Millione, Vino Frizzante Rosé
Don’t buy this if you think wine should always be a drunk with rapt attention and accompanied by serious note-taking. Do buy it if you want to help raise £1 million to build 20 community-run primary schools in Sierra Leone. For every bottle sold, £1 goes to the project. And do buy Millione if there are times – sunny bank holidays, perhaps – when you just want something vaguely vinous and easy to drink – something fresh, pink, light-weight, lightly sparkling and on the sweet side of medium-dry. Millione is 11.5% abv and doesn’t need food, but you could drink it with something spicy.
£7.99, Laithwaites; and, soon, if not already, Tesco, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s and Waitrose.
2007 d’Arenberg The Olive Grove Chardonnay, McLaren Vale and Adelaide Hills
A rich, oaky style, with cashew nuts on the nose and a smoky, dark chocolate oakiness to the palate, but with the richness perfectly off-set by the freshness, intensity and persistence of the fruit. 14% abv. Great value at the current offer price.
£6.99 on offer (down from £8.99), Sainsbury’s.
2009 Undurraga TH Pinot Noir, Leyda Valley
Polished pinot noir from Leyda, Chile’s answer to New Zealand’s Central Otago region. Sweet, fresh cherry and raspberry aromas, lovely purity of fruit, subtle oak and a bright, persistent finish. 13.5% abv. TH stands for terroir hunter, by the way, not the winemaker, who is Rafael Urrejola.
£11.95,The Wine Society.
