We e ke n d 9
High street stars The best fine wines
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Under £
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2016 Château Caronne
Ste-Gemme
Haut-Médoc,
Bordeaux, France,
13 per cent
majestic.co.uk,
six for £14.99 each,
£16.99 a bottleA sublime sip made
from mature cabernet
sauvignon vines, with
one quarter merlot in
the mix. This is a
terrific value for
money claret, with
plenty of beefy, truffle
and cigar box oomph.2016 Château Beaumont
Haut-Médoc,
Bordeaux, France,
13.5 per cent
Co-op, £16.Traditional claret drinkers
just cannot get enough
of this classic, cabernet
sauvignon-led cru
bourgeois from the
Haut-Médoc, with a
good wallop of merlot
in the mix too. It’s a
bold, beautiful, leafy,
sandalwood-scented
mouthful that loves
rosy pink beef, or lamb.2018 Querciabella
Chianti Classico
Tuscany, Italy,
14.5 per cent
Wa i t r o s e a n d
armitwines.co.uk,
£19.My kind of chianti —
floral, fragrant, 100 per
cent sangiovese and
aged for 16 months in
oak casks. The end
result is an excellent
earthy, violet and
woodsmoke-
scented, drop
dead gorgeous
chianti. Perfect
with duck or goose.2012 Viña Ardanza
Reserva, La Rioja Alta
Spain, 14.5 per cent
majestic.co.uk,
six for £19.99 each
until November 29,
£27.99 a bottleHit the heights with this
gutsy, cinnamon, black
raspberry and coffee
bean-stashed reserva,
aged for three years
in American oak.
Perfect with bold
festive dishes,
including turkey and
all the trimmings.2019 Avant Garde Pinot
Noir Domaine Carneros
California, 14 per cent
Whole Foods,
down to £19.
until November 30;
stonevine.co.uk,
£22.Cool Carneros
makes some of the
west coast’s most
elegant pinot noirs.
Overflowing with
deliciously drinkable
mixed spice, blood
orange and damson
plum fruit. Great
with duck.Great
with
gooseFortified wines
»2019 Morgon Côte
du Py-Javernières,
Terres Dorées
France, 13 per cent
hhandc.co.uk, £21.Côte du Py-Javernières is
one of Morgon’s best and
legendary, traditionalist
Jean-Paul Brun’s 60-
year-old vines here
produce characterful
wines that are as
good as it gets in
Beaujolais. With dark,
satanic yet savoury
beetroot fruit, this is
no shrinking violet
and is best served
with hearty fare.2017 Ascheri Barolo
Piedmont, Italy,
14.5 per cent
Tesco, £Easily the most stylish
and authentic of the
supermarket barolos
with oodles of sweet
cigar leaf and Bovril-
rich pizzazz. Aged
in oak for almost
two years, this
vegan-friendly
barolo comes from
a tip-top trio of
nebbiolo vineyards
in La Morra, Verduno
and Serralunga d’Alba.Fonseca Terra
Prima Port
Portugal, 20 per cent
Waitrose, £14.
(down from £18.39)
and Booths (down to
£15 until January 2)Terra Prima is the
lip-smacking,
cut-price festive port
to celebrate with.
Overflowing with
crowd-pleasing,
luscious, plummy
loganberry fruit, you
get a lot of bang for
your buck with this
reserve ruby port.
Time for the stilton.2017 Quinta de la Rosa
Vintage Port
Portugal,
20 per cent
Waitrose, £39.
(down to £29.
from December 1)Splurge this Christmas
on a true vintage
port from the much
admired 2017 vintage.
Part of Waitrose’s top
drawer No 1 range, this
has lashings of sweet
spiced plum and rose
petal-scented fruit.Morrisons The Best
Pedro Ximenez Sherry
Jerez, Spain,
17 per cent
Morrisons,
half-bottle, £6.
(down to £5.
from Wednesday)Ridiculously cheap fig,
black moscatel raisin
and caramel-licked,
seriously sweet
ten-year-old
sherry. Perfect
with plum
pudding or
Christmas
cake.46 47 48 49 50
To p
sherry2019 Châteauneuf-
du-Pape, André Brunel
France, 14 per cent
Morrisons, £
(down to £20 from
Wednesday until
January 1)Châteauneuf is
the hearty
winter red
that should be
in everyone’s trolley
and this is a steal.
Mostly grenache,
with a splash each
of peppery syrah and
mourvèdre, it’s a beef
tea, fig and scented
leather total charmer.2019 Mercurey Vieilles
Vignes, Vincent & Jean-
Pierre Charton
France, 13.5 per cent
goedhuis.com, £20.Goedhuis specialises in
fine and rare burgundies
among other classic
French wines, so
hats off for snapping
up this absolutely
delicious, fleshy,
mushroom, game
and mocha-scented,
old vine mercurey
from Jean-Pierre
Charton and his
son Vincent in the
Côte Chalonnaise.2019 Mt Difficulty
Bannockburn Pinot Noir
New Zealand,
14 per cent
Waitrose, £25.
(down to £20.
from December 1)Beautiful Central Otago
and Bannockburn
in particular make
outstanding pinot
noir. Anyone tucking
into this rich, earthy,
savoury, meaty red
over the festivities will
have a wonderful time.2018 Monthélie Les
Gamets, Domaine
Franck Lamargue
France, 13 per cent
montrachet
wine.com, £Monthélie is one of
those forgotten Côte
de Beaune villages
whose wines, when
in the right hands,
can produce gems.
I loved this gorgeous,
new and old oak-
aged red burgundy,
sweetly fragrant
with cranberry
and raspberry,
and so will you.2017 Spätburgunder
Sonnenberg Reserve,
Weingut Jülg
Pfalz, Germany,
13.5 per cent
howardripley.com,
£21.Move over
Burgundy
— Germany’s
pinot noir, or
spätburgunder,
wants some of your
shelf space. Try this
scrumptious, musky,
tobacco leaf-spiced
2017 from vines
growing right on the
border with Alsace.Brilliant
rhôneJane’s
favourite