Thresher's Christmas '06 Wine Selection

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Thresher's Christmas '06 Wine Selection

From: Mark
Category: Wine
Date: 02/12/2006
Time: 16:58:28

Comments

Threshers is a place that has done its fair share of dumbing down the wine retail environment with its restricted ranges and promotion-focussed offerings. It sometimes makes it difficult for the average joe to decipher where the real value or quality lies. However there is quality if you know where to look. The wines below can look excellent value if you take advantage of the current 40% off promotion or even the Three-for-Two offers they regularly have. The prices are average RRP for the wines as they could be a little more or less expensive in-store.

WHITE

Leasingham Clare Valley Magnus Riesling 2004, Australia £7.70
Cool climate, dry, classy Riesling full of lime and touches of kerosene. Quite reserved in many ways but has concentration and will age very, very well.

Ken Forrester Wines Chenin Blanc 2005 Helderberg, Stellenbosch, South Africa £6.99
A legend. Ken's wines have done as much as any to re-write the history-books of South African wine. Ken is a real Chenin Blanc expert (or Steen as it is called on the Cape). This is his entry-level one...but what an impression it makes! Oodles of sweet vanillin's from the oak, quince, honey, a touch of peach. A very rich and sumptuous wine with a long waxy finish. A show stopper for the price.

Meursault (Compagnie des Vins d’Autrefois) 2004, Burgundy, France £15
There are lots of unexciting Burgundies around and admittedly it is a bit of a mine-field. Especially when you are forking out some serious cash. However this is good quality at a fair price for such a top area in the Cote d'Or. This is quite a memorable wine, giving you a glimpse of what makes the Chardonnay grape perform better, more perfectly here than anywhere else on earth. This is a deeply aromatic wine, crammed full of yellow, ripe, stoned fruits, a hint of gingerbread, buerre blanc and crunchy, crystallized stem fruit. Mineral, long and fine. Needs a bit more time to evolve further complexities.

Carmen Reserve Chardonnay Aconcagua Region 2004 Chile £7.40
I think Chile is producing some excellent value, excellent quality Chardonnay at the moment. Expecially those in a more elegant, leaner style. This probably fits the bill - more Chablis than Barossa. Pineapple, straw (hay)and minerals. Nice little number.

Stoneleigh Marlborough Chardonnay, 2004 New Zealand £7.60
A little bigger and richer is this version from Marlborough. Ripe tropical fruit (try bruised mango or apricot), buttered toast, vanilla spice, generous.

Stoneleigh Malborough Sauvignon Blanc 2005, New Zealand £7.50
From the same stable as the above comes a ripe, quite rich, tropically fruited Sauvignon Blanc - a style you either love or hate in the grape.

Villa Maria Private Bin Sauvignon Blanc 2005, New Zealand £8.60
Okay, so we have quaffed oodles of Kiwi Sauvignon...and we still want more! In the 90s it was Cloudy Bay, last year it was Jackson Estate. This year we recognise the stoic success of one of NZs larger producers, Villa Maria with an absolute classic. This has more gooseberry, more grapefruit, more tropical fruit more of everything that makes Kiwi's great. Villa Maria has moved this wine from just good to truly excellent.

Villa Maria Reserve Wairau Valley Sauvignon Blanc 2005, New Zealand £12.30
The Wairau valley is home to some of the finest Sauvignon Blancs - this is a step up in complexity and concentration from the excellent wine above. This however is weightier, more spicy and with a richer, tropical fruit, passionfruit backdrop. Excellent length.

Spier Vintage Selection Sauvignon Blanc, Stellenbosch, South Africa, 2005 £9
South Africa are getting in on the New Zealand act for Sauvignon Blanc and this go-ahead large producer has crafted a very well made wine that lies somewhere between a Chilean and Kiwi in style, maybe with a little Loire thrown in. Clean, grassy, green bell-pepper, lime zest, currant-leaf and quite mineral. Well done. Nice effort.

Dourthe No1, Sauvignon Blanc 2005, Bordeaux, France £5.99
Part of the new wave of white Bordelais to hit these shores. Riper fruit matched to more modern wine making practices has led to a renaissance in these wines. This is the 'third way' of doing Sauvignon Blanc - not Kiwi, not Loire but very much from the Gironde. Reminds me a bit of several English whites I have drunk. This has a lovely elderflower and white nettle flower quality about it but matches with some juicy green-gage and grass/leafiness. Not bad at all.

