Codorníu Cava Pinot Noir Brut - Pink Bubbly

We had happy girly celebrations this week, what better way to toast them than to drink pink and sparkly wine? That's what we thought when we bought a variety of Cava Rosadas. It would have made for a far better celebration if we'd remembered to take them along to the party. We had to chill them for mid-week drinking instead - life is hard.

The Codorníu Cava Pinot Noir Brut was an attractive salmon pink with firm and assertive bubbles. It smelled fruity and a littly earthy, with a gentle strawberry flavour, not overwhelming, well balanced with lemon acidity.

It was good value sparkles, and the pink fruitiness was a pleasant change for the summertime.

Gavi La Lancellotta 2007 - Celebrating with Ricco

Ricardo Ricco of Italy took the sixth stage of the Tour in an exciting last kilometre climb which saw the yellow jersey splatted into the road with a silly wheel clip mistake.

We celebrated for him with a Gavi La Lancellotta 2007. It's very pale with a zippy scent of grapefruits and peaches. Bone dry it had a zingy acidity, medium body and alcohol level. The flavour was intensely fruity with lots of fresh grapefruit backed by a little sweeter apricot. The flavour lasted well, and it was delightfully more-ish.

Not your standard forgetable bianco, this wine was a 'buy again' at ��7.50, but it's currently on sale at Majestic for ��6 in an Italian multibuy offer. If you're a fan of Sauvignon Blanc, but want to try something different that will still make your steely tastebuds smile give this a go.

CVNE Rioja Rosado 2007 - Spanish Winner

Spain finally threw off their 'perennial underachiever' tag and won Euro 2008. We settled down to the final with a bottle of rose - the Germans play in white, the Spanish in red, it seemed like a reasonable compromise, or at least it might have been if it wasn't from Rioja. Like most of Europe I wanted Spain to win. They play nicer football and frankly, it was their turn!

A truth I hold to be self evident is that all Rioja is good, particularly CUNE, regardless of colour. Their 2007 Rosado doesn't disappoint. It's a beautiful shade of pink and it tastes of raspberries and strawberries with a zip of lemon and just a hint of grassiness. It's a whole summer picnic in a glass!

Majestic currently offer ��2 off if you buy two bottles making it a ��5.50 bargain. Stock up now and enjoy your summer.

Vina Sol - Sunny days for Valverde

This weekend Alejandro Valverde won the Dauphine Libere, in what could be a warm up for the Tour de France. What better way to celbrate than with a Torres Vina Sol 2007, Torres most successful wine in the UK.

It smelled fresh and fruity with green apple and a little spiciness. It was dry with a high yet balanced acidity. The alcohol level of 11.5% is afternoon-friendly. It tastes fruity with crisp green apple softened a little by ripe pears, melons and something just a little like cooked spicy pineapple.

It's a remarkably refreshing yet quaffable wine, reliably delivering year after year. It's generally priced between ��5.50 and ��7, and you can usually pick up a bottle (or more) at Thresher's, Tesco, Sainsbury, Majestic or any chain retailer.

Quinta dos Carvalhais Colheita 2002

Since Eric Asimov recommended a few big and fruity Portugese wines made from Port grapes I've kept an eye open for interesting looking examples.

We had a Quinta dos Carvalhais Colheita 2002 Dao from Majestic. It was made from Touriga Nacional, Tinta Roriz and Alfrocheiro (I'd never heard of it either). It was a dark, dirty purple and had an intense aroma of big fat fruit - fresh over-ripe black cherries and blackberries.

It was dry with medium acidity and a high level of tannin, covering a range from ripe to firm, making it almost chewy. The fruit flavour was intense, and it felt almost wrong that it was dry with a sensible alcohol level. The fruit flavours were joined by some vanilla and a little cinnamon and something gently floral which was emphasised with food.

The flavour lasted well, working through the fruitiness to a spicy length. It was great value at ��7.

