Ruinart Brut NV, Champagne, France

This has had 2 years in the cellar. I tend to to try and cellar pretty much every traditional-method sparkling wine I buy for at least a short period of time, although looking back on my notes I was really knocked out by the other bottle of this that I had (bought at the same time) pretty much straight off the shelf. There’s a sweetness of juicy white nectarines here, with touches of dried apple, ginger, ratafia and vanilla. It’s a fine and charming nose, still quite youthful in its composition but starting to develop. On the palate the bottle age is just beginning to show in a deeper sense of savoury weight to accompany the stone fruit. Finishes with some icing sugar/vanilla lift as well as some very pert acidity and even a touch of nutty bitterness. It’s feeling a little pinched on the finish, whereas my impression of this wine 2 years ago was one of suaveness and generosity. Interesting.
I think this wine might counter my general opinion that NV champagne will always benefit from a bit of time in the cellar. Perhaps this bottle isn’t perfect - it’s missing the sense of balance and lushness that it did 2 years ago. I really loved that bottle!

Niepoort The Senior Tawny, Portugal

Brilliantly pitched port from Niepoort. In-between a tawny and ruby in colour - it’s going slightly rusty around the edges but still vibrantly red at heart. The nose is alive with juicy raisins soaked in good spirit (I’ve written calvados here, and I was definitely picking up a little apple), spicy agen prunes, pine resin and green peppercorn, all wrapped in a nutty light muscovado sweetness. The palate is quite open and sweet at first, then some grip and acidity builds and savoury nutty grip cuts through the pruney sweetness. That caramel flavour of brown sugar lingers with some bright, wild damson acidity. Complex stuff - an marriage of classic tawny flavours and fresher, more ruby-like fun.

Tarlant tasting at Bottle Apostle, Hackney

So we were down "the local" again last night to taste through the portfolio of this excellent medium-sized producer from Oeuilly in the Marne valley. I was pretty amazed that the little room wasn't filled up, as I really love doing single-producer tastings. It's another 'constant' that allows you to really focus on the differences in grape variety/production etc across a range of wines. It was also a first for me in being able to taste two base wines - the 2012, just weeks old, and the 2011, which has spent approximately 6 months in old oak and will become a reserve wine. Benoit Tarlant, the current winemaker, spoke of his philosophy of "no makeup" - his heart is in the zero-dosage or extra-brut style, and there wasn't a wine on show with more than 6 g/l residual sugar (by comparison Moet currently has 9 g/l and Nyetimber Blanc de Blancs 2003 has 12 g/l...but higher acidity...). I'm a convert, at least in the hands of this house, whose long lees-ageing certainly helps to keep the wines in balance without the flattery of sugar.

2012 Base wine - L'Enclume VineyardThis still has the pear-like sweetness of a brand-new wine, which will dissipate soon. Ripe red apple and clementine are lurking, with an attractive floral note. It's vinous and, as expected, bracingly acidic on the palate. Not giving away much, but a fascinating taste.

2011 Vin ReserveThe first thing that struck me in this was the wood influence - suddenly there's a layer of creamy vanilla sweetness that took me by surprise a bit. There's a touch of apricot here as well as the same appley vinosity that was in the 2012. I can compare it to tasting a curry at the start of cooking - one spice is maybe dominating, but after time it will subside and become integrated with the other flavours.

Zero Brut NatureEqual blend of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier. The house's most widely-available wine, this spends 3 years on lees on average. Bags of character, with the sweet smells of bakers yeast and malt drawing you in at first, before the freshness of juicy whitecurrants, candied lemon, whiffs of mint and vanilla take over. It's like a cold shower on the palate, with the natural acidity cleansing out your mouth and filling it with a surprising depth of texture. The Brut Reserve is the same wine but with 6 g/l residual sugar made as an 'alternative' - Benoit made it clear which was closer to his heart.

Rose Zero Brut NatureThis caused a bit of a stir, with the room fighting over who got to take home the one bottle that was available! Benoit spoke of his many different trials with rose wines, and how, for his non-vintage, he settled on a blend of 85% Chardonnay with 15% still Pinot. This one is based on the 2007 vintage, so has a bit less time on lees and in the bottle than the standard champagnes to retain the freshness of the fruit. I picked up cranberries, rosehip and chalk on the nose here, with lovely red apple on the palate, which is fiercly dry and elegant. Not one to swill with your Quality Street on Valentines day, this - a steely, invigorating wine and one of the real hits of the evening.

