Our trawl this month

On our September trawl across Europe, more discoveries! Will they ever end?

Paris, 2/3.9.09

Cavistes have depleted stocks at this time of year but Julien (Rue Charlot) tempted us with two unauthorised organic Loire red blends; La Guerrerie (Cot/Gamay), 12.5%
La Grapperie “Le Gravot” (Pineau d’aunis, Gamay, Cot) Touraine NV 13%

and an modern organic German Riesling he swore was dry as a bone:
Tesch Riesling Kabinett ‘unplugged’ 2007 11.5% (Nahe).


Edinburgh 5/6.9.09

Needing emergency sustainance, we dived into "Giuliano's" restaurant opposite the Playhouse on Leith Walk near the junction with Broughton Street.
The walls are covered with enlarged photos of vineyards, cellars and barrels etc., so we were interested to see the wine list. It was clear that this had been assembled by someone who was not only passionate about wine but knew a great deal about it too. Not difficult to deduce - where else in the UK can one find Mancini's "Il Blu"? Readers of Slotovino will know we mentioned this wine back in June 2008. In fact it is not available here and had to be imported. Congratulating the padrone, we became embroiled in the most pleasant wine discussion imaginable, for it was he Giuliano, partner in 3 Edinburgh restaurants bearing his name and extreme wine enthusiast. We traded information in rapid fire and it emerged that Giuliano is also an Edinburgh vigneron garagiste. No, he doesn't grow his grapes in Scotland but buys them from pallets imported by the UK Italian community. He told us in detail how he really does make his private wine in his garage. He says the results are variable depending on the grapes (he has to take whatever is available). He immediately invited us back to his house to taste his wine. We would have been delighted to take him up on this but the International Festival called. He gave us his card. Next time we are in Edinburgh we will definitely be in contact; rarely can you find such a passion for wine. His Melanzane Parmigiana was great too.

While researching wine merchants in Glasgow we kept finding interesting shops in Edinburgh so on this visit we took a look at Raeburns Fine Wines of 21/23 Comely Bank Road where we found a delicious Tocco Magliocco (or Maglioppo) from L'Acino (Campagnia)

13.5% - similar to Gaglioppo but a different grape altogether and certainly one to remember.
We also bought a Bonarda; Castello di Luzzano, Carlino, Oltrepo Pavese 2004 13.5% which was not as delicious as we had hoped following good experiences with Italian (as opposed to Argentinian) Bonarda.
Comely Bank Road morphs into Raeburn Place. At 30b is to be found Edinburgh Wine Merchants (an offshoot of Cambridge Wine Merchants) with a small but eclectic selection and on the same side, other shops selling wine. We also made a return visit to Villeneuve Wines, 49a Broughton St. where we missed the Slovenian wines which had bee a feature last time. We had to bypass our favourite Valvona and Crolla in Leith Walk due to the tight schedule. Edinburgh is well served and can claim to have an all year round Wine Festival which Glasgow cannot as far as we can tell.

Lisbon 10.9.09

We made straight for Vini Portugal following our wonderful experience at the Porto branch in June. On tasting, thanks to the gracious and well-informed Marta Galamba was Alentejo, Dao and Bairrada/Beiras. The big discovery was Mouras de Arraiolos Reserva Branco 2008, 13% (made with 100% Antao Vaz) from Bairrada.

It seems that indiginous Portuguese white grapes are every bit as good as the red ones. So now we can count Antao Vaz together with Encruzado, Loueiro and Trajadura. Our samples of Dao containing a majority of Afrocheiro were disappointing
but the widely available Grao Vasco Dao 2006 (13%?) made from Jaen, Touriga Nacional and Touriga Roriz was nicely soft and rounded with a hint of violets and deep ruby colour. Note: must try a 100% Jaen one day.

Then on the advice of Francisco Figueiredo of Colares Arenae (see our visit to Colares in October 2008) we made for El Corte Ingles where he had told us we could find wines of Colares.
What he didn't say was that his own wines were not among them. How typically altruistic. We were determined to buy bottles which had not been standing on a shelf for years on end and these looked in good nick with robust shoulder levels; Colares Chitas 2003, Visconde de Salreu 1994, Viuva Jose Gomes da Silva & Filhos, 1997, ALL 11%. We found a Fundacao Oriente 2004 at Adivinho, Travessa do Almada 24, but others did not stock Colares even though it is one of Lisbon's local wines so it was heartening to find it at the Hipercor of El Corte Ingles even if it was not in evidence in the 'Club del Gourmet' there.

Our business took us to Belem where in a nice shop with a reasonable selection, 'Coisas do arco do vinho' in the Belem Cultural Centre
we found the Mouras de Arraiolos Reserva Branco 2008 (13%) we had tasted at Vini Portugal
and the Carm Douro white we had so enjoyed in Porto.
The Enoteca do Belem is still closed.

