Notes:
We have been working with Neil McAndrew, Director of H & H Bancroft Wines for the past 6/7 years. This highly regarded merchant has a strength that is rooted in a deep understanding of, and passion for, superb wines. Based in London, H & H provides its clients with fine wines sourced directly from small, family owned wineries around the globe and is one of the leading wine merchants in the UK, serving private, trade and corporate clients. They are based in offices overlooking the Thames (enviable position!) in the hub of the London wine trade.
Neil jumped at the chance to come to Jersey and took the opportunity to bring his wife and children along for a few days break.
After the two Neils, Liz and Peter had been through a large number of wines beforehand (in order to cherry pick the best/most interesting to taste as a group), we settled down to taste a number of wines we already sell and some new wines Neil thought we might like to start selling. You could quite clearly see that our team is now becoming quite accustomed to these tastings and it was amazing to see how their confidence and focus has changed since the first tasting at the beginning of January...more on that later.
So we started off with a Prosecco from Italy. Prosecco is very much in fashion now and with the economic climate, many customers are choosing Prosecco as an alternative to Champagne. However, we must not forget that Prosecco is not meant to taste like Champagne. Much of it is produced using the Italian method rather than the more time consuming Champagne method. The Italian method (or Charmat method) is basically the refermentation of the base wine in pressurised tanks, as opposed to bottles and is designed to be drunk young rather than aged. Neil explained that Prosecco is all about freshness. Unlike Champagne, which gets its richness and flavour from prolonged contact with its (second) fermentation lees, the majority of Prosecco is meant to be light and comparatively simple.
We have been stocking Prosecco for many years and have always regarded it as an excellent sparkling wine (if you source the right ones) but it has taken time for the customer to be won over by its qualities. However, the climate is ripe for converting the customer to Prosecco as it offers amazing value for money and, as said, if you buy the right ones, they really deliver on quality, flavour and freshness. We are very choosy about the Proseccos we sell and as such only have a small selection.
So we starting pouring.....
1. De Stefani Prosecco Metodo Zero Gran Cuvée Extra Dry N.V. @ £8.95 per bottle (Available online and in-store)
Well what a start. We were all literally bowled over by the rich, zesty fresh nose. Neil mentioned tarte tatin and we agreed. The scent of apples are in abundance and the palate is light but packed with flavour. Great foamy mousse. We all loved this and were actually quite surprised. Many of us hadn't tried it before and we all said that we would be quite happy to drink this instead of spending lots more money on Champagne. High praise indeed! Everyone quite happy to recommend this in the shop. Excellent start! Click on the image for more information and to purchase.
2. Vedejo, Pasos de la Capula, Valdepenas 2008
Designed to be easy and accessible to all, this unoaked white was light, perfumed and had loads of lovely pear drops on the palate. Good acidity and balance. With stelvin screw-cap closure, this wine is perfect for use as a house wine. Nice presentation too. This wine had literally just been bottled and we were all quite impressed with it. Will sell for approx £4.95 per bottle. Good.
3. Domaine de Chezelles Touraine Sauvignon 2008 (2007 Vintage available both online and in-store @ £6.25 per bottle - Click on image)
Alain Marcadet is renowned for being the best producer of Touraine Sauvignon, producing expressive, award winning wines. Touraine Sauvignon is usually known for producing low ranking sauvignons but when you have a producer such as Alain, you have wines that rival far more expensive Sancerres. This particular wine is very nice indeed and offers exceptional value for money. Great intensity of fruit. Intense floral aromas with hints of lime. Really inviting on the nose. The palate is fresh and the finish is long. Neil explained that this wine had just been bottled and that it will calm down slightly after a short time in the bottle. The team however, thought it was wonderful and the fact that it will get even better is very exciting. A great wine! This vintage will be available in the near future.
4. De Stefani Pinot Grigio, Veneto 2008 (2007 Vintage available both online and in-store @ £7.75 per bottle - Click on the image)
Neil explained that there is currently lots of inferior 'Pinot Grigios' on the market and some saying that they are Pinot Grigios when in fact they are blends (something we also discussed with Bruce Kendrick from Liberty Wines in January) but this 100% pure Pinot Grigio is a fantastic example of what Pinot Grigio should taste like. Beautiful straw colour with the coppery hues we now come to look for in a pure wine with an elegant bouquet. Alick detected marizpan/almonds, Neil commented on the aniseed notes and Liz noted the honeyed finish. This is a wine of great quality and style and it is no wonder that it is so popular here. We REALLY loved this!
