Articles

WINE MERCHANTS OR SUPERMARKETS?

 

My final epistle from the UK before our return to the sunshine is largely a reflection on my wine buying experiences here in the UK, but it is still relevant to readers in Spain – in fact, readers all over the world where there are choices regarding where to buy your wine.

 

Put simply, though I’ll expand on this shortly – I don’t just ‘highly recommend’, in fact I implore you to buy your wines from wine merchants whenever you have the opportunity, and if you don’t have it, please make it!

 

I once went to a splendid, celebrated Country House Hotel in the Lake District of the UK some 25 years ago. At dinner I was amazed, and rather disappointed to see that, of the 24 or so white wines listed, about 20 of them were Chardonnay! Variety? Balance?

 

I accepted of course that business was business, and Chardonnay produces were surfing their own products all across Britain in those days – many readers will remember this, I’m sure. Hotels and restaurants had to pander to the demands of the market, but, for me, this was ridiculous.

 

Fast forward a quarter of a century, and yesterday, as indeed it was every time I walked into a supermarket, when I approached the white wine shelves I was confronted with a veritable army of Sauvignon Blanc bottles. Sauvignon Blanc full stop! If looking for variety, there were, I admit, examples of Sauvignon Blanc from several different countries, but it’s still SB (as we heard it referred to a number of times!).

 

So, the grape variety has changed from Chard (I can abbreviate too you know!) to SB, but the principle is the same. There is far too little choice in supermarkets!

 

TBH (To Be Honest – ok, I’ll stop now!), I’m not sure who is driving whom – is it the distributors or the wine commentators who are responsible for this homogenous glut? My wine writing colleagues here in the UK are invited to all of the various press//trade tastings, mostly by the UK based distributors acting on behalf of the producers with whom they work all over the world.

 

I would like to think that most of these trade tastings offer many, or at least, several different wine styles, grape varieties etc, so there should be a variety of articles born of each writer’s own preferences. However, at such tastings, the supermarket buyers will also be present. Enter the dreaded ‘price point’. It is not just the buyer’s palate that makes the decision as to which to buy, it’s all about the base, profit!

 

The waters muddy, and I can’t see through them, except to say that the result is somehow that supermarket shelves are full of whatever the distributors/writers want us to drink – and like lambs to the SB, we do what we are told. And, of course, consumers ‘get a taste’ for Sauvigning, and so the cycle continues.

 

Well, it didn’t with me, anyway!

 

I boldly went to find the lamentably lonely, deserted bottles of: Chenin Blanc, Viognier, Albariño, Godello (I was delighted to see this Spanish variety available in a quiet corner!), etc, albeit occasionally akin to ‘mission impossible’! But, supermarkets please note, these ‘weird’ varieties were invariably well received!

 

On just one occasion in the UK (in fact the town where I grew up, and even more nostalgically, in Majestic Wine Merchants which now occupies the site where my father worked, Tottey’s Garage, 60+ years ago) I was able to enter the Aladin’s Cave of a wine merchant.

 

It’s true, I did see Sauvignon Blanc (and Chardonnay) – but what a wealth of other grape varieties and blends of! It was a pleasure to roam the aisles and select from such a vast variety. Wine Merchants offer true consumer choice – supermarkets don’t. I rest my case!

WHAT’S NOT TO LIKE ABOUT SHERRY?

 

Known as ‘Sack’ in Shakespeare’s time and, for reasons of balance (Shakespeare wasn’t the only great writer of his time, and you know that journalists are always strictly impartial!), as Xeres in that of the Bard’s contemporary, Cervantes, Sherry (itself an English corruption of the Arabic name for Jerez, Xeres) was a staple drink in much of the known world.

 

It isn’t today – but it should be!

 

Efforts are being made to put Sherry back to where it was, and where it should be, in terms of market share of the wine world. Although, personally, I shy away from Sherry Cocktails, designed to enfranchise the youth of today and thus dispel once and for all the misconception that Sherry is a drink for Granny and Aunt Maude, I understand the reasoning behind this promotional push.

 

I feel the same about Champagne and Cava Cocktails – for me it’s all wine abuse! Let’s drink Sherry and enjoy it for what it is, a perfectly palatable drink on its own without dressing it up in pretense!

 

Whilst some have deserted Sherry, in favour of more hip drinks, I’ve never left it – there’s always some in my fridge and in my wine cooler. I’m a big fan of Amontillado and Oloroso, which, in their natural state are dry and not sweetened for the so-called British palate, and I very often prepare dinner with a glass of Fino on the go!

 

However, whilst I still really enjoy Fino, that very dry, super-fresh, slightly salty, fortified wine which is the colour of water (be careful, don’t down it in one by mistake!), in the last couple of years it has been taken to the next level! Enter Gonzalez Byass Tío Pepe Fino En Rama’!

