Wine Tastings
Kumeu River: Ten Years Back
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Earlier this month I met up with Paul Brajkovich from Kumeu River and he treated me to some older vintages of his Estate Chardonnay. We tasted five wines going back ten years to 2002:
The 2009 Chardonnay, currently listed, is rich and plump with a lovely hint of smoky oak that adds to the structure, poise and complexity of this delicious wine. It will age with ease for five years plus.
The refreshing 2007 is subtle and elegant while the 2005 tantalises with its precision, hint of orange peel and creamy texture. The 2004 is extraordinary: perfumed and peachy with silky texture and beautiful balance, certainly the wine of the tasting. The ten-year-old 2002 is showing attractive mature flavours, discreetly nutty and buttery, still lively and bright.
What was most enlightening was the consistency across all wines: they all showed subtle differences (vintages matter in the rather challenging environment of north Auckland’s rather cloudy, irregular weather), testament to the quality focus of this distinguished chardonnay family.
Pierre Mansour
Buyer for New Zealand
Several Shades of White: Tasting With Basaline Granger-Despagne
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Basaline talks Society staff through her family's wines
Despagne’s wines, which we have been importing since around 1989, offer delicious proof, and a tasting with Basaline Granger-Despagne last week allowed Society staff to gain further insight into their increasingly eclectic portfolio.
Reds are of course made – and indeed many members will know of Despagne on account of their dangerously moreish Château Bel Air, Perponcher Réseve Rosé – but unusually it was white wines with which they made their name. When Basaline’s father set up the business in the late 1960s he believed it represented a gap in the market, and he was vindicated by immediate interest from countries with an established predilection for white wines (such as Germany, the Netherlands, the UK and Switzerland).
Several famed French wine regions abound with underrated white wines (e.g. Châteauneuf-du-Pape), and dry white Bordeaux continues to slip under the radar for many in this country – a situation that, understandably, frustrates Basaline. A trio of whites from Despagne’s current range offered serious proof that both the diversity and value of these wines make them more tempting than ever.
The 2010 vintage of Château Bel Air, Perponcher Réseve, Bordeaux Blanc (£8.50 per bottle) is one of the most enjoyable aperitif wines one could hope to find for the price, offering a beautifully balanced, citric, refreshing mouthful that is both complex and crowd pleasing.
The distinctive label for Les Amants de Mont Pérat was based on a series of sculptures by Basaline's sister-in-law.
Still only found in Bordeaux and Bergerac, muscadelle offers a delicious, subtle floral hint and some added weight to the wine. Used 50:50 with sauvignon, it produces a zesty yet substantial white, with very impressive length of flavour for its price tag. The individualism of the wine and its eye-catching label (a beautiful, modern drawing and a minimalist typeface in place of the more identikit château sketches we are used to) may show the direction in which white Bordeaux is going; if so, it’s an even more exciting prospect.
Lastly, the more traditionally-styled Château Mont Pérat Blanc (2008, £14.50) offered a taste of the more explicitly food-friendly style typified by the great wines of Graves and Pessac-Léognan. Though mainly sauvignon blanc, the addition of 30% semillon lends the wine a slightly waxy character, with marmalade-like fruit and complexity that makes these wines shine with so many different cuisines. These whites will only disappoint those whose tastes are for fashion rather than flavour – in my humble opinion, there’s no excuse not to try them.
Martin Brown
Digital Copywriter
A Wine Society Workshop
Posted by: | CommentsOn a Saturday morning that was still almost ‘deep and crisp and even’, ten wonderful warming reds from the right bank of the Garonne were tasted, discussed and enjoyed at The Wine Society’s second Stevenage-based wine workshop of 2012: ‘Bordeaux – Spotlight on the Right Bank’.
The wines
Joanna Locke MW (left) talks members through the wines
Summing up at the end, one guest commented, “This has been so useful. You would never get to try vertically like this at home unless you opened umpteen bottles at once. When are you going to do the left bank and Burgundy?”
When indeed? Check the Tastings & Events section of The Society’s website for the list of all our up and coming workshops and you may find that ‘Demystifying Burgundy’ with buyer, Toby Morrhall, is on the 21st April!
