Chateau Ste Michelle, Syrah, 2017, Columbia Valley, USA
The U.S. can produce up notch wine and this Syrah from Chateau Ste Michelle in the Columbia Valley is a good example. It’s a bold, dry red with aromas of black fruit, oak and chocolate with earthy notes. The flavours are well integrated with softness of plum, cherry and blackberry with licorice and herb hints.
Easy drinking yet perfect with a steak and under £20 it’s a compelling wine to try.
Each year Framingham in Suffolk host a sausage festival. In a good year about 10,000 people are expected to be there. This year the co-op hosted a VIP wine tasting with host Alison from www.wineathome.co.uk and Jane and Peter from Toppesfield Vineyard. There were 6 wines, a Cava, a prosecco, an English white a rose, an Australia Cab Sav and a Chilian Carmenere.
All the wines were good examples. The Cava was light with subtle tropical fruit flavours and breast notes. The prosecco was, well prosecco. I preferred to drink the Cava as it had more depth and flavours. The Toppesfield English Bacchus was truly excellent, it gets more flavours and refined each month I try it. The Shawsgate rose was pretty good, decent red fruit aromas and not as over powering on the taste buds as the colour might suggest. I’m a big Provence rose fan and the darker roses are usually my glass of wine. The 2 reds were a surprise. Carmenere was fruity, a bit of spice and vanilla thrown in, very happy I was. The Cab Sav was a JC moment, possibly the best was served last and one of the best reds I’ve tasted in a long time. Great black and red fruit aromas and flavours, firm but not over powering tannins, long finish and at £9 a bottle very reasonable.
Alison from www.wineathome.co.uk talking about sparkling wine
Co-op wines tried at the Framingham Sausage Festival