Stonehaven Sauvignon Blanc 2012, Western Cape, South Africa (£7.99 The Co-op)
One of those wines that grows on you. Young and sappy with decent pithy fruit, but it’s the stony mineral character that makes the strongest impression. B
Fox Gordon Family Sauvignon Blanc 2011, Adelaide Hills, Australia (£11.99 Waitrose)
Smells OK, with lemon and gooseberry (fresh and pie) in evidence. Tastes OK too, but it’s just a little too jelly-like for real class. B-
Errázuriz Single Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc 2011, Casablanca, Chile (£10.99 Majestic)
Once you get past the nutty sulphur character, this is quite a full, rich style, with vanilla-scented custard apple, very ripe pear and strawberry flesh tempered by herby citrus restraint. I don’t mind the richness but I’d like a little more subtlety & poise. B(+)
Doña Dominga Single Vineyard ‘La Laguna’ Sauvignon Blanc/Viognier 2011, Colchagua, Chile (£7.11 Waitrose)
Bit of a stand-off between the bright herby bright edge of Sauvignon and the plump peach and apricot of Viognier. Ultimately not sure whether it wants to be and finishes in flat, jelly-like fashion. C(-)
The Intrepid Bear Cabernet Franc 2011, Lodi, California (£9.99 Virgin Wines)
Has the tar character of Cab Franc, and some ripe berry flesh, but it’s too jammy and confected (remember Jammie Dodger biscuits?) and the finish is slightly flat and dry. C(+)
The Second Chapter Cabernet Sauvignon 2010, Western Cape, South Africa (£8.99 Virgin Wines)
Reasonable blackberry and blackcurrant fruit with a leafy, sappy lift, but that underripe/overripe green raisin note of too many Cape wines is just too prominent here. B(-)
Vergelegen Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot/Cabernet Franc 2009, Western Cape, South Africa (£10.99 Majestic, L’Art du Vin)
Sleek, elegant style, with earthy mint notes adding character to the plummy blackcurrant flavours, and a touch of graphite in there too. Juicy but finely textured, rich in flavour but subtle, excellent value. S
Hahn Cabernet Sauvignon 2010, Central Coast, California (£12.99-£13.99 Spirited Wines, Wine Rack, Corks Out)
Peculiar wine, has a bonfire-like charred note on top of the damson and berry flavours. Also while there’s a fresh fruit edge, there’s also a baked character, and the finish is slightly stewed. Nearly good, but trying a bit too hard, and ending up intense at the expense of enjoyability. B-
Marauding Vintners Single Vineyard Adelaide Hills Merlot 2010, Australia (£10.99 Virgin Wines)
I like the ruddy peppery plum and berry flavour and the mint-tinged leafy freshness, I’m less keen on the slightly baked fruit edges and hard, cola-like finish. B-
McWilliams Mount Pleasant Isabelle Chardonnay 2010 Tumbarumba, New South Wales (£9.99 Waitrose)
Refreshing, fruity style, a mix of citrus (tangerine/clementine) with stone fruit (apricot/nectarine/plum) with a light veneer of smoky toasty oak, ripe but sleek, with a slightly briny tang on the finish. B+
Thorn Clarke Mount Crawford Chardonnay 2010, Eden Valley (~£11 Alliance Wine)
Fuller, peachier style, with nutty/leesy notes, but has tang and freshness, and touches of herbs and minerality. Still feels slightly coiled, and in need of another year or two to show its true mettle. S-
Heggies Vineyard Chardonnay 2010, Eden Valley (£13.99 Berry Bros & Rudd, Premier Vintners, The Wine Society, Majestic, Broadmarsh Wines, Eldwick Post Office, Nidderdale Fine Wines, Oliver & Bird, The Wine Chambers)
Grown up wine, initially (as you’ll see from the video) suggesting it’s a little on the oaky side. However, with time, the oak calms down and the rest of it opens up, revealing a mealy/leesy edge, subtle plum, citrus and nectarine fruit set against spent match complexity, and a fine minerality on the finish. Good on Day 1, better on Day 2, even better on Day 3 – when I finished it off… S(+)
Yalumba FDW7c Chardonnay 2009, Adelaide Hills (£17-£18.50 Noel Young, Gwinology, Hoults)
A different style from the previous two, cooler and sleeker, with apple and citrus tinged with touches of nectarine, has the spent match and mealy notes, with some toasty oak in the background, but overall it’s the tingling spine and elegant minerally finish that make the biggest impression. S+