Amsterdam, 11.9.09


In search of Dutch wine, we were sent to Gall & Gall near the Royal Palace but they had sold out. They normally stock wines by Hoeve Nekum (Riesling, Auxerrois, Rivaner and Pinot Noir) http://www.hoevenekum.nl/. Needless to say no Dutch wines are available at Schiphol despite all other kinds of Dutch produce being prominent. Could English wine mean more to the British than Dutch wine in the Netherlands? Could Dutch wine be less good?

Between Croydon and Purley Oaks

There are now two vineyards in allotments between Croydon and Purley Oaks. Look out on the left hand side when travelling by train towards Gatwick Airport. Can anyone provide any details of these? Slotovino would welcome any information.

A bottle of wine for less than €1?

British wine writers have long dismissed the possibility of wine under say £2 and drinkable wine under £3, so a drinkable wine under €1 even taking into consideration the huge divergances in tax, costs and duty? It seems possible in Spain at least and so with reasonable probability in certain other parts of the EU and wider world.

In one supermarket alone we found 5 wines costing 95 - 99 cents each, not on a promotion of anykind: 2 whites, 2 reds and even a sparkling rose. Only three were drinkable at all. One of the whites as truly repellant and the rose bore no resemblance to wine whatsoever. The drinkable white was so neutral as to give no positive pleasure at all and the less good red had ¨plonk¨ written all over it.

The other red however was a pleasant surprise: ¨really rather good¨ (especially chilled) bearing in mind that its makers could not have thought a great deal of it to have priced it at 99 cents. It comes from La Mancha - perhaps not surprising since this DO is the largest wine-growing area in the world, It lies between Madrid and Andalucia and comprises the largest plateau in Spain. It produces 52% of all Spanish wine and is one of Spain´s oldest DOs.

The name of this beauty is ¨Vega Cristina". The Cosecha, 2008. The label informs us "Embottellado por J. Garcia Carrion, La Mancha, S.A. Daimiel (Ciudad Real). 13%. On the back label there is no mention of what grape varieties were used although that on the Crianza version at €1.29 states 100% Tempranillo.

J. Garcia Carrion appears to be part of the Don Simon foods group and Vega Cristina maye be made at a co-operative (Garcia Carrion?) from various growers. La Mancha red varieties include Cencibel (the local term for Tempranillo), Garnacha and others including something called Moravia. Moravia seems to come in two versions or else has two names for the same thing: Moravia Agria and Moravia Dulce and has a string of synonyms including Crijadera, Brijadera and Trijadera. It is considered to be "productive", "formerly rare¨and to give "generous yields."

Vega Cristina does not register on Winesearcher but can be found at branches of Mercadona in Spain.

Wild goose-chase in Provence

On a regular visit to Provence we thought we would look deeper into the diversity of the area but were consistently frustrated and disappointed. Beginning with a call to Eric Pfifferling of Domaine de l’Anglore in Tavel
we asked where we could buy his Vin Naturel. The charming Mme Pfifferling said they were sold-out but there was a caviste behind the Médiatheque in Nimes who stocked their wines or else we could get them from a restaurant at Sanilhac-Sagries near Uzès called ‘Le tracteur’ (vin et produits naturels. Reservation essentielle).

We never made it to Nimes for reasons too embarrassing to relate and Sanilhac-Sagries was a bit far for us staying as we were in the Lubéron. We made the further mistake of trying to look around Marseille on a Saturday morning which is traffic hell.

In the petite bourgade of Coustellet there are two cavistes: the Caveau St. Christophe which has only been going for a couple of years and the cellar of Maison Gouin, a rather expensive traiteur and restaurant. The wines common to both are significantly cheaper at the former but the latter has the better selection,
although Japanese whiskey is surprisingly well represented at St. Christophe. Neither has Vin Naturel and not many Vins biologiques either. When requested, French cavistes tend to feign a complete lack of knowledge of Vin Naturel and when explained to them give a detailed account of why they don’t stock them (too much bottle variation, too many spoiled bottles, too much volatility etc.). If Coustellet is typical of the other small towns and villages in the area, the scene is not encouraging.

All these places have a sort of roving market on different days. We tasted the cheap but listless offerings in Coustellet which seemed to hark back to the bad old days. Only a 100% Carignan showed any signs of life but chalked up 14.5% alcohol. The vigneron was suitably abashed when explaining that he couldn't get the taste without that ABV level.

In the Epicerie at Menherbes, we found a dry Muscat from the Pays d’Oc which was encouragingly successful as an aperitif with a discriminating lunch party crowd

as well as a Languedoc white from Grenache Blanche, Maccabeu and Bourbelenc which sounded jolly; both for under €7. There is also a farm outlet there still selling their excellent Marselan in the same price category. Marsalan is a hybrid between Grenache and Cabernet Sauvignon.
Another perhaps less successful hybrid is grown in the Cotes du Luberon area; Chasan which is from Palomino and Chardonnay.

