Stupendously Superb Spring Sparkles

We're not just huge fans of alliteration here at Sypped, we're also monumentally mega mad about all wines sparkling and with Spring fast approaching, the hedgerows are beginning to fill with colour and the sun is making the occasional rare appearance! With that in mind we've decided to compile a list of our top three epic bubbly offerings for you to enjoy at this wonderful time of year.

 

Anderson Valley Quartet Rose NV

Wine:  Anderson Valley Quartet Rose NV
Winemaker: Roederer Estate
Vintage: NV
Varieties: Pinot Noir & Chardonnay
Price: £26.50
Buy Now: Champagne Direct

The wonderful Quartet Rose, made in the Anderson Valley, California and owned by the infamous Champagne house, Louis Roederer, is a simply sublime wine; elegance personified with character aplenty and an uplifting vibrancy. It's a class apart from most Rose and at this price point, is undeniably a market leader. The aromatic bouquet offers an array of floral fragrances and subtle stone fruits, while in the mouth; delicate red fruit and silky smooth oak influenced notes provide beautiful balance and fantastic finesse. It's imperative one doesn't over chill this wine, 11-12'c is ideal when pairing with a dish, slightly warmer as a stand alone drink.

Pol Roger Brut Reserve NV

Wine:  Pol Roger Brut Reserve NV
Winemaker: Pol Roger
Vintage: NV
Varieties: Pinot Noir, Chardonnay & Pinot Meunier
Price: £33.99
Buy Now: Corks Out

This nutty ninja of a Champagne from one of the most established houses in the region really blew me away, it creeps up on it's unsuspecting consumers and assaults their senses with a microcosmic explosion of bubbles in the mouth containing some of the most memorable nutty notes I've ever encountered. After opening this wine just kept evolving offering more and more! The nose is alive with green fruit at first, yielding to softer more feminine notes and finishing with fresh brioche. There is an archetypal chalky vein running throughout the entire palate, which offers delicate white stone fruit flavours and some incredibly endearing honeyed notes, finishing with a distinctive minerality. I implore you to head over to Corks Out and snap this up at the current price of £33.99, it usually retails at £45-50 and is rarely discounted.

Pirie Tasmanian Traditional Method Sparkling Wine NV

Wine:  Pirie Tasmanian Trad Meth Sparkling Wine NV
Winemaker: Brown Brothers
Vintage: NV
Varieties: Chardonnay & Pinot Noir
Price: £27.50
Buy Now: Wine Society

An absolute game changer! I can't and don't need to say anymore than that, this wine is truly exceptional and offers something world class that you simply won't find elsewhere for less than thirty pounds. Aged on it's lees for an impressive three years, allows this wine to exhibit a multitude of dimensions that express it's character and true quality. Citrus dominates both the nose and palate, with sweeter, albeit slightly tart green fruit playing a pivotal supportive role, before evocative and complex toasty notes round off what is a truly exceptional finish. Intense and with incredible length. Oi Oi! 

Affordable Wines To Get You Through January

With the euphoria of the plethora of above average wines undoubtedly consumed by us all over the festive period, now a mere distant memory and the come down of the New Year and the bump back to reality well and truly present, we at Sypped thought we'd bring you a handy list of our top five affordable wines to help restore some equilibrium to proceedings and help you fend off the wolves from the door, with some tip-top inexpensive recommendations that taste the part, but don't break the bank.

Pedroncelli Friends Red, Sonoma County 2015

Wine:  Friends Red
Winemaker: Pedroncelli
Vintage: 2015
Variety: Merlot
Price: £9.50
Buy Now: Wine Society

This fantastic Cali Merlot from Wine Society will definitely help ease those January blues, with it's gorgeous silky palate and seemingly never ending finish. Full of boozy dark fruit and a moreish vanillin thread make this more than a match for any adoring fans of the more fuller bodied red wine. It's brilliant as a stand alone wine or perfect to marry with slow cooked rib of beef or pork loin and at less than ten quid a bottle, what's not to love!

Mud House Sauvignon Blanc 2016/17

Wine:  Sauvignon Blanc
Winemaker: Mud House
Vintage: 2016/17
Variety: Sauvignon Blanc
Price: £9.49
Buy Now: Majestic

One of my 'go to' Marlborough Sauvignon Blancs, a real stand out performer in what is an emerging market absolutely saturated with average and below average examples. Hugely pungent tropical flavours and aromas will engulf your senses, with a zingy citrus kick that keeps everything in check and adds fine balance and depth of flavour. Made for Thai and Cantonese cuisine, my personal choices would be salt and chilli squid with pad thai noodles, heavy on the peanuts. Available at Majestic for a little over £8 a bottle, you won't find many better at this price point.

Terre Di Faiano Organic Primitivo

Wine:  Primitivo
Winemaker: Terre Di Faiano
Vintage: 2016
Variety: Primitivo (Zinfandel)
Price: £9.99
Buy Now: Waitrose

If you like warm, rich, sun drenched reds, it doesn't come much better than this. Apparently the only organic Primitivo made using entirely the Appassimento method, whereby the winemaker will excessively dry the grapes, naturally, extracting full flavour and producing a wine fuller of flavour and sweeter than usual. The oak influence in this tempers the sweetness beautifully adding some wonderful toasty notes. Waitrose have pulled off a blinder putting this on their shelves!

