GAMAY: Beaujolais, Bubblegum & Strawberry Blondes!

Baby, It's cold outside and I've just decided what to drink with my Christmas Turkey. It's got to be Gamay! Distinctive and light bodied, it ticks all the boxes for Turkey; not overpowering the meat, but standing up to the trimmings.

Christmas makes you nostalgic and try as I might, I can't get this Gamay VINALOGY out of my head, so I thought I'd share...

It's snowing outside and my 9 year-old self is wrapped up warm inside the local sweet shop. There's another young girl in there, the spitting image of Annie (from the film!) Dressed in a bright pink coat and with a shock of soft, red curls, she giggles to herself as she fills a bag with strawberry bubblegum, Parma Violets and banana sweets.

This image, to me, is quintessentially Gamay - the grape that makes the famous light red wines of Beaujolais: it's easy drinking, juicy, light, super-soft and fun. Gamay smells of over ripe strawberries and is made to be drunk young and wonderful when a little chilled. It's been a hard knock life for Gamay, but this once desperately unfashionable wine is now back in vogue thanks to its juicy, light body and soft glug-ability in a world of too-heavy reds.

Beaujolais isn't all about bubblegum though. Here are the 4 main styles that get progressively more serious...

TASTING TOUR

Start with Beaujolais Nouveau - the Annie: that kid in the sweet shop! Light, bright and very gluggable, with bubblegum, raspberry and sometimes, banana flavours. Drink as fresh as possible, within 1 year of the vintage (year of production)!

Next, try a straight Beaujolais - The Isla Fisher: a gentle step up with a touch more maturity, but still that bouncy, fun kid underneath. More juicy strawberry and raspberry here.

Now, go to the next level with a Beaujolais-Villages - the Lily Cole: pretty, perfumed Gamay with a good education, a clear personal style and earning well, so it's a little bit richer and a touch more sophisticated!

At the top of the tree, is Beaujolais 'Cru' - the Miranda: in a light-hearted show, she's the serious one. More full-on, the curls have been cut and she's showing more age! There are 10 separate villages* in this Beaujolais 'crew' and they're like softer, juicer versions of Pinot Noir. Think savory spice, wild strawberry and black cherry.

* The 10 Cru will be labelled by village. Here they are, going light to heavy:
Brouilly, Regnie, Chiroubles, Cote de Brouilly, Fleurie, Saint-Amour, Julienas, Chenas, Morgon, Moulin a Vent.



So there you have it - Gamay is a great Christmas wine match for Turkey that you can happily glug all day. Why not try one of each to compare? You'll get through them all between you this Christmas!

Enjoy,

WB xx

PORT: The Father Christmas of wine!

Gutsy, red and full of Christmas spirit. Yes, Port is undoubtedly the Father Christmas of the wine world!

Of course, your experience of him may vary: it could be a full-on trip to Lapland, complete with snow, reindeer and well-thought out presents.... or it could be simply the school caretaker in a fake Tesco beard. Either way, simple or serious, there is no better way to feel Christmassy than to raise a glass of port. And what a great present it makes! Here's Winebird's guide to Port:

What is it? Port is red wine (usually), fortified with Brandy: during fermentation, grape sugar turns to alcohol. Adding Brandy before this process is finished stops it prematurely, leaving grape sugar in the juice so it's sweet, and adding a spirity kick to around 20% abv!

Where’s it from? Duoro valley, Northern Portugal.

Grapes: over 80 local varieties are permitted, but the main 6 are Touriga Nacional, Tinto Cão, Tinta Amarela, Touriga Franca, Tinta Barroca & Tinta Roriz.

Types: very generally speaking, Port styles are determined by 4 factors: whether they’ve had mostly ‘bottle aging’ or ‘wood aging’ and whether they are  ‘vintage’ or ‘blended’.

* Bottle aged: when wine needs many years in the bottle to mellow.

* Wood aged: when wine has had several years in wood to mellow it. Once bottled, it's ready to drink.

* Vintage: wine made from grapes grown in one year only. With Port, conditions are only considered exceptional enough about 3 times a decade to be classified or rather, ‘declared’ as ‘vintage’ worthy. Vintage Ports, just like normal wines, are therefore considered to be of higher quality than wines blended from several (often lesser) years.

