Grasevina

I spent two days in the last week at the International Wine Challenge (IWC) where I mingled with some very famous names from the world of wine. I won't drop any names, that would be vulgar, but suffice it to say that had The Oval been swallowed up by a sink hole (these are rather fashionable this year) then the vinous bloggersphere would fall eerily silent and the consumer would have far fewer recommendations to ponder. Wine counterfeiters would sleep more easily in their beds and the en primeur campaigns of Bordeaux would become even more of a lottery.

I was there in the capacity of Associate Judge, the lowest possible tier in the hierarchy, and hope I have learned much through sniffing, sipping and spitting over one hundred wines on each of the two days in the company of genuine experts.

One of the experts I tasted alongside was a visitor from Croatia. Apart from judging in international competitions he also organises the Wines of Croatia festival and is credited by 'the Drinks Business' as being that country's leading wine writer.

So in gratitude for a great experience and with respect to Sasa:


Week G (2014) is Golden Valley, Grasevina 2012. M&S £8.99.

Grasevina is the local name for a grape known elsewhere as Welschriesling and Laski Rizling, but according my reliable source, Croatia is where is reaches the peak of its potential. In fact, he goes further and says that Kutjevo, the appellation in the Slavonia region where this wine has been made, is 'the best place on earth' for this variety. (credit: Drinks Business)

Under its other name(s) it is known for producing thin and uninteresting wines, largely due the variety's ability to produce high volume crops if not controlled carefully and grown on suitable sites.

Such sites, as in Kutjevo, are warm and humid with sunny, South-facing slopes which help the grapes to ripen fully and produce aromatic, fresh and rich textured wines.That's exactly what I found in this bottle. 12.5% abv.

It has been made by Vlado Krauthaker at his vineyard in Kutjevo where he grows not only Croatia's most widely-grown grape, Grasevina, but a total of 39 varieties. Which I find mind-boggling.

Despite Grasevina's pseudonyms giving the impression that it is related to, or even the same as, the mighty Riesling this is not the case. 'Welsch' is, apparently, German for 'romance-speaking' or 'Southern European' which suggests perhaps that it was known to be a grape from somewhere other than the Fatherland. The Croatian name is also said to imply that it originates to the East of the Balkans.

Once again my supplier was M&S and I am increasingly impressed with the breadth and depth of choice the shop famous for underwear supports. (tee hee.)

Fer Servadou

The South West of France is a region packed with small appellations and lesser know grape varieties. Many of these varieties appear together in blends, where their differing characters support and enhance each other to jointly produce a sum which is greater than the parts.

This is good, but it would be a mistake to conclude that a grape excellent as a minor blending partner is incapable of stepping in to the limelight and playing a lead role. Think of Pete Postlethwiate.

In Mardiran, Tannat (the only palindrome in the varietal cast list) is the major player but can be powerfully tannic, which is to say almost undrinkable, without a little help from his friends. One such friend is Fer Servadou who this week we call forward to take a bow.

Week F (2014) is Domaine Du Mioula, Marcillac AC, 2010. £12.15 The Sampler.

Fer Servadou, also known as Mansois in these parts, is named not for the iron-rich limestone in which it grows, but for the nature of the vine's wood said to be as hard as Iron. (Fer means Iron in both Latin and French.) It is a dark skinned grape, but with soft tannins and a peppery-redcurrant character.

The AOC of Marcillac comprises eleven communes around the village of Marcillac-Vallon, a steep-sided area on the western edges of the Massif Central. The vineyards are terraced into the valley sides between 350-500m above sea level where they avoid the frost risk lower in the valleys and benefit from great sun-ripening and South-facing slopes.

The Domaine Du Mioula has existed in one form or another as a grape growing location since the 12th century and was fortunate to escape the infestation of the root destroying louse Phylloxera Vastatrix which caused so much devastation across the majority of Europe's vineyards from the mid-19th century onwards. As a result, the Fer Servadou vines from which this wine is made are ungrafted, that is they remain on their original rootstocks; a claim that many winemakers would like to be able to make. The current vines are between 5 and 30 years old.

It is a medium intensity purple in colour and very light on the nose. The flavours that appear first are red fruits, mostly raspberry and redcurrant, followed by some gentle peppery spice. It has moderate acidity, smooth tannins and medium alcohol (12%).

All of this combines into a well balanced and pleasurably easy to drink wine. It has a medium body and unusually for a medium priced wine, had a significant deposit that made the last glass unexpectedly crunchy!

Encruzado

Our search for interesting wines, based on a never-ending circular walk through the alphabet of grape varieties (or similar) has this week lead us to Portugal. We've been to the country before, in weeks L (2013) and Q (2013), but not to the Dao region.

The region has to emerged from a long, over-regulated environment where regulations gave the co-ops a monopoly by insisting all grapes were processed by them. Since this has been relaxed, over the last thirty or so years, methods have modernised and wines improved. I only know this through book-learning as I have not been a student of the vine in any part of the world long enough to claim having spotted this through personal experience. Nonetheless, it is within this context that wineries such as the producer of this week's wine have emerged.

Week E (2104) is Quinta do Perdigao, Branco 2012. £12.15 The Sampler.

'Quinta' is is the Portuguese equivalent of the French Domaine or Estate and this one is a small, family run business that was established in 1999. They produce organically grown grapes on seven hectares, including one white variety: Encruzado.

 The grape is not widely found outside the Dao region and is often used there as a blending partner to other varieties such as Malvasia and Verdelho, but is becoming more frequently seen as a single varietal, such as this wine.

Perdigao devote one of their seven hectares to Encruzado from which they produce around 5,000 bottles a year with the whole process from vine to bottle taking place on-site.

The personal care taken in production is well rewarded as the result is a medium intensity lemon yellow/gold wine, with aromas of citrus fruits, peaches and pears. I found the pear most noticeable in the finish, along with evidence of the French oak in which it had matured and from which the wine gained a rounded and smooth feel. The producer's website explains, rather charmingly, that their wines are 'educated' in French oak although I don't know if this is as a consequence of website translation.

I like the wine and I like the presentation. The front label is taken up with a painting entitled 'Jardim Efemero' (Ephemeral Garden)  by Vanessa Chrystie, who is both the vienyard's 'artist in residence' and the producer's wife. The previous vintage had 'Cheeky Chickadee' (a bird resembling a Great Tit) by the same artist this would appear to support the philosophy that can be found on the home page of the website:

'Wine is an art form! Going hand-in-hand with painting, music, poetry, architecture...Where we search to find the perfect balance'.

The back label, on the other hand, stretches the idea of balance to breaking point by suggesting the wine be drunk 'as an aperitif or with 'cheese, salads, seafood, sushi and sashimi, Italian cuisine, curry, meat and fish dishes, desserts, fruit pies, and creme brulee'. 

Dolcetto

I spent the weekend in South Wales, a region not known for its wine, on some form of retreat. I didn't know why we were having to retreat, from whom or what, but as we were never caught I assume we did a good job.

