If you have any questions or comments about SocietyNews, or would like to see something included, please e-mail: societynews@thewinesociety.com or write to: societynews, The Wine Society, Gunnels Wood Road, Stevenage, Hertfordshire, SG1 2BT

January 2010

societynews

NLJ

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LARGE INDEPENDENT WINE MERCHANT OF THE YEAR – INTERNATIONAL WINE CHALLENGE 2009

A new era for German dry whites?

Annegret Gartner of

Reichsgraf von Kesselstatt

on dry German riesling,

climate change and

proposed changes to

label laws

2

Insi

de .

.. 2 Regional pinot noir, NZ-style

Pierre Mansour explains the

differences between the new

Exhibition label New

Zealand pinot noirs

Natural selection

The new List explores

the theme of sustainable

viticulture in its many

guises. We take a look at

some pictorial evidence

of vineyard practices around

the world

3 4 Last Word

Sebastian Payne reveals

why Giovanni Manetti may

be influencing the amount

of venison and wild boar

sausage appearing on

menus in the Chianti

Classico region

Much of Europe enjoyed the Indiansummer and golden October days that some of us finally saw this year. In southern Europe, the summer hadbeen hot and dry too. Good weatherduring the grape harvest tends toproduce good wine in the vats. ChristianMoueix in Pomerol was wreathed insmiles when I toured Bordeaux in early October. A summer like 1989 and harvest weather like 1990. Richmerlot at Haut-Bailly, splendid cabernetat Montrose and Léoville-Poyferré,excellent red and white withDubourdieu and Despagne. So Bordeauxis full of promise. We know 2009Beaujolais will be excellent because thewine is already made and will soon beon our shelves. But most fine winesneed careful cellar-handling and ageingand at this stage change every day.

Toby Morrhall has new cool-climatesauvignons from Ucuquer and TabalíCaliza in Chile, and favourable exchangerates make South America still greatvalue. Pierre Mansour will offer threestunning Exhibition-labelled pinot noirsfrom Marlborough, Martinborough andOtago in New Zealand with differentregional styles and all are delicious (see his explanation of the differentstyles overleaf). Drink Rioja 2005, he says, charming, fruity and fine.

Watch out for Margaret River 2007cabernets and merlots. We have beendelighted with the still red wines JoLocke has found in the Douro in 2007.Next year should also be the year forSouth Africa where so many estates aremaking finer wines than ever before.

Members rightly bought large quantities of 2007 Rhône and there is no reason to stop because theeveryday wines are lovely now, thoughthe best will undoubtedly improve.There’s news of the 2008 wines whichwill be offered en primeur from MarcelOrford-Williams below. Of earlierRhône years, 1998, so long in its shell,is beginning to emerge. 2003s are all exuberance and sun-baked fruit.Keep back 2005 but enjoy expressivefull-flavoured southern Rhônes and‘Burgundian’ 2006s. There is great value to be found in the Languedoc in 2007, 2008 and 2009.

2003 red Burgundies have turned out tobe delicious in a big, rich style. 2000Côte de Nuits are sweet and lovely. 2001is still just opening up, but 2002, a lovelyyear, has never lost its charm. 2006 willbe similar. 2008 white Burgundies areprecocious and enjoyable, while 2007 isa very fine understated year and 2006rich and ripe like 2005.

Remember that the famous Claretvintages really deserve to be kept, tenyears plus in the case of top-level 2005and 2000 for example and firmer styleyears like 1998. This is whereintermediate years are so welcome andI have noticed that many people preferto drink them in well-judged defianceof the vintage charts and pointcollectors. 2001 Pomerols are often finerthan 2000. Many grander 2002 Médocs

need longer. 2003s were sumptuouslyripe and enjoyable from the start. 2004sare frequently delicious today, well-balanced and full of charm and class.Sauternes has enjoyed its finest decadefor ages. 2001 is supreme but 2005,2006 and 2007 saw lovely wines too.And I do not have the space here tocelebrate my passion for Italian wines,but can promise lots of exciting newfinds next year.

Independentmeans

We have always believed thatindependence is key to providinginteresting wine, honest views andgood service, and that has to befounded on financial strength. The Society has no borrowings and owns its premises; we have not therefore had to spend the yearanxiously negotiating with lendersor adapting The Society’s plans toimpress outsiders.

