My favourite wines from the Naked Wines Summer Tasting Tour 2019

With some of the lovely
Angels and Archangels
on the tour - love them!

The Naked Wines Tasting Events are an amazing opportunity to try over 100 wines. You get to try new wines and meet the wine makers who tell you all about them, all for around £20. An absolute bargain in my book.

These are my favourite NEW wines that I tried this year:

The fabulous Los
Despachos from
Edgard Carter

Edgard Carter
I'd never met Chilean winemaker Edgard Carter before this year's tour. He's a lovely, polite and unassuming sort of man but who makes the most delicious wines. So great, that two of his wines have made my list:
- Sureno 2016 (£11.99) - made from a blend of Cab Sav, Carmenere, Malbec and Syrah, this smooth, silky red is full of fresh fruit with a kick of blackberry.
- Los Despachos Petit Verdot 2015 (£19.99) - Definitely not a cheap drop, but worth every penny if you want to treat yourself to a glass of blueberry and blackberry wonderfulness! 

Mauricio Lorca's Angels Selection Pedro Gimenez 2018 (£7.99)
Argentinian Mauricio is always a big hit at the Naked Wines Events. And, as always he was friendly and affable this year. I absolutely loved his Pedro Gimenez which is a completely new type of grape for me and a complete steal at £7.99. This crisp and fresh lip-smacker is like a glass of apples and citrus and perfect for a BBQ in the sunshine.

Gerd's amazing new
Pinot Noir Rose

Gerd Stepp's Pinot Noir Rose 2018 (£9.99)
Gerd really is like the professor of wine making. His Pinot Noir *8* is one of my favourite wines on the Naked Wines website and is delicious both warm and cold. So, I was fascinated to try his new rose which is made from the juice extracted from the first crush of his Pinot Noir grapes. Although this is a bit punchier than some roses (and a bit more alcoholic!) it is still light, fresh and zingy and a new firm favourite. If you're unfamiliar with German wines, try any of Gerd's range and I promise you will be impressed.

Dominic Hentall's Terra Nera 2017 (£10.99)
I love Dominic Hentall - he is always the life and soul of the party on the Naked Tour. I love his Terra Calda and his Terra Forte so I was fascinated to try his Terra Nera. I love Italian wines, but I'm more familiar with those from Northern Italy from regions such as Tuscany and Piedmont. However, this one is from Sicily so from a much warmer, sunnier region. And so the wine is big, fruity, spicy and with some vanilla from the oak barrels. This wine is great now and will probably be even better in a few months.

Sam Plunkett's Victorian Zinfandel 2018 (£10.99)

Dominic's amazing
Terra Nera

In the programme, it describes Sam as one of the nicest guy's around. And they aren't wrong. Naked Wines Australia have done this amazing podcast with him which is really worth a listen to understand his amazing journey to master wine maker. I loved his new Zinfandel which is packed with jammy fruits as well as juicy strawberries. (I also loved his Halo Effect Viognier 2016 which is a new sweet wine for me, so I thought I would give it a mention).

Ray and Eamon's picks
Every year, Naked Wine's chief taster, Ray teams up with the boss, Eamon, to champion their top picks at the "Ramon Table". All of their wines are always amazing. They had four on their table this year, some of which have been (or will be) available through the Naked Wines Fine Wine Club. I especially enjoyed the following from their top picks:
- Anna Espelt Sol i Vent 2017 (£13.99)
- Repetto Piemonte Rosso 2017 (£9.99)

Me with the lovely Mike
Paterson

I can't leave a review of my favourite wines without mentioning Mike Paterson. He didn't have any new wines on his tasting table this year, but he is such an utter legend, I couldn't miss him out. Especially as his Lay of the Land Marlborough Pinot Noir is perhaps my favourite Pinot Noir on the Website. His 2017 vintage is his best in my opinion - it's really fresh fruit forward and packed with strawberries and vanilla.

These are just a few of the wines I enjoyed this year. And, as always we were spoilt for choice. Especially as Naked Wines seems to be bringing on new wines and winemakers everyday! If you follow Eamon on Instagram, you'll see his quest to sniff out new wines from all over the globe (and be really rather jealous!).