Weekly Wine...Spain and beyond...

Yesterday I was excited to head out to taste one of Spain’s greatest wines, Vega Sicilia from Ribera-del-Duero. Alas it was the troubled 2002 Vintage and that proved to be hugely disappointing. It is really so below the standard from this extraordinary Estate that forget the R.R.P. in excess of £ 250.00 a bottle, I don’t even see this as a £ 100.00 wine. Even the separate Alión Estate is supposed to be north of £ 50.00. I just cannot see any merit in stocking these and advising you to buy. This year at least we will pass.

At the other end of the price scale in Spain we were sufficiently impressed with the Urbina Rioja and will likely stock some 1998 & 1999 Reserva and the 1994 Gran Reserva. Detailed tasting notes and prices to follow next week.

“Last call for Burgundy 2010”

By the end of this week (tomorrow) I will have wrapped-up our 2010 Red Burgundy orders so let me know if you have overlooked this one.

Weekly indulgence:

A single, solitary, lone bottle of 

Château d’Yquem 1961 Sauternes 1er Cru Éxceptionnel at £ 475.00

A phenomenal year for Bordeaux Reds, not to the same degree for Sauternes but a pretty historic bottle, in great condition and fun if you were born in 1961.

Silly season

In this weather I would be a fool to dilly dally, so no time for a silly season this week, I’m am heading off for the set lunch at nearby Portobello Pizza and to catch a bit of sun on my pasty face!

January's pick...

Jancis Robinson has just written rather favourably about “our” Jean Daneel “Signature” Chenin Blanc. She e-mailed yesterday from high above Australia to say that it she sufficiently enthusiastic about it to make her top wines of January. On the weekend a customer was similarly enthusiastic about the Ken Forrester Meinert Chenin Blanc, called “The FMC”. It is undeniably seductive in comparison with its creamy new oak hit but I think not as complex (and probably not as age worthy) as the Jean Daneel. Still, we will pitch the two against each other one night next week and have them open for customers to drop by the Shop and decide for themselves.

Id est, strongly worth re-visiting:

Jean Daneel “Signature” Chenin Blanc 2009

Swartland, South Africa

at £ 20.00 per Bottle

“Fermented and aged in Napier in French barriques. Very vibrant nose in which honeyed fruit uttery

triumphs over any oak. A light touch. Very concentrated flavour but not at all heavy. Great balance.

Drank well over three nights! And if anything was better for decanting. Refreshing and succulent.

Long and complete. 17/20 points – Jancis Robinson.”

Silly Season:

Well, as I see it, Harry Rednapp has just two options. Take the England job, win the World Cup and Arise Sir ‘Arry. A true legend. Or he doesn’t win the World Cup and eventually the U.K. Press will grind him down, do him down at every turn and he will end up like Glenn Hoddle, Kevin Keegan; Sven Göran Erikson; Graham Taylor; Terry Venables; Steve McLaren.

Congratulations Rupert Murdoch. I concede that you are perhaps the single biggest influence in giving the Premiership giving us a visual feast, certainly compared to the muddy hacking that much of 1970’s English Football was. Yet I firmly believe that the other side of that very same coin will mean that Glasgow Rangers will be one of many. A truly mixed legacy.

Last week I was fortunate enough to attend the Preview of the comprehensive Lucian Freud Exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery. Not because of the great and the good who were there but because most of the suits (as opposed to the arty set) were huddled in the front foyer sipping Champagne. That freed up the paintings to be viewed in relative peace and ample space. Repeatedly I even found myself alone in a room of a dozen or more Freuds and what utter luxury to view without peering over Japanese tourists or rows of anoraks. Miss Middleton arrived to a major assault of paparazzi flash bulbs and in a similar vein I emerged a few hours later to a blaze of flickering lights but alas dull orange that was merely the back end of a City of Westminster dumper truck. Therein lies the subtle difference! After the first half-a-dozen portraits, my guest paused and said “this is so potent and intense, I could leave fully content right now”. I agreed, it was a treat just to see half-a-dozen. There were another a hundred to go. Freud has a reputation of often being harsh and coarse and in isolation at best unflattering to the sitter, at worst, cruel. Viewing this weight of pictures and in sequence I would have to say that I no longer agree with that common view. Historic portraiture was primarily to flatter. Freud simply draws out and pin points the individual or multiple insecurities and let’s be honest, if it was of me, it wouldn’t be a pretty picture either!! One of God’s little ironies: a painter can paint any face in the world but the only face that they will never ever see (only a mirror image or facsimile) is their own. Every day you are with your face, yet you won’t ever see it. In that, I think Lucian never actually fully nailed his self-portraiture. A few of his sitters I know and to me he unmistakably nails them. Of himself, I am not convinced. Staggering though that they still are. Just a tiny difference. Whatever preconceptions you carry of Lucian Freud, this Exhibition should go some way to changing your view. In a sense so simple but for that a monumental and forceful body of work and quite frankly, you’d be an idiot to miss it! To save you looking it up, call 0844 248 5033 for tickets (£ 14 or so).

