Les Celliers de Saint-Jean Beaujolais Primeur 2011

I've been meaning to try Beaujolais Nouveau for awhile now, but I've never made it a priority. Beaujolais isn't my favourite wine, as the concept of light, fresh, gluggy wine for me is satisfied by whites and rose wines. I'm also not a fan of young reds. However, since LIDL is my main supermarket these days and they had a big display of this wine it was time to give it a try.

Huge Ribena, raspberry nose, and no length whatsoever to speak of. Initially this was going to be resigned to the rubbish bin. However after a few sips it grew on me. Its essence of fruity freshness and drinkability was outstanding, and this is the whole point of this wine. I get it now.

By the end of the bottle we were wishing we had more, and I regretted not going for the 2 for £9 deal.

Les Celliers de Saint-Jean

Beaujolais Primeur 2011

Burgundy, France

LIDL

£4.99 (2 for £9)

3/5

Antonin Rodet Givry 2008

While at my local Majestic recently I sampled a bunch of wines they had opened for tasting. The one that stood out the most was this red Burgundy from the Givry appellation in Burgundy's Cotes Chalonnaise. I was enticed by its pronounced sour cherry flavours and decided to buy a couple of bottles.

Drinking it now, it's a bit more complex than just sour cherries. The cherries have moved into the background, and it's displaying some mushroomy character. It's also very tangy and has an elegant grip from the tannins. I like it - it's a Burgundy and doesn't at all resemble some of this new world dreck that passes for Pinot Noir these days.

Antonin Rodet

Givry 2008

Givry AOC, Burgundy, France

Majestic

£11.99 (when you buy 2 bottles)

3/5

Terres de Galets Cotes du Rhone 2009

It's been far too long since I've posted here - about a month and a half. My apologies. I bought a case of wine from Majestic for Christmas, as did my brother-in-law, whose family was spending the holidays with us. All in all none of the wine impressed. I was so disappointed in their ordinariness that I couldn't even bother to post about them.

We're also trying to save money. We've just bought a new house that needs renovating, so every pound saved is valuable. My wine consumption has plummeted, and most of the wines we do drink are favourites that I've blogged about before.

However, it's time to get back in the saddle. I picked up this Cotes du Rhone from Sainsbury's because it was cheap, and had a sticker from the International Wine Challenge on it. The sticker was gold coloured but it didn't say "Gold" on it. I was pretty sure it was meaningless but I bought the wine anyway because I think the 2009 Rhone vintage was supposed to be pretty good.

The wine isn't bad really - you could do much worse for the price. It had obvious spicy Rhone character and quite an impressive nose. Palate-wise it decent..it could use a bit more body and length but it did the trick on the night. Nothing wrong with it really (except if you paid £9.99 for it).

FYI the winemaker seems to be Gabriel Meffre in Gigondas.

Terres de Galets

Cotes du Rhone 2009

Cotes du Rhone AOC, France

Sainsbury's

£4.99 (£9.99)

3/5

Heidsieck £ Co. Monopole Blue Top Brut NV

I saw this at Sainsbury's for £11.99 and decided to give it a try. I knew it was the introductory house blend, and I also have some vintage 'Gold Top' from the same producer. I'm not mad about the Gold Top, purchased last Christmas from Majestic. It's OK but didn't leave much of an impression. Maybe it needs more time, maybe I don't like Pinot-based blends so much, who knows. Either way I thought for £11.99 this was worth a try.

I actually quite liked it. It is a Pinot-based blend and is rich and honeyed, almost sweet, and has characteristics of bottle aged wine in the blend. I was pleasantly surprised. I served the 2 bottles I bought to guests at my son's birthday party (the parents, not the kids), and everyone seemed to really like it. The only reason I'm not running out and buying a case of 12 is because I haven't decided what to buy for my Christmas wines and don't want to blow the budget.

Heidsieck & Co. Monopole

Blue Top NV

Epernay, Champagne AOC, France

Sainsbury's

£11.99 (£27.99)

3.5/5

Du Clos Gavin Crisfield Coteaux du Languedoc 2007

Another good wine from Virgin tonight. This is a blend of Grenache, Syrah and Carignan from the Languedoc.

Intense fruit on the nose with detectable depth and trademark spiciness of this type of blend. Tastes more expensive that it is and is drinking well now. It's apparently an 'old-vines' version of the cheaper 'Les Salces' bottling also available from Virgin.

