Cahors: Malbec crush

From a Cahors wine touring trip last year -
click here to find out more!

Italy: whites and reds "of the moment", south & north

Three Sicilian whites, a red from Puglia and one from Trentino to be precise, all hot off the shelf from Marks, Lidl and Asda. I've mentioned a certain fondness for white wines from Sicily before (okay, reds too), especially made from the exciting native variety Grillo. New to both M&S (who now stock more Sicilian wines than any other large retailer I'd guess) and Lidl too, both 2012 vintage and labelled under the sweeping 'Terre Siciliane IGP' zone. Here's my verdict:

2012 Grillo (12.5% abv) - a hint of SO2 on the nose, which goes with airing, delicate yeasty notes vs rich peach and apricot, honeyed and rounded vs crisp and zingy, fat texture vs dry bite, full-bodied vs refreshing. Rounded palate with lingering yeast-lees/SO2 notes, dried apricot, peach and almost toasted/honey-coated almond flavours yet quite steely and 'mineral' really; nice wine in the end. Lidl £5.99

2012 Grillo (13% abv) - hints of Viognier in style with that sweet apricot and honey fruit, but more white peppery and fresher with zesty pear edges, quite crisp acidity vs ripe sunny and rounded. Good stuff. £6.99

And Asda has been promoting the 2012 vintage of its Fiano dry white from Sicily, which I recommended last summer and continue enjoying it every time I buy it, for a fiver I think (as they do: don't know what the 'usual' price is, as I only get it when on promo like the rest of the world!)

Moving east to the other side of southern Italy to the Puglia region, Marks has also taken on a 2012 Negroamaro red (another indigenous variety) at £6.99 (13.5% abv): Nice and fruity with jammy damson and black cherry, spicy earthy edges, ripe rounded and warming with liquorice flavours vs dark chocolate twist.

Heading about as far north north as you can go in Italy, towards the border with Austria, Lidl has taken the fairly brave step of listing a Teroldego Rotaliano from Trentino (you only find this variety there), a 2010 Riserva red (12.5% abv) for £6.99 as well (price-point of the moment obviously): Surprisingly dense with a coating of coco-choc oak (these reds are often on the lighter side and un-oaked), fruity and spicy though with nice smooth tannins giving attractive dry vs ripe profile, peppery and earthy with hints of toasty coconut grain vs dark cherry/berry fruit; quite structured and serious yet drinking nicely now. Developed more liquorice and spice the following day with sweet/savoury fruit, wilder edges vs fairly smooth texture.

Languedoc: Domaine Sainte-Croix update, Corbières

Or the Hautes Corbières as those folk who live up on the real high ground around here like to say, in the sleepy wee village of Fraissé-des-Corbières about a dozen kilometres inland from the La Palme lagoon or a short stretch to the northeast of Embres-et-Castelmaure. Previous words on and wines from Domaine Sainte-Croix on this blog can be found, from 2009 and 2010, HERE with further updates here (Corbières report May 2011) and here (2009 vintage showcase penned June 2010).

Spain: Quaderna Vía, Navarra

From organicwines.ie

Bodegas y Vinedos Quaderna Vía organically run estate winery, whose name seems to have something to do with Mediaeval poetry (guessing a bit from my limited grasp of Spanish: there doesn't appear to be an "in English" button on their site www.quadernavia.com), is located in the town of Igúzquiza on the western side of the Navarra region, an area known as Tierra Estella (not that far from Rioja actually). Brothers Raúl and Jorge Ripa had an impressive new cellar complex constructed 10 years ago that's supplied by 70 ha of vineyards they own around here: grape variety wise, they focus on Tempranillo, Cabernet and Merlot. Guided winery and vineyard tours are also available, with a tasting naturally; and you can book their groovy 'space' for private functions or wine dinners. Irish importer Dirk Flake Organic Wines in Galway stocks the first red (€8.80 a bottle, pic.); and cellar door in Spain they cost about €4 - €6 - €11 - €20 respectively for these four in ascending quality order, which I sampled earlier this year at Millésime Bio show.

2011 Initium (Tempranillo/Merlot) - nice juicy fruit with perfumed spicy notes, herby vs sweet, simple attractive quaffing red.

2011 Especial (90% Tempranillo + Cabernet Sauvignon) - herby cedar edges vs riper sweet blackcurrant and cherry, subtle grip and oak on the palate with plenty of fruit, elegant yet weighty, attractive style again with a touch more substance.

2008 Reserva (50-50 Tempranillo-Merlot) - more coconut oak vs maturing savoury notes and ripe berry fruit, nice meaty edges and still quite solid mouth-feel with a touch of oak grain vs oomph and dark vs savoury fruit. Good stuff.

2008 Quaderna Vía (100% Tempranillo) - richer berry fruit with spicy oak, nice ripe dark vs savoury flavours again, chunky and concentrated yet is well balanced with rounded tannins; drinking well now but should keep for a few more years. Lovely.

Languedoc: Domaine Les Eminades update, Saint-Chinian

Latest is HERE (St-Chinian overview Sept. 2023), as well as a lengthy special report now included in my French wine e-magazine HERE originally published in Jan. 2014.

Before diving into this concise update, why not click HERE to peruse my original insight into Les Eminades found 'out there' in beautiful Saint-Chinian country (posted August 2011), which went along the lines of: "Set up by affable couple Patricia and Luc Bettoni in 2002, this spectacular-vista estate has been tended organically since the beginning..." Including a few older vintages of the wines tasted below. Anyway, I caught up with them earlier this year at Millésime Bio wine show.