Masterclass on wines from the Loire valley

Annual ritual with wines from the Loire in London, organized by Charles Sydney Wines. This time we were led through a masterclass by Jo Locke MW, and the producers of the wines below. 

Here are my tasting notes.

1. Ackerman Royal 2022

Crémant de Loire, Saumur

In 1831 Mr Ackerman came from Belgium and wanted to copy Champagne, first to do in Loire.

60 Chard 30 cab franc 10 pinot noir check, 36 months on Lees 

Fresh, mod complex, 

Score 87

2. La Minée, cru château Thebaud 2022, first release

Muscadet cru communal 

Organic

 balance, complex 

Score 91

3.Les hauts de Husseau 2019,domain de la Taille aux Loups 

Montlouis sec AOP

Grapes? 

Dry vintage but very old vines (80 to 150 years old!) with deep roots got humidity from ground 

Spontaneous fermentation in deep caves, can take up to a year! No sulphites needed because little oxygen in caves. 

Smooth and balanced, mod long 

Score 90

4.Edmond 2022 Domaine Alphonse Mellot 

Sancerre blanc sauvignon 

Vines from 1904. Current Alphonse is 19th but he only has 4 daughters, first called Alphonsine! #biodynamic 

Balanced complex and long 

Score 94

5. Buisson Renard 2022,Domaine Didier Dagueneau

Balance complex and long, 

Vin de France and not Pouilly Fumé got fed up with regulations of appellation. 

Score 94

Reds

6. La Chapelle 2023,domaine des Pothiers Roman Paire) 

Côte Roannaise 

Gamay 

Spicy, smooth, long. 

Score 92

7. Génération XIX 2019, domaine Alphonse Mellot 

Sancerre Rouge Pinot noir 

Very smooth, perfect balance, long 

Score 95

8. Les Chiens Chiens 2018, Domaine de la Noblaie

Cabernet Franc 

Chinon rouge aop, organic 

Rough, sharp edges, needs time in the bottle to get a bit rounder. 

Score 90

Sparkling wines from Burgundy

Crémant de Bourgogne masterclass organized by Bourgogne Wines today with Laura Kent, proud Ambassador of this wine in London. CdB is well known, and considered by many (excluding producers of Champagne perhaps!) to be a more affordable alternative to Champagne. In this class we will try and determine if that is true.

The following is based on her presentation today, for which I am grateful.

For starters, some numbers: CdB represents 12% of the wine production of Bourgogne and this number is growing. Last year some 22m bottles were sold. By way of comparison, 61% of Bourgogne wine consists of the iconic chardonnay white wine and 27% is red and rosé.

CdB may be produced throughout Burgundy (and parts of Beaujolais) and its vines keep some 2800 hectares of vineyards busy growing grapes for 22m bottles, about 44% of which is exported.

The history of CdB goes back to the middle ages, to the 13th century to be precise, when the first mention appears for "effervescent" (frémillants) wines. But it is only in the 18th century, when bottling as we now know it becomes widespread, that natural effervescence, sometimes unintentional, becomes a common phenomenon and a new taste develops the the bubbles.

In 1818, with the Napoleonic wars over, wine production takes off again and specifically in the Côte de Nuits some of the finest cuvées are converted to sparkling production, most notably red!

In 1830 a certain François Bazille Hubert, a winemakers from Champagne, moves to Rully and starts the tradition of the classical method in Burgundy. Over the next one hundred years more and more vignerons follow his lead and in 1930 no less than 40 vineyards make crémant. 

In 1940, with the storm of war gathering in Europe, Simmonet-Fèvre and Moreau start making bubbles in Chablis. In March 1943, with the war in full swing, the appellation Bourgogne Mousseux in created. One would have to wait for another 30 years and in 1975 the appellation Crémant de Bourgogne is inaugurated for both red and white wines.