We coasted a few supermarkets but the choice is even more boring than in previous years, except for perhaps a few more wines from North Africa. Venturing farther afield into the Cotes du Rhône, the situation was no better. Ploughed-up fields with grubbed-up vines piled in the middle were quite a common site. More cavistes with barely a biodynamic wine etc.

In Monte Carlo, the scene is characteristically plush but unthinking: the blue-chip caviste ‘l’Oenotheque’ limits itself to only the best of everything at best prices too. Prices elsewhere are also steep. At a wine bar called ‘Wine O’clock’ there were some slightly more interesting bottles including a Bellet from Clos St. Vincent at a rather optimistic €27.
The cheapest bottle at €7 claimed to contain ‘cepages meditérraneans et océaniques.’ We thought ‘océaniques’ sounded exciting but just turned out to be Bordeaux varieties (Cab. Sauv. and Merlot) on the basis that Bdx was on the Atlantic. Anyway the back label was common to that producers whole range of wines but happened not to apply to that particular bottle which contained only Mediterranean varieties (Grenache, Carignan, Syrah etc.): a symptom of prevalent sans-foutisme here as in many other places concerning the grape varieties, never mind the actual ingredients.

The upside? The wines of the Lubéron continue to make great strides in quality. According to residents with memories of 20 years and more, the changes have been of the 360۫ variety. Where to get these wines? Thanks to some fine ‘Riverains’ of our acquaintance, the best solution seems to be to know the appropriately named Sebastien Glaçon. M. Glaçon spent 10 years as a sommelier in America and describes himself as ‘Sommelier-Conseil'.

Sebastien Glaçon as Sommelier in New Orleans.

He is a sort of immensely courteous and efficient roving wine-merchant representing over 40 producers. He used to sell from the back of his car but now has his own delivery service. He is available at all hours to give advice and take orders. We tasted an excellent white which he reccomends, Côte du Lubéron - Bastide Claux: Cuvée Barraban 2007 made from Grenache Blanche (65%), Vermentino (25%) and Ugni Blanc (10%). Not too expensive and delicious.

Sebastien Glaçon. No website but his list is available on request: winrider@wanadoo.fr. 00 33 66 419 8020. He’s the man!

Basel/Mulhouse

As we have noted you have to go to the different wine areas of Switzerland to find the respective wines (it is difficult to find Zurich wines in Geneva for example). An exception is Weinkeller Mowenpick who have branches all over Switzerland and also in Germany and Liechtenstein. As a result we bought Zurich, Valais and Ticino wines in their branch near the Badische Bahnhof in Basel.

These included some of the characteristic Swiss wines made from Gamaret,
Chasselas (Fendant) and a new one on Slotovino, a Cabernet Jura from Zurich which we were assured is a distinctive variety.
In fact it turns out to be a recent crossing by the appropriately named Valentin Blattner of Cabernet Sauvignon and 'resistenter Partner'. The suffix Jura comes from the Swiss canton where Mr. Blattner is located. Blattner describes the characteristics as follows but doesn't elaborate on what the 'resistenter Partner' may be other to say that they are not vitis amurensis as in many crossings whose positive attributes he says do not always last.

Cabernet-Jura
Reife - mittelfrüh
Austrieb - früh
Wuchs - sehr aufrecht, aber mit lange Seitentriebe
Traube - gross, locker
Beerengrösse - klein
Reifeüberschreitung - hält sehr gut, ab 100 °Oe beginnt die Beere zu trocknen
Produktionseigenschaften - wenig Auslauben, ev. Ertragsregulierung
Krankheitsresistenz - Falscher Mehltau sehr gut, Echter Mehltau mittel, Botrytis sehr gut
Önologisches Potenzial - intensive Farbe, Rosenduft, Heidelbeer, Holunder, feines Tannin

So now we know.

We also bought a Merlot from Ticino just to try to understand what makes this the signature grape of Italian Switzerland almost to the exclusion of all others.

The internet pointed us to another wine merchant in Basel, Musik und Wein. This turns out to be a highly idiosyncratic undertaking, for Switzerland, incredibly so. We assumed this was an initiative of some of the players of either the Symphony or Opera Orchestra in Basel on the side open only in the afternoons (between rehearsals and performances?) but the truth is it is an adjunct to a Hi-Fi dealership also interested in wine. We arrived at 13.00, an hour before opening time and were accosted by the kind representative and given the run of the place out of hours. The selection was not tremendous but we picked up a bottle of Cornalin at not too exorbitant a price.

