Your 2012 New Year resolution - to find your wine eureka moment

We are a nation of wine drinkers rather than wine lovers. The majority of wine that’s purchased in the UK is in supermarkets, tends to be ‘on-offer’ and is £6 or less. I was a wine drinker. Wine was never something that I felt passionate about. My family and circle of friends never got particularly excited about or interesting in wine; wine was tolerated as part of a meal where alcohol was desired but beer wasn’t appropriate.  Sub £5 pinot grigio was common, it was tasteless and inoffensive but was never going to set your senses alive or get your talking about what you had at the weekend over Monday morning coffee.

But that was ok. People who expressed a real interest in wine were assumed to be pompous dickie bow wearing tweed jacket buying old fogies who live in Surrey with a second house in the south of France and have all their daily chores undertaken by someone called Jeeves.

Then I had my eureka moment. I had recently started working in the wine trade in a company called Bibendum Wine based in North London.  Working in the admin department, I had no idea what to expect working for a wine company but one thing was clear, this was a substantially tweed free zone. Instead were a lot of young people who had an extraordinary passion for wine, the likes I didn’t expect to see in someone in their 20’s and 30’, an age range traditionally more interested in alcopops and bottled beers.

On a Tuesday afternoon I discovered why these people were so nuts about wine. One of the perks of the job was to sample wines the business sold and an Aussie trade tasting had just finished, who wanted to try the wines? As far as I was concerned Oz wines were overbearing massive fruit bombs or sickening buttery chardonnays, not something I was ever particularly fussed about.

Reluctantly I went to the tasting room, more an excuse to get away from my desk than a real interest in trying to wines on show. The tasting that afternoon made me realize why these people were so nuts about wine. There were about 40 wines on show of difference grape varieties from various regions most of which were ‘unheard of’ [for me]; Australian Pinot Noirs and Rieslings that were massively diverse taste profiles depending on whether it was from the hot Barossa valley from the more gentle climates of the McLaren Vale, I realized there was much more to Australian wine and wine in general. Some wines were subtle, delicate and elegant; others bigger with astonishing length and complexity. It was this point in time that I ceased to be a wine drinker and became a wine lover.

This wine lover status proved to be very contagious, friends who were skeptical and expected pontification about terroir instead just sucked in having tasted some of the wines I had recently discovered. Dinner parties became more about sharing new wine experiences; different grape varieties, regions and producers. Now wine is something we are all passionate about and we are all wine lovers rather than wine drinkers and much happier as a result. 

So when you’re putting together your list of New Year resolutions to lose weight, exercise more and quit smoking I strongly recommend that broadening your wine horizons is also on the list. It’s relatively easy to do:

Step 1: find a local wine merchant. Supermarkets are about volume. Small wine merchants are about quality. They stay in business by making sure you drink wines you enjoy.  Pop in, say hi, get them to pick you some new wines for you to try. Wines here may be a little bit more expensive than supermarkets but the difference in taste and quality will be immense.

Step 2: find some tasting events to go to. There are a number of tasting events held that for a small amount of money gives you access to a phenomenal selection of wines. Again, your wine merchant will be able to help you with this and they may run tastings themselves. Failing that, an internet search will usually provide ample suggestions on tasting events local to you.

Step 3: hold a blind tasting party. While you should never judge a book by it’s cover, we very much do this when it comes to wines.  You need to be as open minded as possible and the best way to do this is taste wines without knowing what they are.  Get a group of friends together each bringing a bottle of wine that’s covered; taste and discuss as a group before revealing – you’ll be amazed at what wines tickle your fancy.

Happy New Year everyone! Feel free to email us if there’s anything we can od to help you enjoy wines more in 2012.

Vinopolis - last chance tickets for Oz Clarke Masterclass 17th Sept

Interested in attending a masterclass hosted by one of the best known wine celebraties? Vinopolis have Oz Clarke on site sniffing, swirling and spitting for your pleasure. He will teach you how assess and taste wines while talking in detail about some of his top pick wines for 2012.