Strict control criteria are applied to the production of CdB, beginning with inspections in the vineyards and pressing centers, where a limit of 150kg for 100 liters of wine is applied. Grapes are harvested by hand with whole bunches. Quality control of the taste of the base wine follows and a second tasting of 100% of the final product is de rigueur as well.

Minimum of 9 months of aging on laths and 12 months after that prior to release.

Three categories differentiate the final product by quality: crémant, eminént (min 24 months on laths and another tasting) and grand eminént, the Formula 1 of CdB: a) only pinot noir and chardonnay are allowed (some gamay for the rosé); minimum 10% potential alcohol at harvest, only the cuvée (first 75% of press) is allowed; minimum aging is 26 months; wines must be Brut and the final product has to undergo yet another tasting.

And now let us go for some tasting ourselves.

Domaine Laurent Berger

Just 7 hectares of chardonnay in the mâconnais.

Almonds notes for a light yet balanced wine.

Score 82

Domaine manuel Olivier

25 hectares of chardonnay (50% of this wine), pinot noir and aligoté

A light wine

Score 80

Maison Louis Picamelot

Making sparkling wines since 1926

pinot noir, chardonnay and aligoté with some gamay

A dry wine, moderately complex, amaretto notes.

Score 84

Le Vignerons d'Igé

Making wines since 1927, now farms 190 hectares, mainly chardonnay.

A smooth fragrant wine with a final bitter touch.

Score 85

Maison Paul Chollet

Making CdB since 1955.

Concerto, a yeasty fragrant wine, balanced and moderately long.

Score 87

Maison André Delorme

Founded in 1942 in Rully.

A smooth wine with little effervescence.

Score 84

 Quatre-vingt-deux blanc de noirs

pinot noir and 20% gamay.

A balanced and long wine with unique cherry notes.

Score 89

Louis Bouillot

Crémant Eminent

Tradition here goes back to 1877 and now covers 140 hectares.

Another fragrant wine with good length and moderate complexity.

Score 88

Caves Bailly Lapierre

Crémant de Bourgogne éminent

Made from grapes collected from 400 growers

85% chardonnay and 15% pinot noir.

Good freshness, intense aromas of ripe cherries, long.

Score 91

Maison Albert Sounit

Established in 1943 and owned by a Danish family since 1993.

Crémanmd Grand éminent 2018

A creamy fragrant wine, very long.

Score 93

 

Meet the producer: Balmoral Maravides, Valencia, Spain

Snow at 1000 meters (photo Balmoral)

A big challenge they put before themselves at Balmoral: produce pinot noir in southern Spain. A grape which is known to give its best at cool latitudes, as in Burgundy. The climate could not be more different, but At Balmoral Maravides they had an ace up their sleeve to cool the environment for pinot noir: altitude. So they planted 150 hectares of organic vineyards at 1000+ meters above sea level, to produce about 500k bottles per year, half sparkling and half still. This are the highest altitude vineyards for sparkling wine in Spain.

Their winemaker from Epernay Hervé Jestin makes sure some French imprint is left on the bubbles, though the final signature is uniquely Maravides. Their wines are organic certified.

I met Carlos Garcia Gomariz at an online fair organized by Onvinum and they graciously agreed to send some samples for review. Here below are my tasting notes. Thank you for allowing me to discover a new reality of southern Spain.

Rosé, pinot noir sparkling

My first impression was of a light, easy  wine to drink over the Summer, in the garden, with some starters. However after I left the bottle, half empty, in the fridge for two days, capped with a vacuvin valve, I found a more complex taste and a rounder finish. The best of the wines we tasted from this creative vineyard.

