Things are beginning to heat up here at JN Wine. The festive season is approaching and to distract us from how cold it is in the warehouse, we’re starting to think about our own vinous requirements once the madness subsides and we can relax with our friends and family, a glass in hand.
Christmas day is stressful; lots of people, lots of preparation, having a bit of structure to your wine drinking is a great way to keep things flowing smoothly over the course of your Christmas and New Year’s parties.
Let us take a little bit of the pressure off by giving you the top 10 Party Wines that will keep you going nicely throughout the festive period!
A new, exciting and dynamic range of wines on these shores. After managing a B&B in the south of France, Martin and Vivienne Rawlinson were inspired to establish St John’s Road in 2001. Well balanced palate showing both notes of fresh fruit (plums & raspberry) as well as savoury smoked peat and spice tones. Fine line of acidity, firm, grippy tannins and a moreish finish, perfect for a charcuterie board!
£14.95 / €19.95
Produced by renowned NZ winery Forrest Estate, this is consistently one of JN's most popular Sauvignons. Heart of Stone is sourced from grapes grown in several distinctly different sites within Marlborough in an area where the vines struggle for survival in ancient riverbed stones and gravel. The resultant crop amounts to only a handful of intensely flavoured grapes per vine. This is a vibrant wine with flavours of blackberry, gooseberry and passionfruit underscored by appetising, crisp acidity which produces a refreshing finish. It will partner white fish and salads to perfection.
£12.50 / €17.00
Asked to recommend a great value "crowd pleaser" to buy by the case and pass out to neighbours, top wine commentator Jancis Robinson replied: "A Badenhorst Secateurs Blend, red or white, from South Africa. Easy and mouthfilling. Tangy and definitely Chenin. A great introduction to New Wave South African wine! "
Our customers seem to agree, with Secateurs red and white consistently among our best sellers. The aromas are flinty with peaches, honey, orange blossom and white stone fruit notes. A small proportion of the wine is fermented in oak adding to the silky texture of this wines.
£11.95 / €16.50
This wine comes from high altitude vineyards (750 - 900m) in the Almansa region of Spain. The grapes undergo a strict hand selection and after fermentation the wine spends 8 - 10 months in stainless steel before being blended and then aged for 12 months in fine grain medium toasted American oak casks. The wine is then bottled and aged in the cellars for a further year prior to release.
The wine has a complex nose of raspberries, stewed plums and spices with vanilla notes from the period of barrel ageing. Rich and yet balanced on the palate, it has great depth and a lingering smooth finish. It goes well with red meats of all kinds.
£10.50 / €14.95
This easy-drinking and exciting white is a blend of 3 beautiful grape varities rarely seen together; Sauvignon - Muscat petits grains and Muscat of Alexandria. Each brings a refreshing and uplifting characteristic to the wine. The robe is pale and crystal clear. Its striking fruitiness gives off hints of lychee and exotic fruits. The thirst quenching palate is lively and fresh, great for an aperitif or with shellfish.
£10.50 / €15.00
A firm favourite for wine lovers... The Chocolate Block 2019 is a blend of Syrah (71%); Grenache Noir (11%); Cinsault (9%) Cabernet Sauvignon (8%); and Viognier (1%). A medium bodied wine, very balanced with an earthy, layered character, covering the entire spectrum of berry fruit - from tart red plums to rich blue and black berries. The mid-palate is focused, lithe and elegant with very fine, cocoa powdery tannins.
£22.95 / €30.00
Azienda Agricola Trevisana is a small winery owned by the Tombacco Family since the seventies. It produces and bottles Italian wines with genuine and intense flavours, in the best wine making tradition. Fresh and light on the palate, with balanced acidity and body. Ideal as an aperitif or an accompaniment to hors d’oeuvres and delicate first courses, pefect for a festive party with light bites!
£11.75 / €21.00
Owned by Claude Barthe, this is from a wonderful site in the medoc, a Bordeaux Superieur made with Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc with delicious blackberry and black plum flavours, from a top Bordeaux vintage offering superb value for drinking today.
£12.00 / €17.00
Finca Antigua gathers the best of the old and new worlds, with a surprising collection of wines which are creative, innovative and that express the personality of the land where they are grown. Robust, with a lot of backbone initially, unfolding a full-bodied sensation horizontally and vertically. Certain grape tannins provide fleshiness and above all a great freshness that cleans the palate. The oak coming through after with a long and persistent finish. A great accompaniment to red meats and lamb!
£10.95 / €15.00
One of our eternally popular wines - as much for its quality as for its affordability. The upfront and honest character of the wine with its fruit-filled nose and palate redolent of plums, spice and damsons, all wrapped in a medium-bodied framework of supple character. This wine cries out for similar food matches like loin of lamb, and rich meat stews - indeed anything vaguely meaty, but pairs wonderfully alongside a wide variety of cheese.
£9.95 / €13.95
