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Riding His Luck in Brunello: Paolo Bianchini and the Rise of Ciacci Piccolomini d'Aragona

2 days ago

Riding His Luck in Brunello: Paolo Bianchini and the Rise of Ciacci Piccolomini d'Aragona

Paolo Bianchini, winemaker and former cycling pro, raising a glass of his Brunello di Montalcino at the tasting lunch in London in 2020 One of the things I shared with my first section editor on The Sunday Times many moons ago was a love of a good rags-to-riches story. The rise of the Bianchini family at Ciacci Piccolomini d’Aragona in Brunello di Montalcino would have been perfect. It isn’t quite rags to riches, but it’s a heart-warming story and all the more so because of t

WINE OF THE WEEK: Blind Spot Touriga Nacional 2020, Langhorne Creek/McLaren Vale, Australia

Feb 25

WINE OF THE WEEK: Blind Spot Touriga Nacional 2020, Langhorne Creek/McLaren Vale, Australia

£10.95, The Wine Society This is one of a trio of interesting reds that The Wine Society has just added to its Blind Spot Australian range (the others are a Montepulciano and a Carignan). I’ve written about the thinking behind the range before here but, in a nutshell, they’re wines made from small parcels of top-quality grapes, ferreted out before they disappear into big-company blends. The Society chooses from samples sent by its man down under, winemaker Mac Forbes, and he

WINE OF THE WEEK: Veramonte Organic Carmenère Reserva 2019, Colchagua Valley Chile

Feb 18

WINE OF THE WEEK: Veramonte Organic Carmenère Reserva 2019, Colchagua Valley Chile

£8.04 (on offer), Ocado I was going to recommend Veramonte's spicy, velvet-textured Carmenère anyway, but there's even more reason to do so now it's on offer, down from £11.49 until 16 March. Alongside the inviting fresh bay-leaf spiciness, typical of Carmenère, a whiff of violets drifts over generous red fruit, streaks of capsicum, smoked paprika and coffee (three more of the grape variety's trademarks) and a clean, slightly salty, savoury finish. Veramonte's Carmenère viney

WINE OF THE WEEK: Solara Natural Organic Wine, Romania

Feb 4

WINE OF THE WEEK: Solara Natural Organic Wine, Romania

£8.50–£9.99, Lekker Wines, The Solent Cellar, Twisted Cellar, Noble Green Wines and others* The eye-catching label is a word-free zone, so I've given the name the producer Philip Cox of Cramele Recas uses, but the back label calls it Solara Glou Glou Natural Red. A glou glou in Romania is a fruity, young wine to drink chilled, like a French vin de soif, and this is exactly that: a bundle of bouncy, fruity, unoaked freshness that cries out to be lightly chilled. But there's a

WINE OF THE WEEK: Bouchard Père et Fils Beaune du Château Premier Cru 2017, Beaune, France

Jan 21

WINE OF THE WEEK: Bouchard Père et Fils Beaune du Château Premier Cru 2017, Beaune, France

£32.95, Waitrose In the absence of the assault course of Burgundy En Primeur tastings that I would have done by this point in a normal year (not that I'm complaining about them – I love Burgundy), I'm delighted to have a beauty of a red Beaune to recommend. It's Pinot Noir, but so much more than Pinot Noir, a wine for which the words perfume, silkiness, buoyancy, transparency and harmony could have been coined. Starting with delicate spice and sandalwood on the nose, it opens

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

Monterosola: Sitting Pretty Between Tuscany's Stars

Jan 5

Monterosola: Sitting Pretty Between Tuscany's Stars

Monterosola's stylishly labelled wines: two whites on the left, then four of the five reds I haven’t visited Monterosola in Tuscany, but having seen photos and tasted six of the eight wines I’m keen to go when we’re all travelling again. Geographically, it's very neatly located. The estate sits high up at 430m on a plateau to the east of the Etruscan city of Volterra in the Province of Pisa, between Bolgheri 50km to the south-west, San Gimignano and its DOC area to the east a

WINE OF THE WEEK: Finest Ebeia Ribera del Duero 2018, Spain

Dec 23, 2020

WINE OF THE WEEK: Finest Ebeia Ribera del Duero 2018, Spain

£12, Tesco I'm posting this a day early in case anyone is still looking for a red wine for Christmas Day. I've chosen a full-bodied, approachable, barrel-aged Spanish red that could accompany beef, lamb, pork or game, as well as goose, turkey or duck, or vegetarian dishes such as mushroom and chestnut Wellington and vegetable and cheese pies and gratins. It could also stand alongside hard cheeses such as cheddar and Manchego, but I would spare it the stilton. It's made from T

WINE OF THE WEEK: Maison Louis Latour Bellevue Domaine de Valmoissine Pinot Noir 2017, Var, France

Dec 17, 2020

WINE OF THE WEEK: Maison Louis Latour Bellevue Domaine de Valmoissine Pinot Noir 2017, Var, France

£18.50–£23.50, Bakers & Larners, Flagship Wines, Harvey Nichols, North & South Wines As an affordable alternative to red Burgundy, Maison Louis Latour's regular Domaine de Valmoissine Pinot Noir is an old favourite (see my Festive Red Wine Guide), and a good choice for the festive table whether you're eating turkey, a smaller bird, beef fillet or vegetarian, but there's now also a top-tier Valmoissine. Step forward Bellevue, a small production from the domaine's best vineyard

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: Santa Tresa Rina Russa Frappato 2019, Terre Siciliane, Italy