Stephanie Searle
Tastings & Events team
Greywacke Races on to the Scene
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Kevin Judd was born in Totton, Hampshire, emigrating to South Australia aged nine (“my parents went, and at that age you just go with the flow”) and then, with his wife Kimberley, on to New Zealand in 1983 where along with David Hohnen he was founding winemaker at LVMH’s iconic Cloudy Bay. He stayed there for 24 years. He says that his one regret is that he didn’t stay for his 25-year gold watch (LVMH also own TAG-Heuer!) but he certainly has no regrets about the path he has followed since.
2009 was the first vintage of Greywacke, so named because most of New Zealand lies upon the eponymous bedrock. The range comprises Sauvignon Blanc, Wild Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling, Pinot Gris, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Late Harvest Gewürztraminer. At the end of January 60 members were fortunate enough to try six of these seven wines at Peter Gordon‘s Kopapa Café and Restaurant which had been expertly matched by Peter himself and his head chef Leigh Hartnett. We were delighted that both Kevin and Kimberley were there to talk to members about the wines in detail.
The aperitif of Greywacke Sauvignon Blanc 2011 was a sprightly, fresh, lime and fresh grass sauvignon which demands you have a second glass.
Smoked monkfish carpaccio
Kopapa’s speciality is tapas-style dishes, and so we had four shared small plates as our starters. The two dishes of goat’s curd panna cotta, beetroot yuzu salsa and black olive tuile, and then smoked monkfish carpaccio, white balsamic, caper & parsley dressing were a marvellous foil to the rounded, ripe, savoury, almost minty character of the Greywacke Wild Sauvignon 2010 (due in February). Rich and yet palate cleansing at the same time, the savoury notes melded with the smoked monkfish as well as the classic sauvignon marriage with goat’s cheese.
The second pair of dishes (pan-fried Scottish scallops, sweet chilli & crème fraîche – Peter’s signature dish – and tempura spicy dhal inari pocket, caramelised coconut, plantain, pickled green papaya) were beautifully matched with Greywacke Riesling 2011 (it’s first showing anywhere in the world – due in June). The wine is fresh, off-dry, open, appealing with lime and mineral notes and should come with a label that says simply ‘Drink Me!’ The 20g/l residual sugar, and the lovely crisp acidity countered the sweetness of the coconut and the chilli spice perfectly.
Twice baked Crozier Blue soufflé
Next to the cheese course, and a twice baked Crozier Blue soufflé (no mean feat to produce 64 individual soufflés all at the same time!) with Jerusalem artichoke cream and a pomegranate dressing went superbly with the soft green apples and tropical fruit of the Greywacke Pinot Gris 2010, with its 8 g/l of sweetness balancing the light saltiness of the soufflé.
The beautifully cooked main course of lamb cutlet & braised lamb shank with white bean purée, kale and fig jus fitted hand in glove with Greywacke Pinot Noir 2010 (due in June). The wine, with its lovely waft of sweet cherries and cream, showed a savoury and mineral depth of huge proportion, and a fresh, almost eternal savoury finish.
To finish, Greywacke Late Harvest Gewurztraminer 2009 (we believe these were the last bottles in existence) with its 90 g/l of residual sugar and its trademark lychee and Turkish delight character, and yet a freshness rarely displayed in gewurz found elsewhere, with another signature dish of banana tarte tatin and sea salt caramel ice cream.
One of three books published by Kevin
As well as arguably being New Zealand’s top winemaker, he is a very talented photographer. He has published three books – details and several images can be found by clicking on this link – and members enjoyed browsing through the books as we ate and drank.
It was a night to remember and to savour. Kevin and Kimberley moved on the next day to Denmark in their four week odyssey of the northern hemisphere, but we look forward to their return to these shores, as well as the very welcome arrival of the new vintages later this year.
Ewan Murray
Head of Tastings & Events
A Good Week
Posted by: | CommentsI particularly enjoyed two member tastings in London last week.
First we displayed Pierre Mansour’s new range from New Zealand to a full house in RIBA. Particular highlights for me were the ranges from Hunter’s, Kumeu River and Prophet’s Rock.
I love Hunter’s food-friendly dry riesling, and our own Exhibition Marlborough Sauvignon which Jane Hunter supplies for is tasting particularly delicious. Pierre has done well to persuade the Brajkovich family of Kumeu River, chardonnay experts, to produce our own-label chardonnay too. Prophet’s Rock have made a pinot gris with real depth and flavour – the secret simply low yields, maturation on lees and later bottling. Their pinot noir is outstanding.
