RAISE A GLASS

IF YOU’RE new to this corner of your daily read I thought I’d set down the parameters before you go any further. In just over 500 words I bring you five drinks. It might be a small space but I bring you value. To start, here are a white, a red and a pink.

A white: I nipped into Tesco and looked for a simple bottle of white after a very complicated day which had lots of “blimeys” in it. I walked out with Tesco Finest Cotes De Gascogne (£6.50, 11% abv) because I saw the grapes colombard and gros manseng on the front and I know they create fresh but perfumed white wines. It has aromas of lime and grapefruit and those fruits are reflected in the zippy zing flavours. A red: Well this is a cheap and cheery little thing. Barefoot Wine’s Shiraz Cabernet (RRP £6.99, widely available 13.5% abv) provides jammy blackberries which flow over the rim of the glass (aromas that is, not the real thing or that would be silly) and they’re there in the mouth too along with a fleck of spice. I cooked cottage pie on a wet summer’s night and my wine and my pie were a couple of High Five pals. A pink: Mrs Wigley is flirty and flighty. Mrs Wigley is

Wirra Wirra Mrs Wigley Moscato 2016 (RRP £11.75 Ocado, 50cl,

4.5% abv). This Australian lady (well, she’s actually a cat in the winery) is so refreshing you could pop her on a stick and be happy with her as an ice lolly. She is made from grapey, floral, sweet moscato and unusually you flip a cap top (like beer) to pour this delicious sweet sparkling nectar. Chill it really well then pour as a sunshine refresher.

Also in my glass… This time last year I shared news of a new gin, Spitfire Heritage Gin, in an exclusive “look out for this” kind of way just before it went on sale in Wine Rack. I mention it again because two things have happened.

Number 1 Thing: Spitfire’s distillers have now brought out a new vodka – Supermarine Vodka (RRP £45, spitfireheritage

distillers.com) which is named after the company that created the Spitfire. The vodka – which is the base of the gin before the botanicals are added – is getting rave reviews. My exclusive tasting revealed a vodka which is soft, lusciously creamy, rich, balanced and laced with vanilla. I sipped on its own with chunks of ice. You don’t need anything else.

Number 2 Thing: Spitfire Heritage Gin (RRP £45 from Wine Rack – and now Harrods) supports the Spitfire Heritage Trust and I was invited to a cross-country Armed Forces Day toast as tribute to our servicemen and women.

The toast began at the 36th floor of the Panoramic restaurant in Liverpool, then rolled down to Marco Pierre White’s Steakhouse and Bar in Birmingham and was topped off at the Coca Cola London Eye. Across the country people raised a glass of Spitfire gin and we were lucky enough to enjoy a gin cocktail (or two). The gin uses botanicals as tribute to wartime pilots; borage (for courage), rosemary (for remembrance), English rose petals (for the flowers of Britain who flew so bravely) and blood orange.