Blog | Joanna Simon

Jun 15, 2023

WINE OF THE WEEK: La Vis Nosiola 2022, Vigneti delle Dolomiti, Italy

£12.99, House of Townend You need to let this lithe, young, north Italian white open up in your glass to enjoy it at its best, so pour it...

Jun 8, 2023

WINE OF THE WEEK: Jean-Luc Baldès Malbec du Clos 2020, Cahors, France

£8.49/£10.99, Waitrose I’m delighted to see this on the shelves. We don’t see enough Cahors in the UK. It has a reputation for being a...

Jun 1, 2023

WINE OF THE WEEK: 14/27 Agiorgitiko 2019, Nemea, Greece

£15.99/£13.99, Laithwaites Sound the first 'g' as a 'y' and the second as a hard 'g' and you're well on your way to a passable...

May 25, 2023

WINE OF THE WEEK: Bischel Gau-Algesheim Terra Fusca Riesling Trocken 2020, Rheinhessen, Germany

£26.45, The Wine Barn This page sees too few Rieslings and too few German wines. One wine that falls into both underrepresented camps...

May 18, 2023

WINE OF THE WEEK: Chevallier-Bernard Jongieux Mondeuse 2019, Savoie, France

£15.70, Tanners Wines It’s been a long time coming but here at last is a Mondeuse as wine of the week. Dark in colour, aromatic,...

May 10, 2023

WINE OF THE WEEK: Morandé Terrarum Patrimonial Semillon 2022, Maule Valley, Chile

£9.99, Waitrose For the second week running the spotlight is on a wine made from 100-plus year old vines, but this time the wine is...

May 4, 2023

WINE OF THE WEEK: Immortelle 2019, Côtes du Roussillon Villages, France

£19.95–£22.50, Red & White, The Somerset Wine Company I recommended the little sibling of this red last year, Petite Immortelle. Now it's...

Apr 27, 2023

WINE OF THE WEEK: Domaine Saint Gayan Sablet L'Oratory 2021, Sablet Côtes du Rhône Villages, France

£15.25, Yapp Brothers If you thought Sablet was a red wine, you would be right. Most of the time. Nine in ten bottles is red, but 10% of...

Apr 20, 2023

WINE OF THE WEEK: Mandrarossa Cartagho 2018/19, Sicilia, Italy

£18.20–£24.50, Tannico, Vinvm, XtraWine, Shelved Wine, Hic! Wine Merchants, Eton Vintners I don't often do split vintages, but these...

Apr 13, 2023

WINE OF THE WEEK: Heggies Vineyard Cloudline Chardonnay 2022, Eden Valley, Australia

£13, Co-op With a name like Cloudline, there are no prizes for guessing that this wine comes from high up. At 500m in the Eden Valley,...

Apr 6, 2023

WINE OF THE WEEK: Beronia Rioja Crianza Tempranillo 2019, Rioja, Spain

£10.99–£12, Majestic, Sainsbury's, Waitrose, Amazon, Ocado It’s more than six years since I last recommended a Beronia Rioja here, so...

Mar 30, 2023

WINE OF THE WEEK: Carvalho Martins Golpe Douro Branco 2021, Douro, Portugal

£13.50, Tanners This recent discovery by Tanners is a gem: a textured, dry white wine with crystalline acidity, a riveting smoky, mineral...

Mar 23, 2023

WINE OF THE WEEK: Les Argelières Pinot Noir Grande Cuvée 2021, Pays d'Oc, France

£9.49, House of Townend I thought that naming this Grande Cuvée might be a bit over the top, but it turns out to be an impressive French...

Mar 22, 2023

Doing Things the Daou Way in Paso Robles

Soul of a Lion, the flagship wine, named in memory of the Daou brothers' father It was hard to get a word in edgeways but, when I did, I...

Mar 20, 2023

2020, Another Extraordinary Vintage at Domaine de la Romanée-Conti

The magnificent La Tâche 2020 is conspicuous by its absence in this line-up of empty bottles, but it was definitely in the tasting (see...

Mar 16, 2023

WINE OF THE WEEK: Katie Jones Les Vignes Cachées 2021, Vin de France

£15.99, Naked Wines Another winner from the inspiring, indomitable saviour of unloved and old vines, Katie Jones of Domaine Jones in the...

Mar 9, 2023

WINE OF THE WEEK: L'Arène des Anges Costières de Nîmes 2021, Rhône, France

£8.49, Waitrose This is just the kind of comfortingly generous, young Southern French red to put a spring in your step, especially when...

Mar 2, 2023

WINE OF THE WEEK: Dugladze Ranina Mukuzani Saperavi 2016, Mukuzani, Kakheti, Georgia

£14.50, Amathus Drinks Georgia's iconic, dark-skinned Saperavi grape has a reputation for giving strapping, inky red wine with muscular...

Feb 23, 2023

WINE OF THE WEEK: Cambria Katherine's Vineyard Chardonnay 2019, Santa Maria Valley, California, US

£22.99, Majestic Californian and US wines generally are infrequent visitors to this page, not because I don't appreciate them but because...

Feb 16, 2023

WINE OF THE WEEK: Arbousset Tavel 2021, Rhône, France

£12, Tesco Tavel in the southern Rhône is France's only appellation (AOC) to produce rosé exclusively and it's never afraid to be bold in...