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.