I was completely blown away by this wine. I tasted it during a sparkling wine dinner at the International Cool Climate Symposium in Hobart, Tasmania on February 1^st, where it was paired very well with soft peach wrapped in succulent pork.

I tasted it again the following day in more neutral circumstances, where my notes read: honeyed lemon verbena on dry toasted brioche. Multi-layered complex wine that blossoms on the mouth with flavours that seem to linger forever. It’s fresh, elegant, lifted and light and with a huge concentration and intensity. It’s refreshing where some other really complex aged bubbles lose that, perhaps not after just five years. White floral edges remain in a really youthful wine with a wonderful future still ahead if it.

Clover Hill are in the north of Tasmania.

100% chardonnay.

Partial malolactic in tanks

On lees for at least 38 months.

RS 7.9g/l

TA 8.7g/l

13%

At the announcement, some 190 wines were available to taste, and below are the notes of the wines I tasted during a couple of hours at the session.

Themes across the piece included plenty of new oak flying around, sweet ripe fruit erring to lush fruit on occasion, supple, ripe tannins with nothing hard or edgy. From the list of blends, there seems to be plenty of petit verdot being used in this vintage.

Tasting notes, London, September 21, 2011.

Château Bessan Ségur, 2009, Médoc
50% cabernet sauvignon, 48% merlot, 2% cabernet franc
Sweet new oak amid bright red fruits. Smooth and sweet berry fruit, with a high kick of spice.

Château Blaignan, 2009, Médoc
60% merlot, 40% cabernet sauvignon
Gently spiced and toasted forest berries, quite lush medium body in nicely proportioned wine, which has some muscle. Good.

Château Chantemerle, 2009, Médoc
60% cabernet sauvignon, 35% merlot, 3% petit verdot, 2% cabernet franc
Spiced blackcurrants and cream on the nose, smooth, charming and gentle oak support; elegant proportions, and nicely balanced.  Good.

Château les Grands Chênes, 2009, Médoc
55% merlot, 42% cabernet sauvignon, 3% cabernet franc
Toasty and faintly oily whiff (not negative) on the nose, followed by rich, sweet fruit. Quite fat and broad in style, so lacks a bit of backbone for me. Lush, round, supple, very ripe style.

Château Greysac, 2009, Médoc
58% merlot, 38% cabernet sauvignon, 3% cabernet franc, 1% petit verdot
Spiced blackcurrant on the nose, smooth, fine-grained texture with sweet-ripe black fruits and faint cinnamon spice. A little more than medium bodied in a very nicely balanced wine that feels quite classic. Good.

Château Haut Barrail, 2009, Médoc
70% cabernet sauvignon 25% merlot 5%malbec
Bit of raw new oak on the nose in an ambitious wine, that may be also a bit rustic, still with sweet berry fruits in a clearly ripe and ready vintage.

Château Livran, 2009, Médoc
merlot, cabernet sauvignon
Deep black fruited nose, blackcurrant and vanilla-spiced cream palate in nicely proportioned wine, quite harmonious feel to this wine. Good.

Château Loudenne, 2009, Médoc
55% merlot – 40% cabernet sauvignon, 5% cabernet franc, 1% malbec
Youthful, fine grained new oak tannins beginning to soften into sweet blackcurrant fruits in a wine of some attractive refined profile. Good.

Château Les Ormes Sorbet, 2009, Médoc
65 % cabernet sauvignon, 30 % merlot, 5 % petit verdot
Piquant vanilla spice on nose, with rustic, youthfully-grained tannins. Heading towards a fuller body of red-focused berry fruits, in nicely balanced wine. Good.

Château Patache d’Aux, 2009, Médoc
60 % cabernet sauvignon, 30 % merlot, 7 % cabernet franc, 3% petit verdot
Nose a bit subdued, then palate quite big, rustic and toasty. Plenty of sweet red berry fruit which should settle in.

Château Preuillac, 2009, Médoc
67% merlot, 30% cabernet sauvignon, 3% cabernet franc
Warmly aromatic nose of perfumed summer berries. Dark berries emerge on palate in smooth, youthfully crunchy texture. Nicely balanced and proportioned. Good density and intensity of dark berry and currant fruit. Good.

Château Rollan de By, 2009, Médoc
70% merlot, 20 % cabernet sauvignon et cabernet franc, 10% petit verdot
Spiced bramble bushes and blackcurrant, amid new oak spiciness and toastiness.  Fresh structure to the medium body in a sweet-fruited whole.

Château Saint Christoly, 2009, Médoc
55 % merlot, 45 % cabernet sauvignon
Less interesting than I might have hoped.

Château Tour Prignac, 2009, Médoc
57% merlot, 40% cabernet sauvignon, 2% malbec, 1% cabernet franc
Gentle spice and supple, not quite sweet tannins, erring to purple fruit. Smooth texture with some intrigue, good density of sweet fruit. Good.

Château Vieux Robin, 2009, Médoc
55% cabernet sauvignon, 40% merlot, 3% cabernet franc 2% petit verdot
Bright cherry fruits, but not much else here of interest for me.

Château d’Agassac, 2009, Haut-Médoc
52% cabernet sauvignon, 48% merlot
Sweet bramble fruit in very smoothly textured palate of blackcurrant, nutmeg infused cream. Elegant and attractive. Good length.

Château Barreyres, 2009, Haut-Médoc
55% merlot, 45% cabernet sauvignon
Crunchy red fruit spectrum. Palate a bit subdued and less interesting than I might have hoped for.

Château Bibian, 2009, Haut-Médoc
60% merlot 40% cabernet sauvignon
Sweet blackcurrant cream nose and palate. Smooth with integrating splurge of new oak softening in. Heading towards a fuller body with sweet balance and freshness. Good.

Château Caronne Ste Gemme, 2009, Haut-Médoc
60% cabernet sauvignon, 37% merlot 3% petit verdot
Smoky red fruited nose, textured new oak streak to the core, plentiful sweet ripe tannin. Moving up a gear to bigger, more concentrated wine than those tasted thus far. Rich density of fruit in youthful profile.

Château Cissac, 2009, Haut-Médoc
67% cabernet sauvignon, 25% merlot, 8% petit verdot
Darkly smoky nose, dark, black fruits on the palate, smooth and finely grained.

Château Devise d’Ardilley, 2009, Haut-Médoc
50 % cabernet sauvignon, 45 % merlot, 5 % petit verdot
Red fruits nose, sweet and fully textured. Fully lush and round, richly fruited, with decent length. Good.

Château Larose-Trintaudon, 2009, Haut-Médoc
60% cabernet sauvignon, 40% merlot
Smoky red aromas, smooth and finely structured. Elegant with some nice class and a bit of sophistication appearing here.

Château la Lauzette-Declercq, 2009, Haut-Médoc
cabernet sauvignon, merlot, cabernet franc
Full and rustic-crunchy.

Château Liversan, 2009, Haut-Médoc
50 % cabernet sauvignon, 40 % merlot, 5 % cabernet franc, 5% petit verdot
Gently roasted forest berries, smooth attack, quite lush and sweet, rounded and full bodied. Definite high fruit-sweetness factor here, and lacks a bit of backbone, and tone round the middle, for me at this stage.

Château Paloumey, 2009, Haut-Médoc
55% cabernet sauvignon, 5% cabernet franc, 40% merlot
Spiced sandalwood, a hint raw still at this stage. Medium weight, has lift and definition, needs to mellow a little more. Less succulent that some.

Château Puy Castéra, 2009, Haut-Médoc
50 % cabernet-sauvignon, 35% merlot, 14% cabernet-franc, 1% petit-verdot
Smoked berries, mid palate a little loose and lacking structure.

Château de Sainte-Gemme, 2009, Haut-Médoc
50% cabernet sauvignon, 50% merlot
Smoky black fruit, smooth textured attack of blackcurrant and loganberry, good sweetness and density in smooth profile, but lacks a little refinement.

Château de Villegeorge, 2009, Haut-Médoc
56% cabernet sauvignon, 44% merlot
Toasty and blackcurrant nose, full of roasted fruits and cinnamon, dark berries and black fruit. Smoothly textured, erring to full body in nicely balanced, rounded whole. Wholesom lush style, with some good length. Good.

Château Fonréaud, 2009, Listrac-Médoc
52% cabernet sauvignon, 45% merlot, 3% petit verdot
Spicy red fruits, lush and sweet fruit still with defining freshness, and depth of fruit. Nicely proportioned, with rich depth and level of seriousness.

Château Lestage, 2009, Listrac-Médoc
56% merlot, 40% cabernet sauvignon, 4% petit verdot
Rustic nose,  chewy palate. Aspirational rather than delivering, on this tasting, for me.

Château Vieux Moulin, 2009, Listrac-Médoc
65% merlot, 30% cabernet sauvignon, 5% petit verdot
Toasted fruits and chewy oak. Sweet red fruit focus comes through on the mid palate, which will round out and soften in the tannin. Just a bit unintegrated now, though balance is not out of kilter.

Château d’Arsac, 2009, Margaux
67 % cabernet sauvignon, 33 % merlot
Smooth dark berry fruits, lush and with some sophistication here. A different class really, integrated with attractive concentration and future.

Château Deyrem Valentin, 2009, Margaux
50% merlot 48%, cabernet sauvignon, 2% petit verdot
Dark black fruits in crunchy tannin of fine grainy texture and firm backbone. Smooth textured, enticing, tasty. Very good.

Château Paveil de Luze, 2009, Margaux
70% cabernet sauvignon, 30% merlot
Red spicy stuff on the nose, full and toasted with integrity to mature nicely in bottle. Medium weight with elegant lifted fruit throughout profile. Good.

Château La Tour de Bessan, 2009, Margaux
60% cabernet sauvignon, 30% merlot, 10% cabernet franc
Nose a bit closed. Palate fine grained with rich red berry fruits, elegantly structured, lovely depth of fruit and integrity. Nice.

Château la Fleur Peyrabon, 2009, Pauillac
67 % cabernet sauvignon, 26 % merlot, 7 % petit verdot
Big, crunchy, smoky nose, bit of rawness still on palate attack, plenty sweet fruit to subsume the oak in time.

Château Plantey, 2009, Pauillac
55% merlot, 45% cabernet sauvignon
Crunchy, black hints of dense oak in a big wine that should soften. Quite huge now, but not unbalanced.

Château Beau-Site, 2009, Saint-Estèphe
70% cabernet sauvignon, 24% merlot, 3% cabernet franc, 3% petit verdot
Muscley brambles on the nose, sweet and almost succulent black berry fruits on palate attack. Full and sweet, with fresh core. Serious, harmonious balance here. Nice wine with big concentration.

Château Le Crock, 2009, Saint-Estèphe
58% cabernet sauvignon, 30% merlot, 6% cabernet franc, 6% petit verdot
More in the red fruit spectrum. Lifted and upright, with fresh backbone and toned fruit flesh. Elegantly proportioned with readily ripe red fruits.

Château Lilian Ladouys, 2009, Saint-Estèphe
cabernet sauvignon, merlot, cabernet franc
Crunchy toasted oak nose, sweet red fruits, smooth fruited profile, erring to full body, muscley in a smooth gentle way.

Alzinger, Grüner Veltliner Smaragd, Steinertal, 2009, Wachau
13.5%, 4.2g/l RS
White pepper, spicy and stony, rocky. Dense, succulent. Light, creamy, seamless, silky texture, with fruits of peaches, apricot, jasmine, ginger, nutmeg complexing spices, with tropical fruit essences tantalising the palate.  A wine to dive into and willingly abandon all hope. Outstanding wine.

FX Pichler, Riesling Smaragd, Loibner Steinertal, 2009, Wachau
13%, 7g/l RS
Peachy with nutmeg and ginger nose, lush and succulent, complex and seductive. That tiny hint of sweetness flawlessly balances the long lines of this wonderful nectar. Savoury, steely, rocky notes juxtapose impeccably with rich extract and an exotic spiciness. The eyes roll into the back of the head in wondrous appreciation of this stunningly good elixir.

Roman Horvath MW, the managing director of Domäne Wachau, who led a riesling masterclass at the property in May 2011, calls FX Pichler “the Domaine de la Romanée Conti of white wine producers”, almost all of whose production is at the top, smaragd, level, adding Pichler makes a “pure style, lean, precise, and with no botrytis.”  

Using a small proportion of ripe fruit with noble rot is technique practised to add weight and complexity, and there are two clear schools of thought on the practice. 

