Bérèche Brut Réserve was the outstanding winner at our Battleground Champagne tasting last week, so I thought it’d be a good idea to give you guys a quick introduction to the domaine and their philosophy. As some of you may know, Michael Edwards wrote an excellent book on Champagne a couple of years ago called Fine Wines of Champagne. It’s a brilliant book, no doubt about that, but I never understood why he didn’t talk about Bérèche et Fils in it. Either he didn’t know them, which is quite unlikely since he is an expert on the wines of the region, or he didn’t like their wines (is that even possible?). Either way I wasn’t too happy about the situation, because I absolutely love their wines and I think they deserve some serious recognition. I resolved to write an email to Mr Edwards himself, and that was when I stumbled upon his blog, on which, lo and behold, I read: “I set off to Ludes to visit the one grower I most regret not including in my last Champagne book – Raphael Bérèche”. What a relief.

When I visited the domaine in 2005, Raphael Bérèche was already in charge but his younger brother Vincent arrived a few years later, in 2008. It is really refreshing to see two vignerons as young as them (they’re both still in their twenties) taking the reins at the family domaine with such passion and dedication. Bérèche et Fils are probably one of the oldest growers in Champagne – the domain was created in 1847 – but  it was only in 1950, when Raphael and Vincent’s grandfather married their grandmother Solange, that the estate really expanded. Solange was from Ormes, a village situated to the south-west of Reims, and so they bought another 2.5ha of vines in the village, taking the total size of the domaine to 5ha. They sold part of their harvest to the negociants until the late 1970s, when the brothers’ father, Jean-Pierre, decided to focus a little bit more on the family business. The production finally reached 85,000 bottles in the 1990s after they purchased a 3ha vineyard in the ‘Vallee de la Marne’, bringing their total holdings to 9.5ha spread across six communes: Ludes 1er cru, Chigny-les-Roses 1er cru, Trépail 1er cru and Ormes in the Montagne de Reims, Mareuil-le-Port and Festigny in the Vallee de la Marne.

More than anything, the two brothers are in love with their land. Like all great growers, they see themselves as the custodians of something much bigger than them, a piece of land that was handed to them by their forefathers and which they look to preserve and transmit to succeeding generations. With this philosophy in mind, they slowly turned towards de facto organic/biodynamic viticulture (even though they are not seeking certification). In short, they don’t use any herbicides, preferring instead to work the soil and keep a spontaneous grass cover. Plant preparations are used alongside contact products and systemic products are only used in extreme cases.

The same line of conduct is followed in the cellar, where they intervene as little as possible. Fermentations are conducted by wild yeasts, they’re not rushed or temperature-controlled and usually last until the beginning of December. The temperature in the cellars is quite cool (around 8°C between the months of September and April) so malolactic fermentation can be avoided. The wines are then aged on their lees until they are tasted and blended in May.

The Brut Réserve is a blend of equal parts Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Pinot Meunier from the 2008 vintage, to which 30% of reserve wines from the two previous vintages has been added. It has been aged on its lees for two years and received a dosage of 8g/L.The style is very much one of restraint and elegance, with beautiful precision and a mousse that is so delicate that it seems like silk. One particular note that is constant across the whole range is a sort of grapefruity bitterness/salinity that kicks in on the finish and brings freshness to the wines.

The Brut Réserve is a little beauty and well worth seeking out, but perhaps the most astonishing cuvée is Reflet d’Antan, a perpetual solera champagne that was started back in the 1980s. The wines for Reflet are selected in the May following the vintage, aged on their lees in a cuve for another year, then introduced into a solera system (500 and 600 litre barrels) that was first begun in 1985. Once a year they bottle off 2/3, leaving the balance to blend with the next wines into the system. The wine is bottled in June and spends 3 years sur latte before being disgorged by hand with a dosage of 6 g/L. Malolactic fermentation is avoided. The result is amazing. I haven’t tasted many champagnes with such concentration and structure. It’s beautifully vinous and complex, with soft white orchard fruits mingling with the slightly salty/nutty notes coming from the long solera ageing. It did extremely well when we tasted it next to Substance, Jacques Selosse’s own solera cuvée, during our Grower Champagne tasting last October, and represents excellent value for money at £67.95 (compared to £260 for the Substance).

