Metzendorff Tasting

This took place at Somerset House and was a good-sized tasting - not an overwhelming number of wines but enough to be interesting. The highlights for me were:

Ayala Blanc de Blancs 2000 - Ayala has been around since the 19th century but was recently bought by Bollinger (who, incidentally, owns 80% or so of Metzendorff). It is a good - and cheaper - alternative to the big Champagne brands and this vintage Blanc de Blancs was my pick of the range, with just the right amount of autolytic creamy yeastiness. I find that Blanc de Blancs (100% Chardonnay) Champagnes tend to be bigger and more 'foody' than those blended with Pinots Noir and Meunier.

Roda Cirsion 2006 - this wine is towards the top of the range of this Rioja producer. Great red fruitiness, although more rounded and elegant than the Roda 2004 and Roda I 2004 which were also on show.

Turkey Flat Grenache 2005 and Mouvedre 2006 - these are both at the cheaper end of this Barossa producer's range and represent great value for money - if, that is, you like big, fruit-driven wines. The Grenache especially was a fruit explosion, with raisins and dark cherries. They also make a luxurious, viscous PX.

Henriques & Henriques - I think the whole range from this Madeira producer is lovely but again would single out the lower-end wines as they provide such good value for money. The 3 Year Old Full Rich and the 5 Year Old Finest Medium Rich were both serious bottles of Madeira for astonishingly low prices (due in part to lack of demand in the modern world, as is also the case for much Sherry and Port).

Taylor's - speaking of Port, I must mention Taylor's (the minority owner of Metzendorff by the way). The 20 Year Old Tawny was my favourite, although the 10 Year is also very good and is nearly half the price.

Oregon and Washington Tasting

This took place yesterday at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London. Despite majestic views across St James' Park to the Houses of Parliament, the grey drizzly weather was appropriate for a tasting which completely failed to excite.

As is usual at trade tastings, the wines were classified into retail price brackets, of which the cheapest (A) was £5 - £7 and the most expensive (E) was £20+. Flicking through my notes, the only wines which impressed at all were in category E (apart from a couple of dessert wines, but they came in half bottles). If money is no object, Oregon and Washington are undoubtedly capable of making some lovely wines, but the rank and file were too often bland and predictable, and at worst were overly alcoholic and/or downright horrible.

It is always interesting to see where the crushes of tasters form at these events, as - like Land Rovers on safari - they act as beacons for the best action. Here, the tasting density was highest around the category E (i.e. most expensive) Pinot Noirs.

For the record, my favourites were:

DeLille Semillon Sauvignon - crisp, with mild petrolly aroma

K Vintners Viognier - one of only 2 Viogniers on show, impressive

Domaine Serene Coeur Blanc - white Pinot Noir, in an enormous bottle, gorgeous viscous stone-fruit

Alder Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon - Bordeaux-ish old world, delicate but good tannins

One final observation is that the alcohol levels were in general too high for my liking and many wines felt 'hot', leaving an uncomfortable alcohol burn in the back of the throat. This is a global phenomenon (see my notes of last week's New Zealand tasting), which some say is a result of global warming (hotter, sunnier ripening periods leading to more sugar in the grape and higher alcohol content), whilst others blame it on the increasing Robert Parker-isation of the global palate. While there may be some truth in the former, I suspect the influence of the Parker empire may well extend up the US west coast to these two regions.

New phylloxera outbreak in Yarra

Published on Decanter.com 19 January 2009. Click here to see the article on the Decanter website or on the image below for a larger version.


A new outbreak of phylloxera was declared in Australia's Yarra Valley last month.

According to Victoria's Department of Primary Industries, 'a detection of the grapevine pest phylloxera has been made in an existing control area in the Yarra Valley, north east of Melbourne'.

The so-called Maroondah Phylloxera Infested Zone (PIZ) was declared after phylloxera was detected in the region in December 2006.

The declaration restricts the movement of grapevine materials, machinery and equipment out of the PIZ.

Senior DPI plant standard officer Greg King said that following a recent notification of poor vigour in a number of vines, 'samples were taken from the affected vines and DPI's reference entomologist confirmed the presence of the pest'.

The Phylloxera and Grape Industry Board of South Australia is the only body of its type in the world established specifically to deal with phylloxera. It publishes information on recognising phylloxera and warns that detections tend to be made up to several years after the initial occurrence of the infestation.

Grape growers in other regions, especially those who have had regular contact with the Yarra Valley or with high volumes of wine tourism, have been advised to be particularly vigilant in looking for signs of phylloxera.

Phylloxera is a small yellow root-feeding aphid. It only targets grapevines, which it kills by attacking their roots.

NZ Annual Tasting

Yesterday's annual New Zealand tasting at Lord's was extremely well-attended. The crush at certain producers' tables, especially around the lunchtime peak, felt more like a bar on a Friday night. Not ideal tasting conditions maybe, but it shows there is real interest in New Zealand wines at the moment.

The central tables consisted of a 'walk through taste tour', showcasing Riesling and Pinot Noir (and sensibly steering clear of Sauvignon, which is in danger of overshadowing NZ's other varieties). My favourites from this selection were Muddy Water James Hardwick Waipara Riesling 2007 (at the dry end of the Riesling spectrum, with great lively fruit), The Crater Rim 'Blacks Lot 7' Pinot Noir Waipara 2007 (violets, smooth and silky and, at 14%, no hint of alcohol burn) and Felton Road's Pinot Noirs (see below).

I was (maybe naively?) surprised that 14% seemed to be the average alcohol content for the Pinots. Apparently this is due to the fact that many of the Pinot Noir clones were originally brought to NZ from Burgundy, which has less sunshine and is cooler than many NZ winegrowing areas. The NZ Pinot berries therefore tend to develop more sugar, meaning more alcohol in the finished product.

Central Otago's Felton Road is a really interesting producer, a practitioner of - in their own words - "medieval winemaking". They are 100% organic and will also be wholly biodynamic once various certification periods have been completed. The highlights were their Block 5 Pinot Noir (from a select portion of their Cornish Point vineyard) and a Vin Gris, made from free-run Pinot Noir juice (delicate with a slightly salty finish). Although their Pinots are all around the 14% mark, the alcohol is completely integrated with the fruit.

I noticed several producers now make 'unwooded' or 'unoaked' Chardonnays, with no malolactic fermentation. These tend to have pleasant crisp, citrussy flavours and - if such a comment is not a redundancy - taste very typically of Chardonnay.

Seresin's range was very good as expected (especially the Reserve Sauvignon 2008 and the 'Rachel' Pinot Noir 2006), as was Craggy Range.

For Sale - Chateau Latour

According to the Sunday Times, the renowned Pauillac estate is being discreetly offered to potential buyers by French investment bank Lazard. The Château Latour estate covers 78 hectares, but only grapes from the 47 hectares that directly surround the château - known as L'Enclos - go into the flagship first wine.

While the Sunday Times cites a potential pricetag of €150m-200m (£145m-193m), sources in Bordeaux suggest that the property would “not go for less than €600m”.