The Spee’Wah Cuvée Chardonnay NV, Murray Darling (£9.50 The Drinkmonger, Bibendum)
Simple, sherbetty style, has a honeyed edge to the cooked apple fruit, quite broad and biscuity, but lacks freshness. C
Jansz Tasmania Premium Non Vintage Cuvée (£13.99 see below for stockists)
Fresh, elegant style, strawberry, raspberry and apple, with a dusting of cocoa and a zesty citrus note on the finish, classy style, plenty of flavour but nicely reined-in. S(-)
D’Arenberg DADD NV, Adelaide Hills (£21 Bibendum)
Can’t fault it for delicacy, but if anything it’s a little too subtlee. Touches of sherbet, citrus fruit and brioche, refreshing but just a little hollow. B(-)
Petaluma Croser Brut 2007, Piccadilly Valley (£20.50 Bibendum)
A fresher, more mineral style than the previous vintage (see here), still has that pineapple edge (and some cocoa), and the rich, bready yeastiness, plus notes of dried apricot and burnt sugar, combines ample flavours with high cheekboned restraint. S+
Jansz Tasmania Premium Vintage Cuvée 2006 (£19.99 see below for stockists)
A more forward, fruity style than the Croser, with a floral note to the jolly red berry and citrus flavours, exuberant and tasty, and still feels like it could develop, but hard to resist now. S
Jansz Tasmania Premium Non Vintage Rosé (£13.99 see below for stockists)
Gentle style, nice depth of red fruit flavour with citrus zing to keep it fresh, generous and rounded, pleasant but maybe lacks the class of the other 2 Jansz wines. B+
Musella Valpolicella Superiore Ripasso 2007, Veneto, Italy (£12.99 Virgin Wines)
Starts off well, with a bruised plumskin & cherry sourness and a slightly bitter almond edge, but then a slightly green/bitter oak edge intrudes. This does go with time, but it would have been better in botte rather than barriques. B+
Tenute CostaDue Corti Barolo 2006, Piedmont, Italy (contact Grossi Wines, Club Vini Italiani)
Grown-up wine, rich and not shy in alcohol (14.5%), but also with tender, aromatic cherry, raspberry and strawberry flesh tinged with notes of toffee, tar and roses. Good on Day 1, but even better on Day 3, offering a lovely mix of heady allure and savoury chewiness. S+
The first installment of a set of ten Pinot Noirs I tasted recently – for some reasons I posted the second installment first (it’s here), but hey, they’re both live now…
Akarua ‘Rua’ Pinot Noir 2009, Central Otago, New Zealand (£16.95 Harvey Nichols, Philglas & Swiggot, Cellarmarque, Woodwinters, Winearray, Woods Wines)
A more restrained style, with quite a stern, serious iron-like/minerally edge. However, there’s enough plummy raspberry and cherry flavour to stand up to this, and the finish is rich but fresh, suggesting this has plenty of life ahead of it. S(-)
Akarua Pinot Noir 2009, Central Otago, New Zealand (£21.95 Harvey Nichols, Philglas & Swiggot, Cellarmarque, Woodwinters, Winearray, Woods Wines)
A slightly fuller version of the above but also a more layered, complex version. There’s a touch more smoky oak, which gives notes of coffee and chocolate, similar cherry & red berry, and that same earthy minerality. A coiled spring that needs time to unfurl, but should be great in 2-3 years. S(+)
Nepenthe Pinot Noir 2008, Adelaide Hills, Australia (£9.99 Majestic, The Co-op)
Simple, bright and juicy style, pleasant red berry and cherry and a touch of mint (not as prominent as in the Wakefield), but the finish could use more charm. B-
Leeuwin Estate Prelude Chardonnay 2008, Margaret River (£20.50 Domaine Direct)
Rich but refined style with tangy apple and nectarine flavours set against a creamy leesy richness. More forward than the Art Series bottling, but still a classy mix of richness and restraint. S-
Xanadu Chardonnay 2008, Margaret River (£12.85 AG Wines, Selfridges, Slurp.co.uk, Stony Wine Emporium, Oakdene Fine Wines)
A little toasty to start with, but this calms down, allowing the funky wild spent-match and quite rich citrus, apple and pear fruit to shine through. Still needs another year or so to reach its peak, but very tasty now. S
Prestige de Calvet Bordeaux Semillon/Sauvignon 2009, France (£5.24 Sainsbury’s)
Nice juicy honest wine, with slightly catty Sauvignon to the fore at the moment, good rounded guava and greengage flavours, with Semillon giving pithy weight. B
(Dear Calvet – you must have a web site, let me know where it is and I’ll link to it…)
