BudBurst

I have just spent the day tasting  sample wines with the lovely Tim Atkin, wine writer for the Observer newspaper. He had a backlog of wines, which are sent to him on a regular basis by enthusiastic PR agents.  He was looking for about 30 odd good-value wines to recommend for Summer drinking and anything else of particular interest.

It was such a treat to taste so many (almost 200) wines in this way - shoes off, sun streaming through open doors, the World Cup on in the background and the exclusive company of an MW to set the pace and answer any random questions. Tim is generous with his knowledge but completely unpretentious and respectful of other palates, making him one of the best co-tasters around!

Unfortunately I didn't make notes as there were so many wines, some of which were absolute dross, and we were tasting at speed;  the shortlist was going to be re-tasted anyway. However it was fascinating to see what gets sent to a wine writer - it really did run the gamut of the sublime to the ridiculous.

There were some absolute bargains around the £5 mark as well as the obligatory toilet cleaners - that's a bit harsh but really some of the wines did make me wonder who on earth is making this stuff and expecting to sell it. Then some real standouts for me such as Lopez de Heredia, Vina Tondonia White Rioja 1987 which is very distinctive and almost sherry-like in its evolution. Absolute treat!

We also tasted lots of wines between £5-20, some of which were true examples of why it is so worth paying a bit more, the leap in quality can be so much greater than the extra pounds. A few seemed to be simpletons posing as poets which is what makes people nervous about shelling out in the first place.

For a full rundown check out Tim's Saturday column, always worth a read anyway.