October 2000: recommended wines

Recommended wines

Reliable, independent buying advice from the wine anorak
October 2000

Wines under £8 | Wines over £8

Bargain picks: wines under £8

Lingenfelder Riesling 1998 (Bird label), Qualitätswein, Pfalz, AP No. 511 7050 1899, Germany
The best inexpensive German Riesling I've yet tried. Lovely bright, crisp Riesling with pure, piercing grapefruit and citrus flavours. Good concentration and high acidity, a nice wine for less than a fiver. Very good. (£4.99 Oddbins)

Ken Forrester Chenin Blanc 1999, Stellenbosch, South Africa
Chenin Blanc is South Africa's most common white variety, and is most often used to make simple, inexpensive and rather plonkish wines. But this is a serious effort, made from 24 year old bush vines and barrel fermented. Gold in colour, it has a lovely toasty, smoky and honeyed nose, with a creamy, wet wool edge. On the palate it is richly textured and toasty, the spicy oak combining well with the concentrated, ripe fruit. Overall, nice varietal character is combined well with careful oaking, to make a complex, attractive wine. Very good/excellent. (£5.69 Oddbins)

Syrah Vin de Pays des Collines Rhodaniennes 1999, J-P and J-L Jamet
Perfumed, meaty, smoky nose. Herby and light on palate with a bit of farmyard character, with good acidity. Despite the lack of density, this is an attractive, characterful wine with real appeal. Very good+ (£5.99 Majestic)

A Mano Primitivo 1999, Puglia, Italy
This has just been announced as the red wine of the year at the International Wine Challenge, so I thought I'd better check it out. Primitivo has recently been confirmed to be the same grape as the USA's Zinfandel, but this is the first Primitivo that has reminded me at all of its American counterpart. A dense red/black colour, this is a huge wine, with chocolatey fruit, hints of treacle, tar and rubber, and with a medicinal, pungent nose. Rich and ripe, with good acidity and chunky tannins. I drink a lot of wine and it's rare these days that when I pull the cork I'm surprised by what I find. But this is one of those wines. Very good; worth its award. (Sainsbury £5.99)

Hawkesbridge Willowbank Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc 1999 Marlborough
Delicious rounded Marlborough Sauvignon, with good intensity, soft fruit and great balance. Aromatic, grassy, ripe gooseberry fruit dominates. A really super example. Very good/excellent. (Oddbins £6.00)

Wines over £8

Château Montus Madiran 1998
A beast. Mostly from the Tannat grape, but there's also a substantial contribution from other grapes. Dense purple/black colour. This is a dense, savoury, tannic beast with a pronounced barnyardy, cheesy, animal nose. It's all in great balance though: a lovely, individual wine, but please don't open for at least five years. Very good/excellent. (Majestic £9.99, La Vigneronne £11.95)

Catena Chardonnay 1999, Agrelo Vineyard, Medoza, Argentina
Beware: this is an oaky wine -- but to my mind it has the fruit to withstand this sort of oaking, and the oak is high quality. Overall, it's a classy, complex wine. Immediately you are hit by the full, smoky/toasty, nutty nose. Underneath this there is luscious, rich and concentrated fruit. Complex and sophisticated, I love it, but if you are averse to oak this in one to avoid. Very good + (£8.99 Majestic, also available elsewhere)

Glenguin Cabernet Sauvignon 'Orange Vineyard' 1998, Orange, NSW, Australia
From a cooler vineyard site, at an altitude of 700 m in the Central Highlands of New South Wales. It's a lovely, earthy, tannic Cabernet with real intensity. Deep purple/black with a lovely ripe forward nose of blackcurrants and a touch of cinnamon and spice from the oak. Concentrated, nose and tannic on the palate with noticeable (American?) oak. Firm dusty tannins finish off what is a uniquely Australian wine. Very good/excellent. (Bibendum £10)

Bandol Cuvée Longue Garde 1997, Domaine Lafran Veyrolles
Mourvèdre is the grape here. Red/black colour, with a herby, savoury nose. Lovely palate: earthy, stony fruit combine with dense tannins to produce a dense wine with great potential. Very good/excellent. (La Vigneronne, £15.95)

E-mail me with your recommendations or suggestions at wineanorak@i.am