VINTNER’S TALES
By Richard Household
Some Ideas for
Summer Drinking
I
’m back in London after a
wonderful week in Bordeaux
tasting the very promising
2018 vintage. It is an
interesting and challenging
process to taste very young
wines (honestly it is!), trying
to assess them on how they
will develop and so on.
At this early stage the reds have
huge tannins and bold fruit and
the whites tend to have very high
acidity. The result is sore teeth
and spectacularly wine stained
gums and teeth after a week of
tasting over 250 wines. It’s not a
good look. It is however, one of
my favourite weeks of the year –
plenty of exceptional wines, good
food and meeting up with old
friends. Anyway, I’ve come back
to London to the most amazing
spell of spring weather and it has
made me think about wines to
be enjoyed in the summer – on
warm, sunny days with salads,
barbeques and fish. So here are
some thoughts on refreshing
rosés and rewarding reds from
regions you know and some from
off the beaten track.
Let’s start with some reds.
Summer reds are less about
curling up into front of the fire
with hugely structured and
complex red but rather a red that
is soft, bright with elegant
tannins and a freshness to
balance the fruit. We’ll look at
grapes like Pinot Noir, Gamay
and Cabernet Franc. Firstly, a
wine lesson! Pay attention. There
is often some confusion about
colour in red wine.
That is if the colour in red wine is
light then that must mean the
wine will be less powerful. This is
not always the case. That’s
because colour in red wine
always comes from the contact
with the grape skins. White wine
is made by pressing the grapes
and fermenting the press juice
which is clear. That’s how you
can make white wine from red
grapes. Still with me? If you
press the black grapes then the
juice is clear which results in
white wine. The best example of
this is Champagne. Two of the
three grapes for Champagne
production are red – Pinot Noir
and Pinot Meunier. To make red
wine, the black grapes are
crushed and then left in contact
with the skins to give the wine
colour (as well as tannins). It’s a
tricky process because if the
18
THE LONDON & UK DATEBOOK
grapes are left in contact with
skins for too long then the wine
will be over-extracted with bitter
and harsh tannins and too much
colour. This will act like a lead
weight on the fruit and the wine
will not recover. Funnily enough
some of the Bordeaux wines I
was tasting last week have this
problem.
In the summer we want reds that
have a good vibrant fruit, soft
easy tannins and some
freshness. Pinot Noir can give
these characteristics in
abundance. The obvious home
for Pinot Noir is Burgundy but we
will look at two examples a little
further afield, Casablanca Valley
in Chile and Otago in New
Zealand. Casablanca Valley is a
relatively new region, first planted
in the 1980s but only really
gained success in the last 10-15
years. It has a classic cool
climate that Pinot Noir loves in
order to gently, slowly ripen the
grapes while protecting and
promoting the delicate and
elegant fruit flavours of
strawberry and cherry. Then add
a little ripeness to the body of
the wine with some pepper,
spice, soft tannins and a fresh
finish and you have simply
gorgeous wines.
Most producers, whether in the
supermarkets or in independent
wine shops, will have a selection
of Chilean reds but look out for
Casablanca Valley on the label
and you won’t be disappointed.
One of my favourite estates is
Terra Noble. This winery won
IWSC Chilean Wine Producer of
the Year a couple of years ago
and they make superb Pinot Noir.
Funnily enough, I sell them so if
you would like some then contact
me!
Central Otago is another prime
cool location for Pinot Noir. The
vineyards are the most southerly
in the world and therefore right
on the limit of wine production.
This does pose climatic
headaches for producers- the risk
of frost is a major concern. Pinot
Noir, however, loves it. The wines
tend to have length, complexity
and ripe bramble fruit intensity
that makes them hard to beat. I
always enjoy the wines from
Felton Road.
Another red grape that is too
often overlooked these days in
Gamay. This is the red grape
used to make Beaujolais. Before
you give me a hard time- there is
much more to Beaujolais than
Beaujolais Nouveau! Beaujolais
sits to the south of Burgundy and
as the soil changes from
limestone/clay to more granite so
does the grape varieties that are
grown. Gamay is at home here,
producing wines bursting with
vibrant fruit, soft tannins and
plenty of freshness with layers of
minerality and depth. Honestly
it’s true! Forget about cheap
supermarket Beaujolais and look
for Fleurie, Morgon, and Moulin á
Vent etc… any good independent
wine merchant will sell them at
around £15-£20 per bottle and
you will be amazed. These are
some of my favourite summer
wines. Yes, they are mostly for
drinking young but don’t be afraid
to cellar a good cru Beaujolais
for 3-5 years. These wines are
perfect summer reds.
These days summer drinking is
more and more about Rosé. It is
extraordinary how sales have
rocketed in recent years, driven
by wines like Pinot Grigio Blush
(stop people-enough already!)
and Provencal Rosés. Gone are
the days when Rosé was only for
those incapable of deciding
whether they wanted white or
red. It was often an afterthought
for a winemaker. Now it is a key
part of most producers’ ranges.
Personally, I like Rosés that have
elegance, delicacy, crisp pure
fruit, plenty of acidity and a
lighter colour – that classic
salmon pink colour. Wines that
can be well chilled and are
enjoyed on a warm summer’s
evening in the garden with some
charcuterie and cheese!
Rosé is made in the same way as
red but there are some key
differences. Firstly, the wine is
fermented at a lower
temperature than red wine in
order to protect and preserve the
more delicate red fruit flavours
like strawberry, cherry and floral
flavours; secondly, there is much
less skin contact. Red wines are
normally in contact with the skins
for a good three weeks to get
plenty of colour but of course
rosé needs much less, so skin
contact will be anything from a
few hours to a few days. Why the
Richard Household.
I’ve come back to
London to the most
amazing spell of
spring weather and it
has made me think
about wines to be
enjoyed in the
summer – on warm,
sunny days with
salads, barbeques
and fish.
difference? Well you know the
answer! Earlier I said that colour
comes from contact with the
skins. If a grape is thick-skinned
then you have lots of colour but
if a grape is thin-skinned (Pinot
Noir) then you have less colour
or you need more skin contact to
get more colour.
Anyway, enough of the technical
stuff, so the rosés I enjoy do
tend to come from regions like
Provence. Whispering Angel has
become a huge hit and with
reason. The wine is delicate,
fragrant and wonderful to drink in
the summer. It is expensive.
Chateau La Gordonne is good
alternative, especially the La
Chapelle Cuvee. Saint Sidoine
Rosé de Provence is another
favourite – this one is quite
widely available and shouldn’t
cost more that £10. The Loire is
also home to some of the very
best Rosés. Sancerre Rosé is
expensive but very good and
always made from Pinot Noir. An
alternative to Sancerre Rosé are
wines made by David and Lynne
Levin from Levin Wines. They
have excellent organic vineyards
in the Loire Valley, not far from
Tours. Their Gamay Rosé is a
delight and under £10 per
bottle.
I hope this has given you some
ideas for summer drinking. As
ever – be brave, explore and
happy tasting!
Visit: www.bromptonwine.co.uk
E-mail: [email protected] Tel: 07801 579616