Spain
My Fussy Valentine
Posted by: | CommentsWine Without Fuss subscribers will have received these recipes in their latest Premium Selection together with the perfect wines for the job. Members who don’t have anything suitable in the rack may like to make use of our Next Day Delivery service.
Heart-shaped Neufchâtel cheese
Night in the Gardens of Spain
Give Pacific wild salmon the Atlantic kiss of life with this recipe, inspired by the last of the Seville oranges, brilliant for marinades. Place a 200g skin-on tail-fillet of wild salmon skin side down in a glass bowl. Add the juice of a Seville orange, or lemon and the finely-chopped stems of a small bunch of fresh coriander. In a saucepan, toast a pinch each of whole dried cumin and coriander seeds until they release their fragrance. Add 100ml medium Sherry, a tablespoon each of chilli-flavoured oil and top-quality Sherry vinegar and a dash of anchovy essence. Boil down to half the volume and leave to cool before straining over the fish. Leave overnight. Cometh the hour, preheat the grill. Put the fish, skin side up in the tray, without the grid, and pour the marinade around. Brush the skin with a little oil and grill for 6-8 minutes. Peel off the blackened skin, cut the fillet in half lengthwise and serve garnished with a mixture of salad leaves, including the reserved coriander.
Try this with a brisk Iberian white like Fefiñanes Albariño, 2010 (£14.95).
Love Me Tender
More than enough for two, with sublime leftovers. This can be simmered conventionally for two hours on a hob, but use a slow cooker for preference. Models and heat settings vary, but in principle, the beef and vegetables benefit from browning at high heat before 6-7 hours’ slow cooking. In a frying pan, heat a tablespoon of oil and soften an onion, carrot, two sticks of celery and a small fennel bulb, all finely diced. Transfer to the base of the cooker. Add a little more oil and brown a well-seasoned piece of lean beef topside, about 750g, on all sides. Lift it out of the pan and lay it on the vegetables in the cooker. Deglaze the pan with 500ml red wine, scraping up any beefy residues. Let it bubble for a few minutes while you tie together some sprigs of fresh parsley and thyme and a couple of bay leaves. Tuck under the meat and pour over the wine. Replace the lid and leave for at least six hours, until tender. Lift carefully from the cooker and transfer the vegetables and liquor to a blender (put the meat back in the slow cooker to keep warm) to make a smooth, tasty sauce. Carving will be difficult to let the meat collapse into chunks, or serve more elegantly in warmed individual casserole dishes, napped with the sauce and garnished with little potatoes and seasonal greens.
Serve with a generous South American red eg Koyle Reserva Carmenère, 2010 (£8.50).
Heart’s Delight
Say ‘cheese’ to the one you love
Far from being a Valentine’s Day gimmick, Neufchâtel cheese has been made in Normandy since the 16th century, and is protected by an appellation contrôlée. A heart-shaped cow’s milk cheese of the Chaource family, it’s velvety in texture, mild and subtly floral in taste. Once ripe, it should be eaten up, at its ethereal best, with a thin slice of walnut and raisin bread.
A medium white like Vouvray Sec Tendre, 2008 (£9.95) works brilliantly with soft, buttery cheeses.
Janet Wynne Evans
Specialist Wine Manager
Jamie Oliver, Wine and Beef
Posted by: | CommentsAn unexpected meeting with renowned chef Jamie Oliver last week got me reflecting about the similarities between sourcing quality wine and food.
I was dining with Wine Society supplier Daniel Castaño, behind the unpretentious Spanish monastrell we list, at Barbecoa restaurant in London (which happens also to list Daniel’s wine under its on-trade label – for obvious reasons, it’s several times more expensive there).
Jamie Oliver, Daniel Castaño and me
Barbecue beef is the speciality here and by happy chance Jamie Oliver was enjoying a night out with friends a couple of tables down from us. We soon got talking about wine and beef.
Jamie’s passion for quality was as evident as when he’s performing on TV. Apparently the choice of farmer, breed and feed are the key to a good piece of juicy, flavourful beef. And the parallel with wine starts here too. The decisions of the grape grower (like the farmer) will determine the quality of the harvested grapes. For breed read grape variety, for feed read soil management which aims to maximise vine nutrition and health. Like Jamie, The Wine Society starts by selecting the growers whose philosophy matches our quality expectations.
