Wine of the week: Domaine d’Escausses, cuvée des Drilles

Although I’m supposed to be the wine expert in the family my husband has an uncanny knack of alighting on exactly the right bottle when we go out to eat, unfailingly plucking the bargain from any wine list.

This week’s triumph, at a late meal at Flinty Red after the BBC Food and Farming Awards in Bristol on Thursday night was a deliciously quaffable Gaillac, Domaine d’Escausses, cuvée des Drilles which was on the wine list at just £23 and went brilliantly with all the random small plates we ordered including a challenging dish of smoked pork belly with a spicy slaw and another of braised squid with polenta.

You can buy it for £9.99 from Corks of Cotham up the road who are joint owners of Flinty Red - a modest mark-up which shows how reasonable their wine prices are. The vintage in the restaurant (2012) appeared to be an earlier one than the 2013 had in the shop though. You can also buy it online from slurp.co.uk for £8.95 and other independents including Bentley’s of Ludlow, The Smiling Grape Company and Theatre of Wine

The cuvée is made from Duras and Fer (the local name for Cabernet Franc) - both indigenous varieties to south-west France and is imported - why am I not surprised? - by Les Caves de Pyrène who describe it as “the sort of red that we need to drink for medicinal quenching purposes.” Quite.

Apologies for the quality of the image and the bespattered label (low light, late night) but at least I remembered to snap it!

Off the shelf: Domaine Grangette La Saignée de Rose Piquepoul Noir 2012

As I mentioned in my Guardian column this week I’m slightly disenchanted with the Languedoc’s signature grape variety Picpoul which isn’t nearly the good value it once was but Grangette’s is one I rather like.

Even better is their more unusual Piquepoul Noir which the manager of La Taverne du Port, a wine shop and restaurant in Marseillan, urged us to try. It manages to pull off what Sauvignon rosés rarely achieve - being crisp, fruity and dry. It tastes like a Picpoul but has the structure of a dry rosé. It was terrifically good with a scratch picnic-style lunch of charcuterie and tomato salad yesterday.

I haven’t got my copy of Jancis Robinson et al’s excellent Wine Grapes to hand but according to her website Piquepoul Noir is a rare variant of the better known Piquepoul Blanc which can also be found in small quantities in Spain where it goes under the name Picapoll Negre.

Needless to say, thanks to the Chancellor, it costs a good deal more back home than the 6€ we paid for it at La Taverne du Port* - you’ll pay £10.25 a bottle for it at the only UK stockist I could find, Carte du Vin, but that’s still not a bad price for an interesting rosé.

* a shop I can strongly recommend if you’re looking for interesting wines in the area. In addition to local wines they also have a good selection from Burgundy and the Rhone - and an informal restaurant/wine bar with an interesting and well-priced selection of wines by the glass.

Santa Julia Innovacion Malbec/Touriga Nacional 2013

So here’s a special for Malbec World Day - maybe a bit of a cheat as it also includes some Touriga Nacional but I quite like Malbec in a blend.

In this case the Touriga Nacional, which Santa Julia was the first to plant in Argentina apparently, provides a dark, exotic element which takes what can be a jammy edge off Malbec at this price while the Malbec gives the Touriga a fragrant lift.

It’s part of a special parcel of wines that is available at Waitrose until May 3rd with an additional 20% discount for myWaitrose cardholders, presumably as an incentive to get us all to sign up. I wouldn’t be rushing to snap up the other wines though. The whites aren’t nearly as interesting or as well-priced.

The discount makes it a great deal at £6.39 but even at £7.99 it’s a good buy* And if you buy six bottles in total you get a further 5% off

Drink with steak (obviously) or lamb. It would also make a good barbecue wine.

For other malbec pairings see What food to match with Malbec.

*though only available in store and apparently through waitrose.com though I can't find it on the website.

I was sent this wine by Waitrose as part of a selection of samples.

Wine of the week: Ataraxia Chardonnay 2013

Every so often (sadly not THAT often) you come across a wine on a wine list that’s so well priced you can’t quite believe it. Which is what happened to us last night at the St Vincent in Clifton.

It’s a world class South African chardonnay from the Hemel-en-aarde region -beautifully smooth and creamy with just a hint of that struck match character that makes Burgundy so beguiling.

At £12.50 for a 50cl carafe (nice to see it carafed by the way) goodness knows why it wasn’t selling. The South-African owners of the restaurant had apparently bought a large consignment which they were struggling to shift so were flogging if off by the glass. We had the last bottle so I’m afraid it’s all gone now. (Cue for unseemly gloating.)

We should by rights have drunk it with the grilled lobster they have on the menu but were were checking out their fixed price early evening menu (£12.75 for two courses: good for the money but there’s better food in Bristol to be honest.)

If you want to acquire some Ataraxia for yourself Butlers Wine Cellar of Brighton appears to have the best price at £18.99 a bottle, it's £19.50 at Stone, Vine & Sun and £23.50 at Bottle Apostle. You can see why I leapt on it.