Loire wines: made for sunny weather

A recent trip to the Loire has reminded me what a brilliant area it is for summer drinking. For a couple of days in mid-July temperatures around the Loire hit almost 40°C – days when I and a group of fellow wine educators were driving around the region in a minibus with no air conditioning. Never have I been so keen to explore producers’ cellars.

And yet, in all that heat, the wines we tasted offered fresh fruit flavours offering plenty of refreshment – yes, even the red wines, which were universally served fridge cold.

The Loire appeals to my greedy side, as the collection of regions make a wide variety of wine styles, encompassing sparkling wines, rosés, whites from bone dry to lusciously sweet and those refreshing reds. You can see why Loire wines would be my Desert Island Discs luxury can’t you?

What to look out for? The 2015 vintage was warm, resulting in some super-ripe wines. The excellent 2016 vintage is available now and is what you should look for if refreshment is what you’re after. The Wine Society is running an offer on a range of 2016s until 10^th September, including this juicy red.

Touraine Rouge “Le Bécassou” Domaine des Echardières 2016 - £8.95 from The Wine Society

I would save this for a sunny weekend lunch and serve it slightly chilled (I don’t think we’re in danger of anything approaching 40° for a while). Its crisp cherry fruit is great with cured meats and rubs along well with the kind of picnic style lunch that you can eat indoors or out, depending on the weather. Touraine reds are often made from Gamay (the Beaujolais grape), which can come as something of a surprise. Here it’s topped up some Cabernet Franc and Malbec to give extra structure and fruit definition.

Winter wines on a budget

January is a tough time for the average wine lover. There are few excuses to celebrate and, post-Christmas, there is an underlying feeling that perhaps one should lay off the booze for a while, for the good of the liver - and wallet.

On the liver front, without going into too much laborious detail, 2 or 3 alcohol free days a week year-round are what’s required. A month-long moratorium on drinking is perhaps admirable, but will not benefit your liver in the longer term if you simply then return to a daily glass or two thereafter.

And for the wallet…here are some wines that can help to banish the winter blues, and which won’t give your bank balance a bruising.

Mesquiriz Navarra Rosado 2015, Spain - £3.99, Lidl

At this price, this winter-weight Spanish rosé will bring a smile to the lips of any skint wine drinker. The generous strawberry fruit with a little kick of white pepper makes is a perfect midweek wine for bangers and mash.

Trebuchet Chardonnay 2015, South Africa - £5.99 (mix six price until 30 Jan), Majestic

This South African Chardonnay tastes much more expensive than it is, especially at the reduced price. It has creamy fruit with a zesty lemon finish.

Tesco finest* St Mont 2014, France - £6, Tesco

The direction that Tesco’s wine range is heading doesn’t give much to cheer about, but this long-lived member of their own label finest* range is a welcome survivor of recent culls to the list. This blend of Southwest France’s native white varieties Gros Manseng, Petit Courbu, Petit Manseng and Arrufiac deliver a wine of character, combining grapefruit zing and apricot-tinged fruit.

Casal de Ventozela 2015, Vinho Verde, Portugal - £6.99 (mix six price), Majestic

This medal-winning Vinho Verde is fresh and spritzy with lemon and herbal flavours – a tonic for the jaded.

Setze Gallets Garnacha Monastrell, Spain 2014 - £7.25, The Wine Society

Full-flavoured, fruity and with a level of class that belies its price, this is perfect winter comfort wine. From the sunny climes of Valencia in Spain and aged in amphorae, this red combines the dense dark fruit of Monastrell with the rich liveliness of old vine Garnacha.

Falanghina Sassi del Mare 2015, Italy - £7.99, Lidl

This is part of Lidl’s Christmas wine collection, which you should be able to find until the next collection hits their shelves from 26^th January onwards. Try this gem of an Italian white, from Campania, for a taste of springtime honeysuckle in winter.

Tesco finest* Tingleup Riesling 2015, Australia - £8, Tesco

Another long-standing Tesco listing, the wine’s flavour somehow matches the its name – though Tingleup is simply the name of the region of origin in Western Australia. Fresh, juicy lime fruit and waxiness combine in a wine which is dry but never austere.

Mesta Organic Old Vine Tempranillo 2015, Spain - £8, M&S

The same red grape, Tempranillo, as Rioja, but in a richer, riper style that is full of fruit with an edge of tomato leaf -  and without oak.

Zalze Shiraz/Mourvèdre/Viognier 2015, South Africa - £8.29, Waitrose

For people who like their winter reds to pack a punch of both flavour and alcohol, this delivers the necessary with full-flavoured, juicy fruit.

Blason du Rhône 2015, Côtes du Rhône Villages, France - £8.99, Waitrose

The word “Villages” in the name is an important one, signifying a step up in quality from straight Côtes du Rhône. This soothing wine is soft and smooth with strawberry fruit and a hint of herbs on the finish.

Wines for the Christmas table

Here’s a handy guide to wines to make your Christmas Day go with a swing.

Smoked salmon

When you have your smoked salmon might determine your choice of drinking accompaniment.

Pouilly Fumé 2015, Masson Blondelet - £15.99, Ocado

If it’s as a starter to the Christmas Day feast, then a smart bottle like this could be the way to go. Sauvignon Blanc finds its most mineral, sometimes smoky, expression in the Loire vineyards of Pouilly Fumé. The fresh, tangy, slightly marine aromas give way to a textured, fragrant wine with zesty acidity, delicate structure and persistent flavour.

