2/17/21, 8:35 AM - SLIMES....Hi, a word of caution, I have to say: I had a couple more bottles of the Majestic Definition Barolo DOCG 2016 and I was going to update my notes with a further Review, but haven't as yet, and I made notes on those two recent bottles much along the lines of the original Review you comment on, but was going to add a note that a slight fruit-bomb impression was being made to me, and I now wish there was just a tad more acid to balance all that ripe fruit. Still would have marked it 89, though. Other aspects/complexities of it's charm are still there. As I say, it's a ''commercial early-drinking'' style, even at 5 yrs old. If you can be bothered with the hassle of buying 1 and tasting it before you dive in and buy six, that might be a good idea. Cheers, C's C.
1/31/24, 10:46 AM - SLB83...Glad it went well for you.
1/14/24, 10:49 AM - Hi BT,the Ardanza Reserve is very good, and an utter bargain, but so is their '904' Gran Reserva Selection Especial - even though it seems expensive at around £50 - £60 its still a VFM/QPR to me because it drinks like a wine costing at least 50% more. I've only had bottles around 10 yrs from vintage yr, but even that 'young' they've had incredible complexity and charm. Mature at 20 yrs old?? (but not falling off their rocker until 30 yrs old, who knows??) I need to research tasting notes from trade/pro tastings of 25-40 yr old classy Rioja.Yeah, I agree that price you mentioned for a Ardanza from Majestic around 5/6 yrs ago. I even got it on promo, so maybe 25% cheaper than retail at that time.
1/30/24, 11:38 AM - Hi BT...La Rioja 890? I didn't know it existed, I'll go have a look. Cheers.
11/30/23, 12:25 PM - Hi BT, I'll correct my price on this review, I have now checked my notes and indeed I did get it from the WSoc and indeed paid £10.95. Cheers.
11/30/23, 12:21 PM - Hi BT...my closest Tesco (Aylesbury) was selling it but then stopped. Dunno why. So good luck finding one stocking it.
11/24/23, 9:59 AM - Thorough review! Well done.C's Corkers.
7/30/23, 10:12 PM - Hi BT,Yes I did like it, I remember it. Serious, interesting , complex wine with shedloads of potential , but currently just too young to drink. I tasted it at the annual Australian tasting in London. I stand by my comment re it’s RRP being ‘not worth it’. I often make a comment on my opinion re value for money (VFM). I haven’t written up any new notes for ages/being on CT. I need to catch up. Apologies for any delay in my replying to any comment . C’s C.
3/2/23, 10:07 AM - Belfast Taxman: I will try that SA Chardonnay you mention. Cheers. Hadn't heard of it, I'm sure it'll be v good. I take your point about the maturity window for the SA Rothchild.CheersCH
3/7/23, 8:09 AM - Belfast Taxman....thanks
11/10/22, 10:16 AM - Belfast Taxman....Hi. Wow, any more of that left at M&S ? Sounds like a bargain. Best VFM/QPR basic Village Bourgogne Blanc I've had, I think, would have to be the 2014 Domaine Leflaive Bourgogne Blanc (Bourgogne AC). Bought it in 2018 for just £49 from House of Townend, Yorkshire. Classy basic Burgundy. There's some 2014 - reportedly a decent year - still around in the UK but nowadays it's £100+.It's interesting how good - indeed how close to a proper bargain - basic white burgundy can be from a good year from a reliable producer.
3/7/23, 8:08 AM - SLB83....it was farmed/supermarket duck, I no longer have access to wild/shot duck. (I used to when I was a kid - farmed duck has much more meat on it yet not a significant fall-off in flavour.) That chardy had cellar legs, I opened it way too early. Shedloads of class, elegance, balance - felt very Burgundian. Given the silly prices for white Burgundy, I usually find a top-end very best New World chardonnay to be a comparative bargain, even though in their country of origin they're considered weirdly expensive.
1/6/23, 8:51 AM - Oldmanzin....No problem, cheers.
12/6/22, 7:12 AM - Stoic Warrior....I think you'll like it, it's a nice change in style from the usual NZ Sav Blanc.
10/12/22, 8:52 AM - Stoic Warrior.....agreed, brilliant VFM/QPR. Rioja just isn't fashionable, maybe that's because more people are moving over towards lighter reds. I have to admit that's me too, even though there are some amazing bargains around like this wine I reckon I'm drinking less of the 'big' reds - and I've more or less stopped drinking Claret altogether, and Rhone reds. BTW, my latest bargain in lighter reds is at The Wine Society UK, a Greek red: Xinomavro Jeunes Vignes, Thymiopoulos, 2020, at £11.95; a classy quaffer, vibrant and juicy and light(ish) with plenty of personality, drinks like a £15.00+ wine. Perfect example of the huge progress Greek wines have made in the last 15 yrs.
