Last night I cracked. After 6 long years of resistance it all fell apart. Or, like the King would put it, “6 years down the drain”. I watched Sideways last night.

These were six difficult years. As a sommelier, pretty much every conversation started or ended with questions about fucking Merlot. At first I didn’t get it, then I learned to nod and smile. But it just wouldn’t stop. Then it finally hit me. Sure it’s very nice to know all of Bourgogne’s Grand Crus or even to differentiate Asili from the Montestefano vineyards in Barbaresco, but if you can’t recite Miles’ words of wisdom you ain’t got what it takes. I lived in a lie and learned to fake, my career was now safe, I was about to make it.

It all changed a few days ago. I was caught off guard, revealed the lie and promised to change. I was conscious, I knew what I was doing and can’t blame anyone but myself. Two nights of fierce self debate and then —> PLAY.

One scene made up for the average rest. Towards the end of the movie and almost tired from life Miles does one thing I have always wanted to do. He takes his precious Cheval Blanc 61 to a local diner, pours it into a plastic cup and sip it graciously. His food matching is as good: an oily burger with some fine onion rings. The supreme anti-wine geek move.

Miles, I salute you and apologize for ignoring you all these years.

Gal is a former sommelier, ex-editor of Bibendum Times and now the social media guru behind the Haidu.net. Based in Tel Aviv, you can read this post and all his other work at the Haidu blog or follow him on Twitter @zoharwine

Everyone knows blind tasting is tough. It is a vinous minefield that can damage reputations and ego in equal measure. One is reminded of the old Harry Waugh story, when the legendary stalwart of the British wine trade was asked when he had last confused Burgundy with Bordeaux: “Not since lunch” came the reply.

Down at Imbibe 2010 last week, two of the UK’s heavyweight merchants joined forces with leading sommeliers to put their reputations on the line in a blind tasting challenge billed as Viniversity Challenge. In the blue corner we had Liberty MD David Gleave and Galvin La Chapelle sommelier Andrea Briccarello. In the bright pink corduroy corner we had Bibendum’s very own Willie Lebus alongside Zuma’s Alessandro Marchesan. Keeping the peace in the middle was Peter McCombie MW.

The concept was simple: three wines served blind with a series of questions to follow. The wines were anything but simple: a blanc de blancs NV Champagne, a Semillon/Assyrtiko from Greece and a Tempranillo-led blend from Costers del Segre in Spain. Points were not easy to come by.

Team Lebus took an early lead by nailing the blanc de blancs only to see Messrs Gleave & Briccarello peg them back with some smart guessing on the second two wines. Both teams initially thought the Greek white was from Bordeaux and went twice round the world (South Africa? Tuscany? New Zealand? Mendoza?) before getting anywhere close. Happily for all concerned, the contest finished in a dead heat with honours shared and reputations intact.

Before the tasting had started, I asked the Andres Iniesta of the wine world, Spanish Sommelier of the Year Bruno Murciano to identify the same three wines Willie & Co were tasting on the stage. He managed one out of three – and even thought the Spanish wine was red Bordeaux. Proof – if any was needed – of how hard blind tasting really is. If Bruno can’t pick a wine, what chance do the rest of us have?

What I’d like to hear about is your bind tasting nightmares and triumphs: when was the last time you nailed a wine right down to the producer and the vintage? And when did you confidently declare a wine to be from Burgundy only to be told it had Barossa on the label? Just last week in the office, I mistook a Menetou-Salon for an aromatic Alsace white (the shame!)… but I prefer to remember the time I correctly picked out Hamilton Russell Chardonnay from a line-up of New World lookalikes in a mock Diploma exam.

Share your stories in the comments.

It is a bitter rivalry: the serious sommeliers versus the flair-happy bartenders. The latter like to think they are the coolest kids in town – after all, Tom Cruise never played a wine waiter in a hit Hollywood film. But those of us who prefer the grape to the grain know that sommeliers are the consummate professionals when it comes to serving drinks.

