It's grim 'Oop North'

Well, I'm back. After an odyssey north to the "six counties" as they used to be known. Just inside the six counties if truth be told, the picturesque town of Newry. We needed some Gin, Vodka, Baileys (for Herself only, I assure you), so I figured I'd check out the wines and the whiskeys (which will be a separate OT post).

There wasn't quite the selection I had been hoping for but I think the prices justified the purchases (when you add in the 1.22 odd exchange rate). The wines I got are as follows (L-R)...

Ravenswood Lodi Zinfandel 2007 - £8.99. This is supposed to be very nice if very fruity wine and a bargain as priced. Tomas Clancy in the SBPost loved the 2006, check out the article here.

Chemin Des Olivettes - Coteaux Du Languedoc 2008 - £6.39. This won a Gold medal in the decanter world wine awards and sounds like a meaty treat. I don't kn ow who the Winchester Wine School are but this is what they thought...

"One for the Worzel Gummidge fans: this is a rustic, wonderfully gnarly style of wine with flavours of wild flowers, ripe cassis and sweaty horses. Like I say, not for everyone…but the meatiness makes it very food-friendly in a classic southern French way. 7/10"

Piccini Chianti Superiore 2008 - £7.99. I have had a couple of Chiantis from Piccini and all have been very good, see here. So high hopes for this one. The bog standard Chianti (orange label) was there also at about £6-50.

Sainsbury's Montepulciano d'Abruzzo 2009 - £3.49. They had load of own brand wine so I picked out this as a sampler. I'm not expecting much but for about €4-50, it's definitely worth a punt.