Reliable, independent buying advice from the wine anorak
September 2000

Wines under £8 | Wines over £8

Previous months' recommendations: January 2000 | February 2000|March 2000|April/May 2000|June 2000|July 2000|August 2000

Bargain picks: wines under £8

Klein Constantia Rhine Riesling 1998, Constantia, South Africa
Light coloured wine with a slight petillance. Attractive, taut, crisp white wine with good concentration and a pleasant citrus edge. On the palate there is complex, lemony fruit. There is probably potential for evolution here; quite a bargain. Very good. (£4.99 Oddbins)

Erich & Walter Polz, Grassnitzberg Weissburgunder 1998, Austria
A delightful full-flavoured Pinot Blanc from Austria. Displays rounded flavours of honey and apples with a crisp balancing acidity and smoky/mineral notes. Really good stuff: tastes a bit like a mature Chablis or Mâcon white. Great balance. Very good+ (£7.99 Oddbins)

Château Barrabaque Cuvée Prestige 1994 Canon-Fronsac, Bordeaux
An impressive mature claret at a bargain price. Mature brick red colour. Lovely cedar and mineral nose. On the palate it is medium bodied with chewy tannins. OK, it's not a first growth, but it is super stuff, drinking really well now. Very good + (Majestic £4.99) 

Kiwi Cuvée Sauvignon Blanc 1999, Vin de Pays du Jardin de la France
Nice idea: an inexpensive French Sauvignon made by a team of New Zealand wine makers. It’s also well packaged. Really pleasant fresh, zesty Sauvignon with some rich texture on the palate, which lies somewhere between the styles of New Zealand and France. Very good, and a bargain. (£3.99 Oddbins)

Wines over £8

Shaw and Smith Unoaked Chardonnay 1998, Adelaide Hills, Australia
I'm not normally a fan of the 'unwooded Chardonnay' style of wine, but this is a stunner. A light gold colour, it has a spicy, honeyed nose. On the palate it exhibits intense fruit flavours, with more spicy and honeyed complexity coupled with a pronounced minerality. Excellent. (£9.29, Tesco)

Rosemount Hill of Gold Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 1998, Mudgee, Australia
From the upcoming Mudgee region in New South Wales comes this full-throttle stunner by Rosemount. Dense purple/black wine of huge extract. Nose of ripe berry fruit and charred new American oak is followed up by a concentrated palate of dusty fruit and dry, firm tannins. A ripe, blockbuster Cabernet if you are not too shy of oak. Lovely now, but really needs a couple more years. Good value for money. Very good + (£9.99 Waitrose)

Schloss Reinhartshausen 1988 Erbacher Schossberg Riesling Kabinett, QMP Ergeugerabfüllung
Intense, petrolly, waxy nose with a touch of botrytis: there are some semi-industrial, petrolly notes. Good concentration. Bone dry on the palate, with crisp, full palate and a spicy undercurrent. High acidity. All in all, it is a complex, unusual wine that makes a great food match. Great value, too. (£8.50, Handford Wines)

Glenguin Shiraz 1998 Individual Vineyard, Hunter Valley
A lovely wine from this small Hunter producer, made from a dry-grown, low-yielding vineyard in Polkobin. It is big and dense, with spicy, earthy fruit, firm tannins and high acidity. Very youthful and vigorous, with a promising life ahead of it. As it evolves in the glass the characteristic Hunter Shiraz trademarks of old leather and tea emerge. A top class Shiraz, proudly displaying its regional identity. Very good/excellent. (£10, Bibendum). 8/00

Meerlust Rubicon 1995, Stellenbosch, South Africa
A beast of a wine, displaying a dry, herby, menthol nose that gives way to a deep and savoury palate of blackcurrants, herbs, earthy notes and firm tannins. It is concentrated, hugely structured and savoury, and will probably need some serious cellaring to show at its best. Very good + (Fortnum & Mason, Oddbins, £14)

Danie De Wet Bataleur Chardonnay 1998, Robertson, South Africa
Remarkably expressive high-end South African Chardonnay, with a full nose of toasty, nutty barrel-ferment character and a concentrated palate of lemony fruit, minerals and high acidity. Despite the new oak, this wine is not at all fat: I suspect it was not allowed to undergo full malolactic fermentation, and the resulting bright acidity really brings this complex wine to life. Very good/excellent (£12, Fortnum and Mason)

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