Sunday drinking: 27 April

Shameless podcast pluggery, Jancis Robinson’s writing competition, some wine recommendations and a surprising garage find.

This month on Intoxicating History Tom and I looked at Prohibition in the US, spoke to Jamie Allsopp about resurrecting his family’s legendary IPA, and ran a two-parter on wine fraud. Please have a listen and like, subscribe, and share. We’re about to come to the end of our first series and hoping to do another so every click helps.

Talking of podcasts, I spoke to Canadian wine writer Natalie MacLean recently talking about Vines in a Cold Climate. I’ve done quite a lot of podcasts now on my book but I don’t think I’ve had an interviewer more thoroughly prepared than Natalie. Have a listen.

On my Substack this month, I wrote about some bizarre EU rules on the labelling of rye whisky, asked whether wine writers need qualifications, and produced an invaluable glossary for budding wine bores. For paid subscribers, I took a three part natural wine odyssey starting with the emergence of the wines in the last 30 years, why some people are particularly drawn to them and finally asked whether the movement may have run its course.

Outside this website, I wrote about Austrian reds in The Critic, took a deeper look at the EU rye whisky controversy for Decanter and outlined the grape varieties of the Languedoc for Wickham Wine.

One of my favourite wine writers, Rupert Millar, is now on Substack. Millar worked for the drinks trade press for many years and somehow always added some wit and hinterland to stories that could have been dry as dust. Now an editor at Decanter magazine, he’s written on what he’s looking for in good wine writing. The whole thing is worth reading but I was particularly taken with this bit:

“I want to see less weather and winemaking chat. To a point, anyway. Weather and winemaking techniques are essential to wine, and a good summary of the growing season in a given year is important as a matter of reference at the very least.

But there's a bad habit among some writers of filling up their copy with tedious details about both under the assumption that a) it is important to the reader and b) that they understand what it means.”

One wine writer who certainly never did anything conventional was Andrew Barr author of Wine Snobbery and Drink: a Social History both of which are well worth reading despite being published decades ago. I’ve often wondered what happened to him and now Anthony Rose has tracked him down for an article in the Drinks Business. It’s a fascinating story thought to get a feel for sheer strangeness/ originality of Barr - who I really should write an article on - for that you’ll have to subscribe to his Substack. Or read the books. Here’s a line from the introduction to his 1992 work Pinot Noir:

“The exception is Austria, which I have omitted for reasons of morality. Unlike South Africa, I believe that there is no evidence that Austria is making efforts to reject its racist past.”

For all the budding Andrew Barrs out there, I recommend you enter Jancis Robinson’s annual writing competition which has just opened. The competition dates back to 2012 and the very first winner was…. me, for a review of a now sadly defunct restaurant in Denmark Street called the Giaconda Dining Room. The prize was a bottle of 1996 Mouton-Rothschild which, though I opened it far too young, is up there with the best wines I have ever drunk.

Talking of memorable wines, a while back, I wrote about Biondi-Santi Brunello di Montalcino and a family holiday to Tuscany in the late ‘80s. Over the Easter weekend I was poking around in my parents garage and came across two bottles of wine from that trip from Castiglion del Bosco, a 1982 Brunello riserva and a 1984 Rosso di Montalcino. I assumed both would be wrecked after spending 40 years in less than ideal storage conditions but persuaded my father to open the Brunello.

The level was good and much to my surprise the cork came out in one piece. Perhaps the garage isn’t such a bad place to store wine after all. More surprises, the colour, plenty of red with just a little bricking and then the smell - no vinegar, no mushrooms, nothing funny business - just gentle tobacco and distinct cherry. Taking a sip, there was no doubt that it was old, but again the freshness was there with a little tannin and delicate but fresh fruit. It wasn’t intense or particularly long but it was rather beautiful. And the biggest surprise was that it didn't fall apart in the glass. In fact, it got better with each sip. There’s really nothing better in wine than this sort of thing. Unfortunately, there is very little chance that the Rosso will be similarly good. 1984 was apparently a horrendous vintage in Tuscany.

It hasn’t all been rare dusty old bottles this month, I’ve also had some more down to earth wines (all of these were samples or tasted at events):

Cellier des Dauphins Côtes du Rhône Villages 2023 (Waitrose £20)

This came in a 1.5 litre box which I put in the fridge and for a couple of weeks helped myself whenever I wanted wine. It’s mainly grenache with some syrah. This is a rich, ripe but fresh wine that really suits being drunk cool out of a Duralex glass. Also comes in bottles and there’s even a canned version. Très moderne!

Disznókő Tokaji Késöi Szüretelésű-Late Harvest 2020 (Master of Malt £16.50)

I love sweet wines like Tokaji and Sauternes but you can only drink them in quite small quantities so you need like-minded people to open a bottle. This is slightly different in that it’s not as sweet as classic Tokaji but still has those lovely bitter marmalade flavours and bracing acidity. It’s particularly good with citrusy cake. We polished off a 50cl bottle in about half an hour between the four of us. The price above is particularly good so recommend buying before Master of Malt run out.

Lanson Champagne Le Vintage 2013 (Sainsbury’s £45)

Champagne has rocketed in price in recent years with the grand marques now around the £40-50 mark. For this money, I’d normally much prefer English but this vintage Lanson stood out at a recent champagne event. It’s from the cool 2013 vintage, so it’s racy and fresh, that’s not a euphemism for underripe, with plenty of nutty maturity. This is about the same price as Veuve Clicquot NV but much much better. Look no further if you want to splash out.

Château Ksara Merwah 2023 (All About Wine £17.99)

Merwah is an indigenous grape to Lebanon which was traditionally used to make arak but is beginning to be appreciated as a standalone variety. It’s a component in the great Musar Blanc. The important thing is not to serve this wine too cold otherwise it just tastes crisp and dry and vaguely peachy. A little warmer and there's satsuma, creamy almond and salty seaside sort of flavour. It seems particularly good in this vintage and reminds me a little of a young Hunter Semillon.