Cork Talk

With the imminent Jubilee and Olympic celebrations upon us why not support our 'homegrown' classics - here are some favourites:

Spitfire Real Ale - it's not always about the wine and sometimes a proper, cool bitter is just the job.

This is my choice www.spitfireale.co.uk/

English wine - some whites but particularly the sparkling ones. Even the Champenoise are threatened by these.

Try Ridgeview from Sussex or Cornwall's Camel Valley to get the real experience.   http://www.englishwine.co.uk/wine.php

Cider and Perry - adult apple and pear juice. Dry, crisp and refreshing and made from historic, traditional fruit varieties by dedicated enthusiasts.

We like Olivers in Herefordshire.www.theolivers.org.uk/

Pimms - 50/50 with proper lemonade, fresh mint,cucumber and loads of ice. The quintessential summer drink.

Real tea - from leaves with a teapot, a strainer and cake, it's worth the effort.

Roll on summer, bottoms up, cheers, God save the Queen, Jerusalem and all that...

Enjoy!

Wines that can taste of chocolate and some that can handle chocolate - definately not the same thing. So, while you overdose on the Easter bunnies' offerings, what to sip? At some recent tasting sessions I have tried some very deep red wines that have tasted a bit of that dark chocolate we are supposed to like, you know the 70% stuff that is really strong and intense (arguably not as satisfying as the huge bar of Dairy Milk you'd rather scoff...). BIG reds with some firm structured tannins like Aussie Shiraz, Argentinian Malbecs and Californian Zinfandels can have this flavour as part of their make up - as do some young (say under 3 years) red Bordeaux from the Medoc region. They are not the best match though to go with your chocolate feast, just that you may recognise the sensation. Something adult to sip with the chocolate is totally different and involves either natural sweetness and/or spirit. Try Muscats, Port or best of all those Banyuls wines from the Languedoc I mentioned last time. However, my personal well tested favourite match is a good tot of golden Rum - not the cheap stuff but something decent from one of the better islands like Doorly's from Barbados. The natural molasses and high spirity alcohol proves a perfect foil for the creamy chocolate emulsion. So Easter is not just for the kids and sometimes wine isn't the answer!

Brilliant, a wine tasting at the home of cricket, Lords (or Marylebone Cricket Club) in London to sample French only - strange choice of venue - I have never met a Frenchman (or woman) who has the vaguest understanding of this fine game. Still, they find it funny that we try to make wine ( I did try and explain the brilliance of our award winning sparkling wines....). Anyway I was as equally impressed by the setting as I was by a few of the wines on show.

90 small, independent producers with their offerings from all corners of France - some with only 2 or 3 employees, these are not wines you will find in Tesroseburys etc. What they did show was what great little wine producers with huge enthusiasm can do, and promote some of the more ignored regions. Think of them as the sort of wine you find by mistake in that little bistro in the middle of nowhere when you are rushing on to somewhere more lively.

My copious notes and Franglais chats threw up Roussillon down in the foothills of the Pyrenees as a region worth your attention. Overshadowed by the more marketed Languedoc next door, this hot, arid and vast area is producing easy drinking juicy reds from classic Syrah, Cabernet, Grenache and high quality Mourvedre grapes. The sort of wine to swig roughly out of tumblers during the week or around the Bar-B-Q, and reasonably priced at about £5 - £7. A speciality of this region are the fortified sweet reds from Banyuls on the coast. Lovely rich, nutty wines in the style of light Port - the perfect after dinner treat and heavenly with chocolate. Other names for this style are Maury or Rivesaltes.

From the more established regions a lovely older couple were promoting their Muscadet. A long ignored dry, tangy white that is quaffing and shellfish friendly as well as being on trend with its light 12% alcohol. Refreshing, and with a hint of spritz, it really should be challenging Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Grigio as the default dry white choice. If you can get past the old fashioned labels you'll see what I mean.

Two other pointers - the white grape Rolle (aka Vermentino in Italy) from Provence, making fruity, sun filled ripe wines at a quality level to rival good Chardonnay- well worth its £10 tag. Rosé, good ones abounded, all dry, pale coral pink and refreshing, my favourites were from around Nimes in the southern Rhone valley made from Syrah and Grenache grapes. Roll on spring and summer.

Now, the LBW rule in French...

Santé

Everybody seemed to hunker down and drink more wine at home this year. Rather than pay £20+ for a bottle in a restaurant, spending half that meant really good choices from the high street. What did I find? Well surely its "enough already" with NZ Sauvignon Blanc - such a good quality style but it is everywhere and all pretty much the same. Experimenters went for some less well known European (old world) whites - Greek Santorini, French Picpoul de Pinet and Italian Falanghina anyone? Spanish Godello and possibly even German Riesling?! We are so lucky in the UK to have all this choice, so why not give them a go? 2011 finally saw the acceptance of English sparkling wine as at least on a par with a lot of Champagne (and why not - it's the same soils, topography and grapes on the South Downs). Get over the fact that they will cost the same and you really can't go wrong with Ridgeview or Nyetimber's bubbles, but, be quick, they sell out. My personal top wine moment this year was a style that is difficult to enjoy regularly, mature red Bordeaux (or Claret as it is decreasingly known). With 10 years ageing, a gamey, savoury red wine appears, all singed meat and blackcurrant with a soft hint of cigar box tobacco!!! Very nice but either stupidly expensive or returned as 'corked'. A Sunday lunch of roast lamb made this my vineous highlight.

So here we are again with the big day - huge meals nearly upon us and lakes of wine offerings. Answer - drink what you like, why make it complicated? If you like Bucks Fizz made with cheap Cava go for it and the myriad of food styles that you WILL be consuming means the wine has a hard time competing. Generally the bigger styles of both whites and reds will stand up better with the foods (generally from hotter new world countries) while fresher, more acidic wines from cooler countries will work as aperitifs or revivers!!

I do think a decent annual bottle of Port is worthwhile though - look for LBV (late bottled vintage) on the label and add a slab of English blue cheese, a cox's apple and a Digestive biscuit. Only for Father Christmas of course...

HAPPY CHRISTMAS. FESTIVE DRINKING!!

First frost of the season and suddenly I don't want any more cold whites or refreshing rosé...  No it's definitely time to BRING OUT THE BIG REDS. Think bonfires and smokiness and my vineous thoughts are all oaky Shiraz, chunky Argentinian Malbecs and perhaps soft Italian Nero d'Avola or Primitivo (aka Zinfandel).

A big warming glass of this style of red and a good plate of sausages with buttery mash will banish all thoughts of the recent Indian summer. Welcome back comfort wines.....