Content in Kent (The Garden of England) Day 3 (of 3)

Day three of my trip to the south east began with an early breakfast at my hotel in Rye. The evening before I had enjoyed a curry in town followed by a stop off at Olde Worlde Wines, a great bottle shop offering take out purchases and wine by the glass to drink in store. I got chatting to the locals and enjoyed a glass or three of the Barbera. This type of business is fairly new but growing throughout the UK as wine lovers seek out alternatives to the increasingly dominant supermarkets.

After breakfast and checkout I had an hour to spare so I decided on another walk around the the lovely town of Rye. If you've read the other blogs you can probably imagine what happened next. Rain, RAIN, RAIN. At least I now had a coat to protect me. To be honest this was no defence. For about the third time during my trip the weather was so bad that people were actually sheltering in doorways, including me. There is something quaint about seeing that but if you are caught in it it is horrible. Eventually I actually ran, yes ran down the high street back to my car.

Woodchurch Wines is a family business started in 2009 by Graham and Donna Barbour, with the intention of producing English sparkling wines using the noble Champagne grape varieties. After the disappointments of the afternoon before (see my previous blog) I was really hopeful of this meet up. For a start I was actually going to be meeting an actual owner of a vineyard.

My journey to the vineyard was a delight taking me back into Kent (from East Sussex) and through the beautiful towns of Appledore and Woodchurch itself which are both stunning. My sat-nav deposited me on the interestingly named 'Susans Hill' but I could not find the vineyard and drove at least a mile beyond it before I turned around and could see the vines in the distance. The entrance was simply a gate in a field, with no signage as Graham is keeping things quite low key at this stage.

As I mentioned in the first blog of my trip the phrase 'Content in Kent' came out of my meeting with Graham at his vineyard site. I mentioned the story in my first blog but it is worth repeating here. Having traveled the world on business, Graham had taken a keen interest in fine food and drink and decided wine-making would be for him. After careful consideration of many areas around the world he decided to focus on Kent for a vineyard site because he was indeed 'content in Kent' having spent most of his life there. I learnt all of this in an hour's chat with Graham at his vineyard site.

Initially we had a walk amongst the vines, hooray the rain stopped for 5 minutes, then sat and chatted as well as tasting the wines in a temporary small marquee that Graham has had erected on site. He is hopeful of a more permanent 'cellar door' at a later stage. Now the rain was hammering down again and having brought in some wine from his car Graham accidentally left his car boot open only to find it sodden when we went back out in the rain again about 30 minutes later. Sorry Graham, I did feel partially responsible!

Graham's passion for viticulture and for the quality of the wine produced shone through and I am so pleased I was able to meet him. Everything here is about the quality of the wine produced and this summer the first vintage, from 2012, is available to taste.

We started with the Classic Cuvée created with 91% Pinot Noir and 9% Pinot Meunier. A gorgeous golden colour and aromas of red berries with a touch of baked apple. The palate was creamy, with a touch of biscuityness from the secondary fermentation but utterly charming. So easy to drink.

Graham Barbour and his fantastic first vintage wines

We then moved on to the 'Blanc de Blancs' - and as the name suggests this is made entirely with white grapes so 100% Chardonnay. I am not usually a big fan of Blanc de Blancs Champagne as I often find it too heavy without the light touch of the Pinot Noir. But this was simply stunning. I can say this with absolute certainty that this was the finest sparkling Chardonnay, Champagne or otherwise that I have ever tasted. It really was. Again baked apple was present but the flavour veered more to the pastry rather than bready side. The opposite of what I expected. A magnificent wine worthy of much praise.

Left - Blanc de Blancs
Right - Classic Cuvée
Both - fabulous!

It won an IWSC bronze medal where as the Classic Cuvée won a silver but I much preferred the Blanc de Blancs. I took another glass, although I had a long drive home so had to be careful.
I thanked Graham for his time, and would like to do that again here. Your wines are superb, and this is just the first vintage.

If you would like to try them, and I highly recommend that you do, at the moment they are only available via the Woodchurch website, but Graham is working on supplying fine restaurants in the south east and who knows what else from there.

I will certainly be using them on tastings when I get the opportunity and I have a Champagne versus English Sparkling Wine evening at The Junction in Harborne, Birmingham on October 28th. More details here. Woodchurch  Blanc de Blancs will be one of the wines. I'd love you to join us.

Thanks for reading. Please do follow me on Twitter and Facebook to hear about my latest happenings and upcoming events. You might be interested in booking your own event. Details at www.gloryofwine.com

Until next time. Enjoy your wine.
Cheers
Simon

Crémant

Not sure what it is? Well this blog is here to explain and hopefully encourage you to go out and try some for yourself.

