Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Linie Aquavit


Apologies for the lack of posts lately - things have been manic. However, 2011 bodes well with some exciting Christmas and New Year drinking lined up and a trip to Burgundy in the first week of January!

Meanwhile, I had the good fortune to be Copenhagen at the weekend and managed to procure a bottle of Linie Aquavit at the airport. I have to admit they didn't make it easy. Initially I opted for the litre bottle which was on special offer. But at the checkout, the man told me I couldn't have this as I was travelling within the EU, so instead I had to have the smaller size.

After several minutes fuming with indignation, I decided I wanted the damned stuff so much that I went back and got the half litre bottle. This time, the man told me I wasn't allowed that either, but only the 70cl bottle. I hadn't even seen this size of bottle on the shelf but fortunately (he could probably see the smoke coming out of my ears at that point) he was kind enough to go and get it for me, so all was well. I'm still not sure what that was all about, and why the 50cl bottle was banned! Heigh ho.

Linie Aquavit is made in Norway and travels round the world on a ship to mature. It's therefore of interest to a madeira-lover as that is the method they used to use to mature madeira. I have just looked up the (exceedingly wanky) website to learn more and see that it's made from potatoes - that could explain why it appeals so much to one of Irish ancestry - flavoured with aniseed and caraway. Apparently it's matured in sherry barrels.

The website has suggestions for a range of improbable-sounding cocktails (Linie Banana Dream - I don't think so) but G and I have been drinking it neat. It's a pale brown colour, 41.5% alcohol and has a clean, refreshing taste with a hint of fennel. It makes me feel as though I'm in Scandinavia again and apparently it goes well with smoked salmon - I may have to try that. Skål!

Saturday, December 04, 2010

Best of the Best tasting, 3rd Dec


For several years now my friend ACC has been holding a Christmas wine tasting which is always a major highlight of the year. We have a champagne, white burgundy, red burgundy, claret, sauternes and port, and throughout the year I know he spends a lot of time thinking ahead to this one and sourcing goodies for it.

Last night eight of us braved the icy pavements of Battersea to join him for this annual event and it proved to be a fascinating evening. Although I did take photos at the end they have come out very badly and I promise that one of my new year's resolutions is going to be reading the camera manual so that they're focused in future! (Obviously it had nothing to do with having too much to drink.)

First up, as an aperitif, was a magnum of Pol Roger 1990. This was fine, mature champagne. It was a golden colour and had yeastiness on the nose and richness on the palate. ACC said that 1990 was a difficult vintage for Pol as some of their grapes ripened faster than others. I thought this was the kind of champagne that makes you realise it's actually a proper wine but it didn't particularly set my world on fire, if I'm honest.

The second wine was a Chevalier-Montrachet "La Cabotte" Grand Cru 2000 from Bouchard. Grand cru is the top echelon of Burgundy and I don't get to drink it very often so this was exciting. It looked nice, and was a pale gold colour. The nose reminded me of the sort of big full-on Meursault that I like, and had a slight cabbageyness to it. But on the palate, I found it rather unbalanced and it had a sharpness as I was swallowing it that I didn't enjoy. Others observed that it didn't have the finish you'd expect at this level. Possibly it was too cold - the room where we were tasting was quite cold as it was -3C outside, and possibly it was just too young - there was some discussion of when it would be drinking, and whether it would improve over the next 2-3 years. I hope so. This wine goes for around £200 so while it was great to get to try it, there's no way I'd actually ever buy it.

Then we moved on to the reds. First a 1988 Clos-Vougeot from Capitain Gagnerot, another grand cru. My first impression of this wine was very favourable - it was a beautiful mahogany colour, had a rich, sweet nose with a pleasant "hint of the farmyard", and had chocolate and red fruits on the palate - I wrote down that it was (expletive deleted) delicious! Then the finish hit me, and I found it rather bitter. I tried to convince myself that it wasn't an unpleasant kind of bitterness but had to concede defeat. When we came back to taste it again later, the nose had become quite vegetal and it was fading fast. ACC circulated the copy of Bougougne Aujourd'hui with the map of Clos-Vougeot showing how it's carved up between the different growers and arguably the section owned by Capitain Gagnerot isn't one of the best. Still, this wine apparently goes for £100-150 so it's not exactly cheap.

The fourth wine of the evening was a 1990 Mouton Rothschild. Mouton's labels are always very artistic and in this vintage the label was by Francis Bacon. I was looking forward to this wine, and ACC told us that Robert Parker doesn't like it, which I think raised everyone's expectations around the table as Parker tends to like obvious, big, alcoholic wines at the expense of subtlety and elegance.

Again it was a beautiful dark red colour and very clear and scintillating in the glass. The nose was a delicious cabernet sauvignon nose, all cedar and lead pencils. So it was looking good - but then on the palate, there was just nothing going on of any interest. I charitably described it as "restrained" which in this case was a euphemism for dull. It did have a very good finish. But given the price of this wine (around £300), I think most of us found it disappointing.

Last year, in contrast, we had some Chateau Latour 1997 which was my wine of the evening. My tasting notes read "It does bring a smile to my face." Now, of course, I regret not buying any!

Fortunately things immediately improved with the sauternes. This was a 1975 Chateau Pajot, Enclave d'Yquem. ACC said that this vineyard is within the Yquem vineyard itself but is owned by someone else. It's extremely obscure and production is tiny, and 1975 was a great sauternes vintage. I liked it very much. It wasn't too sweet (for a sweet wine) and was very elegant, with a lot of citrus, marmaladey notes. I thought it was absolute nectar and it was my wine of the evening.

Finally, we had some 1966 Quinta do Noval vintage port. This had a very intense nose, with figs and dates both mentioned. It was a fine, classic port with a slight spiritiness. G described it as a "complete" port and it was his wine of the evening. If I hadn't been drinking my beloved Smith Woodhouse 1970 earlier in the day, I might have agreed...

All in all, a very interesting tasting and as is often the case, it was great to try some things one would normally never get one's paws on. On this occasion the most expensive wines didn't deliver. This has often been the case in the past too - at the top level there may sometimes be a step up in quality but the step up in price is exponential. Unless I win the lottery (unlikely as I don't play it) I'll stick to wines further down the scale and feel pleased that I'm getting good value for money.

One photo that did turn out all right - a genuine Tommy Seaward I spotted in the corner of the office. It reminds me of strawberry bootlaces and I love it!