Tag Archives: bargainbooze

Old wines in interesting bottles at Winerack

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Borgo Magredo - great wine in an attractive flask

Borgo Magredo – great wine in an attractive flask

The big wine retailer Conviviality, which includes Bargain Booze and Wine Rack, is offering a series of wines which are veering towards the unusual.

Their autumn wine tasting, held last week (7 September 2016) had a wide variety of wines from unlikely countries. A Slovenian 2015 Gomilla Sauvignon Blanc (£10.99) was being offered alongside a Chinese2015 Chateau Changyu Moser XV Cabernet Sauvignon (£10.99). The Slovenian wine was light and fruity. The Chinese wine was slightly too dry for my palate, but it is the sort of thing that guests would be keen to try..

There are some really pretty flask-shaped wine bottles from Italy. The 2015 Fruliano Borgo Magedo, Friuli Grave was fruity and slightly floral with notes of grapefruit. It’s a nice wine and – it might sound a bit shallow – but when you are having a dinner party, it’s nice to have something on the table that looks interesting.

It’s worth checking out the South African wines. There are some good chenin blancs and I particularly rated the Julien Schaal Mountain Vineyards Chardonnay (£13.99) – light and slightly fruity with citrus tones. A nice thing to drink with fish, chicken breasts or just by itself.

And there are even wines with celebrity links. The 2016 MT Pinot Noir Rose (£10.99), is made by McGuigan/John Torode. John Torode is the Australian celebrity chef who does Masterchef and looks severe when contestants burn the apple crumble. Pinot noir is more normally used for Burgundy style wines and it is found in rose Champagnes. So this is a slightly unusual wine, but it would go well with prawns or a tuna salad and it is reasonably priced.

Gomila Exclusive sauvignon blanc

An exciting Slovenian cabernet sauvignon

Stylish Gins at Wine Rack

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It may often be thought of as ‘mother’s ruin’, but these days gin is becoming very popular – and not just with mums. A lot of stylish bars and pubs with a young and trendy clientele have entire racks full of different gins.

Wine Rack and Bargain Booze had their Spring tasting yesterday. And the most exciting thing was the range of superb gins. The two chains – they are part of the same organisation – sell around 140 different varieties of gin. And many of them have unusual flavours.

Gin is a neutral spirit – made from potatoes or grain or apples or just about anything which can be fermented – flavoured with juniper berries. In addition to the juniper it can have just about any other type of flavour. So gins can be quite distinctive.

The Slingsby London Dry Gin (£39.99) is flavoured with rhubarb, tea and jasmine, which makes it pleasantly smooth with a soft aroma. Chase Gin (£39.99) made in Herefordshire is distilled from apples, giving it a freshness on the palate, and is flavoured with just a hint of orange zest and liquorice.

Gins on offer at Winerack

Gins on offer at Winerack

 

Obviously not every drink will appeal to everyone. Brocks Intensely Smooth Gin (£35.99) is flavoured with blueberries and blackberries, but I felt that this made it somewhat medicinal in taste. But I particularly enjoyed the Monkey 47 Schwarzwald Dry Gin made in Germany (£39.99 for 50cl). This is flavoured with sage and verbena and ginger, and I thought it was delicious.

With so many different types of gin, it would be lovely to work your way through the lot, although if you want to get through all 140 varieties, you’ll need deep pockets and a strong liver.