summer white wine Solheiro Alvorinho - Vinho Verde

With rising temperatures and holidays on all our minds, here is a short-list of summer wines that won’t let you down. Selected for quality, price and occasion; I have enjoyed tasting them all and will be tasting as many of them as I can again over the next few weeks!

 

Silver Moki Sauvignon Blanc Blush | Cruset Rosé | Navajas Blanco Crianza Rioja | Abbotts & Delaunay ViognierSoalheiro Alvorhino | Simpsons Gravel Castle | Inama Vigneti di Foscarino Soave Classico

 

Silver Moki, Marlborough Sauvignon blanc blush 2018 (New Zealand)

Silver Moki sauvignon blanc blush Marlborough new Zealand wine

The expected gooseberry flavours but with a layer of summer fruits that make this an ideal easy-drinking great value pink wine. Party by the pool wine that goes very well with lots of chatter and a clatter of snacks.

Sainsbury’s, £6.75 

 

Vin de France Cruset Rosé (France)

Cruset rose wine - vine de France

Everything you need from a rosé including those bright summer fruit flavours and a refreshing clean pleasant finish. Very good value at this price point.

Sainsbury’s, £7.00

 

Navajas Blanco Crianza, Rioja 2015 (Spain)

Navajas white Rioja wine society

A very pleasant mixture of vanilla from the oak and round honey and nutty flavours. Pairs easily with salads, grilled vegetables. Excellent value.

The Wine Society, £8.95

 

Abbotts & Delaunay Viognier 2018 (France)

viognier abbots delauney

A good cold dry fresh Viognier from the Languedoc. Very nice clean finish that keeps you coming back for more. Perfect lip-smacking aperitif! I imagine is best accompanied by Baroque classical music for a balance of pace.

Majestic, £9.99 a bottle or £7.99 when buying any 6 bottles.

 

Soalheiro Alvarinho 2018 (Spain)

Soalheiro Alvorinho 2018 from Vinho Verde

Luis Cerdeira is the enigmatic winemaker at Soalheiro creating a diverse range of wines that show off what is possible in this mountainous area. Lively floral and grapefruit aromas expanding in the mouth to include peach and apple. Clean, fresh and zesty wine. The winery in Vinho Verde sits on the border staring across into Spanish Galicia. Soalheiro is one of the top winemakers in northern Vinho Verde, so well worth the money if you are keen to savour the flavour.

The Whisky Exchange, £16.95


Simpsons Gravel Castle Chardonnay 2018 (UK)

Simpsons Gravel Castle 2018 Chardonnay - Kent England

Made from Burgundian clones this is a lovely Chardonnay from the chalky Kent countryside. Apple and pear aromas but with a touch of tropical flavour to taste. The acidity keeps it fresh and lean. Great wine. If, for whatever reason, you haven't for a while, this could be a great opportunity to sit back and think of England!

Harvey Nichols & Robeson Wine, £18.50 - £17.00 respectively.

 

Inama Vigneti di Foscarino Soave Classico (Italy)

Soave Classico inama Italy

The Soave region produces such exceptional wines from the terrific Garganega grape variety. Try the Inama Vigneti di Foscarino Soave Classico 2016 and you’ll relish the mix floral and almond flavours and distinct mineral character. The latter could be derived from the volcanic slopes where the grapes are grown or it could just be the romance. See what you think!

Waitrose Cellar, £19.99

More suggestions on the way for the holiday period including summer reds and sparklers.

tanya baxter summer exhibitionTanya Baxter Contemporary's Summer Exhibition is now open at 436 King's Road, London. For more information or to download our Art Advisory Prospectus, click here.

 Silver Moki Sauvignon Blanc Blush | Cruset Rosé | Navajas Blanco Crianza Rioja | Abbotts & Delaunay Viognier |  Soalheiro Alvorhino | Simpsons Gravel Castle | Inama Vigneti di Foscarino Soave Classico

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Last week a picture was posted on Twitter of vines in Shabo, a large estate that lies to the west of Odesa on southern Ukraine’s Black Sea coastline. The image seemed benign at face value but the reality, of course, is that the city of Odesa has been bracing itself for attack by Russian forces. 

 

As COVID-19 conspires with the grimmest of winds and rain to force a societal retreat behind our own front doors, the word ennui springs to mind. The muddle of displeasure is pierced when Natalia hands me a large bulbous glass of a liquid I do not recognise.

 

 

Britain’s lamentable exit

On the eve of Britain’s official departure from the EU, my partner and I decided to explore a small town on the Italian Riviera where thewintry cold doesn’t feel so much like cold war bite.

I had warned my significant other that I would be having an inverse departure party, a release of the sanity valve if you like!

 

Sitting inside the ancient castle walls inside the town of Soave, a short drive from Verona in northern Italy, the unique slightly almond aroma of the indigenous grape, Garganega, rises gently from my glass. The castle sprawls up the side of an extinct volcano that gives the region its variant soil structures that mark out the better quality of Soave wines.

 

Tanisha Townsend decided to move to Paris 4 years ago after regularly passing through the city en route to the world’s most famous vineyards. In fact, it was about 2 years ago at the Printemps de Champagne Bouzy Rouge tasting in Reims that I saw (who we shall now refer to as) GirlMeetsGlass chirpily speaking to her web followers on Snapchat.

 

The cathedral in Santiago de Compostela, the final resting place of Saint James, rises out of the landscape, infested with antiquity. The rambling steep streets give way to shafts of dramatic light, emblazoned chapels, and tightly packed tapas bars, dusty, as old novels pressed together in antiquarian bookshops.

 

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