A wine less ordinary - Churton, New Zealand

There are some wines that are like catnip for wine writers – we just can’t get enough of sherry or Riesling – but which never seem to float the boats of consumers. Conversely, there are wines which have enduring commercial success, but which we in the trade find it hard to get excited about. And perhaps the prime example of this is Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc.

I suppose we have just tasted too many – and too many poorly made, unexciting and “attack of the clones” Kiwi Sauvignons – to get excited. Which is a shame, are there are plenty of good ones – just too much poor stuff as well.

So it was good for me to be made to taste the wines of Churton (I know, poor me, who’d have the job of a wine writer?) recently.

From the outset there are signs that Churton is not just A N Other Sauvignon Blanc. Viz, an ex-pat English owner/winemaker with a background in selling fine wine here before he crossed the world to New Zealand; ageing of the wines before release rather than bottling almost before the fermentation has finished; and use of biodynamic methods. The vines are grown on slopes above the valley floor, where the majority of vines grow on flat land that is easy to work and harvest by machine.

I think you can tell from my preamble that these wines are not going to be cheap – but I would argue that, given their quality and the care and attention that goes into them, they actually represent good value for money.

Churton Sauvignon Blanc 2013 – Hennings have the 2012 on offer for £11.85, Berry Bros for £15.95; Tanners have the 2013 for £13.60

2013 is the current vintage for Churton - and 2013 was a great vintage here. The ageing on lees gives the wine a lovely richness and texture, but it retains its acid structure and the finish goes on and on. The fruit is citrussy, with notes of elderflower and a hint of flintiness.

Also look out for Churton Best End 2013 (yes, as in best end of lamb), a single parcel Sauvignon Blanc made in this exceptional year, which has been given the barrel fermentation and ageing treatment. Churton’s Viognier is a revelation and their Pinot Noir is, as you might imagine, not too shabby either.

Meet the new, old Chile

Chile has a reputation for being sort of middley – a source of good value, reliable wines that are predictable and safe. Almost uniquely among wine producing countries, its sales are built on exports, rather than domestic consumption, so they have played their hand astutely, making wines with broad international appeal.

Sometimes it can feel all a bit corporate, as if men in suits are the ones in control, deciding which grapes are grown, and where and how the wines are made.

But recently there have been signs that the winemakers themselves are getting restive, tired of turning out glossy, international-style wines that could have been made almost anywhere and that they themselves don’t want to drink. 

This quiet revolution is taking inspiration from the past in the form of the re-discovery and re-evaluation of old plantings of untrendy varieties like Carignan and Païs; a return to picking grapes earlier so that they retain natural freshness and acidity; and eschewing new oak barrels for ageing wines in favour of bigger, older vessels which don’t mask the flavours of the grapes. There is also an impetus forwards to the future of wine, pushing the boundaries of viticulture east up into the Andes, west to cool coastal areas, south towards the ice fields of Patagonia, even north to high altitude sites on the way to the arid Atacama desert.

Where to find the new, old Chile:

Morandé Vigno 2009 - £29.10 from Hedonism Wines

A taste of old vine Carignan from the Maule Valley, a field blend that also incorporates Syrah and Chardonnay, it’s tangy, fresh and alive with flavours of red fruit and dark, rich cocoa. It also won a Silver Outstanding Medal at the IWSC.

Viña Casa Silva Cool Coast Sauvignon Blanc 2014 – around £14-15 from independent merchants including Avery’s and Oxford Wine Company

Zesty, pithy, citrus flavours and a distinct minerality – this is a new style of Chilean Sauvignon from the chilly, Pacific-cooled Paredones vineyard.

Think you know Australia? Think again

When Australian wines first burst into our collective consciousness, it was all about big bold flavours, oak and alcohol. More recently, however, Australia has been quietly producing more nuanced and sophisticated wines – structured and poised, yet full flavoured, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir from cooler areas, for example.

And there’s more to the story: it seems those “sunshine in a glass” wines that slapped you round the chops with their bright fruit and hefty alcohol were something of a blip in Australia’s wine history. 

The Aussies had long been making more elegant, food friendly wines and you can still find them now, if you know where to look. Here are a couple of clues to get you started.

Hunter Valley Semillon

If you drink these wines at under 5 years old you’ll wonder why you bothered – lightly alcoholic lime juice sums it up. But give them time and these crisp, naturally low alcohol wines will thrill with notes of lime marmalade, even toast – and over time they will only increase in complexity, while maintaining their fresh acidity. Sauvignon Blanc eat your heart out.