Limited number of standard and VIP tickets left.

See http://www.vinopolis.co.uk/specialevents/meettheexperts.php

AC / DC launch their own wines

AC/DC, those vetern hellraisers who have remained popular since they formed in the early 70's, have recently teamed up with Aussie winemakers Warburn Estate to lauch a range of wines named after some of their greatest hits.

Fans can choose between their Highway to Hell Cabernet Sauvignon, Back to Black Shiraz or You Shook Me All Night Long Moscato.

Or for those fans who have not yet matured enough to enjoy a glass of celebrity endorsed vino you can instead invest in their limited edition Monopoly board game which is also out now.

http://www.acdc.com/us/news/acdc-monopoly-available-now

Cracking new website launched by Natalie MacLean

Natalie MacLean, one of our favourite wine writers has launched a cracking new site on http://www.nataliemaclean.com which is definitely worth a look. She's a favourite of ours because she educates would-be wine lovers in a fun and informative manner; nothing stuffy or pretentious which makes you want to pop back for another sip.

Natalie goes through in excess of 10,000 bottles a year just for her loyal followers [tough job??] to ensure that her site has as much up to date wine related info as possible. As well as wine reviews and food matching tips, you can now upload your own reviews and connect with other wine lovers on the site. Given there are about 125,000 on there at the moment there should be a few with similar tastes.

If you want to connect with us, here's our link http://www.nataliemaclean.com/member/199748/kevin

If you like what you see, you should also check out her apps in the Apple store for matching wines and we can highly recommend her excellent book Red White and Drunk all over:

http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/Red-White-Drunk-All-Over-Natalie-MacLean/9780747593331

Privatevine launches a more interesting alternative to book clubs

PrivateVine, recently launched by Robin Kirwan-Taylor in Surrey, offers people a more interesting liquid alternative to your monthly book clubs. Started when Robin worked in a wine shop in Cobham as a chance for people keen to learn about wine in a relaxed social environment with their friends.

These wine clubs provided to be very popular and when the wine shop Robin worked in closed, he decided to focus on this opportunity full time. PrivateVine will help create an evening to remember, providing all the wines and tasting glasses [even doing the washing up after] and will provide a fun and educational evening for you and your guests. Like the wines you tasted? They can be delivered within 48 hours.

Also available for special advice and wine advice in the Cobham, Esher and Oxshott area, for more information visit: http://www.privatevine.co.uk

Secrets of the governments £2m wine cellar

In the current economic climate, the government has been getting a lot of stick recently about it's £2m wine cellar. While the government cuts public services left, right and centre many are outraged that the governement doesn't cell of their exhorbitant wine cellar and rough it with sub £5 wines like the rest of us.

The government argue the cellar is self-funding. They sell some of the rarer bottles to buy new stocks during the year with some of the stocks having a valuation of £10k per bottle. But very few get the chance to taste these wines. In fact access to the wine cellars is treated with the same disdain as a request for access to the Crown Jewels.

Recently Jon Manel of the BBC was lucky enough to get a tour. This coupled with renowned wine writer Malcolm Gluck's assessment of some of the prized exhibits makes for interesting reading!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-13378301

Wine proven to aid weight loss – Slimfast to launch own label

Scientists have discovered that drinking mixing red and white wines causes a chemical reaction that significantly aids weight loss. Quite by accident they discovered that when the tannins from a red wine are combined with the sugar and acidity of a white wine, it creates an enzyme that feeds on body fat. Recent tests have shown that one glass of mixed wine burns more fat than an hours workout in the gym.

Slimfast have been quick off the mark to make the most of this discovery and are launching their own label wine which will be a blend of Riesling and Shiraz and labelled “Razz”. Their head of product development announced that “the wine will be on supermarket shelves within a month and will priced competitively to encourage everyone to go on the Razz.”

