A Red From the South of France - Saint Chinian

I was sent bottle a bottle of the 2013 Cours la Reine Saint Chinian the other week, this is not an appellation that I know much about at all, other than it's from the south of France. It is apparently considered to be the oldest winemaking region within the Languedoc, and is split into two distinct sides, the northern part consists of mainly schist soil while to the south they are much more clay/chalky soil types. Around 70% of the vines grown are Syrah, Mouvedre and Grenache, they also grow Carignan, Cinsault and Lledoner Pelut.

This bottle is a blend of Syrah and Grenache and has lovely ruby/purple colour in the glass, on the nose it loads of red fruit with some hints of peppery spice coming through gently from the background. On the palate, the fruit came through as juicy dark berries with the spice coming through as pepper and clove. The tannins were soft, juicy and elegant, combined with just a touch of acidity that produced a really well balanced and extremely enjoyable wine.

The big question though is, would I recommend this wine? Yes I would absolutely, it's was lovely to drink on it's own and will go with food perfectly, and when it's priced at £9.95 a bottle, how can you go wrong!

A Pair of Bargains or Not?

I was reading an article the other day about the state of the UK wine trade and one of the stats which still amazes me is that the average bottle price in the UK is £5.27, which once you've take the VAT and duty out of the price, the cost of the wine, bottle, shipping, labelling and retailer profit is £2.34. This to me is just amazing, the once you take out the other costs, the wine inside the bottle is costing you anywhere between 50 - 60 pence, which when you think about it is not a lot, and also makes me wonder is it any good?

So with this in mind I popped down to my local supermarket to see what they had around this price, also remembering about the articles earlier this year with regards to so called special offer wines, that aren't really that good an offer! And I found quite a few around this price from all over the world, but decided on two a Tempranillo/Grenache blend from Spain and a Petit Verdot from South Australia;

2007 Marques de Carano Gran Reserva

Having a quick scan of the back label the first bit of information you see is that this wine hails from the Carinena region in north west Spain. Carinena is one of the oldest protected DO's (Denominacion de Origen) and was created in 1932, it is also acknowledged as the source of the French Carignan grape, which is still grown in the region and is better known as Mazuelo. The other bit of useful information apart from some information about the region is that it is aged for at least 24 months in American oak. Adding in the age I was expecting quite a lot from this wine, even more so as it's original price was £10.99 but it was on a better than half price offer for £5.

In the glass it had a deep inky purple colour, with pronounced aromas of dark fruit, cherries blackberries with a touch of sweet spice namely clove and cinnamon. On the palate you got the fruit and spice coming through, unfortunately it had a large amount of bitter, green tannins which were not enjoyable and made this a very disappointing glass of wine, and one I wouldn't recommend.

2013 Wine Makers Selection Petit Verdot by Sainsbury's

Petit Verdot is not something you tend to see a lot of as a single varietal, it's mainly used in blends and originates from Bordeaux in France, the grapes for this wine come from south Australia.

In the glass it had a bright ruby red colour, with aromas of red berries, predominately cherry with a touch of graphite (pencil lead) and violet hue's coming through, these all came through on the palate and combined with plenty of soft juicy tannins. It had a refreshing acidity which bought the flavours and tannins together perfectly. Again this bottle cost me £5 and I really enjoyed it, and would definitely recommend it even more so when you consider the price.

Considering what I was looking for when I purchased these two bottles, I don't think I did too badly, yes one I wouldn't recommend and but one I definitely would!

A Provence Rose with a Touch of Hollywood Glam

I tried to avoid writing about this last year, actually I did pretty well at not writing about anything at all but that's a different matter, and that is the now infamous Brangelina rose, Miraval, mainly because I thought I was a bit of a gimmick, especially at £20-£25 a bottle. Also because I was a fan of it's predecessor Chateau Miraval Pink Floyd, which was a stunningly crisp and delicate Provence rose.

Château Miraval is located in the village of Correns, which is just north Brigoles in the south of France, and produces white's under the Coteaux Varois appellation, and red and rose under the Cotes de Provence. Another claim to fame is that one of it's previous owners, the French jazz pianist Jacques Loussier installed a recording studio in the Chateau where artists such as Sting, The Cranberries and even the legendary Pink Floyd all recording there.

