Summer Sipping Reds
This is simple as can be. Like its sister pack, the Summer Sipping Whites it’s all about juicy fruit and crunchy goodness in bright and perfect warmer weather reds. We have thrown in some really cool wines like the brilliant Beaujolais Villages from Stephane Aviron and the cracking Gaba Do Xil made from Mencia and sourced from the Galician mountains. If you have never tried either of these styles of wines you are in for a treat.
Of course, some juicy Rhone-style wines are always the go like the Jerich GSM or Maison de Vigneron Vaucluse Rouge. These Grenache-based reds a perfect BBQ fodder and will go with Greek lamb to grilled pork and never skip a beat.
We couldn’t not include a Pinot and this wonderful expression from Tassie just keeps hitting it out of the park. And last, one of the underdogs of the wine world; Dolcetto. translating to ‘little sweet one’, the vibrant, blue fruits, floral and perfectly poised drop always surprise us that its not more popular given its uber crunchy and uber delicious profile.
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The Little Sweet One
I tasted some blindingly good Dolcetto over in Piedmont earlier this year. It’s a great vintage for that, and Nebbiolo. You need to pick Dolcetto for freshness, and juicy flavour, and if you leave it too long, I reckon it loses its charm. F.Rinaldi have done a good job here.
Dried flowers, almond, cherry, spice, a graphite and ‘mineral’ thing, harnessing between ripeness and tension, is what you want, and its done so well here. Rich sooty tannin, perfume, dark cherry and crushed rock, plenty of extract and weight, but still keeps itself fresh and vibrant. Finish is stony and long. It’s a wine that needs a little more cellaring to show its best, but gee, pure crushed dark berry fruit and power a plenty here. Yum. Mineral and firm. Beautifully made. GARY WALSH, The Wine Front -
Beautiful Beujo Village Blend
Stephane's family has been wheeling and dealing in Beaujolais for generations. Based in Fleurie, his father owned an oenological laboratory and worked as a wine broker where, after completing his studies, Stephane returned to work in the family business as a wine consultant and a winemaker in Chénas. His experience there and history in the region brings a depth of knowledge and intimate detail of the terroirs he now works. That, when combined with Stephane's obvious talent makes for a formidable combination.
Black cherry and bright raspberry with a hit of heady, whole peppercorn spice, touch of cola and lovely burst of five spice that drives the inviting nose home. Super crunchy, raspberry fruit layered in with fine slippery tannins. Bursting with red fruit flavour, bright and bouncy. It's fine and tight with a lovely core of fruit that feels light and airy and at once concentrated and precise in its delivery. A fine Villages.
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Galician Delight
After devastating frost in 2017 and killer mildew in 2018, the vintage for the red 2019 Gaba do Xil Tinto from Valdeorras was healthier and the crop was good, save for some hail in specific vineyards during the summer. It was a ripe, healthy and balanced year. This is a young, unoaked Mencía with 13.44% alcohol that fermented with indigenous yeasts in stainless steel, where it matured for 12 months before bottling. It's intensely aromatic and expressive, varietal and with the wild rusticity of the zone. The palate is medium-bodied, with very fine tannins and a soft mouthfeel. 96,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in August 2020. LUIS GUTIRREZ, Robert Parker
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Classic McLaren Vale Red
It’s always good and it is again.
Vibrant, perfumed, flavoursome-enough and lively. This hits the mark directly. Raspberries and sweet spice, rust and red liquorice, cloves and a suggestion of tar. Great energy here and the drinkability that goes with it. Nothing dense or heavy and yet satisfying. No hesitation. CAMPBELL MATTINSON, The Wine Front
All we can say here is that we re-iterate what Campbell says: this is always good, and yes it is very good again. In fact we could confidantly reccomend pretty much anything they make. Very good. Go get some.
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GOLD MEDALIST TASMANIA - AUSTRALIAN PINOT CHALLENGE
Pinot noir grown at Pipers Brook and Strathlynn, on the west bank of the Tamar River. Some whole bunches (10%), nine months in seasoned French oak. Spicy red and black cherry fruits mesh with hints of forest floor, mushroom broth, roast duck, exotic spices and well-judged French oak. Perfumed, spacious and well-formed, the finish trails off with bright acid drive and a wash of spicy cherry and light tannin support. DAVE BROOKS, www.winecompanion