Who would imagine that the unfancied Côtes du Vivarais could produce a 50/50 Syrah/Grenache blend that tastes as good as anything at this price in the Rhône Valley. Spice and fresh tobacco notes, with some stemmy, whole bunch flavours, focused, mineral-edged red fruits, fine tannins and delicious perfume and balance. One of my discoveries of the summer.
Country: France
2015 Château Gassier, Le Pas du Moine, Côtes de Provence Sainte-Victoire, Provence
( £13.95, 13%, Great Western Wine )By the standards of some celebrity-endorsed or consumed Provençal rosés, this is positively great value. It’s a crisp, refreshing, bone dry pink with notes of red cherry and rosehip, tangy acidity and a long, palate-cleansing finish. Just the thing to quaff on the beach or in the garden this summer.
2013 Domaine Jones, Fitou, Languedoc Roussillon
( £13.50, 14.5%, The Wine Society )Once upon a time, I used to own a bit of vineyard land in Fitou. I just wish I’d done something as useful with it as Katie Jones has. This blend of Carignan, Grenache and Syrah is all about perfume and dark, sun-kissed fruit, constructed around a core of freshness and stony minerality. One of the most exciting Fitous I’ve tasted in years.
2010 Marquis de Castéra, Medoc, Bordeaux
( £15, 13.5%, Borough Wines )The second wine of Château Castéra, this is a stylish, Merlot-based claret with restrained oak, plenty of perfume and polished tannins. It’s good to see a 2010 wine of this quality that’s ready to drink on retail shelves, showing the balance that’s the hallmark of the vintage.
2015 Château de la Parenchère, Bordeaux
( £11.30, 13.5%, Peter Osbourne Fine Wines )Made for the first time in 2006, this was grafted over from Cabernet Franc vines to produce a blend of Sauvignon Blanc with 20% Semillon and 15% Muscadelle. Proving that you don’t need a swanky address in Pessac-Léognan to make tasty Bordeaux Blanc, it’s tangy, aromatic and sappy with hints of struck match and grapefruit and a waxy, herbal undertone from the Semillon.
2006 Drappier Grande Sendrée, Champagne
( £45, 12%, Widely available )This is a comparatively forward style of vintage Champage, as many of the 2006s are. It’s rich, toasty and stylish with an undertone of wild mushroom, some spice, fine, pin-head bubbles and a lingering dry finish. Delicious to drink now, but should keep for another four or five years thanks to its taut underlying acidity.
2014 Pascal Marchand Selection, Gevrey-Chambertin, Burgundy
( £30, 12.5%, Majestic )Pascal Marchand made his name at Domaine des Epeneaux in Pommard, but is now producing some equally impressive wines under his own label. This is a pale, even delicate Pinot, especially by the standards of Gevrey-Chambertin. Aromatic, nuanced and floral, it shows crunchy redcurrant and pomegranate flavours, plenty opf zip and focus and the faintest whisper of oak.
2014 Paul Jaboulet Aîné, Les Sauvagères, Saint-Péray, Rhône Valley
( £12.99, 13%, Rude Wines )Saint Péray tends to get overlooked as a source of excellent northern Rhône whites, lost in the shadow of more famous (and expensive) Hermitage and Condrieu. But this pure Marsanne from one of the region’s best known names is delicious: aromatic and floral, with notes of wild herbs and honeysuckle, a touch of oak, hints of fennel and aniseed and a long, stylish, refreshing finish.
2013 Domaine Les Yeuses, Syrah, Les Epices, IGP Pays d'Oc, Languedoc
( £7.99, 13.5%, Majestic )Is this the best value red in the high street at the moment? It’s certainly the best value Syrah in my view. Yesterday, it was presented with the “Best Red of Show” gong at the Languedoc Roussillon Top 100 Awards in London beating lots of more expensive wines. Wild thyme and rosemary notes, blackberry and bramble fruit, smooth tannins and enough perfume to keep your nostrils twitching for half an hour, this finishes with an intense, savoury flourish.
En primeur: the other side of Bordeaux
by Nicolle Croft
The ‘primeur’ show is over for another year and the dust has settled here in Bordeaux. The journalists and buyers of the wine world with their brimming laptops and stained...
Chapoutier 2015 Sélections Parcellaires: the best vintage since 1990?
by Matt Walls
Every spring, Rhône ringleader Michel Chapoutier comes to London to unveil the new vintage of his top single vineyard wines, the Sélections Parcellaires. It’s a hotly anticipated tasting for a...
2014 Domaine de la Noblaie Le Temps des Cerises, Chinon, Loire Valley
( £8.95, 13%, The Wine Society )Is Loire Cabernet Franc finally getting the recognition it deserves, partly because of the rise in the grape’s fortunes elsewhere? If so, it’s about time. Where else can you find a wine as complex as this Chinon for under £9? It’s a classically grassy, refreshing red with no apparent oak and remarkable elegance and fruit purity. Drink it chilled, and drink lots of it.