Two bargain buys from The Wine Society

The Wine Society held its summer tasting yesterday where the buyers pick out six bottles they’re particularly enthusiastic about. Normally it’s a social event - a chance to get together and chat over lunch - but inevitably this year it was on Zoom.

That has its advantages - you get to spend longer tasting and discussing each wine and finding out more of the background to it and there are some real gems I’ll be flagging up over the next few weeks here and in my Guardian column. But here are a couple of bargains I thought you’d like to snap up for everyday drinking (or sharing with friends). Obviously you have to be a member to take advantage but I know many of you already are - and if you’re not you should be!

Esporão Monte Velho Branco Alentajano 2020 £7.95

I’ve tasted this white which is made from indigenous Portuguese grape varieties a couple of times previously and found it slightly too heavy but this new vintage is delicious - clean and bright but with some mouthwatering tropical fruit. The kind of wine to sit and sip while you’re waiting for the barbecue to fire up. Or with a selection of salads

Note it is available from other retailers but not from the latest vintage

Undurraga Candelabro Rapel Carmenere 2020 £7.95

“Cheaper carmenères are some of the best selling wines we have’ says buyer Toby Morrhall. Well, I’m not surprised if this is a typical example though it’s a cut above the average with its gorgeously ripe fruit tempered by a nicely savoury, herbal edge. Utterly perfect for a barbecue or a lamb curry for that matter, especially with coriander (see the post below)

See The best food pairings with carmenère.

Two Greek wines you really should try

There are so many interesting wines in Marks & Spencer’s new ‘Found’ range that it’s hard to single out the best, but as it’s Greek Easter this weekend I’m going for the two Greek ones.

My own favourite is a blend of two indigenous grape varieties Moschofilero and Roditis which have created a gorgeously fragrant white wine that M & S recommends you drink with ‘saganaki’ - a dish of prawns in a rich tomato and feta sauce. (I really love the imaginative wine pairings too!) It would also go brilliantly with Marianna Leivaditaki’s prawns with ouzo, orzo and courgette or simply with a selection of meze. It’s a very reasonable £8.50

The accompanying red, a blend of xinomavro and mandilaria is rich, dark and briary, better suited to roast lamb or kid which is what many Greeks would be eating this weekend, a moussaka or, as M & S suggests, a stifado (slow cooked beef stew) That’s a bit more expensive at £9.50 but really to find wines of this quality and interest for under £10 is remarkable. I remember someone from M & S once telling me that they make a smaller margin on more unfamiliar wines that they want people to try so take advantage!

Both these wines - and others in the range - have been widely written about in the wine press* so I would snap them up if you spot them. You can also buy a mixed case if you want to experiment

* I’ve recommended the pais and the cabernet franc myself in my Guardian column

Great Heart Chenin Blanc

I'm sure you're familiar with Fairtrade wines but it’s good to see a project which, although not certified, has similar aims and raises the bar both in terms of content and ambition.

It’s described as the ‘staff empowerment project’ of Mullineux and Leeuw family wines in South Africa, and is owned by the winery employees. Proceeds from the sales are designed to improve the livelihood of the staff and their families - it has that aim in common with Fairtrade but the co-ownership aspect is unusual. (You can read more about it here.)

I personally like the richly textured chenin blanc which comes from Swartland and would be great with scallops or roast butternut squash* The red’s OK - a robust barbecue-friendly blend of syrah, tinta barocca and cabernet sauvignon - but not really worth the £14.99 that Waitrose will be charging for it going forward. (It’s currently £10.99 at Waitrose Cellar). I reckon it would benefit from double decanting (pouring it out of the bottle into a jug then back into the bottle to give it a bit of air) and then chilling it lightly.

The bottles both have a very beautiful label showing a sculpture of the Cape Wagtail by Jaco Sieberagen, a bird which is apparently known for its selflessness and courage which they feel reflects that of the staff.

*for other chenin blanc pairings see Which wine to pair with South African chenin blanc

Nero Oro Grillo Appassimento

Appassimento - letting wine ferment on semi-dried grapes - is a technique normally used to give extra sweetness and richness to red wines but it has been used in this highly unusual Sicilian white called Nero Oro (which means black gold)

It’s made from the local grape grillo and is deliciously peachy, not totally dry but not as sweet as a dessert wine with a refreshing acidity that stops it being overly cloying. Not the sort of wine I’d drink with seafood or pasta but it would be great with anything that combines sweet and savoury flavours - especially the kind of hot and sweet dishes you find in Thai, Burmese and Sichuan cuisine. Think Thai fishcakes with sweet chilli sauce for example. I reckon it would also work with a lamb and apricot or quince tagine, a pastilla and middle-eastern dishes with a touch of sweetness too. Maybe a roast butternut squash salad or some roasted root veggies. It's 13.5% so can stand up to some big flavours.

You can buy it from Majestic for £8.99 on a mix six deal. Definitely one to try if you're in there.