A pre-Piedmont trip warm-up at Zucca...

In a couple of weeks I am delighted to be heading off to Piedmont with the same rather wonderful gang as I was lucky to go to Burgundy with last May, see A very special trip to Burgundy…

The trip promises to be a good one and the lunches, visits and dinners are all booked. The Piedmont region is virgin territory for the vast majority of those going so I thought a warm-up dinner at Zucca would be a good idea. I mentioned this to owner Sam Harris and he suggested that they do a menu that showcased some of the regions most traditional dishes:

Carne Crudo, from brilliant veal with lemon through it and then Parmesan on top.
Vitello Tonnato, my all time favourite.
Russian salad - which I love but always reminds me of large format Sandwich spread.
Agnolotti - magic stuff
and many more...

It worked really well with Megan rustling them all up to perfection. So the wines:

Langhe Chardonnay 2012, Ca del Baio - fresh Chardonnay with a very slight spritz and no oak influence at all, a good palate preparer and a wine that will gain texture and complexity with age.

Barbera d'Alba Cerretta 2008, Giacomo Conterno - fleshy and supple, lovely fruit, mellow structure, I wanted to show this alongside the next wine as a way of showing Barbera alongside Nebbiolo. Same site, same vintage, same producer.

Langhe Nebbiolo Cerretta 2008, Giacomo Conterno - More focussed and linear than the Barbera this showed just the differences I wanted.

Barolo Pie Rupestris 2009, Cappellano - the big surprise of the evening for me, I was the only one that liked it (I had bought my allocation of 2010 that morning), the others I think found it a little too dry and animal, sure Cappellano needs time (though that should never be an excuse) but for me this was complex and promised much for the future. I plan to serve this blind to these guys post trip and see if they have fallen for the old-school Nebbiolo magic by then.

Barolo Tartufaia 2009, G.Negri - we will be visiting Guilia on the trip and so I wanted to show this wine as a counter-point to the Cappellano but also to show a slighlty more modern style, it worked well showing more fruit and lushness but still not too much. 

Barolo Brunate 2004, Marengo - FVDB brought this and the next bottle, the Marengo really showed well, with an openness and rounded fruit that really showed how good 2004 is and how special Brunate is as a site...lovely wine with propper structure but great balance and crucially that sweet fruited nature.

Barolo Bussia Riserva 2000, Pianpolvere Soprano -is a wine and an estate I know nothing about, it combined the warm (sometimes over) ripe nature of 2000 with a regime of more oak. The bottle was probably the heaviest I have come across in a Piedmoint wine (think Gaja +45%). The wine itself has promise if it can outlast the slightly over present new oak texture. Would love to try this again in the future.

Barolo Cannubi 2003, Brezza - there always needs to be on last bottle and this worked out to be a good choice, 2003 is tricky but (many of) the traditonal producers have done well. Brezza we will visit and Cannubi is next to Brunate so it made a good comparison, I really liked it, am pleased to be buying Brezza for my own cellar.

So that, baring a Limoncello for a couple of the team, was the evening done, just two weeks to wait now!!

Team Dinner…BYO @ POTG

So Joe and Valentina  co-ordinated everyone doing a team meal at Planet of the Grapes Bow Lane Restaurant…bring a bottle or buy a bottle was the order of the day and the format very relaxed. We kicked off with a few whites:

Bourgogne Aligote Raisins Dores 2010, Domaine Michel Lafarge - A wine I love, I've sadly finished my case of 2008, always more richness than you associate with this sometimes sour grape, the 201 was a little muted but good, best in another 12-18 months I recon, a nice start...

St.Veran Les Deux Moulin 2012, Louis Latour was next, dent with good minerality but just a shaw too much "safety first wine making" may be.

Meursault Les Grands Charrons 2009, Boisson-Vadot - Rich and slightly reduced as always here, the only thing that hinted at 2009 was the vey end of the finish, this is classy wine with good texture and a nice future, quite a treat.

L'Effronte Moelleux 2007, Domaine Matrot - Ok so there aren't many sweet aligotes out there, this wine is ageing well and has a great capacity for food matching, think if anything where you want youthful Sauternes like flavours but without the viscosity.   

Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Petit Chapelle 2011, Rossignol-Trapet was the first red and sadly we discarded it, I didn't think it was corked but it was almost metallic, interestingly we left it and the next day Matt at Planet of the Grapes said it was delicious and asked why we hadn't drunk it. Strange.

Volnay 1er Cru Taillpieds 2008, de Montille - this was very elegant, very volnay (red fruits and feminity), and also very 2008 by which i mean pure and focussed in an almost lean way, very cool pinot, a style I love but so different from 2009 for instance, good wine!

Then were off to Piedmont with Barolo La Tartufaia 2009, Giulia Negri which showed well though I am not sure 2009 is their type of vintage especially, I have been there since this meal so will do a blog about Negri soon - it's a very interesting estate. My two bottles were next. 

Langhe Nebbiolo Cerretta 2008, Giacomo Conterno which is a one I know well, the first vintage from the site by Roberto (he only completed the purchase in June 2008) it is a very pure, slightly lighter, Nebbiolo expression - I really like it. The other of my choices was Barolo Pie Rupestris 2009, Cappellano as I wanted to try it for the first time, no disappointment here, rich and full but not heavy, this will age well and hopefully help me keep my hands off the 2008 and 2010. Class producer for sure.

Coudoulet de Beaucastel Rouge 2009 kicked of a quick trip to the Rhone valley, a nee wine that is drinking now and remains a real value buy (in quite a serious bottle now also).

