Global Champagne Day - Celebrate!!

As if we need a reason to celebrate - today is Global Champagne Day - so I think it would be unfair not to treat ourselves - don't you? And I have just received an email with some amazing offers from Majestic - :

• Bollinger Special Cuvée £42 now £32
• Taittinger Brut Réserve £38 now £26
• Canard-Duchêne Brut £26 to £18

I think it is time to go shop!!

Enjoy.

I am doing a blind tasting tonight - hope you will drop back to see if you can determine what the wine I taste is......

McWilliams Elizabeth Semillon 2005 Hunter Valley, New South Wales, Australia

McWilliams Mount Pleasant Elizabeth Semillon 2005 comes from the Hunter Valley, New South Wales, Australia and has been cellar aged before release.
A lemon coloured wine with rounded citric aromas including tangerine and lime, there is also a touch of apricot and spiceiness. On the palate there is a slight prickle on the tongue but the overpowering initial feeling is of freshness, green apple, grapefruit pith and a slight hint of greenness from a pea shoot nuance, this is a fresh, zesty wine which despite 7 years age - is youthful, clean and ready to age for some time to come.
Overall the wine is fresh, clean and full of fruit as it opens in the mouth but also has an extra complexity, the texture alone is waxy and delicious, at 7 years old - it tastes youthful and has much time and pleasure to give! Enjoy - available from Sainsburys under their 'Taste the Difference' own label range at an amazingly low cost of £9.99 and also from Majestic at £9.99 if you buy 2.

How the wine was made :-All grapes for this wine were handpicked. They were de-stemmed at the winery, crushed, the must chilled and the juice drained. After 48 hours to allow settling, the clear juice was racked off and warmed to allow fermention - which was slow and cool to help retain the exceptional fruit flavour of this vintage.
The Wine maker is Phil Ryan - we thankyou Phil!

The Hunter Valley is Australia’s oldest producing wine region, with vines first planted in the 1820’s and is approximately two hours drive north of Sydney and to the northwest of Newcastle. It is based on the catchment of the Hunter Valley River & includes the Upper & Lower Hunter areas.

The Hunter Valley is warm / hot. However, temperature, within broad limits, has nothing to do with quality, but affects only the style. In addition to hot days, the Hunter Valley has relatively warm nights when the physiological processes that ripen fruit can continue. The days are also quite humid, reducing moisture stress and allowing the leaves to keep their pores open longer during hot weather. This allows photosynthesis and growth to continue when, in drier air, it would not. The Lower Hunter Valley around Pokolbin is a little wetter than Broke Fordwich and the Upper Hunter Valley but is closer to the coast and benefits more from cooling sea breezes.

Soils : There are three main soil types in the Hunter Valley. The first is the red clay loam that appears on the hilltops and slopes. Red soils are well-drained and provide a good medium for vines; these are where the best Shiraz is grown. On some slopes you’ll also find chocolate brown podsols which are also good for red wines. You’ll find the third major soil type on the flats along the creek beds where grey sandy loams overlie white or yellow clays. Casuarinas are a good indicator for these soils and this is where whites grow best - mostly Semillon and Chardonnay.  In the Upper Hunter Valley, these soils tend to be a little deeper and grade into black loams. 

Hunter Valley Semillon: Is considered to be a world benchmark wine, it is the stellar white variety in the region. Semillon is at its delicate best when picked early to make a wine of ten to 11.5% alcohol and almost invariably has ripe flavours at low sugar concentrations. This is the style of wine that best responds to bottle age, during which it develops outstanding lemon curd and toasty complexity and becomes barely recognisable from its demure beginning. Most companies release their Semillons when only a few months old when they are crisp and lively with a light body and fresh, lemony and grassy fruit. A few keep some wines for bottle-maturation and release after five years or more when they have deepened in colour, become rounder and softer in the mouth and developed the most brilliantly complex flavours of vanilla and buttered toast.

Shaw and Smith M3 Chardonnay 2010 Adelaide Hills Australia

This Shaw and Smith M3 Chardonnay 2010 from the Adelaide Hills  in South Australia is pale lemon with a definite green tint at the rim ( sign of a young wine), it has fresh clean aromas that have a lime character with other citric fruits also play their part. On the palate there is fresh bright acidity keeping the apple, peach and pithy grapefruit clean and lively, a little spice intermingles and it has a bit of a cheesey character. Great length and a complex peachey finish define this wine as a carefully well made wine, with a great future. It has elegance and finesse, the oak usage is not obvious but part of its well knitted charcater. The texture is silky and overall you could enjoy this wine with or without food. Just enjoy!
This wine is available from Majestic for £25.
Score : 86

Established in 1989 by Martin Shaw and Michael Hill Smith, Shaw and Smith's aim is to make contemporary, high quality wines that stand amongst the best of their type in Australia. The wines are made exclusively from fruit grown in the Adelaide Hills, one of Australia's coolest and most exciting regions. Shaw and Smith specialise in grape varieties suited to the cooler climate, such as Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay. The wines are vinified at Shaw and Smith's winery in the Hills.'