Nov 26, 2020

WINE OF THE WEEK: Santa Tresa Rina Russa Frappato 2019, Terre Siciliane, Italy

£9.99–£10.75, Ocado, Vintage Roots I recommended an earlier incarnation of this organic wine a few years ago as a perfect spring red. In August this year, in searing heat, I had the 2019 and thought it was the ideal summer red. I've just had it again on a dark, chilly November evening and come to the conclusion that it's a delicious all-seasons red. With its gem-bright, pale colour and medium body, it doesn't have that hearty winter look, but trades it for suppleness, freshne

Festive Fizz 2020: Anything But Champagne

Nov 18, 2020

Festive Fizz 2020: Anything But Champagne

It may be a festive season unlike any other, but we'll still need wine of all sorts –perhaps more than ever. The first of my 2020 round-ups is, as always, any kind of sparkling wine except Champagne, which gets its own show. This year there's a red, as well as white and rosé, and some pretty unusual wines: a Frappato, an Albariño and a stunning biodynamic wild-ferment English sparkling wine. I don't know what I was expecting when I tasted the English biodynamic natural wine,

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 Laurou Fronton Tradition 2019, Fronton, France

Oct 22, 2020

WINE OF THE WEEK: Château Laurou Fronton Tradition 2019, Fronton, France

£11.95–£13, Cheers Wines, The Jolly Vintner, The Stroud Wine Company, Shaftsbury Wines I'm delighted to have found a red Fronton this week – such a distinctive but appealing wine, made predominantly from a grape variety, Négrette, that's grown almost nowhere else in the world (there's a tiny amount in San Benito County California). Fronton is an appellation in south-west France about 30km north-west of Toulouse between the Garonne and Tarn rivers and west of the larger Gailla

WINE OF THE WEEK: Waitrose & Partners País 2019, Maule, Chile

Oct 8, 2020

WINE OF THE WEEK: Waitrose & Partners País 2019, Maule, Chile

£7.99, Waitrose A juicy, soft, low-tannin, pale red with strawberry and white pepper flavours, a swish of orange and a stony mineral burr. Delicious. It could stand in for good Beaujolais, or Pinot Noir or Etna Rosso, although it's made from a grape variety that has no connection with any of them: País. No need to be surprised if you're not familiar with País. Most people aren't. What might surprise you is that it has long been Chile's second most planted variety. Where has i

WINE OF THE WEEK: The Society's Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon 2018, Maipo, Chile

Sep 24, 2020

WINE OF THE WEEK: The Society's Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon 2018, Maipo, Chile

£7.50, The Wine Society In a tasting of 20-plus wines from The Wine Society that included, among others, an excellent Brézème rouge, Barolo, Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir (the two latter in the Exhibition range) and Shaw & Smith Adelaide Hills Shiraz, I wasn't expecting to be bowled over by the £7.50 Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon. But I was. Yes, bowled over. I'm not remotely suggesting it's on a par with those other four reds (variously priced between £16 and £26), but for sheer valu

WINE OF THE WEEK: Domaine des Sanzay Saumur-Champigny 2018, France

Sep 10, 2020

WINE OF THE WEEK: Domaine des Sanzay Saumur-Champigny 2018, France

£13.50/£12, Haynes Hanson & Clark Just because you can drink the Cabernet Franc red wines of the Loire lightly chilled, it doesn't mean they should be confined to summer (not that I'm giving up on summer yet, as I said last week). With a floral perfume, succulent raspberryish fruit and Cabernet Franc's hallmark graphite undertow, Domaine des Sanzay's Saumur-Champigny is supple and rounded enough to drink on its own but also goes well with foods as varied as lamb, salmon and g

The Phoenix Rises: Château de Pommard chez Carabello-Baum

Aug 18, 2020

The Phoenix Rises: Château de Pommard chez Carabello-Baum

Cork talk: is it an instruction? The strikingly branded corks used for all Château de Pommard and Carabello-Baum Burgundies However small, and the vineyards are tiny compared to the great châteaux and estates of Bordeaux, no parcel or domaine in Burgundy ever changes hands unnoticed. So, the sale of Château de Pommard and its 20-ha walled vineyard (clos) in 2014 was big news. Only four families had owned the domaine in nearly 300 years and Marey-Monge is the largest clos and

WINE OF THE WEEK: Château Fabre Gasparets Corbières-Boutenac 2017, France

Aug 13, 2020

WINE OF THE WEEK: Château Fabre Gasparets Corbières-Boutenac 2017, France

£13.74–£20.50, Drinks & Co, Cellar Selected, Mr & Mrs Fine Wine, Noble Green Wines, Kwoff, Hedonism A jewel not just of Corbières but of all Languedoc red wines, Boutenac was officially recognised as the premier cru of Corbières in 2005 and remains its only stand-alone appellation. The 220 hectares of vineyards fan out from the Aleppo pine and Mediterranean scrub-clad hills of the Pinada range at the heart of the huge Corbières appellation. Pretty? Is the Pope Catholic? Carig

Douloufakis Winery Dafnios Liatiko 2017, Dafnes, Crete

Jul 29, 2020

Douloufakis Winery Dafnios Liatiko 2017, Dafnes, Crete

£14.50–£16.25, The Daily Drinker, Maltby & Greek, Strictly Wine Let's start by unpacking the name. This is a dry red wine made from the Liatiko grape by Nikos Douloufakis, the leading light in the Dafnes region, a PDO in the middle of Crete, in the Heraklio prefecture. What's interesting about it? Tell me what isn't. It's quite a pale ruby red, medium-bodied and has distinctly fresh acidity and fine, sandy tannins. That's the basic shape that wraps around one beguiling flavou