|
Jancis Robinson mulls over the mysteries of sake, Jonathan Ray visits the Western Cape, and Anthony Rose joins the wine club. Meanwhile, Jane MacQuitty considers what to drink in a recession and Tim Atkin tires of the domination of the big five grape varieties in New World wine.
Jancis Robinson MW, The Financial Times, Saturday 25 October 2008
Jancis Robinson's column this week is dedicated to an appreciation of sake, and in particular of Philip Harper, Japan's only western toji, or master brewer of sake. At a recent tasting in London, hosted by Harper for the British Sake Association, Robinson's favourite was Osagekko, an unpasteurised sake that sells for a cool £50 a bottle.
Jonathan Ray, The Telegraph, Saturday 25 October 2008
Jonathan Ray has been in the Constantia Valley in South Africa's Western Cape. Vines have been grown there since 1685, and its sweet wines were highly regarded in the 18th and 19th centuries. But after the region was struck by oidium and phylloxera in the late 1880s, production of the sweet wines ceased, and despite the vineyards being re-instated in 1913, were not revived until the mid-1980s. In the cellars of the Klein Constantia Estate, Ray samples its Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling, Chardonnay and Cabernet, "and they are indeed excellent". But he's really itching to try the sweet Vin de Constance, eventually sampling vintages from 1988 to 2004. "Crikey they're good, much more akin to the wines of Tokaji than they are to muscats such as Beaumes-de-Venise. For me, 1991 is the highlight, marked by an utterly scrumptious marmaladey sweetness but with a clean refreshing acidity. The 1988 runs it close, though, with its almost Madeira-like nuttiness."
His deals of the week:
• 2008 Klein Constantia Estate Sauvignon Blanc (£8.99-£9.99; Booths, Selfridges, Tanners)
• 2007 Ken Forrester Estate Chenin Blanc (£7.99; Majestic)
What Ray has enjoyed most this week:
• 2006 Paul Cluver Pinot Noir (£9.99; selected Waitrose stores)
Anthony Rose, The Independent, Saturday 25 October 2008
Wine clubs have been occupying the thoughts of the Independent's Anthony Rose, with the non-profit-making Wine Society getting a particular thumbs-up. Among his recommendations are:
• the 2007 Trigone Blanc, Domaine du Soula (£7.95) - "an appetisingly dry southern French blend of appley, mineral-dry flavours from the Roussillon"
• the "sensational" 2005 Quoin Rock Oculus (£10.95) - "a stylish, toasty rich, Graves-style blend from the Cape"
• the 2006 Society's Chilean Syrah, Elqui Valley (£5.50) - "gorgeously aromatic, Crozes-Hermitage-like spice, and
• the "chunky peppery" 2005 Society's Exhibition Gigondas (£10.95) - "a powerful, winter-warming red".
Virgin Wines, meanwhile, backs up its "life's too short for boring wines" slogan with some substance, says Ray. His favourites here included:
• a "classically full-flavoured, stone-fruity" 2007 Pazo de Señorans Albariño (£11.99), and
• the "seductively perfumed" 2005 Heger Spätburgunder Q (£10.99)
Jane MacQuitty, The Times, Saturday 25 October 2008
"Drinkers clearly crave recession-beating wines, the vinous equivalent of cheap cuts of meat," concludes Jane MacQuitty as she considers the taxing question of what wine to drink in the face of the global economic meltdown. MacQuitty suggests switching to less fashionable wines, made from the same grapes in roughly the same style. "Thus Champagne drinkers should try a good méthode champenoise crémant." She adds: "While Tesco's own-label 2008 South African Sauvignon is a spicy, green bean-stashed bottle, and delightfully cheap at £3.99, South Island Marlborough Sauvignons from New Zealand, with zesty, flowering currant-spiked fruit, are closer to the Loire original. So check out Asda's Kiwi 2008 Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc, just £5.48." For an outstanding recession-busting New World red, akin to a good Burgundy, MacQuitty plumps for Cono Sur's Chilean Pinot Noir, "whose 2007 vintage delivers lively, gamey, voluptuous spice for just £5.99 at Sainsbury's and £5.98 at Asda." MacQuitty's other top picks this week are:
• 2007 Montepulciano d'Abruzzo (Asda, £2.98)
• 2007 Soave Classico (Asda, £3.62)
• 2007 Paul Mas, La Forge Malbec, Vin de Pays d'Oc, France (Tesco, £7.99)
• 2007 Paul Mas, La Forge Marsanne, Vin de Pays d'Oc, France (Tesco, £7.99)
• 2006 Cerasuolo di Vittoria Classico, Azienda Agricola Cos (Les Caves de Pyrène, £13.60)
• 2007 Syrah, Vin de Pays de l'Ardèche, Hervé Souhaut (Les Caves de Pyrène, £15)
Tim Atkin MW, The Observer, Sunday 26 October 2008
Tim Atkin this week bemoans the fact that the dominance of five single grape varieties - Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc - has squeezed all the local flavours out of New World wine. "Diversity has gone to the wall. Maybe that's while I'm starting to get bored of predictable, me-too wine styles," he writes. But maybe the situation is about to change. "Three of the New World's top winemakers - Eben Sadie from South Africa, Steve Pannell from Australia and Gordon Russell from New Zealand - have all expressed their frustration with the status quo to me. ‘Using one grape is like painting with one colour,' said Pannell." Like Atkin, all three believe blends are the way forward. Thus he recommends four blended reds "that are much greater than the sum of their parts":
• 2007 Masi Paso Doble (Oddbins, £9.49)
• 2005 The Fergus (Tesco, £9.99)
• 2004 Esk Valley Reserve Merlot/Malbec/Cabernet Sauvignon (from £16.99)
• 2006 Boekenhoutskloof The Chocolate Block (selected Waitrose, £16.50)
Susy Atkins, Sunday Telegraph, Sunday 26 October 2008
Susy Atkins' head is turned by a new set of Sauvignon Blancs not from New Zealand but from South Africa's Western Cape. "The best examples are wonderfully subtle, with crisp, mineral notes married to grapefruit, lemon and fresh fig." She recommends whites from cool, breezy coastal areas such as Walker Bay, Elgin, Constantia and Durbanville, with exceptions including Springfield Estate from inland Robertson and Vergelegen from Stellenbosch. Go for wines in the £6-£10 bracket and look for the excellent 2007 vintage or youthful 2008, Atkins says. Her recommendations:
• 2008 Porcupine Ridge (Waitrose, Sainsbury's, Oddbins, £6.49-£6.99)
• 2008 Springfield Estate Life from Stone (Booths, £9.29)
• 2007 Cape Point (Huntsworth Wine Company, £18)
 Similar news items:
- -
- -
- -
- -
- -
- -
- -
- -
- -
- -
|
Show/Hide comments
Show/Hide comment form