If, however, your smoked salmon crops up in a more brunchy setting – don’t look at the clock, it’s Christmas - a bottle of something sparkling might be more fun. There are plenty of fizz recommendations in my previous column (online version here: http://yourliquidassets.blogspot.co.uk/2016/12/fizz-for-sparkling-christmas-parties.html). If I were to choose one perfect match from that list, it would have to be Champagne Le Mesnil Blanc de Blancs 2007 Grand Cru - £33.99, Waitrose.  

The main event – Christmas dinner

Roast turkey (or goose), roast potatoes, sprouts, cranberry sauce, gravy, pigs in blankets – is it really possible for a wine to match all the foods that we merrily pile onto our festive plates on Christmas Day? In truth no, so we can be liberated from embarking on that impossible task. The prime consideration is to choose something you know you’ll enjoy.

But there are wines that will cope with the kind of rich cornucopia of flavours better than others.

Pinot Noir is usually my choice of red for the occasion. It makes wines that are fragrant and full of red fruit with only a whisper of tannin, but with crisp acidity: a profile that makes for wines which can rub along happily with a wide range of flavours, rather than clashing with them.

Try one of these:

Villa Maria Private Bin Pinot Noir 2015 - £8.50, Morrison’s, £9, Asda

At its full recommended retail price of £13.35 this is no bargain, but at these special offer prices there’s plenty to recommend this New Zealand Pinot: aromas of raspberry and clove carry through to the palate, with barely there tannins. This is fruity and easy-drinking enough to take with you after the meal to the sitting room for slurping with a box set. In the same sort of vein is Ara Single Vineyard Pinot Noir 2014 - £11.99, Waitrose.

Sancerre Rouge au Bois de l’Epine 2015 - £15, M&S

Red Sancerre, always made from Pinot Noir, has improved greatly in quality in recent years. This has lovely ripeness of fruit, body and texture.

Domaine Lucien Muzard Santenay Premier Cru Maladière 2014 - £21.49, Waitrose

Ultimately, no-one does Pinot Noir better than in Burgundy. This example, from the Côte de Beaune, the southern half of the Côte d’Or, has spent a year in oak and combines depth and intensity with a smooth richness.

Contino Rioja Reserva 2005 - £25, The Wine Society (Marks & Spencer have the 2010 at the same price, as do Waitrose)

You can’t go wrong with Rioja. The mellow nature of the wine, thanks to oak ageing, makes it slip in just fine with all manner of dishes. It’s renowned for matching with lamb, but, I would argue, is one of the most versatile of red wine styles. And who isn’t pleased to see a bottle of Rioja on the table?

Contino is a byword for quality in Rioja. Their wine is made from all their own estate-grown fruit (not the norm in Rioja) and the balance of flavour, ripeness and freshness is usually spot on.

Christmas pudding

Sometimes it’s hard to do justice to the Christmas pudding after all the conspicuous consumption that precedes it.

Royal Palace Colheita Port 2002 - £26, M&S

A Tawny Port, aged for a few years in oak, would make a good match for the dried fruits, nuts and spice of your Chritmas pud, and could happily continue on to the cheese course. Warre’s Otima (widely available at around £12 for a 50cl bottle) is a reliable introduction to the style, with some mellowing nuttiness alongside the sweet, spicy fruit. Single vintage, or Colheita, Ports are often a step up in quality and complexity. This one, from the 2002 vintage has a stimulating mix of berries and herbs with a medicinal hint.

Fontanafredda Moscato d’Asti Moncucco 2015 - £9.95 (50cl), Great Western Wine

Or you could go more leftfield and try a Moscato d’Asti. Rather than matching flavours, this is about providing a contrast. The fresh, lightly sparkling pear flavours of this delightful Italian charmer provide a foil to the richness of the pudding.  And if you can’t face the pudding at all, a glass of this (at only 5.5% alcohol) is a great post-prandial pick me up.

Cheeseboard

Harveys VORS Palo Cortado - £22.59 (50cl), Waitrose

VORS stands for Very Old Rare Sherry and this Palo Cortado, aged for a minimum of 30 years, certainly fits the bill. The label indicates medium sweetness, but I would say it is just off-dry and the long ageing brings wonderful complexity, with tangy nuttiness, caramel, dried fruits and more to savour. Sherry is perhaps not a classic cheese match, but try this and you might be converted. If I were Len, I’d give it 10.

Cook’s treat

Finally, and most importantly, the success of any Christmas Day should include something delicious for the cook(s) to sip at as they chop, stuff, steam and baste in the kitchen.

Dr Loosen Slate Hill Riesling 2015 – £8.99 on offer at Majestic (mix six price)

This zingy, fresh Riesling has a little lemon and peach fruity sweetness, but finishes dry. The perfect thing to have by your side as you cook and, at only 8.5% alcohol, you can have a glass of this without feeling sozzled before the turkey’s on the table.

Applause for La Clape

The vast expanse of Languedoc-Roussillon and its swathes of vineyards making a myriad of different wines can be daunting to get to grips with.

At its simplest, IGP Pays d’Oc is the catch all appellation for wines made anywhere across the region, often with varietal labelling. And while I’m pleased Pays d’Oc exists, there are many worthwhile wines to be found by digging deeper into Languedoc and Roussillon.