Stumble Vineyards Cinsault Rosé 2016

Wine:  Rose
Winemaker: Stumbles Vineyards
Vintage: 2016
Variety: Cinsault
Price: £8.99
Buy Now: Laithwaites

It's not often that I doff my cap to a rosé, the last one was a fantastic example from Provence and that was nearly a year ago and whilst this Western Cape Rosé bares very little resemblance to it's French counterpart, I'm as equally enamoured, with it's vibrant palate filled with luscious strawberry and raspberry notes and a stunning floral elegance that brings everything together perfectly. You could do worse than popping down to your local Laithwaites or getting online to snap up a few of these beauties.

Simpsons of Servian Blanc de Blancs 2016

Wine:  Blanc de Blancs
Winemaker: Domaine Sainte Rose
Vintage: 2016
Variety: Chardonnay
Price: £18.99
Buy Now: Naked Wines

I know Charles and Ruth, the owners of Domaine Sainte Rose, very well, I've been drinking their wines for a good few years now and rarely have I been unimpressed with anything in their range and this unique BdB made in the Languedoc, which is an unusual pairing to say the least, is no exception, in fact it's exceptional! The Chardonnay coming through in this crisp, buttery, bubbly, beauty really had me going and I'm positive it'll do the same for you too! C+R recommend oysters or sushi to pair with this, I wasn't quite up for oysters, but can verify that this belter is best friends to Californian lobster rolls! Naked Wines are pitching this at £18.99 or £12.49 if you subscribe to become an 'angel' if I'm honest £18.99 is a damn good price, £12.49 is a steal!

Top 5 Vegan Wines In The UK (& Where To Get Them!)

As veganism is gaining in popularity minute by minute, for ALL the right reasons, we thought we'd do our best to help bring the wine loving vegan community up to speed with some of the greatest vegan wines available for purchase in the UK!

 

RAVENSWOOD LODI ZINFANDEL

Wine: Lodi Zinfandel
Winemaker: Ravenswood
Vintage: 2014
Variety: Zinfandel
Price: £11.99
Perfect Pairing: Vegetable Hotpot Click Here For Recipe

This full bodied beast from Lodi performs to an exceptionally high standard year on year and 2014 is every bit as good as previous years. Absolutely packed with blueberry, baked plum, mocha and vanilla, with a dry spicy finish. As mentioned this is a big 'ole wine so a good bit of breathing time really helps release everything it has to offer. A great wine to pair with a warming winter vegetable hotpot and plantain dumplings after a hard days work as the cold nights begin to draw in.

Buy now from Majestic 

 

FAUSTINO 1 GRAN RESERVA RIOJA

Wine: Faustino 1 Gran Reserva
Winemaker: Faustino
Vintage: 2004
Variety: Tempranillo, Graciano, Mazuelo
Price: £14.00
Perfect Pairing: Moroccan lentil and butternut squash bake Click here for recipe

Everything about this wine typifies Rioja, the nose and palate are packed full of perfumed red fruit, liquorice, cured meat and leather. The mouthfeel is velvety and this wine really is a class act. For this price you're getting a wine that's over a decade old that has spent a minimum two years in oak and three years in the bottle prior to release, such is the strict ageing rules for Rioja. A great showpiece for a dinner party and lends itself beautifully to Moroccan lentil and butternut squash bake.

Buy now from Tesco: 

LA GIOIOSA PROSECCO SUPERIORE

Wine: Prosecco Superiore
Winemaker: La Gioiosa
Vintage: NV
Variety: Glera
Price: £13.49
Perfect Pairing: Sweet potato and black bean chilli Click here for recipe

A fantastic alternative to higher priced Champagnes, which is an absolute must over the Christmas period as supermarkets gear up to take advantage of unsuspecting customers by aggressively marketing lesser known brands in a bid to take advantage of the infamous North Eastern region of France. Granny Smith apple, tinned peaches and subtly toasted almonds. Vibrant, refreshing and very characterful, perfect as an aperitif and even better with sweet potato and black bean chilli.

Buy now from Waitrose:

DEFINITION CHABLIS

Wine: Definition Chablis
Winemaker: Majestic Wines Defintion Range
Vintage: 2015
Variety: Chardonnay
Price: £14.99
Perfect Pairing: Zucchini fritters and spiced hummus Click here for recipe

A wonderful example of a well made Chardonnay, absolutely perfect to pair with zucchini fritters and spiced hummus. White flowers, lemon and lime with a nice slightly nutty finish. Bone dry, with a pronounced intensity and persistent finish. This wine stands out, where often the quality associated with the region precedes the drink in front of you. Long live affordable quality Chablis.

Buy now from Majestic

NATALE VERGA PRIMITIVO

Wine: Primitivo
Winemaker: Natale Verga
Vintage: 2015
Variety: Primitivo
Price: £7.99
Perfect Pairing: Falafel and artichoke pizza Click here for recipe

There's a lot to be said for Puglian Primitivo, sadly lesser known than Zinfandel, even though they're genetically identical, but there's a trend sweeping across the UK right now where Primitivo is well and truly making a statement. Rich and powerful, packed with inky dark fruits, milk chocolate and dried spices. A real mouthful and incredibly moreish. For the money it doesn't get much better. Try it with falafel and artichoke pizza, it's simply sublime!

Buy now from Majestic