Valencia: not just Oranges

How can you not love that? Fideua is one of the typical dishes – perhaps lesser well known that the more famous paella – of Valencia and surrounding areas. Thin noodles, seafood and most importantly that delicious crusty bottom. Full of flavour, satisfying, hedonistic. Like the city itself. Valencia is that rare combination of the old and the new: classical buildings, narrow streets, layers of history in the old town, and modern striking architecture (think Calatrava) – set in the dried up riverbed that runs through this hot coastal town. And then there are the beaches along the sparkling Mediterranean coast.   

While a lot of us are sat here in the depths of winter – many of us in a wet and semi-submerged England – it is hard to picture the special light of this jewel of the Med. So how can we all get a bit of the Valencian vibe? Apart from a couple of hours with Easyjet... wine. It may not be Rioja, Priorat or Ribera but here we can find juicy fruity, perfectly aged reds. I really do think this is one of the best value regions in the world for Reserva and Gran Reserva style wines. OK they may not have the complexity of Bordeaux or the richness of a big Barossa Shiraz but then I love old German silent films and would rather watch Corrie or Eastenders at the end of a hard day in the office than the director’s cut of Metropolis. It’s a matter of occasion.

So why are these wines such good value? Just like the lifestyle, winemaking here is relaxed. It’s all about capturing a bit of Spanish sun in a glass. None of the high costs of land, grapes or paperwork that the Riojans have to contend with. And a tradition of aging wines - think big barrel rooms - that is as second nature as a siesta in summer. Red berries, spice, coconut and vanilla. Inexpensive but just like the food in Valencia, these wines are perfectly crafted, nothing out of place, and rely on the purity of the local produce: gorgeous vines nurtured by the southern Spanish sun. 

Sometimes as "insiders" in the wine trade we over-complicate things. Next time you have a choice between an expensive bottle from some well-known "posh" part of the world, perhaps that needs several more years before it is even approachable, and a soft, rounded, juicy red perfectly ready to drink, don't feel guilty for choosing the more appealing and immediately satisfying option. After all, we all need a bit of Kat and Alfie when Fritz gets a bit much.

Gratuitous orange shot...it is Valencia after all!

2013: Year of the Midi

You may have heard about the difficulties of the 2013 vintage in Bordeaux and Burgundy...i.e. there won’t be much wine! These may be the most famous regions but remember they are just a small part of la belle France. There is one place where there are some fruity, spicy, rich, simply fantastic (in fact downright sexy) wines this vintage. Yes, we’re back in Tony’s old stomping ground, the Midi, Languedoc-Roussillon. And the secret to finding the best wines? Working with true vignerons, guys who spend most of their time in the vineyard where it all happens.

These guys are not always easy to find. I’m sure Tony or our winemaker Mark will happily fill you in on my mistake in planning our route. Yes there are two towns with the same name, and yes they are 2 hours apart, and yes, we did end up driving all over the Languedoc in the most ridiculous order imaginable. And we had to do a lot of driving at night so even missed out on the view! But even if it was the long (very very long) way round, it was worth the effort. From Joseph Bousquet at 4 Pilas, to Baptiste at Domaine Torquebiau, le rugbyman Alain at Roquebrun and Jean-Luc Terrier at Domaine Autugnac, we are going back to our roots, working closely with these growers to find spectacular wines that over-deliver for the price. Pinot Noir and Chardonnay too expensive and in short supply in Burgundy? Merlot been decimated in Bordeaux? Alsacian Gewurztraminer in great demand? It’s all in the Midi (yes even Gewurz), along with the more traditional inky dark Syrah and Grenache, and mouth-watering Viognier and Roussanne. So forget all the doom and gloom about 2013: it’s going to be the year to head south, go where the sun shines, and drink up Midi style. But I won’t bore you with more details. Read Tony’s blog here: http://lwcoukblog.wpengine.com/?p=162. He says it all.

The Lost Vineyards of Spain

Last week I drove over 3,200km and tasted over 200 wines across regions from Rioja to La Mancha to Valencia, but the trip started and ended in the North East of Spain in the lost vineyards of Navarra and Aragon. There are very few things as exciting as standing among century old vines in wind-swept and isolated mountains, even if the temperatures feel decidedly arctic! With the threat of snow - in fact there was a lot of it around Rioja and Madrid - the backdrop was both eery and beautifully desolate. 

The beginning of this road-trip epic was in a tiny corner of Navarra, not far from Pamplona. The town is called Sada, and the bodega appropriately takes its name from its location: the winery is a small cooperative entirely made up of growers from Sada, mostly all related to each other!

