Crus Bourgeois – a steady ship
Having had just 18 months in 2007 to reinvent themselves, after the previous cru bourgeois system was cancelled, the Alliance des Crus Bourgois du Médoc consider themselves fortunate to have saved the name ‘cru bourgeois’ a term which has positive resonance with consumers.
Crémants from Maison Simonnet Febvre
Maison Simonnet Febvre are the only winery in Chablis making sparkling wine, and about a quarter of their total production is Crémant
White wine phenolics
When a vertical tasting of bourboulenc at Château d’Anglès, in Languedoc’s La Clape followed on the heels of a viognier masterclass by viognier virtuouso Louisa Rose, one can’t help but tweak one’s thinking on the roles of acidity, freshness and phenolics (essentially tannin) in white wine. Neither grape is particularly well endowed with raging acidity, but both have thick skins which impart a phenolic texture and freshness to the wines they make.
The science of sauvignon blanc, by Jamie Goode
Various research institutes in NZ and France have been researching sauvignon blanc for some years, and Goode has brought together some of that research in a book that aims to provide growers and winemakers up to date information so they are better equipped to achieve the flavour profiles they’re looking for. There’s some interesting stuff for MW students and the like, too.
Skinny – a new era for Aussie chardonnay?
Forget skinny lattes, skinny is a new model for Aussie chardonnay – lean, maybe a bit mean, very clean, even edging to green. The style has been around for a while, as Tom Carson, winemaker at Yabby Lake in the Mornington Peninsula explained “these wines have been here in Australia but they didn’t have too much of a voice. Now, everyone is talking about these wines, and how fine they are.”
Vine burial in Russia
Not some ancient rite of passage for dead vines but a way to keep vines alive during the -26 to -27°C winter temperatures
How to love wine – a memoir and manifesto, by Eric Asimov
This is a sort of a “Feel the fear and do it anyway” book. Asimov discusses fear of wine (wine anxiety, he calls it) in the USA but I struggle to imagine the anxiety is much different in the UK for those not wanting to embarrass themselves by choosing the ‘wrong’ wine to go with their dinner, or not spotting a faulty wine in a restaurant.
Domaine Nathalie et Gilles Fevre
Nathalie and Gilles Fevre make outstanding wines from their 43 hectare Chablis property, and I was keen to get the low-down on Chablis and minerality from these top-quality guys.
The Finest Wines of Germany, by Stephan Reinhardt
For a lover of cool climate wines I’m already pre-disposed to want to like this book.
Bourboulenc at Château d’Anglès
Château d’Anglès in the Languedoc has made something of a specialty of its old white bourboulenc grape variety, making tasty, fresh wines worthy of bottle-age.
