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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: 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: 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

The Festive Champagne Guide 2020

Dec 16, 2020

The Festive Champagne Guide 2020

I hardly need say that the past year isn't going to go down in history as very celebratory and that 2021 is looking shaky, but I don't need a celebration to drink Champagne (do you?). If I did, there are the first covid-19 vaccinations (my mother was one of the first to get one). And there's Christmas. And New Year. Here then are my Champagne picks: not as many as usual, and fewer at the bottom end thanks to the absence of tastings and travel, but there are some crackers and

The Festive White & Rosé Wine Guide 2020

Dec 11, 2020

The Festive White & Rosé Wine Guide 2020

I've tasted far and wide to pick white wines and rosés from a dozen countries to fill your glasses with festive cheer during this small-scale, socially distanced Christmas. Whether it's a simple lunch or supper, a fancy feast or a moment of reflection, these wines will illuminate it. Starting at under £8, they're listed in ascending order of price, give or take differences in retailers’ prices and special offers. If you're in the mood to splash out, you'll know to scroll down

WINE OF THE WEEK: Château de Rochemorin Pessac-Léognan 2016, Bordeaux, France

Dec 10, 2020

WINE OF THE WEEK: Château de Rochemorin Pessac-Léognan 2016, Bordeaux, France

£13.99 on offer, Waitrose I said at the beginning of the year that we should all drink more Sauternes and followed with a resolution a couple of days later to drink more dry white Bordeaux as well. This Pessac-Léognan (the superior AOC enclave of Graves) is one of the dry whites I've loved – and it's currently on offer, so there's no excuse not to indulge. It also happens to go well with smoked salmon, if that's on any of your festive menus. It's a barrel-fermented Sauvignon

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: 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: Vasse Felix Classic Semillon Sauvignon Blanc 2020, Margaret River, Australia

Oct 1, 2020

WINE OF THE WEEK: Vasse Felix Classic Semillon Sauvignon Blanc 2020, Margaret River, Australia

£12, Tesco I can't quite believe this is my first Wine of the Week from the 2020 vintage. So much has happened this year, the southern hemisphere harvest seems aeons ago. Even Champagne started picking seven weeks ago... But enough musing, let's get on with the wine. A zingy, citrus-facing white might not immediately seem a match for the current weather, but Semillon (70% of the blend) has mouthfeel – a delicate, oily roundness and suppleness that gives substance to the vibra

Yalumba Organic Viognier 2019, South Australia

Aug 27, 2020

Yalumba Organic Viognier 2019, South Australia

£7.49 (on offer), Waitrose I had scheduled Yalumba Samuel's Collection Bush Vine Grenache 2018 this week, getting in ahead of International Grenache Day on September 18, but this luscious Viognier, which missed out a couple of months ago, is now on offer (down from £10), making it even better value – cracking value, in fact, and a great wine buy for the bank holiday. You can't go wrong with a Yalumba Viognier. It's been one of the Hill Smith family's specialities since the 19

WINE OF THE WEEK: d'Arenberg The Footbolt Shiraz 2017, McLaren Vale Australia

May 14, 2020

WINE OF THE WEEK: d'Arenberg The Footbolt Shiraz 2017, McLaren Vale Australia

£12–£14.99, Tesco, The Wine Society, Great Western Wine, ND John, Winepig Unashamedly full-throated Aussie Shiraz from a family-owned and run winery that never seems to put a foot wrong. D'Arenberg produces a whole range of wines – white, red, traditional, innovative – and offers great value too. Hats off to the inimitable fourth-generation boss and winemaker Chester Osborn. The Footbolt is made artisan-style in open-top vats with foot-treading, basket-pressing and a mix of o

WINE OF THE WEEK: El Viaje de Ramón Garnacha Rosé 2019, Rioja, Spain

May 7, 2020

WINE OF THE WEEK: El Viaje de Ramón Garnacha Rosé 2019, Rioja, Spain

£7 (on offer), Co-op A pale, dry, easygoing rosé that should be a dream for anyone who loves both Provence rosé and Rioja. It's light on its feet, fresh and supple with a spice and rose-oil fragrance and delicate red apple, cherry and redcurrant fruit. The producer is Ramón Bilbao, whose winemaker Rodolfo Bastida is an aficionado of Garnacha (aka Grenache), of pale dry rosados and of high-altitude vineyards: the grapes for this grow at 550–700m asl in the Alta Najerilla area

