Bourgogne Gamay

I mentioned in a blog entriy a few days ago that Bourgogne Gamay was made from the Beaujolais grape. I later found out that it was a new appellation from 2011, just like Coteaux Bourguignons. This new Burgundian appellation is basically allowing the Cru Beaujolais to be labelled as Burgundy again, but emphasizing the Gamay component (minimum 30%). Only fruit from Cry Beaujolais can be used (and there is a question of whether the youngest Cru - Regnie is included or not).

In the same overhaul of the wine law regarding burgundy and Beaujolais, the whites wines of the Beaujolais have been split into some continuing to be labeled as Bourgogne Blanc whilst others have to be labelled as Beaujolais Blanc. More details about the Beaujolais wine law revamp can be found in this Decanter article.

Cru Beaujolais at a chain retailer

Most people associate Beaujolais with the Nouveau wine and the Beaujolais Nouveau promotion campaign, but there is much more to Beaujolais than Nouveau. So it was quite gratifying to find such a display at a chain retailer, not only the gold labeled Bourgogne Gamay (which many may not realize is made with the Beaujolais grape) but also 4 out of 10 crus - Fleurie, Morgaon, Chiroubles and Regnie. Looking it up on the map these four crus are actually next to each other - from north to south they go in this order: Fleurie, Chiroubles, Morgon and Regnie.

Fleurie is light and though not as light as Chiroubles (which can be a good introduction to people who have only tried Nouveau only). Morgon is sturdy and full bodied and can age for some years (especially wines from the Cote de Puy vineyard location), whilst the youngest cru of Regnie had both fruit and structure aplenty to please.

Coteaux Bourguignons

I encountered this bottle in the wine department of a large store in Japan. Louis Jadot was a familiar enough producer but Coteaux Bourguignons was not a familiar name. As label said, the wine is made from Gamay and Pinot Noir, and so I wondered if this was a new name for Bourgogne Passe-Tout-Grains, which was produced from those two grapes (with a few others permitted).

As it turned out, that was not the case. It was a new name, not for Bourgogne Passe-Tout-Grains (which still exists), but for Bourgogne Grand Ordinaire, which it replaced in late 2011. It can be produced from a variety of Burgundy grapes, either as varietals or in blends (both reds and whites). As Bourgogne Grand Ordinaire is hardly seen in Hong Kong, it's no wonder I have not come across Coteaux Bourguignons till now.

A Pinot Noir from Loosen

Villa Wolf is a Pfalz winery that was acquired by Ernst Loosen in 1996. Apart from Riesling, a number of other grapes were grown in the vineyards including Pinots Gris Blanc and Noir as well as Gewurztraminer. This above wine is from their varietal series, which uses both estate grown as well as grapes from contracted growers. This was tasted in the wine department in Osaka the other day.

The wine was somewhat between a very deep pink and a pale ruby. The nose showed the typical varietal strawberry aromas. There was a hint of sweetness on entry, followed by a touch of fruity accompanied by acidity on the palate, which led onto a nice acid backbone.

Vinous adventures in Kansai

I just returned from a week or so in Kyoto and Osaka (also taking in Kobe). As expected we did sample some wines (though it must also be said, we also tried different sakes as well). I had attended a conference in Kyoto, but the wines for the opening reception and the congress dinner were nothing to write home about.

I wondered about but eventually decided against revisiting the Kobe Winery. They make a fair bit of wine from various hybrids, although they do make some wines from the international varieties too. The vinous high point was a day shopping in Osaka, in which I had tasted a number of interesting wines on show at a couple of department stores. They will be dealt with in other entries.

Muddy Delaware sparkling wine from Yamanashi

I saw this bottle at a Japanese takeaway shop that recently opened in the neighbourhood. My sons are interested in trying out their food; I spotted this vinous curiosity. Curious about the "muddy" bit of the name, I carefully looked at the bottom of the bottle and found it cloudy (subsequently having let the wine settle, there was indeed a rim of yeast deposits). Also noticing the kanji characters for second fermentation in bottle makes me wonder if this was either a classical method with traditional (pre dry-ice freezing era) disgorgement, or even a methode ancestrale sparkling which is bottled before the primary fermentation is over to preserve its bubbles. The website was not useful (apart from being in Japanese) That together with its cepage of Delaware (a labrsuca variety) ensured that I bought the bottle.

