The Society’s Buyers
Why You Should Not Overlook The Languedoc’s Superb 2010s
Posted by: | CommentsThe Languedoc is a big place – the largest single wine region on earth, according to some. It certainly feels like it, with over a thousand miles clocked up in less than a week.
Mont St Baudile with the vines of Montpeyroux in the foreground
I shall take nothing away from the Rhône, which has brilliant wines; but the Languedoc does too, and what was remarkable about this trip was the sheer quality of what was on offer and especially from the 2010 vintage.
The Rhône of course is not that far away and so seems reasonable that vintages should follow. The Languedoc being so large however, this is not always the case. 2008 is a great example: average in the Rhône but actually very good in the Languedoc.
Anyway, this is not about 2008 but rather about 2010: sublime in the Rhône and just as good in the Languedoc.
What makes 2010 special? The answer is that 2010 has everything. The wines are very dark, very fruity – satisfyingly full bodied yet without any of the aggressive tannins that are often present in good vintages. There is nothing baked or raisiny in these 2010s; the relatively cool but dry summer prevented that and indeed allowed the grapes to preserve acidity. The weather was perfect and allowed growers to wait and pick when they liked. The grapes were fully ripe.
There are several 2010s forthcoming in the July List (Montpeyroux la Pinpanella from La Jase Castel is one of many favourites) but otherwise there will be a very full listing in a Languedoc offer which will be published in the autumn.
Marcel Orford-Williams
Society Buyer
A Second Look at Bordeaux 2011
Posted by: | CommentsThe Society Bordeaux buying team of Sebastian Payne MW, Jo Locke MW and myself has recently spent a second week in Bordeaux, retasting many of the 2011s that we had sampled a fortnight previously during the annual ‘en primeur’ bunfight, and tasting many other 2011s for the first time. It is remarkable how in that short time many of the wines have evolved, and the week proved invaluable in helping us to distil down our selection for the main en primeur offer that we will be sending out next month. Over the course of our two sojourns in Bordeaux we have tasted several wines three, four and occasionally five times, so we feel we are well placed to put together a coherent and considered offer for members.
Week one had been a whirlwind, visiting some of the best-known wine names in the Bordeaux firmament, with one day that involved visits to Châteaux Léoville Las Cases, Lagrange, Pontet Canet, Mouton Rothschild, Lafite Rothschild, Latour and Ducru Beaucaillou – and that was just in one morning…
Our second week was, with one or two exceptions, more modest in terms of the global renown of châteaux visited and wines tasted, but no less interesting or enlightening. The vast majority of châteaux that we have followed for a number of years have made fresh, attractive and classically proportioned red wines that we have no hesitation in recommending subject, of course, to the wines being sensibly priced. Examples include Château Le Conseiller, Château Bouscaut, Château Belgrave, Château d’Angludet, Château Cantemerle and Château Batailley, to name but a few. 2011 was also an excellent Sauternes and Barsac vintage, with consistently high quality across the board, and we will be offering several of our favourites in our main Bordeaux opening offer.
Week two was also an opportunity to taste at the esteemed premises of JP Moueix in Libourne. Having “extinguished” our mobile phones [see above], we were treated to a procession of delicious merlot-dominant right bank wines in the splendid Moueix tasting room – a cavernous but tranquil setting for the Society tasters [right]. We also paid a visit to the strikingly Burgundian-looking cellars [below] of François Mitjavile at Château Tertre Roteboeuf in Saint Emilion, our annual opportunity to shoot the breeze with one of the most cerebral winemakers in Bordeaux, and taste the delicious fruits of his labours.
Our week ended with a visit to Château Reynon in the Premières Côtes de Bordeaux to see our old friend Denis Dubourdieu, wine guru, lecturer and oenologist to some of France’s most famous names; and a tasting at Château Climens in Barsac with owner Bérénice Lurton. Bérénice took us through no fewer than nine different barrels of 2011 Barsac, each cask containing the production of a single-day’s picking last autumn – the later the harvest day the sweeter, more lush and complex the wines tasted. The 2011 Climens is a true labour of love.
All that we are waiting for now is for the châteaux to release their prices, and we are hoping that the owners and decision makers will take a pragmatic view this year and release the wines at sensible prices. We are expecting a flurry of activity from the Bordeaux négociants in the coming days, although the profusion of public holidays in France this month may hamper the process somewhat.
