Whites
Star buy
2006 Southbank Estate Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough, New Zealand, Majestic,
£7.49, or buy two for £4.99 each until July 30.
This is one of the most thrilling Marlborough sauvignons ever at a killer
price. Majestic's summer bonanza to us all is to knock a fiver off
two-bottle purchases of this mouthwatering, ripe, floral, whitecurrant,
nettle and gooseberry-laden white, whose zingy style I defy any sauvignon
fan to dislike.
Berrys' House White, Vin de Pays de l'Aude, France, Berry Bros &
Rudd (01256 340123), £4.95 or £4.45 per bottle by the case.
Launched earlier this year, Berrys' instantly popular House wines now sell
almost as many cases as this merchant's flagship red, Good Ordinary Claret.
See for yourself what the fuss is all about by scooping up this gentle,
leafy, juicy yet citrussy chardonnay-based white, coupled with a ripe,
lingeringly verdant finish.
2005 La Baume Winemaker's Selection Viognier, Vin de Pays d'Oc, France,
Waitrose, £4.99.
If skinny summer whites are not your bag, think about this exotic,
full-flavoured viognier, a whizz with summer stir-fries and the like.
Weighing in at a useful 13.9 per cent alcohol, with lots of summer-suitable
fruit on board, it stems from a difficult viognier vintage,but in La Baume's
hands some wondrous hawthorn-blossom scents and zesty, peachy pizzazz are
yours.
2006 Muscadet Sèvre et Maine, Lacheteau, France, Waitrose, £3.99.
Muscadet has morphed into an elegant, ripe, aromatic 12 per cent alcohol white
with fruit and flavour. Yesterday's rasping acidity and tinny taste has been
replaced by richer yet still bone-dry wines with just the right quantities
of tart, lemon and pear-redolent style and juicy, floral, medium-bodied,
melon de bourgogne-spiked varietal fruit, just like this gorgeous Lacheteau
offering.
French Connection, Vin Blanc Cuvée, Vin de Table, France, Tesco,
£3.99; Asda, £3.98.
French Connection from Skalli, the large Sête-based producer in Southern
France, is one of the consistently good names in my tasting book with a
range of wines and prices that hit the spot. What you get from this
slimline, 11.5 per cent alcohol, non-vintage, ugni blanc-based French white,
topped up with one third colombard, is light, juicy, clean, uncomplicated,
verdant, citrussy fruit.
2006 Sauvignon Soresere, Grave, Friuli, Forchir, Italy, Majestic,
£6.24, down to £4.99 each if you buy two until September.
Italian sauvignon has a different dimension to those of France, and although
still decidedly European it is broader and bolder with those hallmark
apricot notes that mark the country's white wines. Atop the ripe stone fruit
here there are all sorts of unusual, elegant, verdant, zesty flavours. Just
the ticket with a leafy summer salad.
2006 Touraine Sauvignon Blanc, Champteloup, France, Waitrose, £4.99.
Serge de Bucy and his hardworking team, together with a good Loire vintage and
input from Angela Muir and Waitrose's buyer, have turned a good white into
very nearly the star buy in this section. What you get with this stylish
sauvignon blanc is delicious, zesty, herby fruit, reminiscent of angelica
and gooseberries, that, grown on the classic clay and chalk tufa soils of
Touraine, oozes class.
2006 Stone Road Chardonnay-Colombard, Vin de Pays des Côtes de Gascogne,
Thierry Boudinaud, France, Co-op, £4.49.
Stone Road's mouthwatering sparky green, lemony flavours are just what you
would expect from a carefully made, unoaked, new-wave Gascon white. What you
also get is the lively, gutsy, floral, green apple-charged fruit from the
superior chardonnay grape that makes this bottle a useful summer food wine.
2006 Pinot Grigio, Neszmely Region, Hungary, Marks & Spencer,
£4.29.
