A Tasting with Man 'O War from Wahieke Island New Zealand

Yesterday I had the pleasure of meeting Sara Fogarty from Man 'O War wines, and taste through there current releases and a couple of library samples, so we could gauge how they will age. Now as the title suggests Man 'O War are based on Wahieke Island, New Zealand, in the Hauraki Gulf, east of Auckland on the North island.

The estate was originally 4 farms that were all purchased in the early 80's and combined to create a massive 4,500 acre estate in the north eastern corner of the island. Only 150 acres across 76 sites are under vine, and this is still a working farm with sheep, olives, fruit and your even able to get married at the chapel on the estate. Each of the vineyard sites has been selected due to it's facing, soil and microclimate for specific varieties, the one grape they don't grow though is Pinot Noir as they are too far north for it, they concentrate on the varieties from Bordeaux and the Northern Rhone for their reds. They also have a very interesting take on naming vineyard sites, with names such as Lunatics, Madmans, Asylum and Bitch just to give you an idea, and their wines as you'll see below.

Cliff's Vineyard

Ponui Island

Madmans Vineyard

                                                   

The vineyards started to be planted in 1992 by Matt Allen who is still Vineyard Manager today, the first vintage was produced 1996 and they didn't release any wine till 2006! Then in 2008 Duncan McTavish came on board as Winemaker having previously worked for Waipara Springs and before that Pegasus Bay (one of my favourite vineyards). The one thing that struck me the most during the introduction to the vineyard was the ethos of 'for the future', they are all about taking there time getting it right and making sure everything is in place for the future generations to continue and develop.

On to the tasting, we started with;

2013 Gravestone
This is a blend of 75% Sauvignon Blanc and 25% Semillon, a classic Bordeaux blend, not usually one of my favourites but this one I really enjoyed. 20% of the Sauvignon and all of the Semillon go into pucheons to give the wine a touch more richness and some gentle spice while retaining the fruit and refreshing minerality perfectly balanced with the acidity.

2014 Valhalla
100% oaked Chardonnay, with 25% new oak, 5% Acacia and 70% old oak. This is a wonderfully big rich wine, with a lovely buttery texture that's cut through beautifully by the acidity as this wine does not go through maololactic fermentation. On the nose and palate you lovely hints of sweet spices, green apples and grapefruit folowed up with the touch of minerality.


2014 Bellerophon
This is Duncan's hommage to Cote Rotie, and is a cofermented Syrah (97%) and Viognier (3%), they ferment 30% in whole clusters and age it for 18 mths, 25% in new oak and the remaining 75% in ols seasoned oak. This is a pretty yet powerful wine, with lovely dark fruit, and hints of raspberry, violets and white pepper which all combined beautifully with the acidity and the tannins.

2009 Dreadnought (no longer available)
100% Syrah which 100% see's oak, 12% new for 11 months, giving you big rich dark fruit and lashings of white pepper,a lovely acidity and silky fine tannins. As all these combine it gives the wine a real savoury character which is lovely and lingers around on your palate for what seems like forever.

2013 Dreadnought (current vintage)
For this year 50% went into new oak and the other 50% went into old seasoned oak. This wine shows all the same characteristics as the 2009, it does have slightly more youthful character to the fruit and spice, the tannins while still fine are far more present and acidity has softened out as much as the 2009 but it's drinking fantastically now and will continue to develop over the coming years.

2014 Dreadnought (not released yet)
The only way to really describe this is that it's a slightly more youthful version of the 2013, needs time to integrate and soften out, but when it does, it will be pretty magnificent.

2010 Ironclad (current vintage)
This is their red Bordeaux blend, 39% Cab Franc, 30% Merlot, 18% Cab Sauv, 7% Malbec and 6% Petit Verdot, Yes this is a big old blend, but a pretty stunning one at that. With lovely fruit, spice and hints of minerality to it. Combined with soft and silky tannins contributing an almost cocoa texture to the wine, this is definitely a favourite of mine.

2012 Ironclad
45% Cab Franc, 20% Merlot, 14% Petit Verdot, 13% Malbec and 8% Cab Sauv, you can really tell the reduction of Cab Sauv and increase in Petit Verdot on the nose of this wine. It has much more brighter fruit to it and the spice is very subtle in the background, but these will develop over the next couple of years, it has plenty of tannins so needs that little bit of time to help it soften out a touch.

