New Post Coming Soon!!!

I am busy writing a wine piece for a competition so I will be updating the Blog with a new post next week…hang tight till then my pedigree chums, it’ll be worth the wait I promise!!

Wine is fun, fun is wine drink it young and when you dine

Camel B – Anagram of?

Hello winers and diners!

Did the week-long break without any updates make anyone feel as if they had lost their best teddy?  No I didn’t think so – but I bet in some way or another you were champing at the bit thinking ‘When is Scott going to update his wicked wine blog’!

Well here it is, post number 6 and still going strong, still plenty to talk about and still a lot of stuff that I want to tell you about.  First up on the tasting menu this evening is the poll from last week – thanks to all 19 of you that took part (we can do better than that!).  Seriously though, thanks for doing it, some interesting views and one non surprising outcome…most of us like to order a pint when we hit the Nuclear Sub!  Great thing to see was that it was followed closely by a glass of red wine.  I would say that it is a boy girl divide in most cases, I will be honest, I am certainly not adverse to ordering a glass of Chilean Merlot or an Argentinian Malbec but I tend to go for a trusty pint of London Pride or a guest ale in most cases.  It’s the girl contingent that go for the wine list.  This changes on location though – where I live in South West London, quite a lot of blokes drink red wine at the pub, and then maybe a pint afterwards to finish things of if it is a school night, whereas in other parts of the country there is no such sight as a chap asking for the wine list…for himself!  I feel that this may change though with a little push and shove but above all a bit of TLC towards the customer.  If you think of a standard pub that has 4 beers on draft and a wine list that offers 6 reds, 6 whites and some fizz….they will make most of their money on the wine and fizzy stuff because this is the bulk of their margin.  There are two types of pubs these days – a Wet Led Establishment and a Food Led Establishment – the former being orientated around its wine list, and so this is where food and wine matching plays a massive part in the on trade today.   So, with this in mind, if you are this standard pub owner, where would you want to concentrate a lot of your efforts??  I know what I would want to do, and where I would want to go with it……what would you do?

So, let me move onto something more light-hearted and a bit interesting. GRAPES!!

Many of us know what wine we like to drink, and in lots of cases stick to the same thing…..when you go into a restaurant or a pub and ask for a glass of Merlot, do you really know what you are asking for….and do you even know what Merlot is?  Given that this blog is aimed and everyone, I won’t put the patronising ink in my pen and start going into silly amounts of detail, but I will tell you the grapes that are most common in what we all drink, and what defines them, and what differentiates them from others.  I guess there is a Top 10 of grapes both found in red and white wine that you will know most of…from the top, here goes –

Merlot –  Black variety that gives a smooth delicate feel with soft tannins, you should be getting black fruit and plumminess on nose and palate and in some cases, on older wines you’ll notice fruitcake and chocolate characters.

Cabernet Sauvignon – Another black variety that give deep colours, lots of tannin and strong aromas of black fruits again (blackcurrant and black cherry predominate) you will also get some vegetal type notes, which means mint, cedar and pepper (bell pepper to be precise).

Shiraz/Syrah – Known as Shiraz in the old world and Syrah in the new world.  These wines make deep coloured examples and typically produce black fruit aromas and tastes of namely blackberry and dark chocolate.  Pepper tones also can be found here.

Sauvignon Blanc – Everyone loves a bit of ‘SB’!  You’ll see plenty of gooseberries, asparagus, green fruit!  Find a good one and you’ll be laughing!  New Zealand are world-renowned and making stonking SB.

Chardonnay –  Like Marmite, you either have it oaked or unoaked, and you either love it or hate it!  I am a heavy oak man myself.  Flavours vary greatly depending on where the grapes are grown.  In Chablis for example (famous place in Burgundy, France) it can offer green fruit (apples and pears) whereas in places like New Zealand and Australia, you’ll see flavours of tropical fruit (peaches, banana and pineapple).  Also, with an oaked Chardonnay, you will get the vanillary buttery type characters that are very distinctive.  Lovely jubbly!

Pinot Noir – another of my favourites.  Pinot Noir simply means ‘black cone’!  Usually light in colour and in body, and you will see flavours of red fruit (raspberries and strawberries).  Best drunk young, BUT Burgundy which are very famous for their Pinot Noir’s produce amazingly complex wines that will keep for decades!  With age comes Mushrooms, wet leaves and gamey/meaty notes – much like a lady I once knew!)

