In Tipping’s Tipples this week, MIKE TIPPING plays pick and mix with his wine selection.

I remember an album by The Who which was called Odds & Sods. It was made up of studio outtakes and rarities.

This week’s Tipping’s Tipples could be labelled odds and sods, in that all the wines featured have failed, for one reason or another, to make it into print. Until now that is, as I think they are all worthy of a mention.

Worth a try from Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference range, particularly at its current offer price, is Leap Point Fairtrade Pinotage 2011 from the Western Cape. To be filed under robust and flavoursome reds, this one will work really well with burgers or sausages.

It’s smoky and spicy stuff, although not overpoweringly so, with juicy blackberry and raspberry flavours, plus a lick of cream soda and violets.

Staying in South Africa, there is Vergelegen Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc 2009, a New World take on the classic Bordeaux blend. Full of ripe cassis, plum and cherry fruit flavours, with vanilla, notes of green pepper and supple tannins, this will suit your palate best if you don’t like your reds too dry.

Le Coeur des Anges Sauvignon Gris Rosé 2011 nearly made it into my Valentine’s day wine recommendations but just missed out. This dry, crisp, Bordeaux pink is made entirely from sauvignon gris, which is something of a rarity.

Dry, crisp and, floral and elegant, it is a sophisticated drop, with redcurrant, blackcurrant leaf, herbal notes and minerals.

I was keen to catch up with the 2010 vintage of Dourthe Réserve Montagne Saint-Émilion. I thought the 2009 was a cracker. Plus it offered good value for money, which is not always the case for wines from Bordeaux.

I’m happy to report that the 2010 is just as good; 90 percent merlot, with the remainder being cabernet sauvignon, it is smooth, balanced and elegant, with vanilla notes and rich flavours of plum, blackcurrant, spice and some structure too.


• Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference Leap Point Fairtrade Pinotage 2011, £5.99 down from £7.99 at Sainsbury’s 16/20

• Vergelegen Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc 2009, £8.79 when you buy two at Majestic 17/20

• Le Coeur des Anges Sauvignon Gris Rosé 2011, £9.99 from Laithwaites 17/20

• Dourthe Réserve Montagne Saint-Émilion 2010, £10.25 at Waitrose 18/20