Tesco, Finest Malbec, 2021, Mendoza, Argentina
Tesco sell a lot of wine do some of it will be terrible and some of it will be great. This is the latter. Excellent black fruit flavours and aromas with good length and firm bit not overly harsh tannins. Pair with a stew or steak for a great combination. Oh with discounts it was under £5, every little helps 😉
Colchester Cellar Club Chilean wine tasting
Local wine clubs are great places to meet interesting people who love wine and try interesting wines. The Colchester Cellar Club is no exception. Friendly and relaxed it has a number of tastings each year on various themes. This time it was Chilean wines.
Below are my tastings notes
Lapostolle Alexandre 2019 Chardonnay at £22 a bottle.
Full on lemon, ripe citrus, nose of oak and smoke, high acid, long length, best with fish or a zesty salad.
Errazuriz wild ferment Chardonnay 2018 at £14 a bottle
Light lemon with lime hints and pink grapefruit,
Morande One to One Gewurtraminer 2018 at £9 a bottle
Perfumed nose, sweet with hints of rose. Med body with very long length. Light notes of lemon and hints of grapefruit and honey.
Morande One to One Pais 2016 at £9 a bottle
Nose of toffee and a hint of tune sweets. Light with red fruit with reserved tannins very much like a good beaujolais.
Mayu Appassimentto Carmenere 2017 at £13 a bottle
Rich black fruit nose, feeds into the flavours. Sweetness to the fruits, firm but soft tannins, so we’ll balanced and integrated with hints of smoke and oak, good solid length. Excellent
LFE 900 Single Vineyard Blend 2014 at £17 a bottle
Smokey, oaky nose with violets and hints of menthol, dry black fruits, spice hint. Very smooth, firm but well integrated tannins. Rather good.
Vik Milla Cala 2019 at £32 a bottle
Fresh red fruit , light nose and body, some spice and a little black fruit . High acidity, Overpriced but very nice.
Purple Angel Carmenere 2018 at £70 a bottle
Fresh menthol on the nose with black fruit. Spice and red and black fruits, firm but balanced tannins with dryness, clear and left on the lees but a lift is used to stir the lees. Its very nice but over priced.
LFE Late Harvest Viogner/Sauvignon Blanc 2017 at £7 a bottle,
Solid desert wine, not sticky but nice fresh flavours, ripe ctritus with good length. For the price this is outstanding. Its not complex but thats what most people need at the end of a meal.
Amisfield, Breakneck, Pinot Noir, 2017, Central Otago, New Zealand
Another excellent Pinot Noir from New Zealand this ‘Breakneck’ from Amisfield is dry, smooth, with firm but well integrated tannins that makes this a joy to drink. Plenty of flavour with red cherry at the front and hints of oak, a subtle earthiness and all with long length.
Sure at £60 a bottle it’s not cheap but then again quality like this is often expensive. It’s a shame as many people won’t get to try it.
Christiena, Trousseau, Cap Classique Method, Brut, South Africa
South African sparkling wine is normally very good and this one Christiena in the Robertson area of the western Cape is no exception. It’s dry, crisp and with good levels of balanced acidity. The flavours of lemon and lime are subtle allowing the crispness to shine though. On itsown or with sea food it’s a quality wine.
Thomas Brothers, Greystone, Pinot Noir, 2015, Waipara, New Zealand
Quite wonderful is how I would describe this Pinot Noir from the Thomas Brothers. Read the below if you want but this is the Pinot to get for special occasions, at £50 a bottle it’s not cheap. There’s flawless integration of tannins, red fruit, oak, with hints of chocolate and leather. There’s a smoothness to this dry red wine where nothing is out of place and a desire just to sip and enjoy.
It only got a bronze at the Decanter World Wine Awards which I think is more down to price than quality. I loved this wine.
Broken Stone, Pinot Noir, 2020, Canada
Easy drinking Pinot Noir is my favourite style of red wine presently and this one fits perfectly. Reasonable fruit flavours and a fresh lightness make it approachable while good length makes it fell more premium. There’s a bit more red cherry than anything else but it’s a very good wine to have in the garden on a summer’s day or in front of s fire watching TV.
Pontenari, Toscana Rosso, 2020, Florence, Italy
Marks and Spencer sell some excellent wine and this is one of them and at £12 a bottle it’s decent value. Loads of black fruit flavours with notes of spice in the background. It’s a big bold wine that would benefit from food, a jiucy steak or big bowl of pasta.
Amisfield, Pinot Noir, Central Otago, 2014, New Zealand
New Zealand Pinot Noir has a very good reputation and this 2014 from Amisfield shows why. There’s plenty of red and black fruit aromas and flavours with cherry being dominant but there are notes of chocolate, leather, coffee and an under lying earthiness to it all. Dry, smooth and quite light this is great on its own or with food, we had it with turkey and thought it paired very well.at £40 a bottle it’s not cheap.
Los Haroldos, Blend, 2020, Argentina
Primarily a blend of Cab Sav and Malbec this house blend has great fruit concentration with red and black fruit in bucket loads. Bold and dry with firm tannins makes this a sipping wine or a wine with food. Usual steak or stew dishes or good strong cheeses to balance those tannins. At about £10 a bottle it’s good value.
Tenuta di Angoris, Collio Bianco, Angoris Riserva Giulio Locatelli, 2018, Italy
Tenuta di Angoris, Collio Bianco, Angoris Riserva Giulio Locatelli, 2018, Italy
Tenuta di Angoris has been making wine for generations and this Angoris Riserva Giulio Locatelli shows that. It’s a dry bold white wine with flavours of green apple, grass, ripe citrus and hints of peach poking through. It’s a little austere but goes well with fish and white pasta sauce dishes.
At £18 a bottle it’s a little pricey but worth a try.