A Legend from Chablis - Samuel Billaud

No sooner than we'd finished with the 2015 Burgundy En Primeur, than I got an invite to a 2016 vintage tasting for Samuel Billaud, who's wines I've been a fan of for a number of years.

For those who don't know, Samuel was originally the head winemaker at the family domain, Billaud-Simon. with Samuel at the helm, the domain quickly become one of the top producer in Chablis with an enviable reputation. A few years ago, Samuel decided to go out on his own purchasing fruit from friends in the region and under his own name. With the sale of Billaud-Simon in 2014 to Domaine Faveley, Samuel managed to gain back control of 1/6th of the domaine that was his and was able to use the fruit to expand his range and buy less from other farmers.

2016 has been another exceptionally trying vintage for Burgundy, rain, hail and frosts have decimated there crops with some farmers reportedly losing up to 70% of there crop, this has come on the back of several already small vintages. While yields have been small, the quality of the fruit has again been exception, helping to give the winemakers a good start. The wines are showing great poise and depth of flavour from the fruit that has then been balanced perfectly with the minerality and soft but bountiful acidity. These all helped to create an amazing glass of wine, that as you moved up through his range from the village Chablis to the 1er Cru then the Grand Cru showed a greater depth and complexity each time.

These wines I have to say were absolutely stunning, you just couldn't find a fault in any of them, and these were only the tank samples, bottling won't begin till August and will continue in waves till probably the end of the year. If your a fan of Chablis then these are ones you definitively do not want to miss out on, view our offer here!

A Look At Whats On Tasting This Weekend

For this weekend I've decided to put on tasting a wonderful big, rich and spicy red from northern Italy, and lovely crisp and fruity white from Burgundy.

For the red we've got the 2011 Travaglini Gattinara from Piedmont open this weekend, apart from having a really cool and interesting bottle this is an amazing wine. Produced from 100% Nebbiolo, the same grape that produces the wonderful wines from Barbaresco and Barolo, The commune of Gattinara was granted it's DOC status in 1967 and DOCG 1990, it's situated in the northern part Piedmont about 50 miles north east of Turin, with the Alps as it's back drop to the north.

The design of the bottle, apart from standing out on the shelf and looking really different from anything else, has been designed to help catch the sediment that this wine sheds as it ages. The wine is fermented in Stainless Steel tanks and then transferred to various size of oak barrels for 36 months, and then a further 2 years in bottle, which gives the wine time to take on extra dimensions from the oak and for it then to have a chance to integrate together beautifully.

The wine itself is wonderfully complex, with aromas and flavours of red berries, blackberries and plums, combined with the sweet spice spices of liquorice and vanilla followed by hints of leather. These all combine beautifully in the glass creating a wonderfully complex, rich full bodied wine for you to enjoy, but just take my word for it, pop in the shop this weekend for a taste.

On the white front we have a very classy 2015 Petit Chablis from Chateau de Chemilly. The main Kimmeridgean clay, where as in the Petit Chablis vineyards the soil is more Portlandian soil types.
difference between Chablis and the extended area Petit Chablis is the soil type, the soil in Chablis is predominantly

The estate is now managed by brothers Loic and Yannick Vilain who are breathing new life into this 50 year old domaine in the south eastern corner of Chablis. They take considerable care with the vines to help the fruit to generate that mineral character you'd expect from this region.

Thi wine has all the classic characteristics that you'd expect, lovely fruit ranging from green apples to hints of white peaches, a crisp minerality and beautifully balanced acidity just combine to create a beautiful glass of wine. Definitely worth popping in this weekend for a taste.

A Trip To The Not So Distant Past - Burgundy 2013 Part 2

In part one I looked at the whites, so I guess we should have a look at the red's. These were much more of a mixed bag, the entry wines had loads of red berry fruit with plenty of fine tannins, these will settle down in a few months and leave you with a very enjoyable glass of wine but not particularly complex.

The mid range again had red berry fruit but much more tannins with hints of spice and smoke coming through, the winemakers of obviously over compensated with lots of oak for the lack of depth from the fruit, again these will take some time to integrate. Some winemakers had done a better job than others so I'd definitely recommend you take care when making your purchases to avoid d

isappointment.

Moving on to the Premier (1er) and Grand cru wines, these showed great depth of flavour, with good use of oak to help add complexity you got some really interesting wines. These however, were not cheap or had been produced in any great quantity, they will also require a couple of years for everything to integrate and the tannins to soften out, which should leave you with some stunning wines, if you can get your hands on any of them.

