Leap into Luxury: Super-Tuscan 2007 Messorio from Le Macchiole

Some Super-Tuscans scream luxury but the 2007 Messorio from Le Macchiole is a quiet wine that opens before you as you taste it, to give the feeling of falling forward into space: like a confident step from a plane into silent velvety dark below, the fruit billows outwards on the palate like a slow-glide on a silk parachute. Afterwards the tongue is literally left frozen in shock from hundreds of tiny pin-pricks of acidity, which may sound bad, but tasting at this very young stage (en primeur/anteprima), it is only the tingle of expectation for a profound experience in the long-term.

The 2007 is considered a "tropical vintage" in Tuscany, which may explain the richness in the fruit, but this Merlot from Bolgheri has all the hallmarks of developing well and is completely and smoothly in balance. I long to see this wine, or any Messorio for that matter, with 10-15 years of bottle age. Even at Anteprima stage, I have no hesitation in recommending taking a self-assured leap.

Tasted at Lea & Sandeman Italian En Primeur tasting 30 March, 2011.

More: Antonio Galloni review of 1994-2006 (not 2007 vintage) "A Study in Greatness" (Robert Parker subscribers)

Image: Yves Klein, "Obsession de la levitation (Le Saut dans le vide)" Obsession with Levitation (Leap into the Void), 1960

Also posted on www.vinissima.net

Fast Movers: 3 Popular Wines in London Today

Perhaps deep down I’ve always subscribed to the Oscar Wilde school of thought that Everything Popular is Wrong. So imagine my surprise when I asked my friends in wine shops to tell me what is popular. What wines are making people crazy with excitement? Having some time on my hands this month, I also witnessed the frenzy first hand. These wines’ popularity defy the prescription that wine has to be cheap, boring and of the same-same grape variety. If these styles are popular, then I am sure Oscar Wilde would approve my longing to be wrong:

Three Wines for Xmas Freeze Relief

I always know it is coming but I never really believe it when does. Winter. Each day seems to deepen my shock. I thought I'd share with you these three wines I easily found, EXCELLENT for freeze relief.

Lifting the fog: Pannell, Nebbiolo and the future of Australian wine Pt1

For a brief moment, I did an internship as a curator for the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney. Like most internships it was unpaid, part of the reason why I started working in wine sales. Apart from that, one of the best things I learned from my time working as an intern curator in an art gallery was learning to ask questions beyond whether I liked or I didn't like a piece of artwork.

Fifth Dimension: Movement in Taste

It's a fact that when you are truly dehydrated, the impulse for thirst in the body shuts down. So you never really know if you are dehydrated even though you desperately need water. In a similar way, sometimes with wine, you don't know a good one, or the idea of what that may entail, until you have one.

wine in capsules

"James Rothschild sent Rossini [composer of 'Barber of Seville', 'William Tell' etc] some splendid grapes from his hothouse. Rossini, in thanking him, wrote, “although your grapes are superb, I don’t like my wine in capsules.” Rothschild read this as an invitation to send him some of his celebrated Chateau-Lafite, which he proceeded to do." – Lillie de Hergermann-Lindencrone, “In the Courts of Memory”

Image: The Last Supper, Damian Hirst (1999)

2007 Mouton Rothschild label features Sculptor, Bernar Venet

Even if you don't drink first-growth Claret everyday for breakfast, you'll soon be seeing a lot more of the sculptor Bernar Venet.

Venet's sculpture in steel graces the latest release 2007 Chateau Mouton Rothschild label. This is the first time the artwork on the label has been a sculpture - and it has quite a serious tone, especially in comparison to previous vintages.

Apart from the eerie 1983 label, which is very bleak and existential, most previous labels seem to me to have something childishly gleeful about them: sheep doing handstands (1999, Raymond Savignac) or my favourite one of a sheep dancing in the sunlight (1982, John Huston).

Who wouldn't be ecstatic? The artist doesn't receive money but 10 cases of Mouton Rothschild for the commission. That's something to jump for joy about.

Perhaps a parallel can be made between the 1983 and the 2007 - both are not spectacular vintages for this generally spectacular wine (if it is not too incongruous to have "general" and "spectacular" together in the one sentence - after all, compared to other vintages of this wine, 2007 is "lower" 90-94 Robert Parker score)

But the sculpture, and choice of artist, does give pause for thought. Which is quite prescient for this vintage and year in history.

