The future of wine publishing: the Gault Millau war

Interesting situation developing in Germany. It seems that one of the most influential German wine guides, Gault Millau, has asked producers for a voluntary fee of 195 euros (see here). I suppose, should the guide be in real trouble, then you can understand the pass the plate approach.

However, the response of an elite group of producers (see here and here) has been to send an open letter saying that they won't pay, and that because of this perceived 'problem' of not paying, they don't want to be included in future editions of the guide, and they won't be sending any more samples.

When you take a look at the calibre of the estates involved, effectively doesn't this seem to signal the end of the Gault Millau guide? They've called on the favour bank, and found it empty.

[added later] I've done some asking around. It seems that (a) it wasn't a straight donation the publishers were asking for, but optional payment in exchange for books, placards, certificates and so on - the two authors would not know who paid and who didn't; (b) some competitors may have been trying to stir up trouble; and (c) some producers may have been looking for a chance to vent their spleen.

Here's my Pinot Noir, as it looks today. The berries are starting to form, and you can still see the remains of the flowers. It's a bit less advanced than the same variety in Burgundy, but not too far off. [One Alentejo winegrower twittered today that their vines were going through veraison already!]

Last night was good fun. I met with the fellow organizers of the sparkling wine symposium for a planning meeting followed by dinner. We went to Fino in Charlotte Street (http://www.finorestaurant.com/), which is a swanky tapas joint that allows corkage for £15. So we brought along some wine, and drank well, with a high strike rate. Food was first-rate, and service was just right.

Champagne Philipponnat Grand Blanc 2002
Very fine, toasty, biscuitty, lemony nose with great precision. The palate is complex and fresh with lovely acidity and balance. Serious stuff that’s quite winey with lots of intensity. 94/100 (£39 Oddbins) [Oddly, the neck label on the bottle said 2004 vintage, while the front and back labels said 2002.]

Kumeu River Chardonnay 2005 Auckland, New Zealand
Fantastically bold and intense with dense, mealy, spicy fruit. Lovely intensity on the palate with savoury, spicy richness. A very rich style of Chardonnay, but it is serious and balanced. 93/100 (£21 Oddbins)

Millton Clos Ste Anne The Crucible Syrah 2007 Gisborne, New Zealand
I love this wine. It has a really fresh peppery nose with lovely vivid red berry fruit. Quite northern Rhône like. Lovely freshness and focus on the palate with dark pepper, dark cherry and raspberry notes, as well as some spiciness that may be from a bit of new oak. Fantastic effort. 93/100

Chaupoutier Hermitage La Sizeranne 2004 Northern Rhône, France
I was pleasantly surprised by this. It shows supple, sweet red berry and dark cherry fruit with a hint of pepperiness. The palate has elegant, midweight savoury red fruits. Lovely focus with good acidity and some pure, bright fruit. 91/100

Matetic EQ Syrah 2006 San Antonio, Chile
Lovely: dark, meaty, spicy and focused. A really dense Syrah with lots of intensity, and sweet but balanced blackberry fruit. We had this chilled down because it was quite hot, and it helped the wine a bit, although it did bring out the tannins a bit more. 92/100 (£16 Oddbins)

Burgundy (3): Clos du Tart

My final day in Burgundy was a brief one: just time for one appointment before heading back to Dijon for the train.

But what an appointment! It was at Burgundy's largest Grand Cru Monopole, Clos du Tart. I'd recently tried a whole bunch of the wines in London, so it was fantastic to be able to visit this famous estate. I was shown round by Sylvain Pitiot himself, which was great.

It operates more like a Bordeaux chateau, in the sense that just one Grand Vin is made from this single vineyard (planted in 1141!), together with a second wine in many vintages. Full report will follow very soon.

I really, really enjoyed this short soujorn in Burgundy. It is a special place.

On the way home I bumped into Brian and Ann Croser at Paris Gare du Nord. They just happened to be standing next to me. Small world.

In Burgundy (2)

Incredible day's tasting and visiting today. We began in Meursault, with Jean-Philippe Fichet - really impressive wines, tasting back to 1992. Now I remember why I love white Burgundy. Below is a view over Meursault Tesson towards the village.

Staying in Meursault, we visited Domaine Pierre Morey, where we were hosted by his daughter, Anne Morey (below). Really precise wines, with real impact and minerality - using 'good' reduction well.