Crémant - Classy bubbles from France
without the expensive price tag

Once upon a time in the UK we had Champagne. Well, we didn't have it as such but we imported quite a lot of it (we still do) and from the late 1800s on enjoyed it at special occasions as a drink of celebration.. The history and story of Champagne is long and you can read a huge number of books devoted to the subject if you so wish so I don't want to dwell on it too much here.

Seeing the success and popularity of Champagne winemakers in other parts of the world began to make their own versions of fizz including Cava from Spain, Sekt from Germany and more recently sparklers from Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, California in the USA, and right here at home in blighty (England to anyone not sure).

One name I have missed out of this is Prosecco from Italy. Prosecco is actually made using the 'tank method' (sometimes called Charmat method) where the secondary fermentation, that creates the bubbles, takes place in a tank rather than in the bottle. It has become very popular with supermarkets and wine merchants reporting massive double figure percentage increases in sales over the last few years.

But whilst we have all these sparkling wines from other countries, until very recently we had rarely seen another form of sparkling wine from France made in exactly the same way as Champagne but offering great value for money.

The literal translation of Crémant is 'creamy', the thought being that these wines give you a creamy mouthfeel rather than fizzy. And I think they are going to be become ever more popular, in fact I am sure of it. The rise of Crémant was first reported in the Telegraph by Henry Samuel back in 2010 but the trend continues and with Aldi and Lidl currently giving the big four supermarkets a run for their money their promotion of excellent value Crémants can only lead to a raising of the profile of such sparklers and therefore increased sales. That and this blog of course!

Crémants are available from eight
designated regions

Crémants are made using the 'traditional method' or 'Méthode Champenoise' which as the name suggests is the same as Champagne. There are eight different designated regions for production Crémants d'Alsace, de Bordeaux, de Bourgogne, de Die, du Jura, de Limoux, de Loire and added just this year de Savoie, each with it's own strict guidelines for production as is the French way.

In some regions the same grape varieties are the same as Champagne, namely Pinot Noir and Chardonnay but other varieties are also used in certain areas such as Chenin Blanc in the Loire and Pinot Blanc and Riesling in Alsace amongst others. Production is not huge particular compared with Champagne. The biggest producing region is Alsace at about 30 million bottles a year, about one tenth that of Champagne. However
Crémant d'Alsace is the most widely purchased non Champagne sparkling wine in France.

But the important point is that is really rather nice and I for one, would rather drink it than Prosecco if the budget doesn't stretch to a bottle of Champagne or English Sparkling.

Now I know many people are taking to Lidl and Aldi to do your shopping, I am too, so next time you're in Lidl pick up a bottle of  Weiber Crémant d'Alsace at just £7.99 a bottle or in Aldi Pierre Bonnet Crémant de Loire at an even bigger bargain £6.79 a bottle. I promise, you won't regret it.

Do you enjoy my wine blogs? Come and meet me in person. Visit my website www.gloryofwine.com or follow my Facebook or Twitter feeds. I would love to organise a tasting event for you.


Until next time. Enjoy your wine.
Cheers!

Simon

Red Wine Masquerading as Rosé

A couple of weeks ago I tweeted about an unusual but delicious rosé I had tried. So lovely and different was it that I thought I should expand it into a blog post.

Bulging Supermarket rosé shelves

Until fairly recently, maybe the last twenty years, rosé wasn't really taken seriously in this country. It was the preserve of people who didn't really drink serious wine. In fact one of the reasons for this was covered in my last blog about Zinfandel. When White Zinfandel became mega popular in the late 1980s and 90s it was seen as a bit 'naff' but quality rosé wines were still out there. And by 2008 Provence rosé in France had become incredibly popular, even rivalling white and reducing sales of red wine, according to the Daily Telegraph. As stated in the article a rosé boom was expected in the UK and so this has proved. In 2013 rosé accounted for 1 in 8 bottles of wine purchased at retail in the UK compared with 1 in 40 in 2000; with sales rising at 10% per annum.

But for me rosé wine was always an afternoon in the sun drink or perhaps with a light lunch. That was until I came across the Shiraz Saignée 2011, made by Margan Wines in the Hunter Valley, Australia.

On the same day I had purchased the Verdelho from the same winemaker for an upcoming tasting event. The rosé was a bit of an afterthought. But what an afterthought. It was sitting in the bin ends shelves next to the till in my favourite wine merchants Tannners in Bridgnorth.

Margan Shiraz Saignée - Wow

Tanners Bridgnorth

It was opened a couple of days later and wow, what an incredible surprise. The colour was a deep, bright red, but not like a red wine. This is going to be interesting I thought. And it was. I have since read various reviews of the wine but I'm not sure any do it justice. To me it tasted full and earthy with some gentle spice, like a red wine, but without the presence of any significant tannins. I know, for many, tannin in red wine is part of the appeal but for me this is the holy grail. I absolutely loved it and could drink it every day. Most reviews recommend drinking it with the usual rosé staples of asian foods, curry, salads, etc. But I think it could stand up to almost anything you wanted including beef, duck and lamb dishes. No, seriously.

