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-
Onda Nova Syrah 2007, Algarve (£9.99 www.mollybrownswinelist.co.uk) A full-flavoured, fleshy youngster that speaks of a warm climate with its plummy dark chocolate flavours, but which never goes overripe and remains fresh. Nice meaty finish and potential to develop further. B+
Quinta da Lagoalva de Cima Tinto 2008, VR Tejo (£8.40 Clark Foyster) Smooth, easy drinking red – too smooth? There’s soft strawberry and plum fruit, but the flavours are slightly muddied by a confected vanilla edge. B-
Quinta da Lagoalva de Cima Tinto Reserva 2008, VR Tejo (£10.90 Clark Foyster) More of that vanilla, but here it’s in balance with the black cherry, blackcurrant and redcurrant flavours, and there’s an intriguing mineral twist to the finish. Good but not great. B(+)
A couple of wines from a well-known (in the UK at least) singer’s estate in the Algarve plus a rather unusual sweet wine from the Ribatejo – or Tejo, as we should now be calling it.
Onda Nova Verdelho 2008, Algarve (£9.99 www.mollybrownswinelist.co.uk ) Clean, fresh, tight peach, citrus peel and gritty pearskin character with a touch of brine, ripe but still refreshing, wears its 14% alcohol well. B(+)
Onda Nova Syrah Rosé 2008, Algarve (£9.99 www.mollybrownswinelist.co.uk ) Bouncy rosé, packed with strawberry (fresh and tinned) flavours, fleshy and ripe but still dry, with an honest lively finish. B
Quinta da Lagoalva de Cima Late Harvest 2008, Ribatejo (N/A in UK – Clark Foyster are Lagoalva’s importers) A touch of volatility (think nail varnish), then oodles of fruit – peach, pear, apricot, grapefruit, elderflower, orange marmalade – but there’s also a less ripe, almost smoky edge that seems slightly at odds with the lusher sweeter side of the wine. Overall though, pretty tasty. B+ (see notes on the 1995 here)
Samos Co-op Vin Doux 2007 (£4.99 per half Cooden Cellars, Theatre of Wine, Adnams) Light lemon/orange scented, grapey delight, with the classic edge of barley sugar, rich but gentle, with a sprightly finish, and just the right amount of spirity bite. B+
Samos Co-op Anthemis 2003 (£11.50 The Wine Society – Waitrose also has halves in presentation boxes @ £9.99) Some of the mahogany-edged raisinny character of tawny port, nutty and figgy, also some treacle toffee, but still with a lively citrus edge to the finish. S(-)
Hatzidakis Vinsanto 2000, Santorini (£16.75 Cooden Cellars) Smells fresher than the Anthemis, but the flavour is just a bit too sweet and rich, nice nutty raisin edge, but jusy a bit glloopy, would benefit from a touch of fortification in this style. B
Moraitis Sillogi White 2007, Paros (£9.95 Laytons) Similar citrus crispness, but richer, lacks the zip and minerally zest, just turning a touch bitter – should have been drunk up by now. C
Hatzidakis Nykteri Reserve 2007, Santorini (£13.99-19.80 Cooden Cellars, Theatre of Wine) Peach, melon, pineapple chunk, some smoky/resinny oak, very rich and mouthfilling, but lacks the balance of the basic version. Comes across as slightly bloated. B
Moraitis Sillogi Red 2005, Paros (£10.95 Laytons) Earthy cherry, cooked fruit, ripe but with quite a big structure, slightly bitter cherry, some red berries, but finish is just a little coarse. B-
Undurraga TH Pinot Noir 2008, Leyda (£10.99 Eagles Wines, Dorje’s Wine Club) A good combination of decadent strawberries (both fresh and tinned) with a fresh, quite grippy structure of acidity and tannin. It’s ripe but never OTT, and there’s an earthy, vegetal note to the finish. S-
Undurraga TH Pinot Noir 2008, West Casablanca (£11.24 M&S Wines Direct) (different – cheaper – price on the web site from that I was given when I did the video…)
Not as vibrant as the Leyda wine, but a touch more seductive, with gentle fleshy forest fruits, notes of coffee and truffles, and an alluring, ever-so-slightly meaty finish. S(-)
Cono Sur 20 Barrels Pinot Noir 2007, Casablanca (£21.99 Oddbins) Intriguing stuff, that starts of resembling a cross between Pinotage and Pomerol – the warm berries and hint of varnish of the former, the plush plummy polish of the latter, overlaid with classy oak. Then with time, the black cherry edge of proper Pinot comes through with aplomb. Still feels like its best is yet to come – the wine was still getting better when the last dregs were drunk on Day 3. S(+)
Casa Marin Lo Abarca Pinot Noir 2006, San Antonio (£21-25 Reserve, Byrne’s) Aaargh! Corked. Grrr…
Just tasted my way through a selection of Chilean Pinots for a piece I’m doing for Square Meal. Here’s the verdict on the first four…
