Espadeiro

I feel that I am on something of a roll having found a white D last week and a red E this, two tasks I failed on last year. For the white I had to stretch the budget quite a long way, but this week we are back in comfortable financial territory.

I found the supplier through Wine Searcher and at first glance it is a deli in East London (North London? where's the boundary?) but seems to be the hub of something much more interesting. Have a look at Portuguese Conspiracy to see what I mean.

Rather like week R (2014) the red grape I have selected this week is best known for its use in the production of pink wines. Espadeiro is a native of the cool climate region of Northern Portugal most famous for the white wines of Vinho Verde, of which we have sampled a couple on our journey to date. This then is the third visit to Vinho Verde, but this time we are in the pink.

Week E (2014) Arca Nova Rose, Vinho Verde DOC 2013. Portuguese Conspiracy £10.50

I doubt that this is an interesting observation, certainly not useful, but the first thing that I noticed when opening the wine was how small the cork was. I reckon it was a good centimeter shorter than the average. Is this because the wine is intended to be drunk young? Is it a new, more efficient type of cork? Is it just saving cost? I doubt it is the last of these as the bottle was quite substantial compared to some. Probably none of the above, and I am sorry to have mentioned it.

There's no doubting that this a rose wine. It is a beautifully vivid pink, the colour of fresh strawberry juice. On pouring into the glass you get the little spritzy bubbles typical of the region's produce which make the wine not so much sparkling as prickly and exciting.

It is off-dry, but a long way from the sickly sweet pinks beloved of young ladies, and it has the aromas and flavours to match the expectations that may have been set by the colour. Fresh red summer fruits and nicely balanced acidity.

At 11.5% abv and with that appealing spritz this would make a great wine for a warm summer evening, or perhaps a lazy afternoon picnic.

Vinho Verde is despite its reputation for white wines (the name itself means 'green wine') produces a wide range of styles. The producer of this range, Arca Nova, is Quinta das Arcas who make one other range in Vinho Verde and two more in Alentejo, which is a warmer region further south. They also produce cheese, olive oil and Brandy.

I really like this week's selection and am suitably intrigued by the idea of the Conspiracy that I think I will be exploring further.

Dona Blanca

Having failed this time last year, Week D (2013) to find a white wine made with a grape variety starting with 'D', I allowed my heart to rule my head and paid rather more than usual (twice?) to observe the pointless rules of my equally pointless game.

Last week as I was in the area I popped in to Fortnum & Mason to see if they might have something a little unusual beginning with D from, perhaps Greece or Bulgaria (Debina or Dimiat, respectively). I told the sales assistant what I was looking for and she got quite excited. F&M don't stock wines from her home land but she thanked me for taking an interest in the wines from Bulgaria and directed me to a shop in Bayswater that might help. It didn't, so in the spirit of never going back, I continued round the Circle Line to South Ken and went to The Sampler. I had seen on their website that they had just started to stock something that would qualify this week. I was beginning to think that the tubes fares would total more than the cost of the wine, so that's how we have arrived at:

Week D (2104) La Vizcaina, La Del Vivo, Bierzo. 2011. The Sampler £34.20.

This wine is made by Raul Perez who is considered a rising star of Spanish wine-making and comes from his Valtuille winery, part of the Bierzo DO, situated in North West Spain.

It is made with an interesting blend of varieties: 80% Dona Blanca, 10% Godello, 10% Palomino.

The first of these has been grown across the Minho river in Portugal for years and has long been a component of white Port. It seems that white Port is suffering a dip in its popularity and the growers of Dona Blanca (or Dona Branco, in Portugal) are now turning to producing dry table wines.

The second of these, Godello, is a more widely known grape of the region and makes very respected and increasingly fashionable wines.

Palomino has something in common with Dona Blanca in that it also features prominently in the production of another fortified wine from the Iberian peninsular; Sherry.

Our wine is unfortified, dry and intensely flavoured with apple and stone fruit tones. There are also signs of oak ageing, especially in the lengthy finish. It is a deep almost golden, lemon yellow colour which come from the grapes thick skins.

Full bodied and flavoursome it is the fruit and 13.5% alcohol that are nicely balanced, but it also has sufficient acidity to make the mouth water.

I don't know if this is a small production wine, but suspect that may be the case. If so, that may explain why the small print on the side of the label, where the information made compulsory by the EU has been squeezed, describes the contents of the bottle as 'red Spanish wine! 

Cabernet Franc

The One gave me a present, on the occasion of our fourth wedding anniversary, of a silver wine bottle stopper engraved on the top with the words 'Life is a Cabernet'. (The connection being that four years' marital bliss is traditionally celebrated with a gift associated in some way to fruit and flowers.) It's a nice play on words and a nice thought, but is also a conundrum. Which Cabernet?

I would suggest that, generally, when most people hear 'Cabernet' they expect that it is an abbreviation for 'Cabernet Sauvignon', the world-dominating red grape from Bordeaux. But this week we are tasting not that vinous globe-trotter but one of its parents.

As with most living things Cabernet Sauvignon has two parents, but what is something of a surprise is that while the parent providing the first name is a red variety, the surname comes from a well known and equally world-dominating white grape, Sauvignon Blanc. Which one was the pushy parent, I wonder?

But enough the spouse and precocious progeny, step forward the red parent, take your place under the spotlight and give us a song.

Week C (2014) Santa Rita '120' Cabernet Franc, 2013. Majestic £8.99.

Cabernet Franc, like its famous daughter, is one of classic Bordeaux grapes. Easier to ripen and more tolerant of lesser vineyard sites it now continues to play its part in the recipe for Claret alongside CS, Merlot, Petit Verdot and very occasionally, Malbec. But like Malbec, which emigrated to Argentina, it has found more success away from the family farm. In the case of Cabernet Franc is has moved successfully to the Loire valley and also further afield to various new world sites.

This week's choice comes from the Santa Rita vineyards of Chile's Central Valley.

It is a soft, fruity, easy drinking red wine, with flavours of red fruits (did someone say Raspberry?) and it has a smooth texture with silky tannins and well-balanced acidity. It has 13.5% abv, but this is not too noticeable and certainly couldn't be criticised for being 'hot' (a winey term for too alcoholic). There is a floral quality that I like and a flavour that I recognise as Cabernet Franc but can't describe anymore helpfully than that. Sorry.

I tasted this over a couple of evenings and it retained its freshness overnight and had possibly opened up a little (became more flavoursome) by the return visit.

The brand '120' is a reference to a bit of history from the struggle for Chilean independence in the early part of the 19th C, when following a hard day's struggle a band of 120 patriots took refuge in the estate's cellars. As with Week E (2013) and Week H (2014) we again find an historical link between red wine, courage and heroic behaviour. That's enough encouragement for me and I will do what I can to ensure I don't risk letting the side down, should the time come, by not having put in the necessary preparation.

