Walk from Fiano to Gewurztraminer on the WineTubeMap to find this delicious Georgian Wine from M&S Wine.
M&S wine may not be your first port of call for the unusual and exotic, this might change your mind.
On the fringes of the wine trade there is a movement for wines that taste a bit different. Some are ‘natural’ wines, made with little or no intervention, often in very traditional ways. Others are from places that have just never really sold their wines to the UK. Which is a bit strange seeing as they are countries that are thought of as being the real home of winemaking. Holiday destinations like Georgia, Turkey and Greece, where the grape names are virtually unpronounceable and the wines would have, until recently, been confined to ‘nice on holiday, not when you get back’ box.
This current desire for the unusual has led to some of these wines being made more readily available to us, and M&S wines have been leading the way for a while, putting a whole range of Greek, Turkish and Georgian wines on their shelves. I’m glad about that as it does bring a welcome, and refreshing, change to the ubiquitous Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc. I was particularly pleased to discover this warm and spicy white, Chateau Mukhrani. According to the label the grape Rkatsiteli (pronounced rh-Ka-tsee-telly with a very soft r at the start) was the grape that Noah would have planted after the flood – I can’t comment on that. BUT I can say that it’s a delicious, and different, style of white wine.
To locate the Chateau Mukhrani on the WineTubeMap disembark at Fiano and walk towards Gewürztraminer, about half way in between you’ll find this wine. It is dry, and quite fresh in the mouth with an exotic palate of ripe peach, nuts and something warmly spicy, like ginger. This would be a great wine for cool, summer days, when you want the idea of far-away places but don’t want to be drinking something ice cold.
We had it sat in the garden (in our jumpers), with an Ottolenghi Iranian Stew recipe from Plenty More, and it went beautifully with the pungency of the spices, hint of heat and tangy citrus of the ingredients.
Delicious.
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