Category — News In The Press

The Channel4 sponsored Taste festival comes to Leeds Milllenium Square from 5-8 June 2008, offering visitors a great opportunity to taste fine foods and wines available in the region.

Imagine a picnic in a park. Now multiply it by thousands of people. Invite all the best restaurants in the area to contribute the food, and discerning vintners to bring the bottles. Make sure some of the guests are famous chefs happy to help out with cooking hints, and organise live music to eat and drink by. This is a Taste Festival.

Amongst the wine exhibits will be Bordeaux Wines, Wines of Chile, Faustino Rioja, Wines of South Africa and Playford Ros representing Villa Sandi - Italian Proscecco producers.

Leeds Brewery and Goslings Rum will also contribute to what promises to be a great cocktail of wine and food.

For more info and tickets see www.channel4.com

If you are lucky enough to have more wine than you know where to keep it, or unlucky enough to have a flat too small to hold more than the odd bottle, then Big Yellow has just opened a new self-service wine storage facility in Fulham, London.
Fine wine needs to be kept in good conditions if it is to reach its potential, which means a steady cool temperature, no vibration and little light. That is why cellars in older houses were ideal - except for often being a little too damp for the labels and corks. Certainly modern houses tend not to have a cellar or any space which meets the criteria - central heating which is too warm, the cupboard under the stairs suffering too much disturbance, garages where the temperature varies too much, and no cellar!

This new venture seems to offer a solution (if you are in London):-

We have launched a unique new wine storage service in our new flagship store in Fulham. It’s the UK’s first dedicated self storage wine facility and boasts features to keep your wine collection in perfect condition.
Climate control: The environment is maintained at 15 degrees centigrade (+/- 2 degrees C) and 67% humidity levels (+/- 5%)
Free access to your own personal cellar is available during our store opening hours, with out of hours access also available for a small weekly charge.
State of the art security: Every room is alarmed; the store is monitored 24hr with CCTV and 24 hr security on the premises

See www.bigyellow.co.uk.

The wine merchant Caves de Pyrene, based in Guildford, Surrey is a bit of a trade secret. Predominantly supplying some of the top trade outlets, they now have an online website and a wine shop to tempt individual customers. We came across them when we realised that they also imported Didier Barre’s award winning Madiran AC Domaine Berthoumieu, Cuvee Charles de Batz - a gloriously rich, tannic but smooth red from South West France based on the Tannat grape.

As Tim Atkin in the Observer observes:-

Les Caves may specialise in supplying pubs and restaurants, but it sells to the public (by mail order and from its shop) too. In fact, if you conducted a straw poll of wine critics, I reckon most of us would put Les Caves in our top three retailers. They specialise in quirky French and Italian wines, most of them sourced from individual growers. Their aim is simple: to list wines that are ‘true to where they come from, which are made by hand with minimal interventions in the vineyard and winery, and which show maximum respect for nature and the environment’.

Their list is extensive and includes rarely seen wines from Marcillac and Aveyron (France), Corsica, Luxembourg, Morocco, Lebanon and Georgia!

The online store is not really user-friendly, but it is worth downloading their list - it makes interesting reading with excellent background notes on the regions.

They are holding a big bin-end sale on 13 and 14 June 2008 at Pew Corner - including a lunch and music on the Saturday - and 10% of the sale proceeds will go to charity. If you are anywhere near Guildford I would recommend a visit.

Caves de Pyrene
Pew Corner, Old Portsmouth Road, Artington, GU3 1LP
T: 01483 538820 F:01483 455068 E: sales@lescaves.co.uk

The Daily Mail (5 May 2008) reports on the findings of Dr Roger Corder (The Red Wine Diet) on the health benefits of RED wine:-

Far more important are polyphenols, the chemical compounds in grape skin and seeds. These are natural antioxidants which protect the membranes of each cell.
Another important element of red wine are procyanidins, which help to reduce blood pressure, lower cholesterol and protect against hardening of the arteries.
The most procyanidin-rich wines tend to be those in which the grapes - including skins and seeds - have remained in contact with the wine during fermentation and afterwards.
Such information is seldom seen on wine bottles - you’d find it by scouring producers’ websites (look for contact time of at least ten days for good amounts of procyanidins).
Two wine-growing regions which boast high concentrations of procyanidins are the Nuoro province in Sardinia (which produces the Cannonau grape), and Madiran in the Pyrenees.

