Supermarket Sweeps - Six for £60 - The Co-operative Part 2

Hello All,

 

 

Welcome to the second part of my new series, where I'll be rummaging through the supermarket shelves in search of quality wines for a reasonable price. The remit is; 6 bottles for a grand total of £60 or less. This week, still with the Co-operative, but reds. You can read part 1 here, where the whites had a particularly good start. Can the reds keep up? Let's see... Oh and don't forget to follow me on Twitter for further little nuggets of wine-related stuff.

 

The Magnificent Wine Company, Steak House Cabernet Sauvignon, 2007

£9.49. Magnificently named also! This hails from the Columbia Valley AVA (American Viticultural Area) in Washington State. This was chosen on the basis of the the cool-ish climate of this region. Ah, who am I trying to kid, the attractive bottle artwork did it for me! 13.5%

The Look: A deep black/purple, fading to a slight tawny rim, almost completely opaque.

The Smell: Initially, pure blackcurrant fruit and some cedary/oaky woodiness, but developed a complex nose of plum, leather and coffee bean while maintaining the blackcurrant fruit.

The Taste: Slightly austere at first with grippy tannin, some blackcurrant fruit and slight bitterness but then flourished into dark fruit, mocha, softer tannin but still with some grip, plum and some spice. Enough acidity to balance it out too. On the back of that, I'd decant for an hour or two before hand if we had it again.

The Score: Good stuff, complex, plenty of fruit and some bottle-age complexity. Lovely. 7.5/10. Recommended

VFM: At £9.49 this is still good value at VFM = 0.79

Yalumba, Bush Vine Grenache, Barossa Valley, 2008

£9.99. A household Australian brand, Yalumba make an extensive range of wines, from entry-level £6 wines to classy £50+ wines in the heart of the Barossa Valley, a region more well known for its Shiraz, but Grenache is making headway.  14.5%

The Look: Dark purple core, dark ruby rim, translucent.

The Smell: Vanilla, raspberries and spicy dark fruit with some oak influence.

The Taste: Spicy red fruits, raspberry and cherry in abundance, vanilla and a long finish. Warming, with oaky sweet fruit but acidity to balance it.

The Score: Great. 7.5/10. Recommended

VFM: At £9.99  this is  good value at VFM = 0.75.

Torres, Gran Coronas Cabernet Sauvignon, Penedes, 2006

£7.99. You may remember that we're fans of Torres. They produce a great range of wines at very reasonable prices (but also some high-end stuff). The flavour per £ is almost unbeatable. Nice bit of bottle age on this one, being a 2006, coupled with the Torres name meant I had to try it...Cabernet Sauvignon with a touch of Tempranillo, this is aged in oak and given a bit more special treatment than their entry-level wines. 14%).

The Look: Deep black-purple, plum rim, opaque.

The Smell: Delicious smells of dark berries, vanilla, oak, some black cherry and a mild woody spice.

The Taste: Mouth-filling texture, slightly furry tannins, soft, with lots of blackcurrant and black cherry fruit. Warm with creamy vanilla. Despite the age it still needs a year or two to soften the tannins and I wonder if it has enough acidity to cope, but it was nicely integrated by the second glass and by the last it was delicious. 7.5/10. Recommended

VFM: At £7.99 this is great value VFM = 0.94.

So, in summary: A little on the high-end of this budget series, but still, EVERY bottle was under £10 and EVERY bottle was a recommended wine. That is something. The thing that struck me about Co-op's reds was the average bottle age. Lots of wines are fairly mature, with a good bit of bottle age lending complexity. Good on them. Their storage must be sufficient; not a faulty bottle in sight among these six, or the previous visit for some reds.

If you're after something a little more extravagant there were some Cru Bourgeois Bordeaux bottles from 2003 and 2004 (Chateau Senejac 2004 £15.99), some 2004 Petit Verdot from the US and a host of others. In the whites there were some attractively priced Chablis and Burgundy plus some Muscadet sur Lie that I might just pick up next time I'm there.

