Aglianico del Vulture

You might think that August Bank Holiday weekend would be an occasion for a light, refreshingly chilled white wine, a glass of Prosecco or a nice Rose from Provence.

You might think that it would be a good weekend to invite a group of friends around to play Croquet.

But then you might never have experienced an English summer before. We did play Croquet, but as it was cloudy and wet, the game came towards an end in premature darkness with each of the seven players having been issued with a golf umbrella. Now, I appreciate that the Hurlingham Club wouldn't consider it the correct approach to have two teams of three and four players respectively, or to play after dark in the rain, but then they probably wouldn't have approved of the lawn either, what with it being made primarily of clover and moss and as smooth as the rough side of Uranus.

So, having dispensed with formality and abandoned hopes of a balmy evening, I also dispensed a full-bodied, Autumn-friendly red wine and settled for a barmy evening instead.

Week A (2015) Aglianico del Vulture 2013. M&S £10

Rather good, this one. It was used to lubricate the consumption of a selection of five of Mr Waitrose's pizzas, each with a different topping. At the bidding of The One, I had enhanced each of the pizzas with an additional sprinkling of pre-grated Mozzarella and similarly treated Cheddar to such an extent that it was impossible to tell what was hidden beneath. Apart from the chillies. They made their presence felt.

Anyway the point is that Mr M&S recommended the wine as an ideal accompaniment for rustic pork dishes, cured meats and artisan cheese and that, in my book, is exactly what an unidentifiable selection of pizzas smothered in a two cheese mix, is. And they were right. Incidentally, I did question the social acceptability of pre-grated cheese, but a withering look and a mumbled threat about 'doing all the preparation and the clearing up' put me back in my box.

I started this journey with an Aglianico, but not one whose grapes came from the slopes of Mount Vulture, the classical home of the variety. It was cheaper than this one and rightly so. This isn't expensive, but it does have good redcurrant, plum and cherry fruit, a hint of vanilla from French Oak, and some herbal touches. All in all, quite a complex set of flavours for a tenner.

I don't know if Aglianico is grown much elsewhere, but it does have a long a impressive history in the South of Italy where it is thought to have been introduced by the Phoenicians and later became used in the production of the Roman empire's favourite tipple: Falernian. Pliny the Elder noted that Falernian was so strong it would catch light if exposed to a naked flame. I didn't actually try, but I doubt that this would have helped to light the fire pit this week. Especially with the rain.

Zinfandel

This week marks the completion of four laps of the alphabet, twice with red wines and twice with white and I am unnecessarily pleased with myself for not having given up. I have been tempted once or twice, but as soon as I remember that I am my only reader I get an inexplicable second wind.

When I completed the WSET Diploma one of the units (#1) required me write a report on 'The presentation and packaging of wine'. I rather enjoyed doing that and was rewarded with my highest rating for any of the units. The report required, with other things, two wines to be used to demonstrate the difference between 'good' and 'bad'. Had I have encountered this week's selection I would have found it hard to resist, but good or bad?

Week Z (2016) Chronic Cellars Purple Paradise, Zinfandel, Paso Robles 2013. Majestic £12.74

We will come back to the packaging in a little while, but for now let's understand what is in the bottle.

It is a blend of 70% Zinfandel, the big red grape of California known as Primitivo in Southern Italy, 14% Syrah, 11% Petite Sirah and 5% Grenache.

It is 14.5% abv and a full, rich deep cherry and spiced chocolate wine with smoky vanilla oak flavours. There are some robust tannins, but it has a splendid warming finish. If you are in the mood for a subtle light summer red, possibly drunk slightly chilled, do not chose this one. If on the other you want something to chase down a rump steak fried in garlic and black pepper and served with cherry tomatoes roasted in balsamic vinegar and sweet potato chips, then this works a treat. I know, 'cause I was there.

So, now we know what it's like, does the packaging work? I showed the bottle (unopened) to a winey friend who said that if it had been a craft beer sitting on the supermarket shelves wearing this label, it would have caught his eye favourably, however, as it is a wine it made him suspicious.

It turns out that this was quite a perceptive observation as it was the intention of the brothers who make the wine, Josh and Jake Beckett, to 'make a statement' with counter culture branding of their products. There are three names credited on he back label, two Becketts and one I can't quite make out identifying the illustrator.

So good packaging? Yes, I think so. It gets the product noticed and certainly stands out from the often impenetrable wine wall. Will it put some off? Yes, but it may well appeal to the craft beer crowd and make a few converts. As it says on the back of the bottle: 'Life is  gamble, just roll with it. Wishes in one hand Chronic in the other'.

Yealands Estate

I seem to have a bit of a Sauvignon Blanc season of late. June, July and now August have all had their turn. The first two were from France and I made a reference in each to New Zealand, so this month let's go all antipodean.

