Wines on a Sunday

Sundays are a great day for drinking.

No responsibilites, no worries, no work. Plenty of time to get down to the serious business of vino.

Champagne was on the cards -



Rene Gefferoy 'Expression' Brut from Cumieres in the Vallee de la Marne, just to the north of Epernay.

Yellow flowers and a slightly oxidative note dominate the nose to start; a pleasing aroma of crushed almonds. The fruit is slow to emerge but is rich if not fully ripe when it does. White peach and a gentle honey bathed tangerine note. Lovely texture, but a little short despite the acidity. Fresh and complex and an absolute bargain.

Didn't quite make it to the other one - next week maybe....have never tried and am quite excited.


Later with cheese was 2008 Maddens Rise Pinot Noir.



The Chardonnay by this innovative and natural winery from the Yarra Valley was one of my favourite wines of 2009, and so this bottle felt heavy with expectation.
Stem and sap and greeness, so fresh and vital and raw. Very light on fruit, some prickling spice at the back, but the trace threads of acidity running through the wine are what its all about. The nose is funky but not heavy or rich....even with a quick spin through the decanter it doesn't put on weight. Maybe another year in bottle will do it some favours, for now it is interesting rather than thrilling. Back to the mini-meursault chardonnay for me.

A brief note also on a wine from last Sunday -
Etna Rocca d'Api 'Le Moire' Etna Bianco



A new appellation for me - Etna Bianco DOC - it is situated in Sicily on the slopes of Mt Etna, in volcanic basalt soils, all tended organically, 500m above sea level. The varietals are 60% Carricante and 40% Catarratto (bloody Italians, how many varieties are there??). NB for Etna Rosso the varietals are Nerello Mascalese and Nerello Cappuccio.

This wine was quite an eye-opener for me. Rich, lush fruit - some pineapple, apricot and red apple, quite full on the nose, but then the palate was fresh and tingling with acidity. I suppose this is from the altitude. The richness of fruit became a bit much after 3 glasses, and it didn't really develop with air, but the palate stayed clean and refreshing, and the acid balance and texture was delicious. Again, a bargain.


Next little flight of wines should be good - a visit to the current restaurant of the year is on the cards...