10/31/22, 8:42 AM - Stoic Warrior.....cheers re heads-up re Loire Valley Cab Franc, any you especially liked that are available here in the UK? At the Wine Soc' maybe?
11/3/22, 11:20 AM - Stoic Warrior.....cheers for the recommendations. Will follow up via wine-searcher.
11/2/22, 10:52 AM - Belfast Taxman....Hi, I'll try the actual Howard Park Chardonnay at some stage. Thanks for the heads-up. Tesco's 'Finest' range isn't perfect, but it is pretty much consistently good-to-very-good quality wine. I've found some duds, sadly, but they're maybe 1 label in 10, maybe even less than that. Value for money (VFM) in wine is a big deal to me, and it can be a £40.00 wine that feels worth £80 - it doesn't have to be down in the sub-£10 wines.
10/12/22, 8:41 AM - Radders12345.....If I had a case in the cellar, like you do, I'd leave it there for at least a year, probably two.
11/28/21, 5:01 AM - A really comprehensive review. 👍
11/5/21, 12:24 PM - Comprehensive review, well done.
10/14/21, 11:23 AM - Hi Andrew, in your profile pic where you're reading a wine list, I presume, which establishment are you in?
7/19/21, 8:14 AM - NZ Chardonnay aging? Yes, KR is worth it, especially the Hunting Hill, Coddington and Mate, but maybe try Bell Hill. Expensive - probably the most expensive NZ Chardonnay currently? - but it’s rep’ is for aging very well. It’s certainly a quality Chardonnay, as I’m sure any research on it you do will confirm. 🙏
8/13/21, 10:29 AM - Pavel_P......I agree, Dog Point can be exceptional in good Marlb' years/vintages; interesting wines, I'm a fan.
7/19/21, 8:21 AM - Thorough notes, cheers. 👍
7/14/21, 6:22 AM - Brett H....yeah, I got some more. £20 ain't an every-day-cheap wine buy, but this 2016 is such a bargain punching above it's weight I can't ignore it. Another current Tuscan 2016 bargain is the Contucci Vino Nobile de Montepulciano DOCG for £19.50 from The Wine Society UK. Utter bargain, I think I marked it 92 at least. The Chianti Classico above tops it, though.
2/27/20, 6:26 AM - David J Coopercheers re your comment, David.
6/21/21, 8:57 AM - srh.....cheers, I had a look at your notes on their 2010 harvest. Nice. Thanks
4/23/21, 10:39 AM - Philrose....all good.
4/14/21, 11:40 AM - Stylish review, well done.
3/2/21, 9:40 AM - SRH, cheers, no problem.
11/21/20, 8:23 AM - Sounds extreme? Not at all. Double decanting is perfectly normal, and maybe more common than you’d imagine. I know people who in the 1980s were tipping reds into wide bowls and getting an egg beater onto them! Air? I’ll say! Personally I just dump it into my wide flat-bottom ship’s decanter, and do a lot of swirling. Reds transformed. 👍
10/28/20, 8:18 AM - An excellent and comprehensive review, SB5784. What does ''fits the 'solar' 2017 vintage'' mean? Cheers.
11/5/20, 8:54 AM - SB5784....Solar 2017.....Okay, got it. Cheers.
9/24/20, 3:03 AM - Otto60.....yeah, of course. I like many wines over £50, especially if they are value for money: cost £50 but perform better than that, i.e. taste like £100.
8/6/20, 8:03 AM - Willpap21.....yeah, I liked their 2018 Bannockburn. Classy Pinot, and worth the price - or something near it - but this 'Gibbston' vineyard single site one just left me cold.
4/15/20, 9:03 AM - djn63.....Hi. £98.00 was the recommended retail price for the wine in Wine Australia's tasting notes book at their annual London trade tasting Feb' this year, suggested by the importer/agent to any Retailer, obviously. Yip, seemed too expensive/rubbish VFMoney to me, and the price you mention sounds closer to the mark.
4/13/20, 2:18 AM - Cheers, Mac
3/15/20, 8:02 AM - Paid $32.00 nz, Beerz? Blimey, a bargain. Where? I’ll dive in next time I’m home.
