Category: Articles

First Published in Costa News Group, January 2011

REFLECTIONS ON OUR VISIT TO UK

WHERE OFTEN, MORE IS LESS!

 Whilst we were primarily, of course, in the UK to enjoy the company of family and friends at Christmas time, I’m always indulged as far as my observation of current wine trends is concerned. For my part I like to think I strike a happy balance, occasionally I stop taking wine notes and listen!

 Our visit last Easter was, it seemed, like surfing in on a giant wave of Sauvignon Blanc! The UK was awash with wines made from this super-crisp grape variety. It was the preferred choice in most houses we visited as well as in pubs and bars, and the wine shops and supermarket shelves were loaded with the stuff. No, problem, I like Sauvignon, and it was a pleasure to try the same from so many different countries – the UK is still the best country on the planet for wine variety!

 I expected the same at Christmas – but hey, Sauvignon, move over and make room for Pinot Griggio! Yes the Italian, oh-so-slightly grey-tinged grape variety is currently in vogue. And again, no problem, I often like this wine too, plus it’s good to enjoy variety when offered a glass of dry white.

 It seems that, unlike here in Spain, the UK wine drinking public follows fads. What’s ‘in’ this month (maybe week?) could well ‘passé next. I’m quite sure also that, as these darlings of the moment are still good wines, even when they inevitably fall from prominence, they will return another time. It’s a cyclical thing, but who’s turning the wheel, and why?

 It may be that the people responsible are those noble gentlepeople of the press (should wine columnists be known as the wine press, do you think?!). If a wine writer is bombarded with samples of a certain grape variety he/she’s bound to write about the wines he tastes. Ergo the more writers who receive these samples, the more column inches there are and bingo, the current tide turns in favour of this next variety. So who orchestrates the sample sending – is it merely coincidence?

 I use the ‘more is less’ term here to describe two other traits I noticed in the UK. Cork Talk readers will know that one never fills a wine glass more than a third full. But it seems that in the UK this is not the case (except in the homes we visited, of course, where friends and family are also discerning wine drinkers). I all the pubs and restaurants we patronised glasses were filled almost to the brim. Why is this?

Wine Glasses should be no more than a third full, otherwise More is Less!

 I suspect that it is because an unaware public will feel short-changed if they are served a glass that is well short of full. In fact, though, they are already being cheated – of all the aromas, integral to full wine appreciation, that wine offers prior to tasting. If it’s difficult to put the glass to your lips without spilling the contents how can we possibly swirl and sniff and allow those fragrances to tempt us? More is less!

 Also ‘more is less’ when I consider many of the wines that I tasted, though you may disagree. Almost all of the red wines I drank, many in fact from Chile (the biggest culprit?), were big. Big in up-front fruit and/or up-font fruit and oak combined as well as big in alcohol. I liked them, initially. The bold flavours please the palate, but the second glass, well it was just too much! Bigger wines, these days it seems, equal less complexity.

 Has subtlety been left out of the New World Wine Dictionary? Is finesse a thing of the past in wines from these countries? Has the sophisticated palate been GBH’d by overripe fruit, high alcohol and wooden clubs? More is less!

First Published in Costa News Group, Jan. 2011

Hal & Jan seated and enjoying their wine at one of many tastings!

REQUIEM IN PACEM

HAL HARLEY FRIEND AND WINE WRITER

 The New Year didn’t start so well for us as we heard that our old friend and fellow wine writer and critic, Hal Harley, died on its second day. After the funeral, family, friends and the remaining members of the tasting panel we’d formed together, with Hal as one of the founders, met to toast him and celebrate his contribution to all our lives.

 Hal was a big man, in every positive sense of the word. At six feet six with matching frame it’s hard to believe that such a man was not expected to survive past his teens when, at his birth, doctors pronounced that he had a congenital heart disease. A life lived to the full into his sixties with his wife and two daughters, initially in the Midlands and subsequently in Spain, and here with the addition of a grandson, gives a lie to that prognosis.

 But to be fair to the doctors of the time as well as those of his two later sessions of ground-breaking open heart surgery, they hadn’t reckoned on Hal’s determination, or his thirst for life. Hal was a survivor and those of us who had the pleasure to know him also experienced how big he was in friendship and family love. He will be sorely missed!

