Island Living

Our Islands Man at Large

“Bring us a decent bottle of wine if you’ve got room” was a final plea from our son Toby before we set off for a first visit to the island where he and his wife Rosie have been living since last September. Well, the Islands are my only Wine In Cornwall responsibility, so here was a request to which I had to respond!

Rather farther away than the Scillies though, this particular island, situated as it is some 50 miles off the south coast of South Korea. Much farther away, but not that much more expensive to get to, it has to be said. Comparison of airfares shows that the cost of flying from London to Seoul (5,500 miles) is about 6 pence a mile compared with the Penzance to St Mary’s (40 miles) rate of £2.35 per mile!!...... and you get fed!

Toby and Rosie are on a 3 year contract working at a very fine, newly built boarding school, the first enterprise to open its doors in the ‘Global Education City’ being created by the South Korean government on the otherwise tourist based island of Jeju. It has been a great experience for them helping to implant a very traditional English boarding school into a very different culture, but their hard work and that of all the staff has produced great results. Their only disappointment with Korea has been the rather strange traditional cuisine, which seems to rely heavily on Kimchi, shredded cabbage that has been pickled/fermented for extended periods in clay pots buried in the ground. Finding a wine that would be a good match had me at a loss, for the first time ever!

For Barbara and me it was a splendid holiday. We were able to enjoy the end-of-year Arts Festival, the Summer Ball and Village Fete (which, once they overcame their initial shock at some of the more traditional English pursuits, was enthusiastically enjoyed by students and their parents alike). We swam in the new 25 metre pool, sang with the (whole) school choir and were bowled over by the friendliness and courtesy of all the youngsters (practically all Korean). Toby even found time to take us out to see something of the island, which certainly whetted our appetites for next year’s visit.

So, back to that bottle. What I took was Patrice Rion’s Vielles Vignes Nuits St George, (£34 from Wine In Corwnwall). It was more than ‘a decent bottle of wine’. Much more. Superb, in fact, with glorious raspberry fruit intertwined with those alluring Burgundy vegetal aromas.

But not with Kimchi– definitely not!



Wine and Cricket DO go together!

Our long time love affair with and support for all things cricket was further developed this week with the announcement of our sponsorship of Falmouth Cricket Club for the 2012 season. The club enters four X1’s in the Cornwall leagues and is one of the oldest and most important clubs in the County. The 2^nd  X1 shirts have been emblazoned with the WIC logo and the beautiful Trescobeas ground now displays our shiny new advertising board. The picture shows Nigel presenting 2^nd X1 Captain Scott Thompson with a shirt prior to the match against Paul on Saturday 5^th May 2012.

French Theme

Mis en Bulles
 from Valensac

Bertier's Sauvignon
Viognier blend

I had a splendid French themed evening last week at the Prince of Wales in Newtown St Martin. Chef Warren put together an interesting taster menu of regional French dishes like rillettes of pork with pickle pear and slow cooked paupiettes of beef. All the wines came from the Languedoc (our choice) and this gave us the opportunity to show off the diversity of wines available from this area. A succulent Rosé from Irene Tolleret’s Mas d’Auzieres in the Pic St Loup set off the rillettes very well. This was followed by the almost salty dry Domaine de Bertiers Sauvignon / Viognier from the coastal plain with monkfish and then the familiar La Forge Old Vine Carignan with the beef – all elderberry and Christmas spice. Star match of the evening was a Chardonnay Mousseux Brut from Domaine de Valensac which worked gloriously with a roquefort and walnut salad and finally a Muscat de Mireval from Chateau d'Exindre blended beautifully with a dreamy, aromatic mango bavaroise. Jolly well done all round and thanks to Tom and Anne for arranging it and feeding me so well!

