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EAT&DR|NK
Red or dead
In the hunt for a great value bottle of wine, Nick Barley finds out whether there are differences between the views of a casual drinker and a wine expert.
n the late “mils. I turned to
southern l-‘rance to help set up a
husiuess restoring lar‘rrrlrouses. Working with lahourers in l’rance means plenty ol red wine at lunch. always a hasic tahlc variety and ol‘ten made hy a hunter himsell'. It you wanted to negotiate a property deal with the larmer. swallowing pride along with some hitter. vinegary liquid was usually required.
Since then. wine consumption in Britain has trehled and the quality ol ‘hudgcti wines has imprmcd immeasurahly. The List asked wine merchants in (ilasgow and lidinhurgh to send trs their hest value wine. priced ahout £5. I then invited l)oug Bond l'rom lidinhurgh‘s Villeneuve Wines to taste some ol' them with rrre.
Bond knows the lancy lingo. hut is his palate more discerning'.’
I Murphy’s Shiraz, 2003 (£4.99)
GrogShop, 2 Da/ke/th Road. Edinburgh, 0737 667 2855.
Nick Barley This is good. Somehow
i
it I V l l-'_ . . lurirlrmmi r V.
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ll lttslcs very red. like alcoholic hlackherry juice. even though it‘s nice and dry. The result is a very straightl'orwar‘d wine.
Doug Bond It's very juicy. not overly tanrric. which makes it feel like a r‘el‘reshing drink. I don't think it's heen l‘ermented in oak harrels. 'l‘herc's no real vanilla. that very hard tang that you wotrld expect l‘rom oak just l‘ruit llavours. And there is nothing essentially wrong with that. It’s what people look for trout a £4 £5 Aristralian red wine. It‘s a little hit short. hut in lairness you can't expect much else for £5. NB Sorry. hut what do you mean hy' a 'littlc hit short“?
DB Basically it's the length ol' time the llavours last alter swallowing. ’l‘he l'lavours should continue to develop alter swallowing or spitting out. But at £5. it would he pretty impressiy e it it had much length to it. The verdict: 0.. (Nick) «0 (Doug)
I Castillo de Mont Blanc, Tempranillo 2004 (£4.50). Vi/leneuve Wines, 49a Broughton Street, Edinburgh, 0737 558 8441. DB This wine is from northeastern Spain. 5t) miles west of Barcelona. NB In recent years I've heen drinking more and more Spanish
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wine. So helore w e start drinking this one. there are two l'actors in its layour: lirst. it's Spanish. and second. I love its Iahel. Surely that's hall the hattle . . . This one has a much less l'ruity' llavour. But I like it more. It tastes more sophisticated.
DB It's a lot less juicy. Spain is simply not as hot as Australia. and this allccts the llavour. lt‘s lighter in alcohol IZS‘é . Producers are generally trying
‘IT SMELLS A BIT LIKE MANURE - BUT NOT IN A BAD WAY'
to reduce the alcohol content ol' wine. hecaLrse a lot of wine is now not drunk with food. So. if you drink a IS‘T} wine with no lood you end up with a sore head. The fruit is not so apparent: I can taste wild strawherry llavours though. 'lher‘e's more going on: it‘s longer.
NB There‘s an element of suggestion here. You‘re telling me there are wild strawhen‘y flavours in here. and yes I can taste them. But il‘ you had said there were (‘oca-(‘ola overtones then I would prohahly' he ahle to taste them. as well.
DB I suppose so. but this is a really good wine for the money. The verdict: I... I.” (Doug)
(Nick)
&
I Osborne Solaz, 2003 (2 for £8)
Pee/(hams. 6 7—65 G/assford Street. Glasgow. 0747 553 0666. p/us other branches.
DB 'l‘llts one \ltlt'\ll‘l laslt‘ particularly Spanish; I would struggle to place it. 3003 was a slightly weird \intage. It was very hot that summer lirr lilll'tll‘L‘l. making l'or idiosyncratic wines. When it gets too hot. grapes don't ripen properly: the \inc iust shuts down tin the same way that grass slops growing when tlis loo ltoll. and the acidity in the herry plummets. 'l'his one‘s certainly higger and juicicr than the last one. It tastes more like a ('ahcrnet Sauvignon. lt's ( )K. hut not hrilliant. NB l'd he happy to drink it.
DB I would mtrch rather hay e a hottle ol the earlier ones. The verdict: II. 0. (Doug)
(Nick)
I Saint Cosme, Cotes du Rhone, 2003 (£5.60) Harvey Nr'cho/s, St Andrew's Square. Edinburgh, 0737 524 8350. NB Looking at the Iahel. I'm expecting this to he the most interesting ol' them all. It's in a Burgundy shaped hottle. hut it tastes altogether different l'rom what I‘d have expected. Quite l'lowery. It smells like driving through l-'rance with the windows down. DB Yes. manure or something. .\'ot in a had way: very rich. Btrt there's something lacking; something a little hollow. As it goes on. I can l‘eel my gums drying out more and more. NB Also it smells a little hit like wet wool. DB Yeah. that‘s something typical ol' the region. They call it the taste ol the ‘terroir‘. But rnayhe theres a touch of cork taint. You mentioned wet wool. I can smell it now: there is a damp cardhoard aroma. NB lt's reassuring that someone like you ~ who knows a lot about wines — isn't necessarily sure ahout this. It‘s not as it a corked wine always slaps you in the lace. DB It I was given this in a restaurant. I wouldn‘t send it back and I‘m more conlident than most when it comes to this sort ol‘ thing.
too.
TRENTHAM
I haven‘t tasted this wine before so I don't know what it‘s supposed to taste like. It‘s still got some reasonable flavours in it. L'ltimately. it may he a little disappointing as a result of the cork taint. The verdict: .00 .0 (Doug)
2—1"; Feb 2U}, THE LIST 99
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(Nick)