Typical (and gratifyingly so) of the top end Chardonnays emerging from Australia’s best cool climate areas at the moment, this is all about structure and acidity rather than easy, up front fruit flavours. Notes of lemongrass, vanilla and citrus fruit are nicely intertwined on the palate, wrapped in a creamy, lees-derived texture.
Price Range: £10-£20
2010 Yalumba The Strapper Grenache/Shiraz/Mataro, Barossa Valley, South Australia
( £11.99, 14%, AC Gallie, Direct Wines, Noble Green Wines, Noel Young Wines )Great name (I had to read it twice, too), a smart package and one hell of a glug for under £12. This is judiciously oaked, with the accent on soft, ripe, red fruits flavours. There’s a touch of sweet vanilla, a whisper of liquorice and supple, textured tannins on the palate. Essence of Barossa; essence of GSM.
2010 Terrenus, Vinho Regional Alentejano
( £10.95, 13%, The Wine Society )The oak is fairly prominent on this three-way blend of native Portuguese grape varieties, but there’s enough flavour and texture to cope with it. It’s a spicy, herbal number with notes of fresh bread, aniseed and wild thyme. The acidity is deliciously mouthwatering, giving the wine a sappy, refreshing finish.
2011 Valle Pradinhos Branco, Transmontano
( £10.95, 13.5%, The Wine Society )It’s remarkable to discover that Rui Cunha’s innovative white blend of Gewürztraminer, Riesling and Malvasia Fina comes from the Upper Douro, a region usually better known for full-throated reds. But there you go. This tastes as good as it looks: spicy and aromatic with a hint of Burgundian style struck match, notes of lime and ginger, plenty of minerality and a long, nuanced finish.
2011 Vinoterra Rkatsiteli, Kakheti
( €11.90, 12.5%, Geovino )A very accessible qvevri wine, with melon, honey and floral aromas giving way to spicy but restrained tannins and apricot kernel. A great introduction to Rkatsiteli and the qvevri style.
2011 Vinoterra Kisi, Kakheti
( €11.90, 12.5%, Geovino )Too young at the moment – winemaker Gogi says wait two years, but there’s a bright future for this complex, structured amber wine. The nose has everything from cooked plums, to toffee and caramel. Generous stone fruit and quite full bodied.
2008 Vinoterra Mtsvane, Kakheti
( €11.90, %, Available from the winery )Apart from being almost impossible to pronounce (seemingly half the letters are silent), Mtsvane has an entrancing soft, rounded texture, and in this example, an aroma of tea leaves and spiced plums. This is a great example of how these amber wines age effortlessly – and indeed are much better after a couple of extra years in bottle, when the tannins resulting from extended skin contact in the qvevri have integrated a bit.
2009 Vinoterra Saperavi, Kakheti
( €15.90, 13%, Geovino )Trademark Saperavi produced by Gogi Dakishvili at Schuchmann Wines – Saperavi is perhaps the most important indigenous red grape variety in Georgia today. Peppery, raspberry and prune fruit with an attractive balsamic note. Spicy, tannic but well balanced. Feels effortless.
2009 Alberto Longo Le Cruste Rosso, Puglia
( £17.95, 13.5%, Lea & Sandeman )Nero di Troia is the least well known of Puglia’s three main red varieties, but to me it’s the one with the most finesse. This is remarkably light and refreshing for a wine from the south of Italy, reminiscent of a Tempranillo, with elegant red fruits, a nip of tannin and impressive length on the palate. It hangs around. And you’re grateful.
2008 Château Doisy-Daëne Blanc Sec, Bordeaux
( £19.95, 12.5%, Tanners )Who says Sauvignon Blanc doesn’t age? When it’s made by Denis Dubourdieu, an academic and hands on winemaker who specialises in the variety, it can be spectacularly good. This is like a mini white Graves, with toasty, bottle-aged complexity, zesty acidity, tangy grapefruit-like flaovurs and a smoky undertone. The wine is delicious now but has more ageing potential if previous releases are a guide.
2010 Domaine Morin, Cuvée Ovide, Sancerre, Loire Valley
( £18.95, 13%, Roberson )The old vine concentration (we’re talking 50 years and counting) is immediately apparent on the nose and palate here. It’s a very subtle, minerally, focused style of Sauvignon Blanc that tastes as if it’s been drained through a bed of limestone. Pithy, restrained, saline, yet very concentrated wtih a finish that skips across your tongue. Drinking this, Ovid would have been moved to poetry.
2007 Domaine Saint Gayan, Gigondas, Rhône Valley
( £15.95, 15%, Yapp Brothers )A wine that needs a cold day, snow on the ground and frost on the windowpanes, to show at its best, preferably with a stew bubbling on the stove. It’s a rich, compact, full-throated southern Rhône red with masses of savoury, peppery sweetness, warming alcohol and dense, sun-soaked flavours, with tapenade, clove and blackberry to the fore. Great now, but will age too.