Over to the Rhône and the Estate we used for our Grape Escape tour, the fabulous Domaine de Mourchon for warm hearted juicy Grenache and Syrah based stunners. We’ve listed their luscious rosé “Loubie” at 7.25€ (something a bit more intense and punchy than our delicate Provence flowers), their eminently quaffable “Tradition” at 8.75€, a Côtes du Rhône – Villages – peppery, packed with berry fruit and smooth as silk, and their incredibly dense and brambly Grande Réserve at 15.00€. As a special introduction to our new list, we are offering a case of 12 of the superb 2006 Grande Réserve for the price of 11 bottles, representing a saving of 1.25€ per bottle! Amongst other projects with the McKinlay family at Domaine de Mourchon, we are working on developing a trio of wines to package specially for Nice Rugby Club for their next season – we’ll keep you posted as we progress.

Reading this, you’d think our wine list was all French – but think again! We really enjoy setting ourselves the challenge of sourcing non French wine here in France. I believe French customs officers think we are a bit bonkers when we go to them with various paperwork to import wines from other countries – “surely we ‘ave enough wine ‘ere??” But scour the globe we do, and the list now has wines from New Zealand, Chile, Germany, California, Spain and much more. We are particularly looking forward to sharing Delta Vineyards exquisite strawberry scented Pinot Noir from Marlborough (19.50€) with you and introducing you to the wonders of the grape variety Alvarinho from Vinho Verde DO in Portugal (16.00€) – the most perfect seafood wine ever. Also, banish memories of sickly Liebfraumilch which has done so much damage to Germany’s image in the wine world – we have two of Ernie Loosens wondrous Rieslings from the Mosel to tempt you – a spine-tingly yummy Kabinett from the Erdener Treppchen vineyard that is all apples and honey at (14.75€) and heavenly, spicy nectarine filled ethereally enchanting Ürziger Würzgarten Spätlese (18.75€)

On the whole, we have chosen just a couple of wines to star on our list, but we can usually get other wines from the same producers – just ask. The list itself also has Food Matching suggestions and full descriptions of what to expect from each wine. Also new for Summer 2010 is our FWW Treasure Trove – a small selection of parcels of “ready to drink” Fine Wines, mostly Bordeaux. These wines will change and come and go, so when you spot something you think is an amazing bargain from say, St Emilion, in the Trove you best snap it up as we cannot promise to find the same again. This will be appearing as a special section on the Wine List page – just as soon as our web wizard, Ben from Pure Design International can magic it up for us.

That’s it folks! Fine Wine Works is signing off for 2009 – your last chance to share any quality time with us is at our New Year’s Eve event in Cannes on 31st December (check out our Forthcoming Events page for details).

Bon Fete!

Helen Brotherton
22.12.09

Helen Brotherton
07.12.09

Our morning ritual is no longer driven by the need to revise furiously (Nigel) nor to put the finishing touches to a lesson plan or double check a Wine fact (Helen) in the magnificent Hugh Johnson “Wine Atlas” or to confirm the ampelography and parentage or synonym of a particular grape variety with Jancis Robinson’s excellent “Vine’s Grapes and Wines”. Nor indeed, is the kitchen a buzz with late night cooking madness that is us setting out to provide a first class lunch for all the students each day as a welcome respite from the intense vinous absorption of knowledge and wine itself. I have to say, though, that the FWW lunches during a Wine Course have become almost legendary as I try and match a menu to the wines we are likely to have opened during that mornings Sessions.

During the Advanced course we dined on a Seafood Lasagne with various dregs of Chablis and Chassagne Montrachet; a classic Coq au Vin with a passable Nuits St Georges and my Sweet and Sour Pork met its match with a selection of Rieslings from Germany, Alsace and Australia. The last day (yup, the “big Exam in the afternoon” day) of the course gave me the dilemma of the last two course work sessions being Fortified (Sherries and Ports etc) and Spirits. Not ideal as a match for Lunch! However, we’d skipped tasting the two Greek wines in a previous session as the WSET had reviewed and revised some of the Wine regions before this new academic year and Greece, alas, had fallen from grace and was no longer part of the mandatory tastings. I had, however, already purchased said wines as the course had originally been planned for earlier this year in June – you have to be one step ahead with sourcing some of the wines for these courses…have you tried picking up Greek wines here in France?? So, a flash of inspiration and the final days “brain food” consisted of a Meze of the usual Taramasolata, Hummous, stuffed Vine Leaves and a particularly garlicky home-made Tzsatziki. Then I griddled some Oregano Marinated Lamb with Olive Oil for a sort of Souvlaki, served with a big, fresh and juicy Greek Salad of Feta, Tomato and Cucumber. The Greek white, a Vilana from the Peloponnese was a bit underwhelming but the Xynomavro from Naoussa hit the spot superbly. I think, having checked the candidate’s Answer Sheets and assessed the Practical Blind Tasting element of the exam, that “a little of taste of Corfu” at lunchtime prepared the students admirably for their arduous 2 hour long exam. The papers themselves were couriered back to London for final marking, so we shall just have to wait with baited breath for the results!

