Wine Tastings
| Style | Red |
|---|---|
| Country | Spain |
| Region | Rioja |
| Grape | Tempranillo |
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Rioja ‘Edicion Limitada’, Montecillo
£23.95
70% Tepranillo 30% Graciano
A fine example of modern Rioja from an estate that is really firing on all cylinders. Unlike most traditional Rioja’s, this is aged in mainly French oak barrels (as opposed to American oak); the finer grain on the oak retains, and emphasises the richness of the wines, so you get more concentrated, dark fruit flavours.
Full-bodied, smooth and decadent, this is a really impressive wine (lots of accolades…94pts Decanter etc). A good wine for steaks and BBQ as well as strong hard cheeses.
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Shrinking Violet Old Vine Syrah, Boris Kovac
Made from old Syrah vines in the l'Herault region of the south of France, this is a real bargain. The wine spends some time in toasty new oak which complements the lovely juicy, dark Syrah flavours nicely.
A good wine to take to someone's house when you don't know what you're eating and when the host may just take the bottle and put it out of sight..bt if it did get opened, everyone would love it.
A nice name, a pretty label and tastes much more expensive than it is...a win all round!
St. Chinian ‘La Laouzil’, Thierry Navarre
Carignan/Grenache/SyrahThierry Navarre has a dozen hectares of vines planted on dark brown schist terraces around Roquebrun. The achingly beautiful countryside is an amphitheatre of small mountains clad in a sea of green, a forest of small trees and bushes and the familiar clumps of fragrant rosemary and thyme which captures the scented spirit of the high Languedoc. The culture in the vines revolves around the respect for the soil, the cycles, the seasons. No chemical products are used, simply composting, natural preparation, plant infusions and working the soil. The harvest is manual and carried out by a small team.
This wine is full of red fruits, liquorice tones and plenty of herbs and spice, yet is unforced, supple and fresh.A proper southern French wine to accompany roast lamb or great with some good sausages or a hearty stew.
Ata Rangi Pinot Noir
Ata Rangi, meaning ‘dawn sky, new beginning’ is owned and managed by Clive Paton, his wife Phyll and his sister Alison. In 1980 Clive planted the bare, stony, home paddock at the edge of Martinborough, becoming one of a handful of people who pioneered grape growing in the area. Ata Rangi’s first vineyard covered less than five hectares on deep, free-draining alluvial gravels – the original course of a local river which flows from the hills that flank the eastern side of the valley. Today they are joined by a strong team including winemaker Helen Masters, who in 2019 was awarded New Zealand Winemaker of the Year by Gourmet Traveller WINE magazine, as recognition of her 16 years’ work at Ata Rangi.Ata Rangi is renowned for its Pinot Noir and is widely regarded as New Zealand’s top Pinot Noir producer. They were awarded Five Stars in the ‘2019 Great New Zealand Pinot Noir Classification’ by Matthew Jukes and Tyson Stelzer for the consistent gold medal standard of their wines. At the 2010 International Pinot Noir Conference, Ata Rangi Pinot Noir was one of two producers granted the title of ‘Tipuranga Teitei o Aotearoa’ (which translates from Māori as ‘Great Growth of New Zealand’ or ‘Grand Cru’), in recognition of their unique site and of the family’s commitment to evolving and developing New Zealand Pinot Noir. The oldest Pinot Noir vines, which include a clone allegedly smuggled from Burgundy, were planted in 1980.This is one of my favourite Pinot Noirs from anywhere! I love the slightly savoury style of Martinborough Pinot and no-one does it better than Ata Rangi.I would drink this with anything but roast pork belly with fennel seeds springs to mind as a match made in heaven.
Amarone, Musella
Musella make very special wines! What makes them unique is that they look for harmony and balance in the wine, not just power and intensity. Don't get me wrong, this is still a full-bodied wine, made with dried grapes in the usual way, but it isn't too intense or too alcoholic like a lot of modern Amarone. This is deliciously drinkable; more than one glass won't knock you out! Maddalena Pasqua is passionate about her vineyards and the land on which she lives; she makes wines that shine with this love. All the vineyards and farmed Biodynamically and the wines made by hand.
A great wine to finish the meal and can accompany a range of cheeses including complex Cheddars such as Montgomery or Pitchfork, or soft blues like Beauvale.
Chateauneuf-du-Pape ‘Les Safres’, Le Clos du Caillou’
The much-lauded Le Clos du Caillou produces classic Châteauneuf-du-Pape wines that just keep getting better, year-on-year. The domaine is situated on the edge of Châteauneuf-du-Pape and is unique in that, in 1936, the owner (who was then away at a hunting retreat) refused to allow the experts who were drawing up the boundaries of the appellation to visit his domaine. Thus, it was not included in the delimited area and remains to this day an enclave within the Châteauneuf-du-Pape appellation. The domaine practices biodynamic farming techniques and was certified "Agriculture Biologique" in 2010 and "Vin Biologique" in 2012. Their trademark style lies in full-bodied wines with rich red fruit flavours, velvety texture and fine tannins.Les Safres is 95% Grenache with the rest Mourvedre, Cinsault & Vaccarese. Not too heavy for a Chateauneuf but great intensity of pure spicy dark fruit. Really impressive.
Botanica Pinot Noir, Botanica Wines
Botanica Wines was founded in 2009 by owner and self-taught winemaker Ginny Povall, an intrepid American who fell in love with the beautiful Cape winelands She purchased Protea Heights Farm in Stellenbosch’s Devon Valley and relocated to the southern tip of Africa. Established in the late 1940s, Protea Heights was the first farm in South Africa to cultivate indigenous protea flowers commercially. Inspired by this horticultural history, it was only natural that Ginny would choose to develop her wine brands and labels with a botanical flair. It was a real joy when Ginny visited us last year, to share her wines with us and our customers at the shop; her warmth and humour really come through in her winemaking, giving them real personality. This small production Pinot Noir is considered one of South Africa’s best; lovely perfume and that perfect balance between fruitiness and elegance.
