I met with the winemaker, Elena Adell at a Decanter magazine tasting at Michelin starred Ametsa with Arzak Instruction at Como The Halkin Hotel in Belgravia. Their white rioja was up for tasting and I really liked it. The Tempranillo grape has been used in red rioja for ever. Seventeen years ago a man called…
Macon Villages Blanc, Tesco
It’s white, from burgundy and 100% chardonnay. All good? Not quite… It’s £6.75 a bottle, however with the Tesco ‘buy 6, get 25% off’ deal it comes down to £5.06 a bottle. It even tasted pretty good. So what’s not to like? I woke up at 4am with a pounding headache – my wife 3…
Pouilly Fuisse, Marc Dudet, Waitrose
Again not cheap and not everyday wine. Pouilly Fuisse is one of my favourites along with pretty much all white burgundies. At this price I have expectations and naturally hope the wine will be markedly better than the £8 wines I go for. It often isn’t and I have had so many disappointingly ‘meh’ Chablis…
Bellingham Chardonnay
In my quest for good, well priced, widely available wines I came across this Chardonnay which drew my eye… Most of us would probably associate South Africa primarily with Chenin Blanc. Tesco sells this Stellenbosch Chardonnay for £11; not cheap and at that price I have expectations… Tasting notes: Has a really good nose which…
Tre Fiori Greco de Tufo
I’ve been a fan of this grape since I first visited Italy 20 years ago. In Italy this is an everyday wine, in price at least. £10.99 seems quite expensive – but I enjoyed this wine. ‘DOCG’ means that the wine is tasted by a panel who ‘guarantee’ that it’s worthy of the name, but…
Waitrose Brazil Chardonnay
Waitrose sell a brace of Brazillian wines: one red, one white (the red is reduced to clear – which makes me wary of it). This is the first Brazillian wine I’ve tasted, in fact the first I’ve ever seen. I shouldn’t be surprised that a country as vast as Brazil produces wine; I’ve been to…
Hen Pecked Picpoul de Pinet
Waitrose sell this under their own label but it’s available widely and has been for years. The name isn’t a bad attempted pun, but refers to the way that chickens in the vineyards like to eat any fallen grapes. We feed our chickens any over-ripe grapes, strawberries etc, so I can believe this. Picpoul is…
Vallade Gavi – update
Tesco was selling a ‘Finest’ Gavi which has gone from their shelves to be replaced by this. It’s not as good as their own ‘Finest’ Gavi, or the Araldica Cortese available at Majestic. Girelli are another big Italian producer and their wine is usually good. ‘DOC’ or ‘DOCG’ on bottles are perceived as being…
Araldica Cortese
Widely available, but at Majestic at £6.99 or £5.99 as part of their 6 bottles offer. The Cortese grape is famously used in Gavi, which has risen in popularity/availability in the last 20 years, but can be overpriced. This is a good alternative from a large but respected producer. Tasting Notes: Grown in the foothills…
Louis Jadot Macon Villages
Tasting Notes: Big burgundy producer, the kind of bottle to take to a party/prospective in-law as it’s recognisably good wine. And probably expensive. This can cost up to 50% more in the wrong shop… I liked it, very much, but I’m afraid I can now do slightly better for the money, from M&S, from Argentina…….
The Siren Chenin Blanc
Tasting Notes: Wine from the developing world should in my opinion be fairly traded and this one is. The wine makers attempt to improve the lot of the people in their local communities, not in this case with clean water or farming equipment, but with wifi. Crisp, dry, fruit forward. Region of Origin Western…
Les Dauphins Cotes du Rhone Reserve
Tasting Notes: When I was at university our local off licence sold a terrible, cheap red called ‘Cellier du Dauphins’, which we bought occasionally and laughed at the idea that the princes of France might put their name to it. This wine bears a passing resemblance to Clos l’Oratoire Chateauneuf du Pape. It contains…
A Time for Wine 