Lustau Sherry

Lustau, East India Solera, Sherry, Spain.

This is something I have wanted to try for some time. This is another great Lustau Sherry and proves why I love Sherry, especially when it's made by Lustau! It smells so warm and inviting. The nose is full of juicy raisins and Christmas pudding aromas like the Old Oloroso but this Sherry has more depth and complexity to it. The palate is warm but also ever so slightly salty; it has elements reminiscent of a Manzanilla. The sweet and saltiness are integrated seamlessly. Your first taste is the sweetness which leaves behind a slight hint of salt. So complex and rich with so many different flavours coming forward. 4.7/5 (20% abv) Widely Available.

Another Good Value Shiraz

Today I fancied trying something completely different. I had a quick look around in the cellar and came across this bottle. My friend the 'Pinot Guy' is South African and is back in South Africa at the moment. He will be glad to see that I have had some South African wine while he has been away!

Zalze, Shiraz Mourvedre Viognier, 2007, South Africa.

This wine has rich, ripe fruits and some red berry fruit too. The nose is bursting with wild berries. There is a soft roundness to the fruit. The palate takes you a bit by surprise; you still get the wild berry fruit but it's sharp and acidic. The palate is automatically bombarded with herbs (predominantly rosemary and thyme) and spicy pepper. There is some well integrated oak here too. The nose and the palate seem somewhat opposed to each other. There is a wild, rustic side to this wine - it's a bit quirky. I like it! 3.8/5 (14.5% abv) £5.99 Waitrose

M.V.R

Tonight I cracked open another Australian wine. I am partial to Australian wines and I really like the wines from Yering Station. I think my love of Australian wine started when we used to live in Sydney - the Hunter Valley became a frequently visited hot spot!

Yering Station, M.V.R, 2006, Yarra Valley, Australia.

This wine is made from 67% Marsanne, 25% Viognier and 8% Roussanne. The nose is full of very fresh, delicate aromas of crisp, green apples, orchards, meadows with some floral aromas too. There are also hints of jasmine flowers and lime. There is some stone fruit characters here - peach and nectarine. There is lovely mouth watering but yet balanced acidity. The lime and floral characters appear on the palate. There are also some grassy, straw like flavours too. Lovely length to this wine. 4/5 (14% abv)

Henry's Seven

I love Henschke's wines. They are iconic Australian wines. I have a bottle of the 1996 'Hill of Grace' Shiraz in the cellar - I am so looking forward to trying this in a few years time.

Henschke, Henry's Seven, 2005, Barossa Valley, Australia.

This wine is a blend of Shiraz, Grenache, Mourvedre and Viognier. The wine has a beautiful, rich, ripe nose, full of soft violet tinged dark fruits and freshly crushed raspberries. There is well placed peppery plummy edges with brilliantly integrated oak. There is a real elegance to this wine. This wine is also beautifully complex; each time I pick up the glass I get something new. Nice warming aromas on the nose too like fine leather. The precise fruit carries over to the palate undergirded by soft supple tannins. Lovely savoury complexity to the palate. The palate is full of ripe fruit covered in fresh peppery spice. There is also a bit of heat from the high alcohol content but this is not a burning heat, more like a tingling warmth which thankfully does not distract from the wine. This is a beautiful complex wine - will definitely buy more of this. 4.6/5 (15% abv) £16.99 Waitrose.

Merry Christmas

Firstly, I hope that everyone who reads and follows this blog had a fantastic Christmas. It certainly was a great Christmas for us and definitely one to remember. As normal Christmas for us is split between some time at my parents house and some time at my wife's parents house. This year the morning was spent with my parents and the evening with my wife's parents. It was a brilliant day from start to finish. Here are some of the highlights from the day.

Langlois, Cremant de Loire, France.

This was a lovely wine and worked great as a pre-lunch drink. It has a lovely constant stream of fine bubbles. There were aromas of crisp green apples with some lively acidity. There were some mild edges of yeast. This was a balanced , light and delicate wine. 4.5/5

Chateau Larrivet Haut Brion, 1999, Pessac-Leognan, Bordeaux, France.

