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WINE OF THE WEEK: Château Climens Asphodèle 2019, Bordeaux Blanc Sec, France

2 days ago

WINE OF THE WEEK: Château Climens Asphodèle 2019, Bordeaux Blanc Sec, France

£26.50, Berry Bros & Rudd There is joy tinged with sadness in this week's wine. Let's start with the joy, which is that this is a beautiful wine. Elegant, precise, pure, textural and gently rippling with aromas and flavours of blossom, spicier flowers (marigolds), citrus and minerals, turning to red apple, lychee (just a whisper), orange zest and peach – and all emphasised by the silk-smooth texture and long, fresh, mineral spine. You may find other or completely different ar

WINE OF THE WEEK: Luigi Bosca Malbec Selección de Vistalba 2018, Mendoza, Argentina

May 6

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 started yesterday: £4 off from now until 1 June – too tempting to resist, especially as the weather hasn't exactly been demanding quintessential summer wines recently. The grapes are from the Bodega Luigi Bosca's estate vineyards at altitudes of 900–1100 metres in the Mendoza sub-regions of Luján de Cuyo and Valle de Uco, the latter giving fresh

WINE OF THE WEEK: Guigal Côtes du Rhône Blanc 2019, France

Apr 29

WINE OF THE WEEK: Guigal Côtes du Rhône Blanc 2019, France

£11.50–£12, The Wine Society, Tesco Full-bodied, succulent, Viognier-based dry white from one of the big names in a region much better known for its red wines – and one that doesn't usually major on Viognier in its whites. But it's the 60% Viognier (supported by Roussanne and Marsanne) that leads the way with fleshiness and soft texture, blossomy aromas and lush peach, cream and patisserie flavours. There's a sprinkling of white-pepper spiciness and a squeeze of grapefruit, t

WINE OF THE WEEK: Tesco Finest Western Australia Sauvignon Blanc Semillon 2019, Australia

Apr 22

WINE OF THE WEEK: Tesco Finest Western Australia Sauvignon Blanc Semillon 2019, Australia

£8, Tesco Sunshine would be welcome with this racy dry white, but I'm happy to settle for lesser weather as long as I have the wine in my glass. Western Australian Sauvignon Blanc Semillon blends have a style of their own – energising, positive and aromatic with the incisive green fruit of the Sauvignon filled out by subtle, blossomy softness from the Semillon (24% here) and enhanced, in this case, by a mouthwatering smoky, flinty character, green apple, herb and elderflower

WINE OF THE WEEK: Selvapiana Chianti Rufina 2018, Italy

Apr 15

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, Cambridge Wine, Noble Green Wines Sometimes. Often. Chianti just hits the spot. I drank this Chianti Rufina, courtesy of the importer Liberty Wines, while attending, virtually, the André Simon Food and Drink Book Awards 2020 (no, no relation). Maybe it was the wine, but it seemed to me that the quality of the shortlisted books this year was on an

Drilling into Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon with a Viognier guru

Apr 13

Drilling into Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon with a Viognier guru

Louisa Rose, head of winemaking at Yalumba, where she has worked since graduating as dux from Roseworthy in 1992 Mention the name Louisa Rose in any wine circle and the grape variety Viognier won’t be far behind. Yalumba, where she is chief winemaker and has worked since graduating from Roseworthy in 1993, was the first to plant Viognier commercially in Australia back in 1980, but it was Louisa who put Australian Viognier on the global wine map and established Yalumba as a wo

WINE OF THE WEEK: Rigal Original Vin Orange Gros Manseng 2019, Vin de France

Apr 8

WINE OF THE WEEK: Rigal Original Vin Orange Gros Manseng 2019, Vin de France

£10, Morrisons There'a a lot of noise about orange wines – wines made from white grapes fermented with their skins like red wines, rather than without skins – but they're still very much a minority sport, even though it's how wine was originally made whatever the colour of the grapes. It's good, then, to see Rigal in southwest France venturing into the arena and making a success with a characterful local grape variety and the UK's Morrisons supermarkets taking the wine on. In