 

Translating, roughly, to ‘raw’, ‘En Rama’ is Fino without all the clarification and filtration to which regular sherries are subjected. Extracted from the barrels directly, from between the ‘flor’ (the yeast that forms a thin layer on top of the wine as it ages in cask) and any sediment at the bottom of the barrel, En Rama is bottled almost without filtration at all. Hence En Rama Sherry is in its most natural state, and with a wholly different, soft golden colour!

 

If asked to identify this wine simply by sight, if it were pored into a white wine glass, you’d be forgiven for thinking it to be, perhaps Chardonnay! Take a whiff though, and wow – it’s so good! You’ll find some yeasty, almost patisserie notes, along with a slight whiff of sea breeze, and then some blanched almond aromas and flavour. Hold the wine on your palate and let it work its magic!

 

My friends at Gonzalez Byass also sent me two other bottles of sherry, each absolutely exemplary of their style – Amontillado and Oloroso.

 

Viña AB (in fact the AB are linked together, as in the photo, but my  computer won’t let me do that!) Amontillado is named after Andrés Botaina, the original owner of the vineyard that supplied the grapes for this wonderful sherry.

 

Darker than the above, as it has spent twice as much time in barrel (about 10 years) being slowly oxidized, giving the colour as well as the wholly different aromas and flavours. Traditionalists will tell you that this wine is perfectly paired with ‘Ave’, fowl, in all its forms, and I’d go along with that, but I’d add to it as well. Enjoy this wine with Comté cheese (and others), with artichokes (now that’s unusual!), mushroom risotto, (with a drizzle of truffle oil, even better!) and asparagus.

 

There are hazelnuts on the nose and the palate, plus a smoky yeasty presence too, with dry-fried almonds and under-ripe (and therefore not sweet) figs. It’s lovely, really lovely!

 

Finally (though there is a large range of Sherry at Gonzalez Byass, of course) I just loved their Oloroso – which translates to fragrant, and that’s exactly how you’d describe Gonzalez Byass Alfonso Dry Oloroso! It’s nutty, on the nose, with caramalised notes, endearing it immediately to almonds, fried in a very little olive oil and lightly sprinkled with sea salt – roasted chestnuts too. Also, Jamon Serrano, in all its different styles, is just about perfect with this wine!

 

Sherry rocks!

 

(My thanks to SherryNotes whom I used for research).

ENGLISH SPARKLING WINE – THE JAVEA CONNECTION!

 

Javea, that three-part harmony of a town, on the Costa Blanca, which nestles between the, historically, more famous, Denia, and the ever more chic, Moraira, is famous for the sum of its parts.

 

El Pueblo, affectionately referred to by the Brits as, the Old Town, sits atop a hill, whose crowning glory is its blue and white tiled church dome overseeing: the indoor market, the tranquil plaza and a labyrinth of donkey-wide, sloping, atmospheric streets; El Puerto, with its tide-smoothed pebble beach, lovely marine walk and cool shops; plus, of course, La Playa Arenal, whose golden sands and palm trees look out onto the fabulous turquoise coloured bay.

 

However, Javea can also lay claim, in part at least, to have had a hand in the rise, and rise of English Sparkling Wine! A past, long time resident of Javea, Anton Massel, now located in Germany, I think, was actually instrumental in starting the now burgeoning English (and Welsh) Sparkling Wine industry!

 

Anton, a friend, colleague and business partner of mine some 15 years ago is well known amongst wine types on the Costa Blanca as the founder of the Costa Blanca Wine Society. A renowned, oft published wine writer, and wine-maker and consultant of his time, he also had a fine reputation in Germany and other western European countries. Plus, although I didn’t know it until I walked into the head offices of the International Wine & Spirits Competition several years ago, for my first appearance on the judging panel, Anton Masel was also the founder of the IWSC, still one of the three most prestigious international wine competitions!

 

English Sparkling Wine was first produced in about 1955 – the history is murky. Wine production in the UK, historically the preserve of monasteries and noblemen, had virtually died out between the two World Wars, certainly on a commercial scale, and there were only a few who had the wherewithal and the courage to restart. Most wines were made with German varieties, considered hardy enough to withstand the British climate, albeit in the south of England, and Wales. And almost invariably they were still wines.

 

Fast forward a couple of decades and enter our hero Anton Massel who was working as wine consultant and wine-maker for Sir Guy Salisbury-Jones who had readily agreed to Anton’s suggestion that they make a traditional method Sparkling Wine using the Champagne variety, Chardonnay, of which Sir Guy had some modest plantings. The experiment was a success and others took note, though it wasn’t until the late 80s that a new generation of winemakers began to eschew the hardy Muller Thurgau, Reichensteiner and La Seyval varieties in favour of Chardonnay (following Anton’s pioneering work), Pinot Noir and Pinot Meurnier.

