Just in case you hadn’t noticed, the Rugby World Cup kicks off this Friday with England vs Fiji at HQ. The delicious prospect of six weeks of international rugby prompted sports-mad Laura Taylor and Amanda Skinner from Private Cellar to present a fine selection of wines for me to taste drawn only from those rugby nations that produce wine.
I whittled their original selection down to what I like to think of as a formidable wine/rugby half-dozen from France, England, South Africa, New Zealand, Argentina and Italy. Thank your lucky stars we’re not offering you kava from Tonga. The age-old, mildly narcotic national drink might — supposedly — calm nerves, ease stress and cure syphilis, gonorrhea, boils and stomach cramps but it can also lead to temporary paralysis of the legs if overindulged in. Oh that Spanish cava was blessed with such exciting properties.
Anyway, back to our offer. From France (currently 14/1 at Paddy Power) we have the delicious 2013 Domaine Montmarin Chardonnay (1) from the Côtes de Thongue, an up-and-coming Languedoc-Roussillon region expected to be given full Appellation Côntrolée status soon. A light oaking combined with Mediterranean-ripe fruit adds a gentle butteriness to a juicy citrus backbone, with the resulting wine being crisp, clean and refreshing. £8.50 down from £8.95.
The Italians (1,000/1) might be among the rugby no-hopers, but their wines remain resolutely on song. Indeed, the 2014 Antonio Fattori Pinot Grigio Gregoris (2) is an absolute peach and about as unlike everyday wine-bar Pinot Grigio as live music is to every-day wine-bar muzak. Vibrant and fresh, it’s gently aromatic on the nose and deliciously creamy in the mouth, with all the character that regular PG lacks. £8.95 down from £9.95.
The 2012 McNaught & Walker Sauvignon Blanc (3) from New Zealand (11/8) is a belter of a wine from a belter of a rugby nation.
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