As you can see this area is home to some very very old vines, most of which are Garnacha with an average age of 70 years and some as old as 100, and is also very very high. Cool climate Garnacha. From here you can look out towards the Pyrenees but only if the blustering winds don't knock you over. The vines really have to fight to survive but they certainly do flourish. There is nothing else for miles: pure air and rich terroir for the Garnacha grape. Have a look at the isolation:

The bodega itself was founded in 1939 but it's almost unknown outside this corner of Spain: for most of its history it sold wine in bulk, either to other wineries or to local restaurants and bars. This may have been the source of the wine that Hemingway used to drink in vast quantities when he frequented the bars of his favourite city Pamplona. And if it's good enough for Hemingway, it's good enough for me! As the great man wrote, wine "...offers a greater range for enjoyment and appreciation than, possibly, any other purely sensory thing." Sada's Garnacha offers just such a thing!

In the past few years Sada has engaged the services of two talented wine professionals with strong credentials: a winemaker who used to work with Spanish superstar Telmo Rodriguez at the top Rioja bodega Remelluri, and a manager who worked with some of the top wineries in Ribera del Duero. This duo are now keen for the rest of the world to discover their well-kept secret.

We tasted some lovely 2012 Garnacha but also tasted some very young wine still bubbling away in tank as it is still fermenting. Try to work out what this Garnacha is saying!

So from this exciting start to the trip, we can jump ahead to an equally exciting finish! Still in the North East but this time we move closer to Zaragoza, Aragon, and an almost extinct grape variety...Vidadillo. The bodega is Vinae Mureri in the tiny town of Murero which sits along side the River Jiloca.  Below you can see the area (marked by the square).







This is a very old winemaking region of Spain. In Roman times the area - Bilbilis, close to the modern day town of Calatayud - was famous for its wines, mostly Garnacha but a few other varietals were planted there as well. And now in the surrounding mountains there are still vines which are over 100 years old, pre-Phylloxera stock. Add into the mix an altitude of 850 - 1,100m, it becomes clear why this is a very special place.

In the 1920s Vidadillo was as dominant in this area as Garnacha is today. But it was a very productive grape - four times as much produced off the vine as Garnacha - so it was considered inferior. The grape itself is also a lot bigger than others, twice as big as Garnacha and  it was a difficult grape to control in the winemaking process, and so a lot of the planted area was ripped up. But this is an amazing grape variety that just needs some extra love and attention...

In Jancis Robinson's book on grapes ("Wine Grapes") Vidadillo is described as a nearly extinct variety that is unrelated to any other grape and only found in the North East of Spain. I found it had an almost Italian or Burgundian quality: high acid, floral aromas of violet and wild herbs with a huge lick of blackcurrant on the palate. It is elegant and concentrated, with its old vine heritage shining through (see the withered 100 year old vines below).

It's not easy to get to these vineyards as only parcels remain now dotted among the rough and rugged mountains in this valley. We got a flat tire (fortunately not my car!). Apparently this is the winemaker's fifth this harvest!

Jose Antonio owns this bodega and is not put off by the odd flat tire! He has a glint in his eye and loves to tell the stories of his parents and grand parents working the same vineyards that he is now looking after. His passion for the area - and for Vidadillo - is clear. Over lunch I think he managed to explain the history of the region going back almost as far as pre-historic times!

Jose Antonio on the left, sitting

And finally, once we get some of this lovely Vidadillo into stock, if you need any inspiration for a food match, look no further than in-season mushrooms. The stuff dreams are made of...!

The Hungarian Frontier

It has to be said that I am often confused, perplexed, bemused by a whole raft of things, not just wine! But there was one wine that was very confusing - in a good way - this past week. I was in the town of Villany, southern Hungary, tasting through some red wines from the region. We moved through some of the lighter styles of wine - Portugieser, Pinot Noir - and then we got to the Cabernet. It was one particular blend that confused me the most: Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Kékfrankos. From the very first smell, I suddenly thought I was back home in Australia, or perhaps in another New World region, but certainly not in Europe. On the nose this wine was explosive. Minty, packed full of red berries. And the New World style continued on the palate with punchy, big, mouth-filling flavours. I was thinking Mclaren Vale, Margaret River. Seriously good wine.

This could be a great source of big rich red wine. The region is at the same latitude as the northern most part of Bordeaux, and sits on a vein of limestone soil, seen below in these caves that run underneath the Csányi winery. And the best news...the wines certainly stack up against their more expensive New World counterparts.

Winemaking in Villanyi has been traced back to Roman times, and then to the ancient Celts, through to the Serbs living in the area after the Turkish occupation, and finally to the German settlers who can be thanked for shaping the modern industry. Outside of Hungary this region has been relatively unknown but domestically it is renowned for its quality red wine production. In any top restaurant in Budapest, the best Hungarian reds will most definitely come from Villanyi. I know, I tried quite a lot. And they are really really good!

