SIX WINES, SIX CONTINENTS

Adrian Glover (pictured) is perturbed by the demands of his arduous journey to bring the finest wines from 6 continents to us at Wine Club.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “Smells like smoking a cigar in a chicken shed” said Tori Herridge (pictured) on the subtleties of this weeks STAR WINE.

Up hill and down dale. Galloping across the plains, sleeping beneath the stars and ravaged by the driest of deserts but they still came. Not for a Milk Tray ad campaign but to touch down at wine club with six fine wines from six vast continents. This months wine club saw volunteer vintellectuals Adrian Glover and Tori Herridge deliver a glorious clutch of vino from across the globe. Only they knew what we were about to taste as the blind tasting began. We drank down our wine with associated tales of beauty, horror, history and war as each bottle told its own tale from the glass. But enough of this tomfoolery. When laid bare, what did wine club really think? In Vino, Veritas! Share our tasting notes below.



CONTINENT: NORTH AMERICA

CUVEE NAPA MUMM BRUT (NON VINTAGE) SPARKLING WINE 12.5% alc. £10.99

Appearance: Medium Gold in colour with a distinct pink element. Medium mousse (bubbles).
Nose:Very biscuity nose and we are getting bruised over ripe apple.
Palate: Hello Summer. Strawberries and summer pudding fruits. Acidity isn’t very high which doesn’t help with the sugar, the alcohol causes a bit of a burn on the throat and this one has a fairly light body. The finish is short and there is more residual sugar than we would like in a Brut champagne.
Conclusion:This wine tastes better than many at twice the price. It is a chardonnay/pinot noir blend and so lacks some of the sophistication you might get with the typical champagnes produced in France (the French blend with pinot meunier in addition). When in Napa last year, we were told that pinot meunier was quite difficult to grow in the Carneros region where much of the champers is produced in California. Wish it was less sweet but this is a solid effort for the price and not a bad one to sip in the Summer. We gave it an 11.5/20 for personality which makes it somewhere between commercially acceptable and good. David Lees liked the ‘phlegmy bubbles’.


CONTINENT: EUROPE

CHAPEL DOWN FLINT DRY NON VINTAGE 11.5%alc £5.99

Appearance: Straw coloured and quite pale.
Nose: Medium intensity on the nose. There is a massive amount of elderflower and a very pronounced smell of petroleum.
Palate: Fruit is not too concentrated but we licked up mouth puckering lime and peach and rose petal water. Aromatic. David got ‘privet flowers’ and I got a touch of grapefruit. Short to medium finish. Super high acidity. This thing doesn’t know what it wants to be. Aromatic but piercing and citric. Out of balance.
Conclusion: When we had this, we thought that the petroleum and peach made it a sure fire old style Riesling but nope. The grape is Bacchus and the wine was from right here in England. But by the time we found out, it was too late as we had already given it an 8/20 putting it in the deficient category. Get yourself a cheap south American plonk. This is like drinking a cup of petrol and then eating the glass.


CONTINENT: AUSTRALASIA

9TH ISLAND PINOT NOIR 2005 13.5%alc £8.99

Appearance: Dark but translucent and considerable legs for a pinot noir.
Nose: Raspberry, cassis, violets and the insides of our noses burned a little. Not a great sign.
Palate: Leather, earthy and young crunchy red fruit on this one. A little astringent, high acidity with the distinct ferrous flavour of blood in the mouth at the end.
Conclusion: We checked to make sure that Adrian wasn’t decanting glasses of AB rhesus negative to the group but no, this Tasmanian pinot noir actually tastes like sucking the blood from your hand through a leather glove. It is a basic wine but some in the group liked it. Got an average rating of 10.5/20 which puts it in the commercially acceptable category.


