Don’t Judge a Wine by the Label…

On a hot day I almost always shy away from red wine and head for a white or, especially when I am on holiday somewhere hot, a rosé – sometimes even a beer

However, recently I was fortunate enough to try a red wine from Spain that was delicious on a hot day and was hugely enjoyable with a light meal of steak and salad.

This bottle was from a terrifc bodega in Rioja Alavesa, Bodegas Remírez de Ganuza which really is producing some of the most exciting Rioja around at the moment and is building a huge following and growing reputation for its great wines – in my opinion they make one of the very finest white Riojas there is.

The wine I tried this time was their most basic red:

Riesling – a world tour

Riesling growing on the banks of the Moselle in Luxembourg

Riesling is a bit like Marmite – you either love it or hate it. Most of us in the wine business love Riesling, indeed many of us would class it as one of our favourite grapes, right up there with Pinot Noir.

Ask most consumers to list their favourite grapes, however and it is pretty unusual for Riesling to feature at all.

Personally I love Riesling, I find it a grape that I can get passionate about. What is more I seem to like all styles of Riesling, whether steely dry, off-dry, medium-dry or richly sweet – all can be wonderful in their place and make refreshing Summer wines.

Sud de France – synchronised wine tasting

Well, this is a first for me. I usually avoid instant blogging or live blogging – indeed I do not really regard my blog as a blog, it is after all not a diary or log. I normally write, what I hope are considered articles. Unusually, today everything on this page is being done in situ at the time.

I thought it would be interesting to take part in the Sud de France Live Wine Tasting. It was arranged to celebrate the fourth anniversary of the establishment of the Sud de France promotional umbrella. This body promotes the region of Languedoc-Roussillon and the food and wine products from those regions.

New York – wines to inspire you

Canandaigua Lake

Amazingly most UK consumer’s concept of wine from the United States of America starts and stops with California. Certainly California is the most important of the wine producing states, but there are some superb wines made elsewhere in the US too.

Some consumers are aware of wines from Oregon and possibly Washington State, but usually my students are astonished when I tell them about wines from Virginia, Texas, Utah or New York state.

Wine is actually made from freshly gathered grapes in all 48 of the continental states as well as in Hawaii, only Alaska misses out by being too cold.

Austria – fascinating wines

I have recently had some experiences of Austrian wines and they were so good I thought that I would share them with you.

I was invited to a lunch and tasting at Merry Widows Wine. This is the brainchild of Canadian born musician Linn Rothstein. Basically her idea was to offer really good wines in smaller sizes for when drinking alone, so they offer a range of wines in 25cl and 50cl as well as full bottles.

Interestingly her career in music took Linn to Austria, where she was invited to a wedding and found herself sitting next to a winemaker. They were drinking his wines and Linn enjoyed them, took a case home to London where everyone she tasted them with thought they were something special.

French Sauvignon Blanc – the fight back

Clos de Fontenay, Touraine

Funny grape Sauvignon Blanc. Perceptions of it have changed almost completely over my 26 years in the wine world.

I remember disliking Sauvignon Blanc intensely – I considered it a hard edged, mean, lean kind of grape that made wines that were not even slightly cuddly or enjoyable.

After a little while I managed to try the better examples of wines like Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé and realised that these were good wines, that were stony and mineral and not overly generous in the fruit department.

Please forgive me the generalisations that are about to come your way, but there is a great deal of truth in them – in my opinion.

Traditionally the Fench do not favour overtly fruity wines. The only classic French wine that is fruity by nature and design, Beaujolais, is more acidic and tartly fruity than richly fruity – which is what modern UK consumers understand by the term.

Lovely Wine from Luxembourg

The Moselle in Wormeldange

I am always drawn to the more unusual wines, so how could I resist this bottle from Luxembourg.

I have always known that Luxembourg makes wine, I have tried a few over the years – mainly sparkling, I’ve even sold a few in my time, but it’s still pretty unusual to find them easily available – so I thought that I would share the experience with you.

My general feeling about Luxembourg wine is that they often lean towards an Alsace style, as well as using the same grape varieties as Alsace – which is not far away – but there is none of the sweetness that seems to be creeping into Alsace wines nowadays.

If you travel south-west along the Mosel from Koblenz, where it leaves the Rhine, you pass through some of the greatest wine towns in the world and some of the most beautiful vineyards. Zeltingen, Bernkastel, Piesport and many others – all deserve a little exploring, before you arrive at the wonderful city of Trier. When I did the journey I stopped there, for a rather good beer as it happens, but if you keep on, the river changes direction and changes its spelling – it becomes the Moselle.