Just sayin' . . .
“Aromas of peach, oatmeal, subtle notes of
charred peat, seasoned by complex lees derived characters, with flashes of
matchstick, zesty orange rind and ginger deftly laced with complex seasoned
oak. . . “ That’s an actual tasting note
for a wine, though it’s edited down from the original, which was even longer
(and sillier). Somehow, back in the 1980s, wine writers decided that
stripped-down descriptions of wines wouldn’t do any more, maybe because they
were looking to make their work more distinctive. So, what winemaker John Parducci
once called “fruit-salad tasting notes” began appearing. They continue, despite much deserved derision, in some
places. Now, supermarket chain Tesco has announced they will start
using descriptions from consumers who have attended a special tasting of their new
range; I was thinking it could be a good idea until I got to the end of the
announcement, which noted that wine bloggers would also be included in the
trials. Oh well. . .
English wine harvest 2014 looking good
Furleigh
Estate, in West Dorset, is expecting its best-ever harvest this autumn,
anticipated to be twice as large as the previous record yield, in 2010, as a
result of two consecutive years of great summer weather, which enabled vines to
thrive. Rebecca
Hansford , owner of Furleigh
Estate, said: “We are so excited about this year’s bumper harvest. A dry
Glastonbury Festival and a warm Wimbledon are usually reliable indicators that
the grape harvest is going to be good, so we’ve had high hopes. We are so
fortunate that the English climate has been kind to the vines this
season!” I called around, and several
other English winemakers said the same thing, so this could be the break-out
year. (By the way, Furleigh Estate is where Steven Spurrier ’s
new sparkling wine, Bride Valley, was made. I visited the estate this summer
and tasted the wine, which was quite impressive; more on that very soon.
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copyright 2010-2018 by Brian St. Pierre