tried & TESTED

Pommard 1er Cru Vieilles Vignes Les Parcellaires de Saulx 2018

Winemakers across the world agonise about the fine details of their Pinot Noirs and still end up with wines that somehow miss the mark. Here the job is made to look like simplicity itself, with cherry-fruit plushness and breezy acidity combining in a wine that’s somehow rustic and refined at the same time.

RRP: £64.50 ABV: 13% Vindependents (020 3488 4548) vindependents.co.uk

Bacio della Luna Prosecco Superiore di Cartizze NV

At this price point you want your Glera bubbles to be more than just a throwaway thrill, and there are enough layers and structure to this Valdobbiadene cru wine to make even the most hardened Prosecco detractor re-examine their prejudices. Fruity and flowery, but clean and classy too.

RRP: £25.50 ABV: 11% Buckingham Schenk (01753 521336) buckingham-schenk.co.uk

Bodega Piedra Negra Jackot de Arroyo Grande 2021

This Lurton project is based in semi-desert conditions in Los Chacayes in Valle de Uco. Jackot is made with the Tockaij Friulano grape (aka Sauvignon Vert, a variety once confused with Sauvignon Blanc). Don’t expect fireworks in the glass: it’s uncomplicated and unpretentious, but with a cool, understated charm.

RRP: £14.49 ABV: 13% Condor Wines (07508 825488) condorwines.co.uk

Lomond Conebush Syrah 2018

A recent arrival in the Hallgarten & Novum portfolio, Lomond is based in the western Cape, ensconced in a cool microclimate where its grapes can mature slowly and elegantly. The end product in this case is satisfyingly plump, silky rather than glossy, with warm plum and spice flavours and a guilty-pleasure seam of vanilla.

RRP: £29.25 ABV: 14.5% Hallgarten & Novum Wines (01582 722538) hnwines.co.uk

Château Paul Mas Clos des Mures 2020

A Syrah, Grenache and Mourvèdre blend from a vineyard near Montagnac in the Hérault, surrounded by blackberry bushes – hence “Mures”. The Paul Mas name is usually synonyous with great value and this is no exception: it’s beautifully cushioned, with gentle tannins and deep, dark depths of fruity richness.

RRP: £19 ABV: 14.5% Côté Mas London (07771 969697) Cotemaslondon.com

Henners Gardner Street Classic 2020

Bacchus and Chardonnay can both stake a claim to be England’s most promising white variety in still wines. Here they prove they can work together, even if it’s the floral, herbaceous Kentish Bacchus that dominates the blend, with barrel-fermented Sussex Chardonnay providing the bass notes. Mellow and moreish.

RRP: £17.99 ABV: 12.5% Boutinot (0161 908 1300) boutinot.com

Don Melchor Cabernet Sauvignon 2019

There’s an element of precision engineering to Don Melchor (there’s a reason for the 1% Petit Verdot component, just as there’s a reason for 72% new oak). But the result always feels more like art than science. The 2019 is characteristically regal, with powerful, lingering notes of earth, dried fruit and exotic spice.

RRP: £95 ABV: 14.5% Concha y Toro UK (01865 873713) cyt-uk.com

Gaja Ca’ Marcanda Vistamare 2020

A wine for gazing out at the Tuscan horizon. Vistamare’s stainless steel-fermented and aged Vermentino, Viognier and Fiano blend somehow captures the briney freshness of its eponymous sea view. Some stone-fruit sweetness just about squeezes through, with white pepper and sage seasoning.

RRP: £44 ABV: 13.5% Hatch Mansfield (01344 871800) hatchmansfield.com

Favourite Things

Dean & Margaret Pritchard

Gwin Llyn Wines, Pwllheli

Favourite wine on our list Thanks to Stanley Tucci’s Searching for Italy (the Sicily episode), we are really enjoying Frappato. The Santa Tresa Frappato is organic, light, fresh and vibrant. It will definitely be one of our red wines of the summer.

Favourite wine and food match Barrel-fermented Verdejo, Bodegas Naia Naiades, served with baked scallops and crispy Serrano ham. This old-vine Verdejo is rich and toasty, with remarkable minerality.

Favourite wine trip A trip to Piedmont arranged by Boutinot Wines. We stayed at Il Cascinone in the Monferrato hills. The highlight was a visit to Poderi Colla; the memory of standing in one of their vineyards listening to Tino Colla speaking so passionately is one that will remain with us for ever.

Favourite wine trade person Alec Street, now with Liberty Wines. We met Alec when we first opened and he has guided us and educated us ever since. He has been so patient with us and remains a close friend.

Favourite wine shop We have three! They reflect the personalities of their owners perfectly. John Hattersley Wines of Bakewell, Rob and Bridget Hoult of Hoults in Huddersfield and Ann Hayes at Ann et Vin, Newark.

Rip out your vines, plant sunflowers

Bordeaux’s winemakers are divided over calls for the EU to pay them to rip up their vines to curb a glut of unsold claret.

The row comes after the Bordeaux Wine Council backed a plan to limit wine production in the region.

Proponents say that the plan makes economic sense, particularly if Brussels can be persuaded to provide subsidies for winemakers who remove their vines; critics are aghast at the prospect of seeing Bordeaux’s châteaux turning to the production of crops such as wheat and sunflowers.

The Times, May 30

French vineyards are hit by drought Penedès follows Bordeaux model

The only French wine region not affected by drought is Languedoc. Matthieu Chazalon, a consultant engineer for the Wine Research & Development Company, said bud burst was very consistent and that clusters had been emerging thick and fast.

Magpie

Lack of water will have consequences for the 2023 vintage in dry-farmed vineyards elsewhere. “Poor flower induction will reduce the numbers and size of the berries,” Chazalon said. “This could be a problem in blocks earmarked for white or rosé wines.”

Vitisphere, May 17

In November of 2021, Spain’s DO Penedès announced a massive overhaul of its bylaws aimed at reorienting the region via a 10-year plan.

One of the key aspects was a new classification system called Vi de Mas [wine of the farm estate], the first five of which have just been certified.

While most wine regions looking to implement a system use the so-called “Burgundian Pyramid”, Penedès took a different approach that merged it with some of the Bordeaux system, where it is an estate that holds the classification.

Decanter, May 16