Supermarket Sweeps - Six for £60 - Waitrose Part 1

Hello All,

 

Welcome to the third installment of my look at the supermarket shelves for value wines, this time the fantastic wine section of Waitrose. We popped to the local Waitrose in Malvern and as luck would have it, caught the end of the 25% off sale. There was a great range of wines, but we found that the most interesting stuff was between about £10 and £15 quid, so although not technically sticking to the £60 mark, we weren't far off; 6 bottles for £62.44 before discount but £46.83 after!!! And that's what it's all about, catching the bargains while you can, so I won't apologise too much. We also picked up some Champagne for Christmas - it would have been rude not to! Keep an eye out for their 25% off offers which happen every couple of months.

So, on to the wines. Reds first...


Oh and don't forget to follow me on Twitter for further little nuggets of wine-related stuff.

Stonier, Pinot Noir, Mornington Peninsula, 2009

£12.99 before discount (£9.74 after). From the much-lauded Mornington Peninsula, a very cool climate region of Victoria in Australia where the proximity of the ocean cools the vines. I've been wanting to try this for quite a while so it was a good find. 13%

The Look: A dark ruby core with strawberry red and lipstick highlights.

The Smell: Cherry, black fruit, strawberry, spice and some leathery complexity.

The Taste: Very bright acidity, fresh red fruit, cherry and raspberry. Smooth tannins with some grippy feeling on the aftertaste. Very nice. High acidity will help it age well.

The Score: Probably not everybody's cup of tea given the cool-climate acidity, but a good wine nonetheless. I liked it. 7.5/10. Recommended

VFM: At £9.74 after discount, this is decent value; VFM = 0.77

Vidal, Syrah, Gimblett Gravels, 2008

£11.99 before discount (£8.99 after). From the, again, much-lauded Gimblett Gravels area of Hawkes Bay on New Zealand's North Island. Famous for it's spicy Syrah but lots of Cabernet & Merlot blends do well on the stony soil  there too. 13%

The Look: An intense, dark, plummy black/purple.

The Smell: Intense nose of black pepper, blackberry, ripe plum and other dark fruits. Some violets.

The Taste: Awesome. Much like the nose, peppery black fruits, blackberry and plum etc, pleasing acidity, some tannic grip with a long finish. This rivals Craggy Range and Trinity Hill Syrahs costing about £6 or £7 more!

The Score: Intense flavour bomb of cracked black pepper and dark fruit. Well worth it. 8.5/10. Highly Recommended

VFM: At £8.99 after discount, this is a serious bargain. Great flavour intensity for the price. VFM = 0.95

E. Guigal, Cotes du Rhone, 2007

£9.99 before discount (£7.49 after). We had the 2009 from Majestic not that long ago and really enjoyed it so it was interesting to find this one with a few more bottle-years behind it. 2007 was a superb year in the Rhone so this held much promise.  14%

The Look: Mid-purple, translucent, to a strawberry rim.

The Smell: Black cherry, plum, spice, gentle vanilla oak and developed raspberry and blackberry too.

The Taste: Delicious. Spicy plum and dark fruits, lovely vanilla notes with smooth integrated tannins. Plenty of acidity keeps it fresh and there's plenty of fruit. A good life ahead of it yet, easily keeping for another 3-5 years, if not more. 

The Score: Great, and plenty of ageing left in it which is nice to see at this price. 8/10. Highly Recommended

VFM: At £7.49 you can't go wrong, this is a bargain.  VFM = 1.07

Wow. What a start from Waitrose. Three very nice wines indeed. Yes, they're a little pricier than the Tesco ones, or even some of the Co-op ones, but after 25% off they really are competitive. I'd gladly drink these three again on a regular basis.

Waitrose might just pip the Co-op? We'll see next time with the whites. Until then...

As always, speak to you soon!

Cheers

WBFTF

Que Syrah, Syrah...Failed

Hello All,

This bank holiday, our customary wine-off didn't materialise, so we decided to set up something a bit special at home. We geared ourselves up for an awesome blind taste-off of two wines from one of our favourite regions and grapes; Hawkes Bay Syrah. Bottle covers, Riedel glasses and numbered place mats at the ready, D poured out mine blind and I returned the favour...

Two superb wines from the 2008 vintage, Craggy Range's Gimblett Gravels Syrah and Trinity Hill Gimblett Gravels Syrah. Unfortunately, it turned out to be an awesome fail...

