And so on to the wines which François and Alison presented. 2010 is the first vintage of this Domaine and all the pre-dinner wines were from this vintage; the first two were Bourgogne Blanc & Saint Aubin 1er Cru Les Charmois – the Bourgogne Blanc was quite closed on the nose, almost Chabliesque and in many ways the least expressive of the range, which may be due to the fact it is nearest to bottling.  It was fresh and with great texture – in 18 months I have no fear that this will be singing. The Saint Aubin was stunning, I love this appellation.  It has richness but also a spine  and sees a tiny (12%) of new oak. There is very little produced, so little in fact that it is sold out, and I didn’t buy any and regret it. Next we moved to Puligny-Montrachet having the Villages first and then the Champs Gains. Villages was a step up, it sees 1 year in barrel (15% new) with lees and is from a plot at an elevation of 230 metres.  The Champ Gains was very impressive.  The first of the 1er Crus, it was very pretty, fine honed and with real complexity.

Having moved into 1er Cru territory, we now had a trio – Folatières, Les Perrières & Les Combettes – this was fascinating, all having their champions amongst the team, so rather than describe the wines using my dodgy adjectives, I will give my views on their personalities. Folatières is more of a military man, bold with broader shoulders.  The Perrières were more steely, almost stern but not quite, aristocrat. The Combettes is the extravagant man about town who you know, under a slightly brash exterior, is the kind of guy you want on your side…think I better stop this now, as I’m getting carried away. If I had to have just one, it would be Combettes but I feel guilty (a good sign) saying that. Our resident Burgoholic, Tom Bird, I know would champion the Perrières to his last word…

The last pair was two Chassagne-Montrachet  1er Cru’s Les Clos Saint-Jean & Les Macherelles – I have far less experience of Chassagne than Puligny so found this an excellent opportunity. The Clos St.Jean is from a vineyard only planted in 2003 and has exquisite balance when you take the recent planting into consideration – this is a wine to watch. The Macherelles was to me a step up, very expressive, crying out for food (Lobster). The whole tasting had been brilliant with the differences from one wine to another pronounced.  The overall style? It is one of minerality and finesse – these are wines for the medium to long term and the lack of oak is great to see.

After a glass of Delamotte Champagne, we then moved on to dinner,  with which we had wines from Domaine Louis Carillon as there is no “François” pre 2010. The first course of Seared scallops, fennel tatin, baby spinach and citrus dressing we had with Puligny-Montrachet Villages 2008 & 2009, the 2008 opened up in the glass with a leesy richness developing nicely.   The 2009 was to my mind less complex, more straight forward and delicious but I tend to find 2009 a less exciting vintage for whites than the 2008 and this showed here.  2009 will be delicious from the off but 2008 I feel has the edge on potential and complexity. The next course – Roasted Veal Filet, dulce glazed salsify, carrot pulp and bok choi was served with 1er Cru Champs Gains 2008 & 2009.  I look back at my notes and notice I gave 2008 18 points and 2009 17-18 points; this seems correct on reflection, the 2008, as with the Villages before, just shaded it over the 2009.

The final two wines with Mini tour de France cheeses were Combettes 2007 and Les Perrières 2007.  My notes had by this stage become brief but I gave Combettes 19 which is high for me; the note says “rich but fresh, great”.  For the Perrières I commented “as with 2010 more taut again” – given that 2007 is a taut vintage, this is not a surprise. The overall feeling was that the dinner wines were delicious but the 2010 was where the excitement lies, this may be convenient for me to say but I feel it is the truth…exciting times ahead.

Visit our website for more information about Domaine François Carillon.

Click here to read the full release for the 2010 vintage.

Further Options

Our last big dinner of 2011 was a cracker, no older vintages here as this is a new project but one set for great things I think. The actual launch was last year at Mossiman’s so this year was a lower key and focussed dinner here at C&B’s HQ. We began as we always do, with good reason, by having Delamotte NV, delicious.

After a warm welcome from Adam, Lodovico Antinori, a legend of the wine world, then started proceedings with a little background to this estate – Tenuta di Biserno in Bibbona just up the road from Bolgheri. The estate had at one time been earmarked for possible inclusion in Ornellaia but as sometimes happens this never occurred and instead Lodovico has decided that this will be his “last great” project. The estate is planted with a predominance of Cabernet Franc but also Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Petit Verdot (in more than it’s token Bordeaux amounts). The wines we were to taste and drink are from the first two released vintages- there were bits of 2006 made but essentially this is a story that starts from the 2007 vintage.