Score 88

Edoné chardonnay sparkling brut

An easy bottle of traditional method bubbles with medium body and a (slightly puzzling for a brut) touch of sweet at the end. Score 80

Chardonnay

This chard is flowery, fruity even if it is missing some typical chardonnay complexity, body and buttery notes. An easy wine to drink cold in the Summer with some starters. Score 80

Syrah 2021

An easy syrah just in time for the coming Spring grill in the garden. Moderate structure and complexity. To be enjoyed now, do not wait. Score 82

New Zealand Top 50 wines

Quality keeps getting higher and higher every year, and so do, alas, prices for premium New Zealand wines. Part of it is due to externalities (global inflation, logistics bottlenecks) but part is probably just because the best NZ wines attract more and more demand.

In the context of the Annual New Zealand Trade Tasting in London, organized by NZ Wine Growers, a separate table was set up for the "best 50" wines selected by an independent panel of UK experts. I will focus my post on my best of the best among these.

Coal Pit Wines

Tiwha pinot noir, 2019

Old vines planted in 1994, a wine made from destemmed fruit which is given a cold soak for 4 to 6 days and then matured in barrel for 10 months, using 28% new French oak. The best wine today. RRP £40. Score 94

Hatch Mansfield, Hawke's Bay, Marlborough

Esk Valley The Terraces 2016

A blend of malbec, merlot and cab franc makes for a unique experience, a round wine with complex aromas and flavors. A bit of an investment at RRP £90 for a score of 92

Pegasus Bay, Waipara

Bel Canto Dry Riesling 2020
A floral and zesty wine by Ivan Donaldson who planted his first Pegasus vineyard in 1986. Single vineyard. Score 88

Pinot noir 2019

Made using traditional Burgundian techniques, single vineyard. RRP £36. Score 92

Aria, late picked Riesling 2020

Plump fruit still freshness come out but is balanced by a slightly sweet ending. RRP £27. Score 88

Peregrine, Central Otago

Sauvignon blanc 2020, organic

Apricot notes, quite an original interpretation of sauvignon. RRP £26. Score 91

Yealands Estates, Marlborough

State of Flux sauvignon blanc 2019

A balanced and long wine from a single vineyard overlooking the Awatere river. The name comes from the fact the wine has been fermented and aged for 11 months in concrete eggs with the lees kept in "state of constant flux". RRP £27, Score 92

Kelly Washington, Marlborough

Chardonnay 2019, organic

A fresh and moderately complex chard. Too expensive. RRP £34. Score 86

Wild Irishman, Central Otago

Tuturi Pinot Noir 2021

A powerful wine on the border of excellence. Ready now. RRP £45, Score 90

Domaine Thomson Surveyor, Central Otago

Thomson pinot noir 2017

Tannins still a bit rough but very promising.

Smoky and jammy. RRP 44. Score 90

Meet the Producer: Kanu of Stellenbosch, South Africa

Jade showing her gold

Kanu was present at the London Wine Fair 2022 with a substantial range of wines.

Founded in 1692, it changed hands a number of times and it acquired its current name in 1997. You can read its full history, in times of peace and war, on their website. Today Kanu is established as a boutique producer of quality wines with grapes sourced over a wider area in the Western Cape.

The name Kanu is from a legend told by an old Xhosa man who was raised in his grandmother’s house on the Goedgeloof farm. Day after day, he would tell of the mythical bird he had seen flying over the farm. According to him, if the bird’s shadow touches your crop, you are promised a bountiful year’s harvest!  (from their website)

I was fortunate to taste a few wines, both at the London Wine Fair and subsequently with some colleagues from the Club. Scroll to the end of this post and you can listen to a conversation with Jason Chen, general manager and Johan Grimbeek, winemaker. Because of a technical glitch we only have the audio from our guests, sorry. Recorded on 11 July 2022.

Angelina rosé brut (Gold)

Fruity and smooth, with fine and persistent bubbles. Good freshness and minerality ensure a perfect balance with the lightly pressed pinot noir. Complex aromas in the nose and fragrance in the mouth. An elegant wine with a full personality. The gold flakes are added to some of the bottles to attract certain market segments who appreciate this precious touch of exclusivity and class.

