English Wine in a Nutshell.

This week I have been lucky enough to try some delicious English wines. 

We often hear that English wines are beating Champagne in blind taste tests - but are they really that good?

In a word - yes. Due to global warming (insert debate here) vineyards are popping up over England and Wales and producing some wonderful wines.

Some bloody awful ones too.



Weather getting better?

English wine or British wine? 

Don't be fooled - British wine is really nothing like it sounds.  British wine is either concentrate or must (juice) from pretty much anywhere in the world that has been imported. So avoid this. English, or Welsh, and maybe sometime soon, Scottish wine - is as you'd expect, with grapes grown from said place.

A combination of well selected grapes (that have a stiff upper lip and can deal with our cool climate), well placed vineyards and a bunch of skilled winemakers, means we are producing some really delicious wines that are ever-improving. Vineyards are popping up all over the place, and if wines are anything like these, then we're all in for a treat.

Danebury Reserve, (£12) is utterly scrumptious. From Hampshire, this beautifully wine is aromatic, fruity and well balanced with minerality. It's won a squillion awards, all well deserved. Yum.

English Oak Engelmann Cuvee 2010 (£26.99) is just divine.  At this price it won't be on your weekly shop, but for an occasion (i.e. Valentine's) you should do it.  It's won awards too. It's a lovely warm gold, with fresh fruits and biscuityness on the nose, with green apples and gooseberry on the palate. Drink at any time with any food!

 Denbies Chalk Ridge Rosé 2011 (£11.99). Strawberries, pears and pepper. Elegant and lush. If someone bought me this on Valentine's Day I'd be a happy bunny. 

Chin chin x

Sherry, Sherry Baby

Mini Cheddars + cuppa =
everything is possible.

I always thought I preferred the song to the drink. 

Turns out I was wrong. 

Tasked with tucking into a 'couple' of sherries for my course at 10am this Monday morning, there were definitely other things I'd rather have been doing (like drinking Port. Or whisky. Incidentally, I HAVE discovered this week that whisky, Sauternes and Beernauslese are all yummy on porridge. For another day). 

My thoughts on sherry were probably not dissimilar to those of most other people; Harvey’s Bristol Cream, Christmas, Auntie X singing along to Johnny Mathis.

Very wrong. Look at all these lovelies, which barely scratch the surface.

Fino, Manzanilla, Manzanilla Pasada, Amontillado,
Oloroso, Oloroso Dulce.... who knew?!

So - elephant in the room - sherry is NOT cool. Who cares?  My usual mantra of 'give it a go' applies here - try a few - if you find one you like, it's always good to have a few secret weapons in the old drinks cupboard.

So 'Sherry, Jerez or Xeres' is in an area in Andalucía, SW Spain that has a DO - a restricted area (same as the French AOC/appellation) - for sherry production, so it can only be produced here. This 'DO' protects the specific characteristics of the climate, geography and heritage and produces, some may say, the finest Spanish wines. Sherry is fortified (alcohol is added to it) like many other wines such as Port and Madeira, however sherry is fortified after fermentation, meaning that the drink is naturally dry  (i.e. all the sugars have been turned to alcohol) so any sweetness is usually due to a sweetener (nothing scary - usually just grape must). There are always exceptions, of course. This is bloody wine we are talking about. 

from sherryvinegar.com

So, what's the difference?

Well, there are three main categories. Dry, naturally sweet and blended sweet. All are aged in a barrel system which is topped from the top, then feeds down through the layers. This is called the solera system and helps give this drink it's character; unlike other wines it isn't the grape that adds the character, but the ageing process.

Dry Sherry

You will have heard of a Fino; light, fresh and aged under a layer of 'flor' (yeast) which keeps it fresh and stops it reacting with the air.  If the yeast is allowed to die, the sherry can react a little with the air. This then becomes Amontillado and has the character of both ageing with and without oxygen.

Manzanilla is pretty much Fino, but it comes from a specific place on the coast, Sanlucar de Barrameda, which gives it a slightly different taste to the Fino from Jerez. It can be aged for a little bit, when the yeast begins to die, it slightly oxidises. It is then called Pasada Manzanilla.  

Oloroso is the opposite of Fino in that it has no protective layer of flor, so reacts with the oxygen, giving it a darker colour and a dry, nutty character.

 Palo Cortado is a confusing one as no real guidance on production exists - but it sits somewhere between a Fino and an Amontillado.

Naturally Sweet Sherry

These include Moscadel and Pedro Ximinéz, a naturally sweet, sticky black sherry that goes well with pudding. Or on pudding. Well worth a buy.