I have to say these wines are delicious, not being a big fruit bomb style or full of dark sweet fruit, they have much more depth and complexity to them, which just helps to make them even more enjoyable and even better as they age, even just a little.

A Weekend of Antipodean Wines on Tasting

This weekend we're going to have quite the selection of wines on tasting from Australia and a great new Pinot Noir from New Zealand.

The Pinot Noir we're going to have on tasting is the 2014 Ward Valley Estate from Marlborough, this wine is produced by the same guys who produce the Snapper Rock wines that we stock, James Leary and winemaker David Coulston and is produced in tiny quantities, only 250 cases!

 I first came across this at last years London International Wine Fair, and I've managed to grab a couple of cases of this stunning vintage before they move on to the 2015.

This has that lovely pale bright cherry red colour to it, with amazing aromas of red berry and red currant fruit. On the palate these come through wonderfully with a real savoury character it that combine perfectly with a touch of acidity and very soft elegant tannin's, that just produce a stunning glass of wine and even more so when you find out how much it costs. For this weekend there will also be a special introductory offer, so don't miss out!

We'll also have a selection of Australian wines imported by the guys at Aussie Rules on tasting, with the Reverend V wines, Richard Hamilton, Riposte and the one I'm really excited about, the Mornington Peninsular Chardonnay from Dexter. These wines unfortunately won't be in stock for this weekend but we will be taking pre-orders and again there will be a special offer on them as well.

A Blast from the Past - 2003 Hardy's Crest Cabernet Sauvignon

The other night we had some friends round for dinner to celebrate their recent engagement, and I'd been conducting a little experiment and this presented me with the perfect opportunity to see how it had turned out, as I knew everyone around the table would appreciate it, if it had worked that is.

When I first got into wine I was working for Sainsbury's as an off licence manager, they paid for me to complete WSET qualifications which was very much appreciated.  The one thing that really got me was how wine would age, and what to look for in young wines that will allow them to age and develop.

 

You'll have to excuse all the dust on the bottle.

I continued to think about this for some time and enjoying drinking lots of new world wine, when I came across the 2003 Hardy's Crest Cabernet Sauvignon from south eastern Australia, nothing special or fancy about it, half price at £4.99. When I tried it, it had loads of really bright, dark jammy fruit, so much tannin you almost had to chew your way through it. It also had still maintained a good level of acidity to it, and it made me think that these had all the signs of a wine that could and should age well.

So I decided to buy a 6 pack and see what happened, I have to admit I never really looked after them,  they were kept in the wine rack which was usually in the living room, not in a temperature controlled fridge, they moved around all the time, stood up then laid down then stood up again, so not the best of care taken. I preceded to try one every two years, and they just got better and better, so much so that after 6 years when I should have had 3 left left I only had 1, which I was determined to keep till it was at least 10 years old. I actually managed to save it till it was 13 years old, I was a little worried that I may have left it too long, but there was nothing I could do about it now.

On opening the cork was in very good condition, and you could smell any fault with the wine at all. Once poured into the glass it had an orange/brick colour to it, it really had lost it's bright, deep inky purple colour. On the nose it was baked dark fruit, leather, spice and a very slight hint of oxidation, these all came through on the palate integrating together beautifully and combining with the soft an velvety tannins. It was a pretty amazing glass of wine, if I was honest I think I opened it possibly a year or two too late, but it was still stunning and just goes to show that you can find wines that will age without having to spend a fortune!

A Middle Eastern Delight - Chateau Musar

I had another boutique New Zealand winery for this post, which will now be my next post, but I had the opportunity to taste the 2001 Chateau Musar, which was just absolutely stunning and had to get it on here.

Chateau Musar are based in the Bekaa Valley in the Lebanon, the first vines were planted in 1930 by Gaston Hocheron on his return from a trip to Bordeaux. In 1959 Gaston's son Serge became winemaker after completing his winemaking studies at the University of Oenology in Bordeaux. Throughout the conflict that ravaged the region, they only failed to produce a vintage only a hand full of times, which when you consider it is pretty amazing.

