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21st Jun 2009

Best summer wines

I drink different wines in summer. I’d no more sit down to a cockle-warming, fireside Châteauneuf du Pape in August than I would a Sancerre on the darkest, shortest December day. If the sun’s shining – and that’s not always guaranteed in these islands – I want something crisp and white in my glass. It may have bubbles, in fact I rather hope it does, but a refreshing white is what I crave.

I’m happy to try other colours, especially with food. Pink wines, for instance. One of the great things about the rosé boom is that we are seeing a much greater range of dry styles in the UK. I also turn regularly to Pinot Noir, Gamay and Cabernet Franc, three red grapes that combine freshness and perfume without hefty tannins.

As ever, my summer wine choices are an eclectic mix. There are bottles from France (14), Italy (6), Spain (4), New Zealand (4), Argentina (2) and one each from Portugal, Chile, South Africa, Australia, Greece and the United States. The grape varieties vary from the familiar (Pinot Grigio, Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay) to the little known (Trepat, Assyrtiko and Gros Manseng).

Stylistically, I’ve concentrated on still whites, but I’ve also picked five rosés (two of them sparkling), four reds and seven fizzes. More than ever this year, selecting value for money wines has been my aim. Apart from one very fine Champagne, nothing costs more than £23 and two thirds of my choices sell for less than a tenner. Wherever you choose to drink them, I hope you’ll find something to excite your taste buds.

UNDER £6

2008 Trinacria Bianco, Sicily (£3.99, 12%, Waitrose)

Not so long ago, the white wines of Sicily were a disaster, but this shows you what modern technology and a bit of work to reduce yields in the vineyard can achieve with Catarratto and Insolia: style, freshness and honeysuckle aromas.

2008 The Co-operative Pinot Grigio (£4.99, or £3.99 until 7th July, 12%, The Co-operative)

Reduced by a £1 for the next fortnight or so, this Italian Pinot Grigio benefits from 15% Chardonnay, giving the wine a little more weight and personality. Easy drinking stuff with melon, pear and apple fruit to the fore.

2008 Gran Tesoro Garnacha Rosé, Campo de Borja (£3.54, 13.5%, Tesco)

I reckon this has to be the best value rosado in the country at the moment, a screw capped pure Garnacha pink from the Campo de Borja region in northern Spain, with bright redcurrant and raspberry fruit.

2008 Sainsbury’s Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi Classico (£4.11, 12.5%, Sainsbury’s)

Unmistakeably Verdicchio, this well-priced, unoaked Italian white is refreshing, yet weighty enough to work well with grilled fish or chicken: green olives, citrus fruit and an appealing bitter twist combine nicely on the palate.

2008 Norton Torrontés, Mendoza (£4.79 by the mixed case, 12%, Oddbins)

Torrontés is Argentina’s most individual white grape, a South American mutation of an old Iberian variety. The flavours and aromas here are typically grapey, floral and in your face, but this is summer in a glass. 

2008 Quinta de Azevedo Vinho Verde (£4.99 each for two, 10.5%, Majestic)

I make no apology for choosing this wine on a regular basis, because it’s one of my favourite summer whites: light, refreshing and bone dry with a touch of spritz and lingering citrus fruit flavours.

2008 Tierra y Hombre Sauvignon Blanc, Casablanca Valley (£5.49, 13%, Marks & Spencer)

A great package and an impressive wine, too. On this sort of form, Chilean Sauvignon is a match for anything from New Zealand or the Loire under £6. Fresh and grapefruity with real focus and length.

2008 Asda Extra Special Fiano, Sicily (£5.97, 13%, Asda)

Sicily makes nearly as much wine as Australia, much of it undistinguished, but Fiano really delivers as a fragrant white wine under £6. Peach, melon and tropical fruit are the dominant flavours here.

2005 Asda Extra Special Vintage Cava, Penedès (£5.98, 11.5%, Asda)

Extra Special might be over stating the case a little – it is only Cava, after all – but you’d be hard pressed to find a better cheap fizz than this this summer: dry, assertive and with a hint of bitterness.

