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WINE OF THE WEEK: Villa Maria Single Vineyard Taylors Pass Chardonnay 2018, Marlborough, New Zealand

6 hours ago

WINE OF THE WEEK: Villa Maria Single Vineyard Taylors Pass Chardonnay 2018, Marlborough, New Zealand

£15.99–£18.99, New Zealand House of Wine, winedirect, The Vinorium I've never fallen out of love with Chardonnay. There were always good Chablis and other white burgundies to keep me going when California and Australian Chardonnays became too ripe/fat/buttery/oaky and when Australia then went the other way with some overly lean, ascetic wines. But now I'm spoilt for choice and loving where Australia has got to with its cool-climate Chardonnays. And New Zealand, too. The singl

WINE OF THE WEEK: Domaine Jones Grenache Gris 2018/2019, Côtes Catalanes, France

Feb 11

WINE OF THE WEEK: Domaine Jones Grenache Gris 2018/2019, Côtes Catalanes, France

£16.45 for 2018, Amps Wine Merchants; £18.99 for 2019, Yorkshire Vintners This wonderful dry white wine, with its compelling counterpoint of zing and richness, almost didn't come into being. When Katie Jones was about to sign on the dotted line for her first tiny vineyard in 2008, the one from which this wine comes, she suddenly noticed that the document said that half the 2.5 hectare vineyard was Grenache Gris, rather than all Grenache Noir. She didn't want white grapes. The

WINE OF THE WEEK: Nero Oro Grillo Appassimento Sicilia 2019, Italy

Jan 28

WINE OF THE WEEK: Nero Oro Grillo Appassimento Sicilia 2019, Italy

£8.99/£9.99, Majestic Winemakers in southern Italy have been using the appassimento tecnique to make their red wines smoother and more concentrated, but a white given the treatment is a rarity. Perhaps it won’t be once more producers taste this Sicilian Grillo – a mouthwatering riot of passion fruit, candied grapefruit peel, pineapple, dried pear and spiced apricot, with succulent texture and pivotal acidity. The man behind the wine is the ever-creative Stefano Girelli, who h

WINE OF THE WEEK: Domaine de la Combe Vendange Nocturne Melon Blanc, Vin de France

Jan 14

WINE OF THE WEEK: Domaine de la Combe Vendange Nocturne Melon Blanc, Vin de France

£9–£11, The Daily Drinker, ND John, Noble Green Wines, Kwoff If you’re not doing dry January but want to make a gesture, this perky, dry white from the Loire is a modest 11% alcohol and doesn't lack anything in the flavour department. It’s light bodied with an inviting floral nose and a palate of green pear, talcum powder, citrus acidity and sea spray. Although the label states Vin de France and there's no vintage, Vendange Nocturne is to all intents and purposes a Muscadet.

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

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

WINE OF THE WEEK: Daniel-Etienne Chablis Vieilles Vignes 2015, France

Dec 3, 2020

WINE OF THE WEEK: Daniel-Etienne Chablis Vieilles Vignes 2015, France

£22.50, Tanners Wines This is the Chablis you need for Christmas. It's the one I need anyway. It's not a lean, razor-sharp, steely style but one that celebrates Chablis' potential for richness and savoury complexity, given old vines in top locations and long ageing on the lees without oak. When you factor in a warm year like 2015, there's the potential for even more ripeness and density, although that doesn't mean higher alcohol in the case of Daniel Defaix's Vieilles Vignes.