Both of these producers are from the topmost drawer, so does the quality come from the vineyard or the producer?  Steinertal has a beautiful reputation, and Horvath neatly summarised this eternal question by saying he views “the composer [of a sublime piece of music] as the terroir and the [orchestra] conductor as the interpreter.  When you are very much into a subject, you know the subtle differences of different conductors.”  

The bottom line is these are exquisite wines.

My research trip to Austria was sponsored by the Austrian Wine Marketing Board.

Vineyards over Vienna

Austria 2010 was pretty tough going, though there are plenty of lovely wines. 

It was one of the lowest volumes in almost 25 years, nearly a third lower than the average yield of 2.5mhl.

Cold and wet weather caused a challenging period for flowering and fruit set, which is the first point of the year when yields can be affected. Champion grape variety grüner veltliner was most affected. Fritz Miesbauer, the winemaker at Stift Göttweig, which has vineyards in Kremstal and the Wachau, said “the first 50% of vegetative period was terrible, cold and wet. Then the weather changed and August, September and November were perfect conditions which helped us have good wines.”

Late harvest is fairly normal, especially in Lower Austria, and as October alternated between dry and wet spells, late picking brought its own rewards, where producers delayed harvesting into November, waiting for grapes to put on ripeness and concentration. Miesbauer said “we picked our main harvest at the end of November, when we normally pick at the end of October or the beginning of November.  But then I’m a fan of late picking.”

In terms of quality, there are plenty of good whites to be had. Coolness throughout has led to elevated acidity levels, and as a result, quite a few wines have a bit more residual sugar than usual to balance this. Miesbauer said “in my cellar fermentations lasted a long time, up to Feb 23, and the end of January/beginning of February for reserve gruner veltliner.  So 2010 had higher acidities and higher residual sugar.  Reserve is normally 2-4g/l, this year it’s nearer 5-6g/l residual sugar.  Acidities are correspondingly higher.  Many vintners had more skin contact – in two days, our acidity dropped 2-3g/l, which helped for more balance.”

It’s a vintage that will fit the cool, classic mould. “A vintner’s vintage” concluded Miesbauer.

Following on from a May 2011 tour of Lower Austria (Niederösterreich), these are some highlights from the 2010 vintage (disparity in number because, for example, only one 2010 vintage from Wachau producers was shown versus over 50 from Kamptal):

Tasting notes, in situ, May 2011

Haindl-Erlacher, Grüner Veltliner 2010, Weinviertel DAC  
12.4%, 2g/l RS. ExCellar <€10
Fresh, perky, citrus nose, lifted, grassy, fresh cut grass (quite sauvignon blanc like in this respect), then green and peppery.  Good length.  Good.

Hirtl, Grüner Veltliner Bürsting 2010, Weinviertel DAC
12.5%, 4g/l RS. ExCellar <€10
Grass and a hint of light apricot, fresh with some attractive depth and concentration. Good.

Zull, Grüner Veltliner 2010, Weinviertel DAC
12.5% 4g/l RS. ExCellar <€10
Spices and real depth of peaches and cream on the palate. The merest hint of sweetness lifts it all up and accents the extra dimension. Good.

Bründlmayer, Grüner Veltliner Kamptaler Terrassen 2010, Kamptal DAC
12%, 2.6g/l RS. ExCellar <€10
Fragrant, peachy, aromatic, nice intensit. Spicy and firestone, rich and concentration.

Schloss Gobelsburg, Grüner Veltliner Gobelsburger 2010, Kamptal DAC
12.5%, 2.2g/l RS. ExCellar <€10
Peach and pepper nose, steely, acacia, smooth, good concentration of straightforward, dense, primary fruit flavours. Good.

Winzerhof Sax, Grüner Veltliner Zwillingslauser 2010, Kamptal DAC
12.5%, 2.3g/l RS. ExCellar <€10
Sweet aromatic pepper on the nose, light white pepper, white peach, light-medium body, attractive purity and elegance. Good.    

Hirsch, Grüner Veltliner Kammerner Heiligenstein 2010, Kamptal DAC
12.5%, 4g/l RS. ExCellar €10 to €20
Peach and the beginnings of tropical fruit, full and lush with pineapple, mango of appreciable density and succulent balance. High tasty quotient. Good.  

Arndorfer, Grüner Veltliner Strasser Weinberg 2010, Kamptal DAC
13%, 8.1g/l RS. ExCellar <€10
Peach, nectarine, spicy aromatics, dense, ’sweet’ fruits, compote, lush and not quite full. Veering to sweeter balance, and attractive for that. Has richness in non-complex style. Long.

Aichinger, Grüner Veltliner Urgestein 2010, Kamptal DAC
12.5% 5g/l RS. ExCellar <€10
Peach and honeyed apples, zesty intense attack, rich with firestone and non-fruity intensity. Big immediate intensity and palate-grabbing flavour, sweet concentration, but not sweet wine. Very good, long.

Eichinger, Grüner Veltliner Reserve Gaisberg 2010, Kamptal DAC
13.3%, 3.5g/l RS. ExCellar €10 to €20
Peaches and cream, full fat, tropical and lush fruit, with glycerol sweetness. Rounded style, and good.

Steinschaden, Grüner Veltliner Reserve Gigant 2010, Kamptal DAC
14%, 4.7g/l RS. ExCellar <€10
Gunsmoke nose with tropical fruit. Full and rounded in aromatic spicy, and attractive manner. Intensity and concentration with frame and length. Good.  

Brandl, Riesling Heiligenstein 2010, Kamptal DAC
14.5%, 2 g/l RS. ExCellar €10 to €20
Cooking apple compote on the nose, perky, fresh, intense, a wine that buzzes the palate and wakes the senses. Lovely balanced just-ripe fruits, crunchy and juicy. Very good.  

Rabl, Riesling Steinhaus 2010, Kamptal DAC
12.5%, 3g/l RS. ExCellar <€10
Apples, crunchy, fresh, perky, linear in straightforward way. Super intensity of primary citrus, apples, white pears, with good concentration. Long.

Hiedler, Riesling Steinhaus 2010, Kamptal DAC
12.5%, 5.4g/l RS. ExCellar €10 to €20
Apple, citrus, with hint  of pear on the nose. Fresh attack to palate with crunchy ripe, primary fruits of good intensity, well framed and proportioned. Long. Good.

Aichinger, Riesling Reserve Rosenberg 2010, Kamptal DAC
13%, 1g/l RS. ExCellar €10 to €20
Peachy, hints of apricot on the nose, and with a gently balanced mid weight tone and texture and fresh, perky core. Well proportioned and balanced.  Good.  

Allram-Haas, Riesling Reserve Gaisberg 2010, Kamptal DAC
13%, 6g/l RS. ExCellar €10 to €20
Peachy nose, sweet ripe peaches and preserved lemon fruit on palate. Enticing and moreish, in fresh, intense, primary, non-complex fashion.  Very good.  

Schloss Gobelsburg, Riesling Reserve Kammerner Gaisberg 2010, Kamptal DAC
13%, 7g/l RS. ExCellar €10 to €20
Spicy, rich, firestone, peachy, tropical, complex. Lush without being sweet, well framed, strongly proportioned but not muscley.  Lovely and very good.  

Stadt Krems, Grüner Veltliner Reserve Wachtberg 2010, Kremstal DAC
13%, 6g/l RS. ExCellar €10 to €20
Peach blossom, hint dry honeyed perfume. Peachy palate, some sweet richness on the mid palate with a smooth and enticing texture. Seamless and fresh. Very good.

Nigl, Grüner Veltliner Reserve Privat Senftenberger Pellingen 2010, Kremstal DAC
14.5%, 2.8g/l RS. >€20
Peaches and cream with a pause for meditative thought right there. Bewitching nose of bass perfume notes, lush with a steely and magnolia-fragrant core in a full body. Slightly mesmerising, and really very good indeed. 

Markus Huber, Grüner Veltliner Reserve Alte Setzen 2010, Traisental DAC
13%, 2.7g/l RS. ExCellar €10 to €20
Peaches and cream, medium weight, veering to fresh tropical fruit, sweetly balanced and framed. Well proportioned, with freshness and elegance.  Good.

Heiderer-Mayer, Grüner Veltliner Wagramer Selektion, 2010, Wagram
13%, 3.8g/l RS. ExCellar <€10
Gentle, sweetly-spiced nose, Fresh, and nicely balanced with white peachy fruit, and sweet ripeness.  Good.

Veyder-Malberg, Grüner Veltliner Hochrain 2010, Wachau
12.5%, 3g/l RS ExCellar >€20
Gunsmoke with dense peaches and cream, fresh, linear, with huge depth of fruit. Very good.

My research trip to Austria was sponsored by the Austrian Wine Marketing Board.

Bodegas Valdesil

Waitrose Wine Direct, and from four dozen of their branches, so check first.
13.5%

 
This was the outstanding wine from Waitrose’s recent press tasting. It’s a real stunner, complex, sophisticated, layered with freshness running through its veins.  

The Valdeorras appellation is tucked up in the lush, green valleys of Galicia in the north-west corner of Spain, just north of Portugal.

The wine is made from 100% godello, a white grape variety native to the region, with just over 1,000 hectares planted in the whole of the country. The family-owned estate in Vilamartin de Vadeorras grows their vines on the slate slopes of the Sil valley, at around 500 metres above sea level. Such altitude, with the cool nights that it brings, is one of the things that retains the fresh core of this wine.

Another thing that retains freshness is an absence of malolactic fermentation, which absence also preserves primary fruit aromas. It’s been aged on its lees in stainless steel for six months before being bottled in December 2010. 

The wine is serious and sumptuous, dense with concentrated fruit flavours. Melon, dried peaches and apple concentrate swim abundantly and intensely in a deep pool of fresh flavours. The balance is enhanced by a rich and succulent mouth-feel, which lingers a long time. This is a wine that widens the eyes in appreciation as the flavour explodes and the wine’s velvet texture strokes the palate.

Some 260 judges, me among them – sommeliers, writers, buyers, importers – from 40 countries gathered to assess nearly 7,500 wines.  The judges are grouped into around 50 panels, so each taster judges around 50 wines per day for three days.     

Flights might be simply red, white, rosé, sweet or sparkling. It’s up to the judges to assess the absolute quality of each wine, in a fully blind tasting where not even regional information is provided beforehand (though the flights are generally arranged into regional styles e.g. Douro reds, Bordeaux rouge, or by style e.g. sweet muscats, which might have varied countries of origin). 

“Great gold” medals (scores over 96%) were awarded to less than 1% of the entrants, including all the ‘best in style’ wines, below:

Best Sparkling: Champagne Gallimard Père & Fils, Cuvée de Prestige 2005, Champagne, France
Best White: Terre Cortesi Moncaro, Vigna Novali Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi Classico Riserva 2007, Marche, Italy
Best Rosé: Château de Berne, Terres de Berne 2010, Provence, France
Best Red: Altavins Viticultors, Domus Pensi 2006, Terra Alta, Catalonia, Spain
Best Sweet: Gonzalez Byass, Nectar PX, Jerez, Spain
Best Spirit: Highland Park 18 Years Old Single Malt Whisky, Scotland, UK

Despite this being the 18^th edition of the competition, it grew at a healthy 6% over last year, and three new producer countries entered the competition – Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru.

However, with its origins in Belgium, it’s no surprise that the old world dominates the competition – the top three contributing countries correspond closely to the world’s top three producing countries – France, Spain and Italy – accounting for 63% of all the entries.

One of the world’s ‘new’ vinous firmaments, Portugal – even though it has one of the longest winemaking records in history – rocks up in the fourth place for the number of entries.  And it is Portugal which will host next year’s competition.

The panel I was in had a couple of good quality Portugal flights. Below are some of the wines we tasted that scored well (gold medal is 88 to 95%; silver medal is 85 to 87%).

