Ciao Bella! A trip and taste of Italy

My Italian adventure started as you may have guessed, with myself having a glass or twelve of wine. A simple wine fair at Macon-Charnay (a small town outside of Macon in the heart of St Veran) was my poison.

Ma wandered around with an empty glass and car keys in her hand whilst Pa and I kept ours full. The grim twinkle in Pa’s eye alerted me to the fact that this was his first wine fair, hundreds upon hundreds of bottles laid out before him, 5 euros entry. I assured him it was quite different to an “all you can eat” buffet and that spitting was more than acceptable. I forgot I was talking to a farmer's lad from Lancashire, “Spitting lad? We’llst have none o' that. We’ve paid our money aven’t we? “ Which of course we had, so who was I to argue?

After and hour of politely discussing the whites with the stoney-faced producers, we were about to move on to the reds when I noticed something very strange. It was a noise at first, then I realised it was actually a lack of noise. Pa and I looked up around the room, it was empty, not quiet, but deserted. 300 people to 10, us included, in 5 minutes. Wondering whether we had been locked in, I saw a small girl furtively burrowing something into her bag at floor level, I leant over and asked her if the wine fair had finished? Her reply was simple, promt and disgusted. “Er…non Monsieur, c’est midi!”. Ah ha, all made sense, I checked the time, 12.01. How silly of me. Infact I have a theory about the French and lunch,it is that if they don’t eat at precicely 12 on the dot, they combust, burn, blow up, like a vampire in sunlight, "Ze wud exzist no more." I once turned up at a restaurant in Annecy at lunch time, perhaps 12.15, and was told promptly that they were closed because the staff were having lunch! Je reste ma valise. Anyhoo, I digress: the about to combust lady in question stood and faced me with a disgruntled smile, hand on hip, and gave me a blasé hand gesture, and left. I took it that we were given free reign to help ourselves. Mad dogs and Englishmen and all that.

Mad we may have been but alone we were not. Tucked in the “foreign” corner was an Italian stand, easily identifiable by the smiles on their two faces and nothing at all to do with 5 Itailain flags flying over their heads. I walked, excuse me, stumbled my way over to introduce myself.

Incredible. Within 5 minutes I had an invite to their town in Northern Italy for The Miss Barbera 2010 competition. I left slightly bemused but happy with my lot.

2 months later……….

I arrived at Macon Charnay Marie at 5am in the morning, Pop had driven me there, not quite with a packed lunch but not far off, a couple of hundred euro’s and instructions to buy some Nebbiolo. Not a bad task. As we pulled up, the five cars that were transporting us had arived. I looked around, I was the youngest by at least 2 decades. A couple in their 70’s looked, well, old actually, a couple certainly larger than nature intended seemed quite fun, some other random French folk and the couple who I was to be sharing a car with. There are times in your life when you look around and think, “what the f**k am I doing? ”. I was having one of those moments. Just because I was slightly gobby at a wine fair a couple of months ago, I was here, 26, stood in a car park, at 5 in the morning with a bunch of middle aged French people. Ho hum, that’s the way it goes.

We were assigned to sell “la vie en France” to the Italians and so it will come to no surprise that 2kg tins of snails in garlic butter and cases and cases of St Veran were jovially being lobbed into the back of our Renault Espace. Brilliant. Every cliché in the book. Bring it on.

Five hours later we arrived. Castillogne del Lanze. Well, funnily enough we had stopped just outside of the town. Believe me, this is true, we stopped so that the Mayor could pull out a French Flag , push it out of the window of his sports car to then race on up to the town, flag a flying, with us in convoy, car horns blaring. I felt like "effing" Napolean, cans of snails rattling behind me, Edith Piaf playing on the CD player and now, "the flag," leading us to the epicentre of Italiandome. Ground swallow me up. I am ENGLISH. My goodness, give me some tea and crumpets for Christ’s sake.

We pulled up and thankfully the Italians did not seem too bothered, the Polish, Spanish and Germans had already done the same earlier in the day so our D Day landing was not so over the top after all. All the foreigners had their own stall in the centre of the hilltop town each selling their local specialities. The Hungarians were busy chopping what seemed like a thousand peppers, the Germans were chilling their beer and getting their sausages out (ahem) The Polish only had Vodka and us, the French, left our tins of snails and wine on the floor and left for a coffee and a smoke. It was like stereotypical avenue.