We did have to increase prices at the start of 2009 to reflect the rapiddevaluation of sterling in order tomaintain quality and preserve thatall-important independence. It wasuncomfortable to have to do this inthe face of the recession. In springthe pound recovered from its lowpoint and we were able to bringmany prices down again.

The Society’s financial independencemeans that we can make the rightinvestment decisions at the righttime. In spring we completed thereorganisation of the warehouse,which has brought excellent benefitsin productivity, energy savings andoutside storage costs. In summer weupdated our main computer system;after much preparation and testing.Those of us who have experiencedupgrades that have not gone wellwill go to great lengths to avoid arepeat! I am happy to report that it,too, was successful.

As I write, Christmas is in full flow.There is clearly more optimism thanlast year and more members thanever are finding wines and gifts toenjoy over the holidays. We areconscious of offers availableelsewhere of course, but we areconfident that, across the range andover the months, The Society remainsthe best-value supplier of high-quality wines, advice and service.

Wine writer Jane MacQuitty, forexample, chose nine wines sold byThe Society amongst her ‘best winesfor winter’ in The Times. Four wereexclusive to us; the other five wereall less expensive than elsewhere.One is featured overleaf as thismonth’s ‘Explore’ wine.

What to drink in 2010Chief buyer Sebastian Payne MW gives a brief overview of the 2009vintage and recommends wines for drinking over the next year or so

Marcel Orford-WilliamsRhône buyer

Indian summer saves 2008 vintage in the Rhône and the southMarcel Orford-Williams, buyer for the Rhône, Languedoc and Roussillon, highlights wines to look out for in the forthcoming 2008 opening offer

An opening offer of wines from the Rhône, Languedoc and Roussillon will be published later this month. The offerwill be posted on the website and sent to those members who have purchased from opening offers in the last twoyears. If this does not include you but you would like to receive a copy, please contact Member Services.

Whites, excellent throughout the south,are fruity and finely balanced withoutbeing heavy. The general picture forRhône reds is that they are soft, supple andmost will be enjoyable relatively young.Those from the northern Rhône havecharm in a style that might resemble2000. The best will be from the steepslopes of Cornas and Saint-Joseph. In thesouth the picture is more complicated andthe results are less homogenous. The bestwines come from those areas that pickedlate, such as Gigondas and Vinsobres.

Some of the best wines of the vintage will be reds from the Languedoc andRoussillon where Corbières andRoussillon are quite outstanding.

The 2009 harvest at Vignobles Despagne in the Entre-Deux-Mers whereThibault Despagne says the vintage has been that rare thing in Bordeaux – a good year for the whites and reds

High up in the Coteaux des Fenouillèdes, in the foothills of the Pyrenees, Gérard Gauby’s Le Soula has produced one of the best wines of the 2008 vintage

by Oliver Johnson, chief executive

The defining feature of the 2008 vintagewas the perfect Indian summer whichlasted until the last grapes were picked,in the middle of October. Withoutdoubt, this spell of fine weather savedthe vintage and brought much relief,and even a few smiles, to growers whohad resigned themselves to the worst.

eXploredry german rieslingFans of German wines and followers of von Kesselstatt won’ttake much persuading to try the new dry wines. But thoseunfamiliar with the charms of wine experts’ favourite grapemay be tempted to try the 2008 Dry Riesling which is offeredat the special price of £7.25 instead of £8.95 until Saturday,6th February 2010. The wine was chosen by Jane MacQuittyof The Times as one of her Top 100 Winter Whites under £10,“Von K owns some of the finest Mosel vineyards, whichexplains why RK’s trocken, or dry, blended riesling is so good.Enjoy this elegant, floral, waxy, grapey, lemon-zest-spikedriesling either as an invigorating aperitif or with mild fishyfirst courses.” At 11.5% it is also delightfully refreshing. Quote ref N-GE6601. One bottle only per member at the special bottle price.

Annegret Gartner, longtime friend of TheWine Society and head of renownedMosel estate Reichsgraf von Kesselstatt,the source of our own-label Saar Riesling,is a charming ambassador for hercountry’s great wines. On her last visit shespoke to us about plans to changeGerman wine labels, her dry rieslings andhow they are coping with the trials andtribulations of climate change.

