Wine Tip

Lo-si-fi

Majestic seem to be stocking Mission Hill, their latest rag arrived today.

Would that be Mission Hill in BC, which is just down the road from my pad in Vernon?

Visited it last year but wasn't really impressed.

Was linked to a grower from NZ

Any advice?

Cheers

Don

whose general tastes include Nuit St George; Flurie; Vouvre; Pouilly Fuisse; Pouilly Fume and could do with some guidance on which lables and shops to consider

Well Tom, I think that means...
"I'm getting pineapple, I'm getting apricot.....I'm getting pissed!"

Got 4 bottles of Casillero last night from Safeway and very nice it is too.

Fortunately, I was restrained enough not to drink too much (2 glasses only) hence no hangover this morning.

Steve B

New one for the (moderately) wealthy:

2001 Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru La Boudriotte, Domaine Fontaine-Gagnard, Burgundy, £23.00 from Majestic.

You know you are buying a top wine when they drop the “-.99” ploy in the price tag!!!

Domaine F-G is one of the very best of (white) Burgundy producers. This wine is archetypal, textbook barrel fermented Chardonnay as it should be done. If anyone is sick of, or looking for the next step up from, Australian/Californian oaky Chardonnay, then this - with its subtle pear and quince fruit, gently integrated spicy oak, ginger, honeysuckle and apple strudel richness, citrus-blossom and minerally acidity and very lengthy finish - should demonstrate why a) New World producers try so earnestly to replicate the style, and b) why Burgundy continues to do it so much better that the producers can charge double. Even from a not especially good vintage.
Fontaine-Gagnard's 1er Cru wines often reach twice this price, so if you've ever wondered what premier cru Burgundy from a top name tastes like but have been put off by the hefty price, this is your chance...

It's organically grown, too. More information about Richard Fontaine here. It's not wine, it's art.

Santé

Rod

I remember soda-syphon fights! A hoot, and got better the more drunk everyone was. Soda syphons were done away with because of some EU ruling or other that they were dangerous - I really cannot remember why, perhaps if you swallowed one of the gas canisters and went hot air ballooning or something. A shame, as the plastic bottle replacements always spray everywhere and are nowhere near as much fun...

If recommending something at £23 (although it is worth every penny) seems elitist, then I can also add something red, and somewhat less expensive, currently in Oddbins:

St Chinian, Ch. De Combebelle 2002, £6.89
From the totally eccentric Bertie Eden (grandson {I think} of the eponymous Prime Minister) this is produced "bio-dynamically" a sort of super-organic for pious vegetarians (google "Rudolf Steiner" for more, frankly alarming, details). This is as good as any Châteauneuf du Pape for heaps times the price. Bit chewy in youth, either keep it or drink with rare meat or whiffy cheese. Oddbins will deliver and the details are here

(I doubt the C de D Viognier will be around for much longer by the way)

Rod

Got another 10 bottles of Casillero del Diablo VIOGNIER yesterday from Safeway.

It's still going.

Glad it's still going...

Here's a new one:
A little esoteric perhaps, so suspend judgement (remember when you first heard "proper" hi-fi?)

Majestic have a new parcel of one of their crazily priced bargains from Germany:

Trittenheimer Apotheke Riesling Spatlese, Weingut Laurientiushof 1990

First - it's sweet-ish, right. Okay, I know.
However, it has the classic hallmarks of a fine, mature Riesling with exquisite mouthwatering acidity and a beguiling minerally (some say kerosene) aroma. It has no more than a third as much sugar as Coca Cola (about I'm guessing 50 g/Litre). The flavours of grapefruit, lime and floral freshness are astounding. This is perfect either with, or instead of, a sorbet or somesuch to break up a long meal. Or simply sitting in the garden in the sun. It has the low alchohol level (8.5%) characteristic of the style, which has its place in this world of 14% chardonnays I think.

Many people follow the chain of Logic:
Riesling = Germany = Liebfraumilch = sugary headache on a stick once subjected to at some ghastly harvest festival of yesteryear.

This, it has to be admitted, is wholly the "fault" of the Germans who ruthlessly exploited a gap in the UK market in the 1970s. As a result their fine wine industry is struggling.