Tim Sykes
Head of Buying
The Society has put in place new procedures for ordering Bordeaux 2011 this year. The first of our two 2011 Bordeaux Opening Offers, containing 30 of the most sought after wines of the vintage, requires members to pre-order the wines before the prices are confirmed by the chateaux. The remaining, generally less expensive, wines will be offered as normal, in print and online, in June or July.
High hopes, low barometer?
Posted by: | CommentsEwan Murray wasn’t the only Society taster putting his palate through its paces recently. Last week others were judging too. Here’s what happened on one of those days.
Tim Sykes
Some of the wine trade’s finest palates, including those of four of The Society’s buyers, were out in force last week as judging took place at the annual Decanter World Wine Awards. Thousands of wines from hundreds of viticultural regions were sniffed, swilled and spat over the five gruelling days of assessment and analysis. Judges were faced with the olympian task of sorting out the top wines into the customary Gold, Silver, Bronze and Commended categories, with the best of the best being put forward for regional trophies.
Michael Schuster
Having been invited to judge on the Friday session at this year’s event I was delighted to learn that not only had I drawn one of the longest straws possible, tasting on the Burgundy panel, but also that I would be sitting next to Michael Schuster, Society Committee member and stalwart of the Decanter Burgundy panel for many years.
Michael assured me that he and the various Burgundy judges had, earlier in the week, awarded several Gold medals, so I sat down at 9.30 on Friday morning almost salivating at the prospect of blind tasting over 80 white and red Burgundies.
Come 4.30 in the afternoon, my enthusiasm had completely evaporated. Of the many wines we had tasted, from Bourgogne Hautes Côtes de Beaune to Premier Cru Meursault and from Bourgogne Pinot Noir to Premier Cru Morey St Denis, just two wines had, in the judges’ view, merited a Bronze medal. No Silvers, and certainly no Golds. “The most disappointing day’s tasting I have had in the ten years I have been judging at Decanter” was Michael’s bleak assessment.
My fellow judges and I were baffled as to the reasons for this lacklustre showing from one of the greatest wine regions of the world. We were tasting Burgundies mainly from the excellent 2009 and 2010 vintages, so how come the wines didn’t shine? One reason could be that barometric pressure was very low on Friday and that wines often fail to shine in such conditions. Our only other explanation was that few of the top producers in Burgundy enter their wines in competitions because demand for their wines outstrips supply several times over, particularly in a small harvest such as 2010. The great and the good of Burgundy will have sold out of their wines some time ago. However, as we had no idea whose wines we were tasting we could not verify this assertion. What remains clear is that earlier in the week many Burgundies were awarded Gold and Silver medals, so our day’s tasting was not representative of the week’s overall quality. 
Thankfully, at the end of the final session our faith was restored when we were treated to six Gold medal winning wines from previous days’ judging, all of which merited their award and indeed two of which we selected for regional trophies.
I retired to a local hostelry at the end of the day with some of my fellow judges for a well earned pint of ale. The general consensus was that a good pint of beer was infinitely more appealing than an average glass of Burgundy.
Tim Sykes
Head of Buying
Champagne in Whitehall
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No saucy farce this but the annual Champagne tasting put on by the CIVC in the splendid Banqueting House, a remnant of the lost Palace of Whitehall.
The event is an opportunity to taste very widely and gives a snapshot of who is doing what in Champagne.
Nearly 70 Houses were present and each showed three wines: non vintage, vintage plus one other.
This is not a blind tasting so there is the potential to be thoroughly biased. Having said that, with so many wines to taste and given the constraints of time, many wines fall by the wayside. One also assumes that all the wines on show come from running stock. But disgorgement dates are bound to vary and these can radically influence how a wine tastes. Very recently disgorged wines often taste out of kilter. The storing of Champagne leaves no room for error and anything badly stored can easily taste oxidized.
And to conclude? Well not really much different from last year: a few outstanding wines with everything that one might wish for in a bottle of Champagne. The majority are decent enough and in the right context, perfectly acceptable, and then there are the howlers, to be avoided. As last year I’ve given comments for each House and I’ve included last year’s verdict as well.
Champagne is an extraordinary product with over 300m bottles produced every year and all under just the one appellation. It comes in umpteen styles. Some are best for parties; others need a more gastronomic approach. I’ve given an indication where appropriate. My notes are a quick appraisal of how the wines tasted on the day, they are not intended as full-blown tasting notes but I show them here for your interest.
