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Looking to the Schlossberg vineyard Today has been fabulous. I’m lucky to be travelling with some excellent companions: David Williams, Susy Atkins, Hamish Anderson and Emma Wellings. They are unlucky to be lumped with me. We set off early for the impossibly beautiful village of Kientzheim, where Domaine Paul Blanck is located. I’m told that by [...]
So we skipped straight from winter into summer. Here in the UK, spring was a no-show. It got bumped. For the last two days we’ve been enjoying temperatures in the high 20s. Very nice. It’s time to get out the rose. Pink wines are a bit of a strange category for wine geeks. They are what I [...] I really enjoyed these two brilliant examples of Chateaneuf du Pape from Le Clos du Caillou, a domaine with just 9 hectares in the appellation, as well as 44 hectares in Cotes du Rhone. They’re from the 2010 vintage, so I am assuming they are cask samples, although the bottles I received seemed to be [...] Another nice dinner, this time at le Mange-Grenouille in Saint Aignan. No frogs: just some delicious wines and really impressive food, including a really nice pigeon and one of the most visually appealing desserts I have had in a while. Two slightly less well celebrated Loire varieties shone. First, Romorantin, and second Côt (aka Malbec [...] Really like this wine. Lots of personality, some elegance, and a haunting perfume – and at a good price, too. It’s from a co-op working in partnership with Jean Jean, and it just works. Saint-Félix de Castelmaure Corbières 2010 Languedoc, France Two more highlights from this week’s press tasting at Majestic: a couple of lovely Alsace whites from Schlumberger. I love these wines, and at the offer price they are a steal. But they illustrate why Alsace remains a nightmare for consumers. One is dry, the other quite sweet. But nowhere is this indicated on the bottle. [...] This is a fortified wine from the South of France (Agly Valley, Roussillon), made in a similar way to vintage Port, but from the Grenache Noir variety. It’s a little less strong than Port (16 as opposed to 19/20 degrees of alcohol), but it’s one of the Maurys that have been aged reductively, so it [...] Domaine du Merchien is owned by a Brits David and Sarah Meakin, who moved to the southwest of France (Coteaux de Quercy) to farm and make wine. This wine, JAS, is a blend of one-third each Jurancon Noir, Abouriou and Syrah. Website: www.merchien.com. Domaine du Merchien JAS 2008 Vin de Pays du Lot In August 2010 I reviewed the first two releases of a new high-end domaine in the Roussillon region of France – Domaine of the Bee. It’s the personal project of Justin Howard-Sneyd of Direct Wines. He recently sent me his latest release, the 2009. Now this is in a similar mould to the first two – [...] I was delighted to find a spattering of new wines from the southwest of France in The Sampler yesterday, when I attended the icon tasting. I bought one – a Marcillac- and drank it last night. It was fabulous. Probably a bit more refined and less edgy than the Domaine du Cros that I’ve raved [...] |
 This is the blog of wine journalist Jamie Goode, online since 2001. Feel free to nose around; your comments are welcomed.
 
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