The £180.00 Seasonal Cellar September 2010 Tasting Notes

White wines

BW27 2008 Chablis Domaine de la Boissoneuse, Julien Brocard    £16.99
Julien Brocard manages the family’s 180 hectares of vines around Préhy, which his father Jean-Marc build from scratch some forty years ago when a hectare of vines came with the hand of his childhood sweetheart, Claudine. Although Jean-Marc is officially retired, he continues to be a thorn in the side of his off-spring, and is always keen to greet visiting buyers from Adnams.  Over the past decade, Adnams has been providing staff for a couple of days grape picking and tasting, and it was on one of these visits that we discovered the Boissonneuse. Exposed to biodynamic ideals at wine college, Julien was able to take on this particular vineyard as an organic trial receiving organic status some seven years ago. The wonderful salty tang of the air on a hot summer’s day, combined with endless fossilized shells on the ground, are testament to the fact that this was once an ocean. You can see the connection with the soil in this classic Chablis, which has a flinty minerality about it, with dry citrus extract  This is unquestionably a wine for shelfish, oysters preferably.

US35 2008 Malvasia, Birichino, Monterrey County            £14.50
Birichino are John Locke, ex winemaker at Bonny Doon and Alex Krause from Ca Del Solo. Both hail from the ‘creative’ stable of maverick winemaker Randal Grahm and their efforts at a bone dry Malvasia has a quirky familiarity about it..  Malvasia is an ancient variety, and as far as we can tell, it worked its way over from the Greek city of Monemvassia (Malvasia seemingly a corruption of Monemvassia) to Italy, and thence to America in the boots of the Italian immigrant who smuggled it into California years ago. This particular clone of Malvasia is from Calabria in southern Italy, which had a long established Greek culture and history before the Roman Empire came on the scene. This is aromatic, with a hint of sweetness, which turns bone dry, and is a perfect wine to suit Asian cuisine or a simple roasted chicken with lemons, tarragon and garlic.

IW44 2008 Fiano, Bruno Fina, Sicilia                    £11.50
Bruno Fina spent the 1990′s running Sicily’s experimental cellar at Alcamo, applying radical techniques to Sicilian varieties in pursuit of their true vocation. He advises local growers on their plantings – so he knows where the best grapes are grown, and what they can do. This is his first venture with Fiano, and he doesn’t disappoint. If you like to try and enjoy something marginally different, this wine should invigorate the taste buds and inspire your culinary endeavors to yet greater heights. We are talking pasta here; cannoli is a Sicilian speciality – and all manner of sea-food, where cuttlefish, bream, bass, swordfish and sardines reign supreme.

SY78 2008 Moscatel Secco, Jorge Ortonez, Malaga            £16.99
A very international effort in that Jorge Ordonez, who is a significant exporter of Spanish wines to the US, joined forces with the late Alois Kracher, Austrian guru of sensational sweet white wines, since suceeded by his son. Just an hour inland from Malaga and uphill by some 450 metres they chose ancient vines of Muscat of Alexandria cultivated on steep slopes. Low yields, hand harvested with just over half fermented  in stainless steel tanks and the rest in oak barrels. The result is a fascinating and complex wine which is far more than just an aperitif.  An excellent match with seafood but give it a moment on its own first to truly savour the enticing layers of flavour that it delivers. One of the most exciting wines that we have tasted this year.

AU04 2009 Riesling Gebling Weingut Felsner, Kremstal            £15.75
The Felsner family estate is situated in the village of Rohrendorf at the eastern end of the Kremstal, where loess soil predominates. This is a unique, wind-blown, fine silty clay which is light and absorbs heat well; it is particularly suited to the Grüner Veltliners which Manfred and his sister Renate Felsner produce. The vineyards also extend to conglomerate rock, which is planted with Riesling. Manfred’s careful vineyard work has seen much work put into recultivating the steep slopes and old vines. His philosophy is to use minimal intervention in the vineyard and winery in order to preserve the authenticity of the terroir in the wines he produces. There is a high proportion of old vines on the estate, dating back a couple of generations, and this brings depth and complexity to the wines. There is a remarkable purity to the fruit in this wine. It beggars solitary contemplation but a simple dish like quiche Lorraine would go with it well.

MA06 2009 Sauvignon, Cloudy Bay, Marlborough                £17.99
Still an iconic wine. Full in flavour, with pungent aromas of gooseberries and asparagus and with superb structure.  There is no denying the continuing popularity of this wine, which is now owned by luxury goods giant LVMH (Louis Vuiton, Moet Hennesy), but it is having to fight harder nowadays to maintain its lofty position as there are an increasing number of pretenders to this throne. The name of the winery is taken from the local bay, which was named by Captain James Cook on his great voyage of discovery in the south seas.  He sailed by and leaning overboard he noticed the silt laden waters and pronounced, rather literally, that this should be called ‘Cloudy Bay’. Not, as is usually supposed, to do with the brilliantly designed label of cloud shrouded mountains.
You could keep this wine for another six months and it would develop further and deliver even more interesting complexity. However, you will not be disappointed broaching a bottle now.

