Prowein…my first trip...

I heard a few good things about Prowein wine fair held in Dusseldorf each year and when a colleague showed interest in going (and organising thankfully) I was very keen so two weeks ago on Sunday morning the alarm went at 5.30 and off we went.

The fair is spread over seven halls and has a massive spread of exhibitors, from producers, to collections of producers to agents to negociants, wine merchants and wine accessory people. We were there to taste many wines we offer but don't get to taste, too see producers we work with and most of all to see agents and brokers who we work with. From all the above angles it was an efficient way to get the job done.

From tasting on arriving at the show at lunchtime on Sunday to leaving at lunchtime on Tuesday it was pretty non stop with the evening reserved for a couple of beers and some (rather large) Pork knuckles, see pictures lower down.

So what was there that we tasted and left us impressed?

There were good tastings of Chateau Lagrange, both first and second wines from 2010 and 2011, then The Thunevin range, finishing with a ready to go and easy Valandraud 2007. But the first tasting that I felt taught something was going through the Taylors Tawny range from the nutty woodily delicious 10 year old to the 20 year old which was sweeter, with more fruit and dates, on to the 30 year old that had a refined cognac nose (but not sprity). There was though one more to go and that was the soon to be released 1964 Single Harvest Port (again a Tawny, well Colheita technically, but not called either) this was more Spreyside Whisky than Cognac with fruit and a wonderful acidity…quite a treat.

We then tasted the full Peter Sisseck range but I will write the Pingus wines up another time and have written up Rocheyron before. The wines that were interesting for this exercise where those I'd not tasted before. Rocheyron Rose from 2012, a meaty and savoury merlot rose. The La Fleur de Rocheyron 2011 from 100% merlot and deliciously opulent now. Psi 2011 was gorgeous, both 2010 and 2009 have needed just a bit more time to come round but 2011 looks like it is "out the blocks" lovely.

F.Rinaldi - cracking range

I was then delighted to taste the range of wines from Francesco Rinaldi, a producer I buy for myself each year (and often write up)  - I'm keeping the 06's and 08's while I drink the 2007's. We did the whole range:
Gavi di Gavi 2013 - Clean, crisp but not neutral, just about to be bottled, expressive and impressive in equal measure.
Dolcetto 2013 (cask sample) - Crunchy red fruit, primary, delicious almost carbonic in flavours.
Barbera 2012 - Easy, not serious, softly done, darkish fruit.
Nebbiola d'Alba 2012 - From vineyards between Alba and Barolo. Bruised red fruit, easy light and ready to go.
Barbaresco 2010 - Gentle fruit, almost dry Ribena in flavour. I have had some great older vintages of this especially the 1979.
Barolo 2010 - A step up, blended in the traditional way from three or four sites, really good, very complete, combination or red and black fruit, sweetness that makes it drinkable now but certainly best kept, impressive.
Barolo Cannubi 2010 - Needs time but very classical and impressive but with a lovely red fruit leaning.
Barolo Brunate 2010 - More brooding, deeper, darker more saline and savoury, a keeper, classy.

We managed to get a good slot at the Guigal tasting table and go through much of the range. It worked well that we also managed to taste the "La La's", wines I am not as familiar with at a younger stage.
Cotes du Rhone Blanc 2012 - 65% Viogner which is very high for a Cotes du Rhone. It was a good combination of perfumed fruit with a oily richness on the palate, a little spice on the finish too.
Condrieu 2012 - Mellow nose with good balanced palate, not OTT.
Cotes du Rhone Rouge 2011 - Berry fruit, a little jammy but good jammy, nice, medium weight palate.
Cote Rotie 2010 - A more Bordelais nose than I'd expect, inky on the palate, violates and a savoury edge. All in all at a rather strange stage in evolution.
Chateau d'Ampuis 2010 (Cote Rotie) - Bottled Nov 2013 after 36 months in oak (1/3 new). Made from the 7 best vineyards except for the "La La's". Oak shows a little in the texture compared to the straight Cote Rotie. The wine feels like it needs a little more weight of fresh fruit but then I think it may just be a serious wine that leans towards the savoury and meaty.
Cote Rotie La Mouline 2010 - 11% Viognier which is very high. Floral almost, lifted and very pure of fruit with some pepper, lovely.
Cote Rotie La Turque 2010 - Deeper and a touch darker, good acidity, a lot of fruit weight.
Cote Rotie La Landonne 2010 - 42 months in new oak is a test for any wine. This is a bit of a monster (not in negative way), savoury, saline, meaty, stocky, has no Viognier and is deep. Some black pepper and spice. Very Syrah.
I would own the La La's in reverse order of priority to their stature (so La Mouline the priority). Great to get to taste these especially given the legendary nature of the vintage.

