The H-A Wine Review

In addition to the main London Restaurant Review website that is updated daily with reader restaurant reviews, I now also have a London Restaurant blog which gets updated most days with London restaurant news, press releases, special offers and general eating out information in London.
You can read the London Restaurant Review blog here.

I have switched wine blogs!
You can now read loads more about my wine research and drinking exploits on my Pocket Vintages website which can be found at http://pocketvintages.typepad.com/

Whilst we're on the subject of Austrian wines, they did rather well at the recent Decanter Wine Awards:

Riesling from the Kamptal and Burgenland red wines capture “International Trophies”. At the World Wine Awards in London, the leading international wine magazine, Decanter, has awarded for the second time its trophies to prominent wineries. Austrian winemakers have proven very successful indeed

We had a rather nice Austrian Gruner Veltliner 2005 in Chez Bruce the other night. At £27 for half a bottle (we were dining late and I had school in the morning), it was not cheap but was definitely interesting. Unfortunately in very un-Chez Bruce style, it was not particularly well chilled but once cool enough was ready to be inbibed.
A mixture of peach and lemon intially, with a really long finish, this is a very complex wine, definitely not to everyone's taste but dry enough not to be sticky and oily enough to go with any fish or white meat dish.

I've just got back from another business trip to Seattle. Whenever I go over there, I make an effort to drink the local vino. It's not much of an effort to be honest, since there is such as good selection.
My favourite one this trip was a Snoqualmie Syrah 2004, fruity, spicy, chunky and smooth enough to drink on it's own. I tried it with tuna and with steak and it was a good partner to both, although a bit too heavy for white fish.
My prediction is that Syrah will very soon become the next Pinot Noir.
There are good Pinot's a bit further south, in Oregon, but they do tend to be somewhat overpriced - you'll pay $50 and above for a half decent bottle in a restaurant. My Syrah on the other hand, was always priced at around $35.
Zinfandel also seemed to be a favourite of Seattlites, since there is such a good selection from California, but I am sticking with Syrah for now.

Sauvignon Blanc - as a rule, drink youngest available. The longer you leave it, the more likely it is to lose the crispness.

A recommendation from one of the staff at Majestic (www.majestic.co.uk), this is a very easy drinking Cab Sauv for under a fiver. It looks just like a CS should - deep red and thick and juicy and it smells full of warm sun dried fruit, as you'd expect, since it comes from Mendoza.
Little acid or tannin, this is a wine for drinking now, although it would probably keep for a year or two before it starts a downward spiral.

2004 was an excellent year for Argentinian reds and this is a great example.

8/10

This is a 2000 Medoc, a Cru Bourgeois, a present from a good friend. I think it is available from Majestic (www.majestic.co.uk).
It has a deep red ruby core, slightly russety towards the rim and smells slighty toasted, oily and of red berries. You can also smell that there is a decent slug of alcohol in here.
I found it to be smooth, with very little acid or tannins - I reckon this wine is spot on to drink now so I'm glad I opened it. That initial toastiness is very apparent in the initial taste, but the fruit overrides the finish.
Overral 7/10 - interesting but not as complex as I was hoping or expecting. Should go very well with the slow roast lamb we're having for dinner tonight though.

I was persuaded to try this by the sommelier at Chez Bruce (www.chezbruce.co.uk) to accompany my Creme Brulee (probably my favourite pudding).
From the comprehensive list of pudding wines, this one from S Africa would have been last on my list to try. But it was a pleasant surprise - not too viscous, not too sweet. You probably wouldn't want to drink more than a glass or two, but it went very well with my dessert and opened my eyes to the potential of late harvest Chenin. £7.50 a glass was the price to pay - and not bad for that.

I ordered a bottle of this delicious wine whilst dining at Chez Bruce (the review of which you can read on my London Restaurant Review website at www.thelondonrestaurantreview.co.uk)

Initial appearance was of a light, fruity number and the smell confirmed red berry richness but very little alcohol whiff. A good mouthful demonstrated the power of this wine, not heavy like a bit claret, but silky, smooth tannins, little acid and a nice cherry aftertaste. At 13% alcohol, it's strength is well disguised.

It went very well with the Rump of Veal and my wife's Roast Cod.

At £52 a bottle it was a bit of a treat.

Berry Bros has this to say about the producer (http://www.bbr.com/GB/db/producer/823)


Philippe Engel, grandson of the eponymous René, took over this 7 hectare domaine on the death of his father in 1981. He was only 26 at the time and he has subsequently made the domaine into one of the best in Vosne-Romanée. Philippe Engel used an ancient wooden basket press (low pressure) and then ferments at relatively high temperatures. He kept the amount of sulphur he uses and filtration and fining to a bare minimum.The percentage of new oak employed has increased over the years, with 50% of the village cuvée matured in oak, whereas the Grand Crus are now aged in 50/50 new and one-year-old barrels. Philippe Engel produced big, succulent, flamboyant and individual wines which age impressively.Tragically Philippe recently died unexpectedly at the age of 49 while on holiday in Tahiti enjoying his favourite pastime of sailing. His brother Frédéric has now taken the reins at this first class domaine.

They are selling it for £32 so that is not a ludicrous mark up from Chez Bruce (www.chezbruce.co.uk) so well done them!

An excellent Pinot Noir from the West Coast of the US. Of course since the movie Sideways, everywhere I go sommeliers and growers alike tell me Pinot sales are up 30% and Merlot sales are down 30%. As a result (in the UK at least), prices for this once out of fashion grape, have shot up.

This 2004 bottle, purchased from Majestic for under a tenner, is excellent.

It's darker than you might expect from a 04, promising an abundance of fruit, confirmed when you whiff the wonderful fruity aroma with no hint of tannins or acid.

Smooth and creamy when you take glug, this is drinking very well now, and probably won't benefit from keeping. And why would you want to lay this down when it's so good now?

This would stand up well on the dinner table or (if you fancy it) as your regular tipple.

8/10