On the grapevine

Rioja special: I have loved the wine of Rioja Alta for decades. This wellestablished company manages to pack more depth of flavour and savoury complexity than many other producers. Northallerton-based Firth & Co (01609 770875) has the gorgeous 2015 Viña Alberdi Reserva from La Rioja Alta on offer, down from £19.14 to £16.95 while stocks last. Buy more than you want right now and tuck it away for a year or so.

Côtes on at Campbells: Now emerging from lockdown, Campbells of Leyburn (01969 622169) is still happy to accept orders by phone to be collected from the side door if you don’t want to go into the shop. Worth looking out for is Jean-Luc Colombo’s Les Abeilles rouge 2016, down from £13.49 to £10.99. This is a juicy, savoury, upmarket Côtes du Rhône that will accompany a grilled sausage to perfection.

Whisky tasting: The great advantage of taking part in a whisky tasting at home is that you don’t have to arrange for someone to come and pick you up to get you home after sampling a few too many drams. The Whisky Lounge has moved online during the coronavirus pandemic and is now putting packs of tasting samples together, which you can taste at home while talking to distillers and brand ambassadors. The next event is on Thursday when there will be a quiz set by the people at Inverhouse Distillers, to be accompanied by four of their rather good single malts. The pack of samples costs £25 plus £6.95 delivery. Check the Whisky Lounge website, www. thewhiskylounge.com