A high point of the trip was the walk over the Mynnydd Preseli, a range of hills that in prehistoric times was a source of Bluestone, used in the construction of Stonehenge. The trip North and towards the pub (The Golden Lion, Newport), where the Irish waitress managed to sell burgers to five of the eight in the group, was much easier than the steeper walk South and away from it. Probably something to do with the Yorkshire brewed beer.Very cosmopolitan in retrospect.

The high point was, in fact, a little over 500m above sea level and I am surprised to discover that is around twice as high as the vineyard that produced the grapes for this week's wine.

Week D (2014) is Roagna, Dolcetto d'Alba, DOC, 2012. £15.95 from Uncorked.

The hills where the vineyard can be found are in Piemonte (translates as 'foot of the mountain', so perhaps I should not have been surprised) and known as the Langhe. These hills are the home to three great red varieties: Nebbiolo, Barbera and Dolcetto.

The first of these is responsible for both Barolo and Barbaresco, ripens late in the season and produces wine that usually benefit from ageing. The second is Italy's third most planted red grape variety which ripens a couple of weeks earlier and is increasing in reputation as growers move to lower yields (less but better fruit) and the last, Dolcetto, ripens earliest of all.

This early ripening ability gives the grower the option to use less favoured, North-facing sites to produce wines earlier in the year than the more highly prized Nebbiolo which can be allowed to bask in the sun that shines on the prestigious South-facing side of the hills, until it is ready to refill the fermentation vats that will have been recently vacated by the Dolcetto, made to be drunk young. (I was a bit like that.)

This particular wine is made in a very traditional domain, Roagna, who have a keen interest in biodiversity in the vineyard. They are based in Barbaresco and produce a range covering all of the Piemontese varities.

Dolcetto is a naturally low acid grape and known for producing soft, fruity and darkly coloured wine. It's name means 'little sweet one', but this is believed to refer to the berry rather than the resulting wine. This particular bottle is a little puzzling as the colour is as expected, but the 12.5% abv wine has noticeable traces of volatile acidity. Sadly, 'VA', as it is known, is the type of acidity that is reminiscent of the Down Town Fish Bar. It is not so noticeable to make the wine unpleasant, but it is disappointing. I had expectations of 'soft, round, fruity, fragrant licorice and almonds', but for the price it is too far off the mark for me to buy again.

Chenin Blanc

Although I have crossed the Loire on a number of holidays, I have never stopped and explored. This is a serious omission and one that I hope to address in the not too distant future. Apart from the great chateaux, stunning countryside and traffic-free roads (compared to the South-East of England) there are a number of very interesting wines from all parts of France's longest river.

From the central vineyards in the East, where Sancerre and it's neighbours produce great wines from Sauvignon Blanc right through to the Pays Nantais, famed for it's high acid and shellfish-friendly Muscadets, the range is extensive. Reds, whites, dry and sweet, sparkling and still, they can all be found.

Around the town of Anjou is a region that produces a wide variety of styles. Key amongst them are wines made from one of the world's most versatile grapes: Chenin Blanc.

Week C (2014) is Loupart, Vouvray AOC, 2011. £13.99 Naked Wines. It is a dry wine.

The One, who has great taste in all things (she married me), places off-dry Vouvray on her list of favourite wines and although I doubt we have yet shared a bottle of Coteaux du Layon, I am sure that would be well received too. That one is a sweet wine, by varying degrees.

This wine is 13% abv, but doesn't fee like it. It is fruity, with a mix of citrus, apple and stone fruits. There is enough acidity to make it crisp but not enough to make the drinker wince. The maker stresses that it will develop with age, but there is no reference on his current website that refers to Vouvray. Curious.

The grapes are grown on a plateau of limestone, locally known as Tuffeau, a rock mined to provide building materials for the great houses I mentioned earlier. The mining has created a large number of caves that have been used for all manner of uses from living in to, more interestingly to us, maturing wines as the temperature inside remains very stable throughout the year.

Chenin Blanc also goes by a number of pseudonyms. In France it can be called Pineau de la Loire and South Africa, Steen. It is also grown in California and it's international appeal is probably due to its naturally high acidity that makes it possible to grow in warm climates, where it will ripen fully but retain good balance.

This dry version is good, but there are so many similar wines with which it has to compete that I think I will agree with The One and favour the off-dry style as it provides a more distinctive character.

Blauer Portugieser

If you have looked at the 'We got both kinds...' page you will know that as well as enjoying wine I am also fond of cheese.

My most recent purchase was some Manchego from a market stall in Barcelona at the end of a very enjoyable long weekend spent celebrating the forthcoming special birthday of good friend, with some other good friends.

Today I was back at the day job and I had the opportunity to nip out at lunch time to one of my regular suppliers to pick up a mature cheddar and salad torpedo. £3.70, which is at the top end of the local competitor's price range, but the cheese is very good. They also had some Old Amsterdam, being a mature Gouda and a personal favourite.

My supplier is The International Cheese Centre on the concourse at Liverpool Street Station. It would be tempting to suggest that delusions of grandeur are at work here, as the centre is an open-fronted shop with room enough for two and a half people behind the counter, but that would be missing the point. That is, they sell great cheeses from international sources and that, for me, more than justifies the name. I suspect they may be a somewhat larger behind-the-scenes operation, using their three station-based shop fronts as, well, shop fronts.

They supply not only cheese but also a small selection of related items (including a cheese curler which is something I had no idea I needed until I read about it) such as wine.

Therefore, week B (2014) is Wollsteiner Rheingrafenstein Rotwein QbA, 2011. Produced by Weingut Hermann J. & Jutta Muller. £9.95.

It is, as far as I can tell, 100% Blauer Portugeiser, a grape found mostly in Austria, but also in Rheinhessen, the German 'Anbaugebiete' (wine producing region) from which this example comes.

The back label is wonderful, saying 'serve this nice red wine between 15-18 degrees C, e.g. to meat, duck or pheasant, lentil dish, veal fricassee, or Bleu de Bresse, Gorgonzola and Taleggio cheese. Enjoy flavours of cherry, berries, elder, common juniper and orange, etc.'. I particularly enjoyed the 'etc.'!

As I write this I have yet to pull the cork and have to admit to having fairly low expectations. It is a QbA rated wine, which is the level below Germany's QmP. Think of this as the equivalent to the French Vin de Pays, but make it more complicated. It also comes in a bottle with a very flat bottom. This is sometimes a clue that the bottle itself did not cost the winemaker very much and possibly hints that s/he does not consider the wine worthy of the extra expense that accompanies a nice dimpled bottom.

I can also see that there is a ring of bubbles on the top of the wine inside the unopened bottle. Curious. Ok, I'm going in.

