Wine List at Comfort in Newcastle

It’s time to start having fun with the wine list here at Comfort! We’ve taken a bit of a mad stance and decided to give you REAL value for money on your wine. Well, if you don’t drink the good stuff we’ll just end up having to, and our Bank Manager and Doctor don’t like the sound of that! Dig in, be brave and try something a bit different. You never know, you might enjoy it!

White Wines

Pic St Pierre Grenache Blanc, Mas de Montel, Vin de Pays du Gard 2005: £9.50/bottle and £2.95/gl; Light, easy drinking white lying on the off side of dry.

Sauvignon Blanc, Brampton, Stellenbosch, South Africa 2005: £10.95/bottle and £3.75/gl; From the outstanding Rustenberg Estate. This Sauvignon is crisp and dry With refreshing lime flavours.

Pinot Grigio, Mezzacorona, IGT Trentino 2005: £11.50/bottle and £4.00/gl; By far the tastiest Pinot Grigio we’ve found in ages! Light, dry, floral and delicate. Great easy drinking wine.

Santa Rita Reserva Sauvignon Blanc, Chile, 2005: £12.95/bottle and £4.25/gl; Consistently excellent Sauvignon. Crisp, fruity and very quaffable

Dr. L Riesling, Qba, Mosel, Germany 2004: £13.95/bottle and £4.50/gl; Ernie Loosen is one of the most exciting and passionate winemakers in Germany, and this is benchmark stuff - crisp, fresh and tangy, with the balance of acidity and sweetness of a perfect ripe apple. Delicious.

Yering Station "Frog" Chardonnay, Yarra Valley, Australia 2005: £14.50/bottle and £4.75/gl; Every now and again, we find a wine that is just so much better than the price might suggest. This is elegant, stylish, and on a par with far more expensive equivalents from Burgundy.

Hollick Riesling, Coonawarra, South Australia 2004: £14.95/bottle and £5.00/gl; Given the chance, we’d drink all this before it got on the wine list. But then, we like to think of ourselves as generous people and we thought you’d appreciate having a go at it yourselves. This is crisp, dry spritzy Riesling with hints of oil and honey. Gorgeous

Macon Villages Domaine La Croix Senaillet 2004: £15.95/bottle; Having had the Talmard on the last list, we thought we would go for something more classic this time. Textbook Macon – clean, fresh and with that lovely combination of fruit and minerality that suits fish and seafood so well.

Allan Scott Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough, New Zealand 2004: £18.95/bottle; New Zealand Sauvignon has rightly claimed a place in almost every wine drinker’s heart for its dry, gooseberry flavours. This is an outstanding example – Allan lives opposite Cloudy Bay. We’d rather drink this!

Menetou-Salon, Domaine Nicolas Girard, Loire 2006: £19.50/bottle; Less well-known than Sancerre, we find this region, situated next door, to have the same style and minerality, and a more approachable price tag, as well

Chablis, J. M. Brocard, Burgundy 2005: £19.95/bottle; It’s easy to forget what classic wine Chardonnay can create in the right hands. Lean citrus and mineral notes with crisp acidity that works perfectly with fish or seafood.

Pouilly Fumé Les Chailloux, Loire Valley 2004: £21.95/bottle; Although from the same Sauvignon grape as Allan Scott’s wine above, the flavours are completely different – crisp, very dry and mouth-wateringly tangy.

Red Wine

Pic St Pierre Rouge, Mas de Montel, Vin de Pays du Gard 2005: £9.50/bottle and £2.95/gl; This house wine has good colour and ripe, damsony fruit on the nose.

Matilda Plains Cabernet/Shiraz/Merlot, Langhorne Creek 2005: £10.95/bottle and £3.75/gl; The Cabernet, Shiraz and Merlot varieties combine beautifully to create a really mouth-watering red, with good ripe fruit and a decent structure. This will stand up to most dishes on the menu.

