La Cave aux Coquillages – an unusual cellar visit in Fleurie-la-Rivière

Posted on February 17, 2012 by Caroline

La Cave aux Coquillages

La Cave aux Coquillages

About 10 days ago, the WineSleuth – aka Denise Medrano – and I visited La Cave aux Coquillages in the Vallée de la Marne.

La Cave aux Coquillages is a project of winemaker Patrice Legrand who had long been interested in the paleontological research and excavations conducted in Fleury-la-Rivière. As a young man, Patrice used to come to the village to dig for shells in the rich fossil beds of the Lutetian Age (about 45 million years old). In 2004 he had opportunity to buy two connecting wine cellars smack bang in the middle Fleury–la-Rivière and ever since then he has started his research and digging into the rich underground. At first his project was more of a hobby and part time occupation but in the last few years his focus has shifted from vigneron to full time geological excavator and paleontologist. In “La Cave au Coquillage” he want to show off the richness of the soil in it’s natural environment, and by doing so exposing a little of the specific terroir of the Vallée de la Marne in Champagne.

45 million years ago the Champagne region was in fact a tropical coast – where the sea water would have averaged around 27 °C. The Champagne sea beds were fertile grounds for fauna and flora and the waters were home to several kinds of shellfish, sea urchin’s, corral and large fish such as sharks and sting rays. Evidence of this rich marine life can be found in the 200 metre excavation tunnels where between 8-9 metres under ground a vast area of shells have been discovered. I was amazed at how well these shells had been preserved by the fine sandy limestone and chalky soil. Walking through the tunnels one gets a really good idea of how fine and sandy the soil really is…

Sand booties at la Cave aux Coquillages

Sand booties at la Cave aux Coquillages

Original cellar turned into a paleontological museum

Original cellar turned into a paleontological museum

This is also why at the start of the visit we were asked to put some booties over our shoes. These booties are removed once you leave the site and their sole purpose is to try and minimise the amount of sand carried out by our shoes.

In the first “room”, part of the original cellar purchased in 2004, there is a great display of some fossils going back to 180 million years – but not all of these are from the Champagne area. It is also here that we get a little history and paleontolgy lesson.

At the end of the room/cellar is where Patrice started his excavations and this is where the main exhibition area is situated.

Campanile giganteum

Campanile giganteum

Several alcoves have been dug out and turned into display areas for the different kinds of shells found during the excavations. The shells are displayed in their natural environment and it is pretty impressive to see a Campanile giganteum, a large shell between 40 and 60 cm long, sticking out of the ceiling or the walls. A little further down the tunnel a display is set up which shows off what the sea would have looked like all those years ago.

Excavations are going on all the time and we found Patrice and his two apprentices unravelling several blocks of large shells.

A second part of the visit is a little more practical as our guide Sarah showed us first the different kinds of subsoils in a 28 metre funnel, and then went on to illustrate how one extracts the shells through the excavation process and the sifting of the sand. Towards the end of the visit – there is a tasting lab set up where a famous oenologist sometimes undertakes guided wine tastings. The aim here is to make the consumer aware of the mineral and iodine aromas in the wines. Consumers are given pure iodine in a vial to smell and are then guided by the oenologist to discover the same aroma in the Champagne.

The visit ends in the tasting room with a glass of Legrand-Latour Champagne. The wine is made by the Coopérative Vinicole L’Union de Vandières from grapes farmed on the family vineyards a little further down the Marne valley. The Legrand-Latour Brut NV Champagne is a fruity wine (90% Pinot Meunier), with lots of redcurrant, a great of minerality and saline notes in the finish. After having visited the excavation site you really can taste the iodine sea air notes in this Champagne.

La Cave aux Coquillages is open for visits on Thursday afternoon, Friday, Saturday and Sunday and visits are at 10AM, 2.30 PM, 4 PM and 5.30PM. The entry fee is 8 Euro’s for adults and 6 for children. Groups of more than 5 people best make a reservation. La Cave aux Coquillages also offers paleontological workshops and guided tastings on a regular basis. Please check their website for details.

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Champagne Tarlant – the one Champagne I really cannot get enough of :-)

Posted on February 6, 2012 by Caroline

Champagne Tarlant in Oeuilly

Champagne Tarlant in Oeuilly

Champagne Tarlant, is a small independent champagne grower in Oeuilly, in the Vallée de la Marne. The Tarlants started growing grapes and making still wine in the 17th century and almost as soon as the technology allowed it Louis Tarlant, decided the family should produce their own Champagne. So they became one of the pioneer independent champagne producers in 1928.

I first tasted Tarlant Brut Zero at the European Wine Bloggers conference in Vienna in October 2010 – where I also met the lovely Melanie. It was love at first taste!! The Brut Zero is a “Zero Dosage Champagne” or in other words a Champagne where no sugar has been added at the point of disgorgement. This is pretty unusual as the most Champagnes will have a little sugar mixed up in the liqueur de dosage to balance the high acidity.

A lot of Zero Dosage Champagnes can be pretty austere and mouth puckering. However Tarlant’s Brut Zero is fresh, crisp yet a little rounded with lots of citrus and a little brioche and a great minerality. It is extremely morish hence the reason that I just can’t get enough of it :-)

Guided Tasting with Micheline Tarlant

Guided Tasting with Micheline Tarlant


Tarlant is a real family estate. When visiting the tasting room, one will have a tour and guided tasting with a family member. The tasting room is very clearly sign posted from the Oeuilly turn off, and Tarlant are open Monday to Saturday between 10 am and 12.30pm and 2-6 pm. It is a very welcoming place and every visitor is given a lot of time and attention. There are plenty of opportunities for questions and the family really enjoy sharing their history and Champagne knowledge. I feel very fortunate as I have had 3 different Tarlant visits with 3 different members of the family. My first visit was last August with Micheline, Melanie’s mum. She gave us a great overview of the different terroirs, the blending, and an amazing tasting where she often suggested interesting food pairings.

Cellar visit and tasting different base wines with Benoit Tarlant

Cellar visit and tasting different base wines with Benoit Tarlant

In December I returned and tasted and visited with Benoit Tarlant, Melanie’s brother, and the winemaker today. Benoit is 12th generation winemaker and with him I was fortunate enough to taste several base wines as part of our cellar visit. Benoit also freshly disgorged a new single vineyard cuvee the family will probably release later this year which we tried as part of our tasting.

On Saturday I had my most unusual Champagne tasting ever, as Melanie took us for a candlelight Champagne Picnic in the snow covered vines:-) The vineyard views were amazing, and the 2 Brut Zero Champagnes we tasted in the snow were actually a lot rounder, showing more stone fruit and fine pastry flavours than when tasted at a normal temperature. It was an extremely interesting to feel the flavours change as our glasses were getting colder :-)

Picnic Tasting in the Snow organised by Melanie Tarlant

Picnic Tasting in the Snow organised by Melanie Tarlant


There are a few important similarities and characteristics which I have noticed in all three visits. The first is the family’s passion and love for the terroir. The Vallée de la Marne is a landscape very rich in micro climates and a variety of soils (limestone, Sparnacien, chalk and sand). The combination of the two can create a unique expression of the grape variety per vineyard block. All the Tarlant grapes are vinified per vineyard, and it has been really interesting to taste the base wines per block. It was a revelation for me to see how much difference there can be in the same variety and how the terroir manifests itself in each of these wines. With the blending, the Tarlants aim to create a wine which reflects the true flavours of the Vallée de la Marne.

The second is that they all see their Champagne as a wine first. By this I mean they feel Champagne is a (still) wine first, that wine needs to be elegant, complex and most importantly faultless, in order to become a great sparkling wine.

And lastly they are a family of innovators. It seems they are more than willing to take risks if they feel as a family that the risk will benefit the quality of the Tarlant experience. Jean-Mary Tarlant was one of the first to produce Zero Dosage Champagne, when a friend of his asked him to make him some in the early 80’s. In the 70’s he also reverted back to barrel fermentation rather than than tank fermentation which has just about been the norm in Champagne since the fifties. And in 1982 he created the Cuvee Louis, a single vineyard Champagne. Benoit followed in his fathers footsteps and increased the production of Zero dosage wines. They now make up around 80% of the total Tarlant production. To make a Zero Dosage you have to get everything right at the beginning, as there is no sugar added to hide or make up any small defaults. Benoit also created some old vines single Varietals Single Vineyard Champagnes. Old vines have deeper roots hence are better conveyors of the terroir expression. Old vines also will produce less fruit than younger plants, but the flavours are generally more rounded and intense. Again single varietal and single vineyard wines are very unusual in Champagne, where one tends to blend across varieties, vineyards and years to maintain a consistency of taste.

