Château de la Grave, Grains Fins, 2011, Côtes de Bourg
Grape: Semillon, colombard Alcohol 13% Origin: Bordeaux
ref FN-BW4291 List £9.25 bottle WWF £8.50 bottle £102 dozen
About the wine
A delightful blend of semillon with invigorating local colombard which adds freshness, lift and fragrance.
Now to 2014.
Château de la Grave is a striking property surrounded by its own vineyards, just outside the small town of
Bourg on the right bank of the Gironde. Philippe and Valérie Bassereau are the current generation to make
wine here and their high standards continue to deliver an excellent range of wine which includes this unusual
white, the Caractère red, and Nectar de la Grave, which is mostly sold en primeur. Valérie also offers
chambres d’hôte in surely one of the most picturesque of settings in the Côtes.
Wine and dine
Many Bordelais like to flock to Arcachon on Fridays to spend the weekend gorging on oysters and the like, and
there are plenty of breezy, salty, new-wave sauvignons to wash them down. This richer semillon, with the
grapy notes of colombard and an aristocratic lick of prime oak is better reserved for more complex fish dishes
perhaps with beurre blanc and hollandaise sauces. Don’t restrict it to fish, though: if you haven’t tried this style
with confit of duck, your palate is in for a very agreeable surprise as the acidity and mellow flavours of the
wine meet, as equals, the concentrated richness of the meat.
Vacqueyras Blanc, Les Clefs d’Or, Domaine Le Clos des Cazaux, 2011
Grape: Clairette, roussanne, grenache Alcohol: 13.5% Origin: Rhône
ref FN-RH31881 WWF £11.50 bottle £138 dozen
About the wine
This fine, fresh full-bodied white from the Rhône is a delightful surprise. Now to 2018.
Vacqueyras was granted its appellation status in 1989 and today consistently makes wines of character and
charm, and great value for money. This wine comes from the Clos des Cazaux, an estate that is exceptionally
well run with a splendid vineyard situated around the property and also behind the village, higher up in the
mountains. White Vacqueyras is rare, yet Jean-Michel Vache plants clairette, grenache and roussanne. In the
old days, white grapes were simply added to the reds but today, Jean-Michel makes this remarkable dry white.
Wine and dine
A cinch with the vegetable version of the tagine recipe online (available on SocietyGrapevine.com) and so
much more, today’s white Rhônes are unshowy wines that simply shine with food. Unstoppable in the face of
garlic, strong herbs, spices and rich sauces, they are wonderful with crab and lobster and gamy Mediterranean
fish like mullet and bream. For a particuarly sumptuous fish pie to partner this one, try adding monkfish and a
few scallops to the most usual cod and smoked haddock, and create another level of flavour with a few wild
mushrooms, poached in a dash of Noilly Prat. Top it with a thin layer of puff pastry, rather than mash, and
brush it with olive oil.
To order any of these wines please call on 01438 740222 and quote the
appropriate reference number. Prices will be held until 9th March, 2013
The International Exhibition
Co-operative Wine Society Limited.
Registered Office: Gunnels Wood Road,
Stevenage, Hertfordshire, SG1 2BT
Register Number: 1824R (IP)
Website thewinesociety.com
Enquiries 01438 741177
Orders 01438 740222
New Year 2013/M3
Key
bone dry to intensly sweet
red wine
white wine
thewinesociety.com
Château d’Agassac, 2005, Haut-Médoc
Crozes-Hermitage, Les Launes, Delas, 2010
Grape: Merlot, cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc Alcohol: 13% Origin: Bordeaux
ref FN-CM12661 £17.50 bottle £210 dozen
Grape: Syrah Alcohol: 13% Origin: Rhône
ref FN-RH31031 List £12.95 bottle WWF £11.95 bottle £143 dozen
About the wine
Good concentration of black fruits on nose and palate with spicy, savoury fruit. This is an excellent modern
expression of classic Médoc. Now to 2016.
Château d’Agassac is an ancient property in Ludon, south of Château La Lagune. There are 42 hectares under
vine, planted with 50% merlot, 47% cabernet sauvignon and 3% cabernet franc. This wine was awarded a
‘Coup de Coeur’ by the Guide Hachette. 2005 is an excellent recent vintage in Bordeaux. Many wines have
taken longer to come round than we first expected but this one may certainly be broached now, or will keep
for at least another three years.
