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!