Steve Farrow being presented with the WSET's 'Gruppo Italiano Vini' Scholarship by Hugh Dupre and Jancis Robinson
The growers went on to a tasting in Harrogate. I went on to watch Steve Farrow, well known to members who visit The Cellar Showroom, receive his scholarship prize for passing his Wine & Spirits Education Trust Diploma with flying colours – a surprise for him, but not for us.
Later in the week, 100 members and guests were lucky enough to taste 10 vintages from 10 different châteaux from the commune of Margaux. As Charles Metcalfe pointed out, Margaux is a very diverse commune spread over quite a wide area with different soil types, and several of the classed growths have altered their vineyards since 1855. The château is just the brand name. It proved to be a vivid example, the diverse qualities, different years and properties. My notes are as follows:
Château Angludet, 2007:
Excellent healthy fruit and subtle palate. Good now.
Château du Tertre, 2006:
Particularly fragrant and delicious now, the property next to Château Angludet has a higher percentage of cabernet franc than other classed growths.
Château Durfort-Vivens, 2005:
A cabernet-based wine from a keeping vintage showing the bright vivid fruit, great perfume and length of flavour of the vintage, but still very young.
Château Kirwan, 2004:
Modern-style late-picked Margaux: generous flavour and enjoyable but less fine.
Château Rauzan-Segla, 2003:
A great vineyard in an exceptionally hot year, which burnt off some of the finesse. Spicy, rich, ready.
Château Giscours, 2002:
A vintage that needed time but the true Margaux fragrance grows in the glass. Lean, more old-fashioned Claret, but distinguished.
Château Prieuré-Lichine, 2001:
Full and generous and spicy. Excellent to drink now.
Château Ferrière, 2000:
A tiny vineyard but a superb, full, fine Claret. Delicious now but with a future too.
Château Palmer, 1996:
Not as rich and full as some recent Palmer vintages, but exuding class and quality.
Château Margaux, 1989:
Still a giant of real first-growth quality and many years ahead of it.
What a treat.
Sebastian Payne MW
Chief Buyer
Tasting New Discoveries
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The Tastings team started the New Year with our ‘New Discoveries’ tastings, in which we highlighted some of the many new additions to the List. In all there were 20 wines, a healthy mix of wines that are brand-new to The Society and new vintages of old favourites.
Amongst the whites the styles ranged from the lighter – a new grüner veltliner from Austria’s Weingut Stadt Krems and the Chablis Premier Cru Jean-Marc Brocard – to the more gutsy: Château de Cazeneuve’s Coteaux de Languedoc Blanc and the Silbador Gewürztraminer from Chile.
The reds were mostly on the lighter side – The Exhibition Monthélie really stood out as being just like pinot noir from Burgundy should be: light, pretty, with that earthy character which is sadly all too often missing from pinots from that region. It provided an excellent foil to the Prophet’s Rock Pinot from New Zealand, which was still elegant, but showed the other, more masculine side of the variety. The Costières de Nîmes, Domaine Galus and Los Vascos Colchagua Cabernet Sauvignon brought a little muscle to the tasting, and were direct evidence, if it were needed, of just how busy Toby and Marcel (the buyers for South America and Rhône and the Languedoc respectively) have been recently.
The difficult 'mystery wine': Manfredi's Nebbiolo d'Alba
The elusive mystery wine caused some confusion as always – it’s so much easier to guess the grape variety and country of origin when you know what the wine is! Many people thought the wine was from the Southern hemisphere (New Zealand was a popular choice) and pinot noir was the most popular guess on the grape variety. It was, in fact, Manfredi’s Nebbiolo d’Alba, 2008, from Piedmont (£7.50 a bottle). The winners were: Mrs Su-a Lee (Edinburgh), Stuart Williamson (Newcastle), Graham Anderson (Worcester) and Michael Meara (Derby).
As always at the end of the night we took the vote for the favourite wine of the evening. Whilst there were as always a couple of staunch favourites, the lovely thing about doing the vote is that is shows just how diverse members’ taste actually is: the favourite wine on one evening quite often scores low on the following night. How dull it would be if we all liked the same wine!
