Wine tasting at Majestic

I am officially an old woman. You know that beautiful bank holiday we just had? The one where everyone was outside, enjoying the sun and life and finding inner peace and joy and all that bullshit? Well I had a bad back. Yeah. Initial plans of a walk and picnic were quickly downgraded to staying in and sitting very, very still. Even my 'occasionally turning my head to look at something' ideas became impractical. I was not happy, to the point where I began cursing the happiness of others, and that may well have led to my descent into misanthropy and super-villainy if I hadn't remembered one very important fact: alcohol. It exists.

On Tuesday my local Majestic had their Summer Wine Tasting to showcase the new wines they have in stock, and even though my back wasn't entirely better there was no way I was missing it. So off I hobbled to find some nice summer drinks and anaesthetise my back. Two birds, y'see.

They had about a dozen wines out. I would have preferred a bigger selection, but it was respectable enough. I recall a wine tasting which had about 80 wines out, and even though I limited myself to the ones I really wanted to try I was still pissed as a bastard by the end of it. I ended up being half carried home and drunk texting some friends my opinions on Lethal Weapon. So I guess 12 wines is fine.

My highlights were:

Greywacke Sauvignon Blanc, £19.99 or £15.99 each when you buy two.

I'm a big fan of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, so I was kind of hoping that this wouldn't be much better than the cheaper versions which are my standard. It is, goddammit. It's got a beautiful, big, fruity, grassy taste, all tomato vines and lemons and apples. I could drink this all day.

Amarone, Cantina Negrar, £22 or £18.99 when you buy two.

This was rich, smooth and deep; almost fortified. It had a spicy, dried fruit finish, and a bit of honeyed sweetness. A very nice special occasion wine, and probably a good match for a cheeseboard.

Nyetimber Classic Cuvee, £23.99

English wine! I know, right? I've tried a couple of English whites which I have enjoyed very much and I want to try more, but there's still only limited availability and they're generally on the dear end. Nyetimber, as the enthusiastic chap at Majestic was telling me, have a vineyard in Sussex that almost exactly matches the soil and climate of the Champagne region, and as the wine is made by the same method it's about as close to champagne as you're likely to get. I can't disagree. It has a lovely honey-on-toast yeastiness and a really deep, full flavour. A real celebration wine.

As you can see, all of these are a bit expensive, so even though these were my favourites the likelihood is I'm not going to get them. I might treat myself to the Greywacke one day, but that's about it. The one wine I tasted that I almost certainly will get is the (drumroll please):

Mister Shiraz, £8.74 or £6.99 each when you buy two

This was rich, smokey and tasty, and not nearly as drying and tannic as I often find with beefy Shiraz's - it went down smooth. I think this would be a great food wine, and my tasting guide even recommended it for a barbecue. I reckon a couple of grilled steaks, chips, some good company and a bottle of this will suit a Summer's evening down to the ground.

You'll be pleased to know my back is much better now, but if it strikes me down again and my movement is limited to sitting in one spot and raising a glass, well, I'm prepared for that eventuality.