James Bercovici - The Big Red Wine Company

 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...

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!

 Two vintages of Fabrizio Battaglino ' s Nebbiolo d'Alba 'Para'di' (OK, so that doesn't translate as 'Paradise' but allow me some licence), both very good years - 2019 and (on paper, even better) 2020. Young but this is his first port of call for Nebbiolo so it's meant to be drunk young (albeit not necessarily this young). Are they drinking well now and what, if anything, distinguishes them from each other? In time honoured fashion, 2020 first, just because it's younger. It's got quite big fruit for a Nebbiolo grown in the Roero hills but, then, you only have to try Giacosa's Valmaggiore from the hill next door to see that's not uncommon or a bad thing. There's power here. It seems to deserve a higher appellation status - think of this as the Piedmontese equivalent of a Côtes du Rhône; this is far more interesting than all but a handful of wines from that area. 2020 was a superb vintage though and this isn't bucking the trend....

Tasting young wines can be tricky but, perhaps, the hardest to assess are red Burgundies. One grape (Pinot Noir, of course) and subtly but importantly different terroirs  yielding surprisingly different wines, even when from the same clones of more or less the same age. Enter Domaine Joblot's 2020s. Givry is at the southernmost point of the Côte Chalonnaise, about half an hour south of Beaune. It is not one of the prettiest villages in the region but it is widely regarded as producing the finest reds in this (relatively) good value sector of Burgundy. Domaine Joblot is 'a leader in Givry' (Jasper Morris MW, Inside Burgundy) or, simply, 'Givry's best estate' (Clive Coates MW, The Wines of Burgundy). It lies on the D981 with most if the vineyards (and all the premier cru wines) on the west side of the road. In Domaine Joblot's portfolio, only the village (ie. non-premier cru)  'Pied de Chaume ' is on the east side of the road, north of the village itse...

 In advance of a Decanter tasting of 2009 and 2019 Châteauneuf, I thought it was time for me to try a mini-vertical tasting of the wine from Raymond Usseglio et Fils . The 2019 is 80% Grenache, 20% Syrah, Mourvedre, Cinsault and Counoise and weighs in at 14.5%. It was a hot year in the region, especially the summer. It has a very youthful but very pure nose and the Grenache is certainly the dominant feature here as it is on the palate . The other grapes are there in the background but definitely in support (try the 'Part des Anges' cuvée, on the other hand, for a completely different story). It is medium-to-full bodied, a nice weight to complement the palate, and has slightly chalky tannins at present but these give a little more flesh to the wine. Presumably they emanate from the barrels which are subtly present (more so texturally than in flavour). A good finish - it persists for quite a while and in a very pleasing way. Stef recommends decanting this in its youth. I didn...

 A quick perusal shows that Fabrizio Battaglino has some well-deserved awards in the 2022 edition including for his 2019 Nebbiolo d'Alba 'Paradi', a wine which is coming into its own well now ( Due Bicchieri ) and the 2020 Roero Arneis 'Bastia', a lovely Arneis with a little more richness than the younger vine 'San Michele' (both also Due Bicchieri,  the latter in the 2019 edition).  Lots of entries too for I Campi, our Veneto superstar estate. This year it has yet another  Tre Bicchieri  but, for the first time (I think) for the regular Valpolicella Superiore in a vintage I have yet to try. If Covid restrictions are eased in time, it will be on my list of addresses to visit while stocks last! Only (a maximum of) one Tre Bicchieri is awarded per estate each year so the red Due Bicchieri  for the Soave Classico "Vulcano' should be regarded as every bit as worthy of the top prize.  Elsewhere, in Decanter last month, Matt Walls' focus on "othe...

In the country in July but, thanks to a processing error, Justin Girardin's wines - the first we have imported since he went solo (earlier vintages were bottled under his father Jacques' name) - have only just become available to us. Obviously we tasted them months ago but, equally obviously, we wanted to taste them again. They're good. Earlier in the year, the 2019 'Terrasses de Bievaux' Santenay Blanc was slightly masked by oak but this has dissipated now to reveal a gorgeously fresh with citrus and tropical fruits abounding. The 2018 Premier Cru reds have fleshed out nicely and can be enjoyed already; the 2017 is more focussed. Why wait? However, the big event took place over the last 48 hours: tasting four red Chassagne-Montrachet Premier Cru wines from the excellent 2019 vintage. Most people understandably think of white wines when Chassagne is mentioned but, in fact, the terroir  is best suited to red wines which can be very good indeed. The 2019 Clos St Jean ...