But there are so many names to remember! Here are just a few wine appellations off the top of my head: Fitou, Minervois, Pic St Loup, Faugères, Saint Chinian, Picpoul de Pinet – there are many, many more. Oh, and you might also come across AOC Languedoc; and IGP Côtes Catalanes functions like IGP Pays d’Oc for Roussillon. In short, the picture is, as always, complicated.

To help decode some of the mystique, here’s a quick guide to one of the appellations responsible for some of the most exciting and characterful wines from the region. It also helps that the name is simple for Anglophones to get their tongues round:  La Clape.

La Clape is a one-time island, which now forms a conspicuous bump of limestone on the coastal plain between the city of Narbonne and the Mediterreanean. The environment is harsh – the salt-laden wind, poor rocky soils and baking sun make it fit really for only for vines and olives.

Wines from here seem to have a unique character, which must be influenced by their singular growing environment. Flavours are ripe, but with a grip and freshness that might surprise you, given their southerly origins.

White

Château Rouquette Cuvée Arpège 2015 - £10.95 from the Wine Society

All white wines from La Clape must include some Bourboulenc – a variety native to the Rhône Valley. It can be rather characterless, but in La Clape it assumes a richness of flavour, while retaining all-important freshness, alongside “grip” – a certain texture that red wines usually have, but white wines tend not to. Here it is blended with Rhône bedfellow Roussanne, and is unoaked, making for vibrant, fresh fruit flavours that refresh and cleanse the palate.

Château d’Anglès Grand Vin Blanc 2012 - £19.80 from Hedonism Wines

Eric Fabre, ex of Château Lafite Rothschild, knows a thing or two about crafting fine wines. His Classique blanc is in the same mould at Ch Rouquette above, but this Grand Vin, a blend of Bourboulenc, Grenache, Roussanne and Marsanne has been fermented and aged in oak, giving a wine of power and complexity. You can also find Château d’Anglès Grand Vin Rouge 2010 at online merchant Vin Cognito for £14.50.

Red

Château Rouquette 2014 - £10.95 from the Wine Society

The red incarnation of Ch Rouquette combines old vine Carignan with Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre – hardly an unusual recipe in this part of the world; but the singularity of La Clape gives the wine a saline tang and wonderful texture.

Upcoming wine events in Surrey

I'm involved in a few wine events between now and the end of the year. It would be great to see some readers at one or both.

6 December, 8pm – Wine Discovery evening at Cellar Magneval, Woking – a relaxed evening of wine tasting and learning at Woking’s cool and quirky wine bar, focusing on wines for Christmas. See: http://www.cellarmagneval.com/woking-events

15 December, 8pm – The fine wines of Burgundy at Cellar Wines, Ripley – do the ultimate Christmas Day wines come from Burgundy? More details and booking: https://www.cellarwines.co.uk/events/the-fine-wines-of-burgundy/

Time for a Carignan rehabilitation

Carignan is probably not a grape variety whose name readily trips off the tongue. It’s not one of the highly regarded, “noble” varieties like Cabernet Sauvignon or Chardonnay. Nor is it, like Pinot Grigio, so ubiquitous that people ask for a glass of it by name in their local gastro pub.

So, a potted biography of Carignan is perhaps in order.

Carignan is mostly found in Languedoc-Roussillon, where it generally forms part of a blend and is rarely seen or its own, or, indeed trumpeted on a front label. It originates, however, in Aragon in northeastern Spain. Back in its native land, it is often known as Mazuelo (or Mazuela in Rioja) or, in Catalonia, Samsó, though you may also see Cariñena (which is also, confusingly, the name of a wine region). Outside France and Spain, you are most likely to come across it in Chile where, thankfully, it is called simply Carignan. There is some in North America, where it has acquired an extra “e” as Carignane.

Carignan has been recorded in southern France since Medieval times, but this longevity has not led to respect and it tends to be labelled a workhorse variety at best. At worst it is derided or even despised. Why?

Carignan needs a long, warm growing season to ripen fully, so it has never spread to cooler parts of France. Its influence in southern France has been waning in recent years, but it was valued by growers, especially up until the latter part of the 20^th century, as a high yielding grape which added colour, alcohol and acidity to otherwise weedy wines.

The Carignan vine is a vigorous grower which will provide high yields, if allowed to, which give a deep coloured, high acid wine that is long on tannin and short on fruit. Sounds good, huh? But, but – lower yielding old vines that have not been irrigated and whose fruit has been treated carefully can give wines with distinct, rich inky black fruit, accompanied by present but pleasant tannins and that acidity gives a freshness that is welcome in wines from a warm climate.

Many Carignan vines have been pulled up in Languedoc-Roussillon, partly encouraged by government vine pull schemes. Those that remain are, increasingly, those older bushvines on better land away from the flat, fertile plains – and they make correspondingly better, increasingly very good, wines.

So, now is the time to discover and rehabilitate Carignan – say its name with pride.

3C, Cariñena 2015 (Spain)- £5.25 The Wine Society

Ignore the hideous label and tuck into the delightlful unoaked Carignan within. There is plenty of juicy black fruit and a lick of tannin that will hit the spot on many a chilly, dark night. You are unlikely to find another red wine that packs so much flavour in at this price.

Les Crouzes, Carignan Vieilles Vignes 2015 - £6.49 Co-op

Despite its ubiquity, it is still rare to find a 100% Carignan wine in the Languedoc. This is the essence of the Midi, where a certain rusticity meets fresh and fruity to great effect.

