Intense blackcurrant leaf and liquorice, deep crimson silky but full tannins. Not for the faint hearted, a powerhouse. About £18 from Corks Out.
Category Archives: wine of the month
Craggy Range Te Muna Pinot Noir 2010
If you like pinot this is for you. Ripe, summer pudding, strawberries and raspberries, then earthy, wet fur, fantastic New Zealand pinot, single vineyard Martinborough. The full selection will be shown at Fredericks at our September Craggy Range tasting – one for the diary.
Chateau Batailley 2005
From one of the best Bordeaux vintages full of blackcurrant leaf, cedar, later smoke,cassis, great balance many years left in it, great length and elegance.
Sweet Agnes Riesling 2010 Siefried Nelson New Zealand
Multi gold award winner, this is made from late harvest 100% riesling. The grapes are then frozen and pressed to reveal lush sweet grape juice. The result is a rich, sweet, honeyed apricot, viscous, powerful, intense dessert wine – just mesmerising.
Was available from Waitrose wines at £13.29 a bottle. Tasted at the annual New Zealand trade tasting event at Lords recently.
Clos Floridene, Graves, Bordeaux, 2008
A white bordeaux blend of sauvignon blanc and semillon I bought en primeur through the Wine Society. The first couple of bottles opened six months ago shortly after delivery were taught, interesting and refined, however last night’s bottle (Jan 12) was rather special.
The wine has developed to become fuller, riper with more depth. On the nose a hint of resin which is immediately overwhelmed by apricot tart, the delicate magnolia blossom and then back to egg custard, on the palette these flavours continue within a lovely silky golden feel balanced with enough freshness to keep it light, reasonably persistent.
Absolutely delicious leaving you wanting more. The 2010 is still available en primeur through BBR and others for about £135 a case in bond. I’m sure the Wine Society will have the 2011 for about £120 in bond.
Rustenberg John x Merriman 2008
An abundance of ripe fruity blackcurrant, full bodied bordeaux blend, ripe and fresh with a chocolatey edge. Worth its £12.50 and a lovely one to have in for the festive season, great with Nigella’s slow braised lamb shank.
Château Bel-Air la Royère, 2005
Tasted at one of Cadman fine wine’s tastings this delicious and complex right bank Bordeaux was one of the stars. In fact the wine of the evening for me was the Leoville Barton 1996 (a wine of stunning depth and complexity see our tasting notes from the Barton tasting for more details), but on returning after savouring tasting this to the Bel-Air Royere it still delivered plenty of enjoyment.
We showed this wine at a birthday tasting that WanderCurtis laid on recently and it went down brilliantly, supporting the idea that one should look out for lesser known chateaux in great years such as 2005. Currently on sale at Cadman.
Clos de Los Siete 2008 Mendoza, Argentina
A very big but delicious wine made from malbec, cab sav, merlot and syrah. Dark fruit, plums, spice and toasty coconut, rich and tasty. Apparently made with Michel Rolland’s input, this will appeal to those who like forward, blockbuster wines. I know it’s cooler to prefer more refined, complex and intellectually challenging wines, but on a week day when you want a reliably tasty treat this is just the ticket. (Waitrose).
Porcupine Ridge syrah-viognier 2010
Lovely coastal South African Syrah, the splash of viognier adds floral, apricot notes on the base of plummy, fruity, slightly burnt toasted syrah. A real bargain recently in Majestic, also available at SWIG .
Amarone della valpolicella, Valpentena winery 2008
Rich, powerful, chocolate, coffee damson. This wine is made from partially dried grapes in a process called apassimento, which concentrates the flavours to give a wonderfully rich wine. Available from Sainsburys online at £16.
WanderCurtis Wine 