One of the things I love about my job is helping people discover their new favourite wine.  When someone tells me I've opened their mind to a wine, a region, a blend, or a varietal that they'd never considered before, it brings me a lot of joy.  I love it too, when people realise that spending just a couple of pounds more on a bottle can bring infinitely more pleasurable wines.

Exploring what you like to drink now, and what you like to eat, and doing some side-by-side blind tasting is a great way for me to help you figure out the wines that are really going to rock your world. 

Mr Purple Teeth, though, is an open and shut case.  Since the day I met him, he's been Cabernet Sauvignon's number 1 fan.  I've tried many things to make him see that there are other incredible varietals out there.  To be fair to him, he has changed his tastes a lot.  He's even been known to sip the odd Pinot Noir (but, shhhh, don't tell anyone!).  

At heart, he'll always be true and loyal to Cab.  As one of the most famous and highly regarded vinifera, he's not alone.  From top class Bordeaux Blends, to Napa Valley single varietals, and cheap supermarket plonk, Cabernet is a huge hit with red wine fans.  The son of Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc,  it adds depth, structure and discipline to blends. It's strong blackcurrant notes and age-worthiness mean it's widely planted across the world's wine regions, wherever conditions are right for it to ripen.  (There aren't likely to be English Cab Sauv's for some time, unless global warming comes faster than feared.)

During the summer, Mr Purple Teeth was lucky enough to visit Canada.  I was not.  My inner green-eyed monster came out even more when he revealed he'd be visiting Kelowna, a food and wine mecca in British Columbia's Okanagan Valley.  He was instructed to bring back wine. Or Else!

We'd enjoyed Okanagan Chardonnays on a trip to Vancouver some years ago, so I expected a white wine, or, perhaps an ice wine.  (He did bring an ice-wine from Syrah and more of that when we get round to tasting it).  I shouldn't have been as surprised as I was when he came back armed with a bottle of Mission Hill Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon (around $24 Canadian dollars at the winery).  I guess I hadn't thought that this grape would do well in Canada.  I was, at the very least, intrigued, if not excited about the prospect.  

Four months after his return, Mr Purple Teeth was ready to taste it, so I agreed to get a nice piece of beef and make Friday night, Cabernet night.  

I had another plan in mind.  Test his taste memory, and get him to open his mind to a different region.   In the spirit of past Chateau Purple Teeth Chardonnay battles, the North versus South Battle of Cabernet Sauvignon was on.

The competitor: Journey's End "Sir Lowry" Cabernet Sauvignon 2013, from Stellenbosch, South Africa.  Normally £14.99, it was reduced to £10.99, and there was a 10% further discount for card holders at Waitrose.  It certainly met my requirement: never pay full price for supermarket wine.  And, it put it at a similar price level to the Canadian bottle.  Being the 2013 vintage, it was just 6 months younger than the Mission Hill.  Importantly, though, I'd tried this already at the recent Rugby World Cup Tasting I wrote about recently.  I thought it would meet with Mr Purple Teeth's approval, and overcome his prejudices against South African wine.

We honeymooned in South Africa and enjoyed many wine tastings in Franschhoek and around.  Somehow, in the time since then, his affections for Cape wines had dwindled...  Would this be the one to bring them back to the table? My reputation of knowing what people will like was riding on it...

Both had a ripe blackcurrant core.  Both had hints of stalky green tannin.  Both had some smokey notes and sweet spice.  Both had a good medium body, and similar levels of acidity.  In fact, both were very well balanced examples of a single varietal Cab. The most surprising thing for me was quite how similar they were, given the 10,000 miles that separates their home vineyards...

We tasted them first without food.  

For Mr PT, he felt the South African wine (or wine number 1, to him) was slightly more velvety.  I felt that wine number 2 (from Canada) was a tad riper and fruitier.  It was perhaps a little simpler, but had a more instant appeal.  I rarely choose a single varietal Cabernet Sauvignon. 
The Journey's End is suitable for vegetarians, if that's of concern to you.  Pairing it with beef, as we did, rendered this fact irrelevant.

So how would the wines stand up to the food?

We love enjoying a meal with 2 wines side-by-side and it's great to see how the food changes the flavour of the wine.  In fact, the last time I'd enjoyed a Cabernet was with a steak at Gaucho, where I chose one by Susan Balbo to contrast with a Luigi Bosca Malbec that I'd ordered several times before.  To my surprise, I'll choose the Cabernet next time.

