HYO Wine Club - April 2018

Welcome to HYO Wine Club!

Every month we will recommend wines for you to try, and we would love to hear what you think of them on our Princess and the Pinot Facebook Page or on Twitter @HYOwineclub #HYOwineclub

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For the first month of our new wine club, we are going to showcase two noble grape varieties: Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon.

Chardonnay
Chardonnay suffers from an image problem that was introduced by the oaky Chardonnays of the 1990s. Many people still label themselves as ABCs (Anything But Chardonnays), but it’s time for that to end! Chardonnay is known as the “tart of grapes” because it can be made in any style you want – varying from earthy to fruity and from light to rich. In Burgundy and Italy Chardonnay wines tend to be earthy, and in the New World they tend to be fruity. I have chosen here to three quite different Chardonnays: from France, Spain and Mexico.


Florent Rouve Viré-Cléssé, Chardonnay, Burgundy, France
A crisp yet rounded dry white with peach, honeysuckle and citrus aromas followed by expressive fruit and mineral flavours. Enjoy this delicately oaked chardonnay lightly chilled with meaty white fish in cream sauces or chicken with wild mushrooms. This wine won best supermarket Chardonnay under £15 by Decanter 2016.
From M&S £14.50

Paso Prima Blanco, Chardonnay, Somontano, Spain
Paso Prima is 100% Chardonnay in a fruity style, so should even appeal to ABCs (Anything But Chardonnay). This wine is full-bodied, rich with pineapple and mango, and a lime finish. It has been lightly oaked, giving it a slight nutty characteristic, and has a beautiful creamy texture. Very drinkable!
From Tanners £11.95

Quetzal, Chardonnay / Chenin Blanc, Valle de Guadalupe, Mexico

Although Mexico has a hot climate, Valle de Guadalupe, just above the 30º latitude line, has a Mediterranean climate and is known as the ‘Napa Valley of Mexico’. This wine is heady with lemongrass, lime and a an oily texture, with a salty finish. In parts of Mexico, grapes are grown at high altitude to combat the heat.

From M&S £9.00

Cabernet Sauvignon

Cabernet Sauvignon from the Old World has more herbal and floral flavours such as violets and tobacco with less fruit present. A Bordeaux (Cab Sav / Merlot blend), will usually have hints of black cherries and liquorice along with some earthiness. Cab Sav from the New World are often more fruit-forward and you can also taste black cherry and liquorice, but this time with spicy black pepper and vanilla. The New World wines tend to have a little bit less tannin and acidity, and have more alcohol, due to greater sunshine hours.

Chateau Tour de Pez, Saint-Estephe, Bordeaux, France, 2011

Bordeaux is split into Left-Bank and Right-Bank. Left-Bank is closer to the Atlantic where Cabernet Sauvignon grows well, and Merlot thrives on the right-Bank. This luscious wine, although from the Left Bank is Merlot-rich, making it easy-drinking and ready to drink now. This particular vintage is a steal at <£10 from Aldi, when typically this wine would cost £20+.

From Aldi £9.99

A Tavola! Cabernat Suavingon, Lodi, California, USA

A full-bodied and rich wines, as you would expect from a Cab Sav but surprisingly fruity in style. This Californian Cabernet Sauvignon by director Francis Ford Coppola may have celebrity status, which might put some people off, but it certainly deserves the red carpet. Juicy dark fruts with buttered toast to finish.

From Laithwaites £15.99

Berton Vineyard, Reserve, Cabernet Sauvignon, Coonawarra, Australia

Coonawarra in South Australia is just about the best region for New World Cab Sav, known for growing grapes on its strip of “terra rossa” soil. The 2014 vintage was rated as the best New World Cab Sav in Decanter magazine April 2017. Cherries and fresh blackberries with firm tannins and a lovely long length.

From wine-discovery.co.uk £14.75

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We hope you enjoy our recommendations, and please do let us know what you think on our Princess and the Pinot Facebook Page or on Twitter @HYOwineclub #HYOwineclub. To find out more about HYO wine club please visit www.princessandthepinot.com/hyo-club and we look forward to hearing from you!

We cannot guarantee availability and prices of wines at retailers, please check retailer websites for details.

Affordable Australian Wines

Australia is one of the biggest wine producers in the world (5th in 2017) and there are a lot of affordable Aussie wines on the shelves, so which ones to choose? These are the wines I served at Charvil Wine Club for Australia Day. Some of these wines feature at my pop up wine bar in Marlow Buckinghamshire. To find out mroe about my pop up wine bars in Bucks and Berks click here.