It is testament to Hungarian winemaker Akos Kamocsay's talent that this bottle
beat off some impressive Italian competition here to win through as this
year's sub-£5 best buy pinot grigio. Blended with a ten per cent dollop of
sauvignon, this pleasant pinot grigio displays the delicate but lively
lemony spice so beloved by contemporary drinkers who just cannot get enough
of this grape.
2006 Andrew Peace Family Reserve Semillon-Chardonnay, South Eastern
Australia, Somerfield, down to £3.99 until June 19. While I would not
pay £8 for this sweet, juicy 55 per cent semillon to 45 per cent chardonnay
mix from the Swan Hill region of Victoria, at £3.99 it is a bargain. Blessed
with an easy, spritzy, citrussy palate with buttery semillon and
pineapple-scented chardonnay to the fore, this white makes a happy mixed
summer food partner to the red.
2006 Guentota Estate Chardonnay, Mendoza, Argentina, Tesco Finest,
£7.99, down to £3.99 from June 20 to July 8. One of Tesco's newest additions
to its Finest range, this superior Guentota estate chardonnay is a good
example of what Argentina is capable of. Winemaker Gustavo Marin has turned
out a lively, appley, peachy, stainless steel-fermented chardonnay with wide
appeal, though you will have to wait until June 20 to get hold of it at
£3.99.
Fizz
Calamino Brut Cava, Coniusa, Spain, Majestic, £5.99, or buy two for
£3.99 each until September 3.
A cheap méthode champenoise summer fizz with elegance and attitude, expect
plenty of smoky, scented, lemony fruit with this pleasing Spanish cava,
coupled with a tart, tangy finish — just what you would expect from a
youthful Codorn=C3=ADu bubbly that has around 12 months' ageing on its lees,
or yeasty sediment — three months longer than the compulsory time.
Reds
Star Buy
2005 Château des Maladrets Beaujolais Villages, Jean-Pierre and Paul
Lacroix, France, Majestic, £5.99, or £4.99 each if you buy two until
June 21.
This lively, brilliant crimson-purple beaujolais, made from 40-year-old vines,
snuck into the top slot here due in part to the five-star 2005 beaujolais
vintage that produced intensely fruity bottles, but also to its young,
crunchy fruit that is great chilled with cold charcuterie on hot days. Snap
it up when you see it.
Berrys' House Red, Vin de Pays de l'Aude, France, Berry Bros &
Rudd, £4.95, down to £4.45 per bottle by the case.
Berrys' smartly labelled, by appointment to HM The Queen and HRH The Prince of
Wales, and versatile new screwcapped, drink-now duo will be seen at lots of
swanky summer events. So scoop up your share of this delicious ripe, plummy,
velvety, berry fruit-laden red made by the talented Burgundian winemaking
duo of Jean-Luc Terrier and Christian Collovray.
2006 Stone Road Shiraz, Thierry Boudinaud, France, Co-op, £4.49.
There is not much black pepper, or bramble spice in this juicy shiraz made
from grapes grown in the Minervois area of the Languedoc. Instead, you will
find lots of big, fat, curranty berry fruit and lots of squishy plum
flavours on the finish. Not a shiraz that will cope especially well with
barbecued meats, but meaty pizzas and pastas will enjoy this jolly 12.5 per
cent alcohol red.
2005 Oak-aged Extra Special Burgundy, Cave des Vignerons de Buxy, France,
Asda, £6.98, down to £5 until July 10.
Asda's new oak-aged burgundy, from the superb 2005 vintage, the finest red
burgundy year since 1999, delivers oodles of palatable, ripe, meaty, beefy,
classic strawberry-scented pinot noir fruit. A snip at this low price, it
has become that rare and almost extinct bottle: a good, ordinary, everyday
red burgundy for a fiver.
French Connection Cuvée Vin Rouge, France, Tesco, £2.79 until June
19; Asda, £3.98.
This non-vintage, easy-swigging vin de table red is even better than the
white, with lots of juicy, gluggable, faintly bubblegum-scented carbonic
macerated fruit to the fore. Not a cerebral summer red, yet its lively,
sweet berry fruit, and ripe, juicy, cherry and plum-stacked style, plus a
long curranty finish, are just what simple meaty summer salads and grilled
red meats need.
