Two more wines from the Trapiche Terrior series tonight during a slightly chilly parrilla of fillet steak and chorizo. Both had more age than the Ambrosía the other day having come from the 2013 vintage.
Finca Laborde is a Cabernet Sauvignon from La Consulta in the southern Uco. We really enjoyed this - Opaque centre. Deep red rim. Intense, velvety nose. Black currant. Vanilla. Herbaceous. Mint. Lovely. Rich palate. Dry. Firm tannins. Fresh acidity. Hint of maturity. Dark fruit combined with vanilla. Black currant. Bramble. Long finish. Great Cabernet Sauvignon from La Consulta.
I have not seen Finca El Milagro (from Altamira) in recent vintages and, to be honest, it did not come across that well today. Opaque centre. Deep red rim with hints of violet. Restrained nose. Dark fruit. Plum. Blackberry. Hint of dark chocolate. Medium weight palate. Grippy tannins. Fresh acidity. Dry. Slightly saw dusty first impression but Developed dense black fruits and oak. After open for 3 hours it had still not opened up. Does this need more time? Medium finish.
bought on the strength of the Alheit name and for educational purpose. It’s cinsault which I’ve only had in a blend before so a chance to see what is like alone. First day I wasn’t too bothered. Red fruit, a touch tart, bit of tannin, mono-flavour.
Better on second day, richer and rounder. So I think a good experience but the world is right, cinsault is for blending. This strident assertion based on this bottle alone. The blurb on the back label says it will age for “many years”. I have another bottle and will dutifully follow this guidance but not with great anticipation. It was 12 quid, which I imagine is fair. Supposedly is 20 quid if not part of the mix 6. You’d have to be a devotee to pay that.
I bought and had this last year. If you got it for £12 you had a bargain because I paid £14.99 mix-six price.
My Cellartracker entry records it as a Cinsaut blend rather than pure Cinsaut, so I’ve just checked the Majestic site which shows Cinsaut, Carignan, Grenache, Cabernet Sauvignon & Syrah but then Majestic say this 12% abv wine is a ‘Big Wine’ which was not my experience.
I’ve had a few Alheit wines, and whatever others see in them that makes their wines so expensive, I regret I’ve not got subtle enough taste buds to find the same things.
This wine is maybe a special bottling for Majestic because I can’t see it on their website, but I would like to get a bottle of Vote for Pedro made from a grape I’ve only read about in old South African wine books - False Pedro http://www.alheitvineyards.co.za/bottlings/vote-for-pedro/
Re aging of Cinsaut: at the beginning of the 1900s Cinsaut was the most planted red grape in the Cape and used as the main component in many red wines.
I’ve read reports of recent tastings of really old wines which have impressed tasters and which, I think, has sparked the recent revival of Cinsaut in the Cape. I’ve had a few varietal Cinsauts that I have really enjoyed and also some where it is blended with another variety.
There’s nothing quite like the wine world to overturn presumption and make you doubt yourself on a daily basis. As I read your post I kept saying ‘but it’s Cinsault isn’t it?’ only to google and check that indeed Cinsaut is the accepted ‘norm’ and Cinsault the alternative spelling. I wonder now if I simply misread the first bottle of it I ever had!
Cinsaut was the spelling of the variety when I first went to the Cape.
It’s a synonym given for Hermitage in Perold’s magisterial 1927 A Treatise on Viticulture (page 275) and it’s the spelling given in Robinson’s magisterial 2012 Wine Grapes (page 246) which dates the ‘modern’ spelling of Cinsaut in France to 1888. (before then it was le sinsaou)
It is a matter of regret to me that in the Cape’s modern Cinsaut revival new growers have begun to use the current French Languedoc spelling with its totally redundant ‘L’
When talking about Cape Cinsaut I’ll use what I think is the correct spelling. Those who feel the addition of ‘L’ changes the pronunciation should feel free to use the French spelling.
