Upcoming Bluebird Cigar and Cognac Tasting

The Bluebird Wineshop in Chelsea had become one of my favourites because of their great winetastings and Penny Johns, the manager has come up with a great list of tastings for the Autumn.

This Wednesday, Sept 10th, she is hosting a Fine Cognac and Cigar tasting in the courtyard of the Bluebird Restaurant. Amanda Laden from Delamain Cognac will be on hand to conduct a blind tasting of 3 premier cognacs along with Dan Pink from Hunters and Frankau, cigar importers, who will talk us through the cigars. Dan is also bringing along a cigar roller for a brief demonstration. It should be a fun and informative evening. Tickets are still available click here for more information. I love a good Cuban cigar, I got a nice box of Montecristos in duty-free last weekend coming back from Spain, so I can't wait for this tasting. 

The following week, Finca Sophenia of Argentina will be giving a tasting of their range on Friday, 19th of Sept. Monday, 22nd Sept. sees the Vidal Winery, located in Marlborough, NZ on hand and the very next day, 23 Sept. Cillar de Cillos from Ribera del Duero, Spain, will be tasting through their latest offerings and may even have a few surprise vintages to taste. For more information visit Penny, either in person - if you're here in London, or at the Bluebird wineshop website. 

European Wine Bloggers Conference

As you can tell by the little badge to the right there, I'm a member of OpenWineConsortium. I love logging onto this site to see what's going on in the wine world, what's new and what people are talking about. I'd say that there are a fair amount of wine bloggers out there and the good folks of OWC have decided to put on not one, but two conferences for us wine bloggers. The American Wine Bloggers Conference and (just so we don't feel left out over here on this side of the pond) The European Wine Bloggers Conference. 

The idea was hatched sometime last year by bloggers Ryan Opaz from Catavino and Robert MacIntosh of The Wine Conversation both of whom deal with Spanish wines. Hmmm...I wonder if that's why the first European conference is in Logroño, Spain? Well, any excuse to visit Rioja is fine by me. 

Looking at the schedule of events, it looks like a great opportunity to discuss the issues that affect us as bloggers, from blogging standards to monetization. Not to mention a flurry of wine tastings and on the last day, a round of visits to the local bodegas.  I'm really hoping I can make it but if not, I'm sure we'll be hearing plenty about it on OWC. 

Raimat Abadia

The Codorniu tasting was a long one. First the sparkling and then the still wines. I have to admit that after all those sparklings, I was beginning to get a bit tipsy, especially since this was an informal tasting session after work. 

But I soldiered on and sampled the wines of Raimat which is the still wine arm of Codorniu. A bit of background on Raimat. They are one of Spain's most progressive winemakers today. Two years ago they brought in a whole new winemaking team and are using the latest technological advances to produce top quality wines. They even go so far as to do satellite mapping of their vineyards to analyze the soil. Raimat Abadia has been repackaged for 2008 to reflect all the new advances being made at Raimat. The vineyards are based in NE Spain, DO Costers del Segre in Catalunya. Their tagline is "Spanish wines beyond Rioja" and I think that they've proved that Spain has a lot more to offer then tempranillo. 

First up was the Raimat Abadia Crianza 2005. A blend of Cab. Sauv., Merlot and Tempranillo, aged 10 months in American oak and then a further 6 months in French. On the nose, aromas of plum and stewed fruits, a bit of spice and toast. A lovely medium bodied wine with more of those plummy fruits and hints of sweet spice and chocolate once I'd swished it around my mouth. I liked this wine, easy on it's own or with a meal. 

The next two wines were whites. The Raimat Abadia Blanc de blanc 07, a blend of chardonnay and albarino. Albarino is unusual for this part of Spain as most of it is grown in the northwest, around Galicia. On pouring, aromas of tropical fruit and what I can only describe as pineapple pie hit me on my nose. This medium bodied wine had loads of pineapple flavours and hints of grapefruit on the finish. Very refreshing and I could imagine drinking it with a plateful of fresh seafood. 

The last wine was a revelation. A 100% Albarino, the first single varietal Albarino to be produced outside of Galicia, or so the promo material said. The first surprise was how full-bodied it was, usually I think of albarinos as being light and zippy. This one was still fresh and fruity but we all agreed that it had something more. There was a lot more then just citrusy aromas on the nose. Throw in dried flowers, spice and vanilla. It was almost like sniffing on a bowl of potpurri but not sickly sweet, maybe more like sniffing a bowl that had once held potpurri many years ago. Anyway, the same followed thru on the palate with hints of dried fruit and a nice citrus finish.  It was a quite full and round, not as crisp as I'd expected but still a new and interesting example of what can be done with Albarino. It won unanimous approval and not just because the rather sexy winemaker was sitting amongst us. 

These wines are all retailing for under £8 which I think is a fair price.

Codorniu Cava

Working for a big wine merchant does have it's advantages. Tuesday night the company invited the winemakers from Grupo Codorniu to come down and have a chat and informal tasting with us. There were about 25 of us from various London based shops. 

Grupo Codorniu is a Spanish owned and operated winery group based in northeast Spain, although they do have holdings in Argentina and Napa Valley as well. Codorniu  is one of the big boys in cava production. Cava (Catalan for "cellar")is produced the same way as champagne but can't be called champagne because you know how those Champenois are, they'd start howling bloody murder about copyright infringement and the lawsuits would be flying thick

 and fast. 