2005 Côtes du Rhône Villages, Taste the Difference, Maison M. Chapoutier,
France, Sainsbury's, £5.99, down to £4.49 until June 19.
One of the best and oldest growers and merchants in the Rhône Valley, and now
biodynamic, Chapoutier's quality varies from good to great, as did the 2005
vintage in the Rhône. So pick up this classy red syrah and grenache-based
Côtes du Rhône, whose rich, peppery, perfumed plummy palate is a bargain at
this price.
2003 Chianti Classico Riserva, Extra Special, Italy, Asda, £7, down to
£5 until July 10.
Every summer selection merits at least one good Italian red as their herby,
bitter-cherry fruit works wonderfully well with garlicky salami and other
highly spiced charcuterie. 2003 was a good Tuscan vintage and it shows as
this ripe, juicy red delivers some lively, plummy, tarry fruit with that
classic chianti scent of violets. Meaty Mediterranean dishes were made for
this.
2006 Vineyard X Spanish Garnacha, Campo de Borja, Bodegas Borsao, Spain,
Thresher and Wine Rack, £4.49, down to £2.99 each if you buy three.
Yup, the decent £2.99 wine is still with us in the shape of this thoroughly
acceptable, ripe, plump, peppery garnacha from a giant co-operative at Campo
de Borja south of Rioja. Its luscious velvety fruit will make you and your
guests feel that it costs a lot, lot more.
2005 Torre Beratxa Tinto Navarra, Hacienda Uvanis, Spain, Thresher and
Wine Rack, £4.99, down to £3.33 each if you buy three.
Tailor-made for bold, barbecue food, this 14 per cent alcohol Spanish red —
made from garnacha vines some of which are more than 60 years old — oozes
with gorgeous, sweet, creamy, red berry fruit. A charming summer
barbecue-suitable wine, few will guess this red costs as little as it does.
2005 Chileno Cabernet-Petit Verdot, Chile, Co-op, £4.99.
I have yet to find a Chileno bottle I dislike so I had high hopes of this
latest blend and was not disappointed. Made from a combination of cabernet
sauvignon lifted with petit verdot, what you get with this suprisingly
classy Bordeaux-inspired offering, aged in American oak barrels, is lots of
dark, complex, scented smoky-oaky fruit with a fine herbaceous finish. Try
it.
2006 Andrew Peace Family Reserve Cabernet-Shiraz, South Eastern Australia,
Somerfield, down to £3.99 until June 19.
Just like its white sister, this ripe, briary, curranty, classic Aussie blend,
with the burly shiraz grape plumping up and filling out the more austere
cabernet sauvignon, makes a brilliant summer buffet bottle. With 14 per cent
alcohol, this fat, herby wine also makes a handy barbecue red, able to cope
with the likes of burnt sausages and chilli sauces.
Pinks
2006 Château Cazal Viel, Saint Chinian, Vieilles Vignes, France,
Majestic, £5.99 or £4.79 each if you buy two.
France struggles to put anything pink on the table sub-£5 that is drinkable,
but this impressive rosé from an old St Chinian estate in the Languedoc is
one that works. With its partridge-eye pink colour and syrah, grenache and
cinsault-grape based blend this lively, dry, raspberry-scented savoury and
slightly earthy pink will have wide summer food and party appeal.
2006 Errazuriz Estate Cabernet Sauvignon Rosé, Thresher and Wine
Rack, £6.99, or £4.66 each if you buy three.
Simply the best, new, New World rosé this summer with a terrific vivid,
jewel-pink colour leading on to a gorgeous, ripe, sweet, blackcurranty
palate, the hallmark of cabernet sauvignon. This hand-harvested, 13.5 per
cent alcohol delight is ideal for curry fanatics and Asian food fans, plus
others in search of a sweeter, fruitier, more gulpable rosé.
Next week: Best buys under £8
