Ding dong…

The Terry Thomas approval makes a great introduction to Domaine Belle’s Crozes Hermitage Cuvee Louis Belle 2015, a wine we tasted last Friday. It was from an estate near Tain – in the Larnage commune – owned by the Belle family, part of their 25 ha. holdings over three ACs. The soil is known ‘around the world‘, according to their web-site. Maturation is in oak barrels. It’s 100% syrah.

It had an intense purple/red appearance and aromas of young plums and damsons. There was an attractive mid-palate fruit sweetness preceding a long dry finish. Despite its near ten years age, there was still a freshness (a touch of greeness, maybe?) but the tannins had softened. This was a lovely wine, well made and certainly ‘Ding Dong’ for this drinker.

[Richard, I think we probably undertaste Rhone reds on this blog. They aren’t all fruit bomb headbangers and this is a good example of how subtle and involving they can be. A classy wine with an appealing blend of age and youth. Very moreish. From TWS, about £22].

The Grecian Earth and Sky

Thymiopolous’ wines come from two vineyards in Naoussa, Greece – Trilofos and Fytia, near Mount Vermio. Both vineyards are limestone and schist on clay but Fytia is considerably higher in altitude, and, presumably, cooler. Earth and Sky is 100% Xinomavro, a grape that can be very tannic when young. This was Apostolos Thymiopolous 2018 Earth and Sky, so softened by age.

The age could be spotted in the brown rim of a mid-intense ruby appearance. There was a distinct sour cherry note underpinned by some wood aromas on the nose. The flavours, however, were more strong black fruits, earthy and herby. The complex flavours of licocrice and umami started to come through as it sat in the glass. The finish was dry and long. A well-made, serious wine, to match strongly flavoured foods which, in my opinion, needed age to develop..

[Richard: I’m on Corfu at the moment so thought this would be a good wine to open. I liked it a lot and it has a lot of fans on TWS, from where it came, at about £20. Haven’t seen it in the one supermarket we have so far visited but the are a few different Xinomavros.].

Seriously rosé…

For wine drinkers the coming of spring means one thing – more rosé in the shops, often in fancy bottles at fancy prices. But they aren’t all confected sugar bombs promoted by a celeb – there are some serious rosés out there, like the above (although it was bought in France).

Pale pink with a hint of ‘gris’, typical strawberry nose with chalky notes and more fruit as the wine warmed. The taste was dry, rich and earthy with quite a bit of fruit, more at the red end of the spectrum. Very good.

(Baravéou Bandol Rosé, 2022, I couldn’t find a supplier in the UK.)

[Geoff: Bought in Beaune at Avintures last year, recommended as a good rose. And it was. Made by Jean-Phillippe Fourney, originally from Burgundy, on a 7.5 ha site at La Cadiere d’Azur just inside the Bandol AC. 90% mourvedre, 10% grenache noir. There is a lovely structure to the wine which means it’ll improve with time but is drinking very nicely now. Bandol rose is worth looking for and they havn’t got a silly names. Fourney also makes a red.]

Pale and (un)interesting…

Pale in appearance, ‘coloured water’ as G said, with what I thought (wrongly), was a Gamay nose. The taste was light, thin, short and simple though the characteristics improved as the wine warmed up – it had a serve ‘slightly chilled’ recommendation. Described by the seller (TWS) as ‘crunchy-fruit style’, which it definitely wasn’t.

[Geoff: My liking for lighter and fresher red wine lead me to this WS offering. However this was disappointing – mainly due to its lack of flavour, and it was only slightly chilled. There was a lack of concentration (overproduction?). The WS reviews are mixed, some loving it, others not so keen. Not a repeat for me.]

(Valpolicella, Tenuta Novare 2023, TWS, £11.75).

Gachot again…

An opaque, rather soupy red with lots of ripe red fruit on the nose. It tasted thin, in a good way, savoury/tangy with a sweet finish that rather fell away. Hard to identify, despite having tasted an identical bottle last November. Then the pinot was more obvious but apart from that my notes were broadly similar. That increasingly rare thing – an affordable decent red Burgundy.

(Domaine Gachot-Monot 2015, from Fingal Rock who are currently selling the 2019 for £22.50).

[Geoff: Now drinking beautifully. Surprisingly ‘fruit sweet’ for a Cote de Nuits wine but still with the heft of that sub-region. Yes, as my fellow taster states, VFM for a Burgundy – in fact VGFM. Think it needs time and there was a muddy sediment in the bottle. Think it was my last. Gachot-Monot are 5th generation family producers who own 7ha. in CdNV AC amongst others plots.]

Mainstream manzanilla…

Two manzanillas, of the type and quality you’d see in a bar in Sanlucar, not tasted blind.