The first wine didn't show well. The nose was every so slightly hot on a big sniff, hinting at oxidation. Despite the underlying redcurrant and berries with a white-pepper, it was slightly vinegary. Intense dark purple at the core it faded to a violet rim but no hint of oxidised brick red or tan. Was it faulty? It became riper and fuller after a while but still, the feeling that it wasn't right nagged.

The second wine was clean. Slightly lighter core with a delicious smell of blackberry crumble, red fruit and pepper. Smooth silky tannin and some oak hints but the flavour really wasn't doing much for us. We both preferred wine 2, coincidentally having poured Trinity Hill into each other's second glass. I incorrectly identified wine 1 as Trinity Hill as I knew that had a cork (vs. the screwtop on the Craggy), purely due to there being a greater probability of spoilage, and couldn't recognise the usual lushness associated with Craggy.

We were dumbfounded. A previous 9-pointer, the Craggy was certainly not showing well. We enjoyed the Trinity Hill but something was still amiss. Neither gave us the intense experience we normally associate with these wines. So what was it? I think I know...

Mood, disposition, call it what you will, but we were both absolutely knackered. We'd had a long weekend, just driven back from North Wales for 3 hours, overdosed on junk food, our mouths tasted like toilet brushes and we both hadn't felt well the previous night. We were nearly falling asleep on our noses watching the DVD with the wines in hand. Our senses were dulled. I've previously read about the Biodynamic debate, fruit days and leaf days and whether it is simply mood or circumstance only, but never really paid it any mind. Our wines normally taste great no matter what day it is and we'd never experienced any mood/tiredness related incidents, apart from the obvious cold/flu affecting your smell, and hence taste. Until now...£36 worse off...

So let this be a warning; Mood/tiredness/feeling under the weather can seriously affect your perception of a wine and ruin, what we envisaged to be, a momentous occasion.

Oh and to top it all off, our errant dog smashed the Riedel glasses. B@$£^&d.

I have to repeat it, purely because we were so looking forward to the wines. This time, I'll make sure we're in peak (drinking) condition!

Taking faulty bottles back...

The Craggy was certainly faulty in the end. By the following morning it had developed an oily, shiny film in the bottle and smelled horrendous. Being from the now defunct Oddbins, I could not take it back for a refund. I have absolutely no qualms about taking back a faulty bottle, but some people look down on that. Why? If you bought a steak and it went mouldy before the use-by date, would you not take it back? Fair enough, if you kept it out in the sun then it's your own fault, but if you kept it in the fridge, you should at least expect it to meet the date, and hopefully surpass it.

This leads on to the question of storage. "Ah but not keeping your wine in a cellar is like keeping your steak in the sun". Fair point. But, not many people I know have a cellar, and certainly can't afford to have one built into their homes. Storing bottles on their side (for cork closures anyway) and in a cool, dark part of the house (under the stairs, or in a cool cupboard) should suffice for a good few months of storage, at the very least. How long have the merchants/supermarkets/distributors been keeping them upright in boxes in their storerooms/warehouses, how hot did they get in the van/on the boat etc. Yes it could be my storage, but the vendors need to pull their bloody fingers out too!

My next investment is going to be a wine cooler cabinet for long-term storage so that I can minimise the number of off bottles that may be down to me. That way, I will have even less qualms about returning faulty bottles. I believe the majority are faulty on purchase, and that way, I can prove it!

Anyway, here's to a more positive tasting next time...

Cheers!

Speak to you soon,

WBFTF

Icons - Craggy Range

Hello all!

Welcome to the second of my "Icons" series focussing on the fantastic New Zealand winery; Craggy Range (if you missed the first on the Spanish producer Torres then you can find it here:).
Craggy Range make some fantastic wines. Proprietor Terry Peabody and his family run the estate (his wife runs the on-site fine-dining restaurant!) while Steve Smith MW is chief winemaker.  Based on the bank of the Tuki Tuki  river in Hawkes Bay, just East of Hastings on the North Island, they churn out a fair-few bottles, but always with that hand-crafted, family-run ethos. There's just something about the colour scheme, the labels and the overall mystique they've created that instills in me a love for their produce. It's just one of those brands you seem to latch onto, well, for me anyway! In terms of price, they're not cheap. The iconic wines like Le Sol (Syrah), The Quarry (left-bank Bordeaux blend, Cab Sauv, Merlot, Cab Franc) and Sophia (right-bank Bordeaux blend of Merlot and Cab Franc) go for big bucks in the UK, at about £35 to £55 a bottle so are well-beyond our intended price range here.