Chateau Musar Red is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cinsault and Carignan from vineyard sites near the villages of Aana and Kefraya, the vines are an average age of 40 years old with low yields and planted in gravelly soil over limestone. Each individual component is fermented separately in concrete vats, then after 6 months they are transferred in French oak for a further year. They are then blended together to create the iconic taste that is Musar and placed for another 12 months in the concrete vats, when it is then bottled. After bottling it is then paced in there cellars for a further 4 maturation before they release it for sale, so by the time it hits our shelves it's already seven years old!

The 2001 had this lovely, mature brick red colour in the glass, with wonderfully pronounced aromas of dark fruit, leather, spice and cigar box. On the palate the fruit came over as much more mature, with figs and prunes, then all that lovely spice and cigar box combined together beautifully, there was a little touch of acidity and soft silky tannins. I've tasted quite a few vintages over the years even going back to one from the 60's, but this has to be one of my favourite vintages, Musar is definitely a wine that I would recommend, but make sure it's nice and mature, as it gets so much better with age.

A Bordeaux from St Emilion - Ch. La Fleur Cravignac

Having been in Italy, I thought I'd head north west and pay a visit to Bordeaux, more precisely St Emilion and have a look at Chateau La Fleur Cravignac.

St Emilion is situated on Bordeaux's right bank and has been for many years far less significant then the wines from the left bank. These wines tend be Merlot dominated which means they don't have the same tannic structure of the wines from the left bank which are Cabernet dominated, this results in wines that are much softer and mature much quicker.

This wine is as with all right bank wines predominantly Merlot, with some Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon blended in, this makes it much more approachable earlier in its life. It had a deep purple/red colour in the glass with a slightly garnet edge, you got aromas of dark fruit, Blackcurrant and Blackberries with some smoke and spice coming through from the background. These all came through on the palate beautifully with the fruit showing some maturity and fine, smooth tannins and a tiny amount of acidity but everything was all in balance with one another.

I have to say I was rather impressed with this wine, I'm not a huge fan of Bordeaux as they usually take so long before they become approachable and they command a high price, even more so with the interest from the Chinese market and the reputation they carry. However the wines from St Emilion mature quicker and are no where near the price of the wines from the left bank, such as those from the Medoc, Margaux, Pauillac, etc and this is one I would definitely say is worth giving a go.

A Californian Legend

I was lucky enough recently to get the opportunity to try a bottle of the 1997 Stag's Leap SLV Cabernet Sauvignon, just to confuse people, there are two producers using the name Stags Leap, they are Stags' Leap Winery and Stag's Leap Wine Cellars. Notice the different use of the apostrophe in the Stag's and that one uses Winery and the other uses Wine Cellars in the name, the winery I'm referring to in this is the latter of the two.

Founded in 1970 by Nathan Fay, on the Silverado Trail just as the renaissance for wine production in Napa was really starting to bloom, prohibition had reduced the number of wineries to less than 20 at this point from a peak of 140+. The winery was really brought to prominence in the controversial 1976 Paris tasting, where English wine Critic Steven Spurrier, who at the time owned a wine merchant and wine school in Paris. Curious to see how the new pretenders from America stood up to similar varietals from First and other classified-growth red Bordeaux and white Burgundies, he organised a blind wine tasting as part of the American Bicentennial activities in Paris. The French tasters were chosen from professionals within the french wine industry all with impeccable professional credentials.

Once all the wines had been tasted, the 9 judges added up there scores to see which wine had won, but to there horror, the unthinkable had happened, the 1973 Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars S.L.V. Cabernet Sauvignon (the first vintage to be produced with grapes from vines that were a mere three years old) was judged to be the best, beating Bordeaux first growths such as Château Mouton-Rothschild and Château Haut-Brion, thus propelling Stag's Leap Wine Cellars into Stardom, the Californian Chardonnay also beat the best that Burgundy could throw at it!

The SLV vineyard was originally planted in 1970 as Stag's Leap Vineyards, hence the name! Where the vines that produced the winning 1973 vintage, now produce fruit with a much greater depth of flavour, and since 1986 have been farmed in a sustainable way, using cover crops, meticulous canopy management and other natural pests to help minimise intervention as much possible.