* Blended: non-vintage wines blended from several years to create a uniform style.

Tasting Tour of the main styles of Port: 

Ruby – Blended, very simple and inexpensive. Tastes like full & fruity red wine with a kick! No wood ageing, and will not improve with bottle age.

Tawny – Blended, but with 3+ years of wood age. Light, tawny brown in colour with a nutty, caramel flavour. Ready to drink once bottled and won’t improve with age.

Crusted – Blended, but unlike Tawny & Ruby, it is not filtered.  This means it can age for a few years and will throw a sediment, hence ‘crusted’. It’s a cheaper way of adding character!

LBV (Late Bottled Vintage)- wine from a single vintage (year) that has had 4-6 years wood age before bottling.  Ready to drink once bottled. If filtered, it will not improve with age. If unfiltered, it could improve for a few years in the bottle.

Vintage Port - wine from a single, declared vintage (year) that will often need 20-30 years of bottle aging. These are the finest Ports; full, complex and beautifully smooth when they’re ready. They are only permitted a  maximum of 2.5 years wood age, so its all about fruit!

Single Quinta – wine from a specific, high performing, single vineyard. Port estates often sell Single Quinta ports from a single year, when that year or ' vintage' wasn’t declared (see above). It’s just a short step away from true ‘Vintage Port’ and can be a lot cheaper and almost as good.

So, you want a wine to lay down? Go for Vintage Port, Single Quinta or Crusted, depending on how much you want to spend. Drink the others now!

For more info on the general history of Port and the top Port houses, go here.

For more in-depth info on all the various Port styles, go here.

I seriously hope that Father Christmas knows the difference...

Merry Christmas and happy drinking!

WB x

For more inf on the history of port, go here:

Sangiovese! Like a big, Tuscan family...and Jesse Metcalfe.

I’ve always loved Italians; they do the family thing so well! There’s never any question of where their priorities lie. Blood is thicker than water after all and so when I think of the Sangiovese grape, I think of a big, Tuscan family, with four boys and a girl. 

So, let’s meet those youngsters....

Morellino, the little lady, is gentle and approachable. She’s always up and ready to go before her bigger brothers and is often ignored as the boys jostle for attention. She’s a forward little thing though and bright as a button. Her time will soon come to shine. 

Chianti, the younger brother has just started at big school. Still a bit all over the place and unruly at times, he can be very good or very, very bad. There’s a lot of the rustic, country boy in him and he often needs a good meal to soften his edges.

Chianti Classico, the middle brother, is straight down the line. Well behaved and studying classics, he is the model student, displaying all the characteristics that his school would be proud of.

Chianti Classico Riserva Like the middle brother, but about to graduate. He has spent more time assimilating information in the school’s dark wood-walled library and he’s now ready to sit his exams. 

The fourth brother however, has always been a little different:

From his father’s first marriage, Brunello struck out on his own, working the vineyards in the next town. You can see the family resemblance, but Brunello is broader, more tanned and smouldering than his brothers in Chianti (check out Jesse Metcalfe above!). Get close and you can smell earthiness, leather and tobacco. He’s well built and complex. It takes time to get to know him.

All the wines above are based on Sangiovese, with occasional, tiny pinches of others to liven them up. In Chianti, the grape's still called Sangiovese (it's just named after the region to confuse you!). On the Tuscan coast however, they call it ‘Morellino’ and inland around Montalcino, it’s called ‘Brunello’. It’s all the same family, with subtle differences depending on location, but their common features are savoury cherry and dried herb flavours that goes deliciously with food. 

Tasting Tour

Start in Tuscany and work your way up the family:

Morellino di Scansano - Soft, bright red fruit, made for earlier drinking. Less well known, but one to watch.

Chianti - Rustic, sour cherry and dried herbs from picked in various locations all over the region.

Chianto Classico - Richer, dark cherry, cocoa and dried herbs. From the best, ‘Classic’ part of the Chianti region.

Brunello di Montalcino- Spicy cherry & herbs with earthy mineral, violet and tobacco flavours. It's got a 6 pack!

