Wines Of Interest Wine Blog

February Sampling Club Selection

2012-02-03T01:26:00.000-08:00

Your red this month is a winter warmer made from a grape that

Chile

is getting quite exercised about. Carmenère was once widely grown in Bordeaux and contributed considerably to the golden era around the 1870’s before phylloxera, the vine root munching louse, devastated the region. Grafting the superior European top stock onto the inferior but phylloxera immune American root stock rescued the vineyards from extermination, however Carmenère did not take to grafting as successfully as other varieties and Merlot, which worked well and produced decent quality, took over. Cuttings found their way to

Chile

which, with its unique geography, has no phylloxera and so commercial plantings were established. Now it is regarded as a grape of true quality and some of the country’s top wines contain significant quantities of Carmenère. This is a pure, unblended version which illustrates just how much flavour well made Carmenère can generate. Drink with dishes that can take a kick of full throttle fruit - try it with a chili, homemade burgers with garlic, herbs and a bite of onion or perhaps a dish with plenty of chorizo in it.

This month’s white is also an assertive little number and has not appeared here for over two years; it certainly deserves another outing. It is from our old friends Bodegas Borsao, though it is probably the least well known of their range. It is made from a grape variety called Macabeo which also grows in the Basque country and on into parts of southern

France

. It has a long, slow fermentation in stainless steel, followed by ageing in cask at a controlled, low temperature; the former allows the fruit flavours to develop thoroughly and come out cleanly, the latter rounds it out and contributes an underscore of light oak spice. It behaves much like a rather good, modern White Rioja with savoury fruit and zinging freshness. Try it with richer fish recipes, paella or, for a very English take on it, make a chicken, leek and mushroom pie with a sauce that is as creamy as your arteries will allow and cut it with a big glass of this. Yummy.

RED:

2010 Carmenère, Montevista, Valle Central,

Chile

Price per bottle: £7.35 (sealed case price: £6.98) Half price for one sample (members only) £3.67

Deep in colour with punchy fruit showing notes of bramble and pepper. Half an hour in a jug before you start will let the air open it up.

View our Chilean wines here

WHITE:

2010 Borsao Blanco Seleccion, Bodegas Borsao, Campo de Borja,

Spain

Price per bottle: £7.35 (sealed case price: £6.98) Half price for one sample (members only) £3.68

Shows ripe fruit with a nice, crisp, dry edge; quite broad on the palate with a touch of peachy weight and a twist of spice, all countered with Macabeo’s natural freshness.

View our Spanish wines here

FEBRUARY OFFERS

Williamson has invented some more Mystery Six packs,

so watch out for those at the end of the counter.

He reports that we still have the wherewithal to continue with these for a week or three, but it is likely that we will run aground after that. Therefore please note that these are subject to stock remaining unsold and you would be well advised to grab one sooner rather than later if you wish to secure one before they disappear.

Alcohol: Units & Calories

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Wines of Interest is committed to the Public Health Responsibility Deal in relation to the consumption of alcohol. To this extent we have issued this information leaflet on alcoholic units, how to calculate them and the associated calorific values. Please note however that we are Wine Merchants and not doctors nor scientists. If you require more detailed information or a necessarily medically precise list, you would do well to consult your GP.

Wine, of course, is designed to accompany food and we would suggest it is best consumed that way.

How many units of alcohol can I drink?

Current government guidelines (source: Drinkaware website) are that men should not drink more than 3-4 units a day and women should not drink more than 2-3 units a day. It is interesting that the government now choose to express this “per day” since in the past the guidelines have been expressed as units per week (28 for men, 21 for women, although 21 and 14 respectively have also been mentioned).

Recent suggestions have been made that a couple of alcohol free days each week are also recommended which, based on the “per day” guidelines, produce figures closer to the lower weekly totals. The main point here though is to give your body a rest from alcohol on a regular basis and never to drink too much in a single session.

How many units are there in a glass of wine?

This depends on the strength of the wine and the size of the glass. A small (125ml) glass of a light German white wine might typically contain less that one unit of alcohol whilst a large glass of Australian red might contain as many as 3½ units.

How can I work out the number of units then?

Take the strength of the drink as a percentage of alcohol by volume (this will be on the bottle), multiply it by the volume of your glass (in millilitres) and divide by 1000.

Here is an example for a 175ml glass of wine at 13.5% abv strength.

13.5 x 175 = 2,362.5.

Divide that by 1,000 for the answer that this glass contains 2.3625 units of alcohol.

Can I drink alcohol every day?

It’s a free country and there is no law that says you can’t do this, but the question is not whether you can, but rather whether you should. Alcohol consumed in large, and frequent quantities is not good for you, so giving your body a rest occasionally makes sense.

Why do wines seem to be getting stronger?

Several reasons, probably led initially by the misunderstanding that stronger equals better. This is emphatically not the case. Wine is about balance, but alcohol is currently the only factor measured and stated on the label, so it’s the one that most people take the most notice of. Our climate is certainly changing and stronger wines are one of the consequences, but harvests vary from year to year with some producing higher alcoholic levels than others. Good winemakers will take a non-intervention approach and let nature do its work. Some producers are being encouraged (by the large retailers) to take steps to reduce the strength of their wines but we are not in favour of tinkering with a natural product to this extent as the balance of the wine will be disturbed. We say let nature do her work and, if your alcohol intake worries you, have a glass of water for your thirst and the wine for the flavour.

How can I consume less alcohol without affecting my enjoyment of wine?

The Wines of Interest suggestion of “Don’t drink more, drink better” is a good place to start. There is a wealth of wines out there waiting for you which cram more flavour and enjoyment in a bottle than so much of the mass-produced so-called “deals”. If your aim is simply to get sloshed then clearly any old wampo will do, but in our experience people who drink wine don’t do it to get drunk, they do it because they like wine, so why not treat yourself to one special bottle every so often instead of spending the same amount on 2 or 3 bottles that leave you with no lasting impression of enjoyment?

Will it help if I give up alcohol for January? Or Lent? Or at any other time?

Giving up alcohol in January (which is shorter than Lent since you ask) is something that we are aware a few people do. But it’s probably important to first ask yourself why you want to do this. Is it because you think you’re drinking too much because if it is, what’s to stop you doing the same again once your period of abstinence is over? Giving your body a rest from alcohol is good, whether it’s for a month or more, a week, or just a couple of days. Two days a week, every week, is better for you than nothing for a month and then no breaks for the next 11 months.

Do the health benefits attributed to red wine also apply to white wine?

The health benefits claimed on behalf of red wine are mostly down to Resveratrol, a phenol found in the skins of red grapes and apparently not present in the skins of white grapes. Even if drinking red wine has all the benefits it claims it is still the booze that you have to watch. Wine certainly isn’t horribly unhealthy, as long as you don’t overdo it.

Alcohol in general can be both good, and bad for your health. Here’s what Drinkaware say about the health benefits of alcohol:

overall, alcohol only gives you benefits if you drink within the government's daily unit guidelines
any protective benefits on the heart generally only work over the age of 45
beyond the recommended limits, alcohol’s potential benefits on the heart are outweighed by its risks of getting other illnesses, such as liver disease or cancer
any benefits on the heart depend on your overall consumption and general pattern of drinking (how much and how often).

Diet also matters of course, any health benefits will soon be eroded by a poor diet and no exercise.

How do I work out how many calories there are in a glass of wine?

Right – another maths lesson then…

1g of alcohol contains about 7 calories and 1ml of alcohol weighs 0.8g. So we first need to multiply the abv (alcohol by volume) percentage of the drink by the amount of liquid to find the amount of alcohol.

Let’s use our 175ml glass of 13.5% abv wine we had earlier, this contains 23.625ml of alcohol since:

175ml x 13.5%abv = 23.625ml (of alcohol).

23.625ml of alcohol is then multiplied by 0.8 to give 18.9g of alcohol which, multiplied by 7, is 132.3 calories

Had you chosen a 125ml glass of 12%abv wine you would have saved yourself about 48 calories since:

125ml x 12%abv = 15ml of alcohol which, multiplied by 0.8 gives 12g of alcohol which, multiplied by 7 is 84 calories.

OK. I want to cut down my alcohol consumption, what should I do?

Start small so you don’t set yourself an unrealistic target. It’s good to have a couple of alcohol free days each week so, if you’re not already doing that, pick a couple of days to not drink at all. If you need further advice and an easy-to-use system to achieve this we recommend a booklet by Dr Chris Williams from the “Living Life To The Full” series.

The title sucks because it’s called “Fix Your Drinking Problem In 2 Days” which implies that you have a problem before you’ve even started when you might just want to cut down a bit but need a system to help you.

This is a good system and the book will cost you £2.50 (or less). ISBN: 978-1-906564-93-3

How can Wines of Interest help me enjoy wine more and do so in a responsible way that won’t harm my health?

It’s back to our “don’t drink more, drink better” suggestion really. Take what you spend on wine and spread it over fewer bottles thus increasing the quality of what you drink and simultaneously reducing your alcohol consumption. You’ll get more enjoyment out of a better bottle of wine that’s for sure.

We have heaps to choose from, and we don’t try and con you with “too-good-to-be-true” deals; we’re not the cheapest, but nor are we expensive either. What we can promise is good value wines to savour and enjoy to suit every budget and taste.

Why have Wines of Interest bothered to write this leaflet?

We have signed up to the Department of Health Public Health Responsibility Deal and made a specific commitment to try to raise awareness of the importance of enjoying alcohol responsibly. For further information on the Responsibility Deal click here.

Wines of Interest has always encouraged the responsible enjoyment of alcohol and aim to assist customers in exploring the fantastic variety of quality wines available through such schemes as our Sampling Club and winetastings. At the same time we anticipate that those who believe that alcohol is one of our society’s big problems would recognise the difference between those suppliers who promote alcohol in an irresponsible way with idiotic offers at the bottom end of the market to consumers who drink simply to get drunk, and specialist retailers like Wines of Interest who supply individually selected, quality, hand-crafted drinks simply as a civilised adjunct to enjoyable and healthy living.

Anything else?

Yes. Much of this is a message to the consumer (you) from the Government and its associated health advisors (them) via the people on the front line who sell the stuff (us). The advice is sound but it would be unreasonable to leave this one-way communication in such an unbalanced way, so here is a message from “us” to “them”. We hope “you” agree.

When he was Chancellor, Alistair Darling introduced something called the Excise Duty Escalator which automatically increases this tax by 2% above inflation each year. This enables subsequent Chancellors to stand up and announce “no additional increases on alcohol” at Budget-time thus suggesting that the tax on your favourite tipple is unchanged, and blaming any increase on everyone else, but don’t be fooled since this sneaky little tax has increased by 35% over the last 3 years (and you pay VAT on it too). Clearly the Government need the money (so “do they really want us to drink less then” you may ask?) but the effect of this has been to hugely raise the proportion of tax in a bottle of wine at the cheaper end of the market. Clearly something has to give to maintain the critical price points and sadly that “something” is quality. Government taxation policy isn’t encouraging us to drink less, it’s encouraging us to drink rubbish; whether or not we buy better wine the Excise Duty paid to HMRC is the same. The missing piece of the jigsaw of course is minimum pricing and if the Government really wanted us to drink less they would embrace it fully by removing at a stroke the irresponsible deals so frequently seen in both the supermarkets and the on-trade. We will all take the health points seriously, of course, but it really is about time that we saw some responsible action from the Government as well which is designed to support their advice.

