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Cono Sur Reserve Especial Pinot Noir ’08
http://quaffersoffers.co.uk/QOforum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=6109		 Page 1 of 2
Author:  GK [ Mon May 24, 2010 12:13 pm ]
Post subject:  Cono Sur Reserve Especial Pinot Noir ’08
Cono Sur Reserve Especial Pinot Noir ’08, Somerfield £9.99

Ripe and fresh, not what I was expecting, no ‘cream’ or heavy oak, lots of juicy blackcurrant and cherries, decent acidity too, lively and pure. Nice.

I haven’t seen this ‘version’ on sale with any other retailer, at first I thought it was simply the Cono Sur Reserve Pinot with a new look and a price increase, but this is not how I remembered the Reserve tasting.
Author:  Duncan [ Mon May 24, 2010 5:31 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Cono Sur Reserve Especial Pinot Noir ’08
GK, I'm trying to ascertain the additional level of quality impled and designated by

Especial - (a rioja description for a smaller cuvee of particular character)

Cono sur, but no comment on the Especial cuvee

Can you see what it is - Oak maturation ? Special fruit, hand and visually selected ?

I agree with the general premise that one should not blindly stack these against nice burgundy, nor against indifferent burgundy either.

However the comparisions with style, taste dimension and % Alc and use of oak are valid - within a defined price position. The validity is to illustrate the differences.

Old and New world have their devotees, but not so much for Pinot Noir, Yet ! The purpose of the comparisons is to find a good compromise for old buffs and new whipper snappers alike - One hopes that one day ..............sub £15 quid in our shops not just in country of origin only.............. One finds a gem.

Well that's what I think :wink:

But for now ......... :roll:
Author:  GK [ Tue May 25, 2010 9:04 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Cono Sur Reserve Especial Pinot Noir ’08
The rear label description is fairly generic, fruit from the Casablanca Valley, 14% alc.

For me it tasted much fresher and lighter than the Reserve, without loosing its depth of flavour. I remember the Reserve had bags of strawberry syrup, this was more refined.

Can you get one to try Dunc?

Mel, do you know anyone at Somerfield? Ask the question, what's the difference between this and the standard reserve?

I know Cono Sur do an Ocio Pinot Noir from the Casablanca which is more Burgundian in style, perhaps the same wine? (edit- just looked up the price of the Ocio in the UK, cant be the same).
Author:  meljones [ Tue May 25, 2010 7:14 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Cono Sur Reserve Especial Pinot Noir ’08
Somerfield is Co-op now. Will ask.
Author:  Duncan [ Tue May 25, 2010 11:31 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Cono Sur Reserve Especial Pinot Noir ’08
GK wrote:
Can you get one to try Dunc?



Quite a drive for me. Somerfields flagship store in Berkshire is in Crowthorne (next door to Bracknell)
Author:  Bacchus [ Wed May 26, 2010 12:47 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Cono Sur Reserve Especial Pinot Noir ’08
Duncan wrote:

Quite a drive for me. Somerfields flagship store in Berkshire is in Crowthorne (next door to Bracknell)


Have walked the dogs in the woods there several times. Also was in the nice hospital close by for a while.
Author:  Bacchus [ Wed May 26, 2010 10:59 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Cono Sur Reserve Especial Pinot Noir ’08
Who nicked the "poster-of-the-year" pic ???
Author:  GK [ Wed May 26, 2010 11:08 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Cono Sur Reserve Especial Pinot Noir ’08
:lol:

Me, it occured to me it may have been for a serious illness and not something to joke about. hence I removed it.

Quote:
"poster-of-the-year"

Explain please?
Author:  meljones [ Wed May 26, 2010 2:21 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Cono Sur Reserve Especial Pinot Noir ’08
Explanation from the Co-op (ie Somerfield)

The Pinot Noir Reserva Especial was brought in as a special for us at Christmas. It was specially made for The Co-operative from vineyards located in both the Casablanca Valley (85% of the blend) and the Colchagua Valley (15% of the blend). Casablanca is famed for its cool climate and older vines and regularly produces wines of greater quality and depth than many parts of Chile; therefore wines from here tend to command higher prices.


