Wine Of The Week

[NoMercy]

Pizzorno Merlot/Tannat 2010 (Uruguay)

The mighty, ripe Merlot has been carefully blended with the spicy Tannat - Uruguay's signature grape - to produce this big, bold luscious red, with noodles of depth, intense aromas of raspberry and elderflower, and favours of plum, chocolate and wild herbs on the palate. A refreshing acidity gives it a good lingering finish.

Available in Waitrose for around £8.

[penelope2]

Are you a rep for Waitrose?

[NoMercy]

No... I work in Oncology.

Sometimes I feature wines from Asda, sometimes they're from Waitrose. I only tend to get sarcasm when I mention Waitrose wines...

[DTCwordfan]

stonking good Chilean as my offering, an Orzada, a Carignan grape out of the Odfjell Vineyard (fine Chilean name there), based in Cauquenes - on my upper limit at £12-50 but very Merlotty with a lovely smooth, velvety aftertaste.....almost rivals the La Manga del Bruya.

Organically grown grapes by the way

[DTCwordfan]

upper limit for non-special occasions.

[Euphemia]

Just a wee bit too much for my meagre budget....... :-(

[penelope2]

No problem with Waitrose from me, shop there all the time. They do a good range of Italian Pinot Grigio.

[NoMercy]

Lovely DT!

I managed to find a Picpoul de Pinet today in Tesco's Finest range. I have been looking everywhere for it since I tried a glass of it in Cafe Rouge over a year ago.

[The Builder]

No particular suggestion, NoM, but DT has reminded me of the Carmenere grape. A relative of Cab Sauv, but less tannin. Originally French, but for years, Chile have produced nearly all of the world's output of Carmenere.

[NoMercy]

Penelope / Euphemia ... I never thought I'd say this, but I did have a rather nice Pinet origin the other week. Someone brought it round to my place when I was cooking dinner.

Incyon Sicilian Pinot Grigio , currently £3.99 in Morrison. Full of lemon and honey and surprisingly drinkable.

[NoMercy]

Sorry about the strange oddities with my last post - tis the phone's fault (predictive text).

Builder... Coop do a lovely Fairtrade one!

[DTCwordfan]

they are advertising a Picpoul in M and S as well, the Cyruse at £51 for 6, NoM.

[penelope2]

NoMercy: ever tried Bergo Magredo Pinot Grigio Fruili, now there is a Pinot !!!!!

[penelope2]

Sorry, meant Borgo Magredo

[Euphemia]

Thanks for that NM. There is a Morrison's near here so I will give it a try.

[sunny-dave]

I buy quite a lot by mail order from Avery's (Bristol) ...

... currently drinking their excellent Borsao Reserva 2007, Campo de Borja, Spain - which is a bonkers £10.99 a bottle at the moment, but regularly down to a much more sensible £6.99 or so. Get yourself on their email list - they won't overwhelm you & a lot of their offers are good stuff.

[NoMercy]

There is only a very small M&S in Fareham, DT, so I will check out the one in Hedge End. Thanks for the tip.

Euphemia, I've never been a fan of the Fruitless Pinot Grigio but was pleasantly surprised by that one.

[NoMercy]

Thanks, sunny-dave. I lived in Spain for over four years and I'm a huge fan of Spanish vinos.

Have you tried Verdejo and Ribera Del Duero?

[sunny-dave]

Ribera Del Duero and its Portuguese cousin Douro are both relatively unknown & therefore pleasantly underpriced.

I've still got some Patamar Douro Reserva that Mr Tesco was offloading for buttons last year - bought one bottle, tried, liked so went back & emptied the shelf :)

[NoMercy]

??? Duoro

Ribera Del Duero is the region.. Tempranillo is usually the grape. Quite like Rioja but grown under more extreme climatic conditions.

The beauty of tempranillo grown in Ribera Del Duero and not Rioja is that you can drink it after a mere 3 months' barrel ageing. However, I prefer a crianza which has been barrel aged at least 6 months.

Let me know more about the Duoro please x x

[NoMercy]

For those of you who fancy a little fizz this festive season, Tesco have Taittinger on half price at £17. Taittinger is one of the most popular champagnes as it is made from 100% Chardonnay. It's definitely among my favourites.