Food and drink blog

No doubt it will flood the UK market soon, in the meantime it’s ours and I like their style. I also think it’s great that wineries and makers are opening the game to a younger, hipper audience if only to get them off the alcho-pop nonsense. Wine could do with a bit of an image change and this is just the kind of tipple to do it in terms of encouraging new drinkers into the fray who aren’t afraid of something a bit different. For long-time lovers of the vine, it’s got a hell of a lot of a class.

What have we got then? A rich, burgundy red colour that looks mellow and warm and immediately tells you these are high quality grapes. On the nose you’ve got late autumn fruits, raspberries, a bit of blueberry and quite distinctive mountain herbs: wild thyme, rosemary and oregano. My immediate thoughts went to pasta and tomato sauce, or pizza.

In the mouth that very defined acidity of young wine – something that benefits from being served a degree or two cooler than normal – yet at the some time fire and spice. More fruit, a touch of balsamic, and a lot of spice.

It’s a very nicely made and unexpectedly complex wine. I stand with my pairings above (you can’t go wrong), but I drank it with a penne (pasta tubes) left to cool just a little bit, a handful of quartered cherry tomatoes, a handful each of baby spinach and rucola, some sliced mozzarella, a drizzle of aged sherry vinegar and olive oil, and plenty of freshly ground white pepper. No salt. Worked a treat, really bringing out the spice in the wine.

By the time dinner and my analysis of the wine were over I was well into my third glass and it was slipping down easy. I could easily see it with Christmas turkey.