Riesling – Very aromatic white grape most famous in Germany, Alsace and Austria.  You can either enjoy them bone dry and elegantly fruity, or sweet and luscious!  With the drier style, you’ll pick up green fruit and limey tones and in the sweeter styles, plenty of stoned fruit (peach, apricot, mango and the like).  Again, find a gooden, and its a dream!

Malbec (not massive just yet, but it’s my favourite so I wanna talk abaad it!) – This is my al time favourite grape variety that not everyone is into, but should search high and low for it.  It offers amazingly flavoursome wines of black fruit, chocolate, plums, damsons, tobacco, amongst other fantastic flavours.  They are great too, because they will keep for a while and develop with age – but drink’em young and they are still awesome!  Next time you are out for a bite, see if there is an Argentinian Malbec on the list – order one!!

So, now you are offay with the main grape types, you will be able to decipher really what you like and get to grips with the types of flavours you pick up – and that’s where you can be confident in matching your wine with food or vice versa. 

Next on the agenda – Wine in the Soft World!  Basically, wine in the media both on and off-line.  This has been a bone of contention with me for some time now, as we as a nation of wine writers (novices included…i.e ME!!) sway heavily towards writing about wine online using tools such as this (WordPress), Twitter, Facebook etc.  Does anyone really read wine articles in the newspaper anymore?  If you are old school, then of course you will and to be honest, the Sunday Papers over a pint of vodka and a packet of skittles is a lovely treat – especially when there is a wine and food segment in the rag.  However, we are fast-moving in this country towards using Social Media and online tools as a medium of communicating with people, and people want to see what kind of capacity the internet has to deliver stories, views and opinions in a way not seen or even respected before.  You will not see many wine journalists keep their columns over the next few years, it just wont happen.  Online is where it’s at and is where I hope to see the world of wine come into its own.  Who says I don’t have passion!

I’ll keep it nice and light to end this week – have a goosy at this…http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dG31TXONAzc

Keep the comments coming and the views rolling in, much appreciated!  Camel B – so after reading this, can you tell me what it is?

Wine is fun, fun is wine drink it young and when you dine

Brands, Polls and Pingu!

Air Hair Lair!  Say that quickly and think about it and you will sound like Patsy from Ab Fab!  In proper English then – hello there good people of from wherever you are.

I have had lots of comments and plenty of you are reading the blog, so many thanks to you al for taking the time to read what I have to say.

On the menu this week…the Poll from the last blog to see what you spend on wine, and a chance to talk about it.  A lot of stuff in the news at the moment around Big Brand vs. Small Brand – it’s all about who you trust and what you are led to believe when wine is marketed.  Plus some other nuggets of stuff and things that should keep you fairly interested throughout the next few paragraphs and 10 mins of your time.

Did you watch the Gary Vaynerchuk link that I posted in the last update?  What did you think?  He is potty but makes sense and talks to the listener on a level that is few and far between these days when it comes to reaching out to the general public and telling them about wine.  Something that there is a distinct lack of – and particularly in this country….although we can’t ignore Olly Smith (see video link) beaming with confidence and he talks about wine so passionately, it’s impossible not to be engaged in what he is saying.  Quick fact – he wrote the popular children’s animated program Pingu!!!

