Alexander Wines serves up Christmas with a twist

Peter Ranscombe pops the corks on some exciting alternative festive choices.

I’M AS guilty as anyone else when it comes to reaching for the same old favourites at Christmas.

A bottle of Chablis, a bottle of pinot noir, and a bottle of something with bubbles in it, and I’m usually set for the festivities to begin.

Alexander Wines may have just found a way of knocking me out of my yuletide rut.

The Glasgow-based wine merchant launched its Wine Line Scotland website earlier in the year to start selling directly to customers.

Now, the company has unveiled a series of cases for Christmas, including its “traditional twist” box (£97.50).

I got a sneak peak at the wines inside, and there were a few very pleasant surprises…

Jacques Bruere Méthode Cap Classique Brut Reserve 2012
Méthode Cap Classique – or MCC to its friends – is South Africa’s flagship sparkling wine style. The second fermentation that creates the bubbles takes place inside the bottle – just like it does in Champagne, Cava, and other “traditional method” fizz, but in contrast to the fruiter tank method used for prosecco. For me, MCC wines tend to be rounder and more buttery than their European peers, and the Jacques Bruere didn’t disappoint, with butter, wood smoke, peach, and lemon on the nose, leading into rounder biscuit, red apple, peach, and more butter on the palate. Lots of fresh acidity too, so this would slice through smoked salmon or even goose.

Domaine Francois Cartier Touraine Sauvignon Blanc 2019
Venture further downstream from the famous Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé areas along the Loire river and you’ll fine Touraine, another excellent Northern French site for sauvignon blanc. I was really impressed with the Cartier during Wine Line Scotland’s maiden Instagram Live tasting back in June, and it shone again in the Christmas case. Bright gooseberry, asparagus, and nettle aromas were followed a blast of goose-friendly high acidity, which was well-balanced by green pepper, and more asparagus and gooseberry. Delicious on its own, but also the right amount of freshness for seafood or turkey.

Philip Shaw The Architect Chardonnay 2018
One of my new year’s resolutions must be to learn more about Orange, one of the Australian wine regions I didn’t visit on last year’s trip. That desire was reinforced by tasting The Architect chardonnay, a really tasty alternative to traditional Burgundy, which balanced crisp acidity with classic butter-bomb flavours, with fresher apricot and red apple mingling in there too.

Walt Lo
Perhaps the biggest twist in the case was adding a low-alcohol wine, tipping the scales at just 0.5% alcohol by volume, the same as a ripe banana. We’ve seen more and more low-alcohol bottles hitting the market over the past five years and the trend shows no signs of abating. German riesling is already lower in alcohol and I was very impressed with the standard Walt Riesling at last year’s tasting in Edinburgh. I’d struggle to sip a glass of the Lo on its own due to its 49 grams of residual sugar in each litre of wine, but I reckon this riesling will come into its own with turkey curry, especially if there’s a Thai influence in how you use up your leftovers, with the sweetness balancing the heat. All the classic riesling characteristics are there – the punch of acidity, the rich whiff of petrol, and the concentrated lemon and green apple flavours.

Chateau Fontesteau 2016
Red Bordeaux in a Christmas case? That’s not much of a twist? Ah – but this is the modern face of Bordeaux, and well worth exploring. Hailing from the Haut-Medoc area, this Cru Bourgeois has none of the unripe “green” notes of yesteryear. Instead, it’s alive with vibrant cassis, dark chocolate, and blackberry flavours, without skimping on the classic damp earth and wet leaf notes. Its chewy tannins make it an ideal partner for beef or vension, but the whole package is so well-balanced that it’ll sit nicely alongside turkey too. It reminded me of many of the fresher and more accessible bottles of Bordeaux I enjoyed on my final press trip before lockdown.

Vini Fabiano Valpolicella Ripasso 2017
Whether it’s panettone, tiramisu, or just a platter of Ferrero Rocher, it wouldn’t be Christmas without Italy. A nice twist on an Italian red here, with the ripasso style from Valpolicella, in which grape skins are left in contact with the wine to add further body. Another good candidate with red meat thanks to its surprisingly grippy tannins, but there’s plenty of rich dark chocolate, black cherry, mocha, and blackcurrant jam to turn this into a delicious fire-side treat in its own right.

Read more of Peter’s wine, beer, and spirit reviews on his drinks blog, The Grape & The Grain.