Wine Relief 2007

Big plastic red noses, 22 million people tap-dancing at once, football celebs being doused in purple custard: Comic Relief day is back with a vengeance on Friday 16th March. The UK wine industry, retailers, writers, restaurants etc. will once again be doing their bit to raise money for CR charities in Britain and Africa (Wine Relief has amassed £2million since its launch in 1999). The following are donating 10% of the sale price of a range of Red Nose wines: Co-op, Majestic, Marks & Spencer, Morrisons, Sainsbury's, Somerfield, Tesco, Threshers, Waitrose and Café Rouge.
A few of my favourites include Montes Reserve Sauvignon Blanc, Casablanca Valley (£6.49) and Crozes-Hermitage, Cave de Tain L'Hermitage (£6.99) at Majestic (if you're anywhere near their Vinopolis shop in Southwark, south London, you don't have to buy a case there); Darting Estate Riesling (£6.99) and Pirque Estate Sauvignon Blanc (£6.99) from M&S; Porcupine Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon (£5.49) at Sainsbury's; Brown Brothers Dry Muscat (£5.24) at Somerfield; Tesco Finest Tapiwey Sauvignon Blanc and Kulapelli Cabernet Sauvignon/Carmenere (both £7.99); Gobelsburger Grüner Veltliner from Austria (£6.49), Fetzer Syrah Rosé from California (£5.99) and J P Ramos' Trincadeira from Portugal (£7.49) at Waitrose; and the Laroche Terret and Grenache white and red house wines at Café Rouge (£15) sound worth a go. Consume sensibly of course! Click on the Big One top right for more info, fundraising ideas, donations etc. Posted 27/2/07.
Although not part of Comic Relief, another inventive fundraising event for the world's poor is the VSO Big Curry Night on Saturday March 10 2007 (follow the highlighted link for details), which sounds like a fun idea for charidy. This was brought to my attention by Warren Edwardes from Wine for Spice, purveyor of curry-friendly wines such as Raja Rosé (I did a little feature and tasting on his wines in 2004, which I haven't yet rebuilt on this site...), who's also supporting Big Curry Night. You can read his blog here. So check out the VSO's recipe ideas, go shopping and get cooking. Talking of rosé wines, I do find they often go with spicy food very well: check out my regular "wines of the moment" and Roussillon guides, for example, for recommendations. Posted 5/3/07.

California: Clos du Val - Napa

Hardly a new discovery - at the grand age of 35, CDV is almost an old timer by Californian standards (well, I mean relative to the many new new wineries rather than the handful of 19th Century candidates) - but their wines retain a nice European-esque charm and elegance (not that I'm biased towards Euro wines). They also have extensive vineyards in Carneros (pic. above), source of some very enticing Pinot. Mind you, I didn't like their 04 Zinfandel though. Wines below sampled at Boutinot's tasting in the Tower of London (mind your head once again) in Feb 2007:

2004 Pinot Noir - delicate perfumed morello cherry aromas with savoury edges, lovely fruit intensity v tight fresh length. £15.50 92
2003 Merlot (plus a little of both Cabernets) - gamey nose with light red pepper tones, chunky tannins and power v herbal fruit finish. £14.50 87-89
2003 Cabernet Sauvignon - inky herbal edges to its rich chunky palate, again shows light cedar and leaf characters on a riper rounder whole with very firm tannins. £16.50 90
1996 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon - mature savoury leather-tinged fruit, dry grip set on nice developing fruit finish. £31.50 90-92