The votes went as follows: in Edinburgh the favourite wine was Koyle Reserva Carmenère, followed closely by the Costières de Nîmes. In Newcastle it was the Prophet’s Rock Pinot Noir which won hands down, with the Silbador Gewürztraminer in second place. In Worcester the winners were the opposite way round, the Silbador in first place and the pinot second. In Derby New Zealand ruled the roost, with the Greywacke Sauvignon Blanc taking pole position (closely followed by the Prophets Rock pinot).
You can view the full line-up of wines tasted on our website.
All in all a great way to start the New Year – the detox can start in February!
Emma Howat
Tastings & Events Co-ordinator
The Great Exhibition
Posted by: | CommentsOur final walk-around tastings of the year were in Lewes, Southampton and Chelmsford where we showed a range of our Exhibition wines.
Created for our 125th anniversary in 1999, the Exhibition Range is a group of wines blended and selected as flagship examples of the different regions and styles they represent: a ‘look-no-further-than’ wine list made by a roll-call of top growers with whom The Society works.
The venues
Pouring the wines in Lewes
The wines
Perhaps most importantly, the wines showed well on all three nights. As always, there were huge differences between the winners at each tasting. We still don’t fully understand how it is a wine which is voted the favourite on one evening can be awarded the wooden spoon the next. Answers on a postcard, please!
In Lewes the favourite white was the Exhibition Hermitage Blanc, 2007: a real treat of a white from Jean-Louis Chave – rich, full-flavoured, creamy – the perfect accompaniment to the Christmas turkey. For reds, the vote went to the Mendoza Malbec, 2009: a big, rich and bramble-fruited wine from Catena, with hints of mocha on the finish – the perfect wine to warm you up.
In Southampton it was the Exhibition French Cabernet Sauvignon which came top, a lovely, un-prepossessing French red which provides great value for money and heaps of character. The Exhibition Martinborough Pinot Noir from Craggy Range came second, no surprise really as it was showing so well on the night: packed with the crushed summer fruits you might expect from good-quality New Zealand pinot, but with real structure and an almost French-style earthiness. It is worth noting that the noisiest vote, however, was for the Crusted Port!
Chelmsford’s overall winner was yet again the Exhibition French Cabernet, and the winning white was the Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc. This is made for us by Jane Hunter OBE and encapsulates the zesty citrus and gooseberry fruit and feisty character one would expect from classic Marlborough sauvignon.
We hope all those who attended enjoyed themselves and the wines.
Emma Howat
Tastings & Events Co-ordinator
Doing It Since 1874
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Richard Mayson of Sonho Lusitano pours his Pedra Basta 2008 for members
137 years later we have gone back to our roots – 49 Portuguese wines, accompanied by many winemakers, were poured for 350 members and guests at Merchant Taylors’ Hall last week. The place was buzzing, and we had to extend the finish time of the tasting, such was the enthusiasm among the tasters!
From Minhão in the north to Alentejo in the south, by way of Dão, Douro and Lisboa, among other regions, every shade of red, white and rosé, plus Port and Madeira, were on show. We are most grateful to the growers and their representatives for making the journey to the UK purely for this event.
Many of the wines feature in our current Portuguese offer (which runs until 15th December).
Raymond Reynolds, the country’s top importer of Portuguese wines summed up the enthusiasm of the growers concerning working with The Society (and we have to concur!):
“Q – Where else in the UK does Portugal get 350 good and keen people pitching up to taste?
“A – Nowhere.”
For information about our Tastings & Events for early 2012, check out our Tastings & Events pages. And if you were at the Portuguese tasting, tell us about your particular favourites.
Ewan Murray
Head of Tastings & Events
The Wine and Cheese Workshop
Posted by: | CommentsEarlier this month I was Joined by Olli of The Fine Cheese Company and 45 members to spend a Saturday morning exploring the merits and pitfalls of pairing cheese and wine.
For a general theme on which we could base the workshop, we decided to pit French and English cheeses against one another. Whilst intended to be very tongue in cheek, this approach did throw up some interesting observations as to how far English cheeses have come in terms of sheer quality and range over the last decade. Whilst France did produce some beautiful well-made cheeses, the English cheeses were the stars of the show.
This being a cheese and wine matching workshop, we divided the cheeses into four pairs. First came the goat’s cheeses, Saint Maure from France and the English Ragstone, which work fantastically well with sauvignon blanc; here we tried the Reuilly, La Ferte from the Loire, and dry white wines with high acidity – the English wine Midsummer Hill was an excellent match.