Brut TraditionThis is almost a blanc de noirs, with just 6% Chardonnay making an appearance alongside a dosage of 6 g/l. Whitecurrant, peach skin and freshly baked patisserie here, though I can still recognise some of that deep, vinous apple fruit from the other wines. As expected, acidity dominates on the palate, with none of the fatness that can pop up in heavily pinot-dominated wines. Only made when the pinot are of excellent quality. A Tarlant take on this style of champagne.

Extra Brut Prestige 2000Benoit discussed his approach to making vintage wines, which is a very open-minded one - all winemaking decisions come as a result of the grapes that he gets. In 2000 Chardonnay managed to beat the storms and hails the most effectively, so this wine is 90% Chardonnay and 10% Pinot Noir. 9 years on the lees here, being disgorged in 2011. There's a fineness and subtlety to this wine that reveals itself quite slowly - beyond the baked apple fruit and lemon peel there are touches of fennel seed and turmeric, and a real sense of savoury presence on the palate, which finishes long with delicate vanilla. Tasting this makes me realise how much some of the flavours and aromas I associate with 'aged' champagne are really bottle-age aromas - the 9 years on lees here are all about depth of texture and gentle aromatic complexity. I'd love this even more after a few more years in bottle.

La Vigne d'Or, Blanc de Meuniers 2003A first for me - 100% Pinot Meunier from the very warm 2003 vintage. This is quite a special wine for Tarlant, from 62 year old vines from a single site in Oeuilly. 3 g/l residual sugar. The consice fruit definition of the other wines doesn't make an appearance here - there's a kind of ethereal richness of nougat and dried pineapple beyond the toasty weight of the nose, with a particularly sparky mousse characterising the palate. It's very attractive and individual, though it feels a little stubborn and two-dimensional compared to some of the other wines.

Cuvee Loius Extra Brut50% Chardonnay, 50% Pinot Noir. Blend of 96/97/98 vintages. This is also a single vineyard wine - the proximity of the Marne river regulates the growth of the vines here, insulating them against weather extremes and promoting the sort of slow, even growth that produces the finest flavours. The sweet fresh yeast aromas reach you from your glass 2 feet away, becoming finer as you dive in with icing sugar, juicy whitecurrants, candied peel, apricot and caramelised brioche, just going towards touches of wild mushroom savouriness. There's a real presence of quince and tropical fruit on the palate, which is nevertheless driving and fresh (as you would expect), finishing with a floral touch and real length. 12yrs on lees and 3g/l dosage make this the most opulent wine in the portfolio, but it's very keenly priced for a wine of this age and quality. Worth keeping for a few years too - it certainly has another decade in it.

Breaky Bottom Brut 2008, Sussex, England

100% sparkling Seyval Blanc from one of Sussex's oldest vineyards. Breaky Bottom have been growing this stalwart grape for over 30 years, and although more modern vineyards growing the champagne varietals have stolen the limelight over the last 10 years, I always sense a real soft spot for Breaky Bottom amongst English wine fans. It has been quite fashionable to knock Seyval recently, and it tends not to do too well in blind tastings next to the pinots and chardonnay (in this year's annual tasting of over 90 English wines organised by Stephen Skelton MW, Breaky Bottom's 2006 came in a respectable 21st as the highest-placed non-champagne varietal wine). My feeling about Seyval as a base wine is that it is never going to reach the heights that the champagne varietals can in a top vineyard and a good year, but it can be approachable younger and more reliable in poor vintages. Perhaps most importantly, I like it - it's not blowsy or pungent, it tastes of apples and herbs, and it doesn't tend to have the searing acidity that a young English chardonnay can have in a year like 2008. I hope that a few hardy souls will keep making Seyval wines.
This pours a very pale, green-tinted straw. It reminds me of a fine Blanc de Blancs at first with its lovely sense of icing sugar and macaroon, but moves on to reveal quite deep and vinous bramley apple and as well as hints of white pepper, vanilla and thyme, all under a gentle whiff of apple blossom. Very elegant style on the palate, as the patisserie flavours surround the core of tangy, clean ripe apple and fine acidity. It's not the most persistent in flavour or aroma, and in fact the effervescence was not the longest lasting in this bottle, but it is very attractive and certainly up there with the Camel Valley Brut (although made in a much more vinous, Loire-like style). 2008 was a pretty tricky vintage in the UK and this is much readier to drink than a raft of 2008s from Chardonnay in particular, even if they end up overtaking it in a few years.

