Matt's Blog

24 August 2006

It’s good to be back running wine tastings – it’s been too long.  Organising and hosting your own tastings is one of the highlights of working in the wine trade as people are genuinely interested in what you have to say and welcome the information.  The round of applause is always a nice ego boost too.

Sunday night saw me over in the picturesque gardens of the Thistle hotel (luckily within a Marquee as the weather wasn’t particularly pleasant) hosting a cheese and wine presentation with the assistance of Kay Sillitoe, the Manager of Paxton & Whitfield, Wood Street, Stratford-Upon-Avon.

The organisation and efficiency of the staff involved at the Thistle was second-to-none and the evening ran as smoothly as any tasting I’ve ever done

The theme of the evening was British Artisan cheeses and although I had no wish to exhibit a whole range of English wines (although a possibility, as we now have 10, all excellent), I felt the need to show off with the one I believe to be the best; therefore, first up as the aperitif:

Nyetimber Classic Cuvee 1998, Sussex, £22.99 (psst... Nyetimber are putting their prices up quite considerably in September, a little back stock might be a good idea)

Now this is a true stunner and does everything necessary to put English wine back on the map where it belongs.  A blend of the three main Champagne grapes (Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier) and produced using the acclaimed ‘Champagne’ (ooer, sorry, can’t say that… I mean ‘Traditional’) method, whereby a secondary fermentation within the bottle produces the elegant sparkle, this rich, mature, bready gem delights on the nose and tantalises the palate.  Served at many a Royal bash the saviour of English wine deserves all the praise.

Kay introduced the first cheese: Gorwydd Caerphilly.  This is a mature, hand-made cheese made to a traditional Caerphilly recipe by Todd Trethowan on the family farm in the foothills of the Cambrian Mountains at Llanddewi Brefi in West Wales.

I was confident with my first pairing:  Off the Leash Finn 2005, £9.99, a stunning un-oaked Australian white blend of Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, Viognier and Semillon.  An immediate nose of tropical lime and peach revealed the Pinot Gris and Viognier contributions leading to rich, full-flavoured pear and tropical fruit led palate.  This was a harmonious combination and was a 100% success.

Up stepped cheese number two: Soft Bloomy.  This is made on a farm in Devon for Paxton's from raw Jersey milk - one of the richest cows' milks.  Bloomy refers to the rind of this cheese, which is a penicillin mould.  The rind had a more mushroomy flavour than the interior with a hint of bitterness.

From purely confident I moved to totally unsure, as my research had led me discover that this style of cheese is no friend to wine so I was left feeling a little stitched up by Kay.  However, I had chosen an intensely mineral style that I was hoping would complement the mushroomy flavour and creamy texture as I believed a fruit-driven New Worlder could be a horrendous clash.  Vesevo Greco di Tufo 2005, £10.15 was my choice.  Hailing from Campania, around the bay of Naples, produced from Greco grapes grown in the volcanic soils surrounding Mt. Vesuvius, this massively underrated wine cannot fail to please, the mineral stone fruit richness pleases from the very start.  I was ecstatic at the result of another very successful, albeit lucky, combination.

A goats cheese was next on the podium, namely, Swaledale Goat.  Swaledale Cheese was first made in the 11th Century by Christian Monks; it’s available in cow milk, sheep's milk or goat milk, we were to sample the goats version.  Now goats cheeses like traditional French Crottin can be dramatically overpowering, but this was not!  A crumbly texture led to a delicately subtle ‘goatiness’ with a very pleasant and long-lasting finish.

I was back to confident.  With the celestial partnership of Sancerre and Crottin in the back of my mind I introduced my next beloved: Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc 2005, £9.99.  I had no doubt at all that this would be a winner and it was.  Hailing from the Marlborough region of New Zealand (far North-East of the South Island) in the same territory as the much worshipped Cloudy Bay, this is a stunning wine (rant on the side:  Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc 2005 has a standard retail price of around £13-£14, which is about what we will be charging when the 2006 vintage arrives in November.  However, if you would rather pay a price around £26, there are countless merchants out there such as Berry Bros. who will be more than happy to liberate your cash.  Rant over). 

Kim Crawford is a larger than life character (loving the trademark blue specs) and that definitely comes across in his wines, a dramatically full-flavoured, gooseberry and asparagus-led gem with a crisp freshness that skilfully harmonised with the goats cheese.  Another success.

Back to Kay to educate us about Cumberland smoked, the next cheese on this exhibition.  This Cumbrian cheese proved to be my favourite so far.  Delightfully and notably smoky but not overwhelming or overpowering, the mouth-feel was impressive and the finish long.

