Wines in the Press - June 19 - 21

What the critics had to say this weekend

What the critics had to say this weekend.

Guardian

Victoria Moore is talking about Frascati being a negative fashion statement,  "like fluffy dashboard dice, it has become a byword for dilute, flavour-free wine," she says.

But when she tasted Frascati Superiore 2008 (Sainsbury's £3.97), she found a, "good example of an unpopular drink".

Moore said it had a light freshness, a very subtle prickle of spritz, a little lees ageing, a mild taste of honeydew and a gently nutty taste, all of which made her want to take it outside, put it in a glass on a table and drink it straight away.

Another good, lower-alcohol and "more acerbic," summer white, she says is Vinho Verde. "The lithe, lively Quinta do Azevedo Vinho Verde 2008 is a particular favourite," she says. (Majestic £4.99, when you buy two or more as part of a mixed case)

Financial Times

This year Britain's biggest wine company Laithwaites is 40 years old, reports Jancis Robinson. It is privately owned by Tony and Barbara Laithwaite who this year through Direct Wines expect to sell £350m worth of wine. Not just in the UK, says Robinson, but in the US, Germany, Switzerland, Australia and, soon, Hong Kong.

Robinson says, the company, which employs about 1,000 people globally, has always been innovative and were the first in the world to employ flying winemakers. Tony Laithwaite is probably best known to British wine drinkers via the Sunday Times Wine Club, which the Laithwaites have operated since Barbara negotiated a deal in 1973.

Robinson says, she asked Barbara Laithwaite what she thought their greatest mistake had been. "We probably relaxed a bit too much over the last four to six years," she admitted. But Robinson says, they may have competition, but " their financial health is not in doubt."

Times

The barbecue season is in full swing, says Jane MacQuitty and there are two possible routes to finding the best barbecue bottles, she says.

The simplest is to choose cheap, easy-glugging, mildly flavoured whites, pinks and reds that take happily to being watered down with a whoosh of soda water and lots of ice or spirits or jazzed up with slices of orange, lemon or lime and a handful of mint, as continental wine drinkers do with drinks such as Sangria.

The other route, says MacQuitty, is to focus on the sauce or garnish accompanying the barbecued meat or fish. Simply grilled barbecued prawns with a squirt of lemon juice and a splash of olive oil could work with almost any light white, pink or red, she says. Whereas Aussie Shiraz makes the best marriage as its bold, beefy, alcoholic style rolls easily over even heftily spiced barbecued food.

MacQuitty recommends, "the gorgeous fat, creamy blackberry spice," of Haselgrove's 2007 Cellar 150 Shiraz (Majestic £7.99, or buy two for £4.99 each).

Observer

Sommeliers hate people who drink Sancerre, says Tim Atkin. As it is the, "I-know-what-I-like wine par excellence".

There are plenty of reasons to dislike Sancerre, says Atkin, starting with its mixed quality and ending with its "increasingly steep, and often unjustified, price tag".

But when it's good, he says, it's an expression of Sauvignon Blanc at its steely, minerally best, a white wine that makes most New Zealand examples look one dimensional.

Atkin says, the Loire is one of France's largest and most diverse wine regions, but is woefully under-appreciated here, and making sense of the Loire isn't easy, given the length of the river and the fact that grapes are grown in six separate regions - the Pays Nantais (Muscadet country), Anjou, Saumur, Touraine, the Centre Loire and the Auvergne.

There aren't any up-to-date books on the region, says Atkin, but two excellent, insider websites, both written by Brits, are jimsloire.blogspot.com and richardkelley.co.uk.

Telegraph

Susy Atkins says, she once went on a trip to Kentucky where she was served Bourbon with steak, but would have rather had red wine.

"It really does have to be red too," she says. "Whites and even rosés taste too light and acidic."

But, she adds, don't feel obliged to go for a heavy, full-bodied style. Try good-quality Beaujolais-Villages, Italian Dolcetto, or lightish Pinot Noir.

Atkins tells us , bigger, richer wines work best when the meat is served a with a mustard sauce/spicy marinade, lots of pepper, well-done, or chargrilled as on a barbecue.

The protein (steak) will tame their powerful structure making them seem more rounded and smooth in the mouth. She says, "something a steak will never achieve when faced with a glass of bourbon whiskey."

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