So that’s it, a month on the wagon almost done and dusted. Hurrah! You might recall that owing to a spat over some liqueur chocolates, Mrs Ray declared that I was in clear breach of the Dry January code and promptly zapped me with a one-week penalty, now almost spent.
Allies of mine – Dave and Tony down the pub – voiced serious concerns about how the investigation was carried out and question just how independent Mrs R’s independent ethics adviser is, given that she’s her sister (who gave me the chocs in the first place). I plan to appeal.
Meanwhile, I’m free to taste wine so long as I don’t swallow (as if!) and positively basked in the bottles that Robin Davis and the gang at Swig sent me. As you’ll see, I failed to narrow the selection down to six but refuse to apologise.
2021 Laurence de Veyrac Viognier (1) from the limestone hills behind the Bassin de Thau in south-west France is extremely genial. Soft, creamy and dry, with suggestions of peach and apricot, it’s perfect aperitif fare. £11.48 down from £13.50.
The 2022 Salt River Sauvignon Blanc (2), made from old bush vine Sauvignon in Stellenbosch by Duncan Savage – Tim Atkin’s South Africa Winemaker of the Year and Platter’s Producer of the Year – is gorgeous. It’s beautifully textured, concentrated, intense, succulent and pure with restrained citrus and asparagus. £15.26 down from £17.95.
Juicy and jammy, it’s simple, honest and ridiculously pleasurable. I love finding wines like this
The 2021 Flint Vineyard Silex Blanc (3) is a 60/40 Chardonnay/Pinot Blanc blend from the Waveney Valley in Norfolk, of all places. We all know how fine English fizz can be – well, so can the still whites. Fermented and aged in oak, it’s soft, supple and creamy with hints of baked apple and honey with a crisp finish. I’d be proud to serve this. £20.40 down from £24.
The 2021 Chateau de Durfort (4) is a banging Syrah/Grenache blend from the Corbières co-operative Cellier des De-moiselles, founded in 1914 by women who had been left to tend the vines and make the wines when their menfolk had gone to war. Juicy and jammy with hints of liquorice and a savoury finish, it’s simple, honest and ridiculously pleasurable. I love finding wines like this. £12.71 down from £14.95.
The 2021 Stéphane Ogier ‘Le Temps est Venu’ (5) is a Côtes du Rhône of astounding value given both its quality and the fact that the Côte Rôties for which Stéphane Ogier is famed sell for £65+. Silky soft, with rich red and dark berry fruit, hints of cocoa and a sprinkle of spice, it’s almost impossible not to gulp. £13.55 down from £15.94.
The 2019 Weingut am Schlipf Schneider vom Kalkstein Pinot Noir (6) from the southernmost vineyards in Germany shows just how fine Pinot Noir (aka Spätburgunder) can be here. Johannes Schneider learned his trade in Gevrey-Chambertin with Domaine Rossignol-Trapet and knows his stuff. Full of crushed raspberries, cherries and a touch of smoke’n’spice, it’s soft, smooth and wonderfully moreish. £18.70 down from £22.
That would have been that if I hadn’t tasted two other irresistible Rhônes, namely the 2018 Giornal ‘La Durbane’ and the 2019 Aymeric Paillard ‘La Vignes des Peres’ St Joseph. Rather than mucking up the mixed case, I persuaded the affable Mr Davis to compose a neat six-bottle Rhône Box (7) for us, comprising two bottles each of the aforementioned 2021 Stéphane Ogier ‘Le Temps est Venu’ (see 5) along with two bottles of each of these two peaches. ‘La Durbane’ is a Côtes du Rhône produced mere centimetres outside the Châteauneuf-du-Pape appellation with the help of the Perrins of Chateau de Beaucastel, while ‘La Vignes des Peres’ is a gratifyingly complex, intriguing Syrah from Aymeric Paillard (son of Bruno, of champagne fame). £120.52 down from £141.78.
Wines 1-6 are available by the unmixed dozen or as part of the mixed case (two bottles each) (8). Delivery, as ever, is free.
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