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WINE OF THE WEEK: Château Courac Côtes du Rhône 2016, France

Jan 7

WINE OF THE WEEK: Château Courac Côtes du Rhône 2016, France

£8.95, The Wine Society This is one of my house wines, one I turn to when I want the vinous equivalent of a comforting, warm hug. With more Syrah than Grenache in the blend, it's full and generous with a twist of fresh white pepper to season the plush raspberry fruit and deeper tapenade and game notes. 2016 was an exceptional vintage in the southern Rhône, but even in less favourable vintages such as 2013 Joséphine and Frédéric Arnaud make a success of their straight Côtes du

WINE OF THE WEEK: La Garnacha Salvaje del Moncayo 2018, Spain

Jul 9, 2020

WINE OF THE WEEK: La Garnacha Salvaje del Moncayo 2018, Spain

£8.49, Majestic Maybe it's auto suggestion, but there's a lovely off-the-beaten-track mountain wildness (salvaje means wild) to this old-vine Garnacha (aka Grenache), one of six under the the creative Vintae's Proyecto Garnachas banner that showcase the grape variety from old vineyards in different areas of the Ebro Valley in northeast Spain. The Salvaje vineyards lie on rocky soils at 820m asl on the north face of the Moncayo massif, where Navarra and Aragón meet and the Atl

WINE OF THE WEEK: Château la Canorgue Rouge 2017, Luberon, France

Jun 11, 2020

WINE OF THE WEEK: Château la Canorgue Rouge 2017, Luberon, France

£15.95, Yapp Brothers I wasn't planning to do another Provence red as Wine of the Week so soon, but I can't resist this and it's altogether different. Despite not being all that far geographically from Château Vignelaure – around 60km to the northwest – it's a different region. This is Luberon, where Provence meets the southern Rhône and the grape varieties reflect the southern Rhône. Château la Canorgue's red, a blend of Syrah, Grenache and old-vine Carignan, is dark, powerf

WINE OF THE WEEK: d'Arenberg The Footbolt Shiraz 2017, McLaren Vale Australia

May 14, 2020

WINE OF THE WEEK: d'Arenberg The Footbolt Shiraz 2017, McLaren Vale Australia

£12–£14.99, Tesco, The Wine Society, Great Western Wine, ND John, Winepig Unashamedly full-throated Aussie Shiraz from a family-owned and run winery that never seems to put a foot wrong. D'Arenberg produces a whole range of wines – white, red, traditional, innovative – and offers great value too. Hats off to the inimitable fourth-generation boss and winemaker Chester Osborn. The Footbolt is made artisan-style in open-top vats with foot-treading, basket-pressing and a mix of o

WINE OF THE WEEK: Domaine de Mourchon Séguret Tradition 2017, Séguret Côtes du Rhône, France

Apr 9, 2020

WINE OF THE WEEK: Domaine de Mourchon Séguret Tradition 2017, Séguret Côtes du Rhône, France

£14.99–£16.95, Averys of Bristol , Black Dog Wines (UK) I’m often surprised by the wines I find I haven’t featured here before. This estate-bottled red Séguret is a case in point. I blame Domaine de Mourchon’s Loubié Rosé, the release of which is always one of the early delights of the new rosé season. Judging by the number of the times I have recommended various vintages (here and here for example), the rosé seems to deflect me from the very good Mourchon reds. Not this time

WINE OF THE WEEK: Along Came Jones Lledoner Pelut Hairy Grenache 2018, Vin de France

Oct 3, 2019

WINE OF THE WEEK: Along Came Jones Lledoner Pelut Hairy Grenache 2018, Vin de France

£13.50–£16.99, The Wine Society, Flagship Wines, Fareham Wine Cellar, The Oxford Wine Company Domaine Jones is no stranger to my wine blogposts, so I'll concentrate on the wine, rather than tell Katie Jones's story again (which you can read here and here), but I will just say that she is an inspired, sensitive and meticulous winemaker specialising in wines made from plots of old vines around Tuchan in Languedoc-Roussillon. This wine is from a parcel of 70–80 year old vines an

WINE OF THE WEEK: Domaine Bassac Pink Chôt 2018, Côtes de Thongue, France

Jul 18, 2019

WINE OF THE WEEK: Domaine Bassac Pink Chôt 2018, Côtes de Thongue, France

£12/£10.80, The Daily Drinker Who can resist a wine this colour? The prettiest of orangey salmon-pinks, and a mouthwatering taste to match: a peal of spice, apricot and redcurrant-cum-raspberry, a supple, generous feel and fresh, citrusy finish. It’s made from Grenache by Domaine Bassac, an 80-ha family-owned and run organic estate in Côtes de Thongue, an IGP (the replacement designation for Vins de Pays) in Languedoc centred on the Thongue river valley between Béziers and Pé

