Feb 19, 2019

Josh's Wine List - Issue #41

By Josh's Wine List • Issue #41 • View online

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?

Taste

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).

Learn

What is Picpoul de Pinet? Is it the same as Piquepoul?

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.

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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

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