The best value wines are the ones you have never heard of. This week I tried a well-known, expensive Barolo and wondered why I had bothered. I then drank an obscure Burgundy called Monthelie that cost half as much and gave three times the pleasure. And here is another wine that is cheaper still, even less well known, and a delight from start to finish.

Lirac is the oldest wine in the Côtes du Rhône region. In its heyday, around 400 years ago, it was prized throughout Europe. Read the rest of this entry »

They have been making wine in South Australia’s Barossa Valley since the 1830s. Jason Schwarz, founder and proprietor of the Schwarz Wine Company, made his first Thiele Road Grenache in 2002, but he is very much part of the tradition, being the son and grandson of Barossa Valley growers.

Mr Schwarz considers himself an artisan.  His approach to winemaking style involves, as he puts it, “purposely low intervention. I like the fruit to speak for itself.” It certainly does that, in resounding tones. Read the rest of this entry »

Valpolicella is the local grape of Verona, in north-east Italy.  It gives its name to the everyday wine from those parts. There are some good Valpolicellas and quite a few foul ones. Having drunk more of the latter than the former, I tend to avoid the stuff.

But in this part of the world they like to tinker with their wine. Someone came up with the interesting idea of half-drying the Valpolicella grapes before vinifying them. The result was one the great wines of Italy. Amarone is massively strong – at least 14 percent alcohol, often higher - with a unique flavour suggesting, among much else, prunes, blackberry jam and dates. And the tinkering did not stop there. Read the rest of this entry »

Even people who don’t drink have heard of Margaux. The name has become synonymous with “luxury wine”, something consumed by rich, sophisticated people, along with Romeo y Julieta cigars and Beluga caviar – though ideally not all at once. Lovers of trivia may also know that one of Ernest Hemingway’s granddaughters was named after it. (She eventually killed herself, though for unrelated reasons.)

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