I've got a note from my mum

In 2009 I made 78 separate tasting notes; in 2010 I only made 36.  And lets not even talk about the single blog post.  What was I playing at for the last twelve months?


Lets first clarify what I consider to be a tasting note.  These are made by me, siting at the kitchen table slurping and dribbling, before eventually writing my jottings into my precious black book.  This does not include those taken at wine tastings, or those which were part of my WSET coursework.  Did I mention the WSET?


I am pleased to say that in May 2010 I passed my WSET Advanced level exam, but only at the second attempt.  First time out my palette refused to behave and convinced me that the LBV port was "off-dry".  What was I thinking, because I knew what I was drinking.


But my wine tasting also got a little side-tracked by the sirens of BEER and SHERRY.


I'm happy to admit that sherry has become something of an obsession to me.  The energy, and the patience, required to produce a sherry is truly amazing.  The fortified mosta wine is fractionally blended in a solera and, because of the way the sherry is are blended, there will a tiny percentage of the very first wine run through the Solera in every bottle you buy.  It takes three to five years to create even a simple £7.95 Fino; ten years to produce an Amontillado or Olorosos which you can pick up for £12; and anything up to 25 years for the finest sherries.


When did you last spend £45 on an bottle which was 25 years in making, and part of the blend has been aged for anything up to 200 years?  Sherry is genius.


And then there was beer.


Beer has always been a big part of my drinking, and after the palette gymnastics of the WSET I was glad of the change.  But beer festivals gave way to Belgian trappist ales and other strange brews before I eventually arrived at the pagan altar of home-brew in the latter part of 2010.  And that is when the trouble really started...


I have a feeling that through 2011 the struggle between grape and grain will continue to rage and I will, I'm afraid, be the innocent victim of this eternal war.



MOREY-SAINT-DENIS GEORGES LIGNIER ET FILS 2004
Latitude Wines c.£25.99 (tasted 19 December 2009)


A full nose of well developed classic red burgundy wet forest floor bouquet, but still with red-current touches to bring in some freshness.  Dry in the mouth, with decent acidity which promises further aging despite the lightness of the tannins.  Dried fruit and smokey oak vanilla are supported by an herbaceous freshness and the slightest fresh-fruit acidity.  The excellent length and finish rounds this wine off nicely.


A fabulous wine: one-nil to the grape.

You can't take it with you...

The WSET Advanced Course, or my 'drinking class' as some people disparagingly refer to it, is now in full swing. We are motoring nicely through the French wine landscape: Bordeaux, Burgundy and the Alsace have been and gone in a flurry of ever more confident tasting notes whilst the book-work grind of classifications, grape varieties and terroir rolls on late into the night. I am not, however, complaining. My solitary drinking is now a fundamental part of my revision. Every cloud...

During our Burgundy session Karen, our fantastic tutor, insisted that we tasted six wonderful wines including examples from Chablis, Meursualt, Nuit St George, and Morgon: a selection of wines which mirrors about 30% of my own collection. This led on to a brief discussion regarding keeping wine and drinking wine.

Wine is temporal. The wine in my cellar has a finite life and, no matter what I think, its beauty will fade. As you can imagine, for a wine geek like me that idea of taking the collection apart is heartbreaking. Watching the gaps in the racks getting bigger does concern me, but I am comforted knowing that the feelings of loss and guilt which follow me up the cellar steps as a cradle the last of the 2000 Pommard (the case bought after a boozy Christmas lunch at Chateaux Montreuil in 2003) will soon be superseded with the wave of calm relaxation which only a glass of top-class wine can bring to me. But to reduce the collection like this is immeasurably more satisfying than finishing a tasting note with the phrase 'past it' simply because I am more concerned with the wine collection rather than the wine itself.

As Karen said, "You can't take it with you".

DOMAINE GERARD CHAVY ET FILS PULIGNY MONTRACHET 2001

Provenance and price unknown. Available from Vininum at £34.00

After eight years in the bottle this white burgundy is now a clear deep gold wine. A clean and medium bouquet gives baked apples with liquorice hints but these are muted and lacking definition. Slightly off-dry with some acidity and no tannin, 13% alcohol, medium body and intensity adding a biscuity padding to the other flavours. Finishes with a long length and the warmth of the alcohol coming through. A good wine but most certainly past it. Shame I have another in the cellar, because it ain't going to get any better. This is what happens when you can't see the wine, only a collection of bottles.

VINCENT GIRARDIN "LES ENSEIGNERES" PULIGNY MONTRACHET 2002

Provenance and price unknown, and I can't find any more!