Blended Sweet Sherry

Roll out your Nan. These are the Cream Sherry, Pale Creams, and Medium Sherry. Given I've not tried them all, but so far not my bag baby, but knock yourself out. 

Oloroso

What to try?

Ok, interesting wines for the cupboard. Top three from my selection. Many sherries have a distinct character which can take a little to get your head around if you haven't tried it before. Give it a go - you will be pleasantly surprised. 

Number 3: Oloroso (not a sweetened one). I love this. Nutty, bone dry - it is an acquired taste.  But the bottle disappeared after the first few days so I figure Barnett HQ quite liked it. £6 from Tesco (50cl)

Fino

PX - Sticky
and sweet

Number 2: A damn good Fino.  Delicate and fresh, this is very versatile.  £13.99 (50cl) from Waitrose this is 'a rare wine with exceptional finesse and delicacy of aroma'.

Number 1: Pedro Ximinéz. Without a doubt. Luscious, sticky, black and thick, it oozes raisins, sticky figs and dates. Good after dinner on ice cream.  PX is made from drying and concentrating an already ludicrously sweet grape, turning it into this black beauty. A really different wine that is more like a thick, gooey liquor. £7.99 from Sainsbury’s (50cl). Yum.

I can't get to this end and ignore Manzanilla Pasada, so I am adding in a star buy. This was my favourite discovery in this week's tastings.... 

Pasada Manzanilla

Hidalgo Manzanilla Pasada Pastrana, £12.99 from Waitrose. It's a Manzanilla sourced from a single-vineyard, it's dry and with a slight salty tang, character of its maturation on the coast. Pasada refers to the 12 years in oak casks. Enjoy!

The spice of life...

Variety, right? 

But we keep on buying the same wines, week in, week out. So y' know what's happening? Across the world we are planting more and more Cabernet Sauvignons and Merlots and we are seeing less of the smaller, quirky grapes.  Or at least we will, if we don’t start exploring a little.

The Old World (traditional wine producing countries like France, Spain, Italy, Portugal) doesn’t always put the grape on the label, as usually the name of the wine shows a style. For example, a wine labelled ‘Chablis’ is a very specific style of wine made from Chardonnay, so the word 'Chablis' tells you the grape, the style AND where it is from (unlike just listing the grape). Grape isn't always (in fact, it hardly ever is) indicative of style.  But the problem with the Old World style is it assumes we all have this knowledge in our brains already. Which we don't.

Any idea?

The 'New World' wins points as it puts grapes on the label that we recognise and therefore buy. I think we need a little more joined up thinking - it would be good to know more of a style of a New World grape, but maybe it'd be useful to have the grape on the Old World wine? Then we won't all be so bloody baffled, or maybe we will revert for something different rather than Rioja, Cab Sauv or Sauv Blanc.

So, here's the deal on a few grapes that you may not have heard from, but I can highly recommend!

Picpoul

Piquepoul/Picpoul/Picapoll is the name of the white grape grown mainly in the south of France, in the Rhone Valley and Languedoc. It’s zinginess, acidity and apple/lemony fruitiness is simple, refreshing and delicious. Those who like the light and fresh Sauv-Blancs will enjoy this. Tesco Finest Picpoul De Pinet, £7.99 is a top banana example, its won an award too. Picpoul de Pinet is also a small 'appellation' (recognised wine area) down in the Languedoc, as well as the name of the grape, just to confuse matters.

Albariño

Yes, I know I have harped on about this before. But it’s my favourite and if you haven’t tried it yet, go out immediately and buy it.  It’s a white wine again, this time Spanish. The last recommend was a Sainsbury’s one… this one is from Morrisons, Vina Ludy Albarino, £7.99. Albariño is aromatic, giving your nasal passages a little burst of happiness before the fresh acidity and hints of peach make you feel oh! So happy inside.

Touriga Nacional

Sounds scary, right? It’s not – you probably will have tried it already in Port. A red grape, it also makes some great still, unfortified wines.  Yes – Portugal produces other stuff as well as Port. And it’s well worth sipping. This is an award winner from M&S (by the case, but once you try it, drinking six won’t be a problem – not in one sitting, mind). I guess it’s pretty similar to a big Shiraz, with cherries and sweet spice.

Try something different.... you will not regret it!

PortTalk

Dry January working out well for you?

