California Rosé Winemakers Selection Grenache 2012

Some things just feel right, despite appearances to the contrary; that slightly tatty, war-torn and threadbare armchair that just doesn’t fit in with any design scheme yet you couldn’t live without it, the comfortable yet scruffy overcoat that your wife can’t abide or the slightly daft mug you use in the office that your child bought you as a gift. It’s not essential for things to feel right, or for them to adhere to social conventions. Sometimes they just work.

I’d never really thought of trying a rosé wine with a curry before – this particular Indian feast was home-made, right down to roasting and grinding the spices in exquisitely perfect proportions. Or at least in the proportions that were available at the time of roasting and grinding, anyway. Not a particularly hot curry; the need for others to be able to eat it was given due consideration and heat was kept at a crowd-pleasingly moderate level. So here we were – a rosé chilling in the fridge and a curry being served. Why not? Life is for new discoveries, venturing out of the rut even crossing Rubicons from time to time. Although comparing the trying of a new wine pairing to Julius Caesar’s army committing mass insurrection may trivialise major historic events, to me at least this was a pretty major departure.

Sainsbury’s Californian Rosé, made from the Grenache grape (best known for Southern Rhône wines such as Châteauneuf-du-Pape), proved to be a real eye-opener. It is beautifully plummy, rich in fruitiness and berry flavours. It’s slightly sweet, which may not be to everyone’s taste, but trust me, this worked well with a bitter Indian dish. Quite a lot like a mango chutney or similar in fact. This wine is that well-loved item that sticks out as not quite belonging, yet you know that it is perfect at a time when little else will do. The chair, the overcoat or the mug; eyebrows may occasionally be raised but you just won’t care as your happiness has already been assured.

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Mas Belles Eaux Vieux Carignan – a note on character

A friend once described me as the Jeremy Clarkson of the wine world; I'm not entirely sure what he meant but controversial, brash, rude, punchy, paunchy or even successful may have been what caused him to link the two of us. More of that later. Belles Eaux - beautiful waters. Like people, wines have characters. Some attractive, others less so and what this wine doesn't lack is character. From the moment the jammy scented cork was removed, its presence was well and truly announced and this was clearly going to be no shrinking violet. The Carignan grape, originally from Spain, is known for its fruitiness and dark berries abound in the bouquet of this vintage. Note that with an 'e' on the end, it becomes an American grape - why do they insist on doing everything differently there? Is that the essence of their colonial character? Looking at the wine, it's a deep, deep red; a very belle eau indeed. Taste is blackcurrant, blackberries, plums and dark rum balanced by acidity and tannins in just the right proportions. Michael Broadbent describes the Carignan grape as being rather neutral, and hugely respecting as I am of his views, the implication of a character void is not a position I support in this particular instance. This wine has the character of a Rococo drawing room, warmed by a glowing fire and with close friends dotted around on plush seats. Character, a quality decidedly absent in neither Mas Belles Eaux Carignan nor Jeremy Clarkson, is of course no guarantee of agreeability. Happily, in the case of the wine, I am pleased to say that I found it hugely agreeable. Clarkson, like me, is a subject for your own discernment and that, dear reader, is possibly all that we have in common.

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