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Die Ersten 10 Jahre (part 2)
August 8th, 2011 by
A mere two weeks after the extravaganza in Burgenland, (but still already over a month ago!) Roland was back in London, and we did a sort of mini repeat. Quite different this time, though. A focused concentration on the 2009 vintage – the vintage of the decade to be sure – and a few older examples, taking us back to 2002. (the 2001 was corked!)
Inquisition about to commence
...and Philip Furtenbach: Porsche car salesman or extraordinary itinerant chef and forager ??
But the sensational and memorable aspect of the evening was not only the wines. The location – Lincoln House, 33 – 34 Hoxton Square – a bit scruffy, if we’re honest, was before, and is again now, a car show room. But for 3 weeks, Philip Furtenbach and his team, a friend of Roland Velich brought their pop-up restaurant to here with the support of Outset. They foraged and sourced locally everything (except the wine) and served us a fascinating and thrilling range of dishes – 14 in all – to accompany the wines. The company is called AOund (AO&) and they have travelled the world like nomadic circus performers setting up their act for three weeks then breaking it down and moving on. I can say of all the tasting events we’ve organised, this was the most unusual. And it was one of the best too. Thrillingly different
Brilliant Zalto glasses too!
We tasted:
White
Gruner Veltliner Hausmarke 2009
Gruner Veltliner St Georgen 2009
Red (all blaufrankisch)
Moric Reserve 2009
Jagini 2009
St Georgen 2009
Lutzmannsburg Alte Reben 2009
Neckenmarkt Alte Reben 2009
St Georgen 2007
Lutzmannsburg Alte Reben 2007
Neckenmarkt Alte Reben 2007
The with dinner we went back through:
Neckenmarkt and Lutzmannsburg Alte reben 2006
Neckenmarkt 2002
And probably one or two others, but to be quite honest i can’t remember and can’t just find the tasting notes this morning. And this post should have been made a month ago!
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MORIC Party Die Ersten 10 Jahre
June 30th, 2011 by
Roland Velich, (and his brother Heinz and father Helmut) were contacts Mark Pardoe and I made on our very first trip to Austria in summer 1998. All were working together then on the family estate in Apretlon, making sweet wines and very fine chardonnay. The Tiglat Chardonnay was (and still is, I think, the classiest of Austrian Chardonnays. Roland still enjoys reminding us of the evening when we failed to identify it next to a Lafon Meursault)
In 2001 Roland left the family business to concentrate on his own project for red wine – something he had had in mind for several years. His excitement over the quality of fruit available in Mittelburgenland, and his observation that little of it was receiving the treatment from producers that he felt it deserved, led him to make some agreements with vineyard owners in the two villages of Neckenmarkt and Lutzmannsburg. The project began in 2001, and we kept in touch and followed the progress of the wine over the first few vintages. Sadly, when we set up CFW, we had to relinquish the Velich agency, and we expected that Roland’s new project too which he called, rather enigmatically “MORIC”, would be distributed by the same partners. Fortunately not, so in 2006, we were able to step in and for the past four vintages we have been the very proud distributors of Austria’s coolest red.
So Friday’s party a couple of weeks ago was a celebration of ten years of the Moric project. We sat down at 5pm and tasted in flights of two from 2010 right back to 2001. The emphasis was strongly concentrated on the two Top Wines: Alte Reben Neckenmarkt and Alte Reben Lutzmannsburg. (In this case Alte Reben meaning anything from 75 – 100 year old vines) but we began the tasting with Rolan’ds Gruner Veltliners from 2010 and 2009, and then looked briefly at the wine called Moric Reserve, which is a blend of more or less 75% Neckenmarkt and 25% Lutzmannsburg.
The tasting was really sensational. Remember these are some of Austria’s most expensive, but now most highly sought-after red wines, and at the conclusion, the echoey high-ceiling hall rang with prolonged applause. And most of us were on our feet throwing bouquets!