Right lets crack on with things.  Picture in your head, massive vats or tanks of wine being churned and stirred filtered and mass bottled a long factory style line.  Now picture this on a much smaller scale, where the grapes are crushed by foot, picked individually and by hand and where the volumes are much less.  Going by this sentence alone, which wine would you choose?  It’s probably a no brainer for most of you.  However, all is not as it first appears…I am humming the Twilight Zone music right now!!  Brands these days rely entirely on sales alone, which are backed by millions in marketing and advertising spend and developed and executed in a big big way!  BUT – there are some brands out there that still depend on the equity and the following created by either marketing the wine in a way that it is both a sellable ‘thing’ and also something that touches people…or letting the wine (product) speak for itself.  The latter very difficult to do and then maintain, but some do it well and one in particular, extremely well indeed!  Think Australian wine, what brand comes into your head?  I would say that quite a few people that I know do not tend to lean towards or even agree with wine as a brand, in the same sentence you could say a commodity.  I would be lying if I said one day I would like to buy a case of Bordeaux that will lay down for 20 years then sell on for a profit – it can make money and is an investment opportunity, so long as you are cautious about it and seek advice first!  Anyway, I digress again – wine brands are now something that is ‘part of the process’ and by that I mean it is embedded into people’s minds now that wine as a brand can be trusted enough for us to spend our hard earned cash on it – despite it being advertised and marketed in ways much the same as brands such as Coca Cola, Nike, Apple, Adidas and many more.  A brand is a brand is a brand – but do we feel comfortable with a bottle of wine being in the same category?  Well I have to say I am almost split really.  The opportunity for wine brands to showcase their product in a way that allows them, to spend X amount on doing so is a fair thing to do…providing the wine is as good as they say it is in the first place, and they have to be able to back up their claims and promises within their marketing campaigns.  It can be a fickle thing.  I could go on and on, but it’s an interesting topic, and worth the debate.  Let me know what you think about it – you guys are in a far better position than me given that I work with brands anyway – it’s your view that counts here.

Onto the poll from the last post – thank you for those that took part and I can reveal that the majority of us spend between £3.99 and £5.99 on a bottle of plonk.  Not surprising at al given the current climate but most surprisingly is this – there is a lot of quality that can be found in a wine that costs just £5.99!  As you are the ones that voted, you will know what you spend your money on, but here are a few of my suggestions of wines to try over the coming weeks that’ll get your taste buds going:

‘Les Galets’ Cotes du Rhone £5.99 (Majestic) – This is a gorgeous, succulent Côtes du Rhône, showing superb notes of red and black berry fruit flavours and a warming hint of spiciness. The palate is full with soft, velvety tannins and a long satisfying length.

Garganega Pinot Grigio 2009 Albinoni £4.99 (Majestic) – A fresh crisp white wine with aromas of flowers and almonds and an elegant light palate which is refreshing and smooth.

Obikwa Rose 2010 – Aromas of plums, strawberries and spice are followed by a light to medium bodied palate of ripe red fruits.

Sticks Yarra Valley Chardonnay 2005 £4.99 (Tesco, Majestic, Oddbins) – Luxurious and creamy tropical fruit, with ample mid palate weight and structure, flowing seamlessly to a lingering sensuous finish.

Where can I get this from!!?? Can't find it anywhere

As ever, have a bang on these when you are next shopping for a decent value bottle!  My rule of thumb though on how much to spend is this – if I am going to someone’s for dinner or a party I will spend a couple of quid extra and go for something a bit more special – seek advice though and read the label – does it match what will go with the dinner, party food?  Is it something that the host will like?  If your answer is ‘I have no idea to these questions’ that’s perfect because you want to surprise them and let them and you try something different and exciting!

Pubs – we all like a nice pint or a glass of wine every other hour, sorry every other week, but what do you tend to drink?  My poll this week is despite what time of year it is, what you would normally tend to order at the bar.  See poll at the top of the page.

That’s it for this week (I will probably chuck a few things on during the week as per usual, but it won’t be anything too heavy I promise).  Keep tasting wine when and where you can and please leave me any comments you may have.  Thanks for reading and remember…wine is fun, fun is wine drink it young and when you dine.

*Special mention must go to Matt Boyman – lover of Hock!!  Dirty boy!*

GRAPES MAKE WINE?…GENIUS!!

My Tip of the Week

I can’t get used to this ‘Tuesday update Blog’ lark – I get itchy fingers and I am too eager to get cracking on the next post!  So here it is then, post numero quatro…only 3 days after the last one…woops!

I said to myself that my aim was to slowly but surely and most importantly in a ‘light hearted’ way start to educate people a little more about wine, and I also said from the start that I am far from a wine buff and only professionally educated to a semi advanced level which gives me no right to start telling you all what to drink and what not to drink – I can however make suggestions based on what I know, so I hope that none of this has been tool in ya face and pompous!  Please tell me if it is – I am conscious of sounding a bit of a tool!