This innovative thinking can also be seen on the marketing side, as Tarlant embraced Social Media very early on and continue to use it as a means to stay in contact with their customers. They try different strategies and look for new and interesting ways to keep people focussed on their brand. A perfect example is the Tarlant Advent Calendar, the 2011 Champagne Christmas project were everyday something small was given away to Tarlant fans in the 25 days up to Christmas. The Chamapgne Christmas project was linked to the Tarlant Facebook place and in the count down to Christmas I collected a really cool Champagne stopper ringtone, found out all about my “vintage” year in Champagne, got some family recipe’s etc etc. This was a simple but wonderful way to engage the consumer in a peak Champagne buying period – it worked as on Christmas day I had Tarlant on my mind and in my glass:-)

Tarlant Single vineyards Champagnes

Tarlant Single vineyards Champagnes


Here below are my tasting notes of a few of the wines I tasted during my 3 visits:

Tarlant Brut Zero NV: 1/3 Chardonnay, 1/3 Pinot Meunier, 1/3 Pinot Noir, 2006 base wine. 4 years on the lease. Crisp, fresh almost zesty Champagne, with small elegant bubbles, medium body and flavours of meyer lemon, a little brioche and a hint of tangerine in the finish. The wine has a nice minerality, and as explained before, when tasted at 0 degrees, the flavours became less citrussy and the wine acquired more stone fruit (apricot, white nectarine) and fine puff pastry characteristics. It is a perfect aperitif wine, works well with oysters, sashimi and I have also enjoyed it with a puckering lemon meringue tart :-) The Brut Zero is the flagship Tarlant wine, the wine I fist tried and the one I still adore today!
Tarlant Brut Zero Rose NV 85% Chardonnay, 15% Pinot Noir. The Pinot Noir is added as red wine, and the Chardonnay comes from a very sunny vineyard resulting in a more full bodied and rounded style of Chardonnay. 2007 Base wine. Bright coral pink Champagne, with pink grapefruit and some red currant on the nose and small bubbles. Crisp, elegant and very smooth and rounded Champagne, with flavours of red currant and maybe a little pomegranate, a hint of ripe red apple and a lingering rounded finish.
Tarlant Brut Tradition NV: 50% Pinot Noir, 35% Pinot Meunier, 15% Chardonnay, 2005 base wine and a dosage of 6g/l. A rounded, yet fresh champagne with a great balance, and rich tarte tatin and roasted almond flavours and again a lingering finish. It is a great food wine, perfect for a Champagne breakfast as it pairs very well with a warm apple muffin w lots of butter :-)
Tarlant La Vigne d’Or 2002: 100% old vine Pinot Meunier from the Pierre de Bellevue vineyard, which the Tarlants generally refer to as “la vigne du grand père”, as it was the favourite vineyard of Melanie’s great grand father. He worked in this vineyard all his life till he was well into his eighties. The vineyard is planted on Sparnacien – a subsoil typical for the area made up of combination of chalk and clay and the vines are more than 50 years old. It is a wonderful expression of the potential of Pinot Meunier and as it has aged on the lease for more than 7 years it totally refutes it the often stated fact that Pinot Meurier will not age in a Champagne…
A rich almost sumptuous Champagne, warm golden in colour with very fine bubbles. It has a rich nose of toasted brioche and ripe apricot. It is crisp, yet tropical on the palate, with flavours of ripe mango, a little carree confiture and tarte tatin with a praline like nutty finish. Only 1500 bottles are made and in my opinion they are true gems to be treasured and opened at a very special occasion!
Tarlant La Vigne D’Antan 2000: 100% Chardonnay from a small plot of sandy ungrafted vineyard (Les Sables). Ungrafted vines are rare as hens teeth in France as they are very vulnerable to Phylexora. However this little plot of land is totally sandy, and Phyloxera cannot move and propagate on sandy soil. So when Georges Tarlant saw that 3 plants had survived the disease he requested a soil analysis of the CIVC and when finding out the soil is very sandy he requested permission to propagate the clones of these 3 plants and slowly proceeded to replant the vineyard with these ungrafted vines. The resulting wine represents the essence of Chardonnay. It has a white blossom and apply nose, is extremely elegant, with small bubbles and delicate flavours of quince and yellow apple, some fresh almonds it has a silty almost gritty sandy characteristic in the lingering finish.
Tarlant Mystery Cuvee (name to be decided)2003: 100% Pinot Noir from a steep south facing vineyard (Monctoneaux). We were very fortunate to taste this wine, which had been freshly disgorged à la Volée by Benoit. The Champagne was big, bold and beautiful!! The nose reminded me of a freshly baked cherry pie. The bubbles were fine, and the wine was extremely layered. I am not sure if this was due to the very recent disgorgement but whatever it was I absolutely adored the layers of rich forest fruit – which had a crumble like sensation, a little salty caramel, some toasted pecan and very clean and long saline finish. This Champagne had been bottled in 2004 so spend about 7.5 years on lees. The name of this wine has not been finalized yet but it looks like it may be called “la Vigne Rouge”. It is yet another wonderful example of how diverse and expressive the Champagne Terroir can be!!
Tarlant Cuvee Louis: This is the first single vineyard Champagne Tarlant ever made. It is named after Louis Tarlant who was the first to make a sparkling Tarlant in the 20’s.
The vineyard, Les Crayons, is located right next to the meandering Marne river. The subsoil is chalk and the vines are more than 60 years old. The vineyard is planted with Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. The base wine for the Cuvee Lois we tried was 1998 (80%) and a little of 1996 and 1997 of the previous Cuvee Louis. The wine had been disgorged in 2011, hence spend 11 years aging on the lees. The resulting wine is a fabulous food wine, rich and complex, with a toasty smokey manuka honeyed nose. The bubbles are very creamy and fine, the wine is beautifully balanced had a nice mouth feel and flavours of quince pie, tarte tatin and apricot turnover, lots of toasted hazelnuts and a sweet pastry characteristic in the lingering finish. The wine is tasting very young and fresh, and I feel it easily can age another 10 years in the cellar.

More tasting notes and wines can be found on Vinogusto.com

Posted in Champagne, social media, terroir, Wine Regions, Wine Review | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Perfect Lisbon visit combining Niepoort 1984 Colheita and Pasteis de Belem

Posted on January 27, 2012 by Caroline

Vendredis du Vin

Vendredis du Vin

Today the theme for the Vendredis du Vin is “Le Vin et les Voyages” or Wine and Travel – a topic which is right up my street so I decided to write my first Vendredis du Vin post :-) I know I know I should write it in French, however as Rome was not build in a day I decided it was better to get something on digital paper and next time start earlier and do the whole post in French:-) So the next question was which place or wine to pick for this post, having visited so many wine regions last year…

The answer came this morning from my good friend Audrey Domenach who posted some Port pictures on Facebook. Today also happens to be the first ever International #PortDay, so I will follow Audreys lead and post about my Vinocamp Lisbon visit in May last year.

It was my first time in Lisbon and I was totally charmed by the beauty of the city. I loved the mosaic style streets, the little white and blue tiles really brightened up the place – even though they were deadly when walking on stiletto’s ;-). The architecture is amazing as traditional buildings blend in with super modern ones. Lisbon also is a really vibrant place, with people piling out of the little restaurants and bars, and street parties seem to be starting everywhere late at night.

Pasteis de Belem Bakery

Pasteis de Belem Bakery

And the food was glorious!! For a person who is not crazy about desert and sweet stuff I fell in love, not just a little bit but head over heals when I found THE best custard pie I have ever tasted in a quaint Belem pastry shop. To enter the shop is an experience in itself. The whole place is tiled in white ands blue and they only sell Pasteis de Belem – their own version of the Pasteis de Nata – a traditional Portuguese custard tart – and Port. Actually both side walls held cabinets that were filled with bottles of Port, and good Port too – mainly Coheita’s and Tawny’s with an Indication of age (10, 20, 30 or 40 years old).

Niepoort 1984 Colheita

Niepoort 1984 Colheita

Colheita is a very popular Port in Portugal, but rare and difficult to find in the rest of the world. It is a kind of vintage Tawny – all the grapes in the wine are from the same vintage, however they are processed as a Tawny with less vigorous extraction, hence colour and tanin, and are then aged at least 7 years in oak barrels before bottling. Most Colheita’s however spend a lot longer aging hence the bottling date as well as the vintage will be on the bottle.

