A reflection on Bordeaux, the red wine, that is...

What is it about Bordeaux? Who drinks Bordeaux anyway? Bankers and stock brokers in wine bars? Pretentious wine students? Wine Experts? But let’s not let them have all the fun. I think it’s amongst the most interesting wine regions on the planet but I think people can be put-off by Bordeaux. Why interesting? Well, the subtle and sometimes not so subtle variations from region to region, chateau to chateau, year to year. The fact that the cépage, i.e. the blend of grape varieties used, vary often very subtly too (though always with a base of Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot for you wine trainspotters). The knowing when you find one that is right, it's perfect, somehow. But it is tricky. Why tricky? Well there’s so much of it. How do you pick?  It’s inconsistent, sometimes insipid, often pricey. Sometimes it just needs a bit of time. It’s a bit of a minefield. So why bother? Bordeaux can be very disappointing whether it’s a reasonably priced mid-range or a very expensive one. However, persistence pays off and developing a taste and a knowledge if you already have the taste is highly rewarding. Bit like watching Andy Murray, you don’t always get what you want, but it’s always interesting.

I recently had the opportunity to assist at a tasting for the Cru Bourgeois 2014 vintage in a posh place near Pall Mall. Sounds fancy doesn’t it. What is Cru Bourgeois anyway, why make it sound so elitist? It’s just the way they do it in Bordeaux.  Don’t let it put you off. The fact is, a Bordeaux tasting is always worth it for anyone with an interest in wine that goes beyond simply drinking it. It isn’t always easy, especially for a tasting like this with around 160 red wines. This isn’t Chilean merlot. Within half an hour the look is not good. Black teeth and soon after a slightly red face. Don’t go on a date after a Bordeaux tasting. The tannins are the chief culprits. Tannins get a bad rap I think. Just because they make your teeth go black, they shouldn’t be disparaged. Found in the skins, they give wines balance, they blend well with the fruit, hopefully and they even make us hungry as if to remind us that certain wines just need food, well that’s my theory anyway. Fruit extraction from the grapes has traditionally been an issue in Bordeaux but improved technology and techniques have improved consistency and a nice glass of Bordeaux is about as good as it gets (red wines from Burgundy and Piedmonte in Italy aside, such as Barolo and Barbaresco, to my mind at least) if you looking for plummy yet dry, smooth and supple, elegant wines with good tannic structure and complexity. And you don’t have to spend a fortune. Cru Bourgeois are not the cheapest, probably averaging around the fifteen pounds mark. Bordeaux Superior can be a bit less expensive and a good bet if you don’t want to spend quite so much. They’re wines to sip, to savour, to think about and to have with lamb or beef or cheese but only if they work and by that I mean have the right balance between tannin and fruit. If too dry, tannic or conversely too fruity and new-world in style as sometimes happens these days, just say fair fight and move on to the next one.  A slightly decadent approach perhaps but sometimes, we have to be.

Turkish Beer, you say?

What of it? They're not known for it and probably for good reason. Until recently the only one I knew was  Efes, the San Miguel of Turkey. Fairly bland and easy but perfectly pleasant enough when ice cold and a great aperitif on a hot day prior to some tasty Turkish tucker.  Come to mention it, until I discovered Stoke Newington around ten years ago, I hadn't even eaten Turkish food. My deprived childhood in Glasgow was limited to Indian, Chinese, Greek, Russian and wherever kebabs come from when it comes to exotic foreign food. I realize they may be Turkish, but you get the point.

Anyway, a while back I used to get my haircut in a barbers near Bond street as I worked nearby.  For the exorbitant price, the only extras were singeing of one's ears with a flame to remove hairs and a "free" drink.  I noticed in the fridge an Efes, but not as I knew it. It was a different shape, a different colour. Now as always, context can affect our judgment and very possibly our taste buds and given that the hairdressers compares only slightly more favourably to me than the horror of the dentist perhaps I was getting carried away. But it was lovely. So, determined to enjoy myself for once, whilst a hairy man with sharp instruments breathed in my ear, I quizzed him. Off put, I suspect, by my unusual questioning he babbled away and told me that my only chance of finding it might be in a restaurant somewhere. And I never saw it again though I don't eat Turkish that often these days, living at altitude in Muswell Hill where such cuisine is in short supply. 

Now, recently, needing to kill some time, I wandered into a big Turkish supermarket near Wood Green. I like them, they have fresh bread, giant containers of olives, Taramasalata and huge bags of cheap basmati rice which I always say I'll buy but never do. And what do I see...? Well the picture, will reveal. I only bought one bottle, but now I've found a supplier, I may just buy some more. 

The moral of the story, never trust a hairdresser when it comes to beer advice.

And go to north-east London and have some Turkish grub!

White hot heat, cool wine.

When you think of Spanish wine, what comes to mind? Rioja, presumably, Cava perhaps? Maybe even Sherry if you're very sophisticated. What is sure is that people in general are far less likely to associate Spain with regular white wine. In fact, such is the power of association and reputation that some people still think of Rioja as purely red wine though they don't get out much. They make white in Rioja and good wine too, rich oaky styles in general but I'm going to talk about a different wine, made from a grape called Verdejo. Some of the nicest white wines in Spain are made in a place called Rueda, near Portugal. Look out for them: fruity, fresh and nice minerality. I recently received a bottle of wine made with verdejo but made in Toledo in central Spain by a small boutique producer, Finca Constancia. It has all the buzzwords on the label; 'single vineyard', 'parcel', they even put the geographical coordinates of the vineyards on there. In other words, you can pretty much pinpoint the grapes. Visibility and provenance have become big things in the food and wine trade and it's no bad thing. It's no guarantee of quality but it does smooth the path. Verdejo is rarely oaked, like Sauvignon blanc is rarely oaked so when it is, like this one, alarm bells ring-Pouilly Fumé asides- but it worked, giving a nice smokiness to the wine that integrated well with the significant fruit that is a characteristic of verdejo. It's very hot in Toledo which guarantees lots of fruit but the skill of the winemaking and modern technology allows them to keep the wines fresh too. We had this with smoked haddock and cod fishcakes and spinach and ricotta ravioli. The smokiness of the haddock combining well with the toasty oak. Delicious partners overall as the richness of the dish's flavours were well matched by the wines nice complexity of rich fruit and fresh zesty feel.

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 Look out for them but if you can't find this particular wine, have a look out for Rueda in general!

Salud!