Torres Cordillera Carignan 2009 (Chile) - £13.99 Taurus Wines, Bramley

This is a brilliant example of Carignan made from old, unirrigated bush vines in the Maule region of Chile. Producers there have now banded together to form the VIGNO project, designed to highlight the wines made from these increasingly rare old (sometimes up to 100 years old) vines. This is full of black, brambly fruit with bay leaf herbal characters and a lipsmacking freshness.

Wines to put a spring in your step

Even if sunny spring weather goes AWOL, you can still put a spring in your step with a glass of something light, fresh and fruity.

White

   

Cuvée Pêcheur 2015 - £4.99 from Waitrose

If you’re looking for something to have on standby for when the sun comes out, or are planning a spring party, look no further. This is a blend of Ugni Blanc and Colombard (both varieties usually backing singers rather than the headliner) from Southwest France that has plenty of zing and a bit of floweriness. Buy and enjoy this now – all its charms stem from its youth and freshness.

Muscadet Sèvre et Maine Caves de la Nantaise 2014 - £5.95 from The Wine Society

Remember Muscadet? Remind yourself why you loved it with this delightfully fresh, light-bodied (and light alcohol, just 11.5%) wine with a hint of the sea and oyster shells about it.

Tesco Finest Côtes de Gascogne 2014 - £6, Tesco

A rather boring name for a great little wine. Here Sauvignon Blanc is complemented by the high quality but relatively unknown local variety, Gros Manseng, which contributes weight and a grapefruit tang.

Rosé

 

Bel Air Perponcher Rosé 2015 - £8.50 from The Wine Society

With rosé, more than any other wine style, eye appeal is vital; it epitomizes the idea that we taste with our eyes, so the wine’s colour (and to some extent packaging) is almost as important as the flavour. This charmer is a beautiful pale shell pink with a mixture of lemon zest and pith, and hints of redcurrant fruit. A perfect glass on a sunny afternoon in the garden.

Château Tour de Mirambeau Rosé Réserve 2014 - £10.60 from Tanners

If the weather warms up sufficiently that you throw caution to the wind and get out the barbecue from its winter quarters, this could be the wine to match. Hailing from Bordeaux, it is made from Cabernet Sauvignon, a grape renowned for making wines big on fruit and structure – so it shouldn’t surprise you that, even as a pink wine, there is plenty of black fruit flavour with a hint of woodiness, warmth and spice. This is a powerful, food friendly wine that would go well with marinated lamb chump steaks.

Rosa dei Frati 2014, Cà dei Frati - £14.75 from slurp.co.uk , £16.49 from The Wine Reserve (Cobham), £16.90 from Hedonism Wines (Mayfair)

This is a beautiful pale, negligée pink colour and comes in an equally pretty bottle. Fresh strawberry fruit combined with lemony acidity makes this a great "glass in the garden in spring" wine, which also stands up to vinaigrette dressing or a tomato tart.

Red

Rainbows End Cabernet Franc 2013 - £11.99, Hard to Find Wines (htfwines.co.uk)

Cabernet Franc is just right for spring and summer and this one is a textbook example from South Africa. Ripe red fruit and pencil shaving aromas give way to a palate that is densely flavoured, but with all important fresh acidity. A joy and – at this price – a bargain.

Wines for these golden moments

Is Autumn always this good? Driving through Surrey woodlands recently it has felt like someone has turned a giant golden light on, so vibrant are the autumn leaf colours. I love the warmth and light of summer, but there is something immensely appealing about the slightly melancholy slide into Autumn, with the promise (or threat) of Winter not far behind.

These are the kinds of wines that suit this turn of the seasons.

Vine leaf colours in a Surrey vineyard

White wines

Whites need more heft to do well in the cooler months. Obviously they will be drunk chilled, so must somehow communicate warmth and richness.

La Métropole Cuvée Classique 2013 - £5.99 from the Co-operative

A good value blend of Grenache Blanc, which gives weight and a herbal note, along with Macabeu, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and Viognier. There’s also a red version, mostly Grenache (Noir this time) and Syrah, which is soft and fruity.

Domaine Jones Grenache Gris 2014 - £13.30 from The Wine Society

A step up in quality, from old Grenache Gris vines in Roussillon, this has aromas of flint and pear and a rich but dry palate with a spicy finish.

Ghost Corner The Bowline 2014 - £21.50 from The Oxford Wine Company

If you haven’t tried a South African white wine for a while, you could be in for a surprise – and a treat. This blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon has a winning combination of mouth-watering citrus and stonefruit with a rich toastiness. With a name like the bowline, it also makes a perfect gift for a sailing enthusiast or former Scout.

Kleine Salze Family Reserve Chenin Blanc 2014 - £17.99 from The Wine Reserve (Cobham) and other independent merchants

It’s quince season and Chenin is the grape variety that, if sufficiently ripe and concentrated, has unmistakeable aromas of this beguiling and slightly exotic fruit. There is also honey (though it’s dry) and spice. A budget option would be Maison des Princes Chenin Blanc 2014 from the Loire (£6.99 from Waitrose).

A sea of yellow vine leaves in Alto Adige, northern Italy

Red wines

Reds come into their own now; look for warmth and spice – Syrah fits the bill perfectly.

Mas de Lunès 2012 - £12.99, or £9.74 as part of a mixed 6 from Majestic

The reds of Languedoc-Roussillon really do well in the role of warming, fireside wines. This Grenache/Syrah blend has juicy fruit, with earthy and herbal overtones.

