2009 Domaine de Sours, Bordeaux Rosé
I don’t know where you are but it’s definitely rosé weather where I am, although we all know that pink wine is no longer seasonal. Or not as seasonal as it was. Anyway back to Domaine de Sours, the cheaper version of Château de Sours, in a particularly successful vintage. This is Merlot rosé at its most pleasurable: packed with really juicy strawberry and blackcurrant flavours and just a suggestion of tannin to give it a bit of backbone; medium-bodied, fresh and dry – in fact, drier than some prevous vintages have tasted. 13% abv.
£6.59, Sainsbury’s
2008 Graham Beck Pheasant’s Run Sauvignon Blanc, Coastal Region
Yes, it’s also sauvignon blanc weather, although this one from the Cape is pretty serious stuff and deserves a bit of respect (go polish those flip-flops) and will be just as good in deep mid-winter. It has fresh asparagus and sweet minted-peas on the nose, a crisp, but textured palate (thanks to 6 months on lees) and salty, mineral and sweet green-fruit flavours. It’s balanced, elegant and long and wears its 14% abv lightly. I only wish it was more more widely available.
£12.49, sawinesonline.co.uk,
2008 Katnook Estate Founder’s Block Cabernet Sauvignon, Coonawarra
Founder’s Block is, as Domaine de Sours is to Château de Sours, the more affordable, more approachable version of Katnook Estate Cabernet. It’s ripe and nicely fleshy with a fresh minty, herbal Coonawarra signature, blueberry fruit, a touch of chocolate and a bit of soft, spicy oak in the background. More versatile with food than bigger, denser, more tannic Cabernets: as happy with herby roast chicken as it is with lamb, duck, beef and veggie dishes. 13.5% abv.
£9.99, Waitrose
