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We’ve had some great reds over the last year. Our favourite Rioja Reserva in January was Marques de la Concordia Reserva 2002, which was £9.99 from Tesco. Majestic also stock it and are currently on 2001 or 2003, reduced to £7.99 until 4th February. I found the 2001 a little disappointing, when Tesco were stocking it. The 2002 was highly perfumed, like newly cut wood with sweet vanilla. The taste was definitely oaky, but was smooth with a savoury, almost cheesy finish.
Our favourite Chilean Cabernet was Peñalolen 2004, which is £6.99 from Oddbins, or £5.59 if you buy 6 bottles. It smelt attractively herbal, with some coffee, eucalyptus, green pepper and blackcurrant. It tasted slightly of chocolate and coffee but absolutely wasn’t sweet. It had fresh acidity and Lorraine sensed something like Marmite at the end.
Our favourite Barolo was Balbi Soprani 2002, which is £13.99 from Oddbins. I've raved about this wine before. There was some toasty coconut on the nose, which is atypical but worked very nicely. In the mouth it was richer and fruitier than usual but still with the telltale chalky tannin.
Our favourite South African Pinotage was Diemersfontein 2006, which is £7.99 from Waitrose. This was bound to happen. We were an all girl panel on that night and the wine smells and tastes so ridiculously like mocha, that I’m surprised it didn’t get even higher marks. As the evening wore on the smell was exactly, I mean exactly, like coffee creams. We were reminded of walking into a real coffee shop. The taste was like coffee creams. Almost a dessert wine.
Our favourite Australian Shiraz, d’Arenberg, The Footbolt Shiraz 2003, was £8.99 from Waitrose and smelt as ripe black cherries would in a pan with a vanilla pod. The taste was savoury and herbal and it felt smooth, but with some tannic structure.
Sometimes, you push the boat out a little and it takes you a lot further. The average price of the other Chilean Merlots we tasted was £4.60, and our favourite was £8.69 at Majestic. Concha y Toro, Winemaker’s “Rucahue Lot 12” 2006 was a conversation stopper. The smell was very inviting, with oak, mint and intense fruit. Lorraine said it smelt like a real wine. The bubbles on pouring were dark purple and it stained the glass. It was tasty, delicious and savoury, with some coffee on the finish. I gave the taste 8.5 out of 10, which is something I do about twice a year.
Morrisons The Best Chilean Carmenere Reserva 2004, which is £6.49 was, as it says on the label, The Best. It was nicely fragrant with some oak. It reminded Johnny of the leather interior of a new car, of which the rest of us had no first hand knowledge. It tasted rather like claret with its stalkiness and, thank goodness, the alcohol was in balance at 13.5%. There was some mint on the nose and palate and it really was a very enjoyable wine.
When we tried red wines under £3.50 we were impressed that our favourite was Budavar Cabernet which is Romanian and costs a mere £2.79 at Aldi. It smelt of redcurrants and raspberries, which is unusual for Cabernet, but the taste was dry, with the typical Cabernet tannin and pretty long flavour. We felt it was a £5 wine.