Deep in the Heart of the Loire – tasting a Cour-Cheverny

Whilst in the Nap Valley recently, I was fortunate enough to try a rather unusual wine.

Not long ago in these pages I wrote about a Cheverny wine that I had enjoyed – read about it here. Well, whilst looking at the wine list of a rather swanky Napa eatery I spotted an example of its rare near relative – Cour-Cheverny.

As far as I am aware I have never been in a position to try this before, so I leapt at the opportunity.

Cour-Cheverney is an intriguing wine, the appellation is quite young, only promoted up from VDQS in 1993 and it covers a mere 48 hecatares. However, the most interesting thing about it is the grape variety, this is the only place in the world that grows Romorantin.

This grape was once widely grown in the Loire Valley, but has long been in retreat and today is only cultivated in this one tiny area.

Cour-Cheverny is situated just south-east of Blois and some 30 km south-west of Orleans. It is named for a commune just north-west of Cheverny itself, interestingly 10km south-east of Cheverny is the commune of Romorantin-Lanthenay, long thought to be the Romorantin grape’s traditional home.

White wines from the surrounding appellation of Cheverny are usually a blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay, whereas Cour-Cheverny wines can only be made from 100% Romorantin.

One local grower, Domaine Henry Marionnet, claims to have the oldest vines in France, his Romorantin vineyard was planted in 1850 and somehow escaped phylloxerra, I will try this as soon as I can and report back.

Pascal Belliet Cour-Cheverny 2007

A.C. Cour-Cheverny, Pascal Belliet

I had no idea what to expect from this wine, I just wanted to taste it. I sort of imagined that it would be thin and very acidic.

Well, I was very pleasantly surprised indeed, the wine had a fresh and pure nose, slightly floral and slightly appley, but decidedly delicate with the merest hint of attractive creaminess.

The palate was more generous, light to medium-bodied, but quite succulent and textured with a delicate creaminess and an attractive peachy and apricot note. The appley acidity was firm enough to make it crisp without becoming the dominant characteristic, while the minerality kept the palate clean and pure.

Much to my surprise the main sensation was of softness and gentle weight in the mouth, I have read that Romorantin is probably a relative of Chardonnay and the Pinot Blanc-like texture would bear that out. This stuff was really enjoyable and quite delicious – very much its own thing, neither a Chenin look alike nor a Sauvignon wannabe.

On this showing I highly recommend that you try some of the wines from this area.

This is a very attractive wine and I gave it 88 points.

Fine Dining – I contemplate the fine food gene

As readers of these pages may be aware, I travel a fair amount.

As a consequence I eat in all sorts of places and often on my own. You can read about some of the great places I have eaten here, here and here.

Eating out alone is an odd thing. It serves several purposes, only one of which is to feed yourself. The other, equally important reasons are; to experience the place and culture, to sample a particular cuisine or restaurant and, of course, to fill time and relax. The last reason is why, when alone I almost always end up in a proper sit down restaurant rather than going for the fast food option.

I have come to the conclusion that I am something of a shallow traveller. As soon as I know that I am going to a particular destination I start Googling restaurants there. Not attractions, not cultural sites – just restaurants and bars.

Recently I was in California and had a few days in San Francisco before my wine business started. I was pretty excited about being there and determined to try some of the great and varied food on offer.

So, I enjoyed a traditional American Diner – I am a sucker for neon, juke boxes, vinyl benches, booths and waitresses called Peggy-Sue, honestly she was, I have witnesses! If you are in San Francisco and feel the same, there is a small chain called Mel’s Drive In. What they lack in finesse they more than make up for in ambiance.

Downtown I greatly enjoyed a genuine, or so I am informed, burrito in a Mexican Taqueria. I experienced the delights of a Philly Cheese Steak sandwich, a guilty pleasure if ever there was one, and I enjoyed clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl at Boudin in Fisherman’s Wharf.

My lunch the next day was at Brandy Ho’s, the self styled ‘best Chinese restaurant in the world’. It was not even the best that I have tried, but being Hunan Chinese it was different from what we get in the UK, which was kind of the point in going.

I had an uneasy moment on the way in as I passed a chef carrying a rather large and fluffy cat. He did not look amused and I wondered if all those tales were really true after all? Actually I soon saw that the cat was being escorted out of the kitchen, in keeping with local regulations of course.

The problem with eating Chinese food on your own is that, unless you want to waste a lot, you are limited to ordering what you can eat yourself. So in order to get some variety I just had two starters and so got to taste some of the spicy Hunan cuisine.

