Two really good wines to buy from Help 4 Hospitality

As I'm sure you know the hospitality industry - i.e. restaurants, pubs and hotels - is in dire straits with no clear idea when businesses can reopen or even if they’ll be viable if they do.

Despite the British government’s most recent initiative 66% of UK hospitality businesses do not think they will survive three more months of lockdown measures, while 87% will cease operations without a nine-month rent holiday.

So it’s good to see a leading industry supplier, Berkmann, setting up an online wine shop called Help 4 Hospitality to raise money for struggling busineses.

I like the fact that the selection is not safe or predictable but full of interesting bottles that you might well find in a good restaurant and which should appeal to any adventurous winedrinker.

I’ve picked out two I really liked a Greek red and a Lebanese white.

The red is Thymiopoulos Xinomavro 2017 from Macedonia. 13% £14.25 which, despite its light colour, is deep-flavoured and brambly but quite refined - almost pinot-ish. It would be great with barbecued lamb or kid or with duck. (It was ace with a smoked duck salad and watercress and orange salad I had last night.)

The white Chateau Ksara Blanc de L’Observatoire 2018 13% £13.75 is a really unusual blend of 30% Clairette, 30% Muscat, 30% Obeidi and 10% Sauvignon Blanc but tastes to me quite like an oaked white Bordeaux. It’s richly textured and lush - not as aromatic as it might sound from the clairette and muscat - and with a crisp, refreshing lift to the finish though funnily enough I think it would go better with south-east Asian than Lebanese food.

For two really unusual wines I think the prices are reasonable plus Help 4 Hospitality is donating 12.5% of the ex VAT price to participating businesses, or to two charities issuing grants to those in need, The Drinks Trust and Hospitality Action. (If you want to support a particular business you'll find the code to apply here which also earns you a 5% discount.)

If the wines I've picked don’t particularly appeal to you, there are mixed cases on their website too, chosen by different chefs and sommeliers. I quite fancy the Walk on the Wild Side case myself.

The wines were supplied as samples by Help 4 Hospitality.

6 wines from grapes that begin with VE to drink on VE day

With VE day coming up on Friday you may have already made plans for what you’re going to eat and drink which could well be home-grown, UK produced, wine, beer or cider.

But if you want to drink something different and have a bit of fun you could open a wine made from grapes beginning with VE of which there are, surprisingly, several.

Four - including the ones you’re most likely to lay your hands on - are from Italy, one from Spain and one, verdelho, traditionally from Madeira but it also pops up in Australia. All are white wines.

To be honest many of the supermarket versions are not the most exciting examples so if you have an Italian deli nearby or an Italian wine specialist like Passione Vino give them a ring and see what they’ve got.

The beauty of Italian whites is that even if they taste comparatively underwhelming on their own they burst into life deliciously with food

Six wines that begin with VE

Masseria Pietrosa Verdeca 2018 £8.25 Morrisons

A relatively rare grape from Apulia and one of my favourite wines in this line-up. Crisp, fresh and fruity without being obvious. Really good value. Drink with fish (and chips, if you like!)

Verdicchio di Matelica San Vito Lamelia 2018 13.5% £10.95 Jeroboams

Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi is the wine you’re most likely to come across (Marks and Spencer has a good one from the 2018 vintage for £7 though it appears to be sold out online) but, looking beyond Friday, this one from Jeroboams has just that bit more texture, fragrance and character. It would be good with a selection of antipasti, seafood-based pasta dishes such as spaghetti vongole or, should you feel inspired, vitello tonnato (veal - or chicken - in tuna fish sauce)

Sassi del Mare Vermentino Toscana 2018 Tuscany £7.99 Lidl

Vermentino is the classic white wine grape of Sardinia but more often found in Tuscany or in the south of France where it goes by the name of Rolle. This is a fresh, clean, citrussy example - simple and really drinkable. Again, I’m not sure how much of it there is left at Lidl so I also very much like the appealingly smooth Domaine de Cazelles Vermentino Pays d’Oc 2018 from Davy’s at £10.50. Brilliant with all kinds of seafood

The best food pairings for Vermentino

Castellani Vernaccia di San Gimignano 2018, Tuscany Great Western Wine £9.95

If you’ve been to the hill town of San Gimignano just outside Florence you may well have come across this slightly earthy, nutty white which you could drink with almost anything you care to throw at it. This is a decent example but again I’d be prepared to pay the extra for this stylish bottling from Casale Falchini from Berry Bros & Rudd

Beronia Verdejo, Rueda 2018 currently on offer at £6.99 at Waitrose

A light, lush, citrussy white from sauvignon drinkalike verdejo, Rueda is Spain’s most popular white wine. It’ll go with much the same sort of food that sauvignon pairs with but would make a good aperitif too.