Château des Maladrets 2005 Beaujolais Villages

We settled down for a game of Pillars of the Earth, and decided to enjoy a glass of French wine to help us through the trauma of building a cathedral. We had a bottle of Beaujolais Villages 2005 Ch��teau des Maladrets.

A bright purple colour, it smelled of fresh crushed raspberries and blackcurrants. It felt smooth and velvety, with a medium full body. This Beaujolais had mashed fruit a plenty with enough spicy pepper to stop it feeling like Ribena with alcohol.

We served it cool, just a few degrees below room temperature, which really brought out its fruitiness. At ��5-6 a bottle from Majestic, this is a good value wine that adds a little exuberance to the table.

Thresher 40% Voucher Easter 2008

Threshers have another voucher on the go. This time it runs until 24 March 2008 so if you want your 40% off click here to download the voucher.

If you are shopping for a case of wine then Majestic may offer a better deal. Laithwaites deliver and if you still have your Laithwaites coupon from your Christmas shopping at Amazon, then you can get £25 off a case by entering the 'secret word'.

Happy (responsible drinking) Easter.

Malvis Douro Reserva - Porty Wine?

Following second hand recommendations from Eric Asimov in the New York Times, I have had a few Douro wines lately. Malvis 2005 Douro Reserva was a recent choice.

It's a thick, rich purple-red colour with thick and gloopy legs. It smells like low-alcohol Port, not surprising as it is made from the same grapes. It's dry with a firm acidity and a full body. It tastes of ripe plums and cherries with a curious hint of marmite and some vanilla and spice. I can't imagine an occasion when I would think of mixing those ingredients together but they really work in this wine. It stood up well to chocolate too.

At 13% alcohol it's not heavy and the flavour lasts well into a slightly tannic finish. Portugal does seem to be producing some interesting wines at reasonable prices. This was great value at ��5.50, but even better with the 20% off currently available on all Portugese wines at Majestic.

Givry Premier Cru

I recently had a house guest who loves Pinot Grigio. Just Pinot Grigio, nothing else, and I hadn't got any. I opted for this Givry 1er Cru Blanc 2003 Les Petits Buis as I thought it was likely to be the most acceptable of what was available.

It was a good choice. Dry, crisp and bright, with a clean aroma. It smelled of fresh fruit salad with a hint of nuttiness and cinnamon, which was strange but good. It was pretty fruity, with melon and red apple (not a good description, but a mature, sweet apple, not like a green one!).

Despite being almost, but not completely exactly unlike Pinot Grigio, the wine went down well, receiving a thumbs up. Then there was the pesky moment when I explained it was Chardonnay - a surprise, but one that may have opened up a new, and slightly more expensive interest in wine.

Pouilly-Vinzelles - Paradise?

Having polished off all the Louis Latour M��con-Lugny in the house we opted to try a Louis Latour Pouilly-Vinzelles 'En Paradis' 2005 which looked similar (!) and was about a quid more expensive, so I was looking forward to it.

It's pale, with a light aroma of underripe apricot and some blossom. It's dry with a crisp acidity and medium body. It fell down a little in the flavour department. I was expecting good things but there wasn't a lot of flavour intensity. A little pineapple lurked in there, with a little buttered toast, but it was well diluted, lacking the concentration I'd enjoyed from its cheaper Burgundian neighbour.

Save yourself a pound or two and choose the Macon-Lugny from Majestic instead.

Running out of Macon Lugny

With Christmas fast approaching I was shopping for wine, and picked up a selection for assorted festive needs. Two nice people loaded up the car for me.

We tried out a bottle from the haul with a fish pie. It was a Louis Latour M��con-Lugny 2006. A bright, pale lemon with a touch of green. It smelled fresh and crisp with apple and something not quite liquorice, not quite quince but really inviting. Bone dry and crisply acidic it was refreshingly clean. Apples and a little lemon joined the not-quite identified slightly spicy taste with some soft malolactic butteriness. It worked really well.

