Chris Kissack

Last year I drank Champalou's 1996 Vouvray Cuvee Moelleuse with some stilton - it was an ethereal match, and I'm not usually one to get over-fussed about food and wine matching. I would be only too happy to try this again with some Roquefort. BWs Chris

I don't know Rene Renou. Chateau de Fesles which slipped into my list is a Bonnezeaux producer rather than Coteaux du Layon as well. I wasn't thinking straight when I typed that one out. Chris

I think coffee is a fairly common aroma in young Bordeaux. I've found it in many different wines, up to 5 or 6 years of age, very rarely beyond that. I've always assumed it was an oak derived characteristic. Haut Bages Liberal and Cantemerle are two great value properties which I've drunk/tasted several vintages of. Carruades can be great too. I can't help wishing I'd been there. There's little I enjoy more than being able to assess wines in their youth, rather on relying on the opinions of others all the time. What a shame Costco in the UK don't stock the same wealth of young Bordeaux that they seem to do in the US. They can be a good source here, but generally odds and ends of slightly older vintages. The most recent Bordeaux I can remember picking up were Gloria 2000 and Talbot 1996. Chris

For Coteaux du Layon and Chaume the following producers are the creme de la creme: Florent Baumard - who I will be visiting next week. I tasted his 2001 Quarts de Chaume at the weekend and it was truly breathtaking. Chateau Pierre Bise - I met Claude Papin last year and again at the weekend. He crafts lovely wines, very reflective of the terroir. Philippe Delesvaux - a great reputation and I hope to visit here next week also. Other good producers include: Chateau de Fesles Chateau de la Genaiserie Forges Andrew Cady BWs Chris

Surely adverts for wine would always carry price information on a forum such as this. First you suggest hidden motives behind tasting notes, but then you go on to criticise people for not including price information. The two don't go together IMHO. I think tatsing notes generally reflect the pleasure someone has experienced in a wine, hence negative tasting notes are uncommon - unless it is something unusual with the wine which deserves comment. BWs Chris Kissack

I can sense the scrum developing already. I think there will be significant demand for a small selection of wines. I've already decided what I would like to buy based on numerous vintage reports plus knowledge of my favoured properties. I'm sure many though are waiting for Parker's scores. There has been a trickling out of lesser reds, no real top names, but the last 24-48 hours has seen the release of a number of Sauternes/Barsacs and prices comparable to those of the last two years. BWs Chris Kissack

I'm afraid that I've never been convinced by any of the matches suggested for chocolate based dishes. Banyuls is another frquent suggestion, as well as tawny Port, LBV Port, young tannic reds, etc. Like Brad, for me chocolate goes with coffee, not with wine. BWs Chris Kissack

Chateau Fonroque is one of fifty-five Grand Cru Classé properties of St Emilion, as dictated by the St Emilion classification of 1996. Chateau Fonroque came to the Moueix family in 1930, when it was purchased by Jean Moueix. His son, Jean-Pierre Moueix, joined Établissements de Jean-Pierre Moueix that year and took control of mainly the lesser known right bank wines. The business expanded to become a major force in the sale of Bordeaux wine, and Chateau Fonroque - among numerous other properties - was handed down from generation to generation. By 2001 it had come into the hands of Alain Moueix, a dynamic winemaker who has, it seems, quickly stamped his mark on the wine of Chateau Fonroque. This is hardly surprising as his family includes, without doubt, some of the most significant winemakers to emerge from the right bank. In particular his father's cousin, Christian Moueix, who now heads up the family firm, is the man behind both Chateau Petrus in Pomerol and Dominus in California's Napa Valley. Alain Moueix, who also runs Chateau Mazeyres in Pomerol, has set about producing a wine which reflects both the quality of the terroir and the history of the property. The methods which he has employed in order to achieve this, however, are not entirely straightforward. Moueix is a man that respects terroir and his vineyard, and as such believes that a balanced vineyard produces the best wine. He sees the vineyard as an ecosystem, and keeping a healthy, finely tuned ecosystem avoids, according to Moueix, many of the pests and diseases that might otherwise plague the vines. This involves having not only an intimate knowledge of the terroir and soils, but also of the individual needs of the vines and, of course, knowledge of what role the planets and 'electromagnetic currents' may play. All this sounds a little like biodynamics, as practised by Loire Valley stalwart Nicolas Joly and many others, and Moueix admits to having taken some of the concepts of biodynamic viticulture and trying them out at Chateau Fonroque. The vineyards at Chateau Fonroque are predominantly limestone, and the vines are approximately two thirds Merlot and one third Cabernet Franc. The grand vin is Chateau Fonroque, of which there are 6500 cases produced per annum. The wine is aged in oak, 25% new each vintage, for up to 18 months. It is fined but not filtered before bottling. There is no second wine produced. The following notes are actually from a few months ago, but I have just written them up and thought that they might be of interest to someone. The following wines were tasted in November 2003. Chateau Fonroque (St Emilion) 1996: Some very mature aromas on the nose, with plenty of character. The palate is big, a touch oily, but lacks a little finesse of interest if the truth be told. The components are beautifully integrated, however, and the acidity is delightfully fresh. Ready for drinking now. Good. Chateau Fonroque (St Emilion) 1998: Very restrained dark fruit on the nose. There is an earthy, slightly rustic character to the aromas. It is still in a backward phase, with a firm presence of tannin that demand more time in the cellar. Moderate amount of fruit, with more rustic, earthy notes, but some appealing flesh developing through the midpalate. Leave another three to four years at least. Good, potentially very good. Chateau Fonroque (St Emilion) 2000: A sweet, exuberant, black fruit nose. Plenty of texture and rich fruit on the palate. There is very good structure underpinning it all. Another example of what is clearly an excellent vintage. Balanced. A delightful, characterful finish. This needs time though. Leave for six to eight years. Very good, excellent potential. Chateau Fonroque (St Emilion) 2001: A gorgeous nose here, of brilliantly fresh fruit and exotic coffees. Similar appeal on the palate, which has a baby-fat texture but with a balance of tannins and acidity. This is adorable, and a represents a step up in quality compared with older vintages. Drink now or cellar for up to eight years. Excellent. BWs Chris

