Drinks of the Month

Wine of the week: Colomé Torrontes 2015

Wine of the week: Colomé Torrontes 2015

The last couple of weeks have passed in a flurry of tastings marked by a number of standout (and some depressingly bad) wines.

This is emphatically one of the former from an impressive tasting from the northern supermarket Booths whose buyer Victoria di Muccio manages to offer a good deal of really attractive everyday drinking with some really interesting bottles for wine enthusiasts.

I’ve always been a bit lukewarm about Argentina's signature white Torrontes but the Salta region is the place to go for it and this bottle from Colomé is an absolute cracker. Not as full-on as a gewürztraminer but weightier than a riesling, it would make a delicious aperitif and a great pairing for south-east Asian food and tricky-to-match ceviche.

The winery, which was founded in 1831, is the oldest working winery in Argentina but was bought by Donald Hess in 2001. The vineyards are exceptionally high at between 5,600 and 10,200 feet above sea level which gives the wine its fresh acidity

Booths normal price for the wine is £12 - a price I’d actually be happy to pay for a bottle of this quality* - but they’re offering a 3 bottles for the price of 2 deal until Tuesday October 4th on all wines over £10 (except champagne) which brings it down to a bargainous £8.

If you’re unlucky enough not to live in the north-west of England where Booths has most of its branches, Brook & Vine is selling it at the moment for a very reasonable £9.99 and Eclectic Tastes for £9.75.

*although it does prove, what I've said before, that supermarkets are not necessarily cheaper than the indies unless they've got a promotion on. Always worth checking!

Kaiken Terroir Series Torrontes 2014

Kaiken Terroir Series Torrontes 2014

This week I’ve managed to be in both Chile and Argentina so it was a toss-up which should provide the wine of the week . . .

As most of my time was spent in Chile and I need time to sort out my notes on the wines I’ve tasted there I’m going for this delicious Torrontes we tried from a winery called Kaiken over the border in Luyan de Cuyo.

In fact they source the grapes from old vines in Cafayate in Salta up in the north of the country which is considered the best area for this indigenous grape variety. (The vineyards go up to 1600 metres.) It has something of gewurztraminer about it but is softer and slightly less sweet - a great match for south-east Asian food or, locally in Chile, simply prepared shellfish like crab and prawns. (I’ll be posting a fuller list of Torrontes pairings soon).

The 2014 vintage doesn’t seem to have arrived in the UK yet but you can find the 2013 at £8.99 at Hawkshead wines and slurp.co.uk or £10.99 or £8.89 if you buy two bottles from Brook & Vine. It's also widely stocked in the US - see wine-searcher.com for details.

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