A small quantity of Bérèche Brut Réserve is now available to buy online or in our shop.

Kicking off this week with round two of my ‘focus on Italy’ blog entries. We always seem to taste these wines in the shop and wonder why we all don’t drink more Italian wine. Perhaps we look elsewhere for great value everyday wines, or we just don’t know enough about the great regions of Italy. Last week I wrote about wines from the North, covering regions from the Alto Adige down to Tuscany. This week I shall talk about the main regions of the South. As we leave Tuscany, sweeping down through Umbria, I suggest stopping for a quick glass of Fobiano 2001 from the immaculate producer La Carraia. Blended from Merlot and Cabernet Sauvigon, this wine is described by Hugh Johnson as ‘well crafted’ and certainly is a popular choice with our regular customers. Red wines produced in this region often get bad press, mainly thanks to the vast amounts of table wine that gets washed up on to supermarket shelves. As a region, Abruzzo has suffered from this more than most. The vast coastlines here create an ideal setting for wine making, and Montepulciano is the grape of choice for reds. Although some great examples of this grape can be found, the white wines have really found their feet and right now Madregale ‘Terre di Chieti’ is the ‘go to’ option for customers looking for something a little different that won’t eat too much into the wallet. Being a dry white with wonderful fresh aromatics, I would recommend enjoying this wine with the pan-fried fish of your choice. It is made from a blend of Chardonnay and Trebbiano, this region’s most popular white grape variety.

The further south we go, the more obscure the grape varieties seem to become. There are, however, a few areas to look out for. Campania, Surrounding Napoli, produces some wonderful white wines. Greco di Tufo, a style of white wine made from Greco Bianco, is a wine I always find complex, interesting and great value for money. Feudi di San Gregorio makes a beautiful example with stone fruits, minerality, and a finish that lasts just long enough to make another batch of Calamari. For another trip to the coast, I recommend the winemaking resort of Puglia, the heel of Italy. One of my favourite spots for discovering exiting, well-priced, interesting wines. Going through bit of a renaissance thanks to EU grants allowing vine replacement, many of the mafia made factory wines of this region are now being replaced with top notch quality wines. A trend towards organic farming has yielded such excellent wines as Promessa Merlot/Syrah. A fruity little number, with bold strawberry and cherry fruits, this is certainly a wine to be enjoyed outside with friends. Speaking of regions in the south reinventing themselves, I would highly recommend island hopping over to Sicily and enjoying the fruits of a lot of hard work. Turning Sicily into one of the most vital and improved wine regions didnt happen over night. But now it’s very much possible to seek out some real treats and, as it happens, one of this month’s staff picks is the Grecanico Dorato ‘Integer’ from Marco De Bartoli. This is personally one of my favourite styles of white wine – slightly oxidised, it has toasty notes backed up by apricot, cream and peaches. A wonderful, full-bodied white, and this month our in-house chef has recommended some fish dishes that match it perfectly. Head over to our staff recommendations page to read more.

The idea for last night’s tasting came about six months ago, at the end of our grower Champagne tasting. Most guests were really impressed with the overall quality of the Champagnes on show, but they were curious to see how they would fare against the Grandes Marques in a comparative tasting. No sooner said than done, there we all were last night, geared up and eager to find out which would come out on top. The line-up included Moët & Chandon, Veuve-Clicquot, Laurent-Perrier, Taittinger and Bollinger for the Grandes Marques and Bérèche et Fils, Agrapart, Chartogne-Taillet, Egly-Ouriet and Dosnon & Lepage for the growers – plus Nyetimber 2003 as a ringer.

The Champagnes were tasted semi-blind in three separate flights according to their style: I told everybody what we were about to taste before each flight, but not in which order, leaving guests to work out which was which and choose their favourite.
 
