Severe lack of posts

Sorry for the awful lack of post recently. Things have been quite hectic to say the least! When things calm down and return to some sort of normality, the posts will return!

Villa Wolf Silvaner

Villa Wolf, Silvaner, 2007, Pfalz, Germany.

Villa Wolf is owned the Dr Loosen group. As I love Loosen wine, I had high expectations for this wine - it did not disappoint! This wine is full of tart, green, granny smith apples; it's almost like a really dry cider, with hints of apricot. The palate is much softer with a really smooth, almost creamy texture. The cider notes are again evident on the palate, as is the apricot but with more stone fruits like nectarine and some tangerine too. The acidity is well balanced and not as sharp as some of the fruit characters that are represented in the wine. Amazingly well integrated oak. I can't remember having a Silvaner before - I really like this. This would be ideal to have in the garden in the summer! 4.2/5 (11.5% abv)

Great Spanish Syrah

Today was a better day. Had a very productive day at work and was so ready to open a bottle when I got home. I reviewed the sister wine to this wine on 26 October 2009. This was a great wine with a great label.

Bodegas Carchelo, 'A' Altico, Syrah, 2007, Jumilla, Spain.

Beautiful, expressive wine. Rich, concentrated blackcurrant and dark cherry with tar and spicy pepper. There are also subtle edges of rose petal. Smooth, velvety texture. The tannins are firm but don't overtake the wine. Great length, well balanced. There is some oak character but thankfully unlike a lot of Spanish wine it remains understated in the background, allowing the wild, dark brambly fruit to come to the forefront. Great wine. Definitely will be getting some more of this wine. 4.3/5 (14.5% abv) £11.99 Oddbins

Chilean Carmenere

This morning I woke up feeling like I needed a weekend! It was a long day at work - couldn't wait to get home and crack open a bottle.

Casillero del Diablo, Carmenere Reserva, 2008, Rapel Valley, Chile.

Out of the big branded wines - this one is really good and actually delivers decent tasting wine. I am quite partial to some Casillero del Diablo! Lovely big ripe raspberry and blackberry fruit with hints of plum and sweet cherry. There is a certain chocolatey-ness to this wine too. Nice, smooth texture to this wine with a bit of structure. Soft, supple tannins. There is some spice on the palate and edges of coffee. Lovely Monday night wine, great with the grilled lamb I am having tonight. This wine delivers well above its price point. This would be a great wine with a BBQ in the summer. 3.9/5 (13.5% abv)

Hand Picked Riesling

Knappstein, Hand Picked Riesling, 2007, Clare Valley, Australia.

The nose is full of oily lime and citrus fruits. This is all besides plenty of blossom, floral and meadow aromas. There is a clean, crispness to this wine. You can get some honeyed notes on the nose too. The oil, petrol, and citrus flavours are very present on the palate. Nice, steely minerality. This wine has good acidity, balance and length. This would be great, chilled down in the summer with a BBQ or a picnic. 4/5 (13.5% abv) £8.99 Majestic Wine

Penalolen Cabernet Sauvignon

I really feel like I need a weekend already - and it's only Monday! So, tonight I decided to open a bottle I have tried before. This is a comforting, re-assuring sort of wine - exactly what I was after.

Penalolen, Cabernet Sauvignon, 2007, Maipo Valley, Chile.

Lush, rich, opulent nose full of fresh cassis, blackberry and crushed raspberry. You can almost get blackcurrant jam on the nose too. The palate has lovely, soft tannins and a silky, smooth texture. The palate has fairly complex, dark fruit flavours. There is some well integrated oak adding some structure to this wine. The palate also contains hints of leather, mint and mild edges of tobacco. 3.8/5 (14% abv) £9.99 Oddbins.

The Boycat

I have just come back from a leadership day that our church had in Tonbridge. It was an early start and a long drive but it was so worth it. It was a very inspiring day. Once home, It was straight into the cellar to get a bottle to start relaxing.

Linda Domas Wines, 'Boycat' Merlot, 2008, McLaren Vale, Australia.

This has a vibrant, perfumed nose; full of juicy, ripe plums, raspberries and violets. There is a big presence of summer fruits here. Silky, smooth texture and big tannins. I think these tannins will mellow quite a big with some bottle age - this wine is still quite young. The big red fruits carry over to the palate and remain dominant. Good balance and length. The aftertaste has a slight smokey, dark chocolate edge to it. This is still quite a tightly wound wine, which will relax with a bit more age. 4/5 (13.5% abv) £8.99 Marks & Spencer.

