THE bottle chosen to bring winter cheer to poor, overtaxed wine lovers this week by offering exceptional quality at a not too horrible price is the Barone Cornacchia Montepulciano d'Abruzzo 1993 (Karwig's Wine Warehouse, Cork/Verlings, Searsons, Dublin/Cornstore, Galway, £5.50). "Huge, spicy, peppery, black cherry nose, gutsy, full bodied, exuberant flavours and a chewy blockbuster finish," says the Wine Advocate himself, Robert Parker. You think that's all?
"A mouthfilling, explosively fruity, rich, pure, well made wine," he goes on. It's fashionable to argue with Mr P these days, but in this case I'm afraid he's right. A scrumptious, rich Italian at what can only be described, this weekend, as a Budget price.