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Some Young Punks Fierce Allure 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon

January 9, 2012
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This all-Australian (but international in outlook) Cabernet Sauvignon is one of the best of a pretty good (and very big) batch of wines I tried over the Christmas period. Among some solid Rioja and Bordeaux it was nice to try an Australian varietal I wouldn’t normally favour, and to find it full of character and flavour. [...]

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Pazzia is “Crazy” in Italian – Primitivo di Manduria

January 6, 2012
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According to  my Italian flatmate, “pazzia” means crazy in Italian. I had her translate the back label of the 2008 Pazzia Luccarelli Old Vines Primitivo di Manduria because my Italian is not so pretty. According to the label, everyone thought that the producers were crazy to think they could coax any grapes from the poor, [...]

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Umberto Cesari – Sangiovese Riserva 2008

December 31, 2011
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Emilia-Romagna is not a wine producing region in Italy that is well known for turning out wines of quality but one producer believed in the area and founded his vineyards there over 40 years ago. Emilia-Romagna is not that far from Tuscany, situated to the north east of the area on the other side of [...]

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Some Young Punks Naked on Roller Skates 2010 Shiraz–Mataro

December 12, 2011
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There’s a whole string of intrigue and mystery attached to this excellent Shiraz-heavy blend from Australia’s Some Young Punks. The pulp fiction label will split serious wine buyers down the middle, of course; and those that are most serious about wine might perhaps be put off. I’d hope not, though, as the contents of their [...]

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Domaine de la Garenne – Bandol Wine

December 8, 2011
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Bandol is not such a well known wine appellation but they do produce some cracking wines which are perfect for mealtime drinking. I was recently introduced to online French wine  specialist retailer Pierre Hourlier Wines. A small wine importer who source wines from smaller producers, they are constantly on the lookout for excellent quality and [...]

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Il Merlonero Quotidiano 2010 – Everyday Italian

December 1, 2011
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Oddbins has been resurrected. The late and much lamented high street chain of wine shops began as a shop full of quirky, interesting, good and best of all good value wines. Oddbins was the place to go if you were an adventurous wine drinker. Sadly, over the years, mismanagement and the inability to keep up [...]

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Alpha Estate Hedgehog Vineyard Xinomavro 2007

November 21, 2011
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This is a new one on me. Xinomavro is a Greek grape and this is grown in the hedgehog-friendly surrounds of a vineyard in Alpha Estate in Amyndeon in the formerly Macedonian (and in no way Yugoslavic) area of northern Greece. Confession time: I’ve always studiously avoided Greek wine because I was pretty confident it [...]

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Klein Constantia Marlbrook 2007

November 9, 2011
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Plenty of French wine has passed my lips recently, which meant the powerful presence of this interesting South African blend caught me unaware. For some reason I wasn’t expecting a whole lot. I thought this Bordeaux-style combo of 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc would be pleasant enough but no more. It’s a [...]

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Trah Lah Lah 2008 by O’Vineyards

November 7, 2011
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I first came across Ryan O’Connell, the young winemaker of O’Vineyards, at a European winebloggers conference a year or so ago and was immediately charmed by this baby-faced winemaker. Ryan was born and raised in America but his mother is French Vietnamese and as so often happens with Caucasian and Asian mixed race kids, Ryan definitely [...]

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Château Le Boscq 2003

October 31, 2011
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I am not ashamed to admit that I bought this wine because of chicken nuggets. We had run out a few Sundays ago so the wife packed me off to buy some and I couldn’t face going to one of the local big supermarkets for just one thing. I ended up in my local Co-op [...]

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SPAR Butterfly Dreaming Grenache Shiraz Mourvèdre

October 17, 2011
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It’s not often I have the distinct pleasure of shopping for my wine in SPAR, and I say that without a trace of irony. As far as smaller supermarket retailers go, my sporadic visits over the years have found SPAR to be a surprisingly viable wine-buying destination – especially the relatively rare larger model known, [...]

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