First Drop Wines Bella Coppia Arneis 2009, Adelaide Hills, Australia (£12.99 from October 2010 New School Wines Ltd, The Secret Cellar, Cambridge Wine Merchants) 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, […]
USA
Tesco Finest Sonoma County Chardonnay 2006 (£9.99 Tesco) Ripe and oaky, but not OTT in either respect, this has freshness and zing missing in virtually all similarly priced competitors, touches of pineapples and peaches, with mealy nuttiness and just the right amount of toasty oak. B+ Wild Boy Chardonnay 2008, […]
Three Californian Chardonnays + a Burgundian interloper
O Fournier Urban Uco Torrontes 2009, Cafayate, Salta, Argentina (£7.50 Bowes Wines) Clean, fresh, zippy, the grapey edge of Muscat meets the more perfumed hand-cream and lychee edge of Gewürztraminer, not hugely complex but good perfumed quaffer. B(+) Snoqualmie Naked Riesling 2008, Columbia Valley, Washington State, USA (~£11.50 Stratfords Wines) […]
Rieslings from Germany & Washington State plus a tasty Torrontes
Snoqualmie Naked Merlot 2007, Columbia Valley, Washington State, USA (~£11.50 Stratfords Wines) Starts with a pleasant leafy edge, a touch of tobacco and reasonable plummy fruit, but then goes rather dilute, with clunky oak coming through. C Snoqualmie Naked Cabernet Sauvignon 2007, Columbia Valley, Washington State, USA (~£11.50 Stratfords Wines) […]
Four Bordeaux-inspired reds from Chile & Washington State
Montes Sauvignon Blanc 2009, Curicó, Chile (£6.50 www.qpwines.com) Clean and fresh, slight lime and lemon jelly, zippy and zesty, with a touch of river pebble, a simple but honest style. C+ Montes Limited Selection Sauvignon Blanc 2008, Leyda, Chile (£9.40 www.qpwines.com) A mixture of lushness, warmer and rounder, a touch […]
Three Chileans, One Washingtonian – all white
…isn’t all that bad – a couple of pounds, mostly of home-made stuffing. It’s been wonderfully snowy in Saddleworth which has meant that I haven’t been out each evening at all those parties that get squeezed into the Festive Fortnight. Shame on the social front, but good on the waistline. […]