About the wine
Perfect bistro Crozes, dark, fruity, blackberry and a touch of spice. Now to 2016.
Delas is the smallest of the big four Rhône houses, owned by Louis Roederer but run independently, and with
the very talented Jacques Grange as winemaker. The Delas family still own vineyards but for most of their
wines, including this Crozes, fruit is bought from contracted growers. Red Crozes-Hermitage is the simplest
expression of northern Rhône syrah: deep colours, spicy, savoury, blackberry fruit.
Wine and dine
The charm of the 2005 vintage is here in spades, so deploy its smooth, supple, mellow fruit and gently insistent
grip with roasts of all kinds – pork, lamb, beef, pheasant, chicken, duck, aubergine or nut. Keep
accompaniments simple and subtle: the chilli jar should be left in the cupboard, and the garlic press only lightly
used, so that potatoes, for instance, taste just of themselves, seasoning and butter, while rice or pulses taste
nutty and natural. Broccoli is a better bet than very strong, metallic greens. Mushrooms are perfect. This is
luminous claret, and everything else on the table should be allowed to shine similarly.
Wine and dine
Robust and red-blooded this is an obvious match for the tagine recipe online (available on
SocietyGrapevine.com). Lamb, especially shoulder, has richness and a deep sweetness that is matched by the
concentration of the fruit, while the structure and tannin of the wine makes short work of the saturated fat.
Serve this with little chops spread with tapenade, char-grilled leg steaks atop garlicky butter beans and
chopped thyme, a whole shoulder, slowly braised in the oven or a classic leg, spiked with garlic and rosemary.
Non meat-eaters should try it with stewed aubergines or stuffed peppers. If the claret above calls for a bit of
restraint, this is prêt à tout, as a good French trencherman would say.
Fleurie Poncié, Château de Beauregard, 2011
Mâcon aux Bois d’Allier, Domaine Cordier, 2011
Grape: Gamay Alcohol: 13% Origin: Beaujolais
ref FN-BJ5661 List £12.95 bottle WWF £11.95 bottle £143 dozen
Grape: Chardonnay Alcohol: 13.5% Origin: Burgundy
ref FN-BU51741 List £11.95 bottle WWF £10.95 bottle £131 dozen
About the wine
A lovely Fleurie that delights the senses from one of the cru’s most prized vineyards. Now to 2015.
Château de Beauregard has been in the Burrier family for five generations and today is run by Frédéric Burrier.
Fleurie simply means ‘flowery’ in English and its pretty name may have played a small part in the success of this
Beaujolais cru. Frédéric Burrier’s vineyards straddle the border between Beaujolais and the Mâconnais and he
makes great wine in both regions. Poncié is one of the most prized vineyards in Fleurie. It is south facing and
overlooks the village.
About the wine
Rich yet balanced, lightly oaked Mâcon from a top producer and lovely vintage. Now to 2015.
Father-and-son team, Roger and Christophe Cordier, run this 12-hectare estate at Fuissé. They have planted
their vineyard with low-vigour rootstock and since 1990 have used no fertiliser, just compost of vegetal origin.
They prune hard and harvest late, waiting until grapes are fully ripened. They are amongst the last to harvest
every year.
Wine and dine
An irresistible name that is easy to pronounce has made Fleurie the most popular if not the cheapest
Beaujolas cru, but it’s worth pushing the boat out for this benchmark example, effortlessly fruity but not
without complexity. Classic matches are proper coq au vin and good, flavoursome sausages, and it’s hard to
improve on those purely for the sake of recommending something different. Nevertheless, there are other
very good possibilities, like baked pork chops, sirloin steaks with a pat of herb butter, or a ripe Camembert,
melted in its box for dunking among friends.
Wine and dine
Those of us for whom being able to splurge on white Côte d’Or Burgundy is a distant memory have much to
thank the Mâconnais for. This is a gorgeous chardonnay, in the trademark Cordier style, full of rich, seductive
fruit and a discreetly oaky back-note that suggests prime roast chicken or gammon and noble fish like turbot.
A particularly good match is a mixture of fresh and wild mushrooms – shitake or chestnuts – with rehydrated
dried morels or porcini, fried and sprinkled with fresh parsley, folded into fresh cream and presented in a
hollowed brioche loaf that has been brushed with butter and crisped briefly in the oven.