South African whites and beef butties
Friday 3 July
I’m focusing on South African Sauvignon Blancs and Chenins in my blog today after a comprehensive tasting organised by Wines of South Africa yesterday.
There’s been a lot of hype re South African Sauvignon lately, so expectations were high. The style is definitely not European as it has often has pungent gooseberry and grassy fruit, and the alcohol levels are too high to be from the Loire. But it’s quite different to New Zealand too: it doesn’t have that tropicality or pyrazine character of Marlborough (here comes the science, drop down to the next paragraph if you don’t want to know! Pyrazines are flavour compounds with a green capsicum/canned asparagus or leafy character and are commonly found in Cab Sauv and Sauv Blanc. The character, in Jancis’ words, ‘drops markedly during ripening, as does the herbaceous character, and more so with increased sun exposure…concentrations are higher for grapes grown in cooler climates’).
The style was varied in quality and character with Jordan’s in Stellenbosch even making an oaked SB. Why you’d want to put Sauvignon Blanc in oak I don’t know, but the Jordan’s are decent winemakers so there must be a good reason (I will email to ask and let you know…). Typically the gooseberry and grassy character came through on the better wines with some apple sauce too. Mmmm, apple sauce. If I had to make a couple of criticisms, it would be that on a number of wines, the acid was too high – almost abrasive – giving my teeth a real bruising. A few had excessive alcohol levels too. I don’t want a 14%+ Sauvignon Blanc thank you. Screwcaps were out in force and I have to admit there were struck match/rotten egg aromas on some of the wines (more science: hydrogen sulphide and mercaptans with those egg aromas tend to form under screwcap’s anaerobic conditions).
Generally the standard was quite good. I doled out quite a lot of bronze and silver marks but the only gold-medal worthy wine was the 2008 Cederberg Sauvignon Blanc (£12.15, sawinesonline) which also took a regional trophy at the Decanter World Wine Awards this year. It had a lovely concentrated core of grassy and spicy gooseberry fruit with mouthwatering acidity and, unlike some of its fellow Sauvignon Blancs, the alcohol was beautifully integrated.
Chenin Blanc
This was another mixed bag from unoaked light styles to full-on oak dominant. Chenin Blanc generally has racy acidity and a Chardonnay-like weight and texture in the mouth, and this came through on many wines. Those retailing around the £6-7 mark were rather dull and a bit dilute. Once you get above £10, quality inevitably gets better. These higher quality wines had quite a lot of toasty and nutty oak on them as well as peach and apple skin fruit, slightly warm alcohol, and tight acid on the finish. They also showed good concentration of fruit and a long finish.
I couldn’t find a gold winner in the pack but there were plenty of silvers: 2008 Cederberg (£10.90, sawinesonline), 2008 Beaumont Hope Marguerite (£11.99, Forth Wines), 2007 Jordan (£8.99, sawinesonline; Noel Young Wines), 2007 Bellingham’s The Bernard Series (£9.99, Majestic) and, probably my top wine was 2007 Simonsig Chenin Avec Chene Blanc (£11.99, sawinesonline).
The reds
Pinotage and Shiraz was also shown but by that time fatigue and hunger had kicked in, and the beef butties at the tasting ended up being more appealing!
I’m not a tasting muppet after all…
Judging update from my last post: we got our results back from our judging day with the AWRI today. And I’m happy to report there were only three out of 30 people at the tasting that were more reliable than me at the day – and with more than six MWs in the room – I’ll take that and run. (Reliability, in the words of the AWRI is a measure of scoring consistency, or the ability of a judge to reproduce results on different occasions. A value close to +1 indicates good consistency, a score close to 0 indicates a random scoring pattern, and a score close to –1 indicates that the score given on one occasion was the opposite of that given on another. I got 0.60).
Wine judging highs and lows
Tuesday 30 June
I took up the offer from the Australian Wine Research Institute (AWRI) to attend a one-day version of its Advanced Wine Assessment Course for budding show judges yesterday.
A mixed bag of journalists, wine buyers, and sommeliers turned up to the event looking slightly anxious and were presented with two flights of 20 wines to judge during the day. The variation in marks from gold down to commended for virtually every wine (and, often the disparity with the medals they won at the International Wine Challenge) was an eye-opener.
To throw a spanner in the works it turned out all the wines in each flight were duplicated, and one national journalist, who shall remain unnamed, admitted they gave the same wine both a bronze and a gold. I think we probably need to go on the four-day version of the course.
While I did pretty well in the main with consistent marking and in line with the majority, I am prepared to confess I gave the 2008 Nottage Hill Riesling a gold medal, writing it had kerosene and lime notes, lovely concentration, was well defined with fresh acidity on the finish. Never did I think I would say this, but… Go Nottage Hill!! Fortunately, one other person thought it was worthy of a gold too – none other than Jancis Robinson MW, OBE would you believe (big sigh of relief that I’m not a complete tasting muppet)! In the International Wine Challenge, it managed a lowly commended. Oh dear.
Another wine had way too much brettanomyces leatheriness for me. The guidelines stated faulty wines shouldn’t be given an award, so it didn’t get one. But others loved its ‘farmyardy’ character, and it won a gold at the IWC. What does this tell you?
So, we all have different palates and, as any wine judge will admit, there are flaws to the process.
The AWRI has already put 800 people through the full course in Oz and it will probably be held in the UK again next year. Do it, if you can get an invite.
Off to dinner with Groote Post tonight. More on that later…
Henschke whites hit the spot
Sunday 28 June
The Eden Valley’s Henschke family is best known for its red wines but the whites were the biggest surprise when I met up with owners Prue and Stephen last week.