Try ‘Riserva’ versions of all of these for more dark spice and heavier structure that comes from ageing in oak.

While you're at it, you could also try the posh country cousin: Vino Nobile di Montepulciano.

Italy is the real home of Sangiovese, but some of the relations have flown the nest! Look for them in small pockets around Australia, Argentina & California, all with that unmistakable Italian accent, but with the definite stamp of their own country. 

Sangiovese literally means ‘Blood of Jove’! Just what else did this Jove get up to, I wonder? 

I’m off to unwrap a Brunello...

WB x

Champagne & Starlets! An actor's guide to sparkling wine.

Sometimes, being able to tell the difference is not such a good thing.

It was during my brief acting career that I discovered this 'winelover's paradox' - I was holding down a flexible job at a London wine merchant at the time. As  I complained to my friends about Prosecco being sold as Champagne in Bollinger flutes at a schmooze-fest industry party, they wanted to know more - albeit partly to use it to chat up other guests.

'Look around you', I said to them. 'It's always the same formula at these things: mostly unknown working actors like us; a large amount of behind the scenes industry people; a tiny percentage of TV actors (known largely just in the Uk) and very occasionally, the odd film star. It's the perfect vinalogy for sparkling wine' I told them. Here's why:

Prosecco is the vinous version of us working, non-famous actors: approachable, affordable, always great value for money and particularly easy to talk to. Find soft, creamy bubbles, lower alcohol and the taste of ripe pears from the newly official Prosecco region in Italy. Try Le Colture for brilliant bubbles.

Cava works for the Industry people- agents, producers and so on: cut from the same cloth as the stars, but more hard nosed and without the price tag (or wow factor) of their 'champagne' clients. Codorniu sets the benchmark for great Cava: chalky Spanish fizz made by the 'Champagne method', but with largely local grapes. (here's good for more info).

Traditional Sparklers (Wines made like champagne, but from elsewhere in the world) are the TV actors: arguably just as good if not better than some champagnes, but not as well known outside their own country. Come here for value. Try the Cremants from France or  Champagne styles from New Zealand/N. California. Worldwide fizz, but cooler climates excel!

Champagne, naturally, for the film stars: high profile, unique, expensive and often quite demanding. Think Bollinger, Moet & Laurent Perrier. There is of course a subset within this section where the quality - and price - jumps up several notches. These are the Uber A-listers; try a Nicole Kidman type like the pale & elegant Champagne Salon, or a fine and fuller bodied Hugh Jackman style like Krug...but only if someone else is paying.

I bet Penelope Cruz is on the Salon.

All of these wonderful boozes have a perfect time, place & budget. Paying Champagne prices for Prosecco or Cava however, is just not cool! And don't get me started on pub wine...

BRING OUT THE BUBBLY!

WB x

Malbec: Man-Meat & Milk Chocolate

You're at a Bar-B-Q in Argentina. The aroma of grilled lomo steak fills the fresh, outside air. You spot your favourite Polo player from a mile off in a bright raspberry-pink post-match shirt that only his type can get away with. He's silky smooooth, with a chisled, athletic structure rather than rugby player-like chunkiness. The way he looks at you is intense and concentrated. You want to stroke his face. You can tell he's from a high class family. Malbec man is seduction in a bottle.

Then you meet his mother and realise pretty quickly that in his eyes, there'll never be a replacement for her or her blueberry chocolate muffins.

Yes, Malbec is certainly distinctive. There are not many grapes you can recognise in the glass just by looking at them, but Malbec is one - super concentrated to the point of being opaque with bright raspberry pink tears dripping down the glass. With fresh blueberry notes, it seduces you with its velvety tannins, aromas of grilled meat and a touch of milk chocolate on the finish. Delish!

Malbec. Aka Auxerrrois or Cot. Original home - South West France with dalliances in Bordeaux. Spiritual home -Argentina. In my opinion, it's the best place to head on a wine list for value for money. 

Tasting Tour:

* Start with a standard Malbec from Mendoza or Patagonia in Argentina.


* Stay in Mendoza, but throw some money at something showing off about the high altitude of the vineyards. One of my faves is Achaval Ferrer.