I have had this bottle for some time. It has been slowly ageing away. We decanted this wine about an hour before lunch. When decanting this wine I used the filter I bought for my birthday. The filter worked wonderfully. There was not a single grain of sediment in the decanter at the end. The wine smelt beautiful and full bodied. There was plenty of blackcurrant and black cherry with well integrated oak. There was also some leather and tobacco. This was a dark, sultry almost brooding wine. It had a super soft palate and silky texture; it was so unbelievably smooth. The palate had more spicy cherry and soft mellowed tannins. It had beautiful length. Lovely wine, perfect for Christmas. 4.7/5

West Cape Howe, Golden Seahorse, Muscat, Western Australia.

The top of this wine bottle was completely covered with black wax. This bottle had a very long neck and the wax covered most of it. This was a rich, nutty, fruity desert wine; full of juicy raisins. It was almost like raisins soaked in brandy. It smelt a bit like an Oloroso Sherry but a bit more grapey. The palate was full of fruit cake. It was lovely and sweet but remained balanced. There was more grapey, honeyed, sweet flavours on the palate. Beautiful with the Christmas pudding we had. 4.2/5

Chinese Wine.

This was something that my parents brought back from their recent trip to China. It is not everyday you get to try wine from China - so I jumped at the chance to try it. This wine was one of the strangest things I have ever smelt. There was some chocolatey, praline truffles but also pungent fermented orange juice with bits of caramel and old trainers. There was a slightly metallic palate with hints of copper, iron and iodine. Bizarre!

After lunch, we travelled over to my wife's parents house. This was an evening filled with Prosecco, the odd Bellini and Lustau Old Oloroso Sherry - a great way to end the day. We also had our God-children over this year too. It was great to have kids in the house for Christmas. Having 14 month old twins in the house really did make Christmas special. At the end of the night it was time to head home for a good old cup of tea and a movie.

Warm in the glass, cold outside!

After the buckets of snow that descended upon Reading last night and the 5 hour 45min journey I had to get home (the journey usually takes 22 mins!), the bad weather conditions this morning and the fact that I couldn't get our car off the driveway - I decided to work from home today. Tonight's wine needed to be from a sunny place - it is the only distraction from the snow at the moment!

Clos de los Siete, 2005, Mendoza, Argentina.

This wine is made from 7 vineyards all located at the foothills of the Andes. The project is managed by world famous (and somewhat controversial) wine consultant Michel Rolland. The wine is made from 50% Malbec, 30% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon & 10% Syrah. This is a big inky wine. Ripe, lush blackcurrant fruit and violets fill the nose. There are some real floral aromatics going on here. This wine has lots of upfront, ripe fruit but doesn't go as far as being jammy. The ripe blackcurrant fruit carries over onto the palate. The high alcohol is very evident in this wine (15%). There is good acidity and big tannins. Thankfully I think these tannins have mellowed a bit in bottle; I think they would have been huge and quite 'overpowering' and drying if this wine was drunk too young. There is good structure and some complexity to this wine. 4.2/5 (15% abv) widely available £12.99

Weekend TV and Sauvignon Blanc

Despite the snow and black ice that was around today we braved a trip to a friend's house on the other side of Reading for some mulled wine and mince pies. In the evening my wife and I decided to settle in for the rest of the cold night and watch a movie. To accompany the film I decided to open a bottle of Chilean Sauvignon Blanc.

Anakena, Limited Edition, Single Vineyard, Sauvignon Blanc, 2006, Casablanca Valley, Chile.