Sogrape Vinhos, Callabriga Reserva 2007, Douro, Portugal. GOLD MEDAL   
Quinta do Chinchorra, Tinto Grande Reserva 2007, Douro, Portugal. GOLD MEDAL
Encosta do Sobral, Reserva 2008, Vinho Regional Tejo, Portugal. SILVER MEDAL
Marqués de Cáceres,  Rioja 2009, Spain. SILVER MEDAL
Bedegas Grupo Yllera, Viña Cantosán, Verdejo 2010, Rueda, Spain. SILVER MEDAL
Bodega Hermanos del Villar, Oro de Castilla, Verdejo 2010, Rueda, Spain. SILVER MEDAL 
La Tulipe de la Garde, 2010, Bordeaux blanc, France. SILVER MEDAL
Château Lamothe-Vincent, Intense 2010, Bordeaux blanc, France. SILVER MEDAL
Château Laforest, 2010, Bordeaux rouge, France. SILVER MEDAL
Dieu Donné, Merlot 2008, Coastal Region, South Africa. GOLD MEDAL

The new system started its journey into hierarchy in 2007, when the all-encompassing general Languedoc Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée (AC) into being.  Wines from this appellation should be fruity, easy to drink, and not expensive, about €3-6 as a price indication for consumers.

Languedoc AC now forms the foundation. Above it lie the ‘Grands Vins du Languedoc’ and at the apex of the pyramid lie ‘Grands Crus’ du Languedoc.

Grands Vins du Languedoc

• Account for 60% of the region’s AC production.
• Style:  more terroir identity, available in decent volumes
• Comprises: Cabardès, Corbières, Faugères, Malapère, Minervois, Saint Chinian, Limoux rouge, sweet muscats, and a bevy of Coteaux du Languedoc ACs including Picpoul de Pinet, Languedoc-Quatourze, Langeudoc-Saint-Saturnin, Languedoc-Montpeyroux.

 Grands Crus du Languedoc

• Specific, terroir-wines of individual character, representative of their site.
• Icon wines that should stand out with the rest of the world.
• Comprises nine (so far) locations: Corbières Boutenac, Minervois la Livinière, Saint Chinian Roquebrun, Saint Chinian Berlou, white Limoux and posh cuvees of  sparkling Limoux. Plus five locations which are on the verge of independent AC status: Terrasses du Larzac, Grès de Montpellier, Pic Saint Loup, Pézenas, and La Clape.

 
The new system has yet to be approved by INAO, which is necessary for it all to become proper, but the CIVL hope everything will be in place by the end of this year. At the moment these terms are not on the label, so this is not yet something simple and useful for consumers.

Disappointingly, it seems that very few of these wines are available for retail in the UK.

My top 30 tasting notes, London, April 2011

Celliers d’Orfée, B, 2007, Corbières Boutenac
50% grenache, 40% carignan, 10% syrah
No UK importer
Almost purple colour, young, fresh and juicy, spicy plum, youthful and finely textured. Good.

Château les Ollieux Romanis, Atal Sia 2008,  Corbières Boutenac ~£19                     
45% carignan, 30% grenache, 20% mourvèdre, 5% syrah
UK importer:  www.ewwines.co.uk  
Sweet, rumtopf with hints of overripe, gently stewed berries. More modern expression of succulence and spicy plum juiciness, with depth, volume and texture. Warmth of 14% alcohol noticeable, but not obtrusive.  

Château Sainte Lucie d’Aussou, Lady Bird 2007, Corbières Boutenac                        
50% carignan, 30% grenache, 20% syrah
No UK importer
Sweetly stewed black fruits, with texture, fresh frame, fine textured sweet tannins. Rich and well built, with a soft touch.

Château de L’Engarran, Grenat Majeure 2008, Languedoc – Grés de Montpellier 
75% grenache, 25% syrah
No UK importer
Lifted wild strawberry perfume with weight and liquorice spice to give it heft. Fresh core with nicely proportioned tannin frame. Vg.

Château Roumanières, Le Chant des Pierre 2009, Languedoc – Grés de Montpellier              
43% syrah, 24% grenache, 19% mourvèdre, 15% carignan
No UK importer
Mulberry and bramble with ripe stalkiness to support, in a positive, complexing way. Elegant proportions, too easy to appreciate. Nice.

Mas de Martin, Ultreia 2007, Languedoc – Grés de Montpellier
50% syrah, 30% grenache, 20% mourvèdre
No UK importer
Aromatic spice and gentle black berried fruits, rich, deeply fruited, with succulence and a refreshing element to the tannins. Deliciously balanced, seductive and tasty. Vg.  

Château Camplazens, Premium 2008, Languedoc – La Clape ~£20        
70% syrah, 20% grenache, 10% carignan
UK importer: www.barrelsandbottles.co.uk
Dry-baked, sweetened-style black forest berries nose and attack. Fresh redcucrrant-orientated core, with refined, smooth texture. Perfumed and elegant. Lovely.

Château des Karantes, 2006, Languedoc – La Clape
50% syrah, 40% grenache, 10% mourvèdre
No UK importer
Lifted blackcurrant nose, elegantly profiled with a gentleness and refinement of texture. Very little age showing, mellowing into primary fruit with suppleness and still fresh fruits. Long finish, Vg.

Mas du Soleilla, Les Bartelles 2008, Languedoc – La Clape, ~ £17
75% syrah, 25% grenache
UK importer : The Imperial Wine Company
Dark and mysteriously brooding black fruits with herbal nose, followed up on palate. Big and deceptively muscley, very nicely balanced with high tasty quotient. Vg.

Domaine de Nizas et Salleles, Domaine de Nizas 2008, Languedoc – Pézenas
50% mourvèdre, 26% grenache, 24% carignan
No UK importer
Bright, crunchy, dark and strong, savoury flavours, muscle-bound and still inching into its frame. Has everything to mellow into a lovely place. Good.

Château Fondouce, 2006, Languedoc – Pézenas
70% syrah, 30% grenache
No UK importer
Smoked red berry fruits. Hint of chalky tannin entry giving lift and refreshment. Medium bodied, with fresh and considered ripeness to fruit; not overtly super ripe fruits.  

Domaine du Pech Rome (Remparts de Neffies), Clemens 2007, Languedoc – Pézenas
50% grenache, 38% syrah, 12% carignan
No UK importer
Juicy, fragrant, fresh and aromatic, black berries, sweet fresh fruit, crunchy ripeness, with herbal complexity to finish. Good.

Domaine de Bébian, Chapelle de Bébian 2007, Languedoc – Pézenas, ~£12
50% grenache, 40% syrah, 10% cinsault
UK importer : www.terroirlanguedoc.co.uk
Lifted, aromatically spicy perfume, bramble and almost gentle curry leaf spices. Enticing layers of flavour. Individual, and good.

Bergerie du Capucin, 2008, Languedoc – Pic Saint Loup
Syrah, grenache
No UK importer
Spice and redcurrants, fresh, linear, and refined. Lifted, medium body, with some elegance and well toned proportions. Red berries through the core. Good.

Le Chemin des Rêves, Gueule de Loup 2008, Languedoc – Pic Saint Loup
60% syrah, 30% grenache, 10% carignan
No UK importer
Sweet, fat, toasty oak on the nose. Rich and dense, gently chewy, big and latently muscley. Good.

Domaine Grandes Costes, Cuvée super premium 2008, Languedoc – Pic Saint Loup
75% syrah, 25% grenache
No UK importer
Sweet-spicy stewed fruits of the forest, rich and flavoursome, open knit, savoury fresh leather and liquorice, nice balance and intensity. Good.

Domaine Haut Lirou, Mas des Costes 2009, Languedoc – Pic Saint Loup
70% syrah, 30% grenache
No UK importer
Smoky nose, sweet blackcurrant fruits, lush and enveloping. In the rich, sweet, fat spectrum and nice for it. Good.

Château La Roque, Cupa Numismae 2008, Languedoc – Pic Saint Loup
65% syrah, 35% mourvèdre
No UK importer
Gentle, understated red fruits, then deep density of fruit, supple and smooth texture. Nicely balanced with some sophistication, leading into dark berry fruits. Long finish. Vg.

Domaine de Familongue, Les Trois Naissances 2007, Languedoc Terrasses du Larzac
41% syrah, 12% mourvèdre, 20% grenache, 15% carignan, 5% carignan carbonic maceration, 7% cinsault
No UK importer
Smoke, spice, savoury, with dry baked forest berries. Full and dry, with just-ripe, rather than sweet, fruits. Good.

Domaine de Montcalmès, 2008, Languedoc Terrasses du Larzac ~£19
60% syrah, 20% grenache, 20% mourvèdre   
UK importer :  The Wine Society
Fresh, lifted, strawberry perfume, aromatic, delightful fresh and fragrant entry. Medium body, primary fruits, with elegance of effortlessness. Long. Vg.

Domaine le Clos du Serres, Les Maros 2009,  Languedoc Terrasses du Larzac, ~£13
61% grenache, 22% cinsault, 17% carignan
UK importer: Stone, Vine and Sun
Smoke and dark red fruits, cherry plum, almost full bodied, lush and sweet with dry structural and refreshing tannins. Nice balance. Good.

Domaine La Croix Chaptal, Cuvée Charles 2007, Languedoc Terrasses du Larzac
40% carignan, 30% grenache, 30% syrah
UK importer:  Aldeby Wines
Smoked meats, biltong and barbecued steaks. Big, hulking meatiness, and no less interesting for that. Balanced, and with smoked dark berry fruits there too.

Mas des Chimères, 2008, Languedoc – Terrasses du Larzac
20 cinsault, 20% syrah, 20% grenache, 20% mourvèdre, 20% carignan
No UK importer
Smoke, marble, dry baked cherries, and forest fruits, delicious layering of spiced fruits, aromatic spices with a hint of herbal garrigue. Complex, seductive, layered, long and delicious. Vg.

Château de Cesseras, 2008, Minervois la Livinière, ~ £13
77% syrah, 12% grenache, 11% carignan
UK importer : Waitrose
Juicy, perfumed violet and strawberries. Crunchy fruit with texture and style. Supple, plentiful tannins of sweetness and nestling support. Lush and fresh at both the same time. Vg.

Château Sainte Eulalie, La Cantilène 2008, Minervois la Livinière, ~£12
55% syrah, 25% grenache, 20% carignan
UK importer :  Wine Society
Smoked red berries, bit of liquorice and tar. Nicely balanced in a more upright style. Good.

Domaine des Aires Hautes, Clos de l’Escandil 2007, Minervois la Livinière
50% syrah, 20% grenache, 30% mourvèdre
No UK importer
Smoked, rich and sweet bramble fruits, lush and sweetly textured. With fresh backbone, dark berry conserve. Rich and headily perfumed with plenty flesh and succulence. Vg.

Domaine La Rouviole, 2006, Minervois la Livinière,
75% syrah, 25% grenache
UK importer :  Hallgarten Druitt
Smoked bramble and liquorice nose. Dense and savoury with concentrated dark fruits, muscular, meaty and Heathcliffe-brooding fruit and structure. Long finish.

Cave de Roquebrun, Les Fiefs d’Aupenac 2009, Saint-Chinian Roquebrun             
60% syrah, 20% grenache, 20% mourvèdre
UK importer:  Barton, Brownsdon and Sadler
Juicy, redcurrants, bright and crunchy, nice balance, and fresh intensity. Good in a youthful spectrum.

Cave de Roquebrun, Baron d’Aupenac 2007, Saint-Chinian Roquebrun
70% syrah, 15% grenache, 15% mourvèdre
UK importer :  Barton, Brownsdon and Sadler
Spice and youth, super density of fruit, open knit, ripe and aromatically spiced fruits. Good.

Domaine de Mouscaillo, 2008, Limoux   
Chardonnay
Citrus, nut and meal, quite sophisticated and textured. Very nice indeed, smooth, with intense flavours. Good.

Here is a selection of my favourite Orange region wines following on from my visit in October 2010, including approximate AUD$ retail prices.

Angullong, Sauvignon Blanc 2010, $17
General manager Ben Crossing said this wine is a combination of own fruit grown at 600m which “gets ripe tropical fruits, and fruit we buy from 970m which has lifted aromatics. And by putting the two together we get a wine with more dimensions.” 
Gunsmoke, citrus, and pink grapefruit, of punchy density and texture. Good flavour density, smooth citrus, nicely balanced and long. Very good.  

Belgravia, Riesling 2010, $22
12.5%.  Green tea, jasmine, citrus and lime pith illustrate good varietal definition. Decent intensity and density of fruit flavours with some elegance of style and a good finish.

Brangayne, Isolde 2009, $30
14%.  This is chardonnay. Creamy, nutty oak aroma, followed by a smooth palate of creamy-sweet, lush-sweet fruit, of elegant intensity. Fresh-peachy fruit, good weight and texture, nicely balanced. Delicious and fresh with long finish. Very good.
This one is a third new oak, and a third malo.