We saw a few of the Bordeaux Negociants while we were there and several wines impressed. I've mentioned a few below. It was interesting to note that with the 2011 and 2012 campaigns having been generally tough and the 2009's and 2010's "dead in the water" pricewise they need to sell some wine.

Will be buying this again!!

"G" Guiraud 2013 - is a cracking wine that given it'll be around £100 a dozen in bond I will be buying at least a case of. It has a cracking blend (70% SB / 30% SEM) than means it'll have legs for the next couple of years.
Pavillon du Poyferre 2011 - Rich, nicely heady, slight spice, quite bold, quite proper, good.
Palmer 2007 - Really easy, lovely, elegant but is this good enough for the stature of the Chateau?

Need one of these at home!

Guiraud 2004 - From a massive bottle (Imperial I think), tasted really good in a not young or old way, fresh enough to drink a fair bit of but with a little rancho character. I am impressed by how active Guiraud are being, they seem a Sauternes house with a real energy.
Paviel de Luze 2011 - A nice easy but complex, smokey, iron-like side to balance some good fruit.
Croix de Beaucaillou 2006 - Good mineral texture and a balance of earthiness and fruit. I do though have a bit of a problem with the 2006's. I find them overly foursquare.

At one stage we tasted the full Vietti range courtesy of the German agent. I am more than a bit of a traditional man when it comes to Barolo and as a result have never been a buyer of Vietti. The wines though from Barbera d'Asti 2010 to Barolo "Villero" Riserva 2010 were impressive. If there has been a turning down of "oak-volume" then brilliant.

Retro Aussi Tawny

Having done a recent tasting of the Penfolds bin series icon releases for this year there was a few other wines to look at on the Penfold's stand. The Grange 2008 which I had not tried and is obviously a very high profile wine. It was impressive, refined, bold but also poised, massive life ahead of it. As soon as I saw they had a Sangiovese 2007 I had to have a try, I liked it, it had a warm Tuscan (in land) feel about it but definitely showed the Sangiovese variety, nice. The last wine to try form this stage was the "Grandfather" an impressive "Tawny" with upwards of 50 years age to it…lovely unctuousness but acidity backed brown fruit with prunes.

At the Chateau Musar stand we met up with Serge Hochar and his team, an honour. We tasted the full range from the tyoung ("Jeaune") wines through the Hochar rage and onto the headline act. Chateau Musar is one of those wines that never fails to excite and interest. I'll be honest and say it is quite some time since I have tasted the wine. We were served a few vintages:
2007 - Leather, spice, sweeter leather, a lovely salty tang, old wood and warn bruised fruit.
2004 - Delicious, mellow, perfect balance, easy but not boring, red fruit on top of the finest leather, refined, very impressive.
1998 - Slightly browner fruits, in the next stage of life, tea and herbs, a little liquorice, a dash of eucalyptus and mint also. Good.
1979 - Soy and Chinese spices, salty with a whiff of swimming pool, tiny bit of mint as well.
1977 - Spicey old sadly leather and black fruits with some spice to follow.
On the interest side the 1974 has only been recently released and there was never a 1992. Also did you know that the "Decanter Man of the Year" was created to give Serge an award?