* Next, head to Cahors in South West France for some inky black wines rich in mulberry spice.

*For something different and lighter, try France's Loire Valley and look for Malbec under the synonym 'Cot'.

Pass the steak!

WB x

Nebbiolo: the Ladyboy grape of Piedmont.

Picture this: you are standing in a dingy Milanese club, drink in hand, waiting for the show to start. The lights go down and the stage fills with fog. A figure steps forward into the spotlight. A woman. You think you recognise her - the slim body, the elegance, the pale skin. The embodiment of pinot noir? She certainly looks like Audrey Hepburn..but there's something else. Something different - you can't quite put your finger on it.

After her set, you approach her. Her perfume is seductive: violets, rose petals but with undertones of something darker. Licorice? Tar? She speaks. You half expect French, but no: her accent is local, Italian. Still, there's something different.

You get talking, you take her home. You go upstairs. Things get heated. You undress her, then, Wham! You discover that something different: this grape has balls. It's the Ladyboy of Piedmont!


Nebbiolo, so named after the rolling fogs of the Piedmont region in Northern Italy, can look as graceful and feminine as a Pinot, but once you get in in your mouth, there's no comparison. It's all male. It's a paradox, especially with a bit of age on it: pale and delicate on the outside, high acid, full bodied with lots of drying tannin on the inside. Nebbiolo makes wine that can go on for years and not lose power. The greatest examples make famous wines called Barolo and Barbaresco. Tar and roses...

Tasting Tour:

As far as wines to try are concerned, Nebbiolo is a homebody. It doesn't like leaving the aprons strings of Northern Italy, although increasingly other countries are experimenting. Start with a few from these places:

Northern Italy - Barolo, Barbaresco and the baby Nebbiolo D'Alba. Try them young and then with a few years age on them.

North America - Some interesting examples are now coming out of Oregon & Washington State.

Western Australia - Ditto, look for wines from the Margaret River region in Western Australia.

Digi and I shared a 1958 'Spanna' (a local name for Nebbiolo) on Friday. It was fresh as a daisy.

Get some down ya!

Winebird x

Voluptuous Viognier! Banish those winter blues

We've all had enough of the grim, English, slushy-not-quite-snowing-anymore weather. Me especially, having been bombarded with texts and pictures from my family's holiday in OZ. Digi and I were wondering if Australians in England are doing the same - gloating to their distant rellies about how cool and non-sweaty they are. Somehow, I doubt it.

Time to book a holiday and for once, Digi and I are in agreement.

We're thinking of a sun-drenched, warm beach in the Caribbean. You hear someone walking towards you as you're lying on the sand. It is a sun kissed, golden haired, voluptuous God/ess with a cocktail in hand, just for you. Skin glistening with coconut oil, they hand you the glass and you take a sip. A burst of fresh peaches and apricot hit you first, followed by delicate wafts of acacia blossom and musk from the flower garland that is now being placed around your neck.  The effect is seductive and delicious.

However, seeing as we can't jump on a plane in the next 10 minutes, what's the next best option for a Brit? Check out the wine list of course! And there it is, in black and white: our very own piece of paradise in a bottle. Viognier.

This peachy little number is enough to lift our spirits for the time being as we praise the full-bodied, fruit-forward richness of the wine and its satisfying, oily texture. The aroma of blossom is right there too with a delightful weightiness that reminds us of white chocolate and pine kernals. Yummy!

We are lucky here and have indulged in arguably the greatest kind of Viognier you can buy - from its homeland of Condrieu in France's Rhone Valley. We have paid for the priveledge though! So often, Viognier can quite often be out of balance with flabby, low acidity and way too much alcohol. It's not very easy to grow, you see. Some less expensive versions can be delicious though. You'll just have to taste a few to find your favourite...

Tasting Tour:
* Start of in the Languedoc-Rousillon region of France, for well priced, full and fruity offerings.

* Next try Eden Valley in Australia to see what they can do. Viognier is made all over Australia now and Yalumba have been flying the flag for the last 20 years or so.

* Chile is offering some powerfully aromatic versions if it's full-on flavour you want.