2007 Laurent Miquel Nord Sud Viognier, Vin de Pays d’Oc (£8.49, on offer until July 1 at £5.99, 13.5%, Tesco)

If you love Condrieu but are put off by the cost, this is a brilliant southern French Viognier at a very appealing price. Lightly oaked and creamy, with aromatic peach and apricot fruit and real length and complexity.

2008 Storks Tower Verdejo, Vino de la Tierra (£5.99, 12.5%, Tesco)

Verdejo is fast establishing itself as a rival to Albariño as Spain’s best white grape. This weighty, smoky, greengage and grapefruit-like example shows what a New Zealand winemaker can do with the variety.

2008 La Grille Cool Fermented Chenin Blanc, Gwenaël Guihard (£5.99, 11%, Majestic)

La Grille is a brand that has done wonders for the availability of tasty Loire wines under £6. This is a little sweeter than the 2007 bottling, but is still a great introduction to Chenin Blanc, with Cox’s apple fruit and perky acidity.

UNDER £10

2007 Saumur Les Nivières (£6.49, 12.5%, Waitrose)

Loire reds are excellent as summer drinks, combining freshness, lowish alcohol and grassy fruit flavours with refreshing acidity. Cassis, green pepper, cut grass and spice are the dominant flavours here.

2008 Altosur Malbec Rosé, Finca Sophenia, Mendoza (£6.99 each for two, 12.5%, Majestic)

A wine that proves that the key to good rosé is a good grape variety (Malbec in this case). The result is one of the best rosados from South America: deeply coloured, soft and strawberryish, with bags of flavour.

2007 Asda Extra Special Fleurie, Boisset (£7.98, 13%, Asda)

This is pretty serious for a Beaujolais – displaying black fruits as well as the Gamay grape’s more customary raspberry and red cherry – but it’s still a great summer red, especially if you chill it down.

Lindauer Special Select NV (£7.99 each for three, 12%, Wine Rack)

A pink-tinged Kiwi blend of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay that consistently delivers on flavour as well as value, this is strawberryish and easy drinking, with small bubbles and a medium weight, tapering finish

Rosada Cava Prestige (£7.99, 11.5%, Marks & Spencer)

Unusually for Cava, this is a blend of Trepat (unfamiliar to me, too) and Garnacha, but it’s a stunning wine, with masses of cherry and plum skin flavours, fine bubbles and a frothy mouthful of bubbles.

2008 Crux Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough (£7.99 each for three, 12.5%, Wine Rack)

The nominal price of this crunchy, gooseberry-scented Marlborough Sauvignon from ClayRidge is £11.99 but it seems to be on a more or less permanent deal, which makes it a bargain. A classic sunshine white.

2007 Vernaccia di San Gimignano, A Passoni (£7.99 each for two, 12.5%, Majestic)

I recommended this wine on Saturday Kitchen earlier this summer and the chefs loved it. It’s a superior Vernaccia with citrus and pear-like flavours, and hints of juniper and ginger spice. Really good with seafood.

2008 Fleur du Cap Unfiltered Semillon, CapeCoastal (£8.79 by the mixed dozen, 13.7%, Oddbins)

I wish South African wine producers would plant more Semillon because it’s a variety that can rival Sauvignon Blanc at its best. This is a toasty, herbal, waxy, mealy white with impressive style and palate length.

2008 Crozes Hermitage Blanc, Cave de Tain (£8.99, 13%, Marks & Spencer)

Unoaked Marsanne from the northern Rhône can be one of France’s most under-rated whites. This is a case in point: broad, rich, yet refreshing with haunting complexity and notes of nutmeg and honeysuckle.

Tesco Finest Bisol Prosecco di Valdobbiadene Spumante (£8.99, 11%)

At only 11% alcohol, good Proescco is a sparkling wine that leaves you wanting another glass. This Italian fizz is perfumed and frothy with notes of pear and lemon and an appealing froth of youthful bubbles.

2008 Voss Pinot Noir, Martinborough (£9.99 each for three, 13.5%, Wine Rack)

Is it any wonder that so many people (me included) are switching to Pinots from New Zealand if they’ve got a tenner in their pocket? This deeply coloured red is structured yet fruity with a hint of sun-dried tomato and lovely texture.

