Penfolds Bin 8 Cabernet Shiraz 2013, South Australia (£19.99 Waitrose) Was looking forward to this, but it started off showing a slightly overripe sweetness, like jammie dodger biscuits. A little more time and a more serious earthy liquorice edge emerged, although the jammy side remained. The following day, it was […]
Spain
Cape Heights Shiraz 2015, Western Cape, South Africa (£5.69-£6.95 Rannoch Scott, D&D Wine, Worth Brothers, Connollys) Dark earthy chocolate, gentle generous berry and plum, very much in that soft warm earthy South African feel, with a bit of the Cape bake and a savoury plum/tomato edge. Maybe the finish is […]
Spicy reds from Australia, France, South Africa & Spain
I’m sure it’s happened to all wine companies at least once. You arrive at a trade tasting, imagining that you’ll be pouring the latest vintage for the attendees, only to find that some of the bottles are a little more mature than you’d anticipated… I was at an Ehrmanns tasting […]
Whoops, that’s the wrong wine…
Bit of a crime to broach this now, but hey… Torres Mas La Plana Cabernet Sauvignon 2010, Penedès, Spain (£40 Waitrose, Hailsham Cellars, Santé Wine, The Oxford Wine Co, Dennhofer Wines, Dylans Wine Merchants, Noel Young, Slurp.co.uk, Soho Wine Supply, Martinez Wines, Tanners, Clifton Cellars, Handford Wines, Amazon, Vintagemarque.com, Corking […]
Torres Mas La Plana Cabernet Sauvignon 2010
These two are from the 2015 releases of González Byass’ Finos Palmas range – the higher the number of Palmas, the older the fino… González Byass Una Palma Fino NV (2015 release), Spain (~£12.50/500 ml Cambridge Wines, H2Vin, Lea & Sandeman, The Wine Society, Cheers) Bracing, briny style, dense and […]
Two sherries from the González Byass Finos Palmas range
Viña Real Rioja Reserva 2010, Spain (£18.45 Hailsham Cellars, Clifton Cellars, Planet of the Grapes) Rich and knowing style of wine, battle-scarred, but still very much alive, with meaty red berry and plum flavours, and spicy orange peel notes on the finish. Very tasty, and still on the young side. […]