At the start of every season, there will be three missives - covering whites, reds and then a compilation of fizz, rosés, pudding and fortified - that will match the foods that are in season: a selected wine list that is in tune with the culinary calendar.
This is the first, and Sunday 30th will see the red collection, and the following week the compilation.
Importantly, wherever possible, any wine under the seasonal banner will be available by the bottle, and priced from £15.00 to £35.00, inc VAT on the merchant’s shelf.
The link on the price will take you to the merchant’s page, and the Notes option alongside each wine will take you to more detail about each wine on a new site: www.dappled.info
The www.dappled.info site is ‘under-construction’ and you are seeing a beta version that will evolve over the coming weeks and months. Your email address will be moved across from the current MailChimp platform to the SubStack server, where this site resides, during April. I’ll let you know when it has been transferred.
The Seasonal Wine pages are a new element. Obviously, over the space of three months, these seasonal wines will change as some go out of stock, and new ones are found.
As wines come off the list, and new ones are added, a footnote will be added to every new missive as changes occur to keep you informed, ensuring that a selection of wines by the bottle is always available.
With wild garlic starting to appear in local hedgerows, spring lamb around the corner, razor clams, purple sprouting broccoli, early asparagus from Cornwall in April, Jersey Royals, St George’s mushrooms, kale and watercress, there is an abundance of local seasonal produce about to emerge.
So, to start with the Seasonal Whites for Spring 2025, here is a list of twelve wines that sit under three categories, four wines in each:
A - Crispness for the aperitif, crevettes grise, sushi, grilled trout, and all shellfish.
B - Richness for the roast chicken, spaghetti carbonara, baked cod, roasted salmon.
C - Roundness for the spring lamb, asparagus risottos, ripe Camembert, and wild garlic soup.
A - Crispness
1 - Domaine des Dieux, Chardonnay, Hemel-en-Aarde, 2019 - Notes
£16.96 - Stone, Vine & Sun
For those who like their Chardonnays with a good level of acidity this wine certainly hits the mark. Akin to an entry level Chablis, but with more pronounced fruit on the palate, this would work to perfection with smoked salmon as the lime and lemon flavours on the palate are a natural foil to the rich, oily structure of smoked fish.
2 - Domaine André Vatan, 'Les Charmes' Sancerre, 2023 - Notes
£21.95 - Yapp
I’ve been looking for a very good, but sensibly priced, Sancerre for a while, and I seem to have missed this one from Yapp, although they have been brining it in for a while. Nose is restrained with only a hint of the varietal’s gooseberry elements showing forth: a subtle, delicate flavour. The palate is rather creamy, with a perfect balance here between fruit and acidity, and good, clean length. An appealing structure that slips down rather well. Grilled fish, goujons of Lotte, potted shrimps should accompany this wine, as would a delicate goat’s cheese. Lobster with Jersey Royals.
3 - Pazo de Señorans, Rias Baixas Albariño, 2023 - Notes
£22.95 - Berry’s
Is this the best Albariño I have ever tasted? Unquestionably! Flavours of green apples, lemons, limes and peaches, are superbly balanced. This has a refinement that puts it into another category alongside any other Albariño that I have ever tasted. The texture is rich and very refined, and elegant. Pazo de Señoráns is building a strong reputation as a very high quality producer. Any seafood would work very well here.
4 - Eva Fricke, Riesling Rheingau, 2023 - Notes
£29.95 - Berry’s
As the warmer weather seems to be arriving, then sitting outside with sliced toast and smoked trout pâté with a chilled bottle of this wine would work to perfection. As entry level wines go, this is impressive. Pale greenish in colour. Delicacy and freshness on the nose. Lifted and ethereal even if without enormous complexity or extract. Saline qualities on the palate, rich, complex combined with a long and refreshing finish, a bottle could very easily vanish rather quickly.
B - Richness
5 - Catena, Chardonnay Mendoza, 2022 - Notes
£15.00 - Waitrose
The entry-level Chardonnay from the leading quality winery in Mendoza. This Chardonnay has been assembled from grapes covering four different vineyard locations, each providing their own components to the final blend, and harvested at slightly different times to create a balanced wine. It is a very versatile wine that could work perfectly as an aperitif or a main course. It’s ready for drinking today and it slips down very easily. Available from many merchants.
