Some wines I enjoyed in October
Fizzy red, Bulgarian Misket and taxi driver wine
I’ve been bad.
I’ve been very bad - at updating this wine blog. It’s not just because I have been very busy launching my new wine biz Manchester Wine Tours. It’s also because I suffer from overwhelm and a serious dopamine addiction - bad combo. Is it ADHD? Who knows. But I have over 5000 notes in my notes app, I come up with endless new ideas and distractions before finishing any task in hand, and many sentences in the 10+ Word docs sitting open on my laptop just pause in mid-air waiting to be remembered. The numerous task management systems I’ve tried don’t work. My head is full of chirping birds. Wine helps quieten the noise, I guess.
My self-imposed deadlines for the last two monthly wine round-ups have sailed past me like my classmates on sports day, leaving me ashamed and self-effacing. So to catch up, I’m doing October and November’s wines in quick succession before December’s sneaks up on me too - think buses.
Scroll on for some wines I enjoyed in October. I’d love to hear about yours in the comments.
Seresin Chiaroscuro, Marlborough, New Zealand, 2019 (£24 The Great Wine Company)
Sometimes this wine blog is in danger of becoming endless crowing about Alsace style blends. I’m not going to apologise for that. I just love them. This one is from New Zealand and features the three tenors: Riesling, Pinot Gris and Gewurtztraminer with a high harmony from a smidge of of Viognier. It’s spent a lot of time on the lees giving it more body and a smokiness alongside petrolly notes. I tasted this with Leah Seresin herself, whose cinematographer father Michael set up the winery in 1992. All of their wines are worth a look but this was my favourite of the ones I tasted.
Once & Future Zinfandel, Contra Costa County, California 2020 (£26 from The Wine Society)
When I host wine tastings at Manchester Wine School, part of the evening involves guests voting for their top two wines of the event. From starting out shy to shout tasting notes, this post-tasting opinion-fest is often loud and lairy. I come over all Dave Spikey and I love it. We’ve had a lot of winners over the years but this one in October was one of my faves of 2023. A big, bolshy Californian red made from their beloved Zinfandel (aka Primitivo in Italy). Intense, stewed plums and cherry with a bit of tobacco and liquorice. Not for the faint-hearted.
Occidente Malbec, Valles Calchaqies, Salta, Argentina, 2021 (£17.99 from Rediscover Wines)
At a Rediscover Wines tasting at The Midland, founder Noel Reid was championing a lot of wines from Chile and Argentina where he spends a bit of time and there was a lot to love but this one took me aback and stuck with me. If you’re a fan of big, bold juicy reds but you want a floral, fragrant note too, this is your gal. I often find that Malbec has a bit of peachiness alongside all that plum, cherry and blackberry within its purple, inky depths. This was peachy but a bit flowery too. Very nice indeed.
Bergkloster Cuvee Weiss (£49 a bottle at Higher Ground)
Delicate orange with those floral, fragrant notes I love from grapes like Gewurtztraminer and Muscat. I have tasted a lot of orange and pet nat lately and have been struggling to find many I like. I’m trying! The ones that win me over are usually made with those aromatic noble grapes. Despite the many duds around, I rarely dislike anything I taste at Higher Ground. The team here is deadly serious about their wine list, not just in a ‘natty is on trend’ way. My friend Lucy and I hoovered this up and paired it with a plate of cheese and a massive gossip sesh.
El Senyal Blanc (£11 a glass at Tast)
A bonus of doing my Manchester Wine Tours is getting to taste lots of different wines every week. Tast has the largest selection of Catalan wines in the North (if not the UK) and there are some belters on the menu. This one made from Garnacha Blanca always goes down very well when I use it at tastings. It’s made in Catalonia by a British couple inspired by Burgundy techniques. So a refined use of oak with a luscious, full body, some banana-esque creaminess, a whiff of pear and soft citrus.
Tenuta Coccapane Lambrusco Secco (£15 retail from Reserve at Mackie)
Feels like ages ago but when Shaun Moffat, Exec chef at The Edinburgh Castle, designed a cheeseburger pizza (with beef fat mayo, ffs!) for Honest Crust, I decided to take my wine match vid on location. I picked this dry, fizzy red Lambrusco as a sort of Coca-Cola-inspired wine pairing and it worked SO WELL. Lambrusco secco has been having a moment for a while and this is a cracking little sparkler. Try it!
Papa Figos, Douro, Portugal, 2021 (£16 from Ad Hoc)
I went on a trip of a lifetime to Douro this year and I have promised myself to write it up by the end of 2023. I’ll spare you the excuses. When I am lucky enough to go on wine trips, I always ask the taxi driver who picks me up from the airport what their favourite wine is. It’s unlikely to be fancy-pants but it’s a fun way to find out what local non-wine professionals drink. On this occasion, it was Papa Figos so I wrote it down and bought a bottle in the airport on the way home. While it isn’t in the celestial realm of some of the wines I tasted at high-end wineries there, this is a lovely, warming, mid-week red with bags of rich black fruit macerated in balsamic with a few edible flowers sprinkled on top. I was pleased to see it in Ad Hoc recently.
Bononia Estate Vrachanski Misket 2022 (The Wine Society sometimes has it - around £15)
There’s nothing I love more than wine made from a grape that’s new to me. I have to confess that Thracian Lowlands was not a familiar wine region when I was invited to this tasting - as I’d wager it isn’t for you either. Well folks, it’s in Bulgaria and its wine has fans in Poland and Scandinavia but it’s still a relative rarity here. Tastings like this imply that may change in the future and Bulgarian wine is great value so certainly one to keep an eye out for. I tasted a very lovely Merlot (not a grape I warm to much, possibly Paul Giamatti’s fault) and another easy please of a muscat. But it was this white wine from the Vrachanaski Misket grape that I found most intriguing. A very savoury nose with notes of dried herbs, potpourri, thyme, rosemary, and baked apple.
La Cosa / The Thing (£18.50 from Latitude)
“Oh it has a whiff of a community swimming pool about it” was what came out when I filmed myself tasting this for the first time to match with Halloween Haribo (naturally). It’s also a bit reminiscent of Lockets. Have I convinced you you’ll love it yet? The fact is, you might also hate it. This is a wine with personality and not everyone can handle quite this much personality. But if you are looking for a wine like nothing you have ever tasted before that can stand up to a packet of sour fizzy sweets, I’ve got just The Thing.
If you know someone who loves wine and haven’t finished their Xmas present shopping yet, don’t forget you can get vouchers for Manchester Wine Tours, designed and hosted by your truly. I’d love to see you in 2024!
Look out for my November wine roundup coming very soon.
What have you been drinking recently? Let me know in the comments below.