First thoughts are that it is an interesting colour. Pale to medium ruby/garnet which could be a concern for a mid-priced wine of only 2.5 years old. Mild aromas of red fruits. On the palate it is dry, but fruity and fairly simple. The 13% alcohol doesn't show itself too conspicuously and the finish is longer than I expected.

It is light and very easy to drink. It does not have great depth or complexity and would probably disappoint if served with a hearty meal, however, lightly chilled on a warm summer's afternoon I think this could be quite enjoyable. At a touch under £10 it is expensive compared to other wines that might be chosen on similar occasions, but this game is all about exploration and the name alone makes it more exotic than most supermarket plonk.

Albarino

A few weeks ago I lead a tasting of the wines of North West Spain for a group of 25 or so students at the University of the Third Age (U3A). These students are not the young and ready to drink anything as long as it costs less than a fiver type, but those of a certain age who are no longer bound by the responsibilities of full-time education or babysitting duties. Consequently, they are a little more discerning. A little.

I started with four white wines, followed with seven reds and finished with a sweet Mencia from Bierzo. The preference was clearly for the reds, but of the whites the first was the favourite. This was an Albarino from Martin Codax. I also showed a Godello which the manager at Majestic told me he had, in a blind tasting, mistaken for a white Burgundy. My new friends decided they were more likely to mistake it for the juice that collects at the bottom of a recycling bin, which was a little harsh, but they knew what they liked.

Week A (2014) is Pazo Torrequintans, Albarino, Rias Baixas DO 2012. £7.95 at Tesco. This one also is produced by Bodegas Martin Codax, but is not their first wine.

It falls very neatly into the easy drinking category, being aromatic and clean, but mostly fruity with some floral tones. It is last year's wine so it would be unreasonable to expect more complexity. I like it and think at £7.49 it represents good value. It is 12.5%, which is a refreshing change form the 14% reds that are so common, and the flowery-fruity aromas linger for a pleasing amount of time.

Albarino is the star white grape of the region, Galicia, and Rias Baixas is the DO that tends to take the limelight. It produces wines with typical flavours of apricots and honeysuckle and the better examples compete with Viognier and Gewurztraminer for the attention of those who enjoy aromatic whites. It is also very fashionable.

The region has high rainfall and the climate is moderated by the Atlantic ocean, so there are not many red wines produced until you get further into the mainland where there are many great options available.

Martin Codax may sound like he is the man responsible for the production of this wine and the one I showed to the U3A but he isn't really. He was a thirteenth century minstrel who was responsible for something akin to Now That's What I Call Music 1258. How this qualifies him to represent a group of small winemakers with a passion to promote a local grape variety I am not sure, but he, and they, do a good job.

Zenit

There are a few Z's to aim at in the world of white grapes, none of them particularly easy to find in the UK, but I didn't know that Zenit was one of them until I went looking for Zibibbo. As it turns out, Zibibbo is just a local name, in Sicily, for Muscat of Alexandria so it was good to find a less well known variety.

Zenit comes from Hungary (yes, we're back in Hungary) not that far from Budapest, where in 1951 it was created as a crossing between a local variety, Ezerjo, and Bouvier which hails from Slovenia. It is an early ripening variety and quite versatile, capable of producing light dry wines and also sweeter late harvest (hurrah!) wines.

Week Z (2014) is Viale Mandorlato, Etyek-Buda, Zenit, 2012. £7.99 from Laithwaites.

This wine is not the late harvest variety but a dry, Citrus and apple flavoured simple white wine.

It is a bright lemon yellow with limited aromas and moderate acidity.

Overall it is pleasant but unspectacular. At the price this is a good wine, simple and clean fruits with some gentle hints of the creamy products of having sat on it's lees (dead yeast cells) for 'a few months', as the back label informs.

The grapes were picked by hand in late August but there is no lack of ripeness in evidence in the finished wine. That would confirm the early ripening nature of the variety and makes me curious to try a late harvest version which I imagine could be very interesting.

Etyek is one of Hungary's oldest wine producing regions, on the Buda side of the river Danube, and also the home to Korda Studios, named for Sir Alexander Korda the British-Hungarian film producer who was in Hollywood during the start of the 'talkies'.

Those of you who have accompanied me on the first walk through the alphabet (actually it's been a lonesome trail to this point, so this probably an extended indication of impending insanity) will be now have joined me in a virtual glass of 13 red and 13 white wines. Next week we start back at A, but this time the colours will be the other way round. I am pleased that we are still on track for 52 new wines this year but am already starting to wonder how the following chapters will be structured. More of the same? I don't mind if I do.

Yering Farm

The One says that I must make good use of the opportunities that life presents, so on finding myself at something of a loose end shortly after arriving in Melbourne I booked myself a day trip on the Wine Bus.

Nine visitors together with our friendly, informative guide and driver, Paul, set off on a very wet Sunday morning to visit four wineries in the Yarra valley. My choice of tour was, of course, influenced by the region providing me with an easy answer to this week's challenge. When I heard the last of the four was to be Yering Farm my choice was made even simpler; I was just left hoping they produced something worth buying.

The four wineries demonstrated very well the variety of approaches that they take towards attracting tourists. The first was Domain Chandon owned as the name suggests by LVMH, the international luxury brands group whose 'M' stands for Moet. The wines they make here include what the French won't let the Australians, or anyone else for that matter, call Champagne. The marketing approach was polished and perhaps a little too well organised. Unlike other wineries the question here was 'which one would you like to try?'. It was possible pay to try other wines, but later in the day that was certainly not the expectation, especially at the second one Oakridge, where it was more a case of 'you need try all of these!', including their new Arneis variety (a white grape from Piedmont) which was not even on the list. Good lunch, too.

The third was Soumah, where they are attempting to make Italian styles of wine in this cool climate region. This was more of a boutique winery with a nice, family feel. The wine was pleasant, but the highlight of the visit was the live music provided by Steve and the Jammers. (I think it was Steve.) There was only one 'Jammer' who played the washboard and approximated harmonies.

Finally to Yering Farm, where I found:

Week Y (2014), Yering Farm, Reserve Series Pinot Noir, 2006. 13%
$40 (~£22) from the cellar door and listed at $50 on the website.

This was a lovely place with an old timber building housing the cellar door and tasting room, where weddings and other functions, are hosted overlooking the vineyards.

They had three ranges of wines, each with three to six wines, called Farm Yard, Premium and Reserve. This one came from the Reserve Series and was called Winemaker's Choice on the list in the shop.

As you can see from the homemade publicity shot to he left, this particular Australian producer does not feel inclined to meet EU labeling requirements, nor should he, so it is not surprising that the information provided is minimal.

If it had a back label it would probably say something about fine rich tannins, silky and rich fruits and subtle oak. I tasted this over the course of a couple of evenings and found it smoothly interesting and pleasing, at first, more so on the return.