Walking through town we stumbled serediptously across what must be one of the losngest established and most elegant wine merchants of Basel, Paul Ulrich AG (http://www.ullrich.ch/).

There may be found a range of Swiss wines mainly from the French speaking part with nothing from Zurich. We were directed towards a good Humagne rouge; again a variety which had not exactly bowled us over in the past so a purchase to re-inforce or overturn prejudice.

In Mulhouse, there appeared to be no especially prominent caviste. We were directed to Nicolas and told the place to go was Turckheim. However, we found Caviste Jacques Baumann (depuis 1912) in the centre and although the selection was not extensive the gentleman in charge was kindly and knowledgeable. When asked for his driest Muscat and lightest Pinot Noir d'Alsace he pointed us in the direction of Schlumberger on both counts.

We had been looking for Knipperle, an obsolete Alsacian variety previously used to make everyday wines but no one we met in Alsace had heard of it.

With 8 bottles in the suitcase safely dropped off at the BA check in, we took another look at the EuroAirport Duty Free but this time were sorely disappointed. Some lines seem to have been sold out and not replaced since we were last there in mid-May and the only bottle which looked interesting was a Freibach Schaffhausen Pinot Noir Auslese at E. 23.50 or CHF. 38, more than any of the bottles we had bought landside either in Basel or in Mulhouse. So much for price reductions at this airport. We were mildly interested to see the term 'Auslese' applied to a red table wine but not THAT interested.

One last point on the Swiss wines we saw, several didn't mention the country of origin. We assume this was not in order to disguise their provenance, more a kind of campanalismo.

Vin Naturel update

Despite our wide network we can't be ubiquitous so it was with an element of innocence that we thought we had 'discovered' Vin Naturel in January 2009 and amazement that there was a wine merchant in Archway Road specialising in Vin Naturel and as good as any to be found in Paris; 'Wine of Course' (Zelas).

What ingenues we are! We suddenly discover the UK is practically seething with such places:

Terroirs; a wine bar and restaurant which opened in the autumn of 2008 in the West End of London modelled on "Parisian Natural Wine bars with their emphasis on superb, rarely-seen wines, informal yet informed service, and excellent, hearty food." This is getting a lot of media attention including a favourable piece by Jancis Robinson. There is a link with Les Caves de Pyrene (see below) who own the lease. Presumably a lot if not all the wine comes from them.

Les Caves de Pyrene; have probably been doing it for years. A recent visit to their HQ near Guildford showed us to what extent. The Caves de Pyrene wine list which seems to incorporate the concept 'idiosyncratic' contains even more but there is so much else going on in that literary and scientific publication that whether a wine is 'naturel' doesn't stand out as it might otherwise. There are no prices in the wine list by the way. Our realisation that Les Caves de Pyrene is a major stockist of Vin Naturel came just in time to award them joint 'UK Wine Merchant of the Year' together with 'Wine of Course'.

Artisan and Vine; opened in 2008 in Clapham. You can also eat there, the food echoing the 'natural' policy. I notice among their extensive list they list the 'Rosso del Contadino' also sold by Caves de Pyrene. This is a field blend from Mt. Etna including both white and red grapes such as Carricante, Inzolia, Catarratto, Nerello Mascalese, Alicante,... what they call 'promiscuous'. We have a bottle scheduled for tasting around mid-July. Can't wait.
In addition to Vin Naturel they specialise in Englsh wine selling wines grown within two hours' drive from Battersea.

And last but not least, Berties of Bourne End aka Bertrand and Nicholas of Furlong Road, Bourne End, Bucks. This is an amazing Tardis of a shop with not only an interesting selection of wines but also a Traiteur department, coffee shop and more besides. Bertrand Prevost has lived in the UK for 20 years but lost none of his gallic ("call me Bertie") bonhommie. He is the exclusive importer of most of his wines and even the food he sells. Bertie is an enthusiast and hopes to communicate his enthusiasm. He had several wines on tasting and made all kinds of generous offers on them. " This one I'll give you 10% off, this one 15%. This one I'll let you have half-price because I love it and I think you will too" Now where have we heard that before? No wonder he has a day job in addition to running the shop. We bought 7 wines for an average of £10 a bottle which is a good deal less than usual in this field. A Cot (Malbec) from the Lot called 'Fruite' proudly dispalyed a sticker saying it had won 2nd prize in some French competition. It was indeed fruity and only 12.5%.
Bertie makes a speciality out of (mainly French) Malbec He says the English like it and reminds us it was the English wine before Claret. He is also one of the very few UK stockists of the wines of 'St Pourcain', an undeservedly obscure appellation south of the Loire producing a deliciously light Pinot Noir and Gamay blend appreciated by Samuel Beckett.

There may be more Natural Wine merchants or wine bars out thare. We'd love to hear from you.