WINE OF THE WEEK: Terra Costantino De Aetna Etna Bianco 2018, Sicily, Italy

Nov 19, 2020

WINE OF THE WEEK: Terra Costantino De Aetna Etna Bianco 2018, Sicily, Italy

£16.76, Jeroboams Etna wines have become hugely trendy in the last few years, and rightly so. From soaring vineyards on the volcanic soils of an active volcano, they've got everything – quality, character and singularity. The Costantino family's 10 hectares lie at about 450–550 metres in Contrada Blandano on the south-eastern slopes, from where, they say, they can see the sea and taste the windblown tang of salt. Some of Etna's vineyards are twice as high again. Red wine heav

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: Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc 2020, Marlborough, New Zealand

Oct 29, 2020

WINE OF THE WEEK: Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc 2020, Marlborough, New Zealand

£21.50–£26.95, The Champagne Company, ND John, Majestic*, Clos19, Laithwaites, Jeroboams This is the first Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc I've tasted in a few years. I always used to like New Zealand's iconic wine and I've seen how well it can age, but I wasn't expecting to make it a Wine of the Week. After all, it's expensive, it doesn't need a helping hand and you can find other very good New Zealand Sauvignons more cheaply. But I was really impressed; I loved it. It's got conc

WINE OF THE WEEK: Springfontein Terroir Selection Chenin Blanc 2018, Springfontein Rim, South Africa

Oct 15, 2020

WINE OF THE WEEK: Springfontein Terroir Selection Chenin Blanc 2018, Springfontein Rim, South Africa

£16.96, Private Cellar There were a couple of other South African wines, red and white, in the running for this week's slot, but this organic Chenin is from a producer – an estate – I barely know, although once I read the label I knew a lot more about the estate, the growing conditions and the winemaking. Amazing how much you can pack on to a label if you want to. And then I went to the website and discovered a whole lot more, not least that Springfontein Rim, an appellation

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

WINE OF THE WEEK: Andrian Alto Adige Müller-Thurgau 2019, Italy

Sep 17, 2020

WINE OF THE WEEK: Andrian Alto Adige Müller-Thurgau 2019, Italy

£14.50, The Daily Drinker This is the first time I've mentioned Müller Thurgau on my website; never mind recommended it. Extraordinary. And yet not so extraordinary. As a grape variety, its reputation rests on early ripening pretty well anywhere and all too plentifully. As a white wine, its past reputation in Germany, England and New Zealand is best forgotten. But in Italy's Alto Adige (aka Sud Tirol or South Tyrol) it's something else. The delightful Müller Thurgau from Kell

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: Aldi Assyrtiko 2019, Peloponnese, Greece

Aug 20, 2020

WINE OF THE WEEK: Aldi Assyrtiko 2019, Peloponnese, Greece

£9.99, Aldi online To say that Assyrtiko is a stay-at-home grape variety is massively to understate it. If you want to drink wine made from Greece’s flagship white variety, you’re almost without exception limited to Greek wine (not that that’s a hardship). The Barry family has produced one in Australia since 2016 (more about it here) , there’s a smattering grown in California and Cyprus and some recently planted in South Africa, but otherwise it’s the Greek islands and mainl

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: Vergelegen Chardonnay Reserve 2017, Stellenbosch, South Africa

Aug 6, 2020

WINE OF THE WEEK: Vergelegen Chardonnay Reserve 2017, Stellenbosch, South Africa

£15.49–£18, Roberts & Speight, drinkfinder.co.uk, TheDrinkShop.com, winedirect.co.uk, Noble Green Wines The South African wine industry needs and deserves our support, but I don't need an excuse to recommend Vergelegen estate's Chardonnay. It's got everything going for it, with appeal for both Chardonnay camps: followers of contemporary, lean and elegant styles and fans of fuller, riper wines who want to taste a bit of oak. Fermented in French barrels (35% new) and aged on it

Circus Trick: How a Wine from Saint Mont Overcame the Authorities

Jul 22, 2020

Circus Trick: How a Wine from Saint Mont Overcame the Authorities

The first four vintages of Plaimont's single vintage Cirque Nord Saint Mont – 2014, 2016, 2017 and the yet to be bottled 2019 I was planning to write more on what’s been happening at the Plaimont co-operative group in southwest France, having caught up with some of the latest developments and new wines over a virtual tasting with MD and former technical director Olivier Bourdet-Pees. But instead I made Les Vignes Retrouvées my Wine of the Week and am highlighting another whit