Wine of the Month - Serbian and Vivino Adventures and an Intro to Deptford & New Cross Wine Club!

This month has been full of wine adventures so it has been extremely difficult to choose my wines of the month, but they shall be revealed at the bottom of this post.

Right at the end of February and the beginning of March I had the fantastic opportunity and privilege to be taken to Belgrade in Serbia and present two talks on New Technologies in Education at their second national annual conference, with a focus on Inclusion. I won't bore you with the details but needless to say it was an ideal opportunity to sample the wines of Serbia! There is not a great deal written about Serbian wines and when I asked my WSET level 3 tutor, a Master of Wine for any recommendations she couldn't give me any. I learned that Prokupac is a native Serbian grape and Vranac is a grape from the area of the former Yugoslavia, they are both red grape varieties. However there are many areas in Serbia where they plant more international grape varieties, Pinot Noir, Gamay and more recently Merlot and Cabernet to produce more Bordeaux style wines. I was very keen to try the more native wines. So here we all are having (well most of us) our first taste of Prokupac at the very beautiful Kalemegdanska Terasa, a restaurant situated inside the Kalemegdan Fortress next to Belgrade Zoo.

We started our meal with the traditional throat burning aperitif Rakija, I had the quince flavour, it was definitely alcoholic. Back to the wine, this Prokupac was very light and fruity, it was by the winery Temet and was a 2012 which has won some Serbian awards. It reminded me of a Pinot Noir because of it's lightness and affinity for oak, bringing that subtle vanilla quality to the wine. I had read that it was quite a heavy wine that is often blended with Pinot Noir or Gamay or made into rosé. There are now producers though that see it's qualities as a varietal wine and are producing it in a way that expresses these qualities. Interestingly, the following evening I tried a very different Prokupac that was much fuller and richer, more my style of wine. This was the 2012 Ivanović. This had more black fruit flavours and stronger sweet spice with a higher alcohol level but was incredibly smooth, it complimented the plates of local cheeses and smoked meats really well. I managed to buy a bottle of this in the supermarket and bring it back to the UK, it was much liked by everyone around the dinner table in London!

I got the opportunity to try the regional Vranac grape at the reception at the British Ambassador's Residence! There we had the option of many alcoholic beverages, with rather an emphasis on London Dry Gin. But the wines making the rounds were the red Vranac and a Serbian Chardonnay. The Vranac was the very popular Plantaže 2011. I asked the British Ambassador about it, he told me it was their local wine, I think his interests (he was drinking beer) probably lie elsewhere. This was a pleasant wine. Quite plummy with raw tannins but smooth, served way too cold though and without Ferrero Rocher.


My next exciting wine adventure was my enrollment on to the WSET level 4 Diploma. I now have a new bed time companion, well for the next 18 months. Very excited to start this on the 9th April.

The Decanter Mediterranean Fine Wine tasting at The Landmark Hotel in Marylebone was on the 7th March. The stand out wines for me were the Priorats. I tried some from the producers Sangenis I Vaqué, their Vall Por 2006 and Clos Monlleó 2005, both of which were deep and fruity with minerality and spice, such velvet tannins and lovely length. Their Clos Monlleó 2005 is grown on 80 year old vines and it takes 5 vines to make one bottle! The two sisters who run this winery are lovely and invited me to drop in on my next visit to North East Spain, I definitely want to!

On March 18th there was a small Vivino (wine app I am currently using) meet-up for a blind tasting where I got to meet some incredibly knowledgeable wine lovers and try some fantastic wines, all (well nearly all) at least 10 years old. I'm not the biggest fan of German Riesling but I think I'm slowly being turned as the two tasted on the night (Willi Schaefer Mosel Graacher Domprobst Spatlese Riesling 2006 and a Schloss Schönborn Rudesheim Berg Rottland Rheingau Erstes Gewachs 2001) were fabulous and I learned a great deal about the different kinds of Champagnes being produced (we tried 3, Charles Heidsiek Brut Réserve NV, Savart L'Overture Premier Cru Pinot Noir Brut NV and Pierre Gimonnet Special Club 2015) thanks to Derek of Hedonism Wines in Mayfair and Champagne Spy (both Champagne expert GB Vivino users). We did a blind tasting of 3 and the differences of each style were so clear, a real eye opener! We also tried a lovely Tondonia White Rioja 1999, a 2005 Cloudy Bay Chardonnay a 1998 Château Leoville Barton (my Christmas Magnum wine!). I brought along a 2005 Saint Damien Gigondas (another Christmas wine) and to finish a lovely sweet Antic Rivesaltes Ambré 1985. A fine selection indeed! Lots of these wines are available to buy from Hedonism Wines in Mayfair.

