Changyu Noble Dragon Cabernet Gernischt, Yantai, China 2014 (£10, Sainsbury’s). Only Spain has more land given over to the vine than China, and yet we rarely see Chinese wines in the UK. This is partly because the boom of the past decade has targeted domestic drinkers and partly because the wines haven’t been that great. Given how much investment has gone into developing the business, however, it’s unlikely the two wines at Sainsbury’s from China’s oldest winery Changyu (established 1892) will be the last. The light red Cabernet Gernisht, with its attractive herbs and currants quality and slightly raspy tannins, is the better buy, but the Noble Dragon Riesling (£9) would make a pleasant floral contrast to salt-and-pepper squid.
Viña Santa Rita 120 Carménère, Chile 2016 (£7.99, Majestic). These two Chinese wines are a vast improvement on some fire-breathing brews I’ve tried in the past, but I’m not sure I’d choose them over wines made from the same grapes in other countries. Cabernet gernischt is another name for carménère, a variety once popular in Bordeaux but now firmly associated with Chile, where growers have really got to grips with its distinctive character after years when they’d confused it with merlot. Santa Rita has a pleasingly succulent and supple version, full of bright berries and just a touch of the variety’s characteristic herby side, while De Martino Legado Carménère, Maipo, Chile 2013 (£10.99, Waitrose), is darker, riper, spicier and ready for red meat.
Lo Abarco Riesling, San Antonio, Chile 2016 (£10, Marks & Spencer). Chile is also the home of one of my favourite rieslings, one that rather shows up the new Sainsbury’s Chinese white. From vineyards near the Pacific coast, Lo Abarco tingles with that electric limey freshness only this grape can offer. Similar qualities abound in the best Australian versions of riesling, one of which can be found alongside Lo Abarco at M&S: the pristine Snake + Herring Riesling, 2016 (£12) is vividly limey, tangy and dry. And nothing in China (or indeed anywhere) can match the best from riesling’s German home, with wines such as the scintillating Wittmann Estate Riesling QbA, Rheinhessen, Germany 2015 (£15.15, The Wine Barn).
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