"I bought my house 19 years ago on that particular block because there were no bars"

The state's first urban winery could soon get its own zoning designation, allowing for similar uses throughout the City of Frederick. via WTOP

This wine is characterized by a yellow-green colour, a fresh citrusy aroma with hints of honey and a complex flowery aftertaste. It’s a semi-dry riesling, dryer than the Slovenian rieslings (such as Laški Riesling for example), but sweeter than those found in Serbia. It is a nice wine to accompany a lighter meal.

This is one of the wines available in Belgrade restaurants in 0.2l bottles, so if you’re a driver among non-wine drinkers (meaning you can’t order a whole bottle of some fine wine) it’s a good chance you’ll be in a position to try it. Do so.

Rating: 6/10
Price: 250 RSD (3.5 euro)

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Tasting notes:

Bright nose of peach and lemon

Nicely textured on the palate; fruity and acidic

Finish of citrus, melon, and lingering vanilla

This South African beauty is a steal at just $6! Well, that was the sale price. Regardless, the regular price is more like $10 which is still a good deal for a fruity, elegant, and nicely textured wine.

I could see this pairing well with a variety of dishes, and it also was delicious to drink on its own. I encourage you to seek out South African Chenin Blanc. Some wineries use the grape name Steen, however, it seems more of them are reverting back to the French name for the grape on the label. Either way, it's often great stuff at a modest price. Raise a glass!

I helped out at a trade event in London devoted to Sauternes and Barsac the other week. Entitled ?Sweeties with Savouries? it set out to show how both Sauternes and Barsac can be drunk not only with the usual foie gras and desserts but also with all the courses of a complete meal. With courses ranging from roquefort crème brulee with figs (see picture) through roast Moroccan quail with sweet potato mash to blue cheese cheesecake, the food was absolutely wonderful. Attendees were then asked to vote for which wine made the best match with which course. There was quite a lot of agreement about which of the 16 wines went with which of the 5 courses but there were also many individual opinions. As with wine tasting there is no definitive answer in the area of food and wine matching.

Tasting through the 16 wines was an education in itself. Considering they were all the recently bottled 2005 vintage, there was a range of aromas from honey, peach, minerals and smoke to flavours on the palate of marmalade, peach, citrus and honey. There were also subtle but significant differences in the weight and texture on the palate. The differences can be understood when looking at the percentages of grapes with everything from 90% semillon and 10% sauvignon of the premier cru classe Chateau Clos Haut-Peyraguey through to the 70% semillon, 25% sauvignon and 5% muscadelle of Chateau d’Armajan des Ormes. The aging process whilst broadly similar in length of between 18 and 24 months, varies according to the percentage of new barrels used.

The key to good Sauternes and Barsac, apart from the terrroir, is the botrytis that is required to shrivel up the grapes and concentrate the sugar in the grapes. From talking to several of the producers the 2007 vintage was going to be a worry as the summer was cool. However the autumn was as hoped with cool misty mornings followed by sunny afternoons, the perfect environment for the ?mushroom? spores of botrytis cinerea to develop.

There is a much history associated with the ownership of the chateau in Sauternes with many of them having been in the same family for generations. Check out the web site of Chateau Dudon if you want some history of a typical family owned Sauternes producing chateau.

At the Decanter event last weekend, it was great to see so many people  enjoying fine wine. Such a joy to have so many truly outstanding wines under the same roof laid out for the consumer.

At this particular Encounter Bordeaux epecially had a strong presence and the exhibitors read like a roll-call of the great and the good - though by no means exhaustive it certainly gave a very good schooling in what the fuss is all about. It proves that the UK is not all about Blossom Hill sugar water despite all the depressing statistics.

Not only were there members of the public that you would expect - I had some lovely older gentlemen coming up to me at the Jancis Robinson stand, just to tell me with a conspiratorial wink that they were already "purple pagers" - but lots and lots of young people. The majority in fact.  I hope this means that the next generation of wine drinkers/collectors/enthusiasts are trading up as they experience these wines first hand and making relationships with producers that may last a lifetime.

As well as the wines on offer there were also Masterclasses, the two most popular being the Margaux vertical and Jancis. Both of these will be available as podcasts - once the technology has been tamed- on the Decanter website and Jancis will put hers up on www.JancisRobinson.com

As well as all that, authors - Andrew Jefford and John Radford to name just two - were there for book signings and a very nice team from Riedel explaining all the subtle nuances of the various glasses and exactly why you need at least 10 different sets (I wish).

Susana helped me think outside the box?Susana Balbo, that is. One of Argentina?s premier winemakers, her Syrah-Bonarda blend is one of various compelling examples of her brilliance. It?s an intelligent value steal and as a bonus, it is meant to be consumed more or less young. Argentine Syrah as a whole doesn?t get all of the credit that it deserves?combined with the second most planted red, Bonarda, you get this beauty, with meaty tannins and lots of dark fruit/red fruit complexity. My favorite aspect of this one revolved around the irresistible, concentrated plum, cherry and black raspberry flavors, with the Bonarda contributing the nice red berry acidity. The oak and warm spices are a great, subtle backbone that won?t overwhelm with one of those cheap death-by-vanilla finishes. As with a great deal of grapes harvested from the Andean foothills (elev. about 2300ft), both components of this 50/50 blend were hand-harvested from vines in Mendoza?s Rivadavia department that are on average, 40 years old.

What a wonderful blend to try with grilled meats now that the weather is improving. Yet another excellent example that shows what finesse Mendoza blends can have without Malbec involvement.

Susana Balbo?s Crios wines are made available by Vine Connections, the premier boutique Argentine wine importer out of San Francisco. If you?re having trouble finding it in your area, try Wine-Searcher or the importers themselves.

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