Score 92

Pinotage rosé

Pomegranate color and fresh strawberry aromas for this original interpretation of an archetypical South African grape. Freshness in abundance but rounded for a perfect balance. 

An amazing surprise. I paired it with a raw yellowfin tuna salad on a hot Summer day and can see how this wine would be ideal with sushi, sashimi or beef carpaccio.

Score 94

Pinotage Rosé

Chenin Blanc 2019 Old Vines

Quite old these bush vines, planted in 1980 to be precise. Low yield, minimalist intervention for a vineyard certified as a heritage of Stellenbosch.

Papaya to the nose, immediately reveals a smooth, velvet wine. There is however enough acidity to ensure a moderate balance. Vanilla, almonds, pineapple all combine to provide complexity and moderate length. Late harvesting adds some spicy notes.

Score 90.

NuEra 2017

Deep ruby with highlights of garnet. An intense and complex set of red fruit aromas welcomes you to this plump and elegant wine. Peppercorn and lavender help give character and structure so that the result is a perfect balance. A harmonious wine. 

I paired it with lasagne, a medium structure food for a medium structure wine. I also tried it with Chinese pork belly and mushrooms, again the elegant tannins contrasted perfectly with the fat in the plate.

Ready now, can probably wait a few more years but it won't necessarily improve. An amazing discovery.

Score 95 

Keystone 2017

Top class South African wine in bordeaux style blend. You do not get the austerity of a Bordeaux but you can enjoy the sunshine in this is a superb expression of Stellenbosch: plump, fruity, complex and ready at just 5 years of age. I paired with bbq meat, South African style, first pork chops and then guinea fowl.

Score 93

Noble Late

Chenin blanc 100%

The sweet sibling of the family. A voluptuous wine with mellow nuances of vanilla, tangerine and ripe apricots. A "sunny" version of the well known Sauternes-style. I paired it to a home-made tiramisù, but finished off the bottle the next day while reading in the afternoon, no pairing, just a delightful meditation wine.

Score 93

the cellar

bird's eye view of the estate

the Kanu range

A new Zealand walkaround in London

A fun day tasting New Zealand wines, expertly organized by Sarah Shepherd and Chris Stroud of NZ Wine. A large gathering with a wide range of products. 

Here below are some of the gems that I thought were most worth taking note of. I surely missed many more as one day was just not enough to do justice to this great event: 270 wines, over 20 styles, and a special section dedicated to organic wines which reserved a few gems for us. 

Indicative RRP in GBP.

Click on the vineyard's name to link to their websites.

Akitu

Akitu pinot noir blanc 2021
Pinot noir 100% vinified as white wine, with only a shade of pink to betray the original red grape. Citrus, almonds, good balance and mod length. A pleasant surprise. GBP 42, not cheap. Score 88

Akitu A2, pinot noir 100%
A good simple pinot noir, a bit expensive at GBP 31.

Score 85

Akitu A1, pinot noir 100%

A more complex variation of this noble grape. GBP 31

Score 86

Craggy Range

Craggy Range Aroha Pinot noir 2019

A complex wine which is surprisingly mature already. GBP 75

Score 92

Craggy Range Le Sol Syrah 2019

Also amazingly ready to please the taster, GBP 75

Score 92

Craggy Range Sophia Red Blend 2019

60% Merlot, 26% Cab franc, 14% cab sauvignon. 

The least interesting of the top three, it is anyway a very successful blend with a round body, also ready now. GBP 75

Score 89

Burn Cottage

Vineyard Riesling Gruner Veltliner 2019

A tingling wine of floral complexity and citrussy notes. GBP 48

Score 90.

Pinot Noir Moonlight Race 2019

Full, tannic, fresh. An exuberant wine. GBP 42

Score 92

Central Otago Vineyard Pinot Noir 2019

Very full, round, long, a majestic wine. GBP 53

Score 94

Trinity Hill

Gimblett Gravels Marsanne/Viognier 2019

Vanilla, butter. GBP 25

Score 88.

