Wines to make you forget the lousy weather (From York Press)
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Wines to make you forget the lousy weather
10:19am Saturday 28th April 2012 in Tipping's Tipples
By Mike Tipping
Wines to make you forget the lousy weather
I am being made a little jealous by some of my Facebook friends gripes about the weather.
The Brisbane residents in question moan about their air-conditioning breaking and they moan about the heat.
In contrast I am writing this, drying off along with my socks, in front of the fire.
On the positive side, in my house anyway, there is always a bottle or two of vino in the wine rack.
Admittedly, opening one of these doesn’t make the sun shine but I believe a good bottle of wine shared with friends makes for a much brighter outlook.
If your wine rack is looking a little empty, then perhaps now is a good time to remedy the situation?
Sainsbury’s has an offer running until Tuesday – 25 per cent off all wines when buying six or more bottles. If you intend stocking up, I can suggest including Viñalba Reserva Cabernet Malbec Merlot 2010 in your purchase.
A Bordeaux-style blend, made with fruit from the Mendoza region of Argentina, it is powerful and structured, suggesting blackcurrant, brambles, plum, chocolate and vanilla, finishing with toasty oak notes.
Well known Aussie brand Jacob’s Creek has launched a new range of wines in the UK dubbed Cool Harvest as the grapes are harvested at night. I’ve tried three wines from the line up: a vermentino worth avoiding, a so-so sauvignon and a rather good rosé.
Jacob’s Creek Cool Harvest Shiraz Rosé 2011 is not the most complex wine but it tastes of summer, without being too confected. Bright, fresh and crisp, it shows juicy, ripe strawberry and raspberry flavours, spiced with a little black pepper.
M&S has a gluggable Bordeaux red worth drinking and it’s at an affordable price too. Château Gillet 2010 is made mainly from merlot but with cabernet sauvignon as well.
Medium bodied, savoury and with mouth-filling tannins, it has smooth flavours of raspberry, plum, cherry and a little peppery spice.
Viñalba Reserva Cabernet Malbec Merlot 2010, £7.99 down from £9.99 at Sainsbury’s 17/20.
Jacob’s Creek Cool Harvest Shiraz Rosé 2011, rrp £8.49 widely available 17/20.
Château Gillet 2010, Bordeaux, £6.49 at M&S 17/20.
