Spain: Cava Cabré & Sabaté.

Cabré & Sabaté is yet another packaging guise created by bespoke-label Cava maestro Jaume Serra for Mercadona and other supermarkets in Spain; this impressive winery also produces very good fizz for several UK retailers (Asda, Aldi, Morrison's...).

Grenache: white rosé and red.

Lo Cometa Garnatxa Blanca 2020 Terra Alta, Catalunya (organic, 13.5% abv): Which is Catalan for Grenache blanc, this unusual full-bodied dry white is more about flavour and texture than aroma. Subtle honeyed notes with yeast-lees, white peach and pears edged with aniseed and blanched nuts; quite powerful while juicy and concentrated with lingering mineral freshness. £7.25 The Wine Society (out of stock, wait for the 2021), €6-€7 Germany (Lidl has some 2019 left), Netherlands €9.

Serious rosé

For those of us who enjoy (proper) dry rosé all year round, not just in summer (it's a good compromise for a white wine drinker and a red wine drinker sharing the same meal and bottle), it's no surprise that 'serious' rosé does exist. But some people in France and someone in Italy had the bright idea of creating the Rosés de Terroirs association as a collaborative marketing project to promote the regions and producers who are famous for making this type of full-on pink wine.

Pays d'Oc, South of France part 4.

Poet Frédéric Mistral.

These eleven wines (we go that one extra, so "these go up to 11") were worth typing about picked from the latest batch of diverse samplings from IGP Pays d'Oc (essentially the entire Occitanie region although these are all from the Languedoc), boldly billed in the press release as 'Pays d’Oc wines for every festive occasion.' Previous posts on Pays d'Oc include these linked below (there'll be more if you can be bothered to look, use the search doofer on the right):

Part 1: IGP and Vin de France.

Part 2: half-a-dozen varietal wines.  Part 3: rosé.

Four whites and a Pinot Noir

Santa Tresa Rina Ianca Grillo Viognier 2020 Sicilia (organic, 13.5% abv): Another delicious Grillo-based bottle from Sicily - click here and here for more of those - this time with 30% Viognier added, which ups the exotic apricot and peach flavours with full palate weight, yeast-lees edges and appealing amount of freshness. Wine Society £8.25.

A dozen more winter wines of the mo

Muga Reserva Rioja 2016 (14% abv) is a splendid oak-aged blend of 75% Tempranillo with Garnacha, Mazuelo (= Carignan) and Graciano. Smoky spicy oak aromas in that traditional Rioja fashion but with lots of rich dark berry fruit and beginning to show enticing balsamic maturing notes, quite dense powerful and structured with concentrated savoury fruit, a little firmness still on the finish but with lovely silky tannins too. Good with lamb shank; should benefit from another few years' bottle age. Half-bottle £9.25 (image = the Wine Society).

Festive wines of the mo

Rancio Sec Arnaud de Villeneuve, Côtes Catalanes, France (16% abv) - This very dry rancio style is an old-as-time Catalan speciality - although made elsewhere in France and Spain (and Europe) in similarly tiny quantities - and is distinctly different from other traditional cask-aged bottlings from the Roussillon, which is well-known for its mostly red, fortified sweet wines. This tasty 'commercial' example is made by one of the region's biggest (if not the) co-operative wineries...

Cahors Malbec: Château de Gaudou lieu-dit range

Or lieux-dits in the plural, a common term in France for old place names found on a map or land registry, something like a historical townland or local name for say a particular site, hamlet, hill, field, valley or parish. Five Cahors wine estates, based in the Lot département in southwest France, are involved in an initiative called 'Generation Cahors Lieux Dits': Château Famaey, Château de Gaudou, Domaine d'Homs, Château Nozières and Château de Rouffiac. (This long feature carries a wine-geek warning!)

Roussillon 'French Catalonia' wine book

NEW: I've republished a less-expensive colour paperback of my book on the Roussillon region:

In the UK or EU, you can order it direct from me and save £4/€4 (£20 or £24 including postage: Royal Mail Tracked 48 service or International Standard; or delivered by Amazon). Select UK or EU in the drop-down menu below and proceed to the checkout (in a new window) using your PayPal account or your debit/credit card: this website does not process or store your card or personal data.

Roussillon 'French Catalonia' colour paperback

UK £20.00 GBP EU £24.00 GBP

The Wine Society: 3 whites, 3 rosés, 3 reds.

These nine varied wines are available from the Wine Society in the UK (and some of them from other wine stores and in other countries), which I became a member of recently, and represent my favourites from a first mixed case purchased (I picked each wine but you can order from several pre-selected options).

Roussillon 2019 reds: La Préceptorie, Domaine Jones and Vignobles d'Agly.

From domainejones.com

The three 2019 vintage reds tasting-noted here come from a few different northern Roussillon vineyard locations. Full profiles of these wineries and notes on their other wines and previous vintages can be found in my book on the Roussillon. These tasty reds are all available from the Wine Society in the UK (among others, and in other countries), which I became a member of recently.

Wines of the mo: Zweigelt, Chardonnay, Fiano & Grecanico, Pinot Noir, Riesling and more.

It's not just that desperate label which grabbed me about this Aussie white - hmm, where's that Chardy from then? Perhaps add a picture of Dame Edna sniffing it on the back-label to be sure. This tasty unoaked Chardonnay is one of Aldi's burgeoning Specially Selected range and is also great value for €7.99 at Aldi Ireland or £5.99 in the UK.

Bubbly of the moment: Cava

Frankly, almost always more interesting than Prosecco (unless you pay for some of the top names), here are five Catalan fizz favourites enjoyed in recent times.

Vilarnau Rosé Brut Reserva (12% abv) - Toasty, red-fruity and full-flavoured, this delicious Cava Rosado is based on Garnacha (Grenache) and Pinot Noir. Tesco was 'clearing' it out for £8 (it's gone already)...

France, Roussillon: Domaine of the Bee

This is the first full update on Roussillon wine producers since I published my book on the region (did I mention it already?! Click there for details), focusing on new vintages and releases from wineries featured in the book, and potentially any new-to-me places that would then be slotted into the winery guide sections for a future edition. Domaine of the Bee was tentatively launched in 2004 (some old vines purchased) by Justin Howard-Sneyd MW, wife Amanda and business partner Philippe Sacerdot.

Coventry & Manchester: bars, beers, restaurants.

The Gourmet Food Kitchen seems to be a unique idea in UK City of Culture Coventry, launched by local chef Tony Davies (pic. below) 'who has worked in kitchens across Europe.' Located in Fargo Village just out of the centre (Far Gosford Street, Coventry CV1 5ED), which has the feel of a burgeoning trendy boho kind of spot. Tony offers 'a chef table experience' reserved in advance on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays for 12 guests only, whether one large group together or a few smaller tables and seated outside when the weather's good, serving up a slow onslaught of seven flavoursome elegant and varied mini-courses across the evening, each one introduced by the chef.

Bubbly and white wines of the moment

Photo from saint-chinian.pro

Château Viranel Intuition blanc 2020 Saint-Chinian Languedoc (60% Grenache blanc, 15% Roussanne, 20% Vermentino, 5% Bourboulenc, 13.5% abv): This delicious mix of southern French grape varieties undergoes a modest 15% of the blend fermented in barrels (and all the better for it) with the completed wine stored and stirred on the yeast-lees for three months to maximise flavour and texture.