However, where I have found true value and great quality is in the single-vineyard (or "Vineyard Designated" as they call them) wines seen in the picture above, a few of which we've enjoyed lately. The vineyard at Te Muna Road, just outside Martinborough, produces Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir. I will say though, that however much I love their wines, I wasn't entirely blown away by the slightly hot, alcoholic Pinot Noirs they produce for the Wine Society, but that's by-the-by. The Gimblett Gravels vineyard in Hawkes Bay is immense (Craggy own 100 Hectares alone!) and grows many varieties (Cab Sauv, Chardonnay, Syrah, Merlot, Malbec, Cab Franc etc.) in its stony deposits from a river that once ran there, but changed course after a major flood. Several other vineyards dotting the entire North and South islands produce varietals like Riesling, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. These mid-level wines come in at around £10 to £20 a bottle, so they're near our upper-limit, but I believe they're also worth it! Keep an eye out for their wines in Marks&Sparks, Majestic, Waitrose, Farr Vinters and many others and keep them peeled for offers and "twoffers" (2 for £x.xx) they're worth getting your mitts on!

Here's the three we've had:

Craggy Range, Syrah, Gimblett Gravels, 2008 

Long-standing readers (or should I say sufferers?) might recall that this was one of my Wines of the Year last year. For a more in depth review you can check here: It used to be known as "Block 14 Syrah" but now simply Syrah. I have another bottle that I'm patiently waiting for to mature in my wardrobe, ahem, I mean cellar! This is from the Gimblett Gravels vineyard.13.4%

The Look: The wine itself a super-dense, completely opaque purple. Only a very slight lightening at the rim to a violet colour.

The Smell: Straight from opening it exudes a peppery, spicy scent mixed with dark fruits such as blackberry, blueberry, plum and something floral like violets or lavender.

The Taste: The first thing that hits you is a striking, vibrant acidity. It drenches your mouth with black fruits; blackberry, blackcurrant and a hint of blueberry and delivers a spicy, peppery mid-palate. A lovely smoothness of tannin gives way to a magnificent, long finish. First class.

The Score: Delicious but quite expensive at £18.99.  9/10. Highly Recommended 

VFM: Normal price of £18.99 yields a VFM of 0.47 which is not value for money drinking, but definitely for an occasional splash-out treat.

Craggy Range, Te Kahu, Gimblett Gravels, 2008 

Again, from the Gimblett Gravels vineyard this is a Bordeaux blend of Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Malbec.14%

The Look: A deep plummy-purple with lipstick-red highlights, not quite opaque but almost there.

The Smell: Very Bordeaux-like on the nose; blackcurrants and smoky plums and cherries.

The Taste: Plenty of black cherry, ripe plum and blackcurrant. Smooth tannins. Alcohol is apparent but not overpoweringly so. Again, very Bordeaux-like but with a bit more power and size. Long finish, if slightly hot.

The Score: A lovely wine.  7.5/10. Recommended 

VFM: Normal price of £12.99 yields a VFM of 0.58 which is reasonable value, but keep your eyes peeled; Majestic recently had 20% off NZ wines, if you can still find it.

Craggy Range, Sauvignon Blanc, Te Muna Road, 2009

This is from the Te Muna Road vineyard in the Martinborough region.13%

The Look: Crystal-clear, watery white with a pale straw/lemon tinge.

The Smell: Slightly grassy and herby with gooseberry and some exotic fruits in there too.

The Taste: Bright, fresh and plenty of ripe gooseberry, passion fruit and other stone-fruits. A steely minerality leads to a long finish. More restraint than your usual Marlborough offerings and better off for it. Classy.

The Score: Delicious, classy, restrained but at the same time juicy and fruit-packed.  8/10. Highly Recommended 

VFM: Normal price of £12.99 yields a VFM of 0.58 which is again, reasonable value, and yes, I will say it again, keep your eye out for offers like Majestic's 20% off.

So there we have our second "Icons" installment. I hope you enjoyed it. Plenty more where that came from!