Image from Italian Wine Central

It's good to start by looking at which wines are typically produced in which region to get a taste for the different styles, then once you find a style you like to explore the same grapes from different regions, or other wines from the same producer.

Image from Wine Folly

Chardonnay and Semillon are Australia's most widely produced white wines. Semillon is the iconic wine of Hunter Valley, which is two hours drive north of Sydney in NSW. Semillon in the Hunter  Valley is harvested early with low sugar levels (resulting in low alcohol) and low acidity. The wines are almost neutral in flavour when first bottled, but then develop honey and toast with bottle age. This Lindemans shows gooseberry and lemon zest aromas, with a subtle honeyed finish. Lindemans Bin 1355, Semillon, Hunter Valley, Australia, 2013, 10.5% Waitrose £9.99.

Over-oaked Aussie Chardonnay is what led to the ABC (Anything But Chardonnay) trend. Those days are mostly gone and wineries are now producing elegant Chardonnays like this one. It has light oak in it, detected by the vanilla note, and the lemon and pear aromas balance the wine nicely, with a hazelnut finish. Daydream, De Bortoli, Chardonnay, Yarra Valley, Australia, 2014, 12.5% Waitrose £9.99

Australia is known for its diveristy, so be brave to try something atypical. A full-bodied, aromatic unoaked white wine, with lovely peach, tangerine and honeysuckle flavours. You may notice an oily sensation on your tongue, which is common with this grape. It has quite a high alcohol content because the grapes are left on the vine longer to ensure they achieve their heady aromas. A vegan wine. Yalumba, Organic Viognier, South Australia, 2016, 13.5% Wine Rack £11.99

Eden Valley is known for minerally and dry Rieslings; Clare Valley is known for rich Rieslings, and this certainly is rich. Zingy citrus fruit, lime and a hint of petrol on the finish. Many Rieslings are off-dry like this one. However, its acidity is so high that without doing a sweetness test (dipping the tip of your tongue into the wine) you may not have detected the residual sugar. Baily & Baily, Folio, Riesling, Clare Valley, Australia, 2015, 11.5% Waitrose £8.49

Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon are the most planted red grape varieties in Australia. It's a great idea to try wines from different regions and at different price points. For example, if oak is used in the wine-making the wine will be more epxensive, so if you don't like the flavours imparted by oak (vanilla, caramel) then you'll be satsified by a cheaper wine. If you want full-bodied and juicy go for Shiraz from McLaren Vale or Barossa, but if you want something fresher and more like a French Syrah (same grape as Shiraz) then go for one from Victoria.

Dark purple colour. Blueberry, black cherry, and black pepper, with hints of cocoa. The cool climate of the Grampians in Victoria allows this wine to develop more savoury characteristics. Shiraz from the Grampians is known for being peppery, and is often sourced for sparkling red wine production. A great value wine. Mount Langi Ghiran, Hollows Shiraz, Victoria, 2013, 14% Wine Rack £6.99

Black and silky, aged in new American oak with a long velvety finish. Blackcurrant jam, sweet spices, vanilla and coconut. A long finish, which means you are likely to drink it less quickly, and a bottle should last longer. Vegetarian and organic, made with minimal interference. IWC Gold and Decanter Silver medal winner. The Hedonist, Shiraz, McLaren Vale, Australia, 2014, 14% Wine Rack £15.49 THIS IS ONE OF MY FAVOURITE WINES

Cabernet Sauvignon wines from South Australia are fruit-forward, whereas Margaret River in Western Australia has a maritime climate similar to Bordeaux, so produces wines with more earthiness. 

Blackcurrant, cherry, liquorice, a hint of black olive and a savoury earthiness. An easy-drinking wine. The generous addition of Merlot (and a tiny drop of Malbec and of Petit Verdot) has softened the tannic structure of the Cabernet Sauvignon, making it a smoother, more approachable wine than Cab Savs from South Eastern Australia. Vasse Felix, Filius, Cabernet Merlot, Margaret River, Australia, 2015, 13.5% Waitrose £12.99

Coonawarra in South Australia is just about the best region for New World Cab Sav, known for growing grapes on its strip of ‘terra rossa’ soil. The 2014 vintage was rated as the best New World Cab Sav in Decanter magazine April 2017. Cherries and fresh blackberries with firm tannins and a lovely long length. Berton Vineyard, Reserve, Cab Sav, Coonawarra, Australia, 2013, 14.5% Wine-discovery.co.uk £14.75