Mateus Rose and smoked chicken

We had smoked chicken the other day and I was scratching my head over something casual to drink with it. The smoking of the chicken made me think of say a Riesling Kabinett (now that ripeness at harvesting has been well boosted by global warming) or maybe a light Pinot Noir seeing that it is somewhat a variation on the roast chicken theme. In the end I decided to try a rose, and ended up plumbing for Mateus Rose (I did say casual, didn't I?)

Now Mateus Rose is one of those wines many had in their youth but now wish never to admit they had. (For Jancis Robinson, it was Hirondelle according to her book). Yet having it that night with the smoked chicken, with which it went amazing well, it seemed that there should not be any shame in admitting to drinking it. A deep pink bordering on a light strawberry red, it had a crisp fruity nose. There was a crisp fruity palate after a light acidic prickle on entry well supported by an acid backbone.

A Semillon Cremant de Bordeaux

This was the Cremant de Bordeaux that we had the other day at the doctors' association wine dinner. Cremant de Bordeaux sparklers are not very often seen and this particular one is unusual in that it is a varietal Semillon. Information about cepage for Cremant de Bordeaux is not all that clear, so it is not obvious if either varietal Semillon or Sauvignon Blanc wines are permitted. Since we have this example here, it is presumed that the former is indeed allowed. However, all told, varietal Semillon is rarely seen in Bordeaux anyway (although there are varietal Saivignon Blanc dry whites).

As for this wine, it was golden yellow with a few streams of fine bubbles. The wine had a  crisp appley nose with acidity. After the acid prickle on entry, the palate was acid with a bit of   fruit, with a nice acid backbone.

Lesser known appellations of Bordeaux

This was the theme of this year's doctors' association annual wine dinner, which was held a couple of days ago. The sub-theme could well be the opposite bank. Apart from the welcome drink which is a Cremant de Bordeaux (and therefore non geographical) all the other wines are from the opposite bank of what is more "traditional", though truth be said, the Right Bank per se is hardly lesser known, although I deliberately avoided the lesser appellations of the Medoc.

The Right Bank wines include both a white and a red from Cote de Blaye (I'm sticking to the old nomenclature for this piece), a Cote de Castillon, a Canon Fronsac, a Lussac St Emilion and a Lalande de Pomerol. The sweet wine comes from Loupiac which is on the opposite bank from Sauternes and Barsac, but actually physically in an area which would otherwise be known as Entre Deux Mers.

Chateau Grenouilles Chablis Grand Cru

 

One of the seven Grand Crus of Chablis is Les Grenouilles,  so named because apparently because of an abundance of frogs living nearby (grenouilles = frogs in French), as I blogged about Trittenheimer Apotheke. It turns out that this smallest of the Grand Crus of Chablis is close to the River Serein, where a large number of frogs live and which even get into the vines! Much of this Grand Cru is owned by the cooperative La Chablisienne, which makes a quarter of all the wines from Chablis. The wine above is one of the flagship wines of the cooperative.

This 2011 was a golden yellow colour with a crisp minerally lemony nose. The palate was rich fruity with a touch of lemon citrus character, well supported by a backbone with good acid and a touch of astringency. Nice!


BTW, the following web page had all this info and more about Les Grenouilles:
http://vindeling.com/2013/09/19/how-well-do-you-know-chablis-grenouilles-grand-cru/

New line of wines at the Club

I saw these two new wines at the coffee shop at the Club the other day. Now I know that KCC prides itself as a good sporting club here in Hong Kong, and I know it on good authority that the Club's wine and wine service is also well regarded. After all the Hong Kong Wine Society holds a joint Christmas Party with the KCC Wine Society every year for some time now.