Tyrrell’s Vat 1 Semillon is the daddy – Majestic list 2002/3 for £25 in selected stores; several independent merchants stock a variety of vintages for around £25-30.

Marsanne from Victoria

Tahbilk is the specialist with this white variety that originates in France’s Rhône Valley and they preside over the largest vineyard holding of Marsanne in the world.

Château Tahbilk, as it was then, was the first Australian white wine that I tasted on my very first wine appreciation course back in the 1990s, and what a shock it was to someone whose experience of Aussie white had hitherto been limited to Lindeman’s Chardonnay. Taut, only slightly fruity, definitely herbal – this is another white that ages beautifully.

Tahbilk Marsanne 2012 is £9.95 from The Wine Society and while you’re at it you can pick up a bottle of the 2008 for £11.95 to get an idea of how the wine develops. A range of independent merchants also stock various vintages from around £10.50 to the £13 mark.

Austria, land of red wine

Have you tried red wine from Austria before? If I say that I’m not counting anything that was served hot as part of the après-ski, then I’m guessing there are few of you with your metaphorical hands up.

Austria is predominantly a white wine country, with white varieties accounting for around two thirds of total production; but the tide is turning towards red. In 1999 just over a quarter of production was red; ten years later it was over a third – and there’s no reason to think that this trend will not have continued.

Austria’s wine lands are crowded into the relatively flat (or at least not mountainous) eastern end of the country, around the capital, Vienna. While there’s no denying that winters in Austria are cold, the continental climate here also means that summers can be surprisingly warm – hence the ability to ripen red grapes.

The most popular red varieties are Zweigelt and Blaufränkisch, but UK consumers might feel more comfortable opting for Pinot Noir, which, while still a niche wine in Austria, is also gaining ground – and international recognition.

These are not the easiest wines to find here – yet – but here are some to look out for:

Stift Göttweig Pinot Noir “Göttweiger Berg” 2013 - £15.50 from The Good Wine Shop

Aromas of fresh strawberry mingle with herbal freshness.

Johanneshof Reinisch Holzspur Pinot Noir 2012 - £15.90 from Eclectic Tastes

Classic Pinot profile of red fruit and spice; light, dry and refined.

Wieninger “Grand Select” Pinot Noir 2011 – Noel Young Wines have the 2006 for £21.89

Beguiling combination of oak and delicately perfumed fruit that has enough grip for food.

And if you’d like to explore Austrian wines in more depth, head to speicalists Alpine Wines (alpinewines.co.uk).

Beyond bubbles: the essence of Champagne

Sparkling wines are on the crest of a wave in the UK. In a shrinking market for wine consumption overall here between 2009 and 2013, sparkling wines have been the only growth category; and they are forecast to continue the positive trend in future.

Prosecco has been the fizz making all the noise in recent years, but, perhaps surprisingly, in tough economic times, Champagne has managed to hold its ground against its rivals, and the UK remains its number one export market.

Sparkling wine can be made anywhere in the world, in a variety of ways. Just what is it about Champagne in particular that keeps us so loyal and fascinated?

First of all is the location of Champagne, the furthest north of France’s quality winemaking regions. The climate here is most definitely marginal for wine production – a potential disadvantage which has been turned into a virtue, as barely ripe, high acid and fairly neutral wines make perfect raw material for turning into high quality sparkling wine.

The chalk bedrock of Champagne also plays a key role. Chalk makes for poor soils - often an environment in which vines give the best quality grapes; chalk won’t hold onto too much moisture in this rather rainy part of France – vines hate having wet feet; yet it does provide nicely regulated access to moisture to help prevent vine stress in times of drought. Finally, chalk makes for easily dug, ideally humid underground cellars – the perfect dark and cool environment in which wines can evolve and mature slowly.

Most Champagne is made from a blend of three grape varieties, two of them black-skinned: Pinot Noir, which gives power, structure and longevity; and Pinot Meunier, an earlier-ripening variety which gives expressive fruitiness, especially early in a Champagne’s life. They are joined by the white variety Chardonnay, which provides elegance and finesse. Together they complement each other to make a harmonious whole.