Chianti, Cantine Leonardo, Toscana 2006: £12.95/bottle and £3.95/gl; Great colour, fragrance and depth with good acidity. Early bottling has ensured that the essential character of the fruit has been retained.

Finca Antigua Merlot, La Mancha, Spain 2004: £13.95/bottle and £4.25/gl; An unusual varietal for this often-overlooked area of Spain. This is rich, gutsy wine with good fruit flavours and gentle, well constructed tannins. Delicious stuff.

Santa Rita Reserva Merlot, Chile 2005: £13.95/bottle and £4.50/gl; Consistently one of the best Chilean reds – lovely fruit, excellent balance and very good value to boot.

Bodega Norton Finca La Colonia Malbec, Mendoza, Argentina 2006: £14.50/bottle and £4.50/gl; Norton make cracking red wines, and in Argentina, the Malbec grape (normally one of the lesser varieties in Bordeaux) really comes into its own, producing a lovely combination of velvety fruit and a chocolately structure.

Château Mahon-Laville, Bordeaux 2004: £14.95/bottle and £4.75/gl; Made by Jean-Christophe Barbe, who teaches wine-making in Bordeaux whilst running the family property. A blend of 70% Merlot and 30% Cabernet Sauvignon, this wine has a classic, plummy nose and ripe supple fruit on the palate.

Yering ‘Frog’ Pinot Noir, Yarra Valley 2004: £15.95/bottle; The cool(ish) Yarra Valley in South Australia provides a great climate for Old World style wines, and this Pinot really does the job. Much better than most Burgundies at the same price!

La Planta Crianza, Ribero del Duero, Spain, 2005: £16.95/bottle; Although less well known than Rioja, this area is rated just as highly. This wine is medium-bodied, with warm, spicy fruit and an enviably smooth palate. Very good value.

Côtes du Rhône Vinsobres, Domaine Chaume-Arnaud 2004: £16.95/bottle; This is full of body, with spice and ripe red fruit characters. So much cheaper-end Rhône can be gut-wrenchingly tannic and mean. This is the absolute opposite. Brilliant with game and rich flavoured dishes.

Morgon, Ch de Pizay, Beaujolais, 2005: ££16.95/bottle; Undoubtedly one of the best small estates in Beaujolais, now run by M Decombes’ daughter, a former Miss Beaujolais… Delicate sweet fruit, with a pleasing earthiness. Ideal summer or lunchtime drinking.

Woodthorpe Cabernet/Merlot, Te Mata, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand 2005: £17.50/bottle; John Buck, owner of Te Mata, came and astounded us last year with a great tasting of the wines of Coriole. This great Bordeaux blend has a lot of class. Hawkes Bay is increasingly admired and is stepping out of Marlborough’s shadow with regard to the wines produced there.

Crozes-Hermitage ‘Les Jalets’ Jaboulet Aine, Rhone 2003: £18.95/bottle; A very stylish wine. Not as overtly powerful as many from the area, this has lovely concentration, as well as the classic bramble and white pepper notes.

Château Graysac, Cru Bourgeois, Medoc 2003: £20.95/bottle; This is one of our current favourite Bordeaux producers. This is a nicely made, well-balanced classic bottle of claret. Good value, too.

Chianti Classico Peppoli, Marchese Antinori, Tuscany 2003: £22.50/bottle; A really top-notch single estate Chianti – we have been waiting quite a while to find something as good as this to put on the list.

Cotes de Nuits Villages, Girardin, Burgundy 2004: £25.95/bottle; Vincent Girardin is a high-tech producer in Burgundian terms, and this is very characteristic of his style – quite bold and full-flavoured, with a long, smoky finish.

Rosé Wine

Cabernet Sauvignon Rosé, Santa Rita, Maipo Valley, Chile 2003: £12.50/bottle and £4.25/gl; A beautifully crisp and aromatic Rosé from the great Santa Rita winery. Well balanced with plenty of strawberry fruit...

Cotes de Provence Rosé, St Roche Les Vignes, 2004: £15.95/bottle; A wine of impeccable provenance – the estate has won a truckful of awards over the last few years. Thankfully, this still remains excellent value for such an outstanding wine.