Overall a superb performance from the Co-op. This will be the one to beat...


Next time; Tesco!

As always, speak to you soon!

Cheers

WBFTF

Majestic Wine - Recommended Whites

Hello all,

Welcome to the second part of the Majestic recommendations, if you missed last week's Recommended Reds then you can find it here:

We've had some superb whites lately from Majestic and it's worth keeping your eye on them for 20%-off offers that they regularly do. What made these stand out was the added dimension of complexity, either from lees-aging, barrel fermenting or just plain old good winemaking! There's so much more than just fruity plonk from a damn-good white wine, and I think Majestic carry a good range for very little money, in the grand scheme of things. If you're not keen on whites then I suggest you give some of these a try; hopefully they'll change your mind...

Anyway, without further ado, here are the best we've had in the past few weeks...

First up, three great Chardonnays from around the globe:

From South Africa was the stunning Vergelegen Chardonnay 2010 (13.5% and I can't remember how much, but about £11 I think). Awesome smells of honeyed fruit, mint leaves, nutty and creamy, stony fruit and D could smell mown-grass. On the palate it displayed that smoked ham and cheese characteristic of a good barrel-aged Chardonnay (like Applewood smoked cheese!), the sweetness of ripe peach and a slight lemon zing. It developed more fruit, apricot, honey, vanilla and almond with time. Purity, balance, restraint and elegance are all fluffy wine "buzzwords" but, thinking about it, they really do make sense with this wine. Effortless drinking and great complexity 8.5/10. Very much in the same vein was the Errazuriz Wild Ferment Chardonnay 2009 (13.5%). Yeasty, bready smells coupled with honey, woodsmoke, vanilla and tropical fruit. The taste was immense, again smoked ham and cheese evident, "flinty" minerality, tropical fruit and some zingy citrus. Alcohol was apparent but not too overpowering and a slight bitter edge dropped it half a mark on the Vergelegen; giving 8/10. Finally for the Chardies, the Villa Maria Cellar Selection Chardonnay 2010 was another beaut; on the nose, citrussy sharpness mingled with wet-stone minerality, nuttiness and a herby whiff of asparagus/nettles/grass. Great complexity of taste too with plenty of acidity, a lemon/lime zing tempered by a sort of meringue-like sweetness/creaminess. Tropical fruits mixed with peach along with a woody, vanilla, oaky character with an underlying minerality. Lovely 8/10.

I'm a big fan of Italy's Alto Adige region, where the whites always exude a freshness that makes  me think of the snow-covered Alps nearby. Not letting the side down was the Stella Alpina Pinot Grigio 2009 (13.5%). Lots of lemon/lime citrus zing, searing acidity (but not in the slightest bit harsh) and superb fruit purity. Great value too (this was £7.99 on offer) 7.5/10. We've not often had many wines from the US on here (which is bordering on criminal) so I thought we'd give this a shot, from the organic Bonterra Vineyards Viognier 2008 from grapes grown in the Mendocino and Lake Counties and about £9.99. It might have been the several glasses of other wines we'd had before this talking but, this was good! Deep, bright gold in colour it smelled of lemonade, vanilla and peach. Awesome complexity on the palate with toasty, yeasty bread and pure peach nectar. I'd like to re-confirm this at some point but my pissed score is...I'm fairly sure... 9/10! (The handwriting was starting to waiver around this point). Hmmm, one to come back to I think. Lastly, the Torres Vina Esmerelda 2010 was again a pleasure. This was covered more in-depth in my Torres feature but still deserves a mention here. For about £8, this is superb. A blend of Moscatel and Gewurz it is really peachy and smooth, very drinkable with a long refreshing lemon/lime finish. Great stuff and great value 8/10.

So there you have it, some great whites from Majestic and for the most part, great value too.

As always,

Speak to you soon,

Cheers

WBFTF

A Week's Respite

Hello All!

As you may (or may not) have noticed, I did not post last week due to a week's respite. Thanks to the bank holidays and Royal Wedding we made the most of the time off, making a grand journey of 15 miles to the local Hilton, which would be our base for a few days of wine-addled relaxation.