In the glass, you got a deep red colour, with the edges starting to show an orangery/garnet colour highlighting it's age. The wine still had quite pronounced fruit aromas of cassis and plum, with some peppery spice coming through from the background, on the palate these all came through but with chocolate and leather notes added to it, combine this with a very silky texture as the tannins had mellowed in it's age, there was so much depth of flavour and complexity from the oak, fruit and it's age, which just made it an absolutely stunning drink, and i can see why it won the infamous 1976 tasting.

A Legend Lives On

Earlier in the year I was invited to join in on a world wide toast to celebrate the birthday of the late, great Robert Mondavi, to help me celebrate I’d been sent a bottle of their 2006 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, lucky me.

One of the great American wine making pioneers, Robert Mondavi built his first winery in 1966, which was the first major winery in the Napa valley since prohibition had ended. He was a pioneer of putting the Varietal on the label, not naming them generically, he also turned the around the fortunes of the unpopular varietal, Sauvignon Blanc in the US by naming it Fume Blanc. Another one of his many accolades is that of creating one of America’s greatest wines, Opus One, a joint collaboration with Baron Phillipe de Rothschild which had begun as a chat, on Mondavi’s visit to his vineyards in Bordeaux during 1978.

Although it says it’s a Cabernet Sauvignon on the label, it is actually a blend consisting of 95% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Cabernet Franc, according to the tasting notes, the website says it is a much more eclectic mix of varietals. The wine is fermented in a combination of oak and stainless steel tanks, spending a maturation period of 14 months in oak, of which 20% are new oak.

In the glass you got an opaque inky purple colour, with very pronounced aromas of dark fruits, blackcurrant, plums and cherries with a tiny bit of sweet spice coming through from the background. On the palate you got all the aromas coming through in waves at you, combine this with a good amount of acidity and masses of fine silky tannins, and you got a pretty amazing wine, but that’s what you’d expect when you pay these sorts of prices.

This is a full bodied wine, that at this young stage drinks nicely now but can age for a good few years yet, but really, to get the best from it now, you should really drink it with food. This is a wine that’s definitely worth giving a go if you’re looking to spend a bit a more on nice bottle, but remember it will benefit greatly by being opened a good couple of hours before drinking, and if possible even decanting.

A Very Disappointing Bordeaux

I’ve not posted a wine from Bordeaux so far on the blog, so I thought it was about time that I rectified that, unfortunately it’s not as I would have liked it to be. A little while ago I managed to come across one in my local supermarkets fine wine selection, it had been reduced as they were a bin end, which I decided to take full advantage of and bought two bottles, with the view that if I liked it I’d go back and get some more, if they had any left. I have to admit it was a good reduction, they were originally £19.99 and had been reduced to just £4.99, bargain, or so I thought.

The bottles in question were a 2005 Medoc from Chateau Le Lescot, which is a Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot blend, which I looked forward to tasting. We had some friends round for dinner and I thought this was the ideal opportunity to bring it out.

In the glass it had a deep ruby/garnet colour, which is what I would have expected given its age, on the nose it had quite pronounced aromas of dark fruit, predominantly blackcurrants, so far so good, but that’s where it started to go downhill. On the palate you got the fruit and a good amount of ripe juicy tannins, but it had a searing acidity with it, which just did not go with the rest of the components of the wine, and made it for me an unbalanced wine and a disappointment. I thought it actually may have been slightly oxidised, so i opened the other bottle to see if that was any better, unfortunately it wasn’t. I may have been very unlucky and got two bad bottles, but I doubt it.

This unfortunately is not a wine that I would recommend, the later vintages may be better; I’d like to hope they are, but I certainly wouldn’t recommend or buy this wine myself again without tasting it first.

A Pair of Spanish Stunners

A little while ago I got sent two bottles of Spanish wine to review for the blog, for some reason, and I’m not quite sure why, but it’s not something I tend to drink very often or know a great deal about, I’ve only reviewed two Rioja's and a Cava for the blog; I haven't even touched on one of my favourite wines, Sherry!

 Vińa Pomal Reserva Rioja, 2005.

The Rioja region is in northern Spain where they are permitted to use Tempranillo, Viura, Garnacha, Graciano and Mazuelo to produce their wines, this one however is 100% Tempranillo. This wine will spend 18 months in American Oak with a further two years in bottle before its release; this is a requirement for the Reserva designation.

