Waitrose Cava Brut Castillo Peralda NV

From - Spaib
Grape - Perellada
Alcohol - 11.5%
Available from - Waitrose
Price - £9.39

Appearance - Clear, lemon, medium intensity, petillant

Nose - Clean, medium intensity, Citrus (lemon), stone fruit (peach), autolytic (lees).

Palate - Dry, high acid, medium alcohol, medium body, medium- intensity, medium+ length, creamy mousse.  Citrus (lemon), kernel (hazelnut).

Good quality, drink now, not suitable for further ageing.

Oz Clarke says that often wines produced in partnership with retailers can be the best value, and I would say this wine is good evidence of that.  Although Prosecco is all the rage, the time a Cava spends in contact with the lees gives it a bit of complexity and makes it an interesting alternative.  This has a good bit of citrus and acidity that makes it refreshing, but although the concentration of the fruit flavours is not particularly strong on the palate, the length is good and the complexity comes through on the finish.

Domaine Begude Terroir 11300 Organic Chardonnay

From - Limoux, France
Grape - Chardonnay
Alcohol - 13%
Available from - Waitrose,
Price - £9.99

Appearance - Clear, medium intensity, golden.

Nose - Clean, medium intensity, youthful, green fruit (apple and pear), stone fruit (peach), minerality (stone)

Palate - Dry, medium+ acid, medium+ body, medium  alcohol, medium+ length.  Green fruit (apples and pears), citrus (lemon), minerality (stone).

Organically produced Chardonnay from a relatively cool part of the Languedoc, which allows slow ripening, and retention of acidity.  This is a classy one and ideal for an aperitif.  Really good, and well worth a tenner.

Brazin Old Vine Zinfandel Lodi 2011

From - Manteca, California, USA
Grape - Zinfandel, Petit Syrah
Alcohol - 15%
From - Waitrose, thewinesociety.com, ocado.com
Price - £12.99

Appearance - Clear, deep, ruby.  Legs observed

Nose - clean, medium+ intensity; dark fruit (bramble, cherry), sweet spice (vanilla).

Palate - Dry, medium+ acid; medium+ tannin; high alcohol; full body; pronounced intensity; black fruit (cherry, bramble), pungent spice (black pepper), sweet spice (vanilla, nutmeg).  Long in length.

I know a few people through work who absolutely adore this wine.  You can see why.  If you like your wines to be intense and full-flavoured, full bodied and uncompromising, then this is for you.  It requires a good bit of time decanted to allow the intensity of the tannins to relax, and if you do this you are rewarded with an intensely flavoured, smooth and delicious, fruity wine which lingers.  Big alcohol levels demand respect, but with the intense fruit and surprisingly decent acid level I can see this working with all kinds of food, I would imagine even breaking the much-emphasised rule of matching high alcohol with a curry.

If you try this, don't forget the decanting time, and keep a few salty snacks to hand and experiment with the effect of this combination.

If this description intrigues you, do not hesitate to try it because it is great.

Allegrini Corte Giata Amarone del Valpolicella 2011

From - Valpolicella, Verona, Italy
Grape - Corvina
Alcohol - 15%
Available from - thewinesociety.com
Price - £23

Appearance - Clear, deep, ruby.  Legs observed

Nose - Clean, medium+ intensity, youthful.  Black fruit (blackberry, black cherry, plums)

Palate - Dry, medium acid, medium+ tannin, medium+ intensity, high alcohol, full body, long length.  Black fruit (plums, cherry) sweet spice (vanilla), pungent spice (pepper).

Oustanding quality, can drink now but potential for ageing.

Having blind-tasted a dozen wines today, this was my favourite and I managed to grab the remaining half-bottle to take home.  I know it is pricey but it is sensational.  So super-smooth and full in your mouth.  It has a big score on the alcohol but you wouldn't know, as the alcohol on the palate is in great balance with everything else. A bit of time out of the bottle the black cherry flavour comes through so wonderfully.  The grapes were clearly nicely ripened as the tannins, although significant, are smooth rather than bitter.  Being an Italian wine it is a good food wine but I just sat with the bottle and a glass, and savoured the delicious flavours and long length.

I will be buying an Amarone again soon.

Laboure-Roi Mersault 2012

From - Burgundy, France
Grape - Chardonnay
Alcohol 13% abv
From - waitrose.com (not waitrosecellar.com)
Price - £16.99

Appearance - Pale, clear, gold

Nose - Clean, pronounced, tropical fruit (melon), green fruit (apple), citrus (lemon), stone fruit (melon).  Youthful

Palate - Dry, high acid, medium+ alcohol, medium+ body, medium+ intensity, long finish.  Citrus fruit (lemon), green fruit (apple), mineral (steely),

Conclusions -  good, can drink now but suitable for further ageing.  High priced.

This is really good, with great body, lots of zingy acid, and plenty of length.  I would imagine that this would be a bigger treat in a few years.  I imagine drinking this with something in a creamy sauce, for a great match.

Photo copyright Jenny Hynes 2015.

Chateau Roumieu Sauternes 2009

From - Bordeaux, France
Grape - Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon
Alcohol - 13.5%
Available from - Christopher Keiller Fine Wine
Price - £116 for 6x 37.5cl

Appearance - Clear, medium intensity, gold

Nose - Clean; medium+ intensity; citrus (lemon); candied peel; marmalde; kernel (hazelnut).

Palate - Clean; luscious; medium+ alcohol; full body; pronounced; long in length; marmalade; tropical fruit (pineapple); citrus (lemon).  A nicely balanced wine.

Outstanding; can be drunk now, but potential for ageing.

Chateau Brane-Cantenac Margaux 2006

From - Margaux, Bordeaux, France
Grape - Cabernet Sauvignon & Merlot
Alcohol - 13% abv
From - www,thewinesociety.com
Price - £19/35cl

Appearance - Clear; deep intensity; ruby.  Legs observed.

Nose - Clean; medium+ intensity; black fruit (black cherry, blackcurrant); pungent spice (black pepper).  Developing.

Palate - Dry; medium+ acid; medium tannin; medium+ alcohol; medium+ intensity;  black fruit (cherry); maturity (leather, tobacco).  Long length

Conclusions - Very good; can drink now but potential for ageing.

A concentrated and tasty Bordeaux, developing extremely interesting mature flavours and aromas.  The Wine Society sell this in half bottles so it will mature quicker, and it is an exciting prospect for ageing.