Jonathan Ray Jonathan Ray

Wine Club 17 February

issue 17 February 2018

Dry January must have heightened my senses. Or maybe I’m simply craving alcohol. Either way, I’m pretty chuffed with this week’s selection, courtesy of FromVineyardsDirect: six classic French wines. It took an age to whittle the wines down to six, largely because I felt compelled to drain every bottle. I’d hate you to think I was shirking my researches.

The 2016 Château Bauduc Sauvignon/Sémillon (1) will be familiar to diners at the restaurants of Rick Stein and Gordon Ramsay, where it’s the house white. Produced by Gavin and Angela Quinney at their 200-acre estate in the Entre Deux Mers, it’s a blend of 70 per cent Sauvignon Blanc and 30 per cent Sémillon. It’s crisp and dry but deliciously rounded in the mouth, slightly plump and with just a touch of softening sweet fruit on the finish. £9.45 down from £9.95.

I love the wines of the Rhône Valley, especially the whites of which so little are made.

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