Vineyard not sugar levelThe proposed changes to German winelaw move towards labelling wines byvineyard site rather than sugar levels. ‘In the current system, there are toomany confusing labels because weharvest by oechsle (grape ripeness/sugar levels): QbA, Kabinett,Spätlese,Auslese, and so on and then we mayferment each category to dry, medium-dry or sweet. So in theory, we couldhave twelve different wines per vineyard(not including Beerenauslese andabove). To simplify this, the old terms(Kabinett, Spätlese, and so on) will beused to describe the style of sweet winesonly. A new term Grosses Gewächs for the‘great growths’ will now apply to thetop dry wines.’

Unfortunately, to complicate matters,the Mosel estates, for example, have

opted for a different term Erste Lage(literally ‘first sites’), which moreclosely relates to the vineyard ratherthan Grosses Gewächs, which relates moreto the wines.

Whatever the descriptive term used,wines bearing the accolade all originatefrom eligible vineyards and are deemedworthy; wines to be designated GrossesGewächs (or equivalent) must be of atleast Spätlese ripeness, with yields nogreater than 50hl/ha, adhering tominimum selling prices and fixedrelease dates.

Although positive about the proposedchanges, Annegret thinks that it will takeanother ten years before the law actuallychanges. The concern for consumers isthat there is many a slip between cup andbureaucratic lip, and German labellingregulations have never been known fortheir clarity, but on paper, at least, theproposals make good sense.

On the dry sideAnother uniquely German anomaly is thatthe wines enjoyed by the home marketare completely different from thoseappreciated in its export markets. For thepast 20 years the German preference hasbeen for dry riesling. Up until now loversof German riesling (The Society’s buyersincluded) have felt that the dry rieslings

produced were good but not brilliant andnot exciting enough to merit attention.But things have changed, helped no doubtby global warming and a change of focusby producers. Last year Sebastian PayneMW, buyer for Germany, listed two of vonKesselstatt’s dry rieslings making Annegreta very happy lady! ‘We are trying to provethat we can produce very good dry wines,especially now, as our climate has warmedup and we get very good ripeness levelsthat are essential for top dry riesling’

Although they have always produced dryrieslings, they now want to give the winesmore attention, using them as Annegretsays “to catch the mouse with the bacon!”.It is nearly impossible to explain thebeautiful balance between acidity and fruitthat can be found in riesling, from Moselin particular, in words. So Annegret hopesthat the wine lovers who never buyGerman wines because they don’t like thesweeter styles might come to appreciatethe delicate mineral-flavoured wines viathe dry styles.

Despite global warming the wines stillretain a beautifully poised balance. Theyare very mineral, racy, fragrant, pure-tasting and fruit driven with moderate to

low alcohol. ‘Who else can do somethingsimilar? No other region has such a longripening period. Riesling from our regionis the best in the world’. Annegret says shewants her dry wines to be as good as anydry wine in the world but for them toreflect their background and personalityand be true to their roots. She is keen tomake a style of wine that ages, as she feelsthis is an essential feature of a wine ofquality. Interestingly, she pointed out thatthe dry wines, as with all the estate’swines, benefit from being decanted.

Testing times for growersWarmer conditions are posing interestingproblems for wine growers like Annegret

who are still learning how to deal withthe effects of global warming. It isn’t aquestion of just more heat or sun but alsomore rain and humidity. Too much heatcan stress the vines. Older vines withmore developed root systems are betterable to cope. Otherwise, Annegret saysthat there isn’t an awful lot they can doother than keep yields low and mow thegrass between every second row of vines(grass competes with the vines formoisture). Too much humidity can lead torot. The management of botrytis issomething they have much moreexperience in! Cutting grape bunches inhalf, green harvesting and canopymanagement all help to increase the flowof air through the vines and lessen thechance of grapes bursting and rotting.

Finally, Annegret told us that they arefrequently asked when they will beplanting new grape varieties which mightbe better suited to the warmer climate:“We don’t need to,” she says, “we alreadyhave the world’s greatest grape variety andat last we are enjoying weather conditionsthat allow us to produce great wines from it every year.”

Three new Exhibition wines

demonstrate the delicious

distinctions emerging from

New Zealand’s premium

grape-growing regions.

