wine styles Archives

7 facts to help make sense of Burgundy wine

7 FACTS TO HELP MAKE SENSE OF BURGUNDY WINE … & UNDERSTANDING BURGUNDY WINE LABELS How are you supposed to make sense of Burgundy wines? Understanding Burgundy wine labels can seem impossible. Sometimes it is even difficult to know whether you have selected a bottle of red wine or white wine without an expert knowledge of the region and its producers. But it is worth finding out a little about the region’s wines because Burgundy, or Bourgogne as it is known in France, is one of the oldest wine-producing regions in Europe and has a reputation for producing some of the world’s best wines. So let’s tackle this relatively small but daunting area with its complex labelling and numerous wine producers often with the same family name. Here is Burgundy in a nutshell, all you need to know to start you off tasting Burgundy wines. The focus in the wine world at the beginning of each year is on Burgundy with the release of the latest vintage – in January 2025 this was the 2023 vintage release. It therefore seems like a good time to provide a very quick guide to Burgundy and its wines. By the way, reports and findings from tastings so far is that 2023 is an excellent vintage for both reds and whites. And because of smaller volumes, especially for reds in 2024, it may be worth stocking up 2023s. The beautiful village of Santenay in Burgundy BURGUNDY WINE GRAPES There are only really two grape varieties that you need to remember: (1) Burgundy white wine means 100% Chardonnay and Burgundy red wine means 100% Pinot Noir Chardonnay accounts for 49% of all wine grapes produced in the region and Pinot Noir 39%. The white grape, Aligoté, and the black grape, Gamay, are also grown together with a handful of Sauvignon Blanc and lesser-known varieties. Gamay adds colour, texture and flavour to rosé Crémant de Bourgogne, the region’s Champagne-style sparkling wine and can be seen occasionally in still rosé wine. Most of the wines produced are single varietals, i.e. just Chardonnay and just Pinot Noir, though in the usual French style this is not clear from the labels, unlike many New World wine labels which focus on the grape variety. The reason for this focus on Chardonnay and Pinot Noir is that they are so well-suited to the terroir. BURGUNDY TERROIR I have already mentioned that Burgundy labels can appear to be quite complicated and this gives a clue to the key fact about Burgundy wines – and that is that (2) Terroir is key Understanding this fundamental point can help you start to make sense of the hierarchy of the Burgundy vineyards which can in turn help you decipher Burgundy wine labels. You can find out more in my terroir blogpost. Millions of years ago the region now known as Burgundy was a lagoon rich in marine life; the sediment from the algae and shellfish created limestone-rich rock and marl which contribute to the depth, elegance and minerality of Burgundy wines. In fact Burgundy has a wide variety of soils and sub-soils which explain why neighbouring vineyards can be so different but don’t forget that terroir is not just about the soils. In summary Burgundy has a rich variety of soil, topography and meso-climates in its vineyards and therefore vineyards that are literally a stone’s throw away from each other can produce incredibly different wines from the same grape variety. For example, the different aspects of the vineyard sites (north-facing vs south-facing etc.) contribute to differences in the wine. And because Chardonnay and Pinot Noir express so well their terroir, these differences can be quite marked. It is the differences in terroir that led to the classification of Burgundy vineyards and consequently their wines. BURGUNDY VINEYARDS Burgundy vineyards on rolling hillsides (3) Burgundy vineyards are small and can have many owners According to the Napoleonic Code a deceased’s estate had to be split equally between all children and therefore what were once large wine estates have become smaller and smaller over the years – and the reason why you see so many wineries with similar family names. ‘Climat’ is the word used historically and exclusively in Burgundy to describe the different areas of terroir, effectively the vineyard plots like La Comme in Santenay Premier Cru La Comme. According to Vins de Bourgogne these names have “been recognised by its name for centuries, often since the Middle Ages. Each Climat has specific geological, hydrometric and exposure characteristics. The production of each Climat is vinified separately, from a single grape variety, and the wine thus produced takes the name of the Climat from which it comes.” Therefore the wine expresses the particular climat – but remember that these days there can be a number of owners to each climat and therefore wine from the same climat but produced by different domains might be slightly different.. ‘Clos’ is another word you might come across to describe a vineyard in Burgundy as in the infamous Clos Vougeot and this means a walled vineyard, the walls constructed originally yo keep out animals.. You may also have seen the expression ‘lieu-dit’ which is increasingly used interchangeably with ‘climat’ mainly on Burgundy village wines but this is not quite correct as there are ‘lieux-dits’ all over France and a ‘climat’ might contain several ‘lieux-dits’ or just part of one. Usually the vineyards have been named after a topographical feature e.g. Chablis Premier Cru Mont de Milieu is so named (translation ‘hill in the middle’) because the hill upon which the vineyard sits used to mark a boundary between the Chablis district which at the time was part of the Champagne region and the Fleys district which fell under the Duchy of Burgundy. Chablis Premier Cru Montmains refers to a medium-sized mountain that is lower than two surrounding peaks. The Montmains climat enjoys early morning sun but is quite cold meaning that they usually harvest later than other climtas and the wines are quite aromatically intense, lean initially but

Oak barrels used for ageing wine in a winery

A guide to oaked and unoaked wine

What's in my wine?, Wine Styles

A guide to oaked and unoaked wine Many wine drinkers have a strong preference for either oaked wines or unoaked wines; people seem to love one and hate the other. It is important to differentiate between oaky wines with a strong taste of oak that appeal to a small proportion of wine drinkers and oaked wines. The latter have been fermented and / or aged in oak and may have no discernible wood on the palate or nose. Over-oaky wines like heavily-oaked Californian Chardonnay and commercial style Rioja, popular up till relatively recently, have not helped the reputation of oaked wines in general. So this guide looks at how wood affects wine, why and when oak is used in winemaking and how to tell oaked wines from unoaked wines. And, if wines matured in barrel are not your bag, there are also some tips on how to avoid them. How oak affects wine Oak can affect wine in a number of different ways. It can obviously affect the aroma and flavour of wine – but importantly, it does not have to affect the aroma and flavour. It can also have an impact on the colour, tannins and structure of wine and it can encourage clarification of the wine, with time. Aromas & flavours from oak Firstly though, let’s take a look at the aromas and flavours from oak that can be distinguished in wine. Vanilla is probably the flavour that first springs to mind and this comes from vanillin in the wood itself. Many of the other flavours come from toasting the barrel, a process used primarily to make the wood flexible enough to shape it but also to get rid of any bitter, green, raw wood flavours and to release other more palatable flavours. The stronger the degree of toasting, the more intense the flavours. Lighter toasting shows spices like cloves and nutmeg with more intense toasting leading to flavours like dried fruit, dill, coconut, caramel, cocoa or chocolate, coffee, toast, smoke and even burnt wood (flavours like those depicted in the left hand side of the image below). This wide range is why wine aged in barrel is often described as having complexity. The right hand side of the image depicts the fresh fruit aromas likely to dominate in a wine that has not been fermented or aged in barrel. Of course wine produced in a stainless steel vat can also be complex but the complexity comes from the grapes, the influence of the soils and the terroir in general and from the production processes such as maceration – where the grape juice is left on the skins – and lees ageing – where the wine rests on the dead yeast after fermentation. Colour from oak The longer white wines rest in oak, the darker they become. Chances are a deep yellow coloured white wine will have been fermented and / or aged in barrel although lees ageing can also make a white wine darker. Ageing wine in oak stabilises the colour of red wine rather than changing it. Tannins & oak Tannins in wood can transfer into wine though mainly if new barrels are used and so winemakers have to monitor the affects carefully to avoid over-tannic wines. However, although oak is watertight – and wine-tight! – it does allow a tiny amount of oxygen to enter the wine and this slight oxidation helps to soften the tannins and make the wine rounder and smoother. It is these tannins and structure that give a wine the ability to age well. Tannins from oak can also assist in development of polyphenols, the many naturally-occurring compounds that affect the colour, taste and texture of the wine. Body & texture from oak In addition to the softening of wine in barrels through subtle oxidation, there is research to suggest that micro-organisms in the wood contribute to the smooth texture and elegance of the wine. Certainly it is known that American oak is relatively high in certain organic esters that give wine a creamy texture. In brief, oak brings more complexity to wine. In an unoaked wine fresh fruit flavours dominate, the body is likely to be lighter, tannins will be low and the wine is unlikely to be particularly age-worthy. Most (well-made) oaked wines will have fresh fruits balanced with the flavours from the oak; tannins will give the wine structure but should not be too harsh or mouth-drying and the wine will have a fuller body and smooth mouthfeel. How oak is used in winemaking Oak is widely used in wine making and it can enhance many wines – though not all. Care has to be taken not to overpower the wine’s natural flavours and aromas. In fact most wines will have spent some time in an oak cask but there are a large number of variables which mean that the influence of the oak ranges from high to practically zero and that the impact is on different aspects of the wine. Choices for the winemaker about using oak barrels Winemakers can influence the colour, aromas, flavours and texture of a wine if they choose to: 1) use oak as a fermentation vessel or not The wines in my portfolio that I describe as unoaked have not been fermented or aged in oak just so that you can be sure of their complete unoaky provenance (some other retailers will describe wine fermented in oak but not aged in oak as unoaked). But don’t worry too much about wine fermented in oak – many wines are but the vessels are usually very large and very old so the effects on taste are very subtle, if noticeable at all. There are other advantages however to fermenting wine in oak, even if the oak vessels are large and old… Large oak vats or casks are often used for fermentation as it is believed that oak flavours are better integrated at that stage in the wine-making process than

