I is for Interlude(2)
Chinese New Year is not normally associated with drinking in the same way as perhaps Christmas might be - although that never stopped the local law enforcement agencies from turning out in the hope of snaring a drink driver or two. Well, quotas to upkeep and miles to patrol before the boys in blue can sleep.
So, the first bottle to be consumed in the new Chinese year was a 2002 Planeta Burdese. I am a big fan of this family-run winery from Sicily - their whites are extremely good and their basic red, the La Segreta Rosso, is probably one of the best wines you could buy for less than £8 in London. The Burdese is one of their higher-end wines based on a Bordeaux blend of 70% Cabernet Sauvignon and 30% Cabernet Franc.
Frankly, it doesn't work. Too much leather and spice masking the fruit. Tannins a little too rough. Perhaps it needs a little more cellaring - after all, this has emerged from the oak less than two years ago. Perhaps the new French oak barrels were a little too raw or perhaps, the Sicilian summers were a little too hot for two cooler climate varietals. It might even be, perhaps, that I served it at a higher than optimum temperature.
The question which remains is why we should pay between two to three times more than their very good La Segreta Rosso for what is, let's admit this, yet another failed IGT experiment. Now there is hope for the Burdese as the plantings acclimatise to the hot summers and in the best case scenario could end up like the Mas de Daumas Gassac in the Languedoc which produces great wine probably two out of ten years from their Bordeaux blends although I suspect the summers in the South of France are still a touch cooler than the Sicilian ones.
Bottom line? I would stick with the local grape, in this case the Nero d'Avola, which is probably more resiliant and therefore more reliable. Not to mention better value for money.
Now for the good news. Which comes from a rather unexpected source. I don't drink white wine very often and I write about it even more infrequently. I don't like Cloudy Bay - I think it overpriced and oversold. However, when one stumbles across a Sauvignon Blanc from up the road in Marlborough which espouses all of the cardinal virtues (cheap cheap, good good, plenty plenty), it's worth a couple of paragraphs in a blog.
For years, my sole comment on Cloudy Bay has been - buy the Villa Maria Reserve Sauvignon Blanc at about a quarter of the price. It's from just up the road and more than half as good. Now I have something else to say - the Gravitas Sauvignon Blanc (not to be confused with the Australian Veritas) is probably even better than the Villa Maria and in Singapore at least even cheaper.
On the nose, it has more of a floral bouquet - the Villa Maria can be a little flat. It combines more citrus tones on the palate against, a little improbably, lower acidity and expresses a little more in the minerals department. Pricewise - in London, it costs about £15 against £10 for the Villa Maria Reserve but in Singapore, at case prices - it's $20 against $28.
Moral of the story this Chinese New Year? I fully agree with the sentiment that if you are going to destroy your liver, do it with good wine rather than cheap beer or nasty spirits. The only thing I would add is that price is not always a reliable indicator of quality. Chin chin!
So, the first bottle to be consumed in the new Chinese year was a 2002 Planeta Burdese. I am a big fan of this family-run winery from Sicily - their whites are extremely good and their basic red, the La Segreta Rosso, is probably one of the best wines you could buy for less than £8 in London. The Burdese is one of their higher-end wines based on a Bordeaux blend of 70% Cabernet Sauvignon and 30% Cabernet Franc.
Frankly, it doesn't work. Too much leather and spice masking the fruit. Tannins a little too rough. Perhaps it needs a little more cellaring - after all, this has emerged from the oak less than two years ago. Perhaps the new French oak barrels were a little too raw or perhaps, the Sicilian summers were a little too hot for two cooler climate varietals. It might even be, perhaps, that I served it at a higher than optimum temperature.
The question which remains is why we should pay between two to three times more than their very good La Segreta Rosso for what is, let's admit this, yet another failed IGT experiment. Now there is hope for the Burdese as the plantings acclimatise to the hot summers and in the best case scenario could end up like the Mas de Daumas Gassac in the Languedoc which produces great wine probably two out of ten years from their Bordeaux blends although I suspect the summers in the South of France are still a touch cooler than the Sicilian ones.
Bottom line? I would stick with the local grape, in this case the Nero d'Avola, which is probably more resiliant and therefore more reliable. Not to mention better value for money.
Now for the good news. Which comes from a rather unexpected source. I don't drink white wine very often and I write about it even more infrequently. I don't like Cloudy Bay - I think it overpriced and oversold. However, when one stumbles across a Sauvignon Blanc from up the road in Marlborough which espouses all of the cardinal virtues (cheap cheap, good good, plenty plenty), it's worth a couple of paragraphs in a blog.
For years, my sole comment on Cloudy Bay has been - buy the Villa Maria Reserve Sauvignon Blanc at about a quarter of the price. It's from just up the road and more than half as good. Now I have something else to say - the Gravitas Sauvignon Blanc (not to be confused with the Australian Veritas) is probably even better than the Villa Maria and in Singapore at least even cheaper.
On the nose, it has more of a floral bouquet - the Villa Maria can be a little flat. It combines more citrus tones on the palate against, a little improbably, lower acidity and expresses a little more in the minerals department. Pricewise - in London, it costs about £15 against £10 for the Villa Maria Reserve but in Singapore, at case prices - it's $20 against $28.
Moral of the story this Chinese New Year? I fully agree with the sentiment that if you are going to destroy your liver, do it with good wine rather than cheap beer or nasty spirits. The only thing I would add is that price is not always a reliable indicator of quality. Chin chin!
posted by porcorosso at 9:46 PM
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