth getting some for Christmas.

MERCUREY ROUGE, LES VARENNES 2004£9.99 - £5.99 until Dec. 31 - a red Burgundy that as yet I have to hunt down so I can't personally vouch for it - but the word is that it is pretty good!