THERE must be something going on in January I thought, something pertinent to wine, like British Sausage Week for instance. I checked and sadly that does not happen until November. Then I recalled one year having recommended wines to go with pies but I drew a blank there also - British Pie Week is in March.
The mighty Yorkshire pudding has its own day set aside too and quite rightly so. Alas, it is not British Yorkshire Pudding Day until Sunday February 1 this year. (I do not know why it is termed ‘British’ Yorkshire Pudding Day; everyone knows Yorkshire puddings cannot be made outside the Ridings.) I stopped searching for an appropriate calendar date eventually after coming to the realisation that it does not matter. The fabulous foodstuffs mentioned here are consumed day in, day out and all year round anyway. So here are three wines that will match nicely with any of them.
Waitrose Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon 2011 is really good value at its £7.49 offer price, which runs until February 17. It’s made for the supermarket by the Valdivieso winery, with fruit grown in Chile’s Maipo Valley. Smooth, full, structured and brimming with flavours of blackcurrant, raspberry, mint and dark chocolate, there are some well-integrated toasty oak notes too.
Alternatively, hop over the Andes for Parrilla Malbec 2013 Viñalba, from the Mendoza wine region in Argentina. It is supple, fresh and full of bramble fruit flavours, with violets, liquorice and notes of scorched earth.
Or splash out on an Austrian red that is sold in a traditional (for the country of origin) one-litre bottle. Groszer Wein Blaufränkisch ‘Vom Riegl’ 2012 is from the Südburgenland region. I am a big fan of the Blaufränkisch grape, which is not totally unlike syrah. This one is a quality example, oozing peppery spices and herbs, with blackberry fruit and minerals.
Waitrose Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon 2011, £7.49 down from £9.99 at Waitrose 17/20
Parrilla Malbec 2013 Viñalba, Mendoza, £7.99 at Majestic 17/20
Groszer Wein Blaufränkisch ‘Vom Riegl’ 2012, £22.90 from newcomerwines.com 17/20
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