Hi there,

I shall post an article every few weeks about the life and times of a wine grower in France. I shall also post news alerts regarding exciting new wines. Please feel free to add your comments or questions to the blog. The wavey text you are asked to key in protects your address against spam.

Please bookmark this page and remember to check it regularly. Or, sign up to our newsletter on our main website and I shall send you a quick email when I post an article. http://www.amandaswines.co.uk

Remember, drink wine (in moderation) – drink quality wines – drink amandaswines!     

Lots of people are on holidays in the Loire Valley and I should like a penny for every wine tasting and explanation as to how to taste and what to look for in wines that I have done over the years.

 

I would also like a penny for every person who has said “I don’t know anything about wine - but I know what I like!”

 

We all know more about our own personal taste in wines than we would like to let on.

 

So, I just wanted to pass on some tips.

 

The one, very basic tip you need to know, is:

if you don’t like it, don’t drink it!

 

No matter what is written on the label or written up by critics. Your taste may not be the same as theirs.

 

Also, if you violently dislike a particular type of wine it is probably because you once had a bad experience and don’t want a replay. The stomach remembers bad experiences. Don’t force it!

Sooner or later a time will come when you are open-minded about trying that particular type of wine again.

 

It is all in the mind, you know.

 

Most people have an idea as to the type of wine they like. Red? White? Heavy? Light? Fruity? Oaky? Whatever!

 

Remember that when you “savour” a wine, you do so with:

 

·       Your eyes…

As soon as you see the bottle appear you know whether or not you are going to like the wine.

The bottle shape, colour, size and type - all set your taste buds up.

And…  

this is before the wine has even been poured into the glass!!

Once the wine has been poured, the depth, brilliance and clarity of colour also tell the subconscious whether or not you are going to like it.

 

·       Your nose…

As soon as you put your nose into the glass your subconscious tells you whether or not you like the smell - and, therefore, the wine.

 

·       Your mouth…

As soon as you have tasted the wine, your taste buds will be working overtime to try to work out the flavours and if you like the wine.

 

Let me give you some more tips.

 

Once your eyes have sized up the bottle, colour and clarity of the wine, let it be poured slowly into the glass. Everything to do with wine should be done slowly!

 

Pick up the glass without moving the wine too much. Put your nose well into the glass and smell the wine.

Usually, one nostril is more sensitive to the smell of wine than the other. 

Try both alternately until you find your best nostril. Some people need to open their mouth very slightly at this point.

 

Put the glass back on the table. Give it a very good swirl in the glass (preferably without spilling too much). Smell the wine again. Notice the difference and the way the fruit blossoms and comes to the forefront of your nose and subconscious taste buds.

 

Take a good mouthful of wine.

Roll it around the whole mouth.

 

If you are at a wine tasting you can spit into the spittoon provided.

 

If not, swallow it.

 

Let the remaining flavours of the wine permeate all around the mouth and up the back nasal tubes.

 

Ponder the flavours.

 

Take another good mouthful of the wine.

 

Roll it around the mouth again.

 

Try to suck in a little air to bring out more flavours in the wine.

(This is an acquired action but is basically much the same as whistling backwards. If you have never done it before, however, you will probably cough and splutter until you get used to it.)

 

Ponder the flavours of the wine again.

 

Search for the flavours of fruit.

 

If you cannot find any fruit flavours at all, there may be a problem.

 

Or, the bottle has not been opened for long enough and the wine is still “closed”. Wine should be aired (open the bottle) so that it can “breathe” for a minimum of 20 minutes before consumption. The older or heavier the wine the longer it needs to breathe.

 

One of the main problems over recent years has been over-oaking. The flavour of oak in a wine which has been aged in oak barrels should give a support to the flavour of the fruit.

It should never mask the flavour of fruit!

 

Over-oaked wine tastes like the smell of a wet oak-wood cupboard.

 

Another flaw to look out for, but which is happening less and less due to screw-tops and synthetic corks, is corked wine (cork taint). This is due to a flaw in the cork if it is made of natural cork. It tastes as you would imagine the flavour of cork, or dry wood. It totally kills any natural flavour of wine or fruit. You won’t find any flavour of fruit in a corked wine.

 

Once you have mastered these basic tasting skills you are well on your way to becoming a true amateur of wine!

 

There is much more to learn about wine. However, these basic skills of wine tasting will get you well past the starting block.

 

So remember, drink wine (in moderation), drink quality wines, drink AmandasWines, all our wines are unoaked!