McWilliams Mount Pleasant Elizabeth Semillon 2005, Hunter Valley, Australia (£9.79 Tesco, Sainsbury’s)
Classic style, still young and vigorous, with tangy lime and lemon flavours, but already showing the creamy toast and custard notes that will intensify with time. S(+)
Domaine de l’Eglantière Chablis Le Carré de César 2009, Burgundy, France (£10.95 Winos)
Classic Chablis with ripe apple and citrus flavours and the creamy nutty wet wool character, good mix of richness and tension. S-
Château Graves du Bert, Saint Emilion 2005, Bordeaux, France (£10.95 Winos)
Starts off on the green side, but unfurls to show cool herbal dark fruit flavours, touches of savoury cedar and a smoky, gravelly finish. Still feels young. B
Cockfighter’s Ghost Merlot 2008, McLaren Vale, Australia (£10.95 Winos)
Shows rich plummy fruit, but too jammy for real class, and has a clumsy finish. C
Peter Lehmann Barossa Grenache 2006, Australia (£8.29 Tesco)
Pale in colour, with the smell and taste of jammy dodger biscuits, still quite juicy and fresh, but ultimately rather simple. B(+)
Caves St Pierre Côtes du Rhône Villages Preference 2008, France (£6.49 Tesco)
Great mix of rich and refreshing, with sweet rounded berry and plum fruit balanced by a wild hillside herbiness, and an intense but appetising finish. Some nice sausages please… S-
Second batch of a range of Sauvignons I tried early in 2011 – the first lot (from New Zealand & South Africa) are here.
Château Le Payral Bergerac Sec 2008, South West France (£8.99 The Bottle Bank)
Typical smoky tinned pear of the region, and a grapey perfume too, just lacking a touch of freshness. B(-)
Pavillon de La Brie Bergerac Sec 2009, South West France (£7.10 Jascots)
Has a zesty, almost catty edge, but the main event is the juicy green grape, citrus and Grannie Smiths fruit – fresh, crisp and tasty. B+
Nepenthe Sauvignon Blanc 2010, Adelaide Hills, Australia (£8.49 Waitrose, Majestic, Booths, Co-op)
Reasonable lemon, lime and greengage freshness, but it’s just too simple for real class. C
The Co-operative Fairtrade Chilean Sauvignon Blanc Reserva 2010, Curicó, Chile (£6.75 The Co-op)
OK cooked apple flavours, but ultimately stolid and lacking freshness. 0
Viña Casa Silva Cool Coast Sauvignon Blanc 2010, Colchagua, Chile (£13-14 Avery’s, Wine Rack)
Good crispness & zip, with a stony minerality to balance the quite fleshy fruit, would have preferred less of the green pepper but still decent kit. B(+)
Santa Carolina Specialties Ocean Side Sauvignon Blanc 2009, San Antonio, Chile (RRP £12.99)
Plums and rhubarb, almost like a Mâcon Chardonnay, but then a slightly catty citrus edge betrays its origins. Good briny minerality too. S(-)
Jacob’s Creek Reserve Riesling 2010, Barossa (£9.99 Booths) Perky young wine, floral aromas plus a dusting of icing sugar, also lots of sappy citrus flavours and pithy minerality. Good now but has at least 5 years ahead of it. S-
Jacob’s Creek Reserve Sauvignon Blanc 2010, Adelaide Hills (£9.99 Tesco, Tesco Wine Club, Sainsbury’s, Ocado) Starts of zesty but overall just a bit heavy, with a slightly confected lemon jelly character. C+
Jacob’s Creek Reserve Chardonnay 2009, Adelaide Hills (£9.99 Sainsbury’s) Smells good, with honeyed nuttiness, some mealy notes and smoky vanilla, but while there’s pleasant citrus and greengage flavour, it’s a bit overwhelmed by the flavours from the barrel-ageing. B(-)
Jacob’s Creek Reserve Pinot Noir 2009, Adelaide Hills (£9.99 Sainsbury’s) Starts off with strong mint/eucalyptus notes, and these tend to dominate the slightly stewed, earthy red berry & plum flavours. As the wine opens up, the fruit does come more to the fore, and some of the silky Pinot texture asserts itself, but it’s just too minty for real class. B-
Jacob’s Creek Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2008, Coonawarra (£9.99 TBC) Another minty wine, but there’s more substance behind it, with intense cassis, blackberry and liquorice flavours. Good but maybe a touch simple? B
Jacob’s Creek Reserve Shiraz 2007, Barossa (£9.99 Tesco, Tesco Wine Club, Sainsbury’s, Ocado) A friendly bear hug of a wine, with plush pleasant dark berry and plum flavours, a touch of Jammy Dodger, and a warm, earthy finish. Not hugely complex but very tasty. S(-)
