My top drops in August

I’ve not been sure what to do with this section since I moved most of my recommendations to my Substack newsletter Eat This, Drink That (which helps to support this website by the way if you feel inclined to take out a subscription).

A monthly round-up may not be the ultimate answer but at the moment I haven't got time to do a weekly one.

So here are my top picks in August. (The categories may vary depending what I’ve been tasting or drinking (i.e. not much cider or alcohol-free this month but a lot of whisky!)

Well priced wine of the month

Chateau Bel Air 2020, If you’re a Bordeaux fan you’ll love this very similar wine from neighbouring Bergerac. £7.99 if you buy it on Majestic's mix six deal, £8.99 if you don’t but that's still reasonable.

Natural wine of the month
(which could also qualify as ‘most obscure wine of the month, possibly of the year as I don’t expect I’ll be tasting many other Serbian pet nats!),
I discovered it at The Black Bull in Sedbergh which is where this week's match of the week also came from and it's the Pannonian Treasure Sauvignon Blanc pet nat from the Deuric winery in Fruska Gora. It's light, aromatic, gently fizzy and absolutely delicious. Worth the money (£16.95 from a craft beer and natural wine shop called Niko) for bragging rights alone.

Fine wine of the month

Lopez de Heredia Vina Tondonia Gran Reserva rosado 2011
This is the most extraordinarily complex rosé which, as you see from this post, goes with not only lobster but steak. I shared a bottle of the 2011 with my son Will at Hawksmoor Edinburgh where they sell it at roughly retail price. If you're feeling flush you can place a bid for a case at Berry Bros & Rudd or, a better option if you're in Dublin, nip into The Corkscrew which is selling it for €59.95

Beer of the month
I wrote an article for the Guardian on gluten-free beers. They were all impressive but I particularly liked Round Corner Brewing’s joyous, sessionable Jandals and Togs (Kiwi for flip flops and bathers) the latest batch of which is due to be released by the brewery at the end of this week (September 2nd). Freshly brewed beer is always best. Just 3.5% and £26 for 12 x 330ml cans.

Whisky of the month
REALLY hard this one as I’ve been tasting a lot of great whisky but I guess the one I was most surprised by as I don’t normally go for the rich sherry cask style, was Tamdhu’s 15 y o, which I was told to look out for by whisky writer Joel Harrison. Master of Malt has the best price I can find it online at £78.50 which is not cheap but by the standard of many whiskies these days not outrageously expensive either.

Gin of the month
I’m struggling to whittle these down to one suggestion too but I’m going for the Rhidorroch Distillery’s Locah Achall gin from Ullapool (above), even though it’s only 38%. It’s flavoured with gorse flower, rowan berries and heather along with the standard botanicals which makes it prettily but not overpoweringly flowery and a great gin for a G & T. That's £38.85 from the distillery.