Boal

I don't like to boast about it, but I went to Oxford. The city of dreaming spires where great academics throughout the centuries have discovered, invented and written things that have changed the world. Yes, I went there, too. In fact, I went there more than once, most recently with some good friends just this last weekend.

Whilst there we relived some of the magical student days that I never had, playing bridge and croquet, eating and drinking and generally messing about on the river. During the last of these I discovered a previously un-researched  law of fluid dynamics, involving a punt, a beer bottle and a low bridge. I also discovered that while the English don't have a direct equivalent of the German word schadenfreude they do have a capacity for it.

An accidental discovery involving boats also played an important role in the development of the fortified wines from the island of Madeira, referred to these days as 'Madeira'. More of that later, but those wines are made from a handful of grapes varieties one of which is Boal. Hence:

Week B (2014) Barbeito Boal 5 year Old Reserva Madeira NV. Uncorked £13.85 50cl.

The accidental discovery concerning Madeira wine was that, contrary to the usual wine keeping advice which recommends storage in a dark, constantly cool environment and avoiding unnecessary movement, these wines would actually improve through rough treatment. Specifically, as far back as the late 18th C wines would be fortified with grape spirit to make them stable, in the same way that Port was treated before shipment to England, stored in barrels and taken on ships to be sold in the new world. The unsold portion would remain on the ship and make the return trip to Madeira still in the hot and rolling conditions of the ship's hold. The makers noticed that the wine that had been put through this unfortunate experience actually tasted better than the same wines that had sat in the warehouses on shore for the same period.

This discovery lead to a unique process that involves heating the wine at the start of its maturation through one of three methods. The first involves stainless steel tanks and a heating coil, the second deploys steam heated storage rooms and the third uses warehouses heated only by natural sunshine. Each successive method is more expensive and time consuming, so it generally follows that the better wines are produced through the last of these which is called 'canteiro'.

Our bottle contains a blend of canteiro aged wines, at least five years old. It is made with 100% Boal. Other varieties are used giving increasing degrees of sweetness and this 'reserva' has 88 gm/l of residual sugar making it medium sweet.

It is a beautiful golden tawny colour and looks bright and inviting. It has aromas of burnt toffee and baked apple and tastes of caramel, bitter marmalade underpinned by the nuttiness of oxidation.

I have had just the one small glass (really) and found it very moreish, mouth-watering and very lengthy. It has  a gently warming 18% abv. and makes an appetising alternative to both Port and sweet sherry. I could become a fan.

Agiorgitiko

Happy New Year!

Yes, fellow travelers, we have made it once round the year and twice round the alphabet. We started our tour of discovery on 1st September 2013 and have reached the start of lap 2 on 31st August 2014. We have tasted 26 red wines and 26 whites (one of the reds was actually a rose, but the grapes were red), mostly varietals, but with a few blends, so our target of 52 wines in 52 weeks has been met.

So, off we go again.

St George got about a bit. Slaying dragons all over the place it would seem. He is the patron saint of 20 countries, 24 cities and the Scouts. Both Christian and Muslim traditions venerate him, and he is pressed into service by organisations assisting sufferers of leprosy, plague, herpes and syphilis. Way to go, Georgie.

The Australians have a bank named after him and I expect he would have been pleased by that, but I like to think such a great man would have been far more excited to know that in Greece he has an eponymous wine grape.

Week A (2014) Tetramythos Agiorgitiko 2012. Vinoteca Farringdon £10.75.

If it needs spelling out (and it is a Greek word, so it probably does) Agiorgitiko means St.George. It is one of the two most widely planted red grapes is Greece, the other being Xinomavro that we tasted three weeks ago in week X (2014), and the wine that is made from it in the Nemea region is sometimes referred to as 'the blood of Hercules', so it would appear to have more than one heroic connection.

Agiorgitiko can make wines across a variety of styles, but this one is a medium intensity ruby colour with simple fruity aromas of red fruits and not much else. It has 13% abv and low acidity. It is pleasant and easy to drink, but not spectacular. The tannins are subtle and most noticeable 'in the finish', after it has been swallowed, where they leave a slightly green or unripe flavour which is a little bitter.

It is an organic wine, produced in a winery built ten years ago near the northern coast of the Peloponnese region of southern Greece, where a range of eight wines are made in different styles. My impression is that this one is designed to be drunk young, although I think it could be kept for a few years without the expectation of it developing into anything more than it is when it is bottled. Oak is used a the winery for some of their output, after fermentation in temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks, but there is no hint that the Agiorgitiko has spent any time in barrel.

Of the two recently tasted Greek wines I would have to award this on the runner-up position as the Xinomavro had been a pleasant surprise, where as this is just pleasant. It also costs 25p more.

Zweigelt

If I offered you a Rotburger you may well be a little cautious about accepting my generosity. If I followed that up by telling you not to worry because it was created in a lab in 1922 by a man, no, a professor, named Friedrich, you may not be any less certain.

But you should accept my offer. Friedrich (Felix to his friends) was indeed a professor, in an Austrian institute, and it is said that he did rather well through his association with a certain movement that came to prominence in the 1930's and rather less well after 1945, but by accepting that we can't choose everything about our circumstances we can concentrate on his real contribution to the www (not t'internet, the wonderful world of wine) and know that Rotburger is the name first given to a grape variety he created through crossing two existing varieties.

He created Rotburger by crossing Blaufrankisch and St.Laurent, two grapes that we have encountered before in weeks E (2013) where the former, also known as Kekfrankos, appeared in Egri Bikaver, and S (2014) where the latter was a varietal. Over fifty years after he did this his efforts were posthumously acknowledged by the grape being renamed in his honour. Zweigelt being his surname.

Week Z (2014) Zweigelt 2011, by Christoph Edelbauer. Newcomer Wines £22.90.

Each of the grape's parents were selected to provide their progeny with specific characteristics. Blaufrankisch is late ripening, tannic and spicy, whereas St.Laurent is dark skinned and highly aromatic. The combination must be considered successful as Zweigelt is now Austria's most widely planted variety.

This wine is an intense ruby colour and has fruit-driven flavours of blackcurrants and plums with a gentle spicy finish. The tannins are round and soft, which may have been enhanced by it having been double-decanted from bottle to jug and back again and there is ample acidity to balance the 13.5% alcohol. There is a fruit sweetness to this otherwise dry red wine.

I am slightly surprised by how full and rich this is, but that probably reveals more about my level of ignorance regarding red Austrian wines than how closely the contents of this bottle represent the type generally.

The maker, Christoph Edelbauer has been making wine in the Kamp valley of Austria for eleven years, according to austrianwine.com , which if they have their facts correct is impressive when you read he is now only 34. Or am I getting old?

This is another week where I like the wine and I also like the presentation. There isn't a huge amount of information on the bottle, especially for a non-German speaker like me, but the pseudo-handwritten label is reminiscent of how The One presents her homegrown apple juice and that appeals to me.

