The Wine List

I have referred to the contents of the book a few times in previous blogs and only realized that the book itself has not been covered. A Xmas present from years back, you might think a book on the top 250 wines available in the UK for a certain year would not be useful for an amateur du vin in Hong Kong. Viewed that way, you would be absolutely right. But although it is useless as a buying guide, the wines recommended might also be available in Hong Kong too. Half of the book is devoted to Matthew Jukes' food matching adventures and conclusions. This is always useful for someone who regularly organizes wine dinners, and who is interested in finding out different approaches to enjoying wine with food.

Chateau Bouscaut

Chateau Bouscaut is Grave estate classified as Premier Cru for both red and white wines. With a history dating back to the 16th century (though as Haut Truschon rather than Bouscaut), it enjoyed some success prior to the last century though the history was somewhat difficult to untangle for this period. In the period surrounding the First World War, the property had firmly established a reputation for itself, It went through some ownership changes (including a decade under American hands) finally being bought by Lucien Lurton in 1979. 40 ha of vineyard are planted with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot (with a little Malbec), whilst the remaining 7 ha are planted with a 50:50 mix of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon.

Australian Botrytised Viognier

Viognier is a grape associated with Northern Rhone, where it produces Condrieu and where it can also be mixed with Syrah in Cote-Rotie. Although Viognier has the colour and the aroma to suggest sweetness, most of the production is dry. However, the fruity aromas can give an illusion of sweet when the measured residual sugar is low. Sweet Viognier wines can be made, traditionally using the "a l'assiette" method, where a plate is held under the vine which is shaken to make overripe grapes fall onto it. The grape is not often affected by noble rot in the Rhone, but we have here an example of botrytised Viognier from Australia, made by Yalumba which is the largest producer of wine from this variety.

Blauburger

Blauburger can easily be confused with Blauburgunder (Synonym of Pinot Noir) but is in fact an altogether unrelated grape. Bred by Dr Zweigelt in Klosterneuburg in 1923 by crossing Blaufrankish with Blauer Portugieser, Blauburger shared a parent (Blaufrankisch) with the grape now named after its creator, Zweigelt, which was bred the year before (and initially called Rotburger - the other parent was St Laurent). The grape is grown in both Austria and Hungary and is allowed to be blended into Egri Bikaver. Wines made from Blauburger are deep in colour with berry fruit on the palate. However they suffer from little bouquet and low tannins.

1989

1989 is one of those years where most of France seemed to do well, sometimes very well. In fact, most of Europe seemed to have good weather and harvests too, though the New World did not seem to fare as well. Looking at France, 1989 is the middle of three good consecutive vintages for many places. In some cases 1989 produced great wines. However, its coming just before 1990 (which was an even better vintage all around) meant that 1989 would always be in its shadow. For Sauternes, although the trio of 1988, 1989 and 1990 will always be remembered as a run of 3 good vintages, the fact that comparatively speaking, 1989 was the weakest of the lot will always mean that it will suffer in the comparison. Outside France, Germany had a good vintage4, but results were more mixed in Italy with Piedmont being good and Tuscany more mixed. A very dry Spain caused problems for Viura, with Tempranillo and Cabernet suffering less.

Samos Grand Cru

This is Samos Grand Cru, a fortified wine in the Vin Doux Naturel mould made with Muscat grapes from the Greek island of Samos. The wines of Samos have been famous since antiquity - it was Hippocrates' favourite wine. Made from Muscat Blanc a Petit Grains grown on hillside terraces up to900m in altitude, there is a whole range of sweet Samos wines at AOC level. Despite its name, Samos Grand Cru is not the top wine in this range (cf St Emilion Grand Cru), nor is there any separate designation of quality or sites like in Champagne or Burgundy. Other wines in this range include a mistelle - Anthemis (5 yr oak aged) and Nectar (from sun dried grapes).

White Dao

I had heard of Dao for a long time - I think there was an advertising campaign in England many years ago (well, I've been back in Hong Kong for 20 years now), but I only really know of and had tasted red Dao. White Dao was something new to me. Then I saw this bottle in one of those wine promotion campaigns in one of the large supermarket chains. The grapes were unfami8liar, and certainly I had not tasted them. I don't know if I had become aware of the Wine Century Club by that time, but my penchance for adventure and willingness to try out new grapes goes back rather a long way before that. Needless to say this wine was bought and eventually tasted. Unfortunately the notes are not at hand, but as far as my general impression goes, it was not a bad drink.

Sparkling Irsai Oliver

This is a sweet sparkling wine from Hungary made from the Irsai Oliver grape. Irsai Oliver was bred by Pal Kocsis in 1930 by crossing Pozsonyi with Perle von Csaba, giving an early ripening grape with a distinctive Muscat character. Initially grown for the table, Irsai Oliver has been successfully vinified, especially under modern temperature controlled conditions, thus preserving freshness, fragrance and fruit. Although relatively disease resistant, Yields fall off dramatically after 12-15 years, to which the preferred remedy is replanting. This sparkler is fermented in Magnums, then aged on lees after which it uses a pressurized tank method for removal of less as well as bottling. I am waiting to taste it, so my impressions will need another tidbit.

