Whites
2006 Touraine Sauvignon Blanc, Domaine Jacky Marteau, France, Marks &
Spencer, £5.99.
A good touraine sauvignon, from an excellent vintage like 2006, is a
mouthwatering summer treat. What you get here is much sancerresque verdant
zip and zing, supported by delicious steely, minerally flavours, as well as
some wonderful fine, fat, ripe, 14 per cent alcohol fruit that is just the
ticket with bold summer dishes such as watercress soup and grilled
asparagus.
2005 La Grille Barrel-Fermented Chenin Blanc, Château de la Roulerie,
Philippe Germain, France, Waitrose, £7.99.
Philippe Germain's Château Roulerie is one of those quality-first, new-wave
Loire estates whose hand-picked grapes are given plenty of TLC. The result
is a gorgeous, ripe, smoky-oaky chenin with some fine, zesty, leafy Loire
flavours underpinned by rich, white peach-styled fruit. At 14 per cent
alcohol again, this dry white is best enjoyed with food.
2005 Grange des Rouquette, Marsanne-Viognier, Vin de Pays d'Oc, Vignobles
Boudinaud, France, Berry Bros & Rudd (01256 340123), £7.25, or £6.52
by the unmixed case.
Spot the classic white Rhône grapes of marsanne and viognier on this wine and
relax: for once, within lies a juicy, perfumed, crystallised fruit-layered
white whose exotic spice and fruit works well as an aperitif, or with bold
summer fare such as vitello tonnato.
2004 Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Kabinett, Hauth-Kerpen, Germany,
Majestic, £6.99.
No summer selection is complete without a fine single-estate German riesling
whose racy, floral fruit makes the perfect summer, sans-food white. At just
7.5 per cent alcohol, this gorgeous, rich, spine-tingling, grapefruit
zest-spiked white from one of the middle Mosel's most famous vineyards,
Wehlen's sundial, should keep even the anti-alcohol police happy.
2006 Pinot Grigio Mazzolada, Lison Pramaggiore, Italy, McKinley
Vintners (020-7928 7300), £7.99.
One of the best of a batch of pinot grigio new arrivals is this stylish bottle
from Mazzolada in the Veneto that is made from the finer free-run juice of
gently pressed grapes and fermented in stainless steel. Such winemaking
diligence has paid off, and this fine, ripe, nutty, lemony wine finishes on
a long, lingering floral, lemon and almond note.
2006 Alamos Torrontes, Catena, Argentina, Bibendum (020-7449 4100),
£6.99.
Argentina's exotic, indigenous torrontes is the country's answer to Europe's
viognier, and its strongest white-grape suit. Not all of you will enjoy its
full-blown, zesty, perfumed, floral, lime blossom and rose-scented fruit,
but those on the lookout for an unusual summer aperitif or Asian food wine
that is almost Alsace-like in its intensity will have met their match here.
2006 Knappstein Clare Valley, Hand Picked Riesling, Australia,
Majestic, £7.99, down to £5.99 each if you buy two or more; Oddbins, £7.49.
If you have yet to taste this classic New World wine style, it's high time you
did. Fatter, riper, spicier and more alcoholic than the German equivalent,
this aromatic, tart, vibrant, verdant, citrus peel-spiked 2006 weighs in at
13 per cent alcohol, makes a wonderful summer food wine, and is a whizz with
fish in particular.
2006 Gavi Finest, Fratelli Martini, Italy, Tesco, £5.99.
Tesco's Finest range can offer great value for money, and this lemon
blossom-scented gavi proves the point. Made from the elegant cortese grape,
grown on Fratelli Martini's best hillside sites and hand-harvested before
being partly fermented and aged in barriques, making it richer and fuller,
it delivers the sort of elegant, leafy, juicy, floral spice that will make
it a winner with lots of full-flavoured fare.
2006 Mount Riley Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc, New Zealand, Thresher and
Wine Rack, £11.99, down to £7.99 each if you buy three; The Wine Society
(01438 740222), £8.95.
What gives Mount Riley the edge over other sauvignon blanc producers is its
six different top sauvignon vineyards that produce some immaculate bottles.
So it is no suprise that this gorgeous, gooseberry, passion fruit and
flowering currant-laden wine has received a clutch of medals.
