#white

Mar 20

2020, Another Extraordinary Vintage at Domaine de la Romanée-Conti

The magnificent La Tâche 2020 is conspicuous by its absence in this line-up of empty bottles, but it was definitely in the tasting (see notes and collage below) It was hot, it was dry, it was early. That's no guarantee of a high quality vintage in Vosne-Romanée or anywhere else in Burgundy, but when it's also disease-free and yields are no more than average, then it begins to look as if it might be special. It was and it is. There's no questioning the opulence of the 2020 Dom

Mar 16

WINE OF THE WEEK: Katie Jones Les Vignes Cachées 2021, Vin de France

£15.99, Naked Wines Another winner from the inspiring, indomitable saviour of unloved and old vines, Katie Jones of Domaine Jones in the south of France. No wonder she was voted Winemaker of the Year 2022 by well over 40,000 Naked Wines customers. She's better known for her sumptuous, dry red wines, but makes equally brilliant dry whites. This one, a blend of Grenache Blanc and Grenache Gris (64:36), combines a delicate fragrance of fresh and dried flowers with a substantial,

Feb 23

WINE OF THE WEEK: Cambria Katherine's Vineyard Chardonnay 2019, Santa Maria Valley, California, US

£22.99, Majestic Californian and US wines generally are infrequent visitors to this page, not because I don't appreciate them but because they're relatively expensive in the UK. This is towards the upper end price-wise for Wine of the Week but more than deserves its place – and it seems all the more appropriate as we approach women's history month and International's Women's Day. The female-led team at Cambria Winery, part of Jackson Family Wines, includes winemaker Jill Rus

Feb 2

WINE OF THE WEEK: Lions de Suduiraut Blanc Sec 2021, Bordeaux, France

£19.95, Cambridge Wine Merchants White Bordeaux has never really established an identity that’s captured hearts and minds like white Burgundy or red Bordeaux, but when it's good it’s a delight: a dry white with its own style and individuality. Lions de Suduiraut is just such a wine – and one that niftily sidesteps the identity issue with the simple description ‘Blanc Sec’. It’s one of a trio of new dry wines from Sauternes’ illustrious Château Suduiraut, although Lions Sec is

Jan 12

WINE OF THE WEEK: Yealands Reserve Sauvignon Blanc 2022, Marlborough, New Zealand

£11, Sainsbury's; M&S and Waitrose soon I always step out of the season of festive indulgence into the new year wanting this kind of dry white – a bright, bracingly crisp Marlborough Sauvignon from the latest vintage. We haven't seen many bright, bracingly crisp January days to go with it yet, but that needn't stop you enjoying the cascade of elderflower, lemon grass, gooseberry, passionfruit and fresh herb aromas and the purity and fruit richness of the palate. It's a wine t

Dec 22, 2022

WINE OF THE WEEK: Rustenberg Wild Ferment Unwooded Chardonnay 2022, Stellenbosch, South Africa

£12, Tesco If you’re faced with someone who thinks Christmas isn’t Christmas without Chablis, someone else who always chooses southern hemisphere wines over European classics and someone who never drinks Chardonnay because they still think it’s all big, fruity and oaky, try them on this svelte, unoaked Cape white made by the prestigious Rustenberg in Stellenbosch. As long as they’re open-minded, they’ll find themselves enjoying the Chablis-like precision and polish combined w

Nov 17, 2022

WINE OF THE WEEK: Olivier Coste Rare Carignan Blanc 2021, Vin de France

£13, Vino Gusto, Wine and the Vine, Strictly Wine, Great Wines Direct, Corking Wines and other independents* I’ve been waiting to feature this wine and even now I’m going ahead before all the, necessarily small, number of stockists has moved on to the 2021 vintage. Necessarily small because Carignan Blanc is so rare. Olivier Coste, 9th generation of his family at Domaine Montrose in Languedoc, believes there are only 250 hectares of Carignan Blanc left in the world, but I’m r

Oct 6, 2022

WINE OF THE WEEK: La Cendrillon Nuance 2020, Vin de France

£13.20, Tanners Wines Wines rarely feature in this slot twice, but the 2018 vintage of La Cendrillon Nuance was my Wine of the Week in August 2019. I’m making an exception because when I tasted this 2020 last month I was as bowled over by its originality and deliciousness as I was by the earlier vintage. It’s richly textural and has some weight, but it's streaked with zesty, chiselled acidity – the energy and richness playing against each other perfectly. Flavours range from

Sep 22, 2022

WINE OF THE WEEK: Royal Tokaji Nyulászó Dry Furmint 2018, Tokaj, Hungary

£18, The Wine Society If ever there was a wine that shouted terroir, it's this single-vineyard dry white Furmint from Nyulászó, one of Tokaji's First Growths in the enduring formal classification that dates from the late 18th century. Actually, shout is not the word: rather, it sings of its hillside volcanic bedrock and rich clay soils. How does that show itself in the wine? To me, in the arresting, tangy smoke aroma and mouthwatering tang on the palate that I think of as a v

Sep 1, 2022

WINE OF THE WEEK: Bellingham The Bernard Series Chenin Blanc 2021, South Africa

£11–£14.39, Tesco, The General Wine Co Chenin Blanc comes in all shapes and sizes: dry, medium, sweet, still, sparkling, oaked, unoaked, mass-market, limited-production (but rarely overpriced), early drinking, long-lived, young vines, old vines and more. There's something for everyone and yet as a grape variety it's never captured hearts in the way that whites like Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay have. It's not as if it's difficult to pronounce, but maybe the sheer diversity o