Villa Schinosa Falanghina Spumante 2010, Puglia, Italy

A quick note on a pretty interesting wine picked up from Bottle Apostle (where else?) for £14. Falanghina can be a lovely grape - along with Greco and Fiano probably the best white grapes to be found in the south of Italy. The problem this part of the world has is heat - any white grapes have to be able to hold on to as much acidity as they can whilst the flavours develop in the grapes, otherwise things can get flabby and flaccid. Often you find a little bitterness or pithiness in these wines, which compensates to some degree for the lack of intrinsic, acidic bite.
For me, a sparkling wine devoid of acid is not much fun, but there was something about this bottle that intrigued me. I ended up really liking it, even though I was hankering for a rasping glass of English bubbly by the end. Lots of ripe yellow plum and toasted almond richness on the nose, with a little freshly baked bread, dried apple, lemon pith and even basil. Really lovely aromatically - a lot more complex and richer than I was expecting. It's quite soft and broad on the palate, with that pithy character keeping the sweet yellow plum fruit in check. It does work - it would actually be great for someone who claims not to like Champagne/cool-climate fizz (these people do exist apparently!). Or with sensitive teeth...no, it's well worth a try, and good value.

A trip to Sicily

Muscat at Planeta's Noto Winery, left 

A two week trip to Sicily was an opportunity not to be wasted on the vinous front, despite the other interested party being more interested in traditional attractions such as nature reserve beaches, fabulous pasticcerias and gelaterias and beautiful baroque towns (all of which I loved, of course). In the end, what we found is that wine tourism in Sicily is perhaps not as easy as we had thought it might be, with many producers not doing tastings for couples, or simply not taking in visitors. Good wine shops abound though, and we did come across some small vineyards really making an effort to get people in and sell direct (such as Feudo Ramaddini in Marzamemi).
After some time in Palermo and Scopello in the North, we headed down south to the Agrigento region, staying for a couple of nights at Francesco Cucurullo's Masseria Del Feudo as well as a lovely agriturismo called Baglio San Nicola. I'd reccomend stopping by Masseria Del Feudo if you're driving inland to try their Chardonnay, which I reviewed here a few months ago. It's quite a young vineyard with big ambitions - I also liked their melony, spicy Inzolia/Grillo blend. Francesco told me that he's going to be cutting down on barrel usage in the future for his top red, the Rosso Delle Rose, which seems like a smart move as Nero D'Avola from this region is not the big, structured wine it can be from the far South East.

We finished off our trip near the home of Nero D'Avola, in the beautiful countryside near Noto and the lovely Vendicari Nature Reserve (below)

Planeta have a fascinating winery near Noto, where they produce their flagship Santa Cecilia red. We went through a few wines from all over the island:
La Segreta Bianco 2011 Grecanino/Chardonnay blend. I always really like this wine, with its spicy melon and grape, dried apricot, and meadow flowers. Balanced weight on the palate.
Cometa 2011 Cometa was the first Sicilian Fiano. It has a very distinctive style, rich with skin contact and extraction. The dried mango, spice, unrefined sugar and vanilla flavours, together with the pithy extraction on the palate, present quite an idiosyncratic style. It does have some freshness and balance, but it's a bit OTT for me.
Cerasuolo di Vittoria 2010 40%Frappato and 60% Nero D'Avola. I love this style, with its fresh strawberry, red cherry and rhubarb, lip-smacking acidity and sappy elegance. Excellent.
Santa Cecilia 2008 Showing some lovely evolution of tobacco and pine alongside the bramble and prune fruit, with dried cherry and gentle savoury tobacco on the palate. This was less in-your-face than I remember this wine, with its elegant tannins and refined fruit. Worth seeking out.
I sensed a grudging respect for Planeta in Sicily - they're big, they're slick, and their wines are consistently good. In a country where modern wine tourism is just waking up, Planeta are ahead of the game.

A last mention must go to a wine I picked up in a little enoteca in the attractive town of Modica. Probably my favourite bottle from the trip. An interesting blend.
Vivera Terra dei Sogni 2009 Nerello Cappucio from Etna, with Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah from Corleone. Charcoal-tinged raspberry fruit on the nose, gently accompanied by red rose and cherries. The ripe red cherry fruit is supremely elegant on the palate, which has a a real mineral restraint and a rich seam of edgy acidity. Totally delicious.