There is a particularly enjoyable German word on the reverse that I would love to be able to use if I ever play Scrabble again (yes, thank you, I know it would be against the rules) which has seventeen letters: Erzeugerabfullung. This is the local word meaning 'estate bottled' telling us that the entire process from vine to bottle took place on the producer's premises. No 20,000 litre shipping bags used here, even if the bottle was sold to me from a container.

This is the second bottle we have opened from the Austrian shop-in-a-container in Shoreditch and, so far, they have a 100% approval rating, even if the prices do represent their limited production volumes.

Yalumba

Earlier in the week I made my annual pilgrimage to the Great British Beer Festival at Olympia.This is the same venue that in May hosted the London Wine Fair and the two events do share some features and yet are very different.

The LWF is a trade only event, that is free to visit for those who have a strong enough link to the business of wine to qualify, whereas the GBBF is open to anyone with £10 to spend. (£8 if you, like me, are a CAMRA member.) Once through the doors at the LWF producers are keen to share their wines and provide samples to anyone holding a glass (which they will find for you if you have left yours in a safe place). At the GBBF the visitor can buy or rent a glass and then fill it with beer samples (buy only) in three sizes, a third, a half or a full pint. One noticeable difference is that there are no spittoons provided at 'Britain's Biggest Pub'. Maybe because the event is aimed at the consumer rather than the trade or, more likely, because no-one is expected to spit out a sample they have paid for. Conversely, there were no pork scratchings or 20" bratwurst at the Wine Fair.

The greatest similarity that struck me as I swirled, sniffed, sipped and swallowed a range of milds, bitters, porters and others at a leisurely pace, was the huge variety of styles on offer and the efforts the producers need to make if they wish their output to fare well in comparison to all of their available competitors. It seems that tasting notes are now as commonplace in the world of beer as they have been for a long time in the world of wine. That and the awarding of medals. Is this a short cut to help those to whom all notes sound the same? Maybe, as the awarding of the title of 'Champion Beer of Britain' to Timothy Taylor's Boltmaker generated an impressive queue to the corner of stand B18, where it could be tasted. The long queue appeared to me to be made up of people who looked like they had put lots of effort into understanding beer, and will doubtless have their own favourites, yet they still want to know what the judges say 'excellent' tastes like.

I have yet to progress beyond the rank of 'associate judge' at any competition, but an example of what I think tastes excellent is:

Week Y (2014) is Yalumba Organic Viognier 2012. £9.49 Waitrose.

Any followers of my game (see 52 Weeks : 52 Wines) will notice I have again bent the rules and selected this week's wine not on grape variety, but by the producer. Yalumba hold the claim to being Australia's oldest family-run winery, having started producing wines in 1849. Their excellent website says 'we planted vines which grew into a family tree'. Their marketeers should be pleased to hear that I rather like that. The originator of this family tree was an English brewer named Samuel Smith (no, not that one, this one came from Dorset) so it seems my visits to Olympia have one more connection.

Yalumba produce a great variety of wines and that allowed me to select one of my favourite grape varieties; Viognier. The variety is known best, historically, as the premier white grape grown in the Northern Rhone valley and used to produce the whites of Condrieu and, as a minor blending partner, Cote Rotie and other great reds from the region.

This wine is fresh, intensely flavoured and full-bodied. It has 13.5% abv and almost no residual sugar (0.5g/l) so it is bone dry, but the combination of the fruits and possibly influenced by the high alcohol content it still has a perceived sweetness. The flavours are of warm stone fruits, with floral tones and a gentle spicy kick. It has a long and pleasing finish, leaving an apricot and light honey flavour as it fades away calling to be tasted again. At least, that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.

My opinion is that this is very good value for money and that I will buy this again. A much more compelling endorsement is offered by The One's mother who, at the age of 94 and claiming that the years have robbed her of the ability to taste anything, is still very capable of spotting a good thing when it passes her way. 'This is nice', she said, so I must be right.

Xinomavro

Acid black may sound like the name of a 1970's prog-rock band but it also a literal translation of the name of the Greek grape, Xinomavro. It is not grown anywhere else so this is a good wine to be trying on our journey of discovery.


Week X (2014) Thymiopoulos Xinomavro, Noussa. 2012. M&S £10.50

It is a medium intensity, bright ruby colour and smells of plums and raspberries with some lightly spicy bits.

Many people liken Xinomavro to either Burgundy or Barolo and I can see the comparison, which surprises me. Partly because I am still doubtful about my own palate and partly, I have shamefully to admit, that I expected this to be a bit rough. Prejudice; never a good thing. Mea culpa.

At 14% abv it is quite weighty, but it has good acidity and smooth tannins too, making it likely to be capable of ageing well and me regret that I opened it only two years after the grapes were picked. There is an obvious resolution to this problem and as I do seem to visit this particular supplier regularly perhaps I can 'lay one down' as rude schoolboys and genuine wine people might say.

There is a profile of the grower, Apostolos Thymiopoulos, on the Wine Society's site which explains his adherence to biodynamics and what the French would call Lutte Raisonnee, the practice of using natural remedies to pest control such as guinea fowl to combat locusts rather than chemical sprays. Based on the contents of this one bottle it would seem that the extra care taken in the production of his wines is rewarded by the results.

The back label recommends drinking this with a rich beef stew, but I chose to open it alongside a lamb kleftiko and enjoyed both very much. Having read about the grape variety I was curious to find out more about kleftiko. I am glad I did as the name has its root in history with a 'kleft' being a Greek bandit and the name being particularly used to describe an independence fighter, either from the Turks in the 15th C, or from the war of independence between 1821-8. You see? Wine can be a great educational facilitator. Yes, it can.

Weissburgunder

At the northern end of the City of London, in Shoreditch, there is a man selling Austrian wines from a container. I don't mean he is pouring it out of a carton but that his shop is a shipping container. You might think this is a little unusual, and I would agree, but the shop is one of the outlets at a 'pop up shopping mall' called Boxpark. The idea of a pop up shopping mall is difficult to understand until you visit and discover that it is a very hip concept in an increasingly hip part of London. Not my natural territory by any measure.

Newcomer Wines specialise in small scale Austrian wine producers and claim to be leading a revolution and shaking up the old fashioned view of wine by selling the wines from 'producers with great stories and cool labels'.

Week W (2014) is 'WB' Weissburgunder by Ewald Zweytick, 2012. Newcomer Wines £14.90

Weissburgunder is another grape with a range of international synonyms. In France it is Pinot Blanc, some Austrians know it as Klevner. In Hungary it is Feher Burgundi and Rulandske Bile in the Czech Republic. I have to say that the Czech name would be a lot more appealing if I could work out how to put an acute accent over the last 'e'.