Saignée Method - Controversial but lucrative?

So far, I have not mentioned Saignée which is the method used to produce the wine. Saignée is actually french for bleed and it is considered, in some quarters, a controversial method of producing rosé wines. It involves 'bleeding' off some of the juice from the must to enable the red wine remaining to obtain a deeper colour and flavour from the skins. For many winemakers this is just a by-product in red wine production that is then slung or used as ullage to top up tanks but as can be seen here it can make some beautiful wines. And with rosé wines becoming ever more popular why not take advantage or every possibility you can.

I revisited Tanners again today hoping to pick up another bottle. Fortunately they had one left. Mind you I needn't of worried. It was only in the bin ends as an end of vintage. The 2013 was sitting proudly on the shelf. I think I may be buying a few more in the coming months. Why not hop over to their website and try it out for yourself.

That is all for now. I will return with another blog soon. If you would like to meet me in person and home is in the UK why not book an event with me. More information can be found at my website www.gloryofwine.com. Maybe you need an excuse for a party involving tasting some lovely wines. Or you could come to one of my events. Do get in touch.

You can also follow me on twitter @GloryofWine


Enjoy your wine. Cheers!
Simon

The Power of Zin

Of the worlds most noted grape varieties, Zinfandel must be the one that causes the most confusion and the most controversy. I bet that most of you reading this are immediately thinking of White Zinfandel, the sugar sweet rosé, made mostly in California. But did you know it also makes some superb, powerful, full red wines.

Zinfandel - Young and Old

Go into most pubs or mid-range restaurants in Britain and ask for a glass of rosé and you will most likely be served a glass of White Zin, usually from one of the big brand leaders such as Blossom Hill, Gallo, Echo Falls or Sutter Home. The supermarkets are even more obsessed with it and White Zin takes up most of their rosé shelf space.

I have to admit it even I have to succumb to the power of Zin. The wine list I supervise for my own establishment has two rosés by the glass, one of which is White Zinfandel. When ladies ask for it, and it is mostly ladies, I have to joke that 'they like the cherryade then'. Usually they laugh knowingly almost as if to say 'yes, I know this isn't a serious drink but I like it'. And that is fine by me. I always preach drink what you like, when you like and there is definitely a place for the Zin. It's a step up from Lambrini at least.

But I am fascinated to know when did White Zinfandel become such a big seller and almost a brand in itself. It seems that one minute, no one really drank rosé (at least in Britain) and the next every girl did.

The best use for White Zinfandel?

The White Zinfandel story is quite an interesting one. Zinfandel is actually the same as Primitivo, a variety traditionally grown in Puglia, the southern heel of Italy. It found its way to the United States in the 19th century. The name Zinfandel is uncertain in origin but was in common use by the 1870s. Zinfandel was made as a full red wine and continued to be made, even during Prohibition (1920-1933). After the Great Depression and Prohibition the wine industry was left in a poor state and Zinfandel fell quickly out of fashion.

Sutter Home of White Zinfandel

And so to 1975 when a fortunate accident in the winery of producer Sutter Home led to a batch of wine that did not ferment properly to dryness and White Zinfandel as we know it was born. By 1987 Sutter Home White Zinfandel was the best selling premium wine in the United States. It is responsible for bringing many new people to drinking wine. And this continues today. My experience is that many start with White Zinfandel and soon move on to drier styles.

I mentioned earlier that Zinfandel makes some big powerful red wines and so few people in the UK are aware of this. When Zinfandel fell out of fashion in the 1930s and 40s vineyards were abandoned but the vines not pulled up. Once Zin was once more acceptable interest turned to its traditional red style. Many of these wines are quite austere wines with big jammy flavours which can come as a shock if you've never tried them before. Often the alcohol levels are 14-14.5% so definitely a wine for food. In California they are held in high esteem.

One of the best value 'Old Vine Zins'
I've tried and widely  available in the UK

If you've never tried it and have been put off by the Zinfandel name please think again. They are not wines I would like to drink everyday but well worth trying at least once, preferably with a peppery steak or beef of some kind.

As for the White Zinfandel I think I will leave that to the girls although one of my staff, Chelsea, who really would style herself a bit of a 'Lambrini girl' did say to me only the other day that she was beginning to find the White Zinfandel a bit sweet. Ladies and gentleman my work here is done.

That is all for now. I will be back with another blog soon. If you would like to meet me in person and home is in the UK why not book an event with me. More information can be found at my website www.gloryofwine.com. Maybe you need an excuse for a party involving tasting some lovely wines. Or you could come to one of my events. Do get in touch.