Perhaps this is a new marketing gimmick from F&B to increase wine sales. I am not a golfer so I don't know of Ernie Els, but everyone knows Yao Ming irrespective of whether you are a fan of basketball or not. Until that moment I have not known that either had purchased vineyards and produced wines. There again in the first month of this blog, I had written about Gerard Depardieu's wine-making adventures  and also mentioned other celebrities in the entertainment business who had got into wine.

The myriad changes with extended breathing for the Coulee the Serrant

When we tried this wine at the PWC Loire tasting, I decided to open this wine the night before, so that it had a chance to breathe. Of course, I took a small bit to nose and taste, so that I would be able to see if this extended breathing helped bring out the best in this famed wine. At that point, the wine was a golden colour with a honeyed pruney acid nose and a sweet acid fruity palate supported by an acid backbone.

When we tasted the wine on the night(around 22 hours later), the colour had darkened to light tea, with more sherry like notes on the nose. In fact it smelt more like a Tokay with a bit less of the dried apricot acidity that the sweet Hungarian wine. The palate had become drier yet richer than the night before.

When the wine was revisited 3 weeks later,the tea colour seemed to have taken on a hint of pink. The dried apricot Tokay like nose had become richer and perhaps more honeyed (maybe even with a hint of sweetness, just like when it was first opened). The palate had now become very much like a Tokay, but without the sweetness (perhaps like the szamorodni). The acidic backbone was unchanged, giving sterling support for the wine. Interesting evolution over an extended period!

A 45 year old Coteaux du Layon

 

One of the highlights of the Loire tasting the other day was the 1971 Domaine Touchais Coteaux du Layon. After all, it is not everyday that one gets to taste a well aged wine and wines of over 30 years are decidedly special at any time. I had blogged about Domaine Touchais 3 years ago and this wine was mentioned then and it is finally being tasted now.

This wine was a nice old gold in colour tinted with a touch of orange. The nose was rich with a large dose of dried apricot though marred with a touch of alcohol. The palate was sweet acid and fruity with a good smattering of dried apricot acidity providing sterling support. Jolly good for a 45 year old specimen.

Ambonnay

Ambonnay (from which this Champagne comes) is a grand Cru village on the south side of the  Montagne de Reims hill, a favourable location shared with its neighbour Bouzy (also Grand Cru). It is planted with 81% Pinot Noir and 19% Chardonnay, and the village is famous for good Pinot Noir from vineyards of high elevation. With south facing vineyards, Ambonnay can produce red still Coteaux Champenois wines called Ambonnay Rouge.

There are many famous vineyards in this village, the most noted of which must the Clos d'Ambonnay, owned by Krug. Planted with Pinot Noir only, the rare single vineyard champagne is only made in the best years and its first vintage was 1995.

Chinon

I had tried Chinon wines many moons before, in the PWC "Off the Beaten Track in France" tasting during Lent 2007. We returned to this in the latest Loire tasting at the end of last month. This wine also fared well when we finished the remains from the wine dinner the next day. Chinon is a mainly red appellation (which is unusual in the Loire). The reds and the small amount of rose wines are made mainly from Cabernet Franc (up to 10% Cabernet Sauvignon is allowed), whilst a small amount of white is made from Chenin Blanc. A versatile food wine, it had been famous in the past garnering praise from Rabelais, Joan of Arc and Richard the Lionheart amongst others.

Matchuing a Sancerre from Chavignol with Crottin du Chavignol

There's food and wine matching and then there is matching it in some detail. I have always found goats cheese a bit too strong for my liking, that is until I found that having Sauvignon Blanc wines from the Loire, be it Sancerre or Pouilly Fume, tames that flavour and turns the whole combination into a creamy and delicious experience. 

Ever since I found out that Chavignol not only produces some of the best Sancerre, but also a famous goats cheese (Crottin de Chavignol) as well, I have wanted pairing the cheese and wine from the same famous village Having sourced a bottle of Francois Cotat's Sancerre Les Monts Damnes Chavignol, I went in search of the cheese. Luckily it was not too difficult.

