Whatever happened to Beaujolais? It used to be so popular, but over the last few years it’s struggled a bit. It lost its fun. But there are many really good…
Alsace season, 1: Schlumberger Pinot Gris Kitterle 2006
Alsace. One of the diminishing number of serious wine regions I have yet to visit. But I’m a big fan, even if I tend to forget about the wines from…
A lovely Gigondas
I’ve neglected the Southern Rhone a bit of late. Here’s a good one, from father and daughter team Bernard and Celine Chauvet of Domaine Grapillon d’Or (www.domainedugrapillondor.com) Domaine Grapillon D’Or…
Another good Kiwi red: Crossroads Winery Syrah 2008
This is nice. A good example of Syrah from the Gimblett Gravels subregion in Hawkes Bay. It’s by the Crossroads Winery, part of the Ager Sectus group that includes Southbank…
Some serious English Fizz: Ridgeview Cavendish 2007
This is brilliant stuff. At the Oddbins mixed case price of £16 it’s really good value; it’s certainly worth the regular £20 price. One to serve to those who haven’t…
Another serious South African
This is a really superb Cabernet Sauvignon from South Africa. It’s beautifully put together with seamless structure and real purity of fruit. If I have one criticism of it, however,…
Another good South African
I currently have a few decent South African wines in the tasting queue. Here’s one that yielded a good deal of pleasure: ripe and modern, but not spoofy. Englebrecht Els…
A superb South African Merlot
I’m not the world’s greatest Merlot fan, and so I was pleasantly surprised by this superb South African Merlot, from Hartenberg, a winery I visited on my first trip to…
Chile’s Cloudy Bay revisited
When I tried this wine back in November, I dubbed it Chile’s Cloudy Bay. It’s a startlingly fresh, pure expression of Sauvignon Blanc from a new cool-climate region of Chile,…