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WINE OF THE WEEK: Luigi Bosca Malbec Selección de Vistalba 2018, Mendoza, Argentina

May 6

WINE OF THE WEEK: Luigi Bosca Malbec Selección de Vistalba 2018, Mendoza, Argentina

£12.99, down from £16.99 until 1 June, Waitrose I was going to recommend this Malbec a few weeks ago but then spotted the offer that started yesterday: £4 off from now until 1 June – too tempting to resist, especially as the weather hasn't exactly been demanding quintessential summer wines recently. The grapes are from the Bodega Luigi Bosca's estate vineyards at altitudes of 900–1100 metres in the Mendoza sub-regions of Luján de Cuyo and Valle de Uco, the latter giving fresh

WINE OF THE WEEK: Selvapiana Chianti Rufina 2018, Italy

Apr 15

WINE OF THE WEEK: Selvapiana Chianti Rufina 2018, Italy

£13.50–£17.49, The Wine Society, The Wine Reserve, Old Bridge Wine Shop, The Fine Wine Company, Valvona & Crolla, Theatre of Wine, Cambridge Wine, Noble Green Wines Sometimes. Often. Chianti just hits the spot. I drank this Chianti Rufina, courtesy of the importer Liberty Wines, while attending, virtually, the André Simon Food and Drink Book Awards 2020 (no, no relation). Maybe it was the wine, but it seemed to me that the quality of the shortlisted books this year was on an

WINE OF THE WEEK: Bolney Estate Pinot Noir 2019, Sussex, England

Apr 1

WINE OF THE WEEK: Bolney Estate Pinot Noir 2019, Sussex, England

£17.99, Waitrose I scheduled this lovely Pinot for the Easter weekend when I tasted it back in January and it now coincides neatly with the The Big English Wine Easter, a programme of online events – mostly on instagram – designed to support English wineries and raise money for The Drinks Trust and Hospitality Action (producers will contribute a percentage of sales from the weekend). The main event is on Saturday 3 April, from 7pm – 8pm, when wine lovers will open bottles of

Spring Drinking for Under a Tenner: a Dozen from The Wine Society

Mar 30

Spring Drinking for Under a Tenner: a Dozen from The Wine Society

This is a selection from a tasting of 48 samples in mini bottles, as you can see above, hosted virtually by the eight Wine Society buyers. I've focused on wines under £10 because I was struck by the value they offered across a range of new, unusual and classic wines, but there was a strong line-up at £11–£16, as well as some more expensive treats. WHITE and ROSÉ Familie Mantler Roter Veltliner 2019, Niederösterreich, Austria, £8.95 Peach and jasmine perfume, peaches and cream

WINE OF THE WEEK: Justerini & Brooks Pomerol, France

Mar 25

WINE OF THE WEEK: Justerini & Brooks Pomerol, France

£24.67, Justerini & Brooks If you're looking for something classic, crowd-pleasing and versatile for Easter, this is it: a red Bordeaux (aka claret) of beautiful proportions, soft-suede tannins, ripe fresh fruit, sandalwood, tobacco, Christmas cake and mocha flavours . It's also a wine of impeccable provenance: impeccable but not revealed, at least not by Justerini & Brooks who say that, such is the sensitivity, the buyers involved in the assemblage (blending) have had to si

Vigné-Lourac Braucol 2018, Côtes du Tarn, France

Mar 11

Vigné-Lourac Braucol 2018, Côtes du Tarn, France

£10.75, The Daily Drinker This beguiling Braucol wine arrived just at the right time to assuage some of my south-west France withdrawal symptoms. I’m normally based in the region six or seven times a year, but it’s now more than six months since I was last there. Thank you for your concern, but no need for the violins. I had this characterful, red instead – generous, supple and medium-bodied with a floral perfume (reminiscent of irises), blackberry, raspberry and damson fruit

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

Mar 2

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