Rich, oxidative style Garnatxa Blanca with masses of flavour and concentration: savoury, spicy and rich with well-integrated oak, tangy acidity and thick, powerful flavours. Emporda’s answer to Meursault.
Score Range: 91-95
2012 Finest* Denman Vineyard Semillon, Hunter Valley, New South Wales
( £9.99 down to £7.49, 10%, Tesco )This cool climate, low alcohol white from the Hunter Valley is consistently one of the stars of Tesco’s range. Its crisp, lazer-like acidity is offset by a little sweetness (although you don’t notice it), but it’s still leafy and green, with notes of dill and green olive and a tangy finish. Like Hunter Semillons, this wine ages extremely well.
2012 Finest* Tingleup Riesling, Western Australia
( £9.99 down to £7.49, 11%, Tesco )I told you Janice McDonald was an ace white wine maker and this is further proof of her talents, this time with Riesling. This is a beautifully, poised, ageworthy style, focused and pithy with youth on its side and bone dry, lime-scented fruit. Buy a few bottles and see how they age over the next decade or so.
2009 Tim Adam's Shiraz, Clare Valley
( 14.5%, £12.99 , Tesco )Tim “bonecrusher” Adams is equally adept at making whites and reds, but it’s the latter that really stand out for me. This is a big wine, but it’s not ponderous or over done: minty and aromatic with rich, bramble and blackberry fruit, subtle oak and soft, palate-caressing tannins. A wine that, on past form, ages well, too.
2011 Kooyong Massale Pinot Noir, Mornington Peninsula
( £16.99, 13%, Morrisons )This is one of the best value Pinots, not only in Australia, but the entire world. It’s just as good as plenty of village level Burgundies that would cost two or three times more. Subtle and refined on the nose, with aromas of wild flowers and a hint of earthiness, it’s fresh and persistent on the palate with impressive length, bright minerality and sweet and savoury notes. An Aussie Saivgny-lès-Beaune.
2012 Taste the Difference Pouilly-Fumé, Loire Valley
( £11.49 down to £8.61, 12.5%, Sainsbury's )Under £10 (at least until August 4) this has to be the best value Sauvignon Blanc in the country. Even at its regular price, it’s an outstanding Loire example of the grape. Pithy, intense and focused with flavours of white pepper, citrus fruit and green herbs, mouthwatering acidity and a fine, minerally finish. Bravo, André Figeat.
2006 Taste the Difference Hunter Valley Semillon, Hunter Valley
( £9.99 down to £7.49, 13%, Sainsbury's )This wine has been on Sainsbury’s shelves for a while (a reflection of Semillon’s lack of popularity, rather than the quality of this example, which is outstanding), but now is still a great time to buy this aged Hunter white. Toasty, fresh and mature with focused acidity and notes of lemongrass and cream soda and a long, unoaked finish. Go on, give it a go!
2010 Bellingham The Bernard Series Roussanne, Paarl
( £10.99 down to £8.24, 14.5%, Sainsbury's )Why isn’t there more Roussanne planted in the hotter parts of the Cape, such as Paarl? Beats me, because it seems to do really well there, especially in the hands of Niel Groenewald at Bellingham. This lightly oaked, lees-influenced white is savoury and complex with notes of oatmeal, vanilla and cinnamon and a long, yeasty finish.
2009 Lacoste Borie, Pauillac
( £23.99 down to £17.99, 13%, Sainsbury's )If you’re looking for a tasty claret to enjoy now, but that will keep for another six or seven years, this is the perfect candidate. Made by the team at Fifth Growth Pauillac estate, Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste, it’s a light, perfumed, refined, Merlot-based blend with notes of graphite and blackcurrant leaf and impressive balance and poise.
2010 M Chapoutier, Les Meysonniers, Crozes-Hermitage, Rhône Valley
( £15.99 down to £11.99, 13%, Sainsbury's )2010 was a great vintage in the Rhône, as it was elsewhere in France, and this is a Crozes that wouldn’t look out of place in more prestigious Hermitage, up river. Smoky, tapenade notes on the nose segue into flavours of black pepper, clove and blackberry, with no oak to interfere with the fruit purity. Deliciously poised and complex.
2007 Roda Reserva, Rioja
( £25.99 down to £18.74, 14%, Sainsbury's )A top Rioja Reserva for less than £20? Sounds very appealing to me. This is very much a modern style Rioja, with the emphasis on Tempranillo (97% of the blend here, with 3% Graciano for added backbone) and the ability to age further in bottle rather than drinkability on release. This is sweetly oaked, with fine tannins, fresh, minerally acidity and a core of red and black fruits. Long, textured and very complex, it’s still a very young wine, so hold off if you can.
2009 Taste the Difference Barolo, Piedmont
( £15.49 down to £11.61, 14.5%, Sainsbury's )Delicious Barolo, like delicious red Burgundy, is hard to find under £20, let alone at closer to £10, but Matteo Ascheri is brilliant at finding parcels of Italy’s most tempertmental grape that deliver flavour as well as value for money. This is a riper style (it was a warm vintage), but combines aromas of rose petal and red fruits with savoury, smoky tannins and a classically firm, even austere finish. A great introduction to the joys of Nebbiolo.