Video Interview with John Belsham, Foxes Island

John Belsham is a man of many talents. First and foremost he is the founder and man behind Foxes Island wines in Marlborough, New Zealand. The first wine he produced was a Chardonnay, back in 1992, and since then he has secured and planted plots of Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc and of course Pinot Noir in the Wairau plains of Marlborough. His wines are some of the best we have tasted from New Zealand, and testament to what can be produced their given a conscientious and gentle approach.

Voyager Estate - Harvest News pt.2

Voyager Estate Harvest Update - 23rd Feb 2012

Harvest has been progressing very nicely with consistent warm weather and no rainfall. The heat of January has subsided and the past couple of weeks have seen perfect ripening conditions for Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon.

Our Chardonnay harvest is completed and the wine is fermenting beautifully in barrel.

Currently we are busy harvesting Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon which is right in the fruit flavour window we look for with these two varieties. Tropical fruit flavours of passionfruit and guava with some citrus and white stonefruit  from the Sauvignon Blanc, combine perfectly with the citrus and straw from the Semillon. The Sauvignon Blanc provides aromatics and vibrancy whilst the Semillon is important for palate weight and texture. Around 20% of the Semillon component will go to new French oak for fermentation, whilst the rest of the blend is fermented in stainless steel tank to retain freshness and vibrancy.

The most amazing thing about this vintage is the early tannin ripeness we are seeing in the reds. Similar to the great 2010 vintage, the tannins and seeds are ripe already, which will enable early harvest on the reds and more elegant fruit flavours with lower alcohols. Fingers are crossed for an exceptional red wine vintage!.

Cheers,

Steve James.

Barolo Brass Monkeys

My annual pilgrimage to Piedmont is one of my absolute favourite trips, often occurring in mid March when the snow has been melted away by the increasingly warm sunshine, Spring is very much in the air. I always wondered whether it was the time of the year that made me feel that extra level of enthusiasm for the people, region and their wines. The 2012 voyage was to prove a stern test. My journey out there last week, earlier than usual, was accompanied by tough conditions, as the driver of this mini no doubt discovered. There was heaps of snow and minus 13 degree temperatures.

However the wines, predominantly the 2008 Barolos, passed the test with flying colours. The structure in Barolo is very similar to Burgundy, small artisan wine producers making individual vineyard expressions of, largely, one unique Barolo variety, Nebbiolo. The wines are clearly more tannic than Burgundy in their youth and more alcoholic, but otherwise there is often as beguiling and fragrant an aromatic profile, similarly light to mid deep colours but with enormous intensity of flavour and a marked difference in taste depending on the vineyard the grapes are grown in.

For me, time and again, the height of vinous pleasure comes from wine made out of a single grape variety, grown at its extremes, that expresses a site-specific complexity and character. Pinot Noir in Burgundy, Riesling in Germany and, of course, Nebbiolo in Piedmont.

I was totally seduced by the 2008 Nebbiolo based wines. Admittedly I was fortunate enough to taste at some of the greatest addresses in the region, including Clerico, Voerzio, Altare, Paolo Scavino, Vietti, Sandrone, G Rinaldi and G Conterno. Perhaps further down the pyramid there may well be variability, more so than in 07, but I found that with quality wine growers their efforts were every bit as enjoyable as the 2007s. The 07s are so seductive, smooth and complex. 2008s are clearly different but equally seductive. The very late and cool season, many growers weren't finishing harvest until end of October, was perfect for the late-ripening Nebbiolo and has resulted in one of the most aromatic vintages of the last ten years. The wines are fresh, like 1998, but have more stuffing and tannin, without the austerity of 2006 or 1996.

So many of these great Barolos hugely impressed me and had me reaching for my glass for another sip (which in my view should be the function of any truly great wine.) However the single most surprising bottle was from a lesser known area. The Rocche d'Ampsej Riserva from Matteo Correggia 2008 shows just what greatness the under-appreciated Roero region can achieve. The perfumed, poised, bitter-sweet Nebbiolo mix of red fruit, flowers and richness I found totally beguiling.

I much look forward to our full offer of the new releases in September 2012.

Voyager Estate - Harvest News

Steve James, our good friend at the ever popular Voyager Estate has once again been in touch with news of the harvest in Margaret River. Due to some technical difficulties this is a little late to be posted, but there will no doubt be more to follow:

2nd February -  2012

Due to one of the hottest Januarys on record, we commenced our 2012 grape harvest today - a record 5 days earlier than our previous earliest vintage 2007.