 Beforehand at Hedonism wines I got to taste some classics, a Napa Château Montelena 2011, a small taste of a 1999 Château D'Yquem (bucket list wine!) and a 1996 Château Cheval Blanc (another bucket list!). My blood at the end of that night had certainly gone up in value!

Me and my contribution to the event!

Finally my very exciting wine news is that I am starting a Wine Club, The Deptford and New Cross Wine Club. A fortnightly meet-up for wine lovers in Deptford and New Cross, though of course anyone from anywhere is welcome! This will take place at The Albany in Deptford and will be a two hour tasting session featuring at least 6 wines. The first three sessions will be introductions to France. Session 1 will be exploring Champagne, The Loire Valley and Bordeaux. There will be a very multi-sensory approach in this club, aiding members to discover flavour and aroma characteristics, colours and pairings. To find out more or book tickets if you are interested go here!

To prepare for these events I have been trialling a few wines, some known to me and some new ones. One of these wines is one of my wines of the month. This is in the higher priced bracket and is this month's red wine. It is the Château Tauzinat L'Hermitage Saint-Émillion Grand Cru 2009, a great vintage year. Such a beautiful, welcoming nose, with sweet spice, that characteristic earthiness with full bodied blackberries and cherries in the mouth. Silky tannins and gorgeously smooth and such great value at around £15. This will be featured at the wine club. The final wine is the Marquis de Pennautier Chardonnay 'Terroirs d'Altitude' 2013. This is £8.24 and is also amazing value in my opinion, very reminiscent of a Burgundian white, subtle enriching oak and great citrus with well balanced acidity lending it that delightful crispness. Santé!

Gadget Time!

Another fantastic product from Quirky. This is the Icecap.
You get in from work, feel like a glass of that Albariño, oh no, forgot to put it in the fridge! Should you put it in the freezer for 20 minutes? Hang on, the Icecap is in the freezer! Take it out, pop it on to your glass, pour through that Albariño, aerating as it goes. Served perfectly chilled! Soon available to buy at the new Château Canard shop!

Plentia di Primitivo di Puglia!

If I cut myself would I bleed Primitivo? A question I asked myself a few times during my February Bari mini-break. A new found love of this wine has now emerged. However there is an interesting element of controversy surrounding this grape. It has exactly the same DNA profile as Zinfandel, the Italians insist that the grape originated in Italy but more recent evidence has emerged that both grapes are actually a clone from a Croatian grape called... Crljenak Kastelanski! Might just go with the Italians on this one for pronunciation's sake.

Lovely Bari, lovely weather!

On our first night we really landed on our feet by going for dinner at a small lounge-restaurant called Blanc de Noirs, a homage to the wonderfully friendly owner Franceso's love of Champagne and time spent studying wine in France. He was extremely keen to showcase the great local Puglian wines. Each was 15 euros a bottle or 3 euros for a (very generous) glass. I had done a bit of research and was very keen to try Nero Di Troia, Negroamaro and of course Primitivo, and while we were south I was keen to try my first Aglianico del Vulture as I had heard such great things about it. That evening I got the chance to taste the first three. Two of the wines were slightly reductive, but after a bit of time and swirling their true flavours came through. The first wine was the Nero di Troia, Poderi D'Agostino, I think it was a 2011. This was a lovely rich wine with beautifully smooth tannins and well balanced acidity. It had flavours of black cherry and pepper and was delightful with the bruschetta! We then moved on to the 2011 Negroamaro by Cantine Due Palme. This was a less complex and smooth wine which smelt of glacier cherries! It was very pleasant but lacked the sophistication of the first wine. We ended on the highly anticipated Primitivo, 2010 Muro Sant'Angelo Gioia del Colle. This had an alcohol content of 16%!! But you couldn't tell. It was earthy and complex, incredibly well balanced, with lovely notes of liquorice and forest fruits, was very moreish! Unfortunately I can't find any retailers of these wines outside of Italy.

The following evening's dinner was therefore very much required to be accompanied by more Primitivo! I had vowed to leave the 16 percenters behind me but a little gem came highly recommended - what can you do! So we had the Cubadi Salento Primitivo 2011. My goodness, this was molte bueno! It was rich and creamy, dark chocolate cherry liquors raised their heads along with sweet spice and mild anise, it just got better with every mouthful! This is the only wine I have written about that you can buy in the UK, but if I had to choose just one, this would be it.

The next day we went to the famous Trullo town of Alberobello. This was a different kind of sensory experience.

Here I am, check out the houses!

But, hang on, what is that by the train station?!