I quickly fell into the habit of having an aperitif in a lovely wine bar cum wine shop near my hotel and chatting to the staff there. They gave me helpful hints about where to eat and that is how I found the wonderful A16 Italian restaurant on Chestnut Street, it specialises in food in the style of Campania and Naples. I highly recommend A16 if you are in the area, it is like a little slice of rustic Italy, the portion of San Daniele ham must have comprised half a pig and was quite delicious.

Anyway, my friends in the wine bar were shocked that I had so far failed to sample any of the cities ‘fine dining’ establishments or top restaurants and they persuaded me that I owed it to myself to do so. They drew up a list and assured me that I would be amazingly lucky to get into any of them without booking.

Top of their list was the strangely named Gary Danko. They, and many others told me that if I managed to eat there it would be one of the very best meals that I had ever eaten and a memorable gastronomic experience. I was practically salivating already and went straight there by taxi.

It was one of those restaurants with a lectern outside on the pavement, brass-bound tasseled rope and milling uniformed flunkies – what do they all do? I am always struck by how many staff there are in restaurants in America – surely several times the number we have this side of the pond?

No waiting was needed, I was slotted straight into the very last stool at the bar, between a romantic couple and two ladies from Chicago.

I ordered a glass of Prosecco (Alice, Prosecco di Conegliano Valdobbiadene Extra Dry 2007 – nicely aromatic without the overt sweetness of so many) for lubrication and perused the menu. It was expensive, certainly compared to Mel’s, but not outrageous for such a place.

The tasting menu is $98 for 5 courses plus another $65 if you want the paired wines as well. I went a la carte, which again is $98 for 5 courses, $83 for 4 and $66 for 3. I went for 4 course as it all looked too good to pass up.

For my starter I decided to try something that I would not usually order – ‘Beet Salad with Goat Cheese, Caramalised Apples, Pecans and Zathar Oil’. Zather by the way is a spice blend of sesame seeds, powdered sumac and dried thyme. I finished up the Prosecco with this and it went very well with the goats cheese and beetroot combination.

My entrée, in European terms – not American where entrée seems to mean the main course, was ‘Roast Maine Lobster with Potato Purée, Chanterelle Mushrooms, Corn and Tarragon’. I ordered a glass of Schloss Gobelsburg Grüner Veltliner, Steinsetz, Kamptal 2007 with this.

I kept my main course simple with ‘Guinea Hen Breast with Rosemary-Pork Sausage, Maitake Mushrooms and Roasted Grapes’. I wanted a red with this and ordered a half glass (yes half!) of Alain Graillot Crozes-Hermtages 2007 which had lovely fruit, a firm structure and real elegance.

My dessert was ‘Roasted Pears with Gingerbread and Nutmeg Ice Cream’.

The server behind the bar, who appeared to be both waiter and sommelier, but I have no understanding of the rankings in such a place, was very good, extremely professional and had an excellent line in patter and flannel. As you might expect it was more friendly and intimate than a similar person would be in Britain, but it was an impressive performance complete with the regulation sing song description of every component of each and every dish.

Unfortunately he also sounded like Snagglepuss – which, while amusing at first, does tend to pall after a while.

I enjoyed myself very much and did not feel too ripped off. My pleasure was enhanced by the ladies from Chicago who tried to make sure that I ordered different dishes from them so that they could try them! So we all swapped forkfulls of food and experienced more of the dishes on offer – does that happen at Le Gavroche? This made the whole thing great fun and lifted my evening from a solitary experience to something shared, which is always when food and wine are at their best.

Over the next few days I was the subject of much incredulous envy. I had got into Gary Danko’s on the spur of the moment! They could not believe it. These same people urged me, time and again, to agree that it was amazing and the best food I had ever eaten – awesome in the local lingo.

The truth is, I enjoyed it. Everything was good. Nothing was wrong with the meal at all. Was it that good though? Was it a masterpiece? Was it aaawesooooome?

The answer is no, not to me. In all honesty the food was just not that tasty. Not bland, just not hugely tasty either. Perhaps the flavours were too subtle for me, but of course I appreciate subtle wine. I just wanted more and expected more given all the hype and build-up. I went away muttering things about the Emperor’s New Clothes.

The week before I had enjoyed a perfectly cooked Boeuf Bourgignon with a bottle of Volnay at a simple bistro in Beaune. I was with dear friends who were wonderful company and the meal was memorable.The food had a depth of flavour and concentration that really pleasured my tatse-buds and made for a deeply happy experience.