3/24/20, 5:28 AM - Hi Jon,thanks for that tip. Noted.
11/20/18, 8:27 AM - Nice review, like your style.C's C
2/29/20, 9:56 AM - I second that: nice review. Yip, be interesting to put it up blind in a row of French Pinots to test out just how expert some Burgundian 'experts' really are, though obviously even at the modest end of French Pinot you'd have to fork out twice the money the Millton costs. So annoying good French Pinot is through-the-roof prices. Mind you, there're still some bargains (£50 approx) to be had in white Burgundy.Interestingly, Millton's Clos Ste Anne Pinot, at twice the price of their La Cote, didn't seem to me to be 'twice the wine.' La Cote in a good year is a bargain. (sshhhh...)
2/6/20, 10:07 AM - Neecies.....Naked Wines.com probably not avail' in the US. They use members' money to fund winery start ups, mostly established wine makers who have left a winery to start up biz for themselves. Good wines at value for money prices.
2/13/20, 9:24 AM - Neecies....yeah, I've had some ''ordinary'' ones too, but most of the New Zealand white wines are good-to-very-good for pretty reasonable/cheap prices; Lay of the Land not so great, Small and Small very good, Rod Easthope and Dunnolly pretty decent, I thought.
1/27/20, 7:19 AM - Hi Ben....Ah, okay. Got it. I'm increasingly impressed with the quality-price ratio of their Cellar Selection mid-level stuff, btw.
1/29/20, 7:14 AM - Hi Ben....Villa M Platinum Selection? Hadn't seen it. Will have a look, it's probably up here in the UK. I was more impressed with the Esk Valley Reserve reds - same group/Co, as you know. Their Gimblett Gravel reb blend was sensational, and great VFM; and the Esk Valley Terrace red blend, too, was amazing though that one's v pricey.
1/5/20, 1:20 PM - Hi Joost' ....I expected more from the wine but was disappointed, it was boring. Generally I am impressed with Albarino, I think - in most years - the Tesco's 'Finest' one is very good value for money.
10/1/19, 2:43 AM - Lovely review. Comprehensive, the off-piste is interesting. I saw Peter Hall on the BBC doco, 'The South Downs: England's Mountains Green', probably avail' on their iPlayer catch-up.
4/7/19, 9:27 AM - Bam_Man.....ok, got it.
4/7/19, 9:35 AM - il_diavolo.....such a shame the Fattoria Le Pupille 2016 Saffredi Toscana Rosso ITG was so weirdly priced, because on their table on the day they had 5 other wines, all of them excellent, more or less, and all fairly/appropriately priced. WTF? Generally, a quality Producer, I'd have to say.
8/30/19, 4:36 AM - BostonDoug.....Hi Doug, 88/100 because that's my rating for the wine, though I admit I was probably annoyed/amazed they were asking that weirdo price for it and so maybe - slightly - marked it down a bit.
4/5/19, 9:31 AM - Heads up/cheers for noting it was the North Canty' label, Joe. Mt B do a Central Otago Sav Blanc, too - a different label, obviously. The distinction is important.
4/2/19, 5:53 AM - Thesternowl.....Hi, yeah, sure I'll list the value for money Producers here: although I thought/found on the day most Barolo was, say, generally 30-40% over-priced, I did find some exceptions, some value-for-money; producers like Roagna (as you've seen above), Famiglia Anselma, Giacomo Fenocchio, Bruno Giacosa, Punset, Fattoria Le Pupille, Tiberio, Cantele. BUT not every wine I tasted form these producers on the day was good value for money. Some of them were, though, obviously. I've reviewed several of them under the label names on this site, under my tasting notes, obviously you'll know how to search for them. I will write up more in the next few weeks, as I get time to.
1/16/19, 5:15 AM - Hi,how do you ship wines to Antarctica (without them freezing)?Nice honest notes, btw.CH
11/30/18, 7:58 AM - Agreed, I liked it as much/maybe better as/than my previous fave NZ PGs: Ohau Gravels; Mt Difficulty; Framingham. I was at Pasquale last month, Oct 2018, and loved everything they do except, maybe, found the Pinot Noir a bit too 'natural' for me, too 'wild'. Admittedly, I was tasting in their tasting room, out of ISOs, and didn't have time to let the wine sit in the glass and the funk fade away, so I decided it wasn't for me, and bought the whites instead. Incredible power and concentration, thrilling acidity swirling around all that classy fruit. I'd ignored this winery, even drove past it a couple of times over the yrs. Nevr again, I'll always pop in. What a class act. Took away 4 bottles of the Aromatics, drank them over 5 nights in campsite kitchens - access to ice for ice buckets! - while fishing Otago/McKenzie Country/Sth Canty, what a gorgeous week!