Although a white grape it is a mutation of Pinot Noir and, as the Germanic name suggests, can be found in Burgundy (as well as Champagne and Alsace) where it has been confused with Chardonnay. Further confusion occurs the USA where a lot of vines called Pinot Blanc are actually Melon de Bourgogne, the Loire grape responsible for Muscadet. So this one could give the Italians a run for their money.

It is a rich lemon yellow, with the suggestion of a green hint (or was that a reflection of the kitchen worktop?) and an aroma of ripe melon.and the inevitable crisp green apples. On the palate it is slightly oily and mouth-filling, smooth and fruity. It is 13.5% abv and this balances the acidity very nicely. It is not unlike a white Burgundy and, if it wasn't for the fact that Majestic knock out a decent Macon Village for 60% of the price, this could become a regular purchase. 

Vespolina

There is a very pleasant small town in Buckinghamshire, not far from where the nation's prime ministers like to play lords (or lady) of the manor to entertain dignitaries and despots from overseas, called Wendover.

At the top of the hill the High Street becomes Pound Street and, at No.2, you will find No.2 Pound Street. This is a wine shop and delicatessen that carries and interesting range of wines, selected directly from the producers, and and equally interesting range of cheeses from the UK. There are a few tables and a small counter / bar at which a coffee or the contents of the shop can be enjoyed and there are always a few bottles of wine for tasting. The black pudding scotch egg I bought for lunch was quite remarkable.

V is a tricky customer for red grape varieties and I was giving up hope of finding anything either based on or even using Vespolina until I was draining the last of the coffee and I spotted:


Week V (2014) 'Uvaggio', Proprieta Sperino, Coste della Sesia Rosso, DOC. 2010. No 2 Pound Street £24.50

As with last week's Ugni Blanc, the grape of the week, Vespolina, is a minor blending partner and not a solo performer. In fact it represents only 15% of the blend, as does Croatina, leaving the 70% lead role to be played by Nebbiolo.

In week D (2014) I described the three red stars of Piedmont: Nebbiolo, Barbera and Dolcetto, and didn't even know, at that point, Vespolina is also grown in Piedmont.

Its name suggests it might be a fuel used to power the scooters favoured by the Mods in the 1960's (and since), but it has nothing to do with wasps even if nobody knows where the name really originates. The grape is found mostly around Gattinara and is related to Nebbiolo and a number of other regional varieties. This is Italy and so it also has a long list of pseudonyms which I am not going to list, you will be pleased to read.

Nebbiolo is one of the world's great grapes, producing wines with complex aromas and flavours, but it needs a bit of time to develop and for the tannins to integrate with the fruits and alcohol. In this bottle the roles played by both Vespolina and Croatina is to provide a balancing softness to the overall blend. At only four years old a varietal Nebbiolo, such as a Barolo or Barbaresco, would be needing a little longer to reach its best or, quite possibly, to be drinkable.

Here we have a bright, medium intensity ruby coloured wine with aromas and flavous of cherry and plum. The tannins are smooth and balance well with the lively acidity. It is dry, but not mouth-puckeringly so, having only 1.6 g/ltr of residual sugar and at 13% abv it is not too heavy. Even at this young age it is already very drinkable and this suggests that the producer's decision to blend the three varities, together with the wine spending 18 months in variously sized and aged oak vessels, has had the desired results.

Ugni Blanc

Ugni Blanc has more names than God and crops up all over the place to be used for all styles of wine. In France it is a major component in the production of both Cognac and industrial alcohol, not that there is any other connection between these two products.

This week it appears as the co-vinified junior partner of Colombard, another grape that contributes to the production of Brandy, in a regional wine from Gascony. Co-vinified simply mean the grapes all ferment together, rather than being blended together after they have become wine.


Week U (2014) is Charte d'Assemblage, Cotes de Gascogne, IGP. 2012. Waitrose £8.49

Zippy appears up front in Waitrose's own tasting notes and I assume this not a reference to the long running children's tv series of the early 1970's - early 1990's, but a subtle warning that this is unlikely to be a soft, buttery white Burgundy style wine.

It is under a screw cap and this is usually an indication that wine is intended to be drunk when it is still young and fresh. I don't anticipate any problems in satisfying that expectation.

Over a game of Cribbage, won by the better team by pegging out just in time (what's that?), I discovered that zippy is a fair description. Not to be confused with sharply acidic, but certainly as bright and lively as the banter about 'two for doing it' and 'one for his knob'. (What?).

Pale lemon yellow, in colour, medium intensity aromas of citrus and stone fruits, with a hint of tropical fruit, or at least ripe peaches on the palate. Good finish and at 11.5% made a very acceptable summer evening drink. We had it after a NZ Sauvignon Blanc and it wasn't too jarring a change but perhaps a little softer.

There are many good wines of a similar style available around this price point, so it will have to compete with equally well made 'everyday wines' to get into the shopping trolley and, sadly, that probably means I am more likely to buy it if Waitrose trick me into thinking it's a bargain. (No foul pay implied, that's just how the world works.)

Tannat

Either way you look at it Tannat is still tannaT. It's the little things like that, that make life enjoyable, for me at least. But wordplay aside, Tannat is not generally known for being whimsical. In fact, it is more famed for being something of a tough customer.

Tannat and tannin are close, both phonetically and physically. The grape has a reputation for producing wines with prominent and sometimes harsh tannins and this has been handled in a number of different ways by winemakers seeking to tame the beast. Blending with other varieties is common and ageing can mellow the juice, but one technique now widely used in Bordeaux and elsewhere was first developed by a vigneron in Madiran, Patrick DuCournau, in 1991, specifically to make Tannat more approachable. That technique, micro-oxygenation, involves pumping controlled amounts of oxygen through the fermenting must, or sometimes maturing wine, in quantities and for durations of the producers choosing. Either over or under done, oxygenation can lead to faulty wine with various off-flavours but the technique is now well understood after a near quarter century of use and producers who know their onions can avoid their wines smelling like them.

Week T (2014) is Reserve Des Tuguets, Madiran. 2010. £11.99 Tesco.

It is at the purple end of ruby and not particularly pronounced in aromas. What is there is dark, brambly, blackberry type fruits with a hint of oak ageing.

On the palate the same fruits come through, with a bit more blackcurrant. There is a fair bit of tannin and it is reasonably smooth, but still quite astringent. The tannins for which Tannat is famous have been tamed by blending with two red Cabernet grapes: Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. The latter of these is grown extensively in the Loire valley and it gives a light, aromatic style of red wine and so is well matched with the harder edged Tannat.

At 13% abv it is fairly typical of modern wines and the alcohol is well integrated with the primary fruit flavours. The finish is a little bitter and has some earthy, rustic (a popular term when describing Madiran) flavours.

This bottle sports a sticker proclaiming a bronze award at the Decanter Wine Awards and I wouldn't disagree with that, but at £11.99 it is competing with a number of wines that are more immediately enjoyable. This is pleasant, but the earthy tones, for my taste, take the edge off the whole experience. It is good, well made and could not be described accurately as bland, but will not feature on my regular buys list.