As a postscript, I must say that we ate fantastically well on this trip. The following list represents all the components of one meal at the Agriturismo Baglio San Nicola:
Caponata, Arancinetti, Courgette salad, olive crostini, tomato crostini, local cheese, grilled marinated aubergine, couscous, frittata, potato bread, anchovy panino, 1L local Nero D'Avola, courgette and pancetta risotto, fennel and salsiccio pasta, chicken stuffed with couscous, local fruit. All, it must be said, top notch.

M&S Marksman Brut 2009, Sussex, England

This is a 100% Blanc de Blancs wine made by Ridgeview for M&S. This is unusual for an English sparkler in using a small amount of French Oak in the winemaking - I can't find any details but I'm thinking that perhaps a small percentage of the wine was fermented in a-few-years-old oak. On paper this is a risky thing to try and pull of with our nervy style of Chardonnay, but in this case it's more of a faint seasoning than a major player, and it really works.
The nose is all fresh red apples, ripe lemon zest, whitecurrants and the faint warmth of brioche dusted with vanilla sugar. There's a pleasing savoury thrust on the palate which for me is the main manifestation of the oak usage, and it sits very well alongside the tangy whitecurrant/apple fruit. As with many English sparklers it feels a bit 'tight' at this age and could do with more time in bottle - as the evening went on it started to uncoil a little bit. I'm going to pick some up and stick it in the cellar alongside a few other English goodies...

Michele Reverdito Nebbiolo d'Alba Simane 2010, Piedmont, Italy

Sometimes the first sniff of something switches all the lights on in your head. This is quite haunting, with its moody autumn fruits of loganberry, bramble and over-ripe cherries. What impresses is the complexity of sweet fresh figs, nutmeg-spiced orange peel and liquorice - really engaging. The palate is initially quite open with that lovely ripe autumnal fruit sweetness, though savoury grip and acidity build as it finishes long with gamey tones and bitter herbs. This is a beautiful wine - sometimes the tag 'mini-Barolo' can be very misleading for Langhe Nebbiolo wines which are simple and straightforward, but this is serious stuff that manages to be very drinkable young, Will improve for 3/4 years, but once that sweet perfumed fruit is gone it won't be worth it.

El Maestro Sierra Fino, Jerez, Spain

Serious sherry is one of the bargains of the wine world. I love it. It is similar to champagne in that a lot of the interesting flavours come from the winemaking process rather than from the primary flavours of the grapes. Both wines offer flavour experiences you don't get any other way, and in both cases you have big houses producing dependable, consistent styles and smaller producers going their own way with exciting results.
This is quite extravagant on the nose for Fino, with seville orange and pithy lemon fruit, the lightness of meadow flowers, sea air and fragrant almonds/cashews all emerging from the quite deeply-coloured liquid. Real weight on the palate here, with fine ripe citrus acidity and intense, savoury grip coupled with floral dimension and the tang of salty cured meat on the finish. Long, ripe, bold Fino, and much more than an aperitif - this is serious food wine. Think pot-roast chicken with honey, saffron, pimenton (and sherry of course, but I'd get something a bit humbler for the cooking....)

Laurent -Perrier 2002 Champagne, France

This is always one of the most readily available of the Grande Marque vintage wines, and is quite often found 'discounted' at between £30-35, which is a fair price for it really. Quite expressive nose here, with red.currant, baked apple and lemon macaroon. It's savoury and citrus-led on the palate, with slight bitterness building towards the finish in this bottle - to me this bitter/pithy elements dominate, and the palate feels a little inelegant. I must confess that I'm not 100% convinced about this bottle, as I was expecting something much more complete. Your experiences of this wine?

The wines of Max Ferdinand Richter at Bottle Apostle

Last Thursday I was excited to attend a tasting with Dirk Richer, owner and winegrower (not 'winemaker'! ) of Max Ferd. Richer, one of the top estates in the Mosel. A Richter wine was one of my first really good Mosel Rieslings - it was the 1998 Graacher Himmelreich Spätlese, and I still have the empty bottle. I obviously enjoyed that wine, almost a decade ago, but there were some equally memorable wines on show at this tasting, including an unforgettable Eiswine....
Dirk Richter spoke of the history of the Riesling vine in the Mosel, and how the long season, slate soils and unique topography of the Mosel valley allow the vines to ripen their fruit perfectly, despite day-to-day weather conditions being similar to the southern counties of the UK. Thanks to all the folk at Bottle Apostle for another top tasting - get in touch with them if you'd like some of these wines. Here are my notes.

