As with any wine tasting, it’s not just about reds and whites. You always get the list of sparkling, fortified, and dessert wines which are always a laugh to have a go at. There’s also the spirits and the beers too. Personally I can never work out how to taste beer. If you do that “suck air into your mouth” thing, you just get a mouthful of foam. Anyone know how to do it properly? Give me a shout!
Anyway, here’s the top 3 “best of the rest”…
The Best of The Bubbles
Leckford Estate Brut 2012 (Hampshire, ENG) @ £29.99
I was tasting this one right at the end of the day stood next to a bloke who writes his wine column for the Independent. We were both fawning over this one. Great acidity, with lemon and granny smith apple smells that just linger on the taste at the end. I’m thinking Christmas morning bacon muffins and a bottle of this will see you through to the Queen’s speech. Just shaded my favourite bubbles from Hattingley Valley by a whisker.
The Sweet Wine You Can’t Just Walk Past
Château Liot, Sauternes 2012 (Bordeaux, FRA) @ £13.49 (half bottle)
If anyone mentions in a conversation to me that they don’t like sweet wine then I tend to lose interest in talking to them! I just have no idea how you cannot like sweet wine, and the Queen of sweet wines is Sauternes. Made by letting the grapes get infected by fungus (sounds horrible, right?) it leaves the wine lusciously thick and sweet, with apricot, peach, marmalade, and honey flavours and a superb finish!
The Ale
I had to put this one in. This stuff, along with Snakebite (don’t ask!) got me through my degree at Bath Uni. I remember when they just had a little bar in the centre of the city, so to see them on the shelves in Waitrose is great. I’m not really much of a beer drinker anymore, but this is silky smooth this stuff, and is just crying out for a steak and kidney pudding to go with it!