Because there is a significant amount of R&D work that has gone into the product and the complexities in the blending process, it is likely that the wine will be priced in the region of £9.99. This seems like a lot, particularly given you could potentially buy 2 bottles of wine for less than that price and make your own blend at home. Scientists working on the project have scuppered that idea. “Those of you who think you can alternate between red and white wine and enjoy the weightloss benefits are misled. The key is the types of grapes involved, the levels of sugar and the type of tannins. Getting the right mix is incredibly difficult.”

Slimfast are understandably excited about this new product. Head of PR, Tamara Yarite said: “People are becoming more and more health conscious. But with recessions and global unrest, never before have we needed so much the simple pleasantries of life such as a glass of wine. Now all our customers can enjoy wine, not just on a guilt-free basis but actually as part of their weight loss program.”

Slimfast have specifically chosen today to make this announcement as they felt it most appropriate. We assume that is on the basis of start of a new month, start of an exciting and almost unbelievable product.

Oddbins restructuring, cannot continue in current form but directors say still in profit

Oddbins have been going through a rough time in recent years. Having been a high street favourite for many years, an acquisition in 2002 by French Group Castel, owner of the Nicolas chains, caused the chain to lose its way and fall out of public favour. The wine range became less interesting and staff less enthused as a result.

In 2008, Oddbins was bought by Ex Cellars, a company under the control of Simon Baile, son of former Managing Director of Oddbins. Their intention was to 'drive the passion and innovation back into the business'. However, damage had been done and it would take significant time and effort to get the brand back on track.

Since then, the business has had to endure a number of rumours around cash flow and supply chain issues. In December 2010, Oddbins announced that it was trialling smaller convenience style stores that would be known as Oddies; the idea being that they would partly fill the gap left with the collapse of Threshers.

At the start of March 2011, the management of Oddbins announced that they had appointed Spectrum Corporate Finance to advise on the way forward in the current challenging retail environment. Shortly afterwards as part of a restructuring, Oddbins announced that it was to close 39 branches across the UK of 132. On the 11th March the company announced that it had entered into a Company Voluntary Arrangement to reoganise its unsecured debts. The company needs to get agreement from a minimum of 75% of creditors affected and, if successful, Oddbins will pay a proportion of the debt due over a period of time.

The directors state that while the company is currently profitable, it cannot continue in its current state. In a statement, the Managing Director stated 'We have proven through 2009 and 2010 that Oddbins is a relevant brand in the market and, despite continued tough trading conditions, we have been able to grow like for like sales, increase transactions and bring more customers through the door; raising the average bottle price in 2010 to just under £8.00.'

When I was getting into wine in the late nineties / early noughties, Oddbins was my favoured port of call. Stocking interesting wines at a good price explained by highly enthusiastic and knowledgable sales staff, each visit was a voyage of wine discovery. Compare this to shuffling through the supermarket aisles where you try and guess which wines are good, bad or downright evil where buying wine was often like a game of Russian Roulette. Without help, many will not go beyond the 3 for 2 range as in this day and age we cannot afford to be spending £8 on a bottle of wine and find it fit only for adding to Spag Bol sauce. What chance of these people realising that £4 a bottle Pinot Grigio is not wine! In tough times where we are eating out less and need cheering up more than ever, places like Oddbins re worth their weight in gold. I would rather pay a couple of quid more for a bottle I know will hit the spot and places where we can go and pick one up on the way home are fading fast. Fingers crossed, Oddbins gets back on its feet and back on track.

Celebrate International Grenache Day 24th September!

Some of you may not have yet sampled the delights of Grenache. Some of you may have sampled it, and perhaps even like it, but never realised it. Grenache is one of the most widely planted red wine grape varieties in the World. In Europe it is popular in Spain [where it is known as Garnacha] and in France where it is the dominant variety for wines from Southern Rhone, including being the main grape for the delicious, elegant and sometimes very expensive Châteauneuf-du-Pape. Grenache is often blended with other wines and tends to be very approachable as it is rich without have high levels of tannin or acidity. Instead the taste is of black / red berries with a pepper spicy edge.