House Champagne

We kicked the week off in style with some Champagne. D and I are trying to work out what our favourite is. We think it's Piper-Heidsieck Brut NV but we need to properly compare that to as many others as we can, just to be sure! It's an expensive search, so we don't tend to do it that often. However, being holiday-week; "When in Rome...".

We saw Piper on sale in the local Co-Operative supermarket for £17 so naturally had to grab one or two. For comparison we bought a bottle of Louis Roederer Brut Premier NV (the brand behind the £150-a-bottle Cristal) from Majestic Wine for £28 (on offer from £33).

Both were pale gold with watery-white rims. The Piper was a bit reticent, smell-wise but did display some fruit and biscuity aromas while the Loius Roederer had more honeyed fruit, Chardonnay dominated but again with a biscuity sweetness. Taste is where the Piper comes into its own; Lots of bready/biscuity tastes but absolutely stuffed with fruitiness, from citrus zing to Cidery orchard fruit. A long, delicious finish leaves a great taste in the mouth and a tingle from the popping and fizzing bubbles. Superb 8.5/10. The Louis Roederer had a less aggressive mousse but very fine. The taste was equally toasty/biscuity sweet and again had superb fruit but more citrussy and tropical from the Chardonnay (Piper has more Pinot Noir content). Mouthwatering zing and a long finish similar to a sweet Gala apple. The Louis Roederer exudes class (it even comes in a very smart box) but, finished a close second to the Piper in our books at 8/10. 

So, Piper still remains champion but there are a lot of Champagnes we haven't compared it to yet!

Eat until we burst!

On the way to the Hilton we stopped off in the Yorkshire Grey for a leisurely 3-course lunch. This is a great little place if you're in the Worcestershire area; great food, nicely presented but not pretentious or poncey in any way. They do a 2-Course lunch for £10 but we decided to go for pudding as well. I had great garlic mushrooms in creme fraiche on a crostini, beer battered fish and chips and a superbly presented cheesecake to finish. D had stuffed potato skins, a lovely lasagne and the same cheesecake. Highly recommended! I had a lovely grassy Chilean Sauv Blanc (about £4 a glass) and D had a nice oaky Aussie Shiraz (about £5). My belt was complaining about the size of my gut after this, which would unfortunately be something of a recurring theme for the rest of the week!

Settled-in at the Hilton we headed to the pool for a dip before dinner. Having worked off a small fraction of the lunch calories we sat down to dinner with a glass of...have a guess...Yes, Piper Heidsieck Brut NV (a slightly painful £8.05 a glass), delicious as ever. We both started with a very nice tomato and basil soup. D had a honey and mustard glazed gammon steak which was superb and I had a coffee-rubbed Bavette steak (I had to ask what Bavette was...turned out to be a type of cut, popular in France but more commonly known as flank or skirt steak over here!). Anyway, having fresh finely-ground coffee granules in the same mouthful as steak surprisingly worked really well together. We washed these down with a light bodied Emporium Shiraz 2009 from Sicily (13%). At £22 a bottle I fear it was priced at a 300 to 400% markup, but nevertheless enjoyable and easy-drinking. Puddings followed; a superb (and huge) chocolate macaroon for D and a summer fruit roulade for me. We swapped half way through. Again, with belt straining we retired.

A trip into Tewkesbury the following morning resulted in the discovery of a cracking little independent wine shop; "That Wine Place" on the High Street. Having re-learned that Hilton wine prices are obscene, we bought a bottle of Greyrock Hawkes Bay Pinot Noir 2008 (Marked down to £8.99 from £13.99) to consume in our room later that evening (Sshh - I don't think you're allowed to do that...?). The proprietor was even kind enough to give me a free cigar cutter when I bought a cheap cigar. This was a lively, red-fruited wine with silky texture. Decent value and very drinkable 7/10. I'll definitely return to get a bottle of Esk Valley Merlot/Cab/Malbec 2007 that was stocked there. 

