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!

Decero Malbec Remolinos Vineyard 2012

Wine:  Remolinos Vineyard Malbec
Winemaker: Decero
Vintage: 2012
Variety: Malbec
Price: £13.50
Buy Now: Wine Direct

I'm not a big drinker of Malbec, nor am I particular fan of the variety, but when a good example smacks you round the chops, you stand up and take notice and that's exactly what happened with this incredible offering I stumbled upon by way of a mis-order courtesy of Amazon. Native to Agrelo, Mendoza, home to some of the most sought after Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah in Argentina, the Remolinos vineyard from which this incredible wine hails from, is between 3400-3600ft, sits at the base of the Andes and enjoys incredibly warm, sunny days and cold nights; resulting in a slow, yet full maturation of the grapes, which means we all get an absolute treat of a wine!

Medium to full bodied, with a zippy acidity and packed with damson and violets. A vivacious and flavoursome red, with layer upon layer and bags of character. This is an absolute barnstormer of a wine and Wine Direct have the latest go to vintages from Decero ready for you to whip of their virtual shelves. I've had many of the best examples of Mendozan Malbec and despite coming across this under rather fortuitous circumstances, I'm well aware just how good a wine this is and how it's punching well above it's weight in terms of it's price point.

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!

Two Hands Angel's Share Shiraz 2014

Wine: Angel's Share
Winemaker: Two Hands  
Vintage: 2014
Varietal: 100% Shiraz  
Price: £19.99

Specially selected parcels from across the vales of Mclaren and Barossa, make this South Australian Shiraz one of the best value for money wines around, consistently over the last decade or so.

It's full of baked berries, vanilla and chocolate on the nose with just the feintest background note of sweet pipe tobacco. The flavour extraction is just so ripe and intense, making the palate incredibly endearing: blueberries, baked plum, mocha, subtle lavender and a dry spicy finish.

Full bodied, masculine and intense, packed with flavour, bound together with a prominent acidity, wildly intense and with more character than you can shake a stick at. Complex, diverse and just about bloody perfect!

Serve at 18-20'c, open an hour before serving and pair with any red meat for a sumptuous pairing.

BUY NOW: Click Here

HIP Cabernet Sauvignon 2014

Wine: Cabernet Sauvignon 2014
Winemaker: House of Independent Producers
Variety: 100% Cabernet Sauvignon
Vintage: 2014
Price: £18

House of Independent Producers are pushing some fantastic wines as of late, this one in particular coming from the Sagemoore Farms Vineyards in Hedges Family Estate. A 100% Cabernet Sauvignon

A dusty cocoa powder escapes from the glass, emitting dry earthiness intermixed with sweet vanilla oak and a rich plum crumble, coated in brown sugar. Floral violets and an elegant toastiness flow on the nose as you can really get a sense of the rich dark black fruits swimming around inside the glass. 

Upon initial taste you you're presented with a lovely refreshing balance of acidity, tannin and complexity. There's a dark licorice and very dark 95% chocolate that sits on the palate. You can also pick up a plethora of rich dark stewed plums and a good kick of oak. 

Refined, elegant and the perfect compliment to a rich winter stew with pork, lamb or beef. Would go wonderfully with a rich gravy and beef Sunday joint also. A good expression of Washington's Colubmia Valley AVA which is all too often forgotten in comparison to it's Sonoma/Napa cousins down south. 

Buy From Roberson Wines

Christian Patat Appassimento 2015

Wine: Appassimento
Winemaker: Christian Patat
Varieties: Merlot, Primitivo & Negroamaro (Undisclosed %) 
Vintage: 2015
Price: £13.99

I'd like to personally thank the extremely talented Christian Patat, for gifting us a little piece of Southern Italy at a fraction of the cost this kind of wine usually sets the consumer back. It's super silky, opulent, elegant and moreishly drinkable!

The aromas upon opening this were astounding: powerful baked dark fruits, think plums and dark berries with liquorice, pipe tobacco and a wispy background note of vanilla. In the mouth it's pure silk, rich, syrupy, intense dark fruits, subtle raisin and powerful vanilla imparted by the wonderful, albeit substantial oak integration.

Full bodied, medium acidity and an everlasting finish. There is literally no wine this situation doesn't suit, it is the epitome of a crowd pleaser. Pair with strong cheeses or pizza. Serve at 18-20'c and enjoy!

Buy Now: From Naked Wines

Chateau Musar Red 2009

Wine: Musar Red
Winemaker: Chateau Musar
Vintage: 2009
Variety: Cabernet Sauvignon, Carignan & Cinsault. Approx 1/3rd each. 
Price: £22.00

As with the previous two vintages (07&08) this is immediately approachable, not something one can often say about latest release wines from Musar.

Plenty of barnyard funk on the nose, or brett (brettanomyces) as it is more commonly referred too, something that IS common in Musar reds. Blackcurrant, blackberry, leather, vanilla and pipe tobacco all playing a part, in what is a rich and diverse bouquet. Very elegant and incredibly alluring: In the mouth, Cabernet dominates at first with tarte dark fruit and menthol quite striking, then the fiery spice and sweet red fruit of the Carignan and Cinsault take over. Plenty of liquorice, clove and vanilla. A real crowd pleasing palate!

Medium to full bodied, a linear acidity, supremely refined and silky tannins, moderate intensity and a finish fit for a king (and Queen!) A truly great vintage, but possibly not with quite the same longevity in terms of ageing some other vintages can boast. A good decant is necessary, serve at 18-19'c.

Buy now from the Wine Society

Remelluri Reserva Rioja 2009

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Wine: Reserva Rioja
Winemaker: Remelluri
Vintage: 2009
Varieties : Garnacha, Graciano, Tempranillo (Undisclosed %) 
Price: £19.99

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Tasting Notes

Having been wowed by the 2008 and then finding out rather disappointingly that I was unable to obtain another a bottle, I plumped for the 2009 and it usurped the 2008 in every single way, which was a huge and unexpected bonus!

Provocative scents of raspberry, plum, leather, dried spice, fresh tobacco and vanilla fill in the room. This wine is perfect upon opening and there is no need for decanting; the palate offers up dried red fruit at first, yielding to darker rich fruits, before the savoury elements take over: earthy, herby and bitter dark chocolate toward the finish.

Medium bodied, medium plus acidity, medium plus intensity and polished ripe tannins. This wine has it all, and best of all it's under £20, the best price point of all. Get it while it lasts folks!

Buy Now From The Good Wine Shop

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