Time to match a wine and I placed an ace.  For a wine so notoriously unfashionable, I never expected it to be the winner of the evening, but it was:

Cave de Turckheim Grand Cru Brand Gewurztraminer 2001, £12.29

A classic, intensely pungent, tropical lychee and rose petal spiked white from the marvellous cooperative at Turckheim (about 2 miles West of Colmar, 40 miles South from Strasbourg).  The spiciness and richness of this amazing French wine beautifully complemented the Cumberland smoked and was thoroughly enjoyed by everyone.  I think the stigma of Gewurztraminer is finally lifting and Alsace wines generally are all of a sudden becoming cool and fashionable.  I still don’t think they do themselves any favours with the oh-so outdated labelling and the insistence of always using German flute bottles.  These lovable French whites are so frequently confused for German wines it can become annoying.  Alsace does have a strong German link, separated from the rest of France as it is by the Vosges Mountains; and of course, the Germanic grape varieties and the use of varietal labelling instead of usual French Chateau labelling.  And then there’s the fact that Alsace has been passed back and forth so many times between France and Germany like an unwanted Christmas gift, in fact, at one point it was possible for someone in Alsace to have had their Nationality changed 5 times without ever even leaving home.

At this point in the evening we took a short break during which we were serenaded by a guitarist from the Thistle Hotel.

And back to the cheese…

Berkswell was up next, a cheese that I’m very fond of and know well so this was an easy one for me.  Made near Coventry from sheep's milk this is a hard, rich flavoursome cheese.  A rustic, orangey brown rind immediately gives the impression of interest. The interior is a pale, almost translucent white. The texture is firm and the flavour sensational. It is nutty, savoury and fruity all at the same time and all the flavours are in harmony.

Wine time.  A classic combination for me would be to use a Loire Cab Franc such as Bourgueil or Saumur-Champigny but I fancied being a little more experimental and went for…

Raats Cabernet Franc 2004, £15.99

A small, family-run boutique winery, Raats are located in Stellenbosch, South Africa, not an area you would commonly associate with the great Cabernet Franc.  Dark plum and cherry fruit were abundant on the nose, stampeded by viscous smoky dark chocolate and richer than rich overripe plum fruit.  Oh yeah… it matched well too.

A full thumbs up on the cheese, the wine and also the combo.  I don’t think I’ve quite cracked the market on £16 South African Cabernet Franc just yet, but it was a start.

For the final two, we were on to the blues...

Devon Blue was first up, a creamy cheese made near Totnes, Devon.  This cheese had a very pleasant tang from the blueing and had an impressively long, creamy finish.  I was impressed and hoped my Spanish star would be as impressive…

Luis Canas Rioja Reserva Seleccion de la Familia 1999, £13.39

Wow, what a wine; this is produced by a family run winery dating back to 1928, now in the more than capable hands of Luis Canas’ only son, Juan.  Produced from 85% Tempranillo, enhanced by a 15% splurge of Garnacha (Grenache), this gem is aged in oak barriques for 24 (yes… 24) months (70% French, 30% American), followed by a further 18 months in bottle before they let it go,  I would love to say that Luis Canas are a small producer with just a few workers who lovingly tend to their grapes, but they’re a little bigger than that – they have themselves 90ha and buy in from a further 200ha (to envisage this area, this is around 3 square km), it’s a lot of grapes.

The wine I chose, however, was from the upper echelons, their Family Selection; a full-bodied wine that had matured with grace, the tannins velvety soft and the rich, dark and intense black fruit had mellowed and mingled with the earthy but delicate vanilla notes from the oak maturation.  Everyone loved the wine but I didn’t spend a considerable length of time deliberating the match as I’d fallen in love with the wine.  Quick cold shower.

On to the finale.  Oxford Blue was the cheese and it was as I had suspected and hoped – a rich but moist and creamy blue with a nicely strong and potent tang.

I needed a nicely powerful wine and as if it were a stroke of luck I had precisely that.  Hailing from the Cognac region just to the North of Bordeaux:

Chateau de Beaulon Pineau de Charentes Ruby Reserve 10 Years Old, £16.99

I stepped up my game for this one, a nicely sweet fortified wine couldn’t miss with the Oxford Blue and it didn’t.

This Pineau is produced from unfermented grape must (namely 85% Cabernets, mellowed with a plummy 15% Merlot), enhanced up to a nicely warming 18% ABV by the installation of Cognac (after all, these guys are Cognac producers).

This seductive wine teased with voluptuously complex scents of black cherry with a fricassee of blackcurrant and cinnamon and a mouth-feel of pure velvet, followed by a length of finish of about a fortnight.

Of course, I was driving so reluctantly retreated to my spittoon.

This powerful wine was probably not the most powerful pairing of the evening as the cheese got slightly lost amongst the bombardment of complexity but it worked nonetheless and formed a nice finale.

Little else was left to say and since it was now gone 9pm due a slightly late start (this tasting was published as running 6 - 8pm), the finishing up was rapid and I was left to drive my lubricated wife home and have a steak sarnie.

More tastings are planned at the Thistle, check out the events!

Congratulations for making it through this blog, you’re definitely committed to cheese!

Until next time,

Slainte,

Matt.