If I am lucky enough to open a bottle in the next twenty years, I'll look back on 2007 as a year when the economic crisis really began but the ramifications hadn't fully been realized yet (I'm sure we will still be dealing with consequences).

Since then there has been a shake-up in wine prices, with cellars being sold in bulk. An end of an era? I don't think so. Not for Mouton-Rothschild, at least.

As their motto neatly sums up: Premier je suis, Second je fus, Mouton ne change. Despite 2007 not being a great vintage and the subsequent economic crisis, Mouton-Rothschild will survive just as they have depressions, recessions, World Wars and oil crises before.

Personally, I look forward to the opportunity to taste it in 20 years come what may.

Link: Bernar Venet Studio

Previous WWS link: Chateau Mouton Rothschild label artists: Miro, Picasso, Francis Bacon

Beyond brand - the real revolution in perfume

Edmond Roudnitska in his garden

creator of perfumes for Dior, Rochas and Hermes

Oh you lovely reclusive Perfumers! 

Come out from hiding behind those faceless multinationals! 

Ever since Frederic Malle's Editions de Parfums (2000) there has been a profound new interest in the people behind the famous signature perfumes. For the first time the author of the perfume is promoted on the label just as an author on the cover of a book. 

So who are these artists behind the perfumes we wear and cherish?

In the spirit of celebrating the 'perfume authors,' Basenotes website interviewed 50 of the most famous Perfumers in the world today and asked them, who would they choose, "if they could travel back to the time of their choosing to meet, chat and co-create with a perfumer past?" 

Like other arts, it shows how scent has the power to traverse space and time. This is a most fascinating collection of interviews, thanks to Marian Bendeth of Basenotes. 

Link: Scent Treks through Time

 

mother's money and daddy's scotch

Link: Raymond Pettibon gallery

Diana Vreeland in her wonderful Garden in Hell

At the Andy Warhol exhibition at the Hayward Gallery was an interview of Diana Vreeland in her apartment. Extraordinary.

Talking from her sofa in her Fifth Avenue apartment - decorated as a"Garden of Hell" - she talks to an academic about how she was the last person to see the Mona Lisa before it was stolen at the Lourve.

A fascinating conversation with many other superb anecdotes.


Link: Andy Warhol, Other Voices Other Rooms at the Hayward Gallery

Bowmore 16 year old 1990

Let me share with you my tasting notes. Although, as the tasting progressed, they look less like notes and more like boozy heiroglyphics.

Starting out with calm, triple-distilled lowland single malts and irish blends, the day ended with some unrestrained darkness from the island of Islay.

What I wrote for the final Islay whisky, Bowmore 16 year old 1990 (53.4% alc):

"Like being violently dumped by a grey Atlantic wave face first on a rock pool covered with barnacles, waking up a few seconds later to cough out sea-water, seaweed and splinters of charred plank."

After some pause, my tutor decided to accept my note, "Ok, that's pretty much it. Great, isn't it?"

Yes, no doubt. But, by then, the fumes had curled up into my brain. Hanging on the wall, water colour paintings of Islay distilleries by the "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" artist, Ralph Steadman.

When I first arrived and saw them in the tasting room, I found it hard to believe an artist inextricably linked with Hunter S. Thompson could paint a landscape so lunar quiet.

But after a day of tasting Scotch, the hushed washed-out colours now made a lot of sense... as in the bottle, the expression of the land.



Link: Ralph Steadman's trip to Scottish distilleries blog

Castello di Ama: chianti, architecture and art

Nestled in the commune of Gaiole in Chianti, in the province of Siena, lies one of the most beautiful modern wineries I have ever seen.

The premier Chianti Classico estate, made of mirror, is a modern building, not beautiful in itself. What makes it beautiful is the idea it reflects along with the non-stop undulating olive-clad hills and vineyards.

The building becomes a complete merging of the Chianti landscape into the winery.

Apart from the inspired architecture, it is also home to an excellent collection of contemporary art. Owners Marco Pallanti and Lorenza Sebasti showcase their wines amongst music and art works.

"An important work of art will live on through time and will always have something to relate to the viewer, just as a good bottle of wine will age with style, harmony and balance, and still communicate its unique history..." (from Decanter Magazine).