 

There followed a number of successes in wine competitions and especially at the IWSC in 1992 and again in 1998.

 

Readers will perhaps have heard of, and sampled(?), Nytember the English Sparkling Wine that started to win glory at blind international fizz tastings, competing against Champagne and top Cava, in the 2000s. Nowadays, Chapel Down, Furleigh, Ridge View, Langham and many others are up there competing for the gongs.

 

Indeed, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, turned over part of her Great Windsor Estate to the planting of vines in 2011, the resulting sparkling wines were made available at the start of 2017. The 3,000 bottle only production was put on the market by Laithwaites, in fact in a three-bottle presentation case priced at only 75 pounds – which, as you might imagine, sold out immediately!

 

English Sparkling Wine is served on BA First Class flights and a recent directive to all the British Embassies across the world stated that English Sparkling Wine must be served to visiting dignitaries!

 

So cheers to Anton, and cheers to Javea too!

 

ET TU, BRUT?

 

Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, in case you were wondering. However, it’s the Brut part of the quote to which I refer in this, the Costa News Wine Column, Cork Talk which, in September, will have chalked up its 20^th year!

 

However, at the time of writing, I’m a considerable distance from the Costas of Spain. It’s not quite raining, though it’s been forecast for later, and we’ve certainly seen enough of the wet stuff since our arrival in the UK two weeks ago! Whilst we’ve been wet often, indeed drenched twice, it hasn’t dampened our spirits, nor those of the friends and family whom we’ve visited thus far – the wine, often sparkling, has been flowing!

 

Knowing my antipathy towards the P-word (Prosecco, that imposter and would-be usurper!), we’ve not yet been served any of the ubiquitous, almost invariably too-sweet Italian fizz! Instead, we’ve been served a variety of Sparkling Wines, Cava, of course, French (though not yet Champagne) and, very interestingly, English Sparkling Wine. I’ve enjoyed them all, but I have noticed that, to a bubble, they’ve all been catering for what producers seem to believe is the Great British predilection for sweeter styles – a sweeter shade of Brut, to paraphrase Procol Harem!

 

Frankly, it’s not for me – there’s Brut and there’s Brut, but it seems that not many stockists are aware that there is also Extra Brut, and Brut Nature.

 

In order for a sparkling wine to be eligible for the dry Brut Category it has to contain between 4 – 12 grams of sugar per litre. When one considers that for a Brut Nature, the far drier style, these figures are reduced to between 0 – 4 grans per sugar, it’s clear that there is a large margin for Brut sparklers. They can have 4 grams of sugar, and they can have three times as much sugar, and still be called Brut.

 

Usually these figures are not mentioned on the label – it will state simply ‘Brut’ and it’s you palate which, with training, determines the actual level of sweetness. Mine told me that all, so far, of the sparklers we’ve tasted had to have been on the higher end of the scale. A little further investigation (that’s what I do!) revealed that that most were over 10 grams of sugar per litre. For me, it’s way too much, and I suspect that there are many fizz drinkers who are unaware that they can enjoy their sparkling wines, without so much sweetness.

 

In fact in the UK, there was a short-lived spike in sales of the drier Extra Brut and Brut Nature (my favourite) styles fairly recently. Risibly (for me, anyway) this was because such sparklers were marketed as ‘Skinny Fizz’, targeting those who calorie count as part of their diets. A glass of But Nature will have about 60 calories whereas a Brut will have 100+. However, also surely for most of us, I don’t ever consider how many calories I’m taking in when I’m toasting a celebration! Perhaps this is the reason for that spike to have waned.

 

Reading around the subject in preparation for this article I discovered some interviews with Champagne producers who were, erroneously in my view, explaining that there is far less Brut Nature than Brut because the wine-making is more difficult and more precise, which puts off most producers. It’s a fallacy.

 

It’s also incorrect, in my view, to suggest that should these wine-makers be not quite up to the mark, the result will be searingly sharp and acidic, almost undrinkable fizz, with one commentator using the description paint-stripper! This is another fallacy, and one I’d like to quash straight away.

 

It’s simple, though perhaps ironic. Pick the fruit when it is riper than that which is picked, destined for the sweeter of the Brut styles. This will ensure that there is sufficient fruit-sweetness in the wine following its second fermentation when the zero dosage (or very small dosage) is added before the, now sparkling, wine is bottled and ready to rest before being sold. This will be the driest style of sparkling wine, but it will be perfectly palatable!

 

I believe that the admittedly huge success of Prosecco in the UK is partly due to the fact that over a long time the British palate has been subjected to Brut styles that have continuously been just on, or only fractionally under, the maximum 12 grams of sugar per litre. Prosecco, almost always of a sweet style, had an ideal opening – plus, it’s cheaper