Cocoa Vino

This year I made the ridiculous decision to quit chocolate for Lent. Madness! So as we approach the Easter bank holiday weekend my cupboards are overflowing with cocoa-based products. Rather predictably I decided to write about the best wines to drink alongside your Easter treats. Any excuse, eh?

The most important rule when trying to match wine with any kind of sweet food is that you must pick a wine that is sweeter than the food. For example, if you are eating sweet milk chocolate a la Cadburys with a glass of dry red, the wine will taste even drier to the point of horrid bitterness. However, bitter chocolate (such as the stuff that contains 70% or more cocoa solids) can pair very well with dry reds, as I discovered on a wine tasting at the beautiful Waterford winery in South Africa’s Stellenbosch region (www.waterfordestate.co.za).
 
So which wines should I be taking home with me this Easter? Well, it depends on the type of chocolate you are indulging in…

 

White Chocolate

I will not apologise for my love of white chocolate which I’m constantly told is not real chocolate. So if you’re a fan like me, you need to find a wine that’s super sweet. Moscato d’Asti would be brilliant as it’s got the right level of sugar and a freshness that will help clean the palate. Also Pink Port is an excellent option as it’s full of sweet strawberry and raspberry fruit which works brilliantly (check out M&S’s Pink Port which comes in under £10 and is really tasty).

 

M&S Pink Port £8.99

Milk Chocolate & Dark Chocolate

I personally like to eat my milk and dark chocolate with nutty fortified wines, as this contributes lovely nutty nuances to every mouthful (much like the deliciousness of the purples chocolates in a box of Quality Street). If you like this idea, check out Bual or Malmsey Madeira, or sweet Oloroso sherry.

If however you’re more of a fan of chocolate-coated raisins, try a glass of Pedro Ximenez (PX) sherry which contributes the intense dried fruit notes you’re looking for.

Other fortified dessert wines worth checking out are Banyuls, Rivesaltes Ambré and Rutherglen Muscat from sunny Australia. All of them have the right level of sweetness, flavour intensity and alcohol to stand up to your chocolate addiction.

 

Bitter Chocolate (70%+ cocoa solids)

This is the interesting one, as I mentioned earlier, as this kind of chocolate is not sweet so actually it would be best to serve a dry wines alongside it so as not to enhance the bitterness too much. So I recommend you eat this alongside a big New World Shiraz or Cabernet Sauvignon - you’ll be fascinated by how well they compliment each other.

Happy Swigging!

High Street Wine Challenge: Chateauneuf du Pape (LIDL £7.99)

My mother is a massive fan of LIDL. She bangs on about the wonders of this budget supermarket but I'm yet to be convinced (partly because I refuse to do my weekly shop anywhere other than the Internet). But today I found myself using the LIDL carpark and my typical middle-class guilt led me down the aisles, seeking out the super cheap wines everyone is talking about.

I struggled to find anything that appealed, the selection was pretty uninspiring, but finally decided upon a bottle of Chateauneuf du Pape on offer at £7.99 (I'm sorry I can't remember the original price but it was definitely over my £10 budget). My husband, in the midst of a rubbish week, was pretty horrified when I told him where tonight's wine had come from, but after lots of face-pulling he had to admit it was pretty drinkable. Quite light-bodied, sweet red fruits, sweet spice and good acidity. In honesty, there's no way I would have guessed this was a Chateauneuf du Pape in a blind tasting, it tastes more like a Cotes du Rhone or similar, so I would have been disappointed to pay full price for it. However it looks pretty smart and it slipped down a treat with our sausage supper (no that's not a euphemism).

Happy Swigging!

Torre del Falco Nero di Troia, Waitrose (£5.99)

Following on from last weekend's disappointing Californian blend, tonight we opened another Waitrose red from their current special offer selection (tonight's bottle is normally £7.99) in the hope of finding something better.

Nero di Troia (aka Uva di Troia) is a black grape from Puglia,  the heel of Italy's boot, where it is overshadowed by the more famous Primitivo and Negroamaro grapes. Hence why you may never have heard of it.

This wine is full of ripe black cherries, raspberries and sweet spice, with typical Italian acidity that makes it fabulous with food such as roast porchetta, calves liver or, in our case, pizza. A really moreish red wine that is a bargain at it's current special offer price tag.

Happy Swigging!   

Apothic Red Winemakers Blend, Waitrose (£7.49)

Last weekend I was faced with the dilemma of what wine goes with "haggis, neeps & tatties." This is something I had never really contemplated before but, now that I have a toddler alarm clock, I have decided that pure Whisky hangovers are no longer an option.

So I was in Waitrose and saw this bottle of Californian red, currently on offer (normally £10) and I thought it might be interesting. The label says it's a blend of Zinfandel, Merlot, Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon, so I imagined quite a big and bold red which could stand up to the spices of the haggis.

Unfortunately, I was a bit disappointed. The wine has the sweetness of Zinfandel but isn't nearly as complex as one would hope. I was expecting some structure from the Cabernet and maybe some dark fruit and spice from the Syrah,  but all I got was a sweet fruit bomb. Having said all that, it might work well with a curry or a BBQ? All-in-all, it's a nice wine but I would have been very upset if I'd paid full price.

Happy Swigging!

An Ode to Scotch

What with the annual celebration of Robert Burns' life and now Andy Murray reaching the Australian Open Finals, I thought this would be the perfect week to go off on a tangent with my little guide to Scotch Whisky  – a delicious tipple that I always associate with my father, sipping it from his cut crystal tumblers in front of the TV. Fast forward 30 years and it’s now me sipping a wee dram in the evenings, one of my most favourite things during these colder nights.