Riesling Classic 2011 TrockenThe relatively-new classic designation for off-dry wines is a useful one, with Mosel wines carrying this designation having under 15 g/l residual sugar and a minimum alcohol level of 11.5 %. This was quite heady and expressive with ripe white peach and clementine fruit on the nose, going in an almost tropical direction with touch of banana skin (sounds odd but it was there, and I liked it!), and a perfumed, almost rose-like floral lift. If those don't sound like classic Riesling descriptors, then the palate might seem more recognisable with its fine balance and weight, invigorating tangerine fruit and light spritz. Lovely stuff

Zeppelin Mülheimer Sonnenlay 201110.5% alcohol. Less fruit-led than the Classic, with a precise lime, floral honey and white pepper nose. A touch more sweetness is evident on the palate, with finishes with some attractive citrus pithiness. Less definition on the palate than the Classic for me, and a slightly lower refreshment value.

Brauneberger Juffer Kabinett 20119% alcohol (all the Kabinetts are around this level). Elegant restraint on the nose, with its sweet honeysuckle, clementine and peach juice framed by lightness and precision on the palate. 7.6 g/l acidity, 57.5 g/l residual sugar. Will be excellent in a few years.


Brauneberger Juffer Kabinett 2009Dirk described this as a 'perfect' vintage. Apricot, ripe red apple and sweet meadow flowers on the nose here, with that lime-cordial-turning-to-kerosine aroma that I love in good Riesling just starting to add some weight and complexity to the nose. The roundness of the mouthfeel is quite evident, the palate feeling generous but still balanced by 9.1 g/l acid. Lovely grip on the finish.

at the moment.

Brauneberger Juffer Kabinett 2008Seems to have developed faster than the 2009 - I'd describe it as lime marmalade on just-burnt toast, with a sprinkle of white pepper. There's a delicious sense of minerality and savoury depth on the palate, yet that fresh balance of tangerine fruit sweetness and acidity is still the spine of the wine. More angular and developed than the 2009, but at this moment I prefer it.



Baruneberger Juffer - Sonnenuhr Auslese 2006Moving on to the sweeter styles, the golden yellow colour of this wine precedes a nose of rich candied pineapple, tangerine, pink grapefruit, lime cordial and barley sugar. Those crystalline fruits give the palate a lovely broad richness, yet, as you would expect, the acidity keeps it clean as a whistle as it finishes very long with tropical dried fruits. Still very primary, but this will be delicious in 10 years +!
at the moment, + in time

Graacher Dompropst Riesling Auslese 1992A treat to taste this currently unavailable wine. The heady, kerosine-edged nose carries a little savoury cheese rind and flint/smoke along with preserved stone-fruit and lime cordial aromas now. It is undoubtedly still very fresh, with impeccable balance, the sweetness 'drying out' over time (Dirk's words) and leaving us with quite a feminine, delicate wine in this case. Very striking


Mülheimer Helenenkloster Riesling Eiswein 2003Well we were lucky to taste this, for sure. Everything is magnified in this fabulous wine, its nose exploding with candied tropical fruit, dried mango and apple, marmalade, and ginger spice. Tremendous concentration and opulence on the palate, each mouthful evolving kaleidoscope-like as you drink it as those crystalline fruit move though honey, barley sugar, lemon peel and spice. Staggering and unforgettable now in what is still a fairly primary stage - I'm sure it will continue to impress over many years.
My first in 50 or so posts this year on Bunchpressed.

A little update on 2012 in Kent so far

It seems like every year in England is extraordinary in some way; some month or other is always the hottest, or the coldest, or the wettest in living memory. Last year, it was a freakishly cold August. This year, after one of the warmest Marches ever, we had the wettest April for 100 years and an abject May-June period (save for one hot week). It has been winter and summer on and off (although mostly winter), which, I suppose, added together gives you something like spring. Here are the vines I look after in Kent last weekend (the 11th June 2012)


The wind over the last few weeks has really tested the new shoots, and together with some very heavy rain there is a small amount of bruising at the tips. Not too much to worry about, though - last year we had hail at the beginning of June that heavily bruised the vines and damaged early flowers. 2012 has got off to a hairy start, though without the warm March and hot week during May we would be behind schedule enough to be worrying about having enough growing season left...
Just to get an idea of the relative progress this year, here are the vines at the same stage of maturity in 2011, almost a full month earlier on the 15th May 2011


We had a scorchingly dry start to the year - in fact, by the time of fruit set, I was worried about drought stress. The vines were will in flower by the end of the 1st week of June.
Finally, here is a picture of them just coming into flower on the 26th June 2010. This is about where I expect them to be by the end of June this year. Flowering at the end of June is what we want to stand the best chance of avoiding wet/cold/windy conditions during fruit set. If the fruit sets, there will be wine (unlike last year...)!