 It's been a while since my last post. Red tape has consumed me over the last few months but now I see light at the end of a very long tunnel and, all being well, wines which have been held up (even though they have been sitting in the warehouse for many months) should be available soon. In the meantime... Beaucastel 2020 Yesterday, I visited the château to taste the new vintage. Before I got out of the car, I was struck by the immense noise coming from workmen who, since September, have been busy with some fairly major renovations to the buildings. Beaucastel has plans to become completely carbon neutral when the work is complete. There will be an underground water source for cooling, gravity will play a major role in the winemaking process and, in the meantime, everyone who works at the château is constantly moving offices to find a bit of quiet. It hasn't affected the wines though.  2020 was a classic vintage without a heatwave as such but with a long, drawn out summer and ...

From Matt Wall's forthcoming article on great value alternatives to Côte Rôtie, Pierre Gaillard's 2016 St Joseph 'Clos du Cuminaile' is a lovely wine to drink now ( there  2015 is still building). Matt scored it 92 points and reviewed it as follows: 'From a 40-year-old vineyard in Chavanay, grapes were fully destemmed. It’s showing blackberry, bonfire ashes and blackcurrant leaf aromas. 2016 was not the most concentrated vintage, so it’s medium-bodied but very smooth in the mouth. The finish is lifted and fresh, with bright berry acidity. Quite lean and transparent, this is mostly based around fresh acidity, with fine, slight tannins and a granitic spine.' (Not the most contemporary looking label but the wine is extremely drinkable!) We have, of course, tasted it ourselves a couple of times recently and found it to be on the lighter side of Syrah - St Joseph can range from red to black fruit character and be light and pretty or dense and demanding (for the latte...

When Justin Girardin, nephew of the famous Vincent, sent me through his 2021 list, I was struck by the fact that, even with some modest price rises, his wines offer remarkably good value for Burgundies of this quality. Where can you find a grower's Santenay at Premier Cru level under £30 these days? Answer: chez Girardin. Yes, we have been working with Justin and his family for several years and even have a (very) few bottles left of some of his 2012 Premier Cru wines - bottled under Justin's father Jacques' name - which are drinking fabulously now: smooth and unctuous with velvety tannins and soft Pinot fruit (Clos Rousseau) and a little more typical Santenay black fruit character from the Maladières  lieu dit . Both tried recently and a few bottles of each reserved for us (hence the reduced quantities available). The 2013 vintage was very successful here, perhaps more so than the 2013, defying the region generally. A simple explanation can be offered for this: Justin has ...

With our profile of Domaine Ste-Anne this week, I suddenly realised it is months since we last tasted the pure Mourvedre cuvee, Rouvières (2015 vintage). Last time, some time early in 2020, I think, the fruit was still quite masked by the tannins. They're still there but more as a supporting act to the red-black fruit which lingers well on the palate. Some nice acidity too. Next taste: after some bread and Château Juvenal olive oil (sorry, sold out and there isn't going to be any available this year), the tannins are thrown further into the background (well, mid-ground. There's no denying them but it wouldn't be Mourvèdre without them) and the fruit becomes quite masterful. Add to the mix some well-matured Epoisses, the wine brings out the intensity of this cheese so well but the fruit carries through. Comté further softens the tannins and brings out some spiciness: svelte is the word. Next, to pair it with some Bercovici  salami, 'The Barolo' being the obvious ...

Simple labels adorn the bottles of these highly effective and enjoyable wines which have a distinct nod to the northern Rhône and even Burgundy and Bandol despite their southern Rhône setting. Described by Robert Parker as ‘one of the best estates in the entire Rhône Valley’, Domaine Ste-Anne has been in the Steinmaier family since 1965 when it was bought as a holiday home for this Burgundian family. Guy Steinmaier quickly recognised the potential of the 12 hectares of vines and set about replanting them.   Now under the stewardship of his son Jean, who studied winemaking in Beaune before taking over in 1977, they have remained consistent throughout making remarkably un-Parkerised wines (that is to say, these are elegant and refined rather than the blockbusters generally regarded by the former uber-critic). A quarter of a century since Parker wrote those words, Domaine Ste-Anne remains synonymous with the Côtes du Rhône Village of St-Gervais. Today the range is much the same as it ...

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 ...

I have been perfecting (I hope) my curing skills in the hope that I will soon be able to start making and selling salumi (that's Italian charcuterie although some may be more French than Italian, of course). I seem to be getting there. Shortly before Christmas - for some reason, at my busiest time of the year, I always need an additional project. Probably, if I don't keep going, I'll simply stop altogether - I cured a Coppa (the muscle that runs from the neck to the loin), a Lonzo (the loin) and made various salami from a basic recipe with additions: some with olives, some simply with black pepper and, best of all, a Fenocchiona which has lots of garlic and fennel. The Lonzo was cold smoked for a couple of hours. Here are the results: My youngest son and I demolished this in a matter of minutes. He didn't get any wine to go with it but I did: Fabrizio Battaglino 's Roero Riserva 2015 : just about reaching perfection, this has elegant Nebbiolo character with some sup...

