New Year, New Wine & New Qualification (fingers crossed!) - Summer Summary

So it has been a while and lots (wine-wise) has been experienced. I sat the WSET Level 3 exams last month (results pending), been to tastings in Winchester, London and Paris, sampled some beautiful French, Spanish, Portuguese and Moroccan wines in their respective countries over the summer and just returned from NYE in Germany where I managed to make more sense of the German Wine classifications which were slightly eluding me in the run up to the Level 3 exam! All that may be why I have failed to write any posts since June! However a new year and less intense studying is incentivising me to start writing more regularly and sharing my wonderful wine experiences. I shall now attempt a brief summary of my experiences over the holiday months of July to the end of August with the following posts bringing us more up to date. I shall focus primarily on the stand out wines encountered since my last post. Please excuse the lack of accents on foreign words, I have not yet mastered how to insert them on my mac.

Much of summer was spent in France. My father and I travelled from London in the car down through Burgundy and the Rhone to our destination, close to Mirepoix in the Ariege which is where we spend most of our family holidays.

As much as I can appreciate a good Pinot Noir, my wallet and inclination did not lead us to pursue a buying or tasting foray in the Cotes de Beaune or Nuits so we focused on more southern parts of Burgundy. Our first night was spent in the Macon region of Burgundy at La Marande, (http://www.hotel-restaurant-la-marande.com/uk/index.php) a small hotel with a great restaurant (quite odd decor!) with of course a great wine list. We drank some St Veran, Deux Roches 2011, a lovely soft, minerally yet buttery dry white wine with some apricot notes and a very nice Mercurey Vielles Vignes Raquillet 2012 with lots of red fruit flavours with some subtle metallic notes. The following day we shopped and tasted in Macon, known for it's beautiful buttery, fruity and rich chardonnays, which are always brilliant value. We visited both Talmard Domaines (they are cousins I believe) in the village of Uchizy and bought rather a few bottles at both including a Talmard Macon-Chardonnay, I will always be excited to buy a Chardonnay made in the village of Chardonnay! Then a trip to Vire-Clesse to the Domaine Bonhomme was in order to purchase some of their outstanding wines (my sister Anne-Louise's favourites "I don't like Chardonnay but I love Vire-Clesse!").
We then travelled down to Condrieu in the Northern Rhone - see the proof below! Via Beaujolais.

After a quick stop at George DuBoeuf's empire near Moulin A Vent in Beaujolais and an interesting visit to the Moulin A Vent Cru Chateau de Jacques (one in Louis Jadot's portfolio, the most atypical Beaujolais Cru I have ever tasted!) we travelled down to the village of Condrieu. We stayed at the gorgeous river-side Beau Rivage hotel http://www.hotel-beaurivage.com/en and ate at their stunning restaurant (most extensive impressive French Wine list ever!) where we opted for the tasting menu where I got to taste for the first time ever a Viognier from Condrieu! At last a taste of my favourite white grape from and in it's native home! An evening to remember. It was a Merlin Condrieu 2012, a much more subtle affair than I am used to but a sensational wine none the less with notes of pineapple and banana and very creamy, a good fish pairing I believe. We also experienced a wonderful white Crozes Hermitage, Charpoutier, Petite Ruche 2012. A wonderful complex wine with a smooth full finish. And of course in the Northern Rhone no meal would be complete without a Syrah, so over to a Cote Rotie Sarrasine Bonserine 2011. It had all the pepper you would expect with black fruit flavours with some oak, coffee and ash all chucked in for good measure but we suspected it might have been a bit young with a slightly astringent flavour and rather high level of tannins which weren't yet well integrated into the wine. However, kept a few years would definitely be impressive. One star of the evening was the St-Joseph Faury 2012 white wine made with the Marsanne grape, it was a very complex wine, with apple, lemon and mineral notes and a beautiful and sustained finish. It needs food but really blew us away. So after a sensational meal that included foie gras, salmon, pigeon and the BEST CHEESEBOARD EVER.

The meal was accompanied by a massive awe-inspiring storm over the Rhone. The following day we set sail (almost had to after the storm!) to the Southern Rhone (a region very close to my dad's heart). After spending a small fortune on a couple of bottles of Condrieu we paid a visit to the Cave de Tain where much Marsanne-Roussanne was bought and a few red Crozes-Hermitages. Then down to one of my dad's favourite wine makers; St Damien in Gigondas.
There he is buying up the place.

Their St Damien Gigondas Classique Vielles Vignes red wines is one of the most sensational, earthy, dirty, fruity full-bodied wines. It ages extremely well and benefits from a good decanting a couple of hours before drinking to get all the lovely intense flavours going.
So after spending some time and a lot of money down in the cellar next to their (newly en vogue concrete vats) we set off with not even space for a half bottle left in the car and a worrying suspension concern to our destination in the Ariege.

A summer spent in this part of the world would not be the same without at least one lunch spent at the Domaine Gayda in the Malpere region (http://www.domainegayda.com/) where I think their IGP Viognier competes easily with those tried and tasted in Condrieu. Their Syrah and Grenache IGP wines are not to be missed either. Another local favourite is also the Chateau Pennautier (http://www.lorgeril.com/1-32888-Chateau-de-Pennautier.php?connect=ok) in Cabardes. Their red AOC Cabardes Collection D'Altitude is as good as any Bordeaux Cru Classe and never fails to knock my socks off, an outstanding wine. Also in the Malpere is the lovely Chateau de Cointes (http://www.chateaudecointes.com/). They knock out a lovely AOC Malpere and some pretty beautiful others including their Blanc de Jean, Rouge de Noelle and a red Clemence. They always hold an annual summer party where you can try their wines and the food this time was pretty good too, with delicious mussels, cheeses and various canapes accompanied by live music and sunshine!

With the proximity to Spain, it would have been a missed opportunity not to pop to the Costa Brava and my favourite city Barcelona. Apart from the famous red Palermo prawns, a highlight of this trip was the beautiful house wine drunk at my sister and I's favourite Catalan restaurant in Barcelona Cal Boter (http://www.restaurantcalboter.com/en/) a great value, down to earth restaurant in the Gracia district. They traditionally serve the house wine in a Porron (see photo of my sister Anne-Louise!).

You can drink it from the narrow pouring opening but after witnessing a gentleman spill it all down his shirt (much to our amusement) we opted to pour it in our glasses. The wine is included in the 11 euro lunch menu, it was easily half a litre and I had to ask what it was as it was so smooth, fruity, oaky and delicious, turns out it was a Priorat, the nicest of which I can remember drinking! Unfortunately I made very few notes on my short trip to Spain but quite a few DOC Emporda Perelada wines, including their Cava was purchased. Unfortunately after these exciting experiences work beckoned on 1st September.