Chateauneuf-du-Pape Cuvee des Felix 2000, Domaine Bois de Boursan was a few people wine of th night and I could see why, real depth and power but not brutish, impressive.

Lovat Vineyard “Amarath” Syrah 2006 from Dry River was the slight intruder in the Rhone flight and had a good deep Syrah nose, black fruit and cool stones/iron...the only problem was a slightly hollow palate, the finish returned well though.

Things the became a little surreal…a cracking Langedoc wine that I had never had was next, good herbal fruit and an easy but present structure it was Peyre Rose 2005, Clos de Cistes, awful label but then that it what decanters are for. I'll look it out again at some stage.

Calon Segur 2000 was predicable good and try proper, fir and masculine but in no way harsh, good length, good fruit, sartingto hit it's stride, a treat.

Gérard Depardieu Référence 2012 a Vin de Pays d'oc was extraordinary in it cheap tasting primary, almost carbonic nose, fortunately it was someones second (I hope) joke bottle, we had a good discussion about it but sadly it took a little bit of a hammering...

And so to the last wine of a fun evening - La Tour Blanche 2007 - just lovely, drinking well, an estate I really like (their 2014 is great) and who never go for power over focussed drive in my opinion. At this age it would work just as well before dinner as after it…

A lot of fun…next team outing will be part two of this...BBQ Chez Duvault Blochet

Holiday bottles in France - 2014

The family holiday this year was spent, with another family, down in the Dordogne near Beaulieu. One of the advantages to driving is that I can take a couple of cases of wine. We had a great house with a pool, very remote but most of the time was either spent cooking, talking about food and wine or drinking and eating!

I took various things and we hunted around the supermarkets, town markets and a few shops for the others. I was not making full tasting notes as this was a break but I have put a few comments below.

The local "drop"

Cahors is the nearest area of real production so we sampled plenty during out time. One of the favourite producers for me was Clos de Gamot which has old vines and seemed to have a nice and unobtrusive style. I think little or no new oak too which is always a good thing in my book. There did seems to be two styles from the small sample we drank. I am going to call them, "rustic tradition" and "Wannabe Argentinians". The former has no fear of funky aromas and a bit of dirty spice, medium weight, more interesting to my mind. The later is more viscous and technically more fruited and pure but seemed to lack a creation sense of place or uniqueness.

A few Bordeaux

Not being far from Bordeaux a few bottles were always going to creep into the range from that great Region. Grand Place 2009 was a little overstated as the name suggests. Baron de Lestac 2011 white was ok but overoaked which slightly spoilt what could have been a lovely good value bottle. Les Carmes Haut Brion 2004 which I bought a few of some years back has been disappointing me of late, some of the sweat charm has gone and it is a little too savoury now. A fine lesson in not ageing a wine you like as it is/was.

Some Burgs

From left to right; A very ordinary Bourgogne Blanc 2012, a delicious with food Chablis 1er Cru Vaillons 2007 from Vincent Dampt, an insipid and uninteresting Julienas 2013 (yes Beaujolais is not high on my list but this was just dull) and a bad bottle of Corton Charlemagne 2004 from Bonneau du Martray (see next post for a good bottle!).

Got to love the Germans

The German selection was probably the strongest in terms of the producers shown. The magnum of Prum was real highlight. I had never hidden my love of the Prum wines and this was just another great example (Wehlener Sonnenhur 2011 magnum), it'll age well but is so delicious now. The Spatlese Jubilee bottling from Schloss Schonborn is an absolute favourite of Mrs H and rightly so, very intense fruit. The two Mullers are the estate Rielsings from 2009 and 2010 and they are true to type, 2010 more linear and more focussed, 2009 easier and lovely if simpler.

As predicted!

Of course there was a showing from Italy! and I have to say they were on good form. From left to right:
Brunello di Montalcino 2006 - We had two bottles of this and my only real regret is that I did not buy more, it is youthful but stunning and just so enjoyable, I can't think if anytime when I wouldn't love to just open and enjoy this. 
Chianti Classico Reserva Le Baroncole 2010, San Giusto - I am a fan of San Giusto and think that Percarlo is great and the basic Chianti is a "no brainer" BUT this may be the weak link (well at this young age anyhow), it is just too oaked and that masks what is obviously good fruit…a good wine but not what it could be!
Avvoltore 2006 - Sturdy showing from this wine, very good with big meat dishes, the more recent vintages (2002 onwards) appear not to quite have the charm of old but this is a good wine.
Barolo Brunate 2007, Marcarini - As with most 2007 Barolos I believe in serving this cool and after a quick double decant, it is feminine for Barolo, a Volnayesque Barolo of sorts. Very good way to translate the vintage, enjoyable if not serious.
Barbera d'Alba 2012, Negri - A good richly fruited if not heavy Barbera, good all-rounder, best with another 12 months but good.

The rest!

The highlights here:
Crozes-Hermitage VV 2011, Tardieu-Laurent - This is too young by rights but is delicious in a mini-Hermitage sort of way…savoury bacon with dark fruit. 
Chateauneuf du Pape Blanc VV 2011 - I have had several bottles of this now and whilst it'll age well it is just so balanced and lovely now, not too much structure, not too much fruit just bliss.
Rebmann generally - Not a producer I know but they seem to be a big firm or a negoce who do all that alsace offers, the Pinot Gris got drunk in good quantity, nice simple and enjoyable wines.

There were a good few beers along the way but the sensible thing we did was never go to the fortifiers or spirits (well baring a bit of Pastis).