Prosecco – The Sparkling Wine of Choice
Over the last year or so, Prosecco has emerged as the most popular sparkling wine in our range. Champagne sales have undestandably been lower in the current economic climate and Cava has fallen away to be overtaken by Prosecco. So where does Porsecco come from, how is it made and what is its appeal?

Prosecco is the name of a grape variety as well as the region where the wine is made. The vineyards are situated in the hills around the town of Trevisio in northern Italy to the north of Venice. The grape has subtle flavours and is protected from the heat by the mist that often forms in the hills.
The wine is made using the Charmat method, where secondary fermentation occurs in large tanks rather than in bottle. This is a much less labour intensive method and along with the high yielding crops maintains Prosecco at an affordable price.
The wine is produced either as the fully sparkling Spumante or the semi-sparkling Frizzante where the bottle may be sealed with cork and a traditional string, our Mionetto Prosecco di Viadbbiadene Frizzante being a classic example. Viadbbiadene is considered to be the premium area for the production of Prosecco and the wines from here are considered superior.
Prosecco typically has a soft, creamy texture with apple flavours. Its restrained acidity makes it very palatable and whilst quality certainly varies, it is mostly acceptable. It does not have the complexity and richness to rival the great sparkling wines of the world, but is an ideal light sparkling wine with an almost universal appeal.
Prosecco is particularly suitable for parties and weddings where it can fit the budget and have general appeal satisfying most guests.. My own preference is to treat it like the restaurants of Venice, where a glass is served as an aperitif whilst the diners consider the menu. A perfect way to start the evening.

Back to the Future

The world of wine is subject to trends and fashions in the same way as other products. Those old enough might remember the sherry heydays of the 1960's turning into sweet German wines of the 1970's. We had Australian Chardonnay in the 1980's and early 1990's followed by the continuing rise of Pinot Grigio.

Trends occur because of tastes and fashion but are also influenced by price and availability. For example the exchange rate against the Australian dollar has made Aussie wines about 30% more expensive over the last three years. So what are the trends likely to be in 2010? Perhaps a return to European wines from the New World.

European wines have a lot going in their favour. Wine drinkers are moving away from the full bodied high alcohol wines more typical of the New World wines as they look for lighter, more food-friendly wines. Price is also on their side with a better exchange rate against the euro holding the price of European wines.

Italy continues to grow with new inexpensive wines arriving and the growth of Prosecco as the sparkling wine of choice. Puglia and Siciliy in the south of Italy with the rich generous fruit are paticualrly worth looking for at present.

In France the Lanuedoc/Roussillon region continues to be innovative and good value. Arguably the most interesting developments are in Spain which is re-inventing itself as a modern, exciting wine country. They seem to be excelling across the board - from easy drinking approachable wines at the budget end, to concentrated fruity wines from old vines and premium wines of great distinction. Our new wines from Priorat, Campo de Borja and Ribera del Duero are especially worth looking out for.

So 2011 might be year when Eurpoe makes a comeback. There are certainly some serious wines at very competitive prices that are well worth exploring.

Burgundy and Beaujolais

One of the most interesting aspects of the wine trade is getting the opportunity to visit producers and taste wines in the regions in which they are produced. On a recent visit to Burgundy and Beaujolais I was able to taste many wines from the same region and select the best available wine from each category.

I tasted between ten and twenty wines from Meursault, Pouilly-Fuisse and Gevrey Chamertin for example. This enabled each wine to be assessed along with its peers. In this way we do not only select a good wine, but one that we consider to be among the best of its type avaialable.

One producer that we have admired for a while is the Domaine de la Creuze Noir. Their white wines have great elegance and finesse and really stand out against other wines from the same region. We have selected their Pouilly Fuisse (£17.50) and St-Veran (£12.99) to add to our Burgundy range.

