Archive | February, 2010
For the Love of Port 2007 Vintage Port Forecast – the heads up
In my September Douro Boys’ report here, I wrote about a unique “Time is on my side” tasting of 2007 ports organised by Dirk Niepoort. A tasting gauntlet, it challenged us to taste 60 hours’ worth of 2007 vintage port in 2 hours. To explain, we tasted 15 different ports from the recently released 2007 [...]
Continue reading...Sauvignon Blanc de Loire Project – 2009 vintage “ambassadors” announced
Posted Friday 26th February 2010
For the second year running, I was asked to participate on the Sauvignon Blanc de Loire Project Ambassadors judging panel and the results have just been announced (see the Sopexa press release below). You can read more about the project here in a piece I wrote for Jancis Robinson’s website last year, but you’ll see [...]
Continue reading...St Hallet Old Block Shiraz 2006 – snap up the no. 1 wine – Wine 100 magazine
Posted Friday 26th February 2010
A quick post so you’re not pipped at the post! I’m part way though writing up my notes of the Australia Trade Tasting of which St Hallet Old Block Shiraz 2006 is a highlight – I’ve extracted my tasting note with alacrity below so you can make a pre-emptive strike. Reason is I just had [...]
Continue reading...Madeira relief fund
Posted Thursday 25th February 2010
The Specialist Importers Trade Tasting usually provides me with a chance to catch up with Ricardo Diogo V. Freitas, third generation winemaker at Barbeito. He’s a human dynamo and my visit in 2007 (reported here) swiftly dispelled any the notion that Madeira is all pipe and slippers. Well, you may have guessed that Ricardo didn’t [...]
Continue reading...Won-Dão-ful – Quinta da Falorca, Dão reds
Posted Wednesday 24th February 2010
Just posted a regional report (here) with notes from a great tasting, trotting through a range of Quinta da Falorca Dão reds, including some mini-verticals. I’ve not visited them, but their wines were a stand out at a generic Dão tasting I attended last year in July on my 50 Great Portuguese Wines’ quest (reported [...]
Continue reading...South African wine sales overtake France
Posted Monday 22nd February 2010
Watching the BAFTAs last night, I’d quite forgotten about District 9 – a gripping, sometimes visceral, South African sci-fi film shot documentary style about aliens stranded in Johannesburg. For some, South Africa overtaking France in wine sales might be as likely as an alien invasion, but it’s true! Here’s an extract from a press release [...]
Continue reading...Wine Behind the Label book launch and discounts!
Posted Saturday 20th February 2010
I’m working on a couple of book contributions for the end of the month and have just started contributing to Wine Behind the Label (pictured), to which The Wine Detective readers are entitled to an exclusive 10% discount, also on “Bacchanalian membership,” which brings with it extra privileges, including free cellar software and up to [...]
Continue reading...Jazzing it up in Jasnières & Coteaux du Loir, Loire Salon 2010 focus
Posted Saturday 20th February 2010
Today I’ve posted my first Loire Regional report (click here) on this year’s Salon (the annual Loire trade fair in Angers), covering the wines of Domaine de Bellivière, Domaine le Briseau, Jean-Pierre Robinot and Domaine les Maison Rouges. Not heard of them? They all hail from Jasnières & Coteaux du Loir, two once obscure, northerly [...]
Continue reading...Fortnums 25% off a case of Fonseca Quinta do Panascal 1998
Posted Friday 19th February 2010
Just picked up an email from Fortnum & Mason advertising 25% off the case price of, among others, (and this is my star pick), Fonseca Quinta do Panascal 1998. Here’s my tasting note from a vertical of Fonseca port presented by winemaker David Guimaraens: “robust but ripe tannins beneath its red and black fruits with [...]
Continue reading...Domaine de Pallus – pretty as that picture
Posted Wednesday 17th February 2010
Tom Ford’s movie, A Single Man, provoked charges of style over substance from some quarters, prompting me to wonder if they’d prejudged the movie. Sure, directed by the ex-Gucci man it’s a stylishly realised movie, but with a tremendous emotional charge. So what’s this to do with wine? Well this week I tasted two rather [...]
