Tag Archives: wine review

Beaujolais Villages ‘Combe aux Jacques’ 2012 Review

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This wine is a ruby/purple colour and it has delicious aromas of fruits and a delicate freshness. The wine is ripe, savoury and juicy. It has raspberry and cherry flavours. It is medium bodied, reasonably priced and delicious. It also has a hint of savoury liquorice. Because this wine comes from Gamay grapes it can be drunk slightly chilled.

red wine review.

This wine can be drunk young but it will also age well for the next two-three years.

Enjoy with: slow-cooked pork belly, grilled & roasted red meats, salads & picnic, also perfect with pate, charcuterie or crusty French bread. Also ideal as an aperitif.

Available from Tesco, Waitrose, Budgens,

 

Contino Reserva 2007 Wine Review

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This is a very classic red wine, ruby red in colour and clean with a fruity intensity. It has hints of strawberry, blueberry, vanilla and balsamic.

Established in 1973, this was the first Rioja region wine to be made in a single vineyard. Contino Reserva 2007 has great depth and flavour. It is medium bodied and stays on the tongue long after in a nice way. It is light with fresh acidity and silky tannins. This is a delicious wine, perfect for even fussy wine drinkers. It is pricey, usually more than £20 per bottle but worth splashing out on for a special treat. Available from Tesco and Waitrose.

fresh acidity, red wine, wine review

Goes with: grilled & roasted red meats, casseroles/stews, mature strong cheese and roast suckling pig.

 

Villa Maria Private Bin Sauvignon Blanc 2013 Review

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Villa Maria Private Bin Sauvignon Blanc 2013 is a sophisticated wine. Probably why they served it at the BAFTAs. Don’t let that stop you enjoying it regularly. This wine is perfect for every occasion. This wine is a brilliant, easy-to-drink sauvignon blanc. Perfect for every occasion. It is vibrant and has nuances of gooseberry, passion-fruit, fresh lime and melon.

Villa Maria Private Bin Sauvignon Blanc 2013 wine review

This wine is polished and pure with a good, long finish and with no horrible aftertaste. A good way to describe this wine is yummy. A good fail-safe for dinner parties too.

Enjoy with fish/shellfish, salads & picnics, mild creamy cheeses and grilled seasonal vegetables and seafood

Drink from now up to two years. ABV: 13%

Available from Tesco and Sainsbury’s

 

Gallo Family Vineyards Summer White Wine Review

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Gallo Family Vineyards Summer White is quite a wonderful thing to review in the spring, as it gives you a reminder of what summer is, a very vague memory at the moment.Gallo Family Vineyards Summer White Wine Review

The sweet wine’s grenache grapes have been ripened in Californian. The wine tastes like a lovely summery day in California. The wine has cherry and raspberry flavours and is light, crisp and confident.

Lighter and fresher in style than other white wines and with an alcohol content of only 5.5% volume; it is much easier to just enjoy without getting too drunk. Light in body and alcohol content with a wonderful freshness. It is also fruity with delightful flavours of ripe apple, pear and citrus. There are also subtle and gentle floral notes.

It is only 60 calories per 100ml and 75 calories for 125ml so it’s gentle on the waistline.

I loved this summery white wine. It is not acidic and doesn’t have a horrible aftertaste. An impressive summery white.

Goes with: Indian cuisine, pasta, fish, light white meats and dishes, and salads.

Gallo Family Vineyards Summer White has an RRP of £6.99 and is available from UK retailers including ASDA, Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons and Co-op. For more information please visit www.gallofamily.co.ukor Facebook page www.facebook.com/GalloFamilyVineyardsUK

 

Errazuriz Aconcagua Costa Chardonnay 2011 Wine Review

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Errazuriz AC Chardonay2011Errazuriz Aconcagua Costa Chardonnay 2011 is a high-quality, sophisticated chardonnay. It is not sweet, It is dry with a smooth texture. It tastes great and has lots of exotic, tropical stone fruit in the form of apricot and peach, along with touches of quince and honey. It has white floral notes accompanied by a hint of truffle.

The wine is a pale yellow color with greenish tints. The grapes are 100% Chardonnay and naturally occurring yeast in the grape skins are used instead of cultivated yeasts. There is also a taste of oak due to the subtle use of 10% French oak. This is a well balanced wine. There is also a rich creaminess.

The intense fruit and acidity ensures it has great cellaring potential but enjoy it within the next two-to-five years to let the further integration of oak and fruit.

