Franchini, Valpolicella Classico Superiore Sedèse, 2017, Italy
Oohh this a great example of Valpolicella Classico from Italy. There are red and black fruit aromas with a dry, medium tannins and good length in the flavours. It’s a firm but soft red wine that lends itself to red meat meals or cheese and biscuits in front of a wood fire.
At £20 a bottle it’s not cheap but for a Decanter Silver medal winner it’s a fair price.
Royal Tokaji, Late Harvest, 2017, Hungary
Late harvest wines can be very sweet and you are seduced by the sugar. This one from Royal Tokaji is more balanced better finesse. There are aromas of peach, blossom you get ripe tropical fruits on the palate it’s a grown up dessert wine that’s pretty damn good and the best bit, £11 at majestic you can’t go wrong. It’s the Goldilocks of dessert wines, good price, excellent taste.
Chet & Waveney, Solaris, 2017, Norfolk, UK
Chet & Waveney is in Norfolk in the UK and has been making wine for a while and for a while its been good stuff. In the last year they have built a new winery and expanded. This white is made with the Solaris grape and while from 2017, its still excellent.
Its light on the nose but has favours of goosebery, lemon, lime and grapefruit with decent length and freshness that you can’t help but want another glass. its not complicated or fussy.
This is what I like about english wine, its just enjoyable.
This red from Languedoc is a pretty bold, tannic wine. Very dry with peppery notes and spice on the nose. You do get red fruit on the flavour front with reasonable fruit levels coming through but I would definitely recommend having this with food juicy steak or tomato pasta would be ideal.
At about £10 a bottle is decent value.
TerraNoble, Lahuen, 2017, Chile
Chilean wine is great stuff in general, this red from Terranoble is excellent. This red has aromas of red fruit, oak and spice notes. the flavours are well integrated the smoothness is quite wonderful.
Of course there’s a but here and its with the price. £30 a bottle is way too much.Its very good but half it and its worth getting.
Chateau Bonhomme, Mademoiselle, Minervois, 2017, France
South West France produce lots of wine and this blend of Grenache, Syrah, Carignan and Cinsault from Chateau Bonhomme is half decent. Bold, dry and plenty of tannins. There’s spice, oak and lots of red fruit on the nose that come through on the flavour and are join with plum and pepper notes.
Its a good wine which needs food to really balance out some of the harshness. Steak or tomato based foods are the ones to go for with this red.
Bardfield, Anne of Cleves, 2017, Essex, UK
We have visited Bardfield and its an english vineyard that make great easy drinking summer wines. Made with the Bacchus grape you get fresh citrus on the nose and in the taste that’s joined by a lime and lemon under note. It has good length its clean fresh taste makes this a great white wine to just drink on a hot summers day watching the world go by.
At £12 a bottle its what you pay for english white wine. A shame in some ways as the price will put some people off.
Zambartas, Rosé, 2017, Cyprus
This was quite a surprise, not so much that its from Cyprus as most countries have the ability to make excellent wine but that the flavour is so good.
Made with Cabernet Franc and Lefkada (I had not heard of that one before) its a deep red for a rosé, this is no weedy Provence rosé. Dry with light red fruit aromas, the surprise is the range of flavours, strawberries, raspberries, melon, cherry. Its a clean, fresh wine that really is a delight to drink. At £13 a bottle its not cheap but thats price for quality.
Maipo valley produces a lot of Chilean wine and most of it is actually really good, it’s consistent. I think this is a really good example Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon although not sure the Gran Reserva label adds to the taste.
It’s a dry red thats pretty bold with firm tannings. The aromas of red fruit, leather and a slight smokiness on the nose which is joined by plum and oak on the taste which has good length and under £10 a bottle this is really good value definitely ones are having especially with a lump of meat, game bird or tomato pasta dish.
Indomita, Gran Reserva, Cabernet Sauvignon, 2017, Maipol, Chile
Beyra, Superior Tinto, 2017, Portugal
Portuguese wine has got an excellent reputation for quality because even the so-called bad wines are cut above other countries wines of similar type. This one from Beyra is different.
It’s a bold and dry why red but at the same time really rather smooth with reasonable nose of red fruit hints of liquorice a well integrated tannins that are apparent when you taste it. You get hints of chocolate and liquorice, oak and spice. It’s not that there’s a lot necessary going on, but what you get is well integrated.
I really liked this wine, it only got a bronze at the 2019 the Decanter World Wine Awards but I think it was worth a lot more, maybe not gold but crumbs a silver surely.