It is also reassuring to taste new vintages of wines that we already stock against their competition and reconfirm that these are class leaders. Domaine de Roally Vire-Clesse stood out among all the eight Vire-Clesse on taste and our Nuits St-Georges Domaine Philippe Gavignet and Givry Rouge Danjean-Berthoux showed very well against their peers. Our Aloxe Corton 1er Cru Domaine Maurice Chapuis was excellent and we now have the 2006 and 2007 vintages in stock as well as a few remaining cases of 2005.

The Beaujolais tasting was a real lesson in the terroir of the region and confirmation that we have wines from some of the best Beaujolais producers making wines or real depth and character. My particular favourite remains our Moulin-A-Vent Gerard Charvet, which is outstanding at £11.99.

Who'd be a Winemaker?

I was recently visiting wine makers in Burgundy and Beaujolais, of which more to come next month. I had the opportunity to discuss the vintage with several winemakers and see for myself the last of the grapes in the vineyards and arriving at the wineries.

It is clear that 2010 is a challenging year in the region. There is some rot within the bunches and selection of the grapes as they enter the wineries at the sortation tables will be key this year. All is not lost however as the berries are quite small showing good concentration of flavour. So whilst volume will be lower, it is still possible to make good quality wine.

One winemaker whom I rate very highly was not peturbed as he said this year it will be clear who the best winemakers are, whereas in a year with perfect weather almost all producers will make good wine.

Another winemaker was discussing the challenges of organic production in the region. They still need to spray the vines with copper and sulphur to guard against rot and mildew, but as these are their only weapons, they need to spray each time it rains. He remarked that it always seemed to rain on a Sunday this year to ruin his day off.

Even in the difficult years it is the work in the vineyard that enables good wines to be produced. You can't make good wine without good grapes ( although it's perfectly possible to turn good grapes into poor wine). This is why we try to get to know who the most concientous winemakers are and we have confidence in them to produce the best wine from the climatic conditions of the year. Let's hope are faith is rewarded in the 2010 vintage.

Rediscover Beaujolais

I recently had the pleasure of tasting some of the 2009 Beaujolais wines and was amazed by the quality. It is said to be the finest Beaujolais vintage since 1948, which I am not quite old enough to vouch for, but it is certainly the best vintage I have tasted.

I am sure most people reading this will think of Beaujolais as thin wine lacking body, most of which is released early as Beaujolais Nouveau is October/November. Certainly there has been too much of this wine produced in the past and thin wine continues in some of the well known names you find in the supermarkets. These wines are often picked at minimum ripeness and undergo chapitalisation (adding sugar) to increase the alcohol content.

In recent years however there has been a revival amoung small domaines to make denser wines true to their terroir which can rival the more lauded wines of Burgundy to the north. The small artisan producers we work with produce wines of real depth and character far removed from the mass produced pale wines of the large producers.

Beaujolais lies in the east of France betweeen the Rhone Valley to the south and Burgundy in the north. The wines are made exclusively from the Gamay grape on pricipally granite soil, but with important variations within the sub regions. The winemaking is unusual in that it involves semi-carbonic maceration where whole bunches of grapes arrive at the vineyard and start to ferment at the bottom from the weight of grapes on top. This helps give some of the distinctive aromas found in Beaujolais.

About half of all production is sold as the basic appellation Beaujolais, a quarter as Beaujolais-Villages and the remainder named after the communes or Crus where they are considered distinctive enough to have their own appellation.

At Talking Wines we only stock wines made at the domaine with producers making distinctive wine true to its origins. This currently includes the following Beaujolais Crus.

Moulin-A-Vent Gerard Charvet 2009 £11.99
Fleurie Les Roches Lucien Lardy 2008 £11.99
Morgon Vielles Vignes Domaine Laurent Gauthier 2006 £9.99
Brouilly Domaine Champier 2007 £10.50

Each have subtle differences due to the soil types, location and winemaking. These wines along with our ever-popular Beaujolais Emmanuel Mandrillon 2009 (£8.50) represent an excellent range of wines to discover the real Beaujolais. I hope you will join me on Saturday 15th May to try some of the wines for yourself.

