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Our 'Special Whites' wine tips

      

Comments Outlet Price HTQI Date tasted
Sancerre, Les Champs Clos, Les Caves des Vins de Sancerre.  2001 What would you expect from all the individual growers who were too disorganised to sell/make their own wine!!  No seriously, its not toooo bad, with clean and subtle sauvignon flavours - a total lack of New World assertiveness. Nicolas £9.99 82 17th October 2002
Capel Vale, Western Australia Riesling 2001 Classic ripe and intoxicating riesling flavours - very agreeable.  Full bodied with thank goodness enough acidity to mature.  Dry.  Classy, but keep it a few years Majestic £7.49 120 10th October 2002
Jackson Estate, Marlborough, NZ, Sauvignon blanc, 2001 Almost over the top fruit flavours, hint of acidity and pleasing grassy/nettles flavours.  Archetypical NZ sauvignon - shame that they are getting so expensive  Majestic £8.99 92 7th October 2002
Montagny Premier Cru Caves Buxy 1999 southern Burgundy Tired old drop that perpetuates the myth of France producing good wines. Lacking both fruit flavours and long pleasant aftertaste - avoid at this price Nicolas £11.00 68 12th September 2002
Craggy Range Winery Avery Vineyard 2001 Sauvignon blanc Marlborough NZ Good solid, if somewhat uninspired wine.  Hints of nettle and gooseberries, but the length disappointing. Well balanced. Waitrose £9.99 80 10th September 2002
La Poussie Sancerre 2000 France Fantastic old fashioned black & white label with photo.  Suggested that this was a truly old fangled gem.  Its not. Nicolas £12.95 54 29th August 2002
Sancerre Antique Claude Riffault 2000 Disappointingly dull which is a shame as the label is really attractive!  A classic - case of relying a little too much on the name Sancerre.  Not offensive and well balanced but missing the class that this asking price demands Majestic £11.99 67 14th August 2002
Fairview Viognier 2000 Coastal Region South Africa Intense and attractive fruit, lowish on finesse but overall a pleasing fruity mouthful.  Unoaked.   Oddbins £8.99 100 14th August 2002
Selaks Premium Selection Sauvignon blanc 2001 Marlborough NZ Very close to being totally over the top - has it been doctored to have such massive green nettles flavour?  Otherwise well balanced and pleasing, but we remain suspicious. Oddbins £7.49 120 13th August 2002
Buitenverwachting 2000 Chardonnay Constantia South Africa Floral attractive flavours unfettered by oak.  Simply attractive.  Well balanced and reasonable value Oddbins £8.99 111 12th August 2002
Villa Maria Reserve 2000 Riesling Marlborough NZ Powerful and attractive mature riesling flavours, which linger.  Well balanced even though a touch too alcoholic. Classy but not cheap Oddbins £9.99 92 26th July 2002
Chateau Genot-Boulanger Mercurey Les Bacs 1999 Cote Chalonaise France   Attractive subtle maturing chardonnay flavours, classy but not overpowering Montrachet £12.16 82 17th July 2002
Montana Estates Bancrott Estate 1999 Sauvignon blanc Marlborough, NZ Sensationally complex and attractive aroma - but the surprise is that its classic riesling rather than sauvignon.  Still, who care as long as its nice! Which it is in spades.  Rich body - quality. Oddbins £10.99 113 27th May 2002
Tohu Marlborough Sauvignon blanc 2001 New Zealand Unclean almost sulphury nose. Shame as balance and texture are fine with reasonable length of flavour - so everything's fine except the stinky flavours Wine Rack £8.49 71 20th May 2002
Bonterra Vineyards Viognier 2000 Mendocino County California Massive apricot flavours - its almost summer desert on its own.  A big serious wine with heaps of body and length.  Almost too overpowering but would be great with salmon.  Well balanced, no wood. Oddbins £9.99 115 18th May 2002
Tim Adams 2001 Riesling Clare Valley, South Australia Disappointingly timid flavours make this just dull and uninteresting.  Maybe several years in bottle will help it to open out, but we have our doubts. Tesco £7.49 73 10th May 2002
Montana Reserve Marlborough New Zealand 1999 Riesling We cheated a little here and kept this 12 months; but how it has repaid the patience.  Fabulous scented minerally riesling flavours, superb balance and long aftertaste.  Miles better value than unreliable Alsace.   Oddbins £7.99 125 7th May 2002