Metaphorically, Chianti di Ami's architecture is the greatest expression of terroir I have ever seen: where the land reflects itself through the winery, and finally, expressing itself in the glass.

Bellissimo.

Link: Castello di Ama

Marchesa Luisa Casati

"With her pet cheetah on a diamond-studded leash, her Lalique flask of Absinthe and tendency to go out in little else than a fur coat, it’s not surprising the Italian aristocrat caused a sensation from Paris to Hollywood during the 1920s..." from La Vie on Rose blog

All the stock market schadenfraude makes me wonder: maybe we have just been through the equivalent of the decadent 1920s? Maybe it's history repeating. And then, there's the unrepeatable and unique... the Marchesa Luisa Casati.

After a life of parties at her home Palazzo Venier dei Leoni, on Grand Canal in Venice, after patronising the major artists of the time, she had amassed a personal debt of $25 million. To satisfy her creditors, all her possessions were auctioned. In the bid room, Coco Chanel.

The Marchesa fled to London, where she lived in comparative poverty."She was rumoured to be seen rummaging in bins searching for feathers to decorate her hair."

She died in London in 1957, buried amongst the illustrious dead at Brompton Cemetery. The epigraph on her tombstone is from Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra: "Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale her infinite variety."

"She was buried wearing not only her black and leopardskin finery but a pair of false eyelashes."

Link: quotes from Wiki article, Marchesa Luisa Casati

Australian wines in London: assessment

Someone is asleep on the watch. And like the Rover Thomas painting (above) of Cyclone Tracy 1974,* the Australian wine industry needs to wake up and hear the warning sirens.

"Who is responsible for the crazy selection of Australian wines on the shelves?" That's the first question I had when surveying the premium Australian wines stocked in wine shops in London.

My cri de coeur led to even more questions:

1. Why are there so many Australian Sauvignon Blancs and Pinot Noir on the shelf?

It's not something Australia excels in. Australia is not New Zealand. Hello. Yes, we do some good Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir but we also do outstanding wines NO ONE ELSE can:

• Hunter Semillon
• Shiraz - cool climate shiraz
• Eden or Clare Valley Riesling
• Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon

But they are hardly to be found.

2. Why is there so much Margaret River wine on the shelf?

Margaret River (photo below) have brilliant wines. Part of the reason is Margaret River has very similar growing conditions to Bordeaux, even to the same latitude and longitude (but on the opposite side of the world, like a mirror). The wines are inherently softer than big, bold Barossa or other South Australian wines.

Margaret River

Is it because premium wine drinkers can only understand Bordeaux here? Perhaps, the palate is educated so it can only understand Bordeaux. But I doubt it; I give wine drinkers more credit that that.

3. Why are apples compared to oranges? ie. Why are generic South Australian reds next to premier cru Bodeaux such as Calon Segur or Mouton?

Premier cru wines are unique compared to just about any wine in the world, even other places in Bordeaux itself. There is an perception here, amongst shops and consumers, along the lines: Australia produces great £10 wines, so why pay anymore?

No one is giving an adequate answer to this question from Australia. There is an element of truth in it, because there are no clear examples of what Australia does best on the shelf.

Australian wines are a victim of their own success in the cheap and cheerful market. But I long to see and taste Mount Langi Ghiran Shiraz, Coldstream Hills Riesling or a Mount Pleasant Hunter Semillon. People who should know better don't know these at all. And it's a loss for everyone.

I was even asked, does Australia even have vintages???

I am trying not to take this personally. But I hate ignorance, especially when it is cloaked in authority.

Is this down to the education wine professionals have here? There is only one or two sessions devoted to Australian wines at WSET (the industry qualification everybody must have to work in the industry).

Great wine can't be offered with the depth of knowledge needed for serious wine drinkers. They can't even be in or out of fashion if they are not on the radar.

Or is it not the education, but the wine merchant buyers? Is it the winemakers? Is it that stupid Fosters beer advertising ruining it for everyone?

I not interested in bellicose Australian patriotism - but there's something seriously wrong in the representation of Australian wines in the premium end of the market. It's essentially incorrect.

And quite simply, I miss the taste of eucalypt in my dark dark reds and I think Riesling is a more interesting wine with many exciting stages for ten, twenty years. I am bored of blasting NZ sauvignon blanc (75% of Marlborough is owned by French companies) or their counterparts, Sancerre whites.