* Finally, save your pennies and find a decent 'Condrieu' from the appellation of the same name in France's Northern Rhone Valley. Condrieu will always be 100% Viognier and takes all the best bits mentioned above, with complexity, elegance and balance, It's the whole package!

I can feel the sun coming out already Now, where's that waiter...

Winebird x

Pinot Grigio - The Ikea of the wine world?

Inexpensive Pinot Grigio is the Ikea of the wine world - let's face it. While when we're first old enough to go there, it's hugely exciting and grown up but soon, we realise that it's not exactly inspiring. Sure, amongst the clean, neutral lines you get the occasional flash of a fruit shape on those beige curtains (pear?), but so often it's just plain old glug-glug. Pinot Grigio has become a relatively inexpensive and recognisable brand that does the job until you can afford to graduate onto more exciting and perhaps more expensive things.

It has always amazed me that one of the most widely drunk white wines in the UK is something so neutral and uninspiring. While there are some fabulous Pinot Grigios hidden away out there, these are just not the wines you see in your average pub or restaurant over here. But it can be great - really. You just need to know where to look!

So, before we look for some good ones, what is Pinot Grigio anyway?

Pinot Grigio is the grape, hailing from Italy but now also found in many places around the world. It's the same grape as Pinot Gris - 'Gris' is just French for 'Grey' whereas 'Grigio' is the Italian word.

When a wine is Pinot Gris however, you will often find that there's a slight difference in style. The stony, neutral character is replaced with more texure, aromatics and general, sweet ripeness. 


Why not explore this grape a bit? It can make a very beautiful wine if you look further than the pub!

Tasting Tour:
Start cheap and Italian from the Veneto: this is the 'Ikea' version: clean, neutral, with some stone fruit and white flower character if you're lucky. Highly gluggable!

Next, stay in Italy, but try the region of Friuli. These wines have a little more weight and character.

Alsace for richer, more weighty wines with a floral note. This is Pinot Gris territory.

America's North West is a fabulous place to grow Pinot Gris. Try something from Oregon today: http://www.northwest-wine.com/Pinot-Gris.html

California impressed me recently with some round and ripe Pinot Grigios with character and texture. We just can't find them easily over here in the UK! I liked this place: http://www.benesserevineyards.com

Digiboy doesn't believe me that this wine can have character. We'll soon see about that...

Winebird x

Chablis: Jimmy Choos & Premier Crus

Chablis is just Chablis, innit? But why are some so much better than others? That was the latest question from Digiboy as we paired oysters with Chablis in a moment of decadence this week.

There may be only one place in the world that makes wine like the French village of Chablis, but there are many different qualities to chose from. It's worth bearing these in mind to give you that that extra push in the desired direction. Time for a Vin-alogy!

An elegant wine deserves an elegant image, so...

Grand Cru - the Stiletto. The greatest type: powerful, complex and capable of years of ageing. Like Jimmy Choos, don't wear them too young; it's a waste and people will just think 'tart!'

Premier Cru - the Kitten Heel. For finesse & fabulous structure, but without quite the weight of Grand Cru. This is your guest-at-a-wedding choice; not for everyday, but still kinda special.

Chablis - the Ballet Pump. Fresh, flinty & elegant with that classic chalky tang. Easy enough for everyday, but a day when trainers just won't do. Drink within 3 years or so of vintage.

Petit Chablis - the Flip Flop. Pleasant enough, light bodied and fragrant. Not exactly sophisticated because... it's a flip flop. It's just a Havaiana flip flop!  For early and very easy drinking.


Here are some other cool things you should know about our golden girl, Chablis:


* The grape variety is Chardonnay. Yes, Chardonnay! It's just the cool, lean, elegant Gwyneth Paltrow type as apposed to the big and flouncy, Pamela Anderson kind (See my Chardonnay blog).

* Chablis has a left bank and a right bank - just like Bordeaux.

* Its well-loved, unique chalk-flint and steely style is largely due to the area's distinctive limestone Kimmeridgian soil and the super-cool, climate.

* Straight Chablis is a haven for the anti-oak contingent (although you'll always find an occasional exception).

* It's awesome with white fish and oysters!

Tasting Tour - some easy-to-find, fantastic producers to try:

Billaud-Simon, Dauvissat, William Fevre, Louis Moureau, Jean Durup, Vincent Dampt.