The Three Choirs Vineyard

Having finally dragged D out of a second hand book shop that had, what seemed like, a million books inside we headed back to change before heading to the Three Choirs Vineyard in Newent (see D's pic below).

You can get a tour of the vineyard and a tasting of 5 (out of a selection of many) wines and also three beers and two ciders for £8. There's also a restaurant and accommodation although we opted for a simple (and free) walk around followed by the tasting (£3.50 each). As I'm not a fan of sweet wines apart from when accompanying a teeth-destroyingly sweet dessert, we opted to sample all of the dry whites, the Rosé, sparkler and of course a beer and still cider. I wasn't expecting a great deal from £8 English wine but was pleasantly surprised by a few; the 2009 Bacchus (£13.10) was bone-dry, herby and had plentiful fruit with whiffs nettles and asparagus. 7/10 We bought some. The Classic Cuveé NV Brut sparkling wine (£11) was pleasant with rich apples, pears and a sweet bread pudding finish. Nice fresh acidity. 7/10 We bought some. The winner for us however, was the 2009 Rosé; which smelled of caramel and rose petals. The taste was generous amounts of sweetish strawberries balanced by a fresh acidity. 7.5/10 and we bought some. I can also recommend the hoppy Cats Whiskers dark beer and the Medium Still Cider was great.

More Eating...

Soaking up the sun on our balcony, we decided on a pub-dinner. We found an awesome riverside pub; the Fleet Inn at Twynning, recently refurbished. Just the two courses tonight and no wine (yet) as I was driving. D had a delicious chicken/bacon salad with balsamic reduction and I had a roasted pepper and tomato soup. Both delicious. As mains, we both chose lamb. Perfectly cooked and with amazing  mash and a red wine jus. Great food, well presented and again, not poncey! With dinner polished, we returned to the hotel to drink the Pinot and crash out after a tough few days of eating, drinking and putting our feet up.

More Pinot...

Returning home we decided to finish off the week with some more Pinots stocked up from recent purchases. The first was the Robert Mondavi Napa Valley Pinot Noir 2008 (£15 Majestic Wine). I was afraid that this might have been tainted with smoke from the much-reported forest fires at the time but was happy to note that it was clean. It did however, have the most bonkers alcohol level for a Pinot that I have ever seen. 15.5%! Clearly not one for the faint hearted. Dark purple with a silky sheen this had aromas of dark cherries, raspberries, some Dr. Pepper (or root beer) type spice and alcohol. Way too apparent. The taste was initially tongue-stingingly hot, like a mouth-burning whisky, again, due to the alcohol level, but it was redeemed somewhat by the plentiful raspberry and cherry fruits. Not bad, even perhaps enjoyable overall 7/10 but someone needs to have a word with Bob! Cool it down fella!

 

A bit more sensible was the ARA Composite Pinot Noir 2008 from Marlborough. £9 from the Co-Op and 13.5%. A translucent ruby red with crimson highlights, this smelled of red berries and cherries with a hint of meatiness and leather. Truly an amazing smelling wine! The texture was silky with very fine tannins and plenty of bright red fruit. The acidity was sharp and it had a complex oaky bitterness on the finish. Not quite as good as it smelled but pretty good 7.5/10.

So that ended our week of enjoyment. Staring down the barrel of impending work now, the only salvation being that we're off to a tasting on Friday at The Oxford Wine Company.

I'll write up my findings next week.

As always,

Speak to you soon.

Cheers

WBFTF

Supermarket Sweep: Reds from the Co-Operative

Hello All!

Bit of a change of plan this week; I was due to review the Mystery Case from Laithwaites but our timetable has been a bit disjointed over the last week or two so we haven't got round to glugging them yet. However, a few friends have been recommending wines from the Co-Op recently so I decided to pop in and have look. Well, pop in and loiter in the wine section for an hour and a half... Twice.

