Winemaker is Eveline Fraser who used to work at Cloudy Bay
Thanks, I’ll give it a whirl. I was always disappointed in the Cloudy Bay Pinots, for me they never really got the structure or the spice, but I’ll track this down. Affordable classy Pinot is rare.
At current price it can’t be as disappointing as your last Burgundy 
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Indeed, I could pick up a 6pack for the price I paid for the 2 bottles of NSG. Playing safe tonight, it was my friend’s turn to choose and a picture of a bottle of Léoville Barton 2008 arrived here a couple of hours ago, so that’s sitting in the claret jug waiting to start sipping when we talk.
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Much (still) of the Pinot Noir in Marlborough is the sparkling wine clone from Champagne, which really struggles to make good red wine - always has, always will (they won’t necessarily admit that, of course, for understandable commercial reasons). Producers are gradually replanting, and the good wines, from Dijon clones can just about be the equal of the wines from Martinborough and Otago, both of which never really attempted sparkling wine in the first place.
Martinborough is your best bet for wines like Burgundy, and Central Otago for Pinots resembling more the best of California and Oregon. Although this is a huge generalisation, obviously.
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(Ironically, the Champagne clone of Chardonnay makes really lovely, elegant, Chablis-esque still wines, so it’s not all bad news!)
Chianti Classico. I had a sip before dinner and to say it felt thin was something of an understatement. Yet with a bowl of Chorizo Shakshuka, cherry plummy spice came to the fore. Really seemed quite decent.
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I do generally prefer a bolder red and been trying to track down a Pinot Noir I had a few months ago (years ago you use to be able to go out for dinner) but have no luck. I think it was called Nanny Goat, but can’t find it in any bottle shops around here. The one last night was very disappointing even though it did get better in the glass. It was the smell when I first opened it that put me off. I’ve been trying lighter reds but haven’t had great success.
Think I’ll go back to a big cab sav or my fav, Shiraz.
Tonight’s wine to have with steak. Not cheap but a lovely Valpol Ripasso - 2016. Monte Santoccio run by a winemaker called Nicola Ferrari who is making some great wines. I met him at tasting last year. His Amarone is fabulous
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A post, over on “the Coronavirus Made Me Do It” thread, mentioned Naked Wines, praising the quality of their offerings, and as a subscriber, I added that it was also quite heartwarming to report the level of support for one of their winemakers and her charitable works down in South Africa.
Basically, Carmen Stevens realised that many of the poorer kids in The Townships were rocking up to school without having had any breakfast and that their schoolwork, as a result, was suffering badly.
She started a “Let’s feed the kids” project and this year, managed to raise a quite remarkable sum of money from Naked Wine “Angels” worldwide.
Have a look over on the Naked Wines website to see how her project has mushroomed, and the huge amount of good being done. 
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just arrived at Home latest En Rama from Hidalgo - just need to get some prawns, ham, olives etc and a hot sunny day!
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Waitrose stock it here in the UK. It’s pleasant enough but doesn’t have enough savoury notes for me…
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Haut Batailley 2005
I seem to be posting on a 2 day delay at the moment, this was Sunday’s wine, shared with a friend in that there London over video, a bottle decanted 2 hours in advance at each end of the call. Colour showed maturity, garnet red bricking to the edge. Lovely mature nose as well, earthy tannins are the main scents, and a light peppery spice and dark blackcurrant support them. Palate is beautifully structured, nice light acidity, soft earthy tannins grip the mouth gently. Dark cassis and plum (maybe plum, dark red fruit anyway) fruits with a refreshing green acidity sit inside this structure, with some light nice peppery spice adding to it. On the light end of medium weight this is a complex claret, well balanced with the fruit providing the supporting act to a lovely complex structure, very enjoyable drink. More evolved than I expected for a 15 year old wine, I don’t think it’ll improve much with more ageing, it’ll hold for another 5 years and mature during that period, lovely wine.
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Château Trianon - of the strangely familiar ‘Petrussy’ label - sent me samples of their 2019. Yay!
I like to think I’m an okay wine taster, sometimes maybe even better. But will I be able to tell the difference between the Kosher and Gentile (presumably?) Cuvées?*
*No, as it transpires. Although it’s good wine for sure.
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Yesterday’s wine:
One of the benefits of the lockdown is having the time to dig into the cellar for forgotten bottles and drinking them whilst I still can…
This was a delightful pomerol. Still drinking good, despite cellar tracker suggesting it is way over the hill. Lovely bouquet, though slightly light in the mid palate. A medium finish. This is a pretty sensual and elegant wine that is sheer pleasure to drink right now. No need to over intellectualize it.
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I thought the difference would be just a rabbi blessing ? or am I mistaken ?
Indeed. Hence no real difference in the taste, although the Kosher cuvée will be a blend of barrels which have only been handled by the Rabbi. The other cuvée could be drawn from a wider selection (and of course include some from the Kosher barrels, although this is unlikely. But certainly not vice-versa).
I am not an expert in matters Jewish. But Mevushal (a particularly strict Jewish practice) wine is subsequently treated (basically by being pasteurised), and this certainly does affect the taste. But to the best of my knowledge this happens (if it happens) at the end of the process, towards bottling (these are just barrel samples of an embryonic wine). The two samples tasted alike. It’s baby wine from the same vineyards and winemaker, so that’s not surprising. But in all my years of tasting Bordeaux En Primeur, this is the first time I have been presented with the kosher and non-kosher versions of the same wine.
Because of current circumstances, these (whole) bottles were sent to me by courier. Normally I would be tasting at the Château or a central tasting, and they would be getting upwards of twenty samples from each bottle, so it’s a surprising investment on their part.
If anyone is still reading this, then I can confirm on the basis of about 100 wines tried so far, that 2019 is a really terrific vintage. On a par with the sensational 2016 and better than anything else since 2010. But I have not been sent the really prestigious names… I think the world has bigger things to worry about, but it will be interesting to see if the Bordelais attempt a futures sales campaign of these wines.
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I agree. It’s not easy to find interesting manzanilla in the UK. It may be that this new one from Domecq will fill that gap but it is not widely available.
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