Lunch was at Louis Latour, with a big tasting that included some very smart wines, as well as some more commercial bottles. This was followed by a drive through some of the top vineyards of Burgundy (Corton Charlemagne is below, and below that I'm pictured in front of the Romanee Conti vineyard).

The afternoon began very well indeed. Domaine Dujac, with Jeremy Seysses (above), was one of the best tastings I've had all year. Such elegance and balance in the wines, going back to 1990.

Finally, we visited Sylvain Cathiard in Vosne-Romanee. It's a small family domaine that's making some serious wines. Sylvain and his wife Odette have recently been joined by their son Sebastien, who will be taking over the domaine in due course. They are pictured in front of their small holding of the Romanee St Vivant vineyard (above).

In Burgundy (1)

Took the Eurostar to Paris, then headed to Dijon, and now I'm in Beaune. There's something thrilling about Burgundy.

Just one visit today - Joseph Drouhin. We met with Jean-Francois Curie and Philippe Drouhin and tasted through a large range of wines, including a wonderful 2007 Clos des Mouches Blanc and the excellent 2007 Montrachet.

Then it was off to dinner at Le Benaton (www.lebenaton.com) in Beaune - an excellent, ambitious restaurant, where we dined well, with some fantastic older bottles (2003 Montrachet, 1990 Clos des Mouches and 2000 Chambolle Musigny 1er Cru). On the menu:

Les escargots de Bourgogne pieds de veau et anguille fumée en coque de pain , écume de brandade fondue de tomate et jus de persil (pictured above - a strange snail concoction where you had to inject your dish with parsley juice); and Demi pigeon du Louhanais désossé le filet rôti la cuisse farcie jus au mélilot (a delicious pigeon dish).

Off to Burgundy

Excited to be off to Burgundy for a short trip tomorrow morning. Some nice visits planned:

Drouhin, Fichet, Coche Dury, Cathiard, Louis Latour and Clos de Tart.

And the weather forecast is fantastic.

Wimbledon and dressing up

A quick blog post before I retire to bed, tired from a busy day.

Fiona and I were off to Wimbledon, courtesy of Beaujolais. It's the first time I've been, and it was exciting - since my childhood, it has been the one tennis tournament that we've watched avidly every June/July. It's wonderful that in this modern world there's still a major tennis event being played on grass.

We took the train from Strawberry Hill and walked up from Wimbledon station, through pretty Wimbledon village. Fiona used to live round here, and it's a really attractive area.

We had a lovely lunch, washed down with Beaujolais, including Jean Foillard's wonderful 2007 Cotes de Py Morgon, and a 2007 Domaine des Nuges Fleurie (recently stocked by Majestic - a really solid wine). Then it was time for the tennis.

Live, the court seems more compact than it does on TV. And the ball seems to be hit a bit harder. First match was Davydenko getting thrashed by Berdych - a case of one player's game not being suited to grass. Then we saw the conclusion of the Haas vs. Cilic game, which was hard fought. Finally, some female action: a bit of a surprise as Kusnetsova was dumped out by the young German girl Lisicki. And then we had to leave. It was a really enjoyable day, but we had to get back for a party.

One of our friends was turning 40, and had invited us to a fancy dress do at Orleans Park House in Twickenham. I hate dressing up, but it turned out to be a good craic, and even though I was wearing tight lycra and Fiona was dressed as some kind of mutant leprechaun, we had a fun evening. We drank Prosecco.

Seriously fun day's cricket with the wine trade team

No work today at all. Spent the day playing cricket for the wine trade XI versus the Hampshire Hogs down in Warnford.

It was a great day. We batted first under gray skies with high humidity, and were quickly reduced to 10-2 as their quick bowlers moved it around a bit. But then a mega-partnership between Charles Taverner and Mike Henley, who both scored in the 80s, set us up well.

Soon after a wine-filled lunch both departed, to be replaced by debutant Will - a South African who works as a winemaker with Distell - who hammered some awesome blows before being sharply caught.

A collapse of England proportions followed, but we'd already posted a good score, and we were all out for 235. Going in at no. 9, I suffered the humiliation of a first ball duck, stumped after going after one of septuganerian Christopher Bazalgette's famous dollys. They are just so tempting.