Second we had the soft, bloomy cheeses with a Fougerus from France alongside an English Brie: here we matched the Fougerus with the Au Bon Climat Chardonnay from California, and the Sharpham Brie with Domaine de Escaravailles’ Rasteau. Next came the hard cheeses; a Cantal from France versus the award-winning Wooky Hole Cheddar from Somerset. These fuller-flavoured cheeses needed gutsier wines so we turned to the red wines. Help came in the form of Momo, a tempranillo from Spain, and The Society’s Exhibition French Cabernet Sauvignon.
We finished off the day with the blue cheeses, France’s Forme d’Ambert, and Stichelton. Relatively light and delicate, the Forme d’Ambert called for a sweet wine which wouldn’t overpower it, so we plumped for The Society’s Exhibition Sauternes, working on the salt/savoury and sweet theory. The Stichelton called for something far more powerful, so we turned to the classic combination of Port and Stilton, choosing The Society’s Crusted Port for the finale.
Apart from enjoying spending a morning in the company of fellow cheese lovers, we also learnt a few things, mainly….
- When looking to match cheese and wine the most important thing is to be aware of balance. Match cheese and wine of equal weights, or one will overpower the other.
- Either match like with like – the creaminess in the brie was matched with the creaminess in the Au Bon Climat Chardonnay – or go for the opposites attract philosophy: the extreme saltiness and savouriness of blue cheese works very well with a sweeter wine.
- Salt makes tannins in a wine appear harsh, so choose a red with plenty of fruit.
- When looking to make a cheese board, try pairing one amazing cheese with one wine that will match it beautifully – it’s very difficult to find one wine which will work well with the array of cheeses you usually find on a cheese board.
- Look to the classics for inspiration: Port and Stilton, sauvignon blanc and goat’s cheese, gewurztraminer and Munster from Alsace: these regional partnerships have worked together since time immemorial for a reason.
- Enjoy experimenting – after all, that’s the only way you really get to figure out what works for you!
Emma Howat
Tastings & Events Co-ordinator
The Society currently stocks four cheese and wine selections for Christmas, which can be viewed here.
‘Tis the Season!
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Emma Howat
The ‘Tis the Season tastings were designed to take the stress and hassle out of this time of year. In a break from the usual formats of The Wine Society’s tastings, the events were divided not by style or region, but by festive event: aperitifs – Champagne, Cava and Sherry – were followed by the party wine section in which we suggested crowd-pleasing reds and whites on a more modest budget which can be drunk in any occasion.
The Christmas Day selection recongised that this day is always the perfect opportunity to treat yourself to something a bit special, whilst the Boxing Day and beyond section showcased wines to liven up those inevitable turkey leftovers. Finally we showed some fortified and sticky wines with which you can curl up on the sofa; perfect for when everyone has finally gone to bed, and you have a moment to sit and engage in the quiet contemplation of a box of chocolates.
The Bradford tasting was a relaxed and informal gathering, and with only 45 members there, all had ample opportunity to try all the wines and discuss their relative merits at length. There was a great atmosphere and everyone seemed to find at least one wine that they really liked. Following the tasting the three of us from The Society went in search of a good curry, never hard to find in Bradford, and I am pleased to announce that following some rigorous testing, the 2009 Bruno Sorg Gewurztraminer is indeed a good match.
It’s been a few years since we were last at King’s Lynn, and it was great to see such a good turnout of members, all of whom again seemed to be enjoying themselves. We held the tasting at the Town Hall’s Assembly Rooms, a beautiful venue which whilst being on the cosy side, made the tasting all the more friendly!
Bleasdale's 'The Wise One' Tawny once again showed its festive credentials
Glasgow’s tasting took place in the Trades’ Hall in the Merchant City, in a beautiful old, wood-panelled hall. There were 150 of us in all and the evening was much more raucous than Perth (in a good way of course, being members of The Society!). Here the noisiest vote went to the Bleasdale’s ‘The Wise One’ Tawny. This fortified wine is another example of what fantastic wines are being produced in Australia, albeit with a slightly scary label (if you’ve seen it you’ll know what I mean!).
Thanks to all members who attended. We had a fantastic time and hope you found some great wines to enjoy this festive season.
Emma Howat
Tastings & Events Co-ordinator
