Wine with Leslie: Wine prices continue to creep upwards
Pic: iStock
I’m not sure about you but I have been noticing a significant creep upwards in wine prices since the start of the year. Part of this is a hangover from Covid which led to price increases in things you might expect such as labour and transport, but also in ancillary items such as packaging and glass.
Many wines under €15 are now approaching €17, and many wines previously costing €10 are now €12 and some are even more. Things are even worse with fine wines. The weather in 2021 was particularly irksome and unpredictable with frost and hail impacting on the quantity produced in several regions. Burgundy is the most famous example as it was hit with terrible frosts in 2021 as well as hail and many producers found their quantity halved, even if quality was high. For many negociants the cost of grapes pretty much doubled, but with demand so high the wines will still sell.
2022 was better with good grapes and a large harvest, but it will take a few good vintages to re-stock cellars — and as you probably know, Burgundy prices will more likely stabilise than go down.
At least the 2021 Burgundies taste great, even at entry level. As proof this week I’m recommending an excellent Hautes-Côtes de Beaune for €23— an unheard-of price these days for decent Burgundy. The Hautes-Côtes is at a significantly higher altitude than the Côte-D’Or, but with warmer vintages now the norm, the rather green wines of the past seem to be gone.
The low price is because this is from WineSpark, a subscription service which costs €10 per month — staff and admin are paid out of subs rather than out of mark-ups. I also recommend a Provençal Rosé from WineSpark, and I can recommend their organic Gerd Stepp wines from the Pfalz and Podere Gagliassi from Piedmont.
Finding good organic and natural wine at reasonable price has also become difficult but the other four wines fit the bill. The two Jacques Frelin wines are appearing on this page for the first time and both are rare examples of fruit-focused organic wines under €15. The Ch. Peybonnehomme ‘2Cs’ Vin de France below does not look or taste particularly French but is a total find and recommended for its fruit and focus — the same goes for the new vintage of an old favourite — Brezo from Bierzo.
Organic for 38 years this delightful rosé is one of Mary Pawle’s best-selling wines. Pouring a pale salmon pink with light floral red-fruit aromas, lively (almost luscious) red fruits on the palate and a zing of dried berries and cherry skin on the finish. Surely it must be time for rosé outside, bring your cote if necessary!
This juicy red is also making its debut and is ‘Sans Sulfite’ should you be sensitive and like the burst of primary fruit flavours found in ‘no-added-sulphur’ wines. Bright blackcurrant and blackberry fruit aromas, supple and juicy with plums, cherry jam and black raspberries on the palate — a steal at this price.
A blend of Syrah, Grenache and Cinsault this is from a rather remote part of Provence and from grapes grown at some altitude (380m), and owned by the people behind Ch. Talbot. This is bright and fruit focused with floral red fruit aromas, crisp and fresh with a touch of candied raspberry and a layered crisp finish.
I last featured this in 2017 so it is due for a reminder mention — the 2022 is particularly good. Fragrant, floral, apple and peach aromas with textured ripe apple and pear on first taste — tropical notes arrive next and the finish has a tangy mineral edge. The cherry-fruited red Mencia is also recommended.
The subscription nature of WineSpark (€10 per month) allows for good discounts as this would normally cost €39. From the cooler high slopes (hautes-côtes) above the Côte-D'or this has gorgeous textured creamy pear and melon fruits, elegance, purity, and delightful freshness. Restricted to 3 bottles per customer due to limited availability.
Tasty Southern French red from a producer I’ve recommended more than once before — an unusual blend of 50% Syrah, 25% Touriga Nacional, 15% Malbec and 10% Merlot. Bursting with ripe red and darker plum fruit flavours with a velvety texture and some structure creeping in on the mid-palate and finish. Biodynamic and Vegan certification. Ideal with tapas.
Teelings Distillery (and John Teeling’s Cooley Distillery before them), have always been rightly proud of their Single Grain Whiskey, not least because it has won so many awards. Irish Pot Still and Single Malt whiskies will always be the most lauded, but we forget sometimes that grain whiskey makes up the bulk of all blends.
From 95% corn and 5% malted barley and aged in ex-Bourbon casks before being finished in Bordeaux Sauvignon Blanc barrels. Aromas of grilled toast and citrus (grapefruit, lemon zest), soft on the attack with honey and tropical fruit flavours, spice and vanilla hit next and the finish has peppery sweet melon notes. A sweet pleasure.
