The Big Red Wine Company Blog

2007 - August: Will the summer ever arrive? Yes, for two days in September

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

September 2007

26/09/2007 Last night curry, tonight hot dogs (using award-winning sausages from Archers in Norwich - if you get a chance to try them you'll be hooked!). Is there an ideal wine to go with either, let alone both? Almost certainly not, is the answer but that's no reason not to have a glass anyway. The bottle of choice was Domaine des Côteaux des Travers' 2005 Cairanne which, for some reason carries the additional title of "Sélection" (I would hope it is!). That minor grumble aside, time to turn to the bottle. Still quite youthful but perfectly drinkable (my guess is that most people would be less ageist than me) with lots of very ripe, sweet Grenache character. When it's as ripe as this (not overripe though), the fruit is almost black, certainly a little tarry and, looking now to see the blend, I am surprised to see so much Mourvèdre and so little Syrah. I must go back to basics! In terms of food matching, despite my completely unfair choices, the wine held up extremely well with enough in it to combat the sweetness of the balti sauce and the extra chilli I had loaded into it whilst Jill wasn't looking and although Rhone wines do generally go well with sausages, it had to work with fried onions and ketchup - it managed very well under the circumstances.

21 and 22/09/2007 It's a while since we tried the Vendemmia Selectionada Riojas from Miguel Angel Muro and, still having both 2001 and 2002, I thought a (very) mini-vertical tasting in order. First up, the 2001 which had a lovely velvet texture but where was the fruit? Very dumb (I remember last time we tried this tasting the 2001 was "softer" in this way). Bottle to one side and grab the 2002 in the hope that something will be salvaged out of this. Perhaps not quite the same refinement of texture but this one certainly has juicy black fruit nicely preserved under a coat of (I am guessing) a mixture of French and American oak (certainly there are some different oak characters creeping in). The bottle didn't survive the evening. The tasting yields much the same results as last time but more accentuated. On Saturday night, we went back to the 2001 and what a transformation! The texture was still fabulous and now the fruit was singing, an even better wine than the 2002. This suggests the 2001 needs a couple more years (at least) to come back together but it should be fabulous in the end.

18/09/2007 A family celebration of an event from 1999 so what better way to celebrate than with the Beaucastel's Châteauneuf-du-Pape of the same vintage. It has always been quite a backward wine which is I why I didn't hesitate to invest in a couple of cases at the time to make sure we had something decent to drink at the 21st anniversary celebration. Last night's tasting suggests this was the right choice. At first it was very tight, the tannins controlling the fruit. For once I followed instructions and decanted it (around 5.30pm). An early dinner with the kids was to be followed with a light supper - and the Beaucastel - later on. By 8.30pm, as the bottom of the decanter came into sight, the wine was magnificent: the Grenache and Mourvèdre were really singing. I think I'll wait for another couple of birthdays before popping the next cork though. NB. Recent tastings of 1997 and 2000 (and to a lesser extent 1998) have revealed wines ready to be enjoyed now. Steer clear of the 2001 for a few more years though: a blockbuster like this needs patience.

12/09/2007 Walter McKinlay called to tell me about the 2006s from Domaine des Mourchon (very good, very forward, apparently - I'm looking forward to tasting them) and it got me to thinking about the 2005s. My memory is that the Grande Reserve 2005 was still a little tight but Walter said it is coming together better now than at the start of the summer. Only one way to find out: a couple of hours later, cork pulled and...he's right. This wine does him proud. Lovely balance with the oak supporting but not interfering with the spicy black fruit. I think I might start on my case sooner than anticipated.

09/09/2007 Just to show it's not all CDP (and because it's a good wine and I needed to re-taste it before including it in a mixed case offer to my email list) I opened a bottle of Domaine Brusset's 2005 Côtes du Rhône. Quite meaty, black fruit with hints of olives(?) Very Provençal. Reading Parker's comments about "strawberry and cherry fruit" I do wonder whether we have been tasting the same wine though.

