White wines
For a business that usually works on having buyers heading out to wine regions, inspecting potential suppliers and creating blends, lockdown has been a bit restrictive. Even so, Marks & Spencer has managed to put together a completely new range of wines, which it has called Found.
It has taken on board the fact that there are hundreds, if not thousands, of grape varieties and wines that never get to play on the international stage. Local, possibly neglected patches of vines will dwindle away if a farmer cannot make enough money from them to justify getting up in winter and pruning them. These wines might just end up being served in the local cafe, or kept for family use. Does this matter? It depends on how much you like the stalwarts of the wine shelves. Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon dominate the wine lists and, while there are some fabulous wines made with those grapes, it is sometimes nice to have a change. Another advantage is that many of these local gems offer terrific value. Before M&S buyers came along, these wines would not escape from their regional surroundings. So these are definitely wines that have been found, bottled up and sent for us to try.
But was it difficult putting together a range from the UK, especially since the buyers could meet up only occasionally under strict Covid rules? “From hundreds of samples sent over we managed to select the best, create some blends and then do all the regulatory checks at a distance,” says Sue Daniels, winemaker on the M&S team.
“It isn’t the usual way we work, but we used some existing suppliers and some new ones and we managed to get all the essential work done. One of the key factors in deciding which wines to add to the range was whether they showed the right amount of grape expression. These are different grapes and so they need to demonstrate their flavours. And they have to be delicious, too.”
And so, with 11 of the 12 wines from the Found range in front of me, each with distinctive photographicstyle labels, reflecting local landmarks and people, this is what they taste like.
Feteasca Regala 2020, Romania, £7: Try Fet-ee-ask-ca Re-gala if someone wants to hear you say it, but better still just pour them a glass. Packed full of delicious honeysuckle notes with peach, crunchy apples and a sprinkle of spice. “We wanted this wine to be dry to make it food friendly”, said Daniels, and it certainly is. Try this alongside a lightly spiced dish, or a salad.