Over the first course of Oriental Duck Salad we had the three wines from 2008. Il Pino di Biserno which is the 2nd wine of the estate and was wonderfully easy to appreciate even now but with more to come in the medium term. Biserno which is the main wine of the estate and showed brilliantly (for me the wine of the night if I had to pick one); it has excellent balance and harmony that means the abundant fruit is kept in check with a framing structure that is a very complete scenario. Finally Lodovico which is from a specific plot within the estate and will not be made every year – there will be no 2009 and a minute 2010 for instance. This is a brooding wine of great depth and in need of time though impressive even now, it will be very interesting to see the development of Biserno vs Lodovico in each vintage when they are both made. These 2008’s were very impressive as there is the Tuscan warmth and ripe richness but you get a feeling of a cool structure too, classical is an overused word in wine these days but there is a good “dollop” of this here.

With the rest of the menu we had the 2007’s of the same three wines in larger formats, something I love and which add to any occasion. The generalisation of the 2007 vintage is that the wines are softer, more lush at the moment and very expressive. The density of 2008 is replaced with a more opulent feeling. So first up was Il Pino in Magnum, this is ready to go now, I will keep some but this would be a “restaurant cracker” of a wine with the Mossiman’s signature Risotto ai Funghi it was brilliant. What followed with the Roast Venison and then Welsh Rarebit was the Biserno and Lodovico both from Jeroboam. The Biserno was a little more closed than the other two 2007’s but with the food the texture was very classy. The Lodovico with the food was a star, the richness and almost flamboyance matching brilliantly for a hedonistic finale. It is great to be in on an estate from the off whether you are a buyer or a seller and this feels the case here. Meeting and listening to Lodovico speak about the wines adds a lot as there is a sense of fun and humour (and a twinkle in the eye) that means you just know you are in safe but exciting hands.

There will be more dinners in 2012, of that I am sure!

To view latest available wines from Tenuta di Biserno, please click here

Further Options

From there, the 14 of us were seated and started on Veal Carpaccio, rocket, parmesan and black truffle with this we had the two wines from the new, well new to Roberto from this vintage (2008), vineyard of Cerretta – the wines were the Barbera and the Langhe Nebbiolo. First up Barbera Cerretta 2008, this was several peoples surprise wine of the night, such fruit but also a savoury edge and real substance, a seriously under-rated wine, this is on clay and shows richness…if only people took Barbera a little more seriously. The second wine was the almost unique Langhe Nebbiolo Cerretta 2008, I say almost unique as there is likely (90%) to be a Langhe Nebbiolo in 2009 too. Although, the 2009 will be released next year after 3 years in barrel rather than the 2008′s 2 years. Both wines could be Barolo, technically and in quality, but this being Roberto, only the very best will do. The Langhe Nebbiolo Cerretta 2008 is stunning, I love it, a Volnay of a Barolo that isn’t actually a Barolo if that makes sense, this is no novelty. Next up was the obligatory Mushroom risotto with a pair I have had many times and was to have both nights but I will never ever tire of them. Barolo Cascina Francia 2005 & 2006 the former has amazing accessible balance, the latter is so classically correct, structured with lifted fruit, a must for Barolo lovers, I’ve bought a lot of 06′s so also always a relief too! I will repeat something here that Roberto said and that is that 2005 is a good and consistent (across the region) year as it was pretty easy;  2006 whilst technically better is less consistent as there was great ripeness, great tannin and more excess so the balance was harder to strike…there are people out there who have produced better 2005′s than 2006′s.

The final two wines accompanied two courses Braised Lamb Shank with Potato Puree and then Cheese, the wines were both first timers to me Barolo Cascina Francia 1996 & Monfortino 1996. Both wines had been decanted out of the bottle and back about 2 hours before serving, the others were checked but then just poured from the bottle. This vintage has a lot of classical similarities to 2006 – taut structure, dense tannin and fruit. The Cascina Francia was stunning, young with a proper tightness wonderful balance and a way to go, no rough edges, ripe tannins, open enough to be no waste now. The Monfortino 1996 will outlive me but actually came out to play quite flirtatiously – it is a profound wine and chewy in a “see you in 10yrs” sort of way; there is fruit in abundance but presently subdued, the texture tells you everything – it took may be 15 minutes in glass to sing but it showed all its class.