January Sampling Club Wines

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Here are the details of our January Sampling Club Wines – The Sampling Club is a great way to try new wines since members receive a bottle of two wines each month at half price. Membership costs £30 per year. Half price samples must be collected from our Ipswich shop during the appropriate month. For more details on the club, click here.

Before Christmas we added a fresh face from Rioja to the list and put it on at our tasting in November. It was the best seller out of more than fifty lines and deserves to be shared with a wider audience. Step forward Bodegas Classica’s Tempranillo Roble, one of a small range of wines that they market under their Hacienda Lopez de Haro label, named after the founder of Bilbao. The winery has been excavated into the side of a mountain which is brilliant for temperature control, as well as allowing the grapes to enter the press house by gravity - the least harsh way of moving the fruit. The grape variety is Tempranillo and, while they use other permitted varieties in their Crianza, this is 100% the former and shows its character beautifully. It works well with slow-roasted pork belly and is a Spanish favourite with lamb - try it with a rich, savoury Lancashire hotpot.

Your January white has been a sample before but not for two years. It has been relegated to the seemingly humble status of Vino de Tavola - simple table wine - but only because it breaks The Rules rather than being inferior in some way, which it certainly is not. The authorities require that this particular grape in this particular part of Italy must be vinified into a sweet sparkling wine in order to qualify for its guarantee of origin. However, this producer has decided that he likes it better still and dry; he makes a delicious wine but forfeits the right to show any details - even the vintage - beyond the generic description above. It may be dangerous for us to reveal all, but we’ll risk it: the grape is Moscato (Muscat), the region is Piemonte and the vintage is 2010. It is a charming dry white of scent and originality to enjoy with light hors d’oeuvres, salads and as an excellent aperitif. When the asparagus season starts, remember this wine for it is delicious with this hard-to-match vegetable.

RED: 2010 Hacienda Lopez de Haro, Rioja, Tempranillo Roble, Bodegas Classica,

Price per bottle: £6.95 (sealed case price: £6.60)

Half price for one sample £3.48 (club members only)

Full of youthful vigour with bright, young fruit and a nip of tannin which makes it so good with food. This is a real winner and a bargain by the standards of the region.

WHITE: Alasia Sec nv, Vino de Tavola, Italy

Price per bottle: £6.95 (sealed case price: £6.60)

Half price for one sample £3.47 (club members only)

Dry without being sharp and possessed of a pretty bouquet with scents of freshly picked Muscat grapes and a blossomy note of elderflower.

JANUARY OFFERS

Williamson is threatening to invent some more Mystery Six packs, so watch out for those in due course. The bins by the office steps will be returned to their regular job of displaying bin ends, so please feel free to have a ferret about in these as well.

SAMPLING CLUB SUBSCRIPTIONS

Sampling Club membership subs are due by the end of January. The cost is £30 which is the same price as the last three years, despite all the increases to which the trade has been subjected. If you wish to renew, the simplest way to do this is to add your subscription payment when you come into the shop to collect your samples. As last year all members who renew before 31st January will receive a £5 voucher to spend during February or March. We look forward to seeing you soon.

We thank all Sampling Club members for your support in 2011 and send our best wishes for a healthy, peaceful and prosperous 2012.

Villa Il Poggiolo, Carmignano, Tuscany (26/9/2011)

2011-11-15T08:28:00.000-08:00

The town of Carmignano lies to the north-west of Firenze (Florence) and is actually in the Chianti Moltalbano region. However, the grape growers here decided to relinquish their entitlement to make Chianti and instead obtained their own DOCG (Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita) of Carmignano. Inevitably, the rules for Carmignano are different (hey! This is Italy after all) and require a minimum of 60% and a maximum of 90% Sangiovese in the wines which must also contain some Cabernet Sauvignon; someone obviously twigged to the need to beef up the more northerly grown Sangiovese with a bit of something else that I mentioned in the last article.

The spectacular view from Villa Il Poggiolo

Villa Il Poggiolo is on the top of a hill on the edge of the town of Carmignano. Access is via a steep winding road with plenty of hairpins and not for the faint-hearted. In the distance Florence is visible and the views all round are spectacular. Here they make a white wine, a rose, 4 reds and a Vin Santo. The reds are Rosso dei Colli Della Toscana Centrale (catchy name eh?) Barco Reale (a DO for younger or declassified Carmignano) a Carmignano and a Carmignano Riserva. Villa Il Poggiolo have about 20 hectares of vines and make about 100,000 bottles of wine each year. Their oldest vines are 40 years old and all the grapes have to be hand-picked because the grape varieties are mixed plantings throughout the vineyards and all ripen at different times. Il Poggiolo wines are aged in old large oak casks which have a gentle toasting. They do not use new oak barriques, believing them to be too aggressive for their wines.

Old casks at Villa Il Poggiolo

We tasted the following wines in the winery: The 2010 Carmignano is 75% Sangiovese and 25% Cabernet Sauvignon and is very fresh and fruity with youthful tannins. It has notes of concentrated chocolate and cherry and,with still 9 months to go in cask, will fill out and soften. The 2009 has 70% Sangiovese, 15% Cabernet Sauvignon and 15% Canaiolo and is gamey, rich and shows more oak; full, grippy,warming. The 2008 Carmignano Riserva is really quite big and grippy with rich fruitcake notes and hints of cherry. A super wine already but will get better still. There was a tremendous depth and concentration to these wines.

Over what was described as a “light lunch” (of local breads; proscuitto; chicken liver pate; cold dressed tripe; cured pigs cheeks on bruschetta with honey and rosemary; a salad of lamb’s lettuce, pine nuts, mint and anchovies; pumpkin risotto; pasta with beef shreds; rare roast rib of beef followed by a dessert made from the recently harvested grapes) we tasted the white, the rose and a couple of reds and then finished with the Vin Santo.

The end of our "light lunch".
Just in time for our evening flight back....

Despite the obvious distraction on the table I managed to scribble a few notes which reveal the white – the 2010 Lacrima di Cantine Bianco – to be a 50/50 mix of Vermentino and Trebbiano which is unoaked, clean, fresh and herbaceous with good fresh fruit and zippy acidity. It was perhaps a little short on the finish but otherwise sound enough. The 2010 Rosato – a mix of Sangiovese and Canaiolo which varies depending on the vintage – is really quite dark for a rose with orange hints on the rim. The nose is of pure strawberries leading to savoury notes in the mouth. Wholesome stuff but perhaps a bit pricey in the light of the competition on our shelves back home. The 2008 Barco Reale is 70% Sangiovese and 15% each Canaiolo and Cab.Sauv. all of which spend 6 months in cask and then 6 months in steel tank. It’s round, savoury and has gentle leathery notes. My notes record that I was relatively unmoved by this though. The 2008 Carmignano is 70% Sangiovese with 20% Cab.Sauv. and 10% Canaiolo which is soft, fruity and easy on the palate. It does look a bit on the expensive side though at the best part of £20 retail in the UK. Though not currently available in the UK, the wines of Villa Il Poggiolo may become so if some work can be done on the prices.

We finished with the 2001 Vin Santo which is 80% Trebbiano and 10% Malvasia with the remaining 10% a mix of San Colombaro, Canaiolo Bianco and Vermentino. A great wine to sign off with, this has notes of dried fig with a hint of liquorice and dried orange peel. Again there is the almost sherry-like nuttiness on the nose as well. In the mouth this is roundly sweet and rich with fresh sultana and citrus flavours with super cleansing acidity and a long finish.

Please do not hesitate to ask about the availability of any of the wines featured in this series of blogs from Tuscany. Not all make it as far as the

, none are cheap, but many are great value for what they are given the level of care and attention that goes into making them and the experiences they bring. Almost all need food but they provide a perfect illustration of the spiritual heart of

Italy

as far as wine is concerned. You will not be disappointed!

Casa Emma, Chianti Classico, Tuscany (25/9/2011)

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Towards the western edge of the Chianti Classico region, just south of the village of San Donato (which is about halfway between Poggibonsi and Greve in Chianti if you’re really that interested) lies the Casa Emma estate. Casa Emma was bought by the Bucalossi family back in 1970 from the Fiorentine noblewoman Emma Bizzarri (hence the name) and sits amidst 34 hectares of land of which 21 hectares are vineyard. They grow mainly Sangiovese here (surprise, surprise) but also have about 3 hectares of Merlot and smaller plantings of Malvasia Nera and Canaiolo. There are the inevitable olive groves but also 5 hectares of botanical park where a Quercus Pubescens wood (or “oak” if you prefer to keep it simple – “downy oak” if you want to get more technical, but I’m stopping there…) is interspersed with plantings of cistus, broom, honeysuckle, privet, juniper shrubs and several species of wild rose and other herbaceous plantings. Rose syrup, rose dressing and rose jam are produced here too.

Casa Emma

Casa Emma use the traditional grape blend for Chianti Classico of 80% Sangiovese with the remainder made up of Canaiolo and Malvasia Nera. Fermentation usually takes about 20 days on the skins with the fermenting juice pumped over the “cap” to keep the maceration going. The malo-lactic fermentation (the conversion of the harsher Malic Acid into the softer Lactic Acid which is encouraged in wine) takes about 6 months. Once complete, the wine is moved to casks of French oak. A combination of 225 litre (barrique) and 500 litre casks is used. Casa Emma keep their barrels for 3 years using 1 and 2 year old casks for Riserva wines and the older ones for straight Chianti Chassico.

The 2010 Chianti Classico (tasted from cask) is clearly very young, but has good fruit and nice tannins underneath. There is a hint of smoke from the oak and it promises well for the future. A straight Merlot from 2007 was really showing unexpected youth for a wine that was already 4 years old while the 2008 Chianti Classico Riserva was full, rich and showed evident oak. No doubt it promises well, but I found myself engaged in a bout of chin-stroking over the enthusiastic oak, wondering whether the fruit would be energetic enough to keep up.

The 2009 Riserva, though really quite tannic, showed a little better I thought, while the 2009 straight Chianti Classico was slightly smokey and meaty on the nose compared to the others and on the lighter side in the mouth. I suspect that this is nothing more than a common accusation levelled at Sangiovese though; I will explain. If you’re far enough south in Tuscany in, say, Montalcino, Montepulciano or Orcia, you have less trouble getting your grapes nicely ripe and, in turn, produce fuller and more complete wines than it is possible to make in Chianti, which is that bit further north (different soil too) without the addition of other varieties to help the wine along. Sangiovese is sometimes accused of seeming a little “hollow” somehow so the addition of other varieties makes perfect sense in some areas. Sangiovese has plenty of flavour that’s for sure, but perhaps is sometimes in need of a bit body-building. Some varieties do this better than others; Rietine use Merlot which works well, Casa Emma use Canaiolo and Malvasia Nera which tweaks the style a little in a lighter, some would say elegant, direction. It’s all very subjective of course, but I generally found the Casa Emma style was less appealing.

