Tonight’s Tipple: Fiano Mandrarossa, Sicilia IGT, 2011

Last night’s taster was the Fiano Mandrarossa, Sicilia IGT, 2011 (£6.50 per bottle, £39.00 per case of 6).

The accompanying notes were quite detailed on this Sicilian wine. Apparently it’s produced by a cooperative in the hills around Menfi. Made from the fiano grape, the wine is sourced from dedicated vineyards using a computer-mapped traceability system. This is used to analyse sugar, tannin, and acidity to ensure that the grapes are picked at exactly the right time.

My first sip gave me a mouth full of acidity which was a bit of a shock and initially put me off. It does absolutely have the “hint of apricot and peach” as described which improved over time. I’m not sure whether the initial punch was due to what I’d been eating previously or if the wine wasn’t quite cold enough (it had been chilled for about 30min).

We were eating a chicken dish with a cream-based sauce and I found it to be an excellent accompaniment for that, with the fruit flavours and acidity helping to cut through the rich food. The Wine Society web site says it would go well with Spaghetti Puttanesca, Spanish Chicken Salad, or Macaroni Cheese, all of which I can see.

So a good wine to serve cold with rich food, but probably not something you’d want to have on its own.

Tonight’s Tipple: Viña Zorzal Graciano, Navarra, 2010

It’s a new year and that means it’s time to try new things. Just a few…

The Wine Society helped us out this year by including an article from Tim Sykes, their Head Buyer. He reviewed a range of current wines across many different types and varieties, all at fairly reasonable prices. Conveniently, the Society then offered up a discounted taster case!

Well, how could we refuse…

We started the case last night with the Viña Zorzal Graciano, Navarra, 2010 (£6.75 per bottle, £40.50 per case of 6). This wine comes from the Ribera Baja region in Navarra. It is made exclusively from graciano vines, which is one of the supporting graves in Rioja blends. The big difference from Rioja is that this wine spends a relatively short time in oak, only 4 months.

The tasting notes describe it as “a juicy, bracing red with herby, red fruit flavours and lots of character”.

We served it with a locally made beef and ale pie served with salad and it was well matched to the strong flavours of the pie. Having spent so little time in oak, instead of a strong, dry wine you end up with a massive fruit taste in an easy drinking wine that reminded me of a good Syrah.

We’re not connoisseurs, but we really enjoyed this wine and will probably consider picking up a half case in the near future.