A couple of nights after my Gary Danko meal I was with a wine-maker friend in Napa and we went to the Rutherford Grill. Again we sat at the bar, but here we split a portion of ribs and rôtisserie chicken. Very simple and honest fare, but they were incredibly tasty, hugely enjoyable and went perfectly with my friends’ beautifully made Zinfandel.

The bar at The Rutherford Grill

I always seem to appreciate simple food more than the overly fancy. I invariably find it to have more taste and to be more fun to eat. Give me a paella on a beach with some good friends and wine. Give me some deliciously tender ribs and an old friend to drink with or give me a perfectly cooked Boeuf Bourgignon with a dear friend and some good Burgundy.

Perhaps I miss the point, perhaps I lack the fine food gene, but simple, traditional food that is well prepared does it for me over gastro temples every time. Fine dining seems to be a language that I do not understand, good food on the other hand is my language.

A Shock to my System

Sometimes I feel left out and sometimes I just feel annoyed – about Pinot Grigio.

I just don’t get Pinot Grigio, I sort of understand why it sells – it usually doesn’t taste of anything, so the focus of your evening remains the conversation, the wine stays in the background to lubricate your palate.

I need acidity in a white wine though, so the slight bitterness on the finish of virtually every Pinot Grigio is unpleasant to me.

It is fair to say that, with the exception of some rich Friulian examples, I avoid Pinot Grigio if I possibly can. Pinot Gris however can be a very different thing, and I enjoy the occasional taste of that from Alsace or even New Zealand – Pinot Gris seems to me to generally have more depth, honesty and concentration but even then I really want more acidity.

The beautiful Cade Winery

So, the other day I was at a dinner in the Napa Valley, in the most beautiful and most dramatic winery building I have ever seen. The starter was Caesar Salad, I didn’t want to drink a big Napa red with it and the only white on the table was………..a Pinot Grigio.

So, I took my courage in both hands and tried it. Well perhaps I really needed some white wine, perhaps it really was good or perhaps it just went really well with the salad, but I enjoyed it and thought it was a very good wine.

Benessere Pinot Grigio 2008
Napa Valley Carneros
The colour was quite deep, almost gold, hinting at a wine with more depth than most PGs.
The nose was slightly smoky and honeyed with hints of toasted nuts and cream.
The palate was quite fat with a creamy texture, ripe apricot characters and gently spicy with an underlying balancing freshness and acidity. The wine is completely dry.
The creaminess comes from using native yeast and lees ageing and stirring in neutral barrels.The finish is slightly hot, but overall it feels balanced and treads a fine line between being juicy enough to have substance while being fresh enough to give the impression of crispness.

I liked this wine, it was rather good and went very, very well with Caesar Salad – which as you can imagine came as a bit of a shock!

It just goes to show how good it is that I have an open mind.

Benessere (pronounced Ben-es-er-ree in America) is a small winery created by John and Ellen Benish in 1994. They mainly produce wines with an Italian twist to them, including Sangiovese and blends including Sangiovese, Cabernet and Aglianico. They even make a ‘Super-Napan’ blend. The winery and main vineyards are in St Helena, but their Pinot Grigio is grown in the much cooler Carneros area of southern Napa.

As far as I can tell this wine is not available in the UK, but the winery can be contacted here.

The Napa Valley – a world class wine region

I have long had a fascination for wines from California and as Napa Valley is the most famous wine region in California I was honoured to be invited to attend the Master Napa Valley Course 2009.

This was an intensive course spread over three days visiting wineries and vineyards as well as hearing from wine makers and leading wine industry figures. It was especially interesting as only the week before I had attended something similar in Burgundy and was thus able to compare many aspects of these two seemingly different wine regions.

Wine Regions of California

Napa Valley wines generally have a mixed reputation this side of the Atlantic as they tend to be expensive and often give the impression of being the hobby of some rich businessman rather than a true agricultural product. This often doesn’t suit the British psyche as we would generally rather take a shot at someone than laud them, while the Americans tend to honour success.

What I experienced therefore, thrilled and surprised me in equal measure.

Firstly you cannot underestimate just what a beautiful place it is, admittedly most wine regions are very attractive, but I had just been to Burgundy and some of the famous vineyards of the Côte de Nuits are disappointingly drab to look at. So Napa is a very uplifting place to be – even in severe rains its beauty shines through, and boy did it rain on the day I arrived!