Moving back to the present day and the Chateau is now owned by Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, wanting to produce the very best Provence rose they could, they enlisted the help of the Perrin Family from Chateau Beaucastel in the Rhone valley as their wine makers. This was actually quite interesting given that while the Perrin's bought an amazing reputation for producing wonderfulyl, big, rich powerful wines, they had never produced a rose.

For this amazing rose Marc Perrin, the winemaker has used a blend of Grenache, Cinsault, Syrah and Rolle, 95% of which was fermented in stainless steel to retain it's freshness, with the remaining 5% going in to oak barrels, which just adds that little bit more complexity.

In the glass it had this wonderfully delicate pink colour, with quite pronounced aromas of wild strawberries, fresh herbs, rose, citrus and a touch of steely minerality coming through. On the palate you got all the fruit right at the start with this wonderfully refreshing soft acidity, made first think of wild strawberries and cream. You then started to get the citrus and fresh herbs come through on the palate with a real sense of a steely minerality to the wine, which I have to say was just fantastic.

Well, what do I think of this wine, I have to say, to start with I did think it might be very much of a gimmick, but I have to take my hat off to Marc Perrin the winemaker and say, bravo. This is such a beautifully crafted wine with all the flavours and acidity beautifully in balance with one another, I can also see why it made it into the top 100 wines of last year. Which also leads me to say that if you see one, buy it, as I can't imagine it lasting too long!

A Gem from the South of France

Domaine Gayda (in the background)

A couple of weeks ago I had the pleasure of visiting Domaine Gayda, they're based down in the Languedoc about 20km away from Carcassonne. Founded 10 years ago by Tim Ford and Anthony Record, on what was originally a sunflower farm. Having no established vines to use, they purchased some older vineyard plots from across the region giving them access to vines up to 80 years old.

Vineyards in La Liviniere

Today the whole estate is farmed and certified organically and they are also starting to grow other plants and crops to encourage biodiversity.

They have very comprehensive range from their entry level single varietal t'Air d'Oc and blended Flying Solo range, through the varietal Ceppage range ending with the fantastic Chemin de Moscou. I have to say the quality from start to finish is magnificent and i can't recommend any of there wines highly enough, but the one i really want to talk about is the Chemin de Moscou.

This wine gets its name from the road that leads up to the vineyards, and is produced using fruit from La Livinière, Latour de France, Calce, St Martin de Fenouillèdes, Tautavel & Brugairolles vineyard plots, which have some of the oldest vines that they own. It is a blend of Syrah, Grenache with a small amount of Cinsault added just for good measure, all are vinified seperately before being blended.

The Syrah is aged in new oak barrels for nine months, while the Grenache and Cinsault are put into 2nd and 3rd fill barrels for nine months, they will then blend the best barrels of each varietal before it spends a further 12 months in the same barrels.

The Chemin de Moscou is a big rich glass of wine, it has a wonderfully opaque inky/purple colour, with pronounced aromas of dark fruit, pepper, cinnamon with a hint of violets coming through from the back ground. On the palate you all of the aromas coming through with an added touch of minerality, which is just amazing, the tannins are big but not out of balance and there is just enough acidity to get your mouth watering and helping to make the flavours linger for ages.

I have to say this is just a magnificent glass of wine, and is testament to the wine making skills of Vincent, if you spot a bottle in your local wine merchant i would definately say to grab a bottle and give it go, especially when your having a barbeque.

A Red From The Rhone

This may only be me, but does anyone else ever find that after friends have been round for dinner, there’s always an odd bottle of unopened wine that some one brought round and never got drunk. Well this bottle is one of those!

I knew absolutely nothing about this wine other than what information I could glean from the label, the obvious was then name. La Tour de Marrenon 2010 Reserve, Ventoux, and is a blend of Grenache and Syrah. On close examination of the back label, I found that it had been imported by one of our leading supermarket chains and produced by Marrenon!