235 didn't feel enough of a target. They had lots of young guys on their side, with strength in depth. Last year they hammered us. And they began well. Will the saffer semi-pro was bowling amazingly - fast, accurate, quite scary really. But he didn't make a breakthrough. They had one very good batsman who was settling in. John Thorne got a couple of wickets, and almost had their top batsman, who was dropped.

Then after tea, I got a bowl. I was feeling good, and managed to hit a spot. Yet in my four overs I bowled two low full tosses on leg stump, which normally would go for runs, and got their two best batsmen out with them to easy catches.

We began to run through their side, with everyone chipping in. Kiwi Tim got a lovely caught behind; Dally got a nice LBW, as did Will. We got them down to their last pair with 18 overs left to play, and just one wicket needed to win.

But the overs kept ticking by, and a solid pairing of Bazalgette and a young lad kept our best efforts out. With just two overs to go I was handed the ball. I think we were getting desperate. First ball was on the spot. Second swung in and took leg stump. I was thrilled - it would have been shocking to have ended up drawing a game we'd worked hard to dominate, against good opposition. I finished with figures of 4.2-2-5-3, which more than made up for my shameful batting display.

It was a really solid team effort - one of the best wine trade games I've played in.

Two Gimblett Gravel reds

Tonight's drinking: two red wines, both from the same remarkable patch of land. That'll be New Zealand's Hawkes Bay region, and more specifically the Gimblett Gravels - a relatively recently discovered terroir that makes lovely red wines, both from Syrah and also Bordeaux varieties. These wines aren't the very best that the Gimblett has to offer (Waitrose have a couple of Craggy Range wines - Block 14 and Sophia - that should give you that), but they are affordable and delicious.

Wild Rock Gravel Pit Red Merlot Malbec 2007 Hawkes Bay, New Zealand
14% alcohol. This is a blend of Merlot and Malbec, with a dash of Cabernets Sauvignon and Franc from the Gimblett Gravels. It's fresh and berryish, with a subtle green herbiness and some minerally, gravelly depth. The focused fruit is well supported by grippy, slightly grainy tannins. Ripe but beautifully balanced, this is a mid-weight wine that sort of straddles the new world/old world divide. Nicely savoury. 89/100 (£9.99 Waitrose; £11.99 Bon Coeur Fine Wines, General Wine Co, Highbury Vintners)

Vidal Syrah 2007 Hawkes Bay, New Zealand
14% alcohol. Sweet, almost lush blackberry and dark cherry nose with a peppery, slightly medicinal, whisky-like edge to it. The palate combines sweet, ripe dark fruit with a spicy, white pepper kick and some nice grippy structure. It's a bright, fruity good-time Syrah with a hint of seriousness. Still very berryish, and tastes like a very rich Pinot Noir. 88/100 (£9.99 Waitrose)

Grange versus Bin 389, a masterclass

Very interesting tasting this afternoon. It was held at Australia House (where they have the annoying rule that if the invitation says 3.30 pm, you aren't even allowed in the building until 3.30 pm), and it involved a vertical of two Penfolds wines: the iconic Grange, and its sibling the Bin 389. There was a good turnout, including cricketing legend Ian Botham.

Peter Gago presented, and did a very good job in keeping the tasting moving. But when he took questions, he simply avoided answering mine by being horridly, politician-level evasive - I'd asked him about the extent and timing of additions of acid and tannin. His response was that they didn't add tannins, but did tannin finings, and talked about all the other finings that they don't use. He said that they added grape-derived tartaric acid 'which all falls out anyway', and that they have a Barossa Sangiovese which they didn't add any acid to at all.

But it's the wines we were there for, and they were lovely. Penfolds have a distinctive, instantly recognizable house style. Grange is an icon and lasts for ever, as the 1955 and 1971 we enjoyed at the Landmark Tutorial showed. [It's probably partly because of the addition of acid -totally normal in Australia - and tannin that the wines live so long.]

Bin 389 is underrated. It's a great, ageworthy wine in its own right. 1986 389 was fading but complex (not the best bottle, apparently), 1990 was beautiful with lovely pure fruit, 1991 almost as good but more woody, 1996 was weaker, 1998 fantastically fruity and 2004 was brilliantly intense.

As for Grange? 1986 was brilliant, 1990 and 1991 both fantastic but rather different in style, 1996 was very good but has sticky out acid, 1998 was a backward classic, and 2004 was in a league of its own - a truly great Grange with amazingly intense fruit, great focus and real complexity. It's horribly expensive, but a really special wine. Gago and his team truly are custodians of a national treasure.

