Agathon, Mount Athos, Evangelos Tsantali 2007: Organic Greek claret, yes really

very decent indeed

Well not quite.

Claret of course can only be from Bordeaux.

Unless, that is, you are Basil Fawlty.

But I blind tasted you on this you would swear this was 5-10 year old cabernet sauvignon from the left bank of the Gironde. You really would.

It took a while to come out of its shell and definitely needs 12 or 24 hours of decanting. I've had it open for 48 hours in the fridge with the air sucked out of the bottle and it's now really opening up.

And yes, it's from Greece. A blend of organic local Limnio and Cabernet grapes, it's really both a gem and a bargain.
It has the classic claret flavours for me. A little age, black fruit, a hint of smokiness and some tannins to give it character.

For £10.99 a bottle it's well worth a try. Here's where I bought it, my first purchase I think, from UK wine site Swig.

I'm a sucker for well written wine pitch from the various websites I sign up to for updates on wines. They sold me on the location as much as the tasting notes:

"The vineyards lie on the slopes of Mount Athos in Macedonia, which takes its name from the mythical giant, Athos, who threw an enormous boulder at the god Poseidon, but his aim was poor and it landed in the Aegean Sea, creating the rocky peninsula named after him. Known today by most Greeks as ‘Holy Mountain’, it is home to twenty monasteries (see photo above), where Eastern Orthodox monks live and work and farm the land organically. Evangelos Tsantali, the winemaker, buys their grapes and continues those principles in the winery, making a wine that is certified as fully organic."

"The blend is an even split between the local grape variety, Limnio, known for its velvety influence on a wine’s texture, and Cabernet Sauvignon. A double act similar to Bordeaux, where Merlot adds soft flesh to Cabernet’s muscle. Its gentle flavours and fine aromatics can be attributed to the fact that the vineyards sit at a height above sea level that confers warm days, but cold nights – the essential recipe for aromatic expression."

Swig Tasting Note: “Medium deep Morello cherry colour with just a touch of brick showing at the rim.  It has a delicately perfumed, Claret-like nose, with a lovely hint of autumnal maturity. It’s the sort of wine you want to sip slowly and keep coming back to, as it unfurls slowly in the glass. There are all the classic Cabernet Sauvignon notes of blackcurrant leaf, plum and capsicum, framed by notes of pencil shavings and powdered spices from the 8 months spent in new French barriques. The fruit on the palate is soft, ripe and subtly spiced, old-fashioned, almost, in its fine-grained texture and has the feel of a carefully handmade wine. The Claret-like impression on the nose gives way to a sunnier character on the palate, more reminiscent of a Tuscan Cabernet, with notes of dark cherry, cassis, laurel and the mellow aromas of mahogany and chestnuts. It’s not a ‘modern’ wine, so I wouldn’t recommend it if your default choice of red is a Californian Merlot, but it’s a lovely wine to serve just below room temperature and enjoy with a big cote de boeuf, a haunch of venison or barbecued lamb chops. 14% alc. Drink now-2017.”

Bisquertt Cabernet Sauvignon Reserva 2009 - A very decent Chilean quaffer

This is a solid easy drinker from Chile's Colchagua valley.

Now at five years old it's got a certain maturity, lots of forward fruit with balanced oak (i.e. not too much vanilla) and black cherry, some cloves and cassis.

You can't seem to go wrong with Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon. I've not had one I disliked.

Some are over the top on the fruit, the alcohol and the American oak (which gives the vanilla undertones)

This one was around £14 bought at duty free in Guilin airport in China.

Some of the other wines from Bisquertt seem to be a lot cheaper, the same in USD, so perhaps I over paid.

On the other hand this is apparently a reserve so who knows.

Anyhow, it's nothing hugely special, but goes down wonderfully as I drink it here in Taiwan on holiday, with, of all things, wasabi soy nuts.

Not ideal food matching, but the Bisquertt can handle it.

Perhaps this wine is not to everyone's taste, but very tasty nonetheless. A Burgundy fan probably won't like it.

The producer has a lovely website, and says Wine Spectator rated it a top value 2009 Cabernet.

Their site is here, worth a look around.

