Some wines I enjoyed in February

Jacuzzi wine, Jancis wine, Pearl Jam wine and more

In February, I was lucky enough to spend a whole afternoon with Jancis Robinson. She had enlisted me to show her the best of Manchester’s wine scene. A job I jumped headfirst into like a fruit fly into the first wine glass of spring. I wasn’t expecting her to say much about me and Manchester Wine Tours, but both feature heavily in the resulting article in the Financial Times, which you can also find on Jancis Robinson dot com.

A handful of the wines we tasted together have made their way into this month’s favourite wines roundup. There are also wines from three big tastings I went to from Boutinot, Berkmann, and a combined Oregon/Washington State masterclass and tasting. So it’s a biggie this month. Eighteen wines in all. I hope you find some inspiration or entertainment here.

Read on for the best wines I tasted in February 2025:

Radio Coteau Las Colinas Syrah, Sonoma Coast, California, USA 2019 (RRP~£60)

The Berkmann tasting I whizzed around was absolutely chocka with the kind of wines I wish I could afford to drink all the time but sadly can’t. So it was very nice to be able to taste this one and also bag the dregs of a bottle to take home (perks of arriving a bit too late to a tasting). A lovely, spicy, smokey Syrah in the Cote Rotie style. Blackberry and barbecued flowers.

Scala Dei Cartoixa Priorat, Spain, 2019 (RRP~£50)

Priorat is a favourite of mine for hefty but floral, complex red wines, and this was the one I loved most in a table full of spenny ones from this historic winemaker. Mostly garnacha with a quarter of the blend made up of cariñena, it’s a Christmassy wine, this, all macerated cherries, orange zest and musky spice and a characteristic mineral understone from the licorella slate soils the grapes are grown on. I’d love to be able to buy a few of these to cellar some and see how they develop.

Vega Sicilia, Valbuena 5° Ribera Del Duero, Spain, 2019 (RRP~£100)

Lots of people recommended we try this stun gun Tempranillo from a hugely renowned winemaker - and how lucky we were to do so. Bright red with red plum, sour cherry, Cherry Lips, and something like Earl Grey tea, and that’s just for starters. This is one of those wines that people describe as having ‘energy’, and it’s Duracell energy; it goes on and on. A small taste left me dreaming of a whole bottle to sip slowly by myself while gently sobbing.

Tignanello, Antonori, Tuscany, Italy, 2021 (RRP~£150)

Antinori is a hugely famous name for its Super Tuscan wines, which shook the Italian wine world due to the addition of French grape varieties like Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cab Franc to the classic Sangiovese wines of the Chianti region. Tignanello is Antinori’s star vineyard and was one of the most famous early Super Tuscan wines. I can’t think of many people who wouldn’t be thrilled to get their chops around a bottle.

This is a masterclass in big but silky red wine, all blackberries, cherries and everything glossy piled high in a glass with a sprinkling of sweet Golden Virginia tobacco and a ripped-open herbal tea bag. I would love to do a vertical tasting of these wines to learn how different vintages express themselves. This one is very young as far as wines like this go.

Sorella, Champoux Vineyard, Horse Heaven Hills, Columbia Valley, Washington, USA 2018 (RRP~£65)

I was chuffed to attend a tasting of wines from Washington State and Oregon USA in the stylish surrounds of Side Street in the burgeoning St John District. This punchy Bordeaux blend was my favourite from the masterclass. Layers and layers of complexity with a core of deep, bright blackcurrant and plum, then sharpened pencils, cherry sherbert sweets, and root beer. This is perfectly drinkable now but could go for another 20 years if you have the time and patience.

Some thoroughly shallow reasons I liked this wine apart from the quality of the wine itself: 1/ Beautiful label, 2/ The name “Horse Heaven Hills” gives me all kinds of wistful emotions, 3/ Champoux is pronounced “shampoo”.

Sleight of Hand Winery Levitation Syrah, Columbia Valley, Washington, USA 2015 (RRP ~£40-50)

Washington State makes great wine, but it is probably more famous for music. Or certainly, its capital city, Seattle, is. I love that this is from a winery named after a Pearl Jam song from their Binaural album. This ten-year-old Syrah was another highlight of the Washington and Oregon wine tasting with all the classic fruity plum and toasted black pepper of Syrah and a load of juicy balsamic too.