The Chavignol wine was a nice straw yellow with a crisp slightly green honeyed nose with a hint of flowers, The palate started off with a touch of sweetness, followed by leafy greeness and a touch of fruit, well supported by minerally acid. The match with the cheese was better than previous attempts with chevre (goats cheese) and Sancerre, with the cheese being more creamy and luscious with the wine. As with other occasions when smelly cheese (and this one is not particularly smelly at that), all were pleasantly surprised at how the wine and the cheese brought them an experience that would certainly be well remembered.

"Longevity" in Loire reds

We did not manage to finish the red wines the other night and since nobody was interested in taking the unfinished bottles home, I finished them off at dinner the next evening. I suppose they would have been opened for the best part of 24 hours and they were just left at room temperature after arriving home, because my fridges as well as my Eurocaves were full.

The Chinon and the Clau de Nell Grolleau both fared better than the Clau de Nell Cabernet Franc. Those two basically maintained their form from the night before, whilst the Cab Franc had shown signs of tiredness, though holding better than quite a few wines I can think of.There was a touch more astringency, but no noticeable increase in acidity, whilst the fruit was only a touch diminished from the night before. All three did better than quite a few wines many times their price.

Exploring the Loire with PWC

PWC met last night for a wine dinner on the theme of Loire wines. A couple of wines arrived late and missed out on the group photo above. We started with a sparkling wine which included the local grape Folle Blanche. The two white grapes of the Loire - Sauvignion Blanc and Chenin Blanc were represented by two wines each. As for reds, there was a Chinon, another Cabernet Franc as well as a red Grolleau, the latter a local red grape more often used in roses.

The highlights of the dinner include matching cheese and wine from the village of Chavignol, a 1971 Coteau du Layon from Domaine Touchais as well as a Coulee de Serrant, which I had opened the night before. These require separate posts to give them justice.

H Billiot Fils Brut Reserve GC Ambonnay

I tasted this champagne at a retirement party for a colleague recently. Unbeknownst to me, I had already tasted one of their vintage wines before, a couple of years ago, and even blogged about it. The wine has a designation of Extra Brut, but the back label specified a dosage of 9g/L sugar (which would make it Brut only). The wine is Pinot Noir dominant with the rest Chardonnay (Pinot Meunier is not grown in Ambonnay). AS the wine is neither filtered not cold stabilized, the back label warns of the possibility that it may deposit crystals during storage.

As for the wine, it was a golden yellow with good streams of medium fine bubbles. The nose was sweet pruney yeasty with acid, and after the acid prickle on entry which subsided into a soft mousse, the palate was crisp and fruity, yielding to an acid backbone.

A Pinot Noir 90 & above points dinner

I tried something new for may latest PWC dinner and combined two ideas for wine tasting dinners into one. I had done dinners where all the wines are made from a single grape (or at least dominant to the point of being able to labeled as a wine of that variety). I had also done dinners where we tried out a variety of different wines (usually from diverse geographical localities) which had been awarded the same points ( mainly 90, and once 95). This time I modified the latter to set the inclusion criteria to >=90 points ( beginning to sound  like a medical study) whilst tasting only wines made from Pinot Noir.

We had a pink sparkler from New Zealand, but no dessert wines. Still reds came from Oregon, Sonoma, Chile and Argentina for the Americas. We could not miss out Australia and New Zealand. Europe was represented by a Premier Cru Aloxe Corton made by Comte Senard.

A surprisingly "New World" Sancerre

I had this house wine at a family dinner at the China Club the other day. I was delayed and they had already started by the time I arrived. Often you have a glass of wine poured out for you, and one dives into the dinner to catch up and not hold anyone back. So it was a bit like a blind tasting. The one thing that was strange was the deep colour, but I would have sworn that this is an example of Sauvignon Blanc from Australia or New Zealand. Imagine the surprise when I went to take a picture of the bottle for record. Then again, it wasn't the first time when I got things completely the wrong way round with say Loire and New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc; I did it once at a tasting at the Club when the Loire wine was full of exotic fruit flavours whilst the New Zealand example was green and grassy!!

