Bordeaux - The Aristocratic Way Pt 1

Bordeaux is one of my favourite wine regions, through the years I have been able to taste more of these wines than any others (except maybe Burgundy). You can see some of my recent Bordeaux encounters here.

The Region of Bordeaux and it appellations.

Cabernet Sauvignon

Before we get into the wines themselves perhaps some background on the region will put it into perspective.
The region is most famous for its savoury, structured and long lived red wines and intensely sweet botrytised white wines. It is important to remember that with Bordeaux about 10% of the production takes about 90% of the wealth and 97% of the attention. For the most part we are going to be talking about the 10%.

Bordeaux is situated near the Atlantic coast of France and is shaped by the Gironde, Dordogne and Gironne rivers. Cool conditions and frequent rainfall, including during harvest time, makes Bordeaux quite a marginal region with vintages frequently ruined by rain or saved from the rain at the last minute by timely sunshine. This makes knowning the vintages quite important when buying Bordeaux, but knowing the good producers will be safer still. On the plus side, the rainfall does help to facilitate the productions of wines affected by botrytis such as Barsac and Sauternes.

Merlot

Wine making was brought to the area by the Romans sometime after 48AD. The region developed a strong link with England in the 12th Century when Henry Plantagenet and Aliénor d’Aquitaine married and Aquitanine became a province of England. This link remains to this day despite a few hiccups to the relationship, such as The Hundred Years war and France reclaiming the land.
The region makes red, sweet white, white and sparkling wines. A lot of this wine is sold as cheap generic 'super market' wine. A small percentage is the high quality wines that are celebrated and sought afters by wine lovers and investors all across the world.

Sauvignon Blanc

Approximately 89% of the production is red wine. Merlot is the most commonly used grape followed by Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. Depending on terroir and historical importance Malbec, Petit Verdot and handful of other varieties such as Carmenere are used, generally in small quantities. There are very few high quality wines that are made of a single variety. The sum of the parts add up to more than the individual components.

The famous Left Bank of Bordeaux exalts the grape Cabernet Sauvignon which makes elegant and fragrant wines of high acidity and tannin that allow the wines to age for 30 to 50 years depending on the vintage. The best appellations on the Left Bank include Medoc, St-Estephe, Pauillac, St-Julien, Margaux, Haut Medoc, Margaux and Pessac Leognan.

Semillon

The Right Bank wines use a lot more Merlot and Cabernet Franc. The Merlot provides plushness, silk and softness while the Cabernet Franc gives acid and fragrance. The two main appellations on the Right Bank are St-Emilion and Pomerol.

The sweet and dry whites are made from Semillon, Sauvignon Blanc and Muscadelle. Botrytis affected white wines made in appellations Sauternes and Barsac have spawned many imitators all over the world. There is a lot to love about the unctuous, apricoty, creme brulee, vanilla bean and floral lift that these wines offer. The best wines such as Chateau d'Yquem age gracefully for many decades.

The dry whites can rival the best white Burgundy, Loire white or Rheingau Riesling. The top end wines show racy acidity, tropical and floral perfumed notes, a fair lick of oak and nice texture. They have the ability to live for a long time. The only draw back is they tend to be comparatively expensive. Look for whites from Graves, Pessac Leognan or from well regarded producers.

The other point of difference about the region is the En-Primeur system of sales. The top wines of the regions are offered for sale 18 months before they are ready to be shipped. The wines are tasted unfinished by experts and punters and given scores representing what they will taste like and the rest of the world buys (or not) on the back of this.

If you want to be part of the excitement we have the 2011 En-Primeur Offer currently available for sale now (with the wines arriving in 2014). Available for sale and enjoyment now are Reds from the charming 2008s, classically styled 2006s and the brilliant 2004s.

Drinking Sweet

Originally publishing in TWD's Magazine on March, April and May. This is my thoughts on drinking sweet wines.


Loire Valley Chenin - King of the Sweet wines?

It polarises people no end. A lot of people refuse to consider a wine if there is any hint of sugar. But sweet wine is a valid and entirely enjoyable part of the wine spectrum so long as it has one thing - balance. Yep, that is right, I am talking about balance again. In context of sweet wine, it means that the wine has enough acid, phenolic grip (tannins), body and savoury characters to balance out the sugar so the wine is not cloying or sickly.



Mosel Riesling - Emperor of Sugar?

The best sweet wines are some of the most complex wines you are likely to taste, they have the ability to linger on your palate a lot longer than most dry wines and they have a huge ability to age for a long time. They can also match with foods that dry wines just can't. Desserts, fruits and strong cheeses just to name a few. Bear in mind that not all of these are seriously sweet, lightly sweet wines have their place and can be mighty refreshing.


Mosel Riesling is pretty darn good.

By the best I am thinking German Riesling, Italian Moscato, Sauternes (see Bordeaux Offer), Moelleux and Demi-Sec wines from Loire (see the Pichot Offer), Icewine (Eiswein) from Canada and Germany, Moscatel from Spain to name a few (without even touching on fortifieds). Did I miss your favourite sweet wine? Did you want to taste some of these excellent wines? Email me and let me know your thoughts.

Return To The Yarra Valley

Last week a friend from paintball, Rob, decided to take me wine touring as an early birthday present. Well, that's what he claims, but it was school holidays.... Maybe he just wanted to leave the house? Either way, it was good fun.

He chose two wineries, I chose two and away we went.

