Smedley's Corner

Claret Update - 2000 + a couple of snippets

The enclosed article gives an update on some clarets Derek has tasted recently, including a number from 2000 where his scores illustrate the success of this vintage. The Haut Bailly 2000 with a score of 93 is the stand out wine. While some of these wines are just beginning to drink, we would urge a little patience still. Also worth noting is Vieux Ch. Certan's 2nd wine in 1999 (La Gravette). A silver medal score in a difficult vintage on the Right Bank is no mean feat. We are looking for stocks of both wines.

Greece - The wineries of George and Anne Kokotos

George Kokotos and his wife Anne have two estates in Greece both producing world beating wines. The first one is on the slopes of Mount Pendeli in the lands of Dionysus and his mother Semeli, it is mother who has given her name to the winery. The estate of some 10 hectares focuses on hand crafted wines from both international and local grape varieties.

The second property is Domaine Helios in the Nemea region of the Peloponnese and like Semeli maintains the commitment to quality by the attention to detail in both vineyard and winery.
 
Whilst at Semeli there are some international varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Chardonnay at Helios focus is on local varieties, the red Agiorgitiko, the pink skinned Moschofilero making lovely whites and Roditis again producing whites with real character.

2007 Port Vintage

The year has produced one of the most exciting vintages since the war. The wines are sleek and elegant, they lack the puppy fat of hotter years and they have polished precise tannins yet ones that have grip pointing to a long life. The fruit has real purity, richness and depth with an exciting complexity coming from the mix of red and black fruits. Many of the wines are silk gloves on first look but inside the glove is the iron fist ensuring long life.
 
The year was not the easiest. A poor flowering reduced the potential volume and during the summer there were attacks of mildew in some vineyards that again reduced crop size. June and July were warm and sunny with occasional rain but it was August that was out of character, cooler than usual. It is, though, this out of character month that has produced the sleekness that is so exciting. September and October were near perfect and in many parts the harvest was delayed by some 10 days from the usual start dates.
 
Comparisons are difficult. It is in my view better than 1977 & 1970 as good as 1994 and for me is close to 1955 which I suppose I first tasted in 1961, not quite straight after bottling but still in its youth. Enclosed is a definite list of tasting notes by Derek for the vintage.

Bovin Winery, Macedonia

I bet there aren't many places where you will find comments on the wines of Macedonia. But Derek has been following the wines of Bovin for a year or so and will hopefully be going there later this year. His notes and scores on the wines are fascinating and show that there are some decent wines being made in countries other than those where we are 'comfortable'. 

The present day Republic of Macedonia was formerly part of Yugoslavia and gained its independence in 1991. This landlocked country is surrounded by countries such as Albania, Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia and Kosovo. Bovin, a privately owned company since 1998, is based in Negotino close to the Vardar River. Bovin now own some 60 hectares in this dry region with its rich soils and rolling countryside.

Recent Claret Tastings

Enclosed are some notes from recent clarets (and a Carmes de Rieussec) which Derek has tasted. An interesting mix. The 2003's are clearly coming forward as expected. His note on Langoa 2001 is very encouraging. We are currently able to offer this wine at £28.50, which for a decent Classed Growth on 92 points seems very good value.

Notes of 2000 and 2003 Vintage Ports

With the recent declaration of the 2007 Vintage (which is simply fabulous - our Offer can be found on the site under Recent Offers), Derek has revisited the 2000 and 2003 Vintages. They provide an interesting benchmark for the 2007's, whihc we believe exceed the 1970 and 1977 Vintages and compares with the delicious 1955's.

Bordeaux 2008 - Vintage Report

Derek's thoughts and a summary of the 2008 Vintage.

2008 Bordeaux Scores and Tasting Notes

Scores and tasting notes for wines from Saint Estephe and Pauillac

2008 Bordeaux Scores and Tasting Notes

Scores and tasting notes for wines from Saint Julien and Margaux

2008 Bordeaux Scores and Tasting Notes

Scores and tasting notes from Moulis, Listrac, Haut-Médoc and Médoc.

2008 Bordeaux Scores and Tasting Notes

Scores and tasting notes from Pessac-Léognan, Graves and 1er Côtes de Bordeaux

2008 Bordeaux Scores and Tasting Notes

Scores and tasting notes from Saint Emilion and its satellites

2008 Bordeaux Scores and Tasting Notes

Scores and tasting notes for the Côtes de Castillon, Côtes de Francs, Côtes de Blaye, 1er Côtes de Blaye, 1er Côtes de Bordeaux, Bordeaux Superieur and Bordeaux

2008 Bordeaux Scores and Tasting Notes

Scores and tasting notes from Pomerol and Lalande de Pomerol

Bordeaux 2004 - Updated notes on the Vintage

We have maintained for a while that the 2004 Vintage in Bordeaux has rather fallen between the cracks. It is stuck between the extraordinary 2003 vintage which was notable for the heat (and is now coming forward very quickly and drinking early) and the wonderful 2005 vintage, and there’s no rush to open these yet. But 2004 is a very classical, very good value vintage and there are some delicious wines.