Winemakers are Martin Shaw and Darryl Catlin.

 

The M3 Vineyard at Woodside is named after the vineyard owners, Michael and Martin along with Michael‘s brother Matthew. It was planted in 1995.  The vines are planted at a high density of 2,780 vines per hectare and are hand pruned with vertical shoot positioned canopies.

The winemaker says ' Hand picked grapes - 3 different cultivars of Chardonnay - were chilled overnight and then whole bunch pressed. The must was barrel fermented with over 50% wild yeasts in one third new, one third one year old and one third two year old French barriques (approx 228 litres) for ten months during which time the lees were regularly stirred and malolactic fermentation allowed to take place.'

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

La Grille Pinot Noir 2011 Rosé

La Grille Pinot Noir 2011 Rosé from Majestic at £4.99 if on offer otherwise £6.99 is a salmon pink with low aromas of strawberry ( cooked/canned), cherry and a confected note with a touch of banana thrown in for good measure. The palate continues on a similar not, the acidity is barely fresh, a slight pithiness after s hort finish and low intensity flavours throughout. This wine from the Massif Central and due to the lack of concentration on nose and palate I feel at £4.99 it offers reasonable value, at the full price of £6.99 - maybe not...... you try it and see what you think.
This is a wine that falls under the new designation of Vin de France ( Vin de Table with no Geographic Indication!) It is a new category which has to be made in France ( anywhere and may have mixed grapes from different region) and can have the variety on the label. It is a way that France sees that it can compete on the wider stage of the New World competative market.
Score : 75

Château Caronne Ste Gemme 2007 ( Cru Bourgeois Superior) Bordeaux is from the vineyard of Caronne Ste-Gemme is made up of 45 hectares in the central Médoc in the left bank of Bordeaux planted on a mound of gravel with a base of iron-rich sandstone. Plantings consist of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 37% Merlot and 3% Petit Verdot and the average vine age is 25 years planted at a density of 10000 vines/ha. François Nony   has introduced green harvesting in the vineyard to reduce the yield and increase the quality of the resultant grapes, after fermentation the resultant wine is matured in oak ( 20% new) for 12 months, racked, and fined with egg whites before bottling.



On the nose, green pepper, black fruits and sweet spices mix contentedly with wood shavings, these follow through to the palate, with tannins ripe, but chewy, savoury and chalky, the alcohol is warming but well integrated, and the body feels settled with the fruit, this is a well structured wine, fruit jostles for space with the spice and leather, the length, long and sweet spicy fruits - a wine that tells you where it came from and that it has been made with care - thankyou!
£12.99 from when on offer Majestic, a good value wine which still has time to improve in bottle - but it is lovely now!

Cru Bourgeois  - what does this term mean.

In the 1855 classification of the Medoc, many properties ( Chateau) that were not included. In 1932 a selection of 444 properties were put forward for classification, and this was split into 3 seperate classifications Cru Bourgeois , Cru Bourgeois Superior and Cru Bourgeois Exceptionnel.

In 2003 there was a shake-up of the whole Cru Bourgeois system with the numbers contained in the ranks reduced to 247, this was legally challenged and so annulled by some of those that had been relegated/demoted. The list was to be Exceptionnel (9 properties), Supérieurs (87 properties) and straight Bourgeois (151 properties).

In 2010 in response to the 2003 annulment a new certification adopting the term Label Cru Bourgeois, was created "not as a classification, but as a mark of quality" open to all Medoc wines, based on production and quality standards, and assessed by an independent body. It was to include 180 estates from the defunct 2003 ranking, along with 95 new entrants.

The revision demanded that estates adhere to a new set of production rules and independent quality testing in order to remain in the classification, and the terms Cru Bourgeois Supérieur or Cru Bourgeois Exceptionnel would no longer be used. Of the 290 producers who applied for Cru Bourgeois status for their 2008 wine, 243 were successful. In September 2011, the 2009 classification was announced. Of 304 applicants, 246 were successful

Château de Sours Rosé 2011 Bordeaux

Château de Sours Rosé 2011 is a blend of Cabernet Franc and Merlot and comes from the Chateau de Sours on a limestone plateau near Libourne and Pomerol. It is a pale salmon colour, has aromas of pithy grapefruit and strawberries and all is kept fresh by the zesty acidity.

