Waitrose Wines, April 2023. Presented by the Chairman
As it was the AGM, as per usual we had an in house tasting, presented by the Chairman. All wines from the Waitrose fine wine (>£16 or so per bottle).
Palacio De Fefianes Albarino 2021. Galicia Spain. 12.5%, £18.99
8/10. Clean, Crisp, Fresh. Quite “green”
Sancerre Les Marennes 2020. Loire France. 13%, £18.99
8/10 Clean, Crisp, Fresh. But not as “green” as the Albarino, probably due to the extra year of age.
Pegasus Bay Riesling 2019. Waipara New Zealand. 13.5%, £18.99
6/10 or 9/10. A marmite wine. This is a Riesling in the classic German style, with sufficient age in bottle to give that unique “petrol” nose. I love it. Many don’t.
Bird In Hand Chardonnay. Adelaide Hills Australia. 13%, £19.99
6/10 - A little disappointing. Oaky yet light. Not one thing or another. Not bad, but not quite there.
Nanny Goat Pinot Noir 2021. Central Otago New Zealand. 13.5%, £16.99
8.5/10 - An excellent well rounded P-N. Sometime I wonder why the French persist with P-N, when stuff like this is available.
Darling Cellars Obv Cinsault 2019. West Coast South Africa. 13%, £19.99
8/10 - Old Bush Vines. A pure varietal Cinsault, only 6300 bottles made of this one.
Rabl Titan Zweigelt 2018. Lower Austria. 14%, £17.99
9/10 - I’m a sucker for Zweigelt, very much a new thing on the shelves in the UK. 10 years ago I doubt you’d have seen any. A medium bodied red, yet well rounded. Something for everyone I reckon.
Recchia Amarone Della Valpolicella 2018. Verona Italy. 15%, £22.99
9/10 - Probably the favourite of the evening. Who doesn’t like Amarone?
It is worth noting that the Waitrose fine wine selection is of fine wines – many of them are produced in small volumes so will not always be available everywhere, or even online. So there is no guarantee that you’ll be able to buy them again.
