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The Festive Red Wine Guide 2019

Dec 2, 2019

The Festive Red Wine Guide 2019

My round up of red wines to take you through all kinds of festivities - major, minor and in some cases festivities for years to come. As always, wines are listed in ascending order of price, give or take differences in retailers’ prices and special offers (note that offers in stores and online are not always the same). If you're in the money, you'll know to scroll down and start at the end. One big retailer worth a mention is the Co-op: several wines I would like to have reco

WINE OF THE WEEK: Taste the Difference Western Australia Shiraz 2018, Australia

Nov 7, 2019

WINE OF THE WEEK: Taste the Difference Western Australia Shiraz 2018, Australia

£6.75, Sainsbury's I thought the price must be an error when I saw it in the tasting booklet. Whoever heard of a red from Western Australia at this price, not least a blend with a Margaret River component? When I tasted it and saw who the winemaker was, I did double-take mark two. It’s bright and pure with spicy red berry fruit, earthy sweetness and a touch of chocolate – easy to drink, unforced and wearing its alcohol lightly. The man behind it is David Hohnen, who in a form

WINE OF THE WEEK: Wirra Wirra Church Block 2016, McLaren Vale, Australia

Sep 19, 2019

WINE OF THE WEEK: Wirra Wirra Church Block 2016, McLaren Vale, Australia

£9.99 (on offer) Waitrose; £10.11 (on offer) Ocado I've just done a captivating and illuminating tasting of 12 wines chosen as Australia's future icons*. Running freely across region, grape variety and style, themes emerged nonetheless: a focus on specific sites and vineyards, Australia's old-vine heritage, and low-intervention winemaking among others. There was an orange wine and other new-wave wines, but there were also some classics, which is where this week's wine comes i

A dazzling Penfolds Grange and much more: tasting the 2018 Collection

Nov 1, 2018

A dazzling Penfolds Grange and much more: tasting the 2018 Collection

The launch of Penfolds’ 2014 Grange last month marked the release of the 64th consecutive vintage. I haven't tasted the first, the experimental 1951, but I have tasted its successor, 1952, which likewise wasn't released commercially, and I have twice tasted the first commercial release, the extremely rare 1953 Grange Hermitage (as Grange was called at the time): first in 2003, along with the next 49 vintages of Grange, at the fifth Rewards of Patience tasting in Adelaide; and

WINE OF THE WEEK: Zalze Shiraz Mourvèdre Viognier 2016, Western Cape, South Africa

Aug 9, 2018

WINE OF THE WEEK: Zalze Shiraz Mourvèdre Viognier 2016, Western Cape, South Africa

£6 on offer, Morrisons and Asda A richly fruity, spicy red that's a good buy even when not on offer but is a bargain at the offer prices (scroll to the bottom for more offers and stockists). It's a wine that really shows off the virtues of blending. The Shiraz at its heart drenches it in aromas and flavours of sun-warmed blackberries, ripe red fruits and spice, Mourvèdre (15%) adds complexity with darker, more savoury flavours of Mediterranean herbs, spice, wet earth, roast g

WINE OF THE WEEK: Dowie Doole Moxie Sparkling Shiraz, McLaren Vale, Australia

Dec 7, 2017

WINE OF THE WEEK: Dowie Doole Moxie Sparkling Shiraz, McLaren Vale, Australia

£20.16, Armit Wines A frothing, deep red, sparkling wine with vibrant black cherry and blackcurrant fruit, Christmas spice and dark chocolate flavours, and sweetness tempered by freshness and gentle tannin. No, there’s nothing quite like Australian Sparkling Shiraz. It maybe a bit of a Marmite wine, but those who love it love it for its exuberance and versatility – and it's certainly something different to serenade the troops at Christmas. Moxie gets its particular richness

WINE OF THE WEEK: Wakefield Estate Shiraz 2014, Clare Valley, Australia

Jul 28, 2016

WINE OF THE WEEK: Wakefield Estate Shiraz 2014, Clare Valley, Australia

£11.99, or £8.99 in any 6-bottle mix, Majestic Most red wine is drunk too warm, but people are reluctant to put it in the fridge for the 30 minutes or so that would bring it down to a more flattering 15–18ºC, rather than around 22ºC (restaurants and bars are even worse – don’t let me start on that). The fear is that the wine will emerge unpleasantly cold or somehow damaged. In 30 minutes it won’t unless your fridge temperature is exceptionally low, but the label of this suppl

Penfolds Grange and Special Bins: a unique vertical tasting in Paris

Apr 19, 2016

Penfolds Grange and Special Bins: a unique vertical tasting in Paris

Hosted by the Australian Ambassador to France at "an intimate dinner", it was billed as "the first ever monumental vertical tasting of Penfolds Grange and Special Bins". I was one of the ambassador's guests This article was published in Decanter magazine in late 2011 The last time I tasted 1953 Grange – I can’t tell you how satisfying it is to be able to say that – it was outshone by the 1953 Grange Cabernet Sauvignon. That was September 2003, in Australia, at the fifth Penfo

Iconic, historic... it must be Penfolds Grange and a Rewards of Patience tasting

Apr 5, 2016

Iconic, historic... it must be Penfolds Grange and a Rewards of Patience tasting

Penfolds' fifth Rewards of Patience was a remarkable, unrepeatable tasting over four days in September 2003. It included the complete set of 50 vintages of Grange. I was one of five wine writers invited to taste This is the article I wrote for Decanter magazine, published in June 2004: Few French wine producers could put on a tasting of 50 consecutive vintages. Who in Bordeaux would willingly show tasters their 1974, 1977 and 1984? And who in Burgundy would wish to show 1965,

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

WINE OF THE WEEK: Pasico Bush Vine Monastrell Shiraz 2014

Aug 27, 2015

WINE OF THE WEEK: Pasico Bush Vine Monastrell Shiraz 2014

£6.50, Sainsbury's A young Spanish red made without any ageing in oak so that the bright, bold flavours are all about fruit and spice - ripe berries, juicy plums, sweet red peppers and crushed black peppercorns. For the fact file: the winemaking is modern, but the vines (aka Mourvèdre and Syrah) are old and are left to grow as bushes. Cries out for meaty sausages, red meat - on the barbie if it's still fired up - or melt-in-the-mouth slow-roast pork. Pasico Bush Vine Monastre