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The Festive Sweet, Sticky and Fortified Wine Guide 2021
As ever, my annual sweet and fortified wine guide is the place to rummage for many of the wine world's greatest bargains. More than that,...
Dec 21, 2021


The Festive White, Orange and Rosé Wine Guide 2021
Welcome to my annual roundup of white, orange and rosé wines for the festive season. Ranging freely through styles, regions and grape...
Dec 16, 2021


WINE OF THE WEEK: La Scelta di Sofia Sangiovese di Toscana Bianco 2020, Italy
£11.99/£9.99, Laithwaites, Averys This is as appealing as it is unusual: a white wine made from Sangiovese, Tuscany's principal red grape...
Dec 16, 2021


WINE OF THE WEEK: Finca Moncloa 2017, Vino de la Tierra de Cádiz, Andalusia, Spain
£16.99, Ocado This fascinating red wine is a Vino de la Tierra de Cádiz. In other words, it's from sherry country, where there was an old...
Dec 9, 2021


The Festive Red Wine Guide 2021
Welcome to my annual roundup of red wines. Ranging freely across styles, regions and grape varieties, it's designed to cover all...
Dec 3, 2021


WINE OF THE WEEK: Definition Viña Majestica Rioja Blanco 2020, Spain
£8.99, Majestic Getting the balance right between oak and fruit in barrel-fermented white Rioja has eluded many a bodega over the years,...
Dec 2, 2021


WINE OF THE WEEK: Riecine Chianti Classico 2019, Italy
£21/£18, Tanners Wines Riecine in Gaiole has always been one of my favourite Chianti estates and its wines have only improved since I...
Nov 25, 2021


WINE OF THE WEEK: Château Bouissel Fronton Le Beau Vin 2016, Fronton, France
£8.95, The Wine Society I'm always delighted to find a red Fronton to recommend. We don't see many wines in the UK from this small...
Nov 18, 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...
Nov 11, 2021


WINE OF THE WEEK: Musar Jeune Red 2019, Bekaa Valley, Lebanon
£11, Booths supermarkets; £12.50–£14.95, many independents* This is Chateau Musar's third red wine, a fruity, unoaked blend of Cinsault,...
Nov 4, 2021


WINE OF THE WEEK: Planeta l'Amistanza Fiano Grecanico 2020, DOC Sicilia, Italy
£10, Tesco A crowd-pleasing and pleasingly characterful unoaked dry white from deservedly fashionable Sicily, with peach, pear, herb and...
Oct 28, 2021


WINE OF THE WEEK: The Best Toscana 2019, Tuscany, Italy
£8.50/£10, Morrisons I had scheduled this Tuscan red for next week, but it's on offer at £8.50 until 2 November, so I've pulled it...
Oct 21, 2021


WINE OF THE WEEK: Menade Verdejo Ecológico 2020, Castilla y León, Spain
£12.50, The Daily Drinker When you taste a good dry white Verdejo like this, with its citrus-peel snap, streaks of herb and peach,...
Oct 7, 2021


WINE OF THE WEEK: Domaine Bousquet Finca Lalande Malbec 2020, Mendoza, Argentina
£7.49 on offer, Waitrose This is Malbec with the succulent, ripe fruit typical of the grape variety in Argentina (all black cherry, plum...
Sep 30, 2021


WINE OF THE WEEK: Tanners Chilean Chardonnay 2020, Colchagua Valley
£8.95, Tanners Gratifying as it is to recommend exciting little-known wines, it can be equally satisfying to find really good,...
Sep 23, 2021


WINE OF THE WEEK: La Madone Gamay sur Volcan 2020, Côtes du Forez, France
£12.95–£16, The Wine Society, Haynes Hanson & Clark This is the kind of wine that gets pigeon-holed as a summer wine, usually as an...
Sep 16, 2021


WINE OF THE WEEK: Freeman's Bay Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2020, New Zealand
£6.49, Aldi After this year's biting spring frosts in Marlborough, there aren't going to be many New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs at this...
Sep 9, 2021


WINE OF THE WEEK: Stellenrust Stellenbosch Manor Cinsault 2019, South Africa
£7.99 (on offer), Waitrose It hasn't come soon enough but Cinsault (or Cinsaut) has finally shed the label 'workhorse' that stalked it...
Sep 2, 2021


WINE OF THE WEEK: Rui Madeira Beyra Rosé 2020, Beira Interior, Portugal
£9.95, The Wine Society In the second of my two summer rosé roundups, I applauded the more interesting textures making rosés ever more...
Aug 26, 2021


WINE OF THE WEEK: Lyme Bay Chardonnay 2017, England
£17.99, Majestic I don't know where I would have thought this was from if I was tasting it blind, but you can be pretty certain I...
Aug 19, 2021
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