Confessions of a Wino

In these days of recession where few of us can afford the high end Bordeaux, Burgundy and Rhone wines; where the axis of oenology has shifted to the BRIC countries, leaving Americans and Brits to pick up the scraps; where does one look for quality combined with value? Most wine commentators (including me) point to the South West of France.

Of course, this region has offered great wines for years. It’s just that, if you can afford a Latour, why roam further than Pauillac? I can’t afford a Latour, so I like (that is to say I am compelled) to adventure.

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Tipped off by Bob Tyrer, I mined The Wine Society for a “bargain bin-end”: Camus-Bruchon Savigny ‘Les Pimientiers’ from ancient vines, but a drink-up date of 2012.

The quid is a heavily discounted price of £14.95. But what is the pro quo?

If you are a red Burgundy aficionado, you will probably love this: Composty, full of fruit, chicken shit, and with ‘bright acidity’ (whatever that means). But I thought it tasted just a smidgen sharp and a little old. Nothing technically wrong. Just better stuff around to drink at this price.

I have two more bottles, so maybe I’ll change my mind next time. That’s the beauty of wine. Every bottle’s taste varies depending on the ageing, the environment you drink in, the temperature, the glass etc etc. I carried this bottle across the Irish Sea to drink with hummus, cured meats, veg and breads from Dublin’s premier supermarket, Superquinn. The food was disappointing to put it mildly. There’s a Tesco down the road from my mother-in-law’s. Next time I’ll try that for dips, with meat from Michael Dolan in Finglas Village, and veg from Ciaran’s rustic and adorably amateur greengrocer up near Dunne’s. If I bring the same wine, I’m convinced I’ll enjoy it a little more.

I guess Bob placed a bulk order because the bin has ended, but you can get the 2009 from The Wine Society at £22.

Anyone who has forked out silly money in a restaurant for Alta, or even Zapata, will know that Catena produces the daddy of Argentinian Malbec.

Feeling a bit silly for never having tried their Chardonnay, I instructed my bank manager to remit 995 new pennies to the Wine Society and this is what I got in return (postage included).

Chardonnay, and in particular South American Chardonnay gets a bad rap for a being a bit passé, a bit Footballers’ Wives. The shout at every wine bar in Peckham in the PPG (Pre-Pinot Grigio) era, might seem a little bit 1980s, but in my experience, most non-winos when questioned, don’t even realise that the finest white Burgundies are Chardonian.

I, for one, would like to see a revival of this classic old world grape, especially when experimented with in the new. So I have high hopes from one of my favourite wine producers, from one of my favourite wine countries (not that I have forgiven Maradona for the 1986 Hand of God incident).

Just as it is a massive error to drink red wine too warm, over-chilling a rich Chardonnay will stifle your enjoyment. If you are going to put your bottle in the bottom of the fridge for 3 days, you deserve all you get and you could save a lot of money by drinking Echo Falls, since it will taste equally bland. About 20 mins in an ice bucket (from room temp) should be more than enough. I like to drink it in a large, wide bowl glass to maximise the nasal intake.

And the aroma is likely to blow your socks off, or make you gag, depending on your taste buds. The Catena is richer than Tiger Woods, albeit more faithful. It tastes stronger than the 13.5 ABV that it is. Pineapple and stewed fruit combine with sautéed flint stone to give a pleasantly warm and buttery acidity.

It’s not going to beat a top Burgundy, but at a third of the price, it doesn’t have to.

Catena is available widely so if you have some weird vendetta against The Wine Society you can find it at Bibendum, Winedirect, Slurp.co.uk and others.

Is 2004 Bordeaux ready to drink yet? In 2010, Max Wine Gallery right in the centre of the home of wine, was serving 2004 first growths to those (including me) prepared to pay €15 for a tiny 25ml taster sample. Even back then it tasted just great.

2004 was not the most notable of years, hijacked as it was after the millennial 2000 and just before the vintage of a lifetime, 2005. At least that kept the critics quiet until the vintage of an aeon, 2009, ripped up the price books and had mouths foaming like Englishmen (and possibly Chinamen) out in the midday sun.

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I’m a massive fan of Frog’s Leap Merlot. Although a Stateside virgin by comparison to most oenophiles, my early experiences of Californian wine massively dispel the myth that they are over-alcoholic, overpowered and over here. And I consider Chardonnay to be a sadly and mistakenly forgotten, and under-rated grape. The chances are better than a plebiscite’s at the Whitehall Main Gate that this will be great.

Sadly, I am left disappointed. There are bags of fruit, and the finish is longer than a John Holmes video. But the acidity is stark. Long finishes are fine on the casting couch, but nobody really wants the climax to taste of a poorly constructed French dressing.

Maybe I got a bad bottle. I have a couple more to try (£17 from The Wine Society). But, barring a U-turn of Mark Thatcher proportions, I’m going to stick to the Merlot (at £22 much better value IMO)….and the Pedestrian Gate.

I’ve had many warm intimate moments with 2007 white Burgundy. This is another sexy beast. Rich and buttery, it brings to mind one of those glazed fruit tarts that are rarely found outside high end French Patisseries. Almost certainly involving blackberries – I found myself picking imaginary seeds from my gums.

Wine Society £18.50. Not cheap, but one for that L’Oréal moment.

Listening to old Genesis albums on Spotify is a good way of reminding oneself that simple things, done well, rarely disappoint. There wasn’t an enormous amount of complexity in Genesis’ soft 1970’s rock, but every musician (yes, even Phil Collins, doyen of French Europop radio) was packed with talent and, if the quality of the anthemic melodies are anything to go by, spent many hours learning their craft. And yet, whilst Trick of the Tail, for example, sounds like it is mixed on old chipped plates and rusty frying pans, and the electronic keyboards were played inside an old Heinz Beans can, it has stood the test of time simply because the ingredients are first class, and orchestrated with skill and care. You sometimes feel concern for the band’s collective mental health, but only in an English eccentric perfectionist sort of way.

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It’s difficult to make a case against buying wine from Majestic, especially when you can source wines like this 2004 Reserva from only £12.99.

Cune (a.k.a. CVNE) Rioja is a pretty good marque to look out for, should you decide to scour this historic wine region of northern Spain. But the food match I’m going to recommend might surprise you.

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Rich and spicy with an attractive, but rough, edge. In musical terms, a Victoria Beckham wine.

Tastewise, imagine biting into an olive and finding a pimiento, only substitute a plum and a beetroot respectively.

I last visited this southern Rhone appellation in 2010, a scorching summer as I recall, so no surprise that  this wine, from the same year, is as Hot as Chocolate, Earthier than Kitt, and more tannic than a cup of tea drunk in a tannery…

From Domaine Collet et fils comes this interesting Chablis, 1er Cru Vaillons “Sécher”. 2009 RRP £21.

Wowzers, I thought Chablis was supposed to be steely, flinty, dry and crisp. This is smooth and buttery honey albeit with an appealing apple sourness.

The normally reliable Wine Searcher iPhone app couldn’t locate a British stockist but I understand it’s available from posh importer, Marc Fine Wines, living up to their claim that they service the on-trade with wines that can’t be sourced elsewhere in the UK. I hope you stumble across it at your local restaurant.

If you do, it’s probably better paired with cheese or chicken than shellfish. Les bourgognes recommend drinking at 10-11 degrees, so ignore restaurant advice,and take it out of the ice bucket if it is served straight from the blast chiller.