Wine with Leslie: Here are the hallmarks of a great wine - with three recommendations

These three wines have plenty of tension and lots of texture

Leslie Williams: How a wine sits in the mouth is of enormous importance to the overall impression it creates

What makes a great wine? Well, lots of elements need to converge and you could probably guess what they are.

The best quality grapes picked at the right time, then fermented appropriately on wild or cultivated yeast, either in a stainless steel tank, a barrel, a concrete egg or maybe an amphora, and then bottled at the right time and given some ageing if needed.

When it comes to tasting and judging the wine, we look for harmony, a balance of fruit and acidity but also, crucially, the texture.

How a wine sits in the mouth is of enormous importance to the overall impression it creates. Are the tannins mouth-puckering and drying out our gums or are they integrated with the fruit and acids? Tannins are more present in red wines of course but also in orange wines where the skins from the green grapes are left in contact with the juice for hours, days or months. Sometimes we want those tannins to be noticeable, to be up front and personal, to give tension and structure to the wine. You would be disappointed if that Produttori Barbaresco had no chewy tart grape skin flavours to balance out the strawberry and cherry fruits.

In simple linear light white wines, like an entry level sauvignon blanc, the texture works in a different way and we look to how the green apple fruits and acidity interact, how a wine like this is electricity for the palate.

So three wines with fine tension and lots of texture for you to try. Chew these wines a little, close your eyes and feel how the juice interacts with your tongue, your gums and your cheeks, whether your mouth feels refreshed when you swallow, and does the texture interact with your food — red wine tannins and steak juices are a great mix for example.

Hans Baer Trocken Riesling 2021, Rheinhessen, Germany €12-13

If you want to explore intriguing textures in wine then Riesling is a great place to start. This is bone dry with lemon and apple notes and a mineral-salty edge.

Despite the low price this has good textural complexity, fruit and acidity are in balance, your tongue should prickle a little, and there is fine tension and nervosity (‘nerveux’ as the French say).

• JJ O’Driscolls; Matsons; No. 21; World Wide Wines; Vintry; Martins; WineOnline.ie.

Casa Belfi Prosecco Colfondo Frizzante, Veneto, Italy €25-26

Prosecco, but not as you know it, made from the glera/prosecco grape, biodynamic and natural. Six months on its lees in a tank and with the remaining portion of the alcoholic ferment in the bottle to create the fizz. Floral bruised pear and apple pie aromas, peaches, cream and bone-dry freshness, a gorgeous silky texture lifted by the bubbles.

• L’Atitude 51, Bradleys, Green Man Wines, Le Caveau

Oveja Naranja Gewürztraminer, La Mancha, Spain €22-23

My favourite orange wines come from fragrant grapes like muscat and gewürztraminer, the two grapes used in this gorgeous wine from the plains of La Mancha.

Six months skin contact have turned this sunset orange and it is floral, heady and intensely aromatic. Honey notes, peach, tangerine, dried apple and soft fruit flavours, a fine aperitif or serve with cold meats and cheese, and even roast chicken.

• Bradleys; Pinto; Drink Store; Martins; Mitchell & Son; Corkscrew.ie

Wicklow Wolf Wildfire Red Ale, 4.6% abv, 440ml €3.29

Red ale is the one style of beer that we can (probably) claim as Irish.

This is a bold take on that style, hops and rich malt flavours add character and this has more weight and substance than the Kilkenny style. Aromas of toffee, chocolate and spice, a full creamy palate with spikes of bitter red fruits and citrus, substantial and satisfying.

• Bradleys; Matsons; McHughs; Redmonds