Wine with Leslie: Italian wines to welcome the summer, including supermarket sales
Pic: iStock
Something about the recent spell of good weather has gotten me thinking about Italy. I haven’t visited since before the pandemic, and there are only so many Italian crime films and Elena Ferrante dramatisations one can watch before pining for the real thing.
If you haven’t watched the first three seasons of My Brilliant Friend on Now TV (Sky Atlantic) then you are missing out. Set in Naples and based on the novels of Elena Ferrante they are simply gorgeous to watch — the acting, the cinematography and even the costumes will make you pine for a thin base Margherita Pizza with a glass of decent red wine.
Despite the best wines of Piedmont and Tuscany increasing in price every time I look, Italy is still a place to look for value if you choose carefully. The wines of the Marche, Abruzzo, Sicily and Puglia are often fruit driven and great value. A trend I’m less keen on are all the ‘appassimento’ wines made from partially dried grapes that have suddenly become popular. Consumers love them for their richness and the sweet fruit flavours, but many have between 10 and 15 grams of residual sugar so I find them far too sweet. There is nothing wrong with sweetness, it is just not to my taste — watch for words like ‘passito’ or ‘appassimento’ in any supermarket if you are curious.
SuperValu have their annual Italian wine sale running from now until the first week of June and this week I feature a good Vermentino from the sale for a tenner. SuperValu’s regular Italian range is reduced (Ricossa Barolo is now €20 for example) and some guest wines have been brought in for the sale, just beware of the southern reds if you prefer a dry red wine.
Lidl meanwhile have a clutch of new Italian wines in stock this week also, including rarities such as a tasty Recioto di Soave made from dried grapes — it would be perfect to serve with some summer fruits topped with a dollop of cream.
My choices this week are all from sunny Tuscany with the exception of an old favourite from the Marche which is partly made with Tuscany’s favourite grape Sangiovese so I felt it deserved a pass.
From coastal Tuscany, this guest wine in the SuperValu Italian Wine Sale is a pitch-perfect Vermentino with herbal, floral and citrus aromas with zesty ripe fruits and lemony acidity. As summery a wine as you could want. Also in the Cortezza range is a cherry and dried plum flavoured Vino Nobile di Montepulciano well worth its €15.
New to Lidl this week. The Colli Senesi sub–zone of Chianti is in the hills surrounding Siena in the south of greater Chianti, a zone that also contains San Gimignano and Montalcino. This has classic Chianti cherry and red-currant fruits, bright and lively with fleshy darker fruits on the finish.
Tuscany is known for its red wines but it does have this famous white wine from the hills around historic San Gimignano — Town of the Towers. Pears, almonds and citrus aromas with a floral touch this is a blast of summer zing to drink on warm days perhaps with some mussels or fish and chips.
This organic and biodynamic producer has 40 hectares of vineyards, olive groves and forest and is fully committed to sustaining his land for future generations. A blend of Sangiovese, Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon, this is supremely juicy and fruity with floral red fruit aromas, dried cherries and crunchy raspberries. Reduced from €22.
Not from Tuscany but from the Marche next door and a blend of Sangiovese and Montepucliano as is typical of Rosso Piceno. I include this to remind you of some of the affordable classics in WinesDirect’s list. Ripe red cherry fruit aromas, darker fruits on the palate, bright and lively with a herbal tang on the finish.
Fontodi is an old favourite and a bit of a benchmark Chianti for me, especially as good Chianti is often twice the price. Liquorice and leather notes mingle with smoke-tinged juicy red fruits — fruit is balanced by typical Chianti acidity and structure and I would serve this a little cool — perhaps at 14C.
Sliabh Liag Distillery in County Donegal brought us their Dúlamán seaweed gin a few years ago and I raved about its salty, peppery tang.Â
This new edition is inspired by founder Moira Dohterty’s travels to the other side of the globe having spent time in Zimbabwe, Malawi and Fiji.Â
Three of the seaweeds have been replaced with new botanicals — Oolong, Ginger, Hibiscus, salt-dried Cherry Blossom, Sesame Seeds, Star Anise and Kaffir Lime Leaves.
Salty juniper and spice aromas, pepper, exotic spices (especially anise) on the palate with citrus coming through on the finish and lingering aniseed. A punchy vibrant gin with lots of character and flavour.
