Principal Investment Management

Wine of the month

With Richard Cumming-Bruce

This is a series in which we will be highlighting some recommendations from our resident wine buff. It aims to introduce you to wines that are, perhaps, a notch above everyday drinking plonk, and can enhance the experience of people who are interested in what they drink. The prices reflect the higher quality of the wine, but will be at a level to make the indulgence feasible, rather than a once-in-decade treat. The idea is to be practical, focusing on products which are quite widely available but don't have the recognition they deserve in the world at large.

Antinori's Tormaresca

Puglia has long been known as a source as some of the best value and most reliable sources of cheap red ones. Salice Salentino in particular has been the answer to many seeking drinkable plonk in pizzerias without breaking the bank. But a visit in Easter week to Puglia and Campania confirmed that it is increasingly a source of much more than just plonk and it deserves increasing attention. Many estates have benefited from investment in the last generation and are making international class wine. In particular, Candido produces a range of wines from Salice Salentino of consistently excellent quality, with its entry level wines outstandingly reliable value, and Capello di Prete and Duca d’Aragona deserving of a place on any serious Italian wine list (including that of the Carluccio chain over here). Even more strikingly, the most exciting find I’ve made in years, is the relatively recent Puglian venture of the famous Antinori family called Tormaresca. These were some of the finest Italian wines I’ve ever tasted, with their bottlings of the specialist Southern Italian grapes of Aglianico, Negroamara, Primitivo all benchmarks of their kind. Yet prices (from Wine Direct, Wine Rack, or in wholesale quantities from Berkmann’s) are comparable to relatively humble Claret or Burgundy. Wine Spectator Magazine highlighted the Primitivo, Torcicoda, in its top 100 wines of the world last year and the mid-range blend, Neprica, regularly features in surveys of the outstanding value. This is anything but plonk, and will amaze your friends if you can manage to track it down! .

Archive

April

• CHRISTOPHE CORDIER BERGUNDY. At this time of year we tend to put away our robust alcoholic reds, and reach for some refreshing whites. One of the most striking bargains that I have come across in years is the suite of wines made by Christophe Cordier, which Majestic sells. The estate is based in the less fashionable southern end of Burgundy called the Cote Challonaise, rather than the famous Cote d’Or, home to Puligny and Chassagne-Montrachet and Meursault. Prices are lower here yet, even Cordier’s simpler wines from Macon, have an intensity and rounded complexity which reminds me more of the Cote d’Or than his neighbours. His top wines from old vines around Pouilly-Fuisse are a complete revelation. They start at barely £10 a bottle, and it’s easy to pay more than twice that for white Burgundy of lesser quality. For those that love white Burgundy and have easy access to Majestic, I would encourage you to look out for these wines.

February

• MEERLUST RUBICON. Long recognised as one of the finest wines from the Southern Hemisphere, this South African beauty goes from strength to strength and represents exceptional value compared to wines of equivalent quality in Bordeaux. It is a classically elegant Bordeaux blend, with many of the black fruit and tobacco aromas that one associates with a great claret, and excellent length and richness cloaked in tannins that give it complexity and longevity. It is quiet widely available, at Majestic for a little over £2,, among other places, and will give pleasure over 10-15 years. I have never had a disappointing bottle and recommend it to any claret lover looking for an indulgence without paying Pauillac prices.

January

• CHATEAU MUSAR. A wine trip to Lebanon in the autumn underlined the extraordinary strides the country is making in developing a world class wine industry. Some of the best estates, such as Domaine des Tourelles and Ch Belle Vue, are extremely difficult to find here: but others such as Ch Kefraya, Ksara and Massaya are becoming increasingly visible - and are well worth seeking out. Much the easiest to find is the old aristocrat Ch Musar. It was this wine that first brought Lebanese wine to the attention of the world, and the quality of its wines through the turmoil in Lebanon was positively heroic. It is still very good indeed, with a unique spicy, mineral edge backed by surprising depth. It also ages wonderfully - the 1974 that I tasted at the Chateau was one of the best wines I tasted all year last year. That won't be available here, of course, but up-to-date vintages are readily available at Majestic, and a series of specialist wine merchants, and at around £20 a bottle. That is extremely good value compared to wines of such quality in more fashionable places. If you don't know it, I strongly recommend trying it. There is also a much cheaper second wine called Hochar (the name of the family behind the chateau), which is pretty good, but not in the same class as the top wine.