The couple’s icon wine, Hill of Grace, and its Mount Edelstone (both 100% Shiraz from 90 year old plus vines) usually take the headlines. Yes, they were both fabulous wines – but with all the hype surrounding them, you’d expect that.
Its 2006 Eden Valley Riesling a.k.a Julius and 2007 Adelaide Hills Sauvignon Blanc ‘Coralinga’ were deeee-licious. Both were very European in style – delicate and restrained - with fresh acidity and a very reasonable 12.5% alcohol.
It would have been difficult to guess where they were from – and Australia wouldn’t immediately spring to mind. I asked others where they would have placed the Sauvignon Blanc if they’d tasted it blind - Observer columnist Tim Atkin MW suggested northern Italy while Decanter’s Tina Gellie said Austria.
Its noble rot Riesling was also delicious with just 11% alcohol and zesty acidity, making an unusually refreshing sweetie.
Biodynamic bits
Next year, Prue and Stephen should get their organic certification. They are also working biodynamically but I’m not convinced by some of its tenets, so I ask viticulturalist Prue: isn’t it a load of mumbo-jumbo? Her response? “It’s the best-ever composting system created.” In her view, biodynamics is mainly about improving the organic matter of the soil with the compost she makes using cow manure, grape skins and green waste. She also uses biodynamic preparations but admits she isn’t sure what they do – but it works. So, forget the lunar phases, it’s all about what comes out the rear end of a cow!
Screwcap and the next big thing…
In 2002, Stephen put the Hill of Grace under screwcap. An icon red wine under screwcap? Few would be so brave. Stephen said: “We are convinced by screwcap and we could not justify putting a wine under cork when you have so much product recall. When you have Hill of Grace the complaint situation is really serious because it is a treasure. But I admit screwcap isn’t pretty.”
Unlike many producers, Stephen is not convinced screwcap is the be-all and end-all of closures. I get the impression that many Kiwi and Aussie producers have converted to screwcap and see it as the ultimate closure. However, Henschke trialled its 2004 Henry’s Seven under glass closure Vino Lok for the first time. Its 2005 Hill of Roses and 2005 Tappa Pass Shiraz have since been sealed under Vino Lok. Unfortunately the Vino Lok is prohibitively expensive and at the London Wine Fair, the Vino Lok team admitted it would always be a premium closure. I mention this to Stephen, who agrees but argues if enough Aussie producers adopted it, economy of scale would bring down those prices.
Wine fair round up
Thursday 14 May
Three days, two sore feet and one headache later, the London Wine Fair is over. Thank the Lord.
So what have been the news highlights of the fair? Bibendum’s social networking seminar was an eye-opener and now I’m scared by how much more there is beyond blogging and tweeting. There aren’t enough hours in the day. I am tweeting now - see my Twitter page here - so become a follower and I’ll keep you updated with the latest stories as soon as I get them.
If you are already a follower of the Gibb Gospel, you’ll have been one of the first to hear David Cox is taking over as the head of Wines of New Zealand. I’m so pleased for him and it’s a good appointment. I can’t wait to see how it works out with twin brother Michael Cox as head of Wines of Chile UK and David at the Kiwi helm. I’ve suggested a dance off between Chile and New Zealand with Michael renowned for being the wine world’s John Travolta/Michael Flatley..
Also interesting to see Tyrrell’s won’t be bottling any 2008 reds this year (check out decanter.com for my story). It’s likely other producers including Hope won’t be bottling any reds either and will move straight on to the 2009 when it’s ready.
And the wines? Well, a fellow first year on the MW course is a proud Slovenian, so he persuaded me to visit the Verus winery stand. And I was pleasantly surprised. After being shown where Slovenia was on the map (geography never was my best subject), I discovered a top notch Sauv Blanc and an interesting Furmint. The labels are cool are modern too. Go Slovenia!
Sorry to name drop, but I got to taste Penfold’s Grange 2004. The joys of being a journalist. Bloody marvellous. It’s one of those wines that lures you in, then makes you happy for the rest of the day.It’s nowhere near ready yet having just been released. But if you are looking for something drinking well, the new Koonunga Hill Autumn Riesling is gorgeous with a honeyed nose, and loads of lime and fruit salad. At 11.5%, you can drink a whole bottle. It’s been repackaged and comes in an old-school brown Alsatian bottle with a 70s label.
Anyway, that’s all folks. Heaps more to report but I’ll do that over the coming week. Time to put my two sore feet up and take an aspirin.
Grange, Gago and rebeccagibb.com
Friday 1 May
Rebeccagibb.com launches on the same day as Penfolds Grange releases its 2004 vintage so it seems an apt way to kick things off. I hope the website and I will mature as gracefully as the Grange looks set to do.
The 2004 has already been hyped up by Australian wine critics and is expected to retail between AUD$520-$650 a bottle. I guess I’ll have to marry a rich man to pay if I want to get my hands on it.
I caught up with the affable Peter Gago, chief winemaker at Penfolds, last week.to ask him a bit more about the vintage and the future of Grange. According to Peter, the 2004 is a cracker (he would say that, wouldn’t he?) and compares it to the 1996 and 1986 vintage. He points out he made two special bin wines in 2004 (Block 42 and Bin 68) which is a good indicator to the calibre of the vintage.
With the 2008 en primeur Bordeaux frenzy calming, I ask Gago why Grange doesn’t go down the en-primeur route? ‘We have thought about en primeur,’ he admits. ‘We released the special bins en primeur electronically, to dip a toe in the water. It’s an ongoing issue and is always up for review,’ he says.
‘But I look at the en primeur system in Bordeaux and it’s a bit of a joke,’ he adds. You can’t really argue with him.
For the moment, Grange will be sold on release. But watch this space….