5. Hartenberg Sauvignon Blanc, Stellenbosch 2008
Neil explained that since the 1st January 2009, H&H Bancroft had been appointed as exclusive UK agents for Hartenberg Estate, Stellenbosch, South Africa. Hartenberg is one of South Africa's finest estates established in 1692. The winery has a long and prestigeous history and is currently owned by the Mackenzie family.
The vineyards are located in the winery's own valley in Stellenbosch, 34km from the cooling Atlantic influence. Careful vineyard selection and winemaking by Carl Schultz results in wines with the pure flavours of South Africa.
So on with the tasting....well, once we began to smell this Sauvignon in our glass we realised that we were dealing with a Sauvignon that was completely different to the Touriane Sauvignon. Indeed it is fresh, vibrant and full, with a long soft finish but has much more asparagus/green grass notes on the nose and palate. Only half the team liked this wine. We agreed that if you were a real lover of Sauvignon Blancs and you wanted to try something a bit different, then this would be the wine for you. Some found it a bit sharp. Unsure about this one.
6. Wild South Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough 2008 (2007 Vintage available both online and in-store @ £8.95 per bottle - Click on the image)
A rich pungent classic Marlborough aroma with gooseberry and lemon grass nuances. Palate: Intense lime and citrus mid palate and a long textured but clean finish - would be great with food. Pretty good wine. Personally, I was not keen on the nose (it had a body odour type of smell) but this was replaced with a fantastic fruit filled palate. We will continue to sell this wine.
7. Reschke Sauvignon Fumé, Coonawarra 2007 @ £9.45 per bottle
Wow, this was excellent and everyone liked it. Fresh gooseberry and fruit salad characters on a background of nutty/toasty characters from the portion which was barrel fermented and matured. Light to medium bodied with a soft creamy texture. The fruit flavours are gooseberry and white peach. The oak handling has introduced savoury characters and a creamy mouthfeel to the palate but it is not over the top. Very subtle. The closure is a glass stopper so this bottle, which is designed to be reused, would make a lovely olive oil bottle. Really beautfiul and will be a great seller. We had this wine on special offer at Christmas but only sold moderate quantities of it. Now that the team have tried this, we expect this wine to become a best seller! Once you have tried it, you will be hooked! Click on the image for more information and to purchase.
8. Hartenberg Weisser Riesling, Stellenbosch 2007
Here we detected the slight burnt/rubbery nose that we come to expect with Rieslings. The palate is beautiful on this wine and filled with apricots and honeycomb notes. A very versatile wine that will be great with food. Slightly off-dry with great acidity and length. Thumbs up. We will be selling this soon!
9. Pasos de la Capula Tempranillo Rosé 2008
Beautiful strawberry colour with a very femine nose of strawberries and vanilla sweets. This is a 'girly' wine. Great presentation. We could imagine that this wine would sell really well on terraces. Might not be liked by the men though! Not sure whether we will stock this but since the females of the team liked it, we'll have to convince Neil to purchase. It will sell for around £4.95 and so is a great wine for the price!
Moving on to the Reds.....
10. Roc d'Opale Rouge, Vin de Pays de Mediteranee 2007
Meaning Opal Rock, this is a very juicy, easy drinking wine with a great finish with spice and pepper notes. Great value as will sell for around £4.95 per bottle. We will be stocking this one.
11. Pasos de la Capula Tempranillo 2008
Beautiful cerise colour with sweet fruity nose. Many found it similar to the rosé version and so may be too sweet for a red wine. May not be stocking this.
12. Finca La Linda Malbec, Mendoza 2007
Now we're talking! Excellent ripe fruit nose with spicy saucisson flavours. Deep colour. Velvety and elegant. Chewy with great vanilla oak touches. This a big style red and is incredible value for money. Will sell for around £5.95/£6.25 per bottle. Produced by Mendoza's most prestigious producer, Luigi Bosca. This was one of our favourites of the tasting. We will be stocking this!