Pudding Wines

Noble Taminga, Trentham Estate, Murray River Valley, Australia 2001: £9.50/half bottle and £4.00/gl; One of the best sweet wines we've found from the New World. Noble Taminga is a hybrid grape found only at Trentham. Definitely worth a glass with some pud, and will go great with the cheeses too.

Dindarello Moscato, Maculan, Breganze Italy 2005 (1/2 bottle): £14.50/half bottle and £5.00/gl; Luscious, stylish and quite decadent. The tangy citrus notes will go beautifully with fruit based desserts

Elysium Black Muscat, Andrew Quady, California (1/2 bottle): £14.95/half bottle and £5.00/gl; Ever wondered what would go with a chocolate pudding? Well, this is it! Full of ripe berry fruit and, unusually, a red pudding wine. Fantastic stuff

Sparkling Wine and Champagnes

Lindauer Special Reserve, New Zealand: £10.95/bottle and £5.00/gl; Consistently one of the most sought-after sparkling wines in the world. Almost Rosé in colour and with slight sweetness. A good aperitif.

Gobillard Brut, Champagne: £19.50/bottle and £7.50/gl; Fine fizz from a house that traditionally did own-label wines for others, until they decided to fly their own flag. And we're so glad they did this is very good, dry, champagne.

Gobillard Rosé, Champagne: £19.50/bottle and £7.50/gl; As you'd expect from this house (especially if you've tried the Brut), this is quality fizz with lovely Pinot Noir flavours, but still nicely dry on the finish.

Louis Roederer Brut Premier NV, Champagne: £35.00/bottle; You probably don’t need me to tell you anything about this…

Sherry

Hidalgo Fino Sherry: £5.00/gl; Deliciously dry with lovely almondy, savoury notes. Banish all thoughts of Bristol Cream, this is proper sherry!

Port and Digestifs

We have an ever-changing array of Port and Digestifs, so please ask what we currently have in stock!

Late Bottle Vintage Port: £5.00/gl

Vintage Port: £9.50/gl

Cognac VSOP: £5.00/gl

Armagnac 10yr old: £5.00/gl

Calvados 10yr old: £5.00/gl

Malt Whisky

We have a regularly changing list of Malts – please ask for the current range£5.00 gl

Other Spirits & Liqueurs

Gin, Vodka, Whisky, Rum, Pastis, Vermouth, Campari, Pimm’s: £3.50/gl

Baileys, Amaretto, Cointreau, Tia Maria, Drambuie: £4.50/gl

All spirits and digestifs are served in measures of 35cl or multiples there of

Beer and Lager

Bohemia Pilsener, Wylam Brewery 50cl 5.0%: £3.50/gl; This is a great lager, made in the same style as Budvar, but with more character and taste! Good colour and hoppy taste.

Leighton Brau, Wylam Brewery 50cl 5.0%: £3.50/gl; A more classic German lager style. Smooth and fruity

Rocket Best Bitter, Wylam Brewery 50cl 5.0%: £3.50/gl; In honour of Wylam’s most (only?) famous son, George Stephenson, a clean, fresh, malty bitter.

Perry’s Somerset Dabinett Cider 50cl 6%: £3.50/gl; I know – not exactly local, but it is delicious and refreshing, and until someone starts to make cider up here, it will have to do!

Soft Drinks

Coke, Diet Coke, Tonic, Slim line Tonic, Schweppes Lemonade: £1.25

Fresh Orange Juice, Cranberry Juice, Bensons Apple Juice: £1.75

Fentimans Ginger Beer, Victorian Lemonade, Seville Orange Jigger: £1.95

Water – Abbey Well, Still or Sparkling 75cl: £3.00

Abbey Well is natural mineral water from Morpeth. It is suggested that the water is 3,000 years old, and has taken this long to filter through white sandstone. Knocks waiting for Grolsch into a cocked hat, then...