Hencote, Solaris, 2018, Shrewsbury, UK
The UK makes good white wine, excellent sparkling and ok red wine but this Hencote, Solaris from Shrewsbury, that’s up north! Is really good, excellent you could say.
It’s fresh and vibrant with smells and flavours of grapefruit, lemon, lime and a mineral undertone on the taste. There’s acidity there which would pair this well with shellfish.
The fact it come from so far up north is amazing and shows the skill of the wine maker.
Reva Rakvice, Frankovka, 2018, Czech Republic
Never underestimate Czech Republic wine because they can make good wine and this red from Reva Rakvice proves it. It’s a lovely purple colour with strong aromas of red fruit slightly sweet tannins and a little bit too much sour cherry for my liking if I was drinking it’s on its own but with food, excellent. We had this with a full roast turkey dinner and it complemented the food very well.
Marisco, Pride and Glory, Sauvignon Blanc, 2015, New Zealand
This is the first Sauvignon Blanc from Marisco that I have tried and and the name is quite correct, they can certainly claim pride and glory in what they produced.
You get tropical notes with a bit of gooseberry a little butter and vanilla on the nose and flavours that are subtle reasonably complex but well integrated hint of oak finishes this off and it’s certainly an excellent wine it’s just a shame at £35 a bottle it’s out of reach of most people. The one that is equally as good and half the price that should be tried is the Greywacke standard range Sauvignon Blanc.
Aldi, chassaux et fils, Grenache, Cinsault, Rose, 2020, France
The issue with Audi wine and not just with their rosé is that they produce an absolutely corkers and then it’s gone on which is really frustrating. This Rosie made with Grenache and Cinsault is a classic example it was an impulse purchase as it was £2.99 so not exactly a lot of money.
It’s a clean Rosie with lots of red fruit and aromas of strawberry and redcurrant it’s not elegant but it’s a nice rosé wine that I really enjoyed drinking in February, which is not a month associated with drinking such wine in the UK.
Domaine Cazes, Rivesaltes, Ambre, 1997, France
Domaine Cazes knows about desert wines and their Rivesaltes, Ambre, 1997 shows just how brilliant they are at making wine and that’s an understatement. It’s like the Bentley of the wine world. Classy in so many ways.
You get aromas of orange, citrus, chocolate with a smokie undertone and a chunk of raisin. There’s flavours of dried fruit with honey, stone fruits, citrus and a caramelised oaky note that is quite frankly amazing.
Sure at £20 a bottle it’s not cheap but it’s brilliant.
Gamba, Campedel, Amarone della Valpolicella Classico, Italy
There are Amarone’s and there are Amarone’s and this one from Gamba is a great Amarone wine. Made with the Corvina, Rondinella, Croatina and Corvinone grapes, its a dry red that has great length and is smooth with well integrated tannins. There are plenty of flavours of red and black fruits, notes of tobacco, leather and chocolate, a bit of earthiness brings this back from being in heaven to a reality that this is just wine but great wine at that. Its a Bentley of the wine world.
The down side to this is the price of £30 a bottle, but thats Amarone for you.
Oakville Estate, Franciscan, Zinfandel, Napa Valley, 1993, USA
To say that this 29 year old Oakville Estate, Franciscan, Zinfandel from Napa Valley was a surprise its an understatement. Found in the depths of the wine store we expected it to be “dead”, lifeless and only good for the sink but how wrong we were.
Flavours and aromas were still there, with plenty of plum, blackcurrant, a hint of mint and eucalyptus to note. Its dry and very smooth and even decanted it had good length and that lasted all evening as we went back to try it as it was so unexpected.
At £30 a bottle its not cheap but it was truly excellent.
Dows, Late Bottled Vintage Port, 1997, Portugal
A bottle of Dows, Late Bottled Vintage Port, from Portugal is probably standard in many British households at Christmas and this year we opened a 1997 bottle. I know that a late bottled vintage port is not the same as leaving a vintage port, this basically got left behind.
That said it tastes exactly what it should taste like i. It was smooth, it had some really good plum, red, black fruit flavours, nice sweetness in there and it really well with the cheese and biscuits course, so much so that the whole bottle went. And the best thing is at about £8 a bottle at the supermarkets a Dows port is good value
Simpsons, Derringstone, Pinot Meunier, 2019, UK
Simpsons, Derringstone, Pinot Meunier from the UK it’s the first pinot meunier that I’ve tasted. Normally this is a great that’s so mixed in sparkling such a champagne, it’s rare to have it on its own and I sort of see why, but I can’t say I disliked it.
There’s lots of pear and apple in this with notes of citrus, grapefruit but also yeasty notes, a creaminess but this a very interesting wine. Slightly thicker in texture and and not much acidity, so I would drink this on its own or with light food. We had it this with a full roast and it probably had a job on its hands keep up with the food, but this is one I would definitely recommend trying.
It’s a shame it’s going to be by about £18 a bottle as this will put a lot of people off.
NK MIP cellars, Red Meritage, 2016, Canada
I really do like a Canadian red wine, you never get a bad also that’s whats brilliant. This is made from Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Malbec which gives red fruit and vanilla notes on the nose and full blackberry and plum flavors with a bit of spice and dark chocolate. The tenants of the structure is good and with a long finish this went well with venison stew.
At £25 a bottle is not cheap, that is part of the Canadian wine issue, great wine but expensive.