The nose is full of passionfruit, fresh lime and bell peppers. There is a herbal edge and hints of cumin. The cumin is not bad....just bizarre! The wine smells fresh and zingy. It smells clean. Great crisp acidity, steely minerality, good balance and length. The passionfruit and especially the lime carry over onto the palate. This would be a lovely summer BBQ wine. Great wine. 4.2/5 (14% abv)

Inexpensive Syrah

I have an evening in tonight - much needed I must say! With all the cold weather we have been having of late and the new weather warnings for snow, I thought I would open up something warming! This is a lovely, inexpensive Syrah from Marks & Spencer - well worth a cheeky little purchase the next time you walk through their food hall! Marks & Spencer have managed to get some top producers to make wine exclusively for them. This wine is made by none other that famed Chilean producer - De Martino.

De Martino, Colluvia Syrah, 2007, Choapa Valley, Chile.

Rich, dark fruits covered with a violet blanket! There are also some edges of red summer fruits which lifts the wine a bit - almost like a blackcurrant, strawberry and violet cordial!The nose is super soft and rounded. The palate explodes with this wine. It's huge - a real full mouth feel. The palate is full of much darker fruits accompanied with loads of peppery spice. Good length on this wine with structured tannins. This is a serious effort - fairly complex. This wine would be great after another 2 years in bottle. 4/5 (14.5% abv) £7.99 (I think) Marks & Spencer.

Malbec, Steak and Vintage Port

Last night some of the boys came round for steak! It was a great night - huge, plate filling steaks and homemade chips (as the girls weren't here there was no veg and no salad!). Obviously with a nice big steak you need a good Malbec - this one did not disappoint. To finish the evening off, desert was a vintage port.

Bodega Catena Zapata, Malbec, 2006, Mendoza, Argentina.

This wine is full of powerful ripe black fruits and violets. Sweet blackcurrant is the dominant aroma. There is also mild hints of leather on the nose. The palate has black olives, cedar, mild hints of tar and very dark lush fruit. There is also some smokey leather and tobacco too. There are some lovely firm tannins in this wine and a great length. This is a big wine that really stood up well to the steak. 4/5 (13.5% abv) Waitrose

Dow's, Master Blend, Late Bottled Vintage Port, 2004, Porto, Portugal.

This is a 50cl bottle. The nose is full of succulent, rich, sweet aromas. It's full of sweet cherries and sweetly stewed plum. You also get sweet spices - cinnamon, tamarind and clove. There is a beautiful lush palate with a full mouth feel. You get some Christmas spice on the palate too - very seasonally appropriate! 4.5/5 (20% abv)

Another Great Tasting at Majestic

I popped in to Majestic Wine (Sonning) today. I had a voucher for a free bottle of champagne after recommending someone to join the mailing list and start shopping there. While I was there I looked over the tasting counter (....it's rude not to!) The in store tasting tasting today was fantastic. They had so much stuff on offer to taste; not just quantity but variety. As always in this branch the staff were very friendly and always on hand to discuss what you were drinking and offer further recommendations. (It's worth shopping in the Sonning branch just for the staff!).

Here is some of what I tasted today.

Bollinger - Special Cuvee - This was fresh and yeasty with soft doughy aromas on the nose. The palate was vibrant with more appley flavours. This was a very good champagne.

Cloudy Bay, Sauvignon Blanc, 2008, New Zealand - The has a really zesty, vibrant nose full of tropical fruit, freshly cut lime and bell peppers.

Chateau Larrivet Haut-Brion, 2004, Bordeaux, France - Good clarity of fruit, nice complexity and structure. This still has a few years. I have a bottle of the 1998 which I will be having on Christmas day - I can't wait to find out how it will taste.

Manzanilla Pasada - This was amazing stuff. The nose was soft and enticing. The palate is a complete contrast. The palate is so salty. You could get flavours of ready salted puffs (type of crisp) and olives. This is something to add to my next Majestic shopping list!

Bodegas Hidalgo, Pedro Ximenez, Triana - Lovely sweet, concentrated, juicy raisins, Christmas cake. Great stuff.

Buller, Fine Old Muscat - Nice, fresh sweet palate. This was fragrant and concentrated. A good muscat.

