Dryathlon - two weekends completed

Whilst I have always enjoyed wine mid-week, the weekends are traditionally trickier although not necessarily around here since our middle son won a place on the Royal Ballet School's Junior Associates programme and has to be ferried to London every Saturday morning, thereby rendering Saturdays extremely tiring and socialising out of the (car) window. However, two of the four weekends of my dry month are now out of the way and still my only regrets about doing this are my enjoyment of a glass or several once the children are upstairs.

However, there are a couple of down sides to all of this that I had not expected. Whereas I had hoped to shed a few pounds, the hole in my diet caused by all of this seems to be replaced by puddings. Worse still, I am sleeping so heavily now that I am waking up with aches all down the side of my body. Nobody told me about the perils of a good night's sleep!

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Joblot in the glass

Always one of my favourite tastings: the new vintage – in this case the 2019s – of Domaine Joblot’s wines from the bottle and, better still, in the comfort of my own home. 2019 has been much lauded but, thanks to Covid, only a very few people have tasted widely around the vintage. Jancis Robinson said of the wines she tasted, ‘ the wines were delightfully easy to like ’ although she rarely looks at the Chalonnaise which can be viewed as unfortunate for the top estates there but, perhaps, lucky for us since it keeps prices down and wines available. Anyone wanting to delve into Joblot’s wines could either choose any available vintagesand try wines from across the range or follow particular cuvées across a range of vintages (horizontal or vertical comparisons). Juliette was clearly pleased with the way the wines turned out and rightly so. They tend towards sweetness in their youth but that is necessary for the wines to show at their best after 5-10m years (they will last much, much ...

Juvenal strikes a home run again

Super critic Jeb Dunnuck (the new Parker?) has tasted the current range from Chateau Juvenal - he likes them! For now, we only have the 'everyday' range of Ventoux wines called 'Ribes de Vallat'. Here's what he has to say about them: Ribes de vallat 2021 Blanc 'I loved the two whites from Juvenal. Based largely on Clairette, the 2021 Ventoux Les Ribes Du Vallat Blanc has pretty pear, crushed citrus, and honeyed flower notes in a medium-bodied, fresh, mineral-laced package perfect for near- term drinking.' 2023-2026 (91/100) Ribes de Vallat 2019 Rouge 'Moving to the reds, the entry level 2021 Ventoux Les Ribes Du Vallat is well worth seeking out. Juicy darker berries, raspberries, peppery garrigue, and floral notes define the aromatics, and this medium-bodied, round, supple, delicious Grenache is best drunk over the coming 3-5 years. ' 2023-2028 (89/100) He's right! These are consistently enjoyable and immensely good value too. Enjoy!

A pair of Santenays

Justin Girardin's Premier Cru Beauregard: 2017 v 2018 It's been a while... I realise I haven't posted in over two years so, to make amends, here's a note about two wines for the summer season (actually, why not all year round?). A (very) mini-vertical from rising star, Justin Girardin. First, a word about the price: £30 for the 2018 and only sixty pence short of that for the 2017. Thirty pounds? That's a lot of money for a bottle, isn't it? No, this is Burgundy where, ordinarily, that sort of cash barely gets a bottle of Bourgogne Rouge, the lowliest appellation other than the somewhat confused and confusing Passetoutgrains and Coteaux Bourguignon (traditionally, anyway). So, a couple of bargains then? All depends on the wine. First, as custom dictates, the 2018: slightly fuller in colour than its older sibling. More extracted or slightly oxidised? It smells like it should so I'm going with the former. Beauregard is usually one of the softer Santenays and t...

James Bercovici - The Big Red Wine Company

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