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Slideshow
Top 10 wines in the UK press
Bressia Monteagrelo Cabernet Franc 2012
Searching for the perfect accompaniments to beef steak but without reverting to the Malbec staple, Damian Barr of The Sunday Times picks this mighty Mendozan Cab Franc to stand up to the meatiest of dishes.
He writes: “If you’re going full paleo and tearing into grass-fed cows with your teeth while they’re still chewing the cud, you need something suitably epic. You need Cabernet Franc”.
Referencing the fact that it’s often used as a blending component, Barr says that this wine will spur one to look for single variety offerings given the “flavoursome depths” of this particular example.
Describing the wine, he writes: “[It] smells like your hair the morning after a campfire. It’s full of bold tannins and dry, but not grabby or headachy and thick with black-stone fruit. Save the last glass for sucking the T-bone.”
Twentyonewines.com: £17.45
Bodega Ruca Malen Petit Verdot 2012
The “baked plums, late-summer blackberries and a very pleasant hint of dry liquorice twigs” expressed in this fellow Argentine wine also help to make a case for oft-blended Petit Verdot, according to Barr.
He writes, “Petit Verdot rarely avoids being blended, but it’s the sole star of a other very worthy Argentine winner, Ruca Malen 2012.”
Describing the wine as “supple, velvety and so rich you can almost skip the sirloin”, it seems Argentina has much more to offer on the steak-pairing front than just Malbec.
Corney & Barrow: £12.75
J.J Prüm Riesling Kabinett 2011
The Spectator‘s Bruce Anderson, ruminating on the pleasures of English country life in the Dorset idyl of Chettle, where he insists that low rents have created enough disposable income to produce an “almost Irish Ration of pubs to people” picks out this Mosel offering as an “especially perfect drink for a Dorest August”.
Describing the wine as coming from a “superb vigneron”, he writes: “I have been drinking a lot of his ’11 and ’12 kabinetts, which are moreish.”
He continues, “It takes a fine wine to enhance a Dorset summer day. Prüm can meet the challenge.”
Justerini & Brooks: £8.75
P. De Marcilly Hautes-Côtes de Beaune / Nuits 2014
Fiona Beckett at The Guardian is beside herself with anticipation for the new batch of top drops in going on sale from Lidl this week, especially these offerings from Burgundy.
She writes, that these wines “particularly caught my eye (and with which I plan to load up my own trolley next week)” and described the 2014 Hautes-Côtes de Beaune and Hautes-Côtes de Nuits from négociant P. De Marcilly as “gorgeously creamy”.
Lidl: £8.99
Chapoutier Crozes-Hermitage Les Meysonniers 2012
David Williams at The Guardian is in search for peppery wines for those who like a bit of oomph in their drinking exeperience, but as long as it’s a characteristic of the fruit rather than the barrel. He writes: “If I have a higher tolerance for pepper flavour in wine than coffee, it is because it’s derived from the grapes rather than a toasted oak barrel.
“Syrah is the variety most associated with this characteristic, particularly when grown in the various appellations of the Rhône Valley. The pepper crackles in the background behind silky blackberry in a biodynamic example from Chapoutier in Crozes-Hermitage.”
This leads him to recommend this “deliciously savoury” wine that displays “vivid red and black fruit” of Gilles Robin Cuvée Papillon Crozes-Hermitage 2013.
Lea and Sandeman: £15.95
Winzer Krems Grüner Veltliner Trocken 2013
Continuing in his search, Williams also makes the case for this Austrian offering that gives a “more affordable take on the peppery Syrah style”, and in a white wine to boot.
“Wines made from Austrian grape Grüner Veltliner often come with a pinch of white pepper, accompanied, in the case of Winzer Krems’ example, with plum and herby freshness,” he explains.
Wine Rack: £8.99
De Bortoli Chardonnay Family Reserve 2013
Hamish Anderson at The Telegraph sings the praises of De Bortoli’s entry-level bottles, especially this Chardonnay offering.
He writes, “This chardonnay is miles from the sickly concoctions that used to blight this price point. It is unmistakably Australian with a warm embrace of fruit, but light on the alcohol (12.5%) and zippy.” He recommends a pairing with barbecued prawns.
Majestic: £7.49
Exton Park Blanc de Noirs NV
“This (along with a brut and rosé) is among the first impressive releases from Exton Park” argues Anderson.
This Pinot Noir, from the Hampshire estate, “is a dense, thoughtful wine with warm bread, spice and red fruit. You can drink it on its own, but it is really a wine for food,” he writes.
Exton Park Wines: £28.95
Palladino Biferno Rosso Riserva 2009
Tom Cannavan at the Huffington Post UK gets stuck in to this offering from the “tiny” Italian appellation of Biferno.
“The wine is a wonderful, fruity red made from Montepulciano, the mainstay of Abruzzo, Aglianico, more commonly associated with Campania and Basilicata to the south and, finally, a little of the white grape Trebbiano,” he reveals.
Cannavan describes the wine as “wonderfully aromatic and seductive… with cherry and floral lift, but a deep, plum and liquorice richness of fruit and sily texture, the tannins mellowed into a flowing molten mass into the finish.”
The Wine Society: £7.50
Philip Shaw The Dreamer Viognier 2014
And finally, Matthew Jukes at The Daily Mail is full of praise for this offering from Orange, the high altitude wine region 150 miles west of Sydney “where a band of maverick winemakers fashion slim, nervy wines in their crystal-clear, cool surroundings”, he reveals.
On the ine, Jukes writes, “This thrilling peach-kissed Viognier is made by wine legend Philip Shaw and it is unnervingly fine and ravishingly refreshing.”
Connolly’s Wine Merchants: £13.50