The Spoken Grape

A trio of Pinot Noirs, Rippon, Kooyong and Delaport

Pinot Noir is fairly widespread now and Burgundy is no longer the only place producing top quality wines from this grape. I was lucky enough to taste my way through a dozen Pinot Noirs that focused on alternative regions of the world. Austria was impressive with the 2004 Nittnaus Pinot Noirs showing well. France's less well known Pinot producing areas, such as Sancerre, came out strong with Vincent Delaport's Chavignol 2007. Here's a quick round up on the three wines that impressed me.

Domaine Vincent Delaport,  Sancerre 2007. One of the lighter Pinot Noirs of the tasting, this was definitely more elegant and feminine. The tannins were delicate, piquing the taste buds with a lovely crisp apple acidity. There was very little if any oak influence, the wine was 50% stainless steel tank fermented and 50% old neutral oak. This Pinot, very much relies on the quality of the fruit to display it's interesting qualities.

Kooyong Mornington Peninsula Pinot Noir 2006. One of the more extracted wines on the line up. It gave lovely ripe Pinot fruit, soft and alluring. The wine lacked a bit of acidity, but was still very enjoyable, delicious texture and a some great, if a bit dusty tannins. The flavours range between BBQ sauce, meaty notes and a bit of liquorice and soy sauce.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rippon Central Otago Pinot Noir 2005. Probably the most complete Pinot in the line up. The 2005 was head and shoulders above the 2004, with was a little past it and the 2006 which was less ripe and more thin. The 2005, displayed toast, a sexy little touch of Volatile acidity and some good oak. The acidity is less pronounced making it seem more luscious on the palate. Tannins keep the sensation alive in your mouth 30-40 seconds after the wine slides down your throat. Very good!

Friday Night Fish 'n Chips and Chardonnay

Well it's Friday evening and as tradition dictates, it the evening of fish 'n chips. I'm a follower of no particular religious doctrine, but I do think the Catholic tradition of not eating meat on a Friday as a welcome one. What a perfect night to pop down to your local chippie and pick up a steaming paper bag of fresh white fish, deep fried in batter with chunky yellow chips and plenty of salt and vinegar splashed liberally over the top, and a pickled egg sitting on the side.

Unfortunately our local Chip shopschanged hands and the quality of chips has slid down hill rapidly. Those crunchy, crispy yellow fried chips with fluffy white centres have been replaced by soggy, turgid oil soaked chips with fish that swims happily in an ocean of vegetable oil. So this evening I've decided to make my own, everything from chips through to mushy peas.

With a glass of Chardonnay at my-side I'm attempting to cook chips, like they do in the chip shops, just without the massive deep frying baskets and lighted up glass counters. Here's the recipe I'm following, to cook traditional chips. The fish is Sea Bass covered with rosemary and lemon bread crumbs, which is a recipe i'm making up as I go along. The mushy peas are, as tradition decrees, from a tin.

Anyway, as the chips are going through the par-boil stage, I've opened a bottle of Oak-Aged White Burgundy from Tescos Finest 2007, and I've got to say, I'm sick of Tescos finest. I tried a really good Nebbiolo a while back, but since then every bottle I've  tried from this range has let me down.

What Tescos does to create their Finest Range is after every vintage they go out to the wine growing regions and buy up bulk wines that are floating about, slightly sub-par, wines that the original producer doesn't want to put their name to, which Tescos moves in on an snaps up. The bigger the volume they can lay their hands on the better. This wine is made by the large cooperative 'Cave des Vignerons de Buxy', a nice off load of fruit from the less prestigious and more high yielding regions.

This wine will put people off a region that produces possible the finest wines on the planet. I love Burgundian Chardonnay, for its complexity, lengh, fullness and the fact that they can be drunk at absolutely any time, with any meal, fuck it, once in a while give a nice crisp chablis a go with eggs benedict and toast for breakfast.

Back to this wine, fresh but basic and smells slightly of swimming pool changing rooms. White-gold in colour. On the palate it is citrus, old neutral barrels, bit of texture, bit of phenolics, bit of peach, bit of alcoholic warmth and a bit a let down. If you want to explore the fantastic wine growing region of Burgundy go elsewhere, this bears scant resemblance to what the region can produce.

Yering Station MRV 2005

Some countries are uniquely disposed to creating fantastic wines that can't be reproduced else where. They contain areas of terrain where the climate, soil and people contribute to the taste, aroma and style. For example, when thinking about Chardonnay, we think the cote de beaune of Burgundy. Blessed by a unique set of soils on slopes with the best possible relief, drainage and topography. Factor in, vines which have been growing in the same patch of soil for 40-50 years and what you get, in the best vintages, are sublime examples of one the worlds most stylish grapes.

 Again, if we think of Sauvignon Blanc, no one could dispute that Marlborough has lifted the trophy from the hands of the French. Here, well drained alluvial plains, where large pebbles mix with clay loams that contribute with the focused warm summers of the northern tip of the south island New Zealand to produce stunning examples of what the grape can do. 