The wine was aged in top-notch French oak barrels for four months to lend suppleness and extra layers of complexity. Renowned winemaker Adolfo Hurtado was responsible for blending and aging the wine. Only around 10,000 cases of six were produced.
Author:  GK [ Wed May 26, 2010 2:32 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Cono Sur Reserve Especial Pinot Noir ’08
Well done Mel, many thanks.

Am I correct in assuming that the better quality the oak, the less apparent its influence is?
Author:  Duncan [ Wed May 26, 2010 3:53 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Cono Sur Reserve Especial Pinot Noir ’08
meljones wrote:
Explanation from the Co-op (ie Somerfield)


I should be mindful of, and avoid writing up too many suppositions :wink:

Damn, I ought to see for myself, the drive better be worth it - You Co-Op buyers. They took a bit of a risk commissioning that.
Waitrose only stock the ordinary one - not even the Reserve - when I looked on the shelf.

I'd rather pay a tenner for a proper PN, than suffer for a fiver.

Am I correct in assuming that the better quality the oak, the less apparent its influence is

There is an essay and a half there :lol:
Author:  GK [ Thu May 27, 2010 8:49 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Cono Sur Reserve Especial Pinot Noir ’08
Coincidently... in a local Co-op this morning, spotted a batch of the Reserve Especial SB '09 reduced to £4.99 on the clearence shelf.

Oh yes.
Author:  GK [ Thu May 27, 2010 8:52 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Cono Sur Reserve Especial Pinot Noir ’08
Duncan wrote:
There is an essay and a half there :lol:


Dunc, some interesting comments here.
Author:  Bacchus [ Thu May 27, 2010 11:27 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Cono Sur Reserve Especial Pinot Noir ’08
GK wrote:

Quote:
"poster-of-the-year"

Explain please?




http://www.quaffersoffers.co.uk/QOforum/viewtopic.php?t=5255&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=hiding&start=15
Author:  Duncan [ Thu May 27, 2010 11:30 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Cono Sur Reserve Especial Pinot Noir ’08
Good stuff there from wine-pages.

David Crossley uses his Cote d'Or experience to qualify his position - A man after my own heart.

If one considers the Meursault comparative TN's that Mel and her team did recently, you can immediately appreciate the problems with the le Limousin Meursault from Waitrose. The team thought or felt that the wine was faulty.

"Vincent Girardin’s 2006 Le Limozin, which is £29 from Waitrose, was a little bit corked. Not ruined, but just a little bit damply green on the nose. Lorraine also smelt smoked ham. We all gave it our worst smell score. It was very oaky, pretty oxidative and, while it didn’t taste corked, we found the oak oppressive."

Waitrose were a bit naughty in not advising buyers on their web site that this wine is steeped in oak for over 2 years, other reports say even up to 3 years :cry: * One would have to buy another bottle to see if it was faulty, or the style.
.
The fruit for that wine comes from the lower slopes below the Les Genevrières domaine. The grower has a market for that oak heavy wine, but in order for most folks to enjoy the beauty and richness of Genevrières, which is superior to this vineyard, you would not want to spoil it with too much wood.
My limited experience says that the '06 chardonnay fruit was not rich and powerful at the sub £30 quid level....despite all the hype after the '05 success and in defence of the '06 vintage characteristics.
Therefore to apply all that oak to probably less ripe '06, and judged to be early maturing fruit seems to be pretty dumb for it to be appreciated by ordinary mortals like us. I don't think this is a judgement in hindsight, growers know from the harvest, how the resultant wine may turn out. I think this could be a * marketing error for UK consumers who spend £30 a bottle.

Therefore, for lovelyness and general appreciation of that Meursault, the extra heavy oak treatment was ham-fisted and not thought out. Perhaps the producer thinks he will be able to sell all of this wine for the price ! Yet I cant think of any of my friends who would take it.

I believe the sub £30 white burgundy market is changing, wine lovers of my generation are looking for elegance, balance and finesse. * We don't really want white oaky monsters anymore. Do we ? ?

Creamy Limozin (spelt differently by wine writers) oak from forests in south-central France near the city of Limoges, is best used in balance with the characteristics of the fruit from a particular harvest.
Well that's enough from me, and it is a bit narrow, because it is based around the opinions of a few burgundy quaffing mates that I've known for years.
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