So why is this region not known outside of Hungary? It's location might have something to do with it. Three hours south of Budapest, and that's with the relatively new motorway. I'm not sure how many tourists would be drawn to this part of the world, especially given that most people stick to Budapest or may venture to Tokaji but no further.

Previously known as Chateau Tileki, Csányi Winery was founded in 1881 by Zsigmond Teleki who we could say saved Europe from phylloxera. It was Tileki who experimented with different types of rootstock resistant to the disease. His work was carried on by his sons, and thanks to their innovative efforts, phylloxera was beaten. So Csányi has a proud history which also extends to the quality of the wines it produces. Below is the new winemaking team.

From Villanyi we moved back to Budapest as a base to get to Torley, and look at the vineyards and new 2013 wines including our customer favourite, Campanula Pinot Grigio. I think the 2013 vintage is looking better than last year with ripe fruity wines with crisp acidity. Visiting the Campanula vineyards, it's easy to see why: they are beautiful.

And finally, an interesting aside. I have discovered that there is a complimentary artisanal industry around Etyek where our Campanula wines come from: ham production (and palinka but that's a whole other story!). In this part of the world, they say that ham making is as old as the practice in Spain and Italy. There are tiny houses all throughout Etyek with amazing smoking facilities to produce beautiful specimens like this:

So next time you are drinking or recommending Campanula or our other Hungarian wines, think about some funky food matches with cured ham...A match made in heaven!

For more photos: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152005827041241.1073741861.738991240&type=1&l=69e05c0a2e

Bacchus was Bulgarian

Yes that's right. Bacchus, the ancient god of wine wasn't Greek as we are all taught but, in fact, was Thracian. He was said to live in the Rodop Mountains which are part of modern day Bulgaria. Forget Greece: the original wine deity was Bulgarian! So can we say that Bulgarian wine is actually divine? Based on what I've tasted over the past couple of days, yes!

There is a long history of winemaking here on the Thracian planes. According to archeological studies, the territory that Bulgaria now occupies may have been one of the first winemaking regions in the world, and is certainly the first to have decreed a geographical "denomination" in 2 AD. This is hardly surprising given the climate and soils are naturally suited to wine production, as well as the central role of Black Sea towns on the ancient trading route: Nessebar, Sozopol, Varna. 

Not only is there an ancient winemaking tradition here on the Thracian planes but there is a long history linking Laithwaite's and this region. Tony Laithwaite was the first person to export wine from Bulgaria in the late 1970s when the country's wine industry was controlled by the state monopoly Vinipex. By the early 1980s Bulgaria was exporting 1.2 million bottles of wine outside the Soviet Union, half a million of which were consumed by our Laithwaite's customers. Bulgarian Cabernet was big! 

But following the disbanding of the USSR, Bulgaria suffered from a downturn in industry, lack of investment, and a constant egress of population. In fact, Bulgaria is one of the poorest coutries in Eastern Europe. The wine industry also stagnated as producers struggled to access the tools they needed to make high quality wine, and so could no longer find a route to market or could only sell their cheapest, high volume wines to supermarket chains. But recently, some growers have risen from the post-communist difficulties to develop modern wineries with cutting-edge technology while looking after the fantastic vineyards that have always flourished in this part of the world.

This story of renewal can also be linked to Laithwaite's. Back in the 70s and 80s a young Margo Todorov worked for the state monopoly. As Tony explains, Margo was one of the few people who could speak English in the government-run export board for Bulgarian wine. He was exposed to the more modern wine styles from all around the world that were in our range at that time, and the methods by which those wines were made. He took all this knowledge back to Bulgaria to help develop the wine industry there. Since the 90s he has invested his time and money in building the most successful independent commercial winery in democratic Bulgaria. Now he is keen to return to his routes and see his wine sold by the company that put Bulgaria on the map.

Margo's winery is Domaine Boyar, and they have made a special Cabernet based on the wine that was so well-loved by Laithwaite's customers 30 years ago. This is a rich, bold Cabernet, full of juicy red fruits with just a touch of oak to add structure and complexity. 

The wine is named after the treaty which gave Bulgaria its independence from Turkey after five centuries of rule, and so it is a name very dear to our Bulgarian  friends. This special Cuvée Cabernet will relaunch Bulgaria into the Laithwaite's range, and continue the exciting developments of our Eastern European portfolio. We were there first in the final decade of the Soviet Union, and now we can be there as Bulgaria focuses on developing a quality wine industry opening up its well-kept secrets to an eager drinking public!