Reviews
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Tenuta Sant’Antonio Scaia Rossa Corvina
This is the last, and best, of a few wines I bought on a recent trip to Lombardy. Although Lombardy has plenty of its own wines, it also seems to be flooded with bottles from neighbouring Veneto. Scaia Rossa is a Veneto IGT wine from Tenuta Sant’Antonio, whose vineyards lie between Soave and Valpolicella. The name “Scaia” is a Venetian dialect word meaning a flake of stone, chalk or limestone. The Scaia project was launched in 2006, with the aim of creating wines in a modern style, outside the restrictions of the denomination system. It cannot be labelled Valpolicella DOC…
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Melpo Valley of the Muses Rosé
This is a Rosé, 2024 vintage, from Mount Helicon near Athens in Greece, made from a blend of Syrah and the lemony freshness of Greece’s pink-skinned Roditis Alepou variety. It is a deep dark orange, which immediately sets it apart. At 12.5% abv, it feels nicely balanced rather than heavy. There are red fruit aromas, followed by a full strawberry taste and slight lemon that makes it instantly likeable. The texture is excellent, full-bodied for a rosé, soft and round, with a generosity you do not find in lighter Provence-style bottles. It seemed slightly sweet at first, but testing proved…
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The Society’s Exhibition “Selección Especial” Rioja Reserva
I first came across this wine at The Society’s recent press tasting, when it was such a new vintage that it did not yet have a label. Wines without labels always make me wonder whether they will feel quite the same once they are actually on sale. For me, this was one of the best wines in the tasting, so I had to give it another try now that it is generally available. First of all, it comes from La Rioja Alta, one of the names best known for traditional, age-worthy Rioja wines, and widely considered one of Rioja’s classic…
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Carpineto Rosso di Montepulciano
A slightly different review this time, more of a lesson learned than a straight write-up. I picked up this Carpineto Rosso di Montepulciano recently while in Italy, the 2022 vintage. Carpineto is a Tuscan producer founded in 1967 in Dudda, Greve in Chianti. This wine comes from Montepulciano in the province of Siena, under the Rosso di Montepulciano DOC appellation. (It has absolutely nothing to do with Montepulciano d’Abruzzo.) It is a blend of mainly Sangiovese, known locally as Prugnolo Gentile, with Canaiolo. I looked it up while I was in the Italian shop and it seemed very well rated,…
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Jam Shed Dark Jam
Jam Shed have sent me their newest innovation, Dark Jam. Jam Shed has established itself as a top 10 brand according to Nielsen and while it might be put down by serious wine drinkers, it is impossible to ignore, especially as this one promises a deeper, more indulgent style of wine. The label says it is bolder and richer. It forms part of a new premium tier designed to deliver bolder expressions and more innovative flavours. It has also been developed to drive value growth as a clear trade-up option. Enough of the marketing, though, what is it actually like?…
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Montgras De Vine Reserva Carménère
Montgras De Vine Reserva Carménère comes from Chile’s Colchagua Valley and is made with 100% Carménère grapes, sitting at 13% abv. This 2023 vintage opens with smoky and cherry aromas, then moves into black fruit flavours with a medium to full-bodied feel. It is smooth yet light, very easy drinking, with low tannins and a dry to off-dry character. The finish brings a subtle coffee edge, which adds a nice little twist. It seemed even more smoky the day after opening. Great quality for the price, usually £9.75 from Waitrose, but on offer for £7.75 as I wrote this.
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Montecastro Reserva Ribera del Duero
Montecastro Reserva Ribera del Duero 2020 is made from 95% Tempranillo and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon, with oak ageing in the mix. It has a high Vivino score of 4.1, Parker gives it 93 points, and Tim Atkin also scores it 93. I had the decanter ready, fully expecting this to be tannic and heavily oaked, as so many Ribera del Duero wines can be, but this one took me by surprise. It wasn’t like that at all. There’s oak there, certainly, along with a strawberry aroma. On tasting, it comes across as robust, dry, mouth-coating and very fruity. It feels…
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Costellore Prosecco
I picked up this wine as Aldi’s ‘Wine of the Week’, and at a sort of giveaway price it felt very much like a bottle designed to get people through the doors There’s no vintage and no mention of the producer, so I did not expect much, but it turned out to be a pleasant surprise. The producer code, IT/VI/4816, seems to point towards Cantina di Soave / Cadis 1898, a name associated with high price ‘Maximilian I’ Prosecco. Extra Dry is actually sweeter than Brut, which is a bit confusing because “extra dry” sounds as though it should be…
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La Belle Angèle Sauvignon Blanc
La Belle Angèle Sauvignon Blanc comes with an elegant label featuring La Belle Angèle, the beautiful muse of the French Impressionists. It is a blend of Sauvignon Blanc from a number of areas, from the 2025 vintage, with a gentle 12% ABV. In the glass, it has a light gold colour. Served cold, it brings a gooseberry character in both aroma and flavour, fresh and lively. As it warms up, a greener nettle aroma starts to come through, while the flavour shifts towards citrus and a less sweet style of gooseberry. There is a pleasing mouthfeel too, helped along by…
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Delibori Valpolicella Ripasso Classico Superiore
Delibori Valpolicella Ripasso Classico Superiore is the first of a few wines I bought on a recent trip to the Lombardy region of Italy. Lombardy seems flooded with Valpolicella in restaurants, bars and supermarkets, even though it is not actually from Lombardy, but from neighbouring Veneto. Let’s unpick the name of the wine. “Valpolicella” is the wine region, near Verona. “Ripasso” means the wine has been passed again over the leftover grape skins and solids from Amarone or Recioto production. This gives a standard Valpolicella more body, alcohol, colour, tannin and dried-fruit complexity. “Classico” means the grapes come from the…
