Kudos to the Kiwis

New Zealand is perfect for vine growing because no vineyard is more than 80 miles from the sea, and they all enjoy many hours of sunshine during the day and cool sea breezes at night. Wine has been produced in New Zealand since the early 19^th Century, although back then it was mainly liqueur wines that were being made. It was only in the 1960’s that light wines started appearing, with the German grape Muller Thurgau dominating the vineyards. Since then much has changed, and of course Sauvignon Blanc is now the winning variety that any money-making winery will plant. However I truly believe the real stars can be found in the more interesting grape varieties of this country, so here follows a very brief guide to where to find them.

Map courtesy of http://www.nzwine.com

Gisborne

The most easterly tip of the North Island, Gisborne claims to be the Chardonnay capital of the country. But recently it’s making a name for itself with aromatic white varietals, from the more famous Viogniers and Gewurztraminers, to the more obscure Arneis and Albariño. Probably the most famous winery from this region is Lindauer, whose sparkling wines I’ve always thought to be great value for money. However if you want something really special watch out for the wines from Millton winery.

Hawkes Bay

Hawke’s Bay is New Zealand’s second largest region and is best known for its Bordeaux-blend reds and Chardonnay, although aromatic whites are consistently good and Syrah is increasingly impressive. Within Hawke’s Bay you will find the subregion of Gimblett Gravels, where some of New Zealand’s greatest full-bodied red wines are produced courtesy of the gravelly soils reminiscent of those in Bordeaux. Look out for the wines of Craggy Range, Trinity Hill and Bilancia.

Wairarapa/Martinborough

Martinborough is a sub-region of Wairarapa, on the southern tip of the North Island. Here you will find lots of boutique wineries, making just 1% of the country’s total wine production but also some of the country’s most iconic, sought after wines. Predominantly planted with Pinot Noir, you will find the aromatic white wines again, of which I believe the best are made at Dry River estate – their Rieslings and Syrahs are some of my favourite wines of all time.

Marlborough

New Zealand’s flagship wine region, which has brought the country great fame with its distinctive Sauvignon Blancs. While obviously Sauvignon makes up the vast majority of plantings, Pinot Gris and Riesling are also doing very well here, and more recently Grüner Veltliner is looking quite exciting. There is a huge number of wineries here but my personal favourites are Seresin, Greywacke, Clos Henri and Foxes Island. Cloudy Bay is of course the most famous but you are paying extra for its popularity so unless you want to buy their Te Koko (a delicious oaked Sauvignon Blanc) I’d steer clear.

Central Otago

In the heart of the Southern Alps, the area is a desert but with unlimited water for irrigation (thanks to the snowcapped mountains) and a big temperature range between night and day, the resulting grapes show a huge concentration of fruit flavours. Pinot Noir is the star here, rich and ripe and silky smooth. Look out for Felton Road and Mount Difficulty.

If you want to explore this country’s spectacular wines further, I highly recommend you go straight from here to The New Zealand Wine Cellar’s brilliant online shop: http://thenewzealandcellar.co.uk . Set up by patriotic Kiwi and London resident Melanie Brown, this is THE place to find all of New Zealand’s greatest wines (or at least all those the country exports).

Happy Swigging!

High Street Wine Challenge: Fragoso Merlot from Argentina (M&S)

Having spent the last few weeks enjoying delicious white wines and rosés in the French sunshine, we have come back to earth with a bump thanks to the torrential rain of the last few days. So it's Friday and I'm exhausted and only a bottle of red will do!

Tonight's wine is the Argentinian Fragoso Merlot, currently on offer at M&S for £6. Purchased by my husband, I'm pretty sure it's the label that sold it to him as an ex polo player. Thankfully though the wine itself is very yummy and great value for money. Bags of ripe blackberry and blueberry fruit, lovely fresh acidity which meant it went really well with our meatballs in tomato sauce, and a touch of sweet spice on the finish. Super smooth and comforting, the perfect red for a miserably wet Friday night.

Happy Swigging!

Forget the Cricket...

So I hear that we haven't had the greatest first day at the Ashes today which is upsetting. But, typically of me, it prompted me to start thinking about how I quite fancy a glass of something Australian right now. My hubby will not be best pleased...

 

Aussie wines have come on leaps & bounds in the last few decades and, whilst I'll never totally forgive them for all that crappy Chardonnay they sent us back in the 1990’s, I will always be a fan of their real wines: the ones made by the smaller wineries, the ones that sing of the real Australia.

