Cuvée Chasseur 2010

Appearance: Bright purple.
Aroma: Simple oaky red fruit.
Flavour: Easy-going juicy red.
 

Wine Name: Cuvée Chasseur (Rouge)

Producer: Waitrose own-brand

Grape/Blend: Carignan, Grenache, Merlot

Vintage: 2010
Alcohol: 12%

Country: France (Vin de Pays de L'Hérault)

Bought at: Waitrose

Price: £4.35

Value for money: ♦♦♦♦ Very Good
Over all rating: ♦♦ Average

Cave de Beblenheim Riesling 2008

Appearance: Yellow
Aroma: Simple florals and fruits.
Flavour: Off-dry, lighter-bodied style with a nice oily texture and brief finish.
Ripe citrus and blossoms.

Wine Name: Riesling

Producer: Cave de Beblenheim

Grape/Blend: Riesling

Vintage: 2008
Alcohol: 12%

Country: France (Alsace)

Bought at: Waitrose

Price: £8.99

Value for money: ♦♦♦ Good 
Over all rating: ♦♦♦ Good

Paul Goerg Champagne Brut Premier Cru Tradition NV

This was given to me as a gift and I chose to open it for Mother's day.

Appearance: Creamy yellow. Bright.
Aroma: Delicate pink fruits.
Flavour: Dry, elegant structure and moderate acid.
Beautiful strawberry bouquet, granny smith apples.

This is an expensive wine but is certainly not just a 'bottle of bubbly'.
Expect gentle red berries and a shy, elusive biscuit flavour, all coaxed to the surface by strands of fine, persistent bubbles.

Wine Name: Champagne Brut Premier Cru Tradition

Producer: Paul Goerg

Grape/Blend: Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier

Vintage: Non-vintage
Alcohol: 12%

Country: France (Champagne)

Bought at: Laithwaites

Price: £22.99

Value for money: ♦♦♦♦ Very Good
Over all rating: ♦♦♦♦ Very Good

Paul Blanck Gewürztraminer 2009

Appearance: Light gold.

Aroma: Florals, ripe green fruit.

Flavour: Intense fruit-driven medium to full-bodied sweet example of Gewürztraminer.
All sorts to pick out: tinned lychees and pineapple, rose, peach, and green apple.

Much like a strong punch made with Summer Fruits squash; there's a generous amount of sugar and pungent fruit concentrate flavours. I love strong and sweet wines though I appreciate this wouldn't be everyone's ideal white wine. It's possible it was my imagination but this wine left me with the foamy aftertaste of a German wheat beer...

Wine Name: Paul Blanck Gewürztraminer

Producer: Domaine de Paul Blanck et ses fils

Grape/Blend: Gewürztraminer

Vintage: 2009
Alcohol: 13.5%

Country: France (Alsace)

Bought at: Waitrose

Price: £10.99 (21% off 13.99)

Value for money: ♦♦♦ Good
Over all rating: ♦♦♦♦ Very Good

Vin de Pays du Gers Le Pujalet 'Crisp & Fresh' 2009

Appearance: Yellow.
Aroma: Simple citrus and florals.
Flavour: Exciting citrus zest flavours balanced with slight sweetness. A little spritzy and a good clean finish, too.
Grapefruit, lime, blossom.


Fun, easy-going and unpretentious, this has 'summer wine' written all over it; it's easy to drink, can be served very cold from the fridge and is lower in alcohol than most. It's definitely 'Crisp & Fresh' though not as dry as I was expecting (not that this is a bad thing).
Recommended as a back-up for serving to friends with or without food all summer long.

Wine Name: Vin de Pays du Gers 'Crisp & Fresh'

Producer: Vignoble de Gascogne

Grape/Blend: Colombard, Ugni Blanc

Vintage: 2009
Alcohol: 11.5%

Country: France

Bought at: Waitrose

Price: £4.99

Value for money: ♦♦♦♦ Very Good
Over all rating: ♦♦♦ Good

Paul Jaboulet Aîné Parrallèle 45 2009 (White)

This is a white Côtes du Rhône blend, produced in the famous Syrah-producing commune of Tain L'Hermitage. Today I found it sitting at the bottom of the shelf in Waitrose. The stock was down to about 10 bottles and when I asked the in-store wine specialist why the bottles were almost half price, she told me the line had been discontinued. Cynical as ever, I decided I wouldn't grab them all and run lest they were all nasty. Instead, I grabbed just one to see how it goes...

Appearance: Green-tinged yellow.
Aroma: Yellow fruit.
Flavour: Strong, fresh fruit flavours entwined with nice biscuity complexity.
Ripe yellow apples, grapes and shortbread.


Medium-bodied, off-dry and a little oak; all of these qualities lend this wine to pairing with food. This wine is very good and I wonder why it's no longer being stocked by Waitrose. Hopefully I'll manage to get a few more before they're all gone.

Wine Name: Parrallèle 45

Producer: Paul Jaboulet Aîné

Grape/Blend: 50% Grenache Blanc, 20% Marsanne, 20% Viognier, 10% Bourboulenc

Vintage: 2009
Alcohol: 13.5%

Country: France (Côtes du Rhône)

Bought at: Waitrose

Price: £5.99 (Discontinued, was £9.99)

Value for money:♦♦♦♦ Very Good

Over all rating: ♦♦♦♦ Very Good

Laurent Miquel Vendanges Nocturnes Viognier 2010

Appearance: Light lemony yellow.
Aroma: Minerally, ripe yellow fruit.
Flavour: A very delicate spritz on the tongue followed by ripe, aromatic fruits and blossoms. Bitter, fruit stone finish. Overtly alcoholic.
Peach, ripe grape and honeysuckle.