There are some interesting changes to his scores. The three appellations where there are notable improvements are Pauillac, Saint Julien and Pessac-Léognan. The following chateaux stood out. The first scores are those from 2005 when we initially tasted the vintage En Primeur, and the latter score is Derek’s latest. We are able to offer the following wines which we have highlighted.
 
Ch. Montrose, 2eme Cru St Estephe                       89-94                     93                        
Ch. Phelan-Segur, Cru Bourgoise St Estephe               85-90                     91
Ch. Clerc-Milon, 5eme Cru Pauillac                             86-91                     91
Ch. Lynch Bages, 5eme Cru Pauillac                            85-90                     92
Ch. Pichon Baron, 2eme Cru Pauillac                    88-93                     93                       
Ch. Lagrange, 3eme Cru St Julien                                 88-92                     92
Ch. Langoa-Barton, 3eme Cru St Julien                89-93                     92                          
Ch. Leoville-Barton, 2eme Cru St Julien              88-93                     93                          
Ch. Leoville-Poyferre, 2eme Cru St Julien           87-91                     92                    
Ch. Giscours, 3eme Cru Margaux                                86-90                     91
Ch. Chasse-Spleen, Moulis                                         85-88                     91
Domaine de Chevalier Rouge, Pessac-Léognan    86-90                     92                       
Ch. Haut-Bailly, Pessac-Léognan                                85-89                     92
Ch. La Tour-Haut-Brion, Pessac-Leognan             88-92                     93                         
Ch. Figeac, 1er Grand Cru Classe St Emilion      86-90                     92                          
 

Excitements in South America

Derek recently visited Chile, Argentina and Uruguay. His notes make fascinating reading. We are most interested to his visit in Argentina of Bodgeas O. Fournier, wines from which we are delighted to be able to offer.

Burgundy 2007 Vintage

Below are Derek's notes from his extensive tastings of the Burgundy 2007 offerings throughout January. Within the notes are all of our wines (Derek's notes are included within the 2007 Burgundy En Primeur Offer which can be downloaded from this site). We find it very encouraging that all the growers we are offering appear in the top quartile of Derek's scores, confirming that the effort we went to in order to assemble an offer which is of a high quality was a success, and worthwhile.

One point of interest reading through his comments was the disappointing scores from Chablis (though the wines from Nathalie et Gilles Fèvre which we import did well). The conditions in 2007 were good for Chablis - does this mean too many producers are forfeiting quality in order to satify quantity demands?

 

A review of development - wines tasted between May and Dec 2008

A review of various Clarets, Sauternes, White & Red Burgundies, Red Rhône and Vintage Port to asses their development and the drinking spans.

Italian Wines

Wine is produced through out the length and breadth of Italy from an amazing variety of different grape types some of which can only be found in Italy. There are styles and flavours for everybody, a country well worth exploring. These notes cover a range of different styles tasted in Rome in July 2008. The region that each wine comes from is highlighted in blue. Many Italian wines seemed designed to cope with their rich foods and many both red and white go well with pasta dishes. The sweet wines are very exciting and the sweet reds somewhat unusual.

Austria - Not to be Forgotten

Long forgotten is the anti-freeze scandal and Austria is very much back on track making some lovely wines especially whites from Riesling and Grüner Veltliner. Both of these grapes make wines that are delicious as apéritifs and marry well with fish dishes but if you enjoy white with meat try, especially the Grüner, with chicken and pork. The reds from Blaufränkish lean more to Burgundy than Bordeaux in style and have that enticing mix of black fruited bilberry and fresher red raspberry.

The notes are taken from a recent tasting of some of Austria’s most exciting estates.

Central Otago, South Island, New Zealand - An Overview

These notes were written by Derek in September 2007 but they still have great value in introducing one of the most exciting up and coming Pinot Noir regions in the World. The image is one of a very recently planted region, not completely true. Vines were first planted here in 1864 by a Frenchman Jean Desire Feraud, success followed with his wines winning medals in New Zealand and Australia. Sadly his pioneering work was not followed up by the predominately British settlers who were more interested in apples, pears and stone-fruit as well as running sheep on the hills. His “Montechristo” winery is still beautifully preserved and regarded as something of a shrine by the modern winemakers. Although identified as an area of interest in 1895 it was not until the 1970’s and 80’s that there was a serious effort to re-establish the region.

