Wine of the week: Superstar wines from Oddbins
2009 Longview, Devil’s Elbow Cabernet Sauvignon, Adelaide Hills, South Australia (£15, Oddbins).
Oddbins has been trying to get its act together of late to entice people back into its stores. There are a number of new wines coming onto the shelves and the best of these are to be found in the Australian section. With no less than six wines from Longview, all brand new to the UK, you really ought to find your local store (35 across the UK) and pop in for a browse.
The ‘Red Bucket’ entry level blends are charming and rewarding, but if you step up a few pounds you encounter 2011 Whippet Sauvignon Blanc and 2011 Blue Cow Chardonnay (both £13), 2009 Yakka Shiraz (£15), and my pick, Devil’s Elbow (£15). They are all absolutely brilliant.
The Adelaide Hills region is famous for its rapier-sharp sauvignons, silky, cool climate chardies and peppery, plummy shirazes, but it is this remarkable cabernet, with a touch of mint on the nose and a mass of blackcurrant fruit on the palate, which is a real surprise.
Medium-weight, amazingly classy and terrific value, the owners, the Saturno family, and consultant winemaker Ben Glaetzer, have pushed this portfolio to the brink of superstardom. Now all you have to do is taste their wines, so get down to Oddbins.
• Matthew Jukes is a winner of the International Wine & Spirit Competition’s Communicator of the Year (www.matthewjukes.com).