Going back what feels like a few years ago, I used to regularly get wines form the Co-Op. That's when I was into the big brands. It's probably more than a few years by now; time goes so quick when you get older... Anyway, once I'd passed through my Blass, Hardys, Gallo et al phase, there really wasn't much else for them to offer (or so I may have thought back then) and didn't give them a second look until recently. Bloody hell, things have CHANGED! Oh, but they don't do online sales (yet?) so you'll have to do it "old-school" and get yourself down there.

Ok, so they still do the big brands; obviously, being the massive sellers they are, but there's so much more! And offers! Lots of them. At the front door I was greeted by a rack of £4 wines. I almost dismissed them in a "Pfft...four quid? Yeah right, what a load of boll...." but "Oh wait...St. Hallett Riesling? Hmmm...  2005 Cru Bourgeois Bordeaux, £7?  Prosecco, £4?  Cava Rosé, £4. I best get myself to the proper wine section, quick!". I basketted the Riesling and Bordeaux and moved swiftly on. And there I spent the next hour and a half, mesmerised.  So much so, that I had to return the following week to pick up more.

We did drink the Riesling (and it was great, 7/10, amazing for £4) but as this is a reds review, I'll keep that one for next time. Anyway, to the wines...No pictures this week I'm afraid, due to "logistics" shall we say. Some might say forgetfulness, like binning the bottles before taking pictures?

For those who like to drink with a clear conscience, the Fairtrade wines aren't too bad. The 2009 Malbec Reserva from Argentina was a decent fruity bottle with smoke, vanilla and dark berries (6.5/10). The 2009 Shiraz, also from Argentina just pipped it at 7/10 - a good value example of the grape with warming spicy berries. Both opened up with more fruitiness after an hour so give them time. Both also under £7.

The Villa Maria Private Bin Pinot Noir 2008 (£8.99) I was surprised to see. I love VM wines and don't really see them as a "Mega-Brand" although I'm probably looking through rose-tinted specs when it comes to their wines. It was however, initially a slight let-down, not in the league of their Whites but was good nonetheless with summer berries and some black cherry. Very bright, almost harsh acidity straight from the bottle but did mellow to acceptable levels after a few hours and food. It developed into a lovely wine but remained sprightly acidic. (7/10). 

If bright acidity is your bag then the Piccini Sigillo Rosso Chianti Riserva 2006 (normally £8.99 but only £5.29 on the day - bargain). This was recommended by a good friend (Cheers Willmot!) and although mouth-puckeringly acidic to start, was delicious. Showing signs of bottle age with tawny and brick red tinges to the dark ruby core, it exuded cherry and oaky spice on the nose. Again, cherry flavours dominated the palate but with raspberry, vanilla and peppery spice. A bit too acidic for my palate, but good nonetheless and a good candidate for putting away for a few years for it to mellow. Have it with food. 7/10. 

After enjoying an immense Cab Sauv from Trio (D's favourite wine!)  I spotted the Concha Y Toro Trio Merlot/Shiraz/Cab 2009 (no price for this I'm afraid but it was sub-£8). This was almost black! Very intense for a Merlot blend. Ripe, sweetish red berries in abundance and enhanced by chocolate/toffee hints. Fresh acidity and a long finish which brought out the Cab Sauv. Lovely 7.5/10. Another Merlot was recommended by a friend (thanks Ailsa!) from Chile's Rapel Valley, the Anakena Merlot 2009 (£5.99). Very light, I literally thought it was a Rosé on pouring, it looked like a fairly robust Garnacha Rosé. Plenty of strawberry and caramel on the nose and followed up by bright red fruit, sweetness but with a fresh, balancing acidity. A slight bitterness on the finish let it down, but at this price...you can't really complain? 6.5/10

The Cru Bourgeois was the Chateau Dasvin-Bel-Air 2005 (£7 on offer) and was a plummy-purple, showing some age with a brick-red rim. Blackcurrant, cherry, cedar, blackberry, graphite and oak on the complex nose and tasted very similar. Very bright acidity, plenty of tannin yet to shed and abundant fruit. I wish I'd picked up a few of these to put away for a year or two. A medicinal/menthol finish added to the complexity - delicious 7.5/10.

