The Observer - Pulenta Estate

The Observer - UK
16 de diciembre, 2007
Excess moderation This year, there's no chance that Tim Atkin won't be getting into the
festive spirit. From the perfect bubbly to a full-blooded Argentinian, here's what he's lined
up for Christmas Day... The Observer Sunday December 16, 2007 One of the nicest things
about being a wine writer is the chance to escape the unerring darkness of an English
winter. Check the airport terminals at Gatwick and Heathrow in early December and
there's a good chance you'll run into a sponge (the appropriate collective noun) of wine
hacks buying sun cream at Boots on their way to a vineyard south of the Equator. By the
time you read this, I'll be travelling in Argentina, tasting Malbec and eating industrial quantities of sirloin. I've timed my return (Iberia and the horrors of Madrid airport permitting) to
give me just enough time to top up on the Christmas spirit back in London. My plane lands
on 23 December, leaving me a matter of hours to buy a few last-minute presents and
prepare myself for the physical onslaught of the week ahead. The one thing I won't have to
worry about is wine. I buy far more of the stuff than I need, especially since I've had a
cellar installed at home. Even if I live for another 30 years, drinking three bottles a week, I
reckon I've already acquired half of my requirements. It's a macabre and slightly scary
thought. If I consumed as much food and wine as I plan to between Christmas and New
Year, another 30 years would be a medical long shot. My liver would be exhausted, my
waistline would expand to Mr Creosote-like proportions and I would be on Alan Johnson's
list of irresponsible citizens. But who cares about moderation right now? So, what have I
got lined up for Christmas Day? I've just bought my parents some new Champagne glasses, so we're going to start by filling them with fizz. I have two candidates, made in totally
different styles, and both available from Majestic. The complex, dry, powerful 1999 Bollinger Grande Année (£75, or £44.99 each for two) and the nutty, more delicate 1998 Taittinger Comtes de Champagne (£100, or £65.99 each for two) are both wonderful Champagnes. My step-mother has bought some Iberico ham from Brindisa for our starter, which
gives me the chance to ride my annual Sherry hobbyhorse. I used to think that I was a
freak for drinking so much fino and manzanilla, but these days I feel increasingly normal.
Not before time, dry Sherry is catching on. Buy a bottle of Sainsbury's yeasty, multifaceted Taste the Difference Fino Superior (£5.99 per 50cl) or the toasty, tangy Hidalgo
Manzanilla Pasada Pastrana (£9.99, selected branches of Waitrose) to find out why. Inspired by my fortnight in Argentina, we're having roast rib of beef for our main course, complete with olive-oil mash and winter vegetables. To partner it, I've chosen two wines - one
from South America, and one from my favourite French wine region, the Rhône Valley. The
Argentine wine, which is still one of the great bargains of the wine world, is the profound,
concentrated, yet stylish 2004 Pulenta Estate Gran Corte, Mendoza (£15.95, Berry
Brothers, 0870 900 4300). I'm hoping this skilful blend of Merlot, Malbec and a little Cabernet Sauvignon will remind me of Mendoza. The Rhône wine, which is a recent discovery, is
the comparatively forward, but totally delicious, Grenache-dominated 2005 Châteauneuf
du Pape, Les Cailloux Rouge, Domaine André Brunel (£24.95, Armit, 020 7908 0660). A lot
of modern Châteauneufs are too tannic and alcoholic for their own good, so it's a pleasure
to recommend something with perfume, fine tannins and real elegance. We've decided not
to bother with dessert this Christmas. Instead, we're going to have a cheese platter including some Mimolette. ('The one that looks like an edible Belisha beacon,' says my stepmother). The nuttiness of the cheese calls for something white and dry. I could serve the
Sherries again, but even I might reach for something else. Cue a bottle of the fresh,
creamy, oak-kissed 2004 Chassagne-Montrachet, Clos Pitois, Domaine Joseph Belland
(£32, larger branches of Marks & Spencer) or the herbal, Semillon-influenced 2007 Taste
the Difference South African Sauvignon Blanc (£6.99, Sainsbury's) made by the enfant
terrible of Cape wine, André van Rensburg. Even without the dessert, I suspect we might
reach for a chunk of turron (the Spanish version of nougat that is guaranteed to extract at
least one filling per bar). If we do, I'm sure I'll need a glass of sweet wine. Fortunately, I
have just the thing in mind. The 2004 Domaine Bellegarde, Cuvée Thibault, Jurançon
Moelleux (£12.50 per 50cl, www.jeroboams.co.uk) is one of the most delicious stickies I've
had this year, a honey and tropical fruit-like stunner with notes of pineapple and citrus fruit,
and enough acidity to prevent it from cloying. Dessert wine or no dessert wine, we shall
drain the last drop of white Burgundy, waddle towards the living room and fall asleep in
front of the Queen's speech, secure in the knowledge that we will have drunk more, and
better, than the Windsors. Here's hoping you do, too.