One Year On- A year of the Grape Press

 

Hey Everyone,

So I have now come to the first year anniversary (well a bit past it) since I first posted. A lot changes in a year; graduation, and amazing summer in St. Andrews and the United States, time spent working in New York City and helping set up a new company in the Auld Grey Toon. Visa problems for myself - and it seems most of my friends and now I am at new heights in my wine experience. It has certainly been an interesting year for the Grape Press and myself.

I have been in South Africa now for 8 days and my experiences have been tremendous. I have seen the most beautiful landscapes I've ever laid eyes on, I've tasted some amazing food and meat some amazing people. My objective; to explore the wines of this country has been well under way for some time, with some exciting results. I have meat young, ambitious and energetic wine makers, old hands with tremendous experience and plenty of other characters in and around this great town of Stellenbosch.

The enthusiasm that these people breathe is infectious, and if you come to a wine farm ambivalent to the product, you will leave an hour later as devoted to the wines as the winemaker himself. It is easy to get caught up in things here in Stellenbosch; because everything about the place is emotive. Every night there is a carnival atmosphere in the town and you can't help but have fun. Beyond the streets of town there is the countryside where the most striking landscapes imaginable can stun you without fail every single day.

I for one am finding myself increasingly devoted to South Africa's wines and the people behind the bottles. There are stories here that ring true with everything I want wine to be. There is romance and there is love for the land as well as artistry and awareness. I know that wine, unlike any other product has a penchant for getting passion from it's devotees but there is an intensity in South Africa that vindicates my devotion to the subject. There are themes that are beyond my ability to vocalise so I will not attempt to do them justice, but suffice to say that they are as great as the Helderberg Mountains and as complex as the country's past.

I hope over the past year you have enjoyed my writing and I look forward to continuing in 2013 and into the future. To see the huge changes over the course of the year, I am filled with great hope to know that just as much can happen in the coming year. Tonight find a glass of something nice, be it wine, beer, juice (whatever!) and enjoy it. I'll be doing the same!

(As always) Much Love,

G

 

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Return of the King (of wines)

Hey Everyone,

Here's a bit of a throwback to an earlier post. In fact, the post with which I first made this blog public was a declaration of my love for the Hungarian Tokaj region. I rarely get a chance to taste Tokaji, yet my fondness for this beautiful and noble sweet wine is always at the front of my mind when I am considering any other wine region. For me, Tokaji wine is the criterion against which I measure all other regions and styles, by virtue of it's everlasting adherence to tradition and commitment to representing the Hungarian people.

Therefore, when I get the chance to tast Tokaji, I never pass it up and by wonderful coincedence, I had two such opportunites in the past week; each a mere two days apart. Here are my findings...

The first, a Tokaji Szamarodni Edes from 2002 was a simple tokaji, the kind of wine I imagine would be more or less a common wine for everyday consumption if I lived in Hungary or a country that gave enough attention to the import and consumption of Tokaji wines. 'Edes' meaning sweet, it didn't have any statement of puttonyos concentration, but I would say it was around about a 4; not a sweet viscous thing, nor was it particularly dry. The nose was full of flowers and peaches with a bit of marshmallow and some roasted vanilla beans involved.

At a slightly touristy wine shop I paid the equivalent of ten quid for this bottle. I'm guessing that in a local bórszag one would pay about two-thirds that price, making this about the best value sweet wine I have ever had. Bringing this wine back with me, I felt like I'd made a huge profit form my trip to Hungary, especially as I could imagine a bottle of this quality selling for around 40 pounds. That disparity in price was more than the cost of my flight (both ways) on Wizz A!r.

The second wine was a classic 1999 Tokaji Aszú 5 Puttonyos from Crown Estates. Crown estates is likely to be the only producer of Tokaji anyone in the UK has ever tried, although the Royal Tokaji Company is hopefully making more inroads to the British market, and therefore can be a sort of standard for judging the quality of Tokaji. That said, this was a fantastic bottle of wine. It was beginning to show signs of approaching maturity, with a beautifully sweet palate, rich stewed fruit character and a surprising off-dry finish. Though this bottle sells for a hefty price tag of around 42 pounds, I would take it anyday over a German Auslese or Sauternes of the same price.

Tasting these wines reminded me of just how much I love Hungarian wine and I wish for a day when Tokaji of this character and quality are available on a larger, more affordable scale. But until that day, I feel very fortunate to have tasted these wines when I did, and if you ever find yourself in the position to taste some of the amber nectar of the Magyar, I Hope you go for it.

Much love,

G

 

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