Brangayne, Tristan 2005, $30
14.5%. A blend of 55% cabernet sauvignon, 25% shiraz, 20% merlot. This is herby, with eucalyptus and sweet blackberry fruits on the nose, which all follow through on the palate. A mouth-filling wine of lush, nicely ripe fruit and old wood, tobacco leaf, complexity. The feeling is fresh with a super intensity of flavour. Very good. 

Faisan, Shiraz 2009, $23
Deeply coloured with warm plum aromas. Spicy lift to the palate of warm and bright plum and raspberry fruit, with rich, sweet-ripe, (not sweetly ripe), crunchy balance.  Fresh and good. 

Mayfield Vineyard, Riesling 2010, $28
This was only bottled the previous month. Lime zest and pith, good intensity of apple blossom. Some positive bruised apple phenols. Tight, with flesh to support, nicely weighted.  

Mayfield Vineyard, Cabernet Sauvignon 2008, $28
14% dense colour. Bits of spicy vanilla and chewy dense black fruit. Oak still needing to integrate, but plenty of soft, black fruit density and intensity to allow this. Alcohol is integrated. This is big and juicy, without being too powerful or cloying.     

Philip Shaw, No 11 Chardonnay 2009, $35
Philip Shaw said this “comes from older vineyards. It has a quick settle so we retain high solids, and goes to barrel.”
Fresh creamy, nutty, mealy nose, richly textured, quite full bodied, and smooth. The oak is beginning to settle nicely into a well-balanced wine of some refinement. Good

Philip Shaw, The Dreamer Viognier 2009,
Fragrant, peach blossom nose, with a clean, fresh, sparky palate, which is enticingly textured. Crunchy, fresh fruit, fresh peaches; really tasty and more-ish. 

Philip Shaw, No 8 Pinot Noir 2008,
Pale cherry colour with aromatic strawberry and raspberry nose in a lovely perfume. Smooth palate attack with silky tannins, sweet aromatic fruit, and very good varietal definition. Long finish. Everything is in the right place. Very good. 

Ross Hill, Jessica and Lily Sauvignon Blanc 2010, $18
13.5%. Fresh and clean, with soft grass, lemongrass, and pink grapefruit flavours, rather than in a super-zesty style. Six months on the lees add just a touch of dimension. Thoroughly decent.

Ross Hill, Chardonnay Pinnacle 2009, $27
13.5%. Cream, smooth white nuts, in a creamy texture which is both refined and balanced. Fresh and peachy-creamy; delicious. Hint of aromatic spice at the end.  No overt oak (even though a quarter of it is new), just a lovely texture. Very good.
Winemaker Phil Kearny said “it has full malo on its lees. We let it go till the butteriness goes.”

My research visit to Australia in October 2010 was sponsored by Wine Australia.

Yalumba

As owners of Yalumba they are members of Austalia’s First Families of Wine (AFFW), and they also own a number of other wines including Pewsey Vale, Heggies Vineyard, and Redbank Wines. 

A fellow member of AFFW, Jim Barry, owned by the Barry family, is distributed by the Hill-Smiths’ import and distribution company, Negociants.

They recently held a tasting in London of what they call the icon wines, i.e. pretty much the posh kit.  And well worth searching out it is too.

Tasting notes, London, November 2010

Jim Barry, The Florita Riesling 2008, Clare Valley, ~£24
11.5%. Intense lime juice and pith nose. Palate with exotic notes of quince and marjoram. Intense plentiful fruit, in dry, steely style. Purity of fruit, very clean and precise.

Jim Barry, The Armargh Shiraz 2006, Clare Valley, ~£90
15.5%. Dark, bitter chocolate-dipped roasted plums, savoury old wooded toasty notes. Savoury, tarry, dense, sweet, almost porty elements coming through. Butch and muscular.

Jim Barry, The Benbournie Cabernet sauvignon 2002, South Australia, ~£56
15%. Spicy with some fruitcake development on the nose; smooth tannins, nicely melded. Alcohol is well integrated, and the palate still has richly sweet primary fruit; not much palate evidence of bottle age. Big, soft, then a hint of savoury at the finish is the only suggestion of an older wine.  

Jim Barry, The First Eleven Cabernet sauvignon 2006, Coonawarra, ~£23 
14.5%. Reticent nose, then linear blackcurrant fruit attack, smoothly textured, warm big fruit, no great subtlety. Rather chewy tannins, and rather grippy around the edges.

Jim Barry, The McRae Wood Shiraz 2005, Clare Valley, ~£24
15.5%. Smoky, tarry, chewy nose, fine-grained almost velvety texture. Dark, rich plums, tar, sweet dark chocolate, lush, sweet, fruit, in a big, well toned body-built structure. Lushly smooth. Good. Everything well proportioned in a big frame and in the right place.   

Heggies Vineyard, Chardonnay 2009, Eden Valley, ~£13 
13.5%. Creamy, toasted vanilla nose, nicely done overt new oak with fresh, lifting aromatically spiced citrus mid palate. Linear, elongated in mouth profile, with fresh core and elements of elegant restraint. Good.

Heggies Vineyard, Reserve Chardonnay 2007, Eden Valley, ~£16 
13%. Smoky, dried citrus nose, with light caramel notes and fine-grained texture. A big wine holding itself in check with some aplomb. Ginger and cinnamon aromatics among the medium bodied sweet flesh of ripe, baked citrus fruits. Finishing with a light mocha note of complexity.

Jansz NV, Tasmania, ~£14 
Chardonnay dominated blend, with pinot noir. 12.5%.
Poached pears, and Nice biscuits, with smooth, fine mousse, fresh, and fruit-forward palate of pears, apples and allspice-infused citrus. Ripe fruits with a good density and intensity of fresh fruit, nicely balanced. Good. I like this for its uncomplicated simplicity.

Jansz 2005, Tasmania, ~£20
Five years on lees. Chardonnay 51%, pinot noir 49%; 12.5%.
Brioche and dried spiced citrus fruit skins. Fine mousse, with a fresh core amid ripe, sweet fruits. It has complexing savoury, doughy character emerging, nicely balanced with good volume of fruit and a decent length of finish.

Mesh, Riesling 2009, Eden Valley, ~£17 
A joint venture between Robert Hill-Smith and Jeffrey Grosset, of Grosset Wines.
12%. Fennel and preserved lemon nose. Herbal complexity in linear profile, Less in a pure, primary fruit mould, more into the herbal, stony, almost gunflinty spectrum. Smooth and layered, but then not quite as long a finish as the palate promised. Still with a firm, steely finish. Good.

Pewsey Vale Vineyard, Riesling 2010, Eden Valley, ~£11
13%. Lime pith and jasmine nose, fresh, limey attack, smooth and finely textured, with some sophistication of palate length and profile. Pure lime zest with aromatic complexity from jasmine and fresh ginger.  Long finish. Good and elegant.  

Pewsey Vale Vineyard, The Contours Riesling 2005, Eden Valley, ~£14 
13%. Citrus, kerosene with lanolin notes just beginning to emerge. Dense palate flavour with aromatic smokiness and hints of toastiness coming through the lime and steeliness. Long finish.

Redbank, The Anvil Shiraz 2006, Beechworth, ~£25
14.5%. Dark fruit, bitter chocolate, complex nose, smooth palate attack, sophisticated and gentle attack which persists. Alcohol not really noticeable. Dark chocolate, liquorice-stick, aromatic-tarry mid palate notes. Yet not much more than medium bodied. Silkily textured and refined. Smooth, fine, deeply flavoursome, with some savoury graphite notes. Serious and very good.

Vasse Felix, Heytesbury Chardonnay 2008, Margaret River, ~£23 
13%. Aromatic tar with sweet cinnamon and allspice-infused fresh oranges and lemons. Tropical notes emerge mid palate in this nearly full bodied style. Creamy, ginger-spiced double cream on the finish gives weight to this wine’s fat and breadth. Balanced and integrated in an overt, modern style.

Vasse Felix, Cabernet Sauvignon 2006, Margaret River, ~£18 
14%. Herbal hint of tar and green pepper on the nose. Smooth fresh, crunchy black berry and black currant palate attack. Silkily smooth fruit texture. Some nice refinement and elegance of silky tannin structure here. More-ish. Medium bodied, elegant, sophisticated, with upright backbone. Long in the palate length and finish. Very good.

Vasse Felix, Heytesbury 2007, Margaret River, ~£35
14.5%. Cabernet sauvignon, malbec, petit verdot. 
Spice and cedarwood, sandalwood, medium plus weighted, open knit, mildly chewy youthful texture. Baked red fruits – cherry, forest berry fruits. Big, soft fruits of high concentration, and some complexity. Big fruits, fleshy rather than muscular.  Decent finish. Good.

Yalmuba, Viognier 2009, Eden Valley, ~£12
14.5%. Apricot, peachy and ginger nose, very clear varietal definition. Smooth, glycerol-slippery texture, alcohol fully integrated in the mid palate. Full-fat body, toastily spicy in its typical, straightforward style.

Yalumba, The Virgilius Viognier 2009, Eden Valley, ~£25 
14%. Reticent nose, silky texture the first thing that hits the palate, quickly followed by a blanketing peachy, creamy fruit in a serious expression of viognier. Full-fat body, slippery sweet texture, spicy depth and non-overt sweet concentration. A wine that demands attention. Long finish. Good.

Yalumba, FDR1A 2006, Barossa, ~£20
14%. Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz.  (Fine Dry Red, barrel selection 1A) 
Deeply coloured, with spicy, herbal nose,liquorice-sweet attack and sweet, dense black berried fruits. Succulent, silky textured and sophisticated, though warmth of alcohol comes through at end.  Small price to pay for sweet, lush fruit and linear-textured profile. Good.

Yalumba, The Signature 2005, Barossa, ~£27 
14.5%. Cabernet sauvignon / shiraz.
Warm, spicy, minty, in a rich, traditional Barossa style – big, fat, mouth-filling, lush, sweet, all -enveloping. All held together well with a glycerol thickness. Big sweet fruit, spicy, stewed black berries, liquorice stick and herbal – thyme.  Warm, thick finish. Good.

Yalumba, The Reserve 2002, Barossa, ~£49 
14%. Cabernet sauvignon and shiraz
Sweet vanilla and characterful, stalky brambles on the nose, and followed up on palate. Tannins smoothing out nicely, still immense primary fruit, very little fruitcake of bottle age, just a gentle melding of tannin. Big softie and nice for that.

Yalumba, The Cigar 2008, Coonawarra, ~£14
14%. Cabernet sauvignon
Black cherry and allspice/cinnamon nose, smooth, finely crushed black berry fruit, with fresh backbone, medium bodied, and with alcohol well integrated.  Freshness is the  key driver here, with crunchy, fresh fruit, nothing baked or stewed. Fine grained youthful texture. Long finish. Very good.

Yalumba, The Octavius 2004, Barossa, ~£49
14.5%. Old Vine Shiraz
Red cherry and victoria plum spiciness on the nose. Smooth, bright cherry, youthful fruit, no sign of bottle age. Mid palate complexity aided by floral perfume. Young and crunchy-fruited still, with hints of milk coffee and warm mulling spices. Smooth and textured. Complex and very good.

Yalumba, Hand Picked 2007, Barossa, ~£18
14.5%. Shiraz-viognier
Gentle mocha, spiced red berries with smooth-aromatic palate attack. Hint of bitter phenolics on the mid palate, which is gentle and a bit loose. 

Yalumba, The Menzies 2005, Coonawarra, ~£27 
14.5%. Cabernet sauvignon
Dark, charcoal and mocha nose. Hints of fresh leather savouriness emerging on the palate. Aromatic tarry core, full bodied, sweet black fruit, dark, brooding, fat and still lushly sweet. Black berry fruits emerge to greater concentration on the palate. Smooth, rounded, full, with big, softie tannins, in a brash style. Good. 

Yalumba, Fromm Vineyard Shiraz 2006, Barossa Valley, ~£35
14%. Single site at Lyndoch
Lifted, red cherry, cranberry fruits, with richly toasted oak coming through on the palate;  dark fruits, charcoal notes and rich chewy tannins. Big, quite butch, pretty classic Barossa valley expression.  Big and fruitfully chewy.

