Tesco Finest Franciacorta DOCG Extra Brut, Italy NV (£15, Tesco) For many of us, the siren’s call of Dry January (and I mean siren in the sense of a nerve-jangling car alarm rather than the song of ethereal Greek mythological beings) will prove irresistible. But for those of us not climbing aboard the arid wagon of abstinence, the possibility of new beginnings is better harnessed as an opportunity to shake up our drinking habits. This needn’t be a big change of pace; just a shift through the gears to a style that shares some of your old favourite’s attributes but offers something different. If prosecco is part of your weekly shop, why not switch up to another Italian sparkling wine, such as Lombardy’s franciacorta, ably represented by the lemon-meringue pie flavours of Tesco’s finest version?
Comtesse Saint Hilaire Montagne Saint Emilion, Bordeaux, France 2018 (£10, The Co-op) For many red wine drinkers, Argentine malbec has become a default choice. The seductive combination of velvety tannins, plummy fruit and chocolatey seductiveness, such as in Dominio del Plata Terroir Series Malbec, Uco Valley 2017 (£12, M&S), is hard to overlook. For those enchanted by malbec but looking to broaden their horizons, a logical next step would be to France, where the variety originated. First, maybe a malbec made in the different conditions of the Cahors appellation, such as Georges Vigouroux Pigmentum Malbec 2018 (£12.95, Great Western Wine). Then, on to Bordeaux, where malbec is now more of a rarity, but where the style of a merlot-based red blend from Montagne St-Emilion has a similar succulent appeal.
Lafazanis Geometria Malagouzia, Peloponnese, Greece 2018 (£10.95, The Wine Society) In terms of popularity, sauvignon blanc is malbec’s white equivalent, and the number of similar examples on offer at any given supermarket has ballooned in recent years. I’ve nothing against good New Zealand sauvignon blanc: a classic of the genre such as the pristine Framingham Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough 2018 (£14.99, Noel Young) has a limey citrus zing and joys of spring verdancy that is very hard to resist. But the style doesn’t have the monopoly on that mix of aromatic intensity and unoaked fruity vibrancy. For a change that is better than a rest, Greek whites often do a similar thing, but with a different cast of flavours, not least in Lafazanis’s superb take on Greece’s malagouzia variety, with its mouthfilling peachy juiciness balanced with lively citrus and minerals.
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