Last year, Imbibe magazine tried to settle the age old debate of which group had the silkiest bar skills with a competition that included blind tasting, product knowledge and practical tests. In the final reckoning, it was the Sommeliers who were left shaken rather than stirred as the Bartenders ran off with the trophy. This year, the sommeliers were out for revenge and the Grand Final took place in front of a noisy crowd at Imbibe 2010 this week with Joe Wadsack presiding as Master of Ceremonies.

The Line Ups

Sommeliers:

Nigel Lister – Royal Yacht Club (Captain)
Jade Koch – St John
Andrea Briccarello – Galvin La Chapelle
Chris Zoeller – Asia de Cuba
Virgilio Gennaro – Locanda Locatelli

Bartenders:

Julian de Feral, Lutyens (Captain)
Luca Cordiglieri – China Tang
Dino Kolestas – Bourne & Hollingsworth
Rich Hunt – Kanaloa
Lewis Wilkinson – Met Bar

Round 1

The first challenge was an old classic and a regular feature at the World’s Best Sommelier competiton. Each captain had to pour a magnum of Bisol Prosecco equally into 16 flutes with nothing left in the bottle and without going back to any of the glasses. Simple, eh?

As anyone who has ever tried to do this knows, it is anything but simple. With marks awarded for speed and accuracy, Julian put in an awesome performance, finishing first with all 16 glasses looking pretty even. Poor old Nigel ran out of wine on glass 15. A schoolboy error from the Sommeliers and the Bartenders had an early lead.

Round 2

Round 2 involved Sommelier Chris making a Brandy Blazer cocktail while bartender Lewis Wilkinson from the Met Bar made a classic 1920s Champagne fountain using old fashioned coupes. Chris’ blazing cocktail literally failed to catch fire but Lewis’ nerves and steady hand held out to create the perfect fountain. 10 points and lots of high fives for the Bartenders. 5 points and rueful smiles for the Sommeliers. It was turning into a rout.

Round 3

The final round was a quiz in classic A Question of Sport ‘Home and Away’ style. With such a big lead, the Bartenders were able to play safe on home territory while the Sommeliers were forced to take risks. The questions were far from gimmes, as this sample shows:

The name vermouth is taken from a German word meaning what?

Which two countries are famed for producing Arak?

Where do Angostura bitters originate from?

(answers at the bottom of the page)

The Sommeliers fought back bravely with some excellent answers but it wasn’t enough. For the second year running, the Bartenders coasted home to take the trophy. It was a sad day for wine lovers everywhere. Huge congratulations to the winning team – there was some outstanding knowledge and skill on display – commiserations to the Sommeliers. Next year it will be different…we can’t let the pesky bartenders win three on the trot, can we?

* Answers = Wormwood. India & Sri Lanka. Venezuala.

There is no real way around it – becoming a Sommelier and learning about wine requires tasting a lot of wine… which, as it turns out, is actually not as glamourous as it sounds. Per class, it’s not uncommon to taste upwards of 10 wines, with each pour being roughly 3 oz. This may not sound like much, but having swallowed the full flight once or twice I am always surprised to learn how quickly inebriation sets in. By about  wine #6 you stop smelling or tasting much in your glass, and by the end of it – you’re likely pretty drunk. (Actually, worse than drunk. Out-of-context drunk. Like, public-transportation drunk, or dinner-at-your-grandparents’ drunk.) There you are: pen in hand, an alarming sense of confusion fused with shame blurs your thoughts… there’s a sudden desire text your ex… Except you’re at a tasting, and you’re supposed to be taking notes about the wine. Tsk. You just try writing something down that makes sense in this state. Not possible.

So, to avoid disaster you must spit. And like everything else worth doing, there is a way to do it properly. I have not yet perfected “the art of the spit” – which is why I’ve not posted a video – but here are the steps as I’ve learned them:

1. Take a gulp of wine as you normally would, leaving some extra space in your mouth.
2. Make an “o”shape with your mouth (as if about to whistle) and take some air into your mouth.
3. Do the tasting/swishing thing.
4. Position the spittoon about 5-6” away from your face.
5. Make the “o” shape again with your mouth, but instead of taking air in, push the air out – along with 3/4 of the wine – in a steady, narrow stream into the spittoon.
6. Swallow the remaining wine.

