Honest Grapes a cruise around the med
- Best: Mediterranean wines
- Number of bottles in collection: 12 (two of each)
- Size per bottle: 75cl
Where better to start this Honest Grapes Cruise Around the Med than in the world’s most famous winemaking country, France. The Domaine Horgelus Gros Manseng & Sauvignon Blanc comes from the south-west of the country, already famous for its Armagnac. But it’s also the home of some intensely aromatic wines such as this, which combines sauvignon blanc with the local gros-manseng grape to produce a citrussy wine with notes of exotic fruits and a welcome minerality. As a starter for a meal or indeed a cruise it couldn’t be bettered.
We’ll stay in France and move even closer to the Med with the Unexpected Chateau Montaud cotes de provence blanc. What’s unexpected here is perhaps the quality and the excellence of this dry white from Chateau Montaud on the slopes of the Massif de Maures. Made from the local vermentino grape, it’s a crisp and easy-drinking wine that brings a touch of the Mediterranean sun to the table, with orchard and apricot flavours to the fore and pleasurable floral notes.
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Before leaving the French coast, let’s venture to Maury in Catalonia – the birthplace of grenache, a grape and a wine whose proud tradition is justly celebrated in a bottle of Domaine de la Coume de Roy alma rouge grenache noir. Unoaked, it’s a deep red and rich wine that gives you all the complex almost jam-like flavours of plum, black cherry and red and black fruits. Great on its own but a wonderful accompaniment to any meaty meal.
Now it’s time to sail on to Spain and another sumptuous red, Celler Alimara llumí negre. As the story goes, this is a tale of a British family – the McLeods – coming south to make quality wines to take back and drink in the “cold dank winters in the north”. Andy and his wife Ali settled on Terra Alta in Taragona in Spain as their wine region of choice, taking over established vineyards at Mas de Cabrera near Gandesa. Their llumí negre is a user-friendly mix of tempranillo and syrah that offers chewy dark fruit flavours with a sprinkling of spice. If it’s a barbecue favourite you’re after, this will do nicely.
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Venturing on to Italy and the Ghiaccio Forte morellino di scansano, which is an unoaked, 100 per cent sangiovese red that comes from an estate not far from the Tyrrhenian Sea. A gentle climate and sea breeze result in a smooth and easy-drinking wine that merges red fruit and cherry flavours with more piquant savoury notes. Traditionally, it’s the wine of choice to enjoy alongside a Tuscan wild boar ragu, but as that may be slightly more difficult to find in the UK, any hearty casserole should do splendidly.
Our voyage comes to an end with the light, straw-coloured Verdicchio dei castelli di jesi tenimenti spinsanti, a white wine made from the verdicchio grape found in the Marche area of Italy. Vibrant and refreshing, it marshals an array of white fruit and floral flavours to produce a refined and elegant wine with nut kernel notes and a pleasing and welcome acidity. All sea trips should finish like this, with a wine that’s great by itself or a first-rate accompaniment to a variety of different foods.