Although Madiran is the French home of Tannat it is now considered to be the national variety of Uruguay, following its introduction by settlers from the Basque country. Those of you who have been following the football World Cup may enjoy the idea of a wine known for its bite being held in such high regard in that part of the world. Those who haven't may need to Google 'Suarez'.

Semillon

In this experiment to use the alphabet as our guide in a journey of discovery through the world of wine, we have encountered Botryitis Cinerea previously. Week H (2013) featured Harslevelu, one of the great Hungarian grapes used in the production of Tokaji. In that case, the process of making the sweet version of the wine is quite complicated and involves taking the grapes affected by 'Noble Rot' (the welcome results of the work of the fungus Botrytis Cinerea which is not to be confused with 'Grey Rot', its unwelcome stable mate) and grinding them into a paste to be added to wine fermented to dry. This week we have a more straightforward dessert wine.

Week S (2014) is De Bortoli, Hermits Hill, Botrytis Semillon, Riverina, NSW. 2009
Marks & Spencer £8.49 37.5cl.

This wine is made for M&S by the De Bortoli winery with nobly rotted Semillon grapes grown in Riverina. This is an area of New South Wales, towards the border with Victoria, where the Murray and Murrumbidgee rivers provide the irrigation to enable diverse forms of agriculture to flourish, including viticulture.

The climate in Riverina is one of long warm days with heavy morning dews and occasional showers and this is exactly what our friendly fungus enjoys. De Bortoli also produce 'Noble One', in Riverina, another dessert wine made from botryitis affected Semillon grapes that has regularly won awards at competitions all over the world and, whilst this week's wine is not this, there are some strong similarities.

The wine is a golden lemony colour and is lusciously sweet, without being too sticky. The flavours have the typical complexity of a botryitised wine, with peaches, pineapples, warm citrus and ripe melon leading the fruits, developing into caramel and barley sugar notes. It is only 11% abv, so not too heavy at the end of a meal.


We drank it chilled with a zesty orange sponge pudding and this worked well.

Semillon is something of a signature grape for Australia, especially the Hunter Valley, also in New South Wales, where the combination of heat and humidity suits the development of Noble Rot. But it is also one of the classic Bordeaux grapes being, with Sauvignon Blanc, a major contributor to the region's white wines of Graves and Entre-duex-Mers. And it is a major component of another of the world's greatest sweet wines from that part of France: Sauternes, which itself has cousins in Barsac, Monbazillac (in the nearby Dordogne) and elsewhere.

Would I add this week's wine to the regular list? Yup. De Bortoli's Noble One is about two and half times the price and this is a very acceptable, enjoyable and economical alternative.

Rondo

In the pleasant Chilterns countryside to the North East of Berkhamsted, home to Radio 4's Ed Reardon and claimant to being the place where William the Bastard, or Conqueror as it is believed he preferred to be known, accepted the surrender of the English, lies a small hamlet called Frithsden. It has a pub, the Alford Arms, lots of trees, some beautiful but hideously expensive houses, more trees and a vineyard.

The five acre vineyard was originally planted in 1971, grubbed up in 2001 and then replanted by the current owners in 2006. There are around 6,000 vines of three varieties, one of which begins with an 'R' and so was a shoe-in as this week's wine.

Week R (2014) is Frithsden Vines Rose, 2013. £11.50 from the cellar door at Frithsden Vineyard.


It is made from 100% Rondo and grown, vinified, bottled, sold and sometimes drunk on the premises.

Most, almost all, 'quality' wine made in the EU comes from the vine species 'Vitis Vinifera'. But although Rondo is a variety registered as a vinifera variety it has, in fact, been bred (engineered?) using some genes from Vitis Amurensis that help it to cope with cold winters such as we have in England.

It is a hardy little grape, previously known as GM6494 before being christened Rondo, with good disease resistance but can, however, suffer from powdery mildew if the conditions are unfortunate.

It produces small berries whose unusually red flesh helps in producing a vivid pink wine. Most grapes have clear flesh and the juice they contain has no real colour. The colour of red and rose wines generally comes from the pigments (anthocyanins, don't you know) contained in their skins. This is also true of Rondo, but the pink flesh is an added benefit.


It is a deep pink, has a light fruity aroma of strawberry and raspberry, tastes much the same and a little hubba bubba hint. At only 10% abv it is not heavy, but it does have enough acidity to make it quite mouth-watering, and enough sweetness to prevent it from feeling thin. There are not really noticeable tannins and the pleasure comes from the fresh fruitiness, which stays on the palate for a reasonable time. If you don't like rose then this is not the wine that will make you change your mind, but if you already enjoy the pinks of Southern France then you would be unlikely to send this back.

The label on the bottle identifies the contents as 'Wine of England' and this is a meaningful term. It is possible to find wines labelled 'British Wine' and it may be tempting to think of these terms as synonymous, but they aren't. By way of explanation let's consider Andy Murray, the plucky British tennis player who this week has dispatched three week one opponents at Wimbledon without dropping a set. He is British, but not English. It is true that he achieved maturity in England by winning both the Olympics in 2012 and Wimbledon in 2013 and that all of England's tennis fans share in the joy of his success as he is British and so are they. But he was born and raised in Scotland and so he cannot, and I understand does not want to, be called English. So it is with wine. British wine can be produced in England, but it can be done using grapes born and raised anywhere in the world. English Wine, or Wine of England, can only be called such if the grapes used in its production were grown in England.

People select and buy wines for all kinds of reasons. In England it tends to be heavily influenced by price, branding and supermarket offers, although there are signs that this is may be slowly changing towards increased interest and understanding, and I suspect small producers like Frithsden Vineyard have to rely on both a great deal of effort and, possibly, a romantic notion that the contents of the bottle somehow embody the spirit of the place from which they came. I want them to do well and I want the wine to be good in its own right, so good luck to them. Seriously.

Quinta de Azevedo

If it's a Q we must be back in Portugal.

I had tried to find a Sauvignon Blanc from Quincy, an AOC in the central vineyards of the Loire, where wines similar in style to Sancerre and Pouilly Fume are made, but failed. I also failed to find a Quarts de Chaume, a sweet dessert wine from further East along the same river made in small quantities from Chenin Blanc.

Week Q (2013) was a red week, and that was difficult to deal with until I resorted to Portugal. That week I went to the Lisbon area and found a Quinta (estate) making wines with some of the many Port grapes. This week we are further North in the Vinho Verde region, right up by the Spanish border.

The estate in question for this week is Quinta de Azevedo, owned by Sogrape, Portugal's biggest producer who are responsible for that 1970's classic; Mateus Rose (must find out how to add accents), amongst many others and the wine is:

Week Q (2014) Quinta de Azevedo, Vinho Verde, DOC 2013. £8.29 Waitrose.