Yalumba, Hahn Farm Vineyard Shiraz 2006, Barossa Valley, ~£35
14%. Single site at Light Pass
Dark, ripe stalky nose. Sweetly luscious dark berried fruit. Slippery texture, dark berries, big and fat and rather loosely structured, without clear definition of backbone.

Yalumba, The Scribbler 2008, Barossa, ~£12
14.5%. Cabernet sauvignon – shiraz
Herbal and liquorice nose mellowing into spicy red berry fruits in a lifted, fresh-fruit-salad sort of spectrum, with fresh acidity to the core which lifts the bearing of the wine. Gentle texture, with focus on the fruit and spice. Finely textured, warming, with an attractive degree of elegance for a wine of this alcohol.

Here’s my top tips from the tasting, London, November 2010

Sparklers

Brown Brothers, Patricia Pinot Noir Chardonnay / Pinot Meunier, 2004, King Valley, Victoria, 
Yeasty, autolytic nose, lemon toast and dry honey. Some attractive complexity on the nose and palate attack. Good definition and white floral mid palate, weighty with age, with toasted hazelnuts and preserved lemon. Mousse has good persistence in the mouth. Decent length.   

I also tasted the 2005 vintage in October at Brown Brothers in Australia: Steely, metallic bass notes of pinot noir, 80% in this blend; broad, bready, fruit, still fresh, and quite full bodied. Ripe, fruity and toasty, nice persistent mousse in the mouth, some real complexity. Good.

Jansz, NV, Tasmania ~£12.00       
Fresh, citrus lifted aroma. Nicely persistent mousse, with savoury, nutty hints on the mid palate; with good definition. Approachable, and widely appealing. Citrus, roasted nuts, bits of brioche and nutmeg. Well balanced

Pirie, Chardonnay / Pinot Noir NV, Tasmania, ~£18.00                                                                    
Addison Wines
Bright, light citrus, fresh, lean and floral, elegant and light fruit. Hints of bread and brioche mellowing into lemon pith. Nice level of freshness with depth and fruity intensity of fruit. Balance. Good.

Sweeties

Heggies, Botrytis Riesling 2006, Eden Valley, South Australia, ~ £11 / half bottle
Australian Wines Online;  The Fine Wine Company
Tangerine, marmalade and honeyed nose, with attractive complexity. Soft, fleshy core with defining acidity, lush fruit, soft spice amid the honeyed textures. Rich, fully sweet, concentrated fruit. Well balanced. Long finish. Delicious.

Tamar Ridge, Kayena Vineyard Botrytis Riesling 2007, Tasmania, £13 / half bottle             
Waitrose Wine 
Lifted, steely marmalade nose, rich, sweet attack, with immediate core of acid freshness, complexing herbal layers mid palate. Intense, layered rich, delicious, more-ish and long. Very good.

Pirie, Clark’s Reserve Botrytis Riesling 2007, Tasmania, ~ £15 / half bottle                
Addison Wines
Pale gold colour, full-fat attack, rich, with allspice, ginger and juniper berry spiciness. Citrus, lime pith and tropical crystallised pineapple fruits. Rich and lush, layered and full bodied. Very good.

Fortified

Campbells, Rutherglen Muscat, Rutherglen, Victoria, ~ £11 / half bottle
Oddbins; Waitrose Wine
Golden amber colour, with complex, toffee, caramel, and baked orange fruit; fresh tingly core to hang all the lush nutty and caramel notes on, plus dried fruits – apricot, prune, fig.  Complex, fresh, long, sweet, concentrated.

Seppeltsfield, 21 Year Old Para Tawny 1988, Barossa Valley, South Australia, ~£32
Golden chocolate amber colour, with refined smooth nutty nose, elegant and concentrated at the same time. Nutty, fruitcake, burnt toffee and bitter cherry chocolate flavours coalesce on the palate. Definitely a meditative wine. Delicious. Big, body building structure and all in proportion. Very good.

Languedoc

The Mediterranean south is France’s biggest vineyard area, and one of the country’s most exciting wine-producing regions. So much so that over the past couple of decades folk from all over the world have been relocating to the south and following their vinous dreams, a move that invariably involves a change of career, from teaching, the law, advertising, finance, sales and marketing etc.

At a tasting this month in London a number of these so-monikered, (for the purposes of creative PR, one imagines), ‘Languedoc Outsiders’ presented some of their wines.

The following are my favourite wines from the tasting:

Château Rives-Blanques,  Odyssée Chardonnay 2009, Limoux
£11.75 Great Western Wine 
13.5%. Light citrus, restrained nose. Light and intense melon on palate attack, backed up by big volume of fresh melon and spiced citrus with a creamy-toasted core. Nicely balanced with the freshness typical of Limoux.

Château Rives-Blanques, Chardonnay/chenin blanc 2009,  Vin de Pays d’Oc
£7.60 Great Western Wine
Englishwoman Caryl Panman said “every year we try to make a 100% chardonnay, and every year a little chenin just lifts the wine a bit”
13%. Light, with melon and bruised pear flavours. Smooth texture, with good fruit intensity focused on freshness and fruitiness. Nicely appealing, gentle wine of good value.

Mas Gabriel, Clos des Lièvres 2008, Coteaux du Languedoc
£14.95 Terroir Languedoc, The Wine Society       
14.5%. Typical blend of syrah, grenache and carignan. This one has a fragrant, strawberry compote nose, then a smooth, slippery texture, with plentiful supple and soft tannins, in an enticing and more-ish whole. Full, rich flavours in a medium bodied wine, despite the alcohol, which is integrated, if warming at the finish.

Mas Gabriel, Les Trois Terrasses 2009, Vin de Pays de l’Hérault
£11.50  Terroir Languedoc           
14.5%.  Entirely from carignan. Bright, purple hint to the rim.  Raspberry and strawberry fruits on the nose and palate. Crunchy fruit attack, with a sweet berry core, emphasising sweetness of fruit and lightness of nicely proportioned tannin. Alcohol invisible. Not a complex wine, but packs a lot of juicy flavour into an honest frame.   

Mas des Dames, La Dame 2008, Languedoc
£9.95 Roberson Wine     
Dutchwoman Lidewij van Wilgen said “I try to find the concentration in the vineyard not in the vinification.” She succeeded with this blend of grenache, syrah and carginan.
13.5%.  Lifted strawberry aromas, then a darkly spiced attack, with aromatic hints of gentle biltong. Supple and medium weighted with a crunchy yet diaphanous texture.  Nicely balance with a depth of fresh and rich fruit. Very good all round.   

Domaine Jones, Jones Blanc 2009, Vin de France, £15
Direct from producer website. First vintage for this Englishwoman.
13.5%. A truly fine expression of rather humbly-regarded grenache gris. A fresh, appley-citrus nose follows through on palate. Light and intense, sweet apple compote flavours with a fragrant lift to the mid-palate. This has a lovely purity of fruit concentration and definition, as well as a lengthy finish. 

Domaine Jones, Jones Rouge 2009, Vin de France, £15
Direct from producer website.
14.5%.  Has a gentle strawberry fragrance typical of grenache. Sweet pure strawberry and raspberry on the palate in a delineated, fresh, light and intense flavour, with the alcohol goes entirely unnoticed. Elegance comes to mind, as does a silky texture that more established producers might give an eye-tooth for.

Hegarty Chamans, Cuvee No. 2. 2008, Minervois
£12.75 Adnams
14%. Blend of 70% grenache, 20% mourvèdre and 10% cinsault.  This has a fragrant strawberry perfume with hints of raspberry compote thrown in. It has smooth, youthful tannins that are softly crunchy. Full bodied, with black pepper spice, mouth-filling in a fresh, warming manner. Nicely structured, with backbone and well-toned fruit flesh. Good.

Hegarty Chamans, Les Chamans Blanc 2008,  Minervois
14%. A 50:50 marsanne : roussanne  blend.  Gently spicy, ripe stone fruits – apricot, nectarine – mix with a nutmeg-melon thing. Full-bodied, with a modestly fresh palate, more focused on its rich, rounded, full flavour, which it does well with very good flavour intensity and dimension. Long finish.

Domaine de Cébène, Ex Arena 2008, Vin de Pays d’Oc
14%. Brigitte Chevalier said ”the sand soil – from ancient sea sediment – brings finesse to the terroir.” Certainly the wine’s aroma is of fragrant summer strawberries, with a hint of complexing rumtopf on the palate. The blend of 85% grenache and 15% mourvèdre is smoothly-textured, youthful with a characteristic savoury note of mourvèdre and with an elegant lightness of fruit core. Good.

Domaine de Cébène, Felgaria 2009, Faugères
14%. A blend of 50% mourvèdre with the rest from syrah and grenache. Fresh raspberries aromas meld into a fresh meatiness on the palate. A bit of fresh biltong from the mourvèdre adds a spicy savouriness to the otherwise sweet and aromatic summer berry fruits. This is nicely structured with some attractive complexity in the gentle mix of meat and fruit. Good.

Schubert, Block B Pinot noir 2008

Schubert, Block B Pinot Noir 2008
Hercules Wine Warehouse £27.95
Noel Young Wines  £27.95 
Cork, 14.5%

This really is an award-winning wine, having just totted up the Decanter World Wine Awards (DWWA) regional trophy and the International Wine Challenge (IWC) New Zealand pinot noir trophy.  I judge the NZ panel at the DWWA, but having done a bit of traceability analysis, this particular wine was on the other table.

The business was set up in 1998 by German couple Kai Schubert and Marion Deimling, who bought a small vineyard north of Martinborough – renowned pinot noir territory. More than three quarters of their 12 hectare vineyard is planted to this variety.

The wine has a pale ruby colour befitting classic pinot noir. Black cherries emerge from the glass along with a faintly herbal, rosemary-garrigue type note in the background. It has a sweet berry fruit attack with cinnamon and allspice new oak complexity. Its smooth, slippery texture slides sweetly across the tongue, as raspberries, cherries and redcurrants play on the palate.  It has big fruit concentration while retaining clearly-focused varietal definition. This is serious and seriously good Kiwi pinot noir, with notes of savoury complexity that focus the origin towards Wairarapa rather than Central Otago, for example.  It’s sweetly balanced with a fresh and lingering finish.

Oak can be an emotive issue, and when it’s new it’s definitely a flavour contributor.  But some of the best white wines on the planet are made without using new oak. 

The obvious interpretation of ‘unoaked’ white wines is those fermented and matured in stainless steel, or some other inert tank that imparts no flavour of its own to the wine.  

A stainless steel fermentation / maturation can help retain the edgy freshness and primary fruit pungency that is so typical, for example, of many New World sauvignon blancs, such as those from Marlborough in New Zealand.  Stainless steel is thus excellent for whites with perky acidity which have been made to drink young, usually before the next vintage has been made.

Wines reviewed below

But some ‘unoaked’ whites may be made using big, old oak casks, up to tens of thousands of litres in capacity, which can be used for many decades. Importantly, they impart not one iota of oak flavour.  Such wines are still classed as ‘un-oaked’.

These big, old oak casks, often with the flat ends decoratively carved, which investment illustrates the likely longevity of their use, do offer something different from a stainless steel upbringing. They offer a slight air exchange, which stainless steel generally does not.  This effect, especially on top quality whites, traditionally from Alsace, as well as Germany and Austria, effectively rounds out the edges of the wine, mellowing the texture, allowing it to soften into, and enhance, its own fruit core. 

Additionally, unoaked whites are also commonly found at the entry level everywhere to keep costs down.  New oak adds flavour but it is expensive, and needs replacing regularly because the flavour wears out. So basic Rhône, Bordeaux, Burgundy etc., will be unoaked.

But across the price spectrum, France is littered with white wines uninfluenced by overt oak. Almost anything from the Loire Valley and Alsace will be made in inert containers, from Muscadet in the west, through the chenin blanc appellations all the way to sauvignon blanc territory in Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé.  Only the super-cuvées of some of the more iconic Sancerre producers will be experimenting with new oak barrels. They are an acquired taste, if only because general style expectations for Sancerre are for pristine fruit and gunflint.

The climate clearly has something to do with it.  In the cooler Loire, where full ripeness can be an issue, there is an imperative to preserve as much fruit character as possible. New oak can quickly overpower fragile fruit flavours.  It is no surprise that Chablis is the epitome of unoaked chardonnay, which one then meets again further south in the humbler (cheaper) Burgundy regions around Macon. And in its unoaked apparitions, chardonnay has to focus on the cleanliness of its lines because it has nothing to hide behind.