Gimblett Gravels "The Gimblett"

54% cab sauvignon, 43% cab franc, 3% tempranillo

A structured wine with a bitterish end that promises a great evolution. GBP 25

Score 86

"Homage" Gimblett Shiraz 2018

Fermented on viognier skins! Complex, tannis, needs time. GBP 99

Score 90

Below a selection of my best finds in the separate organic wine walkaround. Organic wines are making huge progress in quality, also in New Zealand.

Clos Henri 

Pinot Noir, Marlborough 2017

A surprise, smooth, long and mod complex. GBP 28

Score 93

Greystone 

Pinot Noir, Waipara, Canterbury 2018

Smooth long and complex, an amazing quality/price ratio. GBP 26

Score 93

Black Estate 

Damsteep Pinot Noir Canterbury 2019

A top wine, perfect balance and complex. A harmonious wine. GBP 46

Score 94

Black Estate 

Home Pinot Noir Canterbury 2019

Similar to previous wine, GBP 46

Score 94

Felton Road 

Pinot Noir Block 3, Bannockburn, Central Otago 2020

Complex and long. GBP 62

Score 92

Felton Road 

Pinot Noir Block 5, Bannockburn, Central Otago 2020

Similar to previous wine, GBP 62

Score 92

Meet the producer: Grappa Villa de Varda

Distillery at Villa de Varda

Tasting of grappa samples offered by Villa de Vardo, a renown historical producer of this iconic Italian spirit.

Grappa di moscato
Pomace 100% moscato. Smooth, complex floral notes, a touch of sweet in the end. An easy grappa for those who begin to appreciate this kind of product.

Score 80.

Grappa di teroldego

Pomace . Similar to moscato in general taste, floral and sweet.

Score 82.

Acquavite di vino, Brandy

Notes of vanilla which leve behind a lingering sensation of enveloping warmth. Score 86.

Grappa di müller thurgau Riserva

Apricot and toasted notes for an elegant grappa, a rich and full one. Score 88.

Grappa di Moscato Riserva

Smooth and fruity, with a sweet finish. Score 85.

Grappa di pinot nero Riserva

Another smooth and fruity grappa with a sweet finish, thicker, more complex than the previous one. Score 88.

Grappa di teroldego Riserva

Smooth, sweet sensations dominate. Score 88.

Grappa di teroldego, pinot bianco e muller thurgau, riserva Triè

This grappa is also very smooth with intense aromas. Score 90

Organic wines of New Zealand

Most interesting event hosted by New Zealand Wines, expertly and safely organized by Sarah Shepherd at 67 Pall Mall in London. 

An informative way to spend a rainy morning, about 75 bottles to be tasted and some amazing surprises.

Overall, the quality of organic wines is increasing, not just in New Zealand but worldwide, as producers master the techniques. Still, a few wines today could not hide their rough edges, this is typical of less stable organic wines, and more work is to be done.

Compared to previous NZ tasting I noticed a marked improvement of their chardonnays. Sauvignon blancs remain the workhorse of NZ production and confirmed their world class quality also among this organic selection. 

Some exceptional gems stood out among the pinot noirs. Not quite the structure of Burgundy but these wines were full of complex and round fruit, they proved to be very long and, alas, relatively expensive, which I consider a sign of success in the market.

Below are my notes from a selection of all the wines tasted today.

chards and sauvignon whites...

BLENDS

1. Kelly Washington semillon/sauvignon blanc, Marlborough, 2018

An easy, fruity, smooth wine, good balance. RRP £24, Score 84.

2. Kelly Washington pinot blanc, Marlborough, 2020

Biodynamic, another easy typical pinot blanc, reminds me of Alsace brothers. RRP £25, Score 86.