Grenache is also grown outside of Europe including in the US and Australia. In Oz it is quite commonly blended to create a “GSM” which is a Grenache Shiraz and Mourvèdre blend.

Well made Grenache is incredibly versatile; the spicy flavours means it goes well with beef while it’s lack of tannins and fruitiness allows it to also work well with chicken.

Chester Osborn, wine guru for d’Arenberg said; “Once people taste a good Grenache they are converted, but the challenge lies in getting them to try it. As a variety it has wonderfully fresh, sweet red fruits, beautiful spices and balanced lively tannins. It’s a great blending tool, but also makes brilliant single variety wines.”

If you haven’t yet tried Grenache or have and want to drink more of it, then why not raise a glass on the 24th September to celebrate International Grenache Day? We will!

Here are some of the wines we will be drinking:

For a wine around £7, this is a stunner. An aussie blend rather than a straight Grenache this wine is light in texture and fragrant with floral, berry and beet aromas, playing the fresh flavors against refined tannins, lingering effortlessly.

d'Arenberg The Derelict Vineyard rrp£15.99 Bibendum, Oddbins, The Wine Society

At a time when Grenache was considered un-fashionable Chester Osborn, head wine maker at d'Arenberg, maintained a vigilant search for old vine McLaren Vale Grenache vineyards, showing faith in a variety that has been central to d’Arenberg since the very beginning. His search unveiled a number of old bush vine and poorly maintained trellised vineyards in various states of disrepair. Many of these ‘derelict’ vineyards were overgrown with native grasses and bracken ferns and weren’t being used for grape production—one was even being used to graze horses! Restoring these vineyards has been a time consuming labour of love, and while they still have a slightly dishevelled appearance they are back producing very low yields of exceptional fruit.

This is a full, red-fruited grenache that races from bright strawberry to darker tones of pomegranate. It's tart, with a sandy texture to the tannins that lends the wine firm grip. An award winning wine at a ridiculously reasonable price.

Papa Luna 2007 Calatayud £9.99 [£7.49 on offer] Majestic Wines

A blended example from Spain where Grenache is the dominate grape mixed with Syrah, Mazuelo and Monastrell.

Flying Scotsman' Norrel Robertson is a well-travelled and studied Master of Wine, who has sourced blocks of old vines and collaborated with local growers in the Calatayud region, to produce this quality Garnacha-dominated blend. Lifted aromas of raspberry and black cherry are enhanced by complex notes of pepper, herbs and vanilla. Quite a complex wine at this price point, may need some time to breathe [preferably in a decanter] before it can reach its full potential.

This wine was an IWC Silver Medal Winner.

'Les Galets' Côtes du Rhône 2008 £5.99 [£4.99 on offer] Majestic Wines

This is an excellent good quality entry level Cotes du Rhone from France. A blend of Grenache and Syrah, showing interesting notes of red and black berry fruit flavours and a warming hint of spiciness. The palate is full with soft, velvety tannins and a long satisfying length.

Blason des Papes Châteauneuf-du-Pâpe, Waitrose, £18.99 a bottle

All the folk at mywinespace have a love for Châteauneuf-du-Pâpe but it can be kinda pricey. This is a good example from Waitrose [actually, it's an award winner] at a reasonable price for a CdP. The Blason des Papes is blended specifically to retain true regional typicity. It's bursting with heady redcurrant fruit followed by a smooth layer of cherry liqueur on the mid palate and a spicy finish. Best enjoyed with grilled lamb or pork.

Is wine pricing a problem?

The emergency budget on the 22nd of June was heralded by the honeymoon coalition as the winds of change dealing with the supposed mismanagement of the Labour government and would sweep through all areas of the UK economy to deliver recovery and growth. For those of you within the M25, you may have heard what sounded like a wind of change that afternoon as the Chancellor went through his list of cost cutting and tax hikes. But it was not winds of change you heard but yours truly breathing a sigh of relief that duty on a bottle of wine remain unchanged.