WINE OF THE WEEK: Finest Saint-Chinian 2017, Saint-Chinian, Languedoc, France

Jun 26, 2019

WINE OF THE WEEK: Finest Saint-Chinian 2017, Saint-Chinian, Languedoc, France

£7.50, Tesco I’ve got a soft spot for Saint-Chinian, Minervois’ less well-known northeast neighbour, and always look for it on restaurant wine lists (usually in vain, it has to be said) and if I need to grab an impromptu bottle of red in a wine shop or supermarket. It’s usually good value, whether cheap like this or a more expensive single-estate wine, but more important is its characteristic flavour: sometimes intensely stony and savoury, sometimes more obviously fruity and

WINE OF THE WEEK: Domaine Laborie 2018, Pays d'Oc France

Apr 10, 2019

WINE OF THE WEEK: Domaine Laborie 2018, Pays d'Oc France

£6.25, The Wine Society If you want to splash out on a red to line up for Easter, let me suggest Château Batailley 2009, Pauillac, which is pretty well perfection already but will go on for years (£50, The Wine Society – I assume you're a member: if not why not?). If you want a conspicuous bargain instead, or as well, to assuage your guilt at splashing the cash on the Batailley (photo below to tempt you), this juicy, ripe, unoaked blend of Grenache, Carignan and Syrah from La

WINE OF THE WEEK: Taste the Difference Saint-Chinian Syrah Grenache 2016, Saint-Chinian, France

Sep 6, 2018

WINE OF THE WEEK: Taste the Difference Saint-Chinian Syrah Grenache 2016, Saint-Chinian, France

£9 (or £8 on offer), Sainsbury's This is the new vintage of a generous, warm-hearted red blend that's one of the best wines in Sainsbury's range in terms of quality-price ratio (especially on offer at £8 online and in most stores). Syrah and Grenache provide the blackberry and blackcurrant fruit, peppery spice and aromatic herbal notes of the garrigue, while partial ageing in French oak barrels rounds it out with subtle toasty notes. It's a winner with lamb – braised shanks,

Peerless Provence: the rosés of Sacha Lichine at D'Esclans

Aug 16, 2018

Peerless Provence: the rosés of Sacha Lichine at D'Esclans

As I said in my Around the world in rosé blog, I'm a great admirer of the wines from Sacha Lichine's d'Esclans estate in Côtes de Provence, including Whispering Angel, which technically isn’t an estate wine because the grapes are partly sourced from outside the Château’s own 44ha of vineyards (hence the label Cave d'Esclans, not Château). I've been following the estate more or less since the beginning and each year's wines seem to be better than the last. When, 12 years ago,

WINE OF THE WEEK: Domaine de Mourchon Loubié Rosé 2017, Séguret Côtes du Rhône Villages, France

Jul 12, 2018

WINE OF THE WEEK: Domaine de Mourchon Loubié Rosé 2017, Séguret Côtes du Rhône Villages, France

£10.95–£13.99, The Wine Society, Exel Wines, The Black Dog Wine Co (UK), Averys of Bristol The McKinlay family's Loubié rosé, is always mouthwatering, but the 2017, which they bottled earlier than usual, is better than ever – brimful of wild strawberry, spice and cherry aromas, bright strawberry-soda and red-apple fruit shot with cranberry and rosemary, and finally a lingering, leafy freshness. I first tasted it at the end of February and then again in mid-May, blind, when it

WINE OF THE WEEK: Eschaffins Cairanne Côtes du Rhône Villages 2015, Rhône, France

Apr 5, 2018

WINE OF THE WEEK: Eschaffins Cairanne Côtes du Rhône Villages 2015, Rhône, France

£13.50, Yapp Bros I haven’t seen the label of the follow-on vintage of this generous, warm-hearted southern Rhône, but for the first time it won't have to carry the words Côtes du Rhône Villages. Like Gigondas, Vacqueyras and Rasteau before it, Cairanne has been elevated to full AOC (appellation d’origine contrôlée) status. Houpla! What difference will it make? Well, prices aren’t going to go down, for sure, but in recognition of its new position in the hierarchy Cairanne's p

WINE OF THE WEEK: Le Grand Prébois Châteauneuf-du-Pape Les Quatres Terrroirs 2016, Rhône, France