Pierre Mansour explains

That New Zealand produces world-classpinot noir now goes without saying. The extent of its success with this mostpernickety of varieties is further shownby the emergence of more winesshowing clear regional differences.

As with all grapes, the choice ofvineyard site is the key to success but,with a grape like pinot noir (which isnotoriously difficult to get right), thisdecision is even more critical.

Covering a distance of 1,000 miles andspanning latitudes 34˚ to 47˚ south,New Zealand has a huge diversity inclimate and soil type. The point aboutpinot noir, perhaps more so than anyother red grape, and in a similar vein toriesling for white wines, is its ability tocommunicate the characteristics andsubtle nuances of aroma and flavour ofa specific site. As sense of place is at theheart of what makes good wine great,it is no surprise that New Zealand

winemakers are working hard tograpple with pinot noir to make redwines to match its world-beatingsauvignon blancs. The fruits of theirlabour are now paying off to the extentthat we are now not just talking aboutgood New Zealand pinot noir, but good

Marlborough, Martinborough, Nelsonand Central Otago pinot.

At The Society, we are so convinced of these distinctions that we haveselected pinot noirs under theExhibition range from three primeregions: Martinborough, the source of our original Exhibition wine,

Marlborough and Central Otago. Weoffer them together for the first time inthis month’s New Zealand offer.

Martinborough on the North Island ischaracterised by old alluvial gravels anda relatively mild climate moderated bywesterly winds which slow down vinegrowth. This long season combinedwith comparatively older vines and lowyields results in a denser, fuller style ofpinot with a wonderful dark fruit andsavoury character. This wine is made forus by pinot experts Craggy Range.

Marlborough, just across the CookStrait on the South Island, has a similarclimate but with more sunshine andcooler nights. These help build andmaintain the vibrant red-fruit flavoursand succulence so typical of the region.A supple structure makes themespecially appealing in their youth.

Villa Maria, producers of The Society’sNew Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, were the natural choice for our Marlboroughpinot. The fruit is hand picked andcomes from prime vineyards in theWairau and Awatere valleys.

Central Otago is New Zealand’s highestand the world’s most southerly wineregion, on a similar latitude to Patagoniain South America! It is also NewZealand’s only wine region with acontinental climate leading to greaterextremes of daily and seasonaltemperatures and a long growingseason. It is remarkable, too, for itsyoung soils which give a high mineralcontent (less having been leached out).These factors contribute to very brightfruit flavours with crisp acidity andpalate weight. Central Otago pinotstands out for its perfume, often with anattractive herby quality, and muscularstructure. Craggy Range source ourwine from two small parcels of pinot inBannockburn and Bendigo.

The essence of good wine is that itrepresents a place, and what is socompelling about New Zealand pinotnoir is how evident the breadth ofregional identity is.

The three Exhibition New Zealand Pinot Noirs canbe found in the New Zealand offer, available until13th February 2010.

societynews January 2010

Who else can dosomething similar? No other region has

a ripening period of upto 150 days. Rieslingfrom our region is the

best in the world

Regional pinot noir, NZ-style

Member’s website comment on The Society’s Exhibition Marlborough Pinot Noir, 2008

“I am a great fan of the pinot noir grape, as the wine produced from it varies somuch as you go round the world. Here it comes with a gobful of fruit andrefined punch which lasts long in the mouth. I love the subtle differencesbetween this and the pinots from Martinborough, Nelson and Central Otago.Buy the lot and enjoy comparing them.”

Aidan Tolhurst (11th November 2009)

The essence of goodwine is that it

represents a place, andwhat is so compellingabout New Zealand

pinot noir is howevident the breadth ofregional identity is.

Annegret and Gerhard Gartner ofvon Kesselstatt

Climate change means thatwinemakers are harvesting riperiesling grapes every year

Piesporter Goldtröpfchen, one of Kesselstatt’s top Mosel vineyards

A new era for German dry whites?Societynews editor Joanna Goodman talks to von Kesselstatt’s Annegret Gartnerabout proposed changes to German labels, climate change and dry riesling

The Te Muna vineyard, source of The Exhibition Martinborough Pinot Noir

societynews January 2010

If you have any questions or comments about SocietyNews, or would like to see something included, please e-mail: societynews@thewinesociety.com or write to: societynews, The Wine Society, Gunnels Wood Road, Stevenage, Hertfordshire, SG1 2BT

Exploring The Societyand ExhibitionrangesThe Society will be encouragingmembers to explore The Society andExhibition ranges in two ways over thecoming months. Firstly, the January Listincludes four tasting cases (three Baker’sDozens and a Society Mixed Fifteenselection) each including a free bottleof wine. We urge you to try them. Then,in April and May, The Society’s TastingsTeam will be touring the country with a selection of Society wines to givemembers the chance to try theirfavourites alongside others in the range. There will be a vote at the end of each tasting which could becomequite lively!

