Jason Drank
Bargain Chianti Classico, blanc de Merlot, an Andalusian gem, etc.
Recent drinking has been quite different to recent tasting. By day, Sassicaia, by night, bargain Chianti Classico.
I know there are people out there who just seem to exist on the finest wines available to humanity, but as I wrote years ago when I was working on the trade side, I’d definitely find that dull, and I’m sure it skews your perception compared to tasting and drinking far and wide.
Some days you need to experience the peaks of beauty that wine can reach, and other days you need whatever is in the fridge door. Some days, I need Jacqueline du Pre’s meltingly emotional performance of Elgar’s Cello Concerto in E Minor, and others I need the campy energy of Chappell Roan or the gentle noise of ‘Sleep Train in the Rain’ to drown out the din of Caffè Nero while pretending you’re off to the Highlands for a whisky weekend.
As such, there is no theme or order to the last fortnight’s drinking. It’s exactly what I promised when I started this series: stuff I drank that I thought was worth flagging up for one reason or another, including a Waitrose bargain to kick things off, and then some more expensive stuff that was fun.
Villa Cafaggio 2021, Chianti Classico, Italy
Sometimes you just have to succumb to midweek pizza, and out of some sort of generalised loyalty to Italy I can’t tolerate drinking anything other than Italian wine with it. Cafaggio has been my don’t-overthink-it Chianti Classico for years. It’s often on offer at Waitrose, and is currently down to £9.99 from £14.99 until 11 March. As ever, Waitrose are bad at guaranteeing the vintage, but I drank the 2021, and that’s what their website suggests they still have. For £10 it’s an absolute no-brainer, especially if you like your Chianti fairly brisk, bone-dry and refreshing with a bit of twang and bite, and no clumsy sweetness from French oak. It’s organic too.
£9.99 until 11 March, Waitrose & Waitrose Cellar
Laurent Habrard St. Epine 2021, St. Joseph, France
A delightful St. Joseph from a testing vintage in the northern Rhône, I loved the cool blueberry, raspberry and juniper nose of this northern Syrah, with its flecks of black pepper, bitter violet and sloe. It’s been made biodynamically for many years, and it clocks in at just 12.5%. This is a resoundingly authentic wine from the granite of St. Epine, one of the finest areas in St. Joseph. It’s not cheap, but it should age well over a decade should you decide to buy a few and hold on to them. It’s so perfect with those retro bistro dishes that are back in vogue in many of London’s restaurants these days.
Alberto Orte Vara y Pulgar Blanco 2022, Jerez, Spain
A very respectable white Burgundy alternative, this is a great example of how Spain is adapting its viticulture to produce white wines of genuine freshness and lift, even in meltingly hot climates like Andalucia. A blend of 50% Palomino and 50% other indigenous varieties that Orte has recovered, a friend of mine enthusiastically picked this off a wine list, and we both agreed that there was some positive acidity here thanks to heritage varieties like the little-known Vigiriega Blanca. This was lemony, savoury, lightly smoky, refreshing but with a kiss of oak to build texture and depth — and it’s 12.5%. It seems to be out of stock now in the UK, so if you live in London you might want to go and drink it at The 10 Cases like we did where it’s £47, the same price as the cheapest Bourgogne Blanc on the list and much more interesting.
Gian Luca Colombo Pelaverga 2023, Piemonte, Italy
The rare variety Pelaverga is having a bit of a moment among Italophiles, and it’s easy to see why. Unlike most of the esteemed reds of the peninsula, it’s delicate, juicy and smashable, with very light tannins, pretty red fruit and, in really good examples like this, a strong whiff of white pepper on the nose. Served cool, it’s the sort of wine that might be described as digestible which is what serious wine people tend to say when they mean that they could drink half a bottle in half an hour with food. Pelaverga can be tricky to find, as the variety is only made by a handful of producers in the northerly Verduno region of Barolo, but worth it. Colombo’s is one of the very best, and I drank it in Italy with vitello tonnato — pure joy.
Brivio Bianco Rovere Merlot 2022, Switzerland
This was sent to me as a sample along with some other Swiss wines brought in to the UK via Alpine Wines. I’d never had it before, and obviously had no idea what to expect. It’s a Merlot, vinified without the skins to turn it into a white wine, and then aged in barrique. In some ways tasted like very expensive Chardonnay — although by modern white Burgundy standards this isn’t very expensive — and in others, like some sort of strange, textural white (Grenache Blanc?) in that it had a rice starch and vodka flavour I found intriguing but more than a bit perplexing. It comes in a beautiful bottle and was a real talking point, although it’s definitely not an everyday kind of white. Great for wine nerds and tasting groups, although definitely not for people who like Merlot.