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

Birthday Celebrations 2

Hello all!

So, Sunday was my birthday. That meant wine! Plus we've been doubly-celebrating both D's, and mine in the last few weeks. Anyway to cut a long story short; I was spoiled. Treated to filtered coffee and pastries for breakfast and then had Steak Diane cooked for me in the evening (although I was responsible for the roasted sweet potatoes!). As an aperitif we had a great bargain champagne; Charles de Ravon Brut NV. I can't remember where I had this one (possibly Tesco), or how much it was , but I'm sure it was only about £12! It was a pale watery lemon colour, light citrussy nose but had great apples and pears, lively bubbles and a bit of toasty/biscuity complexity. A great marriage of fruit, acidity, bubbles and a touch of sweetness. Absolute bargain, 7.5/10 and Recommended. 

We had a bit of a Shiraz/Syrah week as I've been stock-piling a few lately. We also had a nice Pinot Gris from NZ (embarrassingly I always used to think this was pronounced "Peen-oh Grease" rather than the correct "Peen-oh Gree").

Tinpot Hut, Pinot Gris, Marlborough, 2009

Another name for Pinot Grigio but more often than not called Pinot Gris in NZ (similar to the way they only call it Syrah not Shiraz). This one's from Slurp. 13%

The Look: Medium lemony yellow.

The Smell: Apples. The typical  varietal aroma (for me anyway) of  "fruit salad sweets".

The Taste: Lovely freshness. Apples. Some tangy passion fruit with a minerally edge to it too. Very balanced and refreshing.

The Score: Good. Very good. There's nothing not to like. 7.5/10. Recommended.

VFM: At £9.95 the value-quotient is pretty good at VFM = 0.75. It's not the cheapest Pinot Gris/Grigio but if you've yet to try the NZ style then give it a go.

Vidal, Gimblett Gravels Syrah, 2008

From the spiritual home of NZ Syrah (Hawkes Bay) and the revered Gimblett Gravels area. It's no secret that fantastic wines are made here and this is a real value offering at just over £10. Vidal is one of the oldest producers in the area. Another from Slurp and again, 13%...let's see if it's any good...

The Look: Deep, dark purple with a slight violet rim.

The Smell: Smells of dark berries; blackcurrant and blackberry with hints of violets and pepper.

The Taste: The taste is very similar, blackberry, violets and some peppery spice but BY GOD; the acidity is sharp!!! It made me wince and I could almost feel it eating the enamel off my teeth! A good one for Chianti fans...

The Score: Good. Tasty, but too acidic for my palate. I think it needs a year or two to dim the acidity a bit - which is entirely possible as this should keep for a few years yet. 7/10. 

VFM: At £10.50 the VFM is reasonably good at = 0.66.

 

Waterford Estate, Kevin Arnold Shiraz, Stellenbosch, 2007

A "luxury" Shiraz here from South Africa's Stellenbosch region. This was recently listed in Decanter's top 50 Syrahs for under £25.  This one has 10% Mourvedre in the blend. Another from Slurp . Big at 14.5%

The Look: A very silky sheen to it. Opaque purple with only the slightest rim of violet. Big and clingy on the glass it exudes quality, to the eye at least...

The Smell: A peppery warmth of black fruit with some nuttiness, woody and smoky. Hint of cherry-drops.

The Taste: The lightness was surprising; a "barely there" ethereal quality in the mouth. Spicy, warm, black and red fruit combine and fade to a dark chocolate finish. Still very young. Sharp, bright acidity (a little too much for me) suggests that this needs another few years in bottle.

The Score: Definitely drunk too young, but this could be "class in a glass" in a few years.  7.5/10. Highly Recommended. if you can wait. I'd like to revisit the 2007 in a few years, but do I really want to spend another £20? Hmmm....

VFM: At £19.55 the VFM is obviously going to be fairly poor at = 0.38., but this was a treat. You can probably match the taste quality for £12 to £15, but not perhaps the overall feel and experience? This is one to nurture and return to I think...

D.V. Catena, Syrah, Mendoza, 2007

From the Catena Zapata stable. This one is named after  Domingo Vicente Catena who married Angelica Zapata in 1934 creating the Catena-Zapata tradition. Or so the bottle says anyway...This is from Majestic . 13.5%

The Look: A dark, inky black-purple with a slight rim of violet. Opaque.

