Definition Claret

In my exploration of wine I try to avoid the obvious. I'm not always successful. I didn't try too hard this week and found myself in the local branch of Majestic for what is quite an unusual reason. The One had been to see a friend on a recent warm summer's evening and came home saying she had just enjoyed a really delicious rose and could we go and buy some. It's not often I get such a direct instruction to go wine shopping, so off we popped.

Whilst there I picked up a few bottles, including:

Week D (2021) Definition Claret, 2017. Majestic £9.99

This is a wine from Majestic's own label brand. They started selling Definition wines a few years ago and have slowly increased the styles available. I have tried a few of them and, generally, found them to be at least good value for money.

I had not had the Claret before and thought it worth a go. As you doubtless know, Claret is a traditional British name for the red wines of Bordeaux. You will also know that those wines, which are produced in huge quantities annually, can be made from a number of grape varieties and usually in a blend. The region is divided into a number of sub-regions and each, depending on the soil and topography, may be more of less suited to any of the permitted grapes.

The Gironde estuary runs through the Bordeaux region and, in broad brush terms, the wines from the left bank of the estuary tend to have Cabernet Sauvignon as the principle variety and those from the right bank tend to have Merlot taking the lead.

This one is an example of the exception that proves the rule. It is made in the Medoc, on the left bank, but contains a majority of juice from Cabernet Franc supported by Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. 

Cabernet Franc is a lighter, more floral variety than either of its blending partners and can be found more frequently in the wines of the Loire valley where it is given greater respect. In a Claret it is often seen as a minor component, useful because it ripens more easily and can moderate the tanins of the more robust Cab Sav.

It is possibly because of the blend in this bottle that I was surprised and, in truth, a little disappointed when I first tasted it. I had not read any details before trying it and, as it was described as a Claret from Medoc, I had assumed it would be more of a meaty drink.  I found it rather more acidic than I had expected and didn't find it to be particularly appealing. I finished the bottle over three sittings and by the last sensed that a day or two with the cork out had softened the acidity, but it could have been me that had softened.

If I was to choose a Cabernet Franc in future then I would look to the Loire as my source. Perhaps there it will be shown to better effect.

Pub quiz fact: Cabernet Sauvignon was created by crossing Cabernet Franc with Sauvignon Blanc.

Buy again? No.

Clendenen

I was going to title this post 'Chardonnay' but it occurred to me that as the maker of this week's wine died just two months ago it would be more appropriate to honour him in this very small way. I did not know him, never met him and claim no special knowledge other than he was the classic Californian winemaking pioneer.

Week C (2021) Au Bon Climat Wild Boy Chardonnay. Various sources ~£25. 

Most weeks I comment on a wine that I have bought in a supermarket, wine shop or on-line merchant. Very occasionally I have commented on a wine tasted in a restaurant and this is one of those. 

We had been advised that the tasting menu we were about to eat would be mostly fish and vegetarian dishes and that if we were not going to spend quite a bit of cash on the suggested pairings, a white would be preferable. The restaurant had a wine list that was big enough and broad enough to cover every taste and pocket. The meal was expensive enough to deserve a decent wine, but it is always a challenge to get the balance right. The list priced this wine at £95 which is way above the amount I would pay in retail. But that's how the world works. 

I had never tried it before, but did recognise the name Au Bon Climat on the list, so I asked the sommelier to describe it. He did so in glowing terms (they always do if they curate the list!) and so the deal was done.

First thing to note was that Au Bon Climat does not appear on the label as it had done on the list, which I have to admit worried me, briefly. But it wasn't the kind of place that would get things like that wrong, even unintentionally, so I nodded, sniffed it and accepted it.

It was quite well-oaked, had plenty of clean, stone and tropical fruit flavours and a nicely balanced acidity. It did indeed go well with the three appetisers and the first six courses of the main meal, but by the time we were approaching the lamb it had been drunk dry and a couple of glasses of a South African left-bank blend were required to keep us on track.

Having returned home I have red more about Jim Clendenen and his wines. It makes interesting reading as he was, with his winemaking business partner, one of those 'we will have to do it all ourselves until we can afford to pay for help' type of pioneers who clearly believed he could make a success of things.

The reason Au Bon Climat, the name of his winery, doesn't appear on the bottle is that Wild Boy is one of his more experimental, small batch wines and they had to stand on their own merits.

