Brunello di Montalcino Riserva, Pian delle Vigne, Antinori 2000, Italy

When drinking this wine with a big juicy steak last Friday it made me think of a Spanish proverb ‘good wine ruins the purse; bad wine ruins the stomach’. Now, thanks to Neil and Laure this one didn’t put too much strain on my purse, which may have made it taste even better. However, I doubt that the seductive nose or the dark cherry palate with big, yet soft tannins, and refreshing acidity could get much better, besides perhaps a few more years of bottle age – the fruit, tannins and acidity will definitely survive another five years (in wine lingo this means good quality!). This brilliant beverage that will get many Linda points can be found at BWC Berkmann Wine Cellars, London N7 (020 7609 4711), around £25.

Danie de Wet Earth & Sky 2006 Chardonnay, Robertson, South Africa

Crisp, fresh with a modest price tag (£6.99) and just a bit too easy to drink – a very promising candidate for becoming this year’s picnic wine! While we wait for warmer weather though, let this South African gem made from pure chardonnay and no oak whatsoever wake up your tastebuds.

With this wine and its citrus and apple fruit I am thinking more in line with Chablis than ripe New World chardonnay, and although I don’t particularly like comparing regions, it really does have that crisp and slightly minerally style. I had it on its own before dinner, which was great but I could see it being a great match to shellfish. Stockist: Waitrosewine.com

Châteauneuf-du-Pape

During Christmas I had a discussion about Châteauneuf-du-Pape and the ins and outs of how to buy this sometimes delicious and sometimes very disappointing red wine. There are a lot of Châteauneuf-du-Pape wines out there and they are usually quite expensive, even the less good ones.

Decanter Magazine (decanter.com) has a really good article in their February issue (in shops now) and I recommend getting a copy for some good advice on which Châteauneuf-du-Pape wines to go for. The review is of the 2004 vintage, which in most cases is a bit too young for drinking now (you still can just make sure you decant the wine for an hour or so before serving). However, the Decanter review is a good guide to which producers to go for to minimize disappointment. As always – let me know what you are drinking!

Beautiful Burgundy

Went to a Burgundy tasting yesterday and here is the deal. When we go to a restaurant we easily spend £25-£30 on an average bottle of wine, right? Nice food, half-ass wine. Now, I propose that the next time you make a really nice dinner at home (and I know a lot of you enjoy cooking) spend on wine in a shop what you would have spent in a restaurant, and if you like to taste real, sensual, mouth-watering and deceivingly delicious Pinot Noir try one of the two below (about £30 each). A male friend once described a really nice white Burgundy as a ‘Burgundy wet dream’, as I am a woman I can’t really use that expression but if I could I’d say these two reds are damn close. Enjoy!

Beaune Premier Cru, Clos des Mouches 2003 Joseph Drouhin (red): Fabulous aromatic, warm and sexy pinot nose! Brilliant – good acidity, bit of tannin and nice berry and sour cherry flavours. Good length – the pinot fruit lingers and lingers. Stockists: waitrosewine.com, Justerini & Brooks –justerinis.com, systembolaget.se

Pommard, Les Petits Noizons 2005 Domaine de la Vougeraie (red): Enticing, lovely nose. Quite a big pinot yet gentle on the palate – sexy and silky! It has good fruit and a just a tad of farmyardy notes on the finish, kind of giving a hint about how it will develop with a few years of bottle age. Stockists: Berry Bros & Rudd – bbr.com, waitrosewine.com

Château de Seguin 2004, Bordeaux, France

This great little wine (thanks Inge) was enjoyed with a lovely green peppercorn stew at a recent dinner back in Sweden. Mom and dad (who really enjoyed it), you can find it at systembolaget for 89 Swedish crowns (nr 3958). For those of you in the UK looking for a good drop of Bordeaux at a decent price this one is stocked by frenchwinepeople.co.uk. Another favourite inexpensive Bordeaux is Château Segonzac 2004 Premières Côtes de Blaye stocked by waitrosewine.com. It’s a lovely, full-bodied red with a nice plummy palate and a good grip. Both are good food wines matching red meat dishes or, for my vegetarian friends, perhaps try it with a hearty bean stew.

Hello and welcome to my blog!

This page is dedicated to the enjoyment of wine – the beautiful beverage that tends to be on my mind quite often. Occasionally you may find me reviewing a few spirits – an area I am becoming increasingly more interested in. However, the focus is wine and, more often than not, what food it goes with.

This is obviously a subjective site – it’s all about my taste and how I experienced a wine, which may be very different from other people’s experiences. Please comment on the wines I write about, let me know what you thought of them and what food you had with them! Also, there’s a big world out there and I will do my best to list all of the retailers that stock the particular wine I review. Hope you will find my blog enjoyable!