RAISE A GLASS
I’M not likely to be leaving the country any time soon to visit vineyards and wine regions, but I’m lucky that the fruits of them can still make their way to me. By “fruits” I don’t mean literally the grapes – that would be silly – but some lovely wines.
I was happy to welcome into my lockdown home – thanks to a video meeting and a van delivery – a couple of wine experts and a couple of Californian wines newly-released into Majestic. This red wine is a shoo-in for a special treat. I loved Bear Flag Zinfandel 2017 (£24.99, or £22.49 in a buy six deal). It hails from Sonoma in California with most of its grapes sourced from the wonderfully named Dry Creek Valley.
It’s a wine which just keeps on giving. Blueberry and bilberry fruits fill the senses, while the softness of vanilla and a spikiness of spice add wonderful dimensions. The flavours linger so long.
Also into Majestic is a premium Californian chardonnay which is ripe and rich and equally delicious: Talbott ‘Kali Hart’ Chardonnay 2018 (£24.99, or £19.99 in a buy six deal). The grapes are grown in the Santa Lucia Highlands, a few miles from Monterey
Bay. I want to be there right now! It sounds an amazing place, and it is home to this amazing wine. The use of new French oak barrels as part of the winemaking have added a flavoursome depth of vanilla and cream to this wine. It also sings with tropical fruits such as pineapple and mandarins. As a final flourish a delightful acidity helps deliver a freshness as you continue to savour the taste long after the last sip. On another day, I nipped over to Spain, theoretically of course.
If you like your sherry, then take note that Tio Pepe En Rama 2020 –a special, fresh style of fino
– has now been released. This is the 11th edition of this fino sherry which is
bottled every spring unclarified and unfiltered (hence the name en rama).
In the late afternoon when the sun dipped behind the roofs at the back of my house and the birds began to chirrup around some sunflower seeds, I sat outside and sipped this sherry with some pick-at-me nibbles of cheese and chorizo.
The sherry (RRP £15.95, 75cl, including Lea & Sandeman, Master of Malt, Whisky Exchange) is yeasty and savoury with highlights of almonds, citrus and green apples.
We might be easing into the light from lockdown but things – as we know – are still very challenging.
The producers of Tio
Pepe – Gonzalez Byass UK – are donating the profit from the bottling to The Drinks Trust to help people in need in the industry. As a postscript… I’ve just had a sip of an old favourite, as I both grilled, and then ate, sausages. Les Dauphins Côtes du Rhône Red 2018 (RRP £8 Asda, Tesco) is a perfect barbecue wine but in my instance, I was a prisoner in the kitchen as it poured down outside. It is a ripe, jammy wine, with a flirtation with spice which suited my sausages perfectly and helped me relax. Then the dog sniffed the sausages and went crazy.
JANE is a member of the Circle of Wine Writers. Find her on social media and online as One Foot in the Grapes.