WINE dinners I have mixed feelings about. The best are revelatory pairings of interesting tipples and appropriate dishes; the worst are a kind of random juggling act, showing neither element to its advantage. There's always the threat, too, of delayed gratification when the speaker's introductions to the wines take over the whole shooting match.
On the nose it's a rich riot of chocolate vanilla and spice but remains surprisingly restrained in the mouth. Ripe now, but a stayer.
Back in the day when the Rosso site on Spring Gardens was occupied by a very ambitious fine dining establishment called, well, Establishment, we watched in horror as dishes curled up and died on the pass while Oz Clarke went into immense (albeit charming) detail about our successive wines. Let's call it a lukewarm reception.
Which brings me to two recent dinners, both of which passed the test of sommelier/chef ingenuity and verbal brevity, while introducing me to two interesting wine ranges - one from South Africa, the other from a lesser-known region of Spain.
Holden Manz is a comparatively new Cape operation seeking to seriously break into the UK trade. We are talking boutique, though. Total production at the 17ha estate in Franschhoek is around 6,000 cases, covering nine different wines, with 800 cases allocated to Britain.
For globetrotting co-owner Gerard Holden it's a case of coming home. This former financier went to school in Bolton and he is particularly keen to 'crack' the North West, as he made clear at the wine tasting dinner he threw at the Albert Square Chop House. Three of his reds are on the list at the Michelin-starred Box Tree, Ilkley, a real accolade, but for retail you have to go online at SA Wines, who stock the full range, including a terrific Provencal style rosé or visit the excellent Wine Buffs, tucked under the arches near Warrington Central station.
Wine Buffs stock two impressive Holden Manz reds, Vernissage 2012 (£9.99) and Big G 2010 (£25). The first blends Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz and Merlot - all vinified separately - which respectively give dark cassis fruit, spice and plumminess. It's a big, soft wine that is immediately attractive. The Big G is closer to a Bordeaux blend (44 per cent Cabernet Sauvignon, 41 per cent Cabernet Franc with smaller amounts of Malbec and Petit Verdot. It is obviously the flagship red with meticulous grape selection and complex oak ageing procedures. The result is beautifully balanced, belying its 15 per cent alcohol. On the nose it's a rich riot of chocolate vanilla and spice but remains surprisingly restrained in the mouth. Ripe now, but a stayer.
A tasting dinner at Ramsbottom's Hearth of the Ram introduced me to the wines of Pago Ayles from Aragon. The monastic vineyards forming hte Finca Ayles date back to the Middle Ages but only in 2010 was this very modern-style winery elevated to 'Vino de Pago' status - a top tier in the Spanish wine hierarchy, of which there are only 10 in the country.
As a result of the dinner, tutored by Felix Moreno from Pago Aylés, the Hearth are stocking their Dorondon Chardonnay (exclusively, at £28.50) and for £34.50 their Pago Y red, which so beautifully accompanied a dish of roast pork fillet, Manchego and serrano ham croquettes with a sherry and garlic sauce. Both wines will also be available by the glass, served from the gastropub's Cruvinet Enomatic machine.
You can buy the Pago Ayles range, Chardonnay apart,online at the importers, C&O Wines, a Timperley-based family firm. All wines come with free delivery with a minimum order of 12 bottles (can be mixed). Check out the website here. The Dorondon (it means fog) is a crisp, peach/pineapple refresher with a long creamy finish, while the Pago Y is a blend of Grenache, Tempranillo, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon whose peppery nose is followed by an intense palate at once earthy, woody, minerally, cherryish and very modern Spanish.
Very traditional Spanish (though these days produced using some very hi-tech methods) is Vega Sicilia Unico, the Tempranillo-led red wine lauded as Spain's finest for the its 150 years of existence, from the days when the Ribero del Duero region was otherwise unheralded.
I've just tasted their 2007, which they've decided to release before the 2005. It wasn't the best of vintages, so winemaker Javier Ausas reckoned this 'more feminine wine' wouldn't stand up to the prolonged barrel ageing in new and old oak that's par for the course to create the Unico's vast complexity. It's no weed, mind - its vibrant blueberry/damson fruit with lovely espresso hints underpinned by sturdy tannins. The ouch factor is the price (which shouldn't deter well-heeled ManCon readers) - Berry Bros Rudd are flogging it en primeur at £495 for three bottles.
Like Vega Sicilia in Spain, Cloudy Bay long carried the tag of New Zealand's finest - albeit for the very different profile of Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc. For two decades Kevin Judd was the winemaker, but since 2010 he has been running his own 'gypsy' label, Greywacke, borrowing winery space and buying fruit from old associates, from mature vineyards within the central Wairau Plains and the Southern Valleys of Marlborough.
I find his entire range of seven wines spectacular in their purity and concentration. Reserve Wines of West Didsbury stock the the 2012 Wild Sauvignon (£24.95), the 2014 Sauvignon Blanc (£17.50) and my personal favourite, the 2013 Pinot Gris (RSP £19.99).
The Wild Sauvignon is made using 100 per cent uncontrolled wild yeast ferment, the creamy tropical fruit combined with a stark mineral acidity. Quite gorgeous and, if I marginally prefer the elegant poise of the 'straight' Sauvignon, tropical fruit power in a velvet glove, it's a close run thing. The Pinot Gris comes from grapes picked very ripe and it shows with Alsace-style aromatics (apple pie?) and rich weight on the palate. Off-dry, almost nutty from the wild ferment, it will be interesting to see what a few years' bottle age does.
The School of Wine at The King's Arms Reserve's owner Kate Goodman has launched a new wine school in partnership with fellow wine expert, Ian Dogherty called, naturally, The School of Wine. The next course is a three-week intro to wine, which includes three sessions of two hours tasting around six wine a session. The Three Week Intro to Wine course is on April 9, 16 and 23 at The Kings Arms, 11 Bloom Street, Salford, M3 6AN, 7pm-9pm, £27.