Whilst there is no label on the bottle there is an image of one on the website, however, I appreciate this is not a very good picture so to make up for that, here's a much better picture of a possum that I met at the winery:

Xarel.lo

I mentioned in week V (2014) that I had bought not only that week's wine but also a contender for this week's some time in advance at Borough Wines. Well, try as I did, I could not find an alternative whilst in the southern hemisphere. Xanadu Chardonnay was the closest I came, but I decided that wasn't close enough. I have bent the rules a few times recently and wanted to get back on track. The idea is to use the alphabet as a way of exploring and discovering new wines, not simply filling in the blanks.

Week X (2014) Viladellops Xarel.lo, Penedes DO 2012  Borough Wines £12.

This wine comes from the Spanish region of Penedes in Catalunya, the autonomous region whose capital is Barcelona.

It is made as a single varietal wine from the grape called Xarel.lo. I don't understand Spanish grammar at all so cannot explain the significance of the full stop in the middle of the name. It is also written as Xarel-lo, if that makes it easier? No.

The grape is more frequently encountered in the Spanish traditional method sparkling wine (don't say Champagne, the French will sue) Cava, where it is blended with Parellada and Macabeo to add body. It is also said that it is the aroma of Xarel.lo that can be used to help distinguish Cava from other sparkling wines.

But this is the still variety, however, and although it is labelled as a single varietal, it is in fact a blend of 80% Xarel.lo, 10% Viognier, 5% Chardonnay and 5% Macabeo. It comes from a winery that has been in production for 150 years, with a 19 year break from 1980. The grapes are grown 250m above sea level on poor chalky soil, which is ideal for the purpose.

In colour it is a very bright and clear pale lemon yellow. It has a light aroma of melon and some floral notes, but nothing I could name. It is dry and instantly likable to taste, in a bright fruity way with greater intensity on the palate than on the nose. It opens with apples and finishes with more citrus flavours and possible a little pineapple.

It feels reasonably full and has a slight oily texture, and at 12.5% abv it is nicely balanced.

By chance, I shall be in the area at the end of the week after next and will keep a lookout in the local shops, either for this or for anything that might make an interesting comparison.

Woodstock

Even if you have yet to visit Sydney it is likely that you have some mental picture of one part of it. That will be the part with the famous opera house and the harbour bridge. In between those to iconic structures lies the port area known as Circular Quay. It is an area full of attractive things, from excellent restaurants, bars and views, to those catering specifically for tourists, like the didgeridoo players in traditional body paint and accompanied by less traditional drum and bass loops.

This is also where cruise ships are berthed when visiting the city and it is only when you stand next to one that their sheer size becomes apparent. Anyway, just over the road from Circular Quay, towards the city, is Alfred Street where I found the Australian Wine Centre, down a flight of steps and in a basement.

I was looking for this week's selection and had already decided that my chances of finding a bottle of Wildbacher were slim, so was expecting to make my selection on a basis other than grape variety.

I found something relatively local and also something I had never tasted before.

Week W (2014) is Woodstock, McLaren Vale Vintage Fortified Shiraz. 2005. $24.90 (~£13.70) for a half bottle.

As I have said before, I like dessert wines and I like Port, so I was expecting to like this. It is 18% abv, so I was glad this was a small bottle and I wasn't going to have to wrestle with myself about whether it would be worse to waste some or to have a monumental headache.

The colour is deep, dark and intense purple and it leaves tears clinging to the side of the glass reflecting the strength of the wine.

It smells interestingly like blackcurrant Christmas cake, with hints of other things and I could be persuaded that one of them was a dark chocolate mint KitKat.

On first reading you may think 'alcoholic Ribena' may be a damning description, but it isn't intended to be so. It does have powerful blackcurrant flavours and unmistakable alcoholic content, but it also has spicy complexity and a great long finish.

It is mouth-filling and has almost enough body enough to chew so it is possible to enjoy it by itself, but so much better with a creamy blue cheese. It won't replace Port in my affections, but I would certainly buy it again if it ever came within reach.

Vermentino

Quite a big week for me. I have been to the Guildhall to officially graduate from the WSET diploma course and delivered my first two hour tasting to a roomful of strangers, all of whom were friendly. This is in line with my explanation of my site's name, which you can find by following a link somewhere near the top of the page, if you have nothing better to do.

In an act of unusual foresight, I bought this week's wine quite a long time in advance. Part of me thinks this is bending the rules a little, but the the greater part of me thinks that the rules are mine and I am entitled to bend what I like. I find some justification of my bending in the opportunistic nature of the purchase. I had made a special trip to Laithwaites at Vinopolis in order to find something for week L (2013) and one the way back to the tube station wandered in Borough Market where, in a past life, I had bought a great number of lunches. Mostly on Fridays. In the market I found Borough Wines who now operate there between Wednesday and Saturday. They started in order to promote wines from their own family vineyards of Chateau Ponchapt in Bergerac, but have expanded their range into other areas.

The stall solved not only this week's problem, but may also have solved one I will otherwise encounter in a couple of weeks' time. Watch this (that) space.

Week V (2014) is Casamatta Toscana IGT 2011 by Bibi Graetz. Borough Wines £12.

I wanted V to be for Vermentino because I had last year spent a morning at the IWSC tasting and judging wines from Tuscany, most of which were high-acid, high tannin Sangiovese based reds, but towards the end of the session we moved on to the whites (counter-intuitive, but that's how it's done) and the only Vermentino submitted to scrutiny was both a very welcome respite and delicious.

This one is made by a winemaker Bibi Graetz in Fiesole, at his Testamata winery  in a small village in the hills 5 miles North East of Florence.

Made from 60% Vermentino, 30% Trebbiano & 10% Muscat, it is 13.5% abv, but has mouth-watering acidity providing a firm spine form which hangs all manner of citrus and juicy-fleshed fruitiness to keep it all nicely in balance.

Apple, grapefruit, peach and a whole basket more. Could there also be lime and flowery blossom notes, or am I getting a bit too Jilly?

In terms of quality ratings this wine qualifies as an IGT, or Indicazione Geografica Tipica, which is broadly equivalent to Vin de Pays in France. It has been said that in Italy this can be something of a good thing as the higher DOC rating can stifle the creative instincts of the more adventurous winemakers. I am sure this paints a far too monochrome picture, but it was a departure from those rules that lead to the creation of the Super-Tuscans, such as Tignanello and Sassicaia, which now command top-end prices. Perversely, these wines now qualify as DOC status as new rules were introduced to recognise their quality. So I don't know what to think. No change there.

Uva di Troia

This wine of the week is winning, at this point, the award for the least easily decipherable label. It is Italian, which seems fitting, and I get the feeling that if it had been possible to somehow add expressive hand gestures to the label then it would have been done.

I will keep the preamble short this week as I want to see if I can work out exactly what it is I have bought.

Week U (2014) is Ferrau, Cacc'e Mmite Di Lucera, DOC, 2007 by Paolo Petrilli.  from Uncorked.
14% abv, £18.95.