Consistently warm to hot weather with mild nights has ripened the Chardonnay fruit quite quickly, which is developing very good flavour at low sugar levels. Due to our early harvest regime the acidity levels are very good, and the first block of fruit picked has lovely lime/lemon flavours which this block consistently displays. This block is planted to Chardonnay Dijon Clone 95, and whilst not overly powerful in fruit intensity, it offers a more textural and structural element to our wine. It is perfectly suited to fermentation in barrel with lots of solids and, allowing the indigenous yeasts to do their thing.

We have a few cooler days forecast, followed by some warmer conditions later next week, so I expect harvest will be in full swing by early to mid next week.

All varieties are through veraison and, the early cane and seed ripeness on the red varieties is the best I have seen!.

I am sure next week will have a lot more action with quite a few Chardonnay blocks very close to ripeness.

It is great to be underway and, embracing another early and potentially compressed harvest period ,which will keep us all quite busy for the next 6 to 8 weeks.

Steve James, Voyager Estate

Southwold 2012

The great and the good of the wine trade (and yours truly) recently descended upon the little Suffolk seaside town of Southwold for yet another epic blind tasting.

This year was the turn of the 2008s. Initially tasted in the spring of 2009 in the wake of Lehman Brothers’ collapse and the first credit crunch, some merchants boycotted the tastings altogether. J&B made the annual pilgrimage, and with certain caveats, we liked what we saw. It was evident that the estates with the best terroir and the deepest pockets fared best. Some lesser properties displayed green notes - not unsurprising given the cool growing season.

Angelus released before Easter and the First Growths released soon after at very attractive prices. This gave the campaign some impetus, but it was when Robert Parker raved about the wines that the campaign really took off. In retrospect, Big Bob was a little over zealous; the two subsequent vintages, which can both stake claims to being potential vintages of the century, rather overshadowed the 2008s, so the downgrades came as no surprise.

Over the three days we tasted over 250 wines by commune. I am not permitted to disclose average or other individual’s scores, but I can disclose by own thoughts, so what follows is my personal view from the tasting and is not necessarily the consensus of the group. 2008 is a very mixed bag. There are many highlights, particularly in the northern Medoc and Pomerol. Wines that showed extremely well for me included: Cos d’Estournel, Montrose, Calon Segur, Lafite, Mouton, Lynch Bages, Pontet Canet, Pichon Lalande, Leoville Las Cases, Leoville Poyferre, Langoa and Leoville Barton, Ducru Beaucaillou, Gruaud Larose, Lagrange, Palmer, Margaux, Haut Brion, La Mission Haut Brion, Carmes Haut Brion, Domaine de Chevalier, Malartic Lagraviere, Le Pin, Petrus, Eglise Clinet, VCC, Evangile, Providence, La Fleur Petrus, Hosanna, Cheval Blanc and Tertre Roteboeuf. Particular mention should go to Angelus and Pichon Baron, both were real over-performers.

As to the character of the wines, there were a few changes and themes. I noticed a sweeter character to the fruit in the flights of St Estephes and St Juliens, however, this was not evident in the Pauillac flights. I have no evidence, but estates are permitted to add up to 15% of the final blend from other vintages and there was a decidedly 2009 style to some of these... They will no doubt give much early drinking pleasure. The top wines from the Medoc are more structured than I remember. This could be a result of press wine added to the blend. Tannins are ripe, but they are big and solid and acidities are high. This should bode well for long keeping, but one required a bit of stamina to taste through some of these flights (maybe I’ve just gone soft after the 2009s and 2010s...).

After the palate-pounding two days, we tasted a couple of flights of Sauternes to finish. The first flight of less well known estates didn’t really do much for me. The final flight including the likes of Yquem, Climens and de Fargues was considerably more interesting. It was a tiny crop, I believe yields were as low as 3hl/ha and most of the fruit came from the first two picks as latter tries encountered problems with frost. Yquem, Suduiraut and Guiraud topped my list; all displayed ample sweetness, lovely precision, pure flavours and great balance. It is a somewhat overlooked Sauternes vintage, but don’t dismiss the 2008s, these are charming wines.

Un Mot: Burgundy 2010 (part two)

The questioning continues...

Un Mot: Burgundy 2010 (part one)

In which we ask some of Burgundy's greatest wine makers the impossible question, namely, can you sum up your 2010s with a single word? Part two to follow...

Mouton Rothschild unveils their 2009 label.

British artist Anish Kapoor has been added to the list of modern artists, including: Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dali, Marc Chagall, Andy Warhol, Francis Bacon and Lucian Freud to be commissioned to produce a work for the Mouton Rothschild label. Mr Kapoor was born in Mumbai in 1954, but has resided in the UK since 1972. He won the Turner Prize in 1991, but is probably best known by Londoners for his 2002 commission, Marsyas, which filled the vast Turbine Hall at the Tate Modern.