We then tasted the 2007 Riserva and hit a problem. Some were not happy and suspected a fault, but not one of the obvious ones, so a second bottle was brought forward. The second bottle was better in the mouth but still had the same issue on the nose. It was one of those frustrating experiences where the wine didn’t shine and no-one could quite put their finger on why. The 2006 Riserva was a completely different experience, it had bigger fruit and was rounder and richer than the 2007. The tannins were nicely ripe and there was a pleasant vanilla oak finish. The 2005 Riserva again got us all quite animated. It was savoury on the nose with a slightly cooked element (some spotted the prickle of sulphur) but in the mouth it was wholesome enough.

Casa Emma also make a Super Tuscan (see previous blog for definition) called Soloio. It’s 100% Merlot. The 2006 is much more New World in style and has a huge nose with rich plum fruit and a hint of smoke. It’s quite round and grippy in the mouth with plenty of body and depth but, like so many such wines, it carries an overly-optimistic price tag and would be in the region of £40 a bottle in the

. Sorry chaps, nice wine, wrong price. The 2005 Soloio showed evident age and had an odd nose, not faulty, but oddly whiffy in a meaty way. Strange stuff.

Casa Emma make about 800 litres of Vin Santo a year made from air-dried Trebbiano and Malvasia picked in mid-October, once the main harvest is in. The wine is aged in chestnut and cherry casks for 8 years before release. We tasted the 2000 which has toffee and marmalade notes on the nose; a sort of Amontillado-meets-Rutherglen Muscat. Fresh and fruity in the mouth it’s clean, pure and has good acidity to balance the concentrated sweetness.

The Casa Emma vineyards, just showing a hint of autumn.

A bit of a mixed bag here then. Some nice wines, but also some that didn’t float my boat particularly. The winery itself is modern and well presented, as are the staff with their Casa Emma shirts, and maybe this formulaic approach works for others, but as someone who has become accustomed to tasting in damp cellars the polished nature of the presentation seemed better suited to visiting tourists somehow. Maybe Soloio works well for the Transatlantic market where mouthfilling oaky reds have a more immediate appeal, and where the preferences of Robert Parker seem to release many wine drinkers of the courage to formulate their own opinions, and the 2006 is good but I know we couldn’t sell it for £40 back home in Ipswich. The Chiantis really come down to a preference in style and, of the two Classico estates we visited, Rietine get the nod as far as I’m concerned; Rietine’s wines are still elegant, but they have a bit more going on in the glass…

We can obtain the following wines from Casa Emma should you be interested – please contact us for details:

2006 Chianti Classico £15.95

1998 Chianti Classico Riserva £24.00

2000 Chianti Classico Riserva £24.50

2001 Chianti Classico Riserva £25.00

2004 Chianti Classico Riserva £28.50

2005 Chianti Classico Riserva £31.00

Vintages and prices correct as at 15^th November 2011

Christmas Wine Ideas...

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Well then, what are you eating at Christmas? Traditional turkey, goose, beef perhaps or venison, maybe you’re a veggie or a fish fan; you can already see that wine recommendations need to cover a lot of ground. Oh, and what’s your budget? We’re always happy to advise customers individually according to menu and price but, realistically, we might not get the chance, so here are a few ideas to enjoy with your seasonal feasting.

Before the meal, why not have a glass of bubbles? If it must be Champagne avoid the big brands - the shelf price reclaims such a whack of marketing expense that they are seldom good value. Lallier Grand Cru, Reserve Brut, Ay at £26.50, is made only from Grand Cru vineyards, showing real class and more than enough flavour to match a tray of canapés. Super value at less than half that is Mayerling Brut, Cremant d’Alsace at £12.95, made entirely from Pinot Blanc grapes. It is brisk and cleansing with fresh fruit - a perfect appetiser.

Fish needs care: what goes well with shellfish may not work with smoked mackerel or salmon as the oil in them clashes with the acidity of a deliberately sharp wine like Muscadet, which is perfect with mussels. For richer and smoked fish recipes, try 2010 Macon-Solutré, Domaine Denuziller at £11.25, a smooth, dry but ripe, entirely oak-free White Burgundy, boxing above its weight. For a crisper, zestier option go for 2010 False Bay Sauvignon Blanc, Western Cape,

South Africa

at £7.25 with the grape’s leafy freshness and zippy palate.

If turkey is on the menu a gentler red works well if it can stand up to stuffings and sauces without overpowering the meat. 2008 Herringbone Hills Pinot Noir, Marlborough,

New Zealand

at £10.95 offers just the right balance of flavour with freshness, but without clobbering alcohol. It will take on rich gravy and traditional trimmings, but won’t send you to sleep in front of the queen who, obviously, deserves your full attention.

Richer meats demand bigger wines though available space allows just one or two ideas. So, full enough to match beef, with sufficient edge to cut through the richness of goose and with a savoury character to compliment game - it’s time to visit Italy. 2005 Malintoppo, Azienda Agricola Simonelli-Santi, Orcia, Tuscany at £12.25 comes from a valley sandwiched between Brunello di Montalcino and Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, yet is about half the price of the Vino Nobile and one third of the price of Brunello and cracking value relatively speaking.

If a less high-falutin’, general purpose red is wanted, consider 2009 Hacienda Lopez de Haro Roble, Rioja, Bodegas Classica. At £6.95 it won’t break the bank and at a quality above its price it won’t let the side down. It is bursting with soft, ripe Tempranillo fruit with just a kiss of background oak spice, it will drink beautifully with red and white meats and it is perfect for entertaining a crowd.

For pud, one grape in two variants. For palate refreshing zip try 2010 Moscato Frizzante, Cantine Volpi, Piemonte @ £8.60, sweet and grapey with a half-sparkle and at just 5.5% abv, it won’t frighten the vicar. So fresh, so clean. 2009 Late Harvest Muscat, Tabali Estate, Limari Valley,

Chile

@ £6.50 per half bottle is stickier, richer and bubble-free with barley-sugar intensity. Both will ease down a mince pie delightfully.

Cheese is a vital part of the Christmas table and traditionally this is accompanied by a glass or two of Port. Here is a rich, lusciously fruity, fleshy example of generosity and warmth to put with your Stilton: it is Rio Torto, Reserva, Krohn, normally £12.50 but reduced to £10.50 until December 31^st.

Rietine, Chianti Classico, Tuscany (25/9/2011)

2011-11-04T09:34:00.000-07:00

This history of Chianti is long and complex and today the region of production is divided into several sub-regions with the Chianti Classico region – considered the best of them, and where it all began – at its heart sitting neatly between Firenze in the north and Siena in the south. Early attempts to define what the make up of the wine should be resulted in too great a proportion of white grapes being permitted but this has, over time, been corrected to the point in 2006 where the use of white varieties in Chianti Classico was outlawed. The traditional white varieties are still permitted (up to certain levels) in the surrounding regions of Chianti Colli Aretini, Chianti Colli Fiorentini, Chianti Colli Pisane, Chianti Colli Senesi, Chianti Montalbano and Chianti Rufina but Chianti Classico wines now have a distinctive character all of their own, and are much the better for it.

Mario and Galina Lazarides own and run Rietine (pronounces Re-ee-tine-ay) a winery in the south of the Chianti Classico region, about 8km as the crow flies south east of the town of Radda in Chianti. It feels like about 20km by road because you don’t go anywhere quickly in Tuscany. The undulating hills, sweeping valleys and mix of vineyards, olive groves and forest somehow always seem to be in the way and it’s one of the easiest, but nicest, places on the planet to get lost!

Mario & Galina in their cellar at Rietine

Mario explains that he has 12 hectares in total of which 7 hectares are vineyards. There is an approximate mix of 80% Sangiovese and 20% Merlot as well as a few small plantings of other varieties. He aims to make about 5,000 litres per hectare as long as he has no vines missing, and many vineyards in Chianti Classico are missing vines – mostly white varieties that were grubbed up following the 2006 ruling. Indeed some producers still make 5,000 litres per hectare even when their vineyards are missing vines which obviously has an effect on concentration. The Consorzio are now checking vineyards for missing vines and adjusting permitted yields accordingly. “About time too!” says Mario.

Each vine is expected to yield 6 or 7 bunches of grapes, though vines destined for Chianti Classico Riserva production will be reduced to 4 or 5 bunches in about June to encourage concentration. In August some leaves are removed from the vines to aid ripening and the grapes, once ripe, are hand-harvested enabling close inspection and selection of each bunch. 2011 is a good vintage but quantity is down by about 30%.

The vineyards of Chianti Classico

Mario has several different varieties on oak casks in his cellar, all French but from different oaks (Allier, Troncais, Limousin, Nevers and Vosges) each barrique is marked with a letter to denote its origin. Chianti Classico Riserva and Rietine’s “Super Tuscan” (Tiziano) see 24 months in oak. New casks are toasted gently for 45 mins before use. Mario is quite particular about which oak variety is used for what.

Rietine’s 2007 Chianti Classico is 80% Sangiovese (which is must be by law) and 20% Merlot. It is poised, balanced and fine with fresh cherry fruit on the nose expanding in the mouth to hints of damson. The flavours are focussed and pure. Mario explains that he is not 100% happy with the 2008 Chianti Classico which will be sold off as declassified wine. This is honourable in my book and demonstrates Mario’s adherence to strict quality standards for his wines. His 2007 Chianti Classico Riserva is 100% Sangiovese and is much more concentrated than the straight Classico; rich yet elegant, not simply bigger and oakier which many other Riserva can so often be. The use of oak is very gentle adding, correctly, a seasoning to the wine to lift and enhance the natural fruit flavours and balance rather than dominating the palate. There are complexities here which flesh out the finish.

Tiziano is Rietine’s “Super Tuscan”. Super Tuscan wines are those which do not stick to the local rules (for example they include non-permitted varieties which prohibit the wine from being called Chianti). Originally many had to be simply labelled as table wines because no other classification existed which produced the anomaly of “Vino da Tavola” selling for higher prices than much Chianti, but the introduction of the Indicazione Geografica Tipica (IGT) classification now gives them a more suitable “home” as far as labelling is concerned. Tiziano is 90% Merlot and 10% Ancelotta the latter of which I never knew was a grape variety until this visit (I thought he used to be the Chelsea Manager…). The 2004 Tiziano is ripe, plummy and rich. It shows more evident vanilla oak than the Chiantis, but has the structure to take it. The finish is long and rich with an almost sweet note at the end balanced by a nip of grape skin astringency. The 2007 Tiziano is the same blend and has a more obvious note of Merlot on the nose, a youthful appearance and very pink edges. It smells full ripe and rich with the oak bringing an almost sweet element. In the mouth is a rich mouthful of chewy fruit with a gentle savoury edge. It clearly needs a few years yet to reach its full potential.

From tank we tasted the 2009 Chianti Classico which Mario was due to bottle on 11^th October. It’s a super wine with lots of fruit and concentration and still some way to go to reach its full potential. The 2008 Chianti Classico Riserva (again from tank) seems even better than the 2009 but it could be that it’s just more approachable. Again Rietine’s well-judged use of oak is evident with ripe almost raisin-like notes on the finish. The Riserva 2008 was due to be bottled on 20^th October 2011. The 2008 Tiziano is also a big wine, full rich and concentrated, almost difficult to taste because it’s so young.

