Caldora Trebbiano d'Abruzzo 2011

Trebbiano is one of the highest yield grape varieties you can get. So it's always pretty cheap. Would it help if I called it Bombino Bianco? That sounds better than common cheap white, doesn't it? And it should - this is a quite explosive little number. The equivalent in Italy of a cheap grassy Antipodaen Sauvignon Blanc, but better, more lemony, subtler, yet still aromatic. This particular one has about 15% Malvasia, which lends it a little strength and backbone. It's citrussy, has some herby spicy notes - more thyme and straw than the grass you often find in Sauvignon. It has a ripe and pear like front palate, and considering its price, a very reasonable length. Great every-day drinking wine.

Drink now
35AED + tax
14/20

Cossetti Barbera d'Asti La Vigna Vecchia

I played wine options with my husband on this wine. He first picked it as New World (as against old), and then as Spanish (rather than French or Italian). He finally got the grape variety (I offered him a choice of Barbera, Sangiovese and Merlot). He was way off on vintage. But he's a fairly good wine taster - why? It's because this wine tastes much younger, more vibrant and more fruit driven than many would expect. It's almost a little like a serious Beaujolais - all dark cherries and spice with nuances of raspberry and vanilla on the finish. Body is medium, tannins are light and acid is fairly soft. There's a little earthy hint to the middle palate, but nothing like the rusticity you might expect to find in an old vine Italian wine from a time-tested region. Quite clean actually, and dangerously quaffable - especially in this climate.

Drink now or for 3 years
80AED = tax
15/20

Chapoutier Bila Haut Blanc 2009

This white is from is a relatively small and high altitude vineyard, from a fairly hot wine growing region by french standards (Côtes du Roussillon). So what you get is a wine with both warm and cool characters - lowish acid combining with a cool honeydew melon fruit. It's both neutral and full, has a little spice and medium body, and a gorgeous earthy character hard to put my finger on - almost like biting into a piece of ripe brie. The blend is grenache blanc, grenache gris and macabeu - three varieties relatively unknown by new world drinkers. Everything is understated. Unlike it's red brother (Les Vignes de Bila Haut), it will not recieve great acclaim - but it's still a very drinkable white, albeit not for lovers of NZ Sauvignon Blanc.

Drink now or next year
45AED + Tax
13/20

Villa Sandi Pinot Grigio 2011

Well this one's a surprise. During wine training I remember someone telling me a good Italian Pinot Grigio would taste like bananas. 15 years later, and I've finally tasted one. This is not your typical insipid crowd-pleaser, but a full and serious wine. It's jammed with flavour, and yet still finishes dry and neutral with that trademark bitter almond lash that keeps it firmly in the relam of 'food wines'. Fruit flavours are mainly up front - banana of course, a little marshmallow and fresh star anise. Apricots are a merest nuance twisting through the middle and back palate. Luverly.

Drink now and for 3 years
AED 65 AED + Tax
17/20

Torres Vina Esmarelda 2010

This is a wine that is hard not to like, at least for the first glass - exceptionally fragrant, and yet deceptively dry. But it's also like a beautiful woman wearing a stunning perfume, just a little too much of it. The fragrance (lychee, jasmine and ripe, ripe pears) can overwhelm all around it, and rather than dissipate as you drink, it almost grows and dominates the palate. Many would not agree, and would argue that it's almost grape-burstingly-textured muscat and luscious Gewurztraminer is a perfect accompaniment to meals so traditionally full of flavour they dominate the wine (e.g. a Thai green curry). I would say it's a gorgeous, clever wine, but just for an aperitif with your melon and jambon, and then onto something a little more neutral.

Drink now or for 2 years
45AED + Tax
14.5/20

Mumm Cordon Rouge NV

Mumm (pronounced on the short side of mewm, not "mum" as many say it) is on the gentle side of the spectrum. It's just sly of dry, seeming to have a higher dosage than many of the other big names. The acid is a little lacking for moi - but with Champagne, many would say this is a personal preference - some simply can't drink the steelier styles and would love this. Fruit flavours are relatively simple - a little yellow peach and dried pear, and there is the trademark Champagne marmite character also shining through. Quite golden in colour, and showing some nice honeyed development, but in my opinion, not the best at the price point.

Drink now or over 3 years
AED 240 + Tax
13.5/20

False Bay Chenin Blanc 2011

The 2010 release of this wine was fab at the price, and this is a good follow-up. Interestingly though, the brighter season has provided a little more fruit ripeness that in my view tips the balance to sweet just a little over the well weighed wine of last year. Lovely yeast characters (wild yeast only), creamy and tropical, and ever so slightly like salted caramel apple pie. Would be perfect with barbecued crays or at least some sweet prawn flesh with old school dipping sauce. In fact, great BBQ wine to replace cheap Aussie Chardonnay if you feel like something different. Good value.

Drink Now or next year
40AED + Tax
15/20

Chateau Correnson Lirac Rose 2010

My love of Lirac is no great secret, and this is a ripper little example. It's so completely redcurranty it's silly. Seriously, if you steeped the little blighters in a little pure alcohol and added just the right amount of sugar, they might taste a little like this. Just not as good. Even a bourbon slugger would be able to isolate the fruit character in this wine. It's got some lovely light tannins and almondy bitterness on the finish which seals off that vibrant nose and front palate nicely. A little candy-like on the finish, which may sway some - for me, it makes it dangerously quaffable. 


Drink now
50AED + Tax
14.5/20