The invitation plopped through the letter box in a shiny silver envelope.

An Evening of Luxury Shopping and Fine Wine Tasting

By invitation only

Inside:

Meet some of the world’s most prestigious wine and Champagne makers hosted by the exclusive brands of Bond Street

In partnership with Decanter magazine

I thanked my lucky stars I’d just taken out a subscription and promptly dispatched a message to my wine-loving friend, K.

The day of the event, the list of winery participants was perused (and googled). I hadn’t heard of the majority, but the names I did know (Gaja, Nyetimber, Louis Roederer) were definite cause for excitement.

Come the evening, the Christmas lights on Bond Street were all a-glitter, and we gaily traipsed into our first stop, Prada, who were the Gaja host for the evening. The doorman checked our invite, a ridiculously handsome man proffered chocolates on a tray and we made a beeline for the second stunning man who held a tray of wine glasses. So what were we drinking tonight?

“A chardonnay and, um, a merlot, I think,” he replied.

Continue reading DragonDrinks: Vendanges on Bond 2012 »

Is gris the new noir? Perhaps, at least in my wardrobe. But when it comes to Alsace, both pinots play a definite second fiddle to the virtuoso tune of racy Riesling. After all, when was the last time you ordered an Alsatian pinot in a restaurant?

Always a fan of the underdog, Thirsty Dragon headed to a recent Alsace Wines tasting to see if things are about to change…

Gris Lightning

After a quick flit around the tables, it became apparent there was some rough order to the forty-or-so samples of pinot gris. Residual sugar was the name of the game, and the wines ranged from bone dry to the high 20s (g/l). Also apparent was the lack of labelling to indicate this key factor. A few of the sweet styles carried the words ‘vendange tardive‘ (late harvest, where grapes are left on the vine to shrivel and therby concentrate the sugars) – a good indication, though not a guarantee, of sweetness on the palate.

(Geeky wine fact: the term vendange tardive is legally defined in Alsace and the wines must also pass a taste test to carry the designation.)

Zingy acidity and notes of biting lemon were the common thread in the better examples, while on the nose the wines ran the gamut from floral honeysuckle and ‘freshly churned butter’ (or so my scribbled notes tell me) to lemongrass and ripe apples.

Of the (very small) range of genuinely dry styles, the Léon Beyer Pinot Gris 2011 (2010 was previously available at the Wine Society, keep an eye out for 2011?) stood out with a burst of bitter lemon and decent length. Heading into the medium-dry/sweet territory, the Zind-Humbrecht Pinot Gris 2011 impressed, as expected from this highly regarded producer, while the Paul Blanck Pinot Gris 2010 was confusing yet enjoyable with a ‘floral nose with a hint of mild blue cheese’.

With high residual sugars and high acidities fighting it out, balance between the two wasn’t necessarily easy to find, but both the Domaine Bruno Sorg 2010 and Domaine Gresser ‘Brandhof’ 2010 pulled this off well in a medium-sweet style.

Golden Oldies?

A handful of slightly older wines (209s, 2008s and a 2005 from various producers) gave an inkling of the aging potential of pinot gris, with savoury notes,and even a bit of plastic, emerging.

Even better proof was offered by the samples from the Vins d’Alsace ‘wine library’, where each year a wine is chosen be most representative example of the grape variety in that particular year. This is intended to be ‘normal’ (i.e. mid-range) wine, showcasing how not just the top wines can age and develop intriguingly over time.

For a ‘wine pup’ (as Matt Kramer would say) like me, this was a rather rare opportunity to sip at wines which predate my birth – some by a hell of a long way. The samples started in 1998, then jumped to ’92, ’90, ’85, ’79, ’71, ’67 and finally ’61.

(Geeky wine fact: Pinot gris in Alsace has been through many names changes, including Grauer Tokayer, Tokay Gris, Tokay d’Alsace and Tokay Pinot Gris. Eventually they had to drop the Tokay due to confusion with the sweet Hungarian Tokaji.)

Excluding the ’98 (more on that later), there was a huge leap to ‘savoury’ at ’92, followed by a quick descent into ‘bitter caramel’, ‘chicken’, ‘hmmm’ and ‘weird’. Judging by the mixed reaction of the press and trade crowd, I’ll write this one off as an acquired taste for now.

Moving swiftly on, the ‘library’ Alsace Grand Cru Hengst Pinot Gris 1998 was the highlight of the whole tasting. Served in both carafe and bottle, to showcase the transformative (indeed!) effect of decanting this golden wine, this pinot gris was all buttery pastry crust, honey and apricots; on the palate, bitter lemon provided a lovely contrast to the sweet, like a perfect lemon tart.

And so?

Touted as ‘one of the region’s most food-friendly wines’, I can see Alsatian pinot gris getting my vote as an alternative to riesling when it comes to finding a medium-dry/sweet white to go with mildly spicy South-East Asian dishes or as an aperitif.

Cost is an issue, though, as is current availability. Given the trade prices listed, you’d be unlikely to see any of the wines on offer in shops for under £10. More likely in the £15-30 bracket – if they’re to be found at all – and many I tasted would be hard-pressed to justify those prices.

I overheard one taster bemoaning the large number of sweeter wines (“Why do the French do this, it’s such a shame!”) and would beg to differ. The world (and its wine shop shelves) have enough light, dry whites to fill the Mediterranean. For diversity’s sake, if nothing else, let’s get more Alsatian pinot gris into our shops and restaurants. Plus, if we want to get our hands on the good stuff, we have to start buying it in the first place.