The moratorium is over. Decanter’s December issue has been published and I can announce our successes in the recent tasting undertaken by their Rhône expert, Matt Walls who has recently returned from a year and a half in the region. If you look on Decanter.com today (November 2020), you will see a link to ‘Top Côtes du Rhône wines under £20’. What the article doesn’t tell you is that the brief of its writer was to taste and rate wines from across the valley in that price range and that the top scoring white wine was actually a Ventoux. No prizes for guessing that it was  Château Juvenal’s 2019 ‘Ribes de Vallat’ Blanc , awarded 91 points, which, at £12.60 is also the best value of any of the white wines on the list: 'From 30- to 40-year-old vines grown on granite south-facing slopes; half of the wine is matured for six months in demi-muid leaving no overt oakiness to the aromatics. Full-bodied, rich and opulent style, very ripe and fulsome. Some mango and pineapple juice. Unmist...

Being British, I am obliged to comment on the Provencal weather this summer. Mostly hot with the occasional Mistral wind and, a few weeks ago, a threatened storm which yielded some highly unusual clouds, identified by a friend’s meteorologically talented daughter (moments before o ne of my own clever clogs) as being of the mammatus variety, these being, in effect, upside down clouds which, said expert explained occur when   the cold, moist poc kets of air sink rather than rise. Pic included of clouds over neighbouring property (would you believe me if I said it was sunny over us? No?).   What I ca n ’t give you a picture of bec ause (a) it hasn’t properly occurred this year yet (a brief flirtatio n last night but that’s all so far) and (b) my technological wizardry has yet to master how to tak e a still image of a (literally) flying circus, is tonight’s extravaganza of shooting stars, known as   Per séide s . (Some of you will, by now, have figured where this is going.) T...

With lockdown more or less over, we made a dash to the other side of the Channel and are currently languishing in the Vaucluse  d épartement , home to the wines of Châteauneuf-du-Pape  et al . Mont Ventoux, known to cyclists the world over, is staring at me as I write, only providing a shield from the sun in the early hours of the morning before the heat hits. Exercise here, recently so highly prized (the French were allowed no further than 1 km from home to exercise during their lockdown), is necessarily limited to a gentle morning stroll around the village to collect bread from the  boulang ère.  In time it may be possible to acclimatise but, looking at the locals, I wouldn’t bet on it. France went into lockdown before us, of course, and came out earlier as well so, if we in the UK are fortunate, what I am seeing is a glimpse into the future. We are welcome here – I know plenty of people with concerns about this but it is the Parisians they fear most here it s...

As we eas e out of lockdown, you, like me, are probably dipping your toe into the social whirlpool rather more gingerly than in the past. We are fortunate to have a decent amount of outdoor space so can entertain a couple of friends and keep appropriately apart at the same time. After a gruelling d rive to Bristol and back yesterday - to move things from one unoccupied student flat to another one - some local friends came over for a couple of hours of catching up over wine and cheese. Not always the classic combination of Abigail's Party, some wines really struggle not to be overpowered by cheese. Epoisses is allegedly best matched by Burgundy but, for me at least, it kills off any wine, whether young and vibrant or old and mellow. Last night proved that (although the epoisses was good nonetheless). I am not enamoured by most soft cheeses and blue cheeses have a particular flavour compound that make them taste stale to me. Hard cheese is where it's at for me: always aged Parmes...

 It's one of those ingredients you sometimes see on the menu in a pizza restaurant (or used to in the days when you could go to a pizza restaurant) but possibly felt too intimidated by the spelling to ask for it (semi-reliable sources tell me it's en-doo-ya). A friend gave me some for my birthday a couple of weeks ago and, having tried it on its own (very tasty but there's quite a lot of raw heat there) and on pizza (very, very good), I wondered what else I could use it for. Of course, I could simply rely on the internet but where's the fun in that? We had some pasta left over from a lasagne a few days ago - I know it's not really lasagne season but another family birthday means we have to eat all sorts of things which would be far more digestible if he had been born six months earlier or later - so wanted to come up with something simple. Actually, the pasta didn't turn out so well but the sauce was extremely tasty and simplicity itself. Just four ingredien...

With no imminent possibility of dining out, I have been pushing myself to come up with more authentic versions of all the foods we really enjoy. I'm a reasonably decent cook and have long since mastered Mediterranean foods (although there is always room for expansion of knowledge, hopefully not at the expense of waistlines). Chinese cooking has much improved since a family member invested in a copy of Fuchsia Dunlop's excellent book on Sichuan cooking. For some reason though I have never made a great curry... until recently. Of course, any recipe followed has to be developed according to taste so, for me, the sauce part of The Ivy's chicken masala has to be blitzed to a smooth, thick paste and served on a bed of fluffy basmati rice with Madhur Jaffrey's chicken tikka (she uses cream rather than yoghurt. It's much more authentic) cooked as whole chicken breasts and sliced over the top of the curry sauce (isn't that a tautology?). But what wine to serve with cu...