12 February 2015

The Blueberries






Rob's Big 2014 French Romp

My 2014 will be marked by two happenings. First, the stoking of my old flame, French wine and the second my discovery of the phrase 'fannybaws'. As only one of those is truly relevant to Empty I feel it best that I linger on it for the purpose of The Blueberries.

So this is the stage, were when I started writing about wine I'd launch into a hierarchical list of favourites; first to fifth quantifying with numbers what I should be using my words for. 2014, however, is the year I reconciled my actions and thoughts, wine scores and rankings are all nonsense, so my blueberries this year is not a list rather a chat with you, the search bot.

Digressing, the French! Reputation and resulting demand have been at once a curse and gift to vinous efforts of the French. The reputation makes us all knowledgeable of the dizzying heights of French Viticulture and Oenology, yet it also makes us acutely aware that we are probably not drinking it. The reputation too can come as a touch intimidating. The demand the reputation causes does however create a reliable and high value income which places one of France's national jewels firmly on the throne of the international wine world. This demand though, has ensured most of us will never drink the fine wines of Bordeaux or Burgundy, when not even a generation ago, with some struggle, these wines were vaguely attainable.

So, most of us have gone elsewhere for our kicks, countries outside of France have marvels a plenty for us to find and cherish. Yet, there is something my claret-cut palate yearns for that I cannot shake and even now, there is something a shaky eastern market is not doing for the French. Dare I say, is there to be a grand reconciliation a foot? No, probably not. I'll probably wallow timelessly never trying many of the first growths, wondering what the scents of the finest grand Crus of Burgundy behold, but there may indeed be some slight nodding of caps yet to come. 

Many of the 'runner-up-regions' of France have stepped up to the plate to fill the void left by the flight of the claret barons and inching east of the exclusive clos'. What do I mean by Runner-up-regions, regions that have by some cruel twist of fate have remained off the radar for some time. Now, with the supply and demand pull of the east luring the vast majority of top tier French wine to other markets, fortunes are smiling at these runner-up-regions, maybe they are the tortoise of this race for the affections of us 'mature' markets. 

My reflections on 2014 affirm this for, at least, my own development and now as I type in 2015 it is a Macon that washes this thought firmly ashore (and it's actually rather an engaging Macon). I'm drinking none other than the Bret Brothers Macon Cruzille, a northerly Macon village, and it has me glued to it. There is a sense of tension as I drift in my thoughts about the wine, it's a challenging glass, and It not the first French White that's caught me up. Last year revealed Herri Mina, Jean-Claude Berrouet's Irouleguy, the Bouzeron by A & P Villaine and Domaine de la Taille aux Loups, Jacky Blot's Montlouis-sur Loire stronghold (and I mean every-fucking-drop from here), these are just the favourites. They've all one thing in common though; they are very distinctively of their terrior and crafters. 

It'll sound like a bit of a paradox too but the worst wines of 2014 have been from the south west of France (not that you'd have known after tasting them), and have been, invariably, white. Low fermentation temperatures and some commercial yeast mixed with an almost visionary lack of vision is producing some of the most offensively inoffensive, barrel wash water, gut rot that has ever been fannied off to the masses as Marlborough Sauvignon caricature. It's mildly disheartening that rather than a resurgence in small scale distilling shadowed by plots of excellent terrior wines in the South West it seems, instead, we're getting a tour de force dans les culture du supermarche. Homogenisation and standardisation, it's nothing new to 2014, but it's definitely the year I became keenly attuned to it within wine and began to articulate against it. 

These are serious issues for drinkers and traders to ponder. With renewed pressure from pseudo-temperance movements, it's probably best we start to think about the cultural merits of booze, and how best we reconcile our 'boozing' with the rest of the world, until then, we are letting the rock roll further down the hill well before we've been asked to start pushing it back to the top.  

Then again, who knows maybe 2015 will be the year I perk up, shut up and think that roses grow from the nether regions of all of us wine trade entwined. Who knows?

Nostratobius - aka Shane and the Wailers

The French paradox has a new meaning, one that Rob has aptly pointed out above, but for me the problem is larger. It is in fact the consolidation of market forces and an ever smaller number of individuals controlling the market. My political ravings aside (somewhat), there is a direct correlation in the worlds of wine beer and spirits with economic global trends; the obliteration of the small and niche, the consolidation of the major players into ever larger conglomerates, speculative pricing buoyed by facetious market fan boys and the collapse of the China bubble.