Keep a note of your favourite winesfrom the range, as there will be anopportunity for members to vote forthem later this spring.

For information on tastings and eventsplease refer to the leaflet sent with thisNews or visit the website.

A taste of The SocietyAny non member attending a WineSociety tasting who is proposed formembership within a week of the event will receive a £20 credit on their account.

Standardbearers onparadeThe Society’s buyers stake their reputationon the selections they make to bottle underour Society and Exhibition labels. Reliable,high quality, good value and, mostimportantly, enjoyable, these are the winesthat members turn to again and again. Theyare standard bearers both of the regions theycome from and the quality of wine buyingat The Society.

We each of us have our favourites. Indeed,despite changes in fashion and fortune,there has been very little change in theleader board over the years. Sometimes agentle nudge is needed to coax us out ofour comfort zone to try something new.

Louis-Marie Teisserenc of Domainede l’Arjolle in the Languedoc is aleading proponent of lutte raisonnée.This is a viticultural approach basedon integrated pest management andminimal intervention. He has beenconfusing bugs sexually for manyyears now (with the use ofpheromones!)

Natural selectionAny winemaker worth their salt, and a place on The Society’s List, has a vested

interest in nurturing the soil that affords them a living. One of the problems with

grape growing is that it is a monoculture and as such is naturally prone to attack

from pests and diseases. How growers deal with these and encourage more

biodiversity in their vineyards is the theme explored in the new List. We thought

members might be interested to see some of these efforts in practice.

The Bekaa Valley in the Lebanon, home to Chateau Musar’svineyards, is virtually frost and disease free, so it is no surprise tolearn that the property is certified organic. But even here, MotherNature is capable of surprises. The 2009 vintage will go down inhistory as the year of the late September deluge – unprecedentedsince records began in 1870. Fortunately most of the grapes hadbeen gathered in and, as Gaston Hochar reported to members at atasting in November, ‘the only thing that was damaged was ourpride concerning our presumption that rain never falls during theharvest in Lebanon.’

Hahn Family Wines in California’s Napa Valley have recentlyachieved certification for the Sustainability in Practice (SIP)Vineyard Program – a comprehensive and verifiable method toauthenticate commitment to integrated farming practices and theenvironment. Biodiversity is encouraged providing habitat forwildlife like this bobcat. Nikita, a lanner falcon, is used to keepgrape-eating starlings away in an environmentally friendly way.

Society buyer Jo Locke says that, ‘Guineafowl for pest control are a charming andvery attractive sight in vineyards in SouthAfrica. More so than the electric fenceswhich many have to resort to in order to keep out the marauding baboons!’ Bon Cap, suppliers of The Society’sPinotage, have been farming organicallyfor years. They go to great trouble toobtain natural fertilisers, such as penguinguano and plant nitrogen-rich covercrops, such as lucerne and lupinebetween the rows. The photo is of a new block of pinotage vines, needed to supply members’ increased demandfor The Society’s Pinotage.

Seresin Estate in Marborough, New Zealand,were one of the first to embrace organicviticulture in the region. They now usebiodynamic practices across much of theestate too. They have adopted many innovativetechniques, but owner Michael Seresin saysthat what they are doing is, ‘in essencetraditional agriculture’. After seeing horsespulling ploughs in vineyards in France andItaly, the estate developed a horse-drawnsprayer to spread seaweed and compost teasover the vineyards. Stewart, a retired trotter,does the same work as an 80-horsepowertractor, resulting in less compaction of soilsand fewer carbon emissions, and he can liveoff home-grown fuels such as grass and oats.