Madiran AOC wines from South West France have certainly become more widely known as a result of this research - the Tannat grape producing big, and potentially tannic wines - and some of the best cuvées ensure that those big tannins are smooth and balanced with plenty of fruit character! - e.g the wines of Domaine Berthoumieu and Chateau d’Aydie.

Cannonau-based wines from the Italian island of Sardinia remain less well-known - Cooden Cellars stocks a Triente 2006 from Pala :”A very intense perfume leads into a fresh palate with rich flavours of mature red fruits and hints of herbs. Good match for spicy foods and oily fish.” (£9.99)

The Channel 4 sponsored Taste festival comes to Edinburgh (The Meadows) from 29 May - 1 June 2008, offering visitors a great opportunity to taste fine foods and wines available in the region.

Imagine a picnic in a park. Now multiply it by thousands of people. Invite all the best restaurants in the area to contribute the food, and discerning vintners to bring the bottles. Make sure some of the guests are famous chefs happy to help out with cooking hints, and organise live music to eat and drink by. This is a Taste Festival.

Amongst the wine-related exhibits will be the Edinburgh School of Food and Wine, Portobello’s Fine Wine Co, New Zealand’s Jackson Estate Winery, Champagne merchants Lovely Bubbly, highly-rated Scottish Merchant Valvona & Crolla,Bordeaux Wines, Wines of Chile, Faustino Rioja

Being in Scotland there is also a Food & Whisky School!

For more info and tickets see www.channel4.com

Join Frontline’s head chef, John Taylor and wine author, Malcolm Gluck Frontline’s exclusive private dining room for an evening of fine food and wine.

The Frontline restaurant is a welcome haven from the bustling streets of London’s Paddington. The restaurant is part of the Frontline media club that uniquely combines eating, drinking and thinking. Profits from the restaurant support the charitable work of the Frontline Forum with its weekly programme of cutting edge documentaries and discussions that ensure the world’s causes and crises that fade from the headlines are kept in sharp focus.

John Taylor sources his produce from local, independent producers; most recently adding Vaughan Smith’s Norfolk farm to his highly selective list of suppliers. The freshest ingredients help John to create perfect seasonal dishes, packed with delicate flavours that highlight the best traditions of British cuisine. On hand throughout the evening, John will present his specially crafted Spring tasting menu, full of gastronomic delights.

Malcolm Gluck, wine author and creator of Superplonk.com, scoured the earth to create our widely admired Frontline wine list. Hand picking some of the finest offerings and carefully matching them to each course throughout the tasting, Malcolm will lead the table through the individual stories behind his finds and the flavours they hold. New, unusual and out of the way wines are being added to our repertoire all the time at non- rip-off prices. Come and learn how Malcolm tracks such a range of delights down.

£78 for four courses with wine (cost includes VAT and service charge, plus a signed copy of Malcolm Gluck’s Superplonk book and DVD)

To book call 020 7479 8960 (credit card details are needed for booking)

Sat 26th April, 6.30pm Price: £78.00

See the Frontline Club
13 Norfolk Place, London. W2 1QJ

Chancellor Darling has announced excise duty increases which apply from Monday 17th March 2008. Ostensibly designed to curb binge drinking, most people seem to think this is just another way of increasing taxes.

Perhaps its the dour Presbyterian Scottish influence at play - although technically Darling is English. albeit with strong Scottish connections and MP for Edinburgh South. However, seeing as the duty on Scotch Whisky has also been raised maybe that is a tad unfair! The real problem is that alcohol duty is a soft touch for Budget day.

Unfortunately even the quick cross-channel trip to stock up at much lower French prices is not as good an option as it used to be - the exchange rate against the Euro is at its lowest since the the euro was introduced - e.g. €1.26 to the £ (13 March 08) - order online at the Post Office

The impact of the changes on retail prices for typical alcoholic drinks is equivalent to:
• 55 pence on a 70cl bottle of spirits @ 37.5% abv;
• 4 pence on a pint of beer;
• 3 pence on a litre of still cider;
• 14 pence on a 75cl bottle of sparkling cider;
• 14 pence on a 75cl bottle of wine
• 18 pence on a 75cl bottle of sparkling wine.