Well done all you smugladites who have managed this – you are a stronger man than I. Not only that, I have a list of (fortified) wines to study longer than my arm and I’m not entirely sure I’ve got it in me.  I love most wines – but not sure how my taste buds will stand up under exam pressure scrutinising the idiosyncrasies of a 10 or 20 year tawny Port.  I also have to fight the urge to get out a huge slab of Stilton and whack on the fire.

This is for those of you who need a little more encouragement on dry January:

http://www.dryjanuary.org.uk/

For anyone like me who is just crossing their fingers and hoping for their waistline to shrink, here’s the crack with one type of fortified wine, Port.

Port, Port lovely Port.

Christ, this was good.

Before I took up a keen interest in Port, I used to drink it as per wine. 125ml minimum, usually with food on the side.  Following a trip to a very lovely guesthouse some years ago and wondering why they gave you a ‘taster’ portion first when ordering Port, I learnt a valuable lesson. Not only that I was one greedy, ill-informed customer who now had a reason to her post-Port stomach aches but there was a whole WORLD out there of variation that needed to be explored. Give me a break – I grew up in a pretty much non-drinking household other than ale and fizz at Christmas and we’re not born with this knowledge, right?!

First off, fortified means adding alcohol either during, or after fermentation of the grapes.  Port comes in red, white and rosé and quality levels vary.  The vineyard area for Port is in the Upper Douro, with three key sub areas; Baixa Corgo, Cima Corgo (classic area for premium Ports) and Douro Superior.  The first two have really steep slopes with terracing and the latter is flatter; all of which have an effect of the vines in terms of sunshine, drainage, sunlight…and therefore affect the end grape. 

In winemaking, extraction of the colour and tannin is key – this has to be done quickly (2-3 days). Now it is rare to see traditional techniques (treading with feet) as extraction isn’t quick enough.  Love the romance of it, but it’s just not practical, so machines are widely used. Once the grapes have started fermenting, alcohol is added (77% ABV grape spirit). This is different to sherry which is fortified after fermentation. Adding the alcohol during fermentation stops the process, leaving behind some of the sugar as the high alcohol kills any yeasts.  Following this, the style depends on how the wine is treated.   Here’s the low down on Port lingo, many of these terms you may see on the bottle.

Waitrose Tawny

Basic styles of Port include:

Aldi Ruby Port -
it's won lots of
awards,
don't you know.

-    Ruby - Fresh, fruity and robust, these are stored in large oak barrels, with up to three years ageing.  Try Fletcher's Ruby Port - a steal at £6.29, Aldi. Rich and velvety, great value. Aldi continue to drive good value with their wines.

-          Tawny – These are the same age as ruby Ports, but given oxidative conditions to gain a tawny hue. Pictured tawny from Waitrose, £8.49.

-          White –Modern examples are unaged but some rare examples do exist which show a little colour. A modern, light and fresh example is from Tesco, £8.50.

Tesco's White Port

-          Rosé – this is quite a recent market trend led by Croft which is made in a similar way to rosé wine, with limited exposure to the grape skins.

-          http://www.croftpink.com/en/

  

There are also special categories of Port which you may see on the label.  Here is a summary of them….

	Reserve	Vintage	Late Bottled Vintage (LBV)	Crusted	Single Quinta Vintage	10- 40 year	Colheita	Garrafeira
Ruby	Premium Port approved by the authorities. Better than 'just' Port.	Only the best years	Filtered or unfiltered. Single vintage with 4-6 years maturation.	Single vintage or blended. Bottled unfiltered.	Made from a single estate, in a good year (declared vintage).	Refers to length of time ageing in oak.		Rare vintage dated style of Port, single harvest with oxidative reductive maturation in large glass demijohns.
Tawny							From a single vintage, where the year is given rather than the age in years.	Term can be found on bottles of exceptional age.
White		Rare				Very rare.

If you are going to spend a bit more on Port, steer clear of the supermarkets and get down to your local independant. If you are going to spend a bit, you need to get it right. 

So I raise a glass to a wet, fortified January. Have fun with yours. x

Let's all blow a raspberry to January's abstinence.

From Etsy

Happy New Year!

Here at Barnett HQ, we drank enough fizz to sail a small ship in, bickered to ‘Cranium’ and suffered every second on the 1^st. A perfect start to the year.

On the 2^nd, I joined a gym and promised to get fit/drink less/be a better person/yadah yadah yadah. 

That said, I’m not going for the no-alcohol-in-January promise; I just haven’t got it in me. I have no excuse other than my mother told me ‘a little of what you love does you good’ (note term ‘little’) – thanks Mum. To compensate for my inner evil, I have taken a look at the naturally lower ABV drinks that you may wish to switch to during January. It really depends how much of them you drink, but they are certainly a step in the right direction.