The wine shop website adds to the wine's name the word Daunia, even though that's not anywhere on the bottle. Investigation reveals that Daunia is an ancient name for the region of production and I imagine they chose to use that rather than Cacc'e Mmite Di Lucera, which I have no idea how to pronounce.

Ferrau, the name given by the producer, refers to a fictional Saracen knight from a fourteenth century poem. The basic plot involves two men fighting over a woman, with Ferrau wanting to prove how big and bold he is. That could be a clue for what we find later.

I chose this wine because I was looking for Uva di Troia but, in keeping with the inscrutable label, the name used for the grape on the back label is Nero di Troia. Not to worry, it's the same thing. Perhaps they have alternative names for everything in this party of Italy. By the way, this part of Italy is Puglia, or Apulia. See what I mean?

It is 40% Uva/Nero di Troia and the rest is a cocktail of Montepulciano, Sangiovese and Bombino. The last of these is a local lad, whereas the other pair are tourists from Tuscany.

I had to use a web translator (Google translate, in fact, but other web translators are available) to find out whether there was another mystery grape playing a role, but it turns out 'Invecchiato In Legno' actually means 'aged in wood'.

Having struggled with the label it all sounded quite encouraging so I next struggled with the cork. Once extracted it revealed a lighter wine than I had expected from it's medieval influenced name, with a level of acidity that surprised me. In fact, I left it a lone for a few hours after the first sip thinking it would be more enjoyable with food.

When I went back to it I found it really pleasing. The acidity was less obvious which makes me think it was more to do with me than the wine. It is a deep ruby colour and has smooth tannins, well-balanced black fruits and well integrated oak giving it a gently spiced finish. I am still drinking it as I type and am growing increasingly fond of it.

Torrontes

It feels like it has rained for a month, so it was refreshing to be able to get out into the garden and prune the apple trees. Refreshing, that is, for mind and body with the exception of my hands which developed a bad case of pruning fatigue. I was a bit worried that I would not be able to wield my waiter's friend effectively enough to extract he cork from this week's wine.

I needn't have worried as the artificial cork gave in with only a token fight and released a bright liquid which turned out to be even more refreshing than the gardening.

Week T (2014) is Vinalba Seleccion Torrontes 2012, Lujan de Cuyo. Majestic £9.99 (£7.99 each for two).

It is a pale lemon colour with moderate to intense aromas of aromatic pineapple and peach. On the palate it matches the aromas and feels clean and, well, refreshing.

I would consider this wine in a group that would include Gewurztraminer and Viognier among its members along with other more interesting whites. It is easy to drink, but not dull, bright and mouth-watering, but the acidity is well-balanced with the stone/tropical fruit flavours.

 The winery where this was produced, Vinalba, is quite young having been established in 2008, by Frenchman Herve J. Fabre who has the prior claim to fame that he was the first to make single varietal Malbec, now considered to be Argentina's signature red wine. Torrontes is now its white equivalent, so M.Fabre gets on the good-guys list.

I have never been to the continent of South America and think this is an omission that needs to be addressed. Not just because the wines of both Argentina and Chile rarely disappoint, especially at the prices demanded, but because the countryside that usually appears on the wineries websites looks fabulous. My bonus daughter (Danish term, apparently) spent a few weeks there on a post-graduation trip and tells me that it would be worth the air fare.

This wine will end up on my list of bankers, as I can't imagine anyone who enjoys a good, better-than-basic, white wine objecting being given a glass or two of this over a game of cards.

St Laurent

There was a nice leg of lamb roasting in the oven and I wanted to find a red S to go with it, so I set off to a local independent wine & food shop to see if they had anything interesting from Tuscany. My target was Sangiovese, probably from Chianti, but instead if found an Austrian wine made from St Laurent.

This a grape I have read about, but don't recall ever having tasted it. That made it an obvious candidate for this week's wine so I bought it.

Week S (2014) is Gesellmann St Laurent, Burgenland 2009. £14 No.2 Pound Street.

It is a bright ruby in colour and the leading aroma is red cherries. I found the acidity to be quite high, but not unpleasant, and the overall impression is of a refreshing, light fruity red wine.

I have read that St Laurent can produce results much like Pinot Noir, but I would compare it more to a Gamay (Beaujolais) or even Cabernet Franc.

It is dry (1.2 g/ltr  residual sugar) and 13.5% abv.

Burgenland, where it was made, is in the east of Austria towards the border with Hungary, but the winemaker, Albert Gesellmann, trained and worked in both South Africa and California bringing international experience back to the region where this grape has been vinified since the days of the Austrian empire.

It is fermented in temperature controlled stainless steel tanks, with the must being pumped over the cap 2 to 4 times daily, until it is ready to start its malolactic fermentation in large oak barrels.

The grapes were picked in September 2009, from vines between 38 and 60 years old, but the wine was not bottled until April 2011 and therefore it has had around 18 months to develop in wood and a further 3 years in glass before I tasted it.

It was pleasant and enjoyable, but something a little fuller may have been a better choice for the lamb.

Riesling

I have been looking forward to week R (2013). As you may have read, my site is called Late Harvest for a couple of reasons, one of which is my liking for dessert wines and especially the unfortified variety that attain their sweetness from very ripe grapes rather than a fermentation that has been stopped by the addition of high strength alcoholic spirit.

Riesling is a grape that can produced wines like this and, in the right hands, the results can be remarkable. Germany is known as the most famous source of these wines and I had expected to choose something from there, however, I came across this South African wine almost by accident in M&S.

Once again I have been surprised to find a wine of the week in Marks & Spencer, this time close to home rather than in London, who seem able to supply a diverse range at keen prices.


Week R (2013) is Riesling, Noble Late Harvest, 2011 from Paul Cluver, Elgin, SA.
M&S £14.99 for 37.5 cl.

It is lovely. It must be. Mum-in-law asked for more the day after we tasted it. It is a golden yellow colour and shines beautifully in the glass. It smells, and tastes, of apricots, honey and subtle spices.

In the mouth it feels full and luscious and the intensity of the flavours is impressive. The mouth-filling character comes mostly from the level of residual (unfermented) sugar which at 214 g/ltr is pretty high. A dry wine will typically have fewer than 4g/ltr and it is not surprising that with so much sugar left that could have been converted to alcohol, it is only 10.5% abv. This much sweetness could produce a sickly, cloying drink, however, the acidity levels are also good (10 g/ltr) and this balances the sugar very nicely.

The grapes are grown on a relatively small site and represent only 5% of the estate's output. The annual production is 625 cases (i.e. 7,500 half-bottles) and so I feel fortunate to have picked this up without ever having heard of it before. That's what I had hoped my 52 wines in 52 weeks exercise would achieve; discoveries.

I found after tasting it that this is an award winner and has been listed by Tim Atkin MW as one of his top 12 sweet wines and he knows lots more than me. He does this for a living.


I had been gearing up to explain a couple of German terms: Beerenauslese and Trockenbeerenauslese, but having happily stumbled upon this South African gem I will let you do your own research.

