The Rhona, NV, Graham Beck

Returning to the UK and no longer being a Majestic staff member meant that I ended up buying wines from other establishments.This is fine when one knows the area and can find the decent little wine merchants but is as depressing as country music if one doesn't.


After the epic sparkling lunch, my next old friend to visit was in Oxshott, only a hop and  a skip on the train from Wimbledon so I swung by M&S to see what was worth my holiday money. Luckily Marks and Spencer's seems to have stopped spending all their money on Take That adverts (money well spent by the way, superb eye-candy!) and have either paid their buyers a bit more or got them out and about a bit more to try some new wines.


 I was very happy with the selection, bubbles from England, Spain, Italy, South Africa and France all winking cheekily at me like enthusiastic speed daters.

Being in the UK for such a short time I picked the one that would be hardest to find in Tas-vegas. Wise choice. A cracker of a sparkler from Graham Beck's sparkling winemaker Pieter Ferreira, The Rhona is a Methode Cap Classique full of soft, plumptious, red fruits with a hint of something a little more serious and savoury rounding off the palate.


A fairly even split of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir sourced from Robertson, Franschoek and Stellenbosch, whole bunch pressed with some time on lees to bring a rich, yeasty characteristic through this is a smash hit. If I was still in the UK I'd have a comfortable amount of this to see me through the party season and beyond. In fact, friend I went to see knows someone on the inside and she's done just that. Hopefully there will be some left when I head back in May....