It is a very beautiful part of New Zealand, the mountains, interlaced with lakes and deep river gorges, both terrain and conditions are challenging to the wine maker. The very cold winters are followed by hot summers and the long dry autumns mean that there is a minimum of plant disease, excellent conditions to ripen Pinot Noir.

Portugal - More than just Port.....

Portugal has for a long time only really be known for its port but there are wine regions spread throughout the length of the country that produce both reds and whiter with fascinating flavours, wines that marry well with different food dishes. The reds from Däo tend to be firm, masculine in structure whilst those from further south, the Alentejo are lighter, sweeter with often an excellent length of fruit. The Douro, as less port is being drunk world wide, is turning to table wine, more reds than white, mostly made from the amazing range of local grape varieties.

Portugal Part II - More than just Port

With the sales of port not as buoyant as historically the Douro has looked at non fortified wines mainly red but some whites.

2006 came after two very hot dry years and the Douro experienced a substantial amount of water in the spring. The summer was warm as usual but the last week of August and the first two weeks of September saw temperatures rise bringing forward the harvest date. A wise decision as most grapes were picked before the autumn rains started after 20th September. The reds have good structure and balance, wines that will come forward quickly and will be enjoyable quite early. As far as port was concerned the late rains caused problems so it is not a vintage year but there will be some interesting and enjoyable LBV’s

South Africa - Four lesser vineyards showing the huge opportunities for good wines

There are some exciting things happening in the South African wine industry. We are Edward Parker Wines believe that their wines show a lot of the same characteristics of those made in the Old World. For those somewhat nervous about moving from the traditional wines of France, Italy and Spain, South Africa is probably the best place to start if one is in an adventourous mood. And with the Euro currently looking at 1:1, wines priced in Rand are considerably more attractive.

The notes in this article were written by Derek following a trip to South Africa in February of last year. He writes on four lesser know vineyards which are coming into focus, all of whom are making very enjoyable wines. We are looking at one to potentially import in the future.

Bordeaux 2006 Vintage Tasting Notes

We tasted the 2006 Clarets again recently in London. Derek’s initial tasting notes from the En Primeur tastings in Bordeaux last year are now accompanied by his updates. There are a few notable changes.

• Both the Pichon have shown improvement since bottling
• Derek’s score on Gruaud Larose has declined – he felt the fruit was rather hidden
• Langoa Barton stood out with an initial 88-90 being raised to 92.
• Leoville Poyferre failed to meet its initial score, as did Haut Bailly
• Desmirail has emerged as a wine worth noting, as has Rauzan-Segla
• In Saint Emilion, Figeac has seen a jump in score, and La Tour Figeac is one to note too

To pick two worth popping in the cellar….Langoa and Rauzan Segla….and we have stock of both!!

 

Wines Tasted at Maison Champy Dinner

We were delighted to host Pierre Meurgey at the Carlton Club on Wednesday 15th October. With great enthusiasm and passion he was able to discuss some of their wines which all showed very well on the evening. Derek has written up the wines we drank including the Corton-Charlmagne, Corton and the Puligny 1er Cru Enseignères from 2006, the Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Suchots 2001 and the Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Cru Richmone 1999.

Red Wines of the Loire

The reds of the Loire are often overlooked. The enclosed note by Derek looks at various wines made from Cabernet Franc. From the scores, you will see there are some noteworthy wines.

Domaine de la Souterranne, Pays d

We have recently added these two wines to our stable. They are wonderful every day drinkers. Derek's comments underline the quality.

Notes on Fournier, Te Mata & Escarpment

Derek recently carried out a broad tasting from three properties whose wines we are delighted to offer. Bodegas O Fournier have properties in Chile, Spain and the Uco Valley in Argentina. It is the latter we are currently focusing on - their wines have the richness you would hope for from South America, but due to the altitude of the vines, the weight it not too intoxicating. Te Mata is a long time favourite of ours. They clearly show the style of NZ wines, while Larry McKenna at Escarpment is essentially a Burgundian in Kiwi clothing!!

The Colonial Estate, Barossa Valley

Jonathan Maltus of the Saint-Emilion Château Teyssier fame has expanded his empire into Australia. Colonial is a state of the art property in the Barossa Valley not far from Adelaide. With excellent wine makers and consultant help the wines are well worth some exploration

Madeira

The wines from Madeira have a very special flavour, some of this comes from the soil, some from the grape type but the biggest influence is from the method in which Madeira is made. The wine is put through a heating process, the Estufa system so concentrating the flavours. There are four “noble” grapes, Sercial, Verdelho, Bual and Malmsey, the last two used to make the sweeter styles. Wines that are aged in oak for a long period of time have the mixture of richness, complexity and elegance.