RED

St Hallett Gamekeepers Reserve, South Australia 2005 £6.50
Once upon a time St Hallett could have been called a boutique operation but over the years it has grown into a fairly large commercial outfit but with a strong quality focus. This is powerful mix of Shiraz, Touriga (a port grape) and Grenache. Smoky on the nose with raspberry, cherry, damson plum, some floral voilet and peppery notes and vanilla spice. An very decent glass of wine for the money.

Zonte's Footstep Shiraz Viognier 2005, Australia £7.99
Drongoland is now getting more sophisticated with its treatment of wine. Blending is something they have always been OK at but it has been single varietal wines that has been their main strength. Whilst good examples of Semillon-Chardonnay and Shiraz-Cabernet have been around for years they have now picked up on the old European habit of blending a little aromatic white wine in with a red wine (like they have been doing with Cote-Rotie in the Northern Rhone for decades). These new Shiraz-Viognier wines are scooping up the major Shiraz trophies in competitions all across the Outback and this is no exception. The Viognier (a peachy, candy floss flavour wine) gives the Shiraz an aromatic boost and balance, matching the juicy, spicy character of this grape.

Cape Mentelle 'Trinders Vineyard' Cabernet / Merlot 2003 Margaret River, W Australia £12
From the same stable as Cloudy Bay (the cult Kiwi Sauvignon Blanc) this wine is from Western Australia. This area, in my humble opinion is capable of produce some of the great Cabernets (indeed Shirazes and Rieslings) of the world. An ideal maritime climate tempers the heat of the interior of the continent at the point is washed by the Indian and Southern Oceans. The quality to come form producers such a Cape Mentelle (as Vasse Felix) are testiment to the potential unfolding in the Margaret River area. This area is doing to Bordeaux blends what New Zealand did for Sauvignon Blanc (although arguable they have gone on to be accommplished at other things aswell). This wine is an exellent example of what the are can produce: a kind of new-world old-old world bridge. Claret-style elegance and finesse with a new world energy.

Spier Private Collection Merlot Stellenbosch South Africa 2003 £7.50
The second of Spier's wines I have recommended in this column. Tight, grippy, mocha-coffee and damson plum, excellent concentration that probably needs a bit of time to soften.

Spier Vintage Selection Shiraz-Mourvedre-Viognier, Coastal Region, South Africa 2004 £12
The third and final recommendation from the Spier stable. A Rhone-style blend of big, robust proportions. Blackberry and apricot, pepper and spices, black olives, vanilla oak. Polished and very well made.

GSM (Rosemount Estate), South Australia £14.40
Another Rhone-style blend. This time of Grenache, Shiraz and Mourvedre (hence the GSM). Rosemount have been doing this for a few years and is packaged in a nice bottle with a 'hand-painted label'. I really like this wine. Quality fruit, expert wine-making, well judged oak - this is a red-fruited wine full of plums, spice, raspberries, cinnamon, berry-pips, meat-juices. Ripe, big and quite alcoholic but still a classy tipple.

Errazuriz Max Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon, Aconcagua Region 2004 Chile £12
From another large outfit - this time in Chile - where some of the best value Cabernet's come from. This premium version is big, concentrated (almost savoury in in density) but at the same time with a sweet cassis core of fruit with perfect balance and a persistent finish. Get this on a deal and you'll realise why trading up opens up a whole new layer of quality, flavours and reasons to pay a little more for your wine. Solid, consistent performer that out-classes Claret at this price...comfortably. A fine wine.

SPARKLING

Piper Heidsieck Brut NV £22
If you want to drink some of the best Non-Vintage (NV) Champagne then make a bee-line for the earthy, creamy, nutty, toasty Pinot-dominated wine from Piper H. Classy stuff and now truly back on form.

Montana Lindauer Brut NV £8.00
Once again, ditch the expensive 'cheap' Champagne for 'volume' guests and opt for a back-on-form Lindauer Brut. Pass by the more expensive 'Select' and plug for the standard 'house'. Honey, toasty nose with lemon 'pips'. Nice, weighty palate with good length.