Continue reading...More on Laithwaites’ £5 lucky dip – Beaucastel’s Hommage à Jacques Perrin 2004, Guigal La Mouline 2004, Stag’s Leap Fay Cabernet
Posted Tuesday 16th February 2010
Just a P.S. on yesterday’s blog – the mystery wines have been unveiled – you can see the full list of Saturday’s lucky dip wines at a fiver here.
Continue reading...First Growth claret for a fiver – a heads up
Posted Monday 15th February 2010
The Mayor of Southwark will officially open Laithwaites’ new flagship store in the Vinopolis complex off Borough Market this Friday, February 19th at 4pm. Apparently it’ll be Champagne all round and the store will host a wine tasting evening. From 10am-10pm the following day – and I was tempted to keep this to myself (!) [...]
Continue reading...Australia Trade Tasting 2010 – Pinot Noir & Chardonnay report
Posted Sunday 14th February 2010
At last year’s Australia Day tasting, varietal tables for Pinot Noir and Chardonnay reinforced how a new generation of winemakers are really starting to get under the skin of these Burgundian varieties (you can find my notes here). This year, I made a bee-line for Mornington Peninsula and Yarra Valley producers who are leading the [...]
Continue reading...Portuguese Annual Wine Awards 2010
Posted Friday 12th February 2010
Yesterday’s 50 Great Portugese Wines tasting went swimmingly – great to see so many producers supporting the event and to taste the wines, all together for the first time. I’ll let the previous incumbent, Jamie Goode, bang the drum for it – some great pics on his blog too here. Last night a little sadly, [...]
Continue reading...Drum roll…my 50 Great Portuguese Wines
Posted Thursday 11th February 2010
Now that it’s official, I can reveal the identity of my 50 Great Portuguese Wines below! Intrigued? Click here and, on my Portugal Regional Report page, you’ll find introductory text about my 50 Great quest under the 50 Great Portuguese Wines 2010 link, together with details about what informed my choices and tasting notes for [...]
Continue reading...Save a rare beast – a meaty wine column – The Observer
Posted Wednesday 10th February 2010
The Observer wine columnist Tim Atkin MW is one of my role models when it comes to wine writing. No armchair critic, he travels and tastes widely and relentlessly. In consequence, his style is unpatronising, considered, authoritative and muscular. Not shouty or sensational, he puts wine at the core of his work. And he retains [...]
Continue reading...Kleine Zalze Bush Vine Chenin, success & scandal…
Posted Wednesday 10th February 2010
Success, followed by scandal, all very red top. Last month I received an email from Stellenbosch winery, Kleine Zalze, notifying me that they’d taken top honours in South Africa’s WINE magazine’s 2010 Guala Closures Chenin Blanc Challenge: Kleine Zalze Vineyard Selection 2008 won the award for Best Overall Chenin Blanc. Kleine Zalze Cellar Selection Bush [...]
Continue reading...Grower Champagnes – Jancis’ & Antony Rose’s pick of the bunch
Posted Tuesday 9th February 2010
An offer for grower Champagnes arrived in my inbox today, hot on the heels of Saturday’s blog about Jacques Selosse Initiale, also a grower Champagne. These ones are tipped, indeed scored, by Jancis Robinson MW and Antony Rose and available from Fine & Rare Wine who say: “Grower Champagnes are the Champenois equivalent of small [...]
Continue reading...My pick of Majestic’s Spring South African deals – 25% off
Posted Monday 8th February 2010
As promised, here are my hot tips on Majestic’s South African wines – 25% off when you buy any 2 bottles under their Spring deal (valid until 26 April). (Picture credit: Hendrik Holler) Vergelegen are at the vanguard for Bordeaux varieties. The straight Cabernet Sauvignon is always a great buy so you get a lot [...]
Continue reading...Sampling Portugal head to toe, including a couple from Colares, Alvaro Castro, Anselmo Mendes, Soalheiro and some new names…
Posted Sunday 7th February 2010
I’ve been maintaining a steady drip feed of reports about Portugal – the fruit of my tasting labours this last year in pursuit of my quest to select 50 Great Portuguese Wines. Reports have been based on producer visits, wine shows, a tasting at Lisbon’s Sala Ogival pictured (which is open to the public) and, [...]
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Posted Saturday 27th February 2010
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