Vintner’s Tales – Summer sipping 2021

02/06/2021
In a normal year, no COVID restrictions and so forth, I would have been travelling a great deal during April and May. I would have been in Bordeaux for at least a week tasting the 2020 vintage, undertaking the interesting and challenging (honestly!) process of tasting very young wines and trying to assess them on how they will develop. At this early stage the reds have huge tannins and bold fruit, and the whites tend to have very high acidity. The result is sore teeth and spectacularly wine-stained gums and teeth after a week of tasting over 250 wines... not a good look. It is, however, one of my favourite weeks of the year – plenty of exceptional wines, good food and meeting up with old friends.

It wasn't on the agenda this year but being UK-bound for now isn't so bad… I write this while staying at Swanaford Vineyard with the sun shining and Brompton’s second in command (Kip) asleep in a shady spot after a good swim in the river.

This late but welcome warmth has finally prompted made me think about wines to be enjoyed in the summer - on warm, sunny days with salads, barbeques and fish. So here are some thoughts on refreshing rosés and rewarding reds, from regions you know and a few from off the beaten track...

Let’s start with some reds. Summer reds are less about curling up into front of the fire with a hugely structured and complex red, rather we tend to seek out a red that is soft and bright with elegant tannins and a freshness to balance the fruit. Some good grapes to look for would be Pinot Noir, Gamay, Cabernet Franc.

Firstly, a little wine lesson for those willing to geek out a bit - all others may skip to the next paragraph! There is often some confusion about colour in red wine. It is often assumed that if the colour in red wine is light then that must mean the wine will be less powerful, but this is not always the case. The colour in red wine always comes from contact with the grape skins. White wine, in contrast, is made by pressing the grapes and fermenting the pressed juice - which is clear. That’s how you can make white wine from red grapes. (Still with me?) If you press black grapes with no skin contact, then the juice is also clear which results in white wine: the best example of this is Champagne. Two of the three grapes for Champagne production are red – Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier. To make red wine, the black grapes are crushed and then left in contact with the skins to give the wine colour (as well as tannins). This is a tricky process because if the grapes are left in contact with the skins for too long then the wine will be over-extracted with bitter and harsh tannins and too much colour. This will act like a lead weight on the fruit and the wine will not recover.

So, come summertime, and we want reds that have good vibrant fruit, soft easy tannins and some freshness. Pinot Noir can give you these characteristics in abundance. The obvious home for Pinot Noir is Burgundy, but we will look at two examples a little further afield: Casablanca Valley in Chile and Otago in New Zealand.

Casablanca Valley is a relatively new region, first planted in the 1980s but has only really gained success in the last 10-15 years. It has a moderate climate, cooled by ocean breezes, resulting in conditions that Pinot Noir loves. The grapes can grow gently and slowly, while protecting and promoting the delicate and elegant fruit flavours of strawberry and cherry. Add a little ripeness to the body of the wine with some pepper, spice, soft tannins and a fresh finish and you have simply gorgeous wines. Most producers, whether you are looking in the supermarkets or in independent wine shops, will have a selection of Chilean reds but if you look out for Casablanca Valley on the label you won’t be disappointed. (One of my favourite estates is Terra Noble : this winery won IWSC Chilean Wine Producer of the Year a couple of years ago and they make superb - and affordable - Pinot Noir. Funnily enough I sell them, so if you would like some have a look at the Brompton website or email me...)

New Zealand is another prime cool location for Pinot Noir. The vineyards are some of the most southerly in the world, and therefore right on the limit of wine production and prefect for Pinot Noir. The wines tend to have length, complexity and ripe bramble fruit intensity that makes them hard to beat. My tip? Try the Esk Valley Pinot Noir made by NZ winemaking legend Gordon Russell.