The idea is to form a neat, quick, trajectory into the bucket while minimizing splash and dribble. Do not place your face on, or near the bucket. (This position not only looks bad, but puts you in danger of getting either splash-back or germies.)

This takes a huge amount of practice, so don’t get discouraged if you don’t master it straight away. (I am still working on it, and imagine I will be for some time.)

Happy spitting!

We are seriously happy to have discovered Heather’s blog. Her writing is fresh,  invigorating and joins our quest in demystifying the wine world.  Heather  is also a Sommelier in training and is about to open a wine bar in Canada.

View of Robertson with Johann de Wet from De Wetshof

We’re excited to publish a series of extracts from Olivier’s wine rambling in South Africa. This time he visits Hermanus. Olivier is  the Head Sommelier at the Bluebird in Chelsea.

On the third day we planned to leave early, as we were meant to go to Robertson and decided to set off late morning. When we tried to check out of the hotel, we were only just told that all the roads in the Cape area were closed due to a cyclist race taking place there(We must have been the only ones not knowing about it). We were now stuck in the hotel until at least 4pm, which not only compromised the rest of our wine visits, but the remainder of our holidays.

After a bit of frustration, we ought to enjoy the time we had left in Noordheok. wejoined the newly-weds and the rest of the party on the beach, had a light meal, then finally we could set off. It was now a race against time.

I had contacted Jeanette Bruwer from the Springfield Estate, a few weeks prior to our trip and looked forward to visit her, but it was not to be…(apologies Jeanette!). We now tried to get as early as possible to the De Wetshof Estate (Springfield neighbours).

Even though we were more than behind schedule, we managed to enjoy the regions we were crossing, the mountainous areas, trying to avoid the baboons who ruled the roads. The arrival in Robertson was majestic, as we arrived for sunset surrounded by mountains, hills and its vast valleys. The region seemed a bit unexplored, a complete antagonism to Stellenbosch.

There are very big estates in the area of which, Graham Beck, Robertson Winery…but our destination was De Wetshof, one of the Pioneer of the Chardonnay grape in South Africa.

The De Wetshof Estate

When we finally made it to the winery, we could see no one around, knocked on some doors but without any success.  Back in the car again on our way back to the main road, we met nose to nose with Johann De Wet in his car.  We followed him, with great relief to his house, we made it! We apologized straight away for our lateness, but none of the De Wet family members seemed to mind.

We felt at home straight away and not before long we wre invited us to go to a restaurant that night, situated in Montagu. Unfortunately, Peter could not join us as he was involved in the harvesting the following day (starting around 2am to avoid extreme heat).

Next day Johann, shown us around the different vineyards they own, we then met Peter at the winery, preparing the latest grapes arrival. We then had lunch at their home, with great dishes accompanied notably by a wonderful 1993 D’Honneur Chardonnay and a 1993 Rhine Riesling.

I still don’t know today what was my favourite wine, but on top of my list I will put the Bateleur (the original vineyard cloned on the Beaune1er cru Clos des Mouches), for great food wine I also love D’Honneur (rich and majestuous), the Lesca (or Finesse-with tremendous elegance and minerality) and the Bon Vallon (unoaked Chardonnay but delicious and highly enjoyable).

The De Wet were kind enough after all they had already done, to give us a mixed case of their wines…which we finished of course pretty soon after being back to London. When the time came to say goodbye, we knew that we would be back very soon to visit again, as we had met a really lovely family…

If you missed out you can check Olivier’s visits to Stellenbosch, Cape town & Franschhoek

Barto's vineyards

We’re excited to publish a series of extracts from Olivier’s wine rambling in South Africa. This time he visits Franschhoek & Hermanus. Olivier is  the Head Sommelier at the Bluebird in Chelsea.

Next destination: Franschhoek (the French Quarter in Afrikaan). This is where French protestant immigrants arrived after leaving their country during the religious war.

Our first stop was Cape Chamonix. The estate’s wines offer immense value, complexity and poise. Again,we were welcomed in very kindly by Goettfried the winemaker, despite showing up in mid-harvest. We sampled many wines but didn’t get a chance to sample the fantastic Chardonnay, as the production is tiny and only sold on allocation. To compensate we enjoyed the Cape Method Sparkling wine in generous quantities.