We were well looked after by Franco’s…a memorable evening and a great atmosphere that lead on nicely to the following day…

The next evening we were at Mossiman’s, this time 50 people in the top room, a wonderful layout and stunning wines led to superb night. First up was the Delamotte Blanc de Blancs NV, always a wonderful aperitif Champagne, elegant and almost too drinkable. Once seated we got the evening going. There were many interludes during the evening with Roberto, Alison (Buchanan) and myself speaking. Roberto was asked to talk about the philosophy of the estate…he quite quickly pointed out that the estate was about people not philosophy, a point that struck home later with a poignant toast Roberto led to his father. The first food and wines were Barbera Cerretta 2008 & Barbera Cascina Francia 2008 with a delicious Warm Oriental Duck and Vegetable Salad. It was a great pairing that showed the difference between the two sites so very well, the clay of Cerretta give more flamboyance and fruit whilst the Cascina Francia was more savoury, serious, masculine and structured. They developed wonderfully in the glasses though the evening.

From here we had the same pairing as previously Barolo Cascina Francia 2005 & 2006 with the trademark Mossiman’s Risotto ai Funghi. Roberto spoke of the differences between the vintages and about Cascina Francia as a whole.

As we had done the previous night the last two wines were served with the last two courses, people having plenty of wines to re-visit, those two courses were Roasted Highland Venison, Juniper Berry Sauce, Market vegetables & English Farmhouse Cheese, Walnut and Raisin Bread. Far more importantly the wines were Monfortino 1997 (magnums) & 2002. Here Roberto spoke passionately of the 1997 being a good year and the year his son was born and of his decision to make a 2002 Monfortino but no Cascina Francia. 2002 was seen by many as a bad vintage…there was a lot of hail and bad weather, amazingly none of which hit Cascina Francia. After a severe Green harvest and with a small crop on the vines there was then a magical three weeks up to the harvest. Roberto then spoke with his father, who was by this time unable to join him amongst the vines, about the fact he had a small but immaculate harvest. The decision was then made to make only a Monfortino, tasting the wine shows this was clearly the correct decision. The amazingly thing about the 1997 and 2002 that we finished on was how brilliant they were whilst so different. The 2002 is a richer more dense and primary fruited wine that showed a loit of class but actually closed down a little in glass, this is a great but it may be about to go to sleep. The 1997 started as archetypal maturing Nebbiolo nose and just got better and better and more and more multi-faceted and complex. A Joy that I can still all but taste.

The atmosphere though the whole evening was magical with Roberto speaking passionately but concisely, customers getting bottles signed and everyone just loving the wines…

Further Options

As far as venues go, the Tower of London tends to speak for itself. It certainly wasn’t difficult to give directions. Once ensconced in the Tower, Champagne was chosen as a starting point by most customers, so let’s do the same. Tempting as it was to go straight for the exquisite Salon 1999 much was to be gained by working through the Delamotte range. The non-vintage was the crowd pleaser, both blancs de blancs were more serious and a strong showing from the rosé had more than a few people trying to think of a use for it over Christmas.

Anyone who bypassed the riesling and Loire/French regional tables on their way to the more wintry end of the room missed out on a few gems. The Schloss Schönborn 2003 Hattenheimer Pfaffenberg (do I need to say it’s from Germany?) was popular, along with perennial favourites Domaine du Nozay Sancerre and Domaine de Saissac Cabernet Sauvignon.

Rhône wines, both red and white, are just the thing for winter. Our exclusive producer Tardieu-Laurent is a firm staff favourite so most Wine Tours, new this year and sometimes resembling The Pied Piper of Wine, stopped at the table. Rasteau is an under-rated village in the Southern Rhône and the 2008 Tardieu-Laurent example is exceptional. I had a customer take four cases and then two more, reasoning it had all her Christmas red eventualities covered. Traditional fans of White Burgundy were prepared to trial either the Guy Louis or Châteauneuf-du-Pape whites as a match for turkey. It couldn’t hurt to just make sure though, so the Burgundy tables were well patronised. Both Olivier Leflaive and Domaines Lefaive were popular (it always helps to have the family themselves pouring the wines) whilst Domaines des Varoilles and Matrot probably had the pick of the reds.

