primowino

I haven't read the whole thread,so someone may have said this. If you are going to have a tasting, you need to think about the order in which you drink the whiskies, a bit like drinking white wines, then red, then dessert in a wine tasting. Most importantly if you are trying Islay malts drink these last because you won't pick up the nuances of other whiskies after a couple of those. Scotch single malts tend to be grouped into different areas (Islay, Highland, Lowland, Speyside etc) and you should probably try to find examples of each that are supposedly characteristic. If you want me to throw one name in the bag as my favourite I would say The Balvenie 12 Year Old "Doublewood" (they also make a 10 and a 15 year old). It is a classic speyside. If you can't get that the standard Macallan rahter than your cask strength would be a good choice.

The ligurians seem to use Swiss Chard with a variety of white fish and I have also seen several references to a traditional pie made with Swiss Chard and Ricotta. The latter sounds unusual, hopefully I'll give it a try when I stay near Recco next month.

This is a fairly French style SB, especially as it comes from the heart of New Zealand SB production, just down the road from Cloudy Bay. The main flavours I got from this were gooseberry and asparagus ( I often taste this in SBs that are part way between Loire and typical New Zealand style). However, the most prominent characteristic is the searing acidity which reminded me of some of the young Australian Rieslings I've had. This acidity was a slight problem with my first bottle as it was drunk without food and I think most people would find the acidity overpowering. The second bottle of wine came into its own with pasta and a tomato based sauce, when I started to notice flavours I hadn't picked up before and found it very pleasant. This wine retails for around £11 in the UK and won a silver medal at the 2003 IWC. Their standard 2002 Marlborough SB won a gold and from its description is probably more typical of the region. The Winemakers Reserve is a quality wine and I enjoyed it very much with food. I suppose in a perfect world you would drink this wine with food and the standard "cuvee" without.

Thanks for the notes. I quoted Valencay and good demi-sec Vouvray as my favourite match in a recent topic, glad someone agrees. Sorry for three entries the same, my PC is playing games with me.

Thanks for the notes. I quoted Valencay and good demi-sec Vouvray as my favourite match in a recent topic, glad someone agrees.

Thanks for the notes. I quoted Valencay and good demi-sec Vouvray as my favourite match in a recent topic, glad someone agrees.

I'm with Adam on this one. In my experience Zinfandels never have enough body or depth of flavour to cope with the level of alcohol, so the overriding character is the fire of the alcohol. However, Adam and I live in the UK and may be drinking your dregs.

I'm with Adam on this one. In my experience Zinfandels never have enough body or depth of flavour to cope with their level of alcohol, so the overriding experience is the fire of the alcohol. However we both live in the UK and may be drinking your dregs.

Petrol is a very characteristic aroma of riesling, especially Germans. It doesn't normally start to appear until the wine is a bit older than this one, when this characteristic slowly replaces the citrusy character of the young wine. Because of this very distinct taste and aroma people tend to either love or hate mature rieslings.

And very importantly choose the right varietals for your terroir, rather than whatever is fashionable. He seems to have done just that.

I have also found this surprising lightness in the three (I think) VT gewurztraminer's I have drunk. Not as ethereal as my beloved moelleux vouvrays but getting there. On the Maury, I agree with you about not necessarily pairing it with chocolate. I shared a bottle of this in a restaurant recently and most people were having chocolate based desserts and the wine is just too light. It was very pleasant when I tried some before digging into the desserts but I think the chocolate thing is just people's desperation to find wines to drink with their chocolate. My recommendation would be don't bother. If you want a nice dessert wine, drink it and then eat your chocolate pud - not the other way around. Thanks for the notes. the sheep shit on my boots is usually from the Lake District but I think it smells the same.

I'm not allergic to Zinfandels, I just never seem to like them. Maybe we don't get good examples here in the UK, but my overriding reaction is usually that the wine has not enough body and/or depth of flavour to overcome the level of alcohol. Do you get lower alcohol level examples to try in the US or are they all 13 - 15%?

One of my favourite combos is a bit different than anything else mentioned. I am a fan of good quality Vouvray - cheap Vouvray can be pretty nasty. Demi-sec examples from good producers ( Huet, Champalou, Gaudrelle etc) and preferably a few years old, go well with a variety of soft and semi-soft cheeses, but my favourite is with French goat's cheese particularly Valencay.