Chardonnay grapes from Wines With Attitude

Guide to the Chardonnay grape & Chardonnay wines

Grape Varieties, Wine Styles

Guide to the Chardonnay grape & Chardonnay wines I’ll show my hand upfront – I love a good Chardonnay but I know it is quite a divisive grape with many who don’t like it. Remember the “Anything but Chardonnay” or “ABC” era in the late 1990s? This was almost certainly in part a backlash against “Nothing But Chardonnay” being served. It was just everywhere and then sank almost into oblivion as Sauvignon Blanc became the white wine or grape “du jour”, superseded more recently by Pinot Grigio. Although it has always had a loyal band of followers Chardonnay wine is gaining new fans as people realise that there are different styles of Chardonnay. This guide to Chardonnay therefore looks at what wines are made from Chardonnay grapes, why Chardonnay can produce different wines, how Chardonnay wines taste and what to eat with different styles of Chardonnay. THE CHARDONNAY GRAPE Chardonnay is the most grown white wine grape in the world (a common pub quiz trick question, this used to be Spanish grape, Airén, but Chardonnay has now pushed that little known, mainly sherry-destined grape into second place). It is not surprising that it is so ubiquitous as it is very adaptable; it performs well in hot, sunny climes as well as in cool climate areas. And it can express very well the terroir of different vineyards, which partly explains why the taste of Chardonnay can vary so much. Read more in my blogpost about terroir. It is widely considered that the better-rated Chardonnay wines come from cool climate areas where the grapes will maintain their acidity. In hotter regions as the sugar rises in ripening grapes, the acidity falls away so Chardonnay wines produced in some of the hotter, often New World, regions risked being overly fruity and a little heavy. As the grape grows so easily there is also a temptation to produce high yields but high yields tends to mean lower quality, more dilute wine. One of the benefits of the Chardonnay grape is that its flavours are quite subtle, almost neutral. Therefore the wine’s flavours tend to come mainly from the terroir and from the wine-making process. Chardonnay producers can choose to use malo-lactic fermentation – and many of them do; this process converts harsher malic acids to softer lactic acid and creates creamy, buttery flavours. Not using it will mean the acidity in the wine seems higher and the fruit flavours will be more prominent. The winemakers also have the option to age the wine pre-bottling on its lees (dead yeast cells) or not; doing so will increase the complexity of the wine’s flavours and its texture. The effect can be intensified by stirring the lees. But by filtering or pouring the wine off its lees the wine will be more fruity and less multi-dimensional in style. The problem as we have seen with other wines like Rioja is that once producers see a wine rise in popularity, general quality tends to deteriorate as characterless, mass-produced wines are seen as an easy way to make a fast buck. And then there’s the oak issue: in the 1980s and 90s many less reputable winemakers tried to copy Burgundian methods but in a more commercial style (White Burgundy being the epitome of Chardonnay and highly acclaimed for its elegance, intensity and relative longevity) and often produced wines which were over-oaked with very buttery flavours and little or no evidence of the grapes’ subtle fruit flavours or of the terroir. This is not to say that anything but white Burgundy is poor quality, especially these days when terroir is becoming more of a focus for better wine producers even in warmer climate regions and over-oaking remains only at the lower end of the market. DIFFERENT STYLES OF CHARDONNAY WINE & HOW THEY TASTE Chardonnay’s versatility means that there are many different styles so it’s a case of finding your preferred style. For simplicity, I’ve narrowed it down to three styles. UNOAKED CHARDONNAY Produced in cool climate Burgundy Chablis is perhaps the best known and best quality unoaked Chardonnay (though beware, a few Chablis wines are oaked). Chardonnay with no oak influence tends to be leaner, crisper and dry, lighter in colour and in body, with flavours tending towards green apple, lemon, white flowers and flint or steel (think wet stones). Having no oak influence these wines can be good examples of terroir-focused wines. Fermentation takes place in stainless steel to keep the wine cool and to preserve the acidity and the fruit flavours. New World unoaked Chardonnays from cool climate areas in places like Australia, New Zealand and Oregon tend to display a little more fruit – melon, quince, apple, pear and grapefruit – but remain lighter and crisp in style. Unoaked Chardonnay will match well fish dishes and seafood including oysters. OAKED CHARDONNAY Chardonnay has an affinity with oak; the wines that have been fermented and aged in oak or just aged in oak are more full-bodied, creamy and will age further in bottle, the better wines for up to 10 years. Aside from Burgundy wines, you can find prime oaked Chardonnay in Australia, New Zealand and Canada. Aromas and flavours are usually more intense and more complex ranging from baked apples, coconut, brioche and bread, nutty flavours like hazelnut, spice like cloves and cinnamon, vanilla, caramel and cream. These wines are still dry but the oak also makes them richer, sometimes with an oily or buttery texture. The current trend is to tone down the oak and produce more elegant wines with more subtle flavours. This is done by using used rather than new barrels and the smaller grained French rather than American oak. Oaked Chardonnay can pair really well with richer foods like foie gras, lobster and scallops, smoked fish, creamy dishes like risottos and steak béarnaise, chicken, mushrooms, truffles, butternut squash and pumpkin Serve the wines a little warmer than you would serve crisper styles to release more aromas and flavours. FRUITY CHARDONNAY This tended to be the style of early New World Chardonnays and there are still

