Wines in the Press: Of sherry, spittoons and sparkling wines...

Tuesday, 05 August 2008

Jane MacQuitty sings the praises of fino and manzanilla, Joanna Simon discusses her spittoon technique, Anthony Rose visits Cahors and Tim Atkins gets busy with his wand.

Meanwhile, Andrew Jefford discusses the plan to increase Champagne's grape-growing area, and Susy Atkins is on the pomegranate juice.

Jane MacQuitty, The Times, Saturday 02 August 2008

Jane MacQuitty has turned to sherry to escape the current summer showers. Her advice is to pull "the Andalusian skies" over us and hide away with a good manzanilla or fino.

Describing the sherry category as "unloved, unsung and undervalued," MacQuitty wonders why it's so cheap to buy but concludes that this is a blessing for there is no reason then why we all shouldn't be cracking open a bottle or two.

Manzanillas are the "lightest, driest, palest, faintly sea-breeze salty and most mouth-wateringly delicate of sherries," she says.

Her favourites include:

Manzanillas Solera Jerezana Manzanilla Reserva (Waitrose, £7.49);
Marks and Spencer own-label Manzanilla Sherry (£5.99) and Sainsbury's Manzanilla Superior (£5.49).

For Finos she recommends:

Waitrose Solera Jerezana Fino del Puerto (£7.49);
Sainsbury's Taste the Difference Fino Sherry (50cl £5.99);
Sainsbury's Pale Dry Fino and Waitrose's grapey Fino Sherry (50cl, £3.75).

Andrew Jefford, Financial Times, Saturday 02 August 2008

Andrew Jefford, standing in for the holidaying Jancis Robinson, discusses the decision to extend the area in which champagne grapes can be grown.

"Thus far, the experts have decreed that 40 new villages merit inclusion in the production zones, and two existing villages deserve exclusion. Appeals, naturally, are pending: at least 100 feel hard done by. By March 2009, a final list will be prepared. That, though, is just the hors d'oeuvre."

It will be more than 10 years before the new champagnes find their way onto the market, says Jefford. Are the extensions simply a financial exercise that will ultimately see the quality of the wines suffer?

He thinks not: "A larger supply may, paradoxically, improve quality by enabling purchasers of grapes to be pickier."

Jefford recommends lesser-known champagnes from small producers:

the Cuvée Spéciale Blanc de Blancs from Montgueux grower Denis Velut (The Winery, £21.99);
the Brut Tradition of Christophe at Colombey-les-Sec in the eastern Aube (The Winery, £19.99); and
the "almost juicy" Carte Or of Amyot, from Etourvy in the southern Aube (The Winery £16.99).

Anthony Rose, The Independent, Saturday 02 August 2008

Anthony Rose marvels at how far Cahors wines have come in the last decade.

Forced to bring his own Châteauneuf-du-Pape on previous visits, Rose believes Cahors has fast tracked its progress, by riding on the back of the Argentinean Malbec wave. Argentina has turned Malbec into an "international success," Rose says.

But he warns Cahor's Malbec has to find a way to avoid "leanness and astringency" due to the wetter climate, compared to Argentina's abundance of sunshine allowing its Malbec to put on "puppy fat."

He recommends: 2004 Clos Triguedina, The Black Wine, (£25, Waitrose); 2006 Le Malbec du Clos, (£6.99, Waitrose) and 2005 Château Lagrézette Cru D'Exception, (£14.99, Laithwaites).

Susy Atkins, The Sunday Telegraph, Sunday 03 August 2008

The pomegranate cocktail is the "it" drink of the summer, says Susy Atkins.

"Pomegranate juice, with its vivid scarlet hue and sweet/sour tang, certainly makes a distinctive cocktail ingredient. I reckon it appeals to wine lovers, too, as it has something of a red-grape, lightly tannic note."

She recommends pomegranate bellinis (with chilled prosecco), pomegranate martinis (vodka), margaritas (tequila) and daiquiris (white rum).

A suggested partner for the pomegranate juice is Marks & Spencer's Italian Moscato Freisa sweet sparkling rosé (£6.99).

Joanna Simon, The Sunday Times, Sunday 03 August 2008

Joanna Simon plunges straight into the vulgar conversations about money and spitting out fine wine claiming it's all in a days work.

"Spitting fine wine is all in a day's work but some days are more painful than others," she says.

Her latest spittoon technique has been practiced using seven vintages of Cristal: four white and three pink, the white being the cheapest (£170 to £240 for the 2000 vintage, and more for older ones).

Simon insists Cristal's spat with rapper Jay-Z over his allegedly spraying it around shouldn't take the shine of it as a superlative champagne, but for those looking to spend a little less, she recommends:

2002 Roederer Brut Vintage Rosé, £49.95-£63 (Wimbledon Wine Cellars, 020 8540 9979;
2002 Roederer Brut Vintage, £45.95-£63 (Berry Bros & Rudd, 0870 900 4300); and
Quartet, Roederer Estate, £14.99-£19.99, a Californian sparkling wine (Waitrose; Majestic, buy two bottles for £14.99 each).

Tim Atkins MW, The Observer, Sunday 03 August 2008

Tim Atkins MW has got himself a wand. He claims no interest in Harry Potter or synchronised swimming but according to him it is no ordinary wand.

"It is an 'elegant and mysterious' Wine Decanting Wand that 'astounds people with its results'."

The WDW, a small thermometer with five crystals inside it and a disco-ball handle, has been created by Philip Stein and it is supposed to reproduce the frequencies of air and oxygen.

"You just stick the wand into a glass and it will release the aromas and flavours in a matter of two minutes," Atkins says.

But he is not impressed. The wand can't remove deposit when decanting wine and a "half-decent sommelier can decant and serve a wine in a matter of minutes, wand or no wand."

His advice this week is to just buy a decanter - a basic carafe will do.

He recommends decanting chunky reds including:

2007 Otra Vida Malbec, Mendoza (£4.99, Sainsbury's);
Minervois La Livinière, L'Atelier d'Art, Les Vendanges de St Germain (£8.19, Great Grog, greatgrog.co.uk);
Waitrose Douro Reserva (£9.99, Waitrose);
2004 Valpolicella Classico Superiore Ripasso, La Casetta di Ettore Righetti (£12.99, or £10.39 each for two, Majestic).

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