A Russian River Pinot Noir

I reviewed a bottle of Sonoma-Cutrer Chardonnay for the blog last year, which I have to admit I wasn’t a big fan of, not that their was anything wrong with the wine. So I was delighted when I received a bottle of their Russian River Valley Pinot Noir 2007, as its one of my favourite grapes. I’m always a bit dubious about Pinot Noir from regions that predominately have hot climates, such as California, it’s such a difficult grape to grow even in the most perfect climate, but I thought I’d give it a go.

Situated about 1 hour north of San Francisco and just inland from the Pacific coast, it benefits from having a cooling fog that descends across the valley, helping to drop the daytime temperatures by as much as 40 degrees. This also helps to extend the growing season giving the grapes time to reach their full flavour maturity, making it the perfect place to grow most type of grapes.

In the glass it had a deep ruby colour, with wonderfully pronounced aromas of black cherries, blackberries and damsons, once you got through all the fruit you then got the sweet spice of cinnamon and clove, intertwined with a hint of smoke. On the palate all of the aromas came through wave after wave and combining beautifully, but instead of the smoke, the oak came through in a meatier characteristic. It had quite a low level of acidity, but it was just enough and soft silky tannins that just glided of your tongue.

This is an absolutely stunning full bodied red, with great flavours and complexity that I would highly recommend; it’s great to drink on its own and will also go amazingly well with a roast. It’s currently available from Waitrose, Ocado and Everywine for £21.99; yes I know it’s a bit pricey but definitely worth every penny.

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.

Charming, charismatic, cool: Callooh Callay

I don’t usually blog about bars, but I’m making an exception, for a fantastic cocktail club I had the pleasure of going to at the weekend: Callooh Callay. Based in the heart of all that is trendy and cool, Shoreditch, when you first enter the bar, it seems kind of normal, and kind of small. However, when you book a table in advance – that’s when it becomes kind of special.

In the corner stands what looks like, a big old fashioned wardrobe. On closer inspection however, you discover it’s a door, which leads you another bar, giving you a feeling like you’ve just entered Narnia. The bar was, for want of a better word, amazing! There were baths that had been cut in half and turned into seats and other eclectic furniture. Even better, then there is yet another smaller, even further hidden, totally exclusive bar upstairs.  Thankfully, it didn’t turn out to be style over substance; the menu was phenomenal, it had all the usual cocktails you’d expect, with many more that you’d never heard of.

We started with a glass of Ruinart Rose, a stunning Champagne. Founded in 1729, the House of Ruinart is reputedly the oldest Champagne house. Originally created by the Benedictine Monk Dom Thierry Ruinart, he did so in response to the enthusiasm of the aristocratic royal circles for the tipple. The business was then taken over and developed by his brother and nephew, both of whom were called Nicolas, who moved the family business away from the cloth trade in 1735, to solely focus on the Champagne business.

It had wonderfully youthful aromas of Strawberries, Raspberries and Red Currants; you got all these on the palate with a great level of acidity and wonderfully fine bubbles. A blend of 45% Chardonnay from the Côte des Blancs and 55% Pinot Noir from Montagne de Reims, it has a bright Salmon Pink colour, which was a little bit difficult to tell in the club, but didn’t take away from the wonderful taste. Even the bottle screamed class and individuality, instead of a traditional Champagne bottle; it was a shorter, dumpy bottle adding to the overall allure of it.

Is this a Champagne that I’d recommend? Absolutely! It was beautifully balanced with wonderful flavours that I could have kept drinking all night long and I definitely will be next time I go!

A New Zealand White that's not Sauvignon Blanc

Having written quite a few reviews on New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, most people could be led to believe that this is the only grape they grow, which is not the case. With the climate being much cooler than their Australian neighbours, they don't do so well with growing the likes of Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon. They do grow with great success Pinot Noir, Merlot and Chardonnay, producing some absolutely stunning examples of these wines.

I know this isn't the right bottle!

Having reviewed Villa Maria’s Private Bin Sauvignon Blanc, I thought I would also review there Private Bin East Coast Chardonnay 2008, and the fact that a friend bought a bottle with them when they came to dinner the other week made it an ideal opportunity. The wine itself has been allowed to go through Malolactic fermentation, and certain parcels of the blend have also received some oak ageing, to add some depth and complexity to it.

On pouring the wine, it had a bright lemony gold colour with reasonably pronounced youthful aromas of Peaches, Pears and strangely enough, wet wool, which isn’t as bad as it sounds. On the palate you got the fruit coming through with eucalyptus/medicinal flavours following. It had a good level of acidity that worked very well with flavours making it a well balanced wine with just the right level of oak.

This was not a bad wine, it was well balanced, not over oaked, with a short length of flavour making it an enjoyable drink, but would I recommend it? If you like your new world Chardonnays then you’d enjoy this, but personally and for the price I’d rather go for their Sauvignon Blanc.