A couple of weeks ago Denise (The Winesleuth) and I caught up after the New Zealand Wine Annual Trade Tasting where 12 wines from the same site but made by different winemakers were on show. Known as the 'Riesling Challenge' it was an opportunity to see the huge variety in styles and the influence each winemaker has on the resulting wine.
For more information take a look at www.rieslingchallenge.co.nz
Tastings Online
Hi, I'm Pieter Rosenthal and I'm lucky enough to taste wine for a living. I'll be hosting you through a series of our Tastings Online. Each month, I’ll be taking you through themed tasting as well as giving you tips on how to taste wine, all in the privacy of your own home.
The convenience of these online Tasting videos is that they can be viewed when it suits you. Of course, you are welcome to invite friends over to watch the tastings and host your own wine club. I'll always make sure the wines are readily available in supermarkets, independent retailers or online and I’ll try to let you know at the end of each tasting, what I plan to taste in the coming month.
Just remember, you don’t have to be a connoisseur to have an opinion about wine!
At a tasting organised by UK importer Thierry's I had an opportunity to have a chat with one of the winemakers from the Kavaklidere winery, based in Anatolia. Here we try some of their Turkish wines, a wonderfully aromatic Narince and a virtually unpronounceable Öküzgözü. These wines show fantastic promise and I genuinely hope we'll start to see some of them appearing on the shelves of our UK retailers soon.
Ever wanted to know why you needed a candle to decant your Christmas Port? In this brief video I guide you through the process which is really much easier than you think.
Everyone at www.lovethatwine.co.uk would like to wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy, wine-filled, New Year.
Last week I got together with a few people from the Glasgow business community who also happened to love wine. Our task was simple. Taste a few wines and work out which ones are our favourites for Christmas. It proved a little more difficult than that as we couldn't really come to an agreement. So here is a quick review of a lovely fizz, two very popular white wines and a red wine, all stand-out wines for Christmas. Enjoy.
Here I review two Indian wines from supermarket Waitrose. The white Ritu Viognier 2010 is fresh, with the typical apricot aromas the Viognier tends to give to the wines. Peachy with a refreshingly clean finish. The red wine is the Zampa Syrah 2008, a very smooth red with smoky aromas and lush dark berry fruit. These wines are definitely worth a try. Match them to your favourite Indian dishes for a bit of a difference. And if you needed an extra reason, October 26th is Diwali, the Hindu festival of light, so a very good opportunity to check them out.
Pieter Rosenthal introduces you to two wines made from Old Vine Garnacha grapes. The wines come from the Calatayud region in central Spain and are produced by "El Escoces Volante" or The Flying Scotsman. The first wine is the La Multa and retails around £7. A great value wine with bags of character. The El Puño is a fantastic handmade wine showing an absolute top-level wine. At around £20 a bottle it is more expensive but there isn't much of it and every now and then we should push the boat out. Both wines are available on line via www.crossstobsbottleshop.co.uk
A first for Love That Wine! We were allowed to go out and about in the last weekend of June, talking to lots of enthusiastic wine consumers and tasting plenty of wine in the process. In typical British style the weather at the Bristol Foodies Festival ranged from torrential rain on Friday to glorious summer weather on Sunday. Incidentally it proved a brilliant opportunity to see how the weather impacts on how popular the wines are! Over a period of three days at the Bristol Foodies Festival we were showing a selection of wines from Radcliffes, whose wine buyers scour the length and breadth of Spain, Italy and France for great wines from well-known wine regions. Visitors to the Festival could join us for a quick taster of one or two wines or a mini-masterclass, where we talked tasters through the ins and outs of each wine and encouraged them to write their own reviews of their favourites.
Here I'm taking you through three of the wines that were very popular with wine lovers; the Prosecco, Sancerre and Barolo, all available from www.radcliffeswines.co.uk
When I started thinking about a Fairtrade tasting, the idea was to get as much wine from the Fairtrade ranges as possible, but it even surprised me how extensive this range has become. So for the purpose of this post I only looked at what supermarkets are offering as part of their own labels. The Coop, always a bit of a front runner when it comes to Fairtrade, still has a very extensive range, with particularly strong offerings from Argentina and South Africa. Sainsbury’s was another retailer with a pretty good selection of Fairtrade wines under their own label, particularly from South Africa. At Tesco I only found one white and one red wine in their own label range both of which were from Argentina and Asda didn’t have any. Both supermarkets do offer Fairtrade wines from a variety of producers such as Stellar Organics, Fairhills and Six Hats though.
Ultimately the proof is in the wine and having tasted through a large selection, By and large I am quite impressed with the offering from the Coop. The wines are dependable, particularly those from Argentina. Sainsbury’s is also offering a fairly extensive selection with more of a focus on South Africa. The premium products in the ‘Taste The Difference’ range in particular are very good. I think these wines are really worth their price tag so pick one up with your coffee and chocolates in the next couple of weeks, and support a worthwhile cause.
Australian wine is still hugely popular in the UK and here I taste two examples, a white from the Adelaide Hills called “The Opportunist”. It is a very unusual blend of Riesling and Sauvignon Blanc grapes. Both grapes are known for their freshness and zest and the South Australia, Adelaide Hills provide some much needed coolness to bring out those fresh aromas. Although Riesling is fairly popular in the region, Sauvignon Blanc is much less so, generally preferring the climate in Western Australia.
The second wine is a big juicy red from the McLaren Vale. The Two Hands “Angels Share” Shiraz provides plenty of easy drinking, lots of fruit and soft velvety tannins that Australia does so well.
Choosing wine for a party is great fun and if you remember a few basic rules you can’t go wrong.
First of all have a choice of white and red wine, but don’t forget about rosé either. It’s still very popular and if you go for a slightly drier style it will also prove very food friendly.
Try the wines before you decide. It’s the best part, but make sure though the wine is going to appeal to your guests. You may like that really funky and unusual aroma of your favourite wine, but will your guests appreciate it too? The wines shouldn’t be too extreme, exactly for that reason, but also because you’re going to be drinking it with party food. So go for the easy-drinking, fresh whites and rosés and soft reds that are fairly low in tannin. Tannins give you a drying sensation on the gums and are balanced by having the wine with food. Drink the wine on its own and they can be quick to overpower though.
Have a look at my two suggestions. A fresh and zesty Torrontes from Argentina made from organic grapes and a perfect Italian party red from Abruzzo made from the local Montepulciano grape.