Before we depart we are treated to a taste of the 1997 Vin Santo which reminded me of sherry in a sort of Oloroso-meets-PX way. The grapes for this are harvested late so are already very ripe when they leave the vines (in about October). They are then dried over the winter and crushed in late January. Normally you might expect to get 75 litres of juice from 100kg of grapes, but by the time these are dried 100kg of grapes will produce about 22 litres. The wine is then aged in casks for over 10 years. It is wonderfully rich and concentrated. Someone else said “Twiglets” which may seem like an odd flavour for a sweet wine, but I know exactly what they mean! The Rietine Grappa di Chianti Classico is clean and pure and reminded me of some of the French Eaux de Vie de Fruits with its purely fruity nose. We were able to compare it with the same Grappa which had seen 2 years in oak which was drier, fuller and just as elegant. The group was split 50/50 on which they preferred.

The whole experience at Rietine was fascinating. The wines are skilfully hand-crafted and Mario and Galina utterly charming. They insisted we took a glass or two of Chianti Classico before we departed! My final note records that this visit was like looking at Chianti through a microscope in terms of the level of detail, the elegance of the wines and the definition of the myriad of flavours.

We can obtain the following wines from Rietine should you be interested – please contact us for details:

2007 Chianti Classico, Rietine £15.95

1998 Chianti Classico Riserva Rietine £18.95

2000 Chianti Classico Riserva Rietine £19.95

Vintages and prices correct as at 4^th November 2011

Azienda Agricola Simonelli-Santi, Orcia, Tuscany (24/9/2011)

2011-10-25T06:45:00.000-07:00

The regions of production of two of Tuscany’s finest wines – Brunello di Montalcino and Vino Nobile di Montpulciano – are separated by a strip of land where the River Orcia flows. You can stand in the main town - San Quirico d’Orcia - and see the hill of Montalcino to the west while over the hills to the east, across the next valley, sits Montepulciano. Sangiovese is the dominant variety everywhere which makes wines like Simonelli-Santi’s Malintoppo (100% Sangiovese) cracking value when compared to its more famous neighbours; a few kilometres east and you could easily double the price. Move a few kilometres west and you ought probably to triple it. It is interesting to note that producers in Orcia often receive approaches from growers of Brunello di Montalcino for their “surplus production” when their own vines leave them short of wine. It is perfectly legal for Brunello producers to buy from Orcia, but they are only allowed include Orcia production in Rosso di Montalcino and not Brunello. ‘Nuff said…(ahem).

The entrance to the old town of
San Quirico d'Orcia

The Simonelli-Santi winery sits on the outskirts of San Quirico d’Orcia. They make two red wines here: Malintoppo is 100% Sangiovese made from a 4 hectare plot about 400m above sea level. The wine sees about 3 months in oak. Antonio is 80% Sangiovese with 20% Cabernet Sauvignon and sees about 8 months in oak. Grapes for Antonio come from just 1 hectare of vines.

Simonelli-Santi

In the winery we were guided through several vintages of Malintoppo by Ilaria Simonelli who makes the wine as well as being a busy wife and mum. Her energy and enthusiasm for her products (she makes Vin Santo, Grappa and olive oil as well) is infectious! As I write we are on the last few bottles of the fantastic 2004 Malintoppo here in the shop and about to move to 2005 which is also good, a little fresher and fruitier and perhaps less savoury. Younger vintages, already queuing up to follow on when the time is right, are looking good!

Tasting several vintages of Malintoppo

The 2006 is delicious with lovely richness in the mouth. There was disagreement amongst the group on when to drink it though; some thought it needed longer to settle down and soften some of its grippier character, while others thought it ready now. Personally, though approachable now, I’d prefer to see it in a year’s time. At least there is plenty of 2005 to be going on with! If anything the 2007 is even better. It has a purer and more characteristic Sangiovese character and a balance that perhaps gives it the edge on the 2006. The 2008 is much deeper and darker and, though the tannins are ripe, they need time to integrate. The alcohol is quite evident here and we notice a rise from the 2004 (13%abv) through the 2005 (14%abv) to the 2006 and 2007 (both 14.5%abv) to 15%abv in the 2008 (yeah, I know - more on this in a bit). The 2009 is enormous with notes of liquorice, chocolate and tobacco. It will be wonderful, but not for a few years yet.

Ilaria

Many of our number report comments from customers that alcohol levels in wine generally are on the rise. Ilaria agrees, but explains that winemakers have a choice to make about whether to interfere with nature or not to address this. Her approach is simply to let nature get on with it and riper grapes (and as a result higher alcohol levels) are the result of the current climate. How much rain falls and (perhaps even more critically) when it falls has a direct influence on final alcohol levels. It is possible to irrigate of course, encouraging the vines to take up water that might not have otherwise been available, which will proportionately reduce sugar (and therefore alcohol) but the resulting wines may lack concentration and depth. “You could always add the water to the final wine!” suggests one of our number. Ilaria’s wry smile suggests that this may be an option employed by other, less scrupulous, producers! Hot climates are getting hotter and the message here is that we either we poke up with higher alcohol, or we buy different wines because it’s more important to producers like Ilaria that her wines are as natural as possible. As a customer, you might not like that, but it is an approach worthy of respect.

Our tasting at the winery concentrated solely on vintages of Malintoppo (vin santo, grappa and olive oil) but bottles of Antonio 2005 were attacked without mercy at several points during our time in Tuscany. Antonio is a more modern style with the addition of the Cab.Sauv. It’s still leathery and savoury with underlying black fruit and is fuller and richer but the critical thing here is that although the Cabernet fills out the Sangiovese in a modern way, the wine firmly maintains its Italian identity. If you don’t know what I mean, just buy a bottle or two…

Ilaria hands out the 2003 Vin Santo

The 2003 Vin Santo is made from a blend of 20% Trebbiano and 80% Malvasia. The grapes are picked before the main harvest and then dried until late February. The wine is matured for 5-6 years in oak casks after which time only 30% remains of its original volume (can you imagine the concentration)! It is raisiny and rich with a soft, velvet feel in the mouth. Utterly captivating!

We can obtain the following wines from Simonell-Santi should you be interested – please contact us for details:

2005 Malintoppo £12.25 (already on the list)

2005 Antonio £16.50 (shortly to be added)!

2003 Vin Santo £29.00 per 50cl

Vintages and prices correct as at 25^th October 2011

Podere Le Berne, Montepulciano, Tuscany (24/9/2011)

2011-10-20T06:14:00.000-07:00

The medieval hill town of Montepulciano has a problem, namely that is shares its name with a red grape variety grown extensively on the other side of

Italy

in Abruzzo. The town of Montepulciano and Montepulciano d’Abruzzo are entirely unrelated of course, yet confusion reigns; sometimes I wonder whether the Italians do it deliberately… So, the town is Montepulciano, the grape is Sangiovese (mostly) and the people are the Natalini family who own Podere Le Berne, a farm which occupies about 21 hectares of which 10 are planted with vines.

We found Andrea Natalini
with his pickers in the vineyard.

We had to search for Andrea amongst the vineyards for the harvest was in full swing and he was out with the pickers. Greeted with confident handshakes and beaming smiles we were handed the secateurs and encouraged to join in.

Picking Sangiovese in the Le Berne vineyards near Montepulciano.

The small trailer was soon full and on its way back to the winery, we watched the grapes unloaded, crushed and the juice pumped to the fermentation tank. Within 30 minutes of picking the grapes we were tasting the resulting juice.

The grapes are crushed.

Andrea grabbed his hydrometer and took a reading of the sugar content. It read 22 something-in Italian-that-I-didn’t-quite-catch which Andrea said was high and would equate to about 15% alcohol in the finished wine. This too is high, though not unusual for such a hot vintage as 2011 (his 2008 is also 15%).

Andrea checks the sugar content of the
juice from the freshly crushed grapes.

Some people may be put off by a wine whose label reads 15% abv but it’s foolish to judge a wine solely on its alcoholic content. Wine is all about balance and lots of booze is ok so long as there’s lots of everything else to maintain that balance. Besides, what’s the alternative? Pick the grapes before they are fully ripe to control the sugar and thereby the potential alcohol? That means mean, green stalky wines that are not enjoyable. Or you could just add water I suppose? It might lower the alcohol but also dilutes the flavour that the winemaker has worked so hard to achieve.

It is possible resort to all sorts of modern trickery to lower the alcoholic content (as many supermarkets are now insisting their producers do in response to customer demand) by techniques such as reverse osmosis (look it up...) but just how much do you think we should bugger about with that which nature has seen fit to provide? The time has come to stop bickering about a few degrees of booze and have a glass of water with your wine and, if you have to resort to such desperate measures, just drink fewer glasses; it’s meant to be shared after all! OK, that’s the rant out of the way and you need to buy a bottle of Le Berne’s 2008 Vino Nobile di Montepulciano too see what I mean about 15% abv wine and balance.

Andrea has vines ranging from 60 years old to those which he only planted this year. In the best years he makes a Riserva, the juice for which tends to come from his oldest vines. Generally speaking only vines over 10 years of age make his Vino Nobile, anything younger will tend to become Rosso di Montepulciano. It will be several years before he uses the fruit from the vine he planted this year for anything other than green manure!

Tasting the Le Berne wines.

The 2010 Rosso di Montepulciano (13.5% abv since you ask) has a fresh cherry nose and shows evident youth. It’s attractive enough now, but will mellow and soften with a couple more years in bottle and will drink beautifully for another 3-5 after that.

The 2008 Vino Nobile di Montepulciano (15% abv if you recall) has a super ripe nose of red fruit with real depth and intensity. The palate is concentrated ripe cherry with a hint of vanilla from the oak. It’s very big in the mouth and the alcohol, pleasingly, doesn’t dominate at all. My scribbled tasting note at the time ends with the words “Bloody brilliant!”

The 2007 Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Riserva is much darker in colour and is even more complex with the characteristic red fruit but just a hint of liquorice. There is more obvious oak here which follows through onto the palate which is full and fleshy with great length.

Andrea drizzles some of his olive oil onto some bread for us to taste and then mysteriously vanishes to return a few minutes later with an unlabelled bottle asking if we’d like to taste something else. It was impossible to resist. The wine we taste is, we understand, something of an experiment. So much so that it does not yet have a name. It is 75% Colorino and 25% Marmolo (no, I don’t know either). It is simply enormous, with a nose reminiscent of Priorat or at least a similar Grenache/Carignan mix from a warm climate. It’s young, vibrant, rich and chocolatey and quite unlike anything else we’ve tasted from Tuscany. Andrea is clearly a chap who's not afraid to try new things in the quest for better and better wines. He certainly got my vote anyway!

The Vin Santo is the nuttiest we’ve tasted so far. Almost sherry-like on the nose yet with a sweet delicacy in the mouth with raisin and dried citrus notes.

Grapes for Vin Santo drying on raised mats

We can obtain the following wines from Podere Le Berne should you be interested – please contact us for details:

2009 Rosso di Montepulciano £14.50

2008 Vino Nobile de Montepulciano £22.50 (in stock now - yes, you can buy this today)!

2007 Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Riserva £29.50

Vintages and prices correct as at 11^th October 2011

Fattorie Giannozzi Wines, Marcialla, Tuscany (22/9/2011)

2011-10-19T06:46:00.000-07:00

Fattorie Giannozzi is a small family-owned and run Fattorie that can trace winemaking in a direct line since 1710. Situated about halfway between Siena and Florence their vineyards lie in the district of Barberino Val d’Elsa which itself is just 2km from the edge of the Chianti Classico region. The grapes here are grown without the use of fertilizers etc though they (sensibly) reserve the right to intervene when absolutely necessary. There are 180 hectares in total with 35 hectares being vineyards.

