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Bodegas Riojanas, Gran Albina 2004

£19.99

This 'Alte Expression' Rioja is made from hand-selected grapes and gets 24 months in new American oak caskes, creating an intense, concentrated and very modern style of red wine with chewy tannins and opulent fruits. Unlike traditional riojas, which are ready when released (although some can be kept), this needs a few years bottle age to reveal its true glory
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Bodegas Riojanas, Monte Real Gran Reserva 1998

£18.49

Unusually for Rioja, this is a single vineyard wine. The Rioja Alta fruit gives extra weight and body to this smoky, spicy wine, which is ready to drink but should keep in your cellar a while if you like
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SPRING/SUMMER TASTING DATES

Thursday 17th April

Thursday 22nd May, Simply Sauvignon

Thursday 10th July - 5th Summer Wine Fair

SOUTH AUSTRALIA 'BATTLE OF THE VALLEYS' TASTING - Thursday 13th March 2008

It seemed only appropriate to have an Aussie host our South Australia tasting, so we invited Queenslander Scott Edge to bring some of his finest wines to show us the differences between the Eden, Clare and Barossa Valleys in South Australia

Eager to start
So eager to start were some of the tasters that they appear to be tasting without a glass! Scott started off by describing the Valley regions of South Australia over a glass of the excellent value sparkler High Tides Dunes NV. Scott's company, Negociants, are owned by Yalumba, a family-run winemakers in Australia which make some of the wines on offer here.

Riesling Central
The start of the serious tasting saw a comparison between the full bodied, oily 'Jim Barry Lodge Hill Riesling' from Clare Valley and the beautifully elegant 'Mesh' from the Eden. Mesh is a collaboration between two of Australia's most legendary winemakers - Jeffrey Grosset and Robert Hill Smith, who make separate wines from sites in the Eden valley before 'Meshing' them together. The wine shows typical Grosset minerality but is more apporachable than his CLare Valley Rieslings.

Chardonnay's High Point
A chardonnay from one of Australia's highest - and coolest - vineyards split the room - despite being of a fruity style with oak playing a supporting role, some tasters stuck to the "ABC" point of view here.

Hey! That wine's got the same name as my Dad!
I guess we know what Jim's getting for Christmas this year! We tasted two of Jim Barry's reds - the 'Cover Drive - a blockbuster Cabernet from the Clare (with a bit of Coonawarra fruit for that mint-leaf aroma) and the elegant, complex McRae Wood Shiraz.

Eugh, that's not so good!

Scott's just taken a lungfull of the Mcrae Wood - unfortunately it must have been the corked bottle he was smelling! This prompted discussion of a recurrent theme at our tastings - the topic of screwcap vs. cork. It's difficult to argue against screwcap when faced with a £23 bottle which has been ruined by its cork! Fortunately, both bottles of the final wine - the awesome, dense Octavius were in perfect condition, and showing the class that this wine clearly has.