Don Vincenzo Eghemon Passimiento 2015

Wine:  Eghemon Passimiento
Winemaker: Maurizio Biscardo
Vintage: 2015
Varieties: Nero d'Avola
Price: £15.99
Buy Now: Virgin Wines

An absolutely stand out wine at this price point. Really very impressive indeed. 

Huge, powerful aromas of inky dark fruits: blackcurrant and damson, supported by fresh vanilla bean and an alluring wood spice. In the mouth sweet blackcurrant, black cherry and a velvety, milk chocolate laden finish. 

Full bodied, with a linear acidity, moderate intensity, beautiful depth of flavour and wonderfully integrated tannins. A decent length finish, that offers a slightly bitter note all the way to the next sip, very reminiscent of an Amarone.

Enjoy with a goats cheese and black olive pizza! 

Chateau Musar Red 2004

Wine:  Musar Red
Winemaker: Chateau Musar
Vintage: 2004
Varieties: Cabernet Sauvignon, Carignan & Cinsault
Price: £27
Buy Now: Roberson Wine

As with many other 04's I've enjoyed, this example had the same youthful nose, not something one can often associate with Musar; very Bordeaux in style: blackcurrant and blackberry, with earthy notes and a subtle hint of leather. In the mouth: sweet raspberry, sour chalky cranberry, developing into sweet blackcurrant and bitter blackberry, rounded off with a heavily spiced finish.

A full bodied wine, with a healthy, but linear acidity, moderate intensity and fine silky tannins. All in all lacking the intensity of other 04's I've enjoyed, but bottle and vintage variation is common in Musar and for me, one of the many reasons I adore the uniqueness of the geniuses from Lebanon.

This wine is developing nicely and should evolve to it's peak sometime between 2020-2024. Will accompany fillet of beef or roasted shoulder of lamb beautifully and should be served around 18'c and decanted a couple of hours prior to consumption.

Enjoy!

The Black Pig Clare Valley Shiraz 2016

Wine:  The Black Pig Prize Shiraz
Winemaker: Fuse
Vintage: 2016
Variety: Shiraz
Price: £19.99
Buy Now: Virgin Wines

A big bulky Shiraz, with a powerful bouquet and wonderfully extracted flavours of inky dark fruits, vanilla, liquorice and leather. 

Incredibly intense, with grippy, almost wild tannins, a bit of a mouthful for sure and a lengthy decant is most definitely required. A good food pairing also works well, with steak and ale pie working wonderfully for me personally.

All in all, a good wine, in fact a very good wine, but currently a bit boisterous and needs some care and attention. For sure will be much more approachable in three to five years.

Chateau du Seuil Cerons 2014

After enjoying the highly acclaimed Domaine du Grange Neuve Monbazillac earlier in the evening, we decided to continue the trend of sweet French white wines and open this gorgeous Graves to pair with our dessert, steamed sticky toffee pudding and custard.

The most striking facet of this wine is the powerful and gripping aromas and flavours of apricot, both conserve and fresh. The bouquet is uplifting, yet refined and somewhat complex, despite the early onslaught of apricot, there is also elderflower and a lemony kick.  On the palate, apricot conserve is prominent, dominating throughout the palate to the finish, which is honey clad and lengthy.

You could argue this was a little over-sweet and as such, I would suggest pairing with a dessert as opposed to an aperitif or with a cheeseboard. Best served heavily chilled.

BUY NOW FROM VIRGIN WINES

Domaine De Grange Neuve Monbazillac 2011

It's been a long while since I enjoyed a sweet white wine as much as this; with it's wispy tones of toffee, sweet butterscotch and burnt marmalade, it's hard to not to be utterly enamoured with this absolute beauty from the Dordogne! We enjoyed it as an aperitif and then with some soft blue cheese, quite the pairing, if I do say so myself!

Evocative honeyed aromas flood the senses initially, yielding to some alluring citrus, with a subtle grassy background note and a mild nuttiness. In the mouth, toffee, butterscotch and marmalade mingle effortlessly, creating wine harmony and a glazing mouthfeel, that begs you to take another sip. This wine has bags of character, a linear acidity and a grippy intensity, keeping all the flavours in check wonderfully and making for supremely easy drinking; no mean feat for a sweet wine, where the majority of affordable examples end up being overly sweet and cloying and ultimately one dimensional.

Serve well chilled, around 6'c and allow to warm in the glass and enjoy!

BUY NOW FROM VIRGIN WINES