wine column July.qxp_Layout 1 20/06/2018 10:53 Page 1
TRISTAN DARBY Columnist Tristan Darby recommends some interesting and alternative summer wines
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e’ve passed the halfway mark of the year, the mercury is rising, and it’s time for buying lighter, fresher styles of wine for the warm summer days ahead. But with so many different wines available to us lucky UK consumers, it’s easy to stick with safe ‘go-to’ options like sauvignon, pinot and Beaujolais. With that in mind, here are a few alternative off-thebeaten-track wines that are perfect for summer sipping. Pedro Ximenez (PX for short) is a white grape you might have heard of before. It’s from Andalucia, where its harvested over-ripe and sun-dried either to make one of the world’s sweetest wines (also called PX) or to be used as a sweetening agent for sherry. However, our first wine is an unusually dry and crisp take on PX that’s well worth checking out. Vina Falernia, Elki Pedro Ximenez (£8.95, Great Western Wine) is made on the southern fringes of the Atacama Desert in Chile’s northern Elqui Valley. With lovely floral and lime zest notes, it’s ideal for everyday summer drinking, aperitifs and light summer salads. There’s some weight and texture to the palate too which adds interest for drinking and also makes it suitable for light fish and chicken dishes. This is a fab summer staple worth stocking up on. Sparkling wine is England’s flagship style with national and global accolades, but we’re also making some delicious still wines, and with production and quality on the up they’re starting to make their mark too. Production costs are high, so rather than compete with bulk wines from afar, savvy producers are focussing on quality. Lyme Bay, Shoreline (£16.95, GWW) is made just north of Seaton on Devon’s Jurassic Coast. It’s gorgeously light, dry, aromatic and fresh with subtle layers of citrus, elderflower and nettle followed up with a lip-smackingly dry mineral and saline finish. This is English coastal countryside in a glass, and the perfect wine for fresh seafood, summer afternoons in the garden, or a trip to the beach. Chilling red wine seems counter-intuitive to many Brits I meet in our often grey and pleasant land. But a lightly chilled red on a hot day can be really refreshing. Juicy, fruity, lower tannin, lower alcohol wines work best and pinot noir, grenache and gamay are classic grapes to go for – but here’s a couple of alternatives. Ailala, Souson (£13.95, GWW) from Ribeiro in north west Spain is fresh, fruity and jam-packed with blueberry and plum flavours. It’s smooth but comes with the local Souson grapes’ hallmark acidity which brightens the palate and refreshes. It’s great to have at hand for when the sun gets his hat on and is perfect with chicken, pork or cured meat. Elegant and attractively fresh, Huaso de Sauzal, País (£22.95, GWW) is made from local Chilean Pais grapes harvested from ancient vines up to 300 years old in the Maule Valley. It’s a ‘natural’ wine vinified using gentle traditional winemaking techniques, resulting in another fabulously juicy red with cherry-like fruit and touch of smoky spice on the finish. It’s unique, unusual and versatile enough to enjoy at picnics, barbecues, and even with poshed-up pizza. n
Join Tristan for an Interesting Whites and Refreshing Reds tasting at Great Western Wine on 25 July. Visit: greatwesternwine.co.uk/events for tickets. 60 TheBATHMagazine
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july 2018
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issue 190