Liebfraumilch was NEVER made from Riesling, it is as pale an imitation of top German wine as Matsui is of Naim. Riesling is too high a quality variety, and too difficult to grow, for mass production. Liebfraumilch is made of such esteemed varieties as Muller-Thurgau, Rivaner and piss.

So, these days, companies like Majestic can go around Germany buying up top producers' wines from top vintages, and the best vineyards, simply as a "clearance" exercise. The wine above costs £5.99.

Six quid for one of the world's best expositions of its style, at fourteen years old.
The leading wine storage company in the UK (Octavian) charges £5 per case per year. This is less expensive than 14 year's worth of storage alone...

There won't be a lot of it around, and most will sell to Majestic staff and winetrade people, but they do seem to keep on pulling similar bargains out of the hat all the time.

A friend of mine in the Mosel Valley, Ernie Loosen, two years ago purchased a vineyard - part of the famed Bernkasteler Doktor - for a figure of less actual money (ignoring inflation) than it last changed hands for.

When it last was sold, Victoria was on the throne. He only bought it because he couldn't bear the idea.

So, suspend judgement, and treat yourself to a bottle of this, bearing in mind that your grandparents would probably have needed to work for a month to afford it.

Do let me know how you get on...

Rod

Rod

If the Germans are still having trouble shifting quality wine, how come Von Hovel and Zilliken Kabinetts are £9 a bottle for recent vintages?
Oh, did you go to the MSR trade tasting at the RAC club on the 9th. I missed it and wonderered what the Saar wines were like.

Max

Hi Max,

There are still some German producers whose wines are respected so much that they sell for "realistic" prices, although nine quid is hardly white Burgundy territory. Muller Catoir (from Pfalz) achieve astonishing prices, still as a result of gaining Robert Parker's first 100 point white wine. All is not lost, but there are nevertheless crazy bargains to be had.

I didn't go to the tasting, alas I was working that day, but they were showcasing the recent extremely good vintages. Strangely at the last "Great Riesling Tasting" I went to, the top plaudits went to Austria, and Loosen's collaboration with St Michelle in Washington, a wine called "Eroica" which is, quite simply, the greatest dry Riesling I have ever tried. All the more surprising for being produced a hour's drive from Seattle. Worth every penny of the twenty-five quid it costs, although painfully hard to get hold of.

Saar very possibly has the edge on Mosel, and certainly offers better value, so buy with confidence. For some good value wines, try to get hold of a lady called Iris at The Wine Barn (www.thewinebarn.co.uk). Wonderful stuff indeed, and friendly service (although not from MSR).

"MW" is a good name to use, certainly for this thread, for sure...

All the best

Rod

quote:

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Originally posted by rodwsmith:
Loosen's collaboration with St Michelle in Washington, a wine called "Eroica" which is, quite simply, the greatest dry Riesling I have ever tried. All the more surprising for being produced a hour's drive from Seattle.

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Hi Rod,

I know nothing about wine but work a few miles from Chateau Ste. Michelle. I'd be crazy not to bounce over to the supermarket and grab some, if it's reasonable. Did you drink 2003 ($20; I assume so) or 2002 ($6; hope so!)?

Washington is a huge wine-producing state, and Oregon too. But I prefer our beers, despite my gut wanting me to change tastes.

Ludders,

I remember getting well tanked on the Red Hook tour and munching on some tastey snacks afterwards at the bar next to the brewery. What's the name of trendy the neighborhood where the brewery is located (not the large bottling facility somewhere outside of Seattle)? The beer was all the more potent after spending a week on Rainier.

My 'everyday' red is Rex Goliath Merlot -- not bad for $7. I believe it's from the Hahn vineyard, but is their budget range.

OT: MSN had some stuff on 'Best Pizza' today -- Piecoras was 9.7, but there were a few Seattle joints rated 9.8.

cheers

Dan

Ludwig, hi

Have to say I was singularly unimpressed with the other Ch Ste Michelle wines when I tried them, or even the Riesling before Ernie Loosen became involved. But Eroica is very special indeed. I find the idea of a $6 bottle a bit hard to fathom, unless it was a truly dire vintage (was that the year with the 100 consecutive days of rain?).

According to the exceptionally useful www.winesearcher.com, you should be paying about $19 - $23 in the States, but I'd be interested to hear how much it costs from the winery itself.