As the evening progressed, people pooled at the serious end of the room around the Bordeaux Châteaux and Spanish and Italian reds. Here it was darker and more crowded, with our own Adam Brett-Smith and the renowned Peter Sisseck of Dominio de Pingus anchoring. Peter did manage to slip upstairs each night to give a lecture on his new venture in St Emilion, Château du Rocheyron. With the 2010 available to taste as a practical augment to the theory, many customers were ready to sign on the dotted line, even if the dotted line wasn’t quite ready yet. Stay posted. Not present himself, but with his wines just as revered, Italian producer Franchetti had a busy table, with his well respected Tuscan Tenuta di Trinoro wines almost eclipsed by the sheer audacity of his newer Sicilian venture,  Tenuta di Passopisciaro, perched 1000m up on the side of Mount Etna and utilising unusual native grape varieties.

The smaller, family run Bordeaux Château de Lamarque and Château Phélan Segur, along with the wines of the Mitjavile family, all long-time friends of C&B, went some way to diffusing the hype and mystery of Bordeaux and were rewarded with plenty of orders. Ets. J.P. Moueix impressed as always.
Dominated as the tasting was by Europe, the wines of the new world were afforded a shared table. Fortunately, there was plenty of power and pedigree there. The Hyde de Villaine chardonnay was all Cadillac power with European finesse. Even the clean-cut Mr Pilkington of our office seemed to slip into an Aussie drawl as he explained why The Lane’s Adelaide Hills Cabernet was named ‘The 19th Meeting’. It was at the 19th meeting to decide the name that they decided on it.

Like a good Christmas lunch, the selection ended with the lovely C&B 10 year old Tawny Port and the molasses like Pedro Ximenez sherry. Then a quick stop off at the order desks or with one of our ipad toting staff (who says C&B is old school?) and out into the night.

Further Options

We recently had Michel Tardieu and his son Bastien in the UK for a dinner at The Palm. Before this I did an interview with them both in our tasting room. Please excuse the awful Moustache (link to Movember blog here!)

At the tasting / dinner the wines were:

Tasting

Côtes-du-Rhône, Guy Louis 2009 – beautifully fresh yet rich, 24 months in old oak, a serious wine at the price.

Rasteau Vieilles Vignes 2009 – a step up on wine 1 and a very savy buy…keep an eye on Rasteau, this one is from a great plot on the mountain.

Vacqueyras Vieilles Vignes 2009 – 60-80yr old vines, on big pebbles as per Chateauneuf-du-Pape, lovely fruit with a substantial tannic structure

Châteauneuf-du-Pape Vieilles Vignes 2009 & Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Spéciale 2009 – The difference between these two wines is discussed in the video but in a nutshell the Cuvee Speciale is 100% Grenache which is whole bunch pressed and sees no new oak…it is a staggeringly elegant yet deep wine. The Vieilles Vignes is a blend of Grenache and Syrah, 100% de-stemmed and sees some newer oak. This is a more modern interpretation.

 Dinner Wines

Châteauneuf-du-Pape Blanc Vieilles Vignes 2009 – this was stunning, rich, slightly waxy and tasting beautifully. Bastien suggested it will go into its shell soon.

Châteauneuf-du-Pape Vieilles Vignes 2004 Magnum – I loved this and as Oliver commented it is a delicious vintage for drinking from now onwards (as with 2006)

Gigondas Vieilles Vignes 2004 Magnum – This was a few judges wine of the night, elegant and in a wonderful place right now.

Côte-Rôtie Vielles Vignes 1999 Magnum – A wine which Michel never sold…he kept it for friends…aged 36months in new oak, there is balance but also profound depth, a wonder.

Hermitage 2007 Magnum – Quite a treat and whilst very young this was appreciably delicious. An uber-ripe vintage.

Saint-Péray Vieilles Vignes 2009 – 100% Viognier and a ultra clever buy. Freash and white fruited great with the cheese.

What an evening it was….