My notes for this Pascal Jolivet Sancerre 2014 was golden yellow with a sweet acid tropical fruit nose,. The palate was sweet acid and fruity palate, well supported by a nice acid backbone.

Chasan

I just found out that I had unexpectedly tasted a grape that I had never tasted before during my Lourdes trip, and that was on the flight back from Paris. I forgot what I had for the meal but decided that I would try the white wine they were offering a Pays d'Oc IGP wine made from Chasan and Chardonnay. It was when I reviewed the pictures that I realised the possibility of the new grape and looking it up, I found that Chasan was a grape created in 1958, and possibly by crossing Chardonnay with Listan (or Palomino, the sherry grape). It is a grape grown mainly in the Languedoc region. Early budding but ripening late, it often does not get the chance to develop complexity and tends to end up in experimental Vin de Pays blends

As for this wine, it was a pale lemon with a slightly sweet fruity nose,. It was sweet acid and fruity on the palate with some nice acid in support.

Revisiting an aged white Rioja after a day

White wines don't age; neither can they survive being opened for long - so goes the accepted wisdom. Well, we did not finished the bottle of 26 year old white Rioja, so I put it back into the refrigerator to consume the next day. Well, I ended up drinking the remainder of the bottle on the third day after opening (day of opening = day 1). It was far from spoilt or dead. The wine remained fragrant and aromatic , with a large smattering of wood as before. The flowery character was less evident but the peachy notes on the palate was more pronounced in mid-palate and towards the end. Like the Coulee de Serrant I has blogged about before, this proves that certain white wines can be aired for a prolonged period.

A white Rioja at 26 years

This is a wine I tasted 5 years ago and I blogged about it then. Five years on, I have come to revisit it and it was still a very nice experience. A friend was treating us to dinner and everyone was taking some wine along. I thought this would be something unusual; after all, I am not sure how many old white wines of this age or more I had drunk. Alright, let us discount the fortified wines first, and maybe the nobly rotten dessert wines next. I did recall tasting a top white Burgundy from the mid 1970s in maybe 2001, which would make it around the same age as this one at tasting. I checked in my Eurocave and noticed another example of this wine from 1981, so that should take the record for aged dry whites when I get around to tasting it.

The wine is now a nice golden yellow, with a fragrant flowery fruity nose. The palate was sweet woody acid with a slight hint of peach, leading onto a good acid backbone (hint still of peach). Comparing notes with some 5 years ago, the wood was less evident on the nose and the vanilla notes were well tempered. The woody fruit evolved into something more peachy with aging. Everyone there was impressed with this veteran.

Thai wine at the Club

 

I was surprised to encounter this wine at the Club.  Now the Club is not averse to bringing in some exotic wines for the members to try and/or buy, and we have had some interesting examples over the years, including wines from Mexico and Cuba, both of which I have written about in this blog. I had also blogged about Thai wines in this blog before, but that was ordered and consumed in Thailand.

Monsoon Valley is a brand of Siam Winery, who also made the other Thai wine that I blogged about. Unlike the other wine, this is not made from some alternative grape but the well known international varietal Shiraz. They also had a western date label, rather than the Thai Buddhist calender, which would make the vintage 2557!

Perrier-Jouet Grand Brut

I had always wanted to try Perrier-Jouet, especailly their prestige cuvee Belle-Epoque  in a painted bottle with an Art Deco flower design. It was the welcome drink at Valentine's dinner and was served from magnum. I must say I was a tad disappointed that night. The bubbles after the initial effervescence were plentiful but rather larger than I would have expected from a well known house. Only after a significant time did it settle into delicate streams of fine bubbles I was expecting. There is always an acid prickle with sparkling wines and champagnes, but the best wines settle into a nice creamy mousse, which failed to happen on this occasion. May be it was the bottle; it could even have been less than scrupulously clean galsses as far as the bubbles in the glass was concerned, but they rather detracted from my enjoyument that night.

