5th generation Giuseppe Mascarello was in town to promote their Monforte d’Alba single vineyard wine Santo Stefano di Perno to BBR staff. As way of comparison the wine was tasted alongside their Castiglione Falletto vineyard wine Monprivato.

From elevated, deep, ancient iron rich clay & sandstone soils, the Santo Stefano is a more classic Barolo with brooding sage, tar & roses aromatics & dense, succulent, balsamic & strawberry flavours. The warmer, lighter, younger white calcareous soils of Monprivato dispayed more floral raspberry notes; Gevrey-Chambertin plays Chambolle-Musigny if you like.

Both wines were made in the same traditional way, albeit cement for Santo Stefano vs stainless-steel for Monprivato, with relatively long cuvaisons & 40 months in large slavonian barrels/’botte’.

The 2003s (bottled late 07) showed impressive freshness from earlier picking as well as the juiciest of strawberry ripple palates, held minerally tight by fine structures.

The 2000s, a hot vintage at the time (day & night) seemed positively cool by comparison; the Santo Stefano denser than the high-tone Monprivato. Both 10-15 yrs off their best

As way of finale Giuseppe brought along a 1996 Santo Stefano di Perno: unbelievably concentrated & youthful, with strident acidity & assertive tannins…still 10 yrs off its best.

Since graduating from Alba’s Enological College in 94, Giuseppe has worked with his father Mauro to implement more green harvesting (to one bunch per shoot or approx 33 hl/ha) & more emphasis on physiological over simply polyphenol ripening to give finer, ethereal wines; a trend witnessed across the Alps in Burgundy.

In the big picture, Giuseppe Mascarello’s wines continue to reflect their top terroirs while encapsulating the purest, raciest expression of the Nebbiolo grape.

All of us at BBR who knew Bill were immensely saddened by news of  his untimely death.

 I first met him in the Walnut Tree Inn at Abergavenny, sitting alone in front of a huge plate of mussels , washed down with a bottle of Chablis (Bill didn’t do halves, in any aspect of his life).

He was one of those rare people who, when they entered a room, surged in on the back of a gale of bonhomie, laughter and sharp wit. His knowledge of wine was vast, and his opinions always trenchantly expressed, and he was at his best, seated at table amongst friends, enjoying fine food and wine, fearlessly holding forth on any subject which came to mind.

They certainly broke the mould when they made Bill and his presence will be sorely missed.

As another Burns Night approaches and the weather continues in favourably dram-enthusing mode my thoughts turn to Scotland’s greatest poet and his associations with whisky through his verse.

One particular piece resonates with me, “The De’il’s Awa Wi’ The Exciseman”. Robert Burns himself spent some years as an exciseman but despite this he turned his pen against the taxation of Scotland’s liquid gold..

“We’ll mak our maut, and brew our drink,
We’ll dance, and sing, and rejoice, man;
And mony thanks to the muckle black De’il
That danced awa wi’ the Exciseman”..

In all my years in the whisky trade Her Majesty’s government has lowered the duty on spirits just once. All other moves have been upward. On the day prior to this momentous budget I happened upon the Chancellor of the day who was attempting to make himself invisible in eager anticipation of the arrival of his chauffeur. My friend and I cheekily asked if we needed to adjust the prices of the whiskies on our shelves. Only a wry smile resulted. Thanks anyway Mr Clarke. Perhaps the De’il was driving his limo that day.

We are in the middle of the 2006 Burgundy Campaign at the moment but I have not lost sight of Pinot Noir from elsewhere. Decanter Magazine commissioned me to write a piece on the best locations in the New World for Pinot – just published in their February 2008 issue, and I thoroughly enjoyed writing it.

Though New Zealand, Oregon and parts of California are most people’s favourite corners my real conclusion is that it is down in part to the real detail of specific sub-regions and most especially to the drive of ultra-talented vignerons with a passion for this grape.

Just what can be achieved was driven home to me last Tuesday at a Paulée lunch with lots of Burgundian friends when a whole host of fine bottles were brought along by the various guests. I brought amongst other things a bottle of Jim Clendenen’s Au Bon Climat Cuvée Isabelle 1996, made from grapes from various vineyards in the Santa Ynez, Santa Maria and Arroyo Grande Valleys of California’s Central Coast. Another guest, by chance, brought the 1997 of the same.

Sitting next to me was Marie-Blanche Lamarche (2nd from right) of Domaine François Lamarche in Vosne Romanée, and she had never tasted a Californian Pinot which had impressed her before but on this occasion, unsolicited, she was full of praise for the two Cuvée Isabelle wines which she felt she would certainly have placed in Burgundy if they had been served blind. Intriguingly the vintages conformed more or less to the Burgundian pattern, with a soft ripe and flavoursome 1997 and a more concentrated, fresher 1996.

Many people appreciate the qualities of the best New World Pinots, but how many wines have been, or might be mistaken for Burgundy? I am not trying to push producers down this path but am intrigued when it happens. Please share your thoughts and experiences.

Early in 2007 the celebrated Rhône writer, John Livingstone Learmonth sent me (along with the rest of his address book) a petition to try and prevent what was described as ‘Le Cornas menacé par l’urbanisation’ .

Unbelievably the powers that be (or were) planned to build a 5 storey building slap bang in the middle of this tiny (100 hectares) and wonderful vineyard; for a long time it appeared that the scheme would go ahead. Finally, mercifully, the mayor has bowed to the power of the people and the project has finally been abandoned.

Thank the lord! The only cause for regret is that Robert Michel (left), who has been supplying Berrys for many years, has announced his retirement.

The good news is that along with securing his last vintage (the 2006) which will be available for those who are interested in spring, his famous ‘Geynale’ Vineyard, perched magnificently over the village, has been sold to a syndicate, the members of which include his gifted nephew Vincent Paris, and none other than John Livingstone Learmonth himself.

Their work will be cut out, of course, to scale the heights achieved by Robert; his wines have all the brooding power for which the appellation is famed, with a wonderful concentration and elegance of fruit, perhaps a result of the fact that the vines date from 1911. Few wines are better suited to game or rich wintery dishes…