Oeno-File, the Wine & Gastronomy Column

by Frank Ward

Posts Tagged ‘Pol Roger’

A few recent tastings

Posted by Frank Ward on April 10, 2018

April 2018. Our friends Philip and Cathy recently hosted another dinner, an evening of fine food and wine. It’s seldom that fewer than 8- 10 bottles are broached on these occasions, and all are tasted blind. The latest get-together took this form: As aperitif, a 1990 Riesling Rauenthaler Baiken Spatlese. Bigger than most Spatlesen, close to an Auslese in weight and body, it was medium dry (10.5 ABV) and smelled like apricot with a hint of barley sugar. The ample Riesling fruit was balanced by fine orangey acidity. Fine on its own, off-dry rather than sweet, it could easily have accompanied a fish dish too. [….].

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Champagne – The most aural of wines

Posted by Frank Ward on April 25, 2016

AvatarApril 2016. The pressure inside a bottle of champagne, we’re told, is about the same as that inside the tyre of a London bus. Champagne, like all wines, starts out as fermenting juice, suffused with bubbles. But – unlike still wines – it retains those bubbles, cherishing them even. Over time, by mysterious alchemy, they’re refined, reduced to near-invisibility (the smaller the bubbles the finer the champagne), before being gently incorporated into the flavour and texture of the wine. That thrilling energy, trapped inside the bottle, can sometimes persist for [….]

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