The town was set up so that each court yard would serve a different Italain delicacy along with a different producer showing their Barbera and Moscato d’Asti. There were 23 courtyards altogether so I grabbed 4 willing Frenchies and we started. It took 2 days to get round altogether with intermissions of Flamenco dancers, Polish Folk singers, Italian Flag throwers and of course, about 20 espressos. I managed to sneak out of my stint on the French stall with a cheeky smile but to be honest an hour of heating up garlicy snails would have sent me over the edge. I missed the Miss Babera 2010 crowning as I have having a "lock-in" at Gianni Doglia's winery where I was being force-fed Moscato straight from tank. A must-try!

Here are the best of the wines that I tried

La Cascina “CARLOT” par Claudio Mo
Barbera D’asti « suri Runc » 2008 (approx 4euros)

A lovely light fresh barbera with plum, redcurrant and very soft spice. Reminded me a Grenache based Cotes-du-Rhone. Not overly exciting and I preferred it slightly chilled. Tried it with a deep fried pigs trotter. Interesting.

La Cascina « CARLOT » par Claudio Mo
Nebbiolo d’Alba 2008 (approx 5 euros)

This was the star of his collection even though it was not too pricey. Young and fresh with no oak. It had licquorice and blackcurrant flavour and was more reminiscent of Pinot Noir than Nebbiolo. There was spice and graphite tannin but overall it was very delicate.

Monferrato Rosso Prime Nebbie Nebbiolo Roberto Giachino Coazzolo 2007 (4 euros)

This was certainly more simple than the “CARLOT” but it had a more generous sweetness to it, again it would be hard to identify it as Nebbiolo other than the colour but the sharp acidity worked really well with the sharp tomato dished and even worked with salty anchovies.

Monferrato Nebbiolo Gianni Doglia 2009 (4 euros)

Soft and sweet but with more spice than the previous two. Still un-oaked but having a more rustic edge, the fruit was more red, raspberry and redcurrant and there was no milky softness. Hard and direct, needs a couple of years I think.

Barbera d’Asti superiore Gianni Doglia 2007 (12 euros)

The price jumped up whenever new oak was added and this had it in bucket loads: very young and needing at least 3 more years to develop. At present there were flavours of coffee, chocolate, plum crumble, star anise and an earthy meaty flavour. Very Italian and soared above every other Barbera at the event. Brilliant but young.

Monteferrato Merlot (!) Gianni Doglia 2006 (15 euros)

Devised originally to blend with Barbera, this pure Merlot was almost like a baby Piedmont/Super-Tuscan. Tons of New Oak and plum compote, spice, hazelnuts and black cherry. Young again so I will be keeping my bottles for a couple of years to see how they progress. Could this be my favourite? We’ll have to wait and see.

I was impressed to a point with the wines but none blew me away. Their prices did, but flavours not so. I believe that they produce wonderful everyday drinking wine and for that they deserve praise and certainly a few were pushing the quality boundaries, but the lack of intruigue and interest was disappointing. I must therefore go back and have another look next year and look further towards ALba itself and certainly go to the heart of Nebbiolo country as this was just on the edge.

Bon aperitif

Return to Scotland part 2

So the real reason that I was back in bonnie Scotland was a wedding invite from my good friends Paddy and Katie. Paddy is a “wine professional” that I worked with back in Edinburgh and Katie runs a cupcake company, rainbow cupcakes, http://www.rainbowcupcakes.co.uk/. I took the invite up with gusto in hope that I would get a nice piece of cake and a good glass of wine. And with two hog roasts for supper courtesy of Oink in Edinburgh, www.grassmarket.net/oink.asp ,the evening was sure to be one to remember.