In the South of France, most production is red, but there is one delightful appellation on the breezy Mediterranean coast that produces fresh, apple-zesty styles from the increasingly trendy picpoul grape variety.  The appellation is Languedoc – Picpoul de Pinet.

Apart from Picpoul de Pinet, Alsace is the only region which markets its grape varieties on the label.  Indeed, the choice of grape varieties has a lot to do with avoiding new oak influence.  Grape varieties where aroma and purity of fruit flavour are the raison d’etre perform best in inert containers which accentuate and enhance those aromatic and semi-aromatic qualities.  Riesling really has no affinity with oak.  Sauvignon blanc arguably too, though when blended with semillon in the classic whites of Bordeaux, it takes on whole different dimensions (and semillon has a great affinity for oak). Grapey muscat, rose-petal gewürztraminer, piquant pinot gris, these are the staples of Alsace, and inert containers.

It’s not just about pure grape variety expression either. Weight, or gras, and layers of complexity can be introduced by working with the lees, the dead yeast cells that are left after the end of fermentation. Keeping the freshly fermented wine on lees, stirring them from time to time, adds creaminess to the texture and helps to fill out the body of a white wine. Though this technique is not unique to ‘unoaked’ whites, it’s used on oaked whites too.

Domaines Schlumberger Pinot Gris Kitterlé 2006, Alsace Grand Cru
£25.99 Wadebridge Wines  
Cork, 13%
Schlumberger own three-quarters of the Kitterlé grand cru site. This wine was made in oak casks that are over 100 years old, varying in size from 80 to 170,000 litres. After fermentation it went into stainless steel for eight months maturation on its lees to add a spicy, creamy intensity.  Alsatien pinot gris often has some residual sweetness, and this is no exception. Here it adds rich, honeyed layers to the full-bodied tropical fruit and spicy firestone flavours. The wine is perfumed, the flavours intense, the finish long.  Think body, weight, medium-sweet lushness. Think stunning aperitif and soups. It’s not sweet enough for dessert. The producer has also promised some indication of a dry-to-sweet level on labels this year.

Domaine Vigneau-Chevreau, Vouvray Sec Cuvée Silex 2009, Loire Valley   
£11.95 Noel Young Wines 
Cork, 13%
By definition Vouvray is made from chenin blanc grapes. And with its typical racy apple acidity, this one is made in a perceptively dry, refreshing style. It has pristinely clean sweet-apple fruit, quite full-textured with a dry-honeyed concentration, with sweet melon and quince conserve notes coming through before the ripe fleshy finish. It’s fresh and intense, it’s precise and focused. This is a wine to cool your palate and make it sing.  You won’t know it, but it has been fermented-only (not matured) in barrique – but those barriques are up to 30 years old, so no flavour, and they allow the fermentation to proceed more slowly and build character in the wine. The wine is organic to boot.

Domaine Gilles Berlioz, Chignin, 2008, Vin de Savoie  
£9.95 Wine Society  
Cork, 11.5% 
The Alpine Savoie region, on the border with Switzerland in eastern France is a pretty specialised wine-making area.  Jacquère, the grape variety from which this wine is made, is the mostly widely planted in the area.  It tastes tart and appley with an attractive steeliness through its core.  The flavours are of white flowers, pear and green apple, in a somewhat restrained yet zesty style, with a good fresh intensity and balance. At 11.5% this packs a flavour punch without breaking the alcohol bank. Ideal for those long lost days of summer (hopefully not lost this year). This is my first tasting of the jacquère grape variety. Nice.

Jean Pierre Auvigue, Solutré, Rock, 2008, Mâcon Solutré, Burgundy 
£9.99 Waitrose
Cork, 12.5%
The Auvigue family have been growing grapes and making wine in vineyards around the famous rock of Solutré for generations.  Jean-Pierre and Michel Auvigue currently make wines in Pouilly-Fuissé, St Véran and Mâcon. This Mâcon is tight and linear, with white nut and oatmeal notes refined by a citric steeliness and great intensity of fruit, which opens out in the mouth.  It is restrained, yet it has full-flavoured flower and stone fruit intensity. It has had a stainless steel fermentation and maturation, being bottled in the spring following the harvest to preserve the steely edge of the fruit focus.

Brumont Gros Manseng 2009
£8.99 Corks of Cotham  
Cork, 12.5%
Gros manseng more normally accompanies petit manseng in the sweet wines of Jurançon, but this is a great expression of the grape in a dry style, focusing on the aromatic purity and bright fruit flavours.  It’s intended to be drunk in the first fresh flush of its youth. White peach, with simple, pure juicy tropical fruit intensity along the whole length of the palate, alongside reminiscences of allspice and juniper berries.  It’s delightfully uncomplicated with all the focus on the joy of the juice.

In the full-bodied section we learnt most of France’s full-bodied wines come from the warmer Mediterranean climes and some of the spicier grape varieties.

This leaves most of France being cooler than Mediterranean, though growing season warmth is also to be found in more continental climates such as Burgundy and Alsace. And in a really warm vintage some of these otherwise medium-bodied wines may err towards full-bodied.

But how do we define a medium-bodied red? Clearly they do not have the gutsy, powerful, sometimes alcoholic, density of full-bodied wines. Their definition and focus lies around the expression of tannins and how oak can be used (or not) to portray the tannins in a fine and elegant composition. Additionally, alcohol is usually modest, or dare I say it, medium, to go with the body. In the French context, this would be around 12.5% to 13%. Medium-bodied wines can still have concentration and density, and they (and light-bodied wines) often have a refreshing quality to them.

Wines reviewed below

Throughout the southern Mediterranean swathe of the Côtes du Rhône, Languedoc and Roussillon, grenache and syrah are the mainstay grape varieties. Depending on how they’re worked in the vineyard and the winery, wines from these regions can produce heavier or less heavy styles. More medium-bodies styles often have no overt new oak influence, which can otherwise add weight and power to these grapes. There are several winemaking options that can used to create medium-bodied styles, which often focus on the fruit characters, and their natural spiciness, rather than build structure and muscle.

Following the Rhône river north, the elegant, silky tannins and perfumed fruit of more continental syrah create enviable medium-bodied wines from appellations such Côte-Rôtie and Crozes-Hermitage. These are made exclusively, or near-so, from syrah. 

Further north again is Burgundy, in its two distinct parts.  Beaujolais, from the gamay grape, can made light bodied wines, but it is the more serious, structured, Beaujolais crus, where medium-bodied wines are to be found.  Traditional fermentation, rather than a carbonic maceration, which in Beaujolais is used to make light, easy, fruity wines, crafts a more complex, dark cherry, earthy style from gamay.

Then to the part of Burgundy where pinot noir is king, which also varies from light-bodied in the generic Bourgogne rouge locations to seriously medium-bodied in the village and cru appellations.  Producers using a greater proportion of new oak add a little more weight to their wines, but essentially pinot noir is a lightly tannic wine, and too much extraction can be a bitter thing.

But it is the classical interpretation of Bordeaux that is traditionally the prime exemplar of the medium-bodied mantle.  Bordeaux is all about being ‘medium’: medium-bodied, medium alcohol, medium weight, wrapped up in a firm, refreshing acid structure, with plenty of tannins but of such a fineness, in the best examples, that grip and power are not added by them, and the wine retains its medium-bodied heart.

Red Bordeaux, or claret, is made primarily from cabernet sauvignon and merlot, grapes that don’t perform their best when the climate is too hot.  The heatwave 2003 vintage is still fresh in the memories of the Bordelais, when the resulting wines were the most ‘new world’ in style, and sometimes full-bodied for that – tending to richness, fatness, supple rather than spine-firming acidity, and a sometimes noticeable heat to the fruit quality.

In ‘normal’ vintages though, on the left bank, cabernet sauvignon and merlot blend together to create one of the most applauded wines in the world. Plenty of new oak in the top examples adds weight to the modestly fleshed, but firmly backboned cabernet sauvignon, and merlot fills out the flesh, adding succulence. Together they combine cassis and plum fruit, with a sense of place expressed in a type of dry earthiness, a fresh compost.

The right bank, with its greater proportion of plump, fleshy, softer merlot, can be a little fuller and plusher than the left bank, but more often than not, still within the medium bodied genre. 

Château des Demoiselles, 2006, Côtes de Castillon, Bordeaux
£11.25 The Ledbury Wine Cellar  
Cork,  13%
Rather than any classic wine, this is from a lesser-known appellation on the right bank, and is thus merlot-dominated, with 70%, the rest being cabernet sauvignon and cabernet franc. It’s also had 12 months in oak, all of which has created a wine smelling of dark berries with hints of allspice. It’s supple with sweet fruit and upright, refreshing and ripe tannins, with the focus on the fruit. Completely approachable and rather tasty now.

Domaine de l’Hortus, Bergerie de l’Hortus Cuvée Classique, Pic Saint Loup 2007, Languedoc        
£11.95 Lea and Sandeman 
Cork, 13.5%
‘Younger brother’ and nearly half the price of the ‘big brother’ Domaine wine, and made in a supremely approachable style, with aromatic herbal and red berry spice on the nose, followed up by a sweet fruit attack with cardamom and allspice notes, perfumed cherry, raspberry and blueberry fruit with rich and smooth, piquant tannin support. The typical southern French grenache/syrah blend has been made a notable bit more sophisticated with some mourvèdre.

Cave du Château de Chénas, Moulin-a-Vent 2007, Beaujolais
£10.99 Waitrose 
Screwcap,  13%
From one of the best-regarded Beaujolais crus, this has aromas of fresh almond with blueberry and raspberry fruit crush, all of which plays onto this palate.  It has a nicely balanced smooth light-tannin structure with crunchy fruit texture and just a hint of characteristic dry earthiness. This is a gently structured wine with the fruit as foundation for its weight and volume.

Domaine de la Vougeraie, La Justice, Gevrey Chambertin 2006, Burgundy
£24.00  Laithwaites 
Cork,  13%
Aromatic concentration of wild strawberries and dark Scottish raspberries on the nose, delicately spiced with coriander leaves. The palate is well structured, with a typical firm acidity that freshens the core and provides a frame for the delicate and balanced fruit.  The tannins are restricted in pinot noir, and here they offer a complementary backbone to the acidity, from which the warm, aromatic fruits hang.

Domaine Alain Graillot, Crozes Hermitage 2008, Rhône
£16.50 Yapp Brothers
Cork, 12.5%
Pause to smell this wine, its immediate, sweet, intoxicating violet perfume deliciously invades the senses, and is followed up by fresh, sweet, Victoria plum fruit, a silky-smooth texture of the finest tannins. It is seductive, fresh, elegant, sweet-fleshed, and dry. Graillot coaxes out some of the finest expressions of northern Rhône syrah, and is regarded as one of its finest proponents in the modern era.

Oak is vital to support, enliven and fulfil the potential of some of the best quality white wines on the planet. 

Using oak to ferment and mature white wine is a much more complex matter than imparting chewy, obvious oaky flavours. It is only new oak that imparts the characteristic toasted, nutty, vanilla, sometimes aromatic tarry and charcoal notes to a wine. These overt flavours fade as a barrel is used over subsequent vintages, and after a few years, none of these notes appear in the wine.  The smaller the barrel, the bigger the oak influence, all to do with the ratio of wood to wine. French oak and American oak have different flavours, and all the wines here have been made using French oak.

Wines reviewed below

But oak doesn’t just provide flavour.  New and older oak enable an air exchange through the barrel, while the wine is maturing. The effect of this controlled air exchange is to soften the edges of a wine, makes it feel a little creamier on the tongue, a little rounder, maybe smoother, in texture. It changes the perception of dimension and shape in the mouth, think spheres rather than cubes, for example.

Good quality oak barrels are expensive, several hundred pounds sterling for one 225-litre barrel (300 bottles), so wine aged in high quality new oak is going to be more expensive than average. Cheaper options can be used – the staves that go to make up a barrel can be put loose into a stainless steel tank, as can ‘chips’ off cut during barrel making, but using barrels is generally regarded as the best option.

So using new oak is about flavour and texture, using older oak us about texture.  And it doesn’t end there. Certain grape varieties really don’t suit any sort of overt oak influence, notably riesling.  Some might argue sauvignon blanc too, but Bordeaux has long made great white blends from sauvignon blanc and semillon, especially in the Graves region, and there are one or two specialist cuvées of Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé in the Loire.