Another red grape that is too often overlooked these days is Gamay. This is the red grape used to make Beaujolais. Before you give me a hard time – there is much more to Beaujolais than Beaujolais Nouveau! Beaujolais sits to the south of Burgundy and as the soil changes from limestone/clay to more granite so does the grape varieties that are grown. Gamay is at home here, producing wines bursting with vibrant fruit, soft tannins and plenty of freshness with layers of minerality and depth. Honestly it’s true! Forget about cheap supermarket Beaujolais and look for the Fleurie, Morgon, Moulin à Vent etc… Try the wines from Domaine de la Madone for classic Beaujolais. If you want to try something out of the world then go for the Fleurie or Moulin à Vent from Château des Bachelards. These are quite simply incredible wines. No semi-carbonic maceration here, they taste more like wines from the Northern Rhone! Yes, they are mostly for drinking young but don’t be afraid to cellar a good cru Beaujolais for 3-5 years. These wines are perfect summer reds - some of my favourites.

The other red grape I mentioned was Cabernet Franc. Normally this is a grape that is used in Bordeaux blends, along with Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and maybe Petit Verdot, but it can be grown on its own to produce lovely floral, fruity reds. The grape is grown very effectively in Chile, but I want to focus on the Loire Valley. Mostly famous for its whites (Sancerre, Pouilly Fume, Saumur) the Loire also produces some lovely reds, often from Cabernet Franc. Look out for Chinon and Saint-Nicolas de Bourgeuil. However - a word of warning with these wines! Cabernet Franc needs to ripen fully, otherwise it can taste a bit green and stalky. As you can imagine, ripening in the Loire Valley can be a problem as it is so far north but with a good warm summer (and a touch of climate change) then these wines are worth searching out. And yes, as it happens, we do have an outstanding Cabernet Franc – Champs aux Loups 2016, Château Soucherie

But what about the pink stuff? These days summer drinking is more and more about rosé. It is extraordinary how sales have rocketed in recent years, driven by wines like Pinot Grigio Blush (stop people – enough already!) and Provencal rosés. Gone are the days when rosé was only for those incapable of deciding whether they wanted white or red, often an afterthought for a winemaker. Now it is a key part of most producers’ ranges. Personally, I like rosés that have elegance, delicacy, crisp pure fruit and plenty of acidity, whether they are a lighter or deeper colour (i.e. that classic salmon pink colour or more depth like a Tavel.) Wines that can be well chilled and enjoyed on a warm summer’s evening in the garden with some charcuterie and cheese!

Rosé is made in the same way as red wine, but there are some key differences. Firstly, the wine is fermented at a lower temperature than red wine in order to protect and preserve the more delicate red fruit (strawberry, cherry) and floral flavours; secondly, there is much less skin contact. Red wines are normally in contact with the skins for a good three weeks to get plenty of colour; but of course rosé needs much less, and so the skin contact will be anything from just a few hours to a day or two. Why the difference? Well if you read our wine geekery earlier, then you know the answer! Earlier I wrote that colour comes from contact with the skins. If a grape is thick-skinned then you'll have lots of colour, but if a grape is thin-skinned (Pinot Noir) then you'll either have less colour or you need more skin contact (timewise) to get more colour.

Anyway, enough of the technical stuff. The rosés I enjoy do tend to come from regions like Provence, Loire and the Southern Rhône. Miraval and Château a Gordonne are excellent examples of Provencal Rosé. I’ve just shipped a truly wonderful Tavel Rosé from Domaine Lafonde - and in fact, those of you in the Brompton Wine Club will be enjoying that at the moment! This wine has more colour and a little more weight than you may be used to, but is still fresh and vibrant. A top rosé! Sancerre rosé is a little more expensive... but very good and always made from Pinot Noir. We have the Domaine des Chasseignes Rosé....

Anyhow. Enough reading. More sipping? I do hope this has given you some ideas for summer drinking. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out via email or our social media channels, I'm happy to recommend.

As ever - be brave, explore and happy tasting!

Richard Household
June 2021