Muss-Kat or Moose-Ka ?

Muscat à petit grain - image from www.vitis.org

Talked to a French wine producer last week about the difficulty of getting the British consumer on to Muscat Sec, which can be very agreeable as an aperitif, for example, and about the popularity of Italian wines made from Pinot Grigio.

Maybe it's all down to how easy it is to say for the English speaker?

On that score I would have thought it was a toss-up between them.

Peeno Greejo or Moose-Ka anyone?

Perhaps the Italians are just better at selling it.

Wine Civilisation

Civilisations of the vine - from Le Désir du Vin by Jean-Robert Pitte

Wine culture is a civilised and civilising pursuit. Which is why it is sad that circumstances should force a wine writer to flee his country (Leaving Lebanon. Thanks to Robert McIntosh @thirstforwine for featuring this story on Twitter).

We live, some would have us believe, under a thin veneer of civilisation, with barbarians and pestilence at the gate threatening to destroy everything in an instant, should we let down our guard.

This is not really as far-fetched as you might think. Riots and arson on the streets can break out overnight as Londoners are all too aware.

As someone who grew up in the Northern Ireland of the late 1960's and early 1970's I have seen civilisation almost destroyed, and normally reasonable mild-mannered adults embrace the cause of violence and destruction.

All very exciting for the young fellow I was at the time, all that manning of barricades and the like. But extremely frightening on those occasions when armoured vehicles fired outside your front door, or marauding house-burning hordes from the 'other side' were expected from one minute to the next.

Civilisation is not all that deep-rooted and a temporary lapse in electricity or water supply will soon remind us of this.

And if you are fighting for subsistence your thoughts will not turn immediately to the merits of one wine or grape variety or vintage over another.

Not that I am equating lack of wine with lack of civilisation. Some great civilisations have refused to embrace the grape for transformation into wine, although this has not always been the case.

Vines are found and will grow in only certain parts of the world. But a culture or a tradition of fine alcoholic drinks is in some ways a reflection of the refined and the civilised in human nature. One need only look back to Rome or ancient Persia, Japan or China to find evidence of this.

Wine and civilisation go hand in hand and contribute to something which can only be described as 'Wine Civilisation' and comes into being when enlightened producers and consumers come together.

It needs both (consumer and producer) to be enlightened, knowledgeable, appreciative. Great wines and great conviviality are the result. No great wine as far as I know was ever produced by a collective farm, any more than great works of art would emerge from a committee of artists.

Houses, Cars and Phones

The car that can do everything?

Why can't houses be more like cars and phones ?

Let me explain.

A modern car is now able to cover by and large 200,000 odd miles in all sorts of traffic conditions, and still be a reasonable used buy with many years more life in it. At one moment you may be whizzing along at 120 mph (where authorised of course), and a few minutes later crawling along at walking pace in a city centre. Then as the fancy takes you you may decide you want to go to the top of that vineyard, or take a short cut over that very steep rocky road. You can do all that with the same vehicle if you like, all the while carrying several people and their stuff. And mile after mile, year after year, not once will it not perform wonderfully well, only asking for fuel (you'll still get 30 mpg or more) and lubricant to be added from time to time. Over the last few decades vehicles have become extremely reliable, extremely safe, extremely efficient and we haven't really noticed.

A modern smartphone is a powerful computer, a very capable film or still camera, allows us to communicate instantly with people on the other side of the planet, doesn't need charging for days on end, never gives the slightest problem, doesn't even cost that much if you shop around. It would have been considered a miraculous object from another dimension only 30 years ago, yet we no longer notice them. Or we do only when we can't get perfect reception all the time even on the top of a mountain. They do not help us to display common sense though.

Now let's look at the average house.

Largely unchanged since Roman times, the average British house still takes months to build. Its never done right.  And is always potentially cold and uncomfortable unless you spend a fortune on fuel. It is often small and cramped and not designed at all for its purpose, which is to house a family in comfort. House builders will tell us that this is what people want, that it is technically impossible to build a house in few days (as happens in many other countries), one which will be warm, comfortable and spacious without costing a fortune. And we don't seem to notice we are being taken for a ride.

Please stop kidding us and take a leaf from the books of car and mobile phone manufacturers. There would be no energy or environmental crisis if all our industries would perform as well. And our houses would be so energy efficient they could power our mobile phones and cars for free. Now that's a nice thought...

Autumn Feel

Fallen Horse Chestnuts on a damp pavement

Just a few photos with an autumnal feel - yes the season is upon us - and thoughts turn to harvest of all kinds, and particularly in this country, grapes. If you have any this year.

Assorted cucurbits

Of course for many it is the Fall, a word which is very evocative of this northern hemisphere season, and the falling of leaves turned into gold or burnished copper by the declining sun.

A spider catches the last rays

Whisky Nose

Heard a report in the Today programme (8th October 2012) on BBC Radio 4 about the smell of rotten eggs in Scotch whisky.

Producers have been complaining of this unpleasant odour given off by whisky matured in Sherry barrels sterilised by using sulphur, at, it would seem, fairly strong concentrations.

If ever there was an argument against excessive use of sulphur (in whatever form) in wines or whisky then this is possibly it.

Chopin, Field and Curiosity

A unique experience listening to the music of Chopin and Field on BBC iPlayer (Composer of the Week) while seeing the surface of Mars in minute detail thanks to Curiosity's latest photos.

Will Curiosity be on the lookout for fossils ? I thought I saw something at Golbourn Scour, but put it down to a random pattern on a rock in the image.

Grape Futures (13) - The Taste

Finally, the taste.

Rather reminiscent of a Vin Doux Naturel from Roussillon in France or Mavrodaphne of Patras in Greece.

Some residual sugar...Not much acidity

An agreeable 'rancio' taste, with a bit of raisin and candied fruits.

Improvements would be possible by having more grapes to start with (more volume to slow everything down), temperature control of fermentation (it was a bit hot while the juice was fermenting) and more control (sugar, acidity) in general.

Not bad for a first effort.

SansSoo

This wine from La Réserve d'O can be found at the Wine Tasting Shop in Balham.

This establishment is run by Julia Michael and stocks a wide and eclectic range of wines. It is well worth a visit.

La Réserve d'O lies in the Terrasses du Larzac area northwest of Montpellier benefitting from long sunny days and the freshness conferred by its 400 metres above sea level.

I tasted their wines a couple of years ago and was most impressed. This is the first time they have been imported to the UK.

The name SansSoo is a word play on the fact that it contains no added sulphites (s followed by 2 o's = SO2)

A lovely velvety jam pot of a wine, but not cloying. Dark fruits and spices with freshness. Sumptuous.

La Réserve d'O - SansSoo 2011 Coteaux du Languedoc - Saint-Saturnin.
Costs £15.50