I must confess to having been quite lazy about keeping up on the wine front lately. I first tasted the inaugural vintage (2010) SB from 7 Springs Winery some weeks ago, scribbled a few notes of appreciation and put them to one side, promising to myself that I would write them up later on this blog. I now have one bottle left (from 13!) and I've just come across my notes from the first sampling!
All I can do is to offer my sincere apologies to Tim and Vaughan Pearson for my tardiness, and hope to make amends by writing up my tasting notes now! In my defence, I've been enjoying your wine far too much to sit at the computer writing about it!!! That said, I have really enjoyed reading all of the other great reviews this wine has been getting from some very well known experts in the trade and the wine blogosphere (Jamie Goode, Joanna Simon, Tom Cannavan, Sue Sterling (of the Naked Wine Show - see below), Denise Medrano to name but a few)
The wine is a very pale straw colour and shows excellent clarity. Actually the theme of clarity suits this wine on all fronts, not just the appearance! The aroma is delicate, with notes of lemons and limes, fleeting tropical fruits, and very clean.
In the mouth this beautiful wine is gently warming, with well-rounded pear and peach notes, as well as some lively citrus flavours. The acidity is balanced, the flavour is fruity, and it's a tremendous pleasure to drink. At 13.5% abv it is fairly typical in strength for this varietal, and you would never know it.
To summarise, it's a lovely wine, easy to drink - I've already enjoyed a case of it (purchased from Underwoods in Warwick), and you can buy from a number of other boutique wine retailers in the UK (around £10-12 a bottle), South Africa, and will soon be on sale in the US. You can see a list of UK/SA stockists here:
Look out for7 Springs' Chardonnay coming soon (in both unwooded and lightly oaked versions), as well as a Syrah and a Pinot Noir in future vintages. Future vintages of the Sauvignon Blanc will be sought after I am certain!
Tim and his very talented young winemaker Riana van der Merwe will be at the London International Wine Fair next week, and this cracking wine will be available to taste on the Wines of South Africa "Super Sauvignon" pod.
I'll be there too - I look forward to meeting lots of great wine people, and enjoying what the world has to offer this year - see you there?
I once again had the privilege (in my capacity as an "Archangel") this week of being invited by Naked Wines to join them at the LIWF and help find some exciting new winemakers for the site.
After an early start to travel from Bristol to the ExCel exhibition centre in London's Docklands, I joined a motley crew of Archangels, along with the Naked buying team assembled at the Fox Inn, adjacent to ExCel, for coffee and pastries. We were then briefed on our mission. A group of around 20 loyal customers were divided into teams with a brief to seek out the best wines and winemakers currently seeking UK representation from France, Spain, Australia, New Zealand, Chile and Argentina.
Having opted to join the Aus/NZ group, we set off to find "our" winemakers, to taste all of their offerings and decide which we felt were most suitable for the Naked stable. That is to say they had to be unrepresented, prepared to offer exclusivity for some of their wines, and they had to be smaller, boutique wineries. Needless to say the wines also had to be great, and to represent good value.
In return Naked Wines were looking to get their wines listed and available for sale from the site (pre-orders) the very next day! An awesome proposition, which has never been done before in the UK, and one which certainly generated a lot of interest with the winemakers and the wine media.
We tasted some fantastic wines during the morning, and many of them could have made it, my only regret was that we had to choose one winemaker to represent both Australia and New Zealand as a group, and there were a couple of extremely good NZ wineries that I have asked Naked Wines to follow up on (Matahiwi Estates' Alexia and Mt Hector wines from Wairarapa, near Martinborough, and Osawa Wines' Flying Mouton label from Hawke's Bay). All of these wines were good, but the stand-outs were Flying Mouton Sauvignon Blanc and Reserve, and the Mt Hector Pinot Noir, which was exceptionally good value.
We assembled again for a light lunch back at the Fox, and then the groups had to reach a consensus on what were the preferred wines from their region. Then we had to go and taste all 11 of the favoured wines before selecting an overall winner that would be listed on the site for sale the next day.
Once the final round of tastings had been done, we met at the "Access Zone", where most of the social networking seminars and events were taking place at LIWF to feed back our findings and also to decide which wine was to be our champion of champions.
As the film posted below shows, we had the opportunity to introduce the three final winemakers (although Peter Logan was otherwise engaged so couldn't make it), we all retasted their wines and had a show of hands for the one to be listed. Rowan Gormley (Naked Wines Founder and MD) was clearly impressed with all three wineries and all five wines, so Naked Wines will be listing the lot!
Logan Wines - Orange/Mudgee, NSW, Australia - Weemala Gewürtztraminer, a fruit-driven, pale golden wine with a beautiful passionfruit aroma, well-balanced tropical fruit flavours and florality, and a lingering citrus finish - a real highlight even for those who don't usually favour white wines.
Logan Wines - Orange/Mudgee, NSW, Australia - Logan Shiraz, deep bright red in colour, with an intense, peppery, plum/berry aroma and warm, berry fruit flavour with hints of beefiness, with a lengthy peppery finish.
