Southern Rhône

Pretty good, and classically-styled Chateauneuf from a producer I’d not come across before. An exam wine. What was particularly noteworthy was that the alcohol …

A duplicate entry here – the other one is in my previous book – but the difference is a little more tannin maturity. Still …

This wine is well-rated, but disappointed on opening the first of 12 of these, so opened another a few days later. Better, but still …

This was an oddity picked-up at the Cave de Rasteau after riding Ventoux. Drunk perhaps a bit old – so with somewhat more faded …

The bloody, gamey notes on this, coupled with plenty of peppery, spicy aromatics made this a decent enough match for a game stew on …

Over dinner with Tracy, I gave her the choice of wine, and this was it. I was a little nervous this might be too …

Wine of the night. Coming into maturity – of tannins and flavour intensity – yet still showing pure fruit at the core. And very …

Served a little cold at Boxing Day lunch with Andy, Sarah, Janet and Steve. But once it warmed up, it hit its stride pretty …

Really annoyingly, lost almost half a bottle, messing up decanting this from its heavy sediment. Anyway, perhaps not the greatest bottle of this wine, …

So, the real opening was with this – chosen to compliment a main course of game (rabbit, pheasant, venison and squirrel) and beef-shin stew. …