Cave de Turckheim Pinot Gris 2007

Cave de Turckheim Pinot Gris
Originally uploaded by The Wineyard

Alsace, France: One of my favourite white wine regions in the world. This Pinot Gris from the Cave de Turckheim co-operative is their entry level wine for this varietal. Pinot Gris is actually the same grape as Pinot Grigio (particularly popular from Italy at the moment), but is made in a richer and more interesting style. The flavours are still fairly subtle, but have more honeyed tropical notes as opposed to the crisper refreshing whites the Italians tend to produce.

This Pinot Gris is a lovely aromatic dry white, which pairs beautifully well with spicier foods such as Thai Green Curry (what I tried it with), and also white meats like chicken, turkey, and pork. If you enjoy this wine, we've also got some wonderful New World examples of Pinot Grigio made in the Alsace style.

Billi Billi Shiraz 2005

Billi Billi Shiraz
Originally uploaded by The Wineyard

Super duper, big fat silky smooth Shiraz from Australia. Plenty of kick at 14.5%, but full of delicious violet flavour, mixed with spice and plums and plenty of dark berry fruits. A real treat for £8.79.

Chateau de Balan '05 vs '07

When we were recently sent a few bottles of the 2005 vintage of a cheapish Bordeaux (£8.99) from our warehouse instead of the 2007 (that we normally stock), I decided to take advantage of the opportunity to compare the two wines and see how they measured up to one another. A direct comparison of the two like this is probably a bit unfair; 2005 was perhaps the best vintage of the last decade or more in Bordeaux, whereas 2007 was underwhelming by comparison, to say the least. The extra two years maturity should also have given the 2005 added depth and intrigue, so without question, the expectation would be that it should be the nicer wine, and it didn't disappoint. The two bottles provided two very different wines, which were very good for different reasons, but the '05 was definitely the more enjoyable.  


Chateau de Balan itself is based just outside of Sainte-Foy-la-Longue, in the Entre-Deux-Mers ("between two seas" - the Garonne and Dordogne rivers) area of Bordeaux to the east of the city of Bordeaux itself. The map below displays the 1hr 15mins (roughly) route from Bordeaux to the 3 hectares of vines at the Chateau. The Entre-Deux-Mers region is generally known for producing good, if unremarkable Bordeaux that doesn't overwork the palate or the pocket. The wines make for decent easy-drinking everyday stuff, although some producers have been markedly improving their production methods in recent years, and consequently the quality of their wines too. If you know where to look, there are some real gems to be found for a good price right now, that could prove to be the big names of tomorrow.  



View Larger Map


Sold under the general AC Bordeaux title, Chateau de Balan is a real quality example of the everyday easy-drinking sort of Bordeaux that can be had for under £10. Both wines were very approachable and offered good flavour and complexity, but the 2005 was definitely the better of the two. It had a lovely inviting deep purple colour, fairly complex nose with some black fruit and some more unusual aromas I couldn't work out. Rich and velvety smooth on the palate; really soft supple tannins and good depth of flavour. The finish lasted longer than expected as well. A wine that's drinking very well now, and should last a while longer yet but I'm not sure it's got much more developing to do. For under £10 this was an absolute steal, and drank like a £15 bottle of wine.  


By comparison, the 2007 has got at least a good couple of years improving to come yet. Not as smooth as its older brother, but packing more upfront fruity flavour and a slightly rougher tannic edge to it. Tasty stuff, still pretty smooth, and still very enjoyable. The colour was a deep reddy-purple, and the nose had plenty of cherries upfront. The flavours were dominated by the red cherries as well, with a hint of bitter fruit. The finish was pleasant, but had no great length. The wine delivered what you'd expect for the price, but should improve markedly over the next 2-3 years.  


All in all I'd happily recommend the 2007 Chateau de Balan for someone who wants a sub-£10 fruity and approachable bottle of Bordeaux, but comparing it with the '05 helped re-affirm the idea that any Bordeaux is better with a bit more age on it, if you can afford to pay for it. It also demonstrated that it's not just expensive wine that improves with age; the '05 definitely punched above its price tag. I'll be interested in trying the '07 again come 2011 to see if it gets a similar result.

Now on draught: Bryson's Lifesaver

Now on draught: Bryson's Lifesaver
Originally uploaded by The Wineyard

Fill up one of the new jugs (see last blog post) right now with delicious Brysons Lifesaver - very easy drinking, light ale:

"A rich gold coloured bitter beer. Aroma is of floral honey. The taste is hoppy bitterness with soft fruit and honey. Aftertaste is long bitter fruit. Very drinkable and refreshing. For every bottle sold Brysons will make a donation to the RNLI."