The label on my bottle is different than the one in the image, but no matter. I'm increasingly looking toward the Languedoc-Roussillon for good value French reds - I'm thinking about buying my Christmas reds from this region. They can be 'big', but they are great for winter. They offer ripe fruit but also lots of character and you can get some really enjoyable wines for under £10.

Du Clos

'Gavin Crisfield' 2007

Coteaux du Languedoc AOC, France

Virgin Wines

£9.99

3/5

Naked Wines Domaine Cristia Grenache Syrah 2009

Surely you've heard of Naked Wines? You know the company set up by ex-Virgin Wines employees whose marketing vouchers fall out of everything you buy?

The idea behind the company is simple - they invest in new winemakers in return for preferential prices, and pass the savings on to the customer. If you become a 'Naked Angel', you can pay a chosen amount into your Naked Wines account on a monthly basis, and then redeem it anytime you wish (or take it out). When you do make a purchase, you get 33% cash back.

Several months ago I received one of their vouchers (something like £40 off), and decided to have a look - they were new and their concept sounded interesting. I created an account, but after looking at their website and checking out the wines and the prices, I was unconvinced. There were several mistakes in the website (i.e. Argentine wines showing up in the Australia section) and the general lack of information about the wines an winemakers put me off. This gives the impression that this whole business is a family-like affair, where the customer, winemaker and the business are this one big close-knit group. If that were the case, surely this information would be readily available?

Either way, I left it alone for awhile until yesterday when I received an email with an offer to buy a taster pack of six wines and only paying for the tax and the delivery. It amounted to about £18, at which price I don't really care if the wines are any good. Also, it gives me a chance to try them out and see what this place is all about.

The first wine I tried is this Grenache/Syrah blend from what is I think the Southern Rhone. First of all, it tastes like it, and after some digging on the Naked Wines website it turns out that the same winemaker also makes Chateauneuf-du-Pape. Why is this information not there with the wine? Here is what appears when you click the wine, and then the link labelled 'The Facts':

Style: Easy drinking reds
Grape: Shiraz, Grenache & Other Spicy Reds
Country: France
Alcohol: 13.00%
Vintage: 2009
Size: 75cl

You only find out where the winemaker is from when you click the 'Meet the Winemaker' link. Of course, this wine still could be from anywhere according to the label on the bottle, which just says 'Vin de France'. No appellation, nothing. One can only assume it's a Vin de Pays, which is fine but why not tell us the region and classification?

So how is the wine? It tastes like an entry-level Cotes du Rhone. It's not too bad - it has quite good fruit but it also has some roughness to it. Better with food. Someone left a comment on the Naked Wines website saying it needed to breathe for an hour, and I'd say there were right - it takes the edge off this young wine, and opens up the fruit.

I'd say the price is too expensive as well. It goes for £7.99. I'm not saying it's overpriced for a VdP, after all it could just be a VdP because they used too much of some grape variety, or the vines aren't in the right location for an AOC wine. I'm saying it's too much for what the wine is. Considering you could get a Guigal CdR for £6 on offer in Waitrose, why would you buy this for £8, and pay delivery on top?

I have 5 more bottles to try - hopefully I get the time to blog them all. To be honest they all look like potential plonk - an Aussie Shiraz (from the ubiquitous South Eastern Australia region), a Chilean Merlot, an Argentine Sauvignon Blanc, a South African Chenin Blanc, and a Kiwi Sauvignon Blanc. However I'll try to be objective with all of them. After all, I think the only thing wrong with the Domaine Cristia is the price.

Naked Wines
Domaine Cristia
Grenache Syrah 2009
VdP Rhone (I think), France
2.5/5

G.H. Mumm and Perriet-Jouët Champagne Assembly

This was a PR event put on by Pernod Ricard, the owner of Champagne houses Mumm and Perrier-Jouet. I decided to attend not to be wined and dined, but because it included workshops that promised to enlighten me about Champagne and food-matching and the process of blending.

Unfortunately, I did more wining than dining and by the time the final workshop came around, I was incapable of absorbing what the speaker was saying. However all is not lost, and I blame my discovery of the wonderful Mumm de Cramant for my failure to fully communicate the proceedings.

The day was to be organized as such: there was to be an open tasting of several Champagnes from both houses, and I was booked into two workshops, one focused on Champagne and food-matching, and the other on the blending that goes into the crafting of Mumm Cordon Rouge NV. Both are topics that I know next to nothing about, and it seemed a good opportunity to learn.

