Springtime- Which means it's time for light and crisp Sauvignon blanc

Spring has finally sprung! After a long dark winter, the sun has finally decided to shine, the daffodils are blooming and it's time to forgo those heavy winter reds for some light springtime drinking and what better way to greet Spring then with a fresh and crisp Loire Valley Sauvignon blanc.

The Loire is famous for it's Sauvignon blancs but it also produces roses and reds.This weekend we've got Levin Vineyard sauvignon blanc as well as their rose on tasting. Levin wines are produced by David Levin, owner of the Capital Hotel in London. David spent considerable time in Australia and there he met French winemaker Theirry Merlet who shared his winemaking vision of combining traditional organic viticulture with innovative, state of the art winemaking.  

David was committed to producing a wine to his exact specifications and he went so far as to  build and then ship a winery from Australia to France where he plunked it down in the middle of the Loire Valley. Levin's sauvignon blanc is fresh and crisp with plenty of grapefruit and a touch of mango on the nose and palate.
Working towards a very fruit driven style he combines New World techniques with the best of Loire grapes and produces a wine that falls somewhere between a good Kiwi sauvignon blanc and a traditional Sancerre.

The Loire valley was once more famously known for it's reds and roses. Pre-phyloxera, the region was known for it's pinot noirs and gamays. After the phyloxera debacle, the gamay was ripped out but the pinot was replanted although not extensively and to this day, pinot noir is still produced in the Loire. Domaine de Vieux Preche unlike Levin has been producing Sancerre since the reign of Louis XIV and produce a slightly spicy, clean and light but with a deep black cherry, damson/plum character.

We'll be featuring both wines on tasting this weekend as well as a traditional white, red and rose Sancerre from the Domaine de Vieux Preche.So pop down Saturday, 20 March for some great spring drinks!

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Nyetimber 2001 and 2003 with dinner

 smoked salmon

People often come into the stall with the ingredients for their evening meal and ask us for our wine recommendations. We have plenty of great red and white wines but I just love a sparkler with dinner. We have some lovely champagnes but let's not forget the sparkling wines that  come from our own backyard.

A few months ago we began stocking Nyetimber English Sparkling wine which was recently voted the best sparkling wine in the world. We put both the Nyetimber 2003 Cuvee and the 2001 Blanc de blanc on tasting and both were smash hits with our customers.

I love food and wine matching and I was recently invited to partake of a Nyetimber dinner at Chapter One in Kent. The chef had matched each vintage of Nyetimber with a particular course. Since we sell the '03 and '01, I'll give you an idea of what the chef thinks would work best with those two wines.

The Nyetimber 2003 Cuvee was served as an aperitif and was great with the spicy peanuts and chili papadoms. It worked really well with the spicy flavours. The wine washed away all the spiciness and it was great to sit in the cool bar of Chapter One and enjoy the wine. We easily polished off that bottle between the two of us while we were waiting for our table. The 2003 Cuvee is a classic champagne blend of chardonnay, pinot noir and pinot muenier. 


After spending a delightful half hour in the bar we moved onto the dining room where we started with a first course of smoked salmon on a fennel salad with a honey mustard dressing and poached quail egg. The chef had paired this with the 2001 blanc de blanc. The blanc de blanc is made from 100% chardonnay. The salmon had been lightly smoked for only 12 hours so that it would match perfectly with the '01. The salmon was soft and silky, almost sashimi-like, it pratically melted on my tongue. The '01 was a refreshing match. Nutty notes at first followed by lemon and apple flavours coming through. The miniscule bubbles were a great palate cleanser, washing away the smoky salmon. It was an uncomplicated dish but so well done, an absolute pleasure to eat. I would have ordered another plate if I could have but we had 3 more courses to go.

I won't go into detail but we did try the Nyetimber '96 Blanc de blanc, the 1995 Classic Cuvee and their very first vintage 1992 Blanc de blanc. All in all a wonderful showcase of how well Nyetimber can be paired with food. If you have any ideal food and wine pairings, I'd love to hear from you.

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Chateau Grezan range on tasting this weekend

This Saturday we will have the wines of Chateau Grezan open for tasting. Not only will we have the wines available but we'll also have Lionel Razimbaut from the chateau to give you a vinous tour of their wines.

Chateau Grezan's wines are made in the shadow of a Knight Templar's castle. The castle now serves as a backdrop to the vineyards and their cellars are used for their very own winetastings. I can't promise that we will have any ghosts of Knights Templars roaming about the market but you will be able to enjoy Ch. Grezan's wines.

The chateau is situated in the Faugeres appellation, north of Beziers in the Herault department and has a well earned reputation for their red wines. Within the appellation, they are allowed to grow syrah and grenache as well as carignan, cinsault and mouvedre. They also grow chardonnay and pinot in the region but as it is not part of the AOC classification, they cannot sell it under the Faugeres appellation.

Whatever the appellation or lack thereof, we will be tasting their entry level chardonnay and pinot noir.

We will have on tasting their flagship wine, the Cuvee Arnaud, 2005. A rich and spicy blend of syrah and grenache, the 2005 is tasting mighty fine at the moment and would be a perfect partner to rich, gamey dishes as well as hearty cheeses.

We're also going to be featuring the Les Schistes Dores, one of their premium wines, again a blend of mostly syrah with a bit of grenache, a smooth powerhouse of a wine with a lovely nose of black fruit, spices and chocolate. You won't want to miss that one.  

The wines will be on tasting all day on Saturday from 11 - 5 pm. We hope to see you soon!

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Claret with age - Chateau Beaumont 1995

I have a friend who refers to herself as a "wine cougar". I'm sure you've all heard of the term "cougar" used to describe older women who prefer younger consorts. Well, my friend likes her wines young, the younger the better as far as she's concerned. Although, she's no cradle robber!

