Jonathan Ray Jonathan Ray

Good pinot noir is notoriously hard to find

issue 22 April 2023

It’s uncanny, but if I gauge it right, I can summon my wife as if by magic. Mrs R’s hearing is at its most acute in that lull between her afternoon Earl Grey and evening G&T, at which point she can hear me pop a cork from two floors away. She’ll be down in a trice, equipped with an inquiring thirst. ‘Ooh, a tasting,’ she’ll declare, all fresh-faced innocence. ‘Can I help?’

And so it was that we hoovered through some fabulous wines from Corney & Barrow together and came up – unanimously – with this final selection.

The 2021 Pãsãri Chardonnay/Feteascã Regalã (1) is one of my wines of the year. Made at a British-owned Romanian estate by an Australian and a Spaniard, it’s deliciously undemanding. A blend of oaked Chardonnay and unoaked Feteascã Regalã, it’s soft, smooth and silky with honeyed ripe apples, peaches and zesty citrus. Who knew Romanian wines were so engaging? £8.96

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