Start the new year by adding a few new bottles to your wine rack. Phoebe LeMessurier picks twelve wines you should be getting excited about in 2018.
Dry January? No thanks. When it’s cold and miserable outside, you need something to look forward to. Kick off 2018 by trying a few new tipples: you might not have heard of these grapes and wine styles before, but they’re more than worthy of your attention.
1. Crémant de Loire
Love champagne? Good news: crémant is made in France by the same méthode champenoise but is far cheaper. As crémant is less well known, and has less ‘prestige’ behind its name, you're much more likely to be in for a bargain with one of these lovely bottles of bubbles.
Try: Expensive-tasting Château de l'Aulée Crémant de Loire 'Cuvée Jeanne d'Arc' NV (£13.50) offers excellent value.
2. Gavi di Gavi
This white variety, stemming from the northeast of Italy, is highly regarded in its home of origin. While relatively dry, it typically has fresh lemony, green-apple acidity, an oily texture and flavours of ripe pear with a touch of honey.
Try: Turn up your heater and pretend you're at the beach whilst sipping on La Toledana Gavi (£12.99). We love the cute label, too.
3. Aged Albariño
You might have drunk Albariño before, especially if you’ve spent any time in Spain, but have you had a lees-aged Albariño? This grape variety has high acidity and when left to age with dead yeast, known as lees, it gains a lovely creamy texture.
Try: Bodega Castro Martin (£13.50). If you forget about it, it will become even more creamy with age.
4. South African Chenin
You might see a lot of Chenin Blanc, but we’re not talking about the house wine in your local pub. Explore the ‘splurge’ category of £10–30 and you’ll find wines that are oh-so-honied with flavours of apple crumble.
Try: Start with the very affordable Adi Badenhurst’s Secateaurs Chenin (£13.50).
5. Austrian Riesling
Surely you’ve heard the news by now? Riesling is cool again. Forget about the sickly sweet abominations of the 80s, this grape is back with a vengeance. The best place to start is Austria, where young winemakers are experimenting with out-of-the-box ideas.
Try: Hunt down tiny producer Martin Diwald. At £20, the Diwald Riesling Fuchsentanz is totally worth the splurge.
6. Serious rosé
Most of us have drunk good Provençal rosés, but of the some premium wines out there can blow your mind. You might just need to fork out a little extra cash. Instead of clear bottles with light and delicate pink juice inside, we’re going for texture and weight on the palate.
Try: Once you try a Clos Cibonne Tibouren Rose (£23.99) you may never look back.
7. Dry red blends
‘Dry red’ or ‘field’ blends may sound like a mystery pot of leftovers, but actually use lots of grape varieties to make the most of each grape’s positive attributes. Think of them as a winning football team.
Try: Frederick Stevenson Dry Red (£22.50) would definitely win the end-of-season trophy with lovely tannins, fruits and spice. Medium bodied and just plain juicy.
8. Mencia
Speaking of juicy, Spanish red grape variety Mencia is all that and more. Think what would happen if a full-bodied Pinot Noir married a lighter-bodied Tempranillo and they had a rebel baby. If that doesn’t make sense, it’s probably best just to hunt this down.
Try: Descendientes de J Palacios, Petalos (£18.99) is an excellent starting point.
9. Ribera del Duero Joven
If you’re a fan of Rioja then it’s time to discover its neighbour: Ribera. This region produces 99% red wine, mainly Tempranillo, and is situated on a high-altitude plateau that helps give wines freshness and lovely clean fruit. ‘Joven’ denotes a young wine that has been in oak for less than six months giving bright, delicious flavours with red berries, spice and a touch of vanilla.
Try: The Dominio Basconcillos Roble (£14.50) is on the heavier side of joven but still lovely and fresh.
10. Lagrein
Pronounced ‘lag-ran’, this small, fairly unknown grape variety is typically found in the north of Italy. Its wines tend to be deep, dark and full of violets with peppery tannins. With bottles packed with fruit and expressions of terroir – rather than oak – expect some seriously interesting flavours.
Try: Go for the ever-so-lovely Weingut Niklas, Sutiroler (£14.90).
11. Tap wines
Tap wine is hitting the UK hard, and there are some amazingly high-quality wines out there to hunt down. No, we don’t mean JD Wetherspoons’ £2.45 a glass stuff. We’re talking about the likes of Borough Wines and various other neighbourhood wine shops (and bars) who will give you refillable bottles so you can keep coming back for your favourite tipple.
Try: Our pick of the taps? Anything from Le Grappin.
12. Manzanilla
Dry sherry is really, really hot right now. Think nutty, salty flavours with hints of olive brine: just plain delicious. Manzanilla goes with pretty much every type of food, but especially fish and chips, cheese and charcuterie or anything Japanese.
Try: Hidalgo Manzanilla Pasada is intensely good (£12.99).