A wine that is a little too marked by oak at the moment, but has good underlying texture and concentration. Floral, saline and concentrated with toasty oak and good minerality. Needs a year or two in bottle, but I love the notes of fennel and wild rosemary and the strucuture and muscularity of the finish.
Wine Type: White
2011 Vinyes dels Aspres, EmpordÃ
( E13, 14.5%, El Celler Petit )Sourced from the frontier village of Cantallops, this is a rich, powerful, wild wine that is almost unruly on the nose and palate. Even for a young wine, this is starting to show secondary notes of honey and marzipan, but there’s massive concentration and acidity to back it up. A slow burner of a wine, very dense, minerally and herbal with a salty, food welcoming finish.
2010 All Saints Estate Marsanne, Victoria
( £14.9, 12.2%, Cockburn & Campbell )A light, refreshing, herbal, honeysuckle-scented Marsanne from All Saints, favouring mealy, citrus fruit over oak influence. The wine is tangy and well-balanced, light enough to enjoy as an aperitif as well as with food. Experience shows that Victorian Marsannes age extremely well.
2011 CVNE Viña Real Rioja Blanco, Alavesa, Rioja
( £9.99, 13%, Majestic )By the very oaky standards of some white Riojas, this is comparatively light on the barrel influence. It’s a subtle, lightly smoky Viura with a herbal touch and well integrated vanilla oak. The palate is fresh, yet textured, with good length and a savoury finish.
2011 Monemvasia Kidonitsa, Laconia
( £11.50, 13%, Bowes Wine )The Kidonitsa grape may be new to you (you’re not alone there), but don’t worry about that because it’s a great drink. Spritzy and slightly honeyed, with the texture of a Pinot Gris but an extra dimension of flavour. A touch of straw, some ginger spice, a whisper of thyme. You can almost smell the Med.
2009 Marimar Estate Chardonnay La MasÃa Don Miguel Vineyard, Russian River Valley, California
( US$35, 14.5%, Contact the winery for details )This is the most elegant Chardonnay I’ve tasted yet from this Green Valley winery, marking a step change in freshness, minerality and balance. The wine is still Californian in style, but the oak and acidity are nicely intertwined adding a refeshing backrop to the pear and citrus fruit. The lees work is exemplary, too. A wine that wouldn’t look out of place in a line up of top Meursaults. Bravo.
2011 Palacio de Fefiñanes Albariño, RÃas Baixas
( £15.19, 12.5%, Waitrose )This is consistenly one of my very favourite Albariños (and Spanish whites for that matter) from the historic Fefiñanes winery. It’s spritzy, perfumed and refreshing with that Riesling-like crispness that you get in the best Galician whites, notes of pear and stone fruit and a long, satisfying, palate-tingling finish. The taste of (green) Spain.
2011 Three Choirs Regalia, Gloucestershire
( £6, 12%, Asda )The focus is rightly on English sparkling wines, rather than the unfizzy stuff, but this fruit salad blend of five grapes is well worth trying, especially at only £6. It’s got that classic English bouquet of hedgerows and elderflowers, combined with some stony, minerally notes. On the palate it’s crisp and just off dry with crunchy acidity and bright grapefruit and green apple flavours. An excuse to buy British, or rather English.
2011 Semeli Mantinia Nassiakos, Mantineia
( £10.95, 12%, The Wine Society )Greece’s answer to Gewürztaminer? This perfumed, floral white, made entirely from the Moschofilero grape, is just the thing for a late summer tipple: crisp and zesty with rose petal notes and a refreshing finish.
2011 Lagar de Costa Albariño, Rias Baixas, Galicia
( £11.50, 12.5%, The Wine Society )The old vine (60 years to be precise) concentration really comes through in this refreshing Galician white. Focused, minerally and very long on the palate with notes of lemon zest and lime and a hint of spritz. A really classy Albariño that’s worth paying a little extra for.
2011 Contesa Pecorino, Colline Pescaresi, Umbria
( £8.95, 13%, The Wine Society )A delicious, great value white from Umbria, with fresh, almost savoury fruit notes, crisp minerality and a hint of grape skin bitterness on the finish. A white wine that works best with food, possibly even with the cheese of the same name.
2011 Château Rouquette sur Mer, Cuvée Arpège, La Clape, Languedoc
( £9.95, 13.5%, The Wine Society )If you’re looking for a rare southern French white with lots of personality, this blend of Roussanne and rare Bourboulenc from cosatal La Clape deserves a slot in your wine rack. It’s rich and slightly honeyed with notes of wax and pear and a spicy, textured finish with just a hint of grape skin bitterness. A white wine with grip.