WINES of the WEEK 21 May 2010

2009 Domaine du Cros, Lo Sang del Païs, Marcillac
This could be one of my desert-island wines – the sort of uncomplicated but delicious red that you could drink everyday, with or without food. It goes very well with lamb – and the local aligot. It’s medium-bodied, soft and fresh, with enticing fresh blackcurrant fruit and a distinctive flavour that manages to be both savoury and sweet, combining earthy spice, minerals, graphite and smoky coffee. If you haven’t come across Marcillac before, it’s a tiny appellation in the Aveyron department in southwest France with the darkest red soil I’ve ever seen. The vineyards go up to 600m on steep, often terraced, hillsides. Lo Sang del Païs (the blood of the countryside) is made from vines about 25 years old, the domaine’s younger vines – the rest are closer to 100 years. The grape variety is mansois (sometimes minus the final ‘s’), which is better known as fer or fer servadou and is also known as braucol (in Gaillac) and pinenc (in Saint-Mont). Philippe Teulier and his son Julien cultivate about 30ha, making them them Marcillac’s largest growers. 12.5% abv
£7.75, The Wine Society; Les Caves de Pyrène.

2009 Quinta do Vallado Moscatel Galego Branco, Douro
This extraordinary, young, dry white is made from muscat à petits grains (or moscatel gallego branco), the classiest muscat, in the port-producing Douro region. It’s aromatic, full-bodied and bone-dry with bracing, youthful acidity. The aromas go from fresh grapes to ginger and lime to a powerful, minty, herbal note and it has a lingering, salty-mineral finish. Uncompromising, but very exciting. I love it. Drink with fish, seafood and salads. 14% abv.
£10, Bibendum.

2008 Land’s End Sauvignon Blanc, Elim
Medium-bodied, brisk and zesty, with ripe, spicy, green-fruit flavours, a savoury, briny flavour and a nicely textured mid-palate – the latter thanks to a tiny proportion of the wine being barrique-fermented and to 11% semillon filling out the sauvignon. These Elim vineyards, which belong to Hidden Valley in Stellenbosch, are just 17km from the ocean. 13.2% abv
£9.99, or £7.99 by the case, Oddbins.

WINES of the WEEK, 14 May 2010

2006 Oorain Victoria
This weird and wonderful sweet red wine from Eric Fabre’s Château d’Anglès estate in La Clape, Languedoc (see Wines of the Week, March 26) is aromatisé à l’érable naturel – delicately sweetened with maple syrup. But it’s not fortified (unlike vin doux naturel), so the alcohol is only 13%. It’s syrah with a little grenache, tastes of dried figs, rich fruitcake and spice and is rounded and velvety. It’s medium-sweet, rather than intensely sweet, and is delicious with dark chocolate (66-72% cocoa solids). The idea came from Fabre’s cousin, chocolatier Olivier Oorain.
£19.99, Essentially Wine

2004 Le Mesnil Blanc de Blancs, Grand Cru
A great follow-up to the 2002 (Wines of the Week , December 18 2009). Honeyed macaroons, cream and sweet oranges on the nose; pure, chiselled fruit on the palate with biscuity, nutty, brioche richness and a backbone of fine acidity. Five years’ ageing on its lees and six months in bottle before release. Another star from this small and perfectly formed co-operative. 12% abv.
£30.99, Waitrose

2008 Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi Classico, Sartarelli
Light, fresh perfume – hints of lemon, peach and almond; a softly textured but briskly fresh palate with a sappy, citrus-peel flavour and a crisp finish. An ideal medium-bodied summer aperitif or something to accompany simply cooked shellfish. 12.5% abv.
£8.99 (£7.19 by the case), Oddbins

WINES of the WEEK 7 May 2010

2009 Le Petit Salvard Cheverny
This is a brilliant cheaper alternative to Pouilly-Fumé and one of the few wines in which you find sauvignon blanc and chardonnay together. Not that there’s much chardonnay in this – just a smidgeon to give a little bit of rounder, peachy fruit to the pungent, smoky aroma and tangy lime-juice flavours. 12% abv.
£7.99, Waitrose

2007 Joseph Drouhin Saint-Amour
When good, the Beaujolais Cru are great food wines. You could drink this with all sorts of fish, meat, poultry or veg, although nothing too heavy. It has an enticing wild strawberry fragrance and flavour, a touch of spice and a mouthwatering juicy softness. 13% abv.
£8.99, Waitrose

