Confessions of a Wino

Buying wine for laying down is fraught with problems. Aside from the financial investment, and whether it would have actually been cheaper to buy that 1990 claret when you wanted to drink it, rather than cellar it away for 25 years in the hope it’s not oxidised or corked, the storage is a bit of a pain. Also, not all wines age well. In fact, very few should be drunk more than 5 years or so after the vintage date.

I’ve found this out to my cost in a recent exploration and dredging of the nether regions of my wine rack and combine harvester. Over a period of at least four weeks, every alternate bottle has been used to clean the sink rather than rinse my liver. An expensive mistake.

There have been some pleasant surprises. For example, a 2002 Labouré-Roi Meursault tasted of fresh pineapple and lemon despite a recommended drink-by date of 2008.

Read the rest of this entry »

Posh lifestyle website, www.amara.co.uk contacted me to ask what I thought of Riedel glasses. I’m a massive fan and already own most of the Vinum range.

“What about wine accessories then?” I have tried most gadgets thanks very much.

“OK, then have you heard of a wine developer?” Er, no, that’s a new one, can you mail one over? I received a text the next day. Apparently my driver (Dave) was to deliver the item between 17:31 and 18:31 on the 13th. A simple number texted back and Dave would divert and come back another day. Why can’t more online retailers be so accurate and so flexible with delivery times?

Browsing the Amara website is not a thing to do with an Amex Black Card in your hands, despite the fact that I found three Bugattis for sale that even I could afford. But if you are a wino, or foodie, or want to buy a present for the decadent one in your life, it is a place to look for all sorts of luxury items. A set of excellent Wüsthof chef’s knives at £368 is about RRP. I have a set already after re-mortgaging and visiting a top end kitchen equipment shop in Leeds.

Amara’s Riedel stemware is at the top end of the range of prices you will find online. Nothing is cheap. It would be disappointing if it was. This is a luxury website bravely punting the oenological or epicurean equivalent of meteor strike insurance.

But, if London property and restaurant prices continue to hold up at such levels, and if this marriage trend takes off, the website has a market and it would be nice to see it succeed.

As for the ‘Developer’, a device from l’Atelier du Vin, the concept is brilliant. A combination of the theory that H2S can be reduced through contact with metal, and the well trodden advantages of aerating wine before drinking, it’s a carved ball bearing that you slip into the neck of your decanter before transferring the wine. I’d like to think it works, but sadly it doesn’t fit any of my decanters.

Oh well, perhaps I’ll get that credit card out and browse the Amara website….

A sunny Sunday in New York means one thing, a walk along the Highline. Well, maybe two: brunch at Standard Grill. But what about Sunday lunch/dinner? Where would you suggest? What is the third “must do” thing on an epicurian’s or wino’s agenda? One recommendation landed in my Twitter timeline, the sister of Gramercy Tavern. Can you guess what happened next?

A few tweets later and I’m booked in for a lazy and late lunch. To be served super food by extremely friendly staff.

One great example of the food, Blood Clams, were raw with a Bloody Mary poured in. A rare example of when shellfish goes with red wine. My choice of Long Meadow Ranch was apparently so insightful, it warranted a special inquiry (note the American spelling there) from the Sommelier. “Oh, I figured you must be a wino to order that”.

In fact, Californian wines are only just making it onto my bucket list. Frog’s Leap and Ridge being two examples. LMR is not far behind.

The interior design is funky and cool, the staff are brill, the food is inventive, fun and tasty, and you can get drunk on interesting, or expensive vino. What’s not to like?

Union Square Café
21 E 16th St
(between W Union Sq & 5th Ave)
New York, NY 10003
T: +1 (212) 243-4020
W: www.unionsquarecafe.com

Announce an ‘extra special’ range of wines and then charge a mere £5-6 per bottle. That has Walmart strategy stamped all over it.

Trouble is, Asda has never been at the top of my wine shopping venues. In fact it’s been near the bottom.

Add the fact that Gavi rarely floats my boat and this is a recipe for disaster.

But somehow Asda has found a supplier (Araldica) that can produce a lively, fruity and zesty Gavi that is simply gorgeous for the price (£5.98) and at a very refreshing 12% ABV.

Pour into a Chardonnay glass, but chill the wine a little cooler, say 8 degrees. Then serve with fresh char-grilled English asparagus. What joy. Highly recommended.

Been to Hanging Ditch? If you live anywhere near Manchester, and you are any sort of wino, you will already know it is the funkiest wine shop/bar inside the M60, if not in England. I’ve been meaning to mention a couple of wines I bought there recently. I was slurping some nice sherry (a dry Oloroso if you must know) and bemoaning the lack of good value Albariño, the white grape from Galicia, in the UK. Much of it is interesting, even delicious, but at a price that puts it out of the reach of casual Saturday night winos. So, Mark suggested I try this Godello, an even more obscure grape that Galicia mothers.