Terre de mes Ancêtres 2014 - £5.95 from The Wine Society

This Cabernet/Merlot blend has bags of fruit and personality for the price – ripe, slightly tart fruit in an easy drinking style. This could be your Autumn house red.

Cono Sur Bicicleta Merlot 2014 - £7 from Morrison’s

Mostly Merlot with a cocktail of other varieties which gives plenty of density of fruit.

Château Maris Les Vieilles Vignes 2013 - £10.99 from Waitrose

Syrah-dominant red from Minervois that showcases the beguiling perfume and density of the variety, leavened by some lively Grenache. When in Waitrose, also look out for Paul Mas Grenache Syrah 2014 (£8.79) which is in a similar vein; and Les Domaines Auriol 2014 (£7.49), a Grenache, Syrah, Carignan blend from Corbières.

Château Caronne Ste-Gemme 2010 - £14.99/£13.49 as part of mixed 6 from Majestic; also from independents

The weight and seriousness of claret harmonise with the season – and with the kind of food that we all crave at this time of year. In a sea of Bordeaux, Caronne Ste-Gemme is one of my tried and trusted names.

M Signature Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2013 - £14 from Morrison’s

Châteauneuf for under £15 is a bit of a gamble, but this, from the user friendly 2013 vintage is a safe bet. It has characteristic richness, ripe but fresh berry fruit, depth of flavour and a tangy minerality.

From bags to Bordeaux - a chat with Frédérique Dutheillet de Lamothe of Cru Bourgeois

The French Appellation Contrôlée system is famously based on guaranteeing the geographical origin of a wine, rather than focusing on the quality of what is actually in the bottle – something that causes a headache for those who are trying to sell French wine and the consumers who wonder what the difference is between a bottle of Bordeaux at £4 and one at £24.

Six years ago, the châteaux who were members of the then rather moribund Cru Bourgeois classification of the Médoc decided to break with tradition and to let their wines stand or fall on the basis of an objective measure of the wines’ quality.

Frédérique Dutheillet de Lamothe was in London recently to help spread the word about the Bordeaux classification that is unlike any other. With her background working for Tom Ford at Gucci, she knows a thing or two about building and protecting a brand.

The term Cru Bourgeois has been around for many years, but its new incarnation began with the official selection from the 2008 vintage. The latest selection, from the 2011 vintage, was published in September 2013. All independent châteaux in the Médoc are elegible to participate from the eight appellations of Médoc, Haut-Médoc, Listrac-Médoc, Moulis, Margaux, Pauillac, Saint Julien and Saint-Estèphe.

Whereas the appellation rules guarantee the geographic origin of a wine, Cru Bourgeois is a measure of a wine’s quality. Cru Bourgeois acts as an overlay to the existing Appellations, rather than attempting to replace them.

In 2011 256 producers were selected as Crus Bourgeois out of a total of 350, representing annual production of 28 million bottles, which is around 30% of total Médoc production. The average price of a bottle of Cru Bourgeois is £17, with prices ranging from around £10 up to £47.

The truly radical aspect of the new Cru Bourgeois is the way wines are awarded the right to use the name. Under the old system, if your château was lucky enough to have been classified as Cru Bourgeois, bingo – you had the right to use the name, year in year out, regardless of the quality of what was being produced. Now, in the new Cru Bourgeois system an annual blind tasting by a group of professional tasters is what determines the ability of a château to use the name.

Each year producers have to maintain quality levels in order to be awarded Cru Bourgeois. There is no automatic qualification based on previous years’ performance and no grace period to regain form after a dip.

Feedback from retailers, at least in France, is that they have seen a huge rise in quality in the short time that the new system has been operating. The number of Cru Bourgeois with distribution in the US has risen by 25% in the past year and around 40% of Cru Bourgeois have a retail presence in the UK.

So far so good – but how many of you, as wine consumers, are aware of the Cru Bourgeois system? Here Frédérique has a job on her hands, “The term Cru Bourgeois has been in existence for many years, but has been something of a sleeping giant. Our job is to reawaken it in the consumer’s mind.” she says.  Without an unlimited marketing budget, it’s difficult to reach out to every consumer. However, social media is a key part of any brand’s marketing mix nowadays, allowing them to connect directly with the public: they use QR codes on the Cru Bourgeois bottle sticker, for example, which links to information specific to the particular château.

There used to be around 500 Crus Bourgeois under the old system, so the current crop of just over 250 represents a significant pruning of dead wood. And 250 may still sound like a lot (and it is), but when you think that there are around 8,000 châteaux in the whole Bordeaux area, it does help to sort the wheat from the chaff. We often forget just how big a wine producing region Bordeaux is – it produces more wine each year than many countries do.

Frédérique’s previous experience at Gucci means she has a deep understanding of how to manage a brand. As she puts it “We treat the Cru Bourgeois name as a brand and take care to reinforce use of the logo, ensuring it is always used on bottles, at events and in all our communications. 25-30 million bottles of Cru Bourgeois are produced each year – and each bottle is a marketing tool. Our name can help consumers to choose from the vast array of wines on the shelf, providing confidence in the quality of wines from some of the world’s most famous appellations.”

