Chateau Mercian, Hokushin Chardonnay, 2016, Japan
It’s been a few years since I tried a Japanese wine and I understand why when trying this white wine. It’s not that this wine is terrible but 5 years on it’s still very green with sharp green apple has the main flavour. It’s dry and quite acidic so it would be ok with seafood but on its own it’s just that bit too much.
An interesting wine but probably not one I’d want to go back too.
New Hall, Bacchus Fume Reserve, 2016, Essex, UK
New Hall in Essex has been making Bacchus for a long time and they are getting better and better. They make a lot of different wines which can be a little confusing, so its best to pop a long to an open day and sample!
This 4 year old Fume Reserve is light with aromas of elderflower and mellon, flavours of apple, lemon and hints of gooseberry. Its not what you may call sophisticated but it is what you would all wonderful.
At £12 a bottle it’s decent value given the quality you are getting.
Pazo Senorans, Albarino, 2016, Spain
£15 a bottle is a decent amount to pay for a wine, you want a good bottle but paying that for an Albarino is hard when there are so many good ones out their for less but this Albarino from Pazo Senorans is very good.
There’s loads going on, subtle but the package is well done. The colour is a wonderful lemon colour and there are aromas of pear, lemon, mellon, peaches and additional flavours of citrus, grapefruit and minerality. Its dry, light, decent wack of acidity, clean and quite elegant.
Its a bit pricey and I should have saved some for the next day but I loved it, its very good, excellent if the price was cheaper but then that’s my tightness 😉 shining through, price wise.
Little Odisseia, Tinto, 2016, Douro Valley, Portugal
Little Odisseia from the Douro Valley, Portugal is another solid red wine from a country that doesn’t seem to produce any bad stuff.
There are notes of tobacco, black fruit and leather with hints of mushrooms. This is a dry, bold wine with firm tannins that give structure. Its not fancy or complex but you get is a wine that is not going to embarrass you, just drink it or have it with a steak.
Well done to the wine maker, a wine to order by the case because at £7 a bottle its excellent value.
I’ve tried a few mexican wines and they have generally been good bt I can’t figure out if I like this Abolengo de Don Juan, Syrah or not. Its a bit like the chinese wines I’ve tried, a little one dimensional but not necessarily in a bad way, just different to what you may get in a french Syrah.
This is fruit driven, loads of blackcurrant with a little blueberry and herbaceous notes. Its like an adults Ribena with a little twist. Its dry and in your face but with a lump of red meat its OK.
Just because it comes from an area that you may not associate with wine making is not reason to write a wine off, this is a good example. Not great but not bad either. At £45 a bottle its way over priced though.
Abolengo de Don Juan, Syrah, 2016, Mexico
There’s lots of New Zealand Pinot Noir out there, some cheap and some expensive and this Crossroads, Milestone Series is a cheaper one, under £10 a bottle. It dry, pretty smooth, light with aromas of redcurrant, tobacco hints that are followed by flavours of strawberries and hints of plum and vanilla.
It’s what you would have mid week or as a second bottle at an evening dinner party. It’s nice but not excellent.
Crossroads, Milestone Series, Pinot Noir, 2016, New Zealand
Tbilvino, Khvanchkara from Georgia is an interesting red wine, its meant to be sweet but personally I think its medium red but what really hits you is the jaminess and red fruit, its got a massive amount of flavour, redcurrant, strawberry, cherry, its amazing the amount in there.
I had this over a few evenings and it did grow on me, apparently Stalin enjoyed this wine!
Tbilvino, Khvanchkara, 2016, Georgia
We went to Hartenberg on our last trip to the Western Cape, South Africa and its still as great as when we first tried. There’s a big hit of petroleum on the nose with hints of ripe tropical fruit. Its an off dry riesling that comes across sweeter on the taste with floral, pear, tropical fruits it there. The texture is fuller than many white wines but below that of a traditional german Riesling. Excellent with a vegetarian sweet and sour meal and at £13 a bottle, fair value.
Hartenberg, Occasional Riesling, 2016, South Africa
Morrisons and the other supermarkets can do some excellent drink now wines, Morrisons ports have won gold and silver medals at Decanter. This Priorat is bold, dry and pretty smooth with well integrated tannins. Aromas of blackberry, chocolate and herbs and flavours of cherry, plum with a bit of raspberry.
Its not the greatest red Priorat but that said for £10 its very good, solid bronze medalist in my humble opinion.
Morrisons, The Best Priorate, 2016, Spain
A silver medalist at the Decanter world wine awards in 2018 this Domaine L’Argenteille, la Roche des Fees Terrasses Du Larzac red with 40% Syrah, 30% Mourvedre, 30% Cardigan and 10% Grenache is quite a mouthful.
Big hit of red cherry and redcurrant on the nose that follows through on the taste with a little spice. It’s very dry and pretty bold with a decent amount of finish. It’s the dry cherry finish that seems to take over. Have with food, pizza or meat dishes and its good or wait a day for it to open up and become smoother to have on its own. £12 a bottle it’s decent value.
Domaine de l’Argenteille, Terrasses du Larzac, 2016, Languedoc, France