New tankards for Bryson's Ales

Bryson's ale jugs
Originally uploaded by The Wineyard

We just received 353 brand spanking new swanky tankards for you guys to take your ale home in! For those who don’t already know, we always have a barrel of Bryson’s finest ale on draught at The Wineyard (2 litres for £4), and we sell it to you fine folks in plastic jugs for a one-off deposit of £2.50 (which you get back if you decide you don’t want any more refills of course). We were running low on said jugs though, so we decided to get some of our very own customised bad boys whipped up to replenish our supply, and we think they look rather good! If you agree, why not pop in and have a free taste of whatever we have on tap at the time? If you like the beer, you can take it home in one of these. What’s that you say? Already got one of the old jugs and paid the deposit for it? Prefer the new design? Return the old jug and we’ll swap it for a new style 2.0 tankard no problem!

Darriaud Reserve Cotes du Rhone Villages 2007

Darriaud Reserve Cotes du Rhone Villages 2007
Originally uploaded by The Wineyard

Been drinking some very approachable easy going Cotes du Rhone recently – Went particularly well with some mince pies after dinner, and only costs £6.99 – Bargain wine for that money in my opinion. A blend of 3 grapes: Syrah, Grenache and Mouverde.

Things to come

Hoping to put in some late nights this week to get this blogging business kick-started properly. The main focus of this blog will be to discuss things related to our shop, such as events we're organising/have had, new stock we're getting in, and so on. However, I also intend to write up my own tasting notes on as many of our wines as possible as I work my way through them all (I've been working for The Wineyard for about 3.5 months so plenty to be written about already). In addition, I'm thinking of posting some educational stuff as I develop my wine-world knowledge, so I may do themed posts on different regions or grapes, which should provide an ideal introduction to a topic for the wine novices out there such as myself.

If there is anything you would like to see being blogged/written about in relation to The Wineyard and my journey into the world of wine, or you have any questions at all, I'd love to hear from you so please get in touch and I'll respond personally ASAP.

Email: Ben@thewineyard.co.uk
Twitter: http://ping.fm/Q4GT8
Facebook: Search "The Wineyard & Deli"

Testing out Ping.fm to see how well it works...

Orange wine

Just been reading about a fascinating new discovery (for me at least) - Orange wines!

http://www.artisanandvine.com/store/index.php?route=product/category&path=77_81

Never heard of them before, but I think I shall be doing some research on this. Incidentally, if you're in London tonight, you could always go along to this tasting to try them for yourself and let us know what you think:

http://www.artisanandvine.com/store/index.php?route=product/product&path=150&product_id=163

Exclusive Facebook/Twitter special offer?

I've been trying to come up with a way to get our customers more involved with our Facebook/Twitter pages now that they're up and running, and I'm considering running an exclusive special offer for those of you who engage with us through these social networking sites. Get in touch and let me know what you think.

The premise behind the offer is that you post one of your favourite wines on Facebook, or tweet them to us on Twitter, along with a brief explanation of why you like them. I will then suggest a wine I really enjoy that I think you would like, based on what you've told me, and include things like tasting notes and background information on the grower/vintage. If you like the sound of my suggested wine, you let me know, and I'll send you a personal exclusive code for a special discounted price for you if you buy 1 bottle of each wine (your favourite, and my choice). Come in the shop armed with your code, snag yourself 2 excellent bottles of wine at a great price, take them home and give them a whirl. After you've tried my recommendation, you hop back on Facebook/Twitter and post your thoughts - whether you liked it and why, and if you're feeling adventurous, write up your own tasting notes. Based on your feedback, I'll recommend another wine for you to try in the future, and hopefully you'll keep giving us your thoughts so that we can help you find more new styles of wine, or excellent examples of your favourites, and also to hopefully encourage others to try new wines too.

The idea behind running this promotion would be to build better relationships with each of you, and to get to know you all a bit better. We always want our customers to enjoy their wine, and the more we get to know each of you, the better able we are to recommend wines that we know you'll really love. Hopefully, by giving each of you personalised recommendations and special offers, we can also help you guys find great new wines that you wouldn't necessarily have tried before, and we can also help you to learn more about the wines and your own personal tastes.

Whatever your thoughts on this idea, I would love to hear them. Nothing is set in stone yet, so I can't promise that this will happen, but if there's enough enthusiasm for it, then it's certainly something I'd like to give a go. If you're keen, get in touch so I have an idea of how many people are interested in taking up such an offer. If you don't like the sound of this, or think we could be doing something different or better, then please tell me and we'll adjust or overhaul the idea to better meet your expectations.

First post

The Wineyard & Deli's blog goes live!

We'll see how this develops with time, but for now at least the plan is to use this space for all our general musings on the shop and the wine trade, and to kick around ideas for the future. Feel free to get in touch (in fact we'd love you to). We're active on Twitter (http://twitter.com/thewineyard), and Facebook (search for "The Wineyard & Deli"), can be emailed (Ben@thewineyard.co.uk), or phoned (01524 400011). Or of course you could pop into the shop and stop for a chat! :)