Let me begin this, my first Bristol Wine Blog of 2023, by wishing you a Happy, Healthy and Peaceful New Year.
After a couple of years when Covid restricted our ability to meet with friends and family, we had hoped for a more positive time this year but, looking around at all the sadness and conflict in the world, my wife and I chose to make the holiday season quite a low-key affair although we did, of course, enjoy a glass or two to remind ourselves that we are among the luckier ones.
The Jurançon region is in the foothills of the Pyrenees on the French side and is best known as a source of delicious late-harvested dessert wines. But the same local grape varieties, picked earlier, are also used to produce some full, rich dry whites (always labelled ‘Jurançon Sec’). We opened an excellent example to accompany some cheeses shared with a couple of good friends over the holiday break. Domaine Cauhapé’s ‘Geyser’ Sec (Wine Society, £13.50) has lovely, vibrant flavours of grapefruit and honey and a long satisfying finish. Not just a wine to pair with cheeses – it would work well with elegant fish dishes, too.
Of the reds we enjoyed, Te Mata’s Syrah from Hawkes Bay in New Zealand (Majestic, £14.99) went perfectly with some slow-cooked lamb shanks. It’s significant that the producer chose to use the French name for the grape variety, Syrah, (rather than Shiraz), as the wine is definitely made in a more restrained, ‘European’ style with perfumed black fruits and hints of pepper. Delightful.
And so, to the one question that always arises at this time of year: ‘what was the best wine you tasted last year?’ As ever, I find that almost impossible to answer but I can say which was the most memorable: Purcari’s “Freedom Blend” is a mixture of grapes from Moldova, Ukraine and Georgia with part of the proceeds from sales supporting refugees from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. It reflected a friendship between countries and a willingness to use wine for good. A message for 2023?