To be classified as a wine, an ABV of 8.5% must be achieved by the winemaker. Some German wines are allowed to go down to 6.5% ABV. This is due to their cool climate. English wines are also commonly lower and ABVs around 11% are usual for both countries.  The benefit to the cooler climate = less sugar. Less sugar = less alcohol. So, rather than a reduced alcohol wine-like drink, these can be really lovely, well balanced wines that are lighter in the bad stuff.  To counteract the usual higher acidity levels, some sugar can be left unfermented. This helps balance the taste of the wine as well as reduce the ABV. Perfect. 

Dr. Loosen Riesling, 8.5% ABV (Sainsbury’s £7.49 for 75cl)

This is delicious. Aromatic, fresh and light, with a slight sweetness and good acidity. It drinks well alone (or goes well with a Chinese if you fall off the waggon completely).

There are approximately 70 calories (1.1 units) in 125ml. Around the same as a plain Hobnob. I know what I’d prefer. (Compared to last week’s Rioja which is around 119 calories for a 125ml glass).

                                                    

Sparkle in January

Just because New Year has come and gone, don’t push away the Prosecco. Don’t chuck your Cava or abandon the Asti.  Certainly do not conceal the Champers… (enough!?!). Alliteration aside, fizz can be a good option for the health conscious. Rather than your usual fizz, look for Champagne with ‘Nature’ on the label. This means no ‘dosage’ is used (topping up with sweet liquid just before the cork is put in). This has around 65 calories per 125 ml glass.

An awful moment of realisation when you scrutinise your booze:

125ml glass of regular (i.e. not ‘Nature’) Champagne (1 unit) equals one chocolate digestive (86 calories).

25ml whisky (1 unit) is a plain Hobnob (67 calories).

250ml glass of wine (3.3 units) or a pint of beer (2.2 units) would be a slice of Victoria sponge (196 calories).

One pint of cider (2.6 units) is a sugar doughnut (210 calories).

It’s Champers and Scotch during January then….

http://runninghumor.com/running-app/

Cheers! x

‘It’s the same wine, ma’am, just a different label….’

So I order a bottle of Wandering Bear Merlot in an unnamed hotel chain for dinner.  It’s from California, USA. You know, the big place in the top left of the map as you look at it. The charming, but naïve waiter came back with a Chilean.  Now, I’m no Michael Palin, but I’m pretty sure these places are quite far apart. You don’t need to be an expert to guess the wines probably taste quite different.  So they really aren’t the same wines with a different label. 

Five years ago I probably wouldn’t have checked the bottle. I mean, wine waiters know their stuff right? This one didn’t. Always check your wine.

Just because a grape is the same, it doesn’t mean the wine will be. Climate, latitude, direction of the slopes plus every step of the wine making process can add to, or take from a grape.  On top of that, blending and labelling laws can further confuse us.  So most of the time, unless we have a wine dictionary and a sommelier on hand, we aren't always going to know what the wine will taste like.  

Many of us won’t care for the little differences and just know that we like a certain style. But I’m not keen on a bluffing wine waiter. Sure, there are little things we can look for to help us make decisions. The example I give here is Rioja. 

We all love Rioja. Rioja is the area in Spain, not the grape. It also produces the highest amount of fine wine in Spain. A few different grapes can be used; Tempranillo is the most popular, as well as Garnacha (Grenache), Viura (Macebéo), Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Cinsault, Mouverde ….check out a full list and more details here.   Most wines are therefore a blend of these grapes.  Rioja is split into three geographically very different regions: Rioja Alta, Rioja Alavesa and Rioja Baja.  You can read further on these areas here but the key point is altitude, varying soils and heat all affect the grapes and therefore the final wine. Oak is a common theme.
Here is a great map from Wine Folly that shows how the land lies...

Until around the 1970’s most Rioja was fermented quickly, leading to a pale colour. They were soft, fruity, blended and aged in American oak which gave the wines a sweet vanilla nose. Nowadays it is more likely for this style to be fermented for longer, giving the darker colour most of us would associate with a Rioja.  They are also aged for less time, and usually using French oak, making them fruitier.   

White Riojas do exist. Mostly they are fresh and easy drinking – however more traditional white Riojas can be aged for 10-20 years in oak (Gran Reserva receiving the most oak).  Now, I have only tried one of these, but it resembled the smell of my hands once I’d cleaned out the fireplace. I’m not a massive oak-head, but for those of you out there who like to taste charred wood, knock yourself out. Usually complemented by citrus fruit and a complexity that can challenge many white Bordeaux wines.