The Champagne region also has a particular structure in terms of the people who make it. Most vines are owned by one of the more than 15,000 individual growers across the region – but we rarely see their names on the bottles, as most sell their grapes to one of the “grandes marques”, the Champagne household names.

The houses can therefore draw on a variety of wines from vines from across the region in order to make up their final Champagne blend. As well as varying the proportion of the grape varieties used, the same variety will have a different flavour profile when grown in different soil, with a different aspect and so on.

Champagne gets its sparkle from a second fermentation of those light, high acid base wines, which occurs in each bottle. Before it can be released and sold as Champagne, though, the wine has to stay in bottle, where the wine interacts with the sediment of dead yeast cells (or lees) which, over time, contribute complex, toasty flavours which are typical of Champagne.

And we can’t forget the historical perspective. The people who make Champagne today are carrying on a tradition which goes back hundreds of years, during which time the region has dedicated itself to this single style of wine. It has also built up a powerful mythology; associations with famous historical figures which help to set Champagne apart from other “mere wines”.

So there is no single “magic bullet” which sets Champagne apart from all other sparkling wines.

Other parts of the world can make sparkling wine using the same traditional method, with the same blend of grape varieties. They can even, like right here in Southeast England, have the same chalky soils and marginal climate. But Champagne itself can never be replicated: the unique combination of factors, both natural and manmade, which exists there, is, in the end, what creates the essence of Champagne. 

Valentine's Day dilemmas

Once over the age of about sixteen, it seems, a handmade card will no longer suffice to show our devotion to the object of our affections. No, now it has come to mean handing over something along with the card – a gift seems to be in order.

What to get your Valentine?

Handbag? As my husband is doubtless painfully aware, even I can’t find the perfect handbag for myself, despite putting years (and pounds) into the search. What, seriously, are the chances of you doing it, just like that? However, if you are confident that this is where your strengths lie, go right ahead – and please, get in touch with me, as I would love to glean some of your handbaggy wisdom.

Underwear? Fraught with dangers, this. It must strike the right balance between sexiness, sluttiness and wearability. Get it wrong and you could be facing the cold shoulder. And if you get the size wrong (and there are so many ways it can be wrong) – well, all sorts of troubles await. Best avoided in my opinion.

Jewellery? Can be a good solution, but potentially spendy if you want to avoid anything too High Street.

Eat out? The most painfully, quietly strained atmosphere prevails across restaurants on the night of the 14^th  February, as couples face each other across tables, over a variety of pink-themed plates of food, wondering why on earth they’re shelling out a small fortune for the privilege. I think you can see where I stand on this one.

Fancy box of chocs? Who doesn’t like to get a nice box of chocolates? This is a no brainer – tick.

Nice bottle of wine? Has to be the easy option doesn’t it? Any thoughts of Dry January are thankfully long past, it’s bound to be welcome, it can demonstrate your thoughtfulness - and you get to share it. Perfect, no?

Champagne

This is always going to be a classy choice and you will never be short of options that transmit the message you’re trying to send.

Charles Heidsieck Brut Réserve NV, around £36-£42, is something of a wine trade secret. This full-flavoured but elegant Champagne can see you through from aperitif to main course. What it says: “I’ve been around long enough to know what’s what. You’re in good hands.”

Gosset Grande Réserve, around £50 has delicacy but depth of flavour and is always delicious; a good choice if you’re heading out afterwards, or will be a delight with lighter, seafoody dishes. What it says: “I’m serious about having fun.”

There is one luxury Champagne cuvée that is practically made for Valentine’s Day – Perrier-Jouët Belle Eqpoque, with its Art Nouveau inspired decorative bottle. At £130 for the 2006 vintage from Waitrose it’s not something to knock back casually, but such a beautiful object is surely worth keeping as a reminder of your romantic largesse (no sniggering at the back), so it shouldn’t be consigned to the recycling bin within days either. What it says: “I’m a hopeless (and now skint) romantic.”

Pink fizz

Drinking pink for Valentine’s Day may not count as startlingly original. But then Valentine’s Day itself is nothing if not a cliché, so now is not the time to worry about making a well-worn wine choice. Just go with the flow.

Rosé Champagne, by any objective measure, cannot justify its premium price tag, as it is in most cases just the regular cuvée with a little red wine blended into it. However, objectivity be damned, Champagne says special occasion, ergo pink Champagne says it, with knobs on.

