Viniferaboutique News and Blog

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One of the unique aspects of wine as a consumer product is that it only gets better with age, yet over 95% of all wine is drunk within 24 hours of purchase. One of the main reasons for this is that people look for wine to match with a certain occasions or food. However without an unlimited budget, ideally many great wines would be bought 10-15 years before consumption, by the case, in order to enjoy them when old, but also throughout their lifetime. Wine is like a ‘living organism’ and part of the joy is to follow its development, while keeping in mind that no two bottles of wine are the same, even at the same point in time. This is all what makes wine enjoyment so tricky yet so fascinating.

When a wine is young

… It is fruity and straight forward

What happens to the wine?

When a wine ages it develops more complex aromas, the tannins become softer and acidity becomes less noticeable and the oak taste integrates into the fruity taste of the wine.

Old wines

Wines age differently and also depending on the vintage, however by looking at the price of a young wine one can get a general picture of the aging potential. In general wines over £7-8 would be the aging wines, while those less expensive would meant to be drunk young.

Different preferences between the English and French

When to drink a wine is in the end not only a question of budget, but also taste preference. In France  many people drink powerfully, fruity wines when young. Yet on this side of the channel the tendency has been to appreciate more the older, riper, softer wines. No one can argue that old fine wines are the best, however for the ordinary consumer, there is a whole world out of ‘ordinary’ French wines from dynamic, passionate producers, with amazing flavours to spice up any day! Unfortunately most of these never make it across the channel.

As such a popular, fascinating and noble grape, one could write books on this grape. We wanted to just give a brief overview of the grape and some examples of how this grape varies across the globe.

French Pinot Noir

The typical French Pinot noir produces red, aromatic, light or medium bodied wines. These wines have good acidity, with aromas of raspberry, strawberry, cherry, earth and cranberry.

The difference between New World and France

…  the all famous pinot from the new world is slightly different. These wines are typically more full bodied and versatile. When looking for pinot noir wines from the new world, it is worth to explore New Zealand as well as U.S. California and Oregon.

Versatility across the globe

Pinot Noir is not only reserved for France in Europe, nor in the new world to the U.S. or New Zealand. For example a good easy to find pinot could be a German Bombacher Sommerhalde Spatburgunder Rotwein, a Canadaian Mission Hill Pinot Noir Reserve, a Chilean Ocio Pinot Noir, or an Australian Coldstream Hills Pinot Noir. These easy to find wines would range from the aromatic, rich berry, acidic German, to the raspberry burgundy like light coloured Canadian. Both the red fruity, cherry-like Chilean and the very well balanced, dark fruity Australian could exhibit similar raspberry tastes.

Famous for Cote de Beaune, Cote de Nuits

However the most famous, expensive and high quality ones would be from France, where one could start by trying ones such as a casual Beau-Monde Burgundy Grand Reserve or an older Santenay Beaurepaire Premier Cru. However to find value in this region would be tricky as the famous name implies, however with £20 pounds and the right temperature one might be able to spice up pork chops, ox neck, toasted pork, or the traditional burgundy stews.

Did you know?

Pinot noir is one of the main grapes used in Champagne production.

Vinifera Boutique will be looking to add some of these the cellar, so look out for these!

Wine is for everyone … our simple wine guide

Purchasing Wine – choosing your wine in the shop.

Most wines should be drunk within 3 years of their making, therefore there is no need to buy older wines, unless you know what you are after. Older wines should be slightly more expensive and if not then you might want to be wary of these. If you do purchase a more expensive wine, one thing to keep in mind is that the bottle is filled until the neck of the bottle. Also bottles showing leakages should be avoided as this could have cause oxidation.

Decant?

Port and ripe mature red wines which have much deposit. For best results make sure that the bottle has stood upright for a while before decanting.

Wine Glass

Wine glasses come in many different shapes and they do affect the taste of wine and this is something worth looking into. Very roughly, a wine glass should be narrow with thin legs and a strong base. The idea behind the wine glass shape is that the wide base and narrow top will concentrate the fragrances.