In honesty, the notes got a little shaky towards the end of the meal.  We tried to give attention to the food and wine and enjoy the moment.  If the proof of the pudding is in the eating, then South Africa was a clear winner.  The bottle was empty at the end of the evening, while there was enough of the Canadian Cab left for Mr PT to enjoy a glass another day.  

It's a good result.  The winning Cab Sauv is available locally, while the other requires a transatlantic flight to purchase a bottle.  

I'd love to hear about your favourite single varietal Cabernet Sauvignons, and whether blind tasting wines side by side has changed your opinions and favourites.  Leave a comment here, or on my Facebook page.  

Cheers!

 I've written about Graciano before.  It's still not a very common varietal on UK wine shelves, at least not yet. Happily, I'm starting to see more varietal versions of this lesser-known blending grape appearing.  

Much like Petit Verdot in Bordeaux, Graciano is usually a bit part player in the Rioja blends, providing structural elements (acidity, colour and tannin) to balance the dominant varietals, and provide ageing potential.  Again, like Petit Verdot, it's a challenging grape to make into a single varietal, but more Spanish winemakers, and some from as far afield as California and Australia, are starting to play with the balance of red and black fruit flavours and spicy savoury notes this grape can offer, to produce seriously juicy wines.

Viña Zorzal  is from Spain's Navarra region, which lies to the north-east of Rioja in the foothills of the Pyrenees. It's a region more well known for producing Rosé wines. It was a great midweek treat from The Wine Society at just £6.95 a bottle. For non members, you can pick up the 2013 vintage at The Sampler for £10.35  or from Robersons at £10.  And pick up a bottle, you definitely should.  I will be buying it again, and again.

I love to encourage my friends, tasting clients, and readers to try something new and different.  This wine is a sure thing.

Richly fruity with a strong perfume, and a hint of savoury spicing coming from 4 months in oak it's an easy crowd pleaser.

I showed this at a Purple Teeth tasting in August and it was really popular, even against far more expensive wines. Medium bodied with very juicy acidity and well integrated tannin,  it's easy to see why this quaffable wine would be a winner.  It's not clarified or filtered so decanting is recommended, but I had only an almost imperceptible sediment in the last glass (poured on day 2) so there's nothing to stop you opening and pouring straight from the bottle.

Rich enough to drink with a variety of foods, it's also very pleasant for drinking on it's own.  I can see this working well as a party wine over the coming months.  It worked surprisingly well paired with Paella at Chateau Purple Teeth, and also matched up to Iberian ham and cheese.  At 13.5% it's a little lighter in alcohol than some of the heftier new world wines, but is just as easy-drinking.  Try it, or other Graciano wines, from Rioja or elsewhere and let me know what you think, here, or on my Facebook page.  
And if you'd like me to introduce you to fun, drinkable and interesting wines, do get in touch to arrange your very own Purple Teeth Wine Tasting party.

Cheers!

 Wales is not the first country that springs to mind when you think of wine. If we even consider wine from our own shores, English wine will dominate, with sparkling being given the top ratings.  So, I was somewhat flummoxed when my monthly wine group chose a Rugby World Cup theme and delegated me to bring Welsh Wine.

Where to begin?  I was certainly not the most thrilled I'd ever been at the prospect.  According to DrinkWales.org there are now 17 vineyards in Wales, employing around 350 people and producing around 100,000 bottles a year.  Contrast this with England, where around 4.4 million bottles are produced per year from 470 vineyards and 135 wineries.  Welsh wine is definitely still a niche product.  

After a lot of internet research, I realised the only place where I could pick up a bottle without having to buy a whole case or drive to Wales, was central London.  Available from WaitroseCellar.com, I was able to select from the red or white wines of Glyndwr Vineyard in Oxford Street's John Lewis food hall.  I decided to be brave and spend £12.99 (my budget was £15 ruling out most UK sparkling wines) on red wine.  Well, it was a Rugby World Cup theme, and Wales play in red, don't they?  But would they win the World Cup tasting?
​

Glyndwr Vineyard is the oldest established and largest vineyard in Wales. Planted by the current owners 33 years ago, the family-owned and run estate has over 6,000 vines. Grapes grow on gently south-east facing slopes in the heart of the Vale of Glamorgan. 
The bottle label depicts the Welsh prince, Owain Glyndwr, riding into battle with Carreg Cennen Castle in the background. 
Glyndwr Vineyard's website claims they produce a range of fine, award-winning wines which have been carefully blended and fermented by their skilled winemaker for over a quarter of a century.  It also mentions the Glyndwr wines have won many competitions and commendations from Decanter Magazine to the UK Vineyards Association Awards. "The sparkling wines have been particularly successful with the Brut taking first prize in the renowned South West Vineyards Association competition. The red wine, judged by four Masters of Wine, was singled out for a double gold in the same competition, the first time this accolade had ever been awarded."  