Anish Kapoor is described as being ‘renowned for his enigmatic sculptural forms that permeate physical and psychological space. Kapoor's inventiveness and versatility have resulted in works ranging from powdered pigment sculptures and site-specific interventions on wall or floor, to gigantic installations both in and outdoors. Throughout, he has explored what he sees as deep-rooted metaphysical polarities: presence and absence, being and non-being, place and non-place and the solid and the intangible’. http://www.tate.org.uk/

The Chateau’s press release described the commission as, ‘at once austere and flamboyant, the gouache he has created for Mouton Rothschild 2009 expresses the fertile thrust of plant life, the result of an intense encounter between matter and light’.

Burgundy 2008 - Burgfest (cont): Clos Vougeot and Gevrey Chambertin

CLOS VOUGEOT

Two full flights of Clos Vougeot were tasted, 17 wines in total. What we saw was a little inconsistent with many falling short of their Grand Cru status. The easy winner on the day was the stellar Anne Gros example - masculine, broad shouldered packed with blueberry and bramble, real Grand Cru depth of fruit, densely textured with outstanding length and complexity . Other good Clos Vougeots were also from members of the Gros family, Micheal and Bernard and negocient Jadot.

GEVREY CHAMBERTIN

To cover the Premieres and Grand Crus of Gevrey ten flights were tasted. In no other village is the interpretation of the same terroirs so diverse. The modernist black coloured, high extract styles were still represented but with fewer extreme examples than in previous years. On the other hand, whole bunch ( with stalks ) fermentation is becoming widespread, throwing in another dimension for the tasting team to take into account.

The lower lying 1er Crus were covered in two flights. They as a group were not as exiting as those from further up the slopes but did include some outstandingly good wines. Amongst them were Corbeaux, Denis Bachelet; fresh, elegant yet with explosive sweet fruit tannins. Cherbaudes, Louis Boillot; refined, beautifully defined dark berry fruits yet powerful long finish. Clos du Fonteny, Bruno Clair; sweet spice and herbs, exquisitely poised with big structure and a great future ahead.

Two flights from the higher 1er crus showed off the qualities of the vintage to a consistently higher degree. The Clos St. Jacques' of Rousseau and Clair have sensual qualities yet density of fruit and supreme complex tannins. The Cazetier, Faiveley; restrained, elegant and all on pleasure and the Arnaud Mortet, Champeaux; bursting with blackberry and sloe. It packs quite a punch.

The next flight included Charmes, Mazoyeres, Chapelle, Griotte, Mazis and Ruchottes. Non of them hit the heights of the previous flight of the ariere Cote (Cazetiers + Clos St Jacques) with the best just falling short. Unsuprisingly the Charmes of Rousseau and Denis Bachelet were outstandingly good, taut, mineral with great purity and length of flavour. Also noteworthy was the Ruchottes of Christophe Roumier; silky textured with exquisite 'petit fruits 'that evolved beautifully on the palate.

The Latricieres flight was impressive, the ripeness of the vintage combining admirably with the mineral edgy style of the appellation. Drouhin Laroze has made a wonderfully seductive example, sweet fruits , mineral complexity - pure pleasure. Another fine wine from Faiveley endorsed the revival of this Domaine, dark berry fruits and fine tannins ensuring elegance.

A flight of 6 Clos de Beze and 8 Chambertin followed. The overall quality was brilliant, many receiving 92+ scores from me. The complexity of ripe fruits , intensity of flavours and exquisit fine firm tannins, when combined, make for superb Grand Crus. If anything the flight of Beze had the edge, showing rich textures and sweeter plush fruits compared with the more structured drier Chambertins. The most striking example being the fabulous Beze of Rousseau which received my top mark overshadowing the more tannic solid Chambertin. Indeed the Beze flight included excellent examples from Perot Minot, Bruno Clair, Faiveley, and Drouhin Laroze.

Burgundy 2010 - Small is Beautiful

Burgundy may still be thick with fog, but there is something crystal clear here - 2010 is an excellent vintage.

I write this with one more tasting to go early tomorrow (friday) morning having spent two weeks here seeing circa 45 Domaines and tasting over 200 wines. Thats alot, but the fatigue is not too bad, in fact I even feel a gentle spring in the step. These have simply been easy, joyous wines to taste, red and white, which is amazing considering their concentration and racy acidities.

