Welcome to the first edition of our monthly wine magazine ‘Quaff Drops’. Each edition will bring you current news items from the world of wine, reviews features on wine & food related subjects such as restaurants, wine lists, vineyards, wine producers and wine merchants based in the UK and further a field. This month’s highlights include:
- Wines of the Languedoc
- Review of Warwick based wine merchants Underwoods
- Wine Education – what’s available and where
- Sarah’s wine of the month
Wines of the Languedoc-Roussillon
The vast majority of the wine regions in France are well established and well known. Who has not heard of Burgundy and Bordeaux and know these areas produce some of the finest (and most expensive) wines in the world. The Rhône Valley is known for its consistently high quality wines and rarely can you find a wine list that does not have a Chateauneuf-du-Pape or at the very least a Côtes du Rhone available. Sancerre and Pouilly Fumé put the Loire Valley firmly on the map even though there are many other fine wines from this region often overlooked by the UK and the Alsace is well mapped and renowned for its Riesling and Gewürztraminer wines. But when discussing fine wines the Languedoc-Roussillon barely gets a mention. For years it has been considered the area that produces a glut of badly made, high alcoholic quaffing wines and they rarely feature on wine lists in this country. Unfortunately much of the wine from this area used to deserve its bad reputation but things are changing and the Languedoc-Roussillon is now one of the best places to discover new and exciting wine makers and wines.
The vast majority of the exciting wines made in this area are being produced by passionate wine makers who are new to the region. Men and women who dream of producing fine wines from the wonderful terroir available there. These new-comers, many of them from other parts of France, England, New Zealand and South Africa are bringing their expertise to the region and beginning to produce some spectacular wines. Over the coming months Quaff Drops will be featuring some of these producers and highlighting their wines.
So where is the Languedoc-Roussillon and how can you identify the wines? The area is located in southern France and stretches from the Spanish border across to Nimes where the Cotés du Rhone begins. It is a large area about the size of Wales and the wines are divided into many AOC’s which are currently being revised. From this year there is to be a hierarchy of AOC wines beginning with the new Languedoc AOC which will cover all wines produced between the Spanish border and to the east of Montpellier and will include what was called Côteaux de Languedoc AC. The next layer will be provided by the terroirs which are currently being defined and will include such ACs as Terres de Sommières, Corbières and Minervois. At the top of the pyramid will be the crus which include La Clape, Pic St Loup and the newly awarded crus of Boutenac in the Corbières and La Livinière in the Minervois.
The red wines are made from Carignan, Cinsault, Grenache Noir, Syrah and Mourvèdre and are always a blend. Each AOC will have its own rules such as which grape variety will dominate the blend and what percentage of each grape is allowed to be used. The wines are usually full of ripe fruit with flavours of spice and herbs. Some will be matured or partially matured in oak using 225 or 300 litre barrels and others produced in 6000 litre foudres which are large wooden barrels that allow the wines to develop without imparting any flavour of oak.
White wines have improved vastly since the use of new techniques, stainless steel and refrigeration but you still have to be careful when choosing these wines and its good advice to get to know producers and then stick to the ones you like the best. This is also a good rule of thumb for the reds.
The Languedoc-Roussillon is a beautiful region of France and well worth a visit for its wines as well as its cuisine, history, medieval castles, the Pyrenees and the Montagne Noir. This is the area that we specialise in and we will be running many features about the wines from here. We also run trips to this area to visit the vineyards, meet the wine makers, taste the cuisine of the region and enjoy the culture, climate and wonderful scenery.
Article by Wendy Gedney AIWS
Underwoods Wine Merchants
Nick and Tim Underwood have been in the wine business for over 20 years and last May they moved their business from Honiley to Warwick. They are now housed in the Old Pie factory in Montague Road where you will find an impressive display of fabulous wines. I was particularly impressed with their Bordeaux and Burgundy selections and the prices were good too. Tim and Nick had previously only sold wines directly to the restaurant trade but the move to these new and larger premises has allowed them to open their doors to the public.
As well as wine Nick and Tim share a passion for collecting vintage cars and you can take a look at a number of their the cars which are kept at the wine warehouse including a 1990 Alfa Spider, a 1947 HRG, a 1955 Bristol 404 and my favourite a 1973 Porsche Carrera RS. They also have a collection of over 600 old corkscrews and old wine books so a visit to this wine merchant is quite a fascinating experience.