This new information certainly boosted my hopes of making it through to the second round...

Glyndwr Red 2014 (11.5% abv) is produced from early ripening mature Rondo and Regent grapes, giving a wine that's dark in colour and fragrant. The wine also rests for an unspecified amount of time in American oak, which promised to give some complexity and spiced notes.  

Both Rondo and Regent are grape varieties you might find in English red wine, but as "hybrid" grapes they're much less commonly known than the international varieties we drink most in the UK: Merlot,  Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz. Those popular varieties would simply fail to ripen, even in our best summers.

Regent is also a hybrid grape variety, created in 1967 which received varietal protection in 1994. Again, colour intensive with moderate acidity, it can produce a lot of tannin and show aromas of cherries or blackcurrants. The wines often reach high alcohol levels (though not in this case) and take well to oak.  It's seen as  fairly easy to make good wine from with excellent skin colour and without any foxy flavours.

So what of the Glyndwr Red 2014.  The verdict was unanimous.  This was no winner, and not one of the 14 guests would have purchased the wine again.  Sadly, Wales were eliminated from our Rugby World Cup in the first round. In fact, this was the only bottle from the range where there was any left at the end of the night.  Not a good sign.

​With an extreme sour cherry flavour, the wine almost appeared to fizz slightly on the tongue.  It's possible that this was a fault although the sensation died down quickly.  While I have higher hopes for award winning Welsh fizz, I don't have any immediate desire to try more Welsh red wines.  Given our documented aversion to bright cherry flavours at Chateau Purple Teeth, it will be some time before Rondo and Regent wines from England feature on my buy list.  But, if you're a fan of young and fresh Valpolicella, this wine style may well be for you.  Juicy, fruity and with decent acidity, the flavours, while prominent, just weren't for me. Cherry lovers may feel differently.  Do let me know if you've tasted any other Welsh wines, red, white or sparkling, and what you thought.

And if you hosted a Rugby World Cup tasting, I'd love to hear about your winners. You might even host your own semi-final tasting with amazing wines available from South Africa, Argentina, New Zealand and Australia.  

Cheers!  ​

Watch my short video review of the wine, and/or read below for more detail.

I have a confession to make.  We don't drink a lot of Italian wine at Chateau Purple Teeth.  Given Italy is second only to France in volume of wine produced (and in certain vintages, takes the top spot), that's probably shameful.

My excuses are lined up in advance.  Mr Purple Teeth prefers wine with black fruit flavours to red, and much of the wine produced in the north of Italy, with it's most famous grape, Sangiovese, has a distinct red cherry flavour.  What I guess I'm saying is, we've ruled out Tuscany's darling Chianti. While Amarone della Valpollicella can sometimes find its way onto our wine racks, the more basic Valpol wines made from Corvina, Rondinella and Molinara also tend to be tart and red.

However, perhaps what we're really doing, is not so much ruling out Italian wine, as ruling out inexpensive Italian wine.





Mr Purple Teeth's criteria for a good wine starts with Cabernet Sauvignon.  He claims not to know much about wine, but he certainly knows what he likes.  Last year, on a night out with his then boss and team, he was somewhat horrified to hear that an Italian wine was being ordered.  A pleasant surprise awaited him.  This was no Chianti.  It was however from Tuscany.  In fact, this wine from the Antinori family estate in Bolgheri is a blend of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot and 15% Syrah. Antinori, perhaps inventors of the Super-Tuscan with Tignanello back in the 70s, are a family producer with a long history of excellent wine-making in Tuscany and Umbria. 

Perhaps driven by the 14% alcohol, or perhaps even by the pre-dinner G&T, Mr PT was driven to send me a message with a photo of the bottle on the night.  He knew that relying on memory would be useless.   Unbeknownst to him, I was able to track down a bottle from a local merchant to present to him at his next birthday.  By which time, of course, he'd forgotten all about his meal at Heston's The Hinds's Head and the wine he'd had.  A look of puzzlement ensued, and despite reminders, the wine has lain on the rack for the best part of 18 months now, languishing under the "Italian" banner.  