Aug 11, 2022

WINE OF THE WEEK: Michele Chiarlo Nivole Moscato d’Asti 2021, Italy

£16.17 (75cl), Great Wines Direct; £9.90–£11.50 (37.5cl), Vinvm, Oddbins, Noble Green Wines, The Whalley Wine Shop, Great Wines Direct Here’s a candidate for the title of perfect anytime wine for a heatwave. It's gently effervescent, feather-light, delicately sweet, as refreshing as summer rain and tastes of rose petals, fresh Muscat grapes and juicy apricots with a drizzle of stem ginger syrup. To cap it all, it’s only 5% alcohol and now comes in a full-size 75cl bottle, as

Jul 21, 2022

WINE OF THE WEEK: Taste the Difference Coteaux du Giennois Sauvignon Blanc 2020, France

£11, Sainsbury's If you fancy an alternative to Sancerre or Pouilly-Fumé that's close in both style and origin, this refreshing dry white from brothers Clément and Florian Berthier is spot on. Coteaux du Giennois not only makes its white wines from Sauvignon Blanc like Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé but practically rubs shoulders with both appellations on the banks of the Loire. Yet, while they’re two of France’s best known white wines, Coteaux du Giennois is little seen, despite

Jun 30, 2022

WINE OF THE WEEK: Gini Soave Classico 2020, Veneto, Italy

£15.88, Justerini & Brooks Good Soave, which usually means Classico, often doesn’t get the recognition it deserves as one of the most food-friendly of dry whites and, equally, as a wine that has cellaring potential. You can blame it on cheap, bland Soaves that have tarnished the name over decades, but it doesn't help when people like me recommend the same handful of favourite producers time after time. But not this week. I’m delighted to put a long overdue spotlight on the Gi

Jun 16, 2022

WINE OF THE WEEK: Smith & Sheth Cru Sauvignon Blanc 2021, Wairau, New Zealand

£17, Tesco This cracking New Zealand Sauvignon is the product of the very low-cropping 2021 vintage and one of the country’s top winemakers, Steve Smith MW, in partnership with Texan investor and wildlife conservationist Brian Sheth. It may look expensive, but you get your money’s worth in the breadth of flavour and interest in every sip: in vivid aromas of fresh-cut grass, herbs, gooseberry, lime, green apple, crushed rocks and hints of woodsmoke and spice; and in the juicy

May 26, 2022

WINE OF THE WEEK: A de Château d'Arche Bordeaux Blanc Sec 2020, France

£13.50, The Wine Society This is the debut dry wine from a Sauternes Grand Cru and it's delicious. Fresh herbs, grass, dried flowers, chamomile and nectarine on the nose meet a succulent, creamy palate with refreshing notes of green tea, grapefruit peel and acacia honey. It's a great advertisement for Bordeaux Sémillon, which accounts for 85% of the blend and often goes uncelebrated in favour of fashionable Sauvignon Blanc. And, while no one wants to see Sauternes disappear,

May 6, 2022

WINE OF THE WEEK: Filos Estate Aspri Petra Assyrtiko 2021, Florina, Greece

£6.99, Aldi I know, I know, this week's wine is being posted late but, believe me, it's worth the wait for this terrific value, summery Assyrtiko. It's from a single vineyard, Aspri Petra, at a soaring 625 metres in the IGP of Florina in the Amyndeon region of north west Greece, and it's everything the country's flagship white grape, Assyrtiko, should be when it's grown on the mainland. I stress mainland because it's not trying to be Santorini. Instead, it's zesty and refresh

Mar 17, 2022

WINE OF THE WEEK: The Society's Exhibition Santorini Assyrtiko 2020, Greece

£14.95, The Wine Society Just the sight of the words Santorini and Assyrtiko on the label will be enough for some people to reach straight for their credit cards – and the price of this bottle is even more of an incentive. There's no white wine quite like Assyrtiko from the Aegean island of Santorini. The Assyrtiko grape is now widely grown in Greece, but it produces its highest quality and most distinctive wines in Santorini's exceptional, hot, dry, sunny and windy condition

Mar 3, 2022

WINE OF THE WEEK: Adnams Grüner Veltliner 2019, Kamptal, Niederösterreich, Austria

£16.99, Adnams I wouldn't expect anything less than excellence from Weingut Bründlmayer, and 2019 is a great vintage for Austrian wine, but even knowing that I was bowled over by this dry white Grüner Veltliner produced for Adnams. Aromatic, intense, finely etched and perfectly balanced, it greets you with orchard fruit and elegant spritz, then takes you on a tour of vivacious lime, juicy peach, mouthwatering minerals and a dash of spice. I can't imagine any wine lover not fa

Feb 17, 2022

WINE OF THE WEEK: Nautilus Chardonnay 2019, Marlborough, New Zealand

£17.99 (in any 6-bottle mix), Majestic stores New Zealand Chardonnay is still overshadowed by the country's Sauvignon Blanc, as is every other grape variety and wine style, but the current shortage of Sauvignon after last year's devastating frosts is a perfect opportunity to give the Chardonnays some love. And they deserve it, believe me. The barrel-fermented Nautilus from Marlborough is typically expressive and stylish, capturing the freshness of a salty sea breeze and the s

Feb 8, 2022

You Have to Go Back to 1865 at Domaine de la Romanée Conti to Meet a Vintage Like 2019...

Perrine Fenal and Aubert de Villaine, co-directors of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, at Corney & Barrow's offices in London. The photo of Perrine was taken at the tasting on 3 February, and the photo of Aubert, her uncle, was taken at the previous tasting, pre-pandemic, on 29 January 2020. (I didn't catch him in time last week.) Domaine de la Romanée Conti releases its wines en primeur a year after the rest of Burgundy, so the estate's 2019 wines got their first UK showing last