Syrah and Blends - Tasting Notes

Boukenhoutskloof - The Chocolate Block 2011 (Western Cape, South Africa)

A blend of two-thirds Syrah, with the remainder made up of Grenache, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cinsault, and Viognier. Decanted immediately prior to serving. Clear, with deep purple colouring. Really notably long slow-running tears inside the glass. Clean nose, very open, with pronounced intensity of sweet spices and black fruits. Really attractive. Medium-plus acidity, high tannin and full-bodied on the palate. Pronounced flavour intensity with strong black fruit characters and a long finish. Excellent quality, excellent value and at least a decade of cellaring potential ahead of it. 17/20. I’ve never been disappointed by the wines from Boukenhoutskloof, and this really ought to cost more than the £20 it retails for!

Chateau de Beaucastel  Chateauneuf-du-Pape 1995 (Rhone, France)

Decanted immediately before tasting. Despite having being stood for >24 hours, there was still a very fine sediment in the wine that needed additional time to settle out after pouring. Not optimal lighting conditions, but medium garnet in colour with long tears running down inside the glass. Clean, open nose with pronounced intensity. Obvious Brett characters coming across, which obviously will appeal to some and not to others. For me it is the definition of a good Beaucastel and one of my main reasons for enjoying their wines! Not the strongest Brett character I have come across in their wines, but certainly farmyard aromas. Fully developed. The palate was dry with medium acidity and soft, rounded tannins. Medium-plus body with mature fruit characters from tertiary bottle development. Medium length finish. I think this is showing some bottle variation and not quite as good as others I have tasted. Overall this gave the impression of being at the end of its drinking plateau and tiring out.

Over the course of 1-2 hours tasting it really began to dry out. I note Parker’s original tasting note had this down as drinking RP: 2006-2025. While it is still really enjoyable, I probably won’t be keeping my remaining bottles that long on the basis of this one.

Rosemount Estate - Balmoral Syrah 1999 (McLaren Vale, Australia)

Confusing given Rosemount are based in Hunter Valley, this wine actually hails from vineyards in the McLaren Vale region. Decanted prior to drinking, this had thrown fine tannin throughout. Still holding an inky-opaque colour. Clean, open and pronounced nose still revealing some of the vanilla character of its very long (18 months+) American oak barrel aging. Black fruits, logan, white and sweet spices. Complex and really beautiful. One to just sit and smell and appreciate. The palate is similarly intense, with well balanced tannins set against a full-bodied, black fruit core. Medium acidity. Good length. Really excellent and enjoyable. 17+/20.

Over the 2-3 hours this was enjoyed it really started to lose its fruit and dry out quite quickly, suggesting to me that this is slowly coming to the end of its drinking plateau. Certainly there is enough fruit there to keep for another 3-5 years but really I think it is going to start slowly sliding downhill from here. Penfolds ‘Rewards of Patience’ have this as drinking through to 2012, hence opening now, although this is perhaps a touch conservative by a year or two (depending on how you like your wine).

The thing that gets me about these Australian Syrah wines is how the parabola of their development is rather different to what I’m used to - compared to, say, a Northern Rhone Syrah. Even at 13-years old this comes across as more youthful than the equivalent Northern Rhone – less tertiary, bottle aged character. Perhaps cleaner winemaking, yeast or Brett related? They mostly stay like this and just dry out whereas I am used to Rhone Syrah wines that evolve more first. In that way you could say that these wines have a ‘flatter’ drinking plateau whereas the Northern Rhone wines have a much more varied parabola over their life cycle – they change and evolve through more tastes and stages.

This was originally judged a 5-star wine in a Decanter tasting, and agree with every bit of that. Not the best-value given its number-one premium status in the Rosemount line-up, but really excellent wine.

German Wines from the VDP: Tasting Notes

German Wines from the VDP: Tasting Notes

Oxford University Wine Society played host to the wine-writer and historian Giles MacDonogh http://www.macdonogh.co.uk/index.htm , who provided and up-date to changes in the VDP wine classifications together with a guided tasting of representative wines.

Since its foundation in 1910 the Verband Deutscher Qualitäts- und Prädikatsweingüter (Pradikat Wine Estates), better known as the VDP, the world’s oldest wine growers association has been dedicated to the relationship between producer, site and quality.