The Smell: Smoky black fruit, pepper, sawn-wood and dark chocolate.

The Taste: Again, a combo of blackberry, violets, pepper and some chocolate. Bright acidity, apparent tannin and still a bit in-your-face. Could do with a year or two...Very long finish.

The Score: Delicious, but again, perhaps drunk a little too young  7.5/10. Recommended.

VFM: At £11.99 the VFM is reasonable at 0.63 but there is a buy-2-for-£9.99-each deal on at the moment.

So, that ends our celebrations for the time being. We're both another year older. Maybe not entirely wiser.

 

Back to normal frugality next week as I start reviewing the "Society's Top Sellers" case from the Wine Society. It's a mixed-12 of their "own label" stuff but made by some very serious players; Villa Maria and Concha Y Toro to name but two!

So, as always;

Speak to you soon,

Cheers

WBFTF

Birthday Celebrations 1

Hello all!

So last week was D's birthday and I whisked her away to the Hilton at Puckrup Hall near Tewkesbury which was superb. We had some great food; D had a Salmon & Rocket starter and I had Leek soup, both very good. For mains D had Pork and spring onion mash with bok choi and I had the tastiest Beef in Guinness stew ever, served in a Yorkshire pudding with mustard mash. D had a dark chocolate and orange creme brulee and I had a forest fruit cheesecake. Amazing dinner. Wine-wise, to start we had a glass of Piper Heidsieck Brut NV at £8.05 a glass! Expensive but superb - great fruit, lively bubbles and perfect refreshing acidity (8/10). D then liked the sound of a Zinfandel so we ordered the bottle of Ravenswood Vinters  Blend Zinfandel 2007 (nearly £26!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) - which is on sale at Majestic for £4.99. After nearly choking on the price, we enjoyed its soft fruit and some spice (6.5/10). Decent for a Fiver but not £26 - ridiculous markup.

We'd recommend it to any looking for a luxury getaway, if only for the buffet breakfast! Eat as much as you like...and I did!

Anyway, the night before we set off we also treated ourselves to some lovely wines from Slurp. Another thing I like about Slurp is that some of the bottles have a few years bottle age in them already, its not all about shifting the most recent vintage to make room for the next.

Esk Valley, Riesling, Hawkes Bay, 2007

From winemaker Gordon Russell, this Riesling is very "German" in style; low alcohol (10%) and some residual sugar to make it just off-dry. Produced from two vineyards in Clive and Takapau, Hawkes Bay, NZ. The black label Sauvignon Blanc was immense for the price and we're hoping this will be too.

The Look: Brightly coloured; a mix of gold and deeper green hints.

The Smell: Quite a complex mix of lime, some soapy/floral hints and some savoury/herby elements.

The Taste: Very bright, zingy acidity. Limes, passion fruit, buttery and herby. The acidity then fades to an almost imperceptible sweetness but enough to counterbalance the acidity. Really good. This will age well and according to the back of the bottle, should keep for "many years"; developing toasty elements.

The Score: Again, brilliant stuff from Gordon Russell. 8/10. Highly Recommended.

VFM: At £10.80 a bottle, this is not bargain-basement, but in my opinion, neither is it exclusive or out of reach. The VFM is a very respectable 0.74. A nice treat with your spicy Asian dishes or as a lunch wine or just for indulgent quaffing.

Vina Tabali, Reserva Syrah, Limari Valley, 2007

From the cool climate Limari Valley 29km from Chile's coastline. This winery is part of the same group as Vina Leyda (who also produce some stunning cool-climate wines in the Leyda Valley) but run independently. Big one at 14.5%.

The Look: Dark, intense, opaque purple with a slight rim of violet.

The Smell: A lovely, complex mix of strawberry, plum, white pepper, blackberry, dark chocolate, sweetness and florality (if that's a word?). Slightly hot on a deep sniff.

The Taste: Unsurprisingly; much the same as the above; blackberry, violets, bitter dark chocolate, brighter red fruit (maybe redcurrant) giving a brisk acidity. A slightly overt bitterness did detract from the enjoyment slightly but did fade after a glass or two. Slightly hot but a lovely long finish.

The Score: Very enjoyable. Hotness and slight bitterness did nag slightly, but I may be being too harsh. 8/10. Highly Recommended.