Happy New Year to you all.

Quinta do Spirito Santo

I should have planned for Christmas better than I did, having been out of the UK for the four weeks leading up to the last two shopping days, however, a cut price tree was secured on the 23rd and remaining gifts on 24th; the traditional male shopping opportunity. So far, so good.

I knew finding a red variety beginning with Q was going to be impossible (please do let me know if I am wrong. My birthday is in February and I would rather like a copy of Wine Grapes  to help with my exploration....), so I had hit on the plan of buying a nice Port to was down the inevitable Stilton and thought it should be easy enough to find one with the word 'Quinta' (Portuguese for 'estate') prominently on the label.

I failed, needing the rest of Christmas Eve to wrap presents, roll chipolatas in bacon, etc, etc, so I resorted to wandering through my cellar to see if I could find anything appropriate. This didn't take long as my cellar consists of a handful of storage boxes in a cupboard found in an area of our house known as the Panama Canal (don't ask).

Earlier in the year we had held an informal party for a number of friends and many had been kind enough to observe the unspoken protocol, originally derived in impoverished youthful years, of bringing a bottle. Being, in the most part, fine, upstanding and church-going members of society, one of them (unidentified) had brought along a bottle that was not opened at the time and has now become:

Wine Q (2013) Quinta do Espirito Santo 2011. It is a Vinho Regional de Lisboa. £7.99 at Laithwaites.

I don't know if the donor selected it on the basis of its qualities as a wine. or on the basis that Espirito Santo means, of course, Holy Spirit. Either way, it works for me.

Made in Portugal from two grapes permitted in the production of Port, Tinto Roriz and Castelao, it is 15% abv without the benefit of fortification. Unlike Port it is dry, inky black in colour and tastes mostly of blackberry and damson fruit, with flavours of coffee and chocolate being suggested in the lengthy finish.

Its tannins are smooth and the concentration of the fruit flavours impressive. It seems like exceptional value, as much of good Portuguese wine can be, and I might even pay for my own next time.

Should you be interested, the reason that this high alcohol red wine from Portugal is not 'Port' is because it has been fermented 'to dry', which means that all the sugar contained in the grape must (juice) has been converted to alcohol. With Port, fermentation is artificially stopped before this happens by adding distilled grape spirit to the vats of fermenting must.

This has two effects. Firstly, the resulting wine remains sweet as there is a higher sugar content and, secondly, the wine has its alcoholic content boosted even further than would have been achieved by a complete fermentation, usually up to 20% abv.

This practice of fortification was started by the British to enable Port Wines to reach England in a palatable and stable state as the transportation of the base wines had been a problem previously. The style became popular and we now live to enjoy the benefits of both Port and now wines such as this week's choice.

Pinot Grigio

A good friend of mine recently commented that Australia is full of very friendly people, but none of them are Australian. Together with The One, who had joined me at the end of week N (2013) I paid a visit to Queen Victoria Market, Melbourne, where I nearly came to the same conclusion.

The Spanish lady who explained how to distinguish the genuine Australian Ugg boot from the inferior Chinese copy was indeed friendly, as was the Englishman from whom The One bought some small opals and the Chinese man selling didgeridoos,which neither of us bought.

In the middle of this cosmopolitan array of mercantile bonhomie I came across a stall selling wine decanted from barrels into reusable bottles. This was run by a true Australian (non-indigenous) who was equally friendly and she explained that not only did her approach to distribution help her keep her prices down, but by reusing bottles her business was more eco-friendly than most of the wine trade.

This week, P (2013), the wine is Re Wine Pinot Grigio. $15 ($11, if you BYOB).

The eco-friendly claim is good, but it did make me wonder why I had learned about the sterile bottling conditions necessary to ensure wine reaches the consumer in a  good state. The instructions foe re-use on the back of this bottle says 'rinse twice with hot water', which seems to be a rather lower standard.

I imagine it's all to do with how long the wine is likely to spend in the bottle. Any wine sold in this way is probably not going to be intended for lengthy ageing and that was certainly the case with this particular example.

Bought on the Sunday, it was 'tasted' on the Monday after a long drive which was well rewarded by the sighting of live Platypus in the wild. These little duck-faced fury chaps are as remarkable as I had hoped and I am glad we found them. They were not as accessible as the equally wild Koala who allowed The One to make up close and personal contact as he sat in a roadside bush nibbling on a gum leaf, but at least equally pleasing. I digress. The wine was good. Clear, bright and lemon yellow, with quite concentrated stone fruit aromas it was pleasant to drink and had quite a long finish, especially considering the price. Maybe the bottle reuse does have its advantages.

You may have noticed the style of picture is different this week. That's because all the others have been culled from a producer's or distributor's website. This one I took myself as the Re Wine website is not yet up to the job. You may also notice that there is no plaster on the wall behind the bottle. That is because we spent the night in the Bega Downs Motel and they didn't really go in for unnecessary frills. Like food.

Back to Blighty for next week. A red Q. Any ideas?

Otago

Or Central Otago, to be precise, but I was drawn by the O.

I like Pinot Noir and Central Otago, the world's most southerly vine-growing region, has a great reputation so I was happy to use this week's vote on the appealing combination of grape and place rather than grape alone.

Still being in the land down under, where women glow and men don't, I once more gave up on the idea of an extended bottle-o tour in search of anything made with Oseleta and went instead to the cellar department of David Jones; Sydney's equivalent to Selfridges or similar.

I was dithering by the wine wall so long that on two occasions I was asked if I needed help. It was rather reminiscent of my usual performance in restaurants when faced with a menu containing more than one good option as at such times I need a certain amount of time-pressure to force a choice from me. The problem this time was to decide how extravagant I could justify being. There were three, or perhaps four, Central Otago Pinot Noirs on offer, but the oldest was only a 2010. It was in a nice thick bottle with a deep punt (the indentation it its bottom) so it was reasonable to assume the producer was not the cost-cutting variety. However, it was $45 rather than $28.99 and a 50% increase over the low end didn't seem appropriate for an untried punt. No pun(t) intended.

This week's wine O (2013) is Rabbit Ranch Pinot Noir, Central Otago 2012.

It is a medium ruby with some purple hints, has red fruit and some other Pinot flavours that I love. It has enough acid to make it mouth-watering but not so much as to have you looking around for some chips to sprinkle it on.  It is 13.5% abv.

At this point in its life it could not be confused with its Burgundian cousins of a certain age, not having anything remotely vegetal about it, but it is a very drinkable and I shall prove that as the evening wears on.

It is packaged in typical tongue-in-check southern hemisphere style and described as 'a bright-eyed red with hints of briar and a whiff of gunsmoke', following a shaggy dog story about sheep and rabbits competing for the land on which the grapes are now grown by Mr McGregor.