Tessari Soave Classico 'Le Bine Longhe' 2009, Veneto, Italy

Soave is consistently one of my favourite white wines from Italy. It's also quite a difficult wine to generalise about, because it ranges from dilute plonk, through elegant, mineral seriousness to tropical, nutty richness. A lot depends on site and yield, with many producers bottling single vineyard wines costing upwards of £15 per bottle in the UK. This looked like a good buy at £13 - especially when I noticed on the back the words 'parziale appassimento'. This means that the grapes were given an extended hang on the vines to dry out and concentrate.
The style of the wine bears this out, with quite extroverted dried mango, apricot danish, toasted almonds, candied citrus peel and meadow flowers on the nose. That tropical plushness is there on palate, but it's far from blowsy, balanced out by pithy ripe lemon classic savoury nut flavours on the finish. It's the impact and depth of flavour that really impresses me here - I have a big soft spot for this style so long as it's all in balance.

The Wine Pantry's English Wine Festival, and some thoughts on 2008s

I went down to this mini-festival of all things English on Sunday, held in the Jubilee market section of Borough Market. It was also the day of the Jubilee Pageant on the River, and in typical fashion the skies were grey and drizzle was abounding. There were jolly scenes in the market though, with lots of wines on show, as well as some tasty nibbles (although I probably should have saved the smoked eel until the end). I tried to focus on the sparklers. Firstly, a few tasting notes, then a few general thoughts:

Jenkyn Place Brut 2008Chardonnay/Pinot Noir/Pinot Meunier. Fragrant green apple, lemon zest and macroon aromas here, with the citrus character dominating the palate, which is a little bit brisk at the moment. I find it verging on a lemon juice flavour profile, which may be down to the vintage (more of that later)....dosage a little low perhaps?

Meopham Valley Cuvée 2008Unusually Pinot Gris is included in this wine, along with Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Slightly riper fruit profile here, more red apples and even a touch of berry fruit. Shades of richness too, with ground almonds and a bit of bakery aroma. Pure and elegant mouthfeel - an easier wine to enjoy that the Jenkyn Place at the moment.

Gusbourne Estate Blanc de Blancs 2008Another 2008 to compare here. I like the scented bramley apple and vanilla nose, and there's a noticeable step up in savoury complexity on the palate here over the last two wines. It is still brisk and verging on austere, but it feels very fine and essentially in balance, and will benefit from a few years tucked away.

Nyetimber Blanc de Blancs 2003A step back in time, and a step up in, well, most respects. There's some vinous depth to this wine, with toasted macaroon and whitecurrant aromas, vanilla and dried apple on the palate and a lovely lift of honeysuckle on the finish. 2003 was an unusually warm year, but there's no lack of freshness and precision to accompany the slightly more generous nature of this wine. Somewhat alarmingly for some of the younger wines here, this is just starting come into its own and will be drinking very nicely for a few more years.

Camel Valley Pinot Noir Brut Rosé 2010 This is all lively, primary fruit; strawberries, raspberries and a touch of creaminess, set off by a grassy, meadow-like aroma. The palate certainly fits the style, with a strawberry-cordial like sweetness to balance out the acidic zip. It's quite a young, simple wine - very fresh and fruit-driven, but not my favourite rosé here.

Gusbourne Estate Sparkling Rosé 2008
This is made from all three champagne grapes. It is mineral and restrained, with rosehip and icing sugar on the nose and a supremely elegant mousse delivering pure strawberry shortcake flavours. Balance and finesse here.

Nyetimber Rosé 2008Chardonnay and PInot Noir. This is slightly more outgoing and expressive than the Gusbourne with its complex redcurrant-led fruits and pleasing savoury dimension on the palate. There's a little biscuity richness going on too. Really like this.

Hush Heath Estate Balfour Brut 2008Pale salmon in colour with fragrant fresh strawberry and crabapple fruit, delicate minerality and impeccable balance on the palate. It feels ethereally bone dry and (drier than the Gusbourne and Nyetimber examples), but absolutely pulls it off. Unique.

I also tasted the Camel Valley Sparkling Red 2010, from Rondo grapes, partly because it is something I had thought of doing with my Leon Millot in Kent. Fun stuff, all herb-tinged cherry and hedgerow fruit, with sprightly but gentle bubbles. Made me want a barbeque and a cheeseburger. And more importantly, some sunshine....