You can also follow me on twitter @GloryofWine


Enjoy your wine. Cheers!
Simon

Winning Welsh Wine

Back in June this year I blogged about the rise of English wine having attended an English Wine Tasting in central London. Well, it seems those Celts across the border would also like to get in on the act. On Monday 28th October I was fortunate enough to be invited to attend the inaugural Welsh Wine Awards at the beautiful Llanerch Vineyard in the Vale of Glamorgan near Cardiff.

Actually my route to getting an invite to the event that was attended by around 40 of the great and good of Welsh Wine, along with a few journalists, is testimony to the power of social media. Through connections on twitter and this blogger site I appear to have made it onto a mailing list of the recently formed Welsh Vineyards Association chaired by Richard Morris.

The email I received invited me 'as a leading wine writer / critic we would be delighted if you could attend'. Please excuse me blushing at this point and of course my friends and family laughed out loud (LOL if you will) when I told them. But no matter, the invite was there and I WAS delighted to attend.

Help yourself! 35 wines from the inaugural Welsh Wine Awards

35 wines from 9 of Wales' 17 vineyards were entered into the competition that was judged to the exacting standards of Decanter as would be used in wine competition throughout the world. So no 'gimmes' for being a relatively new industry. The judging panel consisted of Roger Jones, chef proprietor of the Michelin starred The Harrow at Little Bedwyn, Bill Gunn MW former UK MD of Pol Roger and Julie Bell, Manager at the award winning Felin Fach Griffin in Brecon.

And the results were remarkable. But then I knew they would be as soon as I started tasting the wines. The guests were invited from 1pm, the judging having taken place in the morning. On arrival, I was a little nervous as I did not know anyone else invited but I needn't of been. Soon I was chatting away quite happily in the cosy confines of the Cariad Restaurant and Bar. All of the wines were set up on the bar for us to try and it was very much help yourself to whatever you wish.

Cariad Wine in the  Restaurant of the same name. LOVEly!

I had to be a little careful as I had a long drive home afterwards so I attempted to try a wine from each of the Vineyards. I particularly liked the wines from Tintern Parva and found myself trying all of their wines.

Helpful list left by the staff for me to photograph.
Not sure about the Pea Soup but the others were great.

Whilst sampling the wines and chatting we were served a selection of delicious canapes. The staff had left a list of them on their station so I got a cheeky photo. The smoked salmon mousse was especially good with the great sparkling wines we were trying.

Soon we were called to take our seats and a simple, but delicious, lunch of grilled pollock was served. And again, we could help ourselves to whatever wine we liked to enjoy with lunch. I chose the Wernddu White 2011 which was later announced to be a Bronze medal winner.

Smoked Salmon Mousse anyone.

And so to the award presentations. Of 35 wines entered fifteen bronzes, five silvers and one gold were awarded. A fantastic achievement for an industry that is still in it's infancy and an organisation that has only set out on it's life in 2013. A full list of all the entered wines and winners is included below. I would like to thank Teleri Fielden for her help for supplying me the full list of wines and winners. She is also behind the marketing effort Wine Trail Wales, an attempt to champion Welsh vineyards as a tourist attractions in their own right.

I mentioned Richard Morris as the Chairman of the newly formed WVA (Welsh Vineyards Association) earlier and it was he who invited me to this ground-breaking event. And it is also he who has much to be proud of as his fantastic wines from Ancre Hill Estates garnered three bronze, three silver and the one prestigious gold medal awarded for the Ancre Hill Sparkling Rose 2009.

That was not quite the end of my day though. I was very impressed with Llanerch and went to thank Ryan Davis, it's owner, before organising a tour with Ben, a very helpful member of the team. And what a place. They have the fabulous Cariad Suite and Junior Suite in the main house and seven further studios in a second building. All are beautifully appointed but the Cariad Suite is breathtaking. My thoughts turned a long promised weekend away with Louise, my wife and hopefully a chance to also attend the Angela Gray Cookery School to improve our cooking skills.

Emm...Yours truly right of shot on Welsh language TV

After a long drive home I was monitoring twitter for feedback on the day when I found out a feature about the event was to be on S4C's Heno (Tonight), the Welsh language channel. We hopped over to the channel and within five minutes there I was, right of screen, being filmed by the camera crew mentioned earlier. And, yes, I've told everyone about it I've met since.


That is it for now. I will be back with another blog soon. If you would like to meet me in person and home is in the UK why not take a look at my website www.gloryofwine.com. Maybe you need an excuse for a party involving tasting some lovely wines. Do get in touch.

You can also follow me on twitter. www.twitter.com/gloryofwine or see my facebook page https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Glory-of-Wine-Blog-and-Tastings.


