New Hall vineyard just outside Colchester, Essex, UK. produce some excellent wines. This is the New Hall “Pale Rose” made from the Zweigeltrebe grape. Its very light in colour with floral aromas and a light strawberry flavour, subtle and refreshing. This grape is grown in Austria and parts of eastern european, I hope more is planted in the UK as this will go down well in the summer. At about £10 a bottle is reasonable value.
New Hall “Pale Rose” Zweigeltrebe 2018
From a quality vineyard you expect quality wine. This has raisins & cooked fruits on the aroma and when you taste. Silky smooth, rich flavours and if you like a Rutherford desert wine bloody marvelous. A worthy silver medal winner at the Decanter World Wine Awards this is great with cheese or on its own. At about £15 a bottle it’s very good value.
Stanton & Killeen Rutherford Muscat
Pinot Grigio, Ortrugo are the grapes that make this up rather nicely round wine. There are definite Grigio notes on the nose and the taste, but there is a real softening which is so refreshing. Peach and tropical notes come through. I can’t conclude if this is one of the best easy drinking white wines I’ve tasted in a long time or the best easy drinking wine. Its a wine you drink in the summer, don’t need to think, just drink and enjoy the sun. At well under £10 its good valve.
Borgo fulvia Bianco 2016
Aromas of Vanilla, spice and chocolate, flavours of those with blackcurrant, liquorice and it has a gamey hint in there. Tannins are well integrated and its dry, you feel the mouth tighten after a taste. As well as Shiraz there is a bit of Mourvedre, approx 10% which follows through on the Rhone wine character. Penfolds have been making the bin 2 range since the 1960’s and at £15 a bottle its a great wine at a great price. For me I would have it with food, a steak or a tomato based pasta dish.
Penfolds Bin 2
Clare Valley Malbec, not one that you think of straight away, Argentine Malbec would be most peoples first thought for this grape. Smooth operator does sum this one up nicely. The tannins are well integrated and there are delicious flavours of black fruits, vanilla and spice. This is lighter than you may fine with an Argentine Malbec and that’s for the better. Sure have it with a steak but equally have it on its own, fantastic. At £20 its not cheap but it’s quality.
Two Hands – Australian – Clare Valley Malbec 2017
Well, an unusual wine from Italy. Thus is made from the Albana grape. It has aromas of peach, mineral notes which come through on the tasting. There are also lychee and flora hints and it has a reasonable length. High acidity adds to the overall balance. This is a really good wine that would be worthy of special occasion, birthday, anniversary or Saturday night. Ooohhhhh it’s only £12 a bottle as well.
Campodora Albana white wine
Well this week I was at the Decanter World Wine Awards in London.
I wasn’t judging wine but I was one of the red shirt runner, pouring wines and supporting the judges in their roles in judging just under 17,000 wines over 5 days! Before you think I know what wines won gold, secrecy was high on the agenda, all the wines had privacy sleeves.
Most evenings the golds and some silver medal winners, still with sleeves on were brought down to the main reception area for the runners to sample. I tried rich opulent ice wines from Canada with sweet flavours of orange and pear, full bodied Shiraz with high alcohol and flavours of plum, black fruits and spice and delicate Rieslings with high acidity, flowery aromas, flavours of green apple and hints of honey and peach.
Listening to the judges deliberate on their scores was fascinating. There would be different views on what wine should be issued with a particular medal but I never felt that a judge rushed their decision and differences were discussed, some at great length and passion.
In the past there have been criticism in some press circles that medals are handed out too easily. Well if a wine is well made, its well made and why shouldn’t get a gold. The big issue is the public not understanding why a wine gets gold. It’s not that its the best of the completion but it’s got to a gold standard. I for one think these competitions are a great way for the general public to be helped in finding excellent examples of particular wines. Which Rieslings or Chenin Blancs are best examples. Which wines are to be looked out for in a particular shop. The award magazine published in the summer will have the wines listed and at the back will list some of the wines available at retailers like Tesco or Morrisons that have received medals.
Listening to the judges deliberate on their scores was fascinating. There would different views on what wine should be issued with a particular medal but I never felt that a judge rushed their decision and differences were discussed, some at great length and passion.
I hope I’ll get the chance to work at the awards next year.
Gold and silver medalist can be tried after judging each evening, you don’t know the producer but you can tell the quality
New Zealand Pinot Noir is becoming very popular in recent years. There are various reasons for this – Prices are coming down, quality has been good to excellent and people are seeing Pinot Noir from outside Burgundy as being worth drinking. There are aromas of redcurrant and raspberry which come through in the taste. The flavour lasts a reasonable time and the dry, light texture is excellent with or without food. Pair with chicken or fish and at £10 bottle its excellent value.
Villa Maria – New Zealand Pinot Noir 2016
First I’ll say this is one of the wife’s favourites. Why? well it has aromas of topical fruit and oak and adds a honey flavour when tasting. This is made from old, 40 year old vines and is a reasonably complex wine. For me I feel that the oak is a little over powering and that Chenin is best left out of oak and allow its natural flavours to come out, the 2017 vintage got a silver medal at the 2018 Decanter World Wine Awards. At £12 a bottle its reasonable value and it keeps the wife happy, so a good wine.
The Bernard series – old vine Chenin Blanc
This Riesling from Hungary is a dry, highly acidic and full of flavour. The aroma is of peach and honey. The taste brings that forward with a bit of kerosene and oily texture. If you can get this its well under £10 but I can’t say I would get more of this. I think the issue is more personal taste,I prefer a light, more delicate Riesling, this is rather bold!
Dobosi Pincészet – Riesling from Hungary