I started the day with a mid-morning snack, and left for the Assembly around 1 PM. However, when I arrived they had laid out a load of canapes, each matched with a particular Champagne. The first one I tried was Mumm de Cramant, paired with scallops with a cauliflower pureé. The Champagne was delicious, and I worked my way through all the wines with gusto.

Next, a workshop that I wasn't scheduled to attend began, and all non-attendees left the room. Now was the time to perform the 'open tasting', which was set in a mezzanine-type structure overlooking the main room where the workshop was taking place. I was fortunate to have the wines to myself, as everyone else was apparently having lunch just above me in a room filled with hushed voices and the tinkling of silverware. It was only after the advice of one of the PR staff that I was welcome to eat, but by that time I was halfway through tasting the wines and my first workshop was starting in half an hour, so I had little time to waste on lunch.

Again, the standout was the Mumm de Cramant. The one person who did spend some time tasting the wines seemed to be a drinks industry veteran, and when I asked him if any of them stood out for him, he pointed to the Mumm de Cramant, saying it had been a favourite of his for years. And keep in mind the range on display also included the prestige Belle Epoque range, which is basically twice the price.

I finished tasting the wines, and then headed downstairs to attend the first workshop, which was Champagne and food matching. Let me sum this up quickly - a chemist uses gas chromatography to find aromatic compounds in the wine. Next, food with the same chemical signature is then paired. Fairly simple concept and I guess it works - all of the matches seemed to work. I kind of wish they offered more general matching rules - like what would go better with a Pinot Noir based Champagne as opposed to a Chardonnay Blanc de Blancs. Perhaps they did - this was about the point where I started to daydream. Another thing - the food pairings where the exact same ones they did with the canapes when I walked in, so I had extra impetus not to pay attention.

Next up was the blending workshop - the 'Chefs de Caves Masterclass'. All I can remember about this was being served multiple vintages of Belle Epoque from various Magnums and Jeroboams. After tasting each one (OK - possibly drinking each one) I noticed halfway through that my ultra-serious Japanese sommelier table-mates were in fact only sniffing the wines and furiously scribbling notes, and that I hadn't been paying attention to anything the speaker was saying (it was Perrier-Jouët Chef de Cave Hervé Deschamps and Mumm Chef de Cave Didier Marotti). My lack of food intake had caught up with me, and I was quite useless as a journalist at this point.

Like I mentioned previously though, I did discover one great wine: the Mumm de Cramant.

Produced using 100% Chardonnay from the Grand Cru commune of Cramant, this champagne is unique as it is made with a lower pressure than other Champagnes. It is very pure, crisp and refreshing, something I find lacking in Pinot Noir based Champagne, and it is becoming apparent to me that I prefer this Blanc de Blancs style. The other NV offerings paled in comparison to it, and to be honest the Belle Epoque range didn't do much for me. The Belle Epoque Blanc de Blancs seemed to be everyone's favourite though, as people from the dining room kept coming down and refilling their glasses with it. It had the properties of an aged Chardonnay (it was the 2000 vintage) but I felt it lacked the freshness of a younger wine.

Mumm de Cramant retails for about £40 / bottle, and I reckon it is just as good as Champagnes twice this price, including Perrier-Jouet's Belle Epoque range. It's not easy to find though, a search on Wine Searcher only yielded three results, but that should be enough to get you started!

Sainsbury's Brut Rosé Champagne

Continuing on with our tradition of drinking rosé wine while watching the Formula One race, Random Aussie Bloke upped the ante by bringing over this Sainsbury's own-label pink Champagne.

It's actually made by Duval-Leroy, of which I am a fan. To be honest, I've only ever had their 2002 vintage Blanc de Blancs, but I thought it was one of the best value sparkling wines I've ever had (at the offer price that is).

This rosé is a blend of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, and is pretty good, notable the lively acidity and strawberry flavours. I'm not a Champagne expert, but I think it's safe to say that it's good value at £19.99. Rosé Champagne can be a bit overpriced I think, but this certainly isn't.

Sainsbury's

Brut Rosé Champagne

Champagne AOC, France

£19.99

3/5

Sainsbury's Taste the Difference Côtes De Provence Rosé 2009

Random Aussie Bloke instructed his wife to pick up some rosé from Sainsbury's. He wisely told her to 'get the most expensive ones they have'. She came back with a Sancerre rosé, and this other one from Provence. I would have made the same choices.