 
Flight one: LP Brut, Taittinger Brut Reserve, Nyetimber Blanc de Blanc 2003 and Agrapart Les 7 Crus

Taittinger was the winner of the first flight, even though nobody really went crazy for it. The nose was quite discreet but, as always with Taittinger, the texture on the palate was silky and creamy. I found it quite hard to get past the yeasty, Marmite flavours of the LP and thought the dosage was on the high side, but those who liked it enjoyed its crispness and freshness. Nyetimber tasted very different from how I remembered it – it was really quite oxidative and not quite as fresh as it should have been. Sophie Eccles, who works for Nyetimber, was present and said that it didn’t taste as fresh as usual but still, I thought it was interesting because it offered something different. Agrapart was a bit of a let-down. I was hoping it would blow its competition out of the water but, sadly, it didn’t. I still enjoyed it quite a lot – I thought it was complex and long, with real character. It almost reminded me of an Alsace Riesling with its soft, fleshy fruit and crisp minerality.
 
 
Flight two: Chartogne-Taillet Sainte-Anne, Bérèche & Fils Brut Reserve and Moët & Chandon Brut Imperial

Well, one thing’s for sure: Moët’s Brut Imperial didn’t taste so imperial last night. It was the least popular of the three by a distance. Chartogne-Taillet split the room, with some people finding it a bit tough and others enjoying its complexity and character. The 60 % Pinot Noir shone through, bringing structure and presence to the wine, and the low dosage of 4.5g/L meant that there was a lot of tension and purity on the palate (I particularly liked the saline/mineral finish). Everybody seemed to agree on the Bérèche et Fils – it was a little beauty. In fact, I don’t know when I have tasted such a pretty champagne. The nose was very elegant, with delicate lemon and floral aromas, and it had real class on the palate, with just enough creaminess to balance the mineral-driven finish.
 
 
Flight three: Veuve-Clicquot, Dosnon & Lepage Récolte Noire, Bollinger Special Cuvée and Egly-Ouriet Brut Grand Cru

Dosnon came out on top in this flight. It showed a very interesting contrast between the crispness of the fruit and the silky feel brought by the oak ageing. It was closely followed by Egly, Bollinger and Veuve-Clicquot. I was pleasantly surprised with Veuve-Clicquot which I thought was absolutely delicious. Tasting it you felt that this was a Champagne that would reward a few years of cellaring. The high proportion of Pinot Noir in the blend makes it quite a robust style, and there was plenty of concentration on the palate. Bolly was just bolly – true to the round and slightly oxidative style of the house, which made it quite easy for our guests to guess. Some people found the oak was not quite integrated on the Egly, and it was certainly the one champagne where the oak was the most obvious, but it still found a lot of takers in the room. It’s a very serious wine with lots of guts, and I’d be happier to drink it at the table with a meal than on its own at a tasting.
 
 
The Results

At the end of the tasting I asked everyone to vote for their favourite champagne of the evening, then their second and third choices. We then allocated each Champagne a score as follows:

• 1st choice = 3 pts
• 2nd choice = 2 pts
• 3rd choice = 1 pt

So here’s the moment you’ve all been waiting for…
 
 
Drum roll please…

1st – Bérèche et Fils Brut Reserve with 45 pts
2nd – Dosnon & Lepage Récolte Noire with 39 pts
=3rd – Egly Ouriet Brut Grand Cru with 32 pts
=3rd – Taittinger Brut Reserve with 32 pts
4th – Bollinger with 22 pts
5th – Chartogne-Taillet Sainte Anne with 17 pts
6th – Veuve-Clicquot with 11 pts
7th – Agrapart les 7 Crus with 8 pts
8th – Nyetimber Blanc de Blanc 2003 with 5 pts
9th – Laurent Perrier Brut with 2 pts
10th – Moët & Chandon with… 0 pts (Oh dear)
 
 
So there you have it, grower Champagnes are better than Grandes Marques and that’s the end of it. OK, so it’s not quite that straightforward. But still, these are very interesting results. It shows just how good grower Champagnes can be and what they have to offer.

To follow: a profile of the three best growers of the evening. And for those of you who’d like to see what the fuss is all about, Bérèche et Fils Brut Reserve will soon be available on robersonwine.com and in the shop and should retail at just under £40 a bottle. Don’t hesitate to contact us if you’re interested and we’ll let you know when it arrives.

For more information on last night’s tasting, download a copy of the brochure (PDF, 1MB).