Oak affinity all starts with chardonnay, and therefore Burgundy. Apart from some top Chablis, all the best white Burgundies are brought up in oak barrel. Chablis is where there is some sort of dividing line, with some producers favouring the steely, sometimes austere, white floral, mealy, yeasty-lees style of Chablis, and others preferring, often on premier and grand cru wines, maturation in barrel, creating a creamier, richer, fatter-textured, long-lived wine.

South of Burgundy, the southern Rhône, as well as Languedoc and Roussillon, are rich with white varieties that do well with oak.  They tend to have modest acidity, richer, fatter flavours to which a bit of oak influence can add some additional structure and note of complexity. The likes of viognier (especially in Northern Rhône’s Condrieu), plus marsanne and roussanne, often blended with less fashionable Mediterranean whites such as grenache blanc. Spiciness and dry honeyed notes can be found amid tropical fruits.

From the Mediterranean warmth to the maritime Atlantic, where the best Bordeaux whites are barrel aged.  Sauvignon blanc is blended with semillon, which, with its modest acidity and toasty tendencies, also has a positive affinity with oak.

A issue to address, using these examples, is when oak, even new, is used really well, how much of it can you really taste? Or does it become such a seamless and wholesome part of the wine that its individual taste is integrated into the whole palate experience, including fruitful aromas and flavours, structure and shape?

Vincent Girardin, Bourgogne blanc, Cuvée St Vincent 2007
£13.99  Laithwaites
Screwcap, 13%
A ‘basic’ Burgundy, so 100% chardonnay, with no new oak, but four fifths aged in 500-litre, 2-3 year old oak barrels, for 10 months. The other fifth was aged in stainless steel. Sweet wood-smoke and roasted nut aromas plunge from the glass. White flowers emerge on the palate along with soft-baked lemons in an upliftingly fresh style. This has the smooth ground-nutty texture and flavour so typical of white Burgundy.  The oak influence is gently aromatic, then textural, and the finish is lemon-fresh, which cleanses the palate for another sip.

Olivier Leflaive, Puligny-Montrachet Les Meix 2007
£28.99 Corney and Barrow 
Cork, 14%
A ‘posh’ Burgundy, from a vineyard owned by Olivier Leflaive. The posher appellation with higher quality fruit allows more oak to fully express the wine. It’s not a premier cru, though it is right next door to Premier Cru Les Pucelles. All the wine was fermented in oak, a quarter of which was new, and matured for 9 months. This has all the classic hallmarks of high quality Burgundian chardonnay, nothing to be called overtly oaky at all, just a gentle palate packed with ginger and allspice, meal and hazelnut flavour and intensity, wrapped in elegant concentration and with a very long finish.

Domaine Saint-Amant, La Tabardonne 2007 Côtes du Rhône Villages Blanc, Rhône
£11.99 Waitrose Wine Direct 
Cork, 13.5%
Made from 90% viognier with the remainder from roussanne, and made in French oak barrels averaging 2 years’ age, and matured in them for 12 months. The only flavour nod to oak is a gentle vanilla spice which melds completely with fruit perfumes of apricot, honeyed melon and sweet spice. The palate reflects the nose with the concentrated fruit aromatising and filling the mouth with a sweet volume of fruit. Nicely balanced with a rich core.

Château Doisy-Daëne Sec 2008 Bordeaux
£17.49 Waitrose Wine Direct 
Cork, 12.5%
Denis Dubourdieu is Bordeaux’s white wine making genius, and this is made 100% from sauvignon blanc. All of the wine was fermented in oak barrels, but just 20% of them were new. And the wine matured in barrel for 8 months. Piquant pink grapefruit exudes from the glass and zests up the palate, so this sauvignon blanc retains its fruit core freshness. The oak adds some attractive creamy complexity, depth and roundness of texture and just the faintest memory of lemon toast.

Domaine le Soula, Vin de Pays des Côtes Catalanes blanc 2007  
£19.51 A&B Vintners 
Cork, 14%
This property is part-owned by Gérard Gauby of Domaine Gauby in Roussillon fame. It’s made from a blend of the grapes that were already planted in the vineyard when it was bought, so as it contains sauvignon blanc, it cannot be called a Roussillon appellation wine, and defaults to a vin de pays. The other grapes include grenache blanc, marsanne, roussanne and macabeu. Bigger oak features here too, so less overt new oak influence.  The wine matured in 500-litre casks, of which 30% were new, for 15 months.  It tastes fresh and aromatic, with white flowers, and a creamy lemon toast sub-text which envelops the palate in a luxurious flood of warmth. Fresh almonds and cobnuts meld with complexing citrus and aromatic spice notes in a flavour profile that’s long in the mouth and even longer on the finish.

For this series we’ve divvied up reds into full-bodied, medium-bodied and light-bodied because they each give very different flavour and texture sensations.  As emerging spring is only a distant dream, we’re starting with full-bodied reds which we hope will give you a warming, nourishing glow in the frosty winter, as weightier reds are best accompanied by some serious hearty casseroles and other rich comfort food.

So what makes a red wine heavy, weighty, full-bodied? Firstly, certain grape varieties produce more full bodied wines by their very nature.  Powerful reds come from the likes of grenache, syrah and mourvèdre (think of the ‘GSM’ blends that Australia does so well). Secondly, warm to hot climates create weight in reds.  Lots of sunshine makes lots of sugar in grapes, and the plentiful alcohol that this turns in to during fermentation adds weight and body to a wine. But the grape variety and the warmth need to be matched. If delicate, cool climate loving pinot noir is grown in a hot climate all the aromatics are blown off and varietally-indistinct, meaty ‘red wine’ is the best to be hoped for.

Wines reviewed below

It’s not so simple as there’s some crossover when a really warm vintage, in an otherwise cooler region, occurs.  So 2003 and 2005 will have resulted in some full-bodied Bordeaux wine, which is normally medium-bodied.  Similarly in a cooler vintage some Bordeaux could become quite light-weight.

Thus in France, the best places for full-bodied reds are the warmer Mediterranean regions.  Add to this the unique appellations of south-west France, which each have their own specialty grape variety, such as meaty malbec in Cahors and tannic tannat in Madiran. The classic cassoulet and confit duck of South West France are the most marvellous accompaniments for the local wines, which have the tannin and acidity to cut through the fat of the local fare, leaving the mouth refreshed, and undoubtedly aiding digestion!

To complicate the picture further, winemaking can influence style and weight.  Beefy, full-bodied styles of wine can be made from traditionally medium-bodied wines or grape varieties.

The strong grape varieties that result in full-bodied wines are generally high in tannin, and often in acidity too. And strong grape varieties can support and absorb a lot of oak, and if that oak is new it will add extra tannin and thus fullness to the wine.

With all that sugar from the warm climate, high alcohol is a by-product. In the good examples, it will be balanced with succulent fruit and rich, ripe tannins.  In poor examples, the alcohol may burn in a sensation of heat right at the back of the palate.   

The wine’s texture and mouthfeel has much to do with the ability to carry alcohol and the integration of any oak used. Too much chewy, new oak accentuates high alcohol and can make it challenging, chunky winter casserole or not.

The warm, Mediterranean southern Rhône valley is chokka with both full and medium-bodied wines, according to specific location, the blends of grape varieties, winemaking and vintage. Here, and throughout the Languedoc and Roussillon, is the heartland of grenache and syrah, with bits of carignan.  Add mourvèdre in the Languedoc and stretching east to its apogee in Bandol, plus those local specialities in the southwest to get pretty decent coverage of full-bodied styles. 

Fruit flavours will vary, but are likely to include anything from strawberries to dark, rumtopf-influenced blackberries, loganberries and mulberries. Warmth and richness are on the agenda, as is mouth-filling volume of fruit and spicy notes. Expect full-bodied wines to have quasi-physical weight on the tongue, and to take up the whole volume of space in the palate. Full-body, not skinny-body.

Sensitivity to, and appreciation of, high alcohol – in the context of full-bodied French wines, 13.5% to 14.5% -  vary with the individual, but expect anything from a gentle seeping of wet warmth across the tongue, to a spicy, piquant heat rising as imagined steam right at the back of the tongue, and into the aftertaste.

Integrating the alcohol is one of the crucial things for full-bodied wines. With dense, rich, palate-enveloping fruit, and sufficient defining acidity, this is no problem.

Château Montus 2005, Madiran
£19.30 Four Walls Wine Company  
Cork, 14.5%
Owned by Madiran-maestro Alain Brumont, this one is a blend of 80% local tannat grape, ‘softened’ out a little with 20% cabernet sauvignon. The beef steak and stewed black berry nose is complexed by notes of allspice and cinnamon. Ripe berry fruits adorn the still youthful, very fine-grained tannin framework. On this, well-toned, structural muscles provide the gently chewy backbone for intense flavours of black tea, black berries, plus layers of leather and rich spices. The alc is supremely well harmonised into this fully substantial wine with lingering finish.   
 
Domaine la Bouïssiere, Gigondas, 2007                               
£18.95, Lea and Sandeman
Cork, 14.5%
Sweet-baked red berry fruit on the nose, with hints of dried orange slices pierced with cloves. Lush, smooth palate entry, sweetly spiced, youthful, red and black forest berries. Big structured wine beguiled by silky smooth tannins and sweetly aromatic spices. The full body has the warmth of well integrated alcohol surreptitiously peeping through at the end after a long finish. Made with two-thirds grenache, with most of the rest being syrah as well a muscley morcel of mourvèdre.

Domaine Le Galantin Bandol AC, 2004                 
£12.90  Tanners
Cork, 14.5%
This one made from 100% mourvèdre, that dark, inky, brooding variety.  It has a lifted blackcurrant and wild strawberry nose, enticingly aromatic and perfumed for such a full bodied wine, with a tarry, leathery note of complexity. The fresh red berry attack is followed by subtle richness with a tarry backbone softening into the flesh of fruit after 18 months in barrel and three and half years in bottle. The smoothness of texture and fineness of the tannins absorb the alcohol extremely well.

JL Chave Séléction, Mon Cœur Côtes du Rhône, 2006                     
£11.50 The Wine Society
Cork, 14%
Jean-Louis Chave is owner of a prestigious Rhône estate, and for his ‘Séléction’ wines, he buys in young wines on which his attention and skills are bestowed. This wine has an intriguing combination of violet perfume and fresh beef nose. Its smooth attack of dark-berried forest fruits: blueberry, mulberry, loganberry, with a sweet fruit core surround a rich palate texture of creamy aromatic spice. This modern expression of the Rhône is rich, lush – in a dry manner – and forward, focusing on fruit rather than savoury, smoky characters.
 
Vignobles Diffonty, Cuvée du Vatican Réserve Sixtine, Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2007
£25.00  Laithwaites 
Cork, 15.5%
Châteauneuf-du-Pape is the archetypal full-bodied French wine. This one blends 50% grenache with 30% syrah and 20% mourvèdre, and exhibits a rich rumtoph spiciness with fresh red berry medley.  It has a smooth texture and the alcohol, even at 15.5%, is nicely warming without interfering. Aromatic spices, and sweet, almost overripe berry fruits combine with notes of tarry smokiness. Rich fruit, supple tannins and layered sweet and savoury flavours, express this modern wine.

France makes nearly 30% of the world’s rosé wine. And all the main wine regions in France make it. In most places, for example, Bordeaux and Burgundy, rosé comes under the catch-all Bordeaux AC and Burgundy AC, but in some areas it takes the same more specific appellation as either the whites or the reds, such as Sancerre rosé. 

Much rosé production is dry, but the Loire Valley, which is the second largest producer of appellation contrôlée wine, also makes off dry and medium dry rosés in the Rosé d’Anjou and Cabernet d’Anjou appellations.

Another big chunk of rosé is made all across the south of France.  Here in the sunny Mediterranean, most wine production is red. The story goes that people needed something lighter and fresher to see them through the summer months, and so they produced pink from their plentiful black grapes.  And in the south-east, Provence has made rosé a speciality all its own.

Wines reviewed below

Making good rosé is actually a tricky task, and some argue it’s the most difficult style to make – judging the colour just right; maximising the flavour and aroma compounds and keeping these during the fermentation process; getting the level of freshness and ‘refreshing-ness’ just right.

To do this winemaking work needs to be done with the grape skins, which hold the colouring pigments, hence white wine is made from white grapes and red wine is made from black grapes. Rosés, which need just a little colour, are therefore traditionally made from black grapes.

