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Curly Flat Pinot Noir (2015) – This summer I opened a case of this
wine for the first time. It comes from Victoria in Australia. A cool
climate wine; it is soft and sweet. Red fruit, raspberries and violets on
the nose. On the palate you get beautiful red fruit, vanilla, some truffle
and a little spice. Juicy, creamy, wonderfully smooth but, at the same
time wonderfully complex and structured. The only potential danger to
this wine is that it is so easy to drink – it could be very dangerous if you
have a few bottles lying around. I purchased this wine from Atlas Fine
Wines. It is on sale, online elsewhere at around £40 a bottle. Seek it out.
Great summer drinking and barbeque wine.
FISH AND SEAFOOD
Lots of wines would probably go with fish and seafood; but some are
undoubtedly better than others. Perhaps many will jump straight to
something like sauvignon blanc. However, there are many other great
matches out there.
Saras Albariño (2015) – Albariño from Rías Baixas in Spain. Coupled
with lovely minerality and some spice, you get apple, nuts, citrus and a
hint of mint. This is complex, with lovely acidity and a great example
of its type. With fish or seafood this is extremely refreshing and pairs
wonderfully. Recently drunk with garlic and herb prawns off the coals,
this will set you back about £14.95 a bottle (try VinCognito). For those
of you who are not familiar with Albariño, it is a wonderful grape that
produces lovely wines. Keep an eye out for it.
Cotes de Provence Blanc Cru Classe Chateau du Galoupet (2016)
– With no apology I return back to Provence here, but not to a rose.
Here we go white wine; in fact to a white wine that has recently won
a Platinum Award in the Decanter World Wine Awards 2019. Here
we have a blend of 80% rolle (vermentino) and 20% semillon. Hints
of citrus on the nose, particularly lemon and a hint of lime, but rich,
toasty, honey and beautifully balanced. I would go for white fish here
– perhaps a nice lump of barbequed hake, monkfish or halibut (the
meatier the better). I recently purchased this from the Wine Society – a
snip at £14.95 a bottle.
CURRY AND SPICE
What cuts through curry and spice? For my part, tried and tested:
Vasse Felix Chardonnay ‘Heytesbury’ (2015) – From the great
Margaret River region in Australia comes this iconic wine. This is
serious, concentrated, stuff. Now, before I go on, I am not a big fan of
new world chardonnay (particularly that over oaked buttery stuff you
can come across). However this has, for me, proved an exception. Very
complex on the nose - a lot going on. Lovely fruit, herbs and a touch of
sweetness. On tasting you get an abundance of flavours - fresh citrus,
peach, melon, a touch of honey, good acidity, tropical fruits. Medium
bodied, refreshing, but at the same time serious enough to cut through
spice and heat. This is not cheap at around £45 a bottle – but if you like
chardonnay at its best, give it a go. It can be hard to find and probably
now more recent vintages are available.
Krohn ‘Lagrima’ White Port (N/V) – This is elegant and sweet. Nice
fruit, citrus, a touch of honey, caramel, floral and nuts (almonds/
hazelnuts). Extraordinarily fresh with a long finish. Whilst sweet, it
is not one of those sickly sweet wines. This is wonderful stuff and not
perhaps something you would automatically think of for a barbeque.
The key is to serve it cold (in fact straight out of the fridge). Only this
weekend I served it, straight out of the fridge, with salt and chilli pork
belly (it also went well with crostini topped with gorgonzola and honey).
This will go with anything that is hot, spicy or which has any touch of
heat to it. If you haven’t got anything that fits this description – just
drink it as an aperitif. At £13 – £15 a bottle it is not only a steal, but a
bargain. I purchased mine from Henning’s Wine Merchants, but there
are a number of outlets selling it.
RED MEAT
Just about anything that is decent and red goes here. It really depends on
your individual taste. For me, though, zinfandel – especially with beef.
Ridge ‘Lytton Springs’ (2013) - From the fabled Ridge stable in
Sonoma County, California; this is a rich, concentrated medium to full
bodied red. It is actually a blend of 74% zinfandel, 16% petite syrah,
8% carignan and 2% mataro (mourvedre) - hence the zinfandel plays
the dominant role. Sweet dark fruit (bramble, blackberry, plum, cherry),
violets, pepper, hint of liquorice and oak/ vanilla. Great wine; great
producer. Will go with all red meats – but have a burger with it! Around
the £35 a bottle mark – as with many wines, though, you get what you
pay for! A treat – with various vintages available online.
62 Anniversario Primitivo di Manduria Riserva (2011) – From Puglia
in Italy, I’ve seen this described as a ‘sweet bomb’. Made from 100%
primitivo (zinfandel) this has a massive nose. Cassis/ blackcurrant,
raspberry, jam, a bit of spice, coffee, vanilla. A blockbuster – but
with finesse and fine tannins. Online – around the £25 a bottle mark.
Notwithstanding its price tag, again a truly fine wine at a very reasonable
price. My bottles of the 2011 vintage again came from D. Byrne & Co in
Clitheroe, although various vintages can be found on line. Magic stuff.
If not any of the actual wines referred to – do look out for wines of their
type. They all work well – even if it is raining. In fact they all seem,
somehow, to make the rain almost tolerable in the end!
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