Saturday
started like any Saturday does, I rolled out of bed, had a relaxing coffee,
read The Spectator and then did a few wee jobs in the house and caught-up with
an email or two. The afternoon, bright and sunny and at times cold and
showery, looked like it would be predictable enough too, I was planning to take
Zoë, my daughter, for a quick visit to the vineyard and do a bit of the
pruning; if it stayed dry enough. But then I got text message from Duncan
saying 'Can you collect your Nyetimber and there's some Danebury Cossack '09
fizz for you to review too,' and suddenly Saturday evening was filled with new
promise of something slightly less mundane. English sparkling excites me
in a way that few wines do.
We've
been fortunate enough to get hold of a decent stock of Nyetimber Classic Cuvee
2004, so obviously I earmarked a few bottles to try (it was the only decent
thing to do), I was just waiting for a good moment to go get it from Duncan's.
The Danebury was a lovely bonus. So off we drove in the sunshine to
collect it. On the way back we stopped by the vineyard but, predictably
enough, it clouded over and rained so it was just a quick visit to give Zoë the
chance of a runaround and burn off some energy (anyone with an energetic 6 year
old will know it has to be done, no matter what the weather) and we picked up a
bit of shopping and headed back to watch The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles that
Zoë forced me to buy - no, honestly.
Danebury Cossack 2009
So,
after getting home and sticking the Danbury in the fridge for a decent enough
length of time to chill, and with the dulcet tones of Leonardo, Raphael and Co.
hard at work tearing up evil samurais in downtown New York emanating from the
living room I got my notebook out. Danebury Cossack is a sparkling wine
that is well known to us at The English Wine Shop, where the 2006 has been a consistently popular.
This Hampshire vineyard estate is located on a former racetrack, the
horses that raced there inspiring their wine names. Cossack being the
1847 Epsom Derby winner, fittingly adorning the label of a wine with a medal
winning pedigree.
The
Cossack is a blend of Auxerrois and Pinot Gris (Rulander) grapes, making a
sparkling that, to my mind anyway, sings of its inventive Englishness, taking
none traditional Champagne varieties and turning them into a sparkling that can
stand alongside any made from the holy trinity. These wines are aged on
their lees for 4 years, to add complexity and structure. The 2006 is
good, interesting, crisp and citrusy with undertones of pear and a fresh
brioche finish and, deservedly, it is a 2012 IWSC bronze medal winner.
However, the 2009 was something else. Some of those characteristics
in the 2006 were still there but somehow writ large and made richer. The gold tinted
clear vino showed a lively yet refined bubble and the nose revealed a hint of
tropical fruit, pineapples perhaps. Hard fruit flavours of apples and
pears showed through beautifully, elegantly and showing a hint of pineapple
again but it was the fresh yeasty breadiness adding some excitement.
Here
is a wine that would be a fabulous occasion sparkling and that would pair
beautifully with a variety of canapés, especially seafood ones. It's also a
wine that will soon appear on our website. This is an astonishingly
good bottle of fizz and I'm pleased to hear that it will be entered into the
IWSC 2015 - this could place well. Needless to say Saturday evening
proceeded most pleasantly.
Nyetimber Classic Cuvée 2004
Well,
Sunday morning passed off predictably enough too, a lie-in, coffee and brunch,
because I was intending to work in the vineyard pruning. I headed out and
quickly discovered that there was a raw biting wind but undeterred I went to
the vineyard. About 20 minutes into it the rain started lashing down and
turned into occasional sleet and hail before becoming full-blown snow.
Aside from being a thankless task in those conditions there's some sound
evidence that pruning in the wet doesn't do the vines much good either.
So, working in the best interests of the vines you understand, I
abandoned the task. The Nyetimber was already chilling - I do like to
plan ahead.
Everyone
that knows English wine, particularly sparkling wine, knows about Nyetimber,
from West Sussex, that now quintessentially English sparkling that nearly two
decades ago lead the vanguard for using the Champagne varieties of Chardonnay,
Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier and that has now reputedly become HM The Queen's
favourite drop of fizz. The medal haul and embarrassment that has been caused
to some of the great Champagne houses has been speaking volumes since the late
90s and the sparkling that has come out of Nyetimber has consistently shattered
the expectations of doubters and set the bar for English fizz. So you'll
forgive me if I say that I was a tad excited by the prospect of opening this
wine and as such expectation was high, as I'm sure you can appreciate.
Now,
the 2004 Classic Cuvée is something of a rarity these days, and on release was
noted for its austerity, its high acidity and citrusy lemon flavours. 2004 was
a mixed year but a more normal one than the preceding hot and dry 2003,
which produced gentler, more rounded flavours and balanced acidity.
Following a warmer than average August, picking took place in, a slightly
damper than usual October and it was already evident that this wine would be
very different from the world beating 2003 - a notable connoisseurs wine. So,
with a degree of success and noteworthiness the 2004, when it was released,
like all Nyetimber wines sold well and has since seen the release of a further
five vintages, culminating in the recent 2009 release, so you can see why
there's not much of it about. All Nyetimber wines are aged for a good
length of time on their lees before release. Most fizz can start to drop off
about at around 8-10 years, unless of course it is of excellent quality and
craftsmanship, so I wondered how this sparkling would be, now into its eleventh
year.
So,
with no small amount of trepidation I opened the bottle and poured a taster,
and the first thing that struck me was its strong and deep lemony hue and
delightfully effervescent small bubbles swirling up the glass and the rich pungent
scent of lemons on the nose. The first sip led me to an inescapable
conclusion: this was a big, bold and powerful sparkling. The acidity was
still there and in a good way, giving supporting structure to those powerful,
complex, lemon merangue flavours and aromas. There was a taste of the
earth too about this wine, expressing a minerality that has been there since
its release but that has now mellowed into something that speaks of the gentle
South Downs. This is a wine that was quite different to the Danebury I had
tried the day before, a wine to be savoured and enjoyed, and perhaps, because
it is bold it may not be to everyones taste. I loved it. this
was a wine to wrap yourself in and indulge in and to think of the promise of the
English soil.
Sunday,
despite the lousy weather turned out pretty well too.
Cheers & Enjoy
Barry
