7 Wines for an Indian Summer!

The sun is back out and we’re in for some glorious, warm evenings. Here are seven of my favourite summer sippers from this year to elongate that holiday feeling!

Mar de Frades Albariño Atlantico

Razor sharp, dry and saline, this is citrusy white hails from Rias Baixas in Galicia, northwestern Spain. It tastes as fresh as squeezing lemon juice on your fish and chips and is delicious with all seafood but great on its own too.

Size: 750mL
ABV: 12.5%
Find here: £17

Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi Misco Tenuta di Tavignano 2021

Once a staple in our fridges, the Verdicchio grape fell out of favour here in the UK when the bold Aussie Chardonnays stole the limelight in the nineties. Now as our palates have matured, the lean, cool yeastiness of this Italian white from Le Marche appeals once again . This Misco is a serious version with compex notes of apple, green almond and subtle apricot.

Size: 750mL
ABV: 13.98%
Find here: £25

Pasqua “Hey French You Could Have Made This But You Didn’t”

This multi-vintage white is a juicy blend of Garganega, Pinot Blanc & Sauvignon Blanc from 2015, 2016, 2017 & 2018 and Pasqua’s finest vineyards in Verona, Italy. Lots of aromatics, texture and flavours of greengage, peach and candied peel.

Size: 750mL
ABV: 13.5%
Find here: £32

Sigalas Santorini Assyrtiko

Of all the Assyrtiko wines I have tasted this summer, this is my favourite. A fabulous combo of zesty lemon, quince and peach with a slick of saline making it ridiculously glugworthy. A really special wine that sets the benchmark for balance.

Size: 750mL
ABV: 14.5%
Find here: £40

Hidden Sea Chardonnay

Fans of easy-going, Aussie Chardonnay will love Hidden Sea, not just for its generous, melon and honeysuckle-scented juice, nor for its super stylish bottle but each product purchased helps remove plastic from the oceans! What an excellent reason to stock up. A great, affordable, all rounder wine.

Size: 750mL
ABV: 13%
Find here: £10

Hampton Water Rosé

This elegant but ripe Grenache-based blend hails from the Languedoc and is the brainchild of Jon Bon Jovi and his son Jesse with wine skills by vinous Languedoc legend, Gerard Bertrand. Think wild strawberry and creamy, raspberry compote. A real easy drinker but smart with it.

Size: 750mL
ABV: 13%
Find here: £19

Babylonstoren Rosé

This lively, pale, South African pink cuts a stunning figure in its smart, screen printed bottle. Fans of Bandol in Provence will like this more savoury, fuller-bodied rosé made with the meaty Mourvèdre grape. It’s a BBQ in a bottle with its aromatic nose, ripe strawberries and cream notes and crisp acidity. Lush!

Size: 750mL
ABV: 13.5%
Find here: £16

If you’re looking for more end-of-summer sips, then take a look at these wines from Santorini, and for recipes to pair perfectly with Albariño, check out this article.

Santorini Wines: Your ABC Guide

Greek wines from both the mainland and the islands are becoming ever more popular as people return from their holidays having tasted some pretty special sips. Quality has skyrocketed over recent years and we are now starting to see more Greek wines on the shelves in our supermarkets and indies as well as on restaurant lists. Santorini seems to be leading the way with its zesty, foodie, white wines made from the Assyrtiko grape, so is well worth a closer look. Here is your ABC guide to the PDO white wines of Santorini with some to try…

What and where?

Santorini is a small archipelago of Greek, volcanic islands in the southern Aegean Sea, southeast of mainland Greece, though "Santorini" is commonly used to refer to the largest and most famous island of the group.

Ancient history

Proof of winemaking on the island has been found dating back  to 20-30 centuries BC with some important findings from the bronze age. This is why the island is described as a ‘living museum’ with the oldest, uninterrupted vine cultivation in the world. The community is working towards earning Santorini UNESCO status to safeguard its vines and practices. 

Assyrtiko: Queen of Grapes

There are 64 wine grapes on the island of which 59 are known. However, only 3 of them are allowed in the PDO: Protected Designation of Origin, which ensures the highest quality in the wines. The hero grape is Assyrtiko - a white grape indigenous to Santorini. It has a vibrant yellow, thick skin and makes gastronomic wines that keep their freshness and acidity despite the heat and relatively high alcohol levels. Assyrtiko wines tend to be delicately aromatic, citrussy and very saline. They’re often aged on their lees (dead yeast cells) and see some bâtonnage (lees stirring) to add a richer, creamier texture. 

Labour intensive, unique viticulture

Santorini is super hot, exceedingly dry and very windy with infertile, volcanic soils. The subsoil is just over 60% pumice with very shallow, loose ‘volcanic dirt’ over the top. Pumice works well to save water here and black lava stones absorb heat away from the vines. To combat the heat and wind and to maximise the water that comes almost entirely from the morning mists, vines are trained into circular, nest shapes called ‘koulouras’. 

Ungrafted vines

On the plus side, there are no pests to contend with and very little disease as the environment is so harsh. This also means that vines here are immune to the phylloxera louse, so they remain ungrafted, with some roots said to be centuries old. These old vines have incredibly deep roots and give the wines dramatically low yields. The result is more concentrated, particularly mineral wines of top quality. 

