Simone Joseph Chardonnay

I don't know that much about the origins of this wine, it is bottled under the Simone Joseph label, designed as a house wine by Simon Tyrell, esteemed importer and expert on all things Rhone. This is from the South of France and is quite different from the Grauzan Chardonnay of a few days ago. Quite full, and rich this has good depth of flavour and has is quite like a decent Macon. At €10.99, if you get a decent MAcon, you are doing well. So I think this is a very pleasant drink and good value for money, despite a slightly curious dusty finish - might be just me ...

Anticaia Salice Salentino Riserva 2006

New vintage of this just came in so I was curious to try it. This comes from Puglia, is made entirely from Negroamaro and gets aged in barriques for 2 years.This wine often reminds me of the wines from the Southern Rhone - surprisingly light in colour, big flavours, highish alcohol and a savoury character - many of the characteristics of Grenache. But there is more - a baked fruit character, rich and smoky with that pleasant acidity that many Italian wines have that make them such a great match with food. Something different that delivers great bang for your buck and an authentic taste of the South of Italy, try this with spaghetti and meatballs, chilli or any food that packs a punch.

Domaine Grauzan Chardonnay

What is the hidden meaning of the phone beside the bottle? It means I am a crap photographer, that's what. Anyway, Domaine Grauzan Chardonnay has just come in. For many years now, Domaine Grauzan has been a reliable source of good quality, well made, straightforward wines at reasonable prices. The wines are not the type of wines to stop you in your tracks or change your world forever, but they do a great job at being unpretentious, easy-drinkng wines. Exactly what you want mid-week or as a house wine in a restaurant. It's like the Ronseal of wines - it tastes clearly of its declared varietal and it won't let you down. So it is with this Chardonnay. Unoaked, fresh, fruity, straightforward and very easy to drink. Pass it blind to a committed ABCer and they would probably love it, because there isn't oak or butter or anything heavy about this wine, just fresh appley fruit. Gruner Veltliner, Albarino, Verdicchio are all great in their own way, but it's good to re-visit something like this. Well worth a try at around €11. It might even be under €10 for a limited time in the shop, where it is on tasting this weekend. Go see!

A wine a day

I have been thinking for a while about changing my blog from just random meanderings and ranting about stuff to doing a wine review with the aim of doing a wine a day. I also considered doing video reviews like some of the more intrepid bloggers out there, (yes, that's you Matt and Lar etc), but I decided i have a face more suited to the written word.
Let me state right now that it won't be a wine a day because I will inevitably miss some days, but it will be as regular as possible. It will also feature quite a lot of wines from the shop, as that is what I taste most, but I will also review samples, bottles I buy elsewhere - whatever I taste, I will try to include. I will try to be as impartial as possible, but of course I like the wines we sell. However, expect some honest (negative) opinions as well!
Here goes....
Alpha Zeta Soave 2008 12.5%
Why start here? Because the bottle is open, that's why.In fact it has been open a few days now, so it mightn't be as fresh as it should be. This is made by Liberty Wines under the supervision of excellent winemaker Matt Thompson. It is made by a co-op outside Verona, near Soave where all the Alpha Zeta range is made. It's a good way of delivering good quality at a reasonable price and it is a strategy that I assume works well for Liberty. This has pear drops on the nose, typical of what you would expect from a modern wine of this type. It has decent weight of fruit, pears and apples and apricots. It's like skipping through a meadow on an early summer's day, fruit and flowers and looking forward to Wimbledon. Decent stuff for a tenner, look for the 2009, this needs to be drunk as early as possible.

More madness, from Scotland this time

My mother-in-law is not my most reliable source of political news, she would make a lively contributor to Fox News, but she informed me over the weekend that that Alex Salmond, the leader of the SNP, is talking about banning wines at ober 10% abv. The SNP is worried about the amount of binge-drinking going on in Scotland and the various problems it causes with disorderly behaviour, health problems etc. It is a story we are familiar with on this side of the Irish Sea.

So, how would this work, exactly? Sell only Liebfraumilch or will producers be asked to dilute their wines? That'll get rid of any fanciful of notions of terroir. Maybe, the Spanish will be asked to harvest in July, to make sure the grapes don't have enough sugar to ferment above 10%.

I noted that they weren't talking about whiskey (some slight domestic political issues to deal with), vodka (surely a bigger problem than wine?) or anything else - just wine.

In my experience, fighting in the street is not the natural result from a nice meal and a bottle of Vosne Romanee. Vodka, red bull and a mixture of cocaine, e, and whatever you like from the local headshop are a more potent mixture.

As usual, it is a case of politicians coming up with the wrong answer to a question that isn't being asked. From a casual observation of the fine people walkin around where I was at the weekend, the SNP would be better off banning chips.

COS Cerasuolo - a wine lover's wine

We have been fans of COS Cerasuolo for nearly 10 years now and it is great to see it recognised in this month’s Decanter as the finest example of one of Italy’s hidden gems and Sicily’s only DOCG, Cerasuolo di Vittoria Classico.

Check http://www.locandacos.it/ for more info.


Here is the note from Decanter:
COS Cerasuolo di Vittoria Classico 2007 ***** (18.5/20)
Heady, earthy, floral aromas with succulent cherry, raspberry and spice flavours. Lovely minerality, great depth, fantastic length. Now – 2015.
Couldn’t have put it better myself. It will be on tating this weekend if you would like to try this intriguing wine.

I hate corked wine

We had slow roasted shoulder of Irish spring lamb for dinner on Sunday, so we decided to open a nice Bordeaux to go with it. Chateau Branaire Ducru 2000, a middling ranking Saint Julien from a great vintage should have been delicious, but, just as we sat down to dinner, we tasted it and it was badly corked. I have held on to this wine for a good few years now, so it was a disappointment. As well as that, I didn't have time to choose and open a new bottle, so we just had a glass of what we had open from the night before.

Luckily, this turned out to be Paleo Rosso 1999 from Le Macchiole in Bolgheri, a delicious Cabernet-based wine from one of Italy's great producers, so it was no hardship....Situation saved, but we only had half a bottle....