Serving Temperature

The temperature of wine is actually a preference as the wine will taste differently. However while experimenting, the main rule is that sparkling, dessert and easy to drink white wines should be served chilled. They need to be fresh and fruity. More filling white wines can be served a bit warmer. When it comes to red wines, Beaujolais, Pinot Noir and Loire wines can be served slightly ‘cooler’ than room temperature. Strong red wines such as Shiraz, Bordeaux or Rhone in general should be served at “cellar” temperature but preferably leaning towards 18 degrees.

Drinking Wine

Remember that the skill of pairing is not much more important than remembering to actually enjoy the moment and the occasion. When tasting wine, in order to get more intense flavours, lace the lips together and inhale through them. Then the wine is “chewed” and rinsed through the mouth in order to release all of these flavours. After swallowing one can breathe long through the nose and mouth, to see how long and deep the taste is. In order to get more aromas from the wine it is also useful to swirl the wine around in the glass properly before drinking. The right way to hold a wine glass is by the foot and this would also guarantee that not fragrances from the hand interfere with the wine.

Food Pairing

Then choose the right cheese or food to fit the wine. The main idea behind wine and food pairing (as otherwise this can be quite a complex art), is that strong wine should go with strong food. For lighter wines there is more room to choose. The risk is that a very full-flavoured wine might dominate the food.

Remember that wine was invented in Europe just as any other food. It was not reserved for “finesse”, or for “special people”. It was just the same as eating. On the other hand, being too careful with strict rules might cause you to miss the “next big wine”…

Keeping wine

Good wines that can age need to be kept carefully. The most critical aspects are that the wine lies down, preferably in a wine stand, in a dark, chilled environment. The temperature of the wine should also not fluctuate much.

Dear Customers.

At Vinifera Boutique we have lowered many of our wine prices even with the new higher VAT rates since January 2010, in order to help you prepare for a great spring.

As Hafez said, “Without wine, spring is not pleasant” (Hafez 1315 -1390).

Additionally, please use the code “New2010″ if you are a new customer to get £10 off any order over £30.

Most readers have probably just spent the New Years celebrations drinking Champagne, many of which were available at incredibly good deals before the holidays.

With the below wines you can make more days of the week special, even on a budget. This way, if the Champagne prices go up and you still want to enjoy sparkling wine instead of still wine just simply because you enjoy it, here is your guide to French sparkling wine.

When switching from Champagne many people think Italian Prosecco, or Spanish Cava, or perhaps closer to Champagne, California and New Zealand. But actually you can stay in France and either benefit from the same method as is used in Champagne production or other high quality crémant sparkling wines with perhaps even longer traditions.

(Champagne: Made from Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier and Chardonnay grapes. Famous for the méthode traditionelle, where the second fermentation takes place in the bottle instead of in the tank. Champagne is also traditionally drunk from long flute glasses where one can see the bubbles as they rise from the bottom to the top.)

These are not necessarily in any order of quality.

10) Crémant de Bordeaux. The only one in this list to be placed at the beginning for a reason.

9) Savoie méthode traditionelle. The smell and particular taste will give it away, but actually the quality otherwise is good. This includes the Jura Cremants.

8 ) Crémant de Bourgogne. Also if from a good producer, this can be an undervalued wine from the regions of Yonne or Macon.

7) Gaillac Mousseux méthode Gaillacoise. Similar production method as Clairette de Die below, with just one fermentation and only natural sugar.

6) Crémant de Limoux. Near the Spanish border furthest away from traditional Champagne. This refreshing yet high quality appellation could be another one to surprise at the dinner table. Made from white grapes Chardonnay and Chenin Blanc, some Mauzac.

5) Loire “Mousseaux” or Crémant. Crémant de Loire is one suggestion for a good value wine. Second you have the Vouvray Mousseux or Saumur Mousseux.

4) Clairette de Die. Made by the méthode “dioise” in the Rhone, with just one fermentation, from Muscat a Petits Grains grapes. Not only are these sparkling wines special as they are from the Rhone, but they give a hint of alpine taste as well.

3) Loire Petillant. these can be slightly less sparkling, or semi-sparkling. Look out for additions of these harder to find wines to Vinifera Boutique.

2) Crémant Alsace. Alsace have some highly rated sparkling wines.