Toodle pip.

Tuggy Meyer

Bottle-aged South African &...

Last week I tried a decently bottle-aged (2004) South African Bordeaux blend. Invariably a “Bordeaux blend” from anywhere outside of, Bordeaux, means it is in truth a second string example. Generally why would you. There are several that buck the trend but in reality that is a very small percentage. I stumbled across the Morgenhof Estate and was immediately impressed. Certainly when you put into context the £ 22.00 price tag, this is a really worthwhile alternative and “Bordeaux blend”! Having taken to this wine I was pleasantly surprised to find later that the winemaker at this Estate between 1992 and 1999 was none other than Jean Daneel. A winemaker we consider amongst the Cape’s finest.

Morgenhof  Estate “Bordeaux Blend” 2004 Stellenbosch, South Africa at £ 22.00 per Bottle.

65% Cabernet-Sauvignon

25% Merlot

4% Cabernet-Franc

6% Merlot

One gets terrific Vintage variation in Bordeaux and so too with this Estate.

It really makes a difference with the final percentage blends of the four grape varieties.

The 2005for instance  is less Cabernet, more Merlot, more than double the Franc, only a third of the Malbec!

Like Bordeaux, we have preferred Vintages and that’s why I plumped for the 2004 here.

This is absolutely at the perfection of maturity: soft, supple, gentle, so smooth.

No strong oak, just charming fruit and well integrated. No rough edges, just comforting.

In stock tomorrow.

“Huntsworth-handbag amnesty”

We are totally out. New batch on order but still a few weeks away. Any returns would be very useful and £1 off your next order!

Weekly indulgence:

Calvados Réserve (Non Vintage) by Christian Drouin at £ 44.00 per Bottle

On and off through the year we get people come in and ask for something obscure that A) we don’t have space for and B) I simply don’t like.

Thus we don’t and won’t have it. One of the few things that we are asked for that I do like is Calvados. If you like apples and pears and alcohol…

Next week

Highly recommended to me by Steve “Stevie Wonder” Pryer we have a few cases of the Ara Single Estate, Marlborough, New Zealand Sauvignon-Blanc. Cheap as chips and will be under a tenner. Next week I’ll divulge how much I agree with him! Also, Spain has been a bit of a gap for us as we generally seek the Classic Vintages (1994-1998-2001-2004…) and when they sell out we have to wait ‘til the next Classic. We are trying a host of Spaniards right now so should have some positive finds and news over the next few weeks.

Silly Season:

Well a couple of weeks back now but I was very pleased to see that the RBK&C got a bloody nose over firing a traffic warden for not issuing enough parking tickets. Though I have fought them on the issue for many years just pleasing to get some public recognition that these people have a track record of abusing their remit.

Not because we lost (deservedly so) but I really struggle to think if more than half the dismissals in a Cricket Test Match being L.B.W. will actually benefit the game long-term. Brilliant bowling occasionally leads to a three day Test instead of five day but at this rate, three days Tests will surely become the norm. There is nothing more satisfying as a fast bowler than comprehensively dismissing a batsman by cart-wheeling his off-stump right out of the ground. Getting six L.B.W.’s in ten wickets to me however is, just not Cricket. I didn’t think England would get off to such a disastrous start against Pakistan (maybe the boys thought Dubai was simply a holiday) but I did earlier predict that England would have a very poor Summer ahead. What on earth is the E.C.B. thinking about in, between now and July, committing England to playing five different Test nations and in and out of all three formats (Test; One-Day; 20-20)? Pakistan – Sri Lanka – West Indies – Australia – South Africa. I asked one former England player yesterday what his thoughts were and I would list them but I don’t think they would pass your Companies’ e-mail security filters! I wonder if somebody at the E.C.B. is destined for a large bonus for this bizarre schedule?

Davina McCall. O-M-G. And trust me, this is the first time I have used “O.M.G.”. Not even in text speak. For some reason the other night I found myself watching “The Million Pound Drop” (I can pretend my T.V. set was simply frozen to that Channel). Sadistically preying upon peoples greed and vanity as most prime time television aspires to but why-o-why is Davina McCall fronting this programme? It is only when you watch how truly inept, stuttering (er before and after every comment or, occasionally, an actual sentence) and embarrassing she was that I began to appreciate the gauche and tacky likes of Chris Tarrant and Bruce Forsyth etc. who proliferate prime time. They are I now see actually damn good at what they do, however bad taste it might be. When I was a kid, a celebrity had some overt talent. Room 101 please…

With the clutch of Oscar hopefuls I thought it’d be a good time to nip out and see “War Horse”. Basically a succession of set pieces with a big dollop of saccharin from time to time but still of sufficient overall merit. The first and overly long twenty minutes was more like a Disney film. Not what one would anticipate from Steven Spielberg. He also seemed obsessed with recreating a sort of “Gone With The Wind” sunset scene over the farmyard. Did I cry? I’m not going to answer that!

