Wine of the week: Morande One to One Pais

They say that the best wine is the bottle that’s empty at the end of the evening and so it proved with this light Chilean red which I shared with my neighbours the other night.

It’s made by Morandé from the widely planted pais (pronounced pye-eece) which has been disregarded for years but is now being used to make appealingly fresh tasting fruity reds that are just right for a warm summer’s evening.

Like Beaujolais, which it resembles, you can drink it lightly chilled with charcuterie, salads and other picnicky food or even with fish. It would be great with seared tuna for example.

And the best news of all? It’s available in Majestic for a very reasonable £6.99 on their mix six deal.

NB probably not for you if you’re a fan of full-bodied reds as I know many are, even during the summer months but I loved it.

Gundog Estate Wild Semillon 2015

As I pointed out in my Guardian column this week Australian wines are fetching some pretty steep prices but to drink a Hunter Valley semillon of this quality it’s absolutely worth it.

It’s a style of wine I love, with far more texture and richness than you’d guess from its modest ABV, in this case 9.5%. Unlike some Hunter Valley semillons which take time to develop their unique character the Gundog Estate Wild semillon is already richly flavoured.due to the fact that a proportion of the wine is fermented on the skins, as with orange and red wine. (Lush, fat, gorgeous were my tasting notes!)

What would I drink it with. I’m thinking rich seafood - like razor clams or grilled swordfish. It could also take south-east Asian spicing, especially Thai which is in fact what the website suggests

"Because the wine is so textural and carries some residual sweetness, the Wild Semillon is an interesting proposition with food matching" they say. "The wine should hold up well to spicy, Thai-style dishes where acidity, saltiness and chilli are often offset by barely noticeable sweetness. It also partners well to roast pork or lighter poultry dishes."

Retail it’s about £21-£22 at good independents including Uncorked, Butlers Wine Cellar and the Dorset Wine Company. Treat yourself!

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!

Planeta Alastro 2015

If you’re a fan of sauvignon blanc you’re going to love this fresh, aromatic Sicilian white from one of the island's best known wineries, Planeta.

Admittedly the weather in England right now isn’t quite as gorgeous as it was when I tasted it in a beachside restaurant in Ragusa in sweltering 34°C heat (below) but I still think you’d enjoy it

It’s based mainly on the island’s indigenous grecanico (70%) with 15% each of grillo and sauvignon blanc and is really quite sauvignon-like but with more of a zesty citrus than a gooseberry/elderflower flavour. It went brilliantly well with a vast array of different seafood dishes from salads to grilled fish.

The reason I’m recommending it at this particular moment is that Great Western Wine has it on offer, reducing it from its usual £13.75 to £9.95 which is an incredibly good deal. You get a further 10% off if you buy a case which reduces the cost per bottle to £8.96.

Alternatively you could split the order between the Alastro and Planeta’s very attractive, crisp rosé which is also on offer at £9.25. (That should appeal if you’re a Provence rosé fan.) The deal lasts until the end of the month.

I travelled to Sicily as a guest of Planeta.