My top dozen wines from the Biodyvin tasting

by Tim Atkin
2007 Domaine Bott-Geyl Gewurztraminer d’Alsace Grand Cru Sonnenglantz (available from OW Loeb)One of a series of stunning wines from this outstanding Colmar-based domaine. Spicy and complex, with real intenstity and...

The pick of Waitrose’s wine range

by Tim Atkin
RED 2010 Saumur, Les Nivières (£7.49, 13%) Essence of Loire Cabernet Franc, this unoaked red is a delight: soft and grassy with fresh acidity, no oak and pure blackcurrant and...

Independents’ day with The Dirty Dozen

by Tim Atkin
Dartmouth House, the home of the English Speaking Union, is an unlikely place for a revolutionary gathering. Set in the heart of Mayfair, it feels like a slightly fusty gentleman’s...
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2007 Passopisciaro, IGT Sicilia

( £29.99, 14%, Corney & Barrow )

If your impression of Sicily is of a sweltering island making chunky reds, cheap, New World-style whites and Marsala, you haven’t discovered the Nerello Mascalese grape from Mount Etna yet. Andrea Franchetti’s Burgundian-style red, sourced from vines as old as 120 years, is remarkable: perfumed and elegant, with notes of red cherry and wild strawberry, savoury tannins, refreshing acidity and impressive length and complexity.

Similar Wines: £20-£30, 91-95, Italy, Red, Other Reds

The joy of Austrian red wines

by Tim Atkin
Heaven, runs the old joke, is where the police are British, the chefs Italian, the mechanics German, the lovers French and it’s all organised by the Swiss. Hell, on the...
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2009 Crasto Douro Red

( £8.49 each for two, 13.5%, Majestic )

Make sure you buy the 2009 vintage of this brilliant Douro red, rather than the 2008, because it’s a step up in terms of perfume and elegance. This is a harmonious blend of Touriga Nacional. Tinta Francesa and Tinta Roriz (aka Tempranillo), showing exotic blackberry and bluberry fruit, a touch of sweet oak, plush tannins and real vibrancy. Significantly, it’s got none of that Douro bake character, just masses of gluggable fruit.

Similar Wines: £5-£10, 86-90, Portugal, Red, Other Reds, Touriga Nacional

In praise of older wines

by Tim Atkin
How long does it take you to drink a bottle of wine once you’ve bought it? A day? A week? A year? I’m not sure how accurate the statistic is,...

The other side of own-label

by Tim Atkin
As oxymorons go, they may not be as absurd as “French resistance”, “amicable divorce” and “camping holiday”, but there’s still something fundamentally silly about Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference Spaghetti Bolognese,...

Rasputin and underwater wines

by Tim Atkin
What is it about the Baltic and champagne? Last week’s high profile discovery of a cache of bubbly aboard a shipwreck is not the first time fizz has been found...