To pass the time during my New Year detox, I have been hoovering up wine bargains to stock up for the year ahead and to get my taste buds flowering in anticipation.
Two bargains stand out from the crowd, one from Costco, one from the Wine Society. One Champagne, the other red wine but from a relatively close starting point.
I guess it’s a bit early to be drinking 2005 Gevrey, but I am an impatient man. My father’s death taught me never to put things off, especially if they are things you might enjoy. As the old saying goes, if you do it today and you like it, you can do it again tomorrow.
You might think it trite to apply this logic to a bottle of wine but having the patience of a sinner is my cross to bear. I am the curious cat with tannin stained whiskers. The Kentucky Fried Chambertin. The Blackberry addict who switched to Apple too soon. The oenological antithesis to Mother Theresa, at so many levels. And anyway, I ordered half a case, so I can do it again tomorrow if I feel like it.
I’m in Dublin for Christmas and for the first time there are several pubs opening on St Stephen’s Day. There was a time when this holy, but dry, day was almost as sacrosanct as Good Friday. It’s always fun coming for an Easter break, getting on the plane with a load of stag and hen parties innocent of the complete pub shut down. Already anticipating a top Friday’s binge drinking, like alcoholic lambs to the slaughter of the Guinness Reaper, the look on faces when word gets around, and if no-one else has told them then I am happy to take on the role of harbinger of doom, that Ireland does not do pubs on Good Friday. But judging by this St Stephen’s, maybe next year will be different. Irish Society has changed dramatically in the 10 years I have known it. Part multicultural immigration, part Celtic Tiger driven affluence (and effluence), it is even possible to find a good selection of restaurants in Dublin these days (although fewer and fewer pubs).
Talking of expectations, I have few when it comes to Rhone reds. It is probably the single region of France I ignore the most. But this is not a dislike of wines from the region, simply a blind spot. By the time I have drooled over various Bordeaux and Burgundy reds, my French Red Wine Budget has such an adverse variance there is nothing left for other regions.
But occasionally a nice looking wine arrives and is debited to my Mixed Case budget.  This one was a double entry in a 6 bottle pack from the Sunday Times Wine Club as part of their President’s Cellar offer – two half cases per year at about £20 per bottle.
Yann Chave Hermitage 2005 is actually reported as £30 per bottle on the STWC website – ouch! Is this spicy Syrah worth that?
The papers here in the UK seem to be turning against Mark Hughes, embattled manager of my beloved Manchester City. His honeymoon period as “the most promising young English football manager” is over with a lunar bump that lacks any sweetness.
The Sunday Times for example alerts Hughes to the fact he is “skating on thin ice”. The latest defeat at home by an injury depleted Everton squad has once again placed the media spotlight on him. After all, a mentally anguished Roy Keane recently fell on his sword at Sunderland because they were languishing in the under-achieving position of bottom quarter of the table – equal on points with Man City.
It gives me only bitterness to gloat that I thought Hughes the wrong choice way back in June (before he had even been appointed). But like all good Man City fans, I keep sailing the dinghy of naive optimism through the rough and tough waters of the Premiership perfect storm of despair. One has to make the best of now, look to the future, place the past in perspective, believe that tomorrow will be another day (if it ever comes). However, silver linings are increasingly less related to football, and more to do with other facets of my life. My latest glint of sunlight peeped from behind the clouds of the top end of my wine collection, ironically squirrelled away at the bottom of my wine store.
The Charmes-Chambertin came from the Wine Society at an obscure price due to bundling a few Rousseaux together into a Burgundy Dividend offering, but I am advised the retail price (if you can find the wine at all)Â is about GBP50 – that’s nearly EUR50, or USD25Â at current exchange rates, so it is held under lock and key in the Wino household.
I have long argued that a rising tide floats all boats, but I forgot about the leaky ones which sink paying no regard to ebb or flow.
2005 was the tsunami of tidal years in Bordeaux and almost every wine I have tasted from that year has been superb. So I was looking forward to receiving a case of Côtes de Bordeaux from the Wine Society which promised a tour of some less well known communes.
My first sample, Château Godard Bellevue 2005 Côtes de Francs, stood up to the “unknown” moniker.
There’s something uniquely British about November 5th. Celebrating a failed attempt to blow up one’s house of parliament is a tad eccentric. Doing so by trying to burn down our own houses and gardens is plain odd, but admittedly good fun.
Our house looks over a valley, so there is never any need to buy fireworks. I merely park a deck chair on my balcony, sport a warm coat and enjoy them at my neighbours’ expense.
You are probably expecting me to construct a treasonable plot that this Châteauneuf-du-Pape smelt of gunpowder.
Even I am not that cheesy. There was an explosion on the tongue though. Red apples, liquorice, milk chocolate and vanilla. Luscious, opulent, smooth, delicious. Probably the best wine I have tasted from Virgin although, at £18.49, certainly not their cheapest.
Apparently, living on the side of a valley puts one in a time warp amongst other things, since today we celebrate the one month anniversary of November 5th – sorry this one was a bit late.
I keep trying to review Rieslings for the next part of my wine education, but I think I may be addicted to Pinot Noir, because I keep regressing. Just one last biscuit before I put the tin away. One final mission of Grand Theft Auto before bed. One more email before I leave work.
This caught my eye whilst mooching around Tesco. Based on my last positive experience with Louis Max, and more importantly, being a northern bloke who likes a bargain, (Tesco had marked it down from eleven quid to £8.80), the bottle made a gazelle like leap from the shelf to my shopping basket.
My first sniff bought strong memories of coffee grounds to mind, with a small stack of damp chipboard and bowl of greengages (or maybe unripe plums).
It tasted of wild strawberries and chicory leaf. I love most Pinot Noir to be served at somewhere between 12 and 16° Celsius. It makes for a most refreshing drink, and this Santenay went excellently with a Sikh kebab from La La’s curry emporium in Batley.
Highly recommended, especially if you can still find it at the price.
Remembrance Sunday (and Tuesday) saw me observing a total of five minutes of silence – that’s a miracle I hear you cry! The first two at the anointed hour of 11a.m. Sunday, somewhat bizarrely, in a queue at our local Tesco store, the third at the Man City vs Spurs game, and the fourth and fifth driving across the Pennines on Tuesday morning listening to the Ken Bruce Show.
It’s amazing how time flies. I remember about 1976 when I first commemorated the war dead. I never imagined I would still be here 32 years later.
Château Soutard has a recommended drink by date of 2040. I am certainly not going to wait and see if I live another 32 years to try the first bottle of the case I bought en-primeur from somewhere at about £21 per bottle. St Emilion wines being mostly Merlot (in this case 70%) compared to the rougher, and tougher when young, Cabernet Sauvignon, are generally more approachable in youth so I was determined not to die before I sampled the Soutard.
Château Durfort-Vivens Margaux 2003, a deuxième cru from Lucien Lurton who also owns another 2nd growth Margaux property, Château Brane-Cantenac, 82.3784% Cabernet Sauvignon with 9.632% Cabernet Franc and the remainder Merlot. 20 months in oak.
If you want to read stuff like this go somewhere serious like www.decanter.com. If facts bore you and you prefer the experience of wine, then why not join me having fun as I learn.
It has taken me a bit longer than I expected to start my exploration and learning of the noble Riesling grape. You may remember my world tour of Pinot Noirs resulted in me comparing the grape to Brigitte Bardot: beguiling, sexy, temperamental, bonkers.
I have not yet drawn a metaphor for Riesling so I better get my tasting boots on and march over to Analogy Square to see whose flagpole is at full mast. This bottle came from Virgin Wines at the noble price of £9.99.
Stumble It!