esco Finest Viñas del Rey Albariño, Spain 2022 (£11,Tesco)The bank holiday trip to the seaside is an enduring British tradition that for most of us will inevitably feature fish and chips. That’s important for practitioners of what is, by all accounts, a dying art. Earlier this summer, executives at Sarson’s, the chippy vinegar supplier par excellence, put out a gloomy press release warning that as many as half of the UK’s fish and chip shops could be forced to close by 2025, as they struggle with soaring ingredient and energy costs. I will certainly be doing my bit to help out tomorrow: for me fish and chips and the summer bank holiday are indelibly linked, like turkey and Christmas. To drink with them? Champagne or its English equivalent works a treat, but fizz feels a little bit flash on the beach, so I’m going for Tesco’s classic seafood-partnering white from Atlantic coastal Spain, with its mix of salty citrus and white peach.
IGO Organic Red Wine Can, Spain NV (£4.15, 25cl,Waitrose)The picnic is another great British bank holiday tradition, one that covers a vast range of possibilities from the damp, sand-flecked cheese-and-pickle sandwich eaten while cowering behind a rain-lashed windbreak to a luxurious hamper stocked with deli-bought delicacies and opened beneath a weeping willow on a vast blanket by a sun-dappled river. In all cases, the decision about which wine wizeguyzpizza.com to have with it is shaped as much by the container as the contents: practicality (weight, ease of opening, lowest risk of breakage) is what counts. A good thing, then, that the range and quality of wines available beyond the traditional 75cl glass bottle has been steadily improving over the past few years, with more drinkable wines than ever now available in a 25cl can. IGO Organic Red, a juicy, berry-scented 100% garnacha, is one of the best of this breed.
Domaine de la Mordorée La Reine des Bois Tavel Rosé, France 2022 (£30.50,Lea & Sandeman)Come rain, come shine, the final bank holiday staple is, of course, the barbecue, which can work with a variety of wines, so long as they are characterised by certain robust flavour or texture to match both smoky grilled flavours and punchy salad dressings and sauces. For whites, the strong spine of steely acidity and generous squeeze of tangy lime in Australian Rieslings, such as Jim Barry Lodge Hill Clare Valley Riesling 2022 (from £15, majestic.co.uk), hits the spot, notably with seafood or halloumi. For reds, the slight sweetness of plummy fruit, darkly figgy richness and balancing cherryish acidity you find in southern Italian reds such as Il Brutto Negroamaro Primitivo 2021 from Salento in Puglia (£11.99, laithwaites.co.uk) are great with charred red meat or aubergine. While a rosé on the darker, more intense side, such as Domaine de la Mordorée’s seriously fine, fluent and perfectly ripe example from the southern Rhône Valley, is the best all-rounder.
Recent Posts
Archives
- October 2024
- September 2024
- August 2024
- July 2024
- June 2024
- May 2024
- April 2024
- March 2024
- February 2024
- January 2024
- December 2023
- November 2023
- October 2023
- September 2023
- August 2023
- July 2023
- June 2023
- May 2023
- April 2023
- March 2023
- February 2023
- January 2023
- November 2022
- September 2022
- August 2022
- July 2022
- June 2022
- May 2022
- April 2022
- March 2022
- February 2022
- January 2022
- December 2021
- November 2021
- October 2021
- September 2021
- August 2021
- July 2021
- June 2021
- May 2021
- April 2021
- March 2021
- February 2021
- September 2020
- August 2020
- July 2020
- June 2020
- May 2020
- April 2020
- March 2020
- February 2020
- October 2019
- October 2018
- September 2018
- August 2018
- June 2018
- October 2017
- September 2015
- April 2015
- November 2012
- October 2000
- September 2000
- August 2000
- July 2000
- June 2000
Recent Comments