Its good to talk

My old boss was a bit of a bon viveur: fine wine, champagne, and wonderful food at the best London restaurants. He did not, however, like to go 'off-piste' when it came to the wine list. The white wine from burgundy and the red would be claret, but I do take the credit for doubling his choice of white wines by introducing him the Bordeaux whites. I remember the day when I got a gloating phonecall from the big man raving about the fabulous chateaux of Graves he was trawling around whilst I was up to my knees in the muck and bullets. "Don't forget to try the whites", I bellowed at him before the connection was lost. On the following Monday he spends thirty minutes telling me that I must try white bordeaux wine. Oh hum...

CHATEUX THIEULEY 2007

The Wine Society £8.50 (tasted 8.1-'09)

A jolly good Sauvignon-Semillion blend grand vin du Bordeaux blanc with a natural cork coming in at 12%. Bright medium gold with a clean and light fruity mellon nose. Dry with fresh acidity, no tannin, the medium body gives more citrus fruit and pear flavours. Nice simple length. A very good wine worthy of the half case stash in the cellar.

Keeping up appearances

I started writing this blog with three main purposes in mind:

1. To taste more wine;
2. To start to get under the (grape) skin of the wine world;
3. As a kind of therapy.

Looking at the above list, I now believe that this blog is also in part a response to the general www (world-wide-woe, see what I did there?) running through January 2009.

I work in an industry which has been particularly badly hit by the recession. Having to focus on the contents of my glass in order to pin down an elusive flavour makes it easier to forget another disheartening day chasing increasingly scarce work. Reading, and engaging with, other far more capable wine bloggers has taken my wine appreciation and educaton in directions I would never of considered e.g. I didn't realise there were fifty Portuguese wine produced let alone fifty great ones. I then have to sit down and write this thing- I task far harder than I ever imagined. I have to concentrate, try to write something which is interesting and stimulating, and be creative. It is flattering when you know someone has taken the time to actually read what you have written, but I'm now moving away from the anxiety of wondering if it is actually being read to just enjoying the creative process. my new mantra is 'write for yourself'. Can you see where the therapy idea fits in?

But this is a blog and we're all crazy for fame and ratings, so I think I need to raise my game if this blog is to contribute anything to the world-wide-wine community. I do not want it to become just an electronic depository of my amateur tasting notes (I can do that on Snooth). Therefore my new blog check-list includes the following words:

• tasting
• reading
• direction
• structure
• record keeping
• enthusiasm
• interest
• curiosity
• encouragement
• ulterior motive

And just one other promise: I promise to stop making up other meanings for the acronym www.

Toot toot!

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!

What do I know?

This is why I find wine just so fascinating - the way people respond so differently to the same wine.

LOUIS BERNARD CHARTREUSE du BONPAS RESERVE 2007
Sainsburys £4.49 special offer 50% discount (tasted 1.i-'09)

This grenache, syrah, mourvedre Cote du Rhone blend weighs in at 14% behind the screw-cap, having been created by the big trans-atlantic negociant firm Boisset. In the glass its a clear, formal purple wine with a clean, pronounced nose of red and black fruit. With its low acidity and medium tannins, its full body presents more black fruit accented with a definite plumminess. All this is wrapped up in the expected pleasant finish.

This is a perfectly acceptable example of an big Rhone blend but when a wine is so confident about what it is, without any surprise or mystery, it looses something for me. The Murph, however, raved about it and I must say that I am in the minority - this same wine was commended in the Decanter Magazine 2008 World Wine Awards.

Toot toot!

Remember Space Dust?

Popular around the UK in the 70s and probably now banned by the EU for causing permature balding, space dust was the little sherbert crystals which used to crackle on your tongue. The way this wine rolled about my mouth with its acid zing brought back those same sensations.

FIANO MANDRAROSSA 2007
The Wine Society c.£7.00 (tasted 16.i-'09)

A 13.5% Sicilian white from 100% Fiano grapes with an artifical closer. Clear and clean pale yellow/green in the glass looking bright and tempting. On the noise its full of citrus fruits with grapefruit, pear, and pineapple bobbing about in the bowl. Very dry and very acidic this wine went off like a bomb in the mouth with the acidulous lime and crab-apple edges that melow through the surprisingly long length. Lively and zingy, this is a fun-filled wine that needs to be drunk in the garden on an August evening rather than on a snowy January night.

This wine is a real hoot; try some in the sunshine.

Just as an aside, neither The World Wine Atlas (3rd ed.) or The Oxford Companion to Wine (3rd ed.) make any reference to fiano being grown in Sicily. Perhaps this is a recent development? The club tasting notes also hint at this saying:

"Mandrarossa is produced by the Settesoli co-operative in south
west Sicily in the hills surrounding Menfi, between Agrigento and Selinunte.
This premium wine is made from the finao grape, native to Campania, which has
adapted exceptionally well to the Sicilian climate."

Also, this wine is a Decanter 2008 Trophy winner for best wine under £10.

Toot toot!

The definition of a "well balanced wine"

I came across the concept of 'balance' this weekend whilst reading Jancis Robinson's Wine Tasting Workbook, and found that I could immediately relate to the idea that:

"A wine is well balanced if all its components blend into the whole with
none standing out [and that]... All good wines should be balanced by the time
they are ready to drink."

I like the idea of a wine being ready to drink when it is in balance (or 'harmonious') regardless of its age or cost. This gives me a good benchmark when drawing conclusions on the quality of a wine. And lo, what do I find this evening when I crack the red open but...

CHATEAU CHANTE ALOUETTE 2005
The Wine Society £6.95 (tasted right now!)
Natural cork closer.

This red bordeaux of 90% merlot and 10% cabernet franc has a clear, deep ruby red colour. The clean nose quickly fills the glass with intense back and red fruit aromas giving a plummy fullness. Its low acidity and medium-soft tannins adds the raspberry theme of the cabernet franc to the merlot nose. It finishes with an easy length to a well structured wine in perfect balance.

This is an excellent claret.

Other facts about the wine from the WS tasting notes which you may find interesting include:

"The wines of Fronsac situated between Cotes de Bourg and Pomerol have the
same structure and body of the former with the perfume and roundness of the
latter. Chante Alouette, owned by Bernard Roux, is planted with 90% merlot and
10% cabernet franc on a clay/chalk slope above the river Isle. The [river] Isle
marks the outer limit of Fronsac, separating it from Pomerol."

Toot toot!