TRIED & TESTED
Lustau Fino Single Cask February 2020 release
Quinta da Pedra Alta Pedra No 3 White Port
Talk about understatement. The tasting note says “dry
In the 18th century, Douro vineyards were awarded
formidable peak. The flor had not been disturbed for a
things, and you can almost taste them in this delicious
and crispy”, which reduces this mini-masterpiece to
the status of a Pringle. Yet this is en rama Sherry at its decade when 120 bottles were produced: the wine is
pungent but elegant, with a bready, fruity, nutty richness. RRP: £74.50
ABV: 15%
Fields, Morris & Verdin (020 7819 0360)
stone markers called feitoria to denote the best sites. Quinta da Pedra Alta has no fewer than three of the
and decadent white port, with its lovely slatey edge, lemon mousse sweetness and warm nuttiness. RRP: £18 (50cl) ABV: 18%
Winetraders (01993 882440)
fmv.co.uk
winetraders.eu
Phebus Malbec Rosé 2019
Balfour Liberty’s Bacchus 2019
Maybe we’re all too cool to get excited by a rosé Malbec,
Maybe some English Bacchus from 2018 was a little
freezer and it emerged full of luscious Mendoza fruit
notes but mostly grassy, citrus elements and a lovely
but perhaps it’s also fair to say we tend to serve such wines too cool. This had a cursory 10 minutes in the without compromising any of its crisp mountain
freshness. In the capable hands of Hervé Joyaux Fabre, a simple wine has overdelivered on every level. RRP: £9.99
ABV: 12.5%
Buckingham Schenk (01753 219782)
too ripe, losing the zip that should be its hallmark.
Here the variety is on fine form, with some tropical crispness. In the right hands, Bacchus really can
be England’s answer to Sauvignon Blanc, and the
challenge is to keep it as perky and moreish as this. RRP: £20
ABV: 11%
Liberty Wines (020-7720-5350)
buckingham-schenk.co.uk
libertywines.co.uk
Terra Noble CA2 Carmenere Costa 2017
Oldenburg Vineyards Syrah 2016
Terra Noble makes its CA1 Carmenere in the Andes,
The vineyards at Rondekop in the Stellenbosch are
latitudes. The Costa is the more elegant of the two,
with a certain crunch. You get a lot of Syrah for your
and CA2 nearer the Pacific coast, to highlight the differences between different terroirs at similar
but it’s still concentrated and juicy, with a smoky, bloody edge that will delight carnivores. RRP: £27.30
ABV: 14%
Pimlico Dozen (020 7834 3647)
410m above sea level, and the conditions seem to suit Syrah very well, leavening the juicy ripeness money here, with lovely vanilla notes and some Mediterranean herbs poking through too. RRP: £15.95
ABV: 14%
Jeroboams (0207 288 8888)
pimlicodozen.com
jeroboams.co.uk
Laurent Miquel Auzines Albariño 2018
Le Tracteur Vert 2018
Miquel is the first French winemaker to plant
in the Côtes d’Auvergne, this is a fruity and nicely
Albariño, and it certainly seems at home in his corner of Corbières, where it thrives in organic vineyards. Lees ageing lends a creamy depth to proceedings,
balancing out the more pithy, limey, elements and dovetailing with the ripe fruit characters. RRP: £11-£12
ABV: 13%
Jackson Nugent Vintners (020 8947 9722) jnv.co.uk
A 100% Gamay from grapes grown on volcanic soil
weighted summer red with the gentlest sting of tart
raspberries. A wine that would almost certainly pair
beautifully with some crackly Django Reinhardt music and the spicy smoke of some merguez sausages on an outdoor grill, near a pine forest. RRP: £13.50
ABV: 14%
Awin Barratt Siegel (01306 631155) abs.wine
THE WINE MERCHANT august 2020 13