My old mate Jason Yapp was chirpier than ever when we met to taste his wines the other day. Never knowingly under-ebullient, Jas (despite the whisperings of a hangover) had an extra spring to his step having just bagged three gongs at the previous night’s International Wine Challenge, namely that of Rhône Specialist Wine Merchant of the Year and ditto for both the Loire and Languedoc-Roussillon. We tried some delicious wines together and these six were my favourites, all ideal for mid-summer sipping.
The 2017 Domaine l’Ancienne Cure (1) is an organically farmed, un-oaked blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Sémillon from Bergerac, south west France. Bergerac can be a pretty variable appellation in my view but this is a little beauty — fresh, fruity and dry with a gentle touch of citrus — and is what Jason likes to call ‘vif’. It’s also what he likes to drink by the bucket-load at his pad in the Dordogne and I can quite see why. £11.95 down from £12.95.
The 2016 Willems-Willems Saar ‘Schiefer’ Riesling (2) from the vertiginous vineyards of the Saar River in Germany is deliciously crisp, keen and refreshing, and bottled under screwcap to conserve its nervy, citrus-edged fruit. German wines are finally getting the attention they deserve with numerous by-the-glass listings in the hip restaurants and bars of Shoreditch and Soho, and this would do credit to any such a list. £14.50 down from £15.50.
The 2017 Domaine de Chinière Rosé (3) from Saint-Pourçain in the Auvergne is as close to Burgundy and the Rhône as it is to the Loire, but it’s to the Loire that the region is inevitably linked thanks to it lying on a tributary of the mighty Loire river itself.
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