Until next time, enjoy your wine. Cheers! or in Welsh Lechyd Da!
Simon

RESULTS

                 Welsh Vineyard Association Wine Competition 2013

Class 1- Still White and Still Rose

101   Ancre Hill  Chardonnay  2010                                      BRONZE

102   Tintern Pava   Bacchus    2011                                    SILVER

103   Glyndwr Rose  2011

104   Ancre Hill  Rose  2010

105   Wernddu  Rose  2011

106   Tintern Pava Bwthyn Rose  2011                                 SILVER

107   Pant Du Rose  2012                                                   BRONZE

108   Tintern Pava Bryn Heulog  2011

109   Tintern Pava Sir Fynwy  2012                                      BRONZE

110   Sugerloaf Madeline Angervine  2011

111   Wernddu White  2011                                                 BRONZE

112   Sugerloaf Blush  2011

113   Sugerloaf Abergavenny  2011                                      BRONZE

114   Sugerloaf Calon Lan  2011

115   Ancre Hill White  2012

Class 2- Red Wine

201   Whitecastle Rondo  2012                                            BRONZE

202   Ancre Hill Pinot Noir  2009                                          SILVER

203   Tintern Pava Ty Coch  2011                                        BRONZE

204   Ancre Hill Pinot Noir  2011                                         SILVER

205   Glyndwr Red

206   Whitecastle Pinot Noir  2012

Class 3- Sparkling White and Sparkling Rose

301   Wernddu Sparkling  2007                                            BRONZE

302   Glyndwr White Brut  2009                                           BRONZE

303   Ancre Hill Sparkling Pinot Noir/ Seyval

         Blanc  2008                                                               BRONZE

304   Sugerloaf  Rhosyn  2007                                             BRONZE

305   Tintern Pava Dathliad Rose  2010

306   Llanerch Sparkling Blush  2011

307   Glyndwr Rose Brut  2010

308   Ancre Hill Sparkling White  2008                                  SILVER

309   Llanerch Sparkling Brut  2011                                      BRONZE

310   Whitecastle Regent Rose  2011

311   Ancre Hill Sparkling White  2009                                  BRONZE

312   Tintern Pava Dathliad White  2006                               BRONZE

313   Ancre Hill Sparkling Rose  2009                                  GOLD

314   Meadowview Gwyn-y-Fro White  2010                         BRONZE

 

Pouilly-Fuissé versus Pouilly-Fumé

Anyone who has done any formal training on wine will know that the first country that you learn about is France as it is still the epicentre of the wine world and from where most of the classic grape varietals that we know and love are from.

Of course the naming of wines in France, as in the rest of the old world is about place rather than grape variety which can often lead to some confusion and the above is one of my favourites. The reason being is that despite having very similar names Pouilly-Fuissé and Pouilly-Fumé are two entirely different wines. They are both white wines but taste quite different. I would think that most people would be able to tell them apart after tasting both. But this does not seem to prevent the confusion.

La Roche de Solutre above Pouilly

Pouilly and Fuissé - Got it!

Pouilly-Fuissé is part of the Maconnais in the southern Burgundy region and is entirely made from Chardonnay grapes. No other varieties are permitted in the appellation that dates back to 1936. The area is dominated by the limestone escarpment of La Roche de Solutre (opposite) that towers over the area. There are 3 different communes that are covered by the AOC. They are Chaintre, Fuissé, Solutre-Pouilly and Vergisson.

But nevermind all this nonsense, what does it taste like. Well to my mind Pouilly is classic, no nonsense Burgundy Chardonnay, often quite oaky, but with elegant overtones. It is the kind of wine that needs food to match. It may overpower some seafood but I suggest Monkfish or lighter white meat dishes. Also great with Asparagus. If you like heavier Chardonnay rather than Chablis it is well worth a try. Although you will be paying at least £15 for a bottle and up to £35 for a really good one.

And so to Pouilly-Fumé a fabulous wine from the eastern end of the Loire Valley Region, sometimes known as the Central Vineyards region. (I think you can now tell which is my favourite). Most people are aware of Sancerre which is on the opposite bank of the Loire river and makes the worlds most well regarded Sauvignon Blanc. Well Pouilly-Fumé is also made from Sauvignon Blanc and is pretty fine stuff in my view. Sancerre can be a little rich for the blood of most pockets but Pouilly-Fumé can be picked up for just more than £10 and the really special ones for less than £20.

If you love Sauvignon and let's face it most of us do it's well worth a try. Pouilly-Fume has been an AOC since 1937. The wine produced is typical zingy Sauvignon but with a lovely minerality on the palate that is hard to beat. Great with some fresh seafood as simple as a fresh piece of cod but can easily be drunk as a lunchtime ar afternoon aperitif. And I often do. Just yummy.

The Vineyards of the Loire Valley Region with Pouilly at the far eastern end

Well there you have it. The difference between Pouilly-Fuissé and Pouilly-Fumé as clear as I can make it in a short blog. Not wines I would expect you to be drinking everyday, more a little treat for once a while. But both extremely delicious, although my favourite would have to be the Sauvignon.

