At times it can be difficult to select a good yet affordable wine for a romantic date. If you’re in the mood for white wine, try Mas Buscados’ Macabeo sobre lías found in Cork & Cask in Marchmont for just £7.50. It is a full-bodied and dry wine with medium acidity, giving it a crisp refreshing finish.
When you come across the term ‘sobre lias,’ it indicates that dead yeast cells have been left in the wine after the fermentation process, creating yeasty flavours of toast and cream. Macabeo, the type of grape that was used in this wine, is a very versatile as it can create wines with a variety of characteristics depending on how early the grape is harvested or left in oak ageing. Younger Macabeos are going to be more citrus fresh, acidic or floral, yet those with a longer oaked ageing period are going to have more nutty and buttery flavours.
For a red wine suggestion, Calusari’s Romanian Pinot Noir ticks a lot of boxes. For £7.50 and again stocked in Cork & Cask, this wine has some really unusual and complex flavours. This wine exudes a scent of heather and violets and the taste is bombarded by sweet plums, gooseberries and blackberries. This wine works well as a pre-dinner drink with its low-acidity, low-tannins yet full-bodied finish. If you were looking for a food match, barbecued meat and chargrilled vegetables would be a nice option.
It was exciting to find a Romanian wine in a local wine shop and the good news is that Romanian wines are starting to appear more frequently in UK supermarkets. Unfortunately, wine production suffered in Romania under communist rule, but now production is booming and the export market is opening up, producing wines that are really great value for money. In fact, Romania is the 6th largest wine-producing country in Europe!
Pinot noir itself is usually associated with Burgundy yet it is grown in many other wine producing areas such as California, South Africa and New Zealand. When looking at German wines you may come across the word ‘spatburgunder’ which is the German term for pinot noir. Pinot noir usually thrives best in relatively cool to medium temperate climates. When enjoying a young pinot you often experience flavours of red fruits like strawberries, and yet with ageing pinot noirs develop more vegetal and earthy characteristics.
Image: Mick Stephenson via Wikimedia Commons