Once you've tried the typical wines of Australia, try something different, like these wines from RedHeads. RedHeads is a kind of movement in winemaking. This team of dedicated winemakers scour Aussie vineyards to find spectacular parcels of grapes and blend them into outstanding wines.  They work in a small shed in McLaren Vale to make limited releases of wines that are great value for money. They are not tied to their own vineyards so they can make wine from the best grapes each year. If you find a RedHeads wine you like buy it quickly as they may not make it again next year. The Coco Rotie is a take on Cote Rotie, the Vinatus is copying the Rioja blend, and Nobs and Snobs is a Cab Sav / Malbec blend. You can buy RedHeads wines from Laithwaites.

  

And if you want to try something truly remarkable, go for this Aussie version of a Port (it can't be called a Port because its not from Portugal) by Penfolds, also available from Laithwaites.

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Fruity Chardonnay Wine Flight

Chardonnay suffers from an image problem that was introduced by the oaky Chardonnays of the 1990s. Many people still label themselves as ABCs (Anything But Chardonnays), but it’s time for that to end. Chardonnay is known as the ‘tart of grapes’ because it can be made in any style you want – varying from earthy to fruity and from light to rich. In Burgundy and Italy Chardonnay wines tend to be earthy, and in the New World they tend to be fruity. I have chosen here to showcase three fruity Chardonnays that are quite different in style yet none have the overpowering over-oaked flavours that you might fear.

Emmanuel Delaille, Sauvignon Blanc / Chardonnay, Cheverny, France, 2015, 12.5%
This wine uses zesty notes of Sauvignon Blanc to balance the Chardonnay. Often blending
Chardonnay with another grape varietal, such as Sauvignon Blanc, Sémillon, or Colombard will
move the focus away from the Chardonnay grape, making it appealing to more people. This light
wine has aromas of gooseberry, cut grass and guava and would partner well with a grilled chicken, spinach and feta salad.
Available from Wine Rack £9.99

Peach Garden, Chardonnay, Thracian Lowlands, Bulgaria, 2015, 12.5%
Chardonnays from newer regions, such as Chile, Bulgaria, and Oregon tend to be made in a fruity style, with light oak. This wine is a crisp Chardonnay with citrus and warm peach and hazelnut notes, subtly oaked to give texture and depth. Partner with roast chicken, baked fish and summer salads.
Available from M&S £7.50

Maggio, Chardonnay, Lodi, USA, 2015, 13.5%
This wine has gone through malolactic fermentation, a process that turns the green/citrus malic
acid into creamy lactic acid flavour compounds to produce a buttery full-bodied Chardonnay. Ripe
tropical fruit aromas combined with hints of vanilla on the nose, with butterscotch flavours and a long
finish. Best served with pumpkin ravioli with toasted pine nuts, or cajun chicken.
Available from Wine Discovery, www.wine-discovery.co.uk £13

To find out more about Princess and the Pinot and our pop-up wine bars please visit www.princessandthepinot.com

How can you tell which grapes are in French wines?

So I am given a glass of a light red wine, and before tasting "It's pinot noir!" I exclaim. "No, it isn't" my friend replies, with the knowledge of having chosen it for me to blind taste as practice for my WSET Advanced course.

"Oh, well what is it..." I ponder. Right, lets do this properly.
Appearance: light intensity, ruby, clear, med legs.
Nose: Clean, med+ intensity, developed.
Aromas: raspberry, cherry, plum, strawberry, rosehip, strawberry sweets, cherry jolly rancher.
Mouth: low intensity, dry, low acidity, low tannin, light body, medium alcohol
Flavours: strawberry, cherry, plum.
Quality: short length, acceptable quality, drink now not for ageing, inexpensive.

OK, so its not pinot noir... grenache? a rubbish pinotage? sangiovese? none of them make sense.

What is it? Roncier Burgundy 12.5% Vin de France. Ah! An understandable mistake - my friend doesn't realise that Burgundy is pinot noir, "it doesn't say it on the label". One of the "tricks" about French wine is that they expect you to know whats in the bottle from the minimal labelling terms they use. This is a common mistake.

As a basic rule of thumb:
Burgundy red = pinot noir
Burgundy white = chardonnay
Chablis = chardonnay
Beaujolais = gamay
Rhone red = syrah (aka Shiraz)
Bordeaux red = cabernet sauvignon and merlot
Loire white = chenin blanc or sauvignon blanc

Hope that helps!
Let me know if you need to know others and I'll put together a more comprehensive list.

