Fellow Wine Lovers,
The week has continued as last week left us, with difficult choices having to be made between tennis and cycling on the television, but you’ll be pleased to learn that somehow we’ve managed. We saw Andy Murray go out in pain and Roger Federer’s incredible form. We also saw the beauty and pain of the Tour as it wound through the Dordogne with Maciej Bodnar out in a breakaway for 200km, only to get caught 200m from the line. Brutal, and now the Pyrenees!
Following up on a story we originally discussed in January 2015, Dippy has left the building! Yes Dippy the dinosaur has now gone on tour and been replaced at the Natural History Museum by ‘Bluey’ , the four tonne blue whale skeleton who has been awaiting his spot in the limelight since 1891. All comes to he who waits!
We read that London Cure Smoked Salmon has been given the coveted Protected Geographical Indication status by the EU, the same protection that Parma Ham, Whitstable Oysters or Champagne enjoy. The irony of our reading this whilst our elected representatives debate the great repeal, preferring to score ideological points off each other rather than join together in the national interest, was not lost. Good news if you’re a smoked salmon producer in Newham, Tower Hamlets or Hackney though!
Something that amused us very much this week was Andy Serkis reading out President Trump’s tweets in the voice of Gollum – have a look for it.
Meanwhile, in this corner of Wimbledon Park, rosé has been leaving the building in some volume, Wayne has bought more posh wine – I particularly like the look of the new release of Rioja Alta Gran Reserva 904 2007 – £45.50.
But the one I really wanted to tell you about was the latest release of Le Volte.
Le Volte dell’Ornellaia 2015 – £23.99 (Six bottles for £120), this year is a blend of 67% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 13% Sangiovese fermented in steel and then aged for 10 months in a mixture of second use barriques and cement tanks before release.
We tried it a few months back and found it as rich, velvety and lovely as ever, but what really excited us was winemaker Axel Heinz’s comments:
“2015 was one those years that every winemaker dreams of having at least once in his career. The balanced season with a warm and sunny summer, but with a cool, dry weather during the harvest produced wines that perfectly denote the seasonal trend. Rarely do we find a perfect balance between the various components of the wine, from the deep ruby colour, to the crisp and fresh fruity hints with an ideally meaty texture, supported by silky, smooth tannins, devoid of any harsh edge.”
So there you go, a change from strawberries and cream, and something to tuck away in the rack whilst you sun yourself at the beach. Think of it as a post rosé treat!
Wine School
Taste 60 wines, do some blind tasting, finish on bubbly. Full details attached. Term starts Wednesday October 4th, beats reruns of Big Brother!
Tasting This Weekend
Today is Bastille Day so we thought we’d tackle something French. From the Loire Valley we’ll tantalise the taste buds with Domaine du Salvard Cheverny 2016 (£13.99), a scrummy blend of 85% Sauvignon Blanc with the balance of Chardonnay just fleshing it out a little. Wearing the red jersey will be Jean Gamay Noir 2015 (£13.99), from acclaimed producer Jean Loron in southern Burgundy. Soft, light and fresh, yet rich and fruity with a little more weight than our Beaujolais.
What is covfefe, Precious?