Piqueras Wild Fermented Verdejo 2017 (Almansa)

A lovely wine - my best since the COVID-19 lockdown confined me to barracks.
Well fermented and organic this is a really great producer and I've enjoyed many of their wines. This is a bargain at £10 from Abel & Cole. Though the UK distributor sales through various outlets.
Well made, elegant verdejo with real depth. Zesty nose with hints of sour apples and quince. The palate is rich, apply and slightly spicy with good oak on the back palate. Drink now 2025. 17/20

Luncheon wine - Reuilly Denis Jamain Les Pierres Plates 2018

A Pinot Noir from the Loire Valley not to be confused with the very similar sounding and spelled village in Burgundy, that also produces Pinot Noir!
This has just been released En Primeur from Lay and Wheeler. Beautifully fresh and integrated. Lovely rosehips and strawberries on the nose. The palate is very different to Burgundian - no suggestion of 'forest floor' or cured ham et cetera. But there is very good balance of acidity and tannins and in the mouth it's refreshingly fruity. A lovely wine for about £12 a bottle and makes a nice alternative to Pinot Noir from Burgundy. Great now - drink to 2022

Trevor’s Singapore Lockdown lunch

Lockdown lunch. Actually Singapore is not locked down and restaurants remain open but people are observing social distancing pretty well. Anyway, the wine. Chardonnay, my flexible friend. From Les Combes vineyard in Passenas, Jura, eastern France, made by domaine Les Dolomies. The nearest Chardonnay from Burgundy would be from Givry 65km to the west but, stylistically, that might as well be from a different planet. Jura is famous for oxidative wines and this one is no exception. Made like Burgundy in the ouillé style i.e. open to the air, without a cap of flor (yeast), but it stills has a nose like Manzanilla or aged white Rioja. So just my thing!

 And it has an impeccable pedigree. The makers are Céline and Steve Gormally, the vineyard is biodynamic, the labourers are donkeys, the ground is magnesium-rich limestone, vinification is with wild yeasts and minimal sulphur.

Available from Jimmy Smith's Streatham Wine House. It's delicious!

 Trevor

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Esporao Reserva 2016

Much better than my Californian Zin luncheon wine today!
This is Portuguese fine white wine at its best. Four years of bottle age, 2 years of which were spent in the rack in my kitchen!
This is from the top Alentejo producer and is a blend of French semillon and sauvignon blanc and Portuguese arinto grapes. Always reminds of a fine white dry Bordeaux.
Great nose of quince and lemon zest. Palate is long and balanced. Excellent elegant finished with a kick of acidity. It's about €14 in Portugal one of the bargains of the wine world.

Definition Zinfandel 2017 from Majestic

Californian Zin is not my favourite wine but bought this when I was in Majestic buying some others as it was less than a £tenner. It's got some pedigree because it's from Lodi. Nice blueberries on the nose, strong whiff of alcohol (14%). Palate and finish a little disappointing. Brambly. Much improved after one hour of opening. Drink now. I'd prefer a slightly richer and more elegant Puglian or Sicilian primitivo for the same price. 3/7 on CLWS scale.
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