Pocklington & District

 

                       

 

Wine Appreciation - Group II

The group has been meeting successfully for over a year and goes from strength to strength. We have learnt a lot about wines , with members diligently researching regions and imparting their newfound knowledge; also having an enjoyable social evening. The is room for a couple of new members.

 

        Members enjoy a convivial meeting in good company sampling a variety of good quality wines

 

WINE TASTING NOTES

SPAIN  Wine        

Background:   Grown since the Romans roamed Spain.

 7% of wine sales in UK are Spanish – this has fallen.

Third largest wine producer in world.  Has more vines than any other country. But-

yields are low due to infertile soil. Most places are hot and dry for most of the year and drought is a constant threat.  Viticulture is geared towards survival of the vines during drought – the vines are planted less intensely so they can get more water.  Advantage is that there is little rot because there is little rain and little humidity.

Terrain:  Spain is generally a High country – North especially and the centre which is a kind of plateau.  Long hot summers and sharp cold winters. The Mediterranean area has a softer less harsh climate.

NW SPAIN: 

(Look at Map) Celtic Spain -  Galician region – very wet – Whites.  Not brilliant.

Ribero del Duero region  - long cold winters, hot summers. Reds and whites. Some of Spain’s best wines come from here – Vega Sicilia  £25-£125 per bottle. Winedoctor.com

NE SPAIN:   

Round the River Ebro. Rio Oja is a tributary.  Some of the best wines  in Spain centred on main town of Haro.  Protected from the rains by the Cantabrian Mountains and the Pyrenees.  There are three regions.

Rioja Alta – cooler, slightly wetter and higher. Reds and Whites. These are the best.

Rioja Alavesa : Lower,  has droughts and is hotter. Reds.

Rioja Baja:  Lower. Average wines.

COASTAL AREA.

Priorato, Somontano, Penedes. OK wines. (home to Miguel Torres – one of Spain’s best known winemakers – he has some excellent wines).

Good Cavas.  Classifications for Cava Vintage – aged for 2 or more years.

Non- vintage  - minimum of 9 months.

CENTRAL SPAIN:  1 million acres.

 La Mancha . Don Quixote country.  The vast high centre of Spain, very hot summers and icy cold winters.  Half of Spain’s wine production happens here.  A lot of white wine.  Mostly the Airen grape which is drought resistant.  Because of the volume this is the world’s most planted wine variety!!   Also grown in the south.

Valdepenas: south of La Mancha – red wine. Vina Albali one of the best.

Valencia Area:  Very average wines including Jumilla –  only 70p a litre in cartons.

SOUTHERN SPAIN:

Spain’s hottest corner – produces mostly Fortified wines i.e. sherries.

In Malaga province nowadays, tourists are more profitable than wine so the vineyards have shrunk.  Avocados, cherimoyas and mangos are more profitable.  The original sweet wine of the area Vino de Malaga, or Vino de terrano is made from the moscatel grape. 

SHERRIES:  

The secret is the chalk soil, albariza, which produces delicate wines. Clay (barros) soil gives heavier wines and the sandy (arenas) gives high yields but poorer quality.

Two main areas – more northern Montilla Moriles – (they are not allowed to call it sherry) and the southern  triangle – Sanlucar de Barrameda, Puerto de Santa Maria and Jerez de la Frontera area.  Sherry has been traded since 1492 when the Jews were expelled and their vineyards were taken over by foreigners including the English.  It was shipped out of the port of  Cadiz.  Today the descendants are still involved, Osbornes, Sandemans, Garveys, Williams & Humbert.

Main grape is the Palomino or Listan grape (85 % of the vineyards)  All sherries are dry, so they have to be fortified to make them sweet. The sweeter Moscatel and Pedro Ximenez (PX) grapes provide  the sweetening in fortified wines. 

Life begins in autumn in  the nursery in a criadera cask (cradle) – in spring it is monitored to see what type of sherry  it is destined to become. (5 types)

The best wines in these barrels are affected by a yeast like fungus – (Sacchoramyces beticus) more commonly called  flor (flower) – this is a yeast which forms on top of the wine in the barrel and stops oxidation.

This produces the fino, pale delicate wine and the manzanillas.

Flor doesn’t develop in all the barrels.  When the yeast has no young wine on which to feed, the flor will die and the wine darkens. These barrels will be destined for   amontillado – still dry, but darker.

If no flor at all develops  the dark and rich and sweet oloroso sherry is formed.

In between the amontillado and oloroso is a fine sherry called a palo cortado.

Cream and brown sherries should not even be mentioned!

Fortification is provided with local brandy from the other grapes - which will be added up to 15.5 (fino) and  16-21% for the sweeter sherries.

The Solera system is used for all sherries – a unique maturing and blending system where a series of tiered casks are placed on top of each other, 6 high. When bottled, the wine is drawn off from the bottom tier of casks (1/3 each year) and the top ones are topped up with young sherry.  The skill of the Blender is paramount. No vintage date on bottles because of the blending system.

Manzanilla, which comes from Sanlucar de Barrameda area  (it is not allowed to be called sherry because it is  not from Jerez) A light and delicate fino which smells of the sea.

 

Below are the notes of the first wine tasting evening:  

Bordeaux  9TH August 2007

 

 

One of the great wine regions of France, Bordeaux covers 115,000 hectares and produces 750 million bottles of wine annually. There are 7000  Chateaux, varying from grand buildings  to small  farmhouses.

The city of Bordeaux is the commercial wine centre and port on the River Garonne. Two large rivers, the Garonne and the Dordogne converge to form the Gironde estuary, which divides Bordeaux into the Right and Left Banks. Each "Bank" has different soils and microclimates and produces different styles of wine. Claret is the straight red Bordeaux which is very consistent. It got it’s name from the time when the English ruled here.