Vinho Verde is famous for producing light, fresh white wines, and some reds, with a slight spritz. This is a very typical example. It is 11% abv, has a light, appley nose and a lively, refreshing, dry citrus taste. The fruity flavours linger reasonably well, but this is an ideal warm summer's afternoon or early evening drink and nothing more serious.

The bubbles that form on pouring don't last very long, but there is still a prickly sensation that hits the tongue with each return to the glass.

It is a blend of Loureiro, which featured in week L (2013) in another Vinho Verde, and Arinto, a high acid wine responsible for the lemon notes.

The quinta was bought by Sogrape in 1980 and apart from this wine they also produce 5 million litres of their brand 'Gazela' (Gazelle) Vinho Verde, which is sweeter and more sparkling and definitely aimed at the everyday wine market.

Our wine gets good reviews and is supplied not only by Waitrose, but also The Wine Society, Majestic, what's left of Oddbins and various other outlets. I guess this means there is a sufficient number of wine buyers who believe this is will sell well that it hits its target market on the button.

It is perfectly pleasant and, just as with the earlier Loureiro, I think a few bottles put by for a summer barbeque would not be a bad investment.

Pinot Noir

As I am a bit of a Pinot Noir fan this week is something I have been looking forward to, but as I have said before choice is something that I can find overwhelming, if there is too much of it. I have talked a little about book shops (week J (2013)), but this week you get another insight into the alleged workings of my mind which concerns restaurants. Give me a menu and I will parse the options to remove anything that sounds unnecessarily healthy, most things that come out of the sea and items which after having the superfluous descriptive words removed sound like nothing more exciting than meat and two veg. Hopefully that leaves me with a choice of two or more attractive options. The One will want to know what I will have so that she can order something else, with the intent of stealing at least a forkful of my dinner, but that's not going to happen. Oh, no. Not purely for selfish reasons, but mostly because I can't choose until the waiter is hovering over me with a sharp pencil.

Pinot Noir has its home in Burgundy, in the West of France, where countless producers make red wines from a single grape variety grown countless vineyards, in countless villages. It's all Burgundy, but it's not all the same. Quality and price vary widely and so choosing well requires a balance of knowledge, budget, courage and luck.

I want to keep on track with my 52 wines in 52 weeks plan, so I decided to find my Pinot Noir somewhere else less complicated.

Week P (2014) is Hahn  Winery, Pinot Noir , California. 2012. Waitrose £13.99.

The Hahn family founded their winery in 1980 and it is still managed as a family business today. The grapes used in this wine come mostly from the American Viticultural Area (AVA) of Arroyo Seco, with 8% coming from their holding in the Santa Lucia Highlands. Hahn explain that this blend is intended to produce a rounded fruit forward wine with well balanced acidity and elegance.  This sounds great and we will see if we agree shortly.

Pinot Noir is not an easy grape to cultivate and this explains, in part, why the range of qualities, styles and flavours available from Burgundy alone is so diverse. It has a thin skin, the part of the grape responsible for a wines colour and much of its flavour and so Pinot Noir is not often deeply coloured, and this together with it producing flower buds early in the season leaves it prone to all kinds of viticultural risks from both weather and disease.

In very hot regions it can produce very jammy (as in jam, not luck) wines and it is best grown in cooler climate areas, like Burgundy. California has a broad spectrum of climatic conditions but the Arroyo Seco AVA is in Monterey County, to the South East of a bay of the same name, where cool air from the Pacific Ocean moderates the more extreme temperatures found further South or inland. The soil is gravelly and absorbs heat during the day, and releases it through the night and protects these sensitive grapes from one of the many perils that can cause problems; frost.

The wine is a medium intensity ruby colour and it has tears that point to the 14.5% abv that lurk in the bottle. This is on the high side for a Pinot Noir, but on tasting it is well integrated with the fruits, mostly black cherries, and the subtle oak-influenced results of having spent some time in 40% new French oak.

I am very impressed with this wine, it is smooth, well-balanced, complex and has a lasting finish. At the price it isn't from the 'everyday wine' category (if there really is such a thing), but it is good enough value to not get stuck in the Sunday lunch only bucket. And that's a phrase I'll never use again.

Final factette: The family name, Hahn, translates into German as 'Rooster' and that explains the logo.

Orange Muscat

O is another of those challenging letters. Only two weeks ago (Week M (2014)), we explored a Muscat and so I wasn't sure that Orange Muscat would be sufficiently distinct. However, having done my research and having also failed to find any of the other few candidates I decided to give it a go. There are no rules about this game, other than my rules, and nobody reading any of this stuff, other than me, so If I am happy so is all my readership.

I had been to an event to celebrate the launch of a book written by my very learned brother-in-law-in-law, (he is actually The One's brother-in-law, or my sister-in-law's husband and, unlike cousins, I'm not too certain of the protocol governing these titles) about how babies are nice, but grown-ups aren't and why the babies are not to blame, when I passed a large Waitrose store at the start of my journey home, therefore:

Week O (2014) is Brown Brothers Orange Muscat and Flora, 2012. Waitrose £7.49 for 37.5cl.

Muscat is a large family of varieties and Orange is a little known and grown member, mostly found in limited parts of the Australian state of Victoria,but having started its life on South East France.

In this wine it is blended with another variety, Flora, which is not a Muscat but a crossing of Semillon and Gewurztraminer developed in 1958 at the Californian Agricultural Department Station. Orange Muscat is 80% of the blend with Flora making up the remaining 20%.

This is a dessert wine, the sweetness being a consequence of the fermentation having been stopped before all the sugar has been converted to alcohol and so the wine is only 10% abv. The Orange Muscat grapes were harvested late in the season (Late Harvest, hurrah!) so the sugar levels would have reached their peak and the flavours fully developed. The Flora grapes contribute fragrance and acidty.

In the glass, the wine is a rich lemon yellow colour and smells of orange blossom and citrus fruits, such as grapefruit and lime.

On the palate it is, unsurprisingly, sweet with intense and concentrated flavours to match the nose with added honey and spice. It is a rich, mouth-filling and almost oily in texture. The finish is lingering and the sweetness persists as remnants of the slightly syrupy wine seem to cling to the corners of the mouth.

A very enjoyable, light in alcohol pudding wine that could be enjoyed as any other of its type, but Brown Brothers website makes a very intriguing suggestion: make a dessert of apricots marinated in Orange Muscat and Flora. Now, there's a thought.

Nero d'Avola

I knew that Calabrese was a type of broccoli, but it turns out that it is also three grape varieties, a type of sausage and a horse. In fact, so I have discovered, it is a name that can be used for anything from Calabria.

We are back in Italy, so don't expect anything to be straightforward, and the one of the three grapes we are interested in this week is Nero d'Avola, which doesn't come from Calabria, but Sicily. Incidentally, the other two are Sangiovese and Canaiolo, neither of which is particularly Calabrian either. I like Italy.