On pouring you had a deep ruby/purple colour and pronounced aromas of red cherries and red currents, coming through from the background you got some really nice sweet spice, predominantly liquorice. It had just the right amount of fine tannins with just enough acidity to make you mouth water, combine this with the aromas and favours and you got a well structured wine with an interesting complexity to it.

Scala Dei Cartoixa Priorat, 2005.

Priorat is situated in North East Spain, and covers an area of around 19,783h, of which around 5,000h are under vine, compared with a region such as Rioja which has around 49,776h. This gives you an idea of how small a region it is, all the vines are planted on terraced slopes between 100 – 700m above sea level. They are permitted to use Garnacha Tinta, Garnacha Peluda, Carinena, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah in the blend, with yields much lower than is actually permitted.

In the glass it was a much deeper ruby than the Rioja, with pronounced aromas of dark fruit, cherries and plums and loaded with the sweet spice of cinnamon, their was also a touch of minerality coming through from the back ground. You got all of these on the palate coming at you wave after wave; it had wonderfully juicy tannins and great acidity helping to let the flavours linger in your mouth for a long time. This was a stunningly well balanced and complex wine that I’m so glad that I had the opportunity to taste.

Both of these wines were beautiful with great flavours and structure that if you get the opportunity to try them, then I’d definitely recommend them, but my favourite was hands down the Priorat, as it was for the friends I had round to enjoy them, it was just absolutely stunning.

A Secret Tasting with Linton Park Wines

Finborough Wine Cafe

The other weekend was the 3^rd instalment of Andrew Barrow’s (Spittoon) secret tastings known as ARSE (Andrew’s Really Secret Event), just in case you thought I was being crude. All we knew to was that we were to meet outside a district line tube station, to be named later, on the 3^rd at 12pm, how could I resist the intrigue!

Although we were given several cryptic clues as to our meeting point, it was kept secret right up to the last possible moment; it turned out to be West Brompton tube station. On arrival our names were checked off the register, which made me feel like I was on a school trip, and we moved on to our first venue, the Finborough Wine Cafe. We started the day with a glass of Morton New Zealand sparkling, which was a blend of all three of the Champagne grapes, giving you great flavours and a good level of acidity, producing a beautifully refreshing drink, and a great way to start the day.

Hennie - The winemaker

After we’d had the opportunity to get to know the others on the tasting we were duly informed that we were moving on to the next venue, which, after putting my jacket back on and everything back in my bag, turned out to be the tasting room downstairs! When we got downstairs we were greeted by Hennie (winemaker) and Neil from Linton Park Wines, who were here to showcase their wines and give us some insight into them.

Based in the Paarl region of South Africa and nestling in the foothills of the Groenberg Mountain in Wellington Valley, they have 290 Hectares growing Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Shiraz, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc. Situated 500m above sea level, this helps to provide a cooler climate with the various oak leaf soils, all helping to produce some fantastic growing conditions and some great wines. Fortunately for us, Hennie had brought wines from all the grapes above and across two ranges, their standard and reserve.

Linton Park Sauvignon Blanc 2008 – With wonderfully herbaceous aromas and flavours, a low level of acidity, and a good length of flavour all combined to produce a fabulous wine, definitely my favourite of the whites.

Linton Park Chardonnay 2009 – With pronounced fruit aromas with a buttery edge and a touch of spice, good level of acidity cuts through its richness. Not over powered by the oak, this was a beautifully rich wine that was very enjoyable, and I’m not a fan of oaked Chardonnay.

Linton Park Cabernet Sauvignon 2008 – A deep ruby colour, with red berries and chocolate aromas, on the palate you got these with a touch of jammy plums, combined with a good level of fine tannins.

Linton Park Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2008 – This had dark fruit and oak aromas and palate, very fine, soft tannins, creating a very refined and beautiful wine.

Linton Park Merlot 2007 – Great jammy dark fruit and oak aromas and palate, again with fine tannins and a good level of acidity producing a well balanced and enjoyable wine.

Linton Park Reserve Merlot 2005 – As with the merlot above, but much more intense oak/kernel aromas and flavours than fruit, as would have expected a more refined version of the previous wine.

