Confessions of a Wino

I’ve just received my first case of 2004 en primeur and although arguably a bit early to drink, I always like to have a taste of any wine I receive.

I’m not sure how much this wine cost me in the end, since I lost my records.  The only offering I could find online was in magnums from Berry Bros and Rudd at an equivalent to £20.75 per bottle.

I got strawberries dipped in dark chocolate and champagne sauce. It opened up after while to reveal notes of blackcurrant and grapefruit. At 13%, a powerful wine but not over-alcoholic.

Verdict – very nice wine but needs longer in the bottle.  The Winediva also seems to like 2004 Batailley although warns of patchy quality around Bordeaux from that vintage.

The first Batailley I tried was from the 1996 vintage and I remember thinking what good value it was for the quality of the wine.  This one again is good value.  2004 may not be the best year ever in Bordeaux especially when compared to the remarkable, 2000, 2003 and 2005 vintages that ambushed it.  But I like it and very much look forward to trying my next bottle…in a year or so.

So I hear that Sven is in the running for my beleaguered team Manchester City.  As if crisis following crisis following crisis is not enough, we are trying to tempt the heel enhanced weather girl lover to manage our sorry club.

It’s not that I dislike Eriksson for footballing reasons, it’s just that the reasons he would want to join would only be financial.  He is a clever man and despite all the moanings, he was one of the most successful England managers and that followed a highly successful club career.

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I am in danger of teaching my Grandmother to suck eggs.  Not my real Grandmother, I mean you.  You are probably aware that generally, whilst in Bordeaux a Premier Cru is better than a Grand Cru, in Burgundy it’s the other way around.

Anyway, I was curious as to the difference between a Chablis, a Premiér Cru and a Grand Cru so I’ve started an experiment.  I decided to pick a brand and try all three.  So I waited eagerly for the Sunday Times Wine Club to deliver my mixed case of two of each from the Domaine Long Depaquit stable… I was badly let down.

The six bottle case actually had two bottles of Premiér Cru and four bottles of Grand Cru.  I decided not to complain, albeit that this is hampering my test.

So to the question of the title.  The short answer is that I don’t know yet – I have only tried the Grand Cru.  To give it its full title “Domaine Long-Depaquit, Les Clos 2002 Albert Bichot Chablis Grand Cru”!  It tasted of rich creamy butterscotch and oozed class from every sip.  An elegant wine with lots of complexities to savour but at £24.99 a bottle it should be bloody good!

The 2004 Premiér Cru was £13.99 and the 2005 bog standard £11.15.  When I have tasted the PC I’ll get back to you.  In the meantime I’ll just ponder why the Domaines of Bourgogne put so much information on their wine labels whilst the Bordelais so little.

Anyone who has tasted the “ordinaire” from 2005 please leave a comment…

I’ve got Bordeaux fatigue.

Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love most of the 2005’s I’ve tried so far.  I’ve got a load booked en primeur to come later this year.  I’ve bought 2004, 2003 and 2000, all of which have so far impressed me.

But after so many years of exceptional, extraordinary, legendary, once in a lifetime, holy grail, once in a several millennia, best ever vintages, to hear 2006 described by most people as “patchy” is an opportunity to take a breather and give my poor wallet a rest.

So everyone who is currently sending me invitations to “invest” en primeur in 2006, please save your paper.  For a “patchy” vintage the prices are too high and the risk of disappointment too great in my opinion.

I might well buy 2006 Bordeaux once it is released but I won’t be investing in bond.

I am not sure, to be truthful, whether Mr Kipling only “bakes exceedingly good cakes” in the UK, or whether he deigns to offer his wares through the supermarkets of the world. 

Regular readers will know I have been munching my way through a Wine Society case of 2005 claret.  In the interests of fairness I purchased a similar early release case from the Sunday Times Wine Club and tonight opened the first bottle.

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Just another quick review from my Wine Society 2005 Bordeaux and this time it’s Ch. Moulin du Barrail, Bordeaux Supérieur, Cuvée Prestige.

Quick learning point – “Elevé en Fût de Chêne” – if you see this on a bottle it simply means aged in oak, and this wine was.  Although it tasted more like a piece of sandpaper on a cream cracker in the desert, it left such a dry taste in the mouth.

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Anjou, the Loire village better known for its Rosés is the latest to be laughing behind the back of the wine buyers at international warehouse shop, Costco.  Once again Costco has placed cost as a more valued criterion than quality.

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When you join a wine club, the first thing they do is try to get you to commit to a monthly/annual/quarterly case of wines “to help you explore the wine world you might not otherwise experience”, whereas you are stupid if you don’t realise that it’s just a plan to get a commitment to spend.

On this basis I was once stupid enough to subscribe to the Sunday Times Wine Club’s “Cellar Classics”, a six monthly case of 6 reds and 6 whites of about £10 a bottle.  In the end I decided I could pick the wines better myself and cancelled. 

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I’ve been waiting for this to happen so I can blog about it.  I opened a bottle of Clos de Marquis 2001 (after dutifully fridging it for half an hour) only to find it was corked.

Fortunately I had another bottle so opened that and joy of joys – it was perfect.  So what was the difference?

Both bottles are shown in the picture below-  which do you think was corked?

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This time, from my Wine Society 2005’s, under the microscope is Château Puy Garance…

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