The Cline Californian Syrah 2005 was immense, a deep opaque purple and a lipstick rim. Immediately meaty, with loads of blackberry and pepper. Great taste, akin to a NZ Syrah, or even the Northern Rhone with pepper, spice, dark berries, full and lush. 8/10.

The Yering Station Little Yering Pinot Noir 2006 comes from a famous stable. The oldest winery in Victoria, Yering Station's top Pinots and Shiraz-Viogniers go for upwards of £50 a bottle. This "little brother" was £9.99. A nice bit of age showing although this was a young-pup. Initially, meaty forest floor odours gave way to red berries and caramel. Cherry and a cinnamon-like spice were evident. Similarly on the palate, lots of strawberry, cherry and cinnamon lead to a long finish of bright red fruit. Very bright and acidic although not in the least bit overpowering. This will last for a good few years yet and will improve well-past its 7.5/10 mark, tasting better the second day (screwcap put back on for 24hrs).

Finally, the St. Hallett Faith Shiraz 2008 from the revered Barossa Valley was a gem. £9.99 and well worth it. An intense inky-black-purple, was a bit shy at first but then fumed with blackberry, violet, caramel, toasty oak and pepper smells. On the palate it was super-concentrated; a small sip explodes in the mouth. Intense, very ripe black fruit combined with plenty of fresh acidity, some tannin and a long, warming, fruit-driven finish. Chocolate and smoothness developed after a while and was even fresh the following day (again with the cap on for 24hrs). Maybe not everybody's cup of tea; it's big, bold, powerful, intensely fruity, maybe even a much-maligned "fruit bomb" but has the complexity and quality to shed that moniker, in my humble opinion of course. 8/10.

So, there you have a small summary of some of the Reds available from Co-Op. I will return. I need to try the Whites, Rosés and Sparklers and there were still a few Reds I wanted to get but my wallet disagreed, groaning already under the strain of the bulk-buy. Of the remaining reds that showed promise were the Steakhouse Cabernet Sauvignon 2007 from Oregon USA,  EOS Petit Sirah 2006 from Paso Robles I believe, Chateauneuf du Papes 2007, 2003 Bordeaux, Montes Alpha Malbec, Barbera di Asti, more Chilean stuff; Carmen, Santa Rita 120 etc. Loads more, and that's only the reds.

I highly recommend you take a look. But don't spend an hour and a half there (twice) unless you can put up with whispers from other customers (and staff) along the lines of "Wino!", "Alky!" and "Is he nuts?". LOL.

As always,

Speak to you soon.

Cheers

WBFTF

Tesco Delicious Dozen final part...

Welcome to the final part of the Tesco "Delicious Dozen" review. If you're not familiar with the Blog then please see my other posts over to the right and down a bit in the Blog Archive, and read my welcome notice here: 

Ok, so these were again served up blind, without me seeing the bottles. Bit of a disappointing end to the case this...First up the two reds, or so we tried...

Faustino Rivero, Rioja Reserva "Black Label", 2003

Really looking forward to this...13%

The Look: Beautiful brick red with signs of brown showing its age.

The Smell: Urgh. Not good. Musty, dusty, old cardboard. Off.

The Taste: Not good. Musty, dusty, old cardboard. Off.

The Score: Disappointingly off - corked. 1/10 Corked.

VFM: N/A.

 

The Stonewalker, Cabernet Sauvignon, South Africa, 2009

14%. Again, looking forward to this one, but again...

The Look: A really deep hue of purple.

The Smell: FFS! Off again! Musty cardboard, bad cork.

The Taste: Horrible cork taint.

The Score: Bleurgh.  1/10  Corked.

VFM: N/A

 

Lets hope the whites do a bit better...

Jacktone Ranch, Viognier Reserve, California, 2008

A stable mate of the red in the earlier Tesco review. 13.5% alcohol this one.

The Look: Again, a typical pale, mid-yellow.