Further Options

The evening commenced at 6pm when we congregated outside the main post office opposite Jardine’s House; there our chariot awaited, a twenty-eight seater bus to escort us to the hugely popular restaurant in Sai Kung, namely One Thirty-One. Now with a fair journey ahead we thought it appropriate to serve champagne on board just to oil the cogs in preparation for a great evening ahead and what better champagne than that of Delamotte 2002. So after a couple of three point turns in the bus stop and a layby we finally reached the turning, which led us down off the beaten track and to One Thirty-One. Nestled in the bay of Three Fathoms Cove, One Thirty-One will take your breath away. The restaurant is located in a 3 storey Mediterranean style house situated in one of the most beautiful parts of Sai Kung and a stone throw away from the sea shore. There was word around the table that the dinner setting was reminiscent of something one may find in Barbados, others mentioned it was like dining out in the South of France, it really was idyllic.

Awaiting us was a vertical tasting of Phélan Ségur from 2003 through 2009, to which all wines were showing exceptionally well but if I had to pick a top three it would be 2003, 2005 and 2009 (we still have a few cases of the 2009 remaining, this really is a must buy wine for your cellar). Then onto dinner, where we had one long grand table seating twenty four people, this is where the real superstars of the evening awaited, with five quite superb wines. Opening the dinner up we had the 1996 (from magnums), which was absolutely delicious then to accompany the Foie Gras the 2001 was served. Following a few words from Véronique we were soon welcoming a very rare vintage, the 1975 (to which amazingly there are only 18 bottles remaining in the Château, so a real treat) which was simply gorgeous. Next course to follow was a succulent pigeon breast which was swiftly accompanied by the outstanding 1989, which was very similar to the 1975 but with more weight and flesh to it. And then to the finale, the pièce de résistance, the 1982 complemented by the 72 hour, slow cooked Wagyu Rib. The 1982 was quite sublime, absolutely stunning.

And so the evening was drawing to a close, all that needed to be done was to usher all guests onto the bus for the return leg to Central. The journey back was a touch more mellow, with many no doubt reflecting on a quite superb evening.

Here’s a snap shot into the wines tasted vertically from 2003 to 2009:

2003: Beautiful nose of dark forest fruits and earth, well balanced palate with soft tannins.  A lovely wine.

2004: A gorgeous nose of dark cherries and scorched earth, not as forward as the 2003. Good firm tannins and well balanced palate.

2005: A little closed on the nose (but to be expected being a 2005 and also served straight from the bottle). From the glass jumps, blackcurrants, cherries and earth. A huge mouth feel with firm tannins and good acidity. Give it two years of further bottle age and this will be (well already is) fantastic.

2006: This is a real crowd pleaser. A gorgeous nose of sweet blackcurrants, tobacco and earth. Very accessible now  with rounded, ripe tannins. This will bring much pleasure.

2007: What a pleasant surprise was the 2007, a vintage that has been mistakenly overlooked. Not quite as forward as the 2006, yet still has that wonderful nose of tabacco, and blackcurrant brambles.

2008: Showing a little closed although the lovely earthy, blackcurrant characteristics did still peak through.

2009: Masses of jammy dark forest fruits, well integrated supple tannins and a huge mouth feel, this will be a knockout wine.

Click here to view available wines from Ch. Phélan Ségur.

Further Options

A week or so ago saw C&B’s 3^rd Annual Hong Kong tasting at the Shangri-La hotel in Admiralty.  Tickets had sold out well before the event itself and we had many more wines to show than ever before so hopes were high for a cracking evening.  A grand room was readied, bottles opened, chilled and tasted whilst customers started pacing outside in the Atrium (which incidentally had incredible views over the Hong Kong skyline) desperate to get stuck in.  Another great addition this year was that the ever growing HK team was bolstered by Jean Soubeyrand (from Olivier Leflaive), Oliver Hartley and Paul Masters from UK HQ – it was great to have them all with us.

