The January detox may well have begun, however we can still indulge in memories of what the Christmas cellar had to offer. My last recollection of the New Year period was savouring a fine-looking and sophisticated dessert wine that can only be described as Panettone in a glass. Rivesaltes Ambre Els Pyreneus NV is rich in colour and the nose nutty with hints of honey soaked apricots and rich roast coffee, the palate is beautifully balanced and chock-full of glacé fruits and brioche.

Bibendum teamed up with Jean Marc Lafage in 2008 to produce elegant wines such as this from the quality vines found either side of the Pyrenees. Jean Marc is definite in maintaining the divide between France and Spain as a political one as he believes “For a wine maker there are no borders.” He continually seeks to make captivating wines from old vines in the terroirs of Emporda, Calatayud, and the home of Vin Doux Naturel wines, Roussillon.

To produce the Rivesaltes Ambre, Grenache Noir and Grenache Gris grapes are hand harvested and vinified with their skins. The wine is then aged in three parts starting with 60% of the juice being pressed and aged under the Solera system. This is where fractional blending, within a set of barrels, brings about a creation that is a mixture of vintages with the average age increasing gradually as the process continues over many years. Another 35% of the juice is kept well away from fresh air in concrete tanks to add intensity to the plummy character of the wine. Finally the remaining 5% is aged outside, in demi-john glass bottles, bringing a little bitterness to the wine and developing the caramel colour.

We all need a little lift in the often gloomy UK January, so I suggest taking time to reminisce the joy of the holidays just gone. Kick back by the fire, craft yourself a little Stilton cheese board and enjoy with a glass of this classy sweet wine, with just enough punch to cope with the strong flavours of the New Year leftovers. Sipping a glass of Rivesaltes Ambre Els Pyrenees NV is the perfect way to start 2012.

Check out the links below to read a few recent wine of the week posts here on B Times –

Patrick Piuze Terroir de Chablis 2010 (Chablis, France)

d’Arenberg The Cadenzia 2009 (McLaren Vale, Australia)

Albert Beerens Brut Reserve NV (Cotes des Bars, Champagne)

When wine trade folk get together you can be certain of one thing: there will be far too many bottles on the table. Everyone brings more than they could possibly consume and still remain sensible – not out of a desire to end the evening passed out, face down in the cheeseboard, you understand, but because we are just so enthusiastic about fermented grape juice. We bring obscure bottles that no-one else would look twice at, we bring wines made by our winemaker chums and we bring whatever it is that has really floated our boat at recent tastings. We drink, eat and enthuse. After that we crack open the esoteric dessert wine (somebody always brings one) and then as the mini-cabs beckon we raid our host’s wine rack in search of something else. Anything else.

Last Saturday, I hosted one such gathering. Amongst some top notch wines from the Cape (I loved the Chamonix Sauvignon Blanc from  Franschhoek), the Chateau Musar 2002 (surprinsingly fault-free) and one of my favourite Sicilians (from the always-excellent Tenuta delle Nere), one wine stood out. And it was the one nicked from the cupboard under the stairs at the end of the night: Mar d’Amunt Carinyena 2007 by Jean-Marc Lafage.

The wine is part of Lafage’s els Pyreneus range that celebrates the terroirs on both the French and Spanish sides of the Pyrenees. Made from old vine Carignan in Emporda in Spain, just a few miles from the French border it shows how good the Carignan grape can be.

Too often Carignan is derided as a good for nothing grape , or if not good for nothing, then only worth using as a bit-part player in a cheap blend; the sort of wines Andrew Jefford once called ‘petrol pump reds’. Admittedly, when planted on the wrong sites or when over-cropped, the grape can produce tough, charmless wines but old vines on poor soils (that naturally help to keep yields in check) can produce something else entirely.

There is a current trend amongst winemakers to ferment it in a Beaujolais-style using carbonic maceration. I am not a fan. Wines made this way are too soft and easy with an off-putting bubblegum aroma. Carignan should have some bite and body. It should have some tannin, spice and warmth. The best examples – like the Mar d’Amunt – have all this alongside ripe, perfumed black fruit with hints of damsons, olives and herbs.

Our wine of the week is a warming, peppery Mediterranean red that tastes of sunshine and stony soils. But don’t wait until the end of the night to open it – try it with some lamb chops rubbed with paprika and garlic next time you get the barbecue out.

A demi-john bottle

Rich, golden hue, with a nose of honey and hazelnuts. Beautifully balanced palate bursting with candied fruit and brioche flavours. Great with pudding or with cheese, it’s wonderful when tasted chilled. This great vin doux naturel from our friend Jean Marc Lafage has been partly aged in demi john bottles outside (see photo above), to add complexity to the wine.

We’ve reached a crucial stage in the build up (why build up, but count down? Oh well…) to the UK’s largest wine event in the calendar, the London International Wine fair (LIWF), next week at Excel. The integrity of our pants is under threat from the sheer anticipation. Seriously! If we can negotiate this tricky stage then it will be plain sailing from then on won’t it…?

But why such excitement? Well first up we are showing a phenomenal line-up of wines. Our stand, D30, will be packed full of winemaking talent, of both the beautiful and the bold varieties. In all their unadulterated glory, you can expect Els Pyreneus, Laroche, Foncalieu, Casa de la Ermita, Dinastia Vivanco, Criadores de Rioja, The Chase Distillery, Ron Los Valientes, Audry Cognac, Ceppaiano, Castellani, Marmesa, Larry Brooks, Estapor Venir, SAAM Mountain Vineyards, Laurenz V, Prinz von Hessen, Graham Beck, Bisol, Bruno Paillard, De Castellane, d’Arenberg, Deakin Estate, Katnook Estate, Howard Park, Madfish, Marchand & Burch, Valdivieso, Oveja Negra, Chilcas, Delicato Family Vineyards, Bodegas Catena Zapata and Spy Valley.

Just next door lie Argento (E28), Lion Nathan (D25) and Boisset (E30). Take a walk and you’ll find other producers dotted around the hall: Creta Olympias (N20), Springfield Estate (L40 – WOSA), Castello Banfi (T20), Chereau-Carre (I30/1J), Cave de Fleurie (I60/2) and Remy Pannier (I60/4). All in all, a festival of good wine!

If you’re going to be there make sure you come along and share a glass with us. If not, then why not?! Sign up for a pass here (though trade only unfortunately). The show runs from Tuesday to Thursday, from 9.30am to 6pm (5pm Thursday).

But that’s not all. There’s wine, wine, wine, awards, chat and more wine. Somewhere in the middle of that is a volcano of social media, which is primed to erupt at 1pm on Wednesday 13th in Roooms 11 and 12 of the South Gallery. Unlike the G20 conference a few weeks ago, the only ‘ring of steel’ this time round will be mine, as I step up on stage and talk about Bibendum and social media.

We’re expecting a room full of restaurateurs, merchants, importers, wineries, journalists… In fact, from the RSVPs so far, it looks like the seminar is appealing to all sectors of the industry. You can get full details of what Rob McIntosh, Ryan Opaz and myself will be talking about here. We’ll also be blogging from the venue and interviewing producers on the stand – so check in each day to see what’s happening.

If you’d like to guarantee a spot email Kate or myself.

Throw in a couple of dinners, Matthew Jukes’ Top 100 Australian Wines bash and lots of collateral tasting and it promises to be quite a week. See you there!