That is it for now. Hopefully I will be back soon with another blog. If you would like to meet me in person and home is in the UK why not take a look at my website www.gloryofwine.com. Maybe you need an excuse for a party involving tasting some lovely wines. Do get in touch.

You can also follow me on twitter. www.twitter.com/gloryofwine or see my facebook page https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Glory-of-Wine-Blog-and-Tastings.


Until next time, enjoy your wine. Cheers!
Simon

Port, Porto and The Douro Valley

I shall begin by saying that my wife Louise absolutely adores port and will have a glass, or two, most nights before bedtime. Her love of the Vinho de Porto stems from a childhood where her Grandad often gave her sips to try. Or so she says, I just call her the 'Portoholic' of the family.

In trying to organise something nice for us to do for our Wedding Anniversary I struck on the idea of actually going to Porto to see and learn about how it is produced. Unfortunately the only flights to Porto from the UK are from either Gatwick or Liverpool, neither of which are particularly convenient airports for us. No matter I booked us to fly out from Gatwick on Saturday 8th June.

I am calling the northern Portuguese city Porto, but for most of the last 300 years in English we have known it as Oporto. This has always caused me confusion but I can now clear that up. In Portuguese "o Porto" means "the Port" and a misinterpretation linguistically led to English speakers calling the city Oporto. You can actually use either name but I prefer Porto.

We arrived on Saturday afternoon and took a rather scary cab ride from the airport to our hotel the Hotel Carris Porto Ribeira, a lovely place just a minutes walk from the Douro River and our room, as requested by myself had fabulous views of the river and of the Port houses on the opposite side of the river in the district of Vila Nova de Gaia.

The View from our hotel room across the Douro

The only plans we had for the weekend were a trip to the Douro valley on the Sunday and a vague idea of touring some of the port houses on the Monday so after unpacking we went for a walk by the river and then towards the city. The first thing that struck us both, and I am sorry to say this, was how grimy and unkempt the city seemed. Graffiti everywhere and many, many beautiful but delapidated and empty buildings. I kept reminding Louise that relatively speaking the Portuguese are quite poor even compared with their near neighbours Spain, where we have been many times. I have to say our first impressions were not so good. I have since read that the authorities in Porto have a problem with people leaving the city centre for the suburbs and are starting to address this with a program of refurbishment. And we did see evidence of this too.

Chocolate cup of port for a euro!

Our first taste of port came in a rather touristy way. A lady selling chocolate cups filled with port for a euro on the street. Yes, it was tacky, the chocolate was average and the port very cheap but hey, it was fun!
We dined simply in a restaurant around the corner from the hotel and hoped for better things on the Sunday.

Map of the Douro river region and it's proximity to Porto

The Sunday tour began with us being picked up at our hotel at 8.30am. There were seven of us on the tour, a real cosmopolitan bunch comprising Americans, Canadians, Dutch as well as us Brits. The drive to the wine region was actually quite long and it was almost two hours before our first stop. But what a view. And the next stop was even better. Having reached Pinhao, the centre of the port wine making region, we climbed inexorably up to the top of the hills to see one of the most spectacular views you could ever wish to see. Sadly the weather was somewhat grey and cloudy but event that did not spoil it.

The spectacular Douro Valley with Pinhao in the distance

By this stage I think we were all hungry and thirsty but we had a short boat trip to complete before lunch in a local restaurant. Lunch was good, if a little late and we feasted on simply cooked meats, salads and potatoes with carafes of wine and port to accompany it.

Louise with the 3 taster wines
at Quinta do Portal

Finally at around 3.30pm we arrived at the cellars of Quinta do Portal for our first tour and tasting of the trip. The cellar and tasting areas are away from the major tourist areas and were  rather stark and foreboding on arrival. Our guide told us a little about the architect, Siza Vieira, a rather strange man it seems, who will not let the company make any changes to the building without his say so and is obsessed with the colour grey. This meant that it felt like we were entering a nuclear test facility rather than a port house and even the name of the company was not allowed to be signed on the front entrance. Honestly, just bonkers! After a short tour of the cellars we tasted three wines, firstly a Moscatel, secondly a pink port (at Louise's suggestion) and finally a 30 year old tawny (Wow!).

From there it was back to the minibus and home to Porto. All in all the tour was frankly disappointing. Badly timed in that we did not have lunch until 2pm and I would have expected to visit at least two wineries but the scenery was spectacular and it did make us realise how hard it is to harvest the grapes on such steep terraces.

Taylor's - There I can see it, just can't find it!

And we found it, eventually!

Monday dawned still grey and cloudy but we had a plan and it involved port (no surprise there). This was the day we had allowed for touring some of the port houses on the river in Vila Nova de Gaia and our favourite house, Taylor's was first on the list. Finding it proved more difficult. We could see it from our hotel room (see the photo above) but did not realise how twisty the roads are on the other side of the river. By 10.30am we were flagging and I had to use my phone to give us walking instructions to find it. But the find was definitely worth it.