At ��7-8 a bottle this is good value chardonnay from Burgundy, but with the latest offer at Majestic it's ��5 on multi-buy. I'm really glad, as we've already worked our way through the Christmas dinner allowance. Stock up whilst it's on sale.

Langhe Nebbiolo De Forville 2005

It's cold out so we've been eating hearty comfort food, so I've been raiding the cupboard for hearty wines that can stand up to them. Last nights' choice was Langhe Nebbiolo 2005 De Forville. It's made from the same grape as Barolo, in the same general neighbourhood, give or take a few miles, and comes in at around ��7 at Majestic.

It's a rich plum colour with strong legs, it has a fairly full on aroma with a mix of tar, plums and cherries. It's dry with a medium tannin level, I'd have expected higher. Reasonably full bodied with medium-high alcohol, it feels quite big. It has a fairly earthy flavour with tar and red-black fruits, and quite a punch.

It wasn't a big success, but used to stew some wild and dried mushrooms it redeemed itself wonderfully.

Beautiful Bierzo

I was delighted to find a Martin Sarmiento 2003 Bierzo in Majestic. I'd cycled through Bierzo in 2003on my way to Santiago, stopping in Villa Franca del Bierzo because I felt horribly ill. Having stuffed myself silly on seafood the previous evening I was dealing with the unattractive consequences of an upset stomach full of squid ink.

The surrounding countryside was fabulous, and the vineyards inviting. This wine was bright and a lively red. Attractively fruity it had plenty of cherries and redcurrants and raspberries, soften by just enough smooth vanilla oak.

At ��9-10 it was an interesting change, as a well balanced, food friendly wine. Again, I suspect my sentiment may have an influence on my perception of the wine, but that is really the point of wine for me.

Fond of wine

Sometimes a wine appeals because the label looks nice, sometimes because it comes from somewhere you've been and sometimes because the name is perfect. Sometimes there's a happy nexus.

I had a Claude Lafond Valen��ay Le Clos du Ch��teau 2006 this week. It was a lemon gold with fresh, clean aroma of white peaches. It was just off dry with a crisp acidity. It had a light spiciness as well as the stone fruit. 13% alcohol matched the medium body well. We had it with Chinese food, which was a perfect match.

A blind guess might have placed this as a New World Viognier, rather than a Loire Sauvignon Blanc-Chardonnay. At ��6-7 a bottle it's a lovely, surprising wine.

What liquidity crisis?

If you're looking at the news from the UK you could be forgiven for thinking we're all too busy lining up outside the Northern Rock to worry about wine. I wondered what people were going to do with their savings.

I wouldn't want a lot of cash sloshing about in the house, and if I wasn't happy leaving my money with Northern Rock then I probably wouldn't want to put it any bank. I'm not quite sure where one would get hold of gold bars on a Sunday morning so why not put money into wine. We took a trip to Majestic to stock up. I suppose it would make sense to put some aside if I'm going to call it an investment strategy.

Think Pink

It was GCSE results week in England, and the girls whose results I was waiting on did better than they expected so what better reason is there to crack open a bottle of pink wine (not just for the children - drink responsibly folks).

We had a Ch��teau M��aume Ros�� 2005 from Bordeaux. It was pleasant enough, but there's better out there for ��7. If I wasa merlot grape growing up in Bordeaux I think I'd probably have my sights set on being in a big wine. If I couldn't be in a big name growth, growing old gracefully in a cellar, popping out to Christie's every now and then, I'd at least like to be enjoyed with Sunday dinner.

I think if I found myself in a ros�� I'd suspect I had wasted my potential. There's nothing wrong with being a ros��, ros��s bring joy to people worldwide, summer just couldn't happen without a supply of ros��, but maybe Bordeaux isn't the place to make them.

