Home Winners > Winners 2013 > Critics Choice Awards 2013

Winner Details

Critics' Choice Awards 2013


If you want to know where the Trophies are in the Sommelier Wine Awards, well, there aren’t any! We don’t want our tasters to feel under pressure to give out awards in certain categories just to tick a box. Instead, we ask our teams in the final round of tasting to select a couple of their star wines – the Gold Medal-winning bottles that had our tasters going sommelier loco.

These were then re-tasted by a further panel of experts and narrowed down to the dozen wines that you see here.

In terms of both price and style, they’re hugely varied, from an exciting English fizz to a lyrical Verdicchio; from a great value Cabernet/Syrah blend from Chile to a top dollar Côte Rôtie. But what they all have in common is that these were wines that our tasters really believed in and got excited about.

Try them. We’re sure that you will too.

‘We ask our teams to select a couple of their star wines – the ones that had our tasters going sommelier loco – and these are narrowed down to the dozen you see here.’ Chris Losh, competition director



Jenkyn Place Brut 2009, Hampshire, England 

£15.00 @ Jenkyn Place Vineyard

Move over Sussex and Kent – Hampshire is on its way! Made by talented winemaker Dermot Sugrue at Simon and Rebecca Bladon’s boutique estate nestling in the North Downs with a Chardonnay-heavy classic varietal mix, this shows depth and style. ‘Youthful and exciting, yet young and yeasty,’ said Tom Forrest of Vinopolis of this lemon and lime zest-infused sparkler. While Etrusca Restaurants’ Luigi Buonanno picked up on the ‘mineral sea breeze with green apple freshness’, Olivier Marie of Coq d’Argent liked the slight peppery nature with delicate minerality’. Ideal as an aperitif or accompanying fish and seafood of all sorts.

Charles Heidsieck Brut Réserve NV, Champagne, France 

£27.25 @ Liberty Wines

The enchanting depth of flavours and appealing yeasty, nutty notes stand as tribute to cellar master Thierry Roset’s decision to use 40 per cent reserve wines in this classic blend, and then to ensure it waits three years before escaping above ground. The result is a rich, ripe, toasty wine, with a lovely intensity, a fresh lemon acidity and a delicate mousse. ‘Full of character with much elegance,’ said Tom Forrest of Vinopolis. And its roundness and evolved notes means there’s scope for food, too, with our inspired panel suggesting pork belly, no less.

Monte Schiavo, Pallio di San Floriano Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi Classico Superiore 2011, Marche, Italy 

£6.60 @ Boutinot

Monte Schiavos hail from Marche, producing wines that illustrate the beautiful personality of Verdicchio at its best. This single vineyard bottling combines floral aromas with earthy notes, stone fruit with yellow plums, and texture with balance. ‘It’s a great glass of wine,’ said a happy Athila Roos of The Arts Club. ‘There’s honey with slight white pepper notes, some liquorice, and fennel, plus a sprinkle of curly leaf parsley on the palate.’ And it’s this complexity which that made the wine such a welcome guest at the Food Matching lunch, winning the Roast Chicken commission.


Woollaston Riesling 2012, Nelson, New Zealand 

£10.98 @ Hallgarten Druitt & Novum Wines

Wonderful tangy fruit salad mixed with tinned peaches and cooked apricot, the clarity of this wine’s flavours match the organic vision and drive of its producer, Woollaston Estate. Based in Nelson, apparently New Zealand’s sunniest region, the vines are still young and the wines are made in a gravity gravity-fed- winery. ‘It’s like a sweet crushed apple, splashed with lemon juice,’ said thoughtful team leader Angela Reddin, suggesting both sweet scallops and more challenging Thai green curry as ideal food partners.

Saint Cosme, Condrieu 2011, Rhône, France

£34.55 @ Bibendum Wine

‘Smoky, toasty, mineral, stony and floral… intense, powerful and rich… good concentration and a long length’ – and that’s just one person’s opinion of this mesmerising wine. The food suggestions were similarly extensive, everything from turbot and roast chicken to pork belly and Thai green curry. With a winemaking history going back literally centuries, Louis Barroueol carries on the family business, determined not to grow too large, and fashioning beauties like this from old vines. ‘The mineral concentration carries the delicate fruit to a long finish,’ said Kyri Sotiri of Soho Wine Supply.