Ok so, moving on swiftly to talk about the grapey stuff!  Cast your minds back to when I talked about Old World Wine and my suggestions of 3 styles in which to go out and try (refer to the post if you can’t remember).  This week I want to talk about the New World alternatives, which will be very different, albeit made from the same grapes, and in many ways the winemaking itself is pretty much the same – its just things like climate, soils and topography that change (by the way, Topography is surface shape and stuff like that – Wiki it if you can be arsed!).  This week, I want you if you can to try the following:

1)      New Zealand Pinot Noir (alternative to a Red Burgundy – same grape, different style)

2)      Australian Cabernet Sauvignon (Cabernet Sauvignon is one of the 5 normal grape varieties that can be found in a ‘typical’ Bordeaux blend)

3)      New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc (alternative to a Sancerre – again same grape, different style completely!)

You can pick all of these up for cheap enough from your local wine merchant – or again if you MUST from Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury’s etc.  I know this might be a bit tricky and this is my fault because I should have written this post straight after the Old World tasting post…but have a bash on these and see where the differences lie.  One of the first things you’ll pick up on is the ‘tannins’.  Tannins are hard to describe, so here is my own description…if you eat a bit of peanut butter on its on, you get a chewy kind of coating at the roof of your trapdoor that makes you wince slightly, but in a pleasant enough way.  The same can be said for a wine with ‘high tannins’.  It’s that chewy feeling you get when you swish the wine around in your mouth, and it coats your teeth and everything.  Don’t go smiling at anyone though; you’ll look like someone has just lobbed a load of beetroot in your face!!  Aside from this, you’ll begin to pick up on very distinct differences.  Think about what kind of fruit you are picking up on both the nose and the palate, think about the alcohol levels (you can tell whether or not the alcohol is strong on not very simply – if you get a warming feeling when you swallow the wine that soothes the throat, generally speaking, the ABV will be reasonably high…also, remember my last post talked about ‘legs and tears’, well if there is a strong coating if clear liquid around the glass, again, you can be pretty sure there is a fair amount of alcohol in the bottle.  Have a go with this, and please please send me some comments by hitting the ‘Leave a comment’ tab at the top of the page.  Good luck and enjoy!

Onto other matters, what in the name of Zippy, Bungle and George is this geezer on!!??  Have a look at the link I have added; this guy is an American Wino who is actually really popular and his take on wine appreciation is like nobody else.  I have to confess I do watch some of his daily vids and he is barking!!  He must knock back a few packs of sherbet before each video or something; there is no way this bloke is this happy all the time!  Anyway, have a quick look at the link and see what you think – he discusses what wines go best with cereals!  Here is the link – http://tv.winelibrary.com/2009/09/08/what-wine-pairs-with-cereal-episode-734/

Thanks to those that did the poll question – I am going to wait until next week before talking about the results – although I can already see that most if us are cheapskates and go for the bottles vinegar already!  Nothing wrong with that and I’ll elaborate next time.

Couple of things to share with you before I finish (stay awake if you can).  What do you think about English wine?  It’s a thing of mystery for most of us, and myself very much included.  However, no longer will this be the case.  English wine is very much in demand at the moment, and selling handsomely across the pond.  The Americans love anything ‘quintessentially English’ – they do a shite job of running English pubs and there version of fish and chips is as bad as Steve McLaren’s Dutch accent!!  Oh yesh pleash, my eggsh musht be boiled!!  BUT, they love a bit of English fizz!  For those who are based in the South East, why not pop over to Denbies Wine Estate and see what the fuss is about – I am sure most of you would have heard of it – it’s a proper tourist attraction now, but also a fully functional, and bloody good vineyard.  For those in the North – errrrr………??  GOOGLE!!

Ok almost there my pedigree chums.  All that is left is my tip of the week, wino fact and joke!!  Tip of the week this time round, is a Lagunilla Rioja Reserva from Morrison’s.  Its on offer at the moment at a bargain price of £5.99 (usually £13.99).  As good as a decent bottle of Rioja gets (remember, Rioja is the region not the grape – common misconception).  Lots of oaky sweetness, vanilla tones supported by dark berry fruit, with some spiciness at the end – top notch juice!  Have a bang and see what you think…pic at the top of this post!

JOKE – this turn in weather!!

WINO FACT – A case of very prestigious chateaux in Bordeaux was sold last week to a Chinese business man for £67,000!  That’s my weekly wage I couldn’t believe the uncanniness!  Oh no sorry, my mistake, that’s the amount that I have just paid for my Crystal Palace season ticket!  Those terrace burgers are something else!