Sometimes, it's history that plays a more important role as it's the regions history that ingrains a sense of tradition into the techniques and methods used over hundreds of years that influence the current winemaking. Take Sherry for example. The climate and soils are no doubt unique with blindingly white chalk rolling hills that help the vine to retain water in the hot and dry climate of southern Spain. Here the Palomino, Muscat of Alexandria and Pedro Ximénez grapes struggle through, clinging onto their natural acidity's. If you made wine from these grapes in the contemporary style, it would turn out neutral and slightly one dimensional. But, when you apply the natural flor from the sherry butts, the solera sytem that ensures a good level of oxidation and mixing of vintages which combined with the final fortification of the wines, create a truly unique wine that would be hard to reproduce with the same elegance else where. Anyway, back to my original point, you can't make just any wine in just any place.

So, when I found a Yering Station Marsanne, Roussanne and Viognier  (MRV) blend I was intrigued. Could this prove me wrong, could this be the exception? The producer's fairly established, the region, Victoria South Australia has done well and these are warm climate white wine grapes that should suit the warm, dry qualities of this region.

Unfortunately, this would be a wine which, in the best of terms,  could be referred to as interesting. The nose was light and wispy, smelling completely of Salt n' Vinegar Crips. The colour was green gold. The palate was floral with a touch of apricots (from the Viognier), but not enough, the Viognier sat way too far back. There was some phenolic roughness on the back of the mouth, a touch of alcoholic heat on the front and a totally lacklustre follow through. This should be a medium bodied white that'l stand up to most dishes, instead its like alcoholic custard. I know some of you may like that but it's no wonder Tescos dropped this particular wine. ( Ouch, sorry Yering Station)

Tescos Finest Alsace Pinot Gris 2005

Thanks UK Weather, you got me stoked by the prospect of a long hot summer and then ruined it by sending me a cold front accompanied by rain. Oh, well, nothing you can do about the weather, you just have to adapt. And by that I mean, keeping the cork in those pale Provencal roses, not unscrewing that bottle of NZ savvy and for God's sake, don't buy a six pack of lager and sit in the park, now is not the time. Instead, head to your local wine merchant and find a bottle of white Alsatian wine, preferably a Riesling, Pinot Blanc, Gewurztraminer or Pinot Gris. These wines, from the north east of France, deliver lots of lush fruit, ripe and full. Quite often they have a hint of sweetness, which makes them perfect to drink as you stare out at grey skies and falling rain. The Autumnal sunshine bursts through with these wines, the grapes having been left on the vine far longer than is usual in other regions of the world, they develop a lovely textural openness, interesting flavours and a sensual tongue play (Hubba hubba), taste one and you'll see what I mean. These wines don't have to be served super chilled, if fact try not to chill them too much. As an unfashionable style (however that occurs?) these wines are really good value at the moment, so grab your umbrella and anorak and go search for some!

Tescos Finest Alsace Pinot Gris 2005 (appox £6). Gorgeous straw-gold colour, like fields of wheat in late summer. Delicate nose of honey, wax, pear drops and vinyl. The palate is rich and fullsome. The acidity keeps this wine fresh and a touch of ripe fruit sweetness with some grape skin phenolics keep the balance. This wine will bring out the warmth even if the BBQ's full of water and the rain's bouncing off the windows. Good value and something different, please, go out and try a wine with difference! Oh, and spread the Spokengrape message between your friends>

Denbies Hillside Chardonnay 2006

I think this is possibly the first English wine I've reviewed on theSpokengrape and after tasting this I hope it will not be the last. Denbies Hillside Chardonnay 2006 (£9.99) is a barrel fermented Chardonnay from just outside the M25 (low food miles, you'd hope), probably the most exciting thing to ever come out of Dorking. The usual critisims piped up by sceptical wine snobs is that, thanks to our maritime climate,  English wines far too often come out, thin, lean and acidic. I'm not disputing this, there are a lot of shit English wines out there and it can be a case of 'once bitten, twice shy'. Another possible stumbling block is that compared to the characterless, samey-same, slightly sweetened fruit juice sold on massive supermarket mark-downs (think Yellowtail, Stowels and Gallo) English wines can seem quite expensive, seldom being retailed for less than £6.99. Sitting in this price band puts up a lot of competition from other producers from around the world.

But, lets not let this get in the way of the wine here. It's actually quite good. It's been barrel fermented, which means it brings some lovely sawdust, green wood and apple orchard elements to the table, it's got a little brine, soy and pear which makes things a little more interesting. The nose isn't hugely obtrusive, it sits in the background, gently nudging the taste on the palete forward into the limelight. The texture is extemely interesting, bringing a kinda oilyness to the party like a Viogner splashed around your mouth. For a wine which clocks in at a svelte 11.5% alcohol the body is pretty ample, filling your palate like a sumo in a bikini. The acidity is kept in check, so you don't get that stripped, abrasive and cut up palate sensation so common with wines that come from this far north. What I found amazing was what a difference in alcohol made to my evening drinking. Following a few glasses I still felt like I had energy left, to slump on the couch watching crap TV didn't seem such a temptation and I actually found myself, glass on board, doing the ironing, quietly buzzed, but not at all lethargic. I don't see the same happening if I had drank my way through a couple of glasses of 15% Aussie chardonnay.