Nobody who read my blog post last Friday concerning The New Sancerre will be surprised to see the latest selection for my Wine of the Week is from what might be the Loire Valley’s most famous appellation.
It is somewhat strange that although it was Sancerre that first drew me to the Loire, these days the wines of this most famous of all Loire vineyards hardly ever pass my lips. I can’t recall which domaines I was drinking in those very early days, more than twenty years ago, although I am certain that the wines of the Vacheron family had a place in my cellar; I visited their domaine for the first time in 1992, and carried the bottles back to the UK with me.
Nothing could have prepared me better for my future career as a bartender and restaurateur than growing up in a big family—with all generations present at most meals and wine and spirits consumed in true old-world fashion.
Courvoisier have created L’Essence De Courvoisier Du Dragon in honor of the Chinese Lunar Year of the Dragon. This exquisite bottle which is limited to a production of just five hundred bottles is made by Baccarat and features a gold dragon engraved on the front
The past week or two has seen plenty of buzz about Burgundy 2010; early January is when Burgundy descends on London in an orgy of tasting sufficiently intense and prolonged to tire even the most hardened of wine critics. In one week there were close to 30 tastings dedicated solely to Burgundy, in most cases hosted by the many merchants which would now very much like to sell you these wines.
Breaking out of my comfort zone is a priority for me in 2012; this doesn’t mean I want to start drinking biodynamic Zambian Sagrantino, or Latvian Furmint aged in underground amphorae made from ceremonially pulverised moon rocks, more that I feel a need to look beyond the domaines I know to some that are less familiar, and hopefully bring some news of these domaines and their wines to Winedoctor. And it is not Zambia or Latvia that I will be focusing on, but the Loire; a wine region you might think I know well. But you know the old saying – “the more you learn, the less you know” – and I’m conscious that this can be applied to wine.
There are few Barsac and Sauternes estates lying outside the two tiers (three if you include Yquem’s exalted position at the summit) of the 1855 classification which receive much attention, if indeed any. Indeed, there are quite a number of the second growth châteaux that are rarely sighted
The 2009 vintage of Château Mouton Rothschild has been bottled and, in accordance with custom, an artist has been chosen to design the label. The 2009 label has been designed by Indian sculptor Anish Kapoor who was commissioned to create a sculpture for the 2012 London Olympic Games. With a burst of his signature deep
In the spring of 1926, Charles H.
Vintage Port might make only an infrequent appearance on the pages of Winedoctor, nevertheless never a year passes without one or two bottles being broached.