Codorniu have been in the wine biz since the 1500's but have "only" been making cava since  the 1870's. They were one of the pioneers in the commercialization of Spanish sparkling wine and have recently brought in a whole new winemaking team to improve their products.  One of the changes they've made is an overhaul of their bottle design. Very sexy now. There's something almost prim

al about the design of the bottle that compels you to pick it up, the slender neck, the way it flares out at the bottom and the sleek feel beneath your fingers. I'm not the only one who's had this reaction to the bottle desig

n. I've heard quite a few comments in the shop regarding that. Kudos to the bottle designer on that one.  

Back to what's INSIDE the bottle. In Spain, the main varieties used are indigenous - xarello, macabo and parellada. Recently, they've started using chardonnay and pinot noir although

 they are again prevented by EU law from putting pinot noir on the label except for pinot rose. 

The Tasting: 

Condesa Blanca Cava is their entry level sparkling. Light and fruity, big bubbles that disappeared fairly quickly, lots of green apple and pears with a hint of nuts and toast on the finish. I was pleasantly surprised at how good this was, esp. since it retails for about £5. 

The next one up is their most popular cava in Spain - the Codorniu Reserva Raventos Brut. Reserva does have a legal definition in Spain, it must be aged on the lees for 15 months. Gran Reserva has to be aged on the lees for 30 months. The Reserva is 60% chardonnay and from a single vintage. It was richer and fuller with more of a toasty, briochy nose. On 

the palate, aggressive bubbles, a bit earthy with lots of lovely green apple and citrus.  This one retails for about £9.

A sparkling rose, Codorniu Pinot Noir Rosado Brut, was next up and it was fab. 100% pinot noir. A very light, refreshing sparkler. It was redolent of strawberries and raspberries, like walking thru a raspberry patch. And the taste was more of the same but not sweet, as a matter of fact it was quite dry, just what you want in a sparkling rose. Small perpetual 

bubbles on this one. Another excellent value at £6 for a bottle. 

The last two were fantastic! First up, the Codorniu Reina Maria Cristina Brut Reserva Vintage. 50% chardonnay, remainder local varieties, single vintage, 18-24 months in bottle before release.  A very soft, delicate, rounded sparkler. The bubbles weren't aggressive, rath

er petite and dainty. They seemed to loll about in my mouth taking their time before slipping down. On the palate it was a lovely blend of apples and pears with a touch of lemon on the finish. Delicious! Unfortunately, it's not available in the UK - natch! 

The last one was their limited production Jaume de Codorniu Brut. Again 50% chard, 50% native. This wine was all about fruit selection and is always made from a single vintage. Bruno, the winemaker, told us that each 

bunch was hand selected to go into this blend and fermented to very exact specifications. He said some other stuff but I was too busy drinking it to really pay attention. Needless to say, this is their p

ride and joy. Named after the founder of the company, Jaume Codorniu. 

The wine's aged for 18-24 months in bottle before release. This one had a very distinctive nose of spice, brioche, and biscuits with hints of apple and green fruits coming thru at the end. Quite a complex nose compared to the previous offerings. On the palate, very fine persistent bubbles with toast, baked green apple and a slight nuttiness all rolling around my mouth. It ended with a s

lightly honeyed finish that seemed to go on for a very long time. A great sparkling wine and one that I would buy for a special occasion, still cheaper then branded champagne, retailing for about £20 a bottle. 

After the sparklers we had the still red and white wines to taste but I'll blog that later. Right now I think I'll open that Codorniu rose I have in the fridge.   

Wine in a (peli)can

Last week was the London International Wine Fair and what a fair! I love going to this event. Checking out all the new products, finding new wines, revisting old favorites, talking to producers  or just admiring the sleek bottles, artfully arranged, sparkling under the Excel Center lights. Walking into that place, I felt like a kid in a candy store. Remember that scene in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory when the kids are let loose in the candy garden? I know exactly how those kids felt.  I didn't know where to turn or which stand to go to first. It really can be a bit heart-stopping.

First stop was a Friui tasting seminar that I'd signed up for earlier in the week. Lately I've been really interested in  Italian wines so I thought this would be an interesting seminar. It would have been if the speaker didn't insist on speaking in a heavily accented dry monotone. The Friulis, from Northern Italy were mostly light and fruity with a striking tone of  minerality that I really enjoyed running thru all the samples we tasted. 

The most interesting thing that I came across from the show was the new brand Wild Pelican, wine in a can. According to their website, 

..."Our aim was to differentiate from the wine in cans already on the market...by taking a consumer perspective...creating a brand that allows (them) to explore some of the best wines..." in the world. 

So far, so good. What's differentiates this brand from others, is that the wines are still, not sparkling. Caroline, the rep, gave me a couple of cans to take home and try. I have to admit, it's a bit unsettling to pop open a can of wine but once it's poured into the glass, you'd never know the difference. These are very well made wines. The first was a chenin blanc from S. Africa. Now, you know I'm not a big fan of S. African wines but this one was clean and clear, a lemon/hay color with a citrusy nose, crisp and fruity. If I didn't know it came from a can....

The next day I tried the rosé. This one was a vin de pays from the Languedoc. A grenache/syrah blend. I really liked this one. A lovely pale pink, light, refreshingly dry with a strawberries and cream nose and hints of redcurrant with a clean finish. I was afraid that it was going to be some sickly sweet strawberry juice but it was fab. I would definitely buy it if I saw it in the supermarket. 

The last one was  a tempranillo from Spain and here I was disappointed. This one lived up (or down) to what my expectations of what a wine in a can would taste like. It was slightly sweet, soft, a bit like alcoholic fruit juice. I struggled to finish the wine, even with food it's still got a long way to go. 

Overall, if you see Wild Pelican try it. I think these folks have got it, at least on the white and rose front. One word of advice though. If you do buy it, don't drink it directly from the can, there's something about aluminum against your lips while sipping wine that just doesn't feel right. But that could just be me.