That’s me for this week peeps.  Hope you enjoyed this one.  It’ll get better I promise.  A certain James May read it last week and said it was ‘Not bad’….that’s fine by me!!

Wine is fun, fun is wine drink it young and when you dine

Ding Dong – nice pair of legs!!

Tuesday today that means blog update day…I don’t think I mentioned that in my last post, but check back every Tuesday for my next piece.  Quick poll for you all as well…have a vote and let me see how many sheets you spend on a bottle of plonk!

So I am hoping some of you managed to go out and grab a bottle of the 3 wines I recommended in last week’s post?  I hope so, because I really want you to know the difference and start to decipher the ways in which Old World wine and New World wine are so far apart – in lots of cases not all however, as Italy are pretty fruit driven these days with some of their less expensive, mass produced but good quality wine, something that would go against this exercise!

There will be no real structure to my blogs by the way, not really the conventional blogger and have no desire to be, so I may throw in the odd fact, quote or joke from time to time…..What did the grape say when he was squeezed? Nothing. He just wined!  Piss poor that one I know, but I have to start somewhere.

Does anyone actually know how to taste wine?  There are many different ways of doing this, and people will tell you all sorts of stuff to do and not to do, but in essence, it is a very simple case of 4KE – 4 Key Elements…or (4 key elements in pictures)….these 3 key elements are Appearance, Nose, Palate and Conclusion.  Easy enough to remember huh!

What does the wine look like….whilst reading this, poor yourself a small measure (about 25cl) of whatever you have open, red or white.  Don’t worry about having a wide bowl glass and all that jazz just yet, a clear jug will do if that’s all you have!  Give the wine a few swirls around (it’s all in the wrist action – said the vicar!!) then let it rest on the side.  What do you notice…describe the colours that you are seeing….is it dull or clear is the intensity of the colour pale, medium or deep?  Does it have a cracking pair of legs!!!???  Ah yes the legs, my favourite part of the tasting process.  I must admit, I am not really a leg man, but I can be swayed.  Any ideas as to what I am talking about?  Swirl the glass again but a bit more vigorously this time, but not so much that you dash yourself on that clean white shirt you are wearing, or if you are naked, a ‘coated nipple’!  Now that you have swirled it, do you notice a ring of clear liquid near the top of the glass?  And can you see droplets of this pouring down the side of the glass and back into the wine?  These are Legs or tears.  The effect is a consequence of the fact that alcohol has a lower surface tension than water – there you go a wino fact!

Give it one more swirl and get your bugle right in there – and I mean right in there and get a good whiff of the stuff.  What can you smell……if it’s a red; can you smell blackberries, blackcurrants….strawberries, cherries…raspberries, cranberries?  You should be able to pick up the fruit first then other things will start to come in…what are they?  Have a look at the Sniff Sniff Taste Taste attachment and see which of these you are picking up…

Has this helped?  You will be totally surprised about how much there is on the nose of a small glass of wine.  This is where the learning starts and this is where the confidence begins.  You have a good old taste now and quickly send me a few thoughts as to what you are tasting.  I’ll then talk to you about evaluating the taste and about the abundance of flavour characteristics there are to be found.

I’ll end with my tip of the week – Chianti Veduta £6.99 from Oddbins.  Gorgeous cherry (morello) and vanilla with a cracking ‘mouth feel’.  Have a bang on it and see what you think! (PIcture atached)

My tip of the week choice…

To help you with paragraph 6…

Next week – 3 wines to recommend you from the New World – to compare with the 3 from last week and some comments on a poll that I have setup for you as above.  See what I mean by unstructured!!  Still, good fun though! 

Wine is fun, fun is wine, drink it young and when you dine

Who’s Wine is it Anyway

So thank you for the feedback that I have had and glad the peeps are behind the cause – nice to see!!  So my first blog was a bit of a ‘headline’ as to why I think wine warrants shouting about – in a nutshell, which it definitely was.  So over the coming weeks, I want to dig a bit deeper into what gets me going about wine, why people should be drinking more of it and above all, to get people to have the confidence to be able to converse with their friends, family etc about wine.  Let;’s face it, there is nothing worse than a donut that thinks he or she knows everything about wine, and therefore gives them the right to raise their volume above everyone elses and claim to be He-man (or She-ra if you will).  Wine is about 2 things in my opinion…personal taste and confidence.  If you don’t know what you like and why you like it and if you don’t have the confidence to talk about it, then where would we all be?  Ok, quick lesson then before I start to tell stories and go on and on (by the way, let me remind you that I have only been in the wine trade for 2 and a half years – and believe me, it doesn’t take that long to get to grips with the basics of wine)….it’s just that work got in the way for me….that little thing called work that pays my bills and pays for the sometimes silly money I can send on wine tastings at home!!

