Traditonal Wines from Bordeaux

In the heart of the beautiful Entre-Deux-Mers in the Bordeaux wine-producing region, near Creon, the vineyards of Chateau Haut Pougnan spread on the slopes of the right bank of the Garonne, superb clay-limestone soil and gravel.

The slopes are home to East and South vineyards of red wine grapes, the slopes West remain the domain of white wines.
The nature of the calcareius clay of these soils result in very fine wines with subtle bouquet.

The following grape varieties are utilised in the making of various wines on the estate. The red wines from Merlot (50%), Cabernet Sauvignon (40%) and Cabernet Franc (10%) reflects the triology of Bordeaux varietals.
For white wines, Sauvignon (70%), Semillion (25%) and Muscadelle (5%) give them a delicacy and a prestigious bouquet.

Chateau Haut Pougnan 1er Cotes de Bordeaux Rouge, rich and fruity has a tanicity particulary well balanced. On a beautiful dress, this wine continues to please with its elegance and balance in the  mouth.

Chateau Haut Pougnan Blanc is of great finesse and has a remarkable bouquet. Sauvignon Blanc is perfect for seafood dishes, or at any time simply for pleasure .

White wines are ideal for drinking young but will store well for a number of years.
Red wines are aged a year in oak barrels and flourish at the end of three to five years. Great vintages mature harmoniously in the cellar with an ageing potential from eight to ten years.

Both wines can be drunk on their own, or will make a wonderful accomplement for an evening dinner.

HAPPY CHATEAU POUGNAN DAYS

DEL

THE ART OF SPARKLING WINES

In 1811, Jean Ackerman founded the Traditional Method for Sparkling Wine in Saumur.For forty years, he was the only one to produce this  famous sparkling wine known throughout the world today. Vintages of great character, sparkling with finesse, prestige of a great label which , in two centuries of history, has succeeded in charming  the world, Ackerman offers sparkling , light and seduction with much accessibility. Sparkling Wine is Ackerman in France.

To date, the Ackerman company is the result of the merger of the three renowned Loire Valley wine producers, Remy Pannier and De Neuville, and today it belongs to a number of major Loire Valley winemaking cooperatives whose members have come together to pool their efforts in promoting and marketing the wines of the Loire.
Firmly rooted in their vineyards and benefiting from their winemaking culture, these cooperatives enable Ackerman to pursue a major-customer orientated strategy. A strategy founded on quality, authenticity and innovation.

All the grapes are carefully selected within the Saumur area. The wine ferments in the bottle according to the tradtional method. Then, it remains on its lees for a minimum period of 18 months to develop a good structure and complex aromas. The wines are well described below.

The SAUMUR BRUT has a brilliant pale gold colour with fine bubbles.Refreshing and mineral nose with citrus notes and very lively, beautiful balanced fruits-acidity minerality. Long mineral finish on green apple and citrus
aromas.

The SAUMUR ROSE has bright pink salmon colour with fine bubbles.Refreshing and mineral nose with notes of red berries.Very lively, beautiful balance fruits-acidity minerality. Long mineral finish on strawberries and cherries.

Why buy Champagne ????

HAPPY SAUMUR DAYS

Del

Pere Magloire Calvados:- In the early 19th century Gervais Magloire became an Innkeeper in Cagny, a village located on the main road between Paris and Normandy. Besides the excellent food and the comfort of the Inn, he also aged his own Calvados. The high quality of his “eau-de-vie” became famous and soon became know as “le Calvados du pere Magloire”. During the 50 years he operated the Inn, the reputation and renown of the Calvados Pere Magloire grew beyond the borders of Normandy and spread all over France.

Pere Magloire use both methods of distillation to create a distinctive range of styles, both aoc calvados and the more specific calvados pays d’auge. Softer single distillation preserves the essence of apple flavours and aromas, giving the calvados the intense and strong taste of its origin. Double distillation of ciders, on the other hand, leads to the selection of the lightest aromatic esters, and produces spirits with floral notes and delicate aromas.

The unrivalled collection of medals awarded to the range in recent years is a testament to the skill with which the distiller and blender use those two styles to create the sublime calvados.

