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The Gaymer Cider Company is to invest £1.2 million in its Blackthorn campaign which looks to engage with its target market of 'down-to-earth blokes'.
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This week Atkins joins MacQuitty with her own assessment of alternative wine packaging and in particular the pouch, which "is a plastic, silvery, space-age thing with a tap in the top". The 1.5-litre 2007 Chenin-Chardonnay Arniston Bay (9.79, Tesco) is "simple and light, but a perfectly palatable white, with some crisp, green apple fruit". As long as you don't expect the world, Atkins has good things to say about the pouch. One word of warning from her though as "no one is putting classed-growth Claret in a pouch, just yet".
Read more...Jamie Goode is thinking of our health this week as he touches on the subject of low-alcohol wines. "There are times when something a little lower in calories or alcohol is required," he says. One of his more interesting recommendations is the 2006 McGuigan Shiraz Lower Alcohol (6.19, Tesco). "Aussie Shiraz normally packs a punch like an angry kangaroo," he warns, "[but] there's no doubting its heritage" when you taste this low-alcohol and reduced calorie version.
Read more...Jancis Robinson MW is thinking pink this week. "Perhaps the most visible change in what goes into wine glasses over the past few years has been the newly respectable status of pink wine, even for men." And what should we be drinking, pray tell? The 2007 Chinon Ros Chteau de Ligr (8.90, Yapp Bros) features as does the 2007 Les Parcelles Ros Foncaussade (5.69, Waitrose), which is "a wine that actually has character".
Read more..."Let's hear it for Cabernet Franc, a grape that is usually regarded as the least interesting of the three major red Bordeaux varieties," says Tim Atkin MW. Often used in the Gironde to perfume red blends, it is only in the Loire Valley where the grape gets solo billing, he adds. The grape's style "varies from light and fruity to rich and profound" but it is always good value making chilled Cabernet Franc one of Atkin's "favourite summer wine styles". The 2006 Cabernet Franc Raats, Stellenbosch (17.99, Alliance Wines) merits a mention for its "subtle perfume, sleek oak and polished tannins". Atkin also highlights the "complex, silky" 2001 Chinon Les Varennes du Grand Clos, Charles Joguet (13.99, Majestic).
Read more..."Strawberries are the ultimate summertime treat," says Jamie Goode and his wine selections are intended to reflect this. His first choice is "utterly delicious", if slightly predictable - it is the 2007 Shiraz Ros Casillero del Diablo (5.99, widely available). Next up from Britain's best-known wine blogger is the 2006 Carmenere Luis Felipe Edwards (6.19, Tesco), which gains plaudits for its "deliciously intense, dark-fruited" nature. The "blush-coloured" 2007 Syrah Ros from Santa Julia (5.19, Somerfield) also makes an appearance.
Read more...Supermarkets are beginning to catch on to the biodynamic craze as consumers develop a taste for wines free from pesticides, says Anthony Rose. There is still some scepticism around the subject, he admits, but believes it is healthy as "it questions the practices and the effects without swallowing them hook, line and sinker". And whether or not you feel burying a bull's horn in a vineyard will improve the taste of its wine, there are still some great recommendations this week. The "stylish" 2007 Watervale Riesling KT & The Falcon (19, Berry Bros & Rudd) features as does the 2006 Sustainable Shiraz Cederburg (Waitrose, 7.50) whose "black cherry fruit is neatly rounded out with a touch of oak".
Read more..."Vin de pays often offers good value and a more subtle alternative to the generally bolder flavours of the New World," says Anthony Rose. One of the main reasons for this is that vin de pays wines are able to mention the grape variety on the label thus better communicating with the consumer, he adds. Rose's choices this week include the 2006 Domaine de L'Hortus Grande Cuve Blanc, (14.70, Les Caves de Pyrne) and the 2004 Domaine Guillaume Vin de Pays du Franche Comt, (22, Theatre of Wine, Greenwich).
Read more...Updated as at 1 July 2012
Read more...Joanna Simon admits she dislikes the low alcohol "nanny tendency as much as anybody," but concedes it makes sense to know how much you are drinking given the stronger wines available nowadays. And for all those ridden by guilt by their weekend activities, she helpfully points out a 250ml wine glass is only one fluid ounce off a half pint. It's not all doom and gloom though, as Simon suggests consumers swat up on low-alcohol wines. Ctes de Gascogne, Riesling, English and German wines, Vinho Verde, Australian Semillon, Prosecco, Cava and Txakoli from Spain all feature on the worthy wine drinkers list.
Read more...The link between music and wine is an interesting one to Tim Atkin MW, particularly after hearing a recent record by Austrian winemaker Willi Opitz. The imaginatively-titled The Sound of Wine' became a bestseller in Austria and was "one of the weirdest bits of music I have ever heard," he said. The article is in reference to recent research, which found the style of music we listen to affects the way we taste wine. Atkin ran this past an Oxford academic friend of his and they were sceptical. Nevertheless, just in case the findings hold any stock he picked several wines that "taste equally good with anything playing in the background. Even the Spice Girls". The 2007 Watervale Riesling KT & The Falcon (14.95, Berry Brothers) is an "intense" wine while the 2006 Ribera del Duero Nos Riqueza (9.99, Marks & Spencer) is "sweetly oaked and well structured".
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Read more...It's English Wine Week until June 1 - something that has not escaped Susy Atkins' notice. "I recommend everyone else gets out over the next few days and makes their way to the nearest English winery (preferably by foot, bus or taxi, so you don't have to do that awful spitting-out)," she quips. If you fancy trying a local tipple, Atkins picks out the 2006/07 Madeleine Angevine Sharpham Estate (9.95, Waitrose), which is "a modern, young white with notes of lemon and grapefruit".
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