Red wines

BR44 2007 Pernand Vergelesses, Domaine Rapet            £18.75
Located between Côte de Nuits and Côte de Beaune, the Pernand – Vergelesses vineyard, tucked away in the green surroundings of a quiet valley, begins at the foot of Corton hill. The Estate comprises 18 hectares of vines in the villages of Pernand – Vergelesses, Savigny les Beaune, Aloxe Corton and Beaune. The current members of a family business that dates back to at least 1765 are Vincent and Sylvette Rapet who manage the  family’s vines paying great care to their management of their soil, they use a minimum of chemicals. Harvest is always by hand and the grapes are transported to the cellars in small crates to avoid bruising. The wine ferments for 15 days after which it matures in barrels- 20% of which are new, for a further 12 months. Cranberries, raspberries and oak structure. This is classic burgundian Pinot that is best shown off

SZ01 2007 Vacqueyras ‘Le Rif’ La Ferme du Mont            £15.50
Stephane Vedeau owns this 50 hectare estate and heads up a youthful team. Enthusiasm is the order of the day here. All the vines are cultivated with a regards to the environment and so no herbicides or pesticides are used. We visited the cellars on the day that the mobile bottling plant had arrived and France were playing in the world cup. It was chaos,  we tasted in a corridor with people dashing to fetch capsules or to hurry over to the TV to catch up on the latest score.  Stephane remained calm throughout and his wines shone through. Their Vacqueyras comes from manually harvested grapes. The grapes are then de-stemmed and put into tanks without yeast so the fermentations start slowly after 48hours at a temperature of 22 / 23°C. A small part of the wine Matures in oak barrel and the other part is traditionally matured in a vat. This wine is by no means shy and retiring and so you will need to get out the culinary equivalent of a whip and chair to keep this in check. Osso Bucco perhaps ?

SZ07 2007 Almaroja Pirita, Charlie Allen, Arribes del Duero        £16.50
We wondered what had happened to a wine trade colleague ‘Charlie’ Allen (real name Charlotte) as she had dropped below the radar of usual contact. She emerged a few years later having moved to a remote corner of Spain and single handedly taken on a vineyard of her own. Charlotte has 11 parcels of land, giving her a total of 14 hectares of vineyards. Her main grape variety is the local Juan García, but there are numerous others, including Tempranillo, Rufete, Malvasia, Bruñal, Puesto en Cruz, Bastardillo Chico and Tinta Madrid to name a few. In addition, there are 3 or 4 other white and reds varieties which neither Charlotte (nor anyone else as yet) can identify. These additional varieties give the wine increased complexity and depth of character. She works to organic principles (she hopes to obtain organic certification by 2012) and uses some biodynamic treatments, a philosophy which also influences practices in the winery – for example she always bottles with the new moon to bypass the need to filter.  This wine has a wild quality about it that makes it stand out from the herd and would be right at home with a slice of top quality mature cheddar.

LE03 2005 Massaya ‘Silver Selection’ Bekaa Valley, Lebanon        £14.99
The Lebanon is one of the very oldest of wine producing regions in the world and certainly the Phoenicians grew grapes here. The Bekaa valley is well suited to viticulture with a steady moderate climate during the summer and cold winters. An international collaboration between The Brunier bros of Chateauneuf estate Domaine du Vieux Telegraphe, Dominique Hebrard of St Emilion and the Lebanese brothers Sami & Ramzi Ghosn created a spectacular winery high in the hills of the war-torn Bekaa Valley. Rather romantically the name Massaya is the Arabic for the twilight in the Bekaa valley. Blending theRhone and Bordeaux varieties of Cinsault, Grenache, Cabernet Sauvignon and Mourvedre  which will spend almost two years maturing in cask before bottling they have come up with a unique and thoroughly enjoyable red. Treat this wine as if it were a cross between the Rhone and Bordeaux and match dishes to partner full flavoured but structured flavours.

SY69 2006 Three Cape Ladies, Warwick Vineyards, Stellenbosch    £13.99
After the Anglo Boer war in 1902, Colonel William Alexander Gordon, Commanding Officer of the Warwickshire regiment decided against returning to England and bought the farm. He renamed it ‘Warwick’ as a tribute to his regiment . Warwick was purchased on April 1st 1964 by Stan Ratcliffe after an extensive search for the best ‘terroir’ in the Cape. It is good to break all the rules and make a wine from grapes grown in several different areas and this is what Warwick estate have done. You would have thought that the name would imply three separate grapes blended together but rather confusingly it is four! Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Pinotage and Merlot. The difference comes in the long barrel maturation  (34 months) that this blend is given, making for a supple, full flavoured glassful of South Africa that is a bit special. We would, of course leap to recommend a bit of roast springbock with this but failing that roast lamb will do nicely.

AR58 2004 Shiraz, Juniper Estate, Margaret River            £16.75
You’ll want to save this whopper Western Australian Shiraz, with its chocolate-rich, blackberry fruit, vanilla oak and spice for folks you want to impress. Winemaker Mark Messenger has won massive acclaim for the style, raising the reputation of Juniper Estate to something like that of its illustrious neighbours Cullens and Vasse Felix (with which it shares the gravelly loams and balmy microclimate and unique soil of the Wilyabrup Creek). The most notable difference between Juniper and its neighbours is the price of the wines themselves. Juniper keeps on winning medals and regularly beats the local competion but offers up its treasures at half the price of its neighbours. Long may it last. Drink this classic Shiraz with the finest steak or something baronial like haunch of venison.