Let Us Drink Wine - Autumn Tasting

We kicked off Autumn the best way we know how - with a tasting of course! 

'Let Us Drink Wine' brought together the most sought-after styles of wine in the lead up to Christmas: French and sparkling. As diners and wine-lovers head into the festive season, it's crucial to understand how to boost profit margins in these categories. This includes building diversity of choice at different price points, nailing your by-the-glass selection, and focusing on the lesser-known regions with exceptional value for money. 

These are our main take aways from the Autumn Tasting: 

Go beyond classic regions in France 

There will always be a place in our wine-soaked hearts for the big hitter regions where classics were born. But when we want value for money, underrated grape varieties, and a turn from convention, there's a few regions that rarely miss. 

Gascony in the south west of France was once relegated as a region simply for bulk wines or Armagnac production. But thanks to the pioneering wine cooperative, Plaimont Vignerons, near-extinct native varietals such as Manseng Noir and Tardif have been totally revitalised, to create refined wines with a cult following.

The Chateau de Sabazan St Mont Rouge 2014 was a real stand out of the day, proving that the days of underestimating Tannat as a variety are over. Intensely fruity on the palate with silky tannins, it shows sophistication and incredible value for money for a wine of that age. 

New alternatives to Champagne

Bubbles outside of Champagne continue to rise in popularity as consumers turn to better-value alternatives. There are many key regions to look to for Traditional Method sparkling wine, and Corpinnat is one on the rise – a break-away group of producers who focus on high quality traditional sparkling method outside of the Cava DO.  

Sabate i Coca is one of the newest members to the Bibendum family. Their vineyards span across 40ha and 66 microplots in the Penedes region, all of which are vinified separately to express the unique character of soil types and microclimates. One of the most popular pours of the day was their Josep Coca Brut Nature 2019: 100% Xarel-lo, the wine showed freshness and complexity, making it a bottle worth popping open at any festive dinner. 

Bring the fun back to food and wine pairing

With better by-the glass offerings, comes more flexibility  with your food and wine pairing. That's why at this tasting, we upped the anti when it came to nibbles. We served spiced honey chicken wings with waffles, spicey toasties, scotch eggs, oysters, and an array of crisp flavours, all in the name of finding the perfect match. Well, to be honest, it wasn't exactly perfection we were after, we just wanted an excuse to try fried chicken and Champagne together. 

Until the next tasting!