Tasting practice for WSET Advanced #1

I have just started my WSET Advanced and I'm super excited!! There is a lot more work with this level than the Intermediate, and rightly so, but after Class 1 it is a little daunting. The tasting is more sophisticated and the book twice as thick, I need to get studying... and that means drinking, ahem, I mean tasting wines too.

Badger is my initial support group (until I find others), and he has set me the task of tasting one white and one red per week without knowing what it is, so I can practice. This is what I tasted today:

Medium intensity, lemon yellow, clear  appearance.
Nose: Clean, lemon rind, yellow apples, honey, blossom, sand, I'm getting something oakey but can't put my finger on it... maybe its not oak, maybe its tropical fruits instead, yes mango and passion fruit.
Mouth: medium- acidity, medium+ body, dry, medium+ alcohol, pronounced, but short length.
I'm getting golden delicious apples, mango, papaya, passion fruit,almond  skin, apple juice from concentrate, honeycomb.
Quality: Acceptable, mid-low price (I haven't yet learned the correct terminology and I'm doing this blind) so I'd guess £8-11, definitely Chardonnay (I got that from the first sniff), from Chile... wait, no Central Valley California.

Right, what is it?
Hahn winery, Chardonnay from Monterey 2012, 14.5% and £14.

Blimey! Not bad for a first go, I'm not as rusty as I thought. Now, i would tell you what I got wrong or what I missed, but I need to move on to the red. Good game, good game.

The difference between Champagne and other sparkling wines

The main difference is where its from, but also the grape varieties used, and the method by which bubbles are put into the wine.

Champagne is from Reims (pronounced "Rams" but with a rolling 'R' and silent 'm' and 's') and Epernay in Northern France, and can only be labelled as such if its from the AC region. Only three grape varieties are permitted to be used in Champagne: Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier,and Chardonnay. The Pinot Noir adds structure and weight to the wine, Cardonnay brings finesse and elegance, and the Pinot Meunier provides the fruit. A 'Blanc de Blancs' is a Champagne made only from Chardonnay (white) grapes, and a 'Blanc de Noirs' is only made from the black grapes (Pinot Noir and Meunier). Even though red grapes are used for making Champagne, it is white because the skins are removed before pressing. It is very important not to break the skins while picking the grapes, so must be picked by hand which adds to the cost of the wine. Champagnes is the only AOC in France that allows mixing red and white wine to make rose (rather than maceration of red skins in the fermentation process. Champagne is dry with high acidity, medium body, and light alcohol. Its character is green and citrus fruit, which can be accompanied by autolytic flavours (biscuit and toast). 'Cuvee' will mean the house blend, which will taste the same year on year and comes from a mixture of grapes from a mixture of years, whereas 'Vintage' will mean all the grapes come from the same year and will only be produced in very good years. Vintages 2002 and 2007, particularly the former, should be bought now.

The Champagne Method (for a bottle to be labelled 'Champagne' it has to be done this way) is a double fermentation in the bottle, where the second fermentation follows disgorging (where the yeast from the first fermentation is removed by freezing the neck of the bottle, opening it and allowing the pressure of the CO2 to pop out the yeast) and dosage (topping up the bottle with wine and sugar). Other regions, such as Cava, use this method but must call it the Traditional or Classic method.

Cava is found in North-East Spain and uses local Spanish grapes and uses the Traditional Method. Cava has lower acidity than Champagne, because it comes from a warmer climate, so can taste a bit musty with its neutral fruit and sometimes pear flavours.

Cremant also uses the Traditional Method, but comes from Saumur in the Loire valley and is made from Chenin Blanc grapes. Cremant tastes very similar to Champagne and is a great alternative for getting the autolytic flavours (toast, biscuit) that Champagne is known for. It too has high acidity and green and citrus fruit flavours.

The Tank Method is used for making Prosecco, Asti and Sekt. Here, after the first fermentation, the base wine is sealed in a tank under pressure and dissolved CO2 causes the wine to bubble when opened. This method produces a more fruity sparkling wine.

Prosecco comes from North-East Italy and uses the Glera grape. It has medium body, is dry or off-dry and has stone fruit flavours. The best Prosecco comes from Conegliano-Valdobbiadene DOCG. 'Spumante' means it is fully sparkling and 'Frizzante' means lightly sparkling.

