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OLLY SMITH: The European revolutionaries: Budget wines from Romania, Croatia and Portugal

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Harness Tinto da Anfora 2009 (Portugal) to a wintry stew or a chop and rejoice

One of the many wonderful things about wine is that there’s always something fresh to explore, whether it’s the latest vintage, a hidden grape variety or a corner of a country with top vineyards tucked away.

For example, I recently tasted two Swiss wines, a red and a white, at one of my Three Wine Men tastings.

Both were completely brilliant and put a grin on my face, and were made from grape varieties that I wish were more widely available: Humagne Blanche and Humagne Rouge.

It got me thinking about the Europe beyond France, Spain and Italy and dreaming about budget wines from Romania, fragrant whites from Croatia and the wealth of wine styles pumped out by plucky Portugal.

Why on earth don’t we drink more of these wines?

You may not have tasted a Romanian wine recently, but I suspect it’s only a matter of time before you do.

The value for money coming out of that country is truly amazing.

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There are a few local grape varieties to test your pronunciation, such as perfumed white Fetească Albă (I’d just stick with the English translation of White Maiden) but there’s also some Pinot Noir (see my recommendations) along with Cabernet Sauvignon, Sauvignon Blanc and other more familiar grape varieties.

The Paparuda range of Romanian  wine includes a Syrah, Pinot Noir, Pinot Grigio and Sauvignon Blanc, and generally offers good value and modern fruit-driven styles.

Wine Rules: No.33

Be prepared to spit out your wine.

If you’re visiting a winery or attending a wine-tasting, spitting is the order of the day to evaluate the wines you’re being shown. It’s deemed perfectly OK to discard wines once you’ve sipped them and move on to the next one! At home, you may, of course, wish to finish your glass, just to make sure you’ve captured and enjoyed all those glorious flavours and aromas!

You can find them in merchants such as Wine Rack, Tanners, Adnams and more – well worth looking out for. 

And the Balkans have even more to offer, as anyone who’s been for a holiday in Croatia will tell you.

Marks & Spencer has recently been stocking a mini-range of Croatian white wines and there are some gems that taste utterly unique and offer a style of fragrant refreshment somewhere between the fresh whites of Italy and the aromatic wines of Alsace.

These wines pair beautifully with shellfish, thanks to their breezy, fragrant character and purity of zing. Look for Pilato Malvasija Istarka 2011 (£12.49, M&S), with a wealth of aromatic fruity flavour.

It’s a romping, lush white with stacks of personality.

If it’s red wine you’re after, Portugal has some belting bottles such as Vinha do Monte 2010 – a rich, deep, spicy beauty, on offer for £6.99 at Majestic – or Crasto Douro Red 2010, a meaty yet perfumed red with epic power and complexity that punches well above its price (Majestic again, on offer for £8.49).

Ask Olly...

Suki wants to know which reds have particular health benefits. It is thought that procyanidins found in red wine can benefit vascular health. Reds from Cahors in France and Malbec from Argentina are said to be high in procyanidins. Website vinopic.com offers wines analysed and rated by Roger Corder, with unique scores that take into account procyanidins levels.

Both of these are blends featuring local Portuguese grapes such as Tinta Barroca and Alfrocheiro, which create wines that taste, smell and feel uniquely born from their place of origin.

Which brings me back to those Swiss beauties: Giroud Humagne Blanche 2009 and Simon Maye et Fils Humagne Rouge 2008, both from nickdobsonwines.co.uk, which deftly sources bottles from hidden corners of Europe and beyond.

Dive in and have a rummage, or pop to your local supermarket and snap up a bottle from beyond the usual suspects.

You may end up saving yourself a few quid – and you’ll definitely be tasting something beyond your usual glass.

Wine news

Kieron Atkinson, a former captain in the Light Dragoons and now an English wine-maker, has put together a wine project to support wounded soldiers in Afghanistan. Sahagun is a sparkling English wine made with Seyval Blanc grapes, available from englishwineproject.co.uk. Ten per cent from the sale of each bottle goes to the Light Dragoons’ Colonel’s Appeal Fund.






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