However, unlike the Sancerre wine, this one was terrible I thought. I've had it twice I think, and the first time I remember being a bit underwhelmed. The second time though it was clear that it isn't a very good wine, so I feel compelled to share. Not much to say really, it's harsh and has an unpleasant finish. It reminds me of wines I tried in when I visited Brussels last summer - you could get Provence rosé from the supermarket in similarly shaped bottles for under 4 euros, and they were grim.

Sainsbury's Taste the Difference Côtes De Provence Rosé 2009

Côtes De Provence AOC, Provence, France

Sainsbury's

£7.99

2/5

Secret Wine

Followers of wine bloggers may have taken notice of a contest currently running. The PR agency Clair de Lune, working on behalf of French wine, has sent out a package containing 3 mystery bottles of French red wine to 85 wine bloggers.

The first blogger to correctly guess the origin (appellation) of each wine wins the contest. First prize is a wine holiday, and runner up prizes are cases of 6 bottles of wine.

Before I received the bottles I guessed that the wine would be from the South of France, as more established regions don't really need this sort of PR exercise. After tasting the wines I'm even more convinced.

All three wines were distinctly different, and I also thought they were all very good. Much better than the 'reference' wines we bought to compare them to (to help with the guessing). I have to say though, trying to guess which appellation they were from was pretty much impossible for us, as none of us are experts in this region. Even if we were experts it would be difficult. Either way, here's a summary of what we thought of each wine:

1. Predominantly Syrah (if not 100%). Deep purple colour, very powerful, expressive nose, lush fruit. Chalky tannins, and perhaps a bit short on the finish. A 'big' wine. My guess was a Minervois, but it could have been from anywhere in the South, including the Rhone.
2. Predominantly Grenache with a bit of Syrah. Sweet, perfumed, slightly raisiny nose. Grapey with violets on the palate. Very easy drinking, few tannins. Very tasty. We went with Jon's (Random Aussie Bloke) guess which was a Corbieres.
3. A very well executed blend. Elegant - not dominated by one flavour signature like the rest. A well balanced wine with good, expressive nose, fruit, structure and depth. For this I went for Chateauneuf du Pape. I had kind of turned my brain off at this point to be honest and I probably could have made a better guess.

For what it's worth, here's a (very brief) summary of the reference wines we tried:

• Gerard Bertrand Minervois 2007. Smoky, herbaceous. Interesting. Waitrose (£6.99).
• Paul Mas Grenache/Syrah 2009. Young on the nose (not in a pleasant way), better on the palate. Simple but pleasant, neat tannins, slight vanilla cream on the finish. Waitrose (£6.99)
• Domaine Marie Faugeres 2009. Fairly decent Syrah blend. Chalky tannins. Waitrose (£7.99)
• Domaine de Chantegut Vacqueyras 2008. The most expensive of the reference wines and it showed. Elegant and balanced. Oddbins (£14.99).

Chateau Maris Organic Syrah 2007

Waitrose is running their French Wine Showcase at the moment, where a selection of French wines are being sold at 25% off. I went in to see what was available, and there are a few interesting ones - notably a few from the Languedoc.

This is actually a Syrah/Grenache blend, from the biodynamic estate Chateau Maris. It's claimed on the website that this is from the Minervois AOC, but it's labelled as Vin de Pays d'Oc. I guess this blend doesn't satisfy AOC regulations, which is absolutely fine.

There is a lot of wine here for the price. It's very fruity, lots of alcohol (15%), a bit grapey (their website includes ' stewed fruit' in their tasting notes - accurate I'd say), but backed up by some good tannins. It's obviously a warm-climate wine and it's really enjoyable. I'd say it's the first red I've enjoyed for a while (although I've hardly been drinking any reds recently). My budget is tight these days, but maybe I can squeeze in a couple more of these.

Chateau Maris

Organic Syrah 2007 Vin de Pays d'Oc

Languedoc-Roussillon, France

Waitrose

£6.74 (£8.99)

3.5/5

Domaine Pichard Madiran 2004

I bought this several weeks ago, and when we went to drink it on the weekend, we found it was horribly corked. Luckily I had a second bottle, and that one was thankfully OK.

I wasn't sure of the returns/refund policy of the Wine Society. They are located in Stevenage, and I'm in London, so it's not really feasible to return a faulty bottle. Even more inconvenient was the fact that I didn't actually order this wine, the order was placed by a friend of mine (also a member). The order was placed over the phone in order to claim the 10% discount allowed immediately after tastings - we tried this at a London tasting of SW France wines, so there was no record of it (on our part anyway). If all this wasn't enough, the wine was no longer available and I wasn't even sure what I had paid for it.