 

So you understand what I’m wittering on about, you need to understand that Australian wine falls into two categories:

 

·         Entry-level wines labelled "South Eastern Australia": these can be made from grapes picked anywhere within the entire South Eastern area of Australia (NSW, Queensland, Victoria, South Australia) and normally retail for around £5. These are unexciting fruit bombs for glugging. Think quantity rather than quality as they produce A LOT.

·         Premium Aussie wines: this is where my heart lies, for this is where the excitement is. As you know, Australia is BIG, with vast swathes of land that are too hot & dry to make good wine. So you will notice that all the best wine regions are located in the coolest areas of the country, mainly in the South and near the coast.  

 

Here are some of my favourite wine regions and some recommendations so that you can better navigate the Australian wine shelves of your local wine shop or supermarket.

 

Barossa Valley

Northeast of Adelaide, the Barossa is most famous for its huge, spicy and chocolatey reds made from the Shiraz grape (aka Syrah, but the Australians decided to rename it). Other grapes are grown here, including Chardonnay, Semillon and Cabernet Sauvignon. Torbreck is my favourite Barossa winery, which makes delicious Rhone-style reds from Rhone varietals. Their wines are quite exclusive, normally only available from such retailers as Berry Bros, but I recently discovered they make an own-label red wine for M&S called Marananga Dam Grenache/Shiraz/Mourvédre for £15. Time to go shopping I think!

 

Clare Valley & Eden Valley

Both Clare Valley and Eden Valley (north and east of the Barossa Valley respectively) are famous for their deliciously mineral, floral and lime-flavoured Rieslings which are delicious with Thai food. Look out for Pewsey Vale and Petaluma.

 

McLaren Vale

McLaren Vale is just south of Adelaide and produces a wide range of grape varieties. Look out for the wines of D’Arenberg, with their wacky prominent labels, which are made from lots of different grape varieties including very old vine Grenache and Shiraz.

 

Coonawarra

This region has a very distinctive crumbly red soil called “Terra Rossa” and cool climate which makes it perfect for making some of Australia’s most superb Cabernet Sauvignons – intense blackcurrant with a hint of eucalyptus. Totally divine with a good steak.

 

Mornington Peninsula

This region juts out into the sea and provides some of the most beautiful Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays outside of Burgundy. Watch out for the wines from Stonier.

 

Margaret River

Many miles away in Western Australia lies Margaret River, a region with a strong maritime climate which means it is perfect for producing excellent Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling and Pinot Noir. This is where Sauvignon Blanc/Semillon blends have become hugely popular, and one of my favourite examples of this blend is from Vasse Felix winery.

 

A lot of the wines I’ve mentioned are available through Waitrose at www.waitrosecellar.com as they have an amazing Australian wine selection, but I urge you to explore other stores to see what they offer from these wine regions. Remember that own-label wines can be a great value option (as M&S are demonstrating)

 

Happy Swigging!

Sauvignon Blanc Fatigue

"Cat's Pee": a typical aroma of Sauvignon Blanc

Have you, like me, become fed up of Sauvignon Blanc? Or are you perhaps curious to try something different that might offer you similar satisfaction? 

If the answer is yes, here follows a list of off-piste wines that should tickle your tastebuds. We’re talking zippy, citrusy, refreshing whites – just the thing we want to drink on sunny afternoons…

Gruner Veltliner 

Austria’s second most planted grape variety (behind Riesling, of course) is one of my favourite white wines. For a long time this grape was unknown in the UK, partly because the Austrians drank most of it themselves. But thanks to its success in the US (the Americans have nicknamed it “Gru-V”), export numbers are up. Its increasing popularity has led to plantings now appearing in New Zealand (yes, even the Kiwi winemakers are getting bored of Sauvignon Blanc)! Style-wise, young Gruner Veltliner is spritzy in style, full of citrus fruit, lettuce leaves, green peas and white pepper. It’s particularly delicious when served alongside Wiener Schnitzel (an excellent hangover cure I discovered on a trip to Vienna). 

Albarino/Alvarinho/Vinho Verde

Apologies for the catch-all heading, but the Albarino grape is grown in north-western Spain and also just over the border in Portugal where it is often used in blends in the increasingly popular Vinho Verde. The former can be quite pricey whereas the latter is still incredible value (so stock up while you can). If you’ve been on holiday to Portugal, you’ve no doubt experienced this wonderful wine and you’ll be delighted to know it seems to be creeping onto our supermarket shelves back home. This is a fresh, vibrant white wine that you can imagine drinking at sunset with the local Portuguese barbecued fish. 