Enjoy with grilled or roasted white meat, fish/shellfish, pizza, pasta, salads and mild, creamy cheeses.

 

£14.95 from  majestic.co.uk

Cune Barrel Fermented 2012 Wine Review

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cunebarrelfermented2012We have been lucky enough to review a lot of wine and this Cune Barrel Fermented 2012 is one of our favourites. A fresh and balanced wine which doesn’t have the terrible acidity that lesser white wines tend to have. Although this is a young wine it still had the class and refinement of an older wine. A lot of effort has been put into this wine and you can tell.

A manual selection of grapes are picked at their optimum point of ripeness. Once in the winery, the grapes are cold macerated for 6-8 hours to creature more structure and flavour to finish the wine. The grapes are then lightly pressed and the juice transferred to new American oak casks for fermentation for between 15 to 20 days at cellar temperature, between 16 and 20 Celsius. The wine is tasted until it is at it’s optimum moment to rack and bottle.

100% Viura, the dry white wine has a toasty richness and is balanced by crisp, fresh, citrus characters.  A soft, aromatic wine that goes beautifully with poultry dishes, smoked fish and makes a particularly good partner to paella.

This wine is now a favourite of mine and I will be buying it again. It is fresh, crisp, dry and has a wonderful citrus character. Great flavour.

RRP £9.49, Waitrose, Christopher Piper Wines, Eynsham Cellars, Luvians

 

Jacob’s Creek Sparkling Rosé Cuvee

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jacobscreekroseI rarely get sent Rosé to review, which is a shame as it is my favourite type of wine.

The problem with some Rosé is that it is too sweet (although I tend to have a higher tolerance for sweet wine than other people I know) and it tends to knock the balance of the wine off. Luckily Jacob’s Creek Sparkling Rosé Cuvee is not too sweet, it is just the right amount.

It is a refreshing sparkling wine which has a great taste. I reviewed it with someone who is always harsh when reviewing Rosé and even they loved it.

It is a grown up Rosé, one for the sophisticated palate. Not sickening, but a beautiful pink colour, a delicate and fresh berry flavour and chardonnay and pinot noir grapes. Recommended this Christmas and beyond: a very good sparkling wine. Frost Loves….

The Jacob’s Creek Sparkling Rosé is a non-vintage wine made from selected Jacob’s Creek Chardonnay and Jacob’s Creek Pinot Noir grapes displaying delicate fresh berry flavours and an attractive pink colour. It’s the perfect wine for raising a glass when celebrating the arrival of the New Year.

Price: £10.39 (approx) from Sainsbury’s, Waitrose, Mark’s & Spencers and Tesco

Domaine Vintur Cuvee Le Gentleman 2011 Wine Review

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Domaine-Vintur-Le-Gentleman-wine reviewI am fussy about red wine. Some of it just tastes like acid and gives me a headache. So was Domaine Vintur Cuvee Le Gentleman 2011 (£14) drinkable? Yes, more than. It is a very good, full bodied red wine with a great taste and no bad aftertaste. It has a bit of spice and is well balanced. It has ripe, dark fruits and a good balancing of acidity,

This lightly oaked wine has full, fresh tastes of cherry and red fruit. It is a very fruity red wine. It has lots of flavour and does not have the acid-like aftertaste I feel some red wines have. It is also dominated by grenache.

My favourite thing about this wine is that it is not too heavy. It is just fresh and light and full of flavour. Worth every pound of the 14 it cost.

The wine is dedicated to all the cyclists who have climbed Mon Ventoux – one of the most famous final ascents in Tour de France history by the English owner of the estate Graham Shore.

What They Say.

Cuvée Le Gentleman 2011, Appellation AOC Ventoux

Our flagship red wine, made from grapes selected from the best and oldest vines. 70% Grenache, 15% Syrah, 10% Mourvèdre and 5% Carignan. Aged for 20 months before bottling with a light touch of oak.

The wine is complex. It has a round nose rich in woodland fruit, with a hint of oak. The palate is full and succulent, with fresh cherries and notes of the garrigue -Provençal herbs- and spice. Its tannins complement the length and balance of the sweet wild fruit and give a rounded full finish.

It is named to honour all the men who have ridden up Mont Ventoux by bike and to celebrate Bradley Wiggins’ Tour de France win in 2012. It is a wine to enjoy with meats, cheeses and on its own. Ready to drink now but with aging potential.