The ceiling of Taylor's sumptuous tasting room

A tour of the cellars was 3 euros and included a tasting of 3 ports. Normally you would do the tasting after the tour but the next English tour wasn't for half an hour so we sat in the glorious surrounds sipping at our ports, a Chip Dry White Port, a Fine Ruby and a Ten Year Old Tawny.

Left to Right - Chip Dry White, Ruby, 10 year old tawny

At this point I should confess my knowledge of port styles wasn't, until this trip, as good as it should be for someone with a WSET Advanced Certificate. So a quick guide in a few paragraphs based on the knowledge gained from the tour.

White Port - Made from just white grapes and usually aged for a short period. Serve chilled as an aperitif or mixed in a cocktail, possibly with tonic water as the Portuguese do. The lowest end of the quality spectrum.

Rose Port - New kid on the block. Strictly speaking a ruby port that has had little contact with the skins, similar to a rose wine.

Ruby Port - Aged for a short period of two years, often in concrete or stainless steel vats although sometimes in large oak casks (Taylor's do this). Not intended for ageing and has a bright claret colouring. Good with cheese, especially blue veined cheeses.

Reserve - Fancy name for a ruby port that maybe of slightly better quality. Used to be sometimes called 'Vintage Character' until that was banned in 2002.

LBV - Late bottled vintage. Staple of every decent restaurant or hotel throughout Britain. Essentially an aged ruby port that has had 4 - 6 years ageing. There are two types, filtered and unfiltered, the filtered being ready to drink the unfiltered more like a vintage port that needs decanting. Filtered LBV's are more common in Britain and can be kept for a short time.

Tawny Ports - Port aged in smaller oak barrels. The barrels are not completely filled to allow some oxygen to oxidise the wine a little. This gives it a somewhat nutty flavour and also with age the port will tend to brown. A simple tawny will have been aged two years but there are also 10, 20, 30 and 40 year old tawnies with naturally increase in price the older they are. Great with desserts.

Some of the names of the 32 port houses

Vintage Ports - They wine is initially aged for 2 winters and then an assessment will be made if the port is of sufficient quality to 'declare' a vintage which happens around three times a decade for the large port houses. The port is then bottled and continues to age in the bottle. Vintage port only makes up a small percentage of port production but is of the best quality. The port can then be aged for decades and gains great complexity whilst retaining it's fruitiness. Some 19th century ports are still drinkable today. The port will need decanting on opening as it will throw a significant sediment.

Single Quinta Vintage - In the slightly lesser years the port house may declare a single quinta vintage. That is a vintage from just one of it's estates. These are still sought after from the bigger houses.

Douro River with the old Rabelo boats.
Historically used for transporting the port down river.

Armed with the above knowledge we proceeded to the Taylor's on site shop after our tour and made some purchases. I should say that our nephew is called Taylor, hence why we love the port and we purchased a single quinta vintage from his birth year (he is currently 8 years old) as an 18th birthday present for him in 10 years. We also did the same for our wedding year (2002) and hope to open that for our silver wedding. I hope to still be writing this blog when that day comes.

And guess what. The next day we did all again but around Cockburns!

Enjoying what you're reading. Why not book me for a personal wine tasting with your friends. Ideal for a birthday, celebration, or alternative stag or hen party. See my website. www.gloryofwine.com.

In the meantime, cheers! Enjoy your wine.

Next time: Celebrities and their vineyards.

Simon

Follow me on twitter: @gloryofwine

The Rise and Rise of English Wine

The rise and rise of English wine. It could be a poem couldn't it? I'd like to think by John Betjeman, although in his day if you had suggested he may like to drink English sparkling wine or Merret (more of which later) instead of Champagne I'm sure he would have laughed heartily, despite being the most patriotic of Englishman.

I should make clear here we are talking about English Wine rather than British Wine as has been vitriolically pointed out to me twice in the last week. I'm not sure that anyone is actually aware of British Wine or what it is. British Wine is a very inferior product made from grape juice imported into the UK where as English Wine is produced from fresh grapes grown in England, or Wales or apparently Scotland in the very near future. Just wanted to make that clear as was made clear to me at both events I have attended in the last week.

English Wine is definitely on the rise and whilst I don't think the French are quaking in their boots just yet there is plenty of interest in our viticulture. Grape growing and wine making first started commercially in Britain in the 1960s but it is only in the last 15 years or so that it has become widely regarded and today many high end restaurants are actively stocking and pushing English wines, and with good reason. Our Sparkling Wines in particular are seen as more than a match for Champagne and this is proven in the number of awards they have won.

You may not be aware but English Wine Week took place in the last week of May and lots of events took place around the country to celebrate.