In general it was the Rosés that stole the show here - they work better as younger wines than most white sparklers, and all three of the 2008s were in a more drinkable place than their white counterparts. Chardonnay, the latest to ripen of the three champagne grapes, had a very tough year in 2008 - Stephen Skelton reports that in some cases acidity levels reached 14 or 15 g/l. Those are truly epic acidities. I felt that the Jenkyn place was just over the edge in this sense, and could have done with a higher dosage. I enjoyed the Meopham, and the Gusbourne was in balance but felt young and coiled up - it will open up over the next 3 or 4 years, but I think that the most successful 2008s will be ones that include a fair percentage of the Pinots.
A special mention must go to Nyetimber here. This is a winery on a mission - they are simplifying their portfolio, beautifully rebranding their wines and selling their wines with just a bit more age behind them than some of their competitors. I slightly worry that, with cooler vintages like 2008, we might be releasing some difficult adolescents into the world. Camel Valley is an example of how to turn around some delicious wines in a short period of time, but for vineyards with ambitions towards a more complex, savoury style and lower dosages, time is an essential ingredient.

Chapel Down Vintage Reserve Rosé Brut

I've been following Chapel Down, based in Tenterden in Kent, for many years. I grew up in the area and remember the first visit to the vineyard about a decade ago, when still wines were a bigger part of the portfolio but the concept of English Sparkling Wine was just starting to get a little bit of a buzz.
Chapel Down were one of the pioneers of quality winemaking in the UK, establishing themselves in the 1980s with still wines from Seyval and Müller-Thurgau and with its (still excellent) Bacchus wines through the 1990s. For me, one of Chapel Down's problems through the 2000s was that it was a bit slow off the mark in joining the vanguard of top sparkling wine producers making wines from only champagne varietals. Whilst they had shelf presence in Marks and Spencer and Waitrose and were well-known name, they never quite had a world-class sparkler out there in any quantity to compete with specialists Ridgeview, Nyetimber, and the newer names such as Gusbourne.
All that is changing. Whilst their range is still very large, I think it is slowly coming into focus. This 100% Pinot Noir is by far the best wine I have ever had from them. In fact, I would go so far as to say it is one of the best I've ever had from the UK.

This has been in my cellar for a year. It is a beautiful peachy-pink colour, which gleams invitingly through the clear glass on this very classy bottle. Immediately this very engaging on the nose, with wild strawberry and loganberry fruit, crabapple and red rose. What I really love is the malty, burnt-sugar richness that accompanies the fruit, which reminds me of digestive biscuits and toasted meringues. This comes through on the palate very nicely with a well-judged sweetness (you only notice it if you think about it) like crabapple jelly. The elegant acid structure you expect from English sparklers is there, but there's real vinosity here that screams 'Pinot!'. This is stunning stuff - it comes in at £22.99 on their website and makes most pink champagne look absurdly over-priced and underwhelming. Also, I must say that it makes Hush Heath and Nyetimber Rosé look rather expensive....

Colosia Fino, Jerez, Spain

I love fino. I think sherry is slowly winning the battle against the Harvery's-Bristol-Cream-sipping granny image it needs to shake off in the UK, but there's still a way to go before it gets on the radar of most shoppers looking for something to go with dinner. This is beautiful and complex on the nose, with aromas of sweet fennel seed and pine, fresh seville oranges, almonds oyster. That 'seaside' element is quite strong here, like wet pebbles on the beach. There's real savoury intensity on the palate, with more of that sweet and salty oyster flavour, finishing with almonds and a gentle floral lift. Just love it

Raso del Cruz Tinto 2010, Cariñena, Spain

This little gem from M&S offers up lush, fragrant raspberry coulis from its syrah fruit as well as some curranty and prune notes and a touch of milk chocolate. With the savoury, slightly meaty garnacha and sweeter, violet-tinged syrah in lovely balance it is quite a simple but elegant drop, particularly when chilled down a little. Pleasingly crunchy, fresh tannins and bright acidity complete a bargain bottle at £6.99. Lovely