Castello della Sala, Antinori  Umbria, Italy 2000  Chardonnay Clean and attractive flavours, but just really quite dull for this price.  No real faults, but no genuine attraction.  A plane jane. Waitrose £7.99 87 29th April 2002
Sancerre 2001 Tesco Classy clean and attractive gooseberry nose, well balanced with fresh acidity.  Much better than ordinary label suggests - why pay more?! Tesco £7.99 113 20th April 2002
Terra Douro Albarino Rias Baixas 2000 Spain Disappointingly bland - really attractive pale colour! Its best feature.  At its best the albarino grapes produces delightfully subtle floral flavour - this is subtle to the nth degree.  Nicely balanced but please - some flavour needed Marks & Spencer £8.50 59 16th April 2002
Savigny-Les-Beaune, Les Vermots Dessus, Burgundy 1998 Baron de la Charriere  At last, a classic Burgundy which dispels the myth and confirms that good stuff is still made at affordable prices.  A really rich chardonnay flavour not hidden by wood, and superb balance.  A serious wine, and a delight to enjoy over next couple of years Oddbins £13.49 138 12th April 2002
Tyrell’s Wines, Vat 16, Hunter Valley, Australia  Semillon  1996  Slightly musty unclean fruit with woody overtones.  Full bodied but spoilt by slight petillance.  Easy mistaken for a cheap poorly made wine - shame supposed to be a classic Oddbins £9.99 55 11th April 2002
Jackson Estate, Marlborough NZ  Sauvignon blanc  Strident gooseberry and rose flavours, a tad acidic but that expected.  Long flavours.  Good value compared to most Sancerre.  Not even spoilt by screw-cap! Waitrose, Oddbins £8.99 111 11th April 2002
Domaine la Tonnellerie, Sancerre 2000  Disappointingly sterile with little fruit, and too acidic.  Nice label - best thing about it! Oddbins £7.99 75 31st March 2002
Montana Reserve Sauvignon blanc 2001 Marlborough NZ Delicately perfumed - absolutely classic sauvignon flavours.  Full bodied with fresh acidity.  No frills but reliable classy wine. Oddbins £7.99 125 6th March 2002
Bouchard Finlayson Kaaimasgat Chardonnay 1998 Overberg South Africa Deep coloured and deeper flavoured.  Massive oak flavours overpowering the fruit - pity.  But lots of people will still enjoy this serious mouthful in spite of the oak overkill. Rich and well balanced. Waitrose £9.49 95 3rd March 2002
Sancerre Tradition 2000 Domaine Hubert Brochard, France Well balanced in the mouth, will upset nobody.  But at this price one has every reason to hope for a big wallop of fruit flavour.  Too bland for its own good - overly subtle in a world constantly looking for sensations, Wimbledon Wine £10.99 70 10th February 2002
Domaine des Rabichattes, Pouilly Fume 2000 Loire France A very honest glass of French sauvignon, good body not too acidic with subtle fruit flavour, not nearly as pungent as your average Marlborough.  Still, ca va! Majestic £8.99 85 29th January 2002
Sainsburys Sancerre 2000 France Mouth-filling and pleasant, worth the money but not worth raving about - but in world scattered with very ordinary Sancerre this ones' fine - ca va bien! Sainsburys £7.99 100 26th January 2002
Domaine Bott-Geyl Riesling Alsace 1997  France Classic Alsatian riesling - minerally almost diesel flavour and good length.  Don't be put off by the drab label. Slips down very easily - superb with smoked salmon - would keep Majestic £7.49 118 17th January 2002
Bridgewater Mill Chardonnay 1998 Petaluma South Australia An honest big mouthful of creamy/peachy Chardonnay flavours with massive length of aftertaste.  Serve with confidence, guests will enjoy it, ... and like you even more Sainsburys £7.49 115 2nd January 2002
The HTQI ratings  
The HTQI is simply calculated by taking assessed value of wine divided by the actual retail price, so a wine “worth” £7.99 but costing just £4.99, has a HTQI of 799/499 = 160.  A really good buy indeed.  		     
                     
Top A wine to seek out and enjoy as much as you can –
superbly over 140 points		      
  A fairly reasonable wine worth trying, 
certainly better than its price suggests –
110  to 140 		     
  Sound commercial wine for the price
– goodish but no surprises -  
90 to 110 points		      
  A wine you should probably be thankful you didn’t buy,
just try to enjoy at a friend’s  place –
65 to  90 points 		     
  If someone gives you this wine as a present,
use it in the salad dressing or to de-scour  the kettle, or both  –
sadly less than 65