Cullen Wines Diana Madeline Cabernet Blend

Cullen Wines Diana Madeline Cabernet Blend is a top Cabernet based wine from Margaret River in Western Australia. Since 2005 (version IV) it has been included in the top "Exceptional" category in Langtons Classification of Australian wines. First planted on a trial basis in 1966, Kevin and Diana Cullen planted 18 acres of vines in 1971, founding the estate that was later to become Cullen Wines. The winery went organic in 1998 and then biodynamic in 2003.

The Cabernet Sauvignon for the wine is sourced from the original 1971 plantings, and the blend typically includes Malbec and Petit Verdot as you would expect from a Bordeaux blend. A portion of the grapes are barrel fermented and the wine is aged in French oak barrels of which up tom50% are new. According to the Langtons Website, 2008 is also a very good year.

2003

2003 has been hailed as a very good year for Bordeaux, but that itself is not without controversy. I also chose 2003 because it was a bad year for many parts of France and Europe, so whilst the combination of sun, rain etc might have worked for Bordeaux, it was disastrous for other places. For us in Hong Kong, 2003 will chiefly be remembered as the SARS year, but the Europeans will remember the long heat wave which caused many deaths. Taking Bordeaux first, the controversy lies in the fact that the climatic conditions gave rise to grapes which were unusually ripe even for bumper years in Bordeaux. This together with the popularity (and marketability) of the Parker style meant that some properties actually made Parkerised clarets; popular with the international market but not so warmly welcomed by the British critics.

Away from Bordeaux, which tended to be ordinarily less blessed with sunshine, places which have abundant sun had their grapes scorched. There was a drought in certain other parts causing the vines to wither. I remember being shown a picture of Rhinegau vineyards by Fritz Hasselbach of Gunderloch. They had lobbied for the law to be amended to allow irrigation in such unusual weather and it was done. They opted for irrigation which their neighbours did not, resulting in their vineyards remaining green in a sea of yellow at the height of summer. So 2003 was a good but controversial year for Bordeaux but rather disastrous for the rest of Europe.

A Hungarian white made from 2 Feteascas

This is a bottle of Hungarian wine made from Feteasca Regala and Feteasca Alba, except that the label gave their Hungarian names, Kiralyleanyka and Leanyka respectively. The two grapes are related; Feteasca Alba is a parent of Feteasca Regala. Feteasca Alba originated from Moldova and mainly cultivated in Moldova, the Romanian wine regions of Moldova and Transylvania a as well as in Eger in Hungary. Most sources say that Feteasca Regala results from crossing Grasa with Feteasca Alba in the 1930s but VIVC lists the other parent as Mustoasa de Maderat, which is not connected with Grasa. Both grapes make crisp dry whites and the parent is also used for sparkling wine production. As for this wine, it was a golden straw colour with a crisp fruity acid nose. Dry and fruity on the palate, there was a nice backbone of mineral acidity supporting it right to the finish.

Wine Vintages by Michael Broadbent

This is the 1998 edition of Michael Broadbent's Wine Vintages. I looked it up to comment on the 1984 vintage, which was so poor that generally people don't talk about it. First published in 1992, there was a second edition in 1995, but this is the only copy I have. In this edition, there were 6 chapters of French Classics; 6 for European wines; another 6 for New World (but 3 of these are American regions) but no South America and finally Champagne, Port and Madeira. The extent of historical coverage is variable, but red and white Bordeaux and Burgundy extended to 1900 with a few comments about pre-1900 wines. Rhone, Loire and Alsace went back to 1970 as did Germany and California etc. One would have expected Madeira to extend quite far historically, but it seems that although many older vintages are still a pleasure to drink, the year by year analysis only sent back to 1980, with an extended list of star ratings of vintages going back to 1792!!

Maurus Mori Ezerjo

This is a bottle of Mori Ezerjo grape from Maurus. Ezerjo (name literally means a thousand good things) is an ancient Hungarian grape, originating in Nograd county but now mainly grown around Mor. Maurus is one of the top producers of wine from this grape. Although capable of making botrytised dessert wines, it is also made into crisp refreshing wines designed for early consumption. This is partly due to the grape being prone to rot, so harvesting is dome early to avoid problems. I had this wine recently at home, to go with some seafood. It was a fair match with fish and shellfish, but nothing gave an inspiring match. Lemon yellow with gold tints, the nose was fruity with lemon notes which continued through the palate accompanied by a mineral acidity right through to the finish.