2008 Ettore Germano Langhe Nebbiolo
There was some discussion at the Oddbins tasting about whether this was expensive. All I can say is that it’s delicious and I could drink it anytime. It’s all rose petals and cherries on the nose and fresh, perfumed and lightly chewy in the mouth. It’s not a broodingly complex nebbiolo – just wonderfully expressive of both grape variety and Piedmont. 13.5% abv.
£15.99 (£12.79 by the case), Oddbins

WINES of the WEEK 30 April 2010

Better late than never, I hope. No, don't ask.
2008 Taste the Difference Alsace Gewurztraminer
2008 Alsace Gewuztraminer, Cave de Turckheim
I’ve been tasting lots of Alsace wines for a food matching column I’m doing on www.alsacewines.co.uk and these two shone in their price price range. Both are from the Cave de Turckheim and have textbook gewurz aromas of roses, lychees and Turkish delight and both are clean and crisp right through to the finish. The first is more aromatic and slightly lighter and sweeter; the second is a little richer and fuller with white peach and apricot flavours. Both are 13% abv and have screwcaps.
£7.64 for the Taste the Difference, Sainsbury’s
£8.25 for the second, waitrosewine.com; £8.65, Waitrose

2006 Le Grand Noir GSM, Vin de Pays d’Oc
Very perfumy with those mouthwatering stony-mineral characters you get from Minervois (quite a lot of the fruit comes from Minervois vineyards via a group of six co-ops). Ripe but fresh-tasting with raspberryish fruit and peppery spice; medium-full, supple, nicely dry and well-balanced. 13% abv. Not particularly cheap, but a thoroughly good, versatile wine with a delightful label. The men behind Le Grand Noir are Robert Joseph (wine writer and general wine-man-at-large), winemaker Hugh Ryman (ex Jaubertie etc) and Kevin Shaw (Stranger & Stranger).
£8.95, Robersons

2008 Château de Pennautier, Cabardès
An oak-free blend of cabernet sauvignon, merlot, grenache, syrah, cabernet franc and malbec from south-facing, but cool, hillside vineyards in Cabardès, the only AOC in Languedoc where you’re allowed to make these Bordeaux-meets-the-Rhône blends. The winemaker used to be at Château Mouton-Rothschild, no less. Deep purple, with warm, spicy, earthy aromas, sweet, ripe black-fruit, graphite and tapenade flavours and firm, grainy tannins. Opens up in the glass, so worth decanting into a jug an hour or so before you want to drink it. Good with herby, garlicky meat, duck or beans. 13% abv.
£6.99, or £5.99 for two or more, Majestic

WINES of the WEEK 23 April 2010

2009 MIP* Made in Provence, Côtes de Provence
Slightly dotty name, but a delightful, perfumed rosé from Domaine de Sainte Lucie in Puyloubier on the lower slopes of Mont Sainte Victoire. It’s the palest of pale with cherry and raspberry flavours, a hint of ginger and apricot and a fresh, smooth, dry finish. 12% abv
£10.95, or £9.50 as part of a mixed case, Lea & Sandeman

2009 Seifried Nelson Sauvignon Blanc
Ripe grapefruit, pea-shoot and gooseberry aromas and flavours – classic and well-defined, but not over-assertive. There’s a faint suggestion of salt and minerals, a bit of chalkiness to the texture and a clean, crisp finish with just a touch of well-balanced sweetness. Well-priced sauvignon from New Zealand's Nelson region. 13% abv.
£7.99, Marks & Spencer

2007 Vincent Morey Bourgogne Rouge
It’s hard for simple bourgogne rouge to compete with the onslaught of pinot noirs from New Zealand, but this one, from Vincent Morey in Santenay, shouts burgundy and pinot noir, and does so at a fairly modest price. It has a lovely red berry and rose petal fragrance, crunchy, just-ripe, red-berry fruit in the mouth, a gentle, silky texture and a clean, refreshing finish
13% abv. £14.99, ballantynes-direct.co.uk

WINES of the WEEK 16 April 2010

Jacquart Brut Tradition Rosé/Jacquart Brut Mosaïque Rosé Champagne
Two labels – Tradition is replacing Mosaïque – for a fresh, rounded, fruity and thoroughly enjoyable pink champagne. Sure, you can find more complex pink champagnes, but you can also find an awful lot of less good more expensive ones. This has a scent of roses and strawberries, a creamy palate with hints of cherries and apricots, as well as red fruits, and a fresh finish. 12.5% abv.
£30, or £22.50 each for 2 or more, Majestic (from April 27 the prices change to £28, or £23 for 2).

