jamie goode's wine blog

Thursday, February 16, 2006

Two wines tonight. Both reatively cheap, and both pretty good. Much better than you'd expect for the money, anyway. Fancy a racy white wine with real personality, and more freshness than the alpine air? Try the Nepenthe Tryst 2004, a racy blend of Semillon, Sauvignon and Pinot Gris from the Adelaide Hills. It's big on grapefruit, but there's some lemon and a bit of savoury, slightly bitter pithy character. Get a load of that perfume, though. Yours for £6.99, Asda, Oddbins, Somerfield. Sealed with a tin-lined screwcap (for closure buffs); nice label. Slightly cheaper, and redder, is the Paul Mas Marselan 2004 Vin de Pays de l'Herault: I'm getting spicy dark fruits, I'm getting good concentration, I'm getting a subtle chalky, minerally edge. I'm also getting a soupcon of green herbal character in the background, but heck, this is a heck of a wine for £5, and this is the sort of greenness that works quite well. Best of all, it doesn't taste fake, or sweet, or manufactured. £4.99 from Waitrose, sealed with a nomocorc, rubbish label. In case you asked, Marselan is a grape variety that is a cross of Grenache and Cabernet Sauvignon. Both wines are recommended.

By the way, have you bought your Cano yet? More than 1 million Sunday Express readers will hear about this on Sunday, so beat the rush. My sub at the Express has even bought 18 bottles! And I've just spotted another fantastic deal there - the very respectable Collines de Paradise Minervois 2004 at half price.

6 Comments:

At 12:28 AM, Blogger Dawson said...

About the Cano Jamie - Sunday is way tooo late! The Guardian stole your thunder on the Saturday!
Whoops!

 
At 9:50 PM, Blogger Jamie said...

Not surprised that Victoria picked up on it - she's got good taste. I like her writing; it's easy but not dumbed down, and thoughtful without being obscure. Here's a link to her column:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/weekend/story/0,,1712348,00.html

 
At 4:55 PM, Anonymous Keith Prothero said...

Cano sucks-------but I guess at 2.50 or whatever who cares.
I just feel sorry for the poor winemaker,who has presumably put in a lot of blood sweat and tears to produce this wine,and finds it being sold at about 2 quid less than it costs him to produce,bottle,pay tax and distribute.

 
At 11:33 PM, Blogger Jamie said...

Keith
I agree that winemakers should be paid a fair wage for their effort. But this is a big, progressive producer who is going places (Vina Bajoz is a modernized cooperative making very good wines) and they're distributed by Bibendum, so I doubt this is a distress sale forced by hard times... Still, my job is to recommend good wines to readers, and this (IMO) is a good wine at a ludicrously cheap price. I don't know why, but all I can do is point readers to it. Do you really think it sucks? I didn't know it was available in the Cape. More seriously, if you were in my position would you choose not to write it up out of concern for the producer who is selling it too cheaply?

 
At 7:49 AM, Anonymous keith prothero said...

No just pulling your leg Jamie. I have not tasted the wine and am unlikely ever to do so unless you invite me round for dinner!!!
OK I can afford it,but as a matter of principle I never buy wine from supermarkets or indeed pay less than 7 quid,as I tend to believe that you get what you pay for in life and also think any wine that is remotely decent in quality deserves a higher price tag.

 
At 10:23 AM, Blogger Jamie said...

Keith, you are always welcome for dinner at our place, and while I'd be happy to let you try the Cano, I'd break out something rather more serious for you to actually drink.

 

Post a Comment

Links to this post:

Create a Link

<< Home