But it doesn’t stop there. Jamie Oliver goes one step further. He employs someone to select the very best from his chosen farmers by looking at the ‘marbling’ of each animal in the slaughterhouse. They might pick just two out of ten.
It’s what the Wine Society buyers do; granted, in the more amicable surroundings of a cellar or winery tasting room, but of the thousands of wines we taste each year, only a very small percentage makes it to the List.
Pierre Mansour
Buyer for Spain
Changing My Perceptions of Albariño
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Line-up of Pazo de Señorans going back to 1996.
I think its appeal is in its tantalising freshness and juicy fruit flavour, and these are usually at their best as a youthful wine drunk within two years of vintage.
But to what extent is it a truly great grape on the world wine stage? A grape’s ‘nobleness’ is often judged by a wine’s ability to age, or its affinity to different winemaking techniques. In this regard, chardonnay is perhaps the ultimate example.
Recently I was invited to taste through a range of albariños going back to 1996 to see for myself.
Discussing the wines with Tim Atkin MW
It was a fascinating experience, altering my perception of albariño. The vintages that shone for me were the Señorans 2010 and 2009. This is the unoaked, early-bottled cuvée (that The Society sells), which even with just an extra year in bottle becomes more interesting and textured.
The revelation though was the string of Sol de Señorans (100% albariño fermented in tank and aged in barrique for 6 months): 2004, 2002, 1997 and 1996 were outstanding, all still lively but broad, opulent and complex in flavour. Quite Burgundian in fact, confirmation indeed that albariño is a premier league white grape and certainly Spain’s most exciting.
Pierre Mansour
Spain Buyer
Pazo de Señorans 2010 is featured in The Society’s current ‘Best of Spain’ offer.
Y Viva Espana
Posted by: | CommentsHave we just witnessed the most successful member tastings ever?
Autumn vines at La Rioja Alta
While we do not generally use sales as a way of gauging success at a tasting (feedback on the night and afterwards is a much more satisfying barometer), we were taken aback by the sheer number of members who placed an order after having attended these tastings in London and York last week. Almost half of all members who attended placed an order! It has to be said that the buzz during both tastings was high and vibrant, with many smiling faces having not only revisited some old favourites but also made some amazing new discoveries.
This is testament to the great interest and excitement engendered by Spanish wines at the moment. Indeed, Spain is our fastest growing category. We showed wines from all over Spain (Alicante, Calatayud, Jerez, Méntrida, Monsant, Navarra, Priorat, Rías Baixas, Ribera de Duero, Rioja, Toro and Yecla, to be precise) and, gratifyingly, orders were placed for all 31 wines on show with prices ranging from £5.50 to £62 per bottle. There is, of course, an added bonus – members who attend our walk-around tastings receive a 10% discount on wines ordered that were available on the night.
Our Spanish offer, put together by The Society’s buyer for Spain, Pierre Mansour, formed the basis for these tastings, with growers or representatives pouring the wines and talking to members about them. Were you there? What were your ‘stand-out’ wines of the tasting and why?Do let us know.
And if you’d like to be a part of our extensive tastings & events scene, then please click here for further information.
Ewan Murray
Head of Tastings & Events
Oz Clarke recommends …
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Every year the inimitable Oz Clarke takes time out from his hectic schedule of projects, media appearances, wine region trips and tastings to work his way personally through thousands of wines sent to him by UK wine merchants. As ever, we are delighted to have several Society wines mentioned in the 2012 edition of Oz Clarke’s 250 Best Wines. Here are eight of our wines that found their way on to his palate and into his heart.
2010 Bordeaux Blanc, Château Bel Air Perponcher (Vignobles Despagne), Bordeaux, France, 12.5% abv The Wine Society, £8.50. At this price level, Bordeaux makes better whites than reds. In fact, it makes much better whites, especially in the hands of an expert like M. Despagne. This has a come-hither green apple and greengage flavour, just streaked with passionfruit and grapefruit, but the texture remains gentle while the flavours are unashamedly green.
2010 Garnacha, Calatayud, Cruz de Piedra (Bodega Virgen de la Sierra co-op), Aragón, Spain, 14% abv The Wine Society, £5.50 If anyone asks where to find the juiciest, chunkiest, most rip-roaring red wine mouthful in Europe, I tell them to look out for Garnacha from eastern Spain. This is a gorgeous drink, bubbling with red cherry and bright raspberry and strawberry fruit, scratched affectionately with wild herbs, rubbed solicitously with smooth, warm, hillside stones. Top glugging stuff.
