Partly inspired by a line in Peter Pharos’ latest column, I’ve decided to feature a Chinon as my wine of the week. The Loire Valley is one of those under-rated French regions that consistently delivers great value for money, especially for Cabernet Franc and Chenin Blanc lovers. This is a gloriously scented, leafy, unwooded example of the former grape from Famille Bougrier, with crunchy acidity, raspberry and black cherry flavours and top notes of graphite and green herbs. Appealingly juicy.
Score Range: 90-94
2020 Tesco Finest Peumo Carmenère, Peumo, Cachapoal Valley
( £8.50, 14%, Tesco )Something of a bargain within the Tesco range, this is a plush, engagingly scented Carmenère from Peumo, considered one of the best regions for the grape in Chile. Judiciously blend with 5% Cabernet Sauvignon, it’s appealingly unwooded, with flavours of rocket, dark chocolate and green pepper, supple tannins and enough acidity to freshen the finish.
2022 Guímaro Tinto, Ribeira Sacra, Galicia
( £17.33, 12.5%, Joseph Barnes Direct. Shrine to the Vine, Les Caves de Pyrene, Tivoli Wines )Blending components from the steep-sided Sil and Miño Valleys, this wonderfully gluggable, organically farmed red is based on Mencía with bits and pieces of other co-planted grapes, according to Pedro Rodríguez. Engagingly intense and floral, it’s a white wine drinker’s red in some ways, with lots of zip and acidity, violet and rose petal aromas, refined tannins and layers of raspberry, pomegranate and wild strawberry. Drink lightly chilled.
2019 I Ciacca Nostalgia Maturano, Val di Comino, Lazio
( £28.68, 12%, Shelved Wine )Something a little different this week. Maturano, not to be confused with Spanish Maturana Blanca, is a new Italian white grape variety to me. Sourced from vines at 600 metres inside a national park between Rome and Naples, it’s very much a southern style, with some appealing bottle age adding complexity. Lees fermented and aged in concrete, it’s appealingly unwooded, with musky, baking spice aromas, a palate of pear, honey and orange zest, some underlying, food-friendly grip and much more acidity than you think on first acquaintance.
2020 Domaine Joseph Burrier Juliénas Beauvernay, Beaujolais
( £17.50, 13.5%, The Wine Society )Juliénas has always been one of the more highly regarded of the ten Beaujolais Crus, and rightly so in my book. Showing the structure that often seems to feature in the granite-based wines of the northern Beaujolais, this is a complex, layered, intensely perfumed Gamay that’s all about fruit rather than oak, with plum, bramble and raspberry flavours and enough tannin and backbone to develop further in bottle.Lip-smacking stuff.
2019 Muga Reserva, Rioja
( £19.99 as part of a purchase of six bottles, 14.5%, Majestic )One of a dwindling number of top Riojas that combines grapes from the Rioja Alta and Rioja Oriental sub-regions, this impressive Reserva is a blend of Tempranillo with 20% Garnacha, Mazuelo and Graciano. Pairing Tempranillo, 15% Garnacha, 6% Mazuelo and 4% Graciano, with ageing in a 80/20 mix of French and American oak, it’s spicy, succulent and smartly wooded, with raspberry and blueberry fruit, sinewy tannins and plenty of acidity to freshen the finish. Will develop further in bottle.
2017 Mount Pleasant Elizabeth Semillon, Hunter Valley
( From £26.95, 11%, 3-wines.com, Vinum, Wine Republic )Hunter Semillon has crept up in price over the last decade – I can still remember the days when Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference cost £6.99 – but it remains a comparative bargain among the great wines of the world. This classically unwooded example comes from the famous Lovedale vineyard, planted back in 1946. Still youthful at seven years of age, it has flavours of lime, lemongrass and custard, a hint of the toastiness that will develop with more time in bottle, and a wonderfully tangy finish.
2021 Santa Venere Cirò Rosso, Calabria
( £10.95, 13.5%, The Wine Society )Wines from the southern Italian region of Calabria are comparatively rare in the UK, but this great value, unwooded Gaglioppo from organic vineyards close to the Ionian Sea makes you wonder why. Spicy, earthy and bright, it has has bramble, black tea and red cherry flavours, supple tannins and a dusting of wild herbs. A wine that massively overdelivers at its price point.
Planeta Mamertino, Sicily
( £20.79, 13.5%, The Great Wine Company )I have a recent podcast with Alessio Planeta to thank for introducing me to this delicious wine from northern Sicily. Mamertino was famous during Roman times – Julius Caesar was a fan – but it’s less well known today, even among Italophiles. Made from Nero d’Avola, arguably the island’s best red grape, and much rarer Nocera, this has flavours of clove and sweet spices, plum and red cherry fruit, savoury tannins and tangy maritime acidity. Quintessentially Mediterranean.
2019 Klein Constantia Metis Sauvignon Blanc, Constantia
( £19.99, 13.5%, Majestic )Loire Valley guru Pascal Jolivet inspired the talented Matt Day to make this wild-fermented, left-field Sauvignon Blanc from two complementary parcels on one of the oldest estates in South Africa’s Constantia Valley. Still youthful, intense and showing some tannic structure, it’s a superb, bone-dry expression of Constantia with notes of grapefruit pith, elderflower and wet stones. How wonderful to see a top Cape producer releasing a white wine with some bottle age.
2022 Domaine Maby Cuvée Prima Donna Rosé, Tavel
( £14.50, 14.5%, The Wine Society )A rosé in the depths of winter, when we haven’t even reached the shortest day of the year? Why not? It’s fine to drink pink wines all year round these days, not just in summer, especially when they’re as good as this flavoursome, full-bodied, richly coloured example from the southern Rhône Valley. Juicy yet serious, it has layers of summer pudding, goji berry and wild strawberry, plenty of supporting acidity and a nip of tannin.
2021 Thymiopoulos Atma Xinomavro, Macedonia
( £12.49, 13%, Waitrose )Apostolos Thymiopoulos is one of the hottest properties in Greece at the moment, making some of that country’s very best reds and rosés. His top wines fetch steep prices, but you can get a glimpse of what all the brouhaha is about by buying a bottle of this young-vine cuvée of Xinomvaro from the Naoussa region. Effortlessly juicy, sappy and thirst quenching, it has redcurrant and raspberry fruit flavours, a hint of rhubarb and a whisper of wild Mediterranean herbs. My happy juice.