Emiliana Reserva Pinot Noir 2008, Casablanca (£7.99 Amps, Noel Young) A wine that scores by not trying too hard to impress. Instead it concentrates on sporting joyful red fruit – red cherries, strawberries, raspberries – plus a touch of smoky oak, and then finishes with a fresh, sappy edge that cleans your mouth and leaves you wanting more. Not complex but vibrant and tasty. B(+)
Anakena Single Vineyard Pinot Noir 2009, Rapel Valley (£7.99 Noel Young) Paler than the Emiliana, but more interesting? Not really. It’s quite delicate, but there’s not enough charm to sustain this lighter style. OK cherries and red berries, but lacks the IT factor. C+
Anakena ONA Pinot Noir 2008, Casablanca (£9.99 Oddbins) Starts of in rich fruity fashion, but then turns simple, and while the red berry fruit is quite attractive, overall it’s a little too correct, with a slightly hard finish. B-
Tabalí Reserva Especial Pinot Noir 2008, Limarí (£9.99-10.99 Reserve, Byrnes, Amps, Noel Young) A step up here. The brawniest of these four, with deep dark fruit flavours, notes of coffee, kirsch and cherries (red and black) and a voluptuous finish with some smoky oak and silky tannins. Good now; better in a few months time. S-
The remaining trio from the clarets that had been hogging the wine rack…
Château Preuillac Médoc 2004 (£14 Soho Wine Supply) Nose is a combination of ripe, even overripe fruit with a smoky edge that tends towards the fishy (think smoked mackerel). There’s quite nice ripe blackcurrant, plum and berry, but then the dry finish speaks of too much new wood, and it doesn’t improve with time either. B-
Château de Lamarque Haut-Médoc 2004 (£17.99 Corney & Barrow) A less ambitious wine than the Preuillac, but all the better for it. It’s more relaxed and more mature, and the smokiness here seems to speak of terroir rather than over-zealous winemaking. Slightly ristic, but honest and tasty. S-
Château Brown Pessac-Léognan Rouge 2006 (£25 Soho Wine Supply) Classy fruit, classy oak, plummy, cedary intensity, plus a hint of woodsmoke, manages to be both tight and svelte, yet juicy at the same time woodsmoke, beautifully balanced with a silky, almost Burgundian finish, very moreish. S(+)
Had eight Bordeaux reds hanging around waiting to be tasted – here are the first five…
Château Maynes-Graves Bordeaux Supérieur 2007 (£7.99 Corney & Barrow) Earthy redcurrant, blackcurrant, cedar, young, refreshing, touch of vanilla, not complex but good Sunday lunch, roast meat type of wine. B-
Château Martouret Bordeaux Supérieur 2006 (£9.86 Colchester Wine Company) Bit more structure, but also a riper, sweeter, gentler presence, some cedar, but then let down by a quite dry, slightly bitter finish – maybe a bit over extracted? B
Château Haut Cabut Premières Côtes de Blaye 2006 (£10.95 Lea & Sandeman) Fragrant, smoky allure, more new oak here but it’s well handled, adding gloss and sheen to the cedar and dark fruit. Earthy tannins, but enough plummy berry fruit to stand up to them. B+
Château Rigaud Puisseguin-Saint-Emilion 2006 (£11.95 Lea & Sandeman) The warm horsey smell speaks of brettanomyces, OK plush plummy fruit, but then the raisiny edge and the astringency from the brett on the finish strips away the pleasure. Some will like this; I don’t. B-
Corney & Barrow Company Reserve Claret Bordeaux (Ets J-P Moueix) 2005 (£10.99 Corney & Barrow) Still some bounce to the gentle dark fruit, but overall impression os of something that would have been better a year or two ago. Quite dry, cedary finish, just hanging in there. B-
Domaine FL Savennières ‘Chamboureau’ 2007 (£24.99 Whole Foods Market London, Cooden Cellars, Liberty Wines) Appley intensity, earthy metallic minerality, not for everyone, but fine-boned, rich, pure, complex and fresh, tense and lively. Uncoils over several hours to show hidden richness, several years still ahead of it. S(+)
Château de Chamboureau Savennières Cuvée d’Avant 2005 (£14.50 Yapp Brothers) A more relaxed, developed wine, with the green apple turning brown, and also some touches of quince. Rich but dry, good but lacks the purity of the FL. S- (owner Pierre Soulez sold the Chamboureau vineyards to Domaine FL in 2006)
Domaine Laureau Savennières ‘Cuvée des Genets’ 1999 (£16.79 Oddbins – although the web site says it’s £23.99)
Showing honeyed, nutty maturity, and a hint of cooked apples, you think it’s going to be sweet, but it’s bone dry. Maybe not the most complex of Savennières, but nicely balanced and feeling richer than its 12.5% alcohol. S(-)