Delaforce, Corte, 1991 Vintage Port - Good clarity. You could get hints of caramel but this was going slightly towards a more savoury side. This had nice complexity and length.

All in all it was a great tasting at Majestic. The range at Majestic keeps getting better and the results from the press tastings suggest that things are only going to improve in 2010.

Chianti Classico

Really fancied something a bit different tonight. I have had a nice Chianti Classico in the cellar for a while. I have had my eye on it for the last few week, so tonight I decided to open it. It was a great wine; perfect for a Friday night after a week full of too many late nights and early mornings.

Carpineto, Chianti Classico Riserva (DOCG), 2000, Italy.

This is a great wine. It is not an in your face wine. It's delicate and restrained but focused too. The nose has some soft cherry and red fruit aromas. After some time in the glass the wine develops darker fruits, menthol, liquorice and some medicinal aromas. There is a sort of woody spice to this wine. There are darker fruits on the palate. There is plenty of tannic structure here which helps make this wine very food friendly. There is a bit of oak on the palate too. This is a lovely complex wine. I can't get over how restrained this wine is. It's so well balanced with a really nice delicate length. Such a good wine. 4.5/5 (13% abv)

Great Midweek Syrah

Leyda, Costero Syrah, 2008, Leyda Valley, Chile.

Lovely ripe aromas of blackcurrant jam, dark cherries and some nice violet and pastel aromas coming through. You can also get some soft ripe red summer berries too. Smooth texture full of spicy pepper flavours. The vibrant palate really brings your mouth alive. Tight, grippy tannins. This wine is still very young and will be even better in a few years. The blackcurrant and black cherry come across on the palate with a really peppery edge. Lovely strong length to this wine. I would be very interested to see how this wine develops over time. 4/5 (14% abv)

Lovely White Cote du Rhone

Tonight we started the annual task of putting up our Christmas decorations. We are much later putting them up this year compared to previous years. So, to help the process along I decided to open a bottle of white Cote du Rhone that I have had laying around for a while. Jean-Luc Colombo is a good producer with a good reputation. I have tasted other wines of his before. This one definitely did not disappoint.

Jean-Luc Colombo, Les Figuieres Cote du Rhone, 2004, France.

This wine is a blend of Viognier and Roussanne. Beautiful rich, golden colour. Lush, ripe, sweet aromas of apricot and Jasmine flowers. This is a rich honeyed wine with aromas of sweet cantaloupe melon. Really floral flavours on the palate. Some orange and nectarine citrus flavours make an appearance too. The acidity is still fresh. The back palate has a sort of buttery (mild) oaky flavour. This is a lovely rich wine with a smooth texture. I have had this for some time and have another bottle in the cellar, however, I think it is peaking; so I need to use it up quick! 3.8/5 (13% abv)

Coonawarra Cab

Had a lovely lunch with some friends today. It was great to catch up. We haven't really spent any proper time with them for a while. They have just had a baby girl; so they have been very busy!

Majella, 'The Musician' Cabernet Shiraz, 2005, Coonawarra, Australia.

This is a lovely wine - a blend of 70% Cabernet Sauvignon and 30% Shiraz. The nose is full of dark fruits; ripe blackcurrants and blackberries. There is also some violet coming through too. The nose also shows aromas of oak, leather and tobacco/cigar. The palate is silky and smooth. The dark fruit continues on the palate along with the oak and leather. There are some nice big tannins in this wine and you get a nice degree of spiciness coming through from the shiraz. There is some meaty, savoury complexity here. This wine is dark and brooding with a nice length. This wine over delivers for its price point. It is interesting to see how difference my post of the 2007 vintage was in November. 4.5/5 ( 14.5% abv) £9.99 Oddbins.