CONTINENT: SOUTH AMERICA

LUIGI BOSCA RESERVA MALBEC 2004 14%alc £8.99

Appearance:Ruby red. The boys got very excited about the legs on this one. In fact, they were so pronounced, David said that he got more skirt than leg.
Nose:Violets and cassis.
Palate:Cassis, vanilla, prunes. Richard found it had a sensual texture and so as he smiled we knew our Pam was in for a good night! Adrian found it ‘bouncy castle soft’ and I have to agree. The tannins were supple. Burns the throat though and has a sharp burnt toast taste at the end. This is not balanced at all. Medium finish but then burnt tastes seem to hang around longer than they should.
Conclusion: Voluptuous at first and then burnt carcinogen for some whilst the bitter aftertaste didn’t bother others in the group. 13/20 overall which means it is a good wine but I am not so sure. We have been a bit generous with this one I think. None of chocolate that we like from malbecs. Shame!


CONTINENT: ASIA

CHATEAU MUSAR 1999 14%alc £13.99

STAR WINE OF THE TASTING

Appearance:A sedimentary wine. We wondered if someone had trawled the bottom of a lake for this one. It was cloudy when first poured but settled down nicely. It is brick red in colour indicating some nice age.
Nose:Low intensity on the nose. Some found it a little farmyardy but the key smell was mercapto ethanol with a touch of smoke.
Palate:A medicinal iodine smell in the background, fig, licorice, rustic but supple tannins, more earthy than fruity. Another few sips and we were getting wood smoke, a slightly perfumed sandelwood and through that full body came PARSNIPS. Yup, Tori said the word and we all said “that is what it is!”. Lingering finish and wonderful acidity means that this could be kept in cellar even longer (if you could stand to be without it).
Conclusion:This wine demands your attention. It is not muzac that you can keep on in the bakground. It wants to be the centre of attention. Not that it couldn’t stand up to some food. This wine is powerful and triumphant and a real credit to the Lebanon. Chateau Musar is a unique wine made by Serge Hochar in the Bekaa Valley, 12 miles north of Beirut near the 18th century castle of Ghazir. The grapes are Cabernet Sauvignon, Cinsault, Carignan, Grenache and Mourvedre i.e. the southern Rhone meets a little Bordeaux. The wine ages well (10yrs recommended by producers) and is only made in years when the area is not being soundly bombed. During times of real unrest, they can find nobody to process the grapes. We loved the wine and then we loved the story. A resounding 16/20 puts it in the excellent category. Go to Sainsbury’s and BUY SOME IMMEDIATELY.


CONTINENT: AFRICA

KLEIN CONSTANTIA ESTATE WINE
VIN DE CONSTANCE 2001 14.8%alc £28.00

Appearance:Deep golden colour.
Nose:Apricots and quince.
Palate:Apricot, butterscotch, sweet melon and candied pineapple. The acidity is huge and cuts through that sugar (135g/l) very well. Every sip brings a new flavour. The massive acidity will allow you to cellar this one for a while. There was a maple flavour that some didn’t like. You really need to have this one ICE cold.
Conclusion: This wine is a recreation of what was once produced in the Konstantia vineyards of South Africa starting in the 17th century. Steeped in history this wine was written about by Baudelaire, Charles Dickens and in Sense and Sensibility, Jane Austen wrote that a heroine should try a little Constantia for ‘its healing powers on a disappointed heart’. Napolean downed more than a few bottles whilst he was in exile in St. Helena but phylloxera decimated the vineyards of the Muscat de Frontignan grape (Muscat blanc a petitis grains) in the 19th centruy. In 1986, Simon van der Stel re introduced the wine to the world and has been scooping up some solid reviews and high scores ever since. We gave it an average of 14.5/20 for excellent but were disappointed with the price. Almost 30 pounds for 50cl (a ¾ bottle) is not on in this day and age. You can get some sensational dessert wines for half the price. Love the history, tasted good but at this price, it is more of a novelty wine than one I intend to drink again. David loved it and gave it a 17.

Join us next month for more wine fun with "Wine in the Movies".