November is often a time when we often turn our thoughts to Christmas and look for something to help celebrate the occasion. It has become a bit of a tradition that we look at a few special wines to try at this time of year and this month was no exception.
We started the evening, tasting two Cremants: one from the Loire and the other from Bourgogne. There are a number of Cremants available from across France now and they have grown in popularity, with approximately 100 million bottles being produced each year. These wines give you a sparkling wine that is made in the same way as your typical Champagne, but at a fraction of the price and with the ability to use many different grape varieties. This gives a them wider range of flavours to suit different tastes and they are a refreshing alternative to Prosecco or Cava: if you have not tried Cremant yet it is definitely worth the a sip or two!
We next tried two Champagnes. It’s very easy to head to the “safety” of a Grand Marque bottle such as Moet & Chandon, Veuve Cliquot or Bollinger. These offer great Champagnes with the consistency of knowing what you are getting but do have a price tag associated with them which can be a little eye watering! If you are looking for something a little different then look out for a bottle with the initials “RM” (Recoltant Manipulant) on it. These are wineries that are independent and produce Champagne made from grapes from their own vineyards rather than being bought in, which is the norm for the well known brands. They do not have the marketing funds to promote the wine heavily but all effort is put in to making some exceptional, smaller volumes of wine that can be much better value than some of the well known brands.
Port is an absolute classic at Christmas. We tried 2-, 10- and then 20-year old Tawny Port. The first was served cold and the others at room temperature. Chilled port enhances its crispness and highlights its fruity notes, whilst serving it at room temperature brings out its rich, nutty and caramel flavours. Why not start off with a cold port and see how it changes over the course of the evening?
Sherry is another Christmas special but as at least one of our members will advocate, it’s not just for Christmas! The amount of effort that is put in to making sherry is not always appreciated: it often takes 5-20 years to produce an Oloroso or Ximenez and the price point doesn’t really reflect this. Some sherries therefore provide exceptional value for money. We tried a Romate Maribel medium dry Amontillado. Try it, and you might find yourself drinking it well beyond Christmas!
Finally, we tried a dessert wine from a lesser known grape called Tannat. If you are not a fan of Christmas pud, then look out for this grape, get yourself some dark chocolate, sit back and enjoy!