Nigel

Dinner at Alba Restaurant  Wednesday 7^th March 2012

Nic & Pablo with Grant

I was joined on a Wednesday evening a couple of weeks ago by Pablo Montero, Export Manager and Nicholas Saelzer, Commercial Director of the Anakena Winery in Chile along with Catherine Hill from Stratford Wines, their UK agents. I had selected a range of their wines to complement Grant Nethercott’s sublime cooking, and had agreed on them along with Julia Knight, Grant’s business partner and Alba’s maître d’hôtel. 

The Chilean visitors wanted us to show an additional couple of wines, so we ended up with 6 wines over a 4 course dinner.

The starter was a subtle little crab and avocado mousse sitting in a pool of punchy gazpacho. Two whites were served with this: Anakena Single Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc and the ONA white blend of Riesling, Viognier and Chardonnay. The room voted the ONA blend as the better match and I agree! It is a rich and complex wine with enough structure to both carry the gazpacho and not to overpower the delicate crab. The Sauvignon is a fine example of cool climate viticulture with good expression of fruit in a refreshing mouthful, clean and accurate. More robust than French Sauvignon and not as opulent as their New Zealand cousins.

We paired the fish course of sea bream fillet with confit chicken leg and girolle mushrooms with the INDO Chardonnay. There was an underlying smokiness to the dish which was complemented by the partial oak fermentation of this reserve wine.

Nic & Pablo strutting their stuff!

The main course was very interesting in that there were two distinct elements to the dish – confit leg of Cornish duck on a bed of crushed flageolet beans with smoked pancetta, lemon and thyme.  We served the INDO Cabernet Sauvignon Reserva and the ONA Pinot Noir alongside each other. On our table we were split down the middle! The problem was that the Cabernet went very well with the beans while the Pinot was a great match for the confit leg. Neither wine was completely successful with the whole dish so we voted for our favourite with the dish and ended up in a draw. Around the room the Pinot won through, but I suspect that was as a measure of quality rather than food matching!

The dessert of a perfect mini crème brulée flavoured with vanilla, served alongside spiced pineapple and passion fruit ice cream, was matched with the Noble Late Harvest Viognier. This is a botrytis rich wine which is briefly oaked. The acidity was a lovely match to the pineapple and passion fruit while its smooth rich peachy fruit ran nicely alongside the delectable crème brulée. Only 60% of the wine has noble rot so it does not overpower and become too honeyed – a style I particularly like and one which is well suited to this kind of light dessert, rich yet low in sugar.

Overall the wines were a big success and everyone seemed to have enjoyed it! Watch out for Anakena promotion in store at the Penryn warehouse in April!

Mike Maguire 

Getting out with our customers

Spanish Evenings Abound!

At this time of year many of our pub and restaurant customers have the time and resources to try out different events to draw in customers and the relaxed style of Tapas dining is very popular this year. The principal benefits for the customer are relatively low cost with plenty of variety. Over the next two weeks Nigel & Mike will be out and about, mucking in and chatting about wines with this style of food, and here is a list of events that you might wish to attend!

Thursday 26th January 2012 7pm
Port Navas Yacht Club Spanish Night
01326 340065
3 course supper with wines
£20.00

Saturday 28th January 2012 7pm
Paris Hotel Coverack Tapas & Wine Evening
01326 280258
£25.00
6 Courses with matching wines
Mike will be doing a dance between kitchen, where he will be assisting Kerra, and dining room to present the wines! Should be a fun evening!

Thursday 2nd February 2012 8pm
White Hart Ludgvan Spanish Supper
01736 740574
£20.00
5 course supper with accompanying wines
Nigel will be strutting his stuff down West!

Cheese, Bread & Wine!

Just when you thought it was all Spanish, Nigel has slipped in an evening of matching wine with cheeses from Tom Hanson of Hanson's Fine Foods and Ben Hawkins from Da Bara Bakery.

Friday 27th January 2012, 7pm
Kings Head, Ruan Lanihorne
01872 501263
£12.00
Looking forward to an enjoyable evening there!

