Nederburg Winemaster’s Reserve Chardonnay 2012, Western Cape, South Africa (£9.99 Tesco) Reasonably fresh with a touch of oak, but the lime jelly cube flavour is a bit simple and confected, and I taste processes rather than a place. C+ Viñalba Reservado Chardonnay 2012, Mendoza, Argentina (£11.99 Majestic) 14.5% alcohol, but […]
Hawkes Bay
Rod Easthope Sauvignon Blanc 2012, Hawke’s Bay (£11.99 Naked Wines) Gentle style, a touch off-dry with reasonable citrus, rhubarb and crisp apple notes, but marred by excessive green pepper character. C+ Tinpot Hut Sauvignon Blanc 2012, Marlborough (£12.99 Liberty Wines) Quite a rich, full style, a touch sweaty (in a […]
Wine Tasting Video: New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc from Marlborough & ...
Tinpot Hut Steam Wharf Road Syrah 2008, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand (£14.99 Tesco) As with many Hawkes Bay Syrahs, this starts well with lovely aromas of clove, pepper and vanilla, but then you wonder whether there is enough fruit to prop up the aromas. Here, there is – blackberries, plums […]
Wine Tasting Video: Five Syrah-based wines from New Zealand, Chile, ...
Zoetendal Sauvignon Blanc 2011, Elim, South Africa (£9.99 The Real Wine Company) Very pungent and intense, but just too stark and green for pleasure, with a smoky not to the grassy, slightly armpit-like, green pepper, elderflower and citrus flavours. C+ Harvey Nichols Sauvignon Blanc 2011 (Auntsfield), Marlborough, New Zealand (£14.00 […]
Wine Tasting Video: Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand & South ...
Errázuriz Aconcagua Costa Single Vineyard Syrah 2010, Chile (£19.99 Averys) Full bodied style, quite aromatic with notes of sage-tinted sausage meat and lavender, but there’s that tell-tale reduced blackcurrant pastille feel, and the finish is rather dry and lacking charm. B Wakefield Jaraman Shiraz 2009, Clare Valley/McLaren Vale, Australia (£16.99 […]
Wine Tasting Video: Syrah/Shiraz from Chile, Australia & New Zealand
Villa Maria Cellar Selection Syrah 2008, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand (£13.99 Oddbins, Wine Rack, nzhouseofwine.co.uk) Fragrant and elegant to start with, showing touches of pepper (white & black), berry and plum, but then a slightly thoddy vanilla edge intrudes, and there’s just this feeling of incompleteness, as if it would […]