The Beautiful South.Lidl. Crowdfunding.

 

Image shared by Wines of The Beautiful South

There’s lots happening in the wine world as the holidays draw to a close and the autumn selling season begins.Hamish Anderson in The Telegraph reviews the new range of Bordeaux at Lidl which has been attracting a lot of attention.

Meanwhile Chapel Down has launched a crowd funding operation to raise a minimum of £1 million, with aspirations for £3.9 m, to invest in new land, wine making, a brewery and distribution facilities in Kent, as reported by Decanter.com

And the wine trade tasting season continues with Wines of The Beautiful South, a two-day event at Olympia which showcases the wines of producers from Argentina, Chile and South Africa. MyWine Daily was there and can vouch for the fantastic range and variety of quality wines from these countries at all prices!

Something Old, Something New

In keeping with some of our recent posts,today we highlight a couple of new posts on MyWineDaily that show the real value and quality that are available from some wines that have become underrated by some. Sometimes they may have been victims of their own success, as when a style or brand dominates and as a result consumer perceptions are skewed to the view that that particular style and quality represent all that the wine in question is ever capable of producing.

So it’s really good to see yesterday’s post by Vinspire about a great twist on the gin and tonic, using the wonderful Fino sherry. Take a quick look at the lovely simple recipe! Similarly in The Telegraph, Hamish Anderson points out that there’s a lot more to Italian Pinot Grigio than the cheap generic labels that have helped to make it so popular.He reviews wines that range from £7.99 to £32.99! As always, it pays to look past the popular perception to make some great wine discoveries! 

Weekend Wine in the Balance

 

Image shared by Steve Dingwall, via Iconosquare.

It’s always good to see quality wines at reasonable prices given some space in the media. MyWineDaily likes to highlight a broad range of these, including those that are sometimes unfairly ignored by some drinkers.  This weekend Hamish Anderson in The Telegraph picks out some attractive-sounding Chardonnays from good and interesting regions. Like the grape itself, Chile is admired as a source of good wine by those in the know – and not only at the lower end of pricing. Also included are the Pays d’Oc, which again is now a wonderful provider of a wide variety of good quality, good value wines; and a rare Beaujolais Chardonnay.

At The Observer, David Williams has a piece which is excellent in its simple explanation of the consequences of one of the key areas of judgment in grape-growing – when to harvest, how much sugar ripeness to allow. In his discussion of higher alcohol wines – of which he recommends six – he considers the other elements which are affected and concludes rightly that everything – and the great winemaking skill – lies in the achievement of balance.

 

 

Different Views of Summer Wines, Sparklers.

Rare Ports of the great 1963 Vintage. Shared by For the Love of Port.

Some more top summer wine reviews appeared over the weekend in the mainstream  press, featured in MyWineDaily’s best blogs. Hamish Anderson in The Telegraph adds a small twist to his selection by choosing  wines for outside drinking. It’s good to see that a Riesling and an Asti make it into his list too! Meanwhile his colleague Susy Atkins offers some simple ideas for summer party drinking.

David Williams in Sunday’s Observer reviews  quality champagnes – ‘three of the best’, highlighting that real quality does of course cost a little more than the frequently discounted brands, but need not be ridiculously expensive and can compare well to other options. The sparkling theme is continued at The Guardian with a good look from Fiona Beckettt at the massively popular and increasingly good  Prosecco, also mentioned in Susy Atkins’s piece. Good honest, quality sparklers of different origins generally seem to come through as a better option than very cheap and not very good Champagne.

 

Weekend Wine

 

Image shared by European Business School via Insider Trading

Insider Tasting is written by Wendy Narey,  a professional wine educator with 25 years’ experience in the French food and wine industry who also accompanies tours for wine enthusiasts in the world-famous vineyards of Bordeaux.

Her latest blog is about a sailing trip in memory of the Bordeaux – Bristol wine trade, organised by students from the  European Business School in Bordeaux. They will take a symbolic shipment of wine with them which will be auctioned on Thursday May 8th at The Mansion House, in aid of two children’s charities, one each in Bordeaux and Bristol.They set sail tomorrow, 29th April on the fourth trip in the series. See Wendy’s blog for more info.

Some suggestions for interesting pieces to look at from the weekend press include  Hamish Anderson in The Telegraph on the excellent quality wines coming out of Chile, specifically Chardonnay in this case, David Williams in the Observer on wines to go with Japanese food and a fascinating piece on Chateau Figeac – its history, current challenges and changes of personnel – by Jancis Robinson in the FT.

Weekend Wines – Review

 

Our Photo of the Day, shared by jeanietheliew via Statigram.

Did you get to the Real Wine Fair in Wapping this weekend? If not you can catch up with reviews by writers such as Jamie Goode, whose blog appeared last night on wineanorak.com.

The same goes for the wine reviews from the weekend papers, which you might not have had time for if you were out enjoying lovely weather  or following the London Marathon! On our Wine Latest page today  are links to articles by Joanna Simon of the Sunday Times on a deal from Rioja, David Williams in the Observer on unusual Italian wines, Jancis Robinson in the FT on the renewed attention being paid to Barolo, a very interesting piece on Madeira by Matt Walls on Tim Atkin.com, Hamish Anderson in The Telegraph on red wines for Easter and many more.

Have a nose around, taste a few and you’ll be surprised how much information you’ll quickly pick up!