This panel tasting for Decanter magazine focused on Carmenere - a repeat of the exercise from 2017 yet with hardly more conclusive results. Carmenere is a Chilean USP and makes some fine wines there but you can't help but feel the best is yet to come....
In which Peter pens a profile of François Massoc, a most unusual Chilean winemaker of French extraction and with a passion for making ambitious, sometimes extravagant, always engaging wines. The piece features profiles of five winemakers by different writers: Fernando Mora MW (Bodegas Frontonio, Aragón) by...
When The Sunday Times Travel asked us to do a piece on our favourite wine destinations, our first thought was: hope they're going to give us lots of space. As it happened, they cruelly made us choose only six - three each. Peter plumped for Chile (Casablanca...
Nero Oro Appassimento 2017, 14%, Sicily, Italy (£8.99, Majestic) For those who like their reds a bit smoother and richer, this is for you. It makes a really versatile drinking partner for many dishes – partly because the appassimento (drying the grapes) gives a bit of richness and...
Naoussa Single Vineyard Xinomavro 2016, Apostolos Thymiopolous 13.5%, Greece (£15.50, The Wine Society) The Greek grape variety Xinomavro literally translates as ‘sour black’. So this gives you some idea of the kind of punch it can pack. (Susie describes it as, ‘like Nebbiolo on speed’.) This rendition is pretty...
Oreinos Helios Agiorgitiko Seméli Dry Rosé 2017, 13%, Greece (£8.50, The Wine Society) Wow! The colour on this wine is something else – vivid rich cherry red, really deep for a rosé, which gives you a hint of what’s to come… This is a pink wine that packs a...
Mas Martinet Bru 2016, 14.5%, Priorato, Spain ($39, €18-22, £18.68 Justerini & Brooks) Catalonia is one of our favourite wine regions on the planet. It’s such a beautiful part of the world. Amazing food and wine. Wonderful people. A Mediterranean coastline that veers from the tourisy to the...
Nivola Lambrusco Grasparossa di Castelvetro NV, 10.5%, Italy (£11.99 on mix 6 until 22nd April, then £9.99 until 29th April 2019, Majestic) Lambrusco is having a moment. This brilliant wine shows why. It’s hard to know what to do with sparkling red. But the Italians are resourceful, and...
Why Domaine Etienne Sauzet Bourgogne La Tufera 2017 is a standout from the early tastings of this great but not stellar vintage...
Cape Mentelle Wallcliffe Sauvignon Blanc Semillon 2015, Margaret River, Australia, 13.5% (AU$40, WineSquare) If you follow us on Instagram you’ll already be aware that I was lucky enough to spend a glorious ten days touring some of Australia’s finest vineyards in December. It was a trip that...