I told you Janice McDonald was an ace white wine maker and this is further proof of her talents, this time with Riesling. This is a beautifully, poised, ageworthy style, focused and pithy with youth on its side and bone dry, lime-scented fruit. Buy a few bottles and see how they age over the next decade or so.
Food Match: Fish
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.
2012 Taste the Difference Albariño, Val do Salnés, RÃas Baixas
( £7.99 down to £5.99, 12.5%, Sainsbury's )Classic Alabriño from the Val do Salnés sub region of RÃas Baixas on Spain’s Atlantic coast, showing lots of floral perfume, notes of pepper and aniseed, zesty acidity and a bone dry, seafood friendly finish. Spain’s answer to Muscadet, but with a flavour that is all its own.
2012 Taste the Difference Greco di Tufo, Avelino, Campania
( £7.86 down to £5.90, 13%, Sainsbury's )Despite its warm climate origins in the Campania region close to Naples, this wine is made from grapes grown at 450 metres and it shows, giving the wine lovely focus and zip. It’s a spicy, savoury white with a creamy texture from lees contact and plenty of weight and concentration. It was already on a deal (down from £10.49), so you get a double saving here. Bargain!
2006 Taste the Difference Hunter Valley Semillon, Hunter Valley
( £9.99 down to £7.49, 13%, Sainsbury's )This wine has been on Sainsbury’s shelves for a while (a reflection of Semillon’s lack of popularity, rather than the quality of this example, which is outstanding), but now is still a great time to buy this aged Hunter white. Toasty, fresh and mature with focused acidity and notes of lemongrass and cream soda and a long, unoaked finish. Go on, give it a go!
2009 Leasingham Magnus Riesling, Clare Valley
( £9.49 down to £7.11, 12%, Sainsbury's )Another Aussie white that may appear a little long in the dental department, but has actually benefited from the extra bottle age. This is just off-dry, showing delicious, lemon, lime and toasty flavours with a hint of kerosene. Focused and long, this is great with Asian food.
2010 Bellingham The Bernard Series Roussanne, Paarl
( £10.99 down to £8.24, 14.5%, Sainsbury's )Why isn’t there more Roussanne planted in the hotter parts of the Cape, such as Paarl? Beats me, because it seems to do really well there, especially in the hands of Niel Groenewald at Bellingham. This lightly oaked, lees-influenced white is savoury and complex with notes of oatmeal, vanilla and cinnamon and a long, yeasty finish.
2012 Pewsey Vale, Riesling, Eden Valley
( £13.30, 12.5%, Slurp, Winedirect )Pewsey Vale, Yalumba’s Eden Valley outpost, makes some of my favourite Aussie Rieslings. They are good young but develop stylshly in bottle. This is crisp, focused and tangy with lime and pink grapefruit flavours and a stony, pithy backbone of acidity. Long and focused on the palate.
NV Tio Pepe, Fino En Rama, Jerez
( £13, 15% )If you love Fino Sherry – and who doesn’t? – this is about as good as it gets: an unfined, unfiltered fortified that was bottled in April when the flor yeast is at its thickest on the surface of the wine, giving it that bready, savoury complexity. More deeply coloured than the regular Tio Pepe, this is a salty, tangy delight that’s absolutely brilliant with a plate of anchovies or almonds. Essence of Andalusia.
2011 Greywacke Pinot Gris, Marlborough
( £13.33, 14%, thedrinkshop.com )Made in a spicy, off-dry style that takes its inspiration from Alsace rather than northern Italy, this is a finely weighted Pinot Gris, with musk, peach and pear flavours, a creamy texture and enough acidity for balance. Exotic, but refreshing at the same time.
Greywacke Wild Sauvignon, Marlborough
( £17.49, 14%, Excel Wines )Kevin Judd is a master of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc. As its name suggests, this is his wild yeast-fermented expression of the grape, along the lines of Cloudy Bay’s Te Koko. It’s a stunning wine, combining notes of white Burgundy, white Bordeaux and Kiwi fruit exuberance. The older oak is very subtle, the savoury, grapefruity, yeasty flavours perfectly judged.
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.