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If money were no object and I was looking to push the boat out, my preference to kick start this year’s festive season in style will delight both Ab Fab and Bond fans alike, a good old bottle of Bollinger.. This special Bollinger Rose NV is their first new wine in over 30 years. Made from a Pinot Noir dominant blend (62%) of the 3 approved champagne grapes, the pink colour and delicate aromas are enhanced by a tiny proportion of (5%) still red wine. Aged on its lees for 3 years, its ‘brut’ style goes absolutely fabulously with smoked salmon, and will stand up to the rest of the meal too.
Not cheap, but I’d rather splurge
on one solitary seductive flute of something classy and memorable than guzzle a
bottle of plonk.
At the other end of the scale
and moving onto the main course, where many of us opt for something other than
turkey these days, my choice would be Fleurie. Produced in Burgundy, and not to
be confused with the cheap and quaffable Beaujolais Nouveau, there are a number
of producers available in all major supermarkets priced at around £10 a bottle.
One of the Beaujolais Crus, and several notches above the usual offering, makesFleurie
an interesting option. Medium bodied, and made from the yummy Gamay grape, with
an enticing floral perfume and ripe strawberry/mulberry flavours. It is smooth,
sliky and sophisticated, with a velvety texture and low in tannins. A very
accessible wine. It’s affordable, food friendly, being a good match for both
light and dark meats, and passes the cranberry sauce test.
M&S Fleurie –
2010 - 13% - produced by Paul Sapin - £10.99
Bouchard Pere et fils 13%
- Waitrose - £10.99
Also available at all other major supermarkets
Saving room for the pud or
cheese course, I’ll be drinking the little known Tokaji Aszu from Hungary.
This modern-style Gold medal
winning wine is from a fine vintage and an excellent producer, It shows a
gorgeous, honeyed richness on the palate, balanced by bright acidity to prevent
any cloying sensation. Finishing off sweetly, yet with mouth watering
freshness.
All in all a rich and
succulent world class wine. It has rich
complexity with peachy fruit and balanced acidity to prevent it cloying. Half
bottle goes a long way
Levels of sweetness are
measured by puttonyos, the ones recommended here are 5 puttonyos.
Tokaji Aszu - £19.99
50cl. 5 puttonyos- Waitrose - £26.99
Keeping it local – all wines are sold at County Stores,
Taunton - £68.13 for the lot
A word of advice. All wines
have pretty similar on costs; tax, packaging, marketing, bottling, labelling
etc. so the more you can afford to pay the more of your hard earned money will
be down to the quality of the wine. So, unless you just want to quaff, avoid
the 3 for £10 bottles on offer. We’re all willing to pay around £5 a glass for
mediocre wine in a pub or restaurant, if you multiply that by the number of
glasses when buying a bottle for yourself you’d be paying around £20 – just
imagine what you’d get for that!
What’s not to love?!
Having said all this –
Christmas is a time for a little indulgence and wine is a very personal issue,
so drink what pleases you.
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