07/09/2007 Last night I opened a bottle of Domaine de Cristia's Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2003 to go with my sausages (someone once told me they made the perfect pair - I've never been entirely convinced but I'm always happy to give it a try). The particular bottle came from the heatwave vintage so it's drinking better at a relatively young age than, say, a 2001. The wine is incredibly rich with a lovely sweetness to the fruit (but it is in no way a sweet wine) and it really lingers. There seems to be a whiff of oak, not much but just enough to give the wine a bit of structural support and lend another dimension to the flavour profile. For me, though, the really great thing about the wine is the texture: full, rich and velvet-smooth.

August 2007

Anyone who has not made it out of the UK this summer may want to turn away for the next sentence or two, We have just returned from four glorious weeks around France which have, inevitably, included a fair amount of sampling. We visited some areas for the first time (Cahors) and spent time in other very familiar regions (the Southern Rhône, now there's a surprise!). Our mission was to find some of the more unusual wines being made - these included a Rhône Tannat, pure Mourvèdre wines and some late-harested, botrytised Grenache. The only disappointment was a VDP Cabernet from one of the Côtes du Rhône Villages' leading producers which should have been better. A silver lining to this very slight wisp of a cloud is blogged on 17th August below.

23/08/2007 The old-vine Gigondas 2001 'Font des Aïeux' from Domaine la Tourade is a slow burner. Last time we tasted it, the tannins were still quite dominant. Now they are more balanced and the wine drank well without any breathing. It could still benefit from further ageing to open up the fruit a little more. I was surprised to read the blend later to find there is no Mourvèdre at all and only 15% Syrah. It seemed to me there was more given the closed character of the fruit and complete absence of oxidation. That said, some of the better old-vine Grenache cuvées don't suffer this and my guess is that this wine is following that pattern. In short, this was a very good wine now: seamless black fruit, rich and elegant, well-balanced. I would still give it another year or two though.

17/08/2007 Took possession of a small parcel of VDP de Vaucluse Cabernet Sauvignon from Domaine des Anges as a favour to the estate (a long story) and thought I should open a bottle straight away as I hadn't tasted it for about a year. It's a wine I have always thought pretty good but, perhaps, a little overpriced at the estate's desired price point of around £7-£8. At £6, however, it's a steal. The fruit is superb: lovely, rich blackcurrant with a trace of oak and none of that leafiness that dogs so many Bordeaux wines or olive character that can make some southern Cabernets frankly a bit weird (and certainly none of the overt jaminess that renders so many New World examples at this price point undrinkable). Unlike the weather, this was something worth coming home to.

11/08/2007 On our last day in the Southern Rhône, we stopped for a picnic on the side of a road leading into Châteauneuf before popping in to see Raymond Usseglio to retaste his 2005s (and 2004s) including my first taste of the Impériale from bottle. When I arrived, we discussed the relative merits of the two vintages as I have been a big fan of the 2004s from Raymond in particular (although fairly extensive tastings during the Fête de la Veraison, the annual party held in the village to celebrate the ripening grapes, revealed many other extremely good 2004s, generally drinking well already). Raymond said he didn't know what all the fuss was with 2005 when you considered his 2004s and, in a way he's right. The standard 2004 is one of the best wines I have tasted from the vintage (at this price level anyway) with immense potential. Unlike some others, it isn't really ready yet: the tannins are still quite assertive but, really, that's a positive thing as it means the wine will hold together for several years whilst it develops in complexity. The 2005 is a touch more in every respect: not enough to belittle its older sibling but enough to make me want to buy both! The 2004 Impériale, especially, is magnificent (very Burgundian, I thought) and the standard bottling is almost indistinguishable in style and quality from its younger sibling. However, the 2005 Impériale really shone out as being that bit more impressive for the longer term. When I tasted this in January it was quite muted; not any more. Superb old-vine Grenache which shows why this is probably the best vintage since 1998 at least.