SAUVIGNON BLANC

3. Loveblock TEE sauvignon blanc, Awatere Valley, Marlborough, 2020

No sulphites added at all to this round and complex product. RRP £23, Score 88.

4. Osawa Wines Prestige Collection sauvignon blanc, Hawke's Bay, 2019

A typical sauvignon blanc, balanced and moderately complex, long. RRP £25, Score 89.

5. Dog Point Vineyards Selection 94 sauvignon blanc, Southern Valleys, marlborough, 2018

Strong citrus notes give a welcome freshness to this chardonnay, well balanced by vanilla in a long finish. RRP £25, Score 90.

CHARDONNAY

6. Osawa Wines Prestige Collection chardonnay, Hawke's Bay 2019

Another fresh chard with a unique sapid accent, which keeps on going... RRP £28, Score 88

7. Felton Road chardonnay Block 6, Bannockburn, Central Otago 2020

Pineapple, vanilla, an elegant wine, complex and long, perfectly balanced. RRP £32, Score 92

... and reds: world class pinot noir

8. Felton Road pinot noir Cornish Point, Bannockburn, Central Otago 2020
Balanced and complex, needs a few years in the bottle to round a few rough edges. RRP £ 42, Score 88.

9. Black Estate Home pinot noir, Bannockburn, Central Otago, 2020

A great wine, smooth, long, powerful, complex in the extreme. Intense fruit meets elegance and structure and makes one dream of what the evolution in bottle might bring. RRP 46.50, Score 94

10. Felton Road, pinot noir Calvert, Bannockburn, Central Otago 2020

Another amazing wine from Felton Road, reveals immense potential in the nose and captivates the mind with a complex swirl of red fruits and chocolate in the mouth. Very long. RRP 42, Score 95

11. Felton Road, pinot noir Block 3, Bannockburn, Central Otago 2020

Similar to the preceding wine, but perhaps even more complex. RRP £60, Score 95

12. Quartz Reef Bendigo Estate single ferment pinot noir, bendigo, Central Otago 2019

Another top pinot noir, spicy, opulent. RRP £55, Score 93

13. Burn Cottage Vineyard pinot noir, Central Otago, 2018
Similar in many ways to the preceding wine, RRP £ 53, Score 93

What an amazing tasting of pinot noirs! 

These days one is never too far away from a gel sanitizer

Organic production in NZ, image by Biogro

Sparkling wines of Slovenia, with Glass of Bubbly of London

Thank you Marin Berovic

Today I took part in a tasting of Slovenian sparkling wines organized in London by Glass of Bubbly (Thank you Chris!) and hosted by Marin Berovic, a wine specialist from Slovenia itself.

Interesting range of wines, with a predominance of fresh and fruity bubbles over smooth and fragrant.

Slovenia confirmed itself to be a small but qualitatively relevant player in the market for sparkling wines. I mostly knew Slovenian producers on the Italian side of the border, but they are famous for their still wines.

Here below are some tasting notes.

Winery Radgonske Gorice

My favorite was their Zlata Radgonska Penine Millesimé 2008 (chard 100%), which despite its age retains an amazing freshness and could be a top class aperitif. Score 88.

The Penina Extra dry 2017 sports floral notes and as its label suggests is very fresh. I liked it when it warmed up slightly in the glass. Moderately complex. Score 86.

Winery Istenič

Their prestige extra brut 2013 is amazing, fresh attack then great balance and complexity. Score 92.

The No.1 NV is also fresh and complex with a pleasant fragrance which makes it stand out. Score 90.

Interesting sweet muscat NV at only 11,5% abv. Score 86

Winery Bjana

An excellent Cuvée Prestige 2016 (chard and rebula), with impressive fragrance, complexity and balance. Score 93.