It is a beautiful place and it is also astonishingly rural, the Napa is farming country even though the only crop is now wine grapes.

I was astonished to find a real community of interdependent friendly farmers who believe in helping each other and the community of which they form part. Some of these farmers might have become rich from their wine, some may have been rich beforehand and some remain as they always were, but they are still farmers and that is a reassuring thing to find in a wine region.

In truth I had expected these to be winemaker wines with all the attention put on what happens in the winery. Not a bit of it, the care and attention lavished on the vineyards is wonderful, as with the Burgundians there seems to be a real understanding of their terroir and a passion for their land. I heard time and time again about the geology and the rock formations of the Napa that created their soils – in typically efficient American style they had boiled it all down to a pithy bumper sticker slogan: ‘hilltop soils on the valley floor’ as a consequence of landslides.

The interest in and understanding of viticulture was fascinating too, I have never had things so clearly explained. I often get the feeling in Europe that things are done in a certain way because they have always been done that way, whereas here there was real understanding of what they were trying to achieve in the vineyard.

In winemaking terms the variation is incredible and no generalisations are possible. I saw tiny hands on wineries, like Robert Biale, producing small quantities of stunningly delicious wine and I saw vast winery palaces making enormous quantities of wine of very high quality – Domaine Carneros for instance. Of course I saw everything in between as well and everyone I saw impressed me with their commitment to quality.

Don’t get me wrong, that doesn’t mean that I personally liked every wine – I didn’t in Burgundy either, but in Napa I appreciated that everything I tasted was of high quality and made with passion – and that is questioned by some consumers this side of the Atlantic.

I had found Burgundy frustrating as it seemed to me that they simply believed their wines to be the best in the world, to be worth every penny and that everyone wanted them – or ought to want them.

I had believed this to be a French oddity. Well, it seems to me that many Napa Valley producers have a similar mindset. Thinking about it though I came to understand this was not so much about arrogance as a real belief in their terroir and their wines – they think Napa and drink Napa. Of course it must help that the wines rack up Parker points and sell out year after year.

I tasted wines that were beautifully balanced and elegant from producers like Château Montelena, Opus One, Robert Biale, Frank Family Vineyards and Spottswoode to name just a few.

However I also tasted some wines from very famous producers who talked about terroir and what the fruit was like from their vineyards and then completely masked fruit and terroir with too much extraction and far, far, far too much new oak (for my taste). Several times my gums actually hurt from the high levels of new oak, which I thought was a real shame because there was beautifully ripe and concentrated fruit under there somewhere.

As a Brit I am fortunate in being able to let my wine experiences roam the globe as as a consequence no one style dominates my thinking or drinking – I can pick and choose. Therefore the very lean and ungenerous French style can irritate me, but it is their style and they like it. The same can surely be said of the overly generous, high extraction and lots of new oak Napa style. They like it, it suits them and it sells – it also goes very well with ‘fine dining’ as it dominates all the mixed flavours of the food.

I have been lucky, I have now tried a wide range of Napa Valley wines and can see them for what they are. The focus appears to be Cabernet Sauvignon, but they make so much more. The Napa Valley makes quality wines from one of the great wine regions of the world, in an array of styles from many different grape varieties.

There is something for everyone in the Napa Valley and I shall mention some of the wonderful wines I tried over the next few days – so keep coming back.

More information is available from the lovely people at the Napa Valley Vintners Association

The Appalachian appellations – more on Virginian wines

Many of will be aware that I tasted some Virginian wines earlier in the year and was pretty impressed. If you want to read about it again, click here.

Well, the other day I was invited to a specific tasting of Virginia wines and was able to taste 20 wines from the state.

The tasting was carefully put together, concentrating on the grape varieties that are seen as Virginia’s strengths; Viognier, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot.

I found it a very interesting tasting indeed, the quality was very high and there was not a single badly made wine there.

The wines struck me as being very European in weight and feel, the reds were dry and they were red, not black and they were not opaque and would generally be perfect with food.

It is exciting to stumble across a new wine region that is making such progress and producing such good wines. If there is a problem with Virginian wines, it is one of price. The retail price of these wines in the UK ranges from just under £17 to £30 a bottle.

Map of Monticello wineries

Map of Loudoun County wineries

I will not trouble you with all the results, but will tell you about the wines that stood out for me:

Thibaut-Janisson Virginia Sparkling Wine N.V.

100% Chardonnay grapes from the Monticello appellation.

The nose was fresh, with attractive yeasty notes.

