Quite a big week for me. I have been to the Guildhall to officially graduate from the WSET diploma course and delivered my first two hour tasting to a roomful of strangers, all of whom were friendly. This is in line with my explanation of my site's name, which you can find by following a link somewhere near the top of the page, if you have nothing better to do.
In an act of unusual foresight, I bought this week's wine quite a long time in advance. Part of me thinks this is bending the rules a little, but the the greater part of me thinks that the rules are mine and I am entitled to bend what I like. I find some justification of my bending in the opportunistic nature of the purchase. I had made a special trip to Laithwaites at Vinopolis in order to find something for week L (2013) and one the way back to the tube station wandered in Borough Market where, in a past life, I had bought a great number of lunches. Mostly on Fridays. In the market I found Borough Wines who now operate there between Wednesday and Saturday. They started in order to promote wines from their own family vineyards of Chateau Ponchapt in Bergerac, but have expanded their range into other areas.
The stall solved not only this week's problem, but may also have solved one I will otherwise encounter in a couple of weeks' time. Watch this (that) space.
Week V (2014) is Casamatta Toscana IGT 2011 by Bibi Graetz. Borough Wines £12.
I wanted V to be for Vermentino because I had last year spent a morning at the IWSC tasting and judging wines from Tuscany, most of which were high-acid, high tannin Sangiovese based reds, but towards the end of the session we moved on to the whites (counter-intuitive, but that's how it's done) and the only Vermentino submitted to scrutiny was both a very welcome respite and delicious.
This one is made by a winemaker Bibi Graetz in Fiesole, at his Testamata winery in a small village in the hills 5 miles North East of Florence.
Made from 60% Vermentino, 30% Trebbiano & 10% Muscat, it is 13.5% abv, but has mouth-watering acidity providing a firm spine form which hangs all manner of citrus and juicy-fleshed fruitiness to keep it all nicely in balance.
Apple, grapefruit, peach and a whole basket more. Could there also be lime and flowery blossom notes, or am I getting a bit too Jilly?
In terms of quality ratings this wine qualifies as an IGT, or Indicazione Geografica Tipica, which is broadly equivalent to Vin de Pays in France. It has been said that in Italy this can be something of a good thing as the higher DOC rating can stifle the creative instincts of the more adventurous winemakers. I am sure this paints a far too monochrome picture, but it was a departure from those rules that lead to the creation of the Super-Tuscans, such as Tignanello and Sassicaia, which now command top-end prices. Perversely, these wines now qualify as DOC status as new rules were introduced to recognise their quality. So I don't know what to think. No change there.
In an act of unusual foresight, I bought this week's wine quite a long time in advance. Part of me thinks this is bending the rules a little, but the the greater part of me thinks that the rules are mine and I am entitled to bend what I like. I find some justification of my bending in the opportunistic nature of the purchase. I had made a special trip to Laithwaites at Vinopolis in order to find something for week L (2013) and one the way back to the tube station wandered in Borough Market where, in a past life, I had bought a great number of lunches. Mostly on Fridays. In the market I found Borough Wines who now operate there between Wednesday and Saturday. They started in order to promote wines from their own family vineyards of Chateau Ponchapt in Bergerac, but have expanded their range into other areas.
The stall solved not only this week's problem, but may also have solved one I will otherwise encounter in a couple of weeks' time. Watch this (that) space.
Week V (2014) is Casamatta Toscana IGT 2011 by Bibi Graetz. Borough Wines £12.I wanted V to be for Vermentino because I had last year spent a morning at the IWSC tasting and judging wines from Tuscany, most of which were high-acid, high tannin Sangiovese based reds, but towards the end of the session we moved on to the whites (counter-intuitive, but that's how it's done) and the only Vermentino submitted to scrutiny was both a very welcome respite and delicious.
This one is made by a winemaker Bibi Graetz in Fiesole, at his Testamata winery in a small village in the hills 5 miles North East of Florence.
Made from 60% Vermentino, 30% Trebbiano & 10% Muscat, it is 13.5% abv, but has mouth-watering acidity providing a firm spine form which hangs all manner of citrus and juicy-fleshed fruitiness to keep it all nicely in balance.
Apple, grapefruit, peach and a whole basket more. Could there also be lime and flowery blossom notes, or am I getting a bit too Jilly?
In terms of quality ratings this wine qualifies as an IGT, or Indicazione Geografica Tipica, which is broadly equivalent to Vin de Pays in France. It has been said that in Italy this can be something of a good thing as the higher DOC rating can stifle the creative instincts of the more adventurous winemakers. I am sure this paints a far too monochrome picture, but it was a departure from those rules that lead to the creation of the Super-Tuscans, such as Tignanello and Sassicaia, which now command top-end prices. Perversely, these wines now qualify as DOC status as new rules were introduced to recognise their quality. So I don't know what to think. No change there.
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