Here goes…
Marcel Orford-Williams
Champagne buyer
The Week The World Came To Bordeaux
Posted by: | CommentsPrimeurs week in Bordeaux is a marathon of tastings of inky young red (and a few dry and sweet white) wines, a whirlwind of meeting and greeting, top and tailed by fine food and wines. You may be thinking that we wine buyers are spoiled – and you’d be right (we’ll spare you the detail, but these experiences re-affirm why Bordeaux remains unrivaled in the world for its potential finesse and keeping potential) but the pleasure is greater, and the debate all the more stimulating in the good company of buyers and sellers from all over the world.
At Château Haut-Bailly this year our tasting group included contingents from the UK, Canada, Switzerland, Germany, Chicago, and Texas (featured). The debate was open, friendly, and lively thanks to General Manager Véronique Sanders’ invitation to all of us to give her our views on the prospects for the Bordeaux Primeurs campaign this year. Irrespective of national and personal preferences, all nationalities were of one voice in asking for Bordeaux to reduce its prices significantly this year.
Generous hospitality is not unusual in Bordeaux, but this relaxed and open discussion was as refreshing as the very fine range of wines we enjoyed. Wines that could not come from anywhere else.
Please remember that we will be offering the 30 or so most sought-after wines from the vintage in a different way this year, requiring members to pre-order them. For more information, please refer to our website.
Joanna Locke MW
Buyer, Bordeaux
A Few Words From Bordeaux
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Shiny new (and rather Dalek-like) tanks, waiting to go into their new home at Château Palmer’s cellar.
It’s the producer – more precisely the vigneron – that counts this year; far more than location, appellation, or classification. It is no surprise that those who walked their vineyards and acted early on the vagaries of the growing season, and who could then afford to wait for ripeness, have made the best wines.
It looks unlikely to be much of an investors’ vintage; it could be a good ‘drinkers’ vintage, if – and it remains a big if – prices are correct. Our purchases will be a tight selection this year, and we’ll taste a lot more wines, including several numerous times, in order to finalise our Opening Offer which is due to be published in June.
As mentioned, we will be offering the 30 or so most sought-after wines from this vintage in a different way this year, requiring members to pre-order the wines. For more information, please refer to our website.
Joanna Locke MW
Buyer, Bordeaux
Wine Champions 2012: Plenty More Fish in the Sea
Posted by: | Comments‘I have visions of squid!’
Thus the studious silence of the tasting room was broken by buyer Marcel Orford-Williams. I myself do not eat seafood, but have often noticed that others exhibit a pathological yearning for it when exposed to truly great dry white wine. It has become something of a personal litmus test to see how well a white has gone down with others.
Sebastian Payne MW and Marcel Orford-Williams
As we processed through (what turned out to be) wines made using cortese, macabeo, bacchus, garganega, falanghina, muscadet, grüner veltliner, furmint, vermentino, clairette – to name but 10 at random – and many more, one thing became apparent beyond doubt: whether you have a taste for seafood or not, the sheer diversity of white wines outside the traditional comfort zones of sauvignon blanc, chardonnay et al has never been more rewarding.
The lineups were divided loosely by price, and it was a particularly pleasing moment when it dawned on us how many outstanding candidates had been found before we had even got anywhere near the ‘over £10’ section.
As was the revelation of the overall winners once the votes had been tallied: this is the twelfth annual Wine Champions, and in terms of countries, regions, grape varieties and styles, this is almost certainly the most diverse selection of white wines it has offered yet.
As for their – and the other winners’ – identities, members will have to wait another few weeks. It will be worth it.
The votes are cast - the winners will be revealed in June
Martin Brown
Digital Copywriter
Bordeaux 2011: An Update
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There has been little written so far on the quality and style of the 2011 vintage in Bordeaux. However good some of the wines turn out to be, its almost inevitable fate is that it will be overshadowed by the much lauded 2010 and 2009 which preceded it. We prefer to keep our counsel until we have tasted the wines, which are currently being prepared for a week of trade and journalist tastings just before Easter.
The Wine Society Bordeaux team will be three this year – Sebastian and myself as usual, plus our new Head of Buying, Tim Sykes (in what will be only his third week with us; there’s dedication for you – I’m not sure he realises what he is letting himself in for!).