Their Brut 2016 (also chard and rebula) is aromatic in the nose, then a fresh attack is followed by a well balanced finish. Score 89

Winery Silveri

Their best wine was a Blanc de Blanc NV, blend of different rebula (ribolla) grapes, fresh and flowery with moderate complexity. Score 86

A Brut Nature Zero Vintage collection 2011 (chardonnay and rebula) was still amazingly fresh, hard sensations still prevail despite the aging. Score 84

Winery Medot

Brut Rosé 2017. The best rosé in Slovenia (55% pinot noir, 35% rebula, 10% chardonnay) in the opinion of several tasters, complex perfectly balanced and very long. Score 93.

Extra brut cuvée 2015 (70% chard 30% rebula), another fresh wine with flowers and citrus notes, I was again surprised at the freshness of these wines despited their age. Score 90.

Belgian vineyard at Chateau Bioul

A couple of months ago I visited one of the several up and coming vineyards in Belgium, and was surprised by a unique approach.

Film Review: A seat at the table (2019) by David Nash and Simon Mark-Brown , **

Synopsis

A New Zealand winemaking team enters the period known as Vintage when wine is made 24/7 for months on end. Sleepless nights, endless labor, time away from home means they must ensure nature, science and magic come together to overcome each challenge Vintage presents. (from imdb)

Review

A missed opportunity. The makers of this documentary had access to the whole process of harvesting at a large New Zealand vineyard but we learn very little in over one hour of watching this repetitive production. We hear a hundred times how hard the work is during harvest, and how awesome everyone in the multinational team of pickers is, but little else. 

Some information that one learns in this film: foreigners now own one third of NZ wine production, the French were the first to invest, in the 1980s. 

Biodynamics taking off.

Not so many rules like in Europe about controlled origins, allowed varieties, irrigation, chaptalization, so  NZ can experiment more.

One curiosity: lots of pigs apparently threaten the harvest at night, and even deer. As for birds, they try and do their share of eating but mostly cause botrytis, which is some parts of the world is welcome as it allows to make sweet wines, but not here.

Read my reviews of films about wine here.

Film review: A Year in Burgundy (2013), by David Kennard, ***

Synopsis

The film follows Martine Saunier seven wine-making families in the Burgundy region of France through the course of a full year, and delves into the cultural and creative process of making wine, as well as its deep ties to the land. What lies within the rhythm of a year, from vines to grapes to wine? 

The film is in four season-sections, and plays out against that backdrop: spring showers, drought, heat wave, hail and storms, harvest moons and the damp cold of winter. Each vintage is a time capsule, a bottled piece of history of a very specific year, with its particular weather pattern, its crises and its triumphs. It all goes in, whether you want it to or not, and 2011 was full of drama. (from Ibmd)

Review

A bit of a disappointment. If you don't know anything about Burgundy you will certainly learn something. If you've been there a few times you will still get a few bits here and there but not much. Much of it is cliche. Brugundy deserves better. Still, if you have it for free on Prime and want an easy evening, go ahead an watch it, with a glass of Burgundy wine in hand of course.

See my other reviews of films about wine here.

Film review: Three Days of Glory (2018), by Scott Wright and David baker, ***

Synopsis

A documentary about the world's greatest wine celebration in the most legendary of wine regions during its most difficult season: Three Days of Glory offers a glimpse into aspects of Burgundy never filmed before. Burgundy is home to some of the most legendary wines on the planet. 

But it wasn't always that way. A series of difficult years in the 20s and 30s led to the creation of the events now known as Les Trois Glorieuses, or the Three Days of Glory. This is the story of that festival, its origins, and the small-estate winemakers of today who have faced a string of brutal years that threatens their very survival. (from IMDB)

Review

A peek into an otherwise impossible to join a gathering of producers in Burgundy, where secrets are revealed, deals are made and friendship cemented over open bottles. 

Burgundy is special because, unlike Bordeaux, most vineyards are still in the hands of small producers, often the same family since the beginning of time. Small realities which are threatened by climatic and economic upheaval.

View more reviews of films about wine.