VFM: At £14.95 a bottle, this is a bit of an indulgence, but what the hell; it's celebrating-time! VFM = 0.54 but we don't care!

Some more celebrations to come as we approach my birthday so we'll keep you posted on what we're glugging. The wines from The Wine Society have arrived so we'll be tucking into them very shortly.

As always,

Speak to you soon...

Cheers

WBFTF

Slurp.co.uk - value wines for January pockets!

Slurp (www.slurp.co.uk), according to their website, are the UK's largest online retailer of wines, beers and spirits. Quite surprising, considering who else is out there (Majestic, Waitrose Direct, Tesco, Berry Bros etc.). They are also growing. Growing at such a rate that their Chief Investment Officer, back in May 2010, saw it necessary to inform the Decanter (magazine) staff and readers that they are doing very well indeed. All this in a recession? Well done to them.

It's no secret; online retailers can offer better value (less overheads due to the lack of need for real estate for shops, staffing, etc... etc.), but whether they do offer real value is usually down to the individual retailers, their range and pricing. I try to promote buying online as a great way of getting value for money.

So, what is the Slurp range like? If I'm permitted to use a colloquialism; it's berserk. (NB: That's good!). Literally thousands of wines. The Slurp Express range (where you can order single-bottle quantities) for mixed cases of 6 or 12 bottles has over 1200 wines alone! They also offer a large range of "fine" wines if you're after something special, but as it's January, we'll concentrate on the "value end"...for now.

The one minor gripe I have with the website is the search function - it can be misleading. Don't get me wrong, it's very comprehensive, you can filter by Grape, Country, Region, Vintage, Price, ad infinitum. However, when you do filter by a category, further irrelevant option are not removed. For example, select Argentina as a country and you will see the 1978 vintage displayed, along with all the others. BUT, as you might guess, clicking on 1978 does not yield any wines. Similarly, if you pick Chile for example, the Region options still show things like Barossa, which is clearly not relevant, but to the novice might mislead. Oh and don't type in "wine" from the homepage search to try and separate out the beers and spirits - you get 0 results! LOL.

Anyway, the wines... So, I received a case of six, 3x reds and 3x whites and a mix of old and new World, showcasing some of their value wines, all between £6 and £9 a bottle. Here's how they went down...

First the whites...

Alpha Zeta "S", Soave, 2009

Made in Veneto by the Kiwi export Matt Thompson, 75% Garganega and 25% Trebbiano di Soave 12.5%

The Look: Golden with green hints. Deeply coloured.
The Smell: Delicate at first (straight from the fridge) but warmed up to give orchard fruit, peach, apricot, floral whiffs and spiciness.
The Taste: Again, restrained at first but developed into pear, peach and apricot. Hints of honey, marzipan, lemon/lime and spice. Balanced acidity and a mineral finish. A good food wine, it won't overpower it.
The Score: Pretty decent. Don't serve too cold and have it with food 7/10.
VFM: At only £6.60 a bottle this is very good value VFM = 1.06.

Vidal, Natural Ferment Chardonnay, Hawke's Bay, 2007

From the exquisite Hawkes Bay region of NZ, where wild yeasts were allowed to complete the fermentation, apparently. A big one at 14.5%

The Look: A lovely pale gold.
The Smell: Tropical fruit and grapefruit with a "flinty" minerality. Hints of smoke and spice.
The Taste: Zingy acidity, smooth and a lovely minerality. Tangy, spicy with hints of orange, cream, smoke and citrus. Beautifully complex, lots of flavour and intrigue. Delicious. High alcohol not at all noticeable.
The Score: Great, one of the best Chardonnays we've had recently. Something different from the hordes of apply/citrussy "clones" on the shelves. 8/10. Highly Recommended
VFM: This has very recently gone up from £8.65 to £9.50, which is a shame and impacts the VFM, but still pretty good at VFM = 0.79.

Monte Clavijo, Rioja Blanco, 2009

A Rioja Blanco here made from 90% Viura and 10% Malvasia. 12%

The Look: A pale gold.
The Smell: A bit reticent, even when "warmed up" but hints of citrus, spice and minerals.
The Taste: Mainly apple - green apple. Fresh acidity and a decent long finish. Some lemon/lime and maybe hints of orange or orange blossom? Good with a creamy prawn spaghetti.
The Score: Nice. Not mind-blowing by any stretch, but a reasonable food-wine. Not much flavour for drinking on its own. 6.5/10.
VFM: Again, great value as this is only £6.10. VFM = 1.07.


