It has been a dark month at Uncorked. I don't mean metaphorically. With four out of six staff members spending time in Bordeaux, it has been a very good month. But it was literally dark, with an advertisement for 2018 Bollinger La Grande Année entirely covering one of our windows, like painted-on curtains. An artistically splayed, sun-shaped barrel display stand for the same Champagne obscured half the neighbouring window. It reminded me of being back in Exchange Arcade, where we sometimes wistfully mused on what the weather was like beyond the tunnel. The Bollinger advertisement has gone now, and we're back in daylight. But despite its darkening properties, 2018 Bollinger La Grande Année is a very fine Champagne, and we do still have some bottles left.
Still winning magnums!
While we're on the subject of Champagne, we have a monthly magnum draw winner. This month's winner Jeremy takes home a magnum of Roederer Collection. As a reminder, if you're on the mailing list and you make a purchase over the counter (and tell us who you are), your name automatically gets entered in the monthly draw. And more purchases means more chances to win!
What we've been drinking
Fresh back from Liguria, Andrew was enthusing about springtime on the Riviera. At dinner in Ventimiglia, the first town you get to in Italy when you roll over the border from France, he asked what the best local wine was, and was delighted to be told it was something we have on the shelf at Uncorked: Terre Bianche Pigato. The 2024 is fresh and focussed and promises even more if you can leave it alone for a bit. Ed has also been drinking from Liguria, using the Scarpa Vermouth Rosso for negronis. It has enough bitter complexity to cut against the sweetness, and it makes a great drink on its own over ice if, like Ed, you are sometimes careless enough to run out of Campari.
Anyway, we've recently been using the bare concrete surface of one of the pillars to collect the signatures of visiting winemakers. We call it our winemaker's wall. It's still early days, but have a squint and see if you can spot any faves. Good luck - it turns out that winemakers rival doctors for poor handwriting.
Geelong is just across the bay from Melbourne's Mornington Peninsula, and the cool, dry climate here lends itself to intense Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Niall had a great bottle from Geelong, 2023 By Farr Chardonnay. He says the combination of luxury and freshness must rank this among Australia's best Chardonnays.
I used to think that fish and chips was the perfect Champagne food match, but Jabu says his bottle of Krug 168 went even better with a ploughman's lunch. It was classic Krug, generous and toasty, and not knocked off course by pickles. By comparison, I've been slumming it. I originally latched onto the Cincinnato Nero Buono Polluce because I needed a cheap red to serve the parents at a children's birthday party. I was surprised to be quite taken in by the herby, balsamic charm, and I've been a regular buyer since. For the nerds among you, Nero Buono is an ancient Roman grape variety, and the members of the Cincinnato co-op do an excellent job of preserving and cultivating it on the volcanic hills around the town of Cori. Plus, the Polluce is still one of the cheapest reds in the shop.
What's new
Lots of lovely things have hit the shelves in the last month. El Reventón's La Reina is our newest listing from the Gredos Mountains, Spain's most viticulturally exciting corner just now; it's a mineral, aromatic, high-altitude Garnacha. We have three fabulous wines from Quinta dos Roques in Portugal's central Dão region; the white Encruzado (citrus and pine), the rich, red Touriga Nacional and the lighter, raspberry-ish Alfrocheiro.
The Côte Roannaise is technically part of the Loire Valley, but it's so far upriver it's one range of hills west of Beaujolais, and local winemaking is all about Gamay. Sérol are probably the premier producer here, and as the weather shows signs of warming up, we highly recommend their bubbly pink Gamay fizz Turbullent. Great for a picnic in the park.
From the Valle d'Aosta (the bit of extreme north-western Italy tucked under Switzerland), it's a big welcome back to the Alpine Pinot Noir of Elio Ottin, while from Italy’s other extreme and the slopes of Sicily’s Mount Etna, it’s an equally warm welcome back for the perfumed, smoky reds of Pietro Caciorgna.
'Elegance over power' is the motto of South Africa's Beaumont Family Wines, and from heritage vineyards their Hope Marguerite has real old-vine Chenin Blanc intensity. Also from South Africa, clutching the edge of the Cedarburg Mountains, the remote Tierhoek farm has one of the highest vineyards in the Western Cape. Panthera Pardus Pardus (named after the Cape Leopard which roams these hills) is a fabulous Rhône-style blend made by Lukas van Loggerenberg.
I could go on...
Smashing
Have you noticed we do glassware? We stock two ranges. Zalto are all linear angularity and cheekbones. Sydonios are more conventionally curved, from the elfin L'Universel to the massive, unsubtle Le Subtil. Both ranges are mouth-blown, fine and very light, and make a pleasing chime when you tap them together.
My favourite member of the Zalto range is the carafe, which fits nicely in my fridge door - perfect for doing double duty decanting and chilling white wines at the same time. If you don’t decant white wines, you should give it a go - you’ll be amazed by how much they can benefit.
In years gone by, Ed used to love doing a demo where he knocked a Zalto glass over on a wooden counter to prove it wouldn’t break. It was great fun until it went wrong. And, disclaimer! Zaltos definitely do break if you knock them over on a metal or stone surface. So, no trying to bounce them off your nice ceramic kitchen work surface.
Help! It's a cork emergency
It's happened to the best of us. Opening a bottle goes wrong and cork crumbles into the wine. What to do? And for next time, what's the safest way to open a bottle of old wine? Inspired by the experiences of some customers, we’ve put a page on the website with essential information to guide you through these cork emergencies: see here.
The worst burglars in Pomerol
On last month's visit to Bordeaux, Uncorked was meant to stay in some salubrious boutique accommodation on the heart of the Pomerol plateau. Unfortunately, on the night we arrived, the owners had not disarmed the powerful alarm system. Within a few seconds of letting ourselves in, a deafening, high-volume screech was blaring out across some of the most exclusive vineyard real estate in the world. With no way of turning it off, I started rehearsing what I would say in French to the Pomerol cops. But they never showed up. Presumably they were comfortably ensconced in the Pomerol cop shop, sluicing down their donuts with Le Pin. We waited for the Pomerol Neighbourhood Watch to roll along on their vine tractors, aggressively brandishing secateurs. But they didn't show up either. We began to wonder if the whole town of Pomerol was just an empty stage set. Still, sleeping in screech central was clearly not going to be an option. After a few hasty phone calls, a friendly château owner who was luckily up late entertaining came to our rescue. So many, many thanks to Jean-Antoine Nony of Grand Mayne for hosting us late at night on no notice. He is a proper gent, to the manor born, and 2025 Grand Mayne gets 100 Uncorked points.
Ends in '5', innit
I may have recently belaboured your inbox with a burdensome Bordeaux vintage report. Have you read it yet? No? Good. Just delete it. All you need to know about the 2025 Bordeaux vintage is that it ends in '5'. Wine trade superstition has it that vintages which end in '5' are guaranteed to be good. 2015, 2005 and 1995 were all crackers. 1985? Lovely. 1945 didn't just see the end of the Second World War, it is commonly thought to have been the greatest Bordeaux vintage of the 20th century. 2025 ends in '5'. Fill your boots.
Have a good bank holiday weekend, and hope to see you on Copthall Avenue soon. /NT