Terroir: Gravel, sand or clay over a sub-soil of limestone.

Grapes:   Classic grape varieties for most Bordeaux red wines are blends of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc (Bouchet) and Petit Verdot. Cabernet Sauvignon dominates these wines. Typical blend is 55% Cab. Sauv., 20% Cabernet Franc 25% Merlot.  St Emilion  region– mostly Merlot used in these wines.  Graves region - Red & White.  Sauternes region – White.

 
 

Region: Haut Medoc  (40 million bottles produced including Bas-Medoc)

The Haut Medoc area to the south is a strip 75 km x 10-15km wide. It is a region of fairytale chateaux and petit chateaux (farmhouses). The Left Bank, sandwiched between the Atlantic and the Gironde estuary, has a maritime climate, gravelly soil and includes the 'big four' communes of Haut-Médoc: - Margaux, St. Julien, St. Estèphe and Pauillac. The Medoc is almost flat – its highest point is 43m above sea level – it was a swamp that was drained by Dutch engineers in the 17thC.

The wine was so good that in 1855, 61 wines were classified into 5 divisions known as Crus Classes – classed growths. Premier, deuxieme etc. Paris Exhibition of 1855  was in competition with the London Exhibition in 1851!These hold good today apart from 2 additions. 5 Grand Crus Classes are - Ch Lafite-Rothschild. Chat Latour,  Ch Mouton-Rothschild, (all in Pauillac) Ch. Margaux, Ch. Haut Brion (Pessac).

Terroir:  The best wines come from the banks along the Gironde side of the Haut Medoc. These areas drain well which is vital, and the stony soil heats up the grapes for ripening.

Region: The Medoc or Bas-Medoc

Lies to the north of Haut Medoc. Wines of similar style but lower quality. Crus (growth) Bourgeois are the best.

Region:  St-Emilion & Pomerol  East of Bordeaux  Small vineyards, 14 acre average. There are two St Emilion areas - Cotes St-Emilion (around the town) A limestone plateau, with clay topsoil. (Cotes means slopes), and the Graves St-Emilion (further west). (gravel) Also sable, (sand) area on river.  St Emilion has its own classed growths called Premier Grand Cru Classes, 12 in all. In Pomerol there are no classifications but the meaty red Chateau Petrus is  most famous wine with a Cru Exceptionnel tag.

 

 

 

 

Merlot is dominant here on the Right Bank, producing the great red wines of Pomerol and St. Emilion – it likes the local soils with more clay -  a colder soil. The grapes ripen earlier and the soil and inland situation create totally different wines to the maritime Medoc region. Blend might be 60% Merlot, 30% Cab. Franc, 10% Pressac. (Malbec).

Region: Gironde  Bourg, Blaye & Fronsac - East and south  of L’Estuaire.

Undulating countryside.

Cotes de Bourg & Cotes de Blaye and Premieres Cotes de Blayes regions produce some red and a little white wine. Colombard grape popular. Lesser wines.

Grapes:  Whites are mostly Semillon & Sauvignon. Blend is usually 80% Semillon, 20% Sauvignon.  Sweet – Muscadelle. Reds are same blend as Medoc.  Cab.Sauv. Merlot, Cab. Franc.

Region: Entre-Deux Mers  -& Premieres Cotes de Bordeaux between the Garonne & Dordogne

Dry white wines of lesser quality often called Bordeaux blanc and reds from Premieres Cotes.

 

Grapes: Reds - Cab. Sauv. Cab. Franc & Merlot.

Whites - Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon.

 

 

Region: Graves – south of the Garonne . Encircles Bordeaux and covers south to Langon.

22 million bottles. Graves gets its name from the soil - gravel, clay and sand carried down by the river. Used to be  the best red wine region 500 yrs ago, and the port aided export, but it lost out to the Medoc because too much bad white made, mostly sweet and not very good. In the last 20 yrs red has taken over and it is improving.

Red and White wines. Robust reds. Tobacco, cedary scent. Plummy. Classic claret. Whites are mostly dry but Graves Superieur is medium/sweet. 

The best dry whites in Bordeaux region come from this area. Matured in oak. Reminiscent of white Burgundys., nutty & round,  but at present Graves is still unfashionable.

 

Region: Sauternes - 40 km south or Bordeaux on the west bank of the Garonne

 

Five communes were classified in 1855, including the villages of Sauternes and Barsac. Finest is the Grand Premier Cru – Chateau Yquem.

 

The greatest sweet wines of the world. In autumn the grapes are left to rot after attack by the fungus botrytis cinerea which shrivels them, removing the water but not the sugar. This produces a ‘nobly ripe’ grape which is richly sweet with a spicy tang.     Grape: Muscadelle.

 

Rose – very little. Called Bordeaux Rose.   Dry, little character.

 

 

Wines – made from imported grapes sold under brand names – e.g. Veuve du Vernay.

Pineau des Charentes, (Pineau Charentais, or simply Pineau) The Pineau blanc is the most common. It is an alcoholic aperitif drink, made from a blend of unfermented grape must and Cognac brandy. (Eau de Vie). It is made in the départements of Charente and Charente-Maritime in western France. Whilst popular in Charente, it is less well-known in other regions of France and uncommon abroad. Pineau is also found as a home-made product in the neighbouring Deux-Sèvres département, but it is not sold. In Vendée there is a similar drink called troussepinette, which is often flavoured with pine or fruits such as pear. Elsewhere in France analogous drinks are made (Macvin in Burgundy, Floc de Gascogne in the Armagnac area; there is also Pommeau, similarly made by blending apple juice and apple brandy), but these products are much less well known nationally and internationally than Pineau.

 

Co-ordinator: Rhona Petersen

Page updated 21 October 2008

©2008 Pocklington & District U3A