The Wine Society held ‘A World of Fine Wine’ tasting in The Crypt of Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral. As usual this walkabout tasting was well attended and there were some very nice wines on show.
Here are some my personal favourites on the night.
Louis Roederer Brut Premier NV. A delightful champagne, with lemon, red fruits and a toasty biscuit. A nice mousse and quite full bodied with a lingering lemon and biscuit finish. Very drinkable!
Fefiñanes Albariño. Rias Baixas. 2017. The nose is stone fruit, peach and apricot with lemony citrus. The palate is medium bodied with lovely balance. Refreshing. Very nice.
Sandhi. Santa Rita hills. Chardonnay.2014. This is delicate and well balanced chardonnay. Lemon rules here along with a hint of toast and a great lingering finish. A great chardonnay.
Ockfener Brockstein. Riesling. Spälese. Zilliken. 2003 Rich and powerful with acidity to balance and the fruit shines through, stone fruit with a touch of honey and orange. A wine of real class.
Domaine de Bellene. Nuits-Saint-Georges. Vieilles Vignes. 2012. Red berry fruit, cherry and an earthy core make this a very enticing wine indeed. The palate is medium bodied with some lovely savoury red fruits and a slight sweetness. Well balanced and drinking so well. Excellent.
Miles Mossop. Max. Stellenbosch. 2014. The nose is a little closed with hints of black fruits and plummy spice. The palate is much more expressive, with nice balance and structure. Very approachable and very drinkable. Great value for money.
Cairanne. Haut Coustias. Domaine de L’Oratoire Saint Martin 2015. A big, intense nose of red fruit, cherry, clove and dried herbs. The palate is full and rich with red fruits and a savoury, peppery finish. This is excellent.
It has two cathedrals. The Anglican Cathedral is separated from the Metropolitan Cathedral by the length of Hope Street. You could almost believe that it was planned that way, but it unfortunately wasn’t.
Liverpool Anglican Cathedral
The Anglican Cathedral took 74 years to complete from when building began in 1904 and when you visit you can begin to understand why, its enormous. The Metropolitan Cathedral opened in 1967 and took a mere five years to build although there had been plans to build a Catholic cathedral in the city for many years. A previous attempt was abandoned in 1958 because of spiralling costs but the crypt still remains and has access from Brownlow Hill.
Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral
The whole area around the cathedrals is well worth exploring. You can read about it here
2. It is the home of the Beatles. All four Beatles were natives of the city and performed many times in local venues before they became well known. The most famous of which is The Cavern Club on Mathew Street, although it is not the original building its a pretty close recreation and is well worth a visit.
There is so much that you can do in the city which is Beatle related, from The Beatles Story museum at the Albert Dock to tours out into the suburbs to see their childhood homes and locations such as Penny Lane and Strawberry Fields. If you are in the city before 22nd April 2019 you can also visit the John and Yoko Double Fantasy exhibition at The Museum of Liverpool which is a must see for all Beatles fans.
For information about Beatle related locations in the city you can read an article here
For details about the Double Fantasy exhibition you can read an article here
3. It has the Three Graces. The Three Graces together make the iconic Liverpool skyline at the Pier Head. Consisting of The Royal Liver Building, The Cunard Building and Port of Liverpool Building they were granted UNESCO World Heritage status in 2004.
The Royal Liver Building opened in 1911 and its design was influenced by buildings in Chicago. Two Liver Birds sit atop, one is looking out to sea, the other faces the city. It is said that if the Liver Birds were to leave, the city would fall!
The Royal Liver Building
The Cunard Building built between 1914 and 1918 and was the headquarters of The Cunard shipping line. At the start of the twentieth century Liverpool was the point of arrival and departure of numerous passenger ships and the building would have been a hive of activity.
The Cunard Building
The Port of Liverpool Building was the home of The Mersey Docks and Harbour Board when the city was one of the largest ports in the world.
The Port of Liverpool Building
Several years ago there were plans to create a fourth Grace, it was to resemble a cloud, but spiralling costs meant that the project was shelved.