Bordeaux is experiencing its fair share of wine woes. There is still too much poor quality, dull stuff produced at the cheaper end of the market, dragging down the reputation of Bordeaux with it. At the other end of the scale, the internationally successful classed growth châteaux and stars of Pomerol and St Emilion have seen their prices rise beyond the reach of many traditional claret drinkers. In the middle sits Cru Bourgeois, hoping to appeal to disillusioned classed growth buyers who are trading down and to newer Bordeaux drinkers who are able to trade up from the stubbornly low amount (still around £5) that we are prepared to pay for a bottle of wine in the UK.

Cru Bourgeois picks from the current 2011 selection:

Château Mongravey Margaux 2011 – around £20 from 3D wines

This is nicely defined, with sweet, ripe and juicy fruit from Margaux, renowned for producing the Médoc’s most charming and “feminine” wines. Call me shallow, but I find the name irrestistible too.

Château Beaumont 2011 - £18-20 from The Wine Society, Justerini & Brooks

Haut-Médoc’s wines can be some of the most traditional claret; traditionalists will not be disappointed with this wine of classic Bordeaux proportions, present tannins and fresh fruit. As you would expect, this will mellow over the next five years and promises plenty of enjoyment to come.  

Italy - an embarrassment of riches

If you ask any wine lover which is their favourite wine producing country, they tend to fall into two camps: the Francophiles and the Italophiles.

While I tend to plump for France (and a quick glance through my back catalogue of columns here will confirm this) I can see the case for Italy. The country, and its wines, are an endless source of fascination with a wealth of indigenous grape varieties to draw on and a long history of winemaking. You could spend a lifetime studying the wines of Italy (there are worse fates) and still not exhaust what this goldmine of vines has to offer. But there is also frustration, with lacklustre wines sometimes too much in evidence, a famous name on the label no real guide to quality and a tendency to play fast and loose with wine regulations.

I swear that every time I look at a wine map of Spain, they’ve added a new region I’d never heard of before. Italy manages the same trick with grape varieties – just when you think there can’t possibly be any more to discover, up pops another one – not new, per se, just new to me.

And is it any wonder? Italy is home to 377 indigenous grape varieties, which is more than any other wine producing nation. Much more, in fact, as the second placed country for native varieties is France with just over 200.

This abundance of grape varieties is due partly to the fact that Italy has been at this winemaking lark for a very long time – long enough for new varieties to emerge and evolve. Those ancient Romans might have invented central heating with their fancy-schmancy hypocausts, but when it comes to winemaking, they were just continuing a centuries-old tradition. The Greeks, who were on the scene before the ancient Romans, dubbed the country “oenotria”, or land of the vine, testifying to its already established wine-making credentials. 

Italy makes a lot of wine – it occupies the 2^nd spot after France; both are quite some way ahead of Spain in 3^rd place.  How much wine a year? Each year varies a little, but it’s somewhere over 40 million hectolitres – or about 20 times as much as New Zealand. 

The geography of Italy can be summarised as a range of hills and mountains surrounded by sea – very little of it is flat. The boot of Italy covers many latitudes, combined with the variations in altitude, soil type, exposure and grape varieties, making it one of the most diverse wine producers - perhaps the most diverse – in the world. You can begin to see why it might take years to get to become expert in such a multi-faceted jewel of a country.

In addition, it might not surprise you to know that Italians often employ a creative approach to applying its own, sometimes arcane, wine labelling laws. Labels seem to be either impenetrably over-populated with seemingly meaningless terms; or all attempts to convey something about what’s in the bottle are sacrificed to elegant, minimal label design.

I have memories of visiting the beautiful Amalfi coast south of Naples back in the 1990s. The scenery and the food were stunning – the wines were not. Determined to drink the wines of the region, I struggled to find something that was not utterly undrinkable. The good news is that, since then, there has been a quality revolution in Italy’s wineries. They have always had good raw material to work with, and at the top level the wines have long been high quality, but now they are increasingly rising above a sea of indifferent  dross at the more everyday level.

Recently I was asked to pick six wines to represent Italy, from top to toe. I could probably pick a different six wines every week for a year and still be nowhere near exhausting Italy’s winey riches. However, here is this week’s selection, for what it’s worth.

Prosecco Bellenda Brut 2012 - £14.99 from Caves de Pyrène and independent merchants

A wine trade friend of mine calls Prosecco, Drossecco – and it’s true that too much of it is dull, too sweet and coarse. This one is drier than most (Brut rather than Extra Dry) and comes from a single vintage rather than being a Non Vintage blend.

Greco di Tufo, Benito Ferrara 2012 - £17.90 from Caves de Pyrène

From Campania, scene of my disappointing wine tour of the 1990s, this would have cheered me up no end. It combines a high quality variety (Greco) with volcanic soils to make a wine with bags of character. Not particularly aromatic, but it has layers of flavour, including stone fruit, lovely texture and length.

Gewürztraminer “Joseph” J Hofstätter 2012 -

£13.95 from The Wine Society

Can this really be Italian, with all those Germanic-sounding names? Well it is, just. Alto Adige, in Italy’s far north, is also known as Süd Tirol – it was part of the Austrian Empire until the end of the First World War and the population is predominantly German speaking. This aromatic variety might be associated with Alsace or Germany, but it originates from here, around the village of Traminer. Expect rich, spicy, lychee and Turkish Delight flavours.

Marzemino, Castel Firmian 2012 - £6.95 from The Wine Society

Further down the Adige valley is the Trentino region, whence this wine comes. I love the way Italy can produce some of the most serious and sometimes austere wines (Barolo and Chianti spring to mind) but alongside them is happy to dish up light-hearted, unchallenging and delightfully fruity ones, such as this Marzemino.