Pere Magloire Calvados Pays D’Auge VSOP

Double distilled in traditional stills, lengthy ageing in oak casks give a unique aromatic richness

Pere Magloire Pays D’Auge XO

An exceptional blend distilled twice and aged in oak casks with a subtle bouquet of apples and long lasting palate

Gold Medal and Best in Class, International Wine and Spirit Competion (VSOP)

Gold Medal and Best in Class, International Wine and Spirit Competion (XO)

Double Gold Medal and Best Brandy, San Fransisco World Spirit Competion (XO)

Silver Medal and Best in Class, International Wine and Spirit Competion (12yo)

Silver Medal and Best in Class, International Wine and Spirit Competion (20yo)

A great way to taste apples !

(continuation from blog “Food and Wine pairing” dated 13th August 2009)

INTRODUCTION:—–this blog and the many more following will examine the pleasurable and often complex relationship between good food and wine, with the ultimate aim to assist our many discerning customers evolve the convivial bonding of good food and wine.

FOOD BEING FEATURED:—–PORK DISHES, including  ROAST PORK, GRILLED PORK CHOPS, SUCKLING PIG, PORK MEDALLIONS and PORK FILLET.  ( Veal or rabbit dishes would also be a good alternative )

 CHALLENGES:—–simply cooked pork is not too difficult to find friends and partners. Similar to chicken you can match most of your personal preferences with the above dishes except sweet or medium sweet wine. Pork also goes well with sparkling wine, especially red made from Shiraz/Syrah or Malbec.

RECOMMENDATIONS:—–Pork has an endearment towards big rich white wines such as Chateauneuf-du-Pape or Cotes du Rhone Villages. The strength, richness, depth of flavour and aromas of these desirable wines  provide a classic match for most pork dishes. If you are a committed red wine fan then try a Californian Syrah with its spicy black cherry fruit, this distinctive grape variety is also a perfect match for pork, hot or cold. An alternative red would be an Australian Merlot from Wakefield with its subtle flavours and softness to match both the white meat of pork and also the rich crispy crackling of oven roast pork.

MAIN DIRECTORY:—–click on The Marriage of Food and Wine to access our quick search facility to locate hundreds of other food/wine/food pairing options, including hors-d’oeuvres, starters, soups, main courses and deserts. Also Great Friends-Cheese and Wine for cheese and wine pairing.

NEXT ARTICLE:—–Beef dishes, including roast beef, grilled sirloin steak, grilled T bone steak, grilled rump steak, grilled fillet steak, grilled rib eye steak, beef en crout and big beefy stews.

HAPPY  PORK  AND WINE PAIRING DAYS

Graham D

Are there Angels in Provence   ???

Yes most definitely yes,  a certain alluring and bewitching corner of  Provence has thousands of Angels, all pink with shimmering and enriching qualities. So captivating and ideal are the conditions in this magical corner of South East France that these celestial Angels secretly keep reproducing around the same time each year when the warm, misty, quiet mornings of autumn prevail. Although these Angels from Provence can be mysterious, enchanting and unquestionably unique, they are generally accessible to us Homo Sapiens, but like all known Angels in limited quantities only.

 Some say Angels are divine messengers from heaven and portray paragons of virtue. Our Angels are certainly divine, heavenly, full of virtue and contain the purity of inner beings. Our special Angel is the “Whispering Angel” from Chateau d’ Esclans  nestling on the outskirts of the charming village of La Motte, not too far from the well known coastal town of St. Tropez in Provence. “Whispering Angels”are born out of old grenache vines and live in the splendour of one of  the most beautiful chateaux in the whole of France, these Angels lead a great life which can now be shared with you.

“Whispering Angel” is part of a kindred family with a distinguished hierarchy and substantial pedigree. This family is made up of the Finest Rose Wines in the World, Rose Wines of such class they need to be tasted to be believed. “Whispering Angel” belongs to a family (excuse the gender) made up of  the mother, the grandmother and the great grandmother as follows:

     Chateau d’Esclans,  Whispering Angel,  is the beautiful baby

     Chateau d’Esclans,  Esclans,   is the gorgeous mother

     Chateau d’Esclans,   Les Clans,  is the gracious grandmother

     Chateau d’Esclans,  Garrus,  is the resplendent great grandmother

How do we describe these extraordinary wines which grace the tables of many of the worlds finest Hotels and Restaurants, maybe first we should highlight the exceptional people behind this remarkable estate. It’s a huge challenge to turn a wine grouping like rose whose reputation as a good quaffing wine is ok, but not great, into a wine of substance that can now sit comfortably at the same table with great red and white wines like those from Bordeaux and Burgundy. This challenge was taken up by Sacha Lichine the owner of Chateau d’ Esclans and the son of the distinguished wine writer and past owner of Chateau Prieure Lichine in Margaux, Alexis Lichine.