The inaugural Real Wine Fair is a wine tasting event, celebrating skilled individuals who work organically or biodynamically in the vineyards and winery. Over 170 growers and winemakers will be presenting over 600 wines, made as naturally as possible. Visitors to The Real Wine Fair can meet and talk to the winegrowers, whilst having the opportunity to taste a diverse range of honest, terroir-driven wines.

Roberson Wine are really proud to be taking part in the event and some of our most interesting winemakers are making the trip over to London to pour their fantastic wines. Most of the leading lights in natural and artisanal wine will be present and it promises to be one of the best tastings of 2012.

Masterclasses
Several real wine ‘heroes’ have also been lined up for a series of seminars and debates, including Alice Feiring, author of ‘Naked Wine: Letting grapes do what comes naturally’ and Wine Anorak’s, Jamie Goode, co-author of ‘Authentic Wine: toward natural and sustainable wine making’, and Jonathan Nossiter who will be showing the 10 part series of his world famous film ‘Mondovino’.

Food, Drink and Art
There will be an exhibition of contemporary paintings and posters from Michel Tolmer (artist of the RWF’s logo) on wine-related themes which will be on display in one of the tasting rooms.  Additionally there will be stalls dedicated to artisan food & drink, and others, manned by leading London restaurants, selling “street food”.

Pop-Up Shop
Many of the wines on show at the fair will also be available to purchase from an on-site, pop up shop created specifically for the event.

Event and Ticketing Information
The event will be taking place on Sunday 20th May at:

B1 Victoria House, Holborn, London WC1B 4DA
(access is via Unit 6, Southampton Row)

Tickets cost £20 and are available to buy now from therealwinefair.com (where you will also find more information about the producers who will be exhibiting) or in our Kensington High Street shop.

No other country confuses the wine lover as much as Italy – renowned for its rich variety of wine styles, micro-climates and indigenous grape varieties (of which there are 350 authorised to be used in wine production). Before you plunge into your Gambero Rosso, pull out your Wine Atlas or search the big wide internet trying to decipher this beast of a wine country, allow me to take you through some of the most important regions, north to south, recommending a few wines to try as you go. We start this week with the north.

Right on the Italian/Swiss border in a region called the Alto Adige. Being so close to Switzerland, German is spoken as much as Italian, and the producers and wine names are often of German or Austrian decent. Although you can find quality examples of Chardonnay, Gewurztraminer and Pinot Noir in this region, it’s my favourite place to find fresh, exiting Pinot Grigio. The 2010 Pinot Grigio from Erste & Neue ticks all the boxes. Great texture, incredibly well-balanced acidity and stone fruit: a steal at £13.95.

Heading south-east from Alto Adige you arrive at Veneto – also home to one of my favourite styles of white wine – Soave, made from the white Gargenega grape. Unfortunately, Soave historically suffered from a poor reputation, thanks to vast quantities of high yield table wine. Nowadays, if you dig deeper into the Classico and Superiore DOC’s you might just find yourself hooked on the offerings here. It would be silly to recommend anything else but one of my favourite wines, Pieropan Soave Classico. At £14.95 you get so much for your money. Soft, subtle peaches and pears. A hint of fresh acidity followed by a nutty, creamy finish. It’s worth mentioning that Veneto is also home to Valpolicella. A village producing anything from your sweet cherry-flavoured table wine (nothing wrong with that) to your bank-busting Amarones by Quintarelli. Allegrini is one of the bigger names here, and the £11.95 2009 Valpolicella Classico is usually found on my wine rack ready to be served on pizza night.

Before we finish with the great region of Tuscany, we must first have a quick look at the even greater (in my opinion) Piemonte. The two great villages of the region are Barolo and Barberesco, whose wines are often compared to Burgundy, thanks to the subtlety and complexity of their great red grape variety, Nebbiolo. I could recommend dozens of great producers on the Roberson shelves: Vajra, Sandrone, Fenocchio, Conterno, Gaja. But I’m going to settle for the 2010 Dolcetto d’Alba by Bruno Giacosa, an old-school producer who makes Italian country wines to a very high standard. At £19.95, this wine is a blockbuster. Layered black cherry fruit, crunchy tannin, beautifully balanced and age-worthy too! The sweet, lightly sparkling white Moscato d’Asti (not to be confused with Asti Spumante, which is more aggressively sparkling and less sweet) also comes from this region. Try the ‘Biancospino’ from La Spinetta – it’s stunning.