Week N (2014) is Terra Firma, Nero d'Avola, Terre Siciliane, IGT, 2012. £7.99 Uncorked

The grape has been grown in the Eastern side of Sicily for centuries. It is tempting to think of mandolins at this point with Marlon Brando, his cheeks stuffed with cotton wool, saying 'now you come to me and say "Don Corleone, give me justice".......' or another of those great lines, but this would be mistaken. Not only for the obvious reason that, if people like the Godfather did still exist, it would be unwise to be disrespectful, but because the man responsible for producing this wine is not (as far as I know) connect to the mafia, but a Canadian MW who lives in England with a name that I suspect comes from somewhere else: Michael Palij.

According to the Winetraders the producer's website, care has been taken to produce a good value and good quality Nero d'Avola by blending grapes grown at altitude with those grown at lower levels. This allows the grapes from higher up to contribute levels of acidity that those from the lower levels may lack, but those from below providing the rich, plummy fruit.

Even before we get the screwcap off there is enough of interest in this bottle to illustrate why wine can be such an interesting subject.

However, although I do enjoy the academic aspects of my chosen hobby, what I really enjoy is getting the stuff in the glass and finding out what it looks,smells and tastes like.

Well, this one is a rich ruby colour (it's name means 'black from Avola') and smells of ripe fruits like plums and cherries. It tastes much the same and has enough tannin to make it interesting, medium acids and is very easy drinking, despite being a weighty 13.5% abv. Uncorked call it a delicious mid-week drinker and I wouldn't argue with that. For the price (£7.99) I would happily add this to my regular wine list, if I had such a thing.

Muscat

A couple of years ago The One and I drove from Calais to Antibes to stay with some generous friends who had invited us to stay in their lovely rented holiday home. It is a long journey, so we took our time and had two overnight stops en route (as they say in France).

The first stop was in the heart of Burgundy in the wonderful medieval town of Beaune. The accommodation was straight out of 'Allo, 'Allo. I think we slept 'in the bedroom of my Mother' and definitely in the least comfortable bed imaginable. The local food and wine certainly justified the following day's backache.

The second stop was intended to be at Avignon, but there was a festival in full swing and no room at the inn. So we pushed on and drove up into the hills looking for a suitable resting place. We ended up in another lovely village, famous for it's sweet, fortified wine; Beaumes de Venise.

Week M (2014) is Muscat de Beaumes de Venise. NV. Costco £6.25 37.5cl.

Made from 100% Muscat, specifically the Muscat Blanc a Petits Grains version, it has been made sweet by having its fermentation arrested before all the sugar has been converted to alcohol, through the addition of grape spirit. This is the same technique used in the production of Port, only in the Rhone valley it gives rise to the term 'Vin Doux Naturelle', or naturally sweet wine.

It is 15% abv, and beautifully sweet and golden and has grapey, fruity, floral aromas and flavours with a lemon-honey finish.

This is a very typical example of the type of wine which has been made in this part of the Rhone valley from as long ago as the 14th Century, but recognised as an appellation controllee in 1945.

Not much more to say about this other than it makes a great partner to sweet desserts such as trifles and fruit custard type tarts, or as a chilled evening treat.

The Village of Beaumes de Venise is in a truly beautiful part of the world, in the shadow of a range of hills known as the Dentelles de Montmirail, from where our journey took us up into the Alps and through some beautifully scented lavender fields and up some impressive mountain passes. These passes are irresistible to mamils (the snuggly attired racing cyclists) who, not content with the effects of gravity, will pedal at full tilt down roads that I had to think twice about driving up.

A great trip and a great memory of drinking this wine in the village where it was made. Cheers.

Lambrusco

Ok, so this was a panic buy and not what I really wanted.

I had read and heard about how Lambrusco had made a justified return to our wine shop and supermarket shelves, having disappeared years ago for good reason. Most of us, of a certain age, remember Lambrusco as a light, pink, fizzy teenage party drink, barely qualified to be called a wine.

The 'new' Lambruscos are dry, semi sparkling wines with flavours of violets, strawberries, black cherries and fresh plums. They are higher in alcohol, fuller bodied and even tannic, like grown-up wines.

So I set about finding some to be my red L. There aren't many red L's, and it felt like a good opportunity to try something experimental which is, after all, why I started this game in the first place. It wasn't as easy as I had hoped. M&S have been reliable in their support for my exploration and they had a Lambrusco Rosato.

Week L (2014) is Marks and Spencer Lambrusco Rosato.

It is a light, pink, fizzy teenage party drink, barely qualified to be called wine.

I have since tasted a Lambrusco Grasparossa from Emilia-Romagna. It was dry, semi sparkling with flavours of violets, strawberries, black cherries and fresh plums. It was higher in alcohol, fuller bodied and slightly tannic.

The moral of this story? Never buy wine in a panic. There is good stuff out there waiting to reward the patient.

Koshu

Asked to suggest a list of wine producing countries most people would be unlikely to include Japan. Given the production volume is around 1% of that from France, this is not surprising, but Japan is still more productive than 15 of the top 40 producers (by volume).

There are many varieties, but only one is really considered the signature Japanese grape. That is Koshu, a pink skinned variety that developed its individuality over hundreds of years, having first arrived from the Caucasus along the Silk Road.

Week K (2014) Soryu Koshu, 2010. Amathus £21.35

Most of Japan's prefecture have grape growing regions, but 95% of Koshu is grown in the prefecture of Yamanashi, to the West of Tokyo, itself once known as Koshu and from where the grape takes its name.

The climate in Yamanashi is dominated by the monsoon, which brings both heavy rainfall (no, really) and high humidity, neither of which are particularly conducive to wine production. To address this, vines tend to be grown on high trellises using a technique known here as tanazukuri but in other parts of the world as tendone, to avoid fungal diseases by lifting the grapes that grow beneath the vine canopy into the more freely circulating air.

The excess water together with the tendency of growers to maximise yields can leave the grapes without the character and qualities that are necessary to produce a quality wine. However, careful producers are capable of producing good wines, and this week we have one of those.

It is a pale, almost colourless, with hints of green but bright and inviting. The aroma is more intense than I had expected with attractive floral notes.
These aromas appear again on the palate, but are backed with more stone-fruit, peachy flavours and some lemon-lime citrus touches.

It is 11% abv, light, fresh, dry and clean tasting with well-balanced acidity. I am tasting it as an aperitif and it works well, however, if there was any Sashimi to hand I would be ready to tuck in.

Jaen

In Portugal they grow many grapes. There are 82 varieties permitted in the production of Port, 30 of which are 'recommended' in the Duoro region decree 413/2011.

This week we have chosen a wine that features three of them and one that doesn't even make the long list.

Week J (2014) Quinta do Correio Tinto. Dao DOC 2011. Vinoteca, Farringdon. £9.25.

