It’s been a long, wet winter but, finally, last weekend, we had some warm, sunny weather in Bristol. Could this be summer at last? We were hopeful but, with thunderstorms threatened for Sunday (which we thankfully missed) and a return to cooler and wetter weather during the working week, the couple of brighter days might just have been a tease. But we were not going to miss the opportunity; it had to be dinner alfresco on our terrace on Saturday evening.
A nice rib-eye steak, some salads and a bottle of… well what do you choose? Ideally a good rich red to go with the steak, but with the weather, would something chilled be better? Or could I find 1 bottle to hit both targets?
There are several reds that you can happily put in the fridge for a half hour or so; many Beaujolais work really well slightly chilled; try something from one of the villages such as Fleurie or Julienas. Or, for Wine Society members, their special bottling of one of our favourite Beaujolais villages, Regnie, to celebrate their 150 years of trading, is delicious and a steal at £12.50.
But we were looking for a wine with a little more body to go better with our steak. Something from Greece, perhaps? After all, theirs is a warm climate and you usually find plenty of red meat dishes on their restaurant menus. We chose Tetramythos’ Agiorgitiko Natur from the Peloponnese in the far south of the country (Wine Society again, £14.50). A delicious soft, plummy red made from the native Agiorgitiko grape, this had just enough weight to pair with the steak and took well to a little gentle chilling (about 45 minutes in our fridge). A word of caution: this is bottled with minimal added sulphur (a preservative), so is probably best drunk within the next year or so.
We enjoyed our first outdoors meal of the year and are really looking forward to many more warm summer evenings when we can do the same – and many more opportunities to find the perfect wines to chill.
Wine talks and tastings 