I purchased a bottle of Pernand-Vergelesses blanc 2005 produced by Rapet. This has been one of my favourite white burgundies for a long time and I was pleased to find a bottle at a reasonable price of just over £20. The white Pernand-Vergelesses have always been rated highly. They are softer than some white Burgundy and should be drunk relatively young. They come from the pretty village of the same name in the Côtes de Beaune region of the Côtes d’Or, the most important region in Burgundy. I was also tempted by the excellent range of sweet wines and if you fancy treating yourself to one of the most famous then a bottle of 1999 Châteaux D’Yquem can be purchased for £119 + VAT. However Nick and Tim have something for everyone with many wines are under £4 a bottle.
We will be running a 6 week wine appreciation course at this excellent wine merchants starting on October 2nd. There are a few places still available click here for details.
I hope you will consider paying Underwoods Wine Merchants a visit, I can highly recommend it. Their address is The Old Pie Factory, Montague Road, Warwick CV34 5LW and they can be contacted on 01926 402100.
Wine Education
I was recently on holiday and a couple of friends who joined me in Provence to savour all that this superb area of France has to offer. John and Rebecca drink wine occasionally but have always bought wine on the basis of price and perhaps how pretty the label is! Part of the holiday plan was to go wine tasting and we started with the most famous of them all Chateauneuf-du-Pape and during the week visited several other wineries in Cairanne, Seguret and Beames du Venise. Along the way they learnt how to taste rather than how to drink, how to identify a well made wine and what it is that they like and dislike about wines. So in a way they had a mini wine tasting course and both of them said what a difference it made to their enjoyment of wines and how this will alter their buying habits. Wine education need not be stuffy and boring and it will enhance your enjoyment of wines and empower you when choosing wines.
There are many courses to choose from and we recommend courses run by approved WSET providers. The WSET is the wine education body for the UK and indeed for the world as their qualifications are recognised in just about every country. The Wine Wise Company is an Approved Programme Provider and we offer courses at Foundation, Intermediate and Advanced levels at our Leicester wine school and soon to be launched Birmingham wine school. We also offer a web based distance learning package which is ideal for those of you who find it difficult to attend regular classes. Follow this link for details of available courses.
If qualifications are not important to you then we offer a choice of wine appreciation courses ranging from half day courses to a 6 week wine appreciation course. For more information about our courses follow the links or to discuss any of the courses mentioned above contact Wendy on 07880 796786 or email wendy@thewinewisecopany.com.
As many of you know Wendy Gedney, MD of The Wine Wise Company also runs courses for City College Birmingham which includes a 6 week WSET Foundation course held on Tuesday evenings and the Intermediate course held on Wednesday evenings. The courses begin in September and the enrolment evening is September 18th.
Wendy has also been asked to run a 6 week wine appreciation course for NEW College in Redditch which commences on November 3rd and for details of enrolment contact the Adult Recreational Department (01527) 572575 or contact the Advice and Guidance Service (01527) 572521/572621. You can also enrol using the college web site. Click here for more Information about Enrolling Directly.
Sarah's wine of the month
In the hope of having an Indian summer this year, I thought I would taste something slightly summery for my first Quaff Drops wine of the month. Marks and Spencer’s NV Prosecco Raboso at £6.49 is currently on special offer is great value and is an unusual Italian sparkling produced from a blend of the white Prosecco and black Raboso grape. The Raboso gives it a very pretty delicate prink hue and I was very pleasantly surprised by the quality of the bubbles. On the nose, there are hints of pink grapefruit and these carry through to the palate giving the wine a well balanced acidity with notes of ripe nectarine on the finish. This wine would be a marvellous picnic wine but if we don’t end up having an Indian summer it would be a delicious aperitif at any time of the year. I would also recommend it with food as it would be an excellent accompaniment to poached salmon or trout.
Article by Sarah Long AIWS
Quote of the month
"I only drink champagne when I am happy, and when I am sad. Sometimes I drink it when I'm alone. When I have company I consider it obligatory. I trifle with it if I am not hungry and drink it when I am. Otherwise I never touch it - unless I am thirsty."
Lily Bollinger, on being born into the right family.
Forthcoming Events
- September 18th Sweet Wines Tasting at The Crown Birmingham
- September 13th French Wines, Half Day Course. Leicester
- September 20th WSET Intermediate 3 day course, Leicester
- October 2nd, 6 week Wine Appreciation Course, Warwick
- October 16th, Italian Wines Tasting & Supper, The Crown Birmingham
- October 11th, Burgundy Wines, Leicester
For details of all our planned events please visit our Events Calendar.
We hope you have enjoyed this first edition of Quaff Drops. Please let us know if there is anything you would like us to include in future editions and if there are any restaurants or wine merchants that you would like us to include to share with our readers.
Happy Quaffing
Wendy and Sarah