Aeon Vertisol Shiraz, Hunter Valley 2023 (RRP~£35)

It was great to try these new wines from Alisdair and Kenisha Tulloch - son and daughter-in-law of Hunter Valley icon Keith Tulloch. All were really good wines but my fave was the 100% Shiraz in the middle. Vertosol is named for the black clay soil the grapes are grown on. This is a hugely fruit-forward wine, big blackberry pie vibes.

Cline Ancient Vines Zinfandel, Contra Costa County, California, USA (RRP~£)

I don’t have a sweet tooth, but for a few days every month, I crave Tangfastics. Cola bottles are my fave and this deep and complex Zinfandel reminded me of them. There’s a whole load of Big Red hot cinnamon chewing gum, and a bit of charred wood alongside all the strawberry and cherry fruit that Zins are known for. I absolutely loved this.

Side note: One of my favourite facts that I learned about Cline Vineyards at this tasting is that Fred Cline’s maternal grandfather named Valeriano Jacuzzi invented, yes, you guessed it, the jacuzzi!

Marchesi di Grésy Camp Gros Martinenga Riserva, Barbaresco DOCG 2018 (RRP~£130)

Another wine I was lucky to taste this month (at the Boutinot tasting) was this top Barbaresco from the satisfyingly rhyming Marchesi di Grésy (say it in an Italian accent and enjoy). The grape is nebbiolo, a fave of mine. This seductress is deceptively light, with sour dried cherry at the forefront and a petticoat of rose petals; its complexity sneaks up on you in waves. I often think of wines with tobacco notes as being heavy, old and oaky, but here it shows itself in a much more elegant wine. Like a whiff of your friend making a rollie next to you on the bus, except your friend is Audrey Hepburn in a silk headscarf and massive shades, and it’s an open-top bus driving through Turin.

Heaphy Montepulciao rosé, Nelson, New Zealand (RRP~£17)

This wine has a bouncy side ponytail and wears heart-shaped sunglasses. It’s the kind of wine that brightens your day no matter how much of a grump you were in before it entered your life. A breezy, fruity delight.

I’ve been asked a few times when a wine stops being a rosé and starts being a red wine. I have put the same question to several people more knowledgeable than me, but it seems to be inconclusive. It’s whatever the winemaker says it is, I guess. This strawberry-jelly-coloured drop made from Montepulciano is about as close to a red wine that a rosé can get. I would serve it chilled, whatever we are calling it.

Briar Ridge Dairy Hill Semillon, Hunter Valley, Australia 2014 at Kaji (£78 a bottle but this was part of a £120 wine pairing)

Apart from when it’s botrytised to fuck in a Sauternes, I’ve always found Semillon a bit boring. But in Feb I tried two examples which proved me wrong. The first was this 10+ year old example which I tried as part of a wine flight with a tasting menu from Steven Smith (and his guest chef Dave Wall of The Unruly Pig) at Kaji. Look out for more of these guest chef events, btw, they are pretty spectacular. This was one of the first wines on the pairing, served with oysters two ways but I grabbed a second glass to go with a later John Dory and lobster dish, I liked it so much. Big lemon curd vibe with a definite note of toasted almond and a whiff of countryside hay bales.

Fine Disregard Semillon, Napa Valley, California USA 2016 at Climat (RRP ~£35 a bottle - can’t remember the price btg here)

The second of two Semillons that changed my view of the grape was this one, tasted with (*clank*) Jancis Robinson at Climat. Jancis was intrigued by this aged example from Napa Valley California, and she let me have a sip. This really showcases the nuttiness that Semillion is said to develop with age. It’s got that much-talked-about waxy texture too with delicate grapefruit and chamomile tea notes. Subtley lovely.

Turnau Solairis 2023 from Ad Hoc (£32)

When I took Jancis Robinson to meet the team at Ad Hoc, we weren’t planning to taste anything. We had been chatting earlier about how much I love Polish wine. So when Ad Hoc’s Callum started being effusive about it too and offered us a taste of this Solaris from Turnau (a producer I adore- I have mentioned their mindblowing chardonnay previously in my wine notes), we couldn’t resist a splash.

