Advantages: Great balance of value and quality, lovely delicious flavour Disadvantages: Boring label, only at Marks and Spencer
I really enjoy Chilean PinotNoirs because of their clean red berry flavours and have of course sampled quite a few of them. One that has performed the best for me in terms of all round quality, value and sheer quaffability is Secano Estate PinotNoir which is only available from Marks and Spencer for £6.99. It is made for M&S by a decent producer called Vina Leyda from grapes grown in the Leyda Valley. This area is an up and coming coastal area which is responsible for some very tasty PinotNoirs as its cooler climate gives better ripening conditions for the temperamental PinotNoir grape which produces better wine in moderate to cool climates.
I first tasted the delicious 2006 vintage while watching the film Sideways in order to pay homage to the main character Miles and his love of PinotNoir. I am sure he would have revelled in ...
Advantages: Tastes more expensive than it is, delicious red berry flavours, widely available Disadvantages: Hard to think of !
If you enjoy a juicy, medium bodied red wine with vibrant and mouth watering red berry (strawberry/raspberry) and cherry flavours then a PinotNoir can fit the bill. However PinotNoir wines are generally quite expensive and good, affordable examples suitable for everyday drinking are thin on the ground. Despite this a great example exists in the form of Cono Sur PinotNoir from Chile which is superb value for money. I think Chile produces some easy drinking, pleasing red wines in the lower price brackets and this is no exception. This wine normally retails at the £5-6 price range at a number of major supermarkets (Tesco, Sainsburys, Somerfield and Waitrose included) and is often discounted to the £4-5 area. It makes for exceptionally delicious drinking on its own with delicious red berry flavours with a hint of smoke in a very, juicy ...
Advantages: Elegant, widely available Disadvantages: No strawberry flavours !
I'm a huge fan of PinotNoir wines and their sexy and easy going red berry charms. Frequently Cono Sur of Chile have come to the rescue when I craved an inexpensive fix of this delightful substance. Having extolled the virtues of Cono Sur's basic PinotNoir I jumped at the chance of sampling of their Reserve PinotNoir which promised an even greater level of sensual delight. I purchased my bottle, vintage 2006, from Tesco on offer at £4.99 (full price of £6.99) and it can also be found residing at Somerfield. Further delight ensued when I spied the emblem of a 2006 International Wine Challenge gold medal slapped on the bottle. Hopefully happy days would follow when the bottle was cracked at home !
PinotNoir has began to excel in the cooler regions of Chile and this indeed come from the more temperate Casablanca valley which is ...
