I HAVE always been a great one for forward planning even with wine: but sorting out what goes well with what when matching with food can be very difficult, and this week I bring you just the one wine.
With having some mallard at the weekend, which is currently in season, I wanted a light and gamey wine. After hunting around I found this superb red from Chile, which produces some excellent reds – this is no exception.
It is from the Leyda Valley, close to the Pacific coastline, making it a relatively cool climate - cool in the mornings and at night, and warm during the day - ideal for growing Pinot Noir. This week's wine is a Secano Maiten Vineyard Block 1 Pinot Noir 2010, which is made from a single block of vines to maintain the quality of the grapes and, because it’s a cool climate area, it also shows subtle flavours.
The wine is a beautiful hue of red and on the nose shows vegetable flavours and spice with red berries, followed by plum and silky, fruit flavours with a soft, round finish. An ideal red to match with the array of tastes and flavours of mallard, but also a treat with lamb. Available from Marks and Spencer at £8.99 a bottle.
- Graeme Hedley is sommelier and expert on food and wine at Kendal College’s Lakes Hotel School
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