It largely all began with frost (for some) and uneven flowering (for all.) The resulting crop was to be one of the smallest on record for many, equalling that of 2003. A good thing, too, in the end, as the small crop ripened brilliantly despite the gloomy summer. Harvest was a good three weeks later than in 2009, fine but cool weather permitted growers the patience to wait for the perfect picking date. That said, towards the end of the harvest, some Chardonnay growers had to hurry as a dry electric storm suddenly accelerating ripening rapidly. The Reds are concentrated, they exhibit great freshness and high acidities, which you barely notice so smothered are they in pure ripe fruit. The tannins are present and fortifying but are so smooth that they do not jar. These are seamless, almost weightless wines of sheer brilliance and balance. The vintage might not have the out and out concentration of 2005, but they should be long-lived nonetheless and despite being the polar opposite of the lovely 2009, it is every bit its equal (and, for some, better!) Cote d'or whites are concentrated, very concentrated. Their acidities are as racy as those of 2007 but with a great deal more richness and depth. In both colours 2010 should go down as an absolute classic.

Such was the consistency accross the region's (top) growers it is very hard to pick out highlights. Those that immediately come to mind are Cecile Tremblay, Marquis d'Angerville, Follin-Arbelet, Chevillon, Sauzet, Bachelet Monnot, Liger Belair, Grivot, Bruno Clair, Rousseau, Roumier, Mugnier and not least Denis Mortet - young Arnaud Mortet has made a magnificent range that firmly puts him in the top tier of Burgundy producers.

For Reds, there seems to be no particular pattern save that I tasted many excellent wines from Clos de Vougeot. There were many excellent whites, too, but Corton Charlemagnes really stood out for their brilliance and consistency.

Keep an eye on the blog over the coming month for the growers views on the vintage in "un mot," a video to be posted here soon.

Triple Zero, Jacky Blot - Jancis Robinson's Wine of the Week

We love Jacky Blot's wines. From his superb reds at Domaine de la Butte, to his stunningly good value whites at Domaine de le Taille aux Loups, his wines always seem to hit the spot. A  bottle of Remus Plus 2007 drunk just this Tuesday was stunningly good for a wine of that price and seemed, to all those that drank it, to have plenty of gas in the tank for future ageing.

Jancis' wine of the week this week is Jacky's Fizz, Triple Zero. It's a top drop and offers typically great value from this pillar of the Loire. We have stock in the warehouse ready for immediate delivery.

To read the full article on Jancis's site click here

Krug - quality obsessed and please don't mention the oak!

Last week's visit to Krug was an enlightening and inspiring trip.
I am very sensitive to the silver-tongued and often very skillfull marketing speak of many Grand Marque Champagne houses. Together with marketing smoke and mirrors, their skill lies also in blending and producing Champagnes that meet people's expectations with impressive consistency. Krug, however, are supposed to be a little different and, reassuringly, my trip confirmed exactly that. They may be owned by a giant of the luxury goods industry but it has been sensitively kept in family hands, with Olivier Krug at the helm. Talking passionately about the vineyards in the middle of a visit to Krug Clos du Mesnil, Olivier made the close connection of the Krug family to the vines and their terroirs very clear.

A tour of the cellars revealed the incredible parts that can make up Grand Cuvee. First stop in the winery is the barrel room, where all Krug undergoes the primary fermentation. These are old barrels so the aim is not to bring any direct oak flavour or "fat" to the wines, Olivier stressed, they are more a function of Krug's painstaking plot by plot approach to harvest and vinifcation. These smaller vessels also add complexity by allowing a certain limited amount of oxygen contact. This approach is further highlighted by the battery of micro steel tanks in the cuverie. The oldest single wine there being a 16 yo parcel of Grand Cru Bouzy, waiting for its call to the Grand Cuvee stage.

Apart from tasting a fascinating Grand Cuvee from bottle and magnum, which as of next year will have id codes on the back of each bottle from which you can tell disgorgement date, we were also introduced to the 2000 vintage of Krug and Clos Mesnil. The former was stylish, impressive, rich but composed and already very user friendly now but with the guts to suggest a good ageing potential, the latter was a sheer delight - the mineral, chalk and lemon-stuffed green olive character of Clos Mesnil is so strong and ever present in all of its wines. The 2000 has this in spades whilst showing the round, pliable character of the vintage. Another example of Krug's fastidious approach to quality was the 1999 Clos du Mesnil, having disgorged it they took a very late decision not to release it. Its a good drop but Krug just simply did not feel it had the requisite Clos du Mesnil character to warrant an official release.

The final piece de resistance was the Clos d'Ambonnay 1998, an excellent red fruited Champagne of great intensity and, no doubt, with a price tag to match!

A room full of primo uomos and divas (the wines, not the merchants...)