The ancient farmhouse (you can stay there is you wish) dates from the 16^th century, though Marcialla has grown to the extent that it now sits on the edge of the main square! Two ancient olive presses lurk in the cellar alongside a selection of old agricultural tools displayed on the wall like instruments of torture.

Instruments of torture?

Hidden in the corner is a small door leading to a treasure trove of old historic vintages on which several generations of spiders had woven their protective silky blanket; there are bottles here dating back several generations!

The "Library" at Fattorie Giannozzi

Our tasting here was done as part of a Tuscan meal and commenced with, unusually for Tuscany, a Chardonnay. The 2010 Chardonnay from Fattorie Giannozzi is clean and fresh with a note of lemon and pear on its easy, attractive nose. In the mouth it is apple-fresh and crisp with citrus acidity. It’s not available in the

however, and one can understand why when it would sell for around £11 – after all, you can buy decent Macon for that sort of money.

The 2009 Chianti Colli Fiorentini Villa Marcialla is 90% Sangiovese and 10% Merlot. It is fermented in stainless steel and sees no oak. The nose is all ripe cherry and damson with the damson and an attractive hint of grape skin astringency following through to the palate. It really needs food to show it at its best. The selection of proscuitto, salami, olives, breads and salads we ate with it certainly did the job well!

These wines worked better with food....

The 2007 Chianti Colli Fiorentini Riserva Villa Marcialla is also a 90/10 blend of Sangiovese and Merlot and sees 24-30 months in French oak (18, 20 and 25hl barrels though – not barriques). Certainly there is evident oak on the nose though the ripe cherry and damson fruit still shows through. The palate is rounder, fuller and more savoury than the 2009 straight Chianti, and the finish longer with lingering notes of vanilla.

Fattorie Giannozzi also make a straight Merlot and a straight Cabernet Sauvignon neither of which are brought into the

; presumably for the same reason as the Chardonnay. Both are sound wines though. The 2006 Merlot has gentle round chocolate notes and is ripely fruity in the mouth. It’s something of an international wine and, whilst sound enough, could almost come from anywhere which sort of misses the point when you’re in the middle of

Italy

. The 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon is very minty on the nose and actually tasted of spearmint leaves with fleshy blackcurrant fruit. Again, it is sound enough and perfectly enjoyable, but something of a homeless wine.

Giannozzi’s Vin Santo di Chianti was super though. Very intense and almost sherry-like in flavour it has a sweet nuttiness on the palate and a long powerful finish.

We can obtain the following wines from Fattorie Giannozzi should you be interested – please contact us for details:

2006 Villa Marcialla Chianti Colli Fiorentini £9.95

2005 Villa Marcialla Chianti Colli Fiorentini Riserva £12.95

Vintages and prices correct as at 12^th October 2011

Olive Oil

2011-10-13T08:06:00.000-07:00

Almost all Tuscan vineyards are interspersed with olive groves; olives are the other big crop of the region. Consequently, most producers make olive oil in addition to wine and there is an equal variety of styles available. I have to be careful here since, whilst my palate is accustomed to wine, it is not used to tasting pure olive oil. Many producers drizzle it over the local bread (which is unsalted) though one producer served it to us in a tasting glass, like wine.

Olive oil is a delicate beast and easily killed by light. 9 years ago the EU (bless ‘em) woke up to this and decreed that it could only be sold in dark green bottles or tins. So if you keep yours at home in a clear bottle get a dark one instead. It also picks up other flavours so keep the cork in the bottle! In the UK we’ve only really caught on to what the Italians, Spanish et al have known for centuries – after all it wasn’t that many years ago that you could only buy olive oil in the UK at the Chemists, and only then in small bottles that lived in the medicine cupboard and not the kitchen! My parents thought it was really only good for de-waxing your ears and getting the fluff out of your belly button…

Legally olive oil has to carry a “best before” date (rather than an expiry date) because it is a foodstuff. This always strikes me as a bit odd for something that has been used as a preservative for centuries. But then again, as one food broker we know pointed out, he sources salt for a

supermarket that comes from a deposit that is hundreds of thousands of years old, and that has a “best before” date on it too… best before the next ice age presumably…

When olive oil is fresh it’s green in colour. This is because the olives (only picked in Tuscany once the grape harvest is in) are not 100% ripe. In time the colour will change from green to yellow. Olive oil will begin to solidify at 4˚C and once it’s done that it will separate and will not restore itself once it warms up again. To taste it (if tasting from a glass, like wine) you find the same flavours as with everything else: sweetness on the front, bitter at the back and salty and sour at the sides, acidity underneath. You then swallow it and you get an extra flavour, pepper in the throat and, as a general rule, the more pepper you find when you swallow it (and you must swallow it to get the pepper-in-the-throat sensation) the fresher the oil.

There are two ways to press olive oil, cold press and hot press. Of these a cold pressing produces the better oil because it’s easier to separate out the water element, but it’s labour intensive and correspondingly expensive. Hot pressing (and you’ll never see it on a label – you might as well print the words “mass produced”) is the more commercial because it’s cheaper and faster, but more water remains so the oil is less fine. Some producers (including our own Felix Gasull from

Spain

) opt for a low temperature (but not completely cold) pressing at night which still produces a high quality oil, but helps keep to a reasonable price too. Prices for the finest oils can be pretty high.

Olive oil consumption is the

is increasing, but an average Italian family of 2 adults and 1 child consumes about 50kg of olive oil each year. An average American probably consumes the same in cheeseburgers… at least we in the UK are now starting to recognise the benefits of olive oil and the nature of its friendlier fats.

Whilst on the subject of

America

, did you know that in the

USA

and

Canada

it is legally permissible to dilute olive oil with up to 20% of sunflower oil and still call it Extra Virgin? Sneaky eh? As indeed is the fact that you can import olive oil from (say)

Spain

Italy

and, as long as it’s bottled in

Italy

, it can be called Italian olive oil. You could argue that this is no different to buying a Japanese car that’s been made in Sunderland, but surely labelling should be about clarity? So, please remember that any country of origin on your olive oil refers only to where it was bottled/canned and not necessarily where the olives were grown. That’s also pretty sneaky in my book actually come to think of it. To get round this you need to decode the label. Look at the label and you should find no more than 2 names on it. These will be the grower’s name, and the producer’s name (who presses and bottles it). They may be the same chap of course in which case you’ll only find one name. Marvellous. But if you see 3 (or more) names you’re probably looking at a product that’s going for the cheaper end of the market and has been imported from another country and is trying to cash in on the perceived prestige of being from a different country.

Our Felix Gasull olive oil is Spanish and comes from Reus which is near Tarragona, just down the coast from Barcelona. It’s Extra Virgin (the highest quality grade characterised by not more than 0.8% acidity) and made from “Arbequina” olives. The olives are hand-harvested and transported to their mill to be milled at a low temperature during the night. The hand-harvesting is important since it enables more effective removal of the leaves which can adversely affect the flavour of the final oil if too many left in. The result is a single varietal oil of low acidity, with a slightly fruity taste and almond, fennel, nuts and anise notes. It’s great for salads, dipping, frying, roasting, anything in fact as it’s a good all-rounder. Yours for only £7.20 a litre. Order now here.

Prices correct as at 12^th October 2011

Fattoria di Fugnano, San Gimignano, Tuscany

2011-10-13T07:23:00.000-07:00

Up a steep, winding track to the west of the hilltop town of San Gimignano sits the Fattoria di Fugnano. The estate was originally bought by the current owner’s grandfather who fell in love with the area and wanted a property here. Back in those days Fugnano made acceptable bulk wine, but on the passing of her grandfather, and given her parent’s desire to sell up, Laura decided to leave her studies at university and take over the estate. Her first vintage was 2002 and she has never looked back since!

Laura checking the grapes on their way to the crusher.

Today Fugnano has land of 200 hectares which are a mix of vineyards (26ha) olive groves and woodland. The vines are mostly Sangiovese (red) and Vernaccia (white) though there is a sprinkling of other varieties including Merlot and Syrah. The whole area is now a protected UNESCO site with considerable restrictions enforced on buildings and renovations. The undulating hills provide various different microclimates all of which require separate management. Most vineyards sit at 350m above sea level. Wild boar inhabit the adjoining woodland and the vines are historically trained quite high out of their reach though nowadays the vines also have the protection of a small electric fence!

2011 has been a very hot year and the grapes ripened early. Merlot and Syrah were the first to be picked, followed by the Vernaccia. The younger, earlier-ripening, Sangiovese followed and finally the older Sangiovese grapes were picked.

The 2010 Vernaccia di San Gimignano is pale straw in colour and has a distinctive aromatic and slightly herbaceous nose. It receives a long, slow fermentation which is followed by a short time in French oak to make the most of its flavour. It is dry, gentle and subtle in the mouth. I have to be honest and admit that Vernaccia tends to be a variety that I have struggled to like, producing what can be rather unremarkable dry white, but Fugnano’s is more concentrated and has a pleasantly “sappy” feel to it and a crisp, dry finish. Its main problem is not in the quality of the wine, but rather in the wealth of competition that exists at its £10+ a bottle price level.

The towers of San Gimignano dominate the view from Fattoria di Fugnano

The 2008 Vernaccia di San Gimignano Riserva is darker in colour suggesting a higher degree of concentration and perhaps more oak. The nose is a combination of herbs with a slightly resin-like edge. It has more about it than the straight Vernaccia and, very briefly, my mind skipped to white Rioja. The trouble is that as a variety Vernaccia seems to promise so much with its looks and nose which perhaps leaves one expecting more from the palate in return. Fugnano have made a good job of these though.

The DOCG for red wines here is Chianti Colli Senesi and the 2009 Chianti Colli Senesi from Fattoria di Fugnano is garnet red in colour with a fresh cherry nose. It is a blend of Sangiovese, Canaiolo, Trebbiano and Malvasia (very much the traditional Chianti blend though Chianti Classico does not permit the use of white varieties any longer). In the mouth this is fresh and juicy without the game & leather notes so often associated with Sangiovese. It is immediately approachable and has a ripe cherry character which makes it very drinkable! At less that a tenner it’s cracking stuff.

Also tasted though not available in the

2006 Toscana Rosso “Donna Gina”

Made from 100% Sangiovese this has a long maceration and is then aged in oak for 8 months. Its colour is a clean ruby garnet red and there is a textbook Sangiovese nose with notes of violet. In the mouth there are hints of ripe cherry and barely noticeable oak.

2006 Toscana Rosso “Legami”

A blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot and 20% Sangiovese. This is much denser and darker with a mint-and-eucalyptus edge to the nose. In the mouth it’s quite firm and rich but with obvious ripe hedgerow fruit and a dash of vanilla oak. The tannins are well integrated but this could do with another year or so in bottle.

