Russell Wallace - General Manager – This week I ‘ave been
mostly drinking in memory of Cremola Foam!
Hmmm how to explain this one… Well I was sipping on Mas de Daumas
Gassacs’ delightful little sparkling wine called Rose Frizant, a single
vintage, in my case the 2010, tiny production wine from a company largely known
for the cult red wines.
The reds are deep and really quite powerful as young
wines, infinitely drinkable though, yet as they age around 10 years or more the
transformation is just like a well aged Burgundy, silky soft and unbelievably
delicate with delightful notes of the oak coming through. Whilst I love the Gassac reds, it is their
other less or often unknown wines that I rave about. The whites are a pure delight, the Moulin deGassac Premiere Selection in particular is just unlike anything else (but in a
good way). The Rose Frizant, on the
other hand, is just pure fruity fun and with my Seasonal Affective Disorder in
full flow, owing largely to an impending, long overdue break to the sun in a
couple of weeks, there seemed no better time to dive into a bottle of this old
friend.
I have always described the taste as something akin to, a
slightly toned down version of, Cremola foam.
Don’t remember it? Well it was an
amazing staple in our house as kids a serberty type fizzy powder that you mix
with water to get a real fruity fizzy zing.
As time has worn on I had started to doubt my initial description
worrying that I was turning into one of these sorts that can only describe wine
through irrelevant descriptives that seem only to exist in the mind of the high
connoisseur.
Low and behold the very following night I was whipping up
a little drink for my better half, the requirement was 0 alcohol, and something
“different.” Having never been an
excellent mixologist and with very little to play with I picked up the only two
likely candidates of slimline tonic and Ribeena and discovered a long gone
childhood memory. For this to work the Ribeena
must go in first with some ice (crushed or whole I cannot imagine it matters),
follow that up with some tonic, as you pour it in you will notice the glass
instantly fills with a thick froth. Get
your straw, spoon or any other implement and get sipping this Cremola-froth, it
is divine and ironically much like an intensified version of the Gassac Rose
Frizant. Panic over.
Kieran German – Shop Manager - This week I 'ave mostly
been drinking to keep warm. Hot toddies and all that. I find a drop of Bowmore in
one's coffee keeps the cold off, and I recommend a splash of Columba Cream in
tea in lieu of milk. It is very, very good. This relentless winter and
the havoc created by the weather is a gargantuan nuisance. But on the plus
side, it does make reaching for the brandy excusable (in moderation of course.
No operating heavy machinery etc.) Every cloud has a silver lining.
Picture the scene: the snow is coming down outdoors; the
wind is knocking at the windows, or you can hear it in the chimney; and the
light is fading. But you are sat by the fire, and you are reading a good book.
What's missing? Claret. Winter evenings, for me, demand a good bottle of
claret. And when the bottle is finished on with the second (with the roads as
they are, it is not as if we are driving anywhere soon anyway). This week I
tasted Chateau Capdet 2005. It is a superb vintage, as we all know, and this wine suited
the conditions perfectly - flavours of stewed fruit, like bramble jelly and
blackcurrant preserve. Some chewy tannins made this a really foodie wine - good
with a broth, or a cheeseboard - but also suggested further ageing potential.
My recommendation - buy a case, so you have an ample supply - just in case you
get snowed in.
Still on a wines-for-winter theme, I also tasted Willunga 100 Viognier this week. In many ways, a classic Aussie viognier - with
soft tropical fruit flavours before turning to give a smooth, bitter finish.
It was very pleasing when served at room temperature, and
at 14% abv it had genuine warmth to it. I would say this is a great choice for
white wine drinkers looking to offset the cold. And for a food match, I would
say Macaroni cheese.
Susan Ross – Logistics Manager - Well last week saw
another onslaught of a trade tasting, this time Forth Wines, based in Scotland,
who supply mainly to hotels and restaurants in Scotland but also throughout the
UK. It’s a hard job having to attend these events and taste so many
wines!
Held at the newly refurbished Assembly Rooms in
Edinburgh, a beautiful venue, this event didn’t disappoint.
Here is a list of my stars of the day, well at least some
of them, there were so many....:
Deep rich fruit – a delicious wine with a touch of
sweetness on the end palate.
A steel at the price.
Mar de Palha, Portugal – a small, family run
business, practising organic and producing circa 100,000 bottles per year,
these wines are stunning. Portugal has come a long way in recent years to
producing good quality wines. All the wines listed on our website are
superb, but these were 2 of my favourites:
A modern Sauvignon Blanc, great depth of flavour, clean
and crispy but soft on the acidity.
More a food wine than its little brother, the easy
drinking Tinto, this is full of ripe black fruit, rich and elegant – smooth
chocolate – superb!
Lomond, Cape Agulhas, South Africa – with a unique
southerly position on the Western Cape with cooling sea breezes in the summer
months - the best environment for its boutique selection of grape
varietals. Lomond focuses on sustainability and the preservation of
biodiversity on the farm - where possible, organic and natural farming methods
are used, in order to produce unique wines.
These are fantastic wines, offering great depth of
flavour, quality and affordability:
Some of my favourites:
Crisp and lively, herbal and tropical fruit. A
single vineyard Sauvignon with quality and taste a match for New Zealand.
Lomond Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, Viognier SSV
I’m not a great lover of Semillon but this blend may well
have changed my mind – if you fancy a change away from the likes of Sauvignon,
Pinot Grigio etc., this is well worth trying. Lovely tropical aromas,
crisp and refreshing.
New for this year – coming soon on our website.
Deep flavour of dark berry fruit and liquorice giving an
earthy feel to this wine. Great with food but could sip this one on its
own quite happily due to its soft tannins.
A great example of a Single Vineyard Syrah – complex,
earthy, elegant and beautifully integrated with soft tannins – a beauty of a
wine and a must have.
Go on, give them a try – like me, you won’t be
disappointed.
Next instalment... next week..