Undurraga, Aliwen Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon/Syrah 2011, Rapel Valley, Chile 

 £4.08 @ Gonzalez Byass

Yet another gong to these talented Chilean producers – and at what a price! No wonder they scooped Chile’s Winery of the Year gong. Founded in the late 19th century, the winery has hosted visits from presidents, prime minsters and Nobel Peace prize winners. With wines as welcoming as this, that comes as no surprise. ‘With chocolate and black fruit on the nose, this has chunky upfront fruit with decent backbone and easy appeal,’ said Tom Forrest of Vinopolis. Meanwhile Galvin Restaurants’ Andrea Briccarello loved the ‘dark forest fruits, morello cherries, and the spicy finish’.


Borsao Selección Tinto 2012, Campo de Borja, Spain

£5.10 @ Boutinot


Exceptional value from Bodegas Borsao, the enterprising trio of co-ops covering nearly a third of the Campo de Borja region. Becoming better known for its premium offerings, they still perform brilliantly with their entry entry-level wines, as shown in this much appreciated wineexample. ‘Wonderful open bramble fruit with chocolate and cassis,’ said team leader Angela Reddin. ‘This is an explosion of a fruit basket, with a very lovely balance and line.’ Its open, textured flavours and silky, ripe tannins won it the Braised Lamb Food Match crown.


Chivite, Gran Feudo Reserva 2007, Navarra, Spain 

£8.23 @ Matthew Clark

A flagship wine from one of Navarra’s flagship wineries. this This conjures up brooding images with its rich blend of dark and dried fruit. ‘Ambitious, smooth and generous with a firm grip and a long finish, was how team leaderconsultant Peter McCombie MW summarised the appeal. And it’s this length, with savoury notes and juicy plums on the finish, that give it great food appeal, all the way from salmon to Chinese spice chicken.


Kleine Zalze, Vineyard Selection Cabernet Sauvignon 2010, Stellenbosch, South Africa
 

£8.55 @ Hatch Mansfield

Extra hang-time before harvest in 2010 has more than paid off in this rich Cabernet Sauvignon, which effortlessly combines cinnamon and spice with elegant, ripe black fruits. Sourced from two blocks, the wine is aged for nearly two years in French oak barrels. Already there are’s enticing notes of bitter dark chocolate, acidity which balances, and well-integrated tannins. No wonder there were mutterings about grilled steak among our increasingly hungry judges.


Col d’Orcia, Sant'Antimo Sant’Antimo Olmaia Cabernet 2009, Tuscany, Italy

£26.60 @ Alivini Company

An exceptionally rich Cabernet from the single vineyard of Olmaia, overlooking the Orcia river in the southernmost part of the Montalcino district, this is as evocative as it is characterful. An eloquent nose of rose petals and violets alongside spice and cherries leads through to a ‘massive’, palate. ‘This is complex, with its long-lasting finish and its ripe tannins. Such a powerful wine needs protein, such as steak,’ advised Olivier Marie of Coq d’Argent.


Domaine du Monteillet, Côte-Rôtie Les Grandes Places 2007, Rhône, France 

£47.85 @ Boutinot

With ten generations of winemaking behind him, Stéphane Montez crafts incredibly poised wines from the family estate in Northern Rhône. This was the red that left our judges almost speechless with its grace and elegance. ‘There’s an appetising fruity floral nose with lots of zingy depth of flavours,’ said Richard Brooks of Caroline Catering, while team leader Richard Bampfield MW called the wine ‘unique’, saying it has a ‘glorious, funky, peppery palate’. And in terms of food partners, match with all hearty dishes, from game through to spiced dishes.


AUCHTERLONIE AWARD

Wiese & Krohn, Krohn Colheita 1982, Douro, Portugal 

£31.15 @ Boutinot

This was the wine that had people dancing around the room. With colheitas coming into their own this year, this exceptionally priced wine showed just what wonders long long-established producers such as Wiese & Krohn can provide us with. From a very dry year, the harvest was early, resulting in lower yields but high quality berries. ‘'Amazingly complex and integrated, this has a wonderful boat shed nose, with polish and varnish, teacake and tea,’ said team leader Angela Reddin. And as for the price, at roughly a £1 for every year of its existence, we knew this was a worthy winner of the inaugural Caspar Auchterlonie Fortified Award