A single vineyard Carricante, with minute amounts of Catarratto, Minnella and Muscatello in the blend. There’s an enticing hint of vanilla pods on the nose, a very subtle reminder that this wine spent 9 months in French oak. There’s nothing heavy handed about it though – the fruit is predominantly grilled peaches, with a splash of woodspice and terrific freshness.
Food Match: Vegetables
2010 Cantine Russo Mon Pit Methodo Classico Spumante Brut Rosé, Etna, Sicily
( N/A, 12.5%, N/A UK (Available from the winery) )Nerello Mascalese is versatile enough to make terrific sparklers – like this bready, toasty rosé spumante. The fruit is spicy, and rather savoury, with an intriguing nose that reminded me of red onions (it wasn’t oxidised, I should hasten to add). The mousse is soft but persistent. Bone dry, refined and complex – a serious Rosé, Bravo!
2010 Tenuta di Fessina Erse IGT Sicilia, Etna, Sicily
( £18, 13.5%, FortyFive10º )It’s rare to see a completely unoaked Nerello Mascalese (Although most producers are using large, old oak vessels these days). This shows just how charming Mascalese’s fruit can be. Red cherries and redcurrants are balanced with a floral and slightly herbaceous note, in a style that’s not a million miles away from younthful village Burgundies. Erse is the goddess of dew, which seems appropriate for this fresh, youthful yet intense wine.
2011 Crozes-Hermitage, Alain Graillot, Crozes-Hermitage, Rhône Valley
( £19.25, 12.5%, Yapp Brothers )Alain Graillot and his son, Maxime, make some of the best value wines in the northern Rhône Valley, often on a par with more expensive fare from nearby Hermitage. This blend of mostly Marsanne with 20% Roussanne is a stunner: aromatic, mealy and very complex, with notes of brown toast, fresh flowers, oatmeal, peach and citrus fruit. The oak is very subtle, while the finish is long and staisfying. It will age nicely too under screwcap.
2011 Domaine Les Yeuses Vermentino, IGP Pays d'Oc, Languedoc-Roussillon
( £6.50, 13%, Lea & Sandeman )Vermentino, or Rolle, is one of those grapes that should be more widely planted, partly because it retains acidity and freshness in warm climates, but also because it has plenty of flavour. This is typical of the variety, and at a very appealing price: orange peel and citrus zest with an undertone of Mediterranean herbs and a tangy aftertaste. Perfect for the last few days of summer.
2011 Blind River Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough
( £9.99, 13%, Majestic )There’s so much mediocre Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc around (bland, sweet, overcropped and sometimes all three) that it’s a pleasure to recommend one that has real personality. This comes from the cooler Awatere Valley and is beautifuly taut and refined: a focused, almost minerally white with one foot in the Loire Valley, stylistically speaking. Fresh, crisp and tangy with notes of elderflower, wet stones and kiwi fruit, it lingers tantalisingly on the palate.
2011 Gelamà Macabeu, EmpordÃ
( E6, 13.5%, El Celler Petit )The 20% oak ageing is quite prominent on the nose and palate here, reminding me of a white Rioja (same grape, but more concentration in Empordà ), but there’s enough texture and concentration for it to integrate over time. Another young producer who has rejuvenated old family vines to fashion something with real personality: minerality, wild herbs and some vanilla sweetness.
2010 All Saints Estate Durif, Victoria
( £16.00, 14%, Cockburn & Campbell )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.
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 MasÃa 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, RÃas 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.