And the reds...

Concha Y Toro, Trio, Cabernet Sauvignon*, Maipo Valley, 2008

Something special from Chilean giant Concha Y Toro. The asterisk* is because although Cab is the dominant grape, there's also some Cab Franc and Shiraz in the blend - hence the "Trio". Highly Parker-rated this one at 90+ points and also highly praised by Decanter in a recent Chilean Cab tasting. 14%.

The Look: A super-dark, intense black-purple only lightening slightly at the rim.
The Smell: Spicy, smoky, peppery black fruits on the nose. Similar to an an Elqui Syrah. Hints of mint/toothpaste and cherry too. A beauty.
The Taste: A lovely fresh acidity bursts into minty blackcurrant from the Cabernet, followed by spice and a perfumey blackberry/raspberry from the Shiraz and some slight graphite with violets from the Cab Franc. Hints of redcurrant and pepper. Smooth tannin. Excellent and would keep well I imagine.
The Score: Unsurprisingly, Parker and the Decanter lot were spot-on. Very good indeed. This is now D's favourite wine (she reckons it's a 10!). I kept my cool, but still I think it deserves an 8.5/10 and is unequivocally Highly Recommended. Maybe in a year or two this will be a 9, or maybe the ever-elusive 10? For under £10??? Wow...
VFM: At only £8.65 a bottle this is very good value VFM = 0.98 and the quality to price ratio that makes this all worthwhile.

Borgo Selene, Nero Mascalese/Nero d'Avola, 2008

A 50/50 blend of two grapes here from the Island of Sicily. Fairly light at  12.5%

The Look: An intense dark purple, violet rim.
The Smell: Smells like a cross between Malbec and Cab Sauv; blackcurrant and spice with smoky cherry. Smelling blind I would have said Cab.
The Taste: Bright red acidic fruit with lots of blackcurrant too. Smooth velvety tannin, revealing oaky vanilla. Some cherry on the finish. Great with Bolognese.
The Score: Lovely. Not mind-blowing but a solid wine for the price 7/10.
VFM: Once again, great value as this is only £6.65. VFM = 1.05.

D'Arenberg, The Stump Jump, GSM**, 2008


A big (14%) blend of **Grenache/Shiraz/Mourvedre from South Australia.

A real shame here, we were looking forward to this, and it did show promise with spicy black fruit, however, a deep sniff resulted in a burning sensation in the nose - possibly faulty...

...confirmed on the taste - too acidic, "hot" and Porty so I'm not sure if it was oxidised, volatile acidity or both?

Anyway, one in 12 they say, and we've had a reasonably good run lately so were probably due a bad one. That said, D'Arenberg wines are normally superb, even the entry-level ones like this, and at £8.95 I'll most likely give it another shot some time.



So, there we have it. Some great wines from Slurp but most importantly, great value. All had VFM scores in the region of 1.0 which is where you want to be for this price bracket. Well done Slurp and thanks for finding D a new favourite wine - you realise she'll be wanting a case off me now for her birthday don't you? I can't wait!

As always...

Speak to you soon,

Cheers
WBFTF

Oh and if you're interested in Wine Investment you can read our story of it here:

Oddbins - Part 1

Welcome to the first part of the Oddbins case, handpicked mixed-12 according to my rules. We had a sparkler to kick things off and that was followed by 3 reds. Here's how they went down...

Lindauer, Special Reserve Brut Cuvée, NV

A sparkling wine from New Zealand, made from Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.  Non-Vintage (NV). Embarassingly, I forgot to note the alcohol level, but sparklers tend to be around the 12% mark.

The Look: A huge suprise actually - it's PINK!!! I was expecting this to be a sparkling white (which it still is, kind of). An almost Rosé-like salmon pink. Some skin contact with the Pinot grapes has coloured this with a pink blush.

The Smell: Lovely smell of sweet biscuits or more accurately perhaps, "crumble mix".

The Taste: Strawberries and pink-lady apples! Very nice. Good acidity. Good bubbles. Neither of which were too aggressive.

The Score: Great stuff. Reasonably priced to celebrate any occassion and won't break the bank. 7.5/10. Recommended.