1) Champagne Beer. Actually a beer rather than a wine, but sold in wines shops. As far as I have come across this, they are mostly made in Belgium, but then transported to Alsace – so it could be 50% French, 50% Belgian. Either way I have seen it sold cheaper in export markets than Belgium itself, so an worthwhile buy.

Some say that the first French sparkling wine was actually not produced in Champagne…

The Chenin Blanc is not one of the first grapes that comes to mind for the new wine experimenter, although it produces great wines both in France and abroad. Even in the Loire, probably more common to foreign consumers are the Sauvignon Blanc wines from Sancerre or Pouilly Fume, which have been around for decades. Overall the white wines in the Loire account for a large proportion of all production, followed by the red wines and the rose wines.

Vinifera Boutique has a large number of its wines from the Chenin Blanc grape, and specifically from the Loire because this grape in this area is very versatile and unique.

The Chenin Blanc has its home in the Loire in France and it produces a great range of different types of wines. Although it can be found in the south where it is easier to ripen, such as in Provence or Bordeaux, when the Loire wines are of good quality they are of very high restaurant standard. In the labels the local name for this grape “Pineau de Loire” can also be used. From the dry white wines, Saumur and Savennieres are the most remarkable and the most famous ones are made in the middle sections of the Loire. For example if you have not heard of the Savennieres area maybe you have heard of such producers as Nicolas Joly, also a biodynamic produer. He is a good benchmark for the top standard, yet there are certainly other great producers.

When it comes to the wines of the Loire, sweet white wine is what is often thought of. Of these, Coteaux du Layon and Chaume are the most known. Vinifera Boutique have chosen one Coteaux du Layon Vieilles Vignes as part of its selection, where the Chaume was a strong candidate, possibly to be featured later. The noble rot fits well with the Chenin Blanc grape, yet it is not always used as such to make these sweet white wines. It also has a good amount of sugar, so this is no noble rot is just sometimes used for these sweet wines, and therefore the winemaker decides on different years how to use their grapes. It is however important to pick good producers as these wines can be abundant and a good growing year for ripening is important to keep in mind with the sweet wines.

Vouvray is another remarkable name that quickly comes to the mind of locals if you had to pick one area to be the best. It produces a whole range of wines from dry to very good sweet and also different degrees of sparkling wines, such as the famous Vouvray Mousseux or the petillants.

The Chenin Blanc grape also has a good degree of acidity, which can often happen if the grapes don’t have a long enough time to ripen. One good aspect in very common with many Loire Chenin Blanc’s is that they age very well, which makes them a good choice when looking for white wines to keep very long in the cellar. Another aspect to be careful of when buying is the degree of sweetness, as this is not always labelled on the bottles. Actually many of these which are labelled as dry, might also have some other aspects which add some “sweetness” and make the very accessible, even though not overly sweet or heavy as a full sweet wine.

All wine enthusiast of course have their opinions on which wines they like, and Chenin Blanc can be found from the many areas of France all the way to South Africa. The Loire is a good place to start as it really has a good range to fit different tastes. And when starting with these wines, do be careful to select good producers who have let the grapes ripen well to produce the great wines, not the unpleasant ones.

Which day is best for wine?

It is quite clear for many people that as wine is a social drink, it might actually taste better if enjoyed in the right situation or company. Here I will just introduce two concepts, one older one, which is closely related to Biodynamics, and the second one based on a more recent study.

1) Some researchers have gone further however, to say that lunar cycles affect the taste:

Here is one of these calendars on which this idea is based. I have not yet tested this concept, but some of the large UK supermarket seem to trust it. All I can say is that the last bottle of exceptional wine which I had was actually on a “fruit” day.

The BBC have also made  summary of this.

2) If this somehow seems going to far, a new German researcher provides an interesting addition to this. According to Dr Daniel Oberfeld-Twistel of Mainz University, Blue or Red would be the colours of a room that give the taster the best perseption of “I like this wine”, while green and white were less favourable colours. The same colours of red and blue were significantly better when asking about the “maximum buying price”.

Further Blue and Green light made the wine taste “fruitier” and “spicier”, even even though Blue made it more “bitter”, it was more favourable.

His technical study can be found on the researcher’s homepage.