The palate was light and fresh with crunchy apple, pear, nuts and some brioche-like characters. Green fruit on the fresh, not overly long finish. 86-87 points.

White Hall Vineyards Viognier 2008

Monticello appellation.

Very pale colour. A clean nose of pear drops giving off a freshness and a touch of aromatics.

The palate was quite fat and textured with herbal, citrus, peach and a dusting of delicate spiciness. The finish was quite rich with enough acidity to leave it fresh (for a Viognier) with a ripe apricot twist at the end. This is an example of the lighter style of Viognier and very enjoyable and balanced it is too. 88 points.

Keswick Vineyards Viognier 2007

Monticello appellation.

Pale colour with green tints. Quite a rich nose with oak, cream and orange-like notes.

The palate was fat and textured, rounded and creamy, well integrated and attractive with fresh lemon and apple balancing richer apricot and peach characters. The mouthfeel is succulent, the oak is well balanced and the finish is quite long. 87 points.

Breaux Vineyards Viognier 2007

Loudoun County.

Greeny gold colour, very bright and attractive.

Not a huge nose, just touches of crunchy green fruit and little flourishes of aromatic spice – generally fresh and clean.

Nicely textured, fat round, succulent and supple. Appealing spice characters come through a delicate, honeyed and oaky, creamy palate.

This was the most complex of the Viogniers and was very attractive indeed with lovely balance of flavour and acidity and it showed a lovely dollop of the classic Viognier peach-like character on the finish. It was especially good when chilled down a little more and I also like the label. 88 points.

Corcoran Vineyards Cabernet Franc 2007

Loudoun County.

Translucent crimson red colour. The nose was not very giving yet, however the texture was very attractive. Supple and smooth with ripe red fruit, slightly tight chalky tannins with a cleansing, balancing point of red fruit acidity. This works very well and is a good meium-bodied, classic dry red wine with a long finish. Much better than the 2006 that I tried in may 2009. 88 points.

White Hall Vineyards Petit Verdot 2007

Monticello appellation.

Bright, raspberry red, translucent colour.

The nose was soft and fragrant with sweet ripe, red fruit.

The palate was juicy and supple with ripe raspberry characters and some touches of oak spice leading to a finish with dried red fruit, toasty oak and smooth tannins. This is quite a simple wine, not showy and not too ambitious, but it does work very well. 87-88 points.

Veritas Vineyards Petit Verdot 2007

Monticello appellation.

In all honesty I found this wine tricky and at first wondered if it could carry its oak. However, as it opened up in the glass I was forced to realise that it did and was a wine to age.

Rich toasty oak and spice on the nose with hints of coffee beans.

The palate was quite supple with ripe raspberry fruit dominating this medium weight wine at first and then the oak is released! However, it is good oak, with a nice texture and the fruit and weight of the wine are up to it, so you are left feeling that the wine is balanced even though it needs time. 87-88 points.

This was a terrific tasting that concentrated on the standard grape varieties of the region, rather than the more unusual and many of the wines were very good indeed.

I hope one day to get over there and to tell you more about this exciting up and coming wine region.

In the meantime more information about Virginian wine in the UK is available from New Horizon wines while some of the wines are available to buy from the Oxford Wine Company.

There is also a superb web site dedicated to the promotion of Virginian wine here.

Philipponnat – a fine Champagne house

Charles Philipponnat was in town the other day and I could not resist the opportunity to try some of his Champagnes.

The Philipponnat family have been growing grapes and making wines in Champagne since 1522. They were originally based in in Aÿ, but Auguste and Pierre Philipponnat moved to nearby Mareuil-sur-Aÿ in 1910, where the Philipponnat Champagne house is still based in the beautiful Château de Mareuil.

Philipponnat has long been a favourite producer of mine, indeed I used to sell their Champagnes when I was a wine merchant, but most of the time I seldom get the chance to try them.

I was delighted therefore that Charles presented a range of six of his cuvées – the bulk of his range. This gave me true insight into the Philipponnat style and demonstrated what elegant and un-showy wines they are.

Irancy – the rural side of Burgundy

My visit to Domaine Saint Germain in Irancy, Burgundy

As discussed before in these pages, I am often attracted to more unusual wines, the less familiar, the less famous. I suppose that I always live in hope that these will prove to be undiscovered gems whose time has come – and sometimes that is the case.

