If you have read my recent blog on my love affair with Bordeaux and Burgundy I left you with the choice of what to put in your cellar. It was either the difficult to find, expensive and fickle Burgundy's or the much more reliable and easier on the pocket Bordeaux's. My considered opinion was that with Burgundy, despite its huge variation in quality and inflated prices its principal red grape - Pinot Noir can deliver much more rewarding drinking in the short term; I have found most of my classed Bordeaux's are nowhere near ready to drink and may, if I'm lucky, just be ready to share with my now 11 year old when hes old enough to imbibe.
So, what should we put away in the very short term to enjoy ? Well I have recently fallen madly in love with a Pinot Noir from down under - no, not Oz, keep going and you will find another deep south outpost mostly known for its Sauvignon. The home of Sauvignon, the Loire is only now just waking up to the world wide taste for fresh zingy well crafted wines of this ilk; they are not quite there yet but watch this space for modern Sauvignons from France. ( hopefully a few more of which I will discover at the 22nd Beauvais sur Matha wine festival on the 1st June )
The wine that has so charmed me is Coney Pizzicato Pinot Noir from the North Island New Zealand - not somewhere in the Otago but in Martinborough. This wine is one of the best Pinot noirs I have ever tasted and I've had more than my fair share as a wine judge for the IWC . How they get this young wine to express such maturity is a marvel of wine making; while retaining its classic Pinot perfume with natural sweetness, it also has cherry/ violet notes, good weight with delightful umami; so much so, I think it has benefited from Brettanomyces Once you have tried a wine with this so called 'yeast infection' you will be forever seeking it, out I know I do (something I had to explain carefully to my wife !). Sadly such epicurean delights don't come cheap as it sells for around £20 a bottle (Majestic) but I would rather have one bottle of this Pinot delight than a dozen insipid run of the mill Bourgogne reds in my wine rack .
Sadly I missed this vineyard when we visited Martinbrough Last spring, surprising, as Martinbrough is such a small place; the kind of charming rural town that shuts down on a Sunday night. Instead I spent my time drinking the famous Pinot noir from Ata Rangi - fantastic stuff but 3 times the price. Great ageing potential but I want to drink my Pinot now so its Coney for me thanks mate.
Now a quick update of the state of UK Supermarket wine after my recent visit over Easter. Well wine lovers its more bad news. Since my last visit to the UK (October), there are even more generic bland industrial wines on the shelves to fit the sub £10 bracket. I don't think the supermarkets think we want interesting crafted wines anymore as they appear to of completely dropped these in favour of the bland factory wines that they can easily buy and sell at huge mark ups as long as its palatable and has the required alcohol content; did you see the tv ad where a 'typical shopper' says " I don't care what it is I just like it " this should send a shiver down any wine lovers spine and just shows how a supermarket will lower its self to the lowest common denominator if we allow them to. So - demand more ! more taste, more diversity and better value for money . Don't get me wrong I love British supermarkets, they are the best in the world, we just need to demand more from them when it comes to wine, don't let them leave it to the accountants who wouldn't know a good yeast infection if it hit them where it really hurts (and I don't mean their pockets !)
By Chris Blakeman
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