In Case Of Emergency Break Glass

Life is too short for lots of things. Stuffing a mushroom, for one (Delia). Too short to be livin’ with stress, for another (Dizzee Rascal). Agree with both Delia and Dizzee but my own personal favourite, unsurprisingly, is that life’s too short to drink bad wine. Someone I know, let’s call her Josie, went to buy emergency wine the other night. I think she might have been wearing slippers. Anyway, she panic-bought, got home and her tasting note – in less than 140 characters, naturally – was this wine tastes a bit sh*t. I felt her pain and told her to tweet me the next time she was in the wine aisle needing advice. Same goes for you.

Current white in the fridge: Rabbit Row Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough 2008, £5.37, 33% off online, Waitrose

It is not always the case that big is beautiful but this wine is made by one of New Zealand’s biggest producers, Villa Maria; surplus wine that they needed to shift. They put it in a nattily-labelled bottle with rabbits on, sold it to Wairose and now we get to go rampant at a really good price. Gooseberries, as you’d expect. Passion fruit, too. Fresh and uplifting, like vinous botox. Doesn’t need food.  

Current red on the side: Maycas del Limari Syrah 2008, Chile, £8.82, Tesco

Maybe it is the ‘Los 33’ that made me buy Chilean wine this week but whatever the reason, Chilean wines – reds especially – are having a moment. There’s lots of Cabernet and Merlot to be found, but the varieties to watch out for here are Pinot Noir and Syrah. In this case, the Syrah has been grown in the Limari Valley, 400km north of Santiago. The cooler climate, Pacific Ocean influence and wonderfully rich soils all play a big part in making this big, smoky black fruit-scented wine so very good. Had mine tonight with pesto-smothered pasta and it worked a treat.  

Break glass x