Before we head into southern Italy proper we reach one of the most picturesque wine regions in the world, Tuscany. The most famous wine made here is Chianti, where he best examples are made in the Chianti Classico DOCG. However, there are other good sub-zones such as Colli Aretini, Fiorentini and Senesi. Sangiovese is our dominant grape variety here, and to get a taste of what it has to offer I would recommend the affordable and excellent Castello di Querceto ‘I Colombi’ range. For something a bit more special, I really like the Chianti Classico Riserva from Barone Ricasoli. This is a superb, slightly rustic wine with lots of ripe red berries on the nose, hints of dark blackcurrant leaf and great balance on the palate. The Ricascoli family have owned this estate since 1141, and we’ve been big fans since we opened, 850 years later. Tuscany is also home to Montalcino and Montepulciano, which some say are the region’s answer to Barolo. I say these wines are for heroes – muscular beasts that can last a lifetime. That said, more modern styles of Montalcino are emerging, and the cheaper appellations of Rosso di Montalcino, and Rosso di Montepulciano often throw up great wines at bargain prices. Lisini produces a magnificent Rosso at £22.95 – structured, modern yet very grown-up in style.

So that completes our the first of our two-part tour of the north through Roberson’s shelves. Feel free to get in touch for more information on any of the wines listed here, and look out next week when I will be recommending wines from the south.

Well, it’s that time of the year again, when the Bordelaise open their doors to the wine trade with promises of caviar and the vintage of the century, or decade, or whatever it is this year. Needless to say we selflessly availed ourselves of their hospitality and  attended as many of last week’s tastings as we could manage, working our way through as many wines as possible in the brief time we had available. Our general impression is that, more so than usual in Bordeaux, choosing carefully will be the key to success in 2011. There were some spectacular wines made, but the highlights are tempered by the underperformers. It was a year for big tannins, and those who managed them well have made wines that will mature beautifully. Those that did not will find their wines remain tough for decades, with many never coming into balance.

As far as the weather goes it was an early start, with dry conditions leading to good flowering and a healthy crop of very small berries. Unfortunately, this auspicious beginning was followed by what many described as a ‘haywire’ season. A hot, dry spring advanced the growing season further, until many began to fear an overly early harvest, where sugar levels are attained well before tannin maturity.  A cool July slowed the vines down again, but many were still suffering a water deficit. Rain did fall over the summer, but it was notable for its frequency rather than its volume. This unsettled weather and humidity created the perfect environment for disease, with many producers reporting problems with both powdery and downy mildew, along with botrytis.  A spate of rain in early September panicked some producers, many of whom harvested early as a result, as evidenced by hard, green tannins. Those who could afford to wait, however, harvested ripe fruit with excellent concentration and fresh acidity, although often at the expense of yield. A sorting table was essential in 2011, with many vignerons reporting the loss of significant volumes to rot.

The unsettled conditions favoured producers who excelled in the vineyard, and those well-financed enough to write off significant reductions in yield due to rot.  Unsurprisingly the 1st Growths made some fantastic wines, as did many of the classed growth Châteaux on the left bank. The commune of Pauillac produced some great wines across the quality spectrum, while Pessac-Leognan, St-Julien and St-Estephe also did well across the board. A word of caution for Margaux; there are some inconsistencies here, with many wines showing hard tannins. Of the right bank communes Pomerol excelled, while many St-Emilions seemed over-ripe, often showing a prune-like character. Dry whites from across the region were also very successful; however, the year’s real stars may well turn out to be the sweet wines of Sauternes and Barsac. The humidity that caused problems elsewhere provided the perfect platform for Botrytis development, enabling some delicious and complex wines to be made.

To sign up to receive updates by email as the 2011 wines are released, or to view the latest scores and prices, visit the en primeur section of our trade website.

