RAISE A GLASS
I’VE been very excited in the last few days. We’ve had sunshine. Hurray! I’ve been out in the garden. Loved it!
To welcome the sun I decided this week’s theme would be pinks; and as usual with best-laid plans, today is really cold and windy. Never mind, eh.
Here are some pinks for when you venture outside wearing your cardies...
Sainsbury’s tell me they sell over 15 million bottles of rosé every year and this spring they’ve added another eight wines to the range, including Miraval Côtes de Provence Rosé 2016, (£18) famously owned by Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt!
They’ve also included Taste the Difference Pinot Grigio Dolomiti Blush (£7, 12.5% abv) from the north-east of Italy. It’s a pretty pale pink which is exactly what it says on the vin. The wine has a delicate nose of spring flowers – with just a hint of strawberry – and is soft in the mouth, a teeny bit creamy, with red fruits and strawberries to taste.
Mirabeau Etoile Côtes de Provence Rosé (£16, 13% abv) has been created by Brit Stephen Cronk who left a city job to set up home with his wife and family in Provence. His wines are amazing and I’m very jealous of their lifestyle. This pink glints like a crystal when you hold up a glass against a radiant blue sky. It has a nose of peach and citrus and in the mouth is silky and fruit-laden with just a hint of apricot. Pink fizz? Yes please. Lambrusco might have had a bad press in years gone by, but give it another go. Here’s one I really enjoyed, from the delightfully named wine merchants The Vino Beano. Serraglio (£15, thevinobeano.com, 11% abv) is a pale pink colour, and its fine bubbles popped a delicate nose of lemon and strawberry in my direction. An elegant, crisp dry sparkler with soft fruit flavours created from the Lambrusco di Sorbara grape.
Finally, there’s Barefoot Pink Pinot Grigio (RRP £6.99, widely available, 11.5% abv). This Californian pink is bright and breezy, speckled with red berry and strawberry flavours which are lifted with a citrusy spike of acidity. You don’t need to concentrate on a wine like this. Just pour, sit in the sun (if there is one) and decide if it’s warm enough for the first barbecue of the year.
THE Co-operative has launched a bit of fun for its members – to help create a new white wine. Between now and October people are voting on which wine they want and what to call it, as well as designing and voting for the label.
The Co-op’s five million members have already been asked to choose which wine will appear on the shelves; a chardonnay, a pinot grigio or a chardonnay-viognier blend. I voted for the blend, but the pinot won that vote. Ah well. As I write, the challenge is to submit a name for the new wine. I’m sitting here trying to think of one!
If you’re a member of the Co-op log into your account to take part. You can email me at jane@ onefootinthegrapes.co.uk