A little slice of heaven - a Pasteis de Belem

A little slice of heaven - a Pasteis de Belem

I had my Pasteis de Belem (in plural) with some fabulous Niepoort 1984 Colheita. The Port had been bottled in 2008, and therefore had aged for 24 years, resulting in a rich, layered and very morish wine with flavours of Christmas spice, roasted nuts, dried figs, prunes and raisins. It enhanced the cinnamon you put on top of the Pasteis and made the pastry even more delicious and sinful.

This pairing is one of my loveliest travel and wine memories and I like to relive it with a good glass of Port – as I am sure I will tonight :-) If only I could get my hands on one of these Pasteis de Belem… mmmmmm ;-). I think I need to plan another visit to this magical city:-)

Happy #Portday and Vendredis du Vin to all of you!!

Posted in Food and Wine Pairing, Porto, Vendredis du Vin, vinocamp | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

A little Port history at the Graham’s & Sandeman’s lodge in Villa Nova de Gaia

Posted on January 23, 2012 by Caroline

In the run up to this Fridays’s first International #PortDay organised by the Centre for Wine Origins I would like to share the beautiful experience fellow #winelover Onneca Guelbenzu and I had visiting a few Port Lodges at the end of November. We felt very fortunate to learn more about the Port History and taste some amazing wines :-)

Port wine goes back to to the late 17th century, when the Brits where at war with France and the Bordeaux “Claret” trade had been ended. The British were on the look out for an alternative wine which could easily be shipped and found what they were looking for in the Douro. Originally, Port was not a fortified wine, but as the long journey tended to spoil to the wine by the time it arrived, a little brandy was added in the early 18th century to stabilize the wine. As time went by, the style of wine changed and around 1840, Port as we know it today, a sweet fortified wine of approximately 20% alcohol, became the dominant style.

Port is made exclusively from grapes grown in the Douro Region in the North of Portugal. The region was first officially demarcated in 1756 by Portugal’s then prime Minister, Marques de Pompal who had commissioned a detailed geographical study to pinpoint which areas where deemed to produce wines which would guarantee the high standard and quality Port wine was known for. There are 82 grape varieties allowed but the 6 most common ones are Touriga Franca, Tinta Roriz, Tinta Barroca, Touriga Nacional, Tinto Cão and Tinta Amarela. Port vineyards are classified from A to F by an incredibly detailed and complex system taking into account altitude, yield, soil type, vine training, vineyard location, grape varieties planted, slope, gravel content, exposure, vine spacing, shelter from the winds and age of the vines.

The Port Lodges in Villa Nova de Gaia on the other side of the Douro from Porto

The Port Lodges in Villa Nova de Gaia on the other side of the Douro from Porto


Since Port wines require extensive aging (minimum 2 years), and the Douro vineyard area was way too hot to guarantee a steady maturation in cask, the barrels were transported down the river to Villa Nova De Gaia, a coastal town on the other side of the Douro River from Porto. Here the Atlantic ocean breeze has a cooling influence and the climate is a lot more humid and suitable for aging. Hence in the 18th Century, all major Port Negociants or Houses set up Aging Lodges here where they matured their Ports.

The first Port Lodge we visited was Graham’s, which is situated a little higher on the steep river bank which accounts for the most amazing view up the Douro river from the tasting room. Just the view alone is worth a visit, it simply is picture perfect!

W & J Graham’s was founded in Oporto, in 1820 by William and John Graham. The Graham family was already an important shipping and merchant family focussing mainly on the textile industry, and it was the wool trade that had first brought them to Portugal. But with the increasing success of the Port in London and the rest of the UK, they soon started to specialize in the production and shipping of fine Port wines. The Graham family heavily invested in quality and over the years they purchased some of the finest vineyards in the Douro. In 1890 the Graham’s Port Lodge was constructed and it is here that still today all of the Graham’s Port is aged. The building holds around 4000 pipes as well as several large wooden vats which each can hold 173.000 litres.

In 1970 the Symington Family purchased Graham’s. The company is family run and the wine maker is Charles Symington. Before taking over as Chief winemaker in 2009, he had been working for 15 years with his very successful father Peter Symington, who received the International Wine Challenge for the Best Fortified Winemaker of the Year no less than 6 times.
The Symington Family owns 26 Quinta’s – with their 2052 hectares, of which 986 hectares under vines, they are the largest land owner and 75% of the grapes used for their production are Estate Grown.
All their top wines are 100% Estate grown and in the last decade they have also invested in the production of Douro DOC wines.
Graham’s focusses on the top end of the market and is especially renowned for their vintage Ports.

A selection of the excellent Graham's Port's we tasted

A selection of the excellent Graham's Port's we tasted


We tasted the following wines and Ports:
P +S Post Scriptum de Cryseia 2009 Douro DOC: This blend of 40% Touriga National and 60% Touriga Franca deep ruby in colour with a nose of red berries, cherries and some kitchen herbs. The wine has a great acidity, good weight and tanin structure, flavours of tart red fruit, some acacia berry and ripe pommegranate, a little casis leaf and sweet liquorice in the finish.
P +S Cryseia 2008 Dour DOC: The Cryseia is a blend of 65% Touriga National and 35 % Touriga Franca which has been aged 10 months in new French oak barriques. Again it is deep ruby in colour, with a large watery rim and a black fruit and meaty nose. It’s a complex and very layered wine with a great tanin structure, good weight and plenty of acidity. In the middle palate I get lots of black plum, mulberry, and some ripe black berries and a hint of Biltong; some rosemary, thyme and fresh laurel leave in the lingering finish.
Graham’s Late Bottle Vintage 2006: Lucious, rich wine, with lots of cassis and acacia berry on the middle palate, and a nutmet and liquorice finish.
Six Grapes Reserve Port: This Port is made from 100% A grade grapes and the 6 stand for 6 stars – a measurement used to indicate the highest quality wines. Medium sweet wine with strong red fruit flavours (berries and plums) and clove, nutmeg and white peper in the finish
Graham’s Aged 20 Years Tawny Port: Deep copper in colour with a rich nose of dried figs and roasted hazelnut. Luscious layered wine with strong roasted walnut flavours, lots of dried sultana, figs and dates, and a candied pecan and nutmeg finish.
Graham’s Aged 40 Years Tawny Port: Light copper brown in colour with a nose of toasted nuts and dried dates. Luscious complex wine with flavours of roasted hazelnuts, candied pecans and a little roasted walnut, a few hints of very dry and sweet raisins and dates and a sweet candied nut finish.
Graham’s Quinta do Malvedos 1999 Vintage Port: An elegant yet rich wine with a concentrated blackcurrant nose. On the palate this wine is sweet, with integrated almost velvet tanins, good weight and lots of blue and black berry flavours, and some distinctive “double salted” liquorice in the long finish.
Graham’s 1980 Vintage Port: Ruby in colour with an orange rim and lots of candied red fruit on the nose . Velvety, elegant and complex wine with great weight, amazing freshness and a medium sweetness. Lots of candied cranberry and red berry flavours, laced with some toasted nuts and dried, leathery meaty flavours – reminiscent of game Biltong and an almost smoky finish. I absolutely adored this wine as there were so many layers and so many different flavours intermingled!
A Sandeman 640 liter pipe - fire branded with the iconic Sandeman Don

A Sandeman 640 liter pipe - fire branded with the iconic Sandeman Don


The next morning we visited Sandeman’s. Unlike Graham’s, the Sandeman story started in London. In 1790, young Scotsman George Sandeman bought his first wine cellar in the city and started trading in Porto and Sherry from Tom’s Coffee House. In 1811 Sandeman purchased an aging cellar in Villa Nova de Gaia on the banks of the Douro River. The Sandeman’s Port Lodge is a grand building, designed by Joaquim da Costa Lima Sampaio, who also designed Porto’s Royal Palace. The Lodge hosts a small museum covering all the highlights in the Sandeman history.

Sandeman’s has always been an innovative and brand focussed company. In 1805, they were the first company to fire-brand their trademark on all pipes they sold. The idea behind this was to assure the wines quality and create customer loyalty. For the same reasons Sandeman became the first Port House to export bottled and labelled wines in 1880. The Sandeman brand has been registered since 1877 and is one of the oldest brands in the world.