We can obtain the following wines from Fugnano should you be interested – please contact us for details:

2010 Vernaccia di San Gimignano £10.75

2009 Chianti Colli Senesi £9.75

Vintages and prices correct as at 13^th October 2011

Azienda Agricola Verbena, Montalcino, Tuscany

2011-10-06T06:48:00.000-07:00

Luca Nannetti and his wife Elena own Azienda Agricola Verbena which sits just over halfway up the south side of the hill of Montalcino in the south of Tuscany. The Verbena farmstead’s lands extend to a total of 23 hectares along the Via Traversa dei Monti at about 400m above sea level and comprise a mixture of vineyards, olive groves and woodland offering complete biodiversity. From their 10 hectares of vineyards Luca and Elena make about 50,000 bottles of wine each year.

Their grapes are all Sangiovese Grosso (there are about 14 different clones of Sangiovese but Grosso is the one planted around Montalcino) and the Rosso di Montalcino and Brunello di Montalcino made here are therefore single varietal wines. There are some who would change this; moves by some of the larger producers in the region to allow other grape varities to be used were recently defeated in a growers’ vote – much to the relief of smaller producers like Verbena – and thus the particular identity of Brunello is secure, at least for the time being! “To allow the use of other varieties” explains Luca, “would remove the unique character of Brunello. You might as well call us Chianti di Montalcino if other grapes were permitted!”

Everywhere at Verbena there is evidence of an almost obsessive attention to detail; the cellars are bright and modern, the casks aligned in serried ranks like an army on parade, as are the vines in the vineyards. The harvest was brought in less than a week before our visit and beneath most vines lay bunches of discarded grapes, not considered of sufficient quality to allow even as far as the crusher. Even after the green harvesting in July and August where maturing bunches are removed to concentrate each vine’s efforts into those that remain, not all of the remaining bunches make the final grade.

In some vintages several leaves are removed from each vine to allow the sun to reach the grapes and encourage air circulation to keep the threat of damp-induced problems away, but 2011 looked like being a warm year so these leaves were left in place to afford a decree of protection to the fruit. This can be something of a gamble from vintage to vintage since the decision whether or not to manage the vine canopy in this way really needs to be taken before a grower knows just how hot the summer will be! 2011 was very hot though; grapes ripened quickly and the harvest was almost a month earlier than normal. The fruit was no doubt glad of the extra shade!

Luca and Elena make up to 4 different red wines each year: Their mainstay is Brunello di Montalcino, but cuvees that are considered good enough may become Brunello di Montalcino Riserva which requires longer in both cask and bottle before release – the wine needs to be considered good enough to take this extra age though – particularly in cask since Verbena’s Brunello di Montalcino Riserva only sees new oak. Verbena own about 220 barriques (225 litre casks) of French oak which each receive a light toasting when new. Each barrique is retained for 5 years with Verbena replacing one fifth of their stock of casks annually. This represents a considerable annual investment.

The ageing process for Brunello di Montalcino and Brunello di Montalcino Riserva wines means that they are ready to drink when they are released. The current vintage of Riserva available in the

is the 2004 of which only 4,500 bottles were produced. Wine for more immediate drinking will become Rosso di Montalcino and the wine from Verbena’s younger vines will be released simply as Sangiovese or Rosso di Toscana, the latter of which may be made with the addition of other varieties.

We tasted the 2008 Brunello di Montalcino from cask. This is a youthful deep cherry red colour with a wonderfully pure nose of ripe fruit, mellow oak and slight leathery notes. In the mouth the tannins are ripe but chewy, with the gentle oak adding concentration and depth. The finish is long and rich and, although this wine needs more time, it should be super.

The 2009 Brunello di Montalcino (tasted from cask) is a different beast altogether. It is more closed on the nose and less giving on the palate with a slightly hotter flavour; perhaps something of a problem child as the result of a hotter summer. Elsewhere in Tuscany it rained in September before the grapes were picked which enabled winemakers to keep alcohol levels in check, but the rain did not fall in Montalcino. This is still a good Brunello, but has a very different character to the 2008. It will be interesting to see how it has developed once it is released. The more approachable 2009 Rosso di Montalcino (now in bottle and available) has a gamey nose with authentic Sangiovese notes of violet with just a hint of chocolate and eucalyptus. Again the fruit is wonderfully pure and accessible yet there is still good structure and length. Drinking well now.

The 2010 Brunello di Montalcino (tasted from cask) is enormous. It has bags of fruit on the nose with gentle hints of chocolate and is already strangely attractive in its youth. The tannins are ripe and round. Time in cask will temper and mellow its exuberance. This should be a wonderful wine. The 2010 Rosso di Toscana is very fresh, clean, easy and direct. The nose is almost sweet but the fruit is pure. This has 15% of Cabernet Sauvignon & Merlot included.

The current vintage of Brunello di Montalcino available in the

is the 2006. Some thought this still too young but I felt is drinking beautifully now. Such things are, of course, subjective, but it has an earthy note which balances well with the ripe fruit (which had a slight raisin note to it) and makes it delicious now - balanced and rich. The 2006 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva still has a few months of its bottle age to go but it too is utterly delicious. It’s full, rounded and again shows Verbena’s characteristic well-judged use of oak with concentrated fruit. Further time in bottle will help. The current Riserva available is the 2004 which shows marked age through orange hints in the colour and its full, gamey nose. There is a real perfume here with depth and penetration. The palate is fully developed and amazingly together. Perfect for drinking now.

The 2007 Brunello di Montalcino still has 3 months to go until release and seemed to me to be much gamier than the 2006. Leather again on the nose with mellow fruit and ripe, round tannins in the mouth and well-integrated oak. The hint of chocolate is there again too. A lovely wine.

Verbena (like the majority of Tuscan producers) also produce an olive oil, a Vin Santo and a Grappa, though these are not available in the

. The Olive Oil is clean and grassy, fresh and light. The Vin Santo is made from Trebbiano and Malvasia grapes, picked and then air dried and crushed several months after the vintage. The wine is left in cask for 5 years. It has a nose of concentrated raisins with a hint of toffee and vanilla. The palate is clean, fresh and nutty with a fresh bite of acidity. Verbena’s Grappa di Brunello (42% abv) is crystal clear with a clean penetrating nose. The palate is delicate and elegant with no bitter edge and a ripe grape finish. Clean and pure.

We can obtain the following wines from Verbena should you be interested – please contact us for details:

2009 Sangiovese Toscana £10.95

2009 Rosso di Montalcino £16.75

2006 Brunello diMontalcino £31.00

2004 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva £41.50

Vintages and prices correct as at 6^th October 2011

Luca and Elena Nannetti

Luca in his vineyard.

Note the discarded bunches of grapes on the ground.

Who is allowed to tell us how much to drink?

2011-07-28T07:05:00.000-07:00

The latest edition of Harpers Wine & Spirit Trade Review – the weekly wine trade publication – contains details of their “Responsibility OK” campaign urging companies in the drinks trade to sign up to seven alcohol responsibility pledges. It’s a trade led campaign aimed at nudging everyone towards a healthier approach to alcohol consumption in an attempt to deflect government threats to legislate to the same effect.

The seven pledges are:

No to drinking while pregnant and the associated drive towards clearer health warnings and unit content on wine labels.
Awareness of alcohol units in the on-trade.
Awareness of alcohol units, calories and other information in the off-trade.
Tackling under age sales.
Support for Drinkaware and their “Why Let The Good Times Go Bad?” campaign.
A pledge on advertising and marketing alcohol responsibly (eg. no adverts within 100m of schools)
Community actions to tackle alcohol harms.

These pledges are all sensible enough and we will happily do our bit to support the Harpers campaign. Indeed, our constant recommendation has always been “don’t drink more, drink better” – it’s why we exist. Actually it keeps everybody happy because your alcohol consumption doesn’t increase (and may even reduce) and you get to drink better wines which are more enjoyable and memorable than the cheap dross churned out by the big boys. However, how much you drink is a matter for consideration between your GP and your conscience; it is certainly not our place to begin to moralise on the personal drinking habits of our customers. Were we to attempt this they would, quite rightly, tell us to get knotted!

As for the pledges themselves, I’m not sure what we can do about the first one. Wines arrive with the suppliers’ chosen wording already on the labels so it’s not an area where we have any influence. Legislation is probably the only way to create a uniform approach here.

Pledges 2 and 3 request more information on alcoholic units and calorific content, much of which is already available but in any case the maths are easy enough. Just multiply the alcoholic content (as a percentage) by the volume in centilitres to get the number of units of alcohol. Thus a 75cl bottle of wine at 14.5% abv contains 10.875 units (75 x 14.5%). You do not need to be Einstein to understand this – it’s primary school maths.

Pledge No.4 is a legal requirement placed on all who sell alcohol. It is not clear why one needs to pledge to do this when not to do it would be breaking the law.

The rest of the pledges all make sense. The Drinkaware campaign mentioned contains some great advice on how to drink sensibly and ensure you have a great night out (eat first, look after your mates, make sure you can get home ok – that sort of thing) but none of this is rocket science. It also seems to assume that everyone tends to go out when they drink. As for No.6, what responsible company would advertise booze close to a school anyway? Someone must have done for this to have been mentioned I suppose. I wonder who it was? None of this seems particularly relevant to Wines of Interest customers though, who simply enjoy a bottle of wine at home, usually with a meal. Like they do on the continent. In company, and where the town centres are much less likely to be littered with drunk leggy females who have lost their underwear (and self-respect) as the result of drinking lurid blue booze on an empty stomach.

We at Wines of Interest are blessed with customers who are some of the nicest and most sensible people we know. They are intelligent, discerning and considerate. It is difficult to believe that any of them go out and regularly get plastered; they drink wine because it’s a civilised thing to do and they enjoy it, alcohol just happens to be part of the deal. Where campaigns and pledges (and dare I suggest subsequent legislation) need to be directed is towards those who drink specifically to get drunk, and the producers of the drinks that achieve this, and those who sell them. We at Wines of Interest fully accept that as a retailer of wines we can be a small part of the solution, but we would respectfully suggest that businesses like us, and our customers, are not the problem.

I have contacted the Department of Health to offer support, and sign up, but so have many large producers and retailers, including those who supply the toxic products that some elements of our society choose as their preferred method of achieving inebriation. But it strikes me that this is the easy bit. Many of the larger corporate signatories are still offering “half price” deals and multibuys in their stores. Talk always has been cheap, and while they continue to fill their aisles with booze promoted at stupid prices it’s hard to see their sincerity as anything more than veneer.

If the intoxicated nature of much of our society is ever to be addressed something much more radical is needed. The government can try all they like to “nudge” us all towards a healthier lifestyle, but the harsh reality is that it’s the sources of cheap booze that need nudging first and only some will respond. Those who do not respond will be the ones who most need to of course, both corporately and individually.

What is required is a sniper’s rifle approach and not a blunderbuss. It needs to be aimed at supermarkets, high street outlets and off-licences who stock the bottom end of the market dross that only sells because it’s alcoholic, and silly “happy hour” type promotions in the on-trade. We also need to address the misperception that you cannot have a good time unless you’re plastered. Slapping all of us with one-size-fits-all pledges and/or legislation would not be fair and those who always have been sensible about their drinking and responsible suppliers will, collectively, fight back.

