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Sep 16, 2021
WINE OF THE WEEK: La Madone Gamay sur Volcan 2020, Côtes du Forez, France
£12.95–£16, The Wine Society, Haynes Hanson & Clark This is the kind of wine that gets pigeon-holed as a summer wine, usually as an...


Sep 2, 2021
WINE OF THE WEEK: Stellenrust Stellenbosch Manor Cinsault 2019, South Africa
£7.99 (on offer), Waitrose It hasn't come soon enough but Cinsault (or Cinsaut) has finally shed the label 'workhorse' that stalked it...


Aug 18, 2021
Ten Pinots for International Pinot Noir Day
I hadn't planned to do a Pinot Noir post to coincide with International Pinot Noir Day today, but it's a good opportunity to spread the...


Aug 12, 2021
WINE OF THE WEEK: Cedro do Noval Tinto 2018, Vinho Regional Duriense, Portugal
£19.99, Cellar Door Wines, Cambridge Wine Merchants, Street Wines; £69 for 6 en primeur, Tanners Wines An inviting, approachable but...


Jul 22, 2021
WINE OF THE WEEK: Familia Torres Purgatori 2017, Costers del Segre, Spain
£17.99–£19.95, Fine Wines Direct, Vinvm, Amazon I hardly need say that I wouldn't have chosen this if drinking it was like purgatory, but...


Jul 15, 2021
WINE OF THE WEEK: TerraNoble Gran Reserva Carignan 2018, Maule, Chile
£14.50, Vintage Cellars It's so good to see growers nurturing and valuing old Carignan vines, not just in Chile but in Lebanon and...


Jul 1, 2021
WINE OF THE WEEK: The Society's Exhibition Langhe Nebbiolo 2018, Piedmont, Italy
£13.95, The Wine Society If you're about to move on because you think that Nebbiolo isn't a summer wine, please give me a moment. It's...


Jun 23, 2021
Picks for English Wine Week 2021
Chardonnay vines in The King's Vineyard, Rochester, Kent, recently planted on the site of the vineyard of the medieval priory. Simpsons...


Jun 17, 2021
WINE OF THE WEEK: Summer Road Old Vine Grenache 2020, Riverland, Australia
£8.49, Waitrose Clear a space in your fridge for another chillable red this week – unoaked old-vine Grenache at its most engaging and...


Jun 10, 2021
WINE OF THE WEEK: Château du Hureau 'Tuffe' Saumur-Champigny 2018, France
£15.20, Tanners Wines In summer, drunk distinctly cool, red Saumur or Saumur-Champigny is vital. In winter it's an essential punctuation...


May 20, 2021
WINE OF THE WEEK: Domaine J Boulon Beaujolais Vieilles Vignes 2019, France
£12, Haynes Hanson & Clark Vieilles Vignes are the key to the Boulon family's cracking Beaujolais, or certainly one of them. There's no...


May 6, 2021
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...


Apr 15, 2021
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, ...


Apr 1, 2021
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...


Mar 30, 2021
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...


Mar 25, 2021
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...


Mar 11, 2021
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...


Mar 2, 2021
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...


Feb 25, 2021
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...


Feb 18, 2021
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...
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