February is the month to celebrate your love! And so, not to be left out, we celebrated our love of wine this month by sampling some very special bottles of wine…..or did we? If you did want to buy a slightly (or a lot) more expensive wine to celebrate Valentines Day, then you may have looked for a well known grape variety…a Chardonnay or Pinot Noir for example. You may also have looked for a well known region…a Rioja or Sancerre? There is a price to pay for these wines but is it worth it? We decided to put it to the test and “tasted” eight quality wines that were in the region of £30 per bottle….in reality only four of the wines presented were genuine! The other four were still good wines but at least half the price of what we said they were….could anyone tell the difference?
The first wine was a Sancerre called La Demoiselle (£34.99 from Majestic). Sancerre wines have a particular price tag because of the chalky, flinty soils giving the sauvignon blanc grape a particular flavour. If you like it, then it does tase different from other wines made by the same grape and is worth trying!
The second wine was presented a high end quality Chablis Premier Cru at £35 per bottle. In reality, it was the Exhibition Chablis from the Wine Society at half the price. Due to the vulnerability of the seasons in this region, the wine will reflect the quantity produced….so, whilst a great wine, you may also be paying for it’s rarity for that year!
Our third wine came from the Rioja region and was presented as a £25 bottle of Conde Valdemar – a very fine white Rioja. In reality, members were trying a £11.49 Nivarius (Strictly wine). Again a wonderful Rioja but at a fraction of the price. Rioja is well know for it’s red wines but don’t overlook some white wines, they can be exceptional!
Our last white of the evening was presented as a quality £40 viognier called Condrieu. In reality it was a £14.99 viognier called Saint Clair (Waitrose). This wine has had a bit of a resurgence of late, nearly going into extinction several years ago due to lack of popularity. If you like the intense tropical flavours of apricot and peach then do try this grape!
Our first red of the evening was a pinot noir. If you are looking for a classic, then look no further than Burgundy and the well known region of Nuits-Saint-Georges. We tasted a Domaine Jean Chauvenet wine at £30. A really good example of wine from this region.
Our second red was a zinfandel grape and was presented as a £24.99 bottle called Decoy (clue in the name there!). In reality, we tasted a 7.49 Definition wine from Majestic (who do a range of Definition wines showing off a very good baseline for many grapes).
When thinking of well known quality wines, it is difficult not to include a wine from Chateauneuf-du-pape. We tasted a £29.95 Domaine de la Solitude from Strictly wine. Climate change has had an effect on this area, with more sun, increasing the sugar content in the grapes. Net result is that the alcohol content has increase by 2% over the past 30 years. The wine is changing but as it can be produced by blending over thirteen different grape varieties, producers are still creating some high quality wines!
The final wine of the evening was a wonderful deep Merlot form Bordeaux, near Saint-Emilion called Chateau Puy Guilhem Fronsac (Strictly Wine, £25.99). A great example of fine wine from this region and probably the best received wine of the evening.
So what was the conclusion? Hard to say, in reality all the wines were quality and without knowing any different, the general consensus was that they were all enjoyed! So is there value in spending a bit more for a bottle of wine? For me, part of the enjoyment of a wine is knowing the love and care that goes in to the making of it. Usually produced from small parcels of land with huge amounts of love and care put in to the production of the wine, which will make it taste just that little bit more special…and who doesn’t like sharing something a little special for what you love!
On the 15th March, we will be looking at wines from Greece. If you would like to come along, all the details can be found on www.uptonwineclub.com Hope to see you there!
Ian – Chairman