WINE

One of the best things about the UK wine market is the sheer variety of wines available.

This week I travelled as far east as Anatolia in Turkey, as far west as San Francisco and as far south as the South African Cape.

Here are some of the very best I sampled:

Kayra Narince 2015 (£12.70 Strictly Wine)

This juicy white is made from Turkey’s indigenous grape Narince in the Tokat region of Anatolia, an area considered by many to be the birthplace of winemaking.

Here Narince, whose leaves are often used for dolmades, tends towards medium dry without quite getting there.

It reminded me a little of Pinot Blanc with a whiff of white pepper and acacia on the nose and peachy fruit flavours with a honeyed aspect on the palate.

Joseph Mellot Sancerre La Gravelière 2015 (£24 Nisa)

From the Loire a classic Sancere with soft gooseberry and hedgerow aromas and a slight smokiness budging in. It’s riven with the minerality that is characteristic of the Loire and there’s a clean citrus finish.

This wine-maker also fulfils the right credentials for Earth Day (Saturday, April 21) with a rigorous approach to environmentally friendly viticulture.

A great match for asparagus, goats cheese or chicken in a creamy sauce.

Kuentz-Bas Alsace Muscat 2016 (£11.50 The Wine Society)

Of all the

Philip Shaw The Wire Walker Pinot Noir 2015 huge number of wines made with the Muscat grape, Alsace Muscat, although a bit of rarity, is one of the most satisfying. Muscat has one of the very longest histories in wine-making.

It was of the most prominent grapes brought into France, or Gaul, by the Romans and became popular in sweet wines in Greece. It has a particularly distinctive aroma which is much more ‘grapey’ than most wine grapes.

Add that character to the floral bouquet in a dry white and you have the type of lovely example you get here.

It’s rare to find a white which balances sumptuous fruit with balancing acidity and grace. Excellent stuff.

Wente Morning Fog Chardonnay Livermore Valley 2015 (£15 Whalley Wine Shop, Clitheroe)

In Californian Napa Valley and Sonoma County are the regions associated most readily with high quality Chardonnay.

But this wine hails from a little nearer to San Francisco Bay in the Livermore Valley.

Like many coastal areas of California, fog is a common phenomena in these vineyards, hence the name.

The fog plays a vital role in cooling the vineyards overnight dissipating by the afternoon when the sun appears to work its magic.

Although this is very much a typical Californian Chardonnay with toasty oak and tropical fruit, I was very impressed by its restraint and elegance with a seam of minerality and good acidity regulating candied apple flavours.

Phillip Shaw The Wire Walker, Pinot Noir Orange, Australia, 2015 (£11.99 until 23/04 then £12.99, Rude Wines)

Australia is not always associated with Pinot Noir but this lovely example from Rude Wines is grown at a higher than usual altitude; 900 metres to be exact.

That obviously brings cooler temperatures into play which makes the vineyards capable of producing elegant wines like this.

There’s a classic savoury Pinot nose and sleek cherry and raspberry fruit.

A great match for roasted vegetables, sausages, or lamb cutlets.

Warwick Estate The First Lady Cabernet Sauvignon 2014 (£11.99 Winedirect.co.uk)

I was very much seduced by the honest friendliness of this upfront expression of Cabernet Sauvignon from the Cape. And I was also surprised to find that its soft, easy drinking tannins made it a good match for roast chicken.

Usually I’d pick a lighter red to pair with roast chicken but this paired beautifully and I would have thought it would match to pork just as well – sticky barbecue ribs could be the sweetest match.