2/19/18, 9:44 AM - Hi,I went to Lay and Wheeler online, bought some aged KR Hunting Hill single-site Chardonnay 2009. Not cheap but class costs, don't it? I think that vineyard is even better than Mate's and Coddington. I ignored the upper end of KR wines when I lived in NZ because they were so expensive but my first Hunting Hill was a 2007 at the annual NZ Trade Tasting in 2012 - in those days still at Lord's, I think, not yet moved onto Horticultural Hall - and Wow, what a wine. Amazingly, it was on the free-pour table, but didn't last long, you won't be surprised to hear. Was best NZ chardy I'd had to that date. I've had Te Mata Elston, and I've had Villa Maria Reserve Kelton - and other Viila Reserve chardies - but KR seem to be doing NZ's best. I have 2 bots of 2014 Neudorf Motuere but by all accounts it need at least 5 yrs bottle age so I'll stay away from it; Bob Campbell reckons the Neudorf is NZ's best.
2/7/18, 4:51 AM - Hi S Limes, I do use Lay n Wheeler, online or phone 'em up, I got some older vintages of my fave Loire Chenins (Gaston Huet) and Pouilly-Fume (Ch Baron de L) from them. They ain't cheap, but class costs, and they seem to hold stock from good vintages. BTW, I find winespectator.com these most reliable source of Harvest Reports/Vintage Reports on the net. You get a detailed report of the entire season's conditions, just google, for say 2010, ''harvest report for Italy 2010'' and it'll come up. Type in any country and year you need. Vintage details are so important: you can have a classy winery but in a crap year even a skilled team can't make a silk purse from a sour's ear.
2/7/18, 4:41 AM - Hi S Limes....yeah, I saw something about where it had been made for Majestic, then realised it was the classy outfit La Rioja Alta, so bought some after reading reviews on here. Outstanding bargain. Have La Rioja Alta continued in vintages after 2010 to make it for Maj UK? Not at all the staff are snapping it up? Whenever I'm in there, first thing I ask them is, ''what are you guys all drinking lately?''
1/10/18, 2:00 AM - Yip, supermarketsin the Uk do a similar thing, 'own' labels actually have Higher and Lower levels within that too, ie Tesco's 'Finest' is better - and a higher price - than their ordinary 'bottled for' Tesco's. I am consistently buying/drinking Tesco's Finest wines, they're a bargain - though not the outstanding bargain you detail from the Spanish supermarkets. Amazing - and in good vintages can be good-to-very-good wines, my fave probably being the Western Australian Riesling made by Howard Parks vineyards under the lable 'Tingleup' Tesco's Finest WA Riesling. You gotta watch your vintages, research vintage reports on Wine Spectator online, and buy only the good years, but when it' good it's great, a bargain....https://www.tesco.com/wine/product/details/default.aspx?id=260051253....
1/7/18, 8:47 AM - Blimey, 7.00 euros and less for very good Rioja and other Spanish red is a bargain. Which supermarkets, and where?
9/29/17, 6:31 AM - Comprehensive Review, and I esp' liked the Value For Money comment at the end...it's important!
3/4/17, 1:19 PM - Pretty good value for money, Oregonative, the organic Millton's. Probably my all time fave' Chenin is Gaston Huet from Vouvray AC, but it is about £40 a bottle. Had this week a Marc Bredif 'Classic' Vouvray 2015 for around $NZ 29.00. Good-very good wine but not in Huet's class.
10/13/16, 10:26 AM - Cheers. CH
5/21/16, 2:09 PM - Agreed, Grant. Probably my fave NZ Sav Blanc, certainly the best Value For Money. I like Te Mata Estate Cape Crest 2013, too, and Astrolabe 2014 (an Awatere Valley/Marlborough wine), and Clear View (another North Island one), but Craggy Range is classy
2/16/16, 4:27 AM - Hi''pre-road trip, Brunner'' Lake Brunner, West Coast NZ? You another fly fisherman/Angler who drinks/loves wine? So are we.
2/16/16, 4:54 AM - Oh, ok I get it. Enjoy your wine.
Thanks for letting us know about this problem. We will review your comments and be in touch soon with an update.
Search