Similar in appearance with the Gabriela being slightly a paler yellow. More difference of the nose where I found the Solear to be more assertive and typical, with the Gabriela muted. To taste the Solear was linear and penetrative, refreshing and clean. No sweetness either which was something I’ve noticed before with the wine. The Gabriela was more austere and also more distinctive and longer. Hard to pick a favourite, I’d happily drink either. Good with some excellent Angelachu anchovies from Tinned Fish.

Solear from Waitrose, Gabriela from Caves de Pyrene, both around £13.

[Geoff: It was an interesting comparison between the two manzanillas and their producers. Barbadillo: family owned (seven generations); the largest manzanilla producer; 75,000 sq. m. of cellars; c. 65,000 casks; 500 ha. vineyards. Bodegas Barrero: same family since 1986; 90 ha. in Balbaina Alto pagos; bodega 225 yrs old (not by same family). So, almost two different ends of the sherry spectrum. Solear 6-7 yo wine, Gabriela 5-6 yo. Both good manzanillas – Gabriela more herby and nutty, character (single vineyard Las canas); Solear, lighter, more generally appealing. ]

Chateau d’Arsac 2016

The recent history of d’Arsac and the obituary of its late owner Phillippe Raoux gives an understanding of how legal, detailed – and bureaucratic – the naming of wine areas are in France, especially in Bordeaux. In 2007 Raoux managed to get CdA partly included (50 ha. out of 102 ha.) in the Margaux appellation. This meant a re-drawing of the Margaux boundaries. He started this quest in 1986. Its blend is 70/30 CS/Merlot and is classed as a Cru Bourgeois Exceptionnel.

It has colours of a mid-intense ruby with a slight purple rim. The nose is a deep cherry with some black fruits and an intriguing, delicate floral note. The red/black fruit combination is repeated on the palate which is medium-long, dry with some tannic structure. A well-made, mid-priced Bordeaux wine.

[Richard: and, for a while, a bargain since Aldi was selling at £10. Plenty of claret typicity with a Cabernet emphasis which I prefer. Still drinking well after three days under vacuum. Recommended if it comes round next year.]

Whites with character (2)…

Fifty miles to the east of the Cote d’Or, across the Saone valley, is the Jura. The soil is dominated by clay with some limestone; there are approximately 2000 ha and five ACs. Five grape varieties, two white and three red, are permitted. We tasted Domaine Dugois’ Savignan 2019 from the Arbois AC. Savignan is the Traminer grape of northern Italy and Germany.

An appearance of clear, deep yellow was followed by a nose redolent of both bruised apples and citrus, fresh and, I thought, a touch smoky. The palate, long and dry, was slightly orange citrus in the beginning but then became all herbs and hedgerows – really fresh, clean countryside flavours, despite being five years of age. There was no trace of the ‘veil’ of flor which typifies some Arbois wines. Yet another lovely wine – we’re on a good run currently.

[Richard: given that Savignan is often compared to sherry you’d think we taste it a lot. But we don’t – this is only the second time in 12 years. Why? Not easy to find – as with most Jura wines – and quite expensive. We should try more as this was very good with plenty of character and even hints of sherry, which I may have picked up because I knew it was a wine aged under flor. From a mixed case of ‘flor wines’ from Cave de Pyrene, about £25.]

Essex and Devon meet Burgundy…

A pale ‘Burgundian’ yellow wine with a lemony nose. Lemon-plus in the mouth with some minerality and a sourness which modulated to sweetness on the back palate. Savoury with decent length and a hint of reduction all led me to the region of central France, with England as my second choice. A very acceptable substitute as Burgundy gets more expensive. The vines are grown in Essex and the grapes vinified in Devon.

(Lyme Bay Chardonnay 2021, £24, MWW).

[Geoff: The grapes were picked late (31/10 – 7/11/21). Vinification includes fermentation in both stainless and old French oak. This was very impressive, fresh without being too mouth-puckering. There was some gentler, richer notes in the background {late-picking, wood influence) which gave it a super balance. Good VFM]

Carleone Classico…

Geoff invited me for a delicious cannelloni last night and I hoped that the above would be a suitable accompaniment. A very pure, clean expression of Sangiovese with smooth tannins with a pleasing blend of fruit and acidity. Lots of compatibility with the pasta and a pleasure to drink. Made by an Englishman who was head winemaker at Riecine (one of our favourites) for 25 years. From Vin Cognito, about £30.

(Chianti Classico, Tenuta di Carleone, Tuscany, Italy 2020)

[Geoff: We’ve been tasting some excellent wines recently and this was no exception. The winery is relatively new, 2012, and is centred on a 100 ha estate of which 30 ha are planted with Sangiovese, the wine being 100% Sangiovese. No yeast or fining agents are used by the winemaker, Sean O’Callaghan. It’s a refined expression of CC, pure, light, slightly tannic with gentle red fruit flavours and that defining acidity. It puts all those cheaper expressions of CC very much in the shade. Certainly a re-order for me.]