It also claims that the wine has been fined (clarified) with Easter Eggs. This is a reference to the popular habit in Bordeaux, and other places, of cracking a couple of hens eggs into the top of a barrique of maturing Claret so that the bits and pieces that make wine cloudy, but are too small to be caught in a filter, can cling to the protein in the egg and fall to the bottom of the barrel.

I looked up Rabbit Ranch on the internet, as is my habit, to see if there is any interesting technical information that I could share. It seems that this wine producer is not the only operation to use the name. In the UK there is a Rabbit Ranch that provides boarding facilities for its customers' pet rodents, whilst in Illinois there is one which is a supplier of Christian children's music. Amy's Rabbit Ranch in the US breeds dwarf Hotots, in both black and chocolate banded varieties (I think they are rabbits), and in Texas there is a similar sounding Bunny Ranch, but I understand that is something completely different.

Ninth Island Chardonnay

I knew that a white N was going to prove difficult. I had a choice of whether to spend my weekend on a wild goose chase around series of bottle shops, or to take the ferry and go to the Australian Golf Open.

I've never been to a major golf tournament before and so didn't really know what to expect. The condition of the course was outstanding and I have seen putting greens in a worse state than the fairways these chaps were playing on.

I stood right behind Jason Day (an Australian star) on the 12^th tee. I knew the professionals could really hit a ball, but I had no idea what that looks like in the flesh. It is hugely impressive and a little bit intimidating.

The day built nicely and one of the very few Europeans to have made the cut won the championship on the last green. This I found out from the news as after about four hours I decided to avoid the public transport nightmare that would have occurred had the event been in London and have a beer on a beach one more ferry ride away.

Anyway, all of that is by way of an explanation why this week's wine N (2013) is Ninth Island Chardonnay, 2012, from Pipers Brook Vineyards in Tasmania. $26.99 (~£16.20) and not made from Nosiola, as I had hoped.

Ninth Island is a brand and I found a Sauvignon Blanc alongside the Chardonnay. I avoided the SB because I was about to eat some cheesy pasta and wanted something softer and more rounded to drink with it.

The first observation is the wine is almost completely colourless, with the exception of a slight lime green tinge, which should have been a clue. The flavour was quite intense, if hard to identify. I seem to find my myself thinking 'crisp green apples' fairly frequently and this could be because that's what a lot of young and highly acidic wines really taste of, or it could be that I don't eat enough other fruits. Or any fruits, including crisp green apples, come to that.

It didn't go well with the pasta. Too sharp (refreshing?) and none of the smooth feel that I had hoped for even if the label did tell me it was unoaked. It was mineral, but not in the way the Chardonnays of Chablis are, and I was left thinking that I could have had a much more enjoyable experience with a bulk blend like Yellow Tail. May the producer please forgive me, but £16 in the UK can get you a pretty decent wine.

I wanted to like it because it came from Tasmania which, I have read, produces some great cool climate Pinot Noir, but I wasn't allowed Pinot Noir by the rules of my game and so I will have to wait until the red N comes around. Alternatively I could just try one anyway. It is my game after all and I make the rules.

Life will not get easier next week as I search for a red O.

Mataro

I had decided before setting off for New Holland that M is for Mataro, as Alfred Hitchcock so nearly said, because I had been educated to believe that the variety grown and known in France as Mourvedre and in Spain as Monastrell, was treated similarly here as Mataro.

You can say what you like about Australians (no, really), but I had an experience whilst searching for this week's wine in Sydney, that I am unlikely to have had in London.

Early in the week, in fact the day of my arrival, I started my search in a bottle shop (or even more Aussie sounding 'bottle-o') in the same block as the apartment in which I had billeted called City Cellars. I asked the manager, a friendly chap named Jason, if he had any Mataro.

I learned that he had only taken over the shop a couple of months ago, that the owners were connected to McGuigan Estates (there was plenty of evidence to support this claim on the shelves), that he had worked in the USA, that he would welcome me to his Friday afternoon tastings and that he hoped I enjoyed my stay in Ostraya, wherever that is.

I also learned that he did not have any Mataro.

In most bottle shops the owners / staff were friendly enough, but most of them told me I was really looking for Mourvedre. And perhaps, in a way, I was but I wanted Mataro. (You say bananas and I say pyjamas, you might think, but I can be quite stubborn. Ask The One.)

Eventually I cracked. In 'CBD Cellars', a slightly more up-market off-license, I bought a bottle of The Black Sock Mourvedre, Magpie Estate, Barossa Valley 2009. $31.99 (~£18).

I took this to an impromptu, end-of-day, bring a bottle gathering to share with some colleagues. They all brought either white or sparkling wine, so I shared half the bottle with myself before joining a more formal gathering on the phone back to mission control.

Ninety minutes later, alone and having only had a 'cheese, wine and crisps' supper, I generously shared the other half with some more cheese. Quite a balanced diet, in some respects.

This was a very enjoyable wine. Easy drinking but interesting. 14%abv but not heavy. Oaked and slightly spicy.

Later in the week with a group of workmates I returned to City Cellars to pick up a bottle of anything that we could share (honestly) in one of our apartments. This was necessary because it is party season and every bar and restaurant within comfortable walking distance provided the type of entertainment that required its patrons to be either skilled lip readers or thirty years younger than me. Preferably both.

Now here is the thing. Not only did the manager, Jason, remember me, but he asked if I had found any Mataro. I said 'no' and he said 'because I got some in for you!' Quite impressive. I had not ordered it and not even said that I would buy it if he did get some. 

So, although I had already had one candidate M, this one is the real Wine M (2013): Kay Brothers Basket Pressed Mataro 2010, from their Amery Vineyards, McLaren Vale, South Australia. $40 (~£25). 13.5% abv.

It comes from a vineyard planted in 1890 by two brothers, Herbert & Frederick Kay (the clue is in the name), who made their first vintage in 1895.

They died a year apart in 1947-8 and their son Cuthbert 'Cud' and now their grandson Colin have maintained the family business.

I am grateful to Jason not only for the customer care, but also for picking a good one.

The back label is a masterful example of 'prove me wrong' flavour descriptions, claiming:

Blackberry, liquorice and white pepper on the nose with a briary, roast chestnut and glazed nectarine palate.

Firm gravelly tannin structure finishes this full and generous wine perfectly.

All of which is probably true, but once again I have no idea what the combination of briary, roast chestnut and glazed nectarine should taste like.

It is only three years old and I suspect it will develop further, but it already has a well-balanced and complex character and reasonably long finish.

I am tempted to set Jason the challenge of finding me next week's white N, because I am struggling. I am fairly certain that from next week we will be back to single bottles.

Loureiro

It is curious how investigating one interest can lead you to another. I have always been interested in music, of many types ranging from Baroque to Rock, via Folk, Soul, Blues and many other variants along the way.

I seem to be drawn to subjects where the more I learn, the more I realise I know almost nothing. Like wine.