Week Y (2015) Yealands Estate, Single Block Series S1 Sauvignon Blanc. 2014. M&S £14.

This is the most expensive of the three and is very fresh and intensely flavoured. It has bags of grapefruit, elderflower and gooseberry, plus a herbal kick that all go together to make a very big statement.

My primary school teaching daughter would certainly approve of this one.

It comes from New Zealand's most famous Sauvignon Blanc region of Marlborough and more specifically the Awatere Valley. More specifically than that it is made from grapes grown in Yealands Estate's Seaview Vineyard and, finally (I promise) the most specifically of all, they all come from a single block of vines known, imaginatively, as S1.

S1, I have read, is a sheltered block, furthest from the sea in the vineyard and facing North so that it gets the best of the sunlight. Don't forget we are all upside down, being in New Zealand, so the sun is in the wrong place.

It is quite alcoholic at 13.5%, but easily sufficiently acidic for it not to feel too 'hot' for the style of wine.

We drank it with a roast chicken accompanied by home grown potatoes, beans and carrots, (isn't The One a clever little green-fingered thingy?), although it would have paired very well with something a little more exotic.

As I may have mentioned to myself previously, the purpose of my game is for me to try new things, however, sometimes it is good to be reminded that there are wines that are popular for good reason.

Xinomavro

Almost exactly one year ago we had reached red week X (2014) and I chose a wine made from the Greek grape Xinomavro.

I did this partly because I had never tried it before, which fitted my requirement for using this blog as a means of encouraging my own continuing exploration of the world's wines, and partly because finding anything that qualified as having a strong enough relationship with the letter X was very difficult.

If it was difficult last year, how much harder is it now? Very! So I hit upon a cunning plan to resolve the problem. Select the same wine!

Week X (2015) Thymiopoulos Xinomavro, Noussa. 2012. M&S £10.50

Apart from making weak jokes about the translated name of the grape, I commented a year ago that I regretted opening the wine only two years after the fruit had been plucked from the vine as there were good levels of tannin present and this suggested the wine would be capable of ageing well.

It is only a year later and this bottle is from the same vintage, but I do detect a difference. I hadn't gone back to read my notes before trying this bottle (I did consider claiming that I had deliberately returned for this purpose rather than just being stuck for how to find a qualifying X, but that would be untrue) and so it is only through reading them now that I find myself surprised by the reference to tannin. Yes, it is still there, but not so prominently that it would necessarily generate the same observation.

So I conclude that only one year is enough to soften the mouth-puckering effect of the tannin.

One of my panel of tasters (made up of anyone present for a Sunday lunch) commented that there was a licorice flavour detectable. For myself, I would be more tempted to describe it as mild tobacco leaf, but either way perhaps these ideas do illustrate some degree of in bottle development.

I will try hard to find something different for next year's red week X (2016), assuming of course I am still carrying on with this nonsense, but if I get stuck we will see if another year brings any further change. I think I will buy a bottle now and keep it in my extensive non-existent cellar, just in case.

Waipara

I am, generally speaking, fond of the wines of New Zealand. I have never been there, but the place appeals greatly, possibly because I enjoyed the 1970s in the UK and the chance to do it again (if the rumours are to be believed) is strangely attractive.

This week's white wine is not made with the Kiwis' most famous grape, but with another favourite of mine, the classic German variety: Riesling.

Week W (2015) Main Divide Riesling, Pegasus Bay, Waipara 2013. Majestic £10.86

I bought this one in Majestic, Aylesbury, where the manager asked after I had selected it whether I had had it before. I told him I hadn't and he assured me I had chosen well. He offered the advice that it would go well with lightly spicy Asian foods and then raised an eyebrow when I told him that I intended to serve it with Salmon.

I did exactly that, having cooked the Salmon in a sauce made with chicken stock, finely chopped leeks, peas, board beans and crème fraiche and then raised my own eyebrow as it was further off-dry than I had expected.

My bonus daughter, home for a free lunch, was first to comment, favourably, that it tasted like a dessert wine but not so sweet. That's a fair description. The One thought it delicious and her mother declared it to be so good that she herself would fund the purchase of half a dozen bottles for future consumption.

So, three generations of the distaff side can't be wrong. This is delicious, but perhaps would have been better with either something less creamy, or perhaps if I had not unscrewed the cap until the apple and maple syrup cake was presented.

Having said I am fond of the wines of New Zealand, but not an expert, I should fess up to a failure I enjoyed earlier this year. I am one of those irritating people who sit in front of TV quizzes and get lots of answers correct, mostly by guessing well. The One, who has suffered long enough, put forward the obvious challenge: "if you're so bloomin' clever....", so I did. Telephone audition for Mastermind? Simples. Face-to-face? Hmm,... Anyway, I won't have to study the wines of New Zealand any time soon.