It seems like many years ago that we started drinking drier styles of wine (about 40 years ago to be honest). Over the decades we have journeyed from off-dry German varieties through NZ Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Grigio to more recently embracing Picpoul de Pinet, Albarino and Grüner Veltliner. If these are your preferred styles of wine, then there is a whole world of crispness waiting for you.
My first hot tip (chilled tip?) is to get your lips around some English Bacchus of which there are many and varied styles. From crisp green hedgerows to richer juicier tropical fruits there is something for everyone. Usually made in untainted stainless steel and drunk very young (the 2023s will be released soon) there are some creative winemakers in England using techniques such as barrel ferment, skin contact, wild ferment, amphora and barrel aging to impart greater depths and texture to this variety that is fast becoming our national flagship white variety.
If you are looking for something further afield there are two great tips this weekend. In his ‘Hot Bottle’ newsletter, Olly Smith recommends M&S Found Arinto from Portugal – having tried this myself, I have to agree with him and at £8, it’s a real bargain, while Victoria Moore in The Telegraph leads her readers to Rioja Blanco with a great example available at Tesco for a tiny £6.
Have to say I would be heading for English Bacchus myself and in fact it was only yesterday that I was sharing a bottle of Furleigh Estate Bacchus 2022 with some wine friends – lipsmacking tingly dinginess…..