Recent Posts

Another of the catch-up-on-tasting-notes posts (see intro HERE if that doesn’t make sense) Franck Bonville Cuvée Prestige Blanc de Blancs Brut Champagne NV, France (£28.50 Plus de Bulles) Supple, toasty style, nicely developed pineapple and apple charlotte, flavours, with the richness and spice balanced by freshness and grip. S Jacques Chaput […]

Five Champagnes

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No videos for the next fortnight – I’m doing a catch-up of wines I’ve tasted in the last few months but which for some reason didn’t make it onto film (or SD card). So here goes… Chateau Tayac Margaux 2007, Bordeaux, France (£14.99 31dover.com) Gentle and juicy, now mature, but there’s […]

Some Bordeaux-inspired reds

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Three very different rosés Arndorfer Rosa Marie 2014, Austria (£17.99 Caves de Pyrene) On the red wine side of rosé, with plump strawberry flavour – fresh and cooked – alongside the peppery Parma violet character from the Grüner Veltliner, and with a bite of tannin on the finish. Fascinating. S- […]

Rosés from Austria, Greece & France

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…even though neither of them is labelled St Chinian. And they say Domaine de Viranel rather than Château Viranel on the label… Domaine de Viranel Trilogie Cessenon Rouge 2014, Languedoc, France (£10.05 Bancroft Wines, Cambridge Wine Merchants) Bouncy young red, with jolly, juicy blackberry, plum and blackcurrant flavours tinged with […]

Two reds from St Chinian estate Château Viranel…

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Nearly but not quite there… Morrisons Leyda Sauvignon Blanc 2014, Chile (£6.99 Morrisons) This smells crisp and zingy, with grassy citrus and greengage flavours in abundance, but there’s also an edge of smoky green pepper and elderflower that suggests some of the grapes were picked early to maintain acidity. OK, but […]

Morrisons Leyda Sauvignon Blanc 2014, Chile

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…in two rather different styles Villalobos Viñedo Silvestre Carignan 2012, Colchagua, Chile (~£18 Les Caves de Pyrene) I like the floral daintiness here, with a whiff of hops alongside the slightly smoky blackcurrant flavours, but there’s also something a little confected – do they still make Cola Spangles? – plus […]

Two Chilean Carignans

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