TRIED & TESTED
Luminous Hills Pinot Noir LUX 2019
Graham Beck Yin Cap Classique 2016
Luminous Hills in Oregon is the home estate of Seven
Yin is a 60-40 Pinot-Chardonnay blend; Yang, sold in the
this Pinot, with its raspberry notes and distant wafts
initial visual statement that’s backed up on the palate.
of Hearts owner and winemaker Byron Dooley. The
cool vintage of 2019 adds to the unshowy elegance of of incense. It expertly straddles the divide between
Yin just edges it, with its pale pink colour making an
We picked up strawberries, grapefruit pith and a saline note, as well as creaminess from the Chardonnay.
Burgundian austerity and new world jam. RRP: £40.50
same gift pack, reverses that polarity. For our money,
RRP: £80 (two-pack)
ABV: 13.5%
ABV: 12.5%
Walker & Wodehouse (020 7449 1665)
Vindependents (020 3488 4548) vindependents.co.uk
walkerwodehousewines.com
Alma Gemela Carignan 2019
Moorooduc Estate Pinot Noir 2017
This boutique winery in the north of Mendoza is run by Mariana Onofri and Adán Giangiulio, and ticks
Using fruit from three vineyards in the same cool-
bright iteration of Carignan, easy-going, medium-
There’s a tannic grip in evidence here but it’s part
climate subregion of the Mornington peninsula,
all the right boxes when it comes to sustainability,
Richard McIntyre ferments his wines with wild yeasts.
minimum intervention etc. In the glass it’s a pure,
of the wine’s structure rather than anything jarring.
bodied, clean and fresh, with plummy richness and a
Notes of liquorice, cloves and cherries add to the fun.
pleasing herbal lift. RRP: £16.99
RRP: £25
ABV: 14%
ABV: 13%
Vindependents (020 3488 4548)
Condor Wines (07715 671914) condorwines.co.uk
vindependents.co.uk
Jorge Navascues La Nevera 2017
Lyme Bay Chardonnay 2020
Mariano Navascues is a renowned oenologist and
Cool-climate Chardonnay is quietly becoming a trump
DO Cariñena wines from Aragon. This 60% Garnacha,
a reliable source of ripe grapes. It’s a world away from
wine writer, and his son Jorge is clearly a chip off the old block, attracting acclaim in his own right for his
40% Carignan blend gestates for nine months in oak and emerges tight, dry and meaty, with fruit that is clearly perfectly ripe but doesn’t exude sweetness. RRP: £15.99
card for the English wine industry, with the Crouch
Valley in Essex (the source of the fruit in this example) what still English whites used to be: yes, there’s a
zingy acidity but it’s moderated by tropical fruit, and
the softening effects of French oak. Beautifully poised.
ABV: 14.5%
RRP: £23.99
C&C Wines (020 3261 0927)
ABV: 13%
Lyme Bay Winery (01297 551355)
carsoncarnevalewines.com
lbwdrinks.co.uk
Klein Constantia Vin de Constance 2017
De Bortoli Show Liqueur Muscat NV
It was technically a drought year but winemakers
After you’ve negotiated an evening meal with wines
Needless to say, the wine is a joy, with its familiar but
this. An explosion of sticky fruits, coffee and caramel,
say 2017 provided a “textbook” growing season with “exceptionally healthy” Muscat de Frontignan fruit.
still exotic tangle of honey, flowers, peaches, citrus fruit and saffron. More prosaically, almond cake mix too. RRP: £60
ABV: 14%
Mentzendorff (020 7840 3601) mentzendorff.co.uk
that are models of restraint and subtlety, it’s time to
let rip with something as unashamedly exuberant as bolstered by oaky vanilla, it’s a wine that should be
poured for Rishi Sunak before future duty negotations. RRP: £15.99
ABV: 18%
North South Wines (020 3871 9210) northsouthwines.co.uk
THE WINE MERCHANT november 2021 14
