Josh's Wine List - Issue #41

When you’ve finished reading today’s issue, open a bottle, pour a glass, and read Jeanette Winterson’s ode to wine from yesterday’s Observer. It’s a fantastic piece of wine writing from a non-wine writer.

I’m taking part as a guest in a podcast this week. It’ll be interesting to see what I’m like on the other side of the mic. It’s in a special feature all about English Wine from the excellent BYO Podcast.

Last week, after a multi-week delay, I finally finished my own podcast. What did everyone think of the final episode?

I tasted Tesco’s Picpoul de Pinet (£7.50) at a friends’ a few weeks ago and really enjoyed it. It held a lovely texture in the mouth that having just had some high acid whites beforehand was quite nice to find some balance. Pears and a floral hint on the nose/palate made it a great quaffer.

While our house sparkling wine is Lidl’s Comte Senneval, I tried the 2013 vintage Asda Miralda Cava (£9.00) and loved it. For the price point, this is a steal. Rich, dry, with a slight lemon that verges on orange-peel in aroma. Way more interesting than most supermarket cava I’ve tried.

I had a brilliant grenache from Domaine Roche Audran in January that unfortunately is sold out now. This elegant, aromatic and smoky grenache was a brilliant accompaniment to middle eastern fare. The red seems long gone, but I’d hunt out the white from the same producer from Borough Wines (£22).

Prior to learning about wine, Picpoul (de Pinet) sat alongside Sancerre and Chablis as one of the three white wines that I knew was ‘good’ - whatever that meant. But what exactly is it?

Given it’s a French wine, Picpoul de Pinet is a place. It’s an AOC appellation that is part of the Languedoc region in the south of France.

That said, piquepoul is also a name of a grape. Piquepoul is commonly a white grape, but there’s a noir version available to, though it’s very rare.

White piquepoul tend to be full bodied, with citrus aromas. The best displays showing more depth with nuttiness and minerality.

Picpoul/piquepoul is great grape to delve into on a budget. Even the best rated displays can be bought for under £15.

Then share it with a friend! Did you know that 40% of my readers come in via friend shares. I couldn’t say how much I appreciate that. Thanks