Last week I was on a very interesting tour of Burgundy as a guest of the ever generous Burgundy Wine Board (BIVB). We saw many lovely places and tried some great wines, more of which later, but I was excited about a visit to the far North of the region, the Grand Auxerrois. These are vineyards around the town of Auxerre, just 20 km from Chablis, home to the areas’ most famous wine.

Michelangelo Wine Awards, making South African wine safe..

This summer I was lucky enough to be invited to be a judge at the 2009 Michelangelo International Wine Awards in Stellenbosch, South Africa. This is the only one of the many South African wine competitions that uses only non-South African judges. The awards were created in 1997 by the very entertaining Lorraine Immelman and are run by her and Sue van Wyk, a Cape Wine Master who is one of the foremost authorities on Pinotage.

I was honoured to be be invited and enjoyed the process very much indeed; we worked hard tasting many hundreds of wines and visited lovely wineries, saw wonderful places and met many fascinating people.

Nascetta, naturally

A new grape variety in Barolo!

Perhaps I have a short attention span and crave the new, perhaps I feel that the best and most interesting wines are still out there? Whatever the reason I love stumbling across a new grape variety.

Yesterday I found one from Piedmont that is pretty exciting. Piedmont is by and large famous for red wines, there are good whites that have some fame; Moscato in Asti and Alba, Sauvignon and even some Riesling in Langhe. Langhe though has more success with Chardonnay, particularly unoaked versions in my opinion – they are wonderful with cheese. There is also the Favorita and the Arneis of course, I want to like these grapes as I love the idea of them, but they really leave me cold when I try them.

Of course the most famous dry white wine of the region from indigenous varieties is Gavi and Gavi di Gavi made from the Cortese grape. The flaw with this is that traditionally Gavi was part of Liguria, seemingly it is only in Piedmont for modern political reasons and in truth Gavi as a quality wine only dates back to the 1960s anyway.

So then, what did people in the village of Barolo do in the past when they wanted to drink something that was not red and tannic? Well, it seems that they sipped some Nascetta.

This is a grape variety indigenous to Barolo itself and is seemingly related to the Vermentino. Back in the past growers were less fussy about what grapes they grew, if indeed they knew at all and it is often surprising to a modern consumer how recent the relationship between some Italian regions and their key grape really is. So, before Nebbiolo was considered the only grape to be grown in Barolo it appears that Nascetta shared the hallowed ground.

It has since virtually died out, but was kept alive for experimental reasons by the University of Turin and is currently enjoying something of a very modest renaissance and has been replanted by 6 growers within Barolo. Of course it cannot be called Barolo, so the D.O.C. of Langhe is available to it, but at the moment Nascetta is not a permitted grape, so it is labelled as a Langhe Bianco. I understand that from the 2010 vintage Nascetta is a permitted varietal in the Langhe D.O.C.

I was fortunate enough to get to try the example made by Rivetto, they create some superb Barolos and Barbera, as well as Nebbiolo d’Alba, but it was the Nascetta that captured my imagination yesterday:

Rivetto Matirè 2008

Langhe Bianco, 100% Nascetta

The Matirè vineyard was only planted in 2005 and the 2008 is only the second vintage and the first to be exported

The nose is delightfully fragrant and honeyed with mineral notes and wafts of ripe melon.

The aromatics put me in mind of a very good Albariño or even a steely Riesling.

The palate is well structured with good weight and texture, succulent and fleshy white peach characters  balanced by lovely fresh acidity. It is very well balanced with the touch of oak just adding richness and complexity rather than obvious oaky characters.

This is a very attractive and expressive wine with a pure minerality on the finish.

I genuinely liked this wine very much indeed and would love to try it with a meal. The whole wine struck me as being somewhat akin to a very fine Godello, but with more minerality and finesse.

89 points.

Available from Ellis of Richmond.

Chilean Syrah to Savour

Attending today’s boutique wine tasting I tried a really exciting Syrah:

Casas del Bosque Gran Reserva Syrah 2007
Casablanca Valley

The colour is an enticing and lustrous, opaque blackberry blue-black.

The nose is rich, creamily ripe and fruity with pure cassis and blackberry notes.

The palate is mouth filling and supple showing ripe black fruit, smooth tannins and a delicate dusting of spicy oak and white pepper characters as well as savoury herb nuances.

The finish is long, smooth and deliciously fruit filled while the overall sensation is elegant and fine.

I think this is very good example of Syrah and find it really interesting that a cool area like Casablanca is finding its way with this grape which is relatively new to Chile – 90 points.

Around £12.99 a bottle.

Posted from my Iphone at the Boutique Wineries Tasting.