One event I attended was "English Wine in an English Rose Garden" which took place in London  on Saturday 1st June and was hosted by Kelly of www.tastour.com, an award winning provider of weekly food and drink experiences. I must give credit to my wife's cousin Carly and her partner James at this point. It was they who organised the day out for us and what a day it was.

Kelly Bayliffe of Tastour

I cannot really say too much about the venue. But I was very impressed that Kelly had managed to set up two tables with all the nibbles, wine, glasses, etc with no help at all having been dropped off in a taxi in the middle of London with masses of people about.

The tasting was all about English Wine and we sampled 3 sparklers, 3 rosé and a sparkling red. Unfortunately Kelly did not give out tasting notes or a list of wines that we tried, which I thought was a bit disappointing, and it was difficult to make notes standing up, especially as I had forgotten to take a pen with me. 

But no matter, we started with a Nyetimber Classic Cuvee which as luck would have it I had tried only the week before at another tasting. I bet in a blind tasting you could not tell it apart from Champagne. It has classic Champagne characteristics with a real biscuity, yeasty flavour and a long lemony finish. We moved on to Camel Valley 'Cornwall' Brut which was a Gold Medal winner and tasted it. Delicious. Matthew Jukes of the Daily Mail rates Camel Valley as "the number one winery in the country" and no wonder. Later on we also tried Camel Valley Sparkling Red which was certainly one of the best sparkling reds I've tried. 

The final sparkling wine was actually my favourite of the day. Ridgeview Bloomsbury is a Chardonnay dominated classic blend with a touch of Pinot Meunier and Pinot Noir to add finesse and structure just like a classic Champagne. And to me it tasted as the best Champagne should with lovely overtones of melon and honey. We moved onto some rosé wines shortly after tasting the Ridgeview but I could have drank the fizz all afternoon. Wow. 

Selection of the Wines tasted at the English Wine - English Rose Garden Event

I mentioned Merret at the start of the blog and it has been, controversially, suggested that it was Britain Christopher Merret rather than Dom Perignon who invented sparkling wine in the mid 17th Century. I have to give credit for this information to Kelly as it was a new factoid for me. The thought is that whilst the French have Champagne, Spanish, Cava and the Italians Prosecco the English have Merret. Not sure it will catch on but Ridgeview have started putting the Merret name on the neck of their bottles.

Our day with Tastour was completed with a tasting of three rosé wines that were all good but it felt a bit after the Lord Mayor's Show after the Merret. See I told you it would catch on. I should conclude by saying it was a great event, Kelly clearly knows her stuff and a big thank you to Carly and James for buying the tickets for us to attend.

One issue I know someone has with Kelly is Tina Abbiss of Halfpenny Green Vineyards which is only about 3 miles from my front door. Whilst in London Kelly suggested that 50 degrees was the northern limit for successful grape growth and Three Choirs Vineyard in Gloucestershire was the most northerly commercially successful operation. Well actually, no.

Tina, from Halfpenny Green
 with budding vines for 2013

Halfpenny Green Vineyards, which is 52 degrees north is celebrating 30 years of wine making this year and is still owned by Martin Vickers, a lifelong farmer, who started with a half acre experiment back in 1983. In fact the operation is a proper family operation with son Clive as winemaker, daughter-in-law Lisa managing the very successful tea rooms and wife Tina running the sales and marketing of the business. And it was Tina I went to see to talk about their wines. The operation has now expanded to over 30 acres of vines with more planned and currently a new extended winery and visitor centre is being built on site. I toured the current winery with Tina. They actually now produce wines for 30 operators as well as their own hugely successful wines. Overall they bottle 90,000 bottles a year from the winery.

Help me Rondo, Help, help me Rondo.
Award winning Rondo wine from 2011

Halfpenny Green produce a whole range of wines from dessert wine to sparkling to a full bodied red. Full bodied red I here you cry? In 2011 growing conditions were perfect to produce a full red wine from the Rondo grape which came in at a whopping 15% but on my tasting was quite delicious. Full and ripe with juicy tannins and velvety, long finish quite unlike many other wines from these shores. Good enough in fact to bad a Silver award at the Decanter World Wine Awards 2013. Unfortunately the weather in 2012 put paid to a repeat performance but they are hopeful for 2013. I should say I tried many of the white wines they offer and all were very pleasant and I hope to try the dessert wine and sparkling wines some time soon.

I should conclude by saying that we have to remember how hard it is to produce quality wines in England. It is estimated that in any decade two years will be great, four years acceptable, and the other four years useless due to our unpredictable weather patterns.

So hats off to all English wine producers, especially Martin, Clive, Tina and the rest of the 40 employees at Halfpenny Green, for giving us a little something to shout about when it comes to wine.

Cheers. Enjoy your wine.

Next time: My visit to Porto in Portugal

Simon

Follow me on twitter @gloryofwine