The Social Drinker

Has a great cheap rosé

Finding the right drink to accompany Middle Eastern food is something of a challenge. The Koran’s famous ban on alcohol has had a dampening effect on the development of exciting indigenous drinks to match the region’s dazzling foods. That’s not to say that it is impossible to get a good drink in the Middle East — which was, of course, producing wine thousands of years before Jesus made himself so popular at the wedding feast of Cana.

The Lebanon produces several wines worth drinking. Here in Ireland, you can find red and whites from Chateau Musar, whose vineyards have been producing wine for close to a century, despite civil war and invasion. Chateau Musar, which was created with the help of an Irish-French wine producing family in 1920 can be found on the menus of some of the more interesting independent off-licences and is well worth trying if you fancy something slightly different.

Of course, the mere fact that a wine is produced in a certain place does nothing to ensure that it will match the food, despite what the romantically inclined would have you believe.

Middle Eastern food is a good match for a refreshing, well-chilled rosé, which offsets the spicy tastes of falafel and hummus. There are many good rosés, but it is worth highlighting possibly the best bargain for drinkers at the moment, which is Aldi’s Cotes de Provence Rosé. This wonderful stuff costs just €8.99 a bottle, and recently beat all but one other wine to bag a silver medal at the International Wine Challenge, following rigorous blind taste tests. Whether you are eating Middle Eastern food or just want to sip something on the terrace, this is a wine to buy in bulk for the summer months.