 

To understand the complex flavours of wine, you must understand the flavour of oak in wine and the reason oaking exists.

 

The first thing to know about wine is that oak barrels do not grow in vineyards and that the flavour is not part of the natural flavour of wine.

 

The flavour of oak is introduced by contact with barrels used for storage and/or transport made from that wood. Sometimes, actually, quite often, the oak flavours overpower the other wine flavours, in which case it is considered to be “overoaked”. Barrels made of new oak contribute a very strong flavour to wine. In fact, up until the 1980s no French wine grower worth his salt would ever, ever have put good wine into barrels made of new oak!

 

In red wines, the oak flavour components include "vanillin" or vanilla, and so-called "toasty", "charred", "roasted" or “caramelised” elements. In white wines, the flavour component is generally “buttery”. Vanillin and buttery come from the character of the hardwood. The others derive from the "charring" of the barrel that occurs from the flaming of the interior of the barrel to be able to bend the staves into place.

 

The second thing to know is that the reason oak barrels came into existence was mainly for the transport of wines and, therefore, the storage of wines.

 

Let me now take you back in time to the Roman period when Julius Caesar invaded Gaul (as France was then known) in AD 52.

 

As the Roman army invaded deeper into Gaul and spread northwards towards the Benelux countries and onwards to England and Scotland (where they stopped) two things became apparent:

 

1. That they needed large amounts of wine for the Roman army, and
2. That there were not enough vineyards in Gaul. (There were only a few small vine regions planted by the Greeks around the Mediterranean basin.)

This was a bit of a worry as wine was particularly revered by the Romans for its digestive and medicinal qualities, its ability to disinfect food, as well as being very pleasant to drink! In his writings, Pliny the Elder eulogized about wine and extolled its virtues. Unfortunately for us, the names of the varietals he mentioned are not known today.

 

So, the Romans set about importing wine from the best vineyards in the world - the fertile slopes surrounding Pompeii, and the Etruscan vineyards.

 

Initially, transport was by boat. They loaded wine-filled amphorae onto boats and then onto donkeys on arrival. As they travelled into the hinterlands of Gaul, much of the wine was lost. This was mainly due to the amphorae falling off the donkeys and breaking; also due to the native Gaulois (pronounced gol-wah) who loved wine so much, they couldn’t get enough of it. They would hijack the caravans whenever they could.

 

By the end of the 2^nd century the boats were constructed in such a manner that they were like floating tanks. The inner tanks which held the wine were made of clay and sealed with molten lead. The wine was then transferred for storage into large wooden containers of up to as much as 1200 litres, or into animal skins or bladders for further transport.

 

The Romans noticed that the Gaulois used barrels made of yew wood for the transport of their ales. They started to use this for wines, but it was not a success. In AD 70 Pliny denounced the “deadly effects of these strange recipients of yew wood made in Gaul”.

 

It is thought to be soon afterwards that the first oak barrels carried wine.

 

The eruption of Vesuvius in AD 79 wiped out all the vineyards surrounding Pompeii. It was from this date that the Legions planted vineyards in France in earnest, starting with the Rhone Valley, Aquitaine, the South-West, and Bordeaux regions, moving north towards the Loire Valley. There is evidence that the vineyards of Sancerre and some parts of Muscadet date from the Roman occupation. A stone grape-press dating back to the 2^nd century was found just south of Tours indicating that the Touraine vineyards may well date back to that period.

 

When Eleanor of Aquitaine became Queen of England in 1153, she set up the commerce and transport of her favourite wines from the South West of France though the port of Bordeaux.

 

The containers used for this transport were, of course, oak barrels.

 

In the Middle Ages, the Dukes of Burgundy set up a transportation network of their wines to the Benelux countries, again, in oak barrels.

 

In the regions up and down the Loire Valley, the wine grower only had to transport his wines 4 or 5 kilometres up the road to the local château or castle. He would put his wines in oak barrels or vats, and, on arrival at the château, tip them into storage tanks in the château's cellars. He would always bring the oak barrels back home again.  In the Touraine region, excavations beneath the Château of Chaumont have found wine tanks hewn into the Tufa rock face and lined with glass tiles dating back to the Middle Ages.

 

Today, it is still traditional to age the wines in glass. We age our wines in the bottle!

 

So remember, drink wine (in moderation), drink quality wine, drink Amanda's Wines!

Summer is a-comin’ in

Loud sing cuckoo!