Guide to Tawny Port by Wines With Attitude

A guide to Tawny Port

Wine Regions, Wine Styles

Guide to Tawny Port Ever wondered about the difference between ruby and tawny port? Ruby port seems to be more popular but tawny port is having a bit of a revival either slightly chilled or with tonic as an aperitif or as a more traditional after-dinner drink. Having written in detail about ruby ports in another blogpost, I’m now writing about tawny port and how it is produced, how tawny port differs from ruby port, the different styles of tawny port that you can get (and one you may want to avoid), what tawny port tastes like and which foods it goes with – and it’s not just cheese! HOW PORT IS PRODUCED All port is produced in a similar way to still wine up to the fermentation stage; quite early during that fermentation process, grape-based alcohol is added to interrupt the fermentation, effectively killing off the yeast in the grape juice so that it can no longer interact with the sugar to produce alcohol. This means that some unfermented sugar is retained in the wine making it a naturally sweet wine and raising the ABV from 5 – 9% to about 19% – 22%; the increased level of alcohol also stabilises the port whilst it is ageing. The level of sweetness depends on how soon the fermentation is halted. Other fortified wines produced by this port method include most Madeiras and Vins Doux Naturels. Sherry is made in a similar way but the grape spirit is added after fermentation. The English can take some credit for creating port as English merchants added brandy to still red wine to preserve it for transportation. Port is produced in the Douro region, a denominated wine region since 1756 and then moved for ageing to the coastal town of Villa Nova de Gaia. The wine used to be transported on the river Douro by the beautiful rabelos but these days are moved by road. Many grape varieties are approved to be used to make port and they are usually all grown and fermented together in complex blends. Touriga Nacional is perhaps the best of the port grapes and the best known. It is also used for the ever-improving Portuguese still red wines like Churchill Estate’s Douro Touriga Nacional HOW TAWNY PORT (USUALLY) DIFFERS FROM RUBY PORT Most tawny ports are wood ports which means that they are matured in barrel or cask for several years and therefore have some exposure to oxygen (more than they would if aged in bottle) and this exposure contributes to the ports losing their red hues and gaining a complex array of flavours and a silky texture. They are generally therefore tawny coloured as opposed to ruby red nutty & dried fruit-flavoured compared to the berry fruit flavours of ruby ports and more syrupy in texture than ruby ports which are aged in bottle Tawny ports are bottled after ageing in barrel, when ready to drink, and do not age further in bottle so they should be drunk within a couple of years of bottling. As the ageing of tawny port has been in barrel there should be no sediment in the bottle so decanting should not be required. Note however that tawny port oxidises fairly rapidly after opening so do not keep it for longer than 1 or 2 weeks, possibly longer if you use a simple wine preservation system like a Vacuvin to pump out excess air from the bottle. Very old and Colheita port should keep longer – see below for the various serving suggestions to help you make the most of tawny port before it spoils. In contrast most ruby ports are bottle-aged (after an initial ageing in cask) and therefore have little exposure to oxygen so that ageing is very slow leading to a smooth, redder, more fruity style of port. They are also rarely filtered before bottling so generally require decanting. DIFFERENT STYLES OF TAWNY PORT & WHAT THEY TASTE LIKE SIMPLE TAWNY PORT However, beware, some ports labelled as tawny ports are no older than ruby port and are not really representative of the general tawny port style. These are produced from lighter coloured wines from grapes grown in the cooler part of the Douro valley that may not have had chance to ripen fully. Consequently these unaged tawny ports are not deep coloured, nor are their flavours very intense. There are however ways of intensifying the colour even simply by leaving them in the hotter part of the valley for longer than normal to “bake” but this leaves the port with a baked, flat taste without many fruit flavours and a lack of freshness. This lighter style may be your preference but if you like the amber-coloured, nutty-flavoured style, you might be disappointed if you were to buy one of these. AGED TAWNY PORTS Given my lack of enthusiasm for straight tawny port you will not be surprised to read that my advice would be to ignore anything labelled simply “tawny port” and select an aged tawny port which means that it has been aged in wooden barrels or cask for at least six years. Ageing tawny ports are kept in Villa Nova de Gaia where it is cooler to prevent them from spoiling in the heat. Tawny Reserve Port Reserve or Reserva on the label of a tawny port means that it has been aged in wood for a minimum of six years; it still retains some fruity characteristics but shows some signs of wood ageing. Tawny Port with an indication of age -10, 20, 30 & 40+ years old Port These tawny ports are older than reserve tawny port but note that the age is only an indication as the ports are made up of a blend of wines and therefore the age indication is an average of all the wines in the blend. Port houses will mix a blend according to their “house style” and it will remain fairly consistent year on year. As you might expect given the length of

Frozen healthy grapes for ice wine by Wines With Attitude

All about ice wine or Eiswein

Wine Styles

All about ice wine or Eiswein You may have heard of ice wine (also known as Eiswein or icewine) but you will be excused if you don’t know much about it because ice wine is quite rare and also expensive – but it is also a beautiful wine so if you get chance give it a try. But before you do, read all you need to know about ice wine. This blogpost looks at what ice wine is, where and how ice wine is produced, how ice wine tastes and which foods are the perfect match with ice wine. THE FIRST FEMALE WINEMAKER Ice wine is a sweet wine so usually consumed as dessert wine. It differs from other sweet or dessert wines for which grapes are dried, raisined or infected with the botrytis fungus that causes noble rot. For ice wine only healthy grapes are used; they are left on the vine until they are frozen. The temperature of the grapes must be as low as -7 to -8 °C before they can be picked. Ice wine differs from fortified wines like port which have spirits added to fortify them. In fact the alcohol level or ABV of ice wines is only about 10%. HOW IS ICE WINE PRODUCED? Harvest is usually very early in the morning to keep the grapes frozen and by hand. Usually harvesting is in November or December – sometimes later although ice wine produced from grapes picked early in the year are generally considered to be inferior. The grapes are then pressed whilst frozen so that the frozen water from the grapes is removed and just the sweet juice is used for the wine. This makes for concentrated, naturally sweet wines. In addition and less commonly known is that the acidity in the grapes is also intensified meaning that the sweetness of the wine is or should be balanced with refreshing acidity. In fermentation yeasts convert as much sugar as they can into alcohol. You might think therefore that the alcohol level for such sweet wine would be high but yeasts struggle to function in low alcohol environments and it therefore takes a few months for fermentation to complete and then not all the sugar is consumed and any remaining yeast has to be filtered out. Levels of residual sugar in ice wines fall in the range of 160 – 220 gram per litre which compares to less than 1 gram per litre in many still dry wines. Ice wine or eiswein is not produced every year – the winter obviously has to be cold enough for the grapes to freeze to the required temperature before picking. Global warming is a concern to winemakers especially in Austria and Germany where the frequency of eiswein production is diminishing. In the 10 years to 2018 for example there were 5 eiswein harvests classified as good in Austria, one vintage classified as little and 4 as very little or hardly any eiswein. In the 10 years before that there were 3 classified as top vintages, 5 good and 3 with very little or hardly any. WHERE IS ICE WINE MADE? Ice wine can be produced made anywhere cold enough to allow the grapes to freeze on the vine but traditionally they have been produced mainly in Germany, Austria and Canada (it is known as eiswein in Germany and Austria and icewine in Canada). The main difference between production in Canada compared to Germany & Austria is that the levels of sugar in the grapes prior to harvest must be higher in Canada. WHICH GRAPES ARE IN ICE WINE? In theory any grape varieties could be used to produce ice wine but in practice ice wine grapes tend to be aromatic and cool climate varieties like Riesling, Grüner Veltliner, Gewürztraminer and Chenin Blanc . Most frequently white grapes are used but you will see icewine produced from black grapes especially from Cabernet Franc in Canada. My own current favourite is made in Austria from black indigenous variety Zweigelt also known as Blauen Zweigelt. The wine itself is a very pale pink colour. Ice wines are generally pure varietals, i.e. not blends and in Canada they must be pure varietals to be designated as icewine. WHY ARE ICE WINES EXPENSIVE? Sadly ice wines are expensive but as you can imagine this is mainly because they cost so much to make plus you need five times as many grapes to produce a bottle of ice wine as you do to produce a bottle of still wine. You may see cheaper versions of ice wine but these will usually be labelled as dessert wine or as iced wine and they will have been produced from grapes artificially frozen in the winery and or with sweet reserve added to the wine. You get what you pay for as they say. HOW LONG WILL ICE WINE KEEP? Generally genuine ice wines will keep about 10 years though some will keep longer; bear in mind that the flavours and aromas will change as the years go by. Once opened however your bottle of ice wine should be consumed within a week or so using a wine pump in between – unless you have a Coravin of course. WHAT DOES ICE WINE TASTE LIKE? Ice wines are medium to full-bodied and very smooth in texture. Because they’re made from aromatic varieties generally the taste will be fairly typical of the grape variety but with more intensity. For white ice wines flavours tend towards apricot, peach, pear, pineapple and lemon with honey whilst red ice wines will taste of cherries, red berries and spice. All good ice wine will have mouth watering acidity so that even though sweet the wines don’t taste sickly sweet. If you do keep your ice wine for a few years before opening, it will be darker in colour and richer and nuttier in flavour plus the acidity may fade a little so the sweetness will be magnified. My preference