4. The Royal Albert Dock. The Albert Dock is a waterfront warehouse complex built in 1846 at the time when Liverpool was a great trading port. It was the first building of its type not to use timber as part of its construction. It was therefore fireproof compared with similar dock warehouses. It was damaged by bombing in the Liverpool Blitz of 1941 and eventually closed in the early 1970s, quickly falling into a state of disrepair.
Regeneration in the early 80s saw the Albert Dock rise again and it quickly became a top tourist attraction in the city. In many ways the birth of Liverpool as a tourist destination began with the Albert Dock and the nearby Festival Gardens. Today the Dock is multi use with shops, restaurants and bars. It is also home to three excellent museums; The Beatles Story, The Maritime Museum and Tate Liverpool. The Albert Dock was granted Royal status in 2018.
5. Museums. If museums are your thing then Liverpool is the place for you as it caters for all ages and interests. William Brown Street is home to The Walker Art Gallery and The World Museum. The architecture here is well worth a visit in its own right.
Down at the waterfront there are a whole range of options with; Museum of Liverpool, Maritime Museum, International Slavery Museum, The Beatles Story, British Music Experience and Tate Liverpool. If you are able to move further out to the suburbs and beyond a whole new range opens up including the childhood homes of both John Lennon and Paul McCartney.
Chateau Pichon Baron is a second growth located in the Pauillac appellation of the Medoc. It is very much a fairytale chateau in appearance complete with its two turrets. The estate itself dates back to the seventeenth century when vines were first established here. It was divided in half in 1850, one half became Pichon Baron and the other Pichon Comtesse. Both were designated as second growths in the 1855 classification of the wines of Bordeaux. Today the estate is owned by the insurance company AXA who purchased the property in 1987. They began a programme of restoration and development which culminated in the building of an underground cellar which is actually located underneath the ornamental pool in front of the chateau. The estate is currently managed by Christian Seely.
Pichon Baron consists of around 71 hectares. Planting density is 9000 vines per hectare and the composition of the property is 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot and 4% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot.
At the time of our visit in early October the 2018 harvest was well underway, with only Cabernet Sauvignon awaiting the arrival of the pickers. All fruit at Pichon Baron is hand harvested.
Cabernet Sauvignon
The vat room consists of 40 stainless steel tanks and six wooden tanks that are used for the best Merlot. Fermentation lasts between 6 and 10 days at 28 Celsius using a commercial inoculation. Experiments are currently being conducted using wild yeasts. Once fermentation is complete it is followed by 18-25 days maceration. Malolactic fermentation is undertaken in stainless steel.
In the 2017 vintage an experiment was begun to compare ageing Cabernet Sauvignon in wood compared with clay amphora.
Ageing is undertaken in French oak barrels sourced from eight different coopers. Toasting is medium to heavy. The first wine can spend up to eighteen months in 80% new oak.
Tourelles de Longueville. Pauillac. 2015.
55% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Cabernet Franc and 5% Petit Verdot. Aged for twelve months in 30% new French oak. Youthful red fruits with tobacco and a savoury edge to the finish. Rounded and medium bodied. A very nice wine.
Les Griffons de Pichon Baron. Pauillac. 2015
60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot aged for eighteen months in 60% new French oak. Lovely black fruits with some savoury spice. The palate has nice balance and has black fruits, plum, cherry, caramel and vanilla. Drinking very well but no hurry.
Pichon Baron. Pauillac. 2015.
77% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot aged in 80% new French oak. A wine of great depth. Masses of dark berry fruit and plum, complex and rounded. It has smoothness and balance and finishes with lingering savoury leather and a touch of spice. Very good.
Pichon Baron. Pauillac. 2016.
85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot aged for 18 months in 80% new French oak. Great depth of colour and lots of blackcurrant fruit, the nose opens to give some spice and pencil shaving. A big wine that has the tannins to match. Give it a few more years. Very good.
Pichon Baron. Pauillac. 2010
79% Cabernet Sauvignon, 21% Merlot aged for 18 months in 80% new French oak. Great depth of colour and structure, just showing a little maturity in its appearance. Blackfruits with liquorice, leather and sandalwood. The palate is smooth and round. A great wine of depth and complexity. Superb.