Finally, having read all this, does it not strike you as a bit strange that, as a business trading to (hopefully) make a profit and support two young families, we are being urged to encourage our customers to buy less by the obsession of the anti-alcohol lobbies? I’m sure our accountant and bank manager would regard this as a uniquely absurd position. Acquaintances who occasionally visit certain well-known “fast food” outlets report that they are always being encouraged to buy more of their deep fried cardboard and left over bits of cow in the form of “supersize” deals – an obvious attempt to get the customer to spend (and eat) more. The secret here of course is that how much the customer buys and consumes is their business and not for anyone else (especially the government) to dictate. By all means educate, but leave us free to choose. After all, there is a world of difference between being told you’re drinking too much by your GP, and being told the same by your MP.

Gold Medal? So What!

2011-07-20T09:13:00.000-07:00

Walking through town today I passed a pub advertising “Award Winning Wines” and I wondered whether anyone has ever looked at this and thought “Award winning eh? I’ll pop in for a glass!”

I suppose some see a certain reassurance from a medal on a bottle, but (remember the Emperor who placed such trust in the opinions of others that his new clothes showed him to be a fool?) placing exclusive trust in wine awards can be misguided. Why are we so frequently unprepared to make our own minds up?

In 1980 the Olympic Games were held in Moscow. The previous year Soviet troops had marched into Afghanistan and the United States decided they didn’t want to play, along with Japan, West Germany, China, the Philippines, Argentina and Canada. The UK supported the boycott but said its athletes could compete if they so wished. Allan Wells competed won the men’s 100m fast running thingy. He has a gold medal to show for his efforts but I’ve often wondered whether he would have won had the Yanks turned up? This is purely hypothetical of course; on the day he was the fastest man in the world and nobody can dispute that.

Wine competitions are different in that so much is subjective but, like Allan Wells, wines can only compete against the other entrants and there are thousands of wine producers who don’t go anywhere near the competitions for very good reasons. One producer’s response was to say “I already sell all the wine I make and I have a loyal following. Why would I want to enter a competition? If my wines do well I increase demand yet I cannot make any more wine. All I will do is annoy my existing customers. It’s a waste of time and money for me.”

Other producers believe (correctly) that they make wines of such individuality that they would probably not be understood by the competition judges. Is this why mass-produced “commercial” wines win so many awards? They certainly seem to dominate the entries, they do not tend to create strong opinions one way or the other, which means that hardly anyone actively dislikes them and they would welcome any increase in demand because it’s easy enough to let the tap on the end of the production pipe run off a few more thousand cases.

I was once asked if I would be interested to join the judges of a major wine competition but it transpired that I was required to attend a course to make sure that I came to the same conclusions that the other judges did. I thought this would be unwise for someone who had been in the trade as long as I had when what they really wanted was more of a blank canvas to “clone”. I thought my Mother-in-Law would be a good choice.

One skill that we should all develop is the ability to differentiate between that which we like (or dislike) and that which is good (or poor). I recall having a major disagreement with a trade customer once who simply could not grasp this difference, pronouncing one of our wines as “disgusting” (which is certainly wasn’t) instead of recognising that she just didn’t like it (not the same thing at all). This concept applies to many things in life as well; theatre, music, writing, food, even people. The pub that this lady ran eventually went out of business, so it wasn’t just that I didn’t like her…

I have a lot of time for people with opinions of their own. This is largely because they have obviously thought about something deeply enough to formulate an opinion. I can disagree with them if I so wish, but at least the way is clear. It should be the same with wine but so frequently drinkers end up with characterless alcoholic fruit juice because that is what the producer (and frequently competition judges) find least inoffensive. It’s so much better to have wines with strong personalities that force you one way or another towards either total admiration or a preference for something else. Only with wines like this will drinking them be truly memorable. After all, what fun is there in you constantly drinking hooch that someone else says is good without knowing why?

We reckon every wine in our shop is good, but we would not guarantee that everyone will like them all. But that’s the fun of it!

Contains Sulphites...?

2011-02-16T07:18:00.000-08:00

We’ve had a few enquiries about the wording on wine labels that reads “contains sulphites” which does tend to look scary as if somehow wine has suddenly had some sinister additive included suddenly. In fact, it’s just one of many tools used by winemakers, and it’s a labelling rule that tells only half the story.

Currently only a few things have to be declared on the label on a bottle of wine sold in the UK. Regulations stipulate that information such as the size of the bottle, the alcoholic content, the bottler’s details, country of origin and type of wine must be there, as must the stipulation of the presence of Sulphur Dioxide if it exceeds 10mg per litre (10 parts per million).

A quick chemistry lesson then, if you will indulge me for a moment… The word “Sulphites” most likely refers to Sodium Metabisulphite or Potassium Metabisulphite which are the most common means of getting a bit of Sulphur Dioxide gas into wine. Sulphur Dioxide (SO2) is an important part of winemaking, but will be controlled by the winemaker as one part of the complex process of winemaking. Some SO2 will almost certainly remain in the finished wine which would otherwise be unstable. The trick is to use as little as possible of course.

So, bottles of wine making no declaration on the presence of Sulphites contain less than 10mg/litre but you would be wrong to assume that they contain none at all. Equally, those carrying the Sulphite wording will contain at least that level, but it is currently impossible to determine whether it’s 11mg/litre or 40, or more. Sulphites and Sulfites are the same thing of course, but I make no apology for using the correct spelling here despite the fact that the next generation are having the ugly transatlantic “Sulfites” and “Sulfur” forced upon them at school.

So why are Sulphites necessary? What does SO2 actually do? Well, it really does two jobs; firstly, it knocks out stuff like bacteria that would otherwise mess up the winemaking - it also ensures that any remaining yeast cells don’t suddenly wake up once the fermentation has finished and begin an unwanted secondary fermentation. A secondary fermentation may be desirable though – as in Champagne. Secondly, SO2 acts as an anti-oxidant, essentially keeping oxygen at bay and keeping the wine fresh – unless oxidation is a desired part of the winemaking process of course – as in some Sherries.

Some wine producers tend to create a vacuum in their bottles before bottling which removed 90% of the Oxygen which would otherwise be present. This means that they need to use less SO2 to shut out the oxygen. Some producers do it twice – so that’s 90% of the oxygen excluded, followed by 90% of the 10% that remained after the first go. This costs money of course, and is unlikely to have been done to wines on the 3 for £10 shelf!

Buying Organic wine isn’t much help either I’m afraid. This is because the statement on the label of “wine made from organically grown grapes” is fine, as far as it goes, but that only covers the grape growing, not the winemaking, and most wines made from organically grown grapes still say “contains sulphites” on the back label. The issue, of course, is how much! There’s no doubt that more accurate labelling would help consumers make a more informed choice, but until that time arrives buying from a respected merchant, who in turn buys from smaller, caring producers would be a good start if you need to keep the Sulphite levels down.

It would not be unreasonable to suggest that the wines sold (and therefore made) on a massive scale, with price as the main consideration, are more likely to be subjected to a commercial mass production process where Sulphite levels are less likely to try and be lowered, there’s no incentive to do this of course whilst the current labelling requirements remain, and what the supermarkets want is a product that will remain stable however long it’s on their shelves – they don’t care whether you’re allergic to some of the contents.

I’m allergic to cats. And horses. My eyes itch and puff up and my asthma kicks in as well just to make sure I’ve got the message. I have never known why, or to which precise bits of them I have an allergy, so I tend to keep out of their way whenever possible. I have worked out that Siamese cats are usually OK though. Mostly. But not consistently enough to give me any confidence. I found this out by trial and error over time, and with the help of many Piriton tablets. Not sure whether this works with SO2 allergy though.

It seems the only way that those with an allergy to SO2 can discover which wines they can drink until levels are clearly expressed and we can really see who the bad guys are. Maybe one day cats and horses will come with allergy labels too?

Postscript...
Further discussions with Italian winemaker Claudio Lenotti have revealed that the legal maximum for sulphites in wine are 200 mg/litre for white wine and 150 mg/litre for red wine. Claudio goes to great lengths to exclude unwanted oxygen at every stage of the winemaking process, from fermentation to bottling. These mainly involves rigorous hygene, tight monitoring methods and the use of Nitrogen throught the process. The bottom line here is that processes exist to enable winemakers to manage with lower sulphite levels, but they all cost money so this is as much a commercial decision and a heath or aesthetic one. For more details on this visit the following page of Lenotti's website. http://www.lenotti.it/en/dettaglio_tecnologia.asp
It's worth re-stating though that wines made to a price point are more likely to have higher sufphite levels simply because it's the easiest, and cheapest, way to deal with the problem of unwanted oxygen. If you have an allergy to sulphites we'd be interested to know how you get on with a bottle of Lenotti's Colli dei Tigli (white) or Rosso Passo (red) since these are winemakers who know, understand, and have taken steps to address the problem of sulphite levels,and do all they can to keep them to a minimum.

When Prosecco is not Prosecco

2011-02-10T06:30:00.000-08:00

First there was Sparkling Saumur, then there was Cava. Blanquette de Limoux was in there somewhere as well, but the fashionable non-Champagne sparkler of the moment seems to be Prosecco. Clean, refreshing fizz from Northern Italy, in either “spumante” (fully sparkling) or frizzante (semi-sparkling) and made from the Prosecco grape. Simple eh? Except it isn’t. Oh, it’s still fashionable alright, and it’s still fizzy, and it’s still made from the same grape variety, it’s just that some of it isn’t Prosecco anymore despite being precisely the same wine.

Prosecco, it seems, has been such a success that rather than run with its current popularity, the Italian Ministry of Agriculture took something of an alternative view. It seems that somebody, somewhere, woke up one morning and decided that Prosecco was not the name of the grape variety, but was in fact the area of defined production; like Champagne. They also decided that Prosecco can only make white white and can be made only from the grape formerly known as Prosecco (though they have since had a change of mind and up to 15% of other local varieties are permitted). The grape formerly know as Prosecco has been renamed Glera. I have no idea whether the Gypsy Lane East Residents Association in Norwich (until recently the top google result for “Glera”) are planning a legal challenge to this, but I do hope so…

The redefined area for Prosecco and the traditional area of Conegliano Valdobbiadene have now both been granted DOCG status with an outer area classified as DOC. There is, however, a glaring omission from the decisions of the Italian beureaucrats because in specifying that Prosecco is now a region and not a grape, no-one thought to invent a name for what used to be called Pink Prosecco or Prosecco Rosato. Our supplier has settled on the name Silvola which, as far as I can tell, is a village in southern

Finland

The Silvola on our list is what used to be pink Prosecco, it’s a blend of 85% Prosecco (sorry, Glera) and 15% Marzemino (which sounds like it ought to be a small pouched squirrel from Madagascar, but sadly isn’t). It’s still delicious, and it still has a white brother which can still call itself Prosecco.

So, just to make sure that’s all entirely clear; Prosecco is now a region and not a grape, but it’s still a fizzy wine either way, though only white. Glera is the name of the grape that used to be called Prosecco (unless you live in a particular area of Norwich) Silvola is what used to be called pink Prosecco (unless you live in southern

Finland

). No doubt you can think of your own name for the Italian beureaucrats that thought all this through so well before changing anything.

Mulled Wine

2010-11-08T04:49:00.000-08:00

If you like the warming effect of a glass (or mug)! of mulled wine during the autumn and winter months it really is worth making the effort to make your own mulled wine. Don't be tempted by the tea-bag style sachets of gunk which are somehow supposed to magically convert regular red plonk into delicious mulled wine, they don't. Here is our own mulled wine recipe (tried and tested by Mrs W and refined each year) it's easy to make and thoroughly rewarding. This mulled wine recipe is enough for 8 people.