Over the past decade the Association has developed a classification pyramid for wines, which from the 2012 vintage has changed somewhat to reflect a pyramid based on the traditional Burgundian model. This equates to:

• VDP Grosse Lage (like Grand Cru in Burgundy)

• VDP Erste Lage (like Premier Cru in Burgundy)

• VDP Ortswein (like Village in Burgundy)

• VDP Gutswein (like Bourgogne régional in Burgundy)

The terms Erste Lage and Grosses Gewächs are private brands of the VDP. To complicate things slightly, in the Rheingau they will simply be referred to as Erstes Gewächs (as this classification is a legally part of the wine law there).

The goal is to implement the “one wine principle” for dry wines bearing the name of a classified vineyard site. A dry wine from a VDP Grosse Lage is a “Grosses Gewächs”. The traditional Prädikats are reserved for all wines with natural, ripe sweetness.

It is up to each region to decide whether or not to differentiate between great sites (i.e. VDP Grosse Lage) and very good sites (i.e. VDP Erste Lage).

The Association provides a detailed over-view in English on its website:

http://www.vdp.de/en/vdp-die-praedikatsweingueter/

Wine Tasting Notes

Schlör, First Weissburgunder GG 2011 (Baden)

Weissburgunder = Pinot Blanc.

Clear, pale lemon-green and rather watery appearance. Open, medium intensity nose. Buttery malolactic notes, almost vanilla like. Herbaceous and a little grassy. Rather typical Pinot Blanc character and certainly developed. Dry and medium acidity on the palate. Quite marked high alcohol levels and hot in the mouth. Medium body and medium flavour characteristics. Medium finish. A rather medium wine, and served too warm to do it justice.

Hans Wirsching, Kroonsberg Silvaner GG 2011 (Iphöfer, Franken)

Clear, pale lemon appearance. Closed nose. Clean with light-intensity. Difficult to discern any characteristics. Off-dry palate with medium acidity. Hot alcohol. Medium intensity with marked stoney and herbaceous characters. Again, served to warm but this is only good at best.

Kruger-Rumpf Riesling Trocken 2011 (Pittersberg, Nahe)

Clear, medium lemon yellow appearance. Clean nose with medium intensity. Floral and blossom characters predominate. Rather classic young Riesling flavour profile, but not that expressive (currently). Off-dry palate with medium acidity. Medium alcohol. Full bodied with medium-pronounced flavour intensity. Very mineralic and stony with citrus characters. Long and concentrated finish. Very good quality and much to give.

Spreitzer Oestricher Lenchen Riesling 2011 (Rheingau)

Clear, medium lemon appearance. Clean and light nose – gives the impression of being very youthful and closed. Medium-plus intensity, quite aggressive in a positive way. Dry, high acidity and strong citrus flavours characters. Long finish. Very good quality and even more concentrated than the previous wine. Drinking well but will improve and develop further.

Wehrheim Kastanienbusch Riesling GG 2011 (Pfalz)

Clear, deep lemon appearance with noticeable legs inside the glass. Clean nose, medium intensity. Lemon characters and flower blossom. Developing. Very clean, delineated and focussed in character. Dry plate, medium acidity hiding behind a full body. High alcohol but again being served too warm really. Pronounced intensity. Mineralic and very Alsatian in style (southern Pfalz in origin). Long length of finish and almost a little spicy. A powerful wine and very good quality.

Grafen Neipperg Ruthe Lemberger 2010 (Württemberg)

Lemberger = Blaufränkisch

Clear, pale garnet appearance. Legs inside the glass. Clean nose with medium intensity. Earth, savoury, farmyard and animal characters. Developed. Dry palate with medium acidity and high alcohol – might be a good example of a red wine that benefits from being served cool. Medium body. Medium tannin levels. Red fruit flavour characteristics, more simple than the nose would suggest. Medium finish. Good quality, not for keeping. I note this wine is priced at quite a high point and this does not offer good value for money internationally, a curse suffered by many German red wines unfortunately.

H. Schlumberger Altenberg Spätburgunder 2010 (Baden)

Spätburgunder = Pinot Noir.