Pinot and Friends

My mate (the Pinot Noir nut!) popped over last night to pick up some tools. When offered a glass of wine, he said "only if you have a bottle open" - what a ridiculous statement; I'm a wine blogger! Anyway, we finished off the 'Arry's Original and then, because it's him, we opened a bottle of Pinot. The first thing that has to be pointed out about this bottle is the groovey label! We very easily made our way through the bottle over the course of the evening. What was supposed to be a quick 'tool pick up' ended up with them (his wife came too!) having food, a few bottles of wine, coffee and long chats very late into the night - but that's what friends do! It's nice to have people over who understand a bit about wine that you can open a bottle with.

Composite, Pinot Noir, 2006, Ara, Marlborough, New Zealand.

This is the first vintage of this wine. Good ripe, juicy red cherry and strawberry aromas with some soft spicy notes around the edges. The nose is quite focused and refined. There is a real energy about this wine. The palate is soft and rounded with more spicy cherry. The wine has balanced acidity, soft tannins and good length - this is good stuff. The palate is quite structured and savoury with spicy edges working along side vibrant fruit. Good complexity. 4/5 (13% abv)

d'Arry's Original

Had a craving for Aussie Shiraz today, so the first thing I did tonight was to crack open a bottle!

d'Arenberg, d'Arry's Original Shiraz Grenache, 2006, McLaren Vale, Australia.

This is the wine that put d'Arenberg on the map. This bottle says it commemorates d'Arry Osbourne's 80th birthday and their 64th consecutive vintage. d'Arenberg is a wine producer I trust for consistently good wines with a fine sense of place. This is a near equal blend of Shiraz and Grenache. Beautiful juicy but slightly delicate red and bramble fruit aromas. Plenty of raspberry and summer fruit pudding dancing around the glass. There is a bit of stewed plum and loads of peppery spiciness. The palate is met with big, bold tannins. There is definitely a big mouth feel to this wine. Silky smooth texture and a nice long length. There is a nice peppery kick to this wine. The red fruit carries over from the nose with some tobacco and leathery flavours. Another good example of Aussie Shiraz. This would do well with a few more years in bottle. 4/5 (14.5% abv) £12.99 Oddbins.

A Lovely Italian Winter Warmer.

The weather has been shocking again today - winter has well and truly arrived. The nights are drawing in and the temperature has really dropped. Thankfully it is mid-week, so things are looking up! Tonight, I decided to open a bottle I haven't tried for quite a while. It turned out to be a great wine to have on such a miserable day - a nice warming wine.

Masi, Campofiorin, 2004, Italy.

This wine is made from 70% Corvina, 25% Rondinella & 5% Molinara. The wine is produced using a double fermentation technique created by Masi called Ripasso; where the wine is re-fermented with some semi-dried grapes. This creates a lovely complex wine with smooth tannins. Masi is famous for their Amarone and Valpolicella Classico wines. This is a lush wine full of dark cherry and stewed plum aromas. There is also a bit of bramble to this wine with hints of oak, leather and cigar box. There are also some soft blackberry and strawberry characters with edges of blueberry. There is really strong focussed blackcurrant fruit on the palate with a bit of spicy cinnamon coming through. There is also some pepper and mild hints of clove. There is a lovely savoury meatiness to this wine. Great balance, length, a smooth texture and silky tanins. This wine has some presence. 4/5 (13% abv)

Cracking Craggy

Had dinner at my parents tonight. I recently went with my father to help him do his 'Christmas wine shop'. While we were shopping my father managed to get a deal on some Craggy Range Sauvignon Blanc. My father is a Sauvignon Blanc nut! All day at work I was hoping that he would open one of the bottles of Craggy to have with dinner; thankfully he didn't disappoint - good old Dad!

Craggy Range, Te Muna Road Sauvignon Blanc, 2008, Martinborough, New Zealand.

Wow! Fresh zingy nose full of juicy mango, pineapple, peaches and tropical fruits galore. There is a slight grassiness to this wine with plenty of intoxicating freshly cut lime aromas. Silky smooth, thick creamy texture, zingy acidity, balance and great length. There is loads of lime which continues on the palate with mild hints of nectarine. This is a great wine. 4.6/5 (13% abv)