Two really good wines to buy from Help 4 Hospitality

As I'm sure you know the hospitality industry - i.e. restaurants, pubs and hotels - is in dire straits with no clear idea when businesses can reopen or even if they’ll be viable if they do.

Despite the British government’s most recent initiative 66% of UK hospitality businesses do not think they will survive three more months of lockdown measures, while 87% will cease operations without a nine-month rent holiday.

So it’s good to see a leading industry supplier, Berkmann, setting up an online wine shop called Help 4 Hospitality to raise money for struggling busineses.

I like the fact that the selection is not safe or predictable but full of interesting bottles that you might well find in a good restaurant and which should appeal to any adventurous winedrinker.

I’ve picked out two I really liked a Greek red and a Lebanese white.

The red is Thymiopoulos Xinomavro 2017 from Macedonia. 13% £14.25 which, despite its light colour, is deep-flavoured and brambly but quite refined - almost pinot-ish. It would be great with barbecued lamb or kid or with duck. (It was ace with a smoked duck salad and watercress and orange salad I had last night.)

The white Chateau Ksara Blanc de L’Observatoire 2018 13% £13.75 is a really unusual blend of 30% Clairette, 30% Muscat, 30% Obeidi and 10% Sauvignon Blanc but tastes to me quite like an oaked white Bordeaux. It’s richly textured and lush - not as aromatic as it might sound from the clairette and muscat - and with a crisp, refreshing lift to the finish though funnily enough I think it would go better with south-east Asian than Lebanese food.

For two really unusual wines I think the prices are reasonable plus Help 4 Hospitality is donating 12.5% of the ex VAT price to participating businesses, or to two charities issuing grants to those in need, The Drinks Trust and Hospitality Action. (If you want to support a particular business you'll find the code to apply here which also earns you a 5% discount.)

If the wines I've picked don’t particularly appeal to you, there are mixed cases on their website too, chosen by different chefs and sommeliers. I quite fancy the Walk on the Wild Side case myself.

The wines were supplied as samples by Help 4 Hospitality.

Savatiano 2014/15 Domaine Papagiannakos - a delicious Greek white

Even if you’re into wine I reckon there’s a fair chance you won’t have heard of Savatiano a grape that's indigenous to the Attica region of Greece and which is also used to make retsina.

On the face of it it’s one of those useful neutral Italian style white wines that goes with everything - a bit like verdicchio - but in the hands of Vassilis Papagiannakos of Domaine Papagiannakos (who makes if from low yielding 50+ year old vines) it’s got a great deal of character and ages miraculously well.

As well as the deliciously fresh 2015, I tried the 2012 and 2008 which were incredibly rich and complex - more like a mature Hunter Valley semillon than anything else but with rather more weight and intensity. They proved perfect with the fishy feast we had at Kalos Gialos a beachside taverna in Porto Rafti, a lovely little unspoilt resort where many Athenians have their holiday homes. The grilled octopus was the highlight pairing.

Most UK stockists don’t have the 2015 yet but don’t let that put you off. If means the wine will be a step nearer those older vintages. allaboutwine.co.uk has the 2014/15 vintages for £9.75, slurp.co.uk for £9.95 and Kwoff the 2013 for £9.99.

Buy enough to squirrel some away. For under £10 it’s a total steal.

Wine of the week: Gentilini Eclipse 2013

I must confess a sentimental attachment to Gentilini who I visited on the beautiful island of Kefalonia back in 2001 when I was researching a feature on Greek food.(Kefalonia - or Cephalonia as it's sometimes spelt - is where the book and film Captain Corelli's Mandolin was set.)

Up to now the only wine I’d come across of theirs in the UK was Robola, an appealingly aromatic, floral white but Oddbins, who stock that too, recently sent me this stunning red to try.

It’s made from the local Mavrodaphne of Kefalonia but tastes more like a good Bordeaux which helps to justify its relatively expensive £17.50 price tag* (still ony £3 a standard 125ml glass for those who think that sounds a bit toppy). Wine is sometimes described as velvety but this one really is with gorgeous dark, damsony fruit. It would go really well with roast lamb and middle-eastern-style meat dishes so is exactly the sort of wine you should buy if you’re cooking up an Ottolenghi-ish style feast.

Perhaps a bit left-field for Christmas drinking so enjoy it before you get swept up in all the madness.

* At the moment you only appear to be able to find it in store - but I do know it's there as I checked in my local branch!