Clear, paly ruby colour with legs. Clean, open and expressive nose with medium intensity. Black cherries and also some smoky and spicy aromas which I suspect are from time in wood. Dry palate with medium-plus acidity. Medium tannin, more than the previous Lemberger. Has some balance to it but powerful in style rather than elegant. Can drink now but has some short-term potential. Long finish but really just hot rather than flavour. I would say almost slight New World in character. Good quality overall.

Prinz Jungfer Riesling Auslese 2007 (Rheingau)

Clear, medium gold in appearance. Nose is clean with medium intensity. Sweet fruits but no botrytis. Developing? Sweet palate. Low acidity – noticeable – not nearly enough.  Leave the wine a little unbalanced in the sweetness for a typical / classic Riesling Auslese. Full bodied. Perhaps a little caramel on the palate. Long, sweet finish. Good quality and drinking now. I think without the acidity this is not a keeper and better as aperitif as slightly simple without any botrytis character.

Mascarello Giuseppe e Figlio - Barolo Monprivato Tasting Notes

Mascarello Giuseppe e Figlio - Barolo Monprivato Tasting Notes

Castiglione Falleto, Barolo, Italy

Guided tasting presented by Guillaume Puzo, Thierry Desseauve and Patricia Stefanowicz MW including the following wines:

    - Barbera d'Alba, Scudetto, red, 2007

    - Barolo DOCG, Monprivato, red, 2001

    - Barolo DOCG, Monprivato, red, 1996

    - Barolo DOCG, Monprivato, red, 1989

    - Barolo DOCG, Monprivato "Ca' d' Morissio", red, 2004

    - Barolo DOCG, Monprivato "Ca' d' Morissio", red, 2003

Historic estate making classic, age worthy Barolo established by Giuseppe Mascarello in 1881. The first vineyard in Monprivato was purchased in 1904, with the rest of the vineyard cru purchased in the later 1980’s making it a ‘monopole’ of which Mascarello are therefore the sole producer.

Monprivato is a noted historic vineyard, having been documented in land registry archives back to 1666. In 1985 Renato Ratti listed it as one of the 11 first-category historic vineyards of the Barolo wine-growing area.

Area: approx 6 hec (15 acres)

Altitude: 280 m above sea level

Facing: ideally situated SW facing vineyard (sun all day long)

Soil: Silty, calcareous with active limestone incl blue-grey marl.

Located in the Commune of Castiglione Falletto, with a winery in Monchiero. The wine is made only using larger barrels of varying age, so generally avoiding the undue influence of wood on the wine.

The Barolo Monprivato Ca' d' Morissio is the result of a selection of vines began in the vineyard from an old clone of the Nebbiolo Michét sub-variety grown on the Monprivato vineyard since 1922. This is richer in aroma and tannin and suitable for longer aging. It spends 2-years in wood prior to bottling. The hallmark of these wines is said to be “elegance and beauty” with a more silky nature. It was highlighted that “balance ensures the wines can age, not power”.

Barbera d'Alba, Scudetto, 2007

Clear and bright with an opaque core of ruby and a pink-tinged rim. Long running legs in the glass. Nose is clean, medium intensity with marked sour cherry and black spice. Developing.  On the palate, dry, medium-plus acidity and tannins. The body is medium weight and balanced. The flavours are mainly black fruits, black cherries and spices. Medium length finish. Already 5-year old, this does still taste quite primary and while it is drinking well now it will doubtless hold a few more years probably without developing much more complexity. A more serious style of Barbera d'Alba, very pure.

Barolo DOCG, Monprivato, red, 2001

Pale-medium garnet, clearly a change to nebbiolo from the previous wine. Long legs in the glass. Nose is clean but really rather closed and a little austere. Medium intensity at most, still developing. Dry palate and high, drying tannins. High acidity. Medium-plus body and alcohol. Long finish. Does this need more time to develop? I think this is probably all indicative of a very young Barolo, but I have to say its difficult to see the trajectory that would take it to the level of the wines that followed. The 2001 was a great vintage, so time will tell.

Barolo DOCG, Monprivato, red, 1996

Clear ruby-garnet, actually noticeably darker than the much younger 2001 tasted prior to this. Long legs in the glass. Clean and medium intensity on the nose, still developing. Open notes of smoked bacon, earth and animal in character. Dry palate with high acidity and enamel-strippingly high tannin levels. Medium-plus alcohol and full-bodied. Long finish. Altogether a very classic Barolo. Quite fierce in its intensity currently – I imagine it will need another decade to get into its stride.