Picpoul de Pinet

The name Picpoul translates locally as “lip-stinger”, and it is one of the best value zingy white wines that France can offer at the moment. From the Languedoc region, this wine is full of wonderful lemony freshness - you can imagine cracking this open at the seaside alongside an enormous seafood platter. 

Txakoli (pronounced “cha-ko-lee”)

A bone-dry white wine from the Basque region of Spain, this has a touch of spritz and a deliciously mineral finish so it’s not surprising that London wine lists are picking it up. The main grapes in this wine are the local Hondarribi Zuria and Hondarribi Beltza, but I wouldn’t expect you to remember that, just keep your eyes peeled for it as the perfect accompaniment to fish or vegetarian tapas. 

Assyrtiko

I do feel we should support the Greeks right now, and what better way than by buying their delicious wines. Yes, it’s not all about Retsina (although even THAT is getting better)! Assyrtiko was originally planted in Santorini and produces bone-dry whites with citrus aromas mixed with an earthy, mineral aftertaste due to the local volcanic soil. 

Happy Swigging! 

High Street Wine Challenge: Co-op "Truly Irresistible" Sauvignon Blanc

I have heard very good things about The Co-operative's wine selection so I popped into my local branch today. The choice on offer was pretty limited, especially in the white wine chiller where I was looking. I was faced with the choice between a Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand or Chile, both at £6.99, so I decided to go with Chile as you tend to get a lot more "bang for your buck" with Chilean wines.

More specifically this is from Leyda, which is a beautifully cool valley just west of Santiago, producing very good quality wines. On the nose, I got intense passion fruit aromas. This tastes of everything you would expect from Sauvignon Blanc: citrus fruit, green peppers, passion fruit and asparagus. In fact, if I'd tasted this blind, I'd have guessed this to be a good quality New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc. I now want to go back and check out their £6.99 kiwi savvy as I'd put money on it being nowhere near as tasty.

Happy Swigging!

Priorat: Spain's greatest wine region

Last week I had the great pleasure of meeting one of Priorat's top winemakers, Sara Perez from Mas Martinet (http://masmartinet.com/). Talking to her and tasting her wines reminded me why I love Priorat, and so I thought I'd write a bit more about it so that maybe you might go try it yourself.

 

What's so amazing about Priorat?

For me, Priorat is all about perfect balance. This region gets a lot of sunshine and very little rain, which can result in wines with very high alcohol content. But instead of being massive fruit bombs, the best Priorats have a beautiful acidity and minerality which lift them to be wines of great depth and complexity. Granted they are still big wines, the dark fruits are still ripe, but the acidity and minerality make them much more pleasurable.

 

How come they're so great?

The key defining characteristic of this region is its soil. Known locally as "llicorella", this dark sparkly slate soil reflects the light, conserves the heat, and also gives the wines their mineral zing. The best vineyards are those on slopes which face northeast in order not to get too much sun but instead to bask fully in the refreshing sea breezes. The main grape used is Garnacha (aka Grenache), often blended with Carinena and a selection of international varietals such as Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah. 

Photo of Priorat vineyard, courtesy of http://myemail.constantcontact.com

 

Will I like them too?

If you're a fan of powerful Rhone Valley reds (such as Cornas or Cote Rotie), Australian Shiraz, South African Pinotage or Argentinian Malbec, chances are you will enjoy exploring what this region has to offer. And if you like these wines but can't stretch to a bottle of Priorat, check out the wines of Montsant which is just next door.

 

It is also worth noting that Priorat is only a very short drive from Barcelona - mini break, anyone?

 

Happy Swigging!

High Street Wine Challenge: Cotes du Rhone Rosé, Sainsburys

Following on from my last blog post, I thought this week's high street pick should be a bottle of the pink stuff. So on today's Sainsburys shop I ventured to the Rosé aisle and (unsurprisingly) was pretty disappointed by the selection on offer. I nearly picked their Taste The Difference Provence Rosé which is currently on offer at £7 instead of the usual £8, but decided to venture a little off-piste and picked this little number from the Rhône at £6.

The reason for my choice is that the Rhône valley is just north of Provence (where my favourite rosé comes from) and the grape varieties used are similar - Grenache, Cinsault, & Syrah. On the nose, I get aromas of pink grapefruit and peach. On drinking, the wine is dry but balanced by lots of ripe fruit flavours such as watermelon, raspberries and cranberries. Very easy drinking, it was perfect with our chicken & chorizo traybake but would also be just as delicious sipped on its own in the sunshine.

Happy Swigging!