Being cake eating drunks they were not short of a friend or two and so invites were squeezed, and thus I had the task of finding my way down to Peebles in my kilt on my lonesome. Soon I was to make my acquaintance with guest number one (see photo). A funny rugby chap who had a weekend ticket to Glastonbury. Thursday and Friday Glastonbury, cycled then to Bristol airport with suit rolled up in a rucksack, plane to Edinburgh, suit out of back, bus to Peebles (where we met), and back again to Glastonbury for the finale on Sunday. His Thai bought suit held up well and he wore his weekender pass like an award. Good effort.

After the ceremony I was shown to my table, the only other person I knew was across the table hidden by flowers, I knew she had a penchant for hiding miniatures in her bag for emergencies but she was too far away to be of any use. I had to make friends. Everybody looked ever so polite and reserved but Katie had provided personalised cupcakes so at least names were not going to be a problem. After my introduction I deduced I was on the Bridget Jones/binge drinking table and so all was deeply good, drinking games were underway way during the speeches. All perfect until the rugby chaps ate all the cupcakes thus meaning I had no idea what anybody was called. Thanks. The final seat was then taken up by, guess who, Glastonbury boy. The set was complete. Drunk as a skunk. Wines as follows:

South African red, Ormer Bay Cabernet/Merlot £7.65 Frairwood

Full of flavour but a bit flat in body, smoky and rustic but with plenty of fruit, pleasant example.

South African white, Ormer Bay Chenin Blanc £7.65 Friarwood

The Chenin was much more interesting than the red with light and fruity apple aromas and a bold citrus tang on the palate. Nothing out of the ordinary but a good home run. A “ticks the box” wine that went down all too well!

..........The morning after...

The day after was reserved for hangover which never came and thus did preparation for my next wine tasting with my wine group. The full group is a mixed bunch of ex-wine professionals and wine enthusiasts with the total number being 7. We sadly lost one of our Antipodean friends to the lure of the heat of Sydney and so on that night there were only 6. Word on the street is that he is bored of one dimensional wine and has a particular lust for red Burgundy and therefore will be Europe-based very soon. Good boy. Please forgive the foppish and ridiculous tasting notes and read through the nonsense as the wines really were very good. Our theme was: "Summer Wines" and so we all typically gathered in a downpour in one of the member’s conservatory in leafy Blackhall on the outskirts of Edinburgh. Here’s how it went.

Fizz 1- Laurent Perrier N.V. (£25-£30 nationwide)

On the nose it showed potato skin and butter and on the palate a complex mix of granny smith apples, lemon thyme, animal cage. Very interesting and unlike anything we had ever had before. We had talked ourselves round to it being a very interesting single producer in favour of biodynanisism and all things natural, but in truth after an hour of being open the corky taint came out on the nose, the palate and the flavour had been stripped out. How we didn’t notice was beyond me but in the end the fault became apparent. Shame

Fizz 2- Bollinger R.D. 1995 (£65+)

A very mature nose with one member describing it as a “clarty wee bitch”, oxidised aromas, balsy, slightly dirty with an edge of tangerine peel. The palate was big with unbelievable concentration, long and lemony with overripe apples. I thoroughly enjoyed it but it was at odds with the vintage which still should be razor sharp and at odds with previous bottles we have had. Again I think a heatstroke scenario was to blame for the not at all unappealing oxidised flavours. In short, not on par, but delightful all the same.

White 1- awkward teenager of an Albarino that I won’t bore you with

Sherry 1 – William Humbert Palo Cortado 20years old (£25 for 50cl) Hendersons Wine, Edinburgh

A mistake rare sherry that has the dryness of a fino yet the colour and flavour of a rich amontillado. With just 4g/l or residual sugar it would give most Champagnes a run for their money on the dryness scale. The nose was very, very, big. Nutty, with a woody smell, cream, herbs, eucalyptus. The palate was very dry with the promise of spice, unctuous cinder toffee, salted caramel and pickled walnuts and a finish that went on and on and on. Everyone loved it. A cool summer hit. Olives optional, but a welcome addition.

Red 1- Domaine Borgeot 2007 Santenay 1er cru les graviers (£20-£25)

A pinot moment! Doesn’t often happen but it did that night, from head to toe, raspberry, bit of poo, dark chocolate, cumin, spice, tamarind paste. Generous yet polite. Everything you want from Burgundy, a feral undertone but high octane light and powerful red fruit, subtle toasty oak that plays its part and doesn’t overtake or feel separate from the flavours. Pinot along with Nebbiolo can on seemingly rare occasions walk that tightrope of delicacy, power and intrigue and create an ethereal taste experience. This, my friends, was one of them.

