Thinking of You

I love Christmas. Family, friends, food, wine, laughs, late nights and slight indigestion just about sums up mine. But as much as you hold loved ones close at Christmas, you really miss the ones that aren't here. So, here's to the person or people you are missing this Christmas. Thinking of you.

Current white in the fridge: Taste The Difference Gruner Veltliner 2010, £7.99, Sainsbury's
When faced with the supermarket wall of wine it can be almost impossible to know where to start, even when you know what you like. To try and make it easier to shop, Sainsbury's has introduced a colour coding system for its wines to help identify different styles more easily. This Gruner Veltliner, a dry white wine from Austria, comes under 'complex & elegant'. They are not wrong: this is all peachy fruit with a kick of white pepper. Other descriptions include crisp & delicate, soft & fruity, smooth & mellow and rich & complex, with colour coding on the back label and on the top of the bottle. Less lucky dip, more guided sip. Bravo. 

Current Port on the side: Waitrose Tawny Port, £7.59, Waitrose
I know, a Port! Well, it is Christmas. So, I've shipped in some of the Waitrose own label Tawny Port with this week's delivery (my first ever home delivery, definitely not my last). It is made by the Symington family, one of the Douro region's most well thought of and dependable producers. The word Tawny tells you the wine is aged in oak barrels, accounting for the slightly faded colour and nutty aromas and flavours of the wine. Made from traditional red grapes including Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca and Tinta Roriz, this is a lovely, simple Tawny that longs to be paired off with a mince pie or a hunk of Stilton. 


Happy Christmas x

Red, White & You

Last night, as I shoved unsolicited advice about sparkling wines down your throats, Tara tweeted asking for some still wine recommendations, especially reds, for Christmas. So, since she asked, here's what I've got in for next week:

Whites in the fridge:


Tesco Finest Argentinian Chardonnay 2010, £5 on offer, Tesco
I shipped in some NZ Sauvignon Blanc for our housewarming a few weeks ago and much as I love the grassy, herbal, gooseberry characters of NZ SB, I fancied a change. So I went to Argentina (not literally, obviously) and picked up this Chardonnay, currently on offer. Happy to report this is a gorgeous, round, ripe white with melon and faint pineapple chunks to it. Tastes far more expensive than it is. 


Yalumba 'Y' Series Viognier 2010, £8.74, Majestic
Love this wine, it is so bright in colour it almost glows. This is an aromatic little beast, wafting apricots under your nose then hitting you with peach flavours and a little kick of spice. Made from old vines in the Barossa Valley, in South Australia. Feels like a winter wine and is great with turkey. Winner. 


Reds in the rack:


Ogio Primitivo 2010, £4.99 on offer, Tesco
This is a brilliantly vibrant red from the Southern 'heel' of Italy, Puglia. Made from the Primitivo grape, this is berry bright, juicy and easy enough to drink with or without food. Great value and in screwcap, making it the best stand-by wine for a house-full. 


Cune 2007 Reserva, Rioja, £11.39, Waitrose
The whole big turkey feast can be matched with a fuller-bodied white or a soft, not-too-tannic red. This soft and curvy Rioja is all cherry fruit and smooth oak, made from a blend of Tempranillo, Garnacha and Graciano grapes. It is classic but with a modern twist, just right. 

Fill yer stockings x

Lovely Bubbly

I know that advice is only appreciated if you ask for it in the first place. Take being pregnant, for example. A largely - literally - good experience bar the unsolicited advice thrown at you from the moment your up-the-duffness becomes public knowledge. But advice is usually given with your best interests at heart and sometimes, just sometimes, you may live to regret that good advice you just didn't take. Alanis Morisette even sang about that last bit. So, here's my unsolicited advice on what to buy if you are buying something with bubbles in this week.

Tesco Cava, £3.99 on offer, Tesco.com
Pimp this traditional method (meaning the bubbles got there when the wine was fermented for a second time in the bottle) sparkling with a brandy-kissed sugar cube and instantly spruce up an unbelievably cheap fizz. One for when the neighbours drop in for a drinkspotty. 

Cordoniu Vintage Cava Brut, £6.99 half price, Tesco.com
If you want to stick with unadulterated Cava, go for this Vintage one. Better quality grapes from a single year make this a step up from the basic stuff. Honestly, it is worth spending that little bit extra for a whole lot more quality. Dry, lemony and fresh, it is indeed lovely bubbly. 

Tesco Finest* Prosecco, £7.99 on offer, Tesco.com
Prosecco is the sparkling wine made in the Veneto region in Italy and is made in a different way to Champagne and traditional method sparkling wines such as Cava, with the second ferentation (the bit that adds the bubbles) happening before the wine is bottled, usually in great big tanks. The wine is not as complex as traditional method sparkling wines but they do serve an important purpose; namely being soft, sherbert-like and not as cheek-sucking as Champagne and Cava. Prosecco also tends to be slightly lower in alcohol. I will be adding a tiny dash of Campari to mine to make it Dirty. 

Tesco Finest* Premier Cru Champagne, £14.99 on offer, Tesco.com
I've written about this wine before. I am very, very fond of it as I used to source this wine back when I was a buyer. It is made by a co-operative winery in a very smart Grand Cru (meaning best-rated quality) village and knocks spots off other Champagnes that are two or even three times as expensive. I kid you not. It is a blend of Chardonnay & Pinot Noir and is all I could want from Brut Non Vintage Champagne. Toasty, elegant and really brilliant value. 

Next week: more advice you didn't ask for x

ps - the lovely Michelle over at The American Resident did actually ask for my advice about mulled wine. Nip over to hers to see what I told her.

Love Thy Neighbour

We moved into a new house earlier this year. It is a 1970s-built bungalow in the woods. It has a whiff of The Ice Storm about it, but without the swinging. A few of the houses do have pampas grass outside but as yet, no evidence of keys in glass bowls. So it was with a tiny niggle of trepidation that we invited all of our neighbours in for a drink on Saturday night, to kick off the festive season. Happy to report my niggle was needless and the party went with a bang. Or not, as it were. Anyway, when it came to choosing wines for 30 people without it costing the earth, here's what we went for...

Great Party White: The Post Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2011, £5 on offer, Tesco.com
This went down a storm (see what I did there?), with its good-looking label and bright, unmistakeable New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc lime-loaded aroma and gooseberry fruit flavours. Not a complicated beast, but when you are drinking this standing up, without proper food, it does well. I say without food: I made palmiers. So fabulously '70s, I couldn't resist. I almost went for the pineapple & cheese stick combo but peaked with the palmiers. And by serving Sauvignon Blanc you avoid the 'Anything But Chardonnay' issue from those who insist on trashing Chardonnay (unfairly so, IMHO). 

Great Party Red: Penfolds Bin 28 Kalimna Shiraz 2008, £6 on offer, Tesco.com
This is such a classic Aussie Shiraz, absolutely heaving under the weight of dense, dark fruit and spice flavours. Most of our neighbours went for white but there were a few stalwart red-only drinkers who absolutely loved this bruiser. It is made from Shiraz grapes (Australia's vinous calling card) grown in South Australia by one of the country's most famous and trusted producers, and weighs in at a whopping 14.5%. I did notice the red wine drinkers snaffled most of the sausages in honey & mustard, which must have worked a treat.


Chin chin x