We’re following up on some of the questions you asked us during our Q&A sessions with our wine buyers, in association with Reader’s Digest.
Our first question comes from Sarah Louise, it was:
Q: What is the new frontier in wine? What region/grapes will be hot 5 years from now?
A: Love this q! Eastern Europe is full of old wine regions but not known here. V. exciting wines and varieties.
We are seeing more and more wines coming in from Eastern Europe. The Paris Street Range from Romania is proving to be popular with our customers. With fruity, food friendly reds, crisp whites and a versatile rosé’s there is a wine to suit every occasion.
Next, Michelle Jones asked:
Q: What’s an interesting new grape variety to try?
A: For whites – Italy is a great place to explore – try Principe Strozzi Vernaccia 2012. Or try Aluado Alicante Bouchet 2011 – a lovely deep-coloured red from Portugal.
You shouldn’t limit yourself to exploring new grape varieties to special occasions. You can enjoy them all year round and with 2000 grape varieties in Italy alone it is a great place to start.
Then came this challenge from @TomWHBrowne:
Q: I’ve never liked white wine, although I love red. Can you recommend a white wine to convert me please?
A: How about trying a classy Albariño from Galicia in NW Spain? Elegant, full of flavour, crisp but not too acidic.
For people who want to move from drinking red to finding interesting whites, I think the key is something that is full of fruit and full-bodied.
The Albariño is a great starting point as these wines tend to be elegant but packed full of fruit. So there is enough body there for a red drinker to get their teeth stuck into while a certain amount of elegance at the same time!
And Anne-Marie Wallace was looking for a new suggestion to broaden her wine repertoire based on a current favourite, which is a great way to explore:
Q: I love Vina Esmerelda wine as it tastes really fruity, can you recommend other very fruity white wines?
A: Great wine! Try @laithwaites Perla del Mar. Also from the Med in Spain. A pretty wine, aromatic, dream of summer.
We received some fantastic questions and hopefully we have been able to broaden your horizon when it comes to wines and given you some helpful starting points to help you start to explore new grape varieties also. . If you would like any more recommendations then you can always get in touch with us through our social media channels and we’ll be happy to answer any questions.