So what next? Well a very good tasting with Wine & Soul from Portugal with the white field blend "Guru" really impressing from 2012 and 2013. The 2012 reds from Quinta da Manoella, both the VV and the "Manoella" were very impressive in terms of the pure fruitidness. The Pintas and Pintas Character 2012 also hit the spot, big wines with a blue candied fruit but a wealth of freshness. Then we were onto their 10 year old tawny which was on the fruity side, may be not showing the full 10 years of wood but good. The Pintas 2011 Port was very impressive which I am delighted about as it showed ok but not more back when we tasted the Port 2011's on this showing it has really come together, deliciously decadent and with cracking balance. Then there was the 5G Tawny (G = Generations) which was mind blowing…more on that another time…

More general tastings took us past Fontodi where the 2010 Chianti Clasico was lovely, charming and very easy, the Flaccianello 2010 was a little bit of a monster, was it balanced? Time will tell, there's a lot going on…Heitz Napa Cab 2009 was easy mellow and very cabernet without being too much of one thing. The Heitz Trailside Vineyard 2007 was special, complete, balanced and rather splendid. Jonata another winery I know next to nothing about (but there's a fair bit of info out there) was impressive in doing a range of wines with integrity…a stunning White Bordeaux blend was very fine. Monteverro in Tuscany make some delightful wines too…solidity in "red country" but the Chardonnay impressed a lot. We then passed by the Tenuta di Passopisciaro and Tenuta di Trinoro wines and tasted as we went, impressive as ever and often written up here on this blog.

One of the next people who we managed to taste with was Dal Forno. Now this I was really looking forward to as, with the except of the odd bottle, I have very little experience. I left, having tasted, a little confused. The people were wonderful and very very honest, saying that 2008 was an average vintage, no hype, not great but not bad. So why was I confused? Well because the wines were massive and as I have no experience with them I do not know where they are going.
Valpolicella Superior 2008 - Was to quote my notes exactly "herbs, spices but mostly herbs - delicious. Savoury but with fruit depth. GRIP, savoury fruit…bruised". Just not really like anything I've tasted before.
Amarone Monte Lodoletta 2008 - was a little more fruit focussed…a surprise when you think that Valpolicella will "out fruit" Amarone. This was more mellow but also rich and bold. Not quite sure how you end up with both.
Vigna Sere Rosso Passito 2004 - is just knock out gorgeous in a "sweetness meets meat dryness" sort of way, sweetly draws you in and then tannins you out…fascinating. Can a wine be savoury and sweet at once.
In summary I am intrigued by the Dal Forno wines. I have just remembered an occasion when the Sere worked a treat… HERE

Mighty impressive

The first tasting on the last morning was the Ridge range. Wines I have enjoyed and made by a man that is massively respected for his quietly confident but humble approach.

Estate Chardonnay 2012 - Generous fruit and all in-check and balanced, beautiful use of oak to frame the fruit but nothing more.

Monte Bello Chardonnay 2011 - Very refined, clean and rich at the same time, lovely texture, great.

East Bench Zinfandel 2012 - A new wine for Europe (as a market) and 100% Zinfandel. Red blooded fruit, a little spice, easy to enjoy, unpretentiously delicious (a great "magnum with friends" wine).

Geyserville 2012 - 71% Zinfandel, 19% Carignane, 7% Petite Sirah, 2% Mataro (Mourvedre), 1% Alicante Bouschet - Headily dense fruit, a little closed, classy.

Lytton Springs 2012 - 82% Zinfandel, 16% Petite Sirah and 2% Carignane - Planted in 1901, more "Rhonesque", a little more savoury and structured.

Cabernet Sauvignon 2011 - Good classical blackcurrant but restrained, savoury edge, good.

Monte Bello 2011 - a remarkably lovely 12.8%, so so balanced between sweet and savoury and between black fruit and red, a very complete wine.

Monte Bello 1995 - Mellow easy black fruit, come mushrooms, a dash of eucalyptus and then a tobacco edge but no one flavour dominates, elegant.

Monte Bello 2013 (cask sample) - richly fruited, red over black, deliciously primary and pure...

All in all a cracking range of wines…Bravo.

Good showing

Next up we tasted the Achaval Ferrer range, very good showing it was too but I'll write them up another time. Pieropan was another stand we tasted at, great Soaves as ever but the reds also very good in a delicate way…impressive. A brief tasting at Scavino was interesting, a few different vintages and sites.

The next place we stopped between meetings and really tasted was Castello dei Rampolla so that I could add a few recent wines to the  Sammarco and Vigna d'alceo 1983-2006 tasting done recently.