(Anon)

 

All you happy gardeners have come back over and over and over again to look at my article about Pruning Grape Vines which I posted in January. If you cannot remember it, however, here is the link. (http://blog.amandaswines.co.uk/blog/_archives/2008/1/30/3495865.html.)

 

The May bank holiday is over. A bit of a wash-out this year, really. All this rain is very good for the plants, though. You just have to be a little careful of the “mildiou” which appears when the weather is warm and wet. So far, so good, though.

 

At this moment, we are way past the pruning stage, so I decided to do a follow-up article to the next stage so you can see how the care for the vines progresses.

 

First thing you need to do after the pruning is to pull off all the dead wood from the vine and make nice little bunches of faggots. They burn very well for winter fires and are very useful for barbecues in the summer.

 

The vines which have been pruned following the “Guillot” (Guyot) system have one long branch. This branch needs to be lowered onto the bottom wire, so that the spring shoots can sprout upwards. There are 3 wires on a grape vine. One at the same level as the top of the vine stem and 2 above which are used to entrap the vines as they get thick and heavy.

(I took a photo of this earlier this month. This gives you an idea as to how the vines are looking at the moment.)

 

Although the long branch is quite bendy, it is better to lower it when the temperature no longer freezes and the Spring night frosts are out of the way otherwise the young shoots are susceptible to being frozen or easily knocked off.

 

If possible, the lowering of the branch should be done after the “Saints de Glace” on or around the 15th May. The 3 days of the “ice saints” are always a lot colder than the other days. (No one puts their window boxes out until after these dates.)

Most of the professional wine growers lower the branch beforehand due to the timescale. Once the warm weather starts the vegetation grows very, very fast.

 

Lowering the branch is backbreaking. Occupational hazard!

When this has been done and duly clipped onto the bottom wire, the little shoots need to be removed from the base of the plant. When they are very young they come off very easily. In fact, they can just be brushed off. These are called “les gourmands”.

 

Then, the vegetation starts to grow very, very fast.

The vines start to get heavy.

The two upper wires are placed on the ground until the vines have grown enough to put them back up again thereby entrapping the vines between the wires.

 

Some grape varieties grow a lot faster than others. The Chardonnay varietal is easily the fastest, followed by the Gamay, the Cabernet Franc, the Côt and the Cabernet Sauvignon varietals - the Touraine reds; then lastly the Sauvignon Blanc. You can click on these links to see the wines.

 

In France, all this care for the vines is still done by hand!

 

So remember, drink wine (in moderation), drink quality wine, drink Amanda's Wines!

Do you remember good, old-fashioned, dinner parties?

Of course you do.

We would all pull together and do a dinner party fit for a king.

But in the old days (15-20 years ago), we girls didn’t know much about wines.

We left it all up to you guys.

 

Haven’t we all changed?

 

We know so much more about wine today.

Not only about wine, but about our own personal taste in wine.

We are no longer afraid to say what we like and what we don’t like.

 

So, I am putting together some really good-value, easy-preparation dinner parties for 5/6 people, with hints for recipes, and their matching wines to please all of us.

 

The French spend a lot of time and energy on cooking and preparation as you know.

Wine is always a vital part of a dinner party being a success.

A carefully chosen, matching wine is always served with each dish.

The French would never serve the same wine throughout the whole dinner.

(Assume 6 glasses per bottle 75cl. Fill the glass 2/3 full, not more. You must be able to swirl the wine around the glass!)

 

Wine is taste and pleasure.

If you prefer a different wine, feel free to change it. My wines are suggestions which, I know from experience, work well with these dishes.

Always remember when choosing a wine, you drink the wine, not the label!

 

All the recipe ideas I am giving you have been passed to me over the years by friends, or friends of friends, both in the UK and in France; or real recipes from cookbooks which I ticked around with because they were too time-consuming or finicky.

My heartfelt thanks go to all of you. I have used most of these recipes over and over and over again.

 

 

COCKTAILS

 

As people arrive and have deposited their coats somewhere, it is nice to put a glass of something delicious and out-of-the-ordinary into their hands.

 

Touraine METHODE TRADITIONNELLE

Sparkling Rosé Brut

Touraine Sparkling Rosé

 

This is an absolutely stunning dry sparkling rosé made in exactly the same way Champagne is made.

In fact, all Crémant wines and Méthode Traditionnelle sparkling wines are made in the same manner in France. They just come from different regions.

 

That is the only difference, other than the price, which is about ½.

