Casillero del Diablo Brut Reserva NV, Limarí, Chile (£7-11 Morrisons, Waitrose, Ocado, Tesco.com, yourfavouritewines.com) Rather classy fizz, quite full in flavour with hints of apple crumble and a toffee-ish richness, but then a seam of minerality and zesty acidity kicks in, ripe but refined, great value. S- Miguel Torres Pinot […]
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Casillero del Diablo Merlot 2010, Rapel, Chile (£6-£8 widely available) Quite a flashy, fleshy style, with rich ripe blackcurrant and blackberry plus touches of vanilla, but there’s also a more restrained leafy, cedary edge to add some freshness. B+ Groote Post Merlot 2010, Darling, South Africa (£11-13 Francis Fine Wines, […]
Wine Tasting Video: Merlot & Malbec from the southern hemisphere
The second batch from a set of eight whites split extremely scientifically according to the height of the bottles – these are the stubbiest four (and the other four are here – the Furmint is a stunna) Gaba do Xil Godello 2010, Valdeorras, Spain (£9.25 The Wine Society) Young, tender […]
Wine Tasting Video: Three Spanish Whites + a lone Californian
What a fascinating set of four wines! It’s the first half of a set of 8 whites I had to get through recently, so I sorted them by height…. The second batch is here. Tesco Finest Picpoul de Pinet 2010, Languedoc, France (£7.29 Tesco) Has a bit more oomph than […]
Wine Tasting Video: Assorted Whites from France, Italy and Hungary
Prestige de Calvet Bordeaux Rouge Merlot-Cabernet Sauvignon 2010 (£10-50-£11 Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons) Quite simple, but has a friendly roundness, with juicy crunchy plum, blackcurrant and blueberry flesh and a touch of toffee. But a daft price. C+ Château Brassac Bordeaux Supérieur 2009 (£11.99 selected Co-operative stores) A year older, but […]
Wine Tasting Video: Merlot-based reds from Bulgaria & Bordeaux
Just loved this quintet… Domäne Wachau 1000-Eimer-Berg Riesling Federspiel 2010, Wachau, Austria (£11.39 Waitrose) Like a clear mountain spring, this is exhilarating, herby stuff, still a little stern and young, but with sprightly grapefruit & lemon flavours and a taut herb and river pebble character on the finish. S- Domäne […]