This unoaked, old vine Carignan comes from one of my favourite parts of the world – the Roussillon in southern France. It’s a wild, appealingly unruly red with firmish, sun-kissed tannins, ripe, plum and blackberry fruit and a rich, concentrated finish. You get a lot of wine for your money here.
Country: France
Cornas: the sweet smell of success
by Matt Walls
Of all the red wines of the Rhône Valley, there is one that has an unfortunate reputation. Cornas has often been accused of having a rustic or ‘animal’ side to...
Wine Mosaic: Saving rare grapes from extinction
by Simon Woolf
When was the last time you had a glass of Uvalino, Limniona or Österreichisch Weiss? Possibly not so recently, if ever – all three grape varieties are on the...
2012 Taste the Difference Pouilly-Fumé, Loire Valley
( £11.49 down to £8.61, 12.5%, Sainsbury's )Under £10 (at least until August 4) this has to be the best value Sauvignon Blanc in the country. Even at its regular price, it’s an outstanding Loire example of the grape. Pithy, intense and focused with flavours of white pepper, citrus fruit and green herbs, mouthwatering acidity and a fine, minerally finish. Bravo, André Figeat.
2009 Lacoste Borie, Pauillac
( £23.99 down to £17.99, 13%, Sainsbury's )If you’re looking for a tasty claret to enjoy now, but that will keep for another six or seven years, this is the perfect candidate. Made by the team at Fifth Growth Pauillac estate, Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste, it’s a light, perfumed, refined, Merlot-based blend with notes of graphite and blackcurrant leaf and impressive balance and poise.
2010 M Chapoutier, Les Meysonniers, Crozes-Hermitage, Rhône Valley
( £15.99 down to £11.99, 13%, Sainsbury's )2010 was a great vintage in the Rhône, as it was elsewhere in France, and this is a Crozes that wouldn’t look out of place in more prestigious Hermitage, up river. Smoky, tapenade notes on the nose segue into flavours of black pepper, clove and blackberry, with no oak to interfere with the fruit purity. Deliciously poised and complex.
2011 Esprit de Puisseguin, Puisseguin Saint-Emilion, Bordeaux
( £11.99, 13.5%, Waitrose )After the hoopla surrounding the 2009 and 2010 vintages in Bordeaux, 2011 was bound to be a bit of a let down, despite the fact that it produced plenty of decent wines. This is a case in point: a Merlot/Cabernet Franc blend that’s supple and forward (especially for the vintage), with attractive, grassy, refreshing flavours and a nip of tannin.
2011 François Lurton, Janeil, Gros Manseng & Sauvignon, Côtes de Gascogne
( £7.25, 12.5%, Oddbins )The sort of wine that has made Gascony one of the best value-for-money white wine regions in France, this is a comparativley unusual blend of Sauvignon and Gros Manseng, a grape more often found in Jurançon. It’s tangy, refreshing and crisp, with peach, apricot and grapefruit flavours and a zesty finish.
2011 Jacques & Nathalie Saumaize, Saint-Véran, En Crèches, Mâconnais, Burgundy
( £11.50, 13%, The Wine Society )Supple for a 2011, but showing good underlying acidity, this southern Burgundian Chardonnay is all about fruit and focus, not oak. It’s taut and fresh with a whiff of orange zest, and flavours of fennel, white peach and pear.
2007 Domaine William Fèvre Chablis Premier Cru Fourchaume, Vignoble de Vaulorent, Chablis 1er Cru Fourchaume, Burgundy
( £29, 13%, The Wine Society )2007 was a vintage that was overlooked in Burgundy, both for reds and whites, which is a shame as they are drinking really well now. This has a delicious combination of honeyed development with bracing acidity to pull the wine back into line. Taut and chalky, with impressive palate length.
2012 Château de la Roulerie, Les Grandes Bosses, Anjou, Loire Valley
( £9, 13%, Oddbins )Possibly a little closed at the moment, but this dry Loire Chenin Blanc hints at good things to come in the glass. Tangy, taut and crisp, with pure green apple fruit, lovely focus and a minerally backdrop. Time should confer more weight and some honeyed, bottle-developed characters.
2009 Verget Saint Véran Grand Elevage, Mâconnais, Burgundy
( £17, 13%, Oddbins )White Burgundies from the 2009 vintage don’t lack opulence, but the best ones have freshness and bite, too. This is certainly on the ripe and honeyed side, but it has enough freshness for balance, with notes of vanilla and nutmeg spice, pear and citrus fruit and an appealingly honeyed texture.