Anyway, I digress, so basically wine can be split into to distinct styles, Old World and New World (Old World being you France, Spain, Germany and Italy amongst others and New World being New Zealand, Australia, USA etc) – all countries make wine of varying levels of quality and price, it’s basically the style of wine that differs.  The 2 most guiding influences of Old World Wines are Terroir and Tradition.  The terroir is the geography and situation in which the vineyards are grown (soil, climate and topography) and the Tradition – well this can be very detailed, but its all about the ways in which the winemaker made their wine – oak ageing, barrel/bottle fermentation, malolactic fermentation etc, the land also plays a huge part.  For example, a winemaker who want’s to make a Riesling from the Mosel will want to put a bit of ‘land personality’ into it (the Mosel is famous for slate slopes and so will add its own wicket touch to the wine) – all this makes up how basically old World wines were and are still made.

Word after word of educational dross over – let’s get to the good part!  To get an idea of what Old World wine tastes like, next time you are at Majestic or Oddbins or your local merchant, ask or if you feel confident grab a bottle of the following:

1)  Red Burgundy (Pinot Noir)

2)  Bordeaux (sounds like it will be expensive, but look for Bordeaux Superiore on the label and you can pick one up for under five sheets) don’t worry too much about what type, just go for one that tickles ya fancy

3)  Sancerre (Sauvignon Blanc)

There is a New World equivalent to all of these of which I promise you are worlds apart in terms of smell and taste and is a great discussion topic.  Give it a go and reply to my blog with some thoughts.

It was hard writing this because I could have gone on and on – one step at a time Scott Malyon!!

Over and out for now as this was a bit impromptu.  next week I’ll have some cool stuff to talk about, and little more light-hearted.  In the meantime, here is how NOT to follow the Drinkaware national message.  Sorry!

Wine is fun, fun is wine best drunk now and when you dine

Monte da Peceguina 2008

The wine I mentioned at the end of my last post…try and find it if you can!

Hello World of Wine!

So, here I begin my first blog…and a WINE blog at that!  I have only been in the trade for 2 and a half years now, but already, the wine I have come across, the people I have encountered and the experiences I have gained have led me onto attempting to write about it.  See, wine is a funny thing.  For many, it’s just something to drink at home on your own, with your loved one at dinner, or in the garden with friends, and at the end of the day, these are the moments where wine is enjoyed most and what shifts bottles from aisles.  But for me, it is so much more than that; it’s a world in its own right.  Wine should be drunk when you want it, not just because you are meant to!   In other words, and probably ones that actually make sense…wine can offer many people a false sense of belonging; you shouldn’t have a glass because everyone else is, you should want one because you want one…simple as that, for me at least.  I enjoy a glug of something pretty much only when I have some grub on the go, unless its a sparkler or perhaps a light white…a Sancerre maybe and I;ll be honest, I always tend to buy my wine from a merchant rather than the supermarkets. YES great deals are to be had and I do get the appeal, but for me, buying wine should be an experience and a learning one at that every time you buy a bottle.  Try popping into your local wine shop and simply ask them to recommend something to you or go in with something in your mind that you can see yourself drinking, be it with that nights dinner or just something big and warming on a cold winters evening, rarely should you find somewhere that doesn’t help you to choose your wine.  My local shop, The Good Wine Shop in Kew Village exudes this ethos in abundance.  Each time I go in I try something different, and each time I come out learning something new…just last week, I had no idea that Tauriga Nacional was the largest planted grape in Portugal!  I urge everyone I meet to take wine more seriously, but not to the point of trying to turn them into a wino who wears v-neck pullovers and drives a Volvo!  No no no!  I just want people to see what I see, smell what I smell and taste what I taste….and that is wine that makes you express yourself.  I have so much more to say that I will share, but for now, I’ll leave you with my tip of the week.  Monte de Peceguina (Fab Portugese red, £14.50) from….I’ll leave you to find out!