Made by Quinta dos Roques and marketed under a brand that translates to 'Postman's Estate', this one comes from the Dao valley a little further south than its arguably more famous neighbour. The valley is based on sandy granite soils, around 500m above sea level.

The grapes concerned are: Jaen 60%, Touriga Nacional 25%, Alfrocheiro 10%, Tinta Roriz 5%, and it is the third of these that shouldn't find its way into the fortified wine for which this country is so rightly renowned.

It tips the scales at 13.5% abv and so is relatively light, compared to what can be produced in this part of the world. It is brightly acidic, demonstrating the benefit of blending as Jaen can be light in both acid and tannin, but it does have a lively red fruit aroma.

It has not seen any oak and does not have great complexity. I can imagine some friends, who favour new world fruit-bomb reds, thinking it a little tart and not just for the colour of her shoes.

Synonyms abound as Jaen is known as Mencia, in Spain where Tinta Roriz is also better known as Tempranillo. Touriga Nacional is staunchly Portuguese and needs no other name and Alfrocheiro can also be found signing in as either Alfrocheiro Preto or Pe de Rato.

The elbow? Thank you for asking. Not too bad, but it makes typing difficult. Apparently I do usually use both hands.

Inzolia

There is a debate in wine circles about the best type of closure to use when sealing the contents into a bottle. Traditionalists tend to favour cork, which allows a minute amount of oxygen to enter the bottle and help with development of complex flavours, but has the disadvantageous risk of the wine being spoiled by 'cork taint' should the cork be faulty or unclean, whereas others prefer the screwcap, or 'Stelvin', closure which is airtight and keeps younger, fruitier wines fresher, but denies the wine its breathing space in which to develop.

I have not received many death threats throughout my life, but did on one occasion when I booked myself and one of my good friends and regular tasting partners into a seminar on wine faults and the role that different closures can play. This was at the London International Wine Fair which we habitually attend to keep abreast of the state of wines from across the world and to taste as many new examples as is a good balance between possible and polite. These are long days, but the seminar (sponsored by a cork producer, so guess which side of the fence the presenter was sitting) felt even longer. Shortly after we were presented with a deliberately undrinkable sample to demonstrate the evils of 'reduction', my friend leaned across and whispered in my ear that he had decided that I should die at his hand.

I am still looking over my shoulder, but not all of the time. One time when perhaps I should have was yesterday morning when 'The One' had asked me to polish an unreachable window in our living room to the same level of clarity and sparkle that I like to achieve when polishing a wine glass. I used a ladder. On the way up there was no problem. On the way down (when I should have looked) gravity acted on me as you would expect when foot and rung fail to make a connection. It passed through my mind before I hit solid wood floor that I may have spared my friend a lengthy prison sentence, however, the damage is limited to a fractured radial head. (This falls into the general category of 'broken arm' and is not to be confused with a split in the great band from Abingdon.)

I cannot resolve the Stelvin vs cork debate, but this I do know; It is easier to remove a screwcap with one hand than to wield my waiter's friend whilst wearing a sling. As luck would have it, what we find sealing this week's bottle is the former.

Week I (2014) Borgo Selene, Bianco. 2013. Terre Siciliane IGP. Vinoteca, Farringdon £7.95.

This is an equal blend of two Sicilian varieties. Inzolia, which qualifies my selection for this week, is grown mostly on the Western side of the island and is used in the production not only of dry white wines, but also the sweet fortified Marsala, and Catarratto the island's most widely planted variety.

Inzolia is also grown in Tuscany and Calabria under the name Ansonica, whilst Catarratto takes its name with it when it travels to Emilia-Romagna.

This is not an expensive wine and so our expectations should be of a fresh, crisp and refreshing drink rather than anything more complex. And once our remaining usable hand has done its job, we are not disappointed.

Some floral aromas, but mostly fruit aromas of apple and pear. Clean and dry to finish it does the job very well. 11.5% abv.

The grapes come from the hilly Trapani province of Western Sicily and were harvested in October before being fermented in stainless steel for ten days and then resting on their lees for two months before bottling, to add a little texture and depth.

Selene is the Greek goddess of the Moon and the use of her name is a reference to the influence the ancient Greeks had on Sicily, including the introduction of viticulture, for which we should be grateful. 

Hermitage

It is a red week and I have been looking for a grape to represent H. There is Heroldrebe, which I have never knowingly tried, but the write-ups are not hugely encouraging and the grape itself is a cross between Blauer Portugieser and Lemberger. The first of these was week B (2014) and was not unpleasant, nor a revelation, so I decided to aim higher.

Hermitage is not a grape, but a hill at the Southern end of the Northern Rhone (if that makes sense) and one of the most famous names in the world of French wine. The hill is the spiritual home of the grape known in Australia as Shiraz, but in France and the rest of the Old World as Syrah.

The hill overlooks the town of Tain L'Hermitage and, across the river, Tournon and is composed almost entirely of granite. The vineyards cover 120 hectares of the steep South-West facing slopes, in terraces, to make the most of the continental summer sunshine that not only ripens the grapes but heats the soil to provide growing conditions ideal for the rich, deep wines for which the area is famous.

Being a small appellation the production volumes are not high at around 750,000 bottles a year, compared to 14,500,000 further to the South in the well known Chateauneuf-du-Pape, and so the name carries a premium.

Week H (2014) is Caves de Tain, Hermitage, 2008. £25.99 from Waitrose.

Is is a medium intensity ruby colour with an interesting nose of blackcurrant, a floral tone or two and some vanilla-liquorice influences, too. The last of these are evidence of the 100% Syrah having spent 18 months in oak before bottling.

Being made from grapes picked in 2008 it has had around four years in the bottle for the components to settle into each other and the fine, silky tannins are well integrated with the plentiful and still fresh fruit flavours. It is 13% abv, but the alcohol is not too prominent.

This wine would probably continue to develop in the bottle over the next few years (if I hadn't opened it!) and could be expected to be enjoyably drinkable for at least a couple of decades.

This is a classic French wine with a long history and it is easy to see how it gained and maintains its status. Reportedly, wine-making in this area dates back to the Romans and Hermitage became popular in the Royal courts of Europe. It was even added to the blends of top Bordeaux wines to improve them, in the 18th century, and that is quite a recommendation.


Wine is a very sociable drink and a good story to accompany a good glass is always welcome. It perhaps should be no surprise that Hermitage, being so prized, has much to offer in this department.

One such tale concerns a period of twenty years up to 1229, when there was an intense conversation underway between two groups of Christians about how best to live up to the ideal of loving one's neighbours. (This is referred to by historians as the Albigensian Crusade.) On one side of the discussion was the Knight Gaspard de Sterimberg who received something other than brotherly understanding from a fellow Knight and had to find a place to let the bruising come out. The Queen allowed him to build a refuge on our hill, where he lived out his days as a hermit. And that is how the hill got its name, O Best Beloved.

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.