Monkeyshed Wines

A cousin of the Alpha Zeta range that so tickles my fancy!
Matt Thomson has weaved his magic with fruit from Abruzzo this time around. Ripeness is never a problem for such a warm region. The challenge is to capture the richness but keep it focused and clean.
So here you are - all the rich flavours of the Abruzzan Med in Technicolor, extra bright, clear and focused.

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Can I get away with the Princes of Denmark being Plantagenets? Probably not, but Plantagenet is one of the original wineries in the Great Southern region of Western Australia and was set up at Mount Barker, not a million miles inland from Denmark, W.A.. So now you know.
This is a classy number. Big on fruit and oak but both are checked by some wonderfully levelling acidity, the key to the wine’s excellent balance. The class of the fruit and wine making skills of John Durham bring a depth of complexity to the wine.
Tidy, very tidy indeed.

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Really juicy friendly stuff. The Deux Roches crew make a range that never disappoints. The common signature throughout is ripe full opulent flavours. That’s what this is all about, and all the tastier for it.

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I’ve got a thing about Fred Loimer’s wines.
In fact it probably goes further than that to my introduction to Austrian wines. An invite came through to a tasting at the Austrian Ambassador’s Residence in Belgrave Square about two seconds from my old Knightsbridge office. It seemed churlish not to. I waltzed up expecting something along the lines of the slightly mad, slightly unwashed, slightly hippy, boho crew that had revealed themselves as the Swiss wine trade. Not a bit of it. I clearly hadn’t read my invitation and dared to turn up around lunch time not in full ball gown and feeling particularly underdressed. An extraordinary atmosphere of very much alive imperial majesty leagues removed from their alpine neighbours. The wines are similarly leagues apart. If the Swiss offer slightly too high altitude versions of their neighbours in France, Italy and I suppose Germany, Austrian wines are truly singing their own song. The best are absolutely fantastic with a brilliant combination of purity and richness.
The Loimer wines deliver.

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Amazing stuff from the shores of Lake Garda. The problem with wine from such a picturesque and well know spot is finding one that firstly wants to and secondly can live up to your holiday memories or fantasies. At Ca dei Frati both are well and truly taken care of.
The Dal Cero family are winemakers who put in the hard work finding great vineyards, cropping low and respecting their fruit. Stunning wines of great depth and complexity that all but the very, very best holiday memories will struggle to put in the shade.

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A particular favourite of mine ever since we first met over a crowded table in Sydney many, many moons ago.
Semillon has been at home in the Hunter valley for as long as Australia has produced wine. Picked early it was Hunter Valley Riesling, a little riper it became Hunter Valley Chablis and the full monty was unleashed as Hunter Valley White Burgundy. Labelling has changed a bit but the variety of styles remains.
Brokenwood now make two Semillons. Their ILR Semillon is an admirable tribute to the classic Lindemans Hunter Valley range of yore. Their real success is with their straight Semillon which is light, fresh and just perfect dry white for relatively early drinking. It will blossom if you manage to loose a case in the depths of your cellar for a few years too.

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Grapes: Sauvignon Blanc
Each: £9.95
INTRODUCTORY OFFER - A dozen for £107 (£8.92 each)

Speaking as the inhabitants of the Monkey Shed we could hardly do anything but like a wine called Tinpot Hut. Indeed just as our name links our past and present (we live in Chico’s old digs) so too does Tinpot Hut link the sheep (well it had to be really) rearing history of Marlborough to its present guise as a winemaking mecca. Lyrical enough?
The Hut is a solo venture of Fiona Turner erstwhile co-conspirator, in many a caper, of the ubiquitous Matt Thomson. The grapes come from her own property in Blind River and other specially selected sites, from contacts carefully ferreted away over the years for just such a solo venture.
The wine has lovely depth and intensity and a Sauvignon pungency that is leavened by a lovely minerality on both the nose and palate.

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