From Grapefan: Oaked or unoaked chardonnay?

I really enjoyed this blog article by Colin Smith, aka Grapefan, about the exciting new brace of chardonnays from 7 Springs Vineyard in South Africa:


"Chardonnay can be made in many styles. There's the austerity and minerality of Chablis or the richness of an aged Burgundy. Then there's the green fruit of many Old World Chardonnays or the ripe tropical fruit of New World ones. But perhaps the biggest difference - and the one that polarises many people and created the ABC or Anything But Chardonnay movement - is whether the wine is fermented and/or matured in oak barrels or doesn't see any oak at all."


To read the full article by Colin, follow this link to his site:


http://grapefan.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/oaked-or-unoaked-chardonnay.html

7 Springs Sauvignon Blanc 2010 - what a cracker!

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!

Seven Springs Sauvignon Blanc, 2010

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:

http://7springs.co.za/wines/

Look out for 7 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?

Seven Springs' Sauvignon Blanc getting great reviews

I was really excited to get an email from wine chum and aspiring boutique winery owner Tim Pearson, who was equally (probably much more actually!) to have received a fantastic review for his newly bottled Seven Springs Sauvignon Blanc from Two Wine Brothers, a great US wine blog.

You can read the review here, along with an earlier interview that they did with Tim.

Tim, Vaughan, Riana and all of the team, you should be justly proud of what you've clearly achieved with this first vintage, and here's to many, many more!

Family Tasting - Sunday 7th June 2009

Today I decided to arrange an impromptu family tasting of 3 wines sent to me by Naked Wines to try in my capacity as an Archangel. There were 7 tasters, although my father-in-law only tasted the white as he's not really a wine drinker. The goal was to score each wine on a 1-5 scale, and to estimate the price.

Georg Müller Hattenheimer Schützenhaus 2007 (Riesling Spätlese Trocken, Rheingau, Germany)

A very pleasant wine, tasted lightly chilled. It showed a wonderful fruity aroma, with characteristic Riesling flowery notes. The taste was also surprisingly fruity, one taster mentioned cider, another elderflower. Dry and refreshing, this makes perfect summer drinking, and would fare well with spicy seafood or coronation chicken. It also drinks well on its own. Light in alcohol, although perhaps stronger than expected at 12.5% a/v. Tasting again later I noticed a pleasant petillance to this wine which topped it off very nicely.

This was preferred of the three overall, despite some of the tasters only usually drinking reds. The average score was 3.1/5 (ranging from 2-4) and the desired price just over £6 (ranging from £4-8).


"The Dark Side" Cabernet Sauvignon/Shiraz 2005 (Cloof Vineyards, Darling, South Africa)

This was loved and hated in equal measure by the group - depending upon individual tastes. Its nose was variously described as 'cabbage' and 'Christmas pudding', but certainly the aroma was welcoming to me. The flavour was intensely oaky, having been aged in French wood. It would benefit from decanting or aeration prior to drinking. I plan to taste again tomorrow evening to see how it has mellowed.

A strong wine at 14% a/v, and it tastes it too. Despite the oak, the wine was easy, smooth drinking, and very pleasant. The Shiraz character successfully bludgeoned any Cab. Sauvignon character out of the way, although with aging I am sure this imbalance would even out.

This scored an average of 2.75/5 (ranging from 1-4!) with a desired price of £6.25 (range from £5 to £8).


Chateau La Lauzette Declercq 2006 (AC Listrac-Médoc, Médoc, France)

Again there were two distinct camps on this wine (opposite to the South African wine). As expected for a 2006 this was highly tannic and most tasters said it was acidic, although that was a positive point in a couple of cases! Would definitely benefit from decanting and should stay in the bottle for another year or three in this taster's opinion.

A pleasant aroma, notes of cinnamon and caramel. One taster described it as thin in the mouth and having a flavour of boiled eggs. For me it was too raw, and I will taste again tomorrow to see if it improves with some air.

Average score was 2.4/5 (ranging from 1 to 3.5), with a desired price-point of £5.50 (£3 to £6).

Upcoming tastings - Italy and South Africa

I just got word about a couple of tastings in London, both of which I am attending:

Tuesday 9th June - Italian tasting - Lazio region

Tuesday 16th June - South African tasting - South Africa's Hidden Gems

both courtesy of Naked Wines.

Can't wait!

On Wednesday 17th June Naked Wines will be organising a tasting at my workplace in Hammersmith, at the summer barbecue. Hopefully it will be a lot of fun, and they will earn a few more customers.