2005 CVNE Rioja Reserva
I meant to recommend this before, but the deal which brings the price down below £10 lasts another 10 days, so there's still time. It’s benchmark stuff: quite intense and structured, but elegant, with long-lasting smoky, spicy oak flavours and a sweetness and freshness to the fruit. You can drink it now, but there’s no hurry: it’ll be good for another eight years. 13.5% abv.
Majestic, £12.99, or £9.74 when you buy any 2 Spanish wines

2007 El Camino Rioja
A youthful Rioja with juicy cherry and berry fruit, spicy, toasty flavours and a touch of caramel and chocolate – the latter flavours and the smoothness of texture courtesy of an eight-month stint in one-year-old American oak barrels. There’s nothing sophisticated about it but it’s certainly good value at the current price (reduced from £7.99). 13.5% abv.
£4.99, Oddbins

WINES of the WEEK, 9 April 2010

2008 Duc de Vendôme, Saint-Mont
A medium-bodied, tangy, dry white made from distinctive local grape varieties in southwest France – perfect for the sunny, spring day we’ve got in London. Citrus, orchard fruit and a briny note on the nose; apricot, peach and a hint of creaminess on the palate, and a fresh, herbal, citrus finish. The grape varieties are gros manseng, petit courbu and arrufiac. 13% abv.
£5.24, Waitrose; £4.97, waitrosewine.com. These prices are valid until 11 May. Usual price is £6.99

2009 Vergelegen Sauvignon Blanc Reserve, Stellenbosch
Intensely fragrant with orange zest, lemon and sweet green-bean aromas and a refined, complex palate with fresh-fruit sweetness and spicy, green-edged, mineral flavours. Long, fresh and interesting. It comes from a single vineyard – Schaapenberg – four miles from the ocean. Drink over the next three years. 13.5% abv
£13.95, Jeroboams

2008 Pathway Pinot Noir, Ara, Marlborough
A fresh, supple, medium-bodied pinot, with sweet cherry fruit, a touch of cinnamon, an attractive sweet-earth character and the lightest of oak and tannin. Well-balanced and versatile with food, although you could also drink it on its own. And at last a recommendation from Morrisons. 13% abv.
£9.99, Morrisons

WINES of the WEEK 2 April 2010

2009 Reichsrat von Buhl Kellermeister Selection Riesling, Pfalz
Lemon, spice, peaches and minerals, and a delightful suggestion of strawberries. Fresh and zippy, but with lots of middle and a lingering, dry, tangy finish. If only more people in Britain knew about these versatile, food-friendly, dry German wines, or were more willing to try them. 11.5% abv.
£10.49, Laithwaites

2008 Boschendal 1685 Chardonnay, Coastal Region
There’s nothing subtle about this Cape wine but, if you like a rich style of chardonnay where you can see the oak at work, this is one to try. It’s ripe but zesty, with lemon and pineapple fruit, and salted caramel, butterscotch, cashewnut and toasty flavours. Its smooth texture and touch of sweetness is balanced by a whistle-clean finish – a bit like home-made lemon curd. 14% abv.
£7.99, Booths; £8.09, Waitrose

2007 Nicolas Jaboulet-Perrin Frères, Saint-Joseph
Having been in two minds about recommending this at £30, the price quoted at The Wine Society tasting, I finally decided it was too delicious to pass over, only to discover that the tasting sheet was wrong: the price is £17. It’s still not cheap for Saint-Joseph, but it’s surely worth it. It has an enticing smell of freshly ground black pepper and crushed raspberries, a palate sustained by pure, sweet fruit, stony, savoury flavours, supple tannins and a succulent texture. It should stay the course until 2018. 13% abv
£17, The Wine Society

WINES of the WEEK 26 March 2010

2008 Château d’Anglès Classique Blanc, La Clape
A white that shows: a) just how good the white wines of Languedoc can be (and this is the cheaper of the two Anglès whites); and b) why blends can be so much more than the sum of their parts. It’s based on bourboulenc, with some grenache blanc, roussanne and marsanne, and is lightly aromatic with floral and citrus notes; the palate is ripe and honeyed with creamy, peachy fruit, but with the richness off-set by lovely citrus zing. Château d’Anglès, in its present form, is the creation of Eric Fabre who bought the estate in 2001 after 25 years in Bordeaux, eight of them as technical director of Château Lafite. If you don’t know Essentially Wine, now is the time. There are two shops, Chipstead in Surrey (blue plaque moment: I was brought up there) and Richmond, which is a rather larger and better known town in Surrey.
£10.49, Essentially Wine