Happy drinking. 


Winebird x

Châteauneuf-du-Pape: 3 Kings & a Christmas Cake

Digi says he understands things better when there's a visual analogy and I know he's not alone! So, here comes a belated Christmas-themed post...

Châteauneuf-du-Pape means The Pope's New Castle, so imagine the 3 kings of the nativity here, making the Pope a lovely house-warming Christmas cake.

In the Pope's kitchen, The King's gifts of Gold, Frankincense & Myrr become Grenache, Syrah & Mourvedre grapes as the key ingredients in this full-bodied blend. There's also a rack with a further 10 spices on it should the Kings feel the need to add them. They know however, that their own gifts are pretty darn good, so they'll probably not need anything else!

The comforting, Christmas cake-esque flavours of Châteauneuf-du-Pape are much loved: yummy, sweet spice and dried figgy flavours combine deliciously with a rich and warming, full-body. The 10 'spices' mentioned above are the other 10 grape varieties legally allowed in the blend (some of them, white!) In practice however, they often don't make it in.

Named after the town (not the grapes) in France's Southern Rhône Valley, this area has a long vinous history dating back to when the Papacy was based in Avignon - hence the name. Pope John XXII in particular was apparently an avid wine drinker, and helped improve the area's winemaking practices no end. He even built the famous Chateau that has since become the symbol of Châteauneuf's winey gift to the world!

So there you go, Châteauneuf-du-Pape = 3 Kings making Christmas cake for the Pope! A vinous adventure with a bit of history thrown in....

Winebird x

Teach me the language of wine!

My last post got Digiboy and I into a discussion about the language of wine, so now we are doing an exchange à la school French trips at age 14. He will (eventually) be teaching me web-speak in exchange for wine-speak: two very modern languages for the 21st Century!

Wine is a language, you see. No one can be expected just to speak it straight away. And just because it uses words we all understand, the meaning is still often far from obvious.

Wine tastes like wine to the uninitiated - you know whether you like it or not and to be honest, that's the most important thing. Once you spend time concentrating on what you are tasting however, you'll see that the different grape varieties have certain distinctive qualities, no matter where in the world they are grown. The aromas and flavours associated with the various grapes are very similar to fruits, flowers and even textiles in some cases (see my Riesling blog). It's the fermentation process itself that releases them to be savoured!

As you taste more and more, you will also start to tell the difference between a grape grown in one country and the same grape grown in another. For example, the Cabernet Sauvignon grape variety is usually full bodied and has a blackcurrant flavour. It is also quite tannic, so it looks dark in colour and has a rather drying texture. If you taste a French Cabernet and an Aussie Cabernet side by side, you will see that the two are similar in principal ways - body, blackcurrant, tannin for example, but the Aussie will probably seem much more juicy and may have a herbaceous character, whereas the Classic French will probably be more austere with less obvious fruit. These nuances are due to all sorts of things such as soil, weather, topography etc. but that's a subject for another time!

**Important point - a wine that is described as tasting of peach (for example) has not been anywhere near peaches. It's just the specific quality of that grape type! **

The reason wine ponces use this flowery wine language (which can definitely sound very OTT, it's true) is purely so they can describe wines accurately and judge its worth - both vital when buying and selling professionally. For the average consumer, such 'tasting notes' as are also useful, not because they are saying that a wine will taste of butter or melon or cat pee, but to give the customer an idea of the wine's style.

If I were to ask you which wine you'd pick to curl up with by the fire in winter, would you go for:

a) Crunchy, redcurrant fruit with herbaceous notes and refreshing acidity. Or
b) Rich and chocolatey, with notes of sweet spice.

My guess would be b) in most cases. You see, you don't have to 'get' the flavours yourself just because the pros and the ponces feel they do. It's about describing the style of a wine in a three dimensional way - feel, taste and smell. Don't take it all too literally!

Now gimme some of wine b. it's snowing.

Winebird x

p.s Fernanda is a top Parisien Sommelier and Rob is after a kick ass Grand Cru Burgundy. In case you're wondering.

p.p.s If you want to get seriously into the description, see Jancis Robinson!