A clear and bright medium gold wine. Lovely fully developed clean nose, medium + intensity with apple pie, toasted almonds and vanilla notes. Ever so slightly off-dry with medium acidity and no tannins to speak of. The 13.5% alcohol together with its medium body brings caramel, smoke,and custard (!) to the underlying stewed fruit flavours. Finally a perfect length underlines the balance and complexity of this wine. A fabulous mature white burgundy currently right on the button.

They seek him here

I've just read this post over at Andrew Barrow's excellent Spittoon blog and it seems to exemplify the thrust of Jamie Goode's post regarding the provenance of particular articles, blogs, tweets, and press releases.

I have become increasingly sensitive to the ubiquitous nature of media personalities such as messrs. Oliver, Ramsay et. al. Move aside James Brown, these boys really are the hardest working people in show business.

I don't have an issue with their obvious and hard won success, indeed such enterprise should be applauded and their books do have a home on my kitchen bookshelf, but I do take umbrage with their apparent shape-shifting abilities to be in two places at once.

I for one am not fooled - shape shifters don't do cooking.

MACON LA ROCHE-VINEUSE DOMAINE GONON 2007

The Wine Society £7.95 (tasted 23 January 2009)

White burgundy so it's a 100% chardonnay. 13.5% with a synthetic closer. Guess what, it's clear almost colourless with only the lightest lemon yellow tint. Clean medium nose shows citrus green fruit including grapefruit; so far so textbook. Dry with easy acid, no tannin because its never been near any oak, and a light body with apples and pears. "Crisp and refreshing and refreshing and crisp". Finished with a short and easy full-stop length.

Well structured and popular with the ladies - a bit like Boyzone.

Wine fact: MACON LA ROCHE-VINEUSE is also the appellation of this Macon-Villages white burgundy, along with 42 other villages with the right to their own appellation. Thank you Jancis!

Tasty

I have been diligently keeping tasting notes for about three months now and I am finding it a most enjoyable distraction.  I cannot pretend that there aren't times when I want to crack a bottle and just get stuck in but I have committed to using this blog as a learning experience so I'm soldiering on.  This tasting note was taken just after I started and it was interesting to read what I wrote at that time.  I would describe my note as somewhat cautious , unlike the wine which knows exactly what it is doing.

MACON LA ROCHE VINEUSE, DOMAINE GONON 2007

The Wine Society £7.95 (tasted 23.i-'09)

13.5% with a synthetic closer. 100% chardonnay white burgundy.

This wine is clear, almost colourless, with a pale lemon yellow tint.  Its has a promising clean medium nose full of citrus fruit, especially grapefruit.  This is a dry wine with easy acidity levels and  no tannin which is not surprising as its never seen any oak.  Typical crisp and refreshing white burgundy body which brings through apple and pear flavours.  A well structured wine with  a  nice, if short, length.  Jolly good.

Week two - the big one: Wales 9 - 8 England (HT)

As I made a little rugby nest for myself on the sofa this Saturday ahead of the game, the little sports voice in my head said, "don't worry it'll be alright". We all have a sports voice which occasionally speaks to us before a big game, right? I distinctly remember when I first heard mine- aged 11 on the coach to Wembley in 1983. The soothing words "don't worry" were validated when my beloved Featherstone Rovers beat Hull FC with a conversion in the final minutes by the mighty Steve Quinn, bringing the Rugby League Challenge Cup back to Yorkshire. I cried my eyes out with shear pride and relief. So when I heard that same voice again on Saturday a strange calm descended.

I felt justified in my near-zen state as England held the Welsh at 9-8 at the end of the first half. Whilst England continued to give away easy points through their inconceivable lack of discipline, they showed genuine guts and determination to take the game to Wales. Great strength and belief were evident in their performance, despite their well-deserved underdog status at the start of the game. Yet again Paul Sackey showed just how valuable he is is to England, whilst Andy Goode went some way towards staking a more permanent claim to the stand-off's jersey. But this is Wales and no-one can under-estimate the overwhelming superiority of the current six-nations champions. The second half selection from the kitchen wine-rack was going to be difficult, but at the start of the the game I felt that my wine of choice had to reflect my quiet confidence.

ALBERT BICHOT BUGUNDY 2006

Oddbins £8.99 (tasted 8.i-'09)

100% pinot noir, 12.5% with a screwcap. This looks like a promising pinot - clear, medium and ruby red. Red fruit with vegetal aromas and little farmyard nuances perpetuate the expectation of quality. On the palate: dry, low acidity and soft tannins bring the raspberry fruit through with a delicious caramel texture. A good length draws a satisfying line under the tasting.

A very very good everyday burgundy, especially at this price. A wine with no need to shout about its quality.