Still £12.50, which is beyond cheap and cheerful. It’s a simple wine with simple flavours of pink grapefruit and stewed apples. Simple like a well cooked omelette aux fines herbes. Still delicious. Just a little obscure.

And the cult status maybe the point of drinking Godello right now. It’s a bit like listening to The Raincoats on Spotify. Whilst you are sure someone else out there is doing it, you are very unlikely to know them. And that makes you enjoy it all the more.

£17.99 is a lot to spend on any bottle. For a Chilean wine, this is like spending £20 on a burger. It better be bloody, and it better be bloody brilliant.

This De Martino is a field blend and, at 13.5%, sensibly low in alcohol for a Chilean red. Predominately Malbec with a fair bit of Carménère and other grapes chipped in from various corners of the field, it tastes of rich smooth chocolate, red apples and glacé cherries with pepper. I know what you are thinking and no, it’s a compliment.

Read the rest of this entry »

With the current anti-alcohol tax regime, is it still possible to sell a bottle of wine at £5? Asda thinks so. They pointed me at a handful of recent Extra Special selections in their range in the £5-6 price bracket. Looking for something to go with fresh Yorkshire Spring lamb chops, I pulled out these two from the sample box.

A 2010 Bordeaux at £5? An Aussie Cabernet at £5.95? Surely a price-gun error, or maybe a temporary discount? Asda assures me that this is the permanent price. Only one obvious conclusion then – it must be ropey wine.

Wine one is Roc-Montalon Bordeaux Supérieur 2010. Smells a bit chemically and the taste lacks complexity. There is evidence of leaves and a lack of fruit but still somehow it is not unpleasant. At least the price doesn’t leave a bad taste in the mouth.

Wine two is an Aussie Cabernet Sauvignon called “Langhorne Creek” from 2011. This smells of baked beans (well, it is a supermarket wine) and tastes just a little sharp, but nonetheless fruity and juicy, if just a tad Haribo.

But here’s the thing. It’s really important to serve wine properly and if you put either of these into a decent (large bowl) glass, and if you serve at the right temperature (put in the fridge for about 30 mins before serving), they both taste so much better. Good gluggable party wines that you could easily serve to friends without any embarrassment.

For the lamb chops, and probably in other circumstances, the extra 98 pence to buy the Langhorne Creek is worth the stretch.

In these hard economic times, it is good to have somewhere to go to find wines that are drinkable and cheap. And both of these bottles fit the bill. A demonstration, I guess, of Walmart buying power.

Rhone wines can be easily overlooked, and yet many rival the finest Bordeaux, as anyone who has tried Hermitage La Chapelle will tell you.

This Vinsobres comes from the Southern Rhone, is inky in colour and robust, spicy, tannic and plummy in taste. It’s a George Galloway of a wine. Feisty, intelligent, slightly unbalanced and available for purchase. Which you can do at Berry Bros. and Rudd for £14.95. At this price it’s a steal, but, unless you like wines that go with a blue steak, or that make you feel like you are doing a Vito Corleone impression with wet tea bags in your cheeks, I would recommend holding on for a few more years or so before drinking.

Most people think of Portugal and think of Port. But, when it comes to table wine, this is an outdated view. Dirk Niepoort is a pioneer of new Portugal. Fabulous non-fortified wines made from indigenous grapes that I can’t even pronounce, let alone spell. I first discovered his wines in Lisbon in 2009 at EWBC. And stuffed this into my luggage at Lisbon Aiport on the way home for €33.10.

Very subtle for a 14% ABV wine, rich yet refined with tawny autumn fruits and spicy tomato. Goes just great with a rich meaty steak like ribeye and sirloin.

The serving temperature of wine is so important to its enjoyment that 250 members joined a Facebook group dedicated to the subject. As the owner of said page, I appoint myself Chief Evangelist and poster boy for raising awareness of the Wine at Right Temperature (WART) campaign. Part of my duties include throwing brickbats at restaurants who serve red wine from the top of the Pizza Oven and white wine from the liquid nitrogen cask. A happier task is to publicise places where thought and care is put into wine service. For example, I recently dined at 44 The Calls in Leeds where they were delighted (possibly even relieved) that I asked for my Catena Alta at cellar temperature. Not as delighted as I was to drink it.

Another good Yorkshire experience occurred last Sunday at The Three Acres in Shelley. I ordered a bottle of Jaboulet-Aîné Hermitage La Chapelle, 2001, a legend of a wine – rich and fruity flavours of nutmeg, cinnamon, apple and hints of Indian and Chinese spices – intoxicating but never overpowering, it is a wine that makes you go oooh – but I digress. This is supposed to be about temperature. Oh, I should add that the price was £107.95, which maybe sounds a lot, but compared to an average retail price in the UK of about £75, is amongst the most reasonable of restaurant markups (another of my bugbears) I have ever seen. Compared to central London restaurants, where 200% and upwards is added, it is great to see wine prices inflated by less than 50% out here in the provinces.

Read the rest of this entry »