Beaujolais – the ultimate fruity red wine

Wine Regions, Wine Styles

Beaujolais – the ultimate fruity red wine The very name “Beaujolais” often sends a shudder down the spine if, like me, you have memories of Beaujolais Nouveau tasting like fiercely dry Ribena with bubblegum and bananas served early on the third Friday in November just 8 weeks or so after the grapes have been harvested. It was in my view the Beaujolais Nouveau hoo-ha that was responsible for Beaujolais wines falling out of fashion in the UK; as their popularity grew, their quality in general suffered. The good news is that there is so much more to Beaujolais than Beaujolais Nouveau and it is possible to find superb wines in the Beaujolais region – and they are slowly but surely becoming fashionable again here in the UK. Read on to find out more about the wines of Beaujolais, how they are made, what they taste like and where to find the best Beaujolais wines. 92% of wine produced in the Beaujolais region is red; you might therefore think that the white wines are not worth a mention but I write a little about them at the end of this article as I think they can be worth seeking out. For now… the red wines of Beaujolais… HOW BEAUJOLAIS RED WINES ARE PRODUCED Beaujolais wines are quintessentially light-bodied, perfumed, fruity wines that tend to be fresh (high in mouth-watering acidity) and relatively low in alcohol (11-13% ABV). The red wines are produced 100% from the Gamay grape, a notoriously tricky grape to manage since it grows very vigourously; there is a lot of work involved to keep yields low for the better wines of the region. Most Beaujolais wines undergo a process called semi-carbonic maceration; it’s not unique to the region but Beaujolais wines are those that are most associated with the process. In summary, the grapes are not initially crushed in a press but pressure from the bunches of grapes on top of each other in huge tanks squeezes out juice. Fermentation of this juice is initiated by indigenous yeast on the grape skins and carbon dioxide that is produced as a result then triggers fermentation inside the uncrushed grapes which start to burst open. Beaujolais Nouveau (and some Beaujolais AC) goes one step further with full carbonic maceration where the tanks are filled with CO2 gas to trigger the intra-grape or intracellular fermentation. Both these processes enhance the fruity flavours and aromas, extract colour from the skins without extracting too much tannin and produce wines that are ready to drink much more quickly than usual. If these wines see any oak, and some of the crus in particular will, maturation will be in large used barrels for just a few months to soften the wine and add some texture rather than to impart oak, vanilla and toast flavours which would mask the fruity characteristics of the wine. THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF BEAUJOLAIS WINE The Beaujolais region which extends from Mâcon on the southern edge of the Burgundy wine region further south almost to Lyons is made up of 12 appellations. And, as you might expect, there is a Beaujolais wine hierarchy. There are 12 appellations (or PDOs) in Beaujolais: THE BEAUJOLAIS CRUS At the top of the scale are the 10 crus (cru here meaning a wine producing area rather than a single vineyard); these are the smallest regions with their own specific appellations (ACs) and therefore their own specific regulations. They are situated on the slopes of the foothills to the North of and with the best granite soils in the region. Maximum permitted yields for all the cru wines are the lowest of the whole Beaujolais region at 48 hectolitres per hectare though in reality they tend to be produced at yields closer to 40hl/ha (I shall cover yields in a later blog). The 10 crus which together produce about one third of all Beaujolais wines are: Brouilly, Côte de Brouilly, Chéneas, Chiroubles, Fleurie, Juliénas, Morgon, Moulin à Vent, Régnié and Saint-Amour You will often just see the name of the cru on the label; Beaujolais need not be mentioned at all. The Beaujolais crus are the least like what most people expect a Beaujolais wine to be like since they tend to be darker in colour, with a fuller body and a more silky texture, more intense and complex aromas and flavours – and they will generally keep for a few years. They are similar in style to red Burgundy which is of course the wine region just to the North of the crus. But each cru differs in character from the next. For example: Brouilly, the largest of the crus, produces wines that tend to be deep ruby in colour, elegant, slightly lighter but complex wines with soft tannins and red fruit flavours (plum, strawberry and redcurrant) and mineral notes Juliénas is noted for its richness, spice and floral aromas. It is one of the darkest in colour and its aromas and flavours are still fruity – sweet cranberry, redcurrant, raspberry and even strawberry – with hints of cinnamon, violet and peony. Morgon is more garnet in colour and is considered one of the more robust crus as it has a bit of structure. But don’t think Morgon is “rustic”; it is still pretty elegant and silky just a little earthier like a Rhône red wine. Its aroma- and flavour-profile includes ripe cherry, ripe plum, kirsch, violet and liquorice. It is one of the most age-worthy crus. The cru appellations only cover red wines. In fact only Brouilly permits white grapes to be grown in the region but the white wines made there cannot be labelled Brouilly AC but Beaujolais Villages AC Blanc or Beaujolais AC Blanc. BEAUJOLAIS VILLAGES Next in the hierarchy of Beaujolais wines are the Beaujolais Villages wines which account for about 29% of all Beaujolais wine production. The region, which incorporates 38 Beaujolais villages or municipalities, is located effectively around the cru regions on the lower though sometimes steep slopes also more

Guide to Cabernet Franc & its wines

Grape Varieties, Wine Styles

Guide to Cabernet Franc & its wines A guide to the Cabernet Franc grape and where it is grown, the characteristics of Cabernet Franc wine and what it tastes like plus what to eat with Cabernet Franc. Despite being in the 20 most planted grapes in the world, Cabernet Franc is not necessarily one of those grapes that you look for when choosing wine. It tends to keep a low profile – more of a bridesmaid than the bride. But, for years overshadowed particularly by Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc is reckoned to be on the upward trend. CABERNET FRANC GRAPE CHARACTERISTICS Black grape variety Cabernet Franc is a bit of a workhorse, more often seen as a support grape to Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot and, since it ripens earlier, it is used as an insurance should those grapes not have chance to ripen fully due to poor weather. Having said that, Cabernet Franc needs a lot of sunshine to ripen and lose some of its naturally high acidity, otherwise it can taste rather green and stalky. It is rather like Cabernet Sauvignon but lighter and less tannic. The reason for the similarity to Cabernet Sauvignon is that Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon are in fact related though it was only about 25 years ago that DNA profiling confirmed Cabernet Franc to be a parent to Cabernet Sauvignon (the other being Sauvignon Blanc). A fruity little number in more ways than one, Cabernet Franc has also been discovered to be a parent to Merlot and to Carmenère. Note Cabernet Franc is also known as Bouchet, Bordo, Breton and Cabernet Frank. Italian wines labelled Cabernet are usually Cabernet Franc. WHERE CABERNET FRANC IS PRODUCED Many Bordeaux wines have Cabernet Franc as a minority grape in the blend. The notable exception is St Emilion and the other right bank appellation, Castillon Côtes de Bordeaux, where it is given more prominence; in fact, the renowned St Emilion Grand Cru, Château Cheval-Blanc, instead of having Merlot as its majority grape, has c. 60% Cabernet Franc and is considered by some to be the finest wine of the Bordeaux region. Aside from Bordeaux, Cabernet Franc has long been seen as a varietal in the red wines of Touraine in the Loire Valley, wines such as Chinon and Bourgeuil, and of Saumur also in the Loire. In total France accounts for c. 58% of global Cabernet Franc production. Perhaps surprisingly Brazil is second in terms of volume at 12% with Italy third at 10%; the cooler areas in the north-east, Friuli and Veneto, see most of the plantings in Italy. There are further Cabernet Franc vines in many countries around the world but not in huge volumes, reflecting the fact that the grape is usually added to Bordeaux style blends. Increasingly however Cabernet Franc is being seen as a varietal wine on its own especially in cooler regions of new world wine-producing countries like the USA, Canada, Argentina and Chile. Yields need to be controlled to ensure that the grape’s fruit rather than herbaceous characteristics dominate; this means that it is not really a grape for the lower end of the price range. WHAT CABERNET FRANC WINE TASTES LIKE Cabernet Franc shares many characteristics of Cabernet Sauvignon but it is lighter in many ways – lighter in body, tannin, alcohol, colour and acidity – so it makes a good alternative for those who find Cabernet Sauvignon a little over the top. Generally medium bodied Cabernet Franc still has sufficient structure, fruit, acidity and tannins to age well – and age earlier than Cabernet Sauvignon. It is also generally much easier to drink, lighter and softer with a smooth texture. In fact it can be a very elegant wine. The overriding feature however is its beautiful perfume. Fruit characteristics abound in Cabernet Franc, think berries and cherries – raspberries in particular, strawberries, blueberries, cherries along with plums. Graphite or pencil shaving aromas are also typical. Other common aromas and flavours of Cabernet Franc include green pepper, green olives, violets, sweet tobacco and blackcurrant leaves. Generally the warmer the climate, the rounder and richer the Cabernet Franc wine and the more prominent the fruit aromas and flavours. The herbaceous aromas are more prominent when the grapes used in the wine have not been ripened fully. And this is the one downside to Cabernet Franc. A note of caution: Cabernet Franc is relatively well suited to the cool climate of the Loire and North East Italy as it ripens early compared to some varieties. At their best these wines can be fresh, fruity, low alcohol wines with a distinct raspberry and pencil shavings aroma profile. But those originating from particularly cool summers can taste rather austere and be especially light in body. Unripe Cabernet Franc can have rather harsh stalky characteristics. So to ensure a softer Cabernet Franc wine with good texture and integrated tannins, be wary of those produced in very cool vintages. FOOD PAIRING WITH CABERNET FRANC Cabernet Franc’s acidity and body make it a good match for a number of different foods. Its berry and herbaceous characteristics make it a particularly good match for game, lamb, duck and for herby and olive- and tomato-based dishes. Warmer climate Cabernet Franc with its rich plum flavours will go well with most red meats, especially roast beef, with mushrooms, peppers and with many cheeses including brie, camembert, smoked cheeses and even goat’s cheese. Look first at the intensity of the food and match heavier, more intensely flavoured wines with stronger-flavoured foods and lighter styles with more delicate flavours. IS CABERNET FRANC BECOMING MORE POPULAR? According to the University of Adelaide’s Database of Regional, National & Global Winegrape bearing areas, there was an increase of 7% in the vineyard area dedicated to Cabernet Franc globally between 2000 and 2016. Whilst France and Italy have both reduced their plantings in that period, countries that saw growth include Brazil, the USA, Chile, Argentina, Hungary and Canada where it is even being used