This first week will include visits to all the first growths, and tastings of many of the other, often most sought-after wines, all potential candidates for our first Opening Offer this year (see our website for details on changes to our Bordeaux Opening offer process for 2012).
We go back for more on 16th April, to ensure that we have tasted, at least once, as usual, any wine which we later decide to offer en primeur. I am just finalising our two visit programmes and starting to look forward to this year’s marathon, despite the prospect of taster’s teeth for the Easter weekend! We will keep you posted on the campaign from our perspective, and on our Opening Offers as they take shape.
Joanna Locke MW
Buyer, Bordeaux
Wine Champions 2012: Rhône Reds and the Best of Both Worlds
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The ‘Red Rhône Varieties’ section of the Wine Champions tastings encompassed some 87 wines, and therein a wide-ranging insight into how syrah, grenache and its numerous bedfellows express themselves throughout the Old and the New World; both in the vineyard and, given both camps’ partiality for blending, the winery.
The ‘wow’ factor was never far away as we navigated our way through these wines; nonetheless, a Wine Champion must back this up with the all-important ‘now’ factor (see my first post for a brief outline of the rules), and several simply needed a little more time before they would be able to merit the accolade.
Pierre Mansour, Janet Wynne Evans & Marcel Orford-Williams
Of course, when quality and readiness did align at the higher end of the scale, the outcome was predictably superb, and members should also look out for the Fine Wine Champions, which will be featured shortly after the initial offer in The Society’s Fine Wine List.
Given the nigh-ubiquitous lustre of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Côte-Rôtie, Hermitage et al today, it is remarkable to think that the red wines of the Rhône only reached this level of acclaim in the latter half of the twentieth century. Hitherto, ‘rustic and thick enough to stand a spoon in’ seemed the précised verdict of many. But quality has changed for the better (as to a lesser extent have our tastes) and, combined with an embarrassment of brilliant vintages (2010, 2009, 2007, 2005…), the wines’ favour continues deservedly to soar.
Joanna Locke MW, Society buyer for South Africa
South Africa is a good example, from which some shiraz, grenache and mourvèdre wines were themselves given a lukewarm reception for an abundance of spicy and bucolic flavours. Yet in many of the examples on show I found this quality had coalesced with fresh, appetising fruit profiles – and the results were wonderful.
Blind tastings remain the unparalleled way to dispel the preconceptions of fashion, and I do hope members don’t miss the chance to try these wines for themselves.
Martin Brown
Digital Copywriter
Wine Champions 2012: Chardonnay Jokers and Zen Rosés
Posted by: | CommentsOn paper, tasting hundreds of wines sounds like a lot of fun; and it is.
Nonetheless, some tastings are inevitably more difficult than others and the respective heats for the chardonnay and rosé categories were cases in point for different reasons.
The buyers assess the candidates
Were you to have listened in on the chardonnay heats, you would therefore have been forgiven for thinking you’d stumbled into an antiquated card game.
I often think of chardonnay as the vinous equivalent of a lightning rod: not a hugely interesting device in terms of its raw materials (with apologies to any enthusiasts who may be reading), but amazing in its ability to conduct the power the elements can throw at it. It is a relatively neutral grape but when planted in certain places throughout the world it expresses incomparably multifaceted flavours.
Add to this the fact that it responds well to both stainless steel and wood and in blind-tasting environs its diversity becomes profound to the point of perilous. It therefore took Joker-playing, re-tasting, olfactory scrutiny and debate before everyone was happy that the wines had all been given a chance.
Then there was the ‘pink morning’ scheduled for the all-important task of selecting the ready-best of our 2011 rosés. In the event, the morning erred considerably more to the grey side, being as it was the coldest of the year thus far.
Pouring some bottled sunshine on the coldest day of the year
For myself, this lent the tasting an element of Zen as I sought those wines that transported me most vividly to the lazy summer afternoons which I hope await me later in the calendar. Remarkably, I think it worked; in any case, the buyers’ final votes revealed some very strong performances indeed.
These particular occasions impressed upon me just how much perseverance and concentration (not to mention talent) is required to taste objectively through large and/or complicated lineups. I can certainly now vouch first hand that Society members are in good hands/noses/palates with the buying team, and promise that the 2012 Wine Champions will be all the more delicious thanks to these meticulous – not to mention egalitarian – efforts in the tasting room.
Martin Brown
Digital Copywriter