Red 2- Georges De Boeuf Morgon 2008 (£11.50) nationwide

I pray Pop doesn’t read this, but I really enjoyed this gamay! Blackcurrant, spice, cardomon and menthol. The palate was sprightly, relaxed with light strawberry and cherry. Not particularly complex but it was a perfect little summer wine.

Red 3 – Shelmerdine Yarra Valley Pinot Noir (£10 Waitrose-great value)

Screaming New World, violets and cherry cough drops and sweet burnt cherry on the palate, it got slightly thin and alcoholic at the finish but it was easy to like and a good shot at a New Zealand style. I do not think Australia has quite found its feet with Pinot yet but it was a great effort and tremendous price in comparison with red Burgundy.

Red 4- Neudorf 2006 Nelson Pinot Noir New Zealand (-£30 on average)
Very exotic and stinky. It was so intense it literally caught the back of your throat. Once over the trauma, the wine revealed a rich almost donkey-like smell that made me think of just-cooked liver and fried bacon. Too much to handle for some but I dived on in there. Rich and in my opinion delicious, sanguineous, sweet kidney again but with low acidity. Somebody popped up with “road kill in a jar." I believed I muted “badger and prune casserole”. Getting drunk. You get the picture. Half loved, half were not sure and preferred the cleaner flavours of the other Pinots. Check out bobswinereviews.com for more of similar.
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Red 5- Giaconda 2002 Shiraz Victoria

Saved from previous blog and re-opened. This time it had oil, gasoline and anchovies on the nose leading to a dark and very tannic, blackcurrant palate. Incredibly concentrated, big and mature. Too much for me at the end but the other lads were lapping it up, in particular one member with a bad cold. Cough medicine perhaps?

Sweet 1 – Dartin Estate Scheurebe 2005 Pfalz Germany(£9.59 M and S when purchased)

A beautiful botrytis Riesling nose, with orange blossom, leading to a sweet palate of lychee and peach, a cross between Viognier, Riesling and Gewurtztraminer but certainly toned down a notch or two. Lovely and looking for some more. A good palate freshener after the Aussie bomb.

Sweet 2 – Huber Berg Trockenbeerenauslese Riesling 2005, Austria (£20 approx, Oddbins)

Deep earthy and sweet which tasted of one thing and one thing only, rhubarb and custard sweets. Depending on your point of view you would either hate it or love it, I loved it.

Sweet 3 – Arnaud de Villeneuve hors d’age 1982 Rivesaltes (Waitrose) £11.86

This I believe was too dry to go after the TBA and so felt it showed under par yet still retained a dark cooked marmalade and toffee essence. Without the sweetness of the former it felt quite bitter. Will try again but in a different order.

Taxi home. Brill, thanks guys.

Bon aperitif

Return to Scotland Part 1

It had been nearly three months since I had graced the green hills, walked down the windy streets and chatted with my irn bru and whisky soaked chums, and so I was most eager to get back in to the swing of it, kilt and all. I had just spent the last two weeks with two of my pale, sun/pollen/heat allergic Scot friends in Paris and Burgundy who endeavoured to re-introduce me to hard liquor in the guise of cocktail hour. It dawned on me that you can truly tell a true Scot when he attempts to sell a blackcurrant martini to you as part of your “5-a-day”. I joyously decided to take the well meant advice.

After obviously being so health conscious, 20 minutes in to the flight pale Scot 1, who is my usual downfall, suggests that we have a wee gin. 15 minutes later his red puffy eyes seem somewhat soothed from the hay fever by what appears to be tears of desperation. At once, 2 trolleys appear either side of me, not with tissues in hand but ice cubes in glasses. This is my moment. 6 gins each later we arrive in Edinburgh fully refreshed with another one of our “5-a-day” courtesy of the lemon wedges. Pale Scot 1, now not so pale.
As I jumped off the plane and raced to my waiting chariot, my driver/trainee nurse/binge-drinking Scot wannabe/all time power ballad pal kindly transported me to the depths of Leith where my first wine tasting was awaiting. Although my host was a Scot, she is certainly not of the pale/allergic/irn bru set, although she does often have a “prawn-marie rose moment” which is something, as a friend, I may just have to accept. Along with a crime novelist chum, 7 glasses were waiting. Here is how I got on…….