A large and fairly reliable Australian producer which now use screwtops on all their white wines is Lehmann (or Peter Lehmann). They are based in the Barossa Valley and really specialise in Shiraz, so if these begin to appear under screwtops you should get some.

Sorry Craig, I'm probably completely wrong but I thought I'd read that they had experimented by adding merlot in the 99. Unfortunately I can't find any reference to that now and in fact there is very little information about the wine or producer on the web. I also have a bottle of 1998 which I plan to drink soon unless you think it will improve further.

If you get the Torres wines from Penedes, Spain in the US, their standard merlot "Atrium", without being outstanding is pretty good value at about £7 a bottle.

This wine is an unusual blend of Barbera and Merlot from producers Felice Coppo in Monferrato, Piedmont. I'm not sure what wine making techniques are used but it is a very intense wine a bit like an Amarone. There are however a wider range of fuit flavours with the sharper lighter red berry flavours of the Barbera with something thicker and deeper presumably from the Merlot. Despite the fruit flavours it is very savoury and very long. The bottles also have the coolest black labels with red block writing, which looks like something serious mafiosas would produce. Does anybody know whether Felice Coppo produce any other wines and what they're like, this one was good value at about £15.

This used to be the case but here in the UK we see a lot of lower grades of AOC wine with grape varietal indicated, most commonly with Chardonnay or Pinot Noir for basic Bourgogne AOC. The French obviously think they need to do this to sell these wines to a generation brought up on varietal-named New World wines. The best example of non-French viognier I have had was from Australian producer Yalumba and was simply called Viognier in their Y-series. It was about £10 and was pretty intense with definite apricot tones and enough acidity not to leave any cloying aftertaste.

I know everyone's taste is different and some people will love everything oaky, including the horrible chards we're discussing, while others don't go near ports and riojas etc because they are not "pure" enough. But in answer to the question, I think for most people oak works when the body and power of other flavours in the wine are sufficient not to be overpowered. So port and full bodied reds can take more oak, and still taste good, than a chardonnay for instance. Some oak also seems to taste nicer than others but maybe it's just the wine they're in. The problem of over-oaked chardonnay isn't restricted to the New World in my opinion. I have been very disappointed by some Grand Cru Chablis and even Meursault because, even with several years age, the over-riding character was oak. The problem is unless you do your research and the information is available it is sometimes difficult to know which burgundian producers are oakheads. When the style is to my taste, white burgundy (including Chablis) is the real thing.

I have three bottles of 1992 Taylors that I was hoping to keep till my eldest child was at least 18. I have heard more than once that it is drinking well already. Do you think there is a risk that it will be past its best at 18-21 years old?

For a decent affordable sparkler, I'm surprised no Americans are mentioning the basic Cuvee Napa Mumm (blanc or rose). In the UK, surprisingly for a Californian wine it is pretty good value at around £11 a bottle - often reduced to £9 if you shop around. I've found it very reliable and possibly the nearest thing to champagne at the price.

Thanks for the great article Craig. I have a bottle of Cerbaiona Brunello 1994 waiting to be drunk. I believe this is a pretty good producer, but as the vintage is only moderate for Brunello (true?) I suspect I don't need any more patience. What do you think?

Clos Naudin is very good, but the other top Vouvray producer is Huet and they are much easier to find, certainly here in the UK. I have had delicious moelleux (sweet) and demi-sec Huet's from several vintages, the highlight being a 1962 Clos du Bourg Moelleux. Even the demi-secs get better for decades.

The producers full name is Castello di Volpaia and they are based at Radda in Chianti. This wine was a reminder of how great 1997 was in Tuscany and is at a perfect age. The tannins have mellowed to a level where they provide a smooth backbone to the wine. Smooth is the word I would associate most with this wine - and in this case that doesn't equate to dull. The cherries are there, but to describe them as bitter is unfair on the wine, I think the bitter taste is more characteristic of younger non-Riserva chiantis. In addition to the mellow tannins, the oak has added a lovely depth to the wine with background vanilla (cherry and vanilla - that sounds like a good idea for a soda pop). I drank the first glass from the bottle without food, half an hour after opening. As everyone else was glugging their second G&T I savoured the warmth and depth and struggled to keep a grin off my face. Chianti is one of my favourite wine styles and this is an excellent example, from a relatively inexpensive producer - I think this bottle could be bought on release for about £12.

Glad to hear it, as I have a couple of bottles of the stuff and planned on drinking it when my youngest son (born in 1999) is 18 and 21. Any comments on whether it will stand the test of time?