Dog Point Chardonnay 2017, 13.5%, Marlborough, New Zealand (£26, Berry Bros & Rudd) Hello. We're Susie and Peter. And we have a problem...
Bollinger La Grande Année 2012, 12%, Champagne, France (£440 for 6 in bond, J&B) Watch out champagne lovers: 2012 is not a vintage to miss. And Bollinger’s La Grand Année (LGA) 2012 is a wine to buy, even if you have to beg, borrow or steal. It’s that...
Clusel Roch Traboules 2017, Coteaux Lyonnais, France (£12.67, Justerini & Brooks) Clusel Roch is an excellent producer best known for its excellent northern Rhône reds, including some delicious Côte Rôties. This Traboules is an intriguing and utterly delicious oddity. It's from the south of the little-known Lyonnais appellation, not...
Sidewood Isabella rosé 2014, Adelaide Hills, Australia (£21 or AUS$32, www.sidewood.com.au) Owen Inglis’s Sidewood Estate in Australia’s Adelaide Hills is a new discovery for us. Although the estate produces both still wines and ciders, it was the current releases of Sidewood’s sparkling wines that we were recently sent...
Passo Mastro Frappato Syrah Terre Siciliane 2018, 14%, Italy (£6.99, Lidl, *from 21st November 2019) This cheery, upbeat Italian red is a blend of Frappato with Syrah from Sicily. It was one of the better value wines on show among the 30-odd Lidl wines at this tasting – though...
Saint Veran Domaine Trouillet 2018, France, 13.5% (£17.99 or £15.99 when you ‘mix six’, Majestic) Majestic Wine has been through a pretty rocky patch of late and it’s left most of us wondering what exactly is happening with one of the country’s favourite wine retailers. The company first...
Rabl Grüner Veltliner 2018, Kamptal, Austria, 12% (£9.50, Marks & Spencer) There was a time when the Grüner Veltliner grape variety was touted as the next big thing that was going to take over the wine world. It hasn’t really happened. Notwithstanding, it’s still a great grape to get...
Maury Solera 1928 Cask 849, Les Vignerons de Maury, 17%, France (£19.95 for 50cl, Berry Bros & Rudd) The day after Kantar published research indicating a third of Brits wouldn’t countenance paying more than a fiver for a bottle of wine, I popped into Berry Bros &...
Ventoux 2017 Rémy Ferbras, France, 14% (£8.79, Waitrose) How’s about this, then? A mini Châteauneuf-du-Pape under a tenner. A fine way to warm the cockles and delight the taste buds during the winter season ahead. It’s a blend of mainly Grenache with 20% Syrah and 10% Mourvèdre, grown on...
Brancott Estate Living Land Series Organic Sauvignon Blanc 2018, 12.5%, New Zealand (£9, Tesco) This is a wine that wears its virtuous side very firmly on its sleeve. If the ‘Living Land Series’ branding doesn’t get the message across then the ‘Organic and Vegan Wine’ banner on the...