Wine
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Wine Perfect with game. Guy Sarrazin's house, in southern Burgundy's Jambles, is hard to miss. It's pink - a beacon to wandering Suffolk wine merchants. We homed in 10 years ago, 300 years after the Sarrazins set up shop in verdant hillsides south of Givry. Guy's style arises from seriously restricted yields, resulting in pure, concentrated fruit.
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Wine Paolo Manzone's among the new wave of Piemonte producers: 'The Innovators'. At his 'azienda', spread out across the villages of Serralunga d'Alba, Sinio and Roddino, he insists on all vineyard operations and picking being carried out by hand, guaranteeing crops one-third less than the average and richly-concentrated grapes. His latest Barbera offers a mélange of juicy black fruit flavours, hints of bitter chocolate richness and a touch of oak. One for osso bucco.
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Wine Suffolk-born Chris Pask and daughter Tessa McKay set up their estate in 1985 on the gravelly soils of the North Island's Gimblett Road and have triumphed ever since. Thanks to the efforts of winemaker Kate Radburnd, the winery has reeled in scores of awards, including a Wine Challenge trophy. Lively citrus tones with fresh, pineapple flavours. Perfect example of unoaked, warmer climate Hawkes Bay Chardonnay.
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Wine The Albariño is one of the smallest grapes around, and its thick skin not only protects it from the vagaries of the weather, but gives a high skin/juice ratio that is critical in giving the rich mineral flavours so typical of the variety. At Adegas D'Altamira the wines are aged for a considerable time on their lees. The annual wine is only released, typically, in July of the year after harvest.
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Wine Sidewood Estate is a privately owned vineyard, nestled in the cool climate region of the Adelaide Hills in South Australia. Owen and Cassandra Inglis purchased the estate from the Lloyd Family of Coriole in 2004. All of their grapes are carefully hand-picked from selected rows across their 300 acre estate. The aim is to create stylish and elegant wines that are focused on quality and underpinned by the impeccable wine making skills of Natasha Mooney. It is also worth mentioning that the wines have very low sulphur and histamine levels.
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Wine Natalino Gino's father went 'green' twice over. First the herbicides he'd been advised to spray on his vineyards (planted by patriarch Amadio Gino in 1925) to the west of the Veneto's Soave region made him unwell. As a result, in 1980 he set out to achieve organic certification, finally succeeding ten years later. The Corte del Pozzo range is sourced from neighbouring vineyards which conform to the Fasoli's organic standards. Anthony Rose, The Independent "…distinctively full-flavoured, sweet-and-sour, cherryish"
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Wine The central Loire appellation of Reuilly, confusingly next door to the Village of Preuilly, grows Sauvignon to rival a junior Sancerre. Floral aromas; fresh, appley flavours and appetising grip; a white for river fish and seafood.
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Wine Quincy is a tiny Loire appellation on the left bank of the Cher where dynamic Jacques Bailly and wife Marie-Helene cultivate a small parcel of Sauvignon and an even smaller plot of Pinot Noir. Jacques is best-known for his excellent Sancerres, but this exuberantly fruity Sauvignon deserves a wider audience. Attractive aromas of fresh grass and lemon peel; crisp green apples and limes on the palate; lovely with grilled goats cheese salad.
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Wine Based in Graach, near the centre of the middle-Mosel Bernkastel, Willi and Christoph Schaefer tun this diminutive estate of 3.5 hectares (8.5 acres), with vines in Wehlener Sonnenuhr and Graacher Domprobst and Himmelreich. Willi uses natural yeasts, and the wine is fermented in the traditional 1000 litre oak barrels. Lime blossom and apricots, with an off-dry finish.
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Wine Susanah Balbo has earned legendary status as the top winemaker in Argentina. This succulent rose forms part of her 'Crios' or 'offspring' range and is made from the iconic Argentinian grape Malbec.