Bolney Estate Pinot Grigio 2011, Sussex, England

2011 was a very unusual vintage in the UK, with many vineyards reporting record ripeness levels thanks to very low yields and an extended Indian summer. In practice, in the UK this means that winemakers were widely able to make still wines without chaptalisation and/or de-acidification, which are unfortunately necessary in our climate at times. Of the three main Pinot grapes, Pinot Grigio is firmly in third place in the UK in terms of plantings behind its siblings Pinots Blanc, Meunier and Noir due to its later ripening and unsuitability as a sparkling wine grape. It only really makes great wine in Alsace and in isolated pockets of Northern Italy, and I'm not sure the UK will be challenging these top wines for now.
This is quite a charmer on the nose, with its sweet red apple, peach blossom and even a bit of the perfume of fresh strawberries. The palate reminds me of fresh lemonade with its tangy acidity and gentle pear-like sweetness. It is primary stuff, all fruit/sugar/acidity, much like many of the northern italian wines. A tipple, and one that could spark a whole piece about still wines in the UK - but that's for another day! I look forward to tasting some more wines from the 2011 vintage, but this is a very solid start.

Some contrasting London beers

London is awash with microbreweries. It's a city with a proud brewing history, and I'm really excited to taste some of the new beers popping up from my neck of the woods. Three breweries here; first the notes, and then I'll offer a few general opinions.

Camden Town Brewery Pale Ale
Quite gentle on the nose - honeyed, with bitter herbs, lemon zest. Lightly moussy feel to drink, not big flavours here but nice persistent citric hops. Pretty good.

London Fields Brewery Pale Ale -
Quite a cool, clean beer, aromatic with orange zest on the nose and with a slightly smoky maltiness and gentle floral hoppiness. Really like this, and very drinkable at 3.9 %.

Redchurch Brewery Great Eastern IPA
Ok, this is 7.7% and is very different in style. Big fruit aromas here, with stewed plums red berries, and an interesting green-ness that reminded me of celery. Powerful, persistent delivery of complex flavours and malty sweetness on the palate, which really carries that savoury hoppiness through. Really enjoyed this beer, even if it is a bit of an extrovert.

London Fields Brewery Hackney Hopster
Peaches and pineapple, quite floral and fresh. Hops certainly dominate but it doesn't quite carry through as a balanced beer - feels a touch hollow and finishing very bitter. Some refreshment factor, but I think the Pale Ale is a better brew.

Redchurch Brewery Hackney Gold
So the IPA isn't a one off....darker and richer on the nose than I was expecting. 5.5%. These are quite big interpretations of the styles on the label. The fruit is rich and ripe, almost raisiny. It's bold and mouthfilling with a pleasing marmalade sweetness and a long, quite delicate finish. Very convincing, tasty beer, but not what I was expecting from a 'Gold'.

Forgot to make notes on the London Fields Gold. Just drank it. Probably a good sign.

I've had the Camden town beers before, and I'm afraid I don't think they're in the Premier League of London breweries. My impression is that they're focussed on taking on the big brewers in bars and pubs, particularly on the lager front, and good luck to 'em frankly. I did quite like the Pale Ale, but it was probably my least favourite beer here.
Redchurch and London Fields breweries have very contrasting 'house' styles - the Redchurch beers here were both big and bold. Not session beers, these. The Hackney Gold was my pick of the beers - alcohol and sweetness can be flattering in any drink, but I think the flavours here were complex and interesting. I thought the Hackney Gold was a bit heavy-handed, though. After this I really enjoyed the London Fields Pale Ale - their 'house' style is obviously more bright and aromatic.
One final word - value. Poor, in this bottled format. Running a brewery in London is not going to be cheap, but £2.70 retail for a 330ml bottle represents a lot of cash for, well, small beer. All these beers (apart from the Camden town) were bottle conditioned, and I'd have liked to have seen them in full bottles (as with the LFB Pale Ale), but that would have pushed the price up to the same sort of price you'd pay per pint in a pub. The logical conclusion has to be; find a pub that serves these beers well and try them there. That's next on my agenda.

Masseria Del Feudo Chardonnay 'Haermosa', Sicily

It's been quite a wine-free few weeks. Time to make amends.
This is an organic chardonnay from inland Sicily, cultivated at 480m above sea level. I came across it as the importer, Paola from Harmonicande, had a few bottles open from this producer in Bottle Apostle down the road. The Chardonnay really stood out for me, as well as quite an unusual bright young Syrah.
There's some real class on the nose here, which reminds me of French apple tart with just a touch of warm nutmeg spice and vanilla to sweeten the deal. Perhaps someone let a few slices of pineapple slip in too. It doesn't veer towards buttery or mealy though, staying clean and quite chiselled on the palate, which has just enough in the way of acid structure to hold it together with the help of a pithy and quite savoury backbone. I really like this - it's elegant and pretty serious. Probably the best Chardonnay I've had from Italy (a small catergory I'll admit).