The Independent (9 March 08) has some recommendations for good places to find a glass of well-chosen and affordable wine in the UK:
The Crooked Billett near Milton Keynes, Bucks -

extensive list of over 300 wines. To help you find your way through this vast range we have divided it into Sweet Wine & Digestifs; Ports; Selection of Half Bottles; Sweet Wine 100ml; Most Popular Wines; Wines by Region split into Champagne, Red, Rose and white and finally Wine by Flavour.

The General Tarleton, near Knaresborough, North Yorkshire with a list of over 150 wines, 20 or more available by the glass!

Also noted were Harts in Nottingham and The White Horse at Chilgrove near Chichester.

They were an odd couple who travelled through France in a classic Jaguar convertible; one a wine connoisseur, the other a less cultured beer drinking fast car fanatic who dubbed his colleague “pretentious”. But while wine expert Oz Clarke and Top Gear’s James May might be unlikely travelling companions, they proved a hit with viewers – more than two million tuned in to
watch their exploits on BBC2. And now they’re back – and this time they’ve gone west.

The duo have travelled to California for their second series and now their latest escapades are arriving on DVD as a two disc set, with the March 3 release of the second series of Oz And James’s Big Wine Adventure, courtesy of Acorn Media.

The eight-part second series sees Oz and James heading to the sunshine state to sample its wines. How will Oz react to the taste of wine in the new country? And has James finally developed an understanding of wines? Will he manage to spend a day without crashing their motor home (he also gets to drive a Ford Mustang)? And how will they cope with the morning hangovers
after sampling the local delights from Venice Beach to the Napa Valley?

All is revealed on Oz And James’s Big Wine Adventure Series Two if you missed it on TV.

Oz and Jame’s Big Wine Adventure Series 2 is available from Amazon.co.uk for £14.98. Series one is also available from Amazon.co.uk on DVD for £10.01.

The EU Council has agreed to a permanent exclusion of the UK from the planting rights regime.

This planting restriction had been the greatest challenge to the continued development of the wine industry in the UK, which has been growing very successfully over many years. Under this EU planting ban, UK wine producers would have had to stop any further planting once production exceeded 3.3million bottles (25,000 hectolitres), averaged over 5 years. Although the EU Commission wanted to get rid of the planting restrictions, they were forced to compromise and extend the ban to 2015, in order to get other reforms through, which are designed to make EU production more competitive.

The Planting Ban was introduced in the EU in 1999 in response to the over production of poor quality wine in the larger member state producing countries which resulted in the infamous ‘wine lake’. The current EU Wine Reform, introduced by EU Agriculture Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel, aims to revive the languishing European wine industry. Meanwhile, the UK has been steadily producing more and more quality wine, especially within the sparkling wine sector, and demand from both domestic and overseas markets has never been higher. The UK’s representative industry body, the UK Vineyards Association (UKVA), therefore argued that capping the expansion of this vibrant industry, which is completely unsubsidised, would fly in the face of the new Common Agricultural Policy.

EU wine reform amendments have also lifted bans on unlisted grape varieties, as well as the listing of grape varieties and vintage on table wine labels. These reform measures have been put in place to increase the competitiveness of European wines in the face of stiff competition from New World producers.

For those with a few pennies remaining after the Christmas season may have a happy time in the sales this year - assuming the new kitchen/bathroom/sofa/computer does not grab the funds first. Off Licence News is reporting that a disappointing end of year for many merchants will see extended sales this month.

“Retailers who haven’t done the business they expected to before Christmas will be very keen to cut their losses and shift whatever seasonal stock they’ve been left with. Supermarkets dramatically cut prices of beer wines and spirits before Christmas to boost sales, but some are continuing to offer discounts throughout January.

Morrison’s is giving up to £10 off selected bottles of Champagne and sparkling wine until Jan 7, while Co-op and Sainsbury’s have both confirmed discounts of up to £3 on selected wines. Threshers has re-launched its three for two deal on wine and Champagne with a high-profile ad campaign to lure customers into shops and wine merchant Berry Bros & Rudd is offering discounts of up to 30 per cent on wine in its annual sale, which starts today.”

