English wine.

2012 is upon us and just like every year that there is international competition I start it with my usual distain for the national team. I find it difficult to get behind players like John Terry and Ashley Cole, people for whom I usually harbour nothing but the utmost contempt. Fabio Capello has done little since his first appearances to stir up any love from me for this England side and now he seems to fill the bench with the animated pontificating of a man in a rubber Postman Pat like mask. International breaks during the season fill me with dread. I am like many who see some over-hyped friendlies against 2^nd and 3^rd rate Central European countries as an unwelcome disruption to my league side’s already ordinary season. The FA have done little to ingratiate themselves with me in their handling of the “Rooney Incident”, and that could be any number of Rooney Incidents, going crawling to FIFA to try and repeal a ban sets hardly the best example for the iron fist with which they have seen similar occasions in the league. It could be where I am from, hardly the most patriotic family in hardly the most patriotic part of the country.

That said I have just had the test cricket on and a decent days play in the first day of the second test against Pakistan has started to simmer what is left of my patriotism. And who am I kidding, come the start of Euro 2012 I will be filled with hope and fitted for a new comfortable set of blinkers for the boys in white.

So with this is mind and with the simmer of patriotism desperate to reach boiling point I thought I would extol the virtues of English wine. I will put your minds at ease. This is not going to be an essay on the brilliance of Lambrini, its direct and uncomplicated palate or its gravitational affects on the clothes of English women, not at all, as from certain parts of England we produce some excellent wines. People may be sceptical but it is difficult for English winemakers living so close to the most influential viticultural country in the world.

English wine heritage dates back at lot earlier than many may think. In the early Middle Ages vineyards in England were plentiful and thriving. But by the 12^th century, however, production stopped after England, through the marriage of Henry II to Eleanor of Aquitaine, acquired Bordeaux wine. This was until a renaissance in the 1950s saw the planting and growing of grapes for wine in Hampshire, a trend which became more widespread across the south coast and southern counties.

The grapes that are planted are fairly unusual, with plantings of Reichensteiner, Seyval Blanc, Muller-Thurgau and Bacchus, named after the Greco-Roman god of wine. As I said an unusual lot and customer would be excused for having never heard of them. They make very dry whites similar to the German mould. The black grapes planted are equally barmy; Dornfelder and Rondo make early ripening reds, both of these grapes have good floral and fruit flavours with the Rondo lighter in body and the Dornfelder closer to Syrah in style and weight.

As well as these groups of grapes there has been the increase in planting of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, and this is for the jewel in the English wine crown, English sparkling wine.  With recent climate change working for the English and with similar soils to Champagne we are able to make outstanding sparkling wine. It rivals a lot of good Champagne in both its quality and unfortunately its price. Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier are the three grape used in making Champagne and all three are capable of growing well in England. The production methods are also the same as in Champagne production with a secondary fermentation process taking place in the bottle to produce the rich toasty, biscuity flavours apparent in Champagne.

Nyetimber is reputed to be the first English sparkling wine to truly rival champagne. Producing only sparkling wines, they have really made a name for themselves. The Classic Cuvee is their signature style. It is always a vintage vine and is bottle aged (the secondary fermentation process) for three years before release. It has a wonderful brioche flavour and a finely acidic mid-palate, like you would expect from good Champagnes, and a delicate and fruitful nose. Being a vintage wine it changes subtly with each release and, like vintage Champagne, is only released on the better years. This wine uses all of the champagne grapes in its blend, but they also produce a Blanc de Blanc which uses just Chardonnay and a Rose which includes Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, a little of the Pinot being fermented with the grape skin to extract the Rose colour. These wines are perfect and prices are similar to non-vintage Champagne, about 26 quid.

Another house of note is Chapel Down in Kent. Likewise Chapel Down produces a good range of sparkling wines. Their sparkling Rose is probably my favourite sparkling Rose outside of Champagne. It has deft strawberry flavours, blended with a delicate biscuitiness, which follows from nose to palate. Its bubbles are for me a little large and violent, and when I first saw this I wasn’t impressed, but it is so well crafted that this doesn’t really matter. At about £22 it is very well priced for what it is. I should make it clear at this point that Rose wine should only ever be drunk in sparkling form, still Rose is just hopeless. Chapel Down sparkling range also include some really good Pinot based wines that are complex in structure and rich in flavour, but their still wines deserve some attention. Of their whites I would recommend the Bacchus, which harbours exotic aromas of lychee, rose petals and herbs, with flavours of white pepper, confected pear and red apple. It is a dry wine, with enough flavour to complement a range of foods from salads or fish, through to roast white meats. The second of their whites to mention is the Flint Dry. Like its name suggests this wine is dry with real stoney, steely flavours accompanying citrus, pear and melon. It is a really refreshing wine and would be a superb partner to fish. The make a smaller number of red wines, red wine production being a smaller industry in general in England, the one for me was their Pinot Noir. This Pinot is just slightly lighter than most French Pinot Noir (especially Burgundy Pinot), but has a lot more to it than German Pinot. Its complex red berry nose carries through to the palate where it combines with earthy and black pepper notes. Like most Pinot Noir this would be matched excellently with casseroles or roasted meats.

So there we have a brief glimpse into the burgeoning English wine market. It hasn’t necessarily done a huge amount to rouse my patriotism but when the misery of the England fixtures of Euro 2012 are over I might just need to reach for a bottle.

Christmas Day reds and dessert.

