Sunday 4 December 2011

My retailer of the year: www.fromvineyardsdirect.com

I've used a variety of online wine retailers this year.

Whilst I buy wine to lay down with Berry Brothers, for every day drinking I haven't found them to be the best value.

The Wine Society, if you are a member, is an excellent place to find well priced drinking wine.

Virgin Wines, as I mentioned, is a real disappointment. Everywine.co.uk, which I also used, has shut down.

My top two picks are Laithwaites for range (Los Vascos 2007 and their Rothschilds Christmas selection as highlights) and fromvineyardsdirect.com for mid-range bargains.

The Domaine les Grands Bois Cuvée Maximilien Cairanne from their site, with 92 Parker points, is a perfect accompaniment to strong cheddar. At £11 or so a bottle, it's fabulous value, a velvet bomb of a wine. Not for the faint hearted but a stunner.

But the best value wine of the year is their Rosso del Palazzone Montalcino. It's simply stunning at the price. I've had £30+ bottles that couldn't touch this. Let it breathe for an hour or so and the bold aromatic nose, wonderful hints of slight smokiness/tobacco and elegant, ongoing finish are superb. I've blogged on it before, but having had several bottles it only get's better. At £140 a case it's my value for money wine of the year, at least so far.

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