2009 Shiraz-Viognier, Douglas Green, Western Cape, South Africa, 14% abv The Wine Society, £5.50 (NB we’re now on the 2010) I’m continually puzzled as to why we don’t see more examples of ripe, enjoyable, affordable reds from South Africa, so well done the Wine Society for sourcing this one, with its ripe blackberry and black plum fruit, its dab of exotic peach flesh, its trail of smoke and intriguing suggestion of orange scent.
2009 Tempranillo, Sabina, Navarra, Spain, 13% abv Booths, £5.25, The Wine Society, £4.95 (NB We’re now on the 2010) Navarra makes wines that stretch from the positively light and delicate to big brawny beasts. This is definitely towards the brawny end of the spectrum, but enjoyably so. It is a bit baked, but is balanced with attractive jammy dark fruit and a richness like Gale’s honey dribbled on to buttered toast. Bring on the casserole.
NV The Society’s Champagne Brut, Private Cuvée, Alfred Gratien, France, 12.5% abv The Wine Society, £26 I’m often asked who my favourite Champagne producer is, and if I had to average out the last 20 years, I might well put the small but perfectly formed house of Alfred Gratien at the top. They don’t make much, but they’ve had a long-standing agreement to make a special blend for the Wine Society, and year by year it delivers triumphantly. This is still young – you can age Alfred Gratien non-vintage for 5–10 years – but it has loads of class and character. The wine positively foams and has a warm, full flavour of baked Bramley apples wrapped in a richness of flaky butter croissants, crème fraîche and nut syrup. That may sound sweet, but it isn’t, and it’s all tied tightly together by the acidity of Bramley skins and twisted lemon zest.
Amontillado Maribel, Sánchez Romate, Spain, 19% abv?The Wine Society, £7.95 The quality of their Sherries alone would be an excellent reason to join the Wine Society. They regularly ship tiny amounts of thrilling old Sherries virtually drawn by hand from the barrels by their buying team. Last Christmas I tasted two simply stunning 40-year-old Sherries they had discovered – they only bottled 240 half bottles: such wine had never been sold before, it will never be sold again, but they’ll find something else just as good. This brilliant Amontillado is their regular stuff. It’s as classic an example as you’ll find anywhere – and it’s less than £8 a bottle. A gorgeous ‘childhood memories’ smell of buttered brazil caramels, the scent of old leather, dried-out figs and prunes, the ground dust of hazelnut shells and a strange, brilliant, bitter-edged syrupiness that has had all the sweetness sucked out of it by a Dyson Airblade.
The Society’s Fino, Sánchez Romate, Spain, 15% abv The Wine Society, £5.95 An excellent example of the Wine Society’s sherry – and simply outstanding value for money. Fino sherry is bone dry, but a little fuller than manzanilla, a little fatter, even, but it still has that marvellous tangy dryness which makes it such a good appetizer, that almost slightly sour green apple peel acidity and the strange soft-sourness of yeasty bread dough – rather like a malty mixed grain bread in the making. There’s also a taste of roasted almonds – and roasted almonds would be the perfect accompaniment.
Second Bottling of Fino Perdido ~ Ideal Summer Wine
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Fino Perdido, or 'Lost Fino'
For those of you who haven’t tried it it is a mature Jerez Fino bordering on an Amontillado. In the past it would have been called a Fino-Amontillado but the consejo, who regulate labelling, have banned its use. We therefore named it ‘Fino Perdido‘, meaning ‘lost Fino.’
Many producers add charcoal to remove the deep rich colour, and over fine it with bentonite, which stabilises the wine but removes much of its richness. We have just chilled it in a tank for a week to let it clarify naturally and then filtered it. It may form a slight haze but we think this cosmetic imperfection is outweighed by the extra flavour in the bottle.
It has an intense, bready flor nose, with a rich, round palate with elements of almonds and hazelnuts. It’s a lovely aperitif, but suits summer food admirably too. Try it with smoked salmon, grilled fish, scallops, crab or red tuna stewed with onions. Salud!
Toby Morrhall
Jerez Buyer
The Society through gangsters’ eyes
Posted by: | CommentsThe Wine Gang consists of five of the UK’s most respected wine critics, namely (from left to right below): Tom Cannavan, Jane Parkinson (formerly of this parish!), Anthony Rose, Joanna Simon and David Williams. To learn more or to subscribe to their excellent wine review website, click on the link above.