6 - Louis Jadot, Mâcon-Azé, 2022 - Notes
£16.50 - Waitrose
Light, refreshing, well-crafted and at this price a very good example of an old-school house making an excellent wine from Southern Burgundy. Fermentation and ageing will have taken place in stainless steel tanks to preserve fruit and freshness. Foods might include salmon tartar, zucchini fritters, vegetable gratin, wok noodles, oeuf en meurette and, goat’s cheese. It is not a complicated wine, but is designed to be drunk within a few years of the harvest, and this 2022 in 2025 ticks a lot of boxes.
7 - Dom. J-J Girard, Pernand-Vergelesses Les Belles Filles, 2023 - Notes
£30.00 - Waitrose
Aged in barrel for 10 months, there are crisp lemony notes on the nose with just a hint of oak. The palate offers pears and grapefruits with lively, but very blanched, acidity, plus a strong finish. It is a classic White Burgundy from the Côte de Beaune that will match many dishes, but perhaps most obviously, as their web site suggests, grilled crustaceans or seafood. Although the Waitrose site states this is 2022, the 2023 is what arrives on your doorstep.
8 - Rustenberg, Five Soldiers Chardonnay, 2023 - Notes
£32.99 - Majestic
This wine has featured in earlier missives and this latest vintage certainly deserves its place here. It has an excellent structure that delivers a very stylish wine with considerable depth and complexity. Whenever you serve this wine, people’s eyes widen and they ask what they are tasting. The nose is enticing. The palate just takes your senses to an unexpected level. Needs food. Veal in a rich mushroom sauce springs to mind.
C - Roundness
9 - Château La Canorgue, Luberon Blanc, 2023 - Notes
£19.50 - Yapp
Stone fruits, grapefruit-style acidity, the blend of four grapes - Roussanne, Marsanne, Clairette and Bourboulenc - delivers a soft, immensely likeable and crowd-pleasing wine. Mushroom risotto, soft tomatoes that have been bubbling quietly and now sitting amongst fresh pasta, a light vegetable bake, or a rich chicken salad, would work to perfection. Richer fish - monkfish or cod - would also work in a creamy vegetable sauce. The balance of acidity and ripe fruits works very well with a nutty finish.
10 - Domaine de la Taille, Montlouis-Sur-Loire Rémus, 2022 - Notes
£24.32 - Lay & Wheeler
The warm vintage has created a wine with a good degree of longevity that is also working very well today. Apples and honeysuckle combined with a dryness that is very refreshing. It’s really difficult not to like this wine: it has rich character with an intriguing structure and freshness combined with considerable depth. It’s an exceptionally classy offering at a surprisingly good price. Tuna puttanesca, veal Milanese, carpaccio, Dover sole meunière, and very ripe Camembert. If a guest wanted to have a white with spring lamb, then this has the backbone to work really well. Would work with a spring bubble and squeak using new potatoes.
11 - Constantia Glen, Two, Constantia, 2022 - Notes
£27.00 - Berry’s
A distinct mineral tension works with the ample floral flavours - lime, grapefruit and blossom - that sit alongside a soft oak spiciness with an abundance of fresh, but tight, fruit. It’s a rather intriguing combination of flavours that have considerable weight and depth. It will age for another 10 years but is very appealing today. You could enjoy this wine with Bream, Hake, Grey Mullet, and Sea Bass. All served with vegetables in rich and complicated sauces. Roast pork and all the trimmings would be a delight, and simply slicing Gruyere, Comté, or Shropshire Blue with a glass or two would be a good lunchtime snack.
12 - Domaine Verzier, St Joseph Blanc, Granit, 2023 - Notes
£29.66 - Stone, Vine & Sun
Deep golden colour, with rich fruit and oak flavours on the nose. There is considerable weight in this wine combined with structure and concentration. And length. The combination of grapes gives a slightly and persuasive oily texture to the wine that definitely needs food. Chicken stuffed with mushrooms and foie gras, a dense cheese soufflé, chips covered in an abundance of truffle oil and lightly grated Parmesan, a strongly vibrant chicken chasseur. Not for the light-hearted. It is a joy to drink. Asparagus in an hollandaise sauce would be a great choice.
Next week there will be a missive on red wines for this season. Also, an additional missive assessing current drinking habits that might be of interest.
Thoughts, comments, ideas always welcome!
à votre santé - David
