So, as I said recently, I received a £40-off voucher for Virgin Wines so I thought I'd make the most of it!
Taking my own advice for picking a mixed case (see here:) I thought I'd push the boat out a bit and go for some impressive-sounding bottles. Without the £40-off I'd have probably looked to average about £7.50 a bottle (e.g. some £5 bottles, some £7.50 bottles and some £10 bottles to even it out) coming in at a case price of about £90. The beauty of the £40-off meant I could average £10.83 a bottle but still pay only £7.50 a bottle.
I wanted this case to be about discovery. There's a lot of new ground covered here for D and myself. All prices are before the discount (after discount they work out to be an average bottle price of just £7.57!)
So, here's what I went for...
1. Sparkler – Ridgeview Cuvee Merret Grosvenor Blanc de Blancs 2006, £18.99. English sparkling wine from Surrey, but made in the traditional method like Champagne. A recent award winner in the Decanter World Wine Awards.
2. Rose – Chateau du Seuil, Bordeaux Rose, 2008, £8.99. A Welsh connection here! This Chateau was bought by a Welsh couple in the 80s and is now run by their daughter and husband. Even has the Welsh dragon on the bottle!
3. The “off the wall” one – The Seventh Row, Petit Verdot, South Africa, 2010, £7.99 I've never had pure Petit Verot before and normally only seen it in Bordeaux blends so I thought this would be a good one to expand the old horizons!
4. Something for the cellar (or wardrobe) – Perez Cruz, Syrah Reserva Limited Edition, 2006, £13.99. A cool-climate Syrah from Maipo Valley in Chile. Cellarable for up to 10 years so drink by 2016. Hopefully this will mature nicely?
5. Old World White #1 – Miudino Albarino, Spain, 2009, £9.49. An Albarino from Rias Baixas. We've tasted one of these before in a tasting. That one was like peach schnapps so I wonder if this one will be the same.
6. Old World White #2 – Chibet Chardonnay, Vin Pays d'Oc, 2006, £6.99. The warmer climate of Southern France should lead to more fruit and less minerality than a Chablis or White Burgundy so this might resemble more New World styles of Chardonnay. We'll see...
7. Old World Red #1 – Vinzelo, VinhoTinto, Douro, DOC, 2008, £6.99. A Portuguese appelation. Red blend of Touriga Nacional and some other indigenous grapes I beleive.
8. Old World Red #2 – San Felice, Chianti Classico, DOCG, 2006, £11.99. A classic food wine. Hailing from Italy's Tuscany region, Chiantis are normally 80 to 100% Sangiovese.
9. New World White #1 – Devil's Peak, Special Edition Chenin Blanc, 2008, £7.99. The Cape region of SA is supposed to do Chenin very well indeed.
10. New World White #2 – Vina Leyda, Single Vineyard Riesling, 2008, £9.99. From Chile's Leyda Valley, a recognised "terroir" now producing great wines with a sense of where they are from. Again, we'll see...
11. New World Red #1 – Beneficio, McLaren Vale, Single Vineyard Shiraz-Viognier, 2008, £16.49. From the outstanding McLaren Vale region of Oz. They produce some amazing Shiraz and the Viognier should give this a "lift".
12. New World Red #2 –Fabre Montmayou, Patagonia Barrel Selection Malbec, 2007, £10.99. I scored this producer's Mendoza Malbec Gran Reserva very highly so I was interested to see what the Patagonia -grown Malbec would be like. Again, a Welsh connection - there are a colony of Welsh speaking folk in Patagonia!
So that's it. After the discount £90.88 spent, £7.57 a bottle! Not bad as there's some expensive bottles in there! I'll review these as we get through them. I'm looking forward to them all so...it won't be long!
Speak to you soon.
Cheers
WBFTF
No comments:
Post a Comment