I am duty bound to lovers of 'villages' Cote' d'Or rouge, that there are a some from other parts of the globe that will satisfy you, and are made with similar skill and artistry. This one works out at £9.50 plus bulk shipping. But one importer has added £5.00 plus a bit of VAT per bottle, to align the price with Chorey Les Beaune, Saint Romaine etcetera.

This is one of them, a wonderful burgundy alternative. I knew it was right before I opened the bottle, a bright terracotta brick with a lovely sunset rim, and a tiny bit of firm sediment in a segment of the curve at trhe bottom. With the colour and texture just right for a fragrant and beautifully crafted PN. Now to try the wine.............
The wine has succulent and perfumed nose, garden japonica and white blossoms, with a tireless streak of ultra ripe raspberries. The wine tastes like the nose. sweet ripe cane fruit, black cherry, and some ripe victoria plum (not damsens) and (no farmyard). A lovely feel in the mouth, with a good, leaning towards a demi sec length which lingers well. This is a delicate wine, best with vegetarian food, homemade herby quiche, or a Souflaite (spelling) or white cold meats with fresh rocket and spinach and boiled new potatoes. Boxing day / Easter Sunday luncheon. It says 14% Alc on the label, but this is balanced by all the ripe fruit and lively acidity. Nice and bright, lovely to view in the glass, no cloudy material in suspension.

Yum, Yum, Yum.

I looked up the wine, how could they make this ripe Auxey Durresses style so beautifully, with some Chambole fragrance. It is from a finger valley at the East extremity of the Paal region. The Hugenots settled there is 1700 or so, and vines were planted there in 1740's and some of the villages have french names. The river valley in the Fransch,hoek and the vinyards are set at 250 to 300 meters above sea level (ASL) on both sides of the valley for a width of only 5 hectares or so either side of the river, upper Rhone style. The terroir would need to be examined to see what it is ? The south westerly south Atlantic winds are tempered by a large inland lake, aka the Berg Dam, with forest to south west up to 500 metter ASL.

Well, that is my discovery this Easter week-end.

Now, when is Waitrose going to stock some of this Pinot Noir from the Franschhoek valley, Paal, South Africa


The SA Link - http://www.cybercellar.com/South%20Afri ... e_ID=17715

Another link with Sterling prices: http://www.htfwines.co.uk/scripts/viney ... T9iRg#null

**excepting, You don't always have to accept over extracted and condensed Purple emulsion from the predominant down-under regions ! That says Pinot Noir on the label !

**Caneros Calif. and Felton Road NZ are expensive.

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Duncan

Nice note Dunc.

My highlight of the Easter weekend was an '05 Barossa Cab-Sauv from Warburn Estate. A beautifully menthol, silky fruit-bomb that I detonated way too early, but hey, you're only here once.

Blimey....what a tasting note !

Pete, if Mel disappears into the night, you know where she's heading.

They always taste a notch higher when my family and friends are here...ha ha. My daughter and her partner brought the Pinot Noir back from SA. They also bought the Amisfield Riesling back from NZ.

You see, I have scouts out

The 2005 Haut Cabriere Pinot Noir was Bl**dy Lovely. OK, is that better.

Glad you got your taste buds back - How is the The Crossing 2007 ?

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Turn off sound..... then run for cover

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Duncan

Took the kids to Majorca for Easter. Not the oenophile's capital. The highlight of my week was a glass (too small) of Tio Pepe with grilled squid. Otherwise, a vinous desert. In fact, bar prices were reasonable, and so I mainly drank Madeira (€2.10 per glass). Only a generic 5 year old but the best option.

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mel

t

Yeah, an excellent place for your family, something for everyone. Some half decent Catalan wines would be available on Majorca ! You weren't looking properly ?

Years ago I took mine to Ibetha (ibiza) quite a few times. No, not the disco town, but to the unpopulated South west side of the island where the high woods and birds of prey are, and where the artists and musicians live in the villages, along with Jackie Kennedy's place nestling in the woods looking down on us Steerage in tiny cassas and converted fincas below.

You get tiny Bodegas there, with nice wines inside. El Cotto riojas, Competa style wines from the south side of Sierra Alhambra (Pedro Ximenez with ice) and some fresh whites (fizzy ultra light Macabeo) from Torres country on the mainland.

Chilled Tio Pepe, or even on the rocks, is really nice with squid, and drier manzanilla's were absolutely great with Octopus. Sercial is interesting with red snapper and charred sardines done in the embers of a beach fire - You get very tipsy doing this !

Hey Mel, you didn't look hard enough for the wines, those tiny bodega style places appeared like arched low doorways in stone walls, tiny windows and quite dark inside. I even found some Jean Le'on Cab in one small shop. It may have changed a bit, but given that the educated artisans lived there, they would have put up one hell of a fight to stop all the concrete coming in.

Hope you enjoyed your holiday. My kids were older when we use to go, so one did more grown-up stuff, that was off the beaten track. Are yours younger, at the lilo and bucket and spade phase ?

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Duncan

No, mine are 19-14 or vice versa. It was very much a package holiday and the town, Cala Bona, while moderately pretty and not too high rise, only had a handful of spar-type supermarkets. Also, we were on half board and so the only drinking we could do was at lunchtime (restaurants geared to tourists, and I was only drinking wine by the glass as the only adult) or on the balcony before supper. I worked my way through a bottle of La Guita Manzanilla. Love it!

It wasn't really a hunting-for-wine holiday. I know, hard to believe that even exists.

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mel

You must be a good Mum, dealing with a 14 year old is like guessing a card from the pack - damn near impossible to know / or predict what may amuse them !

My Misses let me go off and explore, after I'd done my shift. However, my youngest girl was plucky, so that gave me much more pleasure.

Well Mel, you've spread 4 tons of manure - What are you growing ?

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Duncan

Very little to eat. Some red stemmed chard, tomatoes, basil, parsley, but mainly flowers. Just need a bit of time to weed space and plant things out. And, some rain would be nice.

In fact, the manure has really brought things on. Everything's looking vigorous and energetic - also very green.

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mel

GK, Based on what you've said - I now have a pair of the '08 Warburn cabs lying in a claret box - I haven't nailed the lid down.....yet.

Young Mike came back from SA recently with another Haute Cabriere '07 this time. So I checked the vintage and up popped this.
http://www.htfwines.co.uk/scripts/prodv ... roduct=345

I don't remember writing that review at HTF ? - However, it's free, it's ok by me.

Mike was also convinced to buy a Paradyskloof Pinot Noir '09 Stellenbosch, that the wine store guy said was much better ? I hope Mike was not fooled by a trendy black and silver script label and a young SA guy ?
Better....hmmn ... is an inappropriate and virtually meaningless word for lovers of the burgundian style PN.
I dismiss my de'ja vous, that I've had my booty halved ....

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Duncan