Wales 2016 - wine and weather - a picture blog!

Each year as a family we go to Aberaeron in West Wales (about 15 miles south of Aberystwyth) for a week of relaxation - eating, drinking and the odd walk along the way.

A few previous visits are documented below.

Week of wines and the odd cigar in Wales 2012

Wines in Wales 2014

Piedmont evening in Wales 2015

This year I have decided that a little like the rent trip to Bordeaux to taste the 2015's it would be best covered in pictures.

A few things to get us through the week! 

Lovely pairing from the South of Burgundy - serious people doing some great things! 

En Famille! 

I am drinking and loving a lot of Roty at the moment - so good!

The harbour with the Harbourmaster (Lilac on the left) doing a roaring trade...

The old German magnum fridge problem! 

There was some celebrating to do, this was lovely, not overly dry, nice!

Drinking well straight "off the bat"  

Charlie and both his "Pa's"!!

We had such amazing weather!! 

There's  a ski rack under there somewhere but hey Skis and Kayas are the same? 

Pre-Lunch prep…Cannubi just "beat" the Brunate, Phelan out performed the "Dame".. 

We started with this…for me Les Lys just pipped it but it was close...

Cynan's brilliant beef!

Homemade baklava 

So hot that the reds saw ice water too!

Moping up the leftovers the next day…Armens 2003 in a good place!

Up above Aberarth

A waiter one day?

Cracking pair, Cuvee Speciale '11 is a gem…Conterno is Conterno...

The last evening

Looking forward to next year already!!

Day to day...

Having a quick look at the blog over the year so far I realise quite how privileged I have been terms of tastings and trips in the last few months. However, I also notice that I've only really been writing up bigger dinner and events and not really documenting the wines I come across at the many lunches and dinners I am very lucky to enjoy, in a relaxed way, with customers, producers and friends. Many of the former two have become the latter which is one of the real joys of the wine trade. I also have to say that as my memory gets worse I use this blog more and more to remember if I have had certain wines...so a bit of a recent run of meals...

Relaxed luncheon at Otto's - both the other "Lunchers" had dinners that evening so this was a lovely relaxed lunch with lots of good chat. One white and one red. We started with Meursault Clos de Mazeray 2012 from Domaine Jacques Prieur a Domaine I am getting to know really well. This was lovely and rich but with a saline edge, it's a good wine from a good vintage. The red, Barolo 1967 from Accomasso Giovani - was rather at the other end of the age range and showed wonderful sweetness and complexity, earth and ash as well as flowers and a shade of red sweet frazzles (if that makes any sense). The food at Otto's did us proud. A thoroughly enjoyable lunch.

The next lunch, actually the following day, was at Zucca with a mate in the trade who writes, buys and sells. A great new starter has made it onto the menu - Squid Bruschetta with squid ink used in the bread making. It is delicious and strongly recommended. The use of squid and octopus is becoming a real signature for Zucca. The wines we had were a good complimentary pair, Wehlener Sonnenuhr Auslese 2004 from JJ Prum and then Le Vigne de Zamo 2000 by Ronco dei Roseti. Prum is for me one of the most flexible white wine producers with and without food, the variety of sweetness and ripeness and the texture of the wine as well as the lower alcohol really give you lots of options. This Auslese in 2004 has real precision and freshness. The red was a wine I had never had before, it is a Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc blend, having it blind I was half minded towards Bolgheri as there was a black fruited, bell-pepper note about this but less weight than you tend to get from further south. Friuli is known for whites but on this showing, reds too.

The hat-trick of lunches was notched up with a Friday at 1 Lombard Street near bank in the city, a spot I know well. Peter Sisseck was in town having been at the dinner given to celebrate Alvaro Palacios getting the Decanter Man of the Year award. We had Psi 2010 from bottle followed by Psi 2011 from Magnum, both showed well, possibly the 2011 just edging it for focus. Peter explained how this project worked, essentially protecting old vines by having a co-operative approach to buying their fruit. We then went to the estate that Peter is best know for - Pingus and had the Flor de Pingus 2006 which was showing superbly, yes it is young but it has such brightness that it's lovely now. To pair the 2006 we also had Flor de Pingus 1996 which I was always under the impression was the first Flor de Pingus, in fact we heard from Peter that there had been a little bit of Flor made in 1995 (the first year of Pingus) but as with the Pingus it ended up in the bottom of the Bay of Biscay when the boat went down. The 1996 has always been a great wine at taking some famous scalps and is fully mature now but still so good. We then just had time, before Peter dashed off to get a plane, for us to try the first two vintages of Chateau Rocheyron 2010 (Magnum) and 2011. The 2010 has a great reputation of course but this is very much a work in progress for Peter and the 2012 are really showing that as is the 2014 I tasted last week in Bordeaux. He will not release 2013 as Rocheyron, instead it will appear only under the second label of Fleur de Rocheyron.

