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.
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Master of Wine
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.
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.
Friday, October 15, 2010
Dalmore and the £1300 malt
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
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.
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.
Thursday, October 14, 2010
It's not all fun and games
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 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.
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