Friday, Friends and Les Jalets

Pinot Guy and his wife have just moved into a new apartment. So, last night we headed over to their new pad to 'officially' be the first people that they have over for dinner. It was a great night; it was so good see their new place, catch up and unwind after a busy week. We laughed a lot last night! As well as good food, Pinot Guy also pulled out a bottle of 'Les Jalets'.

Paul Jaboulet Aine, 'Les Jalets' Crozes Hermitage, 2006, Tain L'Hermitage, France.

This was a dark, sultry wine. The nose was full of blackcurrant and spicy cherry. There were also elements of brambles, nettles, leather and cigar box.The palate was quite softer. Beautifully smooth with great length. The palate had more brambles and blackcurrant with a dusting of white pepper. 4.2/5 (12.5% abv)

The Crown in Playhatch

Not a wine post tonight but a food one instead. Tonight my wife and I had a great evening out with some friends at The Crown in Playhatch (nr Reading). Visit their website for more information (http://www.thecrown.co.uk). We met with friends that we haven't seen since before Christmas. These are some of our really good friends, who have been in our lives for years. These friends were the ones who introduced us to the Crown many years ago. So it was nice to back to this restaurant together; the weird thing was that they sat us at the same table that we were at the first time we went!

The menu is well put together; offering a good array of gastro pub food.

To start I had the:

Tian of locally smoked salmon, fresh crab, shrimp and crayfish tails - infused with chilli, coriander, ginger and basil.

This was a lovely, well presented started with all the flavours working well together.

For the main course I had (pictured above) the:

Baked Fillet of Cod - served on creamy mashed potato with green pea sauce and crispy prosciutto ham.

This really was a great dish and so well put together. The pea sauce was lovely and a perfect compliment to the cod. The pea sauce did not overpower the fish at all. The fish itself was cooked to perfection. The fillet kept its form and remained meaty but just melted in the mouth.

This was a good dish for me as my wife hates peas, so I don't get them at home (I quite like them!) Our friend's wife hates peas as well - so he had the same main course as me! I must admit that after two courses I did somewhat fail and have to pass on a pudding. The service was excellent. The waitress was very attentive without being overbearing.

I would highly recommend the Crown to anyone. All I have to do now is to find an excuse to plan another trip to go back there!

Hautes Cotes de Nuits

I have had this wine for some time; not that I know what I was keeping it for. So tonight, I decided it was about time I opened it. It was a good wine and a nice pick-up for a midweek tipple.

David Duband, 'Louis Auguste', Bourgogne Hautes Cotes de Nuits, 2004, France.

Beautiful light crisp wine. The nose has plenty of apricots, nectarine and stone fruits with hints of tangerine, orchards and some honey. The palate retains the stone fruit and apricot but also has elements of freshly pressed apples. The honeyed characters appear on the palate too. Crisp acidity, nice length and balance. Good dry wine - well poised. Glad I am drinking this now; I can't help but wonder if this could have tasted better if it was a year or so younger. 3.5/5 (12.5% abv)

Nice Relaxing Wine

Paul Jaboulet Aine, Parallele 45, Cotes du Rhone, 2007, Tain L'Hermitage, France.

This wine is a blend of Grenache and Syrah. The nose is full of soft, sweet raspberry and blackcurrant fruit. There is also some bramble fruit and aromas of hedgerows with some hints of olive. The palate is smooth with soft tannins. This is definitely ready to drink now. There is good balance and savouriness to this wine. There are some dustings of white pepper. Nice wine, good for having around the house to relax and watch TV with. 3/5 (14% abv) £8.99 Waitrose Wine.

EQ Syrah

It's quite sad but all afternoon at work I was trying to decide what to open this evening. I fancied something decent. It has been a full on week, so I really wanted to open a good bottle of wine and relax. This wine hit the nail on the head - roll on the weekend.

Matetic, EQ Syrah, 2006, San Antonio, Chile.

This is a lovely wine. Matetic is one of my favourite Chilean producers and their EQ range is fantastic. The nose is full of sweet cherry, blackcurrant and blueberry. There are hints of blackberry and raspberry - all surrounded in subtle aromas of violet. The nose is really delicate and perfumed. The palate is so structured and carries more of the dark fruit but with a fine, white peppery, spicy edge. There are also some olive flavours emerging with some thick tar like elements too. There are some tight drying tannins here. The palate is more savoury than the nose and has some meaty complexity about it. There is a bit of the Chilean greenness here - but not to much. Definitely a wine to buy some more of. This is a nice wine to relax with - I need more Fridays! 4.6/5 (14% abv) £19.99 Majestic Wine.

Quirky but Good!

Tonight I felt like opening something different. This bottle is exactly that. It is a grape variety I have never tried before, from a producer I don't know. The wine itself was different to anything I have ever tried before.