Sandeman was also the first wine company to use a logo as part of their branding. The Sandeman Don was created by George Massiot Brown in 1928. The Don incorporates both Sandeman’s Sherry and Port elements – The dark cloak refers to the black cape worn by students in Porto and the Sombrero is worn by the caballeros in Jerez. Since the 1930’s the Don has been an integral part of both bottle labels and advertising and today it is what immediately comes to mind when someone refers to Sandeman’s.

Our Sandeman Port tasting - from left to right starting from the back The Sandeman Apetiv, Sandeman Founders Reserve, Sandeman Vau Vintage Port 2003, Sandeman 10 Years old Tawny and Sandemans 20 Years old Tawny

Our Sandeman Port tasting - from left to right starting from the back The Sandeman Apetiv, Sandeman Founders Reserve, Sandeman Vau Vintage Port 2003, Sandeman 10 Years old Tawny and Sandemans 20 Years old Tawny


Also in the vineyards and winemaking Sandeman’s has tried to be a bit more innovating. I noticed this especially in the first and third wine we tasted:
Sandeman APITIV White Porto: Light copper in colour with a fresh nose reminiscent of orange peal and a hint of sweet almonds. It’s a fresh yet lush wine, which tastes of tangerine marmelade with a hint of pecan in the finish. Sandeman show here that they once again think outside the box by giving several long drink recommendations for this wine. It is a way to get a new audience used to Port in a fun way!
Sandeman Founders Reserve Porto: Deep ruby in colour with some dark plum and pink pepper on the nose. It’s a medium sweet wine, with great acidity and flavours of dark plum jam and preserved sour cherries in the middle palate and a Christmas spice (clove, nutmeg, orange peal and cinnamon) finish.
Sandeman Porto Vau Vintage 2003: Deep ruby/purple in colour, with a fragrant wild raspberry nose. Wow, this wine is a red fruit bomb! Wild raspberries, ripe strawberries, red currant and plump red cherries are all present here, with just a hint of cedar in the finish. This wine is made in an early drinking vintage port style, and released after about 5 years of aging in the bottle. Unlike other Vintage Port’s it is best drunk young, however it can be aged up to 15 years. Once again by making an approachable young Vintage Port Sandeman is aiming to expand the Vintage Port audience :-)
Sandemans Ten Years Old Tawny: Pale ruby/dark coppery in colour, with a Christmas spice nose. Rich yet incredibly fresh with integrated tanins and flavours of orange blossom, citrus peel, a little prune, some toasted nuts and a spicy and amazing saline finish.
Sandemans Twenty Years Old Tawny: Bright copper in colour with an amazing rich nose of toasted walnuts, pecans and carré confiture. This is a complex wine with an integrated tanin structure and different layers of nutty flavours – toasted macadamia turns into candied pecan which in turn acquires toasted walnut flavours which evolve into roasted hazelnut and freshly roasted chestnuts. The fruit goes from juicy sultana’s, candied orange peel, caramelized apple to warm sticky apricot jam. The finish is spicy with a hint of fresh roasted coffee. This wine is one of my all time favoured Ports. It is amazingly versatile and pairs well with lots of different dishes. I have tried it with a blue cheese and caramelized apple souffle, roasted parsnip and chestnut soup and a carré confiture and all three have worked well yet the wine tastes distinctively different depending on the pairing!

So I hope that reading about these amazing Ports as well as the long Port history has wetted your appetite and enthused you to join us on twitter to celebrate #PortDay this Friday (27th January)!!

Posted in Porto, terroir, wine eductation, Wine Origins, Wine Regions, Wine Review | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Natural European Wines Conference (#NEW11) part 2 – the VinNatur tasting

Posted on January 9, 2012 by Caroline

After my report about the actual Natural European Wines Conference (#NEW11) organised by VinNatur, it is now time to talk about the tasting. I had thoroughly enjoyed the conference and was really looking forward to now taste some prime examples of Natural Terrior Wines!

The #NEW11 tasting was open to the public from 3 pm till 6 pm on Monday the 14th November and from 9.30 am till 6 pm on Tuesday 15th November 2011. The entrance fee was 20 € or 25 CHF per person a real bargain as consumers had the opportunity to taste wines from 98 producers from 9 different countries (Portugal, Spain, France, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, Slovenia, Croatia and Serbia)

I spend about 5 hours (over 2 days) at the tasting yet still only managed to cover about 1/3 of the wines there. It was really interesting to be able to taste with the producers and to ask precise questions. Again this tasting felt like a winery visit, as the consumer got the undivided attention of the vigneron whilst tasting, with some vignerons even offering tank samples when they could sense a genuine interest. It was definitely THE place to discover different natural winemakers, compare styles and truly find out the “story” behind each bottle. I learned so much about the specific terroirs, specific wine making techniques used to produce the wines and difficulties encountered. I have rarely met a bunch of more passionate people and was totally invigorated after the tasting. It is one of the few occasions where I have seen people really help each other (there sometimes were some language barriers) and recommend other producers “you just have to try”. Maybe that is why I ran out of time in the end before I managed to taste my way through the room. If anything this is definitely a reason to return next year and I would suggest that true natural wine aficionado’s definitely put this tasting on their calendar!

Corte San' Alda Valpolicellas

Corte San' Alda Valpolicellas


I would like to talk a little about a few wineries that particularly stood out for me. The first one being Corte Sant’ Alda, where the very charismatic Marinella Camerani talked me through her wines. Corte Sant’ Alda was established 25 years ago by Marinella who owns about 15 hectares of vineyards near the town of Mezzane at the foothills of the Lessini Mountains in Veneto. Corte Sant’ Alda is known for it’s Valpolicellas, all made according to the classic blend of Molinara, Rondinella and Corvina. All grapes are hand picked and Marinella explained that the “cantina” (winery) is located in the middle of the vineyard in order to process the fruit as close to picking as possible. The vineyards are certified organic and Corte Sant’ Alda is currently in the process of converting to bio-dynamic farming. All fermentation is natural and induced by the indigenous yeast on the skins.
I tasted the the following wines:
Corte Sant’ Alda Valpolicella Ca’Fiui 2010 : nice bouquet of violets and red fruit; An elegant medium bodied wine, with lots of red berries and a hint of violet and a little leather and fine grain tanins in the nicely balanced finish.
Corte Sant’ Alda Valpolicella Superiore Campi Magri 2008: A fresh, dry, fruit forward Valpolicella Ripassa , with lost of ripe cherry flavours and a hint of sweet liquorice and fine grain tanins in the long finish. This wine is made in the traditional style ie by adding some semi fermented Valpolicella to the Amarone skins. After fermentation the Ripassa is aged for 18 months in large cherry wood barrels.
Corte Sant’ Alda Amarone della Valpolicella Campi Magri 2008: A complex red fruit nose, with a hint of liquorice and cloves. Dry, fresh and elegant wine which shows lovely saline/mineral character. Lots of red plums and cherries in the middle palate, with some fennel, liquorice, cloves and cedar in the long finish. Even though the wine tasted lovely I believe to see the true beauty and potential of this Amarone it should be cellared for 3-5 years. It was one of the nicest Amarone’s I have tasted in a very long time and I will be on the look out for a bottle next time I travel to the UK :-)
Corte Sant’Alda in imported in the UK by Berry Bros. & Rudd.

Valli Unite is a co-operative set up originally more than 30 years ago by 4 families in Costa Vescovato in Piedmont. Today membership has grown to 25. Valli Unite focusses on a whole range of organic farming including cattle raising, crop farming and viticulture. They have 10 wine labels and each label, each wine, tells a different story…
I tasted the following 4 wines:
San Vito da uve Timorasso 2009: Timorasso is an indigenous white grape variety from the valleys of Borbera, Curone, Grue and Ossona and is very scarce these days. In the light of biodiversity the co-operative planted a few hectares of it a few years back. The resulting wine is a full bodied yet crisp floral wine which reminded me a little of a dry Vouvray. The interesting thing was a hint of some dried sage and laurel leaf in the finish.
Diogene da uve Dolcetto 2008: Fresh, dry floral red wine with flavours of Peony, Rose and wild strawberries,with and an interesting astringency in the finish.
Gaitu Barbera 2008: Crisp elegant wine with lots of black fruit, (mulberry) and fine grain tanin.
Vighe Barberra DOC 2007:: Complex red wine with integrated tanin, with lots of black forest fruit (blackberry, wild blue berry), a smokey characteristic and a little tar and spice in the finish.
Valli Unite also runs an Agritursmo and a bio-shop. Some of the Valli Unite wines are distributed in the US by Savio Sellections.

