Made from the comparatively rare Durif (aka Petite Sirah) grape variety, this carries its 14% alcohol with ease and seems much ligher than that on the palate. The All Saints hallmarks of freshenss and balance are attractively expressed here. There’s plum, some nutmeg spice, a nip of dry tannin and bright, almost Italianate acidity.
Food Match: Vegetables
2011 CVNE Viña Real Rioja Blanco, Alavesa, Rioja
( £9.99, 13%, Majestic )By the very oaky standards of some white Riojas, this is comparatively light on the barrel influence. It’s a subtle, lightly smoky Viura with a herbal touch and well integrated vanilla oak. The palate is fresh, yet textured, with good length and a savoury finish.
2009 Marimar Estate Chardonnay La Masía Don Miguel Vineyard, Russian River Valley, California
( US$35, 14.5%, Contact the winery for details )This is the most elegant Chardonnay I’ve tasted yet from this Green Valley winery, marking a step change in freshness, minerality and balance. The wine is still Californian in style, but the oak and acidity are nicely intertwined adding a refeshing backrop to the pear and citrus fruit. The lees work is exemplary, too. A wine that wouldn’t look out of place in a line up of top Meursaults. Bravo.
2011 Palacio de Fefiñanes Albariño, Rías Baixas
( £15.19, 12.5%, Waitrose )This is consistenly one of my very favourite Albariños (and Spanish whites for that matter) from the historic Fefiñanes winery. It’s spritzy, perfumed and refreshing with that Riesling-like crispness that you get in the best Galician whites, notes of pear and stone fruit and a long, satisfying, palate-tingling finish. The taste of (green) Spain.
2011 Phaedra Xynomavro Rosé, Macedonia
( £9.99, 12.5%, Waitrose )The best red grapes, Greece’s Xynomavro among them, invariably produce the best rosé wines. Good on Waitrose for listing a Greek example with ambition and personality: raspberry and wild strawberry fruit, a touch of sweetness and a nip of tannin on the finish.
2010 Thymiopoulos Rosé de Xinomavro, Naoussa
( £12.99, 14%, Theatre of Wine )This is something of a curiosity, but there’s nothing wrong with that: copper-tinted, almost Pinot Noir like, with sweet and savoury fruit flavours, refresing acidity and a long, wild strawberry finish. It’s got a nip of tannin, too, which makes it perfect with food. Try it with a summer salad.
2010 Neudorf Moutere Pinot Noir, Nelson
( NZ $49.90, 14%, Contact the winery for details )Lighter and more approachable than the Home Block release, but not far behind it in quality, this is a ripe, structured, red fruits scented Pinot with savoury, toasty oak, subtle, filigree tannins and some grip on the finish. Another wine that needs a year or two in bottle to show at its best.
2010 Neudorf Moutere Pinot Noir Home Vineyard, Nelson
( NZ$79.90, 14.5%, Contact the winery for details )This is unashamedly New Zealand, even Nelson, in style rather than a Burgundian copy. It’s rich, savoury and textured, a wine whose pale colour belies its concentration, depth and complexity. The oak is a little too evident at the moment, but don’t hesitate to give it five or more years in bottle. Sweetly fruited, perfumed and very long.
2011 Commanderie de Peyrassol Rosé, Côtes de Provence
( £9.99, 12.5%, Majestic )We may still be waiting for summer here in rain-sodden Blighty, but why not pretend you’re on the Côte d’Azur with a bottle of this slinky, floral, pale pink blend of Syrah and Grenache. It’s delicate and very subtle with notes of rosehip and raspberry, bright, sappy acidity and a refreshing finish. Great as an aperitif, even better with salad, fish or chicken dishes. Essence of southern France.