Californian Wine - Marlow Wine Society Tasting

Some of my favourite wines come from California, but good ones are hard to find in the UK because the Americans tend to keep them for themselves, so when we do get them they tend to be at two extremes, gorgeous but pricey, or just plain rubbish. When Marlow Wine Society invited me to join their Californian tasting I jumped at the chance to find a new gem. The tasting was hosted by the delightful and insightful David Rittenhouse.

We started by sampling some Chardonnay, ooh yum! I loved the Saintsbury Chardonnay from Carneros. Bright lemon hue, with butterscotch and vanilla on the nose. Yummy and buttery with medium acidity and notes of brioche on the palate. £22.99 from Majestic, which I think is pretty reasonable for a wine of this quality.

The room disagreed with me, they much preferred the apple and soft bread aromas of Kirkland "Signature" from Russian River. Russian River is normally my go to region for Californian Chardonnay, but this was poor quality - the wine was unbalanced and simplistic. At £11.50 from Costco I felt this was overpriced.

After a disappointing Pinot Noir from Saintsbury (it's hard to impress me with a pinot!), we were introduced to a Merlot that had far more complexity than we were all expecting. With blackcurrant, cherry, plum, liquorice, vanilla, black pepper and tobacco, Redwood Road have done a great job producing this wine, Bravo! At £11.49 from Laithwaites its a great buy. The film Sideways may have given Californian Merlot a bad name, but I think its time for a comeback.

The Liberty School Syrah (Old Butchers Wine Cellar £16.99) was quite nice with warming hot cross buns and blackcurrant jam flavours, but the Cline Ancient Vines Zinfandel won the room over with its beautifully balanced tannins and acidity, full body and complex flavour profile. Black plums, leather, cigar smoke, caramel and pancakes with a hint of brandy. Everyone was surprised by the price - £17.99 from Majestic this was voted wine of the night. I was really pleased they like it because I serve Cline Ancient Vines Zinfandel at my Princess and the Pinot pop up wine bar in Marlow.



To find out more about Princess and the Pinot and our pop-up wine bars please visit www.princessandthepinot.com

Ask the Princess - new wine ideas

Dear Princess,

Send me some recommendations please. I normally go for solid and deep reds, or dry and fresh whites. I'm seeking new ideas...

Answer,

Have you tried Fiano (Fox Gordon is excellent £18 from Wine Discovery) or Albarino for whites (Laithwaites has a Seleccion 19 coming out soon £12.99)? I tried a wine this week called Benufet which I'd never heard before but loved made with white Garnacha (£10.49 from Vinoa).

Same taste in red as me... Any Hewitson, Elderton or Red Heads brands will be up your alley. You might also like Primitivo/Negroamaro blend from Puglia in Italy. Ooh, I know... Gnarly Head Old Vine Zinfandel is one of my favourites at around £10 a bottle although a little hard to find these days.

What is this wine? Another blind tasting that I got wrong.

OK, I've lost my touch, I need to learn more to get a good handle on blind tasting for my WSET Advanced course. Exam in less than two months. Getting a lot of practice in.

Can you guess?
Appearance: light, ruby,clear
Nose: clean, medium intensity, medium legs, developing
Aromas: Blackcurrant, cedar, plum, cherry
Mouth: Medium intensity, medium acidity, low tannin, dry, medium body, high alcohol
Flavours: cherry, plum, strawberry, blackcurrant fruitella
Quality: inexpensive, acceptable quality, short length

I have to say its disappointing on the palate, a bit wet, weak... although it gets better when you put some air to it... and even better when you put an apple pie in the oven (I thought I was getting some burnt caramel and cinnamon notes, but alas that was the pie that my husband is cooking).

I couldn't figure it out. I was given the option of pinotage, merlot, zinfandel.  I couldn't figure it out. None of them fit (from what I knew). I'm guessing from that you'll know if you've passed your WSET Advanced or work in wine.  But I think it also goes to show, you have to taste a hell of a lot of wines to get rid of preconceptions.

If you haven't figured it out (or if you have), post on here and I'll reveal.