Britain’s sparkling wine market is still worth £1.5bn and 140m bottles of bubbly are sold here each year. Most of the market is made up of prosecco, which has surged in popularity as a champagne alternative over the last few years. We are by quite some way the greatest consumers of champagne outside France, drinking…
Tag: France
La Vieille Ferme 2019
Another novelty bottle? No – this is despite it’s £7.50 price tag, pretty serious wine. It’s from the Perrin family – well-respected producers, who produce ‘Miraval’ Rose (reviewed here https://atimeforwine.blog/2020/07/27/miraval-cotes-de-provence-rose) with their celebrity partners Brad Pitt & Angelina Jolie. It’s a white Cotes du Rhone wine from one of the world’s largest wine-producing regions and…
M&S Classics Côtes du Rhône Villages 2019
With its ‘Classics’ range M&S set out to produce wines which are the epitome of a grape, blend or region. This wine is the first in the series that has been merely OK. For another pound, elsewhere you can better Cotes du Rhone. Tasting notes: Its appearance is deep purple in colour. Cherry notes on the nose….
M&S Classics Picpoul de Pinet 2019
With its ‘Classics’ range M&S set out to produce wines which are the epitome of a grape, blend or region. I like this idea very much; at wine tastings – especially blind ones – I don’t really want quirky surprises. Is this wine unmistakably Picpoul de Pinet? Almost all Supermarket Picpouls come from the Costieres…
Le Rocher de St Victor, Picpoul de Pinet 2019 Lidl
I have written before about the ubiquitous nature of supermarket Picpoul de Pinet: ‘ubiquitous’ because they pretty much all stock the identical wine from the same co-operative producer, but with a different label. Not so Lidl; this Picpoul comes from respected producer Ormarine, rather than the large local co-operative producer and has a little more…
M&S Classics Claret, Bordeaux 2019
With its ‘Classics’ range M&S set out to produce wines which are the epitome of a grape, blend or region. It includes repackaged wines from existing suppliers as well as new wines that buyers had to go out and hunt down. Sue Daniels set out “to find and redefine those lovely well-known regions and iconic…
St Emilion Grand Cru 2017, Lidl
“If anyone orders merlot, I’m leaving. I am not drinking any f@£$ing Merlot!” The irrational hatred that Paul Giamatti’s character had for merlot in the wine-lovers’ film Sideways had a profound, lasting impact on merlot sales. Bordeaux producers don’t tend to put the grape variety on the label, so St Emilion may have avoided the…
Ventoux Côtes du Rhône 2018, Sainsbury’s
The Cotes du Rhone appellation is one of the world’s largest wine-producing regions. The variety of grapes is amazing. Sainsbury’s updated ‘Taste The Difference’ range is doing a good job of teaming up with good producers and releasing own-label wines that are interesting and reasonably priced. Ventoux is about 30km from its famous neighbour Chateauneuf du…
Chevalier de Fauvert, Pays d’Oc, Chardonnay 2018
This Chardonnay is from Lidl. The last Chardonnay I reviewed from Lidl (https://atimeforwine.blog/2017/05/29/cimarosa-chardonnay/) was revolting and served as a deterrent from buying their wine for a couple of years. This one retails at £4.49 (cheap) but from time to time it is reduced to £2.99 when it is the ‘wine of the week’. This is unnaturally,…
Petit Chablis Moillard, 2018
Petit Chablis from a respected producer based in Mersault. Good value for money – better that the ‘bargain’ Chablis often sold by supermarkets. Good value. Tasting notes: Crisp Chardonnay with aromas of citrus, white peach, lychee. Bone dry. The same on the palate with some minerality. Balanced acidity. Medium finish. Some intensity and a little complexity….
Chevalier de Fauvert, Pays d’Oc, Sauvignon Blanc 2019
This Sauvignon Blanc is from Lidl. It regularly retails at £4.49 (cheap) but from time to time it is reduced to £2.99 when it is the ‘wine of the week’. This is unnaturally, suspiciously cheap… there must be a catch; it must be awful, right? Wrong; it’s perfectly acceptable plonk. Buy 6 for under £18 and…
Whispering Angel Rosé
Whispering Angel has acquired cult status. I’m not overstating this. During lockdown a great friend contacted me to say that his supply of it appeared to be in danger of drying up – and this was a big (first world) problem. Many have argued that this is the world’s best rosé; the benchmark from which…
A Time for Wine 