Black Book vs Black Book: Two VERY Different English Pinot Noirs!

So how has Black Book become my newest favourite winery? Well, thanks to these two. Hello, welcome to English Wine Cellar. My name's Fraser, and today I'm looking at Black Book. Now, when I set out to find the best English red wines for this series, my mind was drawn to some of the older opportunities, which took me to the Black Book 2019 Pinot Noir Reserve, a very rare wine, only 290 bottles, that was left in oak for much longer than their normal night jar that they produce. And this is now about seven years old. Well, great stuff. But this, this is their other iteration, and they say it's meant to be totally different. Completely different expression of Pinot Noir. So, what does that mean? And also, how can two totally different expressions both get a similar score from Jancis Robinson? Well, they're in the glass, and we can see already there is a difference. The older wine that you might expect to have picked up more color is actually the lighter and thinner of the two. And if you compare them side by side, there is a relatively stark difference. Now, if we smell them, Then we might get some slightly different notes here. Very forward on the strawberry and a little bit on the oak as well. It's very, very fruity that, but in like a wild strawberry and vanilla oak kind of way. And this is much more jammy, much more intense. Raspberry, kind of like plum and damson. Yeah, almost sweet by comparison. Now, I've reviewed both these wines. They've had their own episodes. They've done also really, really well in the rankings. And you'll see that in the other episodes. But the thing for me, this has become my new favorite English red wine. There's a few reasons for that. It didn't score the highest out of my wines in blind ranking or anything like that. But it was right near the top and you can buy it. It's just available on their website. Whereas a couple of the other wines, much, much harder to get hold of in those iterations. But it's so intense. And the thing that's caught me about both of these is the delicacy and the tact and the... The craft and gentleness here with precision and the in-your-face richness of the 2022. Now 2022 is the Trouble Every Day and the 2019 is the night jar. So if you're looking to distinguish them on the Black Book website, they are the two. Now this is the Nightjar Reserve and there is a normal Nightjar as well and this is a little bit extra special. To have a bit of a taste of the two and I think we go slightly more delicate first. It's a little bit dry. It's nice and fruity. It's got some good length to it. Got a good little acidity to it there. Nice fruit notes. Have a go at this. Yeah, that's sweeter. That's thicker. That's more dense. It's really, really intense. That is a gorgeous wine. Both got a nice acidity. The difference between them is the intent behind this and the delicacy behind this. You're looking with the Nightjar for kind of slow, subtle notes that just reach into you and tease you towards them. With the Trouble Every Day, it's something that grabs you by the throat and slams you down on the table in front of them. Let's go again to the Trouble Every Day. Yeah, that is certainly a wine that get me in trouble every single day. So the question is, which is better? Well, for me, Trouble Every Day. For a real classic, gentle Pinot Noir drinker with tact and delicacy, certainly the Nightjar. But the important thing is, is that they're both made in the same place by the same people with totally different expressions. So when people say, well, can England even do red? Well, firstly, yes, they can. And these are very fantastic. But secondly, they can do completely different kinds of red. They're both Pinot Noirs and they're totally different wines. And therefore, we can bring in people from everywhere. If you want New Zealand drinkers, get them in. If you want French drinkers, you can get them in. If you want California drinkers, you can get them in. Despite being a cold climate, the heat that comes in Essex means we're getting this real expression of Pinot Noir and these are both absolutely stunning wines. Black Book has just moved right to the top of my list of wineries and it's my new favourite from this series. These are both amazing and should they carry on making both? Absolutely.