 I first met Hal and his ever-supportive wife, Jan, at a restaurant in Javea where he was perusing the wine list that, unknown to him, I’d written. Before he knew who I was he mentioned that he was interested in Spanish wine, having recently emigrated from the UK to Spain, and was a keen reader of Cork Talk in an effort to learn more!

 This was the first of many, many occasions when the two of us, later supported by several others with similar interests, ‘went off on one’ about the nectar that we found in our adoptive country. Hal’s thirst for wine knowledge was never wholly sated by such willing cohorts as Pepe of La Parrilla, Javea; John of Pedregeur and maybe myself too – the only way to learn about wine is to taste it! And did we do so!

 We had countless professional style tasting sessions at each of our houses, as well as at La Parrilla, where the first hour’s tasting was taken very seriously with wines considered in depth, notes taken and observations recorded. This was duly followed by food (Hal’s speciality was an excellent Paella) and finally the official, obligatory, finishing of every wine on the table!

Hal became very knowledgeable, graduating to the level of wine writer and critic on the way, with very creditable performances in Spain’s Golden Nose Sommelier’s competition, aided and abetted by the incorrigible Pepe!

 Although not particularly religious Hal’s wine tastes were very catholic. We tasted together wines from all the main DOs (Denominaciónes de Origen, official wine producing areas) as well as many other wine making zones. He preferred reds, but was equally happy joining Jan in a quality white too, with a classy cava to start.

 Although an Enrique Mendoza and Fagus (DO Campo de Borja) devotee, perhaps Hal’s most favoured style of red was complex, deep coloured, multi-layered and full-flavoured as typified by those from Priorat. It is for this reason that I’ll be searching out a top Priorat this month to quietly sip by an open fire and reflect on an enduring friendship and a life well lived.

 Cheers Hal!

First Seen in Costa News, Jan. 2011

BODEGAS PARCENT, DO ALICANTE

 It’s not often that one has the opportunity to be the first to taste a new wine before it goes onto the market. So when Armando and Nuria, brother and sister owners of Bodegas Parcent, invited me to do just that I accepted with alacrity!

 However it wasn’t just me who enjoyed such an honour as a group of other wine lovers gathered one late November morning for a bodega tour and then the tasting. Plus it wasn’t just the new wine that we enjoyed as in fact we tasted all but two of their whole portfolio!

 Bodegas Parcent is a modern wine making facility housed in a bucolic finca whose previous business was of pasa (raison) production and sales. Indeed, in the comfortably appointed intimate shop there hangs a picture of those times gone by where you can see that the original building is largely the same today as it was then, but with a very sympathetic refurbishment maintaining its character and ambience.

 In the 80’s Armando started to make wine, though not on a commercial basis, using just his wits, friends’ advice and family tradition. His first efforts were good and convinced him to study further. Winemaking qualifications followed and then a period of experimentation when vineyards were sourced, growing methods adapted and innovative winemaking skills were blended with traditional ways.

 Bodegas Parcent’s first commercial wines in 2002 were an instant success, their quality/price ratio was just right and to their delight Armando and Nuria sold out of all their wines. Nothing changes it seems as this is the case year in year out – and those of us who tasted that day will not be surprised when the 2010 vintage follows suit and quickly disappears.

 A tasting invariably goes better when the fist wine is a Cava. In this case it was even more apt as it was the limited production cava that was in fact the wine whose inauguration we were attending! This super Brut Nature Cava is made from Chardonnay, Macabeo and Moscatel making it a very eclectic sparkler where the aromatic Moscatel gains depth of flavour from the classic Champagne grape Chardonnay and balancing acidity from the Macabeo.

 Bodegas Parcent’s rosado was label-less as it had been bottled only a few days before. It had clearly had time to recover from bottle-shock (wines often suffer from a short down period after they have just been bottled and after a long journey in bottle) as the super fruit-laden aromas escaped from the bottle as soon as the cork was pulled.

 Their white Auro is a wine designed for those who still have a slightly sweet tooth – it’s not a sweet wine by any means but the 6 grams of residual sugar make it an off-dry style which many will really enjoy. Made from 50/50 Chardonnay and Moscatel this wine went down very well on a damp and grey morning!