This is interesting as I can recall all too well how the same vintage tasted much better on one occasion than on another. Perhaps technically the same, but different in terms of overall quality. Or should we start taking other factors into account when the jury’s taste the wines? At least I will keep an eye out at the wine bar for its decorations next time.

In the last few months there have been more articles about wine health in the press, so I thought to sum these up in case anyone has missed them. There is abundant literature on the actual wine and grape juice properties for someone who is interested, these are just the latest articles in the series.

For a long time, red wine has been associated with various health benefits, such as against heart disease, cancer, or perhaps even more related to the actual grapes – the flavonoid or antioxidants properties. These are perhaps some of the reasons why many say that drinking one glass of red wine a day will increase health benefits, in any case the moderation in drinking is definitely important.

Teeth and wine – latest studies

White wine?

One of these recent articles was that white wine is bad for the teeth. This has been known, similarly as for some other drinks, but here it was clarified that it was the pH, not the alcohol which affects the teeth. The solution seems to be the food and wine pairing, such as with cheese, which anyhow enhances the tastes and produces a more enjoyable experience.

Red wine?

It is interesting that just one month later, an article has been published stating that actually red wine is good for the teeth. This would show that chemicals in red wine stop the harmful bacteria from sticking to the teeth, according to the Italian scientists.

The old question – Wine and headache

People get the so called wine headache with many varying reasons. This is an ongoing debate where people have strong opinions for one or the other wine, yet many contradicting viewpoints make the matter unclear. Wine types which cause headache can vary from dry white to red, to wine from a certain country or region. Therefore the actual reason for the headache is not known for sure.

People often say that the headache comes from the sulphites in white wine, or the tannins from certain red wines. Each wine enthusiast can do their own experiments however, to see if it is actually the certain fragrances of white wine, or perhaps the different tannins in Cabernet or Syrah. On the other hand, the sulphites can be greatly reduced by purchasing from certain natural winemakers, who use minimal added sulphur. Or as some have suggested, if this were the cause, then many other fruits would cause a headache.

One explanation from expert is simply that wine headache is due to an association of a previous bad experience or over-consumption of a certain type of wine in the past.

However we suggest that if you want to be on the sure side of things, try to experiment with natural red wines, they are more healthy for you, don’t cause as much of a headache*, are better for the environment, and most importantly are an interesting change in taste. Additionally sulphur can cause alergies or just a bad taste if used in excess.

Have you seen this logo on the label or closure? Most certainly you have but you might not have paid much attention to it. This is the logo of the independent wine growers of France or in French “Vignerons Indépendants”, which exist all over France, organized by their own regions.

One of the main reasons to choose to drink French or old world wine would be the quality or authenticity arguments. This logo is a sign that the wine has been produced authentically and thus exhibits a unique character. The main slogan of these growers is “the independent winemaker respects their terroir”. Terroir is a unique concept which covers aspects such as geography, soil, weather, and other factors specific to that very small sub region – which all contribute to the unique character of that wine. And this is ultimately what people are after with French small producer wines.

This sign is not a guarantee of quality but it is an interesting development for the smaller scale wine producers of France. As ultimately wine tasting is about finding the right match for your own taste and experimenting with the different regions and grape varieties, drinking these authentic wines will guarantee this hard genuine work of these producers in making their own unique wine. It will also help to avoid the disappointment of buying yet another bottle of exactly the “same” wine, although the name was different.

The official website http://www.vigneron-independant.com/ lists the main characteristics of these producers and their wines as:

- Respect their soil (this is particularly important for the long term quality of the wines, as can be seen from the biodynamic producers where the different soil levels all flourish)

- Work their own vineyard

- Harvest their own grapes

- Make and age their wines

- Bottle in the cellar

- Perfected with tradition

- Take time and pleasure in making tastings to show these wines to the public

So these are the typical small scale producers that you might have visited on your trips in France.

A great, simple trip to make is to go to France and visit one of their fairs. They are also a great chance to buy wines at very competitive prices directly from the producers.

http://salonsdesvins.vigneron-independant.com/ is the website which lists the shows and producers. The most notable show, and probably the most easily accessible to UK consumers is the one in Paris Champerret in March.

There is simply no easier way to taste the wines of hundreds of passionate winemakers for £5