No matter - I emailed member services, explained the situation, and a got a reply the same day stating that I had been credited with £9.50. Simply put, that is how to treat your customers.

The wine itself was lovely. Madiran to me seems like a cross between a Barolo and a Bordeaux. It has the structure and tarry character of a Barolo, but also the fruit and 'French' character (aroma, flavour) of a Bordeaux. The best thing of all is it lacks the price of both Bordeaux and Barolo. You can get good examples for £9 - £13. All this is thanks to the local Tannat grape variety (possibly blended with Bordeaux varieties). Tannat also produces good wine in Argentina and Uruguay among other places, although I've never tried a wine from the latter.

I really like this region and its wine. I think red wine should be structured as well as fruity, and obviously affordable. This region has it all. It just may well be starting to become my personal favourite wine region in France.

Domaine Pichard

Madiran 2004

AOC Madiran, South West France

The Wine Society

£9.50

3.5/5

Marquis de Pennautier Cabardès Rosé 2009

Is it just me, or has the rosé wine bubble burst? Every year we hear that consumption increases by X%, and that it is more popular than ever. If that is the case, then why does my local Sainsbury's currently have the worst selection of rosé ever? It's 95% complete plonk. Waitrose has on offer a grand total of 4 wines, and those include Gallo and Blossom Hill (the other two aren't any better either). All this when we are well into what looks like to be a hot summer?

Defiantly, I marched to Majestic at Clapham South. They usually have a good selection of rosé - everything from Provence to Spain to New Zealand. Unfortunately, they had a poor selection as well - at least less than they usually have, and not all of them had the 'buy 2 save £X' promotion. However it was better than the supermarkets had to offer, so I took advantage of their new walk-in policy that allows you to buy only 6 bottles.

Cabardès is a tiny appellation in the Languedoc, only about 500 hectares. Interestingly, it is the only appellation that is allowed to blend Mediterranean varieties like Grenache and Syrah with Bordeaux varieties such as Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. What this means for the wine I'm not sure, but it certainly makes it more flexible for the winemaker.

So how is the wine? After 3o minutes in the freezer to chill it down from room temperature (these days about 25C), I thought it tasted a bit rough. After another 20 minutes or so in its freezer sleeve it went down a lot smoother. I wouldn't say it's going to be a favourite around here - the slightly bitter finish, like a lot of rosé, makes it pretty average.

Chateau de Pennautier

Marquis de Pennautier Rosé 2009

AOC Cabardès

Languedoc, France

Majestic

£6.99 (£4.99 when you buy 2)

2.5/5

Domaine de la Motte Chablis Premier Cru Beauroy 2006

This wine has me interested in Chablis again. I tasted it at a tasting party we had with some friends, and one of the group had brought it back from France. The people who brought it kindly offered to buy some more if anyone was interested, so I took them up on it.

It's a Chablis from the Beauroy Premier Cru vineyard. It's oaked (unlike a lot of Chablis), which adds some welcome complexity. I prefer oaked Chardonnay, and previous attempts at Chablis were met with mostly indifference on my part.

Toasty vanilla oak, rich fruit, and good acidity sums it up. Chardonnay at its best.

Domaine de la Motte

Chablis Premier Cru Beauroy 2006

Burgundy, France

FromVinyardsDirect

£13.95

4/5

Grandissime 'Grande Reserve' Bergerac Blanc 2009

Bergerac is a French wine region not too far from Bordeaux, and it produces wines from the same grape varieties. I'm not too experienced with it, but I suspect it may be a source of good-value wines that may have similar characteristics to the wines of Bordeaux.

This one for example (I'll ignore the half-price thing for now) is a perfectly acceptable white wine for a fiver. Very similar to a white Bordeaux (Sauvignon Blanc/Semillion blend), it's crisp, clean and light.

There is a red on offer as well, and I bought a bottle but have yet to try it. A friend of mine who has though keeps going back and buying more.

Grandissime

Grande Reserve Bergerac 2009

AOC Bergerac, South West France

Sainsbury's

£4.99 (£9.99)

3/5

Louis Jadot Meursualt 2007

Sainsbury's has come up with the deal of the year. This wine normally goes for about £25, and it's on for half-price. That's not inflated either - this is proper wine.

Everything adds up here, almost. Louis Jadot is a good name. 2007 was a good vintage. It's a Meursault.

We loved it - slightly buttery (unsalted apparently), long, good acid. Would like to drink this stuff all the time. Great at £12. Wouldn't pay £25 - I think it's over-priced. I have had new-world Chardonnays for much less that I'm happy with. That's what this stuff costs though - deal with it.