Feb 8, 2018

WINE OF THE WEEK: Le Grand Prébois Châteauneuf-du-Pape Les Quatres Terrroirs 2016, Rhône, France

£17.99, Waitrose Knowing that a lot of wine drinkers raid their wine racks for Châteauneuf-du-Pape over Christmas, I’ve found a cockle-warming offer to replenish stocks. It comes from the cellars of one of the leading producers, the Perrin family, who are renowned for Château de Beaucastel, one of the most sought-after of Châteauneufs. Le Grand Prébois Les Quatres Terroirs is a typical Grenache, Mourvèdre, Syrah blend, but the grapes come from all four of the different Châtea

WINE OF THE WEEK: Morrisons The Best Priorat 2014, Spain

May 11, 2017

WINE OF THE WEEK: Morrisons The Best Priorat 2014, Spain

£10, Morrisons A textbook red from the rugged, once remote but now famed, Catalonian region of Priorat that lies inland from Tarragona. There is white Priorat but most of the wines are powerful, concentrated reds that come with a side order of mineral freshness. Morrisons’ oak-matured 2014 (made by Cellers Unio) combines intense cherry and black fruit, dark chocolate, spice and liquorice with chewy but velvety tannins and the hallmark stony freshness. Like Châteauneuf-du-Pape

WINE OF THE WEEK: Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2014, Rhône, France

Dec 21, 2016

WINE OF THE WEEK: Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2014, Rhône, France

£10.99, Co-op If you’re looking for a heartwarming, generous red for the festive feast this Châteauneuf-du-Pape is just the wine, whether you’re eating turkey, beef or goose. It could also be brought into service with a glazed ham joint and/or leftovers on Boxing Day: try popping it in the fridge for 20–30 minutes first – the rich, dark fruit, nutty, sweet earth and smoked paprika spice are just as appetising when served a little cooler than usual. The people behind it are th

WINE OF THE WEEK: Domaine Jones Fitou 2014, Fitou, France

Dec 1, 2016

WINE OF THE WEEK: Domaine Jones Fitou 2014, Fitou, France

£14.50, The Wine Society; £95 for 6, domainejones.com The key to the quality and character of this richly fruity Fitou is the age of the vines: most are more than a century old. They produce miserly quantities, but the compensation is the flavour of the grapes and, in turn, the complex, concentrated wine with its spicy black fruit, herb, nutmeg and dark chocolate flavours, its smoothness and freshness. The vines are Carignan, Grenache and Syrah – typical of Fitou and the wide

WINE OF THE WEEK: Domaine de Mourchon Loubié Rosé 2015, Séguret Côtes du Rhône Villages, France

Jun 23, 2016

WINE OF THE WEEK: Domaine de Mourchon Loubié Rosé 2015, Séguret Côtes du Rhône Villages, France

£9.50, The Wine Society, £12.95 The Black Dog Wine Company I loved this dry rosé when I tasted it newly shipped in April and I liked it even more when I tasted it recently in a gargantuan ‘blind’ tasting. Not being able to see what you’re tasting (the bottles are masked, not the tasters) is the ultimate test: all you can see is the colour – in this case a very pale pink (paler than it looks in the photo). It smells and tastes just as pretty and fresh as it looks, with the fra

WINE OF THE WEEK: Tim Adams The Fergus 2012, Clare Valley, Australia

May 13, 2016

WINE OF THE WEEK: Tim Adams The Fergus 2012, Clare Valley, Australia

£10, Tesco I hadn’t planned to recommend this juicy, round, oak-matured red this week, although it’s a perennial favourite, but the latest vintage, 2012, has just arrived and the price, far from increasing, has dropped £2. It’s mainly Grenache, which gives the easygoing spicy raspberry succulence, but don’t underestimate it: it has some backbone, so if you have somewhere cool and dark you could lay it down for four or five years. The name Fergus comes from Fergus Mahon, the o

WINE OF THE WEEK: Trizanne Signature Shiraz Grenache 2013, Swartland

Jan 28, 2016

WINE OF THE WEEK: Trizanne Signature Shiraz Grenache 2013, Swartland

£9.99, Waitrose With changeable weather and diets swinging this way and that, you may easily want a crisp, reviving wine one minute and something much bigger and more solid the next. This oak-matured Cape red has a comforting roundness and smoothness, with dark-berry fruit, delicate toast and peppery spice, but it’s elegant and sleek, rather than a heavyweight that makes you slump in your chair and wonder whether you’ll ever feel like getting up again. If there’s a chill in t