Last month they attended our biannual press tasting of new wines to our list, and below are the top 10 highest scoring wines they tasted.
“Once again, The Wine Society cements its reputation as a retailer capable of finding interesting, good quality and diverse (both in flavour and price) wines. ”
Sancerre, Le Chêne Marchand, 2008 (Thierry Merlin-Cherrier)
A pointed and alert, aromatic and white pepper-spiced Sancerre from Chêne Marchand, a well-respected vineyard in Sancerre. Crisp, tight and grassy on the palate with searing acidity and a long zesty finish. 90/100 £16.50
Franschhoek Vineyards Semillon, 2009 (Franschhoek Cellar)
A delightfully surprising Semillon from South Africa, not a country hugely known for this variety. A fine bouquet of nettles with a hint of mint, and on the palate a honey and nutty flavours all knit together beautifully giving it a nice round texture as well as freshness. 90/100 £6.95
Pernand-Vergelesses Blanc, Domaine Rollin, 2008
This represents the generic white Burgundy territory admirably. A handsome wine that’s bright, waxy and creamy with a hint of smoked cheese on the nose. More smokiness on the palate with good texture, weight, just finishing a little shy on the finish for the price, though. 89/100 £18.00
Vigo Etna Rosso, 2008 (Romeo del Castello)
A surprising treat of a wine from the Sicilian slopes of Mount Etna. A delicious blend of native grapes Nerello Mascalese and Nerello Capuccio, this has a seductive beautiful ripe, dense, pure cherry nose, coated in elegant tannins and a long, leathery finish. Both an interesting and fantastic wine. 92/100 £22.00
Undurraga TH Maule Carignan, 2009
Inky, dark purple hue with a pure blackcurrant compot intensity on the nose from the Terroir Hunter (T.H.) range which searches out very specific planting spots. The dense palate is rich with blackcurrant and blackberry fruit. A pretty serious showing for Chile’s Carignan’s potential. A blockbuster heavy bottle, though. 91/100 £11.50
Bring back the nearly extinct Susummaniello grape if this is how it performs! A surprising charmer of a wine, this has a sticky black-bean-coated Chinese duck dish aroma that turns exotic and aromatic, full of spice and star anise. Fresh acidity and easy tannins support the savoury, smoky and spicy palate. 91/100 £9.95
The Society’s Exhibition Margaux, 2004 (Rauzan-Ségla)
Big on leathery, developed aromas, this 2004 has now opened up to a wonderfully seductive and fragrant charm, showing figs and dates but also a hint of blackberry. Fresh acidity with a fleshy, meaty palate character and fine tannins. 90/100 £20.00
Warwick Estate Cabernet Franc, 2007
Bright plum aromas that seem youthful for its age. This has a good, firm texture with a creamy edge, solid tannins and savoury, herbal palate. A surprising and very welcome lesson in how South Africa can challenge the Loire on good, fresh Cabernet Franc wines. 89/100 £13.95
Cayetano del Pino Palo Cortado Viejisimo
The Palomino grape shows its true worth here with this exciting and delicious exclusive bottling from the Society. Coming from an Almacenista that specialises in Palo Cortado Sherries, this is elegant with saltiness and a fine nutty backbone. 92/100 £20.00 (37.5cl)
A steal of a Sherry thanks to its nutty, toasty, marmalade glory. Dry and bold on the palate with those nutty, salty layers combining beautifully. 90/100 £7.50
Yesterday to Moro
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Telmo Rodriguez
One of the best restaurant atmospheres in London can be found at Moro in Exmouth Market where chef-proprietors Sam and Sam Clark have been cooking their own take on southern Spanish food since 1997. 80 members were privileged to dine at Moro in the company of one of Spain’s most passionate and innovative wine producers Telmo Rodriguez.
Six wines from Galicia, Rioja, Ribeira del Duero and Malaga each had a story that was communicated in a fascinating and entertaining way by Telmo – if you want to know all about the Duke of Wellington, muscat and massaging ladies in Malaga, then Telmo is your man!
The wines are all made from grapes grown on bush vines, rather than trellised vines, with minimum intervention with nature – all are cultivated along biodynamic lines.