Brunello La Magia 2007

I had this wine a few days ago, from an estate which was unknown to me. What struck me initially on looking them up on the Web was the name of the owners - Schwarz, German! It transpired that they bought the estate some 40 years ago, and the vines (entirely of the Brunello clone of Sangiovese) are now grown on organic principles, and matured in a cellar powered by sustainable energy! Four wines are made, a Rosso, two Brunellos (one a special cuvee) and a Riserva.

The Brunello was aged for 3 years in 500L French oak barrels and one year in bottle before release. The 2007 was a nice ruby colour with a sweet acid fruity nose. This carried onto the palate with a touch of smokiness, supported by a mildly tannic backbone. It went well with the beef and lamb we had that evening.

Ornellaia 2006

I tasted this wine at a reunion dinner the other day. I have tasted Ornellaia before and even mentioned attending a special winery dinner on a blog about mismatched wines, but I don't seem to have blogged about it  as yet. One of the famous Supertuscans, it was founded by Marchese Ludovica Antinori in 1981, producing its first vintage in 1985. Various changes in ownership followed but now (after a period of part owner by Mondavi) it is now fully owned by Frescobaldi since 2005.

The 2006 vintage was purple ruby at the rim surrounding a dark core, with a sweet acid fruity nose. The palate was sweet fruity and tannic with just a hint of leafy greenness and the whole was well supported by an acid tannic backbone.

Chateau Bernadotte

Although I had seen this wine around a bit, I only got to taste it over the Christmas festivities. Chateau Bernadotte was acquired by Pichon Lalande in 1997 and the latter instituted a programme of extensive investment, renovation and replanting. This has raised the quality of the wines. When Pichon Lalande was acquired by Louis Roederer, Bernadotte followed suit, but it was bought by King Power Group (based here in Hong Kong) at the send of 2012.

As for the wine, it was a deep purple ruby with a sweet acid fruity nose. The sweet acid fruitiness followed through to the palate accompanied by a sprinkling of tannins. It was all supported by an acid mildly tannic backbone.

A Koshu wine from Magrez

I saw these bottles in the Wine section of a Japanese store the other day, a Franco-Japanese joint venture between Bernard Magrez and top Japanese winegrower Yuji Aruga resulting in a uniquely Japanese wine from the Koshu grape. I had previously blogged about the Koshu grape. This wine is from Isehara in Yamanashi, from 18 year old vines according the the Magrez Website. A Decanter piece from April 2008 reported the release of the 2007 vintage (presumably the first) from this venture. Production of this wine is only around 2000 to 2500 bottles a year. The limited production and its special pedigree means that prices for this wine remains relatively high.

Penfolds RWT 2011

I had previously blogged about getting to know this particular label of Penfolds and mentioned that we had a bottled of the above vintage over Christmas. Having has a number of vintages in the past, this one confirms the long held impression of ours that the RWT Shiraz is a dependable premium wine, with often a price to match. A Christmas special was more than I could resist, so I got a few bottles.

As for the wine, it was a deep purple ruby at the rim with a dark nearly opaque core. The nose was sweet and acid with berry notes, leading onto a palate that added wood notes to the fruit and the acid, whilst all being well balanced. This was all held nicely together with a tannic acid backbone.

Champagne Janisson Brut Traditional

I had this champagne over the Christmas holidays at a family dinner. This is a Champagne house with which I am not familiar. Started in the 1920s by the grandfather of the present owner, who had been growing grapes in the Grand Cru village of Verzeney, this house combines the quality of its Grad Cru grapes with the state of the art winery to produce an impressive range of wines, which tends to emphasize the Pinot Noir grapes which grow especially well in the village. This Brut Traditional is 70% Pinot Noir (the rest Chardonnay), with some 22% reserve wines, cellared for 30 months before release.

It was a pale straw with good streams of fine bubbles. The nose was crisp acid with a hint of bamboo shoots. There was a good acid prickle on  entry dissolving into a soft mousse, and a crisp acid palate with some bamboo shoot notes, supported by a clean acid backbone.