February: After a long, cool winter this is the last month of dormancy for the vines; sap is just starting to stir and circulate in the plant and vine growers across Spain will be finishing their winter pruning and selecting the buds they wish to produce fruit for 2019. The soil should be freshly ploughed, allowing aeration and deeper penetration for rainfall. Growers will be adding fertilisers and organic matter that will gradually break down, adding nutrients for the plants rapid growth in Spring. This is also the last time of the year to finish repairs on trellising systems and to make any major changes for the coming growing season; once it starts, it goes very quickly indeed!
Hello Wine Lovers! We’ve blown off the Christmas debris and we’re very much into 2019 now. I’ve had an exceptionally busy January; I think it’s the first time since I started Wine Cuentista when I didn’t have time to post a single article! Fortunately, we still found time for 3 fully booked tastings, and I hope you’ll be delighted to hear that another 3 are on the way for February. On the 7th we’ll kick off with a Celebration of Catalan wine to follow our Spanish Winter Gems tasting in January, before revisiting a favourite battle-ground on the 21st, as we throw ourselves against the world of International Blind Tasting. To finish the month, we’ll be hosting a tasting of some Classic Italian Wines on the 28th of the month, rounding off the last of the winter tastings!
I also have several articles in the works so there will definitely be no repeat of January’s barren content. A long over-due article on Argentina, some top picks from the Winter Liberty Wine Tasting, a look at Australian Grenache and various other ramblings and reviews. I hope to see you in February for a tasting but, if not, enjoy the last ‘real’ month of winter. We’re all hoping for Spring now but by August, we’ll look back in fondness at these crisp but sunny days!
Maestrazgo Wine Club:
7th February – ‘A Celebration of Catalan Wine’ – 10 spots available – 30 euros/person
21st February – ‘International Blind Tasting’– 10 spots available – 30 euros/person
28th February – Classic Italian Wines -10 spots available – 30 euros/person
Articles: I probably spend too much of my time reading online articles about wine. However, as a result I can find and select a choice few to share – here are my three favourites from last month!
1. ‘Wine and Duty Facts‘ by Gavin Quinney. Dry statistics and financial information is rarely interesting, but Gavin Quinney has a way of explaining the price of wine, duties and taxes that I find very compelling. The focus is very much on the UK market, which goes some way to explain why the current problems facing producers trying to find a space in the market there, but there are constant comparison with comparable markets, which help puts the whole thing into perspective. A must-read for anyone who wants to understand the basics of wine taxation and importation or for anyone who fancies despairing at the future of the British wine trade.
2. ‘London, Capital for Wine‘ by Jancis Robinson MW. I go to London almost every month now, and it certainly isn’t for the weather. It’s an odd thing to ponder but it’s true; London is the wine capital of Europe and arguably the world, particularly when it comes to tasting events. I suspect that I’ll be heading there regularly for many years to come.
Wine of the Month: I’m constantly on the look-out for wines of real quality and value; here is my favourite wine of the month:
Nyetimber Blanc de Blanc 2013: This is the first English sparkling wine I’ve tried that really connected the dots for me. An industry that’s received a lot of hype, mostly from British Press, over the last few years, yet I never found a wine that made me think ‘yep, this is something special’. At the Liberty Winter Tasting in January, however, this wine really caught my attention and mostly due to its ability to really capture its sense of place in the world. Cool-fruited, precise and fresh, running along a spine of bright acidity into a dry, chalky finish. I was instantly transported to the English countryside, full of dewy mornings and wind-swept fields. Bravo! Probably not the cheapest sparkling wine out there but absolutely delicious.
Rants and Musings
Some off-beat topics about anything related to wine.
I hope you’ll indulge me a little this month, as I enjoyed the greatest honour of my career so far in the wine industry in January, winning an award for consistently high scores across my WSET Diploma. The graduation only runs once a year so despite passing in early 2018, it would be another 9 months before I could get together with my classmates and celebrate properly. I honestly didn’t know what to expect, having never really been to anything like this before. I don’t even own a suit and had to run out the day before in order to find something reasonable to wear, which turned out to be every part of a suit, minus the jacket, as I couldn’t find one to fit properly off the shelf.
It was a wonderful day. Bright blue skies, cold January sunshine and 5 members of my original class were passing out together. We met early around the corner to enjoy a bottle of surprisingly good sparkling Malbec then headed off to the celebration itself. As there was such a large class this year, the ceremony was split into two parts; the morning for the graduation (263 persons going onstage to receive their introduction and round of applause takes a while!) and the evening for the awards ceremony. Overall, I was there for 8 hours and regretted not a moment of it. It was so lovely to see everyone so happy and proud, and so we should be; the Diploma takes a lot of work to get through. By the time I got up to receive my award, generously given by The Wines of Germany, I was enthused with the day as a whole and had drank quite a lot of Sherry to boot! It wouldn’t have mattered if I was sober; I was delighted to be there. I’ve never visited a German vineyard before so I am very excited about making the trip in September and just want to thank both the WSET and The Wines of Germany again for the opportunity. It was a day that’ll live long in my memory, even if I must have destroyed a few brain cells by continuing the party until past 3 o’clock in the morning, dancing in an Irish bar, equally full of whiskey and bad ideas.
Studying for the WSET Diploma was the most fun I’ve ever had in a classroom and I’ve a lot of good friends in the process, some of whom I expect to see flying high in the wine industry in the future. It’s a thorough, difficult course but well worth the time, effort and money to see it through. I learnt more than I could have ever done studying by myself during that period of time and the skills I’ve acquired through long hours of study and practice will be my foundation for a lifetime of learning and exploring. I half wish I could do it all over again, but I have something new on the horizon that will challenge me in completely different ways. My thanks to all my classmates and teachers from the past two years and to all the students of the future.
Social Media
These newsletters only come out once a month and there is a limit on space for content. If you use Social Media and want to keep up with regular wine updates and occasional rambles, feel free to connect with me on any of the following platforms.
Facebook: Wine Cuentista
Twitter: @Wine_Cuentista
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That’s it for this months newsletter. I hope you enjoyed it and please, if you have any suggestions or things you would like to see get in touch! Either respond to me here or email to fintankerr@winecuentista.com I can’t wait to see you all soon for more wine, food and good company.
Fintan Kerr