The Big Red Wine Company Blog

June/July 2007: ASDW highlights and what to serve with a big pig

Our weblog is simply a diary of events we have attended, reviews about us and, above all, a record of our impression of wines we have consumed from our list. No marks out of ten, twenty or a hundred and no stars awarded, just our feelings. One thing that will become increasingly apparent to anyone who reads this regularly is our love of red wines (not many white wines noted except at tastings). Click on the producer's name to go straight to the estate's profile page.

Complete Blog list by date - what we have been sampling month by month and other news and reviews

June/July 2007

31/07/2007 From Séguret, Domaine de Mourchon's Côtes du Rhône Villages 'Grande Reserve' 2005 was reviewed as "impressive, showing lots of juicy plum, currant and boysenberry fruit with nice hints of garrigue, tar and liquorice. There's plenty of toast on the finish but also solid minerality" 91/100 SMART BUY (Wine Spectator)

16/07/2007 Jonathan Maltus' Pezat has arrived at last and lunch with a colleague provided a good opportunity to re-taste it. A mid-weight Claret with not too much oak, it has elegance written all over it. Not sure if the rather cool label means anything but what's in the bottle is brimming with potential. There aren't many Bordeaux selling for under a tenner in the UK with this much class.

13/07/2007 Other commitments meant that Jill had to represent us at a British Heart Foundation fundraiser where, needless to say, she was pouring the wines. Just one white - Domaine des Anges - as I forgot to get any Xavier Sauvignon out of bond (I thought these were about right for an art auction) and a selection of 2004 reds - Xavier Côtes du Rhône, Lacroix Bordeaux Superieur and Madone Beaujolais Villages. All went down well, apparently - not many bottles returned unopened anyway.

02/07/2007 The August issue of Decanter arrived today (what is that all about?) with its affordable Tuscan wine recommendations - that includes any wine retailing under £20 apparently. I only sent in samples of the Tenute Monte Rosola wines on the basis that the Molino di Grace ones are much better known. I was pleased to discover that the "Corpo Notte" had made it into the top twenty four with the comments: "Big, spicy, tarry and oaky nose. Palate is soft with good intensity of warm spicy fruit. Decent complexity on the finish". Elsewhere in the same issue, Il Molino di Grace's 2003 Chianti Classico was described by Tom Maresca as "A supple wine with excellent cherry fruit"

25/06/2007 This review was posted on UKwinesonline.co.uk: "Plenty of interesting wines, backed up by a knowledgeable and passionate manager."

24/06/2007 Having just hit 40 a couple of weeks ago (no, I didn't feel old until 21st when Sam, our youngest, turned one and seeing the two sets of cards on top of the piano did bring home just how much older than him I am), we decided to have a blow out last night and around 100 friends and neighbours (many of whom could also be described as friends) came over for a hog roast. The only difference between this and every other hog roast I have ever attended is that this was a complete DIY job. A friend (another James) who is skilled in that way build the spit on the lines of Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's model (in his excellent "Meat" book) and despite our mutual nerves that it may not work, the Tamworth, bought from a friend of my brother-in-law, roasted to perfection. The extra flavour and texture of this breed was further enhanced by an internal marinade of chilli, garlic and fennel seeds overnight before the fire was lit around 7.30am for the hog to start roasting at 9am. Turned regularly throughout the day by myself and old college friend Saki, by 7pm it was ready to come off the spit for an hour before serving with salads brought by many of the village guests. The wines for the evening were, of course, our party wines extraordinaire, Domaine des Anges red and white. Superb all round.

23/06/2007 The night before a big party can be rather more relaxing than the big event itself! I got back from the school run with a pig in the back of the car to find two old college friends, Simon and Stuart who I haven't seen in at least ten years. They helped with getting the pig out of the car and prepared for the next day. Then we sat down and waited for Saki and Caroline, also from our college days to turn up so we could have dinner (kofte kebabs). We had a couple of good bottles of Gigondas, the best of which was the 2000 "Les Hauts de Montmirail" from Domaine Brusset but as both Simon and Stuart are real ale drinkers, it wasn't until I reached for the remains of the bottle of Bressy-Masson's sweet and slightly madeirized Rasteau Rancio that they were keen to try. Simon was especially convinced as were both Saki and Caroline (I think Stuart may have stuck to the beer). Anyway, great to see some old faces - a couple of photos below.

20/06/2007 (to 22/06/2007). The third ASDW press and trade tasting (followed by a rather hectic public session during the evening) got off to a good start with two very influential critics taking their time and taking us all seriously (no name dropping - not until we know what they really thought). I consciously included some of the less obvious wines this time. The most popular included Xavier Vignon's Champagne and "Blanc" (next time I'll have the Rouge, then no other wine will get a look in!), Domaine des Anges' "L'Archange" wines, Domaine des Côteaux des Travers' Rasteau Prestige ( a personal favourite: lovely spiciness coupled with good red fruits and a nice veneer of oak), La Bastide Blanche's Bandol "Cuvée Estagnol" (still a tannic brute but the fruit is beginning to shout a bit louder now), Château du Seuil's deliciously international Graves Rouge and the Italian wines I showed: the Volano and Chianti Classico Riserva (the undoubted star of the tasting) from Il Molino di Grace, Einaudi's comparatively subtle Barolo and the unknown Super-Tuscan heavyweight "Corpo Notte" from Monte Rosola. Somewhat inevitably, I only got a taste of each of the wines at the start of the day to check for faults (there were none) and one or two throughout the day to check for development in the opened bottle. For me then, the fun started later when I got home (by the time Henry Speer of Champers had unloaded his bits and pieces it was almost 11pm) and Jill and I spent the next three evenings tasting and re-tasting the leftovers. This is a fabulous opportunity to re-acquaint ourselves with the wines we import. I generally think a tasting is something of a waste of time as I need to taste more than a mouthfull (which then gets spat out) to decide if I really like a wine enough to buy 50 or 100 cases (or whatever). Maybe I just can't make my mind up!

01/06/2007 Decanter's Bordeaux supplement included a glowing review of Château du Seuil's 2005 Cérons, a sticky from a tiny appellation just outside Sauternes. Stephen Brook gave it four stars (highly recommended), describing it as having a "Light apricot nose; lean, racy candied lemon flavours, lively acidity and length."