Fizz 1 Charles Heidsieck N.V. available most UK supermarkets (£25-£35) promotion dependant

At the time on the nose it seemed slightly oaky (which it is not), nutty and deep. The palate was still zippy, balsy and confident and seemed like an important vintage with a powerful house style, I was guessing 98 or 2002 of houses such as Pol Roger or Roederer. Alas no, cheaper, better value and with a delicious blue label. Not to be mistaken for Piper Hiedsieck or Heidsieck itself. My host hollers "NEXT!"

Fizz 2 Larmandier-Bernier, Blanc de N.V. internet purchase (£30+)

A very prominent nose, again oaky with a touch of manuka honey. The palate was not as full as expected but a very direct bite of citrus. Certainly not as complex as the Charles Heidsieck. Once revealed we discussed the number of times we have had this producer and the bottle variation we have encountered. From shark skin tingling acidity to round and nutty. Unsure whether a shift in house style or whether heatstroke and premature oxidation is the evil.

Red 1- Lucien Barrot 2006 CNDP (£25-£35)

On the nose it had deep earth, slight farmyard and damson bud, but overall it was subtle in character. On the palate the main gripe and feature was tannin with a dry leathery texture that was not unappealing and supported by fresh blackcurrant flavours. The wine was not aggressive but very, very, French in its freshness. Young but not a 10 year ager.

Red 2- Domaine Vieux Telegraph 2004 CNDP (Woodwinters approx £30)

It was lush on the nose with blueberry, raspberry but predominantly dark bramble fruit. This was overlaid with subtle spice, a note of malt vinegar and water treatment was added in to the mix but I wafted over than in rapture of its rustic charm. The palate was very spicy, very big and very bold. Notes of raspberry and blueberry followed from the nose mixed in with a healthy dose of tannin spice. I was guessing a mouvedre and syrah mix, and a young one at that. Not far wrong but will age gracefully into a feral little beast for the next 10 years.

Red 3 – Pesquera, Alejandro Fernandez, 2005, Ribera del Duero. (£19 approx at time of purchase- Oddbins)

This wine has always impressed me and each bottle has tasted completely different. This time my notes said……"farm, 'effing boar poo, hamon, oatmeal, walrus, ibek (notes courtesy of a zoo trip 3 weeks previously) In short this was a natural, earthy, tobacco, interesting nose that was not for the faint hearted. The palate was silky, not smooth in the way of tannins as it still had a dusty grit to it. Complete, mature and generous with regard to fruit flavours and had a very appealing sweet and sour sensation of jammy fruit, earth and prickly acidity. Nice, great to keep if you enjoy gutsy autumnal reds, or drink now for immediate pleasure. Much fuller than the 06.

Red 4- Châteaux Kirwan 2004 Margaux (£33 winedirect.com)

Exuberant on the nose, blackcurrant, milky, dense with a hint of shoe polish. The palate was again rich and dense with an un-mistakable Cabernet hit. Dry but round tannins, old-worldy and long chalky finish all wrapped up in silky silky blackcurrant. It was just getting to the age of developing some more interesting Bordeaux-like aromas and flavours but too young to define. Will drink easily for another decade.

Red 5- Giaconda Shiraz 2002 Warner Vineyard, Victoria, Australia (£60+)

Very very different on the nose to the previous reds, high octane chemical, sage, herby, lemon, hot Mediterranean hill, clove, gorse bush and a hint of aftershave (not mine). The palate was more intense than any of the others with lower perceived tannins, bigger black fruit, sweeter and minty. The texture was milky and with a big hint of blackcurrant, I was guessing a New World Cabernet. Shiraz in the end, but where was the spice? Lovely jubly, but not my style.

Thank you to the P-M-R loving host and to her hangover the next day, I, as we all do, salute you.