The El Polilla range of wines has beenproduced from organically farmed grapesespecially for The Society by AlvaroEspinoza of Viñedos Organicos Emiliana.Alvaro is a pioneer in Chile, championingorganic and biodynamic viticulture toenhance the expression of terroir in wines.Leaving flowers to grow and winteringllamas in the vineyards helps to encouragebiodiversity. El polilla, means moth, Alavaro’snick name.

E-mail addresses Sending confirmation details of orders by e-mail rather than by post saves The Society generating andposting something in the region of 250,000 pieces of paper per year. Letting us have your current e-mail address also means thatwe can keep members informed of anticipated delivery slots and about wines that are out of stock. If you haven’t done so already,please let us know your e-mail address by going to My Account on the website, filling it in on the order form enclosed in mailingsor by telephoning Member Services on 01438 741177.

Reserve Rental cost frozen for direct debit membersDirect debits are both cheaper and easier, so, in order to reward those members who paytheir annual Reserve Rental fee by direct debit, we will be freezing the annual rental cost at £7.92 per dozen per year or part year. Otherwise the cost of Reserve Rental will increase to £8.40 from 1st February 2010. The cost of storage includes VAT and insurance at replacement value and is still one of the most competitive rates available in the UK.

For full terms and conditions on storing wine in Members’ Reserves please refer to thewebsite. Direct Debits can be set up online at http://www.thewinesociety.com/reserverentalor by telephoning Member Services on 01438 741177.

Faverhsam, Kent – Hugh Brunskillhas recently moved to the area andwould like to hear from fellowmembers interested in gettingtogether for informal tastings.Contact Hugh by e-mail ath.brunskill@hotmail.co.uk

London, NW6 – Linda Smithwould like to join or start a tastinggroup with members in her area.Call 0207 794 2017.

Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire –John Day would like to form atasting group. Contact atjohndayjohn@me.com or call01525 853412.

Gosport, Hampshire – David Huntwould like to join or start a winetasting group with other members.Contact him on 023 9255 0147 ordavecol@sky.com

Wirral, Merseyside – Steve Byrne islooking for more members to join agroup which currently meets onMonday nights. E-mails.byrne@merseymail.com or call07828 629367.

Scottish Borders – Stephen Fieldingis looking to expand his tastinggroup in Galashiels, Melrose Selkirk,Kelso and neighbouring districts.Contact wilderbankwine@aol.com

M E M B E R

Starting the day like a king and dininglike a pauper is without doubt a recipefor good digestion, but for congenitalnight owls like me, breakfast is the leastinteresting meal of the day. Given thescale of my commitment to lunch anddinner, this is probably just as well, so Ibrace myself for a hard day at TheSociety mill with porridge. It’s good forme and I have no gastronomicexpectations of it. It rarely disappoints.

Doctor Samuel Johnson’s observationsabout oats notwithstanding, porridgemakes good refuelling and a nicepottery bowl, a pinch of cinnamon anda handful of berries all help to dispelthe feeling of eating wallpaper paste.More importantly, the lingering andconcrete-like mass it creates in thestomach also discourages the mid-morning croissant-nibbling andlatte-wielding which have made Britaingreater than ever – about the midriff.

We have a fine tradition here ofbowdlerising foreign grub. Where else,after all, can you get lasagne with chipsand peas, or Thai-flavoured pizza?

No figure-conscious Frenchman, evenafter a strenuous night of love, wouldgorge on giant croissants, and a trip toItaly is a salutary reminder that realcappuccino comes in a cup less than halfthe size of the titanic mugs on offerhere. Nor are you likely to see anycontinental indulging in the eponymousbreakfast of uninspiring cereal, bread,jam and rock-hard fruit, with ChocolatePain if you’re very lucky. They are morelikely to enjoy the full British monte, aJack-the-Ripper or two, or even saidporridge. A recent visit to northernSpain revealed Germans tucking intocooked ham and cheese, the French

slicing up lovely, ripe oranges into potsof appetizingly creamy yoghourt, thehome crowd munching thin slices ofdark-red jamón. The newly-arrived Britswere uniformly bewildered, realising, aswe do every year, that the continentalbreakfast is a peculiarly Britishinvention. However, we regroup quicklyas a nation, and I can report that anomelette with chunks of whiteasparagus folded into it certainly raisedthe breakfast bar for me.

