World tour
Alsace tends to be one of those rather forgotten wine regions - perhaps it is too well hidden from us by the Vosges Mountains. But Alsace producers redressed the balance, recently, with a tasting and lunch held by Les Grandes Maisons d'Alsace followed later on in the week by a tasting with 21 producers organised by Sopexa.
Alsace is fortunate to have this backbone of high quality estates and the range of wines shown was impressive. The strength of Alsace is that these are drinking wines that make good matches with food, especially fish and shellfish. They do not always impress at tastings. Trimbach continues to make fabulous Rieslings. Paragon has the 1997 Riesling Reserve for £91.20 and the more austere but complex 1997 Riesling Cuvée Frederic Emile at £82.60 x 6. Just 4% of the Alsace vineyards are designated grand cru. Maisons Marques et Domaines has Schlumberger's 1997 Riesling Kitterle Grand Cru for £139.30. This has a typical steely character.
Another advantage is that this is the sole French region in France where varietal labelling of AC wines is permitted. Riesling and Pinot Blanc are the two most planted varieties, with some 46% of the 14,500 hectares planted. Much of the Pinot Blanc is used to make Crémant d'Alsace.
At the Sopexa tasting there were several producers who stood out. These included Domaine Paul Blanck (stockists from Julian Baker Fine Wines: 01206 262358), Josmeyer & Fils (Pol Roger: 01432 262800), Domaine Ostertag (Morris & Verdin: 020 7357 8866) and Domaine Schoffit (Heyman Barwell Jones: 01473 232322).
Staying briefly with Riesling, Michael Morgan (020 7407 3466) has a screw-topped 1996 Pewsey Vale Museum Release Contours from Australia for around £46.50. This Riesling demonstrates that wines under screw tops not only do mature - it has some typical hints of petrol - but also remain brilliantly fresh.
The annual Pacific North West tasting is an opportunity to gauge how Oregon and Washington are coming along. As this event was on the same day as the New Zealand tasting it was interesting to compare the Pinot Noirs from the two countries. On this showing at least, the New Zealanders are making a stronger claim to being capable of producing high quality Pinot Noir.
Instead, Merlot from Washington State seems a better bet. Unfortunately, as is so often the case with North America, the good ones are not cheap, and supplies of some wines are decidedly limited. Bibendum (020 7722 5577) will have the full rich, ripe and toasty 1998 Merlot (£142.75) from Canoe Ridge Vineyards by early May. The slight delay before this is available is actually an advantage, as the wine needs a little more time in the bottle.
Marty Clubb's Ecole No 41 winery is based in an old school in the Walla Walla Valley in Washington, where he has been making wine since 1983. Pimlico Dozen (020 7834 3647) has vibrantly plummy 1998 Columbia Valley Merlot for £166.60, as well as the toasty Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 1998 at the same price.
As ever, Andrew Will was the most impressive producer. Sadly, supplies are limited, but apply to Morris & Verdin on 020 7357 8866.
The annual Grants of St James's Roadshow (Matthew Clark Wholesale: 01275 891400) has just trundled around the country. From a list of much solid worth I liked the new 35 Parallelo/Islé range from Fratelli Martini from Puglia and Sicily. The Syrah delle Sicila 2000 (indicative price: £52.80) has some mouthfilling plummy fruit with a typically Italian touch of bitterness in the finish.
The other three wines (all £44.28 a case) in the range come from Puglia. As well as a Chardonnay 2000, there is a Zinfandel Primitivo del Salento 2000 with easy cherrystone-flavoured fruit and a pruny Salice Salentino 2000.
Changing continent and hemisphere, Terranoble in Chile has a very dark and concentrated Carmenère 2000 (indicative price: £73.80) from the Maule Valley. It is really too young to drink now, and ideally needs a year or two in bottle.