Fondo Filara Etna Rosso, Nicosia 2012 - £10.95 from The Wine Society

To say that soils in the Etna region of Sicily are volcanic is something of an understatement. This is a typical Etna blend of Nerello Mascalese and Nerello Cappuccio and its structure and minerality demand food.

Morellino di Scansano  “Bellamarsilia”, Poggio Argentiera 2012 - £11.81 from Caves

de Pyrène, Majestic has a very similar wine for £11.99

I’m avoiding the elephant in the room that is Chianti, which is too big and complex a region to be summed up in one wine – but this is one is close. From the Tuscan coast, this blend of Sangiovese (the Chianti grape) and the ancient Ciliegiolo has the black cherry and leafy characters of Chianti, but with more roundness and ripeness, making it easy to love and flexible with food.

Malbec - do you come from a land downunder?

It may have escaped your notice, but last Thursday 17^th April was Malbec World Day. Why Malbec World Day and not World Malbec Day, I know not. Admittedly I have not turned the British Library upside down in my quest for the truth, nevertheless I haven’t found the answer, so the eccentric word order remains a mystery.

I say Malbec. You say? Argentina I’d wager.

Argentine Malbec has become a successful and succinct partnership in our minds. Usually reasonably priced, often generously fruited and with, it must be said, a fair whack of alcohol, this is a wine style that was always going to find a large following in the UK.

Malbec, as a variety, has a much longer history than our fondness for its South American incarnation. It originates back in France, around the town of Cahors in the Southwest of the country. Back in its native land the variety is most often known as Cot. Cahors is its homeland, but it can also be found as far north as the Loire Valley and downriver from Cahors in Bordeaux. The fact that one of the names the Bordelais gave the grape was Malbec (or sometimes Malbeck) gives us a clue that it was from here that it first made its way across the Atlantic Ocean.

Apparently we can be confident that a certain Michel Pouget first brought Malbec vines to Argentina in 1868. It was clearly a raging success and is now the most widely planted quality wine grape in the country. Argentina is a big producer of wine, perhaps bigger than we imagine, sitting at number 5 in terms of global production behind France, Italy, Spain and the USA. Much of what they produce is consumed by their own thirsty local market, with the US the most important export market.

A few Malbec vines have made it across the Andes to Chile, but it remains mostly an Argentine speciality.

Altitude is all important in Argentina – the weather at lower levels is far too warm to produce good quality wine, so vineyards are generally tucked up into the foothills of the Andes, primarily in the province of Mendoza. In fact, looking at a map, it looks like a mere hop, skip and jump from Mendoza to Santiago in Chile – albeit there is a 6,000m Andean mountain ridge between the two.

The other distinguishing feature of Argentine viticulture is dependence on irrigation – the air in those high altitude (often over 1,000m) sites is clear and dry, with the city of Mendoza itself averaging just 200mm annual rainfall, which is getting on for desert conditions. This means low incidence of problems like rot and easy ripening of grapes, but also means a need to find water from somewhere in order for the vines to survive.   

The immigrants who came to Argentina in the early days, many from Italy and Spain, brought with them their taste for wine; apart from the Welsh, who brought tearooms, crocheted teacosies and Welsh cakes to their enclave in Patagonia.

Recommended Malbec (and Cot)

Argentina

Trapiche Pure Malbec - £8.99 from the Co-operative

Pure as in unoaked, this intensely coloured wine is so dense it actually feels thick. Plenty of dark chocolate and black cherry flavours to keep fans of big boned wines happy. If the weather is barbecue-friendly, this wine’s smoky, punchy flavours would be just the ticket.

Bodega Colomé proudly trumpet wines made from the highest altitude vines in Argentina (and possibly the world) from their vineyards in Salta, far north of Mendoza. Their Colomé Estate Malbec is £17.49 in Waitrose and combines full-bodied fruit (and 14.5% alcohol) with altitude-driven freshness in a beguiling way. Their Amalaya red blend is predominantly Malbec, plus some Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and Tannat and gives a taste of the same style at a more consumer-friendly price of £10.99 (£9.99 if you buy 2) at Majestic. The price is due to rise to £11.99 from 29^th April, so it would be worth your while to sniff some out sooner rather than later if you can.

The name Susanna Balbo is synonymous with quality, so if you see it, give the wine a punt. Majestic again have Ben Marco Malbec from her Dominio del Plata winery for £15.99 (down to £12.99 when you buy 2). She is also the winemaker behind The Society’s Argentine Malbec (£7.25 a bottle from The Wine Society).

Nicolas Catena was a pioneer of high altitude winemaking in Argentina and his Malbecs are ever-reliable. His Catena Alta label is top of the quality tree but will set you back getting on for £30 a bottle. More readily available is the straight Catena Malbec:  £13.99 or £9.99 if you buy two at Majestic, or £12.99 from Waitrose.

France

Back where it all started, Malbec, or Cot, from Cahors typically has more tannin and acid structure and a more savoury character than the Argentine version. Basic Cahors can be a rather underwhelming experience, but ambitious producers are doing their best to build (or perhaps rebuild) a reputation for quality with concentrated and ageworthy wines.

The wines of two of the best producers, Clos Triguedina (£20.49) and Château du Cèdre Cahors (£17.99), are available at Guildford’s own Caves de Pyrène and other independent merchants. Clos Triguedina is also available through The Wine Society for £16 a bottle.

