Wines of the week
Dark cherry jam
Colpasso, Appassimento Nero d’avola, Sicily, Italy 2020. £9, Morrisons, alc 14% From the Belice area in the Agrigento province, this has a perfumed nose of prunes, dark cherry jam and raisins with a touch of dried flower. Soft, with a concentrated core of ripe dark berries, plums and dried herbs, lifted by decent acidity. A tasty food wine.
Up-and-coming starlet
Bon Afrique, Clairette Blanche, Worcester, South Africa 2021. £10, Aldi, alc 14% From a variety usually seen in white Châteauneuf-du-pape, but increasingly in South African white blends, where it has transitioned well from a workhorse blending agent to up-and-coming varietal starlet. The mealy, nutty tones meld with white blossom, green herb, rooibos tea and pithy apricot flavours. Online only.
Pencil-lead notes
Lamoreaux Landing, T23 Unoaked Cabernet Franc, Finger Lakes, New York State, US 2020. £18.95– £19.99, Cheers, Eynsham Cellars, alc 12.7%
It’s a treat not only to discover a New York estate with wines available in the UK, but below £20, too (there’s also a Riesling, Grüner and Gewurz). This is a vibrant, quaffable red, full of currants, liquorice and pencil-lead notes.
Snap it up
Daniel-etienne Defaix, Chablis 1er Cru Les Lys, Burgundy, France 2007. £44.90, Q Wines, alc 13% Powerful aromas of stewed apples, toasty vanilla and lime, an earthy undercurrent from bottle age, moreish buttered brioche and tinned-pineapple notes. Age and complexity at this price? Snap it up!