The Loureiro I was looking for is a white wine grape, cultivated mostly in Northern Portugal and the Spanish region of Galicia, but the one I found first was Kiko Loureiro a Brazilian heavy metal guitarist who has since the early 1990s played with Angra. I still know almost nothing about him except that he has some undeniable talent (that you can watch by clicking on his name, above) and that he started playing at the age of 11.

I'm sure there is much more to learn about him and his music but, like some wines, my first taste wasn't sufficiently compelling for me to abandon my search for other examples that may be more suited to my palate.

Having dealt with the brazilian I continued my search and found the real object of this week's interest, the Loureiro grape, and I selected for week L (2013) Solar Das Boucas,Vinho Verde DOC 2012. Laithwaites at Vinopolis £8.99

Vinho Verde is the northern Portuguese region whose name translates to 'green wine'. This is not because of the colour of the region's wines, but because traditionally they are made to be drunk young, or 'green'. The style, therefore unsurprisingly, is fresh, light and acidic. Also characteristic is some slight fizziness to the wine, which shows itself in the glass as small bubbles clinging to the sides, and in the mouth as, well, a slight fizziness.

Loureiro means 'Laurel' or 'Bay' and the wine is said to smell of Laurel flowers. It may well do so, but I don't know what Laurel flowers smell like. If they smell like crisp green apples with a hint of orangey citrus and a lesser hint of peach, then I will agree. Because that's what this wine smells like to me.

It is light and almost colourless; the shades it does have are in the pale lemon with a very subtle something-like-green end of the spectrum. It is also light in alcohol, at 11% abv.

I enjoyed it, but a chilly November evening is probably not when this shows its best side. I can imagine it being just what is required at the start of one of what I hope will be a great many barbeques and other al fresco dining experiences next summer.

As for Kiko, I think if I was wanting to hear something like his style of guitar I would go for Joe Satriani.

Kanonkop Kadette

Plenty of K's, but none of them refer to the grape variety.

Whilst researching my options for week K (2013), considering this week needs to be red, I found myself heading back towards Hungary.  But I was torn between sticking to my preference for selecting the weekly wine on the basis of grape variety and pursuing variety of a more general nature. 

Red Ks don't seem to occur very frequently away from Hungary and, if they do, they tend to be the varieties that are used in Bull's Blood.  I used that to solve a similar problem for week E (2013).

I decided to head south and week K (2013) is Kanonkop Kadette, 2010, from Stellenbosch SA. Bought from The Savanna, Liverpool Street station, £14.99.

The major component in this week's blend is Pinotage, a South African specialty crossing that was an attempt to produce a grape with the better qualities of both its parents. The complex, delicious subtleties of Pinot Noir and the easy to grow, high yielding and more robust character of Cinsault. 

Its critics say the resulting wine can taste disappointingly like paint and I have had that experience, but Kanonkop is one of the best wineries in South Africa and has a reputation for output that beats Dulux hands down. Unless you are my friend Bob, of course, with his unusual decorating preferences. (See my 'we got both kinds' page.)

Kanonkop produce a range of blends and this Kadette is a 'second wine', a term used more frequently in France (and especially in Bordeaux) by producers to persuade the drinker that he is getting good quality at a more reasonable price than can be demanded for their top flight offering. Mouton Cadet is a reliable Bordeaux sales of which topped 15 million bottles in 2002, so perhaps the name choice hints at the intentions Kanonkop have for this wine. 

The full recipe is Pinotage 44%, Cabernet Sauvignon 41%, Merlot 9%, Cabernet Franc 6%, which means that it is slightly more than half Bordeaux blend and nearly half pure South African.

It has spent 14 months in 225l French oak (from Nevers) barriques, having been fermented in open vessels at 29 C, with the cap manually punched down daily.

It is a fairly full-bodied, dry red wine, with a surprisingly long finish and mostly 'medium' everything else; colour intensity, acid, tannin and alcohol, although the label tells me it is 14% abv . Lots of red fruits with cherry and raspberry lingering longest. I don't think this will develop much in the bottle, so it goes in the 'drink soon' section of the cellar. This is particularly appropriate for my 'cellar', as I don't have the facility to lay down anything worthwhile or the unallocated cash to buy it in the first place. Drink soon is also a personal preference

We know where the 'Kadette' name comes from and the back label helpfully explains the 'Kanonkop'. The 'Kop' part means 'hill', whereas the 'Kanon' part means,........and it is a reference to the days when a canon would be fired from the hilltop to announce the arrival of dutch trading ships into Cape Town harbour.

Jacquere

Some of my more easily beguiled acquaintances assume I must have read a lot of books, or been particularly diligent at school, simply because I often guess well in quizzes. Wrong on both counts. I like book shops, but find them daunting because there are just too many books. How do you choose? Until the invention of the Kindle, which makes it dangerously easy to buy the electronic equivalent of books, I would usually leave empty handed. I needed a method to make selection simpler.

Before learning anything about wine, I would reduce the wine selection problem by trusting the words 'appellation controllee' on the label to be a guide to reliability. It allowed me to discount a lot of bottles.

Week J (2013) is Domaine des Ardoisieres, St Pierre de Soucy, Argile Blanc 2012. From Vinoteca, Farringdon. £20.50.

                                                                                                                            The first thing I noticed about this IGP qualified wine (that's one made outside of the Appellation Controllee regulations and, therefore, considered a step down in quality) is that the capsule encasing the cork is made of wax, rather than lead or plastic.          I rather like the appearance, but have no idea if this is done for aesthetic, practical or cost reasons. The label reveals little other than the information required by EU regulations. However, a bit of investigative effort on the internet is richly rewarded.     I had chosen this wine because I had already found out enough to know that it is made from 40% Jacquere, 40% barrel fermented Chardonnay and 20% Mondeuse Blanche. I now know that the vines are 40 years old, yielding 40 hectolitres per hectare, from a vineyard of 9 hectares of which 2 are devoted to this blend. I could go on (S.Coogan, Pool Supervisor,1994), but I might just as well give credit to my source: Vine Trail . If you take a look, you will find all manner of information about the care taken from vineyard to bottle all of which is very impressive, especially of a wine alleged to be of 'lower quality'. 

So let's see if we can get the wax off and the cork out to see if all that care is justified.

First impressions are of a lively, bright, citrus lead flavour. Very mouth-watering and certainly got the appetite keen. The barrel fermented Chardonnay makes its presence felt with some softer, oak-influenced notes, but I have no knowledge of Mondeuse Blanche and can't tell comment on whether 20% is the right share of the blend. As the overall effect is very pleasing, I will accept Brice Omont, the vigneron, knows not only much more than I do but also his blending onions.

It was consumed with a chicken, mozzarella, prosciutto and sun-dried tomato affair which is much more Italian than French, but Savoie is in that general direction so that probably explains why the match was close enough.

This wine confirms that my old habit of only choosing French wines that had earned AOC status was misguided. The problem this gives me is that the number of wines needing to be tasted is now even greater, but it was an impossible task anyway, so I'll choose to see this as a good thing.