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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

The Festive Red Wine Guide 2020

Dec 4, 2020

The Festive Red Wine Guide 2020

However different this Christmas turns out to be, wine is going to be at least as vital as usual. Here then is my round-up of red wines to cater for all kinds of occasion during the festive season, or no occasion at all. As always, wines are in 75cl bottles unless stated and are listed in ascending order of price, give or take differences in retailers’ prices and special offers. If you're in the money, you'll know to scroll down and start at the end. A couple of other things

WINE OF THE WEEK: Domaine de Bréseyme Brézème Côtes du Rhône 2017, France

Nov 5, 2020

WINE OF THE WEEK: Domaine de Bréseyme Brézème Côtes du Rhône 2017, France

£22, The Wine Society I'm getting in early with this because when I tried to recommend the 2016 it had sold out (Wine Society members clearly know a good new thing when they see it). If you tasted the 2016, you'll know that it was northern Rhône-style Syrah at its most bewitchingly pure, perfumed and peppery. The 2017 is equally delicious, but more opulent – more Cornas, perhaps, than Côte-Rôtie – although both are a comfortably moderate 12.5% abv. The 2017 opens with a wave

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: 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: Pas d'Histoires Le Rouge Syrah 2018, Pays d'Oc, France

Mar 26, 2020

WINE OF THE WEEK: Pas d'Histoires Le Rouge Syrah 2018, Pays d'Oc, France

£14, Red Squirrel Wine The name of this wine, "no fuss", may seem oddly inappropriate right now, but it's the kind of mellifluous, carefree red – what the French call a vin de soif – that's so comforting to have to hand at times like this. None of us, after all, is going to be hopping across the channel and speeding off to the south of France to buy our own any time soon. I bought it as part of an excellent-value mixed dozen (the Home School Reds case at £90) but it's availab

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: Boschkloof Syrah 2015, Stellenbosch, South Africa

Feb 14, 2019

WINE OF THE WEEK: Boschkloof Syrah 2015, Stellenbosch, South Africa

£19.99, WaitroseCellar.com and 17 branches This cracking Syrah – full-bodied and velvety but with a peppery freshness that has echoes of the northern Rhône – is from the Borman family, whose farm is on the granite Polkadraai hills west of Stellenbosch. It starts with an inviting perfume of violets and peppery spice, adds a savoury suggestion of game, moves through rich red and darker fruit and draws on complexity and immaculately polished tannins from 14 months' ageing in oak

WINE OF THE WEEK: Seresin Syrah 2016, Marlborough, New Zealand

Sep 20, 2018

WINE OF THE WEEK: Seresin Syrah 2016, Marlborough, New Zealand

£19.99–£24.70 Noble Grape (UK), The House of New Zealand Wine, The New Zealand Cellar It's always a thrill to taste a debut vintage, not least when it's from an estate you've long admired. Seresin in Marlborough, founded and steered by filmmaker Michael Seresin, makes beautiful wines, especially Pinot Noirs from different vineyards, but this is the first Syrah and it's characteristically expressive and pure. It's very much in the cool-climate Crozes-Hermitage mould with tangy

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,

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: Campo di Sasso Insoglio del Cinghiale 2016, Toscana, Italy

May 17, 2018

WINE OF THE WEEK: Campo di Sasso Insoglio del Cinghiale 2016, Toscana, Italy

£21.50, Corney & Barrow I’ve drunk earlier vintages of this opulent, satin-smooth red at the estate with wild boar (the local cinghiale of the label) and it’s a seamless pairing, but it’s such a supple, ample and well–tuned wine it’s a match for all sorts of food – darker meat, lighter meat, vegetable dishes, cheese... Campo di Sasso is a 46-hectare estate near Bibbona in coastal southwest Tuscany that was established by, and belongs to, Lodovico Antinori, one of the famous F

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: Trinity Hill Hawkes Bay Syrah 2016, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand

Feb 1, 2018

WINE OF THE WEEK: Trinity Hill Hawkes Bay Syrah 2016, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand

£13.50, The Wine Society According to John Hancock of Trinity Hill winery, the world isn't beating a path to Hawkes Bay Syrah's. door. High time it did in my view. The style overall owes much to northern Rhône styles, but with prettier, more supple fruit, especially in the entry-level wines. This one, which includes a small amount of Viognier, is made to show off the perfumed purity, juicy plum and blueberry fruit and savoury, peppery spice of the Syrah grape. I love the way

WINE OF THE WEEK: Gayda Syrah 2015, Pays D'Oc, France

May 18, 2017

WINE OF THE WEEK: Gayda Syrah 2015, Pays D'Oc, France

£9.99–£10.15, Cambridge Wine Merchants, Haynes, Hanson & Clark Wines made from Syrah aren’t always light on their feet and they’re not the sort of red you’d immediately think of if you were looking for a red to go with fish, but Domaine Gayda’s 2015 Syrah from Languedoc is made in a cool, contemporary style with racy, pure, black cherry fruit and the trademark peppery spice that Syrah has in the northern Rhône. What it doesn’t have, because it’s designed to be drunk young, ar

WINE OF THE WEEK: Domaine Trilles Incantation 2015, Côtes du Roussillon, France

Apr 20, 2017

WINE OF THE WEEK: Domaine Trilles Incantation 2015, Côtes du Roussillon, France

£14.95, Joie de Vin A bewitchingly generous, rich red from the southern reaches of France, not far from the border with Spain and close to a spot where witches were said to brew their potions: hence the name Incantation (and my inability to resist the opening pun). Apart from being dark enough to be a witches’ brew, there is no other comparison. Incantation, a Syrah-based blend with Grenache, Mourvèdre and a smidgen of Carignan, is brimful of violet, raspberry, black fruit an

WINE OF THE WEEK: Edgebaston Syrah 2014, Stellenbosch, South Africa

Feb 9, 2017

WINE OF THE WEEK: Edgebaston Syrah 2014, Stellenbosch, South Africa

Rude Wines, £12.99 If a wine from the southern hemisphere or North America is labelled Syrah, not Shiraz, you can be pretty sure the winemaker has looked to the Rhône rather than to Australia for inspiration. And so it is with David Finlayson’s Cape Syrah. It’s fuller, richer and has more vanilla oak flavour than a Syrah from the northern Rhône, but the white pepper and savoury, smoky, meaty flavours are very Rhône, as is the freshness that lifts the finish. While it’s delici

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: Elephant Hill Syrah 2014, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand

Nov 3, 2016

WINE OF THE WEEK: Elephant Hill Syrah 2014, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand

£19–£21.30, Theatre of Wine, Mr & Mrs Fine Wine, Great Western Wine, Hedonism Wines This was the first Elephant Hill wine I'd come across when I tasted it a few months ago and I was bowled over. I tasted it again earlier this month with Steve Skinner, the winemaker, and was again bowled over by its combination of velvety richness, freshness and elegance and by the crunchy black fruit, peppery spice and sheen of polished oak. All the more impressive is the fact that this is th

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