Scottish Field wine columnist Peter Ranscombe scours the hills and shores for five bottles to take to the harbour.
AS SPRING segues into summer, there’s no better time to visit the coast – or The Harbour Café at Elie, in Fife, which stars in the food feature in June’s issue of Scottish Field magazine.
Being an island nation, we often focus on coastal kitchens and fish dishes in the Wine to Dine column, and so it was refreshing to spread my wings and look more widely at wines to match turf as well as surf.
If you’re looking for more coastal wine pairings then check-out January’s trip to The Seafood Shack in Ullapool, along with last May’s Wine to Dine column, when white fish was the star ingredient, and April 2019’s deep dive into seafood.
In the meantime, enjoy this exciting mix of reds, whites, and fizz to pair with The Harbour Café’s creative dishes…
Found Mazuelo 2019
Marks & Spencer
£8.50
Part of Markies’ new “Found” range of “unexpected and undiscovered” wines, this lesser-known Rioja grape will tame chorizo’s spice. Aromas of fruity blackcurrant and sweeter vanilla will cement its credentials for Rioja lovers, while there’s enough tannin there too to rip about meaty chorizo. The País 2019 (£9) from M&S’s “Found” range would also be an interesting contender, offering a fresher and acid-focused rapier for the chorizo.
Champagne Charles Orban Cuvée Roger Daltrey
Eminent Life
£95
The king of the seas deserves the king of sparkling wines. This is no hollow, celebrity backed Champagne. The Who’s Roger Daltrey lent his name to this special edition fizz to mark his band’s 50th anniversary, and to raise money for the Teenage Cancer Trust. I was blown away by the intensity of its red apple, brown sugar, and fresher lemon flavours – like listening to Pinball Wizard for the first time on a really good pair of headphones. It’s firmly in brut territory, with 10 grams per litre of residual sugar to help balance its acidity.
Olivier Coste Old Star Carignan Noir 2019
Vin Neuf
£10.95
Carignan is an unsung hero from the South of France with that magic mix of depth and freshness to pair with beef shin. Oliver Coste’s bottle has enticing blueberry and blackcurrant on the nose, which lead into well-integrated tannins on the palate and more of that exciting mix of blue and black fruit. Carignan often disappears into blends, but this is a great example of why Pays d’Oc producers like to bottle it separately.
Scott Base Central Otago Pinot Noir 2018
Great Grog
£17.29
That combination of squid and chorizo needs a special wine, and New Zealand pioneer Allan Scott has just the ticket. Lighter red wines like pinot noir can be a great match for seafood like squid, but you can’t stray too far into pale or wishy-washy territory otherwise the red will get washed away by the chorizo. No fear of that here – Central Otago produces pinots with real depth, as with the red fruit flavours in Scott’s example. While the brand is best known for its sauvignon blancs, this example proves its expertise with reds too.
Yalumba Organic Sauvignon Blanc 2019
Co-op
£10
Sauvignon blanc’s fresh acidity is the ideal foil for crab, while Yalumba’s concentrated organic flavours are more than a match for garlic mayonnaise. Forget New Zealand’s guava and passionfruit-laced nose attacker – this example from South Australia has a style all of its own. Concentrated lemon and apricot aromas on the nose are replicated on the palate, but there’s no compromise on the crisp acidity, which is well balanced by the fruit. For something richer, rounder, and fruiter, looking out for Yalumba’s peach-focused organic viognier.
Check out Peter’s drinks blog, The Grape & The Grain, for more of his wine, beer, and spirits reviews.
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