Tonight, I decide to release the wine trapped in the bottle.  After all, it is Tuesday. It is recommended with game/roast meats and, as the weather has turned autumnal, I'm making Wild Boar Sausage and mash with cavallo nero (an Italian connection?) and onion gravy. Comfort food demands comfort wine.  

Grown on the the Guado al Tasso estate near the Tuscan coast some 60 miles southwest of Florence, the grapes receive cooling sea breezes, and are grown in the DOC area that has become synonymous with super-Tuscans, the Bolgheri DOC, made famous by Sassicaia, perhaps Itayl's most expensive wine. 

The name of the wine translates as "The Burnt".  This probably refers to the somewhat smoky nose that leaps out of the glass.  Pronounced berry fruit is also present along with deep black plums, bordering on prune. It definitely hits the black fruit note.  This may be due to the amount of time the bottle has languished in the non-ideal confines of my kitchen. It's rich, with a great structure, as you'd expect from a Cabernet dominated wine. Full bodied, and smooth, there are spicy notes of pepper and nutmeg along with a hint of something lighter, perhaps coffee or sweeter clove. It's got a long and complex finish and there's a lot going on for a wine at this price-point.

​I do hope Mr PT will approve when he finally gets to taste it.  I suppose I'd better go and make that meal!

Cheers! 

When you receive an invitation for a Monday night, it's not uncommon to groan.  Who can be bothered slogging through the London rush hour on a Monday?  
However, when the invitation is for "An Evening With Taittinger", it's quite a different story.  
Milton Sandford Wines had invited me to join them in celebrating Searcys' Champagne Week (1-7 October) for an evening at Vintners' Hall.  Aside from the fantastic opportunity to taste a range of wines from one Champagne house side-by-side, this would be my first visit to the iconic Vintners' Hall, the spiritual home of the UK Wine Trade with over 650 years of history.  

​I'd have walked over hot coals for the chance. As it was, I only had to endure torrential rain and the odd signal failure.  Result!

The reception began with a refreshing glass of Taittinger Brut Réserve NV accompanied by canapés of salmon with piccalilli and beetroot.  My first observation was that this "house signature" cuvée (a blend of 40% Chardonnay, 35% Pinot Noir and 25% Meunier) seemed a little sweeter than I'd been expecting.  Perhaps my recent tastings of "zero-dosage" sparkling wines had left my palate attuned to a more austere style, as with just 7 grams of residual sugar, this glass was just what we'd expect from a well made Champagne Brut NV.  Fresh, fruity, balanced, and perfect with the fishy canapées.  
It's here that most Champagne experiences would end.  Confined to life as a trusty aperitif, many of us don't get beyond a second glass. I, among other guests, had failed to see the full potential for serving Champagnes with a whole range of foods.  This evening would certainly change our perceptions.

Vintners' Hall was a fitting setting for a prestigious evening, hosted by Patrick McGrath MW, the managing director of Hatch Mansfield, UK agents of the family owned Champagnes Taittinger. As well as giving us an appreciation of the Champagne region, it's geography and wine-making history, Patrick gave us an entertaining overview of what makes Taittinger special: with almost 300 years of history, it has, since 1931, remained one of the few Champagne houses to still be owned and actively managed by the family named on the label.  

He described Taittinger as a "feminine" style of Champagne compared with Bollinger's perhaps more "masculine" style.  This, he advised, came from the dominance of  Chardonnay in the cuvées, giving a house style that favoured elegance, delicacy and finesse.  I found this an interesting observation given how many female Purple Teeth readers have told me that Taittinger is their favourite Champagne.

The formal tasting began with Taittinger Prélude Grands Crus NV.  Blended from 50% Chardonnay and 50% Pinot Noir, all sourced only from Grand Cru  (the highest rated) vineyards, this felt a lot drier with a very delicate mousse.  I really enjoyed the lovely minerality and long finish.  It was accompanied by red mullet with green apple, in the form of a spring roll, served with a mousse of lobster and tomato.  As finger food goes, this was an incredible dish, and paired wonderfully.  There was something even more surprising to come next.  