Better late than never, I thought I’d post links to some excellent articles covering our recent tasting of Cult Californian wines on the 1st of March. Both Jamie Goode on Wine Anorak and over on his blog and Richard Hemming on Jancis Robinson’s site agree it was an interesting tasting, but, as you might expect, some of the world’s most expensive, controversial wines provoked some decidedly different reactions. In particular, Sine Qua Non’s 2006 ‘A Shot in the Dark’ divided opinion. This is a perfect wine (100 points) according to Robert Parker, who said of it:

‘…this prodigious red exhibits incredibly velvety tannins, a seamless style, and no noticeable oak (which is remarkable given the fact it spent 32 months in barrel). Dense purple to the rim with an extraordinary perfume of blueberry pie, blackberries, soy, Asian spices, and hints of forest floor and charcoal, this is a complex, rich, seamless, well-balanced tour de force in winemaking. A full-bodied, exuberant, unabashedly California Syrah, it will offer stunning drinking over the next 10-15+ years.’

It was last retailing here at £485 a bottle. At our tasting, the room was split, with some sharing Parker’s enthusiasm and others expressing similarly strong views in the opposite direction. Jamie Goode’s take on it couldn’t have been more different from Parker’s:

‘For me it was the worst wine of the night: over-ripe, and with an unpleasant roast coffee overtone…I think this is actually a poor wine. It’s not because of the ripeness and alcohol alone, because – after all – I love many Ports which are extremely ripe and have 20% alcohol. It’s because of the balance (it lacks it), the dead fruit (it’s just lacking definition), and the roast coffee character (it tastes like coffee Pinotage, which is OK if you like that sort of thing, and readily available at around £6 a bottle).’

A fascinating difference of opinion which serves to remind us of why we at least conduct our tastings – not to form a conclusive judgment on a wine but to share, discuss, question and enjoy wines we would normally have to take somebody else’s word for.

Wine? Pah, he’s already got to much of that. Corkscrew, glasses? Boring.

I’ll tell you what to get him, a T shirt from Mouton Noir in California. I stumbled across this website a few weeks ago. Some brilliant stuff.

Something for everyone….

I think when I came up with the idea of organising a Rhône tasting, the only thing I really cared about was having Thierry Allemand’s Cornas in the line-up. Of course, I wasn’t against throwing a cheeky La Chapelle or a Guigal Côte-Rôtie Brune et Blonde in the mix, but the one that really got my pulse racing with excitement was the Cornas. The problem is that when you finally taste a wine that you have been longing for with such eagerness and anticipation, there’s always the risk of being disappointed. It’s happened to me many times, especially with the wines of Bordeaux, but boy let me tell you one thing: I was not disappointed last night.

We had the Chaillot 2007 and What a wine! What a beauty! Such grace and power. A woman trapped in a man’s body is probably not the best way to put it but it gets the idea across quite nicely. The nose was really pretty, very floral and violetty, but the palate, on the other hand, packed a punch. There were tannins and acidity in abundance – but not in a clumsy way – it was pure, precise and focused, with great length with notes of violet and cherries on the finish. The audience was quite taken aback as it was distinctly different from the other wines in the line-up. Some people couldn’t make up their mind, some loved it, some didn’t understand it but it left nobody indifferent. In the end it was our winner in both the ‘take home with your own money’ and ‘money no object category’.

La Chapelle fared pretty well too. We had to open a bottle of the 2005 when one of the ’96’s was corked, and the room was split down the middle on these two wines. Those who were disappointed with the ‘96 thought it lacked the concentration and weight to go much further, although others were charmed by its leathery bouquet. While I agree that it probably won’t be the longest lived La Chapelle, I don’t think it will fall apart very soon – it’s one for the amateurs of fully developed, meaty Syrah. The 2005 was really quite impressive. It had such weight and power, but its most distinguished feat was the silkiness of the fruit. It’s a wine which, despite an impressive structure and incredible amount of tannin, manages to give a lot of pleasure already. Definitely one to watch for the future.

The 2005 Côte-Rôtie Brune et Blonde by Guigal hid very well its 36 months oak ageing and is at a stage in its life where it’s not giving a lot away. On the palate, it is as pure and linear as a well-honed athlete, slowly unfolding in layers of black fruit, pepper and spice. A great wine with a very promising future ahead of it.

