I once worked for an editor who commissioned endless yarns about wine in near-impossible locations: wineries running on generators in the middle of India and vineyards in Brazil that cropped twice a year. The stories were great, but the wines…would probably have been delicious after a long shift digging wells in the sub-Sahara.
I crave new taste experiences as much as anybody; it’s always a thrill to discover what flavours lie beneath a new cork (or screwcap). But novelty alone is not enough. A bottle needs to work its magic in other ways; it needs to create its own space at the table.
Off The Beaten Track reds
Happily, there are many such jewels among The Wine Society’s Off The Beaten Track collection. The ones I fell in love with include an exquisite white from Syria (the person with whom I drank it had ordered a bottle before we finished dinner) and forgotten Italian grapes. But I want to begin with a red from southern France, a region that is neither exotic nor remote, made from grapes you will know well, but made in a contemporary style. Domaine La Tasque Appia Syrah-Carignan 2023 is a red that tastes good chilled. The domaine is in the Minervois region and the wine is not gruff or feral but vibrant and calm and refreshing (despite the alcohol), like still pools of brambles and blueberries with a waft of wild thyme.
A more unexpected star is a pinot noir made by an Italian in Bulgaria: Edoardo Miroglio Soli Pinot Noir 2021 comes from the Thracian Valley, about 80 miles from the Black Sea and tastes as if it could cost almost twice the price. It reminded me of some of the fresher pinot noirs grown in the most southerly part of New Zealand’s Central Otago, but with a European twist. Think red-plum compote with notes of orange rind and red cherries and just a subtle suggestion of autumn leaves and dried bay. I just kept on going back and back.
You’ll like this one if you enjoy the fruity rush of southern Italian reds
A final red pick: Santa Venere Cirò Rosso Gaglioppo 2022. The grape is the brilliantly named gaglioppo and I think you will like this one if you enjoy the fruity rush and heat of southern Italian reds, the bittersweet notes of roots and herbs in red vermouth and the tobacco fragrance of reds from St Julien in the Médoc (although Cirò Rosso is nothing like as polite as anything from that part of the world). It’s great with spicy salami and pasta with a cooked tomato sauce.
Off The Beaten Track whites
Also from the Italian peninsula, but white this time: Trerè Re Famoso Bianco 2023 Ravenna 2023. Re means ‘king’ in Italian, hence the crown on the label. Famoso means ‘famous’ and, ironically, is the name of the grape so obscure it does not even merit an index entry in the reference bible Wine Grapes (Robinson, Harding & Vouillamoz). Here, famoso is blended with chardonnay to give a white that is smooth, with dusty notes of baked lemon, pink grapefruit zest and white peach: a lovely aperitivo wine and very good indeed with garlicky prawns.
Of all the wines I tasted, though, it’s the Domaine de Bargylus Grand Vin de Syrie Vin Blanc 2017 from Syria that has really lingered in my mind. Domaine de Bargylus is owned by the Saadés, a Lebanese-Syrian family with Greek Orthodox Christian ancestry. This white wine is made from chardonnay and sauvignon blanc grapes that grow on the slopes of Jabal Ansarieh, overlooking the port city of Latakia and it’s beautiful. ‘More and more I’m convinced that the region from Greece (including the islands) to the Levantine coast is white wine country,’ says the Lebanese-British wine expert Michael Karam. It’s an astute comment.
Ridiculously fresh, it smells softly of clover and soft lemons
This Bargyuls blanc is hard to describe (a good sign, usually) but the closest wine in kin that I can think of is an artisan, yeast-lees-aged assyrtiko from Santorini. Ridiculously fresh considering its age, it smells softly of clover and soft lemons and has chardonnay weight yet with an ethereal quality to its texture. We drank it with Delia Smith’s Moroccan baked chicken with chickpeas and rice which is filled with coriander (fresh and seed), yellow peppers and black and green olives. The wine more than rose to the occasion.
Considering Karam’s point, it’s interesting that the final wine I’ve chosen is a white from the same region: Cyprus, which lies in the eastern Mediterranean to the west of Syria and Lebanon and south of Turkey. Makarounas Vineyard Spourtiko 2023 is made from the spourtiko grape, a native Cypriot variety, and it smells of beeswax, lemon, sea spray and honeysuckle. I would drink this on a hot day with barbecued lamb chops, green lettuce and skordalia or grilled fish with lemony Greek potatoes.
>> Intrigued by Victoria’s suggestions? See all wines in our Off The Beaten Track offer
