Errázuriz Estate Merlot 2010, Aconcagua, Chile (£8.99 Tesco, Sainsbury’s Asda, Majestic, Wine Rack, Taurus Wines, Booths, Matthew Clark, wine-studio.co.uk) Reasonable strawberry and blackberry with a touch of chocolate, but some of the fruit verges on the baked and raisinny, and it lacks freshness. C(+) Villa Maria Private Bin Merlot/Cabernet Sauvignon […]
Hawkes Bay
Hugel Muscat Tradition 2008, Alsace, France (£10.95 The Wine Society) Lovely crisp, grapey style, delicate yet full in flavour, fresh and forward with notes more on the floral than the spicy side, wonderfully moreish with a musky finish. S- Gladstone Pinot Gris 2008, Wairarapa, New Zealand (£13.95 Great Western Wine) […]
Spicy whites from Alsace, Argentina and New Zealand
Crossroads Merlot 2008, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand (£11.50 Mentzendorff) Ripe, but with some leafy freshness to its bright blackcurrant & berry flavours and tinges of chocolatey oak, OK, but just a bit simple & fruity. B- Crossroads Talisman 2008, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand (£19 Mentzendorff) More of that chocolate wafer […]
Argentine Malbec, New Zealand Merlot, Australian Cabernet & more
Louis Moreau Chablis 2008, Burgundy, France (£9.99 Marks & Spencer) Has the lean, keen green apple backbone you expect of Chablis, along with a pleasant nutty character, but it lacks the substance to stand up to the structure. OK, but not fine. B(-) Louis Latour Mâcon-Lugny 2009, Burgundy, France (£8.99 […]
Chardonnay from France, Australia & New Zealand – and what ...
Crossroads Syrah 2008, Hawkes Bay (£13.50 Mentzendorff) Has a fragrant, peppery roasted aroma, along with fresh blackcurrant, plum and raspberry fruit, but could use a little more body to live up to that fragrance. B Vidal Gimblett Gravels Syrah 2008, Hawkes Bay (£10.99 Waitrose, Halifax Wine Co, Trina’s Wines, www.nzhouseofwine.co.uk) […]