But by being happy that the price of a bottle of my favourite tipple has not risen in price, am I one of these people that the government is deeming to be a menace to society and a burden on the NHS? Am I sufficiently stupid that I cannot understand the impact of excessive alcohol on my health and will 50p extra on a bottle really make me stop drinking wine?

With unemployment, recession and global warming one of the few pleasures left is a glass of nice wine with friends but the government is trying to take that fun away also by means of taxation and harassment. Yes, I can see their point. Alcohol abuse is a problem that needs to be dealt with and they need in particular to focus on where alcohol is cheap.

If you want to curb alcohol abuse then tax all wines so that they have a minimum price of £4.99. This will not upset the wine drinkers but will tick off those who favour Buckfast [shown to be at the centre of most of the Glaswegian anti-social behaviour]. Recent comments from the supermarket chain, the 99p stores, that they will be selling wine for [you guessed it] 99p is ludicrous and down right irresponsible. Real wine drinkers know that to get anything that can vaguely pass for wine, your absolute minimum spend in a fiver, will be be affected by this tax.

If you want money to prop up the NHS to cover costs of treating those with alcohol abuse then tax the posh folk on a percentage of the price. Duty on wine is £1.68 a bottle which is a lot on a bottle of Oyster Bay but completely irrelevant for most of Berry Brothers stocks. Creating a category of premium wine [say in excess of £30] may sound impractical but if it keeps the price down for us regular Joe’s then I’m sure we could find an easy way to implement this.

So despite the risk of having some government official in a white coat wag his finger at me, I do think there is a problem with the price of a bottle of wine. I’m concerned about it getting too expensive for those of us who enjoy it responsibly.

Wine notes - start a journal

Wine notes. Anyone keep them ?

I’m writing today to make a case for EVERYONE to keep a wine journal. Now it does not matter what form that takes. It can be loose sheets of paper that you keep in a shoebox, your iPhone app, your custom made leather bound notebook. Whatever. Just so long as its something that you will use on a regular basis and is easily found.

Why would you bother ? Well, its a great way of learning because it makes you think about the wine you are drinking. You can go back to your notes and see how an older vintage tasted if you are trying a newer vintage. Best of all it  can remind you of a lovely bottle of wine and maybe even the food you had with it and the people you shared it with.

As a wine buyer, wine notes are essential for me. I attended the London Wine Fair a few months ago. In two days I tasted over 250 wines. Now, my memory needs a bit of help at the best of times but there is no way I am going to remember every wine from every producer along with the price and some of the story behind the wine. However, I can open my notebook and read my brief notes and its almost like being there all over again.

But what do I write I hear you say ? The answer is simple. Write whatever will trigger your memory. Some people like to write pages of notes while others keep it to a line or two. My notes vary depending on where I am and how many wines I am tasting. At a wine trade fair, my notes will be brief. If I’m tasting a wine at home I may write longer notes. If it is a truely excellent wine, I will go on for a while.

Use your own vocabulary to describe the wine. You dont have to stick to the traditional script. I mix it up a bit. My longer wine notes have a system to them (thanks to the WSET) but I also throw in some other non traditional stuff too.

Soon you will find yourself with a collection of notebooks and its always fun to pick one up and flick through some of the notes. Lots of good memories and very often it inspires another wine purchase. I read one the other night and as a result the following day I bought a nice Chianti Classico as it reminded me I had not had one in ages. And it was delicious with my Italian pasta dish I cooked at home.

So go on, give it a go. You’ll enjoy your wine all the more.

Written by Maurice O'Mahony, Director, winealliance.ie a new Irish based wine importing business utilising an innovative co-operative model to deliver interesting wiens from interesting producers that punch well above their weight.

Our Christmas Crackers

To get you in the proper spirit for the silly season we thought you might enjoy some of the best [and worst] jokes to be found in Christmas crackers.