The way rosé is made in France (and the rest of Europe) differs from many new world rosés.  In the new world it is possible to blend red and white wine together. But in France (with the exception of Champagne, which can blend red and white), rosés must be made using only black grapes.  And the black grapes used must be in accordance with the local appellation or vin de pays territory. So Bordeaux rosés are made using merlot and cabernet sauvignon; Côtes du Rhône rosés are based on grenache, and so on.  

With just black grapes being used to make rosé, the juice infuses for a short time in contact with the colour-rich skins. The more time in contact with the skin, the deeper the rosé will be. Once the desired amount of colour has been absorbed from the skins, the juice is pressed off the skins and ferments on its own. Vin gris is made with just a quick squeeze of the grapes for the faintest colour hue.

More usually skin and grapes are in contact with each other for a few hours up to a day, and usually at cool temperatures, to retain as much natural grape and floral aroma as possible.  The juice is then drained off (saignée) for fermentation to take place, invariably in inert containers, and again often at cool temperatures. New oak influence is rare for rosés, where the emphasis is on fresh, primary fruit character, and a refreshing palate enlivener, and an attractive creamy texture as extra substance in place of tannin.

Provence has made rosé wine something of a speciality, and indeed this one region accounts for 5% of all the rosés in the world, and some 80% of the wines it produces are rosé. It typically has a very pale, yet bright, salmon-pink colour, and the paleness is something of a hallmark of the appellation.

In recent years, rosé wine has become much more popular the world over, perhaps partly because of its ‘inbetween’ style. Maybe the various shades of pink, shown off in clear glass bottles appeal to a frivolous side (though some of the wines are far from frivolous). It’s not usually called pink wine, though even this may be becoming trendy especially in the UK, where about 10% of the wine we drink at home is rosé, and growing.  

Chateau Haut-Rian, Bordeaux Rosé, 2008
£7.49 Uncorked 
Screwcap 12.5%
This property makes consistently steady wines and the rosé this year is no exception.  In accordance with Bordeaux grape varieties, this one’s made from mostly merlot, with a big chunk of cabernet franc, which is fruitier than cabernet sauvignon, the latter which makes up just 10% of the blend.  The colour is a deep salmon pink and the aroma is of baked strawberries.  Spicy red fruit flavours come through on this medium bodied wine. It has a good volume of fruit and attractive slippery texture. 

Domaine de Poujol, Coteaux du Languedoc 2008
£7.95 Tanners   
Screwcap 12%
This is made from a typical Languedoc assemblage of grenache, carignan, cinsault and syrah, at a domaine just north west of Montpellier.  It has an attractive bright rose petal pink colour which gives way to a soft floral perfume. Fresh strawberries and cream abound on the palate blending with a tasty fresh bon bon character. It is nicely balanced with plenty of rich flavour; and has modest alcohol too boot. The rich flavour persists in the mouth as long-flavoured primary fruit with the faintest hint of complexing aromatic spice. 

Château Miraval, Pink Floyd 2008, Côtes de Provence      
£11.99   Oxford Wine Company 
Cork 13%
Not some punning name but so monikered in honour of the band who recorded their album “The Wall” in Miraval’s studio in 1979. A mix of 80% cinsault with the rest grenache create this wine of rose petal pink.  A Wimbledon strawberries and cream nose follows through on the palate, which has a rich, full fruit flavour with good substance and volume of fruit. It’s smoothly textured, with the faintest sprinkle of black pepper on those strawberries. This is really tasty.

Andre Dezat et Fils, Sancerre Rosé 2008
£13.20  Tanners
Cork 12.5%
This producer makes one of the best white Sancerres, and their rosé lives up to their reputation. The colour is a bright salmon pink, the aromas are of fresh and ‘boiled sweet’ strawberries, with a hint of sweet allspice. It has the deliciously slippery smooth palate texture ideal in dry rosé. This medium bodied wine packs a concentrated flavour punch which lasts in the mouth; its succulent fresh weight and volume of fruit fleshes out the acid backbone with excellent balance and focus. This is a serious rosé with a long finish; really very good indeed.

Préceptorie de Centernach, Coume Marie 2007, Côtes du Roussillon                                         
£9.95 The Wine Society 
Cork  14%
One from the warm Mediterranean clime, and just from the dark, almost ruby-rose colour, it stands out as something different. It’s also sold a year older than most. Made from Roussillon grapes grenache, carignan and syrah, but has some subtle oak influence, which adds an extra dimension of creaminess and spice. This has a mulled spice and strawberry nose and palate, and a creaminess of texture and richness of cinnamon and nutmeg-dusted stewed strawberries. Even a few smooth, supple tannins are included in this serious rose that edges just a little way towards red.

Brits’ love affair with sparkling wine shows no signs of letting up, so what better wine style to both bring in the new year, and to start a new series exploring wine tasting, flavours and styles.

Champagne is by far and away the most important sparkling wine from France.  Alsace and the Loire are next with Burgundy falling into line, along with one or two specialist styles.

Style and flavour are inextricably linked to the way sparkling wines are made. In France, most are made by the ‘traditional method’, and even then, there’s plenty of flavour difference.

Traditional method is used to describe sparkling wines made in the same way as Champagne.  The term Champagne can only be used for sparkling wine made in the eponymous region of northern France.  Everywhere else in the world it’s ‘traditional method sparkling wine’. 

Wines reviewed below

Still wine is fermented at harvest.  This still wine is then blended according to a number of desired styles.  The still wine is put into the very bottle that you will be pouring from, along with a little yeast and sugar, as food for the yeast.  A second fermentation takes place in the bottle. The bottle then rests ‘on its lees’ (the yeast cells), for a mandated period of time: for Champagne a minimum 15 months for non-vintage; minimum 36 months for vintage. At the end of this time the lees are removed and the bottle topped up. This top-up includes an amount of sugar to conform to the style on the label – mostly brut, but also sec, semi-sec, and increasingly trendy – zero dosage.

Most of what we drink is Brut, so dry, but it’s those lees that confer flavour. The more time spent on lees, the more nutty, savoury, toasted, complexing flavours can be found in the bubbly, including fresh cream, cob nuts, almonds, brioche, granary and toasted characters. 

A second crucial element is the grape varieties used.  In Champagne these are stipulated as chardonnay, pinot noir and pinot meunier.  Most non-vintage is made of a blend of the three, but ‘blanc de blancs’ is made just with chardonnay (white grape) and ‘blanc de noirs’ is made with one or both of the pinots (black grapes).  More chardonnay gives more floral, lifted, citrus notes with a lightness of structure that belies its strength. More pinot noir gives greater power and body, more mouth-filling, whereas pinot meunier is supple and strawberry-fruity.

In the wine recommendations opposite, there is a ‘blanc de blancs’ and a ‘blanc de noirs’ to show as clearly defined differences as possible. If neither of these terms is mentioned, the wine will usually be blend of the three grapes.

A third crucial element in flavour is the acid structure of the wine and its mousse – the bubbles.  The best quality mousse is a fine, persistent one, where a steady stream of small bubbles erupts on the palate. If a mousse dissipates quickly or the bubbles are big and coarse, the sensation is less attractive, and is usually indicative of a lesser quality wine.

The acidity runs through the heart of all these elements. Early harvest is often ideal to preserve as much natural acidity as possible. Part of the refreshing and enlivening nature of sparkling wine comes from the perky and tingling acid core, around which all the flavours evolve and develop in the mouth.

Other regions in France call their traditional method wines Crémant, though the time on lees is often less: minimum time nine months. Already this suggests it will be fruitier rather than more nutty and toasty.

And the grape varieties used are those found locally, so this will also affect the flavour profile.  Sorg’s Crémant d’Alsace has pinot gris and pinot blanc which add floral aroma and fruitiness. The Presle Crémant de Loire has a lot of chardonnay and has developed toasty, creamy notes of notable time on lees, whereas the Crémant de Bourgogne has been made in a deliberately light and fruity style without the complexing characters of lees ageing, and is delightfully pure and fresh for that.

Bruno Sorg, Crémant d’Alsace Brut NV
£15.00 The Good Wine Shop   
Cork,  12%
A delicious bubbly focusing on fragrant fruit, from a top grower in Alsace.  This is a blend of chardonnay, pinot blanc and pinot gris. There’s freshness from the chardonnay, plus depth, weight and a little richness from the pinot gris (not to be confused with light, crisp, neutral Italian pinot grigio). Fragrant butter biscuit notes waft over white fruits, apple and pear, all with a hint of fragrant allspice. The nose promises much, and the palate does not disappoint, with fresh peach with apricot foam, and an evasive spicy hint of complexity.  

Château de la Presle, Jean-Marie Penet, Crémant de Loire Brut NV
£13.50  Bottle Apostle 
Cork, 12%
This is an aperitif to impress, with hints of those yeasty notes more usually found in Champagne, and little surprise as this is three-quarters chardonnay. Aromatic acacia flowers, apple, with white nectarine on both nose and palate.  Hint of honey-roasted white pepper spice also come through on the palate to complex the white fruit core of this bubbly. It has a creamy, persistent mousse, and a medium-full weight with rich fruit concentration alongside the silhouette of a savoury, creamy lees note.

Cave de Lugny, Crémant de Bourgogne, Blancs de Blancs Brut NV
£10.49  Oddbins
Cork, 12%
Blanc de Blancs so by definition chardonnay, with all the refreshing focus on primary fruit, so no savoury leesy character.  Fresh, crunchy apples, white pear and white rose fragrance leads into plenty of clean fruit on the palate. The mousse is creamy and well-defined. This is made by the well-known co-op in a widely appealing aperitif style. 

Sainsbury’s Blanc de Noirs Champagne Brut NV
£15.99 Sainsbury’s
Cork, 12%
Made only from black grapes: 40% pinot noir and 60% pinot meunier.  Hints of brioche on the nose are followed up by butter biscuit and fresh cream on the palate.  This gives way to fresh-roasted almonds and white flowers on the mid palate. With 30 months’ ageing on lees, this bubbly has a good level of complexity at the price.  It’s been made for Sainsbury’s for more than 20 years by the same co-operative in Reims.

Pierre Gimmonet et Fils Cuis 1er cru Brut NV
£168.00 per 6 bottles/£28 per bottle, Armit
Cork,  12%   
This is made only using chardonnay grapes, and is made by the Gimmonet family who have been crafting Champagne since 1750. Aromas of fresh bread emerge temptingly from the glass.  It is immediately gratifying and uplifting with a good density of flavour.  Acacia flowers and freshly-harvested cob nuts combine with hints of flavoursome creamy sweetness.  And lifted citrus notes meld into the enticing creamy mousse to create an altogether appealing sensation.

Caviste £18.95 per 37.5cl bottle

Hobbs Grenache ('07 label)

On the nose your senses are enveloped by sweetly stewed fresh, aromatic strawberries. This light and elegant perfume feeds through to the palate structure, which is intense and concentrated alongside the lightness. This is outrageously delicious. It’s a light, lush, rich, well-balanced, sweet-yet-fresh digestif over which to put the world to rights. It has an unadulterated purity of fruit that finishes very long.  

The wine is made in a ‘passito’ style: the grapes are laid out on racks to dry in air conditioned sheds.  Over time this evaporates a proportion of the water, which leaves all the fruity and structural bits in the grape beautifully concentrated.  The juice yield from these partially desiccated grapes is less than a third that from grapes pressed immediately after harvest.

There’s plenty of residual sweetness to this wine, which is delicately balanced with just 9% alcohol in what is a really refreshing dessert wine.

Majestic £8.69 per bottle standard.
Between Oct 30, 2009 and Feb 1, 2010, buy 2, save 20% … £6.95

Costero Riesling 2009

Viña Leyda is producing some of the most exciting wines coming out of Chile at the moment. This riesling is no exception, and on promo it provides really tasty value for money.

The vineyards are around 15km from the Pacific Ocean, which provides chilly winds to cool down the growing fruit. This helps retain both acidity and aromatics.

It’s an easy and gentle riesling, so if you think you don’t like riesling, I reckon this one is fab. enough to suggest you have another look.

Intense fresh lime flavours attack your palate in a zesty but not tingling manner, and give way to a gentle, smooth palate with a mouthfilling volume of lime and citrus fruit.  Excellent balance accentuates the moreish, pure fruit flavours. The wine is focused.  It’s not complex, but it is layered with unadulterated primary fruits, having been made entirely in stainless steel.