What have the French got down the back of their sofas?

We are told that it’s a good idea to rootle around in our soft furnishings, with some sources estimating that between us we have around £40 million tucked away in loose change between the cushions of our sofas in Britain.

The French, too, are harbouring some hidden gems in their chaises longues. Vinous gems I mean; little-known, often rare grape varieties that can enrich the life of wine drinkers the world over.

France has famously given us grape varieties which have earned the soubriquet “classic” and which have gone on to conquer the world (the wine world at any rate). Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, Merlot – these are wines A listers, names that are instantly recognizable and which are grown the length and breadth of the wine producing world.

But France amounts to much more than these wine superstars. If you have a virtual rummage down the back of France’s vinous sofa, all sorts of surprises result: varieties you’ve never heard of, even some that were thought to be extinct.

How does this happen? As Kirsty and Phil would tell you: location, location, location. Many of France’s smaller wine-growing regions are in rural, sparsely populated, isolated areas, far from anything that might resemble the beaten track. In “la France profonde” such as this local customs – and very local grape varieties – can persist where elsewhere progress, development and fashion have swept them away in favour of more recognizable varieties.

Here I invite you to embark on a virtual tour of some of France’s hidden gems that are worth winkling out.

Domaine Bruno Lupin, Roussette de Savoie, Frangy 2012 - £12 Caves de Pyrène

 Savoie is France’s only true mountain vineyard and the surprise is not only that it harbours its own unique varieties, but that this snowy, alpine environment is capable of producing wine at all. Roussette is the local name for the variety Altesse and if you’ve been to Savoie to ski then you might have downed a glass of this to accompany your fondue.

The vast majority of Savoie’s wines, most made from the unremarkable Jacquère grape, are consumed locally, much of it by thirsty skiers; as wine writer Andrew Jefford put it, the region benefits from “buoyant and undiscerning local demand”.

Roussette/Altesse seems to originate in Savoie itself and makes mountain air fresh wines with a herbal flavour and rather soft, pear-y fruit.

Château d’Anglès La Clape Classique 2010 - £12.49 Hawkshead Wines, £13 The Cheese and Wine Co (Hampton)

This wine highlights a white variety that is normally found in the role of second fiddle elsewhere in France. Bourboulenc, for it is he (she?), is one of the 13 varieties permitted in Châteauneuf-du-Pape and is grown widely across much of southern France. Only here, in La Clape, however, is it the focus of the white wines.

La Clape is a former island which now forms a limestone massif between Narbonne and the Mediterranean. Legend has it that when it was still an island off the coast of the Roman city of Narbo, Julius Caesar gave Roman legionaries permission to plant the first grapes here.

Whatever the historical truth, La Clape today is a viticultural one-off, its limestone blinding in the strong southern sun, the vines and olive trees that manage to grow in its stony soils blasted by winds. Benign it is not.

And yet this is where Bourboulenc reaches its true potential as a variety. At Château d’Anglès, the situation is also helped by having Eric Fabre as its owner – a man who had previously spent 8 years as the winemaker at a certain Château Lafite Rothschild.

This Classique cuvée, a blend of 50% Bourboulenc with 30% Grenache blanc and a dash each of Roussanne and Marsanne, is made without the use of oak and really showcases the variety’s innate ability to produce wines with as much texture as flavour, combining fennel, a hint of honey and a mineral stoniness.

Domaine du Cros Marcillac “Lo Sang del Païs” 2012 - £7.95 The Wine Society

Marcillac really is in the middle of nowhere – technically it is in the Aveyron, north of Rodez, but middle of nowhere about covers it.

The grape that locals here know as Mansois changes its name in other parts of France’s southwest variously to Braucol, Fer or Fer Servadou and finally Pinenc. You don’t need to know all this to enjoy this delightful little wine though. Its bright, slightly twiggy fruit is a perfect foil to a bit of bread and pâté – and could even be chilled in the summer.

Domaine d’Alzipratu Cuvée Pumonte, Corse Calvi 2011 - £18 The Wine Society

Corsica’s history of being ruled by both Pisa and Genoa before becoming part of France has resulted in an intermingling of French and Italian influences, and this is reflected in its wines.

Nielluciu (the Corsicans seem to be fond of adding a “u” to an obviously Italian word to make it more “Corsican”) is widely grown on the island – but is in fact none other than the classic Tuscan variety, Sangiovese. Here it appears in a supporting role to a variety that can be claimed as one of Corsica’s own: Sciacarella.

Sciacarella, meaning crunch in Corsican dialect, does in fact originate in Tuscany as well, but is all but extinct there. This wine has dark, brooding fruit aplenty with a wild, herbal streak and a structure that demands food.

La Magendia de Laypeyre, Jurançon 2009 - £19.75 Caves de Pyrène

Where better to finish our tour than with a most delicious dessert wine, made on steeply sloping vineyards tucked into the foothills of the Pyrenees.

The variety here is Petit Manseng, whose thick skins permit it to remain on the vine long into Autumn (sometimes even into Winter) without being affected by rot. The grapes shrivel in a process known as “passerillage” and are then fermented and aged in oak. The result is an intense experience combining the flavours of honey, quince, mandarin and grapefruit marmalade, shot through with piercing acidity that gives it a characteristic clean finish. Try it with a tangy blue cheese and die happy.