Enjoy and merry Christmas!

Q Why do Father Christmas's helpers have to wear seat belts?
A Because of Elfin Safety

Q How do you stop a canal boat being stolen?
A Keep it under Lock and Quay

Knock knock?
"Whose there?"
Police!
"Police don't make me eat the Brussel sprouts."

Two cows in a field. First cow: "What do you reckon to all this mad cow disease business then?"
Second cow: "Doesn't bother me, I'm a helicopter."

Who stalks Brick Lane dressed in bling?
Jack the Rapper.

Which of Henry III's wives cooked the spiciest food?
Catherine of Tarragon.

What do you call a penguin in the Sahara Desert?

Lost

Why did the scientist install a knocker on his door?

He wanted to win the no-bell prize

What does the word minimum mean?

A very small mother

Why don't you see penguins in Britain?

Because they're afraid of Wales

What do you call a one eyed dinosaur?

Do you think he saw us?

What goes oh, oh oh?

Santa walking backwards

What's round and bad tempered?

A vicious circle

What did Adam yell on the day before Christmas?

'It's Christmas Eve!'

Why do pens get sent to prison?

To do long sentences

What do you get out of a poorly piano?

A sick note

Threshers and Wine Rack at risk of closure

It has been announced today that First Quench, the owner of high street wine chains Threshers and Wine Rack has gone into administration. First Quench is seeking a buyer for the businesses but a quick sale to a new owner in the current climate is not likely. 6,500 jobs are at risk.

KPMG have been appointed as administrators and have confirmed that they will seek to operate the business as normal in the hope that the business is sold as a going concern.

For the sake of the employees and suppliers, fingers crossed this story has a happy ending.

Spar introduces laughable [and cringeworthy] wine labelling

We here at mywinespace are constantly campaigning to make wine more easily understood and therefore more accessible for the masses. We empathise with people who avoid French and German wines because of the stresses involved in trying to guess what is in the bottle and whether they will like it or not.

We are but a small group of wine militants and therefore have taken the approach to educate the consumer as we do not [yet] have the firepower to influence change with producers or consumers.

When we heard about changes being made at Spar to make wine easier to understand for its shoppers, we initially stood to applaud this move. That was until we read that Spar were using local wine dialects to describe their wines.

To write about this any more is just too painful. All I can say is I hope this is nothing more then either a really badly timed April Fools joke or another kid in a helium balloon.

If you don’t believe us, see the image below for Spar’s Merlot with the label written in Scottish dialect. [Photograph: PR] Click on the image to go to the full article in the Guardian

Closing your ‘wine bank’ account –what happens your money?

The idea of a wine has been around for some time. You sign up to pay an amount every month which is then used to fund your wine buys. It’s a lovely feeling when you realised that you haven’t looked at your wine bank account for a little while and then realise how much has accumulated which allows you to have a bit of a ‘splurdge’.

One of the first merchants to offer this was Virgin Wines. When some of the Virgin Wines team founded Naked Wines, they also used the wine bank idea but unlike Virgin, you have to have a wine bank account to shop with them.

For anyone who may have some concerns about operating a wine bank account, all the possible issues are covered in the small print. When I closed my Naked Wines account, there was about £44 in credit in my account. How much did I get back? £20.

I need to stress that there is nothing sneaky or underhanded going on with the Naked Wines account. I read the T&C’s and wasn’t shocked at what I was getting back. What I was surprised about was the number of people who have a wine bank who were gobsmacked that I wasn’t getting the full amount back.

So what is the difference between the £44 in my account and the £20 received?

The £20 refunded was the amount I had physically paid into my account so that was an easy one.

Just over £9 was the Naked Wines cash back offer where 33% of the purchase is credited back to your account to be used with the next purchase. If you close your account and don’t make another purchase then you don’t get the benefit.

