Cellar Tracker Bordeaux Trip 2011

Back in January Bella Wine Tours was invited by the Cellar Tracker community to co ordinate a trip to Bordeaux for an interesting group of wine enthusiasts. The initial contact was from the UK and I was under the impression that if we put together an interesting itinerary, then we would get 20-25 people to Bordeaux. I am always sceptical so I presumed 10-15! The clients for Cellar Tracker are mainly American, but they are truly internet fans, so some of the clients were from China, Singapore, Canada and the UK.
Fortunately the Cellar Tracker community is strong and I organized a busy schedule of visits, tastings and lunches and dinners for the 28 people who signed up for the trip. I offered accommodation in the excellent 5 star Hotel Regent as well as the 3 star Hotel de Normandie.
Here are a few pictures of the happy wine enthusiasts who attended the 4 days of fun at the end of May 2011:











Visiting Chateau Lafite Rothschild. We tasted the excellent 1995.








The incredible barrel room at Chateau Lafite Rothschild.











The 28 people were great fun. Some of them knew each other beforehand, but many of them did not know anyone else. Everyone got on extremely well and we had a busy but fun time.
Here is or schedule:
Sunday: Arrive at Hotels and meet for an evening drink.
Monday: Coaches to Chateau Pontet Canet for a visit and tasting of the 2005 and 2010 barrel sample.
Visit and Tasting to Chateau Mouton Rothschild....2010 barrel sample tasted.
Visit and Tasting to Chateau Lynch Bages....2004 and 2010 tasted
Lunch in Pauillac in a riverside restaurant.

Visit and tasting at Chateau Lafite Rothschild...Tasted the 1995
Visit and tasting at Ch. Grand Puy Lacoste...Tasted 2010 and 2005.
Visit and Tasting at Ch. Pichon Longueville...Tasted 2010,2009,1008 and 2003.

Monday was free to explore the restaurants of Bordeaux.







Happy clients in the tasting room at Ch. Pichon Longueville, where we were really treated to some exceptional wines...2010,2009,2008 and 2003.








Tuesday: Coaches to Ch. La Mission Haut Brion...Tasted the 2007 Ch. Haut brion and 2007 Ch. La Mission Haut Brion.
Visit and Tasting at Domaine de Chevalier....Tasted the 2010(Red and White) and 2005(Red)
Lunch and a tasting with Daniel and Florence Cathiard at Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte. A delicious lunch after some lovely aperitifs..Ch. Smith Haut Lafitte Blanc 2008 and Rouge 2007. Lunch with the 1998 and 2006 from Magnums.
In the afternoon we visited the majestic Chateau d'Yquem for a visit and tasting of the incredible 2007.

Tuesday evening was free to explore Bordeaux.







The amazing new egg fermentor at Domaine de Chevalier.









Wednesday: Coaches to Chateau de la Riviere in Fronsac. A full tour of the cellars and the Chateau as well as a tasting of teh 2005 and 2010 and the 2001 Aria.
Lunch free to stroll around Saint Emilion.
Afternoon visit to Ch. La Conseillante in Pomerol, where we tasted the 2010.

I arranged a dinner at Chateau Coutet in Barsac. We tasted some fabulous sweet wines....2010, 1998, 1976, 1989 during a beautiful meal in the Chateau.

Thursday morning we visited Chateau Margaux where we tasted the 2007 Pavillon Rouge and Ch. Margaux.
Last visit was to Ch. Rauzan Segla where we enjoyed the 2010 and the 2006.

Everyone had a great time. We covered a lot of ground and we met some fantastic characters and personalities. We also got on very well as a group and it was a great pleasure to organise. There are many notes and many better pictures and detailed tasting notes on the Cellar Tracker main website and the forum.

I would be delighted to organise a similar type trip to Bordeaux. via www.bellawinetours.com

Sitt 2009

No Sitt is not a typo!
It stands for Specialist Importers Trade Tastings.
This is a great opportunity for the UK wine trade buyers and journalists to taste a selection of quality wines.
There are usually about 40 different importers showing their various goodies.
We will be at Manchester this Monday 23rd (Bridgewater Hall) and London this Wednesday 25th (Vinopolis).
Bella Wines are at Table 12 where we will be showing some interesting new wines:

Logan Wines.....cool climate Australians....stunning award winning Sauv. Blanc.
Mas Amiel......fantastic Roussillon wine estate...aged Maury as well as deep reds.
Ch. Jean Faure...St.Emilion Grand Cru
Ch. de la Riviere......my favourite Chateau in Bordeaux...stunning wines.
Domaine La Prade Mari......wild hairy winemaker making exquisite wines....80 yr old Carignan aimed to retail at £5.50!!!
Cave Les Trois Blasons.....always innovative classy producer from the sunny South of France.

Look forward to seeing you this week.

Rose Tasting, London Feb 6th 2009

This wine tasting should be a fantastic opportunity to try a really classy selection of Rose wines from the South of France.

The Rose wine category has increased enormously over the last few years. Rose is a good half way house for choosing wines that are versatile and easy. We will be showing all sorts of styles at this tasting. There will be organic, biodynamic, lutte raissonne and all shades of pink available!

This is a trade tasting aimed at wine buyers and journalists. Click on the invite below to enlarge. Let me know directly if you can make it along.

More Tasting Descriptions...

These last two weeks I have been on and off aeroplanes.....many wine tastings up and down the UK. A great fun time of year and great to hear views and comments from the most important people ...the people buying the wine!

A couple of fun observations/descriptions regarding wine.

Chateau Minvieille 2006 Rouge Bordeaux @ £6.99
Quoted by a lady in London: 'I like this wine. Yes, it is a good Monday to Wednesday style wine.'

