Wines of the Week

[NoMercy]

Tesco Finest Voor Paardeberg Roussane (SA)

No one does bubbles like the French but when it comes to the mighty Roussanne, South Africa are King. The Voor Paardeberg is a delicious, well-structured and elegant white wine with bursting with flavours of pineapple and honey, and is given further complexity with beautiful herbal undertones. At 14.5% it's one to savour. Available for the normal price of £8.99.

And, if you are looking for something for under a fiver, I can highly recommend Inycon Fiano. A grape variety that hails from Italy, Fiano has been cultivated in Sicily for over 2000 years. Lovely citrussy aromas and flavours of peach, pear and honey, with subtle nuances of hazlenut. A delicious and good value white I would happily drink again and again. Available in Waitrose for £4.99.

[sunny-dave]

Morning NoM

Excellent offer from Mr Tesco on the Blason de Bourgogne Macon Villages Chardonnay - currently £45 for 6 on the interweb

http://www.tesco.com/...94966604&id=271226007

Full, mouth-filling taste and softer than some Macon Villages, but a nice lemony aftertaste makes it very nice with chocolate puddings :+)

[NoMercy]

I will definitely grab a bottle of that then, Dave. That sounds like my sort of wine!

[DTCwordfan]

Ok my wines for this week.

1. AVOID M&S Tierra Y Hombre, Ollie Smith recommended, Pinot Noir from the Casablanca Valley Chile. Thin liquid rapsberries and yeuk.

2. Perez Burton 09 from M&S (10-50) - Rioja and complete opposite from the above. Cracking Temperanillo and nice and rich, full of strawberries and straw. A Telmo Rodriguez wine and as the reviews said, "it would be good with pork cooked so slowly you can almost eat it with a spoon rather than a fork" and indeed pork or spicy chicken or some good cheese would be great with it.

2. Domaine des Grands Ormes, Bordeaux @9-50 - a medium-good, solid classic Bordeaux, a little light almost Margauxesque, if that is a word.

3. Ch Peyre -Lebade from the Baron Benjamin Rothschild 07 under the mgt of Ch Clarke, a Cru Bourgeois from the Haut Médoc and I paid 12-95. A good no-frills old fashion Bordeaux, though a higher Merlot content on the nose and palate, along with the classic oak, and with some vanilla and licorice and spice.

More plum than blackcurrant in the proferred fruit. Needs time to open up, so decant and let breath for 2 - 4 hours to open it up. Good with beef and robust cheeses. Worth the money and one to put down if you are a collector - age will open up the tannins, which are a little short at the momen but also a good balance...

[NoMercy]

Thanks, DT. I will give the Pinot Noir a miss. I'm not a fan of that grape, anyway.

[NoMercy]

Anyone got any nice wine in for the weekend?

[sunny-dave]

I have discovered an unopened bottle of Dubonnet lurking at the back of the drinks cellar (aka 'the cupboard under the stairs').

It was presumably bought for some elderly relative at some point - but what on earth can I do with it now (the Dubonnet, not the relative).

I've seen suggestions about using as a mixer with gin - which sounds lethal and a potential waste of my good gin. Any ideas please ?

[DTCwordfan]

A Larrivet Haut-Brion 2004 (Pessac Léognan) will be one of mine, commentaryfor next week's WoW?

Another bouteille du Ch Monteil d'Arsac, I think too.....

[DTCwordfan]

It's what her Nibs drinks, sunnydave. Lords was sent into a tailspin the last time she went for the England-Oz game, none of the local Oddbins etc stocking the red devil's ruin.

[DTCwordfan]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/8159201.stm

[NoMercy]

Hi Dave,

Wiki have some info here and a long list of cocktails :-)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dubonnet

[NoMercy]

DT, I look forward to hearing about you WOTW next week.

I have a lovely red for the next thread.

[sunny-dave]

Hmmm - an improvement - as well as the dodgy dubonnet (I'm not sure I'm ready to be the new Queen Mum yet) my under-stairs investigations have unearthed a bottle of 1996 Muriel Gran Reserva Rioja.

It's breathing quietly now after gentle decanting - I'm hoping for good things (even if it is only accompanying a baked spud & some cheese for tea) ...

[NoMercy]

How was the Rioja, Dave?

I am just enjoying a glass of Sainsburys Taste The Difference Priorat. The mighty mazuelo blended with red grenache for a full bodied and succulent flavour bursting with red fruits and cocoa, and just a hint of vanilla. Very nice indeed!

[sunny-dave]

The Muriel was fascinating - very mellow and hardly any oak at all. I wonder how much of that was due to bottle age - I have a feeling that Rioja has got more and more 'assertive' over the years, perhaps this was just a reminder of how it used to be.

Very nice though - just one glass left for tonight with some cheese :+)

[NoMercy]

Have you ever tried Ribera del Duero, Dave? It's also made with Tempranillo but it is, in my opinion, far better that what is produced in Rioja, due to the contrasting climatic conditions under which the grape is grown.

[sunny-dave]

I'm now busy checking "chez dave" for spy cameras - there is no other way that you could have known that I actually have a bottle of

http://www.majestic.c...bera/product-is-14329

breathing gently ready for my next glass filling.

Very spooky :+()

[NoMercy]

Gosh, that look delicious, Dave.

Let me know what it's like... :-)

[joggerjayne]

Does it go with fish and chips?

[NoMercy]

Would be nice with calamari and chorizo salad...

[sunny-dave]

Very fruity and young NoM - a wine for quaffing with friends & nibbles rather than sipping with a meal. Needs to breathe though - very 'closed in' taste when straight out of bottle - I eventually decanted into a jug and then gave it a good swirl around - improved it no end.

No JJ - would be rubbish with chips - I stick to Viognier usually (or a big mug of 'builders').