Sacha is the driving force behind this accomplished enterprise, his intense belief that rose wines could be propelled high up in the league of fine wine is equally matched by the investment he has committed and the astute move to persuade Patrick Leon out of retirement to take the lead as head winemaker. Patrick Leon  one of the worlds leading winemakers has been a family friend for many decades and was before his original retirement the chief winemaker at Chateau Mouton-Rothschild and one of Patrick’s many claims to fame was his lead role with Robert Mondavi in developing Opus One at the Napa Valley winery in California, now one of the worlds greatest wines. With a great believer and a great winemaker success was inevitable.

If we can get a little technical and discuss the actual wines and bearing in mind the significant variation in costs, then the inevitable question that comes to mind is what is the difference between Chateau d’Esclans and other Provence roses and what are the differences between Chateau d’Esclans’s own four roses.

 Its important we highlight the main differences between Chateau d’Esclans and other top Provence estates. First the Chateau predominatly uses Grenache from vines up to eighty years old for all of the four roses they produce and using this grape variety is unique in its own right.

 Secondly they adopted a unique process to Provence whereby  85 to 90 percent of all four roses are made from “free run juice” and limited very light and soft pneumatic pressings of between 0 to 2 bar for the remainder of the process.

The third major initiative is the meticulous and lengthy process of temperature control which starts with early morning harvesting with ice packs in each of the pickers basket, the grapes are then chilled before a short maceration process, then the juice is free run via gravity and the grapes own natural weight before a very limited and light pressing. The cooling process continues in the fermenting halls via refrigerated steel vats and yet another unique system for the wines stored in burgundy barrels, these barrels have cooling tubes located through the centre which manages a slow fermentation over 3 to 4 months which in turn produces special wines of great taste, complexity and fragrant aromas unlike no other Rose Wines in the World.

The select processes and creativity mentioned above are not only very uncommon in wine making, but very time consuming and costly and only by tasting the wines can one realize the significant difference between the rose wines of Chateau d’Esclans and other best in class growers. Skill, effort and commitment  always reward in the end.

The following provides more detail regarding the individual wines:

Chateau d’Esclans,  Whispering Angel—the grapes are selected from the south exposure of the vineyard. The grape varieties utilized are Grenache, Syrah, Cinsault, Mourvedre and Rolle (Vermentino). Maceration is at 10-12 C to extract maximum aromas. The assemblage has been made without barrel fermentation to keep the freshness and all the fruit flavours. This is a beautiful wine, delicately scented with lovely flavours and enchanting aromatics. Soft and round it displays layers of exotic and seductive fruit.

Chateau d’Esclans,  Esclans—the grapes are selected from the best sections of the chateau, mainly from a south east exposure. 80 year old Grenache provides 39% of the juice, the balance of the Grenache being selected from 30 to 40 year old vines, some Rolle (Vermentino) is utilized to provide balance to the blend. The grapes are sorted manually three times with maceration following at 10 to 12 C to extract maximum aromas. The wine is partly vinified in demi-muids (500 to 600 litres barrels). The bottle bouquet of this class rose wine is powerful with an abundance of honey and melon sweet- smelling fruit. The underlying wine has an inner core of sumptuous and well proportioned fruit and acidity and a just fabulous finish.
 

Chateau d’Esclans,   Les Clans—the grapes are selected from the best south east parts of the vineyard. Grenache is the primary grape variety with 45% harvested from 80 year old vines. A little Rolle (Vermentino) being included to balance the blend. The grapes are tasted and bunches individually selected all by hand in the vineyard early morning before moving on to the winery. Maceration takes place at 10 to 12 C to extract maximum aromas and then only free run juice is selected before pressing. Vinification is exclusively in demi-muids (500 and 600 litres barrels) for 7 months with burgundian style batonnage. This remarkable wine will age well for up to 5 years. A gorgeously complex wine with exceptional richness. This rose wine exhibits huge amounts of fragrance, admirable levels of concentrated fruit with a lovely long lasting fresh finish.