December

• PELORUS SPARKLING WINE. Almost everyone wants to have a top-quality sparkling wine to hand in December and this has long been a favourite of connoisseurs looking for Champagne quality without Champagne prices. It is made by the famous Cloudy Bay estate, the pioneer of New Zealand's arrival on the top table of the world's wine market (and owned by the company that also owns Moet & Chandon and Veuve Clicquot). It's made in the style of Champagne, with the same grapes that are used in most great Champagne, and a recent tasting confirmed that it easily compares to many Champagne Grande Marques at little more than half the price. It also ages beautifully. I pointed a former colleague in the direction of this for his wedding more than a decade ago and he claims that he hasn't bought a bottle of Champagne since, as he prefers it to any Champagne he's has ever tasted.    

November

• KLEIN CONSTANTIA VIN DE CONSTANCE. One of the world's great sweet wines and a wine with as much history attached to it as any in the Southern Hemisphere: famously it was said to have been Napoleon's favourite wine. It's had its ups and downs in the last two centuries, and it's not made in the same way that it was in Napoleon's day, but in the last decade or so investment has again restored it to something like its former glory. It's a wonderfully concentrated and rich Muscat-based wine with an underlying grapiness, backed up by utterly gorgeous sweetness, redolent of orange and apricot. It's not cheap at around £30 a bottle, but it's widely available and most French sweet wine of this quality is at least twice the price. In the run up to Christmas this will make the perfect ending to any dinner.  

October

• CLOS DE LOS SIETE. Argentina has a lower profile than Chile for its wine in this country, partly because it exports less of its best stuff, but it loses nothing by comparison, and this is a relatively new winery in Argentina, with a very serious heritage behind it. It was the brainchild of Michel Rolland, perhaps the most sought-after wine consultant in Bordeaux and its investors read like a 'Who's Who' of French wine. This shows in the wine; a very rich, big wine with a mass of sweet fruit cloaked by gentle tannin and well judged oak. It's a big alcoholic number, with the Argentinean signature grape of Malbec at the heart of its blend, which is easily available at Waitrose, and sometimes Majestic, at around £13 a bottle. There is a lot of less concentrated and less attractive wine on the market at twice that price!

September

• CHATEAUNEUF-DU-PAPE GONNET 2007. When I saw this special offer in Tesco for less than £20 , I wondered if it was a mistake. Gonnet is the family that makes Font de Michelle, one the most highly reputed of all Chateauneuf estates, and 2007 was the best vintage in the area for about a decade. Snap this up while you can, as you are unlike to fine any better example of the glories that complex, white-peppery Grenache can achieve in this area for this price again in a hurry.

August

• 2009 BEAUJOLAIS. Beaujolais has had a serious image problem ever since the craze for Beaujolais nouveau in the 1980s - filthy, deep purple stuff which tasted of alcoholic Ribena and was likely to leave you with a nasty bout of indigestion followed by a stonking headache. But in the right year Beaujolais is one of the most refreshing and underrated summer reds on the market - and 2009 was perhaps the best year in living memory for it. I’ve had more pleasure out of 2009 Beaujolais than any other red wine this spring and summer, and I’d encourage you make the most of the end of summer by stocking up on it. Lovely, ripe and refreshing wines with beautiful balance and lots of attractive raspberry fruit. It’s inherently a simple wine and even simple co-op versions will adorn any summer picnic, but Jadot’s Chateau des Jacques is probably most easily found of the top estates in this country. Do put it in the fridge for an hour, or even a n ice bucket for a few minutes, before serving it, and don’t think of laying it down to age it. It’s at it best when it’s young, fresh and fruity.