Picnic wines
I’VE rediscovered picnicking – packing cooler bags in the car and perching somewhere on the moors with a view.
OK, for all the unseasonal sun, it was as blustery as an MP caught fiddling and a couple of wine glasses got blown over, but at least it’s too early for wasps.
We’ve all frustratingly left the corkscrew back home at least once, but the advent of screwcaps has made al fresco quaffing simpler.
Kiwi sauvignon blancs, fresh as Blackstone Edge, have been front-runners in banishing the cork.
A thirst-quenching example is Nobilo Regional Collection Sauvignon Blanc 2007. For £8.20 you get loads of zesty, grapefruit flavours (Sainsbury, Somerfield, Tesco, Threshers and Morrisons).
Ripe tropical fruit
Ecomate (cartons to you) are even more picnic-friendly and while a litre of Banrock Station Chardonnay 2007 offers little more than slightly sweetish ripe tropical fruit, a dash of acidity helped it pass the simple quaffability test (Tesco, £6.70).
More interesting, if a touch blowsy, was Boschendal 1685 Chardonnay 2007, which offers hints of apple and pear, and a creamy finish. (Waitrose and Booths, £7.99).
Creamy’s the word, too, for Cantina di Monteforte’s Soave Passo Avanti 2006 (peachy, gentle oak influence, but with a steely undertow).
Costing £6.99 from Waitrose, the Passo Avanti has been released under stelvin (reliable screwcap), unthinkable once among Italian wines.
Sturdy reds
I tasted samples bottled on the same day under natural and synthetic cork. Yes, the screwcap version did exhibit more freshness.
The presence of a game pie and some Parma ham necessitated sturdy reds for the Sunday picnic (director’s chairs and a literally collapsible table now replacing the previous day’s blanket).
Madiran is one of my favourite wine regions of south west France, but the brooding reds of that name are often too hefty for summer.
A lighter stablemate from the Plaimont Co-operative is En La Tradition, Saint Mont, 2006 (Nicolas, £6.70).
The addition of cabernet sauvignon and cabernet franc to the Madiran grape tannat creats a mid-weight almost minor Bordeaux- like fruity red.
Published: Tue, 09 June, 2009
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