Wine of the tasting? The 2009s are , obviously, where Roland’s current excitement is concentrated, but the 2006 – our first vintage with the wines looked magnificent. We sold out of these a while back, but the Alte Reben Neckenmarkt had everything.
Tasting notes:
WHITE
1 – Gruner Veltliner St Georgen 2010 and 2009
I have to admit I struggle with Roland’s whites. He seems to suggest I’m brainwashed by the expectations of Wachau. Ok these are NOT showing the easy fruity delights of a little loess over primary rock. Rather they are from limestone, and this certainly shows. But where’s the charm? Complex, maybe but there’s nothing delicious about these. Isabelle leant across and whispered “isn’t this what natural wine tastes like?” Roland agreed perhaps the 2010 needed some SO2, but actually the wines seemed very true to how they have tasted every time to me. On the other hand, the Danish importer told us that the sommelier at Moma rates them as the best Austrian whites he has ever tasted. Horse for courses..
RED – All 100% Blaufrankisch
2 – Moric Reserve 2010 and 2009. Both roughly 75% Neckenmarkt and 25% Lutzmannsburg
The tiny quantity of 2010 looks as though it saved the vintage. Strong paralleles, i sense with the reports from /Burgubdy in this tricky vintage. Pretty red fruit, bitter cherry and spicy pepper notes in the ’10. Fine but gentle tannins, but a bit dusty at this stage . Strong contrast with ’09, where the ripe sweetness shows immediately, but nothing overripe. Strong, plentiful crunchy acidity behind. Exciting prospect. Don’t want to use up superlatives too soon
3- Alte Reben Lutzmannsburg and Alte Reben Neckenmarkt 2009
Lutz nos a little more expressive initially – a little more spice, crunch, pepper, then creamy texture with good viscosity but crispness behind. A touch more abrasive right now than Neck which was initially more muted on the nose, but with a sense of extra ripeness behind. Perhaps a touch less open now, but with great poise and promise of great complexity.
4- Alte Reben Neckenmarkt 2008
No AR Lutz in 2008. 1 barrel was made, but tipped, by mistake! – into Moric Reserve. Difficult, cool vintage. Harvest precipitated by hail. This is a wine we know as it’s our current vintage. I sense it’s evolved well over the last 12 months. Tiny vintage showing ripeness and concentration to bely the cool difficult season. Rawness has all disappeared. Pepper is subdued. Elegant, almost ready. (Or will it go backwards?)
5- Alte Reben Lutzmannsburg and Alte Reben Neckenmarkt 2007
The earliest of all these vintages – warm dry summer, sunny, clear September, but cool nights.
Again a slightly more primary , cool ,lean(?) freshness to the nose of Lutz. Palate cooler, tannins powdery and forceful. Very Burgenland. Neck slightly fuller, juicier. Texture is creamier, tannins not quite so spiky at this stage. Perhaps less regional, more international polish?
6- Alte Reben Lutzmannsburg and Alte Reben Neckenmarkt 2006
A really great pair. Neck for me the winje of the tasting. Lutz again shows a little more spice on noseand a charm and coolness, but great power behind. Firm, complex and fine. Neck nose a little more meaty – which blew off. Multiple layers of complexity. Touches of graphite, cream, spice, cherry. Big but cool. Very fine.
7- Alte Reben Neckenmarkt 2005 and 2004
Fascinating contrasts. 2005 – a cool, very late harvest –end October – but grapes in good condition. Temperatures fell to zero Celcius just before harvest. Wine is cool, mature, smells full and ripe, albeit with a delicate pepper note. Complex and very charming nose. Delightful freshness and balance. 2004, by comparison seemed to have faint hint of raisin – the only time in the whole flight i thought i detected this. Clearly from a much hotter vintage, active drying south wind in September. Powerful and complex. Lacked some elegance and complexity , maybe.