(it’s a step too far at the moment to lose the ‘T’ but. like in Merlot, it seems redundant…
Second evening in Saumur, and we decided to stay in and cook after a whole day of exploring. We made pan-fried trout, with rice and peas on the side and opened one of the bottles we purchased a few days ago in Chinon:
This Domaine Breton Bourgueil AOC is called ‘Avis de Vin Fort’, and is a joy to drink. Made by the Saignée method, it’s somewhere between a deep rosé and a red (they call it ‘Clair’). The nose is fabulous - cherries, raspberries and violets, but also a beetroot earthiness which follows on the palate. It balances juicy, generous fruitiness with earthy notes effortlessly.
Unfiltered, it retained a sense of pure, clear red fruit, with pleasing floral notes. The tannins were mellow and discreet, and the finish rather long. Unbelievable value for 10 Euros!
…from just outside of the CdP border and a blend of the usual suspects, Grenache, syrah, carignan and mourvedre. Powerful spicy, fig, plum and berry nose. Similar notes on tasting, deep flavours, but nothing overripe, whilst still retaining elegance and a lightness of touch. Very good length of flavour too. Absolutely spot-on.
In a surprising display of restraint on my part half a bottle remains for tonight.
Thanks for the helpful reply Peter. I may have to go diving in the recycling bin to check the spelling and to see if they give percentages of the other grapes you mentioned.
Opened this last night as a sort of Lebanese solidarity play, even though I bought it last year. Unfortunately with a big order about to arrive I simply can’t afford to indulge in the TWS Lebanon case (probably a good job for my bank account that it keeps selling out so fast! And I already have a couple of that Hochar vintage): https://www.chateaudemed.co.uk/Chateau-St-Thomas-Cuvee-Les-Emirs-Red-wine-Buy-Lebanese-Wines-online-uk-bekaa-valley?search=emirs
Bought at the Glasgow Wine Festival last year from Château de Mediterranean for £23 which feels comfortably on right side of the VFM equation but they are now selling it for £29 which seems a touch on the wrong side, though maybe not as it really is very, very good.
A deep dark ruby slightly brickish on the edges. Rich nose of cherries, cedar, spices and a touch of oak. More cherries on the palate with well integrated tannins and acidity. Lovely bitter cherries on the very long finish. They say it’s very evocative of Lebanon which I can’t say, not having been there myself, but certainly had an exotic, spicy twist to it for me.
A mix of Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and Grenache, this, not unsurprisingly, came across as a lovely cross between Bordeaux and Rhone. Shame TWS don’t sell it.
This week has seen my venture into Fruili with two examples both of Ribolla. One each from Gravner and Radikon.
The two are neighbours, have in the past swapped ideas but now focus on their own ideas. Gravner uses Amphora buried in the ground and both their wines spent long periods in large old oak barrels.
Both wines dark Amber in colour, but Gravner’s are rounder, more luscious but still dry.
Both are very complex with flavours of nuts, apricot, tangerine, and marzipan. Some secondary notes of burnt wood and Radikon is more tannic.
Hi Inbar - Saumur is lovely when the sun shines, but its been a while since last there. Can I suggest Domaine Filliatreau is well worth a visit, their cellars are burrowed into the cliff face just back from the river - with the actual vineyards ABOVE. You can get their standard wines in Waitrose, Yapp etc, but the really good wines are only available in tiny quantities at the vineyard & a huge step up in quality.
I still have a bottle of 1990 Coteaux de Saumur & it’s fabulous. Pics show it a bit dusty.
Yesterday started well, afternoon we decided to treat the lawn with iron sulphate using a watering can, me mixing wife watering everything ok and done, Got the barbecue ready for Kurobuta loin steak, wife takes off to change from gardening trousers, pork on barbecue cooking beautiful, huge screams ring out wife emerges with piebald legs,feet and hands in a rusty tan finish. Takes eyes of barbecue, pork catches fire, can’t get much worse. Wife goes into shower to try rust removal. I take off to chip shop for last minute dinner. Arrive back with local cod and chips,wife has scrubbed up ok. Faced with opened bottle of Ch Trillol slightly chilled, to our surprise worked very well with above. Finished bottle, all is well.
That makes me feel better about my spilling a glass of Rostaing Cote Rotie 99 over the living room carpet. Took two days to get the stain out, but my heart will never recover
01438 741177
got my Wine Society card to prove I’m kosher, too… 