One final “share” with you all: the intriguing results of a little Champagne tasting we did on the penultimate day! You are probably aware by now, that we are the sole representatives of Vilmart champagnes here on the Côte d’Azur and so convinced are of their sheer quality and “wow” factor that we wanted to “blind taste” them head to head with market leaders in their particular category. As we had a room full of Wine Professionals and Yacht Crew, all candidates for the course and as we had to crack open Champagnes anyway as part of the syllabus, we pitted our Vilmart Grand Cellier Brut NV (35€) against the standard Veuve Clicquot Yellow Label Brut NV (also approx RRP of 35€). Only one vote went to the Veuve whereas the Vilmart (or at this stage it was simply Wine B) was otherwise unanimously praised for the finesse of its mousse, the creaminess of its texture and the full on elegance of the liquid in the glass. The second duo was our top of the range premium Vilmart Coeur de Cuvée 2000 (74€) versus the mighty Dom Perignon 2000 (approx 120€) – one would think that the extra Fifty smackers would have leapt out and throttled you in terms of obvious quality and class, but alas, it was a tricky call between the two of them. This time it was Vilmart’s (Wine A this time) energy and freshness which captivated the tasters against a rather vegetal and subdued DP – a bit of a triumph for our “just different” Vilmart wines. Do check out the Vilmart page on the website to get the full story (and place your orders for Christmas, of course!!)

Helen Brotherton
05.10.09

I know it sounds glamorous and I can’t deny it was a great pleasure BUT it still counts as work!! A trip by car to the UK to celebrate hubby Nigel’s 60th in birthday in March and the happy coincidence of needing to source a “house” champagne for our newly launched small (but perfect) Fine Wine Works “Wine List” meant that we would be driving down past Reims and Epernay on our way home to the Cote d’Azur.

Until such time as we can source a New World Fizz (or indeed an English sparkler!) at the right price and which delivers a real point of difference, we decided we needed to offer just one Champagne. But it’s a “Name Dropping Fizz” – we’ve dropped the idea of using big names! Rather than go for a brand or so called Grande Marque which I believe hold falsely high retail prices almost through a monopoly pricing strategy, we’ve hunted out a small but highly regarded Champagne house to be the FWW Champagne of choice.

In starting to do some research into the sourcing, I soon decided that a Grower Champagne (you may see the words Récoltant- Manipulant on a bottle which shows the producer to be grower who sells to the Houses as well as making his own champagne) could be the most interesting. We were looking for a non “big brand” to use for our events and wine tastings; to use as a model example in our wine training courses and to sell to our discerning clients – all at a fair price. To unveil some of the mystery of Champagne it is worth unravelling a few key facts: There are around 260 Champagne houses (some names such as Bollinger, Moet & Chandon, Laurent Perrier are instantly recognisable) which account for nearly 90% of all Champagne exports, more outside of Europe yet they only own approximately 12% of the vineyard area within the appellation. But there are just over 40 co-operatives and in excess of 5,000 growers (out of some 19,000 grape producers in the region) selling under their own name. So how to stumble on the perfect one to meet the FWW criteria? Working backwards then, and starting with my own favourite fizzy tipple – I’ve always been a Krug girl, (so never a “cheap date”) and understanding that what makes Krug “special” and very different is the use of oak – fermented in small barriques without malolactic fermentation and with serious quantities of reserve wines from older vintages to give ultra fine bubbles, aromas of dried fruits and toasted nuts and a profoundly rich palate. Very few champagne houses follow this path, preferring the purity of stainless steel for first fermentation BUT (and here’s the exciting part), there is a small Grower Champagne which most people won’t have heard of but which commands an almost cult following from those in the know.

Vilmart & Cie from Rilly–la–Montagne have producing their distinctive Champagnes since 1890 from their own bio-dynamically farmed Premier Cru status vineyards and use larger oak “foudres” for all their non vintage Cuvées and smaller 225 litre “barriques” for their vintage and premium wines. Owner and winemaker, since taking over from his father in 1990, Laurent Champs kindly invited us to visit and taste the range, which we duly did last week. To say I was bowled over by the tasting is putting it mildly – a real “wow” factor made its presence felt and I felt an almost evangelical need to bring at least one of the range to a wider customer base here on the Riviera and to share this very special experience.

Grande Reserve NV: Can’t quite believe this is their “entry level” champagne! 70% Pinot Noir in the blend (actually no Pinot Meunier used in any of their Cuvées), this had such finesse and delicate aromatics – fresh fern, honeysuckle and jasmine and notable white fruits (pear, nectarine and Mirabelle plum) on the palate then a delectable length with a hint of ginger-nut biscuit on the finish. This is the one we’re opting for initially, although I would hope to offer perhaps one or two of the more premium wines at a later stage once word spreads. 22.90€ TTC

Grande Cellier NV: Here the blend is reversed with more briochy Chardonnay to the fore. Pale gold, with almonds and hazelnuts on the nose then a frank citrus explosion of tangerine and grapefruit and crystalised lemons. This one would improve in bottle for a few years – if you can resist its youthful charms now!

Grande Cellier d’Or 2002: Brioche and vanilla are the first notes that strike then exquisite apricot flavours. Fresh yet nutty, this delivers striking complexity and length. No wonder that top sparkling wine writer, Tom Stevenson says of Vilmart that they are “ the greatest Grower Champagne I know”.

Coeur de Cuvée 2000: The finest selection and the unsurpassed king of the Vilmart range, this is the one critics acclaim as a “mini – Krug”. Kirsch and coffee compliment the grassy vanilla scents, more tropical fruit on the palate and taut tingly acidity as the backbone. Balanced like a true diva!
Robert Parker gives it 94/100:
“This is a richly textured, intense wine loaded with ripe fruit and sweet toasted oak. Today it remains quite primary, but it will be stunner in a few years’ time, once the full range of its tertiary aromas and flavors have developed. Patience is the key. Coeur de Cuvee is 80% Chardonnay and 20% Pinot Noir from 50-year old vines.”

To sum up, we are bursting with anticipation to start showcasing the Grande Reserve at our Events and Tastings and although perhaps the English translation is a little quirky, I like the quote from Laurent Champs, the winemaker at Vilmart, that it “will accompany any peculiar moment of your life” – in other words, one to drink anytime, any place, anywhere! Vive la Vilmart!!!!

Helen Brotherton