Linton Park Shiraz 2008 – Wonderfully pronounced aromas and palate of peppery spice with a touch of red berries in the background, with a hint of sweetness from the oak. Fine velvety tannins and a good acidity produce an amazingly well balanced and beautiful wine.

Linton Park Reserve Shiraz 2007 – With pronounced dark jammy fruit, spice, chocolate and smokey aromas, you got all of these on the palate with velvety tannins, all produced an amazingly complex and absolutely stunning wine. Which I can safely say got the majority vote as our favourite wine of the day.

After we’d gone through all of these, Hennie had one last challenge for us, he produced an unlabeled bottle for us to taste and guess the grape, year and dominate aroma. Which I have to reluctantly admit all of us wine geeks got massively wrong which was a little embarrassing, personally I thought it was a Pinotage, but it turned out to be a 2011 Cabernet Sauvignon.

It was a fantastic day, with great wine and fantastic company, I’d just like to thank Hennie and Neil for taking the time out to go through their wines with us, and of course, Andrew for organising a great day, roll on ARSE4. 

Around the World in 80 Wines with Wines of South Africa

The South African High Commission in Trafalgar Square was the venue for last weeks Wines of South Africa’s, around the world in 80 wines tasting. As you can see from the picture below it was a fantastic venue that almost felt like you were going back in time! On show were 152 wines, covering all the main grape varieties and blends which is easier to say what wasn’t in them, than what was, and one I’d never even heard of, Bukettraube.

Their were some fantastic wines on show, here are some of my favourites from the day;

Pongrácz Brut Rosé NV – This sparkling had a salmon pink colour with aromas and flavours of red berries, combine this with a refreshing level of acidity and a good length of flavour, it went on to produce a well balanced wine, especially for £8.99, available from SA Wines Online.

Lomond Estate Sauvignon Blanc, Cape Agulhas, 2010 – This is a blend of 85% Sauvignon Blanc and 15% Nouvelle, with an almost water white colour and aromas of melons, figs and hints of grass coming through. On the palate you got the aromas coming through with a touch of minerality thrown in for good measure. Combine these with a good level of acidity and a reasonable length; you get a beautiful and complex wine all for £9.99, available from Forth Wines Ltd.

Spier Private Collection Chenin Blanc, Western Cape, 2009 – A blend of 95% Chenin Blanc and 5% Viognier giving you pronounced aromas and flavours of stone and tropical fruit, a touch of cedar then came through from the oak vinification. It had a good level of acidity and a long length of flavour, you also got a very full, rich mouth feel again from the oaking. This was a wonderfully rich and full on wine with great fruit flavours and complexity, which is what you’d expect for £18.49; available from Henderson wines and SA Wines Online.

Springfield ‘The Work of Time’, Robertson, 2004 – This is a blend of 45% Cabernet Franc, 29% Cabernet Sauvignon, 24% Merlot and 2% Petit Verdot which is just amazing. You got wonderful jammy flavours of dark fruit with a high level of ripe tannins and a good level of acidity, which produced a well balanced wine that would go beautifully with a Sunday roast, this wine could also age for quite a few more years yet as well. Excellent value for £14; available from Bibendum Wine.

Southern Right Pinotage, Hemel-en-Aarde Valley, Hermaus, 2008 – 100% Pinotage, which can be a difficult grape, they are either fantastic or absolutely horrendous, this one was the latter. It had an opaque ruby colour with breathtaking aromas and flavours of jammy berries with a touch of spice coming through from the background. Combined skilfully with a good level of fine tannin and you got an amazingly complex and delightful wine all for £11.99, which is just amazing; available from Waitrose.

Lourensford Noble Late Harvest Semillon, Stellenbosch, 2009 – Produced from 100% Semillon, they hand pick the Botrytised bunches which are then lightly pressed and barrel fermented. The wine had a deep golden colour which was lusciously sweet with flavours of honey and apricots, on the nose you also got the distinctive botrytis aromas. This was a stunning sweet wine that I could have sipped away at for hours; available from SA Wines Online, Taurus Wines, Well Wine W4 and www.everywine.co.uk for £8.99.

It was a fantastic tasting and there were many more great wines on show, these are just a few that really caught my eye, hope you enjoy them as I did.