Chianti Classico 2011 - quite glycerol, quite "high", very good but ripe, ripe, ripe, may be OTT or may be just needs to mellow. 2011 was hot and easy after all.

Sammarco 2005 - Lovely with an intriguing combination of tobacco and sweet red fruit, well balanced.

Sammarco 2009 - Nice work, more texture, good acidity, quite opulent but balanced also.

Vigna d'Alceo 2009 - More mellow than many at the tasting, a good thing.

Along the way we managed to taste the Sassicaia 2010 and 2011. Both showed well if slightly subdue as they do in youth. The 2010 was tighter, less expansive but with a lot of glance and some red fruit…promising. The 2011 was easier than the 2010 classically subdued Cabernet. A good showing from both.

Nice just add "1272"

We swung by Jacquesson and tasted the 737 (2009 base) - toasted, fresh also, not too big, mellow, easy. Then the 736 (2008 base) which had a bit more weight over the 737, a lovely drop, delightfully toasty nose. To get the vintage of the base wine from the Cuvee number all you do is add 1272 to the cuvee number!

And so to the final tasting - Zilliken - brilliant wines, I'd heard good things, all justified and lovely people, oh and they do an awesome gin….right taxi to the airport...

The food each evening was just what was needed after a day on our feet and with lots of varied tasting going on. Both the places we went were welcoming and efficient with delicious food that was cracking value…After both suppers there was time for a cigar or two…once in the Capella Bar and Cigar Lounge at Hotel Breidenbacher Hof which was a nice setting with slightly over humidified cigars and slightly odd service then the other time was just outside in the old Town over a beer seated near a "patio" heater…The Bolivar was the pick, the Party Short as sturdy as ever and the Hoyo needs years…

Schweine Janes - this man's back must be "crackling"

Schweine Janes - perfect post tasting dinner

Hoyo - Grand Epicure EL 2013

Pork Knuckle again, this at Brauerei im Fuchschen

Bolivar Short Bolivar - Asia Pacific release 2008

Partagas Short (REA April 2010)

Not a new agency just yet...

