Oh Riesling...How do I love thee!

Possibly my favorite class, we explored two of my favored grapes Riesling and Shiraz. I've always preferred reds to white, but I LOVE Riesling. It's an aromatic grape and I like that combination of floral, perfume and fruit that really develops in grapes like Riesling or Gewurztraminer. Also Rieslings can produce such sweetness it's as satisfying as Banoffee pie. In class we learn about the classic and premium regions for each grape and country, which basically means where they make it best and this will always be noted on the label. Germany is the home of Riesling, but premium regions also include Alsace, Austria and Clare & Eden Valleys in Australia. Although on Saturday, Hub and I tried this Marlborough Pyramid Valley Riesling (£20) from Noble Wines and it was lovely. The owner highly recommended it and I knew that Marlborough is a premium region in New Zealand.

Not all Rieslings are sweet and I do enjoy a nice dry Riesling. In Germany Rieslings are labelled according to sweetness and from low to high they are: Kabinett, Spatlese, Auslese, Beerenauslese, Trockenbeerenauslese and Eiswein. Most likely they will fall on the sweeter side unless noted as dry. In class we tried the '11 Grosset Springvale Watervale Riesling from Clare Valley (£21.99) and the '11 Maximin Grünhäuser Abtsberg Riesling Spätlese (£19.99). They were outstanding and I made sure to over-pour and finish both my tasting glass.

We next moved onto Syrah/Shiraz and I always thought that these were sister grapes, but in fact they are the same grape and it's originally from France. Actually, when in France you can only call it Syrah or they will pretend they don't know what you are talking about. If you like big, spicy, black fruit and oaky reds like Shiraz, then keep an eye out for these classic and premium regions when shopping:

• In Northern Rhone, France: Crozes-Hermitage, Hermitage, Cote Rotie
• In Southern Rhone, France: Cotes du Rhone, Cotes du Rhone Villages and Chateauneuf-du-Pape
• In Australia: Heathcote, Hunter Valley, Barossa and McLaren Vale. 

We tried this amazing '11 St. Hallet Barossa Faith Shiraz for only £12.95. It smelled a bit minty, of spice & vanilla and sweet fruit. We rated it outstanding and for that price, it doesn't get any better. 

Syrah/Shiraz can be blended with other grapes including Grenache, which we also learned about. Grenache or Garnacha likes hot weather and it brings red fruit and low acidity/tannins, which softens wines like Syrah. My favorite Syrah/Grenache blend is Chat-en-Oeuf, which is a lovely easy drinking red with lots of fruit and spice. My best friend Jessie first introduced me to this wine in Paris and turns out it's made by Boutinot, where my friend Laurene works. I've often spoken about Laurene, she has incredible taste and I love her enthusiasm for wine. 

Have you been to the Light Show?

Cerith Wyn Evans, S=U=P=E=R=S=T=R=U=C=T=U=R=E

Recently Hub and I went to see the Light Show at the Hayward Gallery with a group of our friends. We don't often take advantage of the exciting things happening in London so we jumped when our friend Benj organized this gathering. It was a nice change from the typical Friday night bender and just felt really grown up. Does that sound silly? Here are some photos I snuck in while the guards were not looking. 

Leo Villareal, Cylinder

David Batchelor, The Magic Hour

Ceal Floyer, Throw

Hub in Chromosaturation. This piece by Carlos Cruz-Diez was one of my favorites and it really highlighted Hub's sexy glare. What a looker, right!

Anthony McCall, You and I, Horizontal

Ann Veronica Janssens

We really enjoyed this exhibit and if you're in London, you should check it out! It's going on until 6th of May. The installations were a combination of visually striking pieces and experiential.

If anyone orders Merlot, I'm leaving!

Remember that scene in Sideways? Well in our latest class we learned about Merlot and I can understand Miles argument for this rather simple grape. Merlot, on it's own, is an easy drinking (boring) wine with either red fruit flavors like strawberry or in hotter climates black fruit. But it lacks intensity, tannins and acidity compared to other grapes and needs a bit of blending in order to take it to the next level. The irony in the film is that Miles' prized 1961 Cheval Blanc is a Bordeaux blend of Merlot and Cabernet Franc.

Image from http://www.jascots.co.uk

Things I learned:

• Typical flavors of Cabernet Sauvignon are black fruits, herbaceous notes and oak is frequently used adding things like smoke, vanilla, and coffee
• Merlot is less intense compared to Cab Sauv, but produces more alcohol and body because the grape is fatter. It also like oak
• These grapes are often blended together because their like yin and yang, their distinct characteristics balance each other out

With Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, the wines are often blended but one grape will dominate. In France, you have to know which grapes dominate within each region. With New World wines, it's written on the label. The two Merlot we tried were nice, but I much preferred the the two Cabernet. We had an '06 Chateau Batailley Grand Cru Classe (£39.99) and a '09 Robert Mondavi Napa Valley (£19.99). They were richer and sweeter compared to Merlot and our teacher mentioned that the '06 Chateau Batailley will taste amazing in 10-20 years. Hub and I are thinking we should invest in a couple of bottles and hold on!

We then went on to try two Sauvignon Blancs, one from New Zealand and one from the Loire Valley. Both were very good and inexpensive. I can feel my senses developing a bit more and I smelled fresh water in the '11 Domain Girault Sancerre Le Chene Du Roy (£11.99) and it tasted kind of grassy mixed with green apples. The '12 Wild South Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc (£12.99) had a unique combination of citrus, peppers and tropical fruits.

After class, one of my classmates introduced me to this cool app called Vivino and basically you take a photo of a label and it immediately gives you a brief about the wine, but more importantly where you can buy it. Cool, noh? I was impressed and Hub immediately downloaded it onto his phone.