#whiteblend

Oct 6

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

Nov 11, 2021

WINE OF THE WEEK: Calmel & Joseph Saint Chinian Blanc 2018, Languedoc, France

£11.99 on offer, waitrosecellar The rocky, arid Saint Chinian appellation in Languedoc is much better known for its red wines, but its whites – just 5% of production – are always worth trying. Witness this captivating example with its late-summer orchard fruit, dried flower and hay aromas and full, yet elegantly mineral, spice-edged palate – a wine bound by energy, texture, structure and freshness. The grape varieties are Grenache Blanc, Roussanne, Vermentino and Viognier (40

Aug 15, 2019

WINE OF THE WEEK: Domaine de la Cendrillon Nuance 2018, Vin de France

£12.80/£10.60, Tanners Wines This wonderfully original and delicious dry white is from a family-owned and run organic estate in Corbières that has been in the family since 1750 (I love that kind of continuity). Although it’s in the Corbières region, the wine bears the simple classification Vin de France because it’s made from an array of grape varieties, including several non-traditional: Petit Manseng from southwest France, one of my favourite white grapes, out in front at 3

Mar 21, 2019

WINE OF THE WEEK: Casa Da Passarella Somontes Branco 2017, Serra da Estrela, Dão, Portugal

£11.95, Davy's Portugal isn't as known for its dry white wines, other than Vinho Verde, as it deserves to be. Dão is certainly much more familiar for its reds, but this branco is exactly what I like about Portuguese whites: medium-full and quite succulent with a lip-smacking, almost bracing salty mineral character, juicy lime and herb flavours and a hint of spicy white pepper. The grape varieties are Encruzado, Malvasia and Verdelho and part of the key to the wine's quality a

Dec 20, 2018

WINE OF THE WEEK: Bodegas Pazo Tizón Extramundi Blanco 2017, Ribeiro, Spain

£14.99 (£12.99 in a 6-bottle mix), Majestic; £16, Booths This is already in my Festive White Wine Guide, but it's an absolute favourite and has reasonable distribution through Majestic, Booths, Berry Bros and a few others, which is useful when last-order dates for Christmas are sailing by. It also gives me the opportunity to say a bit more about it. Why a favourite? It's the combination of floral perfume, citrus, white peach and pear flavours with the textural richness from l

Dec 6, 2018

WINE OF THE WEEK: Domaine Le Clos des Cazaux Vacqueyras Blanc, Vieilles Vignes 2016, Vacqueyras, Fra

£43 magnum, The Wine Society I was going to put this in my Festive White Wine Guide, which will be out shortly, but have decided it deserves the full-on spotlight here because it's such an impressive and delicious example of rare white Vacqueyras (a blend in this case of Clairette, Roussanne and Grenache Blanc). It's generous and silky textured – sumptuous, even – but with crystalline definition and intensity and flavours that are smoky, floral and peachy. It would be perfect

Jun 28, 2018

WINE OF THE WEEK: Haut les Mains 2017, Pays d'Oc, Languedoc, France

£6.49, Waitrose and waitrosecellar.com An aromatic dry white from the south of France with the freshness and lusciousness of a perfectly ripe, juicy peach. The components, in descending order, are Viognier, Chardonnay, Vermentino, Mauzac, Muscat and Roussanne, which sounds like a kitchen-sink blend but the wine is far too seamless to be a chance creation or an assembly of leftovers (random and leftovers aren’t producer Benoit Valérie Calvet’s style anyway). It’s unoaked and m