Wine is good for your health, beer is bad for your waistline. But I do like the exceptional stuff that they brew at Hopback in Mendocino (Red Tail etc)

All the best and santé

Rod

PS One of the best days I have ever had was spent at the Bloedel Reserve followed by a ferry at sunset and back to a fantastic restaurant (Downtown, but I don't remember the name). Seattle is a truly magical city, I shall return soon I hope.

Rod,

Thankyou for an excellent thread!

Is it possible to find a good Amarone for less than £10?

Rod,

The 100 days of rain was winter 1998/99 (and my first winter here FWIW; ugh). But these wines come from the Columbia Valley and their weather is completely different. Only "the chateau" is near Seattle.

Dan,

The neighborhood is Fremont.

Sadly not...

Majestic sell Tedeschi Amarone for £16.49 (99 currently), but are running a Buy any 2 Italian wines and save 15% thingy at the moment which gets it down to £14-ish. This is a good price I think.

Amarone is such a convoluted process that any less would probably necessitate in winemaking corner-cutting. However, you can get a style called "Ripasso" which is "normal" Valpolicalla that has been aged on the skins of Amarone grapes, and it is often nearly as good, if a bit less intense. Masi make one called "Campo Fiorin", which is about £7 and Oddbins certainly used to sell it.

Happy hunting.

Rod

count.d
Just found 12 (shock) at Safeway in Penzance, bit far to go if I wasn't working down there today. One's in the fridge right now.
Martin

quote:

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Originally posted by rodwsmith:
Sadly not...

---

Thought not, worth a try. Thank you for the other recommendations I will pursue them.

[This message was edited by reductionist on Mon 21 June 2004 at 12:55.]

At least half a dozen at the Safeway supermarket near Gales Brewery

Derek

<< >>

Just bought 6 bottles at my local Safeway in Taunton this morning. There were a few bottles left, 3 or 4 I think.

Clive

Rod

I'm slurping super summer wine!
Villa Maria Sauv Blanc Wairau reserve 2003. Really full flavour, minerally and fine, seems a bargain at £8, even though that is a lot.

Max

Hi Max

The Villa Maria range is excellent across the board. It is a not-so-well-kept secret in the wine trade that their Clifford Bay Sauvignon knocks Cloudy Bay into a cocked hat. Mind you, it is actually a shade more expensive (£13). Treat yourself sometime.

The red I mentioned on this thread ages ago - Señorio de los Llamos Valdepeñas Gran Reserva from Majestic @ £5.99 has (in my nearest store at least) just changed vintage to the 1998. And it's an even better wine I think.
For those that like bargain Rioja-a-like anyway.

Santé

Rod

I've heard of a wine lake, but a tip's new to me ? anyway I's just "pouring" mesen a glass of wintage Chilean thunderbird (early march) and will raise a toast to a certain Brilliant Kiwi Operative & a speedy recovery John.


Fritz von Where'sJan ?

Dear Rod

You may know this, but it's a star. Minervois La Laviniere, Chateau St Eulalie 2001 by Coustal £8. I took a friend to a tasting who only buys value wines and he marked this as wonderful. I would not have recognised this as a french wine, it has much more richness and body normally associated with the New World, but with finesse.

Max

Does any one have any advice on a great Prosecco at a reasonalbe price???

Dave

Fritz - never change, please

Max - Minervois La Livinière is the first new appellation in the Languedoc for years, and is setting a trend - new wave fruity wines from old vineyards capable of greatness. Historically this part of the world has sent the fruit to the local co-operative to claim the EU subsidies with litle thought on whether the wine was/could be any good as it would invariably end up being distilled anyway. The best producer is a guy called Piccinnini, but I don't know if his wines leave the area. Château Maris is also very good, and I know that Oddbins has stocked that in the past. If you are ever in or near Carcassonne with a hire car, then a visit to Minervois and La Livinière is a must.

Dave - I regularly use Prosecco for tastings. The best of those available in the UK high street that I have found is Prosecco de Valdobbiadene from Oddbins at £7.99. They deliver via www.oddbins.com, and discount for multiple purchases. The wines available at Majestic and supermarkets (all cheaper) that I have tried, and the less expensive one at Oddbins (Ombra) are not in the same league and lack the intensity of pear and marzipan flavours that good Prosecco has.

Santé

Rod