 Bodegas Parcent’s recently bottled 100% Merlot, a new wine to the portfolio really is a very good wine. It’s a limited production wine, as are they all from this small bodega, and is guaranteed to sell out I’m certain. It’s drinking extremely well right now but because of the generous fruit content and after its oak ageing it also will develop over the next three -five years.

 Comtat de Parcent, Cabernet, Merlot and Gíro (Garnacha) Crianza is a wine that lingers on the palate after swallowing – a long finish is a mark of quality in wine. Older than the Merlot it’s perfect now but again has some further ageing capacity.

 Finally Dolç D’Art their super dessert wine made from 100% local Moscatel grapes loaded with raison and floral aromas coupled with a lick of citrus acidity and a long finish. A splendid way to finish dinner!

FIRST PUBLISHED IN COSTA NEWS GROUP JANUARY 2011

JANUARY SALES

 So the festivities have finished and if you have any money left over you’re probably considering making a trip to the sales. If so you should eschew the new laptop, sofa, plasma et al and look instead for some wine glasses. Not any old glasses, Riedel glasses. And if you do, you’ll be able to enjoy your wine so much more.

 A bold claim, I know, but at a tasting in Alicante I was invited to put it to the test – and yes, Riedel glasses passed with flying colours!

 Bodegas Vicente Gandía Plá had arranged for a professional tasting at the Gourmet Fair at Alicante’s IFA and the press were invited to participate. I’ve tried Riedel glasses before in London a year ago but there were too many variable factors for me to make an in-depth assessment, although I certainly noted a difference. Here there were several wines each poured, as we watched, into a Riedel glass then another, apparently perfectly suitable glass.

 The pourers took care to ensure that the wine for each of the two glasses was poured from the same bottle so there was no chance of it being a different wine, or the wrong temperature. There were no extraneous aromas emanating from any nearby stalls, nobody was smoking (of course, you can’t properly taste wine if you are anywhere near cigarette smoke). As I said, it was a professional tasting.

 The first wine we tasted was Vicente Gandía’s El Miracle Fusion made from Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and Moscatel. An aromatic white wine with an eclectic blend of varieties. Often such a wine will tend to give an immediate first aroma followed perhaps by secondary smells. Indeed this was the case with the non-Riedel glass, the Moscatel dominating the perfume.

Riedel glasses as seen at Alimentaria, Barcelona

However with the Riedel glass the aromas were balanced harmonious with an overall sensation of roundness with no one fruit bossing the others. An interesting start as it made the wine slightly more enjoyable.

 Next came Puerto Alicante Chardonnay kept on its lees but in stainless steel with no oak and it was really this wine that makes me a Riedel supporter. Their Chardonnay glass, designed specifically for this ubiquitous variety was a clear winner. The wine had creamy custard and rhubarb notes, but balanced and rounded, elegant too. The other glass provided stunted notes, the wine was les full and frankly less enjoyable!

Their rosado Music made from Garnacha and Syrah is a lovely rose wine that I’ll be looking out for again. The Riedel glass showed a sweet rose petal nose but the other glass seemed to emphasise the acidity of the wine making it a touch harsh.

 El Miracle Art red wine with the super label picturing Barrel-Art was all rounded fruit with a balancing minerality from the Pinot Noir but in contrast the other glass gave the wine a harsh tannic feel. Again a Riedel winner.

 Montsant, a red wine, was served in a Riedel Chardonnay glass then a Riedel glass designed for red wine. The difference was pronounced – in contrast to the other examples the Chardonnay glass dumbed-down the wine making the taster have to search hard for any aromas! The correct Riedel glass allowed those dark fruit and liquorice notes to make an impact on the nose resulting in a much more enjoyable drink.

 This emphasises the point that even a Riedel glass, if it is the wrong design for a specific wine, will not allow the wine to fully express itself, underlining their belief that glasses can be designed for specific grape varieties and wine styles.

 In conclusion therefore it’s not simply a clever marketing ploy – Riedel glasses do make a difference. But don’t just take my word for it – Jancis Robinson MW, apparently said that she had preferred one particular grand tasting over another simply because the glasses used were Riedel!