Ingredients:
2 bottles of red wine
100ml of brandy (optional)
600ml red grapejuice
75g granulated sugar
2 oranges
1 lemon
6 cloves (whole)
1 cinnamon stick

Method:
Put the grape juice, sugar and cinnamon stick in a large saucepan and place over a gentle heat.
Remove all the rind (but no pith) from one of the oranges in small slithers using a paring tool or potato peeler and add this to the pan.
When the sugar has dissolved, heat for a further 5 minutes but do not let the mixture boil.
Remove the pan from the heat and leave to stand for 10 minutes while you slice the oranges and lemon, pressing the cloves into some of the slices.
When the mixture has stood for 10 minutes remove the cinnamon stick and add the fruit slices and red wine.
Gently heat the mixture until it is "steaming" and add the brandy.
Remove from the heat and serve.

This mulled wine recipe dilutes the wine with red grape juice and you can serve it at that strength without the brandy if you wish, but the brandy does provide the prefect finishing touch!

Rolf Binder

2010-10-27T06:24:00.000-07:00

Deep in the heart of the Barossa Valley in South Australia lies the winery of Rolf Binder who, along with his sister Christa, make a captivating range of wines. Rolf’s father, Rolf Snr, was a Hungarian immigrant in 1950 who arrived in Oz with his Austrian wife Franziska. Initially they worked on the railways but soon befriended a couple of vineyard owners and by 1955 they’d bought the winery and renamed it Veritas. Their daughter Christa joined the family business in 1981 and young Rolf follwed in 1982 making wine in what they named the “shed”. In 1999 a new winery was built and the old press made the journey. It’s still in use today.

It’s the red varieties that tend to perform best in the heat of the Barossa Valley, and Rolf Binder has extensive and old plantings of Shiraz and Mataro (aka Mourvedre) as well as Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Grenache. While the Barossa Valley is renowned for its very full bodied, sometimes somewhat unsubtle, reds of great weight and considerable alcohol, Rolf Binder looks for a more refined style with a degree of elegance and balance. They’re still big wines mind you; big but balanced.

Rolf Binder’s 2009 Highness Riesling actually comes from the Eden Valley which borders the edge of the Barossa Valley, and is mouth watering and outstandingly fresh. Its nose of fragrant lime citrus with a hint of tropicality and steely dry palate makes Highness the prefect match for fish, seafood and oriental cooking. In our opinion Highness Riesling is as fine an example of southern hemisphere Riesling as you will find anywhere.

Rolf Binder has many reds to choose from but the two that really float our boat are the Halcyon Cabernet Sauvignon & Merlot blend and the Heinrich Shiraz, Mataro & Grenache blend.

The Halcyon 2008 is a blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon and 40% Merlot which has a super ripe nose of berry fruit with tremendous depth. The Halcyon is a smooth rich wine that shows notes of blueberry in the mouth, fully-flavoured without being overpowering; an excellent demonstration of Rolf Binder’s ability to maintain restraint and balance from the power of Barossa Valley fruit. Halcyon would be perfect with a roast leg of lamb, studded with garlic and scattered with rosemary. Mmmm.

Heinrich is a blend of Shiraz, Mataro and Grenache. The 2006 Heinrich has these in the proportions 50% Shiraz, 35% Mataro and 15% Grenache. Heinrich is made from selected parcels of old vines and is a fascinating and complex glass of red; spice and depth from the Shiraz, structure and richness from the Mataro, and a whack of big ripe fruit from the Grenache. The resulting marriage is wonderfully harmonious and rich, with a pleasing silky texture, and a prime example of a Barossa Valley Shiraz blend. Heinrich would be perfect with a Fred Flintsone sized rib of beef and an empty afternoon! It would also be hard to think of a better glass of red to enjoy with a selection of fine cheeses than Heinrich.

Rolf and Christa make several other wines, all of which reach their extraordinary high standard. Watch out for these wherever you are. Sadly, we cannot list them all, much as we’d love to!

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Half Price Wine

2010-10-06T06:56:00.000-07:00

You see them all the time don’t you – half price wine offers (well, not at Wines of Interest actually – unless you’re a member of the Sampling Club). Was £9.99 now £4.98 and so on. Let’s be absolutely clear about this – there are only three mechanisms that enable retailers to sell wine at half price:

1. Someone, somewhere, makes a loss. It might be the producer, or the importer, or even the retailer, but at least one of them will be losing money on the deal if they are genuinely selling at half price. Margins in the wine trade - coupled with the taxes that still have to be paid - mean that this must be the case.

2. Nobody is making a loss, which means? Yep, you’ve guessed it, the price was vastly over-inflated (doubled dare I suggest?) to start with.

3. Can’t think of a third. Sorry. Answers on a postcard please.

So, putting your Sherlock Holmes hat on for a moment, which of the above do you think is most likely to apply where you regularly (or even constantly) see wine offered at half price?

Doubling the price to start with is not against the law of course, but it does seem to be a widespread practice in some establishments. It depends on one crucial factor to succeed though. It depends on the customer not being able to tell that the wine advertised as a £10 bottle, yet being sold for just a fiver is, in fact, a £5 bottle in the first place (d’uh)!

If you’d like evidence of this, next time you are tempted by one of these half price offers, buy a bottle and then go to a specialist merchant and confess everything. Ask them to sell you a bottle of genuine £10 wine which you could compare with your supposedly £10 bottle purchased at half price. Take them home and taste them side by side.

Actually (Sherlock Holmes hat back on please) you may already know what you’ll discover – that there is a difference in quality which is easy to spot. It may not equate to the different prices you paid for the two bottles of course (much of this depends on you actually) but there will be a difference. Guaranteed.

But let’s be honest, unless you’ve taken the trouble to conduct this experiment (and we have, several times, with the same result) you will only ever end up drinking the half price bottle on its own. You might never have the chance to taste it alongside both a bottle that’s not reduced and another that’s genuinely worth the original advertised price. And that’s why the half price merchants persist of course. They know that from the moment you put the half price bottle in your basket you are already in “swipe me, what a bargain” mode. When you pull the cork you will be patting yourself on the back so hard that you will remember only that you paid just a fiver for the bottle. That the retailer was claiming it to be worth £10 will have completely slipped your mind. You will probably also have forgotten that the only reason you picked it up in the first place was because it was on offer. Even if the wine itself is horrid, you will still be able to console yourself with the knowledge that at least you weren’t daft enough to have paid full whack for it eh?

So, have you been conned then? After all, you’ve paid £5 for a bottle that’s worth £5 haven’t you, so where’s the problem? Well, there may not be a problem, but if the reason behind the purchase was your perception that the bottle was worth £10 then, at best, you have surely been misled.

So consider this then, if you were looking for a second-hand car in the back of the local paper and found just the make, just the model and just the specification you were looking for, with acceptable mileage on the clock but the price just seemed a bit too low, what would your first thought be? …… Exactly! So why, when we find the same set of circumstances when buying wine, namely a deal that looks too good to be true, why do we respond so differently?

We know that any genuine price reduction also comes (or should come) with a story. There is always a reason why this offer is on, and thoughtful customers should not be afraid to ask why a particular line is reduced. Thoughtful retailers will always be pleased to explain.

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Alcohol Pricing

2010-09-29T08:14:00.000-07:00

Good old Tescos eh? Way back in May they grandly announced that they would support a minimum price for alcohol as long as it became a legal requirement (which incidentally did make me wonder if they only refuse sales to customers under 18 because it is a legal requirement rather than simply the responsible thing to do). We’ve not heard much from them on pricing since though have we?

I don’t suppose that’s surprising really when they can continue chugging along selling volcanic cider for less than mineral water whilst simultaneously disassociating themselves from the consequences; there’s no need for them to act unless minimum pricing becomes a legal requirement and even then they’d be pretty safe because the various mechanisms being considered for minimum pricing all look pretty ineffective. No doubt they’d worked all this out before their pronouncement in May.

Minimum Unit Pricing is the method that the Scottish Parliament has been debating recently. A minimum price is set per unit of alcohol below which it would be illegal to sell the product. First job is to work out the units in each drink; to do this you multiply the alcoholic strength of the drink (expressed as a percentage of alcohol by volume) by the number of centilitres in the container. So a 75cl bottle of wine at 12% ABV contains 9 units of alcohol (12% x 75cl) whilst a 70cl bottle of Whisky at 40% contains 28 units (40% x 70cl). Sounds pretty straightforward doesn’t it (and rather dull actually) but the only bit left to argue about is at what level the minimum price should be set. The University of Sheffield study which kicked all this off suggested 50p per unit whilst the Scottish Parliament debated 45p before kicking the idea into the long grass. The coalition government have kept pretty quiet to date, perhaps realising that this particular can does seem to be quite wormy.

Some prices would have to go up under the minimum unit price system of course, but not many. A recent visit to one of the major supermarkets suggested that a 15 can pack of 44cl Carlsberg would need to increase from £17.99 to £18.38 (2 pence more per can) whilst of bottle of “branded” wine on the shelf at £6.99 was already nicely clear of its theoretical minimum price level of £4.27. Certainly nothing on the shelves at Wines of Interest would be affected. Shame really, because as this system stands the extra revenue from these enforced price increases would belong to the retailer! Oh well.

Two other main suggestions for minimum pricing exist (and some further variants of these) which are a ban on selling below cost and a restructuring of Excise Duty. Governments traditionally like to tinker with Excise Duty, singling out particular drinks that they think deserve higher (or lower) duty; cider, alcopops….. but it all just seems to be fiddling around the edges adding a few pence here and there but not really doing anything other than increasing prices across the board each spring. If this is to be the preferred mechanism for getting the price of alcohol right something much more radical (and therefore costly to implement) would be needed.

To enforce a ban on selling below cost opens up the debate as to what “cost” actually is – is it taken as simply the combined total of Duty and VAT (the bits that must legally be paid) or does it include the costs of production and transportation as well? Frankly, either of these looks pretty impotent as a mechanism for preventing sales of “cheap” alcohol since they would have less of an effect on shelf prices than a minimum price per unit. Not really an effective mechanism for tackling “binge drinking” (you knew I’d have to mention it didn’t you) which is the banner under which the minimum price enthusiasts march. This does seem to be something of a distraction though since whilst the binge drinking culture urgently needs to be addressed there does not seem to be a consensus of opinion on what causes it and, as a result, no clear agreement on how to deal with it.

Certainly “cheap” alcohol sold in a few high profile retailers fuels binge drinking, but why do people choose to drink in this way? Can it really only be because they can?

The imbalance between irresponsibly low off-sale prices on some products and the high on-sale prices paid across the bar must be addressed. But it is just worth reflecting on the fact that if mass retailers such as Tescos took responsibility for the alcohol that they sell instead of simply worrying about the market share they’d lose, then it is unlikely that the issue of minimum pricing would ever have arisen in the first place. It’s one thing to claim the moral high ground by announcing that you intend to do something if the government force you to (actually, it’s not particularly high moral ground when you think about it) but it’s quite another to go ahead and do it anyway because you know that it’s the right thing to do.

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