Chartreuse de Bonpas, 2022, Cotes Du Rhone Villages, France
Chartreuse de Bonpas from the Cotes Du Rhone Villages area of France is a quality dry red wine that you won’t want to guzzle but sip. Long length with black and red fruit flavours, oak, tobacco and a little chocolate sit in the background. Firm but well integrated tannins and a softness that’s just rounds the package off. Delightful. At £12 a bottle it’s a bargain.
Famille Arnaud, Quart du Roi, 2021, Rhone, France
Made in the Rhone style, this Dry red wine from Famille Arnaud is a good quality red made to be just drunk. Sarah, Grenache and bit of Mourvedre and Counoise make up a classic blend with good length, grippy tannins and decent black and red fruit flavours. Its got a bronze at the Decanter World Wine awards 2024 which is a fair mark. Drink with a lump of red meat or tomato pasta.
I much prefer Crémant’s to Champagne for their easier and fresher drinking style and this Crémant D’alsace from Aldi is a rather good example. Dry, fresh with notes of strawberry and raspberry. Its £10 at Aldi which makes this an easy choice. A step up from the usual Prosecco.
This is a classic Bordeaux white wine, its a blend of 60% Sauvignon Blanc, 25% Sémillon and 15% Muscadelle. Dry, crisp, with ripe pineapple, citrus and very fruity it needs a second glass to get that refreshing hit which others have commented on. At £12 a bottle it’s not amazing value or gold medal winning but it’s worth trying. Think based spec Ford Focus.
Patient Cottat
Pouilly-Fumé Anciennes Vignes
Pouilly Fume is quite wonderful when made right, by that I mean there’s complexity, subtlety and elegance which this one from Patient Cottat gives a good stab at. It’s not outstanding, it’s dry and light with plenty of flavours of citrus, honey and notes of stone fruits with a splash of smokiness. It does lack subtlety and it’s not got that french elegance but it’s only £16, which for Pouilly Fume is reasonable. Summer BBQ’s and sipping in the sun are recommended to go with this wine.
Veuve Ambal, Cremant de Bourgogne, Grande Cuvee NV, Burgundy, France
I like crémants because they tend to be fresh and vibrant, more fruit driven rather than toasty notes driven. This one from Veuve Ambal, Burgundy in a good example. Clean and fresh with citrus and just a hint of grapefruit it’s lovely to sip in the sun, watching the world drift by. At £30 a bottle it’s not cheap, more silver than gold, but worth trying.
J. de Villebois, Sancerre Rosé, 2021, France
Can you get a bad bottle of Sancerre? well this rosé from J. de Villebois is not going to let the side down. Dry, crisp but nice and light it has refreshing flavours and aroma of strawberries and hints of raspberry and citrus with a minerality which pins it all together.
The downside is its price which at £25 a bottle is rather steep. its good but not £25 a bottle good
CO OP, Les Pionniers, rosé Champagne is rather good, it’s very drinkable. Dry with plenty of fruit it’s not a bready Champagne but more cremant style. Raspberry and hints of strawberries and redcurrant it’s one to sip in the garden on a summer’s evening. We’ll done CO OP.
Averys, Fine White Burgundy, 2019, France
Averys is a well known and respected wine supplier and I was so looking forward to their own label Fine White Burgundy. The smell was wonderful, creamy lees with citrus hits the nose. The wine is dry, soft and unfortunately lacking is any real taste. It just tastes flat and pretty non descript. This is a wine you expect at £4 not at over £20.
Alain Grignon, Carignan, ‘Vieilles Vignes’ 2022, Pays de l’Hérault, France
Carignan is not a typical supermarket wine so it’s not appreciated enough as it can make some rather excellent and cheap 😀 wine which this one from Majestic shows. Dry with plenty of blackcurrant and cherry flavours with a hint of spice and oak. It has soft tannins and decent lengh and at £8 it’s a decent mid week drinker.