Three great value, easy to find wines

Back in March, I published my Top Ten Supermarket Wines list (here). I'm currently tasting three excellent wines that should be added to this list. As a wine journalist I'm always delighted to find wines that I can recommend to people that they can actually find and buy without too much trouble.

Asda Extra Special Shiraz 2008 Vin de Pays d’Oc, France
Here’s a wine that should give a lot of hope to France’s wine industry. It’s affordable, delicious, modern and characterful. Jean Claude Mas of Domaines Paul Mas is the man behind it, and everything he is touching seems to turn to gold. It’s deep coloured, with spicy dark fruits on the nose and has a lovely savoury, tarry, earthy complexity. The palate shows ripe, sweet blackberry and plum fruit with a nice spicy bite and some grippy tannins brilliantly countering the sweet fruit. With its richness this will appeal to lovers of Australian Shiraz, but with its savouriness and definition it will win over those who like the old world style. Brilliantly judged. 88/100 (£6.07 Asda, 13.5% alcohol)

Vinalba Reserva Malbec 2007 Mendoza, Argentina
14.5% alcohol. This is the follow-on vintage to the hugely successful 2006 that sold out fast. Deep coloured. This has a full-on nose with sweet dark cherry and blackberry fruit, with a spicy depth to it and hints of smoke and tar. The palate is dense, dark and sweet, but has a lovely spicy, savoury character and good tannic structure which helps keep things in balance. It has some jammy, berryish sweetness, as well as a bit of chocolatey richness, but there's savouriness, too. A lovely wine. 89/100 (£9.99 Majestic, but will likely be on multibuy discount -stock will be in by July)

Dr L Riesling 2008 Mosel, Germany
8.5% alcohol. Pale in colour, this has a lovely light lemony, herby nose. The palate is bright and fruity with lemon and grapefruit character, a hint of apples, and good acidity. There's a hint of sweetness, too, but overall this is really crisp and bright with a nice minerality. Great value – a perfect summer wine. 88/100 (£6.99 Asda, Sainsbury's, Majestic)

Riesling is hard to get, I reckon

I'm drinking Riesling tonight, sitting outside just after the light has finally faded and the temperature has dipped into the late teens.

It has taken me a long time to 'get' Riesling, to the point where I actually really enjoy it, rather than just appreciate it. I've joked here before that Riesling is the one variety that, once you are in the wine trade, you have to like. Outside the trade, seemingly, no one buys it, no one drinks it. But as a writer, I must plug it because that's in my contract.

This year, though, I've passed the appreciation phase and entered the enjoyment phase. I've been buying Riesling, and drinking it through choice. Especially Mosel Kabinetts, which, with their beautiful tension between sweetness and acidity, tantalize the taste buds and leave you wanting more. But I'm also quite taken by the new generation of Trocken Rieslings from Germany, when they are made with ripe enough grapes.

Austria and Alsace are also great destinations for Riesling. Both seem to be able to do dry Riesling really well, without it being austere or awkward.

Australia is famous for its dry Rieslings, with both the Clare and Eden Valleys excelling. They're cheap, too, and can age well. I appreciate them (although sometimes they can be a bit austere and samey), but I'm also excited to see new styles emerging, including those where some residual sugar is left in to provide balance.

Tonight's wine, however, comes from New Zealand, and the Marlborough region. It's Spy Valley Marlborough Riesling 2007, and for the technically minded this has a pH of 3 and TA of 8 g/litre, weighing in at 12% alcohol. It's super fresh, with explosive flavours of lime and grapefruit, finishing with high acidity and a nice dollop of sweetness that serves to balance out the acidity without making the wine seem anything other than dry, fresh and minerally. There's nice delicacy here, even though there's also a lot of flavour, and a hint of grippiness about the palate. I really like it. In the UK it is available from Bibendum (http://www.bibendum-wine.co.uk/) and will be one of the wines in their forthcoming summer sale, when you'll be able to pick it up for a song. For me, this is an 89 point wine.

New Zealand is promising for Riesling. Here's a really informative post from Framingham winemaker Andrew Headley, published on the Caves de Pyrene Grapevine.

Is Riesling an accessible variety to you? Is it something you got pretty much straight away? Or, like me, did you have to warm to its charms over several years of relatively heavy drinking?