A little gem from Suffolk

For something from a vineyard a little closer to home, this St Edmundsbury Pinot Noir 2020 is from Giffords Hall near Long Melford in Suffolk. The vineyard was planted on the site of an ancient glacial riverbed about 30 years ago and several grape varieties, including Madeleine Angevine, Bacchus, Pinot Noir, and Pinot Blanc flourish in the sandy, clay soil here. This Pinot Noir 2020 is a little gem.

With aromas of bramble and blackberry on the nose, and flavours of plum, strawberry and rhubarb on the palate, this is a smooth, well-balanced wine with medium tannins and a lengthy finish.

An attractive and appealing wine that pairs well with duck or a Sunday roast.

Available from Grape Britannia (£15.99)

With the approach of spring, it’s time to try something a little lighter …

Mud House Pinot Noir 2020 (New Zealand)

As the days gets longer and the weather warms up a little, a Pinot Noir is a very good choice to herald the return of spring. Typically, pale to medium in colour, with high acidity and low to medium tannins, it is a wine that has red fruit flavours which may be complemented by subtle oak-derived notes of smoke and cloves. A versatile grape, it pairs well with a variety of dishes – from salmon and tuna to roast chicken, lamb and duck. It also goes well with a tomato-based pasta dish or pizza.

The Mud House Pinot Noir 2020 hails from Central Otago in New Zealand. Located inland in the foothills of the Southern Alps, the climate in this area is continental but is protected from sea breezes and rains by the mountains, resulting in intensely sunny days and cool nights. Ideal conditions for Pinot Noir to flourish.

This wine has red cherry, raspberry and bramble aromas, with a hint of peppery spice, on the nose and fresh fruit flavours of raspberry and redcurrant on the palate. It is a well-balanced medium-bodied wine with medium tannins and a medium finish, which can be drunk by itself or with food – it goes particularly well with lamb or duck.

Available from Majestic Wine £13.99 (Mix Six-£10.99)

Merlot v Pinot Noir – online wine tasting

A date for your diary: Thursday 21st October 2021, 7pm

Hosted by Steve Hovington, Cambridge Wine Academy.

An opportunity to examine these grape varieties in detail and try to figure out why there’s so much fuss about Pinot Noir and why Merlot can stake a claim to true greatness.

A big showdown event between two heavyweight wine grapes. Four rounds, eight wines. Who’ll come out on top? 

Steve is a very knowledgeable and entertaining presenter, and this promises to be another interesting and informative session. I have attended several of his virtual wine tasting sessions this year and always had a very enjoyable evening.

For more details and to book, see here

Can England produce a cracking Pinot Noir? You bet!

Gutter & Stars, Hope is a Good Swimmer, Pinot Noir 2020

Chris Wilson, who established Gutter & Stars, the UK’s newest urban winery in Cambridge in 2020, produced the winery’s first Bacchus wine earlier this year and it was a great success. Since then, I have been looking forward to the release of their first Pinot Noir and now that I’ve been able to try it, I can definitely say that it was well worth the wait. It’s brilliant!

Made from grapes grown in Crouch Valley, Essex, this is a smooth, refreshing wine with prominent cherry and raspberry aromas on the nose, and fresh red fruit flavours, and a hint of peppery spice, on the palate. Light in colour, with medium acidity and medium tannins, this is a very attractive, well-balanced wine that just shows that we can produce a cracking Pinot Noir right here in Blighty!

This is a great debut for Gutter & Stars’ Pinot Noir … and I can’t wait for the Chardonnay due out in the autumn!

STOP PRESS: Cambridge-based Gutter & Stars releases first Pinot Noir

Gutter&Stars_Pinot_Noir_2020.jpg

Cambridge is known for many things but who would have thought it was also the home of an urban winery! Journalist and winemaker Chris Wilson established Gutter & Stars in 2020, and I was fortunate enough to try his debut vintage, a very appealing, well-balanced Bacchus, earlier this year. This has now sold out but Gutter & Stars has just released their first Pinot Noir.

Chris has produced a fruit-forward and textured wine, with red cherry and raspberry characters coming together with cola and black pepper to create a juicy, fresh and well-rounded summer wine.

Availability is limited – 400 bottles have been produced, each one individually numbered.

For further details, and to order, please see here.

Great wines on our doorstep – now’s the time to try English & Welsh wines

June is a good time to celebrate at the best of times – the weather is usually quite pleasant, gardens are awash with colour and with the Summer Solstice and Midsummer’s Day in quick succession, there are plenty of reasons to crack open a bottle. And this year June just got even better – with Welsh Wine Week this week (4-13 June) and English Wine Week fast approaching (19-27 June), now is a perfect opportunity to discover the delights that English & Welsh wines have to offer, and support our nation’s wine growers, as well as local wine retailers and other businesses, at the same time.

English and Welsh wines have come of age. Although wine making on our island has been around for centuries, even twenty years ago, you’d find few people who had much praise for English (and Welsh) wines.  Then came the Nyetimber effect when a couple of enterprising Americans decided they could produce sparkling wine in a part of England where the soil and climate were similar to those in Champagne and set about proving it, and the rest, as they say is history. Fast forward to 2021 and there are some absolute delights to tempt your palate, both in terms of sparkling and still wines.

I had an opportunity recently to take part in an online wine tasting featuring English and Welsh wines, run by Steve Hovington from Cambridge Wine Academy. Steve is a very knowledgeable and entertaining presenter and it was an interesting, informative and very enjoyable evening. We covered a range of wines – white, red and rosé – and it was a real eye-opener. I hadn’t realised that there are such high quality wines being produced on this sceptered isle of ours; indeed, there were several wines that had it been a blind tasting, you might well have thought were from one of the more established wine-producing countries rather than from England or Wales.