The Smell: Floral and perfumed, grapefruity.

The Taste: Smooth, but with an almost "bubbly" acidity. Long finish of mellon and grapefruit. Refreshing. Was great with our cod fillets and parsely sauce. Ever so slightly off-balance with the acidity a bit too sharp, but not too distracting.

The Score: This is good, especially for a fiver! 7/10 Recommended.

VFM: at the case price of £5 a bottle it gets an excellent VFM = 1.4, At its regular price of £10 it still gets a respectable VFM =  0.7.

 

and finally...

The Stonewalker, Sauvignon Blanc, South Africa, 2010

Fresh off the blocks this, being a 2010. Failry light at  12% alcohol.

The Look: Not quite water-white, but a lemony pale yellow.

The Smell: A nice smell of tropical fruit and the characteristic limey, grassy hints of Sauv Blanc.

The Taste: Not quite as good as the smell suggests. Ok flavours of tropical fruits and zesty citrus, but pretty poorly done. Nagging bitterness on the mid and back palate.

The Score: Ok, but no great shakes. Ok, it's only a fiver but I think I'd rather pay another quid or two to get something with better flavour. 5.5/10 

VFM: at the case price of £5 a bottle it gets an excellent VFM = 1.1, At its regular price of £10 it gets a pretty average VFM =  0.55.

 

So there we have it. A pretty poor end to the Tesco Delicious Dozen case. 3 bottles were corked out of 12. I'm not sure how to get refunds (or even if the do them) from Tesco Wine so I'll have to let this one slide. There were a couple of recommendations and pockets of great stuff, but essentially limited appeal. 

 

Three corked bottles in 12? I think I'll be avoiding Tesco mixed cases from now on, at least until they get their shit together, but will probably still pop in to the store, or order things online that I know are good, like the excellent Taniwah Sauv Blanc here: and the odd bottle of Maycas del Limari Syrah here:

 

 

Semi-blind tasting continues...

So as I've said in  previous posts, I'm trying to develop my blind tasting skills. D serves them up at random, with bottles hidden from view and I have to guess at the 

• Grape type
• Country or Region
• Year
• Alcohol level

So, here are my notes, transcribed directly from my note book: We'll forget the two corked reds and just show the whites this week....

Wine #1:

Initial nose is intriguing, floral perfumed, maybe Viognier or Gewurz? Medium yellow, pale. 13 to 13.5%. Initial thoughts are Viognier - bubbly acidity, smoothness, melon and grapefruit. Ever so slightly off balance - acidity-wise. Nice with the Cod.

The guess: Viognier, New World - maybe Australia?, 2008, 13.5%

The reveal: Californian Viognier, 2008, 13.5%! Ah, nearly!!! I wouldn't really know how to tell Cali from Oz in a Viognier anyway. NOTE TO SELF: Once you can pick out a grape you need to examine the nuances of each region to identify them. Learn!

 

Wine #2:

Not water-white but pale lemony yellow. Lovely limey, citrussy, grassy smells. Sauv Blanc? Ok. Tropical and zesty/grassy citrus but not very good. Too bitter. Acidity over cooked. Light one, not much alcohol, 12.5%? Young.

The guess: Cheap Sauv Blanc, not very good vineyard, Chile or South Africa, 2009. 12.5%.

The reveal: Soth African Sauv Blanc! 2010. 12%! Again pretty close. I think I could pick out Sauv Blanc even with a cold now! Still, I have no idea how to pick out the individual regional characteristics apart from maybe France vs. New Zealand. NOTE TO SELF: Need to learn the regional differences. Drink more wine to find out! Yeahssssssssss! :)

 

So, there's the first two cases finished! Not a bad drinking effort. This coming friday (24th Sept) we have an Oddbins in-store tasting. I will write that up at the first opportunity over the weekend (probably). I've also devised a plan to get the maximum diversity out of picking your own mixed 12 - to try and discover new wines or beat old favourites. Stay tuned for that. Anyway...

Speak to you soon!

 

Cheers.

WBFTF