The latter is where myself and Rob may differ as I can see a general collapse in Bordeaux and speculative economies this year, one because of a general global slow down/possible return to negative growth and the retirement of the eponymous golden boy. Yes, I know a prediction! We'll see. Another thing to look out for this year is the continuing backlash from the 'big boys' against craft brewers with the continued devaluing of 'craft'.

I know I know, you have just read through loads of words that are well beyond the attention span quota for our generation, but hear me out. This leads me to the best blog post of the year that have highlighted one of these issues;


Without doubt my favourite blog to read this year has been Matt Curtis' 'Total Ales' beer blog with a particular highlight being 'There's a beer for that' article. Matt's style wit and critique are exceptional and I hope this year brings more of the same.

Now to some of my esoteric (and somewhat emotional) moments of the year;

Henschke Keyneton Euphonium 2005

As with all pairings and culinary delights it is as much the pairing of food and tipple and the company shared. These moments should be layered and nuanced, like any memory that burrows in. Myself and my Dad enjoyed this from my 'cellar' at Christmas dinner with a slow cooked lamb and the various other Christmas paraphernalia. 2005 was one of those special years for Australia as well as many other wine regions across the world and some of the best from down under will go toe to toe with Bordeaux for longevity. 

On the nose this was... Well where do I start? BLUEBERRY (had to get that out of my system), blackberry, mocha, earthy, eucalypt and cedar-box. The palate was a crazy affair with everything shouting for attention, but when met with the lamb everything combined in harmony. Meat crumbled and wine lingered. Amazing stuff.

The tannin was grippy and acidity excellent. This wine has a long way to go. If this wine was a person it would be a dark and brooding mystery, but with a game that pierces the soul. You know what real wine moments are made of. 

As stated I got to share this with my Dad after a tough year for him in which I missed due to emigrating. These moments are special and moments that will stay with you. We talked about the wine amongst other things for the evening. One of the highlights of the year. 



Lanius Knab Bernstein 2011 

I was lucky enough to meet Jörg Lanius in 2013 while staying in Oberwesel, an absolutely stunning part of the Mittelrhein. The town itself still has its Medieval walls, this whole stretch of the Rhine is steeped in history (obscure pun intended). The tour Jörg gave was as intricate and detailed as his wines and they have been a firm favourite since.

I still had some of the Bernstein Riesling from this trip as I had picked this as my favourite of the bunch. That said all of the wines at Lanius Knab are excellent, but the Bernstein, the name of the archetypal hill with an incline approaching vertical (remember the steep quip), with so much slate you could smell it in the air when walking/climbing the vineyard played to everything I love about Riesling.

On the nose this was intense slate, lime, peach and floral notes that danced around the edges. The palate was racy, full of lime, mineral, apple a bit of peach and honey suckle with a finish that seemed to last all year. If ever you wanted to taste a Riesling that not just show you what this grape is about and capable of, but also the importance of terroir. Exceptional stuff. 


Nyetimber Classic Cuvée 2009

Another occasion wine. A first of many things, the first English wine bought on English soil, First time drinking a sparkly in England my new home, shared for the first time in a new house with the visiting other half and the first time I had tasted an English sparkling wine that was up there with some of the best Champagnes I had tried (I came to this decision with Rob a good while before).

Wine being about occasion amongst other things, this méthode tradionelle pretty much sets its' own agenda. The agenda being in most cases with Empty the celebration of an agenda ... we have those sometimes. 

On the nose, brioche, apple ... loads of those, imagine trying to smell all the different apples ... like that, some tropical fruits and earth. On the palate, something akin to the pyramids in structure. You know ... built to last. A mix of initial apple, delicate honey and a floral mineral mix on this finish. Stunning stuff and with a long way to go. 

Like all things in the Blueberries, we have stories, so too should the drinks and food we make to share in the countless other tales we meet. We will no doubt meet them here on Empty with a return to the scoreless world of subjective pleasure, a world in which we savour, experience and most importantly challenge. Here's to the escapades of 2015.

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Toby and Rob can be found @thobiasinkblot and @rob_gilmour on the tweet machine causing some sort of trouble.

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