An invite came through the following week to attend the Uk launch of Dom Perignon Rose 2004 and not knowing the wine well I though this was not a chance to pass up. Dom Perignon "normal" is, in my opinion, one of the few examples in the wine world of mass production and high quality. Dom Perignon Rose 2003 - the release before the 2004 and richer, a little darker, a little more opulent. It was then time for the Dom Perignon Rose 2004 which showed more focus and refinement, may be showing less of the Rose elements just yet but that will come.

The next lunch was a Friday at Zucca, contrary to popular opinion I rarely "lunch" on a Friday as I like to finish the week off. The visit was the very first for a customer/friend and we had agreed to bring a bottle each - I went down the JJ Prum route again with Wehlener Sonnenuhr Auslese 1997 which showed really well, a little richer and more unctuous than the 2004 but still very fresh and a great accompaniment to the variety of antipasti, or Italian tapas as I like to think of them. It was then time for Costa Russi 2000 from Gaja, this was very Gaja and very 2000, quite bold and full, very good but youthful and may be without the razor sharp acidity you can get in other vintages, the last glass was really singing. As it was a friday and there was still much to discuss I asked for the list and selected Barolo Sarmassa 2009 from Brezza. I like these wines and think they are certainly under-appreciated, think "really good second growth" or a Domaine in Burgundy that makes great wines but doesn't quite have the Grand Cru holdings it deserves, rich, full but also pure. I am very pleased to own some Brezza wines.

And last but by no means least it was back to Otto's (yes boring aren't I). Two customers who used to work together in the city - some great stories - very kindly suggested Lunch and knowing they have lovely cellars I said I'll bring a white and  pay for the food. So we started with Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Folatieres 2011 from Francois Carillon. I really like the Francois Carillon wines, I am biased but think he's really nailing it with zingy, elegant wines that drink well from early but will age well, he wisely went easy on the new oak in 2011 and the results are lovely. The three reds we had were deliciously different. Gruaud Larose 1982 was fully mature but still rich with dark fruit, a good dose of blood and iron (in a good way of course). The Burgundy pairing was both kind and fascinating 
Charmes Chambertin Tres Vielles Vignes 1995 and 1997 from J.Roty. I have always found there to be a masculine style to the wine at Roty but somehow they are never hard, there is a specific texture, a dash chalky. The 1995 was rich, savoury, some soy and sweet stock but then refined and persistent, young but totally appreciable now, good, very good. The 1997 was by a slight contrast open and ready to go, still the same family of flavours - soy, bruised fruit and savoury sweetness but just looser and sweeter, less brooding, lovely now but no rush, medium weight...we then had some cheese and Rieussec 2003 from a half. This was drinking nicely, good balance and a little bit of rancio coming in. I think with the pricing of Rieussec having all gone a bit "wrong" of late that a lot more of it will simply get drunk at lunches and dinners...all in all a good thing.

Peter Sisseck and his line of travel...

Around this time of year each year Peter Sisseck pops into the office to show the upcoming vintages of his wines as well as the last release. This was a really good tasting and one in which the questions flowed. As one colleague commented often winemakers say "tell me what you really think of the wines" and for whatever reason you often don't or feel may be you shouldn't. The opposite is true of Peter, you know he wants the feedback and doesn't think he is necessarily right. I think the success he has had does mean he can be more confident with trying things and less fearful of getting things wrong.  To my mind this come across in the Pingus wines especially.

We started elsewhere with only the second vintage - 2011 - of Peter's St.Emilion property Chateau Rocheyron which will be released soon. The 2010 was a great success and you can see why this estate has a great future. The estate will be bio-dynamic from 2013 and uses the same consultant for this as Pontet Canet. The 2011 saw only 30% new oak, Peter has also started to fine the wine with egg whites as well (something we spoke of at length). The 2011 will be bottled in June 2013. The colour was a redder colour than you might expect, a good thing, no over extraction here. Lovely refreshing acidity and cherry fruit, lovely tannins that are soft but not too soft, a remarkable length and most importantly a wine that has not tried to over egg, pardon the pun, things. Impressive.