They are stocked by Berry Bros & Rudd. Sorry I can't provide a link directly to the product page but I am at work and stuck behind a firewall which obviously regards the products on sale at BBR to be unsuitable viewing. The price is in the region of 12 pounds plus VAT if I remember correctly. BWs Chris

Craig Last year a decent proportion of my drinking was Italian, as I purposefully bought up a lot of wines from the classic DOCs and DOCGs of the north in an attempt to refamiliarise myself with these regions. It also makes a good theme for the year for my website. I struggled to find easily available Vino Nobile other than the widely distributed Poliziano. One I did pick up was the 1999 from a producer with whom I was entirely unfamiliar called Boscarelli. A bargain price of about £14/£15 I think, which was the standard price (it's still available in the UK at this price today). A fabulous wine, superb quality, but excellent value for money as well. Of all the Italian wines I tasted last year this one has stuck in my mind more than most I think. Your post has reminded me that I meant to pick up some more! Obviously, from your posting, I will have to keep a look out for subsequent vintages also! BWs Chris

Andre In what way do you think temperature change contributed to this bottle being off? What you described sounds like a corked wine. The development from muted upon opening to the development of the off aromas over the next few minutes to half an hour is typical as the aromas become more prominent after exposure to air/oxygen. The aromas you describe - mould, stagnant water - sound just like TCA. And I often find a bitter note in the finish in corked wines. BWs Chris

Andre Blo*dy shame. Sounds like a classically corked bottle of course. The only solution is to open something else. I don't think we'll see screw-capped Burgundy of this calibre for a loooooong time. I don't usually worry about mouldy cork - provided yoiu are referring to the top of the cork, visible once the capsule is removed. That's often present and bears no relationship to a wine being corked in my experience. BWs Chris Kissack

I disagree. I think they hold some interesting, although pricy, tastings in London. But if you are elsewhere in the country the WS tastings are not worth investigating. I can think of at least three in my area in the last two or three years, two showed off the 'buyer's favourites' - a mere eight or ten basic wines - whereas the other showed the Exhibition range. I attended none as I didn't feel I would learn anything at all from the tatsing, was quite certain that I didn't want to buy any of the wines, and didn't want to pay the admission fee which I felt exceeded the quality of the wines on offer. There are a few benefits of WS membership, which include wide ranging en primeur offers (although there are problems with the en primeur system applied to the WS) and a good list for regional France, Rhone and other areas of Europe. The occasional offer from other regions such as Alsace and Germany can also be useful. The members reserve storage facility is also good, but it is flaws. The problems with the WS include: 1. The en primeur offers are often over subscribed in top vintages. Having requested about ten cases from the Bdx 2000 vintage I was allocated two six-packs. And as the WS are usually last to release their offer if you rely solely on them you are stumped if this happens. 2. I don't think the Bordeaux or Burgundy lists are very good unless you are in the market for mature clarets at an appropriately high price or a very limited selection of Burgundy growers. Strange that what are two of the world's greatest wine regions should be so neglected. 3. Members reserves are fine, but where are the bonded facilities? I store my wine at Vinotheque, where at least I can avoid paying duty and VAT. 4. The supposedly co-operative society behaves more and more like a retailer as every year passes. The en primeur offers are a classic example of this, full of warm and glowing phrases even when the wines aren't up to scratch. I thought a co-operative society had it's members interests at heart, not profit? The Rhone 2002 offer was a brilliant example of ecomony with the truth - a horrible vintage - especially for the south - which the society passed onto it's members using mealy mouthed descriptions. 5. Although I have no personal experience of the committee, I hear and read from others that it is a very closed system, where the committee control who joins as new members, not the ordinary members. This is because when an ordinary members doesn't vote, the committee members can use that vote to elect their favoured candidate (whoever that might be) onto the committee. There are also some reports and suggestions, although I have no knowledge of this, that the committee members enjoy many fine vinous benefits. The society is reputed to have wondeful but small stocks of old vintages which never see the list. Regards Chris Kissack

Jim I confess to not having tried the 2001 Monastrell from Daniel Castano, although I have tasted just about everything else he has produced over the last couple of years as he frequently sends me samples. The 2001 sounds very similar in style to the 2002 which I have tasted, very vibrant and fruit. I was a little surprised when I tasted it, it's not really what I expect from Monastrell/Mourvedre, although it was varietally correct in terms of flavour. The Hecula and Coleccion cuvees are much more my style. You are right to say it is for current drinking - I said the same of the 2002 when I tasted it, at a much younger stage than the 2001 is now. BWs Chris Kissack

I happily confess to having not one bottle of rose in the cellar, although I do occasionally drink one. The wines that appeal to me the most are from Bandol, with Domaine Tempier making one of the most serious roses around. This isn't really summer quaffing stuff, it has the grip and structure of a good white wine. Chateau Pibarnon also make a good rose. Outside of Bandol my knowledge is limited. I know I've come across more poor bottles than good ones where rose is concerned. BWs Chris Kissack