There were two producers who really stood out for me, they were Domaine Henri Gouge and Domaine Hudelot-Noellat;

Domaine Henri Gouge

Now under stewardship of Gregory Gouge, who took over in 2007 coinciding with the completion of the new state of the art cuverie, this domaine has gone from strength to strength in recent years. There has been a concerted effort to produce more elegant tannins which results in more aromatics in the wines.

His Nuits-St-Georges had some lovely red red fruit combined with some spice and a touch of smoke, it had a touch of acidity with plenty of soft and silky tannins. This over the next couple of years is going to age beautifully. I then moved onto the 1er Cru Clos des Porrets St Georges and the 1er Cru Les Pruliers, these each moved up a notch respectively as you would expect, they showed great depth of flavour and complexity with this lovely perfumed character them, they are not cheap but they were stunning and will only get better with age.

They also produce a white Nuits-St-Georges, the 1er Cru La Perriere which is produced from a mutated Pinot Noir vine that was discovered by Henri before the war, this had some lovely fruit to it with hints of vanilla and a full, rich mouthfeel. I would definitely recommend you try this if you ever get the opportunity it was stunning and will develop over the coming years into an amazing wine.

Domaine Hudelot-Noellat

This was the first time I'd had the chance to taste the wines from this Domaine, Charles Van Canneyt has consistently produced great wines vintage after vintage resulting in them being one of the most sought after domaines, which unfortunately reflects very much in the price of his wines.

He produces a Vosne-Romanee, Vosne-Romanee 1er Cru Les Beaumonts, Nuits-St-Georges 1er Cru Les Murgers and a Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru. When you pour these wines the first thing you notice is how pale they are, however lacking in colour they may be they certainly are not lacking in flavour, depth and complexity. These wines all have lovely red berry fruit with smoke and spice intertwined in there, a touch of acidity and plenty of beautifully silky tannins, they also have a savoury/meaty character to them which works magnificently. They truly are magnificent wines, which over the coming decade are going to age beautifully

A Trip To The Not So Distant Past - Burgundy 2013 Part 1

I've been involved with Burgundy En Primeur campaigns for the last couple of years now, and have seen the difficulties the vignerons and wine makers have had to face, with poor harvests due to some absolutely devastating weather conditions. With the tiny harvest of 2012 I spoke to several vignerons with regard to 2013 to see what their expectations were, and many said that they were concerned that while the harvest was again going to be small due the hail storms, the large deluge of rain they had had, meant they were also very concerned for the quality, as the grapes were fat with water. Not many people were expecting 2013 to deliver much if anything at all, many were expecting to be putting the vast majority of their fruit into making their most basic village wines, not their Premier or Grand Cru wines.

So for the first tasting of 2015 I headed into central London and dropped into Flint Wines 2013 Burgundy En Primeur tasting at Il Bottaccio, this is the first opportunity that most of the UK trade and press have had to taste these wines, so I was really looking forward to seeing what they had managed to produce from the 2013 vintage.

The whites were difficult, many of the entry wines had plenty of green apple fruit but not much else flavour wise, they did have a real steely minerality to them that made them very austere, most had quite a soft acidity which helped to soften out the minerality a little, but not much. In the middle you had a lot of good wine with a little more depth of fruit, the wines that had spent some time in oak were starting show small signs of development and complexity in them, but their was nothing that really bowled you over, of course many of them need a little more time before they will fulfil their potential, but from what I tasted this is going to a small window and I don't think you'd be particularly bowled over by them.

Moving on to the Premier and Grand Cru wines, these were pleasantly surprising, there was some lovely green fruit that was starting to signs of development and going towards more baked than fresh in character. The oak was starting to integrate beautifully with one or two showing a real toasty side, with this you also got hints of the sweet spice Vanilla, combine these with a bountiful but soft acidity, due to the Malolactic fermentation they had gone through, and you were starting to see the signs of where these wines were going.

There was one producer who really stood out for me on the whites, and that was Domaine Ballot-Millot, this is a family estate based just outside the village of Meursault,they were showing 4 wines, a Bourgogne Blanc, a single vineyard and two Premier Cru Meursault. It was these three Meursault's that really stood out from the rest for me. The 'Les Narvaux' had a lovely yellow/gold colour to it, with some lovely fruit to it that was starting to head towards baked, it had a lovely minerality to it with hints of vanilla coming through very gently and a wonderfully soft acidity just brought it all together. The two Premier Cru, 'Charmes' and 'Perrieres' both really took this up a notch with much greater depth and richness, while they were lovely today they are only going to get better and better with age, for me there wasn't much between these, but I did prefer the 'Charmes' though.

