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: Melonix 2014

One of the best ways to make new wine discoveries is to experiment with wines by the glass. And that is how I found Melonix, a fabulous wine from biodynamic Loire producer Domaines Jo Landron at the newly opened Frenchie in Covent Garden yesterday.

Because it mentions the grape on the bottle it can’t be labelled muscadet (for heaven’s sake!) so it’s classified as vin de France

According to Doug Wregg of importer Les Caves de Pyrène* “grapes are harvested by hand (unusual in the region), fermentation with wild yeasts (very unusual), no chaptalisation, no SO2 added, it undergoes a natural malolactic (very unusual) and no sulphur is added even at bottling. It breaks all the rules.” In Landron’s own words he sees it as ‘a rustic wine, untamed and free.”

It sailed effortlessly through a rich dish of hot smoked trout with whey and was so delicious I treated myself to a second glass, despite resolving to have only one at lunchtime. (Well, it is only 12%!) I can imagine it being great with sashimi and other raw fish dishes as well as the obvious suspects of oysters and mussels.

Apparently it benefits from opening ahead as many natural wines do. The bottle I tried - which incidentally was on the full list not the wines by the glass selection (it’s always worth taking a look at the longer list) - already had a glass taken out of it so could have been open since the previous day but was still wonderfully pure and intense. Natural wine sceptics take note!

*Who sell it for £14.20

Cape Point Vineyards Sauvignon Blanc

As those of you who read my column in the Guardian will know I’m not a huge fan of Sauvignon Blanc but this is a wine I’m more than happy to make an exception for.

Made by Duncan Savage at Cape Point Vineyards on the coast at Noordhoek just outside Cape Town the fruit comes from highm exposed vineyards that get blasted by the wind until the leaves shrivel and brown. But the fruit is pure and stellar - more citrus than gooseberry and - most impressive of all - it ages. Under cork.

We tasted a 2000 - one of only 4 that were left (so thanks, Duncan, for generously sharing one of them) - that was still showing quite magnificently: completely fresh and fruity with just an added roundness and fullness indicating its age. There’s generally no oak, just an added dash of semillon which varies from vintage to vintage

We polished off the remainder of the bottle at Harbour House on the Waterfront in Cape Town where it went brilliantly with a plate of oysters.

The 2012 was showing well too. In the UK Swig has the current vintage for £14.50 while the 2014 is widely available for around £12.50-£15. SA Wines Online has it for £12.89 and Butlers Wine Cellar for £13.50. Buy some, drink some and lay some down as I plan to do. And that for a sauvignon sceptic is saying something.

Mon Vieux Hell’s Heights Sauvignon Blanc 2013

It’s always a bit hairy doing a live food and wine pairing if you haven’t had a chance to have a run-through first - and even if you have some variable, usually the food, invariably changes.

So I was hugely relieved to find the both the wine and the cheese I showed at the Three Wine Women session with Kate Goodman and Jane Dowler at the Manchester Food and Drink Festival yesterday evening struck sparks off each other.

The wine, which was supplied by local Manchester wine merchant Hanging Ditch (thankyou, guys!) was a lush sauvignon blanc from Boutinot called Mon Vieux Hell’s Heights and comes from 535 metre high vineyards in South Africa’s Banghoek district which lies between Stellenbosch and Franschoek. It’s not as herbaceous as New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc with more of a tropical fruit than a gooseberry character and is very rich and textured thanks to being aged in oak for 6 months and left unfined. At 14.5% it’s quite high in alcohol but doesn’t seem at all heavy or cloying. For the price (Hanging Ditch is currently offering it for £12.50 a bottle or 3 for £30) it’s a real bargain. Other stockists are already on to the 2014 vintage which I haven’t had the opportunity to taste but which has picked up several medals - check wine-searcher.com for prices.

I paired it with a rich crumbly Vernieu goats cheese log from Booths and that was perfect but it’s also recommended with spiced seafood, octopus with parika, pasta arrabiata with clams (sounds good!) and “rich oily mediterranean dishes”