If you wish to attend any of these events, please contact the venue direct as we do not take bookings for these evenings!

New Year, New Wines

About this time of year we always embark on a prolonged period of tasting samples of new house wines for our trade customers. This is very much the sharp end of the market because although the prices are low, the volumes are high and it is vitally important we get it right. This applies to price, presentation, quality and availability; the decisions made now will have to be lived with throughout the busy months ahead. Last week it was entry level Aussie wines, our recent success with Auction House looked to have been a good call with these light fruity wines showing good balance. A

newcomer called McPeterson (Chardonnay and Shiraz) looks good as well.  

This week we got stuck into some French and Spanish samples, this was a big tasting and quality was very variable; good to see the good old paint stripper factory is still churning it out! At this level Spain trounced France. The new "way" for France comes under the banner of “Vin de France”, a generic classification which seems to allow anything to be bottled in the name of consistency but at the cost of any sense of belonging – just euro-plonk. In contrast, the Spaniards, from such regions as Navarra, Carinena and (even!) Valencia, while still up and down, showed real character and named specified grape varieties. Three wines from Carinena bottled under the smart Amalia label proved to be the stars of the day so keep an eye out for them.

Nigel Logan

So what did you have for Christmas?

We’re often asked, as wine merchants, what we drank on Christmas Day ourselves. We spend most of November and December every year recommending what are our customers should be drinking for this most special family meal so maybe it is time to spill the beans and tell all.

For us, it is an occasion when old bottles from private collections are dusted down and carefully decanted so this blog may not turn out to be a wonderful exercise in marketing current wines but here goes anyway –

Nigel – “Being a bit of a philistine when it comes to Champagne I kicked off with a glass of La Gitana Manzanilla while everybody else got stuck into the ever dependable Renard Barnier NV. We then progressed to Logan Weemala Pinot Gris (gentle peach flavours and a touch of perfumed oil) and followed that with the stunning Logan Orange Chardonnay (fantastic dry extract, racy and minerally, the best Chardonnay I have drunk this year, a bit like Meursault on steroids). With the turkey; La Lagune 1996 for my end of the table and the succulently sexy Mas D’ Auzieres “les Eclats” for the “kids” worked a dream. The rest is a blur but it did involve some Quinta do Noval and (unfortunately) homemade Blackberry gin.”

Nigel Logan

The harassed chef and his son-in-law were excused church and so were able to get a sneaky glass of the Berry Bros Dry Oloroso whilst all were on their knees: full and nutty with just a trace of raisiny sweetness on the edge.  Having highly recommended the Billecarte Salmon NV Brut to  one of our regular customers just before Christmas I thought we had better try it just to make sure; lighter than I expected but in a good way it was fresh and sparkled with a fine concentrated fruit that offset the dryness beautifully.  My colleagues having remarked how well the 2008 Chablis, 1er Cru Montmains, Simonnet-Febvre was showing at our Wine Fair, we cracked a bottle to chase down the Morecambe Bay potted shrimps and what a good choice that was; buggered if I can remember any suitable Loganesque adjectival bollocks but everybody gave it the thumbs up.  A bottle of Domaine Bachelet Gevrey Chambertin 2002, to tackle the rib of home reared  Dexter, was a little dumber than I had hoped, still a tad young perhaps? The afternoon faded to black over a fabulous bottle of Taylor’s 1980 which ticked all the boxes, sweet, perfumed and fresh as a daisy.  There might have been a bottle of claret in their somewhere as well.  I remember both the Brane Cantenac 2004 and the La Tour de Mons 2005 both showing very well at some stage over the hostilities but it was hard to tell the days apart.

Henry Shaw

Our Christmas Day is a pretty traditional affair, with fairly traditional wines! I have to keep an eye on my Dad as he is a little unsteady on his feet these days (purely medical reasons, you understand) so we take if slow and steady. We kicked off with the Renard Barnier NV with the canapes. Nigel calls it 'ever dependable' and I agree, but I would also add that its key selling point for me is the richness it achieves by extra time in the cellar before release which enhanced the smoked salmon nibbles marvellously!

