October Wine Reviews

Recent wine reviews from Matthew Jukes, Rose Murray Brown, Cherry Magazine & The Telegraph.

The Best of The Bunch, matthewjukes.com 05/10/2022:

2021 RIBOLLA GIALLA Friuli Colli Orientali Azienda Agricola Visintini
£15.95 | £13.95
Review: ‘Hello Ribolla. This is the definitive version if you have yet to taste this grape in isolation (it loves to hide in swanky blends). Pure, floral, bitingly clean, and one step sideways from PGs, PBs and legions of innocuous Soaves, this is a brilliant wine with serious élan, and it stays one step ahead at all moments! While this wine might be a bit of a punt if you usually stick to tried and tested, I can underline its importance by saying that this was a stalwart on my Bibendum Restaurant wine list back in the day. This 2021 is leagues ahead in quality than those cheeky drops in the old days!’ 

2021 DOLCETTO DOGLIANI Papà Celso Marziano Abbona
£21.95 | £19.50
Review: ‘Classy, louche, resplendent in its selective glory, and yet rather delicious, this is a sensational Dolcetto, and it electrocutes the palate with its vivid blueberry and spice tones. How to deploy this wine ought to be the only question (I assume you are a buyer). It is simple; this is the wine before the BIG Italian wine. Every time. Just let it do what it does best. This is a support act wine that adores having a chance to perform before select palates. Just make sure you don’t miss out on how delicious it is.’

GEORGIA’S WHITE GRAPES, rosemurraybrown.com, Rose Murray Brown, 08/10/2022:

2020 KHIKHVI QVEVRI Qvevri Wine Cellar
£21.95 | £19.95
Review: ‘Fresh vibrant example of Khikhvi matured in qvevri made by Ivane Nareklishvili; floral notes, quite citric in flavour with the grape’s characteristic glycerol mouthfeel, silky soft palate and balanced grippy tannins.’

ORGANIC. DELICIOUS, AND UNDER £15, Cherry, Jane Parkinson, 11/10/2022:

2019 CHÂTEAU LES VIEUX MOULINS Cuvée Pirouette Côtes de Blaye
£13.95 | £12.95
Review: ‘A new and fantastic find, this is new-school red Bordeaux with enticing aromas of incense and perfectly fleshy plum fruit laced with a bit of spice.’

The secret of British sparkling rosé, The Telegraph, Victoria Moore, 14/10/2022:

LANGHAM ESTATE Rosé Brut NV
£31.95 | £29.95
Review: ‘One of my favourite English sparkling rosés is Langham Wine Estate Rosé Brut NV. It has a glorious smell of fresh raspberries and wild strawberries, and misses out on a wine of the week slot only because it was there quite recently.’

The best wine magnums for a dinner party showstopper, The Telegraph, Victoria Moore, 21/10/2022:

Review: ‘Looking around it seems Bordeaux might be the wine that’s most popular in a magnum so it’s worth pointing out that red wines (and Champagne) are thought to age particularly well in this bottle size. Lea & Sandeman sells its excellent own-label claret in big bottles (the classic 2016 vintage is £23.50 for a magnum; the warm and generous 2018 is £24.50).’

2016 Lea & Sandeman Bordeaux 
£23.50 | £20.95

2018 Lea & Sandeman Bordeaux
£24.50 | £21.95

‘From Italy, I also like the damson-and-cherry-scented Heba Fattoria di Magliano Morellino di Scansano 2016. It’s a soft, bright and juicy take on sangiovese.’

2016 MORELLINO DI SCANSANO Heba Fattoria di Magliano
£36.50 | £32.95

Quick Fire, Nine Tremendous Wines, matthewjukes.com, Matthew Jukes, 19/10/2022:

COATES & SEELY Rosé Brut English Sparkling Wine
£34.95 | £32.50
Review: ‘Made from 80% Pinot Noir and 20% Pinot Meunier this exquisite wine has stealthily become one of the most elegant and rewarding of all English sparkling rosés. With a couple of years on lees and six months minimum in the bottle, coupled with a dash of reserve wine to add a smidgen of depth, this is not a weighty, dark style but a Tinkerbell, casting tiny magical spells on your taste buds. It is discreet, silky, rosehip- and cranberry-kissed, pervasive and yet not forceful or bullying, allowing its charms to seep into your senses effortlessly and infect your mood with unavoidable composure and a growing sense of delight.’

Droughts, Heat & Fire: The future of wine in the climate crisis, The Guardian, David Williams, 20/09/2022

2019 RIOJA ALAVESA Sierra de Toloño
£15.95 | £14.50
Review: ‘One of the most exciting new-wave producers in Rioja. Sara Bravo of Sierra de Toloño’s recipe for keeping balance and freshness in a rapidly warming world relies on old vines planted much higher than the Rioja norm at 650m above sea level, creating a wonderfully fluent, bright, black-fruited red.’

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Case Price Discount

Enjoy our case price discount by buying any 12 bottles from this selection – in a mixed case of your design or simply by the dozen.