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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
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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.
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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.
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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. |
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Co-ordinator: Rhona
Petersen
Page updated 21 October 2008
©2008 Pocklington & District U3A
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Pocklington & District