The wonderful Lusenti wines I tasted

The wonderful Lusenti wines I tasted


The very enthusiastic Giuseppe Ferri introduced me to the Lusenti wines. The Lusenti winery has been run by him and his wife Lodovica Lussenti since Lodovica inherited the property which is based in the Val Tidone in Emilia Romana from her parent in the early 1990’s. Lusenti are currently in the process of getting organically certified, however they have been working the land in an organic way for some time now. In the winery only indigenous yeast are used.
Both Giuseppe and Lodovica are very passionate about their land – they feel it is the land in combination with the climate which allows them to make a unique terroir wine. The importance for them lies in the expression of nature which means that wines may differ from year to year. Lusenti are part of the Mosaico Piacentino Consortium a group of 6 wineries who got together to promote the quality wines made in the Coli Piacentini area. Their wines are exported top Japan, Poland, Norway, Germany and the UK.
I tasted the following wines:
Emiliana Malvasia Frisanta 2010: A dry crisp aromatic wine with very fine bubbles and rich flavours of ripe apple and a little flintiness in the finish. This wine is bottled keeping it’s natural yeast from the lees. The second fermentation occurs naturally and will gradually dissolve the fine lees giving the wine its complexity and finesse.
Gutturnio Superiore “Cresta al Sole” 2007: This wine is a blend of 60% Barbera and 40 % Croatina. The grapes are hand harvested and processed separately. No yeast is added during fermentation which takes place in stainless steel vats and takes 2 to 3 weeks. The caps are pushed down twice a day during this period. Once fermentation has finished, the wines are blended and racked into oak barriques where they will go through malolactic fermentation and age for at least 12 months. The wine is not filtered before bottling, and once in bottle this wine is aged for another 12 months. The result is a well balanced fruit forward easy drinking wine, with some dark plum and blackberry in the middle palate and clove, cedar and a little pink pepper in the long finish.
Malvasia Passito “Il Piriolo” 2009: This Malvasia comes from a vineyard with silty, clay soils with some lime stone streaks. The grapes are hand picked towards the end of august and put into crates which will dry in the sun for about 2 months. After drying the bunches are pressed in traditional vertical presses and the must is left to ferment and mature in small wooden casks for 10 months. Once bottled the wine is aged for another 6 months before it is released to the market. It’s a luscious, complex low alcohol (about 9%) wine with great acidity and rich flavours of roasted hazelnut, sultana and prunes in the middle palate and flinty notes in the long finish. It is a perfect wine to finish a meal, and it would pair very well with cheese or creamy nutty deserts.

Giuseppe pointed me toward the Slovenian tables telling me that they made some lovely and fresh wines and I really should go and try them. When learned that the 4 wineries which make up Simbiosa are located in Kras (Carso) I became really excited as I had read great things about Carso wines from my EWBC colleagues who had visited some Carso wineries on the Trieste (Italy) post trip in October. And indeed I was not disappointed to have visited the Slovenian tables as the wines were simply excellent :-) What really impressed me the most was that all wines I tasted had aged extensively yet showed a remarkable youthful character. They were fresh, well balanced and most of them would continue to develop more complexity with age. Tasting the Slovenian wines once again reinforced for me that natural wines can age beautifully under the right conditions!

The excellent Cotar Vasja wines

The excellent Cotar Vasja wines


My favourite Slovenian winery, Cotar Vasja was established by Branko Cotar about 30 years ago when the family was still running a very successful restaurant. After a while the Cotars totally fell in love with grape farming and wine making and decided to sell the restaurant and dedicate themselves 100% to the grapes and wine instead :-) Cotar Vasja are another fine example of a terroir wine. Branko explained to me that they are dedicated to organic farming as he feels it is the only way they can express the all the beauty of the Kars ancient volcanic soils.
I tasted:
Coter Vasja Vitovska 2007: Vitovska is an indigenous Kars white grape variety. The grapes were hand picked and de-stemmed. Fermentation took place on the skins for about 7 days. Then the wine was racked and aged in cask for 3 years before bottling. The Vitovska 2007 is a fresh and elegant wine with wonderful weight and floral notes of passion fruit flower and a little guava in the middle palate and a flinty almost saline mineral finish.
Coter Vasja Malvasia 2006: The vinification of the Malvasia is similar to the Vitovska. I was blown away by the freshness of this 2006 Malvasia. Again the wine was very rounded, with floral Jasmin notes, ripe red apple and quince in the middle palate and a spicy long finish.
Coter Vasja Merlot 2004: The wine underwent a 15-20 day maceration on the skins, before being racked into cask and aged for 6 years before bottling. Yet again the wine was fresh and youthful and Branko referred to it as being “just a baby” :-) Dry, high acid wine with velvety and integrated tanins, lots of blueberry and wild raspberry flavours, a hint of rosemary and some mineral notes showing an almost iron like character, some black coffee and all spice in the long finish.
Coter Vasja Terra Rosa 2003: A blend of 40% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon and 40% Terran. The grapes were hand picked and macerated separately during 15-20 days, the wines were then racked, blended and aged in oak casks for 6 years.The Terra Rosa had a complex and round nose showing hints of ripe cherry and some firework smoke. Again the wine was very youthful and fresh with a velvet tanin structure, good body and flavours of dark cherry, a little mulberry, some ripe black plum, a little nutmeg and sage in the mineral and smokey finish.
Cotar Vasja is imported in the US by Louis/Dressner Selections.

Posted in Natural Wine, terroir, wine fair, Wine Review, wine tasting | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

My report on the 2011 Natural European Wines (#new11) conference in Zurich

Posted on January 2, 2012 by Caroline

On November 14-15th the first Natural European Wines Conference took place in Zurich. The conference was organised by VinNatur, an Italian Organisation of Natural Wine Producers and Isabelle Legeron MW. Both VinNatur and Isabelle are committed to promoting quality natural wines. VinNatur incorporates natural wine producers in Italy, France and Slovenia, but in essence it is open to all natural wine producers anywhere in the world providing they meet certain quality standards.

Before I continue about the conference I would like to take a minute to explore the concept of “natural wine” here. According to Wikipedia an ideal natural wine is a wine where nothing has been taken away nor added from the grapes/must/wine. Now anyone who knows anything about wine making knows that this “ideal natural wine” is something that does not exist… So what exactly do we mean with a natural wine? As far as I understand it is a wine made from grapes which are organically or biodynamically grown and which are processed in a “natural” way – ie with no added yeast, no must adjustments, minimal or no sulfites and minimal manipulation in the winery. When made well, they can be the most wonderful expression of a terrior. However, as I found out this summer, there are quite a few people out there who believe that they can make “lazy” natural wine (ie wine where very little care has been taken in the vineyard and in the winery) and sell the resulting “faulty” wine at a premium because it is so called “natural”…. This is why I am a great believer in quality checks of the final product and feed back to the producers as advocated by VinNatur.

I had been invited by VinNatur to attend as a wine blogger and I know several journalists and bloggers attended in the same way. So as I knew a lot of “press” had been invited I expected the conference to be a big PR campaign for natural wine. However, once I arrived at the conference I realized very quickly that this was definitely NOT a PR campaign but rather a forum for natural wine growers and wine makers to come together and learn from each other as well as from experts. So in short it meant that for me the #NEW11 conference was one of the most educational and useful conferences I attended in a very long time.

Isabelle Legeron and Angiolino Maule, the President of VinNatur, kicked off the conference by welcoming us, giving us an overview of the programme and and introducing the excellent speakers both in English and in Italian. I would like to make a point here that I was majorly impressed with the overall organisation of the conference and especially with the simultaneous translation services from English to Italian and vice versa.

The focus of the conference was divided between the vineyard and how the soil structure in the vineyards influences the wine, and wine making and the influences of yeasts (indigenous as well as cultivated) and guided tastings and consumer.

Claude and Lydia Bourguignon were the first two speakers. Claude and Lydia are the founders of LAMS (Soil Microbiological Analysis Laboratory). They are world renowned for their “terroir classifiction index” and contract as soil analysts/researchers to vineyards in Europe as well as in the new world.