Lagar de Bezana - Cachapoal Valley, Chile - Aluvion Gran Reserva, deep red, blackberries, plums, smokey, chocolate and toffee notes, with an exceptionally velvety mouthfeel and light tannins - delicious!
Bodega Campos de Dulcinea - Toledo, Spain - Campos de Dulcinea Tempranillo Syrah blend, beautiful cherry red colour, incredible sweetness and smoothness on the palate and packed with fruit, a really bright young wine perfect for easy summer drinking.
Bodega Campos de Dulcinea - Toledo, Spain - Campos de Dulcinea Crianza. A big, bold and intense wine, with 12 months in French and American oak. Full-flavoured and fruity, with a deep garnet colour and avery long finish - awesome!
After all that hard work, we were kindly invited back to the Fox for a few beers. All in all it was a wonderful day, and a pleasure to be working with people who are so passionate and enthusiastic about what they are doing to revolutionise the UK wine market.
I'm excited that I'm now planning my 2nd visit to the London International Wine Fair in London's ExCel Centre. Last time I was only able to make it for an afternoon. This year I am going up for 2 full days (18th and 19th May) and I am really thrilled!
On Tuesday 18th I will be there helping out Naked Wines with sourcing new suppliers of fine boutique wines that can be sold through their highly successful online sales model, which is revolutionising the online wine trade.
On Wednesday 19th I hope to meet up with Tim Pearson of 7Springs Vineyard (Hermanus, South Africa) to see what his new wines are all about, as well as to attend some tastings and meet a few people from 2009.
Great piece from CNN about the Virginia (and other US) wines at the London International Wine Fair last month. Very good interview with Chris Parker (New Horizon Wines), a great evangelist for the wines of Virginia:
During my altogether far too brief visit to the LIWF I made a point of checking out the wines and winemakers present from Virginia. This was mainly due to my affinity with the area, having been there several times with work; and also on the recommendation of a couple of my friends over there.
When considering wines from the US one immediately thinks of California and perhaps Washington, but the picture is far from complete until you consider what the East Coast has to offer.
I met with Chris Parker, an Englishman who has "gone native" in Virginia and made it his mission to support and evangelise a number of excellent boutique wineries from the region under the banner of New Horizon Wines. Chris graciously took the time to talk me through what these wineries have to offer, and I was very pleasantly surprised by all that I tasted.
Also on the stand that I visited was Luca Paschina, General Manager and Winemaker from the Barboursville Vineyards, making an incredibly diverse range of varietal wines in the style of his native Piedmont; and Patricia Hodson (another expatriate Brit) who co-owns the family-run Veritas Vineyard & Winery, her daughter Emily making some really complex and elegant wines.
The highlight for me was having the opportunity to taste a number of excellent pure Viogniers from Virginia. These all displayed the wonderful, floral character and fruitiness that make this grape so versatile in blends. Virginia seems to have an ideal terroir and climate for Viognier to thrive and these wines demonstrated it admirably:
WHITES:
Rappahannock Cellars Viognier 2007 - Gold Medal winner in the 2008 San Francisco International Wine Competition. Crisply acidic, wonderful fruit character, 14.5% alcohol.
Rappahannock Cellars Chardonnay 2007 - Winner of the Best White Wine in Virginia Governors Cup competition 2009. A joy to the nose (nectar, hay, toast) and to the palate (green apple, vanilla), it compares favourably with the finest Californian or Australian examples. Fermented and aged in French and Virginian oak, this was a triumph.
Barboursville Vineyards Viognier 2007 - Unoaked, highly aromatic floral notes and a glorious fruitful palate and a dry, lingering finish.
Keswick Vineyards Viognier 2007 - A drier example of this varietal than the previous two, with some oakiness, though not overpowering. This wine should continue to improve for a few years.
Keswick Vineyards Verdejo 2007 - A wonderfully crisp, easy drinking wine with an engaging aroma (grass/straw, citrus, kiwi fruit) complex fruit flavours (apple, melon, pears) and a bright, refreshing acidity.
REDS:
Barboursville Vineyards Octagon 2006 - A proprietary blend of Merlot, Cab Franc, Cab Sauvignon and Petit Verdot, but blended after vinification. The components here marry together very well to produce an engaging, dark garnet wine with an intensely plummy and forest-fruits driven aroma and a full and silky smooth palate. Tannins are described as 'resplendent and graceful', I found them to be a little much for my novice palate, and I am sure this wine will age well for many years.
Rappahannock Cellar Cabernet Franc 2007 - This relatively young and robust blend of 75% Cab Franc and 25% Cab Sauvignon was already drinking well, but will clearly improve a great deal with age. The aroma is jammy and woody and exotic. Quite tannic, followed by wonderful forest fruits and toastiness, and with a very long, indulgent finish.
DESSERT WINE:
Veritas Vineyard & Winery Kenmar 2008 - Although I'm not much of a dessert wine drinker, this was definitely a highlight for me. Outstandingly intense, with a rich aroma of honey and flowers. The keen acidity perfectly balances the sweetness of the tropical fruitiness and citrus notes - the word 'mellifluous' was invented for this wine.
