Medoc
Chateau La Reine Pergason
2006
Aldi - £4.99 (previously £5.99)
As you will have read in my previous blog, we were all on standby on Friday to open a bottle of Chateau Reysson 2005 in the happy event that Harry passed his driving test which he took, somewhat ominously, on Friday 13. Well thanks to a few 'serious' and one or two 'dangerous' errors on his part, largely down to observation (or lack of it), the bottle remains unopened here on the review desk at Chateau Blogspot and will remain so until our next scheduled meeting with our friends from the Driving Standards Agency on December 11.
In the meantime, Harry will practice looking and observing anything that moves in close proximity to his vehicle (when driving at least) and I will continue tasting and observing anything half decent that remains hitertho undisturbed in a wine bottle.
Over the past 48 hours I've had a weekend away in deepest Cumbria on a course to learn the art of bread making. Located on the outskirts of Penrith, the Watermill at Little Salkeld is an absolute gem and well worth a detour if, like me, you enjoy wholesome, natural food sourced and prepared in natural surroundings. Without wishing to sound over-worthy or right on, in a Hoxton-Square, Guardian-Food-Monthly kind of way the place is a truly authentic champion of green enterprise and is absolutely first class in everything it is trying to achieve. It's quirky and unique and is just quietly going about its work in a small but ferociously determined way. Check out http://www.organicmill.co.uk/ to discover this amazing working mill which dates back to 1760 and is still milling flour. Anyway, from bread on to wine.
On the back seat of the car all weekend was a bottle of Medoc from Aldi. I meant to down it with a chunk of the bread I made on the course and some cheese when I returned to the hostel I was staying at in Patterdale. However, things didn't turn out that way and I ended up entertaining myself in a remote pub with a copy of The Times, a pint of beer and a packet of cheese and onion crisps. So, back at Chateau Blogspot it has just turned 5.30pm on a Sunday evening, my shirts are in the washing machine, a pizza is in the oven and I have just poured a glass of this very sound, classic Bordeaux red.
At first I thought the tannic structure was a bit too firm and undeveloped but after a quick excursion to the local garage to get some milk for tomorrow morning's Honey Nut Hoops I returned to find a wine that had opened up to deliver a really dark inky, full palate flavour with a surprisingly spicy floral bouquet. For a wine with 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, a 2006 vintage is relatively short space of time in which to achieve silky tannins like these and allow the Merlot to come through in the background. The wine has been blended by famed Bordeaux wine maker Benoit Valerie Calvet whose eccentric website (even more so when translated by a Google toolbar) can be found at http://www.bvcbordeaux.com/
This is an easy drinking Claret which not only shows off M Calvet's expertise in developing such an enjoyable and well structured wine in such a short space of time but shows ALDI's expertise in pulling in serious winemakers to deliver excellent value everyday wines that would give other so-called 'ordinary' clarets from grander supermarkets (did I hear someone say Waitrose) a real run for their money.
Dinner Party Appeal: 7/10 (for an informal cheese and wine or posh burger event)
Probability of Buying Again: 9/10 (this is good, better than ordinary Claret)
Class Act: 9/10 (M Calvet has produced the wine equivalent of cheap chic)
No comments:
Post a Comment