You'll find more suggestions in my ebook 50+ great ways to enjoy Rueda

Margan Verdelho 2017 £13.20 Tanners

It’s not as popular as semillon in Australia’s Hunter Valley but verdelho does very well there especially in the hands of the Mangans. Smooth and mouthwateringly limey, it's great with seafood and summery salads.

Another manifestation of verdelho, is Henriques & Henriques 10 y.o Verdelho madeira which you can also buy from Tanners for £21. Waitrose has the 15 y.o. for £20.99. It's a lighter, drier style of madeira than the style you normally come across with a perfect balance of delicate sweetness and acidity. Sip with almonds.

Wine of the Week: Rothley Wine Warhorse Red

Leicestershire isn’t the first place that comes to mind when you think about English wine but I’ve been very struck by two wines I’ve tasted from Rothley Wine.

The most unexpected is a red wine called Warhorse 2017, a modest 11.5% and a blend of 70% Rondo and 30% Regent from vines which were grown at Chevelswarde Organics and vinified and bottled at Halfpenny Green.

At 11.5% it’s quite fresh and tart but with a really lovely flavour of wild hedgerow berries and just-ripe blackcurrants that is reminiscent of a Loire Cabernet Franc in a cool vintage.

When I first tasted it I thought it would be nice chilled as indeed it was, then discovered they do in fact recommend serving it at 12°C. They also suggest decanting it two hours in advance which I’m not sure it really needs.

It would be lovely with grilled lamb and, unusually for a red, griddled asparagus.

They also make a very pretty fresh elderflowery (or should that be elderfloral?) white called King Richard, a blend of solaris and siegerrebe which is lighter still at 10.5% and a perfect aperitif for these lovely sunny spring evenings.

You can buy the wines online from George Hill of Loughborough for £12.49 and £12.99 respectively and, if you live in the county, from other local stockists.

You can find Rothley on Twitter @rothleywine

Wine of the week: Ventisquero Root: 1 Carmenere

Recommending a specific wine is a bit of a lottery at the moment. I had planned to tell you about this seductively velvety Chilean red a few days ago but couldn’t get get into the Morrisons site. But I’m hoping you can find the odd bottle in store although its current sharp promotional price of £6 (until April 4th) may make that a long shot.

Carménère as you may know was originally a Bordeaux grape which popped up in Chile where for a long time it was mistaken for merlot.

This Root:1 Carmenere 2018 from Ventisquero comes from the Colchagua Valley and is a rich, lush almost chocolatey wine that will make lovers of full-bodied new world reds very happy. It would go well with red meats like beef and lamb, especially cooked on the barbecue and could also handle a curry

The best food pairings for carmenère

If you miss the special offer which ends on April 4th, the normal price of £7.75 is still fair. Or you could buy Morrisons own The Best Carmenère which is also £7.75 instead.

What else you could buy at Morrisons

In general the The Best range - and their premium Wm Morrison wines - are pretty reliable. Prices are accurate at time of writing but may well have changed by the time you read this.

The Best Chablis 2018 on offer at £10

In fact their whole The Best Chablis range which includes a Petit Chablis and a Premier Cru is decent. A really good buy at this price

The Best Gruner Veltliner 2018 £8.25

Engaging, slightly peppery dry white. Good with south-east Asian food

Masseria Petrosa Verdeca 2018 on offer at £6.50

Attractively fresh crisp white from Italy - fruitier than many of Italy’s whites Good with punchily seasoned seafood or salads

The Best Rioja Blanco Reserva 2015 on offer at £11

Rich weighty full-bodied white you’ll like if you’re a fan of oaky chardonnays.

J Boulard La Verdier Carianne 2018 £10

Exuberant, juicy Cotes du Rhone. Think garlicky sausages and beans or roast pork

The Best Primitivo 2018 (£7.50) and The Best Negroamaro 2018 (£7.25)

Two characterful southern Italian reds that would be particularly good with cheese and baked pasta dishes like lasagne

CVNE Ribera del Duero 2018 on offer at £8

An alternative to Rioja though made in a brighter fruitier style than is typical for the region. Would go well with lamb.

The Best Douro Red £7.50

Rich full-bodied red from the same area that produces port. Good for a beef stew.

The Best Single Vineyard Pinot Noir 2018 Chile on offer at £10

Sumptuously fruity pinot noir but with some real elegance. Chill lightly and serve with roast chicken, a mushroom risotto or seared salmon

MV Reserve organic malbec 2018 on offer at £6.50

More of a classic European style than a typically Argentinian one (think Bordeaux) but incredibly good value for money. Good for homey dishes like cottage pie.

Vinalba Patagonia Malbec 2017/18 on offer at £7

Vinalba is a reliable name to look out for from Argentina - I almost always like their malbecs and at this price this is pretty well irresistible. Drink with steak if you have it.

Morrisons The Best English Sparkling Wine £18

One of the best own label English sparkling wines I’ve tasted.

Morrisons 10 year old tawny port on offer at £11

Tastes (yummily) of roasted nuts and salted caramel. One to sip with the Easter eggs.