PDO Santorini

PDO Santorini: Wines must be 85% Assyrtiko, with the rest made up of Aidani and Aithiri, which are softer and more aromatic. The best wines are said to be always made from 100% Assyrtiko. If the label just says Assyrtiko, it’s not PDO Santorini.

PDO Santorini ‘Nykteri’: Nyketri means ‘working all through the night’ as grapes were harvested in the small hours to keep them cooler. The expression now refers to oaked versions of these white wines, where the oak mabe older and larger to add more texture than flavour or newer for a more oaky taste. Whichever style, Nkyteri wines offer a lot of structure and are often described as ‘white wines that drink like red’.

PDO Santorini Vinsanto: These are sweet, late harvest wines that must be made with at least 80% Assyrtiko. They are dried in the sun and fermented very slowly in open vats before being aged in wooden barrels for at least 2 years. The result is moreish, sweet wines that are well balanced and fresh with notes of toffee, mocha, nuts and caramel. They love chocolate and cheese!

Modern Versus Traditional Styles

There has been lots of work in recent years to up the quality in all PDO Santorini wines to showcase the purity of the varietal. Since 2016 particularly, there has been a huge quality push with Assyrtiko becoming more premium, dry, steely, fresh and pure in style. Producers are being incentivised to keep their vines and not sell the land for tourism, so they are being paid much larger amounts for their yields. In turn, this has meant that much more attention is being paid to the winemaking process. There used to be a lot more residual sugar allowed in for example and styles really varied a lot with many Nykteri wines particularly being more oxidative, like a fino Sherry. 

PDO Santorini wines to try

Sigalas Santorini PDO Assyrtiko, 2021

£33 from Maltby & Greek 

Santo Nykteri PDO Assyrtiko-Athiri-Aidani, 2021

£28.50 from Maltby & Greek

Estate Argyros Vinsanto First Release, 2015

£39.90 from 8Wines

talkRADIO: Alternative White Wines for Spring

Whoohoo! It’s getting warmer! What better time then to try some alternative white wine grapes? Come on, you’ve had enough Sauvignon and Picpoul. Here are three grapes that deserve your attention and some lovely examples to seek out. Happy Thursday Club!

If you like Albarino, try… Assyrtiko

Assyrtiko is THE key white wine grape from Greece and it makes one of those super refreshing white wines that are slick and saline with zesty lemon and citrus notes but a riper, peachy fruitiness with it. The most famous region for it in Greece is Santorini and this one comes  from winery Artemis Karamolegos and is made with fifty year old vines. 

Find it for £14.95 at The Wine Society

If you like Viognier, try… Roussanne

Roussanne  is a white grape hailing from the Rhône Valley that produces powerful, nutty white wines with intense aromas and flavours of flowers, peach, pear and apricot, with baking spice. Exotic, oily and textural, this grape is the opposite of zesty, zippy Sauvignon. Traditionally used in blends like white Chateauneuf du pape, we’re now seeing more of it as a single grape wine. 

Find it for £6.79 at ALDI

If you like Gavi, try… Verdicchio 

Verdicchio is one of the finest white native grapes of Italy and the most important area for them in the the Marche region around Castelli di Jesi. This is an area with many medieval fortresses on many hilltop villages surrounding the central town of Jesi. This complex and crisp dry white is often called the White Barolo thanks to its fabulous ability to age. When young, it has lovely floral aromas and subtle notes of tropical fruit and a yeasty finish. 

Find it for £6 at Tesco

Want to know what else we’ve tasted on talkRADIO with Mike Graham for the Thursday Club? Click here!

Thursday Club with talk RADIO: Bargain wines from Aldi

It’s supermarket press tasting season! On today’s Thursday Club with Mike Graham on Talk Radio, we look at three ALDI wines that really impressed me for the price - and they’re all a bit of a step away from the norm!

White wine: Filos Estate Assyrtiko, 2020, Greece.

Assyrtiko is the famous white wine grape from Greece that is making a splash in the UK. This one hails from North West Greece with grapes harvest from one single vineyard. If you love Chablis and Albarino, you will like this. It's citrussy and fresh with a saline tang and a peachy note balancing everything up. Perfect for hot summer days - when we eventually get them! 

Find it at Aldi for £6.99 here.

Sangiovese Reserva, Estevez, Chile.

Sangiovese is the Italian grape that is most famous for making the wines of Chianti, Brunello di Montalcino and Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, so it’s fascinating to find it out in Chile. Here it's fuller-bodied and more juicy, but showing classic Sangiovese notes of sour cherry, dried herbs and coffee beans. Beautifully made, big and ballsy but with soft tannins. 

Find it at Aldi for £6.49 here.

Aglianico del Vulture, 2017, Italy.

Another example of how southern Italian grapes are well worth looking out for. Aglianico (that’s the grape) thrives on the volcanic soils around Mount Vulture in Basilicata. This is for you if you like Barolo or punchier Tuscan reds. It’s black and savoury with notes of grilled meat, tobacco, stewed fruit and cocoa powder, partly thanks to the extra age on it. Incredible value:

Find it at Aldi for £6.99 here