Wines in the press - January 14-16
The Guardian
January 17, is the old Twelfth Night, and an occasion marked in traditional cidermaking areas by the pagan festival of wassailing, says Fiona Beckett.
TextThe Guardian
January 17, is the old Twelfth Night, and an occasion marked in traditional cidermaking areas by the pagan festival of wassailing, says Fiona Beckett.
It involves banging apple trees with staves to make them more productive, creating a cacophony of noise with shotguns, drums and whistles to scare off evil spirits and knocking back a fair bit of mulled cider. On the downside; it does perpetuate the wurzel-ish image of cider, of which the new generation of artisanal producers is trying to shake off. She says, purer, fruit-driven ciders are the result and Beckett discovered a few at the Bristol Cider Shop, which carries a changing selection of ciders on draught and bottled ciders from producers within a 50-mile radius of the city. She recommends Orchard Pig, Table Cider, dry (£3 for 75cl) and Once Upon A Tree's, Kingston Redstreak medium-dry (£4.95). She adds: "The great thing about cider is that you can buy the best artisanal products Britain has to offer for the same price as the dullest commercially produced wine. It's a bit of a no-brainer, really."
Financial Times
Jancis Robinson MW attended a dinner where six Pinot Noirs, were poured. One came from each of Burgundy's, Romanée-Conti and Comte Georges de Vogüé, one was the 1995 Isabelle from Au Bon Climat, producer of some of California's most Burgundian Pinots, and the rest were from New Zealand's; Ata Rangi, Dry River and Felton Road. Robinson says the fact that more people around the table preferred the Kiwi 1991 to the world-renowned 1992 Burgundy at more than £400 a bottle does nothing to diminish her admiration of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti or her frustration at not being able to afford it, but it does encourage her to devote more cellar space to the top Pinot Noirs of New Zealand.
Robinson adds that tasting new releases and old favourites of a range of different grape varieties from New Zealand wineries has reinforced her impression that, while the recent grape glut has sent average grape prices tumbling to the levels of the 1990s, the range of styles of wines available today from both its islands is much more successful and exciting than it was just five years ago.
The Sunday Telegraph
Artichokes are notorious for clashing with wine, says Susy Atkins, but that's only the green globe sort, and not the Jerusalem kind that feature in Diana Henry's recipes. Atkins thinks finding wines to go it is a joy, you just have to be careful not to overwhelm it and it really should be a medium-bodied, well-balanced white. If you must go for a red then make it a smooth, light French Pinot Noir, such as inexpensive red Burgundy or Beaujolais. She adds the chicken with artichokes can take a somewhat richer, creamier white, such as a buttery white Burgundy. For the artichoke and mushroom salad Atkins recommends La Poda Verdejo/Sauvignon Blanc 2009 Vino de la Tierra, Castilla y León, Spain (Majestic, £6.99).
The Telegraph
Victoria Moore was eating fillet of beef cooked in a red wine jus when it became clear that something wasn't quite right - the red wine sauce tasted oddly sweet. Although the recipe had called for a bottle of sweet red wine - she just didn't like the result.
Moore adds it was an extreme case but it does help prove the point that if you're cooking, quality matters and you can't be throwing any old bottle of wine in. Blueprint Café's Jeremy Lee says:"Quality does show. Even in a casserole that's slow-cooked...and you want to cook with a bottle you can have a glass of, that's for sure." Moore says she avoids enormous, oaky reds that might obliterate any other flavours in the food. As for whites, she likes something with good acidity and a sprightly character. She also advises never to throw away the dregs of a good bottle and advises freezing it in ice-cube trays or yoghurt pots. "If it's good enough for Nigella, it's good enough for the rest of us".
The Guardian
January 17, is the old Twelfth Night, and an occasion marked in traditional cidermaking areas by the pagan festival of wassailing, says Fiona Beckett.
It involves banging apple trees with staves to make them more productive, creating a cacophony of noise with shotguns, drums and whistles to scare off evil spirits and knocking back a fair bit of mulled cider. On the downside; it does perpetuate the wurzel-ish image of cider, of which the new generation of artisanal producers is trying to shake off. She says, purer, fruit-driven ciders are the result and Beckett discovered a few at the Bristol Cider Shop, which carries a changing selection of ciders on draught and bottled ciders from producers within a 50-mile radius of the city. She recommends Orchard Pig, Table Cider, dry (£3 for 75cl) and Once Upon A Tree's, Kingston Redstreak medium-dry (£4.95). She adds: "The great thing about cider is that you can buy the best artisanal products Britain has to offer for the same price as the dullest commercially produced wine. It's a bit of a no-brainer, really."
Financial Times
Jancis Robinson MW attended a dinner where six Pinot Noirs, were poured. One came from each of Burgundy's, Romanée-Conti and Comte Georges de Vogüé, one was the 1995 Isabelle from Au Bon Climat, producer of some of California's most Burgundian Pinots, and the rest were from New Zealand's; Ata Rangi, Dry River and Felton Road. Robinson says the fact that more people around the table preferred the Kiwi 1991 to the world-renowned 1992 Burgundy at more than £400 a bottle does nothing to diminish her admiration of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti or her frustration at not being able to afford it, but it does encourage her to devote more cellar space to the top Pinot Noirs of New Zealand.
Robinson adds that tasting new releases and old favourites of a range of different grape varieties from New Zealand wineries has reinforced her impression that, while the recent grape glut has sent average grape prices tumbling to the levels of the 1990s, the range of styles of wines available today from both its islands is much more successful and exciting than it was just five years ago.
The Sunday Telegraph
Artichokes are notorious for clashing with wine, says Susy Atkins, but that's only the green globe sort, and not the Jerusalem kind that feature in Diana Henry's recipes. Atkins thinks finding wines to go it is a joy, you just have to be careful not to overwhelm it and it really should be a medium-bodied, well-balanced white. If you must go for a red then make it a smooth, light French Pinot Noir, such as inexpensive red Burgundy or Beaujolais. She adds the chicken with artichokes can take a somewhat richer, creamier white, such as a buttery white Burgundy. For the artichoke and mushroom salad Atkins recommends La Poda Verdejo/Sauvignon Blanc 2009 Vino de la Tierra, Castilla y León, Spain (Majestic, £6.99).
The Telegraph
Victoria Moore was eating fillet of beef cooked in a red wine jus when it became clear that something wasn't quite right - the red wine sauce tasted oddly sweet. Although the recipe had called for a bottle of sweet red wine - she just didn't like the result.
Moore adds it was an extreme case but it does help prove the point that if you're cooking, quality matters and you can't be throwing any old bottle of wine in. Blueprint Café's Jeremy Lee says:"Quality does show. Even in a casserole that's slow-cooked...and you want to cook with a bottle you can have a glass of, that's for sure." Moore says she avoids enormous, oaky reds that might obliterate any other flavours in the food. As for whites, she likes something with good acidity and a sprightly character. She also advises never to throw away the dregs of a good bottle and advises freezing it in ice-cube trays or yoghurt pots. "If it's good enough for Nigella, it's good enough for the rest of us".
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