Chateau d’Esclans,  Garrus—the grapes are selected from the best south east parts of the vineyard and harvested at optimum maturity. Grenache is the primary grape variety with 48% harvested from 80 year old vines. A little Rolle (Vermentino) being included to balance the blend. The grapes are tasted and bunches individually selected all by hand in the vineyard early morning before moving on to the winery. Maceration takes place at 10 to 12 C to extract maximum aromas and then only free run juice is selected before pressing. Vinification is exclusively in demi-muids (500 and 600 litres barrels) for 8 months with burgundian style batonnage. This top cuvee will age well for up to 5 years. Yes, stunningly opulent and sensationally concentrated, yet very cultured, this monumental rose has such intense flavours which release magnificent and compelling quotas of fruit as the wine leisurely cascades over the palate, with a gorgeous finish that  lasts for ever and ever.

Remember— Agnetha, Anni-Frid, Benny and Bjorn all believed in Angels

 
HAPPY  WHISPERING ANGEL DAYS

GRAHAM  D

In the sixties wine was drunk considerably less in the UK than what is consumed today, from so long ago only a few wines on restaurant wine lists now come to mind. They were of course Blue Nun, Black Tower, Liebfraumilch, Hirondelle, Mateus Rose, Claret ( how times have changed ) and nearly always the two wines of quality were Nuits St George and of course Chablis. Being a student in those far off days I would have struggled to afford a glass of house wine like Hirondelle let alone a bottle of fine Chablis. Yet the wine from Chablis was probably the first wine I can remember and definately the first French wine I could proudly pronounce with distinction mainly to impress the unfortunate girl I may have been with at the time, since just one half of best bitter was all they would have secured from my poor and limited funds. On saying that, I am sure Chablis for innumerable reasons will still stay etched on my mind for many more years to come.

The term Chablis in a generic sense is probably the most recognized wine of any type to man, copied and abused over decades by many other countries. We all know the real product comes from around the town of  the same name Chablis and the genuine wine is most sought after for its unique and distinctive green fresh and crisp chardonnay flavours. These flavours are captured by each of the four designations Petit Chablis, Chablis, Chablis Premier Cru, and Chablis Grand Cru, although when you taste a majestic Grand Cru you in addition experience more intense long lasting flavours, deeper and more refined and yes a lot more expensive, but these class wines will keep and improve and provide much pleasue.

The beautiful scenery of green rolling hills and valleys of the Yonne region are mixtures of chalk, prehistoric limestone and clay, this results in a style of chardonnay wine profoundly unique and special and certainly much different in character to the fine chardonnay wines of the Cote d’Or and most definitely cannot be compared with the cheap copies by the same name found in parts of California. Its within these quiet and relaxing surroundings that the Tremblay family (www.chablis-tremblay.com) reside and produce their famed Chablis wine.  Alexander Hadleigh are proud to be associated with the Tremblay family, a relationship which has spanned well over fifteen years with a family whose deep routes are from Chablis and the Yonne, their wine skills consistently much higher than average producing great wines year in year out from all the four designations they own and maintain.

The Tremblay family are committed guardians of tradition with a reputation of high standing within the wider wine community for only producing wines which are always a cut above the rest. The family vineyards of over 34ha  have been in the hands of four generations of Tremblay’s, the vines are between 30 and 35 years old which  helps considerably in producing wines of substance and complexity and production is around  20,000 cases per year, with only 300 to 350 cases of their most elegant and sophisticated Chablis Grand Cru-Vaudesir being produced.

Alexander Hadleigh import and distribute the following five Gerard Tremblay wines and each wine on our website has its own individual tasting notes:
Petit Chablis,  Chablis, Chablis Premier Cru-Montmain, Chablis Premier Cru-Fourchaume and Chablis Grand Cru-Vaudesir.

Chablis matched with fresh fish or shellfish is a marriage made in heaven, for help in matching the different Tremblay Chablis wines with food please click on http://www.ahadleigh-wine.com/wine-and-food/, which takes you to our websites specialist section on “ MATCHING WINES WITH FOOD “, then just type in chablis in the box located under “ TYPE IN WINE ”

Happy Chablis Days