8- Alte Reben Lutzmannsburg and Alte Reben Neckenmarkt 2003
These were both charming and very successful examples of this frequently disappointing vintage. The 2003 bake seems to spoil, for me so many wines from Europe (and weirdly, even some Australasian examples) but these were both ripe and soft, but with real solid depth, and nothing hollow. The Lutz was big and soft and easy – quite voluptuous really. The Neck had some intriguing mineral notes , sweet palate and clearly very ripe but again, nothing cooked. Perhaps Neck showed a little more tannin.
Alte Reben Lutzmannsburg and Alte Reben Neckenmarkt 2002
Lutzmannsburg was a step ahead in this pair: fresh, expressive, delightful nose – sweet and ripe, but light too. Clearly mature, but very youthful too. Red fruot and spice again. Full of purity and clear definintion. Neckenmarkt lacked a little of the definition of the Lutz. Are there perhaps little notes of surmaturite? Fruity, cherry sweet nose, still with freshness too. Strong and powerful.
Plateau Lutzmannsburg 2001
And to conclude, a sensation from Roland’s first vintage. Youthful appearance – more youthful than the 2002s. Smooth, supple, gentle, very nice texture. Very young. A great conclusion.
(Apologies. Fortunately i don’t write tasting notes for a living. My limited vocabulary would quickly be exposed)
Clamouring for more!
Stefan at work, bringing forth copious examples of great modern Austro-Hungarian cooking
After this it was 2 minutes back to Roland’s for a party which we left at midnight, but which , we later learned, went on all weekend. We caught up with a lot of Austrian friends and drank and ate brilliantly. There was frantic activity in Roland’s large kitchen. Fod kept appearing on all sides; no wonder they partied all weekend they had a lot to get through! Roland’s friends presented him with a milestone, which, I imagine will be located somewhere strategic. And we just hope another will be added ten years from now.
The first milestone
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The new Demoiselles
May 18th, 2011 by
Le Cher at Montrichard
Last week Ihad 36 hours to catch up with my friend Henri Chapon in Montrichard, Touraine. Henri has been back home for two years since leaving the Hotel du Vin group, and has been very helpful in getting us our “Les Demoiselles” Sauvignon off the ground. The 2009 is virtually all gone, so it was time to blend the 2010 with his friend Jean-François Merieau.
Asparagus, trimmed "comme il faut"
He collected me at the airport in Tours and we went home to peel the asparagus as some friends were due for dinner. Actually he did the peeling. I was trying to do it like sharpening a pencil until he showed me that you start at the top and remove more at the bottom. D’oh! Sacked from this task I went for a stroll along the banks of the tranquil Cher, enjoying the scent of spring. One really feels being on the border here between southern and northern France. Certainly the warmth of the sun is significantly powerful than London.
A double magnum turns Henri into a midget!
15 people in this one!
We had a Big Dinner with Jim and Carole Budd, who have lived part time in the area for 25 years, and a couple of local producers, Lionel Gosseaume and Aynard et Isabelle de Clermont Tonnerre. We quickly dismissed the natural wines debate, drank some of Lionel’s excellent Sauvignon 2009 – sold to Lea and Sandeman – and moved on to Champagne, Gruner Veltliner, Sassicaia, Californian Pinot, and a few other bits and pieces. We watched the hot air ballons fly over, waved to their inhabitants, and debated, laughed and drank. The vines here are 2-3 weeks ahead of a normal year, and the temperature on Sunday 7th May 26 Celcius. Risk of frost has all but disappeared, and we are looking at the possibility of the earliest flowering in decades!
The 2010 will be delicious. We’ve picked a very clean, sherbety fresh and appley wine for the base, and blended it with 30% of a slightly richer cuvee to give it a little more weight. We should have the wine available by the beginning of June.
