Blended by Waitrose’s Spanish buyer, Nick Room, this is a tasty introduction to Spain’s best-loved wine style, a Tempranillo-based red with a hint of sweet, coconutty American oak, lots of soft red fruits, bright acidity and supple, palate-caressing tannins.
Retailer: Waitrose
2011 Waitrose Beaujolais
( £6.99, 12.5%, Waitrose )2011 turned out to be a very drinkable vintage in Beaujolais, just as it did in neighbouring Burgundy, and this own-lablel from teh Georges Duboeuf stable is a red-fruited thirstquencher with pithy acidity and notes of cherry and raspberry.
2007 Mas d'en Gil Coma Vella, Priorat
( £23.49, 15%, Waitrose )A wine that certainly isn’t for the faint of heart (or palate, given its 15% alcohol), but this Catalan blend has style and compexity in abundance. Smoky and slightly sweet, with a hint of volatile acidity, plenty of tannin, subtle vanilla oak and aromas of wild herbs, all underpinned by palate-cleansing minerality from slate soils.
NV Taittinger Brut, Champagne
( £37.99, 12%, Majestic, Sainsbury's, Tesco, Waitrose, Wine Rack )Taittinger is in a rich vein of form at the moment, from this its non vintage blend right up the Olympian heghts of Comtes de Champagne. This is dry, toasty and well balanced with Chardonnay providing the freshness and lift on the palate. Appealingly dry for non vintage blend, using bottle age rather than sweetness for balance.
NV Freixenet, Elyssia Gran Cuvée, Cava
( £14.99, 11.5%, Waitrose )Freixenet was opposed to “”international varieties” for many years, but I’m glad it has relented, because this is a very well made blend of Pinot and Chardonnay. Savoury and dry, with a Cava-like twist, it’s palate-tinglingly fresh and long.
2011 Changyu Cabernet/Gernischt, Ningxia, China
( £9.99, 12.5%, Waitrose )One of the more drinkable Chinese wines to cross my tasting bench, this is a quaffable, sweetish blend with slighty angular acidity and pleasant cassis and red cherry fruit. Not masively (or even slightly) complex, but certainly drinkable.
2010 Hatzidakis Santorini Assyrtiko
( £10.99, 13%, Waitrose )Harry Hatzidakis makes some of the best whites on the volcanic holiday island of Santorini from the wonderful Assyrtiko grape. This is typically fresh and tangy, with a salty undertone, stony minerality and bright, lip-smacking acidity. The wine is shwowing really well right now after two years’ bottle age.
2008 Cousiño Macul Antiguas Reservas Cabernet Sauvignon, Maipo Valley
( £9.99 down to £7.49, 14%, Waitrose )Pure Cabernet from the Maipo Valley is one of the most distinctive wine styles in the New World. And this is a classic of the genre, with notes of mint and blackcurrant leaf and an undertone of green pepper and mint. Refreshing and nicely balanced, with the oak adding a subtle sweetness to the wine.
1977 D'Oliveiras Reserva Terrantez, Madeira
( £55 down to £41.25, 20%, Waitrose )Bottled in 2008 (which means it spent more than 30 years in cask), this is the sort of wine that everyone should drink once in their life. It has the classic green tinge of mature Madeira, as well as the marked acidity of the best examples. Savoury, complex and fine, this has a classic cheesy undertone, with mature, smoky, incense-like aromas and flavours. Yes, it’s expensive, but at 25% off, now is the time to buy it. Or offer it as a Christmas present.
2010 Colomé Malbec, Calchaquí Valley, Salta
( £15.99 down to £11.99, 14.5%, Waitrose )Made at one of the highest, most beautiful and remote estates in northern Argentina, this is a very subtle Malbec-based red, which combines the country’s signature grape with 15% Tannat, Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah. It’s a bright, minerally style, despite the pronounced alcohol, with floral, violet-like aromas, subtle, spicy oak and silky tannins. One of Argentina’s most distinctive red blends.
NV Warre's Bottle-Aged Late-Bottled Port, Port
( £19.99 down to £14.99, 20%, Waitrose )LBV Port covers a variety of styles and levels of seriousness, but this is right up there with the very best examples. It was bottled in 2005 and matured for a further four years before release and the result is a wine of great balance and spicy concentration. Smoky, peppery and fine with no obvious rough edges of spirit, just finesse, depth and complexity.
2011 Boekenhoutskloof The Chocolate Block, Western Cape
( £19.99 down to £14.99, 14.5%, Waitrose )Marc Kent’s cult red blend is always in demand, so you might need to hurry to buy this. It’s as good as ever: plush, sumptuous and aromatic, with sweet, ripe, tarry flavours of Syrah, Grenache, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cinsaut and Viognier, good acidity and lots of smoky, palate-warming fruit.