Beautiful liqueur cherry and dark berry compote aromas with a touch of mediterranean herbs and white pepper over lean, velvety dark fruit with satisfying black olive notes, opening up to show meaty, pencil lead depths. Juicy with fine-grained tannins and a delicately spicy finish.
The elegant opulence and complexity of Tignanello makes it one of my favourite wines and it’s really exciting to try an older vintage where all the subtle notes that are hinted at in its youth are magnified in the most beautifully seductive way.
An inviting minty, cigar box fragrance mingles with peppery blueberries and fleshy plums, lightly touched with a streak of honey and underpinned with raisins and slightly leathery, cured meat and dried herb aromas. On the palate, refined dark fruit characteristics have a juicy berry edge, damsons, flinty notes and peppery herbs, with a meaty, minty length going on and on… Sink your teeth into it, it’s a whole meal in a wine.
“This is where I lure unsuspecting young women, up to my dungeon with whips and chains and things” deadpans Keith, The Vintage House’s resident spirits nut, as he leads us above the malt whisky shop for a sneaky peek at The Soho Whisky Club, a newly opened private members’ club in the heart of London…”
If I’m going to be drinking whisky, I’d better be drinking it in a place where my parents know I’m safe - at least this is Keith’s logic for why my parents should buy me a membership to The Soho Whisky Club. In the likely event that my parents do not wish to fund my whisky habit, I will be appealing for donations towards the membership fee. Paypal accepted.
What’s all the fuss about? Stagger over to Imbibe and read on.
“The Italians do it best. Or at least in terms of regional food and wine, they’re certainly hot property at the moment. London restaurants Bocca di Lupo and the Polpo clan are bright and buzzing Italian offerings in a sea of drab pizzeria chains, serving up small plates ranging from crostino to fritto misto and battuto from their respective Italian regions. Yet where it gets really exciting is when these flavour-packed dishes are paired with wines from their local area, exacting a beautiful harmony between the flavours, textures and aromas…”
My second blog post for Imbibe is now live. Grab yourself a nice glass (or bottle) of something and have a read.
“Brr! It’s chilly outside! So it’s a darned good thing that seasonal, sweetly-spiced tipples are creeping onto back bars and retailers’ shelves. They’re drinks that hug you like a big woolly jumper and are all about comfort and enjoyment, warding off Jack Frost before he has time to nip at your nose…”
I was recently asked to contribute to Imbibe’s website as a blogger and the above is an extract from my first post, which went online at the beginning of the week. To read my ‘Winter Warmers’ piece in full, head over to Imbibe.com.
From Boutinot’s Autumn Tasting in London last week, here’s my pick of the bunch…
Amarone della Valpolicella by Pra, Veneto 2007: Aromas of dark cherries, cured meat and blackcurrants are rich and heady, with a note of sweet, roasted red peppers leading to a full-bodied palate of mouthfilling blackcurrant, black cherry and raisinated dark fruits with a touch of spice.
Minimal Gruner Veltliner by Sepp Moser, Kremstal 2008: Honeyed stone fruit, vanilla and pastry crust on the nose, met by a pear and lime freshness. Apple tart palate with a creamy mouthfeel, a spicy finish and lovely red apple juiciness.
Zeltlinger Himmelreich, Spatlese Riesling by Markus Molitor 2007: A lime and smoky mineral nose does nothing to prepare you for the palate of this Spatlese Riesling, which is surprisingly sweet in comparison. Juicy acidity is beautifully balancing, with a slight spritz on the front of the palate following on to a creamier mouthfeel with a stone fruit character and savoury hints on the finish. According to my notes, I could drink buckets of the stuff.
It can take quite a lot for a wine to impress myself and my flat mate as we both work in the industry, but by by jove, this has done the trick.
Decanted from a magnum after developing a fatal crack in the neck of the bottle, this Alsatian Gewuztraminer is starting to show touches of oxidation with slight nutty notes on the palate but these are only adding to the charm and complexity of the wine, which has aged remarkably well.
The depth of flavour in Josmeyer’s Hengst Gewurztraminer is hinted at by floral aromatics, dominted by honeyed melon, lychee, papaya and guava. Following through to the palate, this fruit character meets a savoury nuttiness and some pepper spice. Deep golden in colour and incredibly viscous and rich, the wine still retains a remarkable freshness and balance. Good enough for us to have drunk over half of the magnum already. Oops.
(Photo taken with iPhone & instagram)
