This week on the talkRadio Thursday Club with Mike Graham, we’re talking wine styles for barbecues! Here we have two rich, smoky reds, one a little lighter than the other and a cracking, textured white.
Viognier, ‘Les Jamelles’, Pays d’Oc, France, 2019
The Viognier grape’s spiritual home is in the South of France and it makes a wonderful barbecue white wine, thanks to its generous body and texture and aromatic notes of peach, blossom, citrus and apricot, which stand up well to poultry or salty cheese like halloumi that may have been grilled on the barbecue. Lovely but itself too and this one is fantastic value.
Find it at Co-op £6.50 on offer in store until 27th April (normally £7.50)
Leyda Reserva Syrah, Valle de Leyda, Chile, 2019
Syrah is a fabulous red for a barbecue because the good ones have characteristic notes of grilled meat, rosemary and thyme as well as juicy dark plum and a silky texture. It complements the flavours of grilled meat beautifully, especially if it's a more earthy cut, like a butterflied leg of lamb or burgers. This blinder from Chile is really showing the value that’s to be had with Chilean wine making these days. A lovely example of the grape and style.
Find it at Co-op for £10 in store.
The Chocolate Block, 2019.
Our splash-out wine is beginning to have a cult following and for good reason. Made in a Franschhoek in a cooler part of South Africa, it’s a sumptuous blend of Syrah, Grenache, Cinsault and Cabernet Sauvignon with a tiny splash of Viognier, which altogether, gives a beguiling, voluptuous wine that’s silky and rich, with layers of flavour and aromatics ranging from dark cherry to espresso. A fair bit more grip than the Syrah above thanks to the addition of cabernet and the oak ageing, it’s ideal with cuts of beef or burgers made with more aged beef. Also, who can resist the name?!
Find it from around £20 from The Wine Society, Majestic and some great regional merchants: Loki Wines (Birmingham), Hennings (Sussex), Slurp (Oxfordshire), Field & Fawcett (York), Harrogate Fine Wine (Harrogate), D. Byrne (Lancashire), Caviste (Hampshire), Vineking (Surrey).
