JANCIS ROBINSON WINE REVIEW
By Tamlyn Currin
Jancis Mary Robinson OBE, MW (born April 22, 1950) is a British wine critic, journalist, and writer of wine literature. She is the author or co-author of major works of international wine literature such as The Oxford Companion to Wine and The World Atlas of Wine.
Tamlyn Currin is a wine critic and associate contributor to the website JancisRobinson.com. She works closely with Jancis Robinson and specializes in sustainability, agroecology, and artisan winemakers.
Le Fief Guérin Vielles Vignes – Muscadet Côtes de Grandlieu Sur Lie
16 /20
Full bottle 1,135 g. Screwcap. From a single vineyard in the Côtes de Grandlieu cru of Muscadet. A very famous plots which Jérôme Choblet bought in 1996. Vines are 50 to 80 years old. On lees for eight to 15 months. Waitrose has been buying this wine from him for 24 years (!) and they buy about 70% of his production of it. Certified sustainable (Terra Vitis). A butterfly-delicate little wine that somehow manages to deliver white flowers and briny minerality and cool, white-cotton texture despite it’s extremely low alcohol (10.5%) and all this at a very good price. GV (TC)
Producer : Jérôme Choblet
Cuvée : Le Fief Guérin Vieilles Vignes
Appellation : Muscadet-Côtes de Grandlieu Sur Lie
Region : Loire
Country : France
Type : Still White Wine
Alcohol : 10.5%
When to drink : 2025 – 2027
Published : on 17 Sep 2025
Date Tasted : 17 Sep 2025
Reviewer : Tamlyn Currin
Stockist : £10 Waitrose
Chateau De La Pierre – Muscadet Côtes de Grandlieu Sur Lie
16 /20
Full bottle 1,152 g. A vineyard within a clos (walled) with vines around 70 to 75 years old.
Sainsbury’s buys about 95% of the production of this wine. Certified sustainable (Terra Vitis).
Soft, fine, almost fragile were it not for the saltiness and quinine crunch of the finish. Even a
little bit of pickle brine. A gentle, benchmark Muscadet at a really good price. (TC)
Producer : Jérôme Choblet
Cuvée : Chateau De La Pierre
Appellation : Muscadet-Côtes de Grandlieu Sur Lie
Region : Loire
Country : France
Type : Still White Wine
Alcohol : 10.5%
When to drink : 2025 – 2029
Published : on 17 Sep 2025
Date Tasted : 17 Sep 2025
Reviewer : Tamlyn Currin
Stockist : £9.75 Sainsbury’s
Taste The Difference – Mid Strength – Low Alcohol 8.5 °
IGP Val De Loire BLANC
15 /20
Full bottle 1,157 g. Screwcap. 100% Grolleau Gris. No skin contact in this low-alcohol version of Grolleau Gris made especially for Sainsbury’s, but the wine undergoes three weeks of cold stabilisation at 4 °C. All the CO2 from the fermentation is retained in the wine because the acidity is naturally low and this is a way of keeping it fresh.
Not as good as Les Arômes. It’s a bit dilute, but it is drinkable which is laudable given the price and that it is a dry, low-alcohol wine made without technical or chemical interference. I’d vote in favour of the skin contact that Choblet used to make Les Arômes. (TC)
Producer : Jérôme Choblet
Cuvée : Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference Mid Strength Loire Blanc
Appellation : IGP Val de Loire
Region : Loire
Country : France
Type : Still White Wine Low Alcohol
Alcohol : 8.5%
When to drink : 2025
Published : on 17 Sep 2025
Date Tasted : 17 Sep 2025
Reviewer : Tamlyn Currin
Stockist : £7.75 Sainsbury’s
Taste The Difference – Mid Strength – Low Alcohol 8.5 °
IGP Val De Loire ROSÉ
15 /20
Full bottle 1,141 g. Clear-glass bottle. Screwcap. 92% Grolleau Gris, 3% Gamay, 5% Grolleau Noir. Co-fermented.
Pale pink. Slightly nutty nose. Very, very light fruit. Pink grapefruit and peach. A wisp of a wine that doesn’t have much in the way of length or depth but at that price, for that low alcohol, it’s not bad at all. (TC)
Producer Jérôme Choblet
Cuvée Sainsbury’s Taste the Dierence Mid Strength Loire Rosé
Appellation IGP Val de Loire
Region Loire
Country France
Colour Rosé
Sparkling No
Alcohol 8.5%
When to drink 2025
Published on 17 Sep 2025
Date Tasted 17 Sep 2025
Reviewer Tamlyn Currin
Stockist £7.75 Sainsbury’s
Les Arômes d’Herbauges Grolleau Gris 2024 IGP Val de Loire
16 /20
Full bottle 1,138 g. 100% Grolleau Gris. They have 13 ha of this pink-skinned grape, which means they own 10% of the global plantings (130 ha) of Grolleau Gris! It’s usually used for sparkling eg crémant because the grapes never produce much sugar, but Jérôme Choblet is pioneering naturally low-alcohol wines and he’s found a way of producing a naturally dry, naturally low-alcohol (8.5%) wine without any additives. The aromas of the variety are in the skins, he tells me, so they pick early and do a four- to seven-day skin contact, then a cold stabilisation for one to two weeks at 4 °C, and then fermentation starts extremely cold (6 °C) and finishes at 10–11 ° C. It is extremely impressive what Choblet has managed to achieve with this bottle of wine. To make a wine with alcohol this low that is also bone dry and totally unmanipulated is a little short of a miracle. It is a pretty little thing. Extremely light, as you would expect, but white peach and pink grapefruit flavours fill the mid palate and there is a delicate hint of raspberry sherbet in the acidity. Real wine. Bravo. (TC)
Producer : Jérôme Choblet
Cuvée : Les Arômes d’Herbauges
Grape variety : Grolleau Gris
Appellation : IGP Val de Loire
Region : Loire
Country : France
Style : Stilll White Wine
Alcohol : 8.5%
When to drink : 2025 – 2026
Published : on 17 Sep 2025
Date Tasted : 17 Sep 2025
Reviewer : Tamlyn Currin
Stockist : £10.99 Laithwaites