The only wine that shone from the Southern Rhône was the Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2008 by Usseglio. It was sweet and juicy with just enough fat and generosity to remind you that you are in Châteauneuf. Really lovely for a 2008 given that it was far from being a perfect vintage in the region. I can’t wait to try the 2009s and 2010s.

The point of this blog post is not only to highlight some of the wines that will complement such a feast but also to let you in on a barbecue technique that will impress all. For inspiration you have to look at not how the English barbecue (lots of undercooked Tesco value sausages) but at how the Americans and French do it. My idea of a barbecue comes straight out of the Jamie Oliver handbook of making things as ‘rustic’ as possible. But I don’t care, barbecues are all about getting back in touch with our inner cave man. And this is how I do it…

Dig a hole in your mum’s back garden, lay a few bricks in there and get a load of coals simmering away. Wrap a joint of beef up in lots of tin foil and sit it to the side of the coals. Leave it there for 4 hours. In the meantime you need to fashion a spit for your lamb shoulder. This can made easily from two sticks stuck in the ground either side of the hole, and a long stick balanced between. Hang your shoulder of lamb over it for two hours, covering it with rosemary, olive oil, and butter. In the last hour hang your Chorizo sausages over the spit as well and let them smoke away. You can serve all this with whatever you want: potato salad, cous cous, bread rolls, etc. And lots of red wine!

If you do not have a conventional hole to use, you can always do it the old-fashioned way and use a gas barbecue or one of those weird stand up things you get from Argos for a tenner.

Wines to Match

I have chosen 6 reds you would silly not to serve with your selection of perfectly cooked barbecued meats.

For those feeding many hungry mouths and looking for quantity (and quality) I recommend:

LE GRAND NOIR ‘GSM’ 2010, HUGH, KEVIN & ROBERT £8.95
BBQ screams Grenache, Syrah everything smoky, spicy and fruity. This screamer from the Languedoc ticks all the boxes. It’s smooth, juicy, well-balanced and goes well with pretty much anything you can throw on a barbecue.

AMI DES DAMES 2010, MAS DES DAMES £9.95
Another cracker from the Languedoc. A blend of Syrah and Grenache that keeps on finding its way into my wine rack. Low yields, hand picking and organic viticulture are just some of the reasons this will make you look and sound more like Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.

7 RUE DE LA POMPE 2010, MAS COUTELOU £9.95
This wine is, in my opinion, probably one of the best you can buy under £10. From one of the most exciting natural wine producers on the Roberson shelf, this is one you will most certainly be coming back for. This time we are hitting 100% Syrah territory. My colleague Paul describes it as “Pronounced cherry and red fruit notes with hints of tar, tobacco, violet and rose on the finish. A very textured wine with racy acidity and low tannin”.

For those looking for something a bit more serious I would recommend:

CHÂTEAUNEUF-DU-PAPE 2009, CLOS SAINT-JEAN £26.95
What a coincidence, this wine is currently on offer! And what a great opportunity to rave about how good it is. Crunchy, bramble fruit with a dense silky palate. This is a wine that will impress most hearty wine drinkers. Oh, and it received 93 Parker points.

CLOS DE L`ORATOIRE 2008 £32.45
Sometimes a good Bordeaux is the only thing that will suffice with a large array of red meat. And this little number is a wine that got an amazing reception at a recent St-Emilion tasting here at Roberson. Lots of black cherry and cigar box aromas. Soft and elegant with hints of shaved chocolate on the palate. Really very good indeed!

REDOMA DOURO TINTO 2008, NIEPOORT £41.95
I’m going to put my neck on the line here and stick up for our Portuguese friends. Mainly because, not only do I think this wine is beautiful, but I also once drunk it at a barbecue in Portugal and it all just worked so well. It’s made from the local grapes of the Douro, so think Port territory here. It holds freshness and purity of fruit, works well with lamb and don’t get me started on drinking this with Chorizo sausage… wonderful.

And a barbecue would not be a barbecue without a big ice bucket full of our wonderful Minuty Rosé!

I hope I have inspired you to make the most of the warm evenings we have to look forward to this year. Don’t hesitate to call us at the shop for any other suggestions for this year’s summer festivities.