2008 Fabre Montmayou Phebus Cabernet Sauvignon, Lujan de Cuyo Mendoza
Full-bodied but sleek Argentine cabernet sauvignon – and all the better for being unoaked to show off its perfume and purity of fruit. Aromas and flavours of violets, raspberries and cassis around a core of ripe yet fresh fruit and a satin-smooth texture. The vineyard altitude – 1050 metres – doubtless goes a long way to explain the finesse and the effortless way the wine carries its 14.5% abv. That, plus wines of a decent middling age (average 15 years) and the expertise of Bordeaux-born owner Hervé Joyaux Favre. 13.5% abv
£7.99, Waitrose

2008 Clos des Cordeliers Cuvée Tradition, Saumur-Champigny
I hadn’t come across the Ratron cousins' Clos des Cordeliers until I tasted this at Richards Walford’s January tasting. What a find – invitingly fresh, red and green-pepper fragrance with rounded raspberry fruit and the supplest of tannins. Medium-bodied, beautifully balanced essence of cabernet franc. 13.5% abv £9.99, Adnams Cellar & Kitchen

WINES of the WEEK 19 March 2010

2009 Domaine La Bastide Roussanne, Vin de Pays d’Hauterive
A lovely lime and floral perfume, bristlingly fresh lime and sweet-apple flavours and a rounded, smooth texture. Hauterive is in the Aude department, covering part of the Corbières area. 13% abv.
£7.99 (or £6.99 if you buy two or more bottles), Majestic

2008 Tasmanian Pinot Noir
Intensely fragrant, juicy and fresh, with black fruit as well as red berry flavours. Medium-bodied with fine acidity and just a touch of tannin. Not a complex pinot noir, but pure and aromatic and at a giveaway price. Made for M&S by Andrew Pirie’s Tamar Ridge Estates. 13% abv.
£7.99, Marks & Spencer

2007 Hacienda El Espino 1707 Syrah, Almansa
Expressive, raspberry-scented old-vine syrah from vineyards at 750m in Almansa, southern Spain. Full and round with succulent fruit, touches of spice and well-balanced oak (3 months in American and French barrels). Polished, persuasive syrah. 13.5% abv.
£8.49, The Real Wine Company

WINES of the WEEK, 12 March 2010

2008 Pewsey Vale Riesling, Eden Valley
Vivid, racy Australian riesling – tangy lime, apple and peach with a hint of spice; dry, but a little less steely and mineral than you find in Clare. 12.5% abv
£9.99, Oddbins

2009 Tesco Finest Darling Sauvignon
Stylish Cape sauvignon with the sweetness and freshness of sugarsnap peas, a finely textured mid-palate and faintly salty, mineral finish. 13.5% abv
£6.99, Tesco

2008 Tesco Finest Malbec, Mendoza
Medium-full with dark, spicy, slightly smoky plum flavours, subtle oak, fine tannins and a dry, clean finish. A very well balanced, well-judged wine, made by Catena. 13.5% abv
£6.98, Tesco

WiNES of the WEEK 5 March 2010

All under £8 this week.

2009 The Foundry Grenache Blanc, Coastal Region
The white wines coming out of South Africa just keep getting more and more exciting. Chris Williams makes a terrific Viognier, but this is the first time I’ve tasted his Grenache Blanc. It’s fairly full-bodied and has a smidgen of Viognier, which gives a perfumed apricot edge to the apple, pepper and mineral flavours, but it’s a less showy wine than the Viognier, as you’d expect. There’s a little bit of oak to round it out and round it off and the finish is clean and dry. 13.5% abv
£7.95, The Wine Society

2008 Cruz de Piedra Garnacha, Calatayud
Ebullient, young Spanish red made from 60-100 year old garnacha growing high up in the Calatayud mountains southeast of Rioja. Juicy, sweet-tomato and red-berry fruit spiced up with lots of earthy white-pepper flavours; medium-full, dry and fresh. 13.5% abv.
£5.25, The Wine Society; £5.99, Adnams Cellar & Kitchen

2007 Château La Bouscade Old Vine Carignan, Minervois
This is 14.5% abv, it’s been aged in oak barrels for 16 months and it’s carignan. Sounds like a recipe for the sort of heavyweight you can stand a knife up in. It’s certainly full-bodied, but it’s perfectly balanced and if there were any rustic, grating carignan tannins they’ve have been planed to smoothness by the oak. It has a lovely raspberry fragrance and fruitness, alongside stony, mineral, spicy flavours.
£7.99, Majestic; £6.99 when you buy two or more.