The Festive Champagne and Sparkling Wine Guide 2023
Welcome to my roundup of Champagnes and sparkling wines for the festive season. It's always a pleasure to publish this – with an...
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Nov 16, 2023
WINE OF THE WEEK: Château Courbin Héritage Graves Blanc 2022, Bordeaux, France
£13.95, Stone, Vine & Sun There were three white wines from UK wine merchant Stone, Vine & Sun that I wanted to make Wine of the Week. In...
Oct 19, 2023
WINE OF THE WEEK: Saint Mont Grande Cuvée 2020, Saint Mont, France
£9.50, Tesco It’s no secret that I’m a fan of wines from the appellations in southwest France that treasure their little-known indigenous...
Sep 7, 2023
WINE OF THE WEEK: Olivier Coste Mourvèdre Illegal 2020, Pays d'Oc, France
£13.95–£17.70, Fintry Wines, Great Wines Direct, Vino Gusto, Beckford Bottle Shop, Noble Green Wines, The Wee Vinoteca, Turton Wines This...
Aug 31, 2023
WINE OF THE WEEK: Ormarine Villemarin Picpoul de Pinet 2022, Languedoc, France
£9.99, Majestic I can hardly believe that in 400 wines of the week this is the first time I've featured a Picpoul de Pinet. Fitting...
Aug 17, 2023
WINE OF THE WEEK: Domaine Filliatreau Saumur Champigny 2020, Loire, France
£17.25, Yapp Brothers I’ve always like Loire Valley Cabernet Franc, even way back when I started in wine and it was a leafy green shadow...
Aug 3, 2023
WINE OF THE WEEK: Domaine Jones Fitou Vieilles Vignes 2021/2022, Fitou, France
£14–14.50, Booths, The Wine Society and independents It’s likely that grapes from my adopted vine at Domaine Jones are in both these...
Jul 19, 2023
Prime Time for Pink: Rosés for Summer 2023
Update, August 3 I've just added two more southern French rosés: Alaina, which is new to me, although its producer, Laurent Miquel,...
Jun 29, 2023
WINE OF THE WEEK: Amstramgram Pomone Vin Orange 2022, Vin de France
£14.25–£15.95, Grape & Grind, Carruthers & Kent, Wild & Lees If an electric orange colour sounds alarming and likely to indicate a wine...
Jun 8, 2023
WINE OF THE WEEK: Jean-Luc Baldès Malbec du Clos 2020, Cahors, France
£8.49/£10.99, Waitrose I’m delighted to see this on the shelves. We don’t see enough Cahors in the UK. It has a reputation for being a...
May 18, 2023
WINE OF THE WEEK: Chevallier-Bernard Jongieux Mondeuse 2019, Savoie, France
£15.70, Tanners Wines It’s been a long time coming but here at last is a Mondeuse as wine of the week. Dark in colour, aromatic,...
May 4, 2023
WINE OF THE WEEK: Immortelle 2019, Côtes du Roussillon Villages, France
£19.95–£22.50, Red & White, The Somerset Wine Company I recommended the little sibling of this red last year, Petite Immortelle. Now it's...
Apr 27, 2023
WINE OF THE WEEK: Domaine Saint Gayan Sablet L'Oratory 2021, Sablet Côtes du Rhône Villages, France
£15.25, Yapp Brothers If you thought Sablet was a red wine, you would be right. Most of the time. Nine in ten bottles is red, but 10% of...
Mar 23, 2023
WINE OF THE WEEK: Les Argelières Pinot Noir Grande Cuvée 2021, Pays d'Oc, France
£9.49, House of Townend I thought that naming this Grande Cuvée might be a bit over the top, but it turns out to be an impressive French...
Mar 20, 2023
2020, Another Extraordinary Vintage at Domaine de la Romanée-Conti
The magnificent La Tâche 2020 is conspicuous by its absence in this line-up of empty bottles, but it was definitely in the tasting (see...
Mar 16, 2023
WINE OF THE WEEK: Katie Jones Les Vignes Cachées 2021, Vin de France
£15.99, Naked Wines Another winner from the inspiring, indomitable saviour of unloved and old vines, Katie Jones of Domaine Jones in the...
Mar 9, 2023
WINE OF THE WEEK: L'Arène des Anges Costières de Nîmes 2021, Rhône, France
£8.49, Waitrose This is just the kind of comfortingly generous, young Southern French red to put a spring in your step, especially when...
Feb 16, 2023
WINE OF THE WEEK: Arbousset Tavel 2021, Rhône, France
£12, Tesco Tavel in the southern Rhône is France's only appellation (AOC) to produce rosé exclusively and it's never afraid to be bold in...
Feb 2, 2023
WINE OF THE WEEK: Lions de Suduiraut Blanc Sec 2021, Bordeaux, France
£19.95, Cambridge Wine Merchants White Bordeaux has never really established an identity that’s captured hearts and minds like white...
Jan 26, 2023
WINE OF THE WEEK: Domaine des Marrans Fleurie Lieu-dit 'Champagne' 2019, Fleurie, France
£19.50, Tanners; £21.11, Quality Wines Somerset Fleurie is supposed to be the most perfumed of the 10 Beaujolais Crus and this wine...
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