Somewhere to post your recommendations on wines to try.
I am particularly keen to be pointed in the direction of something I haven't tried before.
Here are some of my tips:
I have been drinking some Villa Maria Suvignon Blanc this evening. Fantastic! Villa Maria is one of those rare things - a volume wine producer that is supremely consistent. Their Sauv Bl is particularly good.
Hardy's Crest range is usually priced at a bottle. I have to say that this is a delicious wine, but I won't pay ten quid a bottle for it. However, as luck would have it, ALL the supermarkets (to my knowledge Waitrose, Sainsbury's, Tesco, Asda and Morrisons) have it on half price offer from time to time. At it's an absolute steal. Buy as many as you can fit in your trolley and stash them in the cupboard under the stairs!
If you're a port fan, going for a 'Late Bottled Vintage' (LBV) is a good way of getting a better quality port without going the whole hog and shelling out for a major vintage. Graham's and Taylor's both do excellent LBVs. If you haven't tried it yet, try some Fonseca port. Unusual in that it is one of the few port house that isn't British owned. However, their Bin No 27 and organic Terra Primo are both superb.
I would love to hear what you think of the wines I have suggested (both positive and negative) and I would also like some suggestions to try.
Will
Waiting expectantly with corkscrew and glass.
There's a pinot grigio in Sainsburys that's really rather good.
It's organic and has a big SO on the front of the bottle but that's about all I can tell you!! :giggle:
It's recently been wine sale time here in many of the supermarkets. :thrilled:
Some very good "buy a case, get a case free" offers as well as "buy 2 get 1 free".
Excellent wines, excellent value for money and mostly no more than a couple of Euro (about ) per bottle so the cellar is now all stocked up.
Even without the offers, the prices are reasonable. A very quaffable Sauv Blanc for about which doesn't strip your gullet as it goes down and a very nice dry Muscat for about the same money! A particularly nice Cote du Rhone we have been buying for years maintains a consistent quality year on year and is very popular - slightly more expensive at per bottle.
Mostly, we have now learnt NOT to stick the bottle in the fridge and drink it so cold that you can't appreciate the delicate flavours but to take it out of the fridge and let it breathe. Big glasses with no more than a couple of fingers of wine at the bottom so you can swirl it round to release all those aromas and get your nose right in there to appreciate it's full potential.
At the sort of prices you have to suffer in the UK these days for a rubbish bottle of wine, I'd want to take a week to drink it to feel I was getting value for money!
not sure if they sell in the uk but I am sure they ship direct
The VDP Blanc Sauvignon fruite at euro is something else
Well I've got a bottle or two of Cote Rotie and a couple of other delights stashed away for when I'm feeling down or up or whatever!
But for a social wine I've rather taken to the Kiwi Cuvée label. Now they're not antipodean as one might imagine they are the product of Kiwi blending skills located in France. The red is a delicious Pinot Noir that will rival any Burgundy that I've drunk (maybe with the exception of a finer Nuits St Georges) - two whites - a Sauvignon Blanc and a Pinot Grigio. Not drunk enough of the latter to pass comment but, even though I wouldn't place the Sauvignon Blanc up with a Sancerre it doesn't fall too far short and it'll certainly give a Pouilly Fumé a run for its money. Definitely worth a punt!
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The sancerre is somewhat specialist.. needs to be accompanied with food to appreciate it best.
Our problem is that whenever we find a decent bottle of wine we seem to lose our memory: We either can't remember where we got it from/who gave it to us, or by the morning we've forgotten how nice it was and the bottle's washed and recycled. :cry:
Tesco's Finest Pays D'Oc Malbec
This is a stunner from the south of France - excellent with a Roast Beef dinner or a Steak.
a bottle but on special offer atm of 2 for £10 or 6 for £27 ( a bottle!!)
I am particularly keen to be pointed in the direction of something I haven't tried before.
I bet you say that to all the girls.
Hello you. Just peeking and lookie who I found. Love to you and Sappho. God this place has changed. x x x
My problem is that i've only got 1 bottle of Black Stump left! It keeps evapourating when I open a bottle!
but it really does remind me of summer in the countryside. Could go on to say "imagine a sunny picnic sat in the corner of a meadow with hedgerows to either side of you and looking across a sweet smelling vista of wild flowers mixed with grass" but that would be a bit anal I guess, However, a gorgeous drink it is. 