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Slideshow
Top 10 wines in the British Press
We round up the top 10 wines featured in the British press last weekend
Olly Smith in the Mail on Sunday urges us to squeeze the last moments from summer and enjoy some fizz and, he says, it doesn’t have to be champagne: cava offers great value: “There’s nothing wrong with these low-cost bubblies, made via the same traditional method used for Champagne, except with local Spanish grapes.”
“What makes a good wine list?” asks Victoria Moore in the Telegraph. “Good wine, obviously, and that’s where I wish more pubs, bars and restaurants would start. I also like a wine list to be short.”
Susy Atkins in the Sunday Telegraph asks what we should serve with game? “There are gloriously happy marriages to be made between particular reds and grouse, partridge, woodcock and pheasant, and it’s a satisfying sport to track down and bag the right one for each.”
Tesco Finest Vintage Champagne 2004 (£25.99 Tesco)
Olly Smith in the Mail on Sunday says this is “toasty, creamy and tangy. Its quality comes from the vineyards – all of which are Grand Cru (the best category).”
Peller Ice Cuvée, Canada (£21.90 slurp.co.uk)
“For a fruitier fizz”, says Olly Smith, “consider sparkling ice wines from Canada.” This “is mellow and fruitful, and hugely popular in The Glass House, my wine bar on board P&O’s Azura.”
Marksman English Sparkling Brut Blanc de Blancs 2009 (£22, Marks & Spencer)
This, says Olly Smith, is “layered, crisp, shrill and fabulous, like a top soprano singing into your face. And that’s the kind of thrill I’ll happily raise my glass to.”
Chablis Premier Cru Côte de Lechet 2010 (£25.50 Lea and Sandeman)
Victoria Moore in The Telegraph says “I took this on a picnic in a metal Thermos, and made a friend blind-taste. He said: “Good, lemony acidity, and quite a lot of tuffeau taste (tuffeau is the light, whitish rock found in the Loire). Yeah loads of that. Very mineral.”
Domaine Viñalba Cabernet Sauvignon 2011 (£6.74 Waitrose)
Victoria Moore says: “what an exceptionally juicy Cabernet Sauvignon this is, like an anti-claret”.
Torre Scalza Montepulciano d’Abruzzo 2010 (£7.99 Marks & Spencer)
Susy Atkins in The Sunday Telegraph says this “punches well above its weight, with wonderfully intense plum and red cherry, and a twist of vanilla and wood spice from oak-ageing. Perfect with roast pheasant.”
Domaine de Sainte-Rose Coquille d’Oc Rouge 2010 (£5.79 Waitrose)
Susy Atkins points us to “an irresistible offer on this appealingly soft, ripe blend with its layers of blackberry and dark chocolate. Great with partridge.”
Fred Loimer Zweigelt, Kamptal, Austria 2010 (£12.25 Oddbins)
David Williams in The Observer points us to this “singingly pure unoaked red, full of gorgeous dark raspberry fruit with a twist of pepper. Chilled down a little, it’s the perfect summer-into-autumn red.”
Contesa Pecorino, Colline Pescaresi IGT, Italy 2011 ( £7.99 x2 Majestic)
David Williams finds “a white with plenty of character, mingling a kind of baked-apple-and-almond richness with the verve and zest of a freshly squeezed lemon.”
La Farra Prosecco Valdobbiadene (£14.95 Harrods)
Anthony Rose in The Independent looks through Harrods’ “eclectic selection of sparkling wines” and found this “refreshingly pear-flavoured and satisfyingly dry”.