Yes, it is that time of year again when the Bordeaux UGC company rolls into London for a short residency at the Royal Opera House. This year was the turn of the magnificent 2009 vintage, now in bottle*. From barrel the now fabled 2009s seduced us with unerring, sumptuous textures, precision, decadence and dare we say it, sex appeal. Simply, they were like nothing else we had tasted from Bordeaux – so could they live up to our expectations?

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Burgundy 2008: Burgfest (cont) Corton & Nuits St Georges

CORTON

When tasting Corton at such events it’s worth remembering that the Hill of Corton lies several kilometres north of Beaune whereas Pommard and Volnay are equidistant south. In terms of Burgundy these terroirs are poles apart.  The two flights of Corton were a step up in both quality and uniformity. The slightly later harvesting had resulted in riper more concentrated wines.

Head of the pack of two flights was the Clos du Roi from Etienne de Montille; high toned bitter sweet red fruits and suave fruity tannins. Only a half point behind were the two Bressandes of Tollot Beaut; damson and bramble fruits and long fine grained tannins and Follin Arbelet; intense berry fruits, graceful, mineral and complex.  Also showing great improvement over previous years was the Corton Clos des Corton from Faiveley, youthful and showing slight reduction it nevertheless has potential.

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Harvest at Château Providence

Château Providence is one of the jewels in the J&B portfolio. This JP Moueix owned estate at the heart of the plateau in Pomerol hit the ground running in 2005 and has since cemented its place amongst the elite estates in the appellation. Edouard Moueix has kindly written a harvest report and his preliminary thoughts about the latest vintage.

'2011 has been the vintage of extremes, summer conditions in spring, two heat waves at the end of June and August, with a cool and overcast summer. It is actually the vines that suffered more than the fruit. We had to spend a lot of time in the vineyard to reduce the number of clusters and therefore the stress on the vines.

We harvested Providence in two days, the young vines and more gravelly parcels on September 10, and the older vines on September 13. The date of the harvest was of course decided according to analyses run from end of August on, but also by tasting the berries. This year even if the numbers were excellent on paper, we had to be extra patient for the fruit to gain a certain aromatic complexity. The normal date according to the calculations from the day of mid-flowering should have been August the 29th.

The weather on these two days was warm and sunny. Despite the good presentation of the fruit, we have used the new optical sorting table, allowing only the best berries to enter the cellars.

We let the fermentations start after two days of maceration, and kept the temperatures quite low because of the high level of potential alcohol. The tanks have now been drained and the wine is about to start its malolactic fermentation. The style is deep and muscular, with notes of dark fruit and cocoa.

I look forward to presenting the first samples in April'.

Merchant vs Journo

Or is it the power of red cords taking on the beige chino? Either way, think its pretty clear who was ahead in the Bordeaux 2010 EP Stamina Stakes...

Krug dinner

Last week, our very own Georgina Crawley and guests took over the exclusive Krug Room at the Dorchester for an evening of fine dining and plenty of slurping. Chef, Henry Brosi designed a menu around the four Krug cuvees on tasting: Grande Cuvee, Vintage 1998, Collection 1989 and Rose.

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Video: Clerico's shifting focus...

Not so long ago, Luciano Racca, from Domenico Clerico, came to see us. It was a short while before we started what has become our biggest and most successful  Italian En Primeur campaign to date.  Having tasted the whole gamut, it is now quite clear that the 2007s across Piedmont are nothing short of sublime. They combine intense fruit profiles with high-toned aromatics, sumptuous ripe tannic structures with fresh acidities. They really do have everything going for them, and anyone with a serious interest in fine wine to lay down, Barolo lover or not, should probably have at least one case in their cellar. (yes I know we are bound to say that, but in all honesty, it is true!)

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Burgfest 2008 Vintage: Beaune, Volnay & Pommard

In a secluded location in Beaune over the late August bank holiday the most recently bottled vintage of Pinot Noir was put under the microscope. The UK's top Burgundy buyers plus specialist Burgundy wine writers and publishers Clive Coates and Neil Beckett made up a select team of nine tasters. A high sense of high anticipation proceeded the blind tasting of the 2008 vintage (bottled some 6-10 months earlier), with a line up including over 300 Premiere and Grand Cru Pinot Noirs from the Cote d'Or's top Domaines and Negociants.

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2011 Harvest Report: Cédric Valade of Château La Grande Maye and Château Valade.

The growing season:

‘2011 will remain in the memories of winemakers as a tricky vintage. The season started very early with a warm and dry April that sped up the vegetative cycle of the vines. Disbudding tasks overlapped with the 2010 primeurs tastings. We have never seen such a quick start before! It was the beginning of a race that went on until the end of the trellising of the vines!

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