The Rhone Valley

Many wine drinkers will declare Shiraz as one of their favourite red grape varieties, but few associate the variety with its home in the Rhone Valley where it is known as Syrah.

To be precise, the northern Rhone is the true home of Syrah where the red wines are almost exclusively made from this variety. Here the wines are charcterised by the peppery spice and most notably the smooth, silky tannins that can give superb length to the wines. The famous names of St Joseph, Hermitage and Crozes Hermitage are fine examples of Syrah at its best.

If the northern Rhone is relatively simple to understand, then the southern Rhone region is much more complicated. Here Syrah is an important variety but Grenache is the most prevalent, with Mouvedre and Carignan also widespread together with several other varieties in the blends.

The region is also classified by area and quality. Cotes du Rhone is the first level, followed by Cotes du Rhone Village with the most famous appelations being Gigondas, Vacqueras and Chateauneuf-du-Pape.

One of the producers we have teamed up with in the Rhone is Paul Jaboulet. For some time we have listed the excellent Crozes Hermitage 'Les Jalets'. Les Jalets is old French for the pebbles left by Alpine glaciers. The wines has intense aromas of Autumn berries with elegant smooth tannins whlist retaining the slight rustic edge that identifies it as Crozes Hermitage terroir.

From the southern Rhone the Petit Jaboulet is 100% Syrah classified as Vins de Pay, offering excellent value at £6.99. We have also added two new Jaboulet wines from the Cotes du Rhone - Paralelle 45. The white wine is a blend of Grenache Blanc and Viognier showing wonderful aromas with a well balanced rich yet crisp palate. The red has great fleshy, ripe berry fruit and good length. These two wines are a great addition to our Rhone range and at £8.99 represent excellent value.

After Pinot Grigio, What next?

Over recent years Pinot Grigio has been the white grape of choice for many wine drinkers. The appeal of Pinot Grigio is it can be a fresh, easy drinking, mildly fruity wine that is not too challenging on the taste buds. A good glugging wine on a hot summers day. Alas many Pinot Grigios can be bland in the extreme with almost a complete lack of flavour.

The recent phenomonen follows a well trodden path which started with the sweet German wines of the seventies, heavily oaked Australian Chardonnay of the nineties through to the confected sweet white Zinfandels of today. Maybe not the most glorious of wines in the past, but what of the future?

If I could predict future trends then I probably wouldn't be in this job, but I can offer a few suggestions as to which white varieties are becoming more popular and who knows, might replace Pinot Grigio in the future. Sauvignon Blanc of course rivals Pinot Grigio's popularity and can offer zingy crisp fresh whites with bags of gooseberry and citrus flavours such as False Bay Sauvignon Blanc to the sophisticated smokey, flinty Pouilly Fume such as Domaine Pierre Marchand. Sauvignon from New Zealand's Marlborough region remains popular and with more production, prices here are beginning to ease.

Aromatic white wines are also becoming more popular. Albarino has a close following, but because it only thrives in the hills of Rias Baxias in north west Spain, it will never reach a price that will meet the mass market. Viognier has also become more popular with wine such as Santa Rosa Viognier from Argentina producing the floral, rich character of Viognier whilst retaining the fresh acidity. Slightly more aromatic is Torrontes from Argentina which has a rich texture and a hint of spice on the finish.

Chenin Blanc from South Africa has the right blend of freshness, subtle aromas and good body that could prove a winning combination (try Lutzville Chenin Blanc). It can also be produced at an affordable price that could rival Pinot Grigio.

Chardonnay for all its bad press of late remains the most produced white variety with the most variety of styles. From fresh unoaked peachy fruit to rich creamy oaked wines. It is also one of the few white varieties with ageing potential.

As for myself, I crave a bit of variety where white wine drinkers ask for a variety of different styles and keep us all on our toes. I'll raise a glass of Vermentino to that.