Red's to follow next week....

A Pinot From Across the Main Divide

I thought it was about time got back on with my blog, I've only written a hand full of pieces over the last 18 months, despite tasting numerous wines, and what better way to start off again than with a Pinot Noir from New Zealand.

Main Divide, apart from being the other name of the Southern Alps on New Zealand's southern island, it is also the name of the winery from the Donaldson family, the other being Pegasus Bay, who make some stunning wines, but that's for a later post I feel.

In it's beginning, fruit was bought in from local growers as required, then in 1997 the decision was made to change Main Divide into a "quality focused brand". In order to achieve this they began working much closer with growers who they felt would produced top quality fruit, and from sites that expressed regional and varietal characteristics. By working closely with the growers they are able to promote their beliefs in sustainable viticultural management, organic techniques, low crop levels and minimal handling of fruit.

Within the winery they employ gentle pressing the use of wild fermentation, malo-lactic fermentation and to clarify by settling. By employing all of these techniques through the whole process this allows enables them to produce some absolutely stunning wines with great fruit flavours and a depth not found everywhere.

The 2010 Main Divide Pinot Noir has an opaque ruby colour in the glass, not something you tend to see with Pinot Noir very often, this comes from the use of oak barriques from selected artisan Burgundian coopers, where it is matured for 14 months. You get aromas raspberries, blackberries and black cherries, with hints of sweet spice and smoke coming through. On the palate you get the flavours of all the fruit, the sweet spice seperates itself out into cinnamon and liquorice with hints of smoke intermingled in between all the fruit and spice. The tannins ripe and juicy, balanced out with just enough acidity to make your mouth water and help all the flavours linger for ages.

I have to say this for me is an absolutely stunning Pinot Noir and one of my favourites, it's not your typical fruit bomb style you get from many New Zealand producers, it has much more complexity and depth which they get from the use of burgundy coopers. You can find this wine online and from most good independent wine merchants

The Gaming Comunity Comes to the World Wine

First there was the Simms, then came Roller Coaster Tycoon and now we have Wine Tycoon!

According to Chris Scott on www.thirtyfifty.co.uk the new computer game is being launched in the US next month, and lets the players fight it out to become the next, as the title says, Wine Tycoon.

The game allows the players to create vineyards in 10 of the most prestigious regions in France such as Bordeaux and Burgundy. As part of the game you will have to build a winery, plant and maintain the vines, organise staff for the harvest and then produce your wine.

With the game you will also get a Wine Encyclopedia full of wine terms, grape varieties and regions to help you achieve your goal. The game is produced by Got Game Limited for the PC and will retail at $19.99. I do hope they bring it out on the PS3 as well.

En Primeur – An Introduction

En primeur roughly translates from the French as “first refusal” or “in early produce.”
In its pure form the method originated two centuries ago, when merchants selected barrels of wine which they would then bottle themselves. Today the bottling process has been taken over by the châteaux. Despite the changes, the principle remains the same, allowing producers to benefit greatly from the advance payment for their wine.

In its simplest terms en primeur is the practice of selling wine before it is ready for release, before it has even been bottled. These are unfinished wines, which are only half way through the maturation process. It will be months, even years, before these wines are ready for the bottling process, after which they will still require further maturation before they become approachable.

The method is traditionally practiced by the wines of outstanding quality from Bordeaux, Burgundy and The Rhone valley. Other regions such as Italy, California and Australia have recently begun to partake in this practice on an extremely limited scale.

En primeur purchasers fall in to two distinct categories: Wine lovers, who are unfazed by the prospect of waiting years before they can taste the final product; or investors, whose aim is to make a financial profit from leaving the wine to mature. The latter are the most predominant buyers.

The en primeur process is a complicated one, in which people purchase wines on others recommendation. Often, they will not have even tasted the wine for themselves, and are led simply by the profile and recommendation of wine commentators within the industry, such as Robert Parker, Clive Coates and James Suckling.

Barrel tasting for Bordeaux en primeur wines occur the spring after the harvest, which equates to a maturation of around six to eight months, leaving the raw wine still highly tannic and undeveloped. Tasting for en primeur wines of Burgundy and The Rhone regions occur another six months after that, leaving them in a similar condition to that of Bordeaux. The tasting allows producers of the wine to understand how the market will react, by the feedback of the wine connoisseurs. It also gives the negociants a chance to see how the finished article will develop, giving them an idea of the quality of the wine. This in turn allows them to determine the eventual price.