13. Arrocal Tempranillo, Ribera del Duero 2006 @ £9.25 per bottle
Another big style red. We currently sell the 2005 vintage and it has been a huge success. This wine will continue this trend. Really well balanced with potent mulberry and blueberry aromas leading through to spices. Suave, silky and impressively pure, with vibrant dark berry flavours saved from the brink of jamminess by bright acidity and fine-grained tannins. Impressively juicy and persistent, with excellent palate saturation and clarity. We love it! Click on the image for more information and to purchase previous vintage.
14. Eternum Viti, Toro 2007
Very dark, very tannic, very big. Needs time to breathe this one! What we call a knife and fork wine and it makes your mouth really water. Only half of the team liked this so not sure. Fabulous presentation though. We did agree though that for the same price, we would probably choose the Arrocal over this. Probably won't stock this.
15. Luigi Bosca Pinot Noir Reserva, Mendoza, 2007 @ £8.25 per bottle
This wine is regarded as one of the best pinot noirs in Argentina. Fresh, fruit and velvety with great balance of oak. Loads of berry flavours which makes this wine extremely attractive. We currently sell the 2006 vintage and it is always a huge hit with our customers. We will be continuing with this wine! Click on the image for more information to purchase previous vintage.
16. Hartenberg Cabernet Shiraz, Stellenbosch 2005
Designed to be an entry red from Hartenberg and sell for £7-£8 per bottle, this really reminded us of the Rampant Red we tried as a team on 28th January. It is spicy and peppery with rich berry aromas. Hartenberg say that you would be hard pressed to find a better value for money red wine in South Africa. It's good but we didn't all like it and could think of others we preferred. Maybe....
17. Hartenberg Cabernet Sauvignon, Stellenbosch 2005
Very nice indeed with lovely blackberry and cherry flavours. Smooth tannins. Great. Hartenberg's 2005 vintage is renowned for its full-bodied and complex richness. Soft and delicious, the king of red wine. This will sell for around £11/£12 per bottle.
18. Hartenberg Shiraz, Stellenbosch 2005
This is the baby brother of their signature wine, The Stork Shiraz 2005 (more on that later!). Really lovely and elegant and everything you would expect from a premium quality shiraz. A voluptuous wine with rich concentrated spice, plumminess and big, but subtle tannins. A multi award-winning wine! This wine won the silver medal at the Syrah du Monde (France) 2008. Incredible praise. Will definitely be selling this one! Will sell for around £15 per bottle.
19. Hartenberg The Mackenzie Cabernet/Merlot 2005
Another award winning wine, receiving the full 5 stars from Platters Guide. This limited volume wine represents a single vineyard block where Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot grapes grow side by side in deep red Tukulu soils and the grapes are picked purely on taste. Then, because nothing but the best will do for The Mackenzie, only 10% of the purest Cabernet juice and 20% Merlot juice was drawn after crushing. We all loved this wine, and despite its rather heaty price tag (around £27.00 per bottle) we all agreed that this wine would easily knock spots off some of the best Bordeaux wines! Stunning, stunning stunning and we did not want to spit! We will be stocking this!
20. Hartenberg The Stork Shiraz 2004
Whoops, bit of a story to tell here. The night before the team tasting session, Neil brought home one of the samples to try (not realising that he had picked up the most expensive wine) and as I opened it and smelt the bottle, I commented that the wine smelt huge. On tasting, there was only one word....WOW! No wonder that this wine also rated 5 Stars in Platter's South African Wine Guide (2008). This estate is now ranked third in the world for Shiraz (Syrah du Monde) and this is Hartenberg at its best. The Stork 2004 is an extremely limited volume wine, representing a very specific vineyard of Shiraz grapes on the estate.
This a massive wine with generous, deeply rich fruit characteristics. Incredible depth and concentration. Whilst tasting this wine, we sent Neil McAndrew a text to say how amazing the wine was and I went a did some research on it. We then realised that Neil had chosen (at random of course) a wine that will sell for £30 a bottle. We tried to save some for the tasting the next day, I promise, but this was just too difficult. One of the best wines we have tasted in a while. We promise to open one up for the team members when it arrives so they can all try it!!
End
A really superb tasting. Huge thanks to Neil for showcasing an amazing selection of wines. We all enjoyed it and it was evident that the team are certainly growing in tasting ability and they asked some great questions. Thank you!