The remainder of the money was the part I have a bit of a problem with. If you don’t like the wine, you’re promised a refund. The last couple of cases we got didn’t quite hit the mark and therefore we had received a ‘refund’ for some of the wines. Problem was, the refund is only credited to your account to be used against your next purchase so the guarantee on website is misrepresented in this respect.

So there you have it. Wine banks are a great idea but make sure you read the small print so you don’t get any surprises when you decide to shop elsewhere.

Does your wine have the X Factor?

I have resisted for a number of years but this time there is no escape. The dark evenings and a transfixed wife has reminded me of that wise old saying; if you can’t beat them, join them. I am now officially and voluntarily watching the X factor.

I have an overall hatred for reality shows but believe this one is different – unlike Big Brother the people on the show are generally talented and unlike Celebrity Love Island etc. it’s main focus is not to secure pantomime bookings for aging celebrities of times gone by.

I always liked the auditions - those really awful acts that have spent money on singing lessons and have the support of their family and ‘friends’ who stand rigid with rage when the judges state that they sound like a bag of cats being beaten with a big stick. Now we’re into the serious stuff, I’ve found it very interesting how contestants are being challenged to prove they are more than one dimensional wonders. Take Jamie with his Lennie Kravitz  stage presence and massive afro performing a Christina Aguilera number. That showed that he is a real talent.

Wine is similar in that the very best wines have that ability to surprise you on so many levels. Think of wine as a musical act. Music has its components of vocals, bass guitars, drums, etc. The taste elements of wine are made up of sweetness, alcohol, acidity, tannins, body and length.

We talk about a good wine being well balanced; i.e. each of the taste elements within the wine work well together and compliment each other. For wine to be enjoyable it may only need to be particularly good in some of these areas and it will make up for shortfalls elsewhere. If there’s a wine you find you don’t like, there’s a strong chance it will be out of balance. I have come across a number of Australia reds recently which are too alcoholic and all you can taste is that burning sensation with no fruit.

Your local gig on a Friday night may be a classic example; good music to go to for to socialise with friends and to jump around a bit, but nothing that will win a grammy. Simon has said the Scottish lad who went home this week was a bit of a pub singer; a bit one dimensional, a glass of house red, didn’t have the X Factor.

Like music, wine with the Leona Lewis X Factor is rare and demands a lot of money. But you don’t need to spend a lot of wine to have enjoyable wine. I like music but sending me to the opera would be a waste of money; I wouldn’t understand it and would likely to be very happy when the fat lady sings. There are a lot of very talented and enjoyable wines out there at a reasonable price. That’s where having a good wine merchant who can Simon Cowell your way through their wine selection to direct you to the gems that suit your taste is invaluable.

You can’t relay on public opinion – they kept the absolutely awful John and Edward in for another week. This act is very like cheap Pinot Grigio; no taste, leads you to do ridiculous things you regret in the morning when you’ll wake up with a massive headache. There’s a lot to be said for trusting the experts.

Berry Bros Autumn tasting

The Berry Brothers trade tastings are always fascinating and this Autumn event was no different. What appeals to us, and further supports our view that Berry’s caters for every price range [see our review in our Issue #3], is that you are looking at wines priced from under £10 to over £500 in the one event.

This is a marvellous experience as it helps you assess whether the premium wines generally represent value for money in relation to their quality and complexity when compared to the wines costing significantly less.

In our Autumn issue we took a close look at Berry Brothers and were pleasantly surprised that they carry some excellent wines and reasonable prices. Many people have a distorted perception that you need to be very rich to shop there whereas we sampled some fantastic wines at less than £10.