Domaine La Prade Mari Viognier 2007 @ £6.99
Quoted by a man in Oundle: 'Yes lovely Summer drinking Viognier...Great hammock wine!'

Next week we will have to see what the good folk of Cornwall and Devon come up with....

Tasting Notes

Sometimes I get fed up writing about the gooseberries, the grass, the blackcurrants, the damsons, honey, sage, melons and ripe plums when describing various wines.
It can be far more fun to 'personalise' your wine tasting notes.....as long as you remember your thread!!
I frequently call wines DP....no not Dom Perignon....but Dolly Parton....it is my simple note for a slightly unbalanced juicy fruity forward wine that does not have much behind but is a bit brash.

20 years ago when I was working in a prestigious wine shop in Belgravia I was frequently told by a flamboyant character of the wine trade that it was vital for female customers to hold the bottle in their hands.....once they get a feel they won't want to put it down!!! This was the same wine salesman who frequently shouted out...'this wine's a real leg opener' and then walked away. It has certainly stayed in my memory for showing a fun description.
Sometimes I feel that wine can be over analysed and over dissected. We are dealing with a fascinating and pure drink that should be enjoyed with good food and good friends......if Dolly Parton is about then so what.
I have recently come across a really interesting website called Chateau Petrogasm, which describes wine purely through pictures....no words, no bullshit.....just evocative pictures/images. It is fun and different and I really like it. Which wine do you think the beautiful Rose by Salvador Dali depicts? Have a look at the Chateau Petrogasm website and find out.

Wine Tastings

I love showing new wines to people and seeing their reaction........hopefully positive!!!
At this time of year my diary is chockablock with tastings from Scotland to Cornwall. It is really good fun to catch up with wine trade friends and also to introduce new and exciting wines to the discerning UK wine drinking market from Australia, Bordeaux and Sud de France.
Many of these tastings are hosted by wine merchants and some can attract up to 4-500 people. But sometimes smaller tastings are far more informal and a great opportunity to have a good chat about the wines.
For the first time earlier this year I presented six wines before, during and after a fantastic dinner party for 12 people in a private house. It was great fun and very successful.
Sometimes wine tastings can be a fun way to get a team or company together. The wine tasting itself can be lighthearted or detailed depending on the theme or mood.
If you are interested in tasting some exciting wines in the UK and want to organize a company tasting or a tasting for enthusiastic wine drinkers, then please contact me.

Sud de France 'Festive Wines' Tasting in London

Two days in London this week at the Maison Languedoc Roussillon in Cavendish Square. This is a relatively new venue (opened in June). And it is the 'window' in Central London for food and wine from the South of France. It is a great place and hopefully we can host some interesting wine tastings during 2009.
I was involved in organising a 'Festive Wines' event. We had some fascinating sparkling wines from Limoux...the first place to make sparkling wine in France. It was a good opportunity to try a selection of these wines from large and small growers. The Domaine Antech Cuvee 'Doux et Fruite' 2007 (Blanquette de Limoux) was amazing. It is a sparkling wine made in the 'Methode Ancestrale', which means that the first fermentation is stopped by chilling the juice and left on lees during the cold winter months. The secondary fermentation is then started in the Spring with the addition of yeast. It seems a very natural way to produce a wine..working with the seasons. However as Francoise Antech-Gazeau said, it is a very difficult process to manage and also to maintain the stability of the juice without letting rogue yeasts start an uncontrolled fermentation!
The wine was made from Mauzac grapes, which is virtually unique to Limoux and small areas of Gaillac. It is a tricky grape to grow and vinify as it is prone to oxidise easily and loose the flavours. This wine was an amazing medium sweet sparkling wine with a clear 'green apple' fresh style, but also with a depth and slight biscuit richness. The pleasant shock for me was the alcohol level at 6%. This was a very good wine and certainly one that I will be buying for Christmas. A very good aperitif wine.

The other sparkling wine that really stood out was the Chateau Rives-Blanques, Blanquette de Limoux 2006. This was a totally different style. A really classy wine made from 90% Mauzac and 5% each Chardonnay and Chenin Blanc. The wine had an excellent mousse and medium biscuity rich nose. However the palate was defined by its elegance and the perfect balance between tight structured acidity and beautiful rich harmonious fruit. A wine that is very good value from this well run wine estate that adheres to sustained agriculture principals.

There were some interesting dessert wines from mainly muscat grapes (but also Marsanne, Roussanne, Viognier and Ugni Blanc) and then there was a great selection of older and amazing Vin Doux Naturels. These are fortified wines mainly from the Roussillon area near Perpignan. The key grape varieties being Grenache Noir, Carignan and Maccabeu.
I adore the 1969 Mas Amiel, Maury, which is a great example of a perfectly balanced aged Maury wine. I always think of this wine being a cross of old Madeira and aged tawny port....but it is unique. This is ideal for an unusual gift for someone who is 40 years old next year!!!
But surely the most interesting wine at the tasting were the two older wines from Domaine de la Coume du Roy. It is not often that you get the chance to taste some wines from 1925 and 1932! Agnes Bachelet travelled over to London with her young son to show him the sights and for everyone to taste these incredible wines. The wines had lost their red/brown colour and were nearer to dark cognac colour. The nose on the 1932 Maury initially had evident alcohol and I thought that it might be a tricky wine to taste. However on the palate the wines really danced! The 1932 had a smooth rich caramel smooth texture and still lively acidity. Whilst the 1925 seemed perfect. The wine had a smoother nose and an excellent balance of rounded creamy textured caramel palate. This wine lasted for a long time on the palate and exudes class.
These wines are still ageing in large oak barrels. Agnes draws off a small amount for bottling whenever she needs some stock!