Who is in charge here? Is it London wine merchants, the Wine Education Trust, or Australian winemakers?

Cheers.

* Cyclone Tracy was a tropical cyclone that wiped out the city of Darwin, (Northern Territory, Australia) during the night of Christmas Eve, 1974.

Best-selling Manga comic about wine: Kami No Shizuki 神の雫

Two brothers on a quest to find the ultimate classic wine.

A wine-critic father challenges his two sons to find 12 legendary wines. The father dies, suddenly; and it becomes a race to succeed, for whomever finds them all first will inherit the father's £9 million cellar...

Kami No Shizuki – The Drops of God – is a 10-volume Manga series so popular in Japan and South Korea sales of the featured wines shoot up 30% after they are mentioned in the series.

"Any individual wine lucky enough to be name-checked can expect to sell an extra 50 cases within 48 hours," reports The Daily Mail.

The wine descriptions are brilliant: 'Just like a classic rock concert!' says one brother after taking a sip of a 2001 Mont-Pérat made by French winemaker Thibault Despagne.

Here is a part of the comic about Rosso Miani from Fruili-Veneto region in Italy. The region is more well-known for their white wines (pinot grigio, ribolla gialla), so this is a very interesting choice, yes, and a very interesting red wine...


Apparently there is a spin-off video game, called Sommelier... let's just hope it's not, erm, too violent.


Link: Kami No Shizuki 神の雫

in love

A happy photo from where I live in London. He looks like he is in love!


Wine Woman & Song HEART photography by Yvan Rodic.


Link: Face Hunter: on the street, soho + fitzrovia + brick lane, 14 June 2008

Jack The Ripper Slash Bansky

The Decapitator's Flickr photostream

An anonymous East Londoner handy with a knife – sound familiar?


Exactly one hundred and twenty years after the Jack the Ripper murders, his ghost still looms large around his old stomping ground through an anonymous graffiti artist who decapitates ad posters.


Blink.


You may miss it.


Like this one for Uniqlo on Shoreditch High Street/Old Street E1. Or the truly ghoulish Carrie Bradshaw in the Sex and the City movie poster on Mare Street in Hackney.


Despite many people at the time claiming to be Jack the Ripper, the case remains unsolved.


The most famous confession letter began, "Dear Boss..." in cut-out words from the newspaper.


Decapitated advertising in 21st-century East London?


This is "Dear Boss," writ large.


Link: Mysterious Headless corpses found all over London

Cocorosie presents Loris Gréaud's Cellar Door

When people tell me that I know how this story is going to end I usually tell them: wait till the end and you will see yourself… From Loris Gréaud’s Cellar Door exhibition.

What is the sound of two galaxies colliding?


Something like this.


On Saturday night at the ICA in London, Cocorosie, will be interpreting the score for the Opera of Loris Gréaud's Cellar Door exhibition, "Once is Always Twice".


The Opera – scored by Thomas Roussel and with a libretto by Raimundas Malašauskas and Aaron Schuster – will be staged at the Paris Opera at the end of the year.


More black champagne, please!


Link: This Saturday, 8pm, at the ICA, London
Link: Wine, Woman & Song's take on Cellar Door and after-tremors.

Marcel Duchamp's Eau de Voilette (1921)

A readymade perfume by Rrose Selavy (aka Marcel Duchamp, photographed by Man Ray.


Not violet (violette), but veiled (voilette).


And still surreal as anything out there.

Disco naps and the avant-garde: Jonas Mekas

At the Tate Modern today, I woke up two young guys when I sat on the bench in to watch Jonas Mekas'60s experimental film, Diaries, Notes and Sketches (also called Walden). I thought: well, this is not a bad place to have a disco nap.

They shook themselves awake and watched for a little while before dropping their heads back to sleep. But you know what? Dozing like this could be one of the most interesting way to watch Mekas' films. Dream a little of their dream, watch a little of Mekas' dream.

Jonas Mekas has mashed hours of personal footage shot between 1964 - 1969 in New York: pictures of sludge, a co-op meeting, a sled-ride in the park. The effect feels like the images in his head have been recorded while he sleeps.

After a few hours, I am not 100% sure which memories were mine, and which were Mekas' film; that's how intimate the film feels. Imagine the trouble the guys sitting next to me must be having distinguishing their dreams from the outside world... If they are not still there, asleep.

Link: Jonas Mekas at Tate Modern