Guide to the Merlot grape and wines

Grape Varieties, Wine Styles

Guide to the Merlot grape and wines A guide to the Merlot grape and where it is grown, the characteristics of Merlot wine and what it tastes like plus what to eat with Merlot. Often in the shadow of Cabernet Sauvignon, with which it is frequently blended, most famously in Bordeaux, Merlot has somehow acquired a reputation for being inferior, its reputation not helped by the 2004 film Sideways in which Merlot was shunned by one of the main characters simply because his ex-wife liked it. But it is the second most widely-grown grape in the world so there must be something to like about this maligned grape, Merlot, and its wines, as we will discover. MERLOT GRAPE CHARACTERISTICS Merlot is a black grape variety that ripens earlier than many other varieties and is therefore often used as an ‘insurance’ in blends, should other grapes not have chance to ripen fully due to poor weather e.g. in Bordeaux where a larger percentage of Merlot may be used in wines if the later-ripening Cabernet Sauvignon has not seen enough sunshine and warmth. On the downside, Merlot buds early which makes it susceptible to frost and it is thin-skinned which makes it susceptible to rot and mildew so in very cold and/ or damp years there is a risk of low or even no yields. But on the whole Merlot is considered relatively easy to grow and that means that, despite the fact that it plays a significant role in many fine wines such as Pomerol and St Emilion in Bordeaux, Merlot can also be found in many more commercial-style wines of varying quality across the globe. The name Merlot is thought to derive from the French word for blackbird, ‘merle’, and there are differing views as to whether it is because its skin colour resembles the colour of a blackbird’s feathers or whether it is because that species is particularly partial to the sweet grapes. Other names for Merlot include Merlot Noir, Merlau, Médoc Noir and Sémillon Rouge. WHERE MERLOT IS PRODUCED France is home to circa 40% of the world’s Merlot vines and about half of those are in Bordeaux, from where the grape originates. Often seen as a support grape to Cabernet Sauvignon in that region, there is in fact more Merlot than Cabernet Sauvignon planted there. Merlot is traditionally the more dominant grape variety in the Bordeaux blends of the right bank areas of Bordeaux (north of the Dordogne river) such as St Emilion, Fronsac and Canon-Fronsac, Pomerol and Lalande de Pomerol as it is well-suited to the limestone and clay soils there. However Merlot is added in seemingly ever-increasing quantities to wines of the traditionally Cabernet Sauvignon-dominant left bank areas of the Médoc and Haut Médoc (south of the Gironde river), especially in vineyards with less of the traditional left bank gravel-based soils. The other main French region that has Merlot plantings is the Languedoc-Roussillon region which produces mainly blends of IGP wines, previously known as vins de pays, of varying levels of quality. Following France in the rankings, Italy, the USA and China have the next largest vineyard areas dedicated to Merlot but these account for just 9%, 8% and 6% respectively. WHAT MERLOT WINE TASTES LIKE When it comes to flavour, Merlot is a bit of a chameleon because firstly it is often blended with other grapes but secondly and perhaps most importantly its aromas and flavours can vary greatly depending upon a number of factors including the climate conditions in which the grape has grown, whether it has been picked early or late in the ripening season and whether it has been oak-aged or not and for how long. So Merlot can be quite hard to recognise. Pure Merlot wine from cooler climate regions or from early-picked grapes is known for its classic red fruit flavours – raspberries, plums and even strawberries with some vegetal notes like peppers and even grass. These red-fruit flavoured Merlots are considered more old-world style; they generally have lower levels of tannin and alcohol but have good levels of acidity and a smooth texture. Note that if Merlot displays too many green flavours, it is likely that the grapes were picked a little too early or may not have really ripened fully. When produced in warmer climate regions 100% Merlot wine will be bigger and bolder, often considered to be a more international style of Merlot. Fruit flavours may also include blackcurrants and blackberries, ripe plums with spicy notes, chocolate and even a touch of fruitcake. Alcohol is likely to be higher and the wine generally more full-bodied with soft tannins (given the thin skins). In blends Merlot is valued for its natural sweetness – not that it is high in residual sugars but more that the fruit flavours are of sweet juicy ripe fruits – and for its softer, more approachable characteristics. In fact it is specifically paired with Cabernet Sauvignon in order to tone down some of Cabernet’s more austere qualities. Merlot-dominant wines age relatively well but are generally ready to drink much earlier than their Cabernet Sauvignon-dominant counterparts. FOOD PAIRING WITH MERLOT Merlot wines, whether a simple commercial style, a fresh, cooler climate, red-fruit style or a richer, spicier style, can of course be enjoyed on their own because of the soft tannins and smooth texture though you may enjoy the finer examples of Merlot after it has been in bottle at least three or four years. Which foods would complement Merlot – and vice versa – really depends upon which style of wine it is. Easy-drinking, lighter, fruity Merlot pairs well with tomato-based sauces, pizza or chilli con carne. The more savoury style of Bordeaux Merlots or Merlot-dominant blends complements most red meats including game, mushrooms, truffles and roasted vegetables especially the more mature wines. The juicier, fuller-bodied style of Merlot make for a good match for steak, game, lamb especially when served rare, and duck. But really you can’t go too wrong with Merlot. If

Ice wine is perfect for chocolate desserts Wines With Attitude

Why drink sweet wine with dessert – and which sweet wine?