Asti DOCG comes from Piemonte in Italy and uses the Muscat grape. This is a sweet wine with light body and peach and rose flavours. Asti is fully sparkling, but Moscato d'Asti has a light sparkle.

Sekt is the German word for sparkling wine. It is simple and inexpensive. Its character is medium-dry or dry, with light body and s floral and fruity.

English Sparkling wine can be very similar to Champagne, because they use the same grape varieties, and the grapes experience the same climate and soil conditions as in Reims. This is a growing industry with Nyetimber (my favourite), Chapel Down and Ridgeview being the biggest production houses. These houses are very protective of their wine, and Nyetimber didn't produce any 2012 vintage because the wine wasn't good enough. I'm pretty sure they must have sold their wine to other producers though, I'd guess to supermarkets, otherwise it'd be a waste and increase the price of their other vintages considerably.

You can also get sparkling wine in other regions of the world, with Australia producing a lot (French Champagne is too expensive to import), and they even experiment with Sparkling red wine, like a sparkling Shiraz, which can be sweet, but some producers make their dry, giving an interesting alternative to sparkling white and rose.

My advice is to try them all, see what characteristics you prefer and then go on taste rather than reputation. Let's not be snobby, lets just drink wine we like. My pick is Espa, always a winner and I'm helping the UK wine industry to grow.

Please drink responsibly!

Burgundy basics

I had a great time at the Burgundy wine evening at The Dorchester, and it made me realise that there really is a lot to learn about the region (Bourgogne in French). I thought I'd share the basics. Picking a Burgundy wine that you know you'll like can be very difficult, so hopefully this will help.

A white Burgundy is normally made with Chardonnay (if it's not 100% Chardonnay it will say so on the label) and a red Burgundy is normally a Pinot Noir (and sometimes also Gamay, although this is usually found in Beaujolais, and has been banned from Northern Burgundy).

Chardonnay can be affected by many factors (its know as the tart of grapes), it can take on character of the earth it is grown on (also known as terroir), and its flavour can change through techniques like aging in oak and malolactic fermentation (which creates the creamy, buttery flavour), which means it can vary greatly.

Pinot Noir is a light red wine with low tannin and red fruit flavours. If you're not keen on red wines that dry out your mouth, stick to Pinot Noir (or a Beaujolais). Pinot Noir is very difficult to grow, it requires specific growing conditions, so it can be temperamental, and a good one hard to find.

Another difficulty with Burgundy is that it is divided up into many small plots due to the Napoleonic law, where a vineyard is split up into equal parts to the owner's offspring when they die, which still continues today (unless the vineyard is owned by a company). This means that there are many producers all trying to make their mark in an overcrowded marketplace. Plus wines from Burgundy villages can sell for a higher price even if they're rubbish wine, just because of the name.

TIP OF THE WEEK:
My WSET instructor taught me that finding a good burgundy is like kissing a lot of frogs to find your prince. And they can be expensive frogs. The trick is to learn by producer, once you find one you like, you'll probably like other wines they make.

What to choose:

• If you like light and mineral whites, choose a Petit Chablis (cheaper than a Chablis but still very good)
• If you like a bit more body in your whites go for Cote de Beaune (Mersault is my favourite but can be pricey)
• If you prefer tropical fruit flavours try Macon (good tip is Les Enseigneres, a cheaper version of Montrachet)
• For reds, I would go for Cote de Nuits every time

Dorchester Burgundy Wine Evening

With Ronan Sayburn and Gearoid Devaney

I love going to wine tastings, I love to see how different people/places pitch themselves, and at what level. So should you bother going to the Dorchester wine evenings? I think if you know quite a bit about wine, and want some more technical info, if you want to learn about the region and varieties, while being served high quality wines, and lots of them, for £39 then this is a great call! It is quite a formal atmosphere, which you'd expect from the Dorchester.

At the Burgundy evening we tasted 11 wines, and canapes were served (although rather high end - smoked salmon and foie gras isn't to my taste, so I stuck to crackers). Maps, geology and history lessons pursued, which were very interesting, but did mean the tastings were a little rushed. It was wonderful tasting wines side by side, but it became difficult to keep track of which were which (perhaps a tasting mat would have helped). I think also being in a spacious suite meant people started their own conversations and lost the thread of the tasting. Above all, however, I was very impressed by the quality of the wines that were presented, and that the presentation was delivered by two highly renowned Master Sommeliers, who clearly knew their stuff. Plus there was no hard sell, the purpose of the evening for them is for us to taste and learn, and create a more positive association of The Dorchester with good quality wines.

