Vino-Club For Wine Lovers
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Hi all! John The Wine Guy here.
I hope everyone has been enjoying the beautiful sunshine we’ve been having here in the UK. The world is slowly returning to normal, isn’t it? Slowly, slowly but we’re getting there and just in time for Summer! I for one cannot wait. We’ve been debating a UK holiday vs a tentative trip abroad. I think we’re opting for the UK this year but Italy and Southern Spain are very much calling. Wherever we end up I’m sure we’ll be drinking plenty of excellent wine with relevant thoughts and views to follow.
As you may remember I’m working at Ridgeview winery currently which is keeping me very busy. We are in the process of bottling the wine which we pressed last harvest which is lovely and fascinating to be part of! It’s great to still be part of the team at Ridgeview and I’m looking forward to the next Harvest already. We bottled around 22000 litres of wine last week with even more to follow next!
Since we last spoke, the sunshine has provided plenty of opportunities for BBQ’s on the beach, so here’s some cracking options and recommendations for your next BBQ or gathering around the fire pit. When choosing your BBQ wine, the main thing to remember is that BBQ’s can be all kinds of tricky…mainly because they often feature a variety of strong and contrasting flavours! And if you are the guest bringing the wine without knowing what is going on the grill, you have a whole other bunch of considerations to factor in! Apart from my BBQ food pairings, you’ll be very pleased to know that all of these wine’s are just as lovely on their own which is always a bonus! Cheers!
1. Starting with the wines of Spain this lovely Rioja is light and easy drinking. It will go nicely with a spicier style sausage on the BBQ. Balanced acidity with classic notes of Vanilla, smoke and oak. Fruit flavours of Blackberry, Cherry and Raspberry. It won the LWA 2020 Gold Medal and has scored an average rating 4.2 out of 5 from nearly 1,200 reviews on www.virginwines.co.uk. Classic!
2. Sparkling Rose is another great BBQ option. It’s incredibly versatile and pairs particularly well with pulled pork and ribs. I will of course recommend something from our friends at Ridgeview. Their 2016 Rose de Noir is fab. An award winner at the 2018 sparkling wine world championships it has lovely tasting notes of Raspberry, Cherry and Spice.
3. Moving over to Italy, we are heading North to Piedmont. Barbera is a cracking pairing to match with fatty food due to it’s high acidity. Full of fruit flavours like Strawberry, Plum and blackberry it also is light enough to work with a grilled chicken. This lovely bottle, also from Virgin Wines, comes from 2016 which was a great vintage and a wine I’m sure you’ll love!
So that’s 3 wines all perfect for the BBQ! I hope you enjoy them all and let us know what you think!
Cheers,
John the wine guy. x