Here are some lush examples of Rioja …

Muga Rioja Reserva Selección Especial (£22-£24)

I bought this beauty from Loki wine in Birmingham, an excellent independent wine merchant. I will always try and go independent if possible as you can find out so much more about your wine than if you went to the supermarket. You can get it from Ocado here. You can also get the slightly cheaper Reserva version from Waitrose here, but you’ll learn a lot more about your wine if you pick a good local independent (plus you can usually taste in-store!).

Anyway, this is an absolute corker of a Rioja. It is aged for 28 months in specially selected oak casks. It is then bottled and aged for a further 12 months in the Muga cellars. The resulting wine is powerful, complex with black and red fruits and spice; discover new layers with every mouthful. Drink it now, or keep it a few years. You can definitely enjoy a good hearty meal with this one.  One of my favourites.

Castillo San Lorenzo Rioja Gran Reserva (£8.66 as part of case deal) 

A more affordable version, this is currently on sale at Tesco – 45% off a case! Check it out here. I have bought this wine a few times  – it’s easy drinking; medium bodied and much more generic than the Muga example, but for the price I think its yummy and everyone will want a top-up.  Black fruits and a light, sweet spice, you don’t need food  (but would be great with a medium-weighed meal).

There are many, many terms on Spanish wine bottles. However here are a few to help identify some key characteristics:

Bodega:     Winery

DO:            This is a Spanish 'designation' for wines that meet specified grape/production quality standards.

DOCa:       These are DO’s that have consistent high quality.

Rosado:     Rosé wine

Viejo:         Quality wine that undergoes a three year (minimum) period of ageing.

The four styles of traditional Rioja wines are:

Joven or just ‘Rioja’ are young wines that don’t have the complexity and structure of some of the others, but will be fresh and fruity.

Crianza wines have aged for a minimum of one year in oak casks and a couple more once they have been bottled.  White wines have less, with six months in cask.

Reserva wines are only the best vintages that have been aged for a minimum of three years, with at least one year in oak casks. White wines are aged for two years, with a minimum of six months in casks.

Gran Reserva wines can store in the right conditions for up to 30 years!  These are selected wines from exceptional vintages, which spend at least two years in oak casks and three further years in the bottle. White wines are aged for at least four years, with a minimum of one year in casks.

Until 2014, happy drinking J

There is a remarkable breakdown of taste and intelligence at Christmas time. Mature, responsible grown men wear neckties made of holly leaves and drink alcoholic beverages with raw egg yolks and cottage cheese in them.
— P. J. O’Rourke

Well, maybe not cottage cheese. We do like a nice mulled wine though. We’ve got through a few recipies here at Barnett HQ. This is our favourite from Jamie Oliver, which really does taste like Christmas. Except we put it to the test against a less faffy, throw-it-in- a-pan Aldi Glühwein (£4.99 for 1 litre).

I’ve chosen Aldi as I do think it gets a bad rap – they do some fantastic value wines (Prosecco for £5.99, Beernauslese for £5.99). The Jamie Oliver version costs over double, once you have purchased all the bits.

Jamie Oliver Recipe

• 2 clementines
• 1 lemon
• 1 lime
• 200 g caster sugar
• 6 whole cloves
• 1 stick cinnamon
• 3 fresh bay leaves
• 1 whole nutmeg, for grating
• 1 vanilla pod, halved lengthways
• 2 star anise
• 2 bottles Chianti or other Italian red wine

The method involves making a thick syrup first then adding in the rest of the wine to make a really rich wine.

(Image from Jamie Oliver's website - my attempt did not look this serene).

Aldi Glühwein

• Place entire bottle in pan
• Add in fruit (to make it look homemade and confuse the tasting panel)
• Ta daaa!

We served the Glühwein first as it was much sweeter than the stronger, richer Jamie Oliver recipie.

Jamie's  looks and smells more authentic, filling the house with cinnamon and cloves. But the Glühwein is sweeter and may be to more tastes. Or so I thought.

Jamie actually won with 10 votes to 6 – even though on first sip it knocked your socks off versus the Glühwein, it was ‘much more Christmassy’.  A couple of ABV % stronger I may add too. The smell was utterly divine and it is the best smelling mulled wine  - but takes a lot longer and if you have other stuff to do - Glühwein makes a nice replacement.

Thanks to our host +Richard Whillock who seemed to drink most of the wine... not bad for a non-drinker ;) 

Cheers!