It's all rigged at OXO

Well, it was Rigged alright: the launch of Brokenwood's 2004 Graveyard Shiraz at the Restaurant on the top floor of the OXO Tower in London on Wednesday 18th October, led by winemaker Iain Riggs. And I was lucky enough to be one of the guests.

It was a 'vertizontal' tasting: a combination of vertical Graveyards from 1998, 2000, 2002 and the 2004, compared with 8 other Shirazes, two from each year - a mini horizontal for each year.

Overlooking the spectacular river frontage near St Paul's we listened to Iain give a brief overview of the 23 years the Graveyard has been produced, rmarking that over that period the average alcohol by volume was 13% - something to note in today's almost universal 14+% wines - a typical feature of the more elegant Hunter Valley style.

I decided to start with a vertical pass through the Graveyards.

• The '98 was soft with perfumed leather, violets and aniseed notes and hints of vanilla and blackcurrant skins.
• The 2000 was darker with redder fruits to the fore and notes of coffee and jam denoting a cooked vintage, whereas the '02 was noticeably savoury and vegetal, the farmyardy notes being indicative of a very wet harvest.
• The '04 was dark ruby with raspberry and lavender aromas and a big, sweet palate suggesting oodles of potential.

I then went back tasting the other Shirazes from the same years. For me the '04 Shiraz Reserva from Chocolan (Chile) produced a marvellous smokey and rich chocolate flavour that, whilst not so refined as many of the others, seemed like good value at its price level (GBP7.99). The Shaw and Smith was iconic with polish and tang. Of the '02 the Fairview was hefty - someone said "tarty!". The Dead Arm from D'Arenberg is getting better all the time.

The star of the 2000's was undoubtedly the Guigal Brune et Blonde: full of baises roses and liquorice, chocolate and blackcurrant. Its long and tingly, dry finish suggested years of development still to come. The Seville Estate Reserve was very sweet, full of supple polish with a beautiful texture - Iain later informed us that he had actually made this wine!. The '98 was definitely the Graveyard's finest: the Jaboulet La Chapelle unfortunately was shot and on its last legs and the Wirra Wirra RSW was toffee'd and coconut-sweet but not a patch on the Graveyard.

After a refreshment break on the terrace with a glass of Brokenwood Hunter Valley Semillon we were treated to a 4-course lunch as follows:

• Piedmont Bresaola, tete de moine, truffle honey dressing/ Graveyard 2004
• Venison loin au poivre, sweet potato, tamarillo, grand veneur sauce/ Graveyard 2002
• Squab pigeon wrapped in spinach and potato, stuffed with wild mushrooms/ Graveyard 2000
• Selection of cheeses/Graveyard 1998

The Bresaola was perfectly matched by the wine which coped admirably with the mung-bean salad, although the red onion was too strong. The medium-rare venison (one plain tranche and one with crushed pepper) was in great harmony with the '02, but altogether there were too many flavours going on in the dish to do it justice. The pigeon, however, was the star, just pink and well integrated with the rest of the dish and partnering the wine nicely. The piece de resistance was the '98 with the cheeses, particularly a well-ripened, almost oozy, Wigmore.

In typical aussie fashion Iain rounded off the meal with an ice-cold bottle of Coopers Pale Ale each, taken on the verandah, with the golden sunlight peeking through the clouds and washing over the impressive river front. So I took my leave and walked slowly along the South Bank before getting the train home, reflecting on the amazing Hunter wines - altogether a more profound seasoning for my palate than the tower's eponymous namesake.

Sherry Wows Westham

[photos, left: Eduardo Ojeda, winemaker, explaining the intricacies of sherry production to the audience during the masterclass; far left: Ian, Christine Horeau of Horeau's Restaurant and Eduardo Ojeda on the sun-patio of the restaurant, at the break before lunch was served.]

I give below our recent Press Release, which shows that a good time was had by all. Both the meal and the sherries were exemplary:

A delighted gathering of Sunday-lunchers welcomed Eduardo Ojeda, winemaker with sherry bodega Valdespino, to Eastbourne last Sunday (14th October) at Horeau's Seafood Restaurant in Westham. He had flown in from Spain especially to give a Sherry Masterclass there, organised by independent wine merchant, Cooden Cellars, as part of the Feastbourne festival of events.

During the masterclass the audience was taken through a short presentation on the different styles of sherry and how they are made. This was followed by a tutored tasting of some of the sherries. Amongst them were super-dry Manzanillas and Finos as well as nutty and caramel Amontillados, through to the more traditional sweet creams. But the star was undoubtedly the ultra-luscious, dark brown sweet El Candado made from the Pedro Ximenes grape which came in a bottle with a padlocked top (El Candado means padlock in Spanish) allegedly first put on the bottle in 1822 to prevent the husband of its original customer from drinking it all! It was just like drinking liquid Christmas pudding, said one customer. Fantastic poured over vanilla ice cream, said another. The tasting was rounded off by a precious bottle of over 30-year old Palo Cortado, worth 170 pounds.

A short break on the sun-kissed patio of the Restaurant allowed a gentle breather before the guests were treated to a wonderful four-course lunch consisting of tartare of salmon, dill and creme fraiche starter, cream of garlic and almond soup, roast loin of pork with prune stuffing and summer vegetables and creme brulee, each course being matched with a different sherry.

Ian Jarman of Cooden Cellars remarked: It's been really wonderful to see the many different sorts of sherries available, and to discover how well they go with different foods. There's a sherry that is perfectly suited to almost any occasion and it's been great to see the positive reactions of people to them. It's been a real eye-opener and a tremendous show case for the not-so-staid image of sherry.

Cooden Cellars continue their promotion of worthy but often maligned wines with their Masters of Riesling tasting at Eastbourne College on Thursday 19th October.

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