We then headed south for Peter's Ribera wines. The Psi project is all about retaining old vine fruit against the greedy commercialisation and higher, less interesting, yields that have started to become commonplace in Ribera.
Psi 2011 is a fresh and red fruited wine with cherry and almost blueberry fruit, proper tannins and a very primary feel, good grip. This is a wine that Peter is happy really reflects the way the Ribera wines should be, great now but better in 1-3 years, not overly polished. The 5th vintage of Psi and may be the best? Mind you 09 and 10 are pretty damn fine...

Flor de Pingus is a wine made from separate plots to Pingus so NOT a second wine. It is made from 22 hectares, 7 of which are "En Fermage", in La Horra and on a range of soils. Over the time from the 2006 vintage to this wine the % of new oak has dropped (a theme in Peter's wines) from 100% to 40%. Tasting the 2011 & 2012 side by side was fascinating as comparison is tricky when one is essentially an early cask sample and the other not far from bottling.
Flor de Pingus 2011 - A creamy texture on the initial taste, fruit is redder and crunchier than I remember of Flor, less coffee. A complex and serious wine already. Good acidity, amazing length.
Flor de Pingus 2012 - Lusher and darker but still on the red fruit spectrum as opposed to black, some damsons too, stunning, really lovely, long.

From Flor we moved to Pingus where arguably the biggest changes have been made with the a drop in new oak to only 10-15% and the increasing use of whole bunches, almost 40% in the 2012. Now this is not supposed to be about oak but it is a very interesting point. Peter doesn't feel less oak changes the wine ultimately as that "shell" of new oak fades anyway but it allows a slower maturation of the wine in cask and to my mind makes for a more true and honest translation as well as adding elegance.
Pingus 2011 - Kirsch and mulled intense fruit, dense but not heavy, staggering texture in the mouth, big structure but not overpowering, great lift, very long...seriously everything...
Pingus 2012 - Amazingly pure and primary - a baby - bold but not harsh, couldn't be any more fruit in there...I'm already looking forward to tasting this next year...it sounds daft to talk about a wine like Pingus going up a gear and I realise I am biased but it feels like that is what is happening

Exciting...

Cigars, Wine & Photography all in a Nobleman's House

Last night was a truly memorable evening at a wonderful location - The House of the Nobleman http://houseofthenobleman.com/partners.html - in which there is strikingly excellent Gallery space which amongst others currently houses several photographs from the renowned photographer Alistair Morrison.Yesterday was all about Cigars, Wine, Cigar people & photography. Alistair has a project on the go called Fuma Divina, a book of Cigar smokers portraits that you will have to ask about, it is very special, and also an exhibition of cigar related photographs more details here http://www.alistairmorrison.com/projects/fuma-divina/.

The event was a combination of several peoples work and judging by the packed room one that will be repeated.Laurence Davis of Sautters of Mount Street (http://www.sauttercigars.com/) great people with a similar attitude to cigars that we have to wine, spoke about the two cigars and I spoke about the wines.

What resulted was the most smoky and decadent room in London, a top Monday night! We had two combinations - El Rey del Mundo 'Choix de l'Epoque' a UK Regional Edition for 2009 with Macon Verze 2009, Domaines Leflaive. The cigar is essentially a short Robusto (50 ring gauge by 4 and a bit inches), a straw and hay like aroma and a just under medium body, it worked well with the Macon Verze which has great fruit but also a good texture. The 2009 is drinking really well know, a dash of opulence with acidity to keep it in check. I had never had the L'Epoque before and was impressed. After most people has tried the first pairing we moved on to Ramon Allones, Allones Extra a Limited Edition for 2011 with Psi 2009, Peter Sisseck. I had bought a box of these smokes on recommendation but never tried one and I was delighted. A rich stewed fruitcake character that I associate with Ramon Allones was there from the off, it started at just above Medium and came back after the first third to medium, these will age brilliantly as there is real complexitiy and clout. The Psi was a great foil for the cigar, Tempranillo often is, as it had a sweet fruit but very little oak and a rich palate coating texture that made for really balanced enjoyment. The 2009 Psi has started to hit it stride in the last month after arriving about 6 months ago, it’ll give a lot of pleasure. I must alos mention that there were some very high class ash trays and immaculate Humidors on display from Linley - very special things to own. My over-riding impression was of a room packed with fun and banter. The world of Cigar smokes is a broad church and all the better for it!

If you would be interested in similar events please let me know!