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...
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Dec 2, 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,...
Nov 25, 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 18, 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 11, 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 4, 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,...
Oct 28, 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 21, 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 14, 2021
WINE OF THE WEEK: Roc Cuvée 2020, Bordeaux, France
£13.99/£12./59, Laithwaites A red Bordeaux in a Burgundy bottle without a capsule and label graphics showing a love-you hand squeezing a...
Oct 7, 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,...
Sep 30, 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 23, 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 16, 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 9, 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 2, 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...
Aug 26, 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 25, 2021
Why the 2008 Rosé Marks A Mini Revolution at Champagne Charles Heidsieck
It's not the ten years on lees – the 2005 rosé had 11 years – or the 2mm smaller diameter bottle neck "to tighten the ageing" that chef...
Aug 19, 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 18, 2021
Ten Pinots for International Pinot Noir Day
I hadn't planned to do a Pinot Noir post to coincide with International Pinot Noir Day today, but it's a good opportunity to spread the...
Aug 12, 2021
WINE OF THE WEEK: Cedro do Noval Tinto 2018, Vinho Regional Duriense, Portugal
£19.99, Cellar Door Wines, Cambridge Wine Merchants, Street Wines; £69 for 6 en primeur, Tanners Wines An inviting, approachable but...
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