Tasting at La Table: Wines with Dinner. The fourth and final instalment in this series of Anjou tastings.
Updated: 2012-06-30 23:28:04
: Home Vintages and Regions Loire Tasting at La Table : Wines with Dinner Page 1 of 2 previous 1 2 next Tasting at La Table : Wines with Dinner Tasting at La Table This update relates to wines tasted in February 2012 at La Table de la . Bergerie Pt : 1 Dom . de la Bergerie Pt : 2 Vincent Ogereau Pt : 3 Ch . Pierre-Bise Pt : 4 Wines with Dinner See my relevant Loire profiles for more detailed domaine . profiles Our tastings over , our palates fully familiarised with just about every new cuvée from Vincent Ogereau Claude Papin and Yves Guégniard it was time for us to take a break . But not a long break , I should stress , as the tastings had run through late afternoon and into early evening . In fact , no sooner had we locked up our laptops and notebooks in our car were we being ushered back
Following on from last week's wine fairs in London, the RAW Wine Fair and the Real Wine Fair, surely it's only natural (groan....sorry) that my thoughts and my drinking this weekend should turn to one such wine. And so I'm looking at yet another cuvée from Les Cailloux du Paradis, a domaine that to my mind typifies the natural wine movement, within the context of the Loire at least, and yet it doesn't seem to have a great presence here in the UK. That is despite the fact that a good number of the wine bars in Paris that focus on this particular style of wine devote a lot of space on their lists to the wines of this domaine.
Home Wine of the Week Laibach The Ladybird 2009 Laibach The Ladybird 2009 One of the curious features of the natural wine fairs recently held in London is the very poor turn-out from South Africa . With a wonderful climate and lots of long-established vineyards full of aged vines with deeply secured roots , you would have though this would be an ideal spot for organic or biodynamic viticulture , perhaps accompanied by a little natural' winemaking . Apparently not it seems , at least if the natural wine fairs are anything to go by . At the RAW Wine Fair arranged by Isabelle Legeron there was not a single representative of this country . And at the Real Wine Fair a showcase of domaines and wines marketed within the UK by Les Caves de Pyrène , there was just one South African , Craig Hawkins 
Home Producer Profiles Bordeaux Profiles Château Haut-Beauséjour Château Haut-Beauséjour Located just to the south-west of the town of St Estèphe itself , the Haut-Beauséjour estate is one of the lesser known properties of the St Estèphe appellation It has no grand château about which to boast which explains why the label displays only a coat of arms and you are unlikely to ever be invited to visit . Nevertheless , despite this , critics and visitors to Bordeaux are often afforded a taste of the wine . This is thanks to the estate's owners , Champagne Louis Roederer who also own Pichon-Lalande along with a handful of other estates , including Château de Pez and Château Bernadotte A visit to Château Pichon-Lalande never a hardship is likely to yield a taste of all of these . wines The
Home Wine of the Week Vale da Mata Reserva 2008 Vale da Mata Reserva 2008 I find keeping abreast of what is going on in Bordeaux and the Loire is hard enough . Trying to keep a broad overview of the entire world of wine is near-enough impossible , and it is countries like Portugal that really rub salt in the wound in this respect . Twenty years ago any keen student of wine could , once he or she , of course , please take that as read had managed to become acquainted with the principal styles of Port and of course Madeira too we mustn't forget this sub-tropical island remains under Portuguese jurisdiction today have peremptorily ticked Portugal off his to do' list . Now , what's next , our student would mutter under his breath . Hmm , South Africa Not much there except rubbery Pinotage and
Yves Guégniard, Jim Budd, Tom King and myself were taking a look at some of Bergerie's oldest vines, trying to shake off their blanket of snow, when Vincent Ogereau drew up in his little blue combi-van. Perhaps sensing there was just as much gossiping going on here, about the latest vintages, wine and the world in general, it was not long before Vincent had left the secure warmth of his vehicle to join us among the vines.
, Home Vintages and Regions Bordeaux Grand Cru Classé , 2012 Grand Cru Classé Tasting , May 2012 Cross vintage comparisons can be very useful . The grand flop that was the Bordeaux 2011 en primeur campaign will without doubt be remembered for its misjudged prices more than the quality of the wines . It was only natural that all interested parties , merchants , critics and consumers , viewed each new release specifically , the price of the release in the context of previous vintages . Some called for grand reductions in price compared to last year's wines , an obvious request , but one that uses a rather false benchmark , many top châteaux having pushed the limits with massive price hikes for their 2010s . Others wanted to see how the prices compared with 2008, a more insightful comparison
Only a few weeks on from the primeur tastings, the annual Grand Cru Classé Tasting in London, featuring the wines of a small and select number of Bordeaux châteaux, afforded me another opportunity to taste some of the barrel samples from the region's newest vintage. I travelled down to London for the tasting, and report on the wines here. In other reports (linked below) I will focus on the other vintages shown at the tasting, these being 2010, 2009 and 2008.
It is now a little over one year since I first tasted the wines of the 2010 Bordeaux vintage during the primeurs, in April 2011. The tastings were held against a backdrop of mild incredulity, as - until the independent reports began filtering out, revealing the fact that this really was another great vintage - few were prepared to believe the words of the Bordelais when they said that the wines were once again of extremely high quality. After the joys of 2009, in a world jaded by years of Bordeaux spin, the thought that we might have another top-class vintage on our hands, giving us a back-to-back pair, just seemed too good to be true.