As seems customary at our Hong Kong tastings, come 6 o’clock the room flooded with customers eager to taste their way around what was a terrific selection of wines.  On the first table we gave most people their first glimpse of the spectacularly good Delamotte 2002 along with others in the range and also our own C&B fizz – all set the tone for a great evening.  Jean held court brilliantly, with the selection of red & white Burgundy that he brought with him showing stunningly well.  The room progressed through the world’s wine producing regions and really showed the strength and depth of C&B’s core wine offering.  We also offered glimpses of some of our Hong Kong agencies, with huge praise being directed at the wines from Tardieu-Laurent, Andrea Franchetti, Benjamin Romeo, Achaval Ferrer and many many more…

For the whole evening there was an incredible enthusiastic buzz that seemed to fill the room.  Everyone that I spoke to seemed to have a stand out favourite (mine was the Sicilian ‘Francetti 2008’ which I thought showed beautifully) and almost before we knew it, it was time to collect orders and say our goodbyes.  A wonderful event and one that I’m sure will get bigger & better as the years go by.

The evening finished in great style with steak, frites, good wine, good company, Betty being despatched in a taxi, hats and feather boas (don’t ask!) – all in all a huge success and great fun!

Further Options

Achaval-Ferrer are Malbec specialists, but Malbec as you’ve never seen it before. It was founded in 1999 by two Italians and two Argentines who shared a love of Mendoza. The range is centred on three single vineyard 100% Malbec cuvees (one of which is the site Roberto first discovered, now called Bella Vista), along with an entry level multi-site Mendoza Malbec and a Malbec based Bordeaux blend. It’s a simple but engaging range.

Marcelo believes that virtually all the work to create a great wine is done in the vineyard. The approach is more akin to gardening than farming. Each vine is tended as an individual plant. In the winery, they’re ‘lazy’ (his word, perhaps a little over- humble) and don’t like over-working the grapes. The list of what they don’t do is probably longer than what they do. No maceration, no fining, no filtration and no acidification. It works.

To the wines. All too often, entry level versions of famous wines struggle to live up the promise of their hallowed names. Achaval-Ferrer’s multi-site Mendoza Malbec avoids this. In fact, if it were the only Malbec they produced we’d probably still happily be their agents. It could very much stand on its own merits – fruit forward yes, but with a neat savoury finish. It’s almost impossible not to like.

The Bordeaux blend (40% Malbec, along with Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc) is named ‘Quimera’, Spanish for an ideal, a perfection to seek.  Blending requires less reliance on Mother Nature and more flexibility to assemble the ‘perfect’ wine. More flexibility yes, but also more pressure. Those at the table who had tasted all Achaval-Ferrer’s attempts at perfection found this to be the closest yet. Deep black fruit that Mendoza can provide so effortlessly with smoky spicy oak, ripe tannin and freshening acidity. So approachable now, but with decades ahead of it.

The single vineyard Malbecs are named Finca Mirador, Finca Bella Vista and Finca Altamira.  They share a deep purple hue and extremely low yields of 12ha/hl, but the fact that Achaval-Ferrer are one of the few Argentinian producers who are seriously talking about terroir is reflected in all three wines.  The Mirador is the freshest of the three, with the structure for a long life. The Bella Vista is the most profound, fairly staining the glass purple and coating the palate with rich black fruit. Marcelo describes the Altamira as the most ‘English’ in style – more restrained than the first two, reflecting the higher altitude (1050m) of the site.

At Marcelo’s suggestion, we then blind tasted the 2000 Quimera against two Corney & Barrow 2007 clarets – Domaine de L’Aurage and Chateau Magdelaine. It perhaps reflects Achaval-Ferrer’s approach that no one could be sure we didn’t taste three Bordeaux. If there were a maxim for making great wine in the new world, it could be  ‘power is nothing without control’. Achaval-Ferrer may as well have invented the phrase.

To view available wines or for more information about Achaval-Ferrer, click here.

Further Options

Some wine evenings seem to fit the wines like a glove. To me the wines of Marlborough family producer Eradus are about relentless quality but practiced in an effortless, unpretentious way, with charm and a lightness of touch. Certainly the dozen Corney & Barrow customers and staff who sat down to dinner with Michiel Eradus last week at Devonshire Terrace in the City enjoyed a fabulously light-hearted yet knowledgeable evening in the company of some of the most accomplished Kiwi wines I have tasted.

Eradus is the creation of Michiel’s parents Har and Sophie, Dutch emigrants in the early 1980s. They have twelve hectares under vine, the top sites of which are stony terraces along the Awatere river valley. The proximity of the Awatere to the ocean makes for markedly more interesting wines than the swathes of generic Marlborough produced further inland. In a word, minerality is the key to these wines.

