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!

Something had to get me back

I never really went away, not in spirit at least, but its been three months since my last post. I do, however, believe I have several very good excuses:

• The boy arrived! William Sonny was born early June to a very thirsty Mrs. T;
• My little girl turned three and needed some careful managing to ensure all the time we invested in bringing her up as a happy care-free child wasn't undone by the arrival of a very hungry little brother;
• Whilst the consumption of a restorative glass of burgundy may appear an obligatory part of paternity leave unfortunately its not the best idea. Being woken at the most unearthly hour to act the doting father and sensitive husband is best performed without the fog of the grape;
• Business continues to be gripped by the worst recession since I stopped drinking blastaway and purple nasties in the long-bar at Leicester poly and got a proper job.

Am I forgiven? If you can't forgive me, consider this wine I caught Mrs T enjoying this evening and see if you can find it in your heart to love me again - not that anyone reads this anyway...

FRAGOSO CHARDONNAY 2008

Marks & Spencers £5.99 (tasted tonight!)

Argentinean 100% chardonnay, 13% with a screwcap.

Clear pale yellow, both in the glass and on the nose; the aromas are full of tropical fruit and peach blossom. Obviously dry and without any tannins, the high acidity does veers towards raw, but when you get above fridge-cold this does easy somewhat (but you can't get away from it in the length...) The fruit motif continues in the tasting with the stone-fruit really showing through the easy-drinking mouthfeel.

I must say the eye-rolling expectation of mediocre white wine which is my usual reaction when I encounter most South American whites is in this case unjustified; get some and get some summer fun.

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.

A home for stray wines

If your house is anything like ours you tend to find random bottles of wine squirrelled away all over the place. This one I found looking all forlorn next to our tumble-drier rubbing shoulders with some Schweppes mixers and the growing odd sock collection. With further investigation the current Mrs T 'fessed up that this was a random Christmas gift but, given her current delicate condition, she couldn't face looking at it on the kitchen counter so it had eventually found its way to its current resting place. Well I couldn't just let it go to waste when I have a wine blog which needs constant feeding - lets get stuck in!

GALLO FAMILY SYCAMORE CANYON CHARDONNAY 2007

Providence unknown but I would suspect any good chemist (tasted 29.i-'09)

Bulk market Californian screw cap chardonnay at 13.5%. The clear and a very pale lemon yellow immediately made one expect a stone dry zingy chardonnay, but the bouquet gave far more fruit than expected with melons, bananas and a definite honey hint. An off-dry wine with a some tannins which confirmed the honey-oak. The low acidity amplified the tropical fruit and blossom flavours, giving this wine a very full body which bounced around the mouth. The length matched this fullness, which was far greater than the nose or appearance suggested.

No snobbery here so lets judge a wine on its particular merits. There is a lot going in the bottle, but one cannot describe this wine as complex. Jumbled or confused could be better descriptions. I remember buying Gallo Turning Leaf zin fifteen years ago because I "wanted something different", and this wine falls into the same category. If I was at the same stage of my wine 'career' today, I'd probably buy a bottle of this and would not be disappointed.

An essay about bulk production responding to market demand?

Chardonnay goes like this

If I was paying attention I would have opened both this classic white burgundy and the Chilean chardonnay I posted yesterday together and done a proper comparison. But no, I just ploughed on and picked the wine which matched my mood. I have no problem with that, but this is supposed to be an educational exercise as well as just simple camouflage for my wine habit. I must pay more attention in class, because it was only when the current Mrs T. pointed out that this particular wine was so much better when mixed with soda that I realised a learning opportunity had been missed. And please don't berate Mrs T., she's four months gone it's going to be a long wait for her not drinking until baby arrives if my wine consumption continues at the current pitch. So, about the wine...

MACON LA ROCHES VINEUSE DOMAINE GONON 2002
The Wine Society £7.95 (tasted 23.i-'09)

A classic 100% chardonnay white burgundy, 13.5% alcohol with a synthetic closer.
In the glass the wine is clear, pale almost colourless lemon-green tint. A clean, medium nose presents nice fresh fruit with grapefruit being high on the list. The nose promises a lot and it does not disappoint: dry, high but easy acidity and absolutely no oak. "Crisp and refreshing" like the notes say, a light body with more apple and pear fruit, and a shortish but pleasant length. This is a very well structured and highly recommended wine.

Toot toot!

Its amazing what you (think you) can taste!

One of the key reasons I started blogging was to encourage (force?) myself to get out there and visit a few more independent wine merchants in and around my 'patch'. The first stop on my wine safari was Taste Fine Wine, in Almondbury near Huddersfield. But more of which another time because now I want to tell you about the grog.

RIO AZUL 2002

Taste Fine Wines £8.99 (tasted 20 January 2009)

This is a Chilean chardonnay at 13.5 % with a real cork closer that ripped when extracted with you trusty waiter's friend (Grrrr!).

In the glass the wine is clear medium gold in colour and looks ever so inviting. The clean nose jumped out of the bowl and said 'dairy' which lingered alongside the full-on mango and melon tropical fruit with a vanilla under-score. This is a dry wine with low acidity and no tannins. The buttery body perfectly suits what one expected after the first pour, and alongside the fruit I also got some grass and a little mint. However, what really amazing me was the overwhelming taste of APPLE PIE AND CUSTARD that I got after a couple of good slurps. Maybe there is a far more appropriate description for these flavours but this was, for me, the best I could find and I'm sticking to it. This wine has a medium length which seemed to linger behind the ribs, which is surprising given the average alcohol levels.

I've never found a taste description so evocative before but this is one which I fear will stick. A decent oaked chardonnay which gave me just what I wanted. Recommended.

Other stuff off the back of the label you may find of interesting: the wine is produced and bottled by Michel Laroche and Jorge Coderch, and is from the Casablanca Valley.

Toot toot!