Wine & Food, Wine Styles

Why drink sweet wine with dessert? And which sweet wine? Celebrations like Birthdays, Mothers’ Day and Christmas are the perfect excuse to lay on a feast including dessert. Do you give any thought to which wine you will drink with pudding or stick with the red or white wine you have been drinking with the main course? Find out why drinking a wine that’s sweet with desserts makes sense and what the key characteristic is that sweet wines need in order to complement desserts. This blogpost also includes a comparison of different types of sweet wines like Sauternes, ice wine, vin doux naturel, Moscato d’Asti and port, a brief description of how each is made and which type of desserts each pairs with best. WHY HAVE A SWEET WINE WITH DESSERT? After carefully selecting white and red wines for the first two or three courses of your meal, why would you not also find something to complement the pudding? Carrying on drinking the wine you have had during the previous course or courses will often not work and here is why. Drinking a wine that is not at least as sweet as your dessert can make your wine taste at best less fruity, at worst flat, bitter and even astringent. In addition, any tannins in red wine will clash with the food’s sweetness, make the wine taste metallic and bitter and the tannins will seem even more prominent and unintegrated. There are a handful of sweet wine and savoury food combinations that work well, some of which are mentioned below, but bear in mind that if you drink sweet wine early in a meal, it is very hard to go back to a dry wine especially a red and enjoy it as the flavours of the wine will seem flat. THE MAIN CHARACTERISTIC OF SWEET WINE TO DRINK WITH DESSERT The fundamental thing to remember, if you are going to have any wine with your dessert, is 1) to make sure that the wine is at least as sweet as the dessert. Many people over the years have told me, as soon as sweet wine is mentioned, that they don’t like it but I suspect that most of those people have not had the right sweet wine and consumed it with the right food. I’m not dictating what you should or should not drink but your dessert and wine will both taste better and complement each other if you choose a wine that is sweet and with one other key characteristic and that is… 2) good acidity. A wine’s acidity makes the wine seem drier than it actually is and it will ensure that the combination of sweet wine and sugary food is not sickeningly sweet. Acidity will slice through the sweetness of a dessert, make the wine seem balanced and leave your mouth watering. DIFFERENT SWEET WINES & WHAT TO DRINK THEM WITH Below are some sweet wines (some are classified as fortified wines but are also sweet or medium-sweet), together with some suggestions of the type of desserts that will work well with them. There are no hard & fast rules however but it is worth following suggestions 1) and 2) above. PUDDING WINE WITH FOOD There are many ways of achieving sweetness in wine and many of the world’s wine regions have their own specialities like TBA Riesling, Barsac, Monbazillac, Tokaji from Hungary but I’m going to use Sauternes as my main dessert or pudding wine example since it is considered by many to be the world’s best sweet wine. All these wines are produced in the same way. Sauternes is typically produced mainly from Sémillon grapes that have been affected by ‘botrytis cinerea’, a fungal infection also known as noble rot, which in the right conditions makes the grapes shrivel on the vine, leading to very concentrated and sweet juice. Sémillon gives the wine body and tropical fruit flavours; Sauvignon Blanc which is often added to Sauternes brings acidity and citrus flavours and the best Sauternes wines include a small portion of Muscadelle which add lovely floral aromas to the wine. Flavours in the wine will include a range of citrus flavours like lime, grapefruit, tangerines and lemon zest, honey, apricots and often mango, pineapple and barley sugar. You can pair Sauternes and other noble rot-affected wines with most desserts but in my opinion they work best with lighter desserts such as fruit tarts, lighter chocolate puddings with fresh fruits such as raspberries, cherries or strawberries. Desserts with any of the typical fruit flavours of Sauternes will match as well e.g. citrus-flavoured puddings and apple pie. For heavier desserts with lots of cream you could still drink Sauternes but it must have a high level of mouth-watering acidity to cut through the fat in the dish. Similarly for desserts with salt like a salted caramel brownie, make sure your Sauternes has good acidity because the salt will reduce the acidity of your wine and make it seem quite flat and even flavourless. Tokaji is typically sweeter and more marmalade-y than Sauternes – it is a great match with a crème caramel and any other caramel-based desserts. Sauternes will also pair well with many blue cheeses like Roquefort – and with foie gras for those with a preference for more savoury dishes but as mentioned above, be wary if you plan to switch to a dry wine, especially a red, after it. ICE WINE WITH FOOD Ice wine also known as Eiswein is wine produced from grapes left to freeze on the vines; when the grapes are pressed only the sweet juices that have not frozen are used in the wines. Ice wine should also have good acidity to prevent them being too sweet and to help them pair well with most puddings. Often made from white grapes like Chenin Blanc, Grüner Veltliner, Gewürztraminer and Riesling, increasingly ice wine is being produced from black grapes like Cabernet Franc, Merlot and even Austria’s Blauen Zweigelt which makes for a

Riesling grapes from Wines With Attitude

Riesling – love it or hate it?

Grape Varieties, Wine Styles

Riesling – love it or hate it? A GUIDE TO THE RIESLING GRAPE AND ITS WINES I have long been in two minds about having more than one Riesling in the Wines With Attitude portfolio – in my experience people either love Riesling or hate it which is why I describe it as the Marmite grape (with apologies and also homage to the manufacturers of Marmite). But there are many different styles of Riesling wine that it is doing it a disservice not selling more than one plus I was long ago persuaded to by a new customer who was keen to get hold of some Andreas Bender Dajoar Zenit Riesling that he had had with friends in the Portland restaurant in London. I am so glad I did as it is a beautiful wine. And it is after all unfair to write off Riesling as a whole since it produces so many different types of wine. So in this blogpost I shed some light on the Riesling grape and its wide range of wines. WHERE CAN YOU FIND RIESLING? This white grape is also known as Johannisberg, Kleinriesling, Rheinriesling, Riesling Gelb and a host of other names but should not be confused with Riesling Italico or Welschriesling which are synonyms of a somewhat less-known grape. So versatile and hardy is the Riesling grape that it can be grown in many different regions around the world, producing a wide range of wine styles and flavours as it is also good at expressing its terroir. It grows best in cool climates and tolerates well cold winters. The location of the vines can have a huge impact on the style and flavours of the wines with cooler climate Rieslings producing more delicate green fruit & floral notes, warmer climate Rieslings generally being more peachy and richer in style. Germany is the homeland of Riesling with c. 45% of the world’s Riesling vineyards. It produces, some would argue, the best Riesling wines though there also are some poorer versions produced there as Germany tries, rather unsuccessfully, to convert the overseas wine-drinking public to their pride and joy. Riesling is grown throughout Germany though the Mosel and Pfalz regions produce the most. Mosel famous for its slate soils produces a light floral style of Riesling. The best sites there are considered to be the steepest sites with slate soils near the river where the grapes can benefit from maximum sunshine due to carefully positioned vines and reflections from the water’s surface. The reputation that German Riesling still has as a medium dry or even medium-sweet white wine is not really justified as most nowadays is dry or ‘trocken’. The USA, perhaps surprisingly is the second largest producer of Riesling with c.10% of the world’s Riesling vineyards and growing interest for Rieslings from California, Oregon and Washington State. Australia is gaining itself quite a good reputation for very dry, lime-flavoured Riesling – look for Clare Valley and Eden Valley Rieslings. In France Riesling is a permitted grape variety only in the Alsace region where the wines often have pronounced minerality. There has been a tendency for Alsace to add sugar to its wines to help boost the alcohol levels (rather than to sweeten them since they are vinified dry). Therefore Alsace Riesling is often more full-bodied than German Riesling. New Zealand is developing its Riesling vineyards; it is its 6th most produced grape variety. New Zealand is producing both off-dry and dry wines – the Te Whare Ra Riesling D is Dry, the ‘D’ meaning dry (they also produce a Riesling ‘M’ version for medium-dry). Austria produces mostly dry Riesling but also very sweet, dessert wine. A little known fact is that Luxembourg also grows a small proportion of the world’s Riesling but then not so surprising given it lies close to the Mosel region. FLAVOUR PROFILE OF RIESLING It is partly Riesling’s ability to express its terroir well that makes it hard to generalise about one single flavour profile for its wines. Riesling wines can have one or more of the following – florals, minerality, fruit and spice. However one thing that all good Riesling has wherever it is produced is bracing acidity – just like Sauvignon Blanc. Even sweeter versions will not be sickeningly sweet as the sweetness should always be balanced by acidity. Rieslings aromatics can be quite concentrated. Distinct flavours that are usually recognisable include lime, green apples, pears and floral notes like jasmine and lime blossom especially when the wine is young, dry and from cooler regions. As Riesling develops richer peach and even nectarine flavours dominate and/ or if it is from a warmer site tropical fruit. As they get older Rieslings get richer and a wider range of aromas and flavours come to the fore including honey, beeswax, spice and toast plus sometimes the distinctive petrol or kerosene aromas may develop. The petrol note, loved by some and detested by others, is more likely to be found in better Riesling wines than in more commercial-style wines where grapes from higher-yielding vineyards are used. It is also detectable earlier in warm climate Rieslings. It should however always be subtle in any Riesling. According to Andreas Bender, producer of several Rieslings including the lovely Dajoar Zenit Riesling from the Mosel, Riesling needs some time in bottle to become rounder and for all the flavours to fully express themselves. I could see this in early 2019 when doing a vertical tasting with him of his 2015 and 2017 Zenit Rieslings; the 2017 needed a little more time to develop to its full potential. Give it another 12 months or so and it will match the 2015. Better winemakers such as Andreas aim to make the grape’s aromatic qualities show and therefore usually ferment the wine in stainless steel tanks. If oak is used it will be large vats and old oak to minimise the impact. Lees contact may also be used to give some Rieslings texture and richness which some may confuse with oak