Fattoria Selvanova, Vigna del Sasso, Aglianico, 2006, Italy.

Really dark, concentrated cherries and focused blackcurrant with violet, lavender and hints of prunes. The nose is a bit medicinal with some earthy aromas leading to gym socks and dare I say it - urinal. It's a strange wine. It almost flirts with you - you smell something, then it goes; only to re-appear later on. The palate is very different to the nose. Big, strong, grippy tannins and a long length. The palate is full of spicy bramble fruit, herbs and old wood - almost like bramble bushes. This is a quirky, bizarre wine but I like it, I like the quirkiness of it. 3.8/5 (14% abv) £11.99 Oddbins.

A Sauvignon Blanc with a bus pass

Tonight, I am not opening any new or 'exciting' bottles of wine. As mentioned in a previous post (Friday 11 September 2009) I have one more bottle of Grove Mill Sauvignon Blanc 2005 from New Zealand. This wine is getting on a bit now (especially in Sauvignon Blanc terms!). So I have decided to open my last remaining bottle of Grove Mill. It is still showing fairly well with a nose full of citrus and gooseberry and some tangerine/mandarin flavours coming through on the palate. This is not as zingy though as younger bottles I have had. While it is still nice this wine is beginning to taste a bit old and has applied for its bus pass! I would rather drink it now than either leave it there to gradually die or heaven forbid - throw it out!

The South African Tasting

Yesterday afternoon a group of friends came over for a small 'South African Tasting'. This is something we have been talking about doing for some time. I was the only non-South African at the tasting; they are determined to get me to really appreciate South African wine. Events like these will definitely help! We tasted some great wines. They are already talking about planning the next one!!

Porcupine Ridge, Shiraz Viognier, 2006, Boekenhoutskloof Franschhoek, South Africa.

This has nice spicy cherry and blackberry on the nose with slight floral aromatics at the end. It smelt slightly sweet. The palate has more spice and black pepper. The fruit was also darker. soft tannins, short length but with good balance. This could be another good bottle to have around the house 'just in case'. 3/5 (14% abv)

Solms, Hegewisch 'Africana' Shiraz, 2007, South Africa.

The nose was full of sweet dark fruit. Blackcurrant was the dominant fruit. There were also elements of smoke, old oak and bramble/hedge rows. The palate has big, bold, drying tannins with spicy fresh black pepper. There were hints of dark chocolate and more smoke. This wine was fairly complex. This wine would be great with big hearty dishes. 4.2/5 (14.5% abv)

Vergelegen, 'Mill Race' Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot, 2006, South Africa.

This wine had a lovely nose of summer fruit pudding with sweet plum confit. There were hints of sweet black wine gums too. After a while in the glass you could also get some raspberry and blackcurrant. The palate had tight tannins and lots of big dark fruits with nicely integrated oak. 4/5 (14.5% abv)

The Chocolate Block, 2007, Boekenhoutskloof Franschhoek, South Africa.

This was the star of the afternoon. I was expecting a big, bold, punch you in the face wine. It was the complete opposite. It was refined, delicate and understated. This wine is made from 55% Syrah, 20% Grenache Noir, 16% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Cinsault and 4% Viognier. For their 2007 vintage, only 586 barrels were made. The nose was full of sweet blackcurrant and violet aromas at first followed by dates and almonds - then chocolate, deep, dark chocolate. The palate had grippy tannins which receded quickly to reveal a soft, smooth texture. It was a great wine and worth every penny. I have another bottle of the 2007 and 2 bottles of the 2008. This is a wine to keep getting every year! 4.6/5 (14.5% abv)

My opinion of South African wine is definitely changing!

Flagstone Sauvignon Blanc

Still very cold in Reading but the snow is beginning to melt - which is the main thing. So tonight I decided to open something that would remind me of some sun!

Flagstone, 'Free Run' Sauvignon Blanc, 2008, South Africa.

Big, crisp, fresh, zingy nose. The nose is full of green pepper - like a salad bowl in a glass! There is some lime coming through too. The green pepper is also dominant on the palate along with some lovely herby notes. Nice crisp acidity and good length. This does what it says on the label - its nice South African Sauvignon Blanc; to be honest it does deliver above its price point. This would be a good inexpensive 'back-up bottle' to always have in the house - just in case! 3.5/5 (12.5% abv) £5.99 Majestic Wine.

Tamaron Tasting

Tonight we tried something different. I have had a few bottle of Altos de Tamaron in the cellar; a few different vintages and a reserva. So tonight we had a sort of mini Tamaron Tasting. It was really good to see how the vintages differed and how the reserva differed from their 'normal' wines.