Redbox - As it turns out they aren't officially open on Wednesdays, but they were quite welcoming and despite the wines being open since the weekend they look remarkably good. I really liked the Riesling and Chardonnay. I have a feeling you may seem them recommended in the near future.

Panton Hill - Rob was really keen to try these guys out. When we went into the tasting room, no one was around. We couldn't find anyone at the winery. We even tried calling the telephone to no response. We have to go back at another time. Maybe try calling in advance.

Tarrawarra - I've been to Tarrawarra a few times in the past and it seems to get better each time. We were shown wines by Richard, who was great. He opened a few extra goodies because we showed some interest and ultimately there were some absolute winners there. The Pinots and Chards have always impressed (the Estate Pinot is a stunner). But the single vineyard Merlot and single vineyard Shiraz are sensational; hence their inclusion in the Cellar Dozen and Special Bottle Club lists respectively if you wanted to try them for yourself.

Dominique Portet - An old favourite of mine. Making possibly the best Rose in Australia and some really excellent Sauvignon Blanc. The Estate SB was so impressive it has also made it for sale into the Cellar Dozen this month. I have never tried an Australian SB so concentrated and full of loveliness (although Sorrenberg SSB has come mighty close as do some Leeuwin Art Series SB). We got to taste a cellar release of the 2005 Yarra Shiraz - direct from the cellar that morning in fact;  it was so lovely and savoury, but still had plenty of youthful exuberance. I thought it was a pleasant way to finish the tasting, until the Vendanges Tardives Sauvignon Blanc was brought out; this is what sweet wine is all about. Delicious and compelling drinking. Thankfully Rob was driver for the day.

A great day in all and I tried some wines that left me seriously impressed.

Riesling To The Occasion

Imagine coming back from holiday and a supplier asking if you'd like to attend a large Riesling tasting featuring some of the best German producers (with a few ring ins). Well that is what happened, and of course I said "Oh God yes!". It is after all the best way to ease back into the working cycle (don't believe me? Try it for yourself).

This is what the grape in question may look like.

In my mind Riesling is the ultimate terroirist - it transmits the flavours of the soil it is grown so faithfully. Couple this with the fact that Riesling tends to reject outright any wine maker influences that could cover these natural characters (think new oak or malo) and you've got the a pretty unstoppable force.

Might I also add to this that Riesling is delicious!

So many highlights... So much lovely Riesling.

JL Wolf -Dr Loosen's sister estate in Pfalz. Brilliant wines. Wachenheimer Riesling 2009 was so amazing. Pure, clean, mineral, great perfume and great balance. Just so drinkable, but the balance points to a long and healthy life ahead of it.

Donnhoff Nahe based, they make trocken (dry) styles and also QMP wines (ask what this is). Their mango and tropical, off dry, fleshy and intense Norheimer Kirschheck Spaltese 07 was excellent and certainly lingered in my mouth after I had spat. Equally good was their dry Niederhauser Hermannshole Grosse Gewaches 08, spices and herbal, tight young, citric and texturally appealling.

Heymann-Lowenstein Making dry wines from the Northern part of the Mosel known as the Terrassenmosel (not surpringly the vineyards are terraced in this area). These guys make some truly amazing Riesling!. The entry level Schieferterrassen had it all. Very expressive wet stones (in a good way), pepper & spices, stonefruits. It is long, dry, intense, silky and just a hint of bitterness.  The Von Blauem Schiefer was the next step up in intensity and presence. The Rottgen was dense, grapey and appley, floral. The perfume dances over your palate. Superb wine! Their Kirchberg was similar to the Rottgen but had more of everything and great length. The best was last for sure. Uhlen Rothlay showed floral, apples, grapes, spice. So young and pure. It's youthful simplicity coupled with an amazing mouthfeel made this wine a pleasure to taste.

This is what they mean by Terrassenmosel.

A. Christmann Another of the Pfalz brigade (it is a really great and underappreciated region!). The whole line up of trocken wines were perfumed, and full of finesse and class. The Grosse Gewaches in particular are worth mentioning. However we were treated to a very small (but still, extremely generous) taste of his Idig #1 Eiswein. A wine made from grapes left to freeze on the vine. Sauternes like concentration and intensity. Really complex, really satiny mouthfeel. A little taste is often enough because the flavours lingers for so long. Beautiful!

Wittman calls Rheinhessen home. their wines are pure and direct. Some good perfume lift with some more 'funky' sort of notes too. They had an interesting Silvaner on tasting too. Nice to try some of these quirky varieties.

Brundlmayer So these guys are Austrian, not German. But the wines are really, really good. A couple of pretty Gruner Veltliners (Yum!) and some mineral laden, clean and fruitful Rieslings.

Georg Breuer Those who are paying attention may remember we've sold some of these wines before. I do love the wines from Breuer. This time there was only the Berg Roseneck to taste, but it showed all the hallmark pretty florals and fruits with the underlying structure and power.

Berg Roseneck in all its glory

Ring ins

Huber Germans making Pinot Noir? And Pinot Blanc? Yep, that is what we have here. They were brilliant too. The Noir was like a light and minerally Mercurey and the Blanc was spicy, white fruited and citric with and oaky/creamy finish.

Pittnauer Austrian Reds Zweigelt and St Laurent. Hard to compare to other varieties. They are both dense, savoury, meaty with a savoury undergrowth character. The St Laurent is more silky and dense. The Zwiegelt leaner and more savoury.

Sadly I did not get to taste everything, but I was easing myself back in after all...