2005 Tahbilk Marsanne, Nagambie Lakes, Victoria, Australia, Thresher
and Wine Rack, £9.99, down to £6.66 each if you buy three.
Marsanne, one of the three leading Rhône white grapes, has been grown at
Tahbilk continuously since 1927 and thrives in the unique, lake-cooled
micro-climate and red, iron-rich soil. See for yourself with the unusual and
unexpected sweet summery spice of this tasty, green apple and
greengage-layered white.
Star buy
2005 Mâcon Vergisson, La Roche, Nadine et Maurice Guerrin, France, Tanners
(01743 234500), £7.40.
2005 was a fine white burgundy year, so it was hard to pick the best among
this line-up, but Tanners' tasting skills and modest prices combined to push
this dreamy, subtle white into the star slot. Serve this lively, lemony,
steely wine, with its delicate, ripe, nutty, waxy finish, as a refined
summer aperitif, or with restrained white meat and fish dishes.
Reds
2005 Beaujolais Les Trois Collines, Domaine Alain Chatoux, France,
Berry Bros & Rudd, £7.75, or £6.97 by the unmixed case.
No summer wine rack can do without a bottle or two of the best beaujolais you
can buy. Made from 60-year-old vines, situated at Le Bourg close to
Villefranche in one of the prettiest vineyard areas of France, this vibrant,
sweet, scented, summer charmer oozes intense, rich, silky, red fruits style,
typical of this sunny vintage.
2005 Vacqueyras Finest, Les Celliers de Beauregard, France, Tesco,
£5.99.
This juicy new 14 per cent alcohol vacqueyras from the Celliers de Beauregard
is a happy combination of 50 per cent of the rich, warm, grenache grape, and
20 per cent each of spicy syrah and bruising mourvèdre, creating a
delicious, easy-going, plummy, beefy-savoury spiced red with lots of juicy,
slightly jammy fruit on the finish. A perfect summer barbecue red.
2005 Château La Roseraie Dumont, Puisseguin Saint-Emilion, France,
Marks & Spencer, £6.99.
Compare and contrast Bordeaux's 2005 and 2006 vintages with this new-wave
claret duo, clearly vinified with modern drinkers in mind. 2005 was a great
Bordeaux year, so this merlot-dominated claret with just 15 per cent
cabernet sauvignon has the edge. Its fine, ripe, leafy fruit has plenty of
spice and attitude so works well with roasted red meats and grills.
2002 Bourgogne, Didier Fornerol, France, Howard Ripley (020-8877 3065), £7.75,
down to £6 for Times readers while stocks last.
Fully mature red burgundy at this price is a rarity, but Didier Fornerol's
splendid Côtes de Nuits have popped up here before and deserve a wider
audience for their refined, strawberry-scented fruit. So snap up this
mature, gamey red with plenty of leafy, ethereal berry fruit on the finish
before the talented Mr Ripley sells out.
2005 Côtes du Rhône, La Truel, F. Zobel, France, Adnams
(01502 727222), £6.99.
Frederick Zobel's Domaine Traslepuy's wines, made from ancient 40-year-old
vines, are rapidly making a name for the property. Before Zobel fils took
over here, père Zobel sold his grapes to the local co-operative, so
their loss is our gain with this juicy, savoury, meaty, grenache-based Côtes
du Rhône, with an inky dash each of carignan, syrah, cinsaut and counoise.
2006 Vieux Remparts Lussac St Emilion, France, Somerfield, £11.99, down
to £5.99 from July 18 to August 14.
The only drawback with this tasty St Emilion claret is that you have to wait
four weeks for it to drop down to the give-away sub-£8 price. No matter, its
young, jolly, juicy claret fruit, a blend of 65 per cent merlot, topped up
with cabernets franc and sauvignon, is well worth the wait — especially as
it also has a dollop of St Emilion's smoky, sandalwood style.
Star buy
2005 Les Gravouilles, Touraine Rouge, Domaine Sauvète, France, Stone,
Vine & Sun (01962 712351), £6.75.
Touraine gamay is not the top red Loire grape, yet in the right hands, its
wines can be enthralling. With the grapes allowed to ripen fully, picked
late and cropped low at 35 hectolitres a hectare, what you get here is
oodles of exotic, starry, lively, perfumed, rose-scented velvety red fruit
that I would be happy to drink morning, noon and night.