Cigars & Wine Spain 2013

This is one of those posts more aimed at helping my own memory than anything else. It is a run down of some of the interesting wines and cigars from a break in L'Escala that ended a week ago. I did a slightly similar post to this last year which you can see here.
I took a few smokes with me as I did not know how quickly I would be able to get to the local "Tabac".
On the first night having arrived and restored ourselves on pasta I lit up a Partagas Serie D No 4 (MGR May 2012), it is one of the last of a box split I did a while back and they have all been good, yes they are young but when you want to get just what you are after these deliver, rich, full but not heavy a cracking smoke.
Having gone off to get a big shop done the next morning I was really pleased to have discovered Gin Giro, not a Gin I know and as the holiday went on I saw it in a lot of bars as a "house" gin, not expensive, say 10€, it was delicious and good enough that we got through two bottles in the couple of weeks we were there. It is nothing ground breaking but just seriously enjoyable.
On the second night we had a simple supper and a couple of bottles from a producer who I imagine, I've not done my research, is a local co-op: Ramon Roqueta. All the wines we had from him were fruit forward, in no way overdone, I enjoyed them all without ever being excited, perfect holiday "drinkers". After that supper it was time for another smoke I had taken with me, Quai d'Orsay Corona (OGA Nov 2011), now this was good but they need time, proper time. And the time they need is not for them to mellow it is for them to evolve. For a wine analogy it is not that the tannin needs to drop away it is that the fruit needs to come out.
I managed, on day three, to get to a Tabac but it was not the one I usually use in L'Escala (Josep Ma.Galceran, 17130 L'Escala) but Casa Cigar - Casa Tabac, 17257 Torroella de Montgri. When I saw this new, to me, shop I was excited as the selection was good, eclectic and the humidor room a decent size but as I found out when I went back to my default L'escala supplier (Galceran) the cigars were just not so well stored. I picked up a few things though and will comment on then later in this blog.
At friends we had a real treat of a Paella following some lovely simple and well sourced tapas. With the Paella and after a large Campari and tonic we had Masia Carreras 2011 which was delicious and local, waxy but fruited and fresh...a fellow wine trader did a great googling job when I tweeted about it and I can report it is from Carinena Blanca & Roja, Garnacha Blanca & Gris and Picpoul that then sees 12 months in French oak. It was a splendid evening with several other things opened and a also a great combination in the form of Pineapple with chilli salt and pepper. The cigar to end it was a Hoyo de Monterrey Petit Robusto from Casa Cigar, it was a total "wind tunnel" completely underfilled and had I had anything else with me it would have been binned. I was jealous of the San Cristobel I had given out host!
The local wine region, D.O.Emporda, is an exciting one and one of the main, slightly more branded, names seems to be Castillo Perelada. We had one of there wines, Gigonyes 2011, which I enjoyed it was a dash clumsy but as the name suggests a definite "Gigondas-a-like". The same evening it was time to have my first proper non Cuban cigar in years (about ten years!) a Davidoff Special "R" Robusto. This was a good smoke straight into stride and very well rolled, good burn, no issues. Just below medium in strength. I liked it but felt no need to buy more.
One of the cigar finds of the trip was an aged Trinidad Fundadores, I know it was aged because it had the old band on it but I don't know how aged. We had a lucky break one day and managed to borrow a house with a pool for the day so what better thing than a nice long smoke. It was delicious, mellow opening than built a bit, always on the tea side of the spectrum, old leather too...just lovely. That same evening I followed it up with a Cohiba Behike 52, my cigar of the year a few years ago. I felt this Behike needed masses of time. It was disapointing as the tobacco is aged and whilst you can put these away they should be good straight from the box. It was a tad bitter and just had espresso and density but nothing more. I'll have to try another as I have now had two and they were very different but at 28Euro a stick it is hard to just "have another go".
The following evening was, cigar wise, a bit of a revisiting session. The smoke in question was a R&J Cedros de Luxe No3. You hardly ever see these anymore but they used to be pretty widely available. R&J (Romeo and Julietta) are a weird cigar brand, well-known but not often smoked, with some great sticks (Cazadores) and a lot of mediocre nothingness. The Cedros range are all individually wrapped in cedar. This was a lovely gentle, mellow, tea and fruitcake smoke that I really enjoyed.
When we hosted the return fixture from the Paella evening it was a time to upgrade the wines a little...they were Martin Codax Albarino 2012, Terras Gauda Rias Baixas 2011, Amic Clos d'Agon 2011 and Condado de Haza 2008. The Codax was good, steady clean fruited but not dull. The Terras Gauda was one of my wines of the holiday without doubt, it had a wonderful savoury complexity but was also very moreish, a hard combination to pull off, I could have drunk a lot of it! Of the reds on this showing I far preferred the clean fresh fruitedness of the Amic which was juicy, ripe but not bruised or degraded, lovely. The Condado suffered but comparison as I feel it was a little too young and that made it appear fruit-deficient. Having a full belly and a nice amount of the wine "onboard" it was time for smoke and the Diplomaticos Coleccion Privida RE Espana 2012 Petit Robusto (BRA Sep 2012) did just the job. This regional release for Spain is a hard one to understand as there is only one Diplomaticos in production, the No 2, but then they release this. It was espresso like but had a lovely sweetness and intensity, great stuff.
On the last night but one we went for a meal at Can Miquel, the wine list is very good. I went for a bottle of Numanthia 2006 for a couple of reasons, firstly that I had never had it before having sold a bit of it over the years but also becasue the food is good hearty and richly sauced! It is not the sort of thing I would want often, sees a fair bit of oak but was perfect here and is well made with fruit that is just the right side of being over the top. After dinner it was time for a Sancho Panza Non Plus. A cigar I have a real soft spot for as it was the smoke that first got me into cigars, it was a dash salty as ever and mellow, medium at most, delicious.
Then with unnecessary haste it was the last night and after making a "what's in the fridge" pasta dinner it was "final cigar of the holiday" time and I was not disappointed by the Bolivar Royal Corona (MUR July 2012). Always a shame when holidays are over but it was a very good one!

Some shopping, two down, two to go.

Picked these up on the way home, report to follow.