Ok, for blog number two I am going to look at red wines for Christmas. I am having turkey, as I have previously mentioned, and will be drinking the white. So I have chosen a Chilean Pinot Noir for anyone who fancies red. Another Champagne grape and, you may be noticing my love for Burgundy here, another Burgundian grape, Pinot Noir is a thin skinned, and difficult to grow grape, which accounts for why even at the cheaper end it is still more expensive than a lot of those around it. I have gone with it though because it is not too dense or tannic a wine that it would over power the turkey, yet in Chile it the grapes can ripen to an extent that the wine can be packed full of tight, confected fruit flavours which would match the richness of Christmas dinner very well. The wine I have chosen is Costero Pinot Noir 2009 from Vina Leyda. There is a little less sunlight here which prevents the grapes ripening too quickly and the complex and terroir influenced flavours from not appearing. It has a good amount of red fruit flavours but possibly a little too much oak integration for me which although giving it some nice sweet spice essence, also makes it seem a little smokey. This though is not going to be over smokey for a rich Christmas meal, and for the price (about £7.50) it is a good wine. Also as I said, I’m drinking the white.

For anyone having beef for Christmas dinner, I would recommend Bordeaux. If you have something awesome stashed away like a 1996 Chateaux Lynch Bages (as if I would share mine for Christmas dinner) have that, if you are buying for Christmas Dinner I would recommend 2005 la Reserve de Leoville Barton. This is Chateaux Leoville Barton’s second wine and I have always thought is one that can be drunk quite young, so don’t let the fact it is only 6 years old put you off. It is from St Julien in the Medoc and is, like most St Julien growths, gentle, fruit forward and drinkable on the up (when it is younger and still developing). I say gentle; it is still Claret and still has good structured tannin which is mellowed out perfectly with beef or other foods high in protein. It is one of St Julien’s top producers, the Irish Barton family settled in St Julien in the 18^th century and own the estate next door Langoa Barton. It sells at about £25 and is a wonderful wine. If 25 quid is too rich for ya, I would recommend Chateaux Carrone SteGemme. This is a wonderfully crafted wine from the Haut-Medoc, not far south from the border of St Julien. It always produces a wine that is a sound example of what Bordeaux should be like. It is full of lead pencil shaving and mountains of cassis. Its fruit flavours are always brought to the fore when it is drunk with meaty dishes and is of a sensible price (especially for such a good example) at around £13. It is on the 2007 vintage at the moment and is drinking fine.

Lastly dessert wine. I am having 2005 Royal Tokaji 5 Puttonyas. For those who don’t know this is a Hungarian dessert wine that is often considered one of the best in the world. It is a deep amber coloured, delicately sweet wine that will go really well with most puddings, from the really sticky to subtle sweet flavours. Also goes well I am told as an aperitif when one is reading a newspaper on a Sunday. I cannot wait to try this brilliant wine again.

Right Folks, hopefully have done all I need for Christmas wines. Hopefully not too boring as my delightful friends suggested the last one was.

Take care and have a good Christmas.

Blog 1

Hello all. My blog is due to be about wine. The other things, as mentioned in the title will be daft musings, poems occasionally and my thoughts on Literature and football (that is Football English that involves a foot, or both if you are better than me).

I have recently left my job in the wine industry siting irreconcilable differences with my company. In that their wages were too low. Despite this they were a decent company to work for for a while and the education in wine that I received was very very good. So I feel comfortable and qualified to seriously write about wine and have recently been published in magazine doing just this.

So where should one start with a wine blog, having not seen any before? I will start with what I am having with turkey on Christmas day. Keep it seasonal!

The Turkey will be prepared by my girlfriend's brother, who I have to say roasts a damn good turkey.

Firstly white. This is what I will be drinking as I think a well made French Chardonnay is the best bet with roast turkey. As the meat will be roasted and of full flavour the wine will need to be robust enough to match it, so I would recommend a chardonnay that has seen some degree of oak integration. In my opinion a Sauvignon Blanc, Reisling or similar wine would not have the weight, or richness of flavour to match the food and would be over powered. Whereas a good quality Burgundian white can fight its corner with flavour. I am having a Puilly Fuisse by Christophe Cordier. The Vers Cras 2009 to be precise. Pouilly Fuisse is from the Macconais part of Burgundy, an AOC which doesn't follow the same Cru system as the Cote d'Or, but whose wine, especially those from the Pouilly Fuisse region can rival some of its more famous neighbours. Vers Cras is close to the village of Pouilly and is on one of the lower lying slopes in the Macconais. Though the 2009 vintage is pretty young (and would benefit from 3-5 years more aging), it is the only vintage I have and what I have chosen to drink! The Wine itself is beautiful, full of rich, ripe fruit that almost boarders on tropical, with delicate citrus flavours. It also has a clear acidity that balances the rich flavour and sensible oak integration (30% in new barriques) making it rich and round. It brings a creaminess to turkey and meets well typical Christmas spices.

The 2009 Domaine Cordier costs about £25 so it isn't the cheapest of wines, but if you were looking for an alternative that doesn't cost as much I would recommend the Marquis de Pennautiers Chardonnay 'Terroir d'Altitude' 2009. This is a great wine, not quite as refined as the Pouilly Fuisse, but then no where near as pricey.

I would recommend people who don't like chardonnay, due to the over oaked cheapies that they had in the mid 90s from Australia, to try these. The oak usage is sensible and adds structure without overpowering the rich fruit flavour. Give them a go, chardonnay is a wonderful grape.


Ok. Hope that this is a decent first blog. I have no frame of reference really. I will blog again soon with my Christmas Day reds, and some of the other things in life which may need examination.

Please feel free to comment, as Im sure people will.

Also the wines I have mentioned are available from my old Employer (Majestic Wine), they may not pay particularly well, but they do stock some fantastic wine!


Andrew D. Clark