First Drop Wines Bella Coppia Arneis 2009, Adelaide Hills, Australia (currently N/A in the UK) Clean, fresh and zesty, combining fleshy pear fruit with crisp citrussy acidity and a slightly briny/savoury finish. B+
Zalze Bush Vine Chenin Blanc 2009, Western Cape, South Africa (£6.49 Waitrose) Starts off slightly jelly-like, but then improves to show voluptuous, peach, pear, and tropical fruit flavours with a creamy, nutty edge and a juicy tender finish. B(-)
Tesco Finest* Ken Forrester Chenin Blanc 2008, Stellenbosch, South Africa (£7.11 Tesco) Not as ripe & tropical as the Zalze, with sappy flavours of apple, pear, nectarine, guava and plum, set against richer yeasty/mealy notes. Very tasty. S-
Clay Station Viognier 2009, Lodi, California (£8.95 The Wine Society) Has some of the classic peach kernel and cream flavours, along with a a slightly confected sherbet/dolly mixture character. Quite voluptuous but lacks freshness. B-
All these are from a tasting I was supposed to be doing for James Nicholson in Northern Ireland in early May 2010 – it was postponed due to volcanic ash travel problems but is due to be rescheduled very soon…
(and it’s also a video I did in my office bunker, having been banished by the rest of the family from the lounge – hence the slightly odd lighting…)
Domaine Rives-Blanques Chardonnay Chenin Vin de Pays d’Oc 2008 Fresh and slightly yeasty, almost Mâcon-like in style, with appley notes (fresh and cooked), a touch of pear and a creamy finish. B
Domaine Gayda L’Archet Maccabeo Vin de Pays d’Oc 2006 Remarkably fresh for its age, with some peach/apricot edges reminiscent of Viognier, plus more exotic lychee and guava flavours, a yeasty note to the finish. B+
François Collard Fontaine du Roy Vin de Pays du Gard 2007 Not sure what the blend is but it’s pungent Viognier peachiness that leads the way, along with touches of pears, quince and herbs. Rich but the finish has a floral, zesty mineral edge to keep it fresh. S
Domaine Le Roc des Anges ‘Segna de Cor’ Côtes du Roussillon-Villages 2008 Lovely mix of ripeness and freshness. There’s voluptuous plummy berry flesh, but then the peppery violet and blackcurrant tang of Carignan kicks in. The result is precise and poised, with a slightly salty/briney edge to add further interest. S
Château du Vieux Parc Corbières La Sélection 2007 Another that manages to be both brainy and brawny, this shows the orange peel, plum and bacon fat of Syrah spiced up by smoky but never OTT new oak. Rich but lively, and with a lovely warm spiciness to the finish. S(-)
Domaine Gayda Chemin de Moscou Vin de Pays d’Oc 2007 Immensely classy wine, again with Syrah to the fore. There’s the same orange peel and plum of the Roc des Anges, but this packs in more damson, dark berry and herby meatiness, and feels the most coiled and brooding of these 3 reds. Classic G-
CVNE Rioja Crianza 2006, Spain (£7.99 Majestic, Booths, www.everywine.co.uk, Wimbledon Wine Cellar) Bouncy pippy berry and bramble – raspberries, loganberries – with a spicy edge, a touch of vanilla rather than a huge dollop, fresh, sappy, tangy finish. Nice wine, tastes of modern Rioja, but also a good refreshing summer red. B+
François Lurton Barco Negro Douro Tinto 2007, Portugal (~£10) Heady, rich warm dark fruit, blackcurrants and blackberry, with earthy overtones, yet despite its brawn, remains fresh, and has a gentle floral/spicy edge. S-
(an experiment with a different video camera that didn’t work as well as I’d have liked – normal service wil be resumed etc)
Casillero del Diablo Pinot Grigio 2009, Limarí, Chile (£7.49 Majestic – £5.99 until end of Jan 2010) Young, fresh and appealing, tangy but not much beyond youthful citrussy crispness, CFDN, although it does have a bit of weight. C+
Simonnet Febvre St Bris Sauvignon 2007, Burgundy, France (£8.49-£8.99 Majestic, Waitrose) The creamy, nutty edge of Burgundy combines with the grassy citrus pungency of Sauvignon Blanc to give an unusual but attractive, fish-friendly white. B+
Tahbilk Marsanne 2007, Central Victoria, Australia (£8.75 Sainsbury’s, The Wine Society, Philglas & Swiggot) Tangy young wine combining pithy greengage, fig and citrus flavours with a richer honey and honeysuckle edge. Lovely clean fresh finish, lots of potential for future devlopment. S-
Circumstance Viognier 2008, Stellenbosch, South Africa (£9.99 Boutinot) Quite pronounced toasty oak, some peachy Viognier pungency behind, but also a rather odd smoky/charred edge, as if there’d been a bush fire nearby. A curate’s egg of a wine. ???
Bodegas Naia ‘Naiades’ 2006, Rueda, Spain (£19.99 Boutinot) Smoky, soft, nutty, white Bordeaux meets white Burgundy, guava, pinepapple, tinned pear, fresh but with a creamy undertone, very subtle, beautifully balanced, very classy wine. G-
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Something on the other two Naia wines I mention in the video. K-Naia 2008 (£8.99 Noel Young, Woodwinters, Reserve, Corks of Cotham) is wonderfully zingy, zippy wine, brimming with confident rhubarb and guava flavours reined in by and citrus acidity. Silver. Naia 2008 (£10.99 Woodwinters, Bacchanalia) is partially oak-aged and spends longer on the lees. For me, it doesn’t work as well – the wine is weightier, but while it has some of the same pungent flavours, it’s lost its vibrancy. Bronze(+)
Is the best-known white wine grape in the world improved with a dollop of Viognier? Not necessarily, although the results can be interesting…
Miguel Torres Cordillera Chardonnay 2008, Curico, Chile (£9.99 Grapevine, Nicholas Corke Fine Wines, Roberts & Speight) (15% Viognier in the blend) Gentle citrus, just-ripe peach and pear, it’s the crisp Chardonnay that is to the fore, with the Viognier just adding some plumpness. Good seafood wine with a slightly nutty finish. B
Houghton “The Bandit” Chardonnay/Viognier 2008, Western Australia (£8.99 – available in the UK from Feb 2010) Fuller, fatter and nuttier than the Torres, with the fleshy apricot edge of Viognier more prominent. But despite the rich peachy flavour, and the hints of butter and toasty oak, it’s still not TOO big, and your mouth is left entertained rather than overwhelmed. B+
Montes Alpha Chardonnay 2007, Casablanca, Chile (£10.99 Tesco, Waitrose) Quite big, fat and oily style, lots of tropical fruit cocktail flesh, big and buxom, tasty and does have a backbone of acidity but lacks subtlety. B
Leeuwin Estate Prelude Vineyards Chardonnay 2007, Margaret River, Western Australia (~£19 Domaine Direct, Beaconsfield Wine Cellars, Bentley’s Wine Merchants, Five Reasons Wine, Four Walls, Harrods, Highbury Vintners, John Gordons, Philglas & Swiggot, Richard Kihl, Theatre of Wine, Uncorked, Wimbledon Wine Cellar, Winedirect)
Classy wine, with an almost Mâcon style apple crumble and cream edge, and a gentle nutty edge to the tangy guava and citrus fruit. Holding it all togather is a thread of minerality and acidity, which keeps everything fresh, and should also prerserve it for another 3-4 years in the bottle should you witsh to keep it. S(-).