English and Welsh wines are most definitely worth exploring. Here are a few to get you started:

Still Rosé by Hattingley 2020

This is a blend of Pinot Noir, Pinot Noir Précoce and Pinot Meunier grapes grown on the chalky soil of Hattingley Valley in Hampshire. Pink salmon in colour with aromas of raspberry, cherry and a hint of pear drops on the nose, and flavours of raspberry and strawberry, with creamy notes, on the palate, the wine is well-balanced with ripe fruit flavours and vibrant acidity. A light, refreshing wine with a long finish. Perfect for a summer’s evening and if you closed your eyes, you could be forgiven for thinking this was a Provençal rosé.

Available from Grape Britannia (£15.99)

White Castle Pinot Noir Reserve, Monmouthshire, 2018

I think this is probably the first Welsh wine I have tried. And what a fine example it is. No wonder it’s an Oz Clarke favourite – it’s a very impressive wine. This Pinot Noir Reserve 2018 is made from Pinot Noir Précoce grapes and has aromas of red berries and vanilla, with a hint of oak and smokiness on the nose, and ripe red fruit flavours of raspberry and strawberry on the palate. It is a light, well-balanced wine which will go perfectly with Welsh lamb or a cheese platter.

Available from Grape Britannia (£27.50)

Knightor Three Barrel Bacchus 2019

Well, if you can’t get to Cornwall right now, let Cornwall come to you! This very aromatic, off-dry Bacchus (great name for a grape variety!) has a different character from a typical Bacchus wine and with its high level of residual sugar, is reminiscent of a German Kabinett wine. It has quite pronounced peach and elderflower aromas on the nose leading to crisp, red apple and elderflower flavours, with a hint of oak, on the palate. A well-balanced wine with a long finish, this Three Barrel Bacchus is a perfect match for Cornish cheeses and fruity desserts.

Available from Grape Britannia (£16.99)

One other wine which was hugely impressive was the Gutter & Stars Bacchus 2020, I Wanna Be Adored, and all the more so since this was Cambridge-based Gutter & Stars debut vintage. Cambridge is known for many things but who would have thought it was also the home of an urban winery! It was a very appealing well-balanced wine but with only 400 bottles produced for this first vintage, it has quickly sold out. However the winery is set to release two more wines this year – a Pinot Noir and a Chardonnay – so keep an eye out for these.

Look out for more reviews of English and Welsh wines in the coming weeks. Cheers!

Diner we befuddled – with this? (3,4). Crossword clue.

Answer at foot of page

Three good value, medium bodied red wines to tempt your palate this week – two Old World wines and one from New Zealand. Enjoy!

Domaine Tavian Brouilly 2019 (Beaujolais)

If you’re looking for a fragrant, well-balanced, medium-bodied Beaujolais to enjoy with a mid-week pasta or chicken dish, this should tick the boxes. Quite well defined aromas of raspberry, candy, red cherry, and a hint of violet, on the nose, and fresh fruity flavours of raspberry and strawberry on the palate. This is a dry wine, with high acidity, medium tannins and a medium finish. A good value Beaujolais. (Waitrose, £12.99)

Mud House Pinot Noir 2019 (Central Otago)

A Pinot Noir from the Central Otago region of New Zealand, this wine has red cherry, raspberry and bramble aromas on the nose, with a hint of peppery spice, and fresh fruit flavours of raspberry and redcurrant on the palate. A balanced wine, medium bodied with medium tannins and a medium finish, this goes well with lamb, or by itself. Majestic Wine £13.99 (£10.99 Mix Six), also available at Waitrose.

Louis Latour Bourgogne Pinot Noir, 2019

A youthful Burgundy Pinot Noir with well-defined red fruit aromas of raspberry, redcurrant and red cherry with overtones of cloves, spice and earth on the nose, and quite intense red fruit flavours on the palate. A dry wine, with high acidity and medium tannins, it has medium alcohol and a medium finish. A good wine to pair with lamb or chicken. Majestic Wine £16.99 (£12.99 Mix Six).

Answer to crossword clue: red wine

Three reds from around the world

How about a little globe-trotting? Three reds from around the world to try – an Italian Barbera, a South African Pinotage and a Chilean Pinot Noir

Barbera Briccotondo 18 Fontanafredda

If you are looking for a fruity Italian red to go with your pasta, this Barbera Briccotondo 2018 Fontanafredda is a good fit. Ruby in colour, with flavours of red cherry, plum and blackberry, and a hint of pepper and cinnamon, this is a smooth, dry wine with medium tannin and high acidity. A well-balanced, medium-bodied wine with a medium finish.

Barista Pinotage 2018/19

Pinotage wines, from South Africa’s signature grape, are a relatively new discovery for me, and this Barista is very good. Intense black fruits, notably cassis, on the nose coupled with a smoky earthiness and more than a hint of coffee and chocolate. The fruits and coffee flavours open up on the palate and the wine has an intriguing complexity to it. A full-bodied wine with moderate acidity and medium tannins, Barista needs something rich and meaty to go with it. We enjoyed it with roast chicken, but it would also suit duck or a hearty stew. Majestic Wine £9.99 (£8.99 Mix Six )

Pinot Noir 2018 Tarapaca (Chile)

A simple but very agreeable wine, this Chilean Pinot Noir has raspberry and strawberry on the nose, together with a slight smokiness. With ripe red fruit flavours and a hint of spiciness on the palate, it is a fairly light-bodied dry wine with low tannins and high acidity. Try it with salmon, chicken or pasta dishes.