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Bonnes Mares, Fish & Chips
May 18th, 2011 by
The 2009s from our new best friend Francois Bertheau arrived in bond a couple of weeks ago, and with them a box of 2008 and 2007s was included. Hilario and I set off around London last week to taste them and gather opinions, especially from customers who had bought 2009s. A little stock of both vintages is left ex cellars, and we plan to ship these a little later on.Francois’ 2008s are really classic of the vintage. Cool, a touch on the slim side right now, but with great intensity. The acidity looks crisp and fresh, and it will be interesting to see how the integration continues over the next few months. We felt certainly that the vintage is less forward than the 2009 and 2007 vintages, with the possible exception of the Charmes, which , to me at least was a gloriously textured example of floral elegance, delicacy and complexity. I was thrilled by this wine at 10 am on Thursday morning! Amoureuses is really backward, full of all it needs for long keeping, but fairly hard to read now. Bonnes Mares wa sactually a shade more forward: a touch thicker perhaps, with a wonderful Grand Cru volume in the mouth.
2007
At village level, the 2007, in the company of the 2008 and 2009 is left a yard behind. It lacks the freshness and clarity of the 2008s, without having quite the elegance and voluptuous appeal of the 2009s. Probably the vintage a s awhole is a notch behind 2008, but I’m reluctant to say that. The wines show very true characteristics of this early harvest. At the top end, Charmes, Amoureuses and Bonnes Mares, all look glorious now and show some of the best characteristics of the 2007’s famously forward supple fruit. I can imagine a comparison of Amoureuses and Bonnes Mares next December at the CFW Christmas dinner being a subject for a fascinating debate.
I called Isabelle on my way home, to say I had something left in the bottles for her to taste. She reported that Ines was clamouring for fish and chips for dinner. It seemed a bit late to be starting to cook at 7 o’clock, f&c seemed like the easy option, so there we have it . Bonnes Mares (and Charmes too) with fish and chips from the South Ealing chippie.
Magic!
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Mas Cristine Party
April 27th, 2011 by
It was billed as a Mas Crisitine Party. A celebration of ten years since Philippe and Nathalie Gard made their first vintage in Banyuls, and five years on from their first at Mas Cristine – just over the Collioure boundary in Cotes du Roussillon.
Andy Cook – whom we first met as a customer , working at Luvians in St Andrews – joined Philippe after graduating from his winemaking course in New Zealand, and now ,with his wife and two young boys, is fully acclimatised to life in the bright Mediterranean light.
So they invited us and we invited a few of our customers and headed off to Stansted on Sunday morning and returned on Monday night.
"La Salette" Close-planted 100yr old Carignan vineyard
We toured the vineyards on Sunday afternoon – old vines, small vines, low yields, poor soil, old soil – some of the oldest schist in France (pre-Cambrian) - and tasted from barrel the new vintage. We then ate together with some of their other customers in Collioure , enjoying a selection of older vintages – these wines DO age. After dinner we adjourned to the great bar des Templiers, (one of the great bars of the world) where Picasso, Dufy, Matisse, Mucha and many many more drank or paid for their drink in paintings.
Jeremy holds forth in Les Templiers
Monday the whole range of wines was on show: from Coume del Mas, Mas Cristine, Consolation, Tramontane – red white and rose as well as red and white Banyuls and some Rancio too. There were 100 of us for lunch overlooking the vineyards and the sea from Mas Cristine itself, demolishing barbecued lamb mechoui.
We fitted in a stroll around Collioure in its famous late afternoon sunlight and a “quenching ale” before a drive back to the airport, home late and back at the desk at 9 on Tuesday morning!
This is one of the very top estates in Collioure/Banyuls. Philippe Gard is a brilliant winemaker, who harnesses the hot dry conditions, produces big, ripe fruity wines, but (very important) with no trace of raisins or overly baked flavours.
We have some pallets of the new vintage arriving shorly. 2010 whites are vibrant and spectacular, 2009 reds represent a great vintage.
BUY!