Louis Jadot

Meursault 2007

Burgundy, France

Sainsbury's

~£12 (~£25)

4/5

Chateau Palmer 'Alter Ego' 2004 Margaux

A big thanks to my sometime co-blogger Tom for bringing this over. It's on offer at Sainsbury's for just under £30. This is the second wine of Chateau Palmer, a third-growth Bordeaux.

The full price of almost £45 is over-inflated, as it can be obtained for about £35, but to be able to pick up a single bottle for this price is convenient.

It's a lovely wine. Lush fruit-driven, good structure. Cedar mainly, a bit floral. Long finish. Complex and elegant. If you want to splash out, this is a good bet.

Chateau Palmer

Alter Ego 2004

Margaux, Bordeaux

Sainsbury's

£29.99 (£44.99)

4/5

The Society's Corbieres

The Wine Society's own-label Corbieres is apparently a favourite with both Wine Society customers and buyers alike. In two separate advertising supplements (member's favourites and buyer's favourites), this wine featured prominently. It's main attraction seems to be value, obviously something that will get my attention.

I messed up again and threw out the bottle before taking note of the vintage (annoyingly, both the Wine Society website and the order confirmation email they sent don't specify the current vintage).

So...in all honestly I didn't really like the wine. It's OK - fruity and whatnot, but for me it's the wrong kind of fruit - raspberry and currants, along with a bit of bramble or hedge or 'garrigue' character, not something I'm really fond of. It's not surprising, reds from the South of France aren't usually my thing. For £6.95 it's not a massive bargain- there a lot of other wines I'd rather drink at that price, but I think this one's down to personal preference.

The Society's Corbieres

Corbieres, Languedoc-Roussillon, France

The Wine Society

£6.95

2.5/5

Wine Society Sampler

I mentioned the other day that I bought a bunch of stuff from The Wine Society. Because it's been a rather hectic past few days (not too hectic for wine though), I have managed to try a few more of these wines, but haven't managed a neat and tidy post for each.

So I'm just going to mention them here, along with a few thoughts about each one. They were tasted in various states of sobriety, but I do remember which ones we got excited about and which ones were duds. Here goes:

The Society's Claret (NV). £5.95. It's tempting to turn your nose up to a non-vintage claret, but why? Blending different vintages hopefully irons out the rough spots, and produces a consistent, affordable and drinkable product. This is relatively decent, a good mix of fruit, tannin and drinkability. I wouldn't call it thrilling, but that's OK. 2.5/5

The Society's St. Emilion 2006. £9.95. This was OK, probably about what you'd expect for a tenner. More refined than the NV Claret, but not sure I'd buy it again simply because I think there is better value out there. 3/5

Chateau Bois Joly Cotes de Castillion 2005. £7.25. This is probably what I'd go for if I were to buy a load of Claret. This right-bank appellation punches above its weight for the prices it gets. Good vintage, lots of tasty sour-cherry fruit and grippy tannin. 3.5/5

The Society's French Full Red NV. £4.95. Tastes cheap, is cheap. Not terrible, but not my thing really. 2/5

Grant Burge Benchmark Shiraz 2008. £5.95. This was delicious. It was one of the ones consumed fairly uh, late at night, but I we all loved it. Not your typical woody, boring Aussie Shiraz. This was wildly fruity with a touch of oak. Should cost more than this, but I'm glad it doesn't (and I'm hoping it doesn't sell out). Bonus half-point for great value. 4/5

Hilltop Estates Cserszegi 2009. £4.95. This idea with this was to find a good cheap aromatic white. Advertised as 'between Pinot Gris and Gewurztraminer in style', this sounds like it would be right up my alley. It isn't. It's sour, dilute and just doesn't taste very good. 1/5

I've got a couple of others to try yet, and will hopefully be able to post 'normal' blog entries about them.

The Society's Vin d'Alsace 2008

Produced for The Wine Society by Hugel, this is a blend of Riesling, Gewurztraminer, Pinot Gris, Muscat and Sylvaner.

Top-class producer, entry-level wine, but a good one. Not overly rich, but aromatic and refreshing. A good introduction to Alsace wine, but lacks the character of the individual grapes.

Like the bottle says, it would indeed make a good 'house white', but I wish it was a pound or two cheaper.

Hugel

The Society's Vin d'Alsace 2008

Alsace, France

The Wine Society

£7.95

3/5