Collection Marguerites
Early February it was an overnight trip to The Peninsula Hotel in Paris to taste the new premium collection of Marguerites en Provence at David Bizet’s 2 Michelin Star restaurant L’Oiseau Blanc.
One of the highlights was Collection Marguerites Blanc 2022, this Vermentino aged in both Bernard Umami and Ermitage barrels was a showstopper. This is Vermentino with class, the purity, intensity, and focus were quite outstanding – fresh, textured, creamy, layered, it delivered reflection.
I loved the matching of this wine with the most intense dish of the night which was ‘When the Ocean Meets the Land,’ this was a blockbuster of a dish – sweet succulent Iberian pork, dark rich squid ink, classic red shrimp tempura with head entrails and sorrel. The white wine took it all with ease and refreshed the palate as well as highlighting the purity of the dish.
A long Friday lunch with Ian Hongell
Ian Hongell had big shoes to fill when he took over as chief winemaker at Barossa-based Torbreck Vintners, following the controversial departure of Dave Powell. In the seven years he has been there he has without question lifted this estate to new heights.
I tried over 20 wines with many highlights, one of the best being the Torbreck The Laird 2010 in magnum.
Sourced from The Gnadenfrei vineyard in the Barossa sub-region of Marananga, was first planted in 1958, a 5-acre site, dry grown, aged in Dominique Laurent’s ‘Magic Casks’. 2010 is recognised as one of the best and this superlative Shiraz is truly one of those wines that you will remember trying, especially from magnum. Exotic spice, meaty, bilberries and blueberries, stunningly good.
Castillo Ygay, Marques de Murrieta
To launch the Castillo Ygay 2012, Vicente Dalmau from Marques de Murrieta flew to London and held an exclusive lunch at London’s Bibendum restaurant with 2-Michelin Star chef Claude Bosi at the controls. Just as spectacular as the new Gran Reserva Especial were the two white wines from its estate in Rias Baixas which have had a complete overhaul – both in quality and price point. As for the Castillo Ygay 2012 the start of my notes were “Wow my God it is stunning” and continued with “the purity is immense, cool, elegant, complex, with layers and layers of superlative flavours, bilberries, chalk, this is seamless.” I then must have put my pen down to fully enjoy this stunning wine as I wrote nothing else.
Ca’ de Bosco and a 40-year-old sparkling
In June, it gave me immense pleasure to cook dinner for Maurizio Zanella, founder, and chair of Ca’ de Bosco, and to have the first taste of his prestigious Annamaria Clementi RS 1980. Dinner was hosted by Tom Stevenson, Essi Avellan and George Markus at Goodnestone Park. This 40-year-old sparkling is remarkable in its freshness of youth, nutty biscuit elegance, purity of fruit – it is a joy – then a silky lingering fresh finish that exceeds expectation, a marvel and very rare wine.
Ferrari Trento and The Lunelli Family
It is 18 months ago that the Lunelli family pulled off the extraordinary coup of luring ex-Charles Heidsieck cellarmaster Cyril Brun away from Champagne to Trento to head up winemaking at sparkling wine specialists Ferrari Trento – the first time that an Italian winery had achieved such a move. With world class wines having been made for over a century, 24 million bottles in the cellars and a Formula 1 sponsorship in place, I met up with Cyril and the Lunellis to discuss and taste through the wines at Gordon Ramsay’s River Restaurant.
Highlight was the Ferrari Riserva Lunelli 2009, Trentodoc – Delicate biscuit nose, love the purity, citrus notes, juicy white peaches, touch of spice, yin and yang, hints of pineapple and ginger. This was fermented in large Austrian oak casks, giving it that extra creamy ‘sauce Anglaise’ richness. A great match to Whole Roasted Poussin, Consommé & Pilaf Rice, showcases how well these sparkling wines go with food.
Kumeu River, The Supreme Chardonnay
The smart, insider money for quality Chardonnay that can equal Burgundy at a fraction of the cost has always been spent on Kumeu River. So, the launch of the new vintages of this prized New Zealand estate is always a special occasion and the 2023 Kumeu River Chardonnays did not disappoint. I was honoured to be one of a small number of wine writers invited by the estate's importers New Generation Wines to taste 30 vintages of Kumeu River Chardonnays dating back to 2002, then to lunch with the estate’s Paul Brajkovich and taste through the new 2023 wines.
So many highlights but here is one of them…2007 Kumeu River Coddington Chardonnay. Glorious nose, clean, fresh, juicy stone fruit, nutty notes with clean crisp acidity, hints of guava and nectarines, juicy ripe full mid-palate with that bright acidity and citrus carrying the wine well – fresh and focused, the toasty white almonds give it depth and character.