The Crossroads Gewurztraminer (NZ) was very interesting against a smooth chicken liver parfait with sultanas previously soaked in a 5 Punt Tokay. Lovely scented fruit with enough acidity to cut the richness of the parfait. I cooked the turkey a bit differently this year and the resultant soft and moist breast meat, alongside slow-cooked dark leg meat was a revelation. I also cooked the best stuffing I have made in years, rich with chestnuts and pistachios. I had a couple of bottles of decent claret in the wings, but opted for a beautifully crafted  Armador Syrah from the Odfjell winery in Maipo Valley in Chile. Smooth and relaxed drinking through the rest of the evening for me! We packed Dad off to the lounge for a snooze at that point, so I enjoyed the rest of the bottle myself while Helen moved onto some Italian liqueurs!

Mike Maguire

Blown away - or...nearly, at the King's Head!

Negotiating the lanes of the Roseland peninsula on the stormiest night of the year is not at all enticing. With a tasting supper booked at the Kings Head, Ruan Lanihorne at 7pm I boldly set off on a bleak Penryn  evening and duly arrived safely at this quaintest of Cornish pubs in plenty of time. Sausage and mash followed by mince pies and cheese was the order of the day and my job was to find affordable wines to match the mood of the evening with Christmas in mind. A glass of the grapey Cipriano Prosecco welcomed the guests and then it was straight down to tasting a couple of whites. As usual Quinta Hinojal Verdejo (not that one again I hear you say) blew everyone away for its sheer cheeky good value while the grassy, herb-infused Domaine Michaud Touraine Sauvignon please the traditionalists.

Two red wines were served next, first the bright, punchy elderberry delights of Epicuro Aglianico and then the more rounded, smokey, vanilla-packed Gravedad Toro with its haunting mature aromas. Everybody was impressed at the quality available at such a modest price point.

Finally we wowed and surprised them with the Mas de Mas Maury with the mince pies. This sweet, slightly unctuous and edgy Grenache from the Languedoc is a sort of cross between Port and Beaumes de Venise and it went down a storm (no pun intended!). It put the seal on a rollicking good evening and I slunk away into the windswept night and headed west into the eye of the storm filling my head with Radiohead’s Ok Computer album playing very, very loud.

Thanks to Nikki and Andrew for great food and their superb hospitality – it’s a great little pub!

How to pick your next House Wine!

An entertaining morning at the Trengilly Wartha Inn on Saturday coincided with the annual appearance of the Cury Foxhounds.  The event within the pub was primarily to raise funds for the Trengilly Cricketers, a team of reprobates who spend most Sundays through the summer playing visiting sides from all over the country on the lovely little ground at Trevassack at the top of the hill.

As well as a magnificent book stall and some wonderful cakes for sale, Wine in Cornwall were conducting a little trial tasting.  From blind samples, people were asked to compare 2 pairs of wine, a red pair and a white pair.  One of each pair was the current House wine at the Trengilly, the cherry bright and light Terre Allegre Sangiovese and the fruity and quite rich Terre Allegre Trebbiano.  The contenders were the Auction House Red & White from Australia. These house wines really impress us with their fruit driven blends which punch above their weight on all counts!

My observations from peeking over peoples’ shoulders during the event were that the Terre Allegre wines were emerging as clear favourites.  However, on analysis of the results, we discovered that votes were very evenly split.  On the white side 57% preferred the Auction House whereas on the red side 58% came down in favour of the Terre Allegre; certainly not an overwhelming result and proof that all four wines found favour.

The only conclusion I can draw from this deeply unscientific experiment is that it provides full justification for why we carry over 600 different wines on our list.  Everybody’s taste is different and what makes this business so fascinating is in trying to please everybody – a tricky call!

