The start of our trade event season for 2011 began this week with our hosting a stand at The Specialist Importers Trade Tasting event (SITT) 2011 in Manchester (Monday) and London (Wednesday). We have worked at this event for the past couple of years and watched it grow into an already much talked about interesting show for the smaller, specialist merchants in the UK wine trade.

The SITT acronym is an ironic one as a long day is spent on one’s feet tasting, chatting and advising a steady flow of guests including Sommeliers, Journalists, fellow wine merchants and consultants. There was certainly precious little time to sit!

Michael and Tom attended the Manchester event, which as a rule is a little quieter than the London one. Tom the hot footed it back to help Jason and I look after things in London at Vinopolis in the historic Borough market near London Bridge.

We always try to keep our wine selection fairly small and snappy, but equally try to reflect as much of our varied and wide-ranging portfolio as possible. This tasting provided a good opportunity to look at some of our 2009 vintages that are going to be firmly at the forefront of our 2011 list. The white wines were all particularly well received on the day (which may partly reflect the ambient temperature of a packed hall)!

I thought that our Condrieu Terroirs 2009 (100% Viognier) from Francis Merlin was an excellent wine; good body, with lots of that AC typical minerality that makes Viognier from this area so interesting and different. One of the comments from a journalist who tasted it on the day was that it was refreshing to try a Condrieu that actually tasted like Condrieu is meant to, which is something very different from Viognier found elsewhere in the wine world. A third of the assemblage is put into oak and this helps carry the complex flavours through to a long and satisfying finish. This is a great early showing for the 2009 Rhône that we have been telling you about for the past couple of months.

Domaine Saparale Vin de Corse Sartène Rosé 2009 (Nielluccio, Sciacarello and Vermentino) is a stand out rosé wine. From sun-blessed Corsica, it has a lovely pale Salmon colour with lots of mouth-filling summer fruit flavours as well as crisp, slightly savoury tinge. This is Spring/Summer drinking out on the terrace with a salad or some seafood.

All of the reds that we had on show are firm favourites of mine and I am really pleased that our Pascal Frères Gigondas 1999 was well received by people on the day. Gigondas is generally a younger, more rustic cousin to the refined, maturity of good Châteauneuf du Pape and it is not often that you can find it available with any decent age. We are fortunate to have a long standing working relationship with Yves Cheron and he continually delights with his late release of these great value wines. Don’t get me wrong, this Gigondas does not have the rich complexity of good Châteauneuf, but to be fair it also does not have the price tag! Beautiful autumnal flavours expand on the palate, the rusticity of youth has been mellowed with age into a smooth, warming wine. Plenty of classic cigar box aromas and long finish, make this a wine for slow, relaxed contemplation. A great value wine in my opinion.

Overall, it was another successful event, lots of interesting wines on show and a great opportunity to catch up with old friends and new. When the doors finally closed after a busy day dispensing wine, we continued the long standing wine trade tradition and swapped the grape for the grain with a quick refreshing beer from the nearest market tavern, albeit though, still no seat to be had.

Jean-Pierre Meffre - Domaine Saint Gayan

It’s our final day in the Rhône valley and we are beginning to flag a little as we wend our way out of Orange once again at 8.30am.  We’ve long since given up trying to convince friends and family that tasting wine is an arduous task, but you can have too much of a good thing.  We are now well into three figures for wines tasted and considered this week for our Rhône 2009 vintage report, so we are both looking forward to getting back home.  Yet it’s hard to feel sorry for ourselves as we roll up at Domaine Saint Gayan in 20 degree sunshine.  Its 9am and Mont Ventoux towers above us in a blue sky, beautiful but brutal, and Jean-Pierre Meffre takes us through his gamme covering Sablet, Rasteau, Gigondas and Châteauneuf-du-Pape (where he owns less than a hectare that abuts the vineyards of Beaucastel).  We taste a succession of vintages and its clear that the 2009′s will have a freshness and elegance by comparison with their beefier 2007 siblings.