Warden Abbey Vineyard, Bedfordshire

Derek currently acts as the wine consultant at Warden, and they are wines which we are finding more and more interest in as people begin to realise the advances being made within the English wine industry. The vineyard which was first planted by Walter Espec in 1152 was replanted by Sam & Jane Whitbread in 1988. There are four main types of vine, Bacchus, Müller Thurgau, Reichensteiner and Regner. A small area was planted with Madeleine Angevine, the closest perhaps to the vines of 1152. The soil suits the vine being loam over greensand and the vineyard is on a slight slope so that drainage and aspect are good.
 
 This recent tasting shows that English wines, when well made, can age with grace.

Pol Roger Vintage 1999

Pol Roger have recently released their 1999 vintage and we think it is simply delicious. Below are Derek's notes on the wine which he has scored 95 out of 100, which is Gold Medal standard at the International Wine Challenge.

Yves Darviot, Burgundy Dinner

We held a dinner for Yves at the Carlton Club in June. The notes within are on the wines we showed.

The Darviot family are based in the Côte de Beaune, the southern part of the Côte d,Or. Their involvement in Beaune goes back over seven generations and as well as owning vineyards the family buy in grapes from growers in neighbouring villages, again associations that cover the generations. Their vineyard holdings in Beaune, although small (very few families in Burgundy have large holdings) are sited on the best part of the slope, the Premier Cru. Beaune Grèves has sandier soil and is looked on as one of the finest sites, whilst Clos des Mouches produces wines of finesse yet depth (Mouches à Miel refers to the honey bee). A path separates Clos de Mouches from Les Vignes Franches yet the wines are not the same in structure and intensity.

 

Recent Tastings of Rhone Wines

A look at some recent wines Derek has tasted from both the northern and southern Rhône. Notable is a 96 point score for Georges Verney's 2006 Condrieu Chailles d'Enfer and his comments on Aîné's 2005 Hermitage Rouge Petit Chapelle.

Tasting Notes of Older Vintages in Bordeaux

The following article goes through various tastings carried out recently by Derek. These include the St Emilion properties of Jonathan Maltus, as well as an assortment of 2005 and 2006 vintage St Emilions tasted at Ch Canon La Gaffeliere. We also have a note of Ch. Le Pin 2006 (96 points), vertical tastings of Ch Raymond Lafon, Ch. Climens, and then an assortment of notes on older vintages of the likes of Leoville Barton, Giscours, Branaire-Ducru and others.

Bordeaux 2007 - The Vintage Report

The report is Derek's complete work on the vintage. Over three hundred wines are discussed inside from the good, the bad and the ugly. Those wines Derek considers the best of the vintage are highlighted in red, those which he believes could offer good value (it's a matter for the Bordelais) are highlighted in blue and those in green are second tier Sauternes and Barsac which are worth a look in this vintage.

Bordeaux 2004 - Dry Whites

Following a recent tasting, Derek's has updated his scores on some white Birdeaux's from this interesting vintage that many continue to ignore.

Tasting Notes for Château Coutet, Saint-Emilion

We discovered this property which sits next to Angélus following a tip-off from one of our customers two years ago. The wines have particular style and identity and remains very good value. The enclosed notes cover vintages since 1995.

The Auction Crossing, South Africa

Tasting notes from a small property we have recently discovered in South Africa. Wines will arrive in the UK in June 2008.

Clarets from 1999-2005 recently tasted at the Roma Wine Festival February/March 2008

A mixed bag of notes from the Wine Festival in Rome including Mouton 2003, La Fleur 2003, Pontet Canet 1999 and Montrose 1999.

Bodegas Vega Sicilia, Ribera del Duero. New Releases, February 2008

Not only one of the great wineries of Spain, but one of the greatest in the World. The enclosed notes look at some recent releases.

Maury 1937 (Stock Available)

A comment on a 71 year old beauty. Something very different, and hugely exciting.

1977 Vintage Ports

The 70's was a difficult year for port, but 1977 came along and everyone sighed with relief. Thirty years later, these wines are now in their prime, but some have not lived upto expectations. Here Derek tastes and scores twelve of the top wines.

Aged Tawny Ports

Derek's scores on a variety of 10, 20, 30 and 40 year old tawny ports.

Opus One 1990

One of the greatest of the wines from the US. The 1990 vintage was still made within Mondavi's own winery. Tasted last year in September -  a real treat and 96 points.

Vertical Tasting of Coleraine, Te Mata, Hawke

Te Mata Winery is one of the oldest in New Zealand. We offer a full range of their wines. The Coleraine is their top end 'Bordeaux' blend.

Vertical Tasting of John X Merriman, Rustenberg, Stellenbosch

John X never ceases to surprise. Even those who profess to 'only drinking claret' think this is delicious, and even when they discover it comes from South Africa! The enclosed notes cover from 1999 to 2005 (the current vintage we are selling).