All entries for the tasting went in to the hat for a draw, which was drawn in the office here by Vicky. The lucky winner was Tricia the Trainer who wins a bottle of Terre Allegre Trebbiano which was her preference of the 2 white wines. (You can see a video the draw being done on our Facebook page! - if I can get Mike to load it for me!)

Henry Shaw

A new colour of wine?

At our annual wine fair last week at the Maritime Museum in Falmouth, I started the evening looking after the Alexander Krossa table as there had been a delay in the arrival of the 'Languedoc Ladies'!

Alexander Krossa is our agent in the Languedoc and the delightful Fabienne Capello our day to day contact. She was accompanied by Irène Tolleret, the enigmatic winemaker at the tiny boutique winery of Mas d'Auxières. Irène caused the upset by having her travel arrangements thrown into disarray by her colleagues in the Pic St Loup area, where she is instrumental in setting up a new AC for this unique growing area. Poor Fabienne, having just experienced a grand tour of the Eden Project, including a hike up to the rainforest look-out, then had to dash back to Exeter Airport to collect Irène who had come from Montpelier via Paris.

As I was handing over the stewardship of their table, one of our customers said to Irène, as she was exhorting him to try the lovely 'Rires et Sourires' Syrah / Grenache rosé, that he did not drink pink wine in November! I was amazed and highly amused by her immediate response which marked her out as the ex-marketing person she really is! She came straight back and said, “but in November this is not a rosé wine, look at it now, it is a magenta wine”! And so a new word entered the wine vocabulary that evening and it was used extensively to punt this lovely wine!

So when you are considering what to drink with your fresh Cornish scallops in crème frâiche and ginger (I will let you have a recipe if you ask!) then look no further than the delightful Rires et Sourires Magenta from Mas d'Auxières.

Wine Fair News

Last week we held our annual Wine Fair at the National Maritime Museum Cornwall. With about 150 guests slurping, swilling and (just occasionally) spitting it was, all in all, a memorable evening. There’s a fine line to be drawn at these affairs between out and out party and serious tasting as it is a splendid opportunity for all to improve their wine knowledge and develop their palate. We do, however, seem to get it right every year and the overwhelmingly positive feedback we got was certainly proof of the pudding. Oh, and we took a few nice wine orders as well – thanks everybody, buyers, sellers and staff for making it go so well. Next year’s date is 22^nd November 2012, hopefully at the same venue.

Everybody at WIC had their favourites –

Julian – Epicuro Aglianico; Rex Goliath Zinfandel; Pouilly Fumé Michel Bailly.

Nigel – Chablis 1er Cru Montmains, Simmonet Febvre; Logan Orange Chardonnay; Riesling Grand Cru, Wunsch et Mann; Curatolo Dulce Marsala.

Mike – Santa Alicia Carmenere Reserva; Auxey Duresses 1er cru, Comte Armand; Chateau Blanville Grand Cuvee.

Jonathan – Michaud Touraine Sauvignon; Tamar Ridge Dry Riesling; Rex Goliath Zinfandel.

Dick – Lyngrove Chenin Blanc; Chablis 1er Cru Montmains, Simmonet Febvre; Paul Mas Viognier; Epicuro Aglianico; Dogpoint Sauvignon Blanc.

Keeping up with the best

On Wednesday this week The Cornwall Tourism Awards were held and we are delighted that a number of our customers again featured in the top players in the county.

As both winners of one of these prestigious awards (on several occasions) whilst running Trengilly Wartha and latterly as part-time judges, Nigel and Mike are well aware of the importance of this scheme and the effect it will have on future business.