So what is Whisky?

Blended Scotch whisky constitutes about 90% of the whisky produced in Scotland, and contains both malt whisky and grain whisky, blended together to produce a consistent brand style - a bit like the big Champagne Houses (eg Moet & Chandon) blending their various wines to produce the same style Non Vintage champagne year after year.

Single Malt whisky on the other hand comes from a single distillery, must be aged at least three years in oak casks and bottled at minimum 40% ABV. These whiskies are labelled with the region that produces them: Highland, Lowland, Speyside and Islands. The regions are not prescriptive of flavour per se, but generally speaking the Lowland produces lighter styles and the Islands produce heavily peated whisky, with Highland and Speyside sitting somewhere in between.

So what should I be drinking??

If you want to try a top quality blended whisky, go for Chivas Regal which is soft and smooth, a good starting point for any novice whisky drinker.

If you have never tried a Single Malt before, I’d start off with something like Glenfiddich or Dalwhinnie. They are both soft and fruity with lovely butterscotch, creamy notes.

If you like these and want to try something a bit warmer and stronger, go for Macallan 10 or Balvenie Doublewood, both of which have spent time in old Sherry casks giving a depth of flavour which I personally find very seductive.

If you’re feeling brave, you can ease yourself gently into the Island whiskies. If you’ve ever tried Lapsang Suchong tea then you’ll have some idea of what’s in store for you. These whiskies are smoky, salty and very savoury, so the complete opposite of the butterscotch notes in Dalwhinnie. The Aardbeg 10 is probably the lightest of them all so a good place to start, with Laphroaig best avoided until you've acquired a taste for this style.

Water or Ice?

Ah, the age old debate! My mother always has ice, my father always has water. In honesty there is no right answer but to begin your whisky adventure I would suggest you start with ice as this softens the burn but also tones down the aromas and flavours. The addition of water will soften the burn as well but it will also enhance all the aromas and flavours, so this is great once you’ve found a whisky you enjoy savouring. Some will tell you that adding anything at all is blasphemy but don’t listen to them – go with whatever helps you enjoy it best.

Happy Swigging!  

High Street Wine Challenge: Secanto Maiten Vineyard Block 1 Pinot Noir (£14.29, M&S)

So this evening I had 5 minutes to spare before my train left, which led me to the wine section in the station's mini M&S. I was looking for something soothing for my £10 budget, so my eyes skipped over France, Italy, Spain, until they reached a rather grown-up-looking Pinot Noir from Chile for £9.49. "Perfect," I thought, and dashed to the checkout.  All I can say is that it's been an exhausting week as I didn't spot the actual price as I tapped my card and ran for the platform. So I apologise for the fact that I broke budget this time.

I will not apologise however for the pleasure I took in consuming this rather tasty midweek treat. Chilean Pinot Noirs can be hugely disappointing. Avoid anything sub £7... in fact, that's a good rule of thumb for all Pinot Noir as it's a bloody hard grape to produce and the cheap versions are notoriously dreadful. This Pinot however comes from Leyda, which is rapidly gaining a reputation for top quality wines thanks partly to its proximity to the Pacific Ocean and the cooling sea breezes it enjoys.

My first impression of this wine was how silky smooth it is - seriously seductive and easy to drink. Deliciously ripe blueberry and plum fruit, sweet spice and a hint of truffle. This would be delicious with pork or duck, but it slipped down very easily on its own in this instance...

Happy Swigging! 

Port for Beginners

Port first became popular with us Brits back in the early 18^th Century when wars with France meant we couldn’t drink French wines anymore. Quelle horreur! So we turned to our friends in Portugal and started importing the yummy wines they were producing in the Douro valley, fortifying them with brandy so that they would survive the long journey home. Unlike Sherry (see my previous blog post), Port is fortified before fermentation has finished so that the wine is not only high in alcohol but also in sugar. A deliciously sweet and boozy red that’s synonymous with Christmas (although there’s a bottle open all year round in our house…)

 But do you really know what you’re buying when you’re faced with all those options in your local wine shop? Now that we’re deep into the festive season, I thought I’d guide you through the various different styles of Port so that you can make a more informed decision when you’re doing your grocery shopping on Christmas Eve.

 

photo courtesy of http://www.taylor.pt

Ruby Port

Ruby port is aged for only a short while in very large wooden vats so as to retain their fruit-forward style (think blackberries and cherries). Cheap ruby port is best avoided to be honest, and I would highly recommend you go with the next option…

 

Late Bottled Vintage

Late Bottled Vintage (or LBV) is not the same thing as a Vintage Port (see below) but is an aged Ruby port, produced from a single vintage (which is stated on the label) and bottled 4 to 6 years after harvest. Unlike Vintage Port, it is made to be drunk young, and it is a great all-rounder for a cheese board.

 

Tawny Port

This is my personal favourite. Tawny port is aged longer than a Ruby and in much smaller vats in order to encourage oxidation, so the resultant wine is more tawny-like in colour and the flavours are more mellow, full of nut and toffee flavours. Delicious with hard cheeses, or nutty and toffee-based puddings. Or just sipped on its own.

 

Vintage Port

Made in only the best vintages (the years for which are declared by the Port authorities), it is kept in barrel for only two years before being bottled unfiltered so that it continues to develop and improve in the bottle. That doesn’t mean that you can’t drink vintage port when it’s young, however it is at its best after a decade or two (there’s a reason why it is seen as an excellent Christening present). This is the ultimate port and the perfect match for Stilton.

 

Happy Swigging!