The Albea Wine Museum! It's like they knew I was coming! We arranged for a little private tour and tasting after the hobbit houses. The Albea Museum is attached to the Albea winery which is a rather small but quality winery. The incredibly welcoming and knowledgeable (with fab English) Tomas showed us around and brought out some good wines for us to try after showing us the winery, below.

Tomas was brutally honest, admitting that the Italians preferred to use American oak barrels because they don't like the French! But they did have some French oak, so they can't hate them that much. Their premium wine is Cantina Albea Lui, we had the 2008 which they don't have any more of. Surprisingly after having so many great experiences with Primitivo it was an interesting choice that this wine was produced with the Nero di Troia grape. This is their premium wine due to the time spent in their small oak barrels which could be either American or French depending on the grape quality at harvest. I was impressed with their Primitivo Rose, the Petrarosa Special Cuvee 2013. This had lovely aromas of roses and red berries. Delicious strawberry on the palate and a wine I believe could live up to many different meals and occasions.

That evening, guess what we drank?! Actually I got my chance to sample the Aglianico del Vulture, it was a 2009 Amorosso. I have to say I was a tad disappointed. The tannins were a bit too grippy but it did have a lot of earth and farmyard aromas which indicated to me that maybe this bottle was opened a little too early as it was bought at a fabulous traditional Puglian restaurant Terranima.

The final day was spent doing my second favourite thing after drinking wine, shopping!

Unfortunately I had to wait until I got to the airport before I could buy the best cheese in the world - burrata! Happily, as that has now been consumed I have discovered that you can buy it in Waitrose!


Gadget Time!

The incredibly talented Stuart Gardiner has a range of wine products. These are my favourites:


The wine and food pairing tea towels! I know these are not strictly gadgets, but they are amazing. Soon they will be available to buy from the Chateau Canard shop which will be going live in the next few weeks!

A Five Hour Seasalter Symposium

Finally my Sportsman post! This was one of the most fun and imaginative tasting menus I have ever experienced so has to get a post dedicated to it. Better late than never!

The last weekend in January (my birthday weekend) was spent mostly in the Sportsman Pub in Seasalter near Whitstable. It is a very low key one Michelin starred pub. However word has spread over the 15 years it has been around and I had to book the table months in advance.

They offer a £65 tasting menu which consists of about 10 small courses. Each one was so original and creative and everything is sourced from very close by, within just a few miles. Absolutely all the food is prepared on site and the wine list is great (no whining this time!). With most wines at around £20-£30 a bottle, and all chosen with great care and pairings in mind. Five of us opted for the tasting menu and two of the party with two small children had the a la carte being unsure they could entertain the little ones for four hours in a restaurant! This was very accommodating of the restaurant as usually the whole party would be required to take the tasting menu.

So we started off with a Picpoul, anticipating oysters! But what about Champagne, I hear you cry! No worries, I'd already had a go at that back at the beach cottage we were staying in in Whitstable. We toasted the anniversary of my birth with a bottle of vintage 2006 Piper-Heidsieck kindly and expertly recommended to me by an avid Champagne lover. It was fab, a wonderful golden colour with all the marvellous brioche, bready traits with the crisp apple and citrus coming through leaving a long and very satisfying finish. A champagne I will definitely remember!

So back to the Picpoul, this wine has the best name ever! Baron De Badassiere! We had the 2013. It was clean and crisp, with well balanced high levels of acidity, flavours of pear and lovely layers of minerality. Complimented the oysters perfectly.

Victoria finding an oyster difficult to swallow!

Before the oyster we had an amazing egg with smoked eel and parsley sauce.

And following these courses were many many more! Not in any particular order!
Braised cabbage with mustard.

Roast partridge with celeriac risotto.

We also had some beautiful local roast lamb, crab and carrot in Hollandaise and wonderful homemade sourdough, focaccia and soda bread accompanied by house churned butter with salt from the sea! For dessert there was a beautiful apple soufflee and we just about had room for these! What a lovely surprise!!

So the wine! We got through quite a lot more after the Picpoul!I didn't make notes on all of them (it was my birthday!) but I would highly recommend all of them!


Runnymede Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2014 - A proper NZ SB! A full on nose of grass, pineapple, lime with that custom hint of asparagus. All these flavours more subtle on the palate. A well balanced characterful wine. Paired well with the risotto.

Logeril (Pennautier) Mas de Montagnes Cotes du Roussillon Villages 2011 - wonderfully smooth, red and black fruit flavours. This is a producer who can do no wrong in my eyes! Went great with the lamb.

Las Olas Torrontes 2013

Paolo Leo Primitivo di Manduria 2010

So a great time had by all and a rather wobbly meander back to Whitstable along the coast afterwards! Will have to call now to book ahead for next time!

The Gadget!

In keeping with the seaside theme here is my favourite corkscew!