But this year’s prize for the mostoutrageous continental breakfast mustgo to two Basque trenchermen at thecharming Antigua Bodega, a ten-roomhotel which now occupies the oldwinery buildings of Bodegas Palacio inLaguardia. These lusty lads heaped theirplates with bacon, chorizo and friedeggs, but declined the tea and coffee onoffer and made straight for the openedbottle of wine which is often offered atbreakfast among the vines. Ignoring thesmall glasses laid out for the purpose,they simply poured the best part of abottle of Rioja into a jug, topped it upwith Coca-Cola and drank the lot.

We left them to it, lest we bump intothem on the way out. On this showing,there is clearly a limited number ofBasques you can put in one exit…

societynews January 2010

SebastianPayne MWChief wine buyer

Last Word

Wild BoarSausageAnyone who has visited wineries inChianti Classico will understand whywines from different estates tastedifferent. The climate at FelsinaBerardenga in the south is noticeablywarmer than it is high up at Volpaia orMonte Vertine. Roads round here areboth curly and hilly. A route throughthe middle of the classico district willbe beautiful and there are wonderfulviews but it will take much longerthan the appallingly maintained SSSiena-Firenze road round the westernside. The quality of the wine is greatlyinfluenced by the exposure of thevineyard and its altitude. Fontodi,which is high up at Panzano, about450 metres above sea-level, benefitsfrom being in a wonderful south-facing protected amphitheatre, theconca d’oro.

Much of the land on all the estates,unsuitable for good vineyards, is leftas woodland, making marvellouscover for wild boar, roe deer andhares. Giovanni Manetti, the greatlyrespected owner of Fontodi, haspersuaded owners of 70% of thePanzano vineyards to cultivateorganically. The wild animalsthoroughly approve. Highish fences orelectric wires surround mostvineyards but boars are good at nosingtheir way underneath where possibleto get at the ripe grapes late in theevening and roe deer can jump prettyhigh. No wonder there is a fair bit ofvenison and wild boar sausage onlocal menus.

this year’s prize for the most outrageouscontinental breakfast

must go to two Basque trenchermen

Food for thought

CONTINENTAL BREAKFAST

Janet WynneEvansSpecialist winemanager

Spread the wordA new facility on The Society’swebsite makes it even easier formembers to share their passion forgood wine and recommend TheSociety to others who may beinterested in what we have to offer.Simply fill in the online form,together with a personal message if so desired and The Society willsend an e-mail (only one) tellingthem about The Society. A samplee-mail can be seen on the website.

Members’ comments& reviewsMore than 800 comments andreviews by members on wines and articles have been publishedon the website. Many make forfascinating reading and we hopethat members find it instructiveand helpful to hear what othershave to say about a particular wine or subject. Please keep them coming.

WEB WATCH

Illustration by John Richards

Registered as: The International Exhibition Co-operative Wine Society Limited, Gunnels Wood Road, Stevenage, Hertfordshire SG1 2BT

Enquiries 01438 741177Orders 01438 740222Website www.thewinesociety.com

Giovanni Manetti of Fontodi, has persuaded owners of 70% of the Panzano vineyards tocultivate organically

The new 2007 vintage of Fontodi Chianti Classico(ref N-IT12841, £16 a bottle) can be found inthe List on page 58 and on the website.

Anyone who thinks I am making this up may check with fellow-members Mr Ray Williams and Dr EdwardWilkins, veterans of many Spanish breakfasts.

The Society’s Rioja, from Bodegas Palacio (ref N-SP3501, £7.50 a bottle) tastes infinitely better without Coca-Cola. Find it on p62 of the new List.

Amuse-Bouche‘Pornographic’ winelabel banned in USA Californian wine stocked by TheSociety has seen an increase in interestafter its label – which features a nudenymph – was deemed ‘pornographic’by the Alabama Beverage Control Board,and banned from sale in the state.

Cycles Pinot Grigio (ref N-US3961; £7.95), from Hahn Estates, is based on a 19th-century French advert for Gladiator bicycles by painter Georges Massias, but the board said that the label violated Alabama rules against displaying ‘a person posed in an immoral or sensuous manner’. Hahn president Bill Leigon has beenquick to capitalise on the ban, by creating store displays labelled ‘Banned in Bama!’,and predicted: ‘There is going to be a significant increase in our sales.’