This one is very good value for money, so I recommend you go soon before they increase the price, which they no doubt will once this tasting evening becomes established. Maybe I'll see you at the Californian session.
http://www.thedorchester.com/wine-events

So what do I think about Bulgarian chardonnay?

Peach Garden 2011 12% from M&S <£10 Bulgaria

I've not tried much Bulgarian wine before, if at all, but I have been keeping an eye out for more unusual wines on the high street, and when I saw this in M&S I had to buy it!

Well, the flavours are nice, warm fruit, white peach, lychee, is that chamomile? There is a slight bitterness - walnut? No, hazelnut. And very strangely (maybe this is a feature of Bulgarian wine) I taste no apple. They say, if you ever go to a wine tasting and the instructor asks what you can taste in a white wine you should say apple, because there's always apple. Not in this one!

It's very light. And when I say light I don't mean what the label means by "light" (not much flavour, could be a little acidic), it almost flutters on your tongue.

It's short in length,probably due to its low acidity (note: Acidity prolongs the flavour in your mouth because your mouth produces saliva that keeps the taste going for longer).

This wine makes me feel very tall (and I'm not even wearing heels today, wearing wellies for the snow!), like you're reaching for the sun in the sky. Feels like wearing stilts - really enjoying yourself, but it doesn't feel quite right.

This is a great wine to try if you're an ABC (anything but chardonnay).

Nyetimber Blanc de Blancs 2001

Badger and I couldn't decide between the Nyetimber Classic Cuvee and the Blanc de Blancs. So we bought both and decided to compare. However, he thought it too extravagant to drink two bottles of bubbles in one sitting, so here are my notes for the Blanc de Blancs.

Absolutely delicious, very appley and lemoney, lots of flavour and colour. A hint of elderflower (I wonder if this has come from the terroir - the english countryside). Its a clean and rewarding bubble. I envisage the moment when you've finished cleaning the kitchen with a fresh citrus smell, no greasy marks and its time to reward yourself. This is the perfect reward.

Blanc de blancs is a term used for Champagne that only uses the Chardonnay grape. It tastes like a Chablis with sparkle. A Cuvee will use a mix of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier, the three grape varietals allowed in Champagne.

Nyetimber has an award winning sparkling wine from Sussex that I highly recommend. The down side to it being so good is that it costs as much as Champagne. Friends of mine prefer this as it has less of the oak/butter/nut/vanilla flavours of Champagne,making it lighter, easy to drink and very refreshing. If you prefer Prosecco to Champagne, but would like more intensity, try English bubbles! But don't skimp on price or you'll never return to English.

Challenger wine #3

Domaine de Mercey Bourgogne Hautes Cotes de Baunes 100% Chardonnay 2005 12.5%

Oh my, I was excited to tickle my tastebuds with this wine, Glancing at the label I thought "Badger has done well, he's charged in with a Cotes de Baunes". I was preparing for the buttery, French oaked deliciousness, and was begrudgingly expecting to give a high score for this wine. But what I failed to notice was that this is a Nuits-Saint-Georges, which is more well-known for its Pinots. It's further South that the produces the white Burgundies I love.

I was disappointed to find that although this wine has great body (mouthfeel), it lacks depth. I would class it more as elegant, fragile even, my new description as "glassy". It's very drinkable, and its lack of length means you gulp it down rather quickly I'm afraid. But actually quite a good Chardonnay for my ABC friends. Good to try if you normally prefer Sav Blancs and would like to like Chardy.

Badger and I agreed it deserves a 4 for its great Quality, but neither of us would buy it again unless it was less than a tenner, so it gets a 3 for Niceness. So Badger's second wine scores 7/10 - not bad, although we both expected more from a Cote de Baunes.

Luis Felipe Edwards Chardonnay Casablanca 2011 (Price: 0)

What a fantastic find! This creamy chardonnay with low acidity comes from a warm climate and it has a warming in the throat from the high alcohol level (14%), but is completely different from what you might know from a French or an Australian chardonnay. Currently available from Majestic Wine for £6.99. Proper bargain. And a great buy for ABCs. Seriously, try it.

Its a delight on the nose and on the tongue, it has a fragrant sweetness with flavours of banana, butterscotch and caramel. It's fun, something you don't come across very often. It takes me to the funfair, when you try new things and there are sweet smells in the air. It's playful, like long blonde curly hair with ribbons.