So massive congratulations to The Victoria Inn at Perranuthnoe and The Kitchen Tearoom and Restaurant in Polperro who both received Bronze Awards in the Taste of Cornwall category; Hotel Penzance, Silver in the Small Hotel category; Trebah Gardens, Gold in the large visitor attraction section; Penleee House, Penzance, Gold in the small visitor attraction category; Gwel an Mor, Portreath who picked up Gold for Caravan, Camping and Holiday Park and Village of the Year as well as a special award to their hospitality Team for "Outstanding Customer Service" and finally, The Pendragon Country House in Davidstow who collected a Bronze Award in the B&B and Guest Accommodation category.

Corkscrews and Screwfix!!?

Much excitement in Penryn this week as the new branch of Screwfix opens very nearby - we’re hoping that people who buy screws also like wine!

We’ve been gradually upping the profile of our “shed” since the summer as we endeavour to improve our retail presence locally. We toyed with the idea of taking a separate retail unit but the logistics of a split site just didn’t add up in the end. When the trees were removed from outside the front of our warehouse it became clear that it was more efficient to make the best of what we’ve got. You will notice some significant changes inside and out over the coming months.

Last week’s Budock Vean Gourmet dinners went well and next month we are organising a Gala Champagne dinner in association with Veuve Clicquot at the hotel which should set the pulses racing. Busy all round at the moment – lots of tastings and of course the annual wine fair coming up at the Maritime Museum on 24^th November.

Best bottles recently have been a taut, concentrated Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc from Isabel Estate, a gloriously mature Urgoiti Rioja Reserva 2001 and the oh-so-easy Delaforce His Eminence’s Choice (and very good value) 10 year old Tawny – all downhill to Christmas now, hey ho!

Wine & Food matching

I love the challenges of matching wine with food or food with wine (have you heard the one about the chicken and the egg  -or was it the egg and the chicken?), it’s fun setting oneself a challenge either way.

Two instances in the last couple of weeks have illustrated this perfectly. We had opened a bottle of Alsace, Wunsch et Mann Grand Cru Steingrubler Pinot Gris 2007 to check its condition prior to its use at a Budock Vean Dinner. Golden and rounded, pure and weighty with a lovely languid drop of honeyed ripeness but what food would match it best? The hotel was serving it with a crab and sweetcorn soup (at our suggestion) and they reported back that it worked really well but in an ideal world I would have had it with a big dollop of fresh Foie Gras. Neither wine nor food would dominate and the texture of both would have filled the mouth with opulence –  mouth feel we call it in the trade. Unfortunately I had no Foie Gras to hand!

The second challenge was food/ wine. Our garden at home has a stream running through it and from time immemorial – long before our house was built – it has been the place where the village gathered watercress. We use it a lot – it’s best in the late summer and if left uncut will take over half the lawn and we end up mowing it off. We had some friends staying in August who had bought an Iberico ham back from Spain and I served it with the compulsory watercress salad on bank holiday Monday, so what to serve with it? As it happened I had a bottle of Chamelin Verdejo 2010 to hand and it just worked so well.

 That assertive, primary green-fruit Verdejo flavour standing up to the white pepperyness of the watercress. If texture was the secret with the Pinot Gris and foie gras here the magic link was the colour and freshness of both partners. Other options would have been maybe a mid-Loire Sauvignon Blanc or Bob Lindo’s crackling Atlantic Dry from Cornwall’s very own Camel Valley.

Nigel

Indian Summer in the Languedoc

Mike and Nigel  have just come back from two days in the Languedoc accompanied by two of our friends at the Eden Project, Andrew Holden, Purchasing Director and Julie Kendle, one of the Senior Horticulturists and fruit specialist.

We were keen to get them to see the P’tit Roubie vineyards from which the Eden wines are sourced  as well giving them a feel of the region a whole. The Azan family at P’tit Roubie gave us a warm welcome and it was fascinating to see how a large, long term organic vineyard copes with the issues of disease and pest in such a controlled and effective manner. Visits were also made to the delightful Darde family at Les Yeuses, the impeccable Domaine Valensac where the super-ripe Petit Verdot berries were almost pleading to be picked and finally to Mas D’ Auzieres a surreal, impossibly pastoral boutique winery under the Pic St Loup where all the men fell under the spell of vigneronne, Irene Tolleret - stunning wines as well!

These wineries will be represented at the Annual Wine Fair at the Maritime Museum on Thursday 24th November!

Sturdy Grenache vines at Mas d'Auzieres

Chicken and Egg?

I love the challenges of matching wine with food or food with wine (have you  heard the one about the chicken and the egg - or was it the egg and the chicken?), it’s fun setting oneself a challenge either way.

Two instances in the last couple of weeks have illustrated this perfectly. We had opened a bottle of Alsace, Wunsch et Mann Grand Cru Steingrubler Pinot Gris 2007 to check its condition prior to its use at a Budock Vean Dinner. Golden and rounded, pure and weighty with a lovely languid drop of honeyed ripeness, but what food would match it best? The hotel was serving it with a crab and sweetcorn soup (at our suggestion) and they reported back that it worked really well but, in an ideal world, I would have had it with a big dollop of fresh foie gras. Neither wine nor food would dominate and the texture of both would have filled the mouth with opulence –  mouthfeel we call it in the trade. Unfortunately I had no foie gras to hand!

The second challenge was food / wine. Our garden at home has a stream running through it and from time immemorial – long before our house was built – it has been the place where the village gathered watercress. We use it a lot – it’s best in the late summer and if left uncut will take over half the lawn and we end up mowing it off. We had some friends staying in August who had brought an Iberico ham back from Spain and I served it with the compulsory watercress salad on Bank Holiday Monday. So what to serve with it? As it happened I had a bottle of Chamelin Verdejo 2010 to hand and it just worked so well. That assertive, primary green-fruit Verdejo flavour standing up to the white pepper of the watercress. If texture was the secret with the Pinot Gris and foie gras, here the magic link was the colour and freshness of both partners. Other options would have been maybe a mid-Loire Sauvignon Blanc or Bob Lindo’s crackling Atlantic Dry from Cornwall’s very own Camel Valley.

New from South America

My brother was in Cornwall this weekend and this was a good opportunity to try out three recent arrivals from South America. He normally goes for deep, rich reds from Southern Italy and Spain, so this was an interesting departure from his comfort zone, but also a bit of a departure from the 'normal' South American wines as the three we tried were all made with European grape varieties.

Chocalan Cabernet Franc Reserve 2009 - Cabernet Franc, important player in Right Bank Clarets and the single most important red grape variery in the Anjou Touraine area covering Saumur, Bourgeuil and Chinon. Well, this is a BIG wine! High on alcohol at 14.5 % and quite weighty in the mouth. This is a delicious wine that needs a sturdy meat course to soak up the tannic strength and evident alcohol.

Many of the wine making dynasties in Argentina were founded by Italian immigrants in the early part of the 20th Century. The original Pulenta winery was sold in 1997, but the grandsons of the founder built their own winery in 2001 to continue the family tradition of winemaking. They are based in the Alto Agrelo, the higher section of the Mendoza region. The La Flor wines are designed for immediate enjoyment, being bottled and released after only 3 months in oak. The result is a surprisingly fresh and youthful tasting wine which has a light tannic structure and a level of acidity not usually associated with Cabernet Sauvignon. This was the firm favourite in our group on Saturday night!

Across the Andes into Chile, specifically the Casablanca Valley, the principle cool climate region in the country. Up in the hills of the coastal zone the vines benefit from cooling winds and mists that allow the grapes to rest. The terroir of granitic and clay soils with this cooling air creates intense, fresh and elegant wines. In my opinion this makes these wines more approachable earlier in their lives as they are not designed for longevity in the same way as the great Burgundian Pinot Noirs are. The Vista Hermosa wines are produced as part of a collection designed to showcase the high quality of these Chilean products, and boy, do they deliver! Light and delicate with small floral hints and gentle enough to drink, as we did, as an aperitif  and alongside a tomato and buffalo mozzarella salad before a hearty dinner of roast beef! The gentle acidity worked well with cheese and tomato combo!

All in all we were pretty impressed by all three of these wines for different reasons. They are all available in the shop at around the £9 - £11 price range, and well worth the extra money!

Southern Italian Beauties

Mike had a family holiday in Sorrento on the Amalfi coast at the end of July where the sun shone (on most days) and the air was full of the scents of citrus trees and herbs. What a lovely spot sat overlooking the Bay of Naples with the opposite skyline dominated by Vesuvius.

The two principal wines sold in every restaurant are the two most local grape varieties of Falanghina (white) and Aglianico (red). Still comparatively unknown in the UK, they are becoming more fashionable as customers become more adventurous and move away from their comfort zones.
We have been shipping one of each of these from the district of Beneventano, found a few miles behind Vesuvius, under the Epicuro label.

The Falanghina is fresh and clean with hints of green apple fruit and blossom and an interesting underlying mineral touch. Retail price is £7.99
The Aglianico, a late ripening grape variety, has blackberry acidity which is well tamed and deep cherry and plum fruit flavours with some minerality from the rich volcanic soils of the area. Retail price is £8.75

As a footnote we also tried wines from some notable producers in Campania namely Fuedi di San Gregorio whose Fiano di Avellino is hauntingly floral and delicate, and a  DOC Taurasi (Aglianico) from Mastroberadino which is well worth looking out for as well.

While in Sorrento we stayed in the modern Hotel Plaza right in the middle of town. No need for a car as local buses and trains do a great job around the Amalfi coast. Modern rooms, great roof terrace for daytime snacks, small infinity pool. Fantastic breakfast buffet!

One new wine in this week has –  hit the ground running – straight into the shop and on special offer to get stock moving – Sauvignon de Touraine, Domaine Michaud (£7.99 or 3 for £20) is a super example of Loire Valley Sauvignon  - edgy and flinty for the traditionalist but with enough gooseberry plumpness to satisfy the modernist. Also relatively new are two very classy wines from Mas d’Auzieres which nestles under the Pic Saint Loup in the Coteaux du Languedoc. The delightful Irene Tolleret makes wines of poise and charm  - a serious, supple red and a splendidly vivid rosé, appropriately named Rires et Sourires (laughter and smiles).

Another wine that caught my attention this week is the stout, juicy and now beautifully mature Toro “Gravedad” 2006. We tend to buy the better non-Rioja Spanish reds in big chunks usually over-enthused after a long tasting! The results are stacks of slow moving wines which tend to get forgotten about. With quality reds, cash flow aside, this doesn’t matter and the result is nice little parcels of perfectly mature wine – a rare commodity. One day, we in this country might actually cotton on to the fact that there is a lot to red Spain other than Rioja but in the meantime it might be worth your while checking out as well our Finca la Estacada 12 meses en barrica 2006, Abadia la Arroyada Ribera del Duero 2007 and  Calzadilla Crianza, La Mancha 2002.

A taste of Eden

We finally came to the end of a long road last week when our first shipment of Eden Project branded wines finally arrived. The project has been in the pipeline for well over a year as the Eden and Wine in Cornwall teams sought to source, package and deliver to very strict criteria.

The three wines have been sourced by us from the Languedoc region of Southern France and are made by Olivier and Floriane Azan at Domaine Le P’tit Roubie. These vineyards have been organically cultivated since 1985 and are managed in a very ecologically sympathetic manner.

The range consist of a light, cranberry fresh red (Cabernet Sauvignon, Carignan, Merlot), a dry herb infused rosé (Cabernet Sauvignon) and a delicious, acacia scented Picpoul Terret.

The wines are available from The Eden Project itself and Wine in Cornwall in their shop and warehouse in Penryn.