Your letters
Entertained, inspired or irritated by what you’ve read? Email editor@decanter.com
2011, a fascinating vintage
I can’t wait for Decanter to publish its usual
‘10 years on’ review of the Bordeaux 2011s. Not because it’s a great vintage like 2010, 2015, 2016, 2018 and 2019 – or even a very good one, like 2014 and 2017 – but because it was controversial. As a collector and reader, I still cherish the article by Andrew Jefford, bravely standing up to his critic peers ‘kicking the hell out of Bordeaux 2011’ as he eloquently put it. I have been collecting, tasting and reading up on this vintage ever since, trying to make up my own mind. Was the vintage simply unlucky to follow the legends of 2009 and 2010? Was it just an old-school vintage that needs more time in the bottle to come around? Or will it remain green and tannic forever? I suspect history may be kinder to 2011 than Jefford’s fellow Southwold tasters of the past, but eagerly await the 10 years on review in Decanter!
Arne Byberg, Oslo, Norway
Your wait is nearly over, Arne. The usual tasting did not take place this year due to Covid, but Jane Anson has retasted an extensive selection of 2011 Left Bank wines, and her report will be published in next month’s Bordeaux supplement, and also online on Decanter Premium.
Pack away winter
With spring looming, the realisation dawned upon me that I rotate my wines as I do my clothes, which is to say; seasonally. As I tuck my sweaters away in the wardrobe, optimistically bidding them farewell, I also start thinning out the herby Bordeaux and the weighty Spanish reds. By doing so I make space for the Mencía, the Gamay, and maybe even the odd English Pinot. Although I’ve seen enough English summers that I will hold back one nice Margaux, just in case!
Dan Milner, Brighton, UK
UK price hike
I have nearly written previously about the price of US wines in England quoted in your magazine, but Michael Walker’s letter in your April edition regarding ‘Pinot Price Inflation’ finally tipped the scales. He describes an ‘entry-level’ Oregon Pinot Noir from Domaine Drouhin that retails for £44.99. I would agree this seems costly, but in a five-second Google search I found the wine in the US for £25.54 ($34.99) at the current exchange rate, nearly half the quoted British cost. Although still not a bargain, I think all would agree this is a much more favourable price point for Pinot from this excellent producer. I’ve noticed this frequently, including in your ‘Weekday/ Weekend Wines’ selections, where the US wines cost more than double what I have paid for the same wine locally. Apparently something happens to the wines on their trip over the Atlantic. Perhaps the bottles arrive in a first-class seat to account for the disparity?
Chuck McGuire, Wichita, KS USA
Missing Price Watch
Where has ‘Fine Wine Price Watch’ gone? I’ve subscribed to Decanter for many decades and the Price Watch feature has been essential reading during all those years. I do hope there are plans to reinstate it.
Dick Berresford, by email
We decided to refresh the investment section because the length of print deadlines meant that the Price Watch figures were always out of date, and with the present situation putting a squeeze on page numbers, we felt a more general marketfocused section would be of greater use. This was intended to be in tandem with moving the
prices to Decanter Premium, where they could be continually updated and more easily searchable. However, technical glitches have delayed the handover slightly, so apologies for that. Price Watch should be live online very soon.
Steven Spurrier’s legacy
I was very saddened by the recent passing of Steven Spurrier. I wasn’t even born in 1976 when his Judgement of Paris took place, yet I believe the message it conveys is still topical.
In the era we live in, people are often pushed to take sides, the two opposing factions fighting like hooligans; everyone is waving a dogmatic truth, and humility is less and less fashionable. The lesson of the famous tasting Steven organised is that being humble and eager to learn without preconceptions, are the two single most important attributes, not only in the wine world, but in every field.
Eno Bucolico, by email
The romance of wine
How much of our enjoyment of wine is psychological? And is it appropriate to even ask such a question? For example, I’m really enjoying a Château La Clarière 2015 made by the Laithwaite’s family in a warm, sunny year with grapes from their own vines in Castillon, just outside St-Emilion. But would I enjoy it as much if I was then told it had been ‘manufactured’ in the UK, comprising the exact same constituent parts? Without doubt, I would say no. I want a more compelling connection with the wines I drink that goes beyond pure chemical composition.
This, I suggest, is why Decanter succeeds so well in creating the connections with wine that help us find enjoyment through meaning: a sense of place, culture, tradition, geography, environment, grapes, winemaking, and the individuals behind a wine. Terroir yes, but much more again, including art, cuisine, language, politics, and history. So keep going with the varied and diverse articles, Decanter – continually unlocking different ways to think about, connect with, and enjoy wine.
Guy Watson, Gloucester, UK
Reverse ice bucket
As my wife put the finishing touches to a wonderful, simmered beef dinner the other night, I realised that I had been completely derelict in my wine steward duties, and the perfect aged Bordeaux was still resting in the cellar at 13°C.
Necessity is the mother of invention. I have read about people using the microwave to warm cold wines… I don’t think so. Then I got to thinking about Champagne and the ice bucket, and how efficient water is at transferring heat. Why can’t it work in the other direction? I found a deep saucepan, filled it with lukewarm water and set the bottle in it. Fifteen minutes later it was time for dinner and I pulled it out, wiped it off, pulled the cork and it was perfect! The water was cold and the wine was just at room temperature, seemingly none the worse for gaining 6°C in such a short time. This discovery has now made me lazy, and I’ve used this method more than once.
One caveat: don’t use hot water unless you want hot wine! Tom Manchester, California, USA
Poetic licence
Am I the only reader perplexed by review comments such as ‘with a vein of wood ash and damp gardens underneath’ (tasting note for Altolandon, Bobal Con Altura, Manchuela 2018, in your April 2021 panel tasting of Bobal wines)? Can anyone seriously say they know what this ‘vein’ smells or tastes like? David Moores, York
It tastes like wood ash and damp gardens, we believe. We’re just trying to find a rained-off bonfire party to confirm this assessment.