We started with a glass of Merlot Rosé, produced from vines in Gisborne in the north island – the only wine in the line-up from outside Marlborough. The flagship Eradus Sauvignon Blanc (lean and savoury) and the Ana Sauvignon Blanc (fuller and more succulent) accompanied smoked trout and both stood up well to the lightly spiced dressing. Next up corn-fed chicken breast and, for me, the wine of the night – the Eradus Pinot Noir, which is proudly new world in fruit concentration and body, yet has a texture and earthy minerality of which Burgundians would approve (and all for £13.99!)

A late harvest Sauvignon Blanc arrived in the nick of time to accompany cheese and biscuits and to round off a thoroughly enjoyable evening. Michiel is without a doubt at the cutting edge in Marlborough and the wonderful news for drinkers is that his wines have that rare combination of real quality at weekday prices.

Further Options

I remember last year’s tasting at C&B HQ with the man himself very well as, quite genuinely, one of the best I’ve had the pleasure of attending and this year was equally impressive…  

Alex Burge, in charge of Andrea’s exports (and thank goodness he does export these wines) deputised brilliantly for the boss.  Alex is a former rugby player and boxer and would cut an intimidating figure on a dark night on the streets of Palermo!  That assessment alone would be doing Alex great disservice, however, as he talked us through the wines with great charm and technical knowledge.  It has to be said that his Italian heritage also gives him a significant edge over the rest of us when it comes to pronouncing words like Passopisciaro, Contrada Sciaranuova and Chiappemacine!      

Linguistics aside, however, the simple truth for any one that loves the diversity that Italy (and the world) has to offer (as I imagine you do, if you’re taking the time to read this) is that the wines that Alex opened for us, and that we are proudly offering to our customers, are an absolute treat.    

Alex described one of the features of Tenuta di Passopisciaro, in Sicily, as taking the best of historical winemaking practice (principally great viticulture) and improving significantly on the worst.  Harvesting grapes strictly on certain saints’ days and using chestnut wood barrels, for example, are traditions that Andrea has (I’m sure very wisely) dispensed with!  Add to that a little maverick genius in the winery and you have some incredible wines from the slopes of Mt Etna.  

Guardiola, the only white, is still a great example of Chardonnay in its purest form (with no oak whatsoever) which also benefits from a little bottle age.  It’s only drawback, however, is tiny production.     

Guardiola-2010

Passopisciaro is still, in my view, one of our very best wines for those that like to venture off the beaten track although, in reality, it’s not too much of a detour.  Nerello Mascalese shares both genetics and certain qualities in the glass with Pinot Noir and, particularly in 2009, Passopisciaro provides a lighter, slightly earthy, perfumed wine that can’t fail to impress Burgundy lovers.  

Also keep an eye out for tiny quantities of the Contrada wines we tasted (single vineyards, more or less equivalent to the French lieu-dit or even cru) each from different parcels, and different altitudes, across Etna.  The Italian names are something of a challenge for Englishmen like myself to pronounce with much style, but all offer incredible complexity within a brilliantly elegant structure.   

Franchetti 2009 presents us with more ‘real Italian’ (historic Sicilian variety Cesanese is 80% of the blend, together with Petit Verdot) and a beautiful bottle of wine, rounded with a rich, velvety texture.   

Tasting the Tuscan wines last, it felt completely appropriate that our boxing, rugby playing Italian expert was showing them to us; there was something of a heavyweight quality to all of the wines in their rich, concentrated and dense complexity.  

Nonetheless, it goes almost without saying that Le Cupole, Palazzi and Tenuta di Trinoro itself each offers a very different ‘Super Tuscan’, not only in their raw ingredients and structure but also between the excellent 2009 vintage and our sneak preview of the 2010 tank samples.  I found that all of these wines were almost surprisingly enjoyable to taste now (more so than a 2010 claret of equally great quality, perhaps) but they will clearly become incredible with time in the bottle, as previous vintages have done.   

Andrea Franchetti and his team are still creating beautiful wines.  

Wines from Andrea Franchetti’s 2 estates are available below:

Tenuta di Trinoro

Passopisciaro

Further Options