Wine of the week: a discounted, worthy, noble pinot
2008 Wither Hills Pinot Noir, Marlborough, South Island, New Zealand (£16.99, reduced until 31 January to £9.99 if you buy two or more bottles, Majestic,
www.majestic.co.uk
).
Majestic has been on a roll this year and some of the discounts available are unbeatable. Tread carefully though, because not all of the wines in this thorn-in-the-supermarkets'-side are as incredible as Wither Hills pinot. I have bought every vintage of this wine ever made and wine-makers Ben Glover and Sally Williams are as perceptive as others twice their age in the region. At £17, and with a three-star award in my Great New Zealand Classification of 2010, this is an accurate, worthy and noble wine.
At a tenner it is in danger of perhaps losing some of its loyal fans because they might think that something has changed or that the wine is being diluted or repositioned on account of a shift in quality. Nothing can be further from the truth – WH is making better wine than ever and this discount is a one off. Grab all that you can get – it already tastes stunning and it will also age gracefully for a decade and knock the socks off any other pinot in the world at this price.
PS: 2008 Jim Barry, The Lodge Hill Shiraz, Clare Valley, South Australia (£9.99, reduced to £7.99 for the same period) is another cracker!
• Matthew Jukes is a winner of the International Wine & Spirit Competition's Communicator of the Year (
www.matthewjukes.com
).