JULY WINE BLOG – WONDERFUL WHITES

JULY WINE BLOG – WONDERFUL WHITES

Following on from last month’s recommendations of Macho Barbeque Reds you will need to balance your cellar by buying some white wines. Summer is a great time for some bubbly or a light dry white wine to get your weekend off to a great start. I have listed below a handful of great wines which won’t break the bank and you can enjoy all of them well chilled in the garden. Priced from £4.59 to £10.39 there is something for everyone.

Jacob’s Creek Reserve Adelaide Hills Chardonnay 2012 – ASDA £6.00

*** Star Buy***
If you are looking for an Aussie wine with the sophistication of a full bodied burgundy then you will love this. This Reserve wine from Adelaide hills is a lighter style chardonnay with finesse and structure and a good finish. There is subtle oak flavours balanced with vibrant fresh fruit characteristics. This is a wine for drinking now or cellaring for another 5 years to create greater subtlety and complexity. An ideal accompaniment to cream based pasta dishes, fish and shellfish and of course chicken. The Adelaide Hills Reserve Chardonnay is on at a special price but you can also buy the classic Jacob’s Creek Chardonnay for just a fiver.

Jacob’s Creek Chardonnay Pinot Noir – ASDA £7.00 - COOP £7.99

*** Star Bubbly Buy***
If you want to impress your friends and get your special evening off to great start you should try this bubbly. Showing consistent quality over many years this champagne blend made by the ‘Methode Traditionelle’ and is the next best thing to the genuine but expensive article. This wine is soft, crisp and clean with a fine gas bead and a persistent mousse. It has citrus fruit flavours which are enhanced with creamy nutty yeast characters which provide both richness and structure. You really can’t go wrong with this brilliant product which normally sells between £9.99 and £10.99 and is widely available. Add a few drops of Crème De cassis and enjoy a Kir Royale.

Viña Sol 2012 – Morrisons £4.59
Cast your mind back to that hot Spanish holiday and drinking a pleasant Spanish white wine on one of the Costas. Well it was probably Viña Sol from Torres from one of the country’s biggest winemakers. Made from the Parellada grape, it is fresh and fruity on the nose, with a smooth, crisp palate, with plenty of apples and pineapple fruit. A touch of acidity makes it a refreshingly crisp wine. Viña Sol is suitable for drinking anytime - pre or post siesta! Superb with rice, fish and shellfish. This is on sale at lots of outlets and normally sells anywhere between £6.49 and £7.99. As James Martin says on Saturday Kitchen, ‘A bit of a bargain at £4.59’

Nobilo Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2012- Morrisons £5.49

Regularly recommended by me, Nobilo is an excellent example of a New Zealand sauvignon blanc at a brilliant price. It is crisp and zesty with a refreshing finish and a distinctive bouquet of tropical and citrus fruit, gooseberry and passion fruit. The wine is well balanced between fruit and acidity and has a distinctive grapefruit flavour. It is good on its own but goes perfectly with fish, prawns and smoked salmon. Even at full price Nobilo is still great value and beats many of its’ competitors on both flavour and price.

Errazuriz Wild Ferment Chardonnay 2011 – Majestic £10.39

COOP £10.79
If you are looking for a special white wine Errazuriz Wild Ferment Chardonnay is just fantastic. Rated by Oz Clarke as very good and awarded best in class at the 2011 International Wine & Spirit challenge this is a Chilean wine with an excellent pedigree. Naturally occurring yeasts on the grape skins are used instead of cultivated yeasts to give this dry white wine beautiful complexity and a good finish.  This wine is unbelievably well balanced, with subtle tropical stone fruit in the form of apricots and peaches mingling with subtle oak characters and a rich creaminess. Enjoy this wine over the next 2 years to allow further marrying of oak and fruit. This cracking wine is good enough to savour with warm Scottish langoustines, lobster or juicy roast chicken and is a step up in class

Morrisons Verdicchio Classico – Morrisons £4.99

Fancy something a bit different for a change. This own label Verdicchio Classico comes in an attractively shaped green bottle and is a smashing wine from Italy. It is chock full of mouth watering citrus flavours and there's lemon zest and a smidge of greengage and fig in this dry white. It's gorgeous as an aperitif, smashing with salads and any light starter.

Valdobbiadene Prosecco DOCG - Aldi £7.29

Prosecco di Conegliano - Valdobbiadene is the DOCG title given to the finest Prosecco wines made in the Veneto wine region of north-eastern Italy. This fine example of Prosecco won a silver medal at the 2012 International Wine & Spirit challenge. It is a light fruity wine with a gentle mousse and is very easy drinking. Perfect with a beautifully sweet Scottish strawberry or raspberry popped into a champagne flute. Why not mix this with equal quantities of chilled peach juice to make a classic Bellini.

Hardy’s Nottage Hill Chardonnay 2012 – Morrisons £5.66

Hardy’s Nottage Hill Chardonnay is one of the most reliable fruity white wines on the market. Its’ full bodied, tropical fruit style is always consistent and will not disappoint. If you want a bit more complexity and rounder flavour you can lay this wine down for a couple of years. Normally selling between £8.00 and £8.99 this excellent Aussie white wine is definitely one to have in your cellar for easy summer drinking on its’ own or with food.