#NEW11 | Natural European Wines – Claude Bourguignon from Vinnatur

As you can see from the video here above Claude spoke first about history of wine making, how things evolved and how we now have the possibility to make a “technical” wine, a “varietal” wine or a “terroir” wine. So we first explored the notion of “terrior” in general. Terroir is something pretty complex – it encompasses climate, topography, geology and soil. In the wine world the definition often also includes the grape varieties and the plant density. Claude spoke how man over time has made changes to the terroir to make grape growing more lucrative/economical. Some of these changes include a lower density to allow machine access, changes to the soil because of the use of chemicals and irrigation, and sometimes a change of varieties into higher yielding ones and/or commercially more popular varieties. The flip side of these changes is that the resulting wine will not be a true expression of the terroir any more…

Claude then continued to elaborate on soil analysis – he stressed the importance of the soils composition: the physical structure (ie water drainage and aeration), the soil texture and the chemical composition. This last point is quite important as it encompasses the chemical structure on a geological level (rock level), the composition of chemicals in the soil (earth level) and the bio-chemical composition including the fauna, flora and micro composition of the nutritional elements. It is the the combination of all these elements that allows the expression of terroir in wine. So in order to make a “terroir” wine one needs to invest in restoring the natural or indigenous composition of the soil. The only way to do this is to focus on organic or bio-dynamic dry farming. However Claude did warn that if one wants to convert to this way of farming that this is a very gradual process, as it will take time for the soils to heal and restore them selves to their “natural” state.

Lydia introduced us to the“geo-sensory” tasting wine approach. This means that one focuses on the “tactile” experience of the tasting and looks for possible geological elements present in the wine. Lydia explained that the traditional “tastevin” used from the middle ages by the monks to taste was so wide and shallow as this allowed the taster to immerse the tong and fully experience the reflections of the soil and terroir. She continued to explain how the different soil structures can be expressed in a wine. Gravely lose stoney soils will add some kind of granular almost sandy tactile experience to a wine. Limestone soils tend to add a silky and smooth characteristic, and volcanic soils add more of a clean mineral experience. Lydia then invited us to experience this for ourselves by hosting a tactile tasting of 2 Barolo’s by Fernandino Principiano from two distinctive vineyards. I found it amazing how tanins of the wine from the more sandy/gravely vineyard were more granular and showed a sandy consistency in the back palate. The wine from the more clay/marl vineyard was a lot smoother, the tanin had a more velvety characteristic again especially noticeable in the finish. This tactile tasting was the highlight of the conference for me as for the first time I really experienced soil characteristics in a wine!

From the soils we moved onto the yeasts with Federico Giotto‘s presentation on the importance of natural yeasts in the natural wine making process. Federico has done a lot of research on the fermentation of grape must and the relationship between a must and the yeasts that are naturally present here.

A a general rule we can assume that the transformation of matter is the primary life source of all living things. This transformation is driven by micro-organisms. When we apply this specifically to a vine/grape/must we can say that micro-organisms contribute to every step of the production process – both of the grape formation and growth, and in the transformation from must to wine. Whilst the grape develops, the microbial population (ie yeast) will develop with the grape and under the right conditions this microbial population can drive the transformation from unique must into unique high quality wine. However, some essential conditions are needed for this to happen.
1. Yeast has to be allowed to develop with the grape – the use of pesticides, sulphur and coper may hamper this development…
2. The grapes need to be healthy – the development of the bacteria associated w unhealthy grapes may hamper the development of the microbial population as well.
3. The must needs to be healthy – must adjustments can hamper the natural fermentation…
4. Fermentation management – the fermentation needs to take place in a CLEAN and SANITIZED environment. Winery bacteria can hamper the development as well. Fermentation adjustments (use of sulphur, carbon dioxide and non indigenous yeasts) will do the same.

Federico ended his presentation by stressing that the “quality” of the wine and it’s ability to truly reflect the terroir will depend on the interactions among the different micro-organisms in the must, yeast and winery….

After lunch we started with another guided tasting of a few wines where no sulphur had been added at all. I was amazed at how stable and clean the wines were… We then continued to taste 4 “aged” natural wine to disprove the theory that natural wine does not age. I was especially blown away by the 1997 La Biancara, Recioto di Gambellara a very luscious and beautiful Garganega from Veneto which had aged very graciously indeed!

In the next session Terje Meling of the Norwegian Vinmonopolet spoke about the challenges and opportunities associated with marketing and buying natural wines. Vinmonopolet has been a long term supporter of the natural wine movement and has thus a large selection of natural wines. However there are still many challenges as a lot of the consumers will buy a natural wine once, and then move to the next thing. This means that stock often does not move fast enough resulting in discontinuation. Terje spoke of the option of educating the staff to make them “natural wine ambassadors” however he did not really touch on the subject of how a winery specifically can achieve this. He also did not speak about the fact that a winery needs an importer into Norway before the Monopoly can/will buy their wines and distribute them… Nor did he give any tips on how to find such a distributor…

Maybe I am a bit more cynical here as I have extensively worked with several monopolies (in Scandinavia, Canada and the US) and I know things only become a breeze once you have product in the stores and the wine is actually quite popular and moving at an acceptable pace. Most liquor/wine monopolies also do not readily give wineries access to their staff to organise training sessions which makes it quite difficult to turn the staff in to brand ambassadors… Anyway these facts made this the least interesting talk of the conference for me.

The last session of the day was hosted by Jonathan Nossiter. Jonathan is the director of Mondovino, the 2004 documentary on the impact of globalization on the world’s different wine regions. He spoke about the importance of independence in today’s homogenised world and drew parallels with the independent film industry in the 60’s-70’s. In some ways I believe he was trying to compare the natural wine movement with Godard… From here a discussion evolved on whether or not quality or any other guidelines can be integrated in the movement or whether these would impede on the creative wine making process. As mentioned at the beginning of this post, I do believe quality guidelines are needed as they will facilitate customer buy in. I feel most of the natural wine producers strive to make high quality, elegant and complex wines which are a true expression of their terroir, and as we learned in the morning sessions some precautions are more than advisable in the management of the vineyard as well as the must fermentation process so I do not see why these precautions cannot become guidelines or even rules for the natural wine movement. I believe these guidelines could help the winemaker to get the best and most unique wines out of their terroir.
On a separate note I love creativity, adore even a very unusual expression of a grape variety on a specific terroir like the Sébastien Riffault Akméniné 2009 Sancerre, but I do not believe that brettanomyces is a great expression of that creativity… So any rules or guidelines striving to prevent this can but be a wonderful thing as far as I am concerned :-)

The conference ended with a fabulous tasting which I will write up shortly.

Posted in Natural Wine, terroir, wine eductation, Wine Review, wine tasting | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Lessons learned at the Adegga Wine Market 2011 (#AWM2011)

Posted on December 22, 2011 by Caroline

On the first of December I attended the Adegga Wine Market (#AWM2011 on twitter) in Lisbon. The Wine Market is a project of Adegga, Portugal’s largest wine review site. It started out rather small 3 years ago when the Adegga team (Andre Ribeirinho, Emidio Santos, Andre Cid) contacted 13 premium Portuguese wineries and invited them to show and sell their wines to Adegga members. Last year the Adegga team added another 10 wineries, and this year they added the concept of the Premium Room and invited 35 wineries. It is a fact that the Wine Market has proven to be a very successful concept, growing from about 150 visitors the first year to around 900 this year. Visitors paid to visit the tasting (€ 7.50) and if they wanted to visit the Premium Room they had to put down another € 20 Euro’s. Whilst this may seem logical for a lot of us wine lovers – I would like to stress that this event was organised in Portugal – where the average bottle of wine retails for around € 3 – so € 7.50 to attend a tasting requires a certain commitment and believe of the consumer that the tasting really IS value for money. And obviously a lot of people shared this believe :-)

Adegga card system to help consumer remember the wines they tasted - Picture ©Adegga - Ricardo Bernardo


The wine market used a very easy card system with 3 categories: Tasted, favourite, to buy. All the wineries had stickers for the wines they had to taste and the consumers could ask for a sticker to add to their card. Once they had completed the tasting they could hand in the card and purchase the bottles they wanted to buy. This simple system really proved to be effective as a few thousand bottles of wine were purchased directly at the event. This is quite impressive especially as the average sales price was € 15/bottle.

It is a common fact that the best way to sell a wine is to have the consumer taste it. Add to that the simplistic card system and all at once the price becomes a lot less important… The statistics above show that the average Wine Market visitor is easily convinced to trade up when he/she likes the wine.

Learning and asking questions about the wines tasted at the Adegga Wine Market - Picture ©Adegga - Ricardo Bernardo


The wineries gain as they have direct access to the consumers, they can answer their questions directly, and have the ability to show off their more expensive wines and get just about the full retail price for the stock that is sold at the event.
Whilst it generally is not advisable to sell directly in your distributor’s territory I do feel that this event is different… First of all it is a one off and can in a way be compared to a winery visit… Consumers get the full winery attention, buy there and then, and because they now understand and know the winery’s story they will look for these wines again through the general distribution channels. In this way I believe that the exposure and the opportunity to hand-sell their wines at the Wine Market will convert into sales during the rest of the year as well. Remember the consumer gets to keep the card and even if he did not buy at the event, he probably will purchase the wines he liked at a later stage, in the same way as he will be likely to re-purchase the wines he did buy at the Wine Market.