Buy again? Probably not. But only because it is now attached in memory to a great evening.

Brouilly

When I started this exercise in continued investigation into the wines of the world it was because I knew that the formal education I had had was by no means exhaustive. It had provided me with a solid body of knowledge and an appreciation of some of the complexities of the subject but, as many people find with a great range of topics, I felt that the more I had learned the more I had understood how little I knew and how much more there was to be discovered. Hence this blog.

I have commented on prejudice a few times and this week's wine could have become a victim of this:

Week B (2021) Domaine Tavian, Brouilly, 2020. Waitrose £12.99. 

Over two evenings recently The One and I dined with some good friends. Of the four of us only two have any real taste for wine. This is, of course, perplexing but each to their own. There were two bottles sitting on the sideboard: this Brouilly and a South African Cabernet Sauvignon. We had already eaten in a local pub and so the wine was intended to accompany another game of cards. 'Which do you fancy?', I asked. 'The Cab Sav, or the Beaujolais?'  

I probably should not have said 'Beaujolais' as, I think, it set a negative expectation. I lost at cards over the South African wine.

The following evening we cooked a couple of juicy sirloin steaks on the bbq and found we had just the one bottle left. Conventual wine wisdom says that a sirloin steak needs a full-bodied wine with good tannins that will help to break down the proteins in the meat, or some such thing. Had we considered that on the previous evening, and had we correctly predicted we'd be buying steaks the following day, we may have drunk the Brouilly with the cards and saved the Cabernet Sauvignon for the steak. I'm glad we didn't. 

It's true that even the producer (or marketeer) of this wine recommends drinking it with 'Chinese dishes, white meats (especially chicken) and cheese', but we found this very enjoyable as a pair with the cow. It was smooth and medium-bodied, but not thin. It weighs in at 13% abv and has some nice red fruit flavours. One of the non-wine drinkers, who is coincidentally a very keen and skilled gardener, smelled it an immediately exclaimed 'cherries!'. Tannin does not really feature, although not entirely absent. Very easy to drink and in my opinion a good match for anything , especially in the summer.

A day or so later I asked my friend which wine he had preferred. Yup, this one.

Buy again? Yes.

p.s. if you had forgotten, I had said more about the production of Beaujolais seven years ago. You can refresh your memory here.

Avesso

Welcome to lap six of my vinous alphabet. I think it's lap six, there have been a few breaks. Had I had an unbroken run I think this would be lap thirteen, but life got in the way. It's so much better not having to waste time as a wage slave, but the fritterable income did have its uses. 

This has been a week of great sporting achievement in the UK. England, specifically. The footballers beat the Germans for the first time in 55 years, various people briefly did well at Wimbledon and yours truly finished near the bottom of a ~100 strong field in my golf club's annual championship.

Time for some light relief:

Week A (2021) Encostas de Caiz, Avesso Vihno Verde 2020. £7.49 Lidl

It says more about me than I care to acknowledge that finding a white wine made from a grape whose name begins with A and which I haven't mentioned before is, by me, considered a success. Put into context against my golfing 'prowess' I think you can see it is the little victories in life that keep me going.

Whatever. Avesso has not featured in these pages before and I am pleased to address that. It is a grape from the north of Portugal, where it can be used to produce Vinho Verde, that light style of wine that often has a slight 'spritz' or petillance, as I believe the French like to call it.

I opened this one to accompany some baked gammon in a honey glaze, along with some perfectly cooked plant bits. First impressions are that it is clean, appealing, very easy to drink and good value for the not much money I had to part with to enjoy it.

Second impression is that the third glass is slipping down very nicely, thank you, and that I might stop typing this shortly, in order to have a nap.

It is not a big, serious, pompous wine that demands to have proper wine people eulogise over it, but it is very enjoyable. Lots of appley flavour, not bland, not sharp, just nice to drink. A bit moreish and, if nursey isn't watching too closely, another refill may be called for. It is more full-bodied than I expected and certainly not without substance. There is a hint of spritz, but nothing really worthy of the name.

I hope to be taking a golfing trip to Portugal later this year, pandemic permitting, a suspect that might prove to be an opportunity for 'tasting' more of that country's output, which is usually very good value, such as this week's wine.

Buy again? Yes, I think so. I may become a fan.