A Trip Round the South of France with Seabright and Seabright

The other week I had the pleasure of being invited to Seabright and Seabright’s Languedoc and Roussillon tasting at the Maison de la Region Languedoc-Roussillon. They specialise in regional wines from across the whole of France, sourcing from small producers and lesser well known appellations. On show for this tasting were wines from eight producers across the Languedoc-Roussillon region in the south of France.

There were some fantastic wines from across the region at all price points and styles; here I’ve just picked out a few from the day that really caught my eye.

Domaine de la Tuilerie Celebration Viognier 2009, this had wonderfully pronounced aromas of Stone fruit with floral notes coming through. These all come through on the palate and lingered for some time, combine these with the good level of acidity and you got a very nice and enjoyable drink all for £7.95.

Domaine Morin-Langaran Cuvée Prestige Blanc 2009, this is produced from 100% Roussanne and had a bright lemon/gold colour with aromas and flavours of stone fruit. The flavours lingered around for some time, combine these with a great level of acidity that really made your mouth water. All this produced an excellent wine coming in at £12.95.

Chateau de la Tuilerie Eole Rouge 2007, this is made from 100% Syrah (Shiraz) and had an opaque purple/red colour, with the aromas of Dark cherries and Blackcurrants, coming through from the background you then got a cigar box aroma which was just stunning. These all came through on the palate layer after layer with great complexity, the level of tannin was perfect, didn’t over power the flavours at all. There is only one way I could describe this wine, Stunning, but at £26.95 you wouldn’t expect anything less.

Domaine de Cabrol Vent d’Ouest 2006, a blend of Cab Sav, Syrah and Grenache, with aromas of Jammy Forest fruit’s, Cassis and Cedar. These all came through on the palate, with the Jammy Forest fruit being the most pronounced, matched with just the right amount of tannin; you got an excellent wine for £13.95.

Chateau de Mattes-Sabran Cuvée Chevreuse 2007, a blend of Syrah, Mourvèdre and Grenache, you got aromas of Dark fruit with a touch of spice coming through. These came through on the palate beautifully, well balanced with the tannins and again for £13.95, excellent.

Château de Segure Fitou 2007, from the Mont-Tauch cooperative in the Pyrenean foothills; this is a blend of Carignan, Grenache and Syrah. With a wonderfully deep ruby colour, and aromas of Dark fruit and Cigar box, on the palate these came through in waves which rolled over your tongue beautifully. With just the right amount of fine tannin, this was an excellent, well balanced wine, which is well worth its £16.95 price.

There were two other wines that caught my eye, both excellent wines with lots of Red Fruits in them, but it was their labels that really made them stand out.

It was a fantastic afternoon tasting my way around the south of France, all of these and many more great wines are available to order from Seabright and Seabright.

A Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon

Having recently posted a wine from Argentina, I thought I’d keep up with the South American theme and move over to their western neighbour Chile. Chile occupies a strip of land that has the Pacific Ocean along its western coast line and the Andes Mountains on its eastern border. They have had long history of wine making, with the introduction of European varieties such Cabernet Sauvignon in the 18^th century, their has been a real renaissance since the 1980’s with the introduction of modern winemaking techniques. To the extent, that they are now the ninth largest producing country, and the fifth biggest exporter in the world, according to Wikipedia.

Casillero del Diablo is one of the biggest brands on UK supermarket shelves today; produced by the Concha Y Toro winery and is one of many brands under their umbrella. The name Casillero del Diablo according to the website is supposed to translate to the cellar of the devil, however if you use Google translate, you get pigeon holes/box of the devil, I think their translation sounds much better.

They produce an extensive range covering all the major varietals, including the South American favourites of Malbec and Carmenère, and aromatic whites, such as Viognier, Riesling and Gewurztraminer. We went for the Cabernet Sauvignon, where the fruit comes from the Central Valley, about 70% of the vintage will spend around eight months in new American Oak before being bottled.

On pouring the wine, it had a deep, bright ruby colour, with nice aromas of cassis, plums and cherries, with a touch of coffee coming through in the background. On the palate all the aromas were there and came at you in waves, with a good length to them and a good level of tannin. Combining these together, you got an enjoyable fruit driven wine with a good body and is very well balanced. Would I recommend this wine, yes I would, and at around the £7 mark it shows excellent value.