I, on the other hand, would probably refer to myself as 'Anna Nicole'. The older the better as far as I'm concerned. Luckily, Borough Wines agrees with me and we have managed to get our hands on some lovely clarets from the mid 1990's. Now, many of you may like your wines young but good claret always needs time to mature, much like one half of the human race.

The majority are Haut Medoc but we also had a few St. Emilions in the mix. My favourite was the 1995 Ch. Beaumont. The chateau has been around since 1824 and they produce the quintessential claret. The '95 is a blend of cabernet sauvignon, merlot and cabernet franc and spends between 12 - 18 months in oak.

When I opened this one, red licorice and blackberry fruit on the nose at first then lovely lifted notes of fruit, followed by tobacco and leather notes. I had this wine with a dinner of steak and chips and it was delicious. After decanting, fabulous blackcurrant flavours came to the fore with plenty of  soft silky tannins. The wine finished off with a long black plum finish. Delicious. I could have savoured this one all night long but this oldie would only last so long and before I knew it, the bottle had given up the ghost. Ah, well, on to the next....

The Chateau Beaumont 1995 is a steal at £30 in the marketstall.

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Ch. St. Esteve de Neri on tasting this week, Feb 26-27

 

Ch. St. Esteve de Neri

We've got some new wines in stock just waiting to be tasted. This time, we've gone to the Cotes du Luberon for their rich, well defined reds, a lovely appley dry white and a rose that could be mistaken for hailing from Provence.

The Ch. St. Esteve de Neri is situated near the foot of the village of Ansouis with the beautiful mountains of Luberon looming off in the distance. The area has been producing wines since Roman times with perfect grape growing weather and even a bit of the Mistral winds coming from the East, which are fortunately tempered by the Luberon mountains.

At the chateau, they take their vineyard management seriously but at the same time believe in minimal intervention, using no chemicals or pesticides with their top wines harvested by hand.

This weekend we're featuring the Ch. St Esteve de Neri Grande Expression 2008 Rose. A lovely mouthful, light and dry with loads of  red summer fruits on the palate. A  perfect wine to get you in the mood for spring and (even better) summer! (£8)

Next up is a delightful white made from blend of chardonnay and white grenache, the Ch. St. Esteve de Neri Grande Reserve 2008 is classified as a Vin de Pays de Vaucluse because of that chardonnay which is not a varietal that is classically allowed in the Cotes du Luberon. However, that chardonnay does contribute some juicy ripe apple flavours and aromas to a quite lush wine, I can see this going down to easily on a Saturday afternoon.

The chateau does two reds, one made from a blend of grenache/carignan and the other a blend of syrah and grenache. The 2006 Expression de Terroir won a silver medal at the 2008 Paris wine show and it's a rip roaring wine, plenty of tannins in there to keep you on your toes with loads of blackberries on the palate. (£8)

Meanwhile the Grande Expression 2007, hand picked, hand sorted and aged in oak it has an intense core of blackberry fruits surrounded by hearty licorice and spice, a real blockbuster guaranteed to knock out any piece of meat that comes its way. (£15)

All wines will be available to taste this weekend, Feb 26-27th. See you in the market!

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Wine Tasting with Miss Vicky Wine, Thursday, March 4th

 

  

Miss Vicky Wines will be coming to London direct from Paris and hosting a winetasting at La Maison du Languedoc in Cavendish Sq on Thursday, 4th March.

Miss Vicky will be featuring not only the wines of the Languedoc but also including a various French cheeses and charcuterie matched with the wines.

Chateau Grezan, a Borough Wines favourite will be the featured wines of the evening. Ch. Grezan, from the Faugeres appellation is well known for their powerfully smooth wines. The chateau uses only the grapes of Faugeres- syrah, grenach, mouvedre, carignan and cinsault for their wines.

The winetasting starts at 7 pm and will run til 11pm or when the wine runs out (whichever comes first!) Tickets are £12.50 if you buy them through our website or £14 pounds at the door. Ticket price includes 3 glasses of wine and a cheese and charcuterie plate. What better way to get ready for the weekend then to kick it off with some fabulous wines from the Languedoc.

Where: La Maison du Languedoc
            6 Cavendish Sq
            LondonW1G 0PD

When: Thursday, March 4th, 7pm - 11pm

Cost: £12.50 in advance
         £14 at the door

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English Wines on tasting this weekend

This weekend we've got the wines of Bolney Estate from West Sussex open for tasting. Bookers Vineyard is the label for Bolney's still table wines and we've picked what we think are the best they've got just for you.

Bolney is situated in the heart of rural Sussex and started back in 1972 with just 3acres of vines. Today they've expanded to 22 acres and in 2005 opened a state of the art winery where they produce their red, white, rose and sparkling wines.

We are pleased to be offering the Bookers Vineyard  Bolney Blush, Autumn Spice and Pinot Noir. The Bolney Blush (£12) is a refreshingly dry rose that conjures up images of English strawberry season. Loads of strawberry and rose petal flavours and aromas, the Blush is made from 100% cool climate varietal dornfelder.

Autumn Spice (£14), despite it's name is a white wine and is fresh and dry with delicious spicy notes and a nice citric touch to it all. Made from Muller Thurgau, Schonburger and Wurzer, it's a wine that will guaranatee to please.

Red wine is not so easy to make here on this particular island but Bolney have produced a lovely Pinot Noir($14) from their vinyeyards. Plenty of red cherry goodness on the palate followed by exceptional cedar notes on the finish make this a fabulous example of not only cool climate pinot noir but also English wine at  its best.

All 3 wines are available to taste this weekend and of course are for sale every weekend in our market stall.

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