The combination of bitter flavours and high alcohol percentage leave a bit of an after-burn. It's worth mentioning that this is a dry wine and I reckon it could have been softened with a little extra residual sugar. Despite these minor criticisms, I have to say I enjoyed this Viognier.
Worth buying whilst it's on offer.

Wine Name: Vendanges Nocturnes Viognier

Producer: Laurent Miquel

Grape/Blend: Viognier

Vintage: 2010
Alcohol: 13%

Country: France

Bought at: Waitrose

Price: £5.99 (25% off SRP £8.19)

Value for money: ♦♦♦ Good
Over all rating: ♦♦♦ Good

Font de Michelle Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2007

Châteauneuf-du-Pape has a big reputation for big wines with big price tags. This one, a £25.00 bottle from Waitrose, is a real treat. It's very expensive (for me, at least) and comes with a Shiny Gold Award from Decanter on it. Let's have a little sip...

Appearance: Deep black-brown.
Aroma: Blackcurrant jam.
Flavour: Rustic, no holds barred with deep fruit flavours, low acid and soft mouthfeel.
Blackcurrant, morello cherry, candied peel and cinnamon.

Absolutely fantastic! Value for money is entirely subjective but I honestly think it's a fair price and would go without a week's worth of £3.99 wines for one bottle of this divine wine at the weekend. The tannins weren't any where near overbearing but with a bit of age, they should melt down nicely and improve the balance. 5 more years should do it.

This little bottle was greedily hogged between two people with fried lamb chops and a spinach, pecan and roquefort salad.
 

Wine Name: Châteauneuf-du-Pape

Producer: Domaine Font de Michelle

Grape/Blend: Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre, Cinsault

Vintage:2007
Alcohol: 14.5%

Country: France (Rhône)

Bought at: Waitrose

Price: £24.99

Value for money: ♦♦♦ Good
Over all rating: ♦♦♦♦♦ Outstanding

Sainsbury's House Côtes du Rhône NV

Appearance: Mauve-tinged, dull red.

Aroma: Light, unidentifiable 'fruits'.
Flavour: Acidic and sugary, a bit like strong blackcurrant and apple squash. A bit of mustiness hangs on after swallowing.
Blackcurrant, pepper, fungus.


I've decided to try as many of the Sainsbury's House wines as I can over the next few weeks.
I thought this Côtes du Rhône was OK. There wasn't anything particularly exciting about it though it's no reason not to buy it. As with the other House wines, it's very competitively priced and is great for stocking-up on for parties, cooking or whatever you like.

It's almost Summer. Why not make up a big jug of Sangria?

Wine Name: House Côtes du Rhône

Producer: Sainsbury's

Grape/Blend: Grenache, Shiraz

Vintage: Non-vintage
Alcohol: 13%

Country: France

Bought at: Sainsbury's

Price: £3.99

Value for money: ♦♦♦ Good
Over all rating: ♦♦ Average

Tesco Finest Chablis 2009

Appearance: Pale straw yellow with green/brown tinge.

Aroma: Nutty and dusty - maybe a bit of egg, too!
Flavour: Simple, medium bodied example. Just enough acidity and nice bitterness to keep things light. Good balance, excellent long finish. Reminiscent of toffee apples and lemon.


A solid Chablis with distinct varietal characteristics - will divide a group into lovers and haters! When fresh out the bottle, it smelt quite musty and eggy. However, once it had breathed a bit (and warmed up, too) it presented itself a bit better. This was another bottle bought just before Christmas 2010 and I can't remember the price. The usual price is just under £9 and I know it was on offer. I suspect it was discounted by about £3. Not perfect but at this price, it's worth the money.

Wine Name: Finest Chablis Cuvée Calude Dominique

Producer: Tesco Finest own-brand

Grape/Blend: Chardonnay

Vintage: 2009
Alcohol: 12%

Country: France

Bought at: Tesco

Price: Around £6

Value for money:♦♦♦ Good
Over all rating: ♦♦♦ Good

Good Ordinary Claret 2009

Bordeaux for under a fiver?

After a bit of research, I discovered that the catchy Good Ordinary Claret name has been used before. It looks like it has been borrowed from Berry Brothers, Britain's oldest wine merchant... I'll assume that the name is not proprietary and I won't be discussing the parallels between the two blends as I haven't had the pleasure of tasting the original. Let's get started:

Appearance: Purpley red and slightly murky.

Aroma: Damp wood, not much else.

Flavour: Quite thin, overtly acidic and lots of oak. Smooth tannins, however, a little fruit and a pleasant soft finish. Oak, must and redcurrant.

This isn't a bad wine and is excellent value for money. Good? Yes. Ordinary? Yes.
It is definitely drinkable and is more like a house wine; it would be a good bottle for a family roast dinner rather than a romantic evening between two lovers.

Wine Name: Good Ordinary Claret

Producer: Waitrose own-brand

Grape/Blend: Merlot Cabernet

Vintage: 2009
Alcohol: 13%

Country: France

Bought at: Waitrose

Price: £4.26

Value for money: ♦♦♦ Good

Over all rating: ♦♦ Average