Arboleda Cabernet Sauvignon 2010: An Aconcagua gem

This is a beautiful boutique wine from the Aconcagua valley in Chile.

It's what you might expect from a Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon.

Lots of character, delicious big bold fruit but eventually with a subtle complexity and length of finish I haven't always found in New World Wines.

It's become much much better in the 24 hours since I opened it.

In that time, somehow, a hint of age has crept in. It's become that much more structured and balanced.

At first the fruit and alchohol and American oal (I'm guessing) is quite over powering. I was at first a little disappointed.

But give it 12-24 hours and it smooths out a little, opens up and whilst you still get the oak on the nose, it's much less so on the palate. There are few tannins that I can detect.

I tasted this at Chilean wine tasting here in London a few months ago, and it was by far the top of the list of around a dozen boutique small vineyard Chilean wines.

But then I don't much like Merlot (top right bank Bordeaux aside!) so maybe that's just me.

The winery itself, pictured here, looks stunning. I am visiting Chile in October so may try to pay a visit.

They have even looked at their biodiversity footprint. Impressive stuff. 

This was about £14 per bottle from Roberson's wines in London, but I think I bought their last case, sorry.

Chilean wine has apparently one of the lowest pesticide "footprints" due to the growing conditions in at least some of the country. I can't wait to get back there.

Poujeaux 2008: Solid, if unspectacular, every day drinking

Cru Bourgeois from Moulis

Poujeaux is often regarded as one of the best of the small region of Moulis. Here's a map.

I've tried a few before. The 2004 and another vintage which I forget

I liked the 2004, the forgotten one I was not a fan of. I recall it was far too austere for me. Or perhaps had not been stored correctly, who knows.

This 2008 is just the right side of restrained for me. It's mostly Cabernet Sauvignon, but with more Merlot than you can taste.

It's not got a huge amount about it, but sometimes that's what you want. A nice, simple classy Medoc without too much bright fruit. (God, I hate that term)

So for a simple reliable 2008, if you like classic Medoc, it's worth a punt. It's clearly changing quickly as it ages though, as you can see from the Winedoctor's reviews.

For UK folks, it's about £20 a bottle, and worth it at that price.

I picked up my bottle at Carrefour in Bordeaux (amusingly, having just been tasting the 2012 harvest out of the vat at Le Pin!.. ah how the mighty fall) for about 13-15 Euros I think.

Los Vascos Cabernet Sauvignon 2011: A real find

This is my first post for a while.

I've been away, in Brazil, Turkey, China, Germany, Malta, Indonesia, Malaysia, India, France and Singapore. Phew. It's nice to be back in Blighty for a bit.

Of those, only Turkey, China and Germany have half-decent wines :)

France of course, was amazing. More on my recent Bordeaux trip in another post. 

More also on Turkish and Chinese wine later.

I would not recommend Brazilian wines.

They say the sparkling white and Cabernet reds from the south are drinkable.

They are wrong. In Brazil, drink Chilean reds. Or Argentinian of course. Uruguay has some wine too, but one hears it's not up to much.

In particular in Brazil I'd suggest Carmenere, which I found very passable in many restaurants on the North East coast of the country. More on that, again later.

Meanwhile, here's a true gem of a wine: Los Vascos Cabernet Sauvignon 2011.

I've tasted, and posted on, the 2007, a while back, which is superb at the price.

I was dubious about the 2011. So young, how could it compete?

But it does. It has similar characteristics to the 2007: The richness, the excellent acid balance, the supple smoothness and the spine. Overall I'd rather drink the 2007, as it has aged just a tad, and so had broadened out a little. The 2011 is still quite tight, if you know what I mean.

But what a wine at the price!

I bought this bottle above in Dusseldorf airport for around 10 Euros. A total bargain.

It's what you'd expect from Lafite Rothschilds, but it's a whole heap better than anything else in that price range.

In the UK of course, rip off central, you pay a bit more. £10 or £11 a bottle. But well worth it.

It's to be my next quaffing case for sure. Once I have got through my case of Clos d'Alzan 2010 (bought en primeur at £7 a bottle and amazing, I am pleased to say) and a case of Tracot Beaujolais Recolte 2011 (ideal for Christmas chugging, from Berry Brothers). More on those, later.