2008 Château d’Aqueria Rosé, Tavel (£9.79, 13.4%, Waitrose)

There’s been a lot of fuss recently about the virtues of ‘true’ French rosé made solely from red grapes. When it’s as good as this dry, subtle, raspberryish example, I can see what people are so keen to protect.

OVER £10

Langlois Crémant de Loire Rosé (£10.39 by the mixed case, 12.5%, Oddbins)

A bit of a weird one, this, but none the less enjoyable for that. Made entirely from Loire Cabernet Franc, it’s a fresh, grassy, mouth-tingling sparkling wine that has spent 24 months maturing in bottle before release.

2008 Viré-Clessé, Vieilles Vignes, Christophe Cordier (£11.99 each for two, 12.5%, Majestic)

The white Burgundies from Christophe Cordier might not come from the swankiest of appellations, but they are some of the best white wines in the region. This rich, complex, toasty Mâcon could easily be mistaken for a Meursault.

2008 Domaine Nigri Le Plein de Sens, Jurançon (£11.99, 13.5%, Laithwaites, 0845 1947711)

Sourced from one of the oldest domaines in the Jurançon region, this is what the Gros Manseng grape is all about: austerity combined with underlying tropical fruit flavours, producing a crisp, characterful, mango and grapefruit-like white.

2007 Jacob’s Creek Steingarten Riesling, South Australia (£13.99, 12.5%, Sainsbury’s)

The basic wines from Jacob’s Creek are some of Australia’s better branded offerings, but this small production Riesling is truly outstanding. Dry and focused with attractive lemon and lime fruit and elegance.

2001 Berrys’ Extra Dry Crémant de Bourgogne, Grande Cuvée (£14.60, Berry Brothers, 0800 280 2440)

Burgundy ought to produce some of the best sparkling wines in the world, given its grape varieties and climate, but producers usually focus on still wines. Tasting this creamy, toasty, mature fizz. I think they are missing a trick.

Gloria Ferrer Blanc de Noirs, California (£14.99 each for two, 12.5%, Majestic)

Produced at a Catalan-owned winery in the Carneros district of Sonoma County, this California fizz is a brilliant buy at the two bottle prize: elegant and fragrant, with a youthful dry finish and pin head bubbles.

2008 Sancerre, Domaine Vacheron (£16.99, 13%, Waitrose)

The price of Sancerre has got out of hand in recent vintages, partly because of the collapse of the pound, but also because of demand. This isn’t cheap, but it’s a minerally, unoaked, beautifully made Sauvignon.

2007 Hatzidakis Santorini Assyrtiko Cuvée 15 (£16.99, 14%, Les Caves de Pyrène, www.lescaves.co.uk, 01483 554750)

I can’t stop telling people about the wonders of the Assyrtiko grape, which rivals anything else grown around the Med. This wild yeast-fermented, fennel-scented white made from tiny yields should give Greek wines a higher profile.

2006 Riesling d’Alsace, Grand Cru Wiebelsberg, Domaine Rieffel (£18.65, 13%. Berry Brothers, 0800 280 2440)

It’s a long time since I’ve tasted a range of Alsace wines that excited me as much as those from Domaine Rieffel. The pick of a very impressive bunch is this exotic, medium sweet Riesling with sweetness balanced by acidity.

2007 MountDifficulty Pinot Noir, Central Otago (£20.99, 14%, Waitrose)

The price may have crept above £20, but this reliable Central Otago Pinot Noir is still one of the best commercial examples on the market. The red fruit flavours are supple and sumptuous, the tannins just firm enough to provide support.

2007 Louis Jadot Meursault (£22.66 each for three, 13%, Wine Rack)

The quality of Louis Jadot’s white Burgundies has moved up a notch in the past three vintages. This is a buttery, textbook Meursault with deftly handled oak and notes of cashew nut and honey balanced by refreshing acidity.

2004 Larmandier Bernier Grand Cru Extra Brut Champagne, Vieille Vigne de Cramant (£43.95, 12.5%, Vine Trail, 0117 921 1770)

There are more famous Champagnes on the market, but this is my favourite fizz at the moment. It’s a pure Chardonnay whose base wine is partially aged in barrel, giving the cuvée rich, mouth-filling flavours.

Originally published in Observer Food Monthly