WINE OF THE WEEK: Brokenwood Thompson's Road Hunter Valley Semillon 2018, Australia

Apr 16, 2020

WINE OF THE WEEK: Brokenwood Thompson's Road Hunter Valley Semillon 2018, Australia

£8.99/£9.99, Waitrose Hunter Valley Semillon isn't like Sémillon from anywhere else (and I'm not talking about the absence of the accent). The classic Hunter style is dry and light-bodied but intensely flavoured with an electric current of citrus zest and a smooth, lanolin-like texture. With age it develops toasted, honeyed complexity, as if aged in oak – and all delivered at naturally low alcohol levels: in this case 11%. Thompson's Road 2018 is still young, so doesn't have

WINE OF THE WEEK: The Doctors' Sauvignon Blanc 2019, Marlborough New Zealand

Apr 2, 2020

WINE OF THE WEEK: The Doctors' Sauvignon Blanc 2019, Marlborough New Zealand

£8–£10, Tesco, Waitrose, Ocado, Booths The name of last week's wine of the week translated as "no fuss". This week it's The Doctors. It could be a metaphor for what's been happening in some parts of the world in recent weeks, but neither wine was chosen for its name. I've had this Sauvignon Blanc lined up for a while but was waiting for warmer weather (I've given up on that) and for the 2019 vintage to be well stocked (no need to spurn the 2018 if that's what you find). At a

WINE OF THE WEEK: Altano Organic Douro 2017, Portugal

Feb 20, 2020

WINE OF THE WEEK: Altano Organic Douro 2017, Portugal

£10.50–£11.80, Booths, Waitrose, Davy's Wine, Tanners Wine, The Wine Shop (Knaresborough) I'd like to think that my venture into mouthwatering dry Riesling for last week's wine lifted the putative winter gloom. It certainly did nothing to improve the weather, so this week I'm back with a full-on winter red, although that doesn't mean it's not suitable for summer. It's an excellent barbecue red, but it's a bit cruel to mention summer and barbecues in current conditions. Altano

WINE OF THE WEEK: Finca Constancia Entre Lunas Organic Tempranillo Moon Wine 2017, Castilla, Spain

Feb 6, 2020

WINE OF THE WEEK: Finca Constancia Entre Lunas Organic Tempranillo Moon Wine 2017, Castilla, Spain

£8.50 on offer, Sainsbury's The name of this wine is so long I couldn't fit in its designation, Vino de la Tierra, but that's what it is: a Tempranillo from an estate in the Vino de la Tierra (IGP in eurospeak) of Castilla, south of Madrid. As well as being certified organic, the vines are cultivated biodynamically – the various vineyard tasks timed according to the phases of the moon (hence Entre Lunas – 'between the moons'). It's a full-bodied, velvety red that has been age

WINE OF THE WEEK: Chateau Changyu Moser XV Cabernet Sauvignon Blanc de Noir 2018, Ningxia, China

Jan 16, 2020

WINE OF THE WEEK: Chateau Changyu Moser XV Cabernet Sauvignon Blanc de Noir 2018, Ningxia, China

£11.99 on offer, Ocado This is an obvious choice if you're celebrating Chinese New Year next week, but it's so much more than that: a true original, a Cabernet Sauvignon rosé of real concentration and character, initiated and produced under the close supervision of well-known Austrian winemaker Lenz Moser in the Ningxia region, 1300km to the west of Beijing on the fringes of the Gobi desert. It's bone dry, yet opulent in texture with succulent fruit (suggestions of strawberry

WINE OF THE WEEK: Les Nivières Saumur 2017, Saumur, France

Jan 2, 2020

WINE OF THE WEEK: Les Nivières Saumur 2017, Saumur, France

£7.49 on offer, Waitrose A red wine that's all about blackcurrant and currant-leaf fruit and freshness and soft-textured graphitey mineral flavours – textbook Loire Cabernet Franc, in fact, and an alternative to all the heavyweight reds that get trotted out in winter. It goes well with grilled/pan-fried lamb, especially flavoured with rosemary or thyme, with cold meats, tuna steaks and goats' cheeses and is best served on the cool side, but not chilled right down except in ho