The busy ground floor at the Adegga Wine Market - Picture ©Adegga - Ricardo Bernardo


I also feel that the Portuguese wine industry as a whole benefits from the event, as the overall focus really lies on the more premium wines… As mentioned earlier, the event encourages the consumer to experiment and trade up – hence investing in the quality wines produced in their country and becoming an ambassador for them. This year there also were a small number of influential international bloggers invited, and I was very happy to be one of them, which ensured international coverage of the event, but more importantly had several messages go out on all major social media sites of the outstanding quality of the wines tasted.*

A personal lesson I take away as a sommelier is that the Portugal Premium Wine Industry is a lot more than just the excellent ports… I was astonished by the high quality/price ratio of the wines that I tasted and will look to add more Portuguese wines on the lists I put together… I also learned a great deal by having the opportunity of tasting so many indigenousness Portuguese varieties – Loureiro, Encruzado, Bical, Maria Gomes, Espadeiro, Tinta Franca, Tinta Roriz, Alicante Buchet and Trincadeiro – just to name a few… It is one thing to learn about them out of a text book but it is only by tasting that I feel that one really can understand and appreciate this rich wine culture…

A small; selection of the super wines poured at the Premium Room


I would like to end this article by writing a little about the Premium room – which was a new concept this year. This room showed off some real Portuguese wine gems. Unfortunately I never got to taste the red wines as the room was so very busy, but the Ports shown were really out of this world! Both Luiz* and Onne* wrote excellent reviews of the fabulous rare wines which were on show. The Premium Room encompasses for me the most important lesson I learned at the Wine Market 2011: that there is a wealth of excellent Portuguese wine around, which age beautifully and can easily compare with some of the great French wines in taste, complexity and exquisity. However these wines were made available to the general public for a relatively small fee, which is something which is unheard of in France. Furthermore some of these gems are still for sale and are actually affordable and priced maximum at 1/3 of their French counterparts:-)

* I decided to focus on the more commercial/marketing benefits of the Adegga Wine Market, however my international colleagues did write up some of the excellent wines we tasted – please check their notes out:

    Just a few of the wines that really impressed me here below in no particular order

  • Quinta dos Carvalhais Sparkling Rose
  • Casa Ferreirinha Vinha Grande Douro 2010
  • Quinta dos Carvalhais 2009 Encruzado
  • Aveleda Grande Follies 2009
  • Horta de Gonçalpares Soc. Agrícola Lda -Raya 2008
  • Herdade de Peso Icone 2007
  • Donna Ferreira Port 1863
  • Graham’s 1970 Vintage Port

Posted in General wine biz stuff, Porto, wine eductation, wine marketing, Wine Regions, Wine Review, wine tasting | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

My private Piper Heidsieck tasting became a life changing experience in Champagne

Posted on November 5, 2011 by Caroline

As some of you may know I have been travelling for most of the summer looking for the next place to settle and find my place in the (wine) world. Since I passed the certified sommelier exam in February this year I have been itching to get back into the hospitality trade but never quite knew where to go…

The last few months I had been thinking about going to Champagne. The place somehow felt right and I was toying with the idea to make it my next home. BUT, I just wasn’t sure….

Then just over a month ago I was passing through Champagne again and I had made arrangements to meet my friend Christian Holthausen, the International House Communications Director at Piper Heidsieck. We had met at the Vinocamp Bordeaux in July and I had been really surprised by the quality of the Piper Heidseick NV Champagne… Quite a few years ago I had tried the same Champagne and it had really not impressed me. As it is quite unusual for NV Champagnes to change a lot I was really curious to find out the story behind these wines…

Pavillon des Crayeres - Piper Heidsieck

Pavillon des Crayeres - Piper Heidsieck


Christian met me at the “Pavillon des Crayeres” in Reims. This Art Nouveau building was once the house of “Charles Heidsieck” and was designed by Alphonse Gosset. It has been closed to to the public since 2007 and is currently used to welcome distributors, VIP’s and the press. Close to the Pavillon is the access to the Crayeres, where ALL the Piper-Heidsieck wines are aged. The Crayeres are more than 2000 years old and were dug out by the Romans who used the chalk to build roads, aquaducts and viaducts. I was lucky enough to taste some excellent champagnes in the beautiful Pavillion and to visit the Crayeres, and it was in the Crayeres whilst sipping on the first ever vintage of the Charles Heidsieck Blanc des Millénaires (1983) that I knew for sure that Champagne would be my next home :-) The beauty of the place, it’s history and the wonderful and elegant wines had totally drawn me in!!

Piper-Heidsieck is one of the oldest and most prestigious Champagne houses. It was founded in 1785 by Florian Louis Heidsieck who moved to Champagne from Westphalen in Germany in the 18th century. Champagne Heidsieck was a favourite at Versailles where Marie Antoinette heavily promoted it. When Florian died in 1828, with no direct descendants, the champagne house was split up amongst his 3 nephews. Christian Heidsieck, went into business with Henri-Guillaume Piper, and from 1839 the company was consequently called Piper-Heidsieck. In 1851, Charles the son of a second nephew, Charles Henri, founded Charles Heidsieck – a champagne house known for it’s lengthy aging on the lees and also the first Champagne house to go to the USA. The third nephew Henri-Louis Walbaum and his brother-in-law Auguste Heidsieck went on to found Heidsieck & Co. Monopole. The 3 resulting companies were fierce competitors and only in 1988 when Piper Heidsieck was bought by Remy Martel, who already owned Charles Heidsieck, some unity of the original company was restored. Heidsieck Monopole is still a competitor today as it is owned by the Vranken group.

Quintessential to the vast improvements in quality of the Piper Heidsieck NV Champagne is Régis Camus, who joined the company as assistant cellar master in 1994. With the general focus being on the Charles Heidsieck brand, Régis chose to get more closely involved with Piper-Heidseick and made several changes to improve the quality of this brand. One of the changes was to invest more in the Piper reserve wines which meant that in the excellent Champagne vintages of 1995 and 1996 he decided not to produce a vintage Champagne but rather improve the quality of Piper Heidsieck Non Vintage Champagne. Régis became cellar master at Piper-Heidsieck in 2002, after Daniel Thibault passed away and earlier this year he received his 6th International Wine Challenge “Sparkling Winemaker of the Year” award. Piper Heidsieck is the only large Champagne house with one cellar master for the 2 brands.

Piper Heidsieck and Charles Heidsieck tasting

Piper Heidsieck and Charles Heidsieck tasting


Tasting notes:

Piper-Heidsieck Non Vintage Champagne: Base wine 2007, 20% reserve wines, 30 months aging
Dry with small bubbles, medium weight and flavours of red apple, pear, warm bread and some honey suckle in the finish.
Charles Heidsieck Non Vintage Champagne Base wine 2006, 40% reserve wines (minimum 5 years old), 4 years aging
Dry with elegant bubbles, medium+ weight and flavours of apricot, peach, a little hazelnut, toasted brioche and some buttery notes in the finish.
Champagne Piper Heidsieck 2004 50% Chardonnay, 50% Pinot Noir
Fresh and elegant wine with creamy bubbles, medium+ weight, and flavours of lemon, tangerine and brioche on the middle palate and yellow apple on the lingering finish. I found this wine playful and very morish:-)
Champagne Charles Heidsieck 2000
Dry with small elegant bubbles, medium + weight and rich flavours of tarte tatin, a little carré confiture, some nuts and an amazingly fresh meyer lemon and almost minerally finish.

