Oaked with Smoked?

I’m usually quite dismissive of some of the common food and wine matching tips. Especially the one about white wine with fish and chicken, red wine with red meat. It’s just too simple and ignores the fact that the flavour to match in any dish is often the sauce rather than the main ingredient. And, in any case, everyone’s taste is different so why not drink what you like rather than anyone else’s suggestion of the ‘right’ wine?

But there is a saying that ‘with smoked try oaked’. Sounds a bit too glib to be true but I put it to the test recently anyway. We’d bought some delicious hot-smoked salmon fillets from Brown and Forrest, an artisan smokery not far from us, and decided to use them as a sauce over some fresh pasta. To accompany the dish, we opened a bottle of Crasto white from Portugal’s Douro region (Great Western Wine, £16.95).

A blend of 2 local grapes, Verdelho and Viosinho that had been oak aged for 6 months. On first sniff, the wine was decidedly oaky and in the mouth that was the main sensation that came through before we tasted it with the food. But, with the smoky, fishy pasta sauce (the flavours softened with some Crème Fraiche), the oakiness became much more restrained and harmonious and the wine’s creamy, rich character revealed itself.

It might not have been the wine I would instinctively have chosen with the dish but, having tasted it, I have to admit that, in this case, both my wife and I agreed that with smoked try oaked. In fact, my wife actually thought that something a bit oakier might have been even better.

So, there you have it – sometimes these food and wine matching sayings do work. Just don’t always rely on them!

Georges Duboeuf

(picture above thanks to Getty Images)

I was sad to read of the death, earlier this week, of one of the iconic figures of French wine, Georges Duboeuf. Nicknamed either the ‘King of Beaujolais’ or, sometimes, the ‘Pope of Beaujolais’, he transformed an unfashionable and declining Appellation into a name known throughout the wine world.

Duboeuf joined the family wine business after leaving school and the story is told that, with the typical energy of youth, he strapped some samples to his bicycle and rode off to meet some of the top restaurateurs of the day. He was clearly persuasive as a number of his bottles found their way onto prestigious wine lists. His ability to make contacts served him well and, within a few years, he brought together a group of more than 40 local winemakers in “L’Ecrin Mâconnais-Beaujolais” to market the wines of his home region.

In his 30s, he started his own wine merchant business, Les Vins Georges Duboeuf, where, to gain wider attention among customers, he began bottling the wines with the distinctive flower labels that have now become so familiar.

But his commercial ability didn’t end there. He created a cult around Beaujolais Nouveau Day – the 3^rd Thursday in November when the first bottles of that year’s wine were released, made from grapes that were still on the vine just a few weeks earlier. He threw lavish parties, inviting film stars, famous artists and sports heroes and enlisted famous racing drivers to race each other into Paris on the Day to be the first to deliver the new wine to the capital’s restaurants. Races to New York and London followed and he increased his sales of the wine six-fold.

Without him, and his energy, Beaujolais may have become just another French country wine. As it is, we can all enjoy its fruity, food-friendly pleasures.

Let’s raise a glass to his memory.

 

 

Why did I buy that?

“Now why did I buy that wine and what’s it going to taste like?” It’s not a dilemma I face often – I usually know what I’ve bought and why. But, every now and then, I see something unusual that catches my attention and so I buy it. Normally, we drink it within a few weeks, but, sometimes, for no particular reason, it sits in our wine rack for months until I’ve completely forgotten what drew me to it or what to expect when I open it.

 

That’s just what happened with Scacciadiavoli’s Montefalco Bianco from Umbria in Central Italy (Wine Society, £13.95). I must have had a good reason to buy it but, when I looked at it, I just couldn’t remember what it was or – perhaps more importantly – what to drink it with to enjoy it at its best.

I know the name ‘Montefalco’ – it’s a red wine similar in style to a nice Chianti, but this was a white. I guessed my wine would be dry and, with 13% alcohol, reasonably full bodied. But what else? Not a word about it in Jancis Robinson’s wine ‘bible’ and just a single line in my usually helpful Italian wine guide. Even the Wine Society’s tasting notes were a bit sparse so I decided that we should try it with some roasted monkfish with rosemary and tomatoes; fortunately, it worked perfectly.

The wine was, as I thought, quite generous and rich in the mouth; also really complex in a tangy, spicy sort of way with hints of pineapple and peach and a lovely long dry savoury finish. It’s made from an unusual blend of 2 local grapes, trebbiano spoletino and grechetto with a touch of chardonnay added which had been fermented in old oak barrels. The trebbiano, which can be quite neutral and bland, had been left on its skins as you would for a red wine which gave it some attractive texture in the mouth.

So, a very pleasant surprise in the end but a nudge that, next time I buy something obscure, to note down what to expect!

Happy New Decade?

Let me begin by wishing you all a very Happy and Peaceful New Year. But, it’s not just a new year – it’s the start of a new decade; time, perhaps, to ponder on where the wine world will be at the end of the 2020s.

I’ve got no special talent as a forecaster – I’ve been mistakenly predicting the widespread availability of wines from China for several years! – so my thoughts are based on a continuation of what has happened in recent years. And that, inevitably means climate change.

Global warming – in some cases combined with increasing drought – has resulted in the dreadful wildfires in Australia and California that I’ve blogged about recently. But it has also meant that some areas that were previously too cool to ripen grapes reliably are now thriving – the picture above was taken at Three Choirs Vineyard in Gloucestershire, England. Even Champagne producers are buying land in southern England as an insurance against their home region becoming too warm for sparkling wine production. And, more widely, many growers are reporting that they are harvesting ripe grapes weeks earlier than their predecessors – mixed news for wine lovers as grapes that have ripened too quickly have had less time to gather nutrients from the soil and pick up flavour.

Linked to this has been another important trend this century: the increasing number of growers switching to organic – or at least more sustainable – growing methods. Viticulture has had a poor reputation for overuse of pesticides and other harmful chemicals and any reduction of these can only be good for the environment. And, on the same lines, it would be good if certain producers stopped using such ridiculously heavy wine bottles – I recently found one that weighed over 800gms empty!

But, perhaps most worrying for the wine industry in the 2020s is the fact that statistics show fewer young people are choosing to drink wine, preferring beer, spirits or even no alcohol at all. If demand falls, then less wine will be produced and that means less choice for all of us wine lovers.

Wildfires Hit Vineyards Again

With the holiday season almost upon us, this Blog was simply going to send festive greetings and thanks to all my readers. But the worsening news about the catastrophic wildfires in Australia changed my mind. I was already thinking that, for many in the wine industry and beyond, 2019 has not been a good year. Last month, I blogged about fires hitting the Sonoma wine region in California and now our TV screens are full of the apparently even worse situation in Australia which has, tragically, claimed a number of lives including those of brave fire fighters. The picture above shows some of the work by the New South Wales Fire Service.

Two areas in particular have been mentioned in connection with the Australian fires – one north of Sydney, the other east of Adelaide; both are key winemaking regions.  The Hunter Valley, north of Sydney, is one of Australia’s oldest vineyard areas, first planted in the 1830s and now the source of unique Semillons and robust Shiraz. The Adelaide Hills are more recent – ironically the result of winemakers looking for cooler, upland areas where they can create delicate Chardonnays. The extent of damage in both areas won’t be clear for some time but early reports speak of widespread damage to vineyards, winery equipment and stocks built up over many years.

(Picture from Golding Wines)

All who have enjoyed wines from these regions will surely join me in expressing our deepest sympathy to the families and employees who have lost so much.

In sending seasons greetings, I also hope that 2020 will bring better news to all.

Best of the Year?

“What’s the best wine you’ve tasted in 2019?” A question that’s almost inevitable as the year draws to an end. And impossible to answer. I calculated a few years back that I tasted more than 500 wines in a year, so you see the problem of choosing just one.

I try the line that “there’s a couple of weeks to go this year; I hope I haven’t tasted it yet” but that brings an unbelieving smile; both my questioner and I know that I’m dodging the answer.

In truth, I don’t think there has been 1 stand out wine this year but I’ve tasted many very enjoyable ones. Here’s a few of the less obvious examples at real value for money prices:

Among the whites, Seméli’s Mantinia Nassiakos from Greece (Wine Society, £10.95) has been a favourite of ours for years. Made from the local moschofilero grape, it’s quite floral on the nose with a lovely citrussy freshness and a hint of spice on the palate. Try with lighter dishes or as an aperitif.

Hungary’s Royal Tokaji Dry White (Majestic, £9.99) (in the centre of the picture above) is a little fuller and richer with flavours of green apples and herbs and a subtle touch of oak. This works well with fish or white meat.

From the reds, another wine I’ve blogged about before: Regina Viarum’s Mencia from Galicia in north-west Spain (Wine Society, £11.50). Delightfully smooth and fresh with lovely, slightly bitter cherry aromas and flavours. Completely unoaked, the pure fruit shows through and would make a perfect accompaniment to partridge or duck, perhaps.

And finally, Paul Blanck’s Alsace Pinot Noir (Waitrose, £14.99). Pinot Noir can be quite a tricky grape to grow and, as a result, some examples from Alsace can be thin and sharp. Not this one! Ripe raspberry and cranberry flavours show through in a wine of real elegance and style. One for a seasonal turkey or the lowish tannin would also point to pairing it with a robust fish dish, say a tuna steak.

I’d happily nominate any of these as the best value wines I’ve tasted this year. As for the best of all? I’m still hoping!

The Sweeter Side

As I promised last time, this Blog focuses on the afternoon session of my ‘Sherry, Port and Madeira’ day course at Stoke Lodge in Bristol where we talked about and tasted some delightful Madeiras and Ports. Both these wines are made by stopping the fermentation process before all the sugar in the grapes has been turned into alcohol so, even bottles labelled ‘dry’ have really quite a bit of sweetness about them.

Sercial is one of 4 ‘noble’ grapes grown on Madeira and is the variety responsible for the driest wines. The example from Henriques and Henriques (Waitrose Cellar, £20) had all the lovely tanginess you’d expect and would make an ideal aperitif. It, like most Madeiras, is a blend of wines from different years so the ’10 Years Old’ reference on the label is an average age of the wines, not a particular vintage.

Bual, Verdelho and Malmsey (or Malvasia) are the other 3 noble varieties in ascending order of sweetness and it was the latter that gave us our 2^nd tasting. Blandy’s Malmsey (£19, also Waitrose Cellar) has all the richness and character to go perfectly with a chocolate dessert or, perhaps, for this time of year, Christmas Pudding.

Moving on to the ports, we began with Niepoort’s Dry White (£15, Wine Society) – crisp, fresh and drier than some so another good choice as aperitif, although, in Portugal, the locals would probably prefer to precede their meal with a 10 Year Old Tawny, lightly chilled, instead. Tawnies are aged mainly in barrels so lose much of their deep red colouring; the Wine Society’s Exhibition 10 Year Old (£17) is one of my – and my wife’s – favourites: mellow, fruity and with great length.

Ruby ports, by comparison, are a much deeper colour as they are bottled relatively earlier than tawnies. So, ignore the slightly misleading name and enjoy Taylor’s Late Bottled Vintage (Waitrose, £12.59) – with its lovely sweet fruit it’s a really satisfying mouthful.

But the pinnacle of ports is the Vintage and Warre’s Quinta da Cavadinha 2004 (Waitrose, £34) lived up to expectations. With a mellowness from 15 years ageing but still with lots of red fruit, this Single Quinta port (from one estate) was a fitting finale to a most enjoyable day.