Category: Round and About

First up, champagne – well it is Christmas. I’ve tasted a lot of champagnes this year, some of the finest of which I reviewed in my recent champagne article. One that’s stuck with me is the Laytons Brut Reserve (£33.95). I worked for Laytons in the late 1990s and Laytons was a firm favourite with customers and staff alike and it was great to taste it again after so many years. Chardonnay-based it has a lovely lightness of touch, offering a fresh bouquet of citrus and white blossoms with a creamy, yeasty undertow. The delicacy continues in the mouth, but the long bottle ageing shows towards the finish as notes of toasted brioche, apricots and honey come through. A lovely way to start the day, it has enough oomph to partner hors d’oeuvres or smoked fish starters.

If you’re looking for beauty on a budget, then make a beeline for the Graham Beck Pinot Noir Rosé 2017 (Majestic £19 on a mixed six). This is going to make my top ten wines of the year and I’ll be serving it at home. At under £20, this is a great buy. Salmon pink with tiny red gold bubbles lifting notes of raspberries, strawberries and cream, and limes into the air, this beautiful wine entrances from the off. The medium-bodied palate offers red berries, cherries, and blackberries with rather more exotic notes of limes, coconut and Asian spices. Lovely on its own, it also pairs well with food such as smoked fish or brown turkey meat.

Next up the first of two delicious, but very different, French wines. The first is the Gérard Bertrand Orange Gold 2022 (Majestic £12.99). Orange wines get their name from their distinctive colour, in this case, a mid-apricot orange, colour they get from the juice resting on the skins as you do with red wines. This delightful example is Chardonnay-led but has support from Grenache Blanc, Viognier, Marsanne, Mauzac and Muscat which give it fragrance and complexity. Medium-bodied but with noticeable texture, here you’ll find everything from apples and melon to apricots, to dried pears and lemon rind. It’s a fascinating wine that goes perfectly with all kinds of white meats.

Hugel is one of the greatest names in wine. This Alsace domaine was founded in Riquewhir in 1639 by Hans Ulrich Hugel and has been family-owned ever since. They produce some of the most profound dry Rieslings in the world and this Christmas I’ll be pairing the turkey with a bottle (or two!) of the Hugel Classic Riesling 2022 (London End Wines £19.50). I’m a huge fan of dry Riesling, but the intensity and depth of flavour in Hugel’s wines take the breath away. The nose is zesty, full of mineral-tinted citrus, and green apples while on the palate there are lemons, limes, white peach and grapefruit with touches of apricot and pistachio. Give this a couple of hours open and serve with white meats, seafood, or creamy cheese.

Burgundy is perfect with all forms of poultry and game birds, but red Burgundy prices have risen so high even in recent years that unless you’re planning to spend Christmas on your yacht you may want to look elsewhere. A joyful exception to this distasteful rule is the Louis Jadot Bourgogne Cote d’Or 2021 (Majestic £29.99, £22.49 when you buy any six). This is an affordable taste of Burgundian luxury. Deeply coloured, the bouquet offers cherries, blackberries, mushrooms and a hint of seasonal cranberries. In the mouth, it’s clean and fresh with a delightfully silky texture and offers and abundance of fruits of the forest, cherries, plums and a mint and mineral finish. Gorgeous.

And so, to Rioja but with an even greater weight of mellow fruitiness, we have the Baron de Ley Gran Reserva 2017 (Vinissimus £20). Gran Reserva Riojas are only made in great years and by law must spend at least two years in oak and three years in bottle before release. This long ageing mellows the fruit, adds a spicy vanilla tone and creates some of the finest wines Rioja can offer. The Baron de Ley Gran Reserve is a mighty mellow mouthful. The nose contains aromas of fresh toast, ripe black fruits, red berries, spices and tobacco. The generously full-bodied palate is juicy and complex. Baked black berries and sun-warmed black cherries are coated with creamy vanilla before the firm, fresh finish adds life and intensity.

If you’re feeling adventurous this Christmas, try the Chateau Musar ‘Hochar’ 2019 (Vimum £12.85). Chateau Musar is Lebanon’s greatest wine estate, and this is their second wine, the younger brother if you will, to Chateau Musar (Waitrose £41.99) and shares much of it characteristics. Produced from an unusual blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Carignan and Cinsault grapes (think Bordeaux meets Rhone meets Languedoc) it’s rich and full-bodied with flavours of plums, cherries, sloes, and blackberries. Ageing in oak gives it a spicy tone and having been grown at high altitude it has a delightful red berry freshness.

And speaking of adventurous wines, how about a red dessert wine? While they are relatively rare, I’ve had plenty of sweet red wines over the years. Many are fortified such as the brilliantly bonkers Zuccardi Malamado Fortified Malbec (N.D. John Wines £17.45) but the Masi Angleorum Recioto Classico (Hic! £28) takes a rather different route to sweetness. Healthy grapes (Corvina, Rondinella and Molinara) from Veneto hillsides are dried on bamboo racks over the winter months. This has the effect of concentrating the sugars while elevating the aromatics. These are pressed and the resulting wine is lusciously sweet and full-bodied but with sufficient natural acidity to keep the wine fresh and vibrant. Offering a beguiling combination of preserved cherries, prunes, and bitter chocolate, with a touch of mocha and raspberry liqueur, this is a stylish partner to gorgonzola cheese, sweet pastries and tarts or as an after-dinner sipper.

I’ll leave the wines on a high with a Port. I’m a subscriber to the adage that Port is for life, not just for Christmas, and after tasting a wine as good as the Warre 1985 (MWH Wines £87) I’m sure you’ll be one too. 1985 was a truly outstanding year for vintage Port and the best wines are now drinking superbly. The Warre 1985 has retained much of its youthful Victoria plum colour with just a hint of ruby visible at the rim. The bouquet is a showstopping mix of dried black fruits, Morello cherries, chocolate, dried herbs, almonds, and smoke. Massive and rich in the mouth, the sweetly toned black fruits are complimented by flavours of coffee, black treacle, crushed nuts, pomegranate, mint and cocoa. Wonderful on its own, open and decant this beauty and enjoy with cheeses or fruity puddings.

I’ll finish my Christmas essentials with a couple of winter-warming spirits. The first is the Adnams Sloe Gin (Adnams £29.95). I’ll be honest I find most sloe gins are just a waste of good gin, being either teeth-rottingly sweet or bone dry but with red berry tones simply acting as a distraction to the gin’s botanicals. This though is excellent. Cherry red, there’s a touch of perfume to the nose which helps lift the sweet cranberry fruit and dry herby notes of the base spirit. The palate is voluptuous and warming – the 26% alcohol makes its presence felt – but clean and tangy. Maybe it’s me, but this tastes like a great gin cocktail rather than a Sloe Gin. Whatever the case, neat or with a dash of tonic, it’s delicious.

Last but by no means least we have Adnams Rye Malt Whisky (Adnams £42.99). In my early trade days, I got quite into whisky but as I’ve got older, I drink it less and less. That said I do like an after-dinner snifter at Christmas, and this is the perfect choice. Produced in Suffolk using locally grown rye, it’s aged in new French oak for at least five years. This oak ageing is at the core of my love of this. It adds a creaminess and an apricot and honey sweetness, imparting a creamy mouthfeel, a ginger spiciness, and a raisin fudge tone. Add a drop of tepid water and you have a joyous sundowner.