Posts by: Natasha Hughes

Marques de Murrieta, Castillo Ygay, Gran Reserva Especial, Rioja, 2005

Marques de Murrieta, Castillo Ygay, Gran Reserva Especial, Rioja, 2005

IMG_2945I agonised for a long time about whether or not to feature this seductive, elegant Rioja as one of my wines of the week. Not because there were any doubts in my mind about whether or not it’s a good wine (answer – it’s an absolute stonker) but because it’s pretty expensive (you’re unlikely to see much change out of £60 if you splash out on a bottle).

And then I had a word with myself and decided to let you make up your own mind about the price. In most cases, wine writers labour under constant pressure from editors not to review ‘expensive’ wines. The definition of expensive varies from one magazine to another, but many’s the time I’ve heard a sharp intake of breath on the other end of the phone when I’ve proposed recommending a wine at £20. But I’ve come to the conclusion that in an era when it’s easy to spend fifty quid on an evening out at the theatre, or drop a ton (or more) on tickets for a gig (and don’t even get me started on the price of a designer T-shirt) that it’s ok, once in a while, to spend £20 – or more, dammit – on a great bottle of wine, especially if it’s going to really deliver on quality.

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Brunswick House

Brunswick House

20150509_220451I’ve always had a soft spot for a bit of architectural salvage, so when I pass a LASSCO showroom, I tend come over all faint at the knees. Not that I ever buy anything there (you need to be a zillionaire before you could even consider splurging on their divine reconditioned radiators, shiny parquet floors or Belle Epoque mirrors). So when my good mate Jen invited me to meet her for a drink at Brunswick House last year, I was on my way before she’d had a chance to hang up the phone.

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Voting for your favourite wine

Voting for your favourite wine

votingIt’s election day here in the UK, and while I can hardly describe my feelings about voting in this election as being those of unfettered enthusiasm, I’m very aware that helping to choose my government is not only my civic responsibility, it’s also a hard-won privilege, one that many women around the world still don’t enjoy.

In all honesty, I’m far keener to vote for my favourite wine of recent months. But what wine should I choose? In terms of sheer rational analysis, I should probably pick the wine that I awarded 19 points out of 20 while judging in the recent International Wine Challenge. (I can’t tell you what it is as the organisers of the competition would have to shoot me – results are embargoed until later this month.) Truth be told, however, the bottle I most enjoyed was the Champagne I shared a few weeks ago with a friend who was celebrating her graduation as a Master of Wine earlier. There were a few of us around the table in a local restaurant (the amazing Brunswick House, of which more next week), the mood was joyous and we shared some delicious food.

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The Lane, Beginning, Single-Vineyard Chardonnay, Adelaide Hills, 2010

The Lane, Beginning, Single-Vineyard Chardonnay, Adelaide Hills, 2010

Beginning ChardonnayLast night we tucked into a big bowl of crab pasta for dinner. It’s one of our favourite midweek meals, mainly because it takes about as long to cook as it does to type out the recipe.

You put a big pot of salted water on the stove to boil, and while it’s heating up, you finely chop a clove or two of garlic and a red chilli. Once you’ve tipped the pasta into the boiling water and it’s about 3-4 minutes from being done, you fry in a healthy glug of good-quality olive oil until it’s just starting to release some aromatics (don’t let the garlic burn, it’ll turn bitter). Add some brown crab meat (we use a couple of 100 gram tubs) and stir together over a moderate heat. Add a good pinch of salt and the grated zest of a lemon, along with one tub (100g) of white crab meat and the juice (to taste) of the lemon you zested, along with a generous bunch of flat-leafed parsley, finely chopped. Drain the pasta, then stir it into the sauce.

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Asian food and wine matching part two: Thai flavours

Asian food and wine matching part two: Thai flavours

Thai flavours

Finding the right wine to drink with your food is easy, relatively speaking, if you’re dealing with European flavours. A recipe’s origins should give you a clue as to the kind of wine that will work with it. Imagine a dish of long, slow-cooked lamb, then add Mediterranean flavours of rosemary, tomatoes and garlic. It doesn’t take much effort to dream up an accompanying bottle of Spanish tempranillo or a herby grenache blend from southern France. Spaghetti alle vongole suggests a dry Vermentino, while the same pasta cloaked in rich ragu cries out for a sangiovese or a barbera. But what do you do if you’re eating Asian? After all, it’s not as if there’s a long tradition of drinking (or producing) wine in countries like India, Japan, China or Thailand.

