A really tasty selection from The Wine Company this week at very generously discounted prices. There is a theme of sorts: I wonder if you can spot it.
Made exclusively for The Wine -Company (Moa Ridge and The Wine Company share an owner in Suffolk-based Johnny Wheeler), the 2011 Moa Ridge Chardonnay (1) from Marlborough, New Zealand, is spiffing value at just £12 a bottle (down from £14.99). Hand-picked and oak-aged for 15 months, it’s full of citrus and spice and succulent stone fruit. It’s subtle too and gratifyingly complex, more Burgundian in style than New World, and perfect with a dozen or so of the last R-in-the-month oysters.
The 2007 C.J. Pask ‘Declaration’ Merlot (2) is also from New Zealand, from the Gimblett Gravels, a tiny sub-region of Hawke’s Bay. I’m lucky enough to have visited and can vouch for the fact that they make truly exceptional wines here, mainly graceful Bordeaux-style reds such as this or full-throttle Rhône-style Syrahs. Chris Pask (originally from Suffolk) is blessed with an extravagantly gifted winemaker in Kate Radburnd and their Merlot has been festooned with awards. It’s soft, smooth and elegant with coffee, spice, plums and plenty of blackberries to the fore. It has a decent bit of bottle age too and at just £20.50 (down from £23.49) it’s about a third the price of an equivalent Saint Emilion or Pomerol.
The 2008 Sumaridge ‘Epitome’ (3) from the Hemel-en-Aarde (‘Heaven on Earth’) Valley in Walker Bay, South Africa, is a gloriously rich, juicy and spicy blend of Syrah, Pinotage and Merlot. Owned by Simon Turner and Holly Bellingham (from, yep, Suffolk), the estate is just a few miles from the fishing village of Hermanus — famous for its whale-watching — whose cool maritime climate is ideal for the production of stylish vino.
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