Altos de Tamaron, 2004, Ribera del Duero, Spain.

This wine won the silver medal at the 2005 Decanter world wine awards. This wine is still fresh with ripe rounded sweet plum and cherry aromas. Lovely scents of blackcurrant jam. Hints of red liquorice. Lovely soft palate, nice earthy complexity to this wine, bits of spice coming though too. Still get loads of ripe fruit on the palate. Some soft tannins, bits of cedar coming through at the end. Really pleased at how well this wine has kept for an inexpensive wine. It has well integrated oak unlike many oak heavy Spanish reds. This could be a good house red - affordable, good with a BBQ in the summer, good with food. 4.3/5 (13% abv)

Altos de Tamaron, 2007, Ribera del Duero, Spain.

This wine won the gold medal at the Berlin Trophy. Soft, ripe blackcurrant, younger, fresher nose. Great contrast to the 2004 vintage. The 2007 has more violets and perfume. The palate is vibrant and alive with black fruits with some raspberry and cherry thrown in for fun. The tannins are a bit more present but still a good wine with well integrated oak. Balanced, nice length. Light touches of pepper and leather. I think that this wine will improve. Still a good wine and still a candidate for a house red. 4.2/5 (13% abv)

Altos de Tamaron, Reserva 2002, Ribera del Duero, Spain.

Now we are talking! Deep, dark brooding wine. The nose is full of mocha, freshly ground espresso, leather and tobacco - Amazing. You can smell beautiful old country oak. Dark, ripe blackcurrant and blackberry bring some sweetness to the rest of the nose; underpinned with some blueberry. It is almost like the fruit is wrapped in a blanket of oak and leather and cigars. The palate is soft and smooth. The oak comes across more but it is fitting for this wine and doesn't overpower. (This wine has been aged for 24 months in American and French oak before being left for 12 months in bottle before release). As well as the oak, mocha and black fruit you get on the palate there is also some violet and hints of liquorice. Lovely complex wine - I have one bottle left. I may see what this tastes like in 2012 at 10 yrs old - If I can wait that long! 4.5/5 (13.5% abv)

Loosen Kabinett

Tonight I fancied something different from the big reds I have had recently. This hit the spot perfectly. I love Loosen Riesling. Loosen gave me my first experience of Riesling...and I have never looked back!

Dr. Loosen, Graacher Himmelreich, Riesling Kabinett, 2007, Mosel Saar Ruwer, Germany.

This is a really good wine. The nose is full of freshly cut limes with beautiful oily petrol aromas. There are also some aromas of green apples and honey. This wine is so fresh, crisp and clean. The palate has soft and balanced acidity. The palate is sweeter than the nose. There are more apple juice and honey flavours coming through. This is so refreshing; this would be great to drink chilled right down in the garden in the summer. Another lovely Loosen Riesling. 4.5/5 (8% abv)

Pinotage?

Keeping with the South African theme; tonight we opened a bottle of Pinotage. Most of my experience of Pinotage has not been too good. It always leaves me a bit disappointed. This one however is pretty good and could help change my mind about Pinotage.

Zalze, Pinotage, 2008, South Africa.

Loads of blackberry, cherry and strawberry are immediately apparent on the nose. There are elements of dusty dried fruit and some earthy, herby and grass like aromas. The palate is soft and smooth but their is a bit of alcohol burn. The tannins are firm but not too tight. The dark elements of the fruit are present on the palate and has good length. There is some spiciness to the palate - clove is the most distinct. Nice wine, better than many Pinotages that I have previously tried. 4/5 (14% abv)

South African Cab

Yesterday was a very interesting day. Due to the fact that Reading is still covered in snow I still couldn't get my car off the drive so I managed to get to work using public transport (there were still no buses or trains running in our area - so it was a very long cold walk to the first buses stop in use!). I got home quite late - cold and exhausted. When I arrived home Pinot Guy (who is currently staying with us) had opened a bottle of wine that he had just brought back from South Africa. He is determined to change my mind on South African wine. Most of the wines I have tasted from South Africa have not really impressed me. This wine however could definitely begin to change my mind.

Uitkyk Estate, 'Carlonet' Cabernet Sauvignon, 2006, Simonsberg, Stellenbosch, South Africa.

Big, ripe, dark fruits. Thick bramble fruit aromas, plenty of strong oak. Beautiful deep aromas of leather and sultry tobacco. The palate is brooding with good length and balance. Firm tannins with good complexity. After some air the palate has more stewed bramble fruits with hints of prunes. Lovely wine, good purity of fruit and complexity. 4.5/5 (14% abv)