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Domaine de la Rochette, Fleur de Printemps, Sauvignon de Touraine 2014

Domaine de la Rochette, Fleur de Printemps, Sauvignon de Touraine 2014

Sauvignon FleurdePrintemps adjustSauvignon Blanc is, I have to admit, not one of my go-to grapes. I find many versions just too strident to either match with food or drink or to drink by themselves.

I’m happy, though, to make exceptions to the rule when I come across something a little bit special, and Domaine de la Rochette’s Fleur de Printemps is definitely a cut above the average. Its aromas are vividly, typically Sauvignon Blanc in character – loads of pungent nettle and tomato leaf – but the palate has a richness and weight to it that provides the wine with a bit of gravitas and elegance. It’s a wine of great energy and drive, with a refreshing twist of lemon sherbet on the finish.

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Domaine du Mortier, Brain de Folie, Vin de France 2014

Domaine du Mortier, Brain de Folie, Vin de France 2014

Brain de folie cropBrain de Folie is, apparently, a French slang term for a hangover (it’s a new one on me, but there you go – my argot is obviously not au courant). It is also (probably not coincidentally) the name of a rather fab Cabernet Franc made from grapes grown in a vineyard just outside St Nicolas de Bourgeuil, one of the Loire’s premier appellations for the grape.

This is not a wine for those who like their reds full-bodied and rich (like last week’s wine, for instance). Instead this is typical Cabernet France, with its hallmark leafy raspberry and redcurrant fruit, bright acidity and crunchy tannins. In fact, crunchy is pretty much a one-word description of this wine – the drink equivalent of biting into a juicy Granny Smith apple – although my tasting note ends with the one word, ‘yum’.

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Asian food and wine matching part one: Indian flavours

Asian food and wine matching part one: Indian flavours

spices

Finding the right wine to drink with your food is easy, relatively speaking, if you’re dealing with European flavours. A recipe’s origins should give you a clue as to the kind of wine that will work with it. Imagine a dish of long, slow-cooked lamb, then add Mediterranean flavours of rosemary, tomatoes and garlic. It doesn’t take much effort to dream up an accompanying bottle of Spanish tempranillo or a herby grenache blend from southern France. Spaghetti alle vongole suggests a dry Vermentino, while the same pasta cloaked in rich ragu cries out for a sangiovese or a barbera. But what do you do if you’re eating Asian? After all, it’s not as if there’s a long tradition of drinking (or producing) wine in countries like India, Japan, China or Thailand.

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Domaine de la Terre Rouge, Tête à Tête, Sierra Foothills, 2010

Domaine de la Terre Rouge, Tête à Tête, Sierra Foothills, 2010

Tete a TeteGenerally speaking, I struggle with California.

No, let me rephrase that. Generally speaking, I struggle with Californian wines. Often they’re either cheap branded wines with simple jammy fruit and little structure, or they’re incredibly expensive wines with jammy fruit and too much structure.

No, let me rephrase that again. Although a lot of the cheap wines are (to my palate, anyway) pretty undrinkable, and a lot of the expensive wines are made on the principle that more is more, in terms of fruit, alcohol, oak and price, there are an increasing number of very good Californian wines being made. I was out on the West Coast in September last year and tasted some of the very fine, elegant wines that are becoming the stock in trade of some of the State’s most innovative, intelligent winemakers. My only problem with these wines is that they don’t come cheap (and when I say they don’t come cheap, I mean that it’s often hard to get any change out of £30, and many are priced in the £40+ price range).

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Why I’m never going to recommend cheap wines (at least not just because they’re cheap)

Why I’m never going to recommend cheap wines (at least not just because they’re cheap)

Whether you’re communicating about wine in a newspaper or a magazine (with a few honourable exceptions), or even if you’re recommending wines on a TV show, we wine writers come under an awful lot of pressure to recommend wines that are a) sold in supermarkets and b) cost under a tenner.

While I’m happy to recommend the occasional supermarket wine, and am delighted if I can find a great-value bottle of wine, I am never going to recommend wines just because they’re widely available or cheap.

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