Sauvignon Blanc wine by Wines With Attitude

All about Sauvignon Blanc

Grape Varieties, Wine Styles

ALL ABOUT SAUVIGNON BLANC It is probably no surprise that Sauvignon Blanc features in the top 10 most planted wine grapes in the world.* Check out any list of the most popular wines in the UK and Sauvignon Blanc will be close to, if not at, the top. We Brits have fallen big time for the whole Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc brand and whilst there are many great examples of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, there are also many other amazing Sauvignon Blanc styles which are explored in this guide to Sauvignon Blanc. Read on to find out about the Sauvignon Blanc grape and where it is grown, the characteristics of Sauvignon Blanc wines and what they taste like plus what to eat with Sauvignon Blanc. SAUVIGNON BLANC GRAPE FACTS & CHARACTERISTICS White grape variety Sauvignon Blanc is also known as Blanc Fumé, Blanc Fumet, Fumé Blanc and Muscat-Silvaner. The name is derived from the French for wild’ “sauvage”. Sauvignon Blanc has often been confused with Savagnin Blanc which is believed to be one of its parents. Chile has in the past imported what it thought was Sauvignon Blanc and only in the 1980s was much of it discovered to be another grape variety, Sauvignonasse. Sauvignon Blanc is a parent of the Cabernet Sauvignon grape. Sauvignon Blanc is an early ripener and the vine’s growth is vigorous which means that it is best grown on poor soils in cool climate areas to rein it in and slow down leaf growth, which can also be tamed with pruning. Its naturally high yields mean that Sauvignon Blanc can be – and is – used to produce huge volumes of inexpensive wine but keeping costs low by not pruning leaf coverage prevents the grapes from ripening and leads to herbaceous or green notes caused by compounds called methoxypyrazines – remember how grassy flavours and aromas used to dominate many Sauvignon Blanc wines? On the other hand, left too long on the vine, overripe grapes can produce wines dominated by big tropical fruit flavours so picking at just the right moment is crucial, depending on the characteristics the winemaker is aiming for in his wine. Sauvignon Blanc is a naturally pungent or aromatic grape with good acidity. Cool climate regions again are best to prevent this acidity dropping too much as sugars rise in the ripening grapes. Rather than being mainly used for high volumes of more commercial entry-level wines, Sauvignon Blanc is increasingly being produced in the mid to high price range and as its characteristics can be influenced by different factors in the vineyard and by different techniques in the winery, very different styles of Sauvignon Blanc wine can be produced as you will read below. WHERE SAUVIGNON BLANC IS PRODUCED According to the University of Adelaide’s Database of Regional, National & Global Winegrape bearing areas, vineyard area dedicated to Sauvignon Blanc globally almost doubled between 2000 and 2016. Circa 50% of plantings are concentrated in three countries – New Zealand, France and Chile. NEW ZEALAND SAUVIGNON BLANC Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc is perhaps the best-known Sauvignon Blanc these days but in fact the grape variety was only planted there in the early 1970s. Pioneers like Brancott Estate and Cloudy Bay saw the potential for Sauvignon in Marlborough’s largely cool climate, and other producers followed to such an extent that the grape is now the most planted in New Zealand and accounts for 72% of the country’s total wine production. And according to NZWine.com, three quarters of all New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc is planted in Marlborough. FRENCH SAUVIGNON BLANC Despite the huge influence of New Zealand in Sauvignon Blanc’s history, more Sauvignon Blanc is still grown in France than in New Zealand or indeed any other country, spread across the country but mainly in the Bordeaux, Loire Valley and Languedoc-Roussillon wine regions. Before the emergence of Marlborough Sauvignon, the cool-climate Loire Valley’s Sancerre was considered by many as the epitome of Sauvignon Blanc (and still is to many). Pouilly-Fumé is perhaps less well-known but very similar in style. Better known for its red wines, Bordeaux has long grown Sauvignon Blanc for a range of different wines, dry and sweet. And in Languedoc-Roussillon Sauvignon is used mainly for cheap and cheerful, fruity IGP (or vins de pays) wines. CHILEAN SAUVIGNON BLANC Sauvignon Blanc is Chile’s most planted white grape variety accounting for c. 10% of the country’s and 12% of the global vineyards although, as mentioned above, some of the older plantings are Sauvignonasse. Stick to wines from the cooler parts of the country like San Antonio, Bío Bío and the Leyda Valley for the more elegant wines. There are further Sauvignon Blanc vines in many countries around the world but not in huge concentrations. It is worth mentioning South Africa however which is increasing its Sauvignon Blanc vineyards and creating some fine examples of sauvignon, often with crisp gooseberry characteristics. CHILEAN SAUVIGNON BLANC It used to be said that you could tell a glass of Sauvignon Blanc by a distinctive smell of cat’s pee. That odour, now referred to as boxwood since certain species of boxwood apparently emit a similar smell when flowering, is thankfully no longer a common feature of the wine. In fact there are many different aroma/ flavour profiles for Sauvignon Blanc that have evolved as winemakers use different factors in the vineyard (such as different clones, quality and type of soils, vine pruning methods and harvesting dates) and different techniques in the winery (such as different fermentation temperatures, using oak barrels for fermentations and/ or ageing, malolactic fermentation, lees ageing and blending). All these different factors make it difficult to define one Sauvignon Blanc style. There are various ways to try to paint the picture but all involve making generalisations – I make some regional generalisations but perhaps key to the styles of Sauvignon is whether your wine is from a cool or warm climate area: Cool climate Sauvignon will be lighter in colour and body, more elegant, tangy with