Barolo DOCG, Monprivato, red, 1989

Clear medium appearance with garnet rim and ruby body. Long legs inside the glass. Clean nose, medium intensity and really seemed to be getting into its stride. Open with developed complex earth and animal notes rising out of the glass. Dry palate with high acidity and incredibly strong high tannin levels despite its age. Medium-plus alcohol and really full bodied. Flavour characteristics of fine tea, really pronounced and complex. Long length of finish. This is remarkable and still has over a decade of life ahead of it!

Barolo DOCG, Monprivato "Ca' d' Morissio", red, 2004

The "Ca' d' Morissio" wine is made only from the Nebbiolo Michét clone. The difference from the previous wines is clearly discernible. Clear garnet appearance, medium intensity. Long legs inside the glass. Nose is clean and getting towards being more pronounced. Still developing, but fascinating and complex savoury notes. Quite animal and smokey bacon like. Plate is dry with high acidity, and medium alcohol. High tannins but a richer wine with more body behind it to balance it all out. Elegant and really polished. This is a great wine, with decades ahead of it.

Barolo DOCG, Monprivato "Ca' d' Morissio", red, 2003

As per the previous wine, the "Ca' d' Morissio" is made only from the Nebbiolo Michét clone and the difference is clearly discernible. Clear, medium intensity and noticeably more garnet that the ’04. The nose is also more closed up in contrast to the palate which is more open. Dry, with high acidity and tannins. Very elegant again with similar characteristics on the plate – complex, savoury and animal. Full bodied and rich. At this stage, seemingly not quite as fine as the 2004 but nonetheless more impressive than the standard Barolo and a very fine wine. Similar to the others, this clearly has decades ahead of it.

In conclusion, the "Ca' d' Morissio" wines were very obviously a step-change ahead of the standard Monprivato Barolo. Just as Guillaume Puzo stated, “elegance and beauty” are very suitable and obvious descriptors – these wines really are silky. My preferred wines of the tasting in descending order of preference were:

1. Barolo DOCG, Monprivato "Ca' d' Morissio", red, 2004 (excellent / outstanding)

2. Barolo DOCG, Monprivato "Ca' d' Morissio", red, 2003 (excellent)

3. Barolo DOCG, Monprivato, red, 1989 (very good+)

4. Barolo DOCG, Monprivato, red, 1996 (very good)

The really classic style of these wines together with the longevity that imbues was perhaps the most stand-out learning points from this tasting. They are not for beginners given the ferocity of tannin and acidity, but careful cellaring will reward the patient enthusiast… probably around the time they retire!

To put this all in context, the ‘standard’ Barolo retails for approx. GBP£60-70 and the "Ca' d' Morissio" GBP£180-220 / bottle in the UK in 2012.

Summer Red Wine tasting notes

Domaine de la Chevalerie “Vieilles Vignes” Bourgueil 2005 (Loire, France)

Quite different to previous wines tasted from this excellent producer, although this shouldn’t be surprising as the wines tend to be true to the vintage and this is the excellent 2005 vintage. Rather than the typical classic cab franc character usually encountered, this is still relatively primary and red fruit dominated despite 7-years of age. Enjoyable now but the best is yet to come. From previous experience this should have a good decade of development ahead of it. 16/20 currently. Will improve. 13.5% alc.

Domaine de la Rectorie “Le Seris” Collioure 2001 (Collioure, France)

Stood for an hour before opening and decanted half-an-hour before tasting (given its continuing improvement, in retrospect I would say needs 1-hour+). Served at a cool room temperature. Deep ruby but not by any means opaque. Nose gradually opened up developing quite rich fruit-cake aromas (must be Grenache dominated?)with some black pepper. Palate is broad and notably hot; the 14.8% alc does show but doesn’t overly detract given the concentration of the palate. My only criticism is that it is a little plump and the acidity is not as fresh as I would like. But then this is not surprising given its provenance. This makes for a very full and rich wine, which despite is age (11-years) does not appear that tertiary in character. Nonetheless, I think this is probably peaking and I personally wouldn’t risk keeping it further. Needs a big rich accompaniment – on this occasion steak and ale pie! 16.5/20. NB. Of note, I have also had several bottles of the 2004 vintage of this wine, all of which have been faulty. ADDENDUM: re-tasted the remainder 4-days after opening and it had continued to develop into a lovely glass of wine, much more brooding and deep on the nose without really fading on the palate. Decant well in advance and consider keeping a little longer?