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Wine Filippo Cassano and various family members started their journey to create fantastic wines from the Primitivo grape in 2003. They based themselves in a remote region of Puglia, Gioia del Colle and renovated an old farmhouse. The Polvanera (derived from the dark brown soils surrounding the farmhouse) is a powerfully structured wine. Concentrated damson jam fruit with silky yet explosive mouthful and a prolonged finish.
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Wine Forrest rosé is so good that we came up with the idea of producing a Sancerre inspired rosé with John Forrest over lunch in spring 2009. We thought it would be an exciting opportunity to create a small parcel of Pinot Noir rosé and here's the first vintage. John chose his 'Tattybogler' vineyards for this premium rosé as he believes it's producing the best fruit for this style of wine. The Tattybogler rosé is a blend of Pinot from Waitaki Valley and Central Otago. All fruit is cropped low for optimum flavour and hand harvested. After picking, the skins are left in contact for just a couple of hours to extract a little colour prior to pressing and fermentation. Surprisingly for rosé, we had winter in mind for this wine! Bottled late June, it's drinking perfectly. The rich succulent Otago Pinot Noir delivers silky cherry and strawberry fruit, that enables it to compliment a variety of dishes. Rosé is now enjoyed all year round and the Tattybogler will lighten even the darkest winte
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Wine Founded in 1972 by Fabio Ceschin (whose family have made wine since the 1920s) Il Colle lies amid the rolling hillsides of San Pietro di Feletto, to the north of Italy's Treviso region, which Italian wine aficionados will recognise as Prosecco country. This is a fine example of the style, fresh and dry, with crisp green apple flavour and ephemeral bubbles.
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Wine Mauricio Lorca has most of his vineyards in the Uco Valley of Mendoza. Here concentration levels are high due to low yields, altitude of 1050m and his belief in developing wines of depth and complexity.His Torrontes comes from La Rioja, an area north of Mendoza and cooler in climate. His Lorca Fantastia is made from Riojano, renowned for producing the highest quality wines. Torrontes is similar to Viognier. It has weight and fullness yet delicate fruit and aromas with a silky mouthfeel. More aromatic and floral than Viognier, this variety is an excellent one if you’d like to stray away from the norm. The fruit is sourced from La Rioja vineyards, at an altitude of 911 metres. Harvest is completed by hand and managed by Mauricio Lorca, the owner and winemaker. This wine has a tinge of green in the glass illustrating its youth and typical Torrontes make-up. Aromas of blossom, and peach are followed by green apples with honeyed notes on the palate yet still driving lively, fresh acidity.
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Wine Australia has a chequed history with Pinot Noir. Too often it's over cooked in the heat of the Australian vineyards, producing bland, unbalanced wines. However there are some glorious examples of excellent Pinot at very good prices. The Barwick Estate is one such wine. Fruit is sourced from the southerly tip of Western Australia, so it's one of the coolest of vineyard locations in the country. The Pemberton region is home to the Karri tree, and these giants create a magnificent back-drop to the vineyards at Barwick Estate. Nigel Ludlow is winemaker here and has an elegant touch when it comes to working with oak. The subtle use of French oak provides spice and leather notes to a palate of wild berries and plums. Full, ripe tannins enable this juicy wine to develop layers of complexity and a satisfying finish.
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Wine Stephane Vedeau owns this 50 hectare estate and heads up a youthful team. Enthusiasm is the order of the day here. All the vines are cultivated with a regards to the environment and so no herbicides or pesticides are used. We visited the cellars on the day that the mobile bottling plant had arrived and France were playing in the world cup.It was chaos,we tasted in a corridor with people dashing to fetch capsules or to hurry over to the TV to catch up on the latest score. Stephane remained calm throughout and his wines shone through.
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Wine Filippo Cassano and various family members started their journey to create fantastic wines from the Primitivo grape in 2003. They based themselves in a remote region of Puglia, Gioia del Colle, and renovated an old farmhouse. The Polvanera (derived from the dark brown soils surrounding the farmhouse) is a powerfully structured wine. Concentrated damson jam fruit with silky yet explosive mouthful and a prolonged finish.