2005 Merlot 111B, Vin de Pays d'Oc, Jean-Claude Mas, France, Majestic, £8.49,
or buy two for £7.99 each.
Jean-Claude Mas has clearly adopted a more analytical approach than his
Languedoc ancestors. Thus the 111 here indicates a top tier, or tête de
cuvée, blend sourced from higher-altitude, low-yielding vines, while
the B indicates a barrel-aged wine. I loved this bold, ripe, beefy, plummy
merlot, with lots of seductive, fat, herby fruit, the minute I tasted it.
2004 Vigneto Solimpia, Sangiovese, Castella della Paneretta, Italy, Majestic,
£7.99, or buy two for £6.39 each.
Majestic's Italian range has been gathering momentum, and this impressive 100
per cent sangiovese is a fine example. Chianti can be too austere and bitter
for some and really only works in the summer with Italian-inspired menus, so
this lively, leafy, violet-scented red, with lots of rich, exotic, earthy
fruit on the finish, is a welcome addition to the summer scene.
2005 Château du Parc, Coteaux du Languedoc, France, Marks &
Spencer, £5.49.
Winemakers Arnaud L'Epine and Xavier Billet have done a brilliant, low-yielding
job on their Cabrières soil, with the burly, brutish, sun-loving
mourvèdre grape, topped up with a third syrah and a quarter grenache,
producing this unusual, unoaked and richly perfumed red, with its dark,
mysterious, waxy, incense-redolent, distinctly ecclesiastical bouquet.
2005 Peter Lehmann Tempranillo, Barossa, Australia, Waitrose, £7.99,
down to £5.99 from August 1 to September 11.
Spain's plummy tempranillo grape has happily transported itself to the heat of
Australia. So lap up this bright, savoury tempranillo, lifted by 15 per cent
shiraz, and sourced from five different Barossa vineyards before ageing in
old French hogshead barrels. Despite its hefty 14.5 per cent alcohol, it's
surprisingly zesty, making it a good barbecue bottle.
Sweet
2005 Botrytis Semillon, Peter Lehmann, Barossa Valley, Australia, half-bottle,
Oddbins, £7.99; NoËl Young (01223 844744), £6.29.
No summer selection is complete without a first-class sticky to accompany all
those glorious fruity puds. This delicate, honeyed, crystallised peach,
pineapple and aniseed-spiked dessert wine, made from rich, raisin-like
botrytis semillon grapes, is neither too heavy, nor too unctuous to do
justice to Britain's soft summer fruits.
Fizz
Sparkling Burgundy Brut, Crémant de Bourgogne, Cave de Lugny, France, Waitrose,
down £2 to £5.99 until July 3.
A Gallic miracle: a decent dry French fizz for less than £6. The Lugny
co-operative in southern Burgundy has been erratic on quality, but in an
excellent Burgundy vintage such as 2005, Lugny is the business, producing
this fresh chardonnay-based méthode champenoise bubbly, with its fine,
floral, lively, lemony, waxy scented style.
Fortified
Fino Extra Dry Palomino Fino, Finest, Luis Alvarez Garcia, Spain, Tesco £5.99.
Irritatingly for fino fans, the quality of supermarket sherry goes up and down
like a yo-yo, so it pays to shop around. This summer, I've done the hard
work for you, and this gorgeous, ripe, bone-dry, iodine-scented fino, with
just 15 per cent alcohol but oodles of crisp, yeasty flavour, knocked spots
off the competition. Serve chilled with olives and toasted almonds for an
Andalucian treat.
Next week: Best buys under £12
This was the fantastic BA, there are sadly very few bottles around, wish we had bought more cases at the time, Majestic said the quality went down and they has decided not to stock, it was great while it lasted, have never found it anywhere else....
Keith Hamilton, Birmingham,
Dear Jane:
Some years ago you introduced us to ba, a sparkling wine from Moet and Chandon, Argentina. Sadly the supply source (Majestic Wines) dried up, and now we are unable to find it anywhere. Would you be kind enough to inform us of a supply source, please?
Tony Gillett, Kirkham, England