JPOC's wine guide

Recent years have seen a big change in the wine available in the shops in Western Europe. Even as little as five years ago, there was a lot of really bad wine at the botom of the market. Now, it is normal to find that even the very cheapest wines are quite drinkable.

One reason for this is that there is now a lot more knowledge about how to make decent wine. Much of the credit for that goes to the wineries of the US. Another reason is the continuing growth of trade. Good but inexpensive wine from many new countries is now available.

Of course, that does not mean that there is no bad wine on the market. Here at jpoc towers, we are still forced to pour some bottles away as being so bad that they are certainly undrinkable and perhaps even not safe to use in cooking. The most recent was some really filthy Sangria from Marktkauf but at two marks and change for one and a half litres who's counting?

On these pages, I write about the wines that we are buying and drinking now. I hope that you find the information interesting. I recently raided my cellar and came up with a selection of Red Bordeaux from the mid nineties. I'm steadily working my way through these.

The wine here is rated on a scale of one to ten for quality and -10 to +10 for value. If you want to see morre about this, read the rating page.


Wine of the week
Merlot Veneto Super bargain from Marktkauf.
Favourite Reds!
Chateau Bonneval '98 A decent claret!
Font St.Julian A really good claret!
Los Chaclos 1999 A good slurp from the New World!
Chateau Amalthee 1999 Shows just how good a minor chateau claret can be.
Chateau Du Grand Puch 1995 Wine of the month more than just the week!
Chateau Du Grand Puch 1996 One of my favourite minor chateau clarets!
Chateau Mayne Pagard 1996 Not bad at all
Chateau de Ventenac 1998 Minervois A good inexpensive red
Chateau Haut Truquet 1999 Another bargain Bordeaux from the Plus in Germany
Chateau Cazeau 1996 Good value Claret
Chateau Mayne Pargade 1996 Slurp slurp, another claret.
Chateau La Croix Merlin 1996 Slurp slurp, another claret.
Chateau Darmagnac Couecou 1996 Slurp slurp, another claret.
Other Reds
Macedonian Red Mind boggling value selling out fast!
Montepulciano D'Abruzzo 1998 Not bad but overpriced.
Montepulciano D'Abruzzo 1998 Same as the above, different bottler, better price.
Lovico Suhindol Bulgarian Merlot 1996 Bulgarian wine, suitable for umbrella tips?
Vin de Pays De L'Herault A simple but honest country wine at a good price
Chianti 1999 Another good inexpensive wine from the Plus
Gamay NV A bargain priced country wine.
White wines
Edelzwicker A white Alsace
Muscadet from Super U Sheer filth
Orvieto Classico A simple white wine!
Fizz
Muscador Muscat Blanc Decent bargain priced fizz
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