Leyda Riesling, Reserva. Chile.

Some of you may have decide not to drink this January. For the less pious people out there, here is a wonderful vibrant wine, that will awaken the slumber of your taste buds.

Pure and clean on the nose, with well-defined aromas of mandarin orange, green apples and touches of stone fruit and floral aromas. Precise and slim on the palate, with a touch of oiliness, refreshing acidity and mouthwatering finish.

I pared this with a Thai style salad, of fried noodles and roasted butternut squash. The dressing had a lots of lime juice and chilli in. which works with the acidity of the wine.

It is available from Majestic for £9.49 or £7.59 when you buy any 2 Chilean wines.

As the weather has been so changeable this August and with summer drawing to an end I have picked two wines. Which are both versatile enough to suit a balmy summer’s day or the first chill of autumn. A full and fresh white, as well as a lovely medium-bodied red.

White
Yalumba (Y-Series) Viognier. £8.99. Morrisons.
This South Australian wine is a lovely lemon-yellow in colour, with an upfront nose of grapefruit and pear drops. The palate is full-bodied, yet very refreshing with further flavours of grapefruit, mingling with notes of Bergamot and quince.
This wine gives you a lot of flavour for the price. It stands up well to foods that are full flavoured, like a spicy chicken or fish curry.

Red
Bonterra Zinfandel £9.29 Waitrose
Good value California wines are hard to come by and one for under a tenner is a great find. This is currently on offer but even back at full price it is still good value.
The nose offers up inviting scents of sweet red fruits, plums and spice. There are even more ripe red fruit flavours on the palate, which is well balanced, with soft tannins making it medium-bodied.
This would be great with BBQ meats or with tomato sauce based dishes, like a vegetarian lasagne.

Check back in September for next months wine, after I get back from Italy and France, where I shall be sampling some fine food and hopefully some good wines.

Margaret River, Semillon Sauvignon Blanc 2008.
£7.99 Marks & Spencer.

As the flowers start to tentatively bloom and the days get longer, I am inclined to go for fresher and lighter styles of wine – wines to awaken the palate after heavy winter reds – so this month’s wine is a sprightly little thing.

Hailing from the Margaret river area of Western Australia, which has a coolish, maritime climate and the breeze from the coast helps to keep temperatures down. Resulting in wines that are not overtly fruity. Made by Evans and Tate for Marks & Spencer, who make some fantastic Margaret River Wines – a producer to look out for.

A nose that is light and grassy with some notes of tropical fruits, translates itself into a fresh and crisp taste in the mouth. Flavours of green apple and nettles mingle with a touch of kiwi and a brought alive by the jumpy acidity. This is a light dry wine that has a good length of flavour and really enlivens the tongue.

This would work perfectly with light and simple fish and seafood dishes. This is the sort of wine you can see yourself sipping, under a tree somewhere, with warm Spring sun on your face, enjoying a seafood salad, with the sound of birdsong in the trees (we can but dream and maybe try to find a similar scene in our local park…)