7 key facts about Bordeaux wine

Wine Regions, Wine Styles

7 KEY FACTS ABOUT BORDEAUX WINE The Bordeaux wine region is one of the oldest wine-producing regions in Europe with a reputation for producing some of the world’s best red, white and dessert wines, though possibly the red wines or clarets are the best known. This guide to Bordeaux red wines describes what kind of red wine Bordeaux is, what Bordeaux wine tastes like and what is so special about it. Does Bordeaux deserve its reputation? All you need to know to help you understand the Bordeaux wine region and its red wines. BORDEAUX GRAPES Most Bordeaux red wines are blends – and more often than not you won’t see what the composition of the blend is on the label. 1. Bordeaux red wine is usually a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc Merlot is the most widely grown black grape at 66% of production with Cabernet Sauvignon at 22.5% and Cabernet Franc at 9.5%. Other grape varieties are allowed – until recently just Malbec, Carmenère and Petit Verdot – but these three combined account for only about 2% of production. Cabernet Sauvignon brings black fruit aromas and flavours such as blackcurrant and black cherries as well as notes of green pepper, liquorice and tobacco. It adds colour, tannins and body and takes well to oak, all of which extend the ageing potential of the wines. Merlot tends to add red fruit flavours like raspberry and plum but in warmer vintages it moves towards black fruits like blackberries; its tannins, body and acidity are much softer than Cabernet Sauvignons, hence why they can be a great match. Cabernet Franc is a good addition for its mouth-watering acidity and raspberry and herbaceous notes; it also adds “pencil shavings” aromas to some Bordeaux wines. Since 2021 four more black grape varieties are permitted, the aim being to add varieties more suited to the higher risk of rot and mildew which come with the changing climate, but they will only be allowed to make up 10% of any Bordeaux blend. These new varieties are Touriga Nacional which is grown extensively in the Douro region for port and ripens late and the lesser-known black grape varieties, Marlesan, Arinarnoa and Castets. BORDEAUX TERROIR I’m sure you won’t be surprised, this being a French wine region, that terroir is key to understanding Bordeaux wines. The Bordeaux region has traditionally been split into two key areas for red wines, Right Bank Bordeaux and Left Bank Bordeaux. In fact the Entre-Deux-Mers region, situated between the Dordogne and the Garonne rivers and best known for its white wines, produces more red wine than white wine, but most of it fits within the generic Bordeaux rouge and Bordeaux supérieur appellations. 2. Left Bank & Right Bank Bordeaux reds traditionally differ due to different terroir & grapes Wines from vineyards situated to the north of the Gironde and Dordogne rivers are sometimes known as Right Bank Bordeaux wines. Generally this area has limestone soils with clay and gravel in some parts. Historically more Merlot has been grown in these vineyards. Typical Right Bank Bordeaux wines include St Emilion, Pomerol, Lalande de Pomerol, Fronsac, Canon-Fronsac and Cotes de Castillon. Wines from vineyards situated to the south of the Gironde and Garonne rivers are sometimes known as Left Bank Bordeaux wines. Generally this area has clay soils with gravel in the vineyards which typically are part of larger estates than on the Right Bank. Historically more Cabernet Sauvignon has been grown on the Left Bank as the grape is more suited to the well-drained gravel soils. Typical Left Bank Bordeaux wines include Médoc and Haut Médoc, St Julien, Margaux, Pessac-Léognan and Graves. The climate in Bordeaux on a general level is known as moderate maritime; although temperatures can soar in the summer, there is a moderating influence from the Gulf Stream and proximity to the Atlantic ocean brings rain. Some vintages are more friendly to Cabernet Sauvignon and some to Merlot making some people talk of left bank and right bank vintages but that’s only part of the story because of course different parts of Bordeaux have their own micro-climate. BORDEAUX VINTAGES As the weather can differ so much from year to year and impact on the grapes in many different ways, vintage differences can be huge. 3. Vintage is important This is why there is such a kerfuffle in April each year as hundreds of wines from the previous year are tasted and compared and vintage reports are written. I have been to some of these tastings and they are actually quite hard work. The wines are still developing in barrel and the Cabernet dominant wines in particular can be quite chewy and tannic; the teeth end up being black after several samples have been tasted. It’s a real skill to be able to work out which are the wines that will taste fabulous when they are actually ready to drink; effectively you are testing the wine’s age-ability so that those who wish to invest early (‘en primeur’) can do so. I personally prefer to wait a couple of years before attempting most Bordeaux wines – and they say for optimum Cabernet-dominant high quality wines, you should wait 10 years before opening the bottle. Rarely do you see a vintage declared as poor; if it is not fabulous, it is usually ‘difficult’. Here’s a summary of a selection of Bordeaux vintages showing the impact of the weather on the quality and quantity of wine produced: 2020: warm Spring weather encouraged early budding which with an Indian summer made for a potentially long ripening season; harvesting was early and the vintage considered outstanding for red wines 2017: lower yields because of extreme frost in late April and hailstorms in some appellations in August but the smaller output is considered to be high quality, very supple and for earlier drinking than usual. 2016: stunning vintage; ideal weather conditions meant high quality, balanced wines in good quantities. Pomerol & St Emilion consider

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Vintage Champagne: Is it worth the price?

Wine Prices, Wine Styles

VINTAGE CHAMPAGNE; IS IT WORTH THE PRICE? Vintage champagne is often talked about in much revered terms and the prices it can sell for suggest a far superior product to non-vintage champagne but is vintage champagne so much better than non-vintage? This blogpost looks into what exactly vintage champagne is, how vintage champagne differs from non-vintage champagne and what vintage champagne tends to taste like in comparison to non-vintage. In addition we look into the best vintage champagne years, how long vintage champagne can keep, how best to appreciate vintage champagne and whether it is worth the premium. First let’s look at non-vintage and vintage champagnes and the differences between the two. NON-VINTAGE CHAMPAGNE Non-vintage champagne is produced year on year in a consistent house style and, to achieve that consistent style, champagne houses have to use a blend of wines produced from grapes from different vineyards picked in different years, often many different years, and usually, though not always from all three of the authorised champagne grapes – Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier. Reserve wine is kept back each year to use in the non-vintage blend (or cuvée) and accounts for about 20% of the total blend. It is a real skill producing that consistency of style that non-vintage champagne tends to have given the differences each year in grape quality and weather and taking into account the effects of ageing on the reserve wines. So, if you find a non-vintage champagne that you really like, I always recommend that you stick to that brand because you can be pretty sure that the taste and quality will stay the same. In my case de Castellane non-vintage Brut Champagne (above) has been my favourite for many years and remains so which is why it was the first wine that I wanted in the Wines With Attitude portfolio. VINTAGE CHAMPAGNE Vintage champagne is not produced every year but only when the producer deems the vintage to be worthy – it is usually about three or four times each decade. Some champagne houses only produce vintage champagne, Dom Perignon for example, which means that they don’t produce champagne every year, adding to the rarity value – and to the price. All the grapes used to produce a vintage champagne must be from the year’s harvest specified on the front label of the bottle. No reserve wines from other years can be added. They are generally still blends however as the winemaker mixes the juice from different grapes and from grapes from different plots with different terroirs but instead of looking for a consistent style, they are trying to achieve the best tasting champagne from the best grapes grown in the specific conditions of that vintage. Each vintage champagne will therefore taste different; even a specific champagne house’s vintage champagne will taste different each year it is produced. There are some who think that, even in vintage years, the priority for most champagne houses has to be the non-vintage champagne as that is what they sell most of; it has to be hoped that using the better grapes for the vintage champagne does not compromise the known style of the non-vintage champagne but there are some who believe that it does. HOW & WHY VINTAGE CHAMPAGNE TASTES DIFFERENT Non-vintage champagnes must mature in bottle for a minimum of 15 months of which 12 months must be on the lees (mainly a deposit of yeasts which forms after the second fermentation in the bottle has finished, as seen in the photo). Vintage champagne spends longer ageing, at least three years. In practice it is often much longer before any wines are released – two to three years for non-vintage and four to ten years for vintage. The additional ageing time means that vintage champagne develops more body, more complex flavours and a smoother texture. In younger non-vintage champagne the primary flavours will be fruit – citrus fruits like lemon and grapefruit and stone fruits like peach and apricot. In non-vintage champagne that has aged a while a buttery or creamy texture and secondary flavours like brioche/ toast and nuts may start to develop. These secondary flavours will be more intense in vintage champagne because of the longer ageing; in addition the body will be fuller, the wine richer and further earthy flavours and aromas like leather and mushrooms may be present. HOW LONG VINTAGE CHAMPAGNE CAN KEEP Vintage champagne is likely to age better and for longer. Non-vintage champagne should generally be drunk within 36-48 months of bottling (remember it has already aged at least 12 months in bottle before release) whereas non-vintage champagne can be kept for five to ten years or longer (after its minimum three years ageing in bottle). THE BEST VINTAGE CHAMPAGNE YEARS Of course it is all a matter of taste but generally the following years are considered to be the very best vintages of the 2000s – 2018, 2012, 2008 and 2002. HOW TO ENJOY VINTAGE CHAMPAGNE I would recommend serving vintage a little less chilled than non-vintage champagne say at 12-14°C so that the complex flavours of the wine are not masked. Also allow the champagne to breathe for 15-30 minutes so that the layers of unique aromas and flavours have time to unfold. Sit back and enjoy! IS VINTAGE CHAMPAGNE WORTH THE PREMIUM? Vintage champagne is generally currently priced at around £40-£60 but can be hundreds of pounds per bottle; the fact that vintage champagne represents only 5% of total champagne production and the longer ageing time account to some extent for the difference in price. But at the end of the day, you are taking a bit of a chance; although the winemaker is trying to impress with a wine made from the best fruits from the best years, it really is all a matter of taste. Whether you think a wine is worth the premium, depends on the particular vintage and the particular wine and your own preferences. I recall one blind tasting of

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