Some Sancho-magic

I might regret posting this!

Some recent smokes...SLR Petit Corona, Partagas Lusitanias, PLPC & San Cristobal El Principe

Partagas Lusitanias 2005 

Ok so it hasn't been a vintage summer as yet but it has been pretty dry and light evenings and a lack of rain  mean a few things but primarily cigars. So a few days ago Tino, Egon, Mr S and myself met up for a few smokes in the west end and some Lebanese food in the middle. The first smoke was supplied by Tino a Saint Luis Rey Petit Corona they were from a five pack and as this cigar in that packaging was discontinued (don't get a lover of Cuban cigars onto a rant about the smokes that have been discontinued) in 2009 this was certain to have had at least 4 years age. The smoke was on the mellow but not light side, probably just under medium for strength and medium or just over for richness and flavour, just what you want to get the taste buds firing. A lovely balanced smoke from a size I love, just fits the hand right. After a couple of bottles of wine and some good food at Fairuz, go for the set menu, we went to another pub and managed to grab a table.

Out came Mr S' big boys and the Mojito's were ordered. The smokes were Partagas Lusitanias (TBR AGO 2005). Now these are a "proper" size, Double Corona, and are one of the iconic smokes of Cuba. It was rather an omission but much as I love Partagas I had never had a "Lusi" before. The construction and look was lovely, just right. The opening had a lot of class about it, a little Partagas spice and some leather. I just loved the mellow completeness. It was just on the lower side of medium but the quantity of smoke was great and the chat flowed. I often try to think of where on the scale of flavours - from dark espresso and dark chocolate to older leather and tea - a smoke comes and this was definitely at the latter end. Very refined. Almost flawless to a fault. A delicious smoke but, and there doesn't need to be a "but", it never quiet built up or got richer. This isn't so much a criticism as a fact. If I had to rate it is would get a very solid and very enjoyable 90/100. My experience of older or at least middle-aged smokes is not great but this has helped. A cracking evening all round.

Back at home last week and I just had a 40 minute gap after supper and wanted something that would have some richness and a rustic flavoursome edge and frankly that almost always means a Partagas short or what I went for on this occasion - Por Larranaga Petit Corona MLO FEB 2012. It is such a good smoke. Doesn't look too polished or perfect but just gives loads of rich smoke and a molasses like flavour with a meaty savoury edge too. It was just the job. I also noticed for the the first time a dry spice on the lips when smoking it, almost like a sort of green chilli or wasabi flavour, not too dominant but very interesting. The last smoke on here was after a lunch at Otto's and it was a small one, a minutos, the same as a Partagas Short, RASCC or Monte 5. The San Cristobal El Principe AME NOV 2012 was a lovely little fire cracker, darker chocolate good smoke, some younger leather and a cracking finish. Not overly strong but nicely punchy for a small size.

The range of cigars out there is great, get smoking!

Smokes in the snow

A snowy weekend offered up the chance to wrap up warm and get outside for a couple of smokes whilst on the way to/from toboganning. First up on Saturday was a 2007 Edicion Limitada - R&J Escudos, a Gorditos or Robusto Extra in size. This was a gift from Mr Sabourin and a very good smoke. It started out rich, almost Bolivar rich with toasted tobacco and roasted coffee but also a nice bit of cherry-like tang about it. This would be an even better after dinner smoke than it was in the middle of the day it was really enjoyable right to the end. Tasted blind I would not have thought it had 5-6 years on it and it is clearly an LE that can be aged. There was a little bit of dark chocolate about the profile too but never too much..impressive (93-94 if I had to rate it).
Second up, on sunday, was a Por Larranaga Petit Corona - PLPC to it's friends (box code MLO FEB 2012) - I have had several from this box and this was the worst, the constant snow and cold might not have helped! Ordinarily they are delicious, and have been from this box, although they would be better with a little age, 12-18 months at least. The main reason I have had a few of these so young is that I'm not quite where I want to be with my rolling-stocks yet. But with the two boxes that arrived today (see below) this is now less of an issue - Partagas Shorts (REA ABR 2010) and Ramon Allones Small Club Coronas (OGA NOV 2011) are both great smokes that are a great winter size and ready to go...