The traditional face of Diel

When I blogged about non-Riesling German wines, I mentioned that their traditional wines are also pretty good, even though their new wave barrique aged wines (like Cuvee Victor - a barrique aged Pinot Gris of which I have already blogged) were making headlines. Some of their Pradikatswein are also multiple prize winners. This is a bottle in my "cellar", but I cannot remember whether I had bought say 2 or 3 and at least drunk one; so I cannot give you the tasting notes. I have however tasted their Eisweins on various occasions as well as an Auslese Goldkapsul which was actually a declassified Eiswein. Suffice it to say that my impressions of them are very good.

1984 and all that

To tell you the truth, 1984 is a bad year for wine. Yet apart from the local Hong Kong population who have special reasons to remember 1997*, 1984 has become an infamous year because of George Orwell's novel, which ranks with Aldous Huxley's Brave New World as two of the best known examples of dystopian novels of political satire. I use this picture of the cover of Nineteen Eighty-four to introduce the idea of certain special years, in this case, extra special vintages, which we will explore in this miniseries.

1984 is generally bad for most if not all of Europe. California, Oregon and Australia seems to have had good weather and grape harvests, which will be useful for those wanting to splash out on a bottle of their birthday vintage, but for the rest of us we can take the hint from those vintage chart in various websites (usually not included) and give it a miss.


* Actually 1984 is also significant for Hongkongers too, as the Sino-British Joint Declaration declaring the resumption of sovereignty of China over Hong Kong on 1st July 1997, was signed in December 1984.

Black Noble

Black Noble is another remarkable dessert wine from the makers of Noble One. Inspired by a wine made in the 1930s, thought to be a fortified PX, Black Noble comes from selected parcels of botrytised Semillon set aside from the Noble One harvest, fortified after very little fermentation and then aged in old Noble One barrels. The aging is done in a solera like system to yield a wine of around 8 years of age. Deep mahoghany in colour reminiscent of the Liqueur Muscats and Tokays, there was ample sweetness with vine fruit, citrus peel notes on the nose, which carries through to the palate, with enough acidity for structure (and to prevent cloying). Another fortified beauty form Australia!

Argentinian Bonarda

I mentioned in the blog on Bonarda, that the Argentineans grow Charbonno, which they call Bonarda. Originating from Savoie in France, where it is known as Corbeau or Douce Noire - a source of confusion linking it to the Italian grape Dolcetto. The second most commonly grown grape in Argentina, a little is also grown in California. Wines made from the grape are generally deeply coloured with medium body and good levels of both acid and tannins. As for this wine which I tasted at last year's wine fair, it was a dark purple with a sweet berry slightly jammy fruity nose, with notes of meat and tuna. The sweet fruitiness carried on in the palate, joined by a good dose of tannins serving as a good backbone (together with a touch of acidity persisting right to the finish.

Mimosa and Buck's Fizz

To conclude this mini-series on mixed drinks with wine, we will look at champagne mixed with orange juice. Buck's Fizz uses one part champagne to two parts orange juice, is named after London's Buck's Club. It was invented as an excuse to start drinking early and was first served in 1921. Mimosa was invented in Paris 4 years later, but contains equal parts of champagne and orange. Mimosa is sometimes mixed using other citrus juice, such as grapefruit, when it will then be a grapefruit mimosa. Popular as wedding reception drinks, both are also offered as morning after hangover remedies.

There is a little more to Buck's Fizz though. The Fizz family of cocktails is based on a sour element and carbonation. Gin Fizz is the best known of the family, consisting of gin, lemon juice, soda and sugar. The variant Diamond Fizz uses sparkling wine instead of soda water. Buck's Fizz moves further away by having the champagne provide both alcohol and bubbles whilst the orange provides both the sweet and sour elements.

Chateau Leoville-Poyferre

There are 3 cru classe properties starting with Leoville, and if you guessed that they were originally one big estate, you would be correct. The original Leoville estate was planted with vines going back to the time around the later years of the 17th century. The wines were well regarded even then and they were considered only second to the four estates that later became the First Growths. In the turmoil surrounding the French Revolution, the estate was sequestered and a quarter sold off to become Leoville Barton. Some years later, the estate was divided again with another quarter of the original estate being separated off, which eventually became the Leoville Poyferre estate. Although the other two Leovilles are more well-known, it should be noted that when it came to the 1855 classification, the three were all separate and considered on their own merits. All three achieved the rank of Second Growth.

Cremant de Loire

This is a bottle of Cremant de Loire by Langlois-Chateau. As with other Cremant wines from France, this is a traditonal method sparkler with second fermentation in bottle. As in other regions, white and pink versions exist. As one would expect for a Loire wine, Chenin Blanc and Cabernet Franc would form an important part of the cepage. However, although one is hard pushed to name a blanc de noir from Cabernet Franc, the white Cremants from Langlois-Chateau contains 20% Cabernet Franc!! Another aspect to note is that different sparkling appellations exist in the Loire, including Saumur, but although this winery can make Saumur sparkling wines, it chose to make the more demanding Cremant instead.