Wine of the Day

Mastia Amarone della Valpolicella DOCG 2016 

Ruby garnet stunner. Lush, intense deep/dark cherry fruit. And star anise spice. Rich, ripe, persistently long fruit with equally rich, ripe tannins with a snappy, sappy finish. Full-bodied and finesse. Density, concentration, balance, sweetness of fruit with a most agreeable bitterness on the finish. So very Amarone. And Italian, as with many of …

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Moulin de Gassac Guilhem Rosé 2018

The colour of this Languedoc rosé  is just like those from Provence, a pink peach blush. The palate is as suggestive as the complexion, delicate white peach fruit and pink pamplemousse. The fresh citrussy acidity is rounded up in an elegant texture. Rosés are best enjoyed between cool and cold. …

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OUTRAGEOUS!

Wines of the Day Bald Hills Central Otago Last Light Riesling 2008 I first visited Otago in the south-west of New Zealand’s South Island about 35 years ago. At the time, it was not known for wine. I had gone because of picturesque Queenstown (next to a lake) and The …

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Chateau Poujeaux Moulis en Médoc 2008

The commune of Moulis – north of Margaux and south of Margaux – was planted with vineyards going back to Gallo Roman times, making them some of the oldest in Bordeaux. This was more than a thousand years before Dutch engineers, at the request of the French, helped drain the …

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Domaine du 1er Juin Merlot 2015

Tasted and reviewed last June 2019, this first vintage of Ningxia’s Domaine du 1er Juin Merlot has taken on a new layer of complexity. It has also become considerably evolved in nine short months. Proprietor LU Mengxi holds a Master’s degree in International Wine & Spirits from the Burgundy School …

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Chateau Bernadotte Haut-Médoc 2015

Bernadotte is a Cru Bourgeois located in Saint-Sauveur, near Pauillac. Previously owned by the Louis Roederer Group (proprietor also of Chateau Pichon Comtesse), it was sold in 2012 to Antares Cheng, Founder/Chairman/Managing Director of Hong Kong-based King Power Group. The vintages 2015 and 2016 are two of the finest of …

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Bastianich Rosato 2016

Thanks to being on screwcap, this light 4-year young rosé or rosato remains fresh, citrussy, zesty, with a hint of red fruit. The Bastianich Family founded their winery in 1997 in Friuli Venezia Giulia and their rosato is produced from refosco, a dark skinned variety native to Venezia and which …

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Pagoda Benjiu

Pagoda Benjiu is one of Shaoxing’s top rice wine. It is 12-15 years old and 15% in alcohol. Perfume of almonds, white flowers, a hint of vanilla and honey. The elegant, subtle, complex flavours are very persistent. Both the colour and palate remind of sherry. Amontillado, Palo Cortado or Oloroso. …

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Domaine Drouhin-Laroze Gevrey-Chambertin 2013

A reliable, knowledgeable merchant is worth his/her weight in hard-to-find wines. Olivier Chopin is proprietor of Cave Le Vigneron in Draguignan, the city in the south of France about 40 kilometres north-east from Saint-Tropez (my house in the village of Lorgues is nearer, about 20 minutes to drive). I have …

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