Sugrue South Downs, the class English sparkling
Dermot and Ana Sugrue finally have a permanent home for their Sussex sparkling wine project, Sugrue South Downs, with the opening of their winery in September, which sits at the top of Wivelsfield’s Bee Tree vineyard.
It was a pretty magical day in the history of English sparkling wine with Dermot and Ana opening the doors to their new winery, sharing this day with their amazing family of investors – Robin Hutson, Hugh Johnson, Hugh Bonneville & Peter Chittick – as well as friends picked up along the way on Dermot’s amazing journey, where he is now a single winemaker (along with Ana) merely making wines under their own label (plus a few for @the_pig_hotels).
The Trouble with Dreams 2010 (from magnum)is a wine that I have enjoyed many times since its original release, and this magnum was as perfect an English sparkling that I have tasted. Bottled in 2019, disgorged in January 2023. Seamless with that perfect balance of refined elegance of brioche, pure clean fruit and that feeling that you are drinking something incredibly special.
Yalumba 175th Anniversary Lunch, an extraordinary tasting
Past, present and future all merged in an extraordinary tasting dinner held at the exclusive Oswalds club in Mayfair where Aussie stalwart Yalumba was celebrating 175 years of making wine. As friend of the family and long-standing admirer of the wines, I went along for the ride and tasted a 1974 Yalumba FDR 1A Claret amongst many other things. Oswalds’ policy of ‘no-spitting’ was adhered to.
Yalumba FDR 1A Claret 1974, Cabernet Sauvignon & Shiraz
This was a star, pure class, and no hint of over ageing, this is a glorious wine. Love the purity focus and vision – it is so focused and seamless on the palate a sheer joy to taste and drink. These were samples sent (as yet unbottled wine) with the “internal” sample number of the barrel FDR 1A (fine red wine) placed on the bottle which won the Stoddart Wine Trophy in the Brisbane Wine Show and then bottled as FDR to celebrate this. It was also then bottled as a Signature wine (see below).
Yalumba Christobel’s Blend 1974 Signature Blend, Cabernet Sauvignon & Shiraz Honouring Christobel Hill-Smith for 50 years of service. I tasted this with Robert Hill-Smith back in 2017. Cocoa and chocolate on the nose, lively and elegant, soft sweet red fruit, some sweet herbaceous flavours, seductive, lingering, fabulous.
Cristal Rosé Vertical, historical ……
When Louis Roederer do a Cristal event, they never do it by halves and so it proved when they celebrated the 50th anniversary of Cristal Rosé. An historic line-up of vintages, a private dining room with Mauro Colagreco at the controls, and a chef de cave in Jean Baptiste Lecaillon who manages that tricky balance between making one of the world's finest Champagnes and sharing it with the most impeccable skill and generosity.
This 50th anniversary celebration was held in the 20-seat Mauro’s Table, Raffles Hotel at the OWO, which was a perfect setting, with the wine service guided by wine director, Vincenzo Arnese, who has that balance and poise of authority, knowledge, and open Napoli friendship to put you at ease.
Again, so many highlights including these two spectacular wines.
Louis Roederer Cristal Rosé 2008 (magnum)
Wow! What a showstopper – perfection! Lecaillon called this the “new style of Cristal Rosé, maybe the best we have made.” The balance, the purity, that saline-fresh brightness balanced with a creamy, chalky, delicate berry, so precise… heaven!
Louis Roederer Cristal Rosé 1995 (magnum)
This had more intensity, but still that classic purity of Cristal – fresh and vibrant, focused, but with depth, a beautiful texture and length. Still fresh on the finish this was a glorious delight, and pretty perfect with the scallop and truffle dish.
Matthew Jukes Top Australian 100, the Australian wine legend
This year Matthew Jukes cemented his position as a Legendary Australian Ambassador hosting his annual Top 100 Australian Wines at Stoke Lodge hosted by His Excellency the Honourable Stephen Smith, with esteemed guests such as the Deputy UK Prime Minister, Angela Rayner in attendance.
Over 100 majestic Australian wines were shown but here is one to wet the palate.
Alkoomi Cultivated Collection Shiraz 2020
Not sure if the founders, Merv and Judy Lange, would be happy with the new bottle format, but this is pretty perfect - I remember well tasting Alkoomi Blackbutt Cabernet in the late 1990s and fell in love with this region. This is a superlative Shiraz with pure essence of dark berries, awesome.
I would also highlight here Amelia Jukes’s continued excellence in the series of State-by-State Series highlighting Australian grape varieties.