Tasting this is like having bright spotlights flood the room. It’s so fresh and fruity with dazzling tropical notes of star fruit, passionfruit and mango, a key lime pie acidity like a sharpened knife cutting through it all. A bunch of flowers seems to have been wafted nearby, too. To liken it to Sauvignon Blanc or Bacchus doesn’t quite do it justice. Drink this ice-cold on a roasting hot day, and thank me later.

Montedessasi Il Borghetto Montefiridolfi, Italy from The Trading Route (£35)

The Trading Route near Aviva Studios/Factory International has a cracking selection of wines to buy to take away or drink in. What’s more, on a Sunday, you can enjoy your wine to accompany their excellent Sunday roast with no corkage.

The way I see it, what you save on the corkage you can now spend on the wine and get something a bit fancy like this elegant Tuscan red. Owner Will recommended this wine when we were invited to try the Sunday roast in Feb, and he nailed it. Mostly Sangiovese with a little bit of Canaiolo, this worked beautifully with roast beef. It was punchy enough to give the protein plenty of tannin to hang out with while elegant and floral enough to feel more sophisticated than your usual big beefy reds.

Sangiovese Lina Stores, Tuscany, Italy at Lina Stores (£20)

I was given this Sangiovese on a press trip to Lina Stores in London, which is set to open in Manchester in a couple of weeks. I had squirrelled it away in the wine rack and had almost forgotten about it. I sloshed some in a ragu I was making for a (devastatingly good if I do say so myself) homemade lasagne and popped the rest of the bottle in the fridge to serve alongside it. Pairing the same wine you have used in a dish with the dish always seems to work really well, and this was one of those food and wine pairings that smashes it out of the park. Chilled, this wine works so well, making it seem almost more fruity, crunchy, and thirst-quenching. I will be stocking up on this wine as soon as Lina Stores opens. A good excuse to make more lasagne.

Lyrarakis Liastos, Crete, Greece 2022 at Salut (£20 or a taster as part of a £75 four-hour wine tour)

I don’t often do dessert wines on the wine tours, but every now and the,n I throw one in for a change. This sweet Greek wine was served at Salut with blue cheese as a grand finale to a Sunday tour. My guests and I were impressed by this orange marmalade of a wine. Not made from botrytis grapes, rather sun-dried ones, still with plenty of acidity to cut through the sweetness.

Coralillo Pinot Noir, Valle De San Antonio, Chile at Everyman Cinema (£42.40 a bottle)

I may be easily pleased but I am still very excited by the fact that you can drink wine in actual wine glasses while watching a film at Everyman Cinema. I love watching a film on the big screen from its plush red velvet loveseats and even more with a glass of wine in my hand (though the food menu doesn’t do much for me). For my money, this is the best red on the wine list at Everyman. A raspberry-kissed, softly oaky pinot noir from a biodynamic vineyard in Chile. I paired this with the Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown.

The Liberator Albarino, South Africa, in a can from Reserve Wines (£5.50)

I’ve mentioned before in these pages that canned wine is a good thing for sustainability, and we are starting to see more and more decent examples now. I really enjoyed this zippy Albarino in a can, which, unusually for this grape variety, is made in South Africa. Apparently, this parcel of wine was originally destined for blending with Sav B but was liberated from its fate to make a limited run single varietal. A seasidey label for a seasidey wine, all lemons and limes with that almost sea salt lip-smacking thing you get in Albarino. Would be stunning packed into a cool box and sipped on a pebbly beach with a chippy tea picnic.

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One last thing, I have included a TON of American wines here as I tasted so many good ones in Feb, but as a protest against the totalitarian, fascist horror currently happening stateside, I want to curb my purchasing of American-made things for the time being. I do not wish harm on any American business, quite the opposite. I adore so much American wine and I know the USA is full of good people but I need to do something, however small, to send a message of political dissent.

A Russian friend once reassured me that boycotts are important because if they are successful (ie enough people participate in them) they send a message to those who don’t really understand what is going on politically. She wholeheartedly endorsed boycotting Russian products to try and illustrate to the brainwashed Russian people (she include some of her own family in this category) that the ROTW does not agree with their war. Now, I think we need to show the world that we do not endorse what is going on in the US government. So, these will be my last USA wine recs for a while.

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Enjoying my wine writing? Come wine with me! I host wine tours of Manchester every Friday, Saturday and Sunday and I have added a Tuesday in May for anyone who works weekends but still wants to join in.