 

Serve very chilled. 8°. It is soft on the palate and goes down a treat with just a good mixture of dried fruit and nuts. Pistachios, almonds, cashews, peanuts, etc. A selection of raisins & sultanas, dried pawpaws, dried mangos, dried bananas. You can usually buy the mixture already done for cocktails in a good supermarket. Easy.

However, if you like doing complicated cocktail bits; please feel free to do so.

 

STARTERS

 

I must admit I always find the best and easiest starters are fishy.

 

At this time of the year, and after such a chilly spring, shellfish is lovely!

If you have a good fishmonger; fish section of your supermarket; or a farmers market, get prawns and shrimps.

Fishmongers usually have a selection of different types of prawns, or shrimps.

 

Snip off the long whiskers from the prawns.

On each plate put:

A few leaves of nice quality lettuce, lambs lettuce is nice,

2 or 3 cherry tomatoes, halved,

4 or 5 fresh prawns,

A few fresh shrimps,

 

If you enjoy making a good fish terrine or mousse, then a small portion of homemade terrine or mousse is lovely with just a couple of fresh prawns and a bit of salad.

Make a sauce for it of crème fraîche, a few spoons of water, and chopped chives, mixed well.

 

A few drops of good quality vinaigrette (not too strong, balsamic vinegar is nice, so is lemon instead of vinegar) on the lettuce.

A blob of good quality mayonnaise on the side to dip the prawns into.

 

Chunky white and brown bread. Butter.

A spare paper napkin per person.

A plate in the middle of the table to put the shells on

 

 

ALTERNATIVE STARTERS

 

Fresh asparagus.

Not everyone can get these and they can be very expensive.

But you might have some growing in your garden! (They grow wild in our vines.)

The green ones have a fuller flavour than the white ones.

Scrape off the woody outer part of the stem (with a potato peeler).

Boil slowly in a large open pan (frying pan) for about 15-20 mins. Be careful the little tender head doesn’t fall off. This can be done well in advance.

Serve with good quality vinaigrette (not too strong); lemon mayonnaise; or hollandaise sauce.

 

Same accompaniments as above.

2 spare paper napkins per person.

Fresh asparagus is always eaten with the fingers!

 

MATCHING WINES FOR STARTER COURSE

Both the above dishes are a dream with a really good, vibrant Sauvignon Blanc. Young and zesty.

Not many people know that Sauvignon goes with asparagus. But now you do. Serve chilled at 9°-11°.

 

Either: Touraine Sauvignon Vieilles Vignes 2006 

                Sauvignon VV 06

               (2^nd wine on list)

 

Or: Sancerre White Cuvée St. Louis 2006

                Sancerre White 06

 

 

 

MAIN COURSE

 

Butter chicken.

Sorry to tell you this but using real butter is the tastiest way to cook. Any French chef will tell you this. The dishes you do will taste that little bit more exciting if you use real butter. Yes, I know, we are all trying to lose weight. But if you are going to do a dinner party, you might as well make sure the food is tasty!

 

So, take 100 gr. butter salted or unsalted (I use unsalted) out of the fridge early in the day so that it can soften well to room temperature.

 

Fresh, if poss. free range, Chicken 1.8 kgs. If you get it from the butcher he will truss it for you.

 

Heat the oven to 200° Celsius.

 

Gently loosen the breast skin from the chicken and very carefully push the butter up between the skin and the breast. Very, very carefully so as not to break the skin.

Rub the rest of the softened butter all over the chicken.

Make sure every part of it is covered with a thick layer of butter. Especially the wings and legs.

Put in the cavity a few sprigs of whatever fresh herbs you can get.

Thyme, oregano, rosemary, herbes de Provence.

Also, a few whole cloves of garlic, peeled. A couple of shallots.

Salt & pepper to taste. Just pepper if you have used salted butter.

 

Cook for about 1 3/4- 2 hours. Baste it occasionally.

 

Make gravy out of residue in dish adding a spoon of dry sherry.

 

Veggies: Roast parsnips and carrots; green beans; steamed or boiled new potatoes.

 

 

ALTERNATIVE MAIN COURSE

 

10-12 Chicken breasts done the French-Asian way.

(less if the breasts are large)

Sprinkle each side with flour, 1 tbsp whole cumin seeds, 1 tsp black onion seeds, salt & pepper.

Pat well onto the breast to make it stick.

 

In a wide, heavy-bottomed pan heat 4 tablespoons of vegetable oil (I use olive), a walnut of butter;

add 4 chopped shallots, 4 chopped cloves garlic, salt & pepper. Sauté until just soft.

 

Add the chicken fillets. 2 heaped teaspoons garam masala

Sauté until a lovely golden colour.

