| Name | 2004 Domaine du Collier Saumur Blanc, Loire Valley, France | ||
| Variety | Chenin Blanc | ||
| Region | Saumur, Loire | ||
| Vintage | 2004 | ||
| Country | France | ||
| Shop Price | £30.00 | ||
| Good with | creamy fish or chicken dishes, veal | ||
| Description | Antoine Faucault worked at legendary Saumur producer Clos Rougeard for 4 years before the opportunity to buy 4 hectares of his very own in the commune of Brézé came up. In almost no time at all, he was making one of the best respected wine from this area and certainly a wine that we fell madly in love with at first sip. This is from Chenin vines which are 18 - 70 years old, all planted on clay/limestone soils and farmed entirely naturally, without recourse to any synthetic chemical products. All of the fruit is then fermented in new oak barrels, spending a total of 12 - 18 months, depending on the vintage, in wood to properly settle and mature before bottling. Despite that fairly hefty dollop of oak, this wine is beautifully refined with baked apple and cinnamon honey flavours. The texture is truly fabulous - silky and soft on the tongue with a crisp edge and a rich, smoky finish. |
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| Name | NV Roger Brun Non-Vintage, France | ||
| Variety | 30% Pinot Noir, 30% Pinot Meunier and 40% Chardonnay | ||
| Region | Champagne | ||
| Vintage | no vintage | ||
| Country | France | ||
| Shop Price | £35.00 | ||
| Good with | canapes, light fish or shellfish dishes | ||
| Description | Roger Brun Champagne house is based in the Grand Cru village of Ay in the Marne Valley and it was Roger's great grandfather who learnt about making the wine at Moet and Chandon in the early 1900's (when M & C was hopefully considerably more palatable than it is these days). His son Phillipe is now in charge and things continue to go from strength to strength with the Brun NV being the best we tasted last year. It is a slightly more full bodied style, with 10% of the reserve wine spending some time in oak which gives a slightly spicy edge to the rich, peachy, honeyed, grapefruit flavours. This is really excellent champagne and would be at any price point. The fact that it is cheaper than the flashier names (who, after all, have to pay for their massive marketing budgets) is just an added bonus. |
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| Name | 2005 Ca dei Frati Ronchedone, Lombardy, Italy | ||
| Variety | 45% Sangiovese, 40% Marzemino, 5% Cabernet Sauvignon | ||
| Region | Lugana, Lombardy | ||
| Vintage | 2005 | ||
| Country | Italy | ||
| Shop Price | £29.00 | ||
| Good with | Red meat, rich meat pasta dishes | ||
| Description | We are obviously ridiculously besotted with the wines of Ca dei Frati - stocking no less than 3 of their range (of 4). The Dal Cero family have done everything right in the transformation of their winery since they bought it in 1987. Their carefully tended vineyards are the secret to their success - high density planting (i.e. as many plants as possible in the space to encourage competition and force roots far down - not at all the traditional Italian way) and low yields produce outstanding fruit which is then carefully fermented in a very modern winery. This is fabulous red wine with great depth and richness of fruit. There is a glossy softness which we do not usually associate with Northern Italian reds and this is thrillingly balanced out by a fresh, crisp, red fruit edge. Superbly made red at an amazingly good price considering the quality. |
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| Name | 2005 Domaine Jean Foillard Morgon, Beaujolais, France | ||
| Variety | Gamay | ||
| Region | Beaujolais, Burgundy | ||
| Vintage | 2005 | ||
| Country | France | ||
| Shop Price | £30.00 | ||
| Good with | Game birds | ||
| Description | A wine from the Beaujolais region would not normally be lurking in the 'Spicy' red section of our list, but then this wine is rather different, in very delicious ways. Jean Foillard bought a very run down estate in 1982, buying more land and fixing it up over the years to its current size - 11 hectares. All of this land lies on the slopes of a extinct volcano in Morgon with a myriad different soil types, the predominant being a crumbly schist which gives his wines an amazingly earthy quality. Fruit is grown completely organically, although Jean does not believe in certification, and the wines are both unfined and unfiltered - which means that all the chunks are left in. The result is absolutely sensational - but not necessarily what you would expect, even from a Morgon where bigger, grippy styles are the norm. There is a prominent meaty character which is balanced by violet and red cherry flavours and fantastic earthy spice. Despite the extra grip, the tannins are still amazingly silky . This wines is also made with hardly any S02, so it should work well for those who react rather badly to this. |
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| Name | 2006 Domaine Rougie Viognier, France | ||
| Variety | Viognier | ||
| Region | Languedoc | ||
| Vintage | 2006 | ||
| Country | France | ||
| Shop Price | £19.00 | ||
| Good with | dishes flavoured with saffron or rosemary, crab and lobster, mildly spiced, creamy curries | ||
| Description | We are not too mad about most Viognier from the Languedoc - it seems to need the much cooler climate and lower yields of the Northern Rhone to shine most of the time. Happily, we found a decently priced exception. While this is certainly from a warmer climate, the fruit is from very low yielding vines with an average age of fifty years, for extra concentration and complexity. There is also a lot of limestone in the vineyard giving great finesse. The juice is fermented in large (400litre) barrels, not all new, to add a bit of weight and spice and the result is peach and apricot flavours with a fine, spicy, mineral edge and lovely balance. |
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