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Wine This Pinot Blanc has a lovely minerally edge to it, as high and rich in extract with elegant, balancing acidity.
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Wine The Danachet family have been running this estate in southern Burgundy for four generations. The latest encumbants are Robert, Corinne and their son Benjamin. They converted their vineyards to organic cultivation in 1979 and mix traditional values with modern winemaking. Their Macon - Péronne comes from a 4.5 acre vineyard with vines of an average age of 50 years. The grapes are harvested by hand, whole bunch pressed and vinified and aged in large oak casks (3000 litres) for 10 months. The results are simple but delicious.
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Wine Undaunted by Martinborough's reputation as NZ's leading purveyor of Burgundian varietals, Claire Mulholland stormed the Sydney Show with her second vintage, scooping a 'Best in Show' Trophy. We love her Chardonnays, taken from Martinborough's first 1980's plantings, now producing low yields of small, rich berries. Fermentation in French barrels for 12 months results in real complexity: smoky, toasty oak, sweet grapefruit, hazelnuts and butterscotch.
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Wine Damn expensive for a St Veran but do not be fooled by this lowly nomenclature. This is top quality white Burgundy. Old vines give an intensity of flavour and subtle oak ageing brings elegance and finesse. Superb.
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Wine This classic rich, sweet sherry hails from the 140-year-old Sanlucar de Barrameda cellars of Pedro Romero, which used to supply more sizeable bodegas but now bottles wines under its own name. Deep amber colour, aromas of almonds and dried figs and an intense, rich raisined character.
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Wine Abundant honeysuckle and herbaceous aromas, succulent ripe fruit and a long finish.
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Wine If you're partial to the rich reds of Châteauneuf-du-Pape (or need a really big wine for hearty fare) -you might want to upgrade to this. 'GSM' stands for 'Grenache-Sangiovese- Mourvèdre', Australian shorthand for the basic classic blend of Châteauneuf. The Mitchells of South Australia's prestigious Clare Valley used fruit sunbaked to super-ripeness in the torrid, 'El-Niño'- induced 2002 vintage to make this surpassingly rich, spicy 15% gem. Pace yourself.
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Wine Claret with all the warmth of this exceptional year. A rich, complex bouquet, soft, full fruit and a pleasing oaky finish. Ideal with roast lamb and hard cheeses. Henri Chabut's 4 hectare Saint-Emilion estate lies on a sandy, gravelly plateau planted predominantly to thirty year old Merlot vines with the remainder Cabernet Franc. Harvesting is by hand, winemaking traditional and all wines are barrel-aged.
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Wine Characterful, solidly-structured Greek red with rich prune and black fruit flavours. Perfect with rustic sausages. Alexandros Megapanos returned to Greece from his wine studies in Bordeaux and training at Château Margaux to set up a cellar in Attica devoted to vinifying the region's top fruit. Nemea is pure Aghiorgitiko (the 'Saint George' grape) from 800m high vineyards, aged a year in small Greek barrels.
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Wine A warm, generous, well-structured wine with rich, ripe black fruit flavours.
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Wine Tim Gramp heir to a winemaking dynasty dating back to 1847 (his forebears planted the first Barossa Valley vines, near now-notorious 'Jacob's Creek') Tim has carved a niche as one of South Australia's most interesting boutique winemakers.
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Wine Pure Chardonnay aromas, uncluttered by oak. Ripe flavours but with a dry mineral finish.
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Wine Made in the village of Givry which was the preferred wine of Henry IV, maybe because this town in southern Burgundy's Côte Châlonnaise (a low ridge running from Beaune, recently granted its own appellation) was the birthplace of his mistress Gabrielle d'Estrées. Guy Chaumont's holdings are now certified organic by 'Nature & Progrès'.
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