Anyone in the wine trade will tell you that the last thing they want to drink after a trade wine tasting is a glass of wine. So it’s customary for the hosts to serve beer at the after party. If your festive season was anything like mine then Christmas is like one long wine tasting, but come January it’s not beer I’m craving or a detox for that matter, instead I embrace the reality that my January will involve some wine and turn my attention to which will make giving into temptation all the more worth while.
If you only drink one white wine this month make it:
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Marananga Dam Roussanne, Viognier, Marsanne 2013, Barossa Valley, Australia, M&S, £14.99
From one of Australia’s best wine producers, Torbreck have made a white worthy of an appearance on Christmas Day (which is where I came across it thanks to the in-laws) but with a price tag that won’t add too much strain to your post-present-buying credit card bill. It will appeal to fans and foes of Viognier, a grape that can often split a panel because the Roussanne and Marsanne (classic white grapes from the Languedoc) tone down the apricot blossom of the Viognier and bring to life the richness and yellow fruit flavours all winter white wines should display. Happy New Year indeed.