Piper Heidsieck 2002 Rare

Piper Heidsieck 2002 Rare


Piper Heidseick 2002 Rare 70% Chardonnay & 30% Pinot Noir from Grand Cru Villages, 7 years on lease, disgorged June 2010 and released in January 2011.
Fresh nose, with some sandle wood ash and brioche notes. Dry, zesty wine with creamy bubbles, good weight and flavours of ripe apple, pear, a little butter croissant and mineral tones in the lingering finish
Charles Heidsieck 1995 Blanc des Millénaires – 100% Chardonnay from Avize, Cramant, Mesnil-sur-Oger and Oger (all Grand Cru villages), 14 years on lees, disgorged in 2010.
Dry, elegant wine with creamy bubbles, a lovely acidity and rich flavours of ripe meyer lemon, peach, stewed pear, apple turnover, toasted brioche and a lingering mineral finish.
Christian Holthausen opening Charles Heidsieck 1983 Blanc des Millénaires in the Piper Heidsieck Crayeres

Christian Holthausen opening Charles Heidsieck 1983 Blanc des Millénaires in the Piper Heidsieck Crayeres


Charles Heidsieck 1983 Blanc des Millénaires -100% Chardonnay, 24 years on lees, disgorged in 2007
Amazingly complex wine, with very small bubbles, great acidity, good weight and flavours of baked pear, red apple bonbon, a little toasted brioche in the middle palate and a smokey, minerally finish. I was blown away by the freshness and the elegance of this wine -27.5 years after bottling….

Posted in Champagne, wine marketing, Wine Origins, Wine Regions, Wine Review, wine tasting | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

My #EWBC introduction to Franciacorta

Posted on October 25, 2011 by Caroline

Last week I attended my second #EWBC (European Wine Bloggers Conference). This year the conference really went global with 35 nations being represented amongst the 216 participants. Our hosts were the consortium of Franciacorta and the venue was the beautiful Santa Guilia chapel in Brescia, Italy. I was really excited to go to Brescia and learn more about Franciacorta as it is a sparkling wine region!

Franciacorta sparkling wine

Franciacorta sparkling wine


Franciacorta is located to the east of Brescia and it is a relatively small wine region encompassing an area which is 25 km wide and 10 km high. The wine region was originally developed by Bourgundian monks who settled here in the 13rd century. They became such a powerful presence that they were exempt from paying taxes to the bishops of Brescia. Because of this the area became known as Francae Cortae (Free of the Courts in Latin) which over the centuries evolved into Franciacorta.

Today Franciacorta DOCG is a synonym for high quality sparkling wine produced according to the Methode Traditional, or in other words produced by a second fermentation in the bottle and aged on the lees for at least 12 months and a further 6 months in the bottle. The FranciaCorte NV wines can only be released 25 months after harvest. Grapes used to produce the wine are Chardonnay, Pinot Nero (Noir) and Pinot Bianco. Besides the regular non vintage there are a further 3 styles of Franciacorta wines. Saten, which is made from 100% Chardonnay and has slightly less pressure (5 bar instead of 5.5) in the bottle. Saten means silken in Italian and it is true that these wines are slightly smoother, rounder and pretty silky in character! Saten is aged 24 months on the lees, and a further 6 months in the bottle and can only be released 37 months after harvest of the base wine. Franciacorta Vintage wines are aged in the same way as the Saten, but all 3 grape varieties can be used. A last category of Franciacorta is the Franciacorta Vintage Riserva which has been aged for 60 months and can only be released 67 months after harvest.

The Franciacorta concertium has invested heavily in quality – starting with precision viticultural techniques during the growing season and stringent yield and extraction restrictions at harvest. Furthermore all grapes have to be hand harvested and whole bunch pressed.

Franciacorta wines are characterised by a great minerality and freshness and are excellent food wines. The consortium showcased off their wines at the Mystery dinner on Friday. We were divided in 4 groups and each group had dinner at a different winery. My group visted Il Mosnel a beautiful winery which was first established in 1836. The original farm house has been beautifully restored and I really loved the murals. We tried some Il Mosnel Extra Brut when we first arrived at the winery, and I also tried the Il Mosnel Pas Dose paired with some of the hors d’oeuvres. It worked really well with the fresh salmon.

Murals at Il Mosnel Winery, Franciacorta

Murals at Il Mosnel Winery, Franciacorta


For the dinner I got to try the wines of Contadi Castaldi, another prominent Franciacorta producer. We tried the Contadi Castaldi Franciacorta Brut Rosé 2007 with our first course – a saffron risotto w dried liquorice and some creamy cheese – and they paired beautifully. The 15% Pinot Noir base wine in the Brut Rose and the extra aging gave plenty of body to the wine, and worked well with the rich saffron and cheese flavours and the red fruit notes enhanced the dried sweet liquorice in the dish.
For our second course, a veal “cube”, glazed in Franciacorta and served with rosemary mash we had the Contadi Castaldi Soul Satèn 2005. I really loved this wine, it was velvetty, minerally with notes of rosemary and sage and the food pairing really worked.

Unfortunately I missed the Franciacorta post trip but we did try some more excellent Franciacorta’s over our last dinner. And I was also lucky enough to start off the conference with a super sparkling wine tasting which lined up 10 wines from 5 different countries. I loved the opportunity to compare these different styles of sparkling wine and was impressed with the quality of the Franciacorte wines in the line up!

Sommeliers opening bottles at the comparative sparkling wine tasting

oSommeliers opening bottles at the comparative sparkling wine tasting


Below are some tasting notes of my favourite wines:
Ridgeview Cavendish 2009 – Sussex England (90% Chardonnay, 10% Pinot Noir):
Fresh elegant crispy wine with small bubbles and flavours of apple blossom, elderflower some saline notes and a little brioche in the lingering finish

Lenz Winery New York 2005 Cuvee – USA (100% Pinot Noir)
Dry wine with creamy bubbles, great body and acidity, and flavours of red apple, some red berries and a little toast in the finish

Raventos I Blanc extra Brut Gran Reserva de la Finca 2006 Spain (Cava Macabeo, Xarel·lo, Parellada)
Dry crisp wine with elegant small bubbles with flavours of ripe yellow apple, some kitchen herbs, some saline notes in the middle palate and hints of lemon rind in the lingering finish

Il Mosnel Franciacorta Pas Dose Riserva “QdE” 2004 – Franciacorta, Italy – 60 months on lees and 6 months bottle age after disgorgement. (60% Chardonnay, 30% Pinot Bianco and 10% Pinot Nero)
Dry silky wine with creamy bubbles and flavours of honeysuckle, quince and hint of sage in the finish.

Tarlant Extra Brut Cuvee Louis NV – Champagne, France base wine was barrel fermented, but no malolactic fermentation took place. (50% Pinot Noir and 50%Chardonnay)
Elegant wine with creamy bubbles and flavours of tarte tatin, little honey and some toasty notes in the finish.

Piper Heidsieck Brut Rare 1988 – Champagne, France disgorged in 2009
Dry and crisp wine w small bubbles and lots of flavours of honey, vanilla fudge, brioche and some caramel in the finish.
The last wine was really rare as it spend 20 years on lees!

PS A big thank you to Gloria Chang for providing me with a copy of the menu and the exact Contadi Castaldi wines!

Posted in EWBC, FranciaCorta, wine eductation, Wine Regions, Wine Review, wine tasting | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Count down to #EWBC in Brescia…

Posted on October 11, 2011 by Caroline

I have been waiting for this for a long time and I am happy to say it is almost #EWBC time!! Two more sleeps and I will take myself off to Brescia to meet fellow wine bloggers for a weekend of learning & networking in a fun and friendly environment!

So what is #EWBC? It is the European Wine Bloggers Conference organised by the good people of Vrazon: Ryan Opaz, his lovely wife Gabriella Opaz, and Robert McIntosh.

It is the fourth time #EWBC takes place and it will be my second conference. Last year I wasn’t really too sure what to expect and I hardly knew anyone. However by the end of the conference, I had made friends from all over the world, exchanged a ton of creative ideas and became pretty familiar (and a great fan) of Austrian wine. After the conference, I felt a little lost, but was also full of energy as I could see so much potential, talent and guts. It inspired me to actively look for more of these exchanges and over the past year I have met with quite a few #EWBC alumni and was lucky enough that some of my new friends introduced me to their wine regions. I also got involved with the #vinocamp and have build a positive wine/web/story telling network. And this has allowed me to continue to learn and grow and to become a more confident and happy person.

So what I am expecting from this year’s event?
To be honest – not too much as I have learned a long time ago that high expectations often lead to great disappointments… Instead I prefer to go to Italy as a blank canvas, so I can absorb all of the knowledge, beauty and joy with the innocence of a 3 year old…

And off course I am looking forward to catch up with friends.. And share special wines at the BYO dinner event.. And the great sparkling wine tasting on Friday morning… And to the keynotes and seminars where we will learn more about story telling… And to visit my first wineries in Italy… But most importantly to expand this wonderful network where we can brainstorm ideas for a yet brighter future:-)

Posted in EWBC, networking, social media, vinocamp | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment