Art Schools Vallet Freres Meursault 2016 from Bernard Vallet. So a
vote, here, for white Burgundy.
•
In the November edition of Wirral Life some of you will remember
that I asked Richard O’Mahoney from Atlas Fine Wines for a bit of
advice as to what to drink at Christmas. The view was simple: “Above
all else Christmas and New Year are a time for Champagne”. More
than that, the message was that it really is possible to drink exceptional
champagne if you are prepared to step off the treadmill of the well
known brands. He recommended long championed growers such
as Egly-Ouriet, de Sousa and Guy Charlemagne, to name a few. The
answer to the question was finished with: “These are much smaller
in scale than the well-known and ubiquitous, established brands. All
the grower’s efforts and investment are dedicated to the quality of
the wine, rather than being poured into large marketing budgets and
sponsorships. The quality can therefore be much higher per pound in
your glass, a point that many Champagne buyer’s continue to miss.
Heed the advice!” You can buy such champagnes directly from them
(www.atlasfinewines.com).
• Theresa went for the Bodegas Muga Rioja ‘Torre Muga’ 2004. This is a
wonderful red wine from Rioja. With tremendous fruit, this wine has
great balance and super smooth and mature tannins. This member of
the group has expensive taste though! The 2004 vintage is now hard to
find and will set you back over £70 now (currently selling at around
this price on Xikixi.com). The 2005 vintage is on sale at £55 a bottle at
the Wine society and the 2014 vintage at around the £70 - £75 a bottle
(e.g. see the Sunday Times Wine Club and Wine & Spirits). Search
online for this great wine – and try and find a vintage of some age. The
wine ages wonderfully well and is, even at the price in question, great
value. Great wine if you like rioja.
• Jane went for the Château d'Esclans ‘Whispering Angel’ 2017. Here we
go pink. This is a fabulous rose from Provence. It is light, dry, possesses
a touch of sweetness, yet is well structured and balanced. At around the
£17/ £18 a bottle mark (fairly widely available online – including on
Amazon and at Berry Brothers and Rudd) this is not as cheap as many
rose’s we find around these days – but it is a classy wine, and, again
value for money. Great with turkey.
WHAT THE NON-EXPERTS SAY WHAT MIGHT I BE DRINKING?
Whilst they are perhaps not experts in the true sense of the word (and
perhaps not on the same planet as Oz Clarke, Richard O’Mahoney or Sarah
Donoher) we are, here, talking about people who are experts when it actually
comes to drinking wine!! Recently a group from the Wirral gathered for a
very long dining experience on the Isle of Anglesey. Importantly this dining
experience was linked with tasting 18 different fine wines and champagnes,
all of which could be a match with your traditional Christmas meal. Four
of the tasters were asked to nominate their choice of wine, from the wines
tasted, for Christmas day. So a big welcome, this month, to our four carefully
selected Christmas wine judges - Steff, Michelle, Theresa and Jane. • Fizz – here I, personally, would go back to Camel Valley in Cornwall.
Go online and choose from their wide range of fizz. They are currently
offering a ‘Trio of Christmas Wines’. This 3 bottle mixed case contains
one of the "Cornwall" Brut, Pinot Noir Rosé Brut and Bacchus Dry (the
latter not, obviously, being sparkling, but included in a case with the
other two sparkling wines). Previous vintages of all of these wines have
won International Wine Challenge Gold Medals. With case discount
this will only set you back £64.67. Well worth it. Great vineyard and
producer. Great fizz .
• White wine – probably Vie di Romans ‘Piere’ Sauvignon Blanc (2014
or 2015). This lovely, seductive, aromatic, fragrant and smooth
sauvignon blanc comes from Friuli-Venezia-Giulia in Italy. This really
is tremendous. The 2015 vintage is currently on sale from Wine Direct
(www.winedirect.co.uk) at £29.75 a bottle. If you like sauvignon blanc,
then this is definitely a trade up that is well worth considering.
• Red wine – almost certainly a pinot noir from North America. Here I
will probably go for the Hilt’s ‘Vanguard’ pinot noir or Byron Estate’s
Nielson Vineyard pinot noir – both from California. These wines are
very hard to find in the UK, although an internet search may throw
some up. However, here, if you want to follow in my footsteps, go for
a Californian pinot noir, or a pinot noir from Oregon, somewhere in a
price bracket of between £15 - £30 a bottle. If you do, then you should
be getting a great bottle of wine. You will find a good selection, when
it comes to such wines, in this sort of price bracket, at Wine Direct.
• Something sweet – Turkey Flats Pedro Ximenez. This is non vintage –
but great. It is light and sweet (certainly not heavy). A bit of caramel,
some fig, a bit of toast and perhaps a hint of nut. Lovely, balanced and,
for a pedro ximenez, actually refreshing. It will go with some starters
on Christmas day and is great with cheese. I could drink it as an aperitif
too. Best of all, pour it over some vanilla ice cream! It retails at around
the £20 - £25 mark for a 37.5 cl bottle and is widely available on line.
The exercise undertaken was an interesting one and, perhaps, offers
an insight into what every day wine drinkers would choose to drink at
Christmas. Their choices were:
• Steff went for the Krohn ‘Lagrima’ White Port. This would drink well
as an aperitif, would go well with many starters, as well as with blue or
strong cheeses. In Anglesey this was paired with a broccoli, leek and
stilton soup. This is currently available from Hennings Wine (www.
henningswine.co.uk) and is on offer at the remarkable price of £12.95
a bottle. It is described as follows: “A rare and rich sweet white port
aged for eight years, the Krohn Lagrima offers aromas of core fruits
with hints of Hazelnuts. It is full bodied on the palate, with a long
and pleasant finish. Serve Chilled”. This would be an absolute treat for
Christmas – and a bargain at this price. This is, genuinely, not too god
to be true!
• Michelle went for the Bedrock ‘Old Vine’ Zinfandel 2015. This is a
lovely, classy, fresh and silky red wine. Lovely fruit on the nose and
pallet here. The 2015 vintage can currently be found for sale at £25.71
a bottle (e.g. Quality Wines online) and the 2016 vintage at £28.50 a
bottle from Berry Brothers and Rudd (www.bbr.com).
Whatever you buy – buy what you like. For those of you who want something
decent, or perhaps want to trade up a little, I hope this article has given
you some ideas and, again hopefully, some pointers in the right direction.
Obviously I appreciate that not all of us will be heading down the turkey
route this Christmas. If you are not, but are perhaps going for some sort
of red meat, or a richer meat, then you can go bigger and bolder with your
wines. Some of us will, and some of us won’t, have a starter course. What
you drink with that, if you are having one, will depend on what your starter
is – but the above may, again hopefully, have given you few ideas. Puddings?
Isn’t Christmas pudding full of alcohol anyway? If you want more then,
again, there area few ideas above. May seem an odd choice, perhaps a little
unconventional, but why not try some decent champagne or fizz with it.
Experiment with what you like!
Whatever you drink – enjoy it! Happy Christmas.
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