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Busy times
March 15th, 2011 by
Annual Australia Tasting, Annual Austria Tasting, Annual Portuguese Tasting, Specialist Importers Tasting in Manchester and London, Oxford Tasting, 2009 Burgundy offer and tasting with Sylvain Cathiard, quick spin to Burgundy, vists from Kurt Feiler, Silvia Prieler for various events, a tasting at Berry Bros with Michael Moosbrugger, another spin up to Newcastle to present a range of Austrian wines to the Hotel du Vin sommeliers, visit from Jose Lievins of Champagne Picard….
I’m sure there’s more besides which temporarily escapes the memory, but, in a nutshell, this has been an incredibly busy start to the year.
Now we’re in the office for a week, but off again soon to Collioure and Banyuls with some customers and to Loire too to choose the Sauvignon for Les Demoiselles.
Sales were good in January and February, largely helped by the 2009 Burgundy offer which as very successful, and we feel cautiously optimistic about the rest of the year. Lots of new sales leads, and lots of new wines. (And more to come soon – watch this space)
So time to draw breath and take stock of where we really are is very hard to find.
(And as for finding time to play the piano… forget it!)
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SITT 2011: the London Leg
February 23rd, 2011 by
Three Lances in one room
Just back from a busy day at Vinopolis for the annual Specialist Trade Importers Tasting. It was well-atttended- as ever- and a goos opportunity to present the range and particulalrly our new Champages from Jacques Picard. Thanks very much to Jose Lievens and his stagiaire Matthieu who made the trip over for the day on Eurostar.
Nest to us at Table 2 were the Vintage Roots team, led by the only other Lance we know in the trade. But hey, what’s this? Lance Number Three? Yes, indeed! And here above is a photo to commemorate the historic meeting of Three Guys Named Lance
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Oxford Portfolio Tasting
February 21st, 2011 by
Oxford is where it all started for Clark and Foyster; it’s where we met and where Lance first cut his teeth in the world of wine when he helped to run the College wine shop. Lance fondly recalls his undergraduate days when he would go to trade tastings put on by the likes of Yapp and S.H Jones. It’s a real pleasure to be back there again but on the other side of the counter, so to speak. We were joined for the tasting by Michael Moosbrugger of Schloss Gobelsburg, who stayed on for a couple of days after the Austria tasting.
Michael at Trinity College
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Annual Wines of Austria Tasting
February 20th, 2011 by
Lance Foyster at the Austria Wines tasting
The other development we noticed is the number of new businesses which are starting up. Some of these are retailers but we’ve also seen quite a few new restaurant and bar openings. Despite all the economic news of doom and gloom, 2011 looks as if it’s starting off with a lot of confidence in the industry. Let’s hope it stays that way.
Willi Klinger of Austrian Wine Marketing and Isabelle Clark
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Kurt Feiler at Whatley Manor
February 18th, 2011 by
Kurt Feiler and GM Peter Egli
A spin down the M4 to the southern reaches of the Cotswolds to a wonderful haven of peace and tranquility. An award-winning spa, (sadly no time for that) a 2 star Michelin restaurant and a sensational ambience of luxury and attention to detail.
Kurt was with us for a few days to promote his new wines, mostly to our London clients, but it is always good to escape outside the M25 ring. Whatley Manor is owned and managed by a Swiss team, and GM , Peter Egli, met Kurt in Switzerland a few years ago.
There was an aperitif of Frizzante – a new wine from Kurt – while we watched a short presentation of Feiler-Artinger in the private cinema. Rust and the Lake Neusiedl present wonderful photo opportunities, and there were some stunning photos of the lake, in verdant summer and frozen winter, the storks on the roof in Rust and vineyard shots. Then dinner in the bistrot: Neuburger 2009 with baked Stinking Bishop. Main course of delicious tender duck breast with Solitaire 2006 and Blaufrankisch Umriss. With dessert of course we paired the great Ruster Ausbruch Pinot Cuvee 2007: L iquid Gold indeed.
A great location for a memorable dinner. We need to return quickly with more time to enjoy the facilities!
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