WINE OF THE WEEK: Bolney Estate Pinot Noir 2019, Sussex, England

Apr 1

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 the The Big English Wine Easter, a programme of online events – mostly on instagram – designed to support English wineries and raise money for The Drinks Trust and Hospitality Action (producers will contribute a percentage of sales from the weekend). The main event is on Saturday 3 April, from 7pm – 8pm, when wine lovers will open bottles of

Spring Drinking for Under a Tenner: a Dozen from The Wine Society

Mar 30

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 buyers. I've focused on wines under £10 because I was struck by the value they offered across a range of new, unusual and classic wines, but there was a strong line-up at £11–£16, as well as some more expensive treats. WHITE and ROSÉ Familie Mantler Roter Veltliner 2019, Niederösterreich, Austria, £8.95 Peach and jasmine perfume, peaches and cream

WINE OF THE WEEK: Justerini & Brooks Pomerol, France

Mar 25

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 (aka claret) of beautiful proportions, soft-suede tannins, ripe fresh fruit, sandalwood, tobacco, Christmas cake and mocha flavours . It's also a wine of impeccable provenance: impeccable but not revealed, at least not by Justerini & Brooks who say that, such is the sensitivity, the buyers involved in the assemblage (blending) have had to si

WINE OF THE WEEK: Tibaldi Roero Arneis 2019, Piedmont, Italy

Mar 18

WINE OF THE WEEK: Tibaldi Roero Arneis 2019, Piedmont, Italy

£14.50, Tanners Wines An enchanting example of Piemonte's flagship white grape variety, Arneis, from Monica and Daniela Tibaldi, young sisters who took over the family vineyards in the heart of the Roero hills in 2014. It has the prettiest of scents – floral, fresh, citrusy, delicately herbal – leading into a medium-full, soft-textured palate of fragrant white peach with a twist of lemon peel, minerals and preserved lemon. It hits the spot as an aperitif and could be matched

Vigné-Lourac Braucol 2018, Côtes du Tarn, France

Mar 11

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 symptoms. I’m normally based in the region six or seven times a year, but it’s now more than six months since I was last there. Thank you for your concern, but no need for the violins. I had this characterful, red instead – generous, supple and medium-bodied with a floral perfume (reminiscent of irises), blackberry, raspberry and damson fruit

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

Mar 4

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

Riding His Luck in Brunello: Paolo Bianchini and the Rise of Ciacci Piccolomini d'Aragona

Mar 2

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 One of the things I shared with my first section editor on The Sunday Times many moons ago was a love of a good rags-to-riches story. The rise of the Bianchini family at Ciacci Piccolomini d’Aragona in Brunello di Montalcino would have been perfect. It isn’t quite rags to riches, but it’s a heart-warming story and all the more so because of t

WINE OF THE WEEK: Blind Spot Touriga Nacional 2020, Langhorne Creek/McLaren Vale, Australia

Feb 25

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 range (the others are a Montepulciano and a Carignan). I’ve written about the thinking behind the range before here but, in a nutshell, they’re wines made from small parcels of top-quality grapes, ferreted out before they disappear into big-company blends. The Society chooses from samples sent by its man down under, winemaker Mac Forbes, and he

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: 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: Solara Natural Organic Wine, Romania

Feb 4

WINE OF THE WEEK: Solara Natural Organic Wine, Romania

£8.50–£9.99, Lekker Wines, The Solent Cellar, Twisted Cellar, Noble Green Wines and others* The eye-catching label is a word-free zone, so I've given the name the producer Philip Cox of Cramele Recas uses, but the back label calls it Solara Glou Glou Natural Red. A glou glou in Romania is a fruity, young wine to drink chilled, like a French vin de soif, and this is exactly that: a bundle of bouncy, fruity, unoaked freshness that cries out to be lightly chilled. But there's a

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: 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