Bodega Norton Malbec Reserva 2009 (Mendoza, Argentina)

Almost opaque deep ruby. Open nose, concentrated, pronounced dark berry fruits, quite rich and ripe, almost chocolaty! Palate is similarly rich and broad – weighty with some real stuffing. A touch warm, but balanced by the high levels of concentrated ripe fruit and medium tannins. At this stage it is more fruit than tannin. Could have done with slightly higher acidity levels I feel. Good medium length finish. I imagine this would go very nicely with a South American steak. 14.5% alc. Will clearly keep medium term and probably longer, although personally I like the way it comes across now and not sure how it would improve with age if it lost the appealing dark fruit character. I should note that this doesn’t really resemble your typical Cahors malbec, quite different in style and character. Needs opening a couple of hours in advance and preferably decanting to open it up, although not currently throwing any sediment (yet).16.5/20.

Chateau Chasse-Spleen Cru Bourgeois 2000 (Moulis-en-Medoc, Bordeaux, France)

Enjoyed at the O&C. Half-bottle, decanted immediately before drinking. Deep ruby, moderately open nose but still coming across as very young. None of those classic tertiary, bottle-aged notes have started to develop yet. Palate just turning towards some degree of an aged-character, softening out a little bit from the primary fruit I expected, but still a long, long way from any sort of maturity. Concentrated, full and ripe with firm tannic structure behind it. Impressively youthful for 12-years old, especially given this is from a half-bottle. Testament to the fabulous 2000 vintage, this has a long life ahead of it. I’d be tempted to open my next to taste in another 5 to 10-years. 16.5/20 (and will likely score higher in future).

Candido Duca d’Aragona 1999 (IGT Salento Rosso, Italy)

Blend of Negro Amaro and Montepulciano. Decanted in advance. Getting a little tired at 13-years old. Light ruby with brick-red rim. Nose quite dark and brambly. Not particularly open despite decanting. Earthy, coffee, tertiary notes. Palate quite firm, full bodied and intense. Powerful dark fruits and firm, dry, tannic grip. Starting to fade? Warm at 14% alc but the body of the wine easily handles it. Good length, quite a black spice finish, very drying. Needs red meat or hard strong cheese to balance it out. I wonder what this was like a few years ago? A little disappointing for an expensive, flagship wine - I think we’ve missed its prime. 15.5/20. NB. I note the 2001 received 3-stars in the 2008 Decanter World Wine Awards – I think there are better Salento reds than this to track down.

Domaine D’Aupilhac Montpeyroux 2001 (Coteaux du Languedoc, France)

Produced by the notable winemaker Sylvain Fadat. Decanted an hour before drinking, then tasted over the next 24-hours. Deeply opaque. Moderately open nose of black fruits – not showing much aged tertiary characters. Plate is all strong black olives with a touch of tobacco. Really full-bodied, a little rustic, with very firm tannins. Non-filtered, and it tasted like it. 14.5%, but doesn’t taste hot at all. This demands a big slab of meat or game, or strong hard cheese to accompany it. At 11-years old this is showing remarkable well. Which way is this going to go from here? I’m not entirely sure, perhaps as I would never have expected it to make it this far so well! Kept very well in the decanter for over 24-hours so I suspect it isn’t going to fade away any time soon. One bottle left that I will keep a few more years to see. 16.5/20.

Seghesio Barbera d’Alba 2005 (Piedmont, Italy)

Light and fruit-driven Barbera. Jammy young juicy red fruits and medium body. This is more of a pasta wine and was out-shone by anything more meaty to accompany it. Good balancing acidity and light tannins. Tasty but not too serious. Drinking well now but not for keeping further. 15/20.

Chateau Montmirail "Cuvee de L'Ermite" 2004 (Vacqueyras, Rhone, France)

Fair but unexciting. Would have been better drunk young. More of a Cote-de-Rhone than anything more special. Drink up. 14.5/20. In the list of Vacqueyras wineries, this is very middle-ranking. While producing standard wines, nothing from here have ever really caught my interest and I think there are probably better wine producers to visit in the village these days.