Some of the highlights of the tasting include:
2006 Chono Syrah, Elqui Valley from Chile which retails at £7.55; this was wonderfully aromatic, medium bodied with nice black fruit and overall quite lush.
2006 Chateau Pey la Tour Reserve from Bordeaux at £12.35; a full bodied Merlot with spice aromas and very smooth.
2007 ATS Cuvee Late Harvest, the Royal Tokaji Company from Hungary at £10.95 for a 500 ml bottle; rich with tones of marmalade and figs this is sweet but with perfect acidity needed to create a wonderfully balanced wine.
2007 Lake Hayes Sauvignon Blanc from Marlborough New Zealand at £10.70 was well priced for a high quality NZ wine; mouth watering with typical gooseberry and passionfruit, this has fabulous acidity for those who like the NZ style Sav Blancs.
Champagne R&L Legras Brut NV Champagne at £25.95; quite delicate and elegant in style with nice light fizz but still has quite a lot of complexity with a long yeast / mineral finish

Again their own label wines were top quality with their Pomeral being a favourite for us; Merlot dominated with blackberry and a chocolate edge, this was rich and smooth and well worth £17.95.

At the upper price range, the 2005 Pauillac de Latour at £47 was excellent with dark fruit, spice and tobacco.

But the hands down winners on the day came from the dessert wine selection and were both Royal Tokaji. We had recently encountered the outstanding 1999 Mezes Maly which is rich and full bodied, and a unique and exceptional taste of orange and honey. Though this uniqueness and complexity does not come cheap, it’s just under £93 for a 50cl bottle.

Then came the extremely rare 2000 Essencia which can only be described as the nectar of the Gods. Like something that was produced by bees rather than somethgin that was grown on the vines this is ludicrously rich with dried fruit and honey and an absolute perfect balance between sweetness and acidity, this is just incredible stuff. Fingers crossed for a lottery win…

We've tarted up our website!

In celebration of Issue #3 we've decided to give the site a lick of paint.

Issue 3 is upon us to enrich our wine drinking lives and in celebration we decided to give the website a bit of a face lift.

Now you may have visions of months of careful design and infrastructure planning with dedicated teams to supervise the rollout to a specific time table. In truth it was slightly different.

What happened was we were playing around with the old one so much to try and make it look a bit nicer that we made a complete and utter balls of it. I didn't think it was possible but we efficetively wrote off a website. Like it hit a big tree on a bend on a frosty night. Except our site didn't even have 3rd party insurance.

So here it is - conceived with absolutely no foreplay or cuddling so we hope this one remains intact for a little longer.

Padraig Harrington Bodegas Baigorri Reserva The obvious choice as it sounds a bit like the Irish exclamation 'BeGorra' but also because tasting notes talk about concentration, focus but refreshing. Manages to be elegant as well as powerful. £20 from the Wine Library London Submitted: Kevin
Miguel Angel Jimanez Castilli de Sajazarra Digma It had to be Spanish and it had to be unique. This is an expensive Rioja at £60 but has aromas of smoke with lively notes of fruit. Also exceptional length - just like his hair. Submitted: Dave Matthews
Ian Poluter Balfour Brut Rose It goes without saying that it's got to be British and good looking. Balfour is one of the highest rated British fizzes you can get and is produced in Kent. Very image conscious and seen in all the fashionable places including the Ivy and Le Caprice it has larger than life celebrity status. And for some reason a Rose seemed appropriate. Very fashionable though not in accordance with everyone's taste. From M&S @ around £35 Submitted Mark Abell
John Daly Ravenswood Zinfandel Just like John is bringing powerful golf to the masses so too are Ravenswood bringing powerful up front wines for everyone to enjoy. Like John's catchphrase 'grip it and rip it', Ravenswood's is 'no wimpy wines!'. Their Vintners Blend is widely available, full bodied, up front and quite spicy. Big hitting exciting stuff this. £8.99 Sainsburys and others

Vinopolis, London's unique wine tasting attaraction based in Bankside is celebrating its 10th birthday. To celebrate their first decade they will be running a number of special events, offers and competitions throughout June, July and August. These will kick off with the release of 1,000 balloons by TV's Oz Clarke, each containing 2 Vinopolis tour tickets on Tuesday 30th June.

For more information, visit their website: www.vinopolis.co.uk

The mywinespace team had a cracking night out at Vinopolis recently on one of their wine experience tours. You can read about it shortly in Issue #3.

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