It is rumoured that a couple who met for the first time at one of our Wine Tastings are now engaged to be married. I suddenly feel all grown-up and responsible.

Freud’s paint splatters tonight, I’ll let you know how they looked next week. Equally excited about Andrew Edmunds and a couple of Burgundies afterwards. For those few who don’t know, I hasten to add that I’m excited about the Restaurant not Mr. Edmunds!

Tuggy Meyer

Thinking Pink & changing Vintages...

Pretty in Pink:

In this bitter cold I should surely be comforting myself with a beautifully aged Amarone yet I am about to trudge off to the West End to sample Champagne. Perhaps only a mere 50 or so today. We of course have the J.M.Gobillard Rosé and will be about to ship the R. & H. Lamotte Rosé but I need a good replacement for our now deceased Henriot 2002 Rosé . Hopefully in sufficient time for St-Valentine’s and I will duly Tweet any clear winners.(follow us on @Huntsworthwine)  Way early in this Russian blast of course but by chance I was sampling just yesterday the new vintage of the Château de l’Aumerade “Cuvée Marie Christine”, the Provence Rosé in the distinctive bottle and am keen to report that it is really good so we will definitely include that with the usual suspects as soon as the thermometer is set to climb.

Burgundy 2010:

We sent out our offer last Friday and a few wines have indeed disappeared (Jean-Marie Fourrier sold-out; Sylvain Cathiard still good…) but from the almost forty or so wines listed, there is still ample picks to choose from.

Changing Vintages:

Picpoul de Pinet 2010 Domaine Félines Jourdan (£ 9.50) – YES!

An unequivocal thumbs up. Tried last week and the 2010 is better than the 2009. I’ll probably feature this in isolation next week.

Langhe Nebbiolo 2010 Produttori di Barbaresco, Piedmont (£ 17.00) – YES!

After the terrific success and ease of the 2009 Vintage this was always going to be a tough act to follow. Not as overt on those herb, spicy, tobacco,

undergrowth characteristics that epitomize much of Piedmont but a more delicate and more refined version with the merest hint to Burgundy. A worthy change.

Badia A Passignano 2007 Chianti Classico Riserva, Tuscany (£ 33.00) – YES!

Likewise, after the very successful 2004 Vintage I was worried about a drop in quality. No fears here. Basically St-Julien comes to Chianti shire.

Layered, elegant, structured, Sangiovese yes but Bordeaux like in all other aspects.

Bourgogne “Les Sétilles” 2010 Olivier Leflaive – NO, for now!

Unfortunately for now, a thumbs down. It could “fatten” out in the bottle but for now too flighty when compared to the successful 2009. I’ll re-taste in 3 months.

Pulenta “Gran Corte” VII 2008 Mendoza, Argentina - TO TRY SHORTLY.

The 2007 predominantly Malbec was the perfect match for a juicy steak. Need to try and see if as good and thus worth continuing.

Réserve de Gassac Blanc “Sélection Guibert” 2011 Vin de pays de l’Hérault - TO TRY SHORTLY.

Usually terrific value from the renowned Mas de Daumas stable. Need to try this way young 2011 and will report.

L’Hortus de Bergerie “Cuvée Classique” 2010 Pic St-Loup, Languedoc - TO TRY SHORTLY.

A couple of vintages of this have shown sensational value but need to chart how good the 2010 is.

*

“Silly Season”:

Well, they say you have to laugh at yourself. Perhaps a smidgen easier just after a 3-1 win. Apart from some F.A. Cup glory in the early ‘80’s Spurs have had to laugh at themselves for almost fifty years now. In that vein I received an e-mail yesterday about Spurs’ new away kit. A certain mug shot of Harry Rednapp and his bulldog. Happy to forward if you haven’t already seen it and would like a chuckle.

“Sherlock Holmes: A game of Shadows” – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle it is not. Jude Law in Dr Watson, he is not. Pretty entertaining but quite insane. Take Sherlock Holmes and chuck in the Bourne Supremacy and you might get somewhere close. Still, t’other night I reverted to that old classic “Citizen Kane”. I do wonder how many times Rupert Murdoch has seen it and what he might think of it. I did also go and see “J.Edgar” and have to say little Caprio’s performance was quite big. Once you got past the distinctive voice in the first twenty or so minutes he does lob in a pretty impressive performance. And the padding around him, unlike in the Iron lady, is significantly better.

This Saturday:

The Calcutta Cup (Scotland versus England) Late kick-off is at 5.00 p.m. and should be on in the Shop.

Plus of course France versus Italy (aka South Kensington versus Chelsea) @ 2.30 p.m.