Bisol ‘Cartizze’ Prosecco di Valdobbiadene Superiore 2008, Veneto, Italy (£22.99 Bibendum) Starts off lush and peachy, but then the minerally restraint kicks, adding a drier, more serious, clay-like edge and keeping you coming back for more. S- Cono Sur Brut NV, Bío-Bío, Chile (£9.99 Morrisons, Oddbins, Tesco.com) Toasty sweet’n’sour Riesling […]
Australia
Australia Day + 1, so a few hangers-on from the haggis adventure, plus a moody but not all that magnificent Italian… Jacobs Creek Grenache Shiraz 2008, South Eastern Australia (£5.99 Tesco, Asda, Ocado) Quite light, almost refreshing, sweet raspberry aroma and flavour, slightly jammy, but then the more earthy gravitas […]
More Aussie reds + a Brunello wannabe
For a few hours each year, Burns Night in Scotland and Australia Day in, er, Australia coincide. So why not celebrate both at once, with some Aussie wine and a nice haggis…?
Australian wine, Scots haggis – a match made in heaven?
Cantina Tramin Lagrein 2008, Alto Adige, Italy (£11.49 Hallgarten Druitt, www.wineman.co.uk, www.everywine.co.uk) Refreshing, genuinely light-to-medium-bodied red, almost Dolcetto-like, with crunchy, earthy black fruit (especially cherry) and fresh, sausage-friendly finish. B+ The Society’s Exhibition Chianti Classico 2007, Tuscany, Italy (£11.95 The Wine Society) Modern and fresh, but has this lovely velvety […]
Assorted reds – Lagrein, Chianti, Corbières & WA Shiraz
Leaping Lizard Cabernet Merlot 2007, Western Australia (£7.99-£8.50 Seckford Agencies) Vibrant, crunchy blackcurrant nose, then slightly pippy blackberry flavours, with a tar-like streak, easy fleshy wine, quite powerful and ripe but finishes dry. B Ferngrove ‘Symbols’ Cabernet Merlot 2008, Frankland River, Australia (£8.99-£9.50 Seckford Agencies) Fresher and tangier than the […]
Aussie Cabernet, with a Chilean interloper
Ferngrove “Symbols” Sauvignon Blanc/Semillon 2009, Frankland River, Western Australia (£8.99-£9.50 Seckford Agencies) Crisp, grassy, herby, with the Semillon adds punchy pungent weight to the citrussy treble notes of Sauvignon. Nice seafood style. B+ Leaping Lizard Semillon/Sauvignon Blanc 2009, Western Australia (£7.99-£8.50 Seckford Agencies) Not as immediate and forward as the […]