Pocket Vintages - wine guide, wine recommendations, wine reviews

Chateau Villemagne 2001 Corbieres

I picked up a case of this direct from the vineyard near Lagrasse in South West France.  Made by the owners Paulette and Roger Carbonneau, this wine is drinking very well now but will age a further 3-5 years no problem.

It is big, rich and smooth, still with that distinctive south west France 'ouvrier' basic and honest taste, but with a finesse that you don't often in AOC Corbieres wines.

It is a mix of Carignan, Grenache, Cinsaut and Syrah and would grace pretty much any meat dish, although would go perfectly with the local Cassoulet.

Only 3,600 bottles of this vintage were produced.  I just drank bottle number 00184.

Chapel Down 2006 Bacchus

I had a glass of this at Trinity Restaurant in Clapham the other day and I have to say that it scored top marks.

It is as crisp and fresh as you like and full of fruit.  An excellent white wine that can be enjoyed as an aperatif or with light fish dishes.

You can buy it from the Chapel Down website here but their case value of £108 plus £8 delivery seems steep.  I saw it on the Everywine website for less than £100 a case.

Lower Alcohol Wines from Marks and Spencer

Did you know....

That Marks & Spencer is launching a new range of lower-alcohol wines under the M&S L%wer Alcohol brand name.
The three new M&S L%wer Alcohol wines, a red, white and rosé, are made using conventional wine-making techniques to achieve boast a naturally lower-alcohol content of 9.5% alcohol-by-volume.

  M&S says the 500ml bottles contain five units of alcohol, allowing two people to share a bottle and still stay within the government's sensible daily drinking recommendations, of no more than two to three units for women and three to four units for men.

Additional guidance is offered in the form of the recommended daily allowance details and actual alcohol units per bottle and per glass, printed on the back label.

M&S winemaker Jo Ahearne said: “We are committed to responding to our customers' needs. The new wines offer clarification and guidance, and not only are they lower in alcohol, but they also offer all of the quality and flavour expected of an M&S wine.”

Pocket Vintages has been recommending lower alcohol wines for some time now.

Check out our lower alcohol wine recommendations here.