The same evening we decided to try the most exclusive restaurant in the country, Le Quartier Francais, and were in such generous mood that the tasting menu was chosen. Even though the food was great and complex, it went a bit too far to our taste, as flavours were clashing with each other and we remained disappointed by the whole experience. The wine side was brilliant and we enjoyed the Estate Pinot Noir 2006 from Bouchard Finlayson.

The following morning, and just before leaving Franschhoek we decided to visit Boekenhoutskloof, one of the largest wineries of the country.  We tried some great value bottles at very soft prices from the Porcupine Ridge range followed by the one of my customers’ favourites Chocolate Block. This is a stunning Syrah, Grenache Noir, Cabernet & Viogner blend. As the name might suggest the palate shows strong chocolate flavours as if a piece or two of it found their way into the vats.  We finished that tasting with the very prestigious Boekenhoutskloof Collection Semillon 2005 and Syrah 2005, both absolutely mind blowing. Sophie and I then had a stroll in the vineyards surrounding the winery, in the hope of seeing the famous porcupines but neither saw nor caught any to bring back home. Just another wine myth?

On the road again, this time heading towards Hermanus, a town with 49,000 inhabitants on the southern coast of the Western Cape province of South Africa. It is famous as a place to watch whales during the southern winter and spring and is a popular retirement town. On the way down we drove through some of the most dramatic and most beautiful sceneries we have seen during our trip, down-casted a bit by wildfires which seem common place in those arid areas.

We entered Hermanus looking forward to meet up one of my favourite winemakers, Bartho Eksteen, formerly of the Eponymous winery. Bartho has recently started his new Hermanuspietersfontein venture with his business partner Johan Pretorius, making premium wines from a single estate where he has full control on quality. He came to introduce his wines in London a few months earlier and as we had a good first contact I told him of my intention to come to South Africa, and possibly to come to Hermanus, which at the time still felt like distant dream. I still remember his genuine and warm invite to come and see him, hence my visit. I was excited to see a familiar face and was very moved when he offered us to stay at his home.

Barto & I

Entering the winery, we were slightly overwhelmed by the busy, hectic and speedy movements…I thought the moment was surely not the best to announce ourselves. Asking for Bartho, I was a bit concerned that his good intentions would be long forgotten. Luckily I was wrong.  Bartho did expect us and we straight away started a tour round the state of the art shiny new winery. That being done Bartho offered to go to eat at his local steak house, sampling the most delicious meats while sipping his great Die Arnoldus. My favourite wine from him has always been Hermanuspietersfontein Sauvignon Blanc No7, as it excels in all the vintages I have tried, as well as the Die Bartho (Semillon-Sauvignon) and Die Arnoldus (Cabernet blend), without forgetting Kleinboet (Bordeaux blend) and Die Martha (Shiraz, Cabernet and Merlot).

Going back to their place we chatted until very late and drank a bit more. We then somehow agreed to wake up before dawn and go watch the sunrise on Hermanus beach. In return we were promised to witness one of the most exclusive views of SA.

Few hours of sleep and we were in Bartho’s car again on our way to the Hermanus beach. It is hard to express how beautiful it all looked. Back in bed for a few more hours sleep we felt very tired but extremely rewarded. A few hours later and it’s goodbye time to Bartho and everyone at HPF, promising to come back soon.

If you missed out you can check Olivier’s visits to Stellenbosch and Cape town.

View from Graceland

We are happy to publish a series of extracts from Olivier’s wine rambling in South Africa. This time he visits Stellenbosch. Olivier is currently the Head Sommelier at the Bluebird in Chelsea.

We now headed to our next destination: Stellenbosch, one of the most important wine districts in South Africa After about an hour drive east of Cape Town, our first stop there was Graceland, a boutique winery situated in the middle of the district. The road made our car scream and sweat and we miraculously managed to spot the small path in the wood leading to the estate.

We were greeted by Susan MacNaughton, owner and winemaker at Graceland. Susan produces only red wines of which my favourite has always been her Merlot. As we have met before, and were looking for accommodation, Susan offered the rental of their attic. And what an attic that was!  Spacious airy and well decorated this surely was the nicest attic we have ever climbed to.

