Casillero del Diablo Cabernet Sauvignon 2008, Valle Central, Chile (~£7) Classic Chile blackcurrant pastille tinged with mint, but also with a warm Mediterranean dusty herb edge, plus berry and vanilla flavours. B+ Wakefield Cabernet Sauvignon 2007, Clare Valley, Australia (£8.49 Majestic – £6.49 until end of Jan 2010) Warm blackberry […]
Monthly Archives: December 2009
…isn’t all that bad – a couple of pounds, mostly of home-made stuffing. It’s been wonderfully snowy in Saddleworth which has meant that I haven’t been out each evening at all those parties that get squeezed into the Festive Fortnight. Shame on the social front, but good on the waistline. […]
Post-Christmas weight minus Pre-Christmas weight…
Quinta Nova de Nossa Senhora do Carmo Reserve Porto NV (£9.95 per 500 ml Halifax Wine Company, Oakley Wine Agencies) Juicy young port, warm and welcoming, with an almost velvety texture, broad but still fragrant berry and damson flavours, and a citrus tang to the finish – you could almost […]
Four Ports – Quinta do Noval and Quinta Nova
Quinta Nova de Nossa Senhora do Carmo Unoaked Douro 2008 (£10.99 The Wine Cellar, Oakley Wine Agencies) Joyful young wine, all about bumptious, bouncy bramble and plum flavour, with hints of black pepper and brown sugar adding further interest. Ripe but fresh with it, very tasty. S- Quinta Nova de […]
Portugal’s Douro Valley – home to some of the world’s ...
Domaine du Tariquet Les Premières Grives Vin de Pays des Côtes de Gascogne 2008, South West France (£9.40 slurp.co.uk) Off-dry, fresh and zippy white, packed with fruit – peach, pear, apple – with a herby edge and a clean fresh finish. Lovely summer day wine, good with fruit salad. B+ […]
Five sweet wines – France, Chile, Spain, Australia
Houghton The Bandit Shiraz/Tempranillo 2008, Western Australia (£8.99 – available from Spring 2010) Young but not disturbingly so, with bright strawberry, blackcurrant and jammy dodger fruit, a touch of reduction and hints of mint and milk chocolate. B(+) D’Arenberg “d’Arry’s Original” Shiraz Grenache 2006, McLaren Vale, South Australia (£9.95-£12.99 The […]