 

Mix separately in a bowl:

50cl. Crème fraîche (you can get this in the supermarkets in the UK)

approx 150ml. water;

A very large, very heaped tablespoon of very lazy ginger.

Chili to taste.

Mix it all up and add to the chicken fillets.

Cover and cook on very low for about 20 mins.

(If you don’t want to use crème fraîche you can use a tin of undiluted thin coconut milk but it is not as nice.)

This is tastier if it is all done well in advance. Add water if sauce gets too thick.

When reheating, make sure not to “overcook” the fillets in the microwave as they go tough.

Veggies: steamed Basmati rice; steamed broccoli.

 

MATCHING WINES FOR MAIN COURSE:

Both these dishes go well with a well structured, fuller bodied white wine such as Chardonnay or a white blend such as the Mesland white below. If you want to offer a red as well then the Gamay grape makes a light and well structured wine which matches perfectly chicken dishes.

Serve white wine chilled at 10°; the red gamay can be served coolish 16° or at room temperature.

 

Either: Chardonnay (unoaked) Vin de Pays 2004 (white)  

          Chardonnay 2004

 

Or: Touraine-Mesland White 2006    

          Mesland White

 

Or: Touraine Gamay 2005 (red)   

          Gamay 2005

 

 

 

CHEESE COURSE

 

The French always keep a little place for a little cheese and it is served after the main course.

 

A good cheese board in France usually has a selection of:

A hard cheese such as Comté or Cantal;

A blue cheese such as Bleu d’Auvergne or Roquefort;

A cheese that goes straight onto the hips such as Brie, Camembert or Reblochon;

A goats cheese (unfortunately good French goats cheese is difficult to find in the UK)

 

Served with a large bowl of mixed lettuce leaves tossed in vinaigrette (not too strong).

Good quality UK cheeses work well, too.

 

MATCHING WINES FOR CHEESE COURSE:

The cheese course needs rounder, fuller, more bodied wines. So a red cot (malbec) or a blended red is called for here. Sauvignon blanc and cot are the grapes to match goats cheese. Not many people know that.

Always serve rounder, fuller bodied red wines at room temperature 18°.

White wines are always served chilled 10°.

 

Either: Touraine Côt 2005 (red)   

            Touraine Côt 2005

 

Or: Touraine-Mesland 2005 (red)  

         Touraine-Mesland 2005

 

Or: Sauvignon Blanc with the goats cheese as per starter course.

 

Or: All of the above

 

 

PUDDINGS

 

Apple Crumble is just lovely at any time of the year.

8-10 eating apples such as Golden Delicious which make the best apple crumbles of all. Peeled, cored, cut into quarters or smaller.

Put into greased, high-sided tart dish and microwave for about 10 mins. Or until they are soft and watery.

Turn oven to high 250° Celsius.

Make crumble from a large cup of sifted flour, a large cup of golden brown cane sugar crystals (cassonade), 130 gr. butter. Crumble it all up by rolling it around and through the fingers.

 

Put on top of apples. Cook on high for about 10 mins or until the crumble begins to turn pale golden, then turn right down to 120° Celsius for another 35 mins. You will see the water turn syrupy in the dish.

 

Chocolate mousse, no butter, no sugar:

6 eggs separated.

200 gr good quality cooking chocolate.

Melt chocolate in a bain-marie or in microwave. Mix with yolks.

Beat egg whites to stiff points. Fold altogether. Put in fridge.

 

 

WINE FOR DESSERTS

The French always offer a glass of sparkling wine for dessert. The Touraine sparkling rosé you had for cocktails would be lovely - but that is entirely up to you.

Otherwise, have a look at our crémant and other sparkling wines: Crémant and other sparkling wines

 

Sparkling wines should always be served very chilled at 8°.

 

 

On my website, I offer mixed cases of some of the wines above to make the choice easier for you:

 

Mixed Case Whites

 

Mixed Case Reds

 

Mixed Colours case

If one or more of your guests are driving, please make sure they do not drink, or if they do it should be in moderation, only 1 glass.

I want to talk to you about the notion of “Terroir” (pronounced tair-hwah).

To understand the flavours, complexity and typicity of French wines, you must understand the notion of terroir. This word does not directly translate into the English language.

 

The root of the word is “terre” which means earth.

Terroir is based on a geographic area, including the geological structure of the soil in any given region, however small. This is combined with the region’s micro-climate, the traditional way the soil is cultivated, and the grape variety. These factors make up a terroir.