Back down from our attic we sampled her delicious and complex wines, Merlot, Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, and their flagship The Three Graces.  All in good humour and relaxed, followed by a dip in the swimming pool and a pat on the back for their dogs.

New morning and we were on our way to visit Vergelegen, one of the most acclaimed estates in the region, which is situated to the south of the district in the posh area of Somerset West. Vergelegen proved to be one of the biggest estates I have ever visited and instead of doing the tourist tour, we strolled around the huge parks, gardens and had a light lunch in one of their restaurant, sampling their fresh and delicious Chardonnay.

I thought that finding the Graceland winery was hard and was about to be surprised. Finding the De Trafford estate was a real challenge. The Fiesta struggled once more on the bumpy road leading to Graceland. Once we passed Graceland the road gradually changed to a narrow and stony path up to the foot of the mountain. It was at the end of that very road that we found David Trafford. Slightly stressed and very busy he very kindly accepted to show us around and let us sample his wines. Despite all our hosts kindness and patience planning a wine trip in the middle of harvest might not be a concept we’ll repeat in the future.

Road to De Trafford

We tried most of the range, of which the Merlot, the mind-blowing Chenin Blanc, and the Straw Wine were my favourites. David’s wife is an artist; she paints the pictures of all their wine labels, with a different expression for every new vintage.  We liked them so much we couldn’t resists. We bought some of the original pictures of recent vintages of the Straw Wine, which now sit proudly in our bedroom.

We thoroughly enjoyed Stellenbosch and its inhabitants. We were quite surprised of how popular and full of tourists the region was and how powerful and organized the wine trade is, even though prior to 1994 (end of Apartheid) the industry sold only locally with a strong ban on all export.

If you missed Olivier’s visit to cape town you can catch with his travels here

Haut Brion Horizontal

Some lunch breaks are better than others and some are really special. Last Wednesday I was amongst the lucky few who found themselves  seated in our boardroom turned serious wine tasting space. The special occasion was an horizontal wine tasting of the 2004 vintage from Chateau Haut-Brion and La Mission Haut-Brion. A good crowd, 3rd generation winemaker Jean-Philippe Delmas some descent wines and we were ready to go.

Despite being described as “a very good year” the wines from 2004 were naturally overshadowed by the “very outstanding” 2005. The vintage was a difficult one with a long wet winter and two weeks rain at the end of August. A total of 325 mm of rain made it a challenging one yet Jean-Philippe is confident his wines were amongst the best in the region.  See his overall thought of the vintage below:

Wine from both Chateaux showed well with the Haut-Brion Blanc getting a lot of attention from the sommeliers. Well if you have a spare £400 and manage to get your hand on one of 6,000 bottles produced I’m sure you’ll agree. See why Luigi from Etrusca restaurants thinks tasting the 2004 was a useful experiment:

My afternoon revelation was to discover how well the 2004 are drinking now. Although having a long a prosperous life ahead the wines had charm, elegance and balance and were highly approachable.  See why our very own Bruno Marciano thinks the 2004 are so sommelier friendly and can make the perfect restaurant wine.

Back to my desk where I couldn’t stop thinking  this might have been the best lunch break one can have.

Klein Constantia Estate

We are happy to publish a series of extracts from Olivier Gasselin’s wine travels across south Africa. Olivier is currently the Head Sommelier at the Blue Bird in Chelsea.

After almost 3 years of service at Le Pont de la Tour restaurant in central London, I thought the moment was right for me to leave. I was ready for a new challenge, ready to go back to where I first fell in love with wine: the Bluebird in Chelsea. But before jumping to this new and exciting adventure I had one last thing in mind. I wanted me and my wife Sophie to tour the winelands of South Africa.

While I managed, thanks to some professional connections and friendships to organize a healthy and busy two weeks trip to the wine country, Sophie booked us the best guest houses around. We have been overwhelmed by the replies received from our various contacts, their kindness and flexibility, some of which will remain our true friends for the rest of our lives.

South Africa “Nous Voila!!!”

