Casa Magrez de Uruguay 2013

We had this Uruguayan wine from the Magrez stables at the doctors' annual wine dinner the other day. I had blogged about Bernard Magrez before, as well as some of his many and varied vinous forays outside Bordeaux such as Japan and even a joint venture with Gerard Depardieu in Morocco. This offering from Uruguay is Tannat based with 16% each of Cabernet France and Merlot making up the remainder of the blend. The wine is matured in a mix of new and one year old barrels.

This 2013 Casa Magrez was a dark ruby, with vanilla wood, fruit and a hint of spice on the nose. The palate was acid and tannic with a touch of fruit well supported by a tannic acid backbone.

South American wines from French grapes

We had the annual doctors association wine dinner yesterday and the theme I picked for this year is wines of South America. Now New World wines are often made with "International varieties" such as Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, the Pinot family, Cabernets etc, but sometimes certain lesser known grapes from the Old World fins a new lease of life in the new settings, often paradoxically leading to a renaissance of these wines from their place of origin.

This is the case with this set of South American reds presented on the day; the special grapes for which these countries are known turned out to be French in origin. We have a couple each of Argentinian Malbecs (originally from Cahors in France and a permitted red grape for Bordeaux), Chilean Carmenere (originally from Bordeaux and related to the Cabernets) and Uruguayan Tannat (from Madiran near the border with Spain).

Champagne Papis Loveday Brut

I had this champagne at a party last night. Although the name of Papis Loveday is most dominant on the label and there is a corresponding website, a little more insight could also be gained by Googling the name of Pehu-Simonet. This champagne comes from the Grand Cru village of Verzenay and is made from 90% Pinot Noir and the rest Chardonnay. There is 30% reserve wine from the previous 2 years and 15% of the base wine is fermented in barrels. The base wine does not go through malolactic fermentation. The Pehu-Simonet estate, which this wine comes from, comprises mainly of Grand Cru vineyards with around 20% in Premier Cru sites, but since the winery only sells Grand Cru champagne, the fruit from these Premier Cru sites are sold off to the negoce.

The wine was a golden pale lemon with good streams of medium bubbles. The nose was a touch closed, with acid and slightly vegetal notes. There was an acid prickle going onto an acid palate, well supported by an acid backbone. There was initial disappointment with this wine but it turned out that the wine needed food to bring it out. It was much better with the abalone, which made it richer and more honeyed.

An interesting "banquet wine"

It was at the retirement party of a colleague at a restaurant that I came across the above wine being served for the Chinese banquet amongst a number of different red and white wines. First of all, Cotes de Marmandais is not a well known appellation and the choice by the restaurant could be because of value for money. This appellation just outside the area of Bordeaux gives rise to the second point of interest for me, namely the predominant grape used in the blend - Arbouriou. I had met this grape before at the Wine Fair some time ago, but could not be sure if I had come across it at the consumer level here in Hong Kong.

Arbouriou is a grape from South West France which is somewhat related to Malbec and Merlot. It is early ripening with low acidity and high tannins, producing deep coloured, tannic and spicy wines somewhat lacking in acidity. This together with a high vigour and copious cropping leads it to be used in lesser quality wines of that region. As for this wine, it was a deep ruby with a sweet metallic acid fruity nose. The palate was slightly sweet acid with a touch of fruit, leading to an acid tannic backbone.