London retailer chain Jeroboams whose interest spread from an up-market deli, whisky retailer and wine merchants has revamped their online prescence for 2008.

Jeroboams is the wine retailer with 8 stores across London, Mr Christians the deli and Milroys of Soho the whisky specialist. Each of the websites now has “more background information to help make online decisions more informed as well as improved web features to make shopping easier”.

Enhanced Information

• Fiches techniques and tasting notes for each wine and whisky
• In-depth, market-focussed discussion on key countries and regions on both the Milroy’s of Soho and Jeroboams sites
• Mr Christian’s has full menu listings for Notting Hill’s favourite deli and brings a feel of the shop’s character to the internet.

New Web Features

• Reduced delivery costs - £9.95 or free on orders over £200.00 in England and Wales
• Enhanced ‘My Account’ area that allows customers to view their order history as well as manage the wishlist and address book
• ‘Quick-Shop’ feature allows customers to find a product simply by entering the product code from any offer or list
• Click and Collect feature that allows customers to pick their order up from their nearest Jeroboams shop

Each of the stores, incidently, has a live webcam - always fun!

Clos des Papes has been proclaimed by the Independent as “The best wine in the world”.; well not the Independent exactly but following up on Wine Spectator magazine proclaiming the Clos des Papes 2005 as the best wine, quickly followed by the 2004 vintage:

“in a recent, mass, blind tasting of 15,000 wines from all over the globe by the American magazine, Wine Spectator, it was the relatively unknown Clos des Papes 2005, a red wine from Château-neuf-du-Pape, near Avignon, in the Rhône valley, which came out on top. Value for money was taken into consideration but also sheer quality (98 marks out of 100) and a subjective element labelled simply “excitement”.”

The producer, M. Avril, makes only two wines (a red and a white). The red is a blend of six different kinds of grapes, grown on 24 different pieces of ground – to fulfil his own “instinct” for how to “express” the qualities of the grapes, the terroirs and the year. He is not trying to produce a “Parker” wine or a “Spectator” wine but a Clos des Papes.

What the Independent fails to say is where to buy these acclaimed wines; a little on-line research shows it ain’t easy to find!

Speciality Wine -
Clos des PapeRhones 2005 £89 per bottle
Clos des Papes 2004 £48
Clos des Papes 2003 £58

Berry Brothers
Clos des Papes - sold out

A & B Vintners
2004/2005 - price not displayed on website

Wine Society
Clos des Papes 2002 - £23

Lay and Wheeler
Clos des Papes 2004 - £32.70

Blenheim Fine Wines (case sales only)
Clos des Papes 2002 - £22.10

Flying Corkscrew
Clos du Papes 2004 - £41 (online case sales only)

En Primeur
Clos du Papes 2001 - £30.80 (case sales only)

M. Avrion says that his wines should be kept for at least six to eight years before they are drunk. He is selling his 2001 vintage – now ready to drink – at €50 a bottle. Although the 2005 is all sold, he reckons the 2006, to be bottled in the new year, and the 2007 are equally good, “if not better”. Eighty per cent of his wine is sold abroad, including 15 per cent to Britain, the biggest buyer outside France.

The Office for National Statistics has reassesed the number of units found in drinks to take account of bigger glasses, and their increased alcoholic. As a result average UK consumption for 2006 has been recalculated at 14.3 units a week, up from 10.8 units

New units for alcoholic drinks

A new website, designed by teenagers, has been launched by the The Drinkaware Trust with the aim of educating youngsters about the dangers of drinking.

Feedback from under-18’s is the focus of Truth About Booze with forum discussions such as “I’m scared I’ll be rejected if I don’t go out drinking” and “My uncle used to do a bottle of whiskey a week. Never did him any harm”. Answers are of the ‘ticking off by an adult’ variety - “Shame you need alcohol to help you have a good time, once in a while it’s OK to let lose and roll with it , but saying you feel like your’e out with primary school kids without booze smaks of addiction and other under lying issues” for example.

It is the first time that teenagers have been directly asked about what would help them and their friends “make better informed choices” about drinking.

In addition to the forums users will be able to read real-life stories from under-18s affected by alcohol, watch educational videos and have easy access to services that provide counselling and treatment.