: , Home Vintages and Regions Bordeaux Bordeaux 2008 Grand Cru Classé : 2012 Page 1 of 2 previous 1 2 next Bordeaux 2008 : Grand Cru Classé Tasting , May 2012 Vintage Review First Report Bordeaux 2008 En primeur Top ten wines Pessac-Léognan The Médoc , Part 1 The Médoc , Part 2 St Emilion Pomerol Sauternes Barsac Mopping up At Two Years Introduction Pessac-Léognan The Médoc Communes St Emilion Pomerol Sauternes Barsac From Bottle Grand Cru Classé , 2012 This final report from the 2012 Grand Cru Classé Tasting concerns 2008 Bordeaux Curiously , I have the sensation that I am looking back in time with this vintage even though the wines are now barely four years old , the memory of my trip to Bordeaux for the 2008 primeurs in April 2009, is a very distant one . Even in this short space of
Manifesto: To Texas Bloggers…Together We Are A Community Before I posted my comment to Jeff Cope’s near philosophic question (Wine Bloggers – Are We in a Competition?), I found the question he posed to be something akin to Bill Cosby’s comedic line…“why is there air?”. However, the more I thought about it, the more serious [...]
Write Off the Vine – Texas Wine News (Harvest 2012 Edition) The 2012 Texas Wine Harvest is Coming Fast: Both On Vine and Online Grape harvest time in Texas usually starts on or around July 1st. This year it’s already here; a bit earlier than normal with some gulf-area vineyards with Blanc Du Bois starting [...]
The Wine Society of Texas Announces 2012 Scholarship Grant Program The WST will provide up to $4,000 in assistance for the education, internship or field study, and appreciation of wine The Wine Society of Texas (WST), a 501c3 non-profit educational organization announced that it is accepting applications for its annual Scholarship Grant Program. In order [...]
It’s Now Official: Texas Wine is the Official Wine of the Texas Hamburger! Super-Size Your Texas Hamburger with a Glass of Texas Wine Calling all Texas wineries and Texas Hamburger lovers, too. According to “Hambassador” Rick Vanderpool, “It’s time to name your favorite Texas wine that you think is best-paired with the Texas Hamburger.” Why? [...]
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Pappas Bros., Drew Hendricks MS and McPherson Cellars Bingham Family Vineyards Roussanne Featured in Wine Spectator Imagine my surprise when I opened my July 31, 2012 edition of my Wine Spectator expecting to see wines from California, Oregon, France, Greece and even Uzbekistan before I’d see Texas wine. But, on page 59 of this [...]
Another Wine Blog Because Another Wine , Food , Beer and Travel Blog would have been way too ing long Skip to content Home Best of AWB Reviews Food Cooking Recipes Contact Us Contact AWB Contact Amy Contact Joe Media PR Inquiries Links About About This Site About Amy About Joe RSS Feed Twitter StumbleUpon FaceBook I made wine out of raisins so I wouldn't have to wait for it to age . Steven Wright AWB Home » Happy Sauvignon Blanc Day Viva SauvBlanc June 21, 2012 Happy Sauvignon Blanc Day Viva SauvBlanc By Amy Corron Power Leave a comment Tweet Share T oday is International Sauvignon Blanc Day Wine drinkers around the world are celebrating with a refreshingly crisp glass of wine from the green-skinned grape , so named from the French word sauvage meaning wild and blanc meaning . white
July 10th TXwine Twitter Tuesday: Share Your Texas Grape Harvest Stories and Pics Denise Clark (@DeniseClarkeTX), Jeff Cope (@TXwineLover) and I (@VintageTexas) hope you can join us for the next TXwine Twitter Tuesday at 7 p.m. Central Time on Tuesday, July 10th, 2012. This month we’d like to share tales from Texas Wine Grape Harvests [...]
VintageTexas Sunday Cyclopedia of Wine: Acidity Think of acidity and fruit, and your mind immediately goes to the tart and titillation of lemon juice. But, what would wine be without acidity? It would be a flat, non-refreshing beverage. Acidity is often underrated in its role in many of wine’s qualities from its mouthfeel to its [...]
Haak Texas Madeira Tasting & Dinner: An Evening with the Maestro of Madeira Think Madeira is just for old people, or worse, just for cooking? Well, those that attended the Haak Winery Madeira Tasting and Dinner last night definitely came away saying, “think again”. Attendees celebrated in grand fashion the release of the new Haak [...]
A Brownfield Meet Up: A New Venture (Texas Custom Wine Works) Starts To Ferment It all started one Friday morning this past May: a meet-up in a Wal-Mart parking lot in Brownfield, Texas, with Dusty Timmons. At the time, he was the Extension Viticulture Advisor for Texas’s Western Region (our largest that on average produces [...]
: Another Wine Blog Because Another Wine , Food , Beer and Travel Blog would have been way too ing long Skip to content Home Best of AWB Reviews Food Cooking Recipes Contact Us Contact AWB Contact Amy Contact Joe Media PR Inquiries Links About About This Site About Amy About Joe RSS Feed Twitter StumbleUpon FaceBook What contemptible scoundrel stole the cork from my lunch W.C . Fields AWB Home » Live Tasting : Join us for Kunde Live on June 7th June 6, 2012 Live Tasting : Join us for Kunde Live on June 7th By Amy Corron Power 1 Comment Tweet Share J oin us tomorrow evening Thursday , June 7 as we experience three new wine releases from Kunde Family Estates . Beginning at 7:30 p.m . Houston time 8:30 Eastern , 5:30 Pacific we will join fourth generation winegrowers Marcia and Jeff Kunde