She’s the best! Chatel-Buis Montagny 2013

Chatel-Buis Montagny 2013, 13% (£10.39, Waitrose or via Wine Searcher) I recommended this classic white Montagny to go a with a suitably classic, elegant dish on Saturday Kitchen by Frederick Foster - paupiette of sole with wild mushrooms and herb sauce. We found that a good Chablis also works...

Hardys Eileen Hardy Chardonnay 2010

Hardys Eileen Hardy Chardonnay 2010, Australia, 12.9% (£30, Drinks Direct or use Wine Searcher) Australian brand Hardys is a familiar name in wine. For one, it’s the biggest selling brand in the UK, shifting more than £315m-worth of wine last year. As sponsors of the England cricket...

Great value supermarket white Burgundy

Extra Special Bourgogne Chardonnay 2014, France (£9, Asda) On Saturday Kitchen this weekend, culinary maestro Daniel Galmiche was cooking some delicious chicken, leek and wild mushroom parcels with a chicory and radish salad. We tried out quite a few things with it but it was definitely an elegant, classic...

Mad good champagne

Krug Grande Cuvée Brut NV Champagne, France (from £95, independent merchants or use Wine Searcher) Entering via a gents outfitters called Flannels to an establishment with Primrose yellow toilet paper and a chef in silver boots, you’d be forgiven for thinking that things can’t get any more...

Maximum Chile

Something of a throwback article, this one - revisiting the top marks I gave to a glorious Chilean Chardonnay (Aristos Duquesa d'A 2008) in Decanter magazine's January 2012 edition. The reason for posting this now? Something of a hullabaloo about wine critic James Suckling giving a...

The new (old) Cristal

Louis Roederer Cristal Vinotèque 1995 (For release in 2017) Although there are times when a plate of food and a glass of wine go beautifully together, it’s rare that the wine actually smells identical to the food. Tasting Roederer’s yet-to-be-launched Cristal Vinotèque 1995 over dinner in Reims...

Kentish fizz for chorizo

Chapel Down Blanc de Blancs 2009, England, 12.5% (£30, Wine Pantry and Chapel Down) It was a sunny evening with friends and we had a few wines open to go with tapas. None of them could stand up to the beautifully spicy pan-fried whole mini chorizo. 'Funnily...

Revolutionary Nyetimber

Nyetimber Blanc de Blancs 2009, England (£35, Harrods, Harvey Nichols, Farr Vintners, Lay & Wheeler) Very refined, accomplished and elegant fizz from the producer that really kick-started the modern English sparkling wine scene. This point was made particularly vividly because, at the same tasting, we were treated...