James Bercovici - The Big Red Wine Company

After I posted yesterday about my current obsession with curing meats, I was challenged by a few, no doubt sceptical, readers (yes, apparently I do have them) so here is a shot of what's maturing right now. On the left, some venison pancetta (I just had a bacon sandwich: very meaty but really rather good) and the salamis: pork, venison and (pork) chorizo. These were all started on 17th March so they'll need a few weeks to reduce to 70% of their original weight which, apparently, is the point where they are ready to eat although, from my first attempts, they will need much longer to dry to the point where I would want to enjoy them. At that point I can vacuum seal any that need to have their maturation slowed down. Basic salami recipe: 500g pork belly 500g pork shoulder  – both should be ground fairly thick then mixed with the wine and: 100ml red wine (I used Muro's Rioja Crianza 2015 'Bujanda' since I was also making chorizo, saving the rest of th...

Actually, since off licenses have been deemed permitted businesses, things have been rather busy here but with the whole family at home all the time (except for the daily exercise exeat), the day seems longer than usual. No school runs for one thing. This means my desk is, for once, clear and, whilst I wait for a new delivery from the warehouse, I have time to plant some new asparagus crowns, make a batch of ragu big enough to last the first stage of lockdown (although I am in doubt that this will continue well into the summer) and, for the first time this year, write a blog post. I will endeavour to do more of this in the days and weeks to come although I don't know if anyone is remotely interested - sign up or 'friend' this blog or whatever is supposed to happen so I know someone is reading this! I think there will be two main strands to whatever nonsense I write for the time being: wine and everything else. Everything else will probably be dominated by food since that,...

2006 in La Morra was a year of tannic monsters. The Serradenari Barolo was one such wine but fairly good natured by comparison to Crissante Alessandria's 'Roggeri' . When I was first assaulted by this cuvee, I thought there was fruit lurking somewhere and was persuaded that, given time, it would come good. Now, ten years on, my potential gullibility has given way to faith in my trusting nature. This is a fantastic Barolo on the elegant end of the spectrum (in contrast to an equally enjoyable but far more expensive Sandrone Barolo enjoyed recently) with tannins that dance to the tune of the violin sonata this wine evokes. Fabulous stuff. Another oldie, relatively speaking, was the 2009 Les Hauts de Montmirail from Domaine Brusset enjoyed after an equally inspiring (and reassuring) 2009 Anonyme from Xavier Vignon . Why reassuring? Because 2009 was a hot vintage and wines often tend towards blowsiness. Not these two, certainly not at ten years' old anyway. Very refined ...

Another great vintage for Burgundy.  I have tasted quite a lot of 2017s over the last few weeks and have rarely enjoyed  en primeur  tastings as much. Forward and aromatic are two words that are going to be used to describe the 2017 vintage in Burgundy. I would add ‘joyous’ to the list. Weather-wise, it was a hot year. Indeed, after 2003 and 2018, it is the hottest year on record (remember the heatwave across Europe which went by the name of Lucifer?). However, whilst heat helps with ripeness (and therefore fruit), this can be at the expense of structure, especially acidity which is, perhaps, the most important structural element in Pinot Noir wines. Not to worry, the wines are finely structured too, balanced with depth of fruit to age but most can drink well young (certainly younger than the more obviously tannic 2015s and acidic 2016s). It is said (of Burgundy, at least) if a wine is good in youth, it will always be good (Henri Jayer). Generally, Burgund...

Davy Strange of Elitistreview.com was the grateful recipient of a bottle sent to him by one of our more unusual customers - unusual in that he sent a bottle of wine he had purchased from us to a self-declared madcap reviewer he didn't actually know. Davy has had quite a lot of experience of Jean-Marc Joblot 's wines but I think this may be his first taste of anything put together by daughter Juliette and Davy certainly seemed a little upset that Juliette had dared to blend his beloved Servoisine with anything else, even if it was with the other Premier Cru wines from the same village and vintage. Not to worry, he clearly loved the resulting cuvee, the 2016 Givry Premier Cru 'L'Empreintes' and sent me a note the following day, raving about it and demanding that I hold some wine back for him. The great British public don't generally rush to buy £30 bottles of wine so I didn't think this would be a great problem Jancis Robinson doesn't appear to have ...

It is a rare dinner - other than with just the family - where I am one of the older people but the average age of the people around the table last night was very slightly lower than mine. An Italian theme seemed to fit the mood but I can never decide what to serve with asparagus, even when wrapped in prosciutto and sprinkled with parmesan before being baked so I went with the simple solution of encouraging everyone to continue with their pre-dinner drink which, in most cases, meant more of i Campi's rather fun Prosecco (I had, by this time, moved on to a delightful Mosel Riesling brought back from a trip there a couple of summers ago). The main course was more straightforward: egg yolk pasta with a wild boar sauce (NOT ragu). This was to be followed by a simple cheese course of 36-month matured parmesan so this seemed a good opportunity to crack open a magnum of Enrico Nada's 2007 Barbaresco 'Casot' which sports the black label normally reserved for Reserva wines. 200...

Recently returned from our annual trip hopping across the Alps (we managed the journey over the top of the Colle Madelene/Col d'Arche which affords stunning views and around 22 hairpin bends on the Italian side - not good if you get stuck behind a camper van) having visited lots of wineries both in Piedmont and the Rhone. As every enthusiast knows, 2015 was an exceptional year throughout Europe (certainly all the major wine-growing regions of France and northern Italy where we work) with wines that often need a bit of cellaring but have the capacity to age magnificently. In the main, these are the wines we offered 'en primeur' this time last year. Now it is the turn of the 2016s. In Piedmont, I was struck by the explosion of fruit in the Langhe Nebbiolo wines I tasted from 2016. Actually, it was probably more the acidity levels in these wines which kept the fruit very much alive on the palate. Fantastic food wines. Of course, it is only the basic Nebbs that are currentl...