I’m a fan of Bollinger Grande Année Rosé – 2004 is the current vintage and you can expect to pay in excess of £85 for a bottle, but check out www.wine-searcher.com for the best deals. What it says: “Purrrrr.”

Jacquart Brut Mosaïque Rosé NV, usually £30 from Sainsbury’s but down to £25 for Valentine’s, is a canny choice: a pretty pink and good quality fizz made by a switched-on co-operative with a dynamic winemaker. What it says: “I know a good thing when I see it.”

Nyetimber Rosé NV, £45 from Waitrose and elsewhere, is one of English wine’s brightest stars. Any self-respecting English rose or red-blooded Englishman would be charmed by it. What it says: “Ding dong!” (in best Leslie Phillips voice).

San Leo Rosato NV, on offer at £6.99 at Waitrose, is a fun and frothy Italian that puts a smile on the face of the cash-strapped and lovestruck. What it says: “I’m cheap but cheerful.”

Dry January - dry statistics?

You will no doubt be thrilled to know that I’m going to focus on global wine statistics this week. Resist the urge to turn the page! Come on, it might be enlightening – at the very least you’ll have some gems to lob into a lull in the conversation at your next dinner party. And if you’re doing dry January (and not long to go now) you can be sure I’m not going to torment you by singing the praises of what is still forbidden fruit.

There’s nothing like seeing facts and figures in stark black and white for disabusing you (well me at any rate) of long-held assumptions about what’s really happening in the world of wine. Here’s an example: which country do you think consumes more sparkling wine than any other? I mean total volume of sparkling wine drunk – not per head. Well it’s Germany.

The national stereotype of corpulent men downing pilsner in steins while an oom pah band plays in the background is crumbling to dust in my mind’s eye. Instead the Germans are busy popping corks like nobody’s business, getting through more fizz than Russia and the USA, who have far higher populations than they do – 141 million and 319 million respectively to Germany’s 81 million.

In case you’re interested, the UK is not too shabby in terms of sparkling wine drinking, coming in at number 5 behind Germany, France, Russia and the USA – but with a population of just 64 million, we’re not doing too badly. And the UK retains its position as the number 1 export market for Champagne, which is pretty impressive when you think about it.

Do you imagine that, overall, world wine consumption is growing? It might surprise you to find that it isn’t, but the reason why it isn’t might come as even more of a shock. Global wine consumption over the years 2009-2013 is down slightly, by 0.8% and the driver of the drop is…China.

China, with its huge population, rapid industrial and technological progress and small but burgeoning middle class has been a massive engine of growth in wine consumption in recent years. Chinese economic growth seems set to continue, albeit at lower rates than before, but the government’s anti-corruption initiatives are making extravagance and conspicuous consumption less acceptable. When China moves, it seems, the whole world notices.

The importance of China is an indicator of another global trend – the move from west to east. Europe was traditionally the epicentre of wine production and consumption; more recently the US has become the biggest (and still growing) consumer of wine in the world. But eastern countries like China, India and Russia are beginning to become players. And the fact that the US and China are outside even the top 20 countries in terms of wine consumption shows that these markets still have huge potential for growth.

Moving to more parochial matters, something that may not register at the global level, and it hasn’t made news headlines here, but consumption of wine in the UK has been falling in recent years, down by 7.9% from 2009-2013 in volume terms. This is probably partly due to the economic downturn, and consumption is forecast to grow by 5.5% from 2014-2018 – but the overall trend is still downward.

Consumption of wine per head is following the same trend and is due to fall by 8.1% from 2009 to 2018. In an overall shrinking market, what growth there is here is being driven by sparkling wines – all that Champagne, but now increasingly joined by Cava and flavour of the month (or decade), Prosecco. We are also now drinking (slightly) more white wine than red, and rosé continues to become ever more popular. Without wishing to appear sexist, this would seem to signal the growth in female wine drinkers, who tend to favour lighter, fruitier and lower alcohol styles of wine.

The irresistible rise of Prosecco is also reflected in the upward trend in imports from Italy to the UK. Australia and France are still ahead of Italy in first and second place in terms of total imports, but they are both on a seriously downward trend. Spain, in 5^th place, however, is showing very strong growth from 2009-2013, up over 24% - this must be good news for a struggling economy. Just think, every time you pick up a bottle of Cava, you’re helping Spain’s balance of payments. Salut!

Statistics quoted are taken from research undertaken by IWSR (International Wine and Spirit Research), commissioned by Vinexpo.