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Wines in the press March 11-14

The Guardian

Fiona Beckett says St Patrick's Day provides even non-beer drinkers the excuse for a statutory glass of Guinness, but thinks stout deserves more respect than a once-a-year flutter.

Beckett was at a dinner recently where brewers BrewDog, "the shock jocks of the industry", served a selection of their high-strength stouts, including the 18.25% abv Tokyo (£9.99) and 32% abv Tactical Nuclear Penguin (£35).

"OK that's extreme, and arguably not even beer,"she says.

Beckett adds she got into stout because she's lucky enough to have some real enthusiasts on my doorstep: the Bristol Beer Factory, whose aim is to make 12 different stouts by the end of the year. The ones Beckett likes best are the Milk Stout (£2.20; 4.5% abv) and Ultimate Stout (£2.40-£2.80; 7.7% abv).

The Observer

Though his name might suggest otherwise, Jesús Barquín is uncomfortable with being thought of as a saviour of sherry, says David Williams.

But alongside his friends Eduardo Odeja and Álvaro Girón, Barquín he is the driving force behind sherry producer, Equipo Navazos and has certainly got people talking about it.

Barquín a criminal lawyer-turned-academic and director of the Institute of Criminology at the University of Granada, is also one of Spain's leading wine writers, and one of the world's foremost authorities on sherry.

The team came across a solera which had been untouched for 20 years at the Bodega Sanchez Ayala and made 600 bottles, labelled as La Bota de Amontillado to be shared among the members. Knowing that there were similar hidden gems, however, they began to look for more. Soon they had a series, each labelled with a number and "La Bota de", followed by the style of the wine in question.

Williams says word soon got out because there is something about its style that set them apart. They can be hard to find though, says Williams, importers (www.rhône2rioja.co.uk) can provide stockists.

The Sunday Telegraph

Susy Atkins recently met someone whose dream job is working in Spar. "No, really." But then she is the newly appointed head of Spar's wines, and now gets to spend her life whizzing around the world's wineries, adds Atkins.

She showed me Spar's own-label and exclusive wines, not the big brands and amongst some over-sweet California and Valencia whites, and dull Pinot Grigio, there were some star buys.

Try these, says Atkins; Champagne Marquis Belrive NV, France (£19.99) and Spar Garganega Pinot Grigio NV, Italy (£4.99) and Australian Shiraz-Cabernet Sauvignon NV (£4.79).

The Financial Times

Austrian white wines have been the darlings of the world's more sophisticated sommeliers for some years now, but are wine drinkers ready for its reds? Asks Jancis Robinson MW.

At the recent generic tasting of Austrian wines in London, an event held every year at the Institute of Directors, Robinson decided to ignore the whites and taste only reds.

She found some that were "really, really exciting", but not quite enough for her to make a blanket recommendation.

What Austria can offer is a trio of truly distinctive dark-skinned grape varieties, Zweigelt and St Laurent. But the grape variety that is probably most likely to put Austrian reds on the map is Blaufränkisch.

"It has the most attractive, and currently fashionable, combination of medium rather than full body, a refreshing aroma, and the ability to transmit quite subtle differences in terroir with precision - in Austria anyway."