The finish is of grapefruit pith and quite linear, an easy drinking wine - at £9.99 or on offer at £6.99 from Majestic, not a steal, but if it is on a deal - maybe worth buying.
Score : 81

Terrazas Afincado Cabernet Sauvignon, Los Aromas 2007 Argentina

Terrazas Afincado Cabernet Sauvignon, Los Aromas 2007 is made by LVMH - the luxury goods company ( Loius Vuitton, Moët Hennessy etc. ) from vineyards on the low slopes of the 980m high Terrazas vineyards, which is from the estate Los Aromos, located in Perdreiel, Luján de Cuyothe, This is a single vineyard 100% Cabernet Sauvignon wine which is then matured in French oak for 18 months' producing a finely tuned, full bodied concentrated wine with lots of ageing potential. The winemaker is Adrián Meyer and the vines average 25 years in age. The wine is aged in Oak barrels for 18 months and bottled for another 12 months.
On smelling and tasting this wine, one is aware of the quality, it is concentrated, the fruits are fresh and juicy ( this wine is 5 years old ), the tannins obvious but ripe and savoury, there are black berry fruits, ripe red cherries, cedar box, spice, tobacco and an olive twist. The acidity is balanced by the freshness of the fruits and the alcohol is warming but structural and integrated. The length is long and sweet, spice intermingling with fruit and tabacco and a hint of dried fruits to add an extra dimension, lovely complexity and real elegance - one to be savoured!

This wine is not cheap, but at the price of about £25 it can be found sometimes on special off at Majestic Wine, it does offer value for money - enjoy!
Score : 89

Pommard Vieilles Vignes 2008 Nicolas Potel

Pommard Vieilles Vignes 2008 by Nicolas Potel is from the village of Pommard in the Cote de Beaune in Burgundy France,it is a red wine made from Pinot Noir grapes and is ruby coloured and when you swirl the glass it has thick legs and aromas of black and red fruits ( especially cherries), tobaco / cigar box nuances and spice and coffee. On the mouth once more, spice, tobacco but the fruits are the main players with ripe cherries taking the lead though savouriness definetly plays its part too. The acidity frames the fruit and underpins the structure of the wine, underwriting its longevity, the alcohol is well tucked in once more playing a structural role. Good length showing fruit and spice with some tertiary character sneaking in.
This is a well made wine, with the fruit carefully treated all the way through.
The wine can be purchased from Majestic for a shade under £20.

Louis Jadot Macon 'Les Roches Rouges' 2010

Louis Jadot Macon 'Les Roches Rouges' 2010 is a red wine made in the Macon where most (95%) of the wines are white and made from the Chardonnay grape. The Macon is in the south of the Burgundy region.
 It is supplied by Majestic Wine at £9.99 ( special offer reduces it to less if buying 2 or cheaper at Majestic Wine in France)
It has a good ruby colour with slight purple glints - showing its laCK OF age. On the nose, ripe red fruits and baked black fruits are apparent and a hint at smokiness. The red and black fruits come through in abundance on the mouth with a little spice or pepper but not alot of complexity, it has a light linear fruity character and the low tannins are ripe with a grippy chalky texture. Overall I enjoyed this light Pinot and would probably chill it slightly and drink it soon while it is fresh and fruity.

Jean-Bourguigon Mersault 2009 Burgundy

Jean-Bourguigon Mersault 2009 Burgundy is a wine from Majestic Wine  and is £18.99. It has low level aromas of white stone fruits and hazelnuts, it tempts you to investigate further.
The silky texture with clear acidity and minerality layered with white stone fruits and green apples and once more the appearance of nuts. It is complex and sleek with elegance, it has a long length with solid fruit to the end!
Mersault is in the Cote de Beaune in Burgundy and is a narrow slope in most parts for all of its 20km length and gives great sun exposure. The soils consist of mainly marl and marly limestone and it is here that some of the best white ( Chardonnay) and Red (Pinot Noir) Burgundies come from.

Vernaccia di San Gimignano 2006 A Passioni

Vernaccia di San Gimignano 2006  A Passioni DOCG is a wine from San Gimignano in Tuscany and sold by Majestic for about £8. It has a pale golden core and aromas of apricot with a citric edge and a slight yeasty twang. The fresh citric, apply, apricot flavours with a streak of spiciness on the mouth has a refreshing acidity and balanced by the medium body and alcohol. The length is good with a spicy start and a citric zesty finish and a pleasant bitter twist at the end.
This is a wine that has some weight and structure ( though by no means heavy )and the acidity maintains its freshness, all enveloped with warmth of the ripe fruits. This wine would be good with or without food.