A large cube of Ibérico Pork Croquette was quite a mouthful.  Aside from the size, which made it less of a canapé and more of a main course, this was a delicious, salty taste explosion, and absolutely not what one would think of pairing with Champagne.  In fact, the weighty body in the Folies de la Marquetterie NV was a superb match.  This single vineyard blend of 55% Pinot Noir and 45% Chardonnay was brimming with toasty notes, and stone fruits.  The full, ripe flavours and sumptuous body were a hit with my table companions and myself.  I'd quite happily have drunk several glasses of this (make that the whole bottle.) It completely opened my mind to what a Champagne and food pairing could deliver.

Almost affordable luxury, serve it with Jamón Ibérico or the finest smoked salmon you can afford. ​

A hugely surprising and yet similarly stand out dish came in the form of an amuse bouche styled pre-dessert.  The title was salted almonds, green apple and rhubarb with caramelised milk.  The taste was sublime.  Stupidly, we were all too polite to indulge in this sad leftover serving.  I'd quite happily have eaten a barrel of it. This dish alone was enough to make me want to book a function at Vinters' Hall again, just to enjoy it one more time.  But Champagne with something like this?  Surely not.  
In the wine trade, we are always schooled that the wine should be sweeter than the dessert.  In this case, the salted almonds clearly challenged that rule.  Our glass of Taittinger Nocturne Sec NV (a blend of 40% Chardonnay, 35% Pinot Noir and 25% Meunier) was off-dry in style with around 13 grams of residual sugar and worked well with the sweet and salt nature of the dish.  A very easy-to-drink, mellow style of Champagne, this was the favourite of a couple of my table-mates who enjoyed its rounded balance.  Patrick described this as a perfect Champagne to serve with Afternoon Tea.  One day, I hope to test that.

Pink Champagne always gets a lot of attention.  It's seen as more celebratory and the appeal of the beautiful colour (achieved by blending in up to 15% of still Pinot Noir wine), in our glass of Prestige Rosé NV was clear.  The nose too, delivered in spades.  In the end, though, this blend of 30% Chardonnay, 45% Pinot Noir, 25% Meunier, while fruity and vibrant, was the one bottle which didn't find itself finished by the end of the evening.

A decent drop with bursting with red fruits, it was a good accompaniment to the raspberry brioche dessert, which I likened to a posh and less sweet jam doughnut. But by this stage, we had all clearly selected our favourite, and while pleasant, this didn't steal the show for anyone at our table.

​To be fair, we had some die-hard fans of Billecart-Salmon Rosé present, so perhaps they were never going to be convinced.  Luckily, the story didn't end on this note.

The pièce de résistance came in the form of a glass of Taittinger Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut.  This 2005 vintage is a 100% Chardonnay that retails at over £100 a bottle.  All the Chardonnay grapes used in this wine come from the 100% rated vineyards of Avize, Cramant, Chouilly, Oger and Mesnil-Sur-Oger in the Côte des Blanc.  

Suddenly, the delights of the Folies de la Marquetterie paled for many.   With a highly pronounced nose which followed through on the palate, there was pear, apple, citrus and toasted brioche in abundance.  We were served with a small bag of Marc de Champagne chocolate truffles, but this demanded to be given our full attention. (I saved my chocolates for the rather tedious train journey home).

​An incredibly delicate yet creamy mousse, gave an enveloping and velvety mouthfeel along with a long and mineral driven finish.  This is a glass to savour, that led to much debate about when one would open such a bottle.  I felt a wine like this demanded to be the centre of attention in a romantic evening for two, while others felt they wouldn't want to share it at all.  Certainly, you'd be the host of the year if you served this at a party or celebration.  Just don't serve it to Prosecco fans. 

As we re-sampled the bottles that remained on our table and discussed what made each wine special for us, it became a less formal and highly convivial evening.  It was a real privilege to gain an insight into the diversity of styles offered by one house.  For sure, it's not "just Champagne".  Like all wines, there are a range of styles available.  I hope you have as much fun discovering your favourites as I did.  

As a parting remark, I'll leave you with the wise advice of our host, Patrick McGrath MW.  Champagne is meant to be enjoyed.  It's had all it's ageing in the beautiful, centuries-old, chalk cellars underneath Reims and environs.  
Buy it, chill it and drink it.  
Don't keep it.  Don't wait for a special occasion. Drinking Champagne is the occasion.  
Cheers!

I'd love to hear about your favourite Champagnes and sparkling wines.  Feel free to leave your comments here, or on my Facebook page.  Email me here if you'd like to host your own Purple Teeth wine or Champagne tasting in your own venue.