VFM: This normally goes for £11.99, making it good value when priced against Rosé champagne and gives a reasonable VFM = 0.63. However, I only paid £8.14 a bottle on-average after discount so the VFM increases to 0.92. Great value for money.

 

Bodegas Renacer, Punto Final Malbec, Mendoza, 2009


The 2008 was a Gold Medal winner at the recent Decanter World Wine Awards but they'd run out of that so I settled for the 2009. Actually 97% Malbec with 3% Cabernet Franc added to the mix. 13.5% alcohol.

The Look: A dense, dark, opaque purple with a violet rim. Also came with the most bonkers cork I've ever seen (see pic below main pic) - Bright fluorescent orange plastic. Certainly distinctive!

The Smell: Initial smell is smoky, leathery, black cherries, blackcurrant and almost Bordeaux-like hints (no doubt coming from the Cab Franc which I didn't realise was blended in until writing this). After a while, more fruit was dispalyed especially blackberry.

The Taste: Spicy, plummy and black cherry-like taste. Warming i.e. warms the chest! Balanced acidity. Not too harsh but fresh. Some tannin present. And a decently long finish. After an hour or so, much more blackberry and sweet black fruit was evident.

The Score: The more we had the better it became. Developed into a stunner 8/10. Recommended

VFM: Normal price of £9.99 yields a VFM of 0.80 but at the case average price VFM = 0.98. Very good value, either way.

 

Villa Wolf, Pinot Noir, Pfalz, 2008

This one was actually off (volatile acidity). I swear that it changed in front of my eyes, fine one minute, faulty the next! But more than likely, my palate didn't immediately pick up on it. A shame, we were looking forward to German Pinot (or Spätburgunder as they sometimes call it, which translates to "Late Burgundian".

No score unfortunatley.

 

Craggy Range, Block 14 Syrah, Gimblett Gravels, 2008

Ever so slightly pissed off that I ordered the 2007 but the 2008 came. 2007 was superb for the Hawke's Bay area of NZ. 2008, in all honesty, I know nothing about. Anyway, this is from the Gimblett Gravels area, the spiritual home for New Zealand Syrah (never called Shiraz here for some reason). 13.4%

The Look: The bottle is majestic! Class oozes from the label and colour scheme. The wine itself a super-dense, completely opaque purple. Only a very slight lightening at the rim to a violet colour.

The Smell: Straight from opening it exudes a peppery, spicy scent mixed with dark fruits such as blackberry, blueberry, plum and something floral like violets or lavender. D says "Soap and sweetcorn" - I agree with the "soap" possbily coming from the lavender/violets but "sweetcorn" I couldn't smell! :)

The Taste: Right this bugger wasn't cheap so I was determined to write as detailed an account as possible. The bottle was left open for an hour before tasting:

The first thing you notice is a striking, vibrant acidity.

This then flourishes into black fruit across your tongue - blackberry, blackcurrant and slight hints of blueberry.

Then it delivers a spicy, peppery after-kick.

Mouth-feel is very smooth. Some tannin evident.

Lovely long finish. 

There are hints of Aussie Shiraz at the fruit end, but more complexity and the peppery-ness (if that's even a word) sets it apart. Absolute class. After an hour or so even more fruit, aroma and spice came out.

Still a bit young.   With time, the remaining tannin will integrate seamlessly and the vibrancy of the acidity should fade slightly giving even more pleasure. The bottle says it's capable of being aged up to 7 years from bottling date (so 2015 effectivley). I'd say in 2 years it'll be at its peak, but hey, I'm no expert!

The Score: Absolute class. Delicious. Damned expensive.  9/10. Highly Recommended if you've got 20 sheets burning a hole in your pocket! If this was £12 a bottle I'd be out robbing Grannies to pay for a case. At £18.99 is it worth it? Phooo, tough decision. I'd like to say yes, and I think I'm going to...Yes it is worth it, but not very often. Once a year treat I think.

VFM: Normal price of £18.99 yields a VFM of 0.47 which is immaterial really, this is a treat, not value for money drinking. The case price averaging out to £8.14 eases the pain a little giving VFM = a whopping 1.11.

So, that's the first part of the Oddbins case done. 3 out of 4 recommended (one highly) and one faulty. Not a bad start at all. We'll be getting stuck into some whites this week, so as ever...


Speak to you soon.

Cheers

WBFTF