We started with Gaba do Xil Godello 2010 from Valdeorras. While Rias Baixas’s albariño is grabbing the headlines in Galicia, we see godello from neighbouring Valdeorras as an exciting alternative to white Burgundy. This wine has just been bottled and will be appearing in our List in July. Elegant, ever so slightly creamy, zesty and with a crisp acidity, it was the perfect match with cuttlefish and baby broad beans in a mint dressing.
Next was Mountain Blanco Moscatel 2009 from Malaga, a dry white muscat whose crispness and grapey fragrance offset the scallops with crispy capers, smoked paprika and shaved fennel very well indeed.
Two wines were selected to accompany the slow-roasted lamb with new season’s garlic and mashed potatoes. Pegaso 2005 is 100% garnacha from the small village of Cebreros in Castilla y Leon. This version is grown in slatey soil (Telmo does a granitic version too from the other side of the village) and the freshness given by the 3,000 ft high vineyards, coupled with the natural rich spiciness of the garnacha grape and the concentration coming from low yields, was a great accompaniment to the softly spicy lamb. (This was my personal wine of the night.)
Lanzaga Rioja 2007 is made in the traditional way in large 1,500 litre foudres rather than the more current barricas maturation. This lets the fruit do the talking rather than the oak, and it was refreshing to drink a Rioja where the taste buds were not being bombarded by overly-rich vanillins and tannins, but rather being caressed by gentle red and black fruits.
Of the two wines the Lanzaga had the more immediate appeal, but going back to the Pegaso in the glass an hour or so later the tannins had softened to reveal a previously concealed complexity of dark fruits and sweet spices.
Matallana 2005 (the 2004 is currently listed), a big bruiser of a wine, came alongside the delicious ewes’ cheeses and its broodiness was attenuated by the lifted sweetness of the cheeses. Again, a wine that needed time to even start showing a hint of its true colours, but balanced absolutely perfectly. It’s a wine for the long-term – Telmo says 30, 40 or even 50 years!
The beautiful yoghurt cake with pistachios and pomegranate was beautifully rounded off by MR 2008 from Malaga – the baby version of Molino Real, Telmo’s sweet, fresh, lemony, grapey and oh-so-not-cloying dessert wine from vineyards over 2,000 feet up.
A memorable evening indeed – it was the third time we have been to Moro, and we would go again to Moro tomorrow if we could .
Strong and sticky
Posted by: | CommentsWe’re on a roll with Jancis Robinson as she includes the following wines in her top 40 fortified and sweet wines for Christmas.
Herederos de Argüeso, Las Medallas Manzanilla NV Very light and delicate. It doesn’t even taste 15% alcohol. Juicy and fluid and refreshing. £6.95 for 75 cl The Wine Society
Sánchez Romate, Fino Perdido NV Very pale tawny. Chock full of character. Really light, dry and zesty. Screwcap with señorita label. £7.95 for 75 cl The Wine Society
Sánchez Romate, Cayetano del Pino Palo Cortado NV Obviously very old and super tangy. Lots to lose yourself in here though overall much more delicate than most Palo Cortados. Seriously interesting. £17 for 37.5 cl The Wine Society
Royal Tokaji, Late Harvest 2008 Tokaji The painless way to enjoy Hungary’s most famous wine. A super-fruity blend of the three Tokaji grapes: the great Furmint, Hárslevelu and Yellow Muscat. Shows the freshness that defines Tokaji without any of the complication. Super clean. £10.95 for 37.5 cl The Wine Society
Ch La Tour Blanche 2003 Sauternes Really luscious for drinking now. So big and round and unctuous. Yet it’s saved from flab by its structure. There’s a beginning, middle and end to this wine with some very agreeable toastiness in the undertow. Great stuff. Enjoy it while you may. £37 The Wine Society
Ch de Fesles 2005 Bonnezeaux Mid gold from the mid Loire. Nutty start and then beautiful, contained sweetness with a savoury streak. Impossible to spit. Great intensity with a hint of dill pickle. So long, so complete. Lovely already yet I’m sure it will last beautifully. £29 per 50 cl The Wine Society
Rioja – Selecting The Best
Posted by: | CommentsI was in Rioja last week and during a visit to Remelluri in the Alavesa they were bringing in the first tempranillo grapes last Friday (the 2010 harvest is especially late). This short clip shows the steps the top Bodegas take to maximise quality. Ten staff, working non-stop, selecting only the best grapes for the fermentation vat. This is the first stage of Rioja’s complex winemaking process which will be completed once the 2010 reserva is released in about 4-5 years!