AOC Ventoux is a region located in the south east area of the Rhone, where 80% of it’s reported production goes to reds blended from  Grenache, Syrah, Cinsault, Mourvèdre, and Carignan. With the whites coming from Clairette,Bourboulenc,Grenache Blanc, and Roussane, they also produce some Rose; the style is very much that of light and fruity, the minimum alcohol is 11%, this one came in at 13,5%.

In the glass it had a bright/youthful ruby colour, and quite pronounced aromas of blackcurrant, with black pepper coming through from them background. On the palate, again it had quite pronounced flavours of blackcurrant, with a touch of red currants thrown in to the mix, and then you got the peppery spice. It had quite a large amount of acidity with very little fine tannins, which didn’t really work for me.

Would I recommend this wine, it wasn’t really an inspiring wine, there was nothing wrong with it in itself, but it just didn’t set my taste buds alight, if I saw it on the shelf would I buy It, then the answer is no, but if someone did bring it around again I would drink it.

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 Great Rose from California

Organic wine can be a bit of a misnomer, is their really such a thing? Many people will say, it says organic on the label so therefore it must be, but how carefully do they read the label. If they did they would see that usually in very small print, it will state that its wine made from organically grown grapes, not actually an organic wine. For it truly to be 100% organic would require the use of no chemicals at all, which reduces it shelf life considerably, due to winemakers inability to use sulphur to preserve it.

I had the fortune to be sent a bottle of Rose from the Bonterra winery in Mendocino County, California to review for the blog. I’d seen this brand around for many years on supermarket shelves, although not so much these days, but I’d never had the opportunity to taste them and this seemed the perfect opportunity.

The blend used for their Rose is that of Sangiovese, Zinfandel and Grenache which makes for an interesting drink. On pouring the wine, you had a bright Salmon pink colour with aromas of Strawberries, Raspberries, red Cherries and Elderflowers. You got all of these aromas on the palate, with a touch of peppery spice coming through in the background. To go along with these wonderful fruit flavours you got a good level of acidity, which made your mouth water, putting all these together you got a well balanced wine that worked so well.

Would i recommend this wine? Well chilled on a hot sunny day, this would be perfect for a lunch time drink that all will enjoy!

Currently this wine is available as a Valentines gift set from Tesco’s with two bars of Green and Blacks chocolate.

A Great Gran Reserva Rioja

Having said in my last post that I don’t drink much Rioja, I’ve had two bottles in quick succession to review, this one being a Gran Reserva, namely Marques de Carano Gran Reserva 2001.

Being a Gran Reserva, it has spent 24 months maturing in new oak barrels and a further 36 months in the bottle before being released. Unlike the last Rioja I reviewed this is a blend of the two most widely planted grapes in the region, Tempranillo and Garnacha (Grenache), this help to give the wine another dimension of flavours.

On pouring the first thing I noticed was that it was tawnier in colour than the last one, but much more opaque. On the nose I got the aromas of red berries again, Raspberries and Red Cherries predominantly, but they were not as pronounced, once you got through the fruit, there were these aromas of Spice, Vanilla, and Cedar which came from the oak. It had a good level of acidity and these wonderfully fine, silky tannins, which helped it to go on to be a wonderfully balanced and complex wine that was a thoroughly enjoyable drink.

Would I recommend this wine, yes I would, if you can still find it, I’ve been having a bit of trouble, but if you do, it would go fantastically with a roast such as lamb, or a rich meaty casserole!

Radcliffe's Chateauneuf-du-Pape

The other wine I had the pleasure of tasting at dinner last week was Radcliffe’s Chateauneuf-du-Pape.

One of the more prestigious wines from the Southern Rhone, it can contain up to thirteen different varieties of grape. The blend will primarily be Grenache, Syrah (Shiraz) and Mouvedre, creating a wonderful wine with fantastic complex flavours.

The wine had a wonderful deep red colour, with developing aromas of plums and dark cherries, with a hint of spice coming through. These were also the flavours that came through on the palate with an added hint of smoke in the background. The low level of tannins and good level of acidity made it a very well balanced wine, as you would expect, resulting in a very enjoyable drink.

Recommendation, definitely worth a punt if your looking for a wine with a bit more class than your standard table wine; but don’t want anything to heavy or overpowering.