The arrival in Cape Town airport was a frantic one, as the place proved to be very busy. Sophie and I made our way to our car rental company, and after a long wait, we were denied any possibility of a car, owing to our lack of credit card. Rather than making a big fuss, we decided on a calmer approach. We grabbed a cab to our first Guest House (Villa Azure), situated in Camps Bay, a posh and trendy south suburb of Cape Town. The place was immaculate, the owners extremely accommodating and helpful. We felt straight at home, and the stress of the car rental failure was soon forgotten.

After few discreet inquiries the landlady even managed to organize a car rental for us with a local agency. Although it seemed a bit risky but extremely good value, we had nothing to lose and accepted her help. We were pleased to see an old cranky Ford Fiesta making its way to the parking lot early the next morning. It was far from being a Formula One car, or a fancy one, but it did the trick for us. The old Fiesta turned to be our trusty companion throughout the journey. With the car up and running using the left side of the road in the African chaos now seemed even to be a challenge in its own right but after all this is why we came here.

After adapting to the area for a couple of days it was time to leave. We started our Fiesta and carefully drove it to our first appointment. Our destination: Constantia, suburb of Cape Town which surprised us by its dense vegetation and almost tropical feel. We safely arrived to our new guest house, Villa Coloniale then drove straight to catch up with Lowell Jooste, owner of the family-run Constantia Estate. As it was a Sunday we were grateful to Lowell who kindly agreed to break his family day activities to show us around.

Vin de Constance

The estate is breathtaking (see first picture).  This is surely one of the most beautiful settings for a winery that one can imagine. Klein Constantia Estate produces diverse types of wines but are mainly concentrating on Sauvignon Blanc, which we found delightful. Their most famous and renowned wine, the Vin de Constance is made from Muscat de Frontignan gapes. The grapes are late harvested and the wine is credibly intense, deep, and luscious but at the same time still fresh and vibrant.

La Colombe Restaurant

After a very agreeable afternoon we were back in the Fiesta navigating towards the Constantia Uitsig Estate. A fancy estate that comprises of a winery, a hotel, a spa and 3 different restaurants. Proud of our origins we chose the French La Colombe and a memorable evening of fine wine and food followed. We drank a bottle of Raats Chenin Blanc 2006 (one of my favourites), and some Rupert & Rothschild Cabernet Sauvignon that worked particularly well with the delicious food. Back to our guest room, we finished our night on the terrace enjoying a Cohiba Siglo II with a glass of local port, and this perfect day closed to an end.

Rudolf Steiner

Biodynamic agriculture was developed in the early 1920s  by Rudolf Steiner. Seen by many as the first modern ecological farming system it is an holistic approach that tries to bring the soil, plants and animals to its original natural balance and harmony. Unlike the more general term natural wine (see earlier post), Biodynamic winemaking is to many the strictest method of viticulture and vinification. Very precise guidelines have to be followed in order to convert the soil back to its original composition. Certification is very difficult to obtain and at least 4 years of proven Biodynamic farming are required.

More and more top quality producers embrace Biodynamic farming, with the like of Leflaive, Zind-Humbrecht and Nicolas Joly leading the way. One of the most charismatic and knowledgeable follower of Biodynamics is Alto Adige’s Alois Lageder. A fierce and long time practiser of Biodynamic farming Alois has just released his first Demeter (the strictest Biodynamic certification) certified wine. Watch the video where Alois explains why Biodynamic farming is essential in order to restore the soil to its original composition and how it differs from organic farming.

Seen by many as the purest and ultimate winemaking approach, biodynamic wines have seen a huge growth of popularity in recent years. Sommeliers are increasingly populating their wine lists with biodynamic wines too. As the term is still unfamiliar to the average wine drinker sommelier’s see themselves as being at the vanguard of the drive to raise awareness of biodynamics. Watch Angus Macnab’s (Lanesborough Hotel) talking about biodynamic wines below:

Here’s Roberto delle Pietra (Roussillon restaurant) take on the Biodynamic farming concept and the danger of misusing the term:

It’s exciting to see so many  sommeliers engaging with biodynamics. They fully understand the philosophy behind the wines and by sharing their knowledge they seek to educate and enlighten their customers and convert them into the joys of biodynamic wines.