Redeeming Features

A series of confusing events recently found me out for dinner in a restaurant which had been recommended by a few people late last year. An unusual offer of Thai, Chinese, Indian and Mediterranean food served tapas style so you could savour tiny dishes from around the world. Unfortunately that offer hadn't paid the bills so although those cuisines were still represented they came in 'all you can eat' buffet style. Odd.

The winelist was also a bit of a mish-mash and bore no relation to the food available, with nothing even romotely Alsacian in the white section. In a vague attempt to add some zip to the meal I opted for a Marlborough Oyster Bay Sauvignon Blanc 2006.

It was fruity and fresh with plenty of gooseberry fruit and a little grass and herbs on the nose. Bone dry with a crisp lemony acidity the green flavours were joined on the palate by some sweet tropical fruit. It was good, better than the food, and the 13% alcohol may have fought off some of the indigestion which may otherwise have been a feature of the evening. My dining companion felt it was serve a little too warm, but as the food was served a little to cool there was a yin-yang balance to the meal!

Expect to pay ��8 for a bottle retail, but look out for promotions, it's worth stocking up when there's ��2 off at Majestic.

Vive La France

So France has something to celebrate with Sandy Casar taking Friday's stage despite a horribly painful botton, with angry looking road rash, which he picked up after another stray dog made its way onto the course. That will no doubt please the alarming number of people who find this blog using search terms like "cyclists sore bottom" and "painful rash on bum". I do worry about you.

Time then for a French wine a G��rard Bertrand Viognier Vin de Pays D���Oc 2004. It was pale with a fruity, peachy, blossomy scent. Dry, with an oily mouthfeel and crisp apple acidity as well as fresh stone fruit and ripe pears. 13% alcohol felt about right. There's a little bit of honey and nuts too which wasn't there six months ago.

This wine is ready to drink and won't get better after the summer, so look out for newer vintages and enjoy characterful fruit for around a fiver.

Spanish Hills

So Vino put in another absurdly heroic performance today. He's clearly bonkers, which is a useful cycling characteristic. I cycled across the Pyrenees but had the advantage of not knowing what I was letting myself in for. I didn't have 60 stitches in my knees either. I can't imagine how much that hurts.

Fortunately for me, Alberto Contador, the young Spanish rider won yesterday's stage and is in the running to win some more. What more excuse to I need to open a bottle of Muga Rioja Reserva 2003. I cycled through Rioja vineyards in 2003 so I feel a real affection for the vintage.

This one is a rich ruby colour and smells of rich warm vanilla with some blackberry and raspberry. It's dry with ripe, soft tannins, a medium body and a well balanced 13.5% alcohol. As well as the vanilla and berries there's cinnamon and nutmeg and black cherries. The flavour lasts well and it's deliciously moreish.

At around £12 it's definitely a weekend wine, but it's well worth it. Look out for multi-buy deals at Majestic, but bear in mind that it is the wine of choice of Tim How, Majestic's Chief Exec, causing a minor shortage following his fiftieth birthday party!

British Tour Victory!

Hurrah! Barloworld won another stage. I'm stretching reality a little far claiming a British victory, but the team is registered in the UK. Barloworld are doing absurdly well, and you have to ove them for that, it's like Coventry winning the FA Cup 10 years ago, so improbable that you have to be happy for them.

Robbie Hunter is the first South African to win a Tour stage, and in an unforgiveable oversight, given how few people from major wine producing countries have been winning lately, I don't have a South African wine in the queue. Stretching my rules again I'm opting for a Hunter Valley wine in his honour, a McGuigan Signature Reserve Wild Ferment Chardonnay 2006.

It's lemon-gold and has plenty of melony fruit and toasty oak on the nose. Maybe it's the suggestion of wild yeast but it does have a biscuity yeast aroma too. It's dry and crisp with citrus and peach adding to the mix. 13% alcohol s very civilised for an Australian Chardonnay. It's not cheap, but at £7 from Majestic, it's good value and offers something slightly different in the world of Chardonnay.