I was fortunate enough to taste the 2009 vintage of this
wine at the weekend but was feeling slightly daunted by opening the bottle as I
imagined it might be a bit stewed with it being a slightly older vintage!
No way.... this was lovely and really enjoyed it. Good acidity and the fruit
was still vibrant and tasting well. Typical green apples showing
through with a tropical edge. Not too dry making this an easy drinking
white. I’m looking forward to tasting the 2011 now as I’m sure it won’t
disappoint. If you’ve gone ABC (Anything But Chardonnay), this one will
change your opinion, promise!
I love Chenin Blanc, one of my favourite varieties when I’m
choosing wine from the new world, crisp, clean and citrusy, and there are a few
in our portfolio which I’d class as my favourites. Tasting this one was a
bit of treat as its from one of our newer producers in our portfolio which I’m
not so familiar with. So, it was opened with gusto on Saturday night
(although, I have to point out that any wine opened in my house on a Saturday
night ... or I guess any night of the week..... is opened with gusto!!).
This Chenin Blanc is quite different from my usual quaffing Chenin, in that it
is more upmarket, although I would point out its not massively upmarket in
price. It has all the attributes of a typical Chenin: good acidity,
citrusy, but added to that are honeyed tones which add weight to this normally
fairly light style of grape variety. A great wine for accompanying food
and a great contender to fight off these big Australian Chardonnay’s.
Highly recommended to try if you prefer a white with a bit of muscle.
It’s ages since I’ve tasted Minervois, one of the old style
wines, possibly slightly forgotten with the huge platform of wine we are now
privy to in the UK. The South of France is one of those areas which has a
bit of everything when it comes to grape varieties and keeping track of them is
no mean feat. I made it one of my missions when I was studying wine to
hone in on the South of France and try to decipher every single grape variety
they grew there – I think I might have shelved that project and moved onto
something slightly less time consuming!, but at the same time, I’ve kept my enthusiasm
going for this area as there are some really great wines that, if you are a
wine lover, don’t steer away from them, get stuck in and try them!
This Minervois is really smooth with dark jammy fruit,
surprisingly velvety and definitely elegant. It has a little edge of
spiciness on the finish and is perfect for drinking on its own as well as with
food. I was really impressed with this one, quite often Minervois, from
past experience, can be middle of the road, lacking in character but this was
superb in quality, taste and finish. I’ll definitely be ordering this one
again and its a snip at the price for this standard.
Susan Ross, Sales & Marketing
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