Heading north (on the home stretch now) we arrive at Domaine Biguet just outside Saint Péray, west of Valence. We’re an hour late for our tasting but Jean-Louis Thiers remains relaxed and promptly shows us in to his neat tasting room.  Saint Péray is commonly recognised for its sparkling wines that historically out-priced Champagne, but the still version (also made from 100% Marsanne) deserves to be better known, with aromas of orchard fruit and a ripe, rich palate.

Our final tasting en route to Lyon airport is fittingly at Domaine Georges Vernay in Condrieu.  Here we taste the range of 2009 Viogniers for which the estate is justifiably world-renowned, as well as red Côtes du Rhône (interestingly from vines within the AOC limits of Condrieu) and a sleek St Joseph from 35 year old vines.  Paul Amsellem (Christine Vernay’s husband) is gamely hosting a large party of Norwegians, so winemaker Christine conducts our tasting and the conversation flows from yields and lieu-dits to the ‘dematerialisation’ of the music industry.

Alas, we have to flee as our return flight beckons, but it’s been one hell of a week!

Jason & Tom.

A potentially thorny question for those of us in the wine trade is: What on earth to serve visiting wine makers? Last week I had not one but two wine-makers to stay and so had ample opportunity to ponder this dilemma. The short answer is: Nothing from their own back yard and certainly not their own wine unless it’s part of an elaborate ruse.

Fred Filliatreau

My first guest was Fredrik Filliatreau, from Saumur Champigny, who I’ve known for years and is a close family friend. Fred was purporting to be in the UK on business and any rumours that he was actually over for a spot of chalk-stream fly fishing on the river Wylye should be ignored. Having been President of the appellation of Saumur Champigny while still in his thirties Fred is an authority on Cabernet Franc so that (and all Loire wines for good measure) were strictly off the menu. We served him a Corsican rosé from Domaine Saparale as an aperitif which seemed to meet with approval. The only problem being my thirsty neighbours who can hear a cork pop at 50 metres and are particularly partial to sophisticated saignant wines. To be fair they are a very jolly bunch and they entertained Fred with aplomb while Pippa and I faffed about in the kitchen. We then sampled a nervy Neagles Rock Riesling, in the newly shipped 2009 vintage, with a simple crab salad, followed by an organic red Côtes de Luberon, Château la Canorgue with a slow-cooked leg of lamb ‘boulanger’. With a selection of English cheeses (from our local fromage-pusher Paul at Sagebury Cheese in Frome), including my new favourite ‘Danegeld’ made by Jamie Montgomery (do try it), we had a bottle of Gigondas 1990 from Domaine Saint Gayan. This majestic old Grenache was (like me) showing its age but it made a fine end to fun evening and we all retired to bed at a fairly sensible hour.

Dan Buckle

Two days later ace Aussie wine-maker Dan Buckle, from the celebrated, Mount Langi Ghiran estate in Victoria, descended upon us prior to the wedding of some mutual friends. Dan was somewhat less of a vinous challenge as he is a keen Francophile with limited access to French wines in his native Australia. We served Dan a sparkling Loire rosé ‘Cuvée les Tonnelles’ from Domaine Aubert, enlivened with a soupçon of Sirop de Pamplemousse Rose from Domaine Combier in Saumur, which we all agreed made a refreshing start to the evening. With our starter of steamed English asparagus we had a taut young Reuilly 2009 from Gérard Cordier followed by a roast chicken that I couldn’t resist pairing with the 2007 ‘Vieilles Vignes’ Cuvée of Filliatreau Saumur Champigny – as Fred had stayed with us so recently. Dan had brought us some great cheeses from Neal’s Yard in Borough Market with which I struck lucky with a 1971 Saint Joseph from Rhône legend Ernest Trollat. I was correct in my guess that ’71 was Dan’s birth year and although he didn’t actually weep with gratitude he definitely looked a little misty in the corner of his eyes.

It was great to catch up with both Fred and Dan and I look forward to inflicting similar damage to their cellars when I next visit them in Saumur and Melbourne respectively.