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Les Jamelles Viognier
Les Jamelles Viognier is produced by Catherine and Laurent Delaunay. The brand was created in 1995 after the couple, both from Burgundian wine backgrounds, became fascinated by the Languedoc’s diversity of terroirs and grape varieties. The winery is based at Monze, in the Corbières area near Carcassonne. This is 100% Viognier, 12.5% alcohol, from the 2024 vintage. In the glass it has a bright yellow colour. Give it a little warmth before drinking, at least 20 minutes, as it really opens up once it is not too cold. There is an intense aroma of apricot and floral character, followed by…
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JP Chenet Colombard Sauvignon
JP Chenet Colombard Sauvignon comes from South-Western France, with a fairly gentle 11% alcohol, from the 2025 vintage. The 3l box is the equivalent of four bottles, in a fridge-friendly format. When it is properly cold, this is really citrusy, almost like a citrus wine, both in the aromatics and, even more so, in the taste. Give it a little time to warm up and it softens nicely, bringing in pear, a bit more sweetness, better length, and a slight tropical twist. It is medium sweet, and for me that means the first taste is great, bright, easy and very…
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Calvet Prestige Sauvignon Blanc Cuvée Fumée
Calvet Prestige Sauvignon Blanc Cuvée Fumée comes from Bordeaux, and Calvet is part of the large Les Grands Chais de France (LGCF) group. The Prestige name was chosen in honour of the very select “Diplôme du Prestige de France”, awarded to Maison Calvet in 1958. Cuvée Fumée is the key phrase here. “Fumée” means “smoked” or “smoky” in French, so “Cuvée Fumée” on a wine label generally translates as a “smoky blend”, although the back label describes it as fresh and oaky. The 2023 vintage comes in at 12% ABV and is made from 100% Sauvignon Blanc. In the glass…
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Cepa Lebrel Crianza
I first came across and recommended this wine at a Lidl press tasting and wanted to try it again in a less rushed setting. The striking thing at that time was how great it was for just £5.79. It is 100% Tempranillo, from the 2022 vintage, with a punchy 15% ABV. Cepa Lebrel is Lidl’s white label brand and the name is used across a range of producers. Even so, there is some real provenance here. The actual producer is Bodegas Isidro Milagro. A big part of the low price comes from the fact that the producer is owned by…
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Petit Pinotage
This wine came to me by accident, it should have been Petit Cabernet Sauvignon, but here is the review anyway. It is from Ken Forrester Wines, right in the heart of Stellenbosch and this is the 2023 vintage. It comes in at a punchy 14%, yet still has an easy-drinking style, which explains the “Petit” in the name. In this case, “Petit” points to a lighter, fresher take on Pinotage, and that is also why it is unoaked. I would give this one 30 minutes to air before drinking. In the glass, it has a deep ruby-purple colour. On the…
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Rapaura Springs Sauvignon Blanc White Edition
Rapaura Springs Sauvignon Blanc White Edition is new and exclusive to Majestic, from one of Marlborough’s most awarded Sauvignon Blanc producers. The symbol on every Rapaura Springs label is a circle of rocks, representing the pure spring in the vineyard. The brand name and label are designed to express the estate’s connection to water flowing from the Southern Alps through underground aquifers into the Rapaura property. Having just tried the excellent Rapaura Springs ‘ROHE’ Sauvignon Blanc at the Majestic press tasting, I was curious to see how this one would compare. This one comes in at 13% ABV and is…
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Vagabond London Victoria
In early April 2026, my wife and I visited Vagabond in London as part of a birthday celebration. This is more of a mini-review of the venue itself than of the individual wines. Vagabond, now owned by Majestic, is a chain of wine bars offering more than 100 self-serve wines by the glass. The system is simple: you choose your serving size, either a small 25ml sample or a full glass, tap your credit card and press again to pour. We went to the London Victoria branch at lunchtime and were impressed by the wine selection. One of the best…
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Kew Gardens Albillo
Kew Gardens Albillo is by Raices Albillo from Spain’s Castilla y Leon wine region, made from the rare Albillo grape, often referred to as white Tempranillo. This is the 2024 vintage, sitting at 12.3%. In the glass it has a very light colour, almost clear. The aroma brings ripe pear and a floral lift, vibrant and bright, much like the bottle label itself. On the way through there is a strong pear character, with a slight Muscadet-like leesy feel at the centre from six months of lees ageing, then a zesty lime citrus finish with a touch of salinity. It…
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Opi Malbec
Opi Malbec comes from Mendoza and was named ‘Best Malbec of Argentina’ on its debut vintage in 2008. It is made by Opi Sadler, ‘The Malbec Magician’, as his fellow Argentine winemakers call him. In U.S. direct-wine channels, the same line is often sold as J Opi Malbec. It is 100% Malbec, with brief oak ageing, from the 2025 vintage and sits at 12.5% abv. In the glass, the colour is a deep purple. The aroma brings black plum, blackberry, violets, oak, a slightly smoky edge and a touch of treacle toffee. On the taste, you get dark fruit, smoke…
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The Best Organic Montepulciano d’Abruzzo
This has been a long-time favourite of mine. At the last Morrisons press tasting, I found that the 2024 vintage was even better than usual and it ended up being my favourite red of the whole tasting. More recently, I had to try it again when I saw it on offer, just to check it was still as good as it had seemed at the tasting. It is made by Citra Vini from 100% Montepulciano grapes. Citra Vini is the largest wine-growing cooperative in Abruzzo, made up of around 5,000 family-run vineyards. The cooperative has also ranked among the world’s…
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Did You Know?
Rías Baixas wines reached more than 107 countries in 2025 and exports represented 31 per cent of the denomination’s total sales. More
Light Strike Can Cause Wine Degradation in Just One Day. More
People actively adjust their wine choices depending on who might see them. More
In the UK, 73% of Alcohol is Bought From Retail Rather Than Hospitality. More
UK wine production reached 124,377 hectolitres that year, meaning the UK accounted for roughly 0.05 per cent of world output. More
For Crémant, grapes must be harvested by hand and the wines must undergo at least nine months’ ageing before release. More
In 2024, the UK was the second-largest export market for Champagne globally, after the United States. More
Local UK bottling of wine represents about 40% of imported wine. More
Around 1% of people, typically severe asthmatics, have a sulphite sensitivity. More
A large 80% of Australian wine arrives in the UK in bulk. More
Only about 0.02% of Australia’s landmass is dedicated to vineyards. More
In 2024, New Zealand produced only 1% of the World’s wine. More
In 2024, the US imported 37% of World production of Pinot Grigio and the UK was is in second place at 27%. More
In 2024, the UK was South Africa’s largest export market, with 40% of total exports. More
In 2024, the United Kingdom imported 22.3 million bottles of Champagne, a decline of 12.7% compared to the previous year. More
Larger Champagne producers source grapes from as many as 80 different vineyards throughout Champagne. More
Champagne houses and growers collectively produce around 300 million bottles annually. More
In 2025, the Champagne region was home to about 2,124 Champagne houses and approximately 19,000 growers. More
Provence is one of the leaders in the conversion to organic viticulture, with 61% of vineyards certified. More
8% of the South Africa’s grape production is Fairtrade-certified. More
Up to 80% of wine aroma compounds come from grape skins. More
Glycerol is the third-largest component of most dry wines after water and alcohol which is why they so often feel ‘smooth’ or ‘silky’ in the mouth. More
Humans are more than 400 times more sensitive to bitter than sweet. More
Humans can detect the earthy molecule geosmin at about 100 parts per trillion and camels are so sensitive to it they can locate damp ground from roughly 50 miles away. More
During the phylloxera crisis of the nineteenth century, 90% of Europe’s vineyards were destroyed. More
In 2025, for La Vieille Ferme, also known as “The Chicken Wine”, sales surged by 49.4% to £110.8 million. More
In 2025, in the UK, Yellow Tail held the top position with sales, marking a 9.8% increase over the previous year. More
In 2024, the UK was the second-largest wine importer in volume and value. More
In 2024, the UK was the fifth-largest wine-consuming country globally. More
In 2025, global wine consumption continued its downward trend, estimated at 214.2 million hectolitres, the lowest since 1961. More
In 2025, online alcohol sales had a 20% increase in value over five years. More
In 2025, the number of UK vineyards rose to 1,104 and wineries to 238, with land under vine expanding to 4,841 hectares, a 510% increase since 2005. More
Moët Hennessy alone commands nearly 46.66% of the Champagne market, with the top three producers together holding about 61%, and the top five controlling over 72%. More
In 2024, the Champagne market was worth roughly €3.92 billion. More
In the marketing year 2023/24, white wine accounted for roughly 55% of Spain’s output, whereas red and rosé together made up about 45%. More
In the UK, 92% of wine is consumed within 48hrs of purchase. More
The majority of wines, 95%, use commercial rather than wild yeast. More
Between 0.5 and 10 litres of water, per litre of wine, are needed